[VOICE]

[liketofu]

[Hi, Siren's Port. It's 10 pm, and your evening sirens have just gone off. Not long after that, a transmission comes over the network. Some of you may recognize the two distinct voices.]

Hi, my name's Rise. Sorry to be of bother--

[The second of the two voices is softer, at least a foot or two away from the device. "K-Kujikawa-san, did you

Comments

Pre-Transmission

[implausibility]

[He hadn't expected the trip back to be that rough. Adachi groans, knowing without opening his eyes that he was face-down in the dirt, just from the feel of rocks digging into his cheek, and the chill on the back of his neck. It takes him a moment to actually move. After all, opening his eyes to a world he had failed to run away from wasn't exactly the best of prospects to him at the moment. Still, he couldn't lie there forever.]

You brats do this every time you come home? Pretty rough on the bones, isn't-

[He almost expects to hear jeering laughter from Brats Incorporated (tm), but when all he's met with is silence and the howling of the wind, Adachi's eyes snap open, and he pushes up off the ground, sitting back on his ankles. This isn't Inaba, he thinks, now that there isn't someone to talk to...but wait

Pre-Transmission

[liketofu]

[On the flip side, you usually didn't expect to feel like you've been sucker-punched in the gut just by opening a restaurant door. There's that feeling of wanting to curl into a ball because the feeling is terrible, not quite painful but still dull. Did she fall? Or...? Ugh, this feeling.

Then she hears someone calling her name. It's not one of her friends- but she's not been told that it's someone dangerous either. She opens her eyes, wincing at how sore she feels all over and tries to focus. Right, right, it's just-]

Adachi-san.

[implausibility]

[Adachi-san?

It takes a great deal of control for Adachi not to burst out laughing at that. Formalities? She must have hit her head pretty damn hard on the way down.

Rather than answer right away, Adachi glances around the field. The place is dark, dirty, and abandoned. There are hints of life having touched the area at one point in time - graffiti, kicked-up dirt, and stained bleachers, but it's certainly as dead as a doorknob now. The rest of the Investigation Team is nowhere in sight.

He looks back down, a wry smile lingering on his mouth for a minute. Was she testing him? Fine, he could play along for a little bit. His eyes close as he beams, hands slipping out to hang in the air - trustworthy, open. But just because his expression is harmless, doesn't mean he is.]

What's the big deal? Where are your friends, kid?

[There's a bite to his words. She's a few decades too young to be pulling one on him.]

[liketofu]

[She's still coming around, so the transition into good-guy tone slips by her. She winces, pushing herself up from the ground. One doesn't go sliding around in baseball diamonds in a skirt.]

They were outside a minute ago.

[And she pauses, because clearly, 'outside' is not the correct term here, as she's slowly registering.]

The diner, that is.

[implausibility]

Di...ner?

[Something's not right; something's off, and even if it's not enough that he can put his finger on it immediately, Adachi sticks out his hand anyway to pull her up. Just in case.]

What diner?

[liketofu]

...Aiya. We were having ramen.

[She'll accept that helping hand, because she's not entirely sure if she can stand on her own at the moment without falling over. And as she does, she flashes him a grateful smile. A weak one, but one nonetheless.]

Hey, thanks.

[implausibility]

[Adachi blinks, honest surprise filtering into his expression. A grateful smile is the last thing he expects to see from someone like Rise. The shock is so great, in fact, that it takes a second for him to let go of her hand, but almost immediately after, he recovers with a sheepish grin.]

No problem, don't mention it! It's what we police are here for, right?

Say, Kujikawa-san, what's the date? Did I miss some sort of Inaba Prank Day I don't know about or something? These country towns have the weirdest traditions sometimes...

1/2

[liketofu]

If there's one, they haven't told me anything about it.

[liketofu]

[She makes a quick sweeping glance of the area, and frowns.] And it wouldn't be a very funny one either. What's with those signs?

[implausibility]

[Adachi shrugs one shoulder, scratching the back of his neck. Hmm. he doesn't seem all too phased by strange and foreboding road signs. Wonder why? ]

They don't make much sense, if you ask me. I mean, just look at that, 'Go Left' right next to the 'Go Right'. I bet it's all just decor to freak you out. We should, uh...stay calm at all costs!

[It sounds like he's reciting it from a manual.

This isn't Inaba, to say the least. Though he had only been there for a year, even Adachi was familiar enough with the small town to know that it didn't have a well-kept secret like this. That, and the buildings in the distance seemed to go on forever. This was definitely not anywhere near the country.

He doesn't know if it's his good or bad luck that he'd end up here. On one hand, he got out of Nowheresville, now didn't he? On the other, the alternative isn't exactly a five-star Hilton, and the present company, although conveniently clueless, is also inconveniently useless. He doesn't even recall Kujikawa fighting.]You got a phone

[liketofu]

[Well, there's one saying "Turn around and shake it all about" too. Go figure. And she's dizzy enough so thinking about these things are a little more difficult. brb shaking her head a bit to attempt to clear this disorienting feeling.]

But you are the police. Don't you have one of those radio things?

[implausibility]

[As if he'd bring that into the TV world with him. He smiles apologetically.]

Yeah, but I think I forgot it at home. Dojima-san always yells at me for pulling stunts like that too-

[To demonstrate, he puts his hand into his pocket...and pulls out a small-sized police radio with a fold-able antenna. Adachi blinks at it, clearly having not expected to find that there. Why...?]

...Huh?

[liketofu]

[Liar.]

Yeah, that one. You should be able to get us a direct line to the station with it, right?

[implausibility]

I'm not sure...

[He fiddles with it, but all he gets is the sound of static for a while.]

I mean, radio frequencies don't really go that far, and I'm pretty sure we're not anywhere close to the country right now, let alone Inaba. If I were really lucky, I could pick up the station here, but it's tough if I don't know the channel to begin with-

[A few more button presses, and he sighs heavily, shutting it off. His shoulders hang a little - the picture perfect image of disappointment.]

No cigar. How about you try calling your friends? Ah!

[He thumps his fist against the palm of his other hand.]

I've got it! You can call Dojima-san's nephew and have him get in contact with Dojima-san! Then they can send out a search party for us!

[Truthfully, he half-hopes she'll fail. Adachi's not entirely sure he wants to waste this lucky break and be dragged off to jail right away. He's not even sure he wants to face Dojima-san to begin with, but it's too late to slip away now without making her suspicious.]

[liketofu]

[Even as she watches him push those buttons on the radio, she's already looking for her phone. After all, it was pretty common knowledge that Adachi could be rather...incompetent at times, and she did suspect that she might end up having to make that call anyway.]

I'll try. [beep beep beep. "The number that you've dialed is currently out of service."] ...what? [beep beep beep. Nope, same result. The beginning of what seems to be worry is forming on her face, and she flicks a glance to the area around her as she speaks.]

It's not connecting. Hang on, let me try the emergency number.

[implausibility]

[Adachi nervously hovers over her, probably no help to her nerves, let alone his. Rather than being a calming presence as an authority figure, he's probably only adding on to her worries, but then again, the Inaba police have already been written off by most of the Investigation Team anyway (exactly how Adachi wanted it).]

Is it going through? Well?

[There is no way an amateur like Rise could have played along this well for this long. Nope - she really is clueless. It has to be short-term memory loss of some kind, because there is no other explanation as to why she would want him dead one second and then act like they were pleasant acquaintances the other. Every time he thinks about it, Adachi struggles not to laugh. Now, it's just a matter of making use of her before he split.]