:sidewinder:

This was inspired mostly by a novel ikka had read recently, though the title escapes her at the moment. Some of the lines here are blatant ripoffs from there, though I have tried to incorporate them to suit this context. To a poor degree of success out of poor writing ability, yes, but still.

No real pairings (unless if you squint hard), just two officers of the law at work.

Disclaimer: Icarisain does not own MSLN in any shape or form, this is a work of fiction.

“…Noir Zero to Fox Seven, come in.” The audio message sounded almost loud despite its volume set to three out of forty, quiet as that location was.

She raised a finger to the reply button. “Fox Seven to Noir Zero. Please speak.”

“Your message arrived. Report on the situation there.“

“Requesting presence of investigation team and forensics, I will be sending you our coordinates. A body’s been found.” Even with years of experience behind her, the feeling that came with saying any variation of these words never once subsided – if anything, it only got worse as time passed. It was not a good feeling.

“Understood. Please get all units in the area to meet up there, we’ll need them for crowd control if any civilians happens to pass by.“

“It’s already been done. Scene is being cordoned as we speak.”

“Very well. Noir Zero out.“

“Fox Seven out.” Heaving a sigh, Fate turned her gaze to the figure splayed out lifelessly on the ground.

Amidst a scattering of jet-black feathers, Special Investigations Officer Yagami Hayate touched down, getting salutes from the staff as she rushed through the tape and Bureau members to the center of the scene. Soon after, a small group of investigation officers entered behind her, followed by the forensics team in their trademark white coats reminiscent of those donned by medical officers.

“Sorry we took so long,” she apologized. “Traffic was a mess with all those street parades going round…I had to get us permission to travel by air.”

Rising from her crouch by the body, Fate saluted the newcomers, before calling up a text-covered screen. “This is a report by one of my aides. Investigations, please take a look at this. Forensics, I entrust the body to your expertise.”

As the various people started to busy themselves with their respective duties, Hayate walked over to her friend. “Could I trouble you for some of the relevant details, Enforcer Testarossa-Harlaown?”

The blonde nodded in reply before motioning for them to move aside before they got in somebody’s way. “Let’s go talk over there.”

The victim was a young girl not older than ten, and looked everything like another of the kids that would perhaps be clutching their mother’s hand when shopping at the supermarket, perhaps kicking a ball about at the park, perhaps having those wonderful friendships with children their age that adults seemed completely unable to forge.

She was not the kind of person that deserved death. She was not the kind of corpse anyone would want to come across. And yet, some higher power had dealt her a nasty hand, leaving what had once been a child now a something so overloaded by elemental magic that it was barely humanoid in form.

Over the course of investigation, they would learn more about this child, as they had for those before her. They would speak to friends and family, they would go through her private diary and secrets, they would walk the path she had taken before reaching here. The shroud of mystery before the girl’s identity would dissolve into nothingness as they got to know her, building up again this person that had once been. Yet despite how they would eventually come to know her, she would never know them, the huge gap between life and death denying both parties that.

It all reminded Hayate far too much of a memory of sadness and parting with a precious existence, and was one of the reasons why she disliked taking up cases involving murder with a passion. In their line of work, though, one was bound to get cases like this more than a few times.

Watching Fate struggle to keep too much emotion from entering her voice, Hayate could almost see how she must have felt after knowing the cause of death. Mages with elemental affinity were few and far between, and the thought that someone out there with a magical trait like Fate’s was killing children would definitely have struck a nerve.

“…I can’t believe that we haven’t gotten this guy yet,” Fate growled sullenly, running a hand through her bangs. This was a clear indication of the extent by which she’d been ruffled – the Navy’s ace was well-respected for being able to keep her calm no matter the situation, but those closest to her knew just how emotional Fate could get sometimes. “It should have stopped, we can’t let this go on.”

She reached out to give the blonde’s hand a squeeze for reassurance. “We sure can’t, Fate-chan,” she said, dropping the official title as they were quite alone. “But all we can do is try and catch him before it happens again.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Fate replied, though she was still obviously downcast. “It’s just…when I saw her, all I could think of was Vivio…and Caro, and all those kids I’ve met on cases…and how this was a child that deserved to live a happy life like all of them…”

Hayate knew exactly what her friend meant. When she’d first laid eyes on the corpse, she’d immediately thought of Reinforce II, her most important little girl, the treasured baby of a family bound not by blood but by ties far stronger. And she had recognized the bad mood Fate was in, for it reflected the bite at her soul that would not go away.

“C’mon,” she said, “we’re not gonna nab our murderer if we’re going to stand and chat all day.”

The two officers strode back towards the crime scene, their shadows long in the dim light.

Notes:
-The conversation at the beginning, if it ain’t clear enough (…T^T ikka, you phail), was between Fate (Fox Seven) and Hayate, who was at HQ (Noir Zero). See if you can catch the pun on the call numbers lol
-This case is actually regarding a serial killer who can use magic. Like mentioned, he has elemental affinity (see here for more info), which is unfortunately used for illegal ends. Too bad it’s been depicted in such a lousy way. _/-||0
-On flying: yes, they probably could have used aircraft, though where to “park” might be a problem…as for the parade thing, I was thinking of referencing to events like Oktoberfest, where driving through crowds is not an option. Anything to have Her Highness moult…lol
-ikka really hates the fic title…please offer suggestions. Reward on offer.