The Black Rider
The woman in black did not answer, and there is a moment of tense silence between the two women.
Eventually, the mysterious woman makes the first move. But much to Kasumi's bewilderment, the woman instead runs to her left and climbs over the nearest bench in front of her. Realizing she is going after whatever she had taken from Kyouta's corpse, Kasumi turns to her and shouted, "HEY!"
As Kasumi runs past the benches and pursues after her, the mysterious woman lands on the space between the benches and looks underneath it. She quickly spots the red ball placed underneath the backmost bench where Kasumi had taken cover behind earlier.
Kasumi soon stops, turns to the mysterious woman, runs over, and throws a kick at her. The woman in black swiftly turns to Kasumi and swings her hand down to shove her foot away. Kasumi almost loses her balance and tries to swing her left fist down at her. The mysterious woman however grabs her left wrist to stop her attack as she gets up, and when she notices an opening, she swiftly thrusts her right hand at Kasumi's stomach and fires a huge amount of black smoke at her. Kasumi yelps as the blast of smoke sends her sprawling through the floor. The mysterious woman quickly runs out of the space, turns to her left and dashes over to the backmost bench.
When Kasumi finds herself now lying on the space between the two frontmost benches at the left side of the parlor, she quickly lifts and pulls her legs back for a brief moment and throws herself back up on her feet. She turns to the mysterious woman and runs after her again.
After getting behind the bench, the woman in black gets down and grabs the ball from the floor. When she gets back up however, Kasumi springs and tackles her to the ground. As the ball slipped from the mysterious woman's grasp again, it bounces off the wall behind her and onto the floor. As Kasumi is now above the woman in black, both women momentarily watch the ball bounce past them and over to the other side of the large room. The mysterious woman grabs the collar of Kasumi's jacket while she is distracted. She tries to pull her so she may throw her helmeted head onto her forehead, but Kasumi stops her by placing her hands onto its visor and pressing her on the floor. The two women use all their strength to overwhelm the other for a moment, but the woman in black manages to get the upper hand by rolling over to her left while still holding onto Kasumi's jacket, causing the red-haired woman to fall off her, and she now finds herself lying on the floor.
The woman in black punches Kasumi across her left cheek before she turns around and runs over to the ball as it now rolls over near the center of the room. But Kasumi quickly recovers, gets back up and runs over to her. Before the woman in black could get down and pick the ball up, Kasumi grabs her right arm, pulls her away, and throws her over to the center of the room. The woman in black briefly stumbles forward and turns around before Kasumi goes over and throws a punch to her abdomen. As she bends over, Kasumi wraps her arm around the back of her neck and throws herself back, flipping the woman in black over and slamming her onto the floor on her back. As the woman in black recovers from the blow, both women turn around as they get back up. And as soon as they make eye contact, the woman in black holds up her right hand and unleashes huge amounts of black smoke at Kasumi, engulfing almost the entire room.
Kasumi turns to her left and gave multiple hacking coughs as she staggers away from her opponent. She struggles to see anything in front of her as well due to the huge amounts of black smoke around her. But when she reaches out her right hand, she is able to feel the side of a bench and grabs a hold of it while she continues coughing. However, the woman in black soon walks up to her from behind and pulls her red hair. Kasumi yelps briefly as the woman pulls her back and tosses her over to the side of another bench at the other side of the room. The right side of her head collides against the bench, and Kasumi slides back down onto the floor as the smoke in the room begins to clear. The woman in black grabs the back of the collar of her jacket and pulls her away from the bench before she kneels, wraps her arm tightly around her neck from behind, and holds onto the back of her head with her other hand. As Kasumi gags and struggles to breathe, she grabs the woman's arm, trying to pull it off and break free from her grip. But the woman stayed firm and held onto her tightly. Soon, Kasumi grits her teeth and slowly rolls her eyes back. Her vision begins to blur as she slowly loses her consciousness.
'No…it can't…end like this…' Kasumi thought to herself. But it is hopeless. It appears her opponent is too strong for her after all, and she will never find out what is going on here as she is about to fall into a deep slumber.
That is until a person lets out a wild yell as he suddenly dashes into the room and over to the two women. The woman in black briefly turns her head to the person before he kicks her on the left shoulder, causing her to release Kasumi, and both women fall onto the floor together. As Kasumi gave several hacking coughs while rubbing her throat and regaining her breath, her savior gets down, grabs her by her shoulders and pulls her back up in a sitting position.
"Kasumi! Are you okay?"
As she regains her vision as well, Kasumi turns to her left and sees her friend kneeling beside her.
"Masaomi! The ball on the floor!" She cried to him.
"Ball? What ball?" Masaomi asked as he looks around in confusion.
"THAT BALL!" Kasumi shouted, pointing her finger at the ball still lying behind the left backmost bench and near the entrance. Masaomi turns to the direction where Kasumi is pointing, gets back up and runs over to it.
The woman in black sees Masaomi running off, and she gets back up and goes after him. But Kasumi also gets up and hurls her body weight against the woman's back, tackling her onto the floor. This gives Masaomi the opportunity to reach the bench, look around the floor for a moment and quickly spots the ball his friend mentioned. He picks it up and turns back to Kasumi.
"Is it this one?" Masaomi asked, holding up the red ball to show it to her.
"Bingo!" Kasumi replied with a smile.
Suddenly, the woman in black looks back and thrusts her right elbow onto Kasumi's face, causing her to yelp as she loosens her grip around her body. The woman quickly crawls out from underneath her attacker and gets back up. She runs over to Masaomi and reaches out her right hand to grab the ball in his right hand.
"Whoa!" Masaomi said as he turns to his right and backs away to dodge her arm. The woman in black turns to Masaomi and swings her right fist at his face. Masaomi slides to his left to dodge the attack, but he finds himself standing against the bench. Believing she has cornered him, the woman in black thrusts her left fist at him. However, Masaomi quickly holds up the ball in his right hand between him and the woman, causing her to stop in mid-punch. She tries to snatch the ball, but Masaomi quickly lowers his hand.
"Made you look." Masaomi smirked as he lifts his right leg up and kicks the woman at her lower torso, causing her to stumble back.
As soon as she looks back up, she sees Kasumi yelling and running over to her. The red-haired woman thrusts the top of her head against her lower torso, pushing and slamming her against the wall behind her. Kasumi quickly grabs her wrists and pin them against the wall to restrain her. The woman in black open her palms, trying to unleash her smoke to retaliate, but nothing happens. She glances at both her wrists and realizes that Kasumi had tighten her grip around her sleeves to prevent them from coming out.
"Don't even think about it." Kasumi said icily to her.
"And please, don't fight back." Masaomi said calmly as he stands a few meters away from them and holds up the red ball in his hand. "Or I might smash whatever this object might be that is so precious to you."
"Now tell me…" Kasumi inquired, leaning her head closer to the visor of the woman's helmet. "Who are you? And what exactly is that thing you extracted from the corpse?"
The woman in black stayed silent however and simply lowers her head.
"Not talking, eh?" Masaomi said with his eyes narrowed as he stuffs the ball inside his pocket and steps forward as he prepares to give the woman a piece of his mind.
"Wait." Kasumi suddenly spoke. Masaomi halts, and the two friends widen their eyes when they heard the roaring sounds of a motorcycle.
"What is that?" Kasumi asked as she looks at Masaomi over her shoulder.
The answer soon came in the form of a black motorcycle driving into the funeral parlor through the open doorway and makes a swift 90-degree turn, facing the three figures inside the large room. Much to the bewilderment of Kasumi and Masaomi, there is absolutely no one sitting and controlling the motorcycle at all. The vehicle is literally moving all by itself.
"What the…" Kasumi uttered. With her attackers now distracted, the woman in black felt Kasumi's grip around her wrists loosened. She takes the opportunity to shove her hands away and pushes the red-haired woman away from her. The motorcycle now lifts itself up and balances on its back wheel.
"GET BACK!" Masaomi shouted as he quickly runs over and grabs Kasumi's arms from behind. As the motorcycle drives over to them, Kasumi screams as Masaomi quickly turns her around and they both move out of its path in time.
As both friends now find themselves lying on the floor, they turn around and watch the motorcycle driving over to the other side of the room and makes a perfect 180 degree turn before landing its front wheel back on the ground. The woman in black quickly runs over to the bike and hops on board. She takes one last glance at the two friends before she looks to her front and drives her way out of the funeral parlor through the open doorway.
When the woman in black is out of their sights, Kasumi and Masaomi sigh heavily.
"This day just got a lot better." Kasumi muttered before turning to Masaomi. "Thanks for coming here when I needed you."
"Don't sweat it. I was wondering why you weren't responding to my message." Masaomi said.
Kasumi frowns and pulls out her phone to see that she indeed received a message from her friend asking her if everything is okay.
"Oh! So, you're the dumb ass who blew my cover!" Kasumi chided to Masaomi.
"What?!" Masaomi replied dumbfounded as Kasumi gets herself up from the floor. "Come on! At least I came and saved your pretty ass! Show me some gratitude, will ya?"
After adjusting her jacket, Kasumi extends her hand to Masaomi. Her friend grabs it and the red-haired woman pulls him back up on his feet.
"Anyways, let's find your earphones and get out of here." Masaomi said as he wipes off whatever dust he caught on his shirt and pants.
"No." Kasumi said calmly. Masaomi sees her staring at the direction of the caskets. "There is one thing we have to do first."
Masaomi follows Kasumi over to the caskets, and his red-haired friend advised him to pay his respects to the deceased. They both bow solemnly to the caskets and Kasumi murmurs several words of prayers and apology. When they stand back up, Kasumi walks over to the side of Kyouta's casket, closes her eyes and says her prayers again before closing the casket shut.
Inside their apartment, Anri is humming merrily as she vacuums the dining area while Shirley is using a feather duster to wipe off the dust from the television, sofa, and coffee table in the living area. Their cleaning duties are interrupted when they hear the doorbell ring.
"Coming!" Anri called out to whoever may be behind the main door. She turns off the vacuum cleaner and hastily walks over to the door. She opens it to reveal Kasumi and Masaomi standing outside their home. "Oh hey-"
"Hey Anri, we need to come in now." Kasumi quickly replied as she hurriedly walks past Anri and into her apartment.
"What is-" A now bewildered Anri gets cut off again when Masaomi steps in and gives a quick bow to her.
"Hello there, I'm Masaomi Kida. Nice to meet you." Masaomi quickly introduced himself to her before following Kasumi to the dining table.
"What, hey! At least take your shoes off! I just vacuumed this area!" Anri cried as Kasumi and Masaomi each grab a dining chair and take a seat. Shirley walks over to them to figure out what is going on.
"Kasumi, what is going on here?" Shirley asked her friend before turning to Masaomi. "And who is this guy?"
"Guys, say hello to my mystery friend…Masaomi Kida." Kasumi said to Anri and Shirley, gesturing her roommates to her friend.
"Hello." Masaomi greeted, chuckling, and waving his hand nervously at them. "I wish we could have met under better circumstances but…It's a pleasure to meet you both."
"Why do you both look so sweaty?" Anri asked with an arched eyebrow. Both Kasumi and Masaomi sigh heavily before the latter takes out the red ball from his pocket.
"You cannot believe what just happened back at the funeral parlor." Kasumi said.
Masaomi places the red ball on the dining table and gestures Anri and Shirley to take a closer look at it.
"A marble?" Shirley said.
"It's not an ordinary marble. It's something that was extracted from Kyouta Tsukiyama's corpse." Kasumi said, causing Anri and Shirley to yelp in alarm.
"F-f-from the body of Suzu's father?!" Anri stuttered in horror.
"How?!" Shirley added. "How could you of all people take something from a dead body?!"
"I didn't steal anything from the dead, I swear!" Kasumi cried.
"It was a woman dressed in a black biker suit and a yellow helmet with cat ears!" Masaomi added.
"What?" Shirley asked as she and Anri stare at them dumbfounded.
"It's true!" Kasumi said frantically. "I encountered a woman back at the building! I…I don't know how she did it but…she holds up her hand above the corpse's neck and extracts a lot of red particles out of it and they form together into…" Kasumi gestures to the red ball. "This thing."
Shirley and Anri stare wordlessly at her for a few moments before the black-haired woman adjusts her glasses and asked flatly, "Are you on drugs?"
"No!" Kasumi cried exasperatedly. When she heard Masaomi failing to suppress his chuckle, Kasumi gasps in shock and disgust at him. "Seriously?!"
"I-I-I'm s-sorry! Ahahahahahahahahaha!" Masaomi laughed while clutching his sides.
"You think it's funny, huh?!" Kasumi yelled angrily at him.
"I…I do! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Masaomi leans on his chair and throws his head back as he continues laughing maniacally.
Kasumi growls irritably as she wishes to strangle Masaomi right now. She resists the urge to do so though as she turns back to Anri and Shirley.
"Look! It's no joke! A woman really did do something like that to Kyouta's body!" Kasumi cried.
"Even if I believe you, how did you get a hold of this thing?" Shirley asked.
"I was stealthily observing her disturbing the body until some IDIOT randomly messaged me!" Kasumi turned and hissed at Masaomi, putting an end to his laughter as he cringed apprehensively at her. She looks back at her friends and continued, "She spotted me and attacked me first, so that is the time I had to interfere and fight back!"
"It was crazy!" Masaomi cried excitedly at her roommates. "By the time I arrive at the building, I saw the woman in black nearly choking Kasumi to death! So that's when I come in and save the day!" He places his left fist against his chest and pumps his other fist into the air. "Seriously, you should have seen me! I was like Superman, and Kasumi was my Lois Lane."
Kasumi gags and rolls her eyes before continuing their explanation. "We managed to fight the woman back, I even manage to pin her against the wall, and just when I thought I could finally interrogate her and know what the heck is she doing with Kyouta's corpse, a motorcycle just burst in and try to run me and Masaomi over!"
"The woman in black has an accomplice who drives a motorcycle into the building?" Anri asked.
"No! There is no one driving the motorcycle!" Masaomi shouted.
"What?! How is that possible?!" Shirley asked incredulously.
"I don't know! Must be the…latest driverless motorcycle model from Honda or something! We gotta get with the times, ya know?" Masaomi replied.
"The woman then hops on the motorcycle, drives off…and that's it." Kasumi lets out a sigh again after finishing her explanation. "Did you get all that?"
Shirley and Anri both stare wordlessly at Kasumi again with their mouths agape. The orange-haired woman takes a gulp and said calmly to Kasumi, "I get it."
"Thank goodness." Kasumi said in relief as she leans back on her chair.
"I get…that you are feeling the side effects of my daily exercises and on-time schedule for you." Shirley said.
"What?!" Kasumi yelled incredulously as she looks back at her.
"It's okay, Kasumi."
"No!"
"I'm aware the anxiety and stress from my schedule are steadily building up inside you."
"That's not true!"
"But not to worry. What you need now is a lot of rest and some medication."
"NO!"
"And some matcha to calm your nerves." Anri added with a weak smile.
"NO! GUYS! NO!" Kasumi stomps her foot and waves her arms frantically at her roommates. "I'm not losing my sanity! When did I ever lie to you guys?!"
Shirley and Anri stayed silent for a moment before the orange-haired woman replied, "Well, there was the time when you lie to me that you were heading to supermarket."
"What?!"
"But when I called you, you were actually in the gaming store."
"No!"
"And there was also the time when-" Anri spoke up.
"Stop! Stop it!" Kasumi protested. While the three girls continue their scuffle, Masaomi idly sits back and watch. He glances at the small glass saucer of candies on the dining table. He casually grabs one of them, removes its wrapper, and puts it in his mouth as he continues viewing the spectacle.
Eventually, knowing their argument is not bringing them anywhere, Shirley raised her voice and said firmly to Kasumi, "Look! Kasumi! Even if you really did saw those things back in the funeral parlor, how can you prove to us that you are telling the truth?!"
Suddenly, the doorbell rings again, and all four turn their attention to the main door.
"I'll get it." Anri said as she hastily walks over to it.
She opens the door…and everybody widen their eyes and drop their jaws in mortified horror upon seeing the appearance of their mysterious visitor.
"Um….h-h-how did this woman in black look like again?" Shirley asked.
Masaomi takes a gulp, swallowing the candy in the process, and replied, "B-B-Black biker suit…"
"Y-y-yellow helmet…" Kasumi added.
"W-W-With cat-" Anri is cut off when the woman in black holds out her finger and in front of her lips. She casually turns to Kasumi and Masaomi and steps into the apartment, causing the two friends to jolt up from their chairs and get into their fighting stances while Shirley yelps and backs away.
"How did you find us?!" Kasumi shouted at her.
The woman in black did not respond as she silently inserts her hand into her pocket, alarming Kasumi and Masaomi.
"Careful!" Masaomi shouted as he and Kasumi run up to her. "She's going-"
"CAN YOU PLEASE KEEP IT DOWN?!"
Everyone except Celty flinch when they hear one of the neighbors shouting angrily outside.
"Some of us are trying to do our chores in peace, you know?!"
"Sorry!" Anri shouted back apologetically before she walks over to the doorway and closes the main door shut. She quickly grabs her shinai from the weapons rack and aims it at the woman in black.
"One wrong move and I won't hesitate to fight you." Anri warned with her eyes narrowed. The woman in black nods her head to her before she pulls her hand out of her pocket to reveal to everyone that she is now holding a smartphone.
"A phone?" Shirley said while Kasumi and Masaomi stay in their fighting stances.
The woman in black turns on her phone and types a message on it. When she is done, she presses a button to play a feminine digitized voice to read her message, and she turns the phone around to show everyone what she had written.
"Please, don't be alarmed. I'm not here to fight."
"Yeah, right! I bet you are just finding the right time to kill us all, like what you try to do to my friend back at the parlor!" Masaomi yelled at her.
The woman types another message, plays the voice, and shows it to everyone.
"I wasn't trying to kill her. I was trying to make her unconscious. And if I was a malicious killer, I would have already engulfed this entire room with smoke and slowly choke you all to death. Do you really want me to do that?"
Masaomi went dead silent for a few seconds and takes another gulp. "Nope."
"Then why did you come here?" Kasumi asked flatly with her eyes narrowed. The woman types another message.
"To get my ball back."
As she continues glaring at her, Kasumi lowers her guard and steps closer to the woman.
"Before I fulfil your request, I want you to answer my questions. Is that okay with you?" Kasumi asked firmly as she and the woman now stand a few meters apart from each other. The woman nods her head in response. "Good. Who are you?"
The woman types a message and shows it to Kasumi, "My name is Celty Sturluson."
"Celty…" Kasumi uttered. "Why were you disturbing the corpse of Kyouta Tsukiyama back at the funeral parlor?"
Celty takes a few minutes to type her response. As they idly wait, Anri and Shirley exchange glances at each other. They also notice Masaomi is occasionally tilting his head side to side while staring at Celty with a…very amused look. Anri and Shirley frown at each other, and the black-haired woman nods to her friend. Shirley steps forward and pulls Masaomi's earlobe, causing him to yelp in pain.
"Please stop being an idiot and focus." Shirley whispered flatly into Masaomi's ear.
"Uh-huh. Uh-huh." Masaomi replied. Shirley releases her grip and backs away, while the young man cringes as he rubs his earlobe.
When Celty is done typing, she presses the button and plays the message to Kasumi, and everyone in the room, as she shows it to her, "I do not mean to disturb Kyouta Tsukiyama. If I had done anything offensive to his body, I sincerely apologize because I am not familiar with your cultures. You see, Kyouta Tsukiyama and his daughter, Suzu Tsukiyama, were the latest victims of a serial killer named Saika. I am a bounty hunter who came here to Tokyo on a mission to hunt her down. By the time I arrived at their home, the police had already removed Kyouta and Suzu from the crime scene, which is why I ended up having to visit the funeral parlor to find some clues from their bodies."
"Saika?" Kasumi frowned. "So, she must be the armed burglar who intruded the Tsukiyama household and killed Kyouta and Suzu."
Celty shakes her head to Kasumi, much to her confusion. She types another message on her phone and shows it to her.
"There was never an armed burglary at Kyouta and Suzu's home. Saika added gunshot wounds on their bodies to deceive everyone that they were killed that way."
Everyone else in the apartment gasp, and Kasumi shouted, "What?!"
Celty quickly types another message. "It's true. Saika is an intelligent murderer who is able to kill her victims discreetly and leaves no evidence of her actions behind. She must be dealt with as soon as possible."
"So, what exactly did you extract from Kyouta's body?" Kasumi asked.
Celty types on her phone again and shows it, "Those are actually particles from whatever weapon Saika used to commit her murders. Judging by the perfectly straight line around Kyouta's throat, it is highly possible she murdered him and Suzu via decapitation with a sharp and thin blade-like object."
Kasumi stares at her phone with her eyes wide in mortified horror. When she suddenly felt her belly doing a violent flip-flop, she suddenly places her hand over her mouth, whirls about and runs over to kitchen sink.
"Kasumi!" Anri cried concernedly as she, Masaomi and Shirley quickly rush over to her side. Celty idly stand by as Kasumi proceeds to throw up into the sink and empties her gut of all its contents. When she is done, Kasumi turns on the sink to wash her mouth, and tears quickly form and pour out from her eyes.
"It's okay, Kasumi. Relax." Masaomi said softly to her as he and Anri place their hands on her shoulders. As they escort her over to her chair at the dining table, Shirley fills up an empty glass with water from the still running sink and turns it off.
After Masaomi and Anri gently place her down, Kasumi wipes away her tears and whimpered, "H-How…How is it possible…that Suzu's death was worse than I thought?"
Celty walks over to her as she types another message on her phone. As Masaomi and Anri move aside, and Shirley hands the glass of water to Kasumi, the red-haired woman looks back up at Celty, and the woman in black shows her latest message to her.
"I'm sorry for your loss. Suzu must have been someone close to you."
"Not really." Kasumi sniffed and took a sip from her glass. "But she is still someone who does not deserve what happened to her."
Celty nods her head and types another message to Kasumi.
"I promise you that I will avenge Suzu's death. But I would like to have the ball back now to continue my investigation and pursuit of her."
Kasumi narrows her eyes at her. After placing her glass down on the table, she stands up from the chair with her hands clenched into fists.
"If that is the case, I want to go along with you." Kasumi said firmly to her.
"What?!" Anri, Masaomi and Shirley cried. Celty shakes her head and types another message.
"You don't understand. Saika is an extremely dangerous being, with capabilities beyond anything you ordinary people could handle. Only I have the skills to handle her."
Kasumi grits her teeth as more hot tears form in her eyes. She takes a step forward and bellowed, "Don't you dare underestimate me!"
Everyone else in the apartment, including Celty herself, flinch and fell silent by Kasumi's emotional response. As both the red-haired woman and the woman in black gaze at each other, Kasumi continued yelling, not caring about the tears cascading down her cheeks, "Suzu Tsukiyama may not be a close friend of mine, but as a shrine maiden, it is my sworn duty to ensure everyone rests in peace in the afterlife! And now that I've learnt the true nature of her death, as well as the identity of her murderer, I certainly do NOT feel good about this right now! And I will neither rest nor settle down until I bring that killer to justice, so that everyone can earn their peace! Suzu, Kyouta, their relatives…and me." The red-haired woman solemnly bows to Celty. "Please, let me help you."
Masaomi, Anri and Shirley momentarily stare at their friend in silence until both roommates place themselves beside Kasumi and bow to Celty as well.
"Me too. I want my former schoolmate to rest in peace as well." Shirley said.
"So do I." Anri added.
Masaomi stares wordlessly at the three girls before turning to Celty with a solemn frown. Knowing Kasumi and her roommates would need all the help they can get, the dark blonde-haired man bows to the woman in black as well.
Celty silently stares at the four people for a few moments until she droops her shoulders and types on her phone. She presses the audio button and plays what she wrote.
"Alright. I just hope you all know what you have gotten yourselves into."
Kasumi, Anri, Shirley and Masaomi smile as they look back up at her.
"Arigatou." Kasumi bows her head. "And don't worry, Anri, Masaomi and I are pretty capable fighters ourselves."
"And I got the brains." Shirley added, smiling as she taps her finger on the side of her head.
Celty shrugs and writes another message. "Well, I guess we are unstoppable then."
Kasumi, Anri and Shirley chuckled in response. However, Masaomi asked, "You still haven't answered our first question though. How exactly did you find us?"
"Back at the parlor, I placed a tracker on your pants during my escape." Celty wrote, causing Masaomi to widen his eyes.
"What tracker?" Masaomi asked as he looks down at his pants.
"I'm sure you can't see it because of the color of your pants, but it's a black smudge I created from my smoke." Celty explained.
"What?! Gross!" Masaomi cried in disgust as he wipes the front of his pants.
"Hey! Don't dirty the floors, will you?!" Anri chided. Celty shakes her head and writes another message on her phone.
"Actually, I remember seeing it landing on your rear."
"My butt?!" Masaomi shouted as he turns around and looks over his shoulder. "Double gross!"
"HEY!" Kasumi shouted as Masaomi was about to place his hand on the back of his pants. "Would you mind not doing that in front of us?!"
Masaomi groaned. "Oh well. I'm going to clean them tonight anyways."
"I have another question for you, Miss Sturluson." Shirley said to the woman in black as Masaomi turns around. "Why aren't you speaking to us directly without your helmet?"
Celty flinched in response. She writes another message on her phone and shows it to them. "I can't. As a bounty hunter, I must protect my voice and identity."
"But I thought we are allies now." Masaomi arches an eyebrow.
"I'm afraid it will be hard for us to trust you if you don't show us your face." Anri frowned.
"She's right. If we are going to work together as a team, we should be completely open to each other." Kasumi said with her arms folded.
Celty remained still for a moment before typing another message. She shows them the screen of her phone and Kasumi and her friends lean forward to take a closer look.
"I was born with single working eye and three hideous scars across my face. I don't think you four would have the stomach to see it."
"Can we see it?" Anri asked with her eyes wide as she and her friends all look intrigued.
"Wicked." Kasumi commented.
"That's so cool!" Masaomi added with a huge grin. "Straight out of a video game!"
"Hey! Show some respect, will you?!" Shirley scolded them before looking back at Celty sympathetically. "I'm sorry. But it's okay. I've seen a lot of people with disfigured looks throughout my life and even during my job as a hotel receptionist. So, don't worry. There's no need to be afraid. We all have scars in our own ways."
Celty hangs her head and lets her arms hang limply at her sides. Seriously, what is wrong with these people? And do others behave just as surreal as them? But knowing she has no other options, and they have practically pin her to a corner at this point, she types another message on her phone and shows it to them.
"Fine. It is actually not what you think."
Kasumi and her friends exchange confused glances with each other as Celty types another message.
"If I remove my helmet, will you promise not to scream?"
Kasumi and her friends nervously take a gulp before they solemnly nod their heads.
"We won't." Kasumi said.
After putting away her phone, Celty places her hands on the sides of her helmet and proceeds to lift it up slowly. When it is finally off her, Kasumi and her friends widen their eyes and drop their jaws in awe as they lay their eyes on the true appearance of the mysterious woman.
Aside from the black smoke visibly flowing out from the top of her neck, there is nothing. No eyes, no hair, no mouth…and no head. Kasumi and her friends came to the shocking realization that they have been talking to a headless woman.
"S-S-S-She…" Kasumi stuttered as she and the others trembled. "Has no-"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
As Masaomi screamed in pure terror, he flails his arms and body around similarly to an inflatable tube man while Kasumi, Anri and Shirley wrap their arms around him, attempting to calm him down.
"Keep it down, will ya?! Do you want the neighbors to complain about us again?!" Kasumi shouted angrily at Masaomi, but to no avail.
"Please Masaomi! Quiet down!" Anri cried.
"Stop screaming already!" Shirley added. Celty turns away from the others and shakes her neck.
'I knew this would happen.'
When his screams stop about two minutes later, Kasumi sets Masaomi down on the sofa, and the dark blonde-haired man breathes heavily as he tries to regain his composure and comprehend what he had saw. Anri goes to the kitchen counter to prepare matcha for everyone, and especially Masaomi to calm his nerves, while Shirley momentarily goes into the bedroom to grab her laptop. She comes back out to the dining area a minute later, and she sits beside Celty at the table and places her laptop in front of her. She activates her laptop and turns to the woman in black.
"So, you are actually from another world far away from ours?" Shirley asked.
"Yes. That's right." Celty wrote on her phone.
Anri momentarily turns her head away from the dispenser and inquired, "How does your world look like?"
"It must be a dark and gritty world full of monsters we see in horror movies all the time. You know, vampires, zombies, Frankenstein's monster…" Masaomi said.
Celty shakes her head and types on her phone again. "No. It's a bright and beautiful world full of humans just like all of you."
"Really?" Kasumi chuckles and rubs the back of her neck. "Wow. Who would have thought other worlds containing human life do exist?"
"To think fairy tales and epic fantasy has officially become reality. Mind…BLOWN!" Masaomi cried, briefly flailing his arms in the air.
"There also exist a sub-race of humans in my world labelled demihumans, who are basically people with features and appearances that normal humans do not have. And that includes me." Celty plays the message she wrote on her phone. "What also makes my world unique from yours is the fact that everyone has the ability to use magic for combat and daily uses. Every person has their own kind of magic. Mine is the ability to unleash smoke."
"As well as extracting particles from human bodies?" Kasumi asked.
"And making smudges on people's butts?" Masaomi added. Celty droops her shoulders and nods her head to them. Kasumi sighs as she leans back on the sofa.
"Man, imagine having magical abilities of my own too. I would choose to have the ability to use lightning, so that I don't have to worry about my phone and car battery dying on me anymore." The red-haired woman said.
"I would have the ability to look through anything, so that I would never have to feel curious over whatever is hiding behind any wall or barrier in front of me again." Masaomi said.
"Such as seeing how women look like in the showers?" Kasumi asked flatly.
"Oh, why would I ever think of that?" Masaomi asked with a shrug. Kasumi gave a hard slap to his right shoulder in response. "Ow!"
"I would have the ability to clean our house within seconds." Anri smiled at them.
"And I would have the ability to find and hook up with the perfect guy for me." Shirley smiled blissfully with her hands placed on her chest.
"Can we please focus on our main mission in finding Saika?" Celty wrote on her phone.
"Oh, right." Shirley said as she grabs the mouse and opens the Internet. "So, Kyouta and Suzu Tsukiyama are the latest victims of Saika. Do you know anyone else who was murdered by her?"
Celty is about to type on her phone again, but Shirley stops her by waving her hand. She brings up a sticky note in the computer screen, and she pushes her laptop over to the headless woman.
"It will be a lot easier if you type your messages here." Shirley said. Celty nodded and types out her message with the keyboard. Shirley later takes a closer look at what she wrote on screen.
"Three nights ago, another man named Hayato Toda was found dead on an expressway. And five nights ago, Saika also killed three other men in an alleyway. Five days ago, was also the same day people from my world began visiting your world." Celty wrote.
"How do you guys enter our world?" Kasumi asked as she and Masaomi now get up from the sofa and walk over to the dining area.
"We created transportation routes between both worlds and travelled through ships."
"You mean actual super-fast spaceships made for interdimensional travel? Suh-weet!" Masaomi cried enthusiastically before he turns to the balcony and points his finger to the clouds. "NASA, eat your heart out!"
Kasumi, Shirley and Celty stare blankly at him for a moment before the three women look back at each other.
"Do you have any idea how Saika looks like?" Kasumi asked Celty. The headless woman responded by typing another long message on Shirley's laptop.
"The security cameras in the transport hub manage to take footage of her sneaking on board one of the transport ships heading to Japan. She is currently taking the form of a young woman with long black hair, red eyes, a dark blue uniform, and a long black skirt. One of the intelligence officers working for the Magic Council, the government of my world, handed me a picture of her, which I saved it in my phone."
Celty picks up her phone and opens her photo album. She enlarges the picture she was given and shows it to Kasumi. The red-haired woman leans closer to her phone and sure enough, she sees a barely visible image of the woman Celty described in the center of the photo, sneaking through a large crowd of people with a wide smile on her face, and heading into the side entrance of a ship.
"So why go through the trouble in collecting particles of Saika's weapon from Kyouta's body?" Kasumi asked Celty, looking back at her. Celty puts down her phone on the table again and types her reply on Shirley's laptop.
"The particles will help lead me to Saika, though I would still need to be at a certain distance away from her current location to track her down."
"Then let's not waste any more time." Shirley said, pulling her laptop back in front of her. "You mentioned a certain Hayato Toda. So, let's see if he has any connection with the Tsukiyamas."
As Shirley types out the names of victims together in the search engine, Anri walks over to the dining area while carrying a tray with five cups of matcha she had finished making.
"Here you go, guys. Fresh, warm matcha tea. Hopefully, this will help calm everyone's nerves." Anri said to everyone.
"Arigatou." Masaomi said as he grabs a cup from Anri's tray.
"Arigatou." Kasumi said, grabbing a cup as well.
Anri turns to Celty and said nervously, "I made one for you as well, though I'm not sure how you will consume it because…you know…"
Celty removes her helmet to places it aside on the dining table. She takes a cup from Anri's tray, and to the surprise of everyone around her, she slowly pours the matcha into the top of her neck and clouds of warm black steam burst out from it. After consuming everything, she places the now empty cup back on Anri's tray, and the headless woman bows to her.
"Oh, you're welcome." Anri chuckled, bowing back to her.
"Well, we do learn something new every day, don't we?" Masaomi asked, glancing at Kasumi and Shirley while Celty puts her helmet back on.
"Anyways, check this out." Shirley said as everyone turn their attention to her laptop. Being displayed on screen is an old news article with a large photo of Hayato Toda and Kyouta Tsukiyama smiling for the camera while holding two awards in their hands on behalf of their company. "Turns out both Hayato Toda and Kyouta Tsukiyama worked for the same pharmaceutical company, Nebula Incorporated."
Kasumi and Anri gasped.
"That's Mikado's company!" Anri cried.
"Yeah, I'm surprised too." Shirley said to her.
"So that's our first clue. They both worked for the same company. But why would Saika kill two employees of Nebula?" Kasumi asked as Anri hands Shirley a cup of matcha. The black-haired woman grabs the last remaining cup and places the now empty tray aside on the dining table.
"Isn't it coincidental that a woman from another world happens to kill two people of the same company?" Masaomi asked, stuffing one of his hands into his pocket.
Celty gestures Shirley to push her laptop over to her. She obliged, and the headless woman types another message on screen while everyone else takes a sip of their tea. After doing so, she picks up her phone, opens her photo album again, and shows everyone another picture. This time, it is a wide shot view of Kyouta Tsukiyama's workroom inside his home. While holding up her phone in one hand, she points her thumb in her other hand at the message she wrote on Shirley's laptop.
"This is the workroom of Kyouta Tsukiyama. The place where Saika committed the murder of him and his daughter, Suzu."
"The murder took place here? But it looks so clean." Anri said as everyone examines the room in the photo. The glass window is not broken, so it does not seem like anyone broke into the room through there. The floor is clean and devoid of any scratches and blood stains, and the furniture such as the desk, computer, office chair and bookshelves look neat and untouched.
That is until Celty snaps her fingers, and the entire photo instantly changed, much to the surprise of Kasumi and her friends. There is now a second chair in the room and placed beside the office chair, which is now facing the opposite direction from the desk. The right drawer of the desk is now open, there is an empty slot in one of the shelves, and the floor now has blood stains and broken glass shards from the window scattered across it. Celty types another message on Shirley's laptop and shows it to them.
"This is what the knights of your world fail to see through their naked eyes."
"Knights?" Kasumi asked in confusion.
Celty types another message. "You know, the people dressed in coats and blue uniforms?"
"Ooooohhhhhh…" Kasumi and her friends chuckled.
"You mean police officers." Masaomi corrected her. Celty types on Shirley's laptop again.
"Yeah, whatever. Anyways, Saika used her magic to leave the crime scene the way it is in the first picture, leaving only things to deceive the officers of your world to believe it was an armed burglary. But thanks to my phone's ability to sense and track down any magical aura and its movements in any crime scene, this is how my phone is able to recreate this second picture for me. What the place really looked like before Saika alters the area back to the way it was. I also did capture how Kyouta and Suzu's bodies were laid on the floor, but I'll spare you all the imagery."
"Arigatou." Kasumi said grimly as she, Anri and Shirley bow their heads to her.
"What I can tell you though is that after Saika killed them, she uses her magic to reattach their heads to their necks, move them to the lower floor judging by the outlines the officers had drawn, and create gunshot wounds and empty bullet shells in their bodies to make it look like they were shot to death." Celty wrote.
"Why can't you just use your phone to track down where Saika is right now?" Masaomi inquired.
"Saika stopped using her magic after rearranging the room, so my phone could not follow her where she went off to next." Celty wrote. "The victims' bodies were my only next lead, which is why again, I paid them a visit to extract her particles."
Kasumi groans as she hangs her head. "Of course. There must always be some sort of disadvantage to halt our progress."
"I don't think so." Shirley said reassuringly to Kasumi. "In the first picture, I notice the bookshelves are full. But later in the second picture, one book in one of the shelves is now missing. The drawer of the computer desk is left open too. And if you take a closer look at it, there are bullets in there."
"So that means…" Kasumi places her other hand on the side of her hip. "Saika stole a book and possibly a gun from the crime scene."
"I understand the gun because," Masaomi shrugged. "What deranged killer wouldn't want to own a gun, but why is the book so important?"
"Maybe there's something important inside the book…" Kasumi frowns at the floor for a moment, before she and Masaomi look at each other.
"Something important to Nebula." The two friends said in unison.
"What about the scene where Hayato Toda was killed?" Kasumi turned to Celty. "Did you pay him a visit?"
Celty slides her finger across the screen of her phone to show the area of the expressway where Hayato Toda had died. The center of the picture shows a car crashed against the side walls of the expressway. Its front section is heavily damaged, the right door to the driver's seat is left open, and a few meters away from the car, a chalk outline is drawn on the road at the right side of the picture. There is also a trail of blood between the outline and the car to indicate that the driver was able to crawl out of his vehicle and survive just a little longer before he finally succumbs to his injuries.
However, Celty snaps her fingers again, and the picture instantly changed to show the car is now at the left side of the photo, facing the front and parked at the center of the middle lane. As they take a closer look, Kasumi and her friends can clearly see that the car's front window is cracked, its front bumper, roof and trunk are dented, both front doors and the compartment are left open, and Hayato's body is now lying on the road and a pool of his own blood at the center of the picture. There is also a trail of blood, starting from the cracks on the car's front window, over the roof and trunk, and ending at what appears to be a red body outline lying just beside the victim's corpse.
"I love it when you do that." Masaomi said to Celty.
"Notice the stab wound on the back of the corpse. That perfectly fits Celty's theory that Saika used a blade-like object to kill her victims." Shirley said.
"Not only that, look at the outline of another body beside the victim. What exactly is that?" Kasumi inquired.
Celty types her response on Shirley's laptop. "That would be the outline of Saika's body. She used her magic to play dead at the time so she could lure Hayato out of his car and find the opportunity to kill him from behind."
"I see. And judging by the trail of blood, she wanted Hayato to hit her with his car to make him believe he killed someone. Clever." Kasumi said.
"Take a look inside Hayato's car. The compartment at the passenger seat is left open." Shirley said.
"Saika probably stole something from the compartment after killing Hayato." Masaomi said, and Shirley nods her head in response. "Just like what happened at the Tsukiyama household!"
"But this begs the question how Saika knew Hayato Toda was going to drive through this expressway to bring her plan to fruition." Anri said before taking a sip of her matcha again.
"She couldn't have." Kasumi replied. "How does she even know the existence of Nebula and its employees when she is from another world?"
"Unless if she knew them from someone who knew Hayato Toda and Kyouta Tsukiyama well." Masaomi said as he cups his chin. Kasumi, Shirley, Anri and Celty flinch.
"That would mean…Saika has an accomplice? Someone who lives in our world?" Shirley implied.
Celty types a single word on Shirley's laptop. "Possible."
As Shirley finds more information regarding Hayato's death on the Internet, Kasumi said to everyone around her, "So, if Masaomi's theory is true, this accomplice knew what time Hayato Toda would usually drive through this expressway."
"And if this accomplice wants both Hayato Toda and Kyouta Tsukiyama dead, not only did the three of them worked in the same building together, but this accomplice must also have some kind of grudge towards the victims and the company they worked for." Masaomi implied.
"Like he must have been fired from Nebula or something." Anri added.
When Shirley found the news article she is looking for, she shows her laptop to everyone else.
"Take a look. According to the news, Hayato Toda died on his way home from work at an expressway northwest of Toshima ward." Shirley explained.
"There are no Nebula office buildings in Toshima." Anri said.
"Wait, northwest of Toshima. Which ward is located northwest of Toshima ward?" Kasumi asked Shirley. Her friend quickly searches for the map of Tokyo on the Internet, and when she enlarges it, the three roommates gasp and widen their eyes in horror.
"Itabashi…" Shirley uttered.
"Mikado worked in Itabashi!" Anri cried.
Celty quickly types a message on her phone and shows it to everyone, "Call your friend now."
Sovereign: I would like to thank LayLay lives, Darth Necron and Sunnysinghz for reviewing, favoriting, and following this story. Thank you!
Also, very special thanks to thanks to Mizutheduckarts for drawing the wonderful cover artwork for the story. Check out her Instagram at www dot instagram dot com/theduckarts/, and her Twitter at twitter dot com/Mizutheduckarts