As Akihito soon found out, Asami Ryuichi was a man of…varied tastes. There's no way he could've known, since he had only seen him with women in public events. However, after the first death, he began conducting deeper research, tailing the man silently back to his apartment, noting what floor the apartment was on. It would be difficult to procure a key, so he filed away that tidbit of information. However, what he could do was keep track of whom Asami brought back to his apartment. And the only people allowed in that high rise apartment were his lovers, and occasionally his secretary, the severe looking man in the glasses.
And that was how he found out that Ryuichi was bisexual. Occasionally, the man would bring back boys. Wispy, beautiful things, bold and lascivious. Most would cling to his arm and look at him with overtly worshipful eyes. But others, rather than wanting his face, wanted his money. They looked at his well made suit, the opulent building, and saw nothing but money. Money that could maybe land into their hands if they played their cards right.
He hated those boys the most. How dare they even think about doing such a thing to Asami? Sluts and gold-diggers, the lot of them. Their punishment would be most severe.
Her name was Kita Noriko. She was a female businesswoman, beautiful and successful. To everyone else it was like a package deal, beauty and brains, but to Aki it was a major problem. It meant that she wouldn't be fooled easily, unlike those other ditzy models. No, he had to plan this one very carefully. It would require a lot of background knowledge on her, what exactly she does, her personality, and regular life patterns. So Aki got to work.
After several hard days of Internet (and real-life) stalking, Aki knew everything he would need. Kita was a well respected businesswoman, making excellent decisions in company merging and handling. However she seemed to be compassionate, which would play a major role in his plan. Aki also knew that every Wednesday afternoon she would go to Kasumi's, a family owned organic open mart, and shop for her weekly groceries. Apparently despite her knack for large-scale corporate handlings, she also liked to support locally-owned businesses.
This was where his plan would commence, and if everything went right, he would have her end up safely in an unused dorm back at the college.
He planned obsessively. Every last detail, even side courses of action should something go wrong. All the details of this plan were nailed down and rock solid; he couldn't, after all, afford to be caught. And all he had to do was stay calm. Stay calm and not falter. He could do it. He would do it, for Asami. Everything for Asami.
Aki felt nervousness twist at his gut. He looked around, noting the number of people in Kasumi's. It was a bit more crowded than he would've liked. However, the minute his eyes saw Kita looking at strawberries, with a well put together look, the jealousy came back. There was no way this bitch was getting off the hook so soon. So with a determined look, Aki walked right into the open mart.
At first he just followed her around at a safe distance, watching her facial expressions. She seemed to be in a good mood, humming a song to herself as she shopped. Slyly, he pulled out his phone, careful to cover the screen so she wouldn't realize that he hadn't actually received a call. He walked in earshot of Kita, a table of fruits between them. He made sure to feel around on the fruit, running his hands all over them. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kita glance up at him curiously. Bingo.
"Please sir! You have to understand, I have no idea what I'm doing! If you could just help me with the basics, show me the paperwork, help me pass it on to someone who's more fitted to take care of the company." Aki tried to add as much desperation and helplessness as he could into his voice. He could tell he had Kita's absolute attention at the word 'company'. However, it seemed that she needed a little more incentive before taking the bait.
"I-...yes sir...please! No sir I-...yes I understand...but if you could just help me I-" A half second pause. He allowed a dismayed expression to cover his face, as if the other party had rudely hung up on him. Adding to the show he slumped his shoulders and hung his head low, then he put his phone in his pocket, making sure to miss the pocket a couple of times. That's when he saw some sympathy enter Kita's eyes. Yes, that's the expression I was going for…
"You okay sir?" Kita asked respectfully. Aki made sure to 'startle' a little at her voice, and when he turned his head to look at her he made sure his eyes didn't gaze at her directly. Instead, he stared at the air right beside her head. Tearfully, he nodded, slowly explaining how he was an ordinary boy whose parents had suddenly died, leaving him in control of their medium-sized company. Well, he didn't have a clue about how to run a company, so he tried to sell it off to a good, fair company and get some money that he could use to fund his education. Unfortunately, all the interested buyers seemed to be taking utter advantage of his disability and were obviously trying to scam him.
When he was done with his fake sob story he assessed Kita's look. She looked very well interested, but he could tell there was some hesitance in her still. Dang she's tough.
"But oh gosh, how silly I'm being, just dumping all my problems on you. Please don't mind me, I didn't want to disrupt your day." He made a big show of blinking the tears out of his big blue eyes. As Aki turned his back on her he almost crossed his fingers, straining his ears, hoping with all his might she would say something. He could feel her gaze on his back, watching him as he walked off. So with his last chance of making this work, he did the last scene of his show. There was a man walking perpendicular to him, and instead of stopping like any normal person would do, he kept on walking. They crashed together and both fell to the floor. Aki scrambled up making sure he was at a correct angle to see if Kita was watching, she was, and finished his performance by apologizing to the man, nervously fumbling with the sunglasses he had magicked out of his pockets.
Aki wanted to smile in victory as he saw Kita's eyes widen in understanding and compassion. Hook, line, and sinker he laughed in his head. She began walking towards him, laying a hand on his arm to 'alert' him of her closeness. Her eyes practically glowed with pity.
"Sir, I think I could provide you some help if you would be willing. I'm Kita Noriko, and I help build, take over, and restore companies, as well as work at them. I was a bit hesitant at first, but I can't believe people, taking advantage of a blind person. Some people are just monsters! I would love to extend my expertise to help you."
Aki could hear the sincerity in her voice, and it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. But still he smiled, letting false gratefulness seep into his voice, honeying it.
"I couldn't accept that, it's way too much to a-" He was cut off by an insistent Kita.
"No, no! I should have offered sooner Mister…?"
He was half tempted to say Asami, and claim his future husband's name, but that might rouse suspicion. Instead, he gave his prepared fake name, perfectly generic and harmless.
"Inoue. Inoue Ryouta. And I would be so thankful if you could help me! I just need someone to help me find a good company to sell it to, and read the paperwork to me. If you would like we could swing by my dorm room and I could give you the paperwork I have, that way you can decide if you want to get in on this company?"
"All I have to do is check out and then I'll follow you back and grab the papers. I'll probably give you a call a week after with your different options on what to do! If you want to we can schedule a meeting too." With that Aki agreed and followed Kita to the checkout, taking some fruit and making sure to feel around on the tables to make it look like he needed a guide. Afterwards, Kita dutifully flagged a cab for the blind Inoue and proceeded to follow him back to the college.
The whole ride Aki kept his head down, as if in deep contemplation, and Kita respectfully turned her head the other way, consumed by sympathy for this struggling young man hit with hard times.
But when he was sure she wasn't looking, Akihito indulged, and let a sadistic smile spread over his face. Perfect.
Kita turned around the surprisingly bare dorm. Well, she supposed, it would be easier for Ryouta to navigate without any clutter, so it made sense. "Alright," She said cheerily, turning to the boy. "Where are the papers?"
"Oh, yes," Aki smiled benignly, "They should be in here…" He shuffled forward, using his hands to feel down the drawers until he hit the lowest one. Bending over, he reached down, hands closing securely around a heavy leaden pipe that was concealed in the drawer.
Click clack went the woman's heels as she stepped forward for a look. Now! He whirled around, the pipe colliding with her skull. A crack rang through the air as she slumped to the ground, blood seeping out of the wound on her skull. Dead. He stepped forward, checking her pulse just to be sure, and breathing out a sigh of relief as he felt nothing. If he had missed, her screaming would have surely brought people here.
He looked down at the beautiful woman, half of her lovely face covered in crimson blood, confusion still etched onto her rapidly slackening facial muscles. This was the price he would pay, to etch out his promised beautiful future. But there was no time for sentimental thinking, he had to work fast.
Pulling out several other drawers, he revealed the supplies he had stashed away. He rolled out a plastic tarp, lifting up the woman and placing her on it, mopping away the small amount of blood she had left, careful to not let it stain. He then pulled on his gloves—no fingerprinting, thank you very much—and set to work. Using a bone saw, he patiently hacked away, cutting off her arms and legs. It was exhausting work, especially for the femurs, but he had plenty of time before the sun went down. Blood slicked over his gloves, running all over the tarp. He'd have to clean (or burn) that later. He arranged the bundle in the duffle bag, smiling in satisfaction. The legs were a little tough but he had picked out an extra big one, so everything managed to squeeze in.
Looking out the window, he saw the flickering of street lights. He glanced down at his watch. Ten o'clock. Hm, a little bit longer then.
Terada Soseki was having a really shitty day. And that was the cold, hard truth of it. The newly fired salaryman stumbled home, drunk and depressed. Abruptly, he felt his nausea swell, his throat spasming. His eyes spied an alleyway, and he stumbled toward it, pushing back against the vomit. Reaching the entrance, he bent down and threw up, heaving miserably. Yeah, it probably hadn't been such a good idea for him to down all those drinks…
His nose wrinkled. Something smelled foul. It was different from the sour reek of his vomit, it smelled…putrid? Rotting. His eyes scanned the dark, narrow space, and rested on a humanlike figure that laid against the far wall. A beggar? But the person was so, so still. Not a single breath stirred their chest, and not a finger twitched.
A morbid curiosity swelled inside of him as he stepped in, just a little bit, calling out. "Um…excuse me, are you alright?"
Ah, finally, a sign of movement. The figure's arm quivered…and then fell off.
Soseki felt his eyes widen in shock as crusted blood fluttered off the ends of the stump. The figure slumped sideways, its other arm also toppling off. Its face was finally bared to the light, a woman's face; eyes still open and lids drooping, mouth slack and dead.
That was when he began to scream.