EDITED! If you've read the recent chapter, please ignore this post. Just needed to edit some flaws I found in the story, sorry guys.
AUTHOR
The Phantom H's first downfall is arriving. In the way which he expected the least - from the Quartz Ghost herself.
HYUUGA NATSUME
I leisurely tossed the now broken coin in my palm, blankly observing the mechanics on the sneaky gadget wedged inside as I waited in Harada Misaki's homeroom class. Only now that I had arrived where I expected them to gather did I realize the heavy suspicion of the case at hand - if the Quartz Society had even created a rather intimidating slogan in Latin and had ties to the notorious thief, why were they so easy to discover? It might have been alright if I had discovered them alone, not by an amateur sleuth like Shouda.
My mind returned to Misaki's claim that there were only a select few people involved in the society. He was well aware of the many supporters of the Quartz Ghost - thus, why was the Quartz Society so small? Could it be…?
My train of thought was interrupted as the door was sharply opened by… the Andou guy. Never mind, I usually welcome that sort of idea, but I don't think that's right. His face was full of frustration and disbelief, until he noticed my presence. It immediately changed to that annoying grin he greeted me with usually.
"Yo! Hyuuga, right?" I kept silent, and I couldn't help but wonder why he was so infuriated five seconds ago.
Well, not that I cared.
"Sorry about disturbing whatever you were doing, I just forgot my wallet in here." Whatever I was doing? Is this guy that stupid? Why would a normal student stay in a homeroom without any logical reason?
"Andou." I tucked the coin in my pocket as I faced him.
"Hm?"
"Has anything happened to Harada as of late?"
"I don't think so… why?" He asked with worry etched on his face. I shrugged nonchalantly.
"No reason in particular." He retrieved his wallet and casually flipped it open and closed in the time frame of a second, then pushed it in his back pocket. Did I just see…
There was no doubt about it. I opened my mouth to question him, but he suddenly spoke - a voice that maintained Andou's usual cheer, but somehow made me think.
"You shouldn't bother clawing into other people's business if you have simply no reason to." He glanced back at me in a slightly playful manner. "Not that I believe that you're up to no good… of course." After saying those extremely suspicious words, I couldn't help but feel something off about him. "Well, I'm off."
I stared at his back as he left the classroom. I was unable to shake off the feeling that he knew something that I didn't, even if he was simply saying things out of his character. It was possible that I might have misunderstood - however, my usual 'gut' feelings were often proved correct regarding his cases, so I stood up and with extra care, slid the homeroom door open. It was just in the nick of time that I saw Andou turn the corner towards the library. Due to my leather shoes, I was able to creep along the hallway without making a single noise.
I continued to follow Andou - who showed no signs of suspicion - until he entered the restricted section in the library. Hell, what would a slacker like Andou have regarding a library, let alone the restricted section? I wondered as I immediately swung the door and entered the room.
I had expected him to be stunned by my sudden appearance, but he smirked as the door behind me slammed shut.
What in the world…?
"I knew you'd follow me, Hyuuga Natsume… or should I say… Phantom H?"
SAKURA MIKAN
As I moaned at the sweetness of the Howalon in my mouth, Hotaru arched an eyebrow. I knew that she wouldn't 'waste her facial muscles' on something like this, so I sat up immediately.
"What's wrong, Hotaru?" Like I had expected, she ignored me as she clicked her mouse a few times. Sighing, I stood up from the school chair and looked at the computer from over her shoulder. It was the display of all the cameras in the school - most of the rooms were obviously empty, many students would have left to skylark - but all the screens displaying the library had been blacked out.
"Why is the library…?" Hotaru gave me a knowing look, and I growled slightly at her response.
"Jeez… I'm your best friend, and this is obviously strange… so why are you still charging me?"
Hotaru remained nonchalant as she explained, "You may be a friend-"
"Best friend. BFF."
"Of course. But the amount of assistance I have given you as a criminal rather than a friend makes up for it - no, more. So you are still obligated to pay me, as this might not be related to the Quartz Ghost." Sigh. It's no use, I internally huffed as I held out another one of my bills. Sure, I had money, but I worked hard for it and wanted to save it - unlike Hotaru who wanted to keep making more. She snatched it away and she tossed a few peanuts in her mouth.
"So?"
"They were disconnected."
"I know that much for sure… I didn't pay for that."
"That's all I know right now." Pursing my lips, I watched as Hotaru began typing at the speed of light. "What are you doing?"
"I can reconnect the cameras wirelessly from here alone. Do not underestimate my gadgets - I tampered with them as soon as I entered the school."
"Wow! You really are a genius, Hotaru!" I squealed and hugged my best friend tightly, and she returned the 'love' with a sharp flick to the forehead.
"You're noisy, you idiot." Though I had interrupted her, she did not stray from the screen for one millisecond. The speed of both her fingers and the text on the computer was starting to make me dizzy - unlike Hotaru, I was never the type for technology.
"So, Hotaru… do you have any idea why the cameras were disconnected in the first place?"
"Probably something's going on in the library. Something the school can't see."
"Like the results of the next test?" Another flick on the forehead. I grumbled, feeling the pain of her nail.
"Of course not. People come to me for that sort of business." Hotaru spoke with the tone which implied 'You should know that, you moron'. She swiftly hit the 'Enter' button with confidence, and the six black rectangles lit up with the library footage. Nothing seemed out of place, since all the rooms were empty. I looked at Hotaru and I could tell she wasn't satisfied with her discovery.
"That's odd. Very odd." She clicked on the screen which displayed the library counter and its' surroundings, and it expanded immediately.
"Nothing's there… maybe it was just a mere disconnection?" I wondered aloud, and she shook her head once.
"Impossible. My technology is perfect… but who would have done this…" I decided to put my mind to the task - I admitted that though I was a nation-renowned thief, I wasn't exactly the smartest of the bunch. However, that belief mainly applied to my mathematical skill.
Why would they be off if no-one was in there…? Usually they're turned back on after their business has been completed. Could that mean something? Wait, if it was something out of the ordinary, it should be in…
"Hotaru, check the restricted section. I think it might have something." Surprisingly, Hotaru complied without a sound. The desktop changed to the footage of the restricted section of the library. It was a wonderful room for a place which was banned to all students - the shelves and desks were handcrafted by the finest maple, gleaming white marble floors, and a two metre wide fish tank… with no fish.
"Hmm…" I started to bite my thumbnail nervously, only to be stopped by a relentless hand whacking my own.
"Don't bite your nails, you got them done last week." She monotonously scolded me, her choice of words oddly complimenting her uncaring tone. As I pouted at her bossy nature for the thousandth time, I noticed something odd about the footage. I wasn't sure, but it looked rather still though no one was inside, but when my eyes set on the fish tank, I knew my hypothesis was correct.
"The filter of the fish tank is on… yet the water's completely still. Could it be a curtain image?" Hotaru started to type once again, this time with a slightly annoyed expression.
"Damn… I programmed these cameras to be invincible… I'm going to slaughter whoever taunted my nanotechnological skills." After a few minutes, the curtain vanished - and I hadn't expected the occurrence I saw this early.
"It's Tsubasa-sempai and the others… with Natsume?" Hotaru glanced at me skeptically.
"First-name basis? So you've familiarized with your so-called enemy…" Eh? At the faintest feeling of a blush, I cleared my throat while trying to maintain my composure.
"Of course not. Anyway, right now that's rather irrelevant." I attempted to clear up, and I focused my attention on the screen. "Why are they together, anyway?"
"That idiot probably got his boxers in a twist, I told him to exercise patience… of course he wouldn't listen, I should've predicted so." She sighed in resentment. "Looks like we'll have to move our plan forward."
"Hotaru… what if one of them gets hurt?" I asked worriedly. For some odd reason, I felt that I didn't want Natsume to get hurt - even though his goal was to put me behind bars. I admitted to myself that I even enjoyed watching his investigation. Hotaru picked up her phone and scrolled down the contact group INFLUENTIALS. I cocked an eyebrow when she pressed to call the last contact in the group, the KNIGHT.
"Why are you calling him? Wouldn't someone like Ruka be better to call?"
"If Ruka appeared, it'd be a little suspicious. Natsume knows him, and coincidence is something detectives like to look into. Just get ready."
"For what?"
"Andou isn't that much of an idiot… he just started our plan too early. We need to take this opportunity when Hyuuga is busy."
HYUUGA NATSUME
"My, my, aren't you shocked." Andou taunted at my confused expression. I flinched at the sudden appearance of three others around me in white masks. Could this be…?
"What the hell are you, Andou? And don't you dare joke around." I wasn't entirely sure, but I felt like he flinched ever so slightly at my use of tone. But was he even that sort of person anymore? He retained his smirk as he slowly walked closer.
"Isn't it obvious? You've been investigating us for a while, haven't you? You even destroyed our bug." Bug…? My mind flashed to the ancient coin with the small mechanism crammed into it… the one of the Quartz Society.
"So you're part of the secret organisation?" Andou smirked wider - if it was even possible. "And one of you is Ogasawara Nonoko, am I right?" I barely heard a feminine gasp from the member in my right.
"Of course. I have to admit, I felt rather disheartened that you discovered our existence this early, because of my girlfriend Misaki… but it's actually relieving that you know who I really am as well. Acting ignorant in front of everyone has been a downkill." I still wasn't able to decipher why he would tell me when I still had no clue on who was behind the organisation's plans.
"Aren't you afraid? That I'll put you behind bars?" I bluffed with as much confidence as possible. But it seemed that he was one step ahead of me with that matter.
"Oh, don't worry Hyuuga. I know I won't be arrested. All we've been doing is laying strange trails everywhere - we actually haven't committed a crime, in fact." It was terrible to admit, but what Andou had said was completely true. The worst the police could do to them was interrogate because apparently one of them knew who the Quartz Ghost was- wait… could it be Andou who knows?
"Are you the leader?"
"Naturally."
"So you know who the Quartz Ghost is, I presume?" This question evidently made Andou freeze, stunned. However, he regained his composure after less than a minute.
"May I ask… how you knew this?" To preserve Harada's anonymity, I improvised.
"It was simply a hunch. Since you're such a small organisation with a clever plan to trap me, it's logical that there's knowledge of the thief." Andou looked up thoughtfully, his smirk had faded to a hint of a grin.
"Is that so… of course, as a private detective… you're intellectual skill outweighs the majority of the population. But I think you've missed something vital." I remained silent at his words. Yet my mind was baffled by the fact. What exactly was the Quartz Society to the Quartz Ghost?
"I'm sure you've noticed that though the Quartz Ghost is a criminal with unknown intentions, there are many people of whom admire her?" For the second time, he explained a fact which was unfortunately, correct to the core. "Yet there's so little people in our society?" Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Andou displayed a hand, signalling me to pick up the call - rather, encouraging me. I wondered for a split second what he was planning, until I answered the call - from that idiot Tono.
"What do you want?"
"Ahh… I'm sorry Natsume… I didn't get to tell you that there was another theft notification from the Quartz Ghost which arrived this morning."
"What? Why didn't you tell me?" I yelled through the phone, not minding the audience around me.
"Umm… err… I fell asleep." I couldn't help but make a facepalm at my colleague's idiocy.
"Fine," I spat, attempting to control myself from going berserk. "So when is she coming?"
"Let me see… um… oh, shit."
"What. Is. It?" I could hear Tono's increasing panic over the phone.
"It was… two minutes ago." I clicked my tongue, irritated, and hung up the call. I knew that Tono wasn't very quick-witted, but to think that I missed out on a Quartz Ghost encounter placed me in an overwhelming rage. All he knew was that the fact that he needed to investigate the Quartz Ghost case wasn't the drive of his anger.
He had a gut feeling that it was the fact that he wanted to see her.
"If you go to the Parliament House," Andou started - Parliament House? Why did he say that? "I insist that you stop researching us." I cocked an eyebrow at his rather meagre request.
"Tch. Why would I do that?" I sneered at him, not understanding his logic.
"The truth is.. That the Qua-" He was harshly interrupted by the sound of the door smashing down, the glass shattering all over the marble. Where the door had fallen was mere inches away from where I stood, and my chest constricted from the shock. I turned to see that the one who kicked the door down was a male student with messy silver hair and bored green eyes. I could somehow feel an eerie, threatening aura from him. His hands were in his pockets and I had just seen him set his foot down after kicking the door.
"Ah, Hijiri… I'm guessing she sent you here." Andou groaned as the boy named Hijiri shrugged. I felt that I had heard of that name before, but I couldn't remember where I heard it. "Did she put you up to something?" I assumed that Hijiri had some knowledge of what was going on, and somehow the 'she' they referred to had a possibility of being Imai.
"Nope, just doing it 'cause they told me." He looked at me for a second, then turned back to Andou with a sharp glare. "And a message: since the Quartz Society has been disbanded permanently, she wants you to know that your job is officially done."
What? Disbanded?
"'Kay. I was getting tired of this secrecy, anyway." I glared at Andou, awaiting a response. He flinched again - but this time it was much more obvious. Perhaps he was a fool by nature.
"I'm waiting for an explanation. Was this a scam?" He chuckled nervously, and scratched is hair and nodded.
Ah, shit. I was tricked. "Sorry, Hyuuga. But I owed her."
"Who did you owe to perform something this idiotic?"
"The Quartz Ghost."
AUTHOR
Hyuuga Natsume tasted the bitterness of failure as he realised that the Quartz Society was a plot to temporarily distract him from the main case at hand. He felt foolish, but what he knew was that whatever the Quartz Ghost had stole from the Parliament House was more important than the rest.
A/N: Sorry about the hiatus :( Well, due to there being too much going on in the story, I decided to get the Quartz Society part over and done with for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it, and please rate && review! :)