This story is a derivative fanwork written by GodandMen for the Toaru Majutsu no Index/とある魔術の禁書目録 franchise.
SIGILS
IV
-x-
I really gotta stop drinking this shit.
The letters rose from the pages and began dancing a merry, fantastical little jig. They whirled and twirled their little bodies against each other, forming a circle around the pencil within their ballet.
The five ballerinas that took to the floor were:
GAanneaan-9
PAnnanne-5
DAanne-4
ALloowanne-16?
GAwnneuuanne-7
Jim stared at the words coming to life right before his eyes.
Jesus, did Yomikawa put LSD in the coffee or something?
Jim extended his baton and gave himself a few good whacks on the head.
When he returned and looked down again he saw that the phantom little fairies had disappeared, leaving only his messy scribbles on the notebook's pages.
Jim took another sip of the magical coffee and went back to work.
He knew that fourth line, 'ALloowanne-16?' stood for 'ALO-N 16'. So he figured that each of the lines of script were just coordinates for a map sector.
So the script on the warehouse's wall were designations for map coordinates.
Anti-Skill used the same map coordinates as the ones provided on civilian maps. Anyone could buy a map of Academy City from a tourist shop and the coordinate system would be identical to the big map in Yomikawa's office.
Each of the words' syllables probably stood for a letter on the map. With this in mind he started to deconstruct the script to try and make sense of them.
The first was:
GAanneaan-9
GA – anne – aan – 9
GA – anne – aa – n – 9
GNA-N 9?
Academy City map coordinates system was was XXX-X Y, with X being a letter and Y being a number.
That made sense. He quickly wrote that down.
Feeling his exhaustion descending on him, Jim quickly went through the rest, lest sleep took him before he could finish his task.
PAnnanne-5
P – A – nn – anne – 5
PAN-N 5?
It was very confusing because it seemed like the script wasn't internally consistent. Sometimes 'N' could be written as 'anne' but other times it would be just 'nn'. In any case he had no way of checking.
DAanne-4
D – A – anne – 4
DAN…4?
Oh great, already got a problem!
It was missing a letter. It needed to be something like 'DAN-X 4'. The line of script was too short for any other possibilities.
Jim clutched his head in his hands. His brain was slowly turning into mush. He didn't have much brain cells to begin with, but this was surely killing what's left.
Honestly it's the fault of the nasty episodes. His brain's been deprived of oxygen for too long and too often.
Fuck it. Let's just skip it. I'll come back to it later when I'm not half dead.
ALloowanne-16?
Ah, the chosen one! It was already solved. It stood for ALO-N 16.
Now onto the last.
GAwnneuuanne-7
Oh boy…
Jim stared it menacingly like a school boy looking at a very difficult math problem on the final exam. Then, with shaking hands, he picked up his pencil and gave it his best shot.
GAwnneuuanne-7
GA – W – NNE – UU – ANNE – 7
GWNU-N 7?!
He shook his head. It had too many letters.
G – AW – NNE – UU – ANNE – 7
G…AW(?)…NU-N 7?!
GAWNU-N 7?
Despair.
Deep, bottomless despair.
Jim dropped to the floor on his knees with a loud thump. He threw his arms into the air like a fallen angel that had just been cast out from the heavens.
The word made no sense.
First too short, now too long? Seriously?
Why is the fucking thing so long! What the fuck?!
Jim gave up, for now at least.
He got back into his chair and closed the notebook. Then he took a look around as he absent-mindedly massaged his arm, even though it had been compliant.
The station was still dark and empty; Jim was still technically on the night watch. After dropping the boy off at HQ, Yomikawa had driven back to the crime scene at the house. But even with the help of all the other Anti-Skill officers they failed to find any more clues.
It was currently 5:00 AM.
Jim knew that his shift would end at 6:00 AM. After that he could go home and have the day off. He quickly turned back to Yomikawa's office and saw that her boots were still on the desk.
She was sleeping.
He knew that Yomikawa would not rest until she found the serial killer. And judging by her progress so far, she was the one Jim should stick to if he wanted the latest leads and developments on the case.
Then he remembered the tantrum he threw earlier.
A nasty scowl appeared on Jim's face.
Yesterday he had complained to Yomikawa about how investigating the serial killer was too dangerous, so she had taken him off the case.
However that was before he had discovered the connection between the killer and the little girl. And since Jim wanted his locket back, he needed to find the girl. And the best way to do that was to find the serial killer.
So now Jim was interested in investigating Suspect A.
Jim felt his neck crumbling under the weight of his head so he laid it down against the table. The soft pages of the notebook felt very inviting. As he drifted off to sleep, Jim formed one last train of thought:
Yomikawa probably isn't going home.
She'll just sleep at the station and continue investigating tomorrow morning.
Man, she's so fucking motivated…
Yomikawa went home.
She did not stay at the station. At 6:00 AM sharp she got up and drove – with her eyes half-closed – back home. Then she took a quick shower and followed that up with a power nap. After waking up she ate a big breakfast and returned to the station, refreshed and energized, late in the morning.
The first thing the lieutenant did was to walk over to the armory to check out her equipment for the day. However she raised her eyebrows in surprise when she saw Tessou slouched over the front desk, fast asleep.
She shook her awake gently.
"Tessou. Tessou! Wake up!"
"Oh! Yomikawa-san! What time is it? What day is it? Oh no, did I oversleep?!"
"No, it's 10:00 AM, Tuesday. Why are you still here? Your shift was over at 6:00 AM. Go home, you look terrible."
Tessou rubbed her neck uneasily.
"Ah ha ha…yes, but I didn't want to go home. After all, I caused everyone trouble last night. So I decided to stay after my shift, to help out. It's the least I could do."
Yomikawa smiled sadly.
"It's alright, Tessou. I would have woken up the others even if it wasn't you –"
She stopped herself. It would only rub salt in Tessou's wounds.
But the cheerful Anti-Skill officer was not paying attention. Instead she was focused on pulling out Yomikawa's equipment. After working with Yomikawa for a year Tessou had gotten fast and efficient at her job.
She laid all of it out neatly on the desk and huffed proudly.
"Thank you, Tessou."
Tessou smiled brightly.
"No problem lieutenant!"
As Yomikawa began signing her name on the forms Tessou suddenly piqued up again.
"Oh, oh! Yomikawa-san, what happened last night? I heard it was the serial killer!"
"Unfortunately not. I looked over the crime scene again but there wasn't much else. What did the morning briefing say?"
"Not alot. Only that there's been a fourth victim."
Huh…
"Tessou, is the old man we arrested yesterday still in his cell?"
"Yes, Yomikawa-san."
It was no time to be hiding leads.
"Tessou, we're transferring him."
"Yes, Yomikawa-san. But what happened to Jim-san?! He had a broken nose! Did he fight the serial killer? Did he win?!"
Yomikawa furrowed her eyebrows and remembered what had happened. She had smashed the metal slide of her Glock 17 into his nose. She also punched him in the jaw, quite hard too…
"Um…what did he say? What did Jim tell you?"
"Oh, he was so modest! He said that he was walking around with his eyes closed and ran straight into a telephone pole. He said that he was stupid and that he deserved it."
A whisper of guilt skirted through her chest.
"Um y-yeah, that's what happened. Cadets, you know, never paying attention to where they're going. It happens."
"Oh…I guess. I thought he was wounded by the serial killer. It was pretty nasty. It looked like he broke his nose. I offered to patch it up for him but he declined, so I just gave him a band aid."
Yomikawa smiled.
"Ah, your pink band aids? Did you give him one of those, Tessou?"
"Yes! They are very cute, right? They have the Gekota mascot on them."
The thought of Jim – characteristic scowl and all – walking around with a bright pink band aid on his nose made Yomikawa smile.
"And oh, I almost forgot! Jim-san told me to tell you that he wanted to talk to you."
The Anti-Skill lieutenant rolled her eyes. He was probably going to complain to her about the serial killer case again.
Or perhaps he was going to confront her about what she said in the kitchen…
Either ways, it would be annoying at best and unpleasant at worst; Yomikawa didn't need it. She had more important things to attend to.
"Sure, I'll talk to him when he comes in tomorrow."
"Oh no, Jim-san is upstairs."
Yomikawa quickly looked up, shocked.
"What!? What do you mean he's upstairs?!"
"Oh, he didn't go home, Yomikawa-san, like me. He stayed behind after his shift."
For fuck's sake, what does that kid want now…
"Lieutenant Yomikawa, I'd like to investigate Suspect A with you, ma'am."
"Yes, yes, I won't drag you out anymore. You can go clean the toilet. Now get out of my office!"
"Thank you – what? Excuse me? Ma'am, did you hear what I said?"
Yomikawa looked up with an annoyed expression. She had been busily filling out the witness protection form for the old homeless man.
"Yes, I was listening. You wanted off from the case and assigned to light duties, right?"
"No ma'am, I said I wanted to investigate the serial killer case with you."
There was a long pause. The lieutenant stared at him with unbelieving eyes. Jim simply shrugged.
"…but why?" Yomikawa finally managed.
"Well, Suspect A needs to be stopped. He's killing innocent civilians. He must answer for his crimes. As an Anti-Skill cadet I want to bring him to justice."
She was glaring at him now.
"Why?"
"Ma'am, I just said –"
"Yes I heard what you said. It's bullshit. I know that you don't give a rat's ass about justice or innocent civilians."
"Umm…that's not true. I do care! I –"
"Jim, I know who you are. I'm not blind. Or stupid. So stop trying to pretend that you're just a dumbass cadet, the routine is getting really old. It was funny and cute the first couple of times. I don't have the time for this nonsense. Now speak!"
Four times.
The serial killer had killed four times.
That meant that four innocent people have died.
And a certain Anti-Skill lieutenant had failed to stop him, each and every time.
For Yomikawa Aiho, that was the same as if the blood was on her own hands.
In another place, another time perhaps she would have the patience and energy to be kinder, to indulge and toy with him. But today was not it.
Jim made a long face.
"Well, what would you rather I pretend to be, if not a dumb cadet?"
"I don't know and I don't care. You can pretend to be whatever you damned please. But I need to know why you're so suddenly interested in the serial killer. Until you give me a proper answer I'm not letting you help me."
Jim realized his mistake.
Yomikawa would never have bought any of his flimsy excuses. He should have opened up with something more plausible and believable. All he did was provoke her interest and direct her attention at what he was doing. Her eyes were narrowing.
Now Yomikawa was suspicious.
Damnit, I need her to trust me.
I still have a lot of things I need to hide from her.
He took a deep breath.
"It's the boy."
She froze.
"What about him…?"
"I…ah…fucked up. I s-should have, no, no, I shouldn't have –"
Suddenly Jim was no longer pretending. He was actually having trouble finding the right words.
The best lies were the ones with a grain of truth.
Yomikawa rubbed her forehead slowly.
"It happens, Jim…it's not excusable, no, but it happens. When the door comes down and you walk into that funnel, sometimes shit just happens. Of course, you should have paid more attention. You are not in Krako – I mean, you are not in wherever you used to be anymore."
Yomikawa clutched her ballpoint pen.
"Here, proper target identification is very important. Paramount, in fact. You should never engage unless you are 100% certain about the target, even if it means that you get nailed. A single centimeter off is often what decides whether if the hostage lives or dies…"
She saw that he was staring at the floor.
"Perhaps it was too rash of me to send you in there first…you are just a cadet after all," she said quietly.
He suddenly looked up. There was something dark and unforgiving glimmering in his eyes.
"No. That's a shit excuse. Bullshit. I'm not a fucking cadet. I mean, yes I am but I've kicked in doors before, I've done that shit. I should have known better. No, I knew better. I shouldn't have..."
He trailed off quietly.
She carefully observed the expression on his face.
"I fucked up. I want to make it right," he said finally.
Yomikawa saw that his nose was indeed broken. It was bloodied quite badly but he was not wearing Tessou's band aids. She could also see faint bruise marks where her fist had connected with his jaw.
"Well, you didn't fuck up, Jim. You were planning to, yes, but I stopped you before you did."
"Yes, you stopped me."
A short pause followed.
"How's the nose?"
"My nose is fine, ma'am. Thank you for asking."
There it is again.
She leaned back into her chair.
'Thank you for asking, ma'am.'
Yomikawa slowly tapped her fingers on her desk. She could hear the sounds of the other officers walking outside, talking about their patrols and discussing the serial killer case. The familiar smell of stale coffee and air freshener floated through the entire station.
Jim stood there at attention, with his arms folded behind his back, and stared into the wall behind her.
She could sense his arm twitching again, but just like before, he held it back, thinking that she would not notice.
She remembered how they had gone into that room, readying for the kill. In truth Yomikawa remembered how she herself was prepared to start shooting at any moment.
That was out of line.
Why didn't she announce "Anti-Skill!" when they breached?
Yomikawa had gotten carried away as well. She was not in the right mindset when they went in.
An Anti-Skill officer didn't go into that bedroom.
It was the woman in the kitchen.
How can I expect him to…
When I…
Yomikawa remembered how he looked when she carried the child out of the bedroom.
She sighed noiselessly.
"Alright, you can come…" she said finally.
He smiled faintly.
"…but if I find out that you're doing this for an ulterior motive, that you're working for someone else, that you're planning something, that you're investigating the case for reasons other than what you've said here…"
The pen in her hand snapped savagely in two pieces.
"…then Mr. Jakov Ivanov, this will not end well for you. I might not be your station chief but I can assure you, I know exactly what to do in order to make life very problematic for you. It will be so problematic, problematic enough in fact, that the jackals will certainly decide that it was a grave mistake to send you here to Paradise. And that you would do better to return to the field."
His small smile disappeared very quickly.
"If you're lucky you might end up in Sofia again. If not…"
She knew that he understood exactly she was saying.
She knew how difficult it must have been for someone as young and junior as Jim. He was a fresh mongrel with, at most, three years of fieldwork under his belt. Probably just support work. And no formal training.
Academy City was "Paradise", and entry was not cheap. Especially for a mongrel like Jim.
"But Yomikawa…why would I do that? Who would I be working for?"
"Oh, I don't know. You could be working on your station's orders, for instance. I know the black ones are getting more and more handsy with The City these days. And who can blame them? The snakes seem to be too busy hibernating…"
Yomikawa stopped herself before she said too much. It was never wise to speak of such matters in public, especially if you knew what you were talking about. She also made a mental note to stop using Jim's real name so liberally.
Her cold, unflinching eyes pierced him.
"Do I make myself clear…Jim?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good, now get geared up. We're investigating the third victim today. Yesterday I managed to get a lead from Judgment. The lead may have something to tell us about the third victim that the task force missed."
"The third victim is…the student, right?"
"Yes, the student."
"Yomikawa-sensei, what is he doing here?!"
The girl with the Judgment armband threw her hands up unbelievingly and turned to Yomikawa for an explanation. Her expression was a very unhappy one.
Jim quickly glanced over her.
Short. Pigtails. She looked like a twelve year old girl. Neat school uniform. Nice shoes. Plain outfit but well dressed. Probably some sort of rich girl at one of Academy City's famous all-girls schools. Judgement Armband. So…student police? Something like that?
Jim also remembered seeing her with some sort of metal rods in her hands.
Esper?
In conclusion, she was some esper rich kid playing at being police.
Great.
"He's a cadet, Kuroko. He's supposed to be investigating things."
"Y-yes, b-but…but he's a crook! He was pointing a pistol at onee-sama and myself! He's a criminal!" she sputtered.
"Yes, I know, I read the report. On that note, yeah Jim, why were you pointing a gun at a middle school girl? Two middle school girls, in fact. Care to explain yourself?"
He shrugged innocently.
"Well, I didn't know! It was dark. I just got out of the water. Hey! I'm not a criminal! I was trying to save –"
Jim suddenly stopped himself.
Yomikawa said that she had read the report about what happened on the bridge. She also said that Anti-Skill had caught some of the capture team.
It was the team in the toppled van.
It was the team after the girl with ashen hair…
Jim did not talk about the girl's hair color in his testimony. But it could have been mentioned in the report by the Judgment girl and that other esper girl.
The capture team definitely must have said that their target was a girl with grey hair.
And Yomikawa had the girl's hair color from the little boy…
The pit in his stomach grew deeper and deeper.
Did Yomikawa know?
Did Yomikawa already make the connection between the little girl and the serial killer? Did Yomikawa already know that the girl from the bridge was the same girl who stood by the window? The same girl who cleaned up after the serial killer?
She must know, right?
Or at least it's only a matter of time before she connects the dots…
Luckily for Jim, he was saved by the arrival of the important witness.
"Yomikawa-sensei, she's here. That's the girl."
"Alright, let's go talk to her. Jim, snap out of it! And open your eyes this time!"
"Y-yes ma'am."
Jim looked around the park and tried to spot who they were talking about. Yomikawa nudged him and discretely pointed out a girl.
She was about fourteen and sported a simple t-shirt and jeans. Jim noted that her hair was messy and unkempt. But most importantly, he spotted her puffy and swollen eyes, undoubtedly the result of days of crying.
"Who is she, ma'am?"
"A friend of the victim," the Judgment girl answered.
"What's her connection to the victim, Lieutenant Yomikawa?"
"Jim, she was in the same class as the victim in middle school. I went to see Kuroko yesterday and we discovered that the victim…was bullying her. Apparently the task force didn't interview her because they thought it was irrelevant."
"So the victim was a…bad person, ma'am?"
Yomikawa looked at him.
Just like the others, this victim also seemed to have done something heinous. Their theory of the serial killer's moral motive was becoming more and more plausible.
Yomikawa bit her lips.
She remembered the old homeless man's tears flowing down his cheeks as he told her about how his friend helped him with his cough. She remembered how the little boy in the dark bedroom grabbed her vest, begging her not to hurt his mommy.
Nobody has the right to decide who deserves to live or die…
The Anti-Skill officer's fists curled into a ball.
"We'll see just how bad this bully was…"
"She wasn't a bully!"
Yomikawa and Kuroko were sitting down on the park bench beside the witness. Jim on the other hand was standing a couple feet away from the bench. He did not want to disturb the scene with his presence, so he stood away and listened quietly.
The witness was bawling her eyes out again.
"She was my best friend! We grew up together! She wasn't that kind of girl…she was so nice. She was so smart and pretty, unlike me. I didn't deserve her. I never should have…It was my fault! It was all my fault!"
Her words descended into another fit of sobbing. Yomikawa rubbed her back sympathetically.
"Please, please, don't cry. You can tell us everything. We're not here to blame you. We just want to know what happened."
Man, Jim thought, she's really good at this stuff.
No, Jim's just really bad. Yeah, that's probably it.
The girl gathered herself up and continued her story.
"I was never popular or smart. I didn't even have any friends, unlike her. She was popular and smart and the class representative. Everyone wanted to be her friend. Meanwhile I was the lonely weird girl that nobody talked to. Even though we were childhood friends we were so different…She tried to help me but I asked her to stay away in class because I didn't want to drag her down."
The tears came out of her eyes like an unending stream. Jim couldn't help but wonder how she was able to cry so much, given how red and swollen her eyes already were.
Jim looked around quickly to see if he could find…
He found a man playing Frisbee with his dog.
"It all started one day when she made a joke about my hair. But it wasn't mean! It was an inside joke between us! I didn't mind! But everyone heard it and laughed. Then it began spreading around. People started to talk to me more, even though it was just to make fun of me. Suddenly I wasn't so lonely anymore…I thought people actually started to like me."
The girl sniffed and Yomikawa wiped away the snot from her nose with her bare, calloused hands.
Jim winced and turned back to the Frisbee.
"I'm so pathetic, right? Even though they were just making fun of me, I felt really happy. People were talking to me. I'm so pathetic…"
Jim observed that the owner would throw the Frisbee and then chase after it alongside his dog. The dog usually got to it first but he always followed close behind. By the end the man would be sweating like a pig, with his sweat completely soaking through his clothes.
So he carried with him an entire roll of tissue paper to wipe his sweat off.
The Judgment girl looked up questioningly at Yomikawa, unsure if the witness's story would help them in the investigation. However the Anti-Skill officer paid her no heed and continued to coax the girl.
"I see, so it was a misunderstanding? What happened next?"
"It was my fault! It was my fault! I should never have…I should never have asked her to…"
"To…?"
"…to keep making fun of me."
A stunned silence followed.
"You asked her to…bully you?" The Judgment girl was in disbelief.
"No! I didn't ask her to do that! All I asked was for her to joke about me, tell funny stories about me. I thought that way people would want to talk to me more, and they did! People started to joke about me. People were actually friendly to me…"
She saw the dog owner meticulously wiping his sweat away with the small pieces of tissue paper. Then he diligently threw them all into a trash bin.
Bro, just get a towel.
But still, Jim wasn't complaining.
If only he threw the Frisbee in Jim's direction…
"But one day someone said she was being mean and then suddenly everyone was saying that she was a bully! They all turned on her! But she wasn't! She was my friend!"
"Did you tell them? Did you tell your classmates that you asked her to…"
The Judgment girl stopped her question when she saw Yomikawa's silently shaking her head.
"I was going to! I swear! But before I could say anything she was suspended. And people were so nice to me, because they thought I was the victim. I…was scared. I was scared of what they would think of me if they knew…but I was going to! I was going to tell the truth!"
"Did she say…anything?"
"She told me that she didn't mind being a bully if it meant that people were talking to me. She said that she wanted me to have friends…"
"She…she didn't mind? She didn't mind being called a bully? She didn't mind being suspended from school? She didn't mind?! Really?!"
The Judgment girl couldn't contain her shock.
Yomikawa shot her another disapproving look.
Jim looked down at his boots.
Geez Judgment, no need to rub it in.
The witness started crying in earnest again. Her trail of tears leaked through her hands and dripped unendingly onto the wooden bench.
Quick!
The Frisbee!
This time the Frisbee had been thrown far, far away in the opposite direction. Jim sighed internally.
"I didn't deserve her! I don't deserve to be alive! It was all my fault! It was all my fault! I should never have asked her to…"
Judgment opened her mouth to ask more questions but Yomikawa's glare stopped her. Jim agreed with her assessment. Asking the witness more questions at this point was only going to make her more emotional.
They let her cry it out.
Eventually she calmed down and Yomikawa began working her magic again.
"I'm so sorry for what happened. Did you get a chance to tell her? Did you keep in contact with her?"
"I met her here last week. We meet once every week to just talk about random things, like what's on the TV or our families. Even after everything…she still wanted to talk to me. She was still my friend."
"When did you meet her last week?" Yomikawa asked slowly and delicately.
The victim had been found dead on Saturday morning. This meant she was probably killed sometime before, most likely the night before, on Friday night.
If they could somehow piece together the victim's schedule during the last week of her life…
"I met her last Friday."
Yomikawa, Judgment and Jim's collective jaws dropped open.
"What…what did you guys do?"
"She brought me some snacks like usual and we talked about a movie we saw on TV. Here, I still have some of the snacks."
She handed out some sort of packaged seaweed sticks to Judgment and Yomikawa.
"She knew I liked Nori-sticks a lot. It's weird, right? What kind of a girl would like seaweed…normal girls like sweets and cakes. But she never cared. And she always knew where to buy them, even though they were hard to find. She said she always bought them from a convenience store on the way to meet me."
Judgment reached for something under her skirt. He saw that she was wearing some sort of a belt with embedded metal rods on her thigh. He considered reaching for his baton as well.
But the lieutenant discretely waved them off and continued.
"Do you know where she went after meeting you?"
"I don't know. We just talked normally and then she went home. Then next day I turn on the TV and…and I saw someone…they didn't say her name so I didn't know! P-please, I didn't know what happened, I d-didn't know that she had… I d-didn't do anything! Please!"
Yomikawa gently hugged the distraught girl.
"Don't worry, we don't think you did anything. Did you tell anyone about this?"
"No I didn't have a chance. It happened so quickly. And I didn't know who to talk to. That's why I'm here now. I want to help."
The murder was first reported on Saturday. The victim's name was not mentioned in the news.
It was now Tuesday so only three days had passed. And the task force didn't even bother to talk to her so it made sense that the girl didn't know learn about the victim's identity until recently.
"Do you know which way she went home? Is there anywhere she usually goes after meeting you?"
"I d-don't know. I think she just goes home."
"It's alright, it's alright. We'll take care of you. Please, you haven't done anything wrong."
Her tears started flowing again.
Yomikawa hugged her.
Judgment held her hand.
Jim looked at the Frisbee.
"What do you guys think?"
The trio was standing some distance away from the bench. Yomikawa had radioed HQ about her and they were waiting for the task force to arrive. They needed to secure the witness.
"Ma'am…how does he know this? How does the serial killer know this?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, okay, the first victim was a radio broadcaster. Fine, killer heard him on the radio. Second victim was a hobo – I mean, homeless man. A scam artist. I guess…killer heard about him? Got scammed? But the third victim is just some kid in school! How does the killer know? And the fourth is just some woman, a sex worker, but just some woman! How does he know about the private life of some woman at the club? Did she post her life on the internet or something?"
Yomikawa considered the facts. He had a point.
"You're right, Jim. And a high class escort wouldn't just bring a customer straight into her private home…"
Judgment looked around confusedly.
"What is this criminal talking about, Yomikawa-sensei?"
"Well you see Kuroko, we have a theory that the killer has a moral motive. We've found that all of the victims have a…sin of some sort: lying, deceit, treachery. This third victim fits the bill as well. So Jim is asking how the killer would obtain all this necessary information to make moral judgments about all these victims…"
"By the way, Judgment, how do you know?"
The Judgment member bristled indignantly.
"Are you implying that I'm the serial killer!? And I have a name, it's Shirai Kuroko!"
"Jim, she knows because she works at Judgment. It's a student-based disciplinary organization. Think of it as a sort of student police. There was a report filed to Judgment about the victim being a bully at school. We found it yesterday while you were…cleaning the toilet."
"Of course, ma'am."
"But Jim has a point. It's possible that the girl may know the serial killer as someone from school. A teacher, perhaps. Yes, a teacher. Kuroko, the witness is in middle school, right?"
"Yes, sensei."
"Maybe the killer was a teacher and the fourth victim wanted to talk to him about middle school entrance exams for her son. Something like that."
"Ma'am, do we have records of the fourth victim's divorce anywhere?"
Jim was referring to the dead woman they found last night.
"Well…yes, we do. But it's not a divorce. She had an illegitimate child with a wealthy CEO, who gave her money but never recognized the boy. Until recently. He somehow managed to get custody and she was fighting it in court. There's a whole paper trail."
"And the second victim was a scammer, so somebody might have reported him to Anti-Skill. Also, an Anti-Skill officer would be able to access the Judgment files like you did, ma'am. So…"
Yomikawa casted a dark look at Jim. Judgment looked at them with a shocked expression.
"Sensei! Surely you don't believe this criminal!? Do you really think that the serial killer is someone from Anti-Skill? Or Judgment?! That's preposterous!"
The Anti-Skill officer did not share her optimism.
"A theory, Jim, that's all it is. But you may have a point. Anyways, right now let's focus on the victim's path to the meeting and back home."
Yomikawa took out the Nori-sticks that the witness had given them.
"I know these snacks. I used to eat them when I was in university. They are quite old fashioned. She said that the victim always got them from a convenience store on the way. If we can find that store then we could get a lead about the path she took, both to and from the meeting."
She handed each of them a Nori-stick and a school photo of the victim.
"Jim, Kuroko, I want you to spread out and ask every convenience store along…ah, let's see…"
She reached for a map in one of her pouches on the stab vest.
But Judgment quickly glanced at Yomikawa and began making weird signals with her eyebrows.
"What is it, Kuroko?"
The middle school girl shifted her eyes conspicuously in Jim's direction. The cadet looked around him to make sure that there was nobody behind him.
Ah, of course. She was signaling Yomikawa about him.
Yomikawa rolled her eyes.
"Ah Jim, can you, uh…go talk to the girl? Keep an eye on her?"
Jim raised his eyebrow and glanced at Judgment but eventually acquiesced. The cadet walked back to the girl sitting on the bench, leaving the Judgment officer and the Anti-Skill lieutenant to their whispers.
She was crying again.
Jim winced at how many tears were dripping onto the bench. He hoped that she had drank a lot of water that morning because surely her body was getting dehydrated. The ache began eating its way up his arm again, as if prompting Jim to do something about the crying teen in front of him.
He looked around for the Frisbee again.
He saw that the owner was actually close by and preparing for another throw. The dog was yapping and jumping about with frenzied excitement. He realized that the dog actually seemed more interested in the roll of tissue paper on his owner's belt compared to the Frisbee.
Jim narrowed his eyes.
"Well? What is it, Kuroko?"
"Ma'am…are you sure that this is a good idea?"
"What do you mean?"
"Trusting the…criminal with such an important task?"
Yomikawa bit her lips. She felt a bit guilty about how Kuroko's words did indeed give her pause, even after the talk at the station.
"Jim isn't that bad. He's a bit strange sometimes…but he's alright."
"But sensei! He's a criminal! He has that look…"
A flash of motion shot past Yomikawa's peripheral vision.
The Anti-Skill lieutenant turned quickly and witnessed an incredible scene: the cadet was making a run for it. He was darting furiously away from the crying girl on the bench, like a bolt of lightning, towards a grassy opening in the park. He was looking intently upwards as well, as if he was tracking something in the sky.
Her mouth dropped open from a mixture of shock and confusion. Yomikawa began to call out to him but stopped when she realized what he was doing.
Jim was chasing a Frisbee.
Jim was tracking the Frisbee's flight carefully, zigzagging past the unsuspecting park-goers.
To be honest, Yomikawa was kind of impressed with how fast he was able to run with the vest and everything on him.
Jim began slowing down when he saw the Frisbee stalling. He knew that the crucial moment was coming.
He stopped.
The Frisbee was sailing right above his head.
Jim jumped…
…and caught it, just in time. Bad form, but the timing was good.
However before he could land on his feet he got body tackled by a 30kg Akita and they both hit the ground, rolling up a storm of dust and dirt. They began struggling in a frenzied bid to control the Frisbee.
Eventually the owner, sweating profusely, caught up to them and pulled his dog away.
Jim got up on his feet and dusted himself off. He began speaking frantically to the owner and pointed at a roll of tissue paper he was carrying on his belt.
Yomikawa saw the two of them quickly exchange words before the owner agreed to whatever Jim was saying and began ripping off small pieces of tissue paper from the roll.
Eventually he gave a small white pile of it to Jim.
The cadet made a face and looked at him, as if asking he was being serious.
Jim politely returned the white pile to the dog owner…
…and snatched the entire roll.
Before the man could say anything Jim had already taken off, speeding his way back to the bench.
The Akita swung its chubby head back and forth and tried to understand what just transpired. It was having trouble trying to decide: chase down the tissue bandit or attack the pile of white fluff in the owner's hands.
Unfortunately for a certain cadet the Akita's hunting instincts won out. It took off after him in a streak of blurred motion.
Jim barely made it back to the crying girl and handed her the roll of tissue paper .
Then he got tackled again.
She pulled her teary face up from her hands only to see Jim frantically wrestling with the big Akita. He was desperately holding the monster back from destroying the delicious roll of white goodness in her lap.
"Sensei! Are you listening? Sensei!"
"No, Kuroko. I am not listening."
"B-but, sensei, please consider my points! That man is suspicious! Even if he is wearing an Anti-Skill uniform, please remember that he was involved in the incident on Friday night! He could be…"
Shirai Kuroko stopped talking when she realized that the sensei was not listening to her at all. Instead she was trying very hard to contain her laughter.
The Judgment member did not understand.
Yomikawa simply pointed at the bench.
Kuroko turned around and saw a giggling girl wiping her tears away with a roll of tissue paper and a winded, dusty Anti-Skill cadet rolling around on the ground with a giant Akita hound.
Yomikawa smiled.
"Yes Kuroko, I trust him."
"Nice catch Jim!"
"Um…thank you, ma'am."
"Anyways, before that little aerobatic display I was talking about the convenience stores. Jim, Kuroko, I want the two of you to search everything through sectors …."
Yomikawa started shooting off a list of coordinate points, pointing at the map laid open on the grass. They were all places that the third victim could have passed on her way from her home to the park.
Jim took out his notebook.
"Sensei, what are those red circles on the map?"
"Oh, they're the scenes of death of the other victims. We suspect the serial killer killed the victims there."
"What are the coordinates, sensei?"
"So the first victim was killed in GNA-N 9, the second in PAN-N 5, and we're still working on the third…"
Jim looked at the lines of script that he had been working on earlier that day.
GAanneaan-9
GA – anne – aan – 9
GA – anne – aa – n – 9
GNA-N 9?
First victim – the radio broadcaster.
PAnnanne-5
P – A – nn – anne – 5
PAN-N 5?
Second victim – the homeless scammer.
Of course.
If the line of script 'ALloowanne-16' were the coordinates for sector ALO-N 16 where the victim would be murdered, then the other lines would also be the same.
The order matched as well. The first line was the first victim's place of death and the second line the same for the second victim. And he knew for sure that the fourth line was that of the fourth victim.
By that logic, the third victim's scene of death would be…
DAanne-4
DAN-(?) 4
He leaned in closer towards the map spread open on the grass. His eyes searched the areas between the victim's home and the park.
DAE-N 4.
There was a sector called DAE-N 4. It was pretty far off from a straight route from her home to the park, but it was within the realm of possibility. The victim might have made a detour there on her way to meet the witness.
He flipped back several pages to the lines of script written in Old English.
ÐÆænnefēowe
He tried to make it work in his head.
Ð – Æ – ænne – 4
DAE-N 4?
Perhaps the Æ stood for both A and E? It was terribly inconsistent, because in all the other cases of Æ only stood for A, but still…
"Jim! Did you get that? Stop dreaming!"
"Yes ma'am!"
Jim numbly put away his notebook in a pouch, making sure that Judgment and Yomikawa did not see the contents on its pages. He considered his cards very carefully.
Right now he was on duty. If he discovered any new leads right now, he would be obligated to report it to either Yomikawa or the task force.
If Jim did anything shady in uniform, Yomikawa had authority to detain him. And if she really suspected something…
If that happened, Jim could kiss his locket goodbye.
Or maybe the script was just wrong.
He needed to act carefully.
Patience…
-x-
First uploaded: 7/3/2021
Last modified: 3/8/2021
Wordcount: 7,082
Review Corner:
I was planning to do all of the reviews in one go at the arc's Epilogue but currently it's already filled with…colorful language.
I will start from the reviews at the Epilogue of the last arc and go through the ones for this new arc so far.
Brosephg – Chapter 4/5
I'm glad you enjoyed the chapters so far. And I am happy to hear that you liked the dollmaker as a character. I tried to make him a real, plausible person that you could meet in real life in certain professions. Hopefully he was not too edgy or grim dark in his approach.
And yes, unlike Touma, Jim needs to be very careful with how he uses his arm. This will put pretty significant limitations on how Jim approaches conflict with magic users and espers.
Brosephg – Chapter 6
Yeah, the chemistry between Jim and Yomikawa is a pretty important part of this arc. I hope I set it up properly and can make it pay off ok in the end. And yes, Jim is not going to be a hero in the strict sense of the word. This fic will constantly remind readers that he is a grunt who is limited in his ability to do stuff.
Lastly, there are many words I would describe this fic but masterful is not one of them, certainly not.
And honestly in some ways I kind of want this fic to remain obscure so that I can write whatever bullshit I want and nobody will read it!
But still, thank you for your kind words and I hope you enjoy reading new chapters.
Guest – Chapter 7
Yes, the name Krakozhia came from the movie The Terminal. I was looking for an Eastern European name when I had my mind of setting it in the Balkans. So when I remembered that Tom Hank's character spoke some mix of Bulgarian-Russian and I liked Sofia as a city so I just picked that lol.
Guest – Chapter 7
Honestly, you're right. Everyone Jim has met is either toxic or tries to kill him. But to be fair Yomikawa was in a bit in a zone during Chapter 7 so she kind of got carried away I guess. That being said I wrote some of the characters to be intimidating but if they just came across as toxic I guess I failed then lol.
Shamuosu – Chapter 7
Well I'm glad to hear that this story feels like something written by a pro-LN writer. I disagree but thank you haha. There will be some stuff with diminutives and patronymics coming up so I hope you enjoy it.
Also keep in mind that while Krakozh is a Slavic language it will also be a distinct language on its own. So it will have some made-up words I came up with and slightly different naming conventions.
Okay, that will be all for now. I don't expect a lot of reviews for the rest of the arc so I should be able to fit them in the Epilogue. If I do go on hiatus I will do another review corner at the last published chapter.
Also keep in mind that this arc has been divided in mini-arcs.
Changelog:
Okay, this is a pet peeve of mine.
When I came back to write Chapter 2 in October(?) I had a lot of ideas on where the story would go. So I setup some stuff for the future and kept writing. But then I came up with more stuff and went back in to rewrite the set ups.
That is shameless retroactive handwaving on my part.
Also I feel bad for the readers (like all three or four of them) who actually read the new updates when they are posted. Because it means that the version they read is often worse in quality compared to that available to later readers. Also they may miss some important plot points due to some future decision on my part to retroactively hand wave them back in.
So this section is a way of holding myself accountable to my changes. It is also a quick refresher for anyone rereading old chapters. They can just look over the change log and see what parts of have been changed. Generally speaking changes with shameless attached to them are worth checking out.
Some of the parts might be a bit cryptic but if you remember the original chapter you should have an idea of what they are referring to.
Ok. Bye.
Changelog:
3/8/2021 – Prose edits. Trimmed 700 words.
3/4/2021 – Cleanup.
15/3/2021 – Cleaned up Author's Notes.