Kenma waited for Yaku to escort the jumpy informant out of his office. He drummed his fingers on the table twice before snapping them at the two bodyguards by the door. They left without a word, ignoring the bud of curiosity in them in favour of starting their break early.

"Get Bokuto on the line."

The phone rang once before Bokuto's unmistakable voice filtered through.

"Kozume! How's everything up at Nekoma? Whaddya need? Has anyone died?"

Kenma waited for Bokuto's rapid-fire questions to fade into silence before filling him in on the situation.

"I don't like this, Kozume. Old man Oomizu was nice, and then out of nowhere his successor just kills him and takes over?"

"Fools make decisions on impulse, Bokuto. Daishou acted on his impatience, and that in itself is more than enough information on what kind of person he is." Kenma paused. "Nekoma will stop its trading business with Nohebi so that we can limit the amount of weaponry they get their hands on. Fukurodani can continue with the acid*. That means a possible budget cut..."

"The only one who knows that Fukurodani and Nekoma are both under me is Shiratorizawa, and Ushijima won't go selling that kind of information without a steep price. I need to you keep the income high and make sure nobody gets caught for the next few weeks."

"I can do that."

"I'll see you and Akaashi in a few days. Keep in touch."

Barely moments after Kenma had hung up, Yaku burst back into the office without knocking, words flying out of his mouth so fast that Kenma had to stop to process what he said.

"Shouyou did what now?"

*acid: also known as LSD or a powerful hallucinogenic drug, which means you're likely to experience a distorted view of objects and reality if you take it. The experience of taking LSD is called tripping.

I do not advocate taking drugs recreationally.