retrospec | A Mirthless Christmas Eve

A Mirthless Christmas Eve

[Happy Christmas Eve Retrospect, or at least those of you who celebrate! At a bit after 5PM, a certain text message will pop up from one Tatsuma Hiyuu.]

At around 5PM a black toyota highlander struck and killed an old couple near freshens.

I need to find it. If you see it tell me.

Please.

[And that’s all he wrote.]

((OOC: Tatsuma will be unsuccessful in hunting down the owner of the car himself, but he is going to go fight some people. If you'd like your character to get involved beyond texting him feel free to hit me up at

danidanidanica!))

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[ Well, after seeing that post, Tatsuma is going to get a ring ring right to his cell phone. Akira's not one to discuss family matters online with strangers, anyway, no matter what the circumstances.

Please answer, cousin. "I need to find it" doesn't sit well. ]

[Tatsuma does pick up eventually, but when he does there's the strange mix of exertion mixed with utter flatness, neither of them suiting his usual tone at all.]

What.

[ Akira notes this, but doesn't comment on it right away. There's a pretty reasonable catalyst to...not be feeling himself. Tatsuma should be upset.

Akira, though...he's...frustrated? His grandparents were nice people. They didn't deserve this. It just seems...unfair. ]

We got the call from the hospital, but expected that you'd be here too. Where are you?

I was out.

[Something that, in hindsight, was a foolish choice. He should have gone with them. He knew something was wrong, why didn't he--

But now it's too late and they're gone and there's only one solution that comes to mind for dealing with the aftermath.]

Mom and dad are already going.

[But not him.]

[ Where are you? he asks. And Tatsuma answers where he was at the time.

He was out. He knows that Tatsuma would probably be hit the hardest by this loss given his situation, but based on that information he can only assume that his cousin feels like, somehow, it's his fault. Logically Tatsuma's presence might have changed the outcome, but not necessarily. It's just as likely that Tatsuma could have been a victim as well.

Sharing that won't change Tatsuma's current actions, Akira thinks. Clearly he doesn't want to share where he actually is, though Akira pictures him wandering the streets trying to find any car that matches that description. ]

Where are you now, Tatsuma?

[It is not an incorrect assumption.]

It doesn't matter.

[His voice is terse, nothing like the calm, laid back tone he normally speaks with, instead more like a string about to snap. Will this bring all kinds of trouble down on his head? Probably. He's not so far gone as to be unaware of that.

But this is what he needs to be doing right now, because even if everything's falling to pieces, if he can just find them...]

Just stay at the hospital. [That one comes out as practically a snap.]

[ Akira is quiet for a long moment. No, this doesn't sound like the Tatsuma he knows, but tragedy changes people. He isn't so naive to think that everyone is as skilled at compartmentalizing facts from emotions. Akira is also upset, although in a different way. He understands Tatsuma's desire for...answers? Revenge? Maybe both.

Stepping away from the rest of the family, there's the sound of a door opening and then the rustle of wind, indicating that Akira has stepped outside. No voices in the background this time. ]

I understand how you feel. [ He finally says. ] ...It isn't fair. They were good people, they didn't deserve this. And for them to be punished because of someone else's bad deeds--

[ It's despicable, says the tone of his own voice.

His grandfather on Akira's father's side passed away when Akira was in junior high. He was older, it was to be expected. The sadness that comes from losing a loved one to time and age is no match for the sharp and sudden pain that comes from losing a loved one to tragedy, much before their time. ]

[No, no they didn't deserve one bit of this. They were kind, almost to a fault, extending that kindness and warmth to anyone who seemed to need it. It's still hard to believe that it could be snuffed out so quickly, leaving everything so, so cold, but here we are, and here he is, still running down streets in the kind of cold his grandmother would have warned him away from, would have insisted on a scarf at least--

There's a twist in his chest that hurts like someone just reached in and gave it a wrench. He puts the thought from his mind.]

I'm going to find them.

[There's no way he could possibly sit still so long as their killer is out there, unidentified.]

[ No you're not, Akira thinks. Definitely not like that, worked up and running around in the cold. ]

How are you going to find them?

[No he's not, but damn it he's going to try.]

I'm faster now. I can look... Even from the rooftops.

[What better time to put those new powers to use?]

[ He can only hope that Tatsuma legitimately has a reason that he thinks running the streets will solve anything, but Akira honestly thinks its a waste of time and energy. But grief does push people to make poor decisions. It's callous, perhaps, to be thinking that way given the circumstances, but that's why Akira knows better than to share those kind of thoughts.

It's irrational, which makes it a little frustrating, but he expects people to be irrational. They're only human. It's not that he won't miss his grandparents, but... ]

...

[ Is there really any death that he wouldn't be able to distance himself from? Maybe his own.

Yeah, he'd very much like to avoid that. ]

Tatsuma, I know you want to help, but the Toyota Highlander is 5th most popular Toyota vehicle by sales nationally for 2017 alone. And black is the most popular color. So you'll likely see a few, but doesn't lead us any closer to who's actually responsible. The fact that they were hit on a major street makes it more difficult to narrow down as well, since most of the residents and visitors to the city pass through that intersection. Also, someone that would actually perform a hit and run isn't likely to be out driving the same night of the incident, especially in town, if they are at all.

[ Reality sucks, but... ]

I know it's not easy to sit and wait for the police to do their job--

[ Especially...when things like this don't always reach a conclusion, he thinks, but decides not to dampen on Tatsuma's heroic search too much. The system does fail people often, which is what got Akira interested in criminal law in the first place. Two accounts of vehicular manslaughter aren't anything to sweep under the rug, especially when the suspect fled the scene, deserves to be punished. It's unfortunate that it won't likely happen.

Akira grimaces. He does plan to do his own research on this case. ]

--but maybe you should at least wait the night out.

[ Don't get in the way. ]

[Tatsuma honestly begins to zone out on the words partway through, doing a bit of phone juggling as he makes the best of his powers to sprint through the city, likely resulting in a bit of wind, but - well, it's cold out, that's probably unsurprising.

The clang as his shoe hits a metal railing is a little less subtle.]

Can't.

[Akira's reasoning is good, as is his logic. But it's simply not enough.

He couldn't possibly sit still even if he weren't a swirl of anger and fury.]

[ Sigh.

Can't and won't are two different things.

He can sympathize to some extent--reality can be frustrating and difficult to accept, but it's not as if running around at night is going to do anything. That's Tatsuma's prerogative, unfortunately. ]

Don't be reckless.

[ Now he's on record. He can officially say "I told you so" if Tatsuma does something stupid. ]

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A Mirthless Christmas Eve

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