Notice!: Just something I wanted to add at the top, this chapter will contain mostly mediocre comedy, some not-so-very subtle foreshadowing, and is just basically moving the plot along ineptly so I can get to the more interesting details. Sorry if you were bored reading this :(
"Ufufu." – Saying out loud.
"Ufufu." – Thought.
[Ufufu] – Sacred Gear.
[Ufufu] – Ddraig/Albion/Beast speaking.
Midnight III: Kool-Aid
҉
Humming a tune, I rubbed a rag across the blade of a scalpel.
It was now Friday, about three hours before I normally wake up, but I was very nearly close to fulfilling my promise of cleaning up my house for Koneko's visit. Now I just had to not dirty it up until she gets here over the weekend!
"Auughh…"
A moan interrupted my humming. Turning towards it, spinning my scalpel around, I plunged it down into the hand of the perpetrator. This caused them to scream out loud. However, there was no possible way for anyway to hear, because~!
"Now, now, don't go making noises. Even if I have visitors over who have exceptionally good hearing, they won't hear you from down here. This basement has been specifically built for this exact reason, you know? Can't believe you keep forgetting that… so shut up a bit, okay~?" Winking at the younger of my two sisters, I turned towards the oldest. "That applies to you too, sis!"
She didn't reply back. She only glared at me from her peripheral with disgust, anger, fear, and pain in her eye.
It was fun to break these two, since they always seemed to bounce back from whatever I do to them, thus, adding to their value. After all, they've made it their mission to kill me. Of course, they'll never fulfill it.
"Aw, now look at what you just made me do…" Realizing the predicament I was now in, I held up the scalpel I had just finished cleaning. "You went and dirtied it! And just after I promised the other day to clean up…" Gritting my teeth together, I turned a sharp glare towards my younger sister, and rasped in a low voice. "I'll kill you, scum." However, I resisted the urge. My hand trembling, I grabbed a second rag, as the other had stains of blood on it from wiping the scalpel clean, so using a dirt rag to clean something dirty, was obviously no good.
Rubbing the rag against the metal, I wiped it clean, while keeping a hatred filled eye trained on my younger sister. She trembled from my gaze and the smell of urine soon hung in the air. I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth.
"Another mess?" I hissed through my teeth. She whimpered at my voice and looked away, fright clear on her face. "If I hurt you, there will be another mess…" Muttering this, I dropped the scalpel. Grinding my teeth together, I tossed the rag to the side and onto a relatively empty table, I leaned against the table she was tied to. Lowering my body so that I was looking over her, I grabbed the crown of her head with my right hand and forced her to look up at me. Staring into her golden globes with my own, my eyes were reminiscent of a dead fish. "I will remember this."
"…Ple-plea-se s-stop…" Whirling towards my older sister, I walked around the table and towards her. Seeing my movement, she stifled a shriek. Tears flowed down her face as her look of disgust, anger, fear, and pain transitioned into her being straight-up terrified.
They could look at me however they wanted, with as much animosity as they wished, but the moment I start to walk towards them with the intent to do harm, they always get like this; weak and frightened. I simply loved it.
Grabbing her hair, I pulled it as hard as I could away from her head. She screamed out loud from the pain. Rips were heard through her screaming and a handful of her hair was torn out of her scalp, leaving a small trail of blood.
Whimpering, she twisted and turned around, as if she could bend her bindings away. She wanted to escape, she wanted to run, she wanted to die.
But I wouldn't let it happen. With my left hand, I gently pressed it down against her throat. With her eyes looking down at the hand in fright, I offered her a warm and sadistic-free smile.
Then, pulling the hand back, my face transitioned into that of a sneer and a sadistic look appeared in my eyes, I punched down at her throat with a moderate amount of force, causing a crack to be heard. I let her choke for a few moments and watched as blood dripped out of her mouth as she tried to throw up but failed. I then forcefully opened up her mouth and reached a hand in it and pushed the bone back into place.
Eh, what was it called again? The hyoid bone? Whatever. I had punched it closed, blocking the wind pipe or whatever, so I had to put it back to normal, else she would choke to death. Probably. I'm not a doctor – and I probably never will be – but that's how it should work, right?
After that, she was left gasping in pain and throwing up blood and what I had force-fed her hours earlier.
"Disgusting." I softly muttered. Turning around, I walked away from the two and stopped at a now clean bench. On it, were various tools… wrenches, hammers, saws, needles, rope and rags, a multi-tailed whip, otherwise known as the Cat O' Nine Tails, a picture of an Iron Maiden because I couldn't find one, one broken and one not-broken thumbscrew, a Pear of Anguish which has never been used as I was just never in the mood, and, my personal favorite, an apple.
It was just a plain apple. Nothing special about it; it was just in case I got hungry and wanted a quick bite. Eating it in front of two starved idiots was simply soothing to the soul, you know? Of course, I change the apple every time I come down here, as I doubt it'd still be fresh.
Grabbing the rags, I set out to work on cleaning the blood, bile, and the piss. As for the hair, I just picked up the strands and threw it into the small garbage bin I left in the corner of the room.
Then, rubbing my hands against one another, I looked around the room. Nodding from satisfaction, I turned to the two girls.
"I'm going now. I won't be able to play with either of you for a few days, so you should be lucky! Also starved and dehydrated. See ya!"
The two didn't say anything as I turned the lights off and ran up the stairs, carrying the blood-stained rags. Opening the door, I closed it behind me. Though I didn't lock it, because I had set up a sign telling others not to enter! I trust people; so, if they see a sign that says 'do not enter' then I think they won't enter! And if they do, then I get to torture them! It's a win-win. For me. Not them.
Clearing my throat, I stretched my arms out to the side. "Ahhhh~! And I'm finished! Now to get to sleep… After I throw these in the wash…"
Turns out, when you spend most of the night awake and cleaning the entirety of your house and go to sleep expecting to wake up from your alarm blaring in the next three hours, you don't and end up missing half of school.
Well…
Who knew? But at least I cleaned the entirety of my house. I can now say this; I'm a role model for homeowners everywhere.
҉
They were at it again. Issei, Motohama, and Matsuda – the Perverted Trio – were watching the girls of the Kendo Club changing from a small hole outside. It was a hole that they had personally created for such a time as this; the peeping hole. Unfortunately, the first three were already blocked, so they had to spend some time to create a fourth, but, in the end, it would be well worth it.
Though Motohama and Matsuda were pissed at Issei from something earlier, they had set aside their differences just to peep. As expected of perverts.
"Come on, let me look!" Issei whispered to his two pals, who were sharing the small hole, though they were pushing the other away to try to get a better look at the beauties changing within.
"Not yet!" Matsuda nearly shouted back but managed to control his tone.
"A few more minutes!" Motohama hissed, without looking back at Issei who hung his head down from boredom. He just wanted to see some boobs! Not the butts of his two friends trying to get a good look.
Since it was lunch break, they didn't have much time to peep as they would for if it was after school. Because they had to eat, they spent the first half of break eating their lunches, and for the other half, they came here to eagerly await the girls' changing.
Sighing, Issei pulled out his phone from his pocket and started to go through some gentlemanly pictures. It was better than watching his two friend's backsides, he thought to himself.
"Hey, what are you three doing?" An innocent voice asked from behind Issei. Shouting out something unintelligible, he played hot potato with his phone, before dropping it onto the ground below him. Motohama and Matsuda screamed out girlish screams from the unexpected voice. Spinning around, clutching their chests, they stared at the new arrival: Lachesis Azures. Normally her name would be said with last name first, then her first name, but due to certain rumors, it was flipped around.
There wasn't much info about the tanned girl, but from the rumors that have recently started circulating throughout school, the students at school managed to figure out a few things about her. She was originally a student in Kyoto, but when it was time for high school, she had transferred to Kuoh. But, before then, she was apparently living in Greece, specifically, Athens, which is why the way the students say her name, flipped, to respect the different cultural way to say someone's name – or something like that. It was probably just because she always calls others by their first names, or something equally as stupid.
There was also an odd rumor floating around the grape vine, that she wasn't originally of a tanned color, but nobody knows if this was true or not. It certainly didn't have much credence, as the girl had never spoken about her tanned skin.
Being friends with the Mascot of Kuoh, she was eventually – meaning today – given the title of Princess of Kuoh. The ships between her and Kiba Yuuto had since started two weeks ago, but now they were talked about throughout the entire school, as their titles were similar. She was shipped as a sort-of OTP with the Prince, and though the Perverted Trio hated to admit it, they didn't want to drag her reputation down from interacting with her. As the first girl to actually talk to them like they were friends… It simply moved them.
As to why she's being called a Princess, apparently when she had first transferred in, she was so elegant and beautiful wearing a yukata that every student who saw her had the wind knocked out of them. Though this later earned her some scolds from the student council president, along with being late to school, her elegance and beautiful looks were remembered, eventually leading her to the title of Princess.
She was even compared to Princess Kaguya.
But in this situation, these thoughts had disappeared from the perverts' mind, as she very nearly blew their cover! What if the girls had heard her?
Of course, they forgot about their own embarrassing scream that they let loose after she had spoken up, which can be chalked up to selective-memory.
"W-what are you doing!?" Motohama stuttered, re-adjusting his glasses. His body shook and he breathed out deeply.
"Y-yeah!" Matsuda agreed quickly, sweat rolling down his forehead. "Wh-why did you suddenly say something!"
"Mhm?" Lachesis hummed, grinning softly like a cold breeze through May. "Oh, just wondering what you were up to."
"W-well, we were obviously taking part in our daily gentlemanly watching." Motohama confided with a confident smile.
"And we were getting some real good shots before you startled us!" Matsuda added, to which Motohama nodded.
"I… was just looking at my phone cause these two idiots wouldn't let me look!" Issei blamed as he pointed at the two. Then, realizing that he had dropped his phone, he turned away from Lachesis, bent down and picked it back up, brushing off the grass and dirt that clung on to it. Looking up, his face suddenly paled. "G-g-guys!" Issei yelped, audibly swallowing. Before Matsuda or Motohama could say anything, a loud voice was heard towards their side.
"Found you, you perverts!" a girl, Katase, shouted as she pointed at the three perverts.
"You won't escape judgement!" a second, Murayama followed up, raising her bokken.
"Shit, it's the Kendo girls!" Motohama squawked. Spinning around, he tried to run, but instead, he ended up tripping on Matsuda and fell to the ground, taking the former sports-star down with him. The girls immediately flocked to the downed perverts and began to enact judgement on them.
Two of them approached Issei.
"Don't try to run!" One said, raising her Bokken. Issei shook in fright, but just as he was about to turn to the side and run like his life depended on it, Lachesis walked past him, holding up a hand.
"Desist." Speaking like that, Lachesis wore a smile. Confused, the two girls stopped. "This pervert wasn't peeking on any of you; thus, he deserves no punishment."
The two looked between one another, and then back to Lachesis.
"W-well, if the Princess says so…"
"Yeah, if she says it…"
Turning away, the two joined in on beating the other two perverts to pulp.
Lachesis blinked, not understanding why they so easily left.
"Princess…?" She muttered to herself. Retracting her hand, she cupped her chin with it in thought. But before she could even begin to seriously think about it, Issei placed a hand on her left shoulder, making her jump slightly.
"T-thanks! You're a life savior!" With a grateful smile, he released a tensed breath. He was getting ready for a beating, though he would've tried everything he could to get away, but due to the words Lachesis spoke, he was saved and he didn't have to run either! The girl stared at him for a few moments, before slowly smiling.
"…Right. Anyway, do you have the time to speak with me?"
"Huh? Yeah, sure!"
"Then." Shrugging off his hand from her shoulder, she grabbed the wrist with her right hand and started to pull him away. Though Issei was initially surprised by this action, he went along with her, so she let go, no longer having to drag him along. After getting a good distance away from the girls beating up the two boys – which she had to get away from before she wanted to join in and nearly kill the two not-so-lovable perverts – she stopped and turned back to the brunette. "What's up with that 'Princess' thing, anyway?" She asked, a frown on her face.
"Oh, that? Well…" And so, Issei told her about the rumors and the reasoning behind the title… though he left out the pairing that blew up because of it.
"I see. A Princess. Me. I like it. From henceforth, you shall refer to me as Neme-hime!" Nodding her head, she looked as if she had accomplished something overwhelmingly grand, as she thumped her chest with her right hand forming a fist. Issei could only sweat drop at her antics, but he decided to play along anyway.
"N-Neme-hime?" Though the two words were spelt differently, their pronunciation were pretty similar. 'Say it ten times fast… no, that's a bit…' "W-well, if you want me to call you that, then I will…"
"Ufufu. Excellent, my most faithful servant." Nodding her head with her words, and crossing her arms, she looked a bit like a spoiled brat, but Issei didn't mind. Then, remembering something that had happened earlier, he excitedly started to tell the tanned girl the good news!
"Neme-hime, I have some good news to tell you!" The girl nodded for him to go on, her smile remaining firm on her face. "Yesterday, get this, I was asked out by a super gorgeous girl!" The blush and smile on his face clearly explained his joy, however, the girl before him questioned his sanity.
"Did you get hit on the head yesterday?" She asked, slightly worried for his wellbeing.
"W-what? No!" he refuted, but she took this as a sign of his agreeing.
"Of course you did." She nodded sagely. "After all; perverts can't get girlfriends."
"I have proof!" He took out his phone from his pocket once again and tapped furiously at it. "We walked to school together, though we had to split up…" After a few moments, he turned the phone over for Lachesis to see. "See! This is her."
"Mhm. I see." She shook her head, letting loose a sigh. "Issei, to take a random picture of a girl is stalkerish, you know? And to say she's super gorgeous? Really? She's pretty plain to me." Lachesis looked disapprovingly at Issei. "It's her boobs, isn't it?"
"What? No!" Shaking his head side to side, Issei denied this statement. Though it was half-true. Her boobs were nice.
"You're blinded by them." She leaned back slightly, crossing her arms as she narrowed her golden eyes at Issei. A look of disappointment covered her face.
"I'm not!" Issei countered like a kid, leaning towards the girl slightly, as if by doing this, she'd be threatened to agree.
"But they're big!" She suddenly let out, startling Issei slightly at her manner of frankness, which caused him to lean back, holding her arms up to the sides, as if to accentuate how big they were. Though he can agree to the statement.
"Well… that's true." He nodded, not able to refute this. A slight blush appeared on his cheeks as he thought back to those cushions of softness. What he'd do to get a nice grab…
"And you like them big." She continued, ignoring his blush.
"That is… also true." He could only cringe slightly at being discovered so easily. Not like it took a genius to figure out. His eyes immediately went down and at her chest. She immediately noticed and pouted.
"And mine are small. Nonexistent." She puffed out, looking away from him. At his words, she looked back, out of the side of her eye.
"Y-you'll grow eventually?" Issei could only offer her this encouragement, even though it would probably do more harm than good. She turned back, facing him, a scowl on her face.
"What's that look for? If I want, I say I can get bigger boobs than even that of Rias Gremory!" Her words surprised Issei into shock. He couldn't even say a refute to such optimism! She was truly someone to pity. Rias Gremory most likely had big boobs since years ago… and she thinks she can get even bigger easily at this age? Unless she knows a really good plastic surgeon, she was hopeless.
"Really?" Though with those thoughts, he couldn't help but ask the girl. After all, Motohama was unable to perfectly capture her three sizes, so it might just be possible… and if it was, then he could only get her to show him! After all, big boobs were nice. Most guys would agree – though there were the weird ones who were into flatter chests.
"Yeah! I have mastered control over my growth, so any time I want to, I can be big!" She practically bragged. With a smile on her slightly red face and with her arms crossed, she looked so arrogant, that her ego would probably be bigger than a mountain.
"Then, show me!" He excitedly asked her. Even if she couldn't, this was a wonderful opportunity to tease the heck out of her! After all, her blushing face was cute!
"W-what?" Her blush deepened, and Issei pushed forward with more energy.
"Get big right now! Come on, or are you lying?" He questioned with a slightly lecherous grin on his face. Just the thought of her having big boobs – just the thought alone sent shivers throughout his body. Such a glorious sight, he truly wanted to see it!
"T-that's… I… just like being small!" She looked away, face completely flushed into being red. She couldn't handle his teasing, to which Issei chuckled at.
"Or you can't actually do it." Issei drove the nail deeper, but with this, he truly had to start regretting his actions to tease her.
"Shut up nonbeliever!" She shouted with such ferocity that Issei took a subconscious step backwards. Then, before he could even process what was happening, her foot kicked him in the down under. Choking back a shriek and a sob, Issei fell down to the ground, holding onto his family jewels in pain.
Lachesis huffed once more, spun around, and stormed off.
'T-though… her embarrassed face is cute too…' Issei thought quietly to himself in pain.
It was tough being a pervert.
Perhaps that was the closest he'd ever get to getting his proof of manhood touched by a female? He sure hoped not.
҉
"And then he had the nerve, the nerve, to tell me that I could get big one day! Don't you see this perfect body of mine? As if I would want to get rid of it so easily!" I pouted to my good friend Koneko. I told her a some-what modified version of what had happened during lunch. Though I held nothing against Issei-chan, I simply had to blow off some steam. After all, as I was heading back to class, I was stopped by Sona-chan and told to drop by the student council office later.
Of course, I wasn't going to go, so I had to quickly come up with an excuse as for why I couldn't go when I get back from the weekend break!
"But didn't you tell me you could control your growth at will?" she replied with an amusing grin on her face. I froze at hearing this.
"Ha…haha…ha… Such a good joke… Koneko-chan… How did you come up with it?"
"I didn't. You told me."
"I-I see. It was just an exaggeration, nothing more!" I quickly waved her words off with a pained smile on my face. Of course, I couldn't actually get bigger boobs so easily. I was only human. I wasn't one of those transforming Youkai or other such beings, though saying that I can do so is probably just my way of encouraging myself… I think I'll have to take a walk later. Yes, definitely. Let's do it at night.
"I see." With those words, there was awkward silence. There wasn't much else to say and I didn't really know how to go on from here. Awkwardly humming, I looked away from Koneko and at the clock at the front of the classroom. School had ended… apparently about twenty minutes ago. Nobody but us left in the class. A vase with a flower was lying on one of the desks towards the front of the class, but I ignored it.
I wonder who died anyway?
Pushing the thought away to the back of my head, I continued my gaze across the classroom. Nothing remotely interesting.
"Ah, I think I'm just gonna go." I stated, standing up. My chair skidded against the ground, making a low screeching sound, though it was ignored by the two of us. Grabbing my bag, I offered Koneko a smile. "Bye, Koneko-chan, see you this weekend!"
She nodded back. "See you."
Spinning around, I skipped away, humming sweetly.
As I exited the class, I turned to my right and jumped back slightly.
"S-Sona-chan, what a coincidence! I was just on my way to the-"
"We both know that that's a lie." She interjected.
"Yeah…" I breathed, slouching over.
"Come with me." the student council president motioned me to follow her. She turned around and started to walk away, though she kept an eye on me the entire time out of her peripheral. Sighing, I couldn't say no.
"Okay…" I followed slowly after her, my thoughts only on what Koneko would think about seeing me being taken prisoner by the senior Devil. Which soon morphed to whether or not she'd come to rescue me riding a white pony. And also, if she'd have to defeat a Dragon. I really need that walk…
҉
"…This is it." I mumbled in a monotone, looking up from a piece of paper to a house, I swallowed nervously. It looked to be a one story, average-looking house. Nothing really looked special about it – other than how the previous house that stood here had been taken down. In fact, the previous house was two stories. Why they would take it down for a smaller house, I had no clue.
Walking over towards the door leading into the house, I tentatively pressed my index finger against the doorbell.
I faintly heard the ring play inside the house and waited. It didn't take long for the door to be unlocked and opened with such energy that it surprised even me a little bit.
"Ko-ne-ko-chan!" Lachesis cried out, jumping at me with a large smile on her face. I stood still as her arms went around my back and her face knocked into mine. "Welcome to my humble abode!" Leaning away from me, she continued on. "Treat it as your place, so be comfortable."
Though I was just wearing my school uniform, Lachesis was wearing something else – in fact, it was the same yukata she wore on her first day at school.
She had on a black, short yukata that has a red trim, with the sleeves falling down to near her wrists, the bottom of the dress was pretty short for a yukata, only falling down to halfway to her knees, and was in the style of falling white petals, which contrasted beautiful against the black backdrop, with the same pattern repeating for the sleeves. Wrapped around her waist, was a yellow sash, on for footwear, she wore black geta with red straps and no socks.
Wearing this, she was very elegant and beautiful – it was definitely the reason why she was called the Princess of Kuoh.
"Okay." Replying this, I let Lachesis lead me into the house by a hand. Coming into the house, I saw the kitchen off to the left side of the room, with the area I was walking into being the living room. Off to the right side, was a hallway, though I couldn't see what was in it from where I was. Placed ahead of me, was a TV with three couches positioned near it, with a nightstand that has a lamp resting on it and a small book placed next to it on the couch right in front of the TV, with the other two being on the sides and a table between all three and the TV. On the table, there was a silver-colored measuring rod and a closed, black folding fan, with the fan leaning against the rod, though I didn't know what purpose the two items served. A bookmark was hanging out of the book, though from this distance, I couldn't tell what book it was.
Looking around, I could only really compliment the tanned girl standing beside me; the house was clean. Even the air smelled fresh and nice, almost like autumn trees. 'Was she using a freshener?' I questioned to myself, though even when I looked around, I couldn't spot any thing like that, suggesting that either she was good at hiding it, she had put it away, or it just naturally smells like this here.
Leading me over to one of the couches – the one next to the lamp – I let her sit me down. She quickly plopped down next to me. Our thighs were very nearly touching.
She was happily humming with her eyes closed and a smile hanging on her face, as she swung her legs forward and back, never really hitting the couch. She seemed to be happy. That made me a bit happy. With a small smile on my face, I let her start the conversation.
"I planned a few things for us to do, but I guess we should start with this!" Reaching over to her side, she grabbed the book. "This is my favorite novel! You should give it a try; I promise you'll like it!"
Extending the book towards me, basically jabbing it nearly into my face, I leaned away and accepted it. I looked at the cover, which had a dark sky with white clouds and what looked to be a city underneath it, with it being reflected in water. 'The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. By Erika Larson.'
"It's about the eighteen-ninety-three World's Fair and how a serial killer used it to lure victims to their death. It's very engaging and fun to read!"
She wore such an innocent smile, one would never think that the book she was sharing was one starring a killer. But I could only smile as it was something a dear friend of mine enjoyed. Even if it wasn't something that normal friends usually share amongst themselves.
"I see. I'll… give this a read later." Sitting the book gingerly down next to me, I let Lachesis rattle on to me about some of the other books she liked. Which basically amounted to anything about serial killers, or really anything that involved people dying.
She was weird, but she was my friend.
I nodded along with her, trying my hardest to keep a smile on my face. '…She's really into serial killers, isn't she? One would think she was one at this rate…' Then a thought struck me. If she was so into them… wouldn't she know about the one that they're calling the Midnight Reaper? They had first appeared around seven years ago in Italy, before moving to Kyoto. The style of killing was practically the same, which led to the easy conclusion that they had changed locations.
Which was the dissection of every human-being they had killed. Usually, the heart would be taken out and a scythe, their calling card, would be carved out of it, with the remaining pieces being deposited next to the victim, or onto the ground below them. Plus, the victim is usually tied up onto a table with tape that was near impossible to take off.
That was all of my knowledge on the killer. 'But perhaps Lachesis would know more?'
"…and he sent taunting letters to his victims, which resulted in his eventually name of-"
"Um…" I interrupted her, though she didn't seem to mind so much.
"Yes?" She asked with a slight tilt of her head.
"Can you tell me anything about the Midnight Reaper?"
"…" she was oddly silent at hearing the name, so I thought that she hadn't heard it. But before I could repeat the question, she laughed underneath her breath. "Ufufu. So, you would like to know about this killer. I understand, your question is truly an inspiration to others." I didn't really understand what she was alluding to, but as long as she answered the question... "To be so interested in the art of serial killers; very well, I shall tell you all I know. Now then, where to start…"
Tapping a finger on her leg, she thought about it silently. After a few minutes of thought, she turned back to me.
"First off, the gender of this sk is unknown. Nobody has ever seen them and survived. They are suspected to be around the age of twenty and thirty when they first appeared, so by now, they would be around twenty-seven and thirty-seven, as seven years have passed since they first started to kill. Their first kill was likely in Italy, but it is possible that they had killed prior to then. The killing took place in Rome, and they had killed twelve people, eight females, four males. After their twelfth kill, they had disappeared.
"It took one year for another kill to be confirmed to be theirs – this one, taking place in Japan, specifically, Kyoto. For the next five years, until roughly one month ago, they had killed there. Twenty-eight females and three males were killed, bringing the total up to thirty-one within Kyoto. Altogether, it would be forty-three.
They are known to be a brutal killer, who most likely tortures their victims – always at night which earned the title of 'midnight' and because of their carved scythe out of the heart, the title of 'reaper' which brought about their name, the Midnight Reaper. Any questions?"
"…The tape that they use?"
"The tape seems to be from a unique material, though I wouldn't be able to tell you what it is. It's actually like magic. It seems to be incredibly difficult to tear off skin, or to even cut with metal so it's understandable that if you're taped down with it, you wouldn't be able to get away. In fact, it's actually weak to water, so it's worthless in the rain. It's also theorized that that is why no victims have ever been resulted from a night that it rains.
Continuing on, up until about a month ago, they had been in Kyoto, as I have said. But, then where did they go? It was here! Two have already died – though the second corpse was much different from the other ones, so it is thought that it was from a second serial killer, but the initial stages were too similar to the Midnight Reaper's way of killing, so much so, that it was thought that someone had nearly caught them, causing them to just kill the victim immediately.
The heart had been taken out of a crushed chest and there were cracks in the concrete and the building next to the crime scene. As if a magical battle had taken place there. Cops are scratching their heads in confusion at the scene." Lachesis then stopped for a moment, and oddly smiled. From when she had first started explaining about the killer, her smile had disappeared, but now it was back.
I felt a slight shiver run down my spine at the sight of it.
"Would you like to know what nobody else knows about this killer?" Looking me in the eye with near fish dead eyes, I hesitatingly nodded. "…I believe… that this killer… is obsessed with something within humans, and I believe it is the heart!" I blinked at what she had said. Was that really the case? "I think that they cut open their victims to see what kind of reactions they have – what makes them scared, disgusted, angry, fearful – they wish to know the heart! Perhaps they are a killer that lacks emotion, is my thought. And that is what they desire; emotion. They want to understand the heart, and that is why they always cut it open!"
She ended her tirade by throwing her arms back with a stretch. "But that's it! Ah, I'm thirsty now."
I stood up. "I'll go get us a drink." I suggested.
"Thanks~." She lazily replied with a short sigh.
I quickly made my way over towards the kitchen, thinking about the killer.
'She might not know this, but the Midnight Reaper… is most likely female. She was wearing a skirt when we had fought… Wait… didn't she also come from Kyoto for high school? And the killer had arrived here at around the same time she had… Could it be possible…? No, definitely not. Though I sense something special exuding from her - a possible Sacred Gear - she wasn't the killer. She couldn't be. After all, she's not aware of the supernatural and if she was the killer, she would have known that I had fought her. Plus, she wouldn't tell me so much about her…'
Though I wanted to sigh, I held it in with bated breath. 'Lachesis is not the Midnight Reaper. It wouldn't make sense.' I didn't want to suspect her, and simply doing so, made me feel bad.
Though I was on friendly terms with the others in Buchou's Peerage, I couldn't say I was friends with them. However, for Lachesis, I could say with complete confidence, that I was her friend. Though I didn't know much about her likes or dislikes, hobbies or interests, I knew about a lot of the things that has happened in her life through the stories she tells me.
She seems like the type of girl that'd easily reveal secrets; a loose-lipped sort-of person. But she was a good girl, that, I was sure of.
Opening the fridge, I grabbed a bottle of a red liquid. 'Kool-Aid.' I thought to myself. 'I hadn't had this in forever.'
The bottle was clear and the red liquid within was easily seen. A piece of paper was taped onto the front of it, with the name of the drink being written in black marker. There was also milk in there, but I hadn't seen it until after I had grabbed the bottle of the Kool-Aid.
Turning back around, I called out to Lachesis. "Where are the cups?" She turned around, responding as she did so.
"It's in the cabinet next to the-" she stopped what she was saying as she saw the bottle I was holding. Then, she shot up out of the couch we were sitting at practically jumped over the couch facing towards the kitchen and ran towards me. "You can't drink that!" She grabbed the bottle from my hand, shocking me. "I-It's um, for medicinal purposes!" I blinked at her sudden change in attitude. I'd never seen Lachesis like this so far.
Wide-eyed, frightened, angry, worried, nervous – there was too many emotions flashing across her face that I couldn't figure it all out, before her usual look returned.
"If you drink it, you'd be disgusted. So, just grab some milk. I'll pour me a glass of this, so you get some milk. Okay?" She repeated that I was going to get milk, as if doing it once wasn't enough. There was something suspicious going on. I stared at the red liquid in the bottle. There was six more like it in the fridge, from what I had seen.
'Why is there so much of one type of drink in there? And why… did it look a bit darker than regular Kool-Aid?' However, before I could further question it, Lachesis lightly shoved me aside and with her other hand, she grabbed the bottle of half-full milk and closed the door with a kick. Placing both drinks on the table next to her. She turned towards the cabinet next to the fridge, the one above the counter, and opened it, revealing several cups – some made out of glass and other plastic. Grabbing two glass cups, she brought them over to the two drinks. Placing them down on the table, she quickly poured the milk into the one on the right and the Kool-Aid into the one on the left.
She grabbed the two and handed me the one filled with milk.
"Here you go!" I hesitatingly accepted the glass of milk.
I liked milk, so I didn't mind, but I did really want to know more about the Kool-Aid. But something tells me that she isn't going to say that much about it. So, I held my tongue.
Lachesis quickly finished drinking her Kool-Aid in three gulps and set the glass down besides the sink. She stared at me, waiting for me to finish. I took a bit longer to finish, as I was using the time to think.
'There is something suspicious about that Kool-Aid. How it's a darker red than normal and her reaction to it. What was placed in it? Why did she say it was for medicinal reasons?' Though I thought about it as hard as I could, I couldn't figure out anything before I had finished drinking the milk. Lachesis accepted the glass from me and placed it down next to hers.
"Now then, let's continue this in my room!" She basically cheered, pumping her right fist skyward with a grin on her face. 'Her attitude is completely different from when she saw the Kool-Aid. But, then again, this is the usual Lachesis, so it's normal.' A warm smile graced my lips as the tanned girl grabbed ahold of my hand and began to drag me away from the kitchen, leading me towards the hallway and where her room was.
The first door in the hallway on the left we passed, however, was strange.
There was a sign taped onto the front, with a warning; Do not enter or die. Lachesis, catching sight of me staring at the door, laughed awkwardly.
"I-It's just a bit of a joke with my relatives, so don't mind it." With her other hand, she waved off my questioning gaze. 'If she says so, but with the talk of serial killers, the Kool-Aid, and this door…' I shook my head. No, I don't want to suspect her… she's my friend, not a killer.
Leading me into her room, I took a moment to look around. It was… surprisingly, normal.
The walls were painted a light shade of pink, with what appears to be white petals falling down from darker painted trees in the corners of the room. A closet was on the left side of the room and a bathroom on the right. A desk, a table for a laptop, a chair, some pencils, pens, and a notepad, her bag for school – it was regular stuff you'd see in a regular room.
Even the bed wasn't something out of the average. The sheets were pink with the same design as the walls… she must really like this design and color.
The carpet was a sky blue in coloration and pleasing to the eye. A lamp was on the table, besides the laptop. The bed was placed besides the window, next to where the bathroom is, with the foot of the bed being next to the door, with some room in between.
"Wel-come to my room, Koneko-chan!" Lachesis sung, spinning around in step. "How do you like it?"
"It's nice." I commented without a change in my face. With half-lidded eyes, she pouted slightly. "It's… cute?" I retracted my last statement and changed to a compliment. With this, her eyes beamed and a small smile tugged at her cheeks.
"Thanks!" She then plopped down on her bed and laid down. Slapping the space next to her, she invited me to her bed.
Hesitatingly, I awkwardly walked over and sat down beside her prone form.
"Is there anything you want to ask me?"
"…What kind of petals are those?"
"Sakura!" She enthusiastically answered, shoving her hands up in the air. "The best kind of petals." Humming, I touched a hand to the wall. It felt cool to the touch. "Anyway, do you want to hear about some stories from Kyoto?"
"Sure."
Like I had originally thought, though I was invited over to her house, there really wasn't much to do. The conversation is still the same as at school; her telling me stories. With me being the complete opposite of the outgoing and energetic Lachesis, there wasn't much I could add on to the conversation.
In the end, I spent the entire time listening to the girl talk about Kyoto. The first story she told me, was about a friend I've already heard about. She seemed to be an odd girl, several years our junior, who she got to know due to working with her mother. It seemed as if Lachesis was a bad student years ago, so she needed a tutor to help her in school.
The girl was apparently a fan of foxes and would often wear tails and ears of them. When they were walking down some stairs from visiting a shrine, the girl had tripped on one of her tails and fell down. Luckily, she only sprained her ankle, but even so, the mother was angry with Lachesis.
There were parts where Lachesis was about to say something, but then stopped and said something different. Either she was hiding certain things, or she just wanted to rephrase what she was saying. It was odd, as it got in the way of the flow of the story several times.
But I ignored it and settled into a comfortable position on the bed for listening to her talk.
The other stories were just miscellaneous things, like about the club she was in at school that kept her very busy, the music she liked to listen to at the time, and other such things.
Eventually, it came time for me to go. I had a Contract that day, so I couldn't stay until night; I had to get back to the club.
Lachesis was a bit sad to see me go, but we parted ways without anything major happening. Though I still wanted to ask her about the Kool-Aid or the door, I never really got my chance, so I dropped the issue. There was no reason to suspect her about anything, so I just pushed these thoughts to the back of my head. I trusted her.
Hey guys, sorry this chapter came out a bit later than I had originally expected. Though it might be a bit boring for a few of you, I hope you'll still continue reading. I had to get this chapter out of the way to continue with the actual plot and not some comedy as if this isn't about a serial killer, though I did drop some foreshadowing in here, so it made some good use. The title, on the other hand, I couldn't think of one, so I just settled on something in this chapter... which was the Kool-Aid. All will be explained another day.
Up next, will be starting from when Issei finds out his girlfriend doesn't "exist" and is going crazy. You know, just your average Monday morning. Things will be picking up next chapter, though it might not be as long as this one, so it could come out quicker. Who knows?
Also, let me drop some basic Intel on Lachesis.
Name: Lachesis Azures
Nickname: Nemesis, or Neme-chan, Neme-hime (weird preference)
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Race: Human(?)
Birthday: December 31st
Place of Origin: Greece, Athens, later moved to Kuoh from Kyoto when she entered high school.
Height: 4'6''
Weight: Unknown.
Three Sizes: Unknown.
Like(s): Questionable (To be found out).
Dislike(s): Questionable (To be found out).
Affiliation: Questionable (To be found out).
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Favorite line of words: "I wish you dead, you sinner."
That is all that I am willing to divulge today. I'll give more interesting trivia another day. For the stuff that says 'questionable' it's just my way of saying "you have to figure it all out yourself, about what her likes and dislikes are" though for some you probably can figure out easily. For starters, she likes Koneko, so there's that.
Um, that is all that I wanted to talk about, I believe. So, thank you all for reading, and I'll hopefully see you next time!
