Chapter Text
“Mr. Giyu.” His secretary, Tanjiro, cracked open the door and poked his head in. “There’s a new client here. Should I show her in?”
Giyu sighed and set his coffee aside. So much for a quiet morning. He momentarily debated telling Tanjiro to send the client away. Walk-ins were usually tedious anyway. Someone got their bike stolen or they knew their partner was cheating and wanted proof. God, if he had to photograph one more terribly un subtle ‘clandestine’ meeting in café he’d kill himself. They were usually decent money, but business was good and he could usually turn those away.
He’d been planning to run through some financial records in an embezzlement case he was working, but his headache was still throbbing and the thought of all those tiny numbers was not appealing. How bad could this client be after all? If it was something dumb, maybe he could get a laugh out of it. Unlikely, but he still decided to gesture for Tanjiro to show her in.
“Ok, I’ll go get her!” He said brightly. Giyu leaned back in his chair as he waited. Tanjiro was a good kid. A little bit excitable for him, but he worked hard. It was nice to have someone deal with the front desk and keep things organized. Giyu had never been good at that sort of thing.
He’d managed it only barely at the beginning, but once the agency had become more established and business picked up, he’d needed help. Tanjiro’s sister, Nezuko, would occasionally help out part time too when she wasn’t in school.
Giyu had met the siblings three years ago under rather unfortunate circumstances. He’d been consulting on a family homicide case with the police, a very gruesome ordeal. The mother and the children were all brutally slaughtered. The real tragedy, though, was that there were two survivors.
Tanjiro had been out running errands when it had happened. He came home and discovered the carnage. Nezuko had been badly injured and thought dead as well. Paramedics on the scene found a faint pulse and did everything they could to save her. She spent several months in a coma, but somehow miraculously survived. She was unable to remember any details about the incident once she woke up. The case remains unsolved.
Giyu had taken a liking to the children during his time on the case, and tried to help them as best he could. It wasn’t much more than a job for Tanjiro and the occasional drop in to check on them, but it was what he could offer.
Tanjiro had been about to graduate high school when the tragedy happened. Somehow, he was able to pull through and finish. After that Giyu had hired him on as a secretary. Now three years later, Nezuko was doing much better and getting ready to start her senior year of high school as well. He’d never let on, but he cared quite deeply for the pair of them.
The way they lost their whole family was cruel and he wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Having your lifeline ripped away from you through a brutal murder was, unfortunately, a feeling he was familiar with. It brought back memories of his own sister’s murder. Solved: the monster is spending life in prison, but there’s no justice in that for Giyu.
He was shaken from his memories by the door clicking open again. Tanjiro held it open and gestured for a young lady to enter the room.
“Welcome to Sabito and Tomioka Detective Agency. This is Ms. Shinobu Kocho. She’s here about her missing sister.” Tanjiro said. His usually cheery voice was more subdued.
The young woman entered the room and looked around before her eyes settled on Giyu, seated behind his desk.
Giyu also took a moment to observe her. It was almost like a game, how much information can he glean off of a person before they even started speaking.
In the 30 seconds she’d been in his presence he’d gathered the following:
- She carried herself with a great deal of pride.
- Her clothing was simple, but very good quality. She wore a plain black turtleneck sweater with crisp jeans and loafers. Her dark hair was pulled back from her face and held in place with a butterfly shaped clip. She wore no other accessories.
- This woman was clearly not flashy, but she was well off. That boded well for his paycheck.
- Her expression was neutral, but in his experience that usually meant she was just better at hiding things. He clocked her as a liar and mentally filed that away for later.
- Despite her composure, there was the smallest evidence of redness around the sides of her eyes. She’d been crying recently, but tried to hide it. Liar his brain supplied again.
- Speaking of her eyes, they were sharp when taking in the surroundings. She was smart.
- The last thing he registered before she spoke was so unlike him, he was caught off guard by his own observances. She is so beautiful.
“Are you Mr. Sabito or Mr. Tomioka?” She asked. Her voice was quite high pitched and girlish. It wasn’t quite what he was expecting, but it suited her.
Giyu stood and reached across the desk to shake her hand. “Tomioka. Please have a seat, Ms. Kocho.”
Shinobu sat across from him and folded her hands in her lap. She didn’t fidget when sitting like most people did. She didn’t even appear to be nervous. This certainly was more interesting than most walk ins.
“What can I do for you?” Giyu asked once he was seated again as well.
“My sister is missing. I’d like you to find her.” Shinobu said crisply.
Missing person’s cases were hit or miss. About 75% of the time the person was never missing in the first place. They’d either run away or sometimes they just didn’t answer their phone and their loved ones over reacted.
The other option was that the person was dead.
There were exceptions to these two outcomes, but generally that’s what he found. He wasn’t really in the mood for a silly wild goose chase and the idea of breaking this young woman’s heart when her sister’s body was found wasn’t all that appealing either.
He decided to humor her a little bit to find out some information. Maybe he could call in a favor with the police and let them waste their time instead of him.
“I see. Well, tell me a little more. How do you know she’s missing? When did you last see her? Who have you talked to? Etc.”
Shinobu’s eyes narrowed at his passive response. “I haven’t seen her in four days. Usually, we speak at least once a day. The last three days I’ve gotten one text from her at the same time. They don’t sound like her at all. I think someone is using her phone.”
Giyu raised an eyebrow. This was mildly interesting. It was probably nothing, though. “And you think that means she’s missing?” He clarified.
Shinobu huffed impatiently. “I don’t think she’s been to work either. She’s a social worker for the state. I tried to call them, but you know how state government is… no one could help me. They couldn’t even confirm she was working there, even though I already know she was.” Her voice picked up steam as she went and cracks in her façade were finally starting to show. “I went to her apartment two days ago. It was dark and empty. Her passport was still there and so was her purse and suitcases. I know she didn’t run away. She’d never leave us like that. I looked around, but I couldn’t find her phone. That was the only thing missing.”
Hmmm, Giyu debated if this was worth his time. All signs pointed to probably dead. An abduction and then some sloppy attempt to cover their tracks. Her passion was certainly compelling and if anyone understood missing your sister it was him. He tried not to let that play into his decision; letting your emotions interfere with an investigation was a one-way ticket into trouble.
Before he could respond, Shinobu reached into her purse and pulled out a small square of folded paper. “This was in my mailbox this morning.” She slid the paper across the desk to Giyu.
He picked it and examined it. The paper was regular printer paper. Nothing special about it. It was folder into fours and the edges were slightly bent like it had been in a pocket. It definitely had not gone through the mail, so someone must have placed it in her mailbox. If that was indeed the truth of where she’d found this.
He unfolded the paper. It contained only the words, “I’ve a date with a butterfly” in typed font. No handwriting, no other marks he could see.
It didn’t really jump out to him as suspicious. It probably wasn’t even connected the case, just a neighbor playing a prank.
Giyu refolded the paper and slid it back across the desk to her. He’d humored her long enough. “I’m sorry, Ms. Kocho. I can’t accept your case. I can connect you with the police and you can make a report-”
He was cut off by her scoff. “I don’t want to talk to the police about this. They won’t help me.” She pressed her hands onto the edge of his desk and leaned towards him, eyes burning with passion. She’s beautiful, he thought again.
“Look, I know what the chances are. She may already be dead. But there’s a chance she’s not. And even if she is, I need to know. And I need to know who did this and what happened. I came here because you have a reputation for solving difficult cases. If you won’t help me, maybe I can speak with Mr. Sabito instead.”
Giyu hesitated. She seemed to be a realist about this. Maybe he didn’t have to worry about hurting her feelings. He debated again about turning her away, but she cut him off before he could speak.
“The note is a warning. I don’t think she’s dead yet because it says,’I’ve a date with a butterfly’. Not ‘I had a date with a butterfly’.”
He shook his head. “What does the butterfly have to do with anything?”
Shinobu rolled her eyes. “I thought you were supposed to be a good detective. It’s a line from a Sharon Bryington poem about dying. We used to quote it to each other. We’d say death was just a date with the butterflies. She’s trying to tell me she’s in trouble, but she’s not dead yet.” Her gaze was steely, determined.
He finally relented. If he was honest with himself, he’d known he would help her from the second she walked into his office, but he wasn’t often honest with himself. Giyu sighed again and leaned in towards her as well. “Alright Ms. Kocho. I will take your case and try to find your sister.”