Chapter One: Acquaintance

There's something about long rainy car rides. The comfortable silence that's accentuated by the sound of rain bouncing off the roof and wipers scraping against the windshield. After the case they had just had wrapped up it was welcomed. Pale fingers tapped rhythmically on her thigh for a few minutes before Aiko turned her gaze away from the Japanese countryside and towards her partner.

"Hey, do you ever think about what happens after you die?"

Her voice was calm but there was something there he couldn't quite place, something that he hadn't heard in all their years working together. It wasn't like her to ask questions like this. He loathed topics that would inevitably bring up religion...yet here they were. Golden eyes flicked over towards the woman in the passenger seat briefly before settling back on the road. He could feel her eyes tracking his every movement, her patience never ceased to amaze him.

"Not in particular."

That wasn't the answer she was looking for. He could tell with the way her gaze turned back out the window- her clear uninterest in his answer made known by the silence that hung in the air.

The detective couldn't help but feel like he should have said something more.

Three years later.

She was late.

If his new partner wasn't there in the next few minutes then he would be heading out to follow his new lead. It didn't matter to him that he was yet again being paired up with fresh meat, Murata knew she wouldn't last. None of them ever did, not with his methods or his standards. It was almost a rite of passage in their department. Work with detective Ishi for as long as you could handle. It almost felt like it was a contest being held by the detectives younger than him. They were trying to outlast each other by staying on cases with him, even if they ended up stunting the case or causing it to go cold.

Just as he pulled on his jacket, the door to his office opened and he was greeted by a flash of blue. Within seconds the room was flooded with apologies and promises to not be late again. She was young- he was easily ten years her senior. He had only glanced over certain parts of her profile when it came across his desk. Her name and quirk. That's all that really mattered to him. What could be contributed and how to call her if needed.

Suzuki Honoka. It was noted next to her name that she preferred to go by her first name rather than her last, with "Honoka" being underlined as if to drive that point home to him. Once a hero hopeful- she instead went to a police academy and worked her way up enough to be considered detective material. This case, for however long she was on it, would be her first case as a detective and not as an officer.

There were a few things of note about her. For one, she was bright blue. Blinding almost. Her ears were fins and if he looked close enough he was sure the blue markings on her neck were actually gills. Fitting for her quirk. He mused quietly to himself. He was used to a lot of mutation and transformation quirks crossing his path but she was refreshing in that aspect.

Her quirk was an emitter type- one conveyed through her voice, specifically her singing voice. Or so says her file. He would just have to wait and see how it worked out in the field. Siren Song. The user conveys what they want the listener to do through humming or singing- but it's only a suggestion. Best used to nag at someone who is close to breaking or weakly-willed. Murata stole a glance at the woman in the seat next to him, wondering silently how such a useful stealth quirk was wasted on someone so loud-mouthed. Her mouth was moving. If she was chewing gum in his car there would have to be a talk about what was and wasn't allowed in his car.

"Detective Ishi, right?"

Oh she had been talking.

"That's correct. I'll be your senior mentor. Since you don't know anything about this case, stay in the car. This is an important lead and I can't have the uninformed ruining a chance to get more information."

There was a look about her like she wanted to fight back against what he had just said to her. To argue about her lack of involvement- maybe to even ask why he didn't stop her from coming along if she wasn't going to be doing anything. Though she went quiet, staring at him for a few moments before turning her attention ahead at the road. A fast learner. She's got that much going for her.

He had told her to stay put. Like she was a kid doing her first ride along all over again. Sure, Honoka could admit that she was young for a detective. She had little experience outside of a few small missing person cases that popped up back in her hometown. Though she felt she had made good strides so far in her life. Twenty-three years old and she was a junior detective. That was an accomplishment to her- especially when she compared herself to her older brother, Haru. Her brother was not unsuccessful by any means, he was a skilled lawyer at twenty-nine, married to a top textile designer, and even had his own home. Still, everything felt like a competition between them.

There was a significant amount of bounce to the car's suspension as they rolled to a stop. As her sight focused back in on where they were, she took note that they were in a fairly empty parking lot. From what she could see, they were in a smaller town. It definitely didn't look very populated.

Before she could ask where they were, Ishi got out of the car and promptly locked it behind him. Locking her in. So he had been serious about her staying in the car...of course he had been. Why did she let herself get some of her hopes up? He had told her to stay out of his way though she was hoping that he hadn't meant it.

Well, how wrong she ended up being.

Honoka got bored of sitting in the car after about five minutes. There was only so much she could look at on her phone before she hit the posts from earlier that morning. Tucking her phone underneath her thigh, she took a look out the window to see what she could figure out about the area without looking it up on her phone. Her initial thoughts about it when they arrived was that it was small, though upon closer inspection she noticed that they were somewhere rural- so while the population was likely to be small, it would be hard to gauge just how small if people were living out in the forest. In fact, she didn't see many houses from where they sat- most of the buildings appeared to be business or government related. Post office, a few small specialty stores, what looked to be a closed market, and more notably a temple. Other than that- there were only a few buildings that looked like small duplexes.

What would bring them out here?

Usually, when something happened in a town of this size, it was handed off to the closest precinct. This town was a good distance away from Musutafu, they had passed a series of police stations on the way here. So...why was it their case? She didn't know much about her partner but he didn't seem to be the type to do personal favors. Or have friends to have favors for that matter.

Either Ishi wasn't gone very long or Honoka had zoned out. When the older detective had opened the door and sat down behind the wheel, she nearly jumped out of her skin. Quickly, blue skin tinted to a light purple with embarrassment. The embarrassment that she wasn't being aware of her surroundings and had allowed herself to space out on the job.

He didn't even look at her. Instead, Ishi buckled himself in and started the car. She figured that it was going to be the same thing on the way back as it was getting there. Quiet and tense. Or maybe it was only tense to her, it was unlikely he actually cared about her presence there or not. As long as she was quiet and obedient he probably wouldn't even realize she was there.

They left the lot in silence.

Would it kill him to turn on the radio?