XI

To Naoto, the next ten minutes felt like they had happened on autopilot. She'd started barking out orders with an authority that even the most inebriated guests had been afraid to ignore.

"Soga, put him out!" She yelled at the rookie officer as she threw a wet beach towel in his direction. The command finally shook him out of his shocked state as he ran over to Oba's still burning but now still body.

"Everyone get outside now. Nobody leaves the area before I say so." The partygoers all stumbled outside, some lingering to look at the figure on the ground.

Naoto had grabbed Rise by the hand, taken her around the house instead of through it. Had pushed her car keys into Rise's hand.

"Get in. Wait for me." She said before rushing back inside. She briefly saw that Soga had gotten control over the flames. He was now administering CPR, though she knew it was far too late for that. The damage of the fire to Soba's lungs was already fatal before he had even reached the bottom of the stairs. Naoto ran up those stairs. Bathroom? Empty. First bedroom? Empty. Finally, the master bedroom? Not empty.

Soba Kenji's girlfriend was lying on the bed. Her hands and feet were tied to the bedpost with rope, a scarf around her mouth muffling her yelling. As Naoto came over to the bed, the yelling grew louder, the woman started struggling against her restraints more violently. Brief eye contact as Naoto leaned over her to untie the scarf revealed that her pupils were extremely dilated. Was it the same drug? Removing the scarf, the woman started repeating the same words that Naoto saw written on the wall behind the bed in black ink.

"I am altered. Everlasting." The woman and the text repeated the short message over and over again.

"Soga, get up here!" The officer arrived not one minute later. "Stay with her until the ambulance arrives." Soga nodded and Naoto went through each room upstairs again. The bathroom was still open, looking out she could see grass. It wouldn't have been too high of a jump for her suspect to escape this way. Whoever they were, they were long gone now. She searched the rest of the house. First the upstairs, then downstairs. She didn't find any other evidence, or any mention of Oba's kami, Suijin.

While she was waiting for the police and ambulances to arrive, Naoto briefly tried to sort her thoughts. Seki's and Ide's deaths had been both directly related to their kami. God of wind: you fall to death. God of blood: you bleed to death. This last one didn't add up. God of water: you burn. Was it meant to be ironic? Had the perpetrator hoped Oba would have jumped into his swimming pool once he was on fire? And why was there no mention of his kami anywhere? She doubted it was because they had lacked time. A close siren pulled Naoto out of her thoughts. She'd have to focus on her investigation later.

Matsuura ran over to her and she informed him of what had happened inside.

"You've checked the perimeter?" He asked her when she finished relaying the facts.

"Yes, the suspect, if there is one, probably escaped through an upstairs window."

"Okay. I'll have some people scan the neighborhood. The rest can interview the other guests."

Naoto nodded, distracted by the sight of an upset officer Soga leaning against a police car. Rough first month on the job, Naoto thought to herself.

"Is she still here?" Matsuura asked and it took Naoto a while to figure out who he meant. She nodded towards her car, a figure visible in the passenger seat.

"She saw it happen?"

"Yes, we both did."

Matsuura nodded slowly, his face surprisingly serious. Looks like he might have some Dojima in him after all, when the situation called for it. Naoto briefly feared he'd bring Rise up as a suspect again.

"It was a good thing you were here, Shirogane. Why don't you take Ms. Kujikawa back to the hotel. I'll see if I can send someone else to guard her tonight."

"Your people will be busy. I can do it, if you'd like." Naoto offered even though she already felt her exhaustion pricking at her eyes. Matsuura considered her proposition for a moment.

"I'd rather have a badge there, if only to keep the paper-pushers of my back. But if it's okay with you, maybe you could stay with her for the next half hour or so? I'll wrap things up here and meet you at the hotel, see if we can make sense of all this. Should be able to spare another officer in an hour or two."

"Very well."

Matsuura turned to look over his team. It looked as if the paramedics were about ready to take the body to the hospital. Best for Rise not to see this, Naoto thought. She rushed over to her car.

During the drive back to the hotel Rise had been uncharacteristically quiet and visibly rattled. Naoto was feeling quite shaken up by what they had just witnessed herself, and hoped for Rise's sake that she was doing a good enough job hiding it.

When they finally pulled up to the hotel, Naoto saw that Rise had begun to shiver slightly. She put her jacket over Rise's shoulders and they made their way to the room in silence.

As Rise entered the hotel room, Naoto stood hesitating in the doorway.

"Can I get you anything, Rise-san?" The actress shook her head as she made her way to the bedroom. Naoto followed her for three steps until she stopped again. Rise got under the covers, Naoto's jacket still wrapped around her, she buried her head deep into the blankets.

"I- I'll be right outside if you need me, okay?" Naoto said. She took the three steps back to the hallway.

"Naoto?" She heard Rise ask softly.

"Yes?" It was quiet for a long while.

"Nothing. Never mind."

Naoto closed the door behind her.

There was a time when it had felt effortless to her, knowing what she needed to do to comfort Rise. The girl she had just seen crawl into bed seemed so different from the one she used to share her own bed with. She sat down in the chair next to the door of Rise's room, her mind already reminding her of the scent of freshly made coffee. She'd just turned twenty, Rise's birthday was still a little over a month away. It had been one of the rare days when neither had to be anywhere at all for over 24 hours. Rise had insisted they'd celebrate by staying in bed until well past noon. She'd giggled as Naoto had tried to persuade her to get up anyway and go for a walk together. Rise had known a few tricks to keep Naoto in bed though. Rise's hands holding her down at the waist had helped, the kissing had helped even more, and then of course there'd been… Still sitting in the hallway, Naoto propped the collar of her blue shirt up to hide her blush. They'd stayed in bed well past noon that day. Rise had made coffee, it had taken Naoto a few months to teach her. Naoto had sat with her back up against the wall reading to Rise from one of her favorite detective novels, The Gilded Feathers. The other girl was leaning against her shoulder, reading along. She'd laugh at the clichés: the hardened detective, the grieving but sexy widow, the even sexier and mysterious nightclub singer, the suspicious looking journalist. Here and there, Naoto'd pause to explain the detective's backstory. The book had been part of a long series.

"He's afraid to fail, you see. Because once, he'd been the chief of police, but a bad decision caused the deaths of many, as well as his resignation. So now, every case is important, failure is not an option." She'd half expected Rise to scoff at the explanation, but the girl was suddenly quiet. Naoto turned to look at her. Rise's smile was gone, she was staring at the page with a blank expression.

"Rise-san?"

"What if I fail?"

"How do you mean?"

"You know, what if I don't make it? As an actress. I've already had my comeback, isn't it insane to start all over again?"

"You won't fail."

"You don't know that." Rise was right. Naoto thought for a moment.

"I don't think you'll fail. Like you said, you've made a comeback before. Your fans will always be waiting for you, they'll follow you again. And you'll get even more fans once everyone realizes you're even better at acting than performing." Naoto hoped the words had comforted Rise. She threw her arm around the girl, pulled her just a little closer.

"Hm. Maybe." Rise said.

"Definitely."

"But what if it turns out I'm actually really bad at acting? And I keep forgetting all my lines, or can't stop laughing during a serious scene or… ?" A vague smile had already returned to Rise's face. Naoto pretended like she was giving the question a lot of thought.

"Ah. Hmm. Well… I guess, then, you'd just have to go and work in a tofu shop for the rest of your life." Rise scoffed at Naoto's answer.

"Hey, don't knock grandma's shop, okay? It was actually kinda nice to work there."

"I know. That's my point. Even if you don't become the most famous actress in the country, which I doubt, there are always going to be plenty of wonderful things in your life."

"You're right. And hey, when I'm back at the tofu shop, you'll come by to talk to me, right? Like when we first met? You'll come make sure I'm safe?"

"Every day." Naoto pressed a kiss to Rise's forehead then. The girl let out a soft sigh.

"What happens next?" Rise asked, tapping the cover of the detective novel. Naoto had almost forgotten she was still holding it.

"Oh. Well. He solves the case. Turns out the dentist did it." Rise had rolled her eyes at Naoto then.

"No, I meant, what happens between him and the nightclub singer?" Naoto let out a soft laugh, of course Rise had been more interested in the romance than the investigation.

"He gets the girl, of course."

"Good." Rise said as she pulled the book out of Naoto's hands.

Would it still work now, Naoto thought as she sat in the hotel hallway. Would it still be enough to just be there with her to calm her. She wondered if Rise was thinking the same thing, on the other side of the door. That maybe, if Naoto was lying next to her now, holding her, that everything might be just a little less awful.

XII

"Shirogane," Matsuura's sudden greeting got Naoto to sit up quickly, "I wasn't sure if you'd still want coffee at this hour, so I got you coffee or tea." He was holding a cardboard tray with two containers. Naoto accepted the green tea with a grateful smile.

"Just what I needed, thanks. How were things at Oba's estate?"

"As bad as you'd expect. Media arrived pretty soon after you left, so it's a good thing you got Kujikawa out of there. Interrogations didn't really give us anything new. Apparently Oba had been upstairs with his girlfriend for well over an hour before the event occured. Nobody could say if they saw anyone else go up there. Plenty of witnesses but no one's really seen anything. I guess we couldn't expect more, right?" His eyes were smiling again as he sat down on the chair opposite of Naoto.

"Right." Her tired mind didn't have room to think both about the case and the actress in the room behind her. Right now, her worry over the girl's well-being had the upper hand, but she forced herself to focus for Matsuura's sake.

"You searched the house, right? Find anything else I should know about?" He asked her.

"I doubt I found anything you haven't. Did you manage to speak to the girlfriend yet?"

"No, still high as a kite, I'm afraid. They took her to the hospital to flush her system."

"She didn't drug herself though, right?"

"It's very unlikely."

"So then either Oba did or-"

"I think neither of us believe Oba did this to himself."

"No," Naoto appreciated Matsuura's candor, "Do we know where Toda is?"

"We checked his house, he's not there. Apparently he hasn't been in a while according to his neighbors."

"Suspicious."

"Very." They sat drinking silently for a while.

"She okay?" Matsuura finally broke the silence, nodding at the door.

"She's still in shock, I believe. I haven't really talked to her yet. I think she's sleeping." Matsuura nodded.

"Are you okay?" He asked, the question caught Naoto by surprise. When was the last time anyone in her field of work had asked her that?

"I-" Her answer was caught short when they both heard a loud crash at the other side of the door. The crash was followed by a scream from Rise and both detectives were up with their guns drawn. Matsuura went through the door first, weapon ready to fire. Someone else shot first. Matsuura yelped as he fell down, Naoto leaped over him to see a masked figure holding Rise by the arm. She was struggling to get away from him. Throwing anything within reach at his head. It had moderate success, a well-timed wineglass caused their second gunshot, aimed at Naoto, to miss by a few inches. Naoto waited with her own first shot, afraid to hit Rise who was moving erratically to get away from the assailant. The person fired a third shot, Naoto felt a sudden sharp pain in her side. Throwing a quick glance, she was reassured that the bullet had only grazed her. She sprinted towards the two, jumped over the coffee table. Her new position left her with a clear target, she took the shot, hitting the invader in the chest. They let out a grunt as they fell to their knees, finally letting go of Rise who crossed to the other side of the room.

"Rise! Run!" Naoto yelled, but the girl had decided to use her newfound freedom to find more stuff to throw at the downed assailant. Naoto trained her gun on the figure once more, why weren't they going down? Then she saw the Kevlar vest underneath their hoodie. She pulled the trigger a second time, hitting them in the arm. Instead of a grunt, they now let out a scream before suddenly jumping up again. They rushed forward, arms up to try to block Rise's projectiles, and ran straight into Naoto. The force of the impact sent her flying against the wall. She hit the back of her head hard against the surface, vision blurry for a few seconds before she could get back on her feet. Then, she was out in the hallway, running after the figure. Rise was yelling something behind her, she couldn't make it out over the ringing in her ears. The figure had made their way to the staircase, Naoto broke through the doors only a few seconds later. They had already made a decent head start though, Naoto figured they must have jumped down the first four sets of stairs. Her knees felt wobbly as she set to follow the m. When she finally exited the staircase, into the hotel's lobby, the figure was nowhere to be seen.

"The masked man, which way did they go?" She yelled at the clerk just exiting the office behind the desk.

"I… I didn't see anyone, I was in the backr- are you okay?" The woman's eyes went wide as she saw both the gun, and Naoto's bloody side.

"Call an ambulance." Was the only thing Naoto said before she turned to go back upstairs.

She found Rise bending over Matsuura's body. She was speaking to him softly, a bath towel pressed to his abdomen to quench the bleeding.

"Naoto?! Oh thank god." She said in relief when she saw the detective approach.

"How is he?"

"Did you call an ambulance?"

"Yes, they're on their way."

"Then he'll be fine." Rise said. Matsuura, eyes still closed and breathing heavily, put out one arm towards Naoto, giving her a thumbs up.

The ambulance and police had arrived quickly. They too had reassured Naoto that Matsuura would be fine, she finally let go of the hitched breath she had been holding. She'd joined one of the officers as they went to look at the hotel room. In their rush to leave, the intruder had left behind a bloody glove. It felt like a hard-won victory, but if they could match that blood to one of the suspects, the case would be as good as closed. The officer left with the glove, promising to put a rush on the tests. Naoto turned to search for more clues when she suddenly felt a hand on the back of her neck. Naoto turned to see Rise looking at her with an expression she couldn't quite place.

"Naoto, you're hurt," She said softly, "You should let her take a look at it." Rise had apparently led one of the paramedics to her.

"I'm fine." Naoto said, kneeling down to look at a footprint that turned out to be her own.

"Detective, you're bleeding rather heavily," The paramedic said in an equally soft tone that was starting to annoy Naoto, she wasn't made of glass, "We need to stitch that."

"It's fine. I don't need to go to the hospital." Naoto answered.

"Told you." Rise said to the paramedic, deserving more of Naoto's attention.

"You don't have to go to the hospital. I can do it here." The woman smiled encouragingly. Naoto turned her attention to Rise, who still had that strange expression. She'd seen plenty that night, maybe seeing Naoto taken care of would offer her some relief. Naoto nodded at the paramedic.

"Okay, why don't you come down to the truck," Naoto realized the woman was checking her pupils and she briefly wondered if she might have a concussion. The ringing in her ears was finally starting to quiet down. It didn't feel like she was concussed. "You can come, too." The paramedic said to Rise. Naoto turned to follow the woman downstairs and after walking a few steps Rise caught up to her, sliding her arm underneath hers, folding their hands together. Another few steps later, Naoto squeezed a little harder.

"We could arrange for you to move to a new location." Naoto was telling Rise after the paramedic had finished her examination. She didn't have a concussion, fortunately, but the wound in her side would take some time to heal. Rise was sitting next to her in the back of the ambulance.

"Yeah, okay." Rise answered.

"You could stay with me if you want." Naoto offered hoping she would agree. After today she was reluctant to let the actress out of her sight.

"Yeah, okay."

Rise was standing in Naoto's living room, seeming a bit lost.

"It looks different than your old place."

"Yeah well, I uh, have a bit more money to spend now." Their old apartment had been small and filled with mismatched furniture. Naoto's new place was bigger. Filled with furniture chosen because she liked the way it looked, not because it was cheap.

"It suits you."

Naoto didn't know how to answer. She went to her kitchen, returning with two glasses of water. She was utterly exhausted by now, and the thudding in her head was still going strong, yet having Rise stand in her home was making her feel alert. On edge. She'd felt Rise's words coming before she'd even opened her mouth.

"I guess you were way better off without me, huh?" She'd said it with a sad smile. The words hurt more than anything else had that day.

"I really wasn't." Naoto answered, taking a few steps toward Rise but feeling further away than ever.

"Doesn't really seem that way, though." Rise said, looking in the direction of a few framed pictures. Grandfather, mom and dad, Kanji.

"I guess I'm good at pretending."

"Then why don't I believe you?" Naoto let out a sigh at that.

"We don't have to talk about this now, Rise. I'm sure you're tired."

"Can we… Can we talk in the morning?"

"Of course."

Rise crossed the few steps in between them then. Grabbing Naoto's shirt at her stomach, still looking at the ground. Her knuckles pressed against the skin behind the fabric. For a moment she leaned forward, as if she wanted to rest her head on Naoto's shoulders but thought better of it.

"Okay. Tomorrow, then." She slowly released the material and turned towards the bed, eyes still trained on the ground. Naoto knew it was because there'd be a question in Rise's gaze she wasn't brave enough to ask out loud. Naoto answered it for her anyway, following her into the bedroom. Lying down next to her. Pulling Rise's back closer to her as she wrapped an arm around her waist. She thought she heard Rise whisper something then, before she put her own arm over Naoto's.