The morning wind brushed upon Kazuo's shoulders as he stood outside the Gutai's hangout spot, a warehouse which they bought for a clubhouse of sorts. The blare of the police sirens filled the early morning sky and people gathered around to observe the commotion. Three police officers laid a police line tape to secure the gruesome scene before them. Blood was painted all over the Gutai Group's headquarters, a gory display for the citizens of Gaki to watch. Kazuo slowly picked up his phone and called his friend, Jiro Yoshihara.

"Jiro, you're not going to like this." Kazuo started. On the other side of the line Jiro rubbed his eyes, just finishing his morning routine, "I'm still trying to wake Saburo up, what's the matter, Kazuo?" Jiro responded. "It looks like someone was murdered at our headquarters." Kazuo exhaled, "What?!" Jiro was stunned, he immediately hung up his phone leaving Kazuo alone at the scene.

Kazuo approached an officer, asking about what had happened. "Apparently some nutjob thought this area was remote enough to kill someone." The officer commented, "Say kid, why are you here this early?" Kazuo gulped and nervously returned eye contact with the officer, "My friends and I own the warehouse, this is our art group’s headquarters."

Before Kazuo could continue, Yuko arrived on her bike, she stopped in the tracks and stared at their warehouse, looking equally terrified. "I came here as soon as Jiro informed me, what the hell happened here?" Another officer explained to her the situation the group got tangled into. A few minutes passed before Saburo and Jiro arrived on their bikes as well. Saburo looked at the blood-soaked warehouse walls, only being able to push "What the hell." out of his lips.

Jiro tried speaking to the officers, explaining that the four of them had no correlation to crime, but since Kazuo arrived first, they would like to ask him a few questions at the police station. Saburo ended up having a verbal disagreement with one of the officers, only being silenced after one of the officers threatened to arrest him. Kazuo agreed to go on with the interrogation rather than to continue the matter. Kazuo rode with Yuko to the police station with Saburo and Jiro trailing along, the four of them chattering about their unfortunate circumstances as the sun begins to rise upon the suburban area they live in.

The four of them eventually arrived at the police station and as they walked in, an older looking man greeted the group, he had short sleek hair that was somewhat similar to Saburo's haircut, he was a more senior member of the police force, he directed Kazuo to the interrogation room while the rest waited at the reception area. Kazuo took a seat across from the officer, preparing himself for the questions.

"Good morning, my name is officer Toshizō. Don't worry, we're just doing this interrogation to cover all our bases. Give me your name, age and occupation." Kazuo unfortunately becomes quite stiff and nervous when facing high-pressure situations. Though, despite that, he assembled whatever courage he had and obliged. "Kazuo Shiraga, eighteen, painter."

"Alright Mr. Shiraga, I just got a few questions about what we found at the scene and some general things, do you consent?"

"I consent."

"Now Mr. Shiraga, where were you when the crime occurred? This would approximately be around 4 AM."

"At home asleep, I arrived at the scene around 5 AM." Kazuo responded.

"Now, we could only find what remains of his ID, the victim’s name was Daisuke Izuka. Do you know who he is?"

"Haven't got a clue, officer."

"Any idea why you might be the target of this attack?"

"I'm guessing it's because we're Talent users." Kazuo nervously answers. The existence of gifted people had always made the police suspicious about their work but nonetheless, Kazuo felt like it would be better to put the fact out there before the police found out later. "Talent users? You got a workplace permit, right?" Officer Toshizō calmly answered.

"We do have a permit as Talent users to use the building as our place of business."

"Then you don't really have to worry." Officer Toshizō says as he hits the tabletop, "Alright, that should be everything so far. If we get more information, we will contact you and your friends."

Kazuo was let go after what felt like forever. The four of them left the police station and went to a nearby convenience store to get breakfast and to calm themselves down. “Damn it, why does this shit happen to us specifically..." Saburo shouts. Jiro answered with a calm demeanour, "The world is weird, Saburo. One day you’re an art group on the rise and the other you’re suspects in a murder case."

"I'm just surprised that someone would publicly display their murder like that, I think that’s just a bit over the top." Yuko chimes in. Kazuo wasn't much of a talker and merely listened quietly as he finished the tuna sandwich. "At the very least we should discuss this with someone," Saburo comments. "How about this," Jiro announces, "we go back to my place and see if we have someone to talk with about this." Kazuo looks around and lets out a sigh, "It's better than doing nothing, I suppose."

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Jiro, Saburo, and Yuko quickly finish their breakfast and ride their bikes to Jiro's apartment. Inside, the apartment looked as if a tornado had passed through — ripped up papers litter the floor alongside canvases with unfinished paintings hung across the wall. "I was about to clean up today, I swear." Jiro looked at Yuko and Kazuo, "It's just that Saburo decided to 'have fun' and do that 'throwing himself through paper' act again."

"Hey, bastard!" Saburo protests, "I told you months ago that I wanted to try that again when I moved in."

Yuko smirked at the duo's quarrel, "Jiro,the last piece Saburo sold did save our finances." She chuckles. Jiro sighs and gives out a tired sounding, "You're right." The four of them enter the apartment discussing their current course of actions and what they can do. "For one, we have to contact our clients about the situation," Kazuo stated. "Well yeah," Jiro continues, "that is kind of given, no. But right now, we need someone with better knowledge than us on this."

"What about the Katsushikas?" Yuko suggested.

"What about them?" Saburo answers, "I thought that we're just going to let the police do their thing."

"The police often look down on cases involving Talent users, Saburo." Kazuo retorts, "They aren't reliable, let alone care."

"Also, Uncle Hokusai is the person who trained us." Kazuo adds, "He’s famous around these parts and he can probably help us out." Saburo bit his lip and just answered, "Fine." Murmuring beneath his breath. Jiro nods and opens his phone to contact his friend, Ōi. A calming voice answered on the other side. "Jiro, I saw the news, murder?". Jiro scratched his cheeks, "Yeah, is your dad up? We might visit in a bit."

"Not yet," Ōi answered, "I'll tell him that you guys are coming here, alright?"

"We'll be there in fifteen." Jiro replies then turns off the call

"Alright, guys, Hokusai's house." Jiro declared triumphantly. The four of them got on their bikes and rode off towards the Katsushika residence.

The ride there was faster than they thought, arriving in about ten minutes. The Katsushika residence looks more like an Edo era nobleman's mansion than a regular house. Ōi was waiting outside, looking far more worried than the Gutai group. "Four of you okay?" she asks while helping Jiro and Yuko park their bikes. "As good as we can be, Ōi." Jiro replies, "Don't worry too much about us."

Hokusai was sitting in the living room facing a large open space with a zen garden at its centre, the old man was tending to his bonsai tree as he turned his head and waved at the Gutai members. The four of them wave back and rush to the living room, with Hokusai happily accepting them to his abode. Hokusai rubbed his chin as the five of them entered the room. "Ōi told me that there was a murder at your headquarters, I'm sorry that it happened."

"Don't be sorry, Uncle Hokusai." Saburo nonchalantly replies, "The police said they'll give us information if they come up with anything."

"Though from what I saw in the news, that's no regular murderer." Hokusai commented, "A talent user must have targeted you four."

"Why are you so confident about that?" Saburo questions Hokusai’s confidence.

"I know that normal people don't turn murder into art," Hokusai answers. "Or at least, most normal people."

Jiro raises his hand, "Is there any way you could help us with this situation, Uncle Hokusai?"

"No, sadly," he replies, "But I may know someone who might be able to help. His name is Rembrandt, someone I met a while ago. He’s a private investigator from the Netherlands, part of a group I met some time ago. From what I can tell, he would probably enjoy a case like this."

"Whoa, hold on." Saburo cries out, "We're going to involve foreign private investigators?! Are you kidding me?!"

"We have to clear our name, Saburo," Yuko answers. "I know it's not exactly ideal, but you have to understand that some things aren't fixed in one day." Jiro slowly adds his own thoughts, "What Yuko said. Saburo, I get that this isn't exactly what you wanted, but at least there are more professional people involved now, right?" Saburo argues back, "Jiro, I get you. But our finances are barely keeping us afloat." Hokusai cleared his throat and said, "Don't worry about finances. I know his boss; I can work something out with him." Jiro came to pat Saburo's back and comforted him, "Relax, alright?"

"I guess, now that I think about it." Saburo seems to be annoyed at the prospect.

"Good" Jiro gave a thumbs up and a five-star smile in return.

"I'll call Rembrandt and his team. In the meantime, here's some cash, go buy yourselves some drinks with Ōi. I want you folks to feel a bit better at least" The five of them look at each other and thank Hokusai for the money. The group went off to the convenience store again, catching up with their old friend, Ōi. Saburo keeps getting teased by Ōi which somehow made him shy and unable to talk,

"C'mon Saburo, usually you'd get upset when people tease you like this." Ōi jokes.

"I . . . I just don't want to, alright!" Saburo slowly rolls his eyes and his cheeks slowly turn red. Jiro jokingly comforts him, "Relax Saburo, you got me and Kazuo." The group laughs while Saburo presses his face on Jiro's back. The group reached the convenience store, bought their drinks and sat outside. They started talking about Rembrandt and their plans, but eventually, the conversation ended up only being about Rembrandt.

"He's a really nice guy." Ōi commented

"Yeah sure but he doesn't have tricks as I do!" Saburo shouted.

"Relax Saburo, no one's got your charm." Jiro chimed in with a snarky comment.

"You're lucky that murder is illegal, Jiro." Saburo returned.

The group ended up talking until 2 PM when they returned to Katsushikas’ residence. Hokusai looked giddy despite being a 40-year-old man, "I got great news!" He declared, "His boss said that it's fine that we didn't have to pay since I helped him out with a case a few months ago, Rembrandt is going to come here in a few days."

The group was in a celebratory mood after that, staying over at the Katsushika residence until night fell. Hokusai offers the group to stay at the residence in case something comes up, something that Kazuo and Jiro agreed to, meanwhile Saburo vehemently denies only agreeing after Jiro threatened him jokingly. The group ended up packing their stuff and moving into the Katsushika residence, preparing themselves for Rembrandt's arrival