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Looking around, Shuichi briefly adjusted his gas mask again - pulling on the straps to make it that bit tighter. To his immediate left he could see more of the chaos of Clemen - incredibly crowded streets and skies, with at least one brawl going on. To his right was a wall, which was honestly just reassuring - less places (generally) to get attacked or pickpocketed from. Behind him were Kaito and Maki, waiting at the data collection point as new information was loaded onto their space-USB.
Kaito was in much of the same gear Shuichi was in, a gas mask, flexible but protective plated armour - except he’d painted his in an almost magenta purple - although it was probably a bit brighter than that. The fabric underneath and seams that connected the armour reflected the immediate galaxies and star patterns around them; which Kaito thought was cool - and Maki thought was a waste of tech. He had painted his armour in a dark blue, with black as the fabric underneath - no extra quirks.
Maki didn’t want or need armour, of course. He supposed that was one of the advantages of being a Miasmis, along with her other abilities. Being able to turn your skin either into weapons or crystal due to advanced morphing was pretty cool. Not that it stopped from carrying a frankly excessive amount of weapons anyway. She argued they were useful for bounty hunting.
Because that was what the trio had been doing these past few years (generally) - they’d been bounty hunting. Shuichi was generally their tracker, or their detective - working out where the target was. Kaito had turned out to be a great pilot and a good driver of most alien tech, so he got them to their destination (and enjoyed high speed pursuits slightly too much). Maki was the one who generally took their target down, and she was also just incredibly scary. That was always a bonus for when they were co-ordinating how much they should all be paid.
“It’s downloaded,” Maki announced, taking the USB in her hand and closing a fist around it.
“You not a fan of Clemen?” Kaito guessed, although he began to move away with her.
“Are you?” Maki shot back, cutting through the crowd and grabbing Kaito’s hand (she always said it was so he didn’t lose them).
“It’s certainly…” Shuichi considered his words, “Profitable.”
“You mean a den of criminal activity,” corrected Maki, “The sooner we get out of here, the better.”
With minimal conversation (and minimal difficulties) the three made it back to their ship, with Shuichi immediately plugging in the USB.
“Find any bounties near us?” Maki asked, half-reading over his shoulder.
“Yes, actually,” Shuichi had clicked on the profile already, “Kokichi Oma. Unknown species. Two separate people are asking for him.”
“Really?” Kaito asked, “What’d the guy even do?”
“One’s for robophobia,” Shuichi scrolled down for a few seconds, “And the other one doesn’t specify, but it’s a lot of money.”
“Who from?” Maki asked.
“Android named K1-B0.”
“The one that will pay us well.”
“Ah.” Shuichi scanned the page for a second, “The genius inventor Miu Iruma.”
“Miu Iruma?” Kaito questioned, “Dude, let’s go for him!”
“Why?”
“Cause it’s for Miu Iruma!” Kaito was grinning, “Y’know, the Miu Iruma? She invented most of what’s on high tech spaceships, half of our weapons are designed by her. The intricacies of aerodynamics in-”
“So where do we find him?” Maki cuts across Kaito, moving closer to Shuichi and scanning over the information herself. Both reading and watching Maki, Shuichi pinpoints the exact time they both recognise the ship listed as Kokichi’s. As luck would have it, it’s parked directly next to theirs. Their gaze immediately shifts out of the window, Maki’s eyes narrowing and glowing slightly red.
Kaito follows their gaze for a second, and then grins, “No way, that’s his ship? I guess the universe is with us on this one.”
“The universe is an inanimate object and doesn’t want us to succeed,” Maki points out, before beginning to move towards the weapons lab, “What are we waiting for, let’s go.”
Shuichi ends up grabbing his usual gear, along with Kaito. Maki takes her most expensive weapon, something dubbed a ‘nano-hurt’. It can transform into any weapon, apparently. Shuichi’s only seen it morph into four. Maki also takes multiple sleeping drugs, complaining about the lack of information on the file. It’s all very well trying to send someone to sleep with chemicals, but aliens have such different biology than one chemical could kill one, do nothing on another, and empower a third. It’s quite remarkable.
“Remember, he’s a wanted criminal - so I want both of my sidekicks to be careful,” Kaito said as they got off, looking around at the ship - seeing if any traps would immediately be obvious.
“Technically he’s not a criminal, just a wanted person.”
Maki rolled her eyes, “Technically that Keebo wanted him arrested for robophobia, so…”
Going up to the door, there was a second as they all stared before Kaito walked up and knocked. He didn’t try anything else, just went up and knocked. Shuichi could see Maki’s eyes glow red in annoyance and fear, but nothing happened. Frowning slightly, he took out their door opener (it was some high tech stuff that Maki had brought and didn’t tell them the name). As it attached to the door, there was a second or two while it whirred before the door slid away.
Looking among themselves, Maki walked in immediately and waited for a second before giving a subtle thumbs up behind her. Following closely, Kaito and Shuichi instinctively gripped their weapons - looking around curiously. With a hiss, the sensors around Shuichi’s gas mask suddenly opened as the door closed. The air in here was safe to breathe. Watching Kaito for a second, Shuichi let the mask hang around his neck - enjoying being able to breathe freely while on a bounty hunt.
He regretted taking the mask off though, maybe five seconds later. Gas descended from the ceiling, immediately making Kaito and Maki cough. Only a second later, Shuichi double-over as he joined them - wheezing, his eyes running slightly. He had a pounding headache, and black spots began to come over his vision - becoming larger and larger until his vision faded to black.
With a gasp, Shuichi opens his eyes again. The weight of his weapons are gone, he can feel that much, but his mask is still around his shoulder - and his armour is still on. In the… cell he’s in, he seems almost untouched. There is a nasty headache from the gas however. Listening. Shuichi tries to hear Kaito or Maki’s voice as he presses his hand up against the wall, trying to investigate. He’s sure Kaito’s first instinct is to scream, and if Shuichi can’t hear him he doubts he can hear Shuichi. But, after making sure there’s nothing on the walls, Shuichi straightens to call for help. “Guys? It’s me…”
He hesitates, not wanting to use his full name, “The detective on the case! The one who led us to our last assignment through a cheese store?”
There’s no response from any of his friends, but there's a laugh from in front of him. As Shuichi bunches his fists, the wall becomes transparent. And Shuichi blinks in disbelief at what he sees.
There is a human in front of him. There is, definitely, a human in front of him. He’s shorter than Shuichi, although not by a ridiculous amount, and he has dyed purple hair - along with purple eyes. Something in the back of his mind lets him know that his captor is very attractive, and precisely Shuichi’s type. Shuichi ignores that bit of his brain.
Instead, he focuses on the rational side of his mind, and asks, “Who are you?”
“Awww, not who am I? Or where am I?” The human comes slightly closer, a pout on his face, “So the memory gas didn’t work on you, huh?”
“Memory gas?” Shuichi repeats, taking a step back, “No - it didn’t. What memory gas?!”
“Neeheehee, who knows?” His smile becomes slightly larger, “I am a liar, afterall.”
“So you were lying just now?”
“Yeah. Whatevs. Big deal,” he rolls his eyes, “I knocked you out with chloroform. Now, what’s your name?”
“My name?”
“Are you gonna have a habit of repeating me?” He questions, “I’m only tolerating it cause you’re my favourite, y’know.”
Deciding not to comment on the last bit, Shuichi took a deep breath. The longer he could keep his enemy talking, the more time Maki or Kaito had to escape. “I’m… Shuichi.”
“You sure? You don’t sound sure.”
“Yes.”
"Do you wanna know mine?”
“Sure.”
“Ok,” Kokichi grinned, “You’ve got to beg for it, though.”
“What do you mean beg for it?”
“On your knees, y’know. That sorta thing.”
“I’m not begging you.”
“What about… a game?”
“A game?” Shuichi thought for a second, “In exchange for what?”
“If you win, I tell you my name,” His captor stepped closer to the wall between them, “And if you win - I’ll remove this!”
“You’ll let me go?”
“No. I’ll remove this,” his eyes seem to sparkle, “I could still tackle you or something, y’know.”
Shuichi stared at the boy for a second, before he smiled, “You wouldn’t.”
“Are you challenging me?”
Hoping this could be his ticket out, Shuichi tried to mimic the boy's grins, “Yes.”
His smile suddenly becomes more infectious, and then he suddenly sits down, cross-legged. In a way, he reminds Shuichi of a cat - graceful, and like a trickster. Shuichi always liked cats. Gesturing next to him, the boy makes a hand motion to the free space, inviting Shuichi to come and sit next to him. And for some reason, Shuichi does - almost immediately. And for some reason, he blushes slightly at how close they are.
“I think we should give each other nicknames,” the boy suddenly declares, “You want to go first?”
“I- why… are we giving each other nicknames?” Shuichi asks.
“Well, you need to call me sooomething. And a nickname’s perfect for that!”
“Ok, but how can I give you a nickname already, we barely know each other.”
“Hmmm,” he seems to consider it, head tilted slightly in thought, “I know - we can play another game!”
“Another game?” Shuichi says, somewhat skeptically.
“Yep.” He grins, “Let’s play two lies, one truth.”
“Isn’t it two truths, one lie?”
“Well… I’m a liar,” He answers, as if that explains it. “Now my turn! Ok… I run an evil organisation, it has over ten thousand members, and I killed your friends!”
“You-” Shuichi cuts himself off, trying to think rationally. His captor doesn’t honestly seem very malicious, more curious and playful, almost fun. “The lie is… it’s an evil organisation?”
“Bzzt! Wrong!” He grins, “You have one more guess, or I’ll take your soul.”
“Sure,” Shuichi deadpans, something in his heart fluttering as he hears the boy laugh in response, “Is it that it has over ten thousand members?”
“Ding, ding, ding! Ten points to Shumai!”
“Shumai?”
“Yeah, it’s my nickname for you,” he explains, “Do you like it? Do you? Do you?”
“Yes, I do,” something in Shuichi is surprised as he realises it’s an honest response,” My turn?”
“Yup,” the boy leans back slightly, “Show me your worth, peasant!”
Deciding to ignore him, Shuichi thinks for a second, “Ok. I’m… thirty-three, I used to be a detective before I ended up in space… and I… really miss my dog.”
“You used to be a detective,” the boy says, “Honestly Shuichi, that was like… suuuper easy. Try again.”
“Ok. I miss my uncle, I had a degree in criminology back on Earth… and I wear contacts.”
This time, it takes him a second more to decide, face in a mask of careful neutrality before there’s suddenly a grin, “You miss your uncle. That was better, though.”
“Good enough for me to know your name?”
He laughs, “Fiiiine. But only cause you’re fun, mkay? I’m Kokichi Oma!”
“Kokichi,” Shuichi repeats, making sure he gets the pronunciation right, “You’re from Japan, right?”
“Ding, ding, ding,” Kokichi smiles, “Bonus points if you can get my postcode!”
“No,” Shuichi says flatly, although something in him smiles. Something about Kokichi… makes him smile.