Chapter Twenty: The Light
The streets were deserted; not a single car was on the Tokyo streets as the red Porsche that raced down the road toward the Sakura Ball.
A silence loomed in the car as the three occupants each stared out the window.
"I don't see why it wouldn't work," said Kenshin finally, breaking the queer silence. He moved his head toward the passenger seat where Kaoru sat, biting her right thumbnail.
"Or why we have to go back to the scene of the crime. I mean, don't people always say that the guilty always shows back up at the scene of the crime?" Spoke Misao from behind.
"I know that it sounds weird, but to prove my theory accurate, we're going to have to find those two buds of cigars in that alley," said Kaoru.
"Tell me again what your theory was," said Kenshin as he kept an eye on the road and his personal assistant who had just decided to become Sano's lawyer but half an hour ago.
"Well we all know that Sano didn't do it. As he said, he came out at 8:30, and Akira was dead at 8:45 P.M. that night and lost three liters of blood. The times themselves should prove Sano was innocent because it takes about 30 minutes to lose that much blood, and with Sano smoking two cigars, it would take more time away from that 15 minute interval, giving Sano's innocence. Plus, why would Sano stab himself in the knee in the first place? He didn't even have a motive to kill the guy," said Kaoru seriously.
"So that's why you said that we only need a few pieces of information to prove that Sano was innocent," said Misao with a smile; it was her first one that day.
"Yes, but we'll have to find those cigar buds. But there's still one problem," said Kaoru, the smile leaving her face.
Kenshin cocked an eyebrow at her, as Misao held the back of Kaoru's seat and scooted up so that her head was between the two front seats. Her emeralds looked at Kaoru expectantly.
"Megumi's in a coma," said Kaoru in a whisper.
"So?" Asked Kenshin.
"She was the only one that can confirm that Sano had indeed been with her at 8:30, and we need that as solid evidence before any of our theory to save Sano can work properly," said Kaoru with a frown.
Misao gasped and Kenshin tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"We mustn't give up hope though. I'm sure she'll be back to normal in no time," said Kaoru, trying to look at the brighter side of the situation.
Misao leaned back in her chair and fell into silence again, as Kenshin focused on the road.
I hope we find something useful. Thought Kaoru as she went back to biting her thumbnail, but forced herself to stop. Stupid old habits.
~*~*~*~
"The moron's case is going to cause trouble with our deal," said Saitoh as he leaned back in his large black seat at the conference table.
"And our company reputation" said Shishio; sitting to the right of Saitoh, the man was none to happy about it either.
Hiko stood from his spot at the head of the conference table, and looked at the men that sat around him. They were the most valuable people of this company apart from his baka deshi and the boy's personal assistant.
Aoshi sat across from the other two, and to Hiko's right. The man was younger than the others were, but just as smart and cunning. Behind those cold mask of theirs were brilliant minds and clever thoughts of making life better for themselves.
They had been here since 8 in the morning, and it was barely noon. Their conversation about the deal with Yamagata and Sano's case seemed like it was going to go on forever.
The old tired man waited until the two men went silent.
"I must say that this is quite the predicament. Katsura should be here before we making any decisions," said Hiko before her sat down.
"What about Himura?" Asked Saitoh, it was custom to have the older boss, and always with the younger one present when dealing with such arguments when wanting to make or discuss a deal.
"He's busy with the rooster-head's case; he'll be back later. But for now we must get this order of business over with," said Hiko irritated.
"We need his signature," stated Shishio.
"I know that you numbskull, we need to get going with your new technology issue, and then we can busy ourselves with making sure that the other knucklehead doesn't get placed into jail," said Hiko exasperated. It was annoying to have to deal with so many things that were none of his concern.
"Very well," spoke Aoshi finally.
"Now what is it exactly?" Asked Hiko curiously. The piece of equipment had to be something very impressive if it caught the three pickiest people's attention, and they had only been out of the country for such a short business trip.
"It has the ability to make the computer go faster than they usually are. Our computers are nothing computer to the ones that Yamagata have created. It also has the ability to store up to five times more memory than our computers, the reason behind its speed," said Saitoh calmly.
"What? No computer can hold that much memory, yet alone a computer chip," said Hiko; the thought was absurd. Their own computers were the fastest ones created in the country and most of Asia; so thinking of a computer faster than it would mean that they weren't the best, and he would have it no other way than them being at the top of the ranks.
"Ah! That's what we thought as well, until we got to try one of the computers ourselves. They didn't use computer chips to make the memory, in fact they placed the memory on a disc so that you can add it to the computer manually, and you can only do it once. So that we don't get ripped off," said Shishio with a grin.
Hiko cocked an eyebrow to the man, and then looked at the other two grinning men before him.
"Tell me more about it," said Hiko as he leaned back as they continued on.
~*~*~*~
The alley was dark even in the noon light. There was nothing around but shadows and a long yellow stretch tape that said 'Do Not Cross-' was around the area in which Akira lied dead just yesterday night.
Large black spots showed where the blood once laid in its liquid form as it spilled out from its owner.
Misao and Kaoru held each other's arms as they walked on behind Kenshin. They were searching for any signs of cigars that were lying on the ground.
Taking in deep breaths, Kaoru forced herself to look around and forget about last night all together. But the place wreaked of blood, and she couldn't stand it. She hated the smell; it was repulsive and just disgusting.
The sight sickened yet enraged her inner most dreadful state of mind; revenge. It was something that lawyers weren't suppose to feel, it would mess up their cases, and when their feelings of their own justice mixed up with a clients case, things seemed to get cluttered and they'd lose the case. A reason why lawyers were known to be cold, and not care if their client was guilty or not, as long as they were paid. Their lessons were the cause of it.
"Come quick!" Yelled Kenshin, his voice bringing Kaoru back from her muses.
The two girls rushed over to their boss, and saw that there were ashes but no cigar buds there.
"Do you think that it could have blown away?" Asked Misao as she looked around for it.
"Not likely," said Kenshin grimly.
"What?" Asked Misao as she looked up at him.
"Nothing. We better go look for something else," said Kenshin as he stood from his crouched position at examining the ashes.
Kaoru sighed and then looked up into the gleaming sun. She immediately shut them when a bright light struck her eyes, making her pupils shrink due to the light.
"Is something wrong?" Asked Kenshin as he looked at her.
"Something just caught my eye," said Kaoru as she rubbed her orbs with her palms.
Kenshin looked up and squinted as well, and cursed when a beam of light reflected into his sensitive pupils as well.
"What the hell was that?" Asked Kenshin as he shielded his eyes and walked toward where he thought the source was coming from.
"Look up there! On the red brick," said Misao as she pointed to white glowing light that was coming from the very top of the wall made of bricks. It looked more like it was up in the sky than on just a wall.
Before Kenshin could go and try and get it, Kaoru grabbed hold oh his arm.
"What is it?" Asked Kenshin as he froze and looked into her horrified eyes.
"Don't touch it, you'll get your fingerprints on it. It could be evidence," said Kaoru as her body began to quiver and her legs nearly gave way below her if Kenshin hadn't held her arm.
"Are you okay?" Asked Kenshin concerned as he steadied her.
"Yeah, just a bit queasy. I think that I didn't get too much sleep" said Kaoru with a forced smile.
Kenshin didn't buy the story for a minute, he knew that something was up, but decided to think nothing of it. He would just have to ask about it later.
"Call the cops; tell them that Himura wants to speak with them. Order them to come down here right away," said Kenshin as he helped Kaoru lean against a wall far from the scene of the crime.
Misao quickly nodded before digging into her green purse and taking out her cell phone. Dialing for the cops, she quickly did as she was instructed.
"Tell me what's wrong Kaoru," said Kenshin when Misao was busy and turned around. He placed his arms on his shoulders and made Kaoru look into his steely blue depths.
"I told you I'm fine," said Kaoru angrily, as she glared back at him.
"Don't lie to me, I know that there is something on your mind," stated Kenshin, returning her glare.
Kaoru forced herself to look away and droop her head; she couldn't look at him. Those eyes, they were so trustful, reliable, concerned, and she wanted no more than to tell him everything. But something inside her didn't want her to; it wanted her to keep her burdens and to be the only one to remember.
"You're only hurting yourself; you know that?" Questioned Kenshin, his face growing soft as he loosened his grip on her shoulders.
Kaoru looked up at him confused, unsure at what her boss meant.
"By keeping your feelings all bottled up, you'll go made and then shout it all out at the wrong place and time. If you slowly let it out, it'll do wonders for you. Your pain will subside better," said Kenshin with a weak smile before turning away from her.
Before Kaoru could reply to that, they saw the police sirens from afar as Misao rushed over to them.
"They're coming," said Misao with a smile, she was glad to be able to do something to help the rooster head out.
Kenshin nodded, and went to go see the police.
"Misao" said Kaoru silently.
"Yes?" Asked Misao as she turned to her old friend.
"Why would someone frame Sano?" Questioned Kaoru more to herself than to her.
"I don't know, but as long as you're on the case, nothing will go wrong! You've never lost before," said Misao with a smile.
"There's always a first for everything," said Kaoru solemnly.
"Weren't you the one that told us to have hope in the first place? I know you can do it Kaoru. Don't give up," said Misao with a smile as she placed a comforting hand on Kaoru's shoulder.
Smiling back weakly, Kaoru took her hand and squeezed in thanks.
"Hey! Come over here you two!" Yelled Kenshin, from where the item was found.
The two looked at each other before racing over, and looking into the cops gloved hands, and gasped.
In the man's hand's was a gun. It had a diamond hilt and from the tip to the hilt was made of white metal. The gun was glimmering in the sunlight.
"It's most likely the gun that caused the shot that were heard last night," said Kenshin coldly.
"This gun was fired, and there seems to be no more bullets in here," said the police officer as he looked down at the item.
Kaoru took in every detail, but her eyes fell on the diamond part. Narrowing her eyes so that she could see clearer, she noticed that the diamond seemed to be scratched on both sides when the officer placed the gun in a bag.
"I think we better get back to M.R.S. Kaoru, we still have that deal to talk about," said Kenshin as he watched the officer get into his car and radio someone and then drive away.
"Kaoru?" Questioned Misao when she didn't answer; she was curious as to why her friend looked like she was in deep thought.
"Huh?" Asked Kaoru confused at what was going on. She knew that there was something important about that gun that she was forgetting, something that had to do with the diamond hilt. The thought was on the tip of her head, but she couldn't figure it out.
"I said that we should get back to M.R.S.," said Kenshin, rolling his eyes in exasperation.
"Oh yes! That deal with Mr. White," said Kaoru.
"Yes, now let's get going," said Kenshin as he walked back toward his red car.
He waited as the two women slowly walked into the car.
Kenshin sighed. They traveled all this way, and they still couldn't prove Sano was innocent. That was unless the gun had fingerprints of the real killer, then the case would be solved. Then again, they'd also need Megumi as a witness.
The 28-year-old placed his forehead on the steering wheel; all of this thinking and worrying for his friend was giving him a headache.
"Are you okay Mr. Himura?" Asked Misao when she got into the back of the car.
"Yeah, just a headache," said Kenshin as he sat up straight when Kaoru got into the passenger seat.
"If you have a headache, I'll drive," said Kaoru concerned as she looked at his pale face.
"I'll get us there faster," said Kenshin with a good-natured grin to his personal assistant.
It was Kaoru's turn to grow pale as she quickly closed the door and pulled the seat belt over her form.
"You better buckle up Misao," warned Kaoru, as she looked at Misao in the rearview mirror.
Misao raised a brow in confusion, Kenshin had drove them here safely, and the thought that he boss drove quickly didn't occur to her.
Kaoru only shook her head, as she braced herself for another one of Kenshin's 'hurried' rides.
~*~*~*~
Magdaria's hands shook as she brought her cup of coffee to her lips. She nearly dropped it when she heard the door to their back yard open.
"Whoa! Careful Sayo" said Shougo as he caught the cup before the cup plummeted to the ground.
He straightened up and frowned. Carefully placed the cup on the table, he sat across from her trembling form.
"I've got to go to work soon," said Shougo; he was suppose to be gone by now but he didn't feel right at leaving his sister at home all alone, she seemed so fragile.
Magdaria looked up at her older brother and nodded, before clasping her hands together on the table and looked down at the black coffee.
"Come on Shougo! We need to at least get there before the boss, or we're going to get in deep trouble," said Yahiko as he came out in a blue suit with his backpack hanging over one shoulder.
Taking one look at his brother, who was in a black suit, he nearly sighed in relief if he didn't see his sister with such a tormented look on her face.
"Do you want Yahiko or me to stay?" Asked Shougo concerned.
"It's all right. You two get going to work. I have to get going too," said Magdaria with a forced smile as she stood up.
"No! You're going to stay here. I don't think that you should go to work until you feel better," said Shougo commandingly.
"I do feel better" lied Magdaria, fooling no one but herself.
"Sayo," said Shougo coldly, as his eyes met her own.
Casting her head down, Magdaria sat back down in her seat at the kitchen table. She knew better than to go against her brother when he was serious like this.
"Let's go Yahiko. Call us if you need anything," said Shougo as he stood up with suitcase in hand and looked back at his sister who nodded.
Yahiko smiled warily at his sister before following his older brother out to the garage.
Standing, she walked over to the front of the house and looked out the window. She sat down on the couch as she watched her siblings leaving.
A lone sphere dropped down into her folded hands in her lap.
~*~*~*~
"I don't think that you should mention anything about last night to Sayo, Yahiko," said Shougo seriously as he focused on the road in his black Celica.
"Why would I? I know how she feels about all of this, and the stupid rooster head had to go get himself caught at the scene of the crime. Magdaria would never be in this state of worry if it wasn't for the baka! What if she gets sick again?" Asked Yahiko angrily.
"That's why you can't mention anything that you find out in front of her," said Shougo.
"I know," said Yahiko with a sigh. He hated to see his sister like this, he knew that she was crying when they went home last night. She was sad because Sano was placed in jail, and she could have been going out with a murderer.
"Yahiko" said Shougo, as the car stopped.
"What?" Asked Yahiko, as he snapped back to reality.
"We're here," said Shougo as he got out of the car and grabbed his suitcase from the back seat.
"Oh," said Yahiko as he quickly jumped out of the car and got his backpack.
Just as he was about to walk toward the elevator, a pair of bright lights came straight toward him.
He stood rooted to his spot in fear and shock, as the light got brighter.
~*~*~*~*~
A/N: That's all! I know it was short, but I wanted to just get this out. I'll do a longer and better one next time!