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Tashigi’s heart pounds in her ears as she races up the stairs, taking them two at a time in her haste. Her lungs heave, struggling for oxygen, but she pushes herself to keep climbing. She circles the landing so quickly that she nearly slams into the wall as she turns to continue up. How many floors had she climbed so far? Four? Five? She loses track as the world narrows to the steps in front of her and her own gasping breaths.
Eventually she reaches the top of the stairs, muscles screaming at her to rest, but she pays them no heed as she slams open the door to the roof. The door flies back so fast that it bangs against the wall behind it, startling nearby birds into flight.
For a moment Tashigi just stands on the roof, panting for air as her gaze she rapidly scans back and forth searching for something, anything… but she’s alone. She lets out a noise of frustration, her professional demeanor be damned. She’s avoids stamping her foot like a toddler, but it’s a near thing. Eventually though, Tashigi admits defeat and pulls the radio off her belt.
“Captain,” she says, pushing the talk button, “It’s Tashigi.”
“Yeah?” Smoker’s voice crackles down the line. He already sounds resigned. “What’s the status of the suspect?”
Tashigi grits her teeth. “She got away.”
There’s a put upon sigh. “Copy that. Come back down to the scene so we can start sweeping for evidence.”
“Understood.” Tashigi hooks her radio back on her belt, scowling as the motion presses against the white card wedged into her pocket.
Tashigi pulls the card out. It’s a crisp eggshell white, completely spotless with edges sharp enough that she nearly cuts her finger on them. The curling black letters on it are just as mocking now as they were the first time she’d read them.
Better luck next time, detective
It’s been nearly a year since Monarch appeared, a thief that had quickly gained notoriety after her flashy museum robberies of priceless paintings and expensive jewelry had captured the public’s attention. Part of her theatrics had been to always leave calling cards and a pink metal brooch in the shape of a butterfly behind in the place of the items she stole. As time passed Monarch’s aims grew grander and more daring, stealing from museums that boasted the most advanced security systems in the world and disappearing like a ghost before the authorities could arrive.
The press couldn’t get enough of her, evening news channels and social media sites spun theory after theory about who Monarch could be. Speculations ranged from some notorious underground criminal to even celebrities. Some claimed she was a publicity stunt. Others thought she was a terrorist.
One thing that couldn’t be denied though was how badly she was running circles around the police department. Even with half the force now dedicated to trying to anticipate and stop her crimes, they still were left with almost nothing to go on after a year of efforts. It had been even worse this time with Monarch announcing the exact time, place and piece she was going to steal a week beforehand, and still the police had fumbled catching her. Tashigi shuddered to think about what a laughingstock they already were online, and what kind of lecture they all had to look forward to in the bullpen later.
She glares down at the calling card in front of her, one that had somehow been slipped into her pocket without her even noticing. Clearly Monarch had developed some kind of personal fixation on her for whatever reason since this was the third time Tashigi had been singled out. She couldn’t for the life of her understand why Monarch had chosen to do so, but the repeated teasing only adds to her current frustration.
Tashigi stares at the curving script on the card a second longer (handwriting that already had no match in the police’s database as they’d found so far) before walking it down to the labs for analysis. She knew better at this point than to expect Monarch to be sloppy enough to leave behind fingerprints or DNA, but it was worth a shot. When she returns to her desk her expression sours further as she spots that morning’s edition of the newspaper that she’d picked up in the subway on her way to work.
MONARCH STRIKES AGAIN!
The Grand Line Police Department are once again left spinning their wheels as Monarch steals the priceless Crown Jewels of Skypeia, estimated at a value of nearly three billion dollars. Despite a massive effort that mobilized a reported task force of nearly sixty officers, authorities were still unable to stop the phantom thief-
“I told you to stop reading this trash.”
Tashigi blinks as the newspaper is ripped out of her hands, only to grimace as she meets her captain’s unimpressed gaze. Smoker glances at the headline, snorts, and wads up the newspaper before dumping it in the waste basket next to Tashigi’s desk.
“Sorry, Captain,” Tashigi mutters, “I just wanted to see what people were saying.”
“They’re just running their mouths,” Smoker says, teeth grinding on his cigars, “But none of them have a clue who Monarch is either so they got no room to criticize. We’ll catch her and bring her to justice soon enough.” He raises an eyebrow at Tashigi. “Speaking of which, don’t you have some leads to follow up on?”
“Yes, sir,” she says, glancing at the folder on her desk, “There were a few witnesses outside the museum that-“
“Then get to it!”
“Yes, sir!”
Of course, following up was easier said than done. Tashigi spends the rest of her day calling the reported witnesses, though it’s an exercise in patience more than anything. One of them gives her an account that’s hard to follow, broken up with far too many tangents where she constantly has to remind him to refocus on the relevant points, and another is a teenager who is clearly a fan of the phantom thief and spends most of her time gushing to Tashigi about how ‘cool’ Monarch is. All the other witnesses are varying degrees of similarly unhelpful.
By the time seven in the evening rolls around it’s only years of professional experience that keeps Tashigi from banging her head against her desk as her final lead takes her to yet another dead end. Nothing from witnesses, to black market flags for potential resales of the stolen goods, to scouring social media for any further evidence yields results. Tashigi supposes she shouldn’t be surprised to hit another wall after a whole year of hitting walls, but this last time she’d just felt so close.
She’d seen Monarch on the security feed, watched as the other had fled toward the stairs as an escape route. Tashigi had raced to the stairwell the moment she’d realized what direction the other was heading in. She could swear she’d heard Monarch climbing the stairs just a couple of flights above her. She could’ve practically reached out and…
Tashigi huffs as she remembers the empty roof she’d arrived at. She’d gone over the same scenario a dozen times in her head since the previous night, probably driving her poor girlfriend insane as she’d been forced to listen to Tashigi’s ranting and raving, but she just couldn’t stop obsessing over it. Maybe she really did need to take a vacation like Hina kept telling her to.
“Go home,” Smoker says, jolting Tashigi back to the present.
She blinks tiredly, still slowly processing his words, “Captain, I-“
“Go home, Tashigi,” Smoker repeats, “You’re not gonna catch Monarch by running yourself into the ground.”
“But-“
“You gonna make your girlfriend wait up all night for you?” Smoker asks, raising an eyebrow.
Tashigi’s ears flush. “That’s playing dirty, sir.”
Smoker snorts. “Get the fuck outta here. I wanna leave, and I can’t while one of my subordinates is still twiddling her thumbs at her desk.”
Tashigi finally admits defeat because, really, she is just wasting time at her desk with no more leads to follow up on. “Yes, sir.” She stands and grabs her purse, shoving her notebook and pen back into it. “Good night, sir.”
“Night,” Smoker says, stomping off to wherever he goes when he’s not at the office.
Tashigi sighs and heads toward the building’s front doors. She hopes that Reiju hasn’t actually been waiting up for her and went ahead and ate dinner already. She’ll have to apologize if that isn’t the case.
Despite everything, the thought of her girlfriend brings a smile to Tashigi’s lips. She might not have made a lot of progress at work that day, but at least she had something to look forward to at home.
“I’m home!” Tashigi calls, toeing her shoes off in the entryway of the small apartment. She hangs her purse up on a the coat rack near the door and drops her house keys in the bowl on a small table next to it before locking the door behind her.
“Welcome home!” Reiju comes around the hallway from their living room, eyes lighting up as they land on Tashigi. She’s quick to come closer and peck Tashigi on the lips, though her smile falls slightly as she notices Tashigi’s no doubt exhausted expression. “Rough day?”
“A little bit,” Tashigi says, “No other leads on Monarch. Ran into a lot of dead ends.”
“I’m sorry,” Reiju says sympathetically.
“Did you eat already?” Tashigi asks, feeling a flash of guilt. She should’ve at least texted her girlfriend that she’d be getting home later than usual. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was going to be late.”
“It’s fine,” Reiju says, “I usually eat later anyway.”
“Reiju!”
“Seriously!” Reiju laughs, already heading back toward the kitchen, “It’s already in the oven, I just have to warm it up for a few minutes.”
“At least let me help set the table,” Tashigi says, following her.
“I suppose I can allow that,” Reiju says with a teasing sigh.
The two of them move like a well-oiled machine as they go about reheating and setting out dinner. Reiju’s opted for a simpler meal that night- pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans- but Tashigi greatly appreciates her girlfriend making the effort to cook at all since Tashigi’s usual go-to is either microwave meals, ramen, or breakfast for dinner.
“Thank you, Reiju,” Tashigi says warmly, “It looks delicious.”
“Please,” Reiju waves a hand, “It took less than an hour to make.”
“Still…”
“None of that,” Reiju shakes her head, spearing a bite of her pork, “I know you’ve been working yourself too hard lately. You need to just relax tonight, I’ll handle everything.”
“If you think I’m making you put this away by yourself after you went through the trouble of cooking-“ Tashigi begins.
“We can let it soak for a little while, can’t we?” Reiju asks with a mischievous look. “Now eat. You’re too thin already as it is.”
Tashigi obediently starts to clear her plate, and is pleased to find that it all tastes just as good as it looks. “You’re such a good cook, Reiju.”
It’s something she’s brought up before, but is always genuinely impressed by. Tashigi has never had much time to learn to cook herself, most of her childhood spent just eating her mom’s cooking and most of her years as a young adult spent eating whatever was served in the cafeteria during her cadet training.
“Sanji’s much better than I am,” Reiju says.
“How are your brothers?” Tashigi asks. It’s rare for Reiju to speak about them, but it’s clear she loves her siblings very much. By contrast…
Almost on cue, Reiju’s easy smile falters. “Oh, they’re…fine.”
Tashigi lowers her fork, brow furrowing. “Is something wrong?”
“It’s just…” Reiju bites her lip, “Our father got in contact with us recently.”
Immediately, Tashigi understands. While her girlfriend was more than happy to go into whatever exploits her brothers had gotten up to, she never enjoyed speaking about her father. From the bits and pieces Reiju had let slip in the past, Tashigi had gathered that their father had been a harsh, demanding man that was quick to criticize and even… well, she’d never explicitly said abuse, but Tashigi had dealt with enough similar situations to read between the lines.
Though Tashigi had never met the man in person, she would be more than happy to slap handcuffs on him if they ever crossed paths.
“Are you okay?” Tashigi asks, setting her silverware down and reaching across the table to grab Reiju’s hand.
Reiju looks surprised for a second before she smiles again and squeezes Tashigi’s hand back. “I…I think I will be. I’m more worried about my brothers. Our father always expected more out of them.”
“Reiju, if you want me to talk to your father-“
“No, no,” Reiju says, her hand clenching in Tashigi’s grasp, “I don’t-“ She pauses before her expression hardens, “I don’t want that man anywhere near you.”
“I can handle myself,” Tashigi says.
Reiju offers her a small smile. “I know you can. I just- He’s not a good man.”
“And that’s why I don’t want him anywhere near you either,” Tashigi says. “Reiju, please. You’re my girlfriend. Let me help you.”
The smile on Reiju’s face turns melancholy. “I really wish…” She shakes her head. “We shouldn’t dwell too much on him. I- I told him I wasn’t coming back.”
Tashigi’s concern only grows at her girlfriend’s words. “Would he retaliate against you?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Reiju says, though she sounds far less confident than Tashigi would like. “I’m- I’ve build my own life here. I already send him more than enough money to stay out of my business. He shouldn’t have any reason to make an effort to come after me.”
“Seriously, I can-“
“Please stop,” Reiju cuts Tashigi off. She strokes the back of Tashigi’s hand apologetically. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want to talk about him.”
“I… okay,” Tashigi finally concedes, “I’m sorry.”
She shakes her head. “You have nothing to be sorry for. All you’ve ever done is try to look out for me.” She straightens in her seat then. “I think this time I’m going to look out for you too.”
“Reiju?”
“Nothing,” Reiju says, “We should finish eating before the food gets cold.”
Tashigi still feels a bit uneasy as they return to eating their meal in silence, the atmosphere between them turning awkward with all the words left unsaid.
Later that night when they’re lying in bed together, Tashigi getting ready to turn out the bedside lamp, Reiju grabs her hand and interlocks their fingers together.
“You know I love you, right?” Reiju asks.
Tashigi blinks at the unexpected declaration. “I… where is this coming from?”
“I know I’m not very good at communicating all the time,” Reiju says, “But I just wanted you to know that even if I can’t always show it, I love you.”
Tashigi softens, thinking that Reiju is referring to their earlier conflict at dinner. “I love you too. It’d take a lot more than something like a little disagreement to change that.”
Reiju doesn’t look very reassured, in fact she only looks worse, “I just… I never want to hurt you. You mean so much to me.”
“Reiju, what’s wrong?” Tashigi asks, turning over to fully face her girlfriend. “Is this just about your father again?”
She sighs. “Partially. I guess. Even after I said he shouldn’t be a problem I’m still just worried.”
“If you want me to talk to him still,” Tashigi offers.
“No, I still mean it when I say I want that man nowhere near you,” Reiju grimaces. “I don’t want him near you, or my brothers, or frankly anyone.” She sighs. “But especially not near you.”
“Not even if I plan on cutting him with my sword?” Tashigi nods to the katana mounted on the wall over their vanity mirror that she’d bought at a Renaissance fair they’d gone to a couple of months ago.
That gets the desired reaction of Reiju cracking a smile. “Hm, maybe if you were to cut him in half with your sword,” she allows, “But otherwise no.” Her smile fades. “I just don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t,” Tashigi says, “I’ll always be here.”
“You don’t know that,” Reiju says, fingers clenching in the blankets.
Tashigi’s pretty sure that Reiju’s thinking about her mother, who she’s been told was a wonderful woman who passed all too soon due to a terminal illness. Though Reiju also didn’t like speaking too much about it, it was clear that this reticence came from grief rather than hatred. From everything Tashigi had heard about Sora, it was obvious that Reiju had thought the world of her, and it broke Tashigi’s heart that her girlfriend had lost her mother so suddenly while her cruel father was still living and breathing.
She takes one of Reiju’s hands in hers and pecks her girlfriend on the cheek. “I guess I can’t know,” she says slowly, “But I will do everything in my power to stay by your side. Even if it’s hard. Even if it hurts. I’ll stay with you until the day you say you don’t want me anymore.”
“That’ll never happen,” Reiju says, eyes shining, “I… I couldn’t ask for more than you.” She leans up and kisses Tashigi again. “You’re my home, Tashigi.” She says the words so emphatically that Tashigi’s whole face heats and she can’t resist the urge to tug Reiju into her arms.
“Let’s get some sleep,” Tashigi says finally after a few minutes of holding her girlfriend. “Maybe we’ll both feel better in the morning.”
“I can only hope,” Reiju says. She still snuggles into Tashigi’s side though as Tashigi flips the lights off and sets her glasses aside on the nightstand, and Tashigi wraps her arms around her again.
‘It’ll be fine,’ Tashigi thinks as she drifts off, ‘We’ve weathered worse before. We can get through this too.’
The next morning dawns bright and early, and Tashigi wakes up to an empty bed. She’s confused for a moment, but then smells the familiar scent of frying bacon coming from the kitchen. A smile crosses her lips as she slips out of bed, pulls on her bathrobe and pads into the dining area.
“You’re up early,” she says, coming up behind Reiju and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
Reiju laughs, as bright as she usually does and Tashigi’s heart lightens at the sound. “I suppose I just had a lot of energy.”
“You do seem to be ready to face the day,” Tashigi remarks, noticing now that her girlfriend is already dressed. “Heading out early?”
Reiju nods. “Sorry, I won’t be able to eat breakfast with you like usual. I need to handle a few errands this morning. I’ll probably come back to grab lunch, but then I have to head out again for work.” Her lips form a pout that endears Tashigi all the more.
“It’s fine, I’ll be at the office all day. I’ll let you know if I’ll be late though.” Tashigi says, “Thanks for cooking.”
“Of course!”
Before long Tashigi is sitting at the table with a plate of pancakes and bacon and kissing Reiju one last time. Reiju waves to Tashigi before grabbing her purse and pulling on her heels, and then she’s gone.
Later, much later, Tashigi will wonder what would’ve happened if she’d just stayed home that day, if she’d tried to catch Reiju at lunch or even if she’d gone with Reiju on her ‘errands’. She wonders if she could’ve convinced Reiju to stop, to come back home, to just-
But in reality Tashigi eats her breakfast, mind already wandering back to the case at hand and trying to plan out what leads from Monarch to follow up on.
“Hina called a meeting,” Smoker says, stopping by Tashigi’s desk.
Tashigi blinks up at him for a second before jolting to her feet. “Oh! Alright!”
“Calm down,” Smoker says, rolling his eyes, “It’s probably something stupid.”
Tashigi nods and follows after smoker into one of the cramped meeting room, squishing along the wall with other officers as Hina stands up at the front trying to get the powerpoint to work. The room gets more and more crowded as time passes, and Tashigi wonders if the whole department had been called in for some reason. It’s clear Smoker’s picking up on the shifting atmosphere as his shoulder tense.
Was this about Monarch? It seems far too serious for that.
“Ah, good, everyone can hear Hina now?” Hina asks, tapping the microphone. There are a few nods of assent before Hina begins speaking. “Superior officers have made the decision to divert focus from all current cases toward a new development we have recently become aware of, effective immediately.” Hina pauses and allows the initial sounds of shock and protests to run their course through the crowd.
“Captain!” Tashigi hisses in shock, shooting her superior a wide eyed expression.
“Hold on,” Smoker says, though he looks pissed.
“No questions now. Wait until Hina is finished.” There are a few grumbles, but they eventually subside. She clicks her remote and the slide flips to the next one. “Recently rumors have been circulating that the Vinsmoke family are coming out of hibernation to begin operating again.”
There’s another uproar at that.
The Vinsmoke’s were notable crime family (though family was used rather loosely with their extensive ranks of grunts and operatives) that ran arms deals up and down the country. Most of the weapons they traded were highly illegal considering the amount of damage they could do, and while the police had managed to capture small cells of the family before, no one had ever managed to arrest or even see the rumored ‘commanders’ that made up the highest ranking members. They didn’t even have their names.
The family had all the higher ups at their department tearing their hair out trying to track them down until about a year and a half ago when all of the Vinsmoke’s operations had abruptly gone dormant. No one had been able to figure out what had happened to them, but many had been glad not to worry about them, at least in the immediate sense. To hear they were making moves again was beyond alarming.
What had changed?
“Captain!” Tashigi says again, more urgent.
“I know, Tashigi!” Smoker growls, though he’s clearly bit halfway through his cigars.
Hina continues. “We have recently received more substantial evidence that the Vinsmoke’s are reaching out once more to prior known connections. We are understandably concerned that it won’t take long for their weapons to start hitting the black market again, and Hina is sure you all remember how difficult it was to track those weapons.”
There are a few groans. Tashigi can sympathize. The Vinsmoke’s were beyond careful with their tech and weaponry. Trying to track the sales of their weapons was a logistical nightmare of sifting through shell companies, off-shore accounts and even crypto currency.
“So what’s the plan?” Someone calls.
“Hina said no questions until the end!” She scowls and flips to the next slide. “You will start being divided into different task forces to handle what few connections the Vinsmoke’s have that we do know. There will also be a team dedicated to watching the black market and following up on any rumors of their weapons being distributed.”
“What a clusterfuck,” Smoker grumbles.
“Hina thanks you for volunteering for the team, Smoker,” Hina says, glaring across the room.
‘That woman has ears like a hawk,’ Tashigi marvels.
“Fuck off!” Smoker scowls.
Hina ignores him and continues with her presentation, reviewing the information they have currently on the Vinsmoke’s (very little) and what developments there have been in the investigation since the last time the Vinsmoke’s were active (even less). Tashigi can already feel the late nights she’ll have to start spending deepening the bags under her eyes.
God, what is she going to tell her girlfriend?
“Hina does have good news though,” Hina says, “We were recently able to identify the four top commanders of the Vinsmoke family. Memorize their names and faces.”
Tashigi obligingly scans the four photos put up on the screen-
Her blood roars in her ears, and it’s only because she’s leaning against the wall that her legs don’t immediately give out under her. Tashigi’s eyes stay locked on the images blankly, uncomprehendingly, as if trying to deny what’s in front of her face. Her gaze darts around the screen, around the damning photo, skirting the truth in a wild attempt to find anything else to latch onto.
Suspect #2: Ichiji Vinsmoke
“My brother Ichiji can be really hard to talk to,” Reiju sighs, “He’s not great at showing expressions.”
“Like you?” Tashigi teases lightly.
Reiju giggles. “Trust me, compared to Ichiji I’m practically a Broadway actor.”
Suspect #3: Niji Vinsmoke
“Don’t tell me to ‘fuck off’, I’m you’re older sister!” Reiju snaps, only to huff as she lowers her phone. “Bastard hung up on me!”
“Niji?” Tashigi asks.
“Of course it’s Niji,” Reiju says, rolling her eyes. “None of my other brothers speak to me that way. He’s so uncute.”
Suspect #4: Yonji Vinsmoke
“I swear, if Yonji’s head weren’t attached he’d lose it too,” Reiju sighs as they push their grocery cart through the store. She picks up a 10-pack of tube socks with disgust. “Can’t that boy buy his own socks? Our mother didn’t raise him like this.”
“He said he doesn’t know the brand,” Tashigi says, though she agrees with her girlfriend.
“They all look the same!” Reiju grouses, “One of them just has a fancy label on them and costs five dollars more!”
Tashigi laughs. “You should call the brand and yell at them.”
“Maybe I will!”
Tashigi is not looking at it. She can’t look at it without feeling sick. She can’t-
Suspect #1: Reiju Vinsmoke
Tashigi makes it home in record time having dashed out of the room as soon as her legs felt stable enough to carry her. Though Smoker had yelled after her, Tashigi hadn’t stopped until she was out on the sidewalk and halfway down the street to the tube stop. She knows she can’t just run all the way back to her apartment, it’d be nearly an hour even at a sprint, but it’s torture waiting for the subway train back home.
Her mind is a mess as she replays every conversation she’s ever had with Reiju, every date, every meal, every time they slept together in the same bed. How had she missed it? When she gets out of the subway she’s already on her phone dialing the familiar contact.
Her phone rings through.
She tries again.
It rings through again.
We’re sorry, the number you’re trying to reach has been disconnected.
The screen blurs before her eyes, and Tashigi reaches up to angrily wipe them as she shoves the phone back into her pocket. The walk from the subway stop to her door feels like it takes hours even though she knows it’s less than ten minutes.
She drops her keys on the welcome mat- the one she picked out with Reiju because it had cats and butterflies on it- and her hands shake so badly it takes her three tries to get them in the lock. The door swings open and the apartment is damningly silent. Tashigi forces herself to go inside.
At first glance nothing’s changed, but then Tashigi notices Reiju’s other pairs of shoes missing from the entryway and her coats are gone from the rack. As she moves through the apartment in a daze she sees more of Reiju’s belongings have disappeared.
Her toothbrush isn’t in the holder by the sink. Her towels are gone from their hooks. Her favorite mug is no longer in the cabinet, and the houseplants that Reiju so loved to put in the windows are all gone. A sob leaves Tashigi’s mouth before she can stop it. It’s like Reiju had never existed.
She almost can’t make herself enter their bedroom, can’t bear the thought of Reiju’s things missing from the bedside table, but she gathers what little courage she has left and does it anyway. Tashigi sucks in a harsh breath when she sees something sitting on Reiju’s nightstand.
It’s a white card and a pink metal brooch in the shape of a butterfly.
She crosses the room in an instant, picking up the eggshell white card with shaking fingers.
I meant it
‘Meant what?’ Tashigi thinks dumbly before picking up the brooch as well.
It looks the same as all the other metal brooches Monarch left at the crime scenes. Same metal, same color, same-
Tashigi pauses. Something is different. She flips the brooch over to see a number of grooves on the back of the pin, something she’d never felt on the other brooches she’d handled for the Monarch case. She squints at the grooves only to gasp as she realizes they aren’t grooves, but miniature letters and numbers engraved into the metal.
It’s some kind of cypher, Tashigi quickly realizes. She races to the small office space in the apartment and is shocked to find Reiju’s laptop still there. She hurriedly flips up the lid, only to balk when she sees the password bar sitting up on the screen. Reiju has never locked her laptop before.
Tashigi despairs for only a minute before she spots the small pink sticky note on the bottom of the screen.
What you are to me
Tashigi’s hands shake as she unsteadily types ‘HOME’ into the password bar and breathes a sigh of relief as the laptop unlocks. Reiju’s laptop looks to be entirely wiped aside from a word document sitting in the files. It’s another string of numbers and letters, but Tashigi quickly realizes it’s the decoder key for the cypher on the brooch.
It takes her the better part of an hour and a half to decipher the message, long enough that she has to turn her phone off as Smoker continues to blow up her voicemail, but soon she’s sitting back and staring at a string of numbers and a couple letters.
Coordinates.
Tashigi picks up her phone then and dials her captain’s number.
“God damn it, Tashigi!” Smoker bellows as soon as he picks up, “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for over an hour! What the hell were you thinking-?!”
“I know where they are.”
Smoker pauses. “What?”
“I know where the Vinsmoke’s are,” Tashigi repeats.
“And how the fuck do you know that?” Smoker asks, suspicious.
“Because,” Tashigi swallows, “Because they want to be found.”
She’s sure of that now. She’s sure Reiju wasn’t faking her fear of her father or the way she didn’t want the rest of her siblings near him. She’s sure there’s something he’s using over all of his children as leverage, demanding they return to the fold and restart their illegal dealings. Maybe he’s threatening their lives, their jobs, their friends…
Hell, he might even be threatening Tashigi herself to get Reiju to fall in line, but Tashigi won’t let herself be her girlfriend’s weakness.
“Come back to the office,” Smoker finally says, “Sounds like you got a lot of explaining to do.”
“Yes, sir,” Tashigi says before hanging up.
She’s quick to shove Reiju’s computer into the laptop bag along with the calling card and butterfly brooch. It’s as Tashigi’s standing in the doorway of her apartment, taking one last long look at all the empty spaces that Reiju used to fill that she thinks about the words on the calling card.
I meant it.
“I meant it too, Reiju,” Tashigi vows quietly. “I’ll find you again. Even if it’s hard. Even if it hurts.”