A Dance With The Reaper

004

"Are you even listening to me?" My best friends whiney voice cut off my thoughts and made my eye twitch.

I was lost in thought again. Can't even remember what I was thinking about.

I nod. "Of course I was, Jayne." I force my most convincing tone, trying to smile. She immediately frowned. She knows me well enough at this point to know when im lying.

"Oh yeah? Then what was I saying?" She said, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.

"I don't remember." I say with a shrug. "Something about your cousin."

That seemed to be enough to shut her up. Jayne is one of the people I've befriended during my work. I was about 18 or 19 when I met her. I don't understand why she even bothers with me, but its beneficial to me. She has a lot of connections, and she's unknowingly helped me crack cases just by flapping her fat mouth.

She talks too much, which is why I don't tell her anything but straight lies. She thinks my name is Sophie, I'm 24, and I work in an office somewhere. I met her while on a mission, she herself isn't a cop.

For someone who's so connected, she sure is kinda stupid. She's a foreigner from America, sure, but what Japanese person does she know named fucking Sophie?? I say all of this with love, of course. She is still my only friend.

Trying to listen to her talk on and on about worthless shit annoys me to no end, though. Something about her cousin getting into a car accident a few years ago. He's still fucking alive, why should I care??

But I have to pretend. I can do that. I can always do that.

Though, maybe I only think this because im an introvert. I can't stand partying or doing anything other than working alone, preferably in my own home or dark office. She's the complete opposite, and on occasion she has managed to drag me out of my comfortable bed to go to a club for a few hours. But its always unbearable for me, and I spend more time waiting for it to end than actually doing anything.

After a bit of dozing off, thinking about the whole Toman mess, I get an idea. Why doesn't she join them? Hajime has multiple offices related to Toman that doesnt exactly deal with the gang aspect of it. Shes a pretty girl, I'll give her that, so while she might stand out, it'll be a good distraction for me.

"Hey, Jayne? You still unemployed?" I say suddenly, cutting her off from whatever it was she was talking about.

With a head tilt, she nodded. "Yeah. Its rough trying to find a job here, no one wants to hire me because of how i look." She said with a sigh. Or maybe it's because she dropped out of high school and couldn't be professional if her life depended on it? That's probably a better reason, but she's allergic to accountability at times.

I didn't say that, though. What I actually said was, "Sorry to hear about that. I know a company that's hiring. Maybe I can help get you in?"

She immediately perked up. "Really? Id appreciate that a bunch!" She said excitedly. Im not going to tell her she's going to be working for a criminal organization.

I nodded. "Of course. We're friends, right?" I said. Just saying the F word made me want to vomit. I hate saying it, but it makes her feel better when I do.

The rest of the night spent with her was just talking about that damn job, as if I knew everything about it. I had to look it up for her, got her to apply, and politely suggested that she gets more modest clothing. Now, I have to go shopping with her. Yay. Anything to get the job done though, right? At least I managed to convince her to join, even if i only told her half-truths..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She got hired. Hajime must have a thing for young, dumb blondes with green eyes and pretty eyelashes to bat at him. Whatever. At least this wasn't a waste of my time.

I convinced her to tell me everything that she knew under the guise of gossip, and about a month in, she unknowingly gave me enough information to infiltrate into the organization myself. I knew what positions were still open, what Hajime would complain about, and what he thought a good worker was. She kept telling me Hajime would try to get closer with her and flirt with her or something. Which means she can still be useful to me.

The interview process was a lot harder for me. I guess its because im not some blonde bimbo with big boobs. I faked all of my information, played the role of a good little worker bee, and nailed the character i was playing perfectly. I was asked several times if I knew what I was getting myself into, which means a lot of the people who work for Hajime probably dont know they're in a criminal organization. Scummy, even by my standards.

Tomorrow marks my first day working in Toman. I can't wait. :)