Starring:
Date: April 16, 2016
Summary:
Mushi fills Aburei in on why they're in the Land of Water and what they need to accomplish.
"Murdered Medics - Plan of Investigation"
A private apartment [Land of Water]
Mushi had cut off the conversation they began in the oasis, to rest a bit. And as soon as she’s up she’s grabbing Aburei’s hand and dragging him to their next venue. Her apartment room. She used a simple seal on the door, and they had as much privacy as they would have anywhere. She’s already settled in to the area. Stacks of books, medical supplies cramped on a table, piles of clothes, and a large pattern written on the length and width of the floor in ink. Hopefully she has a way to clean that up later. She chooses to sit on a chair, so Aburei has either the other chair or bed to sit on. She begins without preamble. “Rinsa and Eiri are dead,” she says. The names would be familiar. Two young medics of the Center, and inseparable. They were the type who never ventured far from the Center instead, and most assumed they’d be high rank medics in no time. And married, when they came of age. “They were killed with a fast acting poison marked with the symbol of Kiri. And…they were killed a mile from the Center. Tokio has kept it silent for now, but she contacted me."
KER-BLINK. o.O; "That's awful," Aburei responds plainly. "I can't imagine why anybody would want to kill them, especially near the Center. I mean, if they were out helping somebody with enemies, that could happen, but killing a couple of medics isn't going to make much difference in whether somebody gets healed with the whole Center nearby." c.ca Aburei leans back in his chair. "Are you going to try to find out who did this, Mushi-neesan?" Operative word 'you' from the clueless bard-medic. ;)
Mushi looks troubled. “I should tell you…Jubo couldn’t identify the poison. If he can’t, I can’t.” Jubo is another recognizable name. Most in the Center know him as the “poison guy.” If he didn’t hide them so well, he’d probably make a shrine to the thousands of poisons he had experimented with. He didn’t socialize, he studied poisons in his personal lab and, it was rumored, built up natural immunities to every poison known to man, for the last forty years. He was also the best curative medic, perhaps in the world. “I tried that thing he does,” Mushi says. “Where he uses chakra and can taste anything without getting sick. And tell all the ingredients in it. It didn’t go well for me. Though I sometimes wonder if drinking all that Okumo venom last year didn’t drive him mad. Even then…fooling Jubo with poison… I didn’t think it was possible. He’s studying it now, but Tokio asked me to come here and investigate. Someone from Kiri did it /or/ someone wants us to think a Kiri nin did it. If it was a Kiri nin… well, I came myself to see if I’d get a reaction. And you too, who is still affiliated with the Center.” She smiles. “If you’re poisoned or attacked please contact me with Kirameki. While we look for a poisoner who is superior to Jubo…if there is such a person.”
Oh, so Aburei is here as bait. That's smart. n.n …NANIIIIII!?!? x.X; "UuUuUumm, Mushi-neesan…if I was attacked while alone, I'm not really confident I could manage to signal you…let alone stay alive until you arrived." c.c; Why does Aburei keep ending up in dangerous situations like this? u.u It's like this whole world revolves around having awesome ninja abilities!
Mushi shrugs. “Don’t worry,” she says. “I’ve had one of my smaller hummingbirds tailing you. She agrees with you. She doesn’t think you’re very observant, so she wants to help by keeping an eye on you.” Is that an insult or a compliment? “That’s right,” a small voice says somewhere up and to the left. Mushi smiles. “See? Besides you’re too innocent, no one could possibly kill you. Tokio agreed.” Apparently Aburei being harmless and oblivious is a good thing. “What you need to do while I look for the poisoner is find someone here who we can trust to help us out. It doesn’t have to be a poisoner, just someone who can guide us around without raising suspicion.”
Okay, so…he's here to get a reaction from a killer…while his defense is that he's too innocent to kill? u.ua There seems to be a logical disconnect there. "Rinsa-san and Eiri-san were pretty innocent too I'd say," Aburei mumbles. Aburei takes a deep breath and exhales. "But, anyway…you need me to find some sort of guide? I guess I could do that." Aburei glances up at the hummingbird. "Nice to meet you, I'm Ongakuno Aburei."
Mushi says, “Let me rephrase. Your death would look /just/ as strange as Eiri and Rinsa being murdered.” She doesn’t mention her death being all that surprising. “And don’t forget that if Kiri is guilty, the killer knows exactly why we’re here, and what we’re doing, and has every reason to try and stop us. Aburei-kun if I’m out of touch with you longer than a day, and you can’t find me, leave and return to the Center. Just go.” She chews her lip. “I am hoping Kiri is innocent. If not….well, this is risky in the first place. If you want to go, I understand. But you should know that the killer left them to die from the poison. And…Rinsa lasted a bit longer. She used the last seconds of her life trying to heal Eiri. That’s the evidence that was found.”
Aburei scratches his head. "Well, I imagine Kiri is innocent, as a whole, anyway. If they wanted to kill our medics, and have us know it, they'd have said something, not just left a mark…and if they didn't want us to know, they wouldn't have left such an obvious clue. Could be an individual or a small group with an axe to grind, though…in which case we're probably doing just what they want by coming here." u.u; Aburei sighs. "But, better than waiting for them to kill more medics, I guess." Aburei tilts his head. "Anything in particular I should look for in a guide?"
Mushi nods. “We suspect Kiri is innocent,” she says, “and equally that the one who framed them may do something while we’re here. Try to poison us, say. I’m here because as someone outside of the Center, I am freer to act. And you’re here more than being bait.” She smiles warmly. “You’re good at making friends. I want you to find someone who can research who was gone that day. Because the Center is too far away to be gone and back in less than a day. With no alibi. Someone who is willing to speak to me, before the Mizukage.” She smirks. “And most of all… the person who didn’t do this thing.”
"This wasn't done with the approval of the Mizukage. It serves no purpose for Kiri. Because…this Mizukage doesn't seem to want to go back to the brutality of Mitsuo. I don't think he'd want this kind of reputation, being blamed for murdering Center medics."
Aburei chuckles faintly. "Wouldn't that save a lot of time, if I enlisted the killer to help us find the killer." X) This is going to be tricky, picking out someone ideal for their purposes. Aburei doesn't know many Kiri folk to begin with, and while he's good at getting along with people, he doesn't particularly know how to judge them. Maybe he'll just ask Kami-sama to point somebody out to him.
Mushi presses her lips together. “The other reason I called you here is because, no matter where you are, we’re all in danger. Look at us, Aburei-kun. If we accused Kiri and went to war, who’d lose? Us.” Even though she’s disavowed and no longer part of the Center, Mushi doesn’t seem to separate herself from them. “Framing Kiri may not necessarily be against Kiri. It may be against us. If we had come out with this, Kiri has a history of being very willing to put down its enemies. Proving Kiri’s innocence is not just for their sake, but for ours. We cannot afford to accuse Kiri. That’s why finding who it is, keeping it as secret as possible, is the best way to stop this. Because even if Kiri is guilty…what can the Center do about it?” Mushi’s eyes drop in shame. “I think the reason Tokio asked me to come here is to kill someone. To end it, if I find the killer. I…I can’t think of any other reason. I’m glad someone like you is here. And you need to find someone like yourself, who wants to help both Kiri /and/ us.”
