Chapter 8: Hidden in Plain Sight

The elevator was gone by the time Rinoa and Irvine reached it. With a curse he signalled for the her to follow him as he ran for the stair well. When they reached the ground floor he found they were right across from the Infirmary. Rinoa burst open the door with a blast of magic as Irvine crossed the threshold, but the sight within caused him to skid to a stop.

Tables and trolleys had been knocked onto their sides. Papers and instruments were strewn across the floor. In the middle of the mess was Kadowaki, who climbed to her feet as she held the palm of her hand against her head. Rinoa acted instantly and guided her to a nearby bed.

"What happened?" Irvine asked. The clunking of footfalls directed his attention. When he turned he saw the surveillance team had caught up, weapons raised as they entered the room. Two of them moved to the doctor's office, her door left ajar while the others cleared the rest of the room.

"I don't know," Dr. Kadowaki confessed with a grunt. Rinoa retrieved a cloth from an upended cabinet and was back at the doctor's side. She attempted to press it against the elder woman's head as she spoke. "I was in my office when I heard a commotion but when I came out to investigate someone must've hit me on my head. Next thing I know I'm on the floor and you all show up."

"There's no one else in the room," one of the SeeDs reported. "We've already contacted the Lieutenant-Commander; she should be down here in the next minute or so."

"You didn't see who attacked you, did you doctor?" Another SeeD asked in concern.

Dr. Kadowaki shook her head. Then she rose suddenly and when Rinoa tried to press her back down, she was unsuccessful. "Where the hell are my patients?"

It took him a moment to realize Dr. Kadowaki was right. The SeeDs, Rinoa, the doctor and Irvine were the only ones in the room.

The four beds occupied by the unconscious SeeDs were empty.

"How's the doctor?" Rinoa asked as both she and Irvine rose to stand.

Once Xu had arrived the SeeDs had gotten to work. The outsiders were ushered out to sit on a nearby bench. It was only when the Lieutenant-Commander emerged from the Infirmary that they realized they were about to get some answers.

"She's a little bruised," Xu answered, "but she'll be alright. Her students are looking after her right now."

"Any word on why tha camera's crapped out?" Irvine asked.

Xu shook her head. "The surveillance teams have run diagnostics and they were all confirmed operational. Whatever caused the malfunction seems to have resolved itself for now. We'll keep an eye on them all the same. Speaking of cameras, did either of you find anything?"

"Squall saw something the night he collapsed," Rinoa was quick to say. "We don't know what it was, but he practically ran out of the Infirmary before he collapsed in the hall."

"Doctor Kadowaki said something along those lines when I questioned her, but she thought it was a symptom. You're positive it was something he saw?"

Rinoa nodded. "He cast scan and examined the area at the back of the room, backed into the wall and left in a hurry. I tried watching the video under the same spell but couldn't see what he saw."

"So you want to scan the area?" Xu said. Rinoa nodded. "Alright then, c'mon."

Xu led the pair back through the Infirmary. They bypassed yellow caution tape and stopped in front of the final bed. The Lieutenant-Commander closed her eyes in concentration as she outstretched her hands in front of her. When opened she had the same hazy look but after a moment she blinked to cancel the spell. "I don't see anything. Whatever he saw – whatever was there – is gone now. Did you find anything else?"

Before Irvine could answer, a SeeD member stepped between Irvine and Rinoa. "Ma'am, Dr. Kadowaki is ready for questioning." When he looked to his left he seemed to only realize Rinoa was beside him. He stepped away as the Lieutenant-Commander acknowledge him.

"Hold that thought," she said before she followed after the SeeD.

Irvine scarcely waited a minute before he started for the exit. Rinoa made a surprised sound from the back of her throat and followed. "Xu said..."

"There's anutha hunch we can look inta while she checks in on tha doc." After he indicated he wanted to leave, the SeeD who stood guard unlocked the door and allowed him to pass. Rinoa trailed along behind him.

"What hunch?" She seemed to catch up a second later. "The book in the library?"

"Ya remember where that book got shoved? I reckon I do. And even if it got moved, we might still be able ta find it."

Soon they entered the Library but just as they passed through the doors one of the girls manoeuvred around the desk to cut them off. "We need to talk." She gestured for them to follow her.

Irvine recognized the dark-skinned girl as one of Alicia's friends. Unsure of what she might want, he and Rinoa followed her. They found themselves in a corner. The girl looked over her shoulder briefly before she said in a harsh whisper, "You've got some nerve."

"Hey," Rinoa protested. "We just got here! We haven't done anything."

"Look, I know you guys asked Alicia to keep what you were up to here all hush-hush, but that does not give you the right to do whatever you want with the reading material. You could get her into serious trouble! With what's happened to Zell, she's already been through enough."

"What're ya talkin' about?"

"Oh gimme a break! You guys were writing notes right? I don't mind you taking exerts out of books every now and then but writing in them is not okay. I managed to cover with Instructor Addams but next time you feel the need to write something down, just ask us. We've got plenty of paper."

Neither Irvine nor Rinoa knew what she was on about. No one had written in any of the books when they had gathered there for research. In fact, no one had taken any notes at all except...

Irvine's eyes widened in realization. "Which book was it?"

"I'll show you." The girl moved back behind the counter and pulled the desired book out from under a stack. "You're lucky whoever did it wrote in pencil; we can erase it without damaging the book too badly but it could've been way worse."

She dumped the book in front of them as Rinoa apologized. The girl ignored it and retreated to the other side of the Library when another student called her over.

Irvine stared at the cover in dumbfounded wonder. He tried to puzzle out Squall's thought process as he took in the title. After a minute he gave up and opened the book. He thumbed through the pages as he looked for the note with baited breath. All he could do was hope Squall had left them with anything they could use, because right now their options ran dry.

"Why would he be looking at this book?" Rinoa sounded just as confused as the sharpshooter.

He didn't answer her. He kept his attention fixed on the pages and suddenly he found it. He almost jumped for joy when he took in the actual words, but it still took him a couple of seconds to realize the meaning behind them. When he did he wanted to kick himself.

Rinoa took in the words on the page and looked up with a frown. "Does this mean what I think it does?"

"I reckon so," Irvine confirmed with a nod and slammed the book shut.