Disclaimer: I set this story in the style of Law and Order. I do not own La Corda d' Oro (ki'rin no corda) or any of the Law and Order shows.
A small girl of about fifteen years of age, with long flowing black hair and golden eyes walked towards her wildly traditional Japanese house, entering through the front gates. Another girl, about her age, walked with her discussing their upcoming finance tests.
"I'm telling you, Miyabi, Nakagawa-sensei's tests always have that odd question that I'm sure even the Prime Minister's financial adviser can't solve," the girl ranted staring down at her study sheet.
Miyabi slid open the screen door and removed her shoes, "Then all that means is that we have to review his lecture."
"Won't your grandmother be angry?" the other girl asked, following her classmate into the house. The matriarch of the Yunoki household was always stern, but she wasn't unreasonable when it came to having friends over.
Miyabi giggled, "No she won't mind if we are just studying. She's out tonight anyway, but I warn you my older brothers are home."
Instead the girl squealed, "Oh, I really don't mind."
Miyabi laughed and they walked in to the family area, "Try not to gawk at my brothers while we're studying—"
"Oh my god," her friend interrupted her as she saw the living room.
Two bodies of full grown men lay dead on the floor, blood splattered on the rice paper walls and tatami mat floor.
-Yunoki Household, 1132 Maple Leaf Drive, Friday 8:30 p.m.-
Detectives Kitsuma and Tomizawa arrived at the crime scene to find the front filled with press and police officers trying to hold the photographers away from the front gates of the main house that belonged to the Yunoki clan. Detective Hiroki Kitsuma was a younger detective but old enough to be very experienced. Detective Kenshiro Tomizawa was older and wiser but could also be considered a smartass. They both had dealt with murders before, but the fact that the crime scene was at a prominent household made things more difficult.
They both entered through the front gates and they immediately caught up with one of the lead officers on the scene.
"Trouble in paradise, officer?" Tomizawa asked. The officer shook his head and led them inside, "Sort of, detectives, the bodies belong to Kazuya and Yukihiko Yunoki. Older sons of Zaizen Yunoki."
The detectives stared down at the young men. Yukihiko, the oldest brother, was lying face up. He was a handsome, muscular man, a close trimmed dark beard on his face and his long dark hair tied back in a ponytail. He was wearing formal attire: a white dress shirt and a black vest, blood staining the immaculate shirt.
The other victim was Kazuya Yunoki, lying face down in his dark three piece suit. He was younger than his brother but only by a year. He too was handsome and had neatly combed shorter hair that was a dark violet color. He was skinnier than his brother but still had a solid form. His glasses were still on his face and his golden eyes were open, lifeless.
"No signs of a robbery. Looks like there was a struggle, but they were both shot. We'd have to get the medical examiner for a full report."
The officer pointed to two small girls in the other room speaking to another officer, "The youngest daughter found them after coming home from school."
Detectives Tomizawa and Kitsuma hated this part of the investigation: dealing with distraught family members. It was extra hard when a young girl was the one who discovered the bodies. Still, they had to do their jobs.
They approached the girls and more importantly to Miyabi Yunoki.
The beautiful girl's eyes were red and wet with tears. She was done crying or she was too much in shock to start bawling.
"Miyabi?" Kitsuma asked in a soft tone as he usually did with situations like these, "I'm sorry for your loss…"
The girl sniffed and nodded.
"I know it's rough, but we really need to know what happened. Can you tell us anything?" Tomizawa asked.
The girl shook her head, "My older brothers were staying here a few days before they had to fly to Moscow on business. I was just coming home to study with my friend for a test tomorrow, and that's when I saw… Who would do this?"
"Do your brothers have any enemies?"
"No, of course not! Well…I'm really not that close to them, but they are only a part of our Ikebana business…Oh god, what am I going to tell my parents?"
"Where are your parents? Can anyone take you somewhere for tonight?"
"My father's in London and my mother is courting clients in Saudi Arabia. My grandmother won't be back until later," Miyabi's voice was shaking and tears began streaming.
"Is there anyone in this household with you aside from your brothers?" Kitsuma asked.
Miyabi wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her school uniform, "Just my older brother Azuma, but he is probably back at his Academy."
Detective Kitsuma nodded and Detective Tomizawa turned to the officer who interviewed the girls before, "Stay with them until someone picks them up."
The officer nodded and took the girls out of the house.
Both detectives had the same feeling about what went on in that house.
"A noble, honest, prominent family, wealthy business, but something about this doesn't smell right." Tomizawa murmured to his college staring into the blaring lights of the flash bulbs from the cameras of the paparazzi. Kitsuma was hearing the reporters and paparazzi buzz around the Yunoki front gates.
"Every family has their secrets," Kitsuma said and walked with his partner to their police car.
-Yunoki Ikebana Kyoto Headquarters, 10:00 a.m-
The day after the crime occurred, Detectives Kitsuma and Tomizawa traveled to one of the Yunoki headquarters, headed by the oldest of the Yunoki's, the oldest daughter, Masako Yunoki. They found themselves inside her office speaking to the young woman. Masako Yunoki was a bombshell. She was a tall and imposing for a woman, with dark black hair tied up in a stern knot and the structured air and attitude made the detectives realize that she was the boss around here.
"So you two are working on my brothers' case, huh?" she asked and motioned for them to take a seat in front of her large desk. From where they were sitting they had a wonderful view of the Kyoto skyline through large windowpanes. The young woman sat down at her desk.
"We're sorry for your loss," Kitsuma apologized bowing his head. Tomizawa cleared his throat signaling to his partner that he was going to speak.
"But we're having trouble finding suspects. We were hoping you may have a better idea if your brothers ran into some trouble."
Masako laughed at that, "Detectives, I am the manager of all the Yunoki businesses in Japan. So it's up to me to keep people like my brothers in line."
"So your brothers have been in some trouble?"
She shrugged, "Kazuya was a financial wizard and kept consistent logs of all our assets. Yukihiko was a great salesman. He could pitch a paper clip to you and you would be tempted to by it for billions of yen. But they were a little hard to handle. Mischievous, you would say, but completely harmless."
Kitsuma and Tomizawa looked at each other. Boys will be boys, they guessed.
"What did they do?"
Masako Yunoki tilted her head back, gazing at the marble white ceiling. "Let's see…pranking some of the execs, throwing wild parties, taking customers to dance clubs. You know, the usual boy stuff. Everyone seems to adore those two, though, so I honestly have no idea who would want to kill them."
Tomizawa eased out his chair and his partner followed suit adjusting his trench coat. They both bowed to the manager, "Thank you for your time. Sorry to have bothered you."
Tomizawa took out a his card and gave it to Yunoki, "If you think of anything, give us a call."
"Yes, officers."
As the detectives strode down the halls out of the building, Kitsuma's phone rang. He answered it. Whoever was on the other line didn't have much to say as the call only lasted a couple of seconds. Kitsuma flipped his phone close; "The medical examiner's office has something for us."
-Medical Examiner's Office, 10:30 a.m.-
Medical Examiner Tanaka, promptly removed her rubber gloves with resounding snaps as Detectives Kitsuma and Tomizawa entered.
"Alright, doc, please tell us you have something," Kitsuma sighed.
"Maybe," Dr. Tanaka said gesturing to the bodies of the Yunoki brothers. Their skins were icy pale and rigid with dehydration, as if they spent their time in an ice storm. Well, bodies were usually stored in refrigerators, so that explained the ice crystals on their pale lips. Dr. Tanaka pointed to a deep bloody gash in Yukihiko's temple.
"This guy was hit with a blunt object, then shot in the chest."
"What killed him?" Tomizawa asked.
"Officially, the gun shot," Dr. Tanaka sighed. "But with a that deep of a wound in the temple, he would only have a couple of minutes to get medical help before he would bleed out. The other brother was shot twice: once in the abdomen and another below his chest. The second bullet pierced his lungs causing him to suffocate."
Tomizawa stroked his chin not feeling any better about this investigation, "So we know our assailant was no sharpshooter."
"Wait," Dr. Tanaka raised a finger and went over to her desk and picked up a folder, "Here's the ballistics report. It turns out the bullets came from a gun the exact make and model of one registered to the Yunoki family."
-District 13 Precinct, 3:24 p.m.-
"So let me get this straight," Police Lieutenant Naguchi said closing the door to her office and turning to her lead detectives. "Both brothers were shot by a gun from the house?"
"So the suspect is someone who's either from that household or knows the house very well," Kitsuma said.
"Who, specifically, was that gun registered to?"
"Zaizen, but he was in London at the time," Tomizawa answered sitting down in the chair in front of the desk, "At the very least, this narrows down our suspect list."
"Well, we need to narrow it down even more," the middle aged woman ordered in a soft, understanding tone. "Who was supposed to be in that house during the time of the murders?"
Tomizawa took out his note pad and flipped through it, "The older brothers and sister don't live at the house anymore and all the others check out. Both Mr. and Mrs. Yunoki were out of the country at the time. The grandmother was out of town. The girl was at school."
Nagushi stopped him for a second, "Wasn't there another son?"
Tomizawa flipped the page of his notebook, "Yes…an Azuma Yunoki."
"But his sister said he was at his academy at the time," Kitsuma added shrugging.
Still, the Lieutenant nodded, "Talk to the youngest son."
-Seisou Academy, Monday 9:34 a.m.-
The youngest Yunoki son was unlocking a locker in the music department. He, like his brothers, was extremely attractive, but in a different way. He was imposing, despite his thin, delicate stature. His long, lavender hair fell straight to the center of his upper back.
"A gun?" he said quizzically as he stood, facing the officers. The detectives had just asked the boy a few questions and the issue of the gun came up. "I never knew my father ever had a gun."
Azuma Yunoki took out a small black case and closed the locker and turned to head to the orchestra room, still resuming his conversation with officers his brow furrowed. Obviously being asked these questions the day after his older brothers were found dead wasn't settling too well with him.
"We're sorry to say, Azuma, but there is a gun registered in your father's name?"
Yunoki shook his head, "My father collects all types of weapons, mostly swords, especially ones from the ancient Middle East. He keeps those under display and lock and key that only he knows where he put it. But a gun I have no idea."
The boy casually waved to a student who said hi but returned a curious look towards the detectives.
"Sorry if it seems we're prying too much, we just really want know how the bullets from your family's gun ended in your brothers."
Yunoki stopped in front of the orchestra room door and turned around, "I wish I could help detectives, but I have no idea how that could've happened. As for the gun, you should talk to my father."
Resounding heavy bells rang out throughout the halls and Azuma glanced at the clock, "Excuse me, detectives, I have to get going."
He bowed and left through the sound proof door.
Both detectives stared at the young man through the window of the door as he descended the steps to the stage inside the room to meet up with other students with various instruments.
"He doesn't seem too broken up about this whole thing," Kitsume muttered.
Tomizawa shrugged, "I wouldn't say he wasn't broken up about their deaths. He wanted to avoid the subject. Half his siblings were killed in one fell swoop."
A/N: Let me know what you think about it. I'm starting a new batch of stories and this popped in my brain as a quick story. I was always curious about the whole Yunoki family and I really wished they would show the others. As such, their names and looks are totally mine (aside from Azuma, Miyabi and the grandmother).