Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ The Butterfly Effect ❯ police ( Chapter 2 )

Yay! Chapter 2! Yeah, only the detective and Derekku are mine.

 

A sigh came through the line, “fine, Daughter of the Butterfly, your mission is to attract and detain a killer in the Red Light District.”

 

“A prostitute killer! What's wrong with that?” Kyo blurted out, blowing their cover on the extension line.

 

“Hello Kyo, Shigure, can you get off the phone so I can finish this in private? I'll tell you about it after I get off.” Tohru waited to see them both leave Shigure's office before prompting. “They're off now, what about the Red Light District?”

 

“The killer, lucky for you, goes for young ones in blue. Your MO, right?”

 

“Did you call for me or my mother Itochu. You knew she was dead!”

 

“Yes, I knew. I wanted to know if you were trustworthy or not. Have you graduated yet?” now that they weren't being spied on, they could talk personal.

 

“No, I'm a Junior.”

 

“Oh. So I can't pay you… does your mom still have an account?”

 

“She's dead, remember—“

 

“I know, but does she?”

 

“I guess this is volunteer work then… unless you put my pay in Derekku's check and tell him about it.”

 

“I'll do that. I'll pick you up from school tomorrow, how can I identify you?” he asked, some shuffling of paper could be heard on his end.

 

“Long hair, yellow ribbons, short skirt, I'll be walking with two boys with interestingly-colored hair. Got that?” Tohru looked over at the living/dining room and gave a small smile.

 

“Yes, but what type of `interesting' hair color?”

 

“Red and silver/purple. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?”

 

“Okay,” he sounded uncertain, “bye.”

 

Tohru opened the shoji and Shigure fell down, causing him to transform and knocked Tohru over. “Sorry, I didn't get anything that you didn't hear, but I'm going to talk to him tomorrow after school. So I don't know when I'm going to get back.” Shigure tilted his head (looking up her skirt by `accident') and nodded.

 

“Pervert.” Kyo muttered, pushing Shigure with his foot and helped Tohru up. “I'm coming with you,” he said without argument.

 

…

“Why is there a cop car there?” Uo asked, pointing at the black and white. “Someone get in trouble? Maybe it's for you, eh, carrot-top?”

 

“It's for me. I have a job,” at that, Uo shifted her weight and Hana looked away.

 

The officer walked up to Tohru mumbling: “yellow ribbons, weird people… Ms. Butterfly? I'm here to pick you up.”

 

“Tohru,” she said with a small smile, “ or Caterpillar, I'm not like my mother.” Gesturing to the two friends, “these two are my backup. And the redhead is my escort. Shall we go?” Tohru gave the flustered officer a smile and said goodbye to everyone before getting in the passenger seat, leaving Kyo in the back.

 

“Heh, always thought he'd in the back of a police car,” Yuki mumbled, being informed of everything earlier that day.

 

“Shut up you damn rat!” Kyo yelled out the window.

 

“Stupid cat,” Yuki mumbled back, walking off home.

 

“The officer ruffled his already messy hair and sighed, “whatever. He just told me to bring you.” He walked around the car and got in, “but he didn't say anything about passengers.”

 

“It's okay, you're doing fine so far.” Tohru looked at his young appearance, “how long have you been on the force officer?”

 

He blushed before answering, “almost a year now, this is the biggest thing I've gotten so far though…”

 

“I know how that works, do you know my cousin? He's about the same age as you.” Tohru took a picture out and showed the officer when they came to a red light. “ You know, I'm not really that much of a protection case, sorry,” Tohru said with only a small smile.

 

All of a sudden, a bright look crossed his face, “hey, weren't you the one…”

 

“Whatever you heard, it's probably not true.” His mouth opened again, “no, I'm not available.” Cupid's arrow struck his heart and pierced it straight to oblivion. “It's cliché but… it's not you, it's me. It's not safe to have any relationship with me more than sibling-like. I guess you could call it a curse… or a blessing. It just depends.”

 

“So, the rumors are true then. Have you even been kissed before then?” the officer had practically forgotten Kyo in the back seat, but Tohru hadn't.

 

“Yes, plenty of times… but none of the boys ever remember.” Tohru closed her eyes, “just like you won't remember,” she whispered.

 

“All right! Just wait until I tell the boys about this!” he cheered as he parked in the station lot. He got out and practically skipped to the passenger side to let Tohru out.

 

“Should I just let you stay in there?” Tohru said in mock-seriousness with a smile on her face. “I suppose,” Tohru turned to the officer before letting the cat out of the bag… er, back seat, “that I should give you a little prize, right?” the officer nodded enthusiastically and sprayed some breath-freshener onto his tongue. “Then close your eyes,” Tohru said just as excitedly, but with a hint of remorse in her voice. She took a deep breath before lunging forward, grabbing both sides of his face, and planting a deep kiss on the officer's lips. He let out a moan of pleasure before his eyes fluttered and rolled back into his head.

 

“Catch him!” Tohru gasped out, grabbing his hands to slow the decent to the concrete. After they lied him onto the concrete, Tohru wiped her mouth and kneeled next to him, gently brushing his bangs out of his closed eyes. “So, what do you think of my `ghost kiss'?” Tohru asked, standing back up and heading to the front door.

 

“And I thought Hatori was scary. What did you do?” Kyo asked, shivering a little despite the building being quite warm.

 

“I'm not like Hatori-san, I don't erase memories… just change their emotions. If there is any feeling of lust when I kiss the person, that lust turns into hate. And that's hopefully enough for them to leave me alone.” Tohru turned to the receptionist, “man down outside, he needs a bed. When we were younger, Hana, Uo and I tried some things we shouldn't have… I was the only one affected…”

 

…

 

They reached the Detective's office and Tohru knocked, “I knew you were too good to be true!” Kyo grinned and shook his head.

 

They entered as Tohru replied, “if I were true, I would have been raped already.”

 

“And she nearly was!” the detective spoke up and gestured to the empty seats in the room. It seemed like a principal's office more than a detective's office. “If not for that voodoo of hers.” The detective looked lustful before squashing it, “you must be great at it my now, you should so me some magic tricks sometime. Here's your hunt, Blue, and his vitals.”

 

Tohru opened the file and the face of a greasy-haired man stared back at her. A flash of the man puckering up for a kiss flashed through her mind and she shuddered.

 

“…Kay? You kinda blanked out there,” Kyo waved his hand in Tohru's face.

 

“I'm going to seriously need some mouthwash after this,” Tohru mumbled as she used her hand to cover the disturbing artist rendering.

 

“You can use mine when we do this.”

 

“As I was about to tell you, he goes after the young ones in blue—that's where you come in. I would have sent one of the others, but you fit the victim profile the best.” He flipped to a map of the district and pointed to an intersection not marked with a blue dot, “that's where he's going to strike next. He's moving in a star-like pattern and this is his fifth victim. We tried to attack by force, but he got away.” The lust in Itochu's eyes came back, “I think a sting operation would be perfect. We'll go out on next Friday, so that'll give you about a week to prepare.”

 

“Oi, Bitch, here's your crap!” the officer from earlier threw her backpack into the room.

 

Tohru put on her bright smiles, “good morning sunshine, the sun says hello!”

 

“Oh, shove it!” the officer yelled back, slamming the door closed.

 

“Did you have to kiss that one too?” Itochu whined, “soon you won't have anyone to drive you here and then I'll have to do it!”

 

“Hmm… most of them don't pass out that fast, he has weak denpa…”

 

“Just get out of here and grab your stuff. I'll meet you out front,” Itochu growled and pointed out the door. Tohru collected her backpack and scooted out the door and to the left.

 

“Hey, that's not the way out!” Kyo called out, pointing to the right hallway, but following Tohru anyway.

 

“I'm getting my stuff Kyo,” Tohru smiled with her normal attitude, “ I have a costume that I'll wear while I'm on duty, and I need to get my weapons to practice with them so I don't kill someone I don't mean to.”

 

`How can she say that like its normal?' Kyo thought, shrugging.

 

…

 

They reached a pair of double-doors, painted with a field filled with about twenty different animals, including a pair of butterflies in the corner. “This is the FAT—Female Assault Team—so I would suggest you find a seat and try not to attract too much attention to yourself.” Tohru opened the doors and stepped in, “I'll just take a few minutes.”

 

Kyo sat down just inside the door, watching the women spar or practice with various degrees of weapons. One had as simple as a lead pipe like Uo, going against another one that had a full-blown katana in one hand and a chain in the other. It was a few minutes before anyone noticed him, incidentally, they noticed because of a stray Kunai (throwing knife) that nearly embedded itself into his head if he hadn't ducked.

 

“What are you trying to do, kill me?” with that, every head turned to stare at the only male in their midst.

 

“My, my,” a tall platinum blonde stepped forward, “there is testosterone in our territory, whatever shall we do?” a spattering of laughter crossed the room. “So,” the blonde sat down uncomfortably close to Kyo, “who's pet are you?”

 

“He's mine, Birdie,” Tohru called, entering the room from the lockers. Kyo was dumbstruck at what she was wearing.

 

“Blue, is he a bed-warmer, or does he actually bite? Poor puppy, maybe you can come with me and I'll treat you better.” `Birdie' practically sat in Kyo's lap as he stood up to avoid an embarrassing situation.

 

“He bites. Kyo's my `civie' guardian, so don't touch him.” Tohru was wearing blue board-shorts, a blue tube-top and blue sleeves and leggings to match—all leather. She reached up one of her sleeves and pulled out a throwing needle partially.

 

`Birdie' pulled back, momentarily widening her eyes before grinning, “okay, fine, no touchy. I just wouldn't leave fresh meat alone if I were you,”

 

Tohru nodded quickly and pushed the needle back into its resting-place. “It would be best if you come in with me, okay?” Tohru gave a gentle smile and pulled him back to the lockers. “I'm sorry about that, I didn't see Swan when I came in, otherwise I would have brought you in sooner.” Tohru opened her locker and grabbed her school uniform. “She's here for manhandling—putting three of her boyfriends in to the ICU—and she's dangerous.”

 

“What did she mean by pet?” Kyo suspected, but didn't want to know.

 

Tohru finished fitting her uniform over her blue costume and took off the leather sleeves and leggings to reveal rows of throwing needles. “A pet is a Yankee term for a man-wife. Unlike my mom, pets are either used for… for pleasure or… a sense of normality in the public eye.” Tohru put her weapons into her backpack and smiled, “My parents really loved each other, though practically nobody believed them. I hope you still want to help though.”

 

“Why wouldn't I? Were all of these girls Yankee?” Kyo was at the door, watching a street-style fight that had broken out between Swan and a girl in earth tones that looked like she belonged in the seventies.

 

“No, some of them just had a bad start… oh, no.” Tohru groaned, catching what Kyo was watching in the main room, “those two are at it again? Wyldekat, the hippie, doesn't like how Swan treats men. Unlike you and Yuki, those two don't play by the rules. Nails and teeth and blood and they don't care. If you get hurt it's your fault for getting in the way…” Tohru didn't finish as she dug into her pack to get a strap with small throwing needles hidden throughout the threads.

 

Swan kicked Wylde in the jaw and Tohru cringed, “Wylde!” she called, sticking a needle into one of her pressure points before she could get back up to retaliate. “Tsutomu, stop this now!” Tohru threw another needle at her and she collapsed, her waist down numb. “What happened this time you two?” Tohru put her hands on her hips, fighting a sense of déjà vu.

 

“It was that hippie's fault! Her and that talk about `true love' and all that shit. I have to beat that stupid idea of hers out! Let me at her!” The Swan bit out, removing the needle and throwing it at Tohru's feet.

 

“You won't move for at least another hour. Wyldekat, any comments?” She asked, considerably softer with the darker girl. Tohru stooped down and picked up the pair of needles to throw away later.

 

“I-I'm sorry, maybe I sh-should be locked up!” she started sobbing, but didn't bother to even wipe her tears.

 

“It's okay, we're all different here and we should respect that, not fight over who's pack leader.” Tohru turned to the rest of the girls, “we are not Yankee!” she said with all seriousness needed.

 

“Kyo, we have a ride waiting for us, right?”

 

Kyo nodded and picked up Tohru's considerably heavier bag, “if you're not all Yankee, then what happened?”

 

Tohru took a last look around the room and sighed, “Wyldekat's a gentle soul. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and was blamed to a hazing, landing her here when she deserves to be free. The only way I got out was to get a job, but it's too late for Wylde though…” Tohru cut off and waved to a peeved detective that was standing by his unmarked.

 

“Any slower?” he ground out, opening the door for Tohru to step in.

 

“A butterfly can only beat its wings so fast before creating an unseen hurricane,” Tohru said teasingly, buckling herself in.

 

“Yeah, just don't beat them so slowly that you can't get in any practice before the sting, alright.”

 

“But…” Tohru pouted a little, “didn't I practice enough already today?” he shot her a withering glare and Tohru smiled, “Ooh, Bang-Bang, right.”

 

“A gun? You can't be serious! You can't shoot!” Kyo turned to the driver; “she can't shoot… can she?”

 

“I'm what they call bait. That's my whole job, to lure criminals to get arrested. Sometimes,” Tohru looked into the side mirror that reflected Kyo's face, “sometimes things don't go as planned. One thing I've learned… is that I should expect the person's surface to be different from what they are inside, right?” what was that thing with women and talking about something completely different than what they started talking about? She was so easy to figure out, what was it becoming so difficult now?

 

…

 

“What you saw back there,” Tohru watched the brown car turn into the road away from Shigure's house, “that's all acting. When they see me, they see Kyoko. I guess… I guess they wouldn't let me be me even if I tried. I like that here, I can be myself. Can you just keep this between us?” Kyo nodded and took off his shoes.

 

“Were we really talking about anything?” Tohru smiled at his reply, “what's for dinner?” she shrugged.

 

“I don't know, we haven't gone shopping this week,” Tohru gained a thoughtful expression, “but I think there's some chicken in the fridge.”

 

…

 

Birdie and Swan are the same thing, like Yuki calling Kyo `baka neko'; it's a derogatory.