"Why did you call me up here...?"
No response.
The older woman only stared at the young man.
For some reason, be it nerves or unease, her silence made the current tension within him feel worse than it should've.
Those eyes. Sharp and yet dulled by experience.
Her flattened expression.
The way her ponytail always seemed to loosen whenever she let her composure slip.
"Mr Graham." She finally began, voice monotone and precise. "I brought you here because I wanted to speak with you personally..."
Her gaze settled fully on him now, glasses tilting down her nose. "...without any distractions."
The cold air bit through his gray hoodie, but that wasn't what made him shiver.
It was her glare.
No.
It was the aura she exuded.
The woman's hands slipped out of her pockets for the first time since they got up here, revealing a cigarette. She slowly raised it to her mouth as she murmured,
"I hope you don't mind."
He swallowed.
Because even if he did, it's not like he'd do anything about it.
"No, g-go ahead."
Her fingertips dispersed tiny golden motes onto the bud in her mouth.
Then smoke rose, carried away by the breeze drifting into the grey sky.
She took a nice long inhale, savoring the flavor.
And then a small pause.
Hold.
...
Out.
A sizeable cloud of smoke slipped out as she let out a satisfied exhale.
"Mm." She hummed, flicking the dry bud away. "Humanity's finest poison."
"Uhm...not to be rude, but...w-why'd you bring us up here?"
She took another cigarette and lit it up. "To discuss Ms Hashinada's future." She muffled.
The young lad sighed as he looked around.
"For a moment I...thought you were gonna kill me or something."
"And you'd be a fool to follow me to a secluded spot on the rooftops." She said just before taking another huff.
That made the man chuckle awkwardly. "I guess that's fair..."
Hold.
...
Out.
Another gone.
"As I'm sure you're aware, Ms Hashinada has been taken into custody."
He watched her slip another one into her mouth. "And that means that she's no longer going to be just another normal student."
Hold.
...
"I know that she's been taken in, and to be honest, I was kinda hoping she wouldn't attract attention so soon—"
Out.
"That's the least of our problems, Mr Graham."
The smoke cloud drifted a bit too close.
She swirled her finger once and the cloud drifted back to her.
"What do you mean?" the young lad asked, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses.
This time, the older woman's cigarette lasted.
She tapped the ash away.
Then looked at him directly again.
Focused.
"You've heard of the two preliminary specialists in this region, right, Mr Graham?"
Graham's head tilted. "Yes. Sergeant Jujishima from the higher regions of Nakayama."
She huffed out a small puff this time.
One of her irises shimmered a deep gold as her hand rested in her pocket again.
"And?"
...
Tokyo, 11:45 AM.
...
"Y'know...when I was a kid, I used to have this teddy bear I'd drag along with me everywhere I'd go..."
Akira's eyes shifted up to the shorter woman.
"...what happened to it?" she murmured, eyes watching her face closely as the other woman's hands gently brushed her hair, resting easily on her lap.
Geisha smiled softly at her.
"I still have it. I made sure that I'd never lose it..." her eyes eased. "...just in case someone else might need it."
Akira's lips curved faintly.
"That's nice of you..." she looked away. "I wish...I had something like that too. Something that means a lot to me that I can...have around me too. Maybe then..." her voice lowered. "...maybe then I'd feel a bit less alone."
Geisha's fingers slowed in the taller girl's hair.
"Maybe you can."
Her free hand revealed a small, hand-sized purple bear.
It looked worn out. Like it had been stitched together with love and time.
Akira's eyes lit up slightly as she laughed a little.
"It's so small..."
"My sister gave it to me as a gift when I was 12..." her eyes stared at something beyond the hybrid's face, like she was peering into an old memory. "It's been my best friend. Especially when I feel lonely."
She chuckled as she inhaled its distinct smell. "I used to call him 'Bravey'."
Her finger played with its tiny arms. "Because even when I was scared, whenever I held him, he always lent me some bravery."
"...hence the name..." Akira finished softly.
Geisha smiled warmly again. "Yeah."
...
"And?"
The young man's eyes searched Juri's for a moment.
Then.
"...and Lieutenant Hoshinoi, Overseer and Chief Captain of the International Study of Essentials." he finished.
...
Geisha's eyes landed on Akira's as she muttered,
"I had this bear because it reminded me of my sister's bravery. Whenever I'd get scared...she'd always come save me."
The hybrid's hands brushed the bear beneath her fingertips.
The short woman let out an amused breath.
"But...I'm an old lady now..." her green eyes softened. "...and I've found my own strength."
Her hands lowered it toward Akira, slow and steady.
"...now, I think it'd only be fair if...someone else had it too..."
Akira took a moment before she realized what that meant.
Her eyes glistened as she sat up.
"W-Wait, y-you're giving it...to me?"
Geisha glanced at it a moment longer before the curve on her lips dipped sadly.
"Yes..."
...
Juri threw her cigarette away as her finger played with a dirt particle in her pocket.
She didn't speak.
Graham stepped forward.
"I initially was hoping to get help from her, but they refused my application. Said she was too busy." He sighed. "If it's Jujishima they connect me to, we'd be in trouble—"
"Mr Graham, I want you to know that Lieutenant Hoshinoi is a very ambiguous woman."
Step.
Step.
Step.
"She is cunning. Precise. Very measured." Juri stated, hands in her pockets now. "She doesn't waste her time with anything that doesn't promise fruition or satisfying results for her research."
She stopped in front of him.
"So going for her expertise on a case regarding a hybrid would only further complicate our situation."
"But she's...one of the best researchers in the country. If we wanna have a chance at controlling Akira's dormant abilities then—"
The wind blew through his hoodie as a certain woman's eyes pierced him through her glasses.
"'Control'?"
...
Akira's hands were guided into the shorter woman's as she set the bear down on her palms.
"Akira, I know what it's like to be afraid of hurting other people..." she said. "To be afraid of letting others down..."
Akira's gaze lowered.
Akashi...
"...to be lonely."
Her throat did that annoying thing again.
Geisha's hands found hers as she pressed the fuzzy bear into her palms.
Her fingers tilted her chin up.
The light made her eyes glossy.
Geisha's expression melted at that.
"...but hopefully, with this little bear here...?"
She closed Akira's hands for her.
Then wiped away a tear Akira didn't notice falling.
"...then maybe you and I can have something in common."
...
Juri's eyes darkened as they glowed behind her spectacles. "I am not here to control that girl. I am here because I want to bring out her potential."
Graham's throat tightened.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it that way."
The woman's glow simmered.
The particle pressed deeper into her thumb.
Then finally, a short exhale as she regained her composure.
"Come. We need to go find out which station she was taken into..." she muttered, adjusting her glasses. "...and hope that woman didn't get to her first..."
Graham took a moment, eyes landing on the golden motes peeling off her bloodied pocket as he followed reluctantly.
...
Akira hesitated.
Geisha didn't rush.
Gave her space.
Then.
She slowly raised her hands to look at the bear.
The stupid thing shouldn't have pulled tears out of her, but it did anyway.
Her throat constricted.
"You...y-you really mean it...?"
Geisha only nodded gently. "Consider this my first friendship token..."
Akira's eyes widened as her breath stuttered again.
There it was.
That word again.
Friend.
A few tears slipped free again.
Geisha wiped them away.
Her eyes gentler now as soft chuckle left her lips awkwardly. "Was that too weird?"
Akira let out a watery laugh, broken yet healing all at the same time as she shook her head slowly.
Then quietly, the violet haired girl whispered something heartbreakingly sincere.
"...thank you..."
Her heart ached in her chest as she curled forward, the shorter woman patting her head as she tried to blink back her own tears.
Because now she had a new friend.
And for the first time...
She couldn't sense any fear from her.