The new Intern
"Hello Commander! Have you heard the news?" asked Detective Saehara.
"What news?"
"We're getting an intern from America today. I think the letter said her name was Kari."
"Why would we be getting an intern from America? I'm sure they have their own police that she can work for."
"It seems she's doing this for two classes. One for Criminal Justice and the other is Nihongo."
"You mean she's only coming here to work on her Japanese?"
"I think you'll understand better if you read the letter yourself."
Detective Saehara handed him the letter. He read it quietly and it quickly became apparent why the girl was coming to Japan. While her grades in Criminal Justice were in the honor rolls, she was flunking Japanese. If she didn't bring her grades up, she would lose her scholarship. Then Satoshi saw something that got his attention. The letter was over a week old!
"When is she coming?"
"She'll be starting tomorrow."
"Nani?! You mean she's already here?" said Satoshi in dismay.
"She's been here for two days already. I just forgot about it until today," said Detective Saehara.
"I'm going to speak to my father about this…" said Satoshi annoyed.
-----
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S GOING TO BE IN MY DEPARTMENT?!" said Satoshi in anger.
"There's nothing you can do about it now son. Besides, I hear she's in the Archery club."
"And I should care about this WHY?"
"You didn't read the bottom of the letter did you? She personally wrote something that won my approval."
"And what could THAT possibly be?!"
"I said that I'd be more than happy to shoot this Phantom Dark down personally," said a female voice behind him.
"Wha…! Who're you?"
"I'm Kari, the new intern. Nice to meet ya," said Kari. She had short brown hair and hazel eyes; they seemed to be filled with evil, mischievous ideas…
"So what's the real reason you wanted to come here?" asked Satoshi suspiciously.
"Honestly…? Um, I can't say; too embarrassing for a first impression."
Satoshi narrowed his eyes at this; he was beginning to like her even less than before. He left his father's place with a visible scowl…this would NOT end well if he could help it.
-----
The next day, he entered the station in a foul mood; he was not looking forward to dealing with the new intern. What greeted him was something he didn't expect. Kari was getting everyone coffee or tea; whichever they preferred. She was getting along fine with everyone, despite the fact that she wasn't very good at Japanese.
"So what's your verdict on the intern? Do you think she can make the cut when we deal with Dark or not?" said Satoshi annoyed.
"I think she might find a way to catch him…her way of thinking is very different than what we're used to. That alone could give us an advantage."
"How different?"
"You'll have to see for yourself…it's hard to accurately describe it," shrugged Detective Saehara.
As it turned out, he had a chance to see first hand; Dark had sent yet another warning letter. Satoshi had company inside the museum while he waited for Dark. Kari wanted to see just how good the Phantom Thief was. As the lights were cut, (which didn't bother Kari or Satoshi in the least), Dark made his appearance. The first thing Satoshi noticed about Kari was that she had an uncanny sense of her surroundings, especially in complete darkness. Before Dark could react, she had knocked him off his feet and pinned him with almost no effort.
"You're heavier than usual, Chief Commander," commented Dark.
"You think so?" said Satoshi; Kari was close to snapping Dark in two for the comment.
"I'm surprised that you were able to see me in this dark room."
Satoshi sent Kari a sort of 'go ahead' look; she sensed it and grinned evilly.
"Who said he was the one who had you pinned?" she smirked.
"Wha… You've got to be kidding!" said Dark in disbelief.
"What's the matter? Didn't expect to get caught by a girl?" snickered Kari.
"That explains why the weight was heavier…" muttered Dark. (Too bad for him Kari has good hearing!)
"I heard you were good at being a thief, but they didn't mention anything about your lack of common sense!" growled Kari annoyed. Satoshi actually held back a laugh at this. Then something occurred to him. This was a little too easy. Dark could never be caught this easily.
"Kari…something isn't right."
"I figured as much, actually. There is one way to see whether or not this is actually Dark. I've heard from the others that Dark doesn't like water."
"Actually, that's only because his familiar hates getting wet."
"Figures… Oh well, I hope the museum has a mop!" said Kari with a grin as she took a water bottle and poured its contents all over Dark. In less than a second, where Dark originally was, there was now a small, fluffy, floppy-eared rabbit like creature in his place.
"I knew something was wrong! That's Dark's familiar!" said Satoshi in irritation.
"If that's his familiar, then he's already taken the piece. Oh well…" said Kari as she got up off of the rabbit.
The lights came back on a few moments later. Satoshi noticed with interest that Kari blinked quite a bit before her sight returned to normal. Why this was so mystified the Commander. He brought it up as soon as they returned to the station. (Kari quickly cleaned up the watery mess.)
"Kari, I have a question about what happened back there…" said Satoshi carefully.
"Same here! According to the Chief Commander here, your night vision was better than his!" said Detective Saehara.
"Oh that? You told me earlier that Dark has an annoying tendency to cut the lights before he steals the piece. So I did a trick I learned off of one of my favorite shows; that's why I was able to see better than Satoshi."
"What trick? And what show are you talking about?!" said Satoshi, annoyed by her vague response.
"Well the myth was deemed 'plausible', so I thought it might work in real life."
"What are you talking about?!" said the others.
"You're kidding…you've never heard of Mythbusters?!" said Kari in surprise.
"Mythbusters? What is that?"
"It's this show I always watch on Wednesdays at 8. They test the myths…like whether or not you can make a concrete glider or whether Pop Rocks and Soda can actually kill you."
"I've never even heard of this show," said Satoshi annoyed.
"It's on the Discovery Channel…"
"You haven't given us an explanation," said Detective Saehara.
"Fine…there was this episode where they tested Pirate Myths…like the movie stunt where a person slows their fall by putting a knife through the sail and whether there was a practical reason for wearing an eye-patch on one eye."
"Go on…" Satoshi said impatiently.
"Well, it turns out that if you cover one of your eyes before being exposed to complete darkness that your night vision adjusts faster than if you didn't cover it. So I just closed my eyes two minutes before the designated time. That's why I could see better than he could."
"How do we know you're not making this up?"
"You don't believe me? Fine…I'll pull up the fan-site to prove that I'm not making this show up," said Kari as she entered the web address for the site. Much to their amazement, they found that she was indeed telling the truth; especially the part about the Pirate Episode. But there was another reason that Kari had better night vision other than her little trick.
"That still doesn't explain how you were able to…" started Detective Saehara.
"Well, a small part of my sight was from that trick with closing my eyes…but, I'm something of a night-owl, so I naturally have better night-vision."
"Night owls don't have better vision, even at night," said Satoshi in a matter-of-fact tone.
"They do if they always have the lights out before bed. I have something of a natural sense of direction in the dark because I prefer having the lights out…all of them."
"So you're more used to little or no lights at all," said Satoshi.
"Yup…so I have an advantage over you guys," said Kari with a grin.
-----
As Kari headed to her apartment, she never noticed a shadow following her from above. She entered the room, the lights were out and she easily navigated with no collisions. She took her bath and prepared to go to sleep. Right before she was about to fall asleep, she heard something that jolted her wide awake. She sensed someone was in the room. The intruder entered the bedroom and walked slowly towards the bed. She could feel the person's grin as they said, "Impressive…I never thought someone like her could actually beat me when it comes to seeing in the dark…"
She recognized the voice pretty quick; it was Phantom Dark! She felt the covers move; instinctively, she threw a punch to where she estimated the Phantom Thief would be. She clocked him so hard he stumbled and fell.
"How did you…?!"
"Never mess with someone who has a hard time sleeping in new surroundings! What're you doing in my apartment?!"
"I came to see the girl who actually caught me and my familiar off guard. How were you able to beat me in a contest of night vision?"
"I already explained this to the police, so I ain't explaining it to you! If I ever catch you in here again, you are soooo dead!" growled Kari. (Dark was alarmed that her growl was a little too animal like!)
Dark made a hasty exit; Kari just stood there, pissed. She considered calling the cops, then decided against it. She'd tell them in the morning.
"WHAT! You mean Dark actually paid you a visit last night right after you went to sleep?!" said Detective Saehara in disbelief.
"I wish he hadn't…though he did learn a lesson when he tried to pull some perverted stunt," said Kari angrily.
"What lesson would that be?" asked Satoshi coolly. (School had ended early due to a half-day.)
"Never come into my room at night when I'm trying to sleep. The moment I felt the covers move…I clocked his sorry hide. I don't tolerate perverted jerks!" said Kari irritably.
"How hard?" Satoshi asked, interested.
"Hard enough that he stumbled and fell on his rear. He seemed pretty shocked that I could throw such a strong punch!" said Kari with evil satisfaction.
"What I don't get was why he was even there to begin with…" said Saehara confused.
"He came to find out how I beat him in a contest of night vision. I told him that I already explained it to you, so I wasn't going to repeat it to him."
"Nice… You might actually be worth having in this department…" said Satoshi.
"Gee, thanks…" said Kari sarcastically.
Satoshi went home and did his usual routine; with one small detail. He was actually thinking about the intern who not only pinned Dark with disturbing ease, but actually clocked him so hard that he stumbled and fell! He sensed that she had something that she was hiding from him. He was determined to find out why she was able to do things that the regular officers couldn't. He went to bed, his mind filled with questions and very few answers.
He woke up, got ready and went to school as usual. But he never anticipated the stunt his step-father would pull that day! He left the building after the day ended and was greeted with his father waiting patiently to pick him up. He entered the car; he was on full alert and was very tense. Something was up.
"Satoshi, its been far too long since I've seen you!" said his father in a fake cheerful voice.
"What do you want, father?" said Satoshi annoyed.
"I just felt like picking you up, seeing as how I was going to be in the area when school let out."
"Drop the act."
"Did the girl actually pin Dark with the lights out?" said Hiwatari, finally getting to the point.
"Yes…she was able to adjust to the change of light faster than either of us and caught him off-guard. It must have shook him up, because he paid her a late night visit before she went to bed that night."
"And…?"
"She clocked him before he could react."
"She pinned him and clocked him?! How is it that she can do things that you couldn't do even if you tried?" said Hiwatari suspiciously.
"She's different than we are."
"I'm making her a permanent member of your division. If she can capture and successfully hit Dark that easily, then his days are numbered," said Hiwatari with an evil look in his eyes. Satoshi quickly left the car as soon as it approached his apartment; he didn't trust his step-father, he never had. Dark sent yet another warning letter the next day. But what would happen after the theft would change his opinion of his new co-worker.