Okay, the title isn't from an Alfred Hitchcock movie...but it could be!

Disclaimer:...Do I need to say more?

Chapter 3: Blood On My Hands

"Yuuno! Yuuno, what's going on?" Chrono watched the librarian, who looked like someone had just stepped over his own grave. His face was pale as he stared at the phone in his lap, his green eyes lifeless and leaking tears.

"I...I knew I should have stayed home," he muttered. "I had the feeling something was wrong...and I just left like everything was alright! I let her die!"

"Yuuno, what are you talking about?!"

"I've got to get home," he said suddenly, and started hastily grabbing things. "I have to find out what happened to her..."

Chrono grabbed Yuuno's arm just before he could leave. Yuuno stared at him like he was crazy.

"Do you mind, Chrono? I've got to get home! Something bad could have happened to someone I care about!" Yuuno said.

Chrono sighed. "Yuuno, talk to me here. What's going on?"

"If I told you, you would be a dead man walking...just like me," Yuuno replied simply. His response earned him look of shock from the admiral. "I don't have much time. I've got to go home."

"...Well, if it helps, mind if I come along? I've got some time to kill before I get home," Chrono said casually.

Yuuno, however, wasn't stupid. He saw the hardened look in his eyes and knew Chrono wasn't going to leave him alone until he got some answers. And he knew that it took a lot to dissuade the Admiral when he was concerned.

All in all, it was a lose-lose situation.

"...Do what you want, Chrono. You're the one calling the shots," Yuuno said bitterly.

Calling the shots...He grabbed his coat and staggered out of the office, Chrono not far behind. The door slammed shut behind them.

(Yuuno's Apartment)

Mariel set the note down on Yuuno's desk, admiring her handiwork. "Do you think that'll get the point across to him, in case he does come back?"

"I think Mrs. Froy'll get it across." Atenza pointed to the bloody splotches on the wall where she'd been shot. "I wish we could've seen the look on his face. It would be a real Kodak moment."

"Hey, I think someone's comin'!" Jasper yelled. The sound of footsteps coming to the door set both siblings on alert. Atenza stood at the door, while Jasper held his hand on the doorknob.

When Jasper flung the door open, they were met with the sight of a little old man hobbling along in the hall. He turned to see them, and would have passed them by had he not seen Atenza's weapon.

"What the-" The man had no time to say anything as Jasper lunged forward, grabbed him by the shirt, and slammed him into the wall. There was a sickening crunch, and then he fell to the floor. Jasper leaned over the man, breathing heavily as he surveyed his work.

"Jumpy today, aren't we, Jasper?" Atenza smirked.

"Shut up," the hitman replied. "Let's get to the van before anybody shows up."

"Yes, sir," Atenza said mockingly. With a nod to his sister, the trio made their way down the emergency stairs.

Just as the door closed behind them, the elevator doors down the hall hissed open, revealing Fate T. Harlaown, Teana Lanstar and Arf. Fate and Teana were still dressed in their uniforms, even though the day was already over.

"Fate, do you think Yuuno's home?" Teana asked. "Arf did say that Chrono gave him a huge order to fill..."

"I just wanted to drop by and see how he was doing. He seemed a little out of it when I talked to him earlier," Fate said as they walked down the hall. What she saw made her stop.

The door to Yuuno's apartment was slightly ajar, and an old man face down on the floor. As the three ran over to him, Fate also caught the smell of something metallic.

"Ugh..." The old man on the ground struggled to sit up, and Arf and Teana pulled him into a sitting position.

"Are you alright?" Teana asked.

The man blinked, and then looked at her for a moment. "I am now, thank you," he said. "I hope you can take care of those creeps that were in that apartment over there."

"Inside that one?" Arf asked, pointing to Yuuno's room.

"Yep, that's the one. There were three of 'em. The first one was some short guy, no older than 30. The second was a guy in a tan overcoat. The third one was definitely a woman. Beautiful one too. They all looked like they had something to hide," the man explained.

"I see...do you know who did this to you?" Fate asked.

"It was the short one. I happened to notice that the guy in the overcoat had a gun. Before I could turn around, the little guy knocked me senseless," the old man said. "Sorry, I couldn't stop 'em for you, ladies..."

"That's alright. We'll make sure to catch them as soon as possible," Fate assured him.

"...By the Kaiser." Everyone's heads snapped to attention when they saw Teana standing in the doorway of Yuuno's apartment, her hand on the doorknob. The color had drained from her face, and her mouth dropped open.

"Teana, what's wrong?" Fate asked, leaping up from the ground and coming over to her.

The Enforcer Aide's lips quivered as she turned to her superior. "I don't think you're going to like this, Fate-san..."

The drive back to Yuuno's apartment was a silent one, as Chrono had pretty much given up on getting Yuuno to talk. The librarian's eyes were hardened as he sped down the street towards his apartment. Worry was all over his face, which let Chrono know that the situation was more serious than Yuuno was letting him in on.

"Yuuno, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. You've done nothing but ask me things the whole time," Yuuno replied irritably. He gunned it, running the red light and causing cars on both sides of him to slam on brakes. Horns blared through the street as he left.

"Someone's snappy today," Chrono muttered.

"Sorry. I have a whole bunch of things on my mind," Yuuno said. "So, what did you want to ask about?"

"Who is this Mrs. Froy? I believe you were about to tell me before the phone rang," Chrono continued.

"Well...she's a woman who I met at the library yesterday. She gave me a copy of some to-do list and said it was really important that I look at it," he said. "I didn't believe her at first, but then I read what was on the list..."

"And what was on it?"

Yuuno sighed. "It had...plans for an assassination plot on it," he answered.

"An assassination plot?" Chrono stared at the other man. "Against who?"

"I'm not sure. I got an email from Mrs. Froy that told me it would be against one of the higher ups at the TSAB," Yuuno replied.

"And how did she come across this information?"

"She's a spy. She got a copy of the list from one of the assassins who's behind the entire operation." Yuuno's eyes widened when he saw a crush of police cars chaotically placed outside of the building. Red lights flashed everywhere.

Without even thinking he slammed on brakes, nearly throwing Chrono into the dashboard. Yanking off his seatbelt, he leaped out of the car and took off running for the rear entrance, where there were no police officers standing outside. He quickly punched in the access code on the door, threw it open and ran up the stairs.

In less than a minute, he was at the third floor. He opened up the door and saw something he hoped to never see again.

A crowd of police officers were all standing outside of his apartment, asking several of his neighbors various questions. A strip of yellow police tape blocked the doorway. He heard Fate's voice from inside, and knew that she must have called the police.

What really shocked Yuuno was when two officers walked past, carrying a stretcher. It was covered with black cloth, but he didn't have to look far to see the outline of a body in there.

Mrs. Froy was dead. And it was all his fault.

Yuuno was snapped out of his thoughts by the door opening behind him. Chrono was standing behind him, panting and looking annoyed and concerned at the same time. His expression only darkened when he saw the scene in front of him. Pushing past Yuuno, he walked over to the cops.

"Can any of you explain what's going on here?" he asked.

The officer stammered, "W-Well, we got a call not even ten minutes ago from Ms. Harlaown. There's been a murder here. By any chance, do you know a man named Yuuno Scrya?"

"T-That would be me..." Yuuno walked up to the police officers and Chrono, already dreading the incoming statement.

"Mr. Scrya, we're going to have to ask you a few questions. First and foremost, did you know this Mrs. Froy?"

Yuuno truthfully told them everything he knew, including the fact that Mrs. Froy was a spy and that the Polonez siblings had been stalking her. He also told them that she had given them news on an assassination plot that could be carried out against one of the TSAB elite. Who it was, he wasn't really sure.

After that, Chrono turned to Yuuno with an incredulous look on his face. "You didn't tell me you were trying to stop a murder from happening, ferret boy."

"I didn't want to, Chrono. They told me that if I told anybody else about their plot, I'm a dead man," Yuuno replied. "And..I technically witnessed it, as it happened over the phone."

"...Take tomorrow off, Yuuno." The Admiral could see that it was too much for Yuuno to keep it all in. "After all that's happened, you deserve it."

"But Chrono-"

"Seriously, Yuuno." Arf walked out, her face filled with concern. "You look ready to break down at the slightest word."

"Fate and Teana are going to take care of things on this end, and I'll have an official warning to track down the Polonez siblings. The only thing you need to handle is yourself," Chrono said.

Yuuno saw his friends' concerned looks and knew that they were right. If he went to work tomorrow thinking about this, he'd never get anything done. And up until Mrs. Froy had been murdered, he had had plans for the evening.

"Thanks, guys. I really did need this," he replied, a slight smile on his face.

It took a lot of convincing, but Yuuno eventually managed to go into his room and get the small change of clothes he'd need for tonight, as well as his computer, since he would be staying at a hotel. It felt odd to be staying at another place instead of at his home, but at least he wouldn't be getting in the way of the cops...

"Hey, Yuuno?" Chrono called. "Are you ready to go? The police don't want you to mess with the crime scene."

"Coming!" Doing his best to ignore the obvious scenes of the crime, he made his way out of the house.

It had been a long day at the office for Joseph Today. So far, he'd been hounded with paperwork while trying to keep up with his reports on the Polonez siblings and their hitman, Jasper. They had been secretly trailing the twins after an assassination attempt against one of the elite members of the TSAB had gone wrong, and the man had said that he'd seen one of their faces; Mariel's from what he'd been told.

After that incident, they had disappeared off the Enforcers' radar. Every once in a while, they'd get a lead, but each one would be a dead end, and the case would go cold again.

Just when Joe thought that it would go cold again, one of his assistants came in with a sheet of paper. Yuuno's photo was on it, along with some information.

"So, this is the guy who Melissa got into contact with?" he asked.

"Yes sir. He's the only one who knows of this information; well, him and I think a few others in the law enforcement," his assistant replied.

Joseph studied Yuuno's profile even more, then stood up and pushed his chair in.

"Well, then let's pay a visit to Mr. Scrya; we may not have enough time before the Polonez sibling make their move."

Yuuno flung open the doors to one of the many performance rooms in the theater, which was currently playing an opera. The people in the audience continued watching the performance, completely unaware of his presence.

"So, they're not here...thank goodness for that," he breathed.

His happiness, however, would soon be short-lived.

The first shot that rang out sounded at the same time the opera singer on stage shot his firecracker into the air, making the stage come to life with flashes of light. A second shot followed, and the audience began to slowly move away from the play and try to find out what was going on.

That was when a man dropped from the balcony, falling on top of one of the patrons-an older woman in her sixties. She screamed, a sound that could have shattered dozens of windows in Cranagan alone. This soon set the audience into a panic, and everything became a mass of confusion.

Someone pointed out a figure standing on the balcony, and people began to look up in fear. Yuuno felt his blood go cold as Atenza Polonez pointed his gun at the crowd.

"Prepare to come under new management, fools!" he laughed, and opened fire. Screams rang out and people took off running as Atenza gunned down innocent people.

Yuuno was about to move when someone yanked on his hair, wrestled his hands behind his back, and slammed him into the ground. A heel ground into his back and cold metal pressed against his temple. Yuuno gulped.

"Any last words before you join dear Mrs. Froy in death...Scrya-kun?" Mariel's voice poured into his ears.

With the remaining courage he had left, he asked, "Who did you kill?"

He could almost hear the cruel smile in her voice. "That's an answer you'll never get."

The assassin cocked her gun back into place and pulled the trigger.

Yuuno burst out of sleep in a cold sweat, panting and entangled in the cotton sheets of his hotel bed. He looked around, rubbing his arms and legs, making sure that he was still in one piece. The sounds of the TV and the nightlife below confirmed his situation as the nightmare faded away. He wiped his face with his arm to wipe away the sweat, and was surprised to find that he was crying.

For the last few hours, he'd been doing everything he could to keep himself from breaking down entirely in front of his friends. Chrono still didn't seem convinced that he was alright-in fact, he wasn't doing a good job of convincing himself of that-but the Admiral didn't say anything more about it and he left for home.

All his life, he vowed to do whatever he could to take care of people; especially strangers who needed help. He couldn't just sit back and do nothing when someone would beg him for help. It was just in his nature. And part of his nature was to protect those he helped.

And now, a person was dead because of him. Mrs. Melissa Froy was dead because he had ignored the feeling of concern and danger that had eaten away at him that morning.

The memories of the phone call replayed in his head. Mrs. Froy's scream, the gunshot, and then Mariel's threat.

None of that would have happened if he hadn't trusted his instincts.

Yuuno trembled as he stared at his hands. "I have blood on my hands."

Then he buried his head in them, and let the tears fall.

Yes, this was more of a saddening chapter. I always thought that Yuuno was the kind of guy who didn't take things like death and murder well. We'll have to see how he'll handle this, as this murder is only the beginning...

Chapter 4 introduces another OC, who, by the way, isn't evil. Later on, we're also going to find out who the Polonez siblings' target is.

Read and review~!

God Bless, Iheartgod175