Sin sits within the computer lab inside of Unimori High, surfing through the many student profiles that are within the school's database. He takes a quick look to the bottom right of the screen and sees the time and date proclaimed on the taskbar. It says '3:14 PM' and '7/18/1998'. He pays little attention to it afterward, pushing all of his attention back into his investigation.
The entire computer lab is empty at this moment, as classes have ended, for the day. Yosin, his assistant, would be with him right now, helping him with his investigation, but Sin dismissed him earlier.
Sin sighs through his nostrils as he examines the stream of information that is appearing on the screen, skimming lower and lower down the list. He is searching for Carie's information first, since the student biography is listed alphabetically and she would be the first one to show up out of the four individuals he is investigating.
After a few more seconds, Sin arrives at Carie's biography. He reads through the information slowly, examining each detail as it comes up. The screen shows 'Carie Blain: Eye color: Pink. Hair color: Blonde. Country of Origin: England. Date of Birth: March 18th, 1981. Year of Enrollment: 1997 AD. Personal Profile: Carie Blain is an exchange student from England. She is known back in her country of being from a prestigious family that owns a small province and them ruling it fairly. She came to Ignama around her junior year and has been an accomplished student since enrolling, acting in many extracurricular clubs and student organizations. Currently a member of the track and field club, but no others. During her first year in Unimori, she became associated with the student council assistant president, Sin Kasigara, but around the end of the school year, they had a falling out. She also has no permanent marks on her record, nor has ever had a problem in school with the teachers and students alike.'
Sin cups his hand over his eyes as he reads his name on Carie's record. Dammit, now I'm starting to feel bad for lying to Yosin. We didn't just have a disagreement, it was more like a screaming match! I still remember how that shit ended, with Carie yelling out my window that I was a self-centered dick head and that I need to start caring about others more before I will ever find love. She stormed out of my room and we didn't talk again until the week after, where I tried to get back together with her, but she said no every time. There was an incident the same night when one of my school books caught on fire, now that I think about it, but luckily I put it out before it spread. I should have run an investigation, but I didn't want to get her in any trouble, I still loved her at the time....”
Sin shakes his head lightly, looks back up and starts scrolling down the list again. Before long, he arrives at Lera Fuin's page. It reads 'Lera Fuin: Eye Color: Yellow. Hair Color: Black. Country of Origin: Japan. Date of Birth: April 17th, 1981. Year of Enrollment: 1997 AD. Personal Profile: Lera Fuin is a rich and popular girl, having a large sum of money coming from her deceased father's clothing company. She is very loyal to her friends and seems to have a relationship with her friend, Boz Zhao. Her mother has donated money to Unimori in hopes of her daughter gaining the ability to go to classes without her school uniform, which she succeeded in, but the teachers don't treat her kindly sometimes for it. Before her father started his clothing business, he was known for being rather poor, but he rapidly gained a large amount of money to start up his business in a short time. Nobody knows where the money came from, and authorities believe that it might have to do with organized crime, but the investigation was ended after a few months by city officials.'
“Organized crime, huh?” Sin says while leaning back and stroking his chin. “That may have something to do with this, but I need to investigate further to make sure. Also, that might have something to do with the shoot out that happened a week or two ago over in the run down area of the city. Actually, now that I think about it, the person that witnesses said was in the area during the shooting does pose a striking resemblance to this Lera girl.... I'll look into this later. First thing I need to do is take a look into the other two students of the group.”
Sin pushes himself back up to the front of the computer and continues scrolling down the personal records page. After a while, he enters the O section and after scrolling halfway down it, he arrives at Jian's page. The page is lengthy, but it still provides the information that Sin is looking for. It lists 'Jian Orien: Eye Color: Olive green. Hair Color: Dark Blue. Country of Origin: Japan. Date of Birth: August 4th, 1981. Date of Enrollment: 1997 AD. Personal Profile: Almost everyone in Ignama knows of Jian Orien and his father's lucrative computer business that has gained him and his family incredible wealth. Shun Orien, Jian's father, was very interested in the Unimori project since it's inception and signed a contract with the mayor, stating that if he only carried Yomishi-brand computers in the school, he would provide the school with a free computer lab and list his school as a high-profile client. Despite being a well-known name around the school, Jian has very few friends. He has had no run-ins with school authorities, acting as a model student. He was also the injured party during a shooting and stabbing incident, but he came out unscathed despite reports of him being stabbed by an adult intruder. The reason for the stabbing is still unknown.'
“Dammit....” Sin says to himself as he stares at the screen. “If only I was there, then maybe I would understand what the hell is going on.... They definitely have some kind of secret, but I don't think it's in reference to the incident a week ago... there's something else going on, but what is it?”
Sin shakes his head slightly before putting his hand back on the mouse and continuing to scroll down the page. It takes him a while to reach it, but he eventually arrives at the Z section of the personal records. Soon enough, he arrives at Boz Zhao's page. It states 'Boz Zhao: Eye Color: Blue. Hair Color: Light Brown. Country of Origin: Japan. Date of Birth: January 5th, 1981. Date of Enrollment: 1997. Personal Profile: Boz Zhao, while not being a very disruptive person during classes, still loves a joke. His father is a Dojo Sensei in the downtown area of Ignama, and as such, he is very adept at the use of the katana. Around 1990, Lera Fuin, another student at this school, became friends with him as she took self-defense classes at his father's Dojo. Although she didn't stay at the Dojo for long, she still fostered a strong friendship to Boz, forging a friendship that has lasted up until current day.'
After reading the last few words of Boz's personal profile, Sin's eyes go back up to the top of the page where Boz's profile picture is located. Sin thinks back to earlier in the week when he had first heard about the gang shooting and when he had first seen the sketch artist's picture of what the eyewitnesses had thought one of the student's involved in the shooting looked like. “Wavy hair, light features, middle set eyes.... Could it be that....”
Before Sin can finish his sentence, he hears the door on the far side of the computer lab smash open. His head shots towards the doorway, where in which he sees Yosin standing at the door with paperwork in his hand, sweat beading down his face. “Sin!” he says past huffing breaths. “You need to see what I just found!”
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Sin is slightly confused by Yosin's actions. He remembers telling him to go for a lunch break, but that apparently has ended already. Sin gets out of his chair and walks calmly towards Yosin, who is also walking towards him at a snail's crawl, since he ran to the room.
What is it Yosin...?” Sin says, his left brow hoisted upward.
When they are eventually both at the center of the room, Yosin shots his hand with the paper's forward, almost shoving them straight into Sin's hands. “Sin! You need to read this and then look up the link I wrote down on the bottom of the last sheet!”
Sin flicks the paper in his hands and then begins to read the report. After a few seconds of examination, his eye's go wide. “Wait, are you telling me there was a cover-up...! Why would they want to keep this from the press and the students!”
“I don't know, sir! But the link I have on the last page will probably explain why Carie's group of friends is acting the way they are!” Yosin says, his heartbeat just now starting to drop to a normal rate.
As Sin and Yosin speak with one another, a shadowed form stands in the corner of the room, not moving a muscle. Just barely visible in the dark shade of the room's corner with most of his body obscured by the black cloak wrapping his body. The perfect cloak for the perfect mission...! the cloaked man thinks to himself.
“So, you are finally getting on the right track....” the man says before leaving his hiding place. Sin and Yosin immediately look towards the man when they hear his voice.
“Who... who the hell are you! You need to get off of the school premises now!” Sin says, bracing himself into a fighting position.
The black-cloaked man look's downward and lets out a light chuckle. He begins looking back up and says “I'm afraid I won't be going anywhere, so please lower your-” before his words are cut off by Sin rushing towards him and throwing a left hook towards his face.
The cloaked man sees the blow last second and throws his head backward to avoid the strike, but the blow still connects with his nose.
He backs up momentarily, holding his now broken nose and trying to stop his nose bleed. “Shit! Why the hell did you do that!” By the time he has finished his sentence, Sin is next to him again, nearly delivering a brutal gut punch that the cloaked man escapes only by a quick sidestep to his own left.
Sin attempts to strike him again, trying to deliver a backhand punch with his right hand, since he last attacked with his left hand. The cloaked man, however, dodges underneath of the strike and shoves his head into Sin's side as hard as he can. After which, the cloaked man backs off.
Sin shows a grimace from the injury, but it doesn't effect him for long. He backs off from the blow, but still doesn't lower his guard. The cloaked man looks at him from underneath of his hood and then lifts his hand up from under his cloak up to his nose. With a startling 'crack', the man snaps his nose back into place and blood ceases to bleed out of his nose. “I didn't come here to hurt you, you know....” the cloaked man says, his nasal passages still slightly clogged.
“I don't give a shit whether you came to hurt me or not! You're still trespassing on school property and I will make you leave whether you want to or not! Yosin! Go call school security while I deal with this bastard!” Sin says while sweeping his hand to the side but not letting his gaze drift from his enemy.
Yosin gives Sin a quick nod and is about to take off out of the door, but he hears his name being called by the cloaked man. “Yosin, Sin, please, you must both calm down before things get worse than they already are. I mean, seriously, you attack me out of nowhere just for wearing a cloak when all I'm here to do is help you guys with your investigation!”
“Wait a minute....” Yosin says, his hand hovering over top of the door knob in front of him. “You're here to help us? Why were you hiding in the shadows like that then?”
“I needed to wait for the right time to make my appearance. That and I was starting to get tired of appearing on windowsills.” The cloaked man says, lowering himself from his combat stance.
“I don't buy it! You are an intruder for all I know!” Sin says while swaying back and forth in his combat stance. “State your name or get out of the school now! Those are your only options!”
A sigh can be heard coming from underneath of the man's hood. A second later, he pulls down his cloak hood and says “My name is Raphael Danteo, and trust me when I say that I am one of the good guys.”
Sin wasn't expecting the man in the black cloak would lower his hood, which catches him off-guard. He lowers his fighting stance, since he is starting to see that the man isn't a real threat, or at least that he doesn't want to fight. “Danteo, huh. Any particular reason why you were hiding in the shadows and you have that cloak on?”
“Me and my friend's are part of an elite military organization that has a very specific mission on this... I mean in this city. I will explain more, but not until you have figured out the position that the people you are researching are in. I just came to tell you that you are on the right track, and that you should investigate further to see exactly what kind of situation Jian and his friends are in.... Furthermore, look up the link Yosin has gotten for you, after which, look up a person in the city's morgue named Korin Tinami. The man is connected to Jian and he is where this all started. Other than that, I have nothing else to tell you, but we will meet again in the future... farewell....”
Before Sin can say another word, the air around Raphael begins to shift. His form manipulates and twists, almost as if he is splitting in two, and the next second, he is gone.
Sin looks back at Yosin, since he has no words for what has just happened. Yosin begins piecing a few of the things that had just happened together and draws up a limp conclusion. “H-He just teleported out of the room. Maybe he has something to do with the shooting last week, since the report stated he used magic...?”
Wide-eyed, Sin takes a few seconds to let the situation that had just happened settle in his head. After about a quarter of a minute, he finally says “The report did state that the person who attacked Orien was a member of the Eldritch Rune Cult, so maybe this magic Danteo guy we just met has some kind of mission to stop them, but that is only a broad speculation. Nonetheless, he did give us a few clues over what we should do next. He also stated that we should follow the link that is on your report first.”
Sin grabs the sheets of paper off of the floor and holds it in his hands, flipping through the papers until he arrives at the last page. He places the remaining papers down on a nearby desk and then walks to the computer he was at earlier while saying back to Yosin “No matter who this magic guy is, he is leading us somewhere and he knows a lot more than he is letting on. I won't ask you to come with me to the morgue out of respect for your necrophobia, so just stay at the school when I'm able to get around to it and I'll tell you what I have found out when I return.”
Sin sits down on the computer seat halfway through his conversation and begins typing in the IP address when he has finished. After hitting the enter button, a news article appears on the screen, the title saying 'Eldritch Rune Cult strikes again; Killing the fifteen injured during the attack on a night bar days earlier.'
After reading about an eightieth of the way down the article, Sin slowly starts to understand the dire situation that Jian and his friend's are in right now. “So if I understand this correctly, they are going to keep coming after them even after the original attacker is dead? Damn, no wonder Carie was being so defensive earlier, she was just trying to keep Jian safe... I should apologize to her when I see her again, I was being way to hard on her and her friends....”
Sin and Yosin spend some more time examining the article, their eye's slowly growing wider as they examine it further. After giving the article a complete run through, they start pressing similar links on the page, further broadening their knowledge of the Eldritch Rune Cult. “Damn,” Sin says under his breath once he has gone through the fifth article of these cultists killing people in cold blood. “I wish I could get to it sooner, but I need to do more research on this cult first before going to the morgue. That and my schedule looks pretty booked up for the rest of the month....”