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Unlocking My Love	By : JadeHeart Category: Gravitation > Yaoi - Male/Male > Yuki/Shuichi Views: 7676 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 29
- 30
Title: Unlocking My Love

Author: JadeHeart

Fandom: Gravitation

Warnings: some bad language, implied sexual acts

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, apart from Jim Harris, or story concept behind this; they belong to the creator of ‘Gravitation’’ and I make no profit from this.

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Chapter 30

Yuki tossed back half of his drink in one gulp, squinting at the bright lights blazing down from the ceiling, feeling the bubbles tickle the back of his nose, trying to block out the incessant buzz of noise around him.

“It’s a good thing that’s not alcohol,” Mizuki said, smiling as she joined his side.

Yuki turned his head to acknowledge her, holding the half empty glass at an angle that threatened to spill the rest of its contents on the floor. The long emerald green gown Mizuki wore was a simple cut, not festooned with what Yuki always thought was unnecessary glitz on women’s dresses. The material shimmered in the lights and was cut in a way that showed the curves without embarrassingly clinging to every inch, and avoided the exposure of more flesh than was pleasing. Yuki thought Mizuki was far more sensible in her chosen attire than most of the females present that evening. And the colour suited her well – not too dark, not too garish, complimenting her complexion, age and fuller, more mature figure. Yes, far more suitable; not that he would expect anything less from his editor.

“It would be better if it was,” he said with a low growl. “It might make the damn company a little more tolerable.”

The material swished around Mizuki’s feet as she turned so she was facing towards the rest of the room, unlike Yuki who was facing away.

“Now, now,” Mizuki said soothingly. She cast a broad smile randomly to the room behind Yuki’s back before returning her attention to him. “You only need to remain a couple of hours more then we would have done our duty. And you have to admit that today has been highly successful. This evening’s event is simply to assure your new business associates that you will honour the arrangements we have made. You won’t need to worry about it after tonight.”

“Thank gods for that!” Yuki muttered under his breath.

She smiled again at him as she delicately sipped from her drink. “So what have you been doing with the glasses you have been handed so far?” she queried, head tilting slightly to one side.

It was inevitable at such functions as these that every time he moved anywhere or spoke to anyone a glass of some form of alcoholic substance was pressed upon him. Once he wouldn’t have cared how much he had to drink, tossing them back easily. By the end of the evening he would usually leave with one, or even two, women who would be just as drunk, relieve his sexual tension, and sleep it off in some strange hotel room or somehow find his way home. He had been more than used to surviving through the hangovers and subsequent stomach problems that resulted from this pattern.

However, now he was being far more circumspect. He didn’t want his mind addled with alcohol, nor did he want his ulcer to flare up. All that did was lead to misery, and most likely put him in hospital. He wanted to be able to spend time with Shuichi, not coughing up his guts. Somehow he knew that even alcohol wouldn’t make him get through these events any better, and he had no intention of dragging drunken women back to the apartment with him either.

So to avoid this problem he had to find a way to dispose of the seeming never-ending glasses that found their way into his hand. The solution had been simple. Hold the full glass whilst talking, turn around and head for the nearest potted plant. He’d actually found that this particular corner had a lovely tall potted palm of some sort in a high ornate pot which looked like a giant urn, with a little bushy shrub of something growing around the base which carefully hid the signs of liquid he poured on. It was also semi-concealed from view as it was placed elegantly just at the corner of the bay window with a long drape of velveteen curtain caught back at its side.

He didn’t say anything to Mizuki, simply indicating curtly with his chin. She glanced over her shoulder and one eyebrow rose, whilst her lips twitched as she attempted to hide a smile. Or perhaps it was to hold back a laugh. She turned back again and raised her glass to her lips, twinkling eyes catching Yuki’s. He frowned and turned his head away. It was a laugh, damn her!

“Well, it is certainly better than the alternative,” she said in her soft voice, polite smile still on her face as she nodded to someone in the room. “Though it is probably best that we will not be returning here again. I’m not certain we could vouch for the survival of the vegetation.”

Yuki humphed and glanced at his watch. Shuichi would already be on stage now, starting the Bad Luck set. He wondered how the second night was progressing.

“I’m sure all is well,” Mizuki’s voice cut through his thoughts. He looked up to see her smiling at him. “I know you would much rather be there but Shuichi knows you have work as well. He would expect you to do your best as he is.” Her smile grew warmer, just for him. “Let’s finish this properly. So put on your best face, please, and show them what Yuki Eiri is really about.”

Yuki sighed, knowing she was right and actually feeing a little better about it all. He took a deep breath, steeling himself. He could do this, had been doing this for years. It was all a game to be played, like an actor on a stage. He could do this with his eyes closed.

He took another slow deep breath before turning around to face the room once more, professional smile fixed firmly on his face now. Immediately a number of females gravitated to his side, gazing in open admiration at his looks. Not a brain cell between them, he thought uncharitably, letting their babble wash over him. His face and voice didn’t reveal any of his inner thoughts as he spoke ingratiatingly to them, flattering their looks, their clothes, their jewellery, everything. He could get through this, it was just the last thing for the day and then it would all be over.

It had been a long day; a very long day. It’s not that any of it had gone badly, in fact it had all gone extremely well. Mizuki had met him at the apartment mid morning, the driver Tohma had designated to them waiting downstairs with the car. Mizuki had greeted him brightly, looking calm and refreshed as usual. She waited patiently for him to get ready, running over the schedule for the day.

“So where’s the bra…your kid?” he had asked as he shrugged into his jacket.

“I’ve left him in the care of a babysitter Tohma Seguchi has provided,” she had replied, reaching up to settle his collar flatter and smooth the material over his broad shoulders. “The babysitter is very good with him.”

“Must be tough still,” Yuki stated, walking to the door. He didn’t pause to hold the door open for Mizuki, simply walking straight through.

“Not at all,” Mizuki replied, closing the door firmly behind her and ensuring it was locked. “He’s used to me not being around during the day.”

“Hmm,” Yuki responded. That was true enough.

He recalled vague memories of his own childhood after his mother had passed away. It hadn’t been an easy time for him as a child. What would it have been like if Mika hadn’t been there to step into the role of ‘mother’ as well as big sister? She couldn’t replace ‘mother’ completely but she had done her best. Done a damn good job really. How much worse would things have been for both he and Tatsuha if she hadn’t been there for them?

He glanced at Mizuki walking at his side. Mizuki spent a lot of time with him, even with aspects that had little to do with his career. She was, and always had been, a support for him, watching over him, scolding him. From the time she had been allocated at his editor, nothing he had done or said had fazed her. She just took his bad behaviour and manners in her stride and got on with her job, managing him with a skilful ease that his previous editor had severely lacked. They had been a good team for many years now.

However, that also had meant that Yuki had taken Mizuki away from her own life to manage his. He had never asked why her marriage had failed. He had been surprised when she had married in the first place because he’d had no idea that she had even been seeing someone. How she had managed to find the time on top of everything else was a surprise. Yet he had assumed that if she had managed it then that nothing would have changed once she had married. Surely her husband must have been only too well aware of what her commitments were in relation to her job. So why was it that after only a few years he had left her?

Yuki chewed at his lip absently as he stared out the window of the car as they headed off. Maybe it hadn’t just been how busy Mizuki was with work during the marriage. Having a child must have placed an additional stress on the relationship. They say that having a kid is supposed to bring couples together but as far as Yuki had seen over the years this was a load of crap. Usually it resulted in the complete opposite – for various reasons. Maybe that was exactly what had happened to Mizuki’s marriage. Much of her time was already taken up with work, then any additional time would have been spent with looking after her son. That probably didn’t leave much left over for the husband. He probably reached a point when he couldn’t see why he was bothering being in the relationship when Mizuki had no time to spare him.

Was it his fault, Yuki wondered. Could he have changed things if he had realised back then and given Mizuki more time off? Too late now. He hadn’t thought about it back then and it was all over with now so there was little point dwelling on things. But still… what about the kid? He could maybe do something to help out there. The kid needs his mother. He didn’t have a father so Mizuki was all he had in the world. Yes, he would sort something out. He would have to think about it some more but it wasn’t too late to work something out.

The rest of the day had rushed past in a blur of business greetings and meetings, moving from one appointment to another. An interview over lunch in a fancy hotel, a section discreetly screened off, trying to smile as he attempted to choke down the meal set before him, ignoring the flash of the camera and the whir of the video recorder. A photo shoot followed close after at a nearby park, after he had hurriedly gone to a bathroom to brush his teeth and re-groom himself. Nothing would have been worse to find he had some parsley stuck in his teeth from lunch! He had silently put up with the make-up artist bustling around, dabbing foundation and powder over his face, adding some extra colour to his lips, all the while bemoaning that he was so pale.

He had managed to squeeze in some texts to Shiuichi, catching Mizuki’s amused smile as he did so but pretending he hadn’t noticed her attention, pointedly ignoring her presence. For some reason being caught by her doing such a thing made him feel embarrassed so he growled a ‘What?’ at her to which she had simply responded cheerfully, ‘Oh, nothing’.

He had been grateful in a way for such a busy day to stop him from dwelling on last night. Not that he wanted to forget it – far from it, he wished he had more time to savour the memories but he was glad for the opportunity to not be able to because if he did he would no doubt get caught up in the moment all over again and that would just be torture. So he had thrown himself into his work, much to the delight of Mizuki who didn’t have to prod and cajole him in any way.

Which is why he was still at this god-awful after dinner drinks party. As he listened to the inane chatter from the females fluttering around him Mizuki expertly faded into the background, watching quietly from the sidelines. Yuki would much rather have been at Shuichi’s concert about now. A furtive glance at his watch confirmed that Bad Luck would still be playing, though probably coming to the end of their set.

He swallowed another sigh. It wasn’t likely that he could meet Shuichi again tonight after the concert. He had to admit that he was tired, and he couldn’t escape just yet unfortunately. By the time he managed to get away not only would Bad Luck have finished playing but the entire concert would be coming to a close and with the time it would take to drive across town Shuichi would most likely be already tucked up in bed. He had a brief flash of a slumbering Shuichi and how he would like to wake him up. A pity, he thought as he pushed the erotic image away resolutely. No point in getting all fired up thinking about something that’s not going to happen.

He turned his attention back to those around him, feeling more irritated by the second, when Mizuki touched his shoulder and with a warm smile to the women, she interrupted their inane patter quietly.

“My apologies, Yuki, but there are some guests that you still need to meet before they depart. Excuse us, ladies.”

Yuki held his arm out to Mizuki in what appeared to be a chivalrous gesture, but was more to ensure that none of the other females would think to join him. Mizuki elegantly lay her hand on it as they crossed the room, disappearing into the crowd.

“Thanks,” he muttered.

“You’re welcome,” Mizuki’s soft response bubbled with laughter.

“So do I really have anyone to meet?” he asked, nodding randomly to people they passed.

“Actually, yes, I’m afraid,” Mizuki replied. “But after that we can probably discreetly make our get away.”

“That’s the best idea you’ve had all day.”

“I aim to please.”

Yuki didn’t respond, now just wanting the evening to be over with and gain some peace and quiet.

-o0o-

“Take this to the Lighting Manager,” Tohma said, handing over the tablet to Tatsuha, even as he leant down to flick through some other papers on his desk. “If he has any queries tell him to contact me immediately.’

“Okay,” Tatsuha confirmed, accepting the charge. The afternoon had been hectic as it was and as it drew closer to the concert start everyone was moving at top speed. He was sure that he had run – not walked – the length of the venue at least fifty times in the past few hours. He glanced over the tablet in his hand, noting the schematic design with lines, dots, crosses and colours. It didn’t mean a lot to him but he recognised a few things now – he found he was picking up quite a bit of knowledge from being the general gopher on site.

He looked up as Sakano materialised behind Tohma, face looking flushed and breathing heavily.

“’What is it?” Tohma asked, not even turning around to see who it was, obviously fully aware that it was Sakano. It was kinda spooky how Tohma seemed to be able to ‘sense’ Sakano’s presence.

“You are needed, sir,” Sakano said softly, bending in to speak quietly in Tohma’s ear, although not so quietly that Tatsuha’s sharp ears couldn’t pick it up. “There’s been another …incident.”

Tatsuha almost shivered as it seemed the air in the room plummeted to icy temperatures.

“I see,” Tohma stated just as quietly, his voice even.

“What…?” Tatsuha begun but his voice vanished under the fierce gaze of Tohma, stilling his words.

“Complete your job,” Tohma commanded, gathering the papers on the desk he had been looking through and tapping them into a pile which he neatly set to one side.

Tatsuha opened his mouth to argue but choked, unable to get any words out, falling silent again as Tohma fixed him with a steel gaze.

Tohma turned away, but continued to speak to Tatsuha. “After you have delivered the message I want you to find Ryuichi,” He looked over his shoulder briefly, catching Tatsuha’s eye. “Find him and stay by him. It is your responsibility to keep him safe, understood?”

The seriousness in Tohma’s voice struck Tatsuha. “Yes!” he said sharply, straightening up and fighting the urge to salute as Tohma strode out the door swiftly, Sakano at his heels.

Tatsuha left the room also, turning in the opposite direction and set off at a run. He had to complete this task first no matter how much he wanted to go directly to Ryuichi. However he knew that Tohma expected him to be able to do both and do them properly.

His mind raced as he ran full tilt down the maze of corridors. He didn’t know what exactly had happened but it obviously had something to do with the trouble that had happened before resulting in the damage to Shuichi’s clothes. That was the only other time that he had seen Tohma react like that. No-one seemed to know what exactly it meant or how it might affect anyone else, or if they did they weren’t telling him, lowly gopher that he was. It irked him because Shuichi was his friend, as were the rest of Bad Luck and he would help them if he could, but he hadn’t been included in what ever discussions had been held after the last incident. But now ‘something’ else had happened though he was none the wiser as to what. Not that he expected to be taken into Tohma Seguchi’s confidences, that would never happen, but he wished that he had some idea of what was going on. So if Tohma thought Ryuichi could be in trouble and had asked Tatsuha to protect him, that made him very, very concerned. He ran faster, feet slapping against the concrete floor. He wouldn’t let anything happen to Ryuichi, he promised himself fiercely.

Tohma strode along briskly, Sakano trotting behind like a faithful hound. “When did it happen?” he wanted to know, not breaking his stride.

“Only… ten minutes ago,” Sakano confirmed after checking his watch. “The package was intercepted quickly before it fully entered the premises and K has taken measures already.”

“Good.” By this time they had reached the back of the venue, only a few metres from one of the outer doors.

A small gathering was there, K standing out prominently, his golden hair gleaming amongst the sea of black suits. They parted to let Tohma approach.

“Well?” Tohma questioned.

K motioned to a long slim package, beautifully wrapped with silver trimming and bows. “I’ve already given it a sweep and it doesn’t appear to be dangerous, but I’ve called the bomb squad to be sure.”

“I see,” Tohma studied the package, eyes taking note of everything, hands clasped behind his back. The paper was fairly normal, as where the trimmings, what you would find in most any gift shop, nothing special there.

“So… tell me,” he said in a deceptively calm voice. “Just how was it that this,” and he stressed the word, “was able to get here?”

There was a shuffling of feet from the normally threatening black suited guards around them though none spoke. They all knew what Tohma meant. He was asking why they had failed in their duty.

“Mr Winchester?” Tohma turned his steely gaze to the tall blonde man, singled out to be the scapegoat.

K just lifted his chin a little higher, not backing down, bracing himself to take the brunt of Tohma’s wrath as manfully as he could, acknowledging his shortcomings.

“It was given to a delivery driver by a woman who asked him to bring it in,” he explained succinctly, not making excuses. “The driver thought it must have been a legitimate delivery as it looked professionally done and the woman was well dressed and well spoken. The guy didn’t know any better as we had not made it known to outside suppliers of any rulings about not accepting any other items to be delivered so he simply placed it on the top of the next load he brought inside. My men were already inside as they had done the initial check of the goods in the van and were at that time busy conducting the second check of the goods that had already been dropped off which is when the suspect item was identified.”

“Hmm,” Tohma murmured.

“My men acted in accordance to my instructions,” K continued firmly. “They followed correct protocol.”

“Then I would suggest you…review that protocol, don’t you think?” Tohma stated quietly, head tilting to one side and piercing green eyes boring into K.

“Yes, sir!” K snapped to attention.

Just at that instant a group of men were ushered in, going straight to K who said a few quiet words to them to which they listened intently, then the bomb squad began barking orders for everyone to remove themselves from the vicinity whilst they carried out their task.

Sakano thought for a moment that Tohma would refuse to leave, noting the slight stiffening of the shoulders then he breathed a sigh of relief when his President calmly obeyed, striding away swiftly. He was a little surprised when Tohma took himself even further away than necessary, pulling his phone out and dialling. As he caught up obviously the call had been answered.

“Ah, Ryo, I’m glad you were available. Please excuse my lack of formalities, I have need of your services. There has been another incident. Just now. The bomb squad is here. There is no need for alarm – K had already conducted an initial check and was confident there was no harm in that way but deemed it necessary to have it vetted more professionally. Are you able to join me as soon as possible? Good. I will expect you shortly.”

The check was done quickly by the bomb squad and the supervisor reported immediately to K who then came to Tohma.

“They’ve given the all clear,” K said. “Nothing untoward showed up but they said that precautions should still be taken.”

“Where is the item now?” Tohma asked.

“Still at the docks.”

“Move it. Carefully,” Tohma stressed, “to my office and then clear all personnel away from that vicinity. I’m sure they can be occupied with other things at this time.”

“Not a problem,” K fired off short commands into the microphone attached to his earpiece.

“Where are Bad Luck now?” Tohma asked.

“Currently going over some things in the dressing room.”

“Are they aware of this matter?”

“I doubt it,” K stated. “There were strict instructions that they weren’t to be disturbed by anyone other than myself. And you, of course.”

“Of course,” Tohma agreed wryly.

K gave a half apologetic smile for his almost slip.

“Very well,” Tohma continued, turning to re-enter the venue. “Make certain they do not find out about this in any sort of way. I don’t want their minds on other things during the concert, nor do I want them worrying about it over the next few days. We will be gone soon enough so the quicker we can get through this time and remove them from any potential danger, the better.”

“No problem.”

“Also, Ryo and Dee will be arriving shortly. Have them directed immediately to my office.”

“I’ll bring them myself,” K assured his boss. “I’ll take my leave and get things organised.”

Tohma made his way to his office, opening the door and pausing there a moment, looking at the innocuous object that now resided in the centre of his desk. Good thing he wasn’t attached to that desk because there was no telling what might become of it before this day was over.

-o0o-

“So this was what was found?” Dee poked at the box with a pen as it lay on the top of Tohma’s desk from his crouching position so he was eye level with the desk top. Everything else had been cleared away completely, leaving the top bare except for the brightly sparkling box.

“Yes,” Tohma stated, leaning on the edge of his desk unconcernedly, although his gaze on the box was steady.

Ryo snapped the latex gloves as he settled them around his wrist more comfortably “Hopefully we’ll get some prints off it somewhere,” he said, running his eyes professionally over the item.

Dee smirked up at him, “You look like you’re a doctor about to do a rectal examination!”

Ryo frowned at him to be quiet as he stepped closer to the desk and bent down to look more closely, still not touching the box.

Dee stood, then leant in closer to Ryo to whisper in his ear, “You can rub my prostate anytime, baby.”

Tohma watched in silent amusement as Ryo’s usually calm face flushed bright red.

“Dee…!” Ryo’s hissed threat and fiery glare promised dire things to come but his partner seemed completely unrepentant and just chuckled.

The phone suddenly rang on Tohma’s desk, the loud jingling startling them all. Tohma didn’t move at first, letting it ring a few more times as he stared at it intently then he reached across and picked it up.

“Yes? Ah, Jim!”

Dee and Ryo both looked up, recognising the name.

“No, you’re just in time. We’re all still here. Just a moment and I’ll put you on speaker.” Tohma pushed a button and settled the phone back in the cradle. “Can you hear us, Jim?”

“Loud and clear,” Jim’s voice came through as though he were in the room with them. “Well, you boys certainly know how to have a good time.” Even through the phone line they could hear the tone of irony.

Tohma’s lips twitched slightly in amusement. “You always did have a warped idea of fun,” he replied.

“Comes from hanging around with you too much,” was Jim’s answering retort. “So,” and his tone turned serious, “what have you got?”

“Rectangular box, approximately 65 centimetres in length, 20 centimetres wide, and 15 centimetres in height.” Ryo began to list off the information for Jim. “Looks to be a pretty standard box used for delivery of cut flowers from a florist. Wrapped in three different types of paper, all of the metallic look, with various silver coloured trims and one large red bow. There was no card or florist name indicated anywhere on the outer packaging.”

“What’s it been checked for?” Jim asked.

“The bomb squad have gone over it,” Dee answered, leaning one hand on the desk top near the phone. “They found nothing that concerned them. So we’re just about to crack this baby open.”

“Okay, take it nice and easy,” Jim warned. “If there’s anything rigged up inside for a biological or chemical attack the bomb squad wouldn’t necessarily pick it up. Some trigger mechanisms can be really simple but unfortunately effective for that type of thing. You’re going to have to stop every step of the way and have a really good check. If you try and rush this and get it wrong one of you may not be coming out of it completely intact. Got it?”

“Not a problem,” Dee said, sounding off-handed but Tohma heard the resolution underlying his voice. Dee may play the fool a lot of the time, even during work, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t know how to do his job properly.

“Tohma, what are you still doing there?” Jim now questioned his friend. “That place should be off limits to everyone.”

“It is,” Tohma assured him. “I’m not everyone.”

They all heard Jim’s sigh. “Fine. Whatever.” Ryo found it a little amusing that the FBI agent didn’t even bother trying to argue with Tohma.

“All right then,” Jim said firmly. “You’d better start. The sooner you find out what nasties might be there, the sooner you can deal with it. But watch it, boys. Try and stay clear as much as you can and be really careful how you breathe. If you see any sign of powder or gas, try and breathe through your nose to reduce the particulate size you inhale if you can’t hold your breath at all.”

Jim fell silent and all eyes turned to Ryo. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment and schooled his expression back to calm. He would have preferred it that civilians were not also in the room but he already knew from their previous encounters that he would have no luck in making Tohma leave. How on earth would he be able to manage to do that when even Jim couldn’t?

“Stand back,” he said, hunkering down and carefully reached out to lift the lid, touching it as little and as lightly as possible. The bomb squad may have already cleared it for explosives for which Ryo was thankful for. Bombs brought back too many bad memories of Dee being hurt and trapped and nearly losing him. He was glad that Touma was taking no chances. However, as Jim had noted, explosives weren’t the only thing that could be hidden in this deceptively pretty box.

The box lid rose smoothly, Ryo ensuring that he kept it as level as possible as he lifted. He paused for a moment as the lid just cleared the sides of the base.

“Looks clear,” Dee said, kneeling on the other side of the desk.

“Got any paper lying around?” Jim interjected.

Dee looked at the floor beside the desk where everything had been cleared away to. “There’s heaps,” he said.

“Grab one and use it to check for anything connecting the lid to the base,” Jim instructed. “And be sure that anything you remove you place on paper as you’re not going to be able to place it into evidence bags. After you can just bag the evidence and paper it’s on so any residue that may have fallen off will be picked up too.”

Dee took a single sheet of paper and slowly eased it into the tiny gap between lid and base. Millimetre by millimetre, Dee moved the sheet of paper down the length of the box. “Don’t feel any threads, wires – nothing.” He reached the end of the box without mishap and laid the piece of paper on the desk.

Ryo looked down at his partner and nodded, receiving one in reply from Dee as he lifted the lid higher. Dee peered up from his crouched position, running his eyes over the inside of the lid. “Can’t see any mechanisms, either attached or embedded. Looks clear.”

“Any signs of staining or leakage?” Jim asked. “Any discolouration that might indicate a gas is releasing or has?”

Dee had another look, leaning closer even though Ryo could see he was holding his breath, dark eyes scrutinising every inch. Dee leant back and shook his head. “Can’t see anything like that. It’s clear.”

Ryo carefully turned the lid fully over and looked himself – not that he didn’t trust Dee’s judgement – it was simple procedure to do a double check. He laid it gently onto the piece of paper Dee had used earlier.

Now all three of them could view the contents of the box for the first time.

“What’s inside?” Jim asked, sounding a little impatient.

“Sorry,” Ryo apologised, having forgotten for a moment that Jim couldn’t see what they could. “The box is plain inside, no paper covering, there appears to be material placed on the base and from the small bit I can see it appears to be black or dark purple. The flowers appear to be standard long stemmed red roses, without thorns. Most florists would be able to supply these as they don’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary, unless there is some significance to the actual type of rose they are.”

Ryo ran his eyes over the rest of the box and the flowers nestled inside “Seems innocent enough,” he said finally, not seeing anything else to report at this time.

“Looks can be deceiving,” Dee said dryly, using his pen again to separate the long stems. The lush green leaves shifted and parted as he rolled first one, then another to one side. “Uh, oh,” he murmured, noting the way the leaves of the flowers below seemed to bulge. “There’s something here I think,” he warned everyone.

“Careful, Dee,” Ryo warned softly. Jim and Tohma remained silent.

Dee flashed his partner a quick reassuring smile before turning back to concentrate on his task. He took another pen and used the two to pick up the flowers one at a time to lay them carefully on the paper sheets that Ryo had quickly spread out across the desk top. Slowly the box emptied as the top layer was removed. Dee stopped at that point. He was wary that there still might be some type of mechanism rigged inside that might even be sensitive enough to be triggered by weight. If he removed all the flowers that would definitely do it; by removing only some he was hoping that if such a mechanism existed he had left enough to prevent the trigger activating.

He used one pen now to carefully just roll the last of the stems to each side to finally reveal what was creating the bulge he had noted. Underneath was a head – a doll’s head. And it was obviously made up to look like Shuichi.

Dee shuddered as he looked at it. “Creepy!” He looked up at Touma. “Is this some of your merchandise?” he asked.

Touma shook his head. “We haven’t put out any figurines of Bad Luck,” he said. “Yet. That was still to come.”

“So it’s a home job,” Dee confirmed.

“What?!” Jim demanded through the phone line.

“It’s a doll’s head,” Ryo filled him in. “Approximately 5 centimetres in height, hollow, appears to be a soft moulded plastic or resin,” as he watched as Dee’s pen poked the face and it dented a little. “It’s features have definitely been made up to look like Shuichi Shindou of Bad Luck, it’s easily recognisable as such, though the hair has been styled and coloured differently to what he wears.”

“That,” Tohma put in at this point. “Is how Shuichi used to wear his hair, in the early days of Bad Luck.”

“Prior to his disappearing act?” Jim questioned.

“Yes.”

“That could be significant,” Jim said, obviously thinking. “It could mean that who ever his stalker is, is trying to recapture how Shuichi used to be, and may have something against his image now.”

“Not sure that’s going to help us find the perp,” Dee put in, absently rolling the head around on top of his pen.

“Dee, please don’t play with the evidence,” Ryo said in a slightly pained voice.

“I would have to agree,” Tohma said. “It rather pains me to see Shuichi being spun around like that if you don’t mind.”

“Whatever,” Dee shrugged as he tipped the head back into the box.

“That’s because you want to be the only one to make Shu’s head spin,” Jim said to Tohma.

“I leave that to Yuki,” Tohma replied calmly.

“Getting back to the topic,” Jim continued. “Knowing that the perp has some interest in Shuichi’s previous style may help with profiling to lead to catching the person. These sort of things are pretty deep rooted most times and they become fixated on stuff.”

“Well, we’ll leave the loony bin prognosis to the shrinks back at HQ,” Dee said as he poked at the wide eyed face. “We’ll get the lab to analyse this and see what they can tell us about where the original mould came from. Most of these things have a maker’s mark somewhere, even based on the type of products used.”

“The problem will be that if it’s a common product then simply modified by the perpetrator it will be very hard to track down,” Ryo said seriously. He looked up at Tohma apologetically. “I’m not sure we’ll have much to go on if that is the case.”

“It can’t be helped if that is the case,” Tohma acknowledged.

“The lab will run all the usual tests to see about prints and other residues that might be attached to any of the materials. We might be lucky to score a few hits if this was entirely put together at the perp’s home. Unless they’re doing it in a sterile environment there’s gonna be something there,” Dee said with some assurance.

“Not sure I can help you out with anything more,” Jim joined the conversation. “Your own boys are going to have run all the tests so there’s no point me interfering.”

“I appreciate you calling, Jim,” Tohma assured him.

“No problem,” Jim replied. “I’m finished up here and heading home anyway. If I’ve got time between flights I’ll stop in for an hour or so on my way.”

“It would be good to see if you if you have the time. Let me know your arrangements,” Tohma said.

“Will do,” Jim acknowledged. “Good work, guys. Glad it didn’t all blow up in your face.”

“That’s reassuring,” Dee muttered. “Thanks for the vote of confidence!”

“Thank you for your assistance and additional knowledge,” Ryo said. “It was greatly appreciated.”

“Anytime. Let me know the end results if you can,” Jim asked.

“We will,” Ryo assured him.

“Talk later, Tohma. Say hi to the boys,” and they all heard the click as the phone disconnected.

Tohma hung up the phone and they turned back to box on the desk.

“Well, I for one am very thankful that this at least has turned out reasonably harmless in itself,” Ryo stated firmly.

“Yeah, though it’s still a little creepy what the meaning might be behind it all,” Dee agreed.

“We will take steps to further tighten up our security,” Tohma stated, and was interrupted by a soft knock on the door. “Enter.”

Sakano stepped in, gave a shallow bow of acknowledge to Dee and Ryo, before crossing the room to hold a box out to Tohma. “These are the security recordings for today,” he said. “K has already reviewed them all and unfortunately found little additional information.”

“They didn’t pick up the perp at all?” Dee interrupted in surprise.

Sakano turned to address him. “It was not that they did not pick up the person of concern, it is more that the position of that particular camera and line of sight in relation to where the event occurred does not produce any results.”

Dee stared at Sakano for a moment longer and then turned to Tohma. “He speaks more confusing than even you!”

Ryo stepped on Dee’s foot as he moved forward, ignoring his partner’s ‘ow!’ and antics behind him. “So you’re saying that the camera couldn’t pick up the person who brought this package to the delivery zone properly?”

“Yes,” Sakano confirmed. “Unfortunately, the way the delivery van whose driver was approached was parked with the doors open and the height of both the van in relation to the camera, obstructed a clear view of the person. It is clear that it was a woman, but little else can be determined. The delivery van driver’s description is also rather vague.”

“Is he still here?” Ryo asked.

“We have him waiting in another room and notified his company that he will be further detained.”

“We’ll get him together with a sketch artist down at the station and see if he can come up with something useful that way,” Dee said, finally joining the conversation again.

Tohma nodded to Sakano who turned fully and held the box now out to Ryo who took it. “Hopefully you may be able to find something that we have missed,” Tohma said.

“We’ll check,” Ryo promised. Dee meanwhile was making some phone calls and in a short time additional forensics staff were milling around, removing everything from Tohma’s office, checking over the delivery zone area, before disappearing again. K’s security personnel kept everyone away from these areas so the work was conducted quickly and efficiently with few the wiser.

“Whatever we find, we’ll let you know,” Ryo promised Tohma as they shook hands good-bye.

“Yeah, but just keep a close eye on the kid,” Dee warned, also shaking hands. “We still don’t know if this is indicating harm towards him, or just some fan’s warped idea of adulation.”

“Rest assured, I’ll be certain to protect Shuichi,” Tohma stated. “Thank you for coming so quickly and helping with this.”

“That’s our job!” Dee quipped with a grin and jaunty salute as they left.

Tohma gazed after them for a time, letting all the recent events run through his mind again, assessing, sorting, weighing up. He didn’t like this, not one bit. At the moment it did seem to be Shuichi only as the target, the doll’s head today rather clinching that fact. However he was still worried that if Bad Luck’s lead singer was being targeted, what was to stop Nittle Grasper’s lead singer also becoming a target? Ryuichi could still be in danger.

“Sir?” Sakano’s voice broke through his thoughts and he turned to find the man still standing behind him, waiting. “What are your instructions for tonight?”

He knew what Sakano was asking. Should they cancel or go ahead. He thought again. No, there was no point cancelling – that may very well be what this stalker is trying to achieve. No, everything would continue as it should. He would protect all his people.

He glanced at his watch and spoke, “Inform the staff that we have very little time before beginning and I expect everything to have been completed as per my instructions.” He looked up at Sakano and smiled. “Tonight’s concert will go ahead exactly as planned.”

“Yes, sir,” Sakano bowed deeply. “I shall relay your message immediately.” He straightened and turned around smartly, walking away briskly to carry out his task.

Tohma more slowly made his way towards the stage. As they say, the show must go on.
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Unlocking My Love