Ch.44: Words from Master Shin
An hour later, Vector pulled his car up at a local dojo building. The sign read 'Shin's Dojo' in Japanese language. Vector began to remember the place. He remembered that Espio always took some training there on weekends until their detective cases became more serious and Espio suddenly focused more on them. As for Espio, he felt like he hasn't been there in a long time. From the looks of the place, it looked empty. It wasn't shut down, but they could see that the lights were on. Practices usually started at 4 in the afternoon, but what was the place doing open before that? Espio got out of the car and walked to the glass doors. Vector got out too, and remembered to lock the doors carefully.
"Hmm", Espio looked through the glass door. "I don't see anyone in there."
"Mind if I ask what we're doing here?" Vector said as he crossed his arms.
Ignoring him, Espio walked inside the dojo slowly. The crocodile sighed and decided to follow him. After the doors closed behind them, the lights suddenly went off. Both of them gasped and looked around. A second later, someone suddenly grabbed Espio and threw him across the room. Luckily, he was able to catch his fall. He jumped back up on his feet and got into his fighting position.
"Holy crap, it could be the killer!" Vector gasped.
Before Espio could've replied, the mysterious component grabbed his neck by behind and started choking him. Thanks to Espio's ninjutsu ability, he did a hand sign and replaced himself with a large block of wood. The attacker gasped and looked around. Within a blink of an eye, Espio struck back at the villain and pinned him down to the floor. They rolled around the floor twice and then Espio was pinned to the ground hardly. He growled as he struggled to get free.
"Hmm…" Vector looked around for a switch.
With the light from the sun, he found a light switch on his left. He flipped it and all of the lights came on. He turned to the two fighters then gasped. Espio opened his eyes. He saw a middle aged Japanese man that had a gray ponytail in the back, wearing a white karate outfit that looked at him oddly. Suddenly, they began to recognize each other. Both of them got up off the floor and looked at each other with surprise.
"Master?" Espio asked to see if it was really whom.
"Ah, Espio, it's been a long time", the middle aged man gasped with joy. "My apologies back there."
"No, its ok", Espio rolled his shoulders. "Besides, that was a good first attack there, old man."
"Ha", the middle aged man laughed a little. "You never seem to surprise me."
"Wait a minute", Vector walked up to the both of them. "Why did you attack him in the first place?"
"Hm, so you're loud mouthed friend has gained some weight, huh?" Espio's master joked.
"Excuse me!?" Vector's face blushed angrily.
"I'm kidding", the middle aged man chuckled. "Anyway, I have to be extremely careful now that this criminal is on the loose. You may never know that he could strike you on the back."
"But the killer only kills' women", Vector sweatdropped.
"Yes, that's why I have to be cautious", the middle aged man answered. "I have a wife and a daughter, so I have to protect them."
"I see…"
Out of nowhere, a teenage Japanese girl came downstairs in a hurry. She wore a black tanktop with a skull in the middle, long jeans with chains on them, and had her white socks on. She had long black hair, red lip-gloss, had mascara on her eye lashes, and a couple of skull jewelry on her wrists. After she took a look around the training area, she sighed. She had a feeling that her father was in trouble, so she rushed down to see what happened.
"You ok, father?" she asked nicely.
"Yes, Melina, I'm fine", the middle aged man arched his back slowly.
"Melina?" Espio clearly recognized her.
"Espio-sama!" the teenager ran to him and gave him a tight hug. "Konnchiwa (Hello)!"
"Oai-deki-te ureshii-desu (I'm glad to see you)", Espio hugged back with a smile.
"Ahem!" Vector crossed his arms.
"Oh, hi", Melina gave him a short vicious glare then looked away.
"Oh, that's very nice", Vector scoffed sarcastically.
"So what brings you here?" the middle aged man asked as Melina and Espio stopped hugging each other.
"Master Shin", Espio sighed. "I need to talk to you about something."
"Come", Shin led them to the upstairs kitchen.
The four walked up to the kitchen. Amazingly, it was spotless. The walls were sea green, the floor was pure white, and the furniture was light brown. A while later, Espio and Master Shin sat down at the table alone as Melina made some green tea. As for Vector he sat at an empty chair and fell asleep.
"So tell me", Shin spoke. "What is it that you want to tell me?"
"Well", Espio lift his head up. "It's about this case. You see, everytime we look for him, he disappears. And when we take a break, he just strikes back, like he's watching us."
"Hmm", Shin nodded. "You must watch your distance, pupil. An enemy can find his victim unless you think ahead."
"Not only that", Espio continued. "But there's this guy named Shadow. I don't like him. Matter of fact, I never did."
"Why?" Shin asked.
"I dunno it's just…there's something odd about him", Espio answered softly. "Something that I don't like about him."
"What is it?"
"At first, he seemed pretty ok. But when I met up with Amy at the Jets vs. Titans football game, he gave me this weird look in his eyes. Like, I told Amy that I chased the criminal, and then he quickly turned around and listened to my conversation."
"Anything else?"
"I dunno what it was but…" Espio got silent a little. "When I shook his hand…I felt something strange about him. It's like; I can feel some kind of pressure through his veins."
"Like what?"
"When I took a good look at him, I saw something different from him on the inside. Something filled with darkness, desire, and hatred. And that's how I got this", he showed his bruise on his left palm.
Quietly, Shin took a good look at Espio's bruise. It was bright, because it was starting to heal. He then placed his fingertip on the center of Espio's palm. He then circled it around slowly. Espio watched curiously. The teapot began to whistle loudly as Melina searched for an oven mitt. After a moment of silence, Shin released Espio's hand.
"What's wrong?" Espio asked curiously.
"That handshake…it's almost like he wanted to break your hand", Shin pondered. "I could feel some bones sore."
"I see", Espio wiggled his hand gently.
"Here you go", Melina sat down a tray of green tea on the table.
"Arigatou (Thanks)", Espio and Shin thanked her in union.
Melina walked away from them and left the kitchen. Before she was gone, she kicked Vector's left leg and took off. The green crocodile groaned angrily as he held his kneecap in pain. Espio ignored him and took a small light blue cup of hot green tea off the tray. He took a small sip of it and sat it back down on the table. Shin decided to wait until his tea cooled off.
"What do you think?" he asked.
"I kept having this feeling that he doesn't have a friendly side", Espio said. "What's worse is that he's Amy's boyfriend."
"Amy?" Shin blinked.
"Detective Rose."
"Oh…I'm surprised that she's taking her time getting to know a man."
"Yeah, and we're trying to 'solve' a mystery."
"Hm…"
"I just have a few questions that I wanted to ask you", Espio said. "Am I taking it too seriously? I mean, can I really let Amy hang out with him? And what was that thing I saw inside of Shadow?"
Shin began to ponder for a moment. The questions seemed difficult for him to answer, since he's not the type for a Q&A thing. However, Espio was his favorite student. So he had to take some time to help him. He has never seen his student act that way before, so it was definitely new to him. As for Espio, he took a deep breath to stay calm. Even though he's worried about Amy's safety, he had to be patient and to be able to think first. Finally, Shin stopped thinking.
"Don't let this 'Shadow' get you upset so easily", he answered. "But do keep an eye on him when you see him. As for Amy, keep her close. In meaning, don't let her put her guard down too easily for her to get into trouble. Not only that, but keep your friends close. And as for the last question…You saw a split personality. Everyone has that. But if it's that suspicious to you, then keep an eye on him when he's with Amy. Because if you really feel that she shouldn't be around him, then you must tell her. Otherwise, it might be too late."
Espio got silent. He looked at his green tea and saw his reflection. He then looked out the window which was next to him. Now he began to understand something. That Shadow seems to be a big mystery to him. But to Amy, she thinks of him as a pretty boy that she can't stop thinking about. So he knew that he had to keep a very close eye on her than before. If something bad happened to her, he wouldn't forgive himself. In order to prevent that from happening, he had to make sure that Amy's safe before the night comes. After his thinking moment, Espio got up from his chair and drank the rest of his tea.
"Doumo arigatou (Thanks a lot)", Espio said.
"Kochira koso (The pleasure is mine)", Shin got out of his seat.
Both of them bowed a little. Espio walked to Vector, told him to get up, and went downstairs. After saying goodbye to Melina, Espio went back to the car. Vector unlocked the front doors and they both got in. They buckled up and Vector turned on the ignition.
"So what did he say?"
"We better keep a close eye on Amy", Espio replied. "Cause, I have a feeling that she might get hurt. Can't let that happen."
"Hm", Vector switched the gear to drive and took off. "By the way, how come Shin and Melina don't like me?"
"Remember that time that you accidentally broke their family vase?" Espio asked to remind him. "That happened like a couple of years ago. Since then, they took no kindness to you."
"Oh, yeah!" Vector snapped his fingers and finally remembered. "Now I remember!"
Espio sighed as he rested his head to the side of the door. He began to get hungry. And so, he and Vector looked around to get something to eat.
To Be Continued.
