I resist the urge to scratch at the butterfly stitches holding my eyebrow together as I make my way out of the Government communications department.
Shiori wasn't there when I went to drop off my report, so I find myself walking stiffly through the corridors that lead back out to the cafeteria, having left the files waiting for her. A surprise I'm sure she'll enjoy coming back to. I'm sure it's a good thing she wasn't there though, I don't particularly feel like going over the events of today all over again.
"Ugh, my spine feels like a pile of splintered wood" I groan to myself, stretching my arms only to feel a new ache at the base of my neck. I raise my hand to it as if massaging the skin would dissipate the pain and I feel my fingertips skim over the spot Karma had held me in only a few hours before.
Yeah, I'm well and truly exhausted.
"You're kidding me right? There's no way they're using Matsuoka because she's just that good. She's a kid"
The words that drift to me from around the next corner stop me in my tracks and halt any thoughts of my lingering aches and pains. I feel myself go still as the voices float towards me.
"And you're saying General Asaoka would ask for her by name for no good reason? That doesn't make sense either. Not for such an important mission—with special Agent Karasuma no less" Another voice replies and my curiosity is well and truly piqued. I look around briefly and see one of the store room cupboards we keep paper and office supplies in. I prod the door and luckily for me it opens so I slot myself in just behind it: straining my hearing to listen to the strange conversation echoing through the corridors.
"I never said there wasn't good reason. I thought with all the other stuff he'd have told us the rest by now. And no one's surprised about Karasuma, he dotes on her like she's a sad little puppy beaten to the curb. Wherever he is, so is she"
"All of what? What other stuff?" The other voice asks and from what I can tell they're both male and both unfamiliar to me. Which can only mean they're from a different department, and I can't help but wonder what they'd be doing on this floor talking about me.
"Hmmm, if Asaoka hasn't said anything then I shouldn't really tell you" the voice answers brusquely and I hear the hum of the coffee machine they must be chatting over.
"Come on, man. I'll probably find out one way or another. We both report to the General after all. Besides, Asaoka's had people reporting on Matsuoka for the whole of the last year, it's not like it's wrong to share info about her"
Asaoka's been spying on me for a whole year? I try my best to stay focused on the conversation but the revelation that Asaoka's been watching what I've been doing for a whole year makes my insides turn cold. Every lead I might've followed up, every file I've requested, every time I've Pursued something that might lead me to my father's killer...he's known. The whole time.
"God, fine" the other voice sighs "But only because you won't let me hear the end of it. Asaoka struck a deal with her so she'd work this case—she might be a ward of the state but he can't really do anything if she point blank refuses. He needs her here after all"
"Needs her here? for what?"
"That's not the important part" The voice says dismissively "It's what that deal involved"
"...hurry it up, man. This isn't some cinematic story telling moment"
"Don't rush me, Sakurai" The other man scolds before continuing "Asaoka said he'd reopen her father's case if she could take out this target"
"Hideki Matsuoka? The Sergeant that was shot in his own home?" I hear the sudden surprise in the answering voice and I can't help the sudden pulse of tension through my jaw at hearing my father's name.
YOU ARE READING
To Kill For the Truth (BOOK 1)
Fanfiction~ "That's the problem here. You say you want the truth as if it means the same thing to you as it does to me, but there's a big difference here. I'll kill for the truth" ~ Anri Matsuoka had spent her whole life knowing what she was good at. Killing...
