X.X.X.X.X
Disclaimer: I was a special guest on the Colbert Report and I told him that I owned an adorable brunet by the name of Sora. Then Riku came out of nowhere and yelled at me for trying to take his brunet boyfriend. That's why the episode never aired.
Deathly Sources
Chapter 4:
Ring-A-Ling
X.X.X.X.X
"I met him a couple times." Came the whisper, Demyx straightened his work outfit, undoing his tie slightly for some room to breath. Upon Riku's request to Zexion, Demyx came down to the precinct and was now in Squall's office as the three questioned him. "Since he was Zexi's singer, he often came over."
"How did he act?" Axel asked, the group looked so serious while Demyx looked scared shitless. He wanted to crack a joke but knew that he'd get in serious trouble with Squall.
"As normal as anyone I've ever met." Demyx answered softly, eyes big and tearing, "Sora Kaze was a good kid, always addressed me with respect because I was older, helped me when I needed it and was great to converse with."
Riku bit his lip, shifting, watching Demyx with a quiet gaze.
"I can't believe Sora's dead…" the blond whispered, "He was respectable to anyone that he didn't know, was almost the perfect kid with the minus that his family had it's troubles." His hands flew to his face, covering his face as he sobbed, "I can't believe he's dead…"
"That's all the questions we'll have for now." Squall answered, handing Demyx a card, "If you have any information, let us know."
Demyx nodded, sighing and grabbing some tissue on the way out.
"Do we go back and investigate Tidus?" Axel growled, he still hadn't gotten over Sephiroth's claim for four days.
"Ask him." Squall answered simply, "And find out who else the twins had connections with."
X.X.X.X.X
"Why'd you lie to us?"
Tidus blinked, eyebrow raising, "Lie?"
Axel nearly blew up in his face, but kept it a whisper as a lady and her daughter passed by, "That you were dating Roxas!"
The blond frowned, stopping in his job once to give Axel a look, "I didn't lie, I just never told you."
"WELL YOU COULD'VE TOLD US SOONER!!" Axel roared, the lady that was with her daughter glared in their direction and Riku gave her a nod for 'sorry'.
"Well, we were going out for a short period of time, three weeks from yesterday." Tidus answered, stuffing the book into its place, "It wasn't that long."
"That's still vital information!" Axel snapped, getting pushed away by Riku.
"Is there anything else that you're hiding from us…?" Riku asked slowly, glaring into Tidus's eyes.
The blond was silent for a bit before he sighed, "They got into some kind of mess."
"A mess?"
"With Organization XIII, you know, the mafia group." He sighed, "Marluxia had wanted Sora and Xemnas wanted to have Roxas's influence help the group. Of course Roxas said no, and claimed that Marluxia had to stay away from Sora, but that's pretty much all I know."
"That's it?"
"Yup."
"You've said that to us several times, you know? That that's all you know."
"I will kill you!" Axel growled, getting smacked upside the head by Riku.
"Look, go talk to Marluxia about it, I'm sure he's able to tell you more."
X.X.X.X
"I still can't believe you think I had something to do with it." Marluxia rolled his eyes, hands flying up in irritation. "You guys are the worst cops ever!"
"Well, considering you're the only one, as of late, that had some kind of connection with the twins, you're on the top of our list." Riku stated calmly, ignoring the fact that he called them cops and insulted them.
"Look, I wish I wasn't okay?" Marluxia offered, rolling his eyes, "I just slept with Sora, I didn't kill him."
"Says the guilty man." Axel smirked, "So, why did you kill the whole family?"
"I'm telling you I didn't!"
"So why didn't you just kill Sora and/or Roxas?"
"I'm telling you—."
"Did the parents decide to ruin your fun?"
"Goddammit—"
"Or maybe they wanted you to pay for the 'fun'?"
Instantly Marluxia grabbed Axel's collar and pushed him against the wall, "Get this through your big head, idiot." Their glares met, Marluxia not backing down, "I loved Sora, got it? I wouldn't hurt him, I didn't care about Roxas, nor his parents, I only cared about Sora, and I would never hurt him."
"Says the man who raped him three times a week."
"Shut up!"
"So why didn't you fight back when Sephiroth claimed Sora as his?" Riku cut in.
Instantly it was all quiet.
"Because Sora loved him." Marluxia bitterly spat, not releasing Axel, "And as much as I would've liked to stop him, I could tell Sora really did love him."
"So you gave him away, wanting him to be happy." Axel supplied.
"Unfortunately." Marluxia mumbled.
Riku patted him on the shoulder, "Good job, Marluxia, you just got taken off our suspect list."
The pink haired man sighed, looking down at his messy desk as the two other men stepped out.
X.X.X.X
Riku sighed, looking over at Axel after just hanging up the phone with Squall, "He says we should talk to the grandparents."
Axel drove off; inserting the adress Riku told him into the GPS system, "So, how long has it been since they've seen their grandparents?"
"About… almost a whole week." Riku answered, looking down at the notes he had written from the conversation with Squall.
"So, who's breaking the news, me or you?"
"I am, you suck with elderly people."
"Hey!" Axel cried out as they continued to drive.
X.X.X.X
The elderly woman collapsed into her husband's arms, he quickly lead her to the couch as the detectives followed and sat across from them on another couch.
"D-do you have any leads?" The man asked, holding his sobbing wife.
"Two." Riku answered calmly, "We're very sorry for your loss, we'd just like to ask you a few questions, maybe get some pictures, that's all."
The man nodded, "Of course, whatever we can do to help."
Riku took out a pen and pad of paper as Axel stood up, "May I look around?" He asked simply, a softer tone than his usual one filling the room.
"If it will help." The man answered, looking back at Riku, "What would you like to know?"
"When was the last time you saw Sora or Roxas?"
"About a week ago, every weekend they would drive up for a couple hours to spend time with us." The man answered softly, "It's become a habit."
"Were they acting strange at all?"
The woman shook her head, "They… they seemed completely normal." She sniffed and took a few deep breaths to calm herself before she continued, "It was as usual, Sora would be helping me cook in the kitchen, and Roxas would go fishing with him." She made a notion to her husband of fifty years, "Then, in the evening they would come back from fishing and Sora and I would have made a big meal by then, we would eat, spend time together, and they'd spend the night and then drive to school Monday morning."
During the questions Axel picked up a photo, it was of Sora and Roxas in front of a giant lake, Sora seemed to pose happily for the photo, he was dragging a reluctant Roxas with him, though the blond's lips were tugged up in an almost smile. He waited for the man to finish answering before interrupting and asking, "Excuse me, when was this taken?"
The three looked at the photo before the woman replied, "Just last week, we always take a new picture when they come up, it's our way of making memories."
Riku walked over, looking at the picture, "Why is it important?"
Axel rolled his eyes and merely pointed to where Sora's hand was on Roxas's shoulder, "See something?"
Riku's eyes were wide.
For on Sora's slim tanned hand was a ring of silver and diamonds, on his ring finger.
"That wasn't in the house."
Axel looked back to the elderly couple, "You said Roxas and Sora would spend the night, may we see their rooms?"
"Room." The man answered, "They insisted on sharing one room."
The elderly couple led the way up the steps, the man opening the door to a room a few doors down the hall, "They pushed the beds close together." The woman answered simply, "We'd often find them asleep on their backs or stomachs, holding hands. I guess it was a comfort thing for them, being twins and all."
"If there's anything you need, please come down." The man answered, "We'll make some tea. Just please put back everything the way you found it, we'd like to keep it reserved." With that he lead his wife to their room, laying the sniffing woman down before going downstairs to make the tea.
"Let's get looking." Axel answered, taking the right side of the room as Riku took the left.
After twenty minutes of searching, Riku managed to find a few knickknacks, but nothing that would truly help the investigation.
"Hey, Ri." Axel waved him over, setting a dark colored wooden box on the bed. It seemed to have some type of combination; on the cover was the engraved word 'love' with beautiful floral designs around the edges.
"What is it?" Riku asked, coming over and rapping on the top with his knuckles.
"A jewelry box." Came the woman's voice, the grandmother walked through the door and towards the two, leaning down to give the box a smile, "I gave it to Sora a few years ago, he had loved it ever since he was a child."
"Do you know the combination?" Axel asked, looking up at the woman with curiosity.
"Of course." She answered simply and softly as she grabbed it and began to work the knob, "Once a combination is set you can't change it, since it was mine, I set the combination. It's my wedding date because I received it from Howard, my husband." When it made a small click she pulled it open and two small figurines popped up. The man was dressed in rich clothing, a red and gold prince's garb of the old era, while the woman was covered in a beautiful red ball gown, the edges of the dress in a delicate gold. Although it was old and slightly chipping in some areas, it was still beautiful and calming as the small couple danced to the music that started to play.
"… Isn't that song I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables?" Axel blinked, listening to the song for a few seconds before humming a long with it.
"It is." The woman answered softly, "Another reason why Sora loved it, he loved musicals and operas and stage productions."
"Natalie, you should be in bed!" Howard had returned, a tea tray in his hand, he placed it on the dresser near the door before rushing her to the room. "Please, take as much time as you like." He left them cups of tea with a small kettle and cake slices before going to make more tea.
Riku pulled a pair of gloves from his bag before rolling his eyes as Axel waltzed over to the tea and cake. Then he began to go through the compartments of the jewelry box, pulling out the removable ones and opening the secret compartments, "Hey, found it." Through a mass of jewelry he pulled out the silver band with sparkling diamonds that Sora had been wearing in the picture. After taking the jewelry and putting all of it in separate bags he put everything back the way it was and only took a selection of things with them to the car.
"Oh, before I forget." Riku pulled out the small bag with the ring, placing it into the couple's hand, "Do you know who gave this to Sora?"
The woman blinked, taking it from her husband's grasp and holding it up to the light so she could see in her old age, "Sora said his boyfriend gave it to him, he left it with us because he didn't trust having it in the city."
"His boyfriend?" Axel cried, "Will these people make up their minds?!"
Riku sighed, "Ignore him, please, did Sora give you a name for this boyfriend?"
"Sephiroth." The man answered, "I've actually done a few business deals with him, so I know him very well."
Riku nodded, putting it back into the bag with the other pieces before flipping out three cards and handing them to the couple, "These are our cards. This one is mine, this one is Axel's, the man behind me, and this one is our boss, Squall Leonhart, if anything else give us a call on any of these numbers, alright?"
They nodded and watched Riku drag Axel back to the car before the two drove off.
"Come Natalie." Came Howard's soothing voice, "We must make sure we keep their room safe for the detectives." He helped his wife inside, looking down at the cards in his hands.
X.X.X.X
"Oh my god, déjà vu." Axel groaned, "This is like… the millionth time we're going to talk to Sephiroth?"
"The third idiot." Riku answered, grunting as he ignored the redhead playing with the radio dial. "I don't think we have anyone else to talk to, so Sephiroth is our biggest lead."
"Hm, Sora had an interesting choice in boyfriends."
Riku looked over, blinking, "What do you mean?"
Axel chuckled, "Think about it, Sephiroth owns Square Enix, the largest video game company in the world, he has glowing eyes and long flowing hair, looks that would make even a god jealous, and a muscled body. Sora was getting quite a package."
"Are you implying something?"
"Think about it." Axel reasoned, pulling into the Square Enix parking lot and doing what the lot was intended for, "Did this mean Sora's expectations were high and Roxas wanted to lower them, so it caused some conflict?"
"So both twins were killed in the process?" Riku snorted, getting out after unbuckling his seatbelt, "You're just thinking too hard."
They made their way into the office and into the elevators, pushing the top floor button that they were growing familiar to. "Maybe I am." The redhead answered as he followed Riku out and they lead themselves up to Sephiroth's personal secretary.
"He's in." The blond sighed, fixing her nails.
They glanced at each other before going into the room.
"I had a feeling I'd see you guys again." Sephiroth answered, looking up from his paperwork and lightly pulling his glasses off his nose.
"Well, you and Sora were just SO attached at the hip, we wanted to come bug you again Sephiroth." Axel answered, jumping onto the silveret's desk and flicking the nametag that read 'SEPHIROTH' onto the floor.
"Oh, to bug I'm sure." Sephiroth smirked with a shake of his head, fishing out a pack of cigarettes and lighting it.
"Still finishing Sora's pack of cigarettes, I see." Axel blinked.
"Yup, I'm gonna buy a pack each week in memory of him, even if I don't get to smoke them all." The silveret neatly stacked his papers aside before looking over to Riku, "Umino, you haven't said anything to me yet, do you still hate me?"
Riku flashed him a glare, but said nothing.
"Anyways." Axel answered, dismissing Riku with a wave of his hand before pulling the small bag out of their work case, "Does this look familiar to you?"
Sephiroth's eyes flashed at the item, grasping it from Axel's hand and running his fingers over the silver and clear jewels, "Where…"
"It's a bit… big… for a regular ring." Riku responded, eyeing him, "He kept it at his grandparent's for safe-keeping."
"It was our engagement ring."
The two stopped before staring at Sephiroth like he'd just told them the secrets of all the world's mafias. "What…?"
Sephiroth fingered one of the diamonds on the silver band, "Sora and I were going to get married in secret, since Roxas had a distaste of everything."
Axel grinned, "So you were going to run away with him or something?"
"Not run away, honestly, we'd still be here." Sephiroth shrugged, "We'd just be married before anyone could get a word in."
"Any other plans for it?" Riku asked quickly, avoiding one of the pictures on Sephiroth's wall that was of the silveret and Sora on some kind of beach.
"We made plans, but we never actually got around to it." Sephiroth answered, still staring at the ring, "… May I keep this…?"
"We've got to check it with our lab." Axel answered quickly, "But we'll bring it to you after."
Sephiroth nodded, holding the ring close to his chest once before handing it to Axel, "Thank you."
And with that, the two detectives pulled themselves out of his office and back to their car.
X.X.X.X
"Holy crap, paperworkkkkk!!" Axel cried, eyeing the 'horrible' work sitting innocently on top of his desk.
"Nothing much you can do about it." Riku answered, not looking up from his own work.
"Riku, don't you love me?" Axel pouted, eyeing him from across their joined table.
"No, I'm not doing your work." Riku glared, signing a paper before starting the next one, "You chose this job, keep up with it."
Axel snorted and began to sit before looking over at the silveret, "No wonder you're single, 'ku."
THWACK!!
"Pick up my notebook." Riku hissed before continuing his work.
X.X.X.X
Riku sighed, flopping into his bed and glanced over to the place next to him. He'd had only one girlfriend sleep in his bed, Naminé, and she was sweet enough to not try anything on him. He ran his fingers over the sheets, god, was he going to be like this the whole time? Single, a job about death, and no flirtatious bone in his body?
Closing his eyes, he flopped back deeper into his pillows and covered his face with his blankets. Sudden his mind filled itself with images, images of childhood and life. Of playing with blocks with his old best friend, Kadaj, learning in school and being one of the popular kids but also excelling. The fire…
Riku squeezed his eyes shut, no, no, no! He couldn't be thinking about that!! But his vision of his mother, throwing him into a neighbor's arms before disappearing back into the fire…
No, he couldn't think about it again. It was useless to live in the past, something he couldn't have haunting him as he tried to go through life. He needed to be over it, and he was, he just had to make sure that half of his brain understood what the other did.
"I guess… all I really want is to be happy."
Riku snapped his eyes open, sitting up to rest his gaze on his T.V. He had stopped the tape, the TV quiet since it wasn't a channel he got. Looking under his knee, he saw the remote innocently lying there.
"What do I want to be when I get out of school?" The brunet on TV started to think.
"Don't hurt yourself Sora."
"Shut up Roxas!" The brunet's cheeks tainted red before he sighed, "I guess, I want to be an artist, it'd be kinda cool, ya know? Seeing so many beautiful things…"
"But Sora, you can't even draw a straight line."
"Well… one can always dream, can't they?"
There was a pause before Riku turned it off and slipped the remote onto his nightstand before lying down. When he closed his eyes, he could see the brunet smiling, and laughing, and having a grand old time…
And that freaky, older, silveret who he clung on…
"SON OF A BITCH!!" Riku growled, grasping his pillow and tossing it at his wall, hearing the 'fluff' of it meeting the pale white-tint. God, what he wouldn't give to get drink on a work night…
X.X.X.X
Tke: RLMAO, Sephiroth amuses me so much, he gives so much information and yet it's so vague. So yeah! My poll on my profile is who you think the killer is! Go, take it if you haven't taken it. So far the votes are:
Sephiroth: 3
Squall, Riku, or Axel: 1
Xemnas: 1
Tidus: 1
But there are more people to choose from, and I want everyone who reads this to answer honestly. Also, I would like to know who chose who. Like who chose Squall, Riku, or Axel, I truly want to know who chose them, and who chose Xemnas. Come on, be honest!
Reviewers get tapes of Sora and Roxas talking about their lives and what they want to be when they get older and other such things! (It's the tape Riku was watching)
REVIEW!!