Blood of the Guilty

Memory 10: Wishful Thinking

"I don't know how you can drink this stuff," groaned Exodus, spitting out her coffee into a flower pot sitting beside her.

"I'm sure it's fine," smiled Minny as she drank her coffee, looking through the windows, "I feel like it's just different taste buds."

As Minny and Exodus enjoyed their drink, they began staring at the window, entranced by the passerby's of Akihabara. There was an old woman, with an old burlap bag crossing the street, and a young man in a classy suit helping her out. Upon reaching the end of the street however, the old woman began bickering at the man by the time they crossed. She seemed to be frustrated that he had even helped her in the first place.

"How odd," said Minny as she stared.

"Quite," replied Exodus, spitting out the coffee after taking a sip.

Then there seemed to be a man in a uniform and a woman in a red dress walking down the sidewalk together, on a stroll. The man was pushing a baby carriage. Suddenly, the man seemed to had forgotten something, told the woman hastily, and left her, rushing towards the opposite direction. The woman merely sighed and continued their stroll through the street, pushing the baby carriage.

"How irresponsible," said Exodus as she stared.

"Quite," replied Minny, noticing that most of her coffee was gone.

Finally, a young child in messy clothes was being scolded by a mother in a yellow dress. Judging from the situation, it seemed that the child had shoplifted. Although the mother was being strict, in the end she began patting his shaggy head and hugging him. He no longer cried, but instead embraced the warmth of his mother.

The cups on the table were empty, as Minny waved at the waiter for the check. Exodus tapped her fingers along the table, almost unamused about the experience.

"This was boring..." said Exodus, "Barely any action. All we did was stare at the window while drinking coffee."

"We accomplished some form of our goal at least," replied Minny, stating out what she had observed carefully, "We found out about the culture of Akihabara at first glance. How people can act.. how cruel timing can be.. and even how events can be unpredictable. It's something worth noting."

"Sounds like a lotta hooplah to me," replied Exodus, kicking back on the chair, "I doubt we'll be finding any leads about this. Are you sure that Yosuke has enough information on this man and that we're not just blindly serving as bait? We're risking our lives out here for something we don't even know."

"Well, it's not like we have much to do while we're here," replied Minny, "We were only sent because of Proiettilo members disappearing and we don't have to actually-"

"Quiet down," said Exodus, putting a finger up to her lip for a few seconds, "I've noticed something from the waiter when I scanned the room. He made a weird face at us the moment I mentioned 'Yosuke.' He knows something that we don't know."

"Why would a random waiter know about Yosuke?" asked Minny in disbelief, "He's a Proiettilo member."

"That's what we're going to find out," said Exodus, getting up from her chair.

Minny has no choice but to follow Exodus and her reckless curiosity. Upon arriving at the counter, Exodus had already given the waiter a look.

"Hey, do you know anything about a 'Yosuke Sakuma?'" she asked.

"No, I don't," the waiter quickly replied before going into the back room of the coffee shop.

"That was certainly hesitation," said Exodus, "No doubt about it. Let's go, Minny."

"I swear if you're just gonna get us in trouble again.." worried Minny.

"This guy knows something about Yosuke. This is something that we'll need information about!"

The two girls barged into the back rooms, only to be met by scalding hot coffee being thrown at them. Exodus closed her eyes, trying her best to put up her arms to prevent any vulnerable areas from getting burned. However, she felt nothing as she heard clacks of objects fall to the ground: Ice. Minny had frozen some of the particles of coffee into ice.

"Nice quick thinking, Minny," smiled Exodus, "Now.. to find out where this guy is hiding."

Suddenly, the sinks began to rumble as water was shot out of their drains. The water flowed in the air, seemingly being manipulated by the force around them. They were shooting at Exodus and Minny at high bursts of speed.

"I don't need to be involved with any of those two again!" yelled the waiter's voice, "So leave me alone!"

Exodus and Minny had to dodge the watery attacks, gaining small cuts on their shoulders. Minny knew that she had to support Exodus this time, or they'd be outmatched in a future situation.