A.N.: Sorry about the slow update minna-san... school sucks! Anyway, enjoy
the new chappie! And, once again, I'm sorry for any spelling and grammar
mistakes I might have commited... I have no english classes at school this
year (my english could be slipping, I'm not sure...) =^.^=
***
"So tell me" Saitou started. "What exactly were you two doing up when you found Okina?"
The questionings had started, conducted by Inspector Saitou. So far only the guests, Misao and Dante had been questioned and Saitou hadn't been able to draw any useful conclusions out of their statements: the kids were each other's alibis (except for the time when Misao had gone to the toilets), while Dante claimed to be sleeping when everything had happened. Not a very strong alibi, but Saitou would get back to that later. Now his main concern were the two young employees sitting in front of him: Kaoru and Yahiko.
Yahiko opened his mouth to start answering but Kaoru motioned for him to let her speak instead:
"That would have to do with me. You see, I'm teaching Yahiko the martial arts."
Saitou raised a well-shaped eyebrow.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. My father used to own a dojo but we had to sell it - well, in fact we had to sell almost everything we owned - because me mother fell ill with a cancer. Even with the treatments she just wouldn't get better; she died shortly after the diagnosis. So I came to work here to see if I could earn some money to send my father... he's not very well himself, all this was quite a shock to him."
"I see. But surely you don't practise kendo or karate inside, do you?"
Kaoru and Yahiko looked slightly annoyed.
"Of course not" Yahiko answered. "We were going to get our equipment from the room down the hall, near Okina-san's bedroom. We use it as some kind of storage room."
"Yes. Then you saw Okina's door open, looked inside and saw all that, I suppose?"
"That is correct."
"Right. I won't be needing you anymore for now. Please call the butler on your way out."
Outside, after closing the door, Yahiko blew up:
"That damn Saitou!! Who the hell does he think he is, giving us orders like that, treating us like dirt?!"
"Forget it, Yahiko. Just forget it" Kaoru put a hand on his shoulder, then turned to Aoshi. "He needs you inside."
Without a word, Aoshi nodded and opened the door to the dining room, where Saitou was questioning the suspects, and then closed it silently behind him, taking his time to walk the short distance.
Saitou watched him with the beginnings of a smirk. This was going to be fun...
"So... Aoshi, is it? I understand that you've worked in this house longer than any of the other employees."
"Yes."
Saitou sat back, his smirk now obvious.
"I noticed that Okina's daughter is a cute-looking girl..."
Aoshi narrowed his eyes slightly:
"Go straight to the point."
"I will, then. Although she may not notice, I can tell that you have feelings for her."
Aoshi looked taken aback by this blunt statement. Saitou merely chuckled:
"No use denying it. Now, considering what I've come to know about the deceased, he was not a warm man... nor would he allow a relationship between his own daughter and...well... a butler." His tone while he pronounced the last word was rather offensive: Aoshi just wanted to beat the hell out of him... he just wished he could.
"So you have a motive. Let's hear about your alibi."
"I don't have one. I was sleeping in my bedroom. And no, no one saw me there. I got up when I heard all that screaming going on upstairs."
"Did you take the time to get dressed?"
"Yes."
"I see. But you have to admit it is indeed quite strange taking the time to get dressed after hearing someone screaming their lungs out in the middle of the night. I mean, that surely startled you..."
"What do you mean? If you have something to say, just say it."
"Then I will." Saitou leaned in closer to Aoshi while the young butler tried to keep an expressionless face. "I think you killed Okina."
Aoshi blinked, looking mockingly shocked:
"Oh, is that so? It is indeed a pity that you do not have any evidence whatsoever. Now, if you'll excuse me."
He got up and walked to the door almost feeling Saitou's amber eyes glaring daggers at him. He turned again, his hand already on the door's handle:
"We'll talk again when you have concrete evidence against me."
"Hn. And you see if you do something about that weasel. Now that you got rid of Okina, you must be burning to have her in your bed..."
"Shut up." Aoshi said calmly. "I was never a pervert and you know that."
He slammed the door behind him. Saitou laughed sarcastically, lighting a cigarette:
"He hasn't changed. He hasn't changed at all..."
***
By nightfall the questionings were practically over; there was only one suspect left: the novelist Vincent Valentine.
"What precisely are you doing here?" Saitou had already lost track of the number of cigarettes he had smoked during that day; a quick look at the ashtray on the table told him they had been too many.
"I am writing a crime story and I wanted its setting to be this very estate. I had met Okina-san before in a ceremony, so he kindly accepted me as his guest during this weekend."
"I don't suppose that in your novel happens a crime like this particular one...?"
Vincent smiled mysteriously.
"As a matter of fact, it happens a crime exactly like this one. Apparently motivated by romantic reasons, but the truth is not so simple."
Saitou's eyes widened ever-so-slightly. Vincent half-smirked and continued:
"But in my novel, the inspector is murdered too... just when he was about to solve the crime."
Vincent's eyes darkened and suddenly his face wal dead-serious and indifferent again.
"Will that be all?" he asked.
"Yes. For now."
"Very well then. Goodnight, Saitou-san."
Saitou was then left alone with his thoughts. What the hell was happening there?
***
A.N.: What do you think? Good? Bad? Feel free to let me know!
***
"So tell me" Saitou started. "What exactly were you two doing up when you found Okina?"
The questionings had started, conducted by Inspector Saitou. So far only the guests, Misao and Dante had been questioned and Saitou hadn't been able to draw any useful conclusions out of their statements: the kids were each other's alibis (except for the time when Misao had gone to the toilets), while Dante claimed to be sleeping when everything had happened. Not a very strong alibi, but Saitou would get back to that later. Now his main concern were the two young employees sitting in front of him: Kaoru and Yahiko.
Yahiko opened his mouth to start answering but Kaoru motioned for him to let her speak instead:
"That would have to do with me. You see, I'm teaching Yahiko the martial arts."
Saitou raised a well-shaped eyebrow.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. My father used to own a dojo but we had to sell it - well, in fact we had to sell almost everything we owned - because me mother fell ill with a cancer. Even with the treatments she just wouldn't get better; she died shortly after the diagnosis. So I came to work here to see if I could earn some money to send my father... he's not very well himself, all this was quite a shock to him."
"I see. But surely you don't practise kendo or karate inside, do you?"
Kaoru and Yahiko looked slightly annoyed.
"Of course not" Yahiko answered. "We were going to get our equipment from the room down the hall, near Okina-san's bedroom. We use it as some kind of storage room."
"Yes. Then you saw Okina's door open, looked inside and saw all that, I suppose?"
"That is correct."
"Right. I won't be needing you anymore for now. Please call the butler on your way out."
Outside, after closing the door, Yahiko blew up:
"That damn Saitou!! Who the hell does he think he is, giving us orders like that, treating us like dirt?!"
"Forget it, Yahiko. Just forget it" Kaoru put a hand on his shoulder, then turned to Aoshi. "He needs you inside."
Without a word, Aoshi nodded and opened the door to the dining room, where Saitou was questioning the suspects, and then closed it silently behind him, taking his time to walk the short distance.
Saitou watched him with the beginnings of a smirk. This was going to be fun...
"So... Aoshi, is it? I understand that you've worked in this house longer than any of the other employees."
"Yes."
Saitou sat back, his smirk now obvious.
"I noticed that Okina's daughter is a cute-looking girl..."
Aoshi narrowed his eyes slightly:
"Go straight to the point."
"I will, then. Although she may not notice, I can tell that you have feelings for her."
Aoshi looked taken aback by this blunt statement. Saitou merely chuckled:
"No use denying it. Now, considering what I've come to know about the deceased, he was not a warm man... nor would he allow a relationship between his own daughter and...well... a butler." His tone while he pronounced the last word was rather offensive: Aoshi just wanted to beat the hell out of him... he just wished he could.
"So you have a motive. Let's hear about your alibi."
"I don't have one. I was sleeping in my bedroom. And no, no one saw me there. I got up when I heard all that screaming going on upstairs."
"Did you take the time to get dressed?"
"Yes."
"I see. But you have to admit it is indeed quite strange taking the time to get dressed after hearing someone screaming their lungs out in the middle of the night. I mean, that surely startled you..."
"What do you mean? If you have something to say, just say it."
"Then I will." Saitou leaned in closer to Aoshi while the young butler tried to keep an expressionless face. "I think you killed Okina."
Aoshi blinked, looking mockingly shocked:
"Oh, is that so? It is indeed a pity that you do not have any evidence whatsoever. Now, if you'll excuse me."
He got up and walked to the door almost feeling Saitou's amber eyes glaring daggers at him. He turned again, his hand already on the door's handle:
"We'll talk again when you have concrete evidence against me."
"Hn. And you see if you do something about that weasel. Now that you got rid of Okina, you must be burning to have her in your bed..."
"Shut up." Aoshi said calmly. "I was never a pervert and you know that."
He slammed the door behind him. Saitou laughed sarcastically, lighting a cigarette:
"He hasn't changed. He hasn't changed at all..."
***
By nightfall the questionings were practically over; there was only one suspect left: the novelist Vincent Valentine.
"What precisely are you doing here?" Saitou had already lost track of the number of cigarettes he had smoked during that day; a quick look at the ashtray on the table told him they had been too many.
"I am writing a crime story and I wanted its setting to be this very estate. I had met Okina-san before in a ceremony, so he kindly accepted me as his guest during this weekend."
"I don't suppose that in your novel happens a crime like this particular one...?"
Vincent smiled mysteriously.
"As a matter of fact, it happens a crime exactly like this one. Apparently motivated by romantic reasons, but the truth is not so simple."
Saitou's eyes widened ever-so-slightly. Vincent half-smirked and continued:
"But in my novel, the inspector is murdered too... just when he was about to solve the crime."
Vincent's eyes darkened and suddenly his face wal dead-serious and indifferent again.
"Will that be all?" he asked.
"Yes. For now."
"Very well then. Goodnight, Saitou-san."
Saitou was then left alone with his thoughts. What the hell was happening there?
***
A.N.: What do you think? Good? Bad? Feel free to let me know!
