Serve & Volley
Chapter 6: In which the interrogation begins...
A/NWe're back! This chapter is one of the first things we wrote and largely the reason we decided to do this piece. We really wanted Greg and Kikumaru to have a chat because they're both cute as puppies and you have to be a stone-hearted jerk to not like puppies. We also really wanted Sara and Fuji to compare notes, but they're a little to busy to do that just yet. Hope everyone enjoys! Reviews are love!

Greg glanced through the two-way mirror at the anxious tennis player. The boy had bright red hair, and sat with his feet on the seat of the chair, knees drawn to his chest and tapping his hands against the metal. The CSI doubted this kid could ever be involved in a murder case.

"So this is the suspect's roommate?" he asked Catherine.

"Yeah, kid jumped about thirty feet in the air when I asked him to come in. He babbled the entire way here." She shook her head, disbelieving. "He's the youngest of four kids, living with his parents and grandparents. Blood type A. Favors an acrobatic play style in tennis and his favorite color is red… I think I found out more about him in five minutes than I have about Grissom in five years."

"He told you all this?" Greg blinked.

"Along with a recount of his most recent six or so tennis matches and his doubles partner back home."

Greg returned to his observation. The boy had untied one of his shoes, then retied it, then apparently decided it wasn't tight enough and repeated the process. "What's your take on him?"

Catherine shrugged. "The babbling seems innocent enough, but you can't be fooled by the cute ones."

He understood Catherine's skepticism, but intuition told him this wasn't their murderer. At the most, the boy might have unwittingly played a part somehow. Maybe he wasn't even aware of how.

His train of thought was interrupted by Catherine offering, "Want me to take him?"

"No, I'd like to do this one." She nodded, and he circled to the entrance.

Kikumaru immediately straightened when the door opened, hands on the table and feet firmly on the floor, though he couldn't seem to stop one leg from trying to tap.

Greg smiled, trying to put the boy at ease. "Hi. My name's Greg Sanders. We just want to ask you a couple of questions about last night."

"Kikumaru Eiji," the boy bowed, then looked up blinking. "I mean… Eiji Kikumaru. But I guess you already know that, huh? I mean… you guys brought me over here, so you probably know who I am and stuff--"

"Yeah, I have a list of your schedules here. Looks like you had practice until four. Then dinner and free time. Did you do anything that night?"

"A bunch of us went exploring up and down the strip. We went to see that big fountain. They play music and have it all choreographed to this song and I didn't know the song but I thought it was pretty cool. Have you seen that fountain? Well, you probably have since you live here. If I lived here, I'd probably go see it every day. I have this friend in Japan who'd really like it too. And after that we went to see the volcano erupt and then found this arcade--"

Greg let him continue, seeing the boy's posture relax the more he talked.

"They had a DDR game there and I beat Sengoku and Fujiko and Kirihara-kun, and then we almost got kicked out because Kirihara-kun said the machine was broken and had a tantrum. Then Sengoku made us go to this casino and this," he leaned in conspiratorially, girl tried to pick up Atobe. He turned purple; that happens to him sometimes."

"What time did you get back to the hotel?"

"Coach makes us get back before 11 or we have laps. Atobe and Oshitari went back a little earlier, but the rest of us got back around then."

"Did you go to bed right away?"

Kikumaru shook his head. "I called Oishi… my friend in Japan."

"And that didn't disturb your roommate?"

At the mention of his roommate, Kikumaru twitched. He averted his eyes just enough to be suspicious when he answered, "Fujiko's used to me. He doesn't mind."

Greg leaned back in chair. "How long were you on the phone?"

The boy looked embarrassed for a moment, a slight hint of red in his cheeks. "Maybe two hours? But please don't tell the coaches that. I'll get laps."

Greg calculated in his head. The murder took place around 12:30am according to Doctor Robbins; the kid had to have been awake when his roommate left. "And your roommate didn't leave to give you your privacy or anything?"

Another twitch, this time with a nervous laugh. "Fujiko? He sleeps pretty deeply. He's really difficult to wake up for practice."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he gets laps for it all the time. And since I'm his roommate, I always have to wake him up, and he's in the worst mood if he doesn't have his coffee--"

"Because we have a picture of him leaving the room at midnight." With that, he pushed a photo from the security tape across the table.

The color drained from Kikumaru's face. He glanced up at Greg, almost terrified. "I… he… I'm sorry, I just thought--" Kikumaru stopped, took a breath, and bowed his head. "I'm sorry, but I didn't want you to think what you're probably thinking now. I mean, Fuji sneaks out all the time, but he'd never do something like… that. He left, but… please don't think anything bad about him."

Greg had to agree with Catherine; the ones who seemed innocent always had something to hide.

Sara entered the interrogation room to speak with Syusuke Fuji. He sat with his arms folded protectively against his chest, face expressionless. She took her seat across from him, studying him for a moment before asking, "Can you tell me where you were at one-o-clock last night?"

His voice was polite, if mildly annoyed. "In my room. Asleep, as most people are at that hour. You can ask Eiji if you like."

"We have a witness that say you weren't."

Fuji's eyes blinked open for a moment in surprise.

"We also have footage of you leaving your room just after midnight." She slid a still photograph towards him. Fuji glanced at it, but his expression remained unconcerned.

After a pause where it became clear he wasn't going to answer, she asked, "Did you have anything against Ryoma?"

"I would never have hurt him," Fuji stated suddenly. "We had our … differences, but I would never have hurt him."

"Your coaches tell me the two of you had a long-standing rivalry. A young prodigy shows up at your school, takes the attention away from you…"

"We were part of the same team. And we traded singles spots often enough to keep things from getting heated. Actually, I took singles two from him on this trip, so if anything, he had a grudge against me."

"So why did we find your DNA on the wristband in the stall with him?"

Another too quick blink, followed by a pause where she could almost see his mind working. According to the data, Fuji was an accelerated student, regarded as a prodigy in both tennis and academics. She couldn't be sure how much she could trust any of his answers. "This is just a conjecture, but I'd suspect one of my teammates. Exactly how much do you know about Akaya Kirihara?"

Sara noticed the sudden shift in topics, but was curious as to his new tactic. "Why would you suspect him?"

"Kirihara-kun, has a rather interesting history of violence, particularly when tennis is involved. He injured Echizen before, actually. And the most interesting fact is, later he barely remembers doing so. It's almost as if he blacks out."

"Have you witnessed this before?" Sara asked, suspicious of how he came by this information.

"First-hand. I've played against him in competition before and spent a couple days in the hospital recovering. I did win, though," he added as an afterthought.

"So you think he waltzed into your room during one of these 'black-outs' and stole your wristband?"

"I've lost several wristbands in the laundry over the course of this trip. I'm sure anyone could pick one up."

Sara shook her head; everybody always claimed to lose what turned out to be the key piece of evidence. "If all this is true, then where were you last night?"

Fuji's eyes lingered for a moment on the photograph. "I'm very sorry, Miss Sidle, but I can't tell you the answer to that."

A little taken aback by his change in demeanor, Sara asked, "Why not?"

Fuji chose his words carefully. "It's true I wasn't in my room, and I shouldn't have asked Eiji to lie for me, but I wasn't somewhere I was supposed to be either."

"Is there somebody who can confirm your whereabouts?"

Fuji took a breath. "Miss Sidle, you have someone, don't you? I've seen you with him."

Sara felt her heart rate accelerate, for a panicked moment wondering if someone on the staff had seen them. Panic soon dissolved into an offended anger at this kid's using that against her. "I'm asking you if --"

"He's quite handsome," the boy smiled. "If you like older men, a bit bow-legged, perhaps, but looks very nice in those glasses."

Sara couldn't find any words as she tried to control the heat rising in her face. She felt her lips twitch, and the boy's subtle smile smirked in victory.

"You hide it well," Fuji continued. "So don't worry. I'm just good at noticing these things. And I'm not trying to be rude, or anything"-- My ass, you're not-- Sara thought to herself, but let him continue, "--I just mean that you understand my situation."

"And what situation would that be?"

"You have someone too. Someone you'd be willing to do just about anything for. Someone you would protect at any cost. That is why I can't tell you where I was that night."

Realization hit Sara. Realization and a forceful anger. "You know who did this."

Fuji shook his head. "No. I wish I did, but I only have my suspicions. I wish I could help you more. I know what everyone says about me and Echizen, but I didn't hate him. However, there's someone else I need to protect. I'm sorry."

"Then you do realize we're going to have to hold you."

"I know. I understand."

Sara stood up, asking the officer to escort the boy back to his cell. Fuji stood obediently to follow, though stopped just short of the door. "I apologize if I've seemed forward, Miss Sidle. I know how difficult it can be to put up with stoic types like him. I sincerely hope you the two of you can catch the real killer." And he left.