Miyano
Deceased.
Deceased.
Deceased.
Dr. Shiho Miyano pushed her glasses onto her forehead to rub the bridge of her nose. The latest test of the Spirit plant compounds were as useless as the previous round.
"I told you to show more patience, Hikawa," she muttered, scrolling through the list. "All you're succeeding at right now is killing test subjects."
"So this batch was a little premature," Hikawa replied, his sharp and refined features reinforcing his dismissive attitude, balancing out the way he looked barely out of his teens.
"Getting rid of the bodies is starting to be an issue, if you keep demanding this pace of experimentation. We should focus on refinement," Shiho replied, though she knew it was useless to argue.
Hikawa was obsessive, and filled with the excess confidence of youth. She, meanwhile, felt tired. At her age everything was tiring. She would have retired if she didn't suspect Hikawa's new business partners would kill her as soon as she stopped being useful. She really should have gotten out years ago, but after her son and his wife had... after the fire... she'd decided she had to postpone her retirement. Trying to finish their research, to help them better rest. That had been almost ten years ago, though. Her bones were aching now.
And she'd been pulled into the new direction of Hikawa Chemicals. A direction that was leaving a higher body count than she was comfortable with.
"We're not completely certain which aspects are necessary to refine yet," Hikawa said. "We had two subjects who lasted nearly five hours before succumbing. Run some blood work on them, see what made their serums different."
Shiho let out a tired sigh, ready to comply, when her desk phone buzzed to life.
"Dr. Miyano?" the security guard's voice asked.
"Yes?" she replied.
"Your granddaughter is here to see you," the man said.
"Ah. Thank you," Shiho replied. "I'll be right up."
"What about the bloodwork?" Hikawa asked, his tone indignant, and childlike.
"Allow an old woman to take the occasional break," she said, pulling herself to her feet. "The bodies are on ice. I can work on them later."
Hikawa sneered as she walked off. She didn't bother to look back.
"You used to be so passionate about science," Hikawa called out. "Just after the war, you were full of boundless curiosity."
"I wasn't eighty four then," Shiho replied, stepping onto the elevator.
Hikawa stood by the window, watching the rain, as the two men entered his study. He may have been a fan of the colour black himself, but he still considered the black trench coats on those two a step too far.
"I have a request," Hikawa said, turning to the silver haired man.
"I suspected as much, Nigori," Gin replied.
Ah, yes. The codenames. These two were such sticklers for that. He wasn't even certain if they had real names or not. He didn't really care, though.
"Shiho's granddaughter. The girl is an airhead. She's nothing but a distraction for Shiho. Find a use for her that gets her out of my hair," Hikawa said.
"Can we treat her as a burnable asset?" Gin asked.
"Go right ahead. I don't care," Hikawa replied, waving a dismissive hand.
Two Months Later
Shinichi rubbed the bridge of his nose. There'd been three murders this week. Three unrelated murders. Then there were two cases that Ran's father had been called onto. Tokyo was a large city, but that was more than usual. On top of being exhausting, it also kept him much too busy to spend any time trying to help Birdy hunt down those men in black.
"You know, it's a bit ironic, helping an alien track down men in black," Shinichi said, stretching his back.
[How so?] Birdy asked.
"There's a movie series where... you really didn't have time to study Earth culture all that much, did you?" Shinichi asked.
[Not really. It was supposed to be a short mission.]
Shinichi nodded, sitting back down at his computer desk. The notes they had from Birdy's investigation were, all in all, pretty minimal. Someone had marionettes on Earth. Geiga had made a trade with those two men dressed in black. They were growing some sort of plant.
That was about all that was important. They'd tried checking out the facility where Geiga had been growing the plants, but it had been levelled by an explosion.
"Do you think it's an Earth plant or an alien plant?" Shinichi asked, chewing on a pent absently.
[I don't think there's many Earth plants of use to Geiga or any other off world organizations,] Birdy replied. [I suppose it's possible some Earth plants could have characteristics your science doesn't realise, and therefore our probing missed, but... that's rather a tricky place to start from.]
Shinichi nodded. "So we-"
His phone rang.
Shinichi pulled it out from his pocket, knowing from the cute ringtone it was Ran calling. "Hello, Ran."
"Hey, Shinichi. Um... are you free to help out with a case?"
"Another murder?" Shinichi replied.
"No. No. A missing person. We've got a girl here looking for her father, but we're coming up empty. Dad has tried everything the past couple days and seems to have given up today. He's... well, he's drunk now," Ran said, her voice tired.
"Sure. Sure. I can come on over," Shinichi replied.
Shinichi and Ran went over the case notes in the Poirot Cafe, not wanting to risk Kogoro finding out Ran had asked for help. They were trying to find the father of a girl named Hirota Masami. Shinichi had to admit that Kogoro had actually done a pretty thorough investigation so far.
"Hirota-chan is cute, isn't she?" Shinichi asked, sure that that was the most likely explanation behind Kogoro's effort.
"She's in high school," Ran replied. "It's probably just setting off dad's paternal instinct or something."
Shinichi watched her. Ran didn't really look overly convinced herself.
"I... well, I hope," she added.
Shinichi went back to looking over the case notes. There was something oddly familiar about the names of the man's cats. He couldn't place it, though.
"He was driving this one route repeatedly, with an empty taxi?" Shinichi asked, pointing to the notes. "In Toshima Ward?"
"Mhm?" Ran replied.
[What are you thinking?] Birdy asked.
"Toshima was where that billion yen heist happened," Shinichi muttered. "If he was... no. Hirota-chan wasn't sick or anything, right?"
"No? Wh-do you think he was the getaway driver or something?" Ran replied.
"Not if he's a single father with a healthy daughter at home. If she were sick, and needed treatment from a specialist, maybe. But as is? He's a man with something to lose. It seems unlikely," Shinichi replied. "A man like that wouldn't gamble so reckless-gamble! The cat's names! They're from a racehorse... the one that came in first last month!"
Ran blinked, looking down. "You're right. That's the one that made dad's horse lose that race. He complained about it all weekend... how did I miss that?"
The pair (well, trio, technically), scanned the exit to the Tokyo Racecourse that led to the JR train station walkway. True, there were two other train stations in the area he might take, but JR was generally the cheaper option. It seemed the safer bet, when they had limited resources.
[Is that him?]
"Where?" Shinichi asked, trying to work out where Birdy had noticed the man.
Apparently he didn't do a good enough job, and he soon felt himself being yanked back as Birdy took over. Their body didn't shift, but she was in charge now. Their eyes then locked on a man that matched the pictures perfectly.
[Yes,] Shinichi thought to her.
"Alright, let's grab him," Birdy said, marching forward through the crowd.
"Grab him? Shin-Birdy? Wait," Ran said, hurrying behind them.
[Don't try to grab him! He isn't a criminal under arrest,] Shinichi shouted inside their head. [We need to follow him, so we can tell his daughter where to find him! If you confront him he might get spooked and move again.]
"Oh. Right," Birdy said, coming to a stop sudden enough that Ran bumped into them.
Shinichi tried to ignore his disappointment at how distant the feeling of Ran bumped into them was, with Birdy in charge. Piloting? Driving?
He still didn't know what words to use to describe this.
"Tracking it is," Birdy said, pulling Ran to the side to let Hirota pass them by.
Birdy then took Ran's hand in hers (theirs?), and walked calmly after the man. While Birdy was in charge of where their eyes looked and kept her focus on the middle aged man ahead of them, Shinichi was able to focus on their peripherals enough to notice how Ran was blushing.
"Birdy," Ran whispered, "You look like a boy right now. People are going to get ideas about us holding hands."
"Hm?" Birdy said, turning to Ran. "I was hoping people would get ideas, so they'd find us less suspicious, but... what does my looking like-riiight. Right. This plant is still kind of primitive on that front."
[Primitive on what front?] Shinichi asked.
"Sexual diversity," Birdy whispered. "Several species in the Federation don't even have the sexual binary most species do, but inter-marriages between intelligent races of all types are allowed, regardless of variables. Other than maturity, obviously. It does get a bit complicated with hive mind species, but mostly works."
Shinichi would have blinked if he had control of their eyes right now. That was... well, that was something.
Ran was similarly quiet for much of the pursuit of Hirota. Especially when Birdy put the arm she shared with Shinichi around Ran, holding the other girl close to whisper 'he's watching us' in her ear. Ran gave a nervous giggle, blushing away.
Part of Shinichi wanted to scream. Yet, also, he couldn't argue with how nice the view was as Birdy pretended to get lost in Ran's eyes.
[You'd better not kiss her,] he objected, as Birdy's gaze lowered to Ran's lips.
"I'm acting," Birdy whispered, rolling their eyes.
"O-of course," a scarlet Ran replied.
[Just give me the body back,] Shinichi protested.
"When we're off the train," Birdy whispered. "I know you would get all awkward trying to fake this."
Shinichi grumbled, but pouted. He couldn't refute that. He'd never be able to fake attraction to Ran, and he'd probably get too distracted by the reality of it to keep up the pursuit of Hirota. There were few things that could truly distract Shinichi from a case, but Ran was definitely one of them.
This was the last train ride, thankfully. Hirota got out and set off down the road. Birdy slipped back, letting Shinichi take over again. He and Ran quietly followed the short middle aged man through the quiet streets of Nerima. After a little over ten minutes the man reached his apartment, climbing up the stairs and heading into apartment 203.
Ran and Shinichi found a quiet spot to observe the building and phoned Ran's father. After an annoyingly large number of rings, a grumpy Kogoro finally answered. His anger was quickly deflated by Ran's sharp tones, eventually convincing him to come out to help them get information off of the landlord.
Then it was a matter of waiting, as Ran's father headed over (probably by subway, unless the contract meant Hirota's daughter was covering expenses, then he'd take a taxi). Shinichi twiddled his thumbs while the minutes dragged on. He didn't really know what to do while sitting here with Ran. If Sonoko were here she'd fill the time with smalltalk, but he'd never been good at that. His idea of smalltalk had always been sharing Holmes facts, and, well, Ran had made it clear she was tired of those. He couldn't fathom why, but... he'd gotten the hint.
What else could he try?
"Did you know Columbo had ten seasons?" he offered.
Ran blinked, before staring at him.
"What?" he asked, not sure how to read her expression.
"What sort of a way to break the silence is that?" she asked.
"It's not a Holmes fact?"
"I... well, ok. I guess I can learn about a new fictional detective for once," Ran muttered, turning to stare at Hirota's apartment door again.
[Wait, Holmes is fictional?]
"Yes? No real detective could be as amazing as Holmes," Shinichi said.
"Only hearing half a conversation is a bit frustrating," Ran said, rolling her shoulders.
"Birdy didn't realise that Holmes was fi-"
"I figured it out," Ran replied. "But it's still weird, trying to play catchup like that around you."
Shinichi didn't think it was that much different from a normal conversation. People rarely said more than half of what they were thinking. Apparently other people didn't think that, but maybe they just didn't notice. Figuring out the real meaning of people's words had been good training for seeing through lying culprits, though.
"How do you two handle, like, bathing and stuff?" Ran blurted, her cheeks red.
"Huh?"
"You see everything she sees and vice versa, right?"
"I... well, she's an alien? She said she doesn't care about seeing a naked human," Shinichi explained. "And, well, she likes soaking in the tub, but she generally closes her... our eyes when she's soaking?"
Ran when more red. "B-but you've seen her..."
"From her eyes. It's not like she poses in front of the mirror or something," Shinichi replied, his own cheeks going red as he realised what Ran was implying.
[Is that a part of Earth bathing practices? Should I be doing that?] Birdy asked.
"No you definitely shouldn't," Shinichi replied.
"Do I even want to know?" Ran asked.
"P-probably not," Shinichi replied, cheeks hot.
"What are you suggesting now, Detective Brat?" Kogoro's rough voice asked, causing both teens to jump.
"N-nothing, dad. Nothing," Ran said, though her blushing cheeks were making her father even more suspicious.
"What's the little smug prick doing here anyhow?" Kogoro asked, staring down at Shinichi through half lidded eyes.
"Ran asked me to look over your notes with fresh eyes. I will say, they were pretty good, for once," Shinichi replied.
"For once?" Kogoro said, leaning in with a narrow glare.
"You do have to admit you're notorious for not writing things down, dad," Ran said, pushing her way between the two of them. "It's hard for me to keep track of what clients you're supposed to be helping, since you never take proper notes on the phone."
"That's on purpose. If I wrote down every case I got you'd run me ragged dealing with all of them," Kogoro protested. "I'm allowed to vet clients."
[As fun as this drama is to watch, isn't there a case to focus on?] Birdy interjected.
"Oh, right, yes," Shinichi replied.
"Who are you talking to, brat?" Kogoro asked.
"M-myself."
Kogoro went back to staring at him, while Ran buried her face in her hand.
"Are we going to interview the landlord or not?" Shinichi asked.
"There's no 'we' about it," Kogoro countered.
"Mhm. You still smell of cheap beer, and you're swaying, dad. We'll say you were up all night working on the case and Shinichi is your assistant. That should, hopefully, work," Ran said.
Both detectives were ready to argue against the plan, but Ran narrowed her eyes to glare at them and they folded.
The plan worked fairly well, the landlord, after a bit of reluctance, admitted that Hirota had recently moved in. He'd paid a year's rent in advance, and mostly been keeping to himself. Kogoro reasoned that he'd probably won big on his favourite horse last month, and was trying to hide from bookies while his lucky streak was running. Shinichi decided to bow out to the expert on the faulty logic of gamblers, and so agreed with Kogoro's assessment.
With a motive for his going into hiding determined, and the address properly confirmed, Ran called Hirota's daughter. They agreed to meet her at the nearby metro station, and took a quick walk over. Ran made sure Kogoro got some coffee in him, in the hopes it would make him vaguely passable for sober. Ran was debating drenching her father in cologne, to cover the smell of beer, when Hirota Masami arrived.
Shinichi was no expert at fashion, but one didn't need to be to wonder about the 'girl' before him.
"I thought you said she was in high school?" Shinichi whispered as Kogoro prattled on about his detective skills.
"Yes?" Ran whispered back.
"She looks to be at least in her twenties to me. That outfit, her makeup, her, well, her figure."
Ran glared at him. "Maybe she just went through puberty a little younger. It happens."
Shinichi opened his mouth to protest, but Hirota-chan noticed him before he could get a reply out.
"Oh, and who are you?" she asked.
"The twerp? He's... uh... my assistant? Apprentice, really," Kogoro replied, waving dismissively. "He helps out now and again, but isn't really that important."
Shinichi glared at the back of Kogoro's head, wishing sharing a body with Birdy had given him heat vision. She was an Ixioran, however, not a Kryptonian, so he had no such luck.
Instead, Kogoro kept gabbing away with his overinflated ego, while leading the young woman towards her father's apartment. Ran and Shinichi followed quietly. Birdy, for her part, seemed to be asleep, if the silence in Shinichi's head was anything to go by. He didn't mind that one bit.
As luck would have it, Hirota was headed down the stairs with a bag of trash when the group returned. His daughter lit up and charged across, hugging the portly man. Hirota, for his part, looked utterly shocked. Shinichi thought his surprise seemed a little stronger than would be expected, but wasn't sure what to make of it. So, instead, he simply smiled and nodded along while the young woman thanked Kogoro and himself for their detective work.
What else she said, Shinichi didn't quite follow, as he began to have the strangest sensation he was being watched. Glancing around, in a manner meant to hide what he was doing, he noticed a figure in a hoodie about a block away. They had sunglasses and a facemask on, making them hard to identify. Their clothing was ratty, and their posture angled strangely.
All in all, Shinichi guessed the figure was homeless and, well, not precisely neurotypical. While Tokyo wasn't overly known for its homeless population, people fell through the cracks in any society. A poorer neighbourhood like this seemed quite likely to have more than average. So, Shinichi felt safe in ignoring the odd person, returning to the metro station with Ran and Kogoro.
Shiho looked up from the menu as Akemi arrived. Her granddaughter looked tired. Her hair was messy and she was out of breath.
"Everything alright, dear?" Shiho asked as Akemi sat across from her in the booth.
"Fine. Fine. I just... I had some issues with a coworker for that new part time job I told you I started," Akemi replied, picking up her menu.
"Ah, yes. The mysterious part time job you won't tell your poor grandmother anything about," Shiho said, pretending to read the menu over again herself.
Not that she needed to. She'd eaten at this restaurant at least once a month for the past thirty years. She knew what she wanted.
"There's a non disclosure agreement," Akemi replied. "I... I did get to meet that young detective who's been on tv quite a bit lately. Kudo Shinichi. I can't tell you how, obviously, but... he's quite remarkable. I'm sure you'd try to talk him into using his brain for science if you met him."
"Maybe..." Shiho replied.
She didn't want to think about where her career had led her lately. They'd... well, they'd had more survivors, lately. Technically. She wasn't sure if those mindless beasts counted as survivors.
Shinichi was cooking dinner (well, microwaving some cold Chinese takeout) when the intercom crackled to life. He wandered over, and pressed the talk button.
"Hello? If you're here for Kudo Yusaku he's not home right now," he said.
"Nnnooooo. Nnooo. No," the voice on the other end said, having started strangely... fluid and gurgly, but shifting into something resembling a proper human voice. "I'm looking for the Federation Inspector."
Shinichi froze.
They hadn't heard anything from Birdy's 'friends' lately. It had been frustrating, but having one show up on his doorstep was not his idea of an ideal lead.
"I know she's protecting yooouuu," the still not quite human voice added.
[I guess the footage from the marionettes wasn't clear,] Birdy chimed in.
Shinichi took his hand off the intercom button. "Do we know who or what this is?"
[It's Bacillus. I smelled his stench back at Hirota's apartment.]
"You did? Why didn't you tell me?"
[You were driving at the time. I couldn't identify where the smell was coming from. I had hoped it was just a coincidence.]
Shinichi let out a sigh. "Ok. Fine... what is a Bacillus?"
[He's a slimy parasite. Slowly devours the organs of the host. He needs to hop to a new host when the old one becomes too decayed,] Birdy explained.
"Lovely," Shinichi whispered. "What's the plan, then?"
[I march out and beat the snot out of him. Then toss him in my ship holding cell.]
"Fine," Shinichi muttered, before pushing the button, interrupting the rather incoherent babbling from Bacillus across the intercom. "She'll meet you at Nishi Beika Park."
"I waant to see her now. Ixiorans are taaasty."
Shinichi took his finger off the intercom. "You're sure about this?"
[I can handle him. Don't worry.]
Shinichi pushed the button again. "It's the park or nothing, Bacillus."
"DON'T CALL ME THAAAAT!" the alien hissed.
Shinichi took his finger off the intercom and grabbed his noodles from the microwave. He gobbled them down as walked to the door. As he walked the shared body shimmered and Birdy took control.
"Mmm. Those noodles aren't half bad," she said, before putting the box down on the counter.
She then opened the door and bounded off across the neighbourhood with the speed and agility of an experienced parkourist. Shinichi marveled at it, and enjoyed the view above Beika as they went. They made it to the park in under three minutes, Birdy deciding to perch herself on top of the jungle gym.
The strange figure from Nerima shuffled into the park a few minutes later. His movements were even less human looking now than they'd been just that afternoon.
"Hey, Bacillus," she said, holding a confident posture.
"Iiinspector," the man said, lifting his face up, mask and sunglasses sliding off.
Shinichi felt like his stomach was going to churn at the way the man's face was melting.
"Oh," Birdy muttered. "He's melting."
[Yes,] Shinichi replied. [I... I can see that.]
"I need that new body. That strong Ixioran body... it'd last me months," Bacillus said, lurching forward.
"Months!? A Lurxian lasted you months on Prengus VII?" Birdy shouted. "I'm a better specimen than that!"
[Is that really the thing to worry about here?]
"It's part of it!" Birdy hissed under her breath.
"You're mine!" Bacillus bellowed, charging over.
Birdy hopped off the jungle gym, as Bacillus collapsed into a gooey mass. The writhing blobby mass that was Bacillus lunged towards where they landed. Birdy countered with a punch at the centre of Bacillus' mass, her arm plunged into the viscous mass. A surge of pain shot through their shared arm, Shinichi mentally screaming as Birdy pulled the arm out. Even withdrawn, small globs of Bacillus stayed clung to their arm, digging into the skin.
"Gome onnn... lemmme ead you!" Bacillus moaned, Shinichi noticing there was a face sliding along the side of the blob, slowly melting into something less and less human. "I'be alreaby starded eaden yoouuu."
Hissing in pain, Birdy punched her shoulder with her clean arm, the punch filled with the surge of energy she'd thrown at Shinichi the first night, sending a new blast of pain down their arm. It did, however, fry the globbing fragments of Bacillus, causing the smoking chunks to fall off their arm. The skin beneath was visibly burned.
Birdy had only a moment to grimace at that, and worry about deeper damage, before Bacillus lunged at them again.
[Punching isn't working,] Shinichi said as Birdy lept to safety.
"He's too liquid. I didn't think he'd be this far gone," Birdy whispered sharply.
[Is there anything else you can try? Chemicals?]
Birdy yelped, doding another attack from Bacillus. "He's vulnerable to non-polar organic solvents. His biggest weakness is 2,2,4-Trimethylpentane, if you know where we could find a-eep!"
Birdy lept again as Bacillus lunged his entire body at the wall they'd stood in front of.
[2,2,4-Trimethylpentane? That's... that's iso-octane. It's a primary ingredient in gasoline,] Shinichi replied.
"Right! Your planet does still use hydrocarbons as fuel," Birdy replied, jumping over Bacillus.
She bounded off a streetlamp, and took off down the street. There was a van parked not too far away. With Bacillus chasing after them, Birdy raced to the van, flipping it over. She hunted until she spotted the fuel tank. A swift punch with her good arm cracked it open.
"Be miiiine!" Bacillus roared.
Birdy turned and punched the sentient blob with the gasoline soaked arm. Bacillus shrieked in pain, shuddering before throwing himself backwards. Birdy jumped forward, throwing at another gasoline backed punch. The quivering alien blob screeched again, writhing disconcertingly before slithering down the street, away from Birdy's gasoline soaked fist, shrieking as he went.
Birdy chased after it, but Bacillus could apparently move far faster than one would expect for a being that looked like a giant amoeba. He'd escaped out of the quiet residential side street of Beika-cho, and threw himself out into the speeding traffic of one of central Tokyo's main arterial roads. Even though it was well after dark the traffic (vehicle and pedestrian) was still rather heavy. Bacillus' form racing out across the street spread panic amongst the passersby. Several cars swerved, a few colliding with each other or with the perimeter fences of the road.
"Darn it," Birdy hissed, before charging out after him.
[You'll be seen!] Shinichi protested.
"I have to stop him!" Birdy countered, ignoring the protests in her head and the screams around her.
She stayed focused on Bacillus, who had zipped down the road into another quiet laneway. The alien blob slipped around a corner before Birdy caught up to him. She raced ahead, worried he might try to escape, only to find he'd readied an ambush, launching himself at her once again from behind the corner. She punched, only to discover too much of the gasoline had dripped off her, allowing him to attack unafraid.
His slimy pseudopods slapped onto her skin, digging in with their digestive enzymes. The pain was excruciating, pushing Shinichi to scream in her head once more as she struggled to escape. She dug her heels into the asphalt, dragging herself and Bacillus towards a nearby parked car, as more and more pseudopods flung out to latch onto her. She counted her blessings that central Tokyo seemed full of cars.
Bacillus struggled against her retreat, forcing her to drag herself along the ground the last metres to the vehicle, but she was able to pull a hand free to grab the rear bumper of the car. Her grip secured, she pulled her other hand free and reached forward, punching a hole in the fuel tank of this vehicle as well. The gasoline flowed freely, pouring down her am and across the asphalt. Bacillus screached once more, pulling his pseudopods off of her arm, exposing the various chemical burned sites to the flowing gasoline. The wounds burned again, a different pain from the alien's digestive juices. Still, the gasoline kept flowing, spreading across the ground where she was lying and dissolving much of Bacillus' mass.
He was forced to let go, fleeing once again.
Birdy took a moment to gather her breath, before stumbling to her feet. She didn't really have the energy to chase him, and she needed to clean her wounds, but she had her duty as a Federation Investigator. Wincing at the pain, she jogged forward, after the slithering form of Bacillus.
"What was all that noise?" a small girl, with short hair and a pink dress, asked, stepping out of the lobby of a nearby apartment building just ahead of them.
Birdy's eyes went wide, followed by her heart dropping as Bacillus lunged. Letting her muscles (and Shinichi) scream in pain at her, Birdy threw herself forward. Barely, she managed to grab the girl, tucking her against her. The pair rolled along the laneway, until Birdy crashed into a streetlamp. The girl had been kept safe in her arms, however.
Glancing around, Birdy saw Bacillus slink off into the darkness of a nearby gap between buildings. One too thin for her to chase down.
"Are you ok?" she asked, letting go of the girl.
The girl nodded, looking at Birdy with nervous eyes. "W-what about you, miss? You look hurt... and who are you? You're dressed very funny."
[Tell her... tell her you're 'Sailor Birdy'. Champion of Justice,] Shinichi said.
"Wha?" Birdy managed to mutter, while the girl watched her.
[No one else got a good look at you. The girl will be a star witness. If you tell her something that sounds like it's from a children's show the police will dismiss it and figure there's a normal explanation. If the girl sounds more rational, but describes something unusual, they'll probably investigate closer,] he explained.
Birdy nodded, before getting to her feet. "I'm Sailor Birdy. Champion and Defender of Justice. I'm always alright."
[Strike a pose.]
"What?" Birdy whispered.
[A pose. Heroes in anime always strike poses.]
Birdy forced a grin and tossed up the first pose that hit her, a salute with her legs spread shoulder width. The girl just stared.
"Well. Goodbye. Stay inside tonight. And remember to believe in justice!" Birdy said, before jogging off around a corner.
Once out of view, she turned to make sure the girl indeed went back into her apartment. Then Birdy called for her ship to open a portal.
Gin lit a cigarette, standing in a dark alley not far from the recent chaos. Vodka was off on cleanup, luring their liquid friend out with some animals as bait. A van pulled up beside the alleyway entrance
"Bacillus needs to be brought back to the lady, for treatment. He's become unstable," a deep and softly accented voice said as the window of the van rolled down.
"We just need to use him for a bit of insurance. Once we get the money back he's all yours, Mezcal," Gin said to the large man in the van.
Gomez's expression was largely unreadable, his dark sunglasses not helping matters. "Just keep an eye on him. The lady is worried he might make a spectacle of himself."
"We'll clean it up if he does. Don't worry," Gin replied with a sharp grin.
Ran flicked on the tv to try to distract herself. Hirota-chan still hadn't answered her calls. She just wanted to know if the girl and her father were alright. Especially with the theories about bookies pursuing Hiroto-san.
The tv filled with a reporter out on a city street lined with apartment buildings.
"This is Mizunashi Rena, on the scene is Azabu Juuban, the end point of the bizarre events of last night. The chaos started at Nishi Beika Park, which saw significant damage. A van was found upside down in Beika a few blocks from that, followed by the sighting on the main road separating the Beika and Azabu regions."
An inlay on the screen showed a blurry cell phone shot of a strange amorphous... thing slithering across the road, cars swerving about behind it.
"There was further damage in Azabu Juuban as well, at least one car having been rendered undrivable," Mizunashi continued. "There's one witness who got a good look at the two unknowns involved, a young girl named Yoshida Ayumi, who's here with us currently."
The camera panned down as the reporter leaned down towards the girl beside her.
"Can you tell us about what you saw, Yoshida-chan?" Mizunashi asked.
The small girl nodded. "There was a weird slithering thing. It kind of reminded me of Hegora from Gomera versus Hegora. But it was silvery instead of black. It tried to jump at me, kind of like a snake. But then the nice older girl jumped over it and pulled me to safety. She was very pretty, and strong."
"And she was human?" Mizunashi asked.
"I'm not sure... she looked human, but she could have been an alien. She did tell me her name was Sailor Birdy, though. She's protecting Tokyo," the small girl said, getting more excited.
Ran let out a tired sigh. What had Shinichi and Birdy gotten up to last night?
"She did kind of sound like Sailor Moon," the girl said, looking deep in thought as Mizunashi gave a slow nod.
The reporter then stood up, turning back to the camera. "As you can see, it's a mystery with few clues, but enough physical evidence to prove something happened here in central Tokyo last night."
"You know," Yoshida-chan said, the top of her head barely in frame as she talked. "You kind of sound like Sailor Moon too, miss. Is this your secret identity, like Superman?"
Mizunashi twitched slightly. "Back to you, Yamada-san."
"Oh no, I didn't mean to tell everyo-" the girl started, before the feed cut back to the anchor.
Ran muted the TV and pulled her phone out again, dialing in Shinichi's number. It took several rings before she got an answer.
"Hrmm?" Shinichi's voice muttered.
"What happened last night? Are you ok?" Ran asked.
"Ehh... I'm fine now. We had a run in with a parasitic alien. It tried to digest Birdy... we had to spend the whole night in the regeneration pod," Shinichi replied. "How about you?"
"I'm fine... you're sure you're okay?"
"Tired, but all good," Shinichi replied. "Is there something else on your mind?"
"I, well... I'm worried about the Hirotas. I can't get an answer from them, and I've been trying all morning," Ran explained.
"Huh... Well, we can go check out the apartment, if you're so worried?" Shinichi replied.
"Are you up for that?"
"I should be. Alien healing technology is pretty efficient. I don't think Birdy is up for another fight, but walking about should be fine," Shinichi explained.
"Ok... I appreciate it. Thank you," Ran replied.
The pair met up on the subway, Shinichi visibly stiff, but insisting he was fine. Ran eyed him, worrying about what he was doing to himself, but didn't push the matter. The ride out to Nerima was long enough to get boring, and Ran was thankful she didn't have to do it more often.
Still, it wasn't eternal and they got off at Nerima Station, walking a few blocks off to the apartment from the day before. As they arrived, both were surprised to discover a police car sitting out front. Worried, Ran hurried forward, running around to the stairs. An apartment on the second floor had yellow tape strung across it.
Hirota's apartment.
Ran knocked on the door, her heart racing as Shinichi caught up. He was still catching his breath when the door opened a crack. Tagaki's face peeked through the crack.
"Mouri? Kudo? What are you two doing here?" he asked.
"We were worried about the Hirotas. The daughter hired my dad to find her father, and we connected them yesterday. What happened?" Ran replied.
"Daughter? I... our records didn't mention anything about a daughter... we only found the one body too," Takagi mumbled, before wiggling his leg strangely.
"Are you ok?" Shinichi asked.
"Oh. Yes. Yeah. I'm fine. It's just... Hirota had cats. Multiple cats. We couldn't find any next of kin to contact about looking after them, and the landlady doesn't want them, so I'm supposed to keep an eye on them until someone from the shelter comes to pick them up," Takagi explained, wiggling his leg more, no doubt nudging more cats away from the door.
"So, it was a murder?" Shinichi asked.
Takagi nodded. "The man must have been a giant too. Probably 190cm. He hung Hirota on the ceiling, without a chair of any sort. We don't really have anything else to go on, though."
"Could I come in to see the crime scene?"
"Sorry. I open the door any further and the cats will escape. I am not chasing them all over the neighbourhood again," Takagi replied. "It was a-aaack! Ow. Ow. Ow. That's my leg!"
Takagi slammed the door. He could be heard talking to the cats, hard at work attempting to negotiate with them. Ran let out a sigh. Hirota Masami was caught up in a murder plot and... and-and... apparently the police couldn't find a record of her? What did that mean?
"I smell her. And a man. A man with a strong scent," Shinichi said. "And the scent of death. Always pungent."
No. Looking down, and seeing him down on all fours, sniffing the ground, that was definitely Birdy. Ran's thoughts were confirmed when Shinichi's form shifted into Birdy's, though his clothes didn't change. The end result was interesting, Shinichi's clothes were a bit too short on the alien woman, and definitely too tight on the chest and hips.
"I can track them," Birdy said.
"You really shouldn't change out in public," Ran hissed.
"Shinichi said the same," Birdy replied, hopping up to her feet and giving an apologetic smile. "Come on, let's go. We can still find out what's going on."
Before Ran could reply, Birdy was running off. Ran had to struggle to keep up. The other girl could really move, even with her stopping to sniff the ground every half dozen metres or so.
"They got in a car here," Birdy said, pointing at the ground. "The car was leaking oil, though. I can track that pretty easily."
"Wouldn't it smell like any other car leaking oil?" Ran asked, out of breath as she caught up, and wondering how Birdy hadn't even broken a sweat.
"No, no. The mixture of rusts, rubbers, and different brands of oil used over the years has given it a unique signature," Birdy explained.
"Ah. I guess that makes sen-wah!" Ran said, as Birdy scooped her up into her arms.
"Faster this way," Bridy said, before hopping up onto a roof.
The alien girl bounded across the rooftops of Tokyo. Even holding onto Ran, she was still moving at speeds that Ran was sure matched most cars on a highway. Ran couldn't understand how Birdy was able to track a scent at these speeds, but accepted the determination in the other girl's eyes.
Well, it was probably focus and determination. Once again Ran was left wondering about whether Birdy's body language might be drastically different from a human's. She also wondered what would happen if anyone spotted them, though she supposed they were moving too fast for anyone to get more than a blurry photograph. Another cryptid for the urban legends so popular across Japan.
"There's the car," Birdy said, coming to a halt on a building in the northern parts of Bunkyo-ku. "Mhm, yeah, that makes sense."
"What makes sense?" Ran asked.
"Shinichi thinks they went into that hotel," Birdy said, pointing out the building.
Ran nodded, following Birdy to a side alley where the pair climbed down the fire escape. Ran dusted her clothing off when they stepped out onto the street. The pair then headed into the hotel, Ran having to quietly remind Birdy not to sniff the floor. They crossed the lobby, reaching the elevator.
"Darn, seventeen floors. It'll take a while to check each of them," Birdy said, looking up at the lights showing which level the elevator was on.
"You have to check them all?" Ran asked.
"To track the scent, yeah," Birdy said, before a distracted expression appeared on her face. "Oh... are you sure? Hmm... ok."
Ran opened her mouth, to ask what that was about when Birdy jogged behind a pillar. A moment later Shinichi stepped out, adjusting his clothes to get them back in place after Birdy had been running about in them. He hurried off towards the reception desk, Ran jogging after him.
"Hello, how may I help you?" the concierge asked.
"Hi there. I'm Kudo Shinichi. You probably recognise me from the news," Shinichi said, showing some of that reckless confidence Ran hadn't seen him give off as much since the whole Birdy incident started.
The concierge nodded. Shinichi leaned in, which the man behind the counter mirrored.
"We're dealing with what might be a murder-kidnapping, or possibly a double murder," Shinichi whispered. "The suspect hasn't released any demands yet, but we've only found the one body. We believe he's a large man. 190cm tall. Maybe taller. We've tracked him to this neighbourhood, and believe he's staying at this hotel."
The concierge's eyes filled with terror. "Y-yes. There's a man who matches that description in room 414... I... you're not going in alone, are you?"
"We think the man is panicking. A police presence might cause him to lash out," Shinichi replied. "I'm going to see what I can manage before calling for backup. Especially as we aren't sure if there is a hostage or not."
The concierge nodded again. "V-very brave of you. One moment."
He briefly ducked under the desk, before reappearing with a keycard in his hand. Shinichi thanked the concierge, before he and Ran hurried off to the elevators. After stepping out of the way of a woman with a large trolley full of suitcases, the pair hurried in, pushing for the fourth floor.
On the floor, they moved quietly to room 414, Shinichi leaning an ear against the door. He couldn't hear anything. Trying to lean in a little closer, he let out a yelp as the door popped open. Ran caught him before he fully fell, then braced for a possible fight. Only, looking into the room, they saw the giant man they were chasing slumped against the wall, blood dripping from his mouth and nose. Stepping in, they also noticed several open and empty suitcases scattered about the room. Well, mostly empty suitcases. There were a few bank notes sitting in one. Perhaps a dozen or so other bills scattered across the floor as well.
Shinichi pulled out a mirror, confirming that the man wasn't breathing, before he and Ran checked the room for any sign of Masami, alive or dead.
"Well, there were three bank robbers," Shinichi said, picking up a 10 000 yen note. "So that means... if he's dead... 'Masami-chan' was the mastermind. Hirota must have realised she planned to kill them both and tried to make a break for it with the money. Our giant friend here didn't clue in, and stayed loyal. Got poisoned for his troubles."
"I don't... I can't believe it," Ran muttered.
Masami had seemed so innocent. Those hadn't been the eyes of a killer. Ran was sure of it.
"What?" Shinichi said, eyes drifting up to one corner as they tended to do when he was listening to Birdy. "Why didn't you say so before?"
Shinichi nodded a couple of times. "I suppose that's fair. I... yeah, it's probably easier if you do it."
Shinichi's form was replaced by Birdy's once more, the alien woman adjusting the clothes to fit her better now.
"She left when we were coming up. The woman with the suitcases," Birdy explained. "I recognised her scent, but thought it was coming off the elevator at first... you stay here. Phone the police and make sure no one touches the crime scene."
Ran nodded, before watching Birdy run off towards the stairs. It was so weird, listening to those half conversations between Birdy and Shinichi. It also nagged at Ran's jealousy. Which was probably nonsense. Shinichi and Birdy were sharing a body. There couldn't be a romance blooming, could there?
Birdy glanced around the front parking area of the hotel, picking up on the woman's scent.
"She got in a cab," Birdy whispered.
[Can't you track it?] Shinichi asked in her head.
"Not easily. It's too new of a car," Birdy hissed quietly.
She felt Shinichi thinking hard enough it seemed to eat at the brainpower available to her. A surge of excitement hit her before he gave a shout of inspiration.
[There was a Waterfront Line schedule in the hotel room. They're headed towards the port in Koto-ku,] Shinichi said.
Birdy nodded, jogging off towards an alley before hopping up above the city streets. Bounding along, she followed Shinichi's instructions on how to reach the port. She was more than a little tired at this point, running all across the city after a night like last night, but she wasn't about to show it. There was a murderer to catch, and, even if this was a purely terrestrial affair, she still had a sense of justice.
Reaching the waterfront, Birdy took a moment to catch her breath on a roof as Shinichi thought over the options.
[That cab. It's the company that served the hotel.]
Birdy glanced up, spotting it driving across a bridge. It seemed like a bit of a thin lead, but she supposed they didn't have much else to go on. She leapt in the direction of the cab, Shinichi offered further instructions on where the woman must have gone from the direction the cab was driving.
Akemi tried her best to appear confident as the large American black car drove towards her. The car stopped, and the two men in black stepped out. Silver and sunglasses again. She swore neither one quite felt human. The lonely state of the industrial dock in February didn't help her fight off the shivers running down her spine.
"Where's the money?" the silver haired one asked.
"I put it somewhere safe. I want your guarantee that you're going to leave my grandmother alone before I hand it over. As per the deal," Akemi replied, trying to keep her voice from cracking with fear.
"Nigori was right. You are an idiot," the silver haired man said flatly. "This was never about your grandmother. She's useful to us. You, however. You were just a distraction to her."
"W-what?" Akemi asked, taking a half step backwards. "What do you mean?"
"Did I not explain pretty thoroughly?" the man asked his shorter friend, the annoyance in his voice sharp as steel.
"Seemed thorough to me, bro," the other man said.
"What are you making my grandmother do?" Akemi asked, eyes wide with fear.
"She was doing human experimentation before we got here. We encouraged her to get her hands a little dirtier than usual, that that's it," the silver haired one replied. "Now, just give us the money. We'll contact you again with another job, now that you're a wanted criminal."
The man flashed a vampiric smile. Akemi's heart fell.
"N-no. I'm... I'm not going to give it to you. You're lying about my grandmother. I can use the money to get her to safety," Akemi replied. "And you can't do anything to me, because I'm the only one who knows where the money is."
The taller man turned to his partner and gave a small nod. The other man turned to the car, opening the back passenger side door. She watched in confusion as he pulled out what looked to be a cat carrier. The man square and stocky opened the door, and a creature raced out. Catching sight of the wrong and multi-limbed beast, Akemi screamed.
An ear splitting shriek drew Birdy's attention. It was a woman's scream. Birdy launched herself towards it, certain that the scream was connected to their pursuit. Shinichi gave no protest.
Bounding across the tops of shipping containers, she caught sight of the two men in black from the parkade. The stockier one was shoving a woman into the back seat of a similarly black car. The woman from the hotel.
Birdy switched Shinichi's clothes for her battle outfit and jumped across the open dock. She landed on the ground hard enough to crack the concrete beneath her. She glared up at the men in black, catching her breath as she stood up.
"You two," she hissed.
"Ah, the Federation Investigator: Berserker Birdy, no?" Gin said, sounding relaxed.
"If you know who I am, then you know you should be surrendering. Unless you don't mind some broken bones," Birdy replied, marching over.
She really hoped her exhaustion wasn't showing. Vodka stepped around the car as Gin shoved his hands in his coat pockets.
"Sure you're up for it, Inspector?" Gin asked.
Before Birdy could reply, his square and sturdy partner had charged her, a fist smashing into her gut. Birdy coughed, stumbling back. Vodka's other fist slammed into the side of her face, once more hitting with far more force than she'd expected. Hissing in pain, she launched herself at him, slamming into his gut. When that failed to knock him over, she shifted her footing, flipping the man into a suplex.
Concrete cracked as Vodka slammed into it, Birdy stumbling back to get a better look at the man. With his sunglasses knocked off, Birdy was left with a revelation that she did not need right now.
"A marionette," she hissed.
[He looks so human, though. Compared to the others,] Shinichi said.
"Guess he's a high end one," Birdy muttered, before charging over to kick Vodka before he got back to his feet.
Her strikes were not elegant, nor honourable. More the stomping of a street thug against a prone foe. It worked, however, keeping the marionette prone.
Well, it worked until Birdy heard a crack, followed roughly instantly by a pain shooting through her side. Grasping it, she turned to see Gin with a large rifle.
[A Barrett M82,] Shinichi said.
Birdy wasn't sure what that name meant, but a second shot from the oversized rifle slammed into her lower gut a moment later. It hit with enough force to double her over. A third shot hit her head, knocking her onto her side.
"Owww," she groaned.
[Those are anti-vehicle rounds and you're saying 'ow'?] Shinichi said, panic in his voice.
Birdy ignored him, struggling to her feet, though keeping low. To her surprise, Vodka was getting in the car, while Gin packed the rifle away.
"Stay down, Berserker. I've got more pressing things to do today than killing you," Gin said, walking over to the driver side door.
He slipped in the car and drove off. Birdy fell forward, face pressing against the concrete.
"Ship... portal please," she muttered.
[I need to phone Ran. Tell her the woman got away,] Shinichi said, as Birdy rolled through the portal.
"Gimme an hour to soak," Birdy groaned, stumbling to her feet again.
Gin counted through the suitcases. There was about 300 000 yen missing, from what he could tell. Still, he could accept that on the 1 000 000 000 yen starting point.
"Good work, Bacillus. Maybe you're not a lost cause afterall," Gin said, looking up.
Bacillus was nowhere to be seen.
"Where did that walking cocktail go now?" Gin asked, turning to Vodka.
"My visual receptors are still on the fritz after that supplex," Vodka replied.
"Oh well. I'm sure the idiot can't make that big of a mess," Gin muttered, closing up the cases of money.
"Why didn't you tell us you fought with Bacillus the night it happened?" Megius' holographic form asked, staring down at Birdy as she gave her report.
"I need to spend the night in a regeneration pod. I planned to inform you the next morning, but then one of Kudo's friends needed his help. That resulted in discovering a murder, a suspected kidnapping, a bank robbery, and then another murder," Birdy replied. "We had thought that was a fully terrestrial matter, but encountered the two men that Geiga had met up with. Well, man and marionette, apparently."
Megius let out a click of surprise, his antennae flicking about. "The group trading with Geiga is stealing Terran currency?"
"I suppose it covers overhead and operating expenses with... whatever they're growing," Birdy replied.
[Does he have teeth? He has mandibles, but it looks like he also has teeth,] Shinichi said in her head, though she supposed it was the blurriness between thought and speech in his current state that made him communicate that question.
Birdy ignored that, and went into further detail about the events of the previous few days. She answered a few more of Megius' questions, but eventually had to raise a hand.
"Unfortunately, Kudo is required at the Tokyo MPD headquarters in one hour to give his own statement regarding events," she explained.
Megius nodded. "Very well. Remind him to cover up any aspects that concern the Federation, however."
"How did you know to go to the hotel?" Megure asked, as he sat across his desk from Shinichi.
"The young woman. 'Masami' as she called herself. She'd had a set of matches with the hotel name on it," Shinichi said, relaying one of several lies he'd rehearsed dozens of times on his way over.
Megure nodded, writing that down. "Mouri-chan hadn't noticed that."
"There's a reason I'm the detective out of the two of us," Shinichi replied.
"I suppose so," Megure said, before moving into more questions.
Arriving at home again, Shinichi locked the door and toed off his shoes. There was something that had been bugging him, and, now that he was home and free for the day, he decided to ask.
"Why is your sense of smell so much better than mine, when we're sharing a body?" Shinichi asked.
[As a human, you wouldn't know how to process the input from my olfactory receptors,] Birdy replied.
"It seems like it would be useful, though. I think we should try it," Shinichi said, heading towards the kitchen.
[Alright. Giving you a test in 3, 2, 1...]
Shinichi was hit with a wave of scents. They were as layers and complex as the input from his eyes. As if everything he saw had a smell of its own, with the complexity of colour and texture present in every scent. Struggling with the severe blast of overstimulation, his every sense seemed to become blurrier, yet more overwhelming at the same time. He twitched, his arms flailing in front of him, as if some instinct was trying to push the smells away from him. Any desire to ask Birdy to turn it off was overwhelmed by a more primal instinct to try to shut down, so verbal communication was beyond him now.
And then it was gone.
Shinichi felt empty, slumping against the wall.
[I take it you've learned your lesson?] Birdy asked.
Shinichi lifted his hand, biting into the base of his thumb, trying to anchor himself on a single sensation. It seemed, at the moment, the best way to reorient himself.
[Woah, woah, woah. No hurting yourself,] Birdy said, before pushing her way to the front, leaving Shinichi with the gentle numbness that came when she was in charge. "I didn't think it would hit you that badly."
[Nor did I,] Shinichi mumbled, talking without having a mouth to move being much easier than normal talking right now. [I think I need to sleep.]
The young woman had been hiding. They were after her. Because... because... the Federation was always after her.
No.
No. The MPD were after her. She'd robbed a band. She was too fragile.
She needed the Ixioran. That strong body. With healing better than a human's. This body of hers was already decaying. It was young and healthy, but would last a month at best. Maybe less, with having to lurk in alleyways and live off of scraps.
Where was the Ixioran, though? This city was too big.
It hadn't been Nerima. She'd tried that. Not Bunkyo, either.
Where was it? Where was it?
Chuo was close to something, but it wasn't the place. No, but it was... it was... a name. Chuo. Chubo. Chudo. Kudo.
Kudo!
She found her way to an internet cafe, and managed to remember how computers worked enough to search for the name Kudo. After digging past pages about an author, she found him. Kudo Shinichi. He worked with the police. He was from... Beika. Yes.
Beika.
She had a goal.
The subway was a struggle, surrounded by so much food she couldn't eat. But it was faster than walking. She stumbled out onto the surface at Beika station. Fresh air was good. Not rich with scents that made her hunger.
It was a shame Kudo was a minor. It made it harder to get specifics on him. Still, she could sniff about. If the Ixioran was around, she'd find her.
It was night by the time she picked up the investigator's scent, but she did pick it up.
"Freeze!"
She turned, looking at a bald man with a goatee and a metallic device in his hands.
"Who are you, then?" she asked.
"I'm the one in charge here, Miyano Akemi. You're a wanted murderer and I'm a police officer. That's how this goes," the man said. "My partner is already calling you in. Must say, taking the subway was a mistake."
She walked forward.
"I said freeze!" the man shouted.
"What does that little thing do?" she asked. Somewhere deep in her brain (her host's brain?) said it made a loud noise.
It did indeed, as the man pulled the trigger, and it brought pain. Looking down, she saw a hole in her torso.
"Well, that's not good," she muttered, looking back up at the man.
Fear filled his eyes. "W-what kind of drugs are you on, to brush a bullet to the gut off like that?"
She rushed forward, plunging a fist into his torso. "I'll need that liver now."
She let her pseudopods spread out, probing his body for anything else of use in his body. His liver was in worse shape than she'd hoped, but it was better than the one she had right now, with a hole in it.
"Woah! Fujimaki!" a man shouted.
She turned at the new arrival. A still struggling Fujimaki turned as well.
"Nakamura... ru-" Fujimaki began, before she shoved her arm into her deeper, spreading her pseudopods further.
Just a little more and she'd have control over Fujimaki.
"Let go of him!" Nakamura shouted, charging forward.
The new officer ran up, trying to pull her arm out of Fujimaki. When that failed, he pulled out his own pistol, shooting her arm in a desperate attempt to dislodge it. Hissing at the damage, she let the hand break off, slithering into Fujimaki's chest.
Fujimaki's eyes glossed over, before he stiffly turned. His pistol pointed at Nakamura.
"W-what's going o-" was all Nakamura managed before a bullet from Fujimaki's pistol silenced him.
She bent over the body, looking over the new man. He seemed older than Fujimaki. Less useful. She turned back to Fujimaki.
"I'm going to need you to lend me a hand," she said to the man a fragment of her was possessing.
Shinichi stared blankly at the blackboard. English lessons were one of the least interesting classes he had to deal with. He was proficient in the language already, and Japanese school curriculum English was so... test oriented. It was mind numbing.
At least he could communicate to Birdy, writing messages to her that she could read through their shared eyes.
[It didn't really provide us with any clues, did it?] Birdy muttered.
'Nothing major, no,' Shinichi wrote.
[I guess we learned that that Vodka guy is a marionette. That's something?] Birdy offered, with her typically cheerful tone.
'I guess,' Shinichi wrote, glancing back up to the blackboard.
"I had planned to buy groceries," the teacher said, asking the students to repeat it.
Shinichi engaged in the soulless repetition. The teacher critiqued some individual students. That critique was interrupted by the crack of gunfire. Shinichi hopped to his feet, ready to investigate. Instead, the door slammed open, revealing Miyano Akemi, with a revolver in her hand and eyes dilated beyond what was humanly possible.
"Excuse me, who are y-" the teacher began.
There was another crack, the teacher doubling over from being shot.
Several girls and a few of the boys shrieked.
"Which one of you is Kudo?" the young woman shouts, her voice slipping away from the normal human range.
Shinichi noticed the woman's one hand was much too large, a bandage wrapped around the arm it was attached to. A man's hand.
How?
"You Kudo?" the woman asked the nearest male student.
Wait, the liquidity to her voice. "Bacillus?"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" she hissed, pointing the revolver at him, prompting screams from the class.
"Okada-sensei's bleeding out!" Ran shouted, charging forward.
"Stay there!" Bacillus hissed, spinning the revolver to Ran. "Which one of you is Kudo!? I'll start shooting if no one comes forward."
Several students screamed again.
"I'm Kudo," Shinichi said. "Let everyone else go."
"Right! Right! Kudo!" Bacillus said, stretching Akemi's face with a disturbing smile. "I remember now!"
"So, the others are free to go, right?" Shinichi asked.
"Uh... no," Bacillus replied. "I need you to bring the investigator here, but I need the rest for the Earth police."
"Earth police?" Sonoko asked, hidden half behind Ran. "Is she completely insane?"
"I'm not insane!" Bacillus shrieked. "More hostages are better!"
"If you want the investigator to show up you need to let everyone else go," Shinichi said.
"Hah! I'm not an idiot. I'm not giving up my insurance!" Bacillus shouted.
[Let me take over. I'll beat her up,] Birdy said.
"You can't do that in front of everyone," Shinichi hissed.
[I can keep your face.]
"That's not much better. People will notice I suddenly gained superhuman strength."
"Can I fight her," Ran whispered.
"She's goo. She'll infect you," Shinichi countered. "She's the one I told you about."
"R-really?" Ran replied, her face growing pale.
Sonoko stepped forward, determination on her face. "This is nonsense! Okada-sensei is going to die from bloodloss if you leave him there! And you don't need thirty hostages! You want Kudo? Fine. You want another hostage or two as extra precautions? Whatever. I'll stay. But let the others go!"
"Or maybe I should just start shooting until the investigator hurries up and gets here!" Bacillus shouted, before swinging her pistol to point at Sonoko and firing off a round.
Sonoko lurched, grasping her side as she fell, slumping against a desk. Ran's eyes flashed with anger and she charged, kicking to knock the revolver out of Bacillus' hand. To her shock and horror the entire hand came off, falling to the ground. A silvery-turquoise goo dripped from Bacillus' stump.
With the pistol no longer involved, the bulk of the class stampeded out the back door. Bacillus turned, throwing a sloppy punch with her still present hand, though Ran dodged.
[Taking over,] Birdy said, forcing Shinichi back into their head, though not changing their appearance.
She picked up a chair, smashing it on Bacillus' back. Bacillus hissed, turning her attention towards Birdy. She lunged, Birdy stepping back to dodge.
"Get her out of here," Birdy shouted to Ran before grabbing another chair to swing at Bacillus.
Ran nodded, slipping over and pulling Sonoko to the back door. A pair of students were watching the front door, and Birdy gave them a nod. She then offered a taunt to Bacillus, luring the other alien to chase her towards the windows. The pair of students rushed in and dragged the teacher out into the hallway.
Birdy kept Bacillus busy, while keeping the parasitic alien at a distance by using chairs, desks, and other improvised weapons. What she didn't know, however, was how to get any further. Bacillus was quite capable of healing and taking abuse, and Birdy lacked any sort of blade or otherwise useful weapon.
Well, there was the revolver. Running around Bacillus, she dived, trying to pull the revolver out of the tight grip of the severed hand still holding it. Only to be left yelping in surprise as pseudopods shot out of the hand, latching onto her. She threw the hand away, only mild sting marks on their hands.
"Stop fighting and just call your investigator," Bacillus hissed, continuing to warp the face that had been Miyano Akemi's into inhuman extremes, walking forward. "I suppose I could eat you, while I wait, though."
Birdy glanced towards the hallway. The other students were gone. She let her form change, outfit switching out as well.
"Been here the whole time, Bacillus," Birdy said.
"Inspector!" Bacillus replied, a smile flashing on her face, too large for any human. "You look delicious!"
Bacillus lunged, tackling Birdy with an erratic movement that Birdy failed to dodge. Pseudopods began to latch onto her skin. Even after Birdy kicked Bacillus off, globs remained attached, burning her skin.
"You're mine!" Bacillus hissed, trying to lunge again.
Birdy jumped over the teacher's desk, and then kicked it at Bacillus. She needed something better than blunt objects. The pair circled one another, Birdy hunting for anything else to use. That hunting was cut off by a desk bursting into flames. Birdy stared in confusion, while Bacillus leapt back with a shriek of fear. Another desk then burst into flames, this one next to one of the doors.
Bacillus began to run, only her arm to alight as she ran. Shrieking, Bacillus tripped, falling on the ground. Birdy glanced out the window, wondering if they were under attack, when the sound of a portal opening in the room brought her attention back to the room. A short girl stepped out,with orange and wearing a Federation Inspector's uniform, an assistant bot on her shoulder. The robot flew over zapping Bacillus' form with further plasma bolts.
Bacillus began to melt, slithering and squirming, making herself harder to hit. The assistant droid lit portions of the floor on fire, but managed to eventually burn the last of Bacillus to a crisp.
"No wonder they requested backup for you," the short girl said. "Can't even handle a minor threat."
"Wh-who are you?" Birdy asked.
"Capella Titus. Investigator, your superior," the short girl replied. "Also the one who just saved your life."
[She's a kid?] Kaito said. [Your Federation employs kids as police officers?]
"How old are you?" Birdy asked.
"I'm older than you. I'm just petite," Capella replied. "Follow me. We have to report this to the Chief Inspector."
"Uh... r-right," Birdy replied, not sure she believed that.
[No way is she an adult. I bet she's lying,] Shinichi insisted. [Or she's some sort of science experiment.]
"Wait. I can't yet. Kudo needs to be seen alive. I have to do that first," Birdy said. "It will just take a few minutes."
"...fine," Capella replied.
Ran clutched Sonoko's hand as they sat in the ambulance. Why was there smoke billowing out of the classroom?
"If I weren't on all these painkillers you'd probably be hurting my hand right now, Ran," Sonoko said.
"S-sorry. I... she'll be alright, right?" Ran asked, turning to the paramedic.
"Probably. The bullet seems to have missed any major organs. She's stable. We do want to get her to the hospital soon, though. Will you be coming? Or waiting for your other friend?" the man asked.
"I... I... I should wait for Shinichi. I'll see you as soon as I can, though, Sonoko," Ran said.
"No worries. You've got to wait for your husband," Sonoko said, a painkiller induced smirk on her face.
Ran hopped out of the ambulance and waved them off. She was too worried to argue with Sonoko.
She stared back up at the smoke billowing out of the classroom as the fire department arrived. They extended elevators, blasting hoses into the room.
Was... was Shinichi alright?
"Hey Ran," Shinichi's voice called out.
She turned. Those eyes were Shinichi's. She ran over and hugged him. "You're alright!"
"Actually, I've got a bunch of chemical burns," Shinichi whispered. "But don't tell anyone. Birdy needs to give an incident report. I can't get dragged off to a hospital right now."
Shiho stared at the news article. The reports about Akemi being a murderer and bank robber she'd tried to dismiss as a false accusation. There'd been no clear pictures. Only a woman in disguise who looked generally like Akemi. She could deny it.
This time, though. This time they had pictures. Akemi on the subway. Akemi at the school. Akemi shooting a security guard. The report that she'd killed two police officers. Akemi had shot a teacher and a student.
And now... and now she was dead.
Shiho felt tears running down her face. She leaned back in her chair. Her world was... empty. Her only surviving relative was dead, after going an incomprehensible dive into violence.
"Oh, so the last trace of your loveless marriage is gone, then?" Hikawa said, walking past.
Shiho's eye twitched. If she were forty, or... even twenty years younger, she'd have hit him for that. As it was, she was simply tired and broken. What did she have left to live for? Her experiments?
Pheh. Those were Hikawa's experiments. Not hers. Not anymore. She didn't care about his new alien obsession.
"Well, back to work, no?" Hikawa said, grinning away and patting her on the shoulder. "No distractions now."
As he left, returning to his own lab. Shiho stared at the screen. She wasn't sure for how long. Minutes? Hours? What did it matter? Slowly, though, a thought grew in her mind. She pulled her to her feet. Her old bones ached, but she ignored that. It wouldn't matter soon.
She walked slowly over to the desk, lifting up the potted plant there. Beneath was the small bottle of the pills she's been working on. She'd wanted to prove to Hikawa that refinement was the better plan. That he could stop the deadly human trials. Well, hopefully. She had still wanted to run a few more animal trials before human testing.
Shuffling back to her desk, she grabbed her glass of water. She was probably going to die, but that was acceptable at this point. The idea of rest sounded nice. There was nothing left for her in this world.
Shiho hoped, though, that she'd turn into a beast. She could likely do significant damage to the lab, transforming here. There were no security doors on this level of the lab. She could set him back months. Hikawa would hate it. She was sure he was behind what had happened to her granddaughter. Somehow. He'd always hated Akemi, and had shown no surprise at the news.
She put the pill in her mouth, hoping for vengeance, then drank some water to wash it down.
The synthesized Spirits shot through her. It felt like fire burning through her blood stream. Her muscles spasmed, dropping her to the ground. Twitching, she screamed. Her face seemed to stretch, hair bursting across her body. She was turning into a beast. Her teeth were sharpening. Twitching again, she kicked the leg out from her desk. The wood snapped, far more force than she'd have ever managed. Even in her prime.
The desk collapsed, though she barely noticed as her body continued to spasm.
The hair was retracting. No. No. She wanted vengeance!
Then the spasms stopped. She struggled to her feet. How was she still alive?
Her hands, though. They had no fur. No claws. But... no wrinkles? And her glasses had fallen off as well, she noticed, yet her vision seemed fine.
Stumbling forward in now ill fitting clothes, she found a mirror. She looked... she looked young again. Like Hikawa. She looked to be in her early twenties. Maybe even still a teen.
She'd perfected the Spirits. She'd done what Hikawa wanted.
Unfortunately, it left her unable to destroy the lab. Hissing in rage, she slammed a fist into the table.
Make that through the table.
"Maybe I can still do damage," she said, taking a moment to blink at the change in her voice.
A smile grew on her face. This was going to be fun.
Tossing furniture around proved very fun. She tried to make it look mindless and primal, to hide her targeting of vital data storage. It didn't take long to trash the lab completely, and smash her way out the door. A smile on her face, and a primal rush in her heart, she charged down the hallway. There was more to destroy.
She froze as she ran down the hallways. That smell.
Right. Hikawa was like her. He would be strong too. She had to run.
Her own lab lacked security cameras. For plausible deniability purposes. But the hallways were different. She had to move quickly and quietly, avoiding the cameras. She could manage it, though. She was sure of it.
She was strong now. And alive.
And hungry.
That would be her first stop when she got out.
Shinichi wolfed down another box of takeout yakisoba. He was starving. Birdy's body needed calories. Especially after all the recent fights. Adding in the way Birdy's ship had run low on rations, and he had a lot more eating to do.
[I think I prefer my meal bars,] Birdy said.
"Well, I don't. That stuff tastes like aluminum," Shinichi muttered, between mouthfuls of noodles.
[Exactly. It's delicious.]
Shinichi rolled their shared eyes, before gobbling up more noodles. He tuned out future food critiques of Birdy's, sure that her tastebuds were the least human part of her. He was about to give a snappy reply when there was a knock at the door.
Curious, and concerned, as he was sure the gate was locked, he headed over, asking Birdy to be ready. He slid the door open a crack, and was greeted by the sight of a rather attractive young woman with auburn hair. She seemed scared, her pupils dilated and jittery.
"You're Kudo Shinichi, yes?" the woman asked.
"I... y-yes?" he replied, unsure what to think. "And you are?"
"I need your help. I... Akemi. She spoke highly of you," the woman said.
"Akemi... Miyano Akemi? The bank robber?" Shinichi asked.
The woman nodded. "I am unsure what led her down that path, but I know she was no killer. My granddaughter wasn't a murderer."
"Grand... daughter?" Shinichi replied.
"Let me in and I will explain," the woman replied.
[I can take her, whoever she is,] Birdy said. [Let her in.]
He didn't like it, but he gave a nod, stepping out of the way. "Do come in."
The woman walked in. Shinichi closed the door behind her.
"So, who are you? And how in the world do you have a granddaughter? You can't be more than... what, twenty?" Shinichi asked.
"This will sound insane, but... my name is Akemi Shiho. I am a researcher for Hikawa Chemicals. We're... we're working on a strange plant. It's..."
"Alien?" Shinichi asked.
Miyano blinked. "You know?"
"I have some vague ideas, but... we don't have much yet," Shinichi replied. "But... are you telling me this plant reverses aging?"
"If properly processed, yes. When it doesn't turn you into a vicious beast. And, if it isn't sufficiently processed, it tends to just kill you," Shiho replied.
"Does it have a name?" Shinichi asked.
"Spirits. That's what they called it. The men in black. They barely trusted Hikawa. I wasn't given anything more than necessary," Miyano replied.
[Spirit Stealer,] Birdy said. [It's a drug. It... it has unpleasant effects. Severely addictive. Hallucinations.]
"Are you stable?" Shinichi asked, giving Miyano a once over. She did seem fidgety.
"I... I don't know."
[We need to take her to the ship, for analysis,] Birdy said.
Shinichi nodded. "I... I have friends that can help. And I can tell you some of what happened to your... uh... your granddaughter."