A/N: Hello everyone, I hope you all enjoy Chapter 8. It'll be an extra week before the next update. I have a lot going on. Personal anyways.

I only own my characters, none of the Yu Yu Hakusho ones.

Read and Review! Thank you!

Chapter 8

After meeting in front of Yama Enterprise, they had agreed to discuss Melody's disappearance with them hoping to learn some information themselves. They headed a few blocks across town to a little apartment.

"Mom's not home. Not surprising…" The young slick backed hair guy said. There were a couple of extra people waiting for them as they arrived. Three girls- A blue haired woman, a high school girl and a woman with long brown hair that leaned against the far pale wall next to the window. Mika had to wait a few moments. She looked so much like Melody in that light it was uncanny.

"That wasn't long, who are these guys?"

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? We haven't even introduced ourselves" the red haired man said as they sat down at the little table. Jessica was sure to get her seat right next to pretty boy with red hair. Mika rolled her eyes.

"My name is Shuuichi. These are my friends-"they each raised their hands respectively as he said their names, "Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, Keiko, Botan and Shizuru."

"Oh, nice to meet you. I'm Mika, this is Ron and Jessica.

"But you can call me Jess, Shuuichi" she said with the flirtatious tone in her voice. Shuuichi gave her a polite smile and discreetly inched away from her uncomfortably.

"Jessica…" Mika shot her a glare.

"Mind if I bum one of those?" Ron asked Shizuru as he moved closer to her. She light her own and then handed him one. He lit his as well blowing it out the window. "It's been a rough day."

"I imagine so." Shuuichi shifted his attention to Mika. "So do you mind telling me what happened?"

"Can you tell me what you're investigating first?"

His eyes shined briefly for a moment before he looked at Yusuke. He shrugged.

The one named Hiei let out an exasperated sigh before going as far away from the others and sitting against the wall.

"Don't worry, he's just grumpy" Shizuru said to Ron as he looked at her, perhaps anticipating that he was about to ask what his problem was.

"Very well. We have noticed that people, mostly women are getting invitations to come to Yama's Building and they aren't coming out. They have erased footage and have went so far as to pay off the police to keep away. We have been trying to get into the building but we have only gotten as far as the front office."

"So how do you know that police are being paid off and that Melody isn't the only one missing if all you've don't is get into the front office?"

He glanced at Botan. "I have my sources."

"If you can't trust me how am I supposed to trust you when my friend may be in some serious trouble… Melody and I go way back and I ain't putting her life in someone's hands that can't even tell me what his sources are."

Shuuichi smiled some "I can respect you disposition, Miss Mika. But I need you to trust me when we say that Melody and anyone else that has been taken by this man will be returned to you if they can still be returned."

Jessica looked down. They had all had the thought that Melody might be dead in their head but hearing him say that was still hard to hear.

Ron spoke up "Alright. I trust you."

"Me too, Mika?"

Jessica sat looking at her. The gears moving on her head until she sighed.

"Melody is my best friend. She's eccentric and sometimes the biggest pain in the ass I have ever met but I want her back... no matter what. We'll help you anyway we can." She breathed.

"Ron you still got that number?" he nodded and handed it to Shuuichi.

"Melody got a couple of calls from that number. He said that he was Mr. Yama. He offered her a pretty good amount of money to her play her guitar and sing for him. He was fishy and we didn't trust him so she was supposed to call us before, after and as soon as she got home. But as soon as she disappeared in that big shiny black car, we haven't heard from her. She's an average student that hardly ever makes higher than a C in anything, the only talent she has is her voice and the fact that she can play anything that makes a noise… We figured that he was just some old guy wanting a pretty young girl to play for him. What else would he want from her? Her family's not very rich, she's an only child, and I just can't get my head around it. Of all the girls he could have picked from, why was it her?" Mika was trying not to cry. Keiko and Jessica came over to comfort her. Botan handed her a tissue. She dabbed her eyes and swallowed regaining her composure.

"Maybe all of them have something common… Botan do you still have all of the cases and the pictures?"

"Oh yes, right. They're in the detective kit, just a moment."

"Here," Jessica pulled out a picture of all of them together. "She's in the middle." Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Suuichi leaned in. An excited, blue eyed, bouncy girl looked back at them holding up a peace sign with her guitar in the other hand. Her bright smile made Shuuichi want to smile as well as he laid it on the table.

"Man she's got some nice cans"

"Yusuke!" Keiko scolded, raising a hand for one of her signature slaps.

"It's just an observation. Maybe Yama is a boob man!"

"And maybe you're an idiot!"

Yusuke growled "Get off me, Keiko!"

Kuwabara howled with laughter. Shizuru flicked her cigarette. "Can we do the love squabble later?"

"Your right" Keiko glared at Yusuke. Yusuke knew it wasn't over.

Shuuichi sighed as Botan returned and laid out the pictures.

"Let's see... There's Ayane- she was a model." A young blue-haired girl looked back, about Melody's age. Mika grabbed the files and started flipping through. Shuuichi was genuinely surprised at her aggressiveness. Jessica also took one and was flipping through.

"You ain't gonna help?" Shizuru nudged Ron. He chuckled.

"Nah, I'm just the muscle and peace keeper." She smiled lighting another one.

"Then there's Aika, she was a-" Botan blushed a little "companion" A lovely girl with long black hair was photographed.

"Kanon, an interpreter from America" it was a photograph of a middle-aged woman with blonde hair.

"Hibiki" a young boy about their age with a bowl cut and brown eyes was in the picture. "He is the only missing boy that we know of. He's a student…"

"Kotone, A priestess at a shrine…" A stunning black haired woman dressed in traditional robes frowned at the camera capturing the picture.

"Lastly, there is…Setsuko. She was a delivery girl." Botan sat down. Everyone was thinking.

"Maybe you can give us some of her background?" Shuuichi gently coaxed Mika.

"Well…" Mika looked at the picture of Melody smiling brightly. It was right when they all formed the band at the beginning of college.

"Melody is a… umm…" Mika had no clue how to tell them about Melody.

"Well Mel's dad is in the army, he was American and was stationed here where he met and married her mother. Her dad had to be relocated because of some reasons that I don't really know, her mom raised her here, by herself. Melody doesn't really talk about her parents but she has pictures of them everywhere in her apartment, especially around her mirror. As far as I know, she had a good life here. She graduated high school and entered into the community college, focusing on her music. She signed up for the band when we posted on the billboard for a guitarist at the college, we were lucky to find out she could sing too. That about sums it up. We've been inseparable ever since. Melody works over at Fresh Missy's. Her Aunt owns it. She goes to school. She lives on her own. She practices with us and does gigs. That's all." Mika looked around like she was trying to find some other information somewhere but couldn't.

"I love Fresh Missy's! They make the best burgers ever!" Kuwabara looked as though he were imagining himself taking a big bite out of one. "Hey Kura-Shuuichi, it's next to that flower shop you like."

"Ah, so that's what it's called. They do make the most delightful salads" He cupped his chin in thought.

"Maybe they have something in their backgrounds?" Jessica asked.

"Perhaps"

"Man, this is giving me a headache" Yusuke said after about an hour of looking at the pictures and thinking. Hiei was passed out asleep in the corner.

"I mean… UGH!" Mika lay down the files. "They don't look alike, they have different ages, occupations, eye color, hair color, everything!"

Jessica was the one who stood up.

"I got it!" Everyone looked at her. Her large shirt slipped off her shoulder some.

"Well share with the rest of the class, Jess" Mika said rolling her eyes.

"You don't see it?"

"No, obviously"

"So this is how it feels to be you…" she smiled all-knowingly.

"Get on with it!"

"Fine… it's their names!" She got a piece of paper and wrote out their names. "Given that they write their names like this anyways."

AIKA meaning "love song" (愛佳)

AYANE meaning "colorful sound" (彩音)

HIBIKI meaning "sound, echo" (響)

KANON meaning "flower sound" (花音)

KOTONE meaning "sound of the koto (Japanese harp)" (琴音)

SETSUKO meaning "melody child" (節子)

Seeing it out on the paper, it was obvious. Shuuichi stared at it for a few moments.

"He's only going after people whose name reminds him of songs…"