Identity

4th chapter, enjoy…

Chapter 4: Lead

"…and the business world is still in shock after the bodies of the head of Kinta Corporation, Kinta Yoshida and his two guards, were found earlier this morning in his lavish Kyoto apartment. The successful 37-year-old had appeared just the afternoon before at a luncheon held in his honour, smiling and joking with guests. Details surrounding the business tycoon's death have not yet been released. Police are currently investigating but have no leads."

Fuuko frowned at the newsreader on the screen in front of her. "You know, Kinta was supposed to have arrived in Hiroshima last night," she said.

"Which means that the person who did this must have caught him yesterday, just before he left for the airport," Mikagami finished for her.

"But why would anyone kill him now? I mean, there are more opportune times. They must have known that someone was going to miss the guy as soon as he didn't get on the plane to Hiroshima."

Mikagami silently agreed with her. It didn't make any sense…

"Unless you want the body found," he thought aloud.

"What?" Fuuko stared at him. "Why would they though? Having the body found means more chance of being caught – which means a horde of assassins all after the gi-normous bounty on your head. Don't you think those are disincentives enough?"

Mikagami would have whole-heartedly agreed – had there not been something bothering him. "Look, Kirisawa. Getting access to Kinta in his apartment without encountering his two bodyguards should have been quite easy, right?"

Fuuko was perplexed by Mikagami's question. "I guess. Kinta had reason not to be too concerned about security."

"So why should a professional assassin kill the two guards when he didn't have to even bother with them at all?"

Fuuko shrugged. "Sure he'd rather avoid any unnecessary work, but maybe Kinta yelled out and they barged into the room or something – I don't know. Look, where exactly are you going with this?"

Mikagami frowned. He didn't know the answer himself. "I guess it's nothing," he finally conceded. But it still niggled at the back of his mind. There was something else, too, that had been bothering him for a long time. It was something that seemed to be connected with this. But for the moment it slipped past him. Mikagami shook his head. Right now, there were more important issues to be concerned over.

"Look," he said. "I want to find out more about Kinta's death, okay?"

Fuuko looked hard at him. "You think that this is related to Yanagi's kidnap attempt?" she asked.

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "Maybe."

"You know, Kinta could've been killed by some bum who just wanted to make the headlines, or maybe even by a lunatic who didn't like his tie."

"I doubt that, but I get your point." Mikagami paused a while before continuing, "I just want to find out what I can. It might help us in some way."

Fuuko pursed her lips, thoughtfully. "I guess it can't hurt. Now that our only lead is gone we need to broaden our thinking."

She watched as Mikagami walked to the telephone on the bedside table and started to dial a number. "What –" She stopped, annoyed as he held up an interrupting hand.

"Kyoto central police department, please."

"Mika –"

"Yes, Fuuji Akyo's desk please."

"Mikagami! Tell me what you're doing!" Fuuko fumed.

The ensui-wielder sighed and covered the mouthpiece with one hand. "Just calling a contact."

"You know someone in the police force?" Fuuko gaped at him. "Wow, I didn't know you even knew that many people."

Mikagami just turned his back on her. Stupid monkey, he thought.

"Hello, Fuuji Akyo speaking."

"Yes, this is Mikagami from Toky –"

"Tokiya-kun!!!"

Mikagami winced, holding the handset away from his ear.

"What? Did I hear what I thought I heard?" Fuuko exclaimed, leaning closer.

"No!" he whispered, "Go away!"

"Tokiya-kun, are you alright?" A concerned voice asked over the line.

"Yes, I'm fine," Mikagami said, turning away from the grin spreading over the fuujin-wielder's face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Tokiya-kun. You've caught me at a bad time."

"What are you doing?!" Mikagami half-yelled as he felt something push against his cheek.

Fuuko had pressed her ear to the other side of the receiver in an attempt to listen in.

"Uh, is something wrong, Tokiya-kun?"

"No, no," Mikagami said quickly, "Hold on for a second." He placed a hand over the mouth piece and whispered to Fuuko, "What are you doing?"

"What?" Fuuko said, not bothering to lower her voice, "I want to hear this too."

Mikagami looked at her for moment. "Suit yourself," he said grudgingly and raised the receiver. "Sorry about that," he said, "there was an annoying little fly buzzing around."

He glanced sideways at Fuuko, who once again had her head next to his. A strand of her hair brushed across his cheek and the sweet smell of shampoo wafted to his nose. It was quite a pleasant sensation. Mikagami blinked. Where had that come from? He quickly pushed the thought away. "Anyway, what were you saying?"

"Oh, it's been a very busy morning. I'm sure you've heard of the news about Kinta Yoshida."

"Yes… that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh. Was that the only reason why you rang?"

"Yes."

Fuuko rolled her eyes. Oh that's a charming reply, she thought.

"I see," the disappointment in her voice was evident.

"But there's something I need that I knew only you could help me with."

"Really? Of course I'll help if I can."

"I have a law paper due soon and I just thought that it would be very useful make a reference to Kinta's death. Could you give me any details about it?"

Yeah, Fuuko thought incredulously, as if she'll fall for that.

There was a moment of silence before, "I really want to help, Tokiya-kun, but I can only tell you the details that have been released to the press – that the bodies of Kinta and his two bodyguards were found at 4:12am in his apartment. There wasn't any sign of forced entry, but nobody saw or even heard a thing. None of the security cameras caught anything unusual either. Of course there's plenty of motive, but the list of Kinta's enemies is so damn long that fingering out a few suspects is nearly impossib – whoop, there I go rambling again. Anyway that's basically it, Tokiya-kun. If I tell you any more I won't have a job any longer."

Mikagami frowned. "Are you sure there's nothing else you can tell me?"

The disappointment was virtually dripping from his voice. Actually, Fuuko thought that he overdid it.

"Oh Tokiya-kun, I don't know."

"I understand. Your job is very important to you…"

"But not as important as you, of course, Tokiya-kun," the policewoman quickly interjected. "You see, I'm not really on the Kinta case, but I did overhear something weird." She lowered her voice. "The other guys were discussing the case earlier – you know, walking through the details and whatnot. Kinta and the two bodyguards were each stabbed through the heart. But that's not the weird bit. Apparently, the blades that were sticking out of their chests were all blue in colour – originally of course. I mean, they were red when they were pulled out at first, because of the blood and everything…"

"Blue?" Mikagami interrupted.

"Yeah, that's right. It was like somebody coloured the blades of the daggers, but didn't, if you know what I mean."

Mikagami remained in a puzzled silence. He could almost feel Fuuko's brows creasing in the same bewilderment. Then he frowned. "Wait a minute," he said. "You said daggers, you mean, like knives right?"

"Noo, I mean daggers. This was quite unusual too. The weapons the killer used had longer blades than knives – like daggers. And he used identical daggers for each of the three. Usually you see murderers using the same weapon to kill, but this one… Let's just say that this one has unusual habits – not to mention many blue-coloured daggers up his sleeves."

"Did you get anything else on the daggers?"

"Uh, apparently they were lost on the way to being sent to the forensic labs."

"Lost?" Mikagami said quickly, "What do you mean lost?"

"Well, no-one really knows. The daggers were on their way to the forensics labs, under very heavy police guard I might add, when they disappeared. It was like they vanished off the face of the earth. Personally, I think the killer retrieved them somehow without being seen. So anyway, you didn't hear this from me, okay?"

"Don't worry. I won't put this in my paper if the information isn't released to the public beforehand."

"Oh, you're such a dear, Tokiya-kun. Oh, you still have my cell number, don't you? Give me a call on that. And remember that you still have to drop by sometime, okay? I miss your gorgeous face. All I get to stare at all day are these middle-aged, balding polic…"

"Fuuji!" A loud voice at the other end of the line sharply cut her off. "Are you taking a personal call?"

"Oh, of course not sir–"

The line disconnected.

Fuuko dropped onto the bed as Mikagami replaced the receiver. "Well that was bizarre," she said. "But I don't see how any of that helped us at all."

The young man just remained silent.

Fuuko looked at him, noting the little creases in his forehead as he sat on the chair he had pulled up beside the bed, deep in thought. Her gaze slid to his bright blue eyes, down the long curve of his nose and to his girlishly perfect lips.

It wasn't that she hadn't known it – it was just that she hadn't noticed it herself before. Mikagami was a really good-looking guy. Too good-looking, she thought uncomfortably, a hand lifting unconsciously to her tousled, long hair.

She was suddenly conscious of how inadequate the short t-shirt she had worn to bed was. With her sitting down, it barely covered the top of her thighs. It made her wish that she had slipped on a pair of trousers earlier.

She was surreptitiously reaching for the blanket to cover her legs when Mikagami suddenly said, "What do you think?"

Fuuko jumped. "Wha-?"

Mikagami frowned impatiently at her. "What do you think about the weapons the killer used?" he repeated.

"Well, it is pretty unusual to find assassins using daggers these days, but it's not very improbable. But I guess the blue-coloured blades narrows it down a bit. The killer was lucky to recover them before the police had the chance to analyse them further." She looked at a silent Mikagami. "What is it?"

"The weapon that injured Sakoshita – Hanabishi described it as a dagger as well…"

Fuuko stared hard at him. "That doesn't really prove that Yanagi's kidnap attempt and Kinta's murder are related. It could just be coincidence."

Mikagami looked back unflinchingly. "Maybe, maybe not, but I think I know how we can find out." And he turned to the telephone once again.

"Wait a minute," Fuuko said when she realised where he was dialling. "You're not going to mention me, are you? I mean, I think that it's best if –"

Mikagami threw an irked look at her. "I'm going to turn the speaker on, so you'd better stay silent until the end of the call."

Fuuko nodded and threw him a smile of gratitude, which he ignored. It made Mikagami feel uncomfortable actually. A smile on the face of the young woman with the loose, long black hair made him feel like he was looking at a stranger.

The two remained silent as sounds of the phone ringing filled the room. Fuuko noticed that Mikagami was avoiding looking at her and wondered if he thought her a coward for not wanting to face her old friends. She certainly felt like one.

"Yello! Hanabishi here," a cheerful voice half-yelled in greeting.

Fuuko couldn't help the grin spreading on her face at the familiar voice. Shigeo had been like a second father to her.

"Hanabishi-san," Mikagami said, "it's Mikagami."

"Ah, Mikagami-chan. How's it going?"

Fuuko exploded with laughter – at least, she would have had it not been for Mikagami, who had fortunately placed a hand over her mouth in time. What came out instead was a semi-loud "pffffffft!"

"Eh? What was that? You got a cold or something, have yeh?"

"Uh, something like that," Mikagami said with a pained expression on his face. He wiped his hand on his shirt disdainfully. Fuuko had a big smirk on her face. "How's Yanagi-san?" he asked.

"Yanagi? Ah, she's fine thank goodness. A few more days and she'll be out walking on her feet again."

Mikagami sighed inwardly in relief. "So there have been no further attacks?"

"Nah, nothing. But that Recca has been by her side everyday, so I guess anyone who wants to try anything will have their hands full. That's my boy, hee hee. Oh, he's about to leave for the hospital, you want to talk to him before he does?"

"Yes, thanks."

"'Kay, hold on."

Fuuko glanced at the ensui-wielder. She noted his expression when Shigeo had mentioned Recca being by Yanagi's side. He had seemed almost… sad.

There was some yelling in the background before an angry voice said, "Mikagami, you @^$%#, you said you would call as soon as you landed in Kobe! I don't think it took you two days to get there!"

Mikagami waited as the flame-master yelled some more obscenities. When the other boy paused for breath, he said, "Look, I need to ask you something about the weapon that injured Yanagi-san. Are you going to help me, or what?"

"Yeah, alright." Recca's voice was very grudging. "Tell me what you've found out first."

So Mikagami told him, leaving out the part about meeting Fuuko.

"So the address was a dud, but you managed to find out about this organization. I heard about that Kinta murder. It's been all over the news. But what did you want to know about the weapon?"

"Was there anything unusual at all?" Mikagami asked carefully, "About the blade?"

"The blade…" There was a hesitation, then, "Well, I really did think I was imagining it, because I was feeling angry and… emotional, but I thought – I thought the blade looked almost… well, blue."

Fuuko looked at Mikagami in shock. There was one question answered, but many others sprang into its place. She almost voiced her astonishment aloud.

Mikagami's voice was icy. "Why didn't you mention this earlier?"

"Look, I told you I thought that I imagined it, and I still do. I thought it might have been the light or something… just what is this about anyway?"

"Kinta was killed by someone who used the same weapon."

"What? You mean by a dagger with a blue blade? So I wasn't imagini –" He cut off as an indistinct voice said something in the background. When he came back on, his voice was deadly serious. "Wait a sec, Ka-san wants to say something."

"Mikagami-kun, are you listening carefully?" Kagerou's voice said urgently.

"Yes."

"I have heard about this type of weapon before – a long knife with a blue-coloured blade. I have told all of you about the various ninja clans, including the Hokage, which existed back in the Tensho era, all those hundreds of years ago." (Actually, Mikagami was clueless – he had been asleep at the time) "But I didn't tell you that there were also others who possessed power equal to that of the ninja clans. One of these was the Mitsukawa family who were believed to carry out assassinations on the behalf of political figures and high-ranking officials.

"But that was where their similarity with the other powerful families ended. They had isolated themselves from the rest of civilisation centuries ago and had become some sort of a legend. The only evidence of their existence was the odd body found with a blue dagger in their heart.

"Nobody knew much about the family – there were only rumours. More than a few of its members were thought to have died under bizarrely unfortunate circumstances, which led to the belief that the family was cursed. It was known, however, that the Mitsukawa had an unusual ability to create daggers from their life-force that they could control at will. These daggers would have appeared to be normal were it not for the blue-tinted blades and the fact that they vanished after a period of time."

Mikagami started. "Vanished?"

"That's right, the daggers weren't actually material so they disappeared after a while. But don't be mistaken, they are as deadly as real daggers – deadlier actually, since they can be controlled by the user." Kagerou paused a while before continuing, "It was thought that the Mitsukawa line along with the Hokage, had been wiped out in the madougu war, but there was never any proof of it.

"I very much hope that I'm wrong, but if not, then you are dealing with someone from the Mitsukawa bloodline. I'll inform the others of this, but I'm more worried about you, Mikagami-kun. Please be careful. Being on your own makes things even more dangerous."

Mikagami glanced at Fuuko, who seemed to be deep in thought about something. "I'll be fine," he said. They exchange farewells before he hung up. He sat silently, allowing Kagerou's words to sink in. They were dealing with dangerous and powerful people, but it was a comfort that he wasn't alone in this. He looked at his companion and frowned. She was unusually quiet. "Fuuko?"

"What?" she looked up blankly.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sure!" She grinned, "I'm just a bit out of it because someone deprived me of my sleep." She stood up and took hold of a startled Mikagami's arms. She pulled him to his feet and hustled him towards the door. "Now get out and let me rest for a bit, okay?"

"Wait," Mikagami said, putting his foot in the open doorway, "don't you think we should discuss what Kagerou-san said?"

Fuuko placed her hands on her hips. "No, later, okay? Let a girl have her rest!"

"But –"

"Go away, Mikagami!"

A couple passing by paused in curiosity. The woman giggled and the man leered as they took in Fuuko's sparse attire and Mikagami's bewildered look.

"Do you mind?" Mikagami said coldly, subtly moving to block Fuuko from the man's roving gaze. The two promptly continued on their way and he turned back to the smirking girl. "Fine, thirty minutes."

Fuuko groaned loudly. "Oh, come on! One more hour at least!" Then she leaned towards him and whispered, "Or we can just stand here for a long time."

"Fine, I'll be back in an hour. You'd better be awake then."

Fuuko watched with a big grin as Mikagami down the hallway to his room, which was a few doors down from hers. "You look cute when you blush, Mi-chan!" she yelled down at him and darted back into her room before he could retort.

The grin disappeared from her face as soon as she closed the door. Mitsukawa. As soon as Kagerou had mentioned the word, she knew that she'd heard it somewhere before. And now she remembered from where.

She only had an hour though, before Mikagami would come knocking on her door. So she walked briskly to the phone and started dialling.

******

Fuuko carefully checked that the hallway was clear for a second time before quietly unlocking the door and opening it. She took one last look at the room, then turned and pushed her luggage out with a foot. The door clicked shut behind her.

"So," a voice right beside her said, making her jump. "Where are we going?"

She turned. Leaning against the wall next to the door was Mikagami with his arms folded. "What –" she began.

"If you don't want to do this anymore, just say so," Mikagami interrupted. "But if you have a lead, I expect you to share it."

Fuuko looked away. "I'm going back to Kobe."

"Liar," Mikagami's response was immediate and angry. "We're talking about Sakoshita's life here. Don't try to hide information from me."

"Yes, we are talking about Yanagi's life," Fuuko's voice was equally angry, "which is why at this moment you should be in Tokyo, by her side. I don't have anything to lose – I can and will finish this by myself."

"Don't try to be a hero, Kirisawa."

"No, you stop trying to be a hero, Mikagami. You've always done things on your own and now you're doing this to punish yourself. I know that you blame yourself for not being there when Yanagi was attacked – for not being able to protect her. Well, it's not your fault. Why can't you accept that? Go back and see her. I'm sure she'll be happier knowing that you're not in danger."

Mikagami remained silent for a while after Fuuko finished her barrage before saying, "I see. Well, then I should be saying the same thing to you. I know that you blame yourself because of the connection to the organisation you work for. Well, it's not your fault and you should stop blaming yourself.

"The way I see it, you have two choices. The first is to keep your information to yourself and try to finish this by yourself. I'll have to warn you though, that I won't let you leave without a fight.

"The second is to finish this together, and after that, we can both return to Tokyo and see Sakoshita. I have to tell you, I'd much rather you take the second option. I don't want you as an enemy. I like you too much." Mikagami paused and frowned slightly. "At least, that's what Hanabishi would say to defuse a situation like this, wouldn't he?"

Fuuko looked at him in surprise. She was wrong. Mikagami had changed. Two years ago, he would have rather died than say something complimentary about Recca. Had the circumstances been different, she would have smiled. She didn't.

"I appreciate what you've said, Mikagami," she said, "but this is something I need to keep to myself for the moment." She frowned at him as he opened his mouth to argue, "I won't stop you, though, if you want to tag along."

The two stared at each other in silence for a moment before Mikagami broke it. "Alright," he conceded, "but at least tell me where we are going."

"I wasn't lying earlier about going to Kobe," Fuuko replied shortly.

"So in a sense, we're going back to the beginning."

"You could say that," she said slowly. "But I feel like we're nearing the end."

The last had been said softly, as an afterthought. But Mikagami had heard it, and he silently agreed –

Because he felt it as well.