Sorry for the shortness again. This would have been up yesterday, but there was a problem with my computer. Remember to review, please!

"This is your last chance, Echizen. How did you plan the murders?" Ryu slammed both hands down on the metal table. Rizaya suspected that it was for dramatic effect, but he wasn't impressed. Even the photos scattered in front of him showing all sorts of mutilated and dismembered bodies in every state imaginable didn't faze him. He had hoped that Japan could do better than send I high school kid to interrogate him. He'll be out in a week at most.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't murder anybody," Rizaya said the rehearsed statement with false honesty.

The kid looked like he was going to cry. Rizaya loved messing with those types. "Does the name Pluto mean anything to you?"

The kid knew more than he let on. "No, should it?" Rizaya murmured teasingly.

"Take your clothes off."

Police brutality and sexual assault, perhaps little bro had planned this on purpose. He was always smart like that.

"Take your clothes off." The kid repeated angrily.

No joke?

--

Ryu barely managed to get out of the interrogation room fast enough. He knew some suspects could be stubborn, but damn! Ryoga was a different story. He knew everything and knew he that he knew everything, but he was smart enough to be aware that without more evidence or a direct confession he was untouchable.

Ryoga's voice was still ringing in his head. No, should I? Echizen was taunting him, and if there was anything that Ryu hated more than anything else it was people playing with his head.

Needless to say, Ryu was in a bad room when he went just as he promised, to interview Fuji. He walked up to the tennis courts taking deep breaths and trying to appear calm when he asked a first year to point him to Fuji.

Fuji was currently playing a match against another third year with thick, square, glasses that looked like he was twenty. It irked him to see how devoted these children were to tennis. It was crazy! People were cheering and protesting, fainting, hell, even the players looked ready to cry. Now I see why the trend didn't catch on. He meant the Echizen family of course.

Ryu decided to wait it out and appear friendly, rather than pull out his notebook and have the entire team lining up for interrogation and DNA swabs. He never was good with the whole 

"friend" approach, but he thought that maybe it was worth the try; this being a national level sports team and all.

Or at least that's what he thought an hour and a half ago. Now he was ready to put a gun to his head if he heard the crack of a ball hitting concrete at forty miles per hour again. Luckily, the match ended with four-eyes collapsing from exhaustion before Ryu could take the safety off. Ryu took this opportunity to rush to the boy before the next four hour ball game.

"Hello, Fuji, is it?" Ryu took out his DDS notebook, signaling that he was a member of the police department and continued again casually, "I'm Ryu from the Tokyo police department and I'm wondering if I could ask you a few questions regarding Tezuka-kun privately?"

The feminine man stopped wiping the sweat off his neck and looked at him with open cerulean blue eyes. Ryu didn't realize that the boy's eyes were closed the entire match. Surprisingly enough, Fuji agreed.

When they were farther away from the courts, Ryu asked Fuji, "How long have you known Tezuka-kun?"

"A bit over three years. Have you found anything about him?"

Ryu smiled, "No, not yet. You're close?"

"Closer than a lot of people."

"Before his disappearance, did you notice anything off, was he acting strange?"

"No, he wasn't. Just as stoic as usual."

"Anything else out of place? Someone watching you? Anything?"

"No, nothing at all."

Ryu looked deadpanned. "Was Tezuka-kun seeing any women?"

Fuji opened his eyes again, "What?" he said sharply.

"Does he know any older women?"

"The only women he knows are under sixteen or over forty." Fuji was looking at him like he was crazy. That said a lot.

"Does he have any enemies?"



"He and Atobe were rivals, but they respected each other too much for them to hurt themselves. Maybe you should try Rikaidai." Atobe? As in Atobe Corporation? A family like that had a lot of power, certainly enough to arrange a kidnapping. He would check there first and then see what was going on at Rikaidai. A rival team would have motive. Ryu thanked Fuji and went back to evaluate the scenarios with the rest of the team.