. . . .
Benimaru stood at the docks near a warehouse, wearing a completely different uniform than usual. He had on the standard Marine uniform, a white button-up shirt with the Marine insignia on the chest, dark blue pants, paired with black boots and a cap. He tugged at the collar uncomfortably as it was just a little bit too small on him, but it was fine.
Today was the day of the team assignments, and he'd been given the actual Marine uniform instead of the training uniform this time. The first assignment would take place here by the docks, responding to a reported murder case in one of the warehouses. He was the first of his team to arrive, but there were already groups of Marines going in and out of the warehouse, some carrying equipment, others standing guard at the entrance.
The salty smell of seawater mixed with something else, something metallic and unpleasant that Benimaru tried not to think too hard about.
"Yo, Benimaru!" Derek called out, arriving just a couple minutes later. He was also wearing his Marine uniform, though his looked like it fit better than Benimaru's. "Am I late?" he asked, out of breath, looking like he'd run all the way here.
Benimaru shook his head. "No, you're actually early. The Marine we're supposed to be assigned to should be arriving shortly."
Derek released a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He glanced over at the warehouse, watching the Marines moving in and out. "Damn... do you think we'll see the body?" he asked.
Benimaru shook his head. "No, the team responsible for the cleanup already took the body." He'd seen the group escort it out in a body bag about ten minutes ago. "I think they're just gathering evidence right now." He gestured toward a few people in hazmat suits walking into the warehouse. Most likely the forensic team that would investigate.
Derek nodded, though he seemed a bit nervous. He then looked over at Benimaru, who was just waiting casually. "Aren't you nervous?"
Benimaru raised a brow. "Nervous for what? The assignment? No, not really."
This wasn't his first time seeing bodies before, and he didn't particularly care for the assignment as much as Derek seemed to. Unlike Derek, Benimaru just wanted to get this over with and get back to training.
Derek looked a bit surprised but just nodded.
A couple minutes later of waiting, a girl could be seen walking toward them. She had ginger hair that caught the sunlight and hazel eyes that were sharp and observant. She was shorter than both of them, probably around five-four, but she was fairly built for a girl, her shoulders broader than average and her arms showing defined muscle even through the Marine uniform.
Upon seeing her, Benimaru immediately recognized her.
He'd seen her a few times in the training grounds, but she didn't train with their group. She was under a different instructor. While Voss oversaw most of the recruits, he couldn't train all of them and had different instructors handle others.
"Hello," she greeted them with a smile. "My name is Akari Tanaka... nice to meet y'all." She had a slight country accent that made her words sound relaxed and friendly.
Even though they already knew each other's names from the team assignments list, it was just proper manners to introduce yourselves properly to people you didn't know.
"Hello, my name is Derek Mars... pleasure to be teamed up with you," Derek said, offering his hand to shake, to which she nodded with a smile and shook his hand firmly.
"My name is Benimaru Kurogane... nice to meet you," Benimaru said, also extending his hand. Her grip was stronger than he expected.
"Nice to meet y'all too," Akari said, releasing Benimaru's hand. "So, where y'all from? I'm from Harvest Glen..just a small farming island. Nothing fancy, just crops and livestock mostly."
Derek answered first. "I'm from a little coastal town called Ironhaven. Nothing exciting ever happened there until I left for the Marines."
Benimaru hesitated for just a second before answering. "Im from a small village... not much to say about it." He kept it vague intentionally. There was no need to bring up what happened there or even mention the name.
Akari nodded, seeming satisfied with the answers. "Small-town folks, huh? Guess we all got that in common at least."
"What made you leave and join up?" Derek asked, just trying to make conversation.
Akari paused for a brief moment, contemplating the answer before she spoke. "I wanna save up enough money to give my folks," she said simply.
That was more or less the common answer Benimaru was getting from a lot of people. Not to say it wasn't ambitious, but it sort of explained the lack of justice in the Marines and the corruption that seemed to run through the organization. When most people joined for money rather than ideals, it made sense why things were the way they were.
Then, as they finished getting acquainted with one another, as if on cue, the Marine officer assigned to them arrived.
He looked to be in his thirties, with short, spiky black hair and a face that seemed permanently stuck in an expression of disinterest. His eyes were half-lidded, like he'd rather be anywhere else, and his posture was relaxed to the point of looking almost lazy. He was fairly built, similar to Marcus's frame, but a bit shorter, probably around five-ten. A cigarette dangled from his lips, smoke curling upward as he approached them with slow, unhurried steps.
"Well, it seems I've embarrassed myself being late," he said, his voice flat and lacking any real emotion. "Sorry to keep you guys waiting. If you don't know my name already, I'm Petty Officer Genzo Yamada, and I'll be taking you all under my wing for the upcoming months. Try to keep up and don't make me regret accepting this assignment."
Everyone immediately straightened up and saluted him as he finished speaking.
"YES, SIR!" they said in unison.
Genzo nodded as he took a puff of his cigarette before turning toward the crime scene. "I assume you guys already know this is a murder case," he said, more as a statement than a question.
All of them nodded.
"Good..." Genzo turned to walk and gestured for them to follow behind as they made their way to the warehouse. "Early this morning, a resident reported an incident revolving around the murder of a victim called Hadeki Taniguchi. Our job is to gather evidence from witnesses and report it to Warrant Officer Kurosawa, who is the head investigator of this case." He explained while walking into the warehouse, his cigarette bobbing slightly with each word.
The inside of the warehouse was dim despite the natural light filtering through high windows and the portable lights the forensic team had set up. The space was large and mostly empty, with wooden crates stacked along the walls and scattered across the floor.
Yellow tape cordoned off a section near the center of the warehouse where the body had been found. Dark stains marked the concrete floor, and numbered evidence markers were placed around the area.
The forensic team, still in their hazmat suits, moved methodically through the scene. One was taking photographs from multiple angles, the camera flash periodically lighting up the dim space. Another was carefully collecting samples with tweezers, placing them into small plastic bags. A third was sketching the layout of the scene on a clipboard, noting distances and positions.
Genzo stopped just outside the cordoned area and turned to face his three recruits. "If you guys were expecting something different, sorry to burst your bubble. This is what real Marine work looks like..." he said, gauging their expressions.
Derek looked a bit pale, his eyes lingering on the dark stains on the floor. Akari's jaw was set, her expression serious as she was trying not to show her emotions. All of them seemed affected by the scene..except for one recruit in particular. Benimaru, who was looking around the room with no particular emotion on his face, just observing.
Genzo noticed but didn't comment.
He just sighed, releasing a puff of smoke.
"Alright, here's what we're doing," he said, pulling the cigarette from his lips and gesturing with it toward the warehouse entrance. "Your job is to interview the people around the dock who might've witnessed anything. Dock workers, vendors, anyone who was in the area between midnight and six this morning when the body was discovered. Ask them what they saw, what they heard, if they noticed anything unusual. Write down their names, their statements, and bring it all back to me."
He pointed at each of them in turn. "Be polite but direct. Don't let people brush you off, but don't be aggressive either. Most civilians cooperate better when you're respectful."
Genzo took another drag from his cigarette. "And don't contaminate the scene. Stay outside the tape. The forensics team doesn't need recruits trampling over evidence. Any questions?"
"NO SIR!" All of them said in unison.
Genzo nodded and gestured for them to go and investigate.
. . .
The trio all separated to cover more ground and gather information instead of working together. It seemed like the more logical solution.
Benimaru interviewed a lot of people who were there this morning, but they all gave him the same generic answers that led him absolutely nowhere. "I didn't see anything," "I didn't hear anything," "I was asleep at that time"...the usual unhelpful responses people gave when they either genuinely didn't know or didn't want to get involved.
Until he decided to interview the warehouse workers themselves. They gave better answers.
From what he gathered, Hideki Taniguchi was a worker at the warehouse and had been for five years. He was a cheerful guy, always cracking jokes and keeping morale up among the other employees. But he always showed up on time and did his work well, even to the point where he'd been rewarded employee of the month back-to-back for three months straight.
Which led to even more confusion for Benimaru, because that gave him no clear motive as to why anybody would want to kill him. The guy seemed well-liked, hardworking, and didn't have any obvious enemies based on what people were saying.
The only possible motive he had at the moment was that someone was jealous of him being employee of the month repeatedly and killed him over it.
But that seemed... stupid. Way too petty to murder someone over. People didn't usually kill for something that minor unless there was something else going on beneath the surface. But this was one piece and anything could've happened.
Benimaru jotted down notes in his small notebook, tapping his pencil against the page as he thought.
"NO!!! WHERE'S MY HUSBAND! NO!!" A sudden woman's voice rang out in the area, raw with grief and desperation.
Benimaru's head snapped toward the sound. A woman stood near the entrance, restrained by two Marine officers who held her arms gently but firmly. She had long dark hair pulled back in a simple ponytail, wearing a plain dress that looked hastily thrown on. Her face was red and streaked with tears, mascara running down her cheeks as she struggled against the Marines' grip, trying to get past them into the warehouse.
"Ma'am, please, you can't go in there—" one of the officers was saying, but she wasn't listening.
"LET ME SEE HIM! PLEASE! THAT'S MY HUSBAND!" Her voice cracked on the last word, dissolving into sobs.
Benimaru watched the scene unfold, with no particular reaction. But as his eyes drifted away from the commotion, he noticed something else.
A boy was watching from an alleyway between two buildings across from the warehouse. He looked young, maybe twelve or thirteen, with messy brown hair and worn clothing. His face was partially hidden in shadow, but his eyes were fixed on the scene with an intensity that felt... off.
Benimaru found him suspicious but decided it was probably just his imagination running wild.
Until he and the boy locked eyes for a brief second.
The boy's face immediately flashed with worry, his eyes widening. Benimaru could swear he saw the kid's lips move, muttering something that looked like "Shit..." under his breath. Before he bolted in the opposite direction, disappearing deeper into the alley.
Benimaru looked around quickly, realizing nobody else had noticed. The other Marines were focused on the grieving widow, and his teammates were elsewhere conducting their interviews.
He made a split-second decision and gave chase, running after the boy down the alleyway.
Benimaru ran down the alleyway. "STOP!" he yelled at the boy, but the kid obviously didn't listen and kept running.
The boy grabbed whatever he could find on the alleyway floor, from empty crates, loose boards, trash, and threw them behind him at Benimaru. Benimaru dodged them easily, sidestepping a wooden plank and jumping over a toppled barrel without breaking pace.
The boy kept running, bursting out of the alley and cutting through the streets in an attempt to throw Benimaru off. But Benimaru was still on his tail, keeping pace despite the sharp turns and obstacles. The kid was fast and knew the area well, weaving between market stalls and startled pedestrians, but Benimaru's longer legs and training gave him the advantage.
The boy took a sharp turn into a corner of the slummier area of the city and came to a sudden stop at a dead end. As a tall brick wall blocked his path, which was too high for him to climb.
The boy stopped and turned around, his chest heaving. "What do you want from me?" he asked, out of breath and clearly panicked.
Benimaru slowed to a stop a few meters away, also catching his breath. "I only ran after you because you ran when you saw me," he said between breaths. "So that means you know something about the death of the victim at the warehouse that I don't."
The boy kissed his teeth in frustration. "I don't know anything... and even if I did—" He gurgled spit in his mouth before spitting on the ground. "I sure ain't telling no fucking Marine." His fists clenched into balls at his sides.
"Well, then... I guess you're coming with me," Benimaru said, taking a step forward. Even if the boy could fight, Benimaru was confident enough he could take him on. He was just a kid.
"I ain't going nowhere..." the boy said, backing up against the wall. Then his expression shifted, and he screamed, "GET HIM, BOYS!"
Suddenly, from atop the buildings on either side of the alley, kids jumped down..five, maybe six of them. All of them were dirty, wearing worn-out clothes full of holes and stains. They carried pipes, wooden bats, and one even had a rusted chain. Their faces were hard, older than their years, the kind of look kids got when they'd been living on the streets too long.
They landed around Benimaru, surrounding him in a loose circle.
Benimaru's eyes darted between them, assessing the situation. His hand instinctively moved toward his waist, but he wasn't armed, since recruits weren't given weapons for these kinds of assignments.
"Should've minded your own business, Marine," the original boy said from behind the group, a smirk now on his face.
. . . . .
TO BE CONTINUED...
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