Chapitre 21: Background Mystery
The following day came fast. Vincent, being an expert in the art of laziness, was quick to fall asleep and slow to wake up. He was even slower to wake up than usual.
The lights breaking through the closed blinds were alerting his internal clock, but he didn't bother rubbing the crustiness out of his eyes. He took a moment to remember what day it was today and tried matching it to the day of the match.
Mismatch.
The battle wasn't today, but tomorrow.
He went right back to sleep.
At this time of day, his boss is already at work. There isn't much for him to do, but he needs to show up no matter what. He's already distant enough from his employees. If he just doesn't even show up to work and purely leaves it up to everyone else, then the efficiency of the company will sink lower and lower.
The desire to work conflicts with the reality that he's not suited for the position. Even so, he listens to his boss, Kenzo's, orders.
Truly, the higher up one is on the food chain, the more work they need to do.
Vincent is content with lazing around until he's needed for a match, Ohta is needed for his position and has to work even if there's not much for him to do...and Yamashita Kenzo is hard at work, his fingers in many pies.
Hours passed just like that.
Vincent woke up from hunger this time. The lights seeping through the blinds were brighter and clearer. He massaged his stomach and slowly rose from the comfort of his bed, resisting the pull to another nap.
If he doesn't get up now, the black hole will suck him right back in.
"I wish I didn't need to eat. I could get more sleep then."
His current behavior is completely at odds with how he acts in the midst of combat. The simple explanation behind that is the fact that he just wants to get this day over with, so he can skip to the next day.
There's nothing for him to do and he can't risk getting into fights today unless he suffers an injury. That would reduce his chances of victory tomorrow.
Vincent stepped out of his room and moved to the dining room. He greeted the workers who were on duty with watching and tidying the mansion. Some of them greeted him back and others ignored him.
'We really don't know each other that well.'
The fact that they didn't bother coming by to wake him up might seem like an act of modesty and kindness from them, but it could also be seen as them not wanting to bother with someone who's practically a stranger. Vincent has nothing to do with their actual field of work, so they just put him out of their minds. Whichever it is, he's still grateful for the end result.
He gets to sleep in as much as he wants and he gets to raid Ohta's food storage and prep meals just for himself without worry.
Vincent chowed down on a homemade burger. In the midst of his chewing, he paused, swallowed what was in his mouth, and sighed.
"That's good, but this isn't good enough to tide me over for today."
He needs entertainment. There has to be something to shut his brain activity off and fill his head with enjoyment other than fighting.
'I really need some new hobbies.'
"Wait."
Something just came to mind. He recalled what happened yesterday. He played the part of a hero rescuing an innocent civilian from a villain terrorizing him with his brutality. He also ran into another scary-eyed guy while he tried to avoid the police.
'Why not just check out the crime scene?'
If there are police there, then he can just turn right back around and brainstorm something else to entertain him. At least it'll get him out of the house and on his feet. Walking is an activity that can at least stimulate any person to a minor extent.
With his course charted, Vincent wrapped up his mealtime and made sure he had his phone. Just like that, he walked out of the mansion without even saying bye to its keepers.
There was no need to worry about getting lost. Vincent knew Japan and its dark alleyways quite well and his sense of direction was finely honed from getting lost in the past. Asking police officers where to go while he was beaten up was a common enough occurrence that it built up his idea to escape their notice and flee from their pursuit if their suspicion was piqued enough.
Finely tuned senses directed toward danger, a good sense of direction, and most of all, the fact that he was here yesterday, led him to getting back to where he got into a scrap with that prick.
Vincent peeked around the corner.
"The boys in blue are here. Guess that guy did try and call for help. That's a good person right there. Just why was someone like him targeted then?"
Before he was spotted, Vincent moved back behind the wall. Should he play detective right now? He's curious enough to want to get involved, but should he? The smart thing to do would be to go home, but since when did he always stick to doing the smart thing.
The foreigner put on a smile, prepared his best Japanese skills, and stepped out from behind the corner.
"What's up guys!"
Silence.
Vincent stood there, a hand raised, and a smile on his face, greeting the cops with cheer.
'H-huh? What's with this atmosphere? Did I piss them off somehow?'
Opposing Vincent's mood was the solemn aura of the police officers exchanging words with each other in a low enough tone that it didn't reach Vincent's ears. Their grim expressions filled the American with the desire to just slowly back away.
Before that desire overflowed to make him book it, one of the officers stepped forward and revealed his badge.
"Excuse me, we're with the police. There are a few questions we'd like to ask you, so if you don't mind, give us a few moments of your time and answer them to the best of your ability."
Vincent's mouth was slightly open in surprise from just how serious these guys were.
'It's not like there was a murder, so why do they look like they wanna put me in cuffs?'
While he looked outwardly surprised, he was inwardly very interested in this. It might've been because of the past incidents he's been in, but stuff like this was also pretty fun to him.
He just forgot how much due to all the battles he's been through and having his head knocked around. There was no reason for him to flee, he had no desire to flee, and he wanted to participate and help the police.
It wasn't out of some selfless desire, like it wasn't out of some selfless desire that he got involved with the incident here and prevented a murder in the first place. It's just all for his own personal satisfaction. Nothing more and nothing less.
"Sure things officers. Ask away!" He was ready to expose anything he knew to get some more pieces of the puzzle here.
Being a busybody isn't in his style, but as long as he gets something out of it, it's good enough for him.
"Very good. Genma?" The other officer who was silent all this time stepped up beside his partner and unfolded a piece of paper. Vincent narrowed his eyes.
"Is that a sketch?"
"Correct," Genma responded. "This is a pencil sketch of the perpetrator of the attempted murder that took place here. I also have another sketch of another individual."
Straight from his pockets was another folded paper. He looked over it, look at Vincent, and then showed it to him.
"Ah." Vincent finally understood why they were looking so glum when they saw him. It didn't look as accurate as the previous one, but it was still a good enough reproduction to earn their suspicion.
"My first question is such. Were you the other person on the scene who interfered with the attempted murder and protected the victim?"
"Hm." For a moment, the man didn't know how to respond. The officers saw his mood visibly lower from the question. He rubbed the back of his head and frowned.
'Was he injured there?' Kanzaki was a sharper officer who picked up on details like that compared to his partner Genma. He was about to reassure the man that he wasn't at risk for being arrested...yet at least.
"Yep I was."
That wasn't necessary though. He only hesitated for a moment before smiling and answering the question with full honesty. He even went on to elaborate.
"I was pretty bored and it was pretty late on my way back home, so I took a bit of a detour to ease my nerves a little you could say. I saw some bloodstains and followed it into a building and then I got into a bit of a scuffle."
"I see. The victim is alright if you were worried about that."
"Glad to hear it. Go on and hit me with the next question."
"Very well. With the sketch being of an individual who is fully covered up, most likely male, it's going to take more time to find out his location and his identity. Did you manage to catch a better glimpse of his face during your tussle with him?"
Vincent's lips were set in a thin line. He hesitated again, but for a second longer.
"I knocked his mask off, but that was when I heard the sound of sirens. I couldn't really see his face all that well in the dark."
"That's fine," Kanzaki interrupted. "Anything that you can remember at all would be of a great help to our investigation. Any scars or any notable features you can recall?"
"His eyes were sharp and scary," Vincent answered instantly. "Felt like he was gonna kill me for seeing his face..."
The officers saw him froze as his eyes widened in realization. "Wait, shouldn't he want to kill me for even catching a brief glimpse of his face? Haha, aren't I in danger?"
He laughed.
"Don't worry. As long as you lock yourself indoors, don't go out at night, and you make sure to notify the police of any strange happenings, you'll be just fine."
Genma perceived the laugh as nervousness.
Kanzaki wasn't so sure. He was actually starting to grow a tiny bit suspicious of something, but he couldn't figure what was bothering him about Vincent. He rubbed his chin in thought and remained silent.
"There's just one more question we have."
"Sure. Hit me with it."
"Have you seen the man in the sketch anywhere else before?"
'What's that question all about?'
Vincent was truly confused. The way these questions were going, he expected some sort of curveball that'd have him mentally on his ass like, 'You're the culprit, aren't you!' or something like that.
"Hold on." He searched his memories for a fully armored man like that, but nothing came up. So, he used his thinking time to analyze the meaning behind the question.
"...Sorry, I haven't seen him before. That's honestly the first time I've seen him in my life as far as I know."
"I see. Thank you for your time. I have no further questions. Kanzaki-san, is there anything else I missed?"
"Just one thing. You should try and keep in touch with the police if you find out anything else. You have a higher chance of getting into trouble now, so it's best if you give us your name."
'Well shit. I shouldn't have gotten involved. If only I knew just how serious they were taking this.'
"Uh, yeah that sounds right. My name is Walker Masahiko." Genma wrote that down on a notepad and nodded to his partner.
"That's all then. Make sure you stay safe."
"Thanks. Make sure you guys keep the peace. I believe in you guys!"
Vincent walked off with good cheer, the gears in his mind turning and turning until it produced a hypothesis that sounded reasonable enough.
'This is a serial incident. Treating an attempted murder this seriously, getting a sketch that clean of a fully covered up man, and third question was too strange if it was just a one-off incident. I really stepped into some shit now.'
Vincent can only hope that the scary murderer isn't the vindictive sort.
"What's wrong, Kanzaki-san?"
"Walker Masahiko is suspicious. Commit that name and that face to memory. Check the database to see if he has a criminal record."
"Are you sure? He did get involved to save someone."
'...True. Maybe it's just me being paranoid. This incident has taken a toll on all of us officers. We just keep running around and losing the damn perp and this is our closest lead in a while! Plus there was a different crime in the area that was a true murder. It's suspicious that he was around the same place. Just what is Walker hiding?'
"Just keep him in mind then. If he pops up around another scene, then it warrants a deeper investigation. Let's report to headquarters."
"Understood."
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone