-7: Idle Chatter-
Arriving at the CCG, I saw it to be no less a hive of activity than when we had left. At the BGA, activity usually died down after dark, when the skeleton crew of the night shift took over. In Tokyo, at least, Ghouls were apparently worthy of devoting 24 hours to. Amon looked to be forcing back a yawn, though Kureo looked more disappointed than anything else. When I asked him what the matter was, he replied that he was disappointed that we had only killed three Ghouls and made little headway. The latter part was spoken as an afterthought.
Amon told me that I could head out for the night, as I wouldn't be much help with the paperwork, and told me where to find Inspector Hasuko. When I found her at her desk, she was moping over a heap of paperwork, but she perked up when I knocked on the dividing wall. I had never seen somebody finish up paperwork that quickly.
"So I guess you'll be the one driving me to and from the CCG." I commented, after she had bid her coworkers goodnight.
"That I am!" She sounded quite happy with herself. "I was one of the Junior Investigators who worked with Shinohara before being transferred to the twentieth ward."
"I've heard that term a couple of times," I replied, "is that a rank or something similar?"
"Well, it's more combination of an Investigator's rank and seniority." She began, "For example, Kureo Mado is a First-Class Investigator, but he's senior to many of the Special Class Investigators, his partner for example…"
She kept up the lesson all the way to the car park, acting as a veritable fount of information on rank, seniority and lot of bits of office life. I only understood three-quarters of what she said. Asking her to stop and explain a word or phrase would've been like trying to block a faucet with a finger…and I was kind of embarrassed to ask for help.
I finally received a turn to do some talking once we had our seatbelts on.
"So how was working with your Investigators?"
"It was…interesting." I replied, "Even though our organizations operate so far apart, the whole 'searching for evidence' thing never changes."
"I mean," she laughed, "how were they? You were asking me what they were like on the way over."
"Well, Amon is definitely serious," I deadpanned with a grin"I don't think he changed his facial expression once the entire day."
"That sounds about right." She smiled. "But what about Kureo?"
"He looks like he's married to his job, I'll say that."
"That's not half wrong," Hasuko shrugged, changing lanes, "after he lost his wife to a Ghoul, being an Investigator became pretty much the only thing he had."
"That would explain his enthusiasm." And his murderous glee.
I couldn't tell what she thought of my comment, but the remainder of the ride to my building was quiet. She dropped me off, saying that she would be around at the same time as Shin had picked me up. The moment the elevator doors closed, I let myself slouch; I wasn't going to admit it to anybody, but I was dead tired from all the walking. Soreness was inevitable, and I really hoped I wasn't going to blister.
