Raidou Kuzunoha XV leaned back in the plastic chair, fingers drumming against the small table in the breakroom. Daisuke was talking to the nurses, investigating potential similarities between Apathy Syndrome patients. Gouto sat on the windowsill with his tail twitching.
"Do you feel it, Akira?"
"Yeah."
"This place is precariously close to the Dark Realm."
"Should we evacuate patients?"
Gouto sniffed the air. "At this point I think that would be more dangerous than keeping them here, but you should make sure to tell Vincent about it."
"I'll mention it first then."
"Besides information gathering, what else do you need to talk to him about?"
"Doctor Victor."
Gouto shifted and jumped onto the table. "Why would you talk about something like that?"
"Because it's important."
"Why?"
"It's..." Raidou took a deep breath and cut off his cadence with a definitive rap on the table. "Something happened last night, okay? And it had to do with Doctor Victor. I'm hoping Vincent can tell me something about it."
"I never did figure out why you bolted like that. What had you so spooked?"
"Is that what it looked like to you?"
"You just stopped. Then after a few moments, you hopped on the bike and took off for the bridge. I thought you had sensed a demon at first, or that something was attacking you, but you didn't pass out."
"Why would I pass out?"
"When something like that happened to your grandfather he fell unconscious, but you just stood there."
"I doubt my grandfather saw-"
Raidou stopped as the door opened. "I have about twenty minutes to eat and talk."
"Hey, Vincent."
"What's wrong?" The disheveled doctor sat across from Raidou, black hair greasy against his face and heavy bags under his eyes obscuring his already deep set eyes.
"First off, Gouto wants me to make sure you know that this hospital is coming dangerously close to the Dark Realm."
"I'll make sure people can get out." Vincent looked at his friend for a moment before continuing. "That's something you notice after you get here. Daisuke's bugging the nurses already, so what needs me?"
"Have you noticed any similarities between the victims?"
"Location, and that's it. If you want more, talk to the nurses. I'm busy with people who are suffering from other health problems. They have no sense of self-preservation now, but the nurses are handling the Apathy Syndrome itself."
"Understood."
"What else?"
Raidou closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Do you know about someone named Igor?"
"Why?"
"His name came up last night."
"I know about an Igor. He's a character in the Frankenstein movies."
Before he could stop himself, Raidou opened his mouth for a glib crack about "Frankenstein's" first name. A small gurgling sound escaped as he choked back the remark, but it was too late.
"Thought so," Vincent announced, rising from his seat. "What makes you think he's associated with my uncle?"
"I didn't say anything about-"
"You were about to."
Raidou couldn't argue with that, and he fell silent.
"Well?" Vincent prompted.
Trying to salvage his discretion, Raidou grasped for an explanation. "Uhh... Some notes?"
Vincent leaned down on Raidou's chair. "You burned all of his notes, remember?" The doctor's voice shook, and so did the chair.
Raidou tilted his head back to look up at his looming friend. "My grandfather's notes, not your uncle's. But I thought you might kno-"
His head hit the ground. Hard. And for a moment the entire world seemed to reel.
Vincent stood over him, coat quivering with his tremors.
"Don't lie to me. Whatever the hell else you want to do, don't lie to me."
Raidou passed a hand over his face. "I'd rather lie intentionally than accidentally."
Vincent's foot came forward, but he managed to stop short of kicking the boy in the head, instead driving it into the floor unsettlingly close to his face. "What do you mean?"
The young detective let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. "Something happened last night- something I can't explain. You have to believe me when I tell you this is important and that I will explain everything as soon as I can." The words rolled out- unscreened, unrehearsed.
"Just tell me what happened." Vincent demanded.
With some hesitation, Raidou regarded the sneaker a hair's breadth from his ear. "Can I stand up first?" Vincent turned around with a snort.
Sighing-and more relieved than he cared to admit- Raidou stood and brushed himself off.
"So?"
Raidou righted the chair and turned to regard his longtime friend.
"Are you sure about this, Akira?" Gouto asked.
"Don't you want to know, too?"
Vincent turned to regard Raidou before remembering the cat. However, the response pacified Gouto, and Raidou finally addressed Vincent again.
"I saw Doctor Victor last night."
"You killed him ten years ago."
"Which is why seeing him again terrified me." Raidou pressed on: "I need to find out about Igor."
"It can't have been him," Vincent insisted.
"Demons 'can't' exist." Common logic didn't apply here.
"Raidou..."
"Vincent, 'impossible' shit happens all the time. This is our life. Can we really dismiss the possibility that the dead could contact the living?"
"Or come back..." Vincent whispered, something occurring to him.
"Akira, stop this now."
"That's why I didn't want to tell you. I don't know what it was or how it appeared, but I was told to find 'the one with the world in his soul' and someone called Igor. The, Doctor Victor...thing said Igor was an old friend."
"I don't recognize the name."
"Okay."
They stood opposite each other for several moments. The rolling of carts being pushed through the ward and the buzzing of vending machines accentuated the stillness.
"You should get food."
"I guess," Vincent replied, looking down at the floor tiles. "My shift still has a long way to go."
"When can I expect to see you back at the agency?"
The doctor shrugged. "When no one's in danger."
"Someone's always in danger."
"Yeah, and it's usually you."
"Sorry."
"Don't worry about it. I chose to make it my job to take care of you."
"And it's my job to make sure you eat."
"I'll grab a bite when you leave."
"Alright." Raidou walked forward, but stopped when they were shoulder to shoulder. "Call me when your shift ends."
"I'm fine."
Raidou shook his head, but headed out the door, Gouto gently padding behind him.
"Are you sure about this, Akira? Vincent clearly isn't taking this well."
Raidou closed the door before heading down the hallway and responding, "Why would he?"
"He'll be mad at you for a while."
"Reasonable."
"Akira."
"I knew what I was getting into." Raidou pushed opened a pair of doors to see Daisuke standing near a desk with a receptionist.
"Ah, Raidou, I was just talking to Miss Kimiko about the victims last night."
"Welcome, Mr. Raidou Kuzunoha."
Raidou flinched at the name- his name- but managed to keep his gaze fully on Daisuke. "Any central area?"
"We'll need to look at a map, but..." The detective trailed off as Raidou pulled out his phone and began pulling up a map. "Alright, there were two outbreaks last night. One on the Rainbow Bridge, probably having to deal with a flying woman, and one near Harajuku. We should talk to the locals there and figure out if they saw anything." He now looked at the receptionist. "Miss Kimiko, do you know when the first patients from Harajuku came in?"
"I can look it up." She looked uncertainly to Daisuke.
"Please." Turning back to Raidou, Daisuke asked, "Do you think both cases were caused by this woman?"
"Possibly. Conceptually, she could have been on the Rainbow Bridge heading toward Harajuku."
"Excuse me," Himiko inquired softly, "It appears both cases happened at around the same time."
"Then it's not her."
Raidou shrugged. "Then we head for Harajuku and do this the old fashioned way."
"Old fashioned?" Daisuke mouthed as they began to head out of the hospital.
"Hey, mind reading is perfectly old fashioned."
Author's Note: Okay, so I forgot to put this in initially. My lovely friend, doomschneider, has been beta reading for me, or viciously editing and practically co-writing. Really, it's all in how you look at it. What this means is that quality should go up, and that cruelty should also rise. Have fun and please review.
