“The current head is Rin Kobe. We still have a while yet, but if the pattern holds, that will be her final target.”
“And how have you come to this conclusion?” Not denying what Rodessa had summarized, Violet leaned back in her chair, fingers tapping the table as she raised a brow, curious of her evidence.
Taking another swig from the flask, Rodessa pulled out her Pandora-issued communicator and, after tapping through it with her thumb, a loud beep sounded. A moment later, a recording began.
It appeared to be Rodessa’s own voice, and that of an unfamiliar woman in the middle of a conversation.
“...So, you work here?” Rodessa was saying, as if she began recording while in the middle of speaking. “What’s your name again?”
“Yes,” the unfamiliar voice responded. “Oh, and my name is Emiko”
There was the sound of cloth moving, the Rodessa of the recording obviously leaning closer and her voice dropped to an almost conspiratorial whisper, though it was easily audible to the recording device.
“So?” Her voice was almost eager, like she was gossiping over a scandal at a water cooler. “I get the vibe that Miss Chino wasn’t a good worker here, especially after she hooked up with the young master, right?”
There was an almost scandalised splutter before Emiko finally managed a near righteous, “No! That is incorrect!”
There was a slight pause - perhaps Emiko had felt flustered at her outburst, but when she started to speak again, while certainly not as loudly, she still had a sad yet passionate tone. “She was brilliant,” Emiko admitted sorrowfully. “Beautiful...kind to both the staff and the family, even after they turned on her.” There was the shift of cloth, hands obviously clenching at the lap of her work kimono. “Truly, it was the main family,” she added, a note of accusation in her voice before it softened again. “The young master loved her for it. He was even planning on leaving the household if they didn’t accept her-” she cut off with a gasp, the sound of her hands clapping over her mouth cutting into the recording. “Oh!” her muffled voice sounded horrified. “I’ve said too much!”
There was the sound of movement again, obviously Rodessa this time trying to comfort the girl in some way. “No, no, I don’t think so,” she soothed gently, far more gently than some of the current listeners had ever heard from her, coloured with unspoken apologies. “I don’t really know what is going on here, you know that.” she sighed softly. “It’s strange that...Ya know, you’re the first one who said that. It helps a lot. Thanks.”
“N-no, it’s fine…” Emiko’s voice sounded nervous, her voice dropping even lower, as if afraid someone might overhear. “You...you won’t tell anyone about this? You know what I said. I...I wouldn’t...I wouldn’t want the h-head to fire me, you know?”
“Of course,” Rodessa promised gently. “It’s just us here.”
Seconds later, there was a click and the recording ended.
Without waiting for any questions or responses from her audience, Rodessa tapped on the communicator once more and with a click, a second recording began. Once again, it sounded like it began in the middle of a conversation.
“...So, you work here, Miss Mayumi?” Rodessa was saying. Obviously, this conversation must have been recorded before or after the one with Emiko as the previous girl was no longer in the recording. Instead a new voice, which must belong to the aforementioned ‘Miss Mayumi’ responded instead.
“Yeah, part time.” Her tone held far less concern that Emiko’s had, blunt and without the nervous quality. “You’re here to sort all this weird stuff out, right?”
“Of course,” Rodessa responded easily, “But I need your help if there is anything you can tell me - anything at all. Any reason why Miss Chino’s soul would be this antagonisti-”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Mayumi scoffed. “The successor falls for one of us ‘peasants’, breaks off the engagement he was previously forced into and decides to instead marry a maid of the dreaded ‘lower station’. Please. And if the young master hadn’t killed her for whatever reason, the head would definitely have found some way to.”
Rodessa gasped. “No...You serious?”
Mayumi gave a snort of near mocking laughter. “Oh honey, where have you been?” she tittered. “It’s obvious. The mistress was gloating about how it wouldn’t be traced back to her. Yumi...ah, Miss Chino,” she corrected, though whether to address a confused look from Rodessa or to give some semblance of respect for the dead it was unclear. “We warned her to get out. She did eventually quit, of course. The beatings, the vulgar rumours and the character assassination was getting too much, even for her.”
“Beatings?” Rodessa murmured, a note of disbelief colouring her tone. “Character assassination? The fuck…?”
“Yeah,” Mayumi’s tone was dark. “Beatings are normal around here.” She seemed to lean closer, her voice dropping a little conspiratorially. “Some of the stuff the main house were saying was ridiculous. The other branches put a stop to those - if only to stop hearing such drivel, or at least because they felt a little sorry for her. They even offered her a job at one point to get away from it all.” There was the sound of shifting (a shake of her head) and a quiet sigh. “It came completely out of left field when we heard that Rento was the one who killed her...They were in love - you know, real love...but...I guess he just snapped?”
“Interesting…”
The recording ended there.
Just as quickly as before, Rodessa started up the last recording, her single eyed gaze on her audience keeping them quiet as a bleep indicated it starting.
“So, you’re my last interviewee for the day, Mr Watanabe.”
The first thing the four listeners noticed was that Rodessa’s tone was very much different from the ones she had used with Emiko and Mayumi. With the two women, she had been acting as though she was either new friends with them, or at least equals. At the very least they had been comfortable enough with her to grant the use of their first names. Those recordings had also been more laid back, as if they were in the middle of conversing around a water cooler rather than anything formal. However, in this case, all the openness was gone from her voice, leaving behind the pure professionalism of an FBI agent.
This person was obviously someone with high standing within the family, or with close ties to the head family itself.
“Get on with it,” The new voice, obviously belonging to Mr Watanabe, was practically dismissive. “We are losing daylight and there are consequences if we do not finish our chores.”
Ah, Mizuki’s eyes narrowed as she listened. He must be the head servant, perhaps even one of the main family’s Manservants, if one recalled what Mayumi had said about how the head family treated those in their employ.
“Oh, don’t worry, that’s what I want, too,” Rodessa agreed. “Now, you worked closely with the main house for a number of years. There has been this nasty rumour saying the mistress was planning to do harm to-”
“True.”
For a moment, there was silence. Obviously thrown off from the sudden revelation, it took her a moment before she finally mustered up a quiet, “...What?”
“That is what she does,” Mr Watanabe continued, tone as-matter-of-factly as if saying water was wet or fire was hot. “If you are not liked, you are punished. Remain, or you are disposed. The head has on more than one occasion fined her.” His stern voice...wavered a little, an odd lilt to it that one might have missed if not listening closely as he continued. “I know that she had something to do with that poor girl’s death, but I cannot prove it. It’s above my pay grade. But I know she did something to the young master.”
He paused for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts, before finally continuing. “Something went...wrong. Or perhaps right? Whatever the case, the young master went missing for a time. When he came back, he started acting like the rest of the house. Then...well, you heard. I don’t believe I need to say more.”
Rodessa made a faint thoughtful hum for a moment - perhaps jotting notes, since this seemed like a formal interview - before she finally spoke again.
“You said she ‘did something’ to the young master?” she pressed.
There was a slight pause, before “...You’re from Pandora, right?”
“First week on the job, mate,” Rodessa agreed lightly before her tone became serious once more. “Please, tell me what you think she did.”
The man paused for a moment, whether to gather his thoughts or to make sure no one was listening, it was uncertain. Finally, he spoke. “Rumour has it that she used to be a priestess,” he said finally. “Some say a witch. I can’t say for sure, but...she’s...about ninety, and yet has a twenty five year old son? Not to mention she looks to be in her late thirties. Then you only have to see how everyone treats her. The main house bends to her whims, so do the rest of the staff.” There was a harsh snort. “It’s not difficult to see. The young master turns from a good boy, a lovesick puppy, into a murderous villain all in the span of a night when there has never been a hint of such a disposition in him prior? No. She did something. The main house are in on it as well. Don’t bother asking them about it. If you get too close, you’ll end up on their List.”
There was the sound of a chair being pushed back and someone rising. “Anyway,” Mr Watanabe continued, the dismissive tone back to his voice. “I must be going.”
A second sound of movement as Rodessa rose with him. “Thank you for your time, sir.”
With a click, the recording ended and silence filled the meeting room. Lightly placing the communicator on the desk between them, Rodessa leaned back in her chair, touching her fingers together, her single eye roving over the four of them before she almost purred out “Questions.”
Mizuki ignored the words for a moment, her mind elsewhere. Finally, things were starting to make sense. Less about the case, though the recordings did bring up a few things to work with in solving this grudge case. Rather, it answered what Rodessa had been doing while Mizuki had been setting up the precautions and barriers.
The way Rodessa had seemingly flounced away when Mizuki had been trying to get her to stop distracting her - being nagged about empathy had not been helping her concentration - had made it seem like she had gone off in a sulk or simply avoiding dealing with ‘the hocus pocus’. However...Mizuki wasn’t above admitting being wrong. As she could not do what Mizuki could, she was doing what she was trained to - dealing with people. While Mizuki was providing protection, Rodessa was gathering evidence.
She was not certain that she could ever truly get along with Rodessa. Not even counting the potential ticking time bomb, they were very much water and oil to each other. But...she could at least respect the professionalism. Assuming the two of them could avoid bristling at each other every time their differing moralities came into play, they could cover each others bases, the way that things used to be before…
She blocked out the thought. Not the time. With what Rodessa had gathered up from her recordings and the gathered information, they had a better basis for a plan of action.
“The extra security, wards and charms for the extended branch of the house won’t be necessary,” the huntress said finally, mind racing as she processed the information. “Same with the neutral parties and those that supported the relationship. Our efforts should focus on those whom she sees as targets - particularly the main house.”
After all, they had seen the patterns in the presentation. Other than general area ones, personal ones would just be wasted resources since she never targeted any of those, even if her actual targets were not in her current range. The Onryou would always wait until the Main House or Decenters entered the picture. So, the spirit would likely not turn her attention on them, even if protections were on all her actual targets.
A good thing too, as if this ‘mistress’ was someone with a mystic background, she likely already had protections.
...Something perhaps to look into, once they had dealt with the active threat.
Thankfully, Rodessa seemed in agreement. “My thoughts exactly.”
She clicked on the presentation once more, bringing up what appeared to be a list of what seemed to be names, ages and some kind of colour combinations that linked to a key at the bottom. “Here are the list of targets, in order of the pattern and animosity levels,” she continued, also handing out print outs of the same information for them to get a better look at their leisure. “I believe these are the targets and order according to our investigation.”
Mizuki frowned a little, noting another pattern. She had mentioned the likelihood before, but it was obvious to her now. “Since the investigation started, the time between tormenting stage and attacking has grown shorter,” she warned. “Which means so has our time needed to neutralise the spirit before her list of victims increases.”
“Or cleanse,” Rodessa pointed out. “That’s an option.”
Mizuki had to force her hands not to clench the paper.
“An option we do not have,” Mizuki managed to get out, honestly surprised at her own self control. “There is no time and her desire for vengeance is too strong.”
“You haven’t even tried!” Rodessa snapped.
Mizuki took a deep, calming breath. She was not going to lose her temper over someone being so contradictory of wanting to save every single thing in this case when she herself claimed she, in the ghost’s position, would have been just as impossible to dissuade. For someone she knew killed for a living during FBI assignments, she was remarkably naive in her thoughts about the world.
She desires her humanity, Mizuki reminded herself of what the monk once told her.
All well and good when trying to act like the hero to everyone will get everyone killed.
Still, she tried to explain. “The Spirit-”
“Yumi!” Rodessa roared. “Her name is Yumi! And she deserves peace!”
“It’s too dangerous!” Mizuki snapped back, getting fed up of her stubbornness.
“So is demon hunting!” Rodessa hissed back. “So is wielding magic. So is firing a gun. You don’t give up just because-”
“There is nothing left of her,” Mizuki’s voice was cold as ice. She wasn’t getting what she was trying to say. She understood, as much as she didn’t like it, why Rodessa was making such a big deal here, but there were too many lives on the line. True, many of these people were not nice people, but there were still people there in that household who would still suffer should they try something so risky and fail. Just because they wouldn’t be directly targeted didn’t mean that the supporters or main branch or neutral people wouldn’t be harmed in other ways, not to mention the backlash could cause them to become targets too.
In the end, a single raging spirit was not worth that many lives.
“You need to separate your emotions from your duty, lest you want people - innocent people - to die.”
Rodessa’s lip curled in disgust. “Don’t give me orders, brat! Have you no compassion for the dead?!” her voice cracked as she turned her head away. “...They were people once,” she insisted quietly. “Lest you forget.”
“Once, yes,” Mizuki knew that more than anyone, the faces that haunted her mind. She pressed her lips into a thin line, pushing away those thoughts. She couldn’t allow herself to believe otherwise. Not when she had her duty. Not when forgetting such thing cost her. “Now, we protect the living. Those that cannot protect themselves, from them.”
“Broken people,” Rodessa insisted painfully. “Lost souls...they’re suffering.”
“She chose this,” Mizuki reminded her quietly. “She chose vengeance.”
“She can be redeemed,” Rodessa pressed. “She’s hurting. If we can guide her to peace, we have the time.”
Time in which many others would die in the meantime.
But...Rodessa is still new to this world. And she was determined not to listen to her, so what could she do?
She turned her head away. She knew where her responsibilities lay.
“Then do as you wish,” she closed her eyes. “But leave me out.”
Rodessa stiffened, before a bestial snarl broke from her as she slammed her hands on the table.
“You heartless bitch!” she snapped. “Have you no compassion for your fellow man?!”
It hurt. It hurt to think that she was seen as no better than the most cruel of youkai. It wasn’t that she had no compassion. It was because she had that compassion that she acted the way she did.
“I act as I do,” she explained as calmly as possible. “To protect my fellow men. I just refuse to allow my personal feelings to get in the way of doing so and allow the majority to die simply because of misplaced pity. I will not allow others to go through hell because of an out of control mystic.”
“And what about the mystic?” Rodessa retorted. “They didn’t choose to be born into a species different from yours. What about them? They have families, loved ones, too.”
“If they are passive, then they are no threat. We have no quarrel,” Mizuki explained quietly, though with no less conviction in her voice. “However, for ones that are…” She opened her eyes, meeting Rodessa’s uncovered one head on. “Hunter-san, remember...I am a Demon Hunter. To protect, threats must be ended. Permanently. Still...I am not soulless. I just do what I can for those under my Aegis, even if it costs me my heart. Now, I am going to end this. Whether you like it or not, whether you you aid me or not, that is your choice. But if you really cared for it…for the spirit once known as Yumi Chino, then you will help me to bring it to justice, and erase its suffering by ending its existence.”
Rodessa could only look at the younger girl’s stare, before shaking her head, denying what she saw in the other’s gaze. “No…” she whispered. “Not like this...”
“Then at least stand not in my way,” Mizuki said simply. She would respect the others decision if she refused to fight, but she would not allow her to threaten the others lives with her misplaced compassion. Still, she did allow her gaze to soften a little, if only to ease the blow. “Though I can promise you that I will, at least, be as humane as possible in removing it from this realm.”
“I will do no such thing, we can save her,” Rodessa almost plead. “If you would only meet my half way.”
“At the cost of blood and lives that will be lost in order to find a way to ‘save’ a single one from itself?” the huntress pointed out, shaking her head. “No. And don’t try to entice other recruits into this. The elders will not aid you in something so rash.”
Whatever Rodessa had been searching for in Mizuki’s gaze, she gave up trying to find. Her expression almost carved from stone as she stood.
“Then I guess this conversation is over.” Her voice was bitter, strained with anger and aching disappointment, whether at herself for failing, at the situation, at Mizuki’s unmoving temperament, none could guess. Still, fire snapped back into her gaze. “But in this topic, I’m far from through!” she announced, determination radiating from her. “I will save Yumi. She deserves that much. She deserves peace. She needs to be shown the way. Oh, and another thing,” her gaze was flinty as she pointed directly at the other girl. “You claim to have a heart...but truly? I think you’re mistaking that ticking gear for a heartbeat. If you had any ounce...no, even a working concept of a heart...you wouldn’t do this.”
Again, it hurt. However, she closed her eyes. Because she didn’t know.
It’s you who doesn’t understand, Mizuki sighed inwardly. It’s not that I’m heartless. It’s that for a greater good, my heart is a sacrifice I must pay. Our priorities differ, that is all. I sacrifice my humanity to save humanity. You would have to sacrifice humanity to save yours…
But she couldn't say that. She couldn’t explain. Because Rodessa would not believe the words of one she deemed unfeeling and heartless until she saw for herself. Thus, she did not rise to the bait, and simply shook her head, ignoring the ache festing between her lungs.
“You are free to believe whatever you wish,” Mizuki demurred, though she tilted her head, questioningly. “Still, you yourself said you don’t believe in ‘hocus pocus’ and last I checked, you have no background as a medium or exorcist. So, without sacrificing your principles you seem so enamored with...what will you do?”
Rodessa turned away, hands clenched at her sides, but chin raised in stubborn defiance. “If you’re not willing to help me,” she said shortly, “I will find someone who can.”
Snatching up her jacket, she stalked from the room.
“I’m done here.”
[END]
