Day 44: Sun Room (4th Shift)
As soon as she had the chance, Sheena ninja'd herself out of the cafeteria and away from the conversation she'd been semi-forced to have. She probably could have just clammed up and told the boys to go away, but she'd kind of owed at least Endrance some kind of explanation. It wasn't everyday the embodiment of darkness pops up and delivers a
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Yep, that was it. That was the perfect description for what she was.
"You're trying to deprive me of kittens," Yuffie told her seriously, refusing to budge another step. "That is not something a normal human being does to another normal human being. Think about it for a sec. Is that thing beating in your chest a shrivelled prune, weary, wrathful, shunning the radiance of good deeds? Is it? Is it really? Not yet! You still have a chance, Plucky; a chance to grasp the sun's rays with your own two hands! Can you do that when you're knee deep in construction glue and glitter? Hell no you can't. So I'm staying."
For a moment, the nurse just stared.
Yuffie, her arms folded across her chest and one foot tapping impatiently, stared back.
If there was one thing she didn't want to do at the moment, it was play around with arts and crafts. Sure, it had its uses… like, say, origami. And glitter was always cool, especially when applied liberally to somebody else. Or the bulletin board. But since she already had a bunch of glitter she'd swiped from the room last time she'd been in there, along with other bits and pieces, there was just no point.
Besides. The Sun Room had kittens.
Kittens.
"Well," said Plucky, shaking her head ruefully. "Of course, if you want to stay here, you're perfectly within your right."
"Alright!" Yuffie cheered, swooping away to find her favourite. "Fuzzbutt? Hey, Fuzzbutt! C'mere, kiddo!"
After everything that'd happened, she figured that she deserved a bit of TLC. Talking to Kenshin had shifted a bit of the weight off her chest, at least, but there was only so much good a few candid words and a promise to beat the snot out of each other could do. Well. Not that they'd promised that, exactly, though it was pretty close. Close enough. Anyway, a good sparring match was definitely something to look forward to.
Fuzzbutt the black and white fur ball came barrelling out from under one of the couches, dashing for her slippered feet as fast as his little paws could take him. Yuffie knelt down to fuss at him, playing with him just like she would the little guys back home. "Hey there," she told him, soft and affectionate. "How've you been, pal? Hope you haven't been chowin' down on people when I've been busy."
[For Heiji]
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He cracked open his journal and was going over notes that he'd made, as well as the list of people he'd like to talk to and questions he wanted to ask--when a kitten shot out from beneath his couch with absolutely no warning. He hadn't exactly been paying attention, so the sudden introduction of a fast, fur-covered thing was something of a shock. His journal went up with his legs, and he watched the now-revealed-to-be kitten charge towards Yuffie.
"Good call," he said, smirking a little. "Might've got my ankles."
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The only sign of surprise she gave was a sharp glance, more a flick of the eyes than anything, as she scooped Fuzzbutt into her arms. She'd been peripherally aware that the couch was occupied, but consciously, she'd had too much on her mind to actively pay attention to it.
Hopping smoothly to her feet, Yuffie let the kitten clamber precariously up onto her shoulder, and from there scale on top of her head. It was at once ridiculously cute and several shades of ridiculous, she thought; especially when he parked himself proudly right on the top-spot.
Running into Hattori Heiji hadn't been on her to do list. It wasn't wholly a bad thing, though; the guy had some serious fanboy issues and a possibly unhealthy dose of earnest naivety, but there was worse company around. So, with that in mind, Yuffie sauntered over casually, checking her gait into smoothness to save her makeshift hat--who was purring up a storm--a nasty tumble. "Working on that murder mystery of yours?"
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"How do you know about that?" He asked, sounding nervous. If word got out that Japan's two best detectives were on the case, the killer might get jumpy and go after him--or worse, Shinichi. He thought he'd been so careful--taking down notes when he saw them, folding them when it was appropriate, et cetera.
Then, he remembered. Oi, Shinichi. He buried his face in his palm and groaned.
"Tell me you don't know who the victim is. Otherwise I'mma kill a Kantoite."
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Extricating the fluffy ball of terror from her chest required some careful handling and manoeuvres, in which time the Intrepid Detective apparently figured out where they'd slipped up. Big time. Now, what to do…? She could land Shinichi in a pool of boiling water by stirring stuff up, or she could play nice. Hmmm.
"Since I only keep an eye on you guys when I get bored," instead of outright stalking them, for fun or otherwise, "I haven't caught the name." Yet. "Feel free to get your panties in a bunch any time now. If this investigation was s'posed to be a secret, it's really, really not." The details were vague, but if she wanted to follow it up, she was confident that she could. Suddenly backtracking, she cocked an eyebrow at him. "Kantonite?" Probably Shinichi… Probably. What a weird name.
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"And the investigation itself isn't supposed t'be a secret. Y'can' exactly carry on a secret investigation in one building--someone's gonna notice. What I'm concerned about is... Well, Kudou and I examined th'body las' night, and this guy looks pro."
Heiji frowned, looking a little troubled. "People get killed f'r less than investigatin' murders. If our killer is on t'us, we could both be targeted. I c'n take care of myself, but Kudou..." He chuckled a little. "While I was swingin' a shinai, Kudou was kickin' a soccer ball. Guess which one is more useful here."
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His comment about investigations earned him a soft, slightly distracted snort. Duh. Being confined to one building tended to limit everything and anything; whether it be detecting or thieving or something way off to either ends of the scale. Like fish in a barrel. A really ugly barrel. When Heiji mentioned the murderer being a 'pro', Yuffie sat up a little straighter. "What makes you say that, exactly?"
It didn't exactly help narrow things down much. There were an awful lot of pros in Landel's, herself included. Except she wasn't into the whole 'stab n' go', random murder gig. Assassination wasn't totally out of the question for her, 'course, but. Yeah. Offing random people for the hell of it really wasn't her style. Yuffie's eyebrows drew down. "No kidding. He really didn't look like a fighter that one time I met him." Pretty much the opposite, actually. Sheesh, some people… Being who she was, and having lived the life she had, Yuffie really couldn't understand it. And it showed. "Anybody giving him lessons? What're you guys doing for protection, when you're off investigating?"
From anybody else, it might've come across as worry. From Yuffie? Nah. Honest curiosity, tempered by a dash of serious consideration. She didn't owe the puppies or their club anything, but she had enough of a connection with them that she couldn't quite bring herself to brush it off.
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Here, he was pretty sure Shinichi had put aside their rivalry in favor of getting the hell out, but Heiji (for better or for worse) still felt a nagging need to stay in stride with Shinichi's progress. On the one hand, it pushed both of them to flex their minds and not get lazy. On the other... Heiji had no idea if Shinichi cared enough about Heiji's progress to set his pace by it. It seemed like the other detective was just excited that someone had died.
"...both," Heiji finally said. "Our rivalry encourages self-improvement, but we can also work t'gether without bitin' each others' heads off. Usually.
"And I think Okita-han's givin' him lessons. He hasn't been in days, though. Kinda worried. F'r now, the protection is me." Which, he thought, was adequate for protecting one person. He wasn't a master swordsman, but he was good enough to combat a mindless thing pretty effectively.
The detective raised an eyebrow at Yuffie when she inquired how Heiji knew the killer was a professional (probably). "Okay look. We've already given away as much info as we can over the bulletin. I don' wanna get you in trouble. It's better if y'don' know everythin'."
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Right, so calling them a henpecking married couple really wouldn't be too far off! Good to know, good to know. Yuffie let it pass by with a flash of slyness but no comment. For now. "Where does Kaito fit into it?" she asked, with Fuzzbutt attempting to crawl up her pants' leg. Detectives and pick-pocketing magicians seemed like a hella weird mix, if you asked her.
"Ask him, then. Poke him on the bulletin, or next time you meet up." The dark haired girl rolled her eyes, reaching over to dig the kitten--which was currently a wriggling lump somewhere by her right knee--out before it got stuck for real. "He's a busy guy, sure, but if he can set time aside to spar with me, a night off to train a kid under his protection is nothing."
Not that they'd actually gotten around to sparring, which kind of sucked. Stupid Kadaj. Stupid zombie apocalypse.
Yuffie glared down at the kitten-lump on her leg. "Oi, Fuzzbutt. I know I'm delicious, but that's no way to treat a rescuer!" A happy, if muffled, 'meow' floated back to her. A bit of creative wriggling later, and Yuffie pulled her hand--plus a kitten, happily gnawing on one of her fingers--out. "You're damn lucky that doesn't hurt," she told it, exasperated.
And that exasperation was quickly turned on Heiji. "Oh, come on. Back home, I usually deal with monsters, mass-murdering psychopaths and the occasional genocidal fruitcake," she said, without a single note of superiority or slyness. Just telling it like it was. "Besides. It's not like I'm gonna go investigating it, or anything; you guys won't improve if somebody else steps in to do all the work for you."
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"B'sides," he continued. "You're cozy with Himura-han. D'you have any idea th'beatin' Okita-han would give me if I started blabbing about Kudou and my mission? 'N he'd feel terrible... if this got us killed," Heiji finished quietly. He thought so, at least. Okita looked after them, but he also took his duty very seriously. If the killer cut the investigation short by killing Heiji and Shinichi, would Okita hunt down the real killer? If he did, Heiji couldn't imagine that he'd get away with what Shinichi termed 'a slap on the wrist'.
"S'it's not like I think you can't handle y'rself, because if you're sparrin' with Okita-han, then you can. But I gotta cover my and Kudou's asses."
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But when Kenshin came up, her eyes narrowed. "What the hell," she said, quietly, "are you talking about?" The way he said it, it was almost like he expected Kenshin to come busting in to sabotage the whole thing. "I can sorta understand why Okita's got preju… Oh." Oh. Well, that'd explain something, wouldn't it? Yuffie sat back, laughing under her breath.
"You do know what they're going to do if you find the killer, don'tcha?" Her implication was clear, and just as clear was the fact that it didn't bother her at all.
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