[Sunday | August 16 | Evening]

[mister_stubble]

Samegawa. He's been sitting there for some time - jacket draped across his lap, staring at the river. Dojima comes here alone, and only alone - it's where he can sort out the jumbled mess that is his mind, these days. The sun has already set - darkness is creeping in from all sides

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[endlessjunes]

He's been up and down this town so many times by now. He's looked everywhere, and yet he doesn't have a single clue to show for it. This is the third day, and it was pretty safe to say that he was losing hope. But even so, he wasn't going to give up.

He was out on another search when he'd found his way, again, to the flood plains. There wasn't much different about it. That stray cat was still wandering around. There was still an old man just smiling out at the sea. It's not like he was expecting a miracle by this time, but--

Nonetheless, there was something-- no, someone different. Souji's uncle-- Right, he was a cop, wasn't he? Police reports had been filed, of course. In the end, he couldn't do anything more than Yousuke was already doing, too.

But maybe he had some information that could help; after all, there were things Yousuke knew that the police didn't. If he could combine those hints...

He cleared his throat as he approached.

"Dojima-san!" he summoned, waiting for his attention before continuing.

[mister_stubble]

Dojima looks up to see the young man heading toward him - he recalls the kid being over to the house a time or two.

"Yosuke, right?" He says, pausing and letting the other come to him the rest of the way. It's hard to tell in the dim light, but Yosuke seems anxious about something. Something in particular.

"What's wrong?"

[endlessjunes]

Well, what do you know? He's approachable! Yousuke had never really seen the man at length, let alone have a conversation with him, but he always expected him to be the typical cop-type... Or maybe Yousuke's agitation was just that noticeable.

Not that it was the time to be thinking about useless things like that. He lowered his head a little, unsure if he should phrase it tactfully or just give it straight.

...

The latter. Yes, the latter was the only way to go, lest he might anger him with dancing around the point.

"There were people reported missing, right? Two days ago... Four of them?" As he spoke, he realized he wasn't even sure what he intended to ask, but he kept on anyway. "One-- er, two of them are friends of mine. Satonaka Chie and Tsuragi Tomiko... Um... I was just wondering if there was any progress on the case."

[mister_stubble]

Dojima shook his head. "Sorry that your friends are involved, but we're doing everything we can." He said - and was sincere about that point, even if it felt like running through molasses most days, sifting through the lack of evidence, the lack of witnesses. Just speculation upon speculation.

"You shouldn't be out this late. I don't want to be investigating your disappearance next."

[kindofbatman]

Naoto walked home after another day of fruitless investigation. Four people going missing should have left a much larger trail than this, but it was almost as if they had been spirited away.

He didn't like this. First Yamano and Konishi's mysterious vanishing before their deaths, then that actress's disappearance as well. The last of them returned, but who was to say that wasn't just a fluke? More vanishing without any trail... He sighed, realizing his thoughts were going in circles, before noticing a familiar person.

"Dojima-san, wasn't it?" Naoto nodded. Perhaps the police would know something on this case.

[mister_stubble]

"Shirogane." Dojima returned, stopping as he neared the younger man; he imagined the same thing was both driving them to distraction. He liked the kid's tenacity, but he didn't like such a young person putting themselves on the line. He didn't doubt Naoto's brilliance for a second - no, the way he thought, the way he reasoned, was through, insightful.

"What are you doing out so late? Don't you have school?"

[kindofbatman]

"The case is more important." Naoto shook his head. "Though I admit I'm not making much progress. Do you have anything?"

[mister_stubble]

"No." Dojima said, rather bluntly, as if he might have said more but thought better of it. He wasn't like his rambling partner, not given to just blurting out things that might be sensitive.

He shifted his weight and looked toward the river; but he wasn't looking at it, just thinking for a moment. "I've been going over it again and again."