Paper

About Aka-chin

"See, Merrick-san? I told you it was dusty."

Shuko and Rhydian were in a lower level of The Wisdom headquarters, where countless filing cabinets and boxes had been placed, lining the walls and expanding out into the room. The newer files had been placed near the front in strong boxes that couldn't be opened without an ID.

Shuko handed Rhydian one box while he himself grabbed two, placing them on top of each other. The hacker and writer left the room, Rhydian waiting in the brilliant white hallway while Shuko locked up the file room.

The trip back up to the 5th floor was no easy task- Shuko was unable to see over his cargo and by the time they had gotten to the 3rd floor, he had already run into 4 people and several walls. Observing and predicting were his strong suits, but they weren't much use if he couldn't see anything in front of him. Whether he had memorized people's usual routes or not, today was different for some reason and the hacker was off by several miscalculations. He simply refused to have Rhydian help guide him, saying that he could manage just fine on his own- today was only an off day for him.

Fortunately, Jing met them outside of the department doors and relieved Shuko of one container, despite Shuko's whiny protests.

"Ah, Shuko, Raj told me to remind you that several reports have come in regarding-" Shuko cut Jing off. "Yeah yeah, I know," He muttered, still grumpy about Jing taking his box, helpful or not.

Jing arched an eyebrow. "Well then, I'll be getting back to work. Enjoy your filing." He turned on his heel and walked off. Rhydian set his box down next to Shuko's desk.

"So, these are all on members of the Murder?" The blue-haired boy asked, cleaning the lenses of his glasses with his shirt.

"Well, yes, but there's also wanted fugitives in that box," Shuko explained, gesturing to the one Jing had helped him with. "Nina-chan is bringing others with nasty government officials and the Unkindness members. Plus a bunch of laws regarding the districts..." Shuko pinned his bangs off his face and rubbed his hands together with a wide, cat-like grin. "Shall we get started, then?"

Not less than an hour later, Shuko and Rhydian had emptied several boxes completely. Papers were scattered so thickly on the floor that you couldn't see the sparkling white tile beneath them. The ones that Shuko deemed not worth reading had been tossed aside- note the mess- and the others that had some potential were stored on his swivel chair.

They hadn't gotten to the Murder or Unkindness boxes yet; only the government workers, leaders and possible dangerous people among them.

Rhydian sat on the floor, a small spot without any papers beneath him. He found the work they were doing incredibly interesting, although Shuko complained about the boring pain of it all.

As Rhydian skimmed through a page on a security department, Shuko whistled lowly. "This man's got some messed up ideas..."

Rhydian threw him a look of inquiry. "Who is?"

"This Derec Gridley fella'. All started after his wife died... he must've lost his mind..." Shuko's eyes looked to the bottom of the page and his eyes narrowed. "Huh. Some father he is..."

Rhydian blinked. Gridley was Reuben's last name. So his father works for the government. Come to think of it, I've never seen him before. I've only seen Mr. Kedi and Reuben's brothers.

Shuko set the page onto the swivel chair, cracking his knuckles. "I bet Ace has come across that little snippet, too, if he was motivated enough to break through the firewall... I should ask him later."

I wonder if he'll come across my parents, Rhydian thought bitterly to himself.

A few minutes later, Shuko dove into the Murder files. "Alright, Merrick-san, let's see if we can get through some of these before lunch!"