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Monthly Archives: July 2013
“Yeah, fine… I’m home alone for a while, anyway. My mum had a trip with one of her friends. Honestly, I’m waiting for her to have me return some more of her old heist stuff, regardless of whether or not she is here or off traveling…” He trailed off. No need to elaborate on Phantom Lady being his mom. Not yet, anyway.
Kaito fiddled with the ring gingerly, trying not to irritate it too much. “It’s fine, Hakuba. It is probably more because of how it’s fitted to my human form. It hurts now, so I’m thinking it’s too small for that form.“
"Lions… do have rather large toes.” Hakuba cleared his throat with an awkward cough, looking back to the desk and the deer leg. That didn’t explain why Kaito was actually wearing the ring. Yes, he’d given it to him, but… He shook his head, anxious. “I- ah, could…”
Think about it carefully, Hakuba. Mother in town. Charity benefit very soon. Kaito turning into a prowling lion. Wearing that ring. Killing deer. And so many unanswered questions about where they stood. Plus, well, they were alone together in Kaito’s bedroom, with Kaito was still blood stained and naked. Hakuba rubbed the back of his head.
“I’ve been doing research. I can gather necessary containment supplies and, ah, volunteer to… stay with you, if that…” It sounded stupid as he said it. Foolish. Kaito shouldn’t be alone, but why would he want the detective to help? “Rather, I can help with supplies and contingencies if you have someone in mind to stay… To make sure that you don’t get into trouble until this mess is sorted out…” He frowned. “Do you, ah… are you comfortable in all that blood, Kaito-kun?”
An Email from Mother || akaikujixyaku
Emi’s plans were never made very much ahead of time, so when she tried to run through her calendar for the week, nothing came to mind, “R-Right, Marion, I’ll remember that, eheh, I’m pretty much free all week…" Sweet girl, Emi dear, this lady sure seemed to know a bit more about the young journalist than she knew in return. But then, she’d probably done her research (and with a husband like that, her reach would be pretty far). Had she really been that impressed with the articles she’d done for local magazines? It wasn’t as if she’d been able to tie the Scarlet Feather publications to her… Right? Right.
It was still funny that she would be the one chosen for this, though. Shucks. (Emi seriously didn’t think she was nearly as charming as this lady believed).
"O-Oh, Miss Marion, are you—?" She was already off the line. Thank god she wasn’t in the same room as these people right now, because as soon as she realized that she was actually putting Saguru-sama on to discuss this (crazy, wild, amazing) unexpected plan, she turned red from underneath her cheekbones all the way up to the tips of her ears. "Eh, Hello?”
There was a moment more of silence before some shuffling and then, finally, “Ah- hello.”
It was the young detective himself, holding the phone against his ear while Marion lingered very close by, watching his every move. Hakuba held back a sigh of despair, pulling the corded phone a little further from the receiver so he could straighten up into a more comfortable stand.
“Himura-san? Ah, thank you for taking time out of your schedule to speak with me… Ah, please, allow me to first apologize for the, uhm, unusual nature of this… ah…”
“Saguru! Just talk to her! It’s NOT THAT HARD!" Marion hissed at him in a whisper loud enough that most of the household could hear it.
Hakuba rubbed at his forehead wearily. "Are you available tomorrow evening, perhaps? I should very much like to take you out about town if.. ah, if you’re interested…”
“Of course she’s interested! That was the whole point of the email, Saguru-chan!”
“…Ah, if you’re interested, Himura-san.”
“Oh, I’m fine.” He laid back, crossing his legs as he did so. Well, that was a relief. He didn’t kill anyone, at least as far as he knew.
“So lion me considers you territory?” Kaito grinned slightly. “Still, you’re right. This is really, really bad, especially since I am not sure about when I keep transforming. And you’re taking this rather well, Hakuba…"
This was really starting to bug him. It was a rather bizarre juxtaposition, Hakuba fainting when he found out about Kudou, yet seeming entirely together and a little too damn calm when his friend turned into a fully grown lion.
Too damn calm was right. Hakuba blinked, tilting his head at Kaito’s last statement. “Ah, well… there’s work to be done and shutting down won’t help anything.” The detective bit his lip.
“I suggest that you not be alone for the time being, as you don’t seem to be yourself as a lion, claiming me as territory aside… Ah, speaking of which, the, ah, the ring?” Hakuba flushed. “The, ah, lion didn’t… seem to like it.. And, ah, had I known you were actually going to wear it, I would have gotten something a little more practical… Ahm.”
At least the formally too-calm detective had returned to flustered embarrassment.
Hate Date in Osaka
Oh, so he wanted to switch back to Japanese? Well, that was fine with him, and Katsura-han might be interested, too. “TV an’ radio, pretty much. Mostly news. There’re a lotta fun American movies an’ programs out there, an’ I jus’ kept studyin’ ‘til I not only could understand ‘em, but recite ‘em an’ know what I was sayin’. Readin’s a different story.“ He chuckled fondly at the memory. “Picked up an Ellery Queen book at th’ library an’ fell in love. Got th’ English versions an’ didn’t stop ‘til I could understand those, too.” He dropped his chin on his hand, thinking. “Was also when I decided ta be a detective, instead’v a cop, come ta think’v it.“ Yes, that was definitely one of his, if not the most, defining moments in his childhood. He owed a lot to Ellery Queen, another reason why he defended the author duo above Conan Doyle.
"S’a tough language ta learn,” he admitted. “A lotta th’ letters don’t have a set pronunciation, so s’almost like ya have ta speak a word ‘fore ya can read it.“ Well, he learned how to speak the language before reading, so it was easy for him to match up written words with what he knew. It might work differently for other people. And it wasn’t like he had to know the pronunciation of a word, but he was a bit of a perfectionist and needed to know both definition and pronunciation. He’d had to extensively study the dictionary and memorize the International Phonetic Alphabet in order to do that, but at least his knowledge of the IPA helped with other languages.
Th-that… That was adorable. Even Hakuba couldn’t deny it. It made the smile on the foreign detective’s face decidedly fond.
"I’m impressed,” Hakuba said, continuing on in Japanese. “That’s quite the story. You’re rather good at it, Hattori-san. You could easily be an interpreter.” He chuckled after that, because he knew very well that that was not Heiji’s chosen career path, and amended his statement. “I’m certain that it helps on cases. Being fluent in both has certainly helped me, at any rate."
He picked up his own tea and drank from it, deciding to stop while he was ahead and let the locals converse while he listened. Bulldozing Katsura-san would undo all of the repair they’d started.
…Really?
Did Hakuba really just ask that?
Decidedly ignoring the question – because answering it would just be too much trouble and create even more awkwardness than the detective had already managed to do – Kaito kneeled in front of the TV and pulled the drawer open. “I like action, comedy and horror. Fantasy’s pretty fun too. And movies based on magic. Obviously.“
A small grin curled at the corners of his lips as he pulled The Illusionist from the pile of movies and held it up for Hakuba to see. “Seen it?”
“Ah…” Hakuba blinked at the case, tilting his head curiously. “The Illusionist… No, I don’t think that I have.” The detective reached for the case. “Is it good? Is this what you’d like to watch? What happens? Who’s in it?”
An Email from Mother || akaikujixyaku
♪♫*New Email Message*♫♪
Great. It was probably Iro ‘Where’s the new article O’great artist?’ ‘I’ven’t heard anything in days, did you finally get yourself killed? Can’t say I didn’t warn you, cheh.’ or something else of an editor’s usual disturbance, (needless to say, she was pulling her phone up with a less than optimistic attitude. But you’ll forgive that, she’d been out late working on just such a story, and was running on nothing but the glorious thing which was caffeinated tea). However, her tired eyes flickered more open, and mind veered to life when she realized that she didn’t recognize the sender. Strange. She didn’t give her email to many people. But it didn’t ring spammail- and it hadn’t been filtered out by her virus defender.
(Curiosity always got the better of her anyhow)
It took all of three seconds to reach the name ‘Marion Hakuba’ and in all honesty, the phone nearly dropped right out of her fingertips— (luckily, she treasured the item too much to let it fall. Cat like reflexes engaged), she caught it with some scrambling, breathing out and pulling it back up to eye level, determined to get to the message’s end this time, even if it meant holding her breath. And good on the young Himura, she made it that time. And promptly went back and read it over again, and again, and twice more over.
(It wasn’t even so much that she didn’t think it was credible, because everything looked in order about the message, it looked very professional and not at all suspicious— point was, she just didn’t understand what was happening, because all of her logical processors had, decidedly, quit. No two week notice, just up and whoosh gone they were)
Now, she’d interviewed him… once? Twice maybe, sent questions, nice emails (nearly fanmail, but still with a casual inquisitive nature), and they’d had various small virtual interactions, however… just how on Earth had this come about— He has agreed to my terms — now why in the world would he go and do that oh my goodness what how why what. Did mothers really do this? Seriously? It seemed so… invasive. But then she did call herself the meddling mother, so it seemed like she’d come to terms with the facts of the matter… And on at least a few points, she did understand. Emi’s American heritage and decidedly American appearance had done it’s fair share of alienating her when she was young, (it was her determination and later developed extroversion which earned her the friends she had), and certainly could make her feel a little displaced in some social situations. But Sagu- Hakuba-sama, didn’t seem the type to let that get in his way!
He was so charming, so suave and likable! (A little bit conceited sometimes, sure, but who wasn’t when they were that smart? Sheesh)— it didn’t make sense to her at all!..
Still…
An email had cropped up offering her a formal outing (date it was a date) with Saguru Hakuba— Even from just a professional standpoint, there was no way she should pass this up, right? (As if it was really her career choice that was governing this decision at all).
Was he really okay with it?..
….
*♪♫♪♫♪♪♪*
“Yes, eh, hello? Mrs. Hakuba— Hakuba-San— oh, rats, Madame Hakuba? Yes, I was calling about the email you sent me… As long as you’re certain that Saguru-sama- I mean, your son, is alright with the arrangement.. I’d very much like to be of any help that I can.”
“Oh yes, yes, yes, of course he’s all right with it! I’m so glad that you called, Emi dear. This is wonderful news. And please, call me Marion. Oh, such a sweet girl you are. What nights are you free this week? We’re unfortunately stuck doing a charity benefit this weekend, but would any other time be acceptable? Oh, perhaps I should have him talk to you and arrange this… I can’t meddle with every little detail, can I? Hee hee! Hold on, let me get him~”
best quality of the mun?
“She’s willing to write excessively long reports and things for me when I ask. Perhaps she misses school/homework?”
What do you think about your mun’s plans to make a video presentation on you?
“It seems a little excessive and time-consuming, but I suppose that’s all right… She does seem to have my best interests at heart. Let’s just hope she leaves her head canon out of it.”