Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction / Samurai X Fan Fiction ❯ Stalemate ❯ Chapter II ( Chapter 2 )

A/N: Thank you, gabyhyatt and lt.soniablade, for your encouraging reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.

 

 

 

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The coroner pulled the white sheet away from Tomoe's body in a quick and calculated gesture. She too felt Kenshin's pain when her eyes focused on the lifeless body of the girl everyone had loved. Strangely, the redhead showed no feeling, anger or sadness. He was simply apathetic, far, far away from everything and everyone. It was almost surreal seeing him like that, he who would always spare a kind word and a warm smile to anyone he met on the street.

 

Megumi Takani swallowed her tears and slid the sheet over Tomoe, mercifully blocking the sight of his dead wife. She turned to Saitou and Aoshi, who were expecting some kind of reaction from Kenshin (which never came) on the background. Sanosuke had decided earlier that he would wait outside the small hospital, saying he would only enter a hospital if he were either dead or almost dying.

 

“What now?” the doctor asked both policemen glancing sideways at Kenshin, who was motionless staring fixedly at the sheet hiding Tomoe from view.

 

“Now, to the station.” Saitou answered her visibly annoyed, certainly suffering already from the lack of smoking imposed to him by Megumi a little earlier. «Don't even think of smoking here, Saitou-san!», which he had promptly answered: «Are you an idiot or what? Do you think the dead will mind?». “We still have to interrogate Himura and, if he still won't answer our questions, throw him into prison as a murder suspect.”

 

Aoshi looked at Saitou as if he had suddenly gone completely mad. “I think you're getting ahead of yourself, Saitou-san. What proof do you have?”

 

“And to you, Shinomori-san, I ask you to shut up. I represent the authority here and I've told you before that your help isn't needed.”

 

“I'll come.” Kenshin declared. “I want to help with the investigation... and find out who did this to Tomoe. And more importantly, why.”

 

“Finally woke up, did you Himura? About time too.” Saitou mocked him.

 

“Shall we, Himura-san?” Aoshi asked softly, to which Kenshin replied with a curt nod. “Thank you for your help, Takani-san.” the agent added.

 

“You can call me Megumi, everytime someone calls me Takani-san I glance around looking for my father...” she laughed a little, albeit emotionlessly.

 

Aoshi nodded and left without further words or even a smile. Megumi contemplated the way the coldness he seemed to carry within himself accompanied him in every step he took.

 

 

 

XxXxXxX

 

 

 

The interrogation went normally enough, aside from some harsh words from Saitou, but that was to be expected. At last they could establish with a certain degree of certainty that Tomoe had indeed been raped. That fact brought a whole new dimension to the case, as Sanosuke had so well put it...

 

“Then it must be some pervert! Strange... I don't know any perverts around here.”

 

“You know, that's not something people usually write on their foreheads, ahou.”

 

“Don't start!” Sano warned, shaking a fist in front of Saitou's face.

 

Kenshin was sitting in a chair staring at the void, but seemed to wake from his stupor at that moment. “Will there be anything else?” he asked Aoshi, since the other two were apparently too busy arguing with each other. “The afternoon lessons at the dojo start in a few minutes. The kids are counting on me...”

 

“Yes, you may go. We'll contact you if we have further questions.”

 

Kenshin nodded slightly, thanking him and silently leaving through the door. Aoshi sighed and coughed to get the attention of Saitou and Sanosuke.

 

“It would be best” he started. “to start questioning the people most close to the victim. Friends, family, everyone.”

 

Saitou turned to Sanosuke. “Shinomori is right, you can handle that.”

 

“Handle what?! I'm not your minion!”

 

“I'm sorry to disappoint you but, as long as I pay you a salary, then yes, you are one of my minions.”

 

Sanosuke growled under his breath but acquiesced. “Alright. Who do you want me to bring?”

 

“Let's see... for now, Kaoru Kamiya and Misao Makimachi, who used to help at the dojo. We'll talk to their students later. Bring those two.”

 

After Sanosuke left the office, Aoshi finally spoke. “What can you tell me about those girls?”

 

“Not much. I don't make it my hobby to hang around with kids.”

 

“Please, be serious for once.” the agent asked, looking tired.

 

“Seeing as you ask so kindly... I believe they're both around 18 years old, perhaps a little less, since they are still in high-school. They were students at the dojo for some years and now they help train the younger kids. Makimachi works at the restaurant nearby and I think Kamiya doesn't have a job. Is this enough?”

 

“Almost. What about the relationship between them and the Himuras?”

 

“Good, as far as I know. Everyone seemed to get along with them. It's hard to have something against people who were always smiling happily and being kind to everyone.”

 

“Obviously, it's going to be hard to see that again from now on.”

 

“Obviously.” Saitou agreed, lighting a cigarette.

 

 

 

XxXxXxX

 

 

 

“I brought Misao, Saitou. I went to Kaoru's place but no one answered the door.” Sanosuke announced after a while. “Can I send her in?”

 

Saitou nodded stared at the short girl with extremely long black hair in a braid and huge eyes which gave away her uneasiness. She looked up at Aoshi, whom she did not know yet. Like Megumi, she literally shivered, intimidated by his hard and cold look.

 

“Shinomori, want to do the honors?”

 

Aoshi prepared to conduct the interrogation by himself, since Saitou had so kindly allowed him to.

 

“Name, age and address for the record, please, Makimachi-san.”

 

“Misao.” Aoshi glanced at her with an inquisitive gleam in his eyes. The girl blushed hard. “Hum... I meant to say you can call me Misao. I'm 16 years old, almost 17.” She cursed herself and had to refrain from banging her head against a wall. «Why am I acting as a silly schoolgirl? As if he cared I'm about to turn 17...». “Err... I live above the restaurant just around the corner with my grandfather. He owns it. I also work there when I'm not at school.”

 

Aoshi nodded while he took notes. It was the second time that day that someone of the opposite sex asked him to call them by their first names. It was beggining to bother him.

 

“Maybe I'm not supposed to ask this, but...” Misao hesitated. “Can you tell me what's going on? Why am I here? No one told me anything...”

 

Saitou crushed his cigarette on an ashtray already too full and unkindly declared: “Tomoe Himura was raped and murdered. Or vice versa, depending on the degree of perversion of the killer.”

 

Aoshi shot him a furious glance. «Did he really need to say it like that?!»

 

“Tomoe.. mudered? What are you saying...? But... how?”

 

“Misao, are you okay?” Sanosuke asked, feeling worried and a bit nervous at her reaction. “Can I get you a glass of water?”

 

The girl shook off Sano's hand that was patting her on the back. “No, thank you. Murdered? How is that possible? The day before yesterday we...” Misao interrupted herself, all they had been telling her finally sinking in. Her eyes filled with tears as she whispered unintelligible words.

 

“Perhaps we should continue this later.” Aoshi rose from his seat and was about to open the door when it burst open abruptly, almost hitting his face in the process. It was another police officer, one with a haircut resembling a broom made of yellow straw. He was panting hard and seemed unable to speak, clinging to the door handle to prevent himself from sliding to the floor.

 

“Is all this dramatic acting really necessary, Chou?” Saitou asked the man, once again wrapped in a cloud of smoke.

 

“It's... Kaoru Kamiya... We found her... wandering near... the old railroad track... She was attacked... apparently by the same man!”

 

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A/N: Reviews are appreciated ;P