*** Sorry! On the previous chapter the time's PM... It's supposed to be AM! Mayu and Len did NOT eat at a disgusting pastry shop near midnight. :) Also, I changed the cover of the story! /o/ Riddle Solver and Riddler too! \o\ ***

Chapter 22: That Guy

"You!"

Speechless, Len turned his eyes to Mayu for a second. She didn't seem to recognize him, but, no… It had to be an act. What were the odds of the two of them meeting in the place Mayu brought him to? "What are you doing here?"

"This is a pastry shop, what do you think I'm doing?" He replied bitterly. It was a stupid question Len understood that; he just got carried away in the mood that was all. "I should be the one asking you this question. How did you know I was here? And more importantly why did you pay this man to throw water off like that?"

"I just got here, I've no idea what you're talking about!" And Len expected him of all people to be smart enough to figure out there's no way he'd pay a random man to throw water down the street.

He wasn't even there no witness the sight.

Which he kinda wished he did.

"Somehow I don't believe you."

"Oh, oh!" Mayu interrupted them. "You two know each other? Why don't you introduce me to your friend over here?"

"We're not friends." Len sighed. Was it possible that their meeting there was just a simple coincidence? It obviously didn't seem like it, and for Mayu to not be a part of that 'coincidence' was hard to believe. "He's Piko, and this is Mayu."

"So you guys aren't friends… But it looks like you two know each other more than as acquaintances." She looked at Len, and then at Piko. It didn't look like one of those friendships where two people throw insults at each other for fun, it looked like they simply wanted to kill each other. With a staring contest. And Piko was winning because Len kept giving her suspicious glances now and then.

"It's complicated." Piko definitely wasn't comfortable at all. So was the suspicious nose picker behind the register, really. As much as Piko wanted to leave he needed to know what was going on, he still hadn't gotten a straight answer from any of them. He then turned his attention back to the register; that's one of the reasons why he came there for in the first place. "Just tell me who paid you to do this and I'll leave."

"Oh, I have a guess! You two knew each other from a case? Like, maybe Piko used to be a client of yours or something?" Clearly Mayu wasn't interested on whoever threw the water or whatever.

"No, we met in prison." The second Len said that, memories of the day he met Piko flashed. None were pleasant, though it was funny thinking about it. They were actually talking so 'casually' like that as if the past hadn't happened; violent stares aside. "He tried to murder me in more than one occasion while I was still in prison."

"Huh… 'tried' doesn't really count as being a murderer though." She nodded. "It's amazing how small this world is, huh? You two meeting here like this... I wonder which is more improbable, that, or the fact that there's two serial killers in this town now, Kaito included. Oh, I forgot. Three is the exact number, is it?"

"Eh…?" Both Piko and Len was surprised to hear that; each of them for different reasons.

"People like you with blank expression's so easy to read. If you think it's hard for people to figure out what you're feeling you're wrong." Mayu laughed at his reaction. Sure, Piko's surprised face only lasted for a second, but she saw it; Len too probably. "Why do you look so surprised? Do you recognize that name?"

"No. I'm surprised at the fact that there's three serial killers in this town and I've lived here for so long. It's you isn't it?" He pointed at Mayu. At first sight she didn't look the type who would hurt a kitten for all the diamonds in the world, then again… She was with him. "You people…"

"Don't group me in with her."

"What are you talking about? We've probably killed the same number of people! Roughly! Actually I've never really counted them." She shrugged and caught a quick glance at the 'innocent' nose picker. As soon as their eyes met, he could say and do nothing else but to run from his spot and on to another room. Poor guy. Mayu welcomed him to the list of people she wants dead within a week. She literally had a list of that, and really, nose picking in front of her alone was enough to get him on the list.

"If you happen to see a blue haired man, probably a little bit taller than you, has a goofy seemingly innocent smile on his face, tell him Mayu's looking for him. Uhm… And tell him I'm going to kill Len soon so if he wants to see him ever again he needs to find me real quick." Len wondered if the short 'uhm' pause she had earlier was her coming up with that plan. "We're going to leave by sunset so if you can't find him by then, I guess it's up to Kaito to find us. By the time Kaito finds us later there's no guarantee that that he'll still be well and alive~"

"Why are you speaking to me as if I know that guy?" She can't be serious, can she? Then again she just said she was a… Serial killer. "I don't know him."

"But you've been in this town for a looong time, didn't you say so earlier? If you notice anyone weird then surely you can pass on my message."

"Whatever, I'm leaving." Without another word from any of them, he left.

"Did you really not plan all of this?" Len asked after quite a long pause between them. "I never thought I'd ever see that guy again."

"Uhm… Not really. I mean, I want to hunt some new sweets from a new pastry shop I've never been to before; that's on my to-do list. The other was to find Kaito and I heard he was somewhere around here. Way to kill two birds with one stone, right?" So it really wasn't just her 'feelings'. "My eyes and ears' all over the place! Figuratively speaking."

"If it's really all over the place you don't need to ask him to deliver the message."

"Oh, let it go! He tried to kill you in more than one occasion I get it, there's no need to put so much emotion every time you mention the guy." Mayu rolled her eyes. "Also, my eyes and ears can't work 24/7 they need some rest, you know?"

'Her eyes and ears needs a rest? What a lame excuse.' It wasn't that hard to figure out that she was lying. For one, if trying to find Kaito was really important Len knew Mayu could've easily done just that. Clearly Kaito was spotted somewhere around that town and if he's spotted, couldn't Mayu's 'eyes and ears' pay him a visit and follow him through the end without a 'break'? Why was the town's location enough for her? Because of the 'kill two birds with one stone' thing?

"It doesn't matter, even if he finds Kaito he's not going to pass your message." If he were in his shoes he wouldn't do it either.

"Why not? I asked him to do a friendly favor nicely." She pouted. Of course, if the message had not been like 'hey, deliver or I'll kill this person you apparently hate so much', which he would most definitely prefer the latter choice, he might consider delivering it to Kaito. "You need to tell me more about this guy, he looks interesting! Like, do you think he still wants to kill you? Is that why you think he won't pass on the message?"

"What's it to you?"

"The longer your story the longer I'll let you live! Pleeeeease?" Well, Len obviously couldn't say no to that. "Let's walk around and look for Kaito while we're at it. It'll help pass the time!"

It's not something he had shared with anyone before; maybe because it wasn't a pleasant memory to recall to begin with, maybe because it's something he'd rather forget, or most likely because no one had ever asked and he's not much of a talker in the first place. The question 'did anyone ever try to murder you while you were in prison' had never popped up in a daily conversation.

Len wondered if that's a good thing or not.

"Alright." And then… Was he forgetting something? Oh, that's right. "Aren't you going to go up and tell… That nose picker earlier and tell him everything he heard was a lie? Or, you know, pay for the food?"

"It doesn't matter, this pastry shop'll be off the map within three days I guarantee it." Another innocent 'teehee' smile from Mayu that day. "And besides, why would I lie?"

11:15 AM

Weird day.

It'd been a weird day for Piko; and apparently the sun's still high in the sky and the day's far from over. It was just one walk with Rin that led to one thing to another and in the end… What's next? He had to deliver a message to Kaito if he happens to find him. Well, he was on his way to his house ready to give the cake, but the message?

'Hi, Kaito. Earlier I met a girl named Mayu and she said she's looking for you. Apparently he's going to kill this detective named Len sometime so you need to find her soon.' Something like that? It's got to be a prank… The water case too; that one's still a mystery. 'Oh yeah, and she told me that you're apparently a serial killer.'

What, were those three friends? Or at least accomplices? And was Rin involved in it somehow? It's suspicious that Kaito said he and Rin were siblings and they 'moved' there to enjoy a three week holiday. She did say she was working as an assistant detective before...

'Don't tell me the detective she's working under for is… That guy.' His head was going to explode any second. In fact if there weren't any people in the street he'd repeatedly beat his head up against a wall out of frustration. Just because. 'I don't understand what's going on between them at all.'

He didn't want to get involved, but he wanted to know. There's no way he'd tell them, and there's no way he'd ask them directly so the only option available was to just… Guess what was going on with his own head. Surely he's smart enough to guess what's going on? Even if it's not all that accurate?

'Assuming everything she said is true, and this isn't all some big joke…' If it's all just a joke he'd jump off a cliff out of embarrassment, just because. 'Mayu's looking for Kaito, and right now… Kaito and Rin'svacationing in a small town like this claiming to be brothers and sisters. Mayu said she… Wants to kill that guy for some reason unless… I deliver her the message?'

'His life is in my hands, how... Interesting.' He smiled at the thought. 'Hilarious.'

Whatever background they had, whatever their relationship was, all of a sudden it didn't matter. Piko concluded what mattered was how he was involved with those people. If he doesn't pass the message on to Kaito, he won't try and find Mayu who's still in town, and that guy will die. Even if Kaito in the end tries to find Mayu anyway, after sunset she'll be out of town and there's no guarantee he'll find her in time.

If he does pass the message, Kaito can find her before sunset in this small town and that guy will live.

'What to do… This is a human's life we're talking about.' Human, hahaha. That guy wasn't human. Apparently he wasn't just a murderer anymore either, he was a serial killer. Maybe he missed a newspaper article or two about it, but it didn't matter. He knew what action he should take.

'…Then again… The past is the past. And Rin...'

"Yo, Piko!" A voice suddenly called out to him. After everything he'd gone through that day he felt like nothing could ever startle him; but that did, because it was Kaito's voice. He just made his way out of a tailor shop with a big brown bag in hand.

"What a coincidence, I was just on my way over. To your house I mean." He was about to hand the pastry he bought earlier to Kaito, but it looked like his hands were full at the moment. "This is for you and Rin."

"Huh… What are you so happy about? Did your small walk with Rin went well?" Kaito teased. Was he still… Smiling? He imagined it wasn't a good kind of smile either considering he was thinking about killing a guy. "I'm sorry but she's taken buddy."

"What are you talking about?" The two started walking towards Kaito's house. It was still a long walk, and… Was it possible that Mayu girl was still out there somewhere? She was looking for him, right? She couldn't still be in the pastry shop.

"I'm her brother so I need to keep an eye out for my little sister you know?" Yeah, sure, 'little sister'. "She already has a crush. But don't tell her I said that."

"She does?"

"Yeah, it's her boss, did she mention she was working as an assistant detective before? Again, don't tell her I said that. I just thought I'd give you a heads up before things get too intimate before you two hehehh." Piko looked like one of those people who'd fall for Rin, Kaito thought. Because Rin was nice and everything. Well, she was nice to everyone.

That thing she did to Mayu was surprising.

"Huh," was Piko's only response.

"So, hey, thanks for the cake. Any interesting story to tell on your mini not-romantic-whatsoever date with Rin?" Lots. There was lots to tell, but he only needed to say one thing.

"I think you should just stay at home for today, if you have any plans or whatever, cancel it." Piko looked up at the bright sky. "It might not look like it, but it's going to rain heavily. The rain should clear up after sunset so until then, just stay at home."

"Eh… Really? It looks so bright out today." Then again, it was bright out yesterday too. It's hard to believe a heavy rain like that was happening in a hot summer like that. "My house is still dusty, dirty and plain uncomfortable to stay in though. I think until the sky gets really dark out I'll go shopping with Rin. I just bought her new clothes so I'm gonna g-"

"I'll help you clean your house." Piko interrupted. "And I'll even make you dinner if you want."

"You really don't want us to leave the house, don't you?" Kaito gave him a suspicious look. Sure, he wanted his house sparkly clean and a warm delicious dinner, but… Piko was just being so… Nice it was suspicious.

"The truth is… I just want to do you a favor. I… Love serving people. To clean a house, to cook dinner, it's been so long since… I'm sorry. I guess I suddenly feel nostalgic. The me in the past, is, well… He's creeping up again." That part at least, wasn't a lie.

"I didn't know you feel that way." And he couldn't just leave Piko alone doing all the cleaning… He was sure Rin won't leave the house until it's clean and habitable either if Piko's cleaning it up. "Fine, let's spend the day cleaning my house up. Damn, I really owe you one… If there's anything you want just let me know."

"It's my pleasure." As long as he could keep Kaito inside his house until sunset, there was no way Mayu could ever find him. The message he had to pass on would forever be undelivered.

Piko's grin was mistakenly interpreted by Kaito.

11:20 PM

"I don't think you'll find Kaito in a place like this." For some reason Mayu decided the first place they had to 'investigate' was… A doll store. There was a rack with stuffed animals, porcelain dolls with dead fish eyes (not literally of course), most dolls in the store there looked so lifelike it was… Disturbing. Why would any girl play with those things?

"That's what he wants you to think. Kaito's a sly one, if anything, there's even a chance he's a in a tailor shop right this moment cross-dressing as a woman!" No, Len couldn't see that happening at all. Kaito was smart… But he had his pride. "So? On to your story! You haven't said a word about that Piko guy since we got here!"

"It was during my second year serving in prison." Len sighed at the fact that… The story wasn't a really long one. He felt like if that guy told the story it'd be a lot longer. Len was the victim in that scenario, the culprit would know better on what's going on than the victim. "I had a guest one night. He didn't even tell me his name, he just barged in to my cell all of a sudden."

"Prison guards these days, am I right?" Mayu picked up a porcelain doll at random and started examining it.

"He killed the prison guards and took the keys."

"That tiny wimpy guy? The same guy we met earlier at the pastry shop?" She finally took her eyes off the doll. "Interesting… He's a murderer… Yet he's still happy, relatively speaking, he seems unhappy to meet you again, mutually so, I noticed, and alive and away from the guillotine? No wanted posters or anything? Wonder what kind of strings he pulled."

"After he barged into my cell he knocked me off unconscious. Next thing I knew… I was in a room with two dead bodies; it's the two prison guards. In the end I found out he murdered those two people not for the keys, apparently he just wanted to put the blame on me."

"Weird guy."

"It was an almost flawless set up. He told the other prison guards that I killed those two to get the keys out of my cell, but he played the role as a hero and told them he knocked me out before I tried to escape. The only flaw was… There was a witness. I'm not sure who it was, it's probably another prisoner, or another guard."

"He should've just killed you when he barged in the first time. You wouldn't stand a chance against him at all!" For some reason Mayu was on… Piko's side in that conversation?

"I thought about that too. Maybe that's just not how he wants me to die at the time. I assumed he's one of those people who thought it was unfair that I didn't receive my punishment for committing murder, that instead I got three years of prison time instead."

"What happened to him next?"

"He tried to murder me again the second time when we were in the same… Cell." Mayu laughed out loud hearing that; in a second she became the center attention in that doll store. "Maybe he bribed the judge during the trial, maybe he had some other trick or whatever, but in the end he only stayed for less than a month."

"During the one month he was there, oh, less, was it? Did you even bother asking why he wanted to murder you so badly?"

"He said I should've gotten a punishment and I shouldn't have to serve prison time. What a hypocrite." That guy… And to meet again while Mayu was around… Was it possible that he wanted him dead so much he'd ask Mayu for help? That sounded… Possible? Impossible? In between? It's just a random guess.

"What a guy… Next time we see him let's invite him to a tea party or something. It's gonna be so awkward, it's hilarious!"

"Whatever you say." If that meant he'd live a longer life in Mayu's hands, then, why not? "If Kaito couldn't find us by sunset, are you really leaving?"

"Yeah, I guess I'll just call him or something? But I'm not sure if he even owns a phone… Damn it we need to find him real quick!" Said the girl who was still browsing at one doll and another. "When I kill you later I want Kaito to see it… It'd be no fun if he's not there."

'How soon exactly is… 'later'?' Len gulped at the thought. He still couldn't think of an escape plan either. Everything had been so… Normal. Other than Mayu's words and threats there'd been nothing lethal nor dangerous coming at him.

"Let's split up."

"You think I'd fall for that trick? I bet you'll just jump on the next train the second we split ways!" Len had to have more faith on his lying skill and his persuasive skill. He'd been in worse conversation, right? He could do better than just a simple 'let's split up'!

"Even if we find Kaito, do you really think he'll talk to you? He'll kill you in the spot, he thinks I'm dead by now. I made sure of it before he left." He was sure Kaito'd get a heart attacking if he suddenly shows up in front of him.

"Hmph, you underestimate my power! He can't kill me that easily." Len figured that much, he'd tried that while they were still in the ship. There's no way Mayu would let her guard down in point blank, but a long distance shot was another thing.

"He'll at least stain your dress with blood a little bit." He shrugged.

"That's… True. That might be true. Nope, no it's not. I can handle Kaito myself, I'm his boss. Unless…" Mayu smiled. It looked like one of those 'I just came up with a brilliant plan' smile. A brilliant evil smile. "I'm not stupid you know. I know the second you find Kaito you two are going to come up with a plan and betray me. But we're friends, right? We ate cake together, we're window shopping in a doll shop…"

Technically the one eating the cake was mostly Mayu, there's no way Len would eat when he's at risk of being poisoned and when the shopkeeper was being disgusting, thank you very much, and the one window shopping there was Mayu too. Still, it was obvious that the first thing he'll do once he finds Kaito's find a way to bring Mayu down. Running away at that point was just out of the question.

"How can I convince you that we won't betray you later?"

"Uhm… How about this? My plan was to kill you in front of Kaito, but if you two betray me; that's right, that means if either of you betray me, I'm going to kill Rin in front of you, then I'll kill you in front of Kaito, then I'll let Kaito live so he can, like regret his life decision and stuff. Then I'll watch him kill himself." She made it sound so easy and simple.

'That's actually… A clever plan. She knows we're going to betray her either way, so she's actually dragging Rin into this? There's no way we're going to do whatever she says, so…' Apparently Len just made the situation worse. Damn him and his confidence on his persuasion and lying skills!

Note to self, detecting lies is easier than doing it.

"It's a deal, let's split up." There's no backing out of it. Two heads' better than one, so to involve Kaito in it, even if it means involving Rin into the problem… No, even if he dies later on, he's sure Mayu's not going to leave Rin alone anyway.

"Good, let's meet back at the station an hour before sunset." Mayu had finally decided on a doll. It was the first one she picked, the first one she laid her eyes on. The porcelain dolls' hair was wavy and blond just like her, her red dress too… "Remember that my eyes and ears' everywhere Mr. Detective."