[Private] Teachers' Talk

Masato walks up to the tea shop and carefully reads the sign above. 'The Shanghai... That's got to be it. I hope I'm not too late...'

With that said, the man pushes the door open and enters, then carefully looks around. Unsurprisingly, most of the tables are empty. Masato takes a seat at one of them and quickly orders some black tea while waiting for Iro to show up.

Iro spruces herself up after work in her flat opposite the tea shop, and leaves with a spring in her step.

This should be fun! It's a nice sunny day.. everything seems... blue. My favorite.

She walks into the Tea Room and spots Masato across the room, and hurries over.

"Hi there, Toriyama-sensei. I'm glad I wasn't early."

The whole room had a purple-y glow to it, and the occasional spoon clattering against a plate didn't produce TOO-vibrant a red. Iro orders a green tea and puts a stupid amount of sugar in it.

"I like it sweet, like me!" she says sarcastically when she realises this is a bit out of the ordinary. Her room mates back in England had sugar by the pound in their cups.

Masato chuckles slightly. 'I don't like to put anything in my tea, so I just leave it black... Like me, I suppose' he says, mostly referring to his clothing.

After taking a sip of his tea, the teacher turns towards his colleague. 'So, Shisen-sensei, what classes do you teach? Any students that left an impression on you?'

"Black like you eh.." She says, with a worried glance down at his crotch area.

How forward... I like it.

"Hmm, I taught a class a few days ago with the lovebirds Satoshi Veach and Kuriko Hatsuhara. They were fun, I'll be glad to see them again tomorrow in Art Club." She says with a smile, and stared into her tea. Looking up, she asks, "What about you?"

Masato squints his eye, a little bit worried by the fact that Iro was not-too-subtly checking him out. 'I, uh... I see...' he takes a sip of his tea and leans back. 'Ah, Veach and Hatsuhara... Yes, I met them in my science class once or twice, before they got kidnapped...'

Iro chokes on her tea, and after a few minutes of hacking up her lungs, replies "Kidnapped?! What?!"

'You didn't know?' Masato calmly drinks some more of his tea. 'They disappeared recently, the newest victims of that serial kidnapper. There's an ongoing search for them that's getting more intense every day, especially after the bodies of those two seniors were discovered in the forest...'

Iro takes another sip of tea. "That's.... terrible. Do they have any leads?"

'I don't think so' Masato admits. 'All they know is that the killer was supposedly using the students for cybernetic research. To be honest, I'm surprised the police haven't come to even interrogate me considering all the metal in my own body... Then again, I suppose a man who can not stand up on his own won't be able to kidnap too many people...' he smiles faintly.

"My my... you make it sound like the killer is you!" Iro says with a laugh. "Guilty conscience?" She asks with a smile.

"I hope they're found soon."

'You got me. The kidnapper is actually me. I'm only faking my disability to throw off suspicion, and in actually kidnap people and convert them in my secret lair in order to bring about the singularity' he chuckles. 'Yeah, I don't like the thought of someone threatening my students. Unfortunately, it appears that they're in danger from more than one place...'

"More than one place?" asks Iro with a frown. "How do you mean? Also, would you like to visit Satoshi and Kuriko on their imminent return to the hospital? I think they would like their teacher's support."

Even if he doesn't go, I want to anyway.

'That sounds like a very good idea' Masato nods and takes a sip of his tea. 'Though first we need to see if they will even return in the first place. None of the other missing students have come back so far. It's good to be optimistic about their chances, but let me remind you that one of the previous kidnapped students was already found dead. And, about the danger...' he looks around, as if to check if someone was listening to them. 'I'm talking about Shinto-sensei. You must have met him already. Did you know that he's affiliated to the mob?'