Title:

When the Caged Bird Sings

Author:

Shun'u [ff.net ID: 61008]

Genre:

Drama

Series:

Kakutou Komusume Juline/ Juline (US release)

Rating:

PG

Notes:

(House of Kenga) Juline, Seiju/Sai, Ryoku, and Shiga Kio

Disclaimer: Juline and all of the characters used in this fan fiction do not belong to me. They're the creation of and © Kakinouchi Narumi (also creator of Vampire Princess Miyu) and all subsequent parties. "When the Caged Bird Sings" is an original fanfiction © to Shun'u Hanashiro

July 2002

W H E N • T H E • C A G E D • B I R D • S I N G S

A Juline Fan Fiction

By Shun'u Hanashiro

Part 3: Blood and Tears

In an absent fashion, he traced the white column of flesh with pale hands. Fingertips lightly touching the blue cotton of her shirt as it gaped to expose youthful skin, he observed his own actions with a hard-earned detachment that had taken years to perfect. She lay still and unresponsive beneath hands that had once been warm and calloused by hard labor. Hands now cold and slender. They would almost be deemed feminine, so smooth were they, had it not been for the ridges on his fingertips and thick pads on his palms from handling his weapons.

He stopped his tracery at the tip of one pointed pale-blue collar. Morbid fascination gripped him. He wondered at what point the rest of his body had thinned out and lost its muscular bulk to become… soft and hard all at once… like her. Or was it a he? It seemed most appropriate, not that he dared to ever call it that.

Black Pearl: the creature that had created him, that had defeated him in battle. Beaten him; molded him; defined him as he now was.

When had he given up on everything that had ever held value to him to become…

Sai.

Was he a puppet? Yes.

Was he a toy? Certainly.

He was the Black Pearl's weapon. Used to kill innocent little girls like the one that lay at his feet with her dark hair fanned out to frame a face still rounded with baby-fat.

A brief vision of another little girl with similar features flittered through his consciousness. She was familiar – a frequent visitor in his dreams and someone he often thought about on nights when insomnia kept him from rest. Was she a figment of his overactive imagination, or a real person? Someone who had mattered to him in a time long gone? Was she the reason why Black Pearl ordered him to kill? Every child that he murdered resembled the dream girl in some way. Was killing that same child over and over again his punishment for being disobedient? For trying to retain his identity?

A quiet rustle. Reality shifted back to the present.

"Sai…"

He lifted his hands to grip the wooden staff that was his primary weapon. "Madam?" Cloying incense surrounded and threatened to suffocate him.

"Why do you hesitate?"

"…I'm not…"

"Yes," Black Pearl glided to a halt behind him, her long skirts swishing as it brushed against his back, "you do."

Black Pearl clutched his shoulder and drew him up. Standing toe to toe he was taller, though not by much. She was tall in her own right. As always he had to stifle a shudder of revulsion at her proximity. He didn't know what it was, but something about her always repelled him. Unlike the others in their clan who adored their mistress, he couldn't bear to be near her for long stretches of time.

"You resist your training?"

"I… do not wish to kill… an innocent…"

"Ah," she leaned close to rest her chin on his shoulder, "I see. However, Sai, she is not so innocent as she seems."

Sai knew better than to question his mistress. "Yes, Madam."

Black Pearl brushed wayward strands of hair out of her face with a graceful, calculated gesture that managed to tangle her lacquered nails in his black hair in the process. Sai focused on a distant spot, stubbornly oblivious and silently refusing to participate in her seductive games. His loyalty was without question and he would serve Black Pearl to his dying breath; but in this he would not submit. One last warm breath brushed against the back of his neck and then Black Pearl released her hold.

"You are stubborn," Black Pearl commented mildly. She glided away from him with another soft rustle. Everything about her seemed soft until she was angered. Then it became clear that a core of steel existed beneath the gentle mask. "Very good, Sai. I do not like weaklings. You will serve me well…"

Black Pearl paused to emphasize her next words. "But do not forget who is the master here. You will kill that girl and every other one that I tell you to kill without question or hesitation. I do not tolerate insubordinate behavior in any of the four guardians, even if you are my favorite. You will be punished for tonight."

***

Kio had looked everywhere but still could not find Juline amongst the students. Shortly after he had taken off from the library, an intercom announcement was made by the school secretary instructing all students and teachers to please report to their assigned classrooms until further notice. The elderly woman's voice quivered as she nervously instructed everyone to remain calm. Word had spread about the brutal murder committed in the library. Everyone was in a panic. A quickening energy was gathering and no one could fail to sense the foreboding.

That panic ran rampant through Kio's blood until he finally spotted Juline coming out of the girl's lavatory at the other end of the hall from the library.

"JULINE!"

"Kio?" She noticed the beads of sweat that dotted his brow and the harshness of his breathing. A frown marred her normally cheerful face. "What's wrong?" When he didn't say anything and only stared at her blankly, Juline touched his cheek in worry. "Kio—eh? Where're we going?" Over her shoulder, she watched the growing crowd at the other end of the corridor. "What's everyone doing over there?"

He ignored her question and tightened his grip around her wrist to keep her from going towards the murder scene. When she continued to tug on her arm, he said, "Come on, Juline. We have to get back to class."

"But-"

"I'll tell you later, okay?" He glanced at her quickly. Some indecipherable emotion pooled in his dark eyes. "Let's just go back to class."

"I-" Juline would have said something else, but… his eyes prevented her from arguing. "Okay… but you have to promise to let me know what's going on later. Promise?"

Kio breathed a little easier. "Promise."

***

Kinoshita Shinji had always wanted to be an investigative police officer. That was actually what his dreams had revolved around as a teenager when he would watch the detective shows with their corny lines and one-hour resolutions. He had envisioned glory and fame as he solved crime after mysterious crime. Going through the academy he had pushed himself to be the best at every test they set for him – shooting the best percentile, scoring the highest on written exams, performing the best in any physical fitness test put to him. He had excelled because he wanted to be first on the list for selection to the biggest and most prestigious precincts.

Success was in his hands on the day he graduated top of his class and went home to his tiny apartment with its too low ceiling and one tatami bedroom with, not one, but three letters of recommendation from his instructors. Less than a week later he reported to his new job in a clean-pressed navy blue uniform, with a wallet full of change for the hot coffee vending machines, and a heart filled to the brim with happiness that his dreams had come true at the young age of twenty-four. Very few graduates were ever accepted into such a high position straight out of school. It was through the recommendation of the academy that he had been so lucky.

However… not a single one of his dreams had contained the rancid smells of blood, urine, and fecal matter. But that was precisely what he found when he arrived at the local middle school on what was supposed to be one of the most beautiful days of the year, answering a frantic call from a very obviously traumatized school principal.

Kinoshita covered his mouth as he surveyed the scene, careful to keep his hands close to his lanky body and not touching anything in fear of contaminating evidence. A couple of patrolmen had arrived just before him and had already secured the area with bright yellow tape. Now they were working at getting the curious teachers and students out of the vicinity so that the forensic team could get in and do its work. They had to take photographs first before anyone disrupted the scene with footprints or by moving potentially incriminating evidence around. The hardest part would be to get pictures that would accurately portray what they found… There was so much blood. So much… that poor child…

"Detective…" the patrolman tried to get his attention.

"Yes?" Kinoshita put on a pair of clean examining gloves. He made a practice of always keeping a pair on hand.

"We found something."

Kinoshita immediately focused all of his attention on the tired looking man. "I'm sorry… you're…" he took a swift glance at the nametag, "Nishioka, is it? What did you find?"

"This way please, Detective."

Nishioka led him around the display and study tables, where most of the carnage could be seen, towards the librarian's desk to the side of the large room. Just above the desk was another ceiling fan, and it was this that Nishioka pointed towards. Kinoshita moved forward when the other man stopped moving. The day had taken its toll on the patrolman.

Three neat piles were made of the books that had just been returned that morning. None of them had been disturbed and there were very few traces of blood in this corner. If anything, there were just a couple of splatters against the front of the desk. Kinoshita figured they had been projected from the center of the room due to the force of the attack. The pattern of the blood splatter suggested as much. Meticulously he crouched down, careful not to drop to his knees or lean too close to the desk, and took a closer look at the floor for any signs of footprints or scuffs. Finding none, he worked his gaze along the wall and finally upwards.

The ceiling fan made a low humming sound as its motor worked. Warm air blew against Kinoshita's face. He blinked as the current stung his eyes and tried to focus on the stationary center hub instead of the moving fan blades. And that was when he saw the faint red handprint obscured by the mobile pieces.

"Nishioka."

"Yes, sir?"

"Have forensics take a picture of this. Make sure they zoom in. I want prints."

***

"Did you finish your task, Sai?"

"Yes, Madam."

"As instructed, I hope." She drummed her long nails against the smooth polished wood of the armchair.

"Yes, Madam," Sai repeated with his head still bowed. He would remain in his submissive pose for as long as it amused his mistress. He would, Sai told himself.

"You understand, now, yes? Why it is so important to follow my orders without question." Black Pearl sighed gently. "If you hadn't angered me, then this would not have happened. That little girl would have grown… perhaps fallen in love and married some young man of her liking. Maybe she would have lived until ripe infirmity with little grandchildren running about, laughing and begging for sweets." Black Pearl twisted the knife a little deeper. "She wouldn't have had to die, Sai, if you had listened to me from the beginning."

Sai was choking on his own breath but he forced the words out, "Yes, Madam. I understand now."

"I am your mistress."

"Yes." He remembered the doe-like eyes. "You are my mistress."

"You will obey."

The long, streaming hair. "I will obey."

"Good." Black Pearl smiled and clapped her hands. Ghost-like servants manifested. "Bring some food and drink. Our first guardian has worked hard today. We will show our appreciation of his diligence."

***

It turned out that he never had to explain anything to Juline. Others did it for him. In gory detail, no less… Kio gritted his teeth, amazed that he hadn't worn them down to his gums from the multiple stresses of the day.

Juline was quiet beside him, walking sedately as they departed from school and headed towards his place. That alone gave Kio another reason to be angry. Juline was never sedate. She should have never found out in such a way… He had meant to break it to her gently and after a careful selection of words, not with glee and the intent to get a shocked reaction.

"Naoe-chan…"

"Juline, are you okay?"

She nodded and gave him a weak imitation of her normal smile. "Un. I'm fine. How about you?"

He shrugged. He wasn't fine, but he wasn't about to tell her that. "Okay, I guess."

They walked a bit further in companionable silence. Each lost in their own thoughts and memories of a girl they had both known since grade school.

"Do you think that he killed her before…"

Kio winced. She was asking if Naoe had died before her killer had desecrated her body. How was he to tell her that there wouldn't be so much blood if Naoe had been dead? How was he to explain that in order for blood to flow and shed to such a great degree, the heart had to be pumping? No, he couldn't tell her that. In this he would spare her some pain.

"She was probably dead, Juline." He lied through his teeth. "She didn't feel anything."

And bless her, Juline accepted his answer readily and without further question. Kio sped up and caught her right hand in his left one. The rest of the way back to his family restaurant they walked with hands clasped and swinging with each step. Reminiscent of days gone by when they were innocent children and would walk to and from school holding hands without fear of what might be watching them from the shadows.

***

Ryoku stopped performing his pattern at its apex. Not something that he did on a regular basis as it interrupted the flow of energy coursing through his muscles, causing them to stiffen. Today though… he sensed something wrong… something was… off.

He pulled on his shirt and secured its ties with practiced ease, ignoring the unpleasant feel of fine-threaded cotton sticking to the sweat dripping down his back. Ryoku made long strides on his way to the house, quickening his pace with each moment. Something was off. He could feel it in his bones. Alarms were sounding off in his head, telling him to beware. Be cautious. Danger was afoot.

Tension and stress stiffened work weary muscles even more. Ryoku took a deep breath, mentally forcing then to relax as he started to lightly jog up the primary stairs of the building. When had it begun: this worry? Minutes, hours, maybe days ago? Was it last night when Juline went missing from the safety of her bedroom during the witching hours? Or a week ago when he had seen that momentary flash of envy in Hara's eyes as he watched Kio and Juline spar?

Or maybe when the murders began…

Ryoku remembered watching the news with Grandfather Kenga… and hearing the reporter describe the victims' shared characteristics with detached professionalism while a conspicuous, sheet-covered gurney rolled by. All like Juline in some way or another. Just innocent girls who hadn't lived long enough to do anyone harm. All with long hair and big eyes.

Grandfather had sensed it too, the sinister forces gathering around the House of Kenga, waiting for its walls to weaken before forming an orchestrated attack. That was why Juline had been reprimanded for leaving the house at nighttime. And that was why she was grounded and forbidden to venture anywhere other than to school, Kio's, or back to the House of Kenga for an undetermined period. Ryoku had been the one to suggest it. Grandfather Kenga had agreed. Both felt the shadows watching. Waiting.

He briefly wondered if it was more dangerous for Juline at the house than elsewhere, then dismissed the thought as being too fanciful. He was being overly suspicious. Of course she would be safer at home and amongst family. She was safer on the compound than anywhere else… no one outside of friends and kin knew the grounds. No one could attack her here… right?

Author's Notes:

Hisashiburi (it's been a long time)... Short chapter again, but hopefully not so boring. Need more action soon. Did you like how I portrayed Black Pearl or is she too overbearing? Lemme know! ^_^