A/N
Hello to those who have come across this story, and taken the time to read this far. I thank you for taking your time and I want to apologize for taking such a long time in posting this chapter. I was moving and dealing with all the things that come with moving. Anyway, I hope that you guys can bear with me, and the way I want to take this story. I hope to update at least once a week, but if I don't I am truly sorry.
Satoshi awoke in the early hours of the morning to the sound of his phone ringing. His immediate thought was of Rukia since she was scheduled to leave the hospital later that morning and he was supposed to escort her to Asami's place, she's already calling; how impatient he thought. Perhaps she had seen the statement that the police had made to the press about the case. It had been a surprise to him as well when his captain called him last night as he was leaving the hospital and told him to head back to the station. Once there, the team managed to convince the reporters that the victim whom they had been trying to identify as the survivor was in fact part of a different case and the rumor that she was a survivor of the killer who they were after was just a rumor. Most of the reporters accepted it and some even criticized the police for making assumptions and jumping to conclusions about a survivor if she didn't fit the description of the actual victims.
He didn't care about them though, he knew that Rukia was a victim of the person they were after but if it kept her under the radar then he would take the criticism. He reached for his phone, which he had placed on his bedside table and answered expecting to hear Rukia's voice but was surprised to hear his captain instead.
"Get up, you need to head over to the address I sent you" as he spoke, Satoshi noticed the hint of anxiety in his captains' voice. "Another body was found, Sakai is already on his way" and with that, his captain hung up.
He lay in bed for a few seconds more, processing the information that his captain had given him. Son of a Bitch! He thought angrily. He got out of bed, got dressed, and walked out of his apartment, picking up his keys from the hook on the wall on his way out the front door. He checked the message his captain had sent containing the address once he had gotten in his car. It was still early, the sun had not even risen yet when he arrived at the scene, which unsurprisingly was at the edge of the Sumida River, where his partner was already inspecting it. He joined Sakai, where he noticed that several things were already different from the other crime scenes. The forensic unit was still in the middle of their procedures and still had not moved the body so he was able to see that there were welts on her wrists where it seemed they had been tied. That's new, he thought. The bruising around her neck also seemed to be darker, almost as if more strength had been applied.
"'morning" greeted Imai, to which Sakai only nodded in response.
"Did you find any prints?" he asked Sakai
"So far, only the ones that belonged to the victim" answered Sakai
"Has she been identified?" asked Imai. This was something else that had frustrated them about this case because the killer, it seemed, was not interested in any of the victims' belongings. He had left everything that the victims were carrying by their bodies so the detectives hadn't had a difficult time in identifying them, except of course Rukias' belongings, which they couldn't find anywhere.
"Yes, she seems to work in one of the train stations near the University of Tokyo" said Sakai, handing Imai a Ueno station tag with the picture and name of the victim. "I called the police station near her work to see if anyone had reported her missing, and it turns out one of her co workers did report her missing yesterday when she didn't show up for work." Sakai continued, "I called her in to give her statement, but since it's still early I ended up leaving a message " he paused, "I will call her later anyway but there's something else…" Sakai walked toward the back of the car where the trunk was open and Imai followed. "The victims' hair was found in the trunk, which means he is changing his methods." Sakai finished telling Imai.
He had been thinking about what they had found so far and what could have triggered this change when Imai had arrived on the scene. Not only had the killer put her in the trunk, he had tied her hands, something they had not come across before now and he couldn't help thinking that it was because of Rukia. They walked around the car looking for more evidence while the medical examiner finished with what she could with the body at the scene before moving it to the lab.
"I've done all I can here, but I just wanted to answer what you asked me about her hands earlier" the medical examiner, Haya Kinoshita, said to the detectives "It seems her hands were tied but I can't say anything else about her condition until I do a proper autopsy back at the lab. I should have the results for you before the end of the day" she finished. The detectives acknowledged her, said thank you and she walked away while they began walking back to their cars.
"Are you going to the station?" asked detective Sakai
"Yea" responded Imai
"Don't you have to go to the hospital?"
Imai looked at his watch "it's too early, I still have a couple of hours before they call and I want to look thru the information we have again" he answered "I'll see you at the station" and with that they both got in their cars and left the scene.
Once they were back at the station they added the new information and tried to make sense of it. They both came to the conclusion that the killer was evolving and closing holes in his strategy.
We are missing something thought Imai. It wasn't the first time this thought had crossed his mind either, and he had also voiced it to his partner, who happened to agree with him. They just couldn't figure out what it was. They had decided to expand their search area so Sakai had begun to search around the surrounding precincts for any victims they might have missed or that fit the facts of the case as much as possible but so far nothing had been found.
Imai waited as long as he could for the coworker of the latest victim but had to leave before she showed up, leaving the task to his partner. He felt a little guilty but he trusted Sakai even though he was a little cold and demanding when talking to witnesses but he was thorough. He walked out of the station, got in his car and began his short drive to the hospital.
The sun had risen and its rays were shining on her face when she opened her eyes. She had been dreaming, or maybe it was a nightmare, she wasn't sure but she noticed the beads of sweat on her forehead. The dream was beginning to slip from her mind, and the harder she tried to remember it the faster it seemed to go but one thing was certain, she had been running down some unknown yet familiar street. She quickly got up and washed her face before Asami came in, otherwise she would be worried for her and also start fussing. Was I there? She thought as she wiped the water off her face. She looked in the mirror and noticed that she had developed small bags under her eyes. She had a difficult time falling asleep last night with too many thoughts running thru her mind. She was still trying to figure out what that flash had been when she had cut the cake, but couldn't seem to remember who it had been. All she did know was that just like the dream of her running thru the unknown street, the familiarity of the person had been the same.
She also was nervous about leaving today, but was happy to at least be going with someone who she was comfortable with and trusted. Not to mention that the police still had not caught whoever had attacked her, so that made her feel a bit anxious as well. Of course, it had helped that the police had made a statement last night and had managed to get the reporters to leave her alone, and in her thoughts she also figured that if the killer was after her still, then that would throw him off as well. All in all, she was honestly surprised that she had been able to sleep. She quickly got dressed into the nurse outfit that Asami had left her, since that is what they had agreed on anyway and placed all her things into the backpack she had been given and waited for detective Imai to arrive and the doctor to discharge her so she could leave. While she waited she decided to draw the dream she had as best as she could remember and whatever it had been that popped into her head last night. As she was placing her things back into her bag, Doctor Astushi, Asami, and Satoshi walked in.
"I see you are ready to go" it was the doctor who spoke first. He noticed that she had changed into the nurse scrubs despite the fact that she probably didn't need to anymore. "Why are you wearing those? Im sure that you can wear regular clothes now" he told her as he looked thru her discharge information.
"No, its better if she does wear them" Satoshi said. He knew that it would be safer if she did, he was sure that there were at least a few people who hadn't accepted the explanation of the survivor.
Rukia for her part, wanted to wear them as well. It helped calm her and the anxiety she was beginning to feel once again. She had wanted to leave, and now that she was leaving it seemed she was becoming apprehensive of her situation. There still had been no news of where she had come from and no one that claimed to know her.
It seemed Asami sensed her uneasiness because she approached her and held her hand in reassurance. "Don't worry Rukia, you won't be alone. I am here if you need to talk, and I'm sure Doctor Atsushi will help if you need help." She said with the smile she always had for Rukia.
"We will be here too" spoke Satoshi from beside the door where he had been since he walked into the room. "My team will be taking turns guarding you until we catch the culprit, so you don't have to worry. We managed to find a vacant unit in the same building where you will be staying." He turned to Asami "Thank you by the way, I don't think we would have been able to convince the landlords if you hadn't helped" he said to her.
"No problem" she responded "my parents actually know the owners of the building so they were able to help. We didn't mention who would be using it or for what just that the people were trustworthy so they didn't need to worry about damages or anything like that" she finished explaining.
"Well it seems that you are set to go" spoke the Doctor "you will need to come back in a couple of weeks so that we can check on your progress, and I will set up an appointment with the neurology department so they can keep running tests" He handed the discharge papers to Asami, and then looked at Rukia again. "I hope that we can visit each other once in a while" he said to her.
"That would be nice", she answered "it should be easy to do since I'll be staying with Asami. Thank you for all your help" she finished, smiling.
"Please take care of yourself" he told her before turning to the detective "please make sure your team protects her well, and catches the person who did this" he told him before bidding them all goodbye and leaving to check on his other patients.
"Well we should go" Asami spoke to them. They followed her out of the room and made their way down to the first floor.
"There shouldn't be a problem leaving the hospital" spoke Satoshi "I didn't see any reporters when I came in"
"That's good" Rukia replied, she had been a little worried about that as well. She was finally leaving the hospital, and although she knew that there had been no word on her relatives, she would be able to search herself and maybe come across something that would trigger her memory. Rukia and Asami waited by the entrance while Satoshi went to get his car so Asami took the time to talk to Rukia about her new home.
"We need to go buy some stuff for you after we get to my place" she told Rukia "I didn't get a chance to buy anything in the last few days, and I have no groceries at home" she finished.
Rukia, who had not thought about it merely nodded, and said "ok, what should we do first?"
"I think we should go grocery shopping and then go get some personal things for your room and more clothes for you as well." Asami told her. Rukia was a little hesitant, but agreed none the less. They both climbed into Satoshi's car when he pulled up, and left.
They arrived at Asami's building in about ten minutes, and parked in the garage before making their way up to the top floor. They had not really spoken since they had left the hospital, but Rukia had been busy seeing the surrounding area to try to keep up with a conversation anyway. They stepped out of the elevator, where Rukia noticed that there were only six doors on this floor. Asami led them out of the elevator and towards the right where there were two doors facing each other and a floor-to-ceiling window with a view of the Sumida River and Tokyo Sky tree in the distance. Asami opened the door that was on the right, and led Rukia and Satoshi thru it. As they walked in Rukia was shocked to see that Asami lived in a huge apartment, beautifully decorated in white and soft blues. Why was she sleeping on the couch in the hospital?! Thought Rukia
"Wow" she said softly to herself in amazement.
Asami led her past the living room, which Rukia noticed had another set of floor-to-ceiling windows leading to a balcony, and down a hallway which she assumed were to the private rooms.
"The restroom is this door on the right" Asami explained, pointing to a door on the right, then walked a couple of steps more and opened a door almost across from the restroom. There was a huge bed in the middle, a dresser towards the left, a desk with a chair right in front of the bed, and a chair with a small coffee table facing the window which also had the view of the Tokyo Sky Tree in the distance.
"This will be your room" Asami told Rukia "It was supposed to be a guest room, according to my parents, but I don't usually have company over. Now it's yours , so you can decorate it however you want." She said smiling.
"Thank you" Rukia responded, she didn't really have any words for how she was feeling at the moment. She was grateful to Asami for everything, but didn't really know how to express it to her. Asami for her part didn't need to hear anything else, she was just pleased that she was able to help in any way she could.
"Are you guys done?" asked Satoshi from the living room. "We need to head out" he continued "I should go buy some stuff for my new place and I also need to buy some groceries since I am going to be sharing the place with the rest of my team for the time being."
Rukia put her things on the bed, and followed Asami back to the living room. They left the apartment, and walked to the door that was right across the way.
"This is where your team will be staying?" asked a surprised Rukia to Satoshi
"yes, it makes it easier to protect you guys" he told her, to which she nodded in understanding. Satoshi had been curious about how his team would cope in the new place since he didn't know how big it was going to be, but after seeing Asami and Rukia's place he stopped worrying about it. Asami handed him the keys, and they walked thru the door.
This space seemed to have the same features as Asamis' and it was furnished, but in a more generic way.
"The owners provided the furnishings, so I'm sorry if its not to your liking" Asami said to Satoshi
"Its fine" he answered "we aren't picky, just grateful that they were willing to let us use this space." He told her. He quickly checked the apartment and took note of what he needed to buy since he would be staying there that same night. As soon as he was done, they made their way out and back down to the parking lot. The Asakusa district had a lot of shops and the building was close to a lot of them, but they still needed the vehicle to make it easier to carry everything they were going to get. They went to the department store that was just a couple of blocks down the street and got their essentials and groceries, and made it back to their respective apartments.
Asami left for her shift at the hospital, but assured Rukia she would be back before dinner. Rukia for her part, decided to leave her room the way it had been set up since she liked it that way. Once alone, she began thinking about her whole situation once again. She hoped she would regain her memory once she was out in the world again, and hoped that she could find where she belonged.
Satoshi had left the station a while ago, and had even sent him a message asking if he needed anything from the market since that's where he would be. Sakai was still waiting for the coworker of the latest victim to arrive, when the phone began to ring.
"Hello?" he answered. "What?" he said in disbelief. He couldn't believe that the search they had done in the surrounding precincts had turned up something. They had not come across it simply because it was in Arakawa city, just north of where they were, and while the case was unsolved, the detectives there had not been able to find any leads and so it had remained that way for a couple of months. Maybe this is what they had been missing, and hopefully they would be able to put an end to this case once and for all.