Dōjima-Montauge Apartment -- Tokyo, Japan -- Wednesday Afternoon

[dojima_hime]

In retrospect, the whole thing had started off absolutely fascinating. And it still was, in a morbid sort of way, but after two days of no sleep and less food, it had crossed the line from weird-but-cool to weird-and-creepy.

Yurika had gotten one of the four a.m. phone calls that were starting to become so common, but instead of turning it off and going back to bed, she'd actually made it into the office by 5:30, fighting her way through Tokyo morning traffic. She'd apparently just missed being sent out with the field team, but Yurika was still glad she'd gone in. Otherwise she would have missed out on a case worth working.

Raven's Flat, STN-J Main Office	"I bet anything Dōjima's skipping work again." Sakaki. Sounded like the big kids were back from deployment. "She's fooling around again...huh. She's actually here. And still goofing off." Jerk. Only Robin was interested enough to actually come over. "What's this?" "He says somebody's trying to hack into the STN computer," she replied, swinging her feet as she leaned over the back of her chair to watch Michael counter every single move his mystery opponent was making. "It's okay," Michael replied, grinning as his fingers flew over the keys, watching the would-be hacker get denied entry. "My security program is perfect. No one gets in." "And if they do, they'll get a collar around their neck for life," Dōjima sang. "Just like you-know-who." Michael's fingers froze. "You're always..." "Hattori! What about those files..." And the office was suddenly abuzz again as people went in various directions, and Amon snapped for the Hunters to get into the meeting. "He's such a pain..." Dōjima sighed, getting up to follow Amon, a confused nun trailing after her. "Ano, Dōjima," Robin asked, uneasy in her confusion as she followed Yurika to the conference room. "What do you mean 'collar?'"
Dōjima & Robin	Three Seeds. Mummified. Popping up all over the city. Old files, of similar deaths, all over the world. Including old cases in Japan. And Dōjima was stuck with newbie-and-research-duty. Laaaaaaaaaaaaaame. "Ma'am, these people say they'd like to talk to you about your late husband, Kazuma," the nurse said, yelling at the old woman. "Ma'am!" She turned towards Dōjima with a sigh. "Sorry, she's always like this. Please let me know when you leave." "We're sorry to bother you," Dōjima began, bowing before her eyes flickered up to see Robin still standing there like a lump. Sigh. Expert Hunter her ass... "Come on, bow," she hissed, reaching out to grab the younger girl by the back of her head and force her forward. Kids these days. Robin twisted away, giving Dōjima a dirty look as they stood, and Dōjima was about to twhap her again when -- "That man can't be dead," the woman said, staring up at the ceiling. "He's still young. I married him and lived with him for years and years, but he stayed as young as he was the day we met. Of the two of us, only I grew old and turned into this old woman." She tilted her head just slightly, looking at an old photograph of a young couple in formalwear by a lake. The woman in full kimono, the man in a suit. "You will never change, just like the scenery at the lake that day...." They couldn't get anything else out of her. She just stared silently at the photograph until Dōjima threw her hands in the air and dragged Robin out of the room.
Dōjima & Robin	"What a waste of time!" Dōjima whined, leaning against her car as she called it in. "We came out this way, but the old lady had totally lost it upstairs. And -- wait, what?" She coould feel Robin watching her suddenly. "Got it. We'll head back to the office right away." Yurika snapped her phone shut, the charms jangling with the sudden motion as she looked at Robin. "Another corpse has turned up."
Raven's Flat, STN-J Conference Room	"Miho!" "You're late," the older girl teased, turning to grin at Dōjima. "Guess who turned up on the hotel security cameras?" "Kurata!" They were all gathered in the meeting room, looking at the readouts Michael had pulled up. "Kurata didn't die!" "Impossible," Sakaki scoffed. "Even if he was alive, he'd be an old man of 110 right now." "No two ways about it," Karasuma agreed. "This guy is in his thirties." "Dōjima," Robin began hesitantly. "Maybe what that old lady told us was -- " "What?" Amon did not look pleased. "That Kurata was always young, and he never ages." That started off a whole new fight about if that as possible, until Michael managed to match the the tattoos both men had exactly. "See, even the tattoo is a match!" Dōjima said triumphantly. "It's Kurata, I know it." "Assuming it is Kurata, why is he only going after Seeds and Witches?" "To live forever." Everyone turned to Robin, shocked, but she continued in that quiet little voice of hers. "If Kurata is a Witch whose power is to absorb the life force of other witches, then maybe the cases in Europe 120 years ago, as well as the ones in America just forty years ago, they're all..." Dōjima's head snapped up. "That's it! He has to absorb the life force of other Witches every forty years! Look at the pattern!" "Guy's like a vampire," Sakaki muttered. "Michael, that hack this morning. When did it start?" "Yesterday, maybe the day before, why?" "The STN computer contains a massive database of Witches, Craft users, and Seeds," Amon said grimly. "If Robin and Dōjima's hypothesis is correct, Kurata is itching to get his hands on that list. Michael, if there's another hack, let them in. Give them the data they want. I've got a plan."
Raven's Flat, STN-J Main Office	Unfortunately for Amon, his plan sucked. Dōjima was positively bouncing. "So then he got away?" "You didn't even bother to show up, so I don't wanna hear it!" Sakaki yelled at her, sulking, but she wasn't listening. Dōjima just kept pointedly ignoring him, scooting her chair closer to Robin. "So, why didn't your Craft hit him, huh?" When Robin didn't answer, Dōjima kept poking. There was something there. Father Juliano never would have ranked the little pyro at such a high Hunter class without a reason, but if she couldn't hit her targets... ...one more strange thing to add to the list of strange things she'd complied about Sena Robin.
Dōjima & Robin	Work started with another four a.m. phone call the next day, and Yurika hadn't even made it home yet from the office. Instead she turned around, and headed to Tōko's apartment to pick up Robin. "They say it happened early this morning," Dōjima said softly as Robin prayed next to the body. Now the only witness was dead. Fantastic. Once back in her room, they overturned everything again, looking for any evidence of contact between Kurata and his former wife. It was Robin who picked up the photograph the old woman had been looking at yesterday. And when she slipped it out of the case, there was writing on the back. "Lemme see." Dōjima held out her hand, and Robin handed it over with a sheepish smile. For all that the younger girl's Japanese was fluent, if stilted and oddly-accented, she couldn't read Japanese very well. "June 10, lake shore, huh?" "What's the name of the lake?" Robin asked. "Doesn't say...HEY! I bet Michael can find it!" Dōjima snapped the photo around to show the mountains to Robin. "He can match it! Michael can tell us where this is!"
The Lake House	By the time they got to the lakefront property, Kurata was gone. Barely. The scent of brandy was still in the air. They caught up to him by the side of the road, attacking Sakaki with his damned familiars. The live-draining scarabs latching on to Haruto's DNA, draining him to feed Kurata. Yurika had pulled her orbo gun, ready to fire when the Witch brought down more of his familiars out of the sky... ...and they bloomed into twisting wreaths of fire. Robin standing eerily still as she burned away the source of Kurata's strength. Then Kurata was burning, and Yurika was running towards him, Miho behind her as they shrugged out of their Hunter greatcoats, throwing them over the man to try and smother the fires. There was no way she was letting him die, not on her watch, not when he could do the time at the Factory for his crimes. What they found once they'd put out the flames was a withered creature, barely recognizable as human, and unable to move. Robin's fire had burned away all the life he'd stolen in the last few days, and it was simple enough for the Factory personnel to take him away.

Which brought her to now. Yurika had just stumbled in the door to the apartment, not even bothering to get her shoes off before finding the couch and sprawling out in an inelegant tangle of limbs. Ugh. She was starving, but food was totally unappetizing after, well, burning human flesh. And to top it all off, she wasn't quite sure what day it was.

And then the damn phone rang again. Miho's ringtone, which meant she shouldn't ignore it.

Yurika flipped the phone open. "Moshi moshi," she sighed. "What's up, Karasuma?" There was a pause. "He WHAT?"

"No, no, just. I mean, how many people turn into dust? Are we sure they aren't pulling one over on us?"

"No, I don't trust the men in strange suits who edge away from me and act like I'm contagious. I'm a Hunter and a Seed, not a mass murderer."

"Eh? Miho! Ikezu sen toitee na! That's not nice! It's not my fault the delivery boy won't come to the office anymore! If Sakaki hadn't...."

"Haaaaaaai. I'll see you later." Yurika flipped the phone closed again with a sigh and flopped backwards. If the phone rang at four in the morning ever again, she was ignoring it.



[Dialogue taken & twisted from episode 1.03, Dancing in Darkness. Open for boyfriend, calls, texts, etc after the phone conversation with Miho.]