The Shimada and her partner Tsuru, had worked for, or rather, with him before. Though, back then, he drove them to do so many tasks, that for once even Tsuru had felt relief upon leaving the town of Orchidia. But while he made them work, he never sat idle and barked orders. He'd shared with them his story Akira hadn't been back since, but it seemed the inspector still remembered her well. Well enough to ask around and reach out, at the very least.
She ruffled the pages of the newspaper, idly scanning the words and not really paying attention to the meaning. She simply held it up to avoid being addressed by anyone except the inspector she was waiting on, it was unlike him to be late, she could only assume he got caught up with work. The only reason why she didn't shy away from giving him the time of day, was because he wasn't the sort to simply reassign his tasks to lowly officers, he was always hard at work himself too. A pair of glasses was dropped on the table, she half-folded the newspaper, prepared to shoo away anyone who intended to join her.
Luckily, it was the inspector. He placed his hat on the table too and then got rid of his long trench coat, hanging it behind the chair he pulled before finally taking a seat across Akira. First thing he did was apologise for his tardiness, a concern that Akira dismissed with a wave of her hand. She folded the paper and set it on the table before motioning to the waiter. Nilan's demeanour offered her some peace and confidence. One more among the very few who sought to either look beyond her actions or find them just. Even just that much support, helped her tide through. Especially, because logistically she knew she hadn't actually lost that much, thanks to Adragna. Keeping up the pretence wasn't easy though.
They ordered a coffee each. Following the usual greetings, out of curiosity Aki asked what kept him. He was rather sheepish in answering. He clasped his hands, intertwining his fingers and setting his elbows on the table. 'Oh, just some infernal plant the newer recruits can't get rid off.' It was rather apparent that he was trying to be dismissive of his problems and didn't intent to burden the Shimada as he once had.