Disclaimer: Digimon doesn't belong to me and "Build me up, Buttercup"
belongs to the Foundations. I'd also like to take this time to thank all
you reviwers out there. You've made my day! *grins*
Whodunit? : Odaiba High School Incident File #5197
By Android Eleven
Exhibit C
Ken had been sitting alone, quietly examining his shoes since Davis had been called into the back room. When Davis came out after his questioning, he gave Ken a glance, rolling his eyes and shaking his head and Ken could almost hear the silent message being conveyed. "Pathetic."
But then Mrs. Motomiya came out and called Ken's name and finally, it was his turn. He stood up slowly and walked steadily into the back room, sitting down without being asked at the table across from Mr. Fujiyama.
"Now, Mr. Ichijouji," the principal said. He paused for a minute, trying to come up with a way to politely say that Ken wasn't in any trouble, but he gave up. He didn't much care; after all, this was the boy that Keiko the golden retriever had implicated. "We'd like to ask you some questions about the things you did yesterday."
"Alright," Ken said softly, ready to agree to just about anything.
"Okay then," Mr. Fujiyama replied, having not expected Ken to be so shy. "Um, what time did you wake up and what did you do during the morning yesterday?"
Ken cleared his throat. "Well, uh, I woke up at about eight thirty. I always wake up at eight thirty on Saturdays and Sundays, it's like I've got some sort of biological clock inside my head..."
*
~~ Ken woke up quickly. He usually did, but that probably came as a result of going to bed and waking up at the same time, all the time. He stared out of his window for a few moments, watching the sun reflect off of the windows across the street. He stretched out his arms as far as he could and climbed out of bed to go to the bathroom and get dressed.
A few minutes later he ate some breakfast, washed up the dishes and wrote a note for his parents. It said that he was headed out to Davis's soccer game and would be going from there straight to his tutoring charges' houses, so not to expect him home until about six that evening. His parents were still in bed, having been out late the night before at a retirement party for one of his father's co-workers.
Ken grabbed his bag, which included his lunch and the school books he would need for his tutoring sessions and headed out. He knew that he was probably already going to be late for Davis's soccer game, which started at nine thirty, and if he wanted to catch the nine o'clock train then he was going to have to make a run for it. He was already at the elevator door before he noticed the sign tacked up beside it.
'Out of Order. Please use Stairs.'
Ken moaned and glanced over at the doorway leading to the staircase. Ken didn't think he had ever seen it open before. Nobody on his floor, the 34th in the building, ever took the stairs. It was 68 flights of steps, for Pete's sake! It took forever. But if Ken wanted out of the building, then he'd have to take the stairs.
So he did. It took a while, bit he managed it. When he finally made it down to the lobby, red-faced and panting, he asked the doorman if this had been the Super's idea of a sick joke. The doorman, a large man named Bill shook his head, but he also added, before Ken began sprinting down the sidewalk towards the subway station, that the problem should be all cleared up by that afternoon.
Ken raced down the street towards Tamachi station, the familiar entrance that he used every school day looming ahead. He ran in, taking the stairs two at a time, and managed to catch sight of the tail end of his train disappearing into the darkness of the underground tunnel.
He slumped his shoulders in defeat and went to ask the attendant when the next train to Odaiba arrived. ~~
*
"So you missed your train? How long did you wait before the next one came?" Mr Fujiyama asked.
Ken shrugged. "I don't know. An hour or so, I guess. I got to Davis's soccer game at about ten thirty, in any case. I got to see the last half- hour. Then I waited around afterward until about eleven twenty, eleven thirty maybe, to say congrats and all after he cleaned up in the locker room. It was a really good game."
Mr. Fujiyama nodded his head quickly, eager for Ken to get on with it. They had already heard this part from Davis.
"Well, what did you do after the soccer game? After Davis left?"
"I walked for a while. At maybe a quarter to twelve, I went over to Wanda's to get a large Chocolate Brownie Frappaccino..."
*
~~ Ken walked into the nearly empty coffee shop and was met by the sound of a jukebox playing yet another one of the familiar songs his parents had grown up with that seemed to be the only things that the jukebox played. He glanced at the cashier behind the soda shop-style counter and saw TK Takaishi wiping the white marble-like surface and singing along with the jukebox.
"Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around
And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby
When you say you will (say you will) but I love you still.
I need you, more than anyone, darlin'
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don't break my heart!"
Ken sat himself down at one of the booths and TK brought him a menu, singing the whole time. All in all, it was sort of pleasant listening to him. Matt wasn't the only member of the family who had what it took to be a decent vocalist, it seemed.
"What would you like?" TK asked him, taking a break from the song and pulling a small notepad out of the small apron ("which was quite masculine, Davis, thank you very much") he was wearing.
Ken ordered his frappaccino and TK went to make it, seeing as he was the only worker out front, and probably in the entire shop at the moment. He usually was. Wanda's wasn't generally busy enough to warrant hiring more than a couple workers, but elderly Wanda was rich and she wanted to own a coffee shop, so Wanda's stayed open, even if there were only about three employees, none of whom were ever there at the same time. TK quickly returned with the drink, handed it to Ken and oh-so-politely asked for his money.
"Hand it over, you Java-drinking moocher. This is a business, not a soup kitchen." Chuckling and rolling his eyes, Ken pulled the coins out of his pocket and dropped them on the table. TK swept them into his hand and walked over to the cash register, ringing in the purchase.
Ken would have stayed to chat a bit while he finished off his frappaccino, but he glanced at the clock on the wall and realized he had to get out of there. He had to be at his first tutoring student's place by noon and he didn't have much time. He jumped up, thanked TK for the drink, assured the blonde that he would be going to Kari's birthday party the next weekend and left.
After he walked over to the tutoree's house, Ken spent the next two and a half hours trying to explain science and math to a clueless middle school girl before his session thankfully ended. Her parents paid him for his work and he caught a bus to TK and Yolei's apartment building.
He entered the lobby and headed into the elevator, taking it up to Cody's apartment. ~~
*
"You were in my apartment complex yesterday?" Mr. Fujiyama demanded. "When? For how long?"
"Well, I was there to do a tutoring session," Ken replied uneasily, a little shaken by the sudden questions. "I had an appointment to help Cody Hida with his Language Arts lessons from 2:45 until 5:15."
The principal looked at him suspiciously. "Do you know the code to the apartment parking lot?"
Ken shook his head. "No, why would I? I don't have a car. I just take the bus and walk."
Mr. Fujiyama sighed, disappointed once again. "Alright, go on. Unless that's it and nothing interesting happened after that except that you went home, just like those other two."
Ken thought for a minute before he remembered something. "Well, actually now that you mention it..."
*
~~ As Ken left the lobby of Cody's apartment building, he stopped to check the contents of his bag to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. After a few minutes, satisfied that all of his belongings were accounted for, Ken straightened and began his walk towards the nearest subway station, intent on catching the five thirty train back to Tamachi.
He hadn't gone more than a few meters, however, when the driver in a slowing car caught his eye. He saw Matt Ishida slow down and turn out of traffic, pulling into the underground parking lot of the apartment building. Ken watched as the vehicle disappeared into the relative darkness and wondered what Matt was doing there. He couldn't be here to visit TK because the younger blonde wouldn't be off work until six thirty. Everybody knew that. And Matt wasn't on the best terms with his mother at the moment, according to TK.
Ken pondered the matter for a few seconds more, before giving up. He decided that it wasn't any of his business and continued on to the subway station to catch a ride home. And then, even stranger, as he was descending the stairs down into the subway, Ken could have sworn he caught a glimpse of Taichi Kamiya on the sidewalk above. Ken strained to see if he could catch another look at the brunette, but the flood of subway customers forced him to continue down the stairs and he didn't get the chance. ~~
*
"I guess he was there to meet Matt or drop something off for TK or maybe both he and Matt forgot about TK working or something. I mean, it happens, right?" Ken gave a nonchalant shrug and sighed. "And that's all. I got home about forty minutes later, ate dinner with my parents, finished my weekend homework, played around on the internet for a while and went to bed."
Mr. Fujiyama just looked at him, a calm, thoughtful expression on his face. "Alright. Thank you, Ken."
Ken stared at the strange expression on the principal's face, glancing at Mrs. Motomiya questioningly. "Does this mean I can go?"
Mr. Fujiyama nodded and stood up along with him. He accompanied Ken to the door, patting the boy on the shoulder. "Thanks for your help, Mr. Ichijouji. Have a good day."
Ken left the office, glancing warily over his shoulder as he did, and disappeared down the hall on his way back to class. Mrs. Motomiya looked at Mr. Fujiyama concernedly. "Jim, are you okay?"
The principal looked at her pleasantly. "Oh, yes, Nina. I am wonderful. I've finally managed to put it all together."
This comment didn't appear to reassure Mrs. Motomiya in the slightest. "Put it together? Put what together? What are talking about, Jim?"
"The clues, my dear, the clues! I've put them together to solve the puzzle." He smiled at her. "I know who did it."
* * *
A/N: Dun, dun, DUUHH!!! So, who do YOU think it was? Hehehe! Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough.
Whodunit? : Odaiba High School Incident File #5197
By Android Eleven
Exhibit C
Ken had been sitting alone, quietly examining his shoes since Davis had been called into the back room. When Davis came out after his questioning, he gave Ken a glance, rolling his eyes and shaking his head and Ken could almost hear the silent message being conveyed. "Pathetic."
But then Mrs. Motomiya came out and called Ken's name and finally, it was his turn. He stood up slowly and walked steadily into the back room, sitting down without being asked at the table across from Mr. Fujiyama.
"Now, Mr. Ichijouji," the principal said. He paused for a minute, trying to come up with a way to politely say that Ken wasn't in any trouble, but he gave up. He didn't much care; after all, this was the boy that Keiko the golden retriever had implicated. "We'd like to ask you some questions about the things you did yesterday."
"Alright," Ken said softly, ready to agree to just about anything.
"Okay then," Mr. Fujiyama replied, having not expected Ken to be so shy. "Um, what time did you wake up and what did you do during the morning yesterday?"
Ken cleared his throat. "Well, uh, I woke up at about eight thirty. I always wake up at eight thirty on Saturdays and Sundays, it's like I've got some sort of biological clock inside my head..."
*
~~ Ken woke up quickly. He usually did, but that probably came as a result of going to bed and waking up at the same time, all the time. He stared out of his window for a few moments, watching the sun reflect off of the windows across the street. He stretched out his arms as far as he could and climbed out of bed to go to the bathroom and get dressed.
A few minutes later he ate some breakfast, washed up the dishes and wrote a note for his parents. It said that he was headed out to Davis's soccer game and would be going from there straight to his tutoring charges' houses, so not to expect him home until about six that evening. His parents were still in bed, having been out late the night before at a retirement party for one of his father's co-workers.
Ken grabbed his bag, which included his lunch and the school books he would need for his tutoring sessions and headed out. He knew that he was probably already going to be late for Davis's soccer game, which started at nine thirty, and if he wanted to catch the nine o'clock train then he was going to have to make a run for it. He was already at the elevator door before he noticed the sign tacked up beside it.
'Out of Order. Please use Stairs.'
Ken moaned and glanced over at the doorway leading to the staircase. Ken didn't think he had ever seen it open before. Nobody on his floor, the 34th in the building, ever took the stairs. It was 68 flights of steps, for Pete's sake! It took forever. But if Ken wanted out of the building, then he'd have to take the stairs.
So he did. It took a while, bit he managed it. When he finally made it down to the lobby, red-faced and panting, he asked the doorman if this had been the Super's idea of a sick joke. The doorman, a large man named Bill shook his head, but he also added, before Ken began sprinting down the sidewalk towards the subway station, that the problem should be all cleared up by that afternoon.
Ken raced down the street towards Tamachi station, the familiar entrance that he used every school day looming ahead. He ran in, taking the stairs two at a time, and managed to catch sight of the tail end of his train disappearing into the darkness of the underground tunnel.
He slumped his shoulders in defeat and went to ask the attendant when the next train to Odaiba arrived. ~~
*
"So you missed your train? How long did you wait before the next one came?" Mr Fujiyama asked.
Ken shrugged. "I don't know. An hour or so, I guess. I got to Davis's soccer game at about ten thirty, in any case. I got to see the last half- hour. Then I waited around afterward until about eleven twenty, eleven thirty maybe, to say congrats and all after he cleaned up in the locker room. It was a really good game."
Mr. Fujiyama nodded his head quickly, eager for Ken to get on with it. They had already heard this part from Davis.
"Well, what did you do after the soccer game? After Davis left?"
"I walked for a while. At maybe a quarter to twelve, I went over to Wanda's to get a large Chocolate Brownie Frappaccino..."
*
~~ Ken walked into the nearly empty coffee shop and was met by the sound of a jukebox playing yet another one of the familiar songs his parents had grown up with that seemed to be the only things that the jukebox played. He glanced at the cashier behind the soda shop-style counter and saw TK Takaishi wiping the white marble-like surface and singing along with the jukebox.
"Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around
And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby
When you say you will (say you will) but I love you still.
I need you, more than anyone, darlin'
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don't break my heart!"
Ken sat himself down at one of the booths and TK brought him a menu, singing the whole time. All in all, it was sort of pleasant listening to him. Matt wasn't the only member of the family who had what it took to be a decent vocalist, it seemed.
"What would you like?" TK asked him, taking a break from the song and pulling a small notepad out of the small apron ("which was quite masculine, Davis, thank you very much") he was wearing.
Ken ordered his frappaccino and TK went to make it, seeing as he was the only worker out front, and probably in the entire shop at the moment. He usually was. Wanda's wasn't generally busy enough to warrant hiring more than a couple workers, but elderly Wanda was rich and she wanted to own a coffee shop, so Wanda's stayed open, even if there were only about three employees, none of whom were ever there at the same time. TK quickly returned with the drink, handed it to Ken and oh-so-politely asked for his money.
"Hand it over, you Java-drinking moocher. This is a business, not a soup kitchen." Chuckling and rolling his eyes, Ken pulled the coins out of his pocket and dropped them on the table. TK swept them into his hand and walked over to the cash register, ringing in the purchase.
Ken would have stayed to chat a bit while he finished off his frappaccino, but he glanced at the clock on the wall and realized he had to get out of there. He had to be at his first tutoring student's place by noon and he didn't have much time. He jumped up, thanked TK for the drink, assured the blonde that he would be going to Kari's birthday party the next weekend and left.
After he walked over to the tutoree's house, Ken spent the next two and a half hours trying to explain science and math to a clueless middle school girl before his session thankfully ended. Her parents paid him for his work and he caught a bus to TK and Yolei's apartment building.
He entered the lobby and headed into the elevator, taking it up to Cody's apartment. ~~
*
"You were in my apartment complex yesterday?" Mr. Fujiyama demanded. "When? For how long?"
"Well, I was there to do a tutoring session," Ken replied uneasily, a little shaken by the sudden questions. "I had an appointment to help Cody Hida with his Language Arts lessons from 2:45 until 5:15."
The principal looked at him suspiciously. "Do you know the code to the apartment parking lot?"
Ken shook his head. "No, why would I? I don't have a car. I just take the bus and walk."
Mr. Fujiyama sighed, disappointed once again. "Alright, go on. Unless that's it and nothing interesting happened after that except that you went home, just like those other two."
Ken thought for a minute before he remembered something. "Well, actually now that you mention it..."
*
~~ As Ken left the lobby of Cody's apartment building, he stopped to check the contents of his bag to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. After a few minutes, satisfied that all of his belongings were accounted for, Ken straightened and began his walk towards the nearest subway station, intent on catching the five thirty train back to Tamachi.
He hadn't gone more than a few meters, however, when the driver in a slowing car caught his eye. He saw Matt Ishida slow down and turn out of traffic, pulling into the underground parking lot of the apartment building. Ken watched as the vehicle disappeared into the relative darkness and wondered what Matt was doing there. He couldn't be here to visit TK because the younger blonde wouldn't be off work until six thirty. Everybody knew that. And Matt wasn't on the best terms with his mother at the moment, according to TK.
Ken pondered the matter for a few seconds more, before giving up. He decided that it wasn't any of his business and continued on to the subway station to catch a ride home. And then, even stranger, as he was descending the stairs down into the subway, Ken could have sworn he caught a glimpse of Taichi Kamiya on the sidewalk above. Ken strained to see if he could catch another look at the brunette, but the flood of subway customers forced him to continue down the stairs and he didn't get the chance. ~~
*
"I guess he was there to meet Matt or drop something off for TK or maybe both he and Matt forgot about TK working or something. I mean, it happens, right?" Ken gave a nonchalant shrug and sighed. "And that's all. I got home about forty minutes later, ate dinner with my parents, finished my weekend homework, played around on the internet for a while and went to bed."
Mr. Fujiyama just looked at him, a calm, thoughtful expression on his face. "Alright. Thank you, Ken."
Ken stared at the strange expression on the principal's face, glancing at Mrs. Motomiya questioningly. "Does this mean I can go?"
Mr. Fujiyama nodded and stood up along with him. He accompanied Ken to the door, patting the boy on the shoulder. "Thanks for your help, Mr. Ichijouji. Have a good day."
Ken left the office, glancing warily over his shoulder as he did, and disappeared down the hall on his way back to class. Mrs. Motomiya looked at Mr. Fujiyama concernedly. "Jim, are you okay?"
The principal looked at her pleasantly. "Oh, yes, Nina. I am wonderful. I've finally managed to put it all together."
This comment didn't appear to reassure Mrs. Motomiya in the slightest. "Put it together? Put what together? What are talking about, Jim?"
"The clues, my dear, the clues! I've put them together to solve the puzzle." He smiled at her. "I know who did it."
* * *
A/N: Dun, dun, DUUHH!!! So, who do YOU think it was? Hehehe! Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough.
