Shirou Ogami

closed au rp blog affiliated with Kinged

[scheminggreen]

Disobedient || Sukuna & Date

Sukuna had long ago let go of the version of himself who followed orders from adults without question. He didn’t really answer to anyone these days, and that was the way he liked it. He liked living with Yukari, who knew not to make demands of him or expect him to speak or act a certain, specific way. Yukari was Yukari, and Sukuna was Sukuna. Things were absolutely fine that way, and although Sukuna couldn’t say he had a reason to live in the present, he didn’t really have a reason to die either. Yukari and himself would have to figure out what to do in the long term eventually, but for now their lifestyle of hopping from place to place while keeping away from Homra and Scepter 4 was perfectly fine with him. 

It was the nature of his new lifestyle that meant he had plenty of time to go around the city and find quiet places to relax and play on his game consoles. He was doing so today on a quiet side street, beside a shop that had been closed down and abandoned for quite some time. He was rarely bothered here.

Loading his save file, he leaned back against the wall and devoted his focus to the main quest.

[doggodad]

Locating the kid with the messy grey-purple hair proved to be a more problematic pursuit than one might think at first glance at the request. Well, for one, Shizume was a big city, with plenty of abandoned housing, and dark narrow alleyways for a determined runaway to slip through without being detected. Honestly, if the kid truly didn’t want to be found, Date was beginning to have doubts that he’d ever be able to locate him, even with the assistance of his AI partner. But then--

Date! Look!

Shouting these words abruptly (though it was only internally, within Date’s own head, so could it really be called “shouting”?), Aiba focused her scope of vision onto the wall of a long closed shop, where the slumped form of a boy could be made out. That boy had a young face, messy hair, green eyes…

In other words, he perfectly fit the description of the kid Date had been sent to search for.

Wasting no more time, Date pivoted on the balls of his feet and hastened his steps to close the gap between himself and the kid, Sukuna Gojo.

Drawing near, he tugged his mouth up into a warm smile. “Could you be Gojo-kun?”

[doggodad]

nxrihisago​:

Narihisago slid into the seat across from Date and eyed the menu himself. Regardless of the range of options, it didn’t take him too long to decide on what he wanted, so he placed the menu back on the table to wait for their waiter to stop by. He looked around at the people in the restaurant, none of which particularly stood out to him. At the very least, it wouldn’t take a ludicrously long time to be attended to, although the eatery was rather lively.

The question brought Narihisago’s attention back to his partner. “There are a couple I’ve been assigned. I mostly deal with investigating and reporting anomalous strain activity, which is a bit of a downgrade in severity from my old job. Most of them are resolved, or close to it, but there was one recently… not a strain, I don’t think, but a serial killer.” Rage flashed behind Narihisago’s eyes for a moment as he tightened a fist beneath the table, the memories of it enough to incense him, but he regained his composure. “Although that’s more of a case I stumbled upon than one that was assigned to me.”

Curiosity picked at the back of Narihisago’s mind relentlessly, and although the question was a bit forward, he couldn’t help but ask. “Date-san, how much did they tell you about me?”

Nodding his head along as he listened to Narihisago’s brief explanation of his job, Date’s attention was piqued by a shift in the man’s tone when he mentioned the serial killer. Placing the menu down on the table, he brought his gaze up to watch him more carefully.

“...Honestly, they didn’t tell me very much about you.” Just that he had a dangerous history. And, as talk of the recent case indeed seemed to boil rage within the man’s hitherto fairly calm composition, he could certainly understand the warnings that had been issued to him. “I’m aware that you have… some kind of history, but that’s about it. A serial killer sounds pretty serious, though. Did you call for back-up? More importantly, did you get him?” Though perhaps the important question was how he “stumbled” upon a serial killer in the first place.

Had he found some of the killer’s victims? Still, it was weird… Finding serial killers usually required investigative work and intensive profiling to even nail down. Happening upon one… was more than a little strange.

[doggodad]

Ghosts of the Past || Date & Minato

Tired blueish-gray eyes darted upward, towards a man with light brown hair that looked to be tied into a small bun. It looked a bit messy, but Minato couldn’t speak on something that considering his hair was often varying degrees of messy. He didn’t think it was too bad today, which was a relief as combing his hair in the morning was a hassle and felt incredibly useless on some days. 

Something about the fact that he was being addressed by a living, breathing person rather than one of the spirits that had found him interesting and chose to trail him was refreshing. He didn’t feel incredibly disturbed. His music had been low for once, and he calmly placed his headphones around his neck so he could hear better. “…Yes?” Although he gave a response and even was looking in his direction, it looked more like he was staring into space rather than at Date.

This was because they were being noisy lately, and quite honestly, he hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in what felt like forever. 

Even now, right behind the man stood a young girl with blonde hair. She stared at the university student, only seen by him with a devilish grin on her face as she mouthed three words to him. ‘Die for me?’ 

He knew he looked insane, talking to the air behind the stranger rather than the stranger himself, but he was used to that by now. He had to look insane, because he was fairly sure that he had lost his mind years ago. Maybe this wasn’t even a strain ability. Maybe, he was just crazy. “…Go away,” he said sternly, watching as the girl pouted and soon vanished. He then focused (or tried to focus) his attention back on the strange man.

He knew at the very least that it was concerning that this man, no this man from Scepter 4 knew his name. He didn’t really know if he was in their databases considering his ability wasn’t one that could be seen or witnessed by others. He had no reason to believe they’d be coming after him…had he done something wrong? He hadn’t gotten into any real trouble recently. “…Mmhm,” he responded, giving a small and slow nod before reaching his hand out and shaking the others. “…Did I do something wrong?”

The blue-grey eyes which shot up at Date’s introduction, sunken and bloodshot, did not actually meet Date’s gaze, but rather stared blankly past him. Almost like there was something behind him, but when he turned his head to look at what might have captured the student’s attention, all he saw was the freshly cut grass waving in the breeze. Nothing strange. Yet, it was towards this vacant space that Minato issued his firm but almost listless command. Almost as if he was speaking to someone.

“Unless he just wants me to go away.”

Although this was possible, something in the student’s gaze, shifting back towards Date, told him that it wasn’t. In that case, the most plausible explanation seemed to be--

“So there’s a ghost behind me?!”

Prompted by the dire urgency in Date’s voice, Aiba ran a thermal scan of the area. However--

Thermal scan complete. Nothing out of the ordinary. If there really are ghosts, then they might really be beyond my purview.

And that was why they needed to rely on the unique ability demonstrated by Minato.

“No no no, you’ve done nothing wrong.” Turning back around to face the student once again, Date quickly offered this reassurance. “Actually, we would like to enlist your help to assist with closing an investigation. Basically, Scepter 4 has recognized the potential of your ability. This wouldn’t be for free, of course. You’ll be compensated for your work from Scepter 4’s funds directly… and in addition, I’ll treat you to lunch as well. How about it?”

[doggodad]

A Study In Emerald || Date & Naofumi

Naofumi stiffened, an uncomfortable sinking feeling appearing in his gut at the mention of not only the Sword of Damocles but at being addressed by name. It was a name he hadn’t heard in quite some time as he’d refused to give it out to anyone, not even his own clansmen. Naofumi furrowed his brows, a dead giveaway that something that Date had said struck something in the King.

“If it didn’t look like mine then it had nothing to do with me. I don’t know anything about it.” It wasn’t entirely a lie, during that moment when he’d gone berserk he was aware of the odd physical changes happening to him and around him but not directly above him. If his Sword displayed anything odd then he believed it but couldn’t confirm it. He was curious as to how it must have looked.. at least from Scepter 4′s building. It must have been noticeable if they’d sent someone to investigate.

Scepter 4 weren’t the police, but they had considerably more power than them. While his record was marked unfavorably, he was sure Scepter 4 wouldn’t concern themselves with that.. but it was a different matter since he was a King. Because of that bitch, he was probably painted in a horrible light and Scepter 4 would still take that into consideration. But it seemed on brand for them to concern themselves first and foremost with the Sword rather than… the blood.

“If that’s all then you can go.” Brushing off the other male, Naofumi easily passed him up and headed straight for the blood on the ground. There was no pussyfooting around it since it was so obviously noticeable so he may as well just do what he’d set out to do and address it now. Letting the heavy bags adorning his arms slide down and drop to the ground, he bent down to pluck one of the bottles out, removed the cap and got to work pouring it over the blood. Though he couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that that wouldn’t be enough to sway the man in blue to leave him alone.

“Is that so…” Muttering these words, tinged with the uncertainty and disbelief that even now swelled up within him, Date nevertheless allowed the heavy silence that punctuated Naofumi’s assertion to descend. Aiba stayed focused on the King’s movements as he brushed past towards the grisly scene. His purpose in doing so subverted Date’s expectations entirely. Somehow. Even though he’d not really had any expectations.

“Whoa, is really going to try to clean all that blood like that?” That seemed… beyond futile. There was way too much, already dried and congealed on the hard concrete. Besides that, what was the point? It kind of just seemed pointless. Besides--

Date, I know this isn’t why we came out here, but even so, this is clearly a crime scene! We have to preserve it and file a report on it!

The sharp protest Aiba voiced in his head focused Date’s attention on the most important aspect of it. Clearly, something had happened here, and now Naofumi for whatever reason was trying to clean it up. “He’s not really being inconspicuous about it, though…” Date reflected on this with a sigh, and then stepped closer to the King, extending a hand out towards his shoulder.

“Hey hey hey, wait a minute now. Even if you know nothing about the Sword that was spotted over here, you seem to know something about this blood.” In his gut, he felt that it was somehow connected to the Sword. There was yet any definitive proof, but that there was so much blood in the same area… Could that really just be a coincidence? “Anyways, I’m sure you can understand, since this looks serious. The less this scene is tampered with, the better. Also, if you could tell me anything you know about what happened here…”

Given everything he knew about Naofumi, the criminal charges staining his record, and that piercing glare, he wouldn’t doubt if he remained fairly noncompliant - or, at least, unhelpful. Though of course, he had to hope that maybe he’d see the sense in cooperating with a detective of Scepter 4.

[doggodad]

nxrihisago​:

Narihisago’s appetite hadn’t exactly been the same since… well, it didn’t matter. While he wasn’t necessarily hungry, he could eat something. In addition, going in and eating gave a better opportunity for him to get to know Date a little bit better, since their attention wouldn’t be very divided (not that much was happening to begin with.)

“Lunch wouldn’t be a bad idea,” he answered vaguely. “Did you have your eye on that burger place over there, Date-san?” It’d been a while since Narihisago had eaten burgers, so he couldn’t say the idea wasn’t appealing. “Let’s go there, then.”

Upon receiving a positive response, Date grinned and clapped his hands together. “Yeah, it looks good, doesn’t it? Not much seems to be happening anyway, so it should be okay just to get a quick burger. Besides, can’t work on an empty stomach.” With that said, he altered his path immediately to reach the decided-upon restaurant. After stopping and checking to make sure his charge was still by him, he pushed the door open and stepped inside to be seated at one of the available booths.

“Hmmm....” Date picked up the menu placed in front of him on the table and began looking over it to try and decide what he wanted before the waiter arrived at their table. A coffee probably for the drink, he thought, but was torn between two of the burger choices for an entree.

“So, are there any active cases you’re currently working on? I don’t really know what all they got you doing, to be honest.”

[doggodad]

shieldprison​:

A Study In Emerald || Date & Naofumi

Naofumi had hardly slept that night. The gruesome scene of that mangled corpse and the way his powers had gone berserk and done something that he couldn’t quite comprehend made it hard for him to sleep peacefully. The events of the previous night only continued to play on repeat even in his dreams though even more bizarre than what he’d actually experienced, as if his brain was trying to make sense of things in the most abstract way. After only a few hours, Naofumi opted to rise, seeing no point in continuing to sleep. There was still that issue of the zombie boy’s blood congealed on the concrete. 

Naofumi sighed. He’d have to get rid of that. The last thing he wanted was for someone to notice and go reporting it. Though now that he thought of it he was actually surprised and pleasantly relieved that he hadn’t been disturbed at all so far. Maybe luck was on his side for once and no one had noticed. 

He had no running water or working electricity at the warehouse and as much as it pained him to do so, he needed to make a trip to the nearest convenience store for as much bottled water as he could carry back. The least that guy could have done was cleaned up his own damn blood off the ground, he thought sourly as he trekked out of the warehouse, doing his damnedest to avoid looking at it. However when he returned later sporting two very heavy bags with water bottles in them, his stomach dropped at the sight of a man in blue. Shit. He attempted to not look too surprised, but it was apparent already that Naofumi at least recognized the uniform.

“What do you want?” He responded as unfriendly as ever, stopping as the other moved right into his way. A voice in the back of his mind reminded him of the weight on his arms and what that weight meant and he knew immediately that the large pool of blood practically by his doorstep had definitely alerted this man. He knew he shouldn’t have let his guard down and should have cleaned it up immediately. It was too late for regrets now. 

Though he did have his lucky stars to thank that this wasn’t Munakata. If push came to shove he’d probably have no issue going head to head with one of his lackeys, though that was a last resort and one he wished to avoid at all costs. 

“That’s…”

Naofumi Iwatani. The Emerald King.

The shock laced into Aiba’s voice as it spoke in his head matched Date’s own reaction. There was no mistaking that the man standing there, arms laden with large bags that looked almost ready to burst from the weight, was the Emerald King they had on file. So what was he doing out here? And what was in those bags? A deluge of questions poured into his mind at this unexpected appearance, throwing his thoughts into disarray.

Date, that weird aura around the Sword of Damocles. Ask him if he knows anything about that. Aiba’s voice pierced through the turbulence flooding his mind as she reminded him of his original purpose out here, clearing enough of his confusion to properly sort out some of his thoughts.

“I’m Kaname Date of Scepter 4. I was sent out here to investigate a strange Sword of Damocles that popped up around here a while ago. The description didn’t match that of belonging to the Emerald King, but regardless, would you happen to know anything about it, Iwatani-san?” Speaking thus, Date managed to keep his cool and friendly demeanor up, even against the hostility emanating from those piercing eyes in return. Of course, if it came to something like a skirmish, Date had enough faith in his abilities to escape so that he could at least report his findings, though he was much more interested in keeping tensions low enough that it wouldn’t come to that.

[doggodad]

ihai​:

Falco felt a surge of sadistic satisfaction as he realized that he had gotten away with his recent heinous acts. Of course, he’d spent years honing the skill of deception in several different ways, and his strain ability certainly helped with it. He knew that there was still at least an inkling of suspicion judging from the terseness of his words, but he had to commend the detective for remaining professional regardless. 

The corners of his lips began to turn upwards in a smirk, but Falco tried to shift the sordid smile into something that appeared more genuine. “I understand, officer. I’ve been familiar with the workings of law enforcement in the past,” he responded politely in kind. “Asking people for their time is just par for the course. As for someone suspicious…” He feigned mulling over the question before giving his answer. “I have not. I know that isn’t helpful.”

Then a sick idea popped into his head.

“Although I did see a young man while I was making my own way home. He looked as though he had witnessed something ghastly. I passed him by a couple of blocks away, near a rundown storehouse.” A twisted gloat disguised as a lead. “It may be unrelated, but I hope it helps.”

Though the tinges of dissatisfaction remained in the pit of Date’s stomach, he knew a dead end when he reached one. Regardless of the sense of eerie dread he felt, he no doubt would have better luck searching elsewhere for his clues. Cementing this resolve with a sigh, Date turned around, rubbing the back of his head as he thought about his next steps in the investigation.

But his thoughts were interrupted by the man offering an unexpected tip. “Oh, a young man?” Immediately, he had to wonder how something like that didn’t come up sooner. But rather than dwelling on such ultimately unimportant details, it was definitely more urgent for him to investigate said young man. “Hmmm. Thanks for the info. I’ll go look into that.”

Trepidation clung heavy to Date as he set off to search for the mentioned storehouse down the street, hindering each step as it grew and festered in the pit of his stomach. Something wasn’t right. Well, of course it wasn’t. He wasn’t exactly out here on a leisure trip, after all. He was out here on an investigation, so it was only natural to assume that he’d stumble upon something ghastly.

Still, even bearing that in mind, he wasn’t really prepared for the grisly sight of that storehouse.

“What the…?”

The amount of blood splattering the floors, the walls, interspersed with unidentifiable bits of viscera. It was completely unexpected, and not quite like anything he’d ever seen before. Not to mention--

This is… completely different from our target investigation…

They hadn’t received any intel on anything like this. Which meant this was a new case. Whether Falco had known about this or not… ultimately, he couldn’t know, but he did harbor secret suspicions. Regardless, right now, he needed to contact his superiors about this to get an official investigation underway.

[doggodad]

Ghosts of the Past || Date & Minato

@soulphrxse

“Arisato-kun?” Date came to a stop as he neared a kid with dark blue, unkempt hair. He certainly fit the profile he’d been given, but he really was young, wasn’t he? Besides that--

“Ghosts, huh?” This question was directed inward, so that only his AI-Ball partner could hear these doubtful thoughts, though he didn’t really expect much of an answer. It was just that the ability to see and talk to ghosts… Frankly, could something like that really exist?

I know it seems unlikely, but the intel source was credible. Not to mention, if such an ability really is authentic, it could provide just the help we need for this case.

Aiba’s response was, as always and as expected of something like an artificial intelligence, sensible.

“Yeah, that’s true. I still can’t imagine how the guy could have killed himself like that, but if there was somebody else there to perpetrate the crime, how did they do it and get away without a trace of evidence?! Definitely being able to talk to him would go a long ways…” Theirs was really a classic case of a locked-room mystery, and unfortunately, they’d hit a dead-end already in the investigation. The corpse had been found hanged with a rope attached to the ceiling fan in his bedroom. That itself wasn’t terribly strange, the only strange part was how he’d done it. The distance between the floor and the ceiling was much taller than the man himself, and there had been no sign of a stool or anything by his feet or anywhere on the floor to clearly indicate how he’d been able to reach up there. Hence the mystery.

Then, around that time, they’d gotten a tip about a kid, Minato Arisato, who possessed a unique ability to speak with the dead. Or rather, their ghosts. Still, Date had not been prepared to see someone so young. But if he was key to solving the case, there wasn’t much else to be done.

“Kaname Date of Scepter 4.” As he came around to introducing himself, Date extended a gloved hand towards the kid.

[doggodad]

A Study In Emerald || Date & Naofumi

@shieldprison

The abandoned warehouse district oversaw abundant criminal activity. Indeed, the dark recesses of the large, empty buildings made for the perfect hideaways and meet-up points for the degenerates of society. Dimly lit streets, scarcely patrolled, under cover of the dark night sky made the area ideal for slipping in and out undetected. That Kaname Date, someone with Scepter 4, was here was, itself, a rare sight to the low-life denizens of the area. Most of the people here were wont to keep their heads down in the presence of people affiliated with Scepter 4, clearly marked by their uniforms, and hence, unsurprisingly, he met little resistance as he headed deeper into the area, straight towards one of the looming warehouse buildings.

His business here was the large, menacing Sword of Damocles which had appeared over the area earlier that night. That sword indicated the presence of a King… but the aura that had accompanied it had been wholly unfamiliar. That was the description Date had received of the incident before being sent to find out what was going on. The only details he’d gotten when he asked were that the aura had “some kind of unnatural red electricity”, and it had been spotted somewhere in this district.

As of this moment, quiet had descended upon these outskirts of the city, save for the faint whistling of the wind and the creaking of a distant gate. The premises appeared absolutely deserted, possibly as a result of the clash that had occurred earlier.

Date came to an abrupt halt as he came upon a large, dark splatter across the pavement. He knew immediately what it was, that it was nothing good…

“Aiba, is that…?”

Blood, his partner responded in a muted voice.

A lot of blood had been spilled here, coated a large portion of the area with its dark, almost rust-colored hue. There was no fathomable way whoever sustained such injuries had survived, but…

“Where’s the body?” More than likely, he supposed it had been disposed of. It certainly wasn’t the first time someone had been killed out here.

Still, even though the sight brought a chill to his spine, he wasn’t out here to investigate whoever’s murder this was. Well, there was a chance it was somewhat related to his purpose for being out here. Right now, he needed to find and ascertain the identity of whichever King had been responsible for the grim Sword which had appeared here. Slowly, alert to any possible signs of danger, he continued further into the area, searching for anything else unusual that might be a clue.

Then, behind him, he could make out the sound of footsteps.

"Well, hello there,” he called out as he spun and moved to intercept the person. Whether it was his guy or a witness, he definitely needed to speak to them.

[doggodad]

ihai​:

Falco watched as Date procured a pen and paper and he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Was he normally in the habit of stopping random passersby who just so happen to be out past most peoples’ bedtimes? The fact that Falco had, of course, been up to no good notwithstanding. Naturally, Falco took care not to have any visible blood on him. It would be a pain if he had been arrested before finishing what he had to do in the city.

Speaking of, he wasn’t sure what name to give “Date.” Clearly he hadn’t remembered yet, but would giving that name jog his memory at all? It would only add on to his suspicion if he gave the detective “his” code name, though. Maybe he was just overthinking it.

“I’m referred to as ‘Falco’ by everyone I know. I hear that name more often than my given name, if I’m being honest,” he answered, giving a light-hearted laugh to add to his facade. “Though my legal name is Hayato Yagyu. If you need to look me up in any systems, I should be under that name. As for what I’m doing out here, I received a call from my niece a little bit ago. She needed someone to walk her home, since she was out late with some friends at the local bar and felt unsafe returning on her own.” Falco was nothing if not proficient at lying on the spot.

“Do you have any other questions, officer Date?”

Ultimately, the notes he jotted down had little more than the man’s legal name, the nickname he’d thrown out there, the date and time Date had accosted him, and just the testimony he’d shared about his supposed niece. Honestly, the story itself fit the circumstances rather well. Still, just in case, he issued a quick internal order to his partner. “Thermal scan.” Once again, the image in his left eye shifted, this time giving way to a much more colorful view as Aiba activated her infrared sensors. What he was looking for, of course, was just any kind of large, uncommon spike in the heat pattern of the male’s body, as people’s temperature tended to rise when lying. However, he spotted no such anomalies, and had to concede that he appeared to be telling the truth.

His temperature is normal. He… doesn’t seem to be lying, Aiba reported as she switched the sensors back off, returning Date’s vision to normal again. This of course matched his own findings, but though it all seemed so water-tight, he still couldn’t shake the uncanny feeling that they were missing something important. But, well, if hadn’t found anything overtly suspicious by this point, maybe the man really had nothing to do with it.

“Thanks for your cooperation in giving your testimony.” The words came out stiff, but polite nevertheless. “Sorry to hold you up. There was an incident here I’ve been sent to investigate, and you’re a potential witness, being in the area. Just one more question, then. While walking with your niece, did you see anything or anyone unusual?”

[doggodad]

nxrihisago​:

“Something like that, hm?” Narihisago repeated. He had to admit it was a weird answer to his question, but he also acknowledged that surely there was more to Scepter 4 that Narihisago wasn’t privy to for whatever reason. Of course, he couldn’t blame them; he was an ex-convict, and the prefix was only there because of Scepter 4. They were under no obligation to let him know anything at all. He decided not to press further on the matter. “Well, I don’t envy you that, but I preferred being more active.”

Narihisago gave a slight smile at the suggestion of calling Date senpai. “I might be new to this particular sort of job, but I think I’ll stick with Date-san for now.”

They continued to walk in silence, and Narihisago glanced over to notice that Date seemed… distracted, for lack of a better word. Thinking, perhaps?

“Something on your mind?”

“Hmmm… Not really, just wondering… Are you hungry at all?” He couldn’t really explain that he was just talking to Aiba, and as they walked, Date spotted what appeared to be a restaurant. As Aiba zoomed in on the window for a clear picture, he could see from both the dangling wooden sign and the bustling silhouettes that they were open. Come to think of it, he couldn’t even remember if he’d eaten anything after breakfast that morning, and the sight of the burgers some of the patrons were enjoying roused his latent hunger. Besides, this patrol was just getting a little monotonous at this point, and throwing something fun in to break that shouldn’t hurt anything.

[blveking]

Blue Blood || Reisi & Kaname

@seeingeyedetective

In the dead of night his phone rang once - twice - and on the third ring he picked it up, his smooth as molasses voice cutting through the thick summer air. The caller spoke frantically as if they had just run a mile. From their winded breath he picked out bits and pieces of what they were trying to say, and he then began to form his own recollection of the scene painted before him. 

The true horror of what happened paled in comparison to whatever his mind could make up. The actual crime scene was gruesome with the body still laid strategically on the ground, hands crossed over the chest like a mummy, in a pool of their own blood. Their saber protruded from beneath their ribs with a mysterious red cloth tied around the hilt. It wasn’t an accident, it wasn’t a random act of cruelty, but a planned homicide.

When Munakata arrived on scene, he was flanked by two older clansmen who quickly debriefed him of the situation. The body had been found by trespassing teens with a need to vandalize dilapidated buildings with spray paint and a bat in their arsenal. The discovery was made over six hours ago. Law enforcement had been on the scene for roughly five and a half hours with Scepter 4 having been made aware another hour after law enforcement arrived. Munakata, however, had been notified not even an hour ago.

A cold fury stilled his body, the faraway voices of his fellow clansmen speaking to one another a dull ringing in his ears as he stared at the lifeless body of a now former clansmen. They were an older member of Scepter 4 who had joined roughly the same time Munakata had been made Captain. He had become close to them throughout the years, often handing them important assignments given how reliable and successful they were.

This wasn’t supposed to be how they went out. They should have retired.

An arrest had to be made. Justice had to be served. His body felt heavy with grief, but his anger kept mounting and his mind was numb; briefly he wondered if this was what Mikoto Suoh felt when Tatara Totsuka had been brutally murdered.

Calls were made that night, resources spent, because Munakata was not about to rest; not when there was a killer on the loose. 

Still, long after the crime scene had been cleaned up and what little evidence had been collected, Munakata received his own samples before returning to Scepter 4′s headquarters. Dawn’s pale light crept along the cityscape as time ticked on. The early morning bustle remained ignored as he immersed himself in the evidence trying to find a clue. It was difficult and not because this wasn’t his forte. Whoever committed the crime knew what they were doing.

That being said, Munakata needed expert help in the field of law enforcement. Luckily for him, Scepter 4 had one at their disposal. So another call was made - one for a Detective Kaname Date.

[doggodad]

“Date, wake up! We have an incoming phone call!”

Aiba’s shrill voice shattered the calm quiet that had shrouded the small apartment, piercing straight into Date’s awareness and waking him from his sleep. With dissatisfied mumbling, he stirred and sat up, blinking his eyes open before a yawn stretched his mouth open. The room was still dark, but the early morning light filtering in from the gap in the curtains brightened it enough that he could make out the small, round, gelatinous bear-like shape Aiba took on to get around outside of his skull. The yellow eye that made up Aiba’s actual body was staring at him, evidently waiting for his response to her urgent pronouncement.

Still working through the fog of sleep that clouded his mind, it was a moment before the meaning of her words registered. “Phone call? Who is it?”

Being a member of Scepter 4 who did detective work, the feeling of being thrust awake with some type of urgent phone call wasn’t exactly foreign. For better or worse, he was essentially “on call” at all hours. Occasionally, Boss or someone would call him in for work-related reasons, even during the late and early hours.

“Munakata,” came Aiba’s ready response. “Would you like me to connect you?”

“Yes, better go ahead and pick up,” Date replied, tapping the palm of his hand against the side of his head to try and clear the lingering drowsiness as he waited for the line to connect.

The call he received ended up being short - just a brief description of what had been found, and then a location on where he should go to meet up with Munakata directly. Date’s presence was being requested, of course, to help bring the killer’s identity to light. It was an order directly from the top, so he couldn’t really refuse, but even more compelling than that was the feeling of raw dread evoked from the description he’d received of the crime scene.

It didn’t take Date long after that to get ready. Following the call, he had Aiba return to her usual station within his left eye socket, and then pulled on his Scepter 4 uniform. Then he headed out, drove his car the few blocks to where Munakata had told him to meet.

“Hello!” he called out as he stepped inside. “Kaname Date reporting.”

[doggodad]

nxrihisago​:

Narihisago had been told that Date had some personal things going on. Specifically, he lost his memories years ago (how many, exactly, was not disclosed) and he now had a fake eye after losing his in an accident. Narihisago wasn’t about to ask such an intrusive question on their first job together. Instead, he could answer the question posed to him in turn.

“Hmm…” Narihisago hadn’t really kept solid track. It didn’t matter to him, if he had to be honest about it. “Probably around six months. I didn’t take note of when exactly they… recruited me. I wasn’t exactly in the best place at the time.” Still not, he thought bitterly. “But I’m sure you don’t want to hear me go on about that. What sort of work did you do, Date-san? Were you mostly dealing with paperwork?”

A sly smile touched Date’s face in response to the question. An innocent question, of course, but one that he could not answer truthfully nevertheless. His role as a Psyncer in the ABIS division was restricted information that someone needed the proper clearances for. As far as he knew, Narihisago did not have such clearance. At least, if he did, they hadn’t informed Date of it. So instead, he answered with a simple “something like that.”

As they walked, Date kept a casual eye on the horizon, though for now it seemed that all was quiet. Reports of strain and criminal activity in this area were why the two were here now. Well, it was more like that was why Narihisago was here, and then Date was just here to help him if needed, but more importantly his main job was to keep an eye on Narihisago himself. To make sure he didn’t do anything dangerous or unnecessary. Evidently there were concerns about that. Even Aiba had cautioned him before arriving here, had told him to be careful when dealing with his new partner.

“Anyways, so you’re still pretty new, huh? In that case, it’s fine if you want to call me ‘Senpai’ as well.”

As he said this, he turned his next question internally to his companion. “Aiba, is there any information available on the jobs he’s done?”

Let me check. Aiba fell silent for a moment after saying this, no doubt scouring the databases she had access to for such information.

A moment later, she spoke up again. There’s not much. However, he does have several successful cases under his belt. I doubt they’d assign you to him without a good reason, so you should really be careful.

“Yes, yes, I know. He seems to be doing okay so far, though.”

[doggodad]

ihai​:

A Brush With Fate || Date & Falco

The black-haired man took a deep breath before leaving the abandoned building. He had to compose himself, had to put on his facade again. Of course, the evidence of his recent indulgence was splattered on his suit jacket, and he grimaced. That would be a bit of an issue, but it was a little warm out in Shizume City, even as the moon hung high in the sky. A man carrying a jacket in his arms wasn’t too weird, surely.

He walked down the street after slipping his jacket off and hanging it on his arm, carrying it carefully and closely. If someone walked by and saw…

And walk by and see someone did.

The man, “Falco” he called himself, froze for a moment and turned to look in the direction of the voice. Actually, the voice itself was familiar, intimately so. And as he saw who the voice belonged to, his blood began to boil. While the man and voice was familiar, the name he had given Falco was not. Kaname Date… he hadn’t introduced himself as either name Falco was expecting to hear. Had he not gained his memories back just yet? He was just going to use that fake name with that face?

Falco tried not to show his inner rage and confusion and general maelstrom of feelings on his face or body language. “Good evening, officer,” he greeted cordially. “I’ll certainly answer anything to the best of my ability, Date-san.” He could do this. Putting on fronts was his best ability, after all.

The feeling of unease nestled within Date’s stomach continued to grow and churn as the black-haired man spoke. There was something off-putting about him, to put it simply, though Date still couldn’t pinpoint what that “something” was. Something in his face maybe, or voice, or the coat bundled in his arms. Still, despite this, he had to at least appreciate the man’s cooperative attitude. So with a firm nod, Date pulled a small notebook and pen from his pocket and prepared to take notes. “Okay, let’s start simple. What’s your name and what are you doing out here this time of night?”

“Aiba, can you zoom in on that coat?” After making this request, the image displayed in his left eye changed. First, Aiba brought the coat in question into focus, and then zoomed in close enough to make out the creases and seams in the material. “Hmmm…” It looked normal, and of course, the act of merely carrying a coat around on its own wasn’t nearly enough to warrant undue suspicion. He still couldn’t help but feel that something was off as Aiba dragged his scope of vision over every visible inch of the material.

I don’t detect anything, Aiba reported back, matching his own conclusion.

“Guess it’s nothing, then.” Instead, for now, all he could do was rely on the testimony provided to him from the man’s own mouth.

[doggodad]

A Brush With Fate || Date & Falco

@ihai

Date, wait!

The voice that rang in his head was feminine, but not without its mechanical undertones. Audible to Kaname Date only, this was Aiba, the AI-Ball companion who sat in ever-vigilant watch from his left eye socket.

Up until just now, she had been largely quiet as Date made his usual information-gathering rounds, only speaking up now and then to perform cursory searches or scold Date for something untoward. However, this wasn’t one of those times. There was an urgency in her voice this time, which prompted Date to halt where he was. For a moment, all he could hear was the thunderous roar of blood in his ears as he stood there, scanning his surroundings for whatever it was that had incited Aiba’s panicked outcry.

The city was dark, with naught but the pale moonlight from high above and the dimmed and flickering street lamps to shed light on the surroundings. This downtrodden part of town never saw much traffic even during the busiest hours of the day, and made for a perfect crime hotspot of sorts. That he might run into trouble here had never strayed far from his mind, and right now identifying the threat was the number one priority.

“...Aiba?” He shot the question internally, so that only his partner could hear.

I see something over there. Even as Aiba’s response registered in Date’s brain, she zoomed in on a shadowy figure. He was hard to make out in the dark, but once Aiba focused on him, he was definitely a dark-haired male, walking with something bunched up in his arms. There was something off about him, but it was hard to put his finger on what exactly. By all appearances, he was just a normal man. But then… even just being a normal man in this part of town, at this time of night… that itself was abnormal.

“Damn, look at that guy, he’s definitely up to something!”

We don’t know that for certain. As always, Aiba’s response was just logical. However, the fact remained that she’d been the one to warn him of the man’s presence in the first place.

“Well, if he’s not up to anything, then this should be quick. Besides, if he was here, maybe he saw something.” He couldn’t jump to any careless conclusions, such as that this guy was tied to the murder Date was here to investigate, but if he turned out to have any information at all, well, of course that would be useful to him.

...Be careful, Date.

Aiba’s warning was unnecessary. Hand resting on the pommel of his sword, Date advanced towards the man, motioned for him to stop as he drew near.

“Kaname Date of Scepter 4. I’m conducting an investigation in this area and I was hoping you’d be able to answer some questions for me.”

[nxrihisago]

New Partner | Narihisago and Date

Narihisago was actually taken off guard by something Scepter 4 had told him for once. Most of the time, he had free reign while Scepter 4 members trailed behind or hung around somewhere to keep an eye on him, simply because they didn’t trust him just yet.

He hadn’t foreseen actually being assigned a specific clansman to work with. Or perhaps work with wasn’t the proper way to word it. More like he had been assigned a handler.

He continued his usual patrol of an area that had sightings of possible strain activity, except he was accompanied by a tall blond man at his side. He was told the man’s name was Kaname Date, but that’s all that he was told. Since he was going to be with him for a while, he might as well get to know him.

But Narihisago had grown unused to communication and wasn’t sure where to start trying to get to know someone, especially since he already knew his name, and he assumed Date knew his, along with some of his sordid past that led him to Scepter 4′s doorstep.

Finally, he settled on a question. “Have you been working for Scepter 4 long? I don’t think I’ve seen you before now.”

[doggodad]

A partner… Well, more like a pet, maybe, since Date was officially the man’s “handler”. Thinking of it like that certainly gave the situation a certain edge that allowed him to feel cooler. After all, this guy wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill detective. Date hadn’t been given the details himself, but rather had been told simply that Akihito Narihisago had a dangerous history tied to him. As for why they’d assign Date to him in particular… it had to be due to his proficiency.

In any case, he might look more forward to having an underling if he wasn’t so lifeless. His sunken face and listless demeanor bespoke of the horrors he had presumably witnessed, but it also made him seem unapproachable. Well, ultimately, work was work, but if they were going to be working hand-in-hand a lot, Date would rather it be someone he could get along with, even if only superficially.

“About as long as I can remember,” he said in response to the question. Well, “as long as he could remember” was really just six years, but it wasn’t like that detail was important. “Usually, I’m working more behind the scenes. Not to say I don’t do any leg-work, but… I usually don’t get sent out as much as guys like you, I guess. What about you? How long have you been under Scepter 4’s thumb, Narihisago-san?”

[doggodad]

Starter Call

Like this post for a thread with Date. Capping at 3. But I’m dummy, so if you like this, I will hit you up for ideas.