Disclaimer: I don't own anything. (Though I wish I do)
Summary:
Have you ever heard of Dark Magic? What do you know about them? Natsuki is a rising star in the Fuka Police Headquarter who solves her case based on logic & facts. However, her world is turned upside down when she meets Shizuru. Shizuru lives in a world that can never be defined by logic and facts. What happens when the two meet? ShizNat Rated T for now
Shizuru watched as Mikoto sent Yuuichi off.
She went to the wine cellar and took out a bottle of red wine and poured herself a glass.
She enjoyed this period of solitude, where she could sit down by the window and slowly enjoyed the wine.
Shizuru swirled the glass and then took a sip of the wine.
She was overseas for two years. During that time, Yuuichi nii-sama and Shiho-chan met and married and she only came back just in time to attend their wedding. She remembered Shiho-chan then, totally in love with Yuuichi nii-sama, clinging by his side, unwilling to be separated even for a minute.
And right after the wedding, Shizuru left for overseas again.
The next time she saw Shiho-chan was during the funeral service. Shiho-chan died during childbirth, taking the baby with her. Yuuichi nii-sama was devastated then and he asked to speak to Shiho-chan's spirit again.
That time, Shizuru tried to summon Shiho-chan's spirit but it wasn't successful.
But now Shizuru knew the reason.
Shiho-chan's spirit was trapped in the coffin.
In modern days, the coffin was nailed shut for ease of transportation and burial or cremation, to prevent the body from falling out in the process.
In the past, nails were put into coffins to make it harder for tomb raiders to rob the deceased.
These were all for practical reasons.
But few people knew about the other purpose of putting nails into the coffin.
In the past, when criminals of horror crimes died, a nail was hammered into their bodies, either from beneath the chin or from the back of their neck. This served the purpose of nailing or keeping their soul in their body, preventing the soul from reincarnation, keeping the criminals from coming back to harm the living once again.
To make sure that criminals do not return to harm the living, additional nails were put into the coffins to ensure that there was no way for them to climb out of their coffins.
There were similar mythologies across the world.
In some mythology in Southeast Asia countries, pregnant women who died in childbirth turned into pontianak. Pontianak was described to have long hair and wearing white and would prowl the area in search of possible pregnant women and killed them because potianak was said to be jealous of pregnant women and wanted them to suffer the same fate as her. And so to protect themselves, the pregnant women would always bring along with them sharp items such as safety pin or knife or nails because it was said that potianak was afraid of sharp items. To completely kill off a potianak, you would have to pierce a nail or sharp item into the back of the neck.
While the name and exact details may differ slightly, there were some general similarities.
Shizuru wasn't sure if Shiho-chan had a nail beneath her chin or at the back of her neck. But she was sure the four nails on the coffin definitely kept Shiho-chan trapped inside ever since she died.
This practice of putting nails into the deceased and coffin had evolved throughout the century and the 巫师 (witch doctor) had adapted this practice to not only trap the spirit inside, but also use the coffin as a focal point to accumulate the Yin energy.
Humans were strong in Yang (positive) energy while spirits/ghosts were stronger in Yin (negative) energy.
The accumulation of Yin energy by right would make it conducive for spirits or ghosts.
But the problem here was, the spirit was trapped inside. The anger and resentment of being trapped, and with an abundance of Yin energy, would turn the spirit vengeful.
And in the case of Shiho-chan, she died during childbirth, which might put her at a higher chance of becoming a vengeful spirit. Women who died during childbirth tends to have more regrets and have more desire to remain on earth. These feelings would make her more likely to turn vengeful.
For Shiho-chan, a clear indication that she had turned vengeful was the red attire. While red in some cultures signified prosperity, in this case, the red attire worn by spirits or ghosts indicated the ghost was out for blood.
When a red attired spirit appears, blood will spill.
Shiho-chan was definitely a red attire ghost now and she tried to kill Yuuichi nii-sama just now.
It was important not to judge a ghost as if he/she was the same when alive. When a person died and became a ghost, logical reasoning and memories may fade and what's left could only be feelings that had been extrapolated. In other words, the ghost functioned based on feelings alone.
As a vengeful red attire ghost, what drove them was revenge and death. And so Shiho-chan was out to kill. It may not necessarily be Yuuichi nii-sama. It could be Mikoto or herself.
But strangely, just now, Shiho-chan seemed rather fixated on Yuuichi nii-sama. Even though Mikoto was there to distract her, Shiho-chan seemed rather fixed on Yuuichi nii-sama.
Regardless, there were several questions that had no answer now.
Firstly, why did Shiho-chan rear 小鬼? Was she practicing witchcraft?
Secondly, who nailed the nails into the coffin? What was the purpose?
Thirdly, who let Shiho-chan out and took her remains?
Things were certainly getting more complex. Shizuru thought as she sipped her wine.
The sun slowly sank into the horizon as the day transcended into night. The sky slowly darkened as darkness slowly crept in but some hint of light could still be seen at the horizon. However, a different form of darkness had descended onto this stretch of forest.
With what little light that was left, it was possible to see a man dashing madly through the forest. The sound of the man's panting could be heard echoing through the silent forest.
The man looked like he was escaping from someone. Or maybe something. Because for every few steps he took he would glance back, with a look of desperation etched on his face, as if checking for something.
He ran on for a while until he stumbled and fell flat on the floor. He quickly picked himself up, ignoring the dirt on his shirt and jeans and prepared to take flight again.
A strong gust of wind blew past.
The man held up his hand to his face to shield his eyes from the wind. When he looked up, his face paled. He seemed to have seen something that frightened him. He took a step backwards followed another, shaking his head slowly.
"No, please no. I swear it wasn't intentional. I didn't mean to offend you. I am so sorry. Sorry..." The man sobbed. As he walked backward, he tripped and fell, landing on his backside.
He shuffled backwards while seated, until his back hit a tree. "Please! Spare me..." He pleaded.
He then kneeled on the floor and kowtowed, "Please! I have a wife who is currently pregnant. She needs me. Spare me and I promise I will never do such things again and...and I will always burn joss paper and joss stick for you. So please!" He begged.
Just when you would think that he would continue begging, he suddenly launched up from where he was, raised his arm and swung a fist sized rock at something that was in front of him. Apparently, the man found the rock on the ground when he kowtowed just now.
"Argh! Die! Die! Die!" The man screamed as he repeatedly swung the rock at someone or something in front of him.
Again and again, he swung the rock. This lasted for several minutes before he finally stopped.
"You think you can get me?" The man said in between breaths. "Haha...you think so? Haha..." The man laughed out loud.
The man's laughter echoed eerily through the silent forest.
The man then threw the rock onto the ground, turned and walked away, leaving the rock behind.
As the man walked out of the dark forest, the rock that was left behind turned red as blood stains appeared on the rock. Second later, a pool of blood was seen forming around the rock.
"What is the situation here, Akira-kun?" Natsuki asked.
"Lt Kuga. Lt Tokiha" Akira nodded at Natuki and Mai. "We might have a homicidal case on our hands."
"Shit. Any other information?" Natsuki cursed.
"The victim has his identification card with him. The name of the victim is Hanakari Seito (refer to chapter 1 for who Seito is). The suspected cause of death could be blunt trauma to the head and the suspected weapon could be the stone lying near the victim. The estimated time of death is between 7pm to 9pm yesterday evening." Akira paused and glanced at the crime scene.
White number cards were placed on the floor to mark the important area and a few forensic investigators were seen wearing a pair of plastic gloves bending over areas in the crime scene. Tokiha Takumi was currently picking up a rock carefully with his gloved cladded hand.
"The forensic team is currently combing the crime scene to extract any possible evidence and DNA. The rock that Takumi-kun is holding now is the suspected weapon." Akira pointed towards Takumi. "But we need to send the rock back to the lab for further analysis to check for possible fingerprints on it. And further analysis is also needed to determine the exact cause and timing of death."
"Alright." Natsuki nodded and her frown deepened as she asked "Do you know who found the victim?"
"An old man discovered the body. He was having his morning walk when he discovered the victim." Akira read the information from her notes.
"Shit! I really hate this." Natsuki collapsed onto a chair in the police HQ. Delivering such news of the deceased to the family member always left a bad taste in her mouth. She placed her arm over her eyes as she recalled the look on the face of Hanakari Seito's wife when she told the wife about the death of Hanakari Seito.
The victim's wife fainted upon hearing the news and a little girl, believed to be the victim's daughter, dashed out of the room towards her mother.
Natsuki sighed and rubbed her forehead. It's giving her a terrible migraine.
This incident just brought back bad memories for her.
In Natsuki's mind, she saw herself, a much younger blue-haired little girl, kneeling next to another blue-haired lady who was lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
"Okaa-san...Okaa-san...Wake up...wake up.." The blue-haired little girl begged.
"Natsuki,Natsuki...Hey Natsuki..." Mai waved her hand in front of Natsuki's face as she tried to catch Natsuki's attention.
Natsuki brought her attention back to the Mai, rubbing the back of her neck, trying to erase the discomfort brought about by her past memory. "Sorry about it Mai. What is it?"
"You ok? Your face looks pale." Mai stared at Natsuki with concern.
"Yeah well, I'm fine. Don't worry." Natsuki gave Mai a smile. It's good to have Mai as a friend and colleague. "Was thinking about the Hanakari Seito homicide case. By the way, any news from Takumi-kun regarding Munakata Shiho's case?"
"Yup." Mai waved the report in front of Natsuki. "I have the report here. I don't know if we are lucky or what, but Munakata Shiho's case and the Hanakari Seito homicide case may be related."
The information had Natsuki straightening from her chair. That was good news!
Captain Kaiji had been asking her for updates.
"What do you mean?"
Mai passed Natsuki the files and summarised what she read from it. "The forensic team examined the fingerprints found in both crime scenes and guess what?" Mai smirked. "The prints match each other!"
"Really!?" Surprised, Natsuki grabbed the file and quickly flipped through it.
"Yup! Two sets of fingerprints were identified on the shovel found at Munakata Shiho's tomb. The first set belongs to Hanakri Seito, the victim of the homicide case. The second set belongs to a man by the name Tsumugiya Ichinose. His fingerprints were found on the shovel as well as on the stone suspected to have killed Hanakri Seito."
"How did you manage to trace the fingerprints to Tsumugiya Ichinose?"
"We managed to trace the fingerprints to Tsumugiya Ichinose because he is in our records. He was jailed twice for small crimes like burglary."
"So Tsumugiya Ichinose is likely our main suspect."
Mai nodded her head. It is not uncommon for criminals to return to a life of crime after release from jail. And sometimes the kind of crime they commit becomes more serious.
"We ran a check on Hanakri Seito as well. But he is squeaky clean. No criminal history. What about your side? Did you learn anything thing from Hanakri Seito's wife?"
"Yeah I did." Natsuki said and took out her notebook and flipped through it. "Hanakari Seito was retrenched about 6 months ago when the company he worked for went into restructuring. He had been unemployed until about 4 month ago when Seito started bringing home money again. But according to his wife, he did not reveal much about his new job to his family except that he worked the night shift. Everything was good for a while until five days ago when he started behaving abnormally."
"Five days ago?" Mai injected. "And his behaviour became abnormal? In what way?"
"Yup five days ago. That was also around the same time when Munakata Shiho's grave was robbed. So the timeline fits. So around five days ago, Hanakari Seito began locking himself in the room and drinking himself into oblivion most of the time. According to his wife, he wasn't the type who drinks and he seldoms drinks, if at all. So this behaviour appears out of the blue. Occasionally his wife could hear him mumbling apologies. But for most of the time, he was too drunk to say anything."
Mai took out a pen and a paper and started writing. "So if we piece together the possible timeline, six days ago, Munakata Shiho's grave was dug open. Tsumugiya Ichinos and Hanakri Seito's fingerprints were found at the crime scene. Why were they digging at Munakata Shiho's grave?" Mai wrote a question mark. "And five days ago, Hanakri Seito's behaviour became abnormal. So something must have happened to trigger his abnormal behaviour. What could have happened?"
Mai drew another question mark on the paper and then continued. "Then three days ago, Hanakri Seito was found dead, killed by blunt trauma to the head and the likely weapon is the stone. Tsumugiya Ichinos' fingerprints were found on the stone. So there's a high chance that Tsumugiya Ichinos is the main suspect. If Tsumugiya Ichinose is the killer, why would Tsumugiya Ichinos kill Hanakri Seito?"
Mai put the third question mark on the paper and sighed.
"The new evidence helps to shed some light to the investigation but some questions remain unanswered." Mai commented.
"Yup. And it seems that Hanakri Seito is involved in some shady job since he was damn secretive about it. What is this shady job that he has been doing? Could it be related to Munataka Shino's grave?" Natsuki added. "And this guy, Tsumugiya Ichinose, he does have a list of records. He was once jailed for 18 months for breaking and entering into a private property, 10 month for small-time robbery and fine for drunk driving and other petty crimes.."
"Given that all the evidence is pointing toward Tsumugiya Ichinose, it is safe to say, we can issue a warrant for him. With him in, we might have some answers to our questions."
Natsuki closed the file, looking up. "Alright Lt Tokiha, we will make an official arrest of Tsumugiya Ichinose on suspected murder. Please make the necessary arrangements."
Fuuka Police Head Quarter
"Fuuuu…This is crazy Mai." Natsuki lamented as she collapsed into the chair in the conference room. "I am speechless."
"Yeah I know what you mean." Mai could feel a migraine coming up soon as she rubbed her forehead. "Well the good thing here is at least we have more information now than we first started."
Mai and Natsuki just finished their interrogation with Tsumugiya Ichinose. It was like pulling teeth.
It took a bit of threats and convincing before Tsumugiya Ichinose finally confessed. And the information really had them arching their eyebrows in surprise throughout the interrogation.
They had seen some unusual cases but this was another level.
Hanakari Seito lost his job about 6 months ago and had been trying to look for a job since then. However, about 4 months ago, Tsumugiya Ichinose found Seito and offered him a job as grave robber, digging for the deceased's remains.
While Natsuki and Mai had seen grave robbers digging the graves for valuables such as golden rings or jewellery. But this was the first time they had seen someone stealing corps.
Apparently, Tsumugiya Ichinose operated a small 'enterprise', organizing marriage ceremonies for the deceased, also known as posthumous marriage or 冥婚.
冥 (pronounced as ming) means netherworld.
婚 (pronounced as hun) means marriage.
So 冥婚 literally means marriage in the netherworld or posthumous marriage.
It was a common practice in the past where family members arranged for marriage for their deceased children.
It is still practiced in countries like China, Japan and some African tribes, though the marriage is considered illegal and would not be recognised by law. But France allows for posthumous marriage and recognises it as legally binding.
In China, people believe in the afterlife (refer to chapter 2 A/N) where the soul or spirit would go to a specific plane/realm of existence. And in this plane/realm, the spirits would stay and continue their existence. And this was where Tsumugiya Ichinose's company comes in. He offered matchmaking services for the deceased.
Tsumugiya Ichinose would approach parents whose children may have died before they were married and suggest a marriage ceremony with another deceased single. Upon marriage, the remains of the deceased would be buried together. There was nothing illegal about it if both sides agreed to it.
However, it was not easy to find suitable female or male deceased that matched the client's request. Rather than spending time searching for suitable singles, Ichinose chose to rob random graves. He engaged Hanakari Seito to find suitable graves and dig up the remains. Following which Ichinose would recreate fake profiles for the deceased and arrange for a marriage ceremony. This wedding ceremony would allow the deceased to be married in the afterlife and provide some form of comfort for the families knowing their children were married and well taken care of in the afterlife.
It was quite a lucrative business. Each business could yield about USD$11,000.
In his latest project, Munakata Shiho's grave was randomly selected. They had picked a suitable night to dig out the remains. Both Tsumugiya Ichinose and Hanakri Seito had done this several times. They were familiar with the steps.
But something went wrong that night.
Tsumugiya Ichinose claimed that something weird happened.
After they dug out Munakata Shiho's remains and wrapped it up, there was a strong gust of wind which forced them to cover and shield their eyes. And when they opened their eyes, they saw Munakata Shiho's apparition in front of them.
The apparition had the same appearance as the picture on the tombstone and this spooked them as they ran out of the cemetery leaving everything behind, including the remains.
And that was the last time Tsumugiya Ichinose saw Hanakri Seito. Or so he insisted.
He even insisted that they had left Shiho's remains in the graveyard, but it followed him home.
Right after he reached home, Tsumugiya Ichinose found the bundle of remains under his bed. It really spooked him and he tried to dispose of the remains in the bin. But each time he disposed of the remains in the bin or anywhere else, the bundle would reappear beneath his bed again and again. No matter where he disposed of the bundle, it would always find its way back to the house.
But three days ago, Tsumugiya Ichinose went to the Fuuka Forest Nature Reserve and buried the bundle there. And it was there that he saw Munakata Shiho's spirit again and they engaged in a fight which he survived and fled, leaving behind the bundle. That was the last time he saw the bundle and so he thought he won the battle.
Natsuki sighed and turned to Mai. "What do you think of his story?"
"You already called it a story. He's a sneaky one by mixing bits of truth and lies in his account of what happened, though some of the lies he put forward seem rather bizarre. He insisted that they saw Munakata Shiho and her remains followed him home. That he even got into a fight with a spirit at the reserves." Mai rolled her eyes at that. "Seriously!? Is he really hoping that we will believe this kind of bizarre story?"
Natsuki nodded her head. "His lies may be bizarre but one thing for sure is that he can lie as much as he wants but we have good evidence to prove that he killed Hanakri Seito. That crime alone is enough to put him on the death roll. Or if he is lucky, he might be spared the death sentence and will be behind bars for a long period of time."
"Yup. It is highly likely that he fought with Hanakri Seito over certain issues and killed him at the reserves. Yet he claims that he fought with a ghost instead and fled. This argument is not going to hold in court. Tsumugiya Ichinose is lying through his teeth."
"So more or less we have a case built up against Tsumugiya Ichinose." Natsuki said as she stacked the files and locked them in a locker. "So what we need now is for Tsumugiya Ichinose to bring us to where he left Munakata Shiho's remains and then we could return the remains to the Viola family. And then we can close the case."
"Sounds good to me." Mai agreed.
She took a look at the watch. "It's still early. Why don't we go out and have a drink or two before we head home? At least to celebrate the fact that we are close to completing the case?"
Natsuki thought about it and agreed. Anyway, it had been a while since they went out for a drink.
The pub they went to was a newly opened one. The business was quite good for a newly opened pub.
The whole ambiance was good.
Natsuki thought as she took a gulp of the beer. Her eyes scanning through the crowd.
It was just a professional habit of a police officer.
But as she scanned through the surroundings, her eyes were caught by a group of customers.
"What is it?" Mai asked when she noticed Natsuki staring at the group of customers. "Is there something wrong?"
Natsuki blinked. "Oh nothing. I just happened to recognise someone."
"Your friend?" Surprise, Mai asked.
Mai first met Natsuki when they were studying at the police academy. Natsuki was also a first year student but her name was already quite well known throughout the police academy. Because Natsuki was really pretty with a good figure, she immediately attracted everyone's attention when she joined the academy on the first day, especially given that the cadets there were predominantly male. And especially during training, many cadets would gather by the side to ogle her.
But what really impressed the cadets and the staff at the policy academy wasn't just her beauty but also her ability as a police cadet. Natsuki was ahead of all other cadets in her cohort, remaining as the top cadet till she graduated.
Despite the many attempts to woo her, Natsuki remained single throughout and it definitely wasn't for the lack of trying. Many cadets approached her, not just the male but also some female cadets. Mai knew that many people had a crush on Natsuki but Natsuki's aloofness kept people at bay. So for the two years she was at the academy, people actually called her the Ice Princess.
So Mai knew that Natsuki wasn't someone who was very sociable. She tends to keep to herself and was rather selective when it comes to who she selected to be her friend. So she was surprised that Natsuki would meet someone here.
"Just an acquaintance." Natsuki replied.
Apparently sensing their glance, someone from the group looked over.
Natsuki lifted her glass and smiled. The other person returned in kind.
"Oh who was it?" Curious, Mai looked over at the lady who was lifting her glance of wine in reciprocation to Natsuki.
The lady she saw was definitely a beauty too. Classy and elegant. She was definitely the focus of the group, surrounded by other people.
"Erm… someone I interviewed?" Natsuki pondered how she could describe the relationship between the two of them. "She is Viola Shizuru, Viola Yuuichi's cousin."
"Viola Shizuru? Viola Yuuichi's cousin? I didn't know that the Viola patriarch has a granddaughter!" Mai rubbed her chin. "Looks like my source was that accurate after all."
Natsuki glanced over again and saw a young teal hair lady leaning against Viola Shizuru, wrapping her hands over Viola Shizuru's neck. And suddenly, the teal hair lady leaned forward and dropped a kiss on Shizuru's cheek.
Viola Shizuru smiled and patted the younger lady on the arm but did nothing to push the younger lady away.
Natsuki arched her eyebrow but glanced away. She didn't want to be caught staring at people. Those two were quite touchy. Natsuki wondered what kind of relationship they were in and what the teal hair lady saw in Viola Shizuru. The smile she always had on her face seemed like a facade, hiding what she was really feeling. You can never tell what Viola Shizuru was really thinking. It would be tiring to be with somebody like this because you would always need to guess what he or she is thinking.
But to each her own. Natsuki shrugged. It wasn't her concern anyway, how others felt about Shizuru. It was unlikely they would see each other again.
But boy was Natsuki wrong.
Natsuki alighted from the police car. They were here with Tsumugiya Ichinose at the Fuuka Forest Reserve to retrieve Munakata Shiho's remains.
Tsumugiya Ichinose was flanked by two police officers. His hands and legs were handcuffed to prevent him from bolting.
"Alright, Tsumugiya, which part of Fuuka Forest Reserved did you bury Munakata Shiho's remains?" Natsuki asked.
"There is a river flowing across the Reserve and next to the river, there is a Rain tree. I hid her remains there." Tsumugiya Ichinose looked up from the ground before replying. He knew he was in deep trouble this time round.
"Alright then, bring us there." Natsuki requested, following behind Tsumugiya Ichinose and the police officers.
The group travelled deeper and deeper into the forest. It really took them a while but they finally located the spot where Tsumugiya claimed he buried the remains.
They were prepared with shovels and began digging.
It took some digging before the policemen managed to find a white bundle which held Munakata Shiho's remains.
"Tsumugiya Ichinose, is this the bundle you buried?" Mai asked.
"Yes. I buried this."
"And the remains here belong to Munakata Shiho?"
Tsumugiya Ichinose nodded his head.
Mai took out a pair of gloves and wore them. With the gloved hand, Mai carefully studied the bundle before slowly untying the knot.
The bundle opened to reveal a pile of bones.
But just as the pile of bones was revealed, Natsuki heard a girlish giggle.
"Who is that?" Tsumugiya Ichinose suddenly looked up from the floor and glanced around, his eyes wide with shock. "Did you hear that?"
Natsuki looked around. She heard a high pitched giggle but she wasn't sure if that was what Tsumugiya Ichinose was asking.
There wasn't anyone else here besides them.
Natsuki glanced at Mai.
"Hear what?" Mai asked as she removed the gloves from her hand. They would need the forensic team now.
"A giggle! Someone laughed just now?" Tsumugiya Ichinose tried to turn around and look at his surroundings but the police officers stopped him. "Didn't you hear it?"
Mai frowned. "I didn't hear it."
The other police officers also shook their heads.
Natsuki closed her mouth. She was about to say she heard it.
"How could you not hear it? It was so loud!" Tsumugiya Ichinose insisted and was getting agitated when no one believed him.
The policemen flanking Tsumugiya Ichinose tightened their grip on him. They didn't want him to bolt and escape. Otherwise, they would have to activate the rangers to comb through the reserves.
There was another giggle.
Startled, Natsuki glanced at rest. They were all oblivious to the sound.
Natsuki frowned. Was she having a hearing problem?
She glanced around. She still couldn't see anything wrong
Tsumugiya Ichinose started trembling. "She's here. I think Munakata Shiho is here. She followed me!"
Tsumugiya Ichinose struggled against the police officers, wanting to break free and escape.
"Let me go! Let me go please! She is here to kill me. Let me go please!"
Tsumugiya Ichinose's struggle grew more violent as he twisted around and tried to bite the police officers in a bid to free himself. And in response, the police officers had to pin him down onto the floor
"I hear her! She is here. Please let me go!"
The frowned on Natsuki's face deepened.
"Natsuki..." Mai came to stand next to Natsuki. "We need to bring him back."
"I agree. Mai, you lead the team back while I stay on to guard the remains. Someone has to stay on to guide them." Natsuki glanced at the bundles on the floor.
"Will you be alright here?"
"Don't worry. It should be fine. I will call the forensic team. I just need you to bring Tsumugiya Ichinose back and lock him up. Something seems to freak him up. But regardless, it would be safer to have him back in jail."
Natsuki stayed on to guard the remains. She had informed the forensic team and they should be here soon.
She thought as she glanced at the sky.
Dark clouds were rolling in, making the whole place look darker than usual. And from the far distance, she could see lightning flashing amidst the dark cloud.
Natsuki sighed. She hoped the forensic team could get here soon enough. Otherwise, she might be standing in the rain guarding a pile of bones.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming from a distance. She frowned and turned towards the source.
Slowly a lady appeared from the corner.
"Ara, gokigenyou Lt Kuga."
It was Viola Shizuru.
Natsuki was surprised to see Viola Shizuru again. She wasn't expecting that they would meet again so soon.
Unlike yesterday night, Viola Shizuru was wearing a simple polo tee with a pair of skinny jeans and track shoes. Regardless of the attire she was wearing, Viola Shizuru always exudes an air of elegance.
Natsuki nodded her head in greeting. "What are you doing here?"
Shizuru tapped her chin with her finger. "Hmmm… I was out for a walk."
Shizuru smiled.
Much as Natsuki disliked the facade Shizuru wore, it was undeniable that Viola Shizuru looked beautiful whenever she smiled.
"And what might bring Lt Kuga here?" Shizuru asked as her eyes glanced at the bundle next to Natsuki.
Viola Shizuru's eyes widened slightly. "Oh mine! Is that..."
Natsuki quickly sidestepped to block Viola Shizuru's view. The least she wanted was for an ojo-sama fainting on her watch.
"I'm sorry. You might not be able to see the item. I am here investigating a case."
"Ara alone? Where are the rest?" Shizuru glanced around.
"They left for a while. But they will be back soon." Natsuki replied and glanced at the approaching dark clouds. "Viola-san, it looks like it is going to rain soon. Perhaps you might want to make a move first?" Natsuki asked, hoping Viola Shizuru got the hint and moved off.
Just as Natsuki said that, lightning flashed across the sky and thunder roared in the near distant.
"See! It is going to rain soon and it looks like it is going to be a heavy rain." Natsuki added.
Viola Shizuru glanced at the dark clouds and smiled. Her red lips curving into a smile.
If Natsuki had turned to look at Viola Shizuru, she might have noticed that Shizuru's irises were glowing red.
Shiho-chan was coming.
Finally.
