The next two days had been relatively uneventful on Duo Lon's part.

As he suspected, the news the morning he had gone exploring had the reports that he had gotten the night before, albeit truncated versions. It gave the names of the victims, where they were found, and said that anyone with information should call in anonymously. The assassin couldn't help but notice they kept a reward off the table at the time; he suspected this was to prevent a plethora of false information coming forward, which was one of the disadvantages to such an offer.

He had seen Shen once since that day, having gone to the noodle bar that he liked a lot to introduce the brawler to the place-he loved it as well, just as he suspected. He left Duo Lon alone, though-he knew not to get involved when he was 'working.'

If there was one thing he had a feeling about, is that at some point the killer would make a mistake. With him starting to get bolder…with that, possibly-even likely-came carelessness. He didn't want to give them a chance to kill someone else, of course, and would much prefer to end this before it started…but at this point, unless he caught the killer in the act, proving it was a particular person would be difficult…and in his case, would mean killing the wrong person.

Which he tried not to do. It was one thing to be hired to kill someone specific, but another to single out the wrong person himself. So he insisted on working quickly, but carefully.

The first thing on the agenda was to hit Sloate's Game Room, which was closed the past two days. He imagined business wasn't doing too well there, but according to a quick check on their website, they would be open today. The second thing he had lined up would be to try to find the arcade the token belonged to. Unfortunately, no name was on it, and he couldn't find a picture of it online, even; there were several arcades in the city, but the websites were minimal. So he'd just end up visiting each one until he found the one matching the tokens.

Afterward, Duo Lon had decided to mentally map out the town in roughly equal parts, and then draw lines around the map he had grabbed from the railway station. He decided to explore each area methodically each day, making sure that he poked into stores and the like. He would start with the 'zones' that were close to the matching arcade and Sloate's, and then move from there.

It seemed to be the best course of action for now. Narrow down the possibilities, narrow them further, then make a move.

He wondered if the man worked at a place nearby one of the locales he was going to check out. It was a bit of a longshot, given that the other bodies had been found all over the place, but it never hurt to check. It might take more than one day to figure that out, but he had nothing but time himself; this particular job was to be solved 'when he could.' His client even told him he could work for other clients while on it, if need be.

This made the assassin very much think he was working for some sort of government entity, albeit an undercover one. It's not like those weren't everywhere in the King of Fighters tournaments themselves.

Already close to his first destination-the game room-he started to peer at the various buildings to see when it popped up. As he walked, he noticed a couple of shops he was interested in-a music store that looked like it catered to his more underground tastes, as well as a tobacco shop that had a pleasant smell as he walked by. He was always on the lookout for a new blend to try, even though he had his favorite.

And past another couple of stores and what seemed to be some sort of gold-trading place, he came to Sloate's, which seemed to be less of a 'game room' and more of a shop. It had apparently just opened a few months ago, so he stepped inside, curious onto what he'd find there.

Much like many small shops in a large city like this, it had a certain feel to it that was hard to explain, but was still familiar to him. He walked up the stairs as the bells jangled behind him, the door clicking shut. The gray carpeted floor seemed older and worn, though still in good shape, and the shop itself had a smell of cardboard, very, very faint candles, and perhaps just a bit of dust. If the store had been new, it didn't seem to do too much redecorating on whatever was here before. A young man sat behind the counter, reading what seemed to be a tabletop role-playing game book, glancing up only for a moment to nod. At the counter was a number of boxes that held dice, as well as a few figurines and other odds and ends.

Judging by all of this, it seemed to be a shop that dealt with any sort of games you'd play around a table. There were a few aisles in the place, and truth be told, he was curious to explore a few of the strategy games himself-though he was more here on business.

Nodding back to the man, he went up to grab one of the cards at the counter before wandering to the back, more out of the way. He wasn't surprised that the store was otherwise empty-it was early, it had just opened, and it wasn't the type of store that people rush into this early, barring some incredibly popular day one release of something.

As he leaned against the wall in the back, he compared the business cards. Pulling the old one out of the pocket of his leather jacket, besides the markings of the thing having been on the ground overnight, they were identical. This told him that the card that was dropped in the park was likely taken not too long ago, unless the store only recently changed cards in the last two days…and given it was a weekend, this was unlikely. There was, of course, the chance the killer-or someone-had the card in their wallet for some time and it was dropped at some point…but it looked more like the card had been in someone's pocket, and dropped after they had procured something or other. It lacked the tell-tale signs of being in someone's wallet for any length of time.

Of course, he could ask. Probably on his way out, as to sound nonchalant. The guy behind the counter was unlikely to know that he didn't live there-the metropolis had plenty of folks of all stripes living there, and Duo Lon could disguise his accent somewhat as well. He spoke English with no trace of his natural accent, and the Hizoku, of course, learned how to fit in with a place, even taking on hints of their dialect. They didn't speak every language in the world-far from it. Duo Lon himself spoke five fluently, though he could get around in a few others-which was on the moderate end for his clan, as most of the elders could speak eight or more-but they had made sure to be able to speak fluently in English and several Asian languages and dialects. He was making it a point to learn more when he could.

Someone looking into his thoughts might wonder why he was being so stringent on asking a simple question, but he had been trained to leave no openings.

For now, he found himself enjoying looking around the store. A mahjong set there actually caught his eye, but he might stop back before he went home for it. Some of the role-playing books he had heard about from some of his tournament acquaintances, though he had never really gotten to play anything like that. Some of the larger, more strategic board games looked interesting to him, as well.

Pausing for a moment to trace over some of the polyhedral dice that he had been unfamiliar with, he checked his watch; he didn't want to use up too much time here. Besides the tobacco shop, he planned on going back to the oldest newspaper articles today, too.

Deciding to pick up a tiny but high quality wooden Go set that he liked the look of, he wandered up front to purchase it. The young man behind the counter nodded, taking it and ringing it up.

"Are these new?" Duo Lon said after a few moments, absently checking the cards. "I haven't been here for a while."

"Yeah," he said. "Old regular?"

"No, I just stopped by here a few months ago." He talked a lot more casually than he normally did.

"Customers are short nowadays," he said, taking the twenty and the ten that Duo Lon had held out. While the set was small, it was made of high-quality wood, and it cost more than it might have looked, not that he minded.

"Yeah, seems like it." The info was all over the news. "Hope this all blows over."

"Tell me about it," he said, shaking his head. "Crazy shit." He handed him the bag. "Careful out there."

"Thanks," Duo Lon replied, nodding, before turning to head out, the chill morning air hitting his nostrils once again.

Satisfied for now-and planning to come back here to pose as a sort of new regular-he decided his next stop would be the tobacco store nearby. He thought that he'd grab a new blend or two for now before heading off to go track the arcade down; a little bit of a treat for the search.

Heading over and inside-the shop had the amusing name of The Pipe Dream -it too had opened by now-the scents were extremely pleasant. A lot of pipe tobacco, he could smell, and the store was extremely humid as was normal. A dry tobacco store meant a tobacco store who's stock would go stale sooner than later.

This shop had a businessman or two poking around, and judging by the briefcases in their hands, they were on their way to their place of work. A man, perhaps in his early thirties, stood behind the counter reading a book; much like the other small stores, they tended to be more laid back. The place was smaller than Sloate's, though well-furnished and cared for. Impressed with the selection, he went over to the soft, sweet pipe blends and began searching the samples for a couple that he'd want to try.

"Can I help you?" the man asked.

"I'm fine, thanks. Just checking a couple."

"No prob. Let me know if you need something." He placed his book down and turned toward one of the customers-he could tell by the way he nodded toward him that the visitor was a regular.

Finding two selections that he liked, he grabbed two small bags of it to start with-smelling them and smoking them could sometimes differ-and took them up.

The man behind the counter nodded, ringing the two up and grabbing a small bag from behind the counter, noting a couple of things in a notebook; a stock-book by the look of things.

"Nice choices," he said.

Duo Lon nodded. "I liked the smell."

"Most of the folks that come here are regulars." He nodded at the other man in the store, who waved back. "I try to keep good stock."

"I might be back. Gonna see if I like these." As usual, he kept his more laid-back accent with people. He found himself going undercover without even realizing it.

"Hope you do." He handed him his change and nodded. "See ya."

After this purchase, the assassin felt like he had distracted himself long enough; he had to find where that token belonged soon. He thought about asking one of the shopkeepers, but decided he didn't want to look too tourist-y or out of place; so far he seemed able to fit in. He wanted to keep it that way, for now, at least.

Having already looked online for addresses of the three arcades that were closest to the city center-he didn't bother looking outside of the center quite yet, as he'd start in and work out to speed things up-he arrived first to the closest one, which happened to open at nine, thankfully. One of them didn't open until ten, and he had forgotten which.

Poking inside, it was still fairly empty save for a couple of workers and one or two people smoking in the back, playing a couple of games, likely before school or work. He went toward the change machine to feed a dollar bill in order to get some tokens to compare them; these were simple tokens with imprints of the tallest buildings in the city skyline on them, with the other side being their monetary amount.

Wandering around for a moment and letting the smells of the place bring him back to the first time Shen dragged him to one, he absently pocketed the tokens-he'd probably give them to his friend along with the address if he was interested in playing there-and started to move toward the second one, which was still somewhat close to his original destinations, only in the other direction.

Luck would be with him, it would seem. The second one-called Galaxy-3-ended up having the same exact tokens that matched the one he had found in the one alleyway. Being close enough to Sloate's to know that people had been around this neighborhood before that night, he was now able to somewhat get an idea of things.

There was still a lot he did not know, however. Did the token and card belong to the victims, or did the killer drop them? Given they were body dumps, they could have fallen out of the victims' pockets, as they had been found fully clothed. The lack of blood on them told him that it might have been from the killer, though…and if it was, it meant he stalked those areas.

If this was the case…then it meant he might have to, as well.

It'd be easy-work himself in as a regular-hell, Shen would come to the arcade with him gladly and he'd be even less suspicious. From there, he'd keep an eye out for anyone that looked suspicious. Given the victims were young men, he almost wondered if he could pose as a potential target…which, of course, would go badly for the killer in the end.

As he was lost in thought, his phone rang; he knew exactly who it was given the time of day.

"Hi, Shen," he said, a smirk playing at his mouth.

"Hey! How's it goin?"

"Just some errands this morning." He knew Shen would read between the lines; he didn't want to mention 'Morning investigation' in a public place. One never knew who was listening, even if there wasn't anyone visible on the side streets. "About to go back to the place for some food."

"Wanna hit a diner again? There's that one kinda in between both of our places. Not the other one we went to, but this one looked pretty good."

"Hm. You tempt me."

"I'll take that as a yes."

Duo Lon chuckled. "I suppose. I can get there fairly fast."

"Get us a back booth. I'll be there as soon as I can get moving."

The diner turned out to be fairly decent, in Duo Lon's opinion at least. Pretty roomy, the booths were in worn, but not poor, condition, and the combination of smells-coffee, grease, and breakfast food-was even somewhat pleasant after a long morning of poring around a city investigating a series of murders.

As always, his senses stayed sharp. Peering around the place whenever someone new would walk in-just in case, even though he knew the chances of anything shady happening here were almost nil given the population of the city-he watched silently, seeing if he could sense anything.

Shen-who had just started on the giant plate of pancakes that he had ordered as a part of the multi-tiered super-breakfast that the place sold-looked at him and laughed.

"Jeeze, calm down and eat. You know it's chill here."

"I am calm. And yes, I suppose I do. Habit." He started on his French toast, which had looked rather tempting. Both meals came with a double helping of the main course, two eggs on the side, a pile of breakfast meat, additional toast, a choice of juice, and the typical all-you-can-drink coffee that was common to the place.

"Did you see anything cool?" He had actually managed to swallow his bite before asking.

Duo Lon swallowed his own; the sausage dipped in maple syrup-which Shen had insisted he try-was actually not bad. "I found an arcade you might like. Two of them, actually."

"Really? Damn, I gotta get down there then. Can ya show me after?"

"Sure. I have some time before I need to get back to my place."

"Do you remember what they had?"

"Not really. It's always been more your thing. I did get a small Go set, though."

"Any mahjong?"

"They had a nice set there. I might go back for it." He cut through a couple of slices of butter-drenched French toast, swirling it in the maple syrup.

"See? I told you to come to these more often."

"I suppose I can make it a habit."

"I hope so. It's the one way you can get me up early when I'm in the States." Shen stuffed down nearly an entire pancake in one bite, washing it down with coffee. "You got anything tonight?"

"I might. I'll call you."

"I'll go poke around that part of town with the arcades after this. I guess you can go sleep or whatever it is you do during the day."

"I probably will catch up on some, yes. At least for a couple of hours."

Shen shook his head, knowing his friend only seemed to need to sleep a couple of hours a day, and he seemed to do it with one eye open, rather than like the dead as one might expect from him.

"Are you still…looking for…you know…" he suddenly asked, after a few silent moments of eating.

"Of course." Duo Lon tapped the side of the coffee cup carefully with one sharp nail. "I'm able to do some research on this end while working the big job."

"I gotta respect it," he said. "You focus more on your main project. Still manage to turn in others on the side." He worded things carefully, as if the two were talking about an office job, something that two friends in a city diner in the morning could easily be discussing.

Duo Lon smirked softly at this before answering.

"I prioritize," he said. "And I don't waste my day at the water cooler."

His belly full of greasy, uncharacteristic yet tasty sausage, maple syrup, French toast, eggs and about four cups of coffee, Duo Lon had split off from Shen afterwards, the latter going to head toward the arcade area as he had mentioned, while he went to head home threading different streets, learning more landmarks, and keeping his eyes and ears open for anything that might interest him.

Deciding to once again check his drop-box just in case his contact had left him something, he maneuvered off of his usual path, heading toward the secure area. While he didn't really expect anything, especially since it had been so soon since his last, he somehow felt like he needed to check.

Much to his surprise, there was indeed something there.

Blinking, he quickly grabbed the envelope-it was thinner this time, but there were still a few things in it, he could tell-and tucked it away on his person, before leaping quickly back to his safehouse, just like the other night, as he didn't like the idea of opening it on the street, even if he was off in a secluded alley somewhere.

Eventually making his way back and shutting himself inside as he did last time, he sliced open the envelope with a nail. Taking out a few papers…he blinked, frowning.

A couple of these were case notes from the recent case; something he could pour over a bit later. The third paper was the one that concerned him. It was a handwritten one, on lined paper, hastily torn out of a college-ruled notebook.

On it were only three words, but they were both ominous, and crystal clear:

"Another one soon."

A/N: Yes, this is a slow moving one, I know. But thank you for sticking with it, in any case!

At least we have some things heating up ever-so-slightly. Discovering both the shop and the arcade near each other…does our killer live or stalk around there? Did he move around there? Or was it a coincidence? Judging by that last letter, it may well not be…and whoever his client is seems to have sent him the letter even before the authorities.

Stay tuned til next time!