Hyouma sat motionless in the chains. His eyes, dark and unreadable, barely acknowledged the warriors standing before him.
Watari, arms crossed, let out a slow exhale. “Alright.” His voice was smooth, confident. “Let’s have a chat.”
Silence.
A weight hung in the air.
Everyone was tense.
This was it.
This was the moment.
And then—
“Detective Kaito,” Watari said, suddenly turning, voice deep and dramatic. “What do you make of this criminal?”
Kaito stroked his chin, nodding sagely. “Hmm. Quite the case we have here, Watson.”
The entire room defted.
Yumi blinked. “Oh my god.”
Ryuko exhaled sharply through his nose. “We’re doing this? Really?”
Kaito ignored them, stepping forward, voice carrying the weight of a thousand crime dramas. “This man has been shackled for months. He has given no information. Which means…” He squinted, tapping his temple. “His willpower is tremendous.”
Watari gasped in mock realization. “Or…”
Kaito turned, nodding slowly. “Or…”
Together, they spoke.
“…He’s just stubborn.”
Silence.
Jiro ran a hand down his face. “Oh, we’re so doomed.”
Kaito ignored him, adjusting his colr dramatically. “We must try a different tactic, Watson.”
“Ah,” Watari mused, turning to Hyouma with a smirk. “Good cop, bad cop.”
“Indeed.”
Kaito cracked his knuckles. “I’ll be the bad cop.”
Watari crossed his arms. “And I’ll be the good cop.”
The room was still for a moment.
Then, as if on cue, Kaito grabbed a nearby chair, spun it around, and smmed it against the ground before straddling it backward.
“Listen here, buddy,” he growled, getting right in Hyouma’s face. “We can do this the easy way, or the—”
“I like your scarf,” Watari interrupted pleasantly.
Silence.
Hyouma didn’t even react.
Kaito twitched. “What.”
Watari smiled innocently. “What? I’m the good cop.”
Kaito’s jaw tightened. “You—You’re supposed to let me be scary first.”
“Ohhh.” Watari snapped his fingers. “I see. Do it again.”
Kaito inhaled sharply, gring at Hyouma. “Alright, buddy. We can do this the easy way or the—”
“Can I get you a drink with that good sir?” Watari said.
“I’M GONNA KILL YOU.”
Jiro leaned over to Amano. “Are we sure THIS is the team that defeated Kuroda?”
Amano just buried her face in her hands. “Ayase said that detective wasn’t part of it but the rest?……I hate my life. We’re doomed.”
Watari turned to Kaito. “Maybe bad cop good cop isn’t our style.”
Kaito exhaled, rubbing his temples. “You’re right. We should—”
“Switch it up,” Watari finished.
Beat.
Now Watari sat in front of Hyouma, arms crossed, brows furrowed.
Kaito, meanwhile, perched himself on the armrest of a chair, legs crossed, completely rexed.
“I don’t wanna do this, kid,” Watari said gruffly, shaking his head. “But you leave me no choice.”
Kaito yawned. “Don’t be too rough on him, boss. Look at him. He’s already down bad.”
Watari smmed his hands on the table. “WHERE WERE YOU THE NIGHT OF THE FESTIVAL?!”
Kaito chuckled. “Oh, no. He’s serious now. No stopping boss when he’s serious.”
Hyouma, still bnk-faced, simply blinked.
Silence.
Then, finally, Yumi had enough.
CRACK.
A single bonk to the back of Watari’s head.
“Move.”
Watari rubbed the sore spot. “Ow—hey—”
“I said, move.”
Yumi stepped forward, exhaling, her Reibaku glowing as fmes curled around her fingers. Kiyohime’s aura fred.
The room tensed.
Was this it?
Was Yumi about to break him?
Was this the moment the interrogation turned serious?
She stepped right in front of Hyouma—
And smiled.
“Did you know Watari once tripped in the Setai headquarters and knocked over all the offering bowls?”
Silence.
A beat.
Amano choked. “Wait, what?”
Kaito whipped his head toward Watari. “You DID?”
Watari coughed into his fist. “Look, man, it was one time—”
Yumi continued. “Oh, oh! And then there was that time he tried to fight off a boar using only a bag of oranges—”
“Okay, that was strategic—”
“Strategically STUPID.”
Even Hyouma looked mildly intrigued.
Yumi’s ughter bubbled up, and she turned to the prisoner. “Isn’t that hirious? Doesn’t that make you want to talk?”
Hyouma blinked. Then…
He exhaled through his nose.
Was that—
A ugh?
Watari deadpanned. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
And then—
BONK.
Ren knocked Yumi on the head, pushing her aside.
“Enough,” he muttered. “Let me handle this.”
Yumi pouted. “I was so close.”
Ren stepped forward, eyes shadowed beneath his bangs. His Reibaku gleamed. A shimmer like moonlight rippled across the bde’s edge.
The air changed.
Dark.
Heavy.
Lethal.
Ren inhaled. Then, voice low, he murmured—
“You wouldn’t understand moonlight.”
Everyone blinked.
Ryuko frowned. “Huh?”
Ren continued.
“I am the night.”
Kaito squinted. “What.”
“I am… everywhere. But nowhere.”
Jiro whispered. “What the hell is he doing.”
“I am in front of you—”
Watari pinched the bridge of his nose. “Oh god, it stinks.”
“—And yet behind you.”
Ryuko smacked him upside the head.
“Enough.”
Ren blinked, rubbing his skull. “Ow.”
Ryuko stepped up.
And without hesitation—
Ssh.
A single, clean cut across Hyouma’s arm.
“RYUKO?!”
The entire squad reacted.
Ryuko just shrugged. “He was already bleeding.”
Kaito threw up his hands. “YOU DON’T JUST ADD MORE.”
Ryuko scoffed. “He’ll live.”
Ayase sighed.
Long. Deep. The sigh of a man who regretted his entire existence.
Finally, he stepped forward.
“Enough.”
His voice cut through the room.
Everyone stilled.
Even Hyouma.
Ayase’s eyes locked onto the prisoner’s.
“Hyouma,” he murmured.
Silence.
“If I remember correctly…” Ayase’s voice was soft, calm, dangerous. “You were good friends with my captain.”
A pause.
A shift.
“Imagine what Koharu would say about you now.”
The chains rattled.
Kaito suddenly leans over to Watari, voice low. “Yo. Did you see that?”
Watari blinks. “See what?”
Kaito tilts his head toward Hyouma, keeping his voice quiet. “He’s been bnk-faced this whole time, but his jaw tightened when Ayase mentioned Koharu.”
Watari stares at him for a second. Then, ftly— “Yo. You can actually use your brain?”
Kaito nods, dead serious. “I know. It’s scary, yeah?”
Hyouma’s fists clenched.
And for the first time—
Something in his eyes changed.
CUT TO BLACK.
