Of little things

Chapter 7 - The Scene

Firefighters and police were on the scene at the Loo Hotel, in the east end of downtown Tokyo. The local officials that were on scene were mulling around. The scene was one that they had never seen the likes of.

A officer, who was at the doorway looked up and saw two young people coming towards him. The cop eyed these two with a stare, as they did not look like anyone from the police or fire departments to him.

One was a thin lad, dark of hair with a three quarter length leather coat over his very lanky frame. The other person was a short brown haired lady, who seemed to be about five years older than the lad beside her. The woman’s face seemed to show that maturity was far greater than her tousled haired companion

The woman was the one who stepped up to the officer, pulling something out of her coat pocket.
“ I am Karasuma Miho, STN-J.” She announced with a oddly loud voice, flashing her identification with a flick of her wrist.

The lad leaned past the woman at that point, flashing his own credentials to the stone faced policeman.

The officer snuffed rudely as he looked at the identifications he was shown. By the look in his eyes, it seemingly was that he did not want to deal with the two. He said not one word to the two that were there, turning and going into the room with the yellow tape blocking it.

The cop had simply left the two in the hallway without saying one thing to either of the two young people.
“ They are as congenial, as per usual.” Piped up the lad with his normal sharp sarcasm.
“ It’s always like this between them and us, you know that, Sakaki.” Miho grumbled with a little irritation flashing through her words, as she eyed the open door.

The lad nodded, as he began to make a very sour face.
“ Ugh!! Can’t you smell that?? Smells awful in here...” The lad commented, plugging his nose with a hand. Miho nods, but comments nothing.
“ It is.. Quite a smell.” She just commented, seemingly unfazed at the stench that hung in the hall like a fog.

A slender man in a very cheap looking suit comes out, a bitter look on his long and unshaven face. He was being flanked on either side by two very large uniformed officers. The man stopped just outside of the door and looks at the two, with a very suspicious eye.
“ Burned carpets and burned bugs and a body reduced to a few bones and ashes... It’s all yours, lady.” He loudly grumped, waving a hand towards the doorway. “ My headquarters said we can turn all of the scene over to ya. No skin off of my ass... You can fucking have it for all I care.”

The man walked past the two STN members, followed along by the other officers. The few other cops that were mulling around at the very end of the hall jumped in step with the group, and left the scene quickly with the others. Not one of the cops had seemed to make eye contact with either Miho or Sakaki as they left. It was like they did not even exist.

The hunter woman snuffed and entered the room, ignoring the Tokyo police’s obvious indifferent attitudes towards them. In her mind, she could care less what they could be thinking of them. They had always been more of a hindrance to the STN, rather than any real help. With them out of the way, perhaps this scene will go a lot smoother for Haruto and herself.

Sakaki just hesitated for a second just outside the doorway and took one look back at the police personnel. He viewed that every cop there just seemed to be just wanting to get the hell out of there at this point. He snuffed, as the woman’s thoughts on the officers was right on the money. Turning back, he simply hurried his step to follow his partner into the room.

The scene was one that could be described as gruesome. The floor and some furniture were heavily charred and burnt, scorched shells of various types of insects were strewn everywhere throughout. The stench the two STN-J members had been smelling out in the hallway was countless times more potent once in the hotel room. Sakaki gagged a little with the foulness, as it was almost sickening.

A blackened pile of ash with pieces of what seemed to be human bone was near the door as the young man entered. It was about half a foot high, still smoldering with thick black smoke rising to the ceiling. The sight of the room had a air of being created for some kind of horror movie set, instead of being a simple crime scene.

Miho looked around at what was left of the room, opting to ignore the strong smells the place had.
“ This place has been literally torched by one hell of a fire.” She said, her eyes not believing the magnitude that was layed out all around her.
“ This all looks so familiar...” Sakaki said, glancing around the room from top to bottom. “ It is almost as if it was a massive type of craft, like Robin’s was.”
“ I can’t deny that thought has not crossed my mind many times within the last few moments.” Admitted the hunter woman, kneeling down on her haunches to get a closer look at the burned sections of the room. “ It reminds me all too much of that.”

Young Haruto looked over at his partner, a question was seemingly right on the tip of his tongue.
“ Do you think it’s possible that...” He began his question, then his words trailing off.

Miho looked right at the young lad, knowing full well where Haruto’s unfinished question was going.
“ Robin and Amon are dead.” She said, with a vigorous shaking of her head. “ You were there... there was no way they got out of there alive.”
“ You have to admit, it seems like this was Robin’s craft.” Haruto pointed out. “ I am just saying what I am thinkin’!”

The woman looked at her tousled haired partner, looking deep into his question filled eyes. She shook her head, this time not as vigorously as the first time.
“ We know that, although rare, Robin’s powers are not unique just to her.” Miho countered, pointing out some facts. “ Remember the witch Amon and Robin took down awhile ago? She was the one who had the flame craft too.”

Sakaki took a moment to think back for a moment, as his partner began looking around what was left of the room.
“ You mean Yoshioka Aki? “ The lad said with a smile, his memory coming up with the name.
“ Precisely. Yoshioka had that power too, so it is likely that we have another witch that is like Robin.” Miho just looked at the lad, her face firm on what she had said. “ Stop your dawdling on this speculating your doing and help out by going to find out who was renting this room.”

Haruto nodded, and exited to do his duty, leaving his speculations. Miho just stayed behind and looked at the damage closely. She snuffed, as the impossibility of Amon and Robin being alive was preposterous at best... Yet that still was the thinking on what had been said between her partner and herself.

Haruto came back in to the room barely ten minutes later, and straight to Miho, who was bagging up some of the pile of ash.
“ It’s a permanently booked room held by some commercial anti-burglary system company called Adaiu Security.” He said, reading it off of his little writing pad. “ the only person that had been using it was a tall man who had a letter that said he could use the room for as long as he wanted to.”
“ Did you get a description of the man? A name... anything at all that we can use?” She asked the lad.
“ The only description given was of a tall and quite menacing man that had a very low voice and a sour disposition.” The lad answered the lady, adding. “ The desk clerk has glasses the thickness of beer bottle bottoms, so I doubt his accuracy of his visual description can be taken as correct.”
“ Another words, we have nothing that is concrete?” Sighed Miho, realizing the lad’s words.
“ That about wraps up the extent of the description given to me, Miss Karasuma.” Sakaki said in response.

Miho just frowned with the lack of clues that the description had given her, as Sakaki looked right at her.
“ I guess we will have to canvas the hotel guests for a better description, and see if this man had any visitors come.” She said, making a mental check list. “ First off, we need to work the evidence in here.”
“ Then what are we going to do?” The youth asked.
“ Have Michael run the fingerprints the cops have from in here and also do the same with the power characteristics through the witch databanks. Maybe there is one data entry that fits this description we got.” She said with a shrug, knowing their protocol by heart. “ Have SOLOMON look at these remains at the same time too. There is not much else that we could really do.”

The lad just nodded and quickly started in looking for any clues he could come up with, opting not to dwell on his thoughts or his suspicions any longer.
“ Miss Miho is right...” He thought to himself, not relishing the long hours of work that layed ahead.

Miho just returned to her own investigating, but she her mind was still holding the thoughts on her dead comrades.
“ It can’t be... but could it?” She asked herself, the possibility fit with what the scene looked like in front of her. The thought was a little surreal to her.“ It just can’t be possible that they are still alive?”

The two STN people just stayed silent, as they worked the room for any scrap of evidence they could find. Who ever it was that did all of this here i te Loo Hotel, sparked the notion that Amon and Robin could be alive, but why would they be hiding and why did they battle this person that was ash on the hotel floor?

For Miho, these questions swirled in her brain, even though she knew the truth. Questions yes, but no answers as of yet. The lady just forced it finally out of her mind, and made herself concentrate on the task that was before her.