Nine: Familiar

"You called me?" The Chief asked, looking surprised, a feeling Senritsu fully related too.

"Why did you call the police?" she asked.

"Why did you lie about someone breaking in?" Kurapika asked, looking annoyed. "And I called him to get answers."

"What made you think I'd show up and not someone else?" Swarzenbarger raised both his eyebrows.

"Lucky guess." Though it was clear Kurapika had been confident the Chief would show, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered.

The Chief glanced behind him. "So you going to let me in to take a statement or should I just leave?"

Senritsu waved him inside, leading him to her small living room, where he sat on the fluffy couch and leaned into the pillows. Having not gotten the chance before, she looked at him closely now. He was an odd looking man, with bright yellow eyes and red-hair that didn't match his stoic face. And even stranger was his heartbeat. It was calm and steady, but not like a man who was actually at ease. More like a man who had trained himself over many years to remain relaxed no matter the situation. And really, she was likely just reading into things. He has no reason to be worried around us anyway, does he?

Senritsu stood in the doorframe of the kitchen and explained that she'd come home to find her house a mess last night, but frankly didn't think anything of it. A lie, and she wasn't sure why she felt it was so necessary that she lie about something.

"Okay, do you want us to look into it?" he asked.

"Isn't that your job?" she replied.

"Alright, alright little lady." He raised his hands in the air in a gesture of peace. "Blondie, what sort of questions do you have? Cause you have a small window of opportunity here to ask me whatever you want."

"The letter Tomin gave you," Kurapika asked. "How do you know it's from Tomin?"

"Pardon me?" Swartzenbarger asked, blinking rapidly. Even Senritsu gave him a look. What is he talking about?

"I mean, you said she left the note for Senritsu, but how do you know Tomin wrote it herself?"

The man's chapped lips poked out. He straightened his back and placed his hands on his knees. "I mean…I don't know what you want me to say? I don't know for certain, we didn't run forensics or anything on it to make sure it's her handwriting if that's what you mean. Her mother had the note. Apparently, Tomin dropped it off at with her before she died, but I'm not even supposed to tell you that."

"Right before she died?" Senritsu asked. But when the Chief gave her a blank look she pouted. "Come on. You said it yourself; you don't believe I murdered her. And you have no evidence that I did so anyway, other than I was the last person to talk to her…alive…."

"Wait, so Tomin gave her mother the note…before Senritsu talked to her?" Kurapika asked, his eyes narrowing in thought. "Or you she saw her mother after talking with Senritsu."

Swartzenbarger scratched his head. Then he rubbed his nose and leaned back against the couch again. " Just between the two of us, yes."

"To which one?" Senritsu said, nearly at the same time as Kurapika said it.

Swartzenbarger rubbed his chin. "Look, I can't tell you anything. You're a suspect in her murder. Try and pull the Hunter card all you want, but I can tell you're not the type to kill me like some of the others would. Neither of you are." He frowned. "Already, you're pushing your luck. So you have anything else to say about the break-in?"

Senritsu crossed her arms. "I'm not interested in pressing charges, Swartzenbarger" she said. And when Kurapika shot her a quizzical look, she gave him a shrug.

"Alright." Swartzenbarger stood up. "Call me Swartz, since we're getting to know each other so well." And he winked, but it was directed at Kurapika, who furrowed his brow together.

Swartz's boots squeaked along the floor as he said farewell and headed out. Senritsu bid him goodbye, then watched out her living room window as he drove off.

"Sorry," Kurapika said.

"You wake me up in the middle of the night…how did you even call the cops?" she asked.

"With my phone?"

Right. She sighed and placed a hand on her forehead. "Well, did that jog your memory?"

"No…but we got something at least," he said. "Tomin went to see her mother right after talking to you. I say we try and speak with her…or see if we can look at the street cameras from that day."

She nodded. "Good ideas…Can we wait until morning though?"

"Sure thing." His lazy grin melted her annoyance. She watched him plod back to the couch, before going back to her bedroom. But sunrise came sooner than she would've liked. And she found herself showering and then waiting for Kurapika to finish shower. Funny how she'd spent a lot of time dreaming about this: the two of them living together, sharing bathrooms, eating meals together. But she would've preferred these circumstances to come about in a more romantic way. Kurapika was with her now only because he didn't remember breaking up with her a few months ago.

Ah well. She gently patted the rest of her mousy, brown hair with a towel and studied her appearance in the mirror. Since finding the Sonata of Darkness and gaining most of her old appearance back, she had been happier but only very slightly, much to her surprise. Not that her appearance was much of an improvement, but people looked at her differently. Less with disgust and irritation, and more with indifference. And she found their indifference harder to read than their disgust sometimes. Emotions are much easier read through hearing, than through sight.

Kurapika finished showering and appeared in her bedroom, two towels wrapped around his waist and chest, and dripping wet. Senritsu dug around her closet to find him a pair of jeans and a white tee shirt, which he changed into.

"I'll have to buy you some clothes…or maybe we can stop by your old room and see if you left anything there," she said as they stepped outside. She locked her door behind her.

"Alright. Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome."

They hailed a taxi. It wasn't difficult to look up Tomin's house address being that it was connected to her shop, and they were hoping one of her neighbors knew where her mother lived, or could give them a phone number, or anything really.

They arrived at a small apartment complex. A hairless dog stood outside, glowering at them as they walked up to the front door and into a tiny, lobby area. No one was at the desk there, but a few people were milling around, waiting for the elevator.

"Hey," Senritsu said, approaching them. "You all know where Tomin lives?"

"Who wants to know?" That was a man closest to the elevator.

"I do?" she squeaked, surprised at the way her voice changed. "I mean, I'm looking for her mother."

The man regarded her with a bit of suspicion for a few seconds. "Her mom and her lived in 414," he said.

"Thanks."

When the elevator made its appearance, they got on and road it up to 414 at the speed of a turtle. They knocked on the door of 414.

A pale-faced woman opened it fully. "Yes?"

"Um…ma'am…" Senritsu said. I don't even know your name. "We wanted to talk to you about your daughter, Tomin, if it's okay."

"And we're sorry for you loss," Kurapika added, always the perfect gentlemen. His face even looked apologetic and sober, and Senritsu did her best to mirror his expression as she nodded.

The woman's mouth fell open, before she reached leaned for and wrapped Kurapika in an embrace. "I thought you'd never show up."