Talk:Niwa Sachiri

Sachiri Omake

Ch. 1: Alertness vs. Search

"So, Sachiri."

"Mmhmm?" she replied, flipping over the grilling bonito in the pan.

"You notice anything off this morning?" Mei asked.

"Off? Not really?" Sachiri blinked. "Is this a test?"

"Maybe."

"Erk."

Sachiri wrinkled her brow, closing her eyes and opening them again. She looked around but, try as she might, she couldn't notice anything. Rather, it seemed like an entirely too open question. What, in a world of spirits, superpowers and mirror worlds, was 'normal' and not 'off'?

"Well that's sort of not really fair isn't it?" she said, trying to nonchalantly turn off the stove. "I've only been living in here for two weeks."

"You've only been in Tokyo for two weeks," Mei agreed, "but that doesn't mean it'll stay safe until you're familiar with the area. Crime's been on the rise and like I said, there's some weird things nobody's comfortable talking about. The first step to staying safe is staying alert! This is the sort of thing they try to teach the first month in police academy you know."

"I-" She opened her mouth, wanting to protest how she'd spotted the Puppetmaster before being spotted in return on her first full day in the city but then remembered that the full details of that fight had been somewhat glossed over. That was the other thing. Just hiding what she could see but wasn't supposed to see was hard enough without also having to see the 'normal' things that everyone else expected her to notice. Just the thought made her head hurt."

"Look at the clock," her cousin suggested.

"The stove clock?" Sachiri blinked again. "Oh. Well it's not like you can turn the clock back on my phone," she said. "Make sure you turn it back afterwards. I don't know how without the instructions you know."

"I will, don't worry. What about the fridge? You must have opened the fridge while preparing breakfast right?"

"You-" Sachiri opened the fridge. "You turned all your beer upside down... Why would anyone even notice that at the back behind all the proper food?"

"I got the idea from the calling card of one of the weird phantom thief cases they always foist on me. I thought that'd be an easy one though, since I noticed you turned them all rightside up the first evening here," she said, managing only to sound only slightly smug-satisfied as Sachiri laid out breakfast for two. "Remember to stay alert at all times. Especially when you're outside. And- Eh?"

"What now?" Sachiri said. "Oh, the salt shaker? Well, it's only natural right? I mean you have a pepper shaker and those things always come in pairs."

"Mmm mm…" she agreed. "That's actually a clever catch. It's more that I was sure I'd lost it though. Where'd you find it?"

"In the space between the fridge and the counter, hiding behind an empty beer can," she said, putting just enough admonishment to add a bit of a wince to the smug-satisfied. "Really."

"Well it was already empty when it fell in! And I couldn't reach it. Isn't it annoying that that space is always just slightly longer than anyone's arm?"

"Just use anything long next time."

"Wait. I didn't know I had a broom," Mei said suddenly, looking at the red plastic one now standing in the corner by the door."

"You didn't. I only bought that yesterday, but I mean, I just used the rice scoop and then washed it. And it's not the only thing," Sachiri said, placing a near full bottle of shichimi on the table as well. "Here. This was behind the leg of the couch. It's older than the new bottle you've half used so please use it up first."