A/n : This has been incomplete for a thousand years, I swear! It's finally completed, at least, but it's probably horrible. But I'll do my best for the upcoming chapters. You have my word. However, exams are coming and I might not have that much time... Anyway, thank you for reading it. Enjoy!
Himuro Tatsuya.
That name could make girls squeal and men sigh in wonder.
Himuro was famous. Not just famous, but really famous.
After he graduated from college, where he studied law and psychology, he worked his way up to becoming a lawyer. Usually, it wasn't that easy and most people would take a long time to actually become more experienced by fighting in courts and handling cases, but Himuro shot up like a bullet. It was almost something out of a fictional book.
When he handled his first case as a newbie lawyer, he managed to successfully fight for and defend his client and the opposing party was ultimately found guilty. He handled the case exceptionally well, and the higher-ups could not help but take notice of his young potential. From then on, Himuro was approached by many clients and his name even reached the newspapers.
Thus, his name spread like wildfire.
And did I mention that he was handsome too?
Anyway, one afternoon after he had lunch and had just reached home, his phone rang.
"Hello?" He answered as he took off his shoes.
"Ah, Himuro-san?" The person on the other line said politely.
"Hm? Kuroko?" Himuro was surprised. Kuroko hardly ever called him, even after his brother Kagami claimed that Kuroko was his boyfriend and told them to talk to each other more. "What's the matter?"
"I need some help. And it's pretty urgent. It's Murasakibara-kun."
"Atsushi? It's been a long time since I've heard that name..." Himuro plopped down on his sofa. "What is it concerning?"
"A murder."
"Coffee, please," Himuro said before he looked at the aqua-haired man in front of him with a smile on his face. "So what are the details?"
Kuroko sipped his drink, which was his usual vanilla drink, and then replied, "There's still one more person. Let's wait for him."
"Who?" Himuro asked, and the waiter placed a cup of coffee in front of him. "Ah, thank you."
Kuroko kept quiet, and looked away.
"Ah... Him, huh?" It dawned on Himuro as he noticed a tall person hovering around among the passers-by.
As Murasakibara approached a took a seat, he smiled and greeted, "Long time no see, Muro-chin. I missed you."
Himuro sighed, "You haven't changed a bit, huh?"
Kuroko then piped up, "Anyway, let's get started on the details." He pushed a piece of paper to Himuro. "Here's the overall details of the case. I think it'll help you instead of me explaining everything."
"Oh, you're quite prepared for this, aren't you?" Himuro took the paper. "Even though you called me just yesterday."
"Of course. That's why I called you out today."
Silence fell upon the trio as Himuro examined the case details carefully.
After a while, Himuro set the paper down, took a sip of his coffee, and started, "So basically, Atsushi was accused of committing a murder... And apparently..." Himuro glanced down at the paper to confirm. "All of the evidence are against him."
"Yes..." Kuroko replied, concern beginning to cloud his voice.
"Hmm..." Murasakibara, who had not said a single word since, protested. "But I never killed anyone, though."
"But the evidence is all against you," Himuro said.
"I know..."
Himuro scanned the paper once more, and confirmed with Kuroko, "The murder happened a week ago... On a Wednesday night. Near your workplace. The victim's wife claimed that she witnessed everything from afar." After a moment, he asked Murasakibara. "What were you doing at that time?"
"Hm... On Wednesday night..." Murasakibara thought hard. "Ah! I was eating dinner with some of my colleagues after work. Then after that, I met up with some of our old teammates and played basketball with them until around... Uh, eight?"
"Then where did you go?" Kuroko asked, leaning forward a little.
"Erm..." Murasakibara scratched his head before his eyes lit up once more. "After that, I suddenly remembered I forgot an important document, so I went back to my office to see if I can still go in!"
Silence.
"Oh, dear," Himuro muttered in English. A frown appeared and faded quickly on Himuro's face, as he laughed it off.
"In the end, I managed to get my document! I was sooo relieved!" Murasakibara's eyes looked like they were glittering. "After that, I went straight home."
"Then maybe the victim's wife mistook him for the murderer?" Kuroko suggested.
"That's possible," Himuro said. "But Atsushi kind of..." He looked up at Murasakibara who was still as tall as ever. "... Stands out, doesn't he?" Himuro chuckled a little and the mood brightened up automatically.
Kuroko looked up at Murasakibara, too and agreed, "That's true. His purple hair, as well, not just his height."
"Then do you have an alibi?" Himuro questioned. "Oh wait, you do... But no one can confirm that you went straight home after that. And the time of the murder isn't stated here."
"What about your family?" Kuroko asked.
"My family wasn't home that time," Murasakibara replied, feeling a little disappointed. "And the annoying thing about my office building is that there aren't many security cameras on the first floor..."
Himuro clicked his tongue and looked through the paper once more. "Do you know the victim?"
"Not really. Apparently he's my colleague's old friend. He said they never met in years," Murasakibara said and Himuro perked up. "What a pity..."
"What about his wife?"
"I met her a few times," Murasakibara replied and the other two men sat upright.
"Eh? Really?" Himuro asked before he could continue, finally having more hope that Murasakibara would not be accused of murder.
"Uh-huh. She comes over to the company during lunch every once in a while to give us food. That colleague of mine seems pretty close to her, I think."
"Then, that means..." Kuroko said, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Yeah!" Himuro beamed. "We have a lead now."
Before they parted ways, as Kuroko had to meet up with Kagami for a date, Kuroko asked Himuro, "Himuro-san, so that means you're really going to take up this case?"
Himuro flashed a smile and said, "Of course I am! It's gonna be difficult, but since it's Atsushi, everything's gonna be okay."
With that, Kuroko smiled and waved goodbye, relieved that he was able to hear those words from Himuro.
"Here's my colleague's number. His name is Yuki Hiroki," Murasakibara passed Himuro a small slip of paper. "He's kinda feeling a bit down right now, so maybe it's best if you don't call him today."
"Okay, I won't. Thanks, Atsushi," Himuro said. "Anyway, tomorrow's a Saturday, so let's go and meet him tomorrow, shall we? He has to work for half a day, too. I'll call him and tell him about the matter first, of course."
"Mm, sure. Then I'll see you tomorrow," Murasakibara turned to leave for his office while Himuro went on home.
The next day, Himuro waited outside Murasakibara's office. He was late, as usual, but Himuro didn't mind at all. It was pretty nostalgic, in fact.
Since he did not want to waste time waiting, he scoured the area for any clues or leads, and to see where the security cameras were.
After a while of probing around, he smiled somewhat jubilantly as he pushed his hair back, letting the droplets of sweat slide down his face.
I think I got it.
"Ah, Muro-chin, sorry, I'm late," Murasakibara came jogging over. "There was a traffic jam."
"It's okay. Shall we go?" Himuro asked.
"Yeah!" Murasakibara grinned a little.
As they quietly opened the door to where the taller man worked, Murasakibara greeted, "Hiro-chin! We're here."
There weren't many people working halfday at the office that day. Himuro felt relieved.
"Ah, hello! I'm Yuki Hiroki, nice to meet you, Himuro-san," the bespectacled man stood up and shook his hand. "And good morning, Murasakibara."
"Nice to meet you, too," Himuro put on his nicest smile as he took his hand.
"Let's have a seat." All three of them sat down at the chairs prepared for them, in front of Yuki.
Himuro could not help but smile a little to himself as he sat facing Yuki with nothing but his phone which was placed on the table.
Now, let's see what the murderer has to say.