I closed the door to the room as I walked out.
When I did, I was met with the sight of Kiana and Mei standing there with someone extra.
"Bronya. You're here too."
"Yes." The girl in question nodded.
"When did you arrive?" I asked as I looked at all the bags and luggage they were carrying.
"The Bronya arrived when Subject Gojo was laughing like crazy in the room.." She tilted her head to the side. "May Gojo tell us what that was about?"
What?
Was I actually that loud?
Crap… my image in their eyes…
I coughed in my hand. "That's not something for a bunch of kids to know…"
"Subject Gojo. You are the second youngest here."
"I am the oldest in terms of mental age." I corrected her. But then, I returned to seriousness. "Did you, well, you know?" I gestured towards Mei, trying to be subtle about it.
Who knew how she would react if she found out that Bronya was working for the enemy.
"Gojo. I already know what's going on…"
Ok… maybe I'm not the most subtle person in the room…
"The Bronya has told sister Mei everything…"
I blinked as I turned to Mei.
"You're ok with it?"
"I… feel a bit uncomfortable." Mei looked away a bit. "But since Bronya says she's willing to help, I'm willing to trust her."
She's taking it a lot better than I thought.
At least I don't have to deal with an internal split right now then.
"Have you gotten all the things you need, Mei?"
She hesitated for a moment before nodding weakly. "I'm ready to go."
"Why are you going?" Kiana asked in surprise. "Didn't we chase those guys off already?"
"Subject Gojo has only delayed the issue." Bronya glanced at the white haired girl. "To continuously stop asset seizure would cause all of us to be deemed as criminals."
"Can't we just beat them up then?""Sure, if you wanna be an international criminal." I spoke for Bronya with a shrug. "Maybe we could reenact Now You See Me?"
"Wait… that sounds kinda cool?"
"Subject Gojo, Subject Kiana, I believe this conversation is inappropriate considering Sister Mei's situation?"
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
Weren't you the one who started talking about that thing in the first place?
"Well, first things first. Where are you going to stay next, Mei? Do you have any family you can contact?" I asked.
The purple-haired girl shook her head. "They… aren't answering my calls…"
They're trying to stay out of trouble as well then.
In that case…
"Why don't you stay with Kiana and I then? Bronya lives just next door as well."
"Ah? I… I don't want to intrude…"
Kiana cut in at this time.
"Intrude! No way! It's gonna be like a bigger sleepover now!"
Bronya and I looked at Kiana, causing her to shrink slightly.
"Too much?"
"Yes."/"Yea…"
"So what do you think?" I turned back to Mei again.
She looked at us silently for a moment. Her fingers fiddled with the straps of her backpack before she gave a firm nod."If you guys are willing to accept me…"
"Why are you acting so polite with us now?" I helped pick up a few of her bags. "What happened to all that spark?"
Hehe
Pun intended
Even Mei, in her current state, couldn't help but groan before her lips crept upwards. "That was terrible…"
"It did its job." I held out my hand. "C'mon. Hold onto me."
Kiana opened her mouth, likely to try and make a bad joke at this time, but a quick deadpan stare from me cowed her. She picked up some bags as well as she grabbed onto me.
"Is that how your teleportation works?"
"Huh. You catch on pretty quickly, Mei."
"It's… just a guess…" She looked away shyly as she held my outstretched palm.
Bronya grabbed onto my sleeve as Project Bunny held up a few bags as well. "Gojo has teleportation?"
A hint of brightness appeared in her eyes.
"Yup. Hold on tight. I'm not gonna come back and pick you up if you don't hold on properly."
"By the way, what did you do to that guy?" Kiana asked. Mei and Bronya's ears perked up at that.
"What guy?"
"The guy who tried to take… wait, you know what? Nevermind… I don't want to know…"
—------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the middle of the night, my boots touched down on concrete as I looked at the sign on the wall.
Block C.
Ryoma's block.
Perfect.
After settling Mei into the house earlier in the day, I went and made a nice little donation to the local government to find out where Ryoma was being held.
Who knew they would be so forthcoming when I offered a small sum of ten million dollars?
While I could have gone in through legitimate means due to my nice little legal donation, I was feeling a bit sneaky tonight.
Thus, I just snuck in.
Not the brightest manoeuvre, but it was pretty fun.
Someone suddenly shouted from the other side of the hallway.
"Who the fuck are yo-"
I slammed his head with a brick, causing silence to return once more.
Assassin's Creed 101. Nobody saw you if they aren't conscious…
Now, back to my search.
When I found Ryoma's cell, I really didn't know whether I should rescue him honestly.
His cell was starkly different from the rest.
There was a door to help him keep privacy from the rest of the inmates. And inside, there was a king-sized bed with silky soft sheets. There were a crap ton of other amenities in the room that I will not name, but I will say…
Bro did not look like he was suffering at all.
He was even munching on some caviar right now.
"Dude…"
Ryoma jumped in his seat as he looked at me peeking at him through the peephole.
"Gojo Satoru? What are you doing here?"
"I dunno… watching you make your mukbang vid while your daughter is suffering, I guess?"
A hint of shame appeared on his face. It seemed that he understood how bad it looked for him to be living the life up here while his daughter was out there like that.
"There is nothing I can do right now…" Ryoma closed his eyes as he put down his utensils. "I've lost."
"Yeah. Your choice in men is pretty bad."
The guy I tor- asked nicely for information told me that the guy in front of me left his sensitive info on his desk… AGAIN!!!
Thus, they took it and gave it to Cocolia.
"You don't have to remind me." Ryoma sighed. "I have made a grave mistake…"
"A?"
"Many." He corrected as he stood up and walked over. "You're here for some information, I hope?"
"Bingo. Has Cocolia taken over ME Corp?"
"She has complete control over it now. It was always a company tied to Anti-Entropy anyways, so now that I've lost to her, she has the right to take it."
I put a hand on my chin. "Do you want me to help you get out?"
"Will you break me out?"
"I could do that. Or I could just crash Japan's economy and force the government to let you out."
"I'd prefer for you to not make the yen worth less than the paper used to print it…" Ryoma rubbed his head. "But it is better for me to stay here for the time being."
"Don't tell me you're being like Siegfried…" I accused. "By the way, what happened to him anyways? Why is he just standing by?"
"Siegfried left the country a while ago to deal with Honkai beasts."
"Ha? What happened to looking after his daughter?"
"He said that she was in capable hands…"
Now that stunned me for a moment.
Siegfried…
He…
Is he an idiot? Leaving his daughter to a random guy like this without supervision?
I shook my head with a sigh. "Forget about that guy. He's hopeless. What about you?"
"I can't do anything even if I go out now. Besides, I have a plan in store for Mei as well…"
I raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to continue.
"It's you."
"…Come again?"
"You beat Siegfried. If Mei loses control…" His eyes met mine. "You can stop her."
"That's a lot you're pinning on a 14 year old kid…"
"But you're our only hope…"
"Your other allies?"
"Can't be contacted right now."
"Schicksal?"
"I've tried. But that bastard, Otto seems to just be watching right now…"
Great...
Just what I needed.
Another guy watching the fun in the background ready to step in at any time.
I turned around, clearly ready to leave at this time.
That was enough information for now. If I needed anything more, I could always come back later.
Noticing this, Ryoma suddenly called out.
"Gojo… please be patient with Mei…"
"Hmm?"
"She…" He hesitated, as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to say this. "She was kidnapped when she was younger so…"
"I get it."
And with a clap of my hands, I teleported out of there.
—----------------------------------------------
Ryoma stood there staring at the blank space where Gojo Satoru stood previously.
"Please…"
"Save Mei, Gojo Satoru…"
"I…"
He slammed his fist at the door.
"I can't do anything…"
(A/N: How is the chapter? Please give powerstones and comment. Please review as well if possible!)