"I was able to talk to her. She insisted she didn't know anything. Kikuno-San said she walked into a room, and the people were already dead. She was scared so she grabbed the knife, which was in a girl's chest, and a man attacked, or attempted to attack her."
Hijikata stood in front of Kondo's desk as he spoke. The vice commanded maintained his usual stern expression, and placed his notepad on the table. Yamazaki was standing at Kondo's side and the two stared at the vice commander, obviously surprised.
"She told you all of that?" Kondo asked and Hijikata offered a single nod as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket. Laughing, Kondo smacked a single hand on his desk; obviously enthralled.
"That's great Toushi! You even got her name! We can look her up now!" Excitement coursed through Kondo, and he opened one of the drawers to his desk. Yamazaki met Hijikata's eyes and offered a warm smile.
"Good job, Hijikata-San!" The man started towards and passed Hijikata, leaving Kondo and the vice commander alone. The commander pulled a small laptop from the drawer and placed it on his desk. Hijikata watched as he opened the computer. The men remained silent, with nothing but small clicks to fill the conversational void. Sighing, Hijikata decided to continue telling Kondo what he learned.
"Kikuno-San can't speak, Kondo. She said that she can at home, but when she's in public she can't. She also said she checked herself into the asylum for some form of counseling. She agreed to tell us anything she can if she can go to her home and visit her father. Apparently, she's his caretaker."
Kondo glanced up at Hijikata, and frowned. Eventually a wide smile curled his lips, and he nodded.
"Way to go, Toushi! You got everything from her! But if she can't talk, how is she going to-"
"A video camera. She wants a camera and to be moved to the interrogation room. Plus, she said we could escort and monitor when she returns to her house." Hijikata informed. He tore the sheets of paper Muzai had written on out of the book to slide them beside Kondo's computer. As Kondo studied the sheets, Hijikata walked around the desk. Kondo seemed cheerful once more. Maybe it was relief; knowing that they had achieved something. The man murmured something similar to "that's great", and started typing Muzai's information into the crime database screen. In a matter of seconds, the page changed to their search results. One match.
Kondo clicked on it, and Hijikata remained behind him; ready to read. When the information came up, the woman's driver license picture popped onto the screen. Kondo scrolled down the page, and his expression grew blank. Noticing the man's sudden pause, Hijikata leaned closer to the screen. As he read the woman's file, he understood Kondo's reaction.
"Toushi... She's never been in trouble..." Kondo stated in a tiny voice. He was thinking the same thing as Hijikata.
"I'm reading the same thing as you, I can see that!" Hijikata snapped back. Swiveling around in his chair, Kondo gazed up at Hijikata. Obvious tears had formed in his eyes, and he tightened his fists.
"She's only had a parking ticket! She's never done anything bad! And we've been treating her like a murderer!" Kondo wailed, and Hijikata nodded. He pulled his cigarette from his mouth, and calmly peered at the commander.
"I never agreed with that though. I was never okay with that!" Hijikata informed, and the tears Kondo had been brewing started to freely flow down his face.
"She couldn't have done something like that! She's never even had an overdue library book!" Kondo added, and Hijikata frowned down at the man.
"Look, let's just check her medical files; if she's lied, we have a reason to be suspicious." Reaching around the commander, Hijikata took control of the computer. He clicked the tab with Muzai's medical history, and found that Kondo would only be more upset in a matter of seconds.
"Adult Selective Mutism? What is that? She really can't talk? She really can't-"
Cutting the man off, Hijikata hushed the commander. It couldn't be as bad as it seemed. Kondo wasn't one for rash decisions; he was the perfect leader. But the more Hijikata read, the more he knew that the one bad decision Kondo had made was quickly growing worse. It was just stress and exhaustion, but try telling that to a judge. Hijikata clicked the woman's insurance charges; to verify her claim. The page loaded, and he found her most recent doctor visit. Sure enough, it showed her interactions with the asylum. Self admitted for group therapy.
"Shit. She really did check herself in..." Hijikata murmured, and Kondo started to sob harder.
"T- Toushi... What are we going to do?!"
Backing away, Hijikata frowned down at Kondo's face. The man really was ugly when he cried... Raising an eyebrow, the vice commander took a drag of his cigarette. He slowly shrugged, and averted his gaze. Kondo shook his head, and grabbed his coat. The man pulled Hijikata forward, and wailed something that was impossible to understand. Staring down at the gorill- Uh, commander, Hijikata couldn't keep his brow from furrowing even further.
"We- We tortured her!"
Shaking his head, Hijikata brushed Kondo's hands away from his coat. Bodily fluids were starting to seep from the commander's nose. Hijikata didn't want that on his uniform.
"I didn't have anything to do with that! Sougo did it! He talked you into it!" He declared. Starting away, Hijikata found himself restrained by a hand, which had mysteriously gripped his coat.
"No- We can't get sued! We need to arrest her! She killed a guy right? We can-"
"Oi! How's that gonna help?! Didn't you just feel bad about her being innocent?!" Pulling away from Kondo, Hijikata shook his head. He had seen enough of this. He did his job; he helped Muzai come across as an unlikely suspect. How Kondo chose to solve the problem had nothing to do with him. Until the commander's ideas got even more irrational.
"We have to make it up to her. Toushi! You have to give yourself to her!" Kondo yelled the words in Hijikata's face, and the flow of his tears increased. Hijikata's jaw dropped and he stared at the commander in disbelief. Kondo straightened his back, and turned to his desk. In a matter of seconds, he produced a can of whipped cream.
"Toushi, you have to be strong. Today, you become a man."
Wide eyed, Hijikata shook his head.
"What!? Man?! Are you trying to say I've never- Wait- Why me?! What are you trying to make me do?! Why was that in your desk?! Have you seen her? She's in no-" Kondo shushed the man, and stood as though he was a drill sergeant. He held the red can of whipped cream in one hand, and stared at the vice commander. It was obvious that he wanted to cry again, but the man choked the tears back.
"Wear this, and go into her cell. I hate to say this, but she won't forgive us until she has her way with you." Pouting, Kondo offered the can to the vice commander.
Hijikata's jaw dropped, and he clenched his teeth.
"That's not how this works! She doesn't want to do something-"
"You're right... It's not enough..." Shaking his head, Kondo exhaled and allowed his posture to fall. Not even a minute later he found a solution. Hijikata had just started to think that he had succeeded in talking some sense into Kondo, but he was wrong. In a matter of seconds, the commander started to laugh. He gripped his clothes, and turned around as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
Hijikata stared in horror as Kondo pulled his coat, then his vest off. Stepping backwards, Hijikata held an arm in front of himself, as if it could shield him from the sight of Kondo's naked form. The commander hopped on the ground as he pulled his pants and boxers away; still laughing. He said something about Hijikata being right, and the can of whipped cream could be heard.
"She wants two." Finally turning back to Hijikata, Kondo displayed his full nakedness; his glory concealed by a mountain of whip cream and a cherry.
Frowning, Hijikata stepped backwards once more.
"W- Where did you get a cherry? That's a cherry, right? Right?!" The vice commander started to make for the door, but was commanded to stay. Freezing in place, Hijikata frowned. Kondo walked to his side, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"We both have to be strong, Toushi, and suffer silently. It's for the good of the Shinsengumi." The commander stated, and Hijikata glanced back at him wide eyed. Frowning, the man smacked the side of Kondo's head. The commander barely stepped to the side, but it seemed to be enough to knock some sense into him.
"Toushi! You're abusing me too now?! First a woman, now me?!"
A loud sigh parted Hijikata's lips, and he took care to focus his eyes on anything but the odd, cherry-like object in Kondo's whipped cream pile. Why the hell did Kondo have whipped cream in his office anyway?
"I didn't-! That's not the good of the Shinsengumi! That sounds more like some sick twisted fantasy you have! If you want her to forgive you, you should just talk to her! We haven't even heard what happened yet! We've barely even found her name, and you expect me to waltz into the jail with whipped cream on my sword?! No!" After his rant, Hijikata abruptly turned away and left the room. He took care to close the door behind him; to give Kondo privacy. That had to be one of the most ridiculous things he had ever heard. Dignity was a hard thing to feel after such an odd... Scene? Hijikata had expected something crazy but not that bad. He heard Kondo calling him, and listened, yet did not return.
"A bath! Give that poor damaged woman a bath! And find her something to wear! Toushi! The whipped cream is everywhere! It's all over the place! Bring me a towel! I- I just don't know what to do with all of this! Toushiii!"
Grumbling under his breath, Hijikata left to find a towel.
A/N: Haha, a light-hearted chapter to break the seriousness of the story so far :D
Noniebee- That's awesome, that your cousin is still bubbly, and manages to be normal despite his speech. :) I've found that every autistic person I've met has been really cool and nice. :3
Reader-Chan- Haha, that really is the best name! Muzai does have a specific reason for the way she is, SM is not common in adults, and usually occurs in children between 3 and 6. Normally, it doesn't get randomly triggered, but it has happened before. Few teenagers have it, and the oldest person I've re about to have it was 34. Even pain doesn't get them to speak. Some have broken bones, and not cried a single tear or called for help. O.o Crazy. And Muzai's name means Innocence :)
AL19- Haha, Yeah, I tend to steer clear of cliche names, unless it's for a side character. I made her name with the help of a suggestion from Noniebee :) her last name means chrysanthemum field. (I got creative and found a list of pre- and suffixes to make a name). Yeah, I was sort of surprised to find that SM is improperly diagnosed most times. It's shy tendencies that make Autism and SM so easy to confuse. Haha, I have a hard time with eye contact an talking to people too.