Chapter updated!
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Chapter 3
With a blank expression she sat in her chair, looking at the file in front of her while her head hung limp. Her eyes were glassy, showed nothing of her courage she normally had, as she remembered Friday nights incident where she saw how this guy killed all the men merciless.
It was a terrible memory.
He did not even hesitate to try to kill her. If he had not gone, she was sure she would be dead now. A shudder went down her spin as she remembered back his bloody red eyes which seemed to stare into her mind and see what she was up to do. Then there was the point that no one would believe her when she would talk about this. She was part of the police and she knew that they would think she had too much stress when she would talk about a man who could produce fire with his body. But when she was honest with herself, she knew that even she would not believe such a story.
Sighing, she took the file down and turned to her computer where she scrolled through the files to search for something that could serve her as distraction. After a while she found an interesting case and read through it.
"Chizuru-chan ?" It was the voice of Sen which brought her back to reality. As she looked up, she saw her friend standing beside her desk with a worried expression on her face. A hopefully confident smile formed on her lips as she stopped her doings and looked at her friend. "Is something wrong, O-Sen-chan ?"
"You are too quiet since you arrived this morning. Are you okay ?" Chizuru did not know how she should respond to this question. But as she looked deeper in the pleading eyes of her friend, she decided it was the best to lie at her. She did not want that she worried more about her. "It´s nothing O-Sen-chan. I think I am just tired because I was up till the morning. I am fine." Sen believed no word.
"Chizuru, please don´t lie at me. I know that something is wrong with you." She felt immediately bad for trying to lie at her friend and thought if she should tell her the truth about her encounter with the man whose memory was still in her head. But would she believe her ? Or would she find her story too crazy ? With a deep sigh, she decided that she should tell it to her and was glad that Hideyoshi had his free day. He would for sure not believe her.
"O-Sen-chan, after we parted from the Shopping Mall I encountered something really... strange." She heard how Sen took a chair to hear better her story, and saw her smile to encourage her to continue. "It was at the station where I saw..." Before she could proceed with her story, they both heard a commotion coming from the office of their chief. With a frown, Chizuru stood up from her chair and looked confused at the door which pushed open the next moment.
And revealed a man.
He possessed short brown hair and emerald green eyes which were looking around the room, inspecting its furniture and people. In a strange way, it seemed that she knew him, even if this was the first time she saw this man. As she looked closer, she saw a bandage on his right arm.
It was the same arm where she had shot the man three days ago.
Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at him. Now where she looked closer, she saw that he remembered her a lot of the man she met last Friday who killed all the people. Could it be that he really was the one ? He did not even have white hair or red eyes. He seemed to feel her stare. As he raised his head and met her eyes, she knew it was him. In the next moment, all color disappeared from her face and she hold back her breath which he commented with a smirk.
While Sen was impressed by the pretty boy, she felt how her heart beat more and more quickly and her blood swooshed in her ears. And as if this was not enough, he was walking in their direction. She felt how her body shook and her legs wanted to give in by the weight they had to carry and how her vision began to blur. The moment she was about to collapse, she felt a strong grip on her arm which caught her and prevented her from hitting the ground.
"Chizuru-chan!" Sens scream echoed in her ears, but the only thing she did was trying to regain her sight which was still blurry. In front of her, was a face which was indeed too near for her liking, but as her sight got more clear and she saw who it was, she froze.
"You can be really clumsy, nee ?"
He was staring down at her with a gaze which showed nothing of the coldness he showed to her this fateful night. No, it was almost friendly. A smile graced his lips as he stared with his green eyes in her brown ones which let her shudder.
"Chizuru-chan. Are you alright ?" Their connection broke apart by Sens words as the man lifted her up, was she still hanging in his arms, and positioned her on the ground. The moment she stood firmly on her own feet, she immediately drew back from him as if she had burnt her hands. "H-Hai. I´m fine." While she answered, she stared at the man in front of her with a suspicious gaze as if she would await him killing her. Sen seemed not to notice the tense atmosphere as she turned her body in the direction of the stranger.
"Ano, can we help you with something..." Just this moment, she noticed that she did not know his name. He smiled. "You can call me Okita."
"Then Okita-san ?" She smiled back at him as if she would talk to a longtime friend and he replied it. "Yes, you can indeed help me because I am new in this job."
The time seemed to stand still by his words as she realized the meaning behind it. He was going to work with them ? Chizuru felt a thick lump building up in her throat as she saw how he watched her from his peripheral vision while he chatted lively with Sen, still with this smile on his face. She felt again the urge to just collapse to the ground but this time she fought against it when she did not want that this happened again. Instead, she began to reach for her gun on her hip. She would not allow this man to hurt her friend in any way with his fire. Seeing this coming, the man named Okita changed his strategy and turned around to her.
"Can I talk to you for a short moment, Chizuru-chan ?" Surprised by his words and that he knew her name, she let her hand slip from her service weapon, but she let never her guard down. With a short gaze to Sen, she decided it was the best when she agreed, if she wanted that Sen was not involved in her affairs.
"I´ll be back soon, O-Sen-chan."
Sen looked at her and him confused before she nodded, had she no problems with their decision. With a thoughtful expression, Chizuru left together with Okita the room. They walked side by side over the corridor without looking into each others eyes while Chizuru kept some distance to Okita. She did not trust him and never knew what he was up to do. It was possible that he would kill her now, was this his best chance, but she knew this would only cause him more problems.
They were after all in a police station.
As they were passing another door, she felt how he dragged her on her shoulder and pushed her in the empty room with much force. It happened too quickly so she lost her balance and collapsed this time, hitting with her head the hard ground. She heard the click of the door and how he closed the window blinds so darkness ruled the place. Then, she heard his footsteps approaching her. Slowly, she stood up from her place and drew back, trying to escape from him. But all her effort was useless as Okita came in front of her to a halt. Even if she could not see him, she could still hear his breath.
"I hate it to repeat myself, but you have really some guts." In the next moment, she felt how his body pressed her against the wall, pushed all the air out of her lungs which let her cough roughly. Then, she felt how he pinned her hands above her head and how his eyes changed again to this deep red she could see, was it shining through the darkness. He stared deep into her eyes which let her froze in the spot. With much force, she tried hard to regain her composure as she spoke.
"W-What are you trying to do ? W-When you kill me you´ll-" Okita stopped her by touching her shoulder. Was he now killing her with his fire ? Or wanted he just make her fear him ? All her anxieties remained unfounded as he simply let his hand rest on her naked skin which radiated warmth. "Do you really think I would be so careless and walk in a police station when I could finish you off just this Friday night without any witnesses ?"
His words were as casual as if he would talk with her about the weather what confused her. What was he up to do, she asked herself.
"Then, tell me why you are here." Okita smiled again, but this time it possessed some dangerous. He let her go and she fall to her knees, had she not the power left to stand, while he rose the window blinds up, let light in and walked in the direction of the door before he answered her question. "I am just here to watch."
"To watch ?" She was perplexed by his answer and watched how he stopped and turned again around, looking at her with his red eyes while she forced herself to stand up. "I am here to see if you will tell anyone about what you witnessed. When you do it..." His next movements were too quick she could not follow as he rammed his fist in the wall only centimeters beside her head, let again flames arose from it.
"...I will burn everyone who knows it with these hands."
The wind played with his short brown hair as he drove with his motorbike back to the place where he lived together with the other guys. Since a few days they were in the city after they moved from Osaka. Every few months they changed the place for good reasons he recalled just this moment. There was an organization who is looking for them and it could be dangerous when they found out where they lived. But if it were up to him, he would not run away like a terrified animal.
No, he would stay and fight.
Okita hated generally this life, was it not worth living in his mind. But his friends were in the opinion that it was more save to hide in the darkness than to live like normal people. He could not even go out some days or had to take a new identity when he was at the outside. The same he did at the police as he registered himself for the job. He could only hope that no one checked his identity.
A few minutes later, he reached the building, climbed down the vehicle and opened the door of the garage before he entered it. After he parked the motorbike, he went upstairs to head in the direction of the kitchen. Thence, he could already hear voices.
"Oi shorty! Give it to me!"
"No way!"
He heard the screams of Nagakura Shinpachi yelling at the young man named Todou Heisuke, wondering what happened that they were so angry at each other. Souji turned the corner and an amused expression graced his face as he saw the two of them fighting for a book Heisuke was holding. They had already knocked over the table which laid now on the ground while they had more space for their fight. In the other corner, he could see the redhead Harada Sanosuke who looked at them with a grim expression.
"Please you two, calm down. If Hijikata-san finds this out." While Sanosuke seemed to be really annoyed by their behavior, Souji had big problems to hold back a laughter and walked to his side. "What is the reason this time for them to fight ?"
"They found a book from Hijikata-san and want to read it. I don´t think that he will like this." This was the time where Souji recognized it as the Haiku book he had stolen some days ago from Hijikata. The grin on his face widened as he folded his arms in front of his chest and watched them fighting for a while until another person entered the room.
"Okita-kun, Hijikata-san wants to see you." It was Sannan who just spoke while he directed his glass on his nose, ignoring the commotion of the other men. Souji looked at him a little confused before he remembered that he had to report his doings during his first day at the police station. Souji looked one last time back to Shinpachi, Heisuke and Sanosuke. He was sure that Sannan would dissolve this commotion quickly, but he felt not sorry for them. He waved a short goodbye to Sanosuke before he left and walked to Hijikata´s office. As he stood in front of it, he knocked.
"Come in."
He opened the door and entered the room where Hijikata was already waiting for him. The older man sat behind his desk, writing something down. But as Souji came closer, he put the pencil to the side and crossed his fingers into each other and looked with a stern gaze to him. Without a word, Souji took the chair which stood in front of the desk and placed himself lazily on it while Hijikata observed all his doings.
"How are things at the station ?" He asked bluntly. Souji did not hesitate as he answered his question. "Good. I am now a policeman and the new partner of the girl who witnessed everything this night. This guy named Kondo did everything what you demanded in the letter." Hijikata seemed to be content with his answer, but the strict gaze never left his face.
"And have you already met her ? Did she recognize you ?"
"Yes, she knows who I am." This time, Hijikata fell silent, thinking about the information he just received from his subordinate while Souji let his gaze wander bored around the room. He did not like it to just sit around and talk with Hijikata. No, he would much rather do something where he could impoverish himself. By this thought, he knew what he would do after this short meeting. A short training session was always good. Hijikata seemed to know his thoughts as he gave him a paper and spoke.
"Be careful with her. Do everything so she doesn´t talk about this incident and kill the people where she do it. You know we can´t need more witnesses." Souji looked shortly at the paper before he asked. "Why I am not allowed to kill her ? This is wide more easy than to watch her."
„I already told you the reason, Souji. Now, you can go." With a defeated sigh, Souji stood up from his chair and took the paper Hijikata was still holding before he went to the door to exit the room as the door pushed open and Sannan walked in. As Souji passed him, he shot to him a warning glare before he walked to Hijikata to give him back his Haiku book he had taken from Shinpachi and Heisuke. The moment Souji saw it, his grin reappeared.
"Bye Bye Hijikata-san, Sannan-san." he said before he left quickly the room.
The moment as Hijikata saw his book he looked up where Souji stood just seconds ago and shouted.
"Souji!"
Chizuru returned back to the room where her friend Sen was already waiting for her and sat herself down behind her desk. She was still thinking about the words he had spoken and the threat behind it. That he would kill every person who knows about the incident. Alone this thought let her shudder.
He would kill everyone if I do it, she thought. And he would not shrink back to kill me after his massacre.
Again, her body began to shook from fear and sweat started to form on her forehead. Even if he was not present, she could still feel his touch on her shoulder and the abnormally warmth which he radiated. She knew that he was dangerous and unpredictable with his actions. And most of all, the only reason he was here was to watch her. Even if she did not know what he meant by that first, she knew it now.
Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard footsteps walking in her direction. First, she thought it was Okita and readied herself to took her service weapon which was still on her hip. But as she heard the voice, she knew who it was and let her hand slip from the gun.
"Where is Okita-san ?" Sen asked her as she rushed to her side and placed herself on the edge of her desk. Chizuru looked up to her before she looked to the side, covered her face with her hair. "He is gone."
"Gone ? Where ? And why ?" Chizuru shrugged. "I don´t know. After our conversation he just left." Even if she did not look directly to her friend, she could imagine the frown which graced her face. "But he have to know that work isn´t over now. We should tell him."
Chizuru nearly laughed. As if he would care. The only reason he was here was to watch her to see if she would talk about it. But then, she was the one who frowned. When he should watch over her, why was he not here at the moment ? Not that she missed him, no, she was glad he was not here.
And there was another fact which bothered her.
Why had he not killed her this night ? She knew that it was much more problematic when he go to the police station to work as a new policeman than when he just finished her off. There had to be a good reason behind it, she decided. And she knew she would do everything to find it out.
"I think we should go to Kondo-san and ask him if he can give us his phone number." Sen´s words brought her back to the current situation. Now, she looked her directly in the face and as she recalled her words, she was more than shocked.
"You really want his phone number ?"
She could not believe what Sen was trying to do. When they called him, who knew how he would react. Would he be angry and kill all of them or would he take it tranquil ? One thing she knew for sure: She did not want to find it out.
"Yes, why not ?" Sen looked at her puzzled what was only normal. She did not know how Okita really was and wanted to befriend him. Generally, Sen was the type of girl who loved it getting to know new people. For her, Okita was one of them. And Chizuru knew she could not do anything against this when she did not want that Sen distrusted her. She forced a smile on her lips and stood up from her chair.
"I think you´re right. Let´s go."
They walked in the office of Kondo and asked him for Okita´s number. After a short conversation with him, they got what they wanted and returned back to the room.
"And who call him now ?"
They stood both in front of Chizurus mobile-phone looking down at it, still thinking who it would be who call him. Even if they had now his number, he was still a stranger for both of them. And for Chizuru, he was a murderer. But this was something she could not tell Sen when she wanted that Okita did not kill both of them. Even if he was not here at the moment, she knew that Sen would act suspicious in front of him when she knew the truth. This was something she could not risk.
"I think it´s the best when you tell it him. After all, it was your idea." She saw a faint blush on Sen´s face. It seemed that there were more reasons for her that she had proposed that they should call him. Chizuru hoped that she would not want from him what she suspected.
"Alright then." With her words, Sen selected his number and they could hear the sound of dialing before he received the call. "Hello ?"
"Okita-san. It´s me, Sen." He did not let much time pass as he answered. "Sen from the police ?" She seemed to be glad that he recognized her which Chizuru could tell from the smile on her lips. "Yes, Sen from the police. I wanted to ask you why you´re left." A short pause could be heard on the other of the line. It seemed that he thought about his words carefully.
"I have to take care of something. Where did you get my phone number ?"
"I get it from Kondo-san." She could hear that Okita fell again silent. "Alright. Can you give the mobile-phone to Chizuru-chan for a short moment ? I have to tell her something." Sen was confused by his words, but she did what he wanted from her and hold the phone in Chizurus direction.
"Here, Okita-san wants to talk with you."
With a surprised expression on her face, Chizuru took the phone and hold it on her ear. "Okita-san ?"
"Don´t ever call me again or you will regret it."
With this words, he finished the call. Chizuru stared long at the phone while she thought about his last words as suddenly, Sen spoke. "What did he say ?" She awoke Chizuru from her trance as she answered. "Nothing important." Sen looked at her not very convinced, but she said nothing to it as she continued. "You wanted to tell me something before Okita arrived. Can you tell it me now ?" Chizuru paled by her question and turned her face around so Sen did not see it as Okitas words echoed again in her ears. "I know what you mean, but I have so much to do so I have no time for this. Perhaps later ?"
Sen looked at her disappointed. But to her surprise she nodded. With a last smile, Chizuru walked back to her desk.
~xXx~
She sat on the couch in her flat together with her cat which slept on her lap. Slowly, she caressed the cat with her free hand while she hold with the other one the file from the case she was still working on. It was a mystery to her who killed the man named Daisuke Kenji a week ago. And she knew that she would not give up on it until she knew what happened this night. The moment she read the tenth time through the file, she saw something which she had not seen the other times.
"...and beside all the bite wounds we found undefined blood which is not from the victim."
Her eyes widened as she read this. This meant that the blood they found had to be from the murderer. A confident smile graced her face as she laid down the file on the table which stood in front of her. In the morning, she would call the laboratory and demand the analyzed blood to match it with the database.
With this, she could find the solution of the case.
