A WANTED POSTER

Takeshi

I am a writer.

I came here in this building knowing that the two famous detectives live here. After hearing an overview of their story, I decided to write a book about them. It is an interesting pursuit they are engaged in and I wanted to be the first one to put it into words.

A habit of mine, I quietly ascend the stairs. The landlady downstairs told me that their place can be found on the last door on the left. I pause in front of the door and fix myself first. After that, I knock on the door.

"Hi, you must be Takeshi-san," a petite girl greeted. She is wearing a blue jacket and shorts with a bowler on top of her sepia-brown short hair. Her legs are covered with blue navy stockings. Judging by her appearance, she must be Mayaka Ibara, the perfectionist assistant.

I lift off my hat and bowed as a greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ibara." She let me in and led me to the couches. I take a seat on one of them as I survey the place. The room is comfortable and pleasing to the eye. Everything is placed in an orderly fashion excluding the scattered papers on the dining table from the next room visible from here. It seems like they were onto something a short while before I arrived.

"I will just call my partner. Please wait," Miss Ibara said before leaving the room.

I take the time to write down in my notebook the observations I have made so far since coming here. It will be better to take record of every detail. After all, we are talking about a 'Mystery' genre of my book.

I put down my notebook and pen on the coffee table when I'm done. I look at my wristwatch. 'They are sure taking a while,' I thought. I glance at the hall and then I stand up to examine the papers on the dining table.

"Good morning, Takeshi-san."

I jump from the soothing female voice that spoke behind me. I spun around to face a lady with a raven black hair and large purple orbs. I am a bit surprised upon taking in the appearance of the graceful 'Sherlock Holmes', Eru Chitanda.

The detective is in her maroon vest with on top of it a brown short cape and cap hat. Unlike Miss Ibara, she is wearing a skirt reaching her knees, and leather shoes. The strong fragrance of shampoo from her gives off the clue that she came from the shower.

"Uhm… Would you like to take a seat?" she offered. I nod in reply and follow her to the next room. She seems different from what they told me about her. She is not intimidating at all, in fact, she looks vulnerable.

After taking my seat from earlier, Miss Chitanda became confused as to where she will sit. Miss Ibara sat down before her on a couch on my left. Miss Chitanda was left to sit on the only empty couch opposite her partner.

I clicked my tongue without a sound. The famous detective is actually an airhead.

"Takeshi-san, what is it that you want to ask us?" Miss Ibara asked getting directly to the point. I notice that they didn't bother to offer me a drink. I presume that they are in a hurry to go out after this judging from their outfits and based from a bag that Miss Chitanda is holding on her lap.

I wonder why they even agreed to meet with me in the first place. They should have given me another time. "Are you perhaps going somewhere?" I asked. Ibara let out an impatient sigh. "We're supposed to be free at this time but the police called us this morning. We don't want to cancel our appointment with a guest like you," she explained.

'Ah. That is why.'

"But I would prefer that you are not busy." The fact that they are in a hurry ruined everything for me. I even made sure that I am well prepared for this day. Now all my plans are going downhill. I'm sure that it will be difficult for me to set an appointment with them in another time given that they couldn't reschedule our meeting when a disturbance has taken its arrival.

"It is that important…your intentions," Miss Chitanda presumed, deep in thought. Don't tell me she is trying to make deductions about my reason of meeting with them.

We all turned our heads towards the sound of the phone ringing. Miss Ibara stood up and answered it. "Yes, this is… Chief? Yes. We will be coming. Yes." After that, she put down the phone and turned to Miss Chitanda. "Chii-chan, Chief told us to go there this instant."

'Chii-chan? I somehow envy their familiarity with each other.'

Miss Chitanda with hesitation turned to look at me. "Takeshi-san, would you like to come with us? You can explain everything on our way there," she offered. Miss Ibara raised her eyebrow. "I'm sure that he has something else to do…" I immediately cut her off. "It's okay. It would be an honor to come with you ladies in your work." I flashed a smile afterwards.

We took their automobile on the way to the police station. I'm sitting on the back as the two ladies sat on the front. "You see, I want to write a novel about your chase of the two masterminds," I told them. Miss Chitanda's eyes sparkled in a way that makes you become drawn into them.

"Oh. Them," Miss Ibara blurted with a tinge of annoyance in her tone. However, I noticed some sort of softness in her expression. How odd.

"Tell me, Takeshi-san! Why did you want to write about us?!" Miss Chitanda exclaimed, leaning towards me. I jolt from her sudden movement and gulped. "W-Well…" I look away from her when Miss Ibara gently pulled Miss Chitanda back to her seat. "Chii-chan, that is being rude to the guest. Look, he is now flustered," she reprimanded.

I loosen my tie and try to laugh it off. I admit that Miss Chitanda's beauty is beyond the average. Any man would surely be embarrassed after being close with such a lady.

"My deepest apologies, Takeshi-san." She slightly bowed her head. I raise my hand with a reassuring smile. I straighten my back when Miss Ibara spoke up, "I'm going to repeat her question. Why did you want to write a novel of us?"

I looked down on my feet. "One of them is my friend and I want to know something about him related to what he told me five years ago." I let out a sigh and meet Miss Chitanda's curious gaze. "Before I became a writer and he became what he is right now, we were both working for the government. We both enjoyed our work, I think, until he suddenly announced that he is going to quit. I asked him the reason and he only said…"

"I opened the box. Now I'm responsible to lock it all inside."

Inside my mind, I snorted. Responsible is out of that man's context. Although he is a civil officer, he never took responsibility of his work. As much as possible, he would avoid it. Nevertheless, he is a great man with few deeds.

"I'm curious!" Miss Chitanda's eyes sparkled for the second time. "Which one of them is your friend and what does his words mean?"

I scratched my cheek sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I can't tell you yet which one of them I'm referring to. I also don't know what he meant when he said that statement," I meekly said.

"How do we know that you are not his spy or a threat to us?" Miss Ibara questioned with a sharp tone. I laughed. "I'm not. You can even ask police to have a background check on me."

She did not say anything further. Few moments after, she parked the vehicle in front of the police station. Miss Ibara hopped off with ease. On the other hand, Miss Chitanda had a difficulty going down that I have to come over and lend my assistance. "Thank you, Takeshi-san," she said with a smile, fixing her cap.

Since entering the station, I have been feeling nothing but uneasiness. Who would not be when almost all of the police officers are looking in our way specifically on these two detectives walking in front of me?

"Chitanda and Ibara, what took you so long?" a huge bearded guy appeared with a stern expression. I gulped feeling terrified.

Looking at Miss Ibara, I could not help but feel full admiration at her bravery with her hands on her hips as she glowered at this intimidating man. "Chief Isao. You know that we are meeting someone today, so you don't get to scold us," she rebutted.

The chief raised his eyebrow and I thought that doom will drop here this instant. Instead, his lips formed into a grin and he patted the head of the short female detective with playful affection.

"Come on, dear. You can call me 'Father' anytime. It's not like everyone doesn't know," he told her. My mouth dropped open. He is her father?!

Miss Ibara let out a 'hmmph' with a frown. The chief's eyes darted towards me. "And who is this man? Your boyfriend?" Her face turned pink. "O-Of course not!" she yelled.

I immediately bow as a respect. "Good morning, sir. I'm Takeshi Iesada. I'm here to write a story about Miss Chitanda and Miss Ibara," I introduced. The chief nodded and glanced at his daughter.

"Hey, Mayaka. This man has manners. You should choose him instead of that felon."

"Just shut it, Father!" Miss Ibara exclaimed, her face beet red.

We went to the chief's office finally to discuss the matter. I was made to wait outside; strictly no outsiders are allowed. It is a shame. I even plan to write down their discussion if it is about the two masterminds.

"Takeshi-san." I stood up from my seat just as when Miss Chitanda went out the door. "I'm sorry, Takeshi-san. You have to go home. We need to solve a case right now," she said. I shook my head. "No." She was surprised and the same was for Miss Ibara. "Like I have said earlier, I'm going to write a story about you. If I were to do that, I have to be with you ladies in all of your cases. That is if you're going to give me permission," I explained.

Miss Ibara narrowed her eyes at me. Then she turned to Miss Chitanda and whispered something in her ear. Miss Chitanda firmly nodded as she closed her fists. Afterwards, she looked at me. "Takeshi-san, we are going to test you in our case today. If we see your worthy purpose in our work, then, we will allow you to write about us and come with us all the time."

"Thank you," I said. I feel relieved that they are at least considering my request. This is better than being completely rejected.

"But…" Her face softened. "How long will this last? Until when are you going to write about us?" she asked. I stared at her in disbelief. I told them earlier of my purpose, yet she was not able to determine from that the answer to her question. Is she really the famous detective that everyone praises so much?

Miss Ibara held her shoulders. "Chii-chan, remember what he said earlier about why he wants to write our story?" Miss Chitanda thought about it until she figured it out. "I'm curious!" she exclaimed.

"Even though that I have a sharp memory, I forgot about what Takeshi-san had told us that is why I didn't know the answer to my question. Why is that? I'm curious!" Her eyes gleamed at her assistant who only let out a sigh. "We don't have time for that. We still have to solve Father's case, remember?"

Miss Chitanda covered her mouth. "Of course, that is more important. I'm sorry, Mayaka." Miss Ibara smiled and then we went outside. I stopped short when I saw two posters glued on the brick wall. I read the names belonging to the two masterminds I mentioned earlier:

Hotarou Oreki

Satoshi Fukube

Based from these posters, one would think that these two men are dangerous criminals. I thought otherwise. That is why I decided to investigate their story through the two female detectives.

I stared at their portraits on the posters. Nothing has changed about his appearance except that his hair is longer and he is wearing flashy clothes: a top hat, a black cape over his suit, and a monocle on his right eye. In the past, he would rather wear white long-sleeves and grey pants every single day.

I snatch the poster with his picture on it and pocket it when Miss Ibara called me from the automobile. As I went to them, a thought crossed my mind, 'Quitting his job five years ago and his crimes today, do they have a relation with each other?'

A/N:

This story is also available in Wattpad. I want to reach a wider audience so I published this story in two sites. I really want to share my work with you guys. Please feel free to drop a review. Thanks a bunch for reading this story :)