Well, it was a kendou retreat that’d been the pretense of his sudden departure. Truth of the matter was he’d hardly come into contact with his team, calling sick at the last moment. He was back now, and the tourney for the junior members of the team would be in three weeks’ time. Now was the time to review competition rules and techniques—senior and junior members alike would quickly take their stances, and within moments the room was filled with shouting and footstomping and all the possible variants of bamboo hitting bamboo, or armor. As was custom in such sessions; kendou was a naturally loud sort of martial art to begin with.
He’d mostly be at the sides, watching forms, correcting in strict silence. Not part of the norm, but that could be blamed on recovering sickness and the unfortunate fate that he’d stick with this walking cane for a good, long time. Dammit, Heiji should be in the reins, spearheading the practices, the show of strikes, the demonstrations—not him. The agent would curse his good luck when the time of a demonstration was called for, and he reluctantly stepped onto the mock-duel ring, bokken poised, stance tense. No pressure as the shouting whittled to murmurs, and students flocked to watch. No pressure at all.
Grace of the Shintou gods, spare him the shame of accidentally killing one of these pupils.
Ah, I’m just in time.
Perhaps against his better judgement, the foreign detective slipped into the room to watch the remainder of practice. The kendou retreat had foiled his previous plans to confront the Osakan, but that was no matter. He’d had enough to worry about in the meantime, and still so much research to be done. But after confirming time tables and proposed schedules, Hakuba had decided that taking an early morning train out and get the matter over and done with.
It seemed a good place, anyway. Relatively public to diffuse tension. Physical exertion to both wear Hattori out and get rid of excess aggression. Potentially putting him in a good mood to start if he did well. Oh, and an ice-breaking talking point. It would no doubt be an impressive match, and Hakuba was watching closely to learn all that he could. Surely, there would be plenty of genuine compliments to give by the time they had an opportunity to speak.
He took a place in the back in an attempt to be as discrete as possible, which was difficult considering that he looked even more out of place in Osaka than usual. But with polite nods and a serious, business-like composure, he wasn’t bothered much. It was time to observe and gather information.