A/N: This chapter took way too long for me to finish... But I did it! Whoo! \o/ I shall start writing the next one quite soon... Let's see how long it'll take though...
Chapter 50.
Tsukiko let out a massive yawn. She really felt like falling asleep. Okay, it was her own fault in a way but…
"Hey, Tsukiko-chan, could you at least pretend you are awake?" Sonoko leaned closer to the blonde who was hiding yet another yawn behind her palm.
"I can't help it… I went to sleep past midnight…" Tsukiko pouted and leaned back in her seat. "Why are we even on the move so early?"
"Because we are going to a cake buffet to celebrate Ran's victory. Didn't I tell you?"
"Ah… I might've dozed off…" Wait… Cake buffet? Then that'd mean… Tsukiko glanced behind her. Yep, there she was. In her grey fedora and brown jacket, looking like a boy. Sera Masumi was about to take the stage.
"What is it now? Are you even listening to me?" The rich girl muttered in irritation.
"Yes, I am. I just…"
"Did you see a handsome guy over there? After Eisuke left you behind, you have been lacking romance from your life, eh?"
"I'm not like you, Suzuki-senpai!"
"Demo saa, what kept you awake so long, Tsukiko-neechan?" Conan piped up.
"An anime marathon with niisan…We had the second part of it and watched about fifty episodes… And most of them were fillers…" Tsukiko slumped deeper in her seat. Yep, episodes 55-106(seasons 3-4) were watched now, accompanied by laughing at the horrible animation style, facepalming at the cases in TV originals and gritting teeth at the way the anime crew had messed up with the order and plot related cases. Tsukiko bet Subaru had been more interested in watching her reactions than the actual episodes. Although episode 13 had been kinda bad for him… Even though it was a messed up one…
"A-Anime marathon?" The boy stuttered.
"Yeah, after he messed up with the curry back then, I managed to blackmail him into it. Of course we keep pauses but… Well, it's fun anyways and he is surprisingly interested in the mysteries and puzzles in that series."
Tsukiko could see from their expressions that none of those three could imagine Okiya Subaru to have and anime marathon with her. Especially not Conan.
"But really, Ran. You truly are unrivaled!" Sonoko gushed, turning her attention back to her best friend. "Winning the Kanto Karate Championship and all!"
"It was all thanks to the flipping axe kick Kasumi-senpai taught me!" The new champion smiled brightly.
"Well today, as promised, the cake buffet at Haido Hotel is my treat! So eat up and you'll get even stronger!"
"Yeah! I'll eat a lot and get super, super strong!"
The topic switched to Shinichi and his confession to Ran in London. Tsukiko decided not to comment it but she couldn't help but wonder… Why exactly had Sonoko invited her too?
"If you're careless, Shinichi-kun may have a change of heart! He's so… You know how he is, but he's still surprisingly well-liked! One day a powerful rival may suddenly appear, you know?" Sonoko winked. And then…
"Pervert! This person just groped me!"
"Ah, no, I just…" The person aka Sera Masumi tried to explain. Tsukiko took notice at the person behind her whose hand was also raised in the air as Sera didn't let go of it.
"Don't act all innocent! You touched my butt just now! Ran, payback!"
"Got it!"
"Ah, hold o-!"
Tsukiko just sighed and buried her face behind her palm while Ran aimed a kick with her knee. A kick that Sera blocked, leaving the other two girls baffled. Next the new player on the board struck forward with her left hand which Ran dodged just barely.
But the last move of the fight didn't come. Ran didn't make a flip backwards to dodge Sera's kick. She didn't need to do it. She couldn't do it. The kick came but it was stopped.
"I think this is already enough of this misunderstanding…" Tsukiko stated, her right forearm blocking the kick and her left hand having pushed Ran on the ground. Anime and manga had been unrealistic with this case. There was no way that Ran could have dodged the kick the way she had done. There simply wasn't enough space for it in the bus.
"I'm sure you all agree…" The blonde continued. Damn, her arm was already hurting. She stepped aside and Sera stepped back too. Ran and Sonoko were muttering about strong perverts and wondering what sort of misunderstanding was this about.
"That person's not the pervert!" Conan announced behind the long haired karate champion. "Because! I saw it! When this person grabbed the hand that touched Sonoko-neechan's butt! And then that's how Sonoko-neechan grabbed this person's hand!"
"This hand here…" Sera showed the hand of the real pervert. Naturally Sonoko got mad at that person then, chasing him out of the bus.
"I-I'm so sorry! I went to kick you without even making sure…" Ran was apologizing thoroughly.
"It's fine, it's fine! I'm just glad that misunderstanding was cleared up!" The 'boy' who Sonoko thought to be hot smiled. "Besides… You're my type, so I'll forgive you…" 'He' told Ran making her blush. Wow, if that's not blatant flirting I don't know what is. You aren't even bothering to fix the identification mistake… "Or something, haha… Where are you headed?"
"Haido Hotel." Tsukiko answered from her seat while rubbing her forearm. She'd surely get a proper black mark on it by the end of the day.
"What luck! I'm also headed to that hotel."
"Really!?" Sonoko asked in excitement. Conan in the other hand settled in glaring at the young 'man'.
"Thanks for the earlier! Little boy…" Sera winked.
"Eh, Tsukiko-chan, are you alright?" Ran leaned closer to the blonde girl, finally remembering her presence.
"Yeah, I'm just fine." Tsukiko smiled. "I couldn't let my friend get hit."
"You could've hurt yourself badly…"
"Say, where did you learn to fight even?" Sonoko butted in.
"Ah… I…" Tsukiko glanced briefly at Sera. "My brother taught me. After the Touto Tower incident I thought I should know how to defend myself better. I still am not that strong but I know how to block attacks before they reach their full strength…"
"Good eyes you have then." Sera commented too. "A bit later and I could've broken your arm."
"Well, good that you didn't." The blonde girl smiled. "I'll survive with a mere black mark."
"Tsukiko-chan, you can't just shrug it off like that!" Ran chastised the girl.
"Demo, Ran-senpai…"
"What!? You don't have a room for me!?" Sera confronted the front desk man. "Why not? I made a reservation!"
"I'm terribly sorry. We should have declined your reservation, it was our mistake…" The man apologized.
"Then do you have any other rooms available?"
"W-Well… It's just that currently, due to some concerns about hauntings, the hotel annex is being renovated and we have fewer rooms available. We have no vacancies…"
"Isn't there anything you can do?"
"Haido Hotel… Isn't that where Conan and Haibara went to stop an assassination? Where Pisco kidnapped Haibara and she was forced to drink Paikaru thus returning to her original form?" Tsukiko thought when she made her way along the rest of her group towards the elevators.
"I would think so…" Kage stated before yawning.
"I wonder if the annex under renovation only because of hauntings then. Pisco did set the vine storage in fire."
"Who cares? I want cake!"
"Tsk… Your childishness shines through once again…"
"Please don't start again…" Tsukiko sighed before focusing on the presence.
"Tsukiko-chan, we found the elevator!" Ran called from a distance. The blonde jogged to them as fast as she could with her high-soled boots.
"Ah, go ahead then. I need to use a bathroom." She told the trio. "I'll be just behind you."
"Don't tell me…" Sonoko's expression turned smug all suddenly. "Don't tell me you want to keep an eye on our mysterious savior."
"Whaaaat? Why would I want to do that?" The blonde's eyes widened.
"Ha! I saw you looking at him several times. At the bus, during the walk here from the bus stop and also here. And you've spaced out a couple of times. Tsukiko-chan has a crush!" The polka haired girl declared.
"I do not! I wouldn't fall for… them." The last word came with a bit of difficulty as Tsukiko couldn't tell the trio about Sera's real gender yet.
"And why's that?" The heiress of Suzuki corporation crossed her arms on her chest and leaned closer while smiling smugly.
"Because… Kami-sama, you seriously didn't notice?" Tsukiko sighed while facepalming. There was two reasons why she wouldn't have a crush on Sera. One, she was a girl. While Tsukiko had no objections to girlxgirl pairs and didn't even care which gender she'd fall for… it was still a slight factor. And two, Sera was Akai's sister. And Akai was at the moment Okiya Subaru, Tsukiko's brother. So following that logic, Sera was Tsukiko's sister. Not that anyone knew about it. But anyways, dating Sera would be like incest in Tsukiko's mind and that she didn't approve.
"Notice what?" Ran asked in puzzlement.
"Ah, nothing… Let's just say that it takes one to know one." The blonde waved and went to find a bathroom.
When coming from the bathroom Tsukiko heard immediately a scream coming from somewhere outside.
"Oh great…" The girl muttered, making her way to the elevator about the time when Conan ran from the stairs and past her. Tsukiko let him run. Today she didn't have the energy or the right shoes to run after him. So she calmly made her way to the elevator towards which Sera was walking to, too.
"Hello again." The tomboy greeted the blonde.
"Hello." Tsukiko smiled back.
"Why aren't you with your friends? You were heading for the cake buffet, right?"
"To be honest… I'm not that fond of sweet things and at the moment I don't care listening to Suzuki-senpai and her enquires about my love life as I don't have one."
"I see… So you took an excuse to get separated from them then."
"Not really… In any case though, I bet that cake buffet it crowded by now. Things like that are extremely popular."
"I can believe that." Sera chuckled. "What did they say when you told you weren't coming with them?"
"What makes you think they said anything?" Tsukiko arched her eyebrows.
"Well, I already got quite good of a picture of their personalities. They surely had some suggestions ready."
"Suzuki-senpai suspects that I'd try to engage an conversation with you and that I have an crush on you."
"Oh… Is that so…"
"Yep. For the record, I don't. Have a crush that is." The blonde smirked and took off her glasses. They weren't doing any good anyways. And she was tired. No need for a headache too. "I believe we weren't introduced properly earlier… Okiya Tsukiko, nice to meet you." Tsukiko offered her hand which the other girl took.
"The name is Sera. Nice to meet you too."
Conan rushed past them and other guests of the hotel, three suspects of the case in tow. Just when Sera was about to pull her hand away, Tsukiko gripped it tighter.
"Sera who? I'd like to know the full name of my new friend to whom I don't have a crush on." She smirked.
"Just Sera. For now… Why so curious?" Sera responded to the smirk on her own challenging one.
"Alright then." Tsukiko let go of the hand. "Let's just say that it'll be fun when the others realize the same than I did."
The messy haired tomboy blinked once and took a better look on the other's knowing smile and mischievous eyes.
"You…?" Sera chuckled then. "This is certainly a first one. How did you notice?"
"It takes one to know one."
The two watched the elevator come back down. A security guard stood with them after Sera had called him over. The elevator stopped on the sixth and second floor for some reason before reaching their spot. The doors opened to reveal completely empty box.
"Shall we? I bet you are also worried about the boy." Sera asked Tsukiko.
"Why not… I seem to be running into cases anyways…" The blonde sighed and the newly formed duo stepped into the elevator. Before allowing the doors close, the dark haired teen told the security guard to keep a good watch on the elevator.
"S-Suicide!?"
"Then what was the person's shadow that Hirukawa-san saw?"
"Perhaps what I saw was the wind making this jacket flutter…" The suspects talked. The woman, Hirukawa, the culprit, whatever one wanted to call her, was especially pushing the idea of suicide forwards. Tsukiko remembered suspecting her from the start because she had talked so much since her introduction and was obviously pulling the strings since the beginning. And she was the only one who could've set the whatever-trap that had been made. "I-It's all my fault… I pushed him to do this with my words…"
"No…" Conan interrupted. "This was most likely…"
"A murder…" Sera stepped in. "Isn't that right? Conan-kun?"
Tsukiko peeked into the rooftop too and mentally sweatdropped. What was with the detectives and their enigmatic and dramatic entrances?
"And that isn't suspicious at all… No wait, I came with her. Tantei-chan might just assume she heard his name from me…" The blonde muttered before facepalming. Great… Just great…
"B-By 'murder'… Are you saying you saw someone push him off from here?" The chubby woman of the suspect trio exclaimed.
"No… I just happened to know that the man who fell to his death was quite drunk…" Sera explained. "Having picked up from you lot while you were talking. Due to my line of work, my ears are quite good, you see…" She emphasized her point by pointing her ear with her pinky.
"B-But why wouldn't it have been a suicide?" The woman continued.
"Look, his shoes are even lined up as they should be…" The man with her continued.
"'Should be'?" Tsukiko stepped out on the roof too. "Who said that it's a mandatory or a signature of a suicide to have the shoes taken off?"
"Yes… That's just a preconception, you know? Up until now, I've seen innumerable jumper scenes, but just about none of the bodies had been shoeless… Well, I guess you've been influences by movies and TV, where it's become a keyword of sorts. It's easier for dramas to strike that chord emotionally if, once you see shoes lined up on a roof, you know automatically that there's been a suicide."
"Bloody Americans messing up…" Tsukiko muttered under her breath. At least the crimeshows she used to watch had the facts straight.
"Nowadays not so much but, in the past, detective dramas would show blood dribbling out of the mouths of people who hung themselves… It's the same sort of thing. In reality you wouldn't see blood coming out, but it was done in order for the audience to realize that the person was dead. Plus it carried more of an impact…"
"Usually blood comes out of mouth only if one is injured in the lungs, since it hinders breathing, or stomach because human body automatically repels blood from the digestion system. Of course biting tongue is one opinion but very unlikely…" The blonde girl added. Wait, didn't Conan explain the blood coming from the mouth thing in hanging situations in that Tennis-Curry-something case…
"Although… having seen those sorts of dramas or movies, there are people who, when they're about to jump to their deaths, mistakenly think they ought to take their shoes off first. " Sera had walked to the edge of the roof and was peering down. "However, seeing as how the man who fell to his death had been heavily intoxicated and requested time to sober up… There's no way, in such a groggy state of being, he would do things such as take his jacket off and place his shoes neatly atop it."
"Not to mention to tie the shoelaces again."
"Exactly." The tomboy nodded. "And even the possibility that some random person placed this here as a prank must be rejected, seeing as how the position of the shoes is directly above the man who fell to his death!"
"Which means…?" Tsukiko prompted the other girl on. She was excited. Not because of the murder but the fact that one of her favorite characters was present now.
"I means that we've been brought to no conclusion other than that these shoes were deliberately lined up and placed here by the culprit, in order to disguise this as a jumper suicide, you know?"
"T-Then where is the culprit!?" The culprit conveniently panicked. She must've thought that Sera had already seen through the entire scheme.
"I bet they'll be arrested real soon now since I asked the guard, before I came up here to the roof, to keep watch over the elevator and stairs…"
"W-What is all this?"
"What kind of person are you!?" The other two in the culprit's company asked immediately. Seriously, couldn't they speak without stuttering at all…
"My name is Sera." Came the answer. "Just like this little boy here… I'm a detective."
"What!? There wasn't anyone there? You're saying that, besides this man who fell to his death, there wasn't anyone at all in the hotel annex?" Sera questioned the police once they all were assembled on the parking lot.
"Y-Yeah… According to the guard who had been keeping watch over the stairs and the elevator, you all were the only ones to have gone in or out…" Takagi told her.
"-And just who would you be, hmm?" Megure growled. Oh, poor man… Surrounded by overly smart self-proclaimed detectives. The similar thoughts were seen on the inspector's face when he heard about Sera's 'occupation'.
"But then, why was this man there? He shouldn't have been able to stay there, since the hotel annex was undergoing renovations…" The tomboy thought aloud.
"The deceased Uesumi Teigo-san was the son of the owner of this same Haido Hotel, you see… They made an exception and allowed him to sue one of the rooms in order to avoid media…" Megure explained.
"By 'media', then…" Ran began.
"Is this person famous?" Sonoko continued her friend's train of thought.
"More like infamous." A police officer with longish brown hair pulled on a low ponytail chuckled. He had a notepad and pen in hand and had been making a lot of notes before speaking. "Teigo-san was arrested in the past for being a ring leader of a money transfer scam. However, there wasn't enough evidence to try him so now he's just person to find his way to the headlines of weeklies." He shrugged. "Used to be that is."
"In any case the media caught wind of it and it seems there had been a big uproar about it until last week." Takagi continued. Tsukiko in the other hand kept an eye on the other officer. He seemed to be a police detective by rank just like Takagi and somewhat familiar too… "With things like Teigo-san flying off the handle at his media interviewer, and breaking the window in the sixth floor hallway using a fire extinguisher."
"And because of that, the number of guests staying in the annex dropped significantly and even the hotel could abide him anymore." The unnamed detective continued, turning his gaze back to his notebook. "But there is rumors that the renovations in the annex are being used as an opportunity to force him flee aboard."
Then came the explanation of the situation from the victims/suspects of how the body had fallen down right when they'd been backing up the car. And Conan busted the theory of something having been attached to the car and making the victim fall.
"But it's strange…" Sera stated. "While I was waiting for the elevator with Okiya-chan… I'm pretty sure it stopped on the 6th and 2nd floors…"
"Ah, I remember that too." Tsukiko noted. "I thought it was strange too as there shouldn't have been anyone in the annex besides this guy."
"Was there really no one else?" Sera inquired.
"I-It stopped?" Takagi repeated in confusion.
"When was this?" Megure demanded immediately.
"There was a big commotion about a man having fallen and then this little boy brought the lady and the others to the elevator to go to the roof… It was right after that. The elevator went nonstop to the top floor but for some reason it took its time coming back down…"
"But if I remember correctly, there should have been two elevators."
"Only one is at use at the moment since Teigo-san was the only one staying in the annex." The mysterious officer flipped his notebook shut and put it into his breast pocket. "Though the investigators are searching the entire annex now… It's entirely possible that they'll find no one."
"What about surveillance cameras?" Conan asked. "They're installed in the elevator and the hallways, right?"
"About those… When Teigo-san flew into a rage, he spray-painted all over the hotel annex…" Takagi explained. "And even the surveillance cameras were all painted over… I understand they're all blacked out and nothing can be seen from them!"
Upon this information Conan and Sera both smirked. A black box inside the annex was waiting to be lightened up by truth. Tsukiko smiled faintly too. She couldn't wait to see the duo in action and maybe also throw in her own contribution, too…
"Tsukiko-chan… You definitely have your eyes on him…" Sonoko suddenly elbowed the blonde on the side. "You've been looking at him all the time. A! Don't try to deny it." The rich girl lifted up her hand to silence the younger girl who had opened her mouth to protest. "Besides you seem to be getting along extraordinary well… Who knows, maybe the feelings are not so one-sided…" The polka-haired gossiper giggled. Tsukiko could only roll her eyes and sigh.
"Trust me, Suzuki-senpai… It's nothing like that. I assure you…"
Accompanied by a ghost story, the group made their way to the second floor of the annex. The suspects were naturally left on the parking lot but the mysterious officer was still with them. And Tsukiko couldn't help but wonder why she had this bugging feeling about him.
"This graffiti certainly is terrible…" Takagi commented the tainted walls. There was even 'Die' written on there.
"Guess they've no choice but renovate…" Megure agreed. "Oh, Chiba-kun! Have you found anyone?"
"No. Not yet…" The chubby detective responded from the large window right opposite the elevator. Next to him was an electric wheelchair. He told the inspector and the rest that when he'd found the vehicle, it had been still moving. "There was fishing line attached to the front wheels and in-between the front wheels, so I checked with the hotel… They said this was an electric wheelchair that Teigo-san, who had fallen to his death, had been borrowing…"
"So he had bad legs?" Megure asked.
"No… It seems that he was just using it to cruise around the hotel annex…" All the officers present sweatdropped including the one standing behind Tsukiko. The one making a new memo to his notebook.
"Then it's possible Teigo-san was behind the aforementioned commotion regarding the ghost as well…" Takagi realized. "He may have planned to use fishing like to manipulate the unoccupied wheelchair and scare the three victims who came to visit him today, on the second floor where the elderly man who committed suicide was staying!"
"It would be consistent with his character." Megure nodded.
"Even so, this fishing line is extremely long…" Sera commented while kneeling beside the chair and examining the said line. "The rubber bands were the first to give out and there were many tied on."
"And the footrests have scratches like they ran into something…" Conan continued. "Couldn't the culprit have used this?"
"Take a look out the window here…" Megure told the duo. "This is the opposite side of the hotel from the parking lot where Teigo-san fell to his death. Even if the culprit did use the wheelchair, they couldn't have accomplished anything!"
"Not from this floor…" The officer still standing by the elevator mumbled and flipped the page of his notebook backwards, like checking some information. He blinked as he found what he was looking for. "Me-Megure-keibu!"
"What now, Miyoshi-kun?"
"Miyoshi…?" Tsukiko frowned. Could it be...
"The window that Teigo-san broke with a fire extinguisher in the sixth floor… It's directly above the place where he fell, right?"
"Yes, it is." Tsukiko smiled brightly. "We should probably go to check that floor since it's likely he fell via that window."
The officer looked at the girl in a slight confusion at her sudden agreeing but smiled at her then.
"You are the one who memorized the floor plan of this hotel, Miyoshi-kun. You surely have already an answer even though you are asking me…" Megure grunted in mild irritation.
"Ah, Megure-keibu… What are you saying? I'm just confirming the facts I have from other sources too…" Miyoshi rubbed the back of his head and let out a nervous laugh. Megure just settled on shooting a glare on the young man before they assembled on the elevator to make their way to the sixth floor. And Takagi and Megure were surprised by the elevator doors opening on the wrong side, leading Conan explaining the structure of the hotel and the officer called Miyoshi sigh as Megure once again shot a glare at him.
"It's not my fault that you decided to lean against the doors…" He muttered, earning a comforting pat on the back from Takagi.
"He seems to be annoyed by something anyways today. It'll pass."
"I know…" The notebook was flipped open and scratching of the pen filled the empty space of the sixth floor corridor once again.
"You surely are obsessed with your notebook, aren't you?" Takagi chuckled.
"A bit… Maybe…" Miyoshi shrugged.
"Excuse me… Miyoshi-keiji…" The duo turned around to see Tsukiko standing there. "You don't happen to be Mai-san's cousin?"
"Ah…" Thoughts were almost visibly whirling in the officer's head. "Yes, I'm Miyoshi Takuya. Are you friend of Mai-chan's then?"
"A classmate. Okiya Tsukiko. Nice to meet you." The girl offered a hand to shake which the detective took.
"Nice to meet you too, Tsukiko-kun."
"Say… You are faking it, right? You just pretend checking details from your notebook while you actually remember them exactly as they are." The blonde smiled as Takagi made his way to Megure and the rest of them who were looking around the scene and noting the window Takuya had mentioned. Conan also noticed the dried paint on the wall.
"Ah, you are the first one…" Takuya smirked slightly and glanced at the quartet walking around. "But yes… I do conceal my skills at memorizing the best I can… Once I write the information up on my notebook, I remember it word to word. I just use this so other people wouldn't notice it too. I rather keep quite low profile. Though Megure-keibu seems to have noticed. Or at least suspects something…"
"I know that Mai-san has a photographic memory so I thought that just maybe… It seems I was right though." Tsukiko grinned while crossing her arms on her chest.
"I heard from Mai-chan that you are quite a detective yourself too… Have you already figured out the case?"
"Have you?"
The challenge was thrown in. Takuya chuckled.
"Maybe… The wheelchair, the fishing line, the paint cans, the elevator and its stops… It all makes sense once you've found all the pieces."
"And there's only one person who went into the annex before the incident…"
"That Hirukawa lady!" Sera announced. "She's the culprit!"
Everyone turned to look at the tomboy.
"So she has reached the conclusion too…" Tsukiko smirked. Takuya glanced at her and then looked at Sera again.
"She…? Oh!"
"If you would please set things up per my instructions and bring Hirukawa-san over here?" Sera was telling to Megure and Takagi. "Because this incident is already Case Closed. I've already solved it!"
"This is going to be interesting, don't you think?" Tsukiko asked Takuya who nodded, a bit overwhelmed by the people he'd met during the day.
"Yes… Definitely…"
A/N: Done... Finally done... And we have new characters! Yay! Sera and Takuya! As you can see, I changed the way to address the cop in midway since he got introduced properly. If you want to know more about him, go to read my three one-shots Last Man Standing, He was our Zero and Forgotten Time. And you can review those ones too if you want to...
Replies to reviews:
-BallerinaGin4Evr:
I'll probably never get used to this new username of yours... Anyhow!
Clash of Red and Black is a long way ahead as you can see from the beginning. And it'll be fine. Th organization doesn't suspect anything and even if they had the phone, they couldn't find anything as they don't know what to look for.
-SunnyStormCloud:
Soulmate! *hugs*
Thank you.
-Zeladious:
I do! Thank you :)
-Dumti:
Oh, I see... It still tastes bad.
-Luscinia Evan:
A new face! Hello and thank you for your review. I made me smile for a long time.
I know... They are kinda horrible... I've rewritten a couple of them but I don't know what to do with those...
Oh yeah... Tsukiko will definitely have the time of her life... I can't wait for it either. So many chapter inbetween though...
Ah yes, I've read Revolver. I absolutely love it and rereading it last spring actually made me continue this story.
Well, there's Pure-chan's Second Chance and Yoru-KID's rival has also planned something like this...
-GeekyGenius:
Another soulmate!
Well, here you see. They clicked immeadiately.
I think Akai can make curry, he just screws up sometimes. He managed to fix it though as the DB ate it gladly. :D