Demon Sword
A Yuyu Hakusho/Rurouni Kenshin Crossover Fan Fiction by Chester Castañeda
Original Concept by Chad Yang
I suspect this chapter happened because I've been watching too much Detective Conan.
Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV, and St. Pierrot. Rurouni Kenshin is the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki and Sony. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted material that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.
Chapter 23: Smile Bomb (Part 5)
One week after the attack at Genkai's temple, at a park near the Minamino/Hatenaka Residence...
"Who is this Kanji Killer? What does he have to do with the Spirit World or even the Chojin?" Kurama asked after Botan handed him material from Koenma's desk concerning his new mission. "You do realize that this is kind of an unusual mission even by Reikai standards, right?"
"Actually, the Kanji Killer has been on the news lately. He's a serial killer whose modus operandi is to carve his victim's corpses with kanji characters, hence his name," Botan informed as she further rifled through her incredibly deep sleeves for newspaper clippings and a folder containing further data that the Spirit World had on the criminal.
"The Kanji Killer is on the news, huh? Since I've been scouting Chojin activity back in Makai for so long, I haven't been keeping myself updated with Ningenkai affairs," Kurama admitted as he kept his burning curiosity in check. To be honest, he still had many unanswered questions he would like to be resolved or at least acknowledged.
"The Kanji Killer has been most active during the time before you, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei even became Reikai Tantei. Around 1988, to be exact." Botan rifled through the beige folder she had on hand before handing it to Kurama. "On this page is the first confirmed crime that the Kanji Killer committed."
"December 22, 1988. Taito Ward. I suppose had the Kanji Killer struck a little later, he would've been called the Christmastime Killer instead," came Kurama's sardonic observation.
Laughing uneasily at Kurama's morbidness, Botan continued. "It was only recently that the Human World police was able to put two and two together in regards to the killings because there wasn't anything else that connected the victims together save for the killer's modus operandi. Also, there have been a couple of copycat murders that muddled the waters, so to speak."
Kurama scratched his chin and nodded. "I'm confused. If he's been working since 1988, why are we only targeting him now?"
Kenshin cleared his throat to get the attention of his two companions. "After our bond was severed and you blacked out earlier on, Koenma dismissed the Bouetai and talked to Botan and I concerning the Kanji Killer's background. He specifically wanted to include me in the case because he wanted to confirm his hunch regarding the serial killer's M.O."
Kurama raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Okay, so what's the killer's M.O. and how exactly did Koenma figure out that this particular serial killer out of many was connected to the Reikai or the Chojin?"
"First, the Kanji Killer got his name because of the fact that he mutilates his victims using the strokes used to create the characters for the numbers one, eight, and ten." Kenshin's revelation made Botan's eyes dilate in response, although it wasn't Botan who recognized the telltale sword technique.
"The media incorrectly reported that the kanji calling card created by the Kanji Killer was the 'Hon' character. The police believe it to be the amalgamation of the 'Ichi' 'Hachi', and 'Ju' characters, which is what they used to weed out the copycat crimes from the true ones. Among law enforcement circles, he is known as the One-Eight-Ten Killer."
Kenshin too a deep breath as his mind's eye visualized the maniacal laughter and animalistic eyes of a former hitokiri and Shinsengumi member. "Truth be told, the police are only half-right. The amalgamated numbers instead form the character 'Hei', which is the symbol of the Nikaido Heiho Ryu. I know who the Kanji Killer is; his M.O. fits the techniques of a past opponent of mine from a century ago known as Udo Jine, the Black Hat Assassin."
Kurama did a small nod. "It's logical to presume that the Chojin revived this ghost from your past with his jaki the same way he did with the Shisejyu and Rando. Still, I have to wonder how Koenma chanced upon this information."
"Koenma picked up on this while researching about Kenshin's past for further clues in regards to the Demon Sword's connections with the Chojin," Botan further supplied, which made Kurama flinch.
"So Koenma suspects that the Chojin's identity is linked to your past. Also, you probably suspect the same thing," Kurama all but accused Kenshin.
The spirit guardian chortled. "Pretty much, although I don't believe that Koenma-dono would ever admit that to us, me especially. He has become more secretive than before, from what Botan tells me. Is he acting weirdly by your estimations, Kurama-dono?"
The crimson-haired teenager slumped his shoulders in acceptance. "Not enough to earn my distrust. If he can trust me enough to take care of the Demon Sword without becoming a menace to the Human World, then I should give him the benefit of the doubt."
Botan tapped her finger lightly on her chin as tried to remember the rest of Koenma's commands before sending them off to this newest mission. In the meantime, Kurama rifled through the hefty folder of confirmed and suspected cases linked to the Kanji Killer. "So there are only four confirmed cases, huh? The rest of these are suspected cases, copycat cases, and anything else that can be linked to him, correct?"
"Yeah. He's now in the news because he's linked to a recent case concerning a rape of some sort." Botan saw the case being covered in the news on TV while she and Kenshin waited for Kurama to wake up from his dead faint. "It's probably a copycat case though, since the murderer carved a 'Hon' instead of a 'Hei' on his victim."
Kurama smirked as something occurred to him. "Is there no chance for us to use your Spirit World connections in order to defy the age-old truism of 'Dead men tell no tales', Botan? The victim is the kind of witnesses that the Ningenkai police can never get a warrant for, methinks."
"Now that's thinking out of the box, Kurama!" Botan commended, yet shook her head in the end. "Sadly, that's not possible. Hitodama aren't the chattiest spirits around, the paperwork to track down souls is hard to sift through, and we're not even sure if the Kanji Killer's victims are able to pass on to the afterlife. They could either be destroyed or earthbound."
"That's a shame. This would've been an open and shut case if we can get a ghost to point us to the right direction." Kurama turned towards Kenshin and showed him the files. "You're the closest 'dead man' we have available. Also, you're the best judge of character for this Jine person. What do you think?"
Kenshin took a good look at the four sole cases that were confirmed by investigators to be conclusively linked to the Kanji Killer. The file contained the following information:
Back in December 22, 1988, seventeen-year-old Junpei Saigo and sixteen-year-old Mitsuki Takiguchi were chopped up and killed within the city limits of Taito in the Asakusa District.
Then, a few months later on July 5, 1989, the Kanji Killer attacked a couple... twenty-year-old Daiji Matsudaira and nineteen-year-old Itsumi Matsudaira... at Taito once again, this time within the Ueno District. Even though the man, Daiji, survived, the woman, Itsumi, was pronounced dead-on-arrival at a nearby hospital.
Yuji Nishihara, nineteen, and Kumiko Sakuma, twenty-two, were chopped up and given the "Hei" markings by the Kanji Killer (which had become his trademark by then) on September 27, 1989 beside the Ara River at Adachi. Nishihara died after six stab wounds to the back, while Sakuma died later on in a hospital as a result of her injuries on September 30, 1989.
The last confirmed attack was on October 11, 1989. The twenty-nine-year-old Nobuetsu Horisawa was mutilated and killed at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya. From there, the next multitude of pages contained suspected Kanji Killer cases as well as confirmed copycat cases using the serial killer's M.O., including one that happened as way back as 1983. The aforementioned pending rape case was also covered.
Kenshin handed back the file to Kurama. "This disturbs me. The Jine I knew would never bother killing civilians unless they're collateral damage to his assassination missions. Also, because he's a master swordsman, taking on one or two people at a time would mean instant death. Having teenaged survivors or even people who made it to the hospital before dying is not up to par with his standards as a hitokiri. Aside from the modus operandi of carving up the 'Hei' symbol, he's acting quite unlike himself."
"One other question I want answered is, 'What exactly will this Kanji Killer get out of murdering innocents?' I have only glanced at this file so far, but the thing that bothers me about this case is that there's no underlying motive behind any of the killings. There's no connection between the murdered victims aside from their youthfulness and the fact that they're all residing in Tokyo."
"Then again, Seiryu showed only last week how powerful any of the Chojin's minions can become when using a victim's suffering to their advantage," Botan pointed out, still hoping against hope that Keiko could somehow recover from her jaki-induced coma the same way Yusuke did when he unexpectedly died the first time.
With a shrug and a tight-lipped expression, Kenshin gave in to Botan's persuasive argument. "In fairness, a lot can change in a hundred years. Jine committed suicide after I defeated him, and even before I met him, he was always crazier than a Betsy Bug because of his bloodlust. Perhaps when he was first revived, he was still weak and quite sloppy with his swordsmanship after years of being an onryo or some other disturbed soul. I can only assume."
"That's what I'm afraid of. There are too many possibilities. The only real lead we have is the fact that someone is using Nikaido Heibu strikes and markings on all these helpless victims. The worst-case scenario for us is that our clues will lead us to a dead end and we're hunting for a serial killer that doesn't have anything to do with the Overfiend at all."
Kenshin's body began flickering in and out of existence as though it were a light bulb that was ready to burn out. "Kenshin, are you all right? You're... transparent! What's going on with you?" Kaoru exclaimed before Botan even realized what was happening; her voice was so choked up with emotion that even Kurama noticed the change in pitch.
The kendo girl initially decided to stay clear from all this Spirit World business, but she changed her mind at the last minute after seeing Kenshin's alarming state.
Kenshin grabbed the back of his head, scratching it as he chuckled off Kaoru's worries. "I guess the power up that I got from Kurama back in Reikai has already run out of juice. If you don't mind, I'll be back inside the Demon Sword. See you all around." Without further adieu, the ginger-haired ghost disappeared from view altogether, his blade plopping onto the grass below.
Kurama made a move to pick up the dormant sword, but stopped himself short after remembering his blackout and his attempted murder of the Prince of the Dead. He turned towards a fist-clenching "Botan"... who had probably shifted into her "Kaoru" persona once more... and requested, "It's best that you hold on to the Demon Sword for the time being," and said nothing more. Kaoru kept her eyes on Kurama even as she picked up the Reikai artifact and slipped it into the folds of Botan's kimono.
Botan pushed back the protective Kaoru's consciousness into the depths of her own subconscious, idly musing how she now had "two" voices in her head... Kenshin and Kaoru... and if Kurama still thought of her as a crazy person because of all this Kaoru Kamiya nonsense.
Kurama pursed his lips; even for him, the information overload was still too much to handle in one sitting. He already had a few suspicions, theories, and speculations regarding the case, but he would need time to cogitate on it in order to fully sort everything out.
"We'll have to continue this meeting at a later date. I'll be taking this folder with me in order to study it more thoroughly over the weekend. If you have any other information you'd like to share, just keep me posted. But for now, the best I could do is look this over and see if my suspicions are correct." Kurama stood up and bowed at the lone ferry-girl three times in order to acknowledge both her and her two other unseen companions.
"Okay. Here's a Spirit World communicator. If you make any breakthroughs on the case, contact me directly. You will have to do so within the next two weeks though, because I... well, we have a scheduled meeting with Koenma Daio concerning last week's mission," Botan replied in kind.
Two weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, inside the Shinjuku Police Station during the afternoon...
The seventeen-year-old Ippei Shimamura patted the back of his (literally) brother from another mother and winked, which was his signal for the quintuplets to back off and let him handle Hikaru's tirade.
"Besides, dad is sort of correct when he says I'm being a leech. I'm not even sure I want to be some sort of stiff businessman in a monkey suit. I'm not that kind of guy. Legitimate... Illegitimate... Who really cares? Let the son who can run the company superbly take over. I couldn't care less."
"Thank you for saving me from your mother's wrath, but please don't call my mother a social climber," Katsuhiko insisted as he alone of the quintuplets stood up against the imposing Ippei. "Unlike you and despite my experiences, I don't consider every last female a gold digger or a social climber. My mother isn't anything like... A-Aya-san."
Ippei's grin widened to the point of parody, his teeth and eyes shining with their glare of inordinate whiteness. He moved towards Katsuhiko's ear and murmured, "Sure, I guess not all women are money-grubbing bitches, but it is correct to say that some of them are. My mother is one, though don't tell her that I told you that. She married Dad in order to get richer than ever before. Aya-chan is another."
Ippei and Katsuhiko were both referring to Katsuhiko's ex-girlfriend and would-have-been bride-to-be, Aya Tachikawa. "I remember Mom daring you to tell Aya-chan that you were disowned by Dad because you're a bastard child so you won't have any money left to you once you graduate. She said that Aya-chan was just like your mother: a gold digger. What did Aya-chan do as soon as you told her? She left you for some other rich kid. You've always been a bad judge of character. Perhaps your own bias for your mother is blinding you from her very real flaws."
"What's your point, then?" Katsuhiko snapped, his face scrunched up and his body coiled tightly like a constricted bed spring. "I made my mistake with Aya-san. Her shortcomings and betrayal has nothing to do with my mother, though. I can freely admit that her having an affair with Father was wrong, but don't ever call her a gold digger in my face."
Ippei stepped back and raised his hands in mock defeat. "Easy, bro. I'm on your side. Like Houjo said, I don't think you're the one responsible for the death of that gold digger. You're too straight-laced to do it. None of you quintuplets are guilty, in fact. You've been framed, maybe it was the ex-boyfriend who really did it. Besides, you're the exact opposite of that virgin, Ennosuke, and Houjo, who's just a wannabe of yours truly. I have your back, bro."
"Hey, fuck you, Ippei-san! I'm no wannabe! I actually have a girlfriend, unlike niichan here!" the third child of the Shimamuras and the second quintuplet, Houjo, joked as he punched Katsuhiko's arm and bumped fists with Ippei. Katsuhiko sighed and smiled at his brothers' antics in spite of himself.
"Yeah, but have you gone past second base with her? No? I didn't think so. Like Katsuhiko, you still have mommy's breast milk on your lips, dude!" Ippei needled in between protests of, "Yuck, that's gross, man!" and promises of "We'll get you out of here as soon as we can, niichan! We won't let that gold digger get the best of us!"
Ippei followed up his comment with the half-kidding demand of, "HEY! You never called me big brother before! Bastard brothers or no, we're still blood relatives and I'm older than you! Give me some respect!"
Meanwhile, thirteen-year-old Bunjiro, fourteen-year-old Goemon, and fifteen-year-old Fumio... the three youngest Shimamura kids who were also Kunihiko's sons with Hikaru... were poking their heads at the half-open door in order to check out what the commotion was all about.
"Hey, you little brats! You shouldn't be here! The adults are talking," the leather-jacket-wearing Ippei playfully reproved the rest of his siblings, which resulted in Fumio rejoining, "We're not that clueless about the case and we've already testified for the police, you jerk!"
"Look, I'm not playing favorites with any of our sons. This isn't the time or place for us to air our dirty laundry. We'll always be there for Katsuhiko or any of our sons who are in trouble," Kunihiko said as he attempted to console the sobbing and blubbering Hikaru to no avail. She swatted every last effort her husband made to put his arms around her, for one thing.
"Okay, everybody! Yes, even you three kids. Come inside," the smarmy Officer Uye announced while clapping his hands and ushering Fumio, Goemon, and Bunjiro inside the room. "As you know, we've interviewed each and every one of you brothers about the incident separately. By now, you've all become aware of each other's testimonies. Have any of you changed your minds? Have any of you decided to confess the truth in the face of all your contradicting testimonies?" His questions and requests were met with silence.
Even as both Inspector Taniguchi and Detective Tsunemoto stared unimpressed at Uye's lackadaisical stab at solving the "mystery" behind the Shimamura brothers' contradictory statements (while the sickly Officer Hamada took a smoking break from outside the interrogation room despite his respiratory difficulties) the good officer remained undeterred.
Officer Uye reviewed the photocopies of the brothers' testimonies. "How about you, Ennosuke-kun? One of the quintuplets, Akahito-kun, says that you're the one who did it. Do you agree with your own brother's accusation?"
Without missing a beat, the youngest quintuplet shrugged and said, "Yeah, sure. Why not? Who knows?"
Uye was just about to tear his thinning hair out before he cooled himself down and decided to wipe his face from forehead to chin in exasperation instead.
"Listen, boy. You need to take this seriously. Perjury is a crime punishable by law. I don't care what your father's team of lawyers told you about Family Law and juvenile delinquents, lying during interrogations is a crime. Tell us the truth. Now."
"I am serious. I'm not taking back my previous testimony either. I told you that Bunjiro isn't telling the truth, and I was right. He told you it wasn't me, but it must've been me because he's a liar."
"You didn't even know what Bunjiro-kun was going to say when you were interrogated! How the hell did you know he was going to lie? Are you saying that you're an accomplice to a murder of a rape victim? Are you really admitting yourself to be a rapist? What do you mean by that? What's your motive? Tell me!"
Unfazed, Ennosuke maintained, "Calling Bunjiro an insufferable liar is the only thing I testified to. That's all I know. If you think it was me, feel free to prove it. Maybe I'm wrong and Bunjiro is telling the truth. Like I said, that's all I know. I'm speaking from experience."
Groaning, Officer Uye turned towards Bunjiro and asked, "Your brother, Ennosuke-kun, testified that you're a liar. Why is that?"
The youngest of the Shimamura brothers thought for a minute or two before confessing, "That's because I've lied before. Who hasn't?"
Shigetaka licked his lips and bit them as he formed a steeple with his fingers in seeming prayer to the gods.
"Okay, that's nice to know. How are we supposed to tell that you aren't lying now? Even though Katsuhiko-kun is our prime suspect because of his outright confession, your testimony for Ennosuke-kun's innocence also makes him a viable suspect, ironically enough. You confirmed that he has been pining for 'Kishi-neechan' for quite a while, taking photographs of her and basically stalking her. So which story should we believe then?"
"I'm not lying, but I don't know the whole story either. You'll have to take my word for it. Ennosuke-niichan loves Kishi-neechan, and he doesn't look like the type who'll make Kishi-neechan cry. He certainly won't kill her, that's for sure," Bunjiro said in all earnestness, which made Shigetaka throw up his hands and stand in the corner in sheer aggravation.
"I'll take it from here, Uye-kun," Aiko crowed with a sultry, perhaps even mocking, moan as she sashayed towards the actual suspects that hadn't been interviewed... namely, the remaining brothers.
"Hello, Akahito-kun. You share the same face as four of your brothers, yet you've still managed to remain the most unique one of you five," the detective purred as she tilted her body towards the reticent quintuplet. "Have you something to confess?"
"Madam, flattery will get you nowhere. However, it's delightful to see the police attempting the age-old 'good cop, bad cop' routine and end up failing badly at both, though. Very amusing, to say the least," the nerdy yet sharp-tongued bespectacled youth surmised without bothering to look up from the tabloid he was reading. "For good or for ill, I deeply apologize for my father's mudslinging of Kishida-shi. That was certainly uncalled for."
Detective Aiko preened herself as she craned her neck over her loquacious interviewee. "What makes you think that Ennosuke-kun is guilty, though? He certainly doesn't look bothered or 'in-love' with Kishida-shi as both you and Bunjiro-kun claims. If anything, it looks like he's lying for the sake of protecting his family. Is my deduction incorrect?"
This time around, Akahito put down the newspaper and regarded Detective Tsunemoto in a new light.
"That's very perceptive of you, detective. Yes, it's quite obvious that Ennosuke-kun is not taking this interrogation seriously. Nevertheless, according to the Kubler-Ross Model or the five stages of grief, he's currently in the denial stage. He still doesn't realize the full gravity of his situation as a psychotic stalker, which is why you're getting nonsense from him like claiming that his brother is lying even though he doesn't know what his brother said at the time."
"Huh. That's a feasible rationalization, but between you and me, Ennosuke-kun should've been in denial after the rape, not after the murder. Or, if he wasn't in denial with the rape, then he shouldn't have been in denial or even angry with the murder either because the length between rape and murder suggests premeditation. His background suggests he's a stalker without any actual contact with Kishida-shi."
"That's assuming that Ennosuke-kun viewed the 'rape' of Kishida-shi as rape from the get go. It could've ended up as a crime of passion after he found out that she was out to either ruin his reputation or force him to take responsibility for the rape. Then again, this is all conjecture and speculation on my part," Akahito articulated in such a way that made even the skeptical Tsunemoto to start considering Ennosuke as a viable suspect.
"How about you, Doi-kun? You say that either Katsuhiko-kun or Houjo-kun are suspects. Do you have any proof behind your testimony or are you merely speculating like Akahito-kun?" the detective questioned as she rubbed her temples; her interrogation had her end up with more instead of fewer suspects to consider, to her vexation.
"I said it before, and I'll say it again. I'm not sure. I'm not pointing any fingers at Ennosuke-kun because I know nothing about his crush on Kishida-san." Doi laughed nervously.
"I think it could've been Houjo-kun because he is used to having lots of women fawn all over him, while Kishida-san has a reputation for being easy. With that said, because of Kishida-san's questionable character, I highly doubt that rape really did occur between them. As for niisan, if he were blackmailed to marry the girl with the threat of being exposed to the world as a rapist, then... well, who knows? It's the police's job to prove what actually happened anyway, right? Mind you, I'm not specifically accusing anybody of anything. I'm merely telling you what I know."
Both Tsunemoto and Uye stared back helplessly at the inspector, which elicited a grunt of discontent from the thick-bodied fifty-two year old. Inspector Masaya's interview yielded practically the same results; the fifteen-year-old Fumio supposing that it was Katsuhiko who did it, the fourteen-year-old Goemon insisting that it wasn't Katsuhiko who did it, and the both of them only guessing from what little they knew of what happened.
Meanwhile, it was at that exact moment that the sunglasses-donning Officer Hamada entered the stuffy interrogation room. "So basically we're back to square one. We've neither proven nor discovered anything new with this one last group interrogation," the inspector summed up with an anguished scrunching of his wizened face. "Well, if that's the case, then..."
"Did you really kill my sister? Did you rape her as well?" Katsumi blurted out in one breath as she confronted the bewildered Katsuhiko Shimamura. The eldest quintuplet stared at her expectant face before he averted his gaze and kept his tears from leaking out of his eyes.
"My statement remains the same as before. It wasn't rape; it was consensual. Yes, I killed your sister. I'm sorry to say, but she's a gold digger just like all the others. M-Miki-san... You didn't know her as well as you think you do. Feel free to hate me, because I know that what I've done is wrong. This is the only thing I can do as reparation for my sins."
To everyone's surprise, no harm befell the self-confessed murderer who was adamant that Miki Kishida wasn't raped at all. Instead, Katsumi's eyes lost focus upon hearing her sister's name, which Detective Aiko supposed was the result of the fifteen-year-old girl entering the state of denial at long last in accordance to the five stages of grief.
"Anyway, I've had enough of this soap opera nonsense. I've let everyone speak their minds in the hopes of discovering something new, but we instead ended up with garbage that's best left to the tabloids. This case has gone on long enough. All the evidence and testimonies we have so far points to Shimamura Katsuhiko-kun as the rapist and murderer, and he himself confessed to the murder, at the very least. I suggest you put those lawyers of yours to good use, Mister Shimamura. That is all."
"Not so fast, Inspector Bulldog! FLYING BIRD KICK!" a small, gi-wearing, long-braided girl about the same age as the quintuplets burst forth the door and delivered a jumping roundhouse that connected right into the unprepared Masaya Taniguchi's jowly jaw.
One and a half weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, at the Meiou High School Library...
The casually dressed Kurama ushered Botan inside the library as he himself flashed his alumni pass to the school librarian. As per usual, the ferry-girl used her penchant for dressing up in a variety of costumes to get herself a Meiou-style school uniform for girls even though there wasn't really any reason for her to do so.
"I've never been to your school before, Kurama! Oh, and our first date just happens to be in your sch3l's library! How... educational!" Botan beamed with joy while Kurama dabbed his handkerchief over his forehead to get rid of excess, irksome moisture.
"Uh, call me Minamino-kun or even Shuichi-kun for now." The redhead did a once over at Botan's questionable outfit. "I see you've done your research in regards to the latest uniform. I hope you've exerted as much effort in retrieving info regarding the Kanji Killer and his connection to Kenshin's past swordsman foe."
"Of course I did, you silly goose! But didn't I specifically tell you to call me when you've found out something about the Kanji Killer, and not the other way around?" the shinigami reprimanded.
"Sorry about that. So far, this Kanji Killer business has left me quite stumped. He presents the same problems that America's Zodiac Killer had in terms of motive and type of victim. I have no choice but to depend on your files for now and do some supplementary reading on the case. All his suspected victims appear to have been killed by different people even when we're excluding the copycats who were aping his methods."
"Yeah, the police have described the Kanji Killer as a Zodiac Killer copycat who also has his own copycats. Speaking of which, I've gotten the letters that the Kanji Killer sent to the media too. Here are the photocopies. The second message in particular supports the Reikai's theory of him using victims to enhance his share of jaki from the Chojin, so to speak," Botan divulged as she handed the retired spirit detective her folder of new data.
"Thanks. I've been having problems locating the first letter, although I already have multiple copies of the second letter from Meiou High's newspaper archives."
"Wow. You already knew about the letters after only a weekend of research? That's impressive." Botan tilted her head in curiosity as Kurama's evergreen eyes wandered towards the long, wrapped-up package she had right under her armpit.
"Oh yeah. This. Well, I brought Kenshin along. He's been on 'standby mode' since the last time we talked to him. This cloth container allowed me to sneak his Demon Sword into school premises without people asking me too many questions. Er, your school does have a kendo club lying around, right?"
"O-kay... Sure." Kurama grabbed his neck, cleared his throat, and adjusted his polo shirt's collar as he inched ever so slightly away from Botan. Once he regained his composure, he opened the thick folder full of fastened photocopied documents and proclaimed, "Well, shall we? It's about time we compared notes."
In any event, the first decrypted message that was dated on August 1, 1989 and sent to a local Ueno newspaper stated, "I am fully realized humanity without masks and hypocrisy. This is what humanity and human behavior truly is. My kind has a place in the world. We are nothing more than the latest version of an ancient archetype known as the Fool. We provide a valuable service to humanity in that we are capable of acting in the extreme edge of morality." The details concerning the murders he committed in Ueno weren't released to the public and were sent to the police vault.
The second message, dated August 7, 1989, read, "This is the Kanji Killer. I liked the name you gave me. You were saying that I don't need to do this, correct? No. It needs to be done. I cannot be stopped. I have discovered the truth about humanity, and how to go beyond its limitations. Schadenfraude. I am nothing more than a mirror, in a sense; a hypocrite that exposes other hypocrites by their own reflection without them ever realizing it. Because of this epiphany, my victims will become my slaves when I go back to paradise. They empower me."
"Well, what do you think?" Botan asked hopefully, even though she knew that this wasn't enough evidence for even Kurama to work with.
"I don't know enough about Kenshin's past foe to be sure, but I get the feeling that this Jine fellow wouldn't bother writing such ambiguous nonsense. I will say that there's something strikingly familiar with what's written, but I'll need to confirm it through research first. Without any confirmation, my gut feeling tells me that the Kanji Killer the police are looking for and Udo Jine are two different people altogether despite the similarity in modus operandi."
Botan raised an eyebrow at that. "You got this from just reading the Kanji Killer's letters? And here I thought they'd confirm to you that he's actually connected to the Chojin. Aren't you just haphazardly jumping to conclusions on this one, or is it Koenma-sama who's doing the jumping?"
"We're still missing a piece of the puzzle is what I meant," Kurama admitted more to himself than to Botan or to her dormant, semi-sentient Reikai artifact.
"Don't get me wrong, Botan. I highly doubt that a hitokiri who is capable of actually murdering skilled swordsmen in his wake would bother with letters and clandestine murders of defenseless young teenagers. These are things a serial killer who has just tasted blood and wants more would do. It's the difference between a seasoned veteran and an overeager novice, if you will; the Kanji Killer who left behind clues of his modus operandi, and the other killer who used his more obvious counterparts' actions to hide his murders."
You know, you've been acting awfully mercurial lately. You should ease up," Botan chided.
Kurama stopped himself from chuckling. "'Mercurial'? What, did you get that off a 'Word of the Day' calendar?"
"Well, yes. Yes, I did. Thank you for proving my point anyway."
"I'm sorry. It's just that... I'm at my wits end. Also..."
"Yeah. You have your plate full, don't you? Kenshin. The Chojin. The Demon Sword. The Kanji Killer. All sorts of stuff." Botan grabbed hold of Kurama's forearm and squeezed it encouragingly. "Relax. Everything will get sorted out in the end... I hope." She then blinked twice in a row as she sat stock-still. "Okay, what now?"
"If these are the only leads we have, then the best way to test them is to go by what Kenshin knows. We're dealing with a hitokiri like him, only this time it's someone who's incredibly insane. I don't think the 'insanity' defense covers why his motives are starkly different from this other Kanji Killer's purposes for killing. We'll have to check out the latest Kanji Killer case that's most likely to involve the Udo Jine whom Kenshin knows."
Two weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, inside the Shinjuku Police Station during the afternoon...
Presumably, because of the out-of-the-blue kick's strength, Inspector Masaya Taniguchi lost his sense of priority, respectability, and logic; that was the only viable explanation why, as soon as he came to his senses, he picked up his attacker by the scruff of her gi's neck and shouted, "I DO NOT LOOK LIKE A BULLDOG! Stop calling me Inspector Bulldog, dammit!" He then silenced the snickers and withheld guffaws of his three underlings with an ironically canine growl.
"Good afternoon, Inspector Bulldog!" greeted Likka, completely oblivious to her brother-in-law's superior's protests. "Uncle Jiji has been monitoring this case from afar even though he hasn't been in the station as of late. Luckily, he has an assistant on hand to deliver his message and deduction regarding who the real culprit of this case is."
"You don't say? And I don't suppose this assistant you're talking about is a cane-wielding, sandy-haired girl with a pageboy haircut that's about this tall...?" Just as the inspector trailed off, the hand he placed in midair at the same level as his shoulder chanced upon a handful of the very tresses he was describing, which incidentally belonged to the female in question. "We meet again, Shinkai Natsuki-chan."
"Hello to you too, Inspector. How goes your current case?" the half-Chinese girl casually greeted as she bowed to Taniguchi first before bowing several times to all the other people gathered in the interrogation room.
"My answer depends on one thing only: Is it really any of your business to know? If this is another one of your harebrained schemes to test out your amateur sleuthing skills, I swear I'll...!" Taniguchi stopped short of delivering an hour-long tirade after spotting Likka engage in... Kanon-knew-what. "Likka-chan, what the hell are you doing?"
While Inspector Masaya was busy reprimanding Natsuki in regards to her sudden appearance, Likka went about and introduced herself to the five quintuplets while asking each their name. She then ushered them to move to the back of the room in a straight side-by-side line; confused, they complied to the gi-garbed girl's orders without a second thought. Afterwards, she asked the names of the four remaining brothers and had them go to the line in no particular order, from what the inspector could see.
The eldest, Ippei, was put at the right side of the line, but Akahito, the fourth son and the third quintuplet, was put in the left side instead. The inspector, detective, and two officers present couldn't make heads or tails out of the eccentric girl's police lineup of the Shimamura brothers. "Ah, we're done! Whew! That was tough work! Thanks for your cooperation, everyone!"
"What is the meaning of this? I demand to know the reason behind this farce right now!" Kunihiko Shimamura hollered in vain as his head swung back and forth his wife, his children, and his lawyers, seemingly waiting for any of them to step up the plate and give him the explanation he so desperately needed.
In seeming response to the Shimamura Patriarch's questions, Likka produced Post-it notes filled with statements scrawled on them. Soon, realization dawned among those gathered as Detective Matsudaira's sister-in-law matched the testimonies written on each of the Post-it notes with their corresponding Shimamura brother. From left to right came the following lineup:
Akahito: Ennosuke is guilty.
Bunjiro: It was not Ennosuke.
Fumio: Katsuhiko is guilty.
Goemon: It was not Katsuhiko.
Houjo: It was neither Katsuhiko nor I.
Doi: It was either Katsuhiko or Houjo.
Katsuhiko: I did it.
Ennosuke: Bunjiro isn't telling the truth.
Ippei: Houjo is telling the truth. And it wasn't Ennosuke, either.
"Their statements serve as their nametags of sorts while also telling us who said what at a glace! Yes, this simplifies everything quite nicely! I was beginning to get all cross-eyed with all these contradicting testimonies and whatnot," Missus Hikaru Shimamura appraised with a clap of her hands and a tilt of her head.
Kunihiko harrumphed. "This lineup proves nothing. In fact, I don't particularly care who the police picks as a suspect, because I know in my heart that none of my boys are capable of doing what that hussy alleges them to have done. Not even for a second."
"Besides which, those conclusions of yours are oversimplifying things a bit too much, little lady," interjected Detective Aiko Tsunemoto. "Had you been here the whole time, you'd realize that nearly all of the brothers knew nothing about the crime. They were merely speculating. Generalization and instant deductions are more your modus operandi than Matsudaira-kun's."
Ignoring Detective Tsunemoto's condescending remarks, Natsuki disclosed to Inspector Taniguchi, "I hope you don't mind, but Likka-tan and I listened in on your last-ditch interrogation all this time, and I couldn't help but notice that your logic was a bit flawed in regards to your conclusion that Katsuhiko-kun is the rapist and murderer of Kishida-shi."
Inspector Taniguchi sighed, but let the Matsudairas' family friend play junior detective anyway. This was hardly standard operating procedure, but at the very least, Natsuki assisted Detective Daiji Matsudaira crack more than one case with her strict application of the Occam's razor school of thinking. He'd just chalk it up as due help from an amateur sleuth, if ever headquarters grilled him in regards to the situation. "Since you're here, what are your thoughts concerning this case? Seeing your unique take on the police lineup, I'd gather you have plenty in mind."
"My first question is, why was Oogata-shi considered such a trustworthy witness in the first place? Yes, he was the ex-boyfriend of the victim, but why was he deemed an important eyewitness anyway?" Natsuki queried as her sparkling eyes glinted with feline inquisitiveness.
"He was able to describe to us details concerning the murder that we haven't released to the public or even to the families concerned as of yet. He also has a criminal record, although it was more in terms of petty theft and miscellaneous misdemeanors than anything major. He knew so much that we had him pegged as the prime suspect or an accomplice until his untimely demise at what we believe to be the hands of the genuine Kanji Killer," the inspector revealed, which elicited gasps of protest from two of his three subordinates.
"You shouldn't be revealing sensitive information about this case to a teenaged civilian, Inspector! You and I both know that she isn't here to deliver any message from our MIA star detective, so she really has no connection to this case other than her vested interest in hunting down the Kanji Killer, as usual," interrupted Officer Shigetaka Uye while adjusting his tie and raising an indignant eyebrow at Miss Shinkai.
"Besides, our logic isn't flawed at all. Everything checks out. The perp confessed, his motives are crystal clear, we have some of his brothers corroborating his story somewhat, and it goes in line with what Oogata-shi confessed: Only three of the brothers are telling the truth, and I can count three brothers who are accusing Shimamura Katsuhiko of doing that crime. That little stunt with the police lineup only further proves my arguments."
Natsuki stifled a laugh before batting her eyelashes at the pudgy and pale Shigetaka. "Is that so, Officer Uye? Then maybe you can point out the three people in the lineup who are telling the truth. I assure you, there are more than just three of them," she said as she exchanged knowing grins with Likka.
Officer Uye inwardly counted to ten as an annoying memory of Natsuki unraveling an earlier deduction of his surfaced in his mind. "You're not playing semantics with me again, are you? This isn't a school debate. We're here to work, little girl."
Natsuki shook her head. "Nope. I'm just here to uncover the truth, just like everyone else here."
Shigetaka wiped his sweaty brow. "Fine. You can see the three plain as day in the lineup anyway. There's Fumio-kun, Doi-kun, and the suspect himself declaring that Katsuhiko-kun is guilty of murdering, perhaps raping Kishida-shi."
Natsuki shook her head again. "You're wrong. You're missing one more person."
Ignoring the dread in the pit of his stomach, Officer Shigetaka blustered, "What are you talking about? Those are the only three who claimed that Katsuhiko-kun is the guilty party. There are no other people claiming that."
"You forgot Bunjiro-kun. He says that it wasn't Ennosuke-kun who did it. If it's true that Katsuhiko-kun was the one who did it, then what Bunjiro-kun said is also true. Therefore, there are more than three people who are telling the truth at the time."
Unseen by the others, the true suspect behind the two crimes felt cold sweat run down his neck for the first time since this interrogation began. Meanwhile, the rest of the gathered people took an entire second to let Natsuki's words sink in before a collective exhale of realization echoed inside the interrogation room.
"You are playing the semantics card again! Do you really think that it matters that Bunjiro-kun told the truth when there are three people who are plainly accusing Katsuhiko-kun of the crime? This doesn't in any way absolve Katsuhiko-kun of being a suspect in the least! Besides, how can a moronic, out-of-school ronin like Oogata-shi be able to tell at a glance that it was only three people who are telling the truth? What if the idiot missed a guy?" Officer Uye rationalized defensively, unwilling to accept the reasoning behind Natsuki's conclusion.
Calmly, Natsuki replied, "You'd be wrong again, Officer Uye. Had Oogata-shi made a mistake on his claims, then his planned blackmail against the Shimamura family for his silence would've failed. He knew exactly what he was doing. He claimed that there were only three brothers telling the truth. Your theory is in direct contradiction to his assertion that only three of the Shimamura brothers offered the most accurate testimonies. It doesn't add up."
"STOP NITPICKING! Oogata-shi isn't a reliable witness, and the fact that there are more than three people corroborating that Katsuhiko-kun is the killer only means that he's the likeliest suspect of them all! Screw Oogata-shi's lies! This is a police investigation, not a crossword puzzle!"
Katsuhiko was about to speak in his defense... or perhaps more accurately, in his condemnation... when a female outburst killed his intended reiteration of his testimony right inside his throat.
"What do you mean he isn't a reliable witness? My lawyer and I looked high and low to find him, and I even had to settle for letting the potential accomplice to my sister's murder go scot-free in order to have the asshole who's really responsible for this nightmare end up behind bars! Don't you dare imply that our witness wasn't credible because you want to win a pissing contest with this Natsuki girl!" Katsumi Kishida exploded, which instantly silenced the barely coherent protests of the incredulous officer.
Inspector Taniguchi intervened just in time to stop the brewing argument between Officer Shigetaka and the victim's sister from escalating. "Natsuki-chan's right, Uye-kun; at least in terms of Oogata-shi's testimony, she's correct. If it were Katsuhiko-kun who did it, then there would have been more than three people who are telling the truth." In the background, a trembling, teary-eyed Katsumi was being comforted by her concerned lawyer.
"Ah, so is that the message that Matsudaira-kun wants to share? That we made the wrong deduction and this case was some sort of simple logic test? How quaint," Detective Aiko cooed in a manner wherein Natsuki couldn't tell whether she was being sarcastic or not. "If that's the case, then I guess I was correct the first time in thinking that the murderer was somebody other than Katsuhiko-kun based on the testimony of Oogata-shi."
"It depends on who you think is the one who did it," replied Natsuki sweetly, figuring that regardless of whether Tsunemoto was correct or not, at least they would still be closer to the truth.
"I'll give you a hint, though. Likka-tan and I placed the brothers together in a line so that the ones with contradicting statements are beside each other. To wit, Akahito-kun and Bunjiro-kun are debating whether Ennosuke-kun is the guilty party. Ignoring Katsuhiko-kun's confession, Fumio-kun and Goemon-kun are the only ones arguing whether Katsuhiko-kun did it. Finally, Doi-kun and Houjo-kun are disputing whether Katsuhiko-kun or Houjo-kun did it or not. If any one of a pair of contradicting statements are deemed untrue, then the remaining one will automatically be true."
Aiko tossed her hair and put her hands over her hips. "Well, unlike you who treats people as if they're numbers from an equation you need to solve, true crime investigation requires the establishment of motive and opportunity in order to catch the bad guy. Let's recap, shall we? Stop me if you've already heard this."
The detective got out of the room, rifled through her desk, picked up a folder, and got back in while everybody else waited uneasily for her take on the case.
She opened her document on hand and orated, "On March 2, Monday, about fifteen days ago, the body of Kishida Miki-shi was found by metal scrappers clearing out an abandoned factory. She was declared a victim of the Kanji Killer because of the markings on her body. According to the autopsy report, she'd been dead for about one and a half to two days, judging by the dissipating rigor mortis of the corpse and signs of bloating."
Natsuki frowned at Detective Tsunemoto as Katsumi flinched away at the clinical description of Miki's dead body. "Is there any particular point you want to arrive at, Detective? I don't think it's necessary to go all the way back, especially in front of the victim's next-of-kin."
"I'm getting there, little lady. Hold your horses. I'm giving you all the facts of this case because I don't think you're aware of the whole story," the detective snapped, the wheels in her head turning as Natsuki's deduction perfectly coincided with her own suspicions.
"On March 5, about twelve days ago, Kishida Katsumi-san came forward and testified against the quintuplets, alleging that one of them had been courting her sister to the point of stalking her, which we later found out was Ennosuke-kun."
"Wait a minute, Tsunemoto-san! You can't seriously be suggesting...?" Officer Uye griped yet again because of how dead-set he was at ending the case and arresting the one person who directly confessed to his supposed crimes from the beginning. 'This is an open and shut case!' However, he shrunk back as Aiko raised her voice and insisted on continuing her deduction.
"Katsumi-san also alleges that her sister may have been raped on Valentines Day, which could've been anyone of the quintuplets, but some people have clearer motivations than others. The time of Kishida-shi's death is roughly around Sunday, February 28 of last month. On that day, the whereabouts of all five of the quintuplets were unaccounted for. None of their alibis could be corroborated by any witnesses, so they were all placed in police custody as possible suspects. Naturally, because they were delinquents, their true identities were withheld from the media.
"At first, the quintuplets were discouraged to speak at the behest of their lawyers. However, a weekend after their initial contact with law enforcement, on March 8, they along with their other brothers came forward and released separate yet conflicting testimonies that muddled the investigation even further. Among the nine brothers, Katsuhiko-kun was the only one who outright confessed to the crime, and he probably would have been the one tried for the crime had it not been for the appearance and testimony of Oogata-shi a week ago on March 11, Thursday."
It was at that point that Natsuki ceased feeling impatient over Detective Tsunemoto's pompous attempts at showing off and began listening to the policewoman's recap of events and establishment of the crime's timeline thus far.
"However, even though he was established as a possible accomplice and a credible witness due to his knowledge that corroborated what we knew about Kishida-shi's murder so far, he had a change of heart and decided to delay giving his testimony on a later date. We have suspicions regarding just why he delayed his testimony," came Detective Aiko's syrupy drawl as she chortled at the assembled Shimamura lawyers, "but the bottom line here is that he refused to testify any further save for indicating that only three of the nine statements from the Shimamura brothers were true as a sort of warning to the true perpetrator behind this gruesome crime.
"Unfortunately, as everyone in Tokyo knows by now, Oogata-shi was eventually killed by the real Kanji Killer on March 13, Saturday; although the killer used the 'Hon' character when carving up his victim, his expertise in cutting down Oogata-shi even while under the watchful eye of our very own Officer Hamada proves that this was a job done by someone other than Kishida-shi's amateurish murderer. We were left at an impasse of sorts that moment since.
"On one hand, we have Oogata-shi's testimony stating that only three of the brothers are telling the truth. On the other hand, our SOP dictates that we should establish motive and opportunity first and foremost before making our conclusions. Also, as Matsudaira-kun's little helper exposed, Oogata-shi's testimony doesn't quite mesh with the theory that Katsuhiko-kun is the perp. The only answer that makes sense from both perspectives is that it's Shimamura Ennosuke-kun who truly raped and killed Kishida-shi."
"Now hold on just a minute! What made you think that? I don't know about Katsuhiko-niichan, but there's no way Ennosuke-niichan would've harmed Kishida-neechan! He wouldn't hurt a fly!" Bunjiro all but cried.
"But you yourself admitted that it looks bad for Ennosuke-kun, correct? At first, I didn't think much about Ennosuke-kun's puppy-love crush of Kishida-shi, especially when his own brother Ippei-kun vouched that he was still a virgin who no never had close contact with girls up until his attempts at courtship with Kishida-shi. Then again, Akahito-kun's testimony and, come to think of it, Ennosuke-kun's passive-aggressive confession when he said that Bunjiro-kun was lying sealed the deal for me," Tsunemoto countered.
"Remember, he didn't even know that I was going to say that he's not the one who did it! For all he knew, I might've said that he did it or Katsuhiko-niichan did it, and he'll still stay say I lied! You shouldn't take what he said seriously! Come on!" Bunjiro insisted.
"It doesn't matter. It checks out with what Oogata-shi testified. When he read your testimonies, the reasons behind them were irrelevant; Oogata-shi still took note that only three of you were telling the truth regardless. Ennosuke-kun is the most likely suspect in terms of both the testimonies and motivation behind the crime."
To be Continued...
Next: The solution to the mystery.
We're off to find our dreams,
Abdiel