"Fuj? Come on, Fuj! He didn't mean it, ya know?"
Fujin whirled on her compatriot. "QUIET," she growled at him. Raijin hopskipped backwards, hoping to avoid the kick, but it caught him in the shin anyway. He bit his lip, trying to remind himself to buy shinguards one of these days.
"He's just curious!" Raijin protested, still drying to defend his friend. "It's not like he's not our friend, ya know! Maybe we should tell him--"
Fujin's glare immediately got uglier than it had been. "NEGATIVE!" she snapped, with a bit more vehemence than normal.
"But--"
"NEGATIVE." If anyone had ever said Fujin lacked conviction, they would have had to eat their words many times over. Raijin decided that he had better not press his luck.
Besides, Fujin was reaching for her shuriken....
"Hey! I have an idea! Let's go see if Seifer got any more of those funny letters!" Raijin suggested a bit too enthusiastically.
Fujin thought for a moment. "RUN," she commanded.
Raijin ran. He ran like he had never run before--except for the other times Fujin wound up chasing him like this. In fact, he had run all the way to the Balamb Post Office before he knew what hit him--or rather, what failed to hit him.
Doubling over in front of the door, he saw Fujin jogging up from one side. "Whoo!" he exclaimed. "You... want to do... the honors?" he asked, motioning to the door.
Fujin glared at him, and stepped inside. Raijin followed her, leaning against a wall as she approached the junior worker there.
"ALMASY," she snapped.
"Okay, okay!" the young man jumped, and hurried into the back room. Raijin shook his head.
"You just keep scaring people if you talk like that, ya know," he advised.
Fujin ignored him. Raijin was glad.
The junior officer came back, handing her an envelope. "This is the only one," he said.
Fujin accepted it, and was ambushed halfway to the door by Raijin. "What's it say?" he asked.
Fujin rolled her eye and opened the envelope. She withdrew a single piece of paper, containing only two cut-and-pasted words:
See y0U!
~
A trail of blood and clipped articles lead from the bedroom towards the front door, key letters missing from the largest headlines. She sat on the bed, staring at the trail with a mix of annoyance and resignation. Damn him for the thousandth time, she was never going to get used to this. He was the most incompetent criminal ever--he left a paper trail both figuratively and literally that an idiot should have been able to follow--and yet he still got away from everyone, even her.
Sighing, she picked up he articles to see what message he was sending this time.
Burglary in _nderwater Storag_ Facility 029. Missing a U and an e.
Show Op_ning: 1_00 Miles of Blue, Laca Theatre, Esthar Proper. Missing an e and a number.
_enator Heni to speak on murder myster_. Missing an S and a y.
She gave up before she even tried. Without that number, she was fairly certain that she'd never figure it out.
There was a noise from outside, and she jumped. Dammit--the EPD was getting faster.
"Exe cu mani superi!" they were yelling. Come out with your hands up. It was in Estharre, as if she couldn't handle Standard English. She bit her lip. She really didn't have to cut through another group of police.
Groaning, she surveyed the options. They were coming in the front door now, or so it sounded. As far as escape went, that left the window or....
Bracing her masamune, she stared at the wall. It was thin enough. Two cuts, and she could barrel through.
Some days I wonder about all this, she thought ruefully. Why do all of my jobs have to end up with dramatics...?