"You have one phone call," the officer told Rizaya when they shoved him in a room with ten other police men. They still hadn't taken off his handcuffs and they didn't look like they were planning to. The judge would hear about this. Police brutality, with some effort he could make the case. Nevertheless, he forced himself to stay quiet and take the call. He decided to call the Sohma family, his relatives.

The Sohmas were another family that ruled the world behind Prime Minister's back. His mother came from that family and if they didn't send the world's best lawyer then news would spread fast enough so that another branch of the family would send someone instead.

"Who is it?" Rizaya asked when someone answered his call. He had to be careful with what he said and who he said it to because and he was certain that the call was being monitored.

The person on the other end who must have taken the hint replied, "Master's sixteenth cousin-in-law's mother's sister's nephew under oath."

Oh. The Rooster. Rizaya didn't know his real name, but he knew the fact that he was often compared to a rooster for some strange reason. "The Rooster" was Akito-sama's loyal minion who would probably eat someone else's crap if Akito told him to without hesitation. Not the person he's been hoping for, but the guy only went out twice a year anyway. "Tell the outsider to call him. There's a problem scandal in the Echizen's. Don't let us down." "The outsider" meant Shigure. He was one of the few people in that blasted clan that dared to live outside of the "main house" and pursue his own career without thinking of what Akito-sama cared about. Rizaya didn't like to get involved with those people. Things kept getting very messy in the Sohma affairs. It was always meetings and rituals and "if you like them you hate me".

"I'll make sure to do so. Good luck." and the line went dead.

--

Ryoma was pacing outside Seigaku wondering how he could get the tennis regulars to talk to him again. Only a few days ago he managed to disregard them perfectly. Now, he needed to get them to open up and tell him all they knew about Tezuka. Class Q wasn't being any better either. Why couldn't they at least have sent someone with me? Interviewing isn't my forte! Ryoma groaned in frustration, but decided to just get it over with.

He paced into the courts with more confidence than he was feeling. What he was feeling were the eyes of all the players turning towards him as he walked towards Oishi feigning determination. He took a deep breath and asked, "Oishi-san may I ask you a few questions about your friend, Tezuka-kun?"

Oishi, who happened to practicing by himself against a wall, was startled to say the least. He gave the ball another strong whack. It bounced back with unreal speed and zoomed right over Ryoma's head. So this is how murders of passion are committed. "So now you've started caring?"

Ouch. How did those people do these things? "Evidence has been found linking Tezuka-kun to another case DDS is working on. I need as much information as you have so that we can find him before anything bad happens to him." Oishi froze for a moment. Did it work? When Ryoma was working with some detectives in California they used that phrase and it got him to spill everything he knew. Ryoma wasn't sure how well he pulled it off, but the reaction looked promising.

"What do you mean by 'bad'?" Oishi asked like a worried mother. Ah-ha. The phrase did work.

"I'm not sure about the details and I'm not really allowed to tell you much," Ryoma started. He pushed his voice to the perfection of indifference, nonchalance, and just a hint of mockery. "Confidential, you know? Who knows, he could be dying as we speak. The sooner we can get to him the better. You could help. He's your friend, isn't he?" Sentimentality was supposed to work too. Or it could come back and kick him in the ass.

Oishi broke. "I don't know that much about Tezuka's life outside tennis. He's extremely quiet almost stoic. He isn't antisocial though, he can talk to people. I think that Fuji and I are his closest friends in the world."

"I see, so Fuji and Tezuka are close?"

"Yes, they have an uncanny ability to know when they feel up to a tennis match. They've been rivals since they first joined the team."

Stoic, Fuji, rivals. Good. Now for the hard part. "Has Tezuka been talking to any women, lately?" Was he too blunt?

Apparently he was. Oishi's eyes almost jumped out of his sockets. "N-no. Why?" Stuttering. Did that mean anything? He would have to talk to Fuji. Not today, this interviewing stuff was hard.

--

"How did he say it?" Ryu demanded when he shared what information he got from Oishi.

"I don't know! He stuttered a bit and looked surprised."

"Did he look surprised at your question or at the thought of his friend with a woman?"

"Do I look like a mind reader to you?! How am I supposed to know!" Ryoma shouted.

"By listening and watching! Don't you have any training?"



"NO! I'm a doctor. I look at flesh and bone and identify things. I don't deal with people on the field," Ryoma took a deep breath to calm himself before starting again, a bit more reasonably this time, "I don't think it was really professional for you to let me interview Oishi without a specialist, at least."

Ryu bit the side of his cheek. "All right," he answered curtly. "From now on you'll see nothing but your lab."

"I don't think it's your place to make that decision."

"But I know someone who can."

"Then consult them. I'll be checking the results of the DNA test."

"I've already seen it. There's a good chance it's your Tezuka's." When did it become "his Tezuka"? "Don't bother. I'll go interview Fuji-kun myself. You go look at that woman's body more closely. See if you can find anything else."

"Yes, sir."

--

I'm soooo sorry! There isn't really a good excuse for not writing this sooner other than laziness. Now that school's out I have more time to write. Forgive me! ;-)