They were on the inside of the apartment, but the door quickly faded away as soon as Hisako and Sylvain were through, restoring free passage.
It… Hisako had never seen anything like it before. She could deduce the intended appearance of the interior, but most of the apartment was hidden underneath mounds of junk. Some of it was perhaps treasure to Sylvain—the collections of pretty glass bottles and flattened-out candy wrappers—but most of it was actual garbage.
Across the kitchen counter, though it was small, were dozens of trash bags bulging with garbage. It seemed he'd run out of bags, as there were carefully constructed towers of empty cans, strategically placed to leave the least mess.
Around the floor were cheap rugs of various sizes, turning the cheap, scuffed linoleum into something a little more palatable. The walls were an ugly, blank white, as were the bedsheets, which were bunched up and tousled by a restless inhabitant.
The only personal belongings she could see were sitting on a cheap desk nearing collapse. A nice laptop with a few stickers on it, and a little plastic stand-up—something definitely handmade and custom—of an American bearing a cup of coffee and a curious expression. Merch from his favourite show, she imagined, and something he'd found in Japan, judging by the art style.
The window was open, allowing the staleness of the abode to clear up, but it still had a miserable air to it. It couldn't have all been from the period he was trapped in his apartment; her heart sank.
"To Medical?" Hisako asked quietly.
Before the others could reply, Sylvain began to shake uncontrollably, practically vibrating out of Hisako's arms.
She nearly dropped him, but managed to half judo-toss him onto his bed, regrettably smearing blood and charred flesh bits on his otherwise clean sheets.
The ghost was trying to escape him again. She grabbed him by his shoulder, gripping him tightly, as if to hold the ghost inside.
"Sylvain?" she called urgently. "Sylvain, you have to stop."
He seemed absent, eyes rolling in his head, and oblivious to the world and the phantom.
Dr. Moon hurried to pull a gate key from her pocket. She waved it sharply, and a torii gate snapped into existence before them. "Grab him!"
Hisako lifted him and tossed him over her shoulder with a little assistance from her ability. She hurried through the gate and stumbled into the same courtyard as the one after her previous exam.
This time, it was emptier, but Dr. Moon shouted out for help, and it appeared immediately.
Hisako was pulled one way, and Dr. Moon and Kamui went the other, pulling Sylvain along with them. The ghost was prying itself from his chest, warded back only by the threat of Dr. Moon's sword.
"Wait, wait!" she cried as Sylvain was lifted from her arms. "Sylvain!"
The nurses had grips of iron, and they were pried apart with little fight. She caught Sylvain's half-open eyes as they were separated, then he was gone in a swirl of scrubs.
She sagged into the arms dragging her off, the fight leaving her. What was she going to do? Kidnap him from the only ones who could help him?
***
Dr. Moon's treatment office was similar to the office she'd made for herself in her door. The main difference was the lack of a view—her office at the Medical Division's Headquarters had no windows, so she had hung up peaceful landscape paintings.
Hisako sat quietly on a treatment bench as Dr. Moon reapplied bandages and examined the stitches from the other day. Amijiki waited, arms crossed, by the entrance.
"Ready?"
Amajiki was being uncharacteristically impatient. It made Hisako nervous, especially since she was still haunted by the sight of Sylvain limply being carried away the night before.
Dr. Moon smoothed a cool finger under the cut the phantom had made above her brow. It stung, but it'd been numbed up enough for the doctors to stitch.
She'd had all her wounds thoroughly examined, and she'd been lobbed countless questions on any remaining discomfort from the encounter and having made so much contact with the phantom. She had, every time, explained that she was fine, and that the soul-twisting feeling of touching the ghost hadn't lasted.
"It's good," Dr. Moon confirmed. "It'll barely leave a scar."
"Nice, good," Amajiki said. "So, all done? She can go to the evaluation?"
The evaluation with Fujioka-san and the Captain, she remembered anxiously. She glanced away to a painting of a massive mountain range seen from the sky.
"You'll need to come back right after," Dr. Moon said. "We're all going to undergo more tests to make sure nothing Sylvain's ability did to us is permanent." She stared, ensuring Hisako met her gaze. "Sylvain will also continue to undergo testing."
Hisako nodded slowly.
"Medical will be the people to clear Sylvain for transfer back to America," Dr. Moon explained. "But the decision for when and with what instructions for his treatment—that depends on the captain in charge of him."
"Captain Iwamoto," Hisako said slowly.
Dr. Moon nodded and flicked her wrist in dismissal.
Hisako bowed in thanks and left with Amajiki. He raised a gate key and a gate to the Chubu headquarters formed.
They walked through into a hall. She expected Amajiki to start talking, but he remained silent—too silent. She chewed on her lip.
"Do you think—" she began.
He stopped suddenly, cutting her off. "Ah, sorry. We're here." He added quietly, "Just be yourself. Forget about the politics of it."
Hisako nodded, and he gestured her in.
Instead of a curtain, there was a vestibule of potted plants to give the office privacy. Some were large, ancient bonsai, but many were small flowering plants like orchids. The natural beauty of it all almost distracted her from the anticipation of the meeting.
They zig-zagged through the little maze of plants and ended up in a nice office.
"Office" was a bold word for it. It looked more like a plain tatami room set up for a tea ceremony. He had a small courtyard with even more plants, a kotatsu, and an arrangement of tatami chairs with old, flower-embroidered cushions.
A man in a flowing flower kimono was lying on the veranda, but it wasn't Vice Captain Fujioka—he was standing in the courtyard examining a wisteria bonsai.
"Captain," Amajiki greeted.
The man hurried upright and looked above their heads to a small clock embedded in the fine woodwork in the entryway.
He had darker skin but was wholly Japanese, with short dark hair and dark, calm eyes. He looked around Amajiki's age, perhaps younger, but he also looked invulnerable to stress.
"Masaru," he said. His voice was like a purr—breathy with lack of effort and soft with lack of force. "I lost track of time. I apologize."
He brought himself to his feet and beckoned Fujioka inside. The pair seated themselves at the kotatsu.
Hisako knew to toe off her boots before stepping onto the tatami, but she followed Amajiki's lead as he sat down across from the two senior Doorkeepers.
"Mochizuki-san. Good to finally meet you. I've heard only good things," Captain Iwamoto said with a soft smile.
Fujioka waved and smiled brightly in greeting.
"Nice to finally meet you as well," she said, as gently as she could.
He laughed, a half-cackle, half-giggle—messy and almost witch-like. "Ugh, no need to be nice here. We say what we mean here."
Hisako nodded slowly.
He waved a hand casually and placed his head on his hand and his elbow on the back of his chair, contorting like a sunbathing cat to get comfy.
"We're here to talk about your recent exam. I've spoken with Dr. Moon, Kamui, and Koko. They each had wonderful things to say about you and your performance. I have no doubt you're worthy of E-Grade, but I wanted to speak with you about your thoughts," he said meanderingly.
A self-evaluation? Hisako didn't have many things she hated more than a self-evaluation. She smiled nervously. "Ask me anything."
"Everyone struggles with making decisions on the fly," he assured her. "Did it bother you, changing objectives and methods as you did?"
"It wasn't easy, but I believe I did what I had to do with the information I had and didn't have," she replied.
"This isn't about defending yourself," he chuckled. "I want to know if you are comfortable doing it again now, or if you want to wait until you become more comfortable."
"I'm comfortable now," she promised.
"Sometimes," he hummed, "even without experience, a Doorkeeper rises to challenges above their station." His eyes weren't piercing, but she felt they didn't miss anything. "I see that in you, and I value that in my keepers."
That was good. Her heart lifted.
"As I said, I have no doubts about your ability. You will make E-Grade if you want it."
"I do."
"Then it's yours." He tapped his chin. "This meeting is more about what will be done with Sylvain."
Her heart dropped, and her gaze hardened. "Captain. I have a selfish request about Sylvain."
His hand shifted, covering his mouth. His expression became unreadable save for the slight narrowing of his eyes.
"I want him to get treated kindly here; he's just a civilian," she promised. "The ghost—his ability—it's not him. He's not a violent person; he's just lost. I know this."
"Mmhmm."
"He needs help, not these tests and guards and being treated like an unknown hostile."
"The tests are non-negotiable," he said. "Cases like his are rare, and even rarer so do they fall cleanly into our laps like this. Captain Yamauchi of the Intelligence Division would have my head if I didn't give her this opportunity," he chuckled.
"Then please, let him be social and happy," Hisako pleaded. "I-I promised I'd visit him and help him with his loneliness."
She pushed back from the table and bowed down lowly on the tatami. The most formal bow she knew.
"I made a promise to him, Captain, and I'll readily become a player in your grand game, no questions asked, if you would allow me to fulfil my promise to him. That, and my duties as a Doorkeeper, are all I can offer to you, but I promise you my best."
There was a still moment of silence. Hisako could feel her heartbeat in her ears. Then—
Soft laughter. "Ah, raise your head," he said. He was smiling, hand waving casually. "It is sweet—You hardly know the man, yet you promised him your friendship and have offered to become my pawn."
"I mean my offer."
"Then I'll have it. Your blade for a say in his treatment. He'll be a guest, and his every need will be met."
"He decides when he returns to America," she said.
"Done."
"And I get to visit him when I'm not on duty."
"Done."
"The tests—"
"They're non-negotiable."
"Then a kinder way to do them. I've seen him this morning—he's treated like a feral cat."
"He's got a feral cat in him," he shrugged. "But I can ask for a nicer setting, a softer hand. Entertainment, maybe."
"Please."
"Of course. Anything else?"
She chewed on her lip. Had she forgotten anything?
"He wants coffee."
"Ehh, I think Medical's visitors' lounge has a coffee machine. If his doctors allow it, he can have coffee."
"Okay. Thank you. That's, uh, everything." She sat back in her chair and pushed herself back in at the table.
"Okay. Cool." He nodded with finality. "Good deal. I hear you're close with some of the Sasaki's? Our very own Nanae-san and Miyu-san, and Captain Akabane's Hachi?"
Amajiki made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. Iwamoto looked at him with the most dangerous look Hisako had seen on him yet—something calculating and efficient.
"We get along," Hisako replied slowly.
"That's something few can say with honesty about a Sasaki," he said. "Don't underestimate your friendships, Mochizuki-san." He gestured at her with an open hand. "That's all I wanted to hear today. You're free to leave when you're ready—feel free to visit Sylvain should his caretakers allow it."
She stood on unsure legs, bowing and hurrying out. She heard Amajiki following, albeit with less urgency.
"Ah." Iwamoto's voice stopped her. "No, you're fine, Mochizuki-san. Masaru, you can stay."
"Sure," Amajiki croaked.
She glanced over her shoulder at him. He looked a little cowed, like a kid waiting to be seen at the principal's office. He nodded to her, and she left, passing back through the lovely room of plants.
***
Serizawa taught Hisako how to use the espresso machine in the Medical Division's visitors' lounge. Perhaps it wasn't the coffee from Sylvain's door or his favorite show, but it was something. Sylvain had noticed but didn't mind it.
Kamui had pulled through and gotten a box set of Sylvain's show from an American DVD dealer in Akihabara. That had made all the poking and prodding fade to the background in Sylvain's mind. He didn't mind the blood drawings or the stress testing they put him through after that. He just stared at the television, enthralled and distant to reality. Hisako was almost worried, knowing what his room had looked like.
As promised, Hisako spent her recovery and off-time mostly with him, leaving the rest of her time for taking care of herself, training, and catching up with Kohaku. The language barrier remained, but they were working on it.
They'd sit in front of the TV together—Sylvain sipping on a decaf latte or "Americano" while he was hooked up to countless lines and wires, while Hisako sat in a chair next to him.
Sylvain watched his show with subtitles, and Hisako was starting to pick up on some words and phrases, but, even if she understood English, she wasn't sure she'd understand the show.
Whenever the detective character—the main character, Hisako was pretty sure—came onscreen, he always made a beeline to the coffeemaker. He would fill his cup, black, and then admire the coffee before drinking some and saying a phrase.
She was stunned the first time Sylvain echoed it in words she understood.
"What a beautiful day for the perfect cup of coffee!" he said in perfect Japanese, mimicking the detective's cheer.
He smiled at her shocked face, and she felt that swell of her heart that made it all worth it. He seemed to know it too; his face softened, and he put a reassuring hand—the one with fewer nodes and needles—on her arm.
She hadn't seen him properly smile before—not anything more than an excited grin when he'd been given the DVDs or the happy little cheers he gave whenever she returned to him with coffee.
His eyes crinkled as his smile grew. "Thank you, Hisako."