2023-03-03: Drawing the Line in the Sand
- Log: 2023-03-03: Drawing the Line in the Sand
- Cast: Koji Kabuto, Gennosuke Yumi
- Where: Tokyo Government Offices
- Date: U.C. 0097 03 03
- Summary: Finally fed up of sitting around while the Federation mocks the OCU's principles, Koji escalates to the highest authority he trusts.
Koji paces in the waiting room of the Tokyo government offices. His tie is loose, his sleeves are rolled up, and his fists are balled tightly, knuckles blanched white.
The secretary - a lady named Kia from Australia - is watching him nervously. She's been wondering whether to call security for the past half-hour, but the first time a suited goon tried to make Koji sit down he fixed the man with a glare that would cow even a devil and kept pacing.
A buzzer sounds, and the secretary looks up. "Doctor Kabuto - "
He sweeps past her desk, throwing aside the double doors into the offices, leaving her to awkwardly stammer out "the prime minister will see you now..." to an empty foyer.
=== === === ===
The door to Gennosuke Yumi's office slams open and Koji storms up to the desk. "Yumi!" He barks. "Are we just gonna keep taking this shit lying down?"
Gennosuke Yumi, facing out of the window, polishes his glasses, sets them back on his nose, and turns to face Koji, taking a seat. "Doctor Kabuto, this outburst is - "
"You know damn well I couldn't give Ashura's right tit about propriety, old man! We just let G-Hound violate every pretense the Federation is supposed to uphold and stymie an official response over a goddamn oligarch conspiracy!"
"According to their mission statement, they were retrieving fugitives - "
" - Yeah I'm sure they were on the level when they dropped that jammer bomb on us. They weren't interested in showing us any kind of warrant, just in throwing a fucking top-secret mobile suit at us piloted by someone they've been brainwashing just like Glemy Toto was doing in the Neo Zeon war. Besides - those kids have done NOTHING wrong, and I will testify to that if I have to! The Vist Foundation want Mineva so they control a legitimate heir of Zeon, and Banagher..."
"... he's just been saddled with a machine connected to a terrible power and a future nobody really understands, and feels like he HAS to do the right thing." He chokes up. "If you won't help us protect him... You might as well have thrown Shiro and I aside, all those years ago."
The light catches Yumi's glasses, making his expression unreadable. "... These allegations about the Vist Foundation in your report are steep indeed, Koji, but there is not enough evidence or proof for me to act upon it."
"So prove it," Koji hisses. "Don't we have one of the best military intelligence forces in the entire Federation? Let them do their goddamn jobs instead of tying their hands!"
Yumi remains silent, and Koji presses the attack. "If you're not gonna do anything, Sayaka and I will regardless. Letting them deport Shiho was bad enough."
"Koji, I cannot allow - "
"Don't you get it, old man? I'm not here to negotiate, I'm telling you - there's only one thing I'm interested in asking for your permission to do, and if you won't stand up and make the right call then that's never gonna happen."
The silence this time is... different. Koji suddenly realises what he's just said, and his face goes crimson.
Gennosuke Yumi steeples his fingers, looking up at the much younger man. "... It's been a long time since I've seen that fire in you, Koji-kun. Do you truly mean that?"
"I - uh - y-yeah."
"Hm." The old man removes his glasses, polishing them again (is that a bit of Koji's spittle he's wiping off them?), then picks up a pen and pulls over a sheaf of paper to take notes. "Alright. I'll set our best teams on looking into the Vist Foundation. Anything else?"
Koji's face returns to a normal hue. "... Yes. I want official declarations of protective asylum for Banagher Links and Mineva Lao Zabi."
"I can make that happen," Yumi answers, writing.
"And unground Shiro."
"Already done."
"And - " Koji blushes again. "No, it's nothing, never mind. I'll get out of your hair."
Yumi clicks his pen and sets it aside as Koji leaves the office. "You'd be proud, Juzo," he murmurs.