Chapter Text
The rain came down in thick sheets as a man in his early 40’s sauntered slowly up the stairs of the apartment building. Thankfully, the building had covered awnings, so soon enough he would be out of the rain. He stretched his arms, looking down the path in front of him and the line of doors upon the wall as he began to walk beside them. “Right then, here we are. 301, 302, 303… here it is, then. 304.” The man reached into the interior of his jacket, retrieving a manilla folder. The folder was crooked and messy, clearly used often and stored improperly. Opening the folder and retrieving the paper on the top, the man goes over the printed-out correspondence that was sent to his email.
‘Hello, Mister Arakawa.
I understand that you handle investigating people in things for a reasonable sum. I would be interested in contacting you in regards to doing such a thing on my behalf. An acquaintance of mine has gone ‘Off the radar’ so to speak, and I’m worried about him.
My address is apartment 304 of the Seacrest Apartment Complex. Please meet me there this week for more details, if you’re interested.
Regards, Dai Masami.’
“...Well then, time to see what this ‘Dai Masami’ person wanted.” With three quick raps, the man knocked onto door 304.
“Come in!” A male voice called back.
Opening the door and stepping inside, Arakawa took a look around the room. It was lived in, if not a bit disorderly. Papers were strewn about, most with various bits of information about… computers, it seemed. Not anything he was particularly versed in, as outside of manipulating internet searches, the detective didn’t know much about computers. He took another look around and then looked directly at the person sitting in the small room.
“Ahh, there you are. You must be Dai Masami." The man said with an air of confidence. "I'm Detective Arakawa."
The young man, now known as Dai, gives a sheepish wave, eyes hidden behind a cloudy pair of glasses.
“Thank you for seeing me. Y-you did want to take on the job, right?" Dai asks, leaning forward slightly to get a better view of Arakawa's face.
“Aye. May I sit?”
“Ah, please do.”
Arakawa sat next to the messy table, looking at the young man across from him- college aged, from the look of it. Most likely a university student, if the school bag and textbooks were any indication. Possibly a student of the local university in the area? Arakawa willed the thought away: he was here for a reason, after all.
“So. Tell me about this acquaintance of yours.”
“R-right.” Dai took a deep breath, as he opened a nearby laptop and began to type. “So, there’s this guy, right? I play games with him. We talk, sometimes. It’s nice. I’ve known him for like… two years? Around that, I think…” The young man rubs the back of his neck. “There isn’t really a consistent time we’d meet, either. Usually every few days or so. I’m busy with college, so I can’t always be online. I-I’m certain he’s busy too, although he doesn’t talk about what's going on in his life really.“
Dai frowns, his eyes growing stormy, as if he was thinking about something terrible. “I-I’m worried about him, though. Our last correspondence was about a month ago. And… it didn’t end well.“ Dai seemed upset, as if he couldn’t bring himself to say more. Arakawa needed to make a little push. “What was it you were talking about?” Dai was silent for a moment, before responding. “He was nihilistic, in that conversation. He’s always been a little despondent and pessimistic, but not to this level.” Dai paused, before speaking again. “...He talked about how he sometimes considered suicide. That was the last conversation we’ve had, and I haven’t been able to contact him since… He could probably be online, just using a different account or something, but… well, you can see why I’m worried, right?”
“Mm. Anyone would be worried, given the scenario.” The obvious answer would be that the missing person was, well, as sad as it was to say, deceased, and that was why Dai couldn’t contact him any more. But if what Dai says is true, his friend seems to be a private person: It’s possible no one even knows about it. It’s something Arakawa would have to look into, the case had piqued his interest, and seemed like something within his skillset to take on. “Tell me a bit more about your friend. What he’s like, things he talks about, that sort of thing.”
The two spent the next fifteen minutes or so discussing the missing person, with Arakawa occasionally nodding as he took diligent notes. The information he got wasn’t terribly useful, but it was a decent enough starting point. Suddenly, Dai sighs, continuing to type on the laptop. A whirring noise comes from behind Arakawa. He recognizes it as the telltale whirl of a printer. “This sort of info probably isn’t useful: none of it is concrete, right? Well, maybe this can be useful to you, however.“ Dai stood, before retrieving several papers from the printer. “Here. I printed out a bunch of our chat-logs. A-and there’s also a bunch of his online pseudonyms included on the last page, as well. M-maybe It’ll be useful?” Dai took a seat at the table again, sighing. “Well, maybe not. I wish I had more useful information, but that's all I have. Y-you'll still take on the case, right?!” Before Arakawa could nod, Dai quickly continued.
“A-and, here.” Dai reaches into his pocket, retrieving a wallet. He places a thick wad of yen onto the table. “I-I don’t have much. College budget, right? Ha ha… But, I hope this will cover the investigation…” “...Yep, that’ll do.” Usually clients wouldn’t pay until after the job was done, so this was a nice surprise. The amount of cash wasn’t, though. It was lighter than what he would usually ask for this sort of work, but… Arakawa took another look at Dai. Bluntly put, the boy looked so desperate that Arakawa would feel bad asking for any more.
He grabbed the bills, placing them into the interior of his jacket, and stored the received papers as well. He’d have to go over them at a later point. “That’s all I have to ask you about now. Seems you don’t have much other information anyway.” He stands, making his way to the door as Dai watches him closely.
He places his hand on the handle, but turns back before leaving, facing the concerned Dai. “No need for worry. I’ve dealt with missing persons cases before. I’m skilled at what I do: I’ll have information on what happened to your friend within the week. With any luck, he’ll be just fine.”
Before Dai can respond, he opens the door and makes his way outside, preparing himself to face the rain once more. There wasn’t a whole lot of information to go off of, but he’s made due with less. He made his way down the stairs. “I’ll need to pick up some tea on the way back home… I have a feeling I’ll be pulling another all-nighter looking up information on this guy.” It was painful, having to go through his payment so early into the job, but Arakawa couldn’t complain entirely about the situation.
The hopeful smile on Dai’s face as he left made up for the lacking cash payment.