Before I came to find Kuro I had already put contingencies in place.
While I sat across from him in this van, Tengu's men were working through the trailer park systematically. Every unit. Every shed. Every locked vehicle and boarded structure where a pregnant woman could be kept without drawing attention.
I was stalling. Buying time for someone else to get ahead of this for once.
But if I was being completely honest with myself, the stalling was only half of it. Part of me genuinely wanted to hear this. Wanted to understand how a twelve year old boy who watched his family burn grew into the man sitting across from me with coffee granules and a named van and eyes that had been carrying something heavy for a very long time.
Kuro looked at me for several seconds after I asked. Then he exhaled through his nose and pushed himself to his feet.
"Going to need coffee for this."
