kazuha–toyama:

“I-I am calm Hakuba-kun…” Kazuha replied quietly her eye began to twitch slightly from him wiping at her cheek wit the dry handkerchief. It somewhat stung and felt as if every time he’d swiped around it – the cut ripped open further. Though she highly doubted that was the case, she was probably just being a big baby so she’d decided against saying anything.

Kazuha felt exhausted as she’d sat stiller than she’d ever been just staring at the detective’s facial features. He’d looked so calm and caring? Why did he care so much anyways, it wasn’t like they had ever been great friends and Heiji practically spat nonsense about him constantly… Yet still, he was here. Helping her…

Kazuha let a small weak smile appear to her ghostly pale skin before she began fighting herself to keep her eyes opened. 

“I-I think…I-I’m ready fer…a nap now…Hakuba-kun” Kazuha began to whisper quietly “Thank ya, fer looking after meh though…”

At that point Kazuha’s body had physically given up and she’d fallen sideways. At least now, she really was calm… 

All of this over a grazed cheek. Hakuba sighed, carefully guiding the girl to the ground. At least she wasn’t screaming. The trauma from the scare was understandable, but… Ah, well, Hakuba couldn’t expect anyone to really be used to this sort of thing. 

The detective touched the handkerchief to her cheek again, then made sure that his suit jacket covered her, before getting to his feet. There was blood on his jacket; it’d be a pain to clean, but at least nothing worse had happened thus far.

The paramedics, security guard, and police would arrive soon. This was confirmed, and he turned his mobile from phone to flashlight again, continuing his investigation. Now, who would have done this? What motivation would someone have for killing Kazuha?

kazuha–toyama:

Kazuha tried to say something but when she’d opened her mouth, no words came out. It was strange – she’d never had this happen to her before, she couldn’t speak! 

Kazuha had began to get feeling back in her body as she’d felt Hakuba’s hand guiding hers towards the wound and just pressuring it there. Had he really called Heiji? It didn’t seem as if Heiji would ever be so frien’ly on de phone with him. He’d deffinaitely be yelling… That’s fer sure… Perhaps Hakuba-kun was jus’ trying to calm meh? Kazuha thought her eyes instantaneously softening as she looked to the detective.

“A’ight” Kazuha managed to squeak out as Hakuba let go of the handkerchief, her hand quickly dropped and Kazuha raised a brow. She’d felt it at least, she’d also felt his suit jacket wrap around her shoulders and at that a small smile tugged at her lips – she then took her hand back up to her face and kept applying pressure to her cheek.

“Hm” Kazuha mumbled lightly as her eyes had followed him over to the crossbow. Kazuha hated this feeling, she’d felt so… Wronged. She hadn’t even known who or why someone would target her – that’s when the curiosity had taken hold of her body and she turned slightly holding his jacket in place as she reached into her locker to grab the note.

Once she’d retrieved it she pivoted herself back around and read the front… TOYAMA, KAZUHA…. She’d stared at the handwriting closely as she bit her lip and decided it was time to read it. She gently pealed it open – while trying not to capture the detectives attention she hadn’t noticed a small picture fall from within the note.

Kazuha then held it in front of her and read…I’M COMING FOR YOU.

Kazuha tilted her head slightly and set her hand – along with the note and the handkerchief on the ground and sighed heavily.

Hakuba made the call, speaking in hushed tones to the dispatchers. Police officers and an ambulance. Call the security in charge of the building. Get in touch with the owner. He was certain that Kazuha would be all right; her wound wasn’t terrible and while it would need to be taken care of, as well as the shock, she seemed to be handling it relatively well…

He glanced over at her while waiting for confirmation on the other end of the phone and frowned. Great. She’d relapsed. 

The detective made his way back to her, crouching down once more to take the handkerchief, seeing the note in the process. He nudged it with an unsoiled section of cloth, and took a calming breath.  Turning back to the girl, he gently wiped at her face as proficiently as he could without the aid of water.

“Toyama-chan, you promised to stay calm…" 

kazuha–toyama:

Kazuha was breathing heavily – her heart beating erratically inside her chest as she listened carefully to her surroundings. She’d heard Hakuba call her name and soon after seen him crouched defensively in front of her but Kazuha couldn’t tell if there’d been anyone else in the vicinity. She was worried and shaking profusely as she momentarily held her breath.  

Kazuha hadn’t moved but shifted her eyes in all four directions until spotting a carefully rigged crossbow. Once she’d seen this – she had let her breath carefully escape her trembling parted lips and tried to regulate her breathing. 

Kazuha didn’t say a word – she was in a shock like state but she had managed to take the handkerchief from Hakuba and hold it – semi tightly to her wound. Kazuha’s hand was unsteady as she tried to press harder, however, the harder she’d tried to press the more unsteady her hand became – it even slipped from her face a few times smudging the blood in unnecessary areas. 

Kazuha was numbed – her whole body. She’d felt as if she’d been in a dream like state or some kind of sick twisted warped reality as she’d carefully listened to Hakuba. Heiiji…? Kazuha thought to herself for a moment before responding.

“I-I…I can" 

 

Kazuha’s eyes held nothing but a cold blank stare, but her mind was like rushing water. She could have died… Hell if someone had been there – they both would have died…

Hakuba studied the girl’s face, then let out a breath. She was in shock. She  wasn’t going to stay calm. He had to take care of this. He reached out with his hand and took the handkerchief, guiding her hand if necessary, to hold it to her face. 

"I’ll call… Heiji first, all right? Just relax. I’ll handle this.”

With his free hand, he fished his phone out of his pocket and quickly pulled up the number, then brought it to his ear, and waited. Five rings and the answering machine picked up. Of course Hattori wouldn’t answer his call. He hadn’t expected him to. His expression remained calm and even, and he forced a small smile.

“Ah, Hattori-san… yes, this is Hakuba Saguru. I’m with Toyama-chan presently, in the Aikido studio… Yes. There’s been an incident…”  He continued to speak as if he’d actually connected with the other detective, leaving a lengthy voicemail of their supposed conversation. “I’m calling the ambulance now, but as soon as you can get here, the better. Yes. She’ll be fine, but do hurry.” A pause. “Yes. Of course." 

He ended the call, and looked back to the girl.

"He’ll be here as soon as he can. Hold the handkerchief, all right? See if you can keep pressure on it while I look for a medical kit..”

Pulling his hand free, Hakuba glanced at the blood before straightening up, and pulling off his suit jacket. This he laid on top of the girl to keep her warm and, hopefully, stave off some of the effects of the shock.

“Stay here. Relax. I’ll be right over here.”

Armed with his phone, Hakuba approached the area where the crossbow mechanism had been set, and called direct number for emergency dispatch.

kazuha–toyama:

As they arrived to the building Kazuha strutted up the the front door and tugged on it. It was locked. She sighed heavily and went around towards the back where she had easily opened the side window and climbed in.

“Hurry, Hakuba-kun! Don’t wanna get caugh’ do ya?” Kazuha laughed lightly and ran down the hall and too the back of the building – pausing every so often to let Hakuba catch up. As they arrived to her locker Kazuha couldn’t believe her eyes – all of her belongings thrown to the floor and scattered about. The door to her locker wide opened and inside… A note.. One she had not been familiar with.

“Oi…Hakuba-kun…” Kazuha whispered lightly biting her lip as the fear within her gut grew larger and larger. She hadn’t even wanted to look at what the note said – she’d decided this was no prank!

“I have a bad feelin’ le’s jus’….” Kazuha said taking baby steps toward her locker before being cut off by a strange click sound. As she turned to see what the sound was – something had speed past her face and a loud bang was heard.

Kazuha was knocked against her locker, her cheek was intensely throbbing – there was blood gushing from it as Kazuha lifted her hand to the wound and touched it lightly. It was almost numbed. When she pulled her hand away to look at it Kazuha’s eyes had been wider than ever before as she stared in awe at the thick deep red blood on her finger tips.

So much for this having not been a dangerous investigation. Breaking in through the window had been bad enough – but not the worst idea, really, as it would have to be assumed that the darkened hallways and off hours meant that they could investigate without being interrupted. But proceeding onward had yielded nothing more than a deeply unsettling feeling and then the dark locker room? While Kazuha went ahead, the detective began to take in the surroundings, pulling up his cellphone to open up the flashlight application when the sound and clatter pulled his attention.

Dammit! 

“Toyama-chan!” Hakuba cleared the distance between them in a sprint and took a position of defense in front of her, crouched, holding his breath for a moment to listen for their attacker. 

But after a moment, nothing happened… and the detective frowned, shifting his position to search the floor with the assisted light. Ah- there. 

A cross bow’s arrow, just feet from them. He looked around the room and saw a glint up ahead, which matched the trajectory. No person, just a mechanism. Hakuba took a deep breath, then turned and knelt next to Kazuha, looking her face over quickly before pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, which he offered to her.

“Apply this to the wound, keep it tight. It’s a graze- ricocheted from the locker, it looks like. I’ll dress it later." 

He had a lot to do. Phonecalls to make. A perimeter to secure. The arrow could have easily killed the girl had it been set up just a little bit differently. But he hesitated. It would do him no good if the girl freaked out on him. Calm, sound minds were far more easy to manage. 

"I’m going to call for security, and then I’ll try Hattori-san, all right? It looks worse than it is, just stay calm. Can you promise me that you will stay calm, Toyama-chan?”

kazuha–toyama:

Kazuha turned to him – walking backwards as she spoke, every so often turning her head to make sure she was going the right direction.

“Well- ‘f there from muh Aikido class then, we could be in serious trouble” Kazuha said concernedly as she’d watched him carefully and listened to yet another theory.

“A-A prank?” Kazuha raised a brow ignoring the fact Hakuba had willingly said he’d get a hold of Heiji… Kazuha couldn’t help but contemplate the entire situation in her mind… “Who’d do such’a thin’?” Kazuha asked angrily bawling a fist as in one swift movement she turned and faced forward again.

Kazuha without thinking further more about the other possibilities began to run towards the Aikido practice area – she’d sworn if this was some kind of a sick joke, there’d be hell to pay!

“That’s what we’re going to find out." 

Ah, that temper. Perhaps it had something to do regionally? He would have to begin compiling some data on Osaka, specifically the area where Hattori and Toyama were from. Wasn’t Hattori Heizo also violent and hot-tempered? Hmm..

"I suppose if there is an actual threat, we will just have to call for backup. But I do not think that we need to worry; one of my specialties is diplomatic communication to diffuse anger.”

Not that anyone would guess that with how often he made people angry, but… 

“At any rate, let us check on the status of the note.”

kazuha–toyama:

As she was pulled away from him – she couldn’t help but look up to him as he’d spoke, somewhat of a glimmer in her eyes.

“Hai” Kazuha responded as she backed away from him slowly and looked down – her cheeks burning as she’d began to walk past him. “It’s ‘dis way” Kazuha stated “Jus’ follow meh?" 

Kazuha had merely began to walk in front of him hoping he wouldn’t of said a thing about her blush. It was okay when Heiji did it – she’d supposed, after all they’d always teased but if Hakuba-kun did it… It made her strange feelings all the more real and she hadn’t known the way she would have reacted.

"Oi…” Kazuha said her eyes still glued to the ground as she spoke “Wha’ ‘f somethin’ bad happens?” Kazuha questioned thinking of all the terrible things that could happen to them – especially if this person had been involved with Aikido as well. 

Kazuha wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if she’d gotten Hakuba hurt over her charm – no matter how important it was to her, it was never worth someones life and this could be potentially dangerous.

After all the times Hakuba had been teased for his English complexion and very easy blush, he didn’t feel it right to bring it up about others. Not unless he knew them well enough to tease and get a good reaction from them. For the time being, all the detective did was make a mental note of how cute it had been on her, and left it at that. Instead, he followed after her.

“If something bad happens?” Hakuba asked, raising a brow. “That’s what your 2-dan in Aikido supposed to come in handy, isn’t it?” He smiled after the tease, and slipped his hands into his pockets.

“Not to worry. I can hold my own, and we can call for Hattori-san if we absolutely must. I would be very surprised if there were anything truly sinister afoot. In all likelihood, it’s a prank…”

kazuha–toyama:

Kazuha looked up to him her face blushing lightly as she listened to him speak – tears slicked her cheeks and she’d began blinking profusely in order to stop more from coming.

“I-I, uhm.. I’m sorry…” Kazuha said turning her head away from him and biting her lip softly as she wiped the fallen tears. It was definitely and awkward position to be in… Being escorted around by Hakuba-kun while Heiji was… Who knows where! 

Kazuha began to get a little heated thinking about it – he hadn’t even tried to find her all day! Wha’s the meanin’ of that!? Ya’d think after bein’ frien’s for so long he’d at least come to see why I’d been absent from school… After all, we’d had plans… Although, I’d end up avoidin’ him ‘nways…he could’a a’least shown sum effort! Though what happened next proved to be the most…awkward thing all day. Nice…but awkward. 

“Oi…” Kazuha said in a low muffled tone before deciding not to make a scene of it… The petite young woman pondered for a second longer before boldly – wrapping her arms around him and letting out a small sigh as she’d pressed her forehead gently to his chest. 

Kazuha had never received an embrace such as this before… There was usually much more yelling and tears before hand…

Uhm.

Hakuba looked down at the girl that hugged him back, swallowing hard. For the hundredth time since be’d run into Kazuha, he wondered what he’d gotten himself into, and why he thought that it had been a good idea. Maybe Hattori was right; maybe the half-brit was a foolish idiot. Ugh.

But, while Hakuba was many unseemly things to many people, he was, in the end, always striving to be a gentleman. He stroked her back with a hand, then gently took hold of her shoulders to try to pry her from his chest. 

“It’s all right, really. I’ll help you find your missing items. Might I suggest that we head to your where you practice Aikido and check your locker? If we are able to locate your old phone, you won’t need to buy a new one.”

kazuha–toyama:

“I-I, uh, suppose it could’a bee’n n’one than” Kazuha said her eyes slowly shifting to the floor – her smile diminishing quickly and fading into a frown. Kazuha hadn’t known what she was to do, of course, she was going to start telling the truth but she didn’t see the difference it would make. 

Kazuha felt as if all hope were lost as tears began to swell in her eyes, she listened to Hakuba carefully and tried to think things out thoroughly before saying another word to him.

“I-I,” She paused for a moment letting him finish his thought before continuing on. “M-My phone was also stol’n…” Kazuha said in a weakened tone.

“I’m so..rry I lie’d.” Kazuha said sighing heavily and quickly whipping her hands to her eyes to wipe away the tears. “I’ll tell ya de truth now… Whateva’ ya ask”  Kazuha promised looking up to him trying to regain a sense of hope as she reveled to Hakuba the real reason she couldn’t just wait around anymore…

“They’d stol’n muh charm…” Kazuha said lightly – she’d had a feeling the exact reason they’d do such a thing too, but that would come to light only if he’d asked…

“Ah..!”

Hakuba frowned, momentarily distracted from the case at hand. He hadn’t meant to make the girl cry. He glanced around them, taking in their surroundings, before reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

“Ah, it’s all right, Toyama-chan… It’s all right. I understand how difficult it can be to.. talk about these things, and I appreciate your cooperation." 

How did I get mixed up in this? Where is Hattori-san? He should be comforting this poor girl!

Awkwardly, he stepped forward to embrace and hold her, if allowed.

kazuha–toyama:

“Well le’s see…" Kazuha thought for a moment before pulling out a small notepad from her back pocket and opening it to a pre scribbled on page.

"De first thin’ that went missin’ was just sum haur bands – de next thing was sum make up – d’en my haur straightner and…" Kazuha looked up from the small note pad and blushed lightly. "That’s all!" Kazuha lied and quickly hid the note pad behind her back. "I suppose I’m jus’ bein’ dumb" Kazuha laughed nervously.

Along with a few pairs of Kazuha’s delicate’s something of greater importance had been stolen. Her charm! Of course – it was now to late to tell Hakuba to forget it though she hadn’t really wanted to – she would just rather not explain what had been stolen. However, she supposed him helping her find the charm would not be as embarrassing as Heiji! Especially considering she’d replaced the scribbled picture with a fresh new one. 

Kazuha looked over to the blonde detective as his last statement particularly caught her attention. "Ya will?" Kazuha questioned her eyes softening before a large smile plastered on her face and her cheeks painted a pale pink. 

"If you’d like me to,” Hakuba said, taking more of a neutral stance on his previous answer. After listening to the girl rattle off her list of items, the half-Brit detective was less than convinced of the brilliance in his devious plan to make Hattori jealous and upset. Her grasp of the language proper seemed even less apt than Hattori’s, which he would have previously sworn hard to believe. And yet, here they were. 

With some difficulty, Hakuba wrote the missing items down, then pushed a weary smile. 

“Thus far, it sounds like the items missing are likely due to one of two culprits… The first would be a female who, perhaps, has mistaken the items as her own. They are all practical applications for a girl of your age, and could exist in anyone’s locker.

"The second, which would fit with the premise of your being watched, would be that you have a stalker… Of either gender, potentially, though it may be too early to tell. Certainly, if something such as your undergarments had been taken, it would more strongly suggest a male, but then… Where are the lockers for your personal items at this practice space? Who has access?”