(ง'̀-'́)ง
The distinct odor of cigarette smoke filled the air as Genta walked into Kenshin's room. Coughing once, twice, Genta fought back tears as his eyes began to water. He could almost see the smoke hovering over his head. The room was a whole shade darker than the hallway, and Genta's lungs were paying the price.
"Who's there?" An accusatory shout, and Kenshin's head peeked around the corner, his face painted red with fury. "If it's about the knife, I told you—"
Mid-sentence, he spotted Genta and Kazuha standing at the door. "Oh! Genta-kun, Kazuha-chan! This smoke—sorry, I smoke when I'm stressed." Kenshin went to the window and pulled it open, letting in a blast of warm, wet air. "Ugh. I didn't want you guys to—" He dumped an ashtray into the trash, buried a half-empty cigarette box in his pockets. "This really isn't a good time. Tai-nii just died, you know, and these police everywhere keep nagging me—I'm just sick of it all, you know." He flashed a smile, collapsed into a chair in the corner. "You kids are a sight for sore eyes." He laughed. "Though, in all honesty, I'd be saying that to anyone who wasn't in uniform right about now."
Genta sat on the floor in front of Kenshin, and Kazuha suddenly felt inclined to not be in their conversation. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it, closing her eyes in an attempt to look uninterested.
"You know Heiji-oniisan?" Genta asked.
Kenshin nodded. "How could I not? Tai-nii talked about him all the time—the Meitantei of the West, equal to none but fair to all. He was a die-hard fan of the kid, and after meeting Heiji-kun in person, I can't say I'm surprised he's helping the cops with this case."
"Heiji-oniisan wants to know stuff so he can figure out who killed Akagi-ojisan. He said once we get this stuff he'll be done with the case and tell everyone who the murderer is. Then all the police will leave Kenshin-oniisan alone, and you can get some rest."
"You make quite the offer." Kenshin put his hand on his chin, quirking an eyebrow and a smile. "I've got to say, I like the way you talk a whole lot better than the way those policemen try to weasel info out of me. Go ahead, what does Heiji-kun want to know?"
Genta looked at the slip of paper Mitsuhiko had handed to him. "'Who was targeting Mina-obasan?'"
Kenshin's friendly manner dropped to the floor and shattered. He leaned over, put his face in his hands, and drew a few staggering breaths.
Genta waited in silence, ducking his head ever so slightly so he wouldn't have to meet Kenshin's eyes. He watched the wet spots around Kenshin's feet grow for a few moments, saying nothing and refusing to cave to his more impulsive inclinations.
When he finally spoke, it was soft- Kazuha could still catch fragments of the police chatter outside. "Kazuha-chan? Be sure to get this, because it will prove Mina-chan has no motive to kill Tai-nii." She nodded, gave a small noise of acknowledgment. Kenshin drew a large, shuddering breath and started to speak.
"These letters would come in the mail. No return address, nothing hand-written. It always had these… pictures. Mina-chan's head was in every one of them. At the mall. In the house. At parties. Even at a KID heist, once. The note would always say to follow its directions or Mina-chan would pay the price. Tai-nii passed it off as a prank for three days. Mina-chan was pushed into the road on the fourth day and almost died the same way her sister did. The warning came in the mail while Tai-nii was waiting with Mina in the hospital, and he's done everything they've asked since that day.
"The notes tell him to publish articles—that's why he didn't think they were serious at first. But he's tackled a ton of different stories, publishing them under a pen name and sending money to a certain address. He's tried for months to find out who was behind all of it, but the money was always sent in cash, always picked up by an old lady who deposited it into a private account—he found out that she was being threatened as well. The closest thing to a motive was the fact that Tai-nii was a great journalist with little funding. Maybe this person wanted these articles published but didn't have the skill to do it? We don't know, we never found out.
"It was sort of fine until Boss—that's the only way the letters were signed—told Tai-nii to write an article about Nakano-san using steroids. He was more scared about Mina-chan than he was about Nakano-san keeping his spot in the swim team, so Tai-nii did it, but he started acting differently after that. He started acting coldly towards Mina-chan and asked me to be there for her; he thought that if she wasn't near him, then 'Boss' wouldn't have anyone to target. Tai-nii could go after 'Boss,' pulling off the gloves, getting the police involved, the whole nine yards.
"It seemed to work for a while. The letters slowly stopped coming, and Tai-nii told me one night—a week ago today, actually- that he figured out who 'Boss' was. He and I were going to sit down with Mina-chan and explain everything to her, apologize for everything, but then—
"Someone killed Tai-nii. I don't know who it was, but I swear to you it wasn't Mina-chan. She really did love Tai-nii. I promise you she wouldn't kill him."
Quietly, Kazuha spoke up. "Did 'Boss' ever ask for an article about Satoru Ryoko-san?"
Kenshin shook his head, wearily lifting it from his hands to look at Kazuha with one eye. "Mina-no-ane? I don't know. Tai-nii kept every letter, though. The police can probably find them for Hattori-kun."
"Ne, Kenshin-oniisan." Genta gently tugged on Kenshin's pant leg. "Why did you get sleepy and sick so early? I normally can't fall asleep like that unless I've had a reeeeeaaally long day."
That got a laugh. "Yeah, same for me," Kenshin said with a smile. "But Mina-chan told me she'd accidentally made the food on the same surface she'd cut some nuts on earlier, so I was a little afraid to eat any of it. When the drinks came around later, mine tasted a little off. It wasn't until a little while later that I realized Mina-chan had mixed up our drinks and given me one with a wheat base. I'm allergic to gluten and a lot of different nuts, so Mina-chan offered me some Benadryl. It knocked me out like a light until you guys showed up."
Genta nodded. "One time, I ate way too much eel, and my mom gave me some funky medicine so I could sleep easier. She called it pla-see-bo-pill, and it worked really well."
Kazuha snorted. "Not quite the same, Genta-kun. But close."
He stuck out his tongue at her. "But I was close."
Kenshin sat back in his chair, hastily wiping at his eyes. "Yeah, you were." He rubbed Genta's head, the easygoing smile from last night finally returning. "But don't give Kazuha-chan too much trouble. She's a scary monster, you know, and she'll rain down destruction upon us if we get her too mad," he stage-whispered, sending a wink towards Kazuha. She smiled in return, leaning down to take hold of Genta's arm.
"Thank ya for your help." She bowed and made Genta do the same, pulling him out the door.
Kenshin remained in his chair, eyes still red and watering from the tragedy fresh in his memory.
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"Kazuha-chan! To what do I owe this pleasure?" Mina lay sprawled out on her bed, doing her nails. Her smile... yesterday it had been sweet; it meant warmth, food, and that Heiji was okay. Today? It was no different on the surface, but Kazuha swore fangs protruded from her teeth, that her eyes flickered yellow. She could feel the suppressed malice, the hatred and pure cruelty emanating off Mina, coming in waves along with a sickeningly sweet charm. A tiny, warm hand grasped her own, and Kazuha found the words to speak. Sliding a mask over her true emotions, Kazuha didn't even blink at the malignant spirit coiling around Mina's throat.
"Heiji an' Shinichi-kun 're still workin' on the case... I was thinkin' we could join ya? Relax a bit, talk?"
The glow of the spirit's eyes softened, dimmed to a small candle's light.
"Of course! Come, join me." She sat up, patted the bed next to her. Ayumi climbed up first, and Kazuha sat at the foot of the bed. "I love painting my nails- do you want me to do yours?" Without waiting for a reply, Mina pulled two shades of nail polish off her bed stand. "I'm so glad I had these on hand! They'll look wonderful on you."
Ayumi's eyes went wide. "Those are so pretty," she squealed. Kazuha grinned. It was adorable how such small things could be so fascinating to Ayumi. The little girl took the brilliant gold bottle from Mina's left hand, and Kazuha found the deep purple polish placed in her own hands.
"If you like, I can do them for you, or you can do them yourself." Mina put the cap on the bottle of polish she held: a red so dark, it was almost black. Silver flecks of glitter added contrast and made the red feel less like blood and more like a real polish. "Do either of you want to use this color?"
Ayumi looked from her color to the one Mina held before shaking her head, and Kazuha replied with a kind "No thank ya."
"I enjoy painting people's nails, so I could do yours for you if you like." Mina capped her polish and set it aside.
"Go ahead an' do Ayumi-chan's," said Kazuha, shifting into a more comfortable position. "I can do my own."
Nodding, Mina reached behind her pillow and pulled out a pair of dish towels. "Here, put this under your hands. I may be fond of painting nails, but that doesn't mean I enjoy washing polish out of the sheets." As Kazuha took the towel, Mina motioned for Ayumi to come closer.
Kazuha twisted the top off, holding the bottle between her toes as she painted her fingernails. She listened to Ayumi and Mina as they chatted in light, pleasant tones. The spirit Kazuha had seen had disappeared- no malicious manifestation could remain in the same room as Ayumi for long unless the spirit had been intentionally summoned. The young girl was too bright, too kind to have anything of the devil survive around her for very long.
"What grade are you in, Ayumi-chan?"
"I'm in first grade now. But the year's almost halfway over, so I'll be in second grade really soon."
"That far through the year already? I hadn't realized." She glanced up for a moment. "Kazuha-chan, do you know if the preliminaries for the high school baseball tournament are over yet? I've been meaning to check, but I haven't gotten the chance."
"I think the first few rounds are over, an' the quarterfinals are next week. I've got a friend who was real psyched about facin' off 'gainst a team from Nagano, so that's how I know." Kazuha paused a moment, carefully applying polish to her thumbnail. Dipping the brush into the bottle again, she continued. "Do ya have anyone ya're rootin' for? A younger siblin' or somethin'?"
She watched Mina carefully, preparing a sculpted mask of innocent curiosity. Immediately, it shattered at the sight of the older woman's expression: pure pain, regret, grief. She looked as If she'd been punched in the gut. Mina's voice was low, quiet- she sounded like she was at a funeral.
"No, my only sibling, Ryoko-neechan, died in a car crash a little over twelve years ago." Mina shook her head, the sad and broken smile falling from her face. A much more polite one, reserved and untelling, took its place in a flash. "I'm a physical therapist for a few high schoolers- I remember Masao-kun tore a ligament sliding into home base, and he was so excited that he could play this year."
The silence lingered for a beat too long. "I'm sorry 'bout your sister," Kazuha finally said.
Mina glanced up again. "Like I said, it was over a decade ago. Please, don't worry yourself."
"Which high school did ya go ta? I heard Nakano-han mention that ya'd met Akagi-han in high school."
A reminiscent expression crossed her face. "I don't think the school really had a name; we lived in such a small town that all the kids went to school in the same building. Taichi-kun moved in during my first year of 'high school,' and he was immediately the boy everyone wanted. A lady killer, that man." Her laugh almost seemed forced. "Even Ryoko tried to capture his heart, but he stayed single until the day Kenshin-kun and I graduated. Taichi-kun and Ryoko were older than Kenshin-kun and me, so I thought we'd end up dating the other person our age. But Ryoko fell in love with some man who worked at a shop in the city, and Akagi fell for me. We married after he got his degree at the university, and we moved out here to the house where his mother grew up.
"It's quite sad, really, how Taichi-kun died. Like his mother- stabbed on a rainy night, with thunder crashing and lightning flashing, the only difference might be that his ka-san was thrown from a convertible on a sharp turn. He was killed by that abhorrent man Kakei-san, and while the others went looking for Taichi-kun, no less." Mina sniffed. "I just want these detective friends of yours to prove Kakei-san's guilt and leave the rest of us to mourn the loss of my husband."
Kazuha took a long, silent breath, suddenly grateful she'd left her phone on to record. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to tell Heiji and Shinichi-kun the words that came out of Mina's mouth. Not even Ayumi seemed to believe her- the young girl was watching the polish brush just a little too closely.
"Why d'ya think Kakei-han did it? Couldn't Kenshin-han 've done it while you were takin' a bath or somethin'?"
Mina flinched again, jerking her head up to meet Kazuha's eyes with a wide, fearful look. "Taichi-kun called Ishiwatari-san after I got out of the bath," she asserted. "Besides, Kenshin was sleeping on the second floor, and he couldn't have gotten past me without my noticing." Her voice quivered ever so slightly. "Kakei-san despised my husband, and he voiced quite often his desire to kill Taichi-kun when we gathered for these sorts of parties. I'm sure if the police compare prints on the knife, they'll find he was the culprit."
Giving her fingernails a gentle blow, Kazuha capped her bottle of nail polish and folded the small towel. "Are ya done with Ayumi-chan's nails? I jus' looked at the time, an' Heiji told us ta be back with him in a minute or two."
A sharp inhale caught Kazuha's attention, but Mina's expression gave nothing away but kind concern. "I think so. They look like they're done. Such a beautiful shade for you, Ayumi-chan." Ayumi nodded in thanks and slid over the side of the bed, taking Kazuha's hand. "Visit me again soon, please. Us girls need to stick together, you know."
Walking back to the door, Kazuha waved over her shoulder, casting a glance at Mina as she did. "Will do. Goodbye."
Mina's final words to Kazuha sent a shiver down her spine. Said in such a friendly tone, Kazuha almost wished she could've missed the contempt written across Mina's face.
"Tell Hattori-kun I say hello."