Notes: I'm late because I suck. I got horribly sick just as my midterm week started, and I had tests back to back for four days out of five. I nearly missed the deadline for my history essay and I had a lot of family problems to deal with as well, so, yeah. I'm sorry I couldn't find the time to write this chapter!

Anyway. It's time. There will be blood. The Pirate is almost upon them. Will anybody survive in the end? Whooooo knowwwws… (ghost noises)

Thank you for taking the time to read the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Free!. Any similarities in events or characters living or dead are entirely coincidental.

Enjoy!

(Two weeks later)

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

The paper target jolted every time the bullet passed through, rattling the metal bar it was clipped on very slightly. The noise was slightly muted by the ear protection gear over his ears and there was a slight glare that reflected off the plastic goggles, but Haru's eyesight was good: he could tell he'd hit his mark.

He emptied his clip, flicked the safety on, set his gun down and pressed the button for the machine to reel back his target. As the large paper with a human outline moved sluggishly forwards, the six holes lodged in the chest boasted accuracy and improvement in a very short time span.

The weight of the gun and the feel of the recoil every time he pulled the trigger was still a foreign, almost alien feeling, but he was slowing getting over the sound of the gun discharging.

There would always be the phantom pain in his side, though. No helping that.

The machine whirred and then came to a jarring halt in front of him, displaying all the bullet holes that had gone through the paper. Haru reached up to unclip it, inspecting his progress as he did.

"It's rare to see you down here."

He turned— it was Sasabe, leaning against the wall. The Commander was wearing a neat navy-coloured suit with the most hideous orange and green Hawaiian tie.

"It's even rarer for you to be down here," Haru shot back. "Also, where do you keep finding those ties? They're atrocious."

"I have a collection," Sasabe said proudly, patting the monstrous garment. "Anyway, I'm never down here because unlike those lazy sods hanging around the water cooler, I'm busy with work. You're never at the range because you choose not to."

"Times change," Haru mumbled, rolling up the target. "The Pirate's stepped up his game, so I need to up mine as well."

Sasabe hummed in a neutral way, jamming his hands in his pockets as he did. He looked uncharacteristically tense.

"Is something wrong?" Haru asked slowly, turning to face his boss. Sasabe scratched the back of his head, scrunched up his nose, and then suddenly let out an exasperated sigh.

"Thought I might drop by and, well, y'know, kinda tell you that you're doing well on this case, body count notwithstanding," the blond man said. "I get the feeling I may have gravely offended you when I brought Makoto into the case. I don't think you're incompetent, Haru. Nor do I think you need someone to protect you. I just wanted to bring in some extra help for you because I didn't want you to stress out over this. You are my best and brightest in the department, and I'll be damned if there's going to be a repeat of two years ago on my watch."

Of all the things he'd expected to hear, a speech like that wasn't one of it. A moment of silence passed between them, and then Haru managed a smile.

"Glad to know you still think I'm the brightest."

"You shine like a god damned star, kid," Sasabe grinned, clapping Haru on the back. "Now get back to work."

"Yes sir," Haru replied, just as the door to the range opened and Nagisa hurried in.

"Oh, Haru-chan! Something's come up in my research!" the assistant called. "Hey, Sasabe-san. What's with the tie? It's awfully ugly!"

"Brats these days don't know how to value good fashion," Sasabe grumbled as Haru quickly packed up his things, following Nagisa out of the training grounds and down the walkway to their building.

"What's going on?" Haru asked, smoothing out his shirt.

"Remember how I opted out of your undercover work at the nightclub two weeks ago because I said I had a haunch?" Nagisa asked, taking the stairs two at a time. "Well, something finally popped up, and I think it'll help narrow down our search!"

They burst back into the tiny office, where Makoto was sitting behind his desk, glasses on and piles of paper scattered across his desk. He looked up and managed to smile at Haru, who did his best to return it.

There was still the awkward silence between them, but now they'd managed to bridge themselves through work and, Nagisa, bless him. The blond was gifted with the ability to tirelessly maintain conversations no matter what the situation. But personal problems could come later; they were on crunch time right now.

"Mako-chan! Drop the forensics report for a minute!" Nagisa yelled, clapping his hands together and startling the brunet. "I've made a groundbreaking discovery!"

"What is it?" Makoto asked curiously, pushing his bangs back as Nagisa unplugged is laptop from the wall and spun it around. The computer's background was an image of Nagisa and Rei standing in front of a fountain together, Nagisa laughing and standing on tiptoe, an arm slung around the taller man's shoulder while Rei blushed furiously as he smiled happily at the camera.

Nagisa pulled up the browser and scrolled quickly before coming to a halt on a page full of text and generic photos of students inside a classroom, a professor teaching, and a shot of a school building.

"This is the course outline for Four Islands University's Journalism program. I have one for the Communications program open in the other tab as well. Now, the thing about these two is that they have one thing in common: the Iwatobi Courthouse."

"The courthouse?" Makoto repeated, nonplussed. Nagisa nodded briskly.

"Yes. There's a requirement for each senior student in his or her fourth year to participate in an internship program with any business or media industry. The idea was for them to gain real life experience. Eventually, the Iwatobi Courthouse started a partnership with the university that allowed students from those programs to work as journalists or note-takers in the courtroom as interns."

"And how would that relate to the Pirate?" Haru asked, frowning.

"I'm getting there!" Nagisa grinned, spinning around to whip out several pages of hastily photocopied blueprints. "See, the courthouse is a really old building. It was built before the city was named Iwatobi and was used as a hospital in the olden days. The structure's extremely complicated so some remodeling was done in the recent times, but they kept the basement for archives. And the only way to access those underground rooms was through the original stairwell system, so no changes were made to those either. Because it was a hospital, the old design incorporated multiple exits all around the building, but since its renovation people started using the main entrances instead, so there are a lot of ways to enter the courthouse that a regular person wouldn't know about."

"Unless they worked there, of course," Haru said slowly, realization dawning on him. Nagisa beamed.

"Yeah! So, basically, aside from the regular staff of the courthouse and the security guards, the interns from the Four Islands University would also know how to use the exits!"

"And probably navigate around the security system," Makoto added. "Or at least be knowledgeable enough to avoid being caught on camera."

"Exactly!"

"So the unknown figure who burst out of the building that night and scratched up Karube's car could be an intern that participated in either the Journalism or the Communications program, with knowledge of the courthouse layout," Haru summarized. "Well, that narrows down the list significantly."

"You haven't heard the best part yet," Nagisa smirked. "Behold, my extraordinary researching skills! Because the Iwatobi Courthouse is a place of prestige and order, they only accepted students who ranked in the top twenty of each program as interns!"

Haru could've hugged the blond; this was exactly the lead they needed. With the list of suspects narrowed down to a reasonable amount now, they could finallystart closing in on the Pirate after all this time!

"Excellent work, Nagisa," Haru said, smiling. "You did very well."

"Of course! I'm Haruka Nanase's assistant!" the blond huffed, planting his hands on his hips. "I can do anything!"

"I don't doubt that at all," Makoto chuckled softly, and the familiar laugh almost felt like a punch to Haru's gut. It'd been a long time since he heard the other made that sound, which was usually reserved for Makoto's younger siblings or stray cats. Shaking himself from those lingering thoughts, he leaned in to read the page open on Nagisa's browser— and then noticed Rin Matsuoka's names in one of the tabs.

"What's this?" Haru asked out loud, changing the page. The browser immediately opened up to a video of several swimmers in the midst of a competition. The clip was titled London 2012 Olympic Men's 100 Freestyle (Finals).

"Oh, yeah, I was going through some of Rin's swimming clips," Nagisa said, bouncing over. "Did you know he broke his own record and the world record in this race?"

"He must be pretty good then," Makoto said as Haru dragged the mouse over to the video and clicked play. The frozen clip burst to life at once, the shot showing eight swimmers slicing effortlessly through the water. Rin was in the fourth lane, next to a swimmer from China and one from the United States. He lagged behind both opponents from the start, but as the video progressed, the swimmer's movements became sharper, more concise. His powerful flip turns boosted him through the water and his arms seemed to reach further with each pull. It wasn't long before Rin caught up to, leveled out, and then completely pulled away from the others. When the redhead slammed his hand against the side of the pool, he was a second faster than the American swimmer, and two seconds faster than the man from China.

"He won," Makoto said, a note of awe in his voice. "Never mind just good; he's really good."

Rin seemed to think so too, if his triumphant punch in the air was any indication. The audience was on their feet, cheering wildly, and if the laptop hadn't been on mute Haru was certain he'd hear the screams and shouts from the fans.

"Well, he certainly isn't modest about his win," Haru muttered dryly as the Rin climbed out of the pool, breezed past his opponents, and went to grab his water bottle. "No sense of sportsmanship there."

"Yeah, I noticed in some of his interviews he seems kind of… arrogant?" Nagisa said, tilting his head. "I don't think he does it on purpose, though. He's just naturally good and there's nobody around to dispute him."

"Still not the kind of opponent I'd want to compete with," Haru snorted. "Let's go back on topic."

"Right-o, Haru-chan," Nagisa said, giving the detective a salute before bounding over to his chair. "I'm running the rosters for those years through my laptop at the moment, but in about an hour or so we might get a hit."

"Good. Keep it running then," Haru said. "I'm going down to storage for older forensic files."

"Oh, they're doing re-modeling downstairs," Nagisa said offhandedly. "They've moved some of the boxes to the North Building. Mako-chan went downstairs earlier for lap reports."

Haru frowned. "The North Building? That place is massive. Where'd operations move them?"

"I can show you, if you'd like," Makoto said hesitantly, his eyes fixed on some point next to Haru's shoulder. There was an air of nervousness that the detective didn't like to hear— he didn't want to tiptoe around Makoto for the rest of his life.

"That'd be great," he replied honestly, and Makoto actually looked up, looking a bit relieved.

"Hurry back!" Nagisa grinned, wiggling his fingers at the two of them. Haru could tell he was pleased that they were on speaking terms again. He opened his mouth to fondly tell Nagisa to mind his own business when he felt his phone buzz against his pocket.

Fishing it out, Haru unlocked it and pressed it to his ear. "Detective Inspector Nanase."

"Haru!"

Haru startled at the panicked voice on the other end of the line. "Rei? Is that you?"

Rei's next words made Haru's blood run cold. "We need you! The Pirate stabbed Mikoshiba!"

He staggered out of his seat. "What?"

"The Pirate went for Gou, but Mikoshiba took the hit! You have to come now! Quickly!"

"Be there in ten," Haru gritted out, and hung up. "We have to leave," he shouted to the room, but Makoto and Nagisa were already on the move, grabbing coats and car keys as quickly as they could.

"What's going on?" Nagisa asked, worry etched upon his face.

"Mikoshiba's been injured," Haru said lowly as they ran out of the office. "The Pirate openly attacked Gou Matsuoka. We have to go to Oceans Athletic Complex."

The others looked stricken, and they wasted no more time getting to the scene of the crime.

When they arrived, the entrance of the sports complex was in a state of near panic. Several rookie constables were scrambling around, trying to keep things orderly as the ambulance arrived. The area was a fairly quiet and private one, but pedestrians were already pausing mid-step and other people in the building were gathering by the upstairs windows to see what the fuss was about.

Makoto nearly rode up onto the curb in his haste and Haru was out of the car before the PI had fully stopped. He flashed his ID at a officer on duty and rushed towards the automatic doors just as the paramedics wheeled Mikoshiba out on a stretcher.

It was an awful sight. The sergeant's eyes were closed and his face was chalk white underneath the clear oxygen mask. The front of his uniform was cut away to reveal layers and layers of gauze pressed against a gaping chest wound; the material and the ragged edges of Mikoshiba's shirt were stained with far too much blood.

Haru swallowed tightly and quickly snagged a stray paramedic.

"How is he?" he demanded. The paramedic shook his head.

"Hanging in there, but he's lost a lot of blood. The knife wound is really deep. We're going to take him to the Iwatobi General hospital to get blood transfusions."

"Alright," Haru replied, letting the paramedic hurry over to help load Mikoshiba onto the waiting ambulance. He clenched and unclenched his jaw; the Pirate had to be nearby. They couldn't let him off this time.

"Haru!"

Nagisa and Makoto was jogging towards him, the blond jabbing a finger at the foyer of the building. "Rei-chan texted me! He, Gou, and Rin are all waiting in the front. They've got supervision with them. What are we going to do now?"

"First, we're going to move Gou out of Iwatobi," Haru growled, hurrying inside with the others hot on his heels. "Then we're going to take down this son of a bitch."

The Matsuoka siblings were sitting on the couches by the front desk, where Rei and three regular shift officers stood guard. Haru was fully prepared to confront a furious and protective older brother, and he barely flinched when Rin caught sight of him and instantly launched himself at the detective.

"YOU!" Rin bellowed, hands fisting into the front of Haru's shirt. "You said you'd put your best on the case! Look what's happened now! My sister nearly got stabbed! What part of security detail do you think you've failed? Every. Freaking. Part!"

Haru forced Rin's hands off his shirt, grabbed the swimmer by the collar and violently manhandled him back onto the couch. Gou made a squeaking noise and clutched at her coat; Rei's mouth was set in a thin line.

"Matsuoka Rin," Haru began in a low, steady voice. "I have put my best officers on this job. They are not only the best, but they are also the most trustworthy. Now, one of my men is bleeding to death on a stretcher and the killer is on the loose. You will remain calm and listen to what I have to say. That is an order. Do you understand?"

Rin glared and bared his teeth. For a moment, Haru thought he was going to argue back, but after a moment the redhead's shoulders just slumped a little and he said in a strained, almost desperate voice, "Can you just please get my sister out of this fucking city?"

"That is the plan, Matsuoka-san," Haru said firmly. "We'll have arrangements made for her to stay outside of Iwatobi for the time being. We'll remove you later as well."

"Haru," Makoto said suddenly, his gaze fixed beyond the window. "The press is here."

"What?" Haru said, spinning around. "That's impossible— there's no way they could arrive so quickly!"

"Somebody could've tipped them off," Makoto said darkly. "Rin and Gou can't stay here."

"Damn it," Haru cursed under his breath before he turned to the Matsuokas and the other officers. "We are going to move Gou right now. Nagisa, you're going to accompany her as of now, along with the three officers we have now. Head out on the express highway and find a discreet hotel in the next city."

"There are a few hotels in Samezuka city," Makoto suggested. "It's only a half hour drive on the expressway and we've used several inns as safe houses for witnesses before, the staff will be familiar with the procedures."

"Excellent," Haru said. "Nagisa, you're in charge of administration for that. Back up will accompany your drive. Makoto and I will follow along once we finish up here."

"What about us?" Rei asked.

Haru hesitated. "Take Rin back to the Matsuoka residence for now. Sweep the area, pack your things, and once the next set of back up arrives you'll follow suit. We'll have to keep you at separate hotels for the time being, but you'll certainly be able to move back together later. Are we all clear on this?"

The constables nodded grimly and Nagisa bobbed his head fervently as well.

"Alright, let's get going!" Haru shouted, and everybody sprang into action. Just before Rin was quickly ushered out the back door with Rei, he reached out and pulled Gou into a tight hug. His sister instantly clung to him just as tightly.

"Be careful," Rin said, his voice slightly muffled. "Stay with these guys and keep both eyes open."

"I know. You too, brother. Please stay safe."

They parted, and Rin quickly left the building. Just as Haru was about to leave as well, Gou suddenly caught his arm.

"Nanase-san? Is— Is Mikoshiba-san going to be alright?" she asked, her expression miserable. Haru knew she was beating herself up internally; Mikoshiba had taken the knife for her.

"He'll be alright," he replied reassuringly. "Mikoshiba's a tough guy. He'll pull through."

Gou took a breath and nodded with tears in her eyes, but she remained composed.

"Thank you, Nanase-san," she said before hurrying outside after Nagisa and the officers, where a car was already waiting. Haru watched her go, and his mind momentarily wandered— why did something feel so off about the whole situation?

"Haru?" Makoto called, jolting the detective out of his reverie. "C'mon, let's get the car."

"Right," Haru murmured, picking up his pace as the two of them exited the building and headed towards the parking lot. After giving some brisk instructions to the officers on scene to secure the scene until forensics arrived, he ducked into Makoto's car. The PI pulled out of the parking lot and within minutes they were driving at breakneck speeds down the road. It was fortunate that it was not rush hour yet, so traffic was sparse. It was a tense and twitchy silence as they hurried on their way. Haru couldn't help but look behind them every minute or so, unable to shake the paranoid feeling that they could have been followed.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, signaling a message, and he checked his screen absent-mindedly, thinking it was Nagisa or Rei.

It was not his officers.

[Unknown Number: 267 404 9802] Hello again, Haru-san. Did you like my surprise?

Haru let out a strangled noise, sitting bolt upright as he gripped his phone. How dare he text him, that lowlife killer!

"Haru? What's wrong?" Makoto asked, worried.

"He's texting me again," Haru said furiously.

"The Pirate?!"

"Yes."

You've got guts.

[Unknown Number: 267 404 9802] I know. So does your officer. Mikoshiba Seijuuro, was it? Noble of him to take the blow.

Stay away from my officers and the Matsuokas.

[Unknown Number: 267 404 9802] Now where would be the fun in that? I'd be careful if I were you, though. Do you really think those siblings are safe?

I don't need indulge your little games.

[Unknown Number: 267 404 9802] Well, that's no good at all. Think, detective. Put that pretty head of yours to use. You can solve this. I know you can. There's more to this than what meets the eye.

What's your point, bastard?

[Unknown Number: 267 404 9802] Just remember: the closer you think you are, the less you'll actually see.

Haru snarled slammed his hand against the dashboard. Makoto shot him a sideways glance, the muscles in the brunet's neck taut as a bowstring, and increased the speed ever so slightly.

His gut roiled.

Something wasn't right.

Everything— from Nitori to the body of the women on the ship monument, the text messages and threats— the Pirate was no longer following his old modus operndi. Actually, Haru suddenly realized, the playing field had changed long ago, from the moment the Pirate first announced his return.

He'd been a fool to follow the killer's former methods. Everything had been skewed right from the very start because the Pirate was no longer killing for his own satisfaction, but for Haru to chase after him, to leave a breadcrumb trail for him to catch him. It was a game now, and the rules were different: so who really was the Pirate's target after all?

And then, Haru finally understood.

"Stop!" he shouted, grabbing Makoto's arm. The brunet startled and nearly swerved into the other lane, earning a loud honk.

"Haru? What's wrong—"

"Don't go on the expressway! Turn the car around! We have to go back!"

Makoto looked utterly bewildered, but he quickly cut into the left turn lane and did a full U-turn, taking them back to where they started.

"Haru, what's going on?"

"The Pirate isn't after Gou Matsuoka," Haru snarled. "He's going to kill Rin."

"What? How? How do you know this?"

"Gou was a distraction," Haru explained as they sped down the road. "The Pirate's been keeping tabs on them, despite the security detail, and my best guess is that he knew Mikoshiba would intervene. Taking him out of the picture would cause confusion and mislead us— we all thought Gou was his target. But she's not his type; she would never be his type, she's too selfless and strong-willed and a morally perfect character. But Rin—"

"He's not like his sister," Makoto said, his expression drawn. "Rin's arrogant, unsportsmanlike. And out of the two of them, Rin would draw the Pirate's radar first."

"Exactly," Haru growled. "I knew something was off! Why didn't I think of it sooner! We just sent him back home with Rei!"

"They'll be alright," Makoto said reflexively, but his knuckles were white on the steering wheel. "You're going to catch him, Haru. He won't get away this time."

The twenty minutes spent racing back to the Matsuoka residence was the longest twenty minutes of Haru's life. Makoto stopped the car a street away from the sibling's house so they wouldn't rouse the suspicion of anybody in the area, and made their way swiftly up to the house.

Neither of them said a word, but there wasn't a need for any. Just before they reached the cop car parked outside on the driveway, Makoto reached out and grasped Haru's hand, warm and steady.

Haru squeezed back, and silently prayed things wouldn't go bad.

The constable in the car was a young man with cropped black hair who opened his mouth to greet them just as Haru waved him down, gesturing for him to be silent. The officer caught on at once, looking nervous as he ducked out of the car and made his way quietly next to the two of them.

"Is everything alright?" he asked in a soft voice.

"We have reason to believe that the Pirate is either here or will be arriving to the Matsuoka residence some time soon," Haru whispered. "Did you see anything or anybody here?"

The officer shook his head, but he looked apprehensive. "It's a big house. Ryugazaki-san and Matsuoka-san went inside, but they haven't come out yet. Backup hasn't arrived either."

"Call it in now," Haru said shortly, pulling out his gun. "We're not taking any chances this time."

The officer nodded and hurried to his car. Makoto took out his own weapon as well, his sleeves rolled up and his expression steely. Together, they took steady steps up the path and checked the front door. It was unlocked.

The atmosphere in the house was suffocating. Everything was strangely still after the mess of paramedics and police cars at the sports centre, but as Haru advanced slowly through the foyer, he could hear faint sounds coming from around the house.

Silently, they made their way down the hall, footsteps cushioned by the carpet, and then slipped into the living room.

Rei was lying face down on the floor, blood seeping from his torso.

Haru's stomach turned over, and for a second he stood frozen before instincts kicked in and he dropped to his knees next to the senior constable. Rei's glasses were askew and his face was ashen, but he was breathing. Haru and Makoto grasped him by the shoulders and turned him over. Rei groaned softly.

"Rei? It's us," Makoto whispered. "Open your eyes. Rei. Rei, focus on us."

The blue-haired man cracked an eye open, squinting as he tried to concentrate.

"Kitchen…" he wheezed. "Rin… there's a man… snuck up on us… stop him…"

"We're on it," Haru whispered back, fumbling to grab a duvet lying on the couch. He pressed it against Rei's wound and the man groaned softly, curling in on himself.

There was a small noise by the doorway and they both rounded on it at once, guns raised, but it was only the cop on duty, who looked stricken.

"What's happening?" he hissed.

"Get him out of here," Haru instructed quietly. "Get him to a hospital as quickly as possible. You've called for backup?"

"They'll be here in six minutes," the man confirmed. Haru nodded.

"Good. Stay quiet, and don't jostle Rei. The wound's not deep but we can't risk it. Keep pressure on it."

The man nodded and carefully hoisted Rei up to his feet. Rei gritted his teeth and barely curbed a groan, hunched over from pain. The two of them hobbled out the door, assisted by Haru and Makoto, and the minute they were on the pathway and out of earshot Haru shot Makoto a look.

"Rei said the kitchen."

"We need to corner him."

"Sounds good to me. I'll go through the house."

"There's a back door around the left side," Makoto whispered. "I'll come in from that way."

Haru nodded. "Alright. Let's get going."

"Okay. Just— be careful, Haru."

The naked concern and the smidge of trust in Makoto's green eyes were enough to send a small bubble of warmth spreading inside his chest. The message was clear: I don't wand you to get hurt like you did last time. Haru nodded, his next words nearly stuck in his throat.

"You too."

He turned and drew his gun, letting out a slow, controlled breath.

He could hear Makoto's footsteps walking away in the other direction, headed around the house, leaving his back exposed.

But this time, he trusted his partner. Makoto would be there. Makoto wouldn't let him down.

Haru pushed the door open and walked back inside.

Oh dear oh dear look what I've done.

There was a quote from the movie Now You See Me in this chapter; it popped into my hear while I was writing and I really wanted to use it ;u;

Chapter 10 is next! Thank you for reading!

Laurie