Spiderwebs

Spiderwebs Chapter 3

Katsuki dragged himself into the B&B's employee entrance rather reluctantly. What information he'd gained about his brother's troubles hadn't eased his mind. Nor had the unnerving incident before he'd entered his apartment. Jin had never come by, either, and he knew after Mitoki's call that a confrontation with him over Tane was pretty much inevitable now. All of those factors together had led to a mostly sleepless night. He took a deep breath as he clocked in, but gasped when someone grasped his arm suddenly. "Mitoki!" He hissed when he recognized the shorter boy. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Katsuki, where have you been?" Mitoki tugged on his arm, ignoring the complaint. "There are cops here asking about you. They're with Owner. You're to report to his office right away."

Katsuki froze at his words, his eyes sliding shut. "How long have they been here?"

"Over an hour. What's going on? What do they want with you?"

Katsuki's mouth twisted in grim humour. "If they're the same bastards as the night before last, one wants in my pants and the other just wants to get back to his desk and donuts."

Mitoki blinked, more confused than before. "Wha-when? Two nights ago? Does this have to do with why you weren't in yesterday?"

Katsuki sighed. "Yes and no. Don't worry too much about it. They're only here for show anyway. They can't hold me accountable for anything and they know it. I'll be back down in a few minutes." Giving the other pageboy what he hoped was a reassuring smile, he headed up the hallway toward the elevator.


The silence in Aoe's office was thick enough to be cut with a knife. The two cops from the hospital were seated on chairs in front of Aoe's desk. They were skittish, and more than ready to leave. Aoe, seated behind the desk, leveled them with the same cool gaze he'd favored them with the entire meeting. Kayashima stood behind him, his own face its usual mask of politeness. Cups of tea sat untouched in front of the three men. Under different circumstances he might have been upset at that lack of courtesy.

"Is Katsuki Kyousuke going to be here or not?" The first cop finally spoke.

"I distinctly remember informing you of when Katsuki was expected." Aoe said cooly. "You chose to wait. If you have business elsewhere, feel free to leave any message with Kayashima. He will deliver them at the earliest convenience."

"As we said earlier, Aoe-san, we have reason to believe your employee has information that's vital to our current case. It's important we speak to him in person."

"I do hope for your sake whatever information he posseses is worth the loss of all our valuable time."

The second officer cleared his throat nervously. "Under the current circumstances any lack of cooperation could land your employee in a great deal of trouble. That's why it's best we see him immediately. I'm certain having a member of your staff arrested would be inconvenient for all parties involved."

"I'm certain if you had a warrant of arrest, you would already have produced it. So I can't help but wonder what you think to gain with such threats."

"It was not intended as a threat, I assure you. Merely as an observation."

"In the future, you may wish to be more careful about what observations you voice aloud." The edge to Aoe's tone was unmistakeable.

Another tense silence stretched between them, this time broken by the door opening. Katsuki's own posture was stiff as he approached the desk to bow to Aoe. "Owner. I understand you wanted to see me."

Aoe didn't move, but guestured to the two cops, who were getting to their feet. "Allow me to introduce Norito and Kago of the Tokyo police."

"We've already met." Katsuki mentioned.

"Katsuki-san." The second officer - Norito - took a step forward. "We have to ask you to cooperate with us. There's several questions regarding your brother-"

"I was led to believe at the hospital that you had no more questions for me." Katsuki cut him off.

"You failed to mention your relation to the man you'd had brought in." Kago spoke up.

"You presumed what my relation with him was." Katsuki countered. "Despite my attempts to correct your misinterpretation of events."

"You plainly stated your meeting was an accident." Kago challenged. "You did not say your brother was coming to see you."

"Ah, is that Tane's interpretation of the events?" Katsuki asked, straightening his uniform and pointedly not looking at the two men.

"You know very well we haven't been able to question Katsuki Tane." Kago accused.

Katsuki paused, glancing at the two officers - confusion starting to cloud his features. "Why is that?"

Kago scowled, and Norito stepped in. "I must remind you, Katsuki-san that there is an outstanding warrant out for the arrest of your brother. And that any assistance you give to him would be considered aiding and abetting a felon."

Katsuki shook his head slightly, a wry smile curving his lips. "Tane checked himself out of the hospital before you could question or arrest him. Is that it?"

"Are you claiming to have been unaware of that fact?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. I was completely unaware of that. The last time I saw Tane was the night he was brought to the hospital." Which was the truth. He wasn't claiming to have had no contact. Just not to have seen him.

"You are not hiding him at your apartment?" Kago pressed.

"I assure you, I have no idea where Tane is."

"We could get a search warrant." Norito warned him.

"Then I suggest you do so." Katsuki told him. "But you will only be wasting your time. If you would care to look at your own records, they'll show that my contact with Tane is sporadic at best. And that I have never aided him in escaping arrest."

"Our records also indicate that Tane's sporadic contact with you coincides with times he's been in debt to...certain organizations. Debts that were paid off." Kago brought up.

"I have nothing to do with my brother's...activities. Or his debts. As a look into the standings of my accounts can uphold - I have never had the money to pay off whatever debts Tane collects. If you want to find him, you're looking in the wrong place."

"If your brother contacts you-" Norito began.

"I believe you gave me your card, Officer Norito." Katsuki cut him off again. "Though information regarding my brother's whereabouts were hardly what you insinuated I use it for."

Norito flushed, and hastily cleared his throat. "We'll show ourselves out. Katsuki-san. Aoe-san." He hurried out of the room, followed by Kago, who scowled back at them.

When the door shut behind them, Katsuki swallowed before turning back to Aoe. "Owner, I apologize for all of this. I'll try to make sure it doesn't interfere with my work again."

Aoe's gaze was thoughtful. After a moment he turned to the paperwork on his desk. "Family obligation can destroy a person. I would advise cutting all ties before that happens. Dismissed."

Katsuki stared for a minute before bowing. "I take my leave of you."

When the door to Aoe's office closed behind him, Katsuki collapsed against the wall with a sigh of relief. It faded quickly to anger at the person responsible for all this. "Dammit, Tane!" He hissed angrily, clenching his hands.

"Jin told me he was in town." Amagai's voice made him look up. "Then Mitoki told me about the cops."

Katsuki glared at him for a minute, but it didn't last. He shrugged, looking away. "They can't touch me. They can't prove anything."

"Did Owner say anything?"

Katsuki frowned, glancing back at the office doors. "That family obligations can destroy a person. Do you know what he meant?"

Amagai glanced at the door, his eyes serious. "I can wager a guess. But it would be based on rumours and hearsay. It was before my time."

"Aoe Shougo?"

The host looked at him sharply. "You've heard, then?"

"I've heard...things." Katsuki confessed. "But I haven't payed alot of attention to any of it."

"It doesn't matter, I guess." Amagai stated. "What's past is past."

"Except when it refuses to stay there." Katsuki headed for the elevator.

"Tane will never be anything but trouble." Amagai followed him.

"I know that."

"Then don't involve yourself in his troubles."

"I don't. He does." Katsuki countered, hitting the elevator button with more force than neccessary.

"Don't let him this time."

"Tane's troubles follow me, regardless." He guestured back toward Aoe's office, then froze, remembering the previous night's incident. He swallowed, shaking it off. "I've been paying off his debts since I was fifteen. I'll probably be paying them off when I'm fifty."

"Katsuki..." Amagai caught his arm.

"Amagai-senpai - I can handle Tane. I've been doing it my whole life."

"And Jin?"

Katsuki paused. "What about Jin?"

"What are you going to tell him?"

"...that it doesn't involve him." Katsuki entered the elevator.

Amagai turned away as the doors slid close. "That's a confrontation I don't want to see..."

To Be Continued...