Jinnai paced the floor impatiently. It'd been more than twenty four hours since he'd received the last communique from the field, which shouldn't have been the case since they were supposed to report twice daily. What the hell could be keeping them? I should've heard something by now. He paused as a creeping suspiscion came to his mind.
Mizuhara.
Making a dismissive gesture, he let the thought pass and resumed pacing. It couldn't have been that. They'd have definitely notified him had that been the case. Jinnai never missed an opportunity to match wits with Makoto. In a way, it was somewhat reminiscent of the classic rivalry between Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes. True to form, Jinnai would lay out his plans then challenge Makoto to try and stop him. This latest scheme, however, had little to do with Makoto.
Yet.
This had more to do with that 'other' boil on his butt: Kalia. That damn pint sized smartass demon doll. She'd duped him, pretending to be on his side, all the while plotting to turn on him. Jinnai supposed part of the reason he'd fallen for it had to do with that sweet-and-innocent facade of hers. She may have looked like a cute girl on the outside, but man....!
What really burned his biscuit wasn't the fact that she'd used him, or that she had betrayed him in the end. What got him were those infantile nicknames she keep calling him by. Like, LGJ and that other one. The memory came unbidden as she smiled cutely.
Whatever you say, Katsy-watsy. My good 'ol boy.
Jinnai grit his teeth in frustration and clenched his fist. Little bitch! How dare she mock him that way?! Why he had a mind to- Jinnai calmed himself and straightened his necktie. There'd be time for that later, assuming those lamebrains didn't screw things up.
The main thing on his mind was figuring how she could possibly be alive. From what he'd been told, Makoto and that other Ifurita had killed her. With Makoto involved he'd had little reason to doubt it. The lousy do-gooder was always ruining perfectly good fiendish plans. Then, about a month or so later, the rumors started. Reports of a young girl matching Kalia's description. Naturally, he had dismissed it as hearsay at first. But the more he heard, the more he began to question whether or not they were true. So he decided to find out.
After making a list of all the sightings, he narrowed it down to a wooded area of about eight kilometers squared, near the Holy River of God. Needless to say, finding one person in an area that size literally amounted to the needle in haystack scenario. But Jinnai was nothing if not resourceful.
He shortened the workload by employing his communications network, cleverly stationing lookouts at various points throughout the area. Why scour the whole forest when you could simply sit back and watch? And it worked. Only days into the search, he received his first confirmative report.
So she was still alive!
There'd been something else in that report too; something about how she'd seemed 'tired' or something to that effect. Jinnai had an idea as to why that was, but didn't want to go into that just yet. The important thing was they'd found her. Now it was just a matter of capturing her and possibly getting her to side with them. For real, this time. Her power would be a valuable asset.
Provided she still had it.
Jinnai checked his watch. It was going on twenty five hours since he'd last heard anything. He hoped that was a good sign, but he knew better. For all his brilliance, he could only do so much, especially when he had the Marx Bros. for help.
A mini Bugrom buzzed into his office carrying a small slip of paper in it's mandibles. "Well it's about time!" Jinnai snapped as he snatched it. "I was beginning to wonder what was taking so long!" Quickly unfolding it, he mumbled as he read aloud to himself, his complexion going red and his expression decidedly PO'd. Tearing up the paper, he yelled:
"YOU BUMBLING IDIOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTSSSSSS!!!"
He hated to be right sometimes.
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(Posted Thu, 22 Feb 2007 21:14)
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