Chapter One
The feelings of love may not be absolute; easily swayed or destroyed, but love itself is definite. It may change names and forms stay permanent or temporary, but it does not leave. If my feelings of love for you may one day vanish, may that love we experienced stay absolute.
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Case number: 845
Victim: Unknown
Body found: Back alley behind the 45 club
Time of death: 3:45 A.M
Appearance: Woman. 5'3''. Body had been drained of blood. Eyes missing. Hair shaved off. Stripped of clothes. A blue butterfly with black and white outline painted on back between to be painted with acrylics.
Notes: Body under same condition as Case #843
Police tape criss-crossed dangerously around the small alleyway. A petite woman crouched by the body, examining the evidence with latex gloves. She bit her lip, trying to let her brain to make a connection. This wasn't the first time she witnessed a crime scene, and it certainly would not be the last. Taking one last glance at the body, she told the team, "Bring it back to the office. Fuji-san can do a full examination."
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Frustrated hands were wrung through her hair, the office desk astray. Outside the musty glass door, a jumbled mess of sounds bounced around. Millions of murder files were spread out on the table, various identities of both male and female. Why? Why can't I find the connection?
A slight knock hit the wooden door, and her head snapped up in surprise. Clearing her voice a bit, she said, "Come in."
A young man walked in and placed another file on her desk. The nametag on his lab coat read S. Fuji. He spoke in a light tone, "Here is the full report, Ryuzaki-chan."
She smiled gratefully as she scanned it over. That moment of gratitude was quickly replaced by annoyance. Throwing the file on the table, she rubbed her eyes slowly in agitation.
Fuji held a teasing smile as he laid a fresh cup of tea he had made on a blank spot on her desk. "Keep this up, Sakuno-chan, and the officials will be taking over this case."
"I know, Fuji-san," she said wearily. She gave him a silent nod of thanks as she drank from the tea. He took it as a sign of dismissal and quietly left her office.
Sakuno put the newest file next in line, trying to see if there was indeed a pattern that she could not have seen.
Case #843: Araki Shota. Young male in college. Was very charismatic. Blond with grey eyes. Attended Seirin High. Basketball player.
Case #844: Miyazaki Natsumi. Female in early teens. Known to be quiet. Black hair with blue eyes. Attended St. Rudolph. Tennis player.
Taking a sip of her tea, Sakuno glanced once again at her makeshift timeline. Brown eyes lingered at the school each of the two had attended. She tapped her fingers against the files before dragging up a map of the area. Eyes glazed over the layout before widening dramatically. She grabbed her phone briskly and pressed speed dial. "Sakai-san! I want you to look up every single high school the victims had attended!"
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Once she had gathered all of the evidence needed, Sakuno laid out the files on top of the map of the Tokyo area. The team crowded anxiously as she laid down the last pieces of data. Grabbing a red pen, she started to speak. "Case #831. Fujita Ibuki. Male. Studied at Fudomine High." As she recited the school name, she circled its location with the crimson marker. "Case #836. Brooke Manz. Exchange student. Female. Studied at Hyotei." Sakuno continued to list the details of all of the cases as she circled the schools they had attended, until there was an array of polka-dots across the map.
Sakai, the data analyst, was the first to voice the question lingering on everyone's mind. "That's great and all, Detective Ryuzaki, but those tell us nothing."
Careful that everyone could see, Sakuno started to connect the lines. Questioning eyes turned into understanding as a shape of an unfinished butterfly appeared. "He's traveling in a defined path," Sakuno stated. "I don't know why, but I do know that, from his previous killings, his next victim will be most likely being male and will attend..." She paused as she circled the school darkly with her pen a number of times. "...Seishun Academy."
Yamazaki, the police officer that was assigned to the case, shook his head with determination. "We'll get a police officer there right away."
Sakuno shook her head and spoke with a quiet confidence. "That would scare him off."
"Then what's your plan?" Yamazaki pressed.
"Since it's a high school, I'll personally go there under cover. My face has never been exposed to the public, so I think it will be less troublesome," Sakuno explained.
Fuji let out a low chuckle. "It's quite easy to forget sometimes, Ryuzaki-chan, that you're only seventeen." Taking a slow breath, he said sincerely, "But I'll trust you on this one."
Slow murmurs of agreement filtered through the crowd. Sakuno bowed to the group, a grateful smile donning her face.
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A small lamp shed some light on the messy apartment. A figure leaned against his chair, a small antique butterfly dancing in his hands. Slowly, the corners of his lips lifted to a grin. Tossing the butterfly on his desk, it became part of the messy array of photographs. Then, almost inaudible, he whispered, "May the games begin, Miss Detective."
-End Chapter 1-
And that's a wrap! I hope I did justice in the mystery field. I'm sorry if there was any OOCness, seeing that this is my first Ryosaku fanfic, I jut felt like Sakuno would have developed some backbone by now, which is why she is more bold. Also, feel free to point out any mistakes so I can fix it. Haha I'm rambling now. I hoped you guys enjoyed ~ Read, like, review.
With love,
Strands of Ivy and Sakura