A/N: As of right now, this story is rated M for obvious reasons... I'm also happy to see that the previous chapter shocked a lot of you. I'm glad it had such a great response!

Also, this chapter is different compared to the rest. It's more of an investigation chapter, so all the clues that Hitomi and Eliot stumble upon will be in bold text.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Tecmo and Team Ninja. Please don't sue me.

BREAKING CHAINS

Chapter 8

Hitomi stood frozen in the middle of the diner. All she could do right now was gaze at Kokoro's lifeless body in shock. After their long chat about her mother yesterday, Hitomi thought that Kokoro had planned to change her life for the better. But now that very same girl was hanging from the ceiling.

"Th… This isn't h-happening…"

Hitomi flinched when a masculine hand wrapped itself over her wrist. Looking up at the mysterious person, she saw that it was Eliot. Like her, Eliot also had a grim look on his face.

"I spoke to Johnny outside before. He… He was the one who found Kokoro's body..."

It took Hitomi a while to form any words… "I… I don't understand how this could've happened… She was so happy when we last saw her, Eliot… Why would she do something like this?"

"Well, judging from her obvious suicide, it seems like she was pretending to be happy yesterday," Eliot told her.

The female detective was still in shock. She truly believed that Kokoro was happy yesterday afternoon. If she had known that Kokoro was planning to go to extreme lengths that night, then Hitomi definitely would have tried her best to stop her. The potato sack covering her head also made Hitomi feel even more grief than before. She must have been ashamed of her actions.

"We both know that Kokoro was an emotional girl," Eliot's voice spoke. "Maybe she convinced herself later that her mother would be angry with her. Perhaps the thought scared her."

Eliot had a point.

"She was also very insecure... Even in high school," Hitomi replied.

"But still… How could a young woman just end her life like that?... She must have had a lot of troubles going on at home."

Hitomi couldn't stand to talk about Kokoro's suicide anymore. She decided to do something about it and finally investigate her body. The detective approached her lifeless body and stared at the potato sack covering her face. Hitomi was about to remove it, but decided not to right now as a sign of respect for Kokoro. Eliot, on the other hand, decided to read the new investigation report out loud for Hitomi to hear.

INVESTIGATION REPORT: "The victim is Kokoro. Age: 19. Her body was discovered at 6:03am inside Johnny's Diner. The cause of death was suicide by hanging."

Hitomi shuddered as Eliot read the investigation report. They were the only two living people inside the diner right now. The female detective quickly looked through the window and saw that the security man was trying to control the growing crowd outside. Shaking her head with frustration, she turned her concentration back to the scene. Now that she took a proper look at the scene, something didn't seem right…

"Why is the diner so messy?" Hitomi asked. She headed over to a pile of napkins on the floor and took a photograph of it. She did the same to a pair of salt and pepper shakers that were also on the ground.

"I didn't really think much of it," Eliot shrugged. "I just assumed that she was having second thoughts and maybe trashed the place due to frustration."

"I took some photos anyway. They might be useful."

Eliot formed a small smile in order to show his appreciation. He then decided to share his own information. "I placed her backpack on the front counter. It was near her body… There wasn't anything important inside; just some music notes and a few pencils."

Hitomi checked Kokoro's bag and knew that Eliot was right. She took a photograph of it as well. She then made sure to inspect the whole room thoroughly in order to find any other clues Kokoro may have left behind. Soon enough, something peculiar caught her eye.

"There is a bloodstain on the doorknob," she said, taking another photograph. "But why would there be blood if Kokoro hung herself?... Did you find any blood on her body, Eliot?"

"Nope. I just checked for any bruises as well," Eliot told her. "Her body looks completely normal... But maybe you should check the back room, just in case. The back door might have blood on it as well."

"Alright."

With the camera in her trembling hands, Hitomi made her way over to the back room. She had never been in here before. It just looked like a normal spare room. A few boxes filled with condiments were scattered around the room, as well as some white potatoes lying on the ground. But what had caught Hitomi's attention were the dishes. There was a long pile of unwashed plates next to the sink. There was also a frying pan on the other side. It was squeaky clean. The detective thought it was suspicious that Kokoro would clean only one item and then kill herself afterwards.

After taking a photograph of the frying pan, Hitomi hurried over to the back door. She was glad to find no blood on the knob, but she was surprised to see that it was locked. Nevertheless, she took another photo. If she and Eliot were to gather all the clues, then maybe they would be able to figure out why she committed suicide. On her way out, Hitomi couldn't help but stop again since she could smell a strong stench of blood nearby. She looked around for what could cause the smell, but there was nothing.

After taking another look at the room, Hitomi declared that nothing else seemed to be suspicious. She made her way over to Eliot once more and saw that he had finished inspecting Kokoro's body.

"I checked her body again and I can confirm that there were no bruises," he told her. "Since she's hanging from the ceiling, I haven't been able to reach the potato sack covering her head."

"That's okay," Hitomi said. "Anyway, I checked the back room and there was no blood there. But… the door was locked."

"Well, wouldn't you want to lock the door if you were going to kill yourself?"

"I guess so, but it doesn't explain the bl…" Hitomi couldn't help but trail off as she saw something lightly dripping on Eliot's shoulder. "What is that…?"

Feeling more confused than ever, Eliot turned to look at his shoulder and his eyes immediately widened with fear. He slowly looked up at Kokoro's body and let out a silent scream as he noticed that there was a slight amount of blood leaking from the potato sack.

"We need to put her body on the floor and inspect it properly," Hitomi said.

After calling the security guard for help, Kokoro's body was soon on the floor. When he left the diner to take care of the crowd outside, Hitomi and Eliot were left alone with the body once again. They couldn't help but stare at the potato sack with curiosity.

"You can take the potato sack off her head if you want…" Eliot gulped.

"Uh, no, that's okay…" Hitomi quivered. "Be my guest…"

Both detectives looked at each other and then back at the body. They were both too afraid to admit that they were scared. Eliot then sighed and decided to take the potato sack off Kokoro's head since it would be a manly thing to do. He squirmed at what he saw…

Kokoro's pale face was terribly bruised. Patches of purple were clearly visible near her nose and there were a few lumps forming near her temples. A trail of blood could be seen dripping near her ear.

Hitomi inspected the bumps on Kokoro's temples. It looked as though she was hit with something small and possibly of a cylindric shape. The bruises on her face, however, made Hitomi believe that she was attacked with another weapon.

"I think it's clear this wasn't a suicide…" Eliot said with anger. "It was just made to look that way."

Hitomi was also angry. It was clear that Kokoro was murdered, but she wondered why the murderer would make it look like a suicide. She was more upset about the fact that Kokoro was murdered on the night when she finally decided to change her life. The thought of being afraid and alone in the diner made Hitomi feel emotional.

"The major clues we have so far are the bloodstain on the front doorknob, the messy diner, the locked doors, and the injury to Kokoro's head," Hitomi said. "Now we just need the murder weapon."

"Do you think the murder weapon might be around here somewhere?" Eliot asked. "I mean, Rolande's murderer left the dumbbell right at the scene… We might come across something."

Once again, Eliot had a point. She followed him over to the back room where he began to inspect the cardboard boxes. Just as Hitomi had confirmed before, the boxes only contained extra condiments. Eliot then began to sniff the air around him. It seemed as though he could also smell the strange stench. All Hitomi could do was stare at the British man when he finally came to a stop next to the clean frying pan. He quickly took a sniff at it and showed it to Hitomi.

"This smells a lot like blood," he told her. "It's also oddly suspicious that this is the only item that's clean."

"I thought the same thing," Hitomi replied. She then took a closer look at the sink. Only a sponge and the bottle of detergent were inside. That's when her eyes widened.

"The scentless detergent!" she said, grabbing the bottle. "The murderer probably thought that they would be able to wash the blood away from the frying pan, as well as the scent… But what they didn't know is that the detergent doesn't take away the smell."

"So basically… we all thought that the liquid had no scent, but it turns out that it also doesn't take away the previous scent."

"Exactly," Hitomi answered. "This is definitely the weapon that was used to beat Kokoro to death. However, it doesn't explain the different weapon that clearly caused her head to bleed."

Eliot and Hitomi headed out of the back room with the frying pan. They then made a quick stop to take a glimpse at Kokoro's corpse once more. Hitomi had a blank expression on her face. She didn't know what she was feeling at this point, but it definitely wasn't good.

'We will find out who did this to you, Kokoro… I swear on my life.'

When Hitomi and Eliot exited the diner, they made sure to inform the security guard of their findings. Afterwards, they approached Johnny who was standing close by. He was shivering and had a tense expression on his chubby face.

"Johnny," Hitomi addressed the man. "You told Eliot that you were the one who found the body… What happened, exactly?"

The middle aged man took a gulp before answering. "You see… I was supposed to take over Mila's shift this morning since she took over mine yesterday. The diner opens at 6am sharp, and when I got there, I saw something through the window. I used my key because the door was locked and I headed inside. That's when I saw the body… It was awful."

"What time would you say you found the body?" Eliot asked.

"Around 6… Maybe 6:03am. I was running a few minutes late, but not that much."

"And what time does the diner close?" Hitomi asked. This answer was essential in order to figure out what time Kokoro was murdered.

"The diner always closes at 11pm," Johnny answered.

Hitomi looked at Eliot. The new information they had just gained was really useful. "So basically, Kokoro was murdered between 11pm and 6am."

"Wait… murdered?!" Johnny freaked out. His face had lost all colour at that point. "I thought she committed suicide!"

"From the clues we've gathered, this is officially a murder investigation," Eliot told him. He then turned to Hitomi. "We should go to Kokoro's home and speak to her mother. She's probably worried about her teenage daughter not coming home last night."

Hitomi nodded and agreed to follow along with Eliot's plan. They then advised Johnny to close the diner for a few days in order for him to calm down. It was possible that his business would now suffer due to the murder. She hoped not since the diner was always such a friendly place and Johnny had worked so hard to make his business successful.

As it turns out, Kokoro and her mother, Miyako, lived quite a distance away from the diner. Hitomi noticed that this area seemed to be more quiet than the urban streets she was used to. After crossing a wooden bridge with Eliot, Hitomi couldn't help but gasp at the view. She was amazed by the Japanese themed architecture that surrounded the domain. They soon came across a large amount of stairs which led to a temple. Hitomi read the small wooden sign nearby which read 'The Temple of the Dragon'. The wooden sign was painted black and had the pattern of a gold dragon on the top right corner. A small part of her wondered what was inside the temple. But now was not the time.

As they continued walking, both Hitomi and Eliot noted the great amount of cherry blossom trees surrounding them. Despite the terrible circumstances involving Kokoro, she felt happy to be at such a peaceful environment.

Eventually, the two detectives came at a stop outside a small, wooden house. Hitomi gently knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer it. Soon enough, a middle aged woman with dark undereye circles answered the door. It looked as though she had been up all night. Once when Hitomi and Eliot presented their detective badges to her, she tried her best not to panic.

"Is this about Kokoro?" the woman asked, worriedly. "Where is she?! Where is my daughter?!"

Hitomi felt really bad about what she was about to say, but it had to be done. "I'm afraid your daughter was murdered last night… I'm really sorry."

Just as she had expected, Miyako fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. She began to wail with sorrow and banged the floor with her fist in anger. Hitomi and Eliot tried their best to help her to her feet and take her inside. Hitomi wasn't surprised to see that the inside of Miyako's home consisted of an oriental theme. [1]

An hour had passed when Miayko began to calm down. She still had many tears streaming down her cheeks, but at least she wasn't shouting at them in Japanese anymore.

"H-How could my precious Kokoro die?... She had many friends and a good education," Miyako said, wiping her swollen eyes with a tissue. "She was going to graduate from college and finally be a music teacher. She was going to make the family proud."

Hitomi felt a lump forming at the back of her throat. She felt guilty for Kokoro since she never had the chance to tell her mother how she truly felt. In respect, she decided to not tell Miyako about Kokoro's plans. After all, Hitomi didn't want her to stress even more. She knew that Kokoro wouldn't want that for her mother.

The detective tried her best to hold her tears back as she listened to Miyako talk about Kokoro's life as a teenager.

"Did your daughter have any enemies?" Eliot asked with caution. He prepared his notebook in order to write some names down.

Miyako grabbed another tissue and lightly blew her nose before answering. "Not that I know of... but she was bullied by a girl throughout her high school years. I believe she always wore a purple bandanna… She also liked to talk about the female doctor at the hospital. I think Kokoro confided in her a little too much," Miyako informed them. "And then there is Helena Douglas… I never liked Kokoro hanging around that woman."

"Would you mind telling us why you didn't like Kokoro talking to Helena?" Hitomi asked.

"It has nothing to do with herself, exactly…" Miyako trailed off. "But it doesn't matter. I refuse to talk about it."

"That's fair enough," Hitomi said, sharing a quick glance with Eliot. "Anyway, we better get going and investigate this case further. Thank you for your time, and I'm sorry for your loss."

As they left the crying Miyako alone to grieve in her home, Hitomi and Eliot made their way outside and calculated their suspects for the new murder case.

"According to Miyako, we have Ayane, Lisa, and Helena as suspects…" Hitomi recalled.

"That's true," Eliot said. "Kokoro also mentioned a few days ago that Bass and Rig usually eat at the diner during her night shifts. I'm going to count them as suspects, too."

"Good idea. Also, Brad clearly fancied Kokoro and was upset when she hit his hand, so he should be a suspect as well."

Eliot looked unsure. "I know he's annoying, but he's the last guy on the planet who I think would murder someone."

"Maybe so, but I would like to check his alibi anyway."

"Alright, fine," Eliot sighed. "In that case, Leifang would be a suspect, too, since she was obviously angry at the fact that Kokoro earned a raise before her."

"I guess that's true," Hitomi said, sounding unsure. She felt bad adding her best friend to the list, but she knew it had to be done. "Who should we question first?"

It didn't take Eliot long to come up with an answer.

"I want to talk to Helena. She was expecting Kokoro to visit her home today, so that would be a good place to start. Plus, she had some news she wanted to share with Kokoro… Maybe it might help with the case a little."

Hitomi sighed as she entered the police car with Eliot. "I hope you're right. We need all the help we can get."

And so, the young pair made their way over to the Douglas residence. Hitomi honestly hoped that they would find a few more clues to this investigation. After all, she swore to find Kokoro's murderer. It was now her priority to find a sense of justice for the deceased teenager.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. If you want, tell me what you think in the reviews.

...

INVESTIGATION PROCESS #2

Time of murder: Between 11pm and 6am

Place of murder: Inside Johnny's Diner

Murder Weapon: Frying pan, [unidentified cylindric object]

Who found the body: Johnny

...

INVESTIGATION #2 SUSPECTS

Ayane: [Suspect because of her past conflict with Kokoro]

Lisa Hamilton: [Suspect because she was oddly close to Kokoro]

Helena Douglas: [Suspect because of Miyako's personal reasons]

Bass Armstrong: [Suspect because he is a regular customer at night]

Rig: [Suspect because he is a regular customer at night]

Brad Wong: [Suspect because of his conflict with Kokoro]

Leifang: [Suspect because of her tempered actions]

...

INVESTIGATION #2 CLUES

~ The diner is messy - signs of struggle.

~ Bloodstain on the doorknob - The other doorknob at the back room is clean. The murderer must have washed their hands before leaving.

~ Frying pan - The only culinary item to be squeaky clean. There are a few dents underneath. Confirmed to be one of the murder weapon(s).

~ Kokoro's face is terribly bruised - there are no marks on her body.

~ Facial injuries - It looks as though she was hit with something small and possibly of a cylindric shape... This is another murder weapon that hasn't been identified.

~ Scentless detergent - Purchased by Leifang. Cleans the bloodied mess on the frying pan but doesn't take away the scent.

~ Kokoro's backpack - only music notes and pencils were found inside. Where are her keys to lock the diner?

...

[1] - I felt awful saying that Miyako fell down like a sack of potatoes since Kokoro's head was covered with a potato sack.

...

Explanation: The reason why I got rid of Kokoro is because her main role in the story was to make Hitomi want to become a detective (with the help of Leifang, of course). Since that happened in the prologue, I had no other plans for her and decided to cut her out altogether. Her "fake suicide" is unique and I hoped that it would be a shock to everyone since she's so young and likeable. I felt there was nothing to develop in terms of her personality, and I wanted her death to give the message that you should do whatever you want with no regrets because you never know when your life will come to an end.