V
Naoto didn't work as much with the police department in the city as she had in Inaba, but she still had a few decent contacts. Detective Matsuura had helped her on her cases almost as much as she had helped his department close theirs. She respected him greatly. At 35, only a decade older than she was, he was already in charge of the city's Criminal Investigation Department. He didn't look the part, though. When she had first heard of him, she had expected to see someone like Dojima Ryotaro. A strict face and slumped shoulders from having to see the world's worst side every day. Matsuura looked quite the opposite. His eyes were always smiling, he led his department with a compassionate touch Naoto hadn't seen in many other officers. He did not even question her motifs when she presented Rise's case to him.
"The Seki case? That was ruled as a suicide, no?" They were standing in the police department's breakroom, waiting for the coffee machine to finish. Even Matsuura had to uphold some of the clichés.
"Yes. And I doubt there is much more to it. However, Seki's autopsy showed a high dosage of an unknown drug in her system." Naoto said as she pointed out the fact in her notes.
"Drugs? I can't remember seeing that in the report."
"Because it wasn't in the official report. Someone paid doctor Osawa to keep quiet."
"Really?" Matsuura was rubbing his chin in thought as he looked over the summary of the drug's known contents. "I assume her management didn't want this to get out?"
"Yes. I thought the same thing. Her manager, Toda Noboru, seemed sincere enough when he claimed his innocence."
"Big agency, though. I'll have someone ask around some more."
"Thank you." Naoto said, both for the assistance and the cup of coffee she now received.
"Never seen anything like this drug before, though," He continued, sipping from his own cup, "I should probably get some people on that. Looks like dangerous stuff."
"Hmm," Naoto nodded in affirmation, "I was planning on looking into it further myself as well."
"Oh right, haha, you have that contact. What was his name again? Millipede?" The smile in Matsuura's eyes had spread to his whole face.
"He wants to be called Spider." Naoto said, managing not to join in Matsuura's giggling even though she agreed the nickname was ridiculous.
"Right, right, Spider." Matsuura put his cup down to add his second packet of sugar. They were both distracted by a sudden commotion in the offices right outside the breakroom.
"Looks like a call came in." Naoto observed.
"Looks that way. Well, anyway, if your friend tells you anything we might find interesting you come and tell me, okay? I'll do the same."
"Thank you," Naoto nodded before a younger police officer disturbed them.
"Sir, we're gonna need you for this." The rookie officer looked at Naoto worriedly then, he hadn't been there long enough to know he could trust her.
"It's fine, Soga, what is it?" Matsuura assured him.
"High profile case. Some actress slashed her wrists."
"A suicide? We don't get called in for those."
"Yeah, it's… there's more to it…" The officer still eyed Naoto suspiciously. She couldn't blame him, she still looked rather young, and lacked a uniform to lend her authority.
"For crying out loud Soga, out with it." Matsuura chastised him.
"Right. So, apparently, she had invited a bunch of people over to her home. All of 'em paparazzi. When the first ones arrived they… uh… they found her underneath a self-portrait she'd painted on the wall in her own blood… apparently."
"Paparazzi? Shit." Matsuura poured out his cup in the sink and went to follow the rookie cop out of the breakroom.
"What's her name?" Naoto interrupted them.
"Pardon?" The cop asked.
"What was the actresses name?" Naoto repeated.
"Oh… Uhm…," he stalled as he was searching his brain, "Matsuko Ide."
"Ide? Hey, Naoto, wasn't she in that film series Seki was in?" Matsuura asked, but Naoto had already passed them both, cellphone to her ear.
"Rise, pick up. Pick up." Naoto was muttering to herself as she made her way to her car. When they were still teens it had seemed like Rise lived with her cellphone permanently glued to her hand. Naoto had seen that change, though. As Rise got more work, it would take her longer and longer to answer her texts. The fact that she was not answering her phone now had Naoto going to pieces. One dead actress was no cause for alarm. Two actresses from the same franchise dying under mysterious circumstance in less than one week was a different story. Maybe one suicide had inspired the other, Naoto tried to rationalize. Maybe someone was killing actresses and trying to make it look that way, a louder part of her was shouting. Pulling out of the police department's driveway, she searched her files for Rise's new address.
Rise still hadn't answered her phone when Naoto arrived at the building. Ringing the doorbell didn't have any effect either and Naoto found herself knocking on Rise's door. Still nothing. She tried to call one last time without results.
Naoto threw her lithe frame against the door four times before it finally gave way. A brief search revealed that the apartment was empty. Then, her cellphone rang.
"Naoto? You called me, like, five times. Is everything alright?"
"Rise-san, where are you right now?"
"I just got home, I was at a shoot all day," the voice on the other side of the line said, "what is…?" Rise's voice suddenly sounded from the doorway. She was still holding the cellphone to her ear as she saw Naoto standing just beyond her broken door.
"Did… did someone break into my apartment?" Rise was looking around confused at her otherwise pristine apartment.
"Uhm… No… Sorry. I did that." Naoto said, cheeks already turning red as she went to fix the door.
"Okay," Rise went to put down her bag before she added, "Why?"
"Right… Uhm." Naoto was struggling over her words as she put a thankfully light door back in its hinges. Suddenly Rise was right behind her, a hand on her shoulder.
"Naoto, what's going on?" She turned to see Rise's face marked with worry.
"I… I'm sorry, Rise. There's been another… Ide Matsuko was just found… ." The hand left her shoulder, now covering Rise's mouth in shock.
"Matsuko was killed?" She asked.
"It… It would appear to be another suicide." Now it was Naoto who put a hand on Rise's shoulder.
Rise leaned into the hand this time. Grabbing Naoto's forearm.
"But… you're here."
"I didn't want to take any chances. There is a pattern here that you would fit into." Naoto admitted. Rise nodded thoughtfully before grabbing Naoto's hand and leading her to her couch.
"You think someone tried to make it look like suicide?"
"I… I don't have a theory yet."
"But you thought I was in danger?" Rise's eyes drifted back to her door.
"There was a chance that you might be, yes. I'll look into arranging police protection for you during the investigation." Naoto had already pulled out her phone, Matsuuro's number ready to be dialed.
"Wow, Naoto. I'm… I'm kind of surprised you'd come. Let alone break down my door." Rise suddenly said. Naoto turned to her, eyes wide.
"What do you mean by that?" She asked.
"Just… After you left that night it… it sorta seemed like you'd never want to…," she threw a quick glance at Naoto, "I just thought I'd be the last person you ever wanted to see again.
"Rise-san." Naoto started, unsure of what to say. She opened her mouth a few times to start a sentence that never came.
"Thank you. For caring enough." Rise finally said for her.
"Of course." Naoto added lamely. They sat next to each other quietly for a few moments before Naoto got up, squeezing Rise's hand for just a moment. Finally pressing the dial button, Matsuura picked up right after.
"Shirogane?"
"Hi, Matsuura. Could I come investigate the scene?" There was a lot of commotion on the other end of the line.
"I…," Matsuura let out a long sigh, "You could but I'll be honest. This place is a mess. The vultures messed around with every piece of evidence long before I got here."
"I understand."
"Look, I doubt you'd find anything we've missed here but I'll," he stopped to shout something profane at someone for a moment before returning to the call, "I'll send you the pictures and evidence we've got."
"Thank you, Matsuura." She said before he interrupted her.
"You're with the other girl now, I assume? What was her name again?"
"Kujikawa." She saw Rise straightening up in the corner of her eye.
"Right. Everything seem okay over there?" Naoto was glad to hear him share the same concern over the actresses' safety.
"It would seem that way, yes. I was going to ask you if it was possible to-"
"Get her under police protection? Yes, a squad car should already be on its way. We've arranged for her to stay at a hotel. She'll be safe, Shirogane."
"Thank you, Matsuura." She ended the call and repeated his last sentence in her mind.
She'll be safe.
VI
After ensuring that Rise was safe in the custody of the police, Naoto was driving back home to her own apartment. "I just thought I'd be the last person you ever wanted to see again," Rise's words were being broadcasted through Naoto's tired mind on repeat. Was Rise right? Had she been so upset at the idol back then? She remembered their breakup clearer than ever, as well as everything leading up to it. She had been right to leave then, hadn't she? Yet seeing the surprise on Rise's face when she discovered Naoto still cared had hurt her. Of course she still cared, how could the girl believe she'd hate her enough she wouldn't care if she lived or died?
Did the years before the breakup no longer matter? Because it had been so good for so long. They'd been together for three years , and she still remembered those first two as the happiest she'd ever been. They'd been fine just dating for a year. Their new, adult lives were still taking shape. Rise was finally becoming a bigger name in the idol world again. Meanwhile, Naoto was making plans to permanently move to the city. Now that she had graduated, she had been considering staying in Inaba to be with her aging grandfather, but he had been the one to push her to make the move. Detectives need to be where their cases are, after all.
They managed to make it work for a while, but the distance was starting to do to them what it had done to Rise and Souji before. Daily phone calls turned into weekly calls. "I'm sorry, I should get back to work" had become their permanent way of saying goodbye. Naoto won't lie how grateful she was when, after that first year of dating, Rise had surprised her with the most romantic evening she'd ever lived through.
She'd come home to find her apartment littered with candles and flowers. Her girlfriend hadn't been there to great her. Instead, she found a note on her table. Rise had permanently quit the idol company. Instead, she wanted to pursue a career as an actress. A career, the note reminded Naoto, that meant she would be able to live in the same city as her. Maybe even the same home, if Naoto was okay with that. Rise had been waiting for her in the bedroom.
Less than a year later, the same issues resurfaced. The first few months they had made it an unspoken rule that they would go to sleep next to each other as often as possible. Naoto got busier than ever, but tried her best, even if she wasn't there when Rise fell asleep, to be there to greet her in the morning. For a long time Rise did the same, then she got signed to star in Furies Full Speed, the series where she met Seki Haruka. Suddenly, Rise was busier than she had ever been as an idol. The movies director, Shoda 'Hide' Hidemechi, was heralded as a genius. The best young and upcoming director in the country. All eyes were on him and, subsequently, on the people he had chosen as his new stars: Seki Haruka, Ide Matsuko, Oba Kenji, and Kujikawa Rise.
Rise had to appear on television for interviews almost every night. The nights when she wasn't working, she was expected to be at glamourous parties. She rarely offered Naoto to join her to these events, and the detective was becoming less and less certain that it was because she knew Naoto would hate it there, and that it might be because it was better for her career to appear single. The few nights that Rise was home, they'd fought about it. The next few events, Rise would ask if Naoto wanted to join her. Naoto took her up on the offer sometimes, if only to stop the feeling that Rise was slipping away somehow. That feeling never went away again, though.
When production for the first film in the series started, disaster struck. Naoto's grandfather passed away. She'd never needed Rise as much as she did in that moment, but had been stubborn enough not to say so. Rise was away on location and said it would be pretty impossible for her to fly all the way back to Inaba for the funeral. Naoto had wanted to ask her to do the impossible, just this once, but had foolishly made herself believe she would be able to do this without Rise. She had been wrong.
Every member of the Investigation Team had been at the funeral. They had offered Naoto a hug. Had realized just how badly she was hurting when she accepted each display of physical affection. Had fell into a shocked silence as she sobbed into Kanji's chest. Had all shared a look with each other asking: "Why the hell isn't Rise here?"
Kanji had taken her back to her apartment in the city. He sat next to her while she talked about her favorite memories of her grandfather, threw a strong and comforting arm around her when she wasn't talking, only thinking. She knew very well that he had been in love with her once. That maybe those feelings were still there, even though he now was in a committed relationship. How could he make the effort to be here for her now, while her own girlfriend was halfway around the world pretending to be in a high-speed car chase ?
Three days later Rise finally came home. Nothing felt right anymore. Rise asking Kanji if she could have a moment alone with Naoto, after he had been the one there for her, had been enough to set off Naoto's yelling.
Naoto's mind was still reeling when she finally pulled up to her apartment building. Her phone rang, Matsuura had put a rush order on Ide's bloodwork. The results weren't definitive yet, but the drug found in her system definitely matched the one Seki had taken.