Chapter 4: Disfiguring Pasts
"That makes the four of them." Ayumu replied as he peered over Hiyono's shoulder. Hiyono was over for dinner and he had just finished washing the dishes. Madoka was going to be home late again. Several minutes ago, Ryoko had called them and told them about the fight between the Night Children and themselves.
"I'm doing searches on Raine Namikama, Mei Ichiiwa, Kyle Borne, and Lain Jurai." Hiyono said.
"They can't be alone though. Four Night Children doesn't seem the right number of how any there should be. They must be getting help from the outside or from several other Night Children." Ayumu suggested. He began pacing up and down the living room.
"Well, perhaps Kurai Namikama is one of them."
"What?" He looked at Hiyono.
"I just looked up Raine's basic profile. Her parents are deceased and she lives with her older brother Kurai. But, Raine is often left alone because her brother is the heir to the Namikama business and is away a lot." Hiyono explained.
"What happened to their parents?"
"Well, their mother Ayame died from the birth of Raine. Their father Haru died from a fatal stab wound close to the heart. This happened about 13 years ago." The reported replied.
"Is there anything else important to know about Raine?" Ayumu asked.
"Well, she has an expert skill with sharp blades especially with swords."
"What about the others?"
"Lain and Mei have no family. All dead and it's been wiped from their record. Kyle is the son of an American businessman and a Japanese woman. His father wanted nothing to do with him so he abandoned his wife and only son on the street. His mother died from hunger a month later."
"Apparently, they all have suffered the loss of their parents at a young age." Ayumu said out loud.
"And about their records…" Hiyono began. Kiyotaka's little brother abruptly stopped and turned to look at her. "All the Night Children's records have been erased completely. And there is no result of that court case Eyes had mentioned either." She answered. "Only their basic profiles remain."
"It's like they wanted no one to find out about them!" Ayumu yelled.
"One of them must be skilled at hacking to completely eradicate each flaw that could be used against them. They must be even more skilled than me." A silence fell between them before Hiyono looked up at Ayumu. "Hey Ayumu? Ever since Kiyotaka called again, what did Madoka think about it?"
"She was shocked. She just started crying because she was happy that he was still alive at the very least." Ayumu explained. "But at the sound of the Night Children, she was thinking a whole lot worse than what the Blade Children have done. She's been investigating that recent murder of the famous scientist and where Kiyotaka could be right now."
"Any luck on the recent investigations, Wataya?" Madoka asked. She looked across the room at her partner.
"No. This time, your brother-in-law wasn't involved, which is shocking. And we only have one lead so far." Wataya reported.
"Oh? And what's that?"
"The last person the man saw was a sixteen year old girl. The receptionist said that she was about five feet with black hair and hazel eyes." Madoka turned to her computer and began typing something in.
"At least we have a lead. I want a search of all the girls here in the city and narrow down the list of suspected people." The woman ordered.
"Yes, Inspector."
'Could those Night Children be involved with this? It's like they would kill without a moment's hesitation…What are you getting into again, Kiyotaka?'
"This is bad…" Kyle mused. Raine, Lain, Mei, and Kyle were at school and talking quietly at a corner. Mei and Raine were leaning against the wall as Kyle and Mei stood by them. "Was it a mistake to reveal ourselves so fast?"
"What do we have to lose? No one can find anything about our past. We deleted it so no one could trace us. There is a small flaw though." Raine replied.
"If we are seen at the scene of a murder we committed, then we could be found out through our basic profile." Lain answered. She crossed her arms. "You know we can't risk that."
"But we can't just destroy that though. We must have proof that we exist at least. And besides, I am the little sister of a heir to the Namikama business. I must have mine." Raine added.
"I say that we change our appearance. We dye our hair or something." Kyle replied. Lain hit him.
"Don't even think of that. I would like to keep my natural silver hair thank you very much." She snarled.
"Shut up. The three of you are already known as Night Children to the Ayumu brat and the Blade Children. Ryoko was able to figure out that I am one as well. That only leaves two people hidden. They won't be entirely involved until they get back." Raine explained.
"Why can't you say their names?" Mei asked.
"Because Mei," The younger Namikama answered, "people are listening at every corner." She whipped out a small knife and threw it to the right. It hit the wall but a shadow moved away quickly.
"And what about this current situation?" Kyle asked.
Raine made way to walk away. Before she did, she said, "We're leaving the campus for now. We'll be home schooling ourselves at the mansion again until further notice. This is a chance a we cannot take just as long as the Blade Children and Ayumu hang around."
Rio ran up the steps of the school to the Newspaper Room. She opened the door to find that Ayumu and Hiyono were doing research on the computer. Perfect. "Ayumu! Hiyono!"
They turned around to find the smallest Blade Child there. "Oh hello Rio. What do you need?" Hiyono asked. She smiled brightly.
"I found out some things about those Night Children." She said. "The four of them will no longer be attending. They say that they want to home school themselves."
"I am guessing that they are doing that because they don't want to danger themselves even more with our presence." Ayumu deducted.
"And there are only six Night Children in total." Rio added.
"What?"
"Raine said something about two more Night Children whose identities have not been revealed yet." She explained.
"I'm betting you that one of them is Kurai Namikama!" Hiyono exclaimed.
"Don't jump to conclusions, stupid girl…" Ayumu muttered.
"You're mean!"
"That's beside the point." Ayumu said. He looked back at Rio. "What else did you get from their conversation?"
"They purposely destroyed the records of their pasts so no one could easily track them down. But their basic profile is still in tact. Lain said that if they are spotted at a murder they carried out, then they could be tracked down by their appearance." Rio explained.
"Basic profile, huh? It won't be long before Madoka finds out that Raine was the one that murdered that scientist." Ayumu said.
"Why do you say that?" Hiyono asked.
"Madoka is currently on the case of the murder. I've been snooping around in her computer to find out more. Only that she had left herself a note saying, 'Short girl of five feet, dark hair, and hazel eyes.'"
"Raine Namikama." Rio and Hiyono said together.
"Right. And if you're going to murder someone, it's either out of jealously, anger, or to silence them permanently." Ayumu deducted. "The highest possibility is to silence him. He must have known something about the Night Children that Raine didn't want him to know…but what?"
"How does it look?" Raine asked, looking into the mirror inside the bathroom. She surveyed her new red streaks in her black hair. Mei came up next to her.
"It's fine. No one will know the difference considering that we're not even attending Tsukiomi Academy anymore." She answered. "Now are you ready for the last part?" Raine nodded. Mei handed her friend a small contact case. Raine opened it and placed a contact in each eye. She blinked several times, letting it work its magic.
"Give me the garnet eye drops." She ordered. Mei searched in a large case, filled with large bottles of colored eye drops. She handed Raine the garnet color. Raine tilted her head back and squeezed out a drop in each eye. She stared into the mirror as her eye color changed to a garnet color. Her natural hazel eyes were nowhere to be seen.
"Are you done yet?" Kyle asked inside Raine's room.
The younger Namikama sighed. "Yes…" She came out of her bathroom and faced Kyle, who was sitting on her bed. "Let's just get this over with, shall we? We could be caught any minute."
"Say cheese." Kyle said as he snapped a picture of Raine with her new hair and eyes. He checked to make sure that it was a good one and suitable to replace. Kyle handed the camera to Mei, who hooked it up to her laptop.
Mei quickly deleted the old picture of Raine and replaced it with the new one. She hacked further into the data, making the necessary changes. "We're done." She replied.
Raine smirked. She grabbed her coat and the wooden mask from her desk. She began walking out of the door when Kyle called back, "Where are you going?"
"I'm off to play a game with the Narumi brat!" she yelled back.