WTF? Japan Shouldn't be like this? Redux!

[MAYGUSTA]

TabTabKarin felt more than embarrassed that she was the one holding everybody up. She couldn't believe that she'd woken up so late, Natsuko was already finished getting ready for school. That had never happened before, and she knew that once the novelty of her having a nightmare had worn off, Natsuko would never let her live it down... not after the trouble she'd given Natsuko for being late over the past few years.
TabTabShe rushed with the other girls off the premises, and stared at Alexis. It was strange. She had a vague thought in her mind that something had happened the previous night, but she couldn't put her finger on it, and the more she tried to think about it, the more hazy the thought became. “Are you all right?” she asked Alexis, her eyes narrowing.
TabTabNatsuko interrupted. “Lexi-chyan looked super-duper tired this morning, so I treated her to a biiiiig breakfast!” she beamed, and Karin nodded knowingly. She wouldn't be surprised if Natsuko's food had made Alexis feel better. It always did that.
TabTab“I wasn't asking you,” she grumbled, glowering at Natsuko. “I asked her,” she added, gesturing to Alexis. She opened her mouth to add that she didn't care, that she was just wondering, but the words didn't come out.
TabTabHer eyes landed on the school gate, which was covered in police tape. There was a screen up preventing anyone from seeing into the school yard, but as a police officer came out from behind the screen, visible for less than a second or so was a large pool of dark red blood.
TabTab“Karin? Karin!!” Natsuko called to her, bringing her back to her senses. “What's wrong? Are you okay?” she asked, grabbing onto her twin's arm. Karin clung to Natsuko, hands trembling. “What's wrong? Karin?”
TabTab“H-He's dead...” she whispered faintly, her breathing growing elevated, as she slowly collapsed in Natsuko's arms to the floor. Her vision blurred as she tried to keep her eyes open, but one thing remained in focus; the pale-skinned, dark-haired girl standing in the shadows of a nearby tree.
TabTabNatsuko let out a squeak of shot, going into panic herself. Karin had never had any reaction like this to anything! She was always so cool and collected – to a fault, at times – and yet now, she was screaming as she woke up, oversleeping, and now she'd fainted at the sight of blood. “What do we do?” she asked, looking to Trish and Alexis.

[Moxie_Lass_Trish]

Alexis considered the question but before she could answer after Natsukos's answer they were at the school gates, despite running that distance they were able to recover in time for Karin of all people to faint. Alexis looked in the directions that Karin had looked prior to fainting. The police presence indicated something troubling, things had been strange since she come to Japan and Alexis was loving it! "I suggest we find a teacher and see if the school is closed I know Japanese schools pay a much closer attention to student activities." Trish pointed "over there I see Sakurai Sensei* and a bunch of students." As Trish pointed this out Mihoshi called to them "Crawford-San Tenso-San over here please!"

Alexis picked up Karin holding her in her arms and once they were by he schools surrounding wall she placed her down. Trish meanwhile asked Mihoshi what was going on, Mihoshi explained that the other teacher's were discussing what to do. In the school around the staff room half the staff a mix were gathered around a table at the head was a tall, skinny man in his thirties. He spoke with a voice which was naturally shrill for a man but during such meetings he always forcibly deepened it to make himself sound more important for he was the vice Principle and this was his meeting while the principle was busy. "The school day will continue we can not have those teenagers wondering around able to cause trouble".

Their was a murmur and the vice assumed it was in agreement but before he could continue one of, the science teacher's spoke putting out her secret as a way to catch his attention. "That is a a very stupid idea if you'll forgive my bluntness, Uzumaki-Sensei**. Before you reply allow me to finish," the teacher known as Endo -Sasami*** stood slowly and with grace dragging out the action in part to force the overly anti youth man to cool. "If we continue that will only disrupt the police's jobs and we will be dealing with questions all day. Rather then allow this I say we close the school, ensure the students don't run amock which I doubt will happen. Then we let the police finish their work and open the school tomorrow." A vein popped on Uzumaki's head before he could speak their was a chuckle that came from the friendliest principal most students would meet.

The principle stepped into the room followed by the officer in charge, "That is an excellent idea, make it so Uzumaki-Sensei. Tsukiya-Sensei, she said turning to the twins I want you two to liaison with the police, this is the officer in charge. The principle then indicated the figure to her right, "alright you all have your tasks I have a meeting with the PTA to call which I'm sure won't solve much." In a few moments the staff room was clear all except Uzumaki who glowered at the spot Sasami had been sitting as if it would make any difference.

[MAYGUSTA]

TabTabNatsuko panicked over the unconscious Karin until the girl began to come to. “Karin!” Natsuko exclaimed in elation. “You passed out! What's up with you today? First you wake up late, and shrieking, and now you're passing out. What's going on with you?” she asked, and Karin shivered.
TabTabShe shook her head and slowly sat up. “He died... I saw him die in my dream...” she mumbled, and Natsuko's brow furrowed. She raised a hand to stop Karin before she could speak any further.
TabTab“Wait, who died? You know who died? How could you know that?” Natsuko asked, shaking her own head. “How could you possibly know that, Karin?” Natsuko had to admit, if Karin was telling the truth, it wouldn't have been the strangest thing to happen recently, but even still... what reason could there possibly be that Karin had gained the power of foresight overnight?
TabTab“His name is Yuki–” she began but Natsuko hushed her immediately, and quite aggressively.
TabTab“Keep it down!” she hissed. “If you're right, and you know who died without even getting a chance to see the body, and someone overhears you, Karin... They're going to have a lot of questions!” she added, and Karin winced. Natsuko was right. That had been obvious.
TabTab“He's in that Makoto-jerk's class. He was here last night. I saw it in my dream. He was here,” she whispered and Natsuko listened closely, scrutinising her twin's every word. She didn't understand how Karin could possibly know any of this – assuming she was even right. “He came here last night to meet someone, and she was there... I was seeing things from her mind.”
TabTabNatsuko groaned and sighed, shaking her head again. “Slow down, Karin. What girl?” she asked and Karin sighed in frustration.
TabTab“The one I bumped into yesterday. Her name is... what did he call her? Emi! Her name is Emi. She came here, and she was dressed all strange, and she just... emerged from nowhere, and then all this black mist was in her hands and she had a scythe and she took his head off, Natsuko! She just cleaved it right off,” she whispered hurriedly, her breathing picking up again.
TabTabNatsuko watched her twin with concern. “Karin, it was just a dream,” she began, putting her hand on Karin's shoulder, but Karin batted it away and glowered into Natsuko's eyes.
TabTabShe shook her head firmly. “It was not just a dream. I don't know what she did to me, but I saw what happened last night. I saw it from her eyes. Just you wait until they release the name of the student who was murdered here last night, along with how he was murdered: decapitation. Then we'll see who was just dreaming,” she growled, and Natsuko looked to Alexis for help.

[Moxie_Lass_Trish]

Alexis attempted to interject but stopped as soon as the name Yuki was mentioned, she whispered the name a blush appearing on her face. In the month since coming here she'd spent a fair bit of time with the boy, held helped her with her zip Japanese and she'd done the same for his English. The week before he'd asked her out on a date and she'd accepted, most of this she'd kept hidden only because she knew Trish would be concerned. While her cousins concern were appreciated she had no desire to be treated like a child, especially as Alexis could have defended herself at least in a fight. She missed most of conversation then Trish poked her as Natsuko stared at her, she came to a decision then dug into her book bag for her phone. "By any chance did he look like this?", she then showed the other girls her phone's wallpaper. It showed Alexis wearing her favourite choker and earrings a denim jacket, green tank top shirt with the heartless emblem, short dungeree's striped leggings with a smile on her face. She was leaning on the shoulder of a young man with short black hair, open hooded top and leather trousers, he too was smiling. As she held the phone Alexis pulled out a bottle of soft drink and began to take a drink.

Trish looked at the photo then at Natsuko then the now leaped in she put a hand on Natsuko's shoulder then pointed at Karin. She wasn't sure whether the picture would be enough to distract the bleach blonde's attention from the matter at hand. At the same time Trish had listened to the information, a girl with a scythe committing murder? If it had magically appeared maybe she was like her and Natsuko, however her motives were questionable. If these rumours were true this boy was likely a jerk who had exaggerated, or at the very least spread the rumours. One way did mean that Alexis was more then a little easy, however that didn't matter not now. She made a note to question Alexis later, she had no reason to believe this rumour but it scared her Alexis could easily get hurt if she was like that.

-------------------------

Shortly after the staff meeting had ended the staff each stepped out of the gates except for Katsumoto who had stared behind with the officer in charge during that time Katsumoto quizzed the officer finding that he wasn't aware of Ki or magic and thus didn't notice that the crime scene reeked of tainted magic something both twins had noticed. He made a note to order a sprit realm sweep of the area but for now he played along answering as many questions as he asked. Nothing confidential was divulged and Katusmoto wished they had someone on the inside. But even they couldn't sneak into every mortal organisation, it was deemed unethical.

While Katsumoto was dealing with that situation the rest of the teachers were explaining what was going on, they'd called for each class to gather with their respective home rooms Katsumoto's class being the exception who were ordered to gather with Kimiko as well. The fact that school would be closed for the day, and that this would be the opportunity for all students to do some extra studying. Kimiko decided that regular studying wouldn't occupy her time. She had to speak to Ilka and both Ryoko and Tetsuo, if her theory was correct then they would have to confront this girl even if she had committed murder for the "right" reasons.

[MAYGUSTA]

TabTabNatsuko's face lit up. “Ooooh! They're true! The rumours are true!” she squealed in delight. “So what's it like doing it with three guys on top of a roller coaster at midnight?!” she asked, her face blushing scarlet in elation, but a sudden backhand to the face wiped the smile off her face. She opened her mouth to protest, but Karin's disturbed expression silenced her.
TabTabKarin stared at the picture awkwardly. That was him all right. Clearly, Alexis was quite fond of him. Whether that meant the rumours were true or not was irrelevant. Even if Yuki had made everything up and Alexis was furious, that fury wouldn't be enough to wish death upon him. She drew breath to confirm it, but then sighed and settled with a reluctant nod.
TabTabNatsuko's jaw dropped. “You're kidding me, right? That creepy girl killed Alexis' boyfriend?” she gasped. “What? Why?!”
TabTabKarin shook her head. She could never be certain of why he had to die, but Emi had said he'd terrorised girls and tormented everyone, and she'd personally seen him being a bit of an a**. Even still, she wasn't one to speak ill of the dead, and if this really was Alexis' boyfriend, it would be unfair to dump both his death and his crudeness on her all at once. “It doesn't matter why,” she finally said, and Natsuko looked confused. “Well it doesn't. Whatever he did, he didn't deserve to die. No one deserves to die, unless they pose imminent danger to others, and they can't be contained or restrained. That's the first thing dad taught me when he started training me. The first thing, and you know what? It was the most important thing, too.”
TabTabNatsuko fell silent and looked to Alexis. “Karin's right... And we should probably leave. We should go and get Ilka-sensei, and take her to get some cake or something as a thank you, and then we can discuss this with her,” she said, looking at Trish, hoping the brunette would back her up. If there really was some shadow-stepping, scythe-wielding maniac on the loose, Ilka was sure to know what to do... right?

[Moxie_Lass_Trish]

Trish frown as her attempt to subtly tell Natsuko not to speak if what they'd heard she in fact spoke of it. Luck favoured the others girls as at the mention of "three guy's on a roller coaster" Alexis spat out her drink hitting Karin. She hacked as Trish while still in thought patted her back, "What are you talking about? That was my first date," she veered off "with Yuki at least. What on earth made you think I'd slept with him yet alone." This caused even Alexis to blush as she considered it two other guys'll as well on a roller coaster. It was just a date we had fun but..... I didn't get a chance to talk to him after that." Alexis raised a hand to Trish she knew her cousin well enough to have an idea what she would say.

Karin's words were inspiring and Alexis's temporary rage was shoved aside, by Karin's words. Before the home rooms were called to line up Alexis smiled "thanks girls this helps a lot." It was some time of listening to the Vice Principle speak before they were allowed to leave. Once they we're let loose Trish finally spoke. "I was thinking the same thing we should head home first change and collect Kyoko and Tetsuo. Alexis looked at Trish then a memory appeared one from yesterday that occurred just after she gained consciousness in the void. "I think the other adult in the house wants to speak to both of us." Trish who hadn't noticed Hitomi as her attention had been on the elderly man who had come to the house the night before raised a brow "other adult? Who would that be? You don't mean that old guy do you?"

[MAYGUSTA]

TabTabKarin let out a squeak of horror as she found herself drenched in Alexis' drink. She glowered at Natsuko. She was annoyed that Alexis had spat it, but she wasn't so narrow minded as to not understand who was directly at fault. As per usual, Natsuko's loud mouth landed her in the horse poop.
TabTabNatsuko smiled sheepishly back at her twin, and she silently rejoiced when they were called before the principal before Karin could mouth off at her. They stood and listened for what seemed like an eternity before finally heading towards the gates. “What old guy? There's an old guy in the house?”
TabTab“You are honestly the least perceptive person I've ever had the misfortune of meeting, Natsu-chan,” Karin sighed as they headed off home.

[Moxie_Lass_Trish]

After the boring speech from the principal the population of the school were allowed to disperse and they did so. The four girls who lived at the Tenso household took their time arriving back home much to their bad fortune it was Hitomi who was waiting for them. "Ah girl's it's about time you got back we received a phone call about the school being closed today." The old woman gave both Trish and Alexis a stern stare causing both of them to shrink under her probing eye. She then turned to Natsuko and pulled her favorite granddaughter into a hug "Would you be a dear and fetch us some tea Natsuko-Chan" Hitomi then released Natsuko and turned on Karin. "Your father asked me to tell you he was in the Dojo he wants a word with you." Hitomi then turned on Trish and Alexis a second time, she grabbed them by their blazer collers and dragged them into the living room. "Sit!" she ordered taking a on the other side.

The girl's sat facing the terrifying old woman who gave them a third stare this time individually. She spoke now in perfect English, "This house may belong to my daughter now but while I am around I expect certain standards to be maintained. Those standards mean your work will be judged when we consider whether we go to the Beach house during the summer, and I want the pair of you to get jobs! I have spoken to the principal and obtained special permission, now you may go!" Alexis was about to speak up when Trish put a hand on her shoulder, Alexis frowned then stood leaving the room, they both made their way into their share room and changed.

[MAYGUSTA]

TabTabNatsuko beamed as her grandmother pulled her into a hug. She didn't know why everyone else was so scared of her; Hitomi was the nicest grandma in the world. She nodded with a chirp and skipped off towards the kitchen to prepare some tea.
TabTabAs she entered the living room, she beamed at the idea of them all getting jobs. “Oh, oh! Obaaaachyaaaaan's so smart! It's such a good idea! Can I get a job, too?” she asked, enthusiastically, not understanding why Trish and Alex looked so put out.

TabTabKarin headed straight to the dojo after being dismissed by Hitomi. She bowed only slightly as she left. She arrived in the dojo and slipped her slippers off, entering barefoot. “Obaasan said you wanted to see me,” she said, sighing. “School's closed because some guy was murdered,” she added.

[Moxie_Lass_Trish]

Hitomi looked at Natusko fondly and accepted her tea, "I'm afraid that's out of my control Natsuko; both you and Karin are too young. Though if you wanted to work that much, you could get a paper route, she said musing mean while both Alexis and Trish were moving to get away from the scary old woman. "Wait one moment girls I just remembered that one of the cafe's that the family owns need's waitress's." Hitomi swiftly wrote down an address on the notepad she carried in her obi belt. Trish picked up the and almost squealed in delight as Alexis frowned they'd both seen the cafe it self. As Alexis thought of the bad "that outfit, all the tacky stuff" Trish thought of the good "that outfit, all those lovely tasty cake." Hitomi watched their reactions then dismissed them looking at Natsuko she doubted the idea of a paper touted would appeal to the younger girl"

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Ryouga looked up as Karin entered and frowned "that's certainly a reason to close the school he commented worried about the ramifications. "Yes I did want to see you Karin, there is something Shihan has offered to teach you. He indicated the old man who nodded, "I will only be here until tonight but that is correct. Ryouga tells me that he taught you Hung Gar a style he never learned from myself." Ryouga cleared his throat in an attempt to hide his embarrassment only for Genma to drop a bombshell, "however I mastered the style and developed a technique that will make your skin as tough as iron."

[MAYGUSTA]

TabTabNatsuko's smile cracked as her grandmother suggested a paper round. It wouldn't have been such a bad idea if it didn't require getting up so early. “I doubt Karin would be too happy about that...” Natsuko mumbled, trying to hide her embarrassment as she forced a new smile. “I make us late enough as it is,” she added sheepishly, and watched as her grandmother jotted down an address. She knew that place. “They're so lucky! I'd give anything to wear that cute uniform!” Natsuko beamed. “Did you need anything else Obachyaan~?” she asked, eager to run off after the two foreigners.

TabTabKarin watched her father as he talked, he looked concerned enough as it was. She had toyed with the idea of telling him about her dream, but decided now wasn't the best time, especially as he had company.
TabTabShe bowed to Genma as he spoke, and nodded as he confirmed that she had learned Hung Gar, but her eyebrow cocked as he revealed her father had taught her something he hadn't learned from a master. She rolled her eyes. That was... awkwardly typical of her father. Still, a technique that gave her an iron hide? She could use that.
TabTab“Then what are we waiting for?” she asked, grinning.

[Moxie_Lass_Trish]

Genma smiled faintly "That is the attitude you need to become continue to grow and become ever more powerful." Genma stood up indicating that Karin should do so as well, the lesson which lasted the next six hours consisted of focused stance work. He assessed every part of Karin's abilities ensuring she could hold her stance as well as Ryouga had claimed. After three hour's Genma then introduced ki describing the method explaining explaining that only once she could cover her whole body could she effectively turn other parts of her body into iron. The training ended when in the last hour, both Genma and Ryouga bombarded Karin with balloon's filled with flour, then rubber balls. Each level was to assess how effectively Karin could perform the technique.

----------------------------
(earlier : D )

It was only a few minutes down the road that Natsuko caught up to both girls they had been discussing the idea of working at the cafe, after much prodding Alexis conceded that she did like the outfit. They made their way to the shopping area and after some searching found the cafe, they were greeted by one of the maid's a who immediately recognized Natsuko. "Welcome mistress would you like your usual order?" she asked her attention returning to Trish as she caught her attention holding up a note. The maid read it then nodded, she waved to a second maid who lead Trish and Alexis away into the back office. The owner read the note then with a heavy sigh glanced at the two "Look I appreciate that you both need jobs and that this isn't ideal but I only have one job at the moment. I also can't just give you a job, the cafe wouldn't work as well if I just gave jobs to friends of the owners. So I'm going to give you both uniforms and I want you both to partner up with one of the other girl's and they will assess you. The one of you that does the best gets the job, is that acceptable?"

(more to come.)

[Pato1387]

The young man stood steady as he listened to the all too familiar whir of a helicopters’ engine. He stood in basic combat fatigues though only carried a small pistol and a combat knife in their respective holsters. His black hair whipped in the wind and in spite of the pilots warnings, the soldier dismounted the aircraft when it was still five feet above the landing pad.

Miyamoto Takeshi moved without hesitation toward the elevator door that would lead him into the headquarters of the Department of Social Cleanliness and Public Hygiene. It wasn’t a very good front for D.E.A.D.E.R. HQ, but the locals seemed unaware enough.

Once Takeshi entered the elevator leaving the helicopter’s noise behind he spoke hoping his handler had reactivated his implant, “Romeo-One-Three-Delta-Nine-Five, reporting for reassignment, Major.”

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Tojiro Miku as always was quick to get back into communication with her favorite soldier and smiled at hearing his voice. Pushing up her glasses she happily replied in a far less professional tone. “Very good Lieutenant, I’ll be waiting of the fourth floor, just follow the blue line.” A few quick key stokes and Miku had set up the floor panels of the fourth floor to create a blue flashing line that would lead Takeshi to her office. While she had not shown it, she was quite excited to be working more closely with Takeshi, especially given the nature of their mission. Hunting all manner of monsters, aliens, ghosts, demons, and cultists with new and exciting weapons and tactics, and it all started with an exciting murder case.

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Hiss...groan...growl... old bones long buried still fought for life... or at least the closest thing to life an undead monstrosity could hope to cling to... The unlife in the bones did not even remember its name. Nor did it know what it was or why it was buried. All it remembered was the pain and the hatred. Burning rage to seek out and destroy whatever creature had been so foolish as to leave it in a dark hole for... well it didn’t remember how long it had been underground, but it had to be quite a long time if it had forgotten... still this only served to make it angrier, so it hissed... and groaned... and growled at the earth above and below.

[MAYGUSTA]

TabTabBy the end of the training session, Karin had grasped the very basics of the techniques. To say it had been a challenge would have been a gross understatement. She was tired, exhausted, and she'd reconsidered telling her father about the dream altogether. She'd planned to tell him after training, but she knew she was too mentally drained to hold a coherent conversation about anything, especially not some insane nightmare, and she knew that in the morning, she'd just want to forget all about it.
TabTabKarin was disappointed that Genma was leaving. Something about his teaching style suited her far more than her father's teaching methods ever had – besides, having someone who'd mastered the style she was studying was far more beneficial to her than a generalist like her father. She was also disappointed that she couldn't go out, like the other girls had done, but she knew she could do that tomorrow, and Genma wouldn't be here tomorrow.

TabTabNatsuko entered the café with the girls, who were swiftly whisked off into a back room. She nodded when asked if she'd like her usual, and took a seat by the window, waiting for her food to arrive.
TabTabWatching as the outsiders walked by, she began to overhear a conversation; some of the high schoolers talking about Yuki – which confirmed Karin's suspicions. That raised a fair few more questions. So who was the mysterious and creepy girl she and Karin had bumped into only yesterday? Had she really done this? How could a girl that young be capable of murder? But Natsuko only needed to remember the cold stare to stop questioning it.

[Moxie_Lass_Trish]

Both Trish and Alexis followed the manager into the locker rooms it was a locker that was seperate into a women's and men's section. The manager introduced them to a pair one a young man in his late teens and the other a senior from Shiromiko. She gave Alexis a meaningful look, "So is it true you and Yuki-Kun were more then friends? I heard him bragging about it in class." Alexis blushed "We had one date I did hope to go on another." The young woman who identified as Reiko frowned, "Sadly that wasn't going to happen he's very good at rumour control". The manager who was named Rei cleared her throat "I think you ladies can talk later, I want you both to show Alexis and Trish the ropes in an hour I want to know how they did. The one who did the best will have the rest of a proper interview. The collage student stepped forward, "then should I make the preparations for the announcement? he enquired. Rei nodded silencing both foreigners with a wave then nodded.

It took ten minutes for the four women to select a suitable dress in the end Trish selected a a dress that consisted of a blouse a blue overdress that had puffy sleeves and tied at the back with a bow, several petticoats, tights, high heels and a head piece. Alexis was a long sleeved dress with a skirt that was five inches above her knee's she wore flat shoes and white short socks a lace choker, both dresses' had small frilled aprons.

In the main room Hatsumaru had switched off the music had lifted a mic, this was this cafe's specialty other then Karaoke nights they would always test potential staff like this. It wasn't that the customers selected the staff but if a candidate had no kind of approval it was rarely a good sign. Hatsumaru collected the cafe's attention as he began to speak, "ladies and gentleman it is my pleasure to introduced two new maid candidates. Hatsumaru mentally sighed if Reiko hadn't been such a gossip he'd have little to go on other then first impressions. "Two lovely ladies from abroad, one a flame haired temptress the other a good hearted princess. Allow me to welcome Alexis and Trish. Hatsumaru indicated the door and Alexis and Trish entered the main room, as soon as she saw all those eye's on her she smiled and posed, Trish who had performed with her violin and gymnastics wasn't used to persona's being placed on her. She posed next to Alexis but it lacked the supreme confidence that Alexis showed when in her element.*

The hour flew like a dream Alexis was surprised by this, Hatsumaru's instructions on each persona were short and simple which Alexis grasped with ease. She and Trish enjoyed anime but Alexis enjoyed it more for the archetypes most of them extreme by the time it was over Alexis had made a fair amount of tips. Trish found the opposite true, to many eye's were on her perhaps it was her pigtails, she didn't know she dropped her tray two times, both attracting a cold look from Rei causing her to quail. Last of all the persona's she knew them all she just couldn't make them all convincing. By the end of the hour Trish had wracked up a sizeable debt, which she handed over and left in a hurry as soon as she was changed. She felt immensely bitter at her failure Alexis had probably already got the job where she had failed, she walked towards Ilka's dance studio remembering they had to consult her on that unusual murder.

(*i'm considering both of them would go onto become professionals in their favour artistic form. But they needed more contrast just in personality. ; D )