"I have been briefed on your mission," Miyuki said before turning her chair around so she could face the two. "Despite Hiroshi Miyamoto fleeing from the scroll because of some corrupted officers - an oversight on our behalf - we still consider this to be a success. The businessman you caught has traded a lot of information about the underbelly of Arashigakure that has already proven invaluable." She appraised each of them with just her eyes. "We do not have our ex-Captain in custody, but we did make a significant dent in the internal corruption of the APD because of you two. As such, rewards are in order."
She turned to Seiichi. "For your excellent assistance in our time of need, when we had few of our own we could trust, I would like to extend a unique offer to you: you are welcome to join our village as one of our own as a Chunin. I welcome you to join our ranks. I trust you, given that you could come to our side during a period of great vulnerability. This offer has no expiration, nor requires an immediate answer. I want you to consider your place in this world and whether or not you want to see it as a shinobi. If you do, we welcome you with open arms."
She looked to her left-side drawer, thoughtful. Inside it were dozens of headbands. She wondered if Seiichi would ever accept one. "That is all for you, Seiichi. My secretary has a monetary reward for you to collect on your way out. Thank you."
And then she looked over Musica with a completely neutral expression. "As for you. You performed excellently. I have seen to it that your previous records are sealed. There are few eyes who have ever seen it, given how I have had to almost completely drain the APD of its membership in the last week. As we speak, Kaito and Takao are finishing up the last of the cleaning up. I have your rewards with the secretary, but something else, too. You have been incredibly reliable since the Jashinist attack. I am happy to consider you one of my Jonin.
"On top of that, I have a conditional offer for you. I want to make you my new Chief of Police. I think you can lead the APD in a new direction. I think you have the heart to do it, and a solid head on your shoulders. That said, it requires one thing of you. When we capture Hiroshi - and we will - you will decide his fate. It will be your first act as Captain. Can you make that judgement?"
pyrategross
You accept, and I'll move this MIT location to the APD station. Takao will brief you on Hiroshi after dropping him off. Then, you can make that IC decision on Hiroshi.
The white haired girl stood silently inside the Arashikage’s office. As her Kage spoke, Musica’s thoughts drifted elsewhere. She knew about Hirohi’s escape, having heard about it moments before their meeting. The girl cursed herself for her own negligence. She should have been there to keep him from getting out. Maybe she should have detained him in something stronger than a flimsy scroll. Musica’s brow furrowed as she thought of all the different what-ifs she could have done to prevent the criminal from escaping. Her metal fingers clinked as she unconsciously clenched her metal hand into a fist while biting her lip in frustration. Musica kept rethinking about something Hiroshi had said. Something she’d known ever since she was a child, but was really put on display with her mission.
The system was corrupt, as it let people get away with whatever it thought was beneficial. Musica thought that, as a shinobi, she’d have more power to stop something like that. More than she had when she was a simple street rat anyway. But if the system was always corrupt as it was, did that mean the corruption was how the system was meant to work? Surely, a broken system couldn’t be as efficient as it was. So was Hiroshi right in saying things like justice were simply a flimsy ideal under the weight of the truth: that the true winners are the ones who climb over corpses to get to the top?
The sound of Miyuki speaking directly to Musica snapped the girl from her reverie. “Yes ma’am?” She replied as she snapped to attention. Although, her Kage’s words couldn’t have surprised the girl more. “Me? Chief of Police?” Musica repeated with a baffled look on her face. “You must be joking. Have you seen my record? Why not Setsuka?” Once it became clear that Miyuki wasn’t the type for pranks, Musica’s bewilderment was replaced with consideration. Maybe she could do some real good from the inside of the APD. Maybe she could do away with the misconduct and the bullying to the people on the streets, like what had happened with her family. But the catch: Musica was in charge of Hiroshi’s fate. All by herself. She couldn’t do that, and she knew it. Fuu taught her, during one of his many lectures, that no-one human being had the right to rule another. Usually repeated as he nursed Musica’s wounds caused by the APD. There’s no way Musica could agree to that condition.
After Musica's acceptance, it was time to go to the CORE compound and finish things. There, Takao waited for her just outside of Hitoshi's solitary cell. The Jinchuuriki's arms were crossed as he leaned against the dark-colored glass of his cell. Hitoshi couldn't hear or see anything outside of his cell. Takao's posture was stiff. He was already familiar with the task at hand for the new Jonin.
"You should rip him limb to limb," Takao offered bitterly. "A public execution would be too good for him, really." Takao finally looked up at her, and though is eyes were raging embers, they were water-lined, too. "The s**t that monster did. He ******** sold children, Musica. I should have left him for dead. He deserves it so ******** much. We still don't have a count for how many shinobi and civilians he's sold or traded. No idea where they are or what they're being forced to do." He uncrossed his arms, but his knuckles were white from how hard he was clenching his fists. "Put him down, Musica. He can't learn, he can't be reformed. He's a rabid dog." Takao looked down, thought about how Kaito's mom had crumpled in his arms when he told her the news.
His lip curled as he thought about everything. "I can't stick around any longer. Just do what you gotta do." He pushed himself off the wall and left before he lost the fight with the bile in the back of his throat.
Musica didn’t meet Takao’s gaze as he condemned the captured Miyamoto. She knew what the Jinchuriki was saying was correct, objectively. But why was there this knot in her stomach still? She said nothing as he walked away, trying to focus her thoughts on her task at hand. Could she kill him, outright? Sure. Should she? Who was to say. The shoulder connected to her metal arm began to throb, as a reminder of the attack on the Citadel. Of what that Jashinist woman had said about humanity. Musica shook her head. It wasn’t like that, and she was going to prove it.
The girl took in a deep breath and lifted her metal hand to knock on the door before stopping. She didn’t need to do that; it wasn’t like Hiroshi was a guest. So Musica opened the door, walking into the room alone with the former police officer. She was going to talk to him, to try and learn more about why he did the stuff that he did. But as soon as Musica laid eyes on the tormentor of her and her family, all of those thoughts went right of the window.
Musica walked up to him, all of her nerves gone and replaced with an uncharacteristic swagger. “Well, well.” She taunted Hiroshi. ”How the tables have turned, Captain Miyamoto. How’s it feel being on this end of everything?”
Hiroshi looked up to the girl, curling his lip before turning his head to the side like she was trash, turning his nose up and scoffing. "You b***h." His disgust was obvious even as he slowly turned to look at her. "You don't get it still, huh? I know too much. I can roll over every trafficker, every drug trader, every assassin. I know every dirty cop's name, and you best believe that bimbo in the spire wants a clean house. I'm not gonna see a day of prison once they give me my hearing. In fact, I'd bet that they got officers in talks about how to approach me over the deal." He took the opportunity to laugh in her face about how futile all of her hard work had been in terms of punishing him specifically. Despite the brutal beating he got from Takao, which he hardly remembered, he was ultimately going to get off scot-free.
"You shoulda listened when I offered you the damn opportunity to join me. You coulda been rich," he said, his voice finally, completely leaving the Captain persona he had crafted over the years, sounding much more like proper street trash. "Stupid broad, can't recognize the chance of the lifetime when it's spelled out for ya. And here we are. You ain't done s**t, and I'm gonna get off, and there's nothing you can do about it."
pyrategross
idk what musica would believe here but miyuki would trade his undeserved freedom for the cleanest APD in Arashi history (and yeah that makes her hypocrite abt what she said in the citadel lul)
“I don’t think you really understand the situation you’re in, Hiroshi.” Musica took a step closer to him, getting uncomfortably close to his personal space. She slammed her metal hand against the wall at his shoulder height, imprisoning him with her prosthetic limb. “We don’t need you. Not anymore. We have enough information to find someone else. A victim, maybe. But maybe another piece of garbage like you. Who knows?” The Jonin’s eyes glowed like a miniature storm as she locked eyes with the former police captain. “But you don’t have the leverage that you think you do.” She felt a smirk come on her face as she looked down at her childhood tormentor. It was exhilarating, seeing scum like him atoning for his crimes. “How’s it feel to not have control anymore, Captain? To have to rely on the mercy of someone else?”
“Scary, isn’t it?” Musica tapped her metal fingers against the man’s face as she rose to her full height. “Don’t worry, you’ll be safe for a long, long time. In jail, where you belong, with the other monsters.” The Jonin turned and walked away, slipping one hand into her pocket and waving over her shoulder with the other. “Good luck.” As she walked away, the spot that she touched Hiroshi on began to freeze over. The ice expanded, freezing that side of the man’s face to the wall of the room.
Hiroshi's face slowly contorted in horror as it became clear that Musica had no desire for any of his information. She was foolishly, naively confident in the detective abilities within the system to discover all of the network he had painstakingly crafted over his years. "You can't leave me here!" He cried out as she began to leave. "It would take you years to uncover just a tenth of what I've created! You'll condemn the remaining meat to die in bondage by waiting. You can't throw all of their lives away just to punish me! You need my information! I demand counsel with the Arashikage! She will hear me out! Hey! Get back here!"
