okiya-subaru:

Subaru glanced at the photo. This kid was a traveler. Here was to him not getting sucked into the quagmire he and a few others were trapped by. Either that, or he would be a fellow silver bullet and him not knowing would put him in danger. Hard to tell at this point, but how Hakuba and Kudou had similar styles in some ways, from what Subaru knew, made him really wonder.

“New York at night is a wonderful sight. It was a shame I couldn’t see more of it at the time of my visit. There was a serial killer loose when I went there who happened to have long hair and was Japanese. Believe it or not, I had my hair quite long for a time…” Omitting the hair color differences and how he was investigating it, naturally, he let the words hang there.

“Ah, I see… that truly is a shame.”  Hakuba frowned at the news, but nodded his head. “Crime never sleeps, though. There is always something, somewhere, going on… and you shouldn’t put off enjoying life just because of that." 

Spoken with true naivete. 

He nodded his head again, looking very stern as he looked Okiya over again. "So next time you’re in New York, try to enjoy it at least a little bit, long hair or not, ne?”

The teenager picked up his tea cup again, taking a long, happy sip. 

okiya-subaru:

So he drank? Subaru supposed it made sense; the British Isles had a lower drinking age than Japan or America. He clasped his hands for a moment. “I favor white wines. As for yourself?”

“The same, though I have to admit that my favorite is a little self-indulgent… Moscato, an Italian dessert wine.”  Hakuba took another sip of tea, then shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not very dry as far as white wines go, but if you really want dry, there are better ways to get pissed.”

Clearly, the detective’s attachment to alcohol was in no way hampered by any sort of fear or connection to any sort of criminal organization.

“Where, overseas, did you travel? Any particular place that you favored? Paris, I hope." 

okiya-subaru:

That made sense, he supposed. Though it did surprise him it took this long for Hakuba to turn the tables and ask a question.

“Well, I enjoy reading, working on computers, and cooking. Skiing is fun during the winter months. I’m also fond of trying varieties of bourbon.” There was no need to mention anything involving deduction or hacking.

“Bourbon, hm?” Hakuba tilted his head curiously, taking another sip of tea before setting the cup down. “A fine spirit, that. I’m partial to scotch, myself. What about wines? White? Red? Of course it changes depending on the context, but in general?”

A secret hobby uncovered, sparking excitement in the young detective. 

okiya-subaru:

“Ah…” The answer was rehearsed. The look in Hakuba’s eyes mostly said it, from Subaru’s observations. He took a drink and set the tea down for a moment. 

“Social obligations, though? What sorts of things do you find yourself engaged in? After all, you’re a teenager. Wouldn’t you rather spend time cutting loose?”

Hakuba closed his eyes as he took a longer sip of tea, considering how to handle the situation. The engineer was persistent and the detective unprepared. For the moment. He lowered the cup and looked back at the man, raising a curious brow. 

“Ah, no. My father is the Superintendent General, you see, and there are… a lot of responsibilities that come along with that, as his son.” Right, yes, title drop. That should be adequate. Now to divert attention.

“But what about yourself? Any particular hobbies or interests? Aside from your thesis, of course." 

okiya-subaru:

Subaru nodded and went to the table.”Some of those vipers are not asleep. Even as their previous crimes grow colder, they move on to fresh kills. Take care not to get bitten as you work.”

He took a drink of his tea. Newcomers piqued his curiosity by a fair bit, particularly detectives. And, if Hakuba was living in Tokyo, Subaru wondered if Masumi or Kudou knew him, but it would not be prudent to ask such questions. Not yet, anyway. “Any hobbies of note?”

It was curious to Hakuba that an engineer would have such carefully cautious opinions regarding a detective’s work, but he let that marinate for the time being. The question posed to him distracted the teen rather effectively. 

Hobbies.

Hakuba blinked. What had he said in the interview just the other day? 

“Reading, mostly. Casework and school take a great deal of my time. I work hard to bridge the cultural/language gap to stay at the top of my class and maintain balance between that and my detective duties.” He paused, just as he had in the interview, before adding, “As well as social obligations.” Cue the same, playful smile.

He took a sip of tea. 

okiya-subaru:

“A noble goal, yes, though it’s wise to temper that drive with caution. Sometimes the creators of such cases strike like vipers upon a detective uncovering their wrongdoing.” The tea was done and Subaru took his, taking a sip.

“Certainly… but I’d rather deal with a sleeping viper than a rabid, snapping dog, if that says anything.” Hakuba shrugged, taking his own tea and locating a table off and away from the counter, gesturing to it with a faint smile.

“I prefer the cold and calculated over crimes of blind passion, essentially.”

okiya-subaru:

“It is certainly not a field for everyone.” That was understating it by a lot on Subaru’s part. Going into the details would bore nearly anyone to tears.

“Cold cases?” That would definitely be a bit on the risky side for Hakuba, if he stuck around these parts and more and more Organization murders kept going cold. The more people snooping around without an inkling of the danger, the more likely they’d get in harm’s way accidentally. “Any particular reason or is it just due to it sounding interesting?”

“Ah…” Hakuba wondered how to answer the question without giving too much information, both to save himself embarrassment, and to not talk the poor man’s ear off. “It seems to me that there is quite a bit of work to do in that regard… and I’ve become used to cleaning up the other, ah, less patient and thorough… colleagues of mine." 

The detective cleared his throat with a small, polite cough, and looked back at the counter, waiting on the tea – which was nearly ready. "Fact-checking is something that I very much enjoy doing… and seeking to find closure when all other hope is lost seems a rather noble cause." 

okiya-subaru:

Interesting. Subaru would have to look into this kid’s solved cases, though he was somewhat curious of if Hakuba knew of the murderous pack of wolves roaming the streets. “Oh? What sorts of cases? Robbery? Missing persons? Murder?”

He adjusted his glasses and handed money to the cashier, enough for both of their drinks. “My field of study was and is engineering. I am working on my graduate thesis at the moment.”

Hakuba at first had moved to answer the question while fishing for his own wallet, but hesitated when that became unnecessary. He looked from the cashier to Subaru, faintly confused, but grateful.

“Ah, thank you very much,” he said first, then nodded to both he and the cashier before returning to the matter of hand. No need to embarrass the gentleman with further displays of appreciation.

“Engineering, hm? I imagine it’s quite intense… at least if the Oxford students that I know in the program are to be believed. Brilliant work they do. A very respectful field. Very competitive. As for myself…” Shifting back to the previous subject – himself – Hakuba couldn’t resist the smug smirk that was creeping in.

“Homicide is my specialty, though as a student and intern I do quite a bit of everything. Whatever the force and my private clients can use me for, really. Once I’ve, ah, transitioned fully to university, I’ll focus specifically on Cold Case forensics.”

okiya-subaru:

“I did for a time, but that was a few years ago. It was for a study abroad program.” He followed Hakuba, contemplating what he would get. Lies were becoming second nature, though that was to be expected.

“Mmm… I’ll just have a lemon and ginger tea, please.” Subaru then turned his attention back to Hakuba, pulling out his wallet.

“Are you here because you enjoy traveling or is there another reason?” The kid had better Japanese than Jodie had when she first traveled here, which made him curious.

Hakuba turned his gaze to the board, squinting as he read over the various offerings. No Earl Grey, he discovered, but he doubted that they would have milk available anyway. While he considered his other options, he smiled broadly. It was a lovely change of pace to be out and about in such pleasant circumstances. 

“Ah, I had a couple of cases that drew my attention here… but I also wanted to spend some time with my father.  He’s usually far too busy to come out to the United Kingdom, so I try to do a semester or two out here now and again." 

Or a year or two, depending on what trauma the detective had decided to try to deal with at any given time. 

He looked back to the cashier when she it looked like she might be ready.

"Actually, what he’s having sounds excellent… Lemon and ginger, please.” He looked back at Okiya. “What was your area of study, if I might ask?”