Generally, his interaction with the general population of the prison was extremely limited, particularly after his 'escape'. Not that Tohru minded, really; as a former cop, he was a prime target for every petty thug and violent criminal with a chip on their shoulder; between the prisoners and the guards, he'd gotten his fill of black eyes, bloody noses and bruised midsections. Those idiots were only useful for receiving a mind fucking, and he got plenty of that with the guards. He was just fine with solitary; the less he had to deal with people, the better.
Ironic, then, one of the few times he was out in the common rec room, listlessly half-listening to the tv behind him (funny how desperate they had been to tighten security after the riot, and he could still just waltz out from under their noses if he pleased), that he heard something actually interesting .
'Details are still few and far between on the devastating explosion that happened earlier today at the Yasoinaba Police Precinct; a video has appeared on the popular website 2chan purportedly of Seitou Noburo taking responsibility for the attack, and threatening more if certain unspecified demands aren't met. Our viewers might remember that Seitou is one of two convicts who escaped in the riot at the…'
The book clattered out of his fingers as his legs shuffled him closer to the tv screen. Over and over, that miserable hell hole of a workplace burned into clouds of thick, black smoke. He couldn't tear his eyes from screen if he tried. For a brief moment, he was downright giddy at the sight. That's right, you stupid idiots, burn; burn like the worthless pile of trash you are…
...Then he realized they were mentioned casualties. That took a tiny bit of the shine off the glee. He wondered if they were anyone he knew; anyone he'd miss. Remembering his coworkers, he doubted that.
Wonder if Dojima-san was working that day… ah, who was he kidding, Dojima couldn't clock out if his life depended-
His stomach sank like a stone at the thought, though he tried to deny his concern. No, no way the senior detective got caught up in that mess. No way he'd be that un lucky….
No way a little explosion could kill an asshole that big, he hoped figured. Their last visitation played through his head, searching for an excuse to keep from feeling this growing wave of concern. That's right, Dojima's some kind super freak these days, after all. He's gotta be fine… .
Still, Tohru would never admit the sigh of relief came from him when the on-scene camera sweeped over the crowd of survivors, and briefly showed a familiar figure, covered in soot and looking worse for wear, but very much alive.
One of the braver (and dumber) convicts to Tohru's left sneered at him. "Bet yer real sad to see that place burn, ain't ya, copper?"
It was a little too easy to slip the mask of the jester back on. "Eeeeh, I couldn't give two shits if the place goes up in flames." His grin must have been unnerving to the fellow prisoner, who nervously shuffled to the other end of the couch. "Just a real pain, though. They might all be idiots, but this will just make 'em mad. If Seitou really did do this, he's gonna have a real hornet's nest after him, now." He shrugged his shoulders. "Not my problem, though."
It was never Tohru's problem, after all.
To Ryotaro, he felt like there was a hive of angry wasps in his chest, the way the details of this case made his body buzz. No way was he letting someone get away with this sort of terrorism in his city. They needed to find a way into whatever lay behind the mirrors, to catch Seitou before he had a chance to kill again.
He nodded to the security guard on duty at the entrance of the trailers, which now made up the temporary precinct. Top brass had tried to get the detective to stay home, take some time off, saying it was way too soon for him to be back at work, but Dojima was done jumping through hoops.
He'd blamed the dent in the office wall on adrenaline. Nobody was stupid enough to be willing to argue.
The industrial trailers they were now using were cramped, but they were better than nothing. He slipped into one of the folding chairs at the back of the conference room, listening to the sergeant's review what they had gathered since the few days after the bombing. The public response to the news had generated a massive stack of leads; most were duds, but they couldn't afford to ignore a single one. That would mean more canvassing, for all the good it would do.
Was this how it was like for his nephew and his friends, a year and half ago? Knowing they were the only hope at solving the murders, but their hands were tied until the killer made another move outside of the TV World?
Shirogane caught his eye a few chairs away. She'd been officially brought back onboard to offer an outside view of the case. This time, though, Dojima knew better than to second guess her hypothesizes; he'd been a pig-headed fool before. Frankly, her opinion meant more than anyone else at this point; not like anyone else believed there was something supernatural involved.
"-and just a heads up: we'll be having a few guests coming onto the investigation at the invitation of the central office. The Kirijo Group had some prototype hardware stolen shortly before the bombing took place, and there's credible evidence some of it was used in the device's construction." A chorus of groans circled the room as the sergeant raised his hands in sympathy. "They promise not to step on our toes, people, and let's be honest here, we could use all the help we can get. They come with high recommendations from the top brass, so try and play nice, ok?"
Dojima noted that Shirogane seemed to perk up at the name mentioned…'Kirijo', was it? Well, it wasn't as if nobody had heard of them before; half the police equipment these days seemed to bear their signature logo. Didn't realize they did private security as well. How did she know them? And if the young detective knew of them… did his nephew? Not likely, but judging from the relief on Shirogane's face, they might actually be an asset in this whole mess. Did they know about the world of shadows and personas?
Still… a ball of worry rolled in his gut. The Kirijo group were well known for their research and technology; if they did know about the world behind the tvs, would they be interested in turning a freak of a detective into their lab rat? His paranoia began running scenarios in his head; one false step and he'd be outed as the freak he'd become...
He pushed the rising worry down as he shuffled over to Shirogane during the break. "You seemed interested when they mentioned we were getting outside help. Does the Kirijo Group generally work often with detectives? Or are you familiar with them in another way?"
The teenager's shifting glance to either side of them told him enough. If it was a normal case, she could mention it here, but if it has to do with the TV world…. Shit, he hated being right, sometimes. "If you'd rather discuss it later, that's fine. No need to rehash old cases right now. But tell me, would Yu happen to be familiar with them as well?"
"Ah...well, we all worked closely with representatives of their Operatives unit during last Golden Week, over some missing research that had been waylaid here in Inaba, so I'd say so." Naoto winced slightly at the admission. They hadn't told Dojima *quite* the whole story with that incident, yet. Narukami had been concerned for his uncle's jitters about being discovered and possibly hauled away for 'testing'. A well founded fear, but she wasn't sure it was valid with the Shadow Operatives. Still, if anything, this business had taught her it better to be safe than sorry with allies.
"Hrm, seems they're misplacing a lot of research here in Inaba. Any idea why?" His tone was neutral, but Naoto could feel the growl layered under his voice.
"To be honest, sir, I have no idea." It *was* peculiar how these things kept happening here. Perhaps Inazami's lingering influence? That might be something to check, the next time Marie appeared.
Whatever the case, this news had obviously put Dojima-san in a bad mood. She made a mental note to shoot senpai a text to warn him in advance that his uncle would probably interrogate him later.
The older detective seemed to have relaxed by the time it was his turn to speak. After making a brief mention that the other detective who'd been assigned the canvas had mysteriously taken a leave of absence after his car's 'accident' (there were a few muffled whoops and sighs of relief over that), Dojima quickly listed out what he'd found. Much of Seitou's gang was still in prison, but there had been a significant increase in petty criminal activity linked back to suspected former members not currently incarcerated. Cash robberies for the most part, with a few rumors of arms smuggling, though there was an interesting uptick in high end electronics theft as well. Nothing of the stolen inventory, however, could be concretely linked to a single field or possible device.
One informant, who'd been key to evidence in the case against the gang eight years ago, was now missing; though the detective didn't say it outright, every officer in the meeting knew what that meant. Because of it, most of those who'd spoken out against Seitou were reluctant to collude with the police again.
As the meeting finally adjourned, the unspoken summary hung in the air around every officer like Inazami's fog over year ago. Despite all this information, there was no real lead to taking the escaped convict down. They were still at square one; still a step behind every move the criminals made.
At least five murders had Seitou Noburo's fingerprints all over them, and it was only a matter of time before he killed again.
The chill of January was even worse now that the sun had set. Not that he cared, since the fire fueling him had him running hot even on the coldest days, but he knew he'd best dress like the winter effected him, lest someone's suspicion catch on. Stupid secret shit, making him even more paranoid than before...
He needed a beer, maybe four.
Instead there was a flash, thud, and a scream.
Something hit, hard, on his back, but bounced off and followed with a string of curses.
Without thought, just action, he pivoted, wound up and slammed down. Something crunched as it gave way under his fist.
Another thud against his shoulder, something whizzing past his ear, a foot to his gut (not all that painful for him, probably sucked for the kickee, who recoiled in agony).
Everything was a blur. He didn't take the time to even see who his attackers were.
First instinct said run. Second, stronger instinct roared to fight back, to win.
A fist went for his face. Sidestep, catch and twist. The snap of bone came quick.
Gun. Gun, right he had his gun with him. Drew it fast and turned to the sound of something behind him.
A red laser focused a set of barrels on his head, even as his own pistol focused on theirs. A woman, with blonde hair… and metal joints. Not exactly human, he deduced.
"Calculating… at the moment, we both have less that 19.53 percent chance of success of firing without the other striking. It would be in our best interest to call a 'truce'." She(?) briefly swept her gaze at their feet, and nodded curtly. "All current data suggests we have been fighting the same enemy."
Sure enough, near her feet were two more of the attackers that had attempted to ambush him. "Detective Dojima Ryotaro of the Inaba Police District. I'm listening."
Seemingly satsified with his introduction, she lowered her arm mounted machine gun. "I am Aigis, with the Kirijo Shadow Operatives. I postulate we have a significant amount of data to exchange, Dojima-san."
Notes: So...yeah. That happened. Perfectly boring, I'm so sorry. I really get squicked out trying to get into Adachi's head. He's just so... so... creepy. And augh...I need to work on writing fight scenes. And editing. And everything, really.