thelotusflowerfiles:
The only place Shinichi could think was Periot and that embarrassed him. Here he was supposed to know Beika, did know Beika, and the only place he could think of was a tiny cafe some odd blocks away from his home. He shook his head and unscrewed the cap off a water bottle to take a long gulp of water. His work out had just ended and he was just waiting, trying to kill some time between the actives cases he was working on and the series of colds that Meguire-keibu had given him.
‘Something to keep you from hunting the streets.’ He grimaced. He did not hunt Beika’s streets NOR prowl as Shiratori-keibu put it. It wasn’t his fault that he stummbled, literally sometimes, across murders or in the scary sense fell right into his lap. That was a interesting night to say the least.
Shinichi sighed and pulled the thin shirt over his head to mop the sweet off his face. He still hadn’t replied to Hakuba mostly because he was still debating on taking the fellow detective to Periot or scrambling in the last minute to find a suitable replacement. A cafe in Japan? After living in Europe? Fat chance he was going to be able to find something that good.
SO Periot it was. At least it was a comfortable spot for him.
Shinichi sat in front his laptop again after his shower and reread the email. The message brought up more questions than answers for him. Particularly why his meeting spots would no long exist. He had read, after some digging and a bit of illegal hacking, and heard the rumors about his running with a criminal named Spider. It didn’t go well for either of them. The coroner’s report was pretty clean and straight forward in their findings.
He leaned back in the chair, the tips of his fingers pressed together as his mind raced with the possibilities as to why it had happened. What trigger that reaction from his fellow detective. Not that he didn’t think it wasn’t necessary but ….
He shook his head. Hakuba was his colleague and was asking for his help. What ever happened in his past need to stay there untouched till the other brought it to the surface. Sitting up in his seat again he got to work on his short simple reply.
Hakuba,
I know of a cafe that is pretty close to my home and is something of a neutral spot for me. Periot cafe. This weekend sounds perfect if a case doesn’t crop up during that time. I’ll be looking forward to our up coming meeting.
Kudo.
He reread the message, was satisfied with it and hit send then looked at the time: One AM. He let his head fall and hit the table.
Hakuba waited until the morning of his departure before responding, seated in the uncomfortable wooden chair on the covered patio of the Wickham-Hakuba estate.
His tea cooled in the warm morning air, spoon set aside while he tapped out his reply on his phone. Marion watched him from across the table, sun hat shading her face in a solid line while the rest of the setting was dappled with sunlight from the overhanging latticework and ivy.
Kudou-san,
Excellent. I will give you a call on Saturday morning to confirm plans. Shall we tentatively plan for 15:00:00?
The game had changed. Last names only from Shinichi meant that Hakuba would switch to last and honorific, as opposed to the full names of their previous emails. Did this mean that Kudou thought of him as an equal already, or at least a colleague? Incredible, were that the case…
“Are you sure that you’re able to travel? There’s still time to cancel your flight.” Marion’s voice broke the train of thought, careful to keep her lips in a thin line, not wishing to give away her feelings on the matter, though Hakuba already knew quite well how it was. They played the game of pokerface often, but knew each other far too well to be fooled.
He didn’t even bother to look up at her, reaching for the delicately rose-covered cup to take a sip. Still too hot. He set it down again. “I expect I’ll be fine, Mum.”
“Yes, of course you’d say that, but your back…”
Hakuba gave a patient sigh and ignored her in favor of rewriting the line he’d just written, easing into a statement that would be a little less formal.
Let’s tentatively plan for 3 o’clock PM.
Better. It was a little more friendly while still accommodating. But what else to include? How to end it?
“Do you think Miss Twiggy will take to Ekoda well?”
Hakuba finally looked up at that, blinking. “Oh, I think Twig will do splendidly. She’s a sturdy thing.”
So sturdy, in fact, that he wasn’t entirely certain where she was. He glanced over the vast grounds of the estate, squinting to see if he could spot her. Probably herding the ducks again. Like all good corgis, she liked to keep busy. He could relate.
She smiled. “You could always leave her here.”
“No, Mum. Twig stays with me.” He set his phone down to take another sip of tea, which had finally cooled enough to let the flavor of honey through the brew. “We’ll be fine.”
They both sighed, both took a sip of tea, then looked at each other again– she pleading, he irritated.
“Oh, I wish Baaya were going with you. Just promise me that you’ll stay away from the station?"
Hakuba rolled his eyes at that. "I’m retired, Mum. I’ve no reason to go to the station except to meet Dad for… whatever I would need to meet him for. I’ll just be taking a holiday.”
It seemed to ease her worries, but only just. “If you say so, but you know how detectives are…” She stopped herself when her son’s expression went cold. “Retired or not, you’re still just as thirsty as a hound, you know! I know you, Saguru James. The moment a case comes up that piques your interest, you’ll be off running regardless of your capacity!”
If it weren’t for the medications, the comment might have pushed Hakuba in all of the wrong direction. As it was, he took another sip of tea, then calmly set it down, ignoring the tremor in his hands. “I’ll stay away from the station, and I’ll come back in one piece.”
Marion let herself relax at that, satisfied. “Good. See that you do, my dear. I’m going to fret from the moment we see you off at the airport until you’re back again.”
“Yes, yes, I know.” Hakuba picked up his phone again to finish the email, hitting send without a second thought. It wouldn’t do to linger, since he was well aware that he was inviting trouble and ignoring his mother’s wishes, right there at the table.
Thank you for your quick response.
I look forward to seeing you and discussing the aforementioned topic. I’d love to hear of some of your cases, as well.
Sincerely,
– Hakuba S. J.
