"Hey. You. What are you doing here? I haven't seen anyone like you here before."
"..."
"You know... Carrying something like that around here is a cause for trouble. Do you want to fight?"
"Don't get in my way."
"Oh, now you're just asking for it!"
"I told you not to get in my way!"
"..."
"Stay here like a good little brat, would you?"
"Okay..."
"Good..."
CRASH!
"What are you-"
"...You told me to stay here... So I did."
September 12
Blackgate High School
2:20 PM
Yuri Rinko
The classes for the day had drawn to a close, and I couldn't have asked for anything better. A sigh left my lips as I pulled my backpack over my shoulder and started to make my way up to the front of the building. It was time for me to swing by the agency and see if anything was going on. It had been part of my daily routine for years, and I wasn't about to let it go.
"Hey, Yuri!"
I heard a familiar voice over my shoulder, and I turned to see Mukuro standing nearby. She waved to me, a wide grin on her face. I let out a gasp before dashing up to her. "Hey, Mukkie!" I cried out as I slid to a stop. "What are you doing here?"
Seeing Mukuro in the area was most certainly a surprise to me. She had graduated from the school the year before, so there wasn't much of a reason for her to drop by here. She was in the same class as Chrysalis, and if anyone had a reason to come by here, it would have been Chrysalis. She had recently gotten her driver's license, so she was able to drive me back to the agency when I wanted to drop by. Mukuro, on the other hand, had no such excuse, so I had no clue as to why she would be in the area.
"I came by to drop a new classmate of yours," Mukuro explained, a smile spreading across her features. "Anton and I both came by to drop him off so that he can settle things with the front office. Alright, you can come out now!"
Anton came walking from behind a nearby corner, his face lit up with excitement as he entered my line of sight alongside another familiar figure. A gasp filled my lungs as I realized just who this newcomer was. All questions about why this was happening were gone in the blink of an eye, and all I could do was grin with pure joy and clap my hands together.
"James!" I cried out before closing the distance between us. "You're transferring here? Why? What's going on?" As soon as I started talking, I couldn't stop, and the questions flowed naturally. I had given up on my hopes of becoming James' one and only, but I was still his friend, and him suddenly showing up at my school certainly merited a few questions.
"Filming on my show is drawing to a close for the time being as we deal with a few logistical issues caused by past incidents," James said, and I had to admit that only he was able to make a murder and subsequent arrest sound like something normal and graceful. "Since I no longer need to focus on filming, I'm able to come back to private school. I've been receiving tutoring on set for quite some time, but I'm actually going to have the chance to spend more time with kids my age, and I figured that I would come here since I already know you and Niamh."
I had to actively keep myself from squealing in response. "That's amazing!" I cried out. I clapped my hands together once again and gestured for him to follow me. "You should totally let me take you to the front office. I'm sure that nobody would mind if I was a little late to the agency."
"We were supposed to meet Niamh and have her help to show James around, but that hasn't come to pass, I'm afraid," Mukuro said with a small shrug. She shook her head and let out a sigh. "How about this? I'll let you three go up to the office so that James can get settled, and I'll do what I can to find Niamh. After I snag her, I'll meet up with you guys."
I nodded in response. "Alright, Mukkie!" I cried out, waving as the older girl walked away. As she disappeared around a nearby corner, I turned my full attention to James and Anton once again. "James, you're going to love it here! ...Well, maybe not love it, but you'll have me and Niamh here as your friends, and that's something. We can give you all of the tips and tricks to getting out of this place alive. How does that sound?"
James let out a chuckle at my enthusiasm, and he nodded in response. "Of course," he said kindly. He allowed me to take his hand in my own as I led him towards the front office. Anton, who was clinging to James' other hand, trailed behind us. I was glad that they were behind me so that they couldn't see the grin on my face. I couldn't believe that I was actually going to be attending classes with James! I had dreamed about this fan fiction type of scenario for ages, and at long last, it was happening! In all honesty, I thought it bordered on being impossible, and yet, here we were.
"So, James... How have things been going with Niamh?" I questioned once I was able to cage my excitement for a moment. I turned my head over my shoulder to get a better view of him, and I saw that a small amount of pink had risen in his cheeks. There wasn't much, but I was easily able to zero in on it. I could tell that he was embarrassed. There was nothing that he could do to escape my sharp gaze when it came to matters of the heart! None were spared from my powers of observation!
"We've only been talking," James assured me with a shake of his head. "I've been doing my best to keep the media from assuming anything about her. After all, we wouldn't want anybody to assume that we're in a relationship when that isn't the case. It would cause issues of reputation on both sides of it."
I had to hide my smirk at his words because I knew that there was something untrue about it all. There was no way that his relationship with Niamh was that simple. I simply wasn't going to fall for that. Of course, I couldn't tell them that, so I remained happy that I was facing the front of our little train of exploration.
"It's because of the media that I'm here after school in the first place. I don't want anyone to get too excited or nervous because I'm present during a regular school day. Our peers will simply have to get used to spending time with me, but I fear I would be a distraction if I appeared out of nowhere. There are many reporters who would give anything to see me in a place like this as well," James continued. "I would prefer to keep you two, and everyone else, for that matter, as far away from that life as possible. As much as I love performing, the obsession the media has with me most certainly tests my patience on the worst of days."
I nodded my understanding. "I get it. Well, maybe not to the same degree, but there have been more than a few people who have showed up to the agency before. Most of them are curious about the cases that we've been involved with in the past, and I don't know how to tell them that they aren't going to learn anything by sticking around there," I told him. My heart skipped a beat at the idea that I had something in common with James Devine of all people. I was used to being considered his friend, but it still caught me by surprise when I wasn't careful enough. My life really had turned into something that you would find in a book or movie in the past month or so!
At long last, we arrived at our destination of the front office, and I gestured to the door after releasing James' hand. "After you speak with the principal, I would be more than happy to show you around the building. It's a bit hard to get the feel of at first, but I'm sure that you'll be alright after a while. Don't worry about it," I told him with a nonchalant shrug.
"M-Mukuro sure is t-taking a while to f-find her..." Anton whispered, and I frowned in response. He was right. Mukuro had left to try and find Niamh a few minutes ago, and yet, she wasn't back yet. The school was large, but I would have expected Mukuro to take care of everything quickly.
Just to make sure that she hadn't sent me a text message, I reached into my pocket and dug out my phone. I checked every possible social media platform we were on together as well as the regular texting app, and yet, she hadn't sent anything. I shrugged it off, figuring that it was nothing. "I'm sure that it's nothing. Maybe she just wound up getting caught up in some other business. She did graduate last year, so there are probably some teachers who would want to say hello to her when given the chance," I pointed out.
And then came the scream.
If I thought that this situation was normal at first, that sudden screech was enough to dispel all of my attempts to cover for what had happened. James wasn't even inside of the office yet when I took off running, and Anton trailed after me. James hesitated before taking up the rear, and we were hurling ourselves through the hallways in an attempt to find the source of the sound.
I think that part of me knew that it was Mukuro who had cried out before we even arrived. It just sounded like her, and I was positive that she had to be involved somehow. I didn't want it to be true, but there was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that said that my worst fears were about to be confirmed.
As if on cue, we rounded the corner into the trophy area of the school. It was an isolated corner of the building where the awards were kept in a glass case. Not many people saw a reason to come through the area, so it was left abandoned a strong majority of the time. I hadn't been to the trophy area in quite some time, so I was beyond surprised to see the state that it was in.
The glass had been shattered, and there were shards of the transparent material all over the floor. The top shelf of the trophy case had been splintered in half, and all of the trophies below were left to scatter as a result. Nothing was left intact aside from the awards at the very corners of the bottom row of the case.
However, the most surprising part had to be what was in front of the case. My hand flew to my lips, and I did my best to stifle a cry of my own. Mukuro was standing over a person's limp body. It was an older man, far taller than any of us were. There was a bloodied trophy right next to his head, and there was a large stain of crimson that spiraled outwards from his temple. He was wearing all black, but some of the fabric had been shredded by the falling glass, leaving his body covered in cuts.
I took a small step forward to see if he was still breathing, but I quickly realized that his chest wasn't rising or falling. He looked unnaturally pale as well, and I didn't have to check to know that there was no heartbeat. He was dead, and I didn't know what could have happened.
It felt as if there was something constricting around my lungs, keeping me from screaming out in a panic the way that I wanted to. I couldn't stop looking at the blood that was quickly seeping into the carpet, and I wondered just how long ago this man had been killed. I took a hesitant step forward before pressing one hand against his hand. It was cold, and I knew that it had been a while since his death.
Still, that did little to keep me from panicking. Mukuro fumbled for her phone, and I knew that she was calling for help. I looked over to James and Anton, and I saw that they were both just as pale as I was. Anton looked like he was going to be sick, and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders before guiding him away from the area. I found a trashcan and allowed him to sit next to it. I turned away before I could watch him hurl.
My ears felt as if they had been filled with static, and the image of blood around the collapsed man resurfaced in my head once again. I didn't know what had happened, but I absolutely hated this. Why did this have to happen? I didn't understand. This made no sense.
And where the hell was Niamh?
September 12
Bespoke-Lin Residence
2:45 PM
Chrysalis Starr
It took me a while to force my eyes open, but when I did, I let out a small groan. Everything seemed foggy and distant, and I remembered just why I wasn't a morning person. There was something soft beneath me, and I had to actively keep myself from sliding back into its welcoming sensation.
Still, I managed to force myself into a position that was somewhat vertical, and I realized just how fuzzy the world around me was. I shut my eyes to keep myself from getting a headache as I fumbled around for my glasses. As soon as my hand collided with metal, I grabbed the glasses and pushed them on my face only to cringe and recoil as soon as I opened my eyes. Those were not my glasses. The prescription was all wrong, and it was somehow even worse to look through those than just to stare at the world on its own.
"Here."
I saw a blurry figure in front of me, and I realized that they were holding out one hand. I grabbed at their fingers until I realized that the familiar thin frames of my glasses were resting on their palm. I pressed the lenses onto my face, and I fluttered my eyes open once again with curiosity festering in the back of my mind. I didn't know who the person in question was, but I had the sneaking suspicion that I was going to be finding out soon.
"N-Niamh!" I yelped out in surprise. I rubbed at my eyes just to make sure that I was seeing properly, and I glanced around the area. We were most certainly at the home that Niamh shared with my sister and Ghastly, so it only made sense that she would be here.
As soon as I realized where we were though, it came to me that I had no idea how in the world we got back to the house. I glanced up to Niamh in hopes that she would be able to provide me with answers, but I found that I couldn't make myself ask the question on my mind. My mouth suddenly felt numb, and all I could do was stare.
"I've already told your brother that you'll be staying the night here," Niamh told me, shrugging her shoulders in a jerky motion. I realized that she wasn't wearing her glasses, and I figured that I had accidentally picked up hers when I was trying to find mine. She put a hand to my shoulder, and I was surprised at the contact. Despite this, I couldn't bring myself to pull away, too tired to bother protesting.
"You should get some more sleep. You must have been exhausted," Niamh continued, gently pushing me back into my previous horizontal position on the couch. I stared at her in response, but I didn't move to displace her hand. In fact, I wound up reaching up and taking off my glasses a moment later, and I let them slide off my palm onto the nearby table. My eyes shut once again, and I allowed the comfort of the furniture to take me over once again. I was asleep soon afterwards, and I had no intentions of getting up again anytime soon.
September 12
Blackgate High School
3:40 PM
James Devine
To put it nicely, the hour that followed was exhausting.
There were too many officers in the area to be counted, and I could feel anxiety starting to creep in. Where was Niamh? Why hadn't Mukuro been able to find her? What had happened in the first place? Why was somebody dead? Who could have done this?
I was sitting with Yuri, Anton, and Mukuro in the front office area of the school, thinking about how this was an awful way to be introduced to the place that I would be attending classes soon. It was tiring to think about everything that was happening, but I couldn't get my mind off it. Whenever I closed my eyes, I thought about how pale that man had been. I couldn't stop thinking about the way that the blood pooled around his head. Anton looked like he was going to be sick again. He had barely been able to stand earlier, and he certainly hadn't gotten any better since then.
Footsteps suddenly cut off my thought process, and I glanced up to see that a woman was walking inside the room. She had brown hair, a kind smile, and a gigantic black hat. There was something apologetic about her, and she seemed nervous. I couldn't blame her in the slightest given what had just happened.
"Detective Umber!" Mukuro suddenly cried out in shock, looking ready to jump to her feet but not quite taking the action. She glanced over to Yuri and Anton, and both of them appeared to be just as surprised as she was. They did their best to hide it though, and they turned their focus to the woman at hand, this 'Detective Umber' character, a moment later.
"We've got a suspect in mind," Detective Umber suddenly declared, and I let out a small gasp before I knew what I was doing. That had certainly been fast. Then again, it hadn't taken them long to arrest me when I was originally suspected in the death of Mr. Rector not long beforehand. Just the thought made me upset though, so I did my best to shelve past problems with murder to focus on what was happening in front of me.
"Who is it?" Yuri questioned, tilting her head to the side. I saw that she was holding onto Anton's hand, and their fingers were locked so tightly that I almost thought she was going to hurt him by accident. I cringed in response, but I bit down on my lip to keep from saying anything.
Detective Umber turned her attention towards Mukuro, and that apologetic look came back with renewed vengeance. "Sorry," she muttered. "I-I don't want to do this, but... The police have already made their choice on a suspect, and it's you. I'm sorry about it, but it's not like I have any other choice."
"Are you serious?!" Yuri yelped, jumping to her feet with fury burning in her eyes. "Mukuro found the body, but that doesn't mean that she's an immediate suspect! Please, think with your head about this! I don't care what the police officers have to say! They screw this stuff up all the time! You're the detective here, so start ordering them around already!"
"If I could do that, I would," Detective Umber sighed. "But I can't make that decision, I'm afraid. Please, Mukuro... If you would come with me, we have lots of things to talk about."
Mukuro hesitated at first before she forced herself to stand slowly. She glanced over to Yuri and Anton before giving one final look of longing in my direction. I felt my heart twist in response, and I wished that there was something I could do to help her.
I was cut off from my thoughts when Mukuro walked towards Detective Umber a moment later. Anton, Yuri, and I were left in stunned silence as the duo vanished around the corner. I resisted the urge to pound my fist into the armrest of the chair I was sitting in. I knew that it wasn't going to help, but I still wanted to get my anguish out somehow. My fingers pulled in to form a tight fist.
"I'll call the agency," Yuri announced firmly. "If they're going to say that Mukuro did it, then that's their mistake. I'll just have to make sure that she's alright." She reached for her phone before pulling it free of her pocket. She pressed against the screen quickly before pushing the device against her ear. She walked a few feet away before she started speaking into the receiver.
I looked over to Anton, and I held out my hand so that he could cling to me in Yuri's absence. He took me up on the offer without hesitation, and he moved over to sit in the chair next to mine where Mukuro had been a moment before. He leaned his head against my shoulder, and I looked down at him fondly, wishing there was more I could do to help both him and Mukuro out of this situation.
Then there was the matter of Niamh. Where in the world was she? I could have sworn that she was supposed to meet us here, and yet, it ended like this. I was praying that there was a logical explanation for this, but there was a voice in the back of my head whispering that something was wrong. I had no basis for it, but I couldn't help feeling nervous as an instinctive reaction. It was undoubtedly a byproduct of what horrors we had witnessed not long beforehand.
I decided to pull my phone from my pocket, and I began to press down on the screen until I had made my way to the texting app at my disposal. I sent Niamh a quick question asking where she was, not wanting to overwhelm her with the details until I was able to actually talk to her. I didn't mind if it was over the phone or in person, but I was positive that telling her there had been a murder over text was not the way to go about all of this.
My thoughts of concern for Niamh were cut off when Yuri made her way back towards me. She was dropping her phone back into its regular spot, and a sigh was pushing its way free of her lips. "Lily, Victoria, and Sky are on their way. Mr. Morix is going ballistic because he doesn't know where Chrysalis is either," she explained. "I don't get it. Chrysalis was supposed to pick me up, but she isn't here. What could have happened to her?"
"Maybe you should send her a text for her to respond to when she gets the chance," I offered, remembering what I had done with Niamh a moment before. It wasn't going to offer an immediate solution, but being able to do anything at all was sure to help to calm Yuri's rattling nerves.
Yuri let out a sigh and shook her head. "I don't know how much good that's going to do us. I tried calling her a few times after I reached out to the agency, but she didn't pick up. I know that she's not in the school. If she was, we would have already heard that she had been found somewhere... But we can also say that nothing too bad could have happened to her. If she was hurt, Mr. Morix would have already been called to say that something was wrong," she pointed out, but I got the feeling that she was trying to convince herself more than me or Anton.
My phone suddenly buzzed from its place in my pocket, and I pulled it out immediately. A sigh of relief left my mouth as soon as I realized who had messaged me, and my eyes slipped shut as I typed in my password through muscle memory. I looked down at the text I had received from Niamh and read it in full.
I'm back at my house. What's going on?
I couldn't hold back the tidal wave of relief that hit me luck a truck as soon as I saw that she was alright. I typed out a response, saying that I would explain it later. I glanced over to Yuri and saw how concerned she still was, so I decided to tack a little something else to the tail end of my next message to Niamh.
I'm at the school. Something happened, but I'll tell you about it later. Do you know where Chrysalis is?
"Niamh is okay," I said to distract myself from waiting for her next text. Yuri and Anton both looked at me in such overwhelming relief that it almost hurt to see. I glanced back down to the phone's screen and saw that the girl in question was typing out a response already. I tapped my phone's side impatiently, knowing that it would do nothing to hurry response but needing to do something to pass the seconds.
She's with me. She's asleep right now.
I had a thousand questions, such as how Chrysalis got there from the school if she really was meant to be picking up Yuri, but I forced myself to lay them all to rest. I gave Niamh a quick thanks before saying that I had to go, knowing that I wouldn't be able to explain everything no matter how much she asked. I barely knew what was going on, if I was being perfectly honest.
"As far as I can tell, something happened to the trophy case to break the glass, and from there, one of the trophies fell out and hit him on the head," Yuri suddenly declared, and I looked up from my phone out of gratitude for the distraction. "I don't know who or what it could have been, but... I get the feeling that we're going to find that out sooner or later, huh?"
"I didn't see anything that could have caused everything to break," I admitted softly. "I feel like something of that nature would have stuck out among all of the glass and broken trophies... It's not like one of the trophies could have done that much damage to the case. I feel like it would take more force than a trophy could offer to shatter all of the glass at once like that."
"I'll bring that up with the others when they get here," Yuri suggested. She hesitated a moment later before shaking her head. "Actually, I think I'll leave that to them to figure out. After all, we're probably going to wind up being interrogated about what we saw. The investigators are going to want more information, and we're the only ones who can offer them that."
"We'll have to deal with the subject of Niamh and Chrysalis going missing later," I muttered with a shake of my head. "At the very least, they're both okay. Niamh told me that Chrysalis is with her, though I don't know how she could have gotten there. If she was really supposed to pick you up, why would she go back to Niamh's house?"
Yuri shrugged, the motion jerky and detached. "I suppose that's got to count for something... I'll tell Mr. Morix that she's okay. That'll be a serious weight off his shoulders, though that's probably an understatement with how protective he can get," she told us, reaching for her phone once again. She was tapping away at the screen a moment later.
I glanced over to Anton, my gaze sympathetic. "Don't worry," I assured him gently. "Everything is going to be okay. I can promise you that much." I squeezed my fingers around his, and Anton nodded slowly. His cheeks were pink, but I could tell that he still wasn't in the mood for conversation. Even if he was lightly flustered, his face was still incredibly pale because of all that had happened.
The area fell eerily silent afterwards, and I allowed the quiet to swallow me. This was already showing itself to be a disaster, and I absolutely hated it. I had just wanted to become acquainted with my new school, but it had to end terribly due to the whims of fate. I didn't know who the victim was, but I already felt sympathy towards his plight. This was an awful series of events, and I was determined to learn the truth behind them.
Sure enough, there were investigators that showed up soon afterwards to drag us off for interrogation. The leader of the group was a detective who introduced himself as Aidan Hayes. He gestured for us to follow him, and I did so without a moment of hesitation. I hated the idea of talking about what we had seen, but it wasn't as if there was anything else that we could do. If we wanted to find the truth, we were going to have to play along.
I hoped that we would find the truth, anyways.
Bonus Tuesday update! Yay!
-Digital