Nagamine Case Files: Blood On The Dance Floor

The hard clicking, and incessant tapping of computer keys rang out in a cramped cubicle. A lone man, dressed in a dark, washed out salaryman suit stared blankly into an Excel sheet as he worked tirelessly, despite his obvious exhaustion marked by the black bags under his eyes, his disheveled hair and his terrible posture.
The man checked the time. 22:59. The last few people in the office, despite him, began to clock out, finishing their overtime for the night. The man looked to both sides, and meekly started to get up, thinking he might be able to join them and leave an hour earlier than usual... Until the sight of an obese, overly confident and balding coworker stopped him in his tracks.
"Kirigawa-san!" He said brightly, hiding knives under his smile. "Leaving so soon?"
"I-I..." Kirigawa considered standing his ground. But ultimately, he couldn't quite hack it. "I was... Stretching my legs."
"That's work time you could be using, dummy!" The coworker calmly, but firmly, lowered him back onto his chair. "My QA report won't get done in time at this rate, and you promised you'd do it for me, right?"
"Y-Yes, Aizawa-senpai. I'm sorry." Kirigawa replied meekly, as his hands shuffled to go back to typing. Aizawa sighed, standing over Kirigawa, as he crossed his arms and leaned on the wall of his cubicle.
"Good boy. You better smile while you work. Maybe this time, I'll consider putting in a good word with the boss."
"You... You said you'd do that three months ago. And... Several times."
"You've been counting?" Aizawa shrugged. "You know, that's kinda petty, Kirigawa-san. How will the boss give you that raise with that attitude?"
Kirigawa fumbled his typing. He began hyperventilating, typing faster and clearly making several typos as he tried to finish Aizawa's report as fast as possible, changing his tab to a Word document that already had 34 pages on it.
"34 pages only?" Aizawa shook his head. "C'mon! You want that raise!? I want that for TOMORROW! We need 70 pages, STAT! Get to work, piggy!"
"Y-Yes, senpai! I'm sorry, senpai!"
Kirigawa kept typing away faster and faster, trying to fill out as much text as possible without thinking too much about what he was writing. Aizawa's disapproving stare didn't leave him, as if he was deliberately imposing a humilation ritual on Kirigawa.
"Look at you. You think you can go far at all in this company? Tough shit, piggy. Look at me when I'm talking to you!"
Aizawa slapped Kirigawa, causing the meek salaryman to stare into his eyes with shock as he rubbed his cheek in pain.
"You ran with a tough crowd in your high school days, huh? Those beers you stole 20 years ago are on your criminal record. We're the only company that's ever gonna hire you, so you better face the fuckin' music. I already took this quarter's raise slot -- you were never in the question."
A wellspring of emotions imploded inside Kirigawa... Because it couldn't go anywhere else. Like a knife that couldn't be pulled out because of the blood loss that it was blocking, or a cork on top of a fizzy bottle hoping to gush out of the neck. Like vomit, struggling to go back up his throat. A little sliver slipped through, in a choked retort.
"B-But-- B-But you promised---"
And only a little sliver was enough to cause a chain reaction.
"YOU promised to finish my damn QA report! As your superior, I'll have you FIRED if you don't have it by tomorrow morning. So you better not bite the hand that feeds you, piggy. Now get back to work. And close the building on your way out, or you're fired."
Aizawa left the building, tossing a pair of keys at Kirigawa's back that bounced and fell on the floor with a jingle, and the office space went dark. Entirely dark, save for a single computer screen -- Kirigawa's computer screen. He fought back against the urge to sob, even if he was entirely alone.
He had to finish the report, or he wouldn't be able to pay for Marisa's tuition. Or their cramped apartment. Or his nagging wife.
It was 4:37 AM. Somehow, Kirigawa had done it. By working tirelessly, he had written 36 pages in a few hours. His efforts had paid off... But he was only surrounded by the darkness of a world he was chained to. A work environment that kept treating him like a slave, because he couldn't find anything else. No one else would take him. He had ambitions, hopes of possibly reaching a higher position at SPEARS Inc. and giving his family an easier way of life. But that was never gonna happen, because of a dumb mistake he made 20 years ago. And as much as he wished he could claw his way back into the past... As much as he wished he could fight back against Aizawa... The betrayal stung white hot, but Kirigawa was powerless regardless. One false move, one effort to defend himself, and the house of cards would fall on top of him.
Trapped by desperation, Kirigawa only had one refuge. Most other days he'd go home and sleep for a few hours before returning to his shift at 9 AM, but tonight, that wouldn't do. He hadn't done this in months, but tonight, he needed it.
Singing Moonlight. Just one hour before closing. Kirigawa was a regular, so the staff welcomed him amicably, but the broken man wasn't in the mood. A few people were still around, singing tunes with strained voices and drinking their sorrows away. That was where Nobuhiro Kirigawa stood now, downing one beer after another like he hadn't done in forever. Tonight, his dream was over. He had hit rock bottom -- What else was there left to do, but wallow in self-pity in a lonely karaoke room? Singing wouldn't have cut it tonight. At least, Marisa and his wife wouldn't have to see him relapse in this miserable cubicle of shame. From cubicle to cubicle... Nobuhiro was trapped. But not in a prison.
In a coffin.
Suddenly, without him noticing the door open or close, he saw a woman sitting opposite to him. Long blonde hair, visibly in her early 20s, with pale skin, red eyeshadow and lipstick, as well as a gorgeous shiny red dress. She shot Nobuhiro a salacious look, one that left him flabbergasted, even in his groggy, enebriated state.
"Oh, sorry, darling. I didn't see you there." Her voice was like velvet. "My name's Suzy. Can I do anything for you?"
Nobuhiro didn't know how to react. His mind was starting to become numb -- Not just from the alcohol, but... Something else was going on. Something that escaped his understanding, and that frankly, felt too intoxicating to fight back against.
"I can tell you're a man with dreams," the woman spoke, as she began approaching Nobuhiro, running her fingers up his arms and shoulders until she was holding his cheeks. "I can make 'em all come true... If you just open yourself up to me..."
"I... I wanted to be a boss." The salaryman confessed, giving in to the mysterious woman's words, the urge to inquire on the strange circumstances of her arrival disappearing by the second. "But I'm a goddamn idiot, I ruined everything... You're so pretty...W-Why are ya hangin' out here? I got a wife... A kid..."
"Tonight, you can forget all about it. Just give me your dreams..."
For an instant, true horror filled Nobuhiro's stomach. He tried to jump off the seat, but both the alcohol in his system and some unnatural force made him give in to the woman's advances. "Suzy" embraced the salaryman, who started fading in her arms...
The tapping of numerous footsteps rang out in the halls of Higan Academy. Another day, another adventure for the best and brightest of Kageoka's youth, enduring both mundane and supernatural hardships alike. And at the top of it all, overseeing the hopes and dreams of the future of Kageoka, sat the Student Council -- Their greatest defense against the beyond.
Kaoru Nagamine, the Student Council's very own treasurer, had taken on a heightened level of responsibility after the fall of the Census Club as she took the brunt of their old body of work. Despite the whole Council's input being necessary for final approval, Kaoru had taken it upon herself to handle most budget proposals from each club, juggling the numbers from the clubs she was assigned to in the hopes to fulfil as many requests as possible. As such, her reputation amongst several clubs was improving considerably -- A fact that greatly concerned her.
Staying under the radar was starting to become increasingly difficult. Kaoru had joined the Student Council to confirm their true intentions of heroism and justice, and she had mostly confirmed them, despite her own personal hang-ups. But despite knowing the risks very well, Kaoru had started to face the consequences of a certain degree of fame. Not as much as superstars like Shu, Madoka or Ran, but many students came to Kaoru with problems -- especially the clubs that felt mistreated during the Census Club's reign.
Kaoru crossed the halls with her usual steady step. She had a lot on her mind -- A new mystery was on her hands. Exclusively in her hands. Madoka, and this other girl, Marisa, had entrusted her directly with a missing person's case. The information she had on it was still rudimentary: The man's name was Nobuhiro Kirigawa. He was Marisa's father. He worked at a company called SPEARS Inc. That was as much as she knew... For now. Later in the day, Kaoru had scheduled a home visit to Marisa in the hopes of acquiring more evidence. She started making a list of which places in someone's home could possibly hold evidence, even without ever been to Marisa's house, until...
"Hey, Nagamine-chan!" A boy shouted from the other end of the hallway. "Thanks for the new inks!"
It took her a second to recognize just who this was after being ripped out of the trance, but Shigeru Kodaka was the current president of the Calligraphy Club, a club that Kaoru had found vital to placing her own nail on the coffin of the Census Club. Even if she didn't like this newfound notoriety, helping people made her feel... Warm. Kaoru wondered if anyone else felt like this in the Student Council -- Thirst for justice was a much more complicated feeling than just the kind warmth of helping others with something as small as arranging their budgets. Kaoru nodded along, trying to form a smile that was only half-baked, as she proceeded towards her destination.
"C'MOOON!" A voice echoed in the halls. Juvenile, lively, yet unnecessarily judgemental, with an air of misplaced superiority that one would think would only be found in a debate of great importance. Instead, the sound boomed out of the door of the Film Appreciation Club.
"There's NO WAY Jackie Brown is better than Reservoir Dogs. Are you crazy? It's such a perfectly executed theatre play on the screen! The dialogue is exquisite, the minimalism plays to all its strengths... You've gotta be talking out of your ass, buddy."
Yellow coat, silver hair, bespectacled. Kenji Kurosawa, Kageoka's most prolific film buff, debated an obese student in a clubroom "filled" with two other students other than them. For all the film criticism the club carried out, perhaps one would think they'd spend more time watching movies than arguing about them. That was not the case.
"Tarantino's at his best when he's working with blaxploitation," the second student argued, stroking his double chin with disgusting confidence. "Only jackasses like Reservoir Dogs over the rest of Tarantino's body of work, the whole movie happens in one room!"
Kenji was insulted at the slander his "favourite" was receiving. "Don't you know that less is more? People like you would sleep while watching Buster Keaton films. You need a more developed brain to--"
There was a knock at the door. Kenji turned his head -- He didn't expect anyone else to join the club, not ever.
"Come... in?" He said, with a puzzling look. The door swung open, and in stepped Kaoru, already clutching her notebook close to her chest as she firmly made her way into the clubroom before closing the door behind her.
Kenji and the other three club members traded looks as they tried to make heads or tails of why the Student Council's very own treasurer would be standing in their club. Especially him... That chick. She was under suspicion, but she seemed, for the time being, to not even be Awakened. Everything about her was comically mundane to Kenji: Her lame haircut, her unremarkable body, her fogged up glasses covering up a good view of her eyes, her robotic facial expressions and flat tone of voice.
Kaoru was entirely unremarkable... In a way that only Kenji would see as strangely artistic. Rin had her theories: Could they be true? Was she secretly an Awakened? If so, what was truly going on with her? Was Kaoru Nagamine the Student Council's secret weapon? Perhaps a double agent of some kind? Or maybe... Just maybe... Was Kenji staring down a true case of a secret identity, right before his eyes?
"Good afternoon, Film Appreciation Club." Kaoru began, adjusting her glasses and making sure none of the boys could get a read on her. "I am on official Student Council business. Your weekly budget report is up -- Please give me a moment."
Kaoru began flipping through the pages of her notebook, searching the specific notes on the Film Appreciation Club.
"Budget?" Kenji seemed surprised. Ever since the Census Club shut down, an event that his whole group had a bigger hand to play in than the Student Council knew at the time, several clubs had been getting budget overhauls. Maybe he'd gain something from it all anyway...
"Here. As scheduled by the Student Council, you have a budget increase of 15%." Kaoru swiftly flipped to an entirely new, pristinely empty page. "The Student Council is open to requests for further facilities."
"Woah! 15%?!" A scrawny kid at the back gawked. "Think of all the VHS tapes we can get with that!"
Kenjj was mentally rubbing his palms like a fly. The prospect of new equipment was far too tasty to pass up. He went through a checklist of things he wanted, essentially assuming the budget to be unlimited from the get-go despite the increase only constituing a 15% extra.
"Could we get A DVD player?" Kenji piped up. "How are we gonna play the latest films, if VHS is gonna be obsolete in a couple of years at this rate?"
"How the hell are we gonna get a DVD player?!" The fat kid from earlier objected. "I don't think our budget is that big, even!"
"But it could be now," Kenji rebutted. "So, what'll it be, Nagamine-san?"
Kaoru stared blankly at Kenji, and scribbed some more notes in her notebook. "Might be costly, but I'll file the request for consideration."
"Score!" Kenji celebrated while the others watched without much amusement. Kaoru shook her head, sharing in the disappointment to a degree.
"Just because I'm relaying your request to the Student Council, that doesn't mean you'll get it fulfilled," Kaoru elaborated. "I'll do my best."
Kenji grumbled, dissatisfied with Kaoru's answer, but still hopeful that the DVD player might arrive. Kaoru once again jotted down some notes, before drawing the meeting to a close.
"If there are no more inquiries, I shall return to my duties. Good day, Film Appreciation Club." Kaoru turned back to the door, closing it on her way out. She didn't catch one guy saying "see ya, Nagamine-chan" at the back.
Kenji thought about her a little more. Whenever Kaoru was around, an air of absolute mundane aura emanated from her, like a B movie that no one really cared too much about. But now that she was gone, his head was a little clearer -- Kaoru Nagamine, the only Student Council member that was, apparently, unawakened... As per the Humanity Lost Alliance's last meeting, they'd assume she isn't Awakened, with margin of error. But... What it?
What if, behind that dense forgettable aura, Rin was right about her? What if she was hiding her powers under some kind of... Secret identity? Maybe she hadn't even told the others! Could a true superhero be hiding in Higan?!
Nah, that couldn't be. That's just Nagamine-san... There's nothing special about her, other than her status as Student Council treasurer... Right?
Kaoru went on with her day. She looked into her locker, retrieving an item or two right before the end of the school day, before being suddenly surprised by a familiar, calling voice.
"Kaoru!" A bright female voice cut through the air. "Can I have your time for a sec?"
The treasurer jumped, as if startled -- Her danger sense clearly didn't see Yae Zennami, ace detective and Student Council vice-president, as a danger to warn her about, thus allowing Kaoru to be surprised. She swiftly turned her head to face her coworker... No. Her friend and confidant, Yae.
"What is it, Yae?" Kaoru replied flatly, as she quickly recovered her composure.
"Glad to see we're still on first name basis," Yae smirked as she joked. Kaoru rolled her eyes at the thinly-veiled, still friendly jab. "I got a case for you."
The massive amount of pressure Kaoru felt from the weight of Yae's trust on her was oppressive. But from a friend... It was an honour. Kaoru always considered Yae to be the better detective -- Kaoru was only neurotic and nosy. Yae, for all her sitting around, was extremely talented in the deductive arts.
"You mean, for me?" Kaoru struggled to even believe she was telling the truth.
Yae shrugged, finding Kaoru's disbelief amusing. "Who else for, dummy? You're the best detective in this town who isn't me. Aaaand also, I got a looooot of police cases to go through, anyway. You'd actually be doing me a favour."
"Alright, then. What is it?"
Yae and Kaoru arrived at the Student Council room, staying after hours for a while to discuss the case in detail. They were alone at the moment, as the rest of the Council had their own duties. Yae had placed a map of Kageoka on the table, where several streets from a particular street were marked. Kaoru checked the clock every once in a while, as if she was short on time.
"So, here's the situation. There's been reports of a Nightmare Eater around Sunset and 3rd Street. I don't have time to track it down myself, and sending the whole Council would be -- You good, Kaoru?" Asked Yae. Kaoru shook her head, returning to the session.
"Sorry. I... I was just keeping track of time. Go on."
"What for?" Yae raised an eyebrow with a grin.
"I scheduled a meeting with Marisa Kirigawa in roughly an hour. I want to make it in time."
"Oooh, you're also helping her out, huh?"
"Yes, but this is the here and now." Kaoru took some of her own notes, studying the area extensively. "And you want me to handle it, I assume."
"Now that I know for sure you can actually fight, girl, I'm sure you can handle it. I've seen you -- Sorry, I've seen Scarlet Senshi fight," Yae spoke Scarlet Senshi's name with a mocking tone that wasn't insulting, but she was clearly poking fun at Kaoru's superhero antics. Kaoru just rolled her eyes once again. "And I think you got this one. You can hold your own pretty well."
Kaoru thought about Nightmare Eaters. A great threat, more due to what they can create than what they actually are. This might be a tough fight one-on-one, but it was certainly doable.
"Sure, I can look into it. Search and destroy mission. Fairly straightforward."
"That covers it, then." Yae gave Kaoru a friendly pat on the back. "This one's a little time-sensitive, 'cause we don't want any new Nightmares to pop up -- But no pressure."
"Sure..." Kaoru replied in a lightly sarcastic tone, paradoxically feeling quite some pressure on her shoulders already despite Yae's words. There was no way Yae didn't know how important this case actually was to be so unserious -- She was just poking fun, or so Kaoru reasoned.
"Weeeell, we should probably be heading out before Ran comes back. Wouldn't want anyone to know that I'm giving you secret cases, would you?"
"O-Oh. Right." Kaoru lifted her notebook from the desk and clutched it close to her chest as she headed for the door, with Yae joining her soon after.
"Wait--" Yae made a short pause as they exited the Student Council room. "Did you think about what I said that time?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know. The whole "they're gonna know" thing. I was serious."
"Of course you were, Yae. And... Yeah. I thought about it."
"Sooo...?"
Kaoru's gaze turned to the floor as one of her feet shifted uncomfortably, almost like stimming.
"I'm... Not ready yet. But I think... I'm getting there. Eventually."
Yae smiled, satisfied with the answer. Not with a smirk, not with a coy grin -- A genuine smile of accomplishment and, perhaps, even affection.
"You're doing me a big favour here, ya know, Kao-Kao? You've got a lot on your plate, so I'll leave you to it. Let me know when you've found something, 'kay?"
Yae left ahead of Kaoru, without saying another word, letting the door swing slowly back towards the Student Council room with a soft creak. The weight of not just the trust, but the absolute belief Yae was placing on Kaoru was crushing. Yae not only trusted Kaoru with this case, she was entirely certain that she would manage with no issues. And knowing Yae as a truth-obsessed idealist contrasting her own pragmatic self, that trust and that belief weren't just lightly given away.
It was like providence.
It was 5 minutes before 7 PM. Kaoru had arrived at the Kirigawa residence, a fairly standard home in an apartment complex. There wasn't too much that stood out to Kaoru, but the area seemed to be fairly low-income. She could only feel bad for Marisa, as her family must be struggling even more now, if they weren't struggling already.
Kaoru faced the door to apartment 5-A and rang the doorbell. Within a few moments, a cheerful Marisa opened the door.
"Oh hey, Nagamine-chan! Come in, I got you some--" Marisa, who was far more casually dressed now, in a green jacket and jeans, was surprised that Kaoru hadn't changed out of her sailor uniform for the visit. "Huh? Don't you change when you get home?"
Kaoru shook her head. "I'll be going home after this. The Council always has something going on, I'm sure you understand."
"Well, don't let me hold you up then -- I got snacks! I don't have a podcast episode to record today, so we got plenty of time."
Kaoru walked in, somewhat frustrated at the thought of Marisa taking this serious investigation visit as a friendly hangout. But she considered that, simply, Marisa was doing so in order to cope. With that spark of empathy, Kaoru decided to go along with Marisa as much as possible, while still doing her own work.
"No time," Kaoru replied, already stepping into the living room and immediately looking all over the place for clues. "If you want, we can eat later. I came here to investigate."
"Oh, right..." Although not outright rejected, Marisa's mood was brought back down to earth as she remembered Kaoru was there to investigate her missing father. "Can I help with anything?"
The treasurer was working on autopilot, taking notes on every cushion on the couch, the somewhat drab vintage lamp -- which deep down, Kaoru found charming --, and pretty much any small detail that could reveal any information about Nobuhiro Kirigawa's character. The question came as a surprise, and Kaoru had to get herself out of the trance to redirect her focus.
"It'd help if you told me a bit more about his work," Kaoru replied flatly as she moved on to the bedroom, with Marisa following close behind. It was only then that the realisation hit the detective. "What about your mother? Isn't she around at this time of day?"
"Mom's still at work. She tends to work a lot, dad or no. Don't worry about her."
"If you say so." Kaoru stepped into the bedroom, finding a neatly made queen-size bed. Kaoru immediately went to check the desks on either side of the table, but she got some reservations after seeing the look on Marisa's face.
"Kirigawa-san..." Kaoru got cold feet, suddenly realising she must've been too cold until now. "Sorry if this seems like too much of an invasion of privacy, but this is just how investigations go."
Marisa shook her head. "No, no. I get it. I just want dad back."
With the go-ahead, Kaoru slid one of the drawers open on Nobuhiro's bedside desk. Not much: neatly packed clothes, some documents, and... A bottle of alcohol, half-empty. Marisa seemed to gasp at the sight.
"Again?!" The disappointment in her voice was palpable. Kaoru let her talk, not wanting to assume the obvious. "I thought he quit a year ago... Maybe he just forgot it?"
Kaoru closed the drawer to save Marisa the stress. She decided to take a kinder approach to her questioning. "Can you tell me a little more about that, please?"
Marisa nodded, attempting to subdue the betrayal in her chest. "Dad... Well, he's clearly not happy with his job. He used to drink heavily, but he quit! If he's really been drinking again, I... I don't know if this has something to do with it all."
"It could, but..." Kaoru knew just regular alcohol wouldn't tie someone to organised crime or drug rings. Regardless, she wanted to get it out of the question for good. "What do you know about SPEARS Inc.? Any ties to yakuza, anything that could get your father in trouble?"
"Not really. They sell appliances and some furniture... You ever watch TV really late? They run infomercials." Kaoru kept quiet, but she briefly considered asking her grandfather for information, knowing he'd often fall asleep in front of the TV.
"So they're a perfectly legal company, they just happen to have an environment that your father dislikes."
"Seems so... Dad doesn't like talking about work too much. He just wants to make sure we're happy."
"An environment so bad that it drives him to drink..."
"Well, it does now. He hasn't had a beer in a year! Promise!"
"And... Why doesn't he quit? Why can't he get a job somewhere else?"
"I... I never thought of that," Marisa considered the question for a minute. "Well, dad used to say he ran with some banshos back in his high school days. I guess he wanted to settle down?"
Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Well, at least now we know one thing. There's been a change in his behaviour... But I don't think he'd just leave you and your mother without saying another word."
"I didn't think so either, but... What makes you think that, Nagamine-chan?"
"Easy. Skipping town is... Very hard to do. You have to get a lot of documents and debts off your back, change your appearance, potentially fake your death..."
"FAKE HIS DEATH?!"
"H-Hey, I didn't say I think he did that!" Kaoru shook her head, raising her open hands close to her chest in a sudden gesture to try and calm Marisa down. "In fact, quite the opposite. I'm sorry to say this, Kirigawa-san, but I think this was either an accident... Or there's foul play involved."
"You say that like he's dead already."
Marisa looked down, almost ready to cry. Kaoru didn't know how to salvage the situation -- She wondered how Yae handled day-to-day investigations with people who weren't used to them like Marisa, which Kaoru only now realised was, most likely, magnitudes harder for her to do than intimidating a suspect during questioning, due to her generally cold demeanour. Kaoru decided to level with Marisa and show her as much honesty as she could.
"Look. When someone's been gone for this long... Even a couple of days can be too much. I don't want to say I'm not hopeful, but..."
Marisa suddenly clasped Kaoru's hands with intensity.
"I... I don't care anymore. At this point, I just wanna know what happened. Can you do that for me, Nagamine-chan?"
For a split second, Kaoru's blood-red eyes felt pierced by the searing stare of Marisa, who through stifled tears, was showing Kaoru a kind of determination that was entirely unknown to her. A drive for truth that was fueled by only one thing: Love. The vulnerability in the moment their two hearts were connected was far too uncomfortable to go along with, but Kaoru could only respect the sentiment, and return it, knowing just how much trust was already crushing her back.
"I'll do my best, Marisa. That I can promise."
Several days later
Kaoru and Marisa had met up at the school rooftop for privacy's sake. The day before, Kohaku had stabbed Madoka after learning of the Student Council's intentions of closing the barrier to the Idea World. Kaoru had gotten some progress on the case, but no big breakthroughs yet -- Their meeting was especially requested by Kaoru in response to the events of the previous day.
"Why the HELL did you think that was a good group to trust?!" Kaoru's anger was already palpable. She wasn't reprimanding Marisa as much as she was simply stating what, to her, was obvious -- The Idea Destroyers were not to be trusted. Then again, almost no one was to her.
"I--" Marisa didn't have the words at first. She felt small under the watchful eye of this nosy detective, someone who had already agreed to help, but would never let her guard down or agree to an interaction where she didn't have the upper hand, or show the same kind of vulnerability Marisa was exposing. The truth came out like air out of a deflated balloon. "You know already. I... I felt powerless. I thought that, if I went along with Kohaku, Aida and the rest... I'd be powerful! I'd be able to do something, and help dad--"
"Do you KNOW how reckless that was?!" An irate Kaoru interrupted Marisa mid-sentence. "The Idea Destroyers have been forcing awakenings! Do you know what an Idolon can do in the wrong hands?! For those they don't come naturally to, they can be a great risk to themselves and others!"
"You talk like you knew firsthand... You're not even awakened."
Kaoru sighed, as she dropped the righteous barrage of ire to keep her mask on. "Marisa, listen. As part of the Student Council, I'm naturally going to have some idea about these things. And Madoka, or Yae, or even Kaichou himself would tell you the same thing! Your goal was noble, and I understand -- But they're dangerous people, playing with things they don't understand."
The disappointment and helplessness in Marisa's chest began to pound, harder and harder. She felt like a caged animal, being punished for just doing what came naturally to her.
"Then... What am I supposed to do? Wait for other people to solve all my problems? Just because your little authority controls everything that happens in the Idea World? You guys hold the book, you decide what's right and wrong? Is that it?"
Kaoru didn't quite know what to say at first. Marisa clearly counted with the other Student Council members showing up to battle if Kaoru's investigation led to a supernatural battle situation, and thus Kaoru's control over the case was warranted, but that sentiment was one she could actually understand. The Student Council was clearly the most specialised entity in terms of Idea World peacekeeping, and Kaoru once considered them possibly overbearing, but during her time working with them, the treasurer had come to mostly trust them. However, Marisa's feelings were once Kaoru's own, which allowed her to reply in kind once the reasoning was locked in place.
"You once gave me your trust, right, Marisa? Then... This isn't a Student Council affair anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm doing this for you, all by myself. Because that's how trust is reciprocated. Just this once -- I'll handle it."
The shock was palpable in Marisa's face. "B-But what if you have to fight some kinda monster?!"
"Who was the one that went after Kohaku on her own again?"
"Maybe... Maybe I should go with you?"
"Marisa... I'll be fine. You should rest. Between everything that happened with the Idea Destroyers, are you sure you want to jump into the fray again?"
"But--" Marisa wanted to protest, but the same powerful gaze she gave to Kaoru once was now returned back to her. Determination, perhaps not boosted by love this time -- But by an honest sense of duty. A duty to repay given trust.
As per Kaoru's personal beliefs, trust was not easily earned, and not easily given. If Marisa had given her all that trust, it meant Kaoru was contractually allowed not to fail her, despite her own feelings on Marisa herself, which were not particularly negative. Kaoru had been thrust into this situation, but when someone else asked her for help so desperately, so intimately as to do the one thing Kaoru feared doing the most -- being vulnerable --, she wasn't allowed to back off anymore.
Marisa knew the case had turned from a formal favour, to a sign of friendship.
"Sure! You got it, Kaoru!" Marisa smiled, her heart now filled with hope as she witnessed the undying persistence of her ally. Perhaps, just this one time, she could leave it to someone else.
The school day had ended. However, the fast-tracked investigation had only begun for Kaoru, who kept spinning on her office chair inside her compact hideout, a little abandoned shed in a Forbidden Zone. The sleuth looked at the ceiling, sometimes stopping to check her notes back. She talked back and forth to herself -- or rather, to someone else-- as she tried to make heads or tails of the current information she had.
"He'd started drinking again... I can only infer that work had been getting worse after a period of calm. But that still doesn't mean anything as to who or what could've had something against him."
"Have you considered a random attack?" Blakeney's voice seeped into Kaoru's headspace. She found him a welcome presence to bounce off of, since without a collaborator, she might get hung up on intricacies and lose sight of the obvious. "Ockham's Razor, ma chérie -- Many men do unreasonable things under the influence."
"I've thought about it," Kaoru replied bluntly, "but I get the feeling that there's more going on here. Call it a hunch, but... If Marisa was willing to work with the Idea Destroyers, and if she even sought them out in the first place -- Those things aren't just coincidence. This was partially fated to happen, in the way most Idea World events can be."
"An astute observation, my Scarlet Pimpernel. The Idea World, especially as it is now, blending with the material yet split in twain nonetheless, can sew events into the weave of fate itself. The combination of both worlds can often lead to entropy and chaos. You'd be wise in assuming there's always a grander plot, if we are involved with the Idea World to begin with."
"That's what I was thinking. Marisa herself doesn't fit the bill of someone who was just handed power -- She has the determination and the drive needed to naturally awaken. Which means, none of this can entirely be an accident, or else she would've just gone to the police. Not that they would've done a better job, of course."
"In that case, what can we work with? Where can we take this investigation next, Kaoru?"
The shed that Kaoru now called her hideout had once been some kind of filing room, as per Kaoru's deduction. As such, Kaoru had done a remarkable job of using the filing cabinets as efficiently as possible to store evidence, materials, tools and others. She flipped through a drawer, fingers running down several folders before reaching a phone book. Kaoru took the heavy book and placed it on her main desk with a thud, before starting to flip the pages rapidly.
Author's note: I have no idea how Japanese phonebooks work, so just pretend she's looking through them with how Japanese katakana, hiragana or kanji would be ordered in a phonebook. The Western alphabet was used here for convenience's sake and ease of understanding.
"P, Q, R, S..." Kaoru mumbled to herself as she checked the numbers. Finally, she found her mark. "SPEARS Inc. Here it is."
"Are we going right to the source?" Blakeney inquired, with a twinkle of playful curiosity. He was just sitting along for the ride, wondering where Kaoru would take the mystery next.
"Yes. I think I have an idea. If anything, it's at least worth a shot."
Kaoru typed in the phone number with her current burner phone. She spent a big chunk of her allowance on periodic burner phones every couple of months, usually cheap ones to stay off the radar whenever she had to carry out this kind of investigation, while still keeping a "main" phone for her grandparents to contact her with. She clicked the last cipher and took the chunky cell phone up to her ear.
The voice at the other end of the line was raspy and noticeably shrewd, yet the unauthentic smile was clearly audible. "This is the SPEARS Inc. line, how may I help you?"
Uncharacteristically, Kaoru's own voice came out as warm and sugary this time around. "Hello! I'm Saori Matsumae, with the Kageoka Gazette. I stumbled upon your infomercial the other day, and I was wondering if I could get an interview with a representative for the paper."
The man on the other end of the line perked up. "G-Guh?! The paper? Shit, let's do it! When could you come down to the office?"
Kaoru remained calm, playing the bubbly reporter character around as well as someone who had been pretending to be extremely unremarkable, despite being a superhero, could. "How does tomorrow at 6 PM sound?"
"Yeah, fine by me! Bring, uh, your best questions. Oh, also, could I interest you in a brand new vaccum clea--"
"Very well. See you then." Kaoru didn't waste time in hanging up, interrupting the man as she cringed at the thwarted sales offer. Talking to the sleazy corporate type was never easy. She took a deep breath as she dropped the phony smile and leaned back on her office chair, twirling around idly.
"Hook, line and sinker."
For the final nail on the coffin, Kaoru rummaged in her lockers and produced a single item -- a tape recorder. All she had to do now was go to the "interview", and play a little trick on those jackasses.
A casually-dressed Kaoru, sporting a pink sweater and a black skirt with almost mountaineer-like boots, stared into the aquamarine door of the office space, simply marked as "SPEARS INC." with a big label on the door, clutching her notebook as usual. It was 6:05 PM, and she was starting to wonder if she had gotten the wrong office complex. SPEARS INC. had their office at a standard office building, with many other small-scale companies renting out space on the same property. It couldn't be -- The name was right there! Eventually, Kaoru's suspicions were snuffed out as a middle-aged salaryman with sunglasses opened the door.
"Hey, you're with the paper, ri--" The man took a look at Kaoru, and after being astonished for two seconds, immediately slouched from disappointment. "Goddamnit, you're just some kid! Argh, the boss is gonna kill me...!"
Kaoru shook her head, adjusting her glasses over her eyes as she pointed to the "press packet", or rather a jumble of templates from the school newspaper. In truth, Kaoru wasn't exactly lying -- Higan Academy did, indeed, have a school newspaper called the Kageoka Gazette. It had fallen into disuse during the Census Club's racketeering, but Kaoru had access to their templates and could reasonably fake being a small-scale media pundit. Of course, for such a small company, they wouldn't care. Any publicity was good publicity.
"I'm an intern, sir. I really am with the paper. And being frank, is it often that you get this opportunity at all, sir?"
The salaryman wanted to object, but he knew he had been checkmated. He sighed in defeat as he opened the door for Kaoru, who stepped in solemnly. The corporate stink of the place was vomit-inducing. Cubicles stretched for the whole length of the office space floor, keys clacked and clicked, workers groaned and arguments rang out into the halls as Kaoru followed the salaryman through the office space.
"Okay look, I'm just gonna leave you with the boss and go on with my day, 'kay?" The man seemed embarrassed to be around Kaoru, but she smiled brightly at him in an effort to calm his nerves -- or just keep him quiet.
"Sure, sir! I'm just here for the interview. Oh, and sunglasses indoors? Are you sure about that, sir?"
"Tch-- They make me look cool, don't they? C'mon, tell me they make me look cool!"
"The coolest, sir!"
She hated, DESPISED having to do this. Put on this fake character, far beyond her usual facade of mundanity. But the life of a man, or at least, the truth regarding what happened to the life of a man, was at stake -- as well as a friend's trust.
Kaoru eventually reached a compact office, where a different salaryman sat at a table with a laptop, and huge amounts of paperwork stacked at the sides of said laptop. The man was obese, balding and wearing a grey suit, compared to everyone else at the office space, whose suits were usually black. The salaryman that greeted Kaoru at the door left, looking quite rushed, after Kaoru stepped into the boss' office.
The man that Kaoru could only assume was a regional manager looked away from the tiny laptop to address the supposed "intern". He scowled, confused as to what she was doing here.
"Huh?" He eyed Kaoru carefully. "What the hell? Are you someone's kid or something?" The man shouted in the direction of the door. "HEY, EDOGAWA!! Take your fuckin' kid back home!"
"You got it wrong, sir." Kaoru replied, still maintaining her composure. "I'm the intern. I am with the paper."
"How am I supposed to believe that?!"
"You do recognise my voice from the call, right?"
"Pshh, yeah I do, but..." The man weighed his options. "Shit, I was expecting something a bit more... Elaborate."
"For this company, of all places? No way," Kaoru thought to herself as she quietly built up bile behind a tight-lipped, corporate smile.
"I really did come from the Kageoka Gazette, sir. May I take a seat?"
"Uh... Sure, why not. There should be a chair over there, suit yourself."
Kaoru took the chair and sat at the desk, right in front of the balding slob of a man that led the office space like a tyrant over his kingdom. She got close enough to check the brass plate that rested like a paperweight on top of one of the piles of paperwork: Soichiro Aizawa, regional manager. The head honcho of SPEARS Inc. sat uncomfortably in front of Kaoru as he waited for her to shoot, hoping to at least see some benefits from the whole ordeal. Kaoru was in control.
And that meant she didn't have to pretend anymore.
"I'll cut to the chase," she proclaimed, as her voice became deeper while she took off her fogged up glasses to reveal her fiery, crimson eyes. The sudden mood shift shook even Aizawa as he tried to make heads or tails of what was up.
"Nobuhiro Kirigawa, one of your co-workers, has gone missing. What do you know about it?"
Aizawa recoiled in his seat. "W-Woahwoah, what are you accusing me of all of a sudden? Wait, you're not a cop, are you? Oh shit, are you one of those decoys from that American show?!"
Kaoru shook her head as she got the man back in track after slamming both her hands on the desk and leaning into the slob of a man's field of eye contact.
"One of your coworkers is missing. And you didn't report him missing to the authorities."
The higher-up furrowed his brow. He clearly knew what Kaoru was talking about, but he really didn't care enough to refute it. "I don't gotta hear this from no child. Security!"
Kaoru stayed cold and firm, not being intimidated at all by a call for security that, most likely, was at the bottom of the building -- There was no way that SPEARS Inc. had their own security fleet, which meant that Kaoru had ample time to "negotiate". She only became sharper and colder, like a blade in the hands of an expert blacksmith.
"Sir, are you aware that not reporting someone missing after knowing of their disappearance may make you an accomplice to a crime?"
Aizawa stopped in his tracks entirely, slumping back on his chair as he looked side to side, like a child after being caught stealing candy. Clearly intimidated by the threat, considering his inaction could easily land him in trouble, he attempted to plead.
"W-What do I know?" Aizawa pulled at his tie, showing discomfort. "I'm just upper management, the company just pays us to do our jobs. Not my job to make sure a coworker keeps comin' in or not. You don't got nuffin' on me."
In a rare moment of amusement, Kaoru took the tape recorder out of her sweater's breast pocket, presenting it to Yoshizawa with the faintest hint of a smirk.
"Sir, you just admitted to not only knowing of your coworker's disappearance, but also failing to do anything about it."
"Shit--!" Aizawa came up short, not expecting the supposed "reporter" to have brought a tape recorder, a common item for journalists to have. The confusion mounted -- Who was this kid?! What did she want with him? Was it Kirigawa's daughter? An undercover cop? He had sealed his own fate, but perhaps he could still claw his way out of this one.
"T-This is breach of contract!" The sleazy businessman pointed an accusatory finger at Kaoru, hoping the legal lingo would scare off an inexperienced teenager. "Press confidentiality! Trespassing!"
Kaoru shook her head, and for the first time in a long, long time, held in the urge to laugh out loud. "Sir... You let me in here. And I didn't sign anything."
Aizawa slammed the desk, gritting his teeth. He had truly been had.
"Blackmail me, now will you...?" Yoshizawa seethed as he danced in the palm of Kaoru's hand, who stared daggers into him nonetheless. She wasn't exactly enjoying this -- at least not fully. Part of her did take some sick pleasure out of watching the wicked buckle onto their knees. His word choice made her wonder if Aizawa had engaged in blackmail personally.
"All I need is for you to answer a few questions. Then, I'll let you go."
"I don't care if you're a cop, or you're just insane -- J-Just don't report me to the police, okay?! I'll tell, I promise!"
Kaoru nodded, quickly flipping to a page in her notebook where the questions were already outlined. She cleared her throat, standing calmly before a crumbling Aizawa, who kept trying to think of ways out of the situation, but couldn't come up with anything that might not land him in even more trouble.
"Nobuhiro Kirigawa... What was he like, as an employee?"
Aizawa pulled at his tie, in a sign of clear discomfort. "W-Well, ya know, just a typical middle management guy... Pretty hardworking, I guess?" Kaoru's disapproving glare pushed him to talk more. "Kind of a... doormat, too. He'd take up whatever overtime he was given." He started to go off the rails. "At one point, upper management just decided to offload some of their extra shit on him, which saves us time, and he wasn't gonna get paid more than he should. He was still middle management, after all."
"...Was he willing to do all this work without higher compensation?"
"I-I, uh... Well, he had a raise on the pipeline... Y'know, most gamblers stop right before ya make it big! Maybe if he worked a lil' more--"
Kaoru cut him off with ice cold vitriol. "He must've been so excited about this upcoming raise that it drove him to drink."
Aizawa had been checkmated once again. How much did this girl know?! Where did she come from? Why would someone care so much about Kirigawa, if she wasn't even his kid? He couldn't quite question it too much -- Aizawa was still under blackmail.
"Real nosy, are ya...? Yeah, Kirigawa did a lot of overtime. What's it to you?"
Kaoru rolled her eyes as she moved towards the next question. "How late did he usually work?"
"Pretty late," Aizawa admitted. "A lot of times, I'd just give him the key and tell him to close up."
"And you're okay with this," Kaoru inquired, her hatred for the man in front of her rising by the second under that steely exterior. "You decided that was okay to let him do."
"I-- Look kid, you clearly don't know how the adult world works, do ya?" Aizawa was starting to lose his temper. "Sometimes, a man has to take one for the team! You'll understand when you're older. This is natural!"
"Are inhumane and, most likely illegal, workplace practices just natural, Aizawa-san?"
"Tch -- You don't know anything! You don't work here! What do you think I want in this company, huh?! There's a million other guys like me all over the country, you brat!"
"It sounds to me, Aizawa-san, like this company never planned to give Kirigawa-san that raise. Your bosses saved money by not giving him that raise, and you fed him false promises that manipulated him into unpaid overtime."
"He wasn't gonna get anywhere with that criminal record! The adult world is about sacrifice, and -- And---"
"I'll remind you, Aizawa-san, that all of this is on record--"
"GIMME THAT!!!"
Kaoru felt that familiar tingle all over her body as her danger sense warned her of Aizawa's sudden move. He got off the chair, attempting to swipe the tape recorder from Kaoru's chest pocket. With what was, at least to the perfectly ordinary, overweight and unfit Aizawa, an unnatural reaction speed -- which was, in fact, nothing more than supernatural precognition, Kaoru dodged out of the way of Aizawa's swipe, and in a masterstroke of swift self-defense, grabbed the sleazeball's arm and twisted it behind his back, causing him a twinge of pain as the teenage sleuth applied an arm lock on Aizawa.
"GAH!!! YOU'RE A FUCKING PSYCHO -- AGH!!! LET GO OF ME, CRAZY BITCH!!!"
The teenage sleuth didn't even flinch.
"Your attempt at assaulting a minor, Aizawa-san, is being recorded. I suggest you collaborate."
"W-What do you want outta me?! I have no idea who you are! P-Please, just -- AGH! L-Let me go!"
That rough crowd that Nobuhiro Kirigawa supposedly ran with in his high school days... It all made sense now. He practically worked here as a last resort, with no chance at other lines of work. Or perhaps, that was just what they told him to keep the poor man in line.
Kaoru wondered why no one else seemed to be showing up to help their superior. Perhaps they didn't give enough of a shit? Then again, they would've been recorded too. In a dog-eat-dog world such as SPEARS Inc. , perhaps everyone cheered for each other's downfall. Her tone had become frighteningly intimidating for a 15 year old girl, sending shivers of fear into her obese would-be attacker's spine.
"I only need one more thing from you, and then I'll leave. Show me Nobuhiro Kirigawa's cubicle."
"F-Fine! Just let go -- I'll show ya!"
Promptly, Kaoru honoured her word, and let go of Aizawa. With a bruised arm, the SPEARS Inc. regional manager timidly walked out the door, expecting Kaoru to follow, which she shortly did, not before putting her fogged up glasses back on and resuming her bubbly reporter character from earlier.
The employees gave them weird looks. They didn't know what exactly had happened in there for their senpai to look so down, but something felt off in a way they couldn't place. Regardless, most of them didn't care enough to bring it up.
Eventually, Kaoru was led to Nobuhiro Kirigawa's cubicle. Without paying any more attention to Aizawa, who looked like a wounded puppy beside the teenage sleuth, Kaoru began to investigate the tiny, cramped workspace, finding most of it vacant. The uneven spread of dust indicated that it had been only recently emptied out, and as per Aizawa's track record, it made sense for the company to look for a replacement straight away while pocketing whatever was left of Nobuhiro Kirigawa's next payday.
Leaving no corner unturned, Kaoru shifted her attention to the desk drawers. She opened one -- Empty. Then the one below. Empty. Then the final one... Kaoru retrieved a pamphlet for what looked like a karaoke venue.
"Come to Singing Moonlight! The perfect place for karaoke fun in all of Kageoka! Ideal for company meetings, birthdays, and more!"
Kaoru turned to Aizawa, who almost flinched, and showed him the pamphlet in a commandeering tone.
"What's this?"
"This? Oh... We had a company meeting there last month. Maybe Kirigawa liked it."
Another employee chimed in, a few cubicles over. "Oooh yeah, we got him soooo drunk! He was hilarious!"
"W-Will you shut the fuck up?!" Aizawa seemed anxious to avoid Kaoru's ire, which perplexed his fellow coworker.
Kaoru wanted to kick both of them in the nuts so hard, but her face never showed it. Never her. At least, now she knew where Nobuhiro Kirigawa had been drinking.
Kaoru returned to her hideout, satisfied with the investigation. She had also collected a great amount of evidence against Aizawa and SPEARS Inc. as a whole, which she considered handing over to Yae in case she wanted to pull some strings at the police and try to get Marisa and her mother a little compensation eventually -- Although, if she couldn't find Nobuhiro Kirigawa to start with, all of that would most likely be useless in a court of law.
"Very well done, my Scarlet Pimpernel!" The familiar voice of Blakeney praised Kaoru inside her head. "I would've cut down his pants with my blade, back in my day.
"I did just enough. Precisely what was necessary. And now, I know where to go next..."
Kaoru checked the pamphlet, taking note of Singing Moonlight's address. She went up to her corkboard, pinning the position down into a map of Kageoka with thumbtacks and red wool chord. Immediately, the sight was... Not one she liked.
"...No. No, nonono... I..."
The realisation was immediate. Singing Moonlight's location was, coincidentally, right in the middle of the area that the Nightmare Eater had been sighted in, according to Yae. The pieces were starting to fall into place, and so did Kaoru, who was beginning to spiral, already assuming the worst. She sat back down on her office table, staring at the ceiling as she attempted to calm down and collect her thoughts.
"...I don't like this. I hate this, Blakeney. I know we don't know yet, but --"
"Ma chérie..." Blakeney was not one to pull his punches, despite his supportive nature. He knew Kaoru was mature, and respected her intelligence as his protégé and chosen one. "In our line of work, we must always be ready to face the worst. Sometimes, that's not an enemy, or an immediate danger -- Sometimes, you can't save everyone."
"But..." Kaoru shook her head. What was she getting all depressed for? She didn't know yet. The thought of the Nightmare Eater having reached Nobuhiro Kirigawa already was, frankly, dreadful -- But she didn't know yet. That was all that mattered.
Kaoru got up from her spinning office chair, and opened a dusty locker. Inside, was her trusty Scarlet Senshi costume. She had been moving it between her room at her grandparents' apartment, her school locker, and her hideout, to ensure she'd always be ready no matter what. Kaoru began packing it in her backpack.
"Going somewhere, Kaoru?" The sleuth nodded. "Singing Moonlight. I've got a hunch... This can only end there."
Backpack in tow, late at night, Kaoru made her way to Singing Moonlight. She was nowhere near a typical karaoke goer, especially not after the last time someone brought a karaoke machine into the Student Council, but she'd only be stepping in to investigate. If Kaoru's information was correct, Nobuhiro Kirigawa must've become a regular at Singing Moonlight since he relapsed, which meant that he must've been there the night of his disappearance. Regardless of what she found, even if it was just a lead to another part of the chase -- The karaoke venue had some form of great significance to the case, one way or another.
Kaoru watched as many people lined up to enter. She waited a solid 20 minutes, as people of many different ages, sizes and attitudes passed through the doors of Singing Moonlight, all eagerly awaiting their chance to partake in the premier Kageoka karaoke experience. Eventually, she reached the front of the line, where an attendant noted the arrival of a single teenage girl.
The sharply-dressed man pouted condescendingly. "Aww, waiting for someone, kid?"
"Does it matter?" Kaoru rolled her eyes. "You want my 5000 yen. Can you just take it and leave me alone?"
"Sure, sure." Kaoru took out a couple of bills, carefully counted them, and handed them to the man, who took out a small card of his own. "Your room's #12. Have fun!"
Not intending to have any fun at all, Kaoru walked into Singing Moonlight. The place was neon-lit, and the sound of so many different songs blaring at once, accompanied by the less-than-stellar drunk performances of many regulars, was far from pleasant. Eventually, Kaoru reached her room and stepped inside, immediately appreciating the relative sound insulation. She sat at one of the couches, noting how she had paid full price for what was likely a group room. That was the usual karaoke business model, however -- a group activity. Kaoru sat back, and out of curiosity, checked the songs they had on the list. Mostly contemporary J-pop, and a bunch of overseas songs she didn't know... She was relieved to find several Michael Jackson tunes, however.
Before Kaoru could ponder how to investigate any further from this point, she felt that tingle once again... Her danger sense had gone off, this time, far more intensely than before. Kaoru bolted out of her room, and made a bee line for the women's bathrooms. She immediately locked herself in a stall, and changed into her Scarlet Senshi costume, before walking out of the bathroom, attempting not to cause much commotion. A woman in her late 20s, however, noticed the sudden appearance of a cosplayer and gave Kaoru a weird look that the superheroine simply didn't bother to reciprocate.
Kaoru slung her backback over her shoulder, with her usual clothing inside, as she used her danger sense much like a radar, noting the direction and intensity of her full-body tingle to find the source of the danger. Eventually, she came across a karaoke room which had its door mysteriously hanging open.
As soon as Kaoru approached the room, she felt the familiar feeling of the world shifting and turning into ripples of cursed energy as she noticed she was entering a personalised, compact Bleeding Zone. Blakeney's presence, the ring of the Scarlet Pimpernel, manifested on Scarlet Senshi's left ring finger as her power surged through her body. And what the sentai heroine witnessed...
...was a blonde woman in a red dress, biting into the neck of an inert salaryman as dream energy poured out of his unconscious body.
This was the Nightmare Eater.
Scarlet Senshi didn't look back, dashing into action as she revved up a fist of searing justice, seeking to free the innocent man from the ghoul's clutches. The creature was struck on the side, causing the shapely mirage to evaporate in a cloud of mist that escaped the room with wails of pain and hunger.
The superheroine didn't immediately rush after the Nightmare Eater, instead taking the time to check on the man. He was breathing, quite depleted of spiritual energy -- But still alive. He'd recover. Justice couldn't wait any longer, and Kaoru followed the fleeing creature, tracking it with her danger sense.
The man at the front door watched in awe as some kind of motorcycle cosplayer exited the premises in a rush. As the Nightmare Eater's personal Bleeding Zone whizzed past him, however, the man fell into a daze, and was therefore unable to recognise Kaoru's backpack as she rushed past.
A high-octane chase ensued through the nearby alleys. Dingy streets, dirty corners where the puddles of murky water splashed as Scarlet Senshi's spiky boots tore through the muk and grime of Kageoka's underbelly. The Nightmare Eater attempted to get off Kaoru's radar by doing sharp turns, but the sentai fighter would never be too far behind. As a last-ditch effort, the fog cloud split into several smaller clouds, spreading into several streets at once in a final attempt to throw Kaoru off its trail. Rolling her eyes under the helmet, Scarlet Senshi karate chopped into the air in front of her and created a Garganta -- One that would always take her to the nearest Bleeding Zone. Soon enough, she was in the Nightmare Eater's personalised Bleeding Zone once again, leading her back to the trail of the true fog cloud.
The hunter and her prey reached a dead end, a closed off alleyway. With nowhere left to go, the Nightmare Eater grew desperate. It transformed back into the seductive shape of the woman, eyes glowing bright red as it stared down the armoured superheroine.
"Your feast ends here, monster!" Proclaimed Scarlet Senshi, dramatically pointing at the Nightmare Eater before summoning her thorned metal pipe. The Nightmare Eater chuckled, its distorted female voice reverberating through the alleyway as it made its move.
"You just can't let a girl have fun, can you...?" The beast attempted to plead in a mocking, sultry tone. For all it was worth, Kaoru did need her suspicions answered, so she allowed the Nightmare Eater to stall for the time being. "We all have our hunting grounds. What brings you to mine, foolish human? Can't you see I'm busy?"
"I've been following your trail for some time now," Kaoru replied with heroic confidence in her tone. She knew Nightmare Eaters could potentially be reasoned with -- It was worth a try. "You steal men's souls every time you hunger! Have you no shame, beast?!"
"Ohohoho~!" The Nightmare Eater laughed. "A girl needs her lunch -- I don't care what happens to those lowly humans after. I can smell great desires in you... Why not give them to me?"
"Don't listen to her, my Scarlet Pimpernel! Stay focused!" Blakeney's voice rang out inside the black helmet, reassuring Kaoru of her position of advantage. She shook her head, smiling under the thorned armour.
"I have faced evils such as yours before, and overcome them! You shall be no different!"
"Then let's see about THAT!"
The battle had begun. The Nightmare Eater's hands shifted into sharp, curved claws as she slashed at Scarlet Senshi, who dodged the attacks with ease, swaying and backflipping away from danger in the nick of time before counterattacking with a spiked knee to the face, causing the Nightmare Eater to wail in pain and transfom back into mist. The mist spread all over the closed off alleyway, giving Kaoru a short window to predict where the Nightmare Eater would reform and reappear -- But before her foe could act predictably, sharpened blade-like tentacles formed from the mist, slashing and cutting away at Scarlet Senshi's back, leaving bloodied cuts on the carbon fiber and leather threads!
"Tch -- Magic Leaf Strike!"
Kaoru's answer was simple. She summoned a whirlwind of sharp leaves before spreading them in all directions, poking and stabbing at the mist surrounding her. The mists coalesced into the shape of the Nightmare Eater once again, who had been taken by surprise. Scarlet Senshi wasted no time in retaliating as she drop-kicked her foe, ultimately landing short as the Nightmare Eater once again unraveled into mist, forcing the superheroine to take a bad landing. The Nightmare Eater's mocking voice echoed through the entire spread of the mists.
"Ohohoho~! How can you strike what you can't touch, darling? Give up already!"
The sentai heroine didn't buy the threats, sending another gust of leaves the Nightmare Eater's way -- But the mists parted, letting the stinging leaves fly past! The Nightmare Eater seemed to have begun outmaneuvering Kaoru. This couldn't go on.
Scarlet Senshi clearly outclassed the Nightmare Eater in strength, relatively at least -- But her amount of spiritual attack options was limited in comparison to someone like Yae or Madoka, who would've likely finished off this foe without much hassle already. Kaoru was at her best fighting less than ethereal enemies, trading blows and facing danger head on...
Danger... That's it!
Kaoru closed her eyes, keeping her stance square. The Nightmare Eater cooed in delight, believing her foe was, indeed, giving up. However, Scarlet Senshi had focused her entire spiritual energy on her Danger Sense, allowing her to predict the Nightmare Eater's next move with frightening clarity. The ghastly opponent fell for the bait, as it partially reformed while clutching the heroine's neck, poised and ready to bite into it... Not before delivering some choice words.
"Delicious... You smell just like a meek little man I had last week... I must feel so bad for his daughter. Poor thing!"
It couldn't be.
Rage boiled inside Kaoru's righteous soul. The Nightmare Eater readied her fangs to go in for the strike -- Before being struck in the face with a massive swing of Scarlet Senshi's metal pipe!
The Nightmare Eater was sent reeling, as chunks of spiritual energy flew off the creature's body as it lost ethereal stability. It started becoming enraged, spreading into mist once again in an attempt to overwhelm the sentai heroine.
"Trick ME, now will you?! I'll feast on your cheesy heroic dreams!"
Scarlet Senshi advanced through the mist with her eyes closed, relying only on her danger sense as she batted away at the Nightmare Eater's sharp stabs, flipping, ducking and sliding through a misty field of blades before arriving at the mists' epicenter and unleashing a barrage of magical leaves that ripped the Nightmare Eater to shreds, forcing its already weakened form to revert back to its seductive shape.
"It's over, Nightmare Eater! You will fall by the hand of Scarlet Senshi!"
"Y-You can't do this to me... DIEEEE!!"
In a desperate attack, the Nightmare Eater pounced, claws spread -- But Kaoru was locked and loaded, and not just that... She was pissed, and determined to end it.
The Nightmare Eater was suddenly struck by waves of flower petals, before being caught by Scarlet Senshi and launched into the air. The Nightmare Eater was already decomposing into mist, unable to entirely disappear at will. Before the ghoul could react, Scarlet Senshi had appeared right above her with a Garganta, and as both combatants rose higher in the air...
"Heart-Pounding... BLOSSOMING JUSTICE!!!"
Scarlet Senshi suplexed the Nightmare Eater, driving the already crumbling foe into the hard concrete below with a loud SMASH! The ghoul landed into a small crater, and so did Scarlet Senshi, scarf billowing in the wind as she fell into a classic superhero landing. When she checked on the Nightmare Eater, it was all but gone -- A flickering cloud of mist, almost petering out.
"Curse you... I curse thy name, Kuro no Kotei...!"
Before Kaoru could figure out who that mysterious name was referring to, the Nightmare Eater finally vanished, and so did the Bleeding Zone with it. However, the creature left something behind. A pile of yokai ashes had fallen neatly into the small crater -- Kaoru recognised the ashes as valuable Idolon Materials.
In other circumstances, Kaoru would always reject the idea of feeding Blakeney Idolon Materials. She didn't believe in accumulating power for oneself -- In prior battles, the Student Council would confiscate and democratically spread any Idolon Materials evenly for everyone, except herself, obviously, due to the secretive nature of her involvement with their battles. Now, she was left in a position where she couldn't just leave these materials here. If someone else came across them, she could give anyone a power boost -- That was far too risky.
With an exasperated sigh, Scarlet Senshi created a Garganta to the nearest Bleeding Zone, a stable, inoffensive one, before taking the pile of ashes into her hands and walking through the portal. In the Bleeding Zone, the Ring of the Scarlet Pimpernel reacted to the materials as Blakeney poked his head out of the flower-like ring.
"Excuse my crass language, ma chérie, but... Is that some delicious food in your hands? I know how hesitant you are to accumulating power. What's the occasion?"
"If you don't eat this, someone else is bound to. Let's just... Get it over with."
"Magnificent! Bottom's up!" Opening up his unnatural, wooden jaws, Blakeney's physical form emerged from the ring, much like a genie, and ingested the pile of ashes with satisfaction. Blakeney looked into Kaoru's eyes as they both felt a surge of power, elevating them to the next step. Red and black aura waves burst from Scarlet Senshi, as a torrent of flower petals and leaves transformed into a tornado that manifested all around the heroine. She knew what to do -- With a hand wave, she could manipulate the trajectory of the whirlwind, and with a haughty pose, vines tore through the ground, sprouting spines with just a thought!
*Author's note: Elemental 1 has gone up to Elemental 2.
"Our elemental affinity..." Kaoru muttered, not quite accustomed to this new height of power yet. "Our connection with plants has grown..."
"Quite indeed, my Scarlet Pimpernel!" Blakeney sounded proud of his pupil, his host, his partner. He returned to the ring once again -- But the surge in power had restored his youth and vitality somewhat. Perhaps one day, they could work in tandem more effectively... "Let's take this as a deserved reward for all our hard work. But remember -- Don't let this power rise to your head!"
"Yes, Blakeney. For now... Let's return to the Scarlet Room."
Kaoru chopped through the air once again, tearing another Garganta in reality and exiting the minor Bleeding Zone through it.
Having almost recovered entirely from the battle after absorbing the Nightmare Eater's ashes, Kaoru now spun around on her office chair once again, staring at the ceiling. The realisation had already hit before, but as the adrenaline washed off her system, there was no way of avoiding it anymore. Kaoru clutched her head in pain, spiraling into panic as she observed the grim truth she had uncovered.
"...How do we tell her?!" The teenage sleuth muttered, now staring intensely at the tiled floor. "W-What do we even do now, Blakeney?! How do we explain to Marisa that her father was attacked by a Nightmare Eater?!"
"Kaoru... That's not the worst part. And you know it."
The feelings of powerlessness sunk Kaoru deeper into chaos as she realised that, when someone's attacked by a Nightmare Eater, they leave behind a...
"...Nightmare. Her dad's... Her dad became a damn Nightmare..."
She had no leads on this Nightmare's location or abilities, but what was entirely sure, was that she wouldn't be able to take it on by herself. Nightmares were, paradoxically, far more powerful than Nightmare Eaters -- They were on a similar tier of power as Shinigami servants like Kagayaki. Taking down such a foe might require more than even the entire Student Council working together... And she had promised she'd handle the whole affair herself.
"Blakeney... We're gonna have to track this thing down and defeat it ourselves if we want Nobuhiro Kirigawa to be at peace."
"That's the least we can do now, my Scarlet Pimpernel. I'm sorry... There's no other way."
Never in Kaoru's few years as a detective did she ever think she'd solve two cases in one day, and feel terrible about the result. The truth uncovered in a case was never entirely pretty, or optimistic -- She had given up hope of finding Nobuhiro Kirigawa alive early on, in the first place -- But for once, Kaoru hoped it could've been a mundane case, even if she knew it logically couldn't be. Instead, the truth that had been uncovered today revealed that an innocent man, merely through a stroke of bad luck, had been transformed into a monster.
And now, there was nothing left but to put him to rest.