~ Author's Note ~
D.T: And now, after YEARS and YEARS of waiting, our special guest today, the author of the gripping 'Curses' and exhilarating 'Cognizance' has finally decided to join us: GOLD MOONLIGHT! *loud screams, claps and cheers erupt from the audience*
Moonlight:O-Oh the cheers are louder than I expected :O Thank you! *takes a bow, one hand over her ears*
Kana: Ah, Gold-san! You've finally come!
Moonlight:Kana-san if you don't listen to your sixth sense more I will - *curls fingers near Kana's throat* and please reconsider and refrain from loving Rikuo! He's too dangerous for you!
Kana: O/O B-But . . . . I love him
Rikuo: *smirk* We've all been eagerly waiting for you.
Moonlight:Oh why thank you! But I thought you hated me...let the public know on your updated opinion and its cause :D
Rikuo: I told you . . . WE'RE FRIENDS. So that's why . . . STOP PUTTING SUCH IDEAS IN KANA'S HEAD!
Ryuuji: *pops out of nowhere* WAIFU! :3 *glomps Moonlight* I MISSED YOU SO MUCH, WAIFU!
Moonlight:Get away from me! *signals Yura and they both push him out*
Yura: *giggles* Looks like you're the only one who can unlock his 'moe mode.'
Moonlight: I don't know what I did to get that ability! Someone use some crippling fear against him if he tries that again!
Kana: For those of you curious, Tsurara and Kubinashi are in the hospital. ^_^;
Moonlight: Oh did they finally try to kill each other? Gozu and Kejoro will be upset :P
Rikuo: They did but they're alive.
D.T: *yandere smile* Anyways! Let's get on with the disclaimer, Princess!
Moonlight:Call this DT the crime writing master! The plot is making me see the characters in a whole new light! Leave it to her to make even OOC people this awesome!
D.T: *w* You praise me too much, Princess!
Ryuuji: KYAAAAAAAAAAA! My waifu is so KAWAII-DESU!
Moonlight *locks the door*
D.T: Enjoy the chapter, everyone!
Moonlight:I hoped this would be longer but...anyways HAVE FUN! :D
Ch. 19 – Anonymous
It was so weird; this was only the third time she'd be meeting him in person and yet . . . . she could've sworn she'd known him all his life. Maybe it was all those magazine, newspaper and internet researches she made about him during her obsessed fangirl period in high school? Most probably. During those two years, she'd prayed to God everyday to let her see at least one glance of him personally; one smile, one wink, just one sentence from him. She remembered having cried many times, face muffled with pillow, trying to stop her tears when none of her prayers came true.
And now, as she realized Rikuo Nura was standing right beside her, she wanted to do nothing more than run away in the confines of the overcrowded but safe bar. Irony could not get more ironic than this.
On the other hand, Rikuo was surveying the shivering girl with a pitiful expression. "What the hell happened to you? " was on the tip of his tongue but that wasn't exactly a polite way to start a breezy conversation – nor could he sense one in his luck today. He wondered what exactly had happened that had rendered the girl so terrified that she could not even raise her gaze and look up at him.
He seriously hoped Tsurara hadn't done anything. No, no, his sub-consciousness breathed into him, she was at home.
So racking his mind for suitable words to say, he at first walked towards the wine glass Kyuso had poured out from him. His eyes never once left Kana's figure as he floated across the room to the red-liquid-filled, crystal item. Sniffing the glass just for caution (you could never let down your guard against that disgusting rat) he let the liquid slide down his slightly parched throat, involuntary licking his lips. If there was anything that that Kyuso was even remotely good at, it had to be his skills as a wine connoisseur.
Putting the empty glass down on the table, he casually placed his hands inside the pockets of his jeans, fixing his hair which had been tampered by the beanie. How can people even wear stupid stuff like this? He bitterly thought but realized it wasn't actually the right time to contemplate on things like that. He had a wrecked, nervous, on-the-verge-of-tears young lady to comfort.
Not that he was an expert in that subject.
Say something, say something, say something, say something, SAY SOMETHING DAMMIT!Kana was literally screaming at her tongue but to no avail. For some reason, her tongue was being a stubborn, annoying little ass today. Like it had been since the past 20 years. Only capable of stutters, questions and confused remarks. No matter how terrified she felt right now, she still had a MEGA-TON HUGE crush on Rikuo and wanted to keep an image (no matter how scrawny or pathetic) in front of him. But what could you do when your organs were such irritating little bitches?
. . Saori was seriously influencing her negatively.
"I came all the way to meet you here, fighting through that monstrous crowd and you don't even look up at me? How sad." Kana immediately flinched at the sentence, wondering if he was being taunting or if he honestly sounded that fake while grieving. But knowing she had to give a reply sometime soon, her stubborn little tongue finally managed to muster up some words.
"G-Good evening" what was she supposed to call him? "Nura-san." Well, that was how she'd always addressed him – the two meetings she had. "It's a surprise to see you here," she added, her smile stabilizing. Bad or good – I'm not sure.
Rikuo finally breathed in relief, seeing as she wasn't traumatized and made himself comfortable on the bar stool opposite her. Their gazes met for a few seconds, locked on each other before Kana averted her eyes, staring down at the floor. Rikuo stiffened a little and asked, "How have you been, Ienaga-san?"
Terrified."Everything's . . . . normal, actually" she replied, playing with the hem of her dress – something she used to do every time she was nervous.
"Liar." Rikuo's statement caught Kana off-guard as her eyes snapped towards him with a frightened gaze. The young man's impassive gaze soon transformed into a smirk as he leaned forward on his seat. Kana's back turned rigid. "Something has happened, isn't it?" Rikuo knew he couldn't go easy-breezy on her today.
Kana gnawed on her lower lip, slightly smudging her red lipstick. She saw no point in hiding anything from him. Sighing, she looked down and said "Someone . . . . broke into my house."
So something did happen.Rikuo remained calm, his expression not changing the slightest from the placid look he held. "You suspect someone, don't you?" he asked, his red eyes remaining neutral.
Kana hesitantly nodded, as she gripped her knees. "Hikage Daito Ryu" she said in a soft voice, keeping her eyes averted to the ground.
Rikuo sighed under his breath as he ran a hand through his thick white hair, trying to find reasonable words to say to the 20-year old. He'd very well known 'Hikage' would be the first person to pop into her suspicion list but the question was . . . how could he convince her it was not Hikage? "Ienaga-san," he spoke, breaking her train of thoughts "I can assure you that whoever attacked you was not Hikage Daito Ryu." His red eyes narrowed. "It was someone else."
Kana's brown eyes snapped towards him. "Not Hikage?" she repeated, her voice barely above a whisper and full of disbelief. Rikuo just nodded at her shocked expression. Kana gnawed on her lower lip, internally shaking her head at the words. Could he be tricking me? She thought, stealing a glance at the impassive young man. His red eyes were boring into her and she regretted her decision to glance at him. But Hikage does work for him . . . so he could be telling the truth as well . . .
"That wasn't what I really came to discuss, Ienaga-san," Rikuo spoke again, his gaze flitting to the ceiling. Kana nodded her head at him, encouraging him to continue. Rikuo's hand travelled to his jeans pocket, faintly touching the small object located there. I have to do it soon . . . . before something fatal happens . . . . Taking in a deep breath, he said "Ienaga-san, do you-"
'~I'm friends with the monster, that's under my bed, get along with the-~' Rikuo sighed as he took out his iPhone and clicked on the receive option without checking the caller ID. Looks like it just wasn't written in his luck to get his questions answers today. "Rikuo Nura speaking," he brusquely replied, making sure to leak a little bit of annoyance in his tone. However, a voice which had been the last on his mind to call him, replied.
"Rikuo-kun" the caller's voice was unpleasantly familiar, sounding unusually placid but with traces of shock and fear. "Please, come here soon. Something . . . weird has happened."
Kana had been impatiently waiting for the Nura heir to ask his question and had felt a tad bit annoyed when he got a phone call. However, she knew it wasn't her place to complain. He was an important man with a busy schedule – and that always made her wonder why he had taken such a great interest in her. It's only because of my brush-off with those terrorists that day, her sub-consciousness reminded. If I hadn't been so curious, then all this would've never happened . . . Kana wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.
However, when Rikuo Nura's eyes widened, eyebrows raised and mouth slightly hung open, Kana turned to stare at him, wondering what that phone call was about. And when the omens in her stomach started, she knew it was anything but good.
Rikuo's eyes brushed against hers before he tersely replied, "I'll be there soon." And removing the expensive gadget from his ear, he broke off the connection. Only to call someone else while getting up from his seat.
"Ao, Kuro," Kana heard the familiar name stumble out of his grim lips. "We're leaving." The connection was soon disengaged and Rikuo turned back to give a fleeting glance at Kana. "I'm sorry but something important has come up" he mumbled, while taking rapid strides towards the door. The brunette remained motionless, blankly staring at him. "I'll call you tomorrow" were the last words she heard from him before the door slid open and he strode out. Kana saw a glimpse of his two bodyguards outside before the door closed, only a small stream of neon lights flowing through the narrow gap in the door.
After remaining motionless for 20 seconds, Kana finally got up, wiped the stray tears from her cheeks and walked out of the secret room, into the blaring music and excited atmosphere of the nightclub.
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In the dimly lit room of Detective Kubinashi's office in the Hokkaido Police Station, two figures were seated on parallel desks, each going through their personal folders. Inspector Itaku was browsing through the files of crimes committed by Hikage Daito Ryu, separating them into murders, kidnappings and vandalism cases. He rubbed his palm over a tired, itchy eye before taking a large swig out of his coffee mug.
On the other side of the room, seated in front of the computer was Kubinashi, his tired but determined eyes scanning over the file of Tsurara Oikawa, the older daughter of Setsura Oikawa, board member of the Nura Company. A successful model with a promising career ahead of her, she was an impossibly beautiful girl and one of the highest-paid celebrities of Japan.
Kubinashi was currently on a Tsurara Oikawa fan club site, the members of which worshipped her. There were many articles written about her achievements, future projects, calendar shoots and interviews. On the cover of the site was a photo of Tsurara herself, wearing nothing but super-fluffy, knee-length boots, a bubblegum pink in color. Strategically placed handbags and jewellery blocked her private parts from people's eyes. On the corner-bottom of the photo were words printed "Kingfisher Calendar 2012."
The blond detective scrolled down the page, visiting various comments made by Tsurara's fans about her. Out of all the people involved in this case, Oikawa was the one who had the most information provided on her and he'd been checking her out since the past three hours.
Her life-story was like that of any other models – her mom, Setsura Oikawa, had been an extremely close friend of Rihan Nura and as such, Tsurara knew Rikuo Nura since birth. As a young child, she'd taken the country by storm with her extravagant fashion tastes and had started walking the ramp for kids brands like 'Gini and Jony' and 'Liliput' since the mere age of three. Described as being 'camera confident and glamorous' Tsurara had followed a modeling career which had somehow overshadowed her childhood.
But she hadn't been the least bit bothered about it.
At age 17, she got her big break; a deal from the internationally-acclaimed company, Prada. From then on, there was no stopping her. After completing college, she took up modeling professionally and was crowned 'Ms. Asia' in 2010 and after that 'Ms. World' in 2011 and 2012. Blessed with fair skin, bright dark blue eyes, a tall, slim figure and longlegs, Tsurara Oikawa had always seen a life of luxury.
Which was why it was hard to believe she had anything to do in the case.
But we still cannot kick her out of the suspects list yet,Kubinashi reminded himself, scrolling down the page. Besides, the dark hair which was at Hitotsume Nyudo's crime scene can match with the shade of her hair. He sighed, his eyes slightly drooping. But we'd have to wait for the DNA results to come out.
Kubinashi scrolled through many more articles, before deciding to check up on Itaku – who'd fallen asleep on the desk, drool dripping down the side of his mouth. Shaking his head, the blond decided to walk around a bit to stretch his stiff muscles. Cracking his knuckles and moving his neck, he walked towards the large, black-tinted windows of his office.
It was a starry night; the tiny heavenly bodies glittering like diamonds in the dark azure-painted sky. The night-life of Hokkaido was starting, the time being 9:30 p.m and brightly lit cars raced about in the streets, youngsters screaming and laughing out of the open-hooded cars. Kubinashi stared down at them impassively, feeling slightly jealous at the freedom they possessed.
His teen-life had been drastically different from theirs.
As he was gazing out on the crowded seats, he caught a whir of a dark blue car buzz past the busy streets before stopping a few meters away from the police station.A Porsche, he instinctively knew. Car for the wealthy and graceful. Alright, he wasn't a car-lover but every man with dignity had to keep himself informed with the basic things, right? Deciding to get back to work, Kubinashi turned around to sludge around again when-
That car.Realization hit him. It's- The blond young man turned back just in time to see a figure wearing a long, white coat and an oversized French-hat come out and walk into the nearby departmental store. Kubinashi donned his signature brown trench coat before hastily grabbing his bike keys and a revolver from his table and rushing outside. The station was deserted except a few late officers who saluted the hurrying detective but got no response from him.
Ryota, who had grabbed a cup of coffee from the kitchen and had been making his way to his room, stared at Kubinashi suspiciously. Then, his cat-like eyes slightly widened before he rushed into his office.
Kubinashi got out of the station and straightaway rushed to the parking space, where his Yamaha bike had been kept. Hoping the car hadn't gotten away, he started the engine and the bike came to life. Hoping that the car was still there, he maneuvered his bike over the grassy fields before wobbling on the stony path to the exit gate. As he peered out discreetly, he saw the oversized French-hat donning figure get into the car and drive off.
She's alone,thought Kubinashi, putting on his helmet for concealment rather than safety as he followed the car. This is interesting. A smirk slowly lit up his face.What perfect timing.
Weaving through the busy nightlife of Hokkaido, the young detective did his best to stay out of the rearview of the mirror of the Porsche. Tsurara Oikawa had loads of stalkers and he did not want to be promoted into that category. Besides, there were some rumors circulating through the media that she suffered from bipolar-disorder. Nothing concrete, though.
But I still shouldn't take chances,Kubinashi reminded himself, dodging out of the way of a speeding BMW.
Looking around himself, Kubinashi realized he was approaching the suburbs now, what with the height and affluence of the buildings decreasing and the number of people dwindling. The houses and apartments appeared broken and dirty and cheap pubs stood on the sidewalks. Kubinashi saw two girls dressed in black bras which left nothing to imagination, walking hand-in-hand. The length of their knee-length, shiny black boots was double their white micro-shirts.
What could she be doing in a place like this?He thought, getting off his bike and decided to follow on foot. Checking his gun, he found out he had only 5 rounds. I have to be careful, he thought to himself. A big, burly man with tattoos running up and down his meaty arms walked past him, glaring at the much shorter blond. Kubinashi kept his eyes averted to the front. These kind of people would be ready to punch your guts even if you glanced at them for a milli-second.
Kubinashi crossed an intersection which consisted of seedy strip clubs, the nauseating smell of sex and sweat filling the air. Outside, girls wearing only lingerie roamed around, dragging old and disgusting-looking men inside. One of them, a girl with breasts bigger than her head and long, badly permed brown hair, seductively approached him, swinging her thong-covered hips. But he just poisonously glared at her before quickening his pace and walking ahead, slapping her hand away as she reached out to touch him.
Ahead of this seedy strip club were only a few rundown apartments, which soon disappeared as the city came to an end. The alleys were dark and smelly, garbage strewn here and there. A dead crow, half-eaten by insects lay on the road side, as Kubinashi glanced at it. He could see a group of hobos littered around a small fire in the corner, warming themselves and ready to prey young women who would happen to pass by. As their eyes fell on Kubinashi, they gave out disappointed groans before turning their attention back to the crackling fire.
Being on the streets gave Kubinashi a feeling of nostalgia. It was the place where he grew up after all, after being abandoned by his parents. But he still could not fathom why Tsurara Oikawa, who'd been cradled in the arms of luxury since birth, would ever come to a place like this.
You're just making yourself harder to solve, Oikawa-san.
The lanes were deathly silent and still, not a chirping cricket in earshot. The street-lights were barely enough to light up areas and one light being at a distance of about 30 meters from another sure didn't help.
Kubinashi stared up at a broken mirror on one of the lamps. The silver-surfaced object had a large crack on its top right corner. It's silent here. TOO silent. And suddenly, he caught a reflection of something in the mirror.
"What the-GACKKKKK!" Kubinashi yelled in pain, as he jumped out of the way of a flying knife. However, the small object managed to inflict a cut on his shoulder, large enough to make him bleed. The blond jumped a few steps back, taking out his revolver and pointing it in the direction the dagger came flying from. "COME OUT NOW!" he yelled, his voice harsh and strong.
There was complete silence for a few minutes as the wind picked up speed, chilling the blond to the bone. But the exhilaration of the situation only heated up his nerves instead of chilling them. Kubinashi had had far worse in the past but this was his closest brush with danger in the past 3 years. His gun remained unwavering, pointed at the shadows.
And after 5 minutes of waiting and silence, a figure walked out, walking towards Kubinashi without hesitation on nervousness. It stopped at a distance of about 20 meters from the blond.
But instead of cowering in fear, an excited smile lit up the detective's face. "Fancy meeting you here" he leered "Hikage Daito Ryu."
From two buildings away, a person stared at the two figures playing on the streets. "Idiot" they muttered under her breath. Then, calling an unknown number, they looked up at the previously-starry sky.
Dark clouds had begun to form now.
Someone picked up on the other line. "It's time to commence plan B." the person muttered.
Tsurara suitor's list
Gozumaru (6) – Nayrael, Silver Gold Moonlight, Ally My Life, Skylar Knightwalker, Fede 194, Vampire Princess 141
Jiro Shima (3) – Rose Rain 7, Night Dreamer, Mariseseki
Kubinashi (1) – The Crest of Anubis
Shoei (1) – Dennou Writer