Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Gravitation or any of its characters. Tough luck, still just a fangirl. Sigh.
A/N: Ah, finally! This chapter took a while to chuck out. Not much action here, still, but think of it as a build-up chapter, a necessary evil needed to be written so we can get to the better parts (I hope). Next chapter, possibly, expect a reunion between Ai and Yukito, plus some more details concerning their relationship. Depending on my lovely but fickle muses, we might get some excitement next chapter? Might…
Once again, uber thanks to my wonderful beta, HawkClowd/kageotogi. She's so awesome, stubborn me is actually learning! Sniff Her patience is amazing…
Uber thanks, too, to all the people who have reviewed so far too! Soon, we'll finish… after all this time…! You know, some bugging would be nice… j/k
Anyway, I hope people enjoy! (I hope there aren't any inconsistencies too D;)
Chapter Nineteen: Kyoko's Day OutKyoko never was the studious type. She was a B-student fortunate to have parents rich enough to enroll her in one of the country's finest private schools. She liked spending her time fawning over both local and international stars, listening to music, and comparing boyfriends with each other. She also disliked studying, hated chemistry, tolerated Business and Economics, and abhorred math. Only one thing really got the usually laid-back Kyoko working, aside from the prospect of getting a very cute boyfriend, and that was the thrill of a mystery.
Kyoko Fukuyama, Business Economics major at T-University, was a mystery nut.
She didn't volunteer to help the police solve nefarious crimes like the president of the Mystery Club at the university usually did – she wasn't that insane and she knew she'd rather not be the target of multiple murder attempts – but she did like finding out. In a way, she knew, she wasn't really into mysteries per se but rather the process of finding out the truth.
When one of her favorite singers died in a suspicious car accident almost two years ago, she hadn't given it much thought. The media was in an uproar about it, yes, but she had entrance exams to study for, parents to please, and math especially to worry about. She could not have foreseen the fact that, several years later, she would be restlessly pursuing the truth behind Shindou Shuichi's "murder" with an illegally-acquired gun constantly in her purse.
Kyoko smiled wryly. And she had thought dabbling with commonplace murders was bad. If the evidence she had gathered so far were any indication, she was up against one of the most powerful men in Japan: Seguchi Tohma of N-G records.
"Fu….Fu… Fujika Setsuna… Fujika Ryuuki…." Kyoko paused and stretched her neck bit, feeling stiff, sore and tired. She eyed the seemingly never-ending list of names on the screen and sighed before continuing to read the names aloud again. She had been up all night looking through old records from the hospitals around the area of Shuichi's 'accident' in the hopes of finding any lead at all. There had to have been an injury somewhere that could have required hospitalization – maybe Shuichi put up a fight and ended up injuring either himself or his captors. Kyoko had asked K for a list of known names Fujima Kouji was known to go by and so far she had found three of them in the records.
The only problem was that she was sure Fujima Kouji didn't die seven years ago of severe bronchitis and neither was he an old woman in her eighties suffering from arthritis.
She was about to give up and admit her idea wasn't exactly the brightest – maybe they didn't keep records for that long, even if it was just two years – when she noticed something in the list of names.
"That's… interesting…" was the only thing she could think to say as she checked which database she was currently on and then opened the file. The file itself hadn't been updated for months, but the content it contained was enough to give Kyoko mild shivers.
She didn't know if it was connected to her case, but she had a hunch and she knew instincts were usually meant to be followed.
So she followed them.
000
Later that day, running on a mere two-hours of shut-eye, Kyoko braved the busy streets of Tokyo to meet with Nanae Kasumi in a fancy café that served a mixture of western and Japanese dishes. She had many reasons for wanting to have lunch with the older woman, one of them being the rumored bitter rivalry between Bad Luck and ASK, and the other being the fact that she liked the woman very, very much. Nanae Kasumi was the picture of the successful and independent woman Kyoko one day wanted to be. The ASK Manager exuded an air of sophistication and confidence, but at the same time retained that down-to-earth quality that made her easily likeable.
"You look fine for someone who's pulled an all-nighter," Nanae commented with a smile after Kyoko finished her monologue about how she hacked into the hospitals within the area where the accident had occurred and spent dizzying hours looking into hundreds of records.
"It's the magic of cosmetics, Nanae-san." Kyoko proudly declared as she leaned forward and propped her head up her hands. "Do you think I found anything?"
"A payment for all your hard work?" Nanae asked and Kyoko nodded. "I think you might have found something. It might not have been an equal trade though, I imagine."
Kyoko laughed and nodded again, "Yeah, after that all-nighter…. I think I've read enough hospital records to last a lifetime. It makes me not want to go into the place anymore –" She forked a broccoli flower from her plate and popped it into her mouth. "Thankfully, I'm a healthy girl!"
"That still doesn't mean you won't end up in a hospital if you're not careful," the older woman reminded gently. The reminder brought back memories of the supposed accident at Shibuki High and it sobered Kyoko reasonably.
"You're right about that, too, Nanae-san…" her voice trailed away and she sighed. "That reminds me, Nanae-san… I've heard from people about some ASK-Bad Luck rivalry before… I mean, I guess that was a long time ago, back when ASK was under N-G, but I thought I'd ask you anyway, being their current manager and all…Do they talk, at all, about Bad Luck?"
"So is that your real purpose for inviting me to lunch, Fukuyama-san?" Nanae questioned with a tinge of amusement.
Kyoko blinked and began shaking her head furiously. "I just thought I'd ask you along the way! My main goal was to learn some womanly skills from you!" She paused and grinned sheepishly at the older woman, "Of course, if you don't want me poking around your band, I can take a 'no-comment' for an answer."
"I think I've worked long enough in the business to know the real power of 'no-comments'." Nanae made an amused smile before 'hmming'. "As far as I know, I don't think my band has or had it really bad with Shindou-san and his band. Aizawa-san, clearly, does not like Shindou-san very much. He's made that quite plain, but…"
Nanae paused and Kyoko studied the woman's facial expression. Without a doubt, Nanae was carefully choosing her words so as not to incriminate her clients. Kyoko knew that, taken in context, it would mean Nanae was hiding something, but she also understood that it was just natural. White lies were part of human nature.
"…I don't think Aizawa-san is capable of… indirectly causing Shindou-san's demise…"
"You mean he doesn't have the guts to kill!" Kyoko burst out excitedly, nearly jumping up out of her seat before realizing where she was and quickly apologizing. "Sorry, I just get a bit too excited sometimes— you're right though; Aizawa Taki looks like a wimp! I liked his music some, but he can be cocky…. Anyway, don't worry, Nanae-san, I'm not suspecting your singer!"
"For that, I'm glad." Nanae sighed. "Those boys have had it rough ever since they changed labels –"
"Why did they change labels, Nanae-san? I know Taki got into an accident, but…" Something clicked in Kyoko's mind. "Did they get into trouble with Seguchi Tohma?" she exclaimed suddenly.
Nanae looked surprised by the question and blinked slowly at Kyoko. Her voice was quiet, almost careful, as she said "I don't know about that, but-"
"You wouldn't be surprised if they did," Kyoko finished. She sat back into her seat. "Awesome," She muttered and began grinning from ear to ear.
"Seguchi Tohma will be knee-deep in shit if I find evidence incriminating him," Kyoko explained. "My evidences so far… all of it points to a higher power, a mastermind – and who has all the power in Japan to commit murder and get away with it? Seguchi Tohma." She knew she was giving away too much, but the excitement, the feeling that everything was right at your fingertips, only served to bolster her confidence in her abilities. Also, she trusted Nanae to keep everything between them and only them.
Nanae was silent for a while but the slight crease in her eyebrows told Kyoko the other woman was worried. Finally, the es-Na Manager spoke. "You should be careful, Fukuyama-san. That much is all I can say."
"I am careful, Nanae-san." Kyoko assured the woman, "Don't worry."
The topic was dropped there and the following bursts of conversation in-between spoonfuls of dessert became light-hearted and superficial. They talked about the food, the latest trends in clothes, the pop scene and even the latest scandals in Hollywood. It surprised Kyoko that Nanae was able to follow wherever she brought the conversation to – at one glance, the woman seemed uptight and very mature, especially with her choice of clothes which usually meant formal, business-type clothes. It delighted Kyoko and increased her admiration for the woman. One day, definitely, she was going to be like that; she was going to be a successful career woman.
The meeting did not end all too well for both her and Nanae, however. Apparently, all that time, one of Nanae's rivals – a man by the name of Harada Sasuke – had been sitting just several tables away. He had heard snippets of their conversation, or, at least, claimed to have done so, and had a couple tidbits of advice for Kyoko.
"You should try interrogating Yuki Eiri if you want some real answers…. Kyoko-chan," Harada had suggested, all the while giving Nanae visibly taunting looks with his eyes. "You're not going to get anything out of a second party, especially someone who's sworn into silence. After all, our company does have strict rules about talking to journalists like you."
Kyoko denied being a journalist – she really wasn't, she was just curious – but Harada looked unconvinced. She supposed her eagerness earlier had pretty much sealed her identity in the man's eyes. It worried her and she was glad when the man finally left the establishment.
Harada did not, however, leave without a verbal threat to Nanae which only worried Kyoko more. Maybe she'd done something she shouldn't have?
"It's okay. That man... Has been after my position for a long time," Nanae told her as she prepared to leave. "He's been looking for dirt to blame on me but…" She smiled gently. "This won't be much of a problem, I'm sure. Do not worry."
"I'll look for dirt on that man if he troubles you, Nanae-san. Just give me a call... okay?" Kyoko made beating gestures with her hands then said, "Meanwhile, I'll just have to find a way to get Yuki Eiri to talk with me, ne? That man…Harada… he did have a good point."
Nanae laughed. "Optimism is the cure for everything."
000
In the afternoon, after having gone to a lecture in the university, Kyoko went back to her apartment tired and nearly brain-dead. Still, that didn't stop her from contacting K and asking if he knew the blond novelist's home number. It was then that K told her about the whole arrangement Ryuichi had set up with Yukito and Eiri. The American admitted he didn't have the novelist's current home number – Shuichi was no longer around after all so, technically, K didn't have the right to know it anymore – but he promised he would 'work on getting it for her for more blackmailing goodness'. Kyoko didn't know if she should be worried about the American's choice of words but it worked, and as soon as she hung up she began wondering about Ryuichi's arrangement.
She had no idea about that.
Where did Ryuichi get the idea for such an insane plan? What was he hoping to accomplish? Admittedly, Fujiwara Yukito looked remarkably like Shuichi and sounded somewhat like the departed, but the delectably cute boy was far from the spunky Shindou Shuichi. Kyoko liked Yukito very much; she'd swallow him right up if he'd let her, disregarding the obvious age gap and all, but he was taken. Why did Ryuichi think he should stick the famous romance novelist with him of all people? She shuddered to imagine what kind of hell the (she heard) temperamental novelist had put, or was putting, the poor boy through…
Then something clicked and she gasped, surprised at her own train of thought. Ryuichi – Sakuma Ryuichi, Tohma's former band member and very close friend - knew something, and it made absolute sense!
"Kyoko, you're a genius!" she exclaimed as she stumbled across the apartment for her cell phone, which she had left in her purse. "Pure genius!"
Once she had the cell phone in hand, she flopped onto her leather sofa and began dialing a number she by now knew by heart. "Hello, this is Kyoko desu!" she exclaimed cheerily as soon as it was picked up. Response from the other line did not come as immediately as her greetings did and she heard, or thought she heard, the telltale shuffling of clothes.
"Anne, wait…" It was Yukito's voice and Kyoko's heart leapt. "Uh… hello? K-kyoko-chan?" Kyoko could almost see the bright red blush spread across Yukito's face and wondered, just a little, what was going on the other line.
"Hello, Yukito-kun!" Kyoko greeted, pretending not to notice the trembling in Yukito's voice. "I was just wondering if you're free tonight…. Would you like to have dinner somewhere nice?" She knew she sounded like she was asking him out, but Yukito was so vulnerable and whether or not he was currently with his fiancée, Kyoko was determined to get something out of her target.
Yukito didn't answer, but Kyoko could hear his slightly labored breathing and immediately hoped the fiancée would stop and leave her man alone for long enough so she could talk with him properly over the phone. "Ah… Kyoko-chan, I can't tonight, I'm… I'm going out with my fiancée tonight—" She heard someone giggle beside Yukito and rolled her eyes. "If it's important, though… would tomorrow be fine? You can meet me after school?"
"That would be perfect, Yukito-chan!" She hung up and sighed. Bitch – that was her first impression of Yukito's fiancée, whoever she was. She's probably an ugly wench, Kyoko thought. It certainly made her feel better to think so.
"Tomorrow, tomorrow—" she sang in a singsong voice as she blew at her fringe and tossed her cell phone aside. "I guess that means I get a visit to the doctor and Yuki Eiri-sama…. If K gets his number."
"Blackmail, blackmail, tsk tsk tsk." She shook her head and then frowned, realizing suddenly what she was getting into "What's' going to happen when I follow this lead, hrmm…"
She sat up then and began reviewing her evidence and leads so far.
"I feel like I'm close...dangerously close..." She whispered to herself, "I feel like... I shouldn't have done something…"
The nagging feeling would not go away, but she knew, when the phone rang, that K had gotten her magic number.
000
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
Eiri grunted, ignoring the wide-eyed look his editor was giving him. "Yes. Advertise it, shout it out, I don't care what you do, Mizuki, just let them know I'm taking an—" he let his voice take a deeply sarcastic turn, "indefinite break from writing."
"But what about your latest novel? You were halfway through it!" Mizuki exclaimed. Eiri shrugged, placing his hand on his new laptop. He was back in his apartment – the buzz about the latest news regarding Shuichi's not-so-accidental death was finally settling down – but he was tired. Tired of it all. And Ryuichi, the bastard that he was, refused to give him back Chrysanthemum-kun because he claimed the novelist didn't stay as long as he wanted to.
Well, screw that. Just thinking about it – that night – made his blood boil. He hated it. He hated being in his body, being in the shell that did—
"At least, can you promise you'll finish your—"
CRASH.
Mizuki jumped and realized moments later that that was Yuki Eiri's laptop making small fires on the carpeted floor in front of her.
"That is your manuscript, Mizuki. Now leave me the fuck alone." He tried to say it calmly but knew he sounded much too aggravated, much too… frustrated. "I just need time alone, okay?"
Mizuki breathed in sharply, "Y-yes…I… understand, Yuki-san." He didn't need her to say a speech about how she understood how all this Shuichi-related crap on the news was affecting him. It was much too obvious, and writers, like him, had that amazing ability to read the thoughts behind minimal actions.
"Good."
After Mizuki's departure, the apartment was enveloped in a silence which Eiri welcomed eagerly. The silence gave him peace and made him forget for a few moments that he was alive and breathing in a world that had recently decided it wanted to make his life hell once again. What was it about him that made him so vulnerable to these things? He had thought that after Shuichi, after getting over Yuki Kitazawa, he was finally going to get his semi-happy-ending.
He snorted. That was a silly thought.
And here he was, alone in his apartment, celibate for several days and counting. Hopefully for years to come, too, if he had any say in it. The last time had not been intentional. It wasn't! He was not in control. It wasn't him at all. He didn't do it.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
The ringing snapped Eiri out of his thoughts and he stared listlessly at the phone on his desk with no intention at all of answering.
"Hello, you have reached Yuki Eiri's residence. Please leave a message after the beep."
The message reminded him of the one Shuichi had made for their old apartment. The silly—
"Hello, this is Amano Kyoko. You don't know me, but of course, but I know you. I have a proposal for you, Yuki Eiri-san. If you'll agree to meet with me, I'll tell you aaaall about this theory of mine… My investigation – see, I'm the one behind that videotape and I think Shindou Shuichi really is alive. I just need confirmation on a few of my suspicions……."
"Are you interested?"