Author's Notes:
I don't own Final Fantasy VII, any of its characters, places or entities. As well I do not own the following characters: XinShi Yukasama
Nakumine Kaizer
Sess Trygg
Seraphian Castus
Rio Litnia
Also this is an alternate universe fic... so it doesn't follow game canon. It takes place before the Nibelhiem incident and drastically changes the storyline from there.
When the phone rang, President Shin-Ra was already dead.
His body lay prone and unmoving, splayed across his desk, face down in a macabre worship to the workload that surrounded him. Outside his picture window, the dark Midgarian night sky was made unusually bright by the illuminated sky rises and buildings that lined the city's horizons.
There was a katana lodged in his back, pointed straight and upward toward the ceiling. The blade was clean and silver and shone with a sparkle, basked in the lights of the city outside. The handle was wrapped in a silky black cloth, tied with a simple white ribbon of linen. And there was a note attached, writ in blood, on smooth, white paper.
And the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts after other things entering in choke the word, and it is made fruitless.
Peace be still. It was eight thirty at night, a cold night in late November. President Shin-Ra's phone continued to ring, but he did not answer.
Not then, and would not ever.
It was already well into the late morning hours — three- twenty-seven to be exact, when Vice President Rufus Shin-Ra's phone began to ring.
At first, his mind held the grips of sleep, ignoring the obnoxious ringing, trying to pass it off as part of a dream he was not having. His arm closed protectively around the warm body that lay beside him, pushing close to her and letting his face fall next to her hair. With a gentle breath, Rufus inhaled the lacey scent of amber and jasmine that rose from her tresses.
Yet, the phone did not cease ringing.
Its persistence was admirable, and broke the thinning barrier that held Rufus Shin-Ra bound to the confines of welcome and much needed sleep. With a sudden burst of anger, Rufus suddenly rose, tearing away from his beloved beside him, flailing his arms in fury and shoving the covers out of the way, reaching to grab the phone.
"This had better be important," he growled, in an almost demonic voice, placing the receiver to his ear.
"Mr. Vice President," a male voice said. "This is Nakumine Kaizer, SOLDIER 1st Class, and Lead Detective here in Midgar."
The words were spoken with an ease and cockiness that irritated Rufus, even through the haze of sleep he still hadn't sorted his way through. Most people sounded downright intimidated when they addressed Rufus personally, emphasized by their shaking voices and fondness of the word "Sir". Yet this man woke Rufus from sleep in the middle of the night and seemed confident, even amused by it.
Rufus had heard of Kaizer before, but SOLDER and criminal justice was not an area he kept much track of, so he knew very little about him. Most of Rufus' work involved finances and business dealings.
"What is it?" Rufus snapped, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. "It is three thirty in the morning," he stated, as if it could very well mean the end of the world.
"Mr. Vice President," Nakumine said, in a calm but, almost condescending tone, as if he were preparing to scold Rufus for something, "I must inform you that… your father — the President — has been murdered."
Suddenly Rufus Shin-Ra was smiling.
"Pretty shitty how he ended up," Lt. Sessomaru Trygg said, from where he stood beside President Shin-Ra's liquor cabinet, quietly pouring himself a shot of whiskey. "Wonder who bagged him."
"Yeah," Nakumine Kaizer said, standing over the President's desk, staring down at the man. The entire office was now a full fledged crime scene, as law enforcement officials scoured the room. The coroner was due to arrive any moment.
Sess and Nakumine had been working together in SOLDIER's elite Criminal Justice Department for over five years, both having worked their ways through the three ranks of SOLDIER, and their devotion and intellect had soon granted them the high ranking positions they now held.
The Criminal Justice division was created by Shin-Ra, operating directly out of SOLDIER, as a means to quite literally keep the streets of Midgar and other cities controlled by Shin-Ra, safe and clean. Their duty was to enforce the law in Midgar, investigate crimes, and they reported to the District Attorney, a man appointed by President Shin-Ra himself in an effort to "appear to provide some level of justice to the People."
Nakumine, dark haired and outwardly lanky, hailed from the city of Wutai, with a rather mysterious past that was held confidential from many who knew and worked with him. But his strength and agility was incomparable by most, and his uncanny cleverness and reasoning was almost surreal. At only twenty-five, he had already achieved what some thought was impossible. In five years on SOLDIER CJD, Nakumine's record was practically impeccable, and he was in high favor with the DA.
Sess Trygg, only a few years older than his partner, was from North Corel, the quiet coal mining village situated near the mountains on the opposite continent. Not much was known about his past either, but it was known that he'd lost an eye in an undisclosed accident. Tall, brawny, and with hair black as night, Sess's strength as well was incredible and had earned him a steady rise through SOLDIER's ranks. It was his intellect that made him an efficient completion to this task force, along side Nakumine.
"Sess, that could be considered evidence," Nakumine said, turning to his partner. "Leave it alone."
Sess frowned, but downed the shot he'd already poured, and put the bottle back in the cabinet.
"Look at this," Nakumine said.
Sess narrowed his eyes and stepped over, shoving his hands in the pockets of his SOLDIER uniform. CJD agents were noted by the shiny gold badges emblazoned on the left breast of their turtlenecks.
"What have we?"
Nakumine held up the slip of paper, the cryptic words of blood dried to a now dark, rusty brown color. Sess reached up to take it, and read it with care.
"Quoth the bible," he said. "And writ in blood. Classic, leaving a present behind."
"I'm sure it will check out to be Shin-Ra's blood," Nakumine said, walking around behind the desk, and ducking down to check under it for any further evidence.
He rose again. "The katana is pretty spotless," He noted, and Sess nodded. Nakumine snapped his finger at another official and indicated for her to take photos with her camera.
"Not to many people use katana's these days…" Sess said, leaning in to take a closer look at the weapon that was lodged in the President's back.
"Sephiroth," Nakumine said slowly, and the office door flew open.
"Shit," Sess said.
It was the Turks — Veld and Tseng, to be exact. Veld entered the room, casting a long, surveying glance about the office, taking careful note of every activity. Tseng followed him, hands cast at his sides, his gaze penetrating the heavy tension that already filled the room.
Veld walked straight through the scene, making his way to where Nakumine and Sess stood near the body.
"Your work here is done, I think," Veld said to Nakumine, the corners of his mouth turning into a slight frown. "We'll take if from here."
"Don't think so," Nakumine replied evenly. "This is our jurisdiction. And we're waiting on Rufus."
"The Vice President," Veld quickly corrected, "Would not oblige to having his father's murder investigated by some...high ranking cops. It's best you let us settle this."
Tseng had begun to dismiss some of the other officials working at the scene, who all looked about in confusion. Sess bit back a snort of laughter and continued to inspect the katana embedded in the President's back.
"Nah, I think we'll do our jobs," Nakumine said, crossing his arms over his chest, "At least, until, the 'Vice President' gets here."
Nakumine offered Veld a sardonic smile, but Veld merely sneered, and not wanting to further complicate matters before Rufus' arrival, backed off.
Turning away, he nodded. "Very well. We will be waiting."
He gestured to Tseng, and they both turned to leave the crime scene, disappearing into the hallway outside the office.
"Jerk," Sess remarked, "Never did like him."
"Pah," Nakumine said, his eyes still on the door where they'd just left. "Jankovic won't let this go unmanaged. No worries."