Chapter 13

A few hours later,

The guys dropped me off home and I was walking back to my apartment. My body had finally stopped shaking and I had finally stopped crying.

"Faye." Someone said.

I turned around and saw Tatsuro stood behind me.

"Hey, what's wrong? Have you been crying?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh no, I'm fine. What's up?" I asked.

He took a step closer and wrapped his arms around me.

"I know when you're lying, what's happened? It wasn't Mr Yanase was it?"

I sighed and buried my face into his chest, it felt so good to have his arms around me.

"No, honestly it's nothing. What's up?" I said and pushed him away.

"If you say so. I need to talk to you. It's urgent." He said.

"Ok." I said.

We went to our favourite play park as kids.

"This brings back so many memories… we use to swing all the time. Remember?" he said.

"Yeah." I said.

"Why do you look so nervous?" he asked.

"Well you said you had to tell me something urgent." I said.

I hoped this wasn't about the foxes.

"Yeah, I do… I'm just gonna ask you point blank… Riki definitely isn't your boyfriend?"

"No, we're just friends." I said.

"Really?... and you know I'm investigating the Black Foxes." He said.

"Yeah."

"Their latest crime was stealing a painting from a wealthy man. Unfortunately, there was a party at the time so no one saw much. It was the party I saw you and Riki at." He said.

I froze and tried to keep my face calm.

"You seem to know a lot about it." I said.

"Everything I tell you, is off-record. Got it?"

"Ok." I said.

"When I was investigating the black foxes and all of their recent crimes, I came across two troubling names. That name was Riki Yanase and Kenshi Inagaki. You work at Mr Inagaki's restaurant, don't you?"

A cold sweat started to drip down my back. How much does he know? If he knew too much, what would stop the Black Foxes from dealing with him?

"So, you're trying to tell me that Riki and Kenshi are members of the Black Foxes? Don't make me laugh!"

"I'm not positive, but I think it's likely."

"Why?" I asked.

"Finger prints and DNA evidence. Some of Mr Yanase's fingers were found at your museum when it was robbed and at the party. And also footprints. One of the set of footprints was unusual. They were made by boots worn by a firefighter. So then I got a list of all the firefighters in the city and Kenshi Inagki's name was on that list."

Oh my god! He was on to us. What was I going to do?!

"Faye, what's wrong?" he asked. "You look really pale."

"Do I? No I'm fine."

"Really…"

"You have no evidence. One, how do you know that Riki wasn't at a previous exhibition and that's how his DNA and fingerprints got there? Plus he was at the party with me the whole time, so he has an alibi. And about Kenshi, I don't really know him. I assume if you had enough evidence, you would have arrested them both by now instead of just talking to me. So…. I don't believe you."

"Faye-"

"No, I want to go home." I said.

"Ok, I'll walk you back to your apartment." He said.

We walked in silence till we came to my apartment.

"Thanks for talking to me today." He said.

"Sure."

"If you find anything about either Yanase or Iangaki, let me know."

"Ok. I'll see you later." I said and forced a smile before I hurried up to my apartment.

"Faye!" he said and suddenly hugged me.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"You seem upset. I just wanted to hug you again. You hugged me like this once.. before… when something terrible happened and I was about to cry… you hugged me and told me not to cry." He whispered in my ear.

"But now you look like you're about to cry."

"I'm fine." I said.

He gently let me go.

"If you need anything, I want you to come to me. I'll always listen to you, no matter what." He said.

"Thanks but honestly, I'm fine." I said.

"Let's go drinking together with Ranko soon. Ok?"

"Ok, I'd like that." I said.

I went up to my apartment and slammed the door closed. What was I going to do? I needed to tell the guys but then what would they do to him if I told them? But if I didn't tell them, Tatsuro could get them and arrest them and I didn't want that to happen.

I started to pace up and down.

I felt so conflicted.

I didn't get a wink of sleep last night, the next day I had work at Kenshi's restaurant. I still hadn't decided what I wanted to do. I was walking down a hallway when Kenshi came out of his room.

"Yo." He said and smiled.

I stared at him, he was such a good guy and he was my friend. He saved me yesterday when we jumped off the building and Riki helped me when I almost got burnt to death by lasers.

"Kenshi." I said and pushed him back into his room and locked the door.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Last night, after you guys dropped me off Tatsuro was at my apartment." I said.

"What did he want?" he asked.

I told him everything that Tatsuro had told me.

"Did he say why he suspects me and Riki?"

"Yeah they found Riki's fingerprints at my museum and at the party but it's fine. He's got an alibi. It's you that I'm worried about. Tatsuro said they found firefighter boots prints at Gondawara's mansion."

"Wait, that's ridiculous." He said.

"Why?"

"There's no way I'd wear my work boots on a mission and risk getting found out. And besides, firefighter boots aren't easily worn off-duty."

"But… so that means that Tatsuro was trying to trick me? Maybe he wanted to see my reaction when he told me that they suspected you guys." I said.

"That's probably it. Otherwise, why would he tell you details about the investigation? Even if he's your childhood friend, he's an elite detective."

"Arg! I can't believe this!" I said and started to pace again.

"Damn it. How much does he know?"

"I don't know." I said.

"Maybe he thinks you know who me and Riki are, but if he doesn't know for sure, maybe you can talk your way out of it. But if he knows… you've participated in missions with us."

"Yes I know, I could be arrested too." I said.

"Could you not see him for a while, Faye?" he said.

"But shouldn't I try to find out how much he knows?"

"No, it's too dangerous." He said.

"Yeah but-"

"No buts! Faye, do you really want to find out his intentions? He's important to you right?"

Did he mean that Tatsuro could be in danger if I tried to find out more?

"I'm sorry. I know it's too late, but I'm sorry you had to get involved with this." He said.

"Don't apologise, it's not going to change anything." I said.

The next day, I was sat in the Le Rendard Noir.

"Here's our breaded pork." Boss said and he set a plate down in front of me.

"Thanks." I said.

"Hey, I heard from Kenshi about your detective Friend." Riki said. "He suspects you, doesn't he?"

"Yes."

"I can't believe they suspect not only Riki and Kenshi, but you too." Boss said.

"Riki's not the problem, he has alibis. It's me and Kenshi that are in trouble." I said.

"It's your fault because you and Tatsuro got too close." Riki said.

"I know." I said.

"Anyway, Takkun is working right now to get information. You're not to go near your detective friend until we know more. Got it?" Boss said.

"Yes." I said.

"By the way, I made you a good luck charm to protect you from disasters." Boss said and handed me a charm.

"No thanks." I said and handed it back to him.

"What? Why? It might work."

I gave him a doubtful look.

"It's a stone I found at a shrine at midnight, it's imbued with the power of the moon."

"Boss, enough with the nonsense. We need to give her the reward." Riki said.

"Reward?" I asked.

They must mean the money we got from the mission.

"Yeah."

"I want to donate the money to the Lily Centre." I said.

I knew Kenshi donated his half but I never expected to get anything from the mission.

"What, you too?" Boss said.

"Yes." I said.

"The Lily center is pretty popular. This time, everyone's money they made on this mission is going there." He said.

"Really? Even the others?" I asked.

"Yeah, everyone gave theirs to the center too."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because that's why we did the mission." Riki said.

"But if we were to tell Kenshi that.." Boss said.

"He'd get mad, because he doesn't want to do missions just for money. He wants to steal for the greater good." Riki said.

"Kenshi's surprisingly hard-headed, you know." Boss said. "You can't tell him about this, ok?"

"I won't. You know… when I first met you guys I thought you were all such jerks but… you really are great guys."

"Of course we are." Riki said with his normal arrogant smile.

I couldn't help but smile. I put my fork down and walked around the table so I could hug them both. They both gasped but happily hugged me back.

"You guys are all so great!"