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23 Days after Sota gets Cholera
Sota stood at the kitchen his hands now busy with making a brand new batch of sweets. In his hand was a cook book with a book cover. Seryu's house was ironically quite spacious. It had 2 floors in total with a rather simple kitchen. A regular sink, oven, etc. This was just how he and she liked it… simple. However what had surprised him was a picture of Seryu and her father together. It was a simple picture nailed onto the wall of them both smiling over a caught criminal who look absolutely terrified.
He quickly opened the book and glanced at the clock after reading it. Seryu sitting on her brand new kitchen table stared at him. She couldn't help but vaguely wonder what exactly was he making.
Sota said that he knew how to cook but she just didn't understand what was being cooked.
She had mostly bided her time by playing around with Koro but other than that there wasn't much else to do besides that. So she was definitely bored at this point.
As Sota opened the oven to look into the batch of sweets and check whether or not they were ready, Seryu's eyes glossed over to his cook book. It was right next to him. She really couldn't help but wonder what was in it.
She looked at Sota once again who was now putting on his oven mitts about to take out whatever was in the oven. Seryu squinted her eyes and extended her arm to the book.
"So close" she thought as her eyes diverted from Sota too his covered cookbook. She leaned her body even further in an attempt to grasp it. Her fingers finally touched the book she was about to pull back.
SMACK
Instead of being allowed to pull back Sota had noticed this and quickly smacked her hand with a wooden spoon. "Ow Sota what was that for?" Seryu shouted holding her hand in slight pain while pouting towards her roommate in front of her.
"Come on Seryu i've told you before no one touches my cookbook but me" he said tucking the book in. "Still no reason too hit me with a wooden spoon" she grumbled under her breath before standing up. At this point Sota had finally gotten the sweets out of the oven and placed it on the window to cool down. However in his opinion the temperature was too hot as it was.
"So what did you make anyways?" Seryu asked.
Sota smiled a bit and pointed to the now extremely hot food.
"That would be Wiener Apfelstrudel" he said poking one of them before pulling his hand back reacting to the heat of it. It looked like a cross between a cake and pie. It certainly had a straight form with pie like ingredients on the inside but was also completely dry on the outside. "Eh what's that?" she asked picking up Koro who had been tugging at her leg. "Well i don't know it's exact translation but i'm pretty sure it's German" he responded continuing to wait for the sweets too cool down.
"So you got any plans today?" Sota asked Seryu poking Koro's nose trying to play with it him a bit. "Well I do plan on doing another patrol today and than coming back home. Who knows what evil is lurking throughout the capital" Seryu replied.
Sota sighed
"Really Seryu? Come on take a break you've been taking more patrols than you need too for well the entirety of the time i've known you" he said nonchalantly. Seryu pumped her fist "Never evil lurks everywhere and i have to be there too stop it" she refused.
"Come on it's monday we can see that play Fedele and Fortunio I hear it's supposed to be a great comedy" he said flashing out two tickets. "Sorry but Justice comes first" Seryu replied with a smile.
"Don't you mean family comes first" Sota stated more than asked with a pout.
"Nope" Seryu replied taking a Wiener Apfelstrudel and taking a bite out of it. Sure it was hot and all but it tasted nice. "Hmm these ain't half bad Sota you know. If you ever retire maybe you should become a cook or something" she said in between bites.
Assuming that it was cool enough at this point Sota took a piece and bit into it. "Thank's Seryu but what kind of chef would need to check the cookbook 24/7 to avoid forgetting what he's doing" he replied taking another bite into his germanic sweet. "Hmm you're probably right about that not the best thing to put in your job description in it" Seryu replied chuckling under her breath. "Luckily I have other ways of getting money besides being a cook"
"You mean as part of the imperial guard?"
"Sure let's go with that"
Seryu gave him a playful glare in response to the gab obviously thinking he was joking. In response he took a new piece and continued munching on it. Koro meanwhile was taking a sniff of the piece currently in Seryu's hand and taking a bite out of it.
"Looks like Koro agrees with your cooking" Seryu said whilst putting him down and scratching behind his ear.
"I guess he does" Sota replied. However Koro simply walked over to a trash can and spat out the chewed up remains before going back too Seryu.
"Or not" Sota said slightly disappointed at his rejected food.
"Sorry Sota but I guess it just can't be helped with Koro. Koro chooses what Koro chooses. Maybe you can still become a chef if you practice neh?" she said giving him a pat on the back. "Ugh whatever let's just eat our food and go on the damn patrol already" he said taking another piece before marching up to his room to change into his uniform.
Later that Night
The hours had been long a total of 13 hours of constant patrol around the city. This mean it was already 9 PM. Sora had only one source of entertainment and that was a mix of excitement for the play he would attend soon and the fact that he still felt awe from traveling around the Imperial capital.
Beautiful and colorful churches mostly brick red had been spread far across the capital. They all looked extremely beautiful to him actually. Despite the fact he wasn't christian he would have actually liked to visit one of them. The market's themselves were also nice to be around. For some reason he just felt comfortable with all the commerce happily going around him preferably with a cool breeze "Thank god it's 30 degrees out here" he thought to himself glancing at Seryu who was noticeably shivering a bit from the cold.
The carefully and well laid out infrastructure was also still a marvel to look at even after a thousand years the place was as beautiful as ever.. Whether it be the complex and varied colored buildings too the small shop filled with all sorts of loved the complex settings and the city seemingly bustling with business. However just because he was in awe by the lively city didn't mean he was blind.
The GDP of the empire had declined by 2% alone in one year. Just gaining a percent was actually considered bad and losing twice the amount was even worse. Just by looking at the city he could already tell the message it was trying to convey make it colorful and bright too distract from the actual living conditions of the people.
"Conservatives" he thought to himself despite the fact that the government was not conservative but rather pure unregulated himself had actually thought of himself as a combo of liberalism and socialism. He continued to look around the capital during his patrol with Seryu who had made a habit of insisting that he work another shift with her. While he liked the thought of getting more money he didn't really feel the need to do more than was actually needed.
As he usually did Sota had something to eat however this time it wasn't an apple but rather a crisp green apple. His favorite kind of apple although those were the only one's he could eat thanks to allergic reactions to other apples. He took it out and took a bite out of the delicious fruit.
His eyes strayed to Seryu who was on the constant lookout for anything unusual. Geez when would she take a break he could visibly see her shivering while he on the other hand could handle this hot temperature without a problem at all.
Unbeknownst to him while he was thinking about Seryu she was also doing the same thing in turn. She had never had a partner beyond Koro before and she actually thought it would be some sort of challenge to work with him luckily though she was given a pleasent surprise.
She expected having a sleazy sort of guy who cracked jokes all the time and that she would have to be the one who would make him take things seriously. Which may or may not have involved her getting shot at some point or getting chopped in half… luckily Sota wasn't like how she imagined him to be.
Still he remained a bit of a mystery to her. While they had gotten friendly with one another neither of them knew each other's past. He knew how she got her own imperial arms but she didn't know about his. She took a piece of chocolate that he had bought for her earlier and took a small bite out of it while making sure to thwart Koro's attempts at getting a piece.
It was her piece not his! Also she didn't want to risk the chance of accidentally killing him imperial arms or not he was still a dog! Koro responded with a pleading pout too Seryu who scowled in return. "No Koro you can't have my piece" she replied as Koro's face seemingly deflated a bit at this unwanted response.
"No. It's mine, Koro" replied a little more assertive this time finally causing the biological imperial arm to give up.
She finished the piece of chocolate quickly and looked backed too Koro with a bit of a sympathetic look. However she soon forgot about it as she turned too Sota. "Thanks for coming with me on this extra shift Sota" she said with a smile.
Sota waved it off,
"Meh-you're welcome after all, all my plans were pretty much canned when Night raid killed the director of the play I bought tickets for" he said with a hint of bitterness. He had really been peeved when that had happened.
Why did these rebels just spring up he constantly thought to himself. Didn't they realize that failed rebellions would just make things worse for a country letting the corruption that they claimed to be fighting spread amidst the chaos. It would just be a cycle of violence because even if they did take over their extremist socialist attitude would spark another civil war with the rich and any government loyalists which would just make this mess even more convoluted and messy.
Too put it simply the rebellion was a complete fools errand. Every nation had it's low points but they went away at some point after all the majority of the nation's history was filled with prosperity it was only a matter of time before the corruption would outroot itself when the emperor became older.
"Revolutions were only the dream of a violent fool" as Sota so eloquently put it in his mind.
"Well at least you got your refund" Seryu replied patting Sota on the shoulder.
"True" he stated pulling out the wad of money for absolutely no reason before putting it back. "Yeah but I still wanted to go there" he exclaimed unhappily putting an arm around her shoulder in a playful manner.
"Naw don't worry maybe next time" she said attempting to cheer him up. However both of them tensed up in a second.
"Do you smell that?" Sota asked Seryu whose face became serious.
"Yeah... blood. Koro track it down" Seryu ordered.
As they followed Koro too the source Sota geared up by absorbing his armor onto his body covering him from the waist up in metal. This included his face however he was smart enough not to cover his eyes,nose, or ears. Seryu also readied her Tonfa guns, ready to spray the bullets to create any distance needed.
The clanking of metal rattled through the air as Koro slowed his pace down letting Seryu and Sota catch up.
Seryu's had a small smile creeping upon her lips as Sota looked on too her with indifference. He had long since gotten used too her murder happy tendencies as uncomfortable they are. His gaze shifted to his surroundings frantically looking for any advantage he could get. Upon looking forward he saw an alley which was where Koro had stopped.
The smell had gotten stronger and at this point horrendous for Sota who vaguely considered whether or not he would just cover the rest of his nose with metal.
He mentally thought to himself what he would do and became content with simply letting Seryu spray bullets while he would climb up the building for an aerial assault. However he knew that should the enemy catch them off guard or had a gone it would bode horrible for Seryu
They soon stood at the entrance of the alley way where Koro had stopped. Silently they both put their backs to the wall as Sota morphed his hand's into shields.
"Seryu don't go in first" he silently whispered before Seryu could rush in.
"What? Why?" She hissed having been ready to charge in guns blazing.
"If you go in and that enemy has a gun even i don't think Koro could save you in time. Just let me go in first if they have a gone it's not going through solid steel" he explained to her.
She scowled a bit at this but eventually gave in with a nod whilst going behind Sota and ordering Koro to bulk up.
Sota took a deep breath and steeled himself. Within a moment's notice he charged through the entrance to the alley only to find nobody there.
No body except for a mutilated corpse though. The corpse belonged to that of an old man and he was absolutely shredded apart with the head being the only thing seemingly unscatched but even then it was nailed to a wall with a not behind it.
Any normal person would have vomited at the very site of this but Sota nor Seryu were normal people. Sota sighed in pity and called out,
"Seryu the coast is clear you can come out now"
Seryu rushed to her friend's side and immediately looked away from the body.
"Ugh that smell" she complained. It wasn't the state of the body that disturbed her heck she had probably done worse at some point but the smell was god awful.
Koro also blocked his sensitive nose sure he liked to eat corpses but still it didn't mean he liked the smell of it.
"Same here" Sota responded metal now covering his nose as he breathed through his mouth now.
"Alright then you get the note next to that guy's head" she demanded facing away.
"Fine, just calm down already gosh" he grunted reluctantly taking the note.
It was a hastily scrawled note that read
His problem is his brain
Sota was thoroughly confused what the hell was this letter supposed to mean and who was the murderer referring too? Was it supposed to be the murderer him or herself or the man that had been brutally killed?
"Hey Sota let's just go report this too captain Ogre" Seryu said gripping his wrist snapping Sota out of his thinking trance. Both of them glanced at the body one last time.
"Sota" she tried again.
"Yeah, let's go Seryu" he replied as they then ran to the imperial guard's headquarters.
The next day
Imperial Guards Headquarters
"So is that all you two have to report on the murder?" Ogre asked raising an eyebrow at the two young workers in front of him.
"Well that was pretty much it" Sota said "Yeah we didn't exactly stick around for the details since the smell was too god awful sir" Seryu said.
Ogre sighed and rubbed the temples of his head.
"Alright then i'm assigning you both on this case" the brown skinned man said.
"Wait what?" Sota asked completely bewildered.
"*Gasp* Really captain Ogre? Thank you so much we won't let you down" Seryu exclaimed with the opposite reaction to that of her partner.
"Well I'm glad you think so Seryu because it'll be just the two er i mean three of you" Ogre stated including Koro into the mix.
"But we weren't trained for this sort of stuff shouldn't it be the professionals who deal with it" Sota protested.
"Yeah well I trust you guy's and besides with the rise in crime everyone's really hard pressed so i'm putting my other two best officers on it" Ogre replied reaching into his desk too take a wine bottle and a cup for it. Sota at this point had already realized that any more resistance would just be casually shot down by the one eyed captain.
"Well when you put it like that… I guess we could do ya this one favor" Sota replied sarcastically.
"Great Doctor Stylish is right outside the door so he'll lead you to the body and fill you in on anything you need to know" Ogre stated. Before they left the room Seryu spoke.
"Oh wait captain Ogre I forgot that Sota doesn't exactly know who Doctor Stylish is"
"Oh yeah that's right. Well then looks like he's gonna have to wait a little longer. Stylish is the head of our forensic division and he's a bit... Aww **** it the guy's a freaking fag and he'll probably hit on you and shit like that now get out" Ogre stated taking a swig of the poison in a bottle known as wine.
Sota merely dismissed this concern that was until Seryu opened the door showing the Doctor Stylish.
"Ohh hello there Seryu how have you been deary? Oh you've got to tell me who did you hair it's so stylish." the doctor gushed too Seryu who happily chattered away with the doctor.
"And just who is this young stylish man?" Doctor Stylish asked eyeing Sota.
"Oh that's my partner Sota" she replied simply urging Sota too shake Doctor Stylish now outstretched hand. Agreeing with her Sota gave Stylish a firm handshake.
"Hmm… well tell me than Sota is that by any chance the Imperial arms Spark?" He asked with a smile looking at the ring on Sota's hand.
"Yeah it is" Sota replied hoping that he would let go of his hand now. Doctor Stylish smiled,
"I think this is going to be the beginning of a stylish friendship dear Sota boy"
Flashback
"Hey Stylish what's the news on the body" Captain Ogre asked walking into the young Doctor's lab.
Doctor stylish stopped examining the body of the old man that he had been looking at for the past day.
"Well for one it seems that whoever wrote that letter was right. This man is known as Donald Drumpf and he seems to have been suffering from autism around this time" The doctor explained taking his imperial arm "Perfector" off his hands and taking a drink of water.
"Is that all?" Ogre asked taking a drink of a cup of wine that he had brought with him.
"You know that wine isn't good for you or anything that could get you drunk actually?" Stylish asked showing clear disgust for the drink that could ruin so many men.
"Don't care just tell is there anything else" Ogre replied.
"Fine just don't drink here again. Whoever killed this person isn't our typical murdering psychopath" he said.
"Really? Tell me some more about what makes him different besides the gorefest my subordinates had to deal with" Ogre inquired legitimately curious.
"Too be honest it's only one thing. Whoever killed this man actually killed him first."
"Wait so whoever did this straight up stabbed the guy in the head first?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. It just makes this whole thing an even bigger mystery." Stylish exclaimed finally taking a seat.
"Hmmm… interesting… i'm over it. See ya later doc" Ogre said about to exit the lab.
"Wait!" Stylish yelled hurriedly.
"What do you want now?" Captain Ogre asked annoyed.
"Someone came here too see you." Stylish sheepishly replied.
"Ughh fine where is he?" Captain Ogre asked.
"Go down the hall and take the door on the left."
Ogre followed his instructions and entered the room too see a person around 6 feet tall but any facial features he had were covered by a large trench coat.
"You wanted too see me?" Ogre asked after a minute of painfully awkward quiet waiting for the person in front of him too respond.
"Ughh I swear to god some of these meeting get ******* weird"
The person just threw a bag of money in front of him as gold coins fell from the opening. Ogre picked it up with a grin.
"I think we have a deal here… sir. I'm guessing you don't want me to put a team to try and catch you" Ogre said. The person shook his head
"Send a group that will most likely not catch me it'll be far more interesting that way" the man spoke quietly and made haste to exit the room before being stopped by a large brown arm going in front of him.
"Just a couple of ground rules buckoo."
"Don't try and kill the people I send after you, don't kill anyone that's rich, you pay me every time you kill someone, and don't kill any member of the imperial guard or you'll regret it" Ogre growled giving a stern look showing that he wouldn't let his subordinates be harmed.
The person once again nodded "Then i guess we have a deal" Ogre stated grinning as the person walked out the door.
And that's a wrap guy's make sure too R&R, and happy SPRING BREAK!