The noodle shop was about half way down the main street, and adorned with a string of lanterns over its doorway. From within, they could hear soft pop music, about twenty or thirty years out of date, and the sound of light chatter.

"It's lively." Togami mused. "...what say we stop for a moment and get lunch, hm? Maybe…'mingle'."

"M-mingle?" she asked hesitantly. But she quickly followed it up. "Y-yes, of course. Good idea, Togami-sama."

"The only way to get intel, Fukawa-san," he tapped the side of his glasses, "is to seek it. and that means interviewing potential witnesses."

"A-absolutely!" she said, with at least an attempt at enthusiasm despite her obvious nerves.

"Don't worry." Togami purred. "You can leave the talking to me, if you want."

"I-I'll make sure to be of use, Togami-sama!" she promised, bowing. "I w-won't let you down as your assistant."

Togami smirked, leaning his chin on the back of his fingers with a sly smile "I trust you won't."

She seemed to melt slightly, a wibbly smile one her face, as she pushed the curtain aside for him.

"T-trust... thank you, sir," she said quietly.

"Now, come on then," he said, and he stepped inside with his head held high.

The inside of the noodle shop was small, and comfortable, with a long bar and more lanterns hung above it. The other side of the shop had some more western style booth seating, and both the bar and the booths had a few customers at them. The dim area hung heavy with the scent and humidity of long boiling broth and fresh cut onion.

There were two men at the bar, a couple of men were sitting a few stools apart, and the far stool by the wall was taken up by a tiny little girl who was drawing with crayons.

Behind the bar, putting together bowls, was a handsome man with a tanned complexion and a bright smile, a white headband tying his hair back.

Togami entered, and made his way towards the bar with a wave of his hand. "Good morning."

The younger of the two men at the bar gave him a too-wide grin, and raised his bowl to him, sloshing a little. The other man ignored him entirely.

The man behind the bar gave him a wave. "Welcome to our shop! Please have a seat if you like!"

Togami took a seat at the bar, closer to the younger man than the other for now. He nodded.

"It smells good," he offered, and gestured behind the counter at the kitchen. "Takeda-san told us about this place and I simply had to visit."

"Ah! Takeda-san!" the man grinned. "It must be a good day for fishing, I haven't seen him all day."

Fukawa- quite hesitant- sat down beside Togami, taking the seat between him and the older man. The older man looked over his shoulder at her and snorted, then looked away. For a moment, Togami saw his new assistant's face marred by a furious scowl, before it cleared.

Togami turned his own harsh, cool gaze towards the older man for a brief moment with a sharp frown.

But he continued with the man behind the counter. "From the size of the fish, it's been a good day for him." he agreed. "We ran into the man by the lake."

"Not many other places to meet Takeda-san these days," the noodle man chuckled. "I'm Ikeda, by the way. you two must be from out of town. Can I get you the special?"

"Absolutely. One for me, and one for my assistant, if you don't mind." He glanced over at Fukawa "are you alright with that, Fukawa-san?"

"O-of course!" she said, her attention whipping back to him. "I-I'll have whatever you think is best, Togami-sama."

Ikeda smiled broadly. "Two specials coming up. Best ramen in Hokkaido."

"Lofty boast." Togami said, "I'll have to try it for myself and see."

"Ish real good," the fellow to Togami's left piped up, unasked for. "Maybe better after a couple of his sake, too."

Fukawa glanced across Togami to the man-obviously drunk- and gave him a sour look of disapproval, before glancing away.

"Is that so?" Togami shook his head "I'm afraid I'll have to skip the sake for today, if it's all the same."

Ikeda chuckled. "It's good without the sake too, on my honor."

He placed large, steaming bowls in front of them. It did smell quite good. Maybe not the best Togami had ever had, but certainly in the upper half.

"Well, it smells rather nice, that's for certain." Togami said, taking a sip of the broth. The broth was hot and rich, with a trace of rather unique spiciness to it. It was probably in the top 25% of ramen Togami had had

Togami planned to give his compliments to the chef-...once business was done, of course. It really is good, however. After this whole mess is over, it could be worth a return trip to town now and again.

"You're right, by the way. We are from out of town. I'm Byakuya Togami, of the Togami Corporation. I'm in town about my deceased assistant."

Fukawa, who had been drooling slightly over her ramen, wiped her mouth and looked up with a nod.

"Mo? Deceased?" he cocked his head. "Oh... you mean Abe-san, ne? He was your assistant? Or- don't tell me someone else died?"

Togami nodded, taking another sip of the broth before he spoke. "Just Abe-san, as far as I'm aware. He's the death I'm here for, at the very least."

Ikeda nodded, his smile having faded a little. "Abe-san visited several times. I was sorry to hear of his death."

"...he frequented your shop then?" He sighed "he was a good man, and it's a shame to have lost him...especially in such a violent manner."

Ikeda nodded. "I heard somebody mugged him. What an awful thing to happen... He did frequent my shop a few times while he was here."

"It's that or our tea place!" the drunkard said.

"The tea place?" Togami asked the drunk with a raise of his eyebrow.

"Nishimori's tea shop," Ikeda explained with a smile. "The other restaurant in town. Well... there's the inn too of course."

"Of course." he said, "but I doubt it compares to this ramen." He gestured to the bowl. "It's astounding, my friend."

Ikeda's smile returned. "What did I tell you? Best in Hokkaido."

"Best in Hokkaido." He agreed. "Without a doubt. I'll be sure to tell everyone at the home office about it. You may get a few new visitors."

Ikeda bowed low. "I'd be honored."

Togami took a moment to eat some of his noodles before he asked "So you saw Abe-san a few times now-did he mention anything about why he was in town?"

"To see the mayor about something," Ikeda recalled. "I remember he was upset one day because the mayor was called away before their meeting."

"Huh. So he was off to see the mayor. Likely something to do with the job he was sent here for." Togami mused. "Did he talk about anything else?"

"He said he wanted to go fishing at the lake, but I don't think he got a chance to," Ikeda said with a thoughtful frown.

"no...I doubt he did," Byakuya sighed

Ikeda rubbed the back of his head. "He asked about local life. He seemed really interested in the village, honestly."

"...interested in the village, hm?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I think he asked Hoshi-san some questions too." He nodded to the grumpy old man at the bar.

"Is that so." Togami glanced towards Hoshi-san "I hope you don't mind but I intend to ask a few myself."

"It's rude to disturb a man while he's eating you know," the old man grumped.

"Well." Togami said with a thin smirk. "Pardon my manners, but we can always talk once you've finished up, hm?"

"If you must, " he snapped, and went back to slurping his noodles. Byakuya saw Fukawa's face turn to one of gross fury again.

He reached out, and patted her shoulder with a slight nod, before he turned to the drunk. "How about you? Did you spend any time with Abe-san?"

The drunk- NIshimori, Ikeda had called him- shook his head. "Don't think so! Mushta been in here while I was on my shift!"

"Your shift, hm? And where do you work?"

"Sulphur, 'f course," he nodded happily, tipping back more of his sake. "Prac'tically ev'vrybody here does."

Togami chased a piece of pork around his bowl for a moment before he asked "The area has a lot of sulphur, does it?"

"Whole mine of it," Ikeda explained, "which I think is what Nishimori-san was trying to say."

Which is likely what my family was after...the sulphur mines under the town . Togami thought to himself as he slurped some noodles.

"Hmm, I've heard it described as hard work."

"You can shay that agin," Nishimori agreed. "And I'd be there now, if it weren't for the shtorm!"

Next to Fukawa, the old man looked even more cross than before.

"Oh I only imagine they're completely flooded.." Togami said, shaking his head.

The man's a lush, of course. Somehow I don't have high hopes that he'd be sober down there at this time of day even if the mine was open.

"And the lights are off," the old man beside them snapped. "So even if they weren't flooded it'd be damned useless!"

Togami turned to face him with a slight frown.

"Doubly unfortunate." he said slowly "but there's no reason to have that sort of tone with me."

"Y-yeah!" Fukawa spoke up, nodding sharply. "You can't talk to Togami-sama that way!"

Togami crossed his arms. "I may be an outsider, but a little civility goes a long way-especially when a man's here to investigate the murder of a friend."

The man snorted. "Friend eh? and I thought you said he was an employee."

Togami turned to meet the man's eyes with a cold expression. Deep blue eyes met the man's as he frowned, tapping his fingers on his arms. "A man can be both. But the point stands. I expect a little civility. Most everyone else here's had enough class to show some. Even our day drinking friend over there."

He gestured over his shoulder to the drunk.

The day drinker cheerfully raised his sake bottle to Byakuya- and then turned back to minding his own business.

"Tch," the old man sniffed. He turned away, back to his noodles.

Behind the counter, Ikeda looked politely embarrassed.

Togami pressed his fingers to his forehead with a soft snort.

"...regardless." He turned back to the drunk man and Ikeda. "Sorry about that...where were we? Talking about sulphur?"

The drunk looked back and bowed his head. "I'm sorry, I don't think there's mush more for me to say about it you know?" he glanced over Togami and Fukawa at the old man and then back to Togami. "Sorry."

He sipped his drink and turned away.

"Hmmm." Togami ran his hand through his hair. "...I'd heard that Abe-san was found over by the Tomb."

He had to change the subject. As tense as the atmosphere was, he needed to continue gathering information. Anything, at this stage, could come in handy later.

Unfortunately all of them politely pretended that they believed Byakuya's question was directed at someone else.