September 7, 2009 -- "Analyzing Chidori"

We managed to capture a member of Strega, but questioning her is like questioning a brick wall.

"How goes it?" Mitsuru asked.

I sighed. "She ignored me."

"Me too. I wonder if we should transfer her to the psychiatric hospital across town."

"Why?"

"She self-mutilates."

"I know. I had to wrestle a switchblade away from her. Don't read too much into it, though. She's just an emo kid."

"I wonder. The doctor tried to draw a blood sample from her last night. And the way she reacted..."

"What happened?"

"She freaked out."

"Well, nobody likes needles."

"I thought she was just being hostile to us, but I'm not so sure" Mitsuru pulled a piece of paper out of her skirt pocket. "I tore this from her sketchpad while she was asleep. Tell me what you see."

I looked at the drawing. It was in graphite pencil. A woman in a dress was lying face-down on a patch of grass. She was surrounded by giant roses, connected by thin vines. Each vine was studded with sharp thorns. The edge of each thorn was serrated, like a steak knife. The vines seemed to be growing toward the woman, perhaps to tear her to shreds or eat her.

"Her pencil was sharp when she started," Mitsuru explained. "And dulled as she drew, so you can see the order of the lines. The earliest lines are the sharpest. She drew the girl first, then the flowers. And finally the vines. The thorns were last."

"I don't get what you're saying."

"She started with something innocuous. A girl sleeping in a garden. Then the roses morphed into something more sinister. I think she was abused."

"How do you go from pictures of thorns to abuse?"

She shrugged. "Just the impression. Her flat affect, her defensiveness, her reluctance to tell us anything about her past. Perhaps her parents or guardians became ugly and dangerous, like the roses."

"She claims not to remember her past."

"Perhaps so we won't press her on it. I think a psychiatrist should speak with her. Maybe then she'll be more receptive to our questions."

"You're a member of her tribe, so I guess you'd know better than me."

"Pardonnez moi?"

"A girl."

Mitsuru looked back at me, bemused.

XXX

September 9, 2009

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Needless to say, asking Chidori if she'd rather go to the psychiatric hospital didn't go well.

"Quiet! There are sick people trying to sleep!" I said. It was the only thing I could think of. We were in the middle of the hospital, after all.

Chidori bit so hard on her lips that she drew blood, making her lips bright red. Her skin blanched – no small feat since her skin was already pale. She looked almost clownish. "No...please. I don't want to go there."

"Then answer our questions," I said.

"Fine," She replied, wiping her hand on her lips. "Ask."

"All right," Mitsuru said. "Are there more of you in Strega?"

"No..." Chidori said. "It's just us."

"How well do you know Takaya?" I asked.

"I know every inch of his body," she replied.

Mitsuru blushed. "Um...too much information."

"You asked," Chidori retorted, sinking back in her bed.

"What about the other guy?" I asked.

Chidori shrugged. "Jin? Amazed you noticed him. He insists on standing in Takaya's shadow." She waved her arm. "I'm tired. Leave me alone."

I shrugged. The information was better than nothing, so Mitsuru and I left. Chidori was snoring, or pretending to, as soon as we reached the door.

What a weird girl. I don't know what Junpei sees in her. He seems to be the only person who can talk to her, though.