NUMACHI NO KYUKETSUKI
Chapter 5: "Suspect"
A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.


"I bet Numachi No Kyuketsuki got her!" Junko said, more generally talking out loud than anything. She'd gone down to the parking lot to rouse Haruka from her night spent in her Reventon, but found she was gone. "I bet it came for her because we disturbed it in the marsh! And . . .!"

"Junko," Michiru said, her cell phone out, "the rational mind eliminates the conventional first before assuming the unconventional." And she pressed Haruka's speed dial number.

"Did you say that when Sailor Galaxia was taking people's star seeds," muttered Junko. She crossed her arms over her chest peevishly.

"Yeah?" Michiru heard Haruka say over her phone. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where are you? Junko went out to look for you and couldn't find you."

"Sorry," she heard Haruka offer. "Couldn't sleep. I'm over by the Chinese restaurant, at that intersection where Kasumi disappeared. Thought I might find something that everyone else overlooked. Did I worry you?"

"I wasn't terribly concerned," Michiru replied cautiously, "but you scared Junko out of a year's growth."

"Tell her I'm sorry," Haruka replied.

"She says you're a jerk," Michiru told her after relaying the message. "It's hard not to agree. So did you find anything that would make this worthwhile?"

"Nothing that hasn't been walked over and through for several days now," Haruka said. "If I'd been there just after it happened, I might have found more. This is so weird, Michiru. There doesn't seem to be any physical evidence anywhere. She's just here one second and gone the next. There's got to be something somewhere that points us to where that woman is. Unless it really is of supernatural origin. Nothing natural is that perfect."

"Call it healthy skepticism if you will, but I still think there's a very human cause to all of this," Michiru responded. "Even though that would explain why my mirror can't find the answer, I just think it's something else."

Michiru closed the phone and Junko stared at her expectantly.

"Haruka is going to get her running in first," Michiru advised her. "I got some breakfast already started. Feel free to contribute. I don't know what you prefer to start the day."

"This is fine," Junko huffed, stirring the rice. "I bet Haruka's going back to take another look at the marsh."

"You're probably right," Michiru replied. Junko turned to her. "I know it's a risk, but it's a risk she's better prepared to handle than you are."

"Yeah, rub it in," Junko scowled.

"It's difficult, but you have to let the experienced hands handle this," Michiru told her. "Haruka and I, and the police, can't do our jobs at peak efficiency if we're worrying about you, too. So, do you have any finals today?"

"Not today. I'm free all day." Junko thought a moment. "Michiru, would it be OK if I went down to where Kasumi worked and asked around. Maybe they thought of something else. Or maybe there was someone there that the police and you missed. Or . . .?"

"That'll be fine," Michiru smiled. "Just do me a favor: Stay clear of the marsh? And keep your head. Don't get so focused on uncovering something that you lose awareness of your surroundings and who might be near you. Inattention is the best invitation for something to happen to you."

Junko stared soberly at the green-haired artist. "Yeah, I will," she nodded.

"Will what?" Haruka asked, entering the apartment, her face covered in perspiration. Michiru explained. "Yeah, I guess that's OK. They know you down there, don't they?"

"Some," Junko replied.

"Then maybe they'll say something to you that they wouldn't say to Michiru," Haruka concluded. She sat down before the television and wiped her brow with a towel.

"There's time enough for you to shower," Michiru hinted.

"I want to hear the morning news," Haruka told her. "Want to see if our little to-do in the marsh made the news."

The news program came on and, sure enough, the lead story was Sailor Uranus and an unidentified woman confronting a mythological creature hiding in the marsh near campus. Since they had no actual footage of Sailor Uranus in action, the news program had to settle for interviews with witnesses. The first one appeared on tape and Haruka recognized him as the local she'd talked to yesterday morning.

"It was one of the Sailor Senshi," the man exclaimed for the camera. The cut line on the bottom of the screen identified him as Hajime Inoue. "She was carrying a girl. I don't know which Senshi she was, but she had to be one. No human could leap like that!"

"Guess what, Michiru," Haruka grunted. "I'm not human."

"I'll notify the tax ministry," Michiru smirked. "Perhaps we can get our taxes reduced."

"Did you see the monster?" the reporter asked.

"Well, no, I can't say I did," he replied. "But the legend has been around this area for a long time. And that Sailor Senshi wouldn't be poking around if there wasn't something there. And she wouldn't have leaped over that fence if something wasn't after her. I know I wouldn't go near the place."

"We asked the local police if this incident had any connection to a missing Niigata University student who disappeared three days ago," the reporter said, looking into the camera. "They said there was no evidence to suggest that, but the police did not deny the report. So the question remains: Is Niigata University being stalked by a deadly yokai? How safe are the residents in and around the university? Back to the studio."

"How perfectly sensational," sighed Michiru. Haruka turned off the television.

"Yeah, and it's going to attract every thrill-seeker and kook in the province," muttered Haruka.

"Maybe not," Junko offered.

"Afraid so. Part of being a Senshi is attracting attention. That's bad enough. You put 'senshi' and 'monster' in the same sentence, it's like a people magnet. Everybody's got to stop and stare - - maybe get some camera phone vid to post on the net. And the more people flocking around here, the easier it'll be for whoever has Kasumi to hide - - or get away with her."

"All because you had to rescue me," Junko mumbled. Haruka glanced over.

"It was going to happen," she told Junko. "The minute I went into that police station as Sailor Uranus, word was going to get out." She pointed at Junko. "Just no more solo acts, OK? You learn anything at that Chinese restaurant, you call me or Michiru. Got it?"

"Yes, Haruka," Junko sighed. "I learned simple Japanese a long time ago."

"Couldn't prove it sometimes," Haruka muttered. Junko made a face at her behind her back.

"Breakfast is ready," Michiru announced. Haruka and Junko headed for the table, but Michiru stopped Haruka, a skillet in her hand. "Shower - first."

"Yes, ma'am," Haruka sighed and headed for the bathroom. Michiru passed out dishes while Junko sat down.

"You sure have her trained," chuckled Junko.

"I wouldn't call it 'trained'," Michiru demurred, then smirked. "Housebroken, perhaps."

Just then, Michiru's Senshi Communicator signaled. As Junko watched enraptured, Michiru opened the face and found Artemis there.

"I've got a possible connection to those two unsolved murders," the white cat reported.

"You do your reputation proud, Artemis," Michiru said sweetly. "What is it?"

"Kenta Tokita," Artemis read. "He was arrested in 2010 for Improper Sexual Imposition. Served four years in prison. He was the brother of the first victim and worked with the second at the campus bookstore."

"Do you have a picture?"

"Displaying it now," Artemis said. His image was replaced with a mug shot of Kenta Tokita. "You can transfer the file to a computer via wi-fi connection and then print it if you need it."

"Thank you, Artemis. He certainly seems like someone we need to talk to," Michiru said to the cat.

"That might be difficult," Artemis added. "According to this file I, um, accessed, the Niigata police picked him up this morning."


It was considerably more simple to get through the police desk at the campus station than it had been the previous morning. Sailor Uranus was recognized and passed through to Det. Kinogura. But on her way to the door, she was approached by a woman Uranus recognized as the reporter who interviewed Inoue. The woman shoved a microphone attached to a tape recorder in the Senshi's face.

"Sailor Uranus!" she exclaimed. "Is there an actual yokai living in the marsh by the university?"

"No comment," grunted Uranus. She tried to move forward, but the reporter persisted.

"Does this yokai have any connection to the disappearance of a university student?"

"I said no comment," growled Uranus.

"Will the Queen . . .?"

Uranus whirled on her. "Lady, get out of my face!" she snarled angrily.

"I'm just doing my job," the reporter protested. "The public . . ."

"You want to help the public? Find out where Kasumi Nobumura is! Instead of chasing monster stories that'll sell commercial time on your station!"

Uranus ignored the glare she got and opened the door to the detective's room. Inside, she was met by Det. Kinogura. The detective was not glad to see her.

"So," Kinogura asked, "find anything?"

"Kasumi disappeared off the northwest corner of the first street east of the restaurant," Uranus shared. "Don't know how, but whoever it was did it quick."

"Yeah, we already established that. You think the yokai got her?" Kinogura asked cynically. Uranus replied with a stone face. "I saw the news this morning."

"I didn't see a yokai," Uranus snorted. "Wouldn't know it if I did. Yeah, something's in that marsh, but the press is calling it a yokai just to sell laundry soap." It seemed to mollify Kinogura. "You got anything new?"

"We're talking to a person of interest right now," Kinogura replied. Uranus perked up. "Come on. You can watch the closed-circuit recordings from the video room."

Uranus was ushered into a small room. It contained recording equipment, a monitor, and shelves with cases of DVDs marked with case numbers. On the monitor, a detective was questioning a shabbily dressed man. The man, sullen and in his forties, rebuffed the questions gruffly if he answered them at all. Uranus bent forward and looked at the screen.

"Hey! I talked to that guy last night!" Uranus said. "He was one of those homeless guys sleeping in the bookstore parking lot! He's one of the ones who saw Kasumi that night."

"Kenta Tokita," Kinogura commented. "We picked him up this morning."

"Is Kasumi all right?"

"We don't know if he's connected yet," Kinogura said. "When his record kicked back and we saw he had a conviction for sexual imposition, we brought him in for investigation."

"I thought you said yesterday that you checked these guys!" Uranus demanded.

"Well this may amaze you, but people have been known to lie to the police," Kinogura bristled. "He gave us a phony name. When his fingerprints kicked back his real record, we brought him back in." The detective eyed Uranus. "What did he say to you?"

"Some phony story about a demon pulling Kasumi into a shadow," Uranus scowled. "He tell you anything?"

"He's being very uncooperative," Kinogura responded. "I can hold him on a vagrancy charge for twenty-four hours, but unless we can find something that links him to this case, the court will turn him loose at his hearing."

"Maybe you're not asking the right questions," Uranus muttered. Before Kinogura could act, the Senshi was out the door. She entered the interrogation room. Tokita and the detective turned to her, clearly registering their surprise.

"What do you know about that student who disappeared?" Uranus demanded forcefully. "And don't give me any crap about shadow demons!"

"Or what?" raged Tokita. "You Senshi think you're big shots now that you run the country! Well you don't intimidate me! I'm already dead! You can't do anything to hurt me!"

"Really?" Uranus glared. She raised her hand above her head and the Space Sword appeared in it. In a blink, the tip of the sword was pointed at Tokita's throat. As Kinogura burst in, the other detective drew his service weapon. "Now where is Kasumi Nobumura?"

"Sailor Uranus!" barked Kinogura. "Put the weapon down!"

Tokita stared nervously at the sword pointed at him.

"Stay out of this!" snapped Uranus. "I'm a Senshi! I don't have to play by the rules! You hear that, Tokita? This sword took on Galaxia! What do you think it'll do to you?"

"Go ahead!" bellowed Tokita. "I told you I'm already dead!" His face began to scrunch up with emotional agony. "I've been dead ever since that day."

"What day?" demanded Uranus.

"1992," Tokita sobbed. "It killed her. It killed my sister. She was so alive; so alive. She was going to be a retail manager. She was going to be a success. She was so much a part of my life. And then it killed her!"

"It what?" Uranus growled.

"I was only fifteen," Tokita sobbed. "Nothing like that had ever happened before. We were so happy." He wiped his nose with a grubby hand. "I tried to go on. I tried to be what Yuki would have wanted me to be. But being without her hurt so much. I started drinking. It was the only way I could forget - - for a little while."

"What's this 'it' that killed your sister?" Uranus persisted.

"But the more I drank, the more I needed to forget," Tokita continued, lost in his memories. "I got into fights. I started messing up at work. I forced myself on sweet little Rui, who wouldn't hurt a fly. They fired me. I went to prison. When I got out, I went back to the bottle and . . . just . . . gave up. I just waited for my body to catch up to my spirit."

"Tokita," Kinogura asked, leaning in to the man, "who killed your sister?"

The man looked up at him, and he seemed to be back in touch with reality again.

"I don't know," he said. "You tell me! You cops never did find the killer! All you're good for is hassling dead men, like me."

"Did you kill her?"

Tokita grew genuinely angry.

"SHE WAS MY FAMILY!" Tokita bellowed and swung ineffectually at the detective. He ducked back while Uranus moved in. The Space Sword disappeared. Uranus hooked the thrown arm with her own, threw Tokita to the floor face first and bent his arm behind his back. For emphasis, she drove her knee between his shoulder blades.

"Did you kidnap Kasumi Nobumura?" Uranus demanded angrily.

"No!" howled Tokita.

"MAKE ME BELIEVE YOU!"

"I DIDN'T!" Tokita roared. "I haven't touched a woman since Rui! Never!" He began sobbing again. "My lover is a bottle now."

"OK, get off of him," Kinogura hissed, trying to pull Uranus off of him. If she had resisted, he would never have succeeded, but Uranus saw no reason to persist. "Yamada, take him back to lockup please."

Tokita was pulled off of the floor and hustled away. He offered no resistance.

"I guess you Senshi don't have to follow the rules," Kinogura scowled.

"You believe him?" Uranus asked.

"If he did take her, where is she?" Kinogura posed. "Tokita doesn't have any place to go. He doesn't have anything beyond the clothes on his back and a ratty sleeping bag. There aren't any abandoned buildings he could stash her. Unless he killed her and dumped the body and we haven't found it, he doesn't have any means I can think of to hide her this long."

Uranus sighed. "Makes sense. You going to turn him loose?"

"Only if I can't legally keep him," Kinogura replied. "That 'it' he kept talking about. You suppose it's the alcohol talking? His sister's murder was never solved."

"How did she die?" Uranus asked.

"Um," the detective stalled, leafing through a file on the desk. "According to the report, she was asphyxiated."


Junko exited the Chinese restaurant with a look of bitter disappointment on her face. The proprietor, dear old Li-wei Chun, had been at once happy to see her and immensely conciliatory over the situation with Kasumi. At his insistence, they shared some pork cutlets and fried rice. He had offered any knowledge he could, but could come up with nothing he hadn't already told everyone else. His admonition that she be careful on her way back to her apartment was still ringing in her ears.

The girl paused and glanced to her right. Down the street was the marsh. For a moment, she thought about heading that way. After all, it was daylight and if she only went as far as the fence, what could happen?

Common sense prevailed, though, and Junko turned left. As she approached the northwest corner of the next street, her thoughts were consumed with the mystery. What had happened to Kasumi? Was she still alive? Michiru had said so, but that was yesterday. Was she suffering? Would she ever see Kasumi again? In the two years they had roomed together, she and Junko had developed an unlikely friendship. They had little in common. Instead, like two pieces of a puzzle, they seemed to fit each other and fill in each other's gaps. With both of them about to graduate, Junko had resigned herself to the arrangement coming to an end. It wasn't something she looked forward to. They hadn't even moved out and Junko was beginning to miss Kasumi.

Now she really missed her.

A voice in her head, sounding irritatingly like Haruka's, admonished her for not being aware of her surroundings. As she reached the corner, Junko glanced around her. Because of this, she was able to glimpse the person coming toward her.

Continued in Chapter 6