thenearshore | [Closed] We could spend our whole lives waiting for justice to be done

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[Closed] We could spend our whole lives waiting for justice to be done

Who: Ginia and Shun
When: Some time around November 18th-19th
Where: Around the Near Shore
What: Ginia and Shun pick up and old lead and decide to pay a vice-principal responsible for draining the life out of children a visit... if they can find him.
Warnings: Violence, murder.

It's not that Ginia wants to personally punch the vice-principal. It's entirely possible the creep is long dead from the hands of someone else - Far Shore justice, Near Shore justice, who knows - or has long fled the area. But maybe, maybe he's still around and they can find out whether he was the first sign of bigger problems. And just maybe he'll say the wrong thing and Ginia can put her fist in his face.

It's not that she wants to punch him, but dammit, he was attacking children. There aren't enough punches in the world for that creep.

The thought carries Ginia from the run from Caster's temple to Shun's. Her backpack is a prepared for survelliance; two note pads, several pens and pencils, laptop, camera gear, battery pack, roll of duct tape. As always, her knife is in the sheath at her back, but it's more out of habit than out of a feeling of necessity.

She slows as she approaches his temple, keeping an eye on the vultures in the trees as she sends a message to Shun.

Just outside.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ginia squints at the writing, eyes scanning over the notes. A name might be a dead end, but if they can find a photo of him, it's better than nothing. The accounting records is interesting though.]

The forged accounting, do you remember any details about the paperwork or have it? If he was skimming money or falsifying purchases, it may mean there are other possible paper trails. Slim as it is, if it turns out this person is part of our mystery cult, financial records could be helpful in identifying more people.

I think it was skimming money, but I don't have the paperwork. I wasn't that invested in the investigation at the time. [The timing wasn't much of an excuse, but even if he had taken the paperwork, keeping it this long would have been impressive. Six months or so later wasn't when he was expecting it to come in handy again.]

There's not a lot of other people who've been around long enough to have a chance of having information from then, either.

You did only arrive so I can't blame you.

[And it's not surprising there aren't a lot of others around given the turnover rate of the place. Even Hakkai didn't have all the details and it's almost luck Shun was around.]

Why don't we use the name of the principal as a baseline? Cross-reference it against the school in newspapers and other public documents, hone in on any major school announcements from the start of the school year and the month before and after for mentions of the vice-principal? And if we can't find any public records, we hit the school's archives?

Sounds fine to me. If we can get the information without having to go back to the school, we might as well do it that way. [Going back to the school creates a laundry list of complications, especially if they don't keep their records somewhere easy to break into.]

We probably have a better chance of doing that online, anyway. [Unless they want to mess around with physical archives, which would be just as much trouble as going to the school and doing it.]

Where do you want to work? I have a laptop and my phone on me. Though if we need to hit physical media after all, the town has a library.

[With most of her hands full researching everything else, the most Ginia has on the town is a few address for key locations; the school itself, a library, and the town hall. More superfluously, the location of a few convenience stores in case they need to get something to eat or other supplies.]

Is there anything else you remember about the situation? Were the kids okay?

Might as well work here. [He gestures towards his temple.] If we find something, we can just go straight from here to where we need to be.

[Whether that happens to be somewhere they can chase up a more personal record or something else. He's not focusing on that too much once Ginia asks for that additional information, though, instead looking like he's considering it for a few moments.]

The kids were fine once we got rid of the spell. It'd been happening for a few days by the time we got there, enough that there were records of kids with "illnesses" that were actually the curse effects. At the end of it all, he created some weird ayakashi that were attached to him with cords, and it was after we got rid of them that the spell broke and we found him.

[Shun has to assume the guy gave something of himself to the spell as well as the kids' energy.]

Sounds similar to the of the blight in the city. Carried out some kids that looked like they were near death and they bounced back immediately after they were out of affected area.

[While aware her knowledge of magic and spells and the like is lacking at best, it's still too much of a coincidence to overlook. Mostly, she's happy the kids from the school are okay as are the ones in the city.]

To work then. [Since it's his temple, Ginia will follow him to wherever he thinks is best to work. She'll pull out his laptop once she's settled in, phone nearby in case Archer needs to contact her or she needs a second screen.]

What's the dead principal's name? I'm going to start on looking for the school's website and announcements from the school.

It was a bit like that, but I don't think the affected area made much of a difference until the whole thing was gone, since the kids getting sent home were still "ill". [So they bounced back, but not just from leaving the area. Still, there's definitely a possibility of a connection there that they can't avoid looking into.

As for where they're working, Shun opens the front door set into the hill and leads her down the short entry hall, then off to the right, where there's a staircase down into the basement and a short, seemingly dead-end corridor with a door on both sides.

It's the corridor he takes, and opening either door reveals a small, somewhat disorganised library crammed with books. It's nothing like the scale or usefulness of the Heavens' one, but it also seems to be missing some of the chaff, having mostly mundane reference books that can be seen from here. On this side, at least.

There's some tables where they can set up, and Shun gives her the name as soon as she asks it. It's not uncommon, but also not common enough they should be getting a ridiculous amount of results back for it.]

Apparently the last principal died not long before the incident, and that was in April, so if it's further back than that it's probably to do with him.

[A library is a library. Ginia admires the space; if there's one thing she wishes Caster's library had, it was that. Running to Heaven's library isn't bad though, it's an excuse to get out though'll it be more of a pain once the weather is colder and snowier.]

I'll try to get a baseline set up with references to him before April then.

[Ginia pulls out a notepad and pencil before starting in. Armed with a name the school, she begins searching the school's website and associated social media accounts. She begins building a list of names - teachers, other administrators, guests - to cross reference now and hold onto for future reference. There's no reason to suspect anyone else at the school, but if any are associates with the vice-principal, it'll be good to have their names already.

It's boring, tedious work but not everything is exciting. After the forest, it's nicer to have something a bit more low-key anyway.]

[Shun, on the other hand, pulls out what appears to be an odd, round computer from his belt, though it's lacking a deck in it right now. The screen isn't a great deal taller than a phone one, but it's a fair bit wider, and Shun seems more comfortable with using it as he pulls up some more recent information to ensure there's been no later incidents with the man or the school.

This sort of thing isn't really his forte, since he prefers not to be static for too long, but if he's going to do it, he's going to be thorough about it.]

[Ginia works meticulously, settling into a comfortable groove of keeping various tabs open with different websites, adding and crossing names off her written list. Progress is slower than she would like, but they're effectively starting from zero.

She pauses as she comes across a picture from the school's opening ceremonies for the new school year. The principal is standing at the podium giving a speech, staff seated behind him. Ginia taps the table to get Shun's attention, turning her laptop around to show him.]

Did you ever get a look at the guy? Or does anyone else in this picture seem familiar?

[Shun's scrolling down what turns out to be an outdated page about the school in general before Ginia taps the table, and his attention shifts to her quickly. Setting his duel disk aside for the moment, he leans down so he can get a better look at the image.]

I saw a couple of those teachers in the staff room. [Exhausting faces, he starts going over the other details of the people in the picture. If it's from the new school year, it should have been from just before the incident...]

The guy's outfit seems familiar. I didn't get a look at his face, but I think he might've been wearing the same sort of thing when he'd collapsed from the broken spell.

[Ginia nods and checks the rest of the article, a summary of the opening ceremonies. There! The vice-principal's name! She copies the name and sends it to Shun's phone.]

I'm going to run his name on social media sites against some of the other staff at the school, see if I can build up a history for him and find more photos.

[It's remarkable what people share openly on social media. Even if he's not the most prolific user, there's a chance someone's tagged him in a photo somewhere. School staff drinking events, school occasions, as vice-principal he definitely had to make appearances one way or another. Even if they find an abandoned social media account, any remaining posts or pictures could give clues about his interests and places to search for him. People form habits that are difficult to break; unless he's a professional con artist or dead, there's going to be something.]

((ooc: Going to see if the mods can give some clues on the guy's whereabouts.))

[Shun pulls out his phone to check what the name is, then types it into his disk since he's already using that instead. He figures if they've got the name already, there's probably not a lot of point lingering on the stuff he's been looking at, and instead moving on...to, like Ginia suggests, sites that are more likely to have current information on him.]

I'll go through and see if there's anywhere I recognise in his photos.

[It takes a little while to pick back through other school Twitter pages to reach his - since Shun figures that's likely to get set aside for later if Ginia's looking into his history - but thankfully, the very first thing on the guy's page is a huge flag already. It's a skyline photo from a high storey of a building, and Shun scans it for a moment before turning it towards Ginia and tapping one of the buildings in the image.]

I've seen that place while I've been patrolling the Near Shore. [The others are more nondescript buildings, but that specific one has a line of very bright signs sticking out up the side of it for the various businesses within. It's a common sight in Tokyo, but Shun's quite sure he's seen that specific combination of them before.]

[His Facebook presence is lacking; a handful of comments asking how his health is, expressing condolences at his resignation from his job around May, then not much else. A few people tag him in the following months, though nothing of any note, nor is there anything about his current job.

Ginia looks at the picture, frowning as she studies it. The angle of the shot places his location as somewhere fairly high up. She memorizes his twitter handle and opens his page on her own laptop, scrolling through his feed. Cryptic comments that don't make much sense, the occasional landscape and food picture. There's a napkin under a bowl of ramen with a name of the restaurant; Ginia searches for it and finds several locations. Searching for the names of the businesses on the signs narrows down the area even more. She turns her laptop to show him.]

Looks like he's somewhere in that radius. There's a name of a nearby ramen shop in one of his food pictures, maybe it's a spot he's a regular at. Time to pay the area a visit?

[Shun keeps looking over the photo he found as Ginia searches, picking out other details to confirm it's where he thinks it is. Considering the height of the shot compared to the other buildings in the photo, it looks like it's about the tenth floor, and he's definitely seen a couple of those storefronts too now that he thinks about it...

He glances up when she turns her laptop, and he nods at the name - it's familiar too. It should be the place he's thinking of.]

I know which district it is, so I can take us there easily. [He still prefers to teleport into back alleys rather than onto main streets, but it'll shorten their journey compared to going from his shrine.]

[Ginia saves a copy of the skyline picture and the few photos of the vice-principal found from the school's website and other social media to her phone. She fires the copies off to Shun and closes up her laptop. The guy is alive, they have a possible location. Things are looking up, but Ginia doesn't let herself get too confident. Ayakashi were involved the first time with him, maybe they'll be involved here too.]

What do you think? If we find the guy, should we confront him directly or watch him and see if he does anything?

[Shun flicks his phone on briefly to check the pictures, then puts it away again once he's satisfied he's memorised the face. As long as he can identify the guy when they encounter him, that's all they need.]

Watch him first, then confront him. Getting an idea of how to go about it first would be best, especially since even if the people around him won't notice us, they can still hear him if we corner him somewhere public.

[Unfortunately, the fact that he can't teleport living people doesn't help there.]

If he's not in his presumed apartment, we should look around. Doubt we'll find any black robes or spell tags, but maybe there's something else. Otherwise I'm ready for a long day of surveillance. Got camera gear in my bag, the buildings in the picture look usable.

[She pauses and cracks a wry smile.]

I have duct tape too.

We'll have a hell of a time asking him anything about what happened if we have to resort to duct tape. [Shun puts that rather dryly, though it might be useful to get him to somewhere private without sounding the alarm. But that's a bridge to cross if it actually does turn out they need to go that far.]

I can follow him on the ground while you keep track from above. Make sure he doesn't slip away between us.

[Ginia makes sure she has everything she needs before putting her backpack on.]

Works for me. The buildings look close enough to jump between if needed. [Thank goodness for the long jumps shinki can do if they focus. Failing that, borderlines can serve as reliable bridges.] Though if he spooks, try to corner him in an alley, I'll block him with a borderline. You need to grab anything or are you good to go too?

I'm fine. [He's got all of his usual equipment plus a few other things he thought might come in handy that he could hide under his coat, so though he's not carrying anything visibly, he's certainly not under-equipped, especially when taking what Ginia also has into consideration.

Since it seems like they're both ready in any case, Shun offers a hand straightforwardly. They can scope out the street a bit first before they pick out a good rooftop for Ginia to position herself on.]

[Ginia takes his hand and one teleport later they're in the Near Shore. Ginia studies their immediate area, pulling out her phone to check the map. The area is pretty straightfoward; the usual main streets with business, the occasionally branching alley leading to dumpsters or back entrances. If need be, there are a few easy areas to trap him that won't pull too much attention.]

This looks like the right spot.

[It helps there aren't that many buildings over ten stories in the area and there are signs and buildings to align with. Ginia studies the buildings, taking a second look at the distance between them and the alleys around.]

I'm going topside. I'll text if I see anything notable.

[No one matching the photos leaves the building they're watching until after dinnertime, when a man in a plain dark track suit lets himself out and starts down the street. He looks more tired than the person in the photos; perhaps it's the patchy stubble on his jaw that does it, or the dark circles under his eyes.

His features, though, under the marks of recent lack of sleep and care, are the same.]

[Shun's satisfied enough with extensively scoping out the area while they wait, mapping useful routes to get someone somewhere an interrogation is unlikely to be interfered with, and good places to hide or ambush from. He's waiting near the building by the time the man finally emerges, though, and as soon as he can see the face clearly, he knows it's their target.

Letting him get far enough ahead that he doesn't seem suspicious on the off chance the man actually notices him, but not quite far enough to lose him in the crowd, Shun begins to follow the man. He figures Ginia will take the hint from seeing him follow that this is their target, if she hasn't spotted him already.]

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