A lot of time passed between the time I watched raincode playthrough for the first time and when Yakou dlc came out, so I completely forgot that Makoto said that
Now there is an even more chance that Yakou can be resurrected, since Yakou has a prototype of a cell regeneration medicine
It also makes me think that Makoto might actually be thinking about finding a way to resurrect the zombified citizens of Kanai Ward
Perhaps Yakou's wife's research was lost and because of that, scientists and Makoto were still unable to create a cell regeneration medicine
In my head, the cell regeneration medicine thing in Yakou dlc now makes more sense
The thing about raincode is that you WILL accidentally end up giving one of those chapter 0 characters more lore and backstory than the game ever did. You're gonna imprint on them like a baby chick
Concept: The Nocturnal Detective Agency try to assemble IKEA furniture.
Brought to you by "Vivia would be reading the instructions manual on the side while occasionally telling the others what they are doing wrong" gang (that's me)
Oh man writing into a new fandom really is like *poking my head out the worm hole* "please don't come for my life"
The Exorcist (?) Case
A vivia x Miss Detective Reader story
TW: depiction of an assault
Author's whinings: ya ever wanna write some casual fluff maybe with a smidge of angst but you have to figure out some supernatural mystery plot to squeeze in between? Don't you just hate. When that happens. And then you deviate from the little plot you did have for a AND THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED scene. God what am I even doing writing in 3rd person why did i get stubborn about not using y/n???. I haven't written in forever and it shows. God I hope at least this wip stops having a fucking grip on me now. I. BLAME. YOU @jade-s-nymph
Vivia is just along for the ride and he knows it, sorry guys.
»»————>
You have one new message.
"Hey, guys, what if i became an exorcist? How stupid does it sound on a scale from 1 to 10? Yeah well I met this one guy and he made me an offer and I'll be honest, although he didn't ask for money, I've taken scam calls that sounded less shady. I'm not sure it's just some scam but yeah it's suspicious, since I know i have net 0 spiritual power, but i guess you need a sceptic normo there for good luck?? Rightfully I should leave it well alone, but that just means he's gonna find some other poor sucker. Only call me back if you do think it's stupid!"
Halara Nightmare sighed before calling back.
"If you wanted help getting a hold of Vivia you could have just said so."
The person on the other end laughed awkwardly.
"As you well know, I don't work for cheap."
They stopped laughing.
On a train station platform, a pair of feet tapping back and forth, finally stopped; replaced by too many more to count, the measured rhythm drowned out by a crowd of people, like a sudden rain in the late spring.
Eyes searched the crowd to no results. Rightfully, the person they were waiting for shouldn't have been so hard to spot, if they were not–
Oh.
"Excuse me," she timidly asked a conductor "are there any packages sent for the name..."
...
Bum....
Bum...
Bum...
"Ma'am, there is a lift here..."
"I hate lifts." She said and meant it; continuing to drag the huge suitcase down the stairs, painfully slow, and with an unsuccessful attempt at delicacy.
...
"Alright this place is inconspicuous enough," she said and lightly kicked the suitcase "oi. Still alive or should I just burry you like this?"
"Ahhh... I wanna die someday..." Moaned the suitcase with a surprisingly deep voice.
"Not on my watch."
A tall figure, to whom the voice actually belonged to, emerged. "Just when the ride got smoother too..."
"Well!..." Words failed to convey her indignation. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I can't believe you actually came in a suitcase... I heard people can suffocate like this!"
"It wasn't too bad."
"I'm not gonna send you back in it though."
"You're sending me back already?"
"Of course not! I haven't even- Ah! I have a pack of biscuits on me! We can eat on a bench in the park over there and I'll tell you the rest!"
...
She opened the pack, handed him the first biscuit and watched him eat it for two seconds. Realizing that staring was a little weird, she took one for herself.
"So you met an exorcist?"
"He says he's an exorcist. At the very least, he's the priest that takes care of the shrine in this town. There aren't many of those left, as far as I could gather info.
There are rumors that the shrine is haunted, which is why I went to see it... And when I said I always wanted to see a ghost, he said I could become an exorcist." She shrugged.
"As we all know thanks to the WDO's thorough examinations, I do not have a single drop of spiritual power in me." Her shoulders dropped at that statement. "Buuut he hasn't tried to scam me off money. I can't tell for sure if he does or doesn't have actual spiritual powers but..." She paused to chew a biscuit very thoughtfully. "There have been a couple of... Unexplained hiking accidents around the shrine over the years. Lately they've been saying they look like suicides. It's tourists, since locals know by now to stir clear of the place."
"What's unexplained if they look like suicides?"
"Ah, sorry. At first, they looked like hiking accidents. That is, because not a single one was witnessed by anyone. That was around...6 years ago. After it happened again a few times, they've put signs and bars around the cliff and slide. So now they look like suicides, because you would have to purposefully ignore all that in order to fall to your death."
"Is that really so suspicious?"
"Even if it's naturally less likely to have a hiking accident in a group... Not even a single almost-accident to happen in a group... Oh and 6 years ago is also when that priest just came to the town cuz he got appointed to the shrine."
"Are you going to reveal your working theory soon or...?"
"Right.. The question is if the police just being incompetent. Those guys sounded stumped about it. They don't like the idea of this town getting known for tourists dying here... and they'd have little reason to cover it up for the priest, since he just came here 6 years ago, and it's not like he made himself extra popular with the locals... If anything, I think they would've been glad if they only had a way to pin it on him, but there's no evidence. And... "
"And...?"
"Not a single one of them is even cheating on his wife! Can't even blackmail anyone, so I don't know for sure what they did with the investigation..." Her head shook in disbelief at the sorry state of the industry. What's a girl gotta do to blackmail someone these days?
"...And that's why you called for me?"
"Yes. And...next are you going to tell me what picked your interest enough to come or...?"
"You asked."
"Hm?"
"It has been a while..." He took a biscuit and chewed on it slowly.
She resisted the urge to say 'yes it has' despite the long silence.
"Your investigation has been very thorough. That means I don't have to do a lot. I'm glad..."
"Yeah, well I wouldn't call you here for nothing."
A surprisingly gentle smile touched the gloomy man's eyes. "You have grown a lot as a detective."
"Ah... Thank you. " her pout melted into a shy smile, eyes darting down to her lap. If he peered closer, he could see her ears getting red.
".... Vivia..."
"Yes...?"
"...Have you any opinions on exorcists?" It was not what she really wanted to say.
"Hmmm... No, not particularly."
"Huh."
"What do you plan to do when you find out the truth?"
She gulped involuntarily. "I have thought about that too, but it is hard to decide before I do know the actual truth."
When they both reached for the last biscuit, she broke it in half and they shared it.
"Well then... If you don't mind..." He said, laying down, as if it was the most normal thing to do.
"I don't have to tell you to head back if it gets uncomfortable, right?"
"No. I'll be careful."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
She stroke his hair gently. "I'm counting on you."
❀
Well, usually when I get a shady offer like that, it is because someone's trying to kill me, but I hope it's nothing worse... Then we'd have a problem...
Oh and I hope I don't wake up with an extra "convincing fee" from Halara!
Time passed gently. Wind blowing through the trees now and again. The sun peaking and hiding from behind the clouds like a child. The gentle rays cascading through the leafs, the shadows playing on the girl's face and the wind brushing her hair, as if trying to cheer her up with no success. Some other time, she could have wished this moment would never end, maybe if she didn't have as many things to consider. Instead of basking in the peaceful silence, her mind raced miles per minute. A drop of oil in water.
Her brow may have gotten used to frowning, but it was tired.
Eventually, the man next to her woke up.
"Well....?"
"It's..."
❀
"Ah! So we got the worst case scenario!"
There had never been more sarcastic cheerfulness and there never would be.
"Are you-"
"I am angry."
This might have been easier if i got here while a crime scene was still fresh but...
She took a long, deep breath, like a swimmer about to dive as deep as they can go.
Then exhaled it with a weary sigh as someone carrying a huge rock up a hill would.
"I don't wanna let that happen again. I can't."
A soft call of her name dragged her back like an anchor.
"This is not a job for a detective. "
Instead of answering her brows furrowed in confusion.
"Supernatural cases are near impossible to bring to court..."
" ah, you have experience?"
"... Which is why I never bothered. Believing in ghosts... People either do or don't. It is hard to believe in something they can't see... And even when they see proof of otherwise, they will try to preserve their own worldview..."
"I figured as much," she sighed once more, voice still thick with grim resignation, but with a hint of sympathy.
"You..."
Vivia was not very good at expression. Most people assumed him cold and indifferent and moved on with it, but she was always attentive and pacient, although still not always successful in figuring him out. But in that moment, it was clear as daylight he was bracing himself to ask the next question. As if afraid to even utter it, let alone know the answer.
"If you can't solve this by exposing the truth... Would you–"
❀
In the golden-red light, the red arch framed the twilight sky like a perfect picture. One would think you could start a staircase to Heaven.
Which is why she did stop to take a quick shot.
A man in a long robe approached. "May I see?"
"Sure, why not."
The priest was well spoken, in just the right way to be irksome, and had a habit of asking intrusive questions. But even if he would've had a personality that endeared him better to the locals, he still didn't have the local accent.
"You have a very good eye for photography."
"Thank you very much."
"Have you come to give me your answer?"
"I have to wonder... Why would anyone bother to exorcise a ghost?"
"Do you not find it unnatural? Do you not think spirits should go to their and not intervene with the living?"
"Hmmm. In life, at least, I think people should be free to be where they wish."
"Even if a ghost was tormenting an innocent?"
"As long as it has nothing to with me, I don't see why I should go out of my way."
"How self-preserving. And yet, you said you wish to see a ghost. Is there a particular ghost you wish to see."
"No. I have not been so unfortunate to lose a loved one yet."
"Then...?"
"Are you truly done guessing? You seemed like the more capable type."
"Did you think it would be fun? Would you enjoy the danger?"
Really, the steep beyond the arch was underwhelming for the safety bars and warning signs that preceded it. The cliff a little way off would have been a better place to pick if you were keen on committing suicide in this town, but corpses seemed to stubbornly pile at the bottom of the steep downhill beyond the red arch.
The darker it got as the sun set, the harder it got to see how the ground started descending. Suppose if you were not careful, you could trip in the dark and break your neck falling down.
Slowly the gate to heaven was closing.
"Do you still wish to see it?"
"If it was interesting."
"If you so wish, you need only look down."
She stepped foward.
The priest stood a respectable distance away. No move. Not even a suggestive nod.
"Hey, so if you wanted to throw me over you should probably hurry up."
The priest chuckled. "Why would I ever do that?"
"Oh geez, I'm sorry, did you not murder anyone here before? Have I misunderstood this?"
"..."
Aaahh... We are in the pits.
As a curtain of thick darkness fell, the arch turned into a gate to Hell.
Is this... What Vivia saw...?
A sea of hands and ghostly faces. Reaching out. Calling. Demanding. Pleading. Not a drop of spiritual power ran through her and yet she could see it so clearly.
Like the force of a rope dragging her foward.
One step. Another. Get closer. But not close enough to touch. An inch away from stepping to the other side. She did not look away as if in a trance.
Then she turned around and marched back, quick enough to see the priest's expression change from something like pity to a shock too sudden to think.
"What do you think you're doing!?" She yelled.
He looked between her and the gate, stumped. "No... No no no no! What do YOU think you're doing! You have to go through!"
"Through what? Why? You mean down the hill like everyone else? I have no intention of dying! never did!"
The man's face slowly changed from anger to panic. "You don't know what you're doing!" He stepped foward.
"Don't you dare touch me," she hissed.
But he did. He pushed her foward. Dragged her back to the gate screaming.
"Look at it," he said. "If you don't go... They will come here! They'll come for all of us! So you must be the sacrifice!"
He was close, if she just did one toss. One shift of the weight to turn the balance around....
❀
"If you can't solve this by exposing the truth... would you take justice into your own hands? Would you push the culprit down the abyss?"
Her eyes widened in shock, lips thin. She looked, eyes closed.
"If there was such a thing as divine justice... Or karma... That is what would happen. It would just happen... Without anyone trying...But I don't believe in divine justice. I'm a detective not a judge. That's not my job."
"This isn't just a case of the truth being impossible to proove... Even then... This isn't something you can solve by just finding out the truth."
"I know. But I have to do what I can now. As a detective... And as a human. I have to catch that guy so he doesn't just get the next sucker he finds. And then... Well, I'll have to find the someone who CAN deal with this.
"I'm sorry," she said even though she didn't have to. "But can I rely on you a little bit more?"
...
Contrary to popular belief, ghosthood was not cold. If you were cold, that would mean you were alive, afterall. Not cold. Not warm. Comfortably numb.
As Vivia returned to his body, sense slowly creeped back to him. He felt warm fingers gently stroke his hair back. Such sensations were memories at best. He couldn't even remember if he liked it or not.
The expression that greeted him was eager.
"I have the times of death..."
She sighed with relief.
❀
She felt the edge of the railing hit her back. It hurt.
The gate closed.
So we guessed right... That's why the times of death were always at sunset...
"Step away!"
Once more, the Priest was paralyzed with shock.
"You..."
The cops apprehended him. He kept screaming "You don't know what you did!"
She breathed slowly. In and out. Heart beating a mile per minute.
"Are you alright?"
The familiar voice alone soothed her. Slowly, her gaze lifted up to find a hard of breath Vivia. That was a rare sight. She managed a smile for both their sakes. "I'm alright. You had perfect timing."
The other cop of the pair approached "Miss, are you hurt anywhere?"
"I'll feel that bruise tomorrow but that's all. Thank you... It could have been worse."
"Just duty. You were lucky the mister over here heard something and called us! Can you talk about what happened?"
"Oh, here!"
She pulled out a recorder. And rewinded it.
...
"If you don't go... They will come here! They'll come for all of us! So you must be the sacrifice!"
"This is..."
"Good for pleading insanity? Yeah."
"Did you know he was gonna do that?"
"Given the weird offer he made me... I was a little worried."
The cop shook his head in disbelief. "I thought that guy was just annoying not insane..."
"Anyways," said the other one "are you coming to the station or not?"
"Oh yeah. 100℅ pressing charges."
❀
A few Hours Later
"Sorry for making you wait!"
Vivia put his book down. "It's fine. Did everything work out how you wanted?"
"They're gonna detain him for a while... For an examination and a trial will take a while. So I have some time." She looked tired but satisfied. "Alright! I feel like ramen now! Let's go!"
"...Aren't you worried?"
"Those are NOT things to decide with an empty stomach and no sleep," she said grabbing his hand to drag him down the road. "I'm getting you some too. As a thank you."
"Can we slow down?"
"Ah, sorry."
❀
It was very late at night. The streets were not lighted well. Most people should know better than venture into the side streets, unless theh were really foolish.
"Hands up and toss me your wallet!"
"Ugh. Just my luck."
The wallet hit the wannabe-robber's face. The knife flew out of his hand with a painful kick. She grabbed that hand with a tight grip. "What now, genius?"
The wannabe-robber— a kid, maybe 13?; now that she could look closer— froze like a rabbit.
"Hmmm... All right, you might as well join us."
"Huh?"
"Vivia, pick up my wallet."
The tall man obliged with a sigh and a complain the boy couldn't quite hear.
"We're getting ramen. Come on."
The strange woman started dragging both of them down the street.
The boy's stomach growled loudly at the mere mention of food.
"Thought so. What's your name, Kiddo?"
"... Kimi."
"Well, Kimi, I just caught a culprit tonight, so I'm in a charitable mood, lucky for you!"
"Caught someone...? Are you a cop?"
"HAH! Cops wish they were me!"
Kimi reluctantly glanced at the tall man next to him. He was also strange, but in a different way. "And you...?"
"Me? I'm just along for the ride," he sighed. But unlike previously, it didn't sound exhausted. In fact, there might have been a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips, but he couldn't quite see it in the dark. "You could just let him go home."
"No way! What if the cannibal on the town over gets him?"
"Cannibal?!" The two exclaimed in unison.
"Ah, no. I'm kidding! Well not really, but don't worry about it, someone else is handling that case!"
...
"Ah, this ramen is delicious!"
The owner of the stall perked up and received the complement graciously.
She turned to the boy. "Well, Kimi... You're gonna have to do better next time. I'm not even that good with fighting stuff, you just don't even know how to hold a knife right."
"Are you," Kimi whispered " a Master Detective?'
"Nah, I don't have one of those fancy Forte things."
"Oh..."
"Disappointed already? I met quite a few crazy smart detectives who don't even have a forte, you know. They were like Sherlock Holmes."
"Really?"
"Yes. So, if you were to become a really good thief, maybe even a famous phantom thief, I or one of my friends would catch you!"
"I can't tell if you're trying to encourage him or not..." Vivia whispered next to her.
"I don't know where I'm going with this either," she whispered back.
"Is Mister Vivia also a detective?"
"Yes, an amazing one! He's done it longer than me!"
"Is that how you met?"
"Ah, how we met..."
"Was it on case?"
"Well, there was a case, I suppose."
"Can you tell me?"
"Nuh-uh."
"Please?"
"Hmmmm. Maybe when you're older?"
"I am old enough!"
❀
Kimi waved excitedly at then before he got into his home.
"I have no idea what I just did. "
"Well... You kept a kid from going hungry..."
She noded satisfyingly for an answer.
"... And may or may not have encouraged him to pursue the life of an outlaw," Vivia added.
She winced.
"Oh, right. You don't have a place to stay, right?"
"I could sleep in the park."
"Not on my watch. I can sneak you into my motel room. Do you prefer the top of the bed or underneath it?"
❀
Said "motel room" consisted of a bed merely big enough for one person to sit it. The only thing making it more luxurious than a prison cell was the lack of window bars and the (dis) tastefully colorful drapes.
As soon as they entered, Vivia sprawled on the floor next to the bed.
"Hey, I was kidding!"
"I am... Not moving... Any more... "
She rolled her eyes and layed the blanket over him. Then gently lifted his head and pushed the pillow under it. "Good night.... Thank you for everything."
Despite rolling her eyes earlier, she was also too exhausted to even bother taking her coat off and collapsed on the bed.
❀
Vivia felt a tug at the hem of his coat. He turned around to see a sleepy certain someone, hand outstretched, face down like a zombie and one move away from falling off the bed completely.
Did he get worse at sneaking off or did she get better at noticing?
"... Here... " she groaned in a hoarse sleepy voice as she tugged.
Was she not even fully awake??
In an attempt to lay her back so she didn't fall off, he found himself wrestled down and pinned underneath her with her head heavy on his chest, like a very determined koala bear.
"... I'll...miss you when you're gone... So...just...a lil..." Her breathing slowly evened again.
Meanwhile, he layed wide awake, hyper aware of the silence of the room, her breathing, his own breathing, the warmth of her cheek on on his chest, the weight of her over him, and most of all, the loud beating of his own heart in it's cage.
But this was the most peace and quiet they both have gotten in days.
He sighed in defeat. She did always managed to get the best of him.
»»————>
I can't cuz it literally went.
Vivia: I wonder now Y/N's getting on with her detective job? Sure, I'll go check on her.
Vivia: what do you have there?
Y/n: a potentially murderous self proclaimed Exorcist
Behind her: *Huge ass gate to the Spirit World*
Y/n: Don't worry. I have a plan. *drags him around*
People don't abuse the "vivia has no genre preference" enough. Yeah yeah he'd read fanfiction or yaoi if you hand it to him; who hasn't heard that joke? Ya guys never seen the shit you find at a second hand shop? Gimme something new that would shake me to my bones. This is a competition.
The most boring answer is prob he reads the free newspaper on the train if he has nothing else.
Ooooooohhhhhh They call it Master Detective Archives cuz they DO get archived. That's what the deduction denumaint is. They get archived. In the book of death. Sorta. I think.
