Work Text:
Kai Ryosei, Personal Aide of the Marquess of Iizuna
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“Are you doing okay, mister Nozawa?” Ryosei is a bit concerned for his subject of supervision, who is panting with much urgence, chasing his breaths promptly after Yamagata left.
“My apology for leaving you in such a situation. He’s usually very friendly and I’m sure he didn’t mean harm…”
His words don’t have much of the consolation effects as Ryosei would have liked. Honestly speaking, the aide himself was taken aback returning to this office, tension dense and wholly devoid of its usual warmth and welcoming atmosphere. Part of him hopes Tsukasa-sama will quickly return, for Yamagata seems irritated and Ryosei lacks his boss’ known command-of-respect to effectively placate the deputy. Ryosei’s words may have made the atmosphere less uncomfortable for mister Nozawa but he knows that Yamagata is simply hiding his annoyance.
“Maybe a bit tired, that’s all.” Ryosei suggested with some minor success.
“I- I-” mister Nozawa tries between his gasps “I- have never- felt so oppressed- not even in my- my prison time-”
Ryosei winces hearing that. He accompanies Tsukasa-sama at work without fail, always a dutiful aide. Naturally, he's well-acquainted with his boss’ colleagues, many of whom he would befriend himself. And of all the years knowing Yamagata, Ryosei has learned to see the deputy as a rough-edged but good-natured person, friendly and approachable, occasionally cracking a bad dad joke that people would laugh out of courtesy. Seeing him so visibly disgruntled and irked is rare and a sight to behold.
“Pardon my bluntness, mister Nozawa, but did you by any chance insulted Tsukasa-sama?”
“I’m not insinuating that you did so intentionally. Perhaps on accident?” Ryosei added as soon as Nozawa started to look panic. His voice is still gentle but the aide is silently trying to suppress a spark of ire, born merely from such a thought.
"NO! No no no no I didn't I swear I wouldn't dare do su-" the man stammers from the questions, head shaking violently and hands waving unceasingly.
"Alright, alright, please calm down. I understand you didn't do it." Ryosei responds speedily to stop the other's frantic reaction.
'Mister Nozawa seems a bit... unstable...'
"I was just trying to guess why deputy Yamagata would act like he did after meeting you."
Nozawa nods slowly, hands clunching the wrinkled fabrics of his pants. Looking at this desperate man, any flair of anger Ryosei had earlier, that was threatening to blaze into an inferno, is now wholly extinguished.
"I would never dare to... do such a thing..." the blond man's voice gets softer and softer, until it's barely audible anymore.
The aide grimaces, feeling a wave of guilt drenching him. How stupid was he to even accuse the man of such a thing? From what little he learned, an outsider might look into Nozawa's ordeal and point to Lord Washio as his savior. But thoroughly understanding his master's modus operandi and utter eschewal of publicity, Ryosei guesses, no, he knows that the duke only serves as a mouth-piece for Tsukasa-sama to convince to government to right the wrongs done to mister Nozawa. Could he be mistaken? Certainly. Yet the timeline fits far too neatly for Ryosei to be not confident in his speculation. For Tsukasa-sama visited the prison that held the blond man days before Lord Washio voiced his request. All while Ryosei was hospitalized for food poisoning.
Wiping his hands and face dry, Ryosei slowly retrieve his phone from the pocket it resided. Running cold water woke him up from the confused haze fogging his mind since that afternoon. The more Ryosei dwells on it, the stranger this situation becomes. Tsukasa-sama appears to know who Nozawa is and yet the aide has no recollection of ever seeing him, only a slight recognition of the name. Something that seems improbable to have happened, given how boss-and-aide are virtually next to each other every minutes, sans for some meetings he's legally barred from attending.
Nozawa couldn't have been part of the Diet building security, for he's too emaciated to qualify. Nor could he be a journalist, for Tsukasa-sama never respond to one unless Ryosei is present. And certainly not any Diet members or their assistants, as the aide keep that list memorized, regardless of its cumbersome size.
Who is this man and what magic of words did he cast on Tsukasa-sama, to make his master and friend disappeared to an unknown corner, leaving him in an unfamiliar solitude?
Nozawa news
The keys returned revelatory results, those Ryosei expected not. News articles and recordings, headlines with dates oscillating from three years prior to just the previous month.
"Whistleblower social worker bludgeoned dead"
"Baya case: convict's appeal rejected"
"Missing journalist Kanbayashi found dead, suspect in custody"
"Innocent man releashed after three years imprisoned"
"Baya case: evident reassessed, wrong conviction probable"
"Indicted: friend of late journalist Kanbayashi"
"Suspect convicted over murder of whistleblower 'Baya'"
"Baya murder case reopen, Ministry of Justice"
"Suspect claims of innocence, Kanbayashi murder"
"Lord Washio seeks reopen of Kanbayashi case investigation"
"Convicted man over Baya murder, innocent, court confirmed"
Sometimes Ryosei wishes he had wiretapped his moss-haired friend.