Hanging out

Today it was raining a lot, so the store was quite empty, I think it didn't help how late the clock was ticking, there wasn't much movement, the restaurant was empty so everyone was just cleaning the place. I was next to Haru waiting for her grandfather to come and pick her up as usual. At this point I didn't see why to continue with this, but her grandfather thought differently, he wanted to protect her always even when it seemed unnecessary, and it's his way of thinking that has me here at this hour still here. Even Levia who was next to us was so bored that she even lay down to rest at the bottom of the fish tank. Haru was talking to me about what to do with the club, I for my part equally bored took a coloring book and started to paint it to pass the time somehow.

"I'm serious Elise! It's important!"
"We have to get more members for the club!"

"What club? The school break room?"
"I doubt it very much"
"What it needs are activities, without them, no one would stay there for long"
"Even I'm bored of being there doing nothing and I'm running out of games for my portable console"
"If you want people to join you should do something so that at least those who are already there don't leave"

"Why are you talking as if this is not your problem!"
"The club was created especially for you!"

"That's because it's not my problem."
"You were the one who wanted to create it because you wanted to play detective in your spare time"
"The only one we've ever had was the ghost house"
"And it's not a good idea to have more stuff like that, I don't think new members like the idea of real ghosts"
"Better look for something more normal, like scary stories, horror movie marathons, a magic show"

"Well, it is true that the club activities are going slower than I expected"
"I figured that after we solved our first case more and more students would be coming up with cases for us to solve"
"You know like those detective shows"

"And that's where the problem lies"
"There aren't that many ghosts, to begin with"
"What happened that time was the remote possibility of one in a million touching us"
"Just think about it, if ghosts were that frequently do you think people would doubt their existence?"

"Another solution I could use is changing the club type."
"Something like Yamamoto Detective Agency!"

"Wow, I can't wait for Sharon to send us to watch her boyfriend because she thinks he is cheating on her by not answering her texts at 3 am about whether he would love her if she were a worm."
"Or better yet, Brayan is wondering if his girlfriend is cheating on him because she went to a party with her friends at a bar"
"What a cliffhanger, I won't be able to sleep for days if something like that happens"
"Also why is the club called Yamamoto?"

"Well, the company needs a recognized name and my grandfather has it"
"It's a business strategy"
"Just think about it, the detective club where the granddaughter of the legendary police inspector who saved the president of the United States is a member"

"I don't know, there's something in that last sentence that burns inside me"

"It's called inspiration! Prospective customers will see the ad and get excited."
"They will come to us expecting us to help them with their problems!"
"....."
"....."
"Do you really think that most of the cases will be because of boyfriend/girlfriend fights?"

"Well, that's because in things like a murder or a bank robbery people usually go to the police first"
"We'll be lucky if it's looking for a lost dog"
"The rest of the case, lovers' quarrels"
"But hey, that's how real detectives make a living"

"Well, not everyone is able to have 5 girlfriends at the same time and have them all be fine with you alone"
"Yeah, how do you do that in the first place?"

***Ding***

The bell on the door suddenly started ringing, startling everyone at the same time. All eyes were on the same place, the entrance. Inspector Yamamoto just arrived, put away his umbrella, and went to the counter to greet my mother as usual. I meanwhile knocked on the fish tank to wake Levia up so that she would remember to come to the surface.

"Good afternoon Mr. Yamamoto!"
"Your coffee is almost ready as usual"

"Thanks as always"
"...."
"Is Elise here today by chance?"
"I need to talk to her"

"In the background near the fish tank as usual"
"She is with Haru right now"
"But what about that? Did something happen?"

"Pretty much"
"I need some professional help and I think she fits the profile I'm looking for."

The Inspector then started walking towards us and greeted Haru. He then took a seat in front of me as he waited for his drink to arrive.

"Haru, it looks like they need help with the cleaning"
"Why don't you help them a little, after all you always come here to hang out"
"It's good to help those who always welcome you"

"All right, I'll be right back" Said the girl as she got up and left..

"Eh... what's up Doc?"

"Coloring a book with pencils, really? Is that how you spend your time?"

"In my free time during the Continental war, I used to draw to pass the time"
"I ended up learning a little bit more than I should have"
"Are you looking for a fight?"

"Of course not"
"..."
"Tell me how are you doing?" Said the old man rather uncomfortable about talking to me.

"....."
"....."
"?????"
"Who do you want me to kill?"

"No, it's nothing like that"
"...."
"It's just that....."

"You're uncomfortable with the view, aren't you?"
"I'm not an idiot, I know how stupid I look"
" If it is so difficult look at my hands instead, that's what your granddaughter usually does"

"Thank you for your advice"

"So, why do you want my help? It's very odd coming from you"

"Here is your coffee Sir"
"This one comes right from my home"
"Costa Rican Strictly Hard Bean, my father knows the owner personally."
"From the Tarrazu region, a place known worldwide for its high quality coffee" Said my mother as if it were an ad and sitting next to me

"Well, what do you want my help for? It's very strange" 

"Well, it's about the Kanenaga terrorist group"
"A smuggler called the Collector informed me that several of his assistants were hired to take a couple of things off the docks"
"It seems they were the weapons they used on the day of the president's visit"
"Yesterday he told me that they were hired to do the same thing again soon"

"They are bringing more weapons into the country!?" my mother asked.

"Correct"
"And not just pistols or rifles, some even mention rocket launchers"
"They are angry about the losses they have caused them, they know the police are after them so they are being very careful"
"But the truth is that they are a cancer in our society"
"Even the Yakuzas are helping us in every way possible to get rid of them because they have no principles and no honor"
"...."
"We will obviously not let that happen"
"We are one step away from arresting them all"
"...."
"The problem is that the plan is to arrest all their members at the same time"
"...."

"And the part that we are having this conversation is?"

"They are too many members, we don't have enough staff"
"Well actually they are not so many, but they live and meet in many places in the city"
"The group is quite dangerous so we will use our elite units, the SAT but they do not have that many people in their ranks"
"Even the self-defense forces will help us by sending their best men"
"But it's still a delicate matter, they can't send just anyone"

"I think there's a little misunderstanding but if you need people the woman next to me is in charge of military personnel"
"I'm just a nobody, legally speaking" I said while pointing to my mother.

"It is not that"
"Nor are we so short of people that we need to ask another country for military assistance"
"It is only one place where I need more people."
"The assault on the docks is the most dangerous because that's where the weapons will be"
"But I don't have as many people as I would like to have so I'm looking for people to fill the missing slots"
"What do you say?"

"Ahhhhh"
"No thanks, I don't like to get into trouble by will"
"I don't like violence"

"You killed someone by biting them in the neck last week"
"Come on, we both know it's not your first time doing this"
"I need capable people in case something goes wrong."
"I'll be at the docks myself, there's a lot of pressure on me to get it right"
"The government wants me to be the hero again because of your mother!"

"Just look at this situation from the outside for a moment!"
"You're asking a little girl to help you with a frontal assault on a place where they're trafficking weapons for terrorism!"
"And I'm not even a cop in the first place!"
"I go to the same school as your granddaughter"

"I need people I can trust, I need a friend"
"Someone who can have my back"
"You just go and sit in a chair watching a TV"
"If everything goes well you don't have to do anything,"
"If something happens you just go in and kill 3 or 4 guys, easy"
"In and out,  20 minute adventure"

"And that's exactly the part that terrifies me"
"I've been known for short adventures that end in headlines"
"I think if you really want it to go well you need me out of this, believe me"

"Please!"
"You owe me a car!"
"This is the least you can do"

"I saved your granddaughter from a nuclear bomb"

"My car is now stored in a bag on a shelf in my house for getting you out of that mess"

"I Rescued Haru from dam kidnapping"

"I found your Sister"

"I babysit your granddaughter from Monday to Friday"

"I am the main customer of this coffee shop"

"He is right about that" Adelis said.

"Agh"
"It's okay, it will help you"
"But if something goes wrong, don't blame me, you were already warned"
"Besides, I'll only come in if something really bad happens"
"I'm not going to work as a cop for free"

"Thank you, you don't know how much you help me with that"
"I'll pick you up tomorrow right here"
"Will you need any equipment?"

"A bulletproof vest with no holes preferably"
"And something to indicate that I am with the police, when I present myself there will be a lot of misunderstandings"
"I already have the rest thanks"

"Don't worry, those who will be attending are very good acquaintances of mine"
"I will take care of them"

"If you need help I can still help with that"
"Tamamo can assist, I can give Charlotte the day off to assist as well"
"And I can call Cedric to help as well"

"Please"
"It would help me a lot, thank you"

"You are welcome"

The inspector got up when he finished his drink and called his granddaughter to leave, the girl said goodbye to the rest, took his grandfather's umbrella, and followed him out the door. I couldn't believe again the mess I had unintentionally gotten myself into. I was a cop for a while but it wasn't something I liked, I hated having to stop drunken fights. And although I already have a lot of experience in assaulting docks, I don't like the idea of participating because someone else asked me to. Although it is also true that Yamamoto has helped us a lot so I have to repay the favor even if I don't like it. I just pray that nothing happens.