Of The Highest Degree
By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl
Prologue – The Beginnings of a Case
– May 29th – 5:04 PM –
She had always been a practical woman. She always based all of her teaching methods on proven fact and never on her own beliefs. She taught her English classes using her practicality. Therefore when she had suddenly felt the need to pee more than was normal, she naturally thought something was wrong. 'Oh god. I hope I'm not pregnant,' she thought unhappily as she walked towards her home blocks from where she worked at the local high school.
Though, she shot down the idea of pregnancy almost immediately. She hadn't been active for over four months since she'd broken things off with her last boyfriend.
Her stomach had also been sending sharp spikes of pain through her entire torso since she had left the school. Really, she needed to go to the doctor. She wouldn't be able to go to work like this. And if the stupid pain kept going like it was she was definitely going to miss the rest of this week at least.
Her poor students. They had their finals coming up and she was getting sick, making her absent for the review. She turned down the alley that was a short cut to her apartment. It was a rather long, filthy one. One that could be hiding dark secrets or freaks anywhere. She could be jumped for all she knew. Mugged and killed and this alley was rarely ever used.
Several steps down the alley the pain in her abdomen skyrocketed, bringing her to her knees. She let out a gasp as she leaned herself against the wall of the building to her right. God... What the hell was this? Had she eaten some bad food or something? She was sure she had stayed away from the mystery meat at school that day.
But the odd thing was that she could also feel her heart beating abnormally.
Bnp-bump, bu-bump-bnp, b-bnump-bu.
And it hurt like hell.
Bn-ump, bunp-bum, bu-bump.
She couldn't think of anything but not to sleep. Not to fall asleep here, in the alley, when she was in this kind of condition.
Bump-bu, bnump-np, bmp.
On top of the irregular heartbeat, it was also slowing, she noticed. Slowing with the compulsion she had to pass out. But she couldn't pass out in this alley. She couldn't because if she did she might just not wait up ever again. She wasn't a fool. She knew what her heartbeat meant.
Np-bmp, nump-bum, bmp-um.
Black spots dotted her vision. She couldn't fight it. Dammit.
Nump-bn, np, bum.
Her heart slowed even more as her eyes closed.
Bmp, bum, np.
Her limbs convulsed violently for a second in rebellion to the sleep.
Bmp...
– May 29th – 7:32 PM –
Haruhi was walking home from work when she found the body. It was a rare thing that she would ever walk down a dangerous alley when it was getting dark, but she was in a hurry to get home. She was having dinner with her father that night and wanted to get a head start on the cooking.
That was enough to constitute risking her general safety.
She fast-walked down the narrow street with a slight are of anxiousness, stumbling over some stray garbage in her 1-inch heels. She didn't get very far before she came upon a person leaning against the wall. She glanced at them apprehensively.
It was a girl. High cheekbones, auburn hair, eyes closed with a peaceful look on her face though it looked slightly pained as well. She appeared to be asleep. Haruhi came to a stop and frowned at the girl, woman really. She looked like she was about 29 or 30. Couldn't be much older than 33 or younger than 26.
But, what was she doing sleeping in a alley like this godforsaken one?
Haruhi took a step closer, noticing now the incredible paleness of this girl's face and the odd way her body was lying. That wasn't exactly normal. She felt a sinking feeling in her gut as she lurched forward and pressed her fingers to the girl's wrist, searching for a pulse.
"Oh God," she mumbled, "Please not today. Today was supposed to be a good, mostly crime-free day, dammit!"
After several more moments of pulse-searching she came to the conclusion that this was, in fact, a dead body. Most people would have freaked out, and inside she was doing just that. But she kept her cool as she stood and dialed the familiar cell number of a co-worker back at the department. She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting three rings before the phone was finally answered. "Haruhi, I'm very busy working on the paperwork from the Rotari case," the male's voice sounded crossly.
– May 29th – 7:34 PM –
Kyoya Ohtori was a very busy man. Being one of the top murder investigators in the country did that to a person. And currently, he had nothing but his procrastination to blame on the fact that he had been at the office for an hour overtime working on the paperwork for his last case.
He growled for a moment when his phone rang, breaking into his concentration. Bring! He glanced at the front screen where the caller ID was displayed proudly. Haruhi. Bring! He sighed, what the hell could Haruhi want? Hadn't she gone home already? Bring! He figured she wouldn't stop until he answered so he flipped open the phone and muttered crossly, "Haruhi, I'm very busy working on the paperwork for the Rotari case."
She scoffed lightly on the other end. "You don't sound very busy." He rustled a few papers loudly as if to make a point. He got the mental picture of her rolling her eyes in his head as he did so. "Whatever," she grumbled before her voice took on a slight note of urgency. "Kyoya, I found someone."
"Good for you. I'm glad you found someone to share your happiness with since you left that blonde idiot. But why do I need to know this?" he murmured distractedly if not sarcastically, shuffling around papers on his desk, scratching in a few details in one of the blanks on the document.
Haruhi sighed in frustration, making him smirk. "One, it's a girl. And two, she's dead."
He froze at the word dead, lowering the paper that he was holding.And here he thought he was going to get to go home soon. Maybe go out for a drink. 'There goes my plans,' he thought. Then carefully he asked, "You're sure?"
"Positive."
"You didn't move the body or anything right?" He shoved all his paperwork aside, pulling open the drawer of his desk that held his gun with more force than necessary. He picked it up and snapped the clip of ammo into it, slamming the drawer shut again before grabbing his badge and car keys.
"I'm not stupid, Kyoya," she muttered angrily, "I checked for a pulse and that's it."
"Where are you?" He pulled his coat on.
"An alley just off of 6th downtown. It's on the way to my apartment." He nodded to himself, seeing a map form in his head of her location.
"Stay where you are. I'll be right there with a couple CSIs. And for the love of God, please don't jump ahead of yourself this time," he grunted, heading out of the small office that he called his own and heading straight for the CSI lab on the other side of the building. "Anyone specific you'd prefer, Miss Head-CSI?"
She snorted at his joke. She was far from being the head. "Hikaru and Kaoru if their free."
Inwardly, Kyoya rolled his eyes. Of course. She always chose the Hitachiin brothers. Subsequently they were also the ones that worked the fastest and were almost always free for a case. He pushed open the doors of the break room and found the twin brothers lounging in chairs with a can of coke. They glanced up. "Fancy seeing you here, Kyoya," Hikaru muttered.
"Really, you never visit the break room," Kaoru agreed.
He shot them a glare and spoke into his phone, "Their definitely free. I'll be there in 10." He snapped the phone shut without receiving a reply. "Get your gear. Haruhi found a body on her way home from work."
That got them to jump into action, grabbing their coats and running back to their offices to grab their lab kits. He smirked. Any mention of Haruhi and body in the same sentence got them going. "Ready!" they chorused as they returned, following him as he set off at a brisk pace back down the hall.
– May 29th – 7:45 PM –
The alleyway was too narrow for them to drive down, but they could see Haruhi standing part way down. Kyoya parked his car and shut off the ignition. A couple cop cars pulled up behind him, securing the area with yellow tape almost before he got out of his car. Hikaru and Kaoru ducked under the tape and ran toward Haruhi with their metal box-kits in hand. Kyoya followed slower. "Haruhi!" the twins cried, "You're ok right?"
She rolled her eyes and nodded, "I'm fine." Her eyes met Kyoya's for a moment before glancing back down at the body. His eyes followed hers.
"No identification," Hikaru muttered as Kyoya started spacing out. Oh shit.
"I'd think it was a mugging gone bad if not for the absence of blood," Kaoru continued shortly. Shit, shit, shit. It was her? Why her?
"I'll send out a description to have the body identified," Haruhi muttered, moving to push past them as Hikaru and Kaoru went to work processing the scene, leaving the body for the medical examiner.
Kyoya stared at the dead girl, knowing immediately that this was going to be one of the most difficult cases he had ever worked. Why? Because he knew her. "No need, Haruhi," he stated dryly, forcing all emotion from his voice, "Riyuki Sachiru."
She looked at him quizzically. "How do you know?"
He swallowed back a lump in his throat and said, rather coldly, "I think I'd know what my ex-girlfriend looks like."
– May 29th – 8:00 PM –
Somewhere in a classroom an eccentric French teacher at the local high school was preparing his for his classes the following day. He hummed cheerfully as he pulled together his lesson plans. Absently he flipped on the television to give him some background noise, finding a news story.
He frowned but left it where it was. He was only using it for background noise after all. It didn't really matter what it was that was showing. The recent departure of his wife from his life had left him surprisingly cheerful even if she had taken nearly a quarter of his fortune when she had filed for divorce.
"... Found dead in an alley," the reporter mumbled in the background. He sighed and shook his head. Nothing on TV anymore but the drastic murder cases flinging around the city. Such a waste of public television. "... Investigator Kyoya Ohtori refuses to comment."
His ears perked up. Kyoya had another case? Already? Jesus. That man was overworked.
"Good luck, Kyoya," he muttered with pity in his voice as he flipped off the television and gathered his things so he could head home.
–
Somewhere in the city, a dark haired man smirked as he leaned back in his chair watching the latest news story. A young woman had been found dead in an alleyway by a lawyer on her way home from work.
They'd never expect a thing.
–
A/N: I know... I already have LD and AN in the works. But this idea wouldn't leave me alone! And once I got it in my head on my way home from the family reunion I couldn't let it go. Thus, this arose. Do I need a life or what? I'll probably be able to update EVERYTHING more once school gets out IN THREE WEEKS. (I really need to stop watching those crime shows)
Dunno if I'm going to put anything between the Hosts yet. This one'll be more centered around the mystery and crime than anything else methinks (I'm so good at nursing my muse.)
If you like it... drop by a review and tell me so? Even if you don't, tell me that too!
