4/10

Goro Akechi was simply keeping up appearances.

He had rushed over to the site of the subway crash as soon as it was reported, periodically refreshing his homepage for updates on when exactly the incident would occur.

By the time he arrived people were still being ushered out of the wreckage, the occasional still body or presumed corpse only being seen a handful of times. He looked away at the sight of wounded mothers cradling their coughing children out of the smoke and derelict, instead choosing to chat up the reporters and camera-men on the scene that had not yet begun rolling.

He feigned ignorance, asking stupid questions like, "When did this incident occur?" or, "What on earth caused that man to suffer a mental shutdown…?" He was even able to track down one of the reporters from the channel he was set to appear on in a few months time, informing the cameraman that they should include questions on this specific event since he would surely have some working theories by that time.

"Um, sorry to bother you, but may I please use your phone for a quick moment? I need to call my father, you see…"

Akechi was surprised to hear a voice from behind addressing him, but nonetheless turned around to face them with a cheery smile plastered on. He took in the sight of a girl around his age that he surely towered over, looking rather uncomfortable with a large gash across her forehead.

"Ah, yes, of course," he said, despite originally planning to politely turn the stranger down. He had been surprised by her injury, and it caught him off-guard enough to offer her an unnecessary solace.

"Oh, thank you so much," she smiled at him warmly, blood leaking from the nasty cut due to the sudden contortion of her face. Akechi's stare lingered for a second longer before he fumbled around in the pocket of his coat, then extending his arm outwards to offer her his cell phone.

The girl took it with little hesitation, granting him another embarrassed beam before quickly dialing a specific number and pressing the phone to her ear. "Um, hello, Father. It's Haru."

Akechi would typically think it rude to eavesdrop on someone else's phone call, but since the said call was being conducted through his cell phone he easily dismissed this notion.

"I was in the subway train that crashed a little bit ago… I'm at the Shinjuku terminal… I wasn't going there, it's just where the train stopped…" She had long auburn hair that cascaded down to her waist in fluffy tufts.

Akechi thought it a little odd her father had not yet questioned whether she was alright or not. In the little experience he had with parental units, he thought that sort of thing would have come up in the conversation by now.

"He will be coming to get me?" the girl asked, her eyes widening as she listened intently. "I'm sorry, Father… Okay, goodbye." She hung up the phone, handing it back to the boy detective as she offered one more grateful smile.

"Thank you very much. My phone was lost in the crash, you see, so I'm really appreciative." her voice was soft and feminine, genuinity nearly dripping from every word she spoke.

"Of course, it was no problem," Akechi smiled back. "Have you gotten that injury checked out yet? There are some medics scattered around, looking at various people. I could bring one to you."

"Oh, this?" she pointed to the crimson-lined incision sprawled across her forehead as if it was a paper cut. "No, I'm okay, but thank you for your concern. There are a lot of other people that look worse off than me, so I'd rather they get taken care of first."

Akechi blinked before returning to his habitual expression of pleasantry. "That's rather charitable of you, erm… What was your name, again?"

"My name is Haru Okumura. And you're a detective, right? I've seen you on TV before, unless I'm mistaken…"

Okumura… That name sounded quite familiar, but he decided to research it later.

"Oh, if you've seen those then that's quite embarrassing," Akechi laughed, running a hand across his hair in simulated sheepishness.

"No, they're actually really cool!" Haru exclaimed encouragingly, clearly buying into his act. "A lot of people from my school are really into them."

"Oh, and what school do you go to?" he actually found himself beginning to enjoy the company of this Haru, at least during instances like this when it was far too easy to grow bored.

"I go to Shujin Academy. It's over in Aoyome-Itchome."

"Yes, I believe I've passed by it once or twice," Akechi recalled, an interesting proposal forming inside his own mind. "Say, since I'm going to be investigating this case, would it be alright if you were to answer some questions for me? Not today, of course, but it would really help my investigation…"

"Oh, yes, of course!" she responded eagerly. "But how will I contact - ''

"Haru!" a voice boomed from across the station, startling the girl in question immensely. The boy detective turned to face the direction that the hollering came from, only to see a man adorned within expensive business clothes storming towards the both of them.

If she knew him, Haru certainly wasn't very happy to see him. She never once moved forward, instead making him walk the full length over to her.

"S-Sugimura-san…" she spoke, her voice hardly louder than a whisper. "Um… my father told me you would pick me up. So can we please - ''

"You are in no position to demand anything of me after all this." the man snarled at her, gripping his hand over her tiny wrist as he roughly pulled her towards him. It seemed they were about to leave when the man shot a fury-filled glare towards Akechi, spitting out, "And you, keep her out of the report. No pictures, no name, no nothing. Got it?"

Akechi found himself mildly ticked off by this guy's insinuation that he was a measly reporter. His falsified smile still pressed onto his lips, his calm response was, "As a detective, I seek only justice and the wholesome, honest truth."

The man rolled his eyes. "Follow my orders or you'll be hearing from my father. C'mon, Haru." He turned on his heel, hurriedly rushing through the crowd of people and dragging Haru along behind him by the hold on her wrist.