I didn't mean to give the impression that Hatman's style is clumsy, just that I believe he's something of a "burn this bridge, then see what happens when we reach the next one" type when the situation calls for it. He wouldn't arrest Akiko over some minor crime. But if she did something like, say, kidnap the deputy mayor to make a point, Hatman would arrest her and deal with the consequences later. If it meant a gang war and a power struggle on the streets, so be it, that could be handled too. Chiaki lacks the confidence that a power struggle can be "handled", so she opts for the more secure route.

To his credit, though, in reality it might be Hatman who's less rigid in this case. He's willing to turn the status quo upside down in case it might turn out better, while Chiaki is content to keep things as they are for stability because things may turn out worse. More on that in a moment.



A lot of that impression is because there's a lot she's covering up - and nothing criminal, more personal. One of these days I'll have to write something to show what happens when she loses her protective structures, but I may have to wait until one or more events happen in the Parodyverse first. In the mean time, I'll try to summarize.

In the case above the difference of opinion may be based on what's available to them. Chiaki has long been taught to depend on no one, and because she's only one human with no real power aside from what she borrows from others. The truth is she needs to keep that power base intact, and will do what she has to do to maintain it, within reason (she won't resort to harming Hatman to prevent Akiko's arrest though). Otherwise she'd be left alone, powerless, and without her sources of information...which will also leave her at the mercy of everyone else. And if that were the case, Chiaki feels it distasteful to have to be protected by the Lair Legion when she's been self-sufficient for so long.

She quietly fears the rise of Vendredi, and the return of the Lynchpin. Both of them are "families" that are outside her realm of connections. She's aware of the possibility of an alliance between the two which would drive Akiko, and herself, out of the loop and straight to the top of the hit list, and she knows in that case Akiko will give priority to protecting herself. Then self-sufficient Chiaki would have to approach the Lair Legion, hat in hand, so to speak, requesting help and protection. Having to do that would crush her spirit, at least till she finds a new place in the world.

In general, though, Chiaki can be a bit proud, opinionated, and hard-headed, but all of that covers a softer interior of of fear...of her old life catching up to her, of alienating the Lair Legion before that happens so she's left to survive it on her own. She gets involved in certain things because she fears she has to, to avoid losing her protection, and she doesn't want to depend on anyone to do it for her.

I do have a short tie-in which shows how she tries to manipulate things that are actually beyond her control to try to appear like she's on top of things. I wrote it a couple days ago but it works as a good example.