01: Phone a Friend.
The Thorn Princess's latest target was Jack the Ripper. But Ikebukuro being Ikebukuro, there were currently two Jack the Rippers running around town and both of them claimed to be the same legendary serial killer who terrorized London in the past. Now she could err on the side of caution and kill them both, but she promised Loid she would be home before dinner and she would help Anya set the table. It was the least she could do, because even now, after moving to a different country, on the other side of the planet, her wonderful husband was still in charge of cooking for the entire family, and the less said about her culinary skills, the better.
Yor had read in an online forum that nothing happened in Ikebukuro without Izaya Orihara knowing about it. But her previous encounter with the infamous information broker didn't go down so well, and she was a bit creeped out by his ever smiling female secretary, Haruno Yukinoshita, so this time she decided to go with the much more preferable alternative.
Hachiman Hikigaya was a detective consultant who had moved to Ikebukuro from America. She had run into him at a luxury hotel and after a small misunderstanding, the two of them figured out that they were after the same target, a serial killer dubbed, 'The American Psycho'.
Truth be told, she was mighty impressed with Hikigaya and since he owed her a favour, she decided to give him a call and ask for some assistance. Unfortunately, he had gotten busy with another case and it was rather time sensitive. A woman named Shouko Nishimiya had gone missing, but before her disappearance, the clinically deaf woman was somehow able to regain her lost hearing, as if by magic.
Hikigaya suspected it was a case of Sakuta Syndrome, or as it was commonly misdiagnosed and referred to in the past as Adolescent Syndrome. Since most people diagnosed with this particular illness took their own lives after 72 hours, Hikigaya was in a race against the clock and he couldn't drop everything and come to her aid. But even then he was able to give her some much needed information and a good solid advice – follow the dead bodies.
"What do you mean?" Yor asked.
She heard him sigh from the other end. "Honestly, read a paper. The two Jacks have different M.O. and they go after different kinds of people. So far, Jack Number 1 has gone after people who turned out to be the worst kinds of criminals. This makes me wonder if the old conspiracy theories are true, that a guy named Mr. Anonymous killed the original Jack and took his identity."
Like most detectives, he had a habit to ramble. "Hikigaya…"
"Oh. Sorry Mrs. Forger." He caught himself. "Now Jack Number 2, who I believe is the person you are looking for is a bit more interesting. His first victim was a man named Hyouma Sagara. He was found with his jaw cut open and his right hand severed. Six knives were also recovered from the crime scene and the police traced them back to a rich private collector in London who had reported them stolen from his place of residence. He had apparently hired the great Sherlock Holmes to work the case and retrieve his stolen property, because those weren't just ordinary knives. According to him, they belonged to the real Jack the Ripper."
Yor Forger cocked her head to the side in confusion. Six knives. Two Jacks. It didn't make any sense. Unless –
"There are three Jack the Rippers!" The Thorn Princess loudly proclaimed.
"What!? No! How did you jump to that conclusion? Honestly Mrs. Forger, haven't you listened to a word I just said. I practically spelled everything out for you." Hikigaya sounded a bit peeved. "I believe the Jack you are looking for has been summoned as a servant in the Holy Grail War. That would explain the six knives found at the crime scene. They were used as a catalyst. But something went horribly wrong. If we assume Hyouma Sagara was a magus and that he managed to summon Jack, then why did he kill him?"
Yor was now even more confused than before. But she decided to wait patiently and give the detective some more time to draw his own conclusions.
"The idiot decided to improvise." Hikigaya murmured to himself. "Hyouma Sagara failed to summon Jack the first time, even while using the knives as a catalyst. But when that didn't work, he didn't give up. Oh no. Not him. Like all magus who participate in the Holy Grail War, he was touched in the head. Now this is all conjecture, but I am thinking he decided the next step would be to re-create the conditions where the blades were used in order to establish a better connection. Enter Reika Rikudou."
The Thorn Princess went on high alert. "Who is Reika Rikudou?"
She could almost hear him smile over the phone. "According to the police reports, she was his roommate. They were living together. He was a host, she was a prostitute." He waited a beat. "Mrs. Forger do you understand what I am getting at?"
The infamous assassin nodded along and replied in a confident voice. "Jack the Ripper is going after prostitutes again."
"What? No!" Hikigaya mumbled a curse beneath his breath. "Reika Rikudou is Jack's new master. Remember the injuries Hyouma Sagara sustained?"
"His jaw was cut open and his right hand was severed." Yor recalled what Hikigaya had mentioned earlier.
"Exactly!" Hikigaya exclaimed. "I believe Hyouma Sagara realized something had gone wrong, so he was about to use the command spells to order Jack to take his own life. But Jack didn't give him the chance. He stopped him from speaking by slicing his jaw open and he severed his hand with the command spell, so that he could transfer them to Reika Rikudou who he recognized as his master…"And just like that, Hikigaya fell silent on the line.
"Hikigaya? Hello?" Yor queried.
"You have no idea what I am talking about do you Mrs. Forger?" Hikigaya asked abruptly.
"N-Not true." The infamous assassin blushed in embarrassment. "I know the Holy Grail is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. It has miraculous healing powers and can provide eternal youth or sustenance in infinite abundance. So it's only normal that people would go to war over it."
To his credit, Hikigaya didn't laugh at her. "Good to know you can Google stuff online, Mrs. Forger. But you don't have to worry about the Holy Grail War. It doesn't concern you. You are just after Jack the Ripper, right?"
Finally, she was getting somewhere. "Yes!"
"Well then, all you have to do is find Reika Rikudou." Hikigaya smiled. "And I promise your Jack the Ripper will be close behind."
A lot of things didn't make sense to her, but she decided to take his word for it. Hikigaya was the detective. He should know what he was talking about. But Yor felt a bit hesitant about one thing. "Um, do I have to visit brothels? You said Reika was a prostitute, right?"
This time Hikigaya let out a short bark of laughter. "As much as I would love to see you awkwardly walk into a brothel and talk to a bunch of hookers, asking about a particular prostitute you want to meet, no, you don't have to do that. I will save you the trouble." Hikigaya paused for effect. "Tell me Mrs. Forger, what does a prostitute do when by pure happenstance she finds herself in a position of power?"
Yor's breath hitched. "What does she do?"
"She settles old debts." Hikigaya replied grimly.
Author's Note: Welcome to "Ikebukuro: A Rhapsody of Twilight and Thorn"!
And this time I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I have finally managed to write the chapter that I have been trying to write for ages. It took a lot of effort and it was a time consuming process, but hey, at least this time I know for certain that I won't have to leave this as a one-shot or worse, delete it.
Also, yeah, the first chapter is posted in the OreGairu fandom, but from the next chapter onwards, this story will be found in the SPY x FAMILY fandom.
It's been ages since I talked to you guys and I have a lot of things I want to say. So without further ado, let's do a bunch of polls –
Poll#1: What Happens In The Next Chapter Of "A Rhapsody of Twilight and Thorn?"
Option 1: The Thorn Princess Fights Jack the Ripper (Fate Series)
Option 2: Agent Twilight confronts Kira (Death Note)
Option 3: Anya Solves A Murder Mystery (Detective Conan)
Okay, now since I am nowhere near close to finishing "Ikebukuro: A Bohemian Hikigaya's Rhapsody", but in this chapter I have already referenced the next case Hikigaya will be working on, which is the Shouko Nishimiya case, what do you guys want me to do? Should I start working on the sequel to "A Bohemian Hikigaya's Rhapsody"? It will introduce a whole new cast of characters like – Haruno Yukinoshita, Accelerator, Shouko Nishimiya, Misaka Worst, Sakuta Azusagawa, Osamu Dazai, and many more. I will let you guys decide -
Poll#2: What Do You Guys Want Me To Do?
Option 1: Complete "Ikebukuro: A Bohemian Hikigaya's Rhapsody" first, before starting the next book.
Option 2: Start writing the sequel: "Bohemian Hikigaya and A Certain Shape of Voice"
Now I will be working on "A Rhapsody of Twilight and Thorn", and it will have my undivided attention, but like I said, these fics are part of a shared universe – The Ikebukuro Universe. And I cannot create a shared universe without writing fics for other fandoms. So, even though, I will be working on The SPY x FAMILY fic and The Oregairu fic, I think it would be okay, if I think about the other fics that I want to write about this shared universe. So yeah, I want to start Ikebukuro fics on a whole bunch of different fandoms. And I want you guys to suggest which other fandoms should get the next installment of the Ikebukuro Series.
Now this time, I will be relying heavily on your suggestions and I really don't want to give a bunch of option for you guys to pick, because I would rather be pleasantly supplied by your suggestions, but this is just how I work, so yeah, please decide (Although, I would still very much like to hear your suggestions on the fandoms.)
Poll#3: What "Ikebukuro Fic" Should I Write Next?
Option 1: Suggestions From The Reviews.
Option 2: Ikebukuro: Classroom of the Elite.
Option 3: Ikebukuro: Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.
Option 4: Ikebukuro: Cowboy Bebop
Option 5: Ikebukuro: Bakemonogatari.
Option 6: Ikebukuro: Hyouka.
Option 7: Ikebukuro: Rascal Doesn't Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai.
Option 8: Ikebukuro: Oshi no Ko.
Option 9: Ikebukuro: Ghost in the Shell.
Option 10: Ikebukuro: Psycho Pass.
Okay. Now it's time for the final poll. And I just want you guys to hear me out for a second. Okay. I have another account – "Alligator Wrestler Hemingway" and so far, I haven't written anything in it yet. But I have an idea. I want to create another shared universe. Like the "Ikebukuro Series". I think I will call it the "Kuro Series". Now I know, I have made tons of mistakes with the "Ikebukuro Series." But I have also learnt from those mistakes. And that's why I want to start the "Kuro Series" in my "Alligator Wrestler Hemingway" Account.
The "Kuro Series" will be like the "Ikebukuro Series" but also different. Firstly, it will be set in the future. I am thinking 2040-2050. The action will take place in "Kuro" which is the official capital of the world. It's like New York, but it's located in Japan. Anyone who is anyone who wants to be anyone lives in "Kuro". In the future Japan became a super power, because it was able to capitalize on the "Convergence Crisis" where different worlds started to converge and exist in the same time line.
Okay. I won't bore you with the details.
Let's talk about the first book in the series…Actually, I am kinda unsure on what should be the "Iron Man" of the "Kuro Series". With Ikebukuro it was "Oregairu" and I could go with "Oregairu" again, but it's 2024, and I don't know if people will still be interested in reading about Hikigaya.
On the other hand, SPY x FAMILY is the next big thing.
Okay. I will let you guys decide –
Poll#4: Should I Write The "Kuro Series" in my "Alligator Wrestler Hemingway" Account?
Option 1: Yes.
Option 2: No.
If you picked "Yes", please decide –
Poll#4.5: What Should Be The First Fic Of "The Kuro Series"?
Option 1: SPY x FAMILY (Plot: Agent Twilight and Thorn Princess work together with Keith Kazama Flick to stop the serial killer dubbed, "Killer B" [Crossover with "B: The Beginning"])
Option 2: OreGairu (Plot: Hachiman Hikigaya, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, Koyomi Araragi, Houtarou Oreki and Sakuta Azusagawa keep switching bodies.)
Please pick accordingly.
Hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter.
Leave lots and lots of reviews, follow and fave.
Won't betray your dreams.