Flowers From Above

Chapter Twelve

I've been keeping a close eye on Shizuku especially when he was rounding up papers at his desk as he was getting ready for another visit over at Ijuuin's apartment. I'd watched him last night, always he was trying to get his head around what had happened to me.

He'd made a note of my dissapearance back in 2002 and any articles he could get his hands on either from the time or ones he'd found. There were so many scribbles of his own thoughts thinking just what could have happened to me? Was it Ijuuin? He had such an intense feeling that it just had to be.

I could see his knitted brows almost gripping at each other because of the fustration. But he'd always keep his cool when calming down he'd suck the nib of his pen lightly or dab it on the bottom of his lip and batter his socked foot against the floor in hope of an answer would automatically flow straight to him.

But there was nothing at all and as much as he'd of liked to see Ijuuin go down he needed proof...Evidence.

Then so I followed him to the apartment where he rang constantly but there was no answer. I could read him, Shizuku was relieved, this was his chance and luckily he'd been given a spare key anyway to deliver any paperwork or manuscripts off. But he had never had much of a chance to look around simply because Ijuuin was always home, not this time.

He dropped the papers off onto the living room table, it wasn't the same table either from when I lay there next to it on the ground trying to grasp my last breaths. Ijuuin had gotten himself a new one, bigger and better was how he liked to put it.

Shizuku called out a few times again and just to be even more certain he checked the rooms where there was no sign of Ijuuin knowing that he was definitely alone, he began his hunt.

He started rapidly flickering through books, he couldn't waste much time being slow and too careful. He looked in some of the small tins stacked on the shelves only to find spare pins, pencils or erasers. Even looking through manga, it had been long gone since Ijuuin had removed his disturbing fantasy novels off his shelves still in fear someone like Shizuku would find them.

"There has to be something" He muttered wearily.

Suddenly he hopped into Ijuuin's office where the magic usually happened. He had everything in there, sometimes in heaven I'd watch him in there, drawing, not always even sometimes he'd be thinking of me while glancing out the window or twirling my keychain around and give the tiny little chef a quick flick with his finger then watched it spin some more before it stopped.

And he continued looking only to be dissapointed when he found nothing at all still and then as soon as he was about to give in Shizuku booted a box that was slightly out of place when he was exiting the cornered desk. He crouched down to it's level, pulling the box from underneath his desk, curiously he opened it.

There it was Ijuuin's old sketchbook.

I noticed Shizuku's hands tremble, I think he knew what was in there.

He speedily plucked the pages as if they were infected. All there was were notes, a couple of drawings which were nothing like his usual work. Everything inside there was dark, disgusting and deadly.

Then he flinched away when my lock of hair fell out from it's page, it'd been so long since anyone else other than Ijuuin had saw something of me.

Shizuku swallowed nervously when flipping open the last page of the scene of my murder. In panels were an older male obviously Ijuuin and a small delicate teenage boy yet he needed no telling who that boy was either. He couldn't take his eyes away from the page once, if I were mistaken I would of sworn I saw tears fill up in his eyes.

"Then he choked,"

"Choked"

"And choked."

Sadly and softly Shizuku brought back the lock of my hair into it's place within the sketchbook and closed it before bringing it up to his chest.

There was only one last thing there was to do and that was to tell the police.

Though just as he was about return upon his feet the front door slammed. Shizuku shot back down onto his knees and crawled underneath the desk, luckily he managed to fit tightly into a small ball.

Unfortunately it wasn't looking like Shizuku was leaving anytime soon as Ijuuin entered his office, closing the door behind him the first place he headed was right over to his desk.

Shizuku was trapped.