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As Barok entered his bedroom, he knocked over the small cat charm on the table alongside his bed. Its tail snagged on the edge as he picked it up, and he carefully freed it. “Pray forgive the discourtesy,” he said as gravely as if it were alive.
Fortunately, the tiny purple cat looked unharmed.
A rueful chuckle escaped him. “Is this what I’ve come to? Talking to a toy?”
Yet something about the way it stared back at him silently, neither judging nor condemning him, made it easy to talk to.
“It’s little wonder,” he said. “You may be my only friend in London.” He shook his head with a sigh. “Depressing, isn’t it? A toy cat as my only friend? Miss Iris spoke correctly when she said I needed you because I was lonely.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed, the charm cradled in his hands.
“I dare not get close to her,” he said, “lest I put her in danger. And who else do I have? My apprentice? He despises me. He has every reason to hate me, I know that. Even so… sometimes it hurts.”
The deep, gnawing loneliness rose like an abyss to swallow him up.
He clutched the cat like a lifeline. “Forgive me,” he whispered, not certain why he was apologizing to his charm, but unable to fight the overwhelming loneliness and guilt. “Forgive me…”
And on the other side of London, in a rented flat, Kazuma Asogi sat staring wide-eyed at the white cat charm in his hands.
#
All throughout the day, the overheard words rang through Kazuma’s mind. My apprentice? He despises me.
Sometimes it hurts.
If only he could dismiss it as a dream. Yet he remembered the charm Ryunosuke used during the trial to communicate with Sholmes. The little cat Iris gave him must be similar, linked to one Lord van Zieks owned.
Guilt and irritation warred inside of him. He and Van Zieks had a comfortable working relationship now. His hatred had faded into a dull ache thanks to his growing respect for the other man. If he kept his distance, it was only because Van Zieks made himself so unapproachable!
Depressing, isn’t it? A toy cat as my only friend?
Kazuma never felt right doing nothing when someone was suffering—especially someone he, if somewhat grudgingly, cared about.
After work, when he met Gina outside the office like usual, he glanced back. Van Zieks watched them with an unreadable expression before looking away. Kazuma had always taken that to be distaste, but… did he actually feel left out?
“Oi, wot’s eatin’ you?” Gina asked.
He ran a hand over his face and lowered his voice. “How would you feel about inviting Lord van Zieks to hang out with us tonight?”
She gaped at him. “Yer off yer rocker!”
“I’m serious.” He lowered his voice even further. “He doesn’t show it, but I think he’s lonely. He’d probably really appreciate it.”
She looked skeptical, but shrugged. “Fine, if that’s wot you want. Go on an’ ask him, then.”
“I can’t! He doesn’t trust me; he’ll think it’s a trap! You ask him instead.”
“That just makes it sound more like a trap!” Nevertheless, she walked into the office.
Kazuma exhaled and listened in.
“Miss Lestrade,” Van Zieks said, “is there something you need?”
“Want to grab a drink or somefin’ wi’ me tonight? Kaz is havin’ a get-together, but ‘e’s too shy to ask ya himself.”
Wait, what? Kazuma stormed into the office. “I didn’t tell you to say that!”
She put her hands on her hips. “If yer gonna make me ask, I’m gonna call it like I see it!”
Van Zieks stared at them.
Embarrassed, Kazuma looked away. “I was not too shy, but I did suggest inviting you, sir.”
“I…” He looked bewildered. “I… suppose I will accept.”
#
This was a mistake.
Barok knocked on the door of Asogi’s flat and clutched a hallowed bottle to his chest like it might protect him. Somehow intruding upon this gathering made him feel like a shy university student once again, and the thought of participating in social activities had only grown more daunting since he became known as the Reaper.
The door opened, and his last chance to retreat vanished. “Thank you for inviting me.” He stepped inside.
“Don’t mention it,” Asogi said.
Lestrade nodded. “We often get together, so it’s about time you joined us.”
Silence fell over the room. Barok held out the bottle. “I brought one of my fine vintages for us to share.”
She whistled. “Fancy. ‘Is Lordship’s bringin’ out the good stuff for us.”
“And here I thought you’d be terrible at parties,” Asogi said as he accepted the bottle. “Thank you, sir.”
Barok shook his head. “Pray, as we are not at the office, there is no need to stand on formality.”
Another moment of silence passed, and he feared he had made a grave error. Then Lestrade slung one arm around his shoulders. “Glad to ‘ear it, Zieks!”
He froze, unused to such close contact. Precisely how much of a social gaffe would it be to pull away? Fortunately, she let go before he had to find out.
Asogi set the bottle of wine down—then drew his sword and swung it to catch the cork on the tip of the blade and send it flying.
“Oi, Kaz, did we need the dramatics?”
“Yes,” he said without pause.
While he produced three glasses and filled them, Barok cleared his throat. “Might I ask a question, Lestrade?”
“Wot is it?”
“For both Mr. Naruhodo and I, you have shortened our surnames. Yet you address Asogi by a shortened form of his given name. Why?”
She let out a huff of breath and folded her arms. “I tried usin’ ‘is family name, but he got all pouty about it.”
Asogi scowled. “She called me ‘Soggy.’”
Lestrade glared back at him. “Wot’s wrong wi’ that? It’s yer name, innit?”
“It is not my name!”
“’Sides, ‘Oddo never fussed about being called ‘Oddo.”
“At worst, that sounds like you’re saying Ryunosuke is strange. ‘Soggy’ sounds like Van Zieks dredged me up from the river.”
A startled laugh escaped Barok. He covered it with a cough, but both of them froze and stared at him. He grabbed a glass of wine to mask his embarrassment. Perhaps this evening wasn’t entirely hopeless.
He sipped his wine, and silence descended over them again.
Then again, perhaps it was.
#
Gina fidgeted as the awkward silence stretched on. This was the worst. Sure, it looked like Zieks would rather be anywhere but here, but if she watched him while thinking about what Kaz said about him being secretly lonely… yeah, he might just be uncomfortable. But for all this was Kaz’s idea, he wasn’t helping.
Not that she blamed him. She could call their boss “Zieks,” but that didn’t mean she forgot who he was. Still, someone had to save this evening.
She clapped her hands together. “’Ow about I teach you two ‘ow to dive?”
They looked at her.
“Do you mean stealing?” Zieks pinched the bridge of his nose. “Pray forgive the discourtesy of declining.”
As for Kaz, he lifted his chin and folded his arms. “I prefer to face my enemies rather than hide behind trickery!”
She rolled her eyes. “Well sittin’ around in silence starin’ at each other isn’t much of a party.”
“Forgive me,” Zieks said, hand over his prosecutor’s badge. “This is my fault. I should not have come.”
Kaz jumped to his feet. “Enough of that. It’s time for a party game!” He strode into the kitchen area and returned with three large melons, which he set on a table against the far wall. “The goal is to see who can cut a melon from the farthest distance.”
…Of course.
He walked back to them, drew his sword, and slashed it through the air. The melon across from him collapsed, sliced neatly in two. He sheathed his sword again and smirked. “As you can see—”
A sword hurtled past them into the next melon. Zieks had backed up a few feet to get the greater distance.
“I believe I won,” he said.
Kaz scowled. “You stabbed it; that doesn’t count!”
“You said cut. The melon has been cut.”
…These two coves were terrifying sometimes.
“Well, no matter who won,” Kaz said, “now we can eat.”
“Do you expect me to eat something I’ve cut with my sword?”
“Well my blade didn’t actually make contact, so it’s obvious whose method is superior.”
While they argued, Gina crept in. Zieks glanced at her as she brushed past, but seemed more concerned about their argument, and Kaz didn’t even seem to notice her pushing past him.
“Regardless of how you change the rules, I achieved the greater distance.”
“Oh yeah? Well that’s solved easily enough.” Kaz stormed to the wall and reached for his sword. His hand closed around air. “Huh?”
Gina laughed. “Lookin’ for somefin’?”
“Y-You…”
“My word,” Zieks said, eyebrows raised, “have you found a way to subdue Asogi’s violent impulses?”
She folded her arms. “See, divin’ can be more useful than you thought!”
“Perhaps I should learn a thing or two after all, if only to be able to silence Asogi.”
“Sure thing, I’ll ‘ave you divin’ like a pro in no time!”
Kaz drew himself up. “If he can do it, I’ll be even better!”
“Great!” She paused. “You want yer badge back first, Zieks?”
He blinked at her, then lifted his hand to the spot where his prosecutor’s badge used to be. “I… you…”
She handed it back to him and grinned. “Right then, step one!”
#
Pickpocketing lessons were hardly what Kazuma expected to bring them together, but it worked. Once Van Zieks relaxed, he fit in well, with a dry sense of humor and a surprising tolerance for nonsense. He even smiled, a genuine smile that made him look softer and kinder.
“Oi Kaz, wot’s this?”
Kazuma turned—and froze as Gina held up his cat charm. “That… was a gift from Iris.”
“Oh?” Van Zieks reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny purple cat. “I have one as well.”
Gina laughed. “They’re cute.” She admired the charm from different angles and then frowned. “These ears look like they move. Wot ‘appens if you pull ‘em?”
“Nothing,” Kazuma said.
It was the wrong thing to say, because she immediately grabbed the ears. “You sure?”
“Waitnodon’t!”
Too late. She gave them a sharp tug.
Van Zieks’s charm closed its tiny paws around his finger, and he stared at it. “W-What in tarnation?! I’ve never seen it do that before.”
“Whoa, Zieks!” Gina exclaimed. “I can ‘ear ya through ‘ere!”
“What?”
“Didn’t ‘Oddo ‘ave somefin like this at the trial?”
Van Zieks stared at the cat charm in his hand, and then he turned a horrified expression toward Kazuma. “Asogi, you… heard something through this… didn’t you?”
Frustration made Kazuma close his eyes. Things had been going so well, too.
“Is that why you invited me here tonight?”
“Oi, wot does it matter?” Gina joined them and clapped a hand on each of their shoulders. “We ‘ad fun, didn’t we?”
Kazuma took a deep breath and met Van Zieks’s gaze. “Gina’s right. It doesn’t matter why I invited you. Tonight ended up being fun, and I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”
“I must admit I… enjoyed myself more than I anticipated.”
“There, ya see?” Gina asked. “An’ if yer mad at Kaz for eavesdroppin’ or wotever, you can ‘ang out with jus’ me instead.”
Kazuma drew himself up. “Excuse me?”
Van Zieks laughed, and no attempt at disguising it worked this time. He cleared his throat and looked away. “Thank you.”
“So,” Kazuma said, “we can count on you next time?”
He hesitated for only a fraction of a second. “Yes.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
And he really was.