The Friday lunch crowd at Aiya was insane, the line going all the way out the door and halfway to Shiroku, so when Chie arrived at Tatsumi Textiles, Kanji suggested they walk over to Souzai, instead.
“Rise-chan and Naoto-chan might join us later,” Kanji told her as he put the finished dogi into a box, wrapping the shop's signature-design crepe paper around it. He closed the top of the garment box and wrapped it with twine, a step Chie found a little unnecessary given that Yousuke was just going to open it again on Sunday morning, if not before...but Kanji seemed to be moving on automatic as he worked, and she didn't want to disturb his rhythm.
She accepted the box from him with a smile. “Did you want to wait for them? There's a faculty meeting this afternoon, so I've got a long lunch today.”
“Nah,” Kanji said, shaking his head. He walked out from behind the workbench. “I kinda wanted to talk to you anyway. Y'know, in private.”
Chie raised her eyebrows. “Uh, okay....”
As the two primary bruisers in the group, she and Kanji had always had in common their penchant for fighting first and talking second, but other than that they had never been very close. He had been her kouhai and always seemed to be more interested in hanging out with his fellow underclassmen Naoto and Rise (she knew the reasons why, now). Even though he seemed to like Yukiko's company, she often got the feeling that she and Yukiko together were a little too intimidating for him, especially given the incident during their second-year service trip to the mountains, as well as the school trip to Port Island; and Yousuke had always given him shit about this or that rumor or misconception, so it was no surprise that for most of the time they'd known each other, Kanji tended to quietly avoid her and her friends when they weren't in a large group.
But over the last several weeks – and especially since the Mayonaka debacle – the old Midnight Channel Investigation Team had grown close again, in some ways even closer than they had been in high school. Friendships that had been only cursory at best – like between Yousuke and Kanji – had become more genuine. But Chie still didn't have much of a connection to Kanji, outside of the training sessions, so she didn't know how to react to his sudden request to talk.
He started for the door with a jerk of his head. “C'mon. Let's get some korokke before they run out.”
Chie followed him, haltingly, still puzzled by his behavior. They ordered lunch and then sat down at one of the outdoor tables, the one closest to the textiles shop, in case Kanji needed to run back in. She set the box down beside her chair and folded her hands on the table, unsure of what to do next. Finally, she simply came out and asked him: “So, what did you want to talk about?”
Kanji leaned out over his knees (his preferred posture when he wasn't working) and stared at the tabletop for a long moment. Then he took a sharp breath and looked up at her. “We understand each other,” he said.
“Uh, we do?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I mean, we're fighters. We're not good with strategy or tactics, but we know how to fight, for sure.”
Chie chuckled; from anyone besides Kanji, his words might have sounded insulting. But taken at face value, she felt a sense of comraderie with him.
He blew another breath and shook his head. “Naoto-chan, she thinks you can plan and deduct your way outta anything. I mean, she's real smart, and I've seen her when she gets into planning mode – she's great with that sorta stuff – but sometimes she just...she thinks too much, y'know?” He glanced down at the tabletop again and gave an almost-sigh.
She smiled at him, recalling their high school days, when Naoto would be sitting at one of the desks in the library, or at their favored table in the Junes food court, scribbling notes and schemes and plans into a well-worn notebook laid out in front of her. Very little of the detective's meticulous observations and convoluted hypotheses had ever made sense to Chie (or anyone else, really), so Naoto had usually kept her notes to herself...but she always seemed to be thinking, planning, strategizing. Chie used to think it was just a sign of a superior intellect at work, yet Kanji's words now seemed to be disputing that, to some degree.
“I love her,” Kanji said softly, pausing just enough to let the words hang in the air, then continued on. “But there's some stuff that she just doesn't understand. Fighting ain't about strategy or tactics. Not when it comes down to seconds.” He looked up at her again. “I mean, a fight can go one way or the other like that,” and he leaned over the table toward her, snapping his fingers quickly. Then he sat back again, with a low smile. “But if you got heart, the heart for your fight...Hell, you can do anything. You and me, we know that.”
She smiled back, understanding a little bit more just where he was coming from.
He tapped the top of the table. “Hanamura needs to know that, too.” He shook his head again, his gaze darting from table to restaurant door to sky and finally back to her. “The guy talks a big game, but I can tell he's scared. You can't look a guy in the eyes in a fight and not know that. You know what I'm talkin' about, right?”
Now Chie nodded, her smile fading. Of course, she'd seen that fear in Yousuke's eyes. Even if he hadn't come straight out and told her about it, she would have known it. Not only because of what Kanji had said (he was right – she'd seen enough fear in opponents' eyes not to recognize it), but because lately Yousuke's embraces had become a little bit tighter, his glances a little bit longer, his kisses a little bit sweeter, as if he feared their every moment together could be their last. In some ways, it was a charming way to feel his affection...but she knew the real reason was because he worried.
“Yeah,” she murmured softly. “I do.”
Kanji offered her a little lopsided smile. “You're his heart for this thing. You know that, right?”
Chie chuckled and blushed, glancing away in embarrassment at this straightforward observation.
Yeah, so, I liked this piece as well - but I liked better the way that Chie and Yousuke are the main thrust of the chapter, controlling the action in the story rather than being controlled by it. Hopefully, you can see the differences...and appreciate the changes that were made.
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