Review Responses:

Innocent-Diamond: Your justification for why Criminal Justice is better suited for Masquerade is a lot better than my reasoning for why he's a Psychology major, LOL. I think my initial thought was that because he was an alter-ego of Alice and he...lived in her mind, I guess you could say, and because psychology has to deal with the behavior of people's mind, I just made him a Psych major. It's weird, I know. Anyways! Sellon and Anubias aren't empathetic, but I'm sure they'll get the job done regardless. And we'll find out who Joe called on the phone so stay tuned for that~! ｛・ω-*}

Sugar Spice Rush: LOL, to be fair, I don't really see Shun as a Computer Science major either. I literally couldn't find a major that suited Shun so I just gave him my major, LOL. Joe is definitely interested in the case and you'll find out why later on in this chapter! The detective is revealed later on in the chapter but none of the names you guessed are correct, unfortunately. However, I do appreciate you trying~! (≧∇≦)/

Cup of Violet Tea: Haha, it's more like he's the first one to come back after seeing her. The rest just ran off, but they don't deny her existence or murder. It's more like she got popular haunting the apartment that she became more of an urban legend than anything. And yep! The investigation is definitely going to reopen pretty soon! ⊆ಠ ω ಠ⊇

cherry-tree-of-life: AHH, I'm so sorry about that! I was trying to portray Masquerade as being dubious towards the whole situation! He is willing to help as we can see him go to the police station with Shun. Oh no! I hope that the detectives were still able to use the evidence and solve the crime! Sellon and Anubias aren't detectives so they're not going to be touching this investigation if that makes you feel any better! And no worries! We'll be seeing more of Alice in this chapter~! (ᗒᗨᗕ)

MagicxMusicxMelody: Thank you for your kind words! Small spoiler alert: there won't be any showings of solid evidence in this chapter, but for sure, future chapters will be some evidence shown! Ahaha, Sellon is unfortunately still going to be in the city, but her duty as a parole officer is just to help former inmates with finding work and the such so she isn't going to be involved with the investigation! （＾ω＾）

Chapter 5: Joe Brown

The first thing that Shun registered when he first walked into his apartment that it smelled wonderful. The smell of a seasoned chicken soup alongside the aroma of sesame oil made his stomach growl, reminding him that he hadn't eaten in a long while. When he walked into the kitchen, he found Alice in front of the stove, a wooden spoon floating in mid-air next to her. Sensing another presence in the room, she looked up from the pot and found Shun right next to her.

"Oh, Shun! You're home! I'm almost done with the udon noodles but you can help yourself with the onigiri." The ghost beamed as she jerked her head towards the kitchen counter near the sink, where a plate of triangular-shaped rice balls with sesame seeds sprinkled on top were carefully wrapped in a piece of dried seaweed. "I'm sorry if they look a bit odd; I haven't made onigiri in a long time." She smiled sheepishly.

"I think they look amazing, thank you, Alice." He responded back truthfully. He grabbed a random onigiri and began eating. It was delicious; the warm rice with the salted grilled salmon filling tasted amazing, especially since it had been a long time since he had last eaten a home cooked meal.

"Did something happen at school today? You're usually home at 1:40 and it's-" She paused to look up at the clock that was hung just above the sink, "2:25. Oh, your udon noodles are ready." The wooden spoon by her side levitated its' way into the sink and the ladle that rested from the cup of various cooking utensils that the raven-haired's grandfather brought the last time he visited made its' way towards the potful of soup. It took some time, as the ladle was scooping out spoonfuls of the rich broth and the thick wheat-flour noodles into a porcelain bowl while trying not to spill any of the content.

"I got it, thank you, Alice." Shun thanked her once again as he finished his onigiri and took the bowl before Alice could have it levitate onto the dining table. "I appreciate the food but you don't have to do that. I do eat." He set the bowl on the counter before fishing through the compartments of the dish washer for a pair of chopsticks and a spoon. Having found said items, he rinsed them a bit before placing them into the bowl and making his way with the bowl in his hand to the dining table.

"Eating instant ramen everyday isn't healthy and you know that." Alice chided gently as she floated into a seat across from him. "Besides, it's the least I can do. You're the only one's that agreed to help me solve my own murder." At those words, the college student suddenly felt a pang of guilt hit him and his noodles didn't taste as good as they had just moments ago. Sure he was trying his best to help solve her murder but he still couldn't help but feel bad. After all, the one good chance they had of solving her murder was just shot down this afternoon and after that whole incident at the police station, he doesn't know what to do from there.

"About...about that." Shun swallowed thickly. "The reason why I came home late today was because I went over to the police station to see if there were any evidence left from your case." At that, the spirit let out an excited gasp and he didn't want to look up from his bowl of noodles to look at her enthusiastic face if he was going to have to tell her the bleak outcome of the visit anyways. "And there was a parole officer who dismissed the case, saying that it was just an urban legend. I...I'm sorry, Alice."

She didn't say a word and while he was still hungry, the raven-haired male didn't feel like eating. They sat in an unnerving silence that seemed to last for an eternity before the apparition spoke up.

"I...I understand. I know that not a lot of people are going to believe it but thank you for trying, Shun. Even if no one else finds my case worth investigating, I'm glad that you do." Alice smiled warmly and Shun found himself feeling touched by her words.

"I'm sorry that it didn't work out. I wanted you to finally get some closure." Even though he was moved by her words, the male still couldn't help but pity her. All she wanted was to find out who killed her and even after forty-two years, it was still too much to ask for.

"Well, as much as I want some closure, I don't think I'll mind it too much if I have to wait awhile longer. I have you."

xoxo

"You must be Shun and Matthew. I've been looking all over for you two." A light-haired brunet male standing right outside of the entrance of the school's student center greeted Shun and Matthew. Said males had a similar time period in-between their classes and had decided to finish up their homework at the student center when they ran into the grinning male.

"Do we know you?" The blond male raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"I don't think so. I'm Joe Brown and I'm an intern down at the Wardington Police Station. I heard that you two were interested in the homicide case of the foreign exchange student in Magnolia Apartments?" The male introduced himself, sticking out a hand for at the two friends.

"How do you know that?" Shun questioned defensively.

"Miss Sellon told me yesterday just before she left for her shift. She also told me that she told you that investigating the case would be a waste of time." There was a pause before Joe's eyes glinted mischievously. "But I know better and...I want to help."

xoxo

"I was actually interested in the case for a long time." Joe stirred his cup of blonde roast idly. The trio had decided to move the conversation into the student center, which explained why Shun and Matthew were sitting across from Joe at a Starbucks. "That case was partly the reason why I wanted to work in the law enforcement field. I just felt so bad for the girl, I mean, her family never got justice for what happened to her. I was lucky to be chosen as an intern at the Wardington police station, the same police station that was investigating the case. The case occurred forty-two years ago and most of the people working on the case either want nothing to do with that case or passed away. So imagine my luck when I found one detective that was still interested in the case! He's elderly, of course, but he still wants to work on it. Problem was, no one else did, except for me and him, but then again, who would want to listen to an intern and an elderly detective?" At this, the brunet male looked up, beaming. "But with you two here, we just might reopen the case again!"

"So this detective, is he still working down at the station?" Matthew inquired as he took a sip of his cold brew.

The intern shook his head. "No, Detective Kato's retired but he's still fully committed to the case. The case is kinda personal to him; the girl who died was the granddaughter of one of his close friends. He passed away a few years after her death. Mr. Kato feels like he owes it to his friend to find the murderer." Looking down at his watch, Joe stood up. "I gotta get to class soon, but here's my number and Mr. Kato's number." Grabbing a napkin and a random pen that was left on the table, the brunet scribbled down two sets of ten digit numbers. "Mine's on the top, Mr. Kato's on the bottom. See you!" Waving, Shun and Matthew watched as Joe left the student center and disappeared in the sea of students.

"You've been quiet. What are you thinking?" The blond male reached over to get the napkin.

"One, he's more excited about solving this case than you are." Shun smirked slightly as Matthew made a small grunt of disbelief. "And two, looks like we still have hope. But first, we need to see who this Detective Kato is."

End of Chapter 5.

Note: I have not touched this story in a YEAR and when I do come back, I come back with *this*?! I know that I've said this like a million times, but I am so so sorry for the late update! Writer's block is ALWAYS hitting m when it comes to this story and for the longest time, I had no idea what to write! And when I finally do think of something, I come up with *shudders* THIS. Anyways, pardon my rant, yay! A wild Joe appears! Shun and Matthew/Masquerade have finally met Joe and talk about some awkwardness! Wouldn't you find it weird if a random person was waiting for you at a location you come to frequently and knows your name? Anyways, the detective has been revealed and...drum roll please...it's Kato! Kato was the only person I thought of who was old enough to be working on Alice's murder case 42 years ago, hence why he's here! And...he's friends with Alice's grandfather?! I reasoned that Alice's grandfather and Kato were around the same age to be considered friends, so that was the result of that! Please let me know what you thought and I will try my absolute best to update more! (இ﹏இ`｡)