Regardless of the day or time, whenever Sophie Hawthorne was around Tohru Adachi, she felt at home. Sometimes she would greet him with morning cuddles before work, and sometimes he would greet her with cake in the face after dinner. They would laugh together and cry together. They would bicker and they would kiss and make up. To Sophie, Tohru's devious smile and sneaky voice he would use when proving someone wrong brought warmth all the way to the pit of her stomach. The childish, ignorant character he played around his boss and other supervisors made the cheesiest smile grow on her face- so much that she began to play the part of bossy dominatrix around him. Their life, their relationship, their path was... normal. A word Sophie was not familiar with.
Cycles, routines, habits... all of these things are normal to normal people. In fact, routine is one of the things people naturally strive for in a healthy life- from medicine to sleep. If anyone would have told Sophie Hawthorne a year ago that she would be one of those normal people, she... probably would have taken your money when you weren't looking. But she would have laughed at you beforehand. Routine was normal, and her life was nowhere near it.
And yet, she sat at the small table in her police officer boyfriend's small apartment eating (breakfast) before heading out to another short day at work. From there she would head home and keep herself busy with apps on her phone, cleaning, or playing on the computer until he would come home too so they could eat dinner together.
The same as every day.
Or... at least that was the plan.
"Hey... Tohru, it's Soph. Just calling for the seventeenth time wondering where you are." The worried tone in her voice had kicked in approximately fourteen calls ago and she hadn't moved from her vertical spot on the bed in fear of her legs giving out. "I just want to make sure you're alright. Please call me when you can." She closed the flip phone and placed it on her chest, taking a deep breath.
There were a few ways this could go. First possibility, he could be working late. Perhaps they got a lead on the serial killer, or maybe even a lead on the hit and run that turned her boyfriend's coworker into a widow. Second possibility, he went out drinking with the team and completely forgot how to use his phone. Possible, but unlikely. Third possibility, her stalkers have taken him in an effort to get to her and he is currently in danger.
Sophie swallowed the lump in her throat and took a deep breath, hoping to digest her fear and remain calm. In reality, what was the likeliness of catching a police officer, right?
"Right..." she muttered to herself for reassurance. She took another deep breath. Was she remembering to breathe at all when she wasn't breathing deeply?
Bzzt bzzt... bzzt bzzt... bzzt bzzt...
The vibrating phone on her chest caused her to jump, breaking her out of her panic spell. She quickly removed the phone from its resting place and opened it up, placing it to her ear. "Tohru, what happened? Are you alright?" She had hoped the panic-driven tone of her voice would cause him to be a little bit more considerate next time he decided to stay out late.
Adachi stood in the main waiting area, thankful for once that there was nobody around. "Yeah yeah, I'm fine," he muttered quickly. Sophie could sense the slight anxiety in his voice. Before she got the chance to ask, he continued. "But Nanako-chan... there was an accident and she was kidnapped by the serial killer." Sophie's heart felt like it stopped beating for a minute as she sat up quickly. "We got her back now... but she's in really bad shape. She might not make it... I don't know how long I'll be down here but if you want to sto-"
"I'll go beg the neighbor for a ride to the hospital," she reached down to her heart and listened for her own heartbeat, making sure she was still awake and not in a horrible nightmare. When she realized she was very much awake, the realization of what was happening dawned on her and she had to fight back tears. "I'll be there shortly, Tohru. Keep an eye on Dojima-san."
When she arrived at the hospital, she was shocked to see the entire Inaba police force crawling around with gloomy expressions on their faces. Immediately fearing the worst, she headed up to the ICU where she assumed the small child was. By the time she made it up the stairs, however, two of the friends of the silver-haired boy came bolting down the stairs sobbing, almost pushing her down them. She turned to scold them as they ran past her, but swallowed the lump in her throat when she thought about why they were probably crying.
And she was right. She made it up to the area everyone stood in right as an incapacitated Detective Ryotaro Dojima aggressively pumped the wheels on his wheelchair attempting to make it to the room Nanako was staying in. Just the thought of seeing such pain on his face while her boyfriend stood next to the door sullenly and the angry blonde kid punched the wall made her head spin and her stomach twist.
She realized he didn't get to say goodbye that night. She felt a familiar sense of solidarity with the man. So much so that when he barged out of the room and headed towards the room of the kidnapper, she almost wished her boyfriend wouldn't have tried to stop him. She knew the law could punish, but could never erase the pain of loss.
Sophie let her unbrushed new pitch black hair fall around her shoulders as she slumped forward from the chair into her hands. The night had been rough. From that poor little girl dying and having to watch someone who always had a grimace on his face collapse into hopelessness as he held his lifeless daughter's body to having her revived but still in poor condition... a roller coaster of emotions would be an understatement. She chose to remove herself from the hospital room and wait in the main waiting area while everyone else made their rounds. She needed the silence.
The entire waiting room area was unlit with non-emergency visiting hours having ended more than three hours ago. It was not completely dark, however, with the lights from the outside reflecting out the snow and pouring moonlight into the large windows planted around the room. It would be a beautiful photograph if it wasn't seen in such terrible circumstances. The security of the building surrounded by police officers where she could be alone was shockingly comforting for her.
She turned her head upwards slightly when she heard noise come out of the hallway where the stairs were. It was habit at this point. She was prepared to return to her hand cave when she heard the young detective say something that caught her attention.
"If he didn't do it, then who did? If we don't find that out, all we are doing is letting a murderer run free."
"You're right, Naoto." She recognized that voice the most, the kind-of-friend to her boyfriend slash the cousin of the young girl. "It's obvious he did the kidnapping... But we really need to look at the possibility of an accomplice."
"Mm. If there was someone, it was probably someone slimey and manipulative. Someone that could have wrapped someone into something that caused that man to hurt someone he loved. Someone who would have seen Ms Yamano."
"Who would have had the time and ability to take her from where she was hiding at the Amagi Inn? The place was surrounded with paparazzi."
"The same type of person that would have been able to sneak in and out without raising suspicion... but who..."
Sophie blinked rapidly, suddenly suffering shortness of breath as the boy and girl walked out the front entrance to talk outside. A very slight dizzy spell washed over her as a very faint memory found its way back to her.
"Rich bitch," Adachi scoffed. "She got the most expensive room in the whole damn Amagi Inn. And then when she got murdered in it, it cursed the whole area. She must have loved the attention, though. If she didn't, she probably would have tried to hide her presence a little bit better by getting a small, hidden room, wouldn't you think? I mean I'm sure the small rooms are just as usable as the massive one was."
"Do you go to the Amagi Inn often, Tohru?" Sophie asked, turning her head like a puppy. "You know so much about it."
He laughed cockily, sounding like it was coming from deep within. "No, I don't really go there ever. I have no need to, I'm not into that traditional crap most people here are."
She furrowed her brows. Why was this conversation so prominent in her head right now? And who would he have possibly gone to the expensive room with? Why would he have gone there if he said he hated traditional things? How was he sure she slept in the expensive room? How was he sure that's where she was murdered? Does he know something more than what he's telling people?
"Hey," a strained voice announced as its owner put his hand on her shoulder. When his fingers made contact with her skin, she jumped, having been startled, and squeaked loudly. She turned to look at the man standing behind her and find out the meaning behind it. "It's getting late. Let's head home for the night. We can always come back tomorrow."
When he removed his hand, her feeling of being startled had sunken into a feeling of fear and despair.