A/N: Long time no see, guys! Here I'm entering to K-On fandom with new fic. I haven't done any stories at the moment because of school and Red Cross Club activity that trolls my time.

The title of the story is ransom. About pairings, well, you'll see soon enough—got inspired from playing Shizune route on Katawa Shoujo, beats me, it was a painful and bittersweet route. I hope I can write this to be bittersweet story too, oh, and it's about Azusa (this will be the first time I'm writing about her lol). And this is a reupload version.

Disclaimer: I don't own K-On, pal.

Ratings: T–I'm keeping it to T.

Genre: Romance/Crime

Warnings: shoujo-ai, alternate universe

Status: Beta-ed by Musician74 thanks a lot for the beta!

Raindrops were slowly making their way from the roof to the thick window. The wind kept on blowing hard outside the warm classroom. The teacher continued on and on with her lecture, and her students were taking notes. Today's lecture was about sign language and mannerism gesture, a very special language for people who can't talk or hear. There were only a few students in class, because it was also a special one, requested by few a people from outside the therapy centre. Of course, the course itself wasn't free, but it was worth it.

The teacher moved her hand in an easy manner, and the students followed— that was the entire thing that the class was being taught for a good two hours.

One of the student solemnly looked at the window way.

It's raining like it was that day.

Her garnet eyes stared at the raindrops that were making their way onto the window's glass from the sky.

It was a beautiful day that was ruined miserably.

She sighed as she glanced at her desk. She was thinking hard, mostly about her precious thing that day, which she regretted right now. She put her pen down from the blank paper. No one knew if she was paying attention or just toying around during the lecture.

"Umm, are you okay, Azusa-chan?"

The clear voice snapped the black-haired girl to reality as the blonde, calm figure in front of her desk looked at her with a puzzled look.

"O-Oh, it's you, Mugi-senpai." Startled, Azusa Nakano tried to regain her composure. "Y-Your lecture was easy to understand, I'm glad I chose to follow the lectures of this class."

Mugi smiled and seemed thankful, despite her student's expression not saying so. The class itself was empty after a short while, and because Mugi was the teacher and Azusa was the only one left, they stayed there. It was summer break, in the middle of hot and humid day, where there was rare chance of rain.

It might not look like it, but that small yet fragile young woman was the infamous private detective Nakano Azusa, a genius who had worked on more than hundreds of unexplained murder cases behind the scene.

The one she was talking to was Kotobuki Tsumugi, the heir of the Kotobuki hospital group and an excellent therapist in said hospital who was liked by many patients because of her caring persona. Mugi was a friend of Azusa's boss back at the police headquarters, so Azusa called her senpai instead of san.
They had been friends ever since Azusa's boss introduced her. To Azusa's surprise, Mugi was her partner Saito Sumire's sister in law. It was a coincidence that Azusa needed help with gesture and sign language.

(It was raining like that day. One certain day in summer,)

"Are you sure you're okay, Azusa-chan? You look pale." Mugi asked in concerned tone.

"—Mugi-senpai, you observe too much." Azusa said, fending her off with a wary-free smile. "I'm okay."

Sensing hostility in those words, Mugi only nodded. "Do you want a cup of tea? I have fresh barley tea leaves in my office,"

"…Could you add milk in it?"

The blonde teacher smiled, "Of course, wait here."

Azusa checked her phone after Mugi left. There were two new messages from two different people.

—

Sender: Tainaka Ritsu

It's been one year, how are you doing with the prisoner? I'm sorry to burden you with her but we had no choice.

Sender: Akiyama Mio

The victim's condition is still severe, but I'm working hard to help her. Please don't worry about it too much, Azusa.

—

Azusa frowned as she closed her phone with a weak flip. Her garnet eyes stared through the window again, this time her gaze emptier than the last. The rain itself was coming down hard, crashing against trees and windows along with heavy winds.

"Here's your milk tea, Azusa-chan."

"Oh…thank you." Her answer was bland, which made Mugi even more worried. As Azusa stirred her tea a few times, Mugi took the nearest seat and turned to sit in front of her kouhai, waiting as the pigtailed girl took a sip of the heavenly blend gracefully to calm down a minute.

"Is there any progress with your recent case?"

A silent nod.

"Then why are you so lifeless, Azusa-chan? I asked Nao-chan and Sumire-chan. They said you were okay, but…"

Azusa shot Mugi a sharp glare, "Senpai, please, stop worrying about me,"

Mugi stood up, the entire table shaking during the act. Azusa passively reacted— or maybe she didn't know how to react. Her garnet orbs ejected a glint of loneliness and pain as she looked into Mugi's aqua eyes.

"Tell me what's bothering you, it's okay…" Mugi gently persuaded as she patted the younger woman's head. She hoped the pigtailed detective would open up at least a little. It was' over a year ago, a long year, since Azusa's boss, Lieutenant Tainaka Ritsu, gave her this current task. The composed and calm Azusa began to tear down her emotions, because of something Mugi didn't know, or anyone for that matter— and now Azusa had withdrawn, was silent and looked messy.

As a therapist, the blonde couldn't stay silent at is. Ritsu herself was worried more about the detective's condition after a year, but if she were to cancel this task, it could become worse.

"—that prisoner is rather… a hard subject. I don't know much about her, because she refuses to talk to me." The girl sighed heavily. "I couldn't get any information out of her and she keeps smiling, playing with something or poking something with her knife…"

"Is she a…psychopath?"

"No, she's sane. She passed more than fifteen tests to prove her sanity." Azusa said with an irritated tone. "But she killed more than hundreds of people at the ball, including her family. There was only one survivor and she's still suffering from severe wounds. Mio-senpai is taking care of her, so…"

Akiyama Mio was one of their acquaintances. A loyal and respectful young doctor, who gave it her all for the sake of her patients's well-being. She was also Lieutenant Ritsu's best friend. Along with Manabe Nodoka, her assisting nurse, she was considered number one in Japan's medical service and also works in the Kotobuki Hospital.

Mugi couldn't help but nod, "I see, so Mio is working now. This is a mystery only you can solve, Azusa-chan. You've already known her for a year."

"She won't talk, senpai. What else can I do besides monitor her behavior, her chains and handcuffs on standby in case she might go wild?" Tears were already escaping the pigtailed girl's eyes, "I am not a babysitter, I'm a detective."

"I know that, Azusa-chan, that's why…" Mugi took deep breath, "Only you can find the answer, because you're the detective."

Azusa scowled mentally, taking in Mugi's advice.

She tried hard not to leak out any necessary information to anyone including her friends, or even to her captain— who requested any information of the prisoner to be kept hidden. Having a mental breakdown like this is normal when solving cases, but this was too much for the girl to bear. She was young, and she was interested in other cases more than anything, while over one year, she had been living inside her big apartment with a girl, a very dangerous prisoner.

This prisoner was the same girl who killed almost everyone during the political ball in town. The one who got a life sentence. She also spilled more blood on the prison floor, nearly killed another victim and was never heard talking—

The detective is going to rot out to zero.

Reverie
2012 © Kuroi-Oneesan

Act 1 – Dots

Keep your eyes closed if you don't want to hear.

Drenched in the wetness provided by rain that looked like it would never stop, Nakano Azusa arrived at the apartment building she stayed in. It was a 5-story high building with a hint of supreme luxury that was located in the city's central area, a perfect place for staying and overlooking crime. The genius stared at the entrance of the lift; she numbly pressed the up button. Ignoring all eyes casted onto her wet figure, she went up to the 5th floor, where room 502 was located. She took a deep breath and unlocked the door slowly with her keys. She entered the room carefully.

—And there she was.

A quite skinny figure with a pale complexion, shoulder-length brown hair and matching brown locks, a white worn out uniform from the prison she was supposed to be held in and a small smile. She looked overly innocent with those eyes. The woman greeted her with no sound, waving a knife in her hand. Azusa could see all the new bruises and cuts on her right bandaged palm.

"Did you hurt yourself again?" Azusa swallowed a little.

She silently shook her head,

"Wounds can't appear by themselves, right? Let me treat that after I get changed…"

The girl smiled warmly somehow, her garnet eyes could clearly see it.

Only if she could mince a word, it wouldn't be all messed up was Azusa's initial thought over time. She is not mute, but she refuses to communicate even after several treatments.

The girl was just simply there, sometimes playing with a knife or sometimes staring outside the window.

Ritsu had asked Azusa to talk to her. At first, in her mind, it was a simple task to do. But after one year, there was barely any progress. Being with someone who didn't talk became annoying for Azusa.

She didn't even know what to ask first, but questions had already flooded her mind.

Like, 'What were you doing at that party?' or 'Why did you kill your family and left one victim alive?' or 'Why did you have to injure Ui—my best friend?'—such pointless questions indeed.

Azusa took off her shoes, and the girl followed her to the living room, which was unusually clean and neat. Blood from the prisoner hand's dripped as slowly as the raindrops from Azusa's clothes did.

"Was someone here?"

The girl shuffled her fingers and shifted uncomfortably—Azusa would have to learn more about sign language to understand her. This day was like that day when the prisoner came to her apartment for the first time with chains and handcuffs on, restraining her from doing anything. As the months went by she became free from all the restraint, but Azusa still had to remain alert on whether the killer would harm her or not.

"Do you want something?"

She silently shook her head once more

"Fine then, just sit there."

Records said that she had been murdering more people regardless of which cell she was submitted to, which scared Azusa at times. The girl sat on the sofa and hugging her feet, she held her knife still and stared in Azusa's direction. Azusa ignored her like any other usual day.

For the young pigtailed girl, it had been worse than hell. She was banned from all the other cases and instead was forced to do this current job without getting any new cases—this was just like an ordinary live that meant nothing to her. She just went out and then came back to meet the silent prisoner and her days repeated exactly like that. And Azusa didn't want to know her name from the head office, either, because it would only bother her more. Besides, the victim that survived washer best friend and it made the situation worse with each passing day. Hatred, pain, agony, all mixed by just looking at the prisoner.

Minutes passed in the warm living room and Azusa sneezed. She was shivering hard, due to the fact that she had been running through the rain. She was going to have a warm bath, when she had a sudden headache rushing through her head. She tried to hold onto the sofa for support, but it was no use, she didn't have any more strength. Her legs gave in and she collapsed soundly onto the cold floor.

The last thing she could remember was—a sound of a knife hitting the floor—before she lost her consciousness.

"Is it over for me now?"

x x x

One year is a long time, isn't it?

Akiyama Mio never gave up on her patients, whatever the symptoms might be or if something dangerous were to happen. She always risked her life for the sake of helping them and solely forgot trivial things about herself. She had many patients every year, but in this case, it was someone special, someone that she had to at any cost. After a year, the wounds all over the young woman's body had finally regenerated. Alas, she hadn't even opened her eyes, yet.

Nodoka, the assiting nurse, said that it might be psychological refusal from inside which is why the patient didn't wake up. She visited almost every day and monitored the patient's condition, because there was no one else who would come to visit except Ritsu or Mio.

That patient's name was Hirasawa Ui— her family name was known to be that of famous politicians in the city. Now, all this fame was thrown back into the past, especially after the incident at the ball. She was the only one who survived with no clear explanation.

"Her rate of recovery is low; she's weakening with every passing day…" Manabe Nodoka concluded in a wary tone. The nurse tilted her glasses as she took notes on her score board. Akiyama Mio was also there and checked for a vital response while Nodoka took notes on it.

"It's been over a year. It's obvious she's weakening. She won't wake up even after the wounds are completely healed," Mio lowered her head and rested it on her hand, looking troubled. "If only Ritsu could find her sister…"

Nodoka started looking worried after hearing the word 'sister,.' Ever since Ui was transported to the hospital, there was no trace of her sister to be found anywhere. The bespectacled nurse tried to regain her composure.

"She had broken ribs, her muscles were ripped and there were major wounds on inside of a very vital area." Nodoka exchanged glances with Mio, who was restless. She had been encouraging Mio the first time they saw in what kind of miserable condition Ui was, especially for Nodoka who was her childhood friend. It was a miracle that the police found her breathing amidst the rest of the victims' pool of blood. The cause of these wounds was never fully established, despite several attempts to figure it out.

"Don't give up, Mio. Ui can be saved, I promise. Have faith in us."

A small smile surfaced in the doctor's thin lips, "Yeah,"

x x x

Police station

Inside the station, it was hot and certainly felt like it was summer; three officers were working behind their desk. There was the lieutenant, who had brown messy hair and along with her were her partners and subordinates, a woman with short black spiky hair and the younger one with russet hair. They were hard at work without so much as a break.

Lieutenant Tainaka, Sergeant Wada and their so-called apprentice Suzuki Jun were the regulars in the office, at least with helping with all the desk work that was required ensuing the murder cases that happened.

"Damn, she didn't reply." Ritsu cursed slightly as she checked her phone. "Is she angry at me?"

"How's Azusa, banchou?"

"Hey Jun, this is a police office, not a randy corner of the street or yakuza dump. Don't call me banchou." Giggling mischievously, the captain shut her cell and went back to work. "Akira, can you ask Ayame to visit Azusa? It's been three months and we haven't monitored that mute prisoner, yet."

"Maybe she already preyed on the detective?" Akira jokingly added.

Jun, irritated by the remarks, slammed some papers on Akira's desk "Cut it out, senpai. It's not funny. I'm sure that Azusa is okay."

"Yea, yea, I'm just joking, Suzuki. Put away your fangs." Absorbed in her paperwork, Wada Akira didn't pay attention to the conversation. The condition had been quite heated in the office lately. Murder cases were piling up once the summer came and the number of the many unexplained deaths began to rise. It added more desk work for the office, as well as police officers needing to be more prepared at times.

"Senpai, do you think the murders are the work of that prisoner?"

"Nah, can't be. Azusa's place is guarded." Ritsu groaned as she finished one more pile of paperwork on her desk.

The sound of the telephone ringing echoed throughout the office, and Akira being the nearest person to it, picked it up.

"Huh? What's wrong, Sachi? Got something?" after a moment, her black orbs glinted, "Someone has been killed in area 8? Hmm? Fine, I'll be there."

Ritsu put down her papers, "Area 8—Wait, isn't Azusa's apartment located there?"

Her eyes widened in horror and Jun hastly took her jacket and ran outside to her motorcycle, not bothering to respond to the yell coming from her tawny-haired senpai.

x x x

It was warm,

Yet Azusa didn't know where this warmth came from. Everything was black. Her eyes refused to open, her hands were numb and her head was dizzy. But the warmth is still there. She didn't know what caused such warmth that was warped around her body—was it a heater or…her own blood from her wounded flesh?

"Am I dead?"

Finally, she slowly opened her eyes and came to her senses. She was in her room now, on her favorite fluffy bed, tucked safe under her sheets. She didn't feel any cut or pain, but a warm tingling all over her cold body. Was she dreaming now? No—the answer was lying down beside her. As she looked the other way, Azusa saw hair strands that were not hers, it was brown—it must have been the prisoner's, and she was right. The prisoner was hugging the small detective silently; the prisoner's body was warm and somehow Azusa felt relaxed. She was weak so she didn't have the strength to push the prisoner away from the embrace.

"It's so…warm."

"Were you…" Azusa lips formed words. "W-Were you taking care of me…?"

The prisoner didn't answer and instead she tightened the hug.

Action speaks louder than words, huh? Azusa thought to herself.

The prisoner's head jerked up, clearing the bangs on the younger woman's face. She placed her forehead directly onto hers, seemingly checking the young detective's temperature, which caused the detective to freeze at the sudden contact. Her brown eyes displayed something that caught the garnet's attention.

Worry.

"Thanks for worrying about me…" Azusa said between pants and coughs. She must be having a fever due to running in the rain without an umbrella or jacket. The prisoner slipped away from Azusa's bed, moving herself to the counter beside Azusa's bed. She took some medicine and a glass of water while Azusa watched her cautiously.

"I can take those alone…" Azusa got up but she fell back again down onto her pillow.

The prisoner instead put the pill in her own mouth with a little amount of water. She then went back to the bed, slowly restrained the detective and leaned in closer on her mouth.

Azusa, startled by the prisoner's movement, couldn't help but stare into those deep brown eyes. "W-Wait, I'm—"

Why does she have a serene glint in her eyes?

Their lips met in a slow chaste kiss and Azusa gulped down the medicine the prisoner had given her; shortly after, they parted. Blushing slightly, Azusa looked the other way. The prisoner hugged the girl once more, warming up Azusa with her own body until she drifted off to sleep, again. Realizing the girl in her arms didn't move or talk, the prisoner released her of the embrace and slipped away from the bed.

The prisoner then started to walk towards the door, silence still prevailing between them..—

The prisoner…who's she?

Something surprised the prisoner. A hand was holding her back. As she looked towards the bed, she saw Azusa with a flushed face clutching onto her shirt. The prisoner stood still.

"Don't go…I don't want to be— alone…" Azusa let out a small cry.

The prisoner sat on the bed now and patted Azusa's head. She smiled gently at the detective and mouthed words, a sort of mumbling with an incoherent sound,

"It's okay, I'll always be here."

A clear, childish voice came out of her lips. Her smile was genuine and she finally let her voice out. Azusa didn't even know whether to be happy or to hate her.
The detective supported herself with the help of the prisoner's hand and sat beside her, her garnet eyes flashing anger and slight sympathy.

"Finally, you're talking. What took you so long?" Azusa tried hard to not let her emotion play out, however her anger was evident and she blasted her with questions right away. "Who are you? Why…did you kill?"

"You need to rest, you know, detective? Don't worry, I won't kill—"

"Answer me."

The shift in the tone of Azusa's voice made the prisoner pause, letting her comment hang in midair. There were hints of anger visible in those garnet orbs as her brown eyes looked straight at her. She noticed the detective was indeed angry. At first she hadn't intended on talking. But her voice was accidentally heard, so she had to answer properly,

"—I'm… Hirasawa Yui."

Azusa's eyes widened in shock.

Hirasawa—Ui's family name. A family who was known to be famous politicians, a family that was annihilated altogether at the ball except for Ui, who survived.

Hirasawa Ui, the clumsy girl whom Azusa befriended back in high school and had stayed friends with, when they graduated and reached their own dreams.

Now all of Azusa's hopes were torn, because Ui was not going to wake up after that incident and the killer was in her house as a subject she had to collect information from. Azusa told to herself she would go crazy if there would be no more progress in Ui's condition.

However, the truth struck her like lightning—

Her heart began to ache uncomfortably. The prisoner—the one who killed everyone…was Ui's sister.

"Detective, are you okay? You look paler…"

As Hirasawa Yui's hand made contact with Azusa's cheek, the detective swatted it away roughly. Tears spilled out of her garnet orbs, streaming down like the pouring rain outside.

"W—why, why, why? Why did you kill—why?" Azusa stuttered like robot, repeating the same words over and over while tears flowed freely down her cheeks. Yui couldn't help it, she couldn't cry anymore. Watching Azusa cry made her frown. She didn't know what to do, she didn't know anything after a year, and she would never know anything—

"I'm…sorry." Yui held Azusa in her arms, despite the younger woman's strong resistance. The prisoner kept hugging her and didn't let go. Azusa began to cry louder in her arms, filling the silent room with her sobs.

(It was summer, and it was raining that day,)

Azusa remembered everything clearly about that day. The day she got a call from the police station. She was happy to know that she was submitted to new case.

"Azusa, can you persuade her to talk? She's not talking if we try to, but maybe a little help from a detective can suffice, whaddya say?"

Azusa agreed. But— it was not as easy as she would have thought.

"Move, dammit!"

Azusa heard a familiar voice, Ritsu's voice, and a shuffling sound. Something between iron and ceramic. There was a clanging sound of chains to be heard, coming from the hallway to her apartment room. Ritsu and another policeman entered her room first, shortly followed by an unidentified woman, restrained by chains on both her wrists and feet and a leash located around her neck.

Azusa was baffled by the horrifying view—

"Just what is that? Is that thing—no—is she even human?"

"This is your task, Azusa." Ritsu held out one end of the chain and placed it in Azusa's small hand. "Make her talk, make her confess about her murder."

The pigtailed woman stood there, listening intently.

"Don't worry, if she wants to kill or make any sudden movement to you, the leash will tighten and slowly end her life. Or you just simply click the button here for the leash to work manually." Ritsu explained. "She's our biggest asset to solving the murder case that happened in the city recently, treat her well, yeah?"

The black-haired police beside Ritsu showed some administration paper from the jail the prisoner had been staying in to Azusa. It contained a photo and a little bit of information about the prisoner, except her name.

"Every three months we'll come and check up on you. If she shows good behavior, we'll take the chains off her, except for the leash," Ritsu cleared her throat, "Good luck, koneko-chan!"

Days went by, and now Hirasawa Yui—the prisoner—only still had the leash around her neck. This leash prevented her from doing anything harmful to Azusa. It was designed by the police, an automatic leash that was connected to the user's brain, torturing the user to death. Azusa had remained unharmed ever since. However, the prisoner remained passive around her, and Azusa was cornered about this simple yet never-ending case.

"I'm really sorry…I didn't mean it…"

Yui was aware that the leash was tightening around her neck by time she touched Azusa, but she didn't care. The woman was hurting because of her, and—she couldn't do anything. She was a prisoner, the subject and Azusa the detective who needed to solve the case.

"It is better for me not to say anything again…huh?"

To be continued.

A/N: You must already guess the prisoner from beginning, I hope? xD

Finally I finish this long chapter; it took very long, veery long. I would like to hear your opinion whether to continue or not, well, I did love to write Azusa's personality here somehow. The pairings will mainly YuiAzu as you see~ /is shot/ and side pairings will be popped later on.

Well, see you later in next chapter! Any feedback or critics are welcomed!