'Tis an Angel under Cover production. Written by Dewin Duvae. Disclaimer: I own all the characters mentioned. Nintendo and Gamefreak own Pokemon and Merrowl is a twisted version of such. This is a completely different universe from the one described in Gregg Sharps Pokegirls & Wild Horses. (Except of course that it's just the same.) Pkgrl - Family matters 7 A family long gone ------------------------------ There was little light in the room. Barely anything beyond the strips of light coming through the blinders. But there it was. A small blue flame dancing in the palm of a man with dark glasses. "An old flame." Another light sprung up beside the first. "A wife running wild." He tipped his hand over and watched the flames split into smaller ones as they moved up inbetween his fingers. "And little children popping up." He shook his head and snuffed the flames out with a quick wave of the hand. "I wonder what Kiyone would have thought of this." Shiro let out a soft sigh. "I bet she would have smiled and helped the poor sucker." He rolled his chair over to the door and flicked the switch. "Let's take another look at that letter." The room was a nice one for an office. Not a lot of paperwork lying about. No trashcans in sight, nevermind any trash. No dust on on the shelves, of wich there were quite a few. No, this was a neat room by anyones standard. It was the kind of room you'd expect from a cleaning lady or of an executive that had moved so high up the corporate ladder that he never visited it. Of course, it was neither of those. It was the room of Shiro Yamatsui. A police officer in a village that didn't need him. Yamatsui, as many who knew him might have said, needed a place like that. After he had cleared out the Kamano Syndicate, the organization that heed held responsible for the death of his wife, he simply wasn't the same. "He was a good cop," the chief had told the media after the trials, "we just can't take that away from him." Topaz was to be Shiro's retirement. All that aside, it was an easy way to buy his silence. Too many people could have been implicated in that mess and Shiro could have named every single one of them. "Let's see." He rubbed the papper between his fingers. "Rough, but not recycled. The penmanship is pedantic. Yup," he sighed, "this is definetly from a lawyer. I wonder what he did to make her run away? Probably a real jerk at home, but too dumb to realize it." Shiro wheeled over to the window and pulled back the blinds. "Dear sir." He snorted. "What a way to start a letter. As if he's expecting the reader to be a pureblood. Not too bad though. Appeals to the ego." He tapped the desk throughtfully, then continued. "I am writing in the hopes that my wife may be in your area. She is fair, slender build, brunette and has mahogany eyes. Likes to wear fine dresses. Last seen travelling with an elderly Tamer by the name of Mack. Registry code Mack-253 6079-Yellow." Shiros frowned. "Not exactly overflowing with information. I wonder if he's avoiding something?" A quick look in the computer terminal showed all of Macks information. Including a picture, a run through of of his harem history and a family tree. "One daughter by his first Alpha. No other living relatives, and no last name. Hmmm." He rubbed his chin thouhgtfully. "That's odd, even for a tamer." The papper rustled as he brought it back up. "Please notify me if you happen across some information on her current whereabouts. I am prepared to show my gratitude in any small way I can." Shiro shook his head. "He's beeing very straightforward for a lawyer. 'Show my gratitude.' That's not just a bit careless. Then again, he has to be somewhat wet behind the ears if he signs it as Mr. Reywal." He sighed. "It doesn't matter. I'm just wasting my time. The tamer isn't even registred in this league. He's never going to show up here." Shiro rubbed his face and put the letter down. "Though it's not like I've got anything better to do. Kiyone would have turned in her grave if she saw me now. An outpost cop, with nothing to do." He chuckled quietly. "Her dream come true and yet. Here I am, bending over backwards to find a crime that has no possibility of coming near me." He stood up from his chair and scratched his head irritably. "I'm pathetic." The letter was deposited in the topdrawer. A cup from the second was taken over to a pot on a shelf. "Now, where'd I put that coffe?" Shiro looked through every shelf on the wall but nothing came of it. No bag of coffe jumped out and screamed "Here I am!" So, regretfully, he put the pot back. As he pulled out the drawer for the cup, he slapped his face. "Of all the..." In the back, behind the stationary, was the bag of coffe he'd bought last time the merchant had come round. A little while later Shiro held a rapidly heating pot in his hands. "Looks like it's about to rain," he noted as he looked out the window. "That'll be good for the farmers." Gently, he poured the coffe into the cup. "What should I do? Kiyone, you were always better at this. I am being driven insane by the scenery. I mean just look at it!" He pointed his cup at the rolling hills outside his window. "Hills to the left, clifface to the right! What's worse, you can't walk a mile without seeing a sight that would make your heart stop." He took a careful sip from his coffe. "Mmm, almost cooled down. Just the way she liked it." He sighed and looked again at the gathering rain-clouds. "Maybe I should just put nature in jail for giving people heart attacks. It certainly deserves it. Give me a big city any day." Sighing again, he sat down by his desk. The cup found a nice coaster that read 'K&S 4 infinity'. It had a blue egg on it for reasons unknown except to the maker. Suddenly the door flung open. An old guy in a red trenchcoat and black jeans rushed up to the desk. "Is there a gym in this town?" He had a red and white cap turned halfway to the side and looked like he hadn't shaved in a week. "That depends." Shiro smiled and pushed his shades back. "If by town you mean the collection of houses between the hospital and the mansion on the hill, then no." He leaned back in his chair. "If you wanted to challenge for room and board, your out of luck. But we do have some cells that you can use. The beds are very comfortable, or so I'm told, and the toilets are still in good condition. The man seemed to think it over for a minute, then shook his head. "No. Can you tell me what I would need to get permission to build one?" "Just talk to the mayor. He's the big guy in the red house. Three houses down the road." The man nodded and started to leave. "Stop!" He stopped. "If your daughter doesn't mind me asking, why?" "Urm." He swallowed and looked at Shiro. Shiro simply smiled at him and leaned back. "Well," he started, "It's a bit complicated you see." "These things," Shiro noted, "always are." The raindrops began their pitter patter out on the cobbled street. "Uhm, I have a granddaughter now. Except that we're sure he won't--" "Mr. Reywal?" The man nodded sullenly. "Yes." He crossed his arms and stared Shiro in the eyes. "I guess I'm in trouble now, huh?" Shiro smiled at the man. "Not if you build your gym in this town." The man nodded and left, closing the door as quietly as possible. He took a sip of the cup and took out the letter again. "Help the sucker or not. I wonder what Kiyone would have done?" He looked out the window as a woman tried to sprint through the raindrops with a soggy Merrowl cub following her. "Whatever she would have done, I know one thing." He smiled, taking off his shades. "I'm not bored anymore." ------------------- Authors Notes: Incidentally, it's a police terminal. I would think they can acces more information than your average person. If Shiro had wanted to, I believe he should have been able to get Elise's info from that thing as well. Well, things seem to escalate from nothing ne? I wonder what'll happen next.