Authors Note:
Not much to say other than please enjoy the second chapter and please, please leave a review!
The 'Special Headquarters' was usually quite lively with discussion but, after Yu's revelation of the events, it was now silent with confusion.
Chie spoke first "So… The girl, Harumi, and her friends were bullying this girl?" She sounded confused and, like everyone else, was trying to piece it together in her mind "What's that girl's name?"
"I don't know her name; I can assume her surname is the same as the man who protected her. Akiyama. Does that remind anyone of anything?" Yu asked, as always acting calm and composed. When no one responded, he tilted his head back to think some more "I wonder…" he paused for a moment, eyes turning back to him during the deafening silence, "I wonder if Harumi is really the person that will be taken tonight."
"Seriously?" Chie exclaimed, "But we heard her, she was talking to the reporter and everything!" Her voice rose in pitch and volume, concerned at the idea that one of them would end up on the television but they had no way of telling which one would be there. She groaned loudly, hanging her head "Ugh… this is all too complicated."
"Harumi does fit the pattern more closely but, at the same time, so does the girl Yu-senpai spoke of," Naoto began, despite her detective background even she seemed to be having a hard time putting the pieces together, "We know more about Harumi and, I can assume that, she has more friends than this other girl. For now, I think our efforts should be to make sure that we can find out enough information about each girl. That way, we can hopefully find whoever gets taken more easily when it does occur."
The group gave a collective nod but Yukiko noticed something odd, "Kanji-kun, are you ok?" The boy in question raised his head suddenly, blinking his eyes clear as if he had been in a trance. Seeing how her question left him in a state of bewilderment, Yukiko stuttered "I-I just noticed that you haven't said anything today…"
"Neither have you," Was his blunt response, his eyes a little wider than they usually were.
"I've been listening. You looked distracted, is there something on your mind?"
Kanji's eyes flickered over to the blue-haired tomboy, too fast for anyone to really register other than Naoto. Slowly, he stood up, his expression distant, "I'm fine. I just need ta…think." As if in a dream, he slowly moved from the table and eventually disappeared from sight.
Naoto sighed softly, lowering her head "I had a feeling he would be like that today."
"What do you mean, Naoto-kun?" Rise asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Yesterday afternoon, after school ended, I spoke with him about our relationship." The group jumped in surprise but Naoto wasn't fazed "He explained that he was confused by his feelings towards me, and that they had begun from when I was seen as a boy. He said that he was curious of my own feelings and whether or not we would be truly compatible." There was a flash of sadness on her face, one Yu picked up on.
"So, you told him that you wouldn't be?"
She nodded slowly, speaking carefully "I told him that I wished to remain focused on my studies and on the case, I do not require any unnecessary distractions."
Yosuke hissed "That's harsh," he didn't look angry though, more concerned, "Still, I hope you did it gently?"
Naoto nodded again, avoiding the gazes of her friends. Teddie blinked in confusion, speaking as innocently as ever "But…Kanji really liked you! He blushed every time someone mentioned your name!" Naoto winced, her muscles tensing, "You blushed too! I saw it. You do like him…right?"
"Teddie, shut the hell up!" Yosuke snarled, whacking the bear (who was currently in costume) across the back of the head.
Teddie whimpered a little, curling into himself in shame. Naoto hated seeing her friends fight, quickly standing up and approached the whimpering bear, patting his head a little awkwardly "It's alright, Teddie. We just won't become a couple, that's all."
Teddie quickly cheered up, radiating flowers and rainbows like always, nuzzling his beary face into her hand.
"Everyone ready to work now?" Yu asked suddenly, as if nothing had happened in the last few minutes. Startled briefly by his seemingly-uncaring attitude, the team slowly nodded and departed into small groups for their investigations.
…Meanwhile at the Samegawa Flood Plain…
Sitting by the river alone, his jacket lying beside him on the grass, Kanji groaned a little and stared out over the flowing water. He couldn't have stayed another moment with the others, he felt ashamed and he knew that Naoto would have had to explain. He didn't feel any anger towards her, quite the contrary. He was strangely relieved that nothing could have gone on between them; it would have meant both of them changing in ways that would be incredibly difficult.
He had accepted his more feminine side and didn't deny the idea that he would prefer someone more…cute. Naoto was a cute boy but was more of a boyish girl. Still very attractive but not what he originally liked about her. He just needed some time to let his mind work on just what he needed to do to return to normal.
There was very faint sniffly-sound; he registered it but didn't really respond. The river made all sort of soft hissing noises, it calmed him enough to think rationally.
But what could he do about all of this? No doubt everyone in the group would be pitying him now. The two things he did not want were: pity and for Naoto to lose her friends. There was no anger between them, just enough maturity to understand when two people aren't compatible in a relationship. He scoffed, sleeking his hair back "Still hurts though…" he whispered to no one in particular.
"Are you okay?"
The gentle voice of the female sounded strained, as if holding back her own tears, "Would…you like to use this?"
His eyes were hazy and he could only just make out the white shape of a tissue, which looked like a cloud trapped in the dainty fingers of the girl who stood over him. Confused, he blinked his eyes and felt warm liquid splash off of his lashes and onto his skin. He didn't even realise that he had been that upset.
Reality rushed back to him, he rubbed at his eyes quickly and pushed her hand away "I'm fine!" He snapped harshly, not seeing the girl stepping back in shock "Just got somethin' in my eye, is all" Finally clearing his eyes of the intruding tears, he looked up at her, putting on the hardest face he could muster. Until his mind registered just who he was staring at.
The ghost girl.
"I'm…sorry." Her voice was softer, her body curling into itself. Her right eye was covered by her thick black hair, giving her the appearance of a 'shrinking violet'. Her other eye was blue, strangely, and her skin was far too pale. She had the face of a pretty Japanese girl, even the height of one, but some of her features were most likely European in origin. Blue eyes like that, unless achieved by contacts, were incredibly rare in the world he knew.
The girl stepped back, getting ready to walk away when Kanji called out again "Hey." She paused but didn't look back, he frowned slightly and forced out that horrible word, "Sorry."
When she turned back, a gentle smile graced that previously frightened face "That's ok. May I…sit with you?"
Kanji shrugged, picking up his jacket and throwing it over his lap, freeing up some space on the grass for her to sit on. With a grateful smile, she sat down, quickly straightening her, apparently signature, white dress. While he tried not to stare, he couldn't help but marvel at how ghostly she really did appear. In a good way.
"So, who're you?" His question was a little awkward, only assisted by the awkward silence that followed. He saw something in her eyes then, as if that question really did leave her speechless. Odd. It was a simple enough question, why couldn't she answer it? He began to get impatient after the silence dragged on for at least a minute, "Well?"
She flinched, her large, visible blue eye meeting his own grey pair. The intensity of her eyes stunned him, they held a fear that he could tell she tried to mask with a smile and polite manners.
"It's…Kali." That, he wasn't really expecting. It definitely wasn't Japanese despite her obviously Japanese father, Akiyama he recalled from his session of half-listening. He recognised that name too, he swore that one of Yu's personas was called Kali but it wasn't a very attractive creature.
"Kali, eh? Where do I know that name from?"
"The…Hindu goddess perhaps? The goddess of darkness and death?" It almost seemed like she had said those words many times before, the darkness behind her words not seeming to affect her anymore.
Kanji blinked rapidly, raising his eyebrows "You're ok with that?"
She laughed softly, her hand rising to delicately cover her lips as she did so "I hardly got to choose my own name now, did I?"
He smiled, without really meaning to, and chuckled despite himself "I'm Kanji. So what're you doing out here alone?"
"I was in a fight. I was embarrassed so I ran away."
Another thing he hadn't expected. He hadn't really registered the little bruises on her arms, chest, neck… Now that he thought about it, he had been rather stupid not to notice that, "You don't look like the fighting type."
That brought another laugh out of her, "Oh I'm not! I never even say a lot to these girls but they feel like I have to be…beaten down I guess." She sounded as bewildered as he was, "This one was trying to tell my father something…horrible. I went outside to try and talk to her, stupidly, and she tried to kill me." Looking up at the mid-afternoon sky, she sighed "I don't really know what these girls think they know about me… I don't think I want to know."
Kanji watched her, frowning in concern "I hope they didn't hurt you too badly."
The bruised girl smiled, her right hand reaching into her little shoulder bag "A few bruises aren't too bad, I'm more upset that she broke this…" She pulled out a little, white cat plushie; it was just big enough to fit inside her hand. It was definitely old and worn, like when a child hugs a toy to the point of it losing its fluffiness. That part didn't upset her though; instead it was the paw that lay separate from the rest of it. She smiled sadly down at it, stroking its little head with her thumb "When I was little, my best friend gave this to me. It was the last time I saw him before I-" the tiniest pause caught his attention, a something suspicious flitted across her face, "- left. I like to hold it near; it's all I have to remember my time in Europe by."
Now this was a problem. Every part of him was screaming to help her, to fix the little plush doll and to make her happy again. But there was always that damn, nagging part of him that told him that it wasn't 'cool' enough. But then again, the sadness that hid behind her eyes… that he couldn't ignore.
Damn, he thought, why am I such a softy?
"Damnit, I'll fix it, ok?!" His voice was practically a yell, scaring Kali out of her skin. Seeing her blink with wide, amazingly confused eyes he realised his faux pas "Ah… Sorry…"
Well, that's that. I've messed up, she won't want anything to do with me anymore. Go on, get up and run.
A fit of giggles stopped his thoughts in their tracks, Kali was laughing at him. He felt his heart sink, he almost wished she had gotten up to run away in terror instead of mocking him.
"You jump from gentle to angry so quickly, and over such little things too!" She laughed, wiping her visible eye gently with her fingertips. Calming herself (much more quickly than Yukiko ever could, he noted), she gave him a sweet smile "Anyway, I couldn't ask you to go out of your way to fix a soft toy."
"Forget that, I wanna fix it."
She raised a thin eyebrow at that, looking genuinely confused "You would do that for me? What would I have to pay you?"
Shocked at her suggestion, he waved his arms excitedly in front of him "No payments! I just…wanna do it, that's all," Without thinking, he thrust out his arms and held them open, similar to Oliver asking for 'more'. His cheeks were flaming and Kali giggled again, carefully lifting the damaged plush toy over to his open hands.
"Thank you, Kanji-kun."
The soft toy slipped from her hands into his. The delicate fabric somehow kindled his desire to protect this fragile object, he had to keep it safe and fix it now, for himself, and for her.
A distant calling attracted Kali's attention, the voice sounded desperate, definitely a man's voice though. She groaned slightly, biting her lip when she realised who was searching for her, "It's my dad… He's probably worried about where I am." He could tell that she didn't really want to leave but he couldn't hold her back.
She frantically stood up, straightening herself and frowning at the grass stains on her dress. Just before she had to run away, she looked once more at Kanji "Will you be here tomorrow?"
He smiled, a little sad that his company was leaving him, and nodded.
"Then I'll see you then!" With that chirpy, happy smile she seemed to wear effortlessly, she disappeared towards the Shopping District.
Kanji watched the road long after she had gone; her presence seemed to linger with him. She seemed like a mixture of fragility and joy, so different to her name's meaning. His fists clenched at the idea of parents actually wanting to name their child after a goddess known for her murderous actions, would they really have been so cruel? He slicked back his hair, took a breath and stood up. He knew he had to tell the others of who he had met, her name, what she was like, etc. He didn't really feel like seeing them though… They wouldn't be able to do anything until the Midnight Channel became clear anyway, so what was the big problem?
There was nothing he could do. Picking up his jacket and holding it over his back, like always, he headed home.
…Later that night…
Yu drew back the curtains, staring into the rainy night. There was so much to think on, so many different possibilities that came to mind. They had little information on the backgrounds of either girl, knew nothing about what their possible 'dark side' could be. At least with the others, only one victim became possible at a time. Now, there were two.
He sighed heavily, resting his forehead on the cold glass. Not only were the two girls potential victims but they were also connected as enemies, a relationship which would make it difficult to fully understand.
The television whirred behind him and he turned, it was time.
"Tonight… Something different… Something darker…"
The screen was dark, the faint outlines of…things in a room with stained walls. There was something hanging in the centre of the room.
"Do you like scary stories?"
The narrator was a high-pitched, sinister whisper, like that of a child in a horror movie. Despite its clichéd nature, it actually caused dread to build up inside of him.
"Then take a look at mine…"
The screen flashed, the object in the centre of the screen was a body hanging from the ceiling, a bag covering the person's head.
"Hope you don't mind a bit of…blood."
A face flashed up on the screen, Yu jumped back in shock. The eyes were hidden and the face was twisted into a horrifying grin, blood pouring continuously down the cheeks of this demonic woman.
"Keep watching…It won't be long now..."