A/N: Starting school in exactly four days now. I'm still very doubtful about these online courses. Most of my professors emailed me saying that they're not going to do virtual lectures at all, but that they'll just send notes for the whole class to study. Not sure how to react to that...

Chapter 15: Articles Of An Affair

The turmoil in Hiyori's mind couldn't be allayed, even after a few minutes of deep breaths in the hiding spot Kanami chose for them—which happened to be Yukari's room. In Kanami's mind, nobody would first think of searching for the two of them at the crime scene. Unable to support herself, Hiyori sat against a wall with her head between her knees. As the Heijou Toji continued to reflect on all that passed just within the day's few hours, her astonishment increased with every recollection. Discovering Yukari wanted to adopt her; being sent an anonymous blackmail note; and now...her being selected as heiress! That the former Origami leader should choose her out of all people—a simple girl who once attempted to assassinate her! Such new prospects that the high position offered should've made Hiyori feel over the moon. And yet, the Heijou Toji felt sick to her stomach.

Kanami, who was fiddling with the pieces on Yukari's shogi board, cast a glance at Hiyori. Despite being just as surprised by the turn of events, the Minoseki Toji couldn't help feeling more concerned for the troubled girl. All astounded confusion was lost in other worried emotions.

"Are you okay, Hiyori-chan?" she asked.

Hiyori raised her head with a sigh. "I'm just stupefied about the announcement, that's all."

Something told Kanami that there was more to the story. Hiyori had been like a cat on hot bricks for most of the morning.

"I meant are you okay in general? You looked uncomfortable ever since Father and Sergeant Tanaka first arrived," the Minoseki Toji said, creasing her brows together.

Hiyori made no answer. She knew she always had a willing listener in Kanami, but the dark secret lurking inside her mind was one that caution forbade her to reveal. She dared not relate the blackmail note to Kanami; the Minoseki Toji would immediately tell her father and the sergeant. Would she...?

The worried expression on Kanami's face was now slightly stern. So concerned was she for the Heijou Toji that impatience was starting to cloud over.

"Hiyori-chan, you can trust me," the brown-haired girl insisted. "I can't help but worry about you."

"And I'm telling you, it's nothing," Hiyori said, standing up all of a sudden. "I'm fine!"

Kanami's heart felt a sharp pang of hurt from the Heijou Toji's dismissive attitude. Even after all they had been through together, Hiyori still didn't trust her enough? She gave half of her life for her! And still, Hiyori didn't understand that she'd do it all over again just for her sake! Her eyes shadowed over, Kanami slowly approached the Heijou Toji wordlessly.

"Kanami? What are you—?!"

Taken aback, Hiyori found herself being grabbed by Kanami and then pushed down onto Yukari's bed. Out of instinct, the Heijou Toji struggled at first against the strong grip holding her down, until she saw the expression of the girl above her. Pained eyes with tears at the edges, marred with anger and hurt...

"Hiyori-chan! Don't you trust me?!" Kanami cried, the tears in her eyes falling onto Hiyori's face. "Can't you see that I suffer when you do? Tell me what's wrong. Please!"

Those tearful eyes were too much to take in. Regretful at causing the Minoseki Toji so much pain, Hiyori turned her head to the side so that she wouldn't have to look at that overwhelming stare. However, she felt gentle fingers slowly turn her head back and then the soft lips of Kanami's against her own. Hiyori's eyes widened before tenderly kissing back, letting the warm feeling envelop her. Sparks of sensation shot through both of the Tojis' nerves, as they enjoyed the moment of intimacy.

Releasing her lips, Kanami whispered, "I love you, Hiyori-chan. You know I do. You can trust me. So please...tell me what's wrong."

The silence that followed after Hiyori gave Kanami the blackmail note was agonizing. She should've known. Now, she was going to be reported and then have her neck strangled around the noose for murdering an administration official.

Her voice unable to hide her shock, Kanami breathed, "Hiyori-chan..."

Hiyori's increasing anxiety was too much for her. "I didn't! I really didn't! Kanami, please you have to believe me!"

"Don't worry, Hiyori-chan, I believe you but—"

The Minoseki Toji's words stopped mid-way once she saw how paper-white Hiyori had become. The Heijou Toji shrank a little, wrapping her arms around her in an attempt to stop herself from shaking. That tight rope...she could almost feel it around her throat! Going mad from fear, Hiyori's hand clutched her neck as if doing so would get rid of the horrible thing she was vividly imagining. Hiyori hadn't been afraid to sacrifice her life to seal away Tagitsuhime; that was a death she knew would be fast. Strangulation, however...

She whimpered, "Kanami, if anyone else finds out about this—"

Kanami didn't think she had never seen Hiyori so desperate and frightened before. "They don't have proof! I'll protect you, Hiyori-chan, I swear. But we need to be careful, okay?"

Taking the poor girl's hands in her own, she added, "We'll get to the bottom of this. Is this note all the blackmailer gave you?"

"Yes. I even checked my phone to see if I got any emails, text messages, or phone calls. Nothing," Hiyori said, shaking her head.

Kanami's eyes narrowed. 'Is this just a really bad joke to scare Hiyori-chan?'

She muttered to herself, "A murder, a change to Yukari-sama's statement, and now a blackmailer...an interesting combination..."

She stared at the note, reading it once more. Quite suddenly, Hiyori could recognize the familiar glint in Kanami's eyes that meant she was thinking of something.

"It can't be..." the brown-haired girl gasped. "How didn't I see it before?"

"What is it?" Hiyori asked.

Making no response, Kanami yanked up the floorboard that hid Yukari's box of letters. Scrambling through the stash of papers inside, she eventually pulled out the one that Yukari herself wrote. The Minoseki Toji looked back at the blackmail note to make sure. When she, at last, looked at Hiyori, Kanami had one eyebrow raised higher than the other in pure bafflement.

"The blackmail note...it's written in Yukari-sama's handwriting."

"Where the hell are those two?" Inspector Etou sighed, as he continued opening and closing doors.

His colleague right next to him commented, "Just as clueless as you, sir. However, you have to admit that announcement was quite a shock, wasn't it? Hiyori-chan becoming the next Head of the Origami Family!"

Inspector Etou kept muttering under his breath, "It doesn't make any sense."

"What?"

"Why would Yukari-sama choose Juujou-san out of all people to become the next leader?"

In his usual jesting tone, Sergeant Tanaka joked, "I mean, have you seen all of the other women in this mansion? The way all of them were at each other's throats like crazy...I'm sure Yukari-sama thought them all incapable of taking such an important position."

He added, "Oh, which reminds me, there's something President Takatsu told me earlier that I think you should know."

He recounted everything about what Yukina said, from her being a light sleeper to her hearing the doors opening and shutting in the middle of the night. The sergeant made sure to tell all the facts down to the smallest detail. When he finished, Inspector Etou nodded his head slowly as if to process it all, while rubbing his pocket-watch.

"So," he said, at last, "our little murderer could have indeed gotten up out of bed when everyone was asleep. What time was it that President Takatsu said again? 10:45?"

Sergeant Tanaka said, "Yes, sir. And fifteen minutes after that."

Inspector Etou gave a "hm", before turning his mind back to a certain ebony-haired girl. "Tanaka, random question. What kind of relationship do you think Juujou-san has with my daughter?"

Sergeant Tanaka stared. "I can't say, sir."

The inspector said, "I've been meaning to tell you this earlier, but the girls were with us at the time, you see."

Clearing his throat, he pulled something from his jacket pocket. "When Kanami and I searched the victim's room this morning, I found interesting news articles in Yukari-sama's secret letter box that she must've cut out from the Toji papers. Take a look at them yourself."

Sergeant Tanaka took them to see several articles with bold headlines saying: POSSIBLE ROMANCE BETWEEN TOJIS? ETOU SPOTTED WITH JUUJOU ON ROMANTIC DATE! TOJIS UNITED BY OKATANAS AND LOVE! With both eyebrows raised, he then took a moment to look at the newspaper photos. Obviously, the cameraman had taken sneak shots of the two Tojis, being careful to not be seen by them. A picture of them feeding each other ice cream, a picture of them on a Ferris wheel... An almost-knowing smirk crossed Sergeant Tanaka's face when he saw that in one of the photos, Kanami was gently caressing Hiyori's cheek—a gesture too intimately stimulating to be considered friendly.

"Is it true, sir?" the sergeant asked, even though he was sure he knew the answer.

Inspector Etou said, "If it is, the question I'm asking myself is: why would Yukari-sama be so interested in this that she'd take the trouble of cutting them out from the newspapers?"

Sergeant Tanaka shrugged. "Possibly Yukari-sama was into that sort of gossip?"

His colleague was not buying it. Adjusting his tie, the inspector muttered, "No, I think Yukari-sama has had a special interest in Juujou-san from the start…"

A/N: Why did the blackmail note have Yukari's handwriting and how such a thing possible since she's dead? Why did Yukari keep the newspaper clippings of Kanami and Hiyori? Feel free to share your thoughts in the reviews or PM me! :)