Chapter 2: Suspicions

The Mariage killings had begun a month before I started on the case, primarily focusing on illegal excavators of Old Belka. The motive behind them was unclear- were the killings done to find what the archaeologists were searching for, to prevent them from finding something, or something else entirely?

What in particular stood out was that many of the killings were made to resemble suicides. Furthermore, it seemed as though someone or something was erasing anything that could be used as evidence, such as video tapes or anything that could identify or even indicate the presence of the killer at the scene. Naturally, Enforcer training led me to suspect that this might have been perpetrated by, or with help from, someone in the Bureau or familiar with Bureau methods. The fact that Rune was primarily a coroner raised some suspicion, but I found a part of myself wondering how she could in fact perform the killings with the tools she had at her disposal.

Another part of myself did not want this possibility to turn out to be true, and was inwardly relieved at every piece of evidence that cast doubt on it, in spite of the fact that those developments left me no closer to finding another suspect.

My relationship with Rune remained much the same as it had at the beginning; in spite of what we had in common, there still remained a wall between us that we could not quite tear down. Was it because of professionalism or something more? The only way of finding out was to continue trying to reach out to Rune and see how she responded.

One night, I read an email from Subaru in which she mentioned she was teaching Vivio "Strike Arts" on her days off, which was not only a good fighting style for mages specializing in hand-to-hand combat, but it was also a means of exercise and a way of working off stress, leading to it being popular among civilians and those unable to use magic. Suddenly, I was reminded of our days in the academy, when Subaru had once proposed teaching me her fighting style. While our teamwork had brought us up to third place, and later, top of the class, we were not friends at the time, and there were contemptuous and often jealous murmurs going around about us. Some gossiped about Subaru's being the daughter of a major and my dropping out of the officer academy and air training, wondering if she was getting preferential treatment, and if I was possibly benefiting from such treatment as well, given that it seemed as though I had failed before and proven that I could not stand on my own. Subaru sought to kill two birds with one stone, helping me vent my frustrations and break the ice between us by teaching me her Strike Arts, and despite my reluctance, I ended up accepting.

It was for this reason that I ended up taking Rune to a shooting range on one day when we were awaiting more reports on Mariage activity so that I could show her how to use her gun. She was considerably more polite and humble in accepting this instruction than I had been toward Subaru's offer, although I sometimes wondered whether her behavior was a front to please me because I was her superior. I ended up being half right about that.

"Nicely done, Rune" I said as Rune hit the paper target in all the places of her choosing. Her performance in the trial run I had her do in order to gauge what she already knew was very good, but her accuracy improved considerably with my advice.

"Thank you very much, Enforcer Lanster," she said. "Your advice helped me refine my skills."

"You seem to have a good grasp of things," I said. "Bureau trainers like people who have enough talent so that they don't have to hold their hands, as well as the desire to get better. You have both, so you'll go far."

"I appreciate the comment, ma'am," Rune said. "I do hope to come away from this with improved skills."

"To come away" from our partnership; I knew most of my partnerships were temporary. From the start, I knew that I would eventually part ways with Subaru at the dissolution of Riot Force 6 and with Fate-san after my promotion; in hindsight, it's fairly surprising that I stayed with her as long as I did. But much like a child enjoys a vacation from school, I chose not to dwell on the inevitable ending, but rather, savor my time, and look back on it fondly when it was done. I also kept in touch with the people I met, but I wondered, what were Rune's plans after we parted ways?

Around this time, our investigation led back to Clanagan, and to some familiar faces. Ginga Nakajima of the 108th Division was there, as well as her younger sister and my best friend, Subaru, who was now a member of the Rescue Squad. Over time, more people, such as Erio, Caro, Vivio, and even some of our former enemies from the JS Incident provided assistance in various ways. The higher-ranking members of Riot Force 6 were all absent, but that was understandable. Not only were there many other incidents out there that needed to be resolved, but we were no longer rookies, and had to rise to the occasion as Bureau members.

As a result of this, Rune got to know the Forwards, and other former members of Riot Force 6, such as Alto-san, Vice-senpai, and the temporary collaborator Ginga-san. Her relationship with them was quite similar to hers with me. While calling her their "friend" would imply a level of equality and informality that was not present between her and them, they got along well.

While walking to meet Rune at the scene of a crime, I couldn't help but see Rune looking off into a distance, and mumbling to herself, something along the lines of "perhaps this time it will work…". The few other audible fragments of her conversation with herself did not give any other clue as to what she was talking about.

I then wondered what our former Vice-Captain Vita, now an Instructor alongside Nanoha-san, would say about leaving one's back open like that. Rune didn't even hear me despite my uniform-appropriate boots not being suited for stealth, which made me wonder if she was merely pretending not to notice. Finally, after a moment, I interrupted the silence with "I'm here, Rune"

"Ah, En-Enforcer Lanster, you're here already," Rune said, as she turned around, stood at attention and saluted in a single fluid motion.

There were a number of things I could have said in that situation. One was that she should watch her back lest she be taken off guard by a person seeking to kill her. Another was that I secretly liked her when she came off as awkward, and even found it slightly cute, as a glimpse of what she was like when she was not trying to be the consummate Bureau officer. I rarely saw her out of uniform and almost never saw her out of what could be considered "professional mode". Even the serious and often aloof Vice-Captain Signum dropped it from time to time, as difficult as it was to notice; Nanoha-san said Vice-Captain Signum was serious even around her friends. I could even have begun to engage Rune in friendly conversation, since her guard was lowered.

But I didn't quite know how to proceed or how to lessen the distance between us. Instead, I returned the salute and got down to business, neglecting to mention how long I stood behind her, and asked her about the matter at hand. It was not the last time I saw this side of her- literally or figuratively.

Late one night, we had a significant breakthrough in the case. We were unable to stop the killer from reaching its target, but we found two pieces of information; the true nature of the killer- or rather, killers, in the form of the Mariage- and the method by which they killed their victims- by mind controlling them and forcing them to commit suicide. The Mariage were formidable opponents, but also considered themselves expendable, raising the question of whether someone was pulling the strings. The only thing that appeared certain was that there was more than one of them out there.

It also changed my understanding of Rune. After the Mariage self-destructed, she appeared convinced that the killings would end, or at least hoping that we would think so. Normally, any Bureau investigator, much less a highly-trained Enforcer, would know that jumping to conclusions in such a way is dangerous, as if there turned out to be multiple suspects or if the dead or detained suspect was, in reality, not the true culprit, more people would die. It seemed uncharacteristic of Rune, a serious, practical and rational person, to allow herself to fall into groundless optimism.

Of course, if Rune was the killer, it would be advantageous for her to let us believe that the case was closed, enabling her to perform her killings with fewer people on her trail, and with the possibility of them not even initially realizing that the killings were still going on. Murders happened on Mid-Childia every day; Fate-san was, at the time, involved in a serial murder case of her own. If we prematurely closed the case, by the time we realized that the Mariage cases had never stopped, many more would have perished.

This seemed like an outlandish possibility at the time. However, when I mentioned Toredia Graze, the mysterious figure who was connected with all the victims, Rune answered that she did not know him, but not before hesitating slightly. It was as if my question had taken her off guard; her face had a sad and lonely expression that had never come through the stoic facade she always showed to me while acting as my subordinate. While no one else on the investigation knew him, and thus gave no reaction to his name, this was potentially worth pursuing. Perhaps Rune was hiding something, since the name clearly registered with her on a level she did not wish to openly admit. Perhaps he was, in fact, familiar to her somehow, and this link would prove relevant.

I didn't know it at the time, but Rune had set me on the path that led to the truth… and to her own arrest.

Author's Note

SapphoSensei: Thank you for the review. In addition to wanting to do this story, I also like showing how Teana, a tsundere, really feels about certain things.

Runessa's shock at Teana's question about Toredia is better expressed in the audio form of the sound drama, when she gives off a slight gasp of surprise after hearing Toredia's name.

You may notice that Teana is moving on to suspecting Runessa at a much earlier point in her respective story than when Chrono suspected Graham. This is in part because Teana is, at this point, still building her impressions on Runessa, while Chrono had more history with Graham, thus leaving more to be discussed, and more reason to doubt that he would activate the Book of Darkness. There's also was less to make Graham suspicious at the equivalent point in the Book of Darkness Case, since I inferred Chrono only suspected Graham around the time of the hacking into Bureau security.

Rune's showing her back to Teana and talking to herself when she doesn't think anyone is around are subtle habits that come up later in the Sound Stage. I decided to introduce them here as a way of foreshadowing.