CHAPTER 8

Francis decided to take the next day off, either to spend time with Matthew or to avoid his boss.

Alice didn't dwell on it. She had more important things to do than wonder if her colleague was upset with her. The second kill was another woman, but she was twenty something this time. Her apartment was covered in blood, her organs were in a disarray and another one of the Mafia knives was protruding from inside her empty rib cage.

Olivia Forester: dyed pink hair, green eyes, no family and several friends.

According to what Alfred found, she was a party animal and had several lovers of both genders. She couldn't have been more different than Isabelle. She worked at a pub, the Fox and Goblin. Which was the first place Alice left to as soon as she'd landed in London.

The door was an ugly bright green, and an orange fox was drinking with a goblin on the sign. "Is this seriously the place?" Alice glanced at Alfred, her face filled with disgust. The pub hadn't opened, yet.

Alfred nodded. "The owner's doing it for fun, y'know, like retirement project or whatever. Name's Yao Wang. Chinese immigrant."

"Yeah?" Alice took a sip of her tea. It was different when Francis didn't make it. It didn't taste as good as usual.

"Yo, dudette, like what happened with you and Francey-pants?" Alfred asked, looking down at her.

"What makes you think something happened?" Alice shot back, irritated.

"That." Alfred said, pointedly. "You've been snappin' at everyone even more than usual. I don't even know how it's humanly possible for someone to be as grumpy as you, but you've managed to break your record this week. Even Mary Sue notices. And all she does is flirt."

Alice mumbled a string of curses. Bloody bastards that can't mind their own damn business.

"Sooooooo?" Alfred looked at her expectantly.

"What are you? My sassy gay friend?" Alice glared at Alfred, wishing the owner would come and open his pub already.

"No, I'm your heroic gay friend." Alfred said, "Now, tell Uncle Alfie. What happened?"

"No."

Alfred was silent for a while. Did he really have to do this to her? Then he looked her in the eyes. Big round blue eyes full of honest worry and pure innocence. "Hey, big sister? Big sister? Y'know you can tell me, right?"

Silence and then...Alice exploded, steam nearly coming from her ears. Her ultimate weakness: Baby brother Alfie. They'd been raised right next door to each other and they went to the same school, so they were nearly brother and sister. He'd accidentally called her that years and years ago and discovered that it was her greatest chink in her armor.

Needless to say, he'd taken advantage of that over the years. (Well, except when he was a teenager. They were constantly fighting when he was in his teens.) And even though Alfred was more shy about calling her big sister (He was a grown man, damn it!), the fact never changed that she was his big sister.

Forever and always.

Alice wasn't good with emotions. At all. She'd bottle them up and throw them away and she'd continue to do that, until they all just overflowed and became a tsunami that pretty much destroyed everything in its path. That was just how she was.

But Alfred would take her mental breakdowns every day rather than have her disappear again. He'd take five hundred breakdowns a day, every day for the rest of his life. Alfred could remember the sickening feeling when Alice had gone missing after her father's death. They'd all thought that she was dead. If her siblings had had the money, they would have payed for tombstone.

Years later, Alfred heard a knock on his door. It was a Sunday, and he wasn't religious, so he'd stayed at home. And there she was at his doorstep, well dressed, weary and heartbroken. But alive. He didn't know either to smack her, scream 'GHOST!' or strangle her in a hug.

In the end, he decided on all three.

Alfred knew about her ex fiancé, he knew about her traveling with the orchestra, and about why she came back. He was still pissed at her for not saying anything before she left, but she was alive and okay. That mattered more to him than anything. Her real siblings, though. That was another story.

He was pretty sure that even now, years later, they were still holding grudges against her. She was always working, providing for her family, and never had a chance to tell them why she left. It didn't really help the whole 'bonding' thingamajiggy.

"If I tell you," Alice muttered. "You can't tell anyone, okay?"

"I cross my heart."

"That includes your boyfriend."

"Ivan? Got it."

"And your cat... And your dog."

There was a hesitation in the air. "...Really? Even Tony and Rasputin? They're, like, my best friends!" Alice glared at him. "Okay, okay. Fine."

"...We went on a date and... nearly kissed..."

Her voice was tiny, a whisper. But Alfred still heard her. "YES!" Alfred burst, fist-pumping the air. "YES! AW, HELL YEAH!"

"You cheeseburger-eating monkey!" Alice growled, launching her fist into his stomach before he woke up the world. Her face was burning brighter than a fireplace. "Shut the bloody hell up!"

Despite the wheezes, the American was still grinning. "The ship has sailed."

"The what?"

Alfred ignored her. "It's finally become cannon, my brothers and sisters."

"Alfred, you don't have any brothers. Or sisters." Alice stared at him. "Are you all right?"

"In pure bliss." He looked up at her. "So, when do I become Uncle Alfie?"

"...Excuse me?"

"Actually, when's the wedding? I need to ready my heroic speech that will bring you to tears an-"

"Alfred, shut up and let me finish." Alice cut him off before finishing the story.

"Oh." Alfred's face dropped for a bit, extremely depressed that he'd cock-blocked his own OTP, but then brightened again. "So, what'd you do after?"

"Nothing."

"What!?" Alfred's face dropped again. "How could you do this to me, man? My OTP was almost cannon! The armada was soooo fricking close to sailing!"

"It's not like it meant anything to him." Alice huffed.

"You don't know tha-"

"Oh, yeah? Then why did he immediately start flirting with a group of girls as soon as he laid eyes on them? Why is he not here at work with me, other than he is completely disgusted with himself and me?" Alice ranted, not facing Alfred.

Oops. "Alice-"

"Ah, Detective Jones and Officer Kirkland?" An Asian man stood in the doorway of the pub. He had a long black ponytail, Chinese accent and Chinese clothes.

Alice tried not to glare. "I'm detective Kirkland. This is my assistant, Mr. Jones." She saw Alfred wince. "And you're Yao Wang?"

"That is me." The man looked only slightly startled.

He's gotten weaker in his retirement. Alice thought. I've heard stories about him. My father only met him once or twice when he'd invaded Romulus Vargas' territory. "We'd like to ask you some questions about your employee, Olivia Forester."

"Yes, yes." The man nodded. "Come in."

He led them through the tacky, green and orange pub and to the back room. It was a bright red door with a golden dragon painted on it. He pushed the door open and led them into an office styled in traditional Chinese décor. "Come, sit." Yao led them to the sofas surrounding the coffee table. "Would you like any green tea, aiyah?"

"No, thank you." Alice said, fiddling with her pocket-watch-disguised recorder. "We'd like to get straight to business."

"Very well, I understand." Yao nodded agreeably. "But first, do I know you?"

"What?"

"Do I know you?" He repeated, keeping her pinned under a hard glare. "You look very familiar. You said your last name was Kirkland, aru?"

Alice froze. Shit. "Yes," She kept her voice level, glancing at Alfred slightly. Did Yao recognize her father's name?

"You don't happen to have a brother named Alistair Kirkland, aru?" Yao's gaze hardened.

Alice nearly groaned, but her body deflated in relief. "Possibly."

His glare intensified. Obviously, her sarcasm wasn't appreciated. "Tall, brutish, drunkard, red hair and green eyes, aru?"

Shit.

Before Alice could say anything, Alfred burst out laughing. "Wha-" He had another fit of laughs. "What did he do, now, dude?!" The oblivious American didn't notice the sizzling glare of the Chinese man.

"He destroyed my pub, aru!" Yao burst, "I hired him to play for us on St. Patrick's day, but noooo! He trashes my pub, starts a fight that escalated into three people getting thrown out of a window, aru! AND THEN THE BASTARD HAS THE NERVE TO DRINK ALL OF MY LIQUOR, ARU!" Yao was breathing hard, as if he'd just run marathon. "Leave my store. Now."

"But, sir-"

"Now."

Alice wanted to scream at her stupid brother. "Alfred," She got up from the couch. "I'll see you at the office tonight." She stormed out of the room, not caring about the sizzling glare that was keeping watch over her and Alfred's helpless gaze.

"Stupid idiot!" Alice hissed, leaving the pub. "I'm going to beat him to death with his own bloody bagpipes!"

"Surery you don't mean that, Kirkurando-san."

Alice's head turned to the side. A Japanese man stood there placidly, smiling at her softly. A Japanese man at the Fox and Goblin that knew her name. What were the chances? "Kiku Honda."

"Hai."

Alice paused for a moment, wondering what she should say. "Did you come to meet me on your own, or did Macaroni Brain send you?"

Kiku stared at her dumbfounded, before bursting in laughter. "I was warned about you, Kirkurando-san, but I didn't know you were this bold."

She smirked. "Do you want to go get a cup of tea? I'd like to ask you some questions."

"Mochiron desu."