A/N: I hope you are all having a good week so far. Unfortunately, I had to scrap half of my plotline for the upcoming vampire Toji No Miko fanfic cause part of it had a major plot hole and didn't make sense. *heavy sigh...* Hopefully, I will be able to rewrite somehow. Slow and steady wins the race, I guess...


Chapter 11: Yamashiro Yui

Sauntering in with the strut of a peacock, Yui took off her sneakers and laid herself on the sofa, leaning her head against the palm of her hand. With that seductive pose, one would think she was expecting a group of artists to sketch her profile. What was that phrase again? "Draw me like one of your French girls?" Something like that? Yui flashed the three of us a wink, before letting out a giggle. I could tell Sanae was very uncomfortable in Yui's presence, judging by how noticeably her face heated up. It almost looked as though the silver locks framing her face were turning as red as her cheeks.

Obviously just as fidgety as my lady's maid, Kanami let out a dry cough. "Um...hello, Yamashiro-san."

"Hi-hi-hi, Kanami-chan! I forgot to mention this morning at breakfast that you're looking as cute as ever," Yui snickered, before pouncing upon me next. "But of course, you'll always be the fairest of them all, Hiyori-chan."

She slapped a hand to her nose to hold the stream of blood that was starting to come from her left nostril. "And Sanae-san...just seeing you in your maid uniform! That black dress and white apron hug your curves perfectly...eek! It's just so—so sexy! Reminds me of this hot maid café I went to in Akihabara—so many beautiful girls dressed up as maids! It was—it was—"

"Alright, Yui. We get it," I drawled, rolling my eyes to the ceiling. Although Sanae gave me a grateful look, I could tell it was taking every ounce of her to not crawl under the rug.

"Sorry, sorry. My bad," Yui said, raising her hands up.

Kanami first requested for Yui's Toji ID handbook. However, after she took a few notes from it, I noticed she didn't return it back right away. In fact, she seemed perplexed about something. Whatever it was, she ignored it until later.

"So, Yamashiro-san, can you first tell us your movements last night?" Kanami asked. "We need to account for everybody in this house as a matter of procedure."

"Of course, Kanami-chan," Yui replied, cheerfully. "Now let's see...after our murder mystery game, I went upstairs to go to bed."

"What time was that?"

"10:15, I should say. Only I didn't go to bed in the end. Actually, when I was making my way back to my room, I noticed from under her door that Hana-san's light was on. I figured that she was still awake, so I decided to go—um, chat with her instead."

There was an embarrassed catch to her voice, accompanied by a faint blush. Yui rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly before continuing, "So, anyway, I found Hana-san reading a book in bed. She and I talked for quite a while. Just about regular girl stuff. You know, cute dresses, TV series, makeup, jewelry—stuff like that."

I rated all those things, in terms of usefulness, between flowers and bobbleheads for car dashboards. How could girls chatter on for hours about that stuff?

"And after that, I left to go to bed. That would have been maybe at around ten minutes after eleven," Yui said.

"And that's it?" I asked. "Nothing seemed strange or out of the blue?"

Putting a finger to her chin, Yui reflected for a moment, before slowly hesitating, "Well...something strange did happen. But Hana-san and I didn't think much about it at the time. It was probably nothing though."

"Go on."

"At maybe around eleven-ish, we heard a loud thud from under Hana-san's window. If I remember correctly, Hana-san's bedroom is right underneath Fumiko-sama's study. We opened the window all the way and stuck our heads out to peer down below. And we both saw someone running around the house and back towards the entrance," Yui explained.

"Who was it?" Kanami asked.

She only got a shrug in response. "I don't know. I couldn't tell from up above. And it being a dark snowy night didn't help either."

There was a brief pause, before Yui asked, "Do you think that person Hana-san and I saw could have been...the murderer?"

"It is a possibility, Yamashiro-san," Kanami said. "You have certainly given us something to think about."

"Pity that such a good-looking girl had to die," Yui commented. "She had a good rack, I must say. If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought of her as a model. For Fumiko-sama to have been so young and yet have such height and a voluptuous figure...it was envious. Yet, I would have done anything to snatch a hug from her!"

Clasping her hands, she let out a giggle, no doubt indulging in her imaginations of wrapping her arms and probably also smothering her face between Fumiko's breasts. I could only picture what Fumiko's reaction would have been if she were alive. I doubted even Yui would have wanted to hug/sexually-assault Fumiko if she knew the truth about the Murasaki Head.

"Besides, her...um, body...what did you think of Fumiko-sama personally, Yamashiro-san?" Kanami asked.

Yui seemed confused about the question. She leaned back on the sofa, reclining against the armrest with a straight face. It was probably the most serious expression I had ever seen her make since first coming to Hakuchou Manor.

"I don't know quite honestly. She seemed alright to me. Perhaps a bit reserved," Yui said. "I only just met her yesterday though, so I cannot give an elaborate description. Still, as I've said earlier, Fumiko-sama certainly would've been a candidate for one of my good ol' hugs. They are always good at melting even the coldest hearts. Tee hee. Why every single girl I've encountered would always shriek with joy."

'More like terror or disgust,' I thought.

Seemingly preoccupied with flipping through Yui's Toji ID handbook, Kanami said, "There is something we must bring to your attention regarding who Fumiko-sama really is, Yamashiro-san. I am sure your opinion of her will change once you learn about the truth."

"What truth, Kanami-chan?" Yui asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"Do you recall what happened on November 9 last year?"

"I don't think there is anyone who doesn't remember what happened on that awful day. That terrorist attack will definitely be written in the history books, I'm sure of it," Yui said. "The whole world was watching! I remember that I was shopping at Shibuya on that day before the first train derailed. The news aired live on the large TV screens at the Shibuya Crossing...we all watched...the crowds and I...it was so sad to see all those crying girls around me...everyone was crying...I was crying..."

With her bluish-grey eyes glazing over, Yui seemed to go into a stupor, before shaking her head a little. "But I don't understand. What does that have to do with Fumiko-sama?"

"Fumiko-sama was actually the leader of the nineteen individuals who hijacked the four trains. They were part of a terrorist group called the Takamagahara Faction, which had radical views regarding the usage of noro in people. In other words, Fumiko-sama was the main instigator," Kanami explained.

For the first time, Yui showed signs of anger, bristling at this new revelation. She sat up straight, caring no longer about arranging herself in a provocative position. Her ponytail trembled as she spoke.

"The damn bitch!" she swore, taking us all by surprise.

Keeping the same careful eyes she always had when summing up an opponent before a spar, Kanami began slowly, "While anger is a common reaction, I never would've expected someone of your character to be vehement, Yamashiro-san. Nevertheless, it is perhaps justified considering the circumstances."

I watched Yui clench her hands together again and again. They were relatively small, but her fingers were quite long. Bony and white. And still, Yui kept clenching her hands spasmodically... Over and over and over again... If they ever wrapped around something thin and fragile... Perhaps with one sharp twist...

"I know. It's rather silly of me," Yui sighed, shaking her head. "Getting so worked up about it. I'm sorry. I lost control of my emotions."

"It is better to release your anger than to keep it bottled in," I said. "I know that fact very well. But it's okay because you have people who care about you and can help you understand how to deal with it in a healthy way. Just like Kanami and my friends did for me."

Giving a small smile, free of any lust, Yui said, "Thanks, Hiyori-sama."

Kanami asked, "No one you particularly believe to have done...you know?"

Yui simply replied, "The Akabane Sword Team members are my friends. Trust me. They'd never commit murder."

She gave a sigh before rising from her seat. "Can I go now? Is that all?"

"Just one more thing I wish to consult with you, Yamashiro-san," Kanami said.

She waited for Yui to sit back down before flipping through the latter's Toji ID handbook again. "I notice here, under your mission records, that you have not gone on any for the past few months. Why is that, if you don't mind my asking?"

The silent response she received only increased our curiosity with a slight hint of suspicion as well. Yui looked into each of our eyes one at a time. It was as though she trying to read our emotions and figure out who to maintain eye-contact with. Eventually, her gaze stuck to the china teapot.

"It is a rather emotionally difficult subject for me to talk about," she began. "My mother...I had to take care of her. She became very sick from...a mental illness. She was just forever stuck in a world of sadness. And it deteriorated her health a lot."

I could not help thinking about my own mother, who also in her last moments suffered from great depression and regret. The only woman I ever truly loved more than the world, who left a gaping hole in my heart after she passed away. If it weren't for Kanami filling that empty hole, something told me that I'd have died myself from heartbreak.

"Is she better now?" I asked, hesitantly.

Yui closed her eyes. "She died two months ago."

Immediately, I regretted asking that question. The whole room had gone quiet. What had it been like for Yui? I already suspected, having gone through the experience myself. Losing a parental figure at such a young age... The feeling of insecurity that follows after and accompanies one's grief... The feeling that something is missing when one is at home... No child should have to deal with the situation of losing a parent.

From the corner of my eye, I looked at Kanami to see that she too had an expression of despondency. I knew that she also could empathize with Yui. Kanami lost her mother at an earlier age than me. I did not know whether I could consider myself fortunate or not to have been with my mother longer. Death in all forms, whether earlier or later, was unbearable for those left behind...

In a soft far-away voice, Kanami asked a question which was almost a whisper. "You miss her?"

Yui nodded her head. "Very much. She...she was the only family I had left."


A/N: That is Chapter 11. The last suspect left is Suzumoto Hana, whom our three investigators will question in the next chapter. Sorry that this fanfic is going at a slow pace.

Other than that, who could possibly have been the mysterious person Yui and Hana saw last night? Feel free to leave your ideas, theories, critiques, etc...in the reviews. I am always eager to read them!