"This is him? He's smaller than I imagined."
"Yeah it is. Shut up, and don't insult him. He's our boss... and from what I've heard? He's had a pretty bad time of things."
"Which part? The village being almost blown to smithereens? The rumor that his adopted child left him?"
"Just shut it. Try not to get personal with him."
***
I sat before the Steward. My old man speaks well of his old man. I met the guy maybe two times? I always felt sort of ... odd about him. He always seemed so mechanical. He spoke well enough, always had good ideas. I saw the guy once crawl through a crime scene with broken legs to get us a clue. I guess that made him a real trooper. I mean heck, that one clue he found us, gave us a significant lead. I felt bad for him when he asked about sharing one of those pastries with him. We just went and gobbled them all up, and didn't think about the man down in the filth crawling through it.
I exchanged glances with my partner. She was rash. She had a few years on me, and the Steward. I could see her annoyance behind her mask. She doesn't seem to realize that the eyes are a good read on people. She didn't like it when I had to have a little chat with her beforehand. She spotted a Leopard mask. I myself sitting back wearing an Ape mask. Yep. This was going to be a long interview. I felt more sorry for the Steward more than anything else. "Sir." I began. The Steward-Kazekage seemed smaller than usual. His expression was neutral as per the usual. "We wanted to review with you that case you ... handled back three years ago. You know I wanted to sort of see how you work a case."
He gave me that look. I'm not sure if he was annoyed or tired. I'm going to go with him being tired. His eyes were less creepy to look at. Seemed sorta normal. "Observation."<i></i> Sousuke began. "People see, but they don't observe. Like for instance I could tell from the slight stain on your mask you had a rushed lunch. He didn't remove your mask fully, you raised it slightly and bumped a jelly pastry onto the chin section. Did you save me one this time?"<i></i> As usual he was right. I coughed. I owed him one of those. Luckily I had half of one left. I reached below my chair and took out the box and slid it over to him. My partner shook her head at me. The Steward seemed slightly healthier than usual. Maybe he gained some weight. I watched him open up the box and dissect the pastry. "You desire to talk technique, or method?"<i></i> He wiped the crumbs from his lips. He didn't eat greedily, but I could tell he was enjoying it. It was like watching a man eat his last meal.
"Technique." My partner spoke. "Because you know you're king of it." I hope to Suna he doesn't detect the sarcasm in her voice. She had a knack for it. Pissed me off it did. "Do you keep some sort of big note book or is it all up here?" She held her index and middle finger to the side of her head. Everyone knew the Steward had an exceptional memory. He knew my family house, and my ancestors back some generations. Good bye promotion. Good bye field work.
"Alot of it is memory work. My academy school instructor had us recite a poem monthly. My academy grades weren't exceptional, but my intellectual prowess didn't manifest until later in life."<i></i> Sousuke answered. "With the case in the ditch, it is elementary that the scene was exceptional. Looking for something ordinary in the exceptional helps. You have to ground it in ... a normal world. Once you do that well, then you can expand and consider the cataclysmic or the exceptional. The scene was made to look impossible... considering the explosion they used after the murder. Had to work backwards and re-engineer the incident."<i></i>
***
So. This is the Steward. He's not half as boring as I heard. He seemed tired. He didn't have bags under his eyes. The kid was a young man. How the hell could he be tired at that age? He was a smart kid. He went over technique with us. He hadn't latched on yet what this was really about. I don't think he's the kind to flip out. He was maybe the type to brood silently? Keep this shit under the carpet. Don't involve the big man, don't involve his sennin the shadow monster. I don't want to deal with Mikaboshi. Dude is some sort of urban legend. I don't want to see him. I don't want to know him. I just want to get this over wi--
"We spoke technique. We spoke method. When are you two going to let me in on what occurred during the Cabal situation?"<i></i> Shit. Shit. Shit. Shadow Monster incoming. I heard rumor that the Steward himself turned into some sort of shadow monster himself. I exchanged glances with my partner. I could see the whites of his eyes. We are screwed royally. We did not want to drag this out. I mean we spoke for what, an hour and a half? I watched this kid say things that flew over my head. Psychosphere. Faded memories. Limited Reasoning. I probably pissed him off, but he's our witness. We gotta do our job right? Even if it does piss him off, he who is the highest in the land.
"Nothing much happened. Lots of criminals get out. We got some of them some at large. Some of them blended into the population. We just need to weed them out." I answer truthfully. This happens. Magnetica got out. She had to be taken down by a bunch of people including the shrimp before me, Kuro, and some other heavy hitters. My partner gives me that look again. What? I'm not treating him like he's an idiot. Sousuke shifted in his seat. He looked like he was getting uncomfortable. Had we hit a snag? Something unfinished on his end? Some big reveal?
"You have a file. The contents of that file will reflect some similarities with that of a case I closed. Something came back. I don't like not finishing a job properly. Even if it is a generational thing, or inherited crimes. The case we discussed is very particular. It had some unique scope and depth to it. "<i></i> Yeah. Yeah he's asking for the file now. My partner says nothing and leaves the room. "It's happened again, or in some form. This really isn't about method, it's about replication. You're trying to replicate my work from back then. Maybe not the explosion bit that was the cover up, but it's a vicious killing that disturbs you. Someone close?"<i></i>
"My sister--"
He cut me off. Probably for the better. "You're not allowed to operate on matters close to family."<i></i> He was right. Crap. I got that gut stabbing feeling again. I'm going to be cut short here. Cat's got my tongue. I've been found out, but thankfully my partner wasn't around. He returns with the file. Sousuke nods at me. Well. I'm canned. "Show me."<i></i> He gets his hands on the file. He's flipping through the file. I break my glance with him. Damn. How does he know this shit? I'm wearing a full mask, and anbu armour.
***
Sousuke sat going through the file. He zipped through it fairly quickly. The Leopard Anbu leaned forward. "My question is--"
"How can it be him, if I closed the case back 3 years ago. He died in prison, as per the records."<i></i> Sousuked paused for a moment. "How indeed detectives?"<i></i> He gave the Leopard Anbu a very hard look, and then gave the Ape Anbu the same hard look.
"I figured you'd be the one to know."
The Steward closed the file, and pushed it forward slightly. He closed his eyes. "Then start asking the right questions."<i></i> His eyes would open once again. There was something in those eyes, a pristine and concentrated focus. The tiredness that seemed to grasp at the Steward was slowly fading. "Those files in the Aspect Vault. Are they still under locked down?"<i></i> Both of the Anbu stared at each other. The look on the Steward's face intensified. "The look you just gave each other. You are ... kidding right? This is no laughing or silly manner, are those files still under lock down?"<i></i>
"Still under lock down for another ..." The Ape Anbu paused. He seemed to have the answer on the top of his tongue. "Another ... three months? Why the murders we're investigating having nothing to--"
Sousuke cut him off. The Steward raised his hand. "This is a problem then..."[/b] He could force those files to be opened up from the vault. Granted he would probably be 'opening up a can of worms' as his father would put it. Again he closed his eyes. He tapped his fingers on the desk. "The location of the murder is relevant to the prior case. It's in the same neighborhood I had Tama and Kitani investigate on a case a while back. It had roots in the super natural, but it just ended up being that the convicted was a very mentally and criminally insane individual ... who had a perchance for making his murders appear from the occult."<i></i>
The Ape Anbu took back the file from before. "Copycat? Family?" He questioned the Steward. The Steward shook his head. "He was killed during his time in jail. Some nasty fight broke out with him and some of the inmates." The Steward said nothing but gave him a look. "Might not be so dead after all maybe."
"Indeed. Pulls those files from the Aspect Vault. How contaminated is the crime scene? I'm going to need to get a better look."<i></i>
"Yeah it is. Shut up, and don't insult him. He's our boss... and from what I've heard? He's had a pretty bad time of things."
"Which part? The village being almost blown to smithereens? The rumor that his adopted child left him?"
"Just shut it. Try not to get personal with him."
***
I sat before the Steward. My old man speaks well of his old man. I met the guy maybe two times? I always felt sort of ... odd about him. He always seemed so mechanical. He spoke well enough, always had good ideas. I saw the guy once crawl through a crime scene with broken legs to get us a clue. I guess that made him a real trooper. I mean heck, that one clue he found us, gave us a significant lead. I felt bad for him when he asked about sharing one of those pastries with him. We just went and gobbled them all up, and didn't think about the man down in the filth crawling through it.
I exchanged glances with my partner. She was rash. She had a few years on me, and the Steward. I could see her annoyance behind her mask. She doesn't seem to realize that the eyes are a good read on people. She didn't like it when I had to have a little chat with her beforehand. She spotted a Leopard mask. I myself sitting back wearing an Ape mask. Yep. This was going to be a long interview. I felt more sorry for the Steward more than anything else. "Sir." I began. The Steward-Kazekage seemed smaller than usual. His expression was neutral as per the usual. "We wanted to review with you that case you ... handled back three years ago. You know I wanted to sort of see how you work a case."
He gave me that look. I'm not sure if he was annoyed or tired. I'm going to go with him being tired. His eyes were less creepy to look at. Seemed sorta normal. "Observation."<i></i> Sousuke began. "People see, but they don't observe. Like for instance I could tell from the slight stain on your mask you had a rushed lunch. He didn't remove your mask fully, you raised it slightly and bumped a jelly pastry onto the chin section. Did you save me one this time?"<i></i> As usual he was right. I coughed. I owed him one of those. Luckily I had half of one left. I reached below my chair and took out the box and slid it over to him. My partner shook her head at me. The Steward seemed slightly healthier than usual. Maybe he gained some weight. I watched him open up the box and dissect the pastry. "You desire to talk technique, or method?"<i></i> He wiped the crumbs from his lips. He didn't eat greedily, but I could tell he was enjoying it. It was like watching a man eat his last meal.
"Technique." My partner spoke. "Because you know you're king of it." I hope to Suna he doesn't detect the sarcasm in her voice. She had a knack for it. Pissed me off it did. "Do you keep some sort of big note book or is it all up here?" She held her index and middle finger to the side of her head. Everyone knew the Steward had an exceptional memory. He knew my family house, and my ancestors back some generations. Good bye promotion. Good bye field work.
"Alot of it is memory work. My academy school instructor had us recite a poem monthly. My academy grades weren't exceptional, but my intellectual prowess didn't manifest until later in life."<i></i> Sousuke answered. "With the case in the ditch, it is elementary that the scene was exceptional. Looking for something ordinary in the exceptional helps. You have to ground it in ... a normal world. Once you do that well, then you can expand and consider the cataclysmic or the exceptional. The scene was made to look impossible... considering the explosion they used after the murder. Had to work backwards and re-engineer the incident."<i></i>
***
So. This is the Steward. He's not half as boring as I heard. He seemed tired. He didn't have bags under his eyes. The kid was a young man. How the hell could he be tired at that age? He was a smart kid. He went over technique with us. He hadn't latched on yet what this was really about. I don't think he's the kind to flip out. He was maybe the type to brood silently? Keep this shit under the carpet. Don't involve the big man, don't involve his sennin the shadow monster. I don't want to deal with Mikaboshi. Dude is some sort of urban legend. I don't want to see him. I don't want to know him. I just want to get this over wi--
"We spoke technique. We spoke method. When are you two going to let me in on what occurred during the Cabal situation?"<i></i> Shit. Shit. Shit. Shadow Monster incoming. I heard rumor that the Steward himself turned into some sort of shadow monster himself. I exchanged glances with my partner. I could see the whites of his eyes. We are screwed royally. We did not want to drag this out. I mean we spoke for what, an hour and a half? I watched this kid say things that flew over my head. Psychosphere. Faded memories. Limited Reasoning. I probably pissed him off, but he's our witness. We gotta do our job right? Even if it does piss him off, he who is the highest in the land.
"Nothing much happened. Lots of criminals get out. We got some of them some at large. Some of them blended into the population. We just need to weed them out." I answer truthfully. This happens. Magnetica got out. She had to be taken down by a bunch of people including the shrimp before me, Kuro, and some other heavy hitters. My partner gives me that look again. What? I'm not treating him like he's an idiot. Sousuke shifted in his seat. He looked like he was getting uncomfortable. Had we hit a snag? Something unfinished on his end? Some big reveal?
"You have a file. The contents of that file will reflect some similarities with that of a case I closed. Something came back. I don't like not finishing a job properly. Even if it is a generational thing, or inherited crimes. The case we discussed is very particular. It had some unique scope and depth to it. "<i></i> Yeah. Yeah he's asking for the file now. My partner says nothing and leaves the room. "It's happened again, or in some form. This really isn't about method, it's about replication. You're trying to replicate my work from back then. Maybe not the explosion bit that was the cover up, but it's a vicious killing that disturbs you. Someone close?"<i></i>
"My sister--"
He cut me off. Probably for the better. "You're not allowed to operate on matters close to family."<i></i> He was right. Crap. I got that gut stabbing feeling again. I'm going to be cut short here. Cat's got my tongue. I've been found out, but thankfully my partner wasn't around. He returns with the file. Sousuke nods at me. Well. I'm canned. "Show me."<i></i> He gets his hands on the file. He's flipping through the file. I break my glance with him. Damn. How does he know this shit? I'm wearing a full mask, and anbu armour.
***
Sousuke sat going through the file. He zipped through it fairly quickly. The Leopard Anbu leaned forward. "My question is--"
"How can it be him, if I closed the case back 3 years ago. He died in prison, as per the records."<i></i> Sousuked paused for a moment. "How indeed detectives?"<i></i> He gave the Leopard Anbu a very hard look, and then gave the Ape Anbu the same hard look.
"I figured you'd be the one to know."
The Steward closed the file, and pushed it forward slightly. He closed his eyes. "Then start asking the right questions."<i></i> His eyes would open once again. There was something in those eyes, a pristine and concentrated focus. The tiredness that seemed to grasp at the Steward was slowly fading. "Those files in the Aspect Vault. Are they still under locked down?"<i></i> Both of the Anbu stared at each other. The look on the Steward's face intensified. "The look you just gave each other. You are ... kidding right? This is no laughing or silly manner, are those files still under lock down?"<i></i>
"Still under lock down for another ..." The Ape Anbu paused. He seemed to have the answer on the top of his tongue. "Another ... three months? Why the murders we're investigating having nothing to--"
Sousuke cut him off. The Steward raised his hand. "This is a problem then..."[/b] He could force those files to be opened up from the vault. Granted he would probably be 'opening up a can of worms' as his father would put it. Again he closed his eyes. He tapped his fingers on the desk. "The location of the murder is relevant to the prior case. It's in the same neighborhood I had Tama and Kitani investigate on a case a while back. It had roots in the super natural, but it just ended up being that the convicted was a very mentally and criminally insane individual ... who had a perchance for making his murders appear from the occult."<i></i>
The Ape Anbu took back the file from before. "Copycat? Family?" He questioned the Steward. The Steward shook his head. "He was killed during his time in jail. Some nasty fight broke out with him and some of the inmates." The Steward said nothing but gave him a look. "Might not be so dead after all maybe."
"Indeed. Pulls those files from the Aspect Vault. How contaminated is the crime scene? I'm going to need to get a better look."<i></i>