Ace Shinigami Investigations: Narue Ueno

Uuu... This didn't look like a death by hollow, it'd be so much simpler if that were the case, but...

A hollow probably wouldn't of left anything, and even if the body had been left there'd be injuries to point towards a hollow attack.

Narue tapped the pen against her lip as she stared down at the small notebook in her hand, standing a bit off to the side and away from the crime scene. In a gigai she couldn't get that close...but she'd already gone and investigated the body out of the gigai.

It was important she get information on this, there'd been a few deaths similar to this one lately and it was raising heads. Normally humans could handle it, but she'd been asked to investigate.

So now she stood, with Hato-kun's wings tied around her back as the plush hung on her like a cape or backpack while she went over all her notes of her own investigation.

As the light and cheerful tones of song poured from Souma's earbuds, he took a sip from the coffee an officer had handed him and scowled, realizing it was straight black. Eugh. Who just hands someone black coffee? He figured the officer knew how he took it. He eyed the dumpster behind him and tossed it into there. No more of that, thank you.

"So what have we here.." He muttered to himself. The wounds on the body were inconsistent with anything he'd seen before... Hrm... He asked if there was any ID on the body and found that the deceased had money, but no ID and they'd been asking locally. Nobody knew him so far.... Odd... Souma stood up and dusted his hands off on his jacket. This was frustrating...

He noticed, off down the alley, just outside the crime scene, there was a girl... she had an odd backpack and she looked like she was taking notes. He frowned and started walking her way.

Narue was still going over her own notes, though really... she couldn't assume what had caused the death at the moment. It...was a shinigami, though he was in a gigai. She hadn't messed with any of the scene, choosing to preserve it for other officers if they came to investigate as well.

For now, she just needed to write up a report on what was going on now.

Finding out...everything, well...that would be really helpful to said report.

Was their still a faint trail of his reiatsu left? She hadn't felt anything, nor had she felt any other reiatsu in the area that seemed odd, though...

"Hm?" Looking up, having sensed someone, she noticed a man approaching her. Well, she was in a gigai right now, but she felt...even if she weren't wearing one he'd be able to see her, she'd sensed more than just the normal signature, after all!

As Souma approached, he'd half expected her to flee. The fact that she didn't meant she was probably a reporter. He wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved. Someone shady would have been way less annoying. However as he got closer, something seemed off.... There was ... a trace of something?

He froze everything and just focused on that sense. It was... Odd... He knew it but... where did he know it?..... After a few minutes thinking with nothing to draw, he continued, approaching the caution tape. He thought he might talk to her from across it, but the closer he got, the younger she looked. Hrm, she couldn't be up to anything too bad...

He took a step back and hopped across the tape, almost catching his foot on it, but clearing it... this time... He never knew what to do when he got to that damn tape.... "Hi. I'm Souma. Nice to meet you." He said, reaching out to shake her hand. He was sure the detective on case would have his head for talking to a person of interest before them, but...

AH! He froze time again, closer now and more easily able to pick up that sense. It was definitely a reiatsu reading but... different...distant? No... muffled.. like it was... Oh! OH! Someone wearing a gigai! She could be Arrancar... but his gut said...

"Shinigami?" He asked, a little confused.

Souma?

Narue gave one of her usual bright, and happy smiles. "Nice to meet you! I'm Narue Ueno!" She replied, reaching out to shake his hand as he offered.

He was behind the tape, so... someone investigating? They didn't allow normal people within the crime area.

Hm?

"Aa! I knew you had to be someone with spiritual awareness!" She replied before giving a nod; "Mhmm! I'm the lieutenant of the First Division, um... The person...over there, the one that died, they're...in a gigai, they were a shinigami. I didn't mess with anything, but I was told to write up a report. Ahah, I don't know what caused his death though so I was going over my notes just now to see if I could figure it out, sorrrrry if I'm in the way!"

She apologized, knowing that maybe she was a bit too close. Aah, she just needed to get this written up though!

"I can back up a little? Get out of sight?"

Ah. So she was a shinigami. He smiled, proud of himself for guessing right and noticing the signs. Hrm. First division... the shinigami had... um... a number of those, but first division was most important right? Yeah, he was pretty sure their head captain was in charge of that one. Did that make Narue one of the higher ups in Soul Society? He glanced back at the crime scene. Hmm... considering the work she was doing, she seemed of SOME importance, but not second in command or anything.

"No no! You're fine! Um.. Actually if you want to turn invisible, you're welcome to come with me over to the crime scene? I can't talk to thin air, but from their perspective, I already think out loud." He smiled and stepped back across the tape, carefully, inviting her to follow. He was always afraid something like this might happen. He had no interest in getting involved in shinigami, given their terse relations with quincies in general. But if this death was a shinigami... He could consider it a shared jurisdiction sort of thing. She had just as much right to be here as he did.

He would let her follow? Narue seemed to brighten some, relieved; it would be good to hear the input of who she assumed was an investigator.

"Okay!" She replied, heading off for a few moments; she needed to hide her gigai, after all!

It wasn't long before she returned, in her usual shinigami uniform, the pleated miniskirt styled in place of the typical hakama, and her lieutenant's badge was situated on her arm. Hato-kun was still tied around the back of her neck by his wings, she would carry him, but she had the notebook.

"Baack!" She announced.

Souma waited patiently, pretending to text while he waited for Narue to return. "Aww. Your outfit is adorable." He said with a smile when she did. He hadn't seen a ton of shinigami, but he knew her outfit was out of the norm. She looked a little young to be a shinigami but he knew their aging could really make that a moot point.

"Come along. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. You can talk freely, I just have to be careful with my replies." He said before heading back in. He headed over to the coprse and knelt down so she could come close. "So, we have no idea who this is?" He asked, getting a response from one of the cops affirming that they didn't. Really though he was asking for Narue's sake.

Narue gave a small, happy giggle in response to the compliment he'd made towards her uniform; "Thank you!"

With a nod, she followed after him as he approached the body again. She wasn't...familiar with this shinigami, and he was in a gigai so...

"If he weren't in a gigai, I could check his uniform for his Division at least; our uniforms have our Division's insignia embroidered on the inside. I can separate him from his gigai, but I'm not sure if that would do anything to the scene...so I haven't tried it."

She didn't want to disturb the scene, and using the glove that would separate him from the gigai would likely move or disturb the visible body which would raise eyebrows...

"I can't feel any faint trail of his or anyone else's reiatsu so he likely died awhile ago."

"Hmm.." She could find out more if she could take the soul from the body... But if the body started jolting or glowing or anything like that, it would definitely cause a disturbance. He paused and glanced around.. Okay... too many cops here, but they were all ready to go home with no leads of any kind... He unpaused and stood up. "Okay, well.." He stretched a little. "If you guys don't need me, I'm gonna go get some coffee, okay?" He said before heading off, assuming Narue would follow him out of the crime scene.

Once they were out of earshot, he spoke up. "They should leave once it gets dark. After that I can come back here and we can get a better look. I'm sorry for all the trouble." He said with an apologetic frown.

Narue's attention went from the body to Souma as he stretched and stated he'd get coffee, and she followed after him, he couldn't exactly talk to her around people so...

"Ah! Alright, no problem; you don't need to apologize at all!" She gave him a reassuring smile; she was doing her job just like he was! Waiting until everyone else went home was a good idea, she'd be able to investigate further then...

He nodded. "Ah.. Thank you." He said, with a sheepish smile. He still felt like it was a hassle for her to deal with, but if she didn't mind... He headed over to the nearest coffee shop, pausing at the door. "Um...I really am gonna get coffee... I don't want to make you run back and get your gigai... Can you drink stuff if you're not in gigai? Sorry, I should know how this stuff works, but I don't." He crossed his arms, feeling a little self conscious at his lack of knowledge of the spiritual world.

"Welcome~!"

Narue followed as Souma headed towards...ah, he really was going to get coffee! His words confirmed that realization and she gave a small nod. "I can get my gigai really quick if you want me to? It would be a hassle at all, I can move really quickly! I can meet you inside?"

She could easily get her gigai back on, but she also wasn't going to just ask him to stand there and wait on her. She could just meet him inside! Simple!

"If you don't know much, I can try to help you understand some more things? If you wanna learn?"

"Um... Okay. Sure, meet me inside. and.. uh.." He felt odd asking for information, especially when he should already know most of this stuff... "Um.. Okay, sure! O-Oh, I'll get your coffee too, okay?" He got paid pretty well so he wasn't worried about money, at least in terms of buying coffee and whatnot. He was hardly rich though. "What would you like, Miss Ueno?"

If she was going to tell him shinigami things, the least he could do was buy her something from the coffee place.

"Aha, it's fine, lots of humans have trouble learning a wholeee lot about the spiritual worlds, information can be hard to come by. Nothing to feel bad about!" Many humans had to keep quiet about being aware in the first place, so it was definitely difficult to come across information unless they met someone that was more knowledgeable than they already were... As she'd said though, it was nothing to feel bad about!

"Okay, um, if you can make it sweet then I'll take that!" She wasn't as familiar with coffee as she was tea, though she did like it. She liked it on the sweeter side though, so if he could add sugar it'd be much appreciated!

She gave him a thankful smile; "Thanks, and I'll be right back!"

With a little jump back, she gave a small wave before bounding off back towards the alleyway they'd first spoken in. She'd hidden her gigai, but it would be good for her to have it on when it was necessary, and going to a coffee shop with someone it seemed like it'd be necessary! It'd be bad if someone caught him talking to air!

He nodded. Something sweet. Hmmm... Okay.. When he got inside, he ordered his coffee, but for Narue... Well, she didn't sound like she drank a lot of coffee.... Hmm.. He ordered and once he had, he found a seat by the window, waiting for her while durdling about on his phone. At first he'd been checking his mail, making sure no other cases popped up today, but now he was just playing a phone game that was particularly popular at the moment.

He sipped at his ice coffee and set it down. Opposite of him in front of the empty seat was, in the largest size available, a super chocolatey frappuccino, basically only a step or two away from a milkshake. If she didn't like that though, he'd go get her something else.

Narue made a quick job of reentering her gigai, doing a little spin when she had it on again to make sure everything was properly situated. With a smile, she made her way back to the coffee shop where Souma was waiting, heading inside and now completely visible to other people!

Finding him, she moved to sit across from him at the table he'd seated himself at and looked at the drink with obvious awe. It was big and looked chocolate-ty! "Uwaa~ This looks really good! Thank you!"

Her smile brightened as she thanked him, it was common courtesy to do so!

He immediately grinned when she came in, glancing down at his phone. "Ah.." He needed... just another second or two. He glanced up. "You're welcome! I'm glad you.. um.." He glanced back down at the phone. Aaand.. DONE... He put the phone down and then immediately turned his attention to Narue fully.

"S-sorry about that. I um.. was getting the high score." He said with a self conscious glance at the phone. "B-but um.. I'm glad you like it! I thought you would... hoped, anyway." He sipped at his coffee, quietly glancing at her. "S-so... What do you do in Soul Society?" He didn't know where to start. He was never good at driving conversation.

Souma received an enthused nod from Narue as she sipped the drink, definitely happy with its taste. It was really, really good! The World of the Living had lots of interesting foods and drinks to try that weren't available in the Soul Society!

High score? So he'd been playing a game? Aha, that sounded like fun!

"Ahh, well I'm in the administrative division and we deal with lots of paperwork and stuff... Each division specializes in something, so we all have slightly different jobs between all of us. We have a Research Division, a library one, one that deals with spiritual affairs such as this world, there's the academy division and they help out soon-to-be shinigami..."

She wasn't naming them in any specific order, just listing the types of jobs they did and how they varied since Souma had asked that.

"W-Wow." He hadn't known how many varieties of duties they had in soul society. It was impressive. A library? He wondered what a library in the afterlife would be like... It sounded kind of intense... They had an academy too... Hm, speaking of which...

He took a sip of his coffee. "Ahh. Are you.. um.. like fresh out of the academy?" He asked because of her age, or at least her appearance. He knew shinigami aged slower, but she just looked SO young, it was hard to believe she could be that old. Maybe no older than him?

"Hm? Actually I've been a shinigami for a good while now! A few decades at the very least." Narue replied, she was only about two centuries old. One-hundred and....sixty three? Shinigami lived so long it was hard to tell!

Yup! She'd been working for a good while!

"I entered the academy when I was kinda little..." Not too little, but still pretty young, she'd had no where else to go, and she had realized after awhile she had the requirements for becoming a shinigami... so she'd become one!

He blinked, sort of... flabbergasted? Was that a good word? Yeah, it worked. He finally took a sip of his coffee and almost choked on it, putting it down and coughing to clear his throat. "A... A few decades at LEAST?" How.. How old WAS she? Jeez, forget his age. He wasn't sure if she was even his grandmother's age at this point. "Wh..Wh.." He knew.... Like... None of this was new information.. But just... the reality of it...

"I mean.. You look... 16 or so? MAYBE older?" Maybe younger was more like it, but he didn't want to insult her.

Narue gave a small, sheepish laugh almost at Souma's reaction; shinigami aged slowly...reallllllly slowly in most cases. Ages differed greatly among the ranks honestly.

"Hmm, I think I'm around...163? I know I'm close to two centuries..." She mused, trying to narrow down the number and in the end choosing to voice her previous thoughts. "Aging is definitely a lot different there than here, aha."

"You...You're... Y-you're..." He stuttered, placing his coffee on the table to make sure he didn't spill it. "A.. A.. A hundred... and sixty THREE?" His voice lowered to a whisper as he spoke, the last word coming out as a low almost hiss. That... That was.. "I'm 21! Do... Do I just seem like a child to you then?" This was what really interested him. She'd been around for almost 2 centuries. This seeming 16 year old outdates THE AUTOMOBILE and TWO WORLD WARS. For all he knew, she could have FOUGHT in a World Ward...

His question was genuine curiosity though. "Like... Do our elderly seem like children to you?"

"Hmm....Not really! You seem like an adult to me!" Narue gave a bright smile; "If you act like an adult, then you're an adult! That's all their is too it! ...To me, I guess. I just know I don't really see you as a child, you're definitely an adult...little kids are kids though!"

He was twenty-one, huh? Then he was all grown up!