What with the chaos in Inaba and importance of school, it has been some time since Naoto has been called in to work on a case in person. The vast majority of her recent work has been done remotely, whether simply figuring out connections between victims or motives, or analysing the collected data from a distance. It is the summer, however, and as much as Naoto enjoys spending time with her friends, it is difficult to deny a personal request for her help on a case.

    This is how she has found herself standing next to someone very blatantly not Japanese, with quite possibly the most official-looking officer she has ever seen in front of her, with several more (though with slightly less decorated outfits) scattered around the not particularly well organised office. He offers the both of them a stiff nod, then walks away, leaving her and the stranger to their devices.

        {/It wasn’t something strange that he managed to fall asleep while playing a game. She’s seen her older brother do it a thousand times. What she always does though, is simply take the game from them and continue playing. No point in letting all those minutes tick by for nothing! But at the same time...Matt’s been at this game since he got it. Would he really be okay if she just took over like that? If she tried to take the game out of his hands, would he just wake up and take it back from her? Or should she wait for him to wake up. Nicole could easily do both. She’s had to do both before. Entertaining herself while he slept was nothing new.

No one would know.

There wasn’t anyone who would hear the light tapping of claws against metal, scurrying throughout the inner workings of the building. Finding all the joists and joints that carried most of the weight of the floors above. Just as many as he expected, and all put together with such fine craftsmanship! It made it so much more fun to wreck it.

Though, it was with an annoyed grumble that he spat and slobbered all over the joists, acidic saliva dissolving the metal as it touched it. By the time the human officials found the damage, they would deem it as rust or poor parts. 

And where was the fun in that!? He wanted to make things explode! Fire and shrapnel flying as far as the eye could see! All this ‘making it look like an accident’ stuff was so boring!

But, with his job complete, he quickly exited the building, sensitive hearing already picking up on the groans and creaks of something that was ready to collapse. Discreetly exiting the vents, he trotted around the front of the building and made his way across the street, hopping onto the bench once he reached his partner in crime.

     Who the hell was this guy, anyway? He’s never seen him before, and he was sure he’d notice someone with hair as red as that here in Inaba. Yousuke could not make sense as to why he gave him such a bad vive, but it was there. In the pit of his stomach—and it made him feel sick. Every now and then his eyes would flicker away from the man as he stocked the shelves, but his gaze always lingered soon after; longer than should be deemed necessary.

Who was he?                 Who was he?                                          Who was he?

     Abandoning the cart of stored goods, Yousuke approached the man with a sense of purpose and determination. The closer he got, the more familiar he appeared. He only saw a brief glimpse of his photo when he called Nicole and he appeared on her screen, but that was him—no doubt about it. The same goggles, same stupid striped shirt, same out of season vest. Just who did he think he was, anyway? Now that he was much closer and was now standing right before him, he caught the strong stench of cigarettes and his nose wrinkled in disgust.

     “ You bastard – “ the words leave his lips before he could stop them, and he realizes then there’s no going back. Just roll with it, Yousuke. “ You better not be pressuring Nicole to pick up your nasty habits! “ The accusation was strong as he crossed his arms over his chest, trying to make himself seem more intimidating than he really was.