A/n:So here's the first chapter! Detective fiction has always been my favourite genre and finally being able to write a fic like this is such a huge moment for me, I really hope I'm able to pull this off well! This chapter just sets the stage for the story so please bear with the long descriptions, they have a purpose I swear.
The first scene in italics is a flashback and the second one is Mimi reading out loud a letter, I hope that's not confusing.
Nihon: Japan
Kabuki cho: An area in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Known for shady establishments.
Hakama: traditional Japanese pants.
Mapo Tofu: Chinese dish.
Chapter 1: The Curtain Rises
X
The first year of Showa had Japan buzzing with innovation and modernity, and among this hustle and bustle of a new era, we find Mimi Tachikawa trudging unhappily through the busy streets of Tokyo to her place of employment. One might wonder why this young woman, with such long and flowing, beautiful chestnut coloured hair and eyes as enticing as drops of honey and caramel that complimented her peachy skin perfectly, was looking so thoroughly dejected and they might find the answer in her home. Being the only daughter to the current head of a family coming from a long line of wealthy merchants, this young lady had assumed that she would never need to work a muscle in her life.
That was until her beloved papa returned from a long trip abroad, and announced that their Nihon still had very much to learn from the West. He had been enraptured by the Suffragette movement, the fact that there were countries now allowing women to vote, to equally participate in building a nation together, inspired Keisuke Tachikawa to raise his daughter to be the future leader of their family business, breaking traditions and turning heads all across their extended family. But he paid no heed to the objections raised from within his family, in fact he even ignored his wife Satoe's pleas and turned a blind eye to the tantrums thrown by the daughter in question.
Instead, to ensure that Mimi would handle her role as the head of their business with the same precision and understanding that he had in the past, he decided to cut her monthly allowance and told her to get some real life experience by securing a job.
A spoilt princess since birth, Mimi suddenly found herself running about their city hoping to find a place that would hire someone like her, without any useful skills or an inclination to work, so that she could continue to sustain her expensive lifestyle and not lose face amidst her friend circle. She found comfort in the criticism her father received from every direction, it made her reaffirm that he was the crazy one, and not her for begging to stay on the family payroll so her friends wouldn't leave her out of all the fun parties and social events around the town. And it was only so she could maintain her own expensive upkeep, that with a heavy heart Mimi decided to knock on every available door hoping that a golden opportunity would greet her on the other side.
Call it a stroke of fate, or bad luck as Mimi now preferred to, somewhere in between the shady and cramped up lanes of Kabuki cho, she came across a 'help wanted' notice stuck to the door she was about to knock on. Written with a deep blue ink in an elegant display of strokes, the notice stated that the owner of the office was looking for an assistant, no prior experience required. Impressed by the beautiful handiwork on the notice, and rejoicing over the no experience bit Mimi had happily allowed herself to knock twice on the door before she let herself in announcing her intrusion. Looking back on that day, she always reprimanded herself for not reading the sign board hanging over the door, which clearly stated just what kind of an office this was.
In fact she had another chance to realise that there was something fishy when the tall and handsome blond with piercing blue eyes, who sat with his feet sprawled across an old, slightly broken desk looking as disheveled as the state of the dingy office, hired her before she even finished introducing herself. But the joy of finding a job took precedent over everything else for Mimi in that moment, even common sense. So when the blond told her that he would pay her every two weeks, in cash, Mimi happily abandoned any shreds of logic residing within her and agreed to show up early morning the next day to start work.
It was when she was gathered around the dinner table with her parents that night, proudly announcing her employment, that she realised just how lightly she had taken the whole situation. Her triumphant posture faltered first when her father asked what was the name of the company that had hired her and she drew a blank. Understanding that this was Mimi's first time navigating through the real world all by herself her parents let this pass and moved on to their next question, what was the job she was hired for? She answered this with little confidence, as all she knew was that her job was to be an assistant to the man who had hired her and that he would be sharing details about her duties the next day, when her father pressed her for the name of the man, she sheepishly admitted that she had forgotten to ask that.
Embarrassed by her own foolishness, Mimi had no will to argue when her mother decided to accompany her on her first day of work, just to make sure that she hadn't been scammed or wasn't falling prey to the sleazy establishments in Kabuki cho. Mothers tagging along for the first day of primary school was common, but doing it for the first day of employment was something that Mimi knew had never happened before, and yet she couldn't bring herself to see the bright side of her possibly starting a new trend by agreeing to this.
Because the memory of her first day working for the suspicious blond man was etched into her mind like a stain on a white cloth refusing to dissolve.
Her mother had been the one to knock on the door, loudly with a guarded confidence that she had never shown in their house before.
When the door finally opened, Mimi had ascertained to herself that this would possibly be the most humiliating moment of her life, she couldn't have imagined anything worse than this ever happening to her. Her mother had stared down the blond man with her arms folded across her chest in an attempt to intimidate him, but surprisingly the opposite had happened.
He had taken one look at her and then her mother and immediately taken a step back, bowing his head in an apologetic gesture, the man spoke, "I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that she was still under 18 years of age."
Mimi had peeked at him from behind her mother's shoulders and her eyes had widened at how well put together he looked today, compared to the state she had seen him in yesterday. The navy blue and grey hakama he wore today was crisply ironed and without a single crease in sight, his shiny, blond hair that had been falling all over his face the day before but had now been combed and neatly set to frame his forehead smartly. When he spoke, his voice was gentle and respectful and devoid of any laziness that she had sensed earlier. She felt a light blush creep up on her cheeks, had he cleaned up just for her first day, was a question that didn't stop itself from revolving in her mind.
But her moment of self-serving excitement lasted only a minute as her mother decided to answer the blond's doubt with pride, "She isn't. She turned 21 this spring."
Mimi could only stand there, hoping that a hole would open up in the ground and swallow her so she didn't have to be a part of this discussion anymore as the blond man's azure eyes landed on her and his lips curved upwards ever so slightly in what could only be described as a smirk.
"But this is the first time we have allowed her to do something so…" Satoe had continued with the explanation, pausing to look for the appropriate word while she attempted to peek into the office currently concealed by the blond's broad shoulders, "independent." She finished, disappointed that she hadn't been able to get a good look inside, Satoe just met the man's eyes again and added in an almost reprimanding tone, "Which is why I am here to make sure that she is not being taken advantage of. Didn't you consider it odd when my daughter barely took any details from you, and didn't even bother asking for your name?"
"Well, I just assumed she wasn't very bright."
"Even so, you shouldn't have let her behaviour slide." Her mother nodded and Mimi couldn't help but whip her head at her in shock. It was one thing to be considered an idiot by a complete stranger but it was another for her mother to agree to it.
"Of course, my apologies Miss." The blond smiled and bowed his head ever so slightly once again in her mother's direction. Suddenly Satoe's attitude took a turn in a completely opposite direction, making Mimi stare at her mother in even more disbelief than earlier.
"As long as you understand." Satoe too smiled, pushing a loose strand behind her ear. She stepped aside to let Mimi come into view and nudged her with a pointed look, the signal for her to start speaking.
But how could she?
How could Mimi even begin to think about working for this man after how thoroughly she had just been embarrassed? Her mother nudged her again and this time her eyes held a warning, if she wouldn't do as they had practiced before coming here she would probably have more hell to pay later at home, so Mimi, just like any other unmarried girl in this era, surrendered easily to her parent's wishes.
"Nice to meet you," She began and almost let out a cry as she watched the blond hold back a laugh with pursed lips and shaking shoulders. With her mother's eyes boring into her, Mimi continued with the lines her mother had forced her to learn this morning, "My name is Mimi Tachikawa and I am the only daughter of the renowned Tachikawa Enterprises. In order to help my father in running our family business in the future, I am looking to gain some work experience. May I know the details of the job that you have kindly offered to me?"
She felt her cheeks get red as the blond man cleared his throat loudly in response, covering his mouth with a fist in a pretence to stifle the chuckle that escaped his lips but soon enough he collected himself and faced her with a smile that Mimi was sure wouldn't last very long.
"Nice to meet you too," He started and sure enough the smile turned into a smirk as he continued to gaze down at her amusingly, "I'm Yamato Ishida, a private detective-"
"Ishida? Did I hear that correctly?" Her mother interrupted him in a sharp tone, "You're the one who brought Keiko's husband back from-" She stopped mid sentence to look at Mimi, a softness settled on her face as she realised that she did not want her daughter to be privy to such matters, "Never mind that now. Mimi, I don't think this is the right place for you…"
"It's not like I have any other options!" Mimi burst out, too tired to hold herself back anymore. She couldn't let all the embarrassment that she had just suffered go to naught, "And besides, he told me yesterday that he would pay me in cash."
Satoe opened her mouth to argue but upon hearing the last part, she closed it quickly.
Silence settled over the three of them as her mother continued to ponder on the situation, but somehow Mimi could tell that she had won the fight. If she was unable to find a job then she would turn to her mother for pocket money which would mean that Satoe would need to share her own reserves that she saved up for shopping and hot spring trips while Keisuke was away. It all boiled down to worrying about Mimi's future or keeping her hobbies intact, and eventually Satoe chose herself. Though she did give a lengthy description of what would happen to Ishida if he involved her daughter in untoward activities before leaving Mimi to start her first day as a private detective's assistant.
The horrors of her boss's uncontrollable laughter as he had guided her around the tiny office and instructed her on what to do was something that was etched permanently in Mimi's mind. Even though, in the past six months she had come a long way from back then, her boss never missed an opportunity to remind her and to mock her for all the things that had gone down that day. But as embarrassing as it had all been, the brunette was somehow glad that it had happened that way. It gave her more the reason to work harder and excel at whatever task the Detective assigned to her, and prove to him, and her parents, that she was capable.
The work in the office of the Private Detective Yamato Ishida was not as hectic as Mimi had anticipated.
At first Mimi had only been in charge of sorting his mail, but unable to sit idle knowing the state the office was in, she took it upon herself to regularly clean and organise their working space as often as possible, which impressed the blond enough for him to let out a gasp at the sight of a filing system in place. Soon enough he allowed her to not just sort through the mail, but also read the contents and summarise the requests for him, and once Mimi got the hang of this, he let her take another step forward by making her sit in the meetings with potential clients so she could take notes and record the details of the conversations that always ended up helping the investigation in some way.
On the other hand it was the cases and requests that arrived at their office's doorstep that kept Mimi intrigued enough to continue her work here. From looking for lost cats to tracking down eyewitnesses for the court, people from all over Tokyo would make the trip to Kabuki cho to enlist Yamato Ishida's services.
At first her own impression of the Detective had been one of awe and curiosity, so she couldn't judge the people who showered him with attention when he walked down the street, but after having worked with him at such close quarters, Mimi had watched the air of mystery surrounding him disappear into thin smoke.
Yamato Ishida always saw the worst in people, while Mimi had grown up believing in seeing the best, so when push came to shove, a clash between their ideals was not an uncommon occurring in the office.
She wasn't fond of how the Detective always treated all his clients with utmost suspect, even though the latter informed her that that was how investigations were supposed to work many a times. If Mimi was taking part in the meeting with the clients she would make sure to downplay his accusatory questions by being as nice as possible with their customers. She also didn't enjoy how casually he treated the lives of the people he was supposed to be helping, always dealing the blunt blow of truth without hesitation, not caring the kind of effect his words could have on the listener. He was completely driven by his passion for solving riddles, ensuring that all the pieces in the puzzle fit right where there were supposed to, however, Mimi was driven by the need to be of use to someone, in whatever way possible and make things easier for everyone around her.
And yet, despite all their differences the two managed to make a good team.
Especially when it came to handling what was considered Yamato's specialty, bringing a cheating husband back home.
Yamato would play the strict hand, getting all the basic information he needed to track the husbands, and once he was out of the picture Mimi would play the helping hand and console the grieving wife into opening up and divulging further details that completed the puzzle and allowed her boss to drag the scoundrels back home.
Despite all the vibrant and never-ending excitement that this job brought into her life, Mimi couldn't exactly say that she enjoyed her job all the time, specifically when it involved interfering in other people's personal lives and potentially breaking up their homes. But sometimes there would come a rare moment when Yamato would look at her gently and remind her that their clients homes were already broken when they walked in through the door, and that what they did actually helped in fixing the cracks, and she would feel reassured about her involvement with his one-man agency.
Not to mention, he never missed a payment, every two weeks Mimi would find an envelope with her salary tucked into it on her desk, along with a snack or sweets that always managed to bring a smile to her face.
Reminiscing about how she had gotten to where she was managed to put Mimi in a much better mood than she had begun her day in. When she reached her office, she peeked into the metal post box hanging next to the entrance door and pulled out all the fresh mail before entering, all the while humming an energetic tune, ready to start yet another day of honest work, through which she would earn the amount she needed to buy the silk for a new kimono for a birthday party next week. Dropping the mail on her desk, she decided she would first get done with the chores around their office, some light dusting and cleaning up, make some tea for herself and then begin her day.
Mimi was usually the first one to arrive, so it didn't faze her that Yamato was not around. Seeing as it was a Monday, she just assumed that he'd be sleeping in after a long night of drinking, and scrunched up her nose in hopes that he wouldn't stumble in here reeking of alcohol and ruining the positive note on which she had started the day. She preferred reaching first anyway, it gave her the time to organise their schedule and ensure that they wouldn't spend the whole day lazing around listening to the NHK broadcast or playing mahjong. She always wondered how her boss had managed to get any work done before she had shown up at his doorstep, as he was so easily distracted and a procrastinator of the highest order.
While sipping her tea, she went around the office to check if dust had gathered anywhere, rearranged scattered documents on her boss's desk and made sure that no trash was lying about the office. After which she had planned to sort the mail but it was then that their bell rang and a customer's voice floated in through the door, asking if the office was open. Mimi decided to look at the mail later and went on to greet the customer. Informing them that Yamato was not around was now a habit of hers, and she was easily able to convince the lady who had been at the door to share all the details about her request with Mimi instead.
She sat with the client for over an hour, jotting down their responses to a list of questions that Yamato had prepared and given to her for moments like these. It seemed that the lady was suspicious of her daughter-in-law stealing the household allowance, but hadn't managed to catch her red-handed yet and needed the Detective to hep her with that. Just as Mimi bid good-bye to this client, another one appeared and with no sign of Yamato, she took on the responsibility of dealing with them as well. This request seemed more urgent than the previous one, a mother was worried that her son was involved in some suspicious activity as he would reach home from school very late, despite of leaving there on time. Once the second client was out the door, Mimi arranged all the notes she had taken neatly, marking the second request as urgent and put them on Yamato's desk before heading out to get some lunch for herself, the mail lying forgotten on her desk.
Her favourite restaurant to eat at was just a short walk away from the office and served delicious Chinese food. Yamato had been the one to introduce the shop to her so as she sat there enjoying her serving of mapo tofu somewhere she hoped that she'd see him waltz in and call for his regular order, but alas, the hour that she spent there was uneventful to say the least and the only conversation she made was with the server. While walking back she felt an air of uneasiness surround her. It was pretty common for her boss to not show up without notice, and she had accustomed herself to such habits, but the feeling that something big was going to happen today attached itself to her heart and made it difficult for her to concentrate on anything else. When she opened the door to the office, she half expected Yamato to be at his desk skimming through the notes she had left there for him, but to her disappointment the room was as empty as she had left it an hour ago.
Shaking her head, Mimi decided to sit down at her own table and finally go through the mail that she had looked over since morning, and immediately felt panic take over as her eyes chanced upon something in the stack. Hidden among propaganda newsletters and store leaflets was a pristinely white envelope on the top right corner of which the words "confidential" and "urgent" had been stamped in red. It was addressed to Yamato directly, not to the office or Detective Ishida, but Yamato Ishida in a neat script that very much resembled his own. On the bottom left corner the name and details of the sender was mentioned and Mimi almost did a double take as she read it.
From: Takeru Ishida
Noboribetsu-onsencho
Noboribetsu, Hokkaido
In the first month of her working with Detective Ishida, she had found out from the lady who ran the small used book store next to their office, that he hailed from Hokkaido and had only arrived in Tokyo a year or so ago. Mimi hadn't particularly been interested in knowing anything about him, but seeing her going back and forth from the office so often had caught the bookstore lady's eye. The lady had then forced Mimi into having tea with her one day and indulged her in all the rumours that surrounded the tall and fair stranger with hair as golden as the sun, that had shown up in this lane some time ago. He had family in Hokkaido, if Mimi recalled her conversation with the old lady correctly, and had worked in the police forces there until he was discharged for reasons unknown. Of course, Mimi had taken in all the information and stored it in the back of her mind, she had been too afraid to approach Yamato directly to know more, but now she realised had she done that she would know just who exactly was Takeru Ishida.
It was then that her mind begun to spiral.
What if it was a family emergency and Mimi had unknowingly spent the whole first half of the day ignoring the letter, what if by the time she got a hold of Yamato now something terrible would've already happened, would she be the one to blame? She could always open the envelope and see what the letter was all about, Yamato had given her full permission to do that, but it just didn't feel right to do so knowing that the letter had come from a family member and not a client. So she just paced around the office, watching the door with the corner of her eye as her brain began to feed her scenarios even worse than the ones she had already thought of.
What she was most afraid of was Yamato firing her.
Despite all the complaints and disagreements between them, Mimi had gotten used to working for him, and even though she didn't know just what category her skill set currently fell into, she at least knew that she was good at whatever she did here. It wasn't just about earning the money to afford her lifestyle anymore, she had grown attached to the wobbly lanes of Kabuki cho, their dingy office, the oddness of their clients, and most importantly the peculiarity that surrounded Yamato.
She needed to take a deep breath, she realised, whatever her boss's reaction would be to her error in judgement, the safety of his family came prior to anything else. She needed to first convey the important message to Yamato and then await the consequences of her actions, whatever they may be.
There was just one telephone in their office, kept on a tall stool next to Yamato's desk, with a note containing all important contact numbers stuck above it on the wall. One of these numbers belonged to the landlord of the complex where Yamato was renting a room, Mimi had been told to contact him there only when he was absolutely unreachable and it was an emergency. Concluding that today's situation matched those requirements perfectly, she made her way to the telephone. She wasn't yet used to using the machine that well, at home if she needed to speak to someone her maidservant would dial the number for her, so she stared at the device for a moment before she understood that she needed to lift the receiver and then dial the number. However, thankfully for Mimi, the minute her finger touched the dial ring, the door of their office opened and Yamato announced his presence.
"Good afternoon!"
He was immediately taken aback by how pleased she looked by his arrival, as that rarely ever happened, so when Mimi rushed towards him, the blond took a few calculative steps back and arched his eyebrows at her surprising behaviour. Unlike most days, today he was dressed in a stylish beige Western style suit, which explained why he had been missing for the whole day. Sometimes the local police enlisted Yamato's help in helping tracking down important witnesses, and when their case was presented in the court, he was often called into testify. Recently wearing Western style clothing to formal scenarios was in trend so whenever her boss showed up wearing this suit, Mimi knew that he'd had a court appearance.
"There's an urgent letter for you."She announced quickly, waving the envelope in his face and earning a scowl from him in return,"From someone called Takeru."
She watched with bated breath as Yamato took the letter from her hands and ran his eyes over the details. But instead of tearing it open as quickly as he could, he just simply handed it back to her with a deadpan expression on his face.
"Throw it away."
"Throw it away?" Mimi repeated after him, worried that the words hadn't correctly registered in her head.
"Yes, throw it away."
It just didn't sound right. She had spent the past hour agonising over what she needed to do to get this urgent piece of information across to her boss as soon as possible, and now that he stood in front of her, all of her worries were decimated by three simple words? Mimi just couldn't let that happen now, could she?
"But this Takeru is your family member, is he not?" She asked, taking back the letter from him with eyes narrowed in suspicion, she would be getting to the bottom of this mystery if that was the last thing she did. Folding her arms across her chest and carefully tucking the letter under her arms, she added, "Something could've happened to him!"
"I spoke to him last week, nothing has happened to him." Yamato shrugged as he gestured for her to make way for him, since the two were still standing at the entrance.
"The letter was posted exactly six days ago," Mimi argued, refusing to budge and make way for him, "in the day that passed between your talk with him, anything could've happened!"
Up until now Yamato had been maintaining the usual distance between them but now he suddenly leaned a bit forward towards her and fixed his piercing blue eyes on her, making Mimi's heart skip a beat, because he really looked as handsome as everyone claimed when he stood so close to her. She tried to keep his gaze, but it was next to impossible for her to not squirm when he continued to stare down at her so intensely, making her cast her eyes downwards so she could observe their footwear in silence.
"Look, do you want to read the letter?" He asked, his voice completely calm and undemanding, quiet unlike his usual tone, making Mimi sneak a glance at him from under her lashes.
He had the same look on his face from when he praised himself for solving a good puzzle. Mimi couldn't get mad at him either, because the truth was, that she did want to read the letter. She had gone through overlapping waves of emotions because of this single white envelope in the past hour or so and there was no way that she'd be able to sleep at night without knowing whatever was written in it. She wasn't surprised that her boss had caught onto her wish, that was his job after all, but she still wondered whether he had been able to deduce just how much time Mimi had spent worrying about this letter.
"Well...yes." She answered him honestly, there was no point in trying to hide things from a boss who's only talent was finding the truth in any situation.
"By all means, go ahead." He waved his hands in the air, and once again gestured for her to move aside, only this time Mimi listened to his request.
"I can read it?" She followed him towards his desk, stopping in front of it when he slumped down on the chair, with doubt dripping from her voice, Mimi confirmed again and again "You don't mind? You really don't mind?"
"I don't. Like I said, I already spoke to him. I'm sure this is just a follow up to our conversation from the other day." Yamato replied, putting his feet up on the table which made Mimi frown, he stretched his arms behind him as he leaned back comfortably in his chair, "Takeru can be a bit dramatic sometimes. All that urgent and confidential, probably means nothing."
"And who is Takeru, if you don't mind me asking?" Mimi studied the two red stamps on the letter, these characters were the reason she had ended up having a near panic attack, and now being told that they had just been used for dramatic effect made her annoyed enough to actually toss the envelope into a nearby bin.
"My younger brother."
Her head shot up at his response and she looked at him with eyes widened in surprise, "You have a younger brother?"
"Yes. Why is that so surprising?" Yamato frowned at her, catching on to any changes in her expression and behaviour as always.
"You just don't...seem like you're the eldest son." Mimi replied with as much stability in her tone she could manage in the moment, it was hard to hide her apprehension towards him with a statement like that.
Yamato's face scrunched up into a deep scowl at her words, which made Mimi quickly tear the letter open with the fear that he might change his mind and snatch it away from her any minute. As she unfolded the papers, she noticed there were quite a few spots of ink blotches and possibly water stains, along with characters and sentences being stricken off and rewritten at many places.
Just as she was skimming through the contents, her eyes fell on certain words that almost made her heart drop to her stomach.
A cold shiver ran down her spine as more such words appeared throughout the letter, making her tightly grasp onto the set of papers in her hands.
Somewhere deep down she felt vindicated because Yamato had been wrong about the letter being irrelevant, but she couldn't manage to bring those emotions to the surface, having been completely consumed by the content written on these pages, she could only stand absolutely still, eyes fixated on the array of characters as a new kind of helplessness gripped her heart.
She had to do something however, she had to look up and tell Yamato what his brother had written, but her throat felt dry and her mind was at a loss of words.
Mimi had no other choice, she realised, but to read the letter aloud so her boss could understand that he too was capable of making incorrect guesses once in a while.
"Dearest Nii san,
I really hope that you're reading this.
Knowing you, you must've kept this aside thinking that this is just a continuation of our conversation over the telephone yesterday. But I regret to tell you, that it is not and oh, how I wish it had been. You, being in that kind of line of work, are more aware about how much can change in the span of a few hours.
Just four hours after our talk yesterday, our common childhood friend, Izumi Koushiro was murdered."
There was a loud thud as the chair Yamato had been rocking back and forth on, hit the floor loudly. Mimi, afraid that meeting his gaze might deter her from continuing, kept on reading.
"Before I go into the details about the crime, I would like to share with you something that I couldn't bring myself to tell you over the telephone yesterday. I wanted to, but Nii san you sounded so content with the life you've made for yourself in Tokyo, that I thought it would be best to not bother you with the problems back home.
But of course, I regret that now.
A month ago, Izumi san and Takenouchi san decided that they would join their businesses and expand their new organisation outside of our little town and into other parts of Hokkaido. And to give an auspicious start to this new venture, they announced the betrothal of their children, Koushiro san and Sora san to the whole town. The wedding date was set for yesterday night, and almost the whole town was present at the ceremony, including myself."
The next few lines had been cut and rewritten many times, so Mimi had to take a deep breath and make sense of the correct sequence before she could continue. She could tell that Takeru had struggled to find the right words to explain the situation to his brother.
"The families had prepared for various celebrations before the actual ceremony which is why the Izumi mansion was completely packed yesterday. But you know as well as I do, that Koushiro san isn't…" Mimi closed her eyes for a minute and shook her head, she had to read the letter as coherently as possible she reminded herself, "wasn't the type of person who enjoyed such over the top displays. Midway through the hymn recital by the shrine maidens, Koushiro san left the main hall and retired into his study, informing Sora san to come get him when he would be needed for the real ceremony.
Now this is where things take an uncertain turn.
Currently the police are unsure for just how long he was missing from the main hall as not many people, apart from Sora san, saw him leave.
As far as Sora san is concerned...I don't think I can explain this well in the letter and I apologize for that.
When the final performance, by a koto player, was over Izumi Kae requested Sora san to go call for her son so their wedding ceremony could begin. And it was only a few minutes after she left the hall that we all heard her scream...
So as you can gather, it was Sora san who discovered the body, followed by Izumi Masami and some other male family members from Koushiro san's side. After this, all the guests were rushed out of the house and into the street and we were made to wait outside until the police took our testimony.
I know better than anyone how particular you are about details, but once again I must apologize Nii-san, I am not aware of all the testimonies that were given by everyone who was present at the crime scene. I tried my best to pry some extra information out of the police station but my attempts were in vain.
So instead, let me tell you about what the police has decided to make public just this morning.
Koushiro san was murdered in his study, but the murder weapon is still under investigation. The study was locked from the inside when Sora san had first arrived at the scene and she had opened the door using the copy of the key that she possesses. The only other copy was owned by Koushiro san and it is currently missing. The coroner has not yet released any details to the police but it is being assumed that the murder was committed while the performances were going on in the main hall. Due to which, Sora san is not a suspect as of now but she is being considered an accomplice as she was the only one who had access to the room.
The prime suspect named by the police is...
Nii-san, I'm so sorry.
I'm sorry. I don't know how to…
I'm just so sorry.
The police believe Yagami Taichi to be the killer-"
A loud noise made Mimi jump up in surprise, turning her eyes away from the letter in her hands she saw that Yamato was on his feet now, the noise had probably come from him slamming the desk with both his hands. The colour had completely drained from his face and the way his whole body was quivering with unbridled anger made Mimi want to take a step back out of fear for her own safety. When her eyes locked with his, he nodded lightly, signalling for her to keep reading and she was more than happy to oblige.
"Before I continue, Nii-san I want you to know that I firmly believe that Taichi nii could never do something like this.
He's someone that you've placed your trust in, someone that you wouldn't hesitate to give your life for, someone you take pride in being friends with.
And you are the best judge of character that I know, so I can say with confidence that a man you would have no shame in defending could never be a killer.
The town seems to have a different opinion altogether, however, and it pains me to write these things to you but my hands are tied Nii-san.
Many people around the town have confirmed to the police that Taichi nii and Sora san had been close with each other and that it was rumoured that their relationship comprised of more than just friendship. A few of Taichi nii's colleagues have claimed that he was in shock after the engagement between Sora san and Koushiro san was announced and had attempted to confront her publicly many times in the following month, including the day before the wedding. The police have been unable to procure an alibi for Taichi nii for the day of the wedding and almost all people interviewed in relation to him have stated that they did not see him yesterday.
Another very strange detail that was shared by the police is that they discovered a large amount of lilacs near the crime scene, despite of the Izumi household being completely devoid of that plant. Izumi Kae has said that she often saw Taichi nii handing those flowers to Sora san around the town, prior to her engagement with Koushiro san. And as you know, Taichi nii's family runs a flower shop so the police are assuming that he had easy access to these flowers.
All of these statements are based on heresy and have led to nothing but conjecture as you can tell, which could've easily been corrected if they had questioned Taichi nii directly.
But Nii-san, when the police went to take him into custody, he was nowhere to be found.
It has now been six hours since they began the search for Taichi nii, but no progress has been made, it's almost as if he vanished into thin air.
I am sure by now you've understood why I have written to you.
If Taichi nii isn't found then the police and the rest of the town will continue to suspect him as the murderer, and the real criminal will continue to walk free.
Nii-san, I know that he didn't do it, he just couldn't have.
The clues all point towards him yes, but it seems too easy, too simple. It seems that someone is framing him for a crime he didn't commit and I know how much you despise that.
Hear my plea and come back home.
Come back and help Taichi nii…
and Hikari chan…
Nii-san, you have to come back. You're the only one who can find him.
You're the only one who can fix this.
Nii-san, please.
Please come back.
Yours,
Takeru."
Mimi finally allowed herself to straighten up and take a good look at her boss, and she ended up wishing she hadn't.
She had never seen him look so helpless before, in any situation Yamato always knew what to do and yet, right now he was standing over his desk with his head in his hands, shoulders trembling and his eyes hidden away from her, possibly searching for an answer that he knew was nowhere within his reach.
She should've said something comforting or hopeful, at least uttered her condolences for the loss of his friend, but she was as dumbfounded as him, as this was Mimi's first taste of reality. How could she have been so silly, to not understand that this is the kind of crime detectives were supposed to solve? How could she have made her peace with missing pets and untrustworthy spouses being the norm? How could she have not known the day she started working here, that one day she would come face to face with a crime too heavy for her heart?
What she found most unnerving however, was how she felt like she didn't know the man she had been working for the past six months at all.
Until this morning, Yamato had been her often irritating and often endearing boss, nothing more and nothing less.
But now he was a man who had a younger brother who needed his help, a best friend who was missing and a hometown plagued by a crime bigger than itself.
There were a million questions buzzing around in Mimi's mind but when she finally heard her boss sigh and lift his face from his hands, she asked the one that had been the loudest, "What are you going to do?"
Yamato didn't face her immediately and kept his gaze cast downwards as his hands slowly curled into a fist, "I don't have much of a choice now, do I?" He asked with a bitter laugh escaping his lips.
Mimi was worried that he had lost his usual passion, his eagerness to take on a mystery and get to the bottom of it, until Yamato looked up and locked his eyes with her, his blue eyes fierce with determination like two furious whirlpools on the surface of the ocean. There were no signs of fear in his eyes, there were no tremblings of doubt in his voice, his shoulders were now straight and taught beneath the smooth fabric of the western suit, there were no signs of hesitation or uncertainty surrounding him anymore, he looked more prepared to make a move than she had ever seen him before.
"I have to go back home."
X
A/n: Mimi and Yamato are a few years apart in this story instead of just one, Yamato would be around 24-25, and all the other characters will have different ages too which I'll mention as it goes.
TAKERU ISHIDA. Let that sink in haha, Hiroaki and Natsuko in canon took away that smooth name from us, never forgiving them for that.
Japan doesn't have any strict rules about the bride and groom not seeing each other before the wedding, so that's why the whole thing with Sora going to get Koushiro wouldn't be odd. Their ceremonies back then used to be very short and simple, I read a murder mystery set in this era from a Japanese author so I can say this with confidence xD
And finally, this is a huge project for me so I would really appreciate feedback in the form of reviews, even if it's just a single line, it'd mean a lot! The next chapter will be posted during Mimato week, which is in last week of August, stay tuned!