decay [2/3]
title: decay
author: hika_nishi
pairing: masuda/tegoshi
rating: pg-13
disclaimer: I own the computer I typed this on. That's it.
summary: He ducks under the designated police line, people in uniforms standing around under the streetlamp, a young girl laying face down on the sidewalk.
Previous: Part 01
There’s a tap on his shoulder, gentle and familiar, a voice telling him to wake up. Usually it’s what he’d hear laying in the comfortable warmth of their bed in the morning, like he would have today if he had gone to bed at all last night. If he had, he wouldn’t be asleep at his desk in that room they assigned to him as an office. with books on strange and various topics scattered around in a kind of organized mess. It’s Nishikido’s stern voice that makes him sit up.
“Quit napping and say what you have to say,” he mumbles impatiently as Tegoshi fumbles with the pages of the file.
He stutters a bit and rubs the back of his neck, glancing at Masuda as if it will help him focus again. It does. “Well, I was talking to Massu, Masuda, yesterday about how, um, it’s highly unlikely that he lives in the area where the bodies are being found, just by the nature of the crimes and everything. But there’s a reason he leaves the bodies there, some kind of connection, like something happened to him or someone close to him somewhere.”
“We’ll search for incidents in the area,” Nishikido jots a note to himself in small book.
“Good. There’s the abductions, too. The victims are disappearing when leaving school or work - somewhere a person would be regularly with a set schedule. He’s probably stalking his victims for some time before he actually takes them. That way, he knows where they’ll be at any given moment and when is the best opportunity to do it without witnesses. He’s probably unemployed if he has that kind of time.” He starts sifting through the pages, pulling photos of the victims as they were found and copies of the notes found on the bodies. “These give some insight into his logic.” Masuda and Nishikido lean forward to get a better look. “If you don’t count Ishimura,” he pushes that photo off to the side, “the bodies where placed carefully, almost respectfully. These two were carefully seated, not just dropped against a wall. And the two in the parking lot, they weren’t just thrown out like garbage. Look at the positions, it’s like they’re laying in a coffin.”
Masuda looks up at him, trying to figure out his train of thought. “Are you going anywhere with this?”
Tegoshi gives him a small smile, out of Nishikido’s view, just for him. “Well, just with that, it would seem he’s trying to be kind to them somehow, but when you pair it with the notes,” he pulls them out, laying each one down next to the photo they belong with. “You never released these to the press, right?” Masuda shakes his head. “I thought so. You see, they seem like the ramblings of a lunatic, but if you really read them, well, they’re still ramblings, but there’s a purpose there. A message. I did some digging on the victims…”
“When did you have time to do that,” Masuda laughs.
“Okay, maybe I asked Konno to do it, does it really matter?” Tegoshi gives him a look, almost sarcastic. “They’ve all got something in their pasts that mommy and daddy wouldn’t be proud of. In the notes, it’s like he’s trying to sound like some kind of, how do I say this, like he’s doing god’s work.”
“Oh, fuck me,” Nishikido groans. “I don’t want to deal with that kind of nut.”
“Tough luck, I guess,” Tegoshi shrugs. “He thinks he’s saving them somehow and in turn, he hopes their sacrifice saves others. But you people didn’t publicize his messages.” He moves Ishimura’s picture back to the middle of the group, tapping on it with his finger. “That’s why he dropped her in the middle of the sidewalk. A very public statement. And she’s a kid, the media is having a field day with that.”
“Not someone to be ignored,” Nishikido mumbles to himself.
“But Ishimura was just an innocent kid,” Masuda leans back in his chair, looking down at the floor while he tries to think. “Why her if he’s trying to save sinners or some kind of bull shit like that?”
Tegoshi bites his lip. “I haven’t exactly figured that out yet.”
“Okay,” Nishikido taps on his book with a pen. “Give me a to-the-point description I can pass around.”
He starts collecting the papers from his desk. “So, we’re looking for an unemployed man, 25 to 35, strong and not too old. He’s probably fairly attractive so the victims wouldn’t go out of their way to avoid him, but he doesn’t stand out too much. Owns a house and probably a larger car, like a van, something he could easily hide someone in after he’s picked them up. That good enough?”
Nishikido nods, stands from his chair. “I’m going to make some calls, see if anyone’s seen a suspicious person or vehicle hanging around somewhere. And get Konno started searching for anything that’s happened in our hot zone.” He gives Masuda a bit of a look before he heads out the door, closing it behind him. Tegoshi stands up as soon as he does, walking over to Masuda, sliding his arms around his neck.
“I think Nishikido knows you’re dating me,” he says, kissing Masuda’s cheek and the corner of his mouth.
“He does,” Masuda smiles, catches Tegoshi’s lips with his own. “He’s never said anything, but he keeps giving me looks whenever you come up in conversations.” Tegoshi giggles a bit, tugs him back in the direction of an empty table on the side of the room, hopping up onto in and pulls Masuda closer to him by his tie. “You cleaned this off beforehand, didn’t you.”
He flashes a coy smile, says, “Maybe,” as Masuda pushes him gently until his back hits the table. “I felt bad about leaving you all alone last night.” Tegoshi loosens his tie, struggles to unfasten the buttons on his shirt while Masuda locks the door.
++++
“What do you mean, nothing? There must be something relevant.” Nishikido paces around, frustrated as Konno searches records for the fourth time for information that could back up Tegoshi’s theory.
“Closet thing I’ve got is a husband that killed his cheating wife back in 2002. No children, no siblings, parents are too old to even be considered. Couple car accidents, but that’s it. There’s nothing that I can imagine would drive a person to serial murder in the name of righteousness.” She turns around in her chair, watching Nishikido move back and forth across the room. “Tegoshi’s smart, but he’s not infallible.”
Nishikido sighs heavily. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“I’ll keep looking if it makes you feel better,” Nishikido thinks they’re a hint of irritation in her voice, but he can’t be sure. “Maybe we’re just a step or two off track.”
He quietly mutters a Thank you, opens the door to head out. “I want a call if anything comes up.” Konno says, Okay, in a cheery voice, but he’s sure she mumbles something under her breath, low and annoyed.
++++
For days, they don’t get any new information and each day that passes becomes more nerve wracking, a waiting game to see which will happen first, a new lead or a new body. The only good part about it, as far as Masuda is concerned, is no need for late nights. Tegoshi stays up sometimes, looking through the file dozens of times, wondering if there’s another conclusion he can come to. “I’m missing something important,” Masuda hears him mumble while he heats up something for dinner in their small kitchen.
“Yuya, close the file, will you?” he puts a plate down in front of him. “You probably have it all memorized by now. Eat.” Tegoshi reluctantly does as he asks, smiles when Masuda reaches up, runs fingers through his hair. “Don’t work yourself too hard.” He pushes the file away from Tegoshi. “No more analyzing tonight.”
“Nishikido wouldn’t like you telling me that,” Tegoshi smiles, pressing his lips to Masuda’s palm.
“We can’t all be workaholics.”
++++
He opens his eyes when he hears the phone ring. There’s no light peeking in behind the window shade, he checks the clock. 6:03. He snuggles up against Masuda’s side, part of him hoping he doesn’t wake up and answer it, but at the same time he knows it’s probably important. Masuda reaches to the side, groping around on his nightstand for his phone. He pulls Tegoshi closer to him as he puts the phone to his ear. “Masuda,” he says to the person on the other end, staying quiet for a few seconds before cursing under his breath. “I’ll be there as soon as possible.” Tegoshi whines involuntarily, Masuda gives him a quick kiss. “Someone else is missing,” he sits up, rubbing his eyes. “A teacher. Apparently, he didn’t come home last night and now no one can get in contact with him.” Tegoshi sits up as Masuda gets out of bed, pulls clothes for the day out the dresser. “This is almost the last thing I want to start my day with.”
“Would it help if I told you Massu’s beautiful?” Tegoshi says with a smile, Masuda shakes his head, but he can’t hide the way his lips curve up at the statement.
He gets a shirt throw at his head. “Get dressed, we have to go.” He pouts his lips again, Masuda smiles, crawls back on to the bed, giving Tegoshi the kiss he knows he wants. “I promise, after we catch this guy, I will spend a whole day in bed with you.”
Tegoshi giggles quietly. “I guess we should go a.s.a.p. then.”
++++
By the time they arrive at the school, it’s already crowded with students, filtering into classrooms as a staff member leads a team of officers down the hall to their missing teacher’s room. “We heard Sakurai-sensei was reported missing this morning. Do you really think this is connected to those murders?”
“It’s possible,” Nishikido answers honestly. The staff member leaves them outside the classroom, hurries nervously back down the hall.
Masuda grabs Nishikido’s arm before they walk in, leans in a speaks in a whisper. “If he was abducted after school yesterday, and if Tegoshi’s right about our guys timetable, we’re already too late for this one.” Nishikido sighs, pulls out his phone. “You sound stressed.”
“There’s a murderer walking around. Why are you not stressed?” Masuda thinks they both know the answer to that. “Koyama,” he says into the phone, “I want you to take a team down to the dump site.” He pauses. “Unfortunately. Thank you.” He drops the phone back in his pocket. “You ready to go interrogate a bunch of fifteen year olds?” Masuda nods, waves over the rest of the team they’ve brought.
The students are gathered into groups, giggling and discussing the kinds of meaningless things you’d expect kids of that age to absorbed in. A boy pipes up from the front of the room, asking where Sakurai-sensei is. Masuda clears his throat, apparently the decided talker for today, as usual. “We’re with the Tokyo police. We have a few questions for you, if there’s any way you can help, it will be greatly appreciated.”
“Is Sakurai-sensei in trouble?” They ignore the question, unsure of exactly how to answer it.
“Did your teacher ever mention any suspicious person or vehicle that he kept seeing? Maybe someone loitering around the school recently?”
A girl starts pointing back excitedly. “Okai told a guy off yesterday.”
Masuda walks around the desks, towards the girl she’s pointing out. He kneels down neck to her. “What’s your name?”
She makes a bit of a face, like this isn’t something she wants to do, but gets over it. “Chisato.”
“Chisato,” he smiles. “My name’s Takahisa. Can you tell me what you saw?”
“There was a guy in a van out there,” she points out the window. “He’d just sit out there for hours, staring at the building.”
“He did this more than once?”
“For about a week.” Masuda looks back at Nishikido, who’s making notes in that book he always carries around. “I told him if he didn’t stop sitting out there, I was gonna call the police.”
Masuda’s eyes go wide. “You spoke to him?” She nods. “Do you remember what he looked like?” She nods again, with a bit of a shrug this time. Masuda turns around and waves over one of the other investigators. “I want you to give a description to Kato here. Okay?”
Chisato turns to the side, digs in her bag and takes out a phone. “I took a picture of the van, just in case? Do you want it, officer Takahisa?” She smiles at him, holds out the phone.
He puts a hand on her shoulder. “You’re just a little junior investigator, aren’t you?”
++++
Sometimes he regrets that he didn’t go for a field position in the department. Times like today when he watched Masuda walk out the door while he alternates between pacing around the building and staring at the file on his desk. There’s something there, some piece of information that will point them in the right direction, if he could just find it.
There’s a soft knock on his door. “Tegoshi?” He looks up, sees Konno poking her head in the room. “Masuda called in. They’ve got some information, he wants you there in case you have some kind of insight.” He’s standing as soon as she says Masuda. He follows her into the lab, stands with his palms resting on the table near the phone. “Okay, he’s here. Go.”
Nishikido voice comes over the speaker. “We’ve got a photo of a van that possibly belongs to our killer. Kato’s sending it to you now. Clear it up, see if you can get a plate number and find an owner.”
“Alright, I’m getting it. Will do.” Konno starts working furiously on the computer.
Tegoshi leans in toward the phone. “Masuda, are you there?”
“Hey, Tegoshi,” his voice says kindly, Tegoshi can’t help but smile when he hears it.
Konno makes an excited sound from behind the keyboard. “I’ve got a number, give me a minute, I’ll get you a name.”
The desk is a bit of a mess, in a similar way to his own. Tegoshi glances at one of the pages near his hand, a list of names and addresses and other information. “What is all this?”
“I did some searching for Nishikido,” she leans back in her chair, glancing at the search progress. “That’s a list of people with criminal records who live around our dump sight. I don’t know if it’ll help but-” Something pops up on the screen. “Got a hit! Vehicle is registered to a Maeda Mika.” Tegoshi moves to look at the computer when she pauses, staring wide-eyed at the screen. “She lives in our hot zone.”
++++
Nishikido leads a team of officers down the hall quietly, checking door numbers until he’s standing in front of 514. He pulls his gun out, a hopefully unnecessary precaution, Masuda does the same, looking terribly uncomfortable holding the weapon. He knocks on the door. “Maeda-san, it’s the police. Open the door.” No answer. He knocks again, harder this time. “Maeda-san, we will break in if necessary.” Nothing. Nishikido gestures to the officers behind him. Within a few seconds, the door is open.
The apartment looks normal, orderly, nothing like he assumed psychopath with religious ideals would live in. It was a family home, photographs on the walls, comfortable looking sofas and pillows in the middle of the room. “No one touch anything,” Masuda says as they cautiously check the other rooms. Nishikido stops in front of one closed door, slowly turns the knob before forcing it open.
He stumbles out of the room quickly, an arm covering his nose and mouth. “Shit.”A distinct and awful smell starts wafting into the living room. “Yamashita, get over here. We’ve got a body.”
++++
Masuda has to leave the apartment for a moment, overwhelmed by the smell and atmosphere. He pulls out his phone, suddenly needing to hear that person’s voice. “Massu?” Tegoshi’s voice says in his ear, concerned, but with a hint of excitement. “How are you doing there?”
“Maeda’s dead. Yamashita says it’s been weeks,” he takes a deep breath as he steps into a stairwell. “She has a daughter, who we can’t find.” He leans against the cool concrete wall. “I don’t think I can take much more of this, Yuya. I can’t deal with another dead kid.”
“It won’t be much longer,” Tegoshi’s tone is cheerful, it rises his spirits. “Konno had done a search for Nishikido on people in the area with criminal records. Guess who’s on the list?” Masuda doesn’t answer, knowing Tegoshi will answer for himself. “Maeda Mika. She was arrested several times years back for prostitution. During that time, she had a son, gave him up for adoption. It’s perfect.”
“You think our guy found and killed his mother?” Masuda feels a rush now.
“It would make sense. His MO fits with it. The preaching, the saving sinners, it all about mommy dearest. He starts with her, and it makes him feel something, so he does it again, more public this time. Hell, he was probably raised in one of the Christian orphanages. It also explains why the bodies are found in that area. I’m having Konno check if there’s any way to find him.”
Masuda smiles. “You’re brilliant.” He can tell Tegoshi is grinning on the other end. “Come down here, Yuya. You might see something we don’t.”
“Is that the reason you want me there? Or do you just want to see me?”
“A little of both.”
Tegoshi laughs. “If that’s what Masuda wants. It’s my lunch time, want me to get you something?”
“I don’t think I’m going to want to eat for a while after this.”
“Okay. I’ll be there soon.” He makes a kissing sound into the phone. “I love you, Massu.”
“You, too, Yuya.” Masuda hangs up, steps back out into the hall as they wheel a body bag out of the apartment.
Nishikido hangs out the door, a serious expression on his face. “Masuda, you should see this.”
++++
There are half a dozen people in the room, looking for evidence, taking photos of the scene, all wearing masks in an effort to keep the smell away. There are pictures covering the walls, hundreds of them. Faces of the dead looking back at them. “He is stalking them. Look, these,” Nishikido starts pointing out certain ones around the room, “are our previous five victims. But there’s more than that. He’s tracking them well ahead of time. This one here is our missing teacher, Sakurai. Masuda?”
But Masuda isn’t paying attention to him anymore, instead staring painfully at one corner of the wall. He mumbles something to himself, then hurries out of the room. Koyama walks over, following the line of sight Masuda had. “Fuck. Nishikido,” he points at one of the photos. It’s of familiar things, painfully familiar. Their station. Their Tegoshi.
-------------------------
This chapter turned out long XD I feel like I became incoherent at some points, maybe I'm just insane. more Tegomass ai that the first because I wanted it ;)
Semester is over. Time to Dance :D
author: hika_nishi
pairing: masuda/tegoshi
rating: pg-13
disclaimer: I own the computer I typed this on. That's it.
summary: He ducks under the designated police line, people in uniforms standing around under the streetlamp, a young girl laying face down on the sidewalk.
Previous: Part 01
There’s a tap on his shoulder, gentle and familiar, a voice telling him to wake up. Usually it’s what he’d hear laying in the comfortable warmth of their bed in the morning, like he would have today if he had gone to bed at all last night. If he had, he wouldn’t be asleep at his desk in that room they assigned to him as an office. with books on strange and various topics scattered around in a kind of organized mess. It’s Nishikido’s stern voice that makes him sit up.
“Quit napping and say what you have to say,” he mumbles impatiently as Tegoshi fumbles with the pages of the file.
He stutters a bit and rubs the back of his neck, glancing at Masuda as if it will help him focus again. It does. “Well, I was talking to Massu, Masuda, yesterday about how, um, it’s highly unlikely that he lives in the area where the bodies are being found, just by the nature of the crimes and everything. But there’s a reason he leaves the bodies there, some kind of connection, like something happened to him or someone close to him somewhere.”
“We’ll search for incidents in the area,” Nishikido jots a note to himself in small book.
“Good. There’s the abductions, too. The victims are disappearing when leaving school or work - somewhere a person would be regularly with a set schedule. He’s probably stalking his victims for some time before he actually takes them. That way, he knows where they’ll be at any given moment and when is the best opportunity to do it without witnesses. He’s probably unemployed if he has that kind of time.” He starts sifting through the pages, pulling photos of the victims as they were found and copies of the notes found on the bodies. “These give some insight into his logic.” Masuda and Nishikido lean forward to get a better look. “If you don’t count Ishimura,” he pushes that photo off to the side, “the bodies where placed carefully, almost respectfully. These two were carefully seated, not just dropped against a wall. And the two in the parking lot, they weren’t just thrown out like garbage. Look at the positions, it’s like they’re laying in a coffin.”
Masuda looks up at him, trying to figure out his train of thought. “Are you going anywhere with this?”
Tegoshi gives him a small smile, out of Nishikido’s view, just for him. “Well, just with that, it would seem he’s trying to be kind to them somehow, but when you pair it with the notes,” he pulls them out, laying each one down next to the photo they belong with. “You never released these to the press, right?” Masuda shakes his head. “I thought so. You see, they seem like the ramblings of a lunatic, but if you really read them, well, they’re still ramblings, but there’s a purpose there. A message. I did some digging on the victims…”
“When did you have time to do that,” Masuda laughs.
“Okay, maybe I asked Konno to do it, does it really matter?” Tegoshi gives him a look, almost sarcastic. “They’ve all got something in their pasts that mommy and daddy wouldn’t be proud of. In the notes, it’s like he’s trying to sound like some kind of, how do I say this, like he’s doing god’s work.”
“Oh, fuck me,” Nishikido groans. “I don’t want to deal with that kind of nut.”
“Tough luck, I guess,” Tegoshi shrugs. “He thinks he’s saving them somehow and in turn, he hopes their sacrifice saves others. But you people didn’t publicize his messages.” He moves Ishimura’s picture back to the middle of the group, tapping on it with his finger. “That’s why he dropped her in the middle of the sidewalk. A very public statement. And she’s a kid, the media is having a field day with that.”
“Not someone to be ignored,” Nishikido mumbles to himself.
“But Ishimura was just an innocent kid,” Masuda leans back in his chair, looking down at the floor while he tries to think. “Why her if he’s trying to save sinners or some kind of bull shit like that?”
Tegoshi bites his lip. “I haven’t exactly figured that out yet.”
“Okay,” Nishikido taps on his book with a pen. “Give me a to-the-point description I can pass around.”
He starts collecting the papers from his desk. “So, we’re looking for an unemployed man, 25 to 35, strong and not too old. He’s probably fairly attractive so the victims wouldn’t go out of their way to avoid him, but he doesn’t stand out too much. Owns a house and probably a larger car, like a van, something he could easily hide someone in after he’s picked them up. That good enough?”
Nishikido nods, stands from his chair. “I’m going to make some calls, see if anyone’s seen a suspicious person or vehicle hanging around somewhere. And get Konno started searching for anything that’s happened in our hot zone.” He gives Masuda a bit of a look before he heads out the door, closing it behind him. Tegoshi stands up as soon as he does, walking over to Masuda, sliding his arms around his neck.
“I think Nishikido knows you’re dating me,” he says, kissing Masuda’s cheek and the corner of his mouth.
“He does,” Masuda smiles, catches Tegoshi’s lips with his own. “He’s never said anything, but he keeps giving me looks whenever you come up in conversations.” Tegoshi giggles a bit, tugs him back in the direction of an empty table on the side of the room, hopping up onto in and pulls Masuda closer to him by his tie. “You cleaned this off beforehand, didn’t you.”
He flashes a coy smile, says, “Maybe,” as Masuda pushes him gently until his back hits the table. “I felt bad about leaving you all alone last night.” Tegoshi loosens his tie, struggles to unfasten the buttons on his shirt while Masuda locks the door.
++++
“What do you mean, nothing? There must be something relevant.” Nishikido paces around, frustrated as Konno searches records for the fourth time for information that could back up Tegoshi’s theory.
“Closet thing I’ve got is a husband that killed his cheating wife back in 2002. No children, no siblings, parents are too old to even be considered. Couple car accidents, but that’s it. There’s nothing that I can imagine would drive a person to serial murder in the name of righteousness.” She turns around in her chair, watching Nishikido move back and forth across the room. “Tegoshi’s smart, but he’s not infallible.”
Nishikido sighs heavily. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“I’ll keep looking if it makes you feel better,” Nishikido thinks they’re a hint of irritation in her voice, but he can’t be sure. “Maybe we’re just a step or two off track.”
He quietly mutters a Thank you, opens the door to head out. “I want a call if anything comes up.” Konno says, Okay, in a cheery voice, but he’s sure she mumbles something under her breath, low and annoyed.
++++
For days, they don’t get any new information and each day that passes becomes more nerve wracking, a waiting game to see which will happen first, a new lead or a new body. The only good part about it, as far as Masuda is concerned, is no need for late nights. Tegoshi stays up sometimes, looking through the file dozens of times, wondering if there’s another conclusion he can come to. “I’m missing something important,” Masuda hears him mumble while he heats up something for dinner in their small kitchen.
“Yuya, close the file, will you?” he puts a plate down in front of him. “You probably have it all memorized by now. Eat.” Tegoshi reluctantly does as he asks, smiles when Masuda reaches up, runs fingers through his hair. “Don’t work yourself too hard.” He pushes the file away from Tegoshi. “No more analyzing tonight.”
“Nishikido wouldn’t like you telling me that,” Tegoshi smiles, pressing his lips to Masuda’s palm.
“We can’t all be workaholics.”
++++
He opens his eyes when he hears the phone ring. There’s no light peeking in behind the window shade, he checks the clock. 6:03. He snuggles up against Masuda’s side, part of him hoping he doesn’t wake up and answer it, but at the same time he knows it’s probably important. Masuda reaches to the side, groping around on his nightstand for his phone. He pulls Tegoshi closer to him as he puts the phone to his ear. “Masuda,” he says to the person on the other end, staying quiet for a few seconds before cursing under his breath. “I’ll be there as soon as possible.” Tegoshi whines involuntarily, Masuda gives him a quick kiss. “Someone else is missing,” he sits up, rubbing his eyes. “A teacher. Apparently, he didn’t come home last night and now no one can get in contact with him.” Tegoshi sits up as Masuda gets out of bed, pulls clothes for the day out the dresser. “This is almost the last thing I want to start my day with.”
“Would it help if I told you Massu’s beautiful?” Tegoshi says with a smile, Masuda shakes his head, but he can’t hide the way his lips curve up at the statement.
He gets a shirt throw at his head. “Get dressed, we have to go.” He pouts his lips again, Masuda smiles, crawls back on to the bed, giving Tegoshi the kiss he knows he wants. “I promise, after we catch this guy, I will spend a whole day in bed with you.”
Tegoshi giggles quietly. “I guess we should go a.s.a.p. then.”
++++
By the time they arrive at the school, it’s already crowded with students, filtering into classrooms as a staff member leads a team of officers down the hall to their missing teacher’s room. “We heard Sakurai-sensei was reported missing this morning. Do you really think this is connected to those murders?”
“It’s possible,” Nishikido answers honestly. The staff member leaves them outside the classroom, hurries nervously back down the hall.
Masuda grabs Nishikido’s arm before they walk in, leans in a speaks in a whisper. “If he was abducted after school yesterday, and if Tegoshi’s right about our guys timetable, we’re already too late for this one.” Nishikido sighs, pulls out his phone. “You sound stressed.”
“There’s a murderer walking around. Why are you not stressed?” Masuda thinks they both know the answer to that. “Koyama,” he says into the phone, “I want you to take a team down to the dump site.” He pauses. “Unfortunately. Thank you.” He drops the phone back in his pocket. “You ready to go interrogate a bunch of fifteen year olds?” Masuda nods, waves over the rest of the team they’ve brought.
The students are gathered into groups, giggling and discussing the kinds of meaningless things you’d expect kids of that age to absorbed in. A boy pipes up from the front of the room, asking where Sakurai-sensei is. Masuda clears his throat, apparently the decided talker for today, as usual. “We’re with the Tokyo police. We have a few questions for you, if there’s any way you can help, it will be greatly appreciated.”
“Is Sakurai-sensei in trouble?” They ignore the question, unsure of exactly how to answer it.
“Did your teacher ever mention any suspicious person or vehicle that he kept seeing? Maybe someone loitering around the school recently?”
A girl starts pointing back excitedly. “Okai told a guy off yesterday.”
Masuda walks around the desks, towards the girl she’s pointing out. He kneels down neck to her. “What’s your name?”
She makes a bit of a face, like this isn’t something she wants to do, but gets over it. “Chisato.”
“Chisato,” he smiles. “My name’s Takahisa. Can you tell me what you saw?”
“There was a guy in a van out there,” she points out the window. “He’d just sit out there for hours, staring at the building.”
“He did this more than once?”
“For about a week.” Masuda looks back at Nishikido, who’s making notes in that book he always carries around. “I told him if he didn’t stop sitting out there, I was gonna call the police.”
Masuda’s eyes go wide. “You spoke to him?” She nods. “Do you remember what he looked like?” She nods again, with a bit of a shrug this time. Masuda turns around and waves over one of the other investigators. “I want you to give a description to Kato here. Okay?”
Chisato turns to the side, digs in her bag and takes out a phone. “I took a picture of the van, just in case? Do you want it, officer Takahisa?” She smiles at him, holds out the phone.
He puts a hand on her shoulder. “You’re just a little junior investigator, aren’t you?”
++++
Sometimes he regrets that he didn’t go for a field position in the department. Times like today when he watched Masuda walk out the door while he alternates between pacing around the building and staring at the file on his desk. There’s something there, some piece of information that will point them in the right direction, if he could just find it.
There’s a soft knock on his door. “Tegoshi?” He looks up, sees Konno poking her head in the room. “Masuda called in. They’ve got some information, he wants you there in case you have some kind of insight.” He’s standing as soon as she says Masuda. He follows her into the lab, stands with his palms resting on the table near the phone. “Okay, he’s here. Go.”
Nishikido voice comes over the speaker. “We’ve got a photo of a van that possibly belongs to our killer. Kato’s sending it to you now. Clear it up, see if you can get a plate number and find an owner.”
“Alright, I’m getting it. Will do.” Konno starts working furiously on the computer.
Tegoshi leans in toward the phone. “Masuda, are you there?”
“Hey, Tegoshi,” his voice says kindly, Tegoshi can’t help but smile when he hears it.
Konno makes an excited sound from behind the keyboard. “I’ve got a number, give me a minute, I’ll get you a name.”
The desk is a bit of a mess, in a similar way to his own. Tegoshi glances at one of the pages near his hand, a list of names and addresses and other information. “What is all this?”
“I did some searching for Nishikido,” she leans back in her chair, glancing at the search progress. “That’s a list of people with criminal records who live around our dump sight. I don’t know if it’ll help but-” Something pops up on the screen. “Got a hit! Vehicle is registered to a Maeda Mika.” Tegoshi moves to look at the computer when she pauses, staring wide-eyed at the screen. “She lives in our hot zone.”
++++
Nishikido leads a team of officers down the hall quietly, checking door numbers until he’s standing in front of 514. He pulls his gun out, a hopefully unnecessary precaution, Masuda does the same, looking terribly uncomfortable holding the weapon. He knocks on the door. “Maeda-san, it’s the police. Open the door.” No answer. He knocks again, harder this time. “Maeda-san, we will break in if necessary.” Nothing. Nishikido gestures to the officers behind him. Within a few seconds, the door is open.
The apartment looks normal, orderly, nothing like he assumed psychopath with religious ideals would live in. It was a family home, photographs on the walls, comfortable looking sofas and pillows in the middle of the room. “No one touch anything,” Masuda says as they cautiously check the other rooms. Nishikido stops in front of one closed door, slowly turns the knob before forcing it open.
He stumbles out of the room quickly, an arm covering his nose and mouth. “Shit.”A distinct and awful smell starts wafting into the living room. “Yamashita, get over here. We’ve got a body.”
++++
Masuda has to leave the apartment for a moment, overwhelmed by the smell and atmosphere. He pulls out his phone, suddenly needing to hear that person’s voice. “Massu?” Tegoshi’s voice says in his ear, concerned, but with a hint of excitement. “How are you doing there?”
“Maeda’s dead. Yamashita says it’s been weeks,” he takes a deep breath as he steps into a stairwell. “She has a daughter, who we can’t find.” He leans against the cool concrete wall. “I don’t think I can take much more of this, Yuya. I can’t deal with another dead kid.”
“It won’t be much longer,” Tegoshi’s tone is cheerful, it rises his spirits. “Konno had done a search for Nishikido on people in the area with criminal records. Guess who’s on the list?” Masuda doesn’t answer, knowing Tegoshi will answer for himself. “Maeda Mika. She was arrested several times years back for prostitution. During that time, she had a son, gave him up for adoption. It’s perfect.”
“You think our guy found and killed his mother?” Masuda feels a rush now.
“It would make sense. His MO fits with it. The preaching, the saving sinners, it all about mommy dearest. He starts with her, and it makes him feel something, so he does it again, more public this time. Hell, he was probably raised in one of the Christian orphanages. It also explains why the bodies are found in that area. I’m having Konno check if there’s any way to find him.”
Masuda smiles. “You’re brilliant.” He can tell Tegoshi is grinning on the other end. “Come down here, Yuya. You might see something we don’t.”
“Is that the reason you want me there? Or do you just want to see me?”
“A little of both.”
Tegoshi laughs. “If that’s what Masuda wants. It’s my lunch time, want me to get you something?”
“I don’t think I’m going to want to eat for a while after this.”
“Okay. I’ll be there soon.” He makes a kissing sound into the phone. “I love you, Massu.”
“You, too, Yuya.” Masuda hangs up, steps back out into the hall as they wheel a body bag out of the apartment.
Nishikido hangs out the door, a serious expression on his face. “Masuda, you should see this.”
++++
There are half a dozen people in the room, looking for evidence, taking photos of the scene, all wearing masks in an effort to keep the smell away. There are pictures covering the walls, hundreds of them. Faces of the dead looking back at them. “He is stalking them. Look, these,” Nishikido starts pointing out certain ones around the room, “are our previous five victims. But there’s more than that. He’s tracking them well ahead of time. This one here is our missing teacher, Sakurai. Masuda?”
But Masuda isn’t paying attention to him anymore, instead staring painfully at one corner of the wall. He mumbles something to himself, then hurries out of the room. Koyama walks over, following the line of sight Masuda had. “Fuck. Nishikido,” he points at one of the photos. It’s of familiar things, painfully familiar. Their station. Their Tegoshi.
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This chapter turned out long XD I feel like I became incoherent at some points, maybe I'm just insane. more Tegomass ai that the first because I wanted it ;)
Semester is over. Time to Dance :D