Arthur felt like a leech when he peered over the doorway. He stared out into the tiny office, where the lamp, decorated with tiny stickers of cute animals and stars dancing at the base, illuminated the tight workspace. His roommate, Kiku, worked diligently on transcribing his notes, practicing math problems, and memorising history questions. All at the same time. He shuffled from flash cards to his graph paper to his swivelling pen. He kept it all in check. It was a perfect balance. But, much like perfectly balanced rocks, a breath in the wrong direction had it fumbling over. Arthur watched intently, knowing this. He didn't dare walk in or say a word. All the same, the diligence of his roommate fascinated him.
So much so that when the knock came at the door, and even though Arthur wasn't the one working, he grew vastly annoyed and unfocused.
"I'll get it," Arthur called, shuffling away. He tightening the draw string on his sweatpants just in case it was someone important. Knowing their small apartment, it probably wasn't. Arthur opened the door and found a grinning face lunging forwards to embrace him. Arthur felt the air squeeze out of him in an asthmatic wheeze. "Good lord." He huffed.
The man pulled away, smelling faintly of old spice and some other unpleasant things. Alfred beamed down at him. He had sweat and dirt all over his clothing, and now it was on Arthur, who had been meticulously bathed not too long before. He didn't hide his annoyance.
"What do you want?"
"What, no hello?"
"You're interrupting a study session."
"I am? All the better. Studying can be lame." Alfred stuck his tongue out. He kicked off his muddy shoes and walked in, scuffing his dirty jeans on the floor anyway. He walked into the office, which doubled as Kiku's room and laughed loudly. "Working your scrawny ass of in there?"
"Why are you here…" Arthur moaned, following along with a paper towel at his toes. He dragged it along the brown streaks Alfred dragged in.
Kiku was mumbling something that made Alfred go into a quite but glistening grin.
"Only a bit more, man, then you'll be Doctor Honda, huh? Man that's exciting. Spot check me, will you? I think I'm catching a disease."
"Being 'nagged on' is not a disease, Alfred." Kiku said quietly, trying not to smile.
Arthur fumed behind Alfred, biting back the many retorts that were about to sprout from him in a near endless stream.
"But he has a valid point, Alfred, why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Kiku set aside his pencil and folded his hands in his lap.
"Well, you're a doctor right? Think you could help me with some studying."
"This is no time to flirt." Arthur hissed.
"I am not flirting."
Kiku flushed, "Studying what? I am very busy, but I could help you in a few subjects, if you have a great need."
"Sure, let's go then!" Alfred's grin seemed a bit more sporadic than was the norm. He took Kiku's hand and dragged him out of his chair, leaving it swivelling in his wake. Arthur watched them part, Kiku in his jeans and plain white T-shirt, unable to ask enough questions. Arthur debated following for a few moments, and finally hesitantly sighed, changing into jeans and locking the door. Outside of the apartment, he could peer over the ledge of the balcony, into the smooth summer air. He saw Alfred and Kiku walking at a brisk, but slower pace and mumbling to themselves. Arthur, triple and quadruple checking that the door was locked, rushed after them.
"What is wrong with them?" Arthur had come down half the flight of stairs and saw Yao sitting on a porch seat, squinting with vehemence.
"I have no clue. Want to find out?"
Yao waved his hands and leaned back, his gardening gloves on his lap. The potted plants near him looked especially happy. "I am ok. I am curious, though. Tell me what you find. It better not be a new club, ah, that child. And he drags Kiku into this like a maniac."
Arthur watched Alfred and Kiku dim into the sloping hills of a park, which melded into more city. At any rate he would lose them. He continued after, not particularly worried. Alfred's nonchalance had set that tone, but the way he looked from that balcony told another story altogether. Why would he hunch like that? Because Kiku was short? No, maybe because it was something else. Maybe.
"Don't forget your keys!" Yao yelped after him, but Arthur had already eluded him. Yao held the slim apartment key in his hand, sighing. He'd be back for it. Probably. Hopefully?
Arthur watched Alfred and Kiku turn a corner, well past where Alfred lived on the bottom floor. Did he need help studying or was he going to try and seduce him? Whatever it was, Arthur was growing increasingly speculative, and also increasingly disgruntled by the smell.
Garbage.
A whole lot of garbage. The trucks had come in to clear the edges of the already small part to renovate and make something greater or cleaner or more pristine than the buildings around it. That meant digging up the giant heaps of unused furniture, bio-waste, food scraps, and mutilated electronics that had gathered at the edges. Children had long stopped coming to the park, and the new councilwoman insisted on clearing it up to make the city seem at least a little bit nicer.
Alfred and his small company were assigned to this particular park, and had appeared to be nearly done with the cleaning-up part. Arthur looked around as he passed the weedy trail, trying to avoid any shards of broken glass or soggy cigarettes. Several of Alfred's men had also gone on lunch, munching on tomato and bacon sandwiches, drinking soda, and overall ignoring Arthur.
Alfred and Kiku had ended up in the furthest corner.
"What are you guys doing?" Arthur called, feeling distinctly like a nagging crone.
The two men were crouched over a pile of, what seemed to Arthur, completely unremarkable garbage. It was piled on top of a beaten dumpster, scrawled over with graffiti referring to someone's mom and a Stephanie who promised a great time. The garbage here did not smell as bad, only musty.
"Arthur, hey." Alfred turned, finally seeing him. "Did you jog? You're panting."
"I am fine," Arthur huffed, "I ran because you were going so fast and I got worried."
"You always worry."
"For good reason, dip-shit."
"Stop fighting," Kiku said, without raising his voice. Yet it shut them up. He returned to whatever he had been discussing before.
Beneath a mound of broken dolls, their eyes popped out, a few legless chairs, china plates crushed, a dresser that had been completely eviscerated, was a computer. It stood out, a stark slash of chrome technology in the scatterings of an antique shop. Kiku, wearing gloves Alfred had leant him, pushed open the front.
"But yeah, see, the keyboard's totally busted. You can see the wiring and everything."
"Well, they'd have to try harder to erase the hard drive." Kiku said, "Anyone who knows how to get in can probably scavenge some data. Isn't your brother an IT guy?"
"Yeah, but this is way beyond his league."
"You never know, Alfred."
Alfred shrugged, taking it into consideration.
"Why is a computer so important?" Arthur felt insignificant, like a squashed fly buzzing lamely about.
"It doesn't fit into it surroundings, first off." Kiku said, staring intently at the screen and dropping silent.
"And around it are a few USB drives that are, well." Alfred picked out the tiny shards of hardware and showed them to Arthur. "Who would want to destroy something so bad?"
"Somebody who doesn't want to be caught and is none of our business."
"Wait," Kiku raised a hand. "Come closer. Look, something is ghosting on here."
"But the computer can't be that old," Arthur said, finally submitting to his curiosity. He and Alfred bent closer. Arthur squinted, it was hard to see, it seemed that whatever image had burned on to the screen was nearly gone.
"Well, no, it's not common on newer screens, but if you stay on a static image long enough…" Kiku nodded. "This happens. Does it look like words to you?"
"Kind of. Looks demonic." Alfred chuckled. Uneasily.
Arthur watched the face burned into the screen and felt a bit odd. He turned away, not wanting to know anymore than the vague outline.
"Why did you bother bringing Kiku into this? He should be studying." Arthur began to buzz again.
Alfred sighed.
"There's more weird stuff. Plus, this whole lot's got to be cleaned by tomorrow morning."
Kiku collected the laptop and held it out to Alfred. "Give it to your brother if you're curious. As for the other thing, I'll keep it." Kiku said, looking at an unused cookie tin.
"There's another thing?"
Alfred smiled. "Sure. Knew you'd like it."
"Like it? It's fascinating. Here, look."
He opened the cookie tin, and Arthur was disappointed not to find any cookies inside. Instead there were sheets of yellowed paper scrawled over with endless notes that made his head hurt. And, beneath that, a sheet of what seemed to be specimens. Insects of some sort, all weird and unlike anything he'd ever seen before.
There were six, and they ranged from spindly, roughly organic dragon-fly things to a hexagonal insect with too many legs on one side. They were laminated, forever glued to their eternal position as fake bugs. The extensive notes done in bad, cramped handwriting seemed almost juvenile, and all at once eerie. They seemed almost too real.
"Pretty lifelike, aren't they?" Kiku said, raising his voice almost to a pitch of excitement.
"Ah, yeah."
"A biologist's, well a me biologist's, dream come true."
"Cheers, Kiku." Arthur managed a smile at last.
Alfred had already returned to his men and clapped his hands loudly. "Lunch is over boys!" He called, "Back to the good old grind."
A few friendly grumbles resounded, following Alfred's command back to their stations. Arthur watched them mill around, somewhat like insects, roaming to the task at hand. Kiku started walking ahead.
"Ah," Arthur stuck his hands into his pockets, "I may have lost our keys."
And, at that moment, Yao did too.