Chapter Text
Ayatsuji poured himself a cup of coffee in the morning, one of his cats, Mirri pawed at his leg and yowled, "I'll make you your breakfast, wait a moment." she only yowled again in response, "Impatient much?" he shook his head as he walked over toward the cabinet and found two cans of cat food as both his cats yowled at him.
"You two can't wait for shit can you?" he shook his head as he opened the cans and dumped them into the cats plates on the floor, the two immediately went to work in devouring their breakfast as Ayatsuji returned to his coffee, he started to drink it, he sighed softly, enjoying the relative silence of his home. It was early spring, the hot coffee filling his body with a great bit of comfortable warmth.
Outside were the streets of Juosmuo, streets that were often very full of life and people, silence was a rare luxury for Ayatsuji, and this early in the morning very few were awake, only some rising and starting to prepare for the day ahead. Some school children rising from bed and proceeding to whine and fuss as their parents started to drag them out of bed, some farmers waking and getting to work.
He sighed as he looked outside onto the streets as the snow was still slowly melting away, the air chilly, not that he minded the cold, it was something he was long accustomed to, after finishing his coffee he got dressed, a white button up shirt, grey sweater, dark jeans, and a pair of black socks, he stood and stretched before he got to his door, he looked at his shoes and observed his options.
"It's still too wet to wear these." he thought aloud as he put the colder shoes to the side and put on his boots, he secured them before he took his coat and draped it over his shoulders, deciding it was too hot to wear properly but too cold to go without it.
He looked back and saw his other cat Ryuu, he pet his head, "Bye." he stopped petting him before he left, taking his keys from the plate at the door. He shut the door behind him hearing it click, he took his glasses from pocket and placed them on his nose, he sighed a little, he started to walk down the stairs from his apartment, half way down the stairwell he ran into one of his neighbours, Calypso, "Hey Ayatsuji! Going to work huh?" she smiled as she waved, he nodded, "Yes. Coming home?" he returned the phrase to her, she nodded and smiled, "Yup! It was quite the short night since no one really came by sadly." he nodded.
"I see, well, rest well." he said before he went down the rest of the stairs before she had the chance to invite him to her work, he made it outside to the chilly nipping air, he sighed, his breath coming out in a soft puff of air, which appeared like a while puff, he smiled a little before he started to walk down the cobblestone streets he in truth was only heading into the main office to see if there was any work and to get his latest paycheck.
The streets were still dim from the sun being low in the sky still, the lempa mice in the street lamps still in the lamps and still awake, he looked up and noticed one of the street lamps being out, he sighed and reached up and tapped on the glass of the street lamp, the mouse squeaked and awoke, lighting up anew, "Your job isn't done buddy." he chuckled a little, "Lazy mice get fed to the cats." he smirked softly, the mouse seemed to understand him and squeaked at him.
He shook his head and continued on his way, he turned down the street and narrowed his eyes as he made it over to the front door of his employer, he knocked on the door and waited, a woman opened the door and looked up at him, "Detective Ayatsuji, early as usual." she let him inside, he nodded, "I could say the same to you, Ms. Kimari." he walked inside and looked around, the lights only recently being turned on, the heating barely having time to catch up to a comfortable standard.
Kimari nodded, brushing her dark hair behind her ear, "It is only correct to do so." she nodded, fixing her blazer and skirt brushing them down so that they looked prim and proper. Ayatsuji nodded, "Well, we can agree on that." he chuckled and looked toward her, "So there anything for me to do or am I going to have an extra long weekend and still be paid?" he crossed his arms raising a brow, she walked over to the desk and looked through some documents, "We have a few, we have some simple cases for this week." she spoke bluntly, completely unphased by him.
He nodded, he leaned against a wall, "Well, what are they?" he asked raising a brow, "There is a missing dog case, a missing child, someone wanting us to investigate his wife for cheating, and someone who wants to find out if her child's school is actually handling a bullying situation correctly." she looked at Ayatsuji, "Which one do you want?" he walked over and sighed, "I'll take the missing kid case." he took the file as Kimari held it out to him.
He held onto it and started reading it, he hummed, "Age 12, last seen at school..." he looked toward her, "The kid's parents divorced?" he asked, she nodded, "In the middle of a custody battle, father made the report." Ayatsuji nodded, "Check the mother's, she likely has the child." he handed the file back to her, Kimari nodded, "We'll send someone there." she made a note on a notebook and clipped the page onto the file.
A knock on the door appeared and Ayatsuji opened it, a girl dressed in classic detective attire, dressed in a beige overcoat over a long brown skirt and a button up, "Good morning!" she waved and smiled at him as she skipped inside and tied her mouse brown hair back in a ribbon, it not looking all too good, Ayatsuji took it out and fixed it. "You're not very good at tying ribbons Hasu." he chuckled a little.
She huffed, "Well I am not all too good at it yet!" she giggled, "I'm far better at sniffing out cases!" she smiled happily, her nose twitching as if to make a point, "Right," Ayatsuji chuckled as he looked at her, "Well there's a missing person's case, we can get the reporter to give us some of the missing person's clothes and you can sniff them out." he looked toward Kimari, who nodded, "I'll go to his address today once one of the other office staff arrives." she explained calmly, Hasu smiled and skipped her way.
"That sounds great!" she smiled at Kimari, "I've been waiting for a chance to hang out with you again! You smell so nice too!" she smelled Kimari smiling a dopey smile, Kimari sighed and pet her head, "Quiet, it's work, not a regular hang out." she smiled, "We mustn't treat it so casually," she blushed.
Ayatsuji looked around the office, there were some desks, neatly placed next to one another and the simple beige walls, he waited a moment before he decided to ask, "Are we getting our paychecks yet?" he asked, Kimari looked his way and nodded, "Right." she walked and retrieved a pouch of gold and handed it over to Ayatsuji, "The chief wanted me to give it to you, he's busy so he can't give it to you just yet." she explained, he nodded.
"Well if that's all I'll be leaving, I have some errands to attend to." he said casually as he walked to the door, "Tell the chief that if he needs me for anything to send it to my address." he opened the door and left before Kimari could say anything else, "I swear he's always looking for the first chance to leave." Hasu huffed a little, Kimari sighed, "You know how he can be." she shook her head before she returned to work.
Ayatsuji walked down to the market square, early in the morning there weren't many people, mostly the vendors, he hummed as he went over to the various stands, "One bag of potatoes." he pointed to one of the kilo bags as he took some coins out and passed them over to the vendor, he took the bag and started to carry it, he looked down the stands and noticed the sight of an artisan's stand.
Multiple tables set up, a nice silk canopy and several dolls of multiple sizes and various styles of fancy lace dresses on the tables, and one large doll in a case slightly hidden. He slowly walked over to take a closer look, most of the dolls appeared to be of a pretty porcelain, the dresses weren't exactly the best, if anyone asked Ayatsuji, he'd say that the dresses were clearly made by a beginner and not by a experienced craftsman, if anything, Ayatsuji would be able to confidently bet that the dresses were made by some kids learning how to use a sewing machine for the first time.
His eyes then caught on the case with the other doll, held up by strings she looked pretty, but she was bare unlike the other dolls, not even a wig, only a simple pastel job to make her porcelain appear more alive and human, "What's the price for that one?" he asked as he pointed to the case, the seller looked at him and then at the case, "That ones not good enough to sell." was all she said.
Ayatsuji looked at her, "You brought it here." he narrowed his eyes, "If its not good enough to sell why did you bring it?" the woman looked at him before she huffed, "Touché." she chuckled, "It's free then, I was planning on tossing it." Ayatsuji looked at the case before he watched as the woman removed the doll from the case and into a bag, opaque like a potato sack. He stared at it, he decided it wasn't exactly too suspicious, the doll was pretty big, it looked like a real woman almost.
He accepted the bag and carried it back home, the woman smiled to herself, he didn't hear when she spoke, "Bye Mizuki." she giggled under her breath.
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.
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Ayatsuji placed the bag on the floor before he untied it and placed the doll on his work desk, he looked her over, "She needs new strings..." he sighed looking at her closely, "Maybe a new paint job too." he turned around to find his tools.
His work room was a small room with a large wooden work table, a chest with many different kinds of eyes, some fabric rolls in a shelf, a table of drying heads and doll pieces by the slightly ajar window. A small table with a sewing machine atop it with the pedal under the table slightly hidden behind the old metal wire chair he sat on. The walls were slightly yellowed from the times he smoked indoors.
He found his pipe and added some tabacco leaves, he snapped his fingers to ignite his magic to light it. He was about to place the mouth piece in his mouth when he heard a voice, a woman's voice. "Put that out!"
He slowly paused, he turned his head around, seeing the doll, who's eyes were suddenly open, "What are you staring for?" she asked, "I said you should put that out! You could burn something down!" she scolded. Ayatsuji just stared at the doll in shock before he yelled.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!"