Author's Note: There are finally going to be some questions answered. There will be more questions as well. We're getting more into the Izaya murder mystery. There are a couple of callbacks here. I get to use a few ideas that I have been sitting on. I wanted to get more details into the last three scenes of the halo. I didn't want to cut them out. I think I will go into more details for next week. Speaking of next week, I have something planned for then. I don't know what I am doing for the 29th, but I do know what I am doing for the first week of December and the Christmas special. For now, enjoy this week's halo.
Halo Sixteen: Curse:
"Not that I care, but I don't think you should suffer for his foolishness," Namie said to an unconscious Mikage in the hospital. "I'm just sorry that he dragged you into this." She looked down at the martial artist's stomach.
"Heh, that kid survived after all," the ghost said. "Just like its dad. Well, almost. Yes, I said 'it'. That kid isn't going to be living long. Honestly, motherhood doesn't suit you. She will be back for round two at this rate. Neither one of you will survive. Your best bet would be an abortion. It's quick and painless now. Plus, you'll live to see another day. In fact, I'll help you out. Hang on let me get your phone." Namie floated over to the bag that Eijirou brought over. It amazed her that she could hold things. The ghost found Mikage's phone. Namie was able to unlock it and open it with ease.
"Let's see," Namie said. "Abortion clinics nearby." The ghost typed in the information in Google. The results popped up instantly.
"Ah, here we go," Namie said. "Oh look, there's an abortion clinic nearby." She looked down at Mikage.
"I'm just going to leave this here for you when you wake up," Namie said. She placed the martial artist's phone by her hand.
"Good luck," Namie whispered in Mikage's ear. The ghost vanished when she heard footsteps approach the door.
Moments later, Mikage awoke to talking in her room. She opened one eye to see a doctor lecturing a nurse while he held up Mikage's phone in front of him.
"I know you're pro-choice, but it is not your place to look up abortion clinics for the patients," he said.
"I told you I didn't do that," the nurse argued back. "I was tending to another patient. I haven't been in this room today!"
"Well the phone didn't Google abortion clinics nearby by itself, now did it?" the doctor asked.
"Hey, can you keep it down?" Mikage asked in groggy voice. "I was trying to sleep." The doctor and the nurse looked stunned. The former took out his flashlight and looked into Mikage's eyes with it.
"Are you alright?" he asked. "Do you feel any pain?"
"No…" Mikage said. "Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital," the doctor said. "You've been unconscious for three days." The martial arts teacher had a puzzled look on her face.
"Three days?" she asked.
"That's right," the doctor said. He looked over his shoulder.
"Get her chart," he whispered to the nurse. She turned and raced out of the room.
Within minutes, Mikage sat up in her bed. The doctor stood by her side.
"Okay, Sharaku-san, you look like you're going to make a full recovery, however we recommend that you stay off your feet for a while," he said. "You came in with some nasty injuries. We were worried that you weren't going to pull through." Mikage stared at him as the words sank up. She began to remember how she got in this situation. She was in Izaya's apartment. She had gotten a call to come over. However, something didn't seem right about that voice message. There was a low clicking noise in the background. Mikage had to see what was going on. When she made it to the apartment, there was no one there. After that was rather hazy.
However, she would soon have another problem on her hands. A much bigger problem at that. The nurse cleared her throat.
"Oh!" the doctor said.
"What?" Mikage asked. He was going to have to be tactful with this next part of the news. The doctor took a deep breath.
"Sharaku-san," he began again. He paused for a moment before he pressed his fingers together and he began again.
"You are going to need to see an OBGYN because yes, you are pregnant," he said. Mikage looked like she had been drained of all emotion. The words stung as they sank in.
Tetsu sat at the kitchen table after the news broke about Izaya's death. He kept his eyes down on the surface.
"What is going on with you?" Taichi asked behind him. "Why are you asking like this? What is going on? Talk to me!" The fire tadpole wouldn't look up.
"Tetsu!" Taichi said.
"I can't!" the tadpole shouted. His boyfriend paused. Tetsu turned his head. He looked so worn out in his eyes. They looked red with used-up tears.
"They'll kill you," Tetsu said.
"What are you talking about?" Taichi asked. "Who would kill me?" Tetsu trembled as she looked down at his hand. His boyfriend leaned over and held him by the shoulders.
"Listen," Taichi whispered. "I'm not going to let this go. I hate seeing you like this. When you keep stuff like this to yourself, it tears me up inside. I may not be some god like you, but I still want to help you. But I can't do that if you won't talk to me. And when I can't help you, I get mad at myself." Tetsu looked up at him. His eyes welled up with tears.
"I saw him die," the fire tadpole whispered.
"Who? Who did you see die?" Taichi asked. Tetsu pressed his lips together. He mumbled to himself as he kept his head down.
"Who?" his boyfriend asked. Taichi paused.
"Wait… Are you talking about… Izaya?" he asked. That last part came out in a whisper. The fire tadpole nodded once. Taichi let go of his boyfriend and turned his face to him.
"Tell me everything that you saw," he said. Tetsu looked so pale as he took a deep breath. He broke down and told his boyfriend everything.
Rocchi had been in the hospital for a couple of days. He crawled over to his phone and called for an ambulance. The EMTs couldn't believe what they were seeing.
"My ex and I got into a fight and she took out my eye," Chikage lied with a small laugh. He wouldn't press charges, however. Non couldn't understand it.
"She's killed someone and she took your eye out!" she said. "You can't let her get away with that!" To him, she wouldn't understand. After all, he still had some feelings left for Kanacchi. Maybe there was a small part of him that hoped that he could get her back.
Non was going to have to be the one to get him to face reality. For now, he was going to need to recover.
Chikage was in good spirits for the most part. The gang leader took to flirting with the nurses and some of the female doctors there. They either brushed him off or laughed and joked with him. Non and Kohaku came by to see him daily. He was going to be fine. He would get to go home soon.
"It's so weird," Kohaku said as she looked at her phone. "I can't reach anyone in Ikebukuro." Chikage rubbed his forehead.
"What?" he asked.
"Nami emailed me what happened," the tadpole said. She showed him her phone.
"Easy there. You don't want to strain him too much," Non said as gently pushed the phone back.
"Oh right, sorry," Kohaku said. "Everyone in the Ikebukuro and Shinjuku got this weird email. I got it too." She put her phone back into her bag.
"Something about cell phones being toxic or something," Kohaku said. She paused for a moment.
"Do you think the phones will go out here too?" the tadpole asked.
"I hope not," Chikage said. Non looked at her own phone. Kohaku felt a small hit of gladness for this.
One day, Chikage was asleep in his bed when he awoke to a knock on his door.
"Who is it?" he asked in a groggy voice. He lifted his head when the door opened. A woman in her thirties poked her in the doorway.
"Oh," she said. "I'm looking for my friend but I think I got the wrong room." She started to back away when Chikage held up his hand.
"Wait!" he said. The woman stared at him.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Have we met before?" he asked. There was no trace of flirtation in his voice. He was being serious with his question.
"I don't think so," the woman said. She tried to figure out where she could place him.
"What is your name?" she asked.
"Rokujo Chikage," the young man said. "And you are?" The woman pushed the door open wider. She looked rather elegant with her black hair up in a bun and dressed in a dark blue kimono.
"I'm Kawamata Kana," she said. "Nice to meet you." The woman bowed. At the time, Chikage couldn't explain it. He could've sworn that he had seen her before. He just couldn't place where just yet.
The mystery around Izaya's death didn't make any sense. First of all, the body was stolen from the morgue. No one could figure out how this happened. Security footage proved to be useless. The halls looked normal. The tech people kept watching the videos. However, it started to become apparent.
Ten seconds of footage had been deleted. At first, one of the tech people thought they were seeing things.
"Hey, come look at this," they said. Their coworkers came around the computer for a look. Ten seconds of footage had been deleted. The tech guys looked at each other.
"Who accessed the camera last?" one of them asked. The others looked at each other for a moment. One man raised his hand.
"I turned off everything, I swear," he insisted. In the end, they all wound up back at square one.
That wasn't the only thing confusing to the police.
"You're kidding," the detective on the case said.
"That's what I was able to determine," Chikako said. The detective shook his head.
"He couldn't have been dead since November," he said. "Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"
"No," the medical examiner said. "I would've had more time to look if the body wasn't stolen." The detective frowned. He rubbed his forehead.
"Do you still have the notes?" he asked.
"Yes," Chikako said. She handed them over to him. The detective read over what little notes that she managed to make. A puzzled look came over his face. He wrinkled his nose as he kept reading.
"That can't be right," he said. "You sure that you didn't make a mistake."
"I am positive," Chikako said. The detective sat back as he tried to rethink his theory.
Orihara Izaya officially died on November 15th, 2015. But that didn't make any sense. Many people claimed that they heard from him up until days before his remains were found. When everyone learned when Izaya really died they started comparing messages everyone received. The messages from summer compared to after the fifteenth were completely different. The ones after his death looked more generic, almost completely fake.
"But I saw Orihara-san last week," one of the cops spoke up. The detective on the case turned his head.
"That is not possible," he said. "You can't have."
"I did!" the cop said. "I have the videos of the interrogation to prove it!"
"Okay…" the detective said. "Show me."
"Right," the other man said. He led the detective over to the tech room. The men sat down and watched the footage on the computer. There was a man who looked like Izaya at the table. The cop sat across from him in his black suit.
"What all do you know?" he asked.
"Am you going to grant me immunity?" Izaya asked.
"That will depend on what you tell me," the man in the suit.
"Could you pause that for a moment?" the detective asked. The cop hit pause on the video. The frame caught at the right moment on "Izaya's" face.
"Can you zoom in?" the detective asked.
"Sure, hang on," the cop said. He zoomed in on the face. The image wasn't clear enough but the detective was certain.
"That isn't him," he said. The cop looked up at him.
"What do you mean?" he asked. The detective pointed at the screen.
"I know that's not him," he said. "I think that the face shape is similar. But I can guarantee you that's not Orihara-san. I just need time to confirm it." The other man frowned as he took time to think about that.
"Then… who was that I saw in there?" the cop asked.
Suddenly, Honoka's question started to make more sense.
There's been another kill from the Dante Killer. She managed to do it before cell phone reception was cut off. She managed to finish up two hours before it happened. A nurse from the early morning shift had the misfortune of finding the body.
Shizumu Ieshige, age forty-five. She finally got around to him. Both of his hands were cut off while the body was pinned to the wall. His eyes and mouth were sewn shut. Pills and yen coins littered the floor. The doctor had been choked out with his tied and extension cords.
Nakamura shook his head. Not only did he have a body to deal with, but he couldn't make any calls at all. He groaned as rubbed his forehead.
"Could this day get any worse?" he muttered to himself. By now, he ignored the onlookers trying to get to the basement for a look. Good thing he had hospital security there to help. He didn't even want to think of the Awakusu breathing down his neck. They wanted answers. Nakamura had to stay ahead before this case got out of control. Too late to complain now. He went over what the kill would be next.
"Counsellors of fraud," the detective said to himself. He frowned as thought about what that meant. He would have to go back to the book for that answer. This case was making him do more reading than he had done since finishing school.
Meanwhile, the Dante Killer had her next victim lined up. She would just have to choose which one.
For the past three days, Saburo had been driving around looking for women in white and red robes. They did this to Ruri-chan! He had plans to hunt one of those devil women down and make them tell him where his idol was. It wasn't much of a plan but that was all he had for now.
However, it is funny how plans can come unrevealed.
Saburo almost didn't see the person daring out in the middle of the road. He came within inches of hitting them if he hadn't hit the brakes in time. The figure dropped to the ground with a thud. Saburo got out of the van. A woman sat on the ground, rubbing the side of her head.
"Ow," she mumbled to herself. "Ow."
"What the hell?!" he shouted. "Are you crazy?! Were you trying to get hit?!" The woman looked up, startled. There was a Japanese man yelling at her. She stared up at him and panicked. His face looked so face as he shouted. The poor woman just froze. She didn't know what to do. The man kept yelling at her. She tried to tell him that she didn't understand but he wasn't having any of it.
Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.
The woman pulled out her phone. Saburo looked confused and annoyed.
"What the hell are you doing?!" he asked. The woman trembled as she held out her phone. Saburo looked down at the screen of her phone.
"What are you doing?! No one can use their phones here?!" he shouted. His words appeared on the screen. They went from Japanese to English. The woman looked at her phone. A confused look came over her face.
"Huh?" she finally asked. It was then Saburo calmed down to see what the problem was.
"Can you understand me?" he asked. The woman slowly shook her head.
"Oh…" he said. The pair stood awkwardly as they understood the gravity of the situation.
She opened her eyes in the middle of the city. Happy little shivers ran down her spine as she remembered that scent. It's gotten stronger than the last time. Her lips curved into a hungry smile. She found where he was just by his scent now. She giggled to herself among the busy crowd uncertain of itself. They were unhappy with not being able to use their phones. That didn't matter to her. She only had one thing on her mind.
I have to find him again before she does.
She was going to find him with no problems. She had his scent after all. Before she did that, there was someone else tracking his scent. They too started to hunt him down. Let's see who's going to get there first.
December 10th, 2015
Sachiko walked into the Taiwanese place. There weren't many people around. They were probably at Russia Sushi or other places. Still, the detective didn't move. She knew that he was here somewhere.
That's when she spotted him in the back corner of the restaurant. Osamu stood like an American tourist in the crowded Tokyo street. Sachiko clenched her fists at her sides and marched over to his table. Osamu looked up at she got closer.
"Yo," he said. Something about his demeanor seemed to have a hold over her. She didn't dare to speak.
"Sit," he commanded her. The detective pulled out the chair and sat down. She didn't know why she was doing this. Osamu had a cold; stoic look on his face.
"You have questions for me, yes?" he asked. Sachiko's face turned red as she pursed her lips together.
"Who… are you?" she asked.
"Osamu," he said. "Myojin Osamu."
"But who are you really?" Sachiko asked. If she hadn't known any better, she could've sworn that he was smirking hat her. Something in her very being told her that she should get up and leave.
"How do you know me?" she asked.
"We've met before," he said. They've had this conversation before. Osamu wasn't going to give her any straight answers this time too. Sachiko decided to try a different approach.
"What do you want from me?" she asked. There was nothing on his face. Instead, he took out a cigarette and lit up.
"What do you think I want?" he asked. Sachiko sat back and frowned.
"Don't play games with me," she said.
"I'm not," he said. She sat back in her chair with a small bubble of rage building up in her soul. She had to fight with herself to keep calm. Osamu took a drag of his cigarette. The next thing he asked threw her for another loop. Sachiko froze.
"Hm? What did you say?" she asked. Osamu looked her in the eyes.
"Have you remembered anything else yet?" he asked. Sachiko stared at him as that question sank in. Osamu smirked at the reaction on her face.
December 13th, 2015
There's been another kill. Hoshino Kiichi, age twenty-four. He had been a hikikomori since he was sixteen. He was found dead at his computer. You would be forgiven to think it was natural causes until you saw how deep the gash across his throat was.
Sachiko wasn't sure why but she had a feeling that she had been in this room before.
Meanwhile, someone released the beast from underneath.