Persona 4
Ge-Ni-Us
Genius 30: The Calm Before...
Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out.
His gray eyes held a sharp stare at the image of the white hound displayed on the ethereal tarot card. 'Focus.' The card left his hands, but did not fall. It hovered in the air just in front of his hands. 'Concentrate.'
"Come forth. Yatsufusa!"
The card cracked and shattered as if it had been made of glass. As was the usual pattern, first the colorful orbs appeared in a circle around him. Then, the rumble of heavy breathing. And suddenly he could sense the presence of the great beast behind him.
The large white hound nuzzled into his side affectionately. Reiko only smirked, softly patting its head. "Well... that's the easy part."
Now, the gray haired genius would try again. This was the only way he could work out the problem. Try again, and attempt to tease out the reasons.
Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out.
Reiko held his hand out and the faint image of a card began to form in his hand. It twirled into existence, the image of a small blue-capped snow man visible on one side.
He gritted his teeth. He could already feel the pounding in his head. 'Focus...Concentrate...' The boy-genius cringed, but still maintained his composure. "C-come... forth! Jack Frost!"
The card cracked and, like its predecessor, shattered. And a 'feeling' raced down Reiko's back.
It was as if someone was pouring liquid magma into his veins. The initial shock alone was enough to cause him to stumble. His vision blurred for a moment, and it was almost as if reality distorted around him. 'No... that's wrong...' Reality wasn't distorting. It was just the shear pain coursing through his body that was screwing up his vision.
A vague form materialized in front of him, at about the height of his shin. The rounded body had no definition, no description, only the vague shape of something.
The pounding in his head ceased. Reiko clamped down on his jaw, knowing what was about to happen. Then, all at once, it felt like his mind had been stabbed by a hundred swords. The gray-eyed boy let out a cry and lost his footing, falling backwards.
The vague form that had come into being in front of him faded away. However, Reiko's fall had been broken as he found himself cushioned against the warm fur of the large hound with a red symbol on its head.
"Thank you..." Reiko gave a pained smile. "Yatsufusa."
All Reiko heard was the jingle of the two bells that the white hound wore around its neck, as it lowered itself to the ground. Reiko slid into a comfortable sitting position, leaning back against the hound. He gasped loudly as the pain receded and his vision went back to normal.
"Every time... it's the same." He quickly and mercilessly severed his irritation. Every time, he'd just barely be able to begin summoning a second persona and then... the pain would become unbearable. It just continued to build until it shattered his concentration and undid the summoning.
There came a soft growl from behind him that caused Reiko to chuckle. "I know...It's not like I haven't made -any- progress..." The first dozen or so times he'd tried it, he'd completely lost both the second persona and the first he'd already summoned.
"Maybe I'm just off my game today." He allowed himself a wry smirk from that. Maybe... it was the dream he'd had earlier. He'd taken a nap in this very same forest earlier, and dreamed a dream he hadn't had in a very long time.
Even on the rare occasion that they brought up some of the more... trying tribulations of their previous adventure, he and his friends almost never brought up the actual events of the final fight.
After all... Izanami had been inches from victory.
-They- had been inches from death. No... that was wrong too. There was no way to tell exactly how close they'd come to death when Izanami had unleashed those shadows on them. It was an odd thing, he realized. None of them remembered much of what happened after they'd been dragged into the shadows. They certainly didn't remember speaking to him.
He had to wonder if what he'd heard... what had helped him stand back up... had been a mere figment of his imagination.
He cast that thought aside. Perhaps they hadn't -actually- said it... but that didn't make it made up either. Reiko raised his had skyward from where he sat, shading his eyes from the sun filtering down into the forest.
Their hearts had been connected. United through a crossroads named Reiko. Such was the power of the heart. As cheesy as it sounded to say aloud, he honestly couldn't argue with results. He'd never have beaten Izanami without the people he'd come to call friends.
He hadn't had dreams of that fight with Izanami for a long time now. He was sure the memory would stay with him for the rest of his life... but he hadn't dreamt of it in a long time. Not since it was still fresh in his mind, anyway.
"What brought it up, I wonder." Reiko's hand rose to his face in his trademarked contemplation pose, complete with his pointer and middle fingers resting loosely on his forehead. His first thought was that it had to be his senpai.
His senpai had entertained his friends with stories from his freshmen year of high school. That had been a few days ago, but he'd spoken with Shusuke quite a bit, catching up on events. However, he couldn't shake the idea that such a thing was probably not the cause.
This sinking feeling in his gut wouldn't go away. It wasn't the first time he'd felt it either.
Back when his friends had tried to pass judgement on Namatame, it had been there.
Back when they were trying to ferret out the true killer, and he'd realized it was Adachi, it had been there.
All those times, -something- inside him refused to let go until he'd teased out the truth.
What bothered him the most, however, was the fact that this was the first time such a feeling had appeared without a target for it. There were no uncertainties...for there were no questions. They knew who and what their enemies were, if not their motivations.
So why couldn't he shake this... sinking... feeling in his gut that something wasn't right.
"Man..." It was like a single dark cloud on an otherwise cloudless day. It drew the entirety of his attention. "I really am off my game today."
Yatsufusa whined softly, the sound causing Reiko to brighten a little. "Yeah... you're right. Sitting here pondering won't accomplish anything." The gray haired genius turned his gaze toward the white hound.
Yatsufusa's head snapped up and peered directly into the forest, its ears twitching from side to side.
"I guess this gives a whole new meaning to 'talking to yourself,' doesn't it?"
Reiko chuckled at that. "Shouldn't you be in class, Akihou?"
"It's lunch time." Said mage shrugged nonchalantly, as if that answered everything.
The genius merely gave Akihou a deadpanned stare. The orange haired boy was idly leaning against a tree, his arms crossed. Reiko could just spot the manilla folder he had in his hands. "So... how long have you been there, anyway?"
"Long enough to know what you're trying to do." Akihou pushed off the tree he'd been leaning on and walked a few feet forward, just enough to toss the manilla folder he'd been holding onto Reiko's lap. After that, he simply turned and began to walk away.
"And this is?" Reiko blinked in confusion, as he picked up and opened the folder.
"Information on other 'Persona' cases that the Clock-Tower gathered." The boy-magus stopped for a moment, with his back toward Reiko. "I received it from an agent during the last attack. I've already learned everything I can from it and... well..." His voice trailed off.
Reiko canted his head to the side. It seemed like he wasn't the only one suffering from an off day. Well... he'd heard from Rise and Naoto that Akihou had been acting a little bit nicer. "Well what?"
Akihou idly scratched his cheek, suddenly glad his back was toward Reiko. "Well..." He paused for another moment, as if he were searching for the right words. "They never told me what to do with the information... So I think I'll leave it with you."
"Oh?" The older boy couldn't help the small smirk that found its way to his face. "And what's this information going to cost me?"
Akihou coughed, as if he were surprised to hear Reikos words. "N-nothing. I figured you could use it... that's all."
Reikos smirk softened slightly. "Ah... Vieler danke."
"Sie sind willkommen." Akihou paused a moment more, cleared his throat, and started off again.
Though, Reiko being Reiko, he couldn't resist getting in just a little more.
"You... really aren't too good at this, are you Akihou?" Even though the gray haired boy couldn't see it, he could have sworn Akihou's brow had twitched.
"I don't wanna hear that from you." Akihou stalked off, his hands in his pockets. "-Anyone- but you."
Reiko's laughter filtered through the otherwise peaceful forest scenery. After a moment spent watching Akihou leave, Reiko turned to the manilla folder. He'd run into a wall simply doing what he had been doing.
Perhaps the answer he needed was in here.
-o-o-o-o-o-
It honestly was a day like any other. Simple and bright. And Chie couldn't be happier.
She'd actually gotten praise from Dojima, regarding her collection of information on a particular case they'd been working on.
It was something at least. She wasn't, after all, his partner. For that, she was particularly thankful. Ryotaro was known to be the penultimate work-a-holic. Apparently he'd run more than a few partners into the ground before and after Adachi.
She was just a junior detective, and Dojima -still- had her running ragged. But she'd somehow managed to squeeze a small bit of praise out of him.
Actually... as good as that was... that wasn't why she was happy.
Chie was only ever at her happiest in one scenario.
And that scenario was when a giant medium-rare slab of cow was on her plate.
Today was such a scenario, which was why she was happy. She thoroughly chewed a bit of the steak before looking acrossed the table at her best friend. "And when we were standing in line, Dojima-san's partner tripped!" She chuckled softly, cutting off another piece from the obscenely large T-bone. "I swear I thought I was looking at a domino set! Everyone falling forward, one after the other! It was hilarious."
"I see."
"Oh, right!" She swallowed the piece of meat before grabbing her drink. A quick swig before she set the glass back down. "I just got the new album by HTT! I really like their new single, 'Listen!' Though I think it's driving Yosuke nuts."
"I see."
Chie's eyebrow twitched. Yukiko was sitting acrossed from her, with a nearly untouched salad. As if her responses hadn't given it away, The dark-haired girl had a far-away look to her eyes. Chie took a steady breath and gave her friend a deadpanned stare. "Yukiko... I have something to confess..."
"I see."
"Well..." Now she had to try and keep a straight face. "I think I've got a problem."
"I see."
"The thing is... I think I've fallen in love with you..."
"I see... Wait! -What-?" Yukiko blinked and slapped her hands down on the table, staring wide-eyed at her best friend.
"I'm kidding..." Chie couldn't hold back a chuckle. "I just had to check if you were listening at all."
"Chie-chan..." Yukiko sent a darkened glare toward the brown-haired girl in front of her. "Don't scare me like that!"
"You know..." Chie reigned in her amusement a little. "I gotta wonder. I don't think Reiko or Yosuke would mind."
"They would!" Yukiko was blushing overtly now. "-I- would!"
"I'm surprised." Chie tried, and failed, to restrain another bout of chuckling. "I would have thought being around Reiko-kun so much would have made you immune to teasing."
Yukiko sighed, her cheeks still tinged with red, as she settled back into her chair. "He... hasn't been doing that much these past few days."
"So what's wrong? You and Reiko have a fight?"
Yukiko shook her head. "No... it's nothing like that."
Chie settled her chin in her hands, "So spill... What's got you in La-La land?"
Well... how could it hurt? Yukiko thought to herself. She certainly wasn't coming up with any ideas of her own... so maybe Chie would be able to help. "Reiko's... well...How can I explain it?" She idly ran her fingers through her hair, drifting over her left shoulder as it was. "It feels like he's becoming distant."
"He's ignoring you?" Chie's eyes narrowed a little. Even if it was Reiko, she'd never forgive him for hurting Yukiko.
"No! Not like that!" Yukiko's black eyes were in a panic as she waved her hands. "Reiko would never do anything like that. It's just..."
Chie sighed. Some things just never changed. It was -always- tough for her to get her best friend to just spit it out. But she'd had a lot of practice at it. "It's just what?"
"It's like..." She sighed for a moment, as she continued to search for the right words. "He's spending almost every free moment training. Every free moment thinking about when the next attack might be."
Chie blinked, and sighed softly. 'That definitely sounds like Reiko.' Most people had a problem with thinking too little. Their genius of a leader had an all-together different problem. He often thought too -much-.
"I don't want him to become... consumed by this fight. And I'm worried that's exactly what's happening."
"I see." Chie crossed her arms and ran though a few ideas. There -was- one thing she knew would probably work. Though it might be a little hard on the introversive Yukiko. "Well then... why don't we switch?"
"Huh?" The look on The dark haired girl's face was priceless. Chie wished she'd had a camera with her. "S-switch? You mean you want to..."
"I guess I coulda worded that better." The martial artist chuckled. "What I mean is... why don't you try acting like me for a day?"
Yukiko put a hand on her chest as she breathed a sigh of relief. She certainly didn't want to participate in some kind of 'boyfriend-swap.' "What do you mean?"
Chie winked at her friend. "You're too selfless, Yukiko. Guys -should- have to deal with a little selfishness from their girlfriends. It's part of the deal." Thought, she chuckled privately, she supposed she overdid it with Yosuke. Well... he hadn't complained... at least not over much.
"You think I should be... selfish?"
"Why not?" Chie shrugged and chewed on another slice of her steak. "Reiko's problem is that he's too cerebral. He thinks too much." She paused and took bite of the potato sitting off to the side of her tray. "-Make- him take a break. Drag him around. Force him to have a little fun. Don't give him a -chance- to think."
Yukiko stared openly at her friend. And Chie knew why. She was processing the idea of being forthright and outgoing... in other words... being more like Chie. The detective in training could already see the blush tinting Yukiko's cheeks pink. "T-that's..."
"Look, Yukiko." Chie set down her utensils and smiled patiently at the girl who was practically her sister. "Reiko's not really the kinda guy who is easily prone to target fixation. But when he does lock on to something... watch out. He'll focus so hard on it... that he'll fly right into it."
Which, Yukiko realized, was essentially what Reiko was doing right now.
"You just gotta be demanding. Be a little selfish for a change. Like I said... drag him around and don't give him a -chance- to think." Chie smirked softly. "I think that's your best option."
Yukiko gulped softly. The idea certainly sounded like it would work... if she could work up the nerve.
The brown haired girl merely chuckled again, a sudden impish grin on her face. "Look, I'll help you out." She shifted her chair so that she was sitting beside Yukiko instead of in front of her. "We'll plan a date that'll guarantee that the two of you have a good time."
-o-o-o-o-o-
Yukiko groaned inwardly. -How- did it end up like this?
This was all Chie's fault...
The dark haired girl blushed slightly, tugging down on the black short skirt she was wearing. It was at least an inch shorter than any skirt she'd ever worn before. And She didn't even have any tights to help her cover up. All Chie had given her to cover her legs was the straps of her sandals... which made the dark haired girl blush even more.
Her best friend had been just a little -too- eager to help on this plan. It really said something when Yukiko's greatest victory so far, had been managing to avoid having her long black hair done up in twin ponytails.
Still... she'd lost a major battle. She reached down to the hem of her shirt and dragged it down for what felt like the umpteenth time today. Chie had let her borrow a backless maroon shirt that tied around her neck. In short, it bared most of her back and all of her arms.
'Why does Chie even -have- something like this?'
She honestly felt only a few steps short of a bikini. That, in and of itself, wasn't the problem. The problem was that she was going to be walking around the city like this. The shirt even bared a little of her belly.
She was -so- going to find some way to get back at Chie for this. At the very least, her long black hair, left unbound for today, covered her back.
As an easily recognizable motorcycle rounded the corner, a terrible thought struck her.
She was going to wear a short skirt, on a motorcycle.
Her already heated brain was about ready to sizzle and short out. The only thing that saved her, was the possibility of riding side-mount.
Apparently, the drastic change in her wardrobe hadn't gone unnoticed. 'As if it would...' She whined inwardly. It was an outfit designed almost specifically to stand out.
Reiko flipped up the black visor of his helmet and blinked. "Um...Sorry. I think I've made a mistake...I'm supposed to meet someone here..."
She gave her sometimes irritating boyfriend a deadpanned glare. "Yes, it -is- me... Reiko-kun." She took one more breath, and reassured herself that this was for Reiko's sake. The gray haired genius still seemed a little awe struck as he handed her the extra helmet. 'Well...in for a penny, I guess.'
With that she hopped up on the back of Reiko's beloved machine.
Honestly, Reiko could count on one hand the number of times he'd been completely dumbfounded. This was one of them.
He'd been busily studying the case-files he'd received from Akihou when he'd received a call that, at first, he'd thought was a prank.
But no... Yukiko had adamantly said 'We're going on a date, tomorrow.' When he'd tried to protest, he'd been thoroughly overrun. 'Almost like she expected it...' She'd given him a time, a place to meet, and by the looks of the duffle bag she had slung over one shoulder, had made even more preparations.
But the outfit was definitely the strangest part. Well... he couldn't argue with it. He -was- a guy after all. No matter how unlike Yukiko it was to wear something like that... It didn't stop the fact that her slim frame was quite attractive in it.
Actually, now that he thought about it, maybe it was -because- it was so unlike her that it was attractive.
Reiko smirked inside his helmet as he shook the thought off. "So where are we going?"
"Okina City." It was a quick response as she shifted herself on the back of the bike. She was definitely not used to riding side-mount, with both legs slung over one side.
"And then?" Reiko waited for her to get situated. She had come a long way in her fear of riding a motorcycle, Reiko noticed. For one thing, she no longer clamped down on him like a vice when he got on the highway.
Yukiko ignored him, repositioned the duffle bag and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Heh." Reiko allowed himself a wry smile and shrugged. After they were both set, he started off toward the main road that would eventually join up with the highway leading to the next city.
She wouldn't admit it openly, quite yet, but Yukiko had secretly come to enjoy the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair. She'd been relishing the feeling so much that she barely even realized it when they pulled off the highway and into the bustling streets. No sooner had they entered the city than they pulled into the parking lot of a nearby park.
Despite how much she'd grown accustomed to riding a motorcycle, the inherent fear of moving so quickly with so little protection had forced her to hold tightly on to her boyfriend. Even as she unwound her arms from his waist, they were trembling slightly.
Reiko clipped his helmet into the lock on the side of his bike. "So... now what happens?"
Yukiko withdrew her cell-phone from the duffle bag and glanced at the time. 'Only 8:30 a.m. huh? Good.' With one last deep breath to steady herself. "First, we're going to go have breakfast! There's a place near here that serves western tea, that I've been wanting to try for a while now."
Reiko watched on in confusion as Yukiko, stifling a small blush of her own, latched onto his arm and dragged him off down the street.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Naoto yawned casually. She'd been up late last night. While she'd have liked to say that she was earnestly studying a case file or putting together clues to track down a criminal, the honest truth was slightly different.
She'd been up reading a mystery novel... again. She blushed lightly, giving herself a wry smirk. 'So I like Sherlock Holmes...It's not that big of a deal.'
She yawned again. Thankfully it was Saturday and classes had let out early. She'd already waved goodbye to Kanji as they had begun to walk toward the Inaba's business district. Rise had stayed in school as it was her turn on trash duty.
Unfortunately, she lived in a separate direction. Her grandfathers manse was near the outskirts of the southern part of the city. She readjusted her hat and set her eyes forward and continued to walk, until she found herself yawning... again.
"It's not very lady-like to yawn like that..." Naoto flinched as she heard the sarcastic voice from behind her. "And it's only noon too. Disgraceful..."
The female detective set her jaw in annoyance. "I don't want to hear that from a stalker."
Akihou merely brushed her anger off, keeping his usual 'annoying' smirk on the back of her head. "Who're you calling a stalker?"
"Isn't that what they call someone who follows you?"
"Now look here...I happen to live in this direction." The orange haired mage continued to smirk, as if he knew it annoyed her.
And he probably did know, too.
Naoto grumbled lightly to herself. "I don't have the energy to argue with the likes of you." Though, as she said that, she quickly stifled another yawn, desperately ignoring the chuckle she heard from behind her. "-Don't- say a -single- word."
Akihou let that one slide, as she'd barely grumbled it out. It was a shame he couldn't see her red cheeks.
Naoto paused quickly as her cell phone began to ring. Reaching for it, she quickly flipped it open.
Akihou watched the girl in front of him for a moment. It was rather amazing, he realized, how quickly she'd changed. She'd gone from lax and slightly irritable to straight laced and serious in less time than it took to flip the phone open.
"What?" Naoto looked incredulous, staring at nothing as people often do while on the phone. "How can that be?"
Evidently it was a surprising conversation, but from the sharp look the detective had on her face there was probably a bit more to it than that.
The dark haired girl nodded seriously. "Alright... I'll be right there." She quickly flipped the phone closed before turning toward Akihou. "Sorry, looks like there's been a murder on the edge of town."
"Even a small town like this has murder cases, huh?" Akihou smirked.
She knew the boy in front of her wasn't counting the big murder cases she and her friends had been involved in two years ago. "Unfortunately... yes..." She turned and ran down the street.
Naoto ran. This case was... odd. Apparently Dojima and Chie were already on the scene, but the details she'd been given were something straight out of a mystery novel.
A dead man with no cause of death. A dead man who did not appear to be dead. Actually, if she'd heard Dojima correctly, the victim was sitting in his study, behind his desk, with his head propped up by his left palm.
She shook her head. There was no use making assumptions now, when she'd not even seen the crime scene.
"How rude..."
Naoto flinched, not expecting to hear -that- voice behind her.
"The least you could do is say good bye..." Akihou smirked, easily keeping up with Naoto's brisk pace. At least... until said detective slammed on the brakes.
"Akihou? What are you...?"
"It sounded interesting." He gave her another 'casual' yet 'annoying' smirk. He actually paused, however, when Naoto gave him a serious glare. Unlike her usual 'I'm tired of being annoyed' glare, this one held significantly more... anger.
"You -do- realize...a man just died." Perhaps her anger had leaked out more than she'd intended, though, seeing Akihou actually backtrack held it's own sense of pleasure. "A murder scene isn't a playground."
Akihou genuinely looked put off. "I-I guess that's a no to my coming along, huh?" Sometimes he honestly forgot. The world at large was different than the one he'd grown up knowing. He'd seen several dozen corpses even in his relatively short lifetime.
He'd caused at least one of them, too.
That someone could get so angry over his mere words... and for a stranger whom he was certain Naoto had never met...
It felt odd. And for some reason, he actually felt guilty.
Naoto spent a moment more glaring at him. It had flashed in his eyes for just a brief second, but she knew what she'd seen. He'd actually felt guilty about what he'd said. It contrasted starkly with the way he'd spoken to them upon their first meeting in the Aiya.
Back then, when he'd said that he'd kill them if the need arose...
The look in his eyes had been cold, arrogant, and unfeeling. It was almost as if he didn't care about other peoples lives. Though, perhaps, the fault wasn't entirely with him. She quickly remembered that Akihou had been brought up to think very little of human life.
It seemed that the orange haired boy had changed in more ways than one would have thought, given his superficial bet with Rise.
Naoto quickly adjusted her hat again and released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Fine. You can come along. But stay out of the way, alright?"
Because she had turned away, however, she hadn't seen the confusion that crossed his face as he watched her run.
But he did end up following after her, regardless.
-o-o-o-o-o-
"Ahhh! I'm tired!" Yukiko nearly fell onto the bench beside them.
Reiko couldn't help but smirk slightly. The first hour or so, the dark haired girl beside him had been so self conscious about her clothes that she'd seen a stalker in every shadow.
And while that might be exaggerating, it was true that she drew more than her fair share of stares. Yukiko had natural beauty after all, and the clothes she'd chosen... 'Or had chosen for her, if my guess is right...' really made her stand out.
"I'm honestly surprised..." The ashen haired genius sat down beside her. "Who'd have thought you were that good at baseball."
"That's rude!" Contrary to her words, Yukiko puffed her chest out with pride. "You're just sore that you lost to a girl."
'Well... she isn't wrong... but...' Their little game at the batting cages had turned into something of a hell. Never again would he challenge Yukiko to a game where the winner was decided by who had ten more hits than the other. In the end Yukiko had won, more from the fact that Reiko's arms had given out and hers hadn't. It didn't make any sense to him. "Seriously... where did you get that kind of stamina?"
Yukiko smiled suggestively. "How much work do you think I do at the Inn? I'm stronger than I look!"
"Well..." Reiko couldn't argue with that, especially since he'd lost. "You never did say what would happen if you won."
The young Amagi couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her, despite her best efforts. "You just have to close your eyes until I say its alright."
Reiko had a sudden shiver race down his spine. It -never- -ever- ended well when Yukiko started getting impish. But... he had to take his lumps like a man. He closed his eyes and shrugged softly.
"Good boy!" He could hear the amusement in her voice before he heard something unzip. She was probably rustling around in her duffle bag.
After a moment, he felt something slightly cold, probably made of plastic being place on his face. The feeling mostly came from his ears and nose. 'If this is what I think it is...'
"Snrk!" That iconic sound was one Reiko knew well. Yukiko was about to... "Hahahahahahaha"
There it was.
She was going to pay. Maybe not now. Maybe not tomorrow. But eventually... he would get her back.
Reiko open his eyes to find that he was looking through a thick pair of glasses. Something was covering his nose and he could just make out the ticklish sensation over his upper lip.
Those damn 'disguise' glasses.
He stared at her with a deadpanned gaze.
"S-sorry, but that's the deal! You gotta wear those for a while!" She was holding her side with one hand and wiping tears from her eyes with the other, even as she continues to stifle her laughing. "I had Teddie make them for me."
It looked like this round went to her. He smiled despite his best efforts. "You knew that I'd under-estimate you in the batting cages... didn't you?"
Yukiko didn't say a word. She merely smiled.
She didn't need to say anything, actually. The mere fact that she'd prepared those glasses was evidence enough. It was his loss. He gave her a wry smirk. "So now what?"
Still reigning in her laughter, Yukiko checked her cell phone. 'Little after 1pm?' Their game had gone on longer than she'd thought. "Well... Let's have a late lunch."
"I -am- hungry..." Reiko thought for a moment, doing his best to ignore the strange glances he was getting from the people walking past them. Damn Yukiko knew how to cut at a mans pride. "Where to?"
"Here!" Yukiko announced with a smile.
"Here?" The genius took a moment to process that. They were in a small park near the batting cages. Having lunch here would mean...
As he'd expected, Yukiko was pulling out a large folded section of cloth.
"Here!" She smiled again and stood, taking Reiko's hand with one of her own. "I made sandwiches and it's a nice day after all."
They moved over to an open patch of grass, as Yukiko quickly spread the cloth. No sooner had it been splayed out on the ground than Yukiko withdrew several square boxes. Apparently she'd outdone herself, with several sandwiches in each box.
Reiko took a seat next to her, peering at the food cautiously.
True she'd made decent sandwiches the last time he'd eaten them... but discretion was the better part of valor where Yukiko's food was concerned.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Human.
The word was so perfectly simple.
Yet so endlessly complex.
He moved the black stone toward the intersection and smirked. He'd completely blocked out the white stones from this territory.
Humans were interesting. That was why he loved them.
Humans were boring. That was why he hated them.
Humans had once been mere animals, but had changed into something else over the long span of time.
And yet... could humans be called anything -but- animals?
He reached over and took hold of the white horse-head figurine and moved over toward the left side of the board. With this the black 'tower' figurine could no longer cause him any trouble.
Humans had souls. Or did they?
Humans had hearts. Or did they?
Humans had minds. Or did they?
Words were funny like that. If he went and tore open a human body... he might find a heart. But not in the way many humans spoke about it. If he went and tore open a human head, he might find a brain... but certainly no mind.
And no matter where he looked, from the ends of their hair to the tips of their toes, he'd never find a soul.
He moved the red checkers piece over toward the right side of the board. This would force his opposition to move the black checkers piece to block it.
How could you find something that was supposedly unfindable?
Humans were paradoxical creatures, from the very core of their being.
Humans had 'hearts', and yet a person could easily walk right past someone being murdered. What could you call that except 'heartless'?
Humans had 'minds' yet the vast majority of them could do very little without others to direct them. What could you call that except 'mindless'?
Humans had 'souls' yet most went through their life without ever truly accomplishing anything. What could you call that except 'soulless'?
However, there were those, he knew, who were 'afraid' of humans.
Afraid of the sheer uncertainty that human life possessed.
Were they good? Were they evil? Are they docile? Are they aggressive? Are they with us? Are they against us?
The long and short of it was, there were those who were afraid of the single trait that made humans unique.
Potential.
He couldn't help his smirk as he took the shogi tile emblazoned with the character for 'king' and placed it inside the square he'd formed by using the black 'Go' stones.
"And, at the end of it all, I win!"
"Dove-san?" Rise blinked, poking her head into the classroom.
"Yo! Kujikawa-san!" The pale boy with the golden-platinum colored hair turned and smiled at her.
The auburn haired idol hefted the black trash bag over her shoulder and walked into the classroom. "What're you still doing here? You don't have any duties or clubs, right?"
` "Me?" Dove merely smiled pleasantly. "I was just entertaining myself." He jerked a thumb at the items on his desk.
Rise couldn't help but stare in confusion at what she saw. It was a shogi board. But it was all just so... wrong. 'Go' stones, 'Chess' pieces, 'Checkers' pieces, 'Shogi' tiles... all of them were in play on the same board at one time.
"Um..." How does one respond to such a thing? "Just -what- rules are you playing by?"
"Isn't it obvious?" He chuckled softly. Standing, he straightened he jacket, before he reached out and took the trash bag from Rise's hands. "Here I'll take this out for you."
"Oh? So you can be -more- than a playboy, huh?"
"I can be whatever I want to be..." He chuckled as if he were laughing at his own joke. Dove easily slung the trash bag over his shoulder and began chatting with Rise as they walked out of the room. '...because the only rules -I- play by... are my own.'
-o-o-o-o-o-
Dojima rubbed his temples after putting his cell phone away. "Unfortunately, the medical examination team won't be here for at least another hour."
"An hour?" Chie snapped another photo of the scene and the various pieces of evidence that Dojima had pointed out.
"That's what happens when two small towns share the same resources." The scraggly man sighed again. Inaba's police department wasn't large enough to have its own medical examination lab. Neither was the next town over. The two towns ended up sharing a single lab that, ostensibly belonged to Okina city's police department. "Seriously... we aren't siblings fighting over clothes you know!"
Chie smirked. She was used to Dojima's grumbling by now. "Well, I think I've just about finished taking photos of the scene, Captain."
"Good. Keep the camera handy though." The older man nodded as he examined the scene again. He still didn't quite believe it. The 'victim' was sitting in his chair as if he were reading any other book.
But he had no pulse.
The detective sighed yet again, turning to look at the woman who stood in the corner of the large room. She was the wife of the deceased, one Benibara Kaede. She'd been consulting him earlier in the day because she'd reported seeing someone stalking her husband.
"What a surreal scene."
"About time you showed up, Shirogane." The older man turned to regard the female detective. To his surprise, she wasn't alone.
"Don't treat me like one of your grunts, Dojima-san." Naoto smirked softly. She was a -consulting- detective after all. The Detective Prince wasn't officially a part of the police force. She caught his eyes as they glanced over Akihou. "He's a friend from school, we were walking together when I got the call."
"A murder scene ain't a playground, dammit!"
"Which is why I'm going to stay out of the way." Akihou spoke lowly and evenly, as if he didn't care one way or the other. Chie only chuckled. Leave it to Akihou to rile up even a detective.
"Um..." It was the older woman, Kaede. "Is this... alright? They're so... young."
Dojima scratched his stubble. "Much as I hate to say it, don't under-estimate these kids. Especially the Detective Prince." He motioned toward Naoto, even as she began to nose about the room.
Though she pretended to ignore it, Naoto couldn't help but notice the momentary pause of shock that crossed the woman's face. It seemed the woman did not expect a 'famous' detective like herself to examine the scene.
"Anyway." Dojima cleared his throat. "The deceased is one Benibara Soun. This..." The dark haired man motioned toward the older woman beside him. "...is his wife, Benibara Kaede-san. She was consulting me on the fact that she suspected her husband was being stalked."
"I see." Naoto paused. "Could you please run through what happened before, and during, the moments where you found the body?"
"Yes..." The older woman, whom Naoto guess was in her mid to late forties, stepped forward. "As Dojima-san says, I went to talk to him about the prowler I saw a few nights ago. I asked him to come home and speak to my husband about it. When I knocked on the door to this study room of his, I received no answer. After checking the rest of the house, this was the only door that was locked. With Dojima-sans help we managed to forcibly open the door and found him... like this." She cringed , grabbing her sleeves.
'Strange.' There were several elements of the story that stood out to her detectives mind. First and foremost... was that when Kaede-san returned with Ryotaro. "When you returned... the place you tried was the door to this room, which was locked yes?"
"Yes..." Kaede swiped some light brown hair from her eyes. "This is the room he's almost always in. He'd sleep in here if I let him."
"And thus... we have a locked-room murder." Dojima grinned wryly at the smaller girl. "Your specialty, Kogoro Akechi-kun."
She gave Dojima a deadpanned gaze. Putting the nod to detective fiction aside, what Dojima said was true. The door, from what she'd seen, locked from the inside only. The single large window was also locked from the inside.
As Naoto moved to examine the area around the door, Chie couldn't help but smirk. She'd gotten used to it by now, but it was still entertaining to see Naoto on her home field. The dark haired detective prince squatted down and cradled her chin between her pointer finger and thumb.
"You also said," She took a moment to confirm. "that you had to bust the door in right? "
"That's right. The door was double locked!" Dojima ran a hand through his hair. "Benibara-san tried the door handle and it didn't budge. Kaede-san and I both charged the door. It gave way after the first push, but then there was a chain-lock over it. We had to ram it again to get the door open."
"I see." Something was amiss. Naoto sighed in thought. When a door is forcibly opened, it leaves a considerable amount of damage on the door and the door frame.
Why then, was the lock section of the door almost pristine? Her eyes caught something sitting just beside the doorway, on the floor of the room. 'A piece of string?' As her eyes rose to examine the chain-lock, everything began to set into place.
There was one piece of evidence around the chain-lock that was missing.
The broken chain-link.
Each end of the chain, the one attached to the frame and the one attached to the door, was undamaged. How does a broken chain remain without a broken link?
Naoto smirked softly. The string. Someone had broken the chain before all this, and then reattached the two sides of the chain using the string. The added length of the string would allow someone to lock and unlock the chain from the outside.
"The murderer is quite the magician, don't you think?" Naoto looked up at the intruding voice. Akihou was standing beside her, examining the doorframe.
"Magician?" Chie blinked in confusion. Such a line was an odd thing to hear, coming from an honest to goodness Mage.
Akihou merely shrugged. "Well yeah." He withdrew a coin, nimbly rolling it over the fingers of his left hand. "After all, when push comes to shove, magic is all about making the people see one thing whilst doing another."
With a swipe of his hand, the coin he'd been rolling over his fingers vanished. He held up his now empty left hand and then held out his empty right hand. With a swipe of his right hand, he now had a coin rolling over its fingers.
Naoto couldn't help the smirk. He was right. And if the trick was what she thought it was...then there was only one person who could have been the culprit. Her eyes narrowed on the woman standing beside Dojima.
But... she didn't have enough. The problem was the lack of evidence as to -how- the victim had been murdered. Benibara Soun sat as if you expected him to open his eyes at any moment. 'It has to be some kind of poison. Perhaps in that empty tea cup beside him?' Naoto took out a handkerchief and picked up the cup, sniffing it. 'No smell... so it wasn't something like cyanide or arsenic.'
She basically knew how the 'locked-room' was constructed. She also knew who the person behind this case was... but how did she go about proving that when there didn't seem to be a shred of evidence?
"Y-you're talking about... murder..." Kaede gulped, obviously distraught. "But couldn't it have been... natural? Or even... suicide?"
"No." Naoto stood straight. She'd have to play this right if she wanted to catch the murderer. The only way to do that was to get a confession. "This is definitely a murder. First and foremost...The victim was most likely drugged or poisoned. A test by the medical examination team should reveal that."
Naoto walked to the front of the desk that the victim was sitting against and leaned against it, crossing her arms lightly. "As for the locked room. Well... it certainly was locked... but it was a shabby attempt at creating a 'locked-room' murder." Naoto's eyes narrowed on Kaede. "The murderer lengthened the chain used in the chain lock by removing a single link in the chain and replacing it with a string, there-by allowing someone to lock or unlock the chain from outside the room." She pointed to the length of string sitting near the doorway. "When the door was kicked in, the weakest link in the chain, the string, was the only piece to break."
"But that doesn't account for the door lock!" Chie crossed her arms in thought. "There's no way to lock that from the outside."
"True. But irrelevant." The Detective Prince swallowed a smirk at the shocked look on the three people in front of her. "The doorframe shows almost no damage despite the fact that it's been 'kicked in'. Ask yourself... how is that possible?"
Ryotaro thought for a moment then gasped. "The door-lock ... was never locked in the first place."
"Correct." Naoto never let her gaze slip from the now wide-eyed woman standing beside Dojima. "But that contrasts starkly with what Kaede-san did and what Dojima-san saw."
Right. Dojima turned to stare sharply at the woman beside him. He'd seen her try to open it...but she'd acted as if it were locked.
Naoto merely continued to stare at Kaede. "Quite the magician indeed. The murderer didn't need to lock the door... merely create the illusion that it was locked. That... combined with the chain-lock that was actually set in place would be enough to pass as true... all the murderer needed to do... was open the door the moment it was rammed and viola." Naoto silently thanked the fact that the murderer was a mere amateur. She'd come acrossed far more convincing locked-room murders than this one. More-over...the shock was plain on Kaede's face. "Am I on the right track, Kaede-san?"
As if the dam had come undone, the older woman collapsed on her knees and began to cry.
"You know..." A voice sprung up from behind Naoto that caused her to jump. "This man isn't dead."
"Akihou!" Naoto gazed at him as he was quietly examining the body. Only then did it register what he'd said. "Wait... what?"
"How can that be? He has no pulse!" Chie stared wide eyed.
"Ever heard where the term, 'zombie' comes from?" Akihou gently replaced the wrist of the man back onto the desk. "A type of blowfish poison was used by certain Caribbean natives, practitioners of Voodoo to be exact. If you ingest the correct amount, it will basically put you in a comatose state that mimics death. If you don't know what to look for, you'd never even realize it. After it wears off...those that were 'dead' rise again." The orange haired mage took a deep breath. "This man shows all the signs of blowfish poisoning. He hasn't been in this state very long either. If you can administer an antidote soon, he should be able to pull through."
Dojima was far too shocked by the revelation to even bother yelling at Akihou for entering the crime scene. "Chie!" As he screamed her name, the brown haired girl jumped. She, too, had been shocked by Akihou's revelation. "Take Benibara-san into custody!" At her nod, Dojima whipped out his phone so fast, Naoto thought he might shatter it. He quickly dialed it and began screaming into it as he walked out of the room.
"I'll leave things here to you, Naoto-chan." Chie nodded toward the dark haired girl, taking the now handcuffed Kaede out of the room. Naoto almost pities the woman. She was wide eyed, probably in disbelief that her plan had utterly failed.
After Chie had left the room, Naoto turned and gave Akihou another deadpanned glare. "Signs of blowfish poisoning?" She knew, quite well, that there -were- no tell-tale signs of blowfish poisoning... Or at the very least, none that someone who wasn't a doctor could see.
Akihou merely smirked. "So I cheated a little. I didn't say -which- signs."
In other words, he'd secretly used -real- magic to determine the mans condition.
Naoto sighed... she felt another headache coming on.
"Still... I'm impressed." Akihou came to stand beside her. "From a piece of a string and a story, you managed to completely unravel the mystery of this case."
"I don't want to hear that from you." She idly reset the cap on her head. "You figured it out too. Though, the comparison with magic wasn't bad."
"Oh, that?" Akihou gave her a sly smile. "I was just bluffing."
Naoto managed to catch herself before she face-faulted. "What? You mean you didn't know how it happened?"
"Maybe I did, Maybe I didn't." He threw a smirk over his shoulder as he walked forward. "You're the type that admires Kogoro Akechi." The orange haired mage paused in the doorway. "I much prefer the likes of Twenty-faces...myself. Rather than admire those that tear down brilliant plans, I admire those that come up with them. "
He smirked at her before disappearing down the hall.
"So that's what it was." Ever since she'd met him, there was something about Akihou that always unsettled her. She'd chalked it up to him being her 'natural enemy.' And, in a sense, he was.
If she was Sherlock Holmes...
Then Akihou could only be Arsene Lupin.
She allowed herself a wry smirk.
"Natural enemies... indeed."
-o-o-o-o-o-
Reiko took a bite out of the sandwich as he leaned back and stared at the sky. Yukiko was sitting on her knees beside him, sipping some tea. It was rather nice to just sit back and relax. It was certainly a nice day to do so. Thankfully, he hadn't had to wear those disguise glasses for very long.
He managed to piece together most of facts surrounding today's pleasant but none-the-less odd happenings.
First and foremost, Yukiko was acting much more outgoing than usual, to the point where she'd been visibly forcing herself at points. Second, she was wearing an outfit that all but dared him to look elsewhere. Third, though their date seemed random at first glance, bits and pieces showed through that Yukiko had probably planned the entire thing.
They'd had breakfast at a trendy new restaurant. They'd gone shopping at the mall. They'd gone to an aquarium that had opened recently. And, of course, they'd gone to the batting cages.
As far as he could piece the puzzle together, Yukiko had somehow gained Chie's help, which explained the clothes. And, between the two of them, had planned for this date.
"So..." Reiko didn't bother to look at her as he finished his sandwich. "Will you tell me what this is all about, now?"
Yukiko flinched slightly. "W-what do you mean, Reiko-kun? Can't we have a date like a normal couple?"
'Normal... huh?' He smirked wryly, so it was -that- after all. "You're going to make me pick apart the entire day, aren't you..." He spoke softly, he wasn't trying to reprimand her or anything. He'd enjoyed the day... it was good to go around and essentially do nothing all day.
"Darn..." She sighed in defeat. "Looks like I failed in trying to get you to stop thinking so much."
'As I thought...' He rolled over on his side and look at his girlfriend. From this angle he could just barely see her bared back peeking through her long and silky black hair. "Yukiko...If something's bothering you, talk about it. How else can we clear it away?"
"I'm..." She swallowed the thick lump in her throat. The whole reason for this date had been so that she didn't -have- to confront the problem like this. But it looks like she was going to have to do so anyway. "I'm scared, Reiko."
His ears perked up at the lack of an honorific.
"It feels like... all that you're thinking about lately is the next fight. And...And it feels like you're drifting away from me. You're always training, and studying, and..." She turned suddenly and stared down at the gray haired man that she loved so dearly. "And I don't want you to get consumed by this fighting!
The gray haired genius stared at her. Yukiko was usually a shy and reserved person. But only a fool would mistake still waters as shallow. Yukiko had her own kind of fire, one that rarely boiled up to the surface completely, but it still shone through in all that she did.
That was what he saw in her eyes right now.
But he couldn't help but chuckle at the root of the problem. He gently grasped on the wrist Yukiko was leaning back on. With a surprised yelp she fell backwards and to the side, ending up half laying on top of Reiko's body, her long black hair framing her face as she looked down into his gray eyes.
"R-Reiko-kun?"
"You..." He smiled as he reached up and gently poked her forehead. "...accuse me of thinking too much. But you know Yukiko, I think, in this case, it's you that's thinking too much."
"What's that supposed to mean?" She was confused. This pleasant, almost playful demeanor of his was most certainly not what she'd expected when she let slip the cause of her unease.
"I suppose I am focusing on the fight. Maybe a little too much, and for that I'm sorry." Yukiko's eyes widened... Reiko rarely ever apologized through words. It made the honesty within them all the more real. "But let me ask you something... Yuki-chan." His voice lowered, and she could hear a soft fondness in it that even she'd never heard from him before. "What do you want...out of life?"
"What do I..." She was still half-laying on top of his body, looking down at him. But even then she canted her head to the side in confusion.
"What are your plans for the future?"
"I..." She blushed softly. "I don't... really know." She paused for a moment, lowering herself to rest her head on his chest. She smiled softly as she felt his calm and steady heartbeat. "I guess... I want to continue the Inn and... well..." She could feel her cheeks heating up again.
"Well?" His voice was teasing, as if he'd already figured out what she wanted to say.
That made her blush all the more.
"Well... I guess... Get married and maybe... one day... have kids of my own."
Reiko was silent for a long moment. So long, in fact, that Yukiko glanced up at him. He was smiling. Not smirking, not grinning... just... smiling. "That... sounds like a good, peaceful dream."
"What... about you, Reiko?" She didn't quite see how the conversation had gotten so derailed... But, rather than forcibly shifting it back on track, she decided to let it go whatever way it wanted.
"What do I want, huh?" He chuckled softly. "I don't get asked that much. But I suppose I can say...that my plans for the future are pretty much the same as yours."
Yukiko was blushing so much she thought she'd been stricken with fever. Even her ears were burning.
"But that's exactly why I'm focusing on the fight." Reiko's voice hardened with resolve as he spoke. "Right now, we're being hunted. If I want my dreams for the future... If I want my friends dreams for the future to come to pass... I -have- to focus on the fight."
Yukiko closed her eyes, letting herself hear Reiko's voice through one ear, and his heartbeat with another.
"Wether it's a murder case involving a world inside the TV, us being hunted by spirits of the vengeful dead, I'll fight. I'll fight because I've found something I want, more than anything else. I want to protect the future. Yours... mine... Chie's, Yosuke's, Naoto's, Rise's, Kanji's, Teddie's..." He paused for a moment and smirked. "Even Akihou's... though I think he'd say to leave his future to him."
Yukiko smiled softly. She'd been foolish. Just because things had been peaceful recently, didn't mean it would last. But, on the other side of the coin, just because things were going to get chaotic, didn't mean the chaos would last either.
Reiko was thinking of the future beyond their current problems, and that was why he was focusing his effort on what was right in front of him now. "Fight in the field... so you have a home to return to... huh?"
"That's right." Reiko snaked a hand around Yukiko's waist and smirked. "So you need to stop worrying about me."
"Never." She laid a hand on his chest and rose herself up, looking down into her eyes. "You want to fight for our future? That's fine. But I'm gonna fight for our future too. I'm sure Chie... and everyone else would say the same thing."
Reiko nodded. "I can accept that, I guess." In truth... he very much doubted he could finish this fight alone. Hell... he wouldn't even be alive today had he closed himself off from others. "But Yukiko... I have to ask you something..."
"Hmm?"
"Was that a backwards marriage proposal, what you said before?"
"Hah?" Her face went scarlet so fast, Reiko had to wonder if that wasn't the default color. "M-m-m-ma-ma-mar.."
"Marriage." Reiko smirked as he finished the sentence.
"N-n-n-n-n-n-no... No... No! You said... That was... I mean..."
Reiko laughed. It wasn't his 'I know what your thinking' laugh. It wasn't his 'I've outwitted you' laugh... it was just a general 'it's good to be alive' laugh. The sound shook Yukiko from her blush-induced stupor.
"So it wasn't a marriage proposal, huh? Darn..." He smirked up at her, cradling her cheek in one hand. He rose himself off the ground just enough to kiss her lips lightly. "Oh well... There's always 'the future.'"
But that would mean...
Yukiko's already heated mind suddenly started sizzling.
On this day, at this time, One Yukiko Amagi had just invented several previously undiscovered shades of red. She never had a chance to name them, however.
Why?
Because she promptly fainted.
"Whups... Guess I over did it." Reiko chuckled to himself. How was he supposed to get her back to Inaba now?
-o-o-o-o-o-
Darkness.
Faint, permanent, all consuming darkness.
A shadow stepped slowly through the inky blackness as if it weren't even there.
After all, this darkness was -his- domain.
How could he stumble when everything here was under his control?
The shadowy figure paused as a dull white light breached the darkness. Several 'lines' of light formed a strange shape. A complex symbol of curves and straight lines.
However, with a simple wave of his hand, the symbols of light faded.
And he proceeded forward.
It was a strange place. The shadowy figure found himself inside a cave tinted by a dull green florescence... a 'light' without a source. Or perhaps... the stones themselves were the source.
He proceeded ever inward, the sound of dripping water his only companion.
Soon, he found what he sought.
There, at the end of a long corridor, was the quarry that had brought him all this way.
However, Several hundreds of chains looped their way through this corridor.
It was almost as if they were placed with the express purpose to keep outsiders away.
However, what was meant to keep people out was, like-wise, meant to keep that which was inside... right where it was.
The shadow smiled.
He proceeded forward, his pace sure. It was almost as if he did not see the hundreds of chains criss-crossing the corridor.
But he could see them. Seeing them was not the same, however, as heeding them.
As he reached the first chain, it snapped loose with a loud metallic chink. The sudden release of the tension within the chain sent it flying, whipping through the air.
He proceeded forward.
Another chain ruptured just as he passed in front of it. It lashed out so close that it brushed by him, sending his wispy hair fluttering.
His slow forward pace never stopped. One chain, and then another, and another. Each binding was undone as he passed it.
There was no way they could not come undone for him.
They had been created -by- him... after all.
Soon enough, all the chains had been undone, and the shadow found himself standing in front of an altar.
A large stone casket, little more than a massive stone box were it not for the hundreds of thousands of intricate symbols carved into it, lay in front of him.
Like some mythological sword of kings, a gleaming silver blade was thrust into the stone lid of the casket.
The shadow couldn't help his smirk as he lifted an outstretched hand.
The sword thrust deep into the stone twitched. After a moment, it lifted itself into the air and raced toward the shadow.
The gleaming sword of kings had settled, hilt first, into the hands of the waiting shadow.
The sword, however, was not why he was here.
It was merely a means to an end.
In truth, the sword was little different than the chains he'd broken to get here.
Another seal.
No... his purpose... his quarry... was within the stone tomb. The symbols on the casket flashed for a moment before the massive stone cover literally blew off. With a heavy and resounding thud, the stone cover landed on the altar floor, beside the casket.
The shadow's smirk widened just a sliver.
"It's time to wake up... Eagle."
-o-o-o-o-o-
A/N: Wow... that chapter was SO much longer than I anticipated it to be!
I think it shows through in this chapter, but I've been on a bit of a mystery novel stint lately. For those that don't know the references, I'll explain them. Sherlock Holmes is one most should recognize. A fictional super detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Arsene Lupin is a fictional gentleman thief created by French author, Maurice Leblanc. Lupin enjoys a fame in France that's about equal to Holmes and has even been cast opposite him.
Kogoro Akechi is another fictional super detective, created by Japanese mystery author Edogawa Rampo. He's essentially a Japanese Sherlock Holmes and is as well known in Japan as Holmes is in the West. Akechi's nemesis is a gentleman thief known by the moniker Twenty-Faces (who was also created by Edogawa Rampo) There's actually an anime starring Twenty-Faces too... a good one, imo.
But man...It's friggin -HARD- to write mystery style stories. Definitely not my forte. That's probably why I like em!
Till Next Time R&R as ya like!
-KW