Chapter 11

Dim Bulbs

For the next week Murasame trudged through his scenes like a champ, his mind wandering to the missing dangerous couple. Could they truly be them? He had to know more.

"Murasame-kun.. What's wrong? Do you miss Setsuka-san?" Manaka chirped.

"Drop it, Manaka-chan." He told her irritably.

"I'm sure if we could separate them, Cain-san would definitely see how sweet I am and how wonderfully I would treat him." She pondered in her delusional fantasy.

"I said drop it!" He growled, "You will never get what you think you want out of those two." He told her remembering all of the information he had gleaned about the suspected celebrity couple.

She turned and left in a huff. He sat, closed his eyes and sighed in frustration. If she was The Kyouko, she was far out of his reach. From what he had heard about the starlet, she and Ren were all but married. Not to mention the fact that he was far from being her type and Manaka-chan, in her own way, was rubbing salt in the wound. Now, he would have to work with the suspected celebrity couple and hide his musings from the rest of the crew. There had to be a reason they were hiding their identities and he certainly didn't want to expose and ruin it for two of his favorite actors if it were a good reason.

"Murasame-kun, you're up next." Director Konoe told him.

"Thank you, sir." With renewed vigor he would play out his scenes. Kyouko and Tsuruga-san were top-notch actors, right up there with Kuu. He had to show the world he was just as good and this would be the way. He would prove that he had the right to stand beside them in this movie. He breathed in deeply and took his place.

"Aaanndd... ACTION!" The director called out, signaling for Murasame to begin his scene.

News-clip

Prominent Lawyer In Hospital

Mogami Saena, a prominent lawyer of Viride General Law Office was struck by a drunk driver Wednesday evening. She has been upgraded to stable condition. An investigation into the incident is ongoing to determine if there is foul-play involved. (click here for more.)

Three voices came from the sterile room as the worried young man placed his hand to open the door. Two laughs that closely resembled a magical music of soft chimes and one deep masculine laugh that sent shivers of dread down his spine.

"Ah.. Ha... ha.. I didn't know anyone could be that stupid." He chuckled.

"Indeed. I never realized one could do that with a bottle of shampoo and CD player." The woman's voice announced filled with mirth.

"Okasan.. Ha. Ha, stop you're killing me." The little pixie begged.

Sho paled. Since when did Kyoko get this close to her mother and who in the hell was with them? He felt the jealousy and anger sink it's teeth into him and crawl its way into his mind.

"Kyoko!" He snarled as he flung open the door, surprising the relaxed trio and spoiling the light mood as he surveyed the room and found his most hated rival sitting next to his property with his arm draped around her shoulder.

"What the hell is this." He demanded, ignoring a mother who was steadily becoming very annoyed at the young singer's display.

"Fuwa-san..." a cold dark female voice called to him. "He is my guest... Unlike you he has been here from the very beginning. Unlike you.. He has been taking care of my daughter." The steely daggers of accusation, guilt and mistrust were thrust into him and pulled upward. "Unless you can be civil, you can leave."

"Mogami-san.." Ren asked with concern and Saena raised her palm to stop him. Ren nodded.

"Sho, please leave. I don't need you here." Kyoko told him calmly, without emotion as if telling a stranger they had the wrong room.

The words 'I don't need you' kept repeating over and over until he arrived home to his empty apartment. She didn't need him, she truly didn't need him and she said it so matter-of-factually and so emotionless it had to be true. Endless tears of regret streamed from his eyes, pouring heartbreak and guilt down his cheeks and neck as he fell prone to lament all of the things that he had directly done to cause his ousting from Kyoko's heart.

"I was there! I'm telling you there is no way he's still alive!" Detective Devin Martin slammed his fists on the desk. He was certain of this. The man named Black Jack Darell was indeed dead, he had killed him himself. He had the scars, both mental and physical, to prove it.

"Is there any way it could be someone else? Someone that knew him?" The young investigator asked.

"Ridiculous! If that were the case, it would have to be someone much too old to be capable of committing these murders." Martin insisted. "They would have to be almost 100 years old." he whispered as he remembered the starkly mad screams and the heart wrenching cries of grief that were heard the night he took him down. The face of a young blonde woman with ivory skin flashed through his memory of that night. She had claimed that her lover had been murdered that night and mysteriously disappeared into the fog of the evening before the police had come to collect his body.

"What if the victim, her lover, had been Jack Darell?" He mused then shook his head in disbelief. "No, she was too young. She couldn't have been any older than 17." He pushed the absurd thought from his mind. His logic was starting to falter. "Could she be? Hm, not possible."

"You're thinking too hard." Martin's partner told him. "Let's go get some dinner and think on this later. It can't be him, he's dead."

"You're right. I may be overthinking this." He grabbed his jacket and left with his partner to the nearby diner that catered to police officers. "Yeah, I think I'm just letting this case get to me. Making my mind see things that aren't really there."

"Maybe you'll feel better after some pancakes." His partner smiled and clapped him on the back.

On Detective Devin Martin's desk lay a thick white folder and in the center of that folder lie a very old photo. A photo taken almost 100 years ago of a hauntingly beautiful, blonde 17 year old girl with eyes as cold as steel and a contrasting smile that would warm even the coldest of hearts. On the back of the photo in faded ink was written the name: Angel, last name unknown; Year: 1985, was written beneath the name.

"CUT!" Very good Murasame-kun! I could feel your frustration. Director Konoe praised him. Murasame smiled inwardly. I can do this.