The Witch Hunt of Mineral Town
Chapter 2: Suspicious Behaviors
A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I know that this fic isn't really the greatest of Harvest Moon fics, but it is really supposed to be focusing on Witch Hunter Robin. I'm still going to try to make the Harvest Moon part better.
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The morning sun beamed brightly through the window, casting the room into brilliant colors as light touched the remote corners. One particularly bright ray of light fell across Robin's face, forcing her to turn away. If she had been the one to decorate this room, dark black curtains would be blocking the violating light particles from seeping in. Her eyes squinted at the clock that ticked monotonously away in an endless cycle. Only six o' clock; much too early to start work.
An unwelcome ring from her communicator told her that she wouldn't be going back to sleep. Robin reached out, searching the nightstand for the beeping device. Her hand eventually grasped hold of the cold metallic casing of the phone and she quickly brought it up to her ear, clicking it on as she did. "Ugh…" She muttered as she climbed to her feet, pulling on her black dress as she did so.
"Good morning to you too." Michael stated, sounding just as tired as Robin felt. He must have done one of his all night security tasks or spent the nocturnal hours hacking into some porn site. "I've been doing some background checks on your suspects. I'm afraid I didn't find anything that struck me as odd. There isn't much information to go on since Mineral Town is such a remote location with so little technology. We are currently trying to locate Rick's father and figure out what school Tim studied at. I'll keep you updated when we find out anything new."
"Thank you." Robin yawned, switching the communicator off. She finished getting dressed and pulled her hair up into her regular style. Then, she took a few minutes to look over the profiles of the villagers. It would be best if she knew something about them. As soon as she exited her room, stepping out onto the balcony that overlooked the tables, the bartender, Doug she remembered, noticed her. "Care for a coffee, Miss Robin?" He asked as she descended the stairs.
"That would be nice." Robin smiled. Coffee always managed to get her ready for any of the challenges that came her way. She walked across the empty room, taking a seat at the end of the bar. A steaming hot mug of coffee was waiting her. Doug and Robin made small talk while she slowly sipped away at her drink. Robin kindly thanked the red bearded man as she headed for the exit.
Her first suspect to examine was going to be Tim. He was pretty much guaranteed to be at the Clinic. Robin walked in the direction in the clinic, gazing longingly at the surroundings. The crowded city life of Tokyo couldn't afford room to such tranquility. The serenity was broken suddenly, "Piece of crap door… Just what I need first thing in the morning."
Robin turned the corner, heading towards the building. A man in a white lab coat was furtively banging on the door, which apparently wouldn't budge. Robin walked by, observing the man as she did. Suddenly, the door clicked and swung open. A girl, slightly older than Robin, was on the other side. "Sorry, I didn't know it was you, Tim." She said apologetically.
Tim pushed past her and vanished into the darkness. The girl was about to shut the door when she noticed Robin. "Can I help you with anything?" She asked.
Robin shook her head. "No thanks. I'll come back later." The girl nodded her head in understanding before pushing the door shut. "Tim appears to be easily angered." Robin said silently before continuing her walk. Anger is almost always a characteristic of witches, or so she had been taught. But then again, a couple of the witches that she had run into so far had been very timid until provoked.
Speaking of timid, a scraggy looking lad was slipping inside of the large building that rose up beside the path. She only caught a glimpse of the guy, but Robin recognized him as Cliff. Since he was one of the suspects, she decided to follow him inside.
The interior of the church was stunning. Two rows of simplistic pews lined either side of the aisle that run from the entrance to the podium up front. A door led off to what Robin guessed was for confessions. Cliff was seated on the pew at the front of the left side. The Pastor sighed when he spotted Cliff. "This must happen often." Robin thought as she sat down close enough to overhear the conversation between Cliff and the Pastor.
"What is it this time, Cliff?" The Pastor asked, sounding fairly bored.
"It's about Ann. I like her and all, but I just can't express my feelings for her. What should I do?" Cliff looked up expectantly.
The Pastor placed a hand on the depressed guys shoulder. He then whispered something, inaudible to Robin, into Cliff's ear. Immediately, Cliff's attitude seemed to change. Whatever the Pastor said obviously had a significant effect on Cliff. He stood up, thanking the Pastor and leaving the church.
Robin was somewhat confused by the sudden turnaround. The Pastor noticed her look of confusion and headed towards her. "He is unsure of himself. All he needs is a few words of guidance to push him in the right direction. What is it that you need?"
"Oh, nothing. I just came in to look around." Robin stated. She got up from her seat and bowed slightly to the Pastor. She then excused herself, taking the chance to leave. Once on the outside of the church, Robin released a sigh. So far, nothing to eliminate any of her suspects. Cliff might just have bipolar disorder, but he could be depressed because he is suppressing something that is unknown to him. This was going to turn into a long investigation.
Robin silently walked through the town square. She noticed an empty bench that seemed to call out invitingly. Robin took a seat, ready to take a short break. It's not like her boss could catch her and fire her for being lazy.
Her rest was interrupted by the sound of arguing coming from over in the direction of the ocean. It sounded like two guys were fighting. Robin got up from her seat and headed towards the source of the commotion. The ocean made a peaceful background to the turmoil that was erupting before it. "I warn you, Kai. If you make Popuri cry, I will kill you!" A nerdy looking guy with glasses was shouting at Kai. Robin realized that the other guy was Rick
Kai approached Rick, shouting back, "Let her go, already! She doesn't need you to be bearing down on her all the time! She's grown up now and can make her own decisions!"
"How dare you tell me what to do with my own sister!" Suddenly, Rick took a swing at Kai. His fist struck Kai heavily right in the nose, sending his target to the ground. Robin was ready to step between the two, but decided against it, figuring that this was a good chance to potentially discover who the witch was.
Kai picked himself off the ground, wiping the freshly drawn blood away from his nose. He took one look at his blood stained sleeve, a sudden look of bloodlust in his eyes. Kai wildly struck out at Rick, connecting with numerous attacks. It was Rick who was bleeding after the exchange.
This fight had gone far enough. She would be in a whole bunch of trouble if one of these two ended up killing someone else, much less another suspect. She was sure that Amon would gladly accept collateral damage. Robin focused on the area between the two combatants, trying to summon some fire. In response to her wills, a small flicker of a fire wall appeared magically.
Rick and Kai jumped back in surprise. They looked at each other, confused at what had happened. Rick quickly pushed past Robin. "What are you looking at?" He demanded.
Kai watched Rick disappear in the direction of the Poultry Farm. He barely took notice of Robin until she took a step forward. "What was that about?" She asked Kai as he held his purple bandanna to his nose, trying to stop the blood flow.
The guy shrugged his shoulders. "Rick is just being a little overprotective of his sister. All I do is flirt with her. I don't even like. I've got a fiancée back home." Kai slowly began to advance towards Robin. "I could always use another little flirt." He stated suggestively.
Robin pushed Kai away as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I told you yesterday… I'm not interested!" She turned her back on the man whore and began walking away.
"Hey! I'm not finished with you!" Kai grabbed Robin's arm and pulled her to face him. His breath reeked of alcohol. Robin glared at the boorish man. Before he knew what hit him, her knee made solid contact with his groin, doubling over in pain. Robin quickly dashed away, trying to get as far away from Kai as possible.
She ran until she got back to the Inn. Her eyes had filled with tears. Never before had any guy made sexual advances on her. She couldn't be blamed for her reaction. She didn't have any idea of what to do in the given circumstances. Robin bolted through the Inn, past the surprised customers and up into her room.
Robin collapsed in an emotional wreck on her bed. She lay there crying for a minute or so before there was a knock on her door. "Are you alright? A male voice asked from the other side of the door.
"Please leave me alone." Robin called back to the person. She expected that whoever it was would leave her alone. Instead, the door creaked open and in entered a guy with brown hair tucked under a blue ball cap. He looked every inch a farmer, except for the white gloves that covered his hands. It was Jack, one of the suspects. At the moment, she didn't give a damn if he was a suspect. She needed someone to use as a shoulder to cry on.
Jack listened intently as Robin related her story about the encounter on the beach. She struggled at bits, when the tears refused her to speak freely. Jack, in a surprisingly gentlemanly gesture, removed his bandanna from his neck and offered it to Robin. She gladly accepted the offering, dabbing away the teardrops. "I think that it's time that I have a little talk with Kai." Jack announced once Robin finished her tale.
"Thank you, Jack. You're one of the nicest people that I've met here." Robin managed a smile as Jack stopped at the still open doorway. Jack only smiled in return vanishing around the corner. Suddenly, Robin felt a strange twinge in her heart. Was it possible? Could she have fallen for this farmer? A suspect? She collapsed onto the bed, trying to make sense of these strange new feelings that had assaulted her today.
As if on cue, her communicator rang. "Robin." She stated into the phone.
Michael chuckled on the opposite end. "That sounds more like a full blown STNJ operative than a newbie. Did you find out any good evidence to narrow down the search?"
She contemplated, only momentarily, telling Michael about what had so far, but decided against it. "Everyone's still a suspect." She revealed.
"Sorry, but you're wrong. We can safely eliminate three of your suspects. You no longer have to worry about Tim, Gray, or Cliff. They only needed a few pieces of information to clear their names. The other guys are still to be considered dangerous."
"Thanks. That will make it easier."
"I'll give you a wake up call tomorrow morning." Michael laughed, to which Robin groaned slightly. She clicked off the device. At times like this, she wondered why she even needed to be on location. Michael always managed to figure stuff out before the field agents did.
A high pitched scream sounded from downstairs. Robin bolted up from her bed and ran to the balcony. Kai was stumbling through the Inn, stumbling into tables. He was covered in bruises and burns. He looked up at Robin, his eyes connecting with hers for a very short moment. Then, he collapsed to the floor, bringing a table down with him.
Doug ran up to Kai, checking over the pile that was Kai. He placed his fingers on Kai's neck, checking for a pulse. He shook his head, "He's dead."
Robin opened up her communicator. "Michael. I'm down to two suspects. Call in Amon. The witch has killed."
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A/N: I hope nobody hates me for killing Kai and making him a jerk. Please review and await the next chapter.