Trigger warnings for traumatic memories, murders and an implied abduction at the end.
Chapter 3: Another One?
"Absolutely not." Nao said, crossing her arms over her chest, green eyes stricter than Natsuki had ever thought the redhead capable of. "Look," Natsuki began, "I don't like it either, but if it saves a few people, then is it really such a sacrifice to give Fujino a few rewards like more books, a bigger cell or more music? Would that really be so bad?"
Nao snorted, "You've never had to deal with subordinates or prisoners, have you, Kuga? The moment you give in to what they want, you're in their power. It's better this way. Fujino needs to know her place. If we start rewarding her, she'll think she's a blasted queen. She's arrogant enough as it is. Just trust me on this one, Kuga, you've already seen what she's like, you don't want her walking around thinking that she owns the facility and that people need to wait on her hand and foot."
Natsuki wanted to argue. But the problem was that she saw where Nao was coming from. The redhead had a facility to run and very, very disturbed residents in it to keep from getting out of control. A captain had to be very careful about what decision they made when piloting a ship, unless they wanted that ship to sink to the bottom of the ocean. Nao Yuuki maintained an existence with a bunch of psychos and murderers, it was likely she needed several restrictions on all of them if she wanted any peace and quiet around here.
"I get that." Natsuki said at last, "I actually do, but maintaining control or not, there still might be a chance that she knows a thing or two on how to stop the Hime Killer. They're both brilliant murderers and it took years for Fujino to be caught. I don't think it's unlikely that she could give us some insight. And again, Yuuki, women's lives are at stake here. Even if we are giving into Fujino's requests, what if it really did save lives. Well?" Natsuki stepped forward, determined green eyes meeting Nao's and the redhead waited a few moments before sighing. "Alright." She said, surprising Natsuki. As Nao turned to the disturbed looking Ms. Omori, Nao glanced her green eyes back to the agent and smirked, words coming out almost as slyly as Shizuru's, "You're a surprising woman, Kuga. After finding what I heard you found in that garage, I'd have thought you would have run for the hills by now."
Natsuki kept her voice under control at that being brought up, "I'm doing my job, Yuuki, as you are. I'm trying to keep the people safe. There was a murder, it's my job to find out who did it and why and who they'll go after next. So, I'll ask this, I'm willing to sacrifice my pride for the people, are you?"
A look of anger crossed Nao's face for a moment. "Don't question my morals, Kuga." The redhead warned. Her dark look softened as she smirked, "But I see your point. Very well. I'll consider it and discuss what I can with Fujino and see if we can come up with some sort of understanding and compromise." Her smirk became wide, like she was an all too satisfied cat, "I think I'm starting to like you…Natsuki." Nao cocked her head, watching Natsuki with a little too much interest. Far more than the agent would have liked. Wanting to move onto a different topic, quickly, Natsuki spoke, "That's good to hear. Thank you. Now, I'm going to go back to my station for a bit. See if there's any news on our killer. Good luck with Fujino, Yuuki."
"Of course. Thank you." Nao chuckled, still holding that disconcerting smile on her face, "And I hope you're not going to regret this, Natsuki." Nao said Natsuki's name with a slight purr that made Natsuki almost shiver as she turned and a little too quickly, walk out the door and head towards her bike. That was two people now that seemed to insist on calling her by her first name. One of them was a cannibalistic murderer. The other was a questionable facility director that just might be flirting with her.
Natsuki strained a bit as she straddled her bike, picking up her helmet, ignoring the stinging that ran through her right leg as its wound came into contact with the bike. Boy, Yuuki wasn't kidding. She'd need a lot of luck, indeed. All the luck in the world.
Next Scene
The Station
Natsuki barged through the glass and metal doors of the station quickly, avoiding the stares of all the officers. She heard choruses of mumbles. As she passed, trying to block out her thoughts of the gossip her interaction with Fujino must have caused. She heard the occasional whispers of, "Kami, could you imagine talking to that monster?"
"Kuga's really in deep shit now. I don't know if she can handle this."
"And she's still a trainee, right? Kami, what was Tate thinking, throwing a trainee to a monster like Fujino?"
"I really feel bad for Kuga. Damn, and she already gets nightmares, right?"
That was the last straw. She whirled around, glaring at the different clusters of agents, spitting out furiously, "Dammit, if you have something to say, say it to my Kami damn face! Don't mumble behind my back like a bunch of fucking hens!"
Each group of agents jumped, faces growing pale, eyes going wide. Natsuki huffed out and whirled back around, storming down the hall again.
Her stomping feet led her to the kitchen. She smiled when she saw Mai and Mikoto there. Their backs were turned to her. "Well, I'll just assume you guys live here from now on." She laughed, making them both jump. They turned around, startled and Mai grinned. "Natsuki," She exclaimed, running over, dropping her wooden spoon on the counter and wrapping her arms around her friend. "How are you Natsuki?" The at first startled agent stepped away, exhaling. She shouldn't be surprised at this reaction. Mai was always glad to see her, but this overly affectionate reaction was inevitable. She could only imagine how frightened for her Mai must have been when she was first told by Natsuki herself who exactly she was going to go interview.
"I'm alright, Mai, honest." Natsuki stepped back, smiling. "Everything's fine. I mean, there's a decapitated guy, but you don't have to worry about me. We'll figure out who this psychopath is." Mai nodded, but Natsuki could see the doubt in those lavender orbs. Not that she blamed the young cook. Natsuki was interacting with an extremely dangerous criminal. Mai had every reason to be afraid. "Come on," Natsuki said, nodding to the naturally ever hungry Mikoto, "I think this one is starting to feel the repercussions of not eating fifty times a day. I'll have some chicken teriyaki if you two will."
Both Mikoto's and Mai's faces lit up with big grins as Mai turned back to the stovetop. Natsuki kept her smile on her face, hoping that she exuded the opposite of how she actually felt.
After the teriyaki was finished and all three women were eating the meat off the bones quickly, the rapid sounds of running came from the hall. At the startling sound of multiple people racing towards them, Natsuki turned, curious, half-eaten chicken in her mouth, as she saw nearly eight officers bolting past the kitchen doorway frantically. She turned and looked at the others. Mikoto was still scarfing up the chicken, but Mai had the same stunned and curious expression on her face as Natsuki had.
"What the hell?" Natsuki mumbled, putting her chicken down and getting up, slowly walking out into the hall towards Tate's office, which was where the eight officers had run. The door had been swung open and five men and three women were standing in front of Tate's desk, all huffing and wobbling in their exhaustion. One of them leaned forward and it looked like he was whispering. Natsuki narrowed her eyes, watching. Whatever it was, it couldn't have been too quietly said, since Tate was jumping up out of his seat, face ashen as he stared, stricken, down at the trainees. "Are you serious?" He asked, voice shaking.
One of the men nodded. Tate breathed out, circling the desk. "Alright then. Get everyone out and investigate the scene. Now!" Tate grabbed his dress suit jacket from where it hung on the wall, walked to the door and stopped, eyes finding Natsuki. He met her eyes and Natsuki understood almost immediately when she saw the amount of dread and horror in her chief's orbs.
"There's been another one, hasn't there?" Natsuki said, feeling an icy chill, already knowing the answer.
Tate nodded, grimacing.
Next Scene
Crime Scene
Standing under the towering oak, staring down at the blood beginning to pool around the large, thick roots, Natsuki felt all the breath leave her. It felt like a large sheet of ice had wrapped around her body, encasing her. The completely white faced girl, lying in the ivy, arms splayed out in front of her, ivy tangling with her white fingers. Natsuki felt like her throat was completely dry. There was blood leaking out of nearly every stab wound, dripping down from the girl's chest and stomach. Long, pink hair in sausage like shapes lay out on the ground to mingle with the ivy. The black leather clothing clinging to the agent's body, barely kept her warm. Then again, Natsuki knew that it probably wouldn't even have mattered if it were eighty degrees out. It felt like every blood cell in her body was freezing. She heard what the other officers had said. A body was found, but he looked disturbed, even more than given the context when asked what the condition the body was in. Natsuki's eyes flew over the decimated body. So far, she was counting at least a dozen stab wounds. The agent felt her stomach churn again. Dear Kami, this psycho was just getting worse and worse. The term "escalating" couldn't be used here. He had escalated way, way too far for him to escalate any further.
She heard the crunching of leaves and plants behind her and she turned to see Midori walk over. The dark red-haired woman gave a strained smile as she looked down at the body, "I can't believe this." Midori said sadly, "This is the sixth one. He's getting better at making it last longer from the looks of it. I wonder how long it took her to-" As if realizing what she was saying, Midori took a worried look at Natsuki and looked away. "Sorry, I guess I shouldn't talk like that. We don't know anything till Yoko looks at her."
"Yeah. Definitely." Natsuki said, unsure of what else to say in a situation like this. She had heard about all the other victims of the Hime Killer, but she had never personally looked at his work. It was eerie. And while this certainly wasn't the first time Natsuki had ever seen a dead body before, (even the decapitated man that she had found earlier hadn't been the first), but there was something monumentally unsettling here. This wasn't just a random guy who just happened to kill someone one day. This wasn't manslaughter or a gang member. She was looking at the body of the victim of one of the currently most famous serial killers in Japan right now. At that moment, Natsuki felt like she was as small as an ant, under a glass with this body, that felt bigger and bigger the more she stared at that cold, blue-white, lifeless face and the multiple stab wounds.
Midori must have seen something in Natsuki's face that she didn't like at all, because she quickly said, "Natsuki, how about you go get Yoko, tell her we found the body. That it's ready for her examination." Natsuki looked at Midori, eyes narrowing in confusion. Shouldn't Yoko have been here by now, anyway? It took Natsuki a moment to realize why Midori wanted her to go get Yoko. She released a sigh. "I'm not a child, Midori," She said, more anger in her voice than she meant, "I can handle seeing a body."
Midori shrugged. "I know that. I'm just concerned, okay?" Natsuki snorted. "Fine, whatever." She stalked off to the other car where Yoko was sitting. She opened the door, ignoring the startled, curious looks she was getting. "Yoko." Natsuki said, keeping the annoyance to a minimum in her voice, "Midori thinks you should look at the body. The sooner it's looked at here, the sooner it'll be under a sheet and I won't have to look at it anymore."
Yoko, the beautiful doctor of their station, with short, black curls of hair, smiled up at Natsuki, a bit of sympathy in those blue eyes-sympathy that Natsuki was honestly getting sick and tired of. "I imagine. I'll scope out the body. I'll go and get the crew." Yoko stepped out of the vehicle and after giving Natsuki one last concerned look, she turned and walked towards the rest of the paramedics, usually waiting for their medical instructions, now for the day, sadly to be awaiting their instructions on bagging a body.
Natsuki watched as the doctor went and spoke to them and two of these men nodded and brought out a gurney with a big black body bag. Even knowing that of course the body bag was needed after seeing the actual victim, seeing the body bag; there was almost a finality to it. There wasn't even a chance of deluding herself. This girl was dead. Deader than dead, if that made sense. Even seeing the real dead body didn't compare to the sense of doom Natsuki felt at seeing that body bag as it was carried over. Natsuki's breath was caught in her throat and she felt her heart beat wild again. It was silly, wasn't it? Though she was still a trainee, she had seen other bodies before. She had seen other body bags before. But seeing this one now, for some bizarre reason….
Natsuki's throat went dry as her heart raced, mind falling back to a place she'd rather not dive back into ever again.
Standing outside of the house. Seeing her father glaring at the front lawn, bottle hanging in his hand by its neck as he glowered. Paramedics raised the deceased onto the gurney, her body inside the black bag. They zipped the bag up, and Natsuki knew with a horrid cry ripping from the young girl's throat, that she'd never see her mommy again.
"No!" The small six-year-old screamed, struggling in the police officers' grasps. Don't take my mommy away! No! Mommy! Mommy! Leave mommy alone! Mommy!"
Natsuki swallowed again, feeling the squirming coldness bleed through her. She needed to get away from this right now. Maybe, for once those looks of sympathy had been a real warning. Maybe for once she actually was in over her head. At least in this situation. Feeling hot tears begin to well in her eyes she turned away and walked briskly to where Tate stood, observing the crime scene. He caught sight of Natsuki rushing over and upon seeing her face, he pushed himself off where he was leaning against the cop car.
"Natsuki?" He asked, mouth parted in a show of concern, "Are you alright." Natsuki shook her head, the back of her hand going to her eyes and wiping away the moisture. "Yeah." She grumbled unconvincingly, "I'm fine. I'm just fine. I need to get out of here. I'll see you guys back at the station, okay?"
Tate hesitated, trying to search Natsuki's face for answers, but he nodded as if resigning himself to respecting the dark-haired trainee's privacy. "Alright." He said, glancing back at the scene as the body was lifted onto the gurney and into the black bag, "Go on. We'll be back in at least a half hour." Natsuki nodded, saying no more as she walked by him and went to her bike where it leaned against a tree, the sloshing of the small wheels of the gurney against the wet mud sounding like the grinding of a horrible beast ready to pounce her from behind.
Next Scene
The Station
The group stood in the medic center, surrounding the metal slab where the black body bag lay. Natsuki knew that she probably couldn't have stood and stared at the body bag for more than a few seconds, since it was only two minutes or so ago when the officers had brought it in, but it felt like a century since she first laid eyes on the thing. She turned and was relieved when she saw Yoko Sagisawa sitting back against her chair, facing the computer on the other side of the room. Natsuki breathed out and turned away from the sight that had transfixed her for who knew just how long and walked to Yoko. "Hey, Yoko," Natsuki spoke up, smiling as the dark-haired doctor turned to her, surprised. "Natsuki." The doctor said sadly, "Are you alright? I know things have been really rough lately." Natsuki rolled her eyes, ignoring the still stinging, morbid horror and fixation that had been grasping her since first getting involved in this case and first meeting Fujino. "Come on, Yoko, not you too! I'm tougher than that." She grinned, "For Kami's sake, you patched my leg up when I was shot!" Yoko winced at the loud remark. "Don't joke about that, Natsuki." Yoko said, smiling sadly, "I know you braved the surgery even though you were a rookie, but you know how much blood you lost."
Natsuki sighed, eyes downcast, guilt beginning to set in. Of course she had known. She had hoped her joke would lighten the mood. Clearly, Yoko would have none of it. Being shot a year ago….it had been one of the few times Natsuki had been sure that she was going to die. She had lost so much blood. On her left leg, there was a bullet mark where the projectile had hit. Around that and along the length of her leg, there were the slice marks from the surgery Yoko did to save Natsuki's life. For a second, Natsuki thought about making an incredibly inappropriate remark about how now she had scars for both of her legs, one from the surgery needed for the bullet and the other for the slice from the door of the garage she had snuck into, but kept her mouth shut. Yoko was already upset, she didn't need to get more worked up because Natsuki liked to occasionally ruffle feathers.
"Right, sorry." Natsuki finally offered, "It's just, I feel like I need to lighten the mood. You know, having to talk with Fujino and all." Yoko nodded, still grim faced. "I do know. I'm sorry that you were the one selected for this." Natsuki shrugged, walking over and sitting down in the chair next to the medic, "It's alright. I'm an officer and if I want to go anywhere or do my actual job, I'll do this. It might save lives and put this freak behind bars."
Yoko shook her head. "It's more than that. I saw how you were when we found this girl's body, Natsuki." Natsuki froze, keeping her new planned jokes at bay instantly. "I don't know what you're talking about." Natsuki snapped, knowing that her words were in no way convincing any more than they had been to either Midori or Tate. She was just glad that Mai and Mikoto were off in town for a lunch date and weren't here to see this body. Mai got neurotic enough as it was when it came to death. And Natsuki hated seeing how depressed the orange-haired girl got around the subject.
Yoko shook her head. "Don't try to hide it, Natsuki. You've been shaken up for a while now. I can't blame you. I don't think anyone in this station blames you."
At Yoko giving her a sympathetic look to the younger officer, Natsuki finally couldn't deal with it. "So, what's the verdict on this newest victim? At least, based on what you saw at the crime scene?" Natsuki asked abruptly, wanting to move to another subject, preparing herself for the worst. Yoko's grimace told her that she was right to worry. The black-haired physician sighed, accepting Natsuki's diversion from the previous discussion, "It's bad. I shouldn't have to tell you that. But it's bad. For starters, the stab wounds are shallow and have deliberately avoided certain arteries and vital organs. In other words, I think our Hime Killer has learned how to avoid killing the victim immediately and wants to make it last as long as possible."
Natsuki felt the blood drain her. She shouldn't have been surprised by this, she knew that. The other bodies as run by in other stations had reported the botched attempts by the Hime Killer, as described by Yoko now, only this time being pulled off successfully. But this was the real deal. The excelled masterpiece. The Hime Killer had finally kept a person alive, killing them slowly, painfully and horrifically. Hearing that, seeing the "body of work" that the Hime Killer had left in the woods, meant one thing that Natsuki was all too familiar with when reading on other killers for her classes before entering as a trainee. The Hime Killer was going to be far better at his "work" than before and leave an even bigger, "perfected" string of bodies before they could find him.
"Fuck." Natsuki growled, unable to think of saying anything else to describe how she felt about this. Yoko smiled grimly and nodded. "You could say that. That certainly sums it up." Yoko glanced at the body bag and was about to speak again, when the silver doors of the morgue swung open, and Tate stepped through, looking around urgently, only stopping in his movements when he found Natsuki at the computer with Yoko. Natsuki faced him, blinking.
Tate looked at Natsuki imploringly. "Natsuki, I've been looking everywhere for you. Have you been here the whole time since we brought the body back?" Natsuki stiffened her shoulders and snapped, "I don't want to answer that. What did you want to talk to me about?" Tate said, preparing himself to talk about it, as if expecting the young officer to flip out if he said the wrong thing, "I know what I said the other night, but this is urgent. If Fujino knows anything at all, we have to know. And we have to know now. The Hime Killer has escalated. If there was ever a time that any knowledge of someone like him might come in handy, it would be now." Natsuki still felt queasy as she knew that she was about to be sent to Shizuru Fujino again and took one more glance at the body bag, containing the cadaver. She turned back to Tate, emerald eyes steeling. "Alright. I'll go now."
Next Scene
The Facility
"And I'm sure you've already heard about the pleasant find brought to us today." Natsuki said, crossing her arms over her chest as she stood in front of the instructor of the facility, whose rare somber expression was becoming more frequent.
"Ah yes," Nao said, voice becoming grim as she looked back at Omori, "The newest victim. I believe thought to be Shiho Munakata." "Not believed," Natsuki said, swallowing the bile as she thought of the pale, dead face in her mind, "Confirmed."
"I see." Nao nodded. She hesitated a few more moments, glancing at Omori before finally chuckling. "Alright. If only it will prevent me from having to deal with any accusations from your station or newscasters that we did anything wrong, I'll go along. But be aware, I don't like this at all." Natsuki let out a grim laugh, "And you think I do? I'm speaking with a serial killer. I have to speak with her every chance I get to find another one. And a cannibal, no less. So just to tell you, Yuuki, I don't like this any more than you do, but I'm bearing with it, because it's the right thing to do."
Nao's sardonic grin was back. "Ah, please tell me," The redhead laughed, "Do you believe in fairytales too? Do you think if you're a good person, you'll go to Heaven? In the real world, Kuga, everyone only looks out for themselves. If they ever do anything good for someone else, it's because they get something out of it. You're not here because you'll solve a crime and save someone, you're here because you want information to solve a crime and get a raise and a promotion. Nothing more." Fire churned through Natsuki and her teeth were bared as she took a menacing step towards Nao.
"How fucking dare you?!" She spat, "You don't know that! How dare you assume that about me! Not everyone is as selfish as you are, Yuuki!" Nao's grin stretched and Natsuki fought down the need to lash out-including physically. Right now, she had to see Fujino. No choice. She nearly growled as she aimed for the door behind Yuuki.
Natsuki stormed past the smirking Nao, making the redhead lose her haughty expression. "Kuga?" She asked, stunned at the enraged grimace. "Don't fuck with me right how, Yuuki." Natsuki snapped. As she strode towards the hallway door to Shizuru's cell, she called back to Nao, "We are going to make arrangements with Fujino about her cell. Whether you like it or not."
Not bothering to hear Nao's reaction, Natsuki swung the door open and headed down the stairs to the staff.
A few minutes later she was in the hall, focused on Shizuru's cell and stormed towards the end of the hall. She ignored all the deranged screams of the other prisoners and finally stopped in front of the glass wall that separated her from the cannibal, eyes falling on the tall, voluptuous murderer.
"My, my, my," Shizuru chuckled as Natsuki stood, glaring coldly at cell, and turned her head when the navy haired woman was inches from the foldup chair. Shizuru looked concerned oddly when she saw Natsuki's slouched shoulders, furious expression and pale face. As Natsuki glowered at the doctor, Shizuru nodded, understanding. "There's been another one, hasn't there?"
Natsuki let out a huge breath and it felt like all the life was leaving her in that breath. "Yeah." She answered as she sat down, almost disgusted with herself that she found it relieving that a deranged monster could understand her just by looking at her, when almost no one else seemed to.
"I see." Shizuru said, moving so that she was sitting at the end of the cot, feet hitting the ground. She eyed Natsuki. "I see it made an impact on you. Just as Jiro's death made an impact. You seem very sensitive to brutal deaths. A surprising thing in your line of work, don't you think?" Natsuki snapped accusatory green eyes up at Shizuru. "Leave it alone, doc. I'm not in the mood." She warned. The wheat-haired woman smirked. "What's the fun of that? Yes, it is strange. Have you never seen something like that? Or…is it because you're very familiar with brutally decimated corpses that you're so sensitive?"
Immediately, that alien, disturbing relief that had settled in Natsuki's chest fled her body and she stared hard at the cannibal, flashes of her mother's corpse being carried off in a body bag flowing through her mind again.
"I'm warning you, Fujino," She growled, not caring about the frown that her use of Shizuru's last name brought, "Don't start. You want me to call you by your first name? You want me to tolerate you? Stop this conversation, now. Don't try to dive into my mind, or I swear to Kami, I fucking swear, that I'll get up, turn and walk away, and we'll try to find out who the Hime Killer is without your help." Even as she said it, Natsuki wasn't sure she could back up her threat, but she knew she must have sounded compelling enough, because Shizuru's shoulders slumped and the wheat-haired woman sighed, nodding. "I understand." She said. "Very well, Natsuki. I will not bring it up again. At least, concerning the body. I'm curious about you, but I will not ask about the victim. Is that fair?"
Natsuki hesitated, knowing that she was about to enter into a possible verbal landmine, depending on what loophole Fujino might try to create or abuse, but she'd accept it, for now. She nodded. "Okay." She submitted. "We can continue." Natsuki found the words coming out carefully, "So the Hime Killer has escalated."
Shizuru lifted her head. "Escalated?" She parroted, "How?"
Natsuki shook her head, as if trying to debate to herself how to explain without showing just how disturbed she actually was. Literally a second ago, hadn't she just gotten Fujino off her back about the morbid subject?
"He's learned how to keep a victim alive, even after stabbing them multiple times." Natsuki said, watching Shizuru's face for any kind of reaction. Eyebrows lifted, but that was about it. Shizuru inhaled as she spoke, "That is troubling, I must say. You believe there may be many more deaths to come, now that this killer has made…how shall I say it? Progress?"
Natsuki ignored the sick feeling in her stomach at how the former doctor had phrased it. Progress was such a ridiculous word to use in the content of a murder, but it was somehow fitting. Perhaps that was exactly how the Hime Killer viewed his new kill. As "progress." Maybe that was indeed what it was, since perhaps this was his intention all along.
"I guess, if you want to see it like that." Natsuki said at last, glaring down at the cold, filthy cement floor. She looked back at the doctor who had tucked her hands under her chin and her elbows on her legs, the cannibal's crimson eyes fixed on the agent. Natsuki felt her heart race again. What was the cannibal thinking? Just what was this….being thinking? She would have shuddered at the thought of trying to understand a murderer and cannibal's thoughts, but strangely, Natsuki understood why there was such a fascination in serial killers. Why serial killers had so many fan letters sent to them.
They were fascinating, weren't they? They weren't tigers, sharks, cobras or bears. They didn't need to kill in order to eat and survive. They needed to kill for a whole different reason. What could make a person do something like what these killers did? What could make Shizuru Fujino murder and devour as many as thirty-three known victims as she had? What could make the Hime Killer do what he had done?
In this strange, bizarre, twisted wonderment that ran through Natsuki's brain, staring at Shizuru who simply stared back, the dark-haired trainee knew that she wanted to ask more of the doctor. So much more.
She also realized what she was thinking and almost laughed at the macabre nature of her thoughts.
Oh yes, she needed a lot of luck. She needed more than a world's worth of luck if she was truly starting to be fascinated by serial killers, didn't she? No. If she was fascinated by murderers like Fujino and the Hime Killer, she was far too gone by this point for any amount of luck to help her now.
Natsuki stared at Fujino's red eyes, and more than sure that the doctor might know what the agent was thinking, Natsuki quickly brought up her next question, wanting to distract the cannibal, "So, Shizuru. As I'm sure you've guessed, I want to get more focus on this killer after this atrocity. Ready to answer more questions?"
After a few, unsettling moments, Shizuru dropped her arms to her legs and smiled. "That's why you're here, isn't it?" Shizuru chuckled, "So, go ahead, Natsuki. Ask whatever you want. It's another story on whether or not I will answer you, but ask away, and depending on the question, I will answer as well and as honestly as I can."
Natsuki almost found a chuckle of her own bubbling in her throat. She had to wonder just what Shizuru's version of "honestly" meant. What was the moral code of a serial killing cannibal? Natsuki really wasn't sure she wanted to know, despite her new intrigue with the woman. But she knew she had a job to get done.
"Alright," She finally said, "Here's my next question."
Next Scene
Tokyo, Taito
Sitting in an alleyway was a large, mostly obscured grey van. It sat between two large buildings, barely looked at as the pedestrians walked on by, concerned only with their daily lives. Too busy with their own boring jobs and lives at home to notice the man standing next to the van, leering out at them.
They didn't notice him, or the young girl with short brown hair and glasses coming towards the alley. And they certainly didn't notice the man slipping slowly out of the alley, looking at the bespectacled woman or that he was gripping a white piece of cloth soaked in chloroform.
The man narrowed his eyes at the oblivious brown-haired girl. This girl. This one. She would be his next prey to fall under his knife.
Author's note:
Okay, sorry for the delay. I've been busy, but here's an update. Hope you liked it and that it officially creeped you out. As I said before, be patient. I lost a lot of the work I did because of a problem with my previous computer, so again, I'm doing a lot of this from scratch and memory. Please be patient.