Shadows of the Elite — Volume 5
Chapter 1: A Dirty Fox
Narrator: Kei Fushimiya
Date: May 18, 2027
I was pulled out of the NIFL before class had even begun.
Naoki, Hina, Rika, Reina, and I had been separated and interrogated one by one. I didn't know what they had been asked. I only knew that, eventually, it became my turn.
I entered the interrogation room.
The officer who had been waiting for me stood up without saying a word. He left.
A few seconds later, someone else entered.
American.
That was the first thing I noticed.
The second was his expression.
He wore a smug grin, the kind people used when they believed they had already won. He didn't simply enter the room as though he belonged there.
He entered as though the room belonged to him.
He sat across from me.
"Well, well, well."
His eyes narrowed.
"If it isn't the Fushimiya scum."
I didn't react.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
His grin widened.
"My name is Markus. Markus Danwood."
The name meant nothing to me at first.
"You may not have seen me before," he continued, "but I've seen you."
I looked at him more carefully.
"No."
His expression shifted slightly.
"I've seen you before."
I remembered him.
"You were one of the officers waiting for us when the SWAT team raided the Golden Chronicle on February 15."
I leaned back in my chair.
"So I'll ask again."
"Why are we back here?
Markus laughed.
Then, without warning, he walked toward the camera mounted in the corner of the room.
He switched it off.
The small red light disappeared.
That caught my attention.
He reached into his coat and pulled out a sheet of paper.
A wanted poster.
Tetsuya.
I stared at the photograph for a moment.
So that was what this was about.
Markus placed the paper on the table.
"What I want..."
He put one hand against the surface and leaned toward me.
"...is for this man to suffer."
He laughed.
I said nothing.
He continued.
"But what I don't understand is what a bunch of high schoolers were doing with wanted men like Tetsuya, Kenzo, and Ren."
His voice sharpened.
"I know there were others in this little group of Tetsuya's, but for some damn reason—"
His fist slammed against the table.
"FOR SOME DAMN REASON MY IDIOT PEERS DON'T BELIEVE ME."
The noise echoed through the room.
I didn't flinch.
"You still haven't answered my question."
His expression tightened.
"Why are you in Tokyo?"
I kept my eyes on him.
"You're an investigator from America. This barely concerns you.
Markus looked down.
Then he smiled again.
"Wherever Tetsuya is, it's my damn business."
He lifted his eyes toward me.
"Now tell me. Where did he go?"
I considered my answer.
"There are things going on that you don't understand."
For the first time, his smile became different.
Almost amused.
"Like Toshiro Sobu's little conspiracy?"
I studied him.
"Are you saying you work for him?"
Markus laughed.
"No."
He leaned back.
"I don't know what his little conspiracy is about. Frankly, I don't care."
His fingers tapped against the table.
"All I want is Tetsuya.
That answer bothered me more than I wanted to admit.
Not because I believed him.
Because I wasn't sure whether he was telling the truth.
I remembered something from when I had entered the building.
His desk.
Files.
Dozens of them.
Tetsuya's name had been everywhere.
I looked at Markus.
"When I entered the building, I saw your desk."
His expression didn't change.
"It was covered in files involving Tetsuya."
I paused.
"What's your obsession with him?"
For a moment, Markus said nothing.
Then his grin returned.
"You could say we have..."
He paused deliberately.
"...a past."
His eyes hardened.
"He interfered with my plans."
He leaned closer.
"So I'll simply get rid of him myself.
There was something about the way he said it that made the situation clear.
This wasn't an investigation.
At least, not entirely.
He wasn't interested in the truth.
He wanted Tetsuya.
And whatever history existed between them had turned that pursuit into something personal.
Markus leaned back.
"Now listen, kid."
His tone changed.
"I can't do anything to you because your father has connections."
I remained silent.
"But I can make the people around you suffer."
His eyes stayed fixed on mine.
"I can make their lives a living hell."
He paused.
"Do you understand, Kei Fushimiya?"
I looked at him for several seconds.
Then I stood.
"We're done here."
I turned toward the door.
Behind me, Markus spoke.
"Keep telling yourself that."
I stopped for half a second.
I didn't turn around.
Then I walked out.
I had no idea how far Markus Danwood was willing to go.
But I knew one thing.
He wasn't here because of me.
He was here because of Tetsuya.
And somehow, that made him more dangerous.
END OF CHAPTER.