[h2]Mako Moritomi//Shinza Shopping Square[/h2]
[h3]Wednesday, June 3, 2015[/h3]

Things were going better than anticipated, which made Mako feel a lot better about this whole debacle. As a rule, he had deliberately avoided the Star Drop Cafe, and in fact had tried to find a place as far away from that whole situation as possible. He'd have to be some kind of an asshole (or idiot) to think going back there was a good idea. Besides, this place had the best yakisoba in town- what wasn't there to love?

Still, even with the nice conversation and the smell of their food drifting in from the kitchens, Sato seemed... distracted. Like his mind was in two different places- here, and somewhere else.

[color=0076a3][i]Well, obviously. It hasn't even been ten days since he was kidnapped. Less than a day since he's been back. Of course he's going to be sidetracked.[/i][/color]

That was the other subject he'd been deliberately avoiding today. While he was burning with questions about it, he figured that anything Sato had wanted to say about it had already been said a dozen times to a dozen different people. Pushing any further wasn't going to make him remember or want to reveal anything else. And besides, if he was right, the upperclassman probably wanted to forget all this had happened in the first place, and tearing open that wound was... counterproductive.

Mako perked up when their food had arrived, sizzling pleasantly- his yakisoba, and Sato's donburi. [color=0076a3][i]Excellent choice.[/i][/color] They ate in silence for a little while, before Sato seemed to gather himself slightly.

"Hey," Sato said, "About those kidnappings... do you know anything about them? As in, have you ever seen anything of the cult around town?"

Mako paused, a bite of noodles halfway to his mouth. [color=0076a3][i]Hmm. Now he's bringing it up. Unexpected, but...[/i][/color] He set the bite of food and his chopsticks down with equal care, pondering Sato's question.

[color=0076a3]"I... I know very little about the case, to be honest. I mean, it's not like this cult is running around in broad daylight, flapping their robes around like idiots- might be bad for their reputation, such as it is. All I really know is... I guess what everyone else knows. A lot of kids go missing for a few days, then just as mysteriously as before, come back."[/color]

He looked out the window, his expression going stern. [color=0076a3]"I don't like it. For the first part, they're targeting kids. That's pretty messed up, I have to say. And worse, no one seems to know why. The police are completely baffled, it seems like, or they just don't care, since everyone has come back. Well, what if next time, they don't? What if someone gets hurt, or worse? What's it going to take for someone to take all of this seriously...?"[/color]

His hands clenched slightly.

[color=0076a3]"But you know what the worst part is? How useless I feel. My classmates are getting picked off, one by one- or even two by two, now- and there's not a damn thing I can do to help. Shirohane-san... she's in my class. What if she didn't come back? What if you hadn't? What if next time... something really bad happens? 

"...And no matter how much I keep wondering about it, it's not going to help anything. I mean, I'm just 17, I'm basically still a child. I can box, sure, I can fight, and I know my way around town, and I'm handy with a knife when I need to be... but what can I really accomplish? I'm not a detective. I'm not a policeman. I'm just a high school student who did better than anticipated on his midterms. Which, given the circumstances, doesn't amount to much."[/color]

He sighed, then turned back to Sato, a rueful grin starting to spread across his features. [color=0076a3]"Sorry. Guess that got a little too heavy for a minute there. I just... I wish I could do more,"[/color] he said, staring at his half-touched yakisoba. Suddenly he wasn't as hungry for it anymore.