Chapter 103
[134]
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“Sooooo, you said you could help us find Akechi?” Ren asked as he watched the woman in front of him put away her fourth drink since they sat down.
Ichiko Ohya was an...interesting woman to say the least. Seemingly in her late 20s to early 30s, and dressed in a simple black tank top and jeans, she had a very unprofessional air about her. According to her, she was a reporter for the Tokyo Bugle and worked with Akechi up until recently when he suddenly stopped coming to work.
In response to the question, Ohya held up a finger, asking for them to wait a moment while she finished her glass.
“Ren, are you sure about this woman?” Futaba asked, her arms wrapped around one of Ren’s for comfort. The alcoholic in front of them gave her some bad vibes. Not necessarily malicious, but still not comforting.
Currently she, Ren, Ryuji, and Yusuke were sitting at one of the booths at Crossroads, the club they’d visited a few weeks ago. Ren was hesitant to come back here after last time, but Ohya had insisted.
“Ahhh.” The reporter set down her glass. “So, why don’t we get down to brass tacks?”
“Do you know where Akechi-”
“I know that you’re Spider-Man.” Ohya interrupted, her expression unreadable.
Everyone in the group’s eyes widened and their jaws dropped.
“Wh-What are you talking about?” Ren asked nervously, turning to see if anyone else was in earshot. He felt Futaba’s grip around his arm tighten. “Y-You seriously think I’m him?”
“Don’t worry I’m not gonna go blabbing.” She waved off his concern. “But yeah, I know it’s you. I’ve actually known for a while now, I just didn’t have a way to get in contact with you until now.”
“Lady, we’ve got no clue what you’re talking about!” Ryuji chimed in, slamming his fist on the table. “If you don’t know anything about Akechi, then we’re gettin’ the hell outta here!”
“I do know where he is, I just want to put all my cards on the table so there’s no secrets between us. Look, I want to help you.” She reassured them. “I owe you. Twice actually.” She looked away, seemingly remembering something painful before grabbing another drink.
Ren sighed reluctantly, watching the woman’s cheeks grow pink as she put down the glass. Could she really help them? She’d deduced his identity, seemingly by herself, so it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that she could find the man they were looking for. And even though she knew his secret, she seemed well intentioned.
“Alright, so where can we find Akechi?” Ren asked. “You said you could help us with that, right?”
“Yep. He’s using a warehouse on the edge of town.” She replied casually. “Here’s the address.” She pulled a slip of paper out of her pocket and slid it over to them.
“...”
“...”
“That’s it?” Ryuji asked. “Just like that?”
“Yeah?” Ohya seemed confused.
“How do you even know about this?” Futaba asked, maybe a bit too aggressively. “I searched online for days and couldn’t find anything!”
The reporter shrugged in response. “There are some things you can’t do from behind a computer. Besides, I found Akechi suspicious from the day I met him, so I decided to do a background check on him. Turns out, he’s got some serious beef with Shido, enough to try to kill him.”
“Why would a photographer have a problem with Shido? I mean, I imagine he’s got no shortage of enemies, but how do they even know each other?” Ryuji asked curiously.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Ohya smirked. “Masayoshi Shido is his father.”
“His...father?” Ren turned to Futaba who was speechless.
In a private conversation following Wakaba’s capture, Futaba had revealed to Ren the news that her mother had told her. That she was Shido’s illegitimate daughter. That had come as a shock to Ren, and he couldn’t even imagine what the younger girl was feeling.
“Well, I did a bit of digging. Goro’s mother was a prosti-” She looked over at the young girl sitting across from her. “An...escort, in a city in the countryside. Shido came by that city 19 years ago to establish a new branch for his company, and 9 months later, well you know. Some eye witness testimonies say that they spotted him forcing the woman into his car, but the police dismissed any and all claims against him.”
Ren’s eyes widened again. Why did this story sound so familiar? It couldn’t be…
“Akechi’s mother died 6 years later and her son was put in an orphanage until he graduated high school at the top of his class and moved to Tokyo.” She smirked as she took another sip of her drink. “The home of his runaway father.”
“Fuckin’ dads.” Ryuji mumbled, looking down.
“Indeed.” Yusuke added.
“And now,” Ohya continued. “He’s a giant slime monster who eats people.”
“Do you know how he got that way?” Ren asked.
“Who knows?” She shrugged. “But if you ask me, it was probably Shido Sciences. Most of the freaks in this town come outta there. No offense.” She winked at Ren.
“Yeah…”
“Well thanks for the help! Iguessit’stimeweleavenowbye!” Futaba got up and pulled Ren away.
As the team got up from the booth, Ohya watched as they left, taking a drag from her cigarette.
“You aren’t supposed to smoke in here.” A gravelly voice pointed out.
“Eh.” Ohya shrugged. “You’ll make an exception for me. Won’t you Lala?”
The club’s owner sighed. “You know, I’m surprised. I haven’t seen you do anything but drink, sleep, and smoke for weeks, but it seemed like you really helped those kids.”
“Lala…”
“I’m serious. Ever since Kayo-” Lala began.
“Don’t.” Ohya interrupted, scowling.
“No, it needs to be said. Ever since Kayo died, you’ve been on a downward spiral. You’re drinking has gotten out of hand, you’ve started smoking again, not to mention you lost your job at the Bugle.”
“Is there a point to all of this?” Ohya asked, annoyed. “Because if not, I’d like a refill.”
“My point is that I’m proud of you.” Lala smiled. “You went out of your way to help someone out. I hope that you stay on this track.”
“Oh?” The reporter smirked. “And how would you suggest I do that?” She asked sarcastically, but her eyes betrayed her real emotions. Ohya did want to change, in truth she was miserable with her life.
“You just need a good influence. Someone you can learn from. Who you can heal with.” Lala placed her drinks on a tray before walking away. “Think about it.”
“Hmm.” Ohya rested her head on her arms before turning to the exit where the teens from earlier had left. “A good influence.”
Later that night, the team was gathered outside of the warehouse, Ren and Makoto in their spider gear, Futaba piloting a drone nearby, and the others on standby just in case. If all went well, they could nab Akechi quietly with no conflict. However, knowing their track record, there was next to no chance of that happening.
“Are you sure about this Ren?” Makoto asked, loading her webshooters. “I could think of about a dozen ways that this could be a trap. Not to mention, you said the reporter who told you about this place worked with Akechi? Sounds suspicious to me.”
“I think we can trust the info.” Ren reassured her. “I got a good feeling from her.”
“Ren,” Makoto sighed. “Has anyone ever told you that you have a weakness for pretty women?”
“I never said she was pretty!” Ren said in his defense.
“Mhmm.” Makoto crossed her arms. “And was she?”
“She was...alright.” Ren admitted. While she definitely had a drinking problem among other issues, he couldn’t deny that behind all of that he saw a pretty face and a genuinely kind person.
“I rest my case.”
“Look if you’ve got a bad feeling about this, let me go in first. I can turn invisible, so I’ll be more covert on my own anyway. If I catch him, I’ll let you know. And if I die, you can say ‘I told you so’ all you want.”
“Don’t even joke about that Ren!” Makoto slapped the back of his head before turning away. “Besides, after this is over, I’ve got something to tell you.” She mumbled.
“Huh? Why not tell me now?”
Before she could respond, the two were interrupted by a buzzing noise as a small black object flew between them. In the aftermath of their battle with Mysterio, Futaba had rebuilt one of the drones from scrap as well as adding her own modifications to it. In her words, it was how she could help out the team without leaving her room.
“Hey! Are you two ready yet?” Futaba’s voice asked over the drone’s speaker. “We’re all waiting y’know! You two had better not have been banging again!”
“Oh, sorry about that.” Ren apologized sheepishly. “Just a bit of pre-mission banter. You know, spider person stuff.”
“Just try to be serious, alright?” Makoto asked.
“Okay, Beep-Boop.” He replied before jumping off the roof. “I’ll see you later!”
“What did you just call me!?”
Inside the warehouse, Akechi sat hunched in front of a small TV while eating takeout. He’d been squatting here for a while now, he had to take precautions in case his identity was revealed. It wasn’t a luxurious lifestyle, but he’d had worse accommodations. Plus, he had everything he needed here, food, a bed, a TV, and most importantly, his other half.
As he watched the news reports make out Shido and his company as victims, he saw the CEO giving an interview, pretending to mourn the loss of the guard that Akechi had killed in his escape. And even through his speech about the attack, he somehow managed to promote his campaign for Prime Minister.
“Bastard.” Akechi tossed his food at the screen. He’d suddenly lost his appetite.
“Goro.” A deep, raspy voice came from his side. As he turned to his left, he saw his symbiote’s toothy head snake its way out of his arm. “You shouldn’t waste food. If we are to kill Shido next time, we need to maintain our strength.”
“Our strength isn’t enough!” Goro argued back. “Our first attempt made that pretty goddamn clear!”
“But now we are smarter. We know he has countermeasures prepared for us. And more importantly, he is scared. That will make his brain so much more delicious!”
“Typical.” Akechi rolled his eyes. “Here I am trying to form a new plan and all you can think of is food. I swear, sometimes it feels like I’m just talking to myself!”
“Wait.” The symbiote’s head turned upwards and he began to sniff the air. “Do you smell that?”
“I swear, if you try to make us eat another dead rat-” Akechi warned.
“No. This smell, it’s...human.”
“Human?” Goro stood up, alarmed. “Is it the police?”
“Not likely. I only smell one, and there’s something different about it. Different...but familiar.”
“Well then,” Akechi let the symbiote grow around his body, growing in size and becoming an inky black color.
“Let’s greet our guest.”