Chapter Text
The Fuuto winds only proved cooler during the night, the city’s life had died down which left the air to howl in place of human life- Though, it wasn’t like that bothered Shotaro, the detective was pretty proud to say he was used to it, often working late nights had familiarized him with the city at all hours; and just like any other night, he was working.
He was thankful that all otherworldly or inhuman activities had died down in Fuuto since he and Philip defeated the museum, but hadn’t meant the rest of the world was normal. Shotaro also had a duty to the people living around Fuuto, the people who only had his shoulder to cry on. And that’s what led him to this case; randomly, city streets would flood after months of clear skies before the water would disappear which clearly wasn’t good for the livelihood of the people who lived there, the water constantly seeping into the ground did nothing but damage the infrastructure…
At the same time, people had been reporting sights of a huge pirate ship floating in the air, its location would shift slightly yet never wandering off completely; Shotaro had tried to ask people in Fuuto if they had seen anyone head out of the boat or even where it came from but ended up empty-handed each time.
Loosening his tie slightly, he sat down at the Fuu-men stand and sighed- Maybe he should just grab a bite before turning in for the night, heaven knows the earful he’ll get from Akiko and Philip if he didn’t; though, just as he was about to order, he noticed the man next to him on his fourth bowl, the golden ring in his ear slightly catching the light.
“Oi, could you eat a little quieter?” The other man doesn’t look up from his bowl as replied in a dismissive and gruff tone.
“No.”
“Geez… Nothing seems to be going my way tonight.” He mumbled to himself, whining a bit as he did; what did Shotaro do to deserve a night like this! Honestly, it felt like he was constantly tripping over his own two feet and almost falling.
“If you’re going to whine all night you should take it somewhere else, some people are trying to eat.” The other man finally lifted his head up from his bowl, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve as he added another bowl to the pile.
“I just want one thing to go my way tonight...” Shotaro would continue to whine, not caring about the other fairly rude comments; like seriously, who just says that to someone clearly having a bad day! Though, the other seemed to stop caring about his whining as he pulled out a small wad of cash and asked the man behind the stand if it would be enough for a fifth bowl.
Apparently, Shotaro’s so bummed that he doesn’t notice the sound of the stand’s owner calling out to him, “Sho-chan! Are you going to order?” But before Shotaro could even think about what he should get, he’s cut off.
“Oi. He’s clearly too busy sulking to order, so my bowl first.”
Shotaro huffs at the reply, “I’m not sulking, I’m brooding; two totally different things…” He mutters that last part more to himself if anything, either way the only reaction the other gives is a sigh. “And don’t be so rude, the owner makes sure every citizen of Fuuto is happy with their food!”
The other guy just sighs again, “Whatever,” is all he says as he’s nothing but dismissive to what Shotaro had said
“Geez… This guy is so annoying.” Shotaro murmurs to himself, which gets a glare from the other.
“Oi, What was that?”
“S-sir! Please sit down...” The stand owner would quickly and nervously let out, trying to get the other man back in his seat and keep him from starting anything with Shotaro. This thankfully keeps the other from getting into a brawl at this fair cramped stand.
But Shotaro decides that this all just isn’t worth the trouble and heads off for the night, he can’t even eat in peace! Hopefully, tomorrow would treat him better.
XXX
Admittedly, by the time he got back to the office he had spent most of his time complaining to Philip about what had just happened; the lack of clues, everything that happened at the Fuu-men stand, and how the whole day had beaten him down!
Philip, for his part, had just patted him on the shoulder and told Shotaro that a day wasn’t an excuse to mope around, while Shotaro was quite disappointed that his partner couldn’t extend the common courtesy to at least feel bad for him, he guesses Philip was kinda right.
XXX
The sun bathed the city in a warm glow as Shotaro began round two of his questioning, this had taken him a ways out of Fuuto’s range; the city he had found himself in was closer to the incidents and that red boat in the sky, though the city didn’t seem any worse for wear but Shotaro guesses that’s just how it is, it reminds him of how the people of Fuuto soon began to treat Dopants as another down-side to city life- He didn’t want to see another group of people become the same.
So, he had wandered around asking questions, pulling aside anyone who was willing as he asked about the flooding and sometimes that random boat in the sky; most of time they had nothing much to say about either, sometimes they would repeat things he already knew, sometimes he would get some seemingly unimportant tidbit that could probably be more helpful if Philip used it as a keyword.
By noon, Shotaro had exhausted most populated areas he could before he would just have to interrupt people’s lives- Which was the last thing he wanted to do! Though just as he was about to head back to Fuuto and try his luck there, Shotaro saw a disgruntled looking young man staring down at a small piece of paper in his hand- And Shotaro couldn’t see him well from there, but he was sure the man wasn’t holding an animal and Shotaro was sure he had a tail flicking behind him.
Clearly, this man had to know something! Not only was he out of place among the rest of the town, but it was almost like he was begging to be questioned with how he was basically standing alone; Shotaro had found the big break in this case, he would not waste a moment as he quickly made his way over to the other man so Shotaro could finally learn something meaningful.
“Oi,” He would begin, making sure his voice gave off the impression that he meant business which he did, but he just needed that extra push to get his point across, “Mind if I asked you some questions?”
The other would just look at him and huff before answering, “No. I’m not telling a cop anything.” With that, he would turn to turn away and leave, grumbling a bit as he did
“Geez… I’m not a cop, I’m a PI; there’s a difference!” He would reply with a sigh of his own, there was obviously something about what Shotaro had said that had caused the other to turn back around.
“PI?” The man had said the phrase like he had never heard of it before, “The hell is that?”
“It stands for private investigator, have you never met one before?” Shotaro replied, his own tone becoming a bit questioning.
“No.”
“How??” Shotaro’s voice would do nothing to hide the amount of shock he was feeling, it was kinda impossible to! The guy had just admitted to not knowing what a PI is! “Where do you come from?”
“Where I’m from there’s probably not much need for whatever a PI is.” And with that, the other starts off on his way again. Seemingly not caring that he had dodged Shotaro’s question.
“Oi, I still have questions!” Shotaro begins to run after the man, “Can we talk for a moment!” There was no way he was just going to let this guy just run off like that!
“Buzz off, Mr. PI!” The other calls from over his shoulder, his tone nothing but dismissive as he doesn’t seem to be too bothered by Shotaro tailing him. Though, Shotaro does notice something as the other turns his head slightly; he kinda feels stupid for not noticing that before- That piercing, he’s seen it before!
“Oi! You’re that man from the Fuu-men stand last night!”
The other just lets out a confused grunt as he finally turns his full attention to Shotaro, “Eh?”
“You-“ Shotaro cuts himself off, trying his best to keep his petty complaints at bay which won’t help this guy take him any more seriously than he already does, “You were pretty rude to the stand owner last night.”
This finally gets the other to recognize him, his eyes don’t light up per-say but clearly he realizes who Shotaro is, “Oh, you were the guy that was whining last night.”
“W-… Whining!?” A hard-boiled detective like Shotaro does anything but whine!
“Well, what would you call it?”
“A complaint! You were disrupting the Fuu-men stand’s business!”
The other clearly looks at Shotaro like he had started whining again, “Whatever, just leave me alone, I’m trying to shop.” He once again tries to leave the conversation without a second thought.
“Wait! Let me ask my questions!” Once again, Shotaro is hot on the rude stranger’s heels.
“Ask them then,” The other finally relents, “Just know I’m not stopping.”
Sighing, Shotaro opened his mouth to begin questioning the man, “Have you seen anything strange recently… Like water suddenly filling in streets before disappearing?”
“So what if I have? Is that not normal or something?” He questioned back in turn, the smugness in his voice hiding any genuine curiosity that may be there.
“Geez… This is gonna be a long day,” Shotaro once again mutters to himself, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “No, it’s not normal,” he says firmly as he tries to keep himself from yelling, “I can’t tell if you’re messing with me or not.” He sighs, his hard-boiled instincts being unable to read this man’s intentions.
Clearly, the other was getting some sick enjoyment out of tormenting Shotaro like this, “Struggling over there or something?” He takes a very not welcomed jab at Shotaro with a slight smirk on his face.
“I’m trying to solve a very important case! And I would appreciate your cooperation!” Shotaro huffs out, trying his best to keep a professional attitude about the whole thing but this guy had been nothing but rude!
“Oh?” The other begins, stopping which causes Shotaro to walk right into him, “What’s in it for me?”
“The safety of the city!”
“Why should that matter to me?” The other asks, back on the move as he looks to be disappointed by Shotaro’s answer, “It’s not like I live here.”
“What do you want in exchange, then?” It felt a little scummy but it seemed like it was the only way Shotaro would get answers out of him, and it’s not like it’s strange for a hard-boiled man to make decisions like this.
“Money.” That seems to add up for the man, of course he would want to be paid for this; Shotaro would just sigh as he pulled out his wallet and opened it, only to find nothing inside. Clearly, Philip had nabbed it off of him and used it on God knows what!
“Geez, Philip…” With a resigned sigh, Shotaro would slip his wallet back into his pocket. Thankfully, the other would realize that he’s not getting any money out of Shotaro any time soon.
“Or, you could just leave me alone.”
“Thank God; we have a deal,” Shotaro says as he sticks hand out for a handshake but the other just kinda looks at him and refuses the offer, so Shotaro ends up awkwardly pulling his hand back.
Finally, this case was going somewhere.