inseine | VIDEO ✍ 009 --> Backdated to prior to the Dreamwalking event

[The entire announcement is filtered from Alice Liddell. The initial part of this video broadcast is made via official channels, with the caller ID exhibited simply as SCPD.]

Young women from their teenaged years to their middle twenties are cautioned to keep out of the dark. You have all heard the news by now unless you are blind to the papers. Or unable to read.

Walk in pairs, or keep a sturdy man close at hand. There will be no official curfew yet, but it is not wise to be out alone past dusk.

The Somarium Police Department is also accepting any worthy scraps of information concerning the recent murders. A reward of up to ten thousand credits will be paid to the most valuable spies. The identity of the murderer is top importance. All information concerning this ugly matter shall be sent to Chief Inspector Javert at the Government District Police Headquarters.

[This second message is made in the same backdrop as the first - a clean wall behind a massive, looming, dark and authoritative figure, files stacked beside him on what appears to be a desk. Chief Inspector Javert's jaw twitches subtly, the furrows between his brows lowering a millimeter or two. He is very tired and a touch melancholic, but calm and in remarkable control.]

There is a girl in need of a competent new caretaker. She is well-groomed, Christian, and under ten years of age.

Don't call me about it unless you have time and serious interest. I am not a pawnbroker for children; I will expect a faithful and fair commitment to the girl.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Javert, who is a very blasé and extraordinarily calm individual, reacts only with a single, measured arch of his brow. It is the kind of poker face that unsettles a person, that makes them unsure of where, exactly, they stand in this formidable man's eye.]

--You were her family once.

[The Inspector rarely acknowledges any references to the alternate lives many of the denizens of Somarium have experienced. Perhaps Tamaki was not even aware that Javert knew so much about the Valjean family during that first 'extra life.' Well, here is a rather large hint that Javert pays attention to certain details that may seem insignificant or irrelevant to him.

Not to mention the fact that Javert has thought about Valjean (alias Fauchelevent) and his family members considerably over the past several weeks, with Cosette's death lurking over his broad shoulders.

Javert's jaw twitches almost imperceptibly.]

What did the good Doctor tell you?

[yep, Tamaki instantly kind of irks and actually sits a little straighter at Javert's expression. he honestly wasn't sure what Javert had meant by that question.]

Er, yes?

[oh wait he's asking a question!]

Ah—that Cosette had disappeared and that you were taking care of Alice until you found someone more suitable for her to stay with.

You are very young, Suoh.

[It is a blunt, calm observation, shockingly devoid of judging.]

What do you know of child-rearing? She is a restless girl. Prone to a terrible habit of wandering off. You know this already, I imagine.

[he knew this would be brought up, so he was expecting it. so despite feeling very much intimidated by the Inspector, he puts on a determined face.]

Yes, I am very well aware that I am still young, and I will be honest and say that I do not know much about parenting or raising children in general. However, in my time it is not uncommon for older siblings to raise their younger ones on their own, especially if their parents are either deceased or working. And despite not knowing, I would do whatever research necessary and do my best that she would be well cared and provided for.

Alice also wouldn't be living with just me. She would also have Haruhi, Kyouya, and our other housemates who are also adults. We live in a safe neighborhood and I would also leave my dog, Marie, with her as extra precaution. At the very least I can offer Alice a safe, warm, and loving home where there would always at least be one person there waiting for her.

[takes a breath.]

I can't stand seeing Alice feeling so insecure right now. Because we're older, we understand that eventual separation and loss will happen—but Alice is still too young to handle it. All I want is for her to stay happy and feel that she still has a home somewhere here in Somarium.

In the end, it will be up to you and Alice to decide, and I will respect your decision whatever that may be.

[and now he actually bows his head low.]

All I ask is that you consider me as a suitable guardian. Please.

[Javert is silent for a long time. He gives the impression of straightening at his seat, his stare boring intently into Tamaki's eyes. Even through the video feed, he is calm, resolute, and unreadable... and perhaps, uncharacteristically, a touch tired.

He looks down his nose at Tamaki and nods once, a curt motion.]

There! Now you have got it. That is the best answer I have heard all day, the devil take them all.

[He folds his arms across his chest. His head tilts almost imperceptibly to one side, a pinched frown at his thin, firm mouth.]

You're marrying your petite amie, aren't you? It seems I remember an announcement like that. I do not doubt it will be a... [he selects his word very precisely,] spectacle.

How will that interfere with the girl's adoption?

[and he's just going to blink and look up startled.]

—Eh?? [he wasn't expecting that kind of answer and he was trying not to get his hopes up. so it takes him a moment before he registers the question.]

Marrying—ah, yes! The wedding won't be until the spring, so it shouldn't interfere at all. I've also spoken to Haruhi and the others about possibly taking Alice in and they all consented to it.

[A noiseless, humorless laugh.] Ah! You have it all planned already!

[Another silence. Javert loses himself to his thoughts, his lids dropping away from Tamaki and toward the papers on his desk. His pupils bounce, as if he were reading some invisible sheet of paper in front of his nose.

Something occurs to him all at once.]

How long have you lived here, Suoh? In the city. Is it a long while, more than most of these peope?

Haha, well we're still in the planning stages, but yes.

[and...silence. it was both a little intimidating and curious at the same time. to see the great inspector's mind working...he really did have to wonder what he was thinking.

and then sudden question.]

Hm? Ah—a little over three years now. [...man it really has been a long time, hasn't it?]

[Javert's expression is unchanging, save for a tiny contraction in his left eyebrow.]

Indeed, longer than me, [he mutters.] I had forgotten.

[A stretch of silence. And then, suddenly, Javert's gaze snaps up like a magnet to steel.]

You will go to the central police station this afternoon. I will be out in the city after two o'clock. Come before then.

[the silence had been so long, Tamaki actually jumps a bit at the sudden snap of his gaze.]

E-Eh? The police station? Two o'clock? Er—okay!

VIDEO ✍ 009 --> Backdated to prior to the Dreamwalking event

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