The Tangled Web

The Tangled Web

Chapter Four

By Bottou-chan

A/N: In honor of Chris' birthday, which was the 16th. :o)

Three days had passed, and no sign of the police.

Joker and Neon were restless.

They had not been allowed to leave the mansion since the incident. While in one way, it was good (they were still getting paid), in another way, it chafed. Neon found innumerable little odd jobs to busy herself with. After all, she had once been the maid, and she found dusting and vacuuming to be good 'thinking' times. She went through the motions, but her mind was far away.

Joker, on the other hand, was not used to such captivity. He had always prized his freedom and independence, and it chafed to be under what virtually amounted to house arrest. Still, he understood the reasons, and so he chafed quietly, wishing bureaucracy would get its act together and hurry up.

If rumor was correct, their little task force was well on its way to getting the incident cleared up.

He somehow doubted that the police were making such good progress.

******

It was the fifth day when the signal came.

By this time, all but the essentials of day-to-day operation had been concealed. The last few remnants of evidence were quickly spirited away behind secret walls and down hidden staircases.

The Uruha had rehearsed for this many times over the last few days, and were more than ready for the ordeal to be over. They assembled in their proper places, with last-minute adjustments.

Soon it would be time.

******

The police were only slightly delayed at the outer gate, in accordance with orders. Equally in accordance with orders, however, they had been told in no uncertain terms that this was a bad choice. One does not barge onto the private estate of a billionaire philanthropist, search warrant in hand. One politely sends an elegantly handwritten request on ivory cotton paper for an invitation to a masked ball.

The officers didn't find this particularly amusing, and insisted.

Access was granted.

******

It was Aki who answered their knock.

"Officers-sama," she murmured, opening the door for them and allowing them into the foyer. "How may we be of assistance?"

Officer Kawazu flashed a piece of paper. "Search warrant," he said.

Aki's eyes widened. "Is there a problem?" she asked in a hushed, aghast voice. "Did someone do something bad?"

Officer Makiyama looked sympathetically at her. So young! So innocent! What was she doing working in a home that housed potential criminals? She ought to find herself better employment elsewhere. "We had a tip," he said vaguely. "We just wanted to come by and check it out."

Aki shook her head. "Everyone is very nice around here," she assured him, exuding wholesomeness and goodness.

"I'm sure they are," replied Officer Kawazu politely. "But we would still like to look around."

Aki nodded. "I can't leave the door unattended," she explained, "But I can find someone who will escort you around. It's a big place, and easy to get lost." She pulled a tasseled cord which hung from the ceiling.

"Tell me," said Officer Makiyama nonchalantly. "Do you know a woman named Neon?"

"Neon's a wonderful, beautiful person," declared Aki, as if there was no room for question. "She's kind and thoughtful and gentle. She makes sure Kurei-sama packs enough underwear, and one time, when he was out on business and dropped his toothbrush in the toilet, she went out in a blizzard to the drugstore to buy him a new one."

"Ah. Do you know a man named Hiroji?" inquired Officer Kawazu. "What's he like?"

Aki blinked. "We must have ten or twenty Hiroji's here," she said.

"Odokemono Hiroji," he clarified.

Aki nodded. "Yes. We must have ten or twenty Odokemono Hiroji's here."

Now it was the officers' turn to blink. "Pardon us?"

Aki waved it aside as if it was of no consequence. "It's some game they play. I don't know; I don't get involved in it. Do you have another name?"

"How about Takagi Raiha?" Officer Makiyama suggested.

This time, recognition registered. "Oh, of course," she said. "Raiha's a sweetie, too. I don't see much of him, as he works Upstairs—" by her tone, it seemed that shafts of golden light always illuminated that legendary place, and angel choirs sung mysteriously from its ceilings "—and I'm Down Here." 'Down Here' had a very flat, matter-of-fact edge to it. "But I've heard stories, of course. He accompanies Mori Kurei-sama on many of his trips. He's one of his top aides. But he's still a really nice guy. They went to the hospital to see a bunch of leukemia children-patients once, and Raiha made balloon animals for them."

"Do you know if Neon and… er… Raiha… have any sort of… personal… connection?" It was hard to phrase it delicately, as was suitable for someone of Aki's years.

At that, a frightened expression flashed across the girl's face. "Don't mention that to anyone," she entreated them, eyes wide and pleading. "Never, never, never." Her voice lowered to an almost-dreamy tone. "It's so romantic," she murmured. "Star-crossed lovers. The longing… the desire… it's obvious to anyone who watches them watch each other. But they're not allowed to follow their obvious destiny. They both work for Mori Kurei-sama, Neon as a personal assistant, and Raiha as a personal aide. Neon caught Kurei-sama's eye, and he fell in love with her. Neon thought she was in love with him, too, and their relationship blossomed. Then when Raiha was hired on… well, as harsh as it is to say, Kurei-sama didn't stand a chance. Neon was smitten. Raiha felt it, too… but there was nothing they could do about it, due to their positions. And so their love is destined to be the thing of an epic romance… a pure, chaste love from afar, never admitted to, never fulfilled… two lovers destined to be wrenched apart before they're ever allowed to come together… ohhhh… it's so romantic."

Her expression was rapt, and she clasped her hands together and uttered a breathy sigh before resuming her story.

"But Mori Kurei-sama was oblivious to the whole thing. He believes that Neon is dedicated entirely to him. He doesn't know that when she holds him… when she gazes into his eyes… when they —" (another breathy sigh) " —kiss… she's not with him at all. Her mind and her soul and her heart are with another, even if her body cannot be." With that, Aki looked directly at the two officers. "Isn't that the noblest, most romantic thing you've ever heard?" she demanded.

They politely nodded and agreed that yes, it was very noble of her. Of him. Of both of them.

It was with some degree of relief that their escort showed up, in the form of Kashemaru. He expressed delight at being allowed to aid the policemen in their search. That didn't stop him from vehemently vowing that there would be nothing of use turned up, but it wouldn't hurt for the policemen to reassure themselves on this point.

After they had disappeared, Aki bustled off to the bathroom and brushed her teeth thoroughly.

The string of lies had left an uncharacteristically bad taste in her mouth.