Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

Preys	By : kamorgana Category: Rurouni Kenshin > General Views: 5568 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 23
- 24
- 25
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply. I don�t own Rurouni Kenshin. The characters belong to Watsuki, but the plots, ideas, OCs and text are *mine*.
Preys
Chapter 24: Bloody Sunday

Tokio was sitting in an armchair, distractedly watching the news channel. She heard Saitoh coming in and saw him drop a small backpack on the floor. That explained why he was late, he had stopped at his place to change and get new clothes. She gave up on that hypothesis when he turned to her and she frowned at his utterly closed, noncommittal face. Another disaster, for sure.
�What is it?� she asked, her tone fatalistic.
He sat on the edge of the bed.
�Kondo had a stroke.�
She paled under the shock, standing up. �Is he��
�Alive. His wife has been worrying about him for a little while. His last check-up wasn�t good. When he came back exhausted and in pain, on Friday night, she immediately called an ambulance. They could treat it early, with medications and laser, no need to operate. I�m just back from the hospital.�
�How is he doing?�
�Not too bad. He is weak, but it could have been worse. He�ll leave the hospital tomorrow and will be back to work on Tuesday.�
�That�s a bit early.�
�His wife thinks so, too, but the doctors gave the green light. He�ll be under medical surveillance, yet nothing that prevents him to do his job. And I agree with him: considering the circumstances, he can�t quit or take a prolonged break now. The media would go frenzy.�
�I was watching the news, and heard nothing about it��
�They also kept it private while they could, to prevent a new havoc. He called Hiko, Hijikata and me today, and he will call the departments� chiefs later. I told him that I�d inform you, by the way. It should make the news� headlines tonight, but as he�s out tomorrow, the impact should be minimal. Hiko and he decided that there was no need to replace him for such a short lapse of time.�
�That�s why he couldn�t be contacted these days��
�Yes.�
She gazed at his still closed face. She knew that he had also taken Kondo�s absence as a disavowal of the VCS. They had jumped to conclusions. He was surely furious at himself for this mistake. It struck her that he had been about to lose his other partner. All the cops considered their partners as the closest person to them, even Saitoh, and it was probably harder in these circumstances.
She took a step towards him. �Are you��
She cut off, suddenly conscious of how stupid she was. Her own emotions had once again overcome her good sense. She could have slapped herself. Saitoh would never admit that he had been shaken, if he had, and stressing it was offending him only.
�Never mind,� she said quickly.
She was concerned about him. It didn�t bother him, and he had stopped to ask himself why. Yet, he was now wondering in what sense she was. When the others had problems, she behaved like a mother, always worrying. This morning, when she had treated his shoulder, he didn�t have that impression but maybe it had been another clue. He didn�t like the idea that he was just another of her responsibilities. If so, he had to remind her that he was different. And he wouldn�t ask himself why, either.
�Are you going to be all motherly with me, like with Yukishiro?� he asked, raising an ironical, warning brow. �Because I don�t need that.�
She took another step, winding her arms around his neck, relieved as he let her. Motherly? That was how she sounded to him? Maybe her stupid, mellowing behavior gave this wrong impression.
�Motherly feelings are the least thing that you�re inspiring me,� she assured, caressing tentatively his neck.
His hands closed around her waist, and he pulled her closer to him, his eyes glowing with that hungry light which always made her pulse fasten. �Good. And what am I inspiring you?�
She bent to lick teasingly his lips, shivering as she felt his hands sliding under her clothes.
�Even better��he murmured, before attracting her on the bed with him.
***
The Riverside Park didn�t really deserve its name. It was merely a square of grass, with one or two small trees. Though the canal connected to the river traversing the city and the dirty, stagnant waters flowing 5 meters downstairs between two old concrete walls, was probably justifying the appellation in the eyes of the public powers, the place had nothing bucolic. It was nevertheless sufficient to lure the families of the neighborhood, on that beautiful Sunday, and numerous kids were playing around.
Looking at his Frisbee floating on the water, a little boy started to cry out loud, only to turn hysterical when his brother made fun of him, reproaching him with his incapacity at catching the toy.
�You threw it there on purpose!� he burst out, big tears streaming his red, chubby face.
�Masahiko! Junnichi! What IS the matter again?� their mother exclaimed, exasperated, leaving the bench where she was discussing with her friends.
Jun-chan explained between sobs, while Masa was keeping on teasing him, not even stopped by the slap she administered on his head. Glancing down in the vain hope to find a way to retrieve the toy, and therefore calm the annoying crybaby whom the maternity had assured she was the mother, she noticed something else floating next to it.
Two seconds later, she was screaming louder than her two sons combined.
***
The sounds coming from the TV took Tokio out of her slumber and the smell of cigarette reached her nose before she opened her eyes. It was late afternoon, she realized.
Saitoh was lying next to her, propped on his elbows, but he wasn�t watching TV. He was watching her. She reached for his hand, to get the cigarette. Savoring the taste, she smiled. She had the feeling to be on holidays.
And she wasn�t.
It was time to compare their notes.
�Do they know about Kondo?� she asked for a start, nodding towards the TV screen.
�They announced it in the previous flash. I guess that they�ll dwell on it during the next one.�
�As long as they don�t mention Enishi, it�ll be fine.�
�If Honjo didn�t babble around about her meeting with him. Takeda interrogated her and surely asked about him. If she added two and two��
�She did add two and two, but she didn�t mention it to Takeda. She isn�t going to tell anyone. She believes that he is innocent.�
�Really. Has she ever heard about obstructing justice? �
�She wouldn�t change her mind. I really warned her,� she assured, as he was looking dubious. �And it�s encouraging to know that other people don�t condemn him immediately.�
�Unfortunately, Shishio is also her �type� of man. Not a very reliable opinion.�
�Very funny. Thanks for lifting my spirits.�
�I�m realistic.�
�I know,� she muttered.
Suddenly restless, she left the bed to get something to drink from the mini bar.
�She also gave me two more contacts, working for the Yamaguchi-gumi,� she started, hesitating between ice tea and something stronger. �You aren�t going to believe it. Not only Takeda was, and probably still is, acquainted with their bosses, as you said, but on top of it��
�He had relations with underage prostitutes. My informer got the confession from the guy she gave us yesterday. Quite thorough. Takeda is done.�
Saitoh�s voice wasn�t as satisfied as she would have thought. Red alert. �You learnt something else.�
He nodded. She ignored the tea and grabbed the half-bottle of wine instead. Late afternoon was almost evening, and with yet another problem, she couldn�t have cared less if it had been early morning, anyway. She went back in bed and settled next to him.
�We aren�t the only ones after the ex-members of that special squad. Some people are asking about Raijuta, according to my informer.�
�The Defense Agency?�
�Not specifically. They are only covering the thing, you know. The unit didn�t depend directly from them��
�Yeah, they only provided the members,� she mumbled. �In any case, that should be an organization within the military. Why would they look for them and why now? If they wanted to help, they could have given us the files years ago. They could, still.�
He shrugged. �These people settle their problems themselves. And I don�t think that they want an arrest. They want to eliminate them. My contact alluded to some very dirty business, which they don�t want to be exposed. My take is that the military had kept them alive, in case they should need them later. These soldiers were exceptional, not only trained, but also experienced. An expensive investment.�
�And Shishio�s little show off made them revise their cost/benefit study. Does that mean that the partner is the old one, as we thought?�
�That�s Shinomori�s opinion. I called him after meeting the moron. They�re clearly after Raijuta, but that could mean two things: either he is the partner��
�Or they decided to eliminate the whole bunch, in order to avoid this kind of troubles in the future. Do you think that the military know where to find them?�
�They are hiding, according to my source. Yet, there might be a lead in the army�s files. I told Shinomori to make Makimachi hurry up on these. If they find Shishio, and possibly the partner first��
�They will make them disappear, and the partner problem will be left unsolved.�
�I also gave the description of Raijuta to the forensics, in case we are too late. I don�t think so, still. But we have to take the third party in account.�
�As if we didn�t have enough with the CD. If we don�t solve clearly the case, the media will be on our backs for years. We need two arrests, this time. Yet��
�Not necessarily,� he interrupted. �We need two arrests, or two cadavers. But this is my case, and whatever the issue is, it will be my hunt and my doing.�
�You�re obsessive, you know that? It will be better to get them alive, if not for getting a trial to clear all of this case, and yes, I know that you don�t care about that as long as they�re out,� she added as he opened his mouth, �but at least, we�d have a chance to expose that secret unit�s dirty business.�
�Obsessive?� he grinned, while caressing lazily her bare arm with one finger. Oh, yes, he was obsessive. Obsessed, too. The business talk was over, he decided.
�Saitoh,� she warned, sighing when he didn�t stop. She tried to keep her mind focused. �I agree that getting the files is important and that we�re running out of time, but I don�t want Makimachi to do too much, either. She is also recovering from a serious wound. I hope that Aoshi will keep that in mind. In fact, I�d better call him. He can be so careless about people�s feelings, when he concentrates on a case. Are you laughing at me?�
She had just given him an excellent way to divert the conversation. And she was clueless. That was going to be entertaining.
�Shinomori is certainly more caring about the Weasel than about this whole case. That�s why I called. He�s way too sugary on the girl,� he informed her, aloof.
She darted her eyes into his, sensing the irony. �What do you mean, exactly?�
�I mean that he�s besotted. As in: pinning over, having the hots, getting head over heels, and in summary, being a complete fool whenever it comes to the girl.�
He had expected her astonished reaction and seized her glass of wine as she let it drop. Her gray eyes were widened with doubts and surprise, searching his for a trace of lie. And widened more as she didn�t find any.
�You must be joking.�
�Not the least.�
�Aoshi? Besotted. With Misao. Saitoh, stop being ridiculous, will you? I�ve known him for years and I would have noticed��
�That he lost his coolness, lately.�
He finished the drink, enjoying her getting at last all the hints that she had ignored. She was definitely sweet, taken aback and lowering all her defenses.
Tokio recalled her friend�s strange attitudes of the last days, his concern, his aggressiveness towards Enishi, his bad mood. His acceptance, no, the twisted way he had gotten her to let him assume Misao�s protection, she realized. The kids she had heard on the phone. Aoshi wouldn�t have stayed in a place where he couldn�t work in complete silence. How come she had missed that?
�Oh, my,� she whispered.
�Yes, you *should* have noticed. Tell me, where is your famous intuition gone? Mm. Were you too busy obsessing about something else?� he questioned suavely.
His arrogant suggestion made her overcome her stupor. He had hit the nail, of course, but she would never admit it.
�And what could I have been obsessed with?� she responded with a falsely innocent smile. �Oh, of course, the Slayers, a body in my house, my subordinates mugged or arrested, the lobbying against my section and other minor incidents. Was that your point?�
He just smirked, conceding her a tie. She wasn�t ready to admit it, but she would. It was a question of time. He always won.
He had retrieved his usual mood. His lack of understanding of Kondo�s attitude and the idea that the others could get the Slayers before him had played on his nerves. Spending time with her had changed his state of mind. It was not only their lovemaking, but also their talk. He couldn�t deny it. She was affecting him even more than he had thought.
Curiously, he didn�t mind it anymore.
***
�Shit!!!!�
Misao grabbed the closest thing to her, a cushion, threw it away with all her strength, and stomped her feet in exasperated anger. The damn system had rejected her. She had thought that it would work, this time.
�I hate you, useless piece of��
She froze. She had been so absorbed in her work that she had forgotten she wasn�t alone. She turned to him in apprehension, her rage replaced by deep confusion, but her face still a crimson red, if she trusted the burning sensation coming from her cheeks.
Aoshi-san�s blue eyes were observing her. As usual, his indecipherable expression wasn�t of a great help to adjust her reaction. She knew that he could only be furious, yet she would have liked to estimate to what lengths in order to know how much she should apologize so that he would forgive her.
�I�m so sorry�� she started.
He nodded curtly and cast his stare on his files again.
Well done, Misao, she bitterly reproached herself. She looked around, helpless, her eyes falling on the clock. It was already dinnertime! Standing up, she felt dizzy, and her legs were shaking so much that she almost fell on the way to the kitchen corner. That was bound to happen, with her tension going high and low in the last minutes, plus the fact that she had eaten very few at lunch.
She sent a quick glance at him. He was still paying no attention to her. Good. She didn�t want to look too pitiful in front of him.
She was the youngest of the team, and it wasn�t easy to deal with. Sano, Tsunan and Enishi reacted as if she was their little sister. She liked it, except that she�d preferred them to drop the �little� part of it. They were so over-protective that she didn�t feel on an equal level with them, but as some helpless twit, sometimes. She had stopped to go out with them, because they scared away any guy who would approach her. Needless to say that the few who had been too straightforward had ended up with some missing teeth. She was thankful for their good intentions, *but* she could take care of it by herself. And she was a cop, a good cop: she could afford to do her job and didn�t need to be spared.
Working with Aoshi-san was an occasion to prove that. Of course, she had to screw it up, she sighed. She had provided such a terrible environment to work, with the girls, that she had managed to get him tired. It was certainly not easy since she had never, ever seen him giving even a little sign of exhaustion before, even when everybody had to work 24/7 for long periods. He was always perfectly even, did everything effortlessly, he was surely as strong as Sano or Enishi. Stronger, maybe. It didn�t seem so, because he was so sophisticated and beautiful that he looked almost delicate, but he was so manly at the same time, confident, and reassuring�And whatever the others called him Icicle, he had always been so nice with her, and these last days even more. He was so great.
She let her knife drop, shaking her head. She shouldn�t even go there. She had finished making a perfect fool of herself today, anyway. He had asked about Masu, but she didn�t have to get mushy about it. He had proposed to help, which was extremely nice, but she didn�t have to react as if he was the Savior. Then, after he had seemed to have a new idea, instead of keeping quiet she had got unnerved at her own lack of progress. She had probably mumbled to herself a good part of the afternoon, as she always did when hacking. And finally, she had had that outburst of childish rage, yelling to her computer. He could only consider that she was a total lunatic. Hopefully, he wouldn�t advise to her a little trip to the psychiatric ward.
She finished preparing the meal, lost in her depressive thoughts. Once again, she had to admit that she was the only responsible for being treated as a kid: she behaved like one. He had surely the worst opinion about her as a cop and as a person, too. That last part made her feel so sad. She wanted him to like her. Of course, she� She placed the food on two trays, and almost dropped them as she noticed him, standing on the other side of the counter. She noticed that he had cleared the table of their working devices.
�Let�s take a break,� he simply said, before bringing the trays to the living. �Eating while working isn�t healthy.�
She followed with the drinks. Maybe she could take advantage of it to really apologize, and maybe then, he would like her a little, as she had the feeling he did before today.
***
Megumi was watching over the window of the first floor, impatiently waiting for Saitoh. At last, she thought as car lights appeared at the entrance of the parking lot. Tokio�s car, and to her bewilderment, Saitoh got out of it, followed by her friend. He had called her? Another car arrived, and she recognized Tokio�s bodyguards, who had been already following her when they went out on Saturday night. The two guys stayed inside, while Tokio and the unnerving cop were walking towards the morgue. They were talking, and �no trace of the usual animosity between them. On the opposite, her friend was smiling, and she seemed�
Oh. My. God.
He was the guy. Tokio had an affair with *Saitoh*.
What the hell was she thinking? She was crazy. He was her subordinate, if being a cold bastard wasn�t enough to deter her. Megumi understood now why Tokio had let her believe that her current lover was Hiko, and refused to talk about it. She had tried to avoid what she deserved, but she wouldn�t escape it any longer. She needed a good lecture, and a reality check, before�
Megumi stiffened. Considering Tokio�s reactions to comments on her privacy and what Aoshi had told, confronting her would lead to nothing. How frustrating, but it wasn�t like she had a choice. She would do the only thing she could: help her friend when all this would turn into a disaster.
She breathed deeply, to overcome her nervousness, and she took the stairs to meet the newcomers.
�Hi, Takani-sensei. Detective Saitoh called me to say that you have new information�I didn�t know that you were working today. Is it about the blade?�
Megumi was doing her best, but she couldn�t help to frown. Tokio�s tone had been so natural that nobody could have guessed that she was talking to her best friend, about the man she was sleeping with. She, like Tokio and Aoshi, had always considered that their common capacity at separating their friendship and their professional collaboration was a great element of the latter�s success. Yet this time, it made her feel excluded.
�Hannyah was supposed to assume the permanence today, but he had a familial emergency, and I replaced him. And no, it isn�t the blade, or I would have called you instead of your subordinate.� She tried not to emphasize the last word. Saitoh raising a challenging brow told her that she had partially failed.
�You said it was about the Slayers,� he remarked.
�Yes. They found a body floating in the canal near Riverside Park today, by noon. I saw the description that you sent to Hannyah this morning, and it matched. I didn�t give you more information, as I wanted to finish a preliminary examination. And I found some interesting details. I understand that you never met personally the guy, but you said you could identify him?� she explained, walking towards her examination room.
Saitoh didn�t answer. He had lost his ironic composure, and seemed very pissed. He kept silent until they entered her autopsy room, to find the body of a near giant lying on the metallic table.
�Can it be Raijuta?� Tokio wondered. �How can a man like this hide easily?�
�He�s a soldier trained for infiltration in enemy territory. He can. As for the identification, I kept a detail for myself, to avoid an eventual manipulation. If it�s Raijuta he has a thunderbolt tattooed on his left shoulder.�
Megumi, without a word, lifted the green surgical sheet that was hiding the trunk of the body. She had already opened the chest and removed the lungs for examination. Her gesture revealed the arm.
�They got him first,� Tokio sighed.
Saitoh�s eyes had narrowed dangerously. �How and when?�
�He was in the water, and as you know it always complicates things. But I can give you a few conclusions. He has been shot. All of the wounds could have revealed lethal, if not taken care of rapidly. But the cause of death is drowning.�
�He got shot and fell in the river.�
�The sea. I made a first test on the content of his lungs and the sodium concentration is too high for the river. Riverside Park isn�t far from the estuary. It could be. I would place the time of the death 24 to 48 hours ago. That�s all I can say for now, I need more time to make a complete report. As for the other analysis, I�ll have to delegate, and the labs are a little overwhelmed lately.�
�Hopefully, they�ll graciously accept to work on week-days.�
Megumi didn�t pay attention to Saitoh�s spit of venom. It wasn�t the first time that she heard him complain about the fact that, except for the physicians, the forensic departments didn�t work during the weekend.
�Thanks, Takani-sensei. Would you notify them that the blade is still the priority?�
�No problem. My shift ends in one hour, and if I find something else I�ll send you a note tomorrow.�
***
�You didn�t even know that they were after him when they got him,� Tokio soothed. They were driving back to the hotel, and Saitoh was still mute. �And nothing tells us that they killed him. They wouldn�t have let the body to be found. He might have been in other illegal business, working as a hit man��
�I don�t believe in coincidences. He drowned. Probably, he was shot and fell in the sea during an attempt to escape. That�s why the body was found. Do they have to follow us all the time? I�m with you, we don�t need them,� he added dryly, sending a dirty look at the car following them.
Here he was. He had been blatantly unsatisfied at the presence of her bodyguards, arguing that private amateurs couldn�t make a cop�s job. Their 15 years of experience meant nothing to him. He was so stubborn. Most of the times it drove her crazy, but at others, like this, she found it�nice, especially when he seemed not to divert his bad mood on her anymore. She smiled inwardly.
�They work for me; I can send them away any time. But they�re convenient�and discreet.�
They couldn�t meet so freely if cops were following her. With all these meetings with his informers and investigations, it would have been difficult to find a convincing excuse for him to come back after each of his absences.
Saitoh gave that a thought. What he really couldn�t stand was that the pompous moron had found a way to intervene in his business. Yet, if he was looking at the result�It had an irony to it, which he quite appreciated.
He felt his lips twisting, against himself.
***
Makimachi was nervous.
While they were eating, in silence, Aoshi could feel her glancing swiftly at him every now and then. He sensed that she wanted to talk to him, yet she didn�t dare to. That unnerved him to no end. Once more, the reactions that she provoked in him were puzzling. He had always considered feelings as impatience or nervousness as deplorable wastes of time and energy. He flattered himself to be sensible enough to completely avoid them.
And since she had been attacked, this state was quasi-permanent. Little nothings were grating on his nerves. Well, they were not really nothings. He was furious, and with good reasons. Furious at Saitoh, to start with. He understood that the military�s involvement was demanding to hurry on the hacking, but it wasn�t the only way to get information. Makimachi was still recovering. He had had no intention to push her, and of course, the cop had guessed it. He had threatened, there was no other word, to call her directly in case Aoshi weren�t to tell her the last developments of the case. Of course, if it had been about Tokio, Saitoh would sing another tune, in the style of his most recent �She�ll never meet Seta again� one.
He was also furious at Makimachi. She had reacted exactly how he had expected. She was so eager to prove herself, to be treated as an equal by the other members of the team. Combined with an ignorance of her own limits which wasn�t unlike Sagara�s, her behavior of the afternoon had been unavoidable: she had thrown herself into her work without paying any attention to her physical state. He had watched her mumbling to her computer, oblivious of everything, getting feverish, barely drinking and eating, and he had seen the result of it when she had been to the kitchen: worn out physically and nervously, she had been about to faint.
Challenging her, or patronizing her, made her stubbornly willing to prove herself at her own sake. If only the idiots of the team understood that and gave her more credit, she wouldn�t feel so insecure and try to compensate to the point where she resented any clear show of concern as an insult. He had always been careful not to antagonize her in this respect. That was why he had had to refrain himself from ordering her to rest or to point her weak condition all the afternoon, which was the direct cause of his current nerve wrenching. Frustrated. He was so frustrated that he had let it show, and now, she wasn�t comfortable with him anymore.
He had always found her refreshing. He knew that his �coldness�, as Tokio and Meg put it, deterred people from getting familiar to him and kept them at bay. He didn�t care, as he didn�t like familiarity that much in the first place. Makimachi was different. She had always approached him in the same way as she did with the others, always gazing warmly at him, her genuine smile reflecting in her bright eyes. He had been surprised, yet pleasantly, as she wasn�t too familiar either, respecting the minimal distance that he imposed. The only person who had behaved like this with him was Tokio. Yet, there was a difference. He couldn�t put his finger on it. Maybe it was because Tokio had always considered him as an equal, whereas sometimes, Makimachi�s behavior bordered awe. Or maybe because for Tokio, mind had always come first, she had always had a control on her feelings, whereas Makimachi didn�t protect herself the least and reacted with her heart.
Whatever, he had grown used to her attitude. He liked it. And he had lost it. It was surprisingly intolerable to him.
It was even affecting his work. The only other way to learn more about Shishio�s past was to get something from Seta. If he could, she wouldn�t be in such a hurry and would feel allowed not to killing herself at work. Saitoh�s phone call had given him a very interesting new idea, he had been on it all the afternoon and had his first serious, reliable lead. That should make him feel satisfied. He wasn�t, because she was�
�You�re very mad at me, aren�t you?� she blurted out, all of a sudden.
He gazed at her. She was looking down, with that light pink blush on her cheeks.
�No, I�m not.�
He was sincere. His anger had vanished in a second, because instead of avoiding a confrontation with him, like most people did, she had been her usual self. Direct, honest�and showing that she cared about what he thought, if he was completely frank with himself.
�Really? I thought�� Her eyes had widened and she stared hard at him, trying to figure out his behavior. Her face eventually lit with relief: �Where you�I mean, you were totally concentrated on your work, was that why�I mean, you seemed very�far away, and��
He was now bemused. She just gave him a perfect pretext to reassure her without awakening her hostility, as each time that her abilities were questioned. His anger towards Saitoh disappeared too, replaced by a kind of condescending compassion. Neither of them was easy to read, his partner was right. But with a woman as complicated and proud as Tokio was, Saitoh would have to explain himself, sooner or later, whereas with Makimachi, Aoshi just had to play on ambiguity, and he could keep his fee�
�Aoshi-san? Aoshi-san, are you feeling well?�
The dark blue eyes were full of genuine concern. He overcame quickly the shock he had just received, thanks to his old habit of discarding any disturbing emotion.
�Yes. Excuse-me, I have the tendency to be too absorbed when I�m building a theory, and I have a new one.�
That explained both his attitude of the afternoon and of the previous instant. Good. Use your mind, Shinomori.
�On Seta?� she asked, all enthusiasm again.
�Yes. Seta�s knowledge of Shishio being alive was bothering me. Saitoh thinks that he just assumed, but I don�t agree. Saitoh told us today that the military were looking for Shishio and the others. They have hence no direct way to contact them, even in their files. Yet, if they didn�t eliminate them earlier, in case they might use them again, they must have a way to communicate. I added two and two. The Slayers might use it. If this method is known to Seta and accessible to him�.�
�That explains it! But how?�
�The team of the CD focused on his direct contacts with the exterior, yet they are strictly controlled, and anyway, this method has to be public. Until today, I focused on this and his behavior in prison, hoping to find a fail. Both options were wrong. Seta is reading lots of newspapers. And he started to read new editions, two months ago. All of them have personals.�
�That�s an excellent idea. Well, you�re a genius, that�s normal,� she joked.
He shrugged. �Not really. I should have thought about it immediately. I didn�t, because serial killer teams usually have an intimate connection and meet each other regularly, if not for the killing, at least to exchange their impressions or even to choose the victims. But Shishio and his associate don�t fit this pattern, in fact, they seem quite independent.�
�Aoshi-san, if you didn�t realize it earlier, nobody could,� she assured, peremptory. �And�Who can it be?�
The bell of the apartment had rung, and as she walked to the entrance, it rang again insistently.
�Surprise, surprise, Misao-chan!� Sagara exclaimed, jumping on her for a hug as soon as she opened the door.
***
On his way back home, Aoshi had an unusual frown on his face. He had to get the control of the situation, and of himself, back as soon as possible.
Sagara and Kitaoka, after a day of recuperating from a serious hangover, if he trusted the circles under their eyes, had decided unilaterally that they would assure Misao�s protection that night, under the very uncalled for pretext that he could then get some rest. Aoshi was more tempted to think that the restless cops couldn�t stand not to be participating in the investigation for a single day, as one or two remarks of Sagara had revealed.
His own reaction to the situation was completely illogical.
On the one hand, it was bothering him. Euphemism. They weren�t as responsible as Yukishiro for what had happened to her, but they had proven that they weren�t placing her at the top of their priorities. Moreover, he was the one whom she trusted and wanted there. He had seen clearly regret in her eyes when he left.
On the other hand, he was relieved. He had genuinely thought that his interest for her was motivated by curiosity, sympathy, and a will to protect her, born naturally as she had turned to him for comfort. He hadn�t tried to deny anything. It was just that until today, anything else was unthinkable. She was more than 10 years younger than he was. She was a colleague. She was not for him, anyway. He had then left, after announcing his intend to spend the next day doing some research on his own.
Yes, he�d go to the archives of the newspapers that Seta read, and confirm his theory.
Work was logical. Work was safe.

TBC�
- 23
- 24
- 25
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Preys