The World in Half: FIRST HALF

K A P I T E L V I E R

IV: ITCHIROU HAYASE

Investigator Yuji Tatsuya had an unremarkably pale face, cropped brown hair, and small, slitted eyes that always looked both piercing and bored at the same time, like a typical corporate Japanese male in his tight suit and tie. He looked very young, which made sense given that he rose to prominence as a senior investigator at the Commission of Counter Ghoul at the age of thirty, precisely five years ago in Hayase's calendar. This was around the time when Itchirou was still an academy cadet at the 1st Academy in the Chuo Ward, aspiring to become an investigator like his parents, who had both been esteemed pursuers of justice in their prime.

He harbored little desire to confront his mentor right now, who felt more like an indifferent superior than a true teacher. But as much as he didn't want to meet the man so soon after the incident with Number 652, and what happened to his partner and friend Sato Akashi, Hayase didn't have much choice in the matter now that he was already at the bureau office.

It’s a waste of time and energy to dally instead of facing the inevitable, he thought to himself.

Yuji is the type of mentor who often delegates the less appealing cases to his subordinates, masking his aversion as a form of rigorous field training for junior investigators like Itchirou.

Instead, he spends much of his time in the 1st Ward, likely socializing with other investigators like himself, and only visits the Nerima office when he's ready to offload another case onto Hayase and Sato, making them feel like mere receptacles for unwanted tasks. That, or to scold them, particularly Hayase, for doing something he likely deems off the books again.

To him, I've done nothing good! Nothing! Hayase had thought many times throughout his career as an investigator. The painful part is that he needs Yuji, and has to suck up to him for the career advancement he wants, that promotion to Second Class, which might finally free him from that worthless mentor. Of course, he constantly wished for a different mentor, like Investigator Yukinori Shinohara, one of his professors at the Academy five years ago, but he understands it's all just wishful thinking at this point.

Itchirou could already see it as he walked down the hallway—the angry face of the Senior Investigator, which seemed to be Yuji’s default expression. Whether it was directed at Itchirou for risking too much in pursuit of ghouls, or disappointment for failing to apprehend them, Yuji's expressions rarely varied from anger or pride.

This time would likely be no different, Itchirou thought. Yuji will surely tell him he had "failed the first thing in ghoul countermeasures" again, which, in Yuji's view, was undoubtedly killing them. However, Yuji preferred Hayase's answers to be incorrect, so he would definitely advocate for apprehending ghouls instead, as if imprisoning them would somehow render them docile.

Lucky me, gaining the Senior Investigator's favor once more.

He stepped into the tense atmosphere of one of the briefing rooms in the bureau office, the one that Hayase and Sato often used to discuss their findings with each other and the bureau investigators who accompanied them on their ventures. He could say this confidently because Yuji rarely came to the 20th Ward to rally them as a mentor should, making him an unwanted guest in this office.

Responsibility weighed down on Itchirou's shoulders like waterlogged clothes with each step he took. Yuji was seated across a polished table, scattered with papers that Itchirou and Kai had used to cross-reference their investigations over the past week. An air of superiority emanated from him, as though he was a king meeting his subjects, something Itchirou clearly detested.

A frown on Yuji's face deepened as he glanced at his wristwatch, silently reproaching Hayase for being late to his summons, his feet impatiently moving against the long table before his seat.