Akira leaned back on her armchair and opened a folder. Reading silently, she ignored the hunger pangs, the continuous beep of her laptop and the wave of exhaustion coursing through her body.

Later she told herself. Rest would come later, I promise…

It was already past 2 in the afternoon, and Akira's stomach had not tasted lunch yet. Just like the days before, Akira viewed food and sleep as privileges, something that came after work, some sort of reward. And it is with this view that she chose to skip lunch today and work like a machine.

To her left, Ryuuzaki was as silent, looking at something on his laptop. Akira returned to reading a file after glancing at him.

Earlier that day, Akira checked out the websites that are connected to One World Company. She compared these websites to top rated pornography sites, hoping to see some similarities and connections. The pornography sites offered the same services: one-on-one cyber sex, live shows, sex toys etc. On the other hand, the One World Company website offered beauty products, anti-aging creams, modeling opportunities and free trials of their products. Akira found the search for any suspicious activity boring, and was about to leave the sites when she noticed something.

"Meet the world's hottest chicks. 2 online…"

The advertisement piqued Akira. Instantly, an idea came to her.

Akira clicked on the link and waited for the webpage to load. Meanwhile, she opened one of her files on the missing women.

The pornographic site finally loaded. The site required her to sign up first. Akira hesitated for a while. What she is about to do could be really risky and could blow the investigation into pieces if she's not careful enough. Realistically speaking, her hunch only has a mere 35 percent chance of being accurate, and one wrong click could blow away that chance.

Akira frowned. She's acting on just a hunch, but still, most of her hunches proved to be correct. Will she risk this one or just work using the methodical approach, which is to gather data, investigate, and let the police do the dirty job?

The site required a bank account and a web cam. Akira bit her lip and sighed. Well, 35 percent or not…She clicked on the "Sign Up" button and waited.

Name, age, location. Akira entered his male identity, James Cameron. Age? Akira keyed in 25. Location? Akira paused. Where? She could invent anything here, but she wanted to be realistic as possible. She looked around and saw a pack of chocolates, labeled: "Made in Germany". Feeling slightly foolish, (but having no choice), Akira keyed in: "Germany".

The site asked for her preference in women. The choices were: "Asian, Black, White beauty, Caucasian, Others". Akira frowned. Well the victims came from different races. She glanced at the victims' profiles on her desk. In women, mostly Caucasians and Latinas were the victims. In children, they were mostly Asian. Akira sighed and clicked on Caucasian.

Last on the list was her account number. Giving one of the bank accounts she owned (as part of her multiple identities), Akira finally finished answering the required fields. The remaining things she has to secure now would be her web cam, and her username.

She used the username: "hotprince". Her problem now would be how to fake her image. She glanced at Ryuuzaki and wondered if he could help. But seeing that he was bent over a book and was reading, Akira just decided to ask someone else to help her instead.

She contacted the CIA's database and searched for an expert. Minutes later, she found one and asked the agent to create a fake "face" to show. To her disappointment, the agent said:

"I'm sorry, Ms. Montgomery, but that's impossible."

Akira raised an eyebrow. "And why? I was told that the CIA agents are the best in the world. Why can't you do it?" (Author's note: The alias "Jane Montgomery" used by Akira is British.)

"I'm sorry ma'am but what you're actually asking me to do is to create a moving hologram, which would be impossible."

Akira tapped her finger on the table, irritated. "Well then. Since you Americans can't help me with my case, I think I shall just confer this matter with the British intelligence agency."

Before she could hang up, the agent stopped her. "Wait! There could be another way!"

She sighed. "Of course there's another way!" Irritation was seeping through her voice as she spoke. "You could create a fake video of a man that performs pornographic activities and then I'd put it on loop for as long as necessary and I don't give a damn how you'll do it as long as you do it and make sure it's flawless and nobody will notice because you'll create a perfect video and if you don't I'll ask the CIA to remove you. Got it?"

The agent obviously got the message. "Yes ma'am. When do you need it?"

Akira had a curt reply. "In one hour." She ended the conversation, refusing to hear the agent's protests.

One hour later.

Taking a sip from her coffee that has grown cold over the past minutes, Akira viewed the video her agent sent her. It showed a man in his twenties, wearing a headset and viewing a computer. Every once in a while, the man would open his voice to speak, but no sound came. Akira nodded.

That means that I have to do a voice over, she thought. She decided to try it, saying the word 'watermelon' as the man in the video opened his mouth. It was a sure fit.

Akira smiled. Well, it wasn't flawless, but…it works. She tried it a couple of more times, varying the tone, the pitch and the words she used. Akira then realized that the alias she used sounded British, but the location she selected was German, therefore, she must speak in German or if not, she could speak English with a German accent.

And just how the hell am I supposed to do that?

She opened an online dictionary then sighed. There's no way I could master speaking German in five minutes! Akira thought for a while before concluding that she could always make up a story that she's a foreigner living in Germany for just a week and therefore has no knowledge of the country whatsoever.

Akira cupped her chin with her hands. There's no way she'd get away with this in a foolproof manner—and everything must be foolproof! She gave a low growl of impatience. It seems that her idea needs more working on.

After thinking it through, Akira accepted her defeat. She knew she couldn't pose as a man, much less fool other people with a hologram. While it is possible, she couldn't go on bullying the CIA staff to produce for her a fake image. No matter what advanced technology the CIA uses now, it is still insufficient. The only way she could pose as a man wanting sexual companionship in the website without sacrificing her identity is for her to have a male clone. That, she could not do.

And time is running out.

Akira looked around her, as if looking for answers. She cursed once more. If only I was a boy, she thought. I could just key in a fake name, then use myself to discover more. Damn it.

She turned to her laptop once more and explored the website. At first glance, it seemed like your ordinary porn site. Pictures of naked women, a couple of free videos…Akira frowned. How did she get in this site in the first place?

She went back to the previous site she visited. It was One World Company's official site. There were make-up tips from so-called experts. Then, there were also free tutorials on different skin care remedies. But, the thing that links her to the victims was one of the tabs that said "Models".

Akira clicked this tab and viewed its contents. Well, there's nothing suspicious in there. She continued to read. The site offered many modeling agencies for all aspiring models. Akira frowned and picked the women's profiles from her table. Trying to prove that the missing women were lured somehow into prostitution, she re-read the detailed reports that she was able to gather on the women.

Well, it is true that Nadia Martin and Adela Jakub indeed signed up for Page Parkes Modeling Agency…she looked up at the site once more. And it is under the One World Company. Well now, at least I have a connection.

She clicked the link for Page Parkes Modeling Agency. After a few seconds, it led her to its main page, but along with this, a pop-up ad appeared.

"Meet hot chicks, NOW!"

Akira was about to dismiss the pop-up ad when she paused and looked at the pictures. Wait a minute…She took the photos of Nadia Martin and Adela Jakub and compared it to the photo of the naked woman in the ad. The photo in the ad was quite small and she couldn't get an accurate look. With adrenaline rushing through her veins, she took the other photos of the women and compared each to the photos on the ad. Some resemblances were evident, but others were quite far-fetched. But still, she was sure—35% sure at least—that there was indeed a resemblance.

With her heart leaping, she immediately got her cell phone and dialed Warbeck's number. It took 2 rings before his voice greeted her.

"Aisha?"

"Warbeck, listen to me."

"Go. Shoot."

"I found the women."

Akira could hear Warbeck's excitement through his voice. "Where? How? Wait a minute, where are you? Are you outside or—"

"I'm still at Wammy's, look. Go to the website of One World Company, then click on the tab that says, Models. Then there are links there that leads you to the modeling sites that One World has. Click on the Page Parkes link and it will lead you to its main page. Now, wait for a couple of seconds and then a pop ad will appear. Look at the photos. I said, LOOK at the photos and look at it carefully. You'll see a bunch of naked women. Then compare the photos of the missing women that we have on the database and you'll see some resemblance."

Akira heard keyboards being typed on. A few seconds later, Warbeck gave a low whistle. "I see what you mean now."

"Have you seen the pictures?" she asked.

"Yep," Warbeck replied. "I see it. Geez, there are a lot of modeling agencies One World has. Is it even possible for them to finance such a wide array of agencies?"

"That is one of the questions," Akira replied wearily. "There are about 30 plus modeling agencies that are registered under One World Company. I'm pretty sure some of those are not legal or, not even existing."

She hear Warbeck sigh. "Well, what do you plan now?"

Akira drummed her fingers on the table before replying. "Check if any of the missing women logged in at any of those modeling sites, or even logged in at the One World Company's main page. Then, track the sites they have been visiting, what were their transactions there, how often they visited the sites…you know what I mean. Meanwhile, ask some of your men to see if these modeling agencies are legal or if they even exist. Also, ask them to see if any of the missing women had contact with those agencies. On the other hand, I'll go check these pictures out and see if I get a match." She paused for a while. "You got it?"

"Yes. Understood."

"I need the results not later than midnight."

"Midnight here or there?"

Akira smirked. "Here. And seeing that I'm in Japan and the time here is way before your time there…you're one lucky bastard."

Akira heard Warbeck chuckle. "Damn right you are, Aisha."

"Well then. Let's go back to work."

And with that she ended the call.

Akira heaved a deep breath and looked at the photos now scattered on her desk. Closing her eyes for a moment just to recap her plan, she once more heaved a deep breath. Here we go, she told herself as she started to collect all the missing photos. And since she was holding a major world class case, the photos were over a hundred, including children and women.

Shit, this is going to be difficult, she muttered to herself as she stood up and took the pictures to the scanner. One by one, she scanned the pictures and saved them in her laptop. Next she had all the photos in the pop-up ad enlarged. She then visited various porn sites and collected as many photos of women she could. When she was done doing that, she said "Well then. Let's start work."

Midnight came. By this time, Akira had confirmed that some of the women in the pictures she gathered from porn sites were indeed the missing women—though she had a hard time because most of the pictures she has from the sites were already edited such that most of the women's distinguishing features were almost erased. She made a checklist of the things she has yet to unravel and these are:

How were the women lured into prostitution?

Who are the people responsible? Where is this person from? Is he/she from the victims' locality? Where did they meet? How?

What is the relationship of One World Company in these porn sites?

How would Akira be able to prove that One World Company is indeed responsible for these kidnappings?

Is there a connection between the missing women and the missing children?

Where do they keep the missing women?

Where are they now?

As Akira pondered on each question, she glanced at the table where Ryuzaki was seated. He was hunched over his laptop, typing away in his weird manner. Akira shook her head and sighed.

At least I'm not as hunched as he is, she thought. She stood up for a while and stretched. After that, she sat back down and started thinking.

What lured these women into prostitution? Maybe the promise of higher salary. Or a chance to work abroad, most probably in America. But who in her right mind would want to become a prostitute?

Akira frowned. Maybe they weren't lured at all. Maybe they were tricked into prostitution.

They could be tricked into being models once they reach America. Such scams are popular anyway. And besides, the targets are women, and the criminals most probably tempted them with the lure of glamour and fame. Not impossible, Akira thought.

Just then, a pop-up message that said "you have new mail" appeared on her monitor. Akira opened the message and saw that it was from Warbeck. Akira managed to smile a little.

"At least, he wasn't late," she muttered to herself.

She opened and downloaded the attachments. While waiting, she resumed with her thoughts.

Well, she's quite near to solving the mystery of the missing women. How about the missing kids? Akira frowned. Could they be tricked into prostitution too? Akira shrugged. Why not? Men are unpredictable. And they could want anything, anytime.

A beep indicated that the download was finished. Akira opened the report that was about the legal establishments. A smile of triumph escaped from her lips moments later.

"I knew it!" She exclaimed. "None of those agencies existed! They were actually ghost companies!" She threw a punch in the air. Whoever Warbeck assigned to do this report deserved a cheer. He/She helped Akira a great deal.

Next, Akira opened the log in report of the websites. She smiled wider this time. The missing women, most of them, indeed logged in into the One World Company website, and all of those who logged in, also registered to the non-existent companies. Akira's heart leaped when she saw their transactions with the websites.

She quickly searched for thee transaction records of Adela Jakub and Nadia Martin, since these two women offered her the most information.

She found what she was looking for under the Page Parkes website. Both women were asked of their names, their occupation, home address, bank accounts…the usual riffraff. And both women gave their real identities.

Akira creased her forehead as she pondered on the report. So after giving their information, the women were contacted through e-mail from the "administrator" of the website, saying that there would be a preliminary "auditions" for all aspiring models. Akira underlined the indicated time, date and place. She reminded herself to check it out later.

She was about to resume her thoughts when she decided to stretch. She stood up, but upon standing, a sudden wave of dizziness overcame her, and she fell back down on the floor.

Almost instantly, she felt two cold hands help her sit up. Still dizzy, she looked up and saw Ryuzaki peering closely into her face.

"Are you alright?" he asked in his usual monotonous voice.

Akira tried to nod. She ran a hand over her forehead. "I feel dizzy," she murmured.

"Hn. Obviously, since you haven't eaten anything except for breakfast," said Ryuzaki.

Akira leaned back. Even she couldn't believe what he said. Really?

"You've been working for hours under an empty stomach," he said. He took some marshmallows from a nearby candy bowl. "Here."

Akira took one and put it in her mouth. The effects of hypoglycemia have not yet subsided, but she managed to say "thanks."

Ryuzaki went to the kitchen and prepared hot tea. Akira meanwhile sat back on her swivel chair. She suddenly felt weak.

A few moments later, Ryuzaki appeared carrying a tray with hot tea and tea cups.

"Watari's asleep now," he said, answering Akira's unspoken question. "It's just you and me."

Akira watched him as he poured tea on their cups. It's just you and me…

"Here," he offered her a cup. Akira took it gratefully and sipped a little. The tea seemed to warm her whole body. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again.

"Thank you, Ryuzaki," she said, trying to smile.

Ryuzaki did not answer, but instead, he offered her his assortment of jellybears. Akira took and ate one.

Ryuzaki sat on the floor, and Akira was vaguely reminded of James who used to perch by her side on nights when she was working on a case. Ryuzaki must have noticed her staring at him strangely, for he asked, "What is it?"

Akira shook her head. "Nothing. It's just that…" she hesitated for a while before continuing. "You remind me of James…a little bit…"

Ryuzaki made no reply to that and just continued to sip his tea. Akira did the same, and they sat in silence for a while.

Akira popped a strawberry in her mouth and then suddenly felt the urge to talk.

"If you are an underground syndicate, where will you hide?"

Surprised, Ryuzaki looked up at Akira. His first thought was that maybe she was in a delirium or temporarily out of her mind, but seeing her face clouded with seriousness, he realized that she was still probably thinking of her case, and is 100% serious about the question.

"I will not hide." Ryuzaki replied.

Akira looked back at him, and Ryuzaki continued. "I will not hide, instead, I will go out in the open. Hiding will only make me look guilty, which is the last thing I want to happen."

She frowned. "So if you are a syndicate who is after women to be used in prostitution…"

"…I would be in the most obvious prostitution dens. After all everything in this world…"

"…is a business," Akira finished the sentence for him. Ryuzaki nodded and gave her a thumbs up. Akira bowed her head thoughtfully.

"To be able to have a prostitution den, you must have women, lots of women, and lots of money too," Akira continued, more to herself than at Ryuzaki. "That's why you have the One World Company and a thousand of modeling agencies. As a double jeopardy, you also use these modeling agencies as a recruitment agency for future prostitutes. You lure the women into being models, and you get them from other countries…you like them vulnerable, do you?" Akira smirked a little. "And…you like them young…" She recalled Adela Jakub's age. "So you get them as young as 15 eh? What about…6 years old?" She quickly recalled the image of the young girl who was kidnapped in the Philippines. "Hmmm…so you also run a pedophile club or something? Like what, make the kids wear bikinis and thongs?" She shook her head in anger. "You bastard…" She paused for a while. "So you will not hide from me, huh? Then I'll wait for you to show up. But God…where? Where will you show up?"

Another long pause ensued. Ryuzaki stared at Akira, who despite her sleepless nights, still manages to look charming enough to Ryuzaki.

Just then, Akira popped another question. "Where will you be then? If you are a huge prostitution syndicate, where will you hide your prostitutes?"

There was a pause before Ryuzaki answered. "Where there are many customers."

Akira frowned, and then whispered, "downtown, New York." Suddenly, she stood up. "That's it!" she exclaimed. "Page Parkes Modeling Agency is in New York, and there are a lot of bars in downtown New York! And to keep these women from running away, he'll hide them in the slums where they are locked up most of the time!"

There was a triumphant glow in Akira's face as she turned to look at Ryuzaki. "Thank you so much Ryuzaki!" She smiled and knelt down to meet his eyes.

"I just don't know how to thank you, so I'll do this the American way." And without another word, she kissed him on the cheek.

Author's Note:

Once again, Death Note's not mine.

So after a long hiatus, Silent Funeral's back. Well, I won't promise you regular updates (because you know, I'm studying and can't really juggle a lot of things at the same time. I'm currently a third year nursing student, so i've gotta work hard if i want to finish my degree. :D), but i promise that i'd wprk on each chapter more often now. thanks to those who'll bother to read, i know i've been away for so long. Just as before constructive criticism would be very much appreciated.

honestly, this chapter's a little...off track (in my opinion). i mean, i was actually hesitant to post this one and kept re-writing it for fear of ruining the good foundations that Silent Funeral's on. the previous chapters were all nice and beautifully-written, and then here comes this chapter which was written while i was idly waiting for dinner. i admit, i kinda rushed in doing this (i was also getting a little bored of the pacing) but then i was in this conflict where if i hastened the pacing of the story, then i'd compromise the mood of it and ruin it's aesthetic sense. but if i keep up with the pacing right now...well this story might reach up to a hundred chapters. geez.

oh well, thanks for reading and take care all of you!