17 Hashing Out The Details

"Zzzzzzz…"

Sora deadpanned while looking in the bedroom. Imagine his surprise when the person rushing him to return is already sleeping! After grabbing his own burger and fries, he left the bag on the counter.

The sliding glass door opened as he entered the balcony. The tired man pulled out his phone while eating. Notifications had already been pinging on his device. From the stock market to normal problems in the manor, his cell was constantly buzzing.

It seems he had some quick work to do. There was no need to rush. With a beautiful day such as this, he could afford some leeway. Around 2-3 hours passed before he'd finished everything. A wry smile tugged at his lips.

'Is this my life now…Dealing with large amounts of money all day? I'm so bored.' He thought.

Jaina's smiling face popped into his mind. Her and her thrills. He could now truly understand why pursuing adrenaline was so addicting. Was life always this boring? All this money…and what?

As if the universe heard his complaints, his phone buzzed again. Sora rubbed his eyes before taking a look. A bit of life returned to his expression. It was a message from an unregistered number. Fortunately, the content made it obvious.

'There's no point in dragging this out. I'll take the job. We should meet to hash out the details.' It read.

The young man couldn't help but stretch his limbs. His back slumped over the chair as his joints popped. Those long legs of his almost knocked over the table.

'Send me an address.' Sora responded.

'7281 Dickbag Maple St.'

After reading the text, he looked at the streets down below. His balcony allowed him to see the whole skyline. The sun was already setting, but traffic hadn't died down at all.

"There's no way I'm driving in that." He muttered.

Sora made his way back into the suite. A napkin and pen later, he left a note by the sleeping beauty's head. Alice would see it upon waking up.

'Be right back.' It read.

With his phone in hand, he flashed in the direction of the gps. It didn't take long for him to reach his destination. A humble ramen bar could be found on a quiet street.

JINGLE

The ring of three small chimes resounded upon opening the door. Heads turned at the noise. Recognition flashed in the eyes of many when seeing the wealthy young man.

Shizuo could be seen behind the counter. A bottle of sake swished around in his hand. Anri could be found moving to and from the kitchen with bowls of steaming noodles. It was a fully functional establishment, and a great cover up.

"Ah, he's here." A random voice exclaimed. It was one of the male delinquents.

The leader finally looked up in his drunken haze. He gestured for Sora to sit in front of him. Once the young butler was situated, Shizuo proceeded to make him a drink.

"What do you have a taste for?" He asked. Sora thought for a moment.

"Do you know how to make a mudslide?"

"Oh? Quite the refined taste you have there." Shizuo commented.

Without wasting any more time, he put a load of milk chocolate, alcohol, Irish creamer, and vanilla ice cream into a blender. It didn't take long for the drink to be created.

A drizzle of chocolate coated the edges of the glass. Sora took a sip and sighed with relaxation. He truly did love his chocolate. No matter what form it came in, he'd appreciate it all the same. Except dark chocolate. That shit is disgusting.

"...This is quite the place you have here. A good cover up, I must say. Still, you'll have much more to work with."

"It's not a cover up. This place is a home for the weary. We may do bad things, but we also do good things."

"...How touching." Sora responded half heartedly.

Shizuo couldn't help but gnash his teeth at the tone. What a stuck up prick! Who the hell did he think he was?! Oh…right. A Lockhart.

"So what is it that you want specifically?"

"I want you to recruit more people that work in the Lockhart establishments. That's why your cover jobs will also be in these places. From the customers to the staff, do what you can. Even the janitors and waste management." Sora explained. Shizuo raised an eyebrow.

"That's a lot of people. How big do you want this intelligence network to be?"

"Big enough so that I instantly know when something happens, but is swept under the rug. There's many things that I'd like you to dig for, but let's start with the covered up sins of Thomas Wayne…"

…

…

…

By the time the discussion was over, the moon was high in the sky. Sora had already had multiple cups of alcoholic ice cream. It didn't do much besides making his chest warm. He'd already unbuttoned the majority of his dress shirt.

Celty had made her appearance at some point. She arrived with a loud roar of her motorcycle. This time, she was willing to speak with him. It was amusing watching her type words into the phone.

BANG

"Hmm?" Sora hummed. Something loud could be heard outside.

BAM

"Will ya shut up already? Damn…my fuckin head." Shizuo complained in his drunken stupor.

CRASH BOOM

Something exploded in the distance. The group slowly made their way out of the building to see what the commotion was. Immediately, a cop car smashed into the ground. Energy beams were flying left and right.

A group of about 10 criminals were in a shootout with the cops. They were dressed in futuristic armor that seemed to enhance their normal athleticism. Sora felt like an opportunity had arisen.

"Since you guys work for me now, I'd like to see your capabilities. What do you say?" He commented. Shizuo raised an eyebrow.

"Eh? But this isn't our problem."

"...Must I repeat myself?" Sora responded with a casual smile.

"But our identities…"

"Ah. Here."

Sora snapped his fingers, and multiple light constructs appeared. Each of them were motorcycle helmets, similar to Celty's. He then pulled on the energy of null, making his hair and irises turn black. The pupils were an icy blue.

The helmet constructs also turned black with darklight as if responding to his power shift. Shizuo's group watched him with rapt attention. The delinquent leader in particular was shocked.

'He can even do this? I thought he was just strong and fast!' Shizuo thought. He was able to see a quick glimpse of Sora fighting Grundy, after all.

"Ready?" Sora questioned.

Celty waved her hand, causing her shadow to form a large black scythe. Anri opened her palm, willing a sheathed katana to materialize. Shizuo only clenched his fist. It was a simple action, but his muscle density increased tenfold. Each of them silently approached the criminals.

Sora stood back in order to watch. His face had become expressionless due to his divinity. A simple dinner knife materialized in his hand. This knife was extremely common and could be found in any household. It glowed with a twilight radiance, like an eclipse.

'We probably won't see each other for a long while after this…That's why I must know what they can do.' He thought.