eighteen

[tsuntiger]

[Taiga had been preparing for a completely boring, mildly depressing, and forgettable Valentine's Day.  And the last thing Taiga wanted to remember upon opening her mail was...

Erika.

Not just Erika, but... Erika.  Originally she went for detective services, to see what Kitamura was up to, but her reasons for going became more and more bizarre as

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[sue_of_truth]

[It was another cold, unforgiving night--that is, it would be if it weren't midday. In fact, it may be morning for all Erika knew. After all, when you are as famous a detective as the Great Furudo, you do not live by anyone's time.

Not even your own.

The phone rings. Erika answers. She immediately recognizes the voice. As the most hardboiled detective in town, Erika had more than her fair share of crazy dames--but this one was different. Erika had made the number one mistake a third-rate detective can make: getting involved with the customer.

With a sigh, Erika tosses the Valentine she received early this morning in the mail.]

You are going to need to be more specific than that, < toots >.

[tsuntiger]

[Toots. Taiga's stomach lurches at the word, and she isn't quite sure if it's in disgust or... the rush of a long forgotten nickname. Her heart had never thumped this hard in ages, and she sets her jaw to hopefully (and failingly) calm her heart.]

Y-you should know! Th-that we... [A squeak. Nothing more.]

[sue_of_truth]

[Yeah, she sure knew. She wonders how she forgot. Getting hired for a job, then making the mistake of getting involved with the crazy dame--she could not stop berating herself for making the number one mistake and she probably would never stop.

But, then again. If you were hardboiled, breaking rules comes naturally; following them to the word is for third-rates.

Furudo pauses and answers simply.]

Yeah. I know.