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Tohma Norstein sighed as he sat down at his usual table at a café he’d started going to ever since he’d returned to Japan. The Ekoda district wasn’t a place he frequented often, preferring to stay around where he lived in Urayasu, but ever since he’d stopped by this café for a drink after successfully detaining a wild Digimon in the area, he’d taken to coming to Ekoda more often on his down time. It was a nice peaceful Tokyo district and the café made a very good cup of his favorite herbal tea. What wasn’t there to like? Yeah, he was still on call for DATS 24-7, but that usually wasn’t a problem these days as he came to trust DATS’ newest addition, Daimon Masaru.
Tohma shook his head with a sigh and a fond smile as he thought about the hardheaded rookie agent. He hadn’t liked the other teen at first, but Masaru had continued to surprise him with his unorthodox methods and had gradually earned Tohma’s respect. Especially after their dive into the Digital World to take care of Drimogemon. They were more or less friends now, and Tohma trusted Masaru enough to take care of things whenever he couldn’t immediately be on sight in the event of a wild Digimon attack. Besides, even if Masaru got in over his head, Fujieda Yoshino was there to help him out.
Satisfied that everything was well in hand, Tohma relaxed into his seat and took a sip of tea, enjoying its tang and calming aroma. He looked up and surveyed the area, watching people bustle about their business. Noting the number of teenagers walking by in school uniforms – gakurans mostly – he realized that the local high schools must have just let out. A particular pair of students caught his eye as he watched an outraged looking girl chase after a boy that had a wild head of hair. They looked like they were a couple of years older than he was.
“BAKAITO!” the girl roared. “HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT TOU-SAN! HE’LL GET THE KAITOU KID FOR SURE TONIGHT WITHOUT FAIL!”
The boy merely chuckled; a wide grin fixed in place as he ducked and dodged the girl as she came after him with a mop that she had pulled from out from who-knows-where and tried hitting him with it. Tohma watched in wide-eyed shock and amusement at the very public scene the two were making. It wasn’t so amusing however, when he had to jump back and out of his seat to avoid getting hit with the mop. He ended up dropping his cup of tea onto the table, allowing it’s remaining contents to spill all over the place. The harsh clank of the cup hitting it’s saucer seemed to snap the two teens out of their absurd chase and they instantly became apologetic, the girl especially.
“Oh my gosh! Aoko is so sorry!” the girl cried, doing her best to help clean up the mess.
“Aho-ko, look what you’ve done now,” the boy grumbled before turning sheepishly to Tohma. “I hope she didn’t hit you with that mop.”
“Ah, no, I’m fine,” Tohma sighed, picking up the cup to examine it. Thankfully it was still in tact and unharmed, so no one would have to pay for damages.
“Eh?” the girl blinked.
“Something wrong?” Tohma asked when he noticed that not only was the girl staring at him, but the boy was too.
“Ah, no,” the boy shook his head. “It’s just… ah…”
“What have you two done now?” another voice asked in a cultured tone.
Tohma blinked in surprise as a tall blond boy with blue eyes appeared behind the pair dressed in a gakuran just like the other boy’s.
“Hakuba!” “Hakuba-kun!” the boy and girl gasped, spinning around to face the new comer.
“Have you been causing trouble again Kuroba?” the blond teen asked the other boy with a slight smirk and a raised eyebrow.
“It was Aoko’s fault! She was the one who nearly hit the guy with her mop,” the brunet boy sulked, glaring at the blond.
“No, it was your fault Bakaito!” the girl cried, turning angrily on her companion. “He insulted Tou-san, Hakuba-kun!”
“Did not,” Kuroba shrugged. “All I said was that there was no way the old man was going to capture the Kaitou KID at the heist tonight. He’s failed every time before.”
“But Otousan will have Hakuba-kun’s help tonight! Together I know they won’t fail,” the girl announced boldly before turning to the blond teen. “Right, Hakuba-kun?”
Hakuba only offered her a small smile in response before pushing his way past the two to stand in front of Tohma, who was very confused at this point, but realized that the conversation must have been part of a long standing and on-going argument.
“I hope my friends haven’t caused you too much trouble,” Hakuba said, offering him a hand and a charming smile.
“Ah, no. No trouble,” Tohma smiled back and shook the other blond’s hand, noting the look of indignation on the messy haired boy’s face and the sheepish smile on the girl’s.
Hakuba paused a moment in their handshake before his smile widened and he began speaking in English. “You wouldn’t happen to be from Austria would you? Vienna perhaps?”
Tohma blinked in surprise, but nodded and replied in English as well. “I am. How did you know that?”
“It’s your accent,” Hakuba smiled. “I spent some time in Austria a couple summers ago with my mother and learned how to better distinguish the difference between an Austrian accent and a German accent. Yours is a little lighter than a German accent would be, but with the a cultured tone that only those from a major city would have, so I deduced that you’re half Austrian and from Vienna.”
“You got all that off my accent?” Tohma gaped, amazed since he was sure that after a few months in Japan his European accent had become muted again.
“I also deduced your heritage from your appearance,” Hakuba admitted. “You have blond hair and blue eyes, which are European characteristics, yet the skeletal structure around your eyes is narrower than a full European’s. This alludes to the fact that you have some Asian heritage as well, in spite of how pronounced your Austrian half is. Going back to your accent, it is clear that you are quite fluent in Japanese – a native even, so it’s only natural to deduce that you’re half Japanese and half Australian once you put all the clues together.”
Tohma shook his head marveling at how this other teen had managed to come up with all that within only the five minutes they’d known each other.
“From your appearance, I’d say you’re the same,” Tohma mused, taking in the other teen’s darker honey-blond hair and blue eyes. “Your accent is a little lighter than mine though… English perhaps?”
“I’m from London,” Hakuba nodded. “Saguru Hakuba.”
“Tohma H. Norstein,” Tohma stated.
“Norstein?” Hakuba repeated. “As in the Norstein Nobles?”
“Ah… yeah,” Tohma blushed slightly. “Franz Norstein is my father.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Hakuba smiled.
“The pleasure’s all mine,” Tohma shook his head, trying to hide his embarrassment.
“Ah-hem!”
Hakuba and Tohma blinked and turned sheepish smiles towards the irritated looking boy and confused looking girl.
“Ah, my apologies,” Hakuba smiled, switching back to speaking Japanese. “These are my classmates, Kuroba Kaito and Nakamori Aoko-kun.”
Tohma raised an eyebrow at the lack of an honorific in the introduction of the boy teenager, but didn’t comment.
“Tohma Norstein,” Tohma bowed, introduced himself again.
“Pleased to meet you,” the girl – Aoko – blushed, bowing back.
“Yo,” Kaito grinned in a way that made Tohma wary. That smile is just too much like Masaru’s to mean anything good.
“Aoko is really sorry about your drink,” Aoko apologized and Tohma can’t help but think how odd yet cute it is that she referred to herself in third person.
“It really isn’t a problem,” Tohma quickly reassured her. “The tea was going cold and I was nearly done with it anyway. I don’t mean to be rude, but what was it that upset you like that?”
“Kuroba was probably just teasing Nakamori-kun again as usual,” Hakuba answered smoothly, seeing Aoko blush a vibrant red in embarrassment. “Nakamori-kun’s father is Nakamori-keibu, head of the KID Task Force and has made it his job to capture the Kaitou KID.”
“Who’s the Kaitou KID?” Tohma asked.
Kaito and Aoko look at him in shock and disbelief before the girl went on a very passionate rant.
“The Kaito KID is a magician jewel thief that wears a white suit, cape, top hat, and monocle, and uses magic tricks to steal and escape from the police,” Aoko growled. “My Tou-san has been chasing him for thirty years! He’s a master of disguise and can change his voice to copy anyone else’s. He dances around the police and makes them a complete laughing stock! But my Tou-san will catch him for sure tonight! Hakuba-kun will be there so Aoko’s sure they’ll get him this time!”
Tohma looked over at Hakuba in confusion.
“I’m a detective,” Hakuba explained. “The Kaitou KID is the reason I originally came to Japan.”
“Yet you’ve been here for nearly a year and you still haven’t caught him,” Kaito pointed out gleefully. “Some detective you are.”
“Bakaito!” Aoko yelled in the other boy’s ear. “Hakuba-kun is a great detective!”
“I don’t doubt that,” Tohma agreed, chuckling at the look of shock on Kaito’s face.
“Hakuba-san here was able to deduce that I’m half-Japanese and half-Austrian within seconds of meeting me from just my appearance and accent alone,” Tohma explained.
“Really?!” Aoko gasped, looking at Hakuba in awe. Even Kaito looked impressed.
“So that’s what you were talking about,” Kaito mused, looking at Hakuba accusingly. “What else can you deduce about him?”
“Kaito!” Aoko frowned. “Don’t be rude.”
Hakuba looked wary, but Tohma found himself laughing. These three were certainly an interesting group. They also reminded him of himself, Masaru and Yoshino and how they interacted.
“Well Hakuba-san?” he smiled challengingly. “What else can you deduce about me?”
“You don’t mind? You don’t have to indulge him, you know,” Hakuba sighed.
“No, I don’t mind,” Tohma shook his head. “You’ve peeked my interest.”
“I feel the same,” Hakuba smiled. “It’s not everyday that I get to meet another genius. From your lack of a school uniform I can tell that you don’t attend school anymore. I got my supporting evidence and first clue when I shook your hand and noticed the faint scars on your index fingers. They are scars particular to those that use scalpels. This suggests that you have surgical experience within the medical profession, but because they are so faint, you obviously aren’t a practicing surgeon. You are a doctor though, just not an actively practicing one and probably more focused in academia at the moment.”
“Right on all counts,” Tohma nodded. “I graduated from the Stockholm Royal University of Science last year.”
“Eh?!” Kaito and Aoko gaped in shock.
“I’m currently working in another profession at the moment, but I am the medic for my team,” Tohma smiled, enjoying their reactions. “What about you Hakuba-san? I may not be a detective, but even I can tell from all your fine deductive reasoning that you must have incredible experience and have to have at least one degree in criminology.”
Kaito and Aoko turned on Hakuba, looking at him with incredulous expressions.
“Uh… yeah,” Hakuba blushed. “I received a bachelors in criminology from Cambridge three years ago. I was fourteen and my mother’s family had connections within the government that allowed me to work with Scotland Yard. I was just back there a few months ago actually to receive my bachelors in psychology after taking half a year of online classes to finish the degree. I’m currently working on my Masters in both majors.”
“EH?!” Kaito and Aoko gasped.
“Then why the hell are you still attending high school?!” Kaito gaped – rather comically Tohma thought. It looked a lot like Masaru’s reaction to Tohma’s own education and social status.
“To blend in better,” Hakuba shrugged. “It’s not like I’ll be hired by the police force here and even if I was hired, no one will take me seriously because of my age. That was a problem I had back with Scotland Yard. It’s why I’m a high school detective.”
“That’s too bad,” Tohma smiled sympathetically. “From what I can tell, you’re a really great detective.”
“The pains of being young prodigies,” Hakuba sighed with a wary smirk.
“I can agree with that,” Tohma laughed, but then his digivice when off. With a sigh and grim resignation Tohma pulled out the earpiece he was issued by DATS and clipped it onto his ear.
“Tohma Norstein reporting. What’s the situation?” he said as he depressed the call button that connected him to DATS HQ instantly.
“Tohma-kun!” the voice of Shirakawa Megumi answered him. “We have a problem! There’s a wild Digimon in area 275K. You and Masaru are the closest DATS agents in the area.”
“Understood. I’m on it,” Tohma nodded as got his handheld laptop out of his messenger bag to figure out where the wild Digimon was located, ignoring the confused looks that Hakuba and his friends were giving him and each other. “What’s Masaru’s location?”
“He’s-!”
“OI! TOHMA!”
“Never mind,” Tohma sighed when he spotted Masaru racing towards him. What the hell was Masaru doing in Ekoda anyway? Never mind. Something told him that he didn’t want to know. “We’ll take care of it.”
“Understood. Good luck.”
“What are you doing just standing there?! Lets go Tohma! We got a job to do!” Masaru cried as he halted next to the group, slamming his right fist into his left hand.
“Yeah, I know,” Tohma sighed. “Lets go.”
“Right!” Masaru grinned looking pumped as usual and took off.
“You’ll have to forgive Masaru, he’s a little single minded,” Tohma smiled apologetically at the other three. “It was nice meeting you all, but I’m afraid I really have to go.”
“Sure,” all three smiled.
“Good luck with your job,” Hakuba offered, shaking Tohma’s hand one last time.
“Thank you. Same to you. I hope that you can catch that thief you’re after,” Tohma said back.
Kaito scoffed at that, causing Aoko to jab the brunet teen in the side. Hakuba merely raised and eyebrow at his friend, an amused and challenging look in his eyes. Tohma pondered over the meaning behind the looks that the two older boys were now exchanging, but immediately set those thoughts aside. Masaru would be pissed if he didn’t catch up to him soon.
“See you around,” Tohma waved to them before taking off after Masaru who’d stopped at an intersection.
“You have no idea where to go, do you?” Tohma sighed after he caught up and started to lead the hotheaded fighter down a street.
Masaru gave Tohma a sheepish grin, but otherwise, he didn’t respond to the dig. Tohma shook his head, not saying anything else either but he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. His encounter with Hakuba, Kaito and Aoko had been an interesting if not a pleasant meeting, and he couldn’t help but hope that they would meet again.
Fin!
