F Major Diminished Fifth Trilogy
III. Unity
Part Three
From Ayumu's Point of View:
Madoka hadn't had anything good to add, though she had mercifully taken my hint to stop asking me where I had spent my afternoon. It was hypocritical, but I couldn't stop wondering why Eyes wouldn't just kiss me. Why wouldn't he make the first move?
"This has something to do with the Blade Children?" Madoka asked, handing me a sheet on the dead girl to look over.
"I'm not sure," I told her, stretching the truth. The file confirmed what I had feared. "The police planning to do much with this?"
"Not really," Madoka replied, frowning slightly. "There was some sympathy in the press at first, because she's a young girl and the murder was pretty savage, but since they caught on that she's also probably a murderer, they're more interested in shipping the case back to India."
"Thanks, Madoka," I said, and she smiled, shrugging.
"You're getting to be an awful lot like Kiyotaka all of the sudden," she told me, a bit sad. "Call me if you're not coming home tonight?"
"I will," I promised, understanding her concern. My freedoms had grown exponentially since the incident with Kanone, but old fears always lingered behind her eyes. "I will be back, Madoka."
I closed the door on her saying, "Be careful." I glanced at the sheet and headed for the crime scene, frowning at what was contained on the sheet. Apparently isolation hadn't worked out so well for Padma. A boy, roughly the same age as Padma, had died, falling from the balcony in the Blade Child's house. It had looked like an accident, but when the police had investigated, they had noticed cuts on Padma's hands, the broken glass, and then found bits of skin and blood under the deceased's fingernails, it had been enough to open an investigation.
It turned out that the isolation must have too much for Padma, and the boy had been romantically involved with her, bringing her books on an almost daily basis. The investigation hadn't been able to find a motive and released her, but it hadn't been good enough for the family. Two attempts had been made on her life before she fled, vanishing nearly a week earlier. Madoka had noted that the girl had first gone to London, then LA, before arriving here in Tokyo. London, LA, Tokyo, I mused grimly. It connected pretty clearly to someone looking for Eyes Rutherford, especially if she viewed him as the leader of the Blade Children.
The bottom of the sheet had included a note from a psychiatrist. He had determined that Padma was not mentally damaged in any way, but had been a bit slow to process the outside world. A few years in isolation had taken its toll on her. While she was brilliant, she lacked any social skills or basic ability to survive outside her own small world.
I flipped open my phone, hitting my speed dial to call Hiyono. "Ayumu!" the excited squeal had me pulling the phone away from my ear for a moment.
"Hey," I said shortly. "I need you to look up a name for me. Padma Guptra. Indian."
"The girl who was killed earlier tonight? Is she involved with the Blade Children?"
"She is one of the Blade Children." I waited, and sure enough, she had a few more questions.
"Do you think this is a Hunter? It seems a little odd for them."
"It seems personal. Madoka told me Padma was possibly a murderer, and I need to know more about the case. There's a mention of the victim's family. I need to know who and how many and get a sense for them."
"You think her family is involved? Makes sense I guess. But it seems pretty awful even still. Could they be Hunters too?" Hiyono asked, obviously fixated on the dynamic between Hunters and Blade Children.
"I guess," I conceded. "Just hurry, okay? I'm meeting Eyes back at the crime scene and I need to know if we're in for a rough night. I'd rather be ready if we're outnumbered."
"Okay," Hiyono replied, sounding determined. I was about to click the phone shut, when I heard her voice, small and curious. "Hey, Ayumu?"
"Yeah?" I replied, a bit wary. I never liked what usually followed that tone.
"Rio said you and Eyes…"
"Yeah?" I interrupted impatiently. I didn't want to have this conversation.
"I don't really want to know, Ayumu, but if she's right, you need to be careful. He is a killer, ruthless." I closed my eyes, sighing.
"I know. I'll be all right though," I reassured her, turning the corner just a few blocks from the Crayon Box. "Look, I gotta go. You got anything?"
"Three brothers and a sister," Hiyono crowed suddenly. "The oldest brother already has made two attempts on her life and just got out of jail two days ago. Sounds like he's your guy."
"Thanks," I replied, slightly impressed by her speed.
"No prob!" she chirped, obviously still thrilled with her investigative skills, though I figured she'd just done a google search. "And Ayumu, be careful!"
"I will," I replied dutifully, snapping the phone shut. I rounded the corner, nodding as I approached Eyes.
From Eyes' Point of View:
The apartment was cold, and Padma's bags had been dumped just inside the door, still packed. "She didn't stay long," Kousuke observed, shaking his head. "And I don't think the Hunter or whoever came after her passed through here either."
"It seems unlikely," I agreed, sweeping into the bedroom. The bedcovers were crumpled, and a large amount of tissue littered the side table. "She was upset," I observed, walking over to the bed. What I mistook for a piece of paper caught my eye, and I pulled it out from under the pillow, sighing when I got a good look at it. "So that was it. She fell in love."
"What?' Kousuke demanded, taking the picture from me. "Man, I always thought she didn't have any feelings at all! Cold, shut down, I thought all Blade Children were that way till I met Ryoko."
"You met me before you met Ryoko," I observed, narrowing my eyes at Kousuke.
"Yeah, and you're a shining example of letting people see your feelings," Kousuke jabbed sarcastically at me. "Little Narumi probably has no idea what you're feeling. He might even think you hate him as cold as you get sometimes."
Normally I would have hit him and gone on, but I frowned this time, suddenly painfully aware of my own actions. "Do you really believe that?" I asked softly.
Kousuke looked up, his face pained. "Geez, I didn't mean that, Eyes. I can be an ass sometimes, just ignore me. If you want him, go after him. If not, just let him down easy so we don't loose him. We're all feeling like this is some sort of tightrope walk with Little Narumi right now, because he suddenly matters too much."
"I know," I replied, shaking my head. "I don't think we're going to find anything else here."
"We got enough," Kousuke said grimly, looking at the picture, which was obviously crinkled and tearstained. "I'll try and track down this Shyam and see if he might be in town." He pocketed the picture, and as we split up, the inscription on the back echoed through my head.
"To my dearest Padma, I give my heart, unconditionally. You alone have known who I am and embraced the darkest pieces of my soul, as I have done with you. Only once in a lifetime do two souls match up perfectly. Such a connection is worth any future price. Love always, Shyam."
Ayumu, I thought suddenly. I could give you my heart unconditionally, if I were not afraid you need the strength loosing me would cost you in the future. Kousuke's words came back to haunt me, and I almost stopped in surprise. Why not let Ayumu make that decision? Was he stronger than I gave him credit for?