Wow, it really has been a long 7 - 8 years since I last updated this story. Well recently I really got the urge to come back and finish it. To everyone that has patiently waited for this story to be concluded I want to thank you. Me and thelovelydissidacharacters are back to deliver these last few thrilling chapters for you. So, enjoy and stay tuned for more. Also as always, please be sure to review, every one counts!

The Amagi Obsession

Chapter 8: Deceit

Naoto left the Amagi Inn with a burning sensation in her chest. Something was off, very off about Yukiko. Their previous encounter left a bad taste in her mouth. Yukiko's justifications for having hidden Chie's bag weren't adding up. Not to mention something about her body language just reeked of guilt. Her replies were quick witted and dismissive. Naoto had felt this feeling the previous day and at their last group meeting.

Yukiko had been very standoffish lately.

Especially when the group had been discussing Chie's ongoing disappearance. Usually, the young heiress was just as outgoing as her spunky best friend. It had become apparent that Yukiko was hiding something.

Naoto glanced at Chie's backpack.

Perhaps more than she was initially letting on. Naoto hated the feeling of suspecting her friends. She didn't want to believe them guilty of any wrongdoings, but it was the job of a detective to speculate. Right now, Yukiko isn't doing herself any favors with withholding information.

"Cheating, eh?" Naoto thought back to their previous conversation. If Yukiko had been right about one thing, it was that no one else on the Investigation Team had noticed that Yu and Chie had become an item.

They hid it so well.

"Still, Chie Satonaka is an earnest girl. I don't know if I could imagine her stooping as low as cheating. I mean Narukami-senpai is…" Naoto murmured and felt her face flush. Coughing, she immediately put those feelings to bed. Her own lingering feelings for him didn't matter right now.

The cool evening breeze bustled by, rustling her hair. It wouldn't be long until winter passed by. Spring was on the horizon. Naoto stood at the nearby intersection, waiting for the crossing light to turn green. She cast one last glance at the Amagi Inn. It was almost out of sight.

Yukiko Amagi was now a person of interest in the disappearance of Chie Satonaka.

At the next given opportunity, she would confront the young heiress again and get some more answers out of her.

The sound of a click broke her train of thought. The nearby crossing lamp glowed a green hue and Naoto began her trek across the empty street. Tonight, had been an eventful ordeal and she had no stronger desire than to go home and curl into bed, but someone else required her attention, Ryotaro Dojima.

During her impromptu interrogation of the Amagi heiress, she had received a called from Dojima. Earlier in the day Yu and Yosuke had skipped class to go over to the police station. The tip she shared earlier about the cellphone was one of the few major leads they had, so they had cut early to see if they could get anything out of the phone provider. Had Naoto not been such an exemplary student she too would have joined them.

Needless to say, they managed to find something and needed her back at the police station.

It didn't take Naoto long to find her trusty motorbike parked along the edge of the street. She admired the black and blue trim. Tt was reminiscent of her school uniform, a gift from her grandfather. She had left it parked near a bike rack. Naoto put on her helmet and checked the gas gauge. It was running low from her riding all around town looking for clues. Luckily, she still had enough to get her to the police station and then home.

Naoto placed the key in the ignition.

Vrum! Vrum!

The engine revved alive! The bike dashed down the road, speeding its way to the Inaba Police station.

…

"Argh!" Yukiko roared and slammed the closet door shut. She was livid, furious even. Her slender fingertips curled into a ball. The nails pierced her delicate skin. Close to drawing blood. "I can't believe that bitch Naoto!"

Her frustration was on full display.

Yukiko locked her room door and proceeded to vent. "Showing up uninvited, snooping around like a rat hungry for cheese! Are you that desperate for some damn recognition?" She huffed, pacing around the room in circles. "Okay calm down Yukiko, calm down. Naoto-kun is smart, no denying that. If I leave her to her own devices, she'll just keep digging up evidence. Then it won't be long until…"

Yukiko stopped in place. She bit her thumbnail, lost in deep thought. "I'll have to find a way to get rid of Naoto…"

She glanced at her bureau mirror. Her hair was a mess. The young heiress hadn't realized it, but her whole demeanor had become disheveled by her work in the kitchen. The white apron was covered in stains from cutting food and handling the many broths Amagi Inn provided. Her face was a pale white and pasty from the dry sweat that had formed.

Walking forward she touched the mirror and stared deeply into her eyes. They were doubtful. Doubtful about everything. Pushing Chie into the TV, lying to Yu, hiding evidence, and now contemplating a means of resolution. She was beginning to feel weak. Was this really the road she was willing to walk?

Coming clean was always an option.

Yukiko shook her head quickly. She wasn't ready to deal with the ramifications of that choice. Naoto wasn't the type of woman to just let her off with a slap on the wrist. She would find some way to bring her to justice even with a confession. Then what would await her? Social rejection? The Amagi name being dragged through the mud? Losing the love of her life? Then there was the worst case scenario, serious jail time.

"Get ahold of yourself Yukiko." she muttered. "You aren't the one who lied, you aren't the one who put yourself in this situation. This is the hand you've been dealt, so play it."

Yukiko's eyes grew cold. She had the resolve to see this through, there could be no backing out now. Not only was her life on the line, but the fate of the Amagi name as well. She sat down on her bed and turned on her phone. She browsed the list of contacts, Yu Narukami, Kanji Tatsumi, then Teddie. The scrolling stopped. "First things first…"

Teddie had been a part of this from the get-go. He was the first one that Yukiko reached out to when Chie ended up in the shadow world. Though she had gained his silence through seduction, she wasn't positive his silence would last. With Naoto making inquiries at every turn, having Teddie around was a giant risk factor. She couldn't take a chance on him. Teddie was gullible and with enough prodding he would talk. He was a loose end that needed to be pulled.

"Taking care of anyone outside the shadow world is out of the question. I'm not strong enough to overpower him." Yukiko muttered. She looked around her room, her eyes trailing the blank walls until they landed on her TV. "But if I lure him to the shadow world... that just might work."

A wry smile crossed her lips.

Sometimes she scared herself with these thoughts. "Taking him to the shadow world will even the odds. If I can catch him off guard, then I might be able to use Konohana Sakuya and make it quick." Despite her malicious suggestion she didn't want him to suffer. The bear was a good boy. "Teddie is a shadow, so he won't reappear in the real world. He'll just… fade back to wherever he came from."

At least that was what Yukiko had hoped. She grimaced as she felt a painful pang in her chest.

"Steel yourself." she whispered.

Morality went out the window a long time ago.

Yukiko let out a yawn and looked at the time on her phone, 10:58 PM. She had run herself ragged helping the staff in the kitchen. Help doesn't come cheap nowadays. It's why her mother was so adamant that she learnt every aspect of the business, so she could help when needed. Then eventually when they get old and prune, she could take over the entire business herself.

The thought of running the inn used to be a nightmare for her. But when she thought of Yu, it didn't seem all that bad. "Once this Chie mess is behind us, we can finally move forward." Yukiko laid her head against her sheets. A yawn soon followed. Her eyelids were heavy. She drifted into slumber.

Starting tomorrow things would go into motion and there would truly be no going back.

…

"Yukiko. Yukiko, wake up!"

Yukiko groaned. She was slow to rise. The young heiress rubbed her eyes and looked up.

The sound of her mother's voice pierced her ears and the blurry silhouette loomed over. "Mother? What time is it? It can't be time for school already."

Her mother sighed. "No, it isn't time yet, but that can wait. We have more pressing matters to attend to. Get your robe and come with me to the lobby. The Inaba police are here. They would like to ask us a few questions."

It took Yukiko a couple of seconds to process what had just been said.

"I'm sorry, did you just say police?"

"Yes, I did. Dojima-san and your friend Shirogane are out waiting for you. Now hurry along, we can't keep them waiting. Also do something about your hair before you come down."

"Naoto!" Yukiko hissed under her breath as her mother trailed off.

The young girl got up and checked her back pocket. Chie's cellphone was still there. Naoto couldn't find it. She hadn't bothered to change clothes when she went to sleep. Last night's kitchen work drained her, and the thought had slipped her mind. She needed a hiding place. Yukiko bent down. There, underneath the bed was an empty shoe box. Lifting the lid, she examined its contents. A couple of old pieces of jewelry, postcards from relatives, and of course younger pictures of her and Chie.

Yukiko stuffed the phone into the box and checked the time. It was 6:07 AM, it really was early.

She made sure to take her time getting into her school uniform, brushing her hair, and making sure everything about her person was pristine. If Naoto was doing things to make her life more difficult, then she would spite her in any way that she could.

Yukiko was just petty that way.

It was already 6:35 by the time she made her way downstairs.

"Yukiko where are you!" Her mother called by the base of the stairs.

Yukiko descended the staircase doing her best to maintain the demure demeanor of a young lady.

"Finally. What took you so long?" Mrs. Amagi hissed at her daughter in a hushed whisper.

Her mother reentered the lobby and stood anxiously watching Dojima. While the Amagi matriarch was usually cool, calm, and collected. The presence of a detective in her home wasn't something she particularly enjoyed. The faster this investigation detail would leave the inn's grounds, the better.

Dojima sat impatiently with his pen tapping against his leg. "Finally, the heiress blesses us with her presence." He half-jokingly laughed. The detective reached into his pocket and pulled out a metal case. Inside were perfectly lined up rolls of tobacco. He bit down on the cigarette, but before going to light it cast a glance towards Yukiko's mother. "Do you mind?"

"Its fine really." She assured him then looked back at her daughter. "These fine detectives have a couple of questions for us."

Dojima blew the smoke from his mouth and pulled out a ragged notepad.

"Yeah, just a few questions for you and your daughter is all. Nothing that will take up too much of your time. We know you have to open up shop soon. Don't want to hold up business." Dojima responded whilst casting a glance at Naoto. "Shirogane take the lead on this if you would."

Yukiko cast a glance over at Naoto. She had been unusually quiet.

The detective prince stared directly at Yukiko. Her blue eyes pierced into her figure. Naoto was focused, examining nearly every aspect of Yukiko's face that she could. Their confrontation from the previous night was fresh in her mind.

"Yes… well." Naoto began to speak. "As you know approximately thirteen days ago, Chie Satonaka was reported missing by her parents. Her last known location was the Amagi Inn. From the information provided to the Inaba Police, she was supposedly spending the night with her close friend since childhood, Yukiko Amagi."

Naoto paused, glancing up at Yukiko with a cold stare before continuing. "However, things changed. According to Yukiko-senpai, Satonaka chose to depart for home earlier than expected. She left late, around 10:40 PM, to return home. Recently I was informed by senpai that they had gotten into an argument. A piece of information that was negligently not included in her original statement. According to senpai, she claimed that Satonaka had been seeing another boy. Another note she left out from her previous statement. Is that right senpai?"

Yukiko's skin began to crawl. She stared daggers into Naoto. "Yes, that is… correct."

"Is that so?" Mrs. Amagi voice sounded surprised and stern. She shot a sharp glance at her daughter. The type of glance that read, 'we will speak about this later.'

"Furthermore," Naoto continued. "A few pieces of evidence have added a wrinkle to our case. Something that we need to follow up on."

Naoto reached behind the lounge chair she was comfortably seated in to reveal Chie's green backpack. "When I came to investigate the inn yesterday this backpack was found. You recognize it don't you senpai?"

"Of course, I do." Yukiko responded innocently. "That's Chie's backpack."

"Correct. You claimed that Chie-senpai must have left her belongings here on her way out. The fight and the backpack are both things you negligently didn't reveal to anyone. I'd hoped you'd share this with me earlier senpai. I thought we were closer than that." Naoto continued. "After your fight, she was so upset she couldn't have possibly remembered to take it."

Yukiko was seething, but couldn't let her mask slip.

"I did. I still regret that happened. Chie might still be here if it hadn't." Yukiko replied, her eyes watering. She couldn't believe Naoto was bringing that up again, she had to be grasping at straws. "Honestly, I didn't even realize it was in my closet. We normally keep things so spic and span here at the Amagi Inn, but I must admit my closet might be the only thing that is a mess."

"I see." Naoto responded curtly.

"But..." Yukiko continued. "I don't understand what the backpack has to do with anything. There is nothing else to see here. So why come back?"

"I'm glad you mentioned that." Naoto replied once more in a curt tone.

This was almost a far cry from the Yukiko she saw yesterday. The senpai that had been very confrontational with her about the subject. Was her approach last night and now too forthcoming? Yukiko appeared to be a lot more emotional in her responses. "Or perhaps she's feigning ignorance…"

"I can concur that Chie did leave the night before. Yukiko told me first thing that evening." Mrs. Amagi chimed in, breaking Naoto's train of thought.

"Speaking of that, did you happen to see her out the exit senpai?" Naoto asked with a serious expression. "You claim she left, but did you actually see it? Or you, for that matter Mrs. Amagi?"

"I did!" Yukiko exclaimed. "She left right out of the front exit and onto the main street."

Mrs. Amagi cast a nervous glance at both detectives. "I… I'm afraid I didn't. I took my daughter at her word."

Naoto looked at Dojima who was watching the questioning intently.

"Hmm." was all Dojima could reply.

"Is that right? So, we have one witness claiming they saw Chie-senpai leaving the inn." Naoto mumbled. "So that begs the question. Did anyone else actually see Chie Satonaka leave the Amagi Inn's grounds?"

She and her mother were both silent. They cast nervous glances at one another.

Naoto folded her hands together and gave both of the Amagi women a serious look before proceeding. "In our previous interviews, none of the other staff claimed to have seen Chie after 9:00 PM that evening. So, if she really left the front exit, why did no one else see her? This inn does have a fair amount of staff and guests no?"

"What are you implying Naoto-kun?" Mrs. Amagi asked with a concerned voice.

"Well, you see." Dojima cut in before Naoto could reply. He held his hand out to silence her. Both looked at each other with an understanding look. They didn't want to go implicating any suspects just yet. "That wrinkle that Shirogane mentioned earlier, just might be the key we need to locate Satonaka. Turns out there has been some activity on her lost cellphone. We got in contact with her provider and managed to ping a couple of the cell towers around the prefecture. They all bounce back to the same general vicinity. Somewhere near or inside the Amagi Inn."

Mrs. Amagi audibly gasped.

Yukiko's heart sunk. This was bad, very, very bad.

"So, what we're implying is…"

Naoto stood up, cutting Dojima off. "That our missing senpai is somewhere around the inn's area. Or it's a possibility the perpetrator has the cellphone and is parading around as her! We will be taking immediate action by reopening our investigation into the Amagi Inn's grounds and all surrounding businesses. The rest of the task force should be here by the end of the hour."

"Ahem!" Dojima coughed to silence Naoto. Once again, he took the reins of the conversation. "What Shirogane said is true. I'm sorry Amagi-san, but we will be returning to the your inn for the next few days to conduct another round of interviews with the staff and searching the place much more thoroughly. The fact that my men didn't find the backpack is frankly embarrassing. It goes to show that there might be more around that was missed. However, I assure you that we won't interfere with the inn's operations while we work."

"I see…" Mrs. Amagi said with a grimace on her face. If there was anything that the Amagi matriarch hated, it was an interruption to business operations. They were the oldest and most respected establishment within Inaba, they had a reputation to uphold. Having the police sniff around was bad for business. "Doesn't sound like we have much of a choice."

"Unfortunately, not, ma'am." Naoto responded while looking directly at Yukiko. "That will conclude our questioning, unless you have anything else to share with us. You're not hiding anything else are you senpai?"

"This little rat. Is she trying to provoke me?" Yukiko thought, her eye twitching. She clenched her teeth before forming her signature plastic smile and responding. "No, nothing else. If were done here I have to help with the morning meal prep before class."

"That's all for now." Dojima said. "If we have any more questions, we know where to find you."

…

Yukiko made no effort to conceal her feelings after she was finally alone. "That arrogant, spineless little sea urchin! Why won't you just stay out of my way." She hissed into the air. She marched to school in a hurry. The faster the day was done, the faster she could put her plan into motion. "Not only do you come after me, but you bring my mother into it as well?!"

Speaking of her mother. After the meeting had concluded the heiress had received a tongue lashing from Mrs. Amagi. Enduring that in front of the kitchen staff was torture. It had to be the most embarrassment she had ever felt. It took every ounce of her being to conceal her mask and simply respond with, "Yes mother."

It was becoming apparent to Yukiko that she was running out of time. The gaps in her story were more noticeable. Not to mention her irrational and impulsive decision to use Chie's phone had made everything worse. It had seemed like such a good plan at the time. However, all it did was put the Amagi Inn and everyone who worked there back in the spotlight. Of course, they couldn't yet prove that she was the one responsible for Chie's disappearance. The police didn't have their smoking gun just yet.

Before leaving home, she had been sure to grab Chie's phone. She would get rid of it this evening.

Within the next few minutes, Yasogami High came into sight.

The school was surrounded by a thin veil of mist. Yukiko hadn't noticed on the way here, but the weather was a bit odd for winter. "Spring is on the way soon, but that still doesn't explain the mist." She was cut from her thoughts when a warm hand touched her shoulder.

"Hey, good morning, Yukiko." Next to her came the voice of Yu.

Any negative emotions Yukiko had immediately vanished. "Oh, Na-Narukami-kun, good morning! You startled me."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Yu replied sympathetically. Something else was on his mind. "So, I'm guessing my uncle paid you and your family a visit this morning?"

"Not only your uncle, but Naoto-kun as well." Yukiko said in a mutter. "It wasn't the most pleasant visit."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about all of that. After the meeting me and Yosuke cut class. We went straight to the police station and told Dojima about everything. Naoto's suggestion about pinging the cell phone was genius. With the help of the cell company, we were able to pull geographic data. So, we have a vague idea of the area the text came from." Yu explained, but kept casting concerned looks in her direction. "I want you to know that none of us are blaming you for whatever happened to Chie, okay?"

Yukiko felt her heart flutter.

As the two of them made their way upstairs to the classroom Yukiko replied. "I know you wouldn't do that Narukami-kun. But Naoto-kun on the other hand is… Well, if I could be honest, her insistent snooping is starting to stress me out. I mean just this morning she practically interrogated us."

The two arrived at the base of the classroom.

"I'm sorry about all of that." He apologized again. The leader was remorseful. "I know its stressful, but I feel like were so close to finding out something."

"Perhaps." Yukiko cooed staring at the ground. "I'm just ready for this mess to be over."

"You and me both." Yu agreed taking her hands. "Don't worry Chie will be home soon, I promise."

The school bell rang before Yukiko could respond. Yu tapped her on the shoulder and headed over to his desk. Yukiko followed suit. She placed her bag in the back of the classroom and headed to her desk. The classroom was noisy as usual. With each student caught in some form of conversation.

Ms. Kashiwagi was at the helm of the class admiring herself in the mirror before homeroom started.

Yosuke arrived shortly after and headed right over to Yu's desk. Yukiko eyed them remorsefully. She still had a bit of time before class started.

"I'm sorry Narukami-kun. Chie won't be coming home. It will hurt you, trust me I know, but I'll be there for you. I promise."

Yukiko reached into her bag and pulled out her cell. She pressed the scroll tab and came to Teddie's name. It was time she put her plan into motion. Naoto had the heiress in her crosshairs. She would dodge every bullet she could. Putting out the fires was the first step. Of course, starting with Teddie's.

Yukiko opened her texts and began to type.

"Hey there Teddie!"

It didn't take long for her to receive a reply.

"YUKI-CHAN TEXTED ME! OH, GOOD MORNING!"

The bear was always so positive, even first thing in the morning.

"Good morning, Teddie dearest! :3 I just have something to ask of you?"

"OF COURSE, YUKI-CHAN! WHAT DO YOU NEED?"

"Are you finally ready to score?"

…

A/N: 7/4/2023: Revisions done to dialogue and sentence structure.