A/N: Thank you sd4ianto for the reviews, they mean a lot! This chapter is for you ^^
CHAPTER TWO
At first, Lilly encountered the same difficulty her partner had. The kids suddenly ran away from her as if she were some kind of ghost. But one of them ran into one of the rooms and went back with a teacher. The boy half-dragged the teacher towards Lilly while Japanese rushed from his mouth like a never-ending waterfall.
About the teacher… well, he looked like one, at least. He looked too young for a teacher, maybe around seventeen, with jet-black hair and big eyes. He was wearing a dark blue uniform, and Lilly needed a while to remember the name of the martial arts that had that kind of outfit. Kendo, most probably.
"Hello," Lilly greeted, smiling at both of them.
"Hello, Miss!" the boy cheered on the top of his lungs. "This is Shingyouji-sensei and he can do anything!"
"Hush, Izumi," the teacher, Shingyouji, chided gently. "What did I say about politeness?"
The boy looked thoughtful. "That I should be polite or Michio won't like me the way Misu-san likes you?"
Shingyouji blushed to the root of his hair, and Lilly had to smile. She wasn't a fan of kids, but they could be very amusing sometimes. Shingyouji shook his head in exasperation and smiled weakly at the female detective. "Good afternoon, Miss. Is there anything you need?"
Lilly wanted to flash her badge, but she didn't want to attract more attention from this Izumi boy. If her age guessing was right, there might be a chance that he knew Takumi Hayama in this school. She didn't want to waste her time, so she gestured for him to make the boy leave.
Fortunately, Shingyouji understood. He looked down at the boy. "Izumi, go find Michio. I heard he's trying out in the archery club. Don't you want to support him?"
A big smile crossed Izumi's face and he nodded. "See you later, Shingyouji-sensei! Bye, Miss!" With that he ran away; Lilly and Shingyouji watched his back with amusement. After he was totally gone, Shingyouji nodded at Lilly and offered his hand. "Kanemitsu Shingyouji. I'm actually from the Academy, but I'm helping out with the junior kendo club."
"Lilly Rush, Philly PD." Lilly flashed her badge. "I'm here to ask about Takumi Hayama. Do you know him?"
Shingyouji blinked, but nodded slowly. "Can I take you to see my… friend? He knew Hayama-san better than I do, since they used to be classmates."
"Lead the way."
Shingyouji peeked into the room he was previously in, and spoke some words in Japanese to the people inside. Afterwards, he nodded at Lilly and started walking outside and towards a smaller building behind the two schools. Lilly only needed to see the LIBRARY sign to know what it was. Shingyouji poked a student who was looking at Lilly confusedly as if he'd never seen a grown American woman before.
"Is Arata-san here, Morita?" he asked in English.
The student, Morita, tore his eyes off Lilly and nodded. "He's talking with Takeshi and Akaike-senpai on the usual spot. Even I can't get between them."
Shingyouji laughed and led Lilly towards the 'usual spot', a.k.a the corner of the library, the most secluded place in the room. There was a round table and six chairs around it. On three of them sat three boys in their Shidou Academy uniform, accompanied with a blue blazer. Only one of them, the one with thick glasses, didn't wear that blazer; he wore a black pullover instead. They were so immersed in their books and talking with each other that they didn't notice Shingyouji and Lilly's presence in front of them.
"Arata-san," Shingyouji called.
The one called Arata-san was the brunet in Shidou blue blazer. He frowned disapprovingly at Shingyouji, but the expression changed to bewilderment when he saw Lilly. "What is it, Shingyouji?" He was obviously not a likeable person.
The other one in blue blazer, one with short black hair and hard jaw, suddenly stood and gestured at Lilly to sit down. "Is there anything we can do for you?"
"Wait a sec. Do you know her, Akaike?" the one with glasses—Takeshi?—questioned.
The one called Akaike nodded at his friends. "I saw Sagara-sensei talking with a cop earlier, and I guess you're his partner, right, Miss?"
Lilly nodded, and flashed her badge. "Philly Homicide. I'm here to ask about Takumi Hayama."
"Isn't it a bit too late?" Arata asked skeptically. "It's been a decade."
"We're reinvestigating the case. There might be a chance that his and his brother's death wasn't an accident. Is there any of you who knew him personally?"
Takeshi shook his head and stood. "I'm afraid I won't be much help," he said. "I'm just a new student here and I don't know anything about this Hayama person. Besides, I'm sure Tooru is waiting for me. I'll see you guys later."
When he was gone, Lilly saw Akaike shrugging. "He just moved here, so he won't know anything. And I'm sorry, but we haven't introduced ourselves. My name is Shozou Akaike, and this is Arata Misu. We're third years here, and Shingyouji is a year below us."
"Hello, there." Lilly made a quick greeting. "So, you guys know Takumi?"
"Yes. He was in our class," Arata said. "I wasn't really close to him, but we talked once or twice. He was a quiet type, not really socializing with others."
"Indeed," Akaike added. "None of us are really close to him, but we liked to hear him play. Even Shingyouji and the lowerclassmen sometimes gathered to hear him out."
Lilly turned to the kendo instructor, who nodded. "That's the only thing I can remember about him. He's a wonderful violinist."
"…but a terrible person."
Akaike's words were greeted by reluctant nods.
(Song: 'All Small Things' by Blink 182, followed by Vivaldi's Primavera on violin)
Akaike was walking on the corridor when he heard faint cheers from the nearest class. He checked his watch and felt a bit irritated. He might be almost nine; just a kid, but he never liked noises, especially in the class. They were supposed to study in the class, not shouting about the newest game or reenacting Ultraman. But since it wasn't his class, he let it go.
"Play for us, please!"
"Come on!"
Exasperated but curious, he peeked at the inside of the class, and it took him to realize that it was Shingyouji's. He wondered if there wasn't any teacher, and why Shingyouji as the class rep didn't discipline his classmates. He saw Shingyouji himself there, along with his classmates and a few students from various classes. Whoa, even all serious Arata Misu was there too!
Takumi Hayama was in front of the class, holding his violin. He looked nervous, but it disappeared completely when he put the instrument on his shoulder and started playing. The song he played was a fast-paced and very beautiful, but neither Akaike, Arata, Shingyouji, nor the rest of the audience knew what that was.
Akaike closed his eyes as he let the music flow in his ears. After Takumi finished playing, he pushed himself off the doorframe and resumed his walking towards his own class. Arata followed not long after, knowing that their class was going to start.
Meanwhile, Shingyouji was so awed by the song that he was going to approach Takumi and perhaps give him a hug. He wanted the older boy to know how much the song affected his audience, especially himself. But then one of his classmates, Ooji, had jumped on Takumi, just as impressed as Shingyouji himself.
In a flash, Ooji was on the floor. The rest of the class hurriedly swarmed the poor boy, asking him whether he was okay. Being pushed by Takumi until one fell down was surely painful. Shingyouji followed his friends, and was busy tending over Ooji he almost missed Takumi leaving the class.
Someone else, with brown hair and taller built, was with him. Shingyouji only saw their backs as they walked out.
"Who was that?" Lilly asked.
Shingyouji was going to speak, but a look from Arata and Akaike stopped him. Lilly made a mental note to interrogate this kendo instructor alone, if his information was still needed. Maybe there was something else he could tell.
"I don't know," he finally said. "I didn't see his face."
Lilly didn't buy it one bit. "Alright. So does this mean Takumi was afraid to be touched?"
"We think so," Arata answered. "He always pushed away people who tried to be physical with him. Some kids thought he was such a snob who thought people were below him."
"Did you think so?"
Akaike answered it for him. His tone was so calm it was suspicious. "No. We never really cared of him. A new kid; only had his violin to attract people. We weren't that close to him to care."
"I see." Lilly knew better than debating with them and causing commotion. So she stood. "Thanks for your time, you three. Tell me if you remember something else. If you're looking for me, just ask for Detective Lilly Rush in the PD."
"Okay," Shingyouji muttered, still looking lost in thought. Lilly didn't fail to notice that as she left the library.
When Lilly and Scotty were back in the headquarters, Jeffries greeted them with a folder on his hands. "Guess what. I traced the violin… what's the name?"
"Stradi… er…" Scotty tried to answer, but finally gave up with a grin. "Stradi something."
"Stradivarius," Miller piped up from behind them. She shrugged when her partners stared at her in astonishment. "What? Veronica wanted one when she was bored with ballet. That one time. But lemme tell you, that thing's real class."
"Right." Jeffries looked back to the folder. "I contacted the mother and she said the violin was bought in the States under Takumi's friend's name, and sent to them in Japan on Christmas '97. So, I traced the purchasing history of the violin, and narrowed the names to boys around his age. Look who I found."
Lilly received the piece of paper her superordinate gave her, and both Scotty and Miller went closer to take a look. There was no photo, but a name was enough to recognize who they'd be dealing with.
Giichi Saki.
A/N: We'll see our dear seme after this, I guess, and also a certain couple from the novels! ^^
Shingyouji as a kendo instructor fits my headcanon just right. Also, I used 'Arata' instead of 'Misu' to avoid confusion for the readers outside the Takumi-kun fandom. Since Shingyouji refers him as 'Arata-san' in the beginning, it's better to use Misu's first name in this (and later) chapter(s).
I cannot not include Morita and Takeshi and (lil) Izumi. Cameos, cameos :D
Reviews are much appreciated!