Too Into You
Chapter Four: Losing Control

Friday , 2nd May, 2009 – 11:30am: Heiwa Memorial Cemetery

Heiwa Memorial Cemetery was a small graveyard with few graves scattered around the neatly pruned grass. Despite ifts small size, it was what one would term a "prestigious" graveyard, for lack of a better word. It was extremely expensive to place a grave there – partly because of the peaceful location (hence its name) and the beautiful trees that grew around the cemetery.

At the corner of the graveyard were two fresh gravestones made of marble. Many bouquets of flowers were laid in front of them – the deceased were clearly popular people when they were alive. The closeness of the two graves suggested that perhaps the two deceased knew each other – most possibly a couple.

He walked slowly over to the graves, knelt down and placed a bouquet of fresh white roses gently on the headstone.

"You've got so many flowers already, mine looks hardly noticeable," he whispered, fingering the photograph of the smiling woman as he spoke. "But I know you'll appreciate it all the same."

Izumi Koushirou was a man of few words. He kept to himself and his beloved electronic gadgets most of the time. He had managed to acquire a few close friends though, and many found it rather disbelieving that two of these close friends just happened to be two of the most famous people in Japan.

But now they were dead and to say that he was devastated was an understatement.

As he stared at the two headstones, he found that, as usual, he did not have much to say. No whispered farewell speeches or I-miss-you-so-much declarations. He sighed and bowed his head low.

She was the only one who knew him well enough to interpret his silent moments. And even though she was no longer here, he was sure that wherever she was, this was exactly what she was doing right now.

Yamamoto Satoe stifled a yawn as he stepped into the room. He never could get used to early questionings – it was only 9 in the morning. He had been up late the past night, looking through Takaishi Takeru's file after the tip off from another guest, Kido Jyou.

He took his seat in front of today's suspect – a pale-faced, red-haired man who sat hunched on his seat, staring miserably at the table. So this was twenty four-year-old Izumi Koushirou – to be frank, he could pass off as an eighteen-year-old easily.

They cleared the usual questions easily. Koushirou had arrived at the Ishidas' at about half past eight. He had known Sora since they were young. They used to be neighours when they were kids and had become really close. Even though he only got to know Yamato after he started dating Sora, they appeared to have hit it off quite well, too.

From Yamamoto Satoe's impression so far, Yamato had seemed like a straightforward and loud man – one who was no-nonsense and got down to business quickly. Somehow, he couldn't imagine him and Koushirou getting along well.

"What time did you leave the party?" He asked.

"I left at around eleven," Koushirou's answer was almost inaudible. "I… I left with Kido Jyou."

Officer Satoe looked up at that. This was a new piece of information! Things looked interesting. "I see. So the two of you went off together?"

Koushirou paused. When he spoke again, his voice cracked slightly. "Not really… we were about to hitch a cab when Jyou suddenly remembered that he forgot his wallet, so he doubled back to get it and I went off first."

Officer Satoe made a note. "Did you notice anything strange or suspicious during the party?"

Koushirou shook his head furiously at that. "No. There was nothing at all! Everything was going on like how it always was – there was nothing different from usual at all!" His voice rose sharply as he continued speaking, and sudden tears were beginning to leak from his eyes. "I never thought this was going to happen. Never! Everything was the same at the party – and then the next thing I knew… she's dead. Gone forever!" Tears were pouring down his cheeks profusely now, and he sounded near hysterical. "She was my closest friend. She was the only one that understood me, and now…"He shut his eyes tight, as though screwing them up against the pain he felt. "She was the only one whoknew…"

Officer Satoe watched him, feeling a strange mixture of pity and increasing suspicion. For all his talk about how close he was to the Ishida couple, Izumi Koushirou had only mentioned one half of them throughout his sudden outburst. It was as though he had forgotten of the existence of the other half...

Satoe made a hasty scribble on his notepad:

sora knew something about izumi. surprisingly close.

Friday , 2nd May, 2009 – 11:45am: Odaiba Sunshine Apartment

"Takeru?" Hikari spoke tentatively as she sat down next to her husband on their bed. Her left fist was clutching something tightly.

"Yeah?" Takeru looked up wearily from his half-knotted tie.

"I've got something to show you," Hikari said quietly, leaning forward to him. She took a deep breath and uncurled her fist.

For about two seconds or so, Takeru stared speechlessly at the intricate key in her hand. Then he looked up at her, expression stunned. "How did you get that?"

"Takuya showed it to me yesterday," Hikari replied, closing her fist once more. "I don't know how he could've gotten it. He refused to tell me anything!"

"But," Takeru shook his head, unable to get over what he had just seen. "How could Takuya have gotten it? Could this mean…?"

He stood up abruptly. "I've got to go and ask him."

"Takeru!" Hikari exclaimed sharply, grabbing her husband's arm. "You mustn't jump to conclusions. Let's talk through this before we take any action. Takuya's just a kid. What can he possibly know?"

"Who knows if he saw something he shouldn't have?" Takeru's voice was grim.

"Even more so why we shouldn't rush in asking him anything!" Hikari replied at once, glaring at him. "Get a hold of yourself! Look, Takuya's eating his lunch right now and he has school in an hour. We can't let him know anything's wrong."

Takeru let out a frustrated sigh. "Hikari, he's my brother!" He scowled at her fist and then cast an angry look at her. "How can you show me that and then tell me not to do anything?"

Hikari looked sadly at him.

"I know he's your brother, Takeru," she said softly. "But please remember, too, that Takuya is your son."

Friday , 2nd May, 2009 – 12:00pm: Heiwa Memorial Cemetery

"He was a bastard," he sighed as the pair of them strolled down the pathway slowly. She held a large bouquet in her arms. "But he didn't deserve to die in such a manner."

She looked down at the ground. "Does this mean you forgive him?"

He let out a bark-like laugh in response. "Are you kidding, Mimi? After what he did to you? I don't think so."

Mimi looked at the flowers in her hands and sniffed them delicately, choosing not to respond.

"Hey, look," he said suddenly, pulling her to a stop. "Someone else is there too."

"Who? Taichi, you're blocking me." She took a step sideways and craned her neck to get a better look.

"It's Izumi Koushirou!" She whispered. "He probably wants to be alone. Let's wait for him to leave before we go ahead."

But the man was standing up now, brushing soil off his pants and bowing respectfully to the two graves. Then he turned swiftly and before the couple could manage to jump behind a large tree, he had caught side of them.

Even with the slight distance separating them, they could see that he had stiffened as soon as he saw them. Mimi gave a wave, but Taichi merely frowned. Koushirou gave an uncertain wave in response before practically dashing out of the graveyard.

"I never did like him," Taichi growled.

"Don't be mean," Mimi said sternly. "He's not that bad. We had a talk… of sorts at the party." She bit her lip at the memory of it, then shook her head. "Come on. Let's go and pay our respects."

Thursday, 23rd April, 2009 – 8:45pm: Ishidas' Residence

The gathering was going well. Everyone was happily talking and chattering. Alcohol had been successful in loosening up even the shyest of the lot, and everybody seemed to be at ease, catching up with one another and sharing some interesting anecdote they had recently encountered.

Motomiya Daisuke let out a tired sigh as he leaned against the broom cupboard. Finally, he had finished cooking dinner and serving of supper wouldn't be for another forty-five minutes. He could finally catch his breath and take a quick break somewhere peaceful and quiet – to be exact, the storeroom.

He plopped himself down on an overturned bucket, accidentally banging against a large mop as he did so. It came clanging down hard on to the floor, and he winced.

At the same time, he thought he heard a sharp squeal emit from inside the broom cupboard.

He froze. Were there RATS in the Ishidas' household? Damn! Sora and Yamato were both neat freaks and even if he was the cook, not the cleaner, he knew he would definitely have a share of the blame if something as ghastly as rats were found in the house.

He mustered up his courage, stood up, and turned to the cupboard.

"Here goes nothing," he whispered, grabbing the handle and flinging the door open.

"HOLY SHI –!"

Tachikawa Mimi let her gaze wander over the large bookcase displayed in a secluded corner of the large living room. It was filled top to bottom with all sorts of thick novels and classics. She couldn't help wondering if this was just for show, or if people here actually read them.

"Hey there, beautiful."

For a minute, she thought that it was just Taichi, but the sudden, almost painful grasp on her wrist told her otherwise. She spun around immediately and came face-to-face with Yamato, who was smiling at her in such a way that it was almost a leer.

"Yamato," she acknowledged coldly, trying to prise away from his vice-like grip.

"Mimi," he breathed huskily, leaning in close to her. "It's nice to see you again after so long."

"Yes, it is," the grip was really starting to hurt now. She shot him a glare. "Could you let me go, please? You're hurting me."

Yamato only pulled her closer in response.

"Don't lie to me," he was smirking slightly now. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" He leaned forward and kissed her ear lightly.

"Are you drunk?" She hissed, looking around wildly. "People are watching!"

"I don't give a shit."

More frantic now, she tried to struggle free, but Yamato simply smiled at her. He knew she wouldn't dare to do anything obvious, like make a scene and shout for help. She cared too much about her reputation for that.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

Yamato let go at once and Mimi felt relief wash over her like hot chocolate. She had never been happier to hear Taichi's voice…

… That was, until he stormed forward and punched Yamato right in the face.

TBC

BIG FAT NOTE: Gah, I had no idea Satoe is Mimi's mother's name! And I used it for a GUY! Oops. Oh well, just to let all of you know that Officer Satoe is of no relation to Mimi's mum, alright? And let's just think of him as a guy and not a guy with a woman's name. Heh.

Erm, moving on… Thanks a great bunch of bananas to my lovely reviewers: PrincessJaded, revilo, Aster Selene, Blazing Chaos, Catching Rain, Cara Miro, shef01animetize, emotionless-robot, xReadItAndWeepx, BenignUser, guavawolf, aznwhitespot and SugarSpiral. You guys are great!

Please do leave a review for this chapter too; much appreciated! :D I'll try to get the next update up asap!

(BTW, Heiwa means "peace" in Japanese.)