What If?
Chapter 12- Kill
Pale fingers sifted through the dark locks of the sleeping form half on his lap as violet eyes fixed themselves on the man pacing back and forth across the room. Yohji and Ken had arrived about 30 minutes ago, the latter distressed, pale, his face streaked with tears and his body still visibly trembling. Ran had ushered them quickly inside and led them to the basement, away from prying eyes and ears (just in case), where Ken had almost instantaneously fallen asleep. No, it was more like he passed out. Since then, hushed voices had been discussing and explaining the current situation. Aya remained silent the whole time, just shaking her head minutely as information presented itself. Only after silence fell did she finally speak.
"I just can't believe it was Kase… He was always calling to check in on Ken, going out of his way to make him smile…"
"What can I say?" Yohji asked with a sigh. "It's a sordid story if I've ever seen one." A hand raked through a mass of honey-blonde hair before rummage around inside the brown trench coat for cigarettes. Ignoring the disapproving glance thrown by a pair of indigo eyes, the detective tossed one white cylinder to the redhead situated on the couch, who deftly caught it in his free hand.
"Ran-nii!" the girl chided, but was silenced by her brother's gaze.
"Aya-chan," he began softly, "desperate times call for desperate measures. If I don't smoke this, I'm going to have a brain aneurism." Yohji chocked back a snigger at just how calmly and detachedly he had said that. The young girl pouted, but did not object further.
"Poor Mamoru-kun. Yohji-kun, how are we going to get him back?" The elder took a slow, long drag of his cigarette, eyebrows knotted in thought and concentration. He exhaled deeply, smoke spiraling about him as it rose to the ceiling and disappeared like some sort of surrealistic fleeting hope. It made Aya shiver.
"I don't know," he answered honestly. "We had an agent go into service as a tracker for the family. Sonomi Kouga. I got a message on my cell from the department that told me of what she found at that old business building. Too late, though, isn't it?" A gentle hand touched the man's arm, causing him to look down, his eyes meeting with Aya's.
"Don't lose hope, Yohji. Hope is all that's left right now…" 'She really is a good kid,' he thought, the corners of his lips twitching up into a smile. "I'm sure that we're going to get through this." Her eyes fell on Ken's stationary form. "All of us. Mamoru-kun, too." Yohji tousled the young girl's hair, as hard as that may have been with her hair in those braids.
"You're a good kid, Aya." There it was again, that damn glare!!! "Ran, do you think you'll be okay with Ken staying here…?" The redhead nodded, his slender ringers still stroking through the chocolate-coloured hair of the boy on his lap.
"Yes. He needs to rest, and I'm not about to wake him and make him leave. Besides…" A pause. "I think he'll be safer here than anywhere else. The Kase fellow doesn't know anything about me or where I live, whereas he knows about you and Ken."
"Good thinking, nii-chan! Ken-kun is more than welcome to stay here." Yohji flashed the two a grateful grin.
"Thanks, you guys. I'm going to head out and start looking," he told them as he backtracked and started out. "Take care of Ken, ne? He needs to at least try and take it easy. Y'know, get some R&R." Two nods followed him as he walked up the stairs and disappeared from sight. A few seconds later, a telltale sound of the door shutting told them he was gone. Aya looked to her brother, who still hadn't moved in fear of unsettling the boy using him for a pillow.
"Can I get you anything, Ran-nii?" she asked sweetly. At least she managed a smile out of the weary boy. The worry he had for everyone was written all over his face and as easy to read as a book. She could always tell what he was feeling. He never made any attempts to mask his emotion, and even if he did, his eyes betrayed him, those violet orbs speaking endlessly with his feelings.
"No, Aya-chan. Thank you, though." His little sister paused for a moment, blue eyes looking over him with scrutiny before she smiled gently.
"A cup of Earl Grey tea and two naproxins, it is. Be back in a few minutes." It never ceased to amaze the fiery-haired florist how his sister could glance at him and know everything he was thinking, feeling, and needing in an instant. He was grateful for her. Ken gently stirred in his lap, snuggling a bit closer, then falling still once more. Ran didn't even bother to fight the smile that rose to his lips as he resumed caressing the younger boy's hair soothingly. It was a feeling he could get used to…
Hirofumi wiped the blood from his hands on a nearby towel. He turned his harsh gaze onto the security guard standing nearby.
"Dispose of the body and have this room cleaned up, will you?" Without waiting for a response, he stepped out of the office, leaving the man to his task as he made his was to his quarters.
The young businessman flopped onto his oversized bed brusquely, setting the Glock in his hand down on the stand beside it. He was turning into his father, a thought that frightened him beyond thought. He had just killed someone in cold blood. At least he'd been merciful, a bullet through the brain. She died without pain, as he had promised she would if she didn't deliver his brother to him by this time. She hadn't. It was justified. He gave her orders, and a blatant threat on her life if she didn't or couldn't comply.
'But what would Mamoru do if he ever knew?' This was all for his little brother, all so they could be reunited. No measure was too extreme. Was it? Would Mamo-chan be able to tell what he'd done to get him back? Would he see the blood on his hands, mirrored in his eyes? Would he see the death, the hatred, the madness that he could barely keep locked away, the anger and rage that surged closer and closer to his surface with every day that passed? After all that's happened, would the boy care? 'After all that's happened… would I care…?' Hirofumi shook the thought from his mind. 'Of course I will! This is all for him! All for us! And once I have him back, everything will be normal again. Everything.'
"Forgive me, Mamoru."
"That isn't who you should be asking forgiveness from." Hirofumi rose at the sudden voice of his older brother, who was standing in the doorway. He hadn't even heard the door open… God, that guy was creepy.
"Oh? And just who, Masafumi, should I be asking forgiveness from…?" a smirk crossed the scientist's face.
"God." He opened his arms regally, bowing a little. "Or me. We are one and the same, after all." Hirofumi rolled his eyes and flopped back down.
"Don't be such an infant, bro," he called from his reclined position. "You need to stop playing in your laboratories and get some semblance of a real life." There was no answer, and Hirofumi knew his elder sibling must be smoldering by now. The thought brought a smirk to his own face.
"I conduct VERY important research down there, Hirofumi!" he hissed. "In fact, I have the product of that research here with me now…" This grabbed the younger's attention, and he bolted back up to look at his brother.
"Masafumi, what-" his sentence was cut off as a youngish woman with short, dark blue hair stepped in, clad entirely in blacks and indigos, her eyes concealed by a pair of sunglasses, stepped into sight just behind the eccentric scientist. "This woman…? I don't understand…"
"Of course not, brother," the elder sneered. "I wouldn't expect your simple mind to comprehend anything, especially at your acceptance of face- values. Everything will become quite clear, very soon." Hirofumi shifted uneasily at the tone in his brother's voice, not liking it one bit. "She is my first successful prototype. You never bothered to spend any time with me, or tried to comprehend my work, so how could you possibly grasp it now? Let me see if I can put this in laymen's terms for you…
"She is a super-human." Hirofumi stared, his eyes reflecting in skepticism and a bit of humour. "No, I'm not sure if I could really call her that. It is really quite complex, and your inferior brain couldn't begin to comprehend if I began to explain scientifically. Perhaps…" his voice dropped, taking on a serious and darkened sound. "Perhaps I can show you…" The younger brother stood, reaching stealthily for his Glock on the night-board beside him, holding it close and concealed against his body.
"Just what do you mean by that, brother?" he challenged. The intimidating look on Masafumi's face did not fade as he shrugged and stepped further into the room to allow passage for the indigo-haired woman to step inside, which she did.
"Neu, give him a taste." A twisted grin arose to the woman's lips. With a burst of inhuman speed, she rushed forward, one gloved hand wrapping around the neck of the tall businessman. He let out a strangled cry of sheer surprise as he was lifted from the ground with disturbing ease by the slender woman without a bit of effort. Her grip tightened around his esophagus, completely choking off his air supply as he dangled helplessly off the ground, too pained and astonished to fight back. "Do you understand now, Hirofumi???" He could barely hear his brother cackling maniacally at the scene being played out for him. Slowly, Hirofumi reached out to the woman's face, sliding the glasses off her nose. Time seemed to freeze for an instant as, through dulled vision and a suffocating brain, Hirofumi looked upon the woman's face.
'Her eyes…'
"Neu! Drop him!" Suddenly, the doctrinaire death-hold vanished, and Hirofumi felt his body hitting the floor, crumpling and weak. Coughs wracked his body as he struggled to regain his breath. Composure be damned, the man simply wanted to breath and go on living! "Do you understand at all now, brother?" The young man took a deep, shuddering breath. If he wasn't so weak, and if that… thing weren't there, he would've jumped on his 'nii- san' and beat the living shit out of him.
"What… what is she? Her eyes… they weren't human."
"Very good! My, you're not as dull as you've let on all these years!" Hirofumi clenched his fist, but stopped when he saw the woman called Neu fix her gaze on him from behind those sunglasses. "My fair lady Neu is now as much animal as she is human. I finally found where I had been making my mistakes in experimentation. Children are too weak, their body's' internal structure is too fragile to handle the changes induced by the animal genetics. Aren't you going to congratulate me on my genius and my victory in science, brother?!"
"You are one seriously sick bastard, Masafumi," was the only reply. The man looked from his brother, to his beloved experiment, then once more to his brother.
"You really should be more careful of what you say to me. Neu has quite the feral temper now. A shame, really. She could find Mamoru, but she doesn't much like children…" he murmured as he turned to leave, making sure it was loud enough to entice his younger sibling. 'Heh… let's see now… 3… 2… 1…'
"Wait!" Masafumi turned, feigning a look of surprise on his unsightly face. "He's your brother, too, Masafumi! How could you dare do this?!"
"Do what…?"
"Extort me like this!!!"
"My dear brother, I've done nothing of the sort."
"How can you stand by while some crazed son of a bitch has your own flesh and blood?!" The older brother paused to think before the rueful smirk reappeared upon his lips.
"Why should I care? Is there any reason other than that silly 'blood is thicker than water' bit? What has he ever done for me? Mamoru is really quite useless to me. His existence is meaningless." Hirofumi's fist tightened. He knew that he would regret what he was about to do, but he couldn't very well let this man go on, especially with this humanoid thing called Neu.
"I'm so very sorry to hear that, brother." A crack of thunder sounded through the air as the Glock went off, the bullet it fired sinking right into the scientist's chest. The force of the impact threw him to the ground, where crimson blood began pooling out about pristine white lab- coat. Without orders, Neu dashed to the man with the gun and, knocking it from him, wrapped her fists around his throat once more. One fist tightened around the tender tube, digging in before ripping the esophagus from his own neck. Hirofumi dropped to the floor unceremoniously, landing in a heap of limp limbs and blood. Neu dropped the organ and rushed back to her master.
"Ne… u…" he choked out as the blood began to flood to his mouth. He coughed a few times, splattering the red stuff onto the woman's fair visage. She made no move to wipe it away. "Mamo.. ru… and his friends…" He hacked again, his lungs beginning to deluge from the puncture wound in them. "Kill them all… Make the.. the world… mourn… my death…" Cold, cruel eyes closed for the last time, the lanky scientist's body falling completely flaccid as blood continued to seep out onto the carpet surrounding his fallen form. Neu stood silently, almost as if she'd not heard not witnessed the event that had jut taken place. With morbid resignation, she stepped plaintively away from her creator's dead body and walked out of the Takatori estate, her mind focused on but one thing.
Kill.
"Asuka!" The lovely tenor voice rang out through the empty house, answered only by silence. "Asuka, are you home???" Nothing. "Damn… Where the hell is she?!" Jade eyes glanced over the three-day old note on the kitchen table: 'Gone to investigate at the Takatori place. Don't wait up for me. Love ya! Asuka.' No one goes to investigate for three days. Something was wrong…
"No!" he yelled at himself. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with my wife!!!" 'Then why are you calling the office to check in, hmm…?' "Shut up… God, I'm actually talking to myself. I need a fuckin' vacation…"
"Chyokan."
"Hey, meat-head," Yohji greeted. "How's it hanging these days?" Admittedly, it was a bad habit he'd yet to break, phasing humor over stress and agony. That probably wasn't healthy…
"Kudou!!! What the hell do you think you're saying?!"
"Oh! This is Chyokan, the stick-in-the-ass! I thought this was the get-drunk-stripping-on-the-pool-table Chyokan! My bad."
"What the hell do you want, detective?"
"Has Asuka called a check-in recently?" There was a long pause on the line, and a tension so thick that it could have been cut and spread on toast. After a sigh and a soft *ahem*, the chief spoke again.
"I'm afraid not, Yohji. Asuka hasn't called in a confirmation or check-in since she went back out on reconnaissance a few days back. I'm sorry." Yohji felt his heart twinge with pain. "I've got the best of them out there looking for her."
"There's something you're not telling me, Chyokan. And don't wave me off, I can hear it in your voice." Another hesitant moment of silence.
"Sonomi's dead."
"Shit."
"One of our agents we sent to work security inside the mansion found her body. He heard struggles a few minutes later by the bedrooms, and a gunshot. Hirofumi and Masafumi Takatori are both dead. He… he claims to have seen a woman leaving the room who looked… like Asuka.
"I'm sorry there isn't any more information to give you as of yet. We won't give up, Yohji. Get some rest. That's an order. Goodnight, honey- pumpkin."
"G'night, sweetykins. Oh, and Chief?"
"Hn?"
"Fuck off."
"Will do." The honeyed man dropped his phone and crashed down onto the divan, running a hand through straw-coloured hair. Things were going from bad to worse. Kase was the actual kidnapper, Ken's best friend for *God* knew how long had turned on him and he had Mamoru again, only this time with a bonus hole in the shoulder. The poor soccer-player was in the midst of a nervous, mental and physical breakdown, and Asuka had disappeared, and may be responsible for a double homicide.
"Isn't life FUCKING grand?!" he asked to no one in particular. It was now official, all bets off, all hands down. Life sucked.
Another slightly uneventful chapter. Ah well, the end is near. I think a couple more chapters should do it, don't you think? As for the observant people who may have seen, the first part ended with a few hints of RanxKen… I didn't mean it! Really! It just… kind of… happened. Yeah… Don't worry, it's not going to go anywhere, really! *dodges the various objects thrown at her by the RanxKen fans for that, and then by the KenxOmi fans for straying in the first place* Stay tuned for my next chapter. Hey, you've stayed this long, might as well finish it, right?
Kourui
Chapter 12- Kill
Pale fingers sifted through the dark locks of the sleeping form half on his lap as violet eyes fixed themselves on the man pacing back and forth across the room. Yohji and Ken had arrived about 30 minutes ago, the latter distressed, pale, his face streaked with tears and his body still visibly trembling. Ran had ushered them quickly inside and led them to the basement, away from prying eyes and ears (just in case), where Ken had almost instantaneously fallen asleep. No, it was more like he passed out. Since then, hushed voices had been discussing and explaining the current situation. Aya remained silent the whole time, just shaking her head minutely as information presented itself. Only after silence fell did she finally speak.
"I just can't believe it was Kase… He was always calling to check in on Ken, going out of his way to make him smile…"
"What can I say?" Yohji asked with a sigh. "It's a sordid story if I've ever seen one." A hand raked through a mass of honey-blonde hair before rummage around inside the brown trench coat for cigarettes. Ignoring the disapproving glance thrown by a pair of indigo eyes, the detective tossed one white cylinder to the redhead situated on the couch, who deftly caught it in his free hand.
"Ran-nii!" the girl chided, but was silenced by her brother's gaze.
"Aya-chan," he began softly, "desperate times call for desperate measures. If I don't smoke this, I'm going to have a brain aneurism." Yohji chocked back a snigger at just how calmly and detachedly he had said that. The young girl pouted, but did not object further.
"Poor Mamoru-kun. Yohji-kun, how are we going to get him back?" The elder took a slow, long drag of his cigarette, eyebrows knotted in thought and concentration. He exhaled deeply, smoke spiraling about him as it rose to the ceiling and disappeared like some sort of surrealistic fleeting hope. It made Aya shiver.
"I don't know," he answered honestly. "We had an agent go into service as a tracker for the family. Sonomi Kouga. I got a message on my cell from the department that told me of what she found at that old business building. Too late, though, isn't it?" A gentle hand touched the man's arm, causing him to look down, his eyes meeting with Aya's.
"Don't lose hope, Yohji. Hope is all that's left right now…" 'She really is a good kid,' he thought, the corners of his lips twitching up into a smile. "I'm sure that we're going to get through this." Her eyes fell on Ken's stationary form. "All of us. Mamoru-kun, too." Yohji tousled the young girl's hair, as hard as that may have been with her hair in those braids.
"You're a good kid, Aya." There it was again, that damn glare!!! "Ran, do you think you'll be okay with Ken staying here…?" The redhead nodded, his slender ringers still stroking through the chocolate-coloured hair of the boy on his lap.
"Yes. He needs to rest, and I'm not about to wake him and make him leave. Besides…" A pause. "I think he'll be safer here than anywhere else. The Kase fellow doesn't know anything about me or where I live, whereas he knows about you and Ken."
"Good thinking, nii-chan! Ken-kun is more than welcome to stay here." Yohji flashed the two a grateful grin.
"Thanks, you guys. I'm going to head out and start looking," he told them as he backtracked and started out. "Take care of Ken, ne? He needs to at least try and take it easy. Y'know, get some R&R." Two nods followed him as he walked up the stairs and disappeared from sight. A few seconds later, a telltale sound of the door shutting told them he was gone. Aya looked to her brother, who still hadn't moved in fear of unsettling the boy using him for a pillow.
"Can I get you anything, Ran-nii?" she asked sweetly. At least she managed a smile out of the weary boy. The worry he had for everyone was written all over his face and as easy to read as a book. She could always tell what he was feeling. He never made any attempts to mask his emotion, and even if he did, his eyes betrayed him, those violet orbs speaking endlessly with his feelings.
"No, Aya-chan. Thank you, though." His little sister paused for a moment, blue eyes looking over him with scrutiny before she smiled gently.
"A cup of Earl Grey tea and two naproxins, it is. Be back in a few minutes." It never ceased to amaze the fiery-haired florist how his sister could glance at him and know everything he was thinking, feeling, and needing in an instant. He was grateful for her. Ken gently stirred in his lap, snuggling a bit closer, then falling still once more. Ran didn't even bother to fight the smile that rose to his lips as he resumed caressing the younger boy's hair soothingly. It was a feeling he could get used to…
Hirofumi wiped the blood from his hands on a nearby towel. He turned his harsh gaze onto the security guard standing nearby.
"Dispose of the body and have this room cleaned up, will you?" Without waiting for a response, he stepped out of the office, leaving the man to his task as he made his was to his quarters.
The young businessman flopped onto his oversized bed brusquely, setting the Glock in his hand down on the stand beside it. He was turning into his father, a thought that frightened him beyond thought. He had just killed someone in cold blood. At least he'd been merciful, a bullet through the brain. She died without pain, as he had promised she would if she didn't deliver his brother to him by this time. She hadn't. It was justified. He gave her orders, and a blatant threat on her life if she didn't or couldn't comply.
'But what would Mamoru do if he ever knew?' This was all for his little brother, all so they could be reunited. No measure was too extreme. Was it? Would Mamo-chan be able to tell what he'd done to get him back? Would he see the blood on his hands, mirrored in his eyes? Would he see the death, the hatred, the madness that he could barely keep locked away, the anger and rage that surged closer and closer to his surface with every day that passed? After all that's happened, would the boy care? 'After all that's happened… would I care…?' Hirofumi shook the thought from his mind. 'Of course I will! This is all for him! All for us! And once I have him back, everything will be normal again. Everything.'
"Forgive me, Mamoru."
"That isn't who you should be asking forgiveness from." Hirofumi rose at the sudden voice of his older brother, who was standing in the doorway. He hadn't even heard the door open… God, that guy was creepy.
"Oh? And just who, Masafumi, should I be asking forgiveness from…?" a smirk crossed the scientist's face.
"God." He opened his arms regally, bowing a little. "Or me. We are one and the same, after all." Hirofumi rolled his eyes and flopped back down.
"Don't be such an infant, bro," he called from his reclined position. "You need to stop playing in your laboratories and get some semblance of a real life." There was no answer, and Hirofumi knew his elder sibling must be smoldering by now. The thought brought a smirk to his own face.
"I conduct VERY important research down there, Hirofumi!" he hissed. "In fact, I have the product of that research here with me now…" This grabbed the younger's attention, and he bolted back up to look at his brother.
"Masafumi, what-" his sentence was cut off as a youngish woman with short, dark blue hair stepped in, clad entirely in blacks and indigos, her eyes concealed by a pair of sunglasses, stepped into sight just behind the eccentric scientist. "This woman…? I don't understand…"
"Of course not, brother," the elder sneered. "I wouldn't expect your simple mind to comprehend anything, especially at your acceptance of face- values. Everything will become quite clear, very soon." Hirofumi shifted uneasily at the tone in his brother's voice, not liking it one bit. "She is my first successful prototype. You never bothered to spend any time with me, or tried to comprehend my work, so how could you possibly grasp it now? Let me see if I can put this in laymen's terms for you…
"She is a super-human." Hirofumi stared, his eyes reflecting in skepticism and a bit of humour. "No, I'm not sure if I could really call her that. It is really quite complex, and your inferior brain couldn't begin to comprehend if I began to explain scientifically. Perhaps…" his voice dropped, taking on a serious and darkened sound. "Perhaps I can show you…" The younger brother stood, reaching stealthily for his Glock on the night-board beside him, holding it close and concealed against his body.
"Just what do you mean by that, brother?" he challenged. The intimidating look on Masafumi's face did not fade as he shrugged and stepped further into the room to allow passage for the indigo-haired woman to step inside, which she did.
"Neu, give him a taste." A twisted grin arose to the woman's lips. With a burst of inhuman speed, she rushed forward, one gloved hand wrapping around the neck of the tall businessman. He let out a strangled cry of sheer surprise as he was lifted from the ground with disturbing ease by the slender woman without a bit of effort. Her grip tightened around his esophagus, completely choking off his air supply as he dangled helplessly off the ground, too pained and astonished to fight back. "Do you understand now, Hirofumi???" He could barely hear his brother cackling maniacally at the scene being played out for him. Slowly, Hirofumi reached out to the woman's face, sliding the glasses off her nose. Time seemed to freeze for an instant as, through dulled vision and a suffocating brain, Hirofumi looked upon the woman's face.
'Her eyes…'
"Neu! Drop him!" Suddenly, the doctrinaire death-hold vanished, and Hirofumi felt his body hitting the floor, crumpling and weak. Coughs wracked his body as he struggled to regain his breath. Composure be damned, the man simply wanted to breath and go on living! "Do you understand at all now, brother?" The young man took a deep, shuddering breath. If he wasn't so weak, and if that… thing weren't there, he would've jumped on his 'nii- san' and beat the living shit out of him.
"What… what is she? Her eyes… they weren't human."
"Very good! My, you're not as dull as you've let on all these years!" Hirofumi clenched his fist, but stopped when he saw the woman called Neu fix her gaze on him from behind those sunglasses. "My fair lady Neu is now as much animal as she is human. I finally found where I had been making my mistakes in experimentation. Children are too weak, their body's' internal structure is too fragile to handle the changes induced by the animal genetics. Aren't you going to congratulate me on my genius and my victory in science, brother?!"
"You are one seriously sick bastard, Masafumi," was the only reply. The man looked from his brother, to his beloved experiment, then once more to his brother.
"You really should be more careful of what you say to me. Neu has quite the feral temper now. A shame, really. She could find Mamoru, but she doesn't much like children…" he murmured as he turned to leave, making sure it was loud enough to entice his younger sibling. 'Heh… let's see now… 3… 2… 1…'
"Wait!" Masafumi turned, feigning a look of surprise on his unsightly face. "He's your brother, too, Masafumi! How could you dare do this?!"
"Do what…?"
"Extort me like this!!!"
"My dear brother, I've done nothing of the sort."
"How can you stand by while some crazed son of a bitch has your own flesh and blood?!" The older brother paused to think before the rueful smirk reappeared upon his lips.
"Why should I care? Is there any reason other than that silly 'blood is thicker than water' bit? What has he ever done for me? Mamoru is really quite useless to me. His existence is meaningless." Hirofumi's fist tightened. He knew that he would regret what he was about to do, but he couldn't very well let this man go on, especially with this humanoid thing called Neu.
"I'm so very sorry to hear that, brother." A crack of thunder sounded through the air as the Glock went off, the bullet it fired sinking right into the scientist's chest. The force of the impact threw him to the ground, where crimson blood began pooling out about pristine white lab- coat. Without orders, Neu dashed to the man with the gun and, knocking it from him, wrapped her fists around his throat once more. One fist tightened around the tender tube, digging in before ripping the esophagus from his own neck. Hirofumi dropped to the floor unceremoniously, landing in a heap of limp limbs and blood. Neu dropped the organ and rushed back to her master.
"Ne… u…" he choked out as the blood began to flood to his mouth. He coughed a few times, splattering the red stuff onto the woman's fair visage. She made no move to wipe it away. "Mamo.. ru… and his friends…" He hacked again, his lungs beginning to deluge from the puncture wound in them. "Kill them all… Make the.. the world… mourn… my death…" Cold, cruel eyes closed for the last time, the lanky scientist's body falling completely flaccid as blood continued to seep out onto the carpet surrounding his fallen form. Neu stood silently, almost as if she'd not heard not witnessed the event that had jut taken place. With morbid resignation, she stepped plaintively away from her creator's dead body and walked out of the Takatori estate, her mind focused on but one thing.
Kill.
"Asuka!" The lovely tenor voice rang out through the empty house, answered only by silence. "Asuka, are you home???" Nothing. "Damn… Where the hell is she?!" Jade eyes glanced over the three-day old note on the kitchen table: 'Gone to investigate at the Takatori place. Don't wait up for me. Love ya! Asuka.' No one goes to investigate for three days. Something was wrong…
"No!" he yelled at himself. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with my wife!!!" 'Then why are you calling the office to check in, hmm…?' "Shut up… God, I'm actually talking to myself. I need a fuckin' vacation…"
"Chyokan."
"Hey, meat-head," Yohji greeted. "How's it hanging these days?" Admittedly, it was a bad habit he'd yet to break, phasing humor over stress and agony. That probably wasn't healthy…
"Kudou!!! What the hell do you think you're saying?!"
"Oh! This is Chyokan, the stick-in-the-ass! I thought this was the get-drunk-stripping-on-the-pool-table Chyokan! My bad."
"What the hell do you want, detective?"
"Has Asuka called a check-in recently?" There was a long pause on the line, and a tension so thick that it could have been cut and spread on toast. After a sigh and a soft *ahem*, the chief spoke again.
"I'm afraid not, Yohji. Asuka hasn't called in a confirmation or check-in since she went back out on reconnaissance a few days back. I'm sorry." Yohji felt his heart twinge with pain. "I've got the best of them out there looking for her."
"There's something you're not telling me, Chyokan. And don't wave me off, I can hear it in your voice." Another hesitant moment of silence.
"Sonomi's dead."
"Shit."
"One of our agents we sent to work security inside the mansion found her body. He heard struggles a few minutes later by the bedrooms, and a gunshot. Hirofumi and Masafumi Takatori are both dead. He… he claims to have seen a woman leaving the room who looked… like Asuka.
"I'm sorry there isn't any more information to give you as of yet. We won't give up, Yohji. Get some rest. That's an order. Goodnight, honey- pumpkin."
"G'night, sweetykins. Oh, and Chief?"
"Hn?"
"Fuck off."
"Will do." The honeyed man dropped his phone and crashed down onto the divan, running a hand through straw-coloured hair. Things were going from bad to worse. Kase was the actual kidnapper, Ken's best friend for *God* knew how long had turned on him and he had Mamoru again, only this time with a bonus hole in the shoulder. The poor soccer-player was in the midst of a nervous, mental and physical breakdown, and Asuka had disappeared, and may be responsible for a double homicide.
"Isn't life FUCKING grand?!" he asked to no one in particular. It was now official, all bets off, all hands down. Life sucked.
Another slightly uneventful chapter. Ah well, the end is near. I think a couple more chapters should do it, don't you think? As for the observant people who may have seen, the first part ended with a few hints of RanxKen… I didn't mean it! Really! It just… kind of… happened. Yeah… Don't worry, it's not going to go anywhere, really! *dodges the various objects thrown at her by the RanxKen fans for that, and then by the KenxOmi fans for straying in the first place* Stay tuned for my next chapter. Hey, you've stayed this long, might as well finish it, right?
Kourui