"What are you talking about, Shinka?" Kurama placed a hand on her shoulder. Hiei appeared in the doorway.
"What the hell is going on in here?" he inquired, motioning to the phone which now lay in pieces upon the white tile.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Kurama answered, turning Shinka around to face him. Shinka closed her eyes and swayed slightly, nearly falling over. She felt very lightheaded for a moment. What's going on? She thought. Suddenly, she pitched forwards, nearly hitting the floor, only to be caught by Kurama. A chill swept through her and she shuddered violently as Kurama picked her up and carried her to the living room, gently placing her on the couch. Her eyes snapped open and she gasped as if waking from a nightmare.
"What the hell was that!" she exclaimed.
"Hn, that's what we'd like to know," Hiei said, returning to the windowsill and sitting in it, but facing his teammates.
"It was strange… I just got lightheaded. It felt like I was falling." She shook her head, as if trying to clear her mind. "But, let's not worry over that, it was probably just a dizzy spell. This case is more important anyways."
"Are you sure, Shinka? I mean, that's not normal," Kurama said, obviously concerned.
"I'm fine, Kurama. Stop worrying," Shinka insisted. She picked up the manila folders again and pulled out the photos. She sat on the floor and spread them out so that each one could be seen individually. Kurama and Hiei knelt by her. Her eyes darted over each one, picking out details and matching them with others. Kurama and Hiei watched her. In the past, they discovered Shinka had a knack for picking out the smallest details in something.
"Look!" she said, pointing at the nearest of the photos. It was of a young girl, about sixteen or seventeen years old. "See her expression? Most of the time, the muscles relax as the body shuts down. However, she looks absolutely horrified. That's something not often seen. Now look at the others."
Hiei and Kurama each looked closely at each victim. Indeed, they all bore the same expression. Horror. The expression of utmost horror and trepidation.
"What kind of creature could cause something like this?" Hiei wondered aloud.
"That's not all. Look at the bases of their necks." The two youkai did as Shinka said.
"Bite marks?" Kurama said, picking up one of the photos.
"Bite marks," Shinka confirmed.
"They look like…" Hiei began.
"Fangs. But not just any fangs. I think it may have been some kind of large canine. Like a wolf or a large dog," she said.
"You know, Shinka. I think you're right," Kurama said, setting the photo back down with the others. Just then, Yusuke and Kuwabara came in the door, carrying the pizza, soda, and a few movies.
"It's about time you morons got here," Shinka said, standing up. Yusuke rolled his eyes as he brought the pizza into the kitchen and set it on the table.
"What happened in here?" he asked, eyeing the broken phone that was still situated on the floor.
"Just had a little accident," Shinka said, picking up the broken plastic and setting it on the countertop. She grabbed some paper plates that she kept in a drawer and set them out.
'All right, bakas. Don't go messing my house up, all right?" Yusuke and Kuwabara nodded mere seconds before they literally attacked the pizza. Shinka rolled her eyes and walked back into the living room. Kurama and Hiei had cleared away the photos and police reports, returning them to their respectful folders. Yusuke and Kuwabara walked in and sat in front of the TV. Shinka threw the remote at Kuwabara's head, knowing what the two wanted. It hit.
"OW!" Kuwabara cried.
"What? I figured I could use some sort of amusement," she said, smirking. Yusuke snatched the remote from Kuwabara and turned on the TV.
"Did you figure anything out?" Kuwabara asked, rubbing the spot where he had been hit.
"Actually, yes," Kurama said. He explained everything to the two boys as they munched on their pizza and flipped through the channels.
"Stop! Go back to channel 9!" Shinka said, noticing something. Yusuke did as she asked and went back a few channels. It was the news. On the screen was the picture of a body bag, obviously holding a dead body.
"Yet another mysterious homicide has occurred," the reporter was saying. "Just another addition to the six that have already transpired. It happened in a park in Tokyo a few hours ago. Three friends were with the girl when she was murdered, but they all say they didn't see a thing." A distraught looking eighteen-year-old girl showed up on screen. Her two friends stood behind her.
"It was impossible to see anything. A really thick fog just appeared out of nowhere and before we knew what was happening, we heard Miyuki scream. We tried to find her, but none of us could see even an arms length in front of us," she said. The two behind her nodded in agreement.
"There are no current suspects," the reporter said before the story switched over to something else.
"Another murder," Hiei said from the windowsill.
"Well, I say we take a break from the case and check out that body tomorrow," Shinka said. Everyone nodded in agreement.
The rest of the night, the group stayed up, watching movies and talking. Eventually, they all fell asleep in Shinka's living room in the middle of some horror movie.
The next morning, Shinka woke to the sun directly in her face. She found herself lying upside down on the couch, her head touching the floor. Kurama was on the couch next to her, still sound asleep. Hiei slept peacefully in the windowsill. The two morons looked as if they had passed out on the floor, their mouths open and both snoring loudly.
Shinka attempted to flip herself over onto her stomach so she could stand, but failed. Instead, she only succeeded in falling off of the couch and landing roughly on the floor with a thud. This startled Hiei and Kurama awake.
"Shinka?" Kurama asked groggily. "What happened?" Shinka sat up.
"I just fell," she answered, straightening her hair. Suddenly, a sharp pain went through her head, as if someone was stabbing her skull with a butter knife or a really blunt blade. She winced and put her head in her hands.
"Shinka?" Kurama's voice was concerned. Then the pain was gone as quickly as it came. She stood up and stretched, completely ignoring Kurama.
"I'll be back," she said, walking to the staircase, making sure to kick Yusuke and Kuwabara sharply as she passed. She went to her room, still trying to rub the sleep from her eyes. She showered and dressed. Like everyday when she wasn't at school, her outfit was black. Her shirt had a red anarchy sign on the front that looked like it had been written in blood. Her pants were baggy and black, as always. Shinka brushed out her hair, deciding to leave it down today.
She went to her dresser, on top of which was a small, wooden jewelry box. Inside it were her only two pieces. A sliver pendant of a sword with two dragons wrapped around it on a silver chain was the first thing she saw. Both dragons had either red or black stones as eyes. The other piece was a silver, two-banded ring, another silver dragon running between the bands like a serpent.
Both of these pieces were two of the three of her most prized possessions. Both the ring and pendent had been given to her by her now deceased brother, Aki. She could still hear his voice inside her head.
"The dragon is a symbol of power and protection, Shinka. I won't tell you what to do with these yet. That, you must figure out on your own. However, keep them with you and you will always be protected, even when I'm not there." Those had been Aki's words when he handed her the trinkets. They were all she had left of her brother, and she had never figured out what he had meant by "what do to" with them.
She slid the ring onto her finger and clasped the necklace around her neck and proceeded to walk down the stairs. She entered the living room to find everyone now awake, except for Yusuke, who she guessed was in his room.
Since the team hung out at her house so often and she had the extra space, the guys all had their own rooms. It was basically like their second home, or, at least to everyone but Hiei it was. Shinka really had no idea where Hiei dwelled, but she really didn't care, either.
Shinka walked into the kitchen to find Kurama at the stove making breakfast.
"Oh, there you are, Shinka. I was wondering what was keeping you. Caught up in reminiscing again?" Kurama asked, flipping one of the pancakes in the pan.
'Yeah, a little," she answered, sitting at the old wooden table. She sighed and leaned back in her chair.
"Something wrong?" Kurama set a plate of golden brown pancakes in the center of the table.
"Nah. Not really. I'm just thinking about all of the homicides we're supposed to be investigating. None of the clues are really coming together at all. It's as if the killer is murdering completely random people. I don't understand."
"Well, I'm sure whoever it is has his or her motives. Murders usually do," Kurama said, sitting down as well. "But don't worry about it right now, Shinka. We'll figure this all out in time."
Shinka nodded, feeling a little more assured. She took two of the pancakes from the top of the stack and prepared them. She wanted to eat what she could before Yusuke and Kuwabara caught the sent of food. Hiei walked in and did the same, as did Kurama. It wasn't long, maybe a minute or two, before Yusuke and Kuwabara stampeded into the kitchen and dove into the stack of pancakes. Shinka rolled her eyes and gave the two a disgusted look before she stood and placed her dishes in the dishwasher. She returned to the living room, intent upon figuring out at least one connection between the murders before they went to investigate the newly dead teenager.
Shinka found the files on her coffee table. She began searching through them, carefully reading through the descriptions and looking at the photos. Yet, she found nothing. She sighed and leaned back into the couch, giving up after a few minutes. She just couldn't focus for some reason. Her mind kept wandering off, images of her past flashing through her memory.
"Damn it," she muttered, shaking her head. She was placing the files back in their folders when her teammates came from the kitchen.
"All right. Let's do this," Yusuke said, heading for the door.
"Do we really have to do this?" Kuwabara asked. Shinka caught a hint of fear in his voice.
"You're not scared of a dead body are you, Kuwabara?" she asked teasingly.
"No! Of course not! It's just… Well..." He stuttered.
"It's just you're scared." Hiei finished his sentence for him.
"I am not!" Kuwabara argued.
"Oh, give it up, Kuwabara. You're not going to win," Yusuke said as the group walked off of the porch. Shinka locked the door behind her and slipped the key into her pocket. They began their long walk into town.
Within half an hour or so, they had managed to reach the outskirts of the city. It was still a few more miles to the hospital, and the morgue, where the girl's body was being kept.
"So, Shinka, tell us. How do you think they're going to allow us to view the body?" Kurama asked.
"Yeah, it's not like we can walk and there and say we're Spirit World investigators trying to track down a demonic killer," Kuwabara added.
"Well, as a matter of fact, I was thinking that we'd pose as some of the girls relatives and say we're there to identify the body," Shinka answered. "Then, once we're in, we knock out the guard and snoop around a bit."
"Do you think that's wise, Shinka? We could get into a lot of trouble if we're identified as imposters," Kurama said.
"Well, do you have a better idea?" The group was silent. "That's what I thought. Unless someone comes up with a better plan, this is what we're going to have to do."
"All right. But if we get caught, it's your fault," Yusuke said, lacing his hands behind his head. Shinka smirked. Abruptly, that horrid pain shot through her head again, and, just as before, it disappeared as quickly as it came.
Damn. This is one hell of a migraine. She thought. Although I do wonder why that keeps happening.
"Shinka?" Kurama's voice startled her from her thoughts. "Are you all right? You look a bit shocked."
"You really need to stop worrying about me, Kurama. I'm fine," she told him. Surprisingly, he didn't press the matter, as if for once he actually understood that she was fine. At least, she thought she wasfine.
Twenty minutes later, Team Urameshi found themselves in the hospital's waiting room. Shinka faked her tears as she spoke with the receptionist.
"Hi. We're here to identify a body," she said, the false tears welling up in her eyes.
"Oh, of course. Is it the girl that was killed yesterday?" the receptionist asked. The group nodded.
"Are you related to her?" the woman asked next.
"Yes. I'm her sister and Hiei here is our brother," Shinka said, motioning to Hiei. "The others are cousins of ours." She allowed a few tears to escape her eyes. The receptionist gave her a look of sympathy.
"Just a moment please." She left the window.
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing, onna?" Hiei hissed softly.
"Just go along with it, Hiei. We've both got red eyes, so I just made the false connection for them," she whispered back. "Trust me. It'll work." Just then, the woman appeared back at the window and a nurse came around the corner.
"Ms. Aiko will take you to her," she said, motioning to the nurse that stood before them.
"Thank you," Kurama said. The group followed the nurse, Aiko, down a long hall and down a staircase. Normally, where a basement would be, was another long hallway. The doors on either side were closed. Aiko led them to the end of this long hall and stopped at the very last door. On it, in bold black letters MORGUE was written.
Aiko unlocked the door and led them in. She flicked on the light, revealing a fair amount gurneys, a few of them holding recent dead bodies. On the far wall was the huge section of the refrigerated storage area.
"She's there," Aiko said, motioning to a gurney at the far end of the room. "You'll forgive me if I don't go with you. I'm not so great around dead bodies."
"Oh, it's fine. Thank you," Shinka said. Luckily, Aiko left the room, leaving them the key and telling them to give it to the woman at the front desk when they were finished.
'Hm. That was easier than I thought it would be," Shinka said, returning to her usual personality and wiping the forced tears from her eyes. "Now, let's see what we can find." The group walked to the back of the morgue, heading for the last gurney that was positioned against the wall. Yusuke took a hold of the white sheet and pulled it back, revealing the pale and horrified face of a young girl. Kuwabara took a step back while making a rather strange noise.
This girl looked like all of the other victims; her head at an odd angle, concluding that her neck had been broken and she has probably been strangled. Her right arm was missing, torn, not cut, away from her body. Her eyes were still open and showed so much terror. At the base of her neck were those same bite marks.
"She must have been so frightened," Kurama said quietly.
"Hn, whoever this killer is, he sure is brutal," Hiei said.
"Well, we've seen the body! Let's get out of here!" Kuwabara said after a short pause. He headed for the door.
"We're not finished here Kuwabara. If you're so afraid, go keep watch," Yusuke said to his anxious friend.
"For once, I agree with the dimwit. Keep watch," Shinka said, turning back to the girl's body. From her pocket, she pulled out a small camera that was the size of a credit card.
"Thank you modern technology," she voiced.
"What the heck is that thing?" Yusuke questioned.
"It's a camera, moron! You didn't think I'd come here without some way of taking evidence back with me, did you?" She held the camera to her eye and snapped a few photos before she took notice of something. "What the hell…?"
"What is it now, onna?" Shinka, so focused upon what she had discovered, had hardly heard Hiei's voice. She pulled the sheet down slightly further, revealing a bit more of the girl's body, stopping just above her chest. Carved into her very flesh were strange markings. Markings which Shinka immediately recognized.
"Oh hell no!" she exclaimed, backing away from the girl.
"I take it you know what this says, Shinka?" Hiei asked, staring flabbergasted at the markings.
"Impossible! That bastard is dead!" she shouted. "I killed him myself!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Yusuke asked urgently. Shinka's hand became balled into a tight fist. Blood seeped from beneath her fingers.
"I'll explain later," she said through clenched teeth. "Come on. I think we have all of the evidence we need." Yusuke nodded and placed the sheet over the girls face once more.