The Girl Who Came Out of the Cold

Present Day

The town of Fujikawa in Yamanashi Prefecture was a relatively small town, with less than 16,000 local population. The town mostly ran on forestry and agriculture, bordering the Fuji river. With such a small population and only three elementary schools, it was about as peaceful as a small town in Japan could get. This peace would soon be shattered in a way that no one could have predicted.

At Fujikawa Hospital, Dr. Hatsuka Minatsuki was making the rounds in the emergency wing when the call came in. The nurse on station picked up.

"Fujikawa, this is ambulance 81, inbound to your location," the radio crackled. "We have a Yamada Hanako*, age approximately twelve to fourteen, with external trauma and signs of multiple stab injuries. Patient is unconscious... current vital signs: blood pressure 90/42, pulse 56, respiration 15, skin is pale, warm and dry. Treatments: spinal motion restriction in place and plasma transfusion per BLS protocol, ETA two minutes."

* equivalent to "Jane Doe" in Japan

Minatsuki and the nurse tensed up slightly... Fujikawa was a mostly quiet peaceful town. Major crimes like this were an anomaly, but like any modern hospital, they would do their duty. Less than two minutes, the ambulance arrived and wheeled in their patient. The nurse looked at the patient; she was a cute girl, roughly early teens, as the call reported. There was what appeared to be an ornate dagger thrust into her back. The nurse and doctor knew not to just yank the blade out as that could lead to more bleeding until they've had a chance to ascertain her immediate condition.

"Type and cross her, nurse," Minatsuki ordered as she checked her immediate vitals. Frankly, it's a miracle she's even alive, she thought. She had rarely seen such a wound in her practice, at least not in this town. Of course, even in Japan, crime did happen, but normally, it was the more mundane assaults, robberies or even the very rare murder. This victim, along with the unusual blade suggested something far more savage, even ritualistic about this case. What kind of savage person would do such a thing...?

The nurse finished the blood exam, prepared the correct blood types and started a transfusion. While doing so, she made a note of the girl's clothing... what kind of outfit was this? Was she doing some kind of cosplay or something... something about the design screamed medieval noble.

"Blood pressure is still falling, Doctor," the nurse reported.

"Have another transfusion ready," Minatsuki determined. "I'm going to try and get this blade out." She examined the entry wound and frowned. There was a severe discoloration and rash building up around the point of penetration... usually that suggested some kind of poison or serious infection. So not only did they stab this poor girl; there was a toxin as well? Someone really wanted this girl dead.

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The police arrived shortly after, as per protocol anytime a stabbing or shooting took place. Sergeant Seiryu Kobayashi was a veteran officer, who had moved to Fujikawa because he wanted a quiet town to finish his career in law enforcement. Well, so much for that plan... he thought, reviewing the file. In Japan, shootings were extremely rare, but stabbings were still something of concern. His eyes however couldn't help but be drawn to the weapon... what kind of dagger is this? It looked more like some wild porcupine, with needles instead of just a simple blade. Who would forge such a weapon and why... The needles on the blade were almost certain to start breaking off as soon as the weapon struck anything firm like bone. In all likelihood, this weapon wouldn't have been usable more than a couple times before it became nearly useless... so why would anyone wield it?

Kobayashi's musings were interrupted when Dr. Minatsuki came up to him. "How is our Hanako-san?"

"Still alive, though just," Minatsuki reported. "Honestly... if I were a betting woman though, I wouldn't get my hopes up. That blade left all sorts of nasty metal shards inside her body. We're also detecting some kind of toxin in her blood, but no one's been able figure it out. Of course, we're not a big hospital nor a specialist clinic, so we've put the report out onto the medical networks. Maybe someone else out there will know what's going on."

"So, someone out there inflicted multiple stab wounds on our girl, and even that wasn't enough? They went in with poison too?" Kobayashi asked then pondered. "Some kind of ritualistic killing maybe?"

"Not my department, Sergeant," Minatsuki shrugged.

"Do you have the weapon?" Kobayashi asked.

Minatsuki nodded. "It's in evidence lockup, per protocol."

"What about any ID?" Kobayashi continued.

"We had to cut her clothing away to treat her," Minatsuki explained. "No ID on her, but we did find some items of particular interest. I was waiting until we had a chance to talk before showing you this..."

Minatsuki led Kobayashi into the room where patients' personal items were stored. She pulled out the designated basket. The clothing was soaked with dried blood, and shredded on one side where the weapon made entry multiple times. However, of particular note to Kobayashi was one thing. "My... my..." Putting on a rubber glove to avoid contamination, he slowly and carefully picked up a small pistol. How on Earth does a young teenage girl get their hands on a pistol in Japan? Walther PPS, nine-millimeter... he ejected the magazine to check... still fully loaded. So, she hadn't fired it during the assault. That still begged the question, not to mention put this whole affair in a much darker tone. Was this girl tied to organized crime? Perhaps she screwed with the wrong criminal element and someone wanted to make an example out of her. But that didn't make sense... if she was, why was she dressed like a medieval cosplayer?

"There was something else we found as well," Minatsuki added, then walked to a secured cabinet. Unlocking the door, she pulled through some smaller containers, then handed it to Kobayashi. Opening the lock box, his eyes widened at the small bag containing strange coins he couldn't recognize. "Are these... gold and silver?"

"We haven't exactly gotten an appraiser, but they sure feel like it, judging from the weight," Minatsuki said. "No one's been able to identify the insignia on those coins though; they aren't Maple Leaves or Krugerands nor any other coin in national circulation that we've been able to find."

Sergeant Kobayashi grunted. No ID on the victim of what looked like a heinous crime, and it didn't match the style of any group he ever heard of, even back when he was working in the big city. "What are her odds of survival?"

Minatsuki raised an eyebrow. "Truthfully? She shouldn't even be alive now, with that much trauma, blood loss, not to mention the poison. Quite frankly, I have no idea how she's still living... it's like some kind of force is refusing to let her go, or maybe she's just too stubborn. Even so... I don't think you're going to get any answers from her for a long time, if ever."

Kobayashi swore under his breath. Like most law enforcement officers in Japan, he had a love of order and maintaining the peace. Letting a crime like this go unsolved would be a slap in the face of his professionalism. He could go canvasing the site where she was found... he made a personal reminder to ask the paramedics who brought her in for any information on how they got the call.

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Dr. Shuhei Nishimura started his shift in Otsuki General Hospital. He was the head of internal medicine for the hospital, which meant he was an expert in solving diagnostic problems, managing severe long-term illnesses and helping patients with multiple, complex chronic conditions. It was in this capacity that he had his first encounter with Viscountess Yamano and the other world*; she had posted a blog picture of one of her citizens who was severely ill, and he had been the one to provide the diagnosis and cure for anthrax.

* see Manga Chp42 / LN Chp17

Since that time, Nishimura occasionally popped into the blog Mitsuha had set up, where she posted a variety of problems for people to solve. Of course, the vast majority of people who frequented the blog thought it was some kind of advanced role-play, albeit with outstanding CGI images of a fictious town. He, along with four others knew better; she had taken them to the town as a reward for their frequent and high-quality contributions so they could see for themselves the good work they had a hand in.

"Dr. Nishimura, could you come take a look at this?"

Nishimura looked up from his list of scheduled patients to see what Yuta Ishii wanted. Ishii was an intern who had brought the blog to his attention and was another one of the few who had travelled to the other world. What surprised him though was the urgency in Ishii's face. "What seems to be the trouble?"

"There's a medical case being sent up the hospital networks from Fujikawa Hospital, asking for consultation," Ishii said, with concern. "They say the patient was brought in a few days ago, nearly DOA, but is somehow still alive. The case is gaining interest among the medical community. Apparently, the patient was stabbed multiple times, and dosed with an unknown toxin. By all rights, she should have died before ever reaching the hospital, but somehow, she's still hanging on. Some personnel are calling her a miracle patient."

"OK, but why are you so worked out over it?" Nishimura asked.

"You have to take a look," Ishii prompted.

Nishimura turned around and logged into the online medical journals. The site was basically a list of forums where hospitals around Japan and elsewhere could post troubling cases with difficult diagnoses that couldn't be ascertained. For APPI* reasons though, patient personal information was kept out of these postings, so all they had to go on was a description of the symptoms and the circumstances that brought them to the hospital. He read the entry Ishii has pointed to; patient suffered multiple stab and lacerations... unknown toxin also present... The posting then went on to state that no ID was present, along with a photo, with the hope that it could solve a missing person's report. His eyes widened... her face was partially covered with bandages, and she was intubated which obscured her features even more, but...

* Act on the Protection of Personal Information, equivalent to HIPPA in Japan

"Tell me that doesn't look like..." Ishii said breathlessly.

Nishimura nodded gravely. "Unknown toxin... if you're right, then the toxin could have originated from that other world... that's why no one's heard of it or recognizes its effects or how to reverse it."

"Should we... maybe do something...?" Ishii asked. "Let them know they may be dealing with a toxin from another world?"

"They'd never believe it," Nishimura said. "Besides... you and I swore to her that we'd keep her secret. I gave her my word, on my own name." He wasn't sure how committed Ishii was, but Nishimura took his reputation for integrity seriously.

"Then can we even do anything?" Ishii pressed. "If we don't do anything, don't we condemn her to death?"

"She implied to me that she possessed some kind of healing ability." Nishimura took a moment to consider the ramifications. "That might be why she's still alive, despite her wounds. However, we have no idea how much or what kind of limits it has. From what that medical entry describes, she might be at her limit in terms of healing. I can put in a request to have her transferred here, but I'll need some kind of justification."

"How about just saying that we know her and she's one of your patients?" Ishii suggested.

Technically, a violation of medical ethics, Nishimura thought, though given the circumstances, probably the best option we have.

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The trio of intelligence officers were home in Russia as they prepared for their next trip abroad on assignment. Some time ago, they were among the delegation of officers and representatives from several nations, all gathered at Wolf Fang's base, in an effort to court the favor of the girl they knew as "Princess Nanoha" in the hope of securing exclusive trade and diplomatic favor from what they referred to as "the other world"*. The fact that they had so utterly failed was still not something they were completely over. Worst of all, they couldn't tell their own superiors; if they did, they risked losing access to her once and for all, along with any chance of a cure for any disease she had offered.

* see Manga Chp50 / LN Chp20

"Boris, come take a look at this," one of the agents called to his superior.

The lead agent approached the desk and read the entry on the computer. "Mysterious gold coins found in Fujikawa Japan... so what?"

"Take a look at what they look like," the agent pressed. They were looking at a hacked feed into a Japanese police station database, where evidence for possible crimes was logged. "Recognize it?"

The lead agent shrugged. "Those have been showing up all over the world's black markets for months. That gang of Wolf Fang mercenaries have been laundering those into the world's gold market for nearly a year."

"Yes," the junior agent nodded. "But those are going through underground sources, using modern money laundering methods, to exchange for cash. These coins were apparently found on an unconscious patient who's currently in Fujikawa Hospital. Our sources say the patient is a young girl."

Ah-hah... the lead agent surmised. That's where he was going with this. He looked at his junior officer. "Unconscious, you say...?"

"Comatose, from what the report says," the junior officer replied with a dark smile.

It could mean a serious setback to their collective careers if they were wrong, but if they were right... well... "Comrades... who's up for a trip to Japan?"