Listening to Sophie's story felt intensely painful for Tai. Just knowing that she went through this so many times and he didn't even know, that he hadn't been there with her or found some way to make walking home safe. It hadn't even occurred to him that the neighborhood might be a dangerous one. "I should pick you up at night from now on," he murmured under his breath, squeezing Sophie's hand so hard it probably hurt. He may have failed up to this point but Tai had no intentions of failing again.

The officer nodded his head in a soft acknowledgment of everything that was way. "I think that would be wise mister Devin. At least until this case is all wrapped up." The man reached across the table, briefly patting Sophie's arm. "Thank you for telling me all of this. I know it was hard and it's unclear if these two incidents are really connected but it was very brave to admit it. I can assure you that the department will do its best to increase their patrols in the area if that will put your mind at ease."

Sitting back in his seat Nolan glanced over his shoulder for the first time since they sat down. "Now, I think we have enough information to continue our investigation. If you don't have anything else to add, I think I'll go check on my partner and see how his and your boss's chat is coming along."

~~

Pedro nodded once though he wasn't sure that Derek's plan was a good one. It was, however, a plan he was ready for and almost excited about. "Alright. If they want a fight, then we'll just have to give it to them. No one hurts Sophie like that!" he exclaimed once they were well out of sound range from the shop. He knew his orange eyes were showing their cat pupils and it probably wouldn't take much for his ears to emerge either but he felt too strongly about this to care. They were going to cause trouble anyway. What would a little more trouble be in the grand scheme of things?

As they walked down the street, Pedro used his grip on Derek's hand to keep the other neko close. The club wasn't far away so it didn't even take long to walk there, leaving him pulling Derek back again, keeping him from going inside. "I just thought of it, but what if they're not there?"