2026-08-14: Small Steps Forward
- Log: Small Steps Forward
- Cast: Hyousuke Suzuki, Tamaki Uchida
- Where: Aoba Way
- OOC Date: 2026-08-14
- IC Date: 24 Dec 2012
- Summary: With the mystery of the monster stalking Sumaru during the night resolved, Hyousuke meets Tamaki to inform her of the good news. However, even with that case closed, another remains to be resolved.
(|================================= Aoba Way =================================|)
-=================================================== Sumaru City/Aoba Ward ====-
Ample shopping can be found at the stores that dot Aoba Way, but not just the
normal kind. Aside from a door to the Velvet Room for Persona Users, one can
hear and spread all kinds of rumors at Kuzunoha Detective Agency. At the
internet cafe Double Slash, one can surf on the web to find some of those very
rumors *and* munch on various snacks served at the back bar by an apathetic
teenage boy. The blue carpeting and wall-to-wall aquariums lend the place a
relaxing atmosphere.
The bar Parabellum has a more noir vibe, with a mostly wooden interior, brown
leather seats, green glass lamps, and brick pillars along the walls. The elderly
barkeeper offers a number of unique mixed drinks, all named after weapons...
which might be a clever cover for the fact that, according to rumor, he sells
*real* weapons. The fashion boutique Rosa Candida offers the latest in trends
and (per rumor) armor, its decor stark yet stylish, with clothes and bags alike
on display for customers along the walls and on a central table. A pair of
changing rooms are naturally available; to use them, just get the permission of
the saleswoman in red first.
Etheria offers spa treatments to the weary among bright lamps, stained glass
windows, off-white decor, and an esthetician with a giant blue crystal crown.
The name of the place fuses "ether" and "materia," and the treatments are
effective: those who use this spa walk away feeling refreshed in mind and body.
And, of course, it's not Sumaru City without a local Satomi Tadashi Pharmacy
branch. This one looks the same as all the others: aisles and walls laden with
medicine of all kinds, overseen from the back counter where magazines are
available by one of seven identical sisters. Satomi Sister #1 runs this one; an
English-language piano version of the store's theme plays here. "Always in the
side of those who fight: our local... drug store~ o/`"
(|============================================================================|)
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
The depths of December were rarely a pleasant time of year, at least when it came to the weather. Cold winds and chilled breezes whipped through Sumaru like razors, cutting and stinging at any skin that had the audacity to remain exposed. Even when the air remained still, the lingering cold sapped the strength from those who remained in it for too long, gnawing at their very bones and siphoning the heat from the cores of their bodies. The sky was a monotone sheet of grey, only occasionally broken up by clouds meandering across that bleak canvas, while the sun itself struggled to maintain more than a weak glow upon the land.
Hyousuke paid little mind to it all as he lingered on a lone park bench. There were two other, far more important, things that took his attention up. The first was all the advice he had received thus far from the people he'd spoken to. The future was a daunting thing, and even after those extensive talks with people he thought might have the answer, he had only gotten marginally closer to one. It was too late to do anything about the entrance exams - even if he were inclined to apply, the deadline had long since passed. But the rest of the future... he could still do *something* about that. But what, and how?
The second important thing sat idly at his feet, gnawing on a stick it had found along the way. Short, though well-proportioned for its smaller stature, the golden-furred dog padded around and jabbed intermittently at Hyousuke's leg, demanding he play with a low - but far from aggressive - growl. Its features were a little strange, for something with a fur that colour. While most might have expected the rounded face and details of a retriever, it instead had pointed ears a more angular shape to its face, reminiscent of some Japanese breeds.
"Not now, we're still waiting for Uchida-san." Hyousuke said, chuckling a little while he rubbed his friend's head. "Maybe after." The dog simply growled again, not understanding the words, but getting a vague understanding from his tone. That did not stop it from jabbing at his leg again, however.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Sweatpants. Windbreaker. Scarf. Headband. The grey-clad Tamaki Uchida, teasingly nicknamed 'Muscle Freak' in high school, decides to kill two birds in one stone and get her daily jogging in on the way to see Hyousuke in Aoba Park. What better way to stay warm in the cold than to bundle up and get some cardio in?
Especially after being cooped up while recovering from the encounter with Tsurugi some time ago, and studying for finals, and catching up with her casework ...
Speaking of casework! That's the occasion that calls her to meet with Hyousuke in the first place. As she approaches him and his new canine friend, she pulls her scarf down and smiles at them both, still jogging in place. "Hiii! Hope I'm not -- " huff " -- too late -- " huff " -- hahaha."
She takes a seat next to him on the bench and retrieves her phone from her sweatpants pocket to go over her notes while she catches her breath. "So! You want to go first, or should I?" She gives the little dog a sidelong glance and adds, "I think you might have one major development to fill me in on, if I'm inferring things correctly."
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyousuke, for his part, didn't wear anything particularly noteworthy. A jacket that was perhaps a little thinner than most might have expected so late in the year, a pair of jeans that had clearly seen their fair share of usage, and some recently-cleaned walking shoes. He didn't seem bothered much by the cold, with his most noteworthy reaction being a short squint when the wind blew into his eyes - in fact, he seemed quite comfortable in the cold, having settled in quite nicely while the dog demanded that he do literally anything *but* that.
"Nah, I've only been here a little while." Hyousuke said to Tamaki, before shuffling over to make sure there was enough room on the bench. He'd already left plenty, but it never hurt to make sure. While he gave her room, the dog was intent on doing the exact opposite, and ambled over to her with the comically large stick still clenched between his teeth. It attempted to try and lick her, but Hyousuke held the leash firm, doing his best to keep it from slobbering over people who weren't prepared for it.
"Guess I'd better go first. Little guy looks like he wants me to do introductions anyway." Hyousuke chuckled, reaching down to ruffle the dog's fur, before straightening back up again. It tried to bark affectionately, but there was only so much that could be done while there was a chunk of tree still wedged between its jaws. Alas, it was too stubborn to let go, and not quite smart enough to recognise what the problem was in the first place. "You remember that rumour about something going around attacking people at night? Well... you're looking at him."
It was indeed the dog that was getting frustrated at the stick for not allowing it to bark to its fullest potential. Hyousuke said it without a note of deception to his voice.
"Me and some friends found a rumour demon in the same place as the collar, and it turned back into this little guy when we beat it. I'm thinking it's a dog that got lost on a walk and started lashing out because it was scared, so when rumours started getting around..." He was sure she knew the rest, given her line of work.
"I've been looking after him since then. Got him checked out by Igor and the vet. But it's weird... I know the collar got damaged, but he's got no chip, there's no missing posters or people asking for help finding a dog... I can't find a thing that'd help me get him back to his family." He looked a little mournfully down at the dog. The dog did not return the gesture, instead looking up with eyes that demanded it be freed to greet Tamaki, or instead be played with so it could stave off boredom.
"How about you? Any luck with that collar?"
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Maybe it's a sign of something that Tamaki's neither a fan of the cold nor water, and snow is both. No wonder she bundles up so much and tries to keep her blood pumping in this weather.
Tamaki doesn't rebuff the dog's enthusiastic affection, and she offers her hand out to the pup when it bounds over to her. "Good boy! Good boy!" With a good-natured chuckle, she ruffles the top of his head and pulls her hand back as she returns her attention to Hyousuke.
Her expression softens at Hyousuke's explanation that this is the same dog as in the rumor. She peers back at the dog in recognition, a reminder of someone else from her past: someone who was more gentle in reality than what popular perception of him suggested, someone abandoned by his family who lashed out because he found no support network in his peers or authority figures.
Someone who was the sole reason she got into this mess, among other consequences, some too painful to think about too closely in the company of others. All she responds with is a quiet, understated, "... sounds about right. Good on you for looking after him."
As for the collar: "Well, I did figure out the brand and make of the collar, and I figured out a few likely pet stores it came from and have a rough sketch of a radius of where its owner most likely lives in relation to those, but ..." She folds her arms and tilts her head. "'Pet detective' is honestly a separate kind of detective entirely. Most of my time was spent researching how others do it, and it does involve being the one to put up missing posters, trying to walk around town to locate the pet for a few days, or asking around. That's on me, but -- "
She slumps her head forward. "Most of the advice out there in the 'pet detective' profession is about finding cats. About an 80% to 20% ratio in terms of information density when it comes to tracking down dogs." At least in Japan.
She sits upright again, and her gaze slides back over to the dog. "That said, I do have one idea." Wordlessly, she retrieves the collar from her bag and holds it out for him to sniff. "Recognize this, boy?"
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
The dog did not know nor care what Tamaki was a fan of. Unless she was a fan of it. In that case, it was very concerned with it, and was all too happy to soak up her affection. With the closest thing to a happy expression it could make with that slab of discarded tree lodged in its gob, the dog leaned up into her pets, tail wagging with abject delight at the fact that yet another person had recognised how it deserved affection and attention in equal measure. It wasn't enough to drop the stick, however.
It was, in fairness, a very nice stick.
"Couldn't just leave him out there." Hyousuke said, in regards to her remark about taking care of the dog. "Poor guy wasn't trying to hurt anyone. He was... he was just scared, that's all. He was lost and alone, and he needed someone to just make sure he was doing alright." The smile on Hyousuke's face grew taut for a moment, more something that was forced to remain on his lips than any expression of politeness or mirth. He recovered quickly enough, but something soft and quiet as a whispering breeze fell from him before it did. "...Least you've got a family to go back to."
Hyousuke listened intently to Tamaki's explanation when it was given. While the finer details were lost on him, he at least appeared to be capable of grasping the broader strokes, and why she'd had trouble with his case in particular. His expression shifted slowly, but noticeably, turning from intrigue to consternation and then right back to fascination. The dog, meanwhile, showed little sign of understanding anything. New friend was talking, and it listened, but it was only in hopes that she would deign to grant it more attention. However, when she produced the collar, it dropped the stick almost immediately, and moved eagerly in.
It sniffed. It snuffed. It snuffed, and then it sniffed. It was clear that it recognised it, but to what degree was unclear until it drew back and barked loudly, wagging its tail furiously while looking up at Tamaki.
"Huh. Looks like that got a reaction out of him. What do we do with it now though? Is he gonna track its scent back to his house or something?"
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Something cuts too closely for Tamaki's comfort when Hyousuke remarks on family. Not about her own, but that figure the dog reminds her of. Just as immediately, her mind locks the train of thought down again; thinking about it now just strikes her like needlessly touching a hot stove.
Hic sunt dracones. That map's territory has already been explored thoroughly, well-trod and worn. Nothing lies in that direction but pain! Distantly, the jingle of Aoba Way's pharmacy reaches her ears, speaking of medications of all sorts to soothe what ails her, topological ointments to treat the cuts and bruises.
"'Least he has you," she offers in turn.
Then, after the dog deeply sniffs of the collar and begins barking his head off, Tamaki thinks Jackpot. Well, kind of. Tamaki stands up and stretches her limbs for a few moments, then shrugs in Hyousuke's direction. "Is that how it works? We can give it a shot, at least. If it doesn't work out, I can put in a word for you with a proper pet detective, or I can do the work when it comes to tracking down his owners ..."
She bends down, planting her hands on her knees, and looks directly at the dog before glancing at the sidewalk leading back out of Aoba Park. "Well, boy? Which way?"
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
The dog, though perhaps not understanding exactly what Tamaki had said, was eager to go regardless.He bolted off, almost sweeping Hyousuke off his feet with how suddenly moved, leaving him scrambling to maintain his footing and keep the dog at a reasonable distance.
"At least we know he's got something!" He joked, though his voice was a little strained from trying to balance keeping the dog close and not choking it with the collar. He made a quiet mental note to look for a harness that fit later on - perhaps once the furore of Christmas shopping and the various sales had died down.
He then chided himself, remindinghimself that he wasn't keeping the dog. In fact, if the lead went anywhere, it was to be relinquished before too long.
Before the dismay at such a notion had a chance to settle in, Hyousuke found a comfortable pace for both him and the dog, despite how eager it seemed to slip the leash and find its people. Back and forth, left and right, it followed whatever invisible trail its nose led it down, only stopping when he found a dead end. Even then, it didn't stop for long, instead turning right back around and trotting off in another direction entirely.
"Hoping he'll have his family back soon instead of just me." Hyousuke eventually said in response to Tamaki, albeit quite belatedly. He seemed a little sheepish as he did so. Like he'd let slip something he didn't want her hearing, but knew it was too late to pretend like nothing had happened. "I'm just here to make sure he gets where he's going. I can barely take care of myself, I can't imagine handling this little guy... I don't even have my own place yet."
Finally, the dog came to a stop, though it was in the middle of the pavement slap-bang between an assortment of apartments. It sniffed and snuffed and snoffed once more, but despite its attempts at finding the trail once more, it remained in place and whined. With wide and begging eyes, it looked between Hyousuke and Tamaki, as if they themselves stood a chance of picking the scent back up and taking him back home.
"Damn, i think that's about as far as he can get us. You think the collar lost some of its scent while it was in the woods? It looked like it'd been there a while. Can't imagine it'd be easy to track a scent through concrete either."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
He got something, at least. Off he goes! It's a good thing Tamaki's in her winter jogging gear as the dog explores all around here, all around there, all around everywhere.
Hyousuke's belated response garners a shrug from Tamaki. "I mean, if he does have just you, that's better than no one -- which is what he had before you got involved. Give yourself some credit for the improvement in his circumstances from before, yeah? Even if you're just helping him get along to where he belongs."
It doesn't go unnoticed that Hyousuke's putting some thought into things. "It's good that you're considering these things; maybe you can figure out what you'd need your life to be like so you could one day soon be in a position to handle 'that little guy.'" Beat. "Or some other little guy."
A shiver of ... some feeling shoots down her spine, and it isn't from the snow.
(Hey, Tamaki, isn't that advice you should follow, too? What, you think it's too cringe to relate your past problems to Hyousuke's situation? Gotta fill your eyes and with more recent sights and sounds to distract you?)
Hesitantly, quietly, some honest part of her breaks through her cheery facade and does finally admit, "... if his family does take him back, letting go is much easier said than done."
Eventually the trail the dog seems to be following goes as cold as the December weather.
As for Hyousuke's most recent question, Tamaki blankly stares back and shrugs haplessly. "... Probably? Don't look at me, I don't know how well scent-tracking for dogs works. I'm more of a cat person." As she examines their surroundings more closely, she does get an inkling. "He might have recognized some areas along the way, though. You think we should go ask around the place and see if people recognize him? It's a lot easier to do that with him right here with us instead of going off of an old collar like I had."
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Intellectually, he knew what Tamaki said was true. He'd freed the dog of the supernatural influences binding its heart, he'd fed and housed it when there was nobody to take care of it, and he went to every possible length to try and get it back to its owners. But even so, when he looked down at the dog and how it seemed so happy to have finally caught a whiff of its people, the weak smile he wore turned just a little more hollow. He did what he could to hide it, but there was only so much that could be done when in such close proximity.
"...If he's happy, then I'll be happy. He deserves that much after everything he's gone through."
Hyousuke wasn't sure what that sentiment said about him, especially when said in response to what Tamaki had told him, but it was what he'd settled on. He hadn't lied either. He wanted that poor thing to find its loving family and a warm home. He wanted it to have somewhere to go on Christmas, and not linger in some small, closed-off room where the closest thing it had to company was the memory of friends with better places to be.
So why did it all leave his heart so heavy?
It didn't bear thinking about. There was a job to do, and Tamaki had already moved the conversation along to something else that made him stop and think. Hyousuke had to bite back a remark that she was the third person to have expressed a similar sentiment to him. Instead, he pondered what he could tell her that wasn't some pithy remark that contributed nothing. It took a few seconds, and all of them were spent staring thoughtfully ahead at the middle distance. When he finally spoke it, he didn't seem happy or sad about the sentiment Julian had instilled in him. Rather, he spoke how he looked. Thoughtful.
"Just need to figure out one concrete thing I can do. Take a step forward." The road was long and winding, shrouded by fog, and he was certain it would double back on itself and be fraught with danger. But such was life, and he had little choice but to walk it. Speaking of walks, the dog's one had come to an abrupt pause, but Tamaki at least had a plan of action that he could get behind. "You sure you want to spend Christmas Eve with me, asking about a stray dog?"
He chuckled, conveniently ignoring the fact that he himself had nobody to spend it with, before a look of realisation dawned.
"Oh, crap, I almost forgot. Here, take this. Now, I know what it looks like, but I swear it's nothing I shouldn't be able to get." The ornate bag was made from thick and decorated paper, with a couple of strings at the top to secure it and keep the contents away from prying eyes. It looked, for all intents and purposes, like a bottle of wine wrapped up nice. That was because it was a bottle of wine.
Cooking wine. Fancy cooking wine with a fancy-looking label, but perfectly legal for a minor to purchase.
"I know it's not much, but I wanted to do something to say thanks for everything you did this year. So, uh, thanks. And merry Christmas, Uchida-san."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Much the same could be said of Tamaki. 'Time heals all wounds,' they say, and still ...
Why did it leave her own heart so heavy?
... is this what Tamaki wants to do with her Christmas Eve? Single as she is now, she doesn't have anyone else in mind to spend it with, but ... She gives Hyousuke a look which very much suggests that no, she would rather be somewhere else on this holiday. She sheepishly rubs the back of her neck and glances away, back towards the direction of her own home.
"I have ... plans," she lies, wholly transparently.
Her mood turns around instantly when Hyousuke brings out the gift of (cooking) wine, and it's only to prevent a minor from being seen with it in public that she hastily snatches it away from him. "Oh, thank you! You shouldn't have! I mean -- you shouldn't have, but -- " She looks up to the sky and presses a finger against her chin before she winks at Hyousuke. "Let's just refrain from mentioning this from Suou-tantei."
At least she does realize this is the kind of wine best meant for cooking and not drinking.
Tamaki points at Hyousuke as she starts to walk away back to her apartment. "Merry Christmas to you, too!"