Yes, that sounds like a good idea. Now, if we’re done here…
*She stands up; unconsciously stretching her legs as she stares ahead absently for a moment.*
Thank you for your efforts in this case, Hakuba-san. I look forward to our next meeting.
“I as well, Kirigiri-san… Thank you for taking the time to come down here to discuss the report.”
Hakuba watched her, smile faint, then stepped to the door to let her out.
“Good luck, Detective."
Yes, you’d certainly do better than me at achieving the switch… But don’t get yourself killed, of course. It would be unfortunate…
So waiting… Yes, I suppose I’ll take that course of action. Perhaps I’ll find something important to do in that time…
*Which included procrastinating on looking for evidence of her lost memories. She didn’t know why she even considered doing it, since it was so low on her priorities anyways. Maybe she could try and investigate some split personality-related cases as well – if she felt daring, maybe she could speak with Fukawa… or Syo. Though she could already see the chances of getting anything out of that were very low anyways…*
“It would be unfortunate for…” Hakuba repeated her words, blinking and surprised, but ended with shrug. “Ah, yes, it would be unfortunate indeed. I shall do my best not to die while facing our potentially wayward colleague."
This said, the detective checked his watch, considering.
"It’s likely a bit late for me to try to schedule a meeting with Hattori-san today. I will try again tomorrow and keep you updated on my progress. Shall we meet again in a few days to a week, unless something happens in the interim?"
Unfortunately, I don’t believe I know any… Not at the moment, at least. Thinking about it, perhaps I did know something that could lead to a solution, in the past… But not anymore…
*She trails off a bit before refocusing.*
My classmate is… still around. Out there. Doing the things that they do. I’ve seen activity from both personalities – both around our academy and out in the public media. That’s… all I feel I can say about the matter. I’d rather you not get involved with someone like them, to be quite honest…
“Understandably. I imagine a situation as such would be complicated at best, with far too many variables involved to be certain that you’re not simply strolling into disaster."
Hakuba flipped the pages of the report again, then pulled out the pen from his suit jacket to mark a note in the margin.
”…That said, I recommend exercising extreme caution and discretion regarding this case. If Hattori Heiji is impaired in such a way and may not even be aware of this alternate self, I do not think it wise to… involve anyone else. For his safety and reputation, as well as our own.“
The foreign detective glanced at the footnotes again, thinking once more upon the sketch of the flower as it was described by Kyouko, reading over the notes thoughtfully. Was Hattori’s darker self delivering a pointed message to Kyouko through that knowledge? Such great lengths to convey meaning, though, when simple words might have done… Unless he was unable to give them overtly for whatever reason. A threat? Or perhaps a plea… He couldn’t be sure, and chose not to say anything on the subject.
"I’m not certain how you work on your own cases, Kirigiri-san, and of course I would not presume as much to tell you how to best perform in your position. I only prefer to keep the variables within manageable conditions – less cooks in the kitchen, more control, less chance of rats from the diffusion of responsibility."
…Hakuba-san. When looking for information about the multiple personalities… try looking at the case of a certain Genocider Syo. Their murders… The evidence seems to point to other personalities in that case as well. And perhaps, after this case is done, if you’re interested, remind me to tell you more about my personal experiences and why I could think of these theories… I admittedly only told you a small part, but unlike that part, the rest has no similarities to this case.
*It didn’t matter, did it? He could probably find information about the whole mutual killing game at Hope’s Peak if he looked hard enough. From there would probably be more curiosity and he might ask her himself. Of course, maybe it was easier to just talk about it now but, she wasn’t sure whether to trust him yet.*
The male detective pulled out the little black notebook from the inner pocket of his suit jacket, followed by a pen, and took note.
“I’ll do just that. Thank you for the information and recommendations, Kirigiri-san. I’m certain that I will be following up with you on the matter.”
Hakuba snapped the notebook closed and put it, and the pen, back in their place in his suitjacket. Then, pushing a smile, he looked the girl over once again.
“Might I ask if you.. know of any sort of ‘solutions’ for this kind of psychosis? Any known cures or resolutions that you’ve seen?” A brief pause. “What happened to your classmate in the end?"
Contact him…? I could try… But, what exactly would I be saying to him…?
*She seemed she was at a bit of a loss – she much preferred to put together the entire case before confronting her suspect, but it didn’t seem like there was much else to go on…*
“I’m really not certain. Perhaps I need to arrange a meeting with him… There are a few things that I would like to test and observe, personally.”
Hakuba returned to his chair and retrieved the report, going over the paperwork again.
“I may not have any further useful information at this time, I’m afraid.”
*She spent a quick moment looking conflicted; unhappy about getting the choice. She decided to go with the simplest and most related explanation, as planned—*
I have a classmate who has a second personality. This second personality is also a… dangerous individual. They switch either upon a sneeze or a moment of unconsciousness – unfortunate since one faints when they see blood, which became a bit of a nuisance at times. Neither personality remembers events that occur during the other’s time active, and they seem to be at least somewhat separate minds since—
*—And she almost mentioned the mind wipe there, but quickly improvised the rest of the sentence after a short pause—*
—well, I think you understand…
That’s all.
“I can certainly see how that would correlate to the data we’ve collected on Hattori-san.”
Hakuba turned his back to the fireplace to regard the female detective, nodding his head once firmly.
“This opens up many possibilities, doesn’t it? I shall have to re-evaluate prior interactions with this theory in context, and apply it to the case files that I do have in my possession… I suppose my next step after this is to do research to narrow down actual psychological conditions and associated terms… read case studies, doctor reports…”
The detective sighed. It would be interesting and he would gain a lot of helpful information, certainly, but none of it was guaranteed to help Hattori-san. Or Kirigiri-san, for that matter.
“Do you suppose that you’ll contact him, then?”
I’m starting to regret not following the cases he’s worked on up until now… Perhaps I could have known him a bit better than I do. It could be something subconscious, that it’s something he doesn’t entirely want to be involved in but is aware he can’t break away from…
What I know for certain is, whether he wants help or not, I am certainly going to solve this case. Not even being aware of a second personality and what they are doing… It’s incredibly dangerous. Having such memory gaps alone is enough of a cause for concern – it wouldn’t be good if one day he woke up with blood on his hands and a body before him.
Perhaps a good step to take would be to find out as much as we can about this other persona. The differences, who they are, the people they see and what they do, and how they came into being. All are probably difficult questions to answer but… it’s much easier to start with questions such as “who" and “what" than something as broad as “why". We assume Hattori Heiji has a more sinister personality. That personality encouraged the idea of two detectives – both well-known in their own fields – being on his case.
*She started to realize they were drifting away from the case itself, which she was hoping to avoid – at least until the fire and the murder were solved. She was sure figuring out the identity of the second personality would solve almost everything, but was there another way…? Perhaps she was grateful for this, because she probably would have done an investigation on him afterwards anyways.*
“I agree that it is dangerous, and feel that I can also agree with your logical course of action. For the time being, assume that he does, and gather more information.”
Hakuba folded his hands behind his back, still pacing in front of the fireplace.
“As for Hattori’s case files, I have a record of his history- at least as far as cases that had reports filed to the police. His private cases, however, are something that I don’t have access to other than what news clippings I have been able to gather. I shall look into what I have and let you know if I recognize any sort of pattern or relevant information.”
The detective paused, then, and looked back to the girl with an apprehensive arch of a brow.
“Might I ask what your experience is with the psychological aspect of this case? I must admit that I’m quite curious.”
I think… both had said it was a good idea at some point. Though Hattori Heiji was more hoping you wouldn’t be involved and that it would be a last resort if nothing came up at the scene. The other personality actually reminded me to do it a couple times – even after we had investigated everything. I believe he was also the one to give me your phone number. I imagined he was more impatient to get rid of me than anything but… if that were the case, I don’t know how much sense it would make to direct me to another skillful detective…
“Perhaps he doesn’t think of me as ‘skillful,’” Hakuba suggested, shrugging. The expression on his face was dry and rather unamused, but after a huff, he got up from his chair and back to pacing. “I wouldn’t put it past him. But that doesn’t mean that he would do something so… dangerous, if he had something to hide. Is it a dare, perhaps? A sign of trust? Does the darker persona want our help, or–?”
The detective frowned, glancing back at Kyouko helplessly.
“My dear, I must confess that I’ve never understood Hattori Heiji under the best circumstances… and, that having been said, certainly don’t understand him any better now.”
…Actually…
Before I first met to speak with you… I did explain to him some of my theories, in great detail, in hope to catch him somehow or gain his support… I believe it was when I was speaking with the one who is perhaps the darker personality… Unfortunately, he either kept refusing or avoided what I was saying. So… he knows that much – that is, most of what I told you and a little bit more. Though the “little bit more" is entirely insignificant I assure you, so I omitted it for you. I apologize if any of this happened to be inconvenient…
But, if I’m correct, Hattori Heiji himself shouldn’t know a thing. So then it just becomes a game of figuring out when that side is dominant…
“Ah…”
Hakuba hesitated. That was troubling.
“So if Hattori-san does have an alternate personality… it knows that you know. Which persona was he when he asked you to seek my assistance?”
He has not, unfortunately… I haven’t tried contacting him either for the sake of respecting his space but… I’m not quite sure if it should become a concern if it goes on too long.
“I think it might be… permissible to call him soon, interruption or not. Especially as you now have evidence to…"
Hakuba frowned, considering.
"I wonder how much is wise to let Hattori-san know of what we’ve been discussing. If things are as we fear, it may not be prudent…”
The detective lifted a hand to his chin, deep in thought.
