With Every Step

4. Respect

Working with Akira was difficult.

It wasn't unexpected; Amon had thought it wouldn't be easy during their meeting at the graveyard and he was proven right on the very day she started working with all of them. But that didn't mean it wasn't frustrating.

Leaving aside his own relation with her, Juuzou and Seidou had already kept the place quite lively with their actions and arguments, and the addition of Akira to the mix only heightened all of it.

Akira was talented and efficient, no doubt—as a female investigator and somebody who worked with Arima, it was only to be expected. But she was also highly assertive, quick with her logic and quicker with her wit. More than once she left Amon floundering with her flippant remarks, like when she had reasoned out why she wouldn't address him respectfully despite their positions. Her words wouldn't leave his mind—

"Of course, I'm willing to put this aside and show my respect to those who I truly admire."

Amon wondered once or twice if she was deliberately trying to push his buttons, but she never initiated anything. If he started a conversation with her, it would often end up as a test of his patience more than anything else, but if he simply remained silent, she would carry that on too.

And being silent shouldn't have been tough. Amon wasn't a very talkative person and he did prefer to focus on work over social interactions... but somehow Akira was the exception.

With her, he had a strong need to build a bond between them, to make their partnership worth more than something that existed on paper. Shinohara was right that such things couldn't be forced, that bonds like those were built through time spent together, but Amon found himself mollified little by those sensible words. Especially when Akira's attitude made the distance between them clear every day.

Whenever he was starting to feel uncharitably about her though, Amon would remember exactly why Akira was being so troublesome with him alone and those thoughts would die out in mere seconds, doused by guilt. She had all the reason to despise him—hell, when even he hadn't forgiven himself for that day, how could he expect her to do so?

He was sure the only reason she was even in the 20th Ward was to hunt down Rabbit and Fueguchi, and teaming with him was something she just had to bear with in pursuit of that goal.

He understood all of that. And yet, he wanted Akira's approval. He didn't know (he didn't want to admit to himself) why he was so set on winning her over and proving himself worthy of her trust.

Maybe it was because this was the first time somebody disliked him—he was too used to the cordiality of his peers and coworkers. Maybe it was to ensure cooperation between them.

Maybe it was because she, as Mr. Mado's daughter, was the only one who could absolve him.