SUPERWORLD

Toshiro III

Ryusuke drove as Toshiro nursed a hangover in the passenger seat. They were headed to The home of Sakura Yamanaka, sister of Ando Nishizaki, the father of Nana and the other missing children from the latest 'Harrowing of Hiroshima' murder.

"How are you feeling?" Ryusuke asked.

"Do you really have to ask?" Toshiro countered with as much sarcasm as he could muster in his current state.

"Yeah, not all of us can read minds you know." Ryusuke joked.

Toshiro gave him the look of death.

"Don't talk about it at work, I told you already!" Toshiro hissed.

"Oh come on, Toshi." Ryusuke laughed. "What's the worst that could happen? I bet if the chief knew you could read minds, he'd put you on every interrogation, you'd probably get a big raise and a promotion or two, hell, you might even get your own TV show!" Ryusuke paused for laughter.

"You need to stop going to open-mic night..." Toshiro sighed. The younger detective went into embarrassed silence.

When Toshiro told Ryu, he expected the young detective to call him crazy or have him thrown in prison, but Ryusuke had believed him from the jump, thinking that having a superpowered partner was more interesting than scary.

I owe him for that, no question. Still, he needs to understand the danger. Toshiro thought, so he continued with his lecture, hoping to get the dangerous aspects of the carefree attitude out of his partner without damaging the young man's optimism. 

"The worst that could happen? The government could take me to some secret lab and treat me like a guinea pig for the rest of my life. I don't know about you, but being experimented on by mad scientists isn't exactly how I want to spend my retirement." Toshiro groaned. "Pull over here, the house is just up ahead." He instructed. Ryu pulled the car over and parked it along the side wall.

The two men got out of the car, Toshiro thanking god that Ryu didn't see him stumble, and headed two houses down to the Yamanaka residence. Toshiro gestured for Ryusuke to ring the bell at the front gate.

He's always been better with people anyway.

"Hello?" Asked a woman's voice through the speaker at the gate.

"Yes, hello Miss Yamanaka. I'm Detective Tamaguchi, this is my partner Detective Nakagawa, we spoke on the phone." Ryusuke answered.

"Oh! Yes, come in." And just like that, the short gate buzzed open and the two men walked to the door, Mrs. Yamanaka opened the front door and greeted them with a bow, and the men returned the favor.

"Please, come in." Mrs. Yamanaka gestured.

Toshiro stepped in first and removed his shoes at the entrance before stepping onto the elevated hardwood floor.

A simple home, nothing out of the ordinary. Clean, good smell, everything in its place. That's to be expected of a home with a housewife possessing the Japanese attitude: work through the pain. Toshiro observed but quickly banished the thought when the image of his wife creeped into his mind.

"Would you gentlemen like some tea? I just made a pot." Mrs. Yamanaka asked.

"Yes, please." The two detectives answered in unison.

The woman gestured for them to follow her and they were seated in a Japanese-style dining room, odd in a Western-style home.

"So, you getting anything from her?" Ryusuke whispered once Mrs. Yamanaka left the room.