18

"Mademoiselle Fisher?"

"Oh! OhmyGod. You. Uh. Hello,"

"Bonsoir, might I ask, why are you here?"

"Work,"

He looked confused. "Work? As in..."

"Mhm,"

"Who are you with?"

"Uh—"

"Amber, what have I told you about wandering off?" The guy I was with—we'll call him Kobayashi—approached and placed his hand on my back. "Oh, Tsukiyama, I didn't think you'd be here,"

I went quiet then—barely speaking again. I smiled and nodded and spoke when spoken to—though the only people taking any notice of me was Kobayashi, Tsukiyama and Tsukiyama's father, who I met later on—when I was sitting alone.

"Good evening," He'd said. I immediately guessed he was related to Tsukiyama.

"Good evening," I smiled.

"You must be—" He started, but was interrupted by Shuu Tsukiyama, who came out of nowhere.

"Father, this is..." He paused. "This is...Well, apparently she likes changing her name but—"

"Charlotte. Charlotte Fisher," I nodded, trying to stop the awkwardness.

"Who I thought then," Said Tsukiyama's father, "It's a pleasure to meet you,"

"And you,"

"Shuu's told me a lot about you,"

"Oh! I'm sure he has," I smiled politely, shaking his hand.

I can't remember how, but we got talking about my studies. At first, he seemed like he was more interested in my historical and literary studies, but to my surprise, he became more interested in my scientific studies.

It was so refreshing to speak to someone about my favourite subjects. To my delight, he was most intrigued by my entomology in particular.

I think I might've gotten too excited. I basically forgot what I was there to do because I was so into this conversation we were having.

I don't get to talk about insects a lot. Not unless it's with a fellow student or professor. No one ever seems to care about insects. Whenever I try, I normally annoy people or they interrupt me.

So obviously I was super excited to talk freely about one of my greatest passions in life.

We discussed evolution, the moulting process and my current projects in great detail. And he didn't seem bored or annoyed once!

It was amazing. I think the whole thing ended by the time we'd finished our discussion.

Needless to say, a few people weren't pleased with that, and my feelings of excitement and joy were replaced with guilt and shame.

I apologised to everyone, especially Kobayashi, who was rightfully pissed off. I didn't make my usual money that night, obviously, but that was my fault for getting so carried away. He had an argument with me in his car, before shooing me out and driving off.

It was now pouring with rain, and I wasn't dressed for that. I let out a huff and changed into my trainers.

I went back into the bar, removing my smakeup and checking bus times. I'd missed them all, so I tried Pasha.

He wasn't answering his phone, so I prepared for a long walk in the rain.

"Oh, I'd thought you'd gone," Shuu Tsukiyama emerged from the toilets.

"No. How long of a walk is it to Nerima?"

He scoffed. "You'll be walking hours, Chérie, you probably wouldn't even make it,"

I paused. "I have not got another choice,"

He sighed. "Well, I suppose I can take you,"

"Oh, no,"

"I need to talk to you anyway. You can't just tell me something like that via message,"

I nodded and followed him to his car. Apparently his father was taking a separate car, which I didn't understand. I was curious as to how he'd gotten from Okinawa to Tokyo so fast—private transport, apparently.

I told him what I could about the murder, making sure to mention the potential cat hair found at the scene.

"Does that mean that I'm no longer a suspect?" He'd asked. I said I didn't know and he asked if I'd found anything new. I hadn't.

Then he began asking about Kobayashi; about why I was with him at a business conference. I didn't know, he'd invited me to accompany him after a blowjob in Shinjuku. I didn't ask questions when I got jobs. I just focused on not fucking up.

When he dropped me off, Pasha wasn't back, which was fine. I went to my room, worked out a bit, then studied and got a grand total of two hours sleep.

Over the next few days, I tried and tried to investigate more of the murder cases, but it was like Himari knew what I was trying to do. She gave me more and more useless jobs to do, whilst Lydia gave me most of her paperwork.

It was on my day off that something happened.

I was outside, sitting in the sunlight for once, whilst studying and reading American Psycho. I placed my boots on the arm of the chair, occasionally throwing my feet into the air.

"Bonjour," Said a voice suddenly. I looked up and saw Shuu Tsukiyama out on a run. He stopped and approached.

"Good morning,"

"What an odd position to be reading in,"

I shrugged.

"It's almost photogenic, really,"

"Photogenic?"

"Yes. Let me," He took out his phone, I went to object but he held up a hand and for some reason, I shut up.

"Now stay still," He paused. "Raise your head a bit—That's it, no, don't look at me, look left. Raise your chin again. Parfait," He took the picture and tapped on his phone. He showed me. "It's hardly a masterpiece,"

"It's alright," I said.

"Maybe I'll post it,"

I shot up to protest, but realised he was joking. He looked up at the door. I followed his gaze, seeing Pasha coming out holding a tiny box.

"What's that?" I asked.

"What's he doing here?"

"Well, I was just out on a run and I happened to stop by,"

"Hm. Okay. This was on the doorstep. It's addressed to me but I don't recognise the handwriting,"

"Uhm, Pasha,"

"What?"

"It's wet,"

"Huh?"

"The box...it's wet. It's got a big stain on it...And it, uh, smells like...like a dead animal,"

He nodded. "I know. What do you think it is?"

"Why don't you just open it?" Shuu Tsukiyama asked.

"This isn't any of your business,"

"It's not mine either. It's your package," I laughed. "Sorry. I could have phrased that better,"

"Yeah..." He moved the lid slightly. The stench was overpowering. I'd been around lots of dead animals, but that, that, was the smell of a corpse that'd been left to swell and sweat for a long time.

"That's definitely something dead," I coughed.

Pasha looked like he'd throw up. I offered to do it, but he refused and opened it, immediately dropping it on the floor. "Jesus fucking—" He said.

Whatever it was, it rolled out of the box.

I heard Shuu Tsukiyama gasp. "That's...It is, isn't it?"

I nodded. "The poor thing..."

"That's fucked up. What the fuck?"

I paused. "At least we found its head,"