As Akito pondered on this, he found her looking again and sighed, "Setsura-chan, I think you should refrain yourself from looking at other men like that."
"Refrain myself?"
Akito looked at her with wide eyes. Does she really not understand? From what he has learned about her, the girl clearly has a boyfriend. Isn't it odd for her to be this clueless about such matters? What's more, her appearance. An elegant beauty like this doesn't understand such simple things?
'She really is a handful,' Akito was about to explain it to her but stopped himself. Actually, there's no need for him to tell her this. Setsura has a boyfriend when the two reunite, Akito will have a little word. Would he look like a busybody if he did that?
"You can look more," Akito said. But the girl was no longer paying any attention to him; instead, she was staring at something else intently. Akito followed her gaze and found her staring at the lanterns. Why does it feel like she damaged his pride?
A deep sigh passed his lips, forget it. Despite everything, it looked like Setsura had a good time here. For him, that's enough.
...
September 31st, 1895 Military Police Headquarters
Akito has made it a habit of watching her since she first came here. At first, he did it slowly and desecretly. But after what occurred in the restaurant last night, he wanted to know even more. However, that proves to be difficult considering how somebody assigned her work. It was a small job, and she could work from home. On their way back yesterday, they ran into an old friend of his. That particular friend asked him for the favor at first, but when Akito refused - Setsura interjected.
'Does she really want to leave the mansion that badly?' Initially, Akito thought that. Until the girl added the condition that she could work at home, the work involved wasn't particularly tricky, anybody with an academic background could do it.
However, it was very time-consuming Setsura would have to go through the applications and requests from people in this town. The applications mainly consisted of potential candidate students who received an invite to enroll in the academies in the district.
So now Setsura would be occupied until she finished all her work. No matter how capable she is, Akito knew it would take even the average person at least 5-6 hours to complete everything. A new set would be delivered the next day, so Setsura could not afford not to finish it within the day. Akito refused; for this reason, he knew it would take a lot of commitment and effort. With his work in the military police, it was not possible.
In contrast, even his brother was kept busy. He worked in the military police too but unlike him Eisuke, a regular officer. Eisuke did his daily rounds around the city, and was more of an inspector, even doing health and safety inspections. As well as checking on the patrol guards for weekly reports.
The 'Military police' is divided into so many sections. But out of all of them, his brother chose the weakest department. Akito was not the type to pry, so he never asked his brother. It frustrated Eisuke since the kid most likely wanted him to ask.
Akito stepped out of his department and walked down the long halls, deep in thought. His group just had another meeting, and of course, the topic was about Setsura. The unusual items in her bag aside, everybody's main concern was the shard. If only he saw the shard first, then perhaps the situation wouldn't be like this.
'We must bring that woman in for questioning boss.'
As he recalled the majority of his team saying those words. The frown on his face deepened, this is problematic. Akito didn't want to disclose the fact that Setsura had amnesia to anyone. Otherwise, people would take advantage of her. The girl had the shard on her for so long, with no protective case on it. But nothing happened to her. If people found out that such a girl appeared they would take advantage of her.
Usually, your average person could never hope to possess a shard, let alone keep it without protection for an extended period without getting wounded. The girl was found hurt, yes, but the wounds on her body were physical ones, not unusual ones. The people they find with shards end up having severe and life-threatening injuries. Those people end up falling into a coma and enlarging a small wound. Even if the person only suffered a scrape, it could turn into something severe and life-threatening.
Setsura differs from the rest, while the movement in one hand is limited now, there is no physical wound. No blood. All victims have slash marks from the shards on their arms or a different area in their body. Kuri examined Setsura and told him that Sestura isn't a victim.
When Akito thought of the case, it gave him a headache. No matter how many clues they find, they would run into a dead end. Setsura is a clue to solving the cases.
But Akito did not want to expose her to the cruelties of the Military police. Even amongst his own team, some would treat Setsura like an experimental rat. It's too risky. Akito had to lie and say that right now, the girl lost her voice.
He even got Kuri to fake a medical report. It was a good thing he prepared for this situation; otherwise, it would have ended up badly for her. If they demanded to see her, Akito would have no choice but to hand her over. But because he provided the report, the meeting shifted onto the recent case.
The most recent one, a young heiress, was found dead in cold blood in the clock tower of her own home. They found the body displaced like a piece of artwork on the bell. Considering the composition, it's almost certain that the culprit was an artist.
However, while there may be an external party involved, traces of the shard remained there. People have seen the shard itself move by its own free will, so it wouldn't be a stretch to say that the shards are hurting people.
But even with that theory, something felt wrong. Sometimes like the recent case, there are traces of an actual person involved. Then there are cases where there's no such thing. Working in this department gives him a headache.
Before all of this, he was just a regular military police officer that dealt with standard cases. Standard cases aren't any better, but at least it was easy to find a lead to the culprit. However now? Akito stopped walking and leaned his back on the wall.
Since before he left the house, his head hurt. Akito could have just stayed behind, but five whole days of absence is enough already. He's worried about the team too. If his information is correct, then there is a spy among them.
Otherwise, why else would those people know how to enter the forest to his home? The recent group of assassins got far too close to his house for his liking. The forest area is vast, so it ought to be challenging to pinpoint where the gate is, and yet they found it. Somebody must have said something.
Akito does not disclose the location of his home to anyone, not even his team members. But just in case they needed him, Akito told them where to go. He did not leak out this information to anybody else other than them.
Of course, the actual location of the house is much further than the meeting spot. However, if you have a large enough group of people, it would be easy to search the forest. Only a small group came, but they must be lucky since they got close. He would have to tread more carefully in the future.
They most likely already crossed off that area, so he doesn't have to worry.
Yet, what if something were to happen, and he isn't home? What about Setsura? Maybe he should ask that person for Setsura to work in the office instead. At least it's a public place. He already made the arrangements regarding her identity too.
"My, isn't this the young captain of the unusual investigation team?"
Akito deeply sighed when he hears an annoying voice call out to him. 'Here comes trouble.'
He looked up and indeed saw the man he least wanted to see in the world. A man with dust blonde hair and grey-colored eyes. That hair color doesn't suit him. While many are adopting the western culture and even dying their hair a different shade, it just doesn't suit some people.
He loathed this man; he disliked everything about him. From Dimitri's appearance to his behavior. Whenever they met, nothing good would happen. Sure enough, this time around it looked like Dimitri was up to no good.
Akito, however, kept his usual calm, "Captain Dimitri," this man was part of the second-highest group in the military police. He recently became the commander since the former one, got promoted to the first group.
The first group, the main force. The team he was previously in charge of before. Akito shook his head; this is no time to feel nostalgic.
"Word has it that you picked up a stray bird on the street as of late?"
Akito smiled, "What stray bird? I simply picked up somebody I knew," he lied. Akito could always lie with a straight face. Nobody could tell whether he was lying either.
"Ah, yes, that girl, you know. Rumors has it that she's connected to the case you're working on."
'Rumor has it,' Akito cursed in his head. That stupid team of his, don't they know the meaning of confidentially?