Beastars: A Steep Fall From Light

Chapter 13: Unusual Prey on a Usual Night Out

Adler sat perched on the top of the tallest building in The Drusk. His suit had been mended nicely; he couldn't tell he had been attacked by a bear. Luckily for Louis, when the deer had gotten home his wife was out with friends, or so she had told Yuta. To her, he would be at the office for a few extra hours that night looking through files to personally make sure everything was in order before they went digital. That had made it easier for Adler to come out and make his way to The Drusk. He drove there in a refurbished police cruiser, bought at an auction and made to be unrecognizable. All records of the purchase had been erased and the automobile was left without a license. Adler only used it for driving to and from The Drusk, and to transport prisoners to the police. Louis kept it stored in a secret, pop-up garage that could sink into the ground on the edge of the property. No one knew except himself, Adler and Yuta. Adler had it parked in the alley next to the building he was currently sitting on.

The Drusk was quiet as usual. There wasn't much activity as the criminals knew how to hide from him. But he was just as smart. He guessed Yuta had been right. He and the criminals each adapted to each other. There was a sound that ruptured the silence he was sitting in. A motorcycle roared to life as it made its way towards his location. On any other night, he would've turned a blind eye, but Louis' attacker, who was also the killer going by Razor, had driven a motorcycle the night he smashed in the deer's window and shot out his back tire. As the motorcycle rounded the corner, Adler noted it was in the style of a sports bike. It was black, like the clothes worn by it's rider. They had a duffle bag slung over their shoulders and they leaned ever so slightly to adjust for the weight. Adler waited for the cyclist to be ahead enough that he couldn't see the vigilante as he gave chase.

He was on the rider's right as he ran over the rooftops and used the increased rebound in his prosthetic to jump over the gaps between buildings. He chased for a long while before the motorcycle took a hard left. Adler made for the jump, falling short halfway to the other side. He reached for his hip, grabbing the grappling chord and throwing it at the billboard, hooking a metal strut and swinging in an arch to land on the top of the advertisement for horn polish. He almost lost his footing given his prosthetic wasn't designed for this. He gave the line the usual flick and tug so it would come loose. He wrapped it up and strapped it back to his hip, taking a second to listen for the motorcycle, which he heard and continued in his pursuit.

The motorcyclist came to a stop, pulling his bike into a dead-end alley. Adler stood on the edge of the building and watched from above. The driver knocked on a metal door. A lion opened it, the sound of club music playing. They were popular hotspots in The Drusk. The owners of such places weren't rich, but they didn't have to worry about money either. The lion who'd answered the door reminded Adler of one of the Shishigumi, aside from the fact that they had shaved their mane short to appear more feminine. The two conversed. Adler couldn't hear what about and leaned in, laying a hand on the edge to steady himself. The lion nodded, clasping the animal's hand and pulling him into a handshake-hug before letting him in. The lion propped open the door and pulled a dumpster from the brick wall. There was a little area that had been removed and the bike was slid in there with the dumpster pushed back in place. Adler watched the lion go back to the door. This was usually the time he would jump down and conduct an interrogation, but he had no probable reason to. He couldn't prove this cyclist was Razor. The door shut and Adler was left in the silence again.

He jumped to the ground and moved the dumpster out of the way. The bike had no license plates and for a bike from The Drusk, it was well kept. The paint job looked new and there wasn't a single dent or warp in the frame. He moved the dumpster back in place and climbed back to the roof. He would scout out the building. Something didn't sit right with him.

He scaled the cement walls, looking for a window he could look into. The first two levels were windowless. On the third floor, every other window worked. The whole place was dark, aside from the lights on the hallways of the hotel. He saw the cyclist step from an elevator, kind of hard to miss given his overuse of black. The duffle was still slung over his shoulders as he made his way to the other side of the building. He entered a door at the end of a hall and Adler lost visual contract. He swung to the other side of the building, but these windows were covered. The trail ran cold. If only he had the smell of a canine, then he could smell them out.