"Misaki, don't you find it odd that there has not been any murders by that Tengu masked guy lately?" Jun asked, gulping down some water in her water bottle.
Misaki tapped her chin with her pen. She did find it odd. It had been days since Hook's partner caused any trouble, BK-201 included. Was there something going on? What made things even odder…was the fact that John had been sick according to Sayu, his fellow co-worker and close friend. The girl had said that he had caught a stomach virus and had been puking a lot. She had wanted to take him to the doctor, but he had vehemently been against it, Li as well.
"Heeeeeello, Misaki. Are you all there?"
Misaki looked over at Jun and frowned. Jun had been gone for a while too; a whole week actually. She had said that she had been sick, but Misaki couldn't be sure. She wasn't sure of ANYTHING lately. Everyone was a suspect now…
"Oi, fine, ignore me. I don't care." Jun sighed, going back to her work.
"Jun-san, what do you think Tengu mask is up to?"
"Oh now you hear me?" she said playfully. "Well, I'm not sure. Maybe he left. I mean, you guys have been on his case lately. Maybe he was intimidated or something?"
"I doubt it."
"Well, you asked my opinion so I told you. We're not all detectives." She sniffed, returning to her work once again. "And stop with the 'san'. You make me feel like I'm old or something."
Misaki sighed, leaning back in her chair. Hourai was starting to get frustrated due to this case not going literally anywhere. Misaki couldn't blame him, this was frustrating her too. She was losing much needed sleep all because of this unknown group of hit men. The few times she had attempted to call Hook was all in vain. The dog Contractor NEVER answered the phone. What bothered her was the fact that the dog could even text her. How was that possible?
"That guy came by today while you were out during lunch. Um, what was his name? Uh, Li Shinsung, or something like that. I'm not good at Chinese, so I'm probably butchering the poor guys name…"
Misaki leaned forward in her chair. "Li-kun came by?!"
Jun's eyes widened slightly. "Uh, yeah."
"What did he want?"
Jun laughed for a good minute. "You're acting like a lovesick teenager."
Misaki chose to ignore that comment. "What did he say?" she hissed, leaning forward even more.
Jun giggled. "He just wanted to see how you were doing. He's awfully sweet. I was planning on hitting on him you know, since he's so attractive and all."
"Don't you dare, Jun."
Jun laughed again, spinning around in her chair. Jun was the one acting like a immature teenager; no better yet, a child would have been a more appropriate word. It was hard to believe that Jun was older than her.
"I won't take your boyfriend away from you. I wouldn't want your wrath that's for sure. Too bad about Saitou-san though." She sighed.
"Why do you always bring Saitou-san in this?"
"You don't KNOW?" Jun leaned forward in her chair as well, knocking stacks of paper off her desk in the process. Misaki and Jun's constant bickering was a normalcy in the office, so no one even bothered to see what the two young women were talking about anymore. Their noisiness was promptly ignored as if the whole room was silent.
"Know WHAT?"
Jun sighed. "You're so naïve sometimes, Misaki."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means what it means. Anyway, that Li guy left you something. Let me see if I can find it…" Jun began checking her desk. "Hopefully no one came snooping around my desk and snatched it. That would be just my luck…"
Misaki watched for a while, but then her interest eventually evaporated. She sighed, returning back to her paperwork. Jun was going to be busy for a while. So why even bother waiting?
"AH HAH! Found it!" Jun gently placed a beautiful red lunch box on her desk, grinning ear to ear.
Misaki tilted her head slightly. "What's in it?"
"Open it up and see. I thought it was absolutely adorable what he did. I was tempted to eat them really."
Misaki raised an eyebrow and took the lunch box away from her loud friend, opening it up. Inside were three meat buns, some fried rice, and some soba noodles that looked as if they were carefully prepared. Misaki blushed.
"Sweet, eh? I wish a guy would make me something like that. It looks like Li put some serious heart into that."
All Misaki could do was continue to blush in silence.
"Anyway, he left you a note too. Here you go." Jun handed the letter to her, watching Misaki's expression carefully.
I hope you're getting enough sleep. Don't forget to stop and rest once in a while.
Your friend, Li
Misaki smiled widely, unable to keep herself from sighing dreamily. Li-kun was so thoughtful, and charming, and just about anything positive she could think of at that moment. Any doubts she had in him evaporated at that moment.
"Are you two hitting it off? You know, going out?"
Misaki grimaced. Well, her romantic thoughts were ruined by Jun once again. "No we're not."
"Well you should."
"We're just friends."
"I've heard that one before in High School."
"We're FRIENDS."
Jun sighed. "Keep telling yourself that. You know he means a lot to you; more than a regular friend I can tell you that much. He probably feels the same."
"I doubt it…" Misaki mumbled. Why would he? She was a workaholic who barely had time for anything. Not to mention she was not exactly model material. Li looked like he would fit better with someone who was extremely attractive; not with someone as plain as her.
"No self-confidence whatsoever. How depressing." Jun sighed loudly. "I know this sounds cliché, but you'll never know how he feels unless you ask him. It's a true statement you know."
Jun was right…but Misaki did not want to hear any of it. She was too busy for a relationship right now. Why was it everyone was trying to push her into dating Li? "I'm going to the bathroom," she announced, standing up.
Jun raised an eyebrow. "Fine, don't give me a clever retort back," she joked. "Do you want me to watch your food? I'm sure you wouldn't want wandering hands to come and snatch it up."
"Thank you, Jun." Misaki bowed and quickly left her office for the bathroom. While she was there, she could clear her head of thought involving Li and focus more on her case. Later she could go visit John and talk to him. She had the strangest feeling that John was not who he said he was. There was no reason for her to suspect him of anything…and yet her heart was telling her otherwise.
As usual, the bathroom was sparkling clean, and very much empty. Misaki often wondered if she was the only person on the eighth floor that even bothered to use the bathroom sometimes.
Misaki stood in front of the mirror, grabbing a paper towel and pouring a bit of water on it. She gently began to brush it across her face in hope of getting rid of her tired expression that now blossomed across her visage. As soon as the wet paper towel touched her cheek, her cell phone vibrated.
She sighed, knowing exactly who it was that was messaging her. With annoyance, she flipped her phone open.
Hello, Miss Kirihara. Is there anyone around you?
Misaki checked the bathroom again to make sure before she texted back. No.
Good, came the quick reply. I'm going to call you, so no funny business now. You won't be able to find me anyway.
As soon as she was done reading that message, her phone vibrated again. She clicked the talk button. "What is it, Hook?"
"We are all so proud of you for preventing Matsuda's death. So much so, we would like to aide you in your quest to capture BK-201 again since your last attempt ended in disaster."
"Before I even bother to listen, why did you want me to protect her in the first place?"
There was silence on the other end.
"Hook, if you don't answer me---!"
"Calm down, police woman. Matsuda is an important individual is all. What would that company do without her, hmm?"
Misaki frowned. What was Hook trying to say?
"All that aside---."
"You never truly answered my question, Hook."
"Don't push your luck, police woman," the dog growled. "I gave you your answer, now be happy with just that. Maybe if you were smarter you wouldn't be struggling so long in capturing BK-201."
Misaki shut her mouth before she said something she would later regret. Talking rudely to someone as powerful as Hook did not seem like a wonderful idea, especially when they were willing to help you.
"Now then, back to what I was saying. I want to give you some information."
Misaki held her breath, but quickly grew annoyed when Hook did not say anything more.
"What are you going to tell me? I don't have all day, Hook."
"Keep track of your friend, and watch out for a black cat as well. He'll report you if he sees you following him around. Hmm…I suppose Wendy and I can deal with that."
Wendy? So there WERE other partners in this. That name…all these names, they sounded as if they came out of that book called Peter Pan. "What do you mean by 'my…friend'?"
"You don't know? After all the hints we've thrown your way? Young people these days just don't ever use their brains do they?"
Misaki chose to ignore that last part. "No I don't know. Who are you talking about?"
Hook laughed. "I'll give you hint...he wears white, but wears green on cold days. However, on the job he wears black and white. Neat hint, eh?"
What sort of hint was this? It just made her even more confused. She did not get a chance to question him some more before the Contractor hung up, and she was met with the usual beep of severed communication.
Misaki stared at the brilliantly white linoleum floor with a sort of melancholy calm. "My goodness what have I gotten myself involved in?"
She sighed. Well, she would have to quickly finish her paperwork and then go and visit John as planned. She had many questions she wanted to ask him. Shoving her cell phone back into her pocket, she left the bathroom right when someone else was about to go inside.
With a bow, she excused herself, silently thankful that her phone conversation ended when it did.
Misaki glanced up at John's room number with deep contemplation. She was more determined than ever to question John now. He seemed a lot more suspicious than Li or anyone else for that matter right now considering since he had gotten sick, no more murders had happened.
She took a deep breath and walked up the stairs as quietly as she could, praying to whatever gods were listening that Li was nowhere to be found. She would be hard pressed in talking to John privately with another suspect in the way.
Misaki was about to knock when the door opened and Sayu stepped out, blinking at her with large, confused light brown eyes.
"S-Sayu-chan, what are you doing here?"
"Well, I was just checking on John to make sure he was all right. He seems to be feeling a bit better now since Li-san came and gave him some weird Chinese medicine. I didn't think it would work, but it did." She smiled happily.
Misaki couldn't help but smile back. Sayu was such a nice girl. "Is it all right to talk to him?"
"Oh sure! I bet he won't mind. I'll tell him you're here." Sayu bowed deeply and walked back inside. After about a minute had passed, she came back still smiling. "You can see him."
"Thank you so much, Sayu-chan. Oh, by the way, is Li-kun here?"
"Hm? No. He left twenty or so minutes ago. He said he just wanted to go for a walk, so he won't be back for a while. Oh, and no problem, Kirihara-san." Sayu bowed politely, and then quickly began to go down the stairs.
Misaki waited until the girl disappeared from her sight before she stepped into John's room. Compared to Li's apartment room, John's had a bit more things in it, though not much. He mainly had things that were of important like small furniture, a TV, and a table, but other than that, his room was just as drab and dull as Li's. Misaki secretly stored this information in her head for further deliberation.
"Oi, Kirihara-san, it's nice to see you again," John said as he stepped out of a room near the kitchen. He looked very tired, and had faint dark circles under his eyes showing that he had not had much sleep. Misaki bit her lip, wondering if questioning him while he was in such bad condition was wise.
"Same here. How are you feeling? Sayu-san has told me that you're still sick."
"I'm fine now, thanks to Sayu and Li. They're really great people you know." John walked over to a couch and plopped down, signaling Misaki to do the same.
Misaki took off her shoes, and took a chair near the window. "I wanted to ask you a few questions."
John laughed. "I thought as much. What is it?"
"I…well…when you had gotten sick, criminal activity from a person my colleagues and I have been chasing stopped…"
John raised an eyebrow. "Straight to the point aren't we?"
"I'd rather not waste your time. Sorry if I'm coming across as too strong."
John shook his head. "No, it's all right. You have every right to be suspicious of me. However, picking me out doesn't sound all too bright, if I may be blunt to say. What you're doing does not seem very well thought out. Either your desperation to capture this criminal has clouded your senses, or you're just in a hurry."
Misaki felt absolutely insulted. She even clenched her fists in fury. However, not once did she show any sign of that anger on her face or in her tone. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, by picking me out, you ignore many other people who could have been sick in the same time span I was. You don't know everyone in this city, Kirihara-san. For all you know someone at the police station might have been sick as long as me and could have been the criminal."
"I…" Misaki fought a blush from creeping across her face in embarrassment. John had a good point. Singling him out simply because he had been sick was silly. She didn't even have any evidence to bother seeing him as a suspect. Besides, Jun had been sick for a few days, and Hideo had been sickly as well. Some of the other police officers had been just as sick. For all she knew, the janitor who cleans the bathrooms could be the man with the Tengu mask…
"Many of my fellow co-workers had been sick like me," John continued. "Apparently the stomach flu has been going about during and after the Star Festival. If you don't believe me, you can ask some of my friends. I'm sure they'll tell you the same thing. Better yet, you can ask Sayu when she pops back up here later to check on me. This whole flu thing has been all over the news lately. I'm surprised you haven't seen it."
"I…well…f-forgive me." Misaki hung her head down so he wouldn't see her shame. How could she have been so stupid?! What was wrong with her? This was such a mistake...
John smiled sadly and got off the couch, patting Misaki on the shoulder. "It's all right, Kirihara-san. I'm sure this case that you're doing is causing you a lot of stress…"
"I feel as if I'm never going to catch this man. He's just going to keep killing and killing and there's nothing I can do. I've been racking my brain over this for such a long time that I'm starting to think illogically now. I hope I'm not going insane because of this…"
"You're not going insane, Kirihara-san. You just want things to end is all…" John said gently, his voice lowering slightly.
Misaki sighed. "I do, but that does not mean I should jump to conclusions like that without thinking further on it. Forgive me…"
John was silent, looking elsewhere. If Misaki had been paying attention she would have seen the small flash of shame travel across his handsome face.
"John-san…I have a question."
He looked down at her. "Not another attempt at questioning me on my sickness I hope?" he said, smiling widely.
"N-No, it's nothing like that. I was just wondering if Li-kun…has been acting odd."
John was silent again. "You're suspecting Li-kun now?"
"No, I just…well…there's something I need to know…"
"Well…now that you mention it, yes he has."
Misaki looked up. "What?"
"He's been coming home later and later lately. He's always frowning too, as if there's something on his mind. Other than those peculiarities, he hasn't been too odd. I guess you can discredit the whole coming home late thing. After all, Li does love to watch the stars…though I wish I knew why."
Misaki's eyes narrowed. She was going to hate herself for digging into Li's personal life, but something kept prodding her towards him. "John-san, what was Li wearing today?"
"Uh…a white shirt?" John blinked, looking a bit nervous now.
"What does he usually wear when it's cold?"
"Erm…theses questions are sorta odd…" he rubbed his arm, backing away a little.
Misaki grabbed his sleeve. "Please answer. It's extremely important."
John sighed, sensing her urgency. "All right, all right. He wears that horrible green jacket. Why?"
He wears white…dresses in green on cold days, and on the job wears black and white. Wait…could it be? Misaki closed her eyes. No…it couldn't be. It just couldn't…
"Kirihara-san...what's wrong?"
Misaki couldn't hear him. She was trapped in her horrible thoughts and couldn't find a way out.
"Misaki…" John bent down so he was face to face with her. He grabbed her arm, shaking her gently out of her reverie. "Are you all right?"
Misaki held her head. She could feel a huge headache coming right about now. "I'm fine...I just have a terrible migraine."
John sighed with relief. "Thank God, I was starting to worry. Would you like something to drink? I can get you an aspirin if you want."
"No, that's all right. I'll be taking my leave now. Sorry for bothering you." Misaki stood up and put her shoes back on.
"All right. Um…I hope you feel better..." There was a tinge of sadness in John's voice that was not there earlier, but Misaki did not really linger on that thought. Right now she was simply depressed, and still trying her very best to discredit what she had just learned. Hook's words could have meant anyone… she told herself. Yes, she refused to believe Li was anything like BK-201. Sure she had been comparing them a lot lately…but she always ended up making herself feel foolish. Kind and loving Li was not a murderer…he wasn't…
I can't fully trust Hook's words, she told herself wisely. He was a Contractor, and as such, was not afraid of manipulation to do his job. This might have been apart of it; misleading Misaki from the real villain so Hook and his team could go about their merry way, doing whatever it was they were ordered to do.
"I need better evidence…" she whispered as she walked towards her blue car. The Black Reaper had to be anyone but Li…he just had to be…
A/N: Poor Misaki. She's trying so hard to ignore all the evidence Hook and John have thrown her way. I don't blame her, I'd be in denial too just because I love Li a lot. xD
