Fic: You've Dug Your Own Grave, Now Lie In It - Chapter Two
Title: You've Dug Your Own Grave, Now Lie In It (2/?)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU/AR (was never able to tell what exactly the difference between the two is)
"Miss Meioh, please let me say first how very sorry I am for your loss. I understand that as Miss Aino's manager, you knew her well and that you were very close, so this must be har-"
Noboru was speaking in his most soothing voice, but stopped when he saw the woman's expression. She was openly sneering at him and Noboru was dumb-founded for a minute. It was almost funny, Mamoru mused before he made a mental note that Setsuna Meioh either didn't like police men (very common), didn't like Noboru (extremely unlikely, most people flocked to him like bees to honey) or hadn't liked her boss. Assessing the manager, Mamoru would have pitted everything he owned on the last option.
"Inspector, I am a very busy women."
Slipping his role as the bad cop on like a well worn coat, Mamoru took over the questioning: "Too busy for condolences, or too busy for grieving?"
A spark lit up in her eyes as she fixed them on him in a way that was somewhere on the line between unnerving and intriguing. "Isn't that the same?"
His answer was immediate. "Not in my book."
"You are very young, aren't you?" Noboru would have sworn that her voice had taken on a sultry tone. And judging from the small smile tugging at the corner's of Mamoru's mouth, so had his partner.
"29. But experience tells me that age has nothing to do with grief and death."
"Would that be a personal or a professional assessment?"
"Both."
"Interesting."
"Erm. Miss Meioh," Noboru cut in while trying to hide his astonishment at the exchange that had just taken place, "when did you see Miss Aino last?"
Unfolding her long legs, the woman got up and retrieved a post-it filled filofax from her desk while making it abundantly clear that Noboru Sanjoin was not someone she enjoyed doing anything for. Before she flicked the filofax open, her eyes strolled yet again to his partner.
"Three nights ago. She had an appearance booked for a latenight talkshow and failed to be there on time. I went to her penthouse to see what had kept her." The filofax was slammed shut again. Noboru resisted to the urge to roll his eyes. This woman was taking uncooperative to another level. Mamoru however was undeterred, and he leaned closer to the manager and asked:
"Was it unusual for Miss Aino to behave so unprofessionally?"
She mulled the question over for a minute before answering. Behind her, the walls were covered in carefully framed diplomas and golden records. Another testimony to success, Noboru noticed. So Meioh and Aino had something in common, both were either fiercely ambitious or incredibly insecure. He filed the thought away for later consideration.
"Yes and no. She was often late and if she didn't want to do something, she wouldn't. But she was excited to go on this show, seeing how a new record needs quite a lot of promotion."
"Why? Was her star sinking?" As soon as Noboru had asked the question, Setsuna spared him a pitiful look.
"This is a very competitive business, Mr. Sanjoin. There is no guarantee that you will still be in demand by next Christmas unless you make people believe that you are the most interesting person out there."
"Do you know this man?"
Mamoru threw one of the paparazzi shots on the manager's lap. He was being very rude, but it was intentional. Also, he was quite certain that Miss Meioh here liked a good challenge.
Her reaction gave nothing away. She examined the picture closely before handing it back to Mamoru. He noticed that her long nails were painted in the shade of blood.
"No, never seen him. Not that there is a lot to see with that mop of hair. Anything else? I have an important meeting in ten minutes."
It was a dismissal if there ever was one.
*
The funeral was a sad affair, but not in a conventional sense. Few had come to pay their last respects to Minako Aino, for a woman as famous as she had been, it was a rather sorry turnout. Her parents were there (dry-eyed and stone-faced), her manager (checking her phone every other minute), a tall red-haired woman who looked vaguely familiar, and - Mamoru realised with a jolt - the slender form of Ami Mizuno, his late wife's best friend. It was seeing Ami that kept him from approaching Miss Meioh.
The frozen grass was hard under his feet as he walked over to the girl that had been his Usagi's voice of reason until the day she died. Behind him, Setsuna stared at a hole in his head.
"Ami."
She smiled a sad little smile when he came into her line of vision. "Mamoru, I thought you might come. How are you?"
He furrowed his brows.
"Why would you expect me here?"
His question caused a look of confusion to cross her pale face, but always giving the right answer to any given question was deeply ingrained in the former star student, so her hesitation was brief.
"Because Minako and Usagi were so close?"
"Ami, what would my wife had had to do with a popstar? That's just ridiculous." He shook his head and smiled. Above them, rain clouds slithered on the blue sky, threatening to cast the good weather away. Maybe the deities were mourning for Minako Aino, when her own family did not. Ami snuggled deeper into her black coat, and it was obvious that she was uncomfortable. At times, Mamoru had been jealous of her. She had followed her dream and worked hard to become the country's youngest surgeon. If the rumours were true, little Ami Mizuno would soon move to the States to take a coveted position in a private hospital in New York. But right now, she was standing on the frozen graveyard, saying goodbye to a friend. Her voice was soft when she spoke, full of a compassion Mamoru wasn't sure he needed or deserved.
"They went to the same tutor until Minako dropped out of school and stayed in contact until Usagi, well... until she died."
The new piece of information tried to weave its way into Mamoru's mind, but failed. It lingered on the surface, stubborn, reluctant, unplaceable.
"But... she never said so. She never mentioned her. Never."
In Ami's midnight eyes shone pity. Suddenly, it came crashing on Mamoru: how many things were there that he didn't know about the woman he had loved so dearly? Their time had been cut short, but they did have ten years together. Ten years in which Usagi had never mentioned Minako Aino.
"Mamoru, I'm sure she meant nothing by it. Usagi prob-"
"She was my wife. MY wife. She invited tons of people to our wedding. Naru, Umino, you, all of her friends from work. Why not Aino if they were as close as you claim? I'm sorry, Ami, you must be wrong." He shook his head again, feeling the cold wind on his cheeks. Aino's parents had looked over when he had raised his voice, but were now staring at the grave again. In the distance two ravens soared across the sky.
"I don't know, Mamoru, but believe me, they were friends. But I apologise, I didn't mean to upset you." Her good manners did nothing to calm him, they infuriated him even more. She had no right to mess up the precious memories of his wife, seeing how they were all he had now.
"Were you friends with Aino as well? Is that why you're here?" His tone was accusatory, and he didn't even notice it.
The young doctor swallowed, and her voice came out broken. The tears were threatening to fall from her lashes, and for a moment Mamoru wondered if she was the only one at this funeral who really missed the dead girl. It made him feel like shit.
"Yes. We weren't as close as Usagi and Minako were, but I liked her very much. Minako is-...was very lively, so much fun to be around. She came to visit me at least once a year, and we spoke on the phone every other week."
"What about?" It was easier to focus on his work than on the unexpected new of Usagi's friendship to the singer, so Mamoru shoved his conflicting emotions aside and concentrated on the conversation that had strayed off the beaten path and turned into an interrogation before either interlocutor noticed it. It was what he did best, after all. He hadn't expected Ami to deflect his question though.
"Mamoru, I'm very sorry and I don't want to be rude, but that's private. Why are you here if you didn't know her?"
His answer was almost harsh.
"I'm investigating her murder."
Ami closed her eyes and the tears fell to the ground.
It finally began to rain and the man hidden behind the large oak disappeared just as unnoticed as he had arrived. Turning up the collar of his coat, he wished that Minako Aino would still live, were it only to laugh at the irony of the situation. He was sure that she would have appreciated it.
*
Noboru and Mamoru had retreated into their tiny, shared office with a large thermos filled with coffee so strong that it made you wince, several sandwiches and copious newspaper cuttings about the victim.
"Okay, so she was a perfectly ordinary girl until the age of 13. Then - according to her mother, and it don't put much stock into that woman's opinion- she started to sneak out late at night, not returning until early the next morning. This went on until she was 16, and after that we have no idea what she did at night or with whom, because she moved out of her parents' house. Oh, and at some point she brought a cat back home. Her mother was furious, but Aino was unimpressed and kept it. She named it Artemis and according to her mother, she still had it. Did you see a trace of a cat in the penthouse because I sure as hell didn't."
Mamoru mentally retraced his steps in the penthouse and eventually shook his head. Still, he felt there was something he was overlooking with regards to the animal. "No, don't think so. Could her father tell you anything? Not about the cat, but generally."
"The usual. His little girl, always so innocent, liked by everyone, no enemies. He's genuinely upset, but then he also hasn't seen her at all this year." Noboru's voice was cutting; he didn't think much of Aino's family and it began to show. The Inspector had been more than courteous on the two times he spoken to the deceased pop star's parents, but if he had to look into Mrs. Aino self-righteous eyes one more time while she slammed her daughter, he was afraid that he would loose it. By now, Noboru Sanjoin understood perfectly why Minako Aino didn't have a single picture of her parents in her penthouse. Mamoru, who had not spoken to the Ainos in person, enquired: "Why?"
"Let's just say that family reunions were not exactly happy events, because Aino and her mother went at it like harpies. And my intuition tells me that Mr. Aino has long since given up fighting with his wife, which translates to him giving up fighting for his daughter."
Mamoru tried to pull the image of Aino's parents at her funeral from the depths of his mind, but every time he tried, he only saw the soulful blue eyes of his wife. The wife he had (contrary to popular belief) not known everything about. Usagi had kept Minako Aino a secret, but Mamoru couldn't for the life of him not figure out why. Still, he knew that he had to share this new piece of information with Noboru, it might be important.
"I spoke to Ami Mizuno at the funeral. She met Minako aged 14 through Usagi. They had the same tutor."
"Usagi knew Aino?" The open surprise in his partner's eyes didn't make Mamoru feel any better. "Yes." He looked down and examined his fingernails. They were too long, he needed to cut them. Coming to think of it, the same went for his hair.
"Did you know?"
"No."
"Shit."
Mamoru slouched a little deeper in his chair and avoided looking at his partner. Instead, he took a survey of their office. At some point, they would really have to tidy up. The other Inspectors had already wondered where all the communal coffee mugs had gone to.
After a brief silence, Noboru scratched his nose and asked: "Could Ami identify the man in the picture?" There were moments when Mamoru felt like kissing the older man. Well, maybe not kissing, but rather embracing. Where others would have asked about how he could have not known that his wife was friends with one of Japan's best selling singers, Noboru focused on the case.
"No, but she told me that Aino had always been very enthusiastic about boys. She knew of no significant relationships, only crushes." What Mamoru didn't mention was how shocked Ami had been. He hadn't been able to tell whether it was the fact that Minako did have a lover or whether it had been the fact that she had been photographed with him.
"What about one-night stands? Affairs?"
"Ami was a bit evasive, she felt she was betraying her trust and so on-"
"She's dead as a doornail, there's nothing left to betray." That was typical of Noboru, he was often blunt bordering on crude. He meant no harm by it, and was usually able to display an astounding amount of tact when dealing with a victim's relatives, but he didn't watch his tongue when talking to his partner.
"Is that really what you think? That loyalty ends at the grave?" Blue eyes met brown ones.
"Professionally: yes. Personally: no."
"Thought so."
"So what did she tell you?"
"That Minako had mentioned some guy -no name though- in their last conversation. She said that he meant something."
"He meant something? Strange way to say you have the hots for someone."
"That's what Ami thought, too. It's why she was so certain that Aino said just that: he meant something. Not he meant something to her, or she loved him, no, just that he meant something. Other than that, no information about relationships. For all Ami knows, Minako Aino might have been a nun."
"Nuns don't go down on random men in dark alleys, knowing full well that they are being photographed."
"I think we have to question the manager again."
Noboru snorted.
"She thinks you're hot. I'm annoying, but you're hot. Not that it matters because she's a scary woman. God, I need to get laid again." Noboru put his head on the desk in a theatrical manner.
"Meioh is not scary, she is strong. And I agree, you really do need a good lay." Mamoru grinned and busied himself with the first cutting. Noboru threw a paper aeroplane in his general direction.
After a moment's silence, Noboru leaned forward on his desk and fixed Mamoru with an interested look, a bit like a five year old would inspect an unexpectedly large insect.
"So you found her attractive?"
"You didn't?"
"Not my type, Mamoru. She's mean. I like 'em sweet." The corners of Noboru's mouth turned upwards, undoubtedly in honour of a former girlfriend. He changed them every three to four months, for some reason long term commitment didn't sit well with Noboru Sanjoin. He had dated Usagi's friend Naru for a little while, but the results had been disastrous. The last time Naru had seen him, she had dumped a mug of steaming hot coffee on his chestnut curls. The memory alone cheered Mamoru up, and he teased his partner with glee.
"And by that you mean easy."
"If I didn't know you so well, I'd be offended now. When I say sweet, I mean pretty, funny and if they can cook, even better. Which brings me to these sandwiches: they suck. Didn't I tell you fifteen times that you should go to the little place around the corner to get our food and not to the cafeteria?"
"How about you go next time?"
"Sorry, can't, I have to flirt with Takayaki's secretary while you're gone."
"Miss Oko is at least 67."
"So?"
"If you don't know what's wrong with that, I'm not going to explain it to you."
"Well, Miss Oko has a granddaughter who used to be a huge Minako Aino fan. So Miss Oko has been collecting newspaper cuttings about her to give them to the kiddo." Grinning, Noboru jabbed the stack of cuttings in front of Mamoru, causing the first three to slide off and down on the floor.
"Did you use Miss Oko to avoid doing your own research?"
"Yes."
"Hmm, well done. I hate filching through archives."
"See, I told you so. Behind your goody-two-shoes attitude hides a very lazy man."
A knock on the door interrupted their banter and Noboru flashed his partner a devious grin before yelling: "Come in!"
Growing up in a house full of family had that effect on you - always being a little louder than necessary. Mamoru winced.
The door opened and Katsurou Hanzo stepped in. He was carrying a black umbrella in one, and the report in the other hand.
"You have a problem."
Onto Chapter Three
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU/AR (was never able to tell what exactly the difference between the two is)
"Miss Meioh, please let me say first how very sorry I am for your loss. I understand that as Miss Aino's manager, you knew her well and that you were very close, so this must be har-"
Noboru was speaking in his most soothing voice, but stopped when he saw the woman's expression. She was openly sneering at him and Noboru was dumb-founded for a minute. It was almost funny, Mamoru mused before he made a mental note that Setsuna Meioh either didn't like police men (very common), didn't like Noboru (extremely unlikely, most people flocked to him like bees to honey) or hadn't liked her boss. Assessing the manager, Mamoru would have pitted everything he owned on the last option.
"Inspector, I am a very busy women."
Slipping his role as the bad cop on like a well worn coat, Mamoru took over the questioning: "Too busy for condolences, or too busy for grieving?"
A spark lit up in her eyes as she fixed them on him in a way that was somewhere on the line between unnerving and intriguing. "Isn't that the same?"
His answer was immediate. "Not in my book."
"You are very young, aren't you?" Noboru would have sworn that her voice had taken on a sultry tone. And judging from the small smile tugging at the corner's of Mamoru's mouth, so had his partner.
"29. But experience tells me that age has nothing to do with grief and death."
"Would that be a personal or a professional assessment?"
"Both."
"Interesting."
"Erm. Miss Meioh," Noboru cut in while trying to hide his astonishment at the exchange that had just taken place, "when did you see Miss Aino last?"
Unfolding her long legs, the woman got up and retrieved a post-it filled filofax from her desk while making it abundantly clear that Noboru Sanjoin was not someone she enjoyed doing anything for. Before she flicked the filofax open, her eyes strolled yet again to his partner.
"Three nights ago. She had an appearance booked for a latenight talkshow and failed to be there on time. I went to her penthouse to see what had kept her." The filofax was slammed shut again. Noboru resisted to the urge to roll his eyes. This woman was taking uncooperative to another level. Mamoru however was undeterred, and he leaned closer to the manager and asked:
"Was it unusual for Miss Aino to behave so unprofessionally?"
She mulled the question over for a minute before answering. Behind her, the walls were covered in carefully framed diplomas and golden records. Another testimony to success, Noboru noticed. So Meioh and Aino had something in common, both were either fiercely ambitious or incredibly insecure. He filed the thought away for later consideration.
"Yes and no. She was often late and if she didn't want to do something, she wouldn't. But she was excited to go on this show, seeing how a new record needs quite a lot of promotion."
"Why? Was her star sinking?" As soon as Noboru had asked the question, Setsuna spared him a pitiful look.
"This is a very competitive business, Mr. Sanjoin. There is no guarantee that you will still be in demand by next Christmas unless you make people believe that you are the most interesting person out there."
"Do you know this man?"
Mamoru threw one of the paparazzi shots on the manager's lap. He was being very rude, but it was intentional. Also, he was quite certain that Miss Meioh here liked a good challenge.
Her reaction gave nothing away. She examined the picture closely before handing it back to Mamoru. He noticed that her long nails were painted in the shade of blood.
"No, never seen him. Not that there is a lot to see with that mop of hair. Anything else? I have an important meeting in ten minutes."
It was a dismissal if there ever was one.
*
The funeral was a sad affair, but not in a conventional sense. Few had come to pay their last respects to Minako Aino, for a woman as famous as she had been, it was a rather sorry turnout. Her parents were there (dry-eyed and stone-faced), her manager (checking her phone every other minute), a tall red-haired woman who looked vaguely familiar, and - Mamoru realised with a jolt - the slender form of Ami Mizuno, his late wife's best friend. It was seeing Ami that kept him from approaching Miss Meioh.
The frozen grass was hard under his feet as he walked over to the girl that had been his Usagi's voice of reason until the day she died. Behind him, Setsuna stared at a hole in his head.
"Ami."
She smiled a sad little smile when he came into her line of vision. "Mamoru, I thought you might come. How are you?"
He furrowed his brows.
"Why would you expect me here?"
His question caused a look of confusion to cross her pale face, but always giving the right answer to any given question was deeply ingrained in the former star student, so her hesitation was brief.
"Because Minako and Usagi were so close?"
"Ami, what would my wife had had to do with a popstar? That's just ridiculous." He shook his head and smiled. Above them, rain clouds slithered on the blue sky, threatening to cast the good weather away. Maybe the deities were mourning for Minako Aino, when her own family did not. Ami snuggled deeper into her black coat, and it was obvious that she was uncomfortable. At times, Mamoru had been jealous of her. She had followed her dream and worked hard to become the country's youngest surgeon. If the rumours were true, little Ami Mizuno would soon move to the States to take a coveted position in a private hospital in New York. But right now, she was standing on the frozen graveyard, saying goodbye to a friend. Her voice was soft when she spoke, full of a compassion Mamoru wasn't sure he needed or deserved.
"They went to the same tutor until Minako dropped out of school and stayed in contact until Usagi, well... until she died."
The new piece of information tried to weave its way into Mamoru's mind, but failed. It lingered on the surface, stubborn, reluctant, unplaceable.
"But... she never said so. She never mentioned her. Never."
In Ami's midnight eyes shone pity. Suddenly, it came crashing on Mamoru: how many things were there that he didn't know about the woman he had loved so dearly? Their time had been cut short, but they did have ten years together. Ten years in which Usagi had never mentioned Minako Aino.
"Mamoru, I'm sure she meant nothing by it. Usagi prob-"
"She was my wife. MY wife. She invited tons of people to our wedding. Naru, Umino, you, all of her friends from work. Why not Aino if they were as close as you claim? I'm sorry, Ami, you must be wrong." He shook his head again, feeling the cold wind on his cheeks. Aino's parents had looked over when he had raised his voice, but were now staring at the grave again. In the distance two ravens soared across the sky.
"I don't know, Mamoru, but believe me, they were friends. But I apologise, I didn't mean to upset you." Her good manners did nothing to calm him, they infuriated him even more. She had no right to mess up the precious memories of his wife, seeing how they were all he had now.
"Were you friends with Aino as well? Is that why you're here?" His tone was accusatory, and he didn't even notice it.
The young doctor swallowed, and her voice came out broken. The tears were threatening to fall from her lashes, and for a moment Mamoru wondered if she was the only one at this funeral who really missed the dead girl. It made him feel like shit.
"Yes. We weren't as close as Usagi and Minako were, but I liked her very much. Minako is-...was very lively, so much fun to be around. She came to visit me at least once a year, and we spoke on the phone every other week."
"What about?" It was easier to focus on his work than on the unexpected new of Usagi's friendship to the singer, so Mamoru shoved his conflicting emotions aside and concentrated on the conversation that had strayed off the beaten path and turned into an interrogation before either interlocutor noticed it. It was what he did best, after all. He hadn't expected Ami to deflect his question though.
"Mamoru, I'm very sorry and I don't want to be rude, but that's private. Why are you here if you didn't know her?"
His answer was almost harsh.
"I'm investigating her murder."
Ami closed her eyes and the tears fell to the ground.
It finally began to rain and the man hidden behind the large oak disappeared just as unnoticed as he had arrived. Turning up the collar of his coat, he wished that Minako Aino would still live, were it only to laugh at the irony of the situation. He was sure that she would have appreciated it.
*
Noboru and Mamoru had retreated into their tiny, shared office with a large thermos filled with coffee so strong that it made you wince, several sandwiches and copious newspaper cuttings about the victim.
"Okay, so she was a perfectly ordinary girl until the age of 13. Then - according to her mother, and it don't put much stock into that woman's opinion- she started to sneak out late at night, not returning until early the next morning. This went on until she was 16, and after that we have no idea what she did at night or with whom, because she moved out of her parents' house. Oh, and at some point she brought a cat back home. Her mother was furious, but Aino was unimpressed and kept it. She named it Artemis and according to her mother, she still had it. Did you see a trace of a cat in the penthouse because I sure as hell didn't."
Mamoru mentally retraced his steps in the penthouse and eventually shook his head. Still, he felt there was something he was overlooking with regards to the animal. "No, don't think so. Could her father tell you anything? Not about the cat, but generally."
"The usual. His little girl, always so innocent, liked by everyone, no enemies. He's genuinely upset, but then he also hasn't seen her at all this year." Noboru's voice was cutting; he didn't think much of Aino's family and it began to show. The Inspector had been more than courteous on the two times he spoken to the deceased pop star's parents, but if he had to look into Mrs. Aino self-righteous eyes one more time while she slammed her daughter, he was afraid that he would loose it. By now, Noboru Sanjoin understood perfectly why Minako Aino didn't have a single picture of her parents in her penthouse. Mamoru, who had not spoken to the Ainos in person, enquired: "Why?"
"Let's just say that family reunions were not exactly happy events, because Aino and her mother went at it like harpies. And my intuition tells me that Mr. Aino has long since given up fighting with his wife, which translates to him giving up fighting for his daughter."
Mamoru tried to pull the image of Aino's parents at her funeral from the depths of his mind, but every time he tried, he only saw the soulful blue eyes of his wife. The wife he had (contrary to popular belief) not known everything about. Usagi had kept Minako Aino a secret, but Mamoru couldn't for the life of him not figure out why. Still, he knew that he had to share this new piece of information with Noboru, it might be important.
"I spoke to Ami Mizuno at the funeral. She met Minako aged 14 through Usagi. They had the same tutor."
"Usagi knew Aino?" The open surprise in his partner's eyes didn't make Mamoru feel any better. "Yes." He looked down and examined his fingernails. They were too long, he needed to cut them. Coming to think of it, the same went for his hair.
"Did you know?"
"No."
"Shit."
Mamoru slouched a little deeper in his chair and avoided looking at his partner. Instead, he took a survey of their office. At some point, they would really have to tidy up. The other Inspectors had already wondered where all the communal coffee mugs had gone to.
After a brief silence, Noboru scratched his nose and asked: "Could Ami identify the man in the picture?" There were moments when Mamoru felt like kissing the older man. Well, maybe not kissing, but rather embracing. Where others would have asked about how he could have not known that his wife was friends with one of Japan's best selling singers, Noboru focused on the case.
"No, but she told me that Aino had always been very enthusiastic about boys. She knew of no significant relationships, only crushes." What Mamoru didn't mention was how shocked Ami had been. He hadn't been able to tell whether it was the fact that Minako did have a lover or whether it had been the fact that she had been photographed with him.
"What about one-night stands? Affairs?"
"Ami was a bit evasive, she felt she was betraying her trust and so on-"
"She's dead as a doornail, there's nothing left to betray." That was typical of Noboru, he was often blunt bordering on crude. He meant no harm by it, and was usually able to display an astounding amount of tact when dealing with a victim's relatives, but he didn't watch his tongue when talking to his partner.
"Is that really what you think? That loyalty ends at the grave?" Blue eyes met brown ones.
"Professionally: yes. Personally: no."
"Thought so."
"So what did she tell you?"
"That Minako had mentioned some guy -no name though- in their last conversation. She said that he meant something."
"He meant something? Strange way to say you have the hots for someone."
"That's what Ami thought, too. It's why she was so certain that Aino said just that: he meant something. Not he meant something to her, or she loved him, no, just that he meant something. Other than that, no information about relationships. For all Ami knows, Minako Aino might have been a nun."
"Nuns don't go down on random men in dark alleys, knowing full well that they are being photographed."
"I think we have to question the manager again."
Noboru snorted.
"She thinks you're hot. I'm annoying, but you're hot. Not that it matters because she's a scary woman. God, I need to get laid again." Noboru put his head on the desk in a theatrical manner.
"Meioh is not scary, she is strong. And I agree, you really do need a good lay." Mamoru grinned and busied himself with the first cutting. Noboru threw a paper aeroplane in his general direction.
After a moment's silence, Noboru leaned forward on his desk and fixed Mamoru with an interested look, a bit like a five year old would inspect an unexpectedly large insect.
"So you found her attractive?"
"You didn't?"
"Not my type, Mamoru. She's mean. I like 'em sweet." The corners of Noboru's mouth turned upwards, undoubtedly in honour of a former girlfriend. He changed them every three to four months, for some reason long term commitment didn't sit well with Noboru Sanjoin. He had dated Usagi's friend Naru for a little while, but the results had been disastrous. The last time Naru had seen him, she had dumped a mug of steaming hot coffee on his chestnut curls. The memory alone cheered Mamoru up, and he teased his partner with glee.
"And by that you mean easy."
"If I didn't know you so well, I'd be offended now. When I say sweet, I mean pretty, funny and if they can cook, even better. Which brings me to these sandwiches: they suck. Didn't I tell you fifteen times that you should go to the little place around the corner to get our food and not to the cafeteria?"
"How about you go next time?"
"Sorry, can't, I have to flirt with Takayaki's secretary while you're gone."
"Miss Oko is at least 67."
"So?"
"If you don't know what's wrong with that, I'm not going to explain it to you."
"Well, Miss Oko has a granddaughter who used to be a huge Minako Aino fan. So Miss Oko has been collecting newspaper cuttings about her to give them to the kiddo." Grinning, Noboru jabbed the stack of cuttings in front of Mamoru, causing the first three to slide off and down on the floor.
"Did you use Miss Oko to avoid doing your own research?"
"Yes."
"Hmm, well done. I hate filching through archives."
"See, I told you so. Behind your goody-two-shoes attitude hides a very lazy man."
A knock on the door interrupted their banter and Noboru flashed his partner a devious grin before yelling: "Come in!"
Growing up in a house full of family had that effect on you - always being a little louder than necessary. Mamoru winced.
The door opened and Katsurou Hanzo stepped in. He was carrying a black umbrella in one, and the report in the other hand.
"You have a problem."
Onto Chapter Three