Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Haima ❯ Chapter 15: It's in His Eyes ( Chapter 15 )

Haima
Author: Nekocin
Anime: Yuugioh
Genres: Action, Angst, slight Drama
Warnings: MAJOR OOC, possible cliché ~.~, might be a bit unreasonable, torture.
Rated: PG13, R for a while.
Disclaimer: Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will. So bow down to the creator! 
Author's notes: Note the torture warning. Please don't hate me Otogi-fans. :bows:

13:30 PM

~Tell me dear...~

Agent Otogi laid crumpled in an old white bath tub. His hospital gown covered his body like a guilt. Noting from his peaceful look, he'd no idea that he had been removed from the hospital bed. 

Someone circled the old tub carefully.

~if roses are red~

"Tell me dear, Otogi. If roses are red..." he murmured like a chant. Red blossoms trailed down like snowflakes from the sky around the sleeping agent. 
Ryuuji stirred restlessly.

~bathed in fear~

The person paused as he bent over to push a few strands of hair from Ryuuji's face. 

"My dear Otogi... bathed in fear" 

Now how should he finish this one off?

Suddenly the phone rang, surprising him out of his musings. He glared over his shoulder, but made no move to answer the phone. It must be one of THOSE people again. He really needed to hurry up.

Oh well, better start with ~bathed in fear~

The unidentified killer pulled out a dagger, carefully, out of a small sheath. He headed towards the kitchen, then threw a few blank papers in the wastebasket and lit a match. The yellow, orange lames quickly consumed the litter hungrily. 

He watched the flames dance in the littler basket and went on his haunches. The dagger was placed above the hungry flames. The cold metal got heated.

~and covered in sweat~

Who says he'd other intentions to make that sentence come true?

"... and covered in sweat" he murmured lowly. Slowly, a smirk reached his lips as he watched the flames engulf the metal of his dagger. 

Now he had to come up with an idea to lure the other one to him, unexpectedly of course. With no ingenious inspector and tough agent around to save him. Maybe not even the rookie's girlfriend. 

It's up to the rookie...

~and covered in sweat~

Chapter 15: It's in his Eyes

13:45 PM

The inspector was sitting behind the wheel, glaring at the road in front of him, while Jounouchi was sitting next to him, fidgeting with his seatbelt. He would occasionally glance reproachfully at the driver as he kept on the fidgeting.

The fidgeting caught the inspector's attention. "What?"

Katsuya went rigid instantly. 

"... isn't this a bit illegal?" he pointed out nervously. Damn inspector!

"Not if you get caught" the inspector responded without waiting for the rookie to elaborate on his question. 

"But you've just -stolen- a car! It's -stolen-!" [1] Officer Jounouchi emphasized his words quite visibly with an accusing finger at the driver. 

A few minutes ago the rookie had put together so far that the inspector wasn't always behind the law. Said guy had broken into a car back at the hospital and was driving it casually down the road as if he hadn't done anything wrong. The bastard deceived him with that oh-so-serious attitude of wanting to solve the case and sending the serial killer to jail.

"So? I needed a car," the inspector countered both icily and bluntly. Who says that the rookie was even innocent after the little stunt he had pulled off in that police car? [#]

"You could have just taken a taxi or let me call for someone from the station to pick you up. And why the hell am I here? Where are we going?" Jounouchi felt his anger flaring suddenly -he was back at questioning the inspector the same questions he had been flinging into the other's face for the last few minutes. Does the inspector even know where he must go?

"Time is a precious thing" was the inspector's cryptic response, and left it at that. It's a good thing that the rookie had picked up the tone which meant 'no further discussion' between both of them. The rookie hadn't said anything after that He instead turned to look out of the window.

Just let the rookie figure it out himself, the inspector thought to himself. After all, the whole situation should make sense by now. 
He grunted unconsciously and with his right hand he went for his breast pocket. 

"Here" the inspector shoved something roughly into the rookie's hands.

"Huh?" Jounouchi looked up, clearly startled at the sudden action.

The inspector didn't say anything; he just studied the rookie's reactions from the corner of his eyes. 

The rookie looked down at his hands and curiously unfolded the papers. It was a draft. 

~Tell me dear~ -- Ryuuji, station 6

~if roses are red~ -- could be the Japanese rose "death"

Katsuya raised an eyebrow in surprise. He recalled having answered that, when Shizuka brought up that sentence. He cautiously looked at the inspector. The guy seemed to be watching him even if his eyes were on the road.

Katsuya shivered inwardly. How did the guy do that? 
He resumed reading the papers which seemed to have the possible answers to their poem.

~bathed in fear
covered in swear~ --- bath?, scaring the agent?, wet?, molest?, sexual harassing?

Katsuya frowned. The answers weren't too specific, but he didn't like any of them. A bit too... far, maybe, unlikely to be acceptable. His stomach dropped instantly. 
He looked up at the inspector and opened his mouth to comment, but nothing seemed appropriate enough in his mind to speak out at the moment. So he closed his mouth and resumed his reading.

~What's the only thing in mind
that can make me this hard to find?~ --- the riddle

The answer seemed a bit vague, oh well. Katsuya continued reading the next part.

~As for the rest of the sweet phrase
don't worry, it will come~ --- "Roses are red, violets are blue,..."

~Just hope you can race
because my treat had yet begun~ --- ?

The inspector watched as the rookie's frown deepened.

~If it may, if it might
I know I'm making sense here~ --- ?

~Roll on your sleeve and take up our fight
you know I'll win. You know I'm near~ -- Some sort of figure in speech. Seems to know beforehand.

The frown deepened again. The answers were too vague.

~How may I say this~ --- unnecessary sentence

~how may you figure it~ --- also unnecessary sentence

The frown deepened again. Suddenly the whole thing made no sense. The whole poem brought him back to stanza I

~how about just this kiss~ --- some sort of relationship with Ryuuji?

~and then the kid?~ --- must be referring to Ryuuji's death?

Jounouchi didn't bother to look at the next poem. He figured there might not be any useful answers in that one either. Katsuya bit his lip unconsciously as he frowned again. Maybe he should figure this riddle out on his own or something. He felt at the back of his mind that this riddle was much easier than he had expected. With that thought he searched his pockets.

"Hey, do you have a pen here? I think I lost mine at the hospital" 

"What for?"

"Apparently these 'clues' are too vague" Katsuya pointed out and grabbed for the nearest pen, which was fastened on the inspector's breast pocket. 

"Thank you" He muttered quickly, cutting off Kaiba's startled protest. Officer Jounouchi nibbled absently on the pen's cap as he read the first poem over and over again. 

"How did you solve the previous cases?"

The inspector looked thoughtful for awhile and chose his words carefully. "Agent Yuuki and I had recently found out it's a matter of answering the riddles hidden in the poems. The answers should have some lead, but it can be frustrating when you're not sure if he's taking this seriously or figuratively" 
He drove nearby one of the alleys of the city.

"I see..." Katsuya tilted his head thoughtfully and blinked when the inspector had stopped the car. "Why have you brought us here?" 

The inspector didn't say anything and stepped out of the stolen car. In a way, wasn't it obvious what he was doing? They should figure the riddles out- 

"Uungh!" He immediately clutched the side where he'd been shot in alarm. Pain registered his mind. He shouldn't have stepped out of bed... but still, his work came first, right? One bullet in his body wasn't sending him away cowardly. But the pain...

Someone's hand was gripping his shoulder firmly, trying to pull him through the pain. For a moment, he found himself flustered, he didn't know to whom that hand belonged to. 

"Hey!" Katsuya exclaimed, grabbing hold of the inspector's shoulder and slowly eased the injured man back into the driver's seat. 

"Stupid bastard!" Officer Jounouchi muttered, furrowing his brows in irritation and worry. "You shouldn't have left the hospital!"

"Who are you calling 'stupid bastard'?!" the inspector wheezed out, glaring at the rookie and stubbornly pushed the officer's hands away. "Stop fussing. I'm fine!"

"No, you're not!" Jounouchi glared at the inspector and pushed the other to the other seat next to the driver's seat. 
He was trying to sit behind the wheel, but it seemed like the inspector wasn't going to back down soon; Kaiba was trying to pry the rookie's motherly hands away, but they just came back.

It took a while for them to stop countering each other's hands. After seeing no point in the situation, the officer growled and huffed in annoyance. 

"Fine! Whatever! Have it your way! But if I notice you struggling or whatever I will not hesitate forcing you back to bed!" 
He ran his fingers through his hair, frustratingly and searched his pockets for the poem. They were going nowhere countering one another like that, he reasoned mentally.

The inspector just glared at the seemingly oblivious officer as he unconsciously touched the part of his side where he was wounded. Why was the rookie so careless when -he- was going to be someone's target -no doubt-? 
A shot wound was a wound. The wound would be healed in a few weeks or months anyways depending on how quick one's body could heal. It's annoying when the rookie fussed around. 

He's no porcelain souvenir to be treasured. And stop ignoring him as if he's not there!, he growled unconsciously; pissed off of... -what?- he didn't know. Why was he so worked up about little stuff such as their small hand fight from a minute ago?

"...maybe the answers should be a bit more literally taken?" the rookie suggested, promptly forgetting the little war he had with the wounded. "Do we have to find concrete answers?"

Kaiba thought for a while, calming himself down and gladly let his mind work. He tried to recall how both agent Yuuki and him had solved the poem. Contrary to popular[?] belief, they had actually solved the first three poems right after 3 deaths of rookies, and not before the act had taken place. Whilst the last three... they had solved them as quickly as possible, but of course the killer -had- to be so eager about killing off his current victims before the police could be ten feet away from their respective stations.

Then it hit him like another bullet; -only through his brain- fast and immediate. Of course, all of them had concrete answers, but... 

"Yes. But it's frustrating to see the seriousness in these poems. You see the problem?" He watched as the officer's face scrunch into -what seemed like- deep concentration. 

"Somehow I've got a feeling that this one is easier than it lets on" Katsuya commented.

"You're kidding me? Of course it is. Only, they're always mixed with unknown spice" the inspector responded impatiently as he eyed the younger officer. Jounouchi shrugged carelessly and flashed him a grin, temporarily forgetting that this was the inspector who had access to his secretly-kept past. 

[2]

"Uuunnnngh!" A muffled scream escaped from his throat. Both his mind and body panicked as his feelings swirled like raging storms at sea. He found himself temporarily blind when pain exploded through every part of his body. 

Cold sweat gladly appeared, matting his slick long hair, which framed his face, against his face and making the meager clothing he was wearing cling irritably on to his body. 

His lungs burned. His stomach weighed like a ton of bricks. And his eyes... his eyes stung, clearly due to the burning tears [tears?]. This wasn't supposed to happen! He wasn't supposed to be brought this low.

He tried to resist the pain, tried to fight it, but it was just too much. He felt as if his body was going to explode -thoroughly destroyed into pieces of flesh, veins and internal organs with a great deal of blood splattered across the room. A bloody mess. 

The pain hadn't subsided yet, when he felt another pain inflict his sensitive senses.

"Uuuunnnnnnnnngh!" he screamed through his throat. His jaw was starting to hurt [he was still gagged], tears were streaming down his cheeks uncontrollably, his body was cringing -writhing- helplessly and -EVERYWHERE HURTS!!

His lungs lacked needed oxygen throughout the scream. 

This is not happening! Why him? Oh, it hurts, he screamed mentally. 

Pain overwhelmed his senses tenfold -or maybe thousand fold-. And that's when his body decided to shut down immediately. The muffled scream died down and the body slumped carelessly to the ground.

Exhaustion had claimed him earlier than Death...

A big hand was slowly ruffling his sweat-covered locks and pushed them aside.

-- Station 6 - Interrogating room

Marik stumbled backwards, suddenly in shock. For once he stared frighteningly at the person in front of him, his mouth agape. This really wasn't supposed to happen! He couldn't find his words. It's as if he'd lost the gift of speaking which he'd always prided himself for. 

Mariku leered at the officer, a sort of sadistic grin appeared carelessly on his face. The officer was definitely a wuss when it came to these sort of things. The more he manipulated the officer, the more satisfied he felt with his power over this particular... individual. 

He closed the distance between them with a few steps forward, successfully cornering the squirming officer. His figure loomed dangerously over the other.

"Let's try again, shall we?" Mariku said casually, smirking triumphantly as he put both his hands on either sides of Marik's head. 

"N-no" The pale indigo eyes widened fearfully as the owner shrunk his body unsuccessfully against the wall. 
This isn't happening! This isn't happening!, he cried mentally. His stomach churned sickly, anticipation lacing itself round his near-uncontrollable feelings. He screwed his eyes shut, turned his face away immediately. 

The other's breath felt irritating on his face. His personal space had been intruded. No! Not again! 

Why him? Why was this criminal doing this? Why was -he- even here?...

His rational mind instantly snapped him out of his temporary shock; he was an officer. He wasn't supposed to be afraid of a criminal like Mariku. The title of being one of the roughest agents wasn't branded on him for nothing, his rebellious mind pointed out. 
Marik narrowed his eyes and breathed out, slowly. Working as an under cover agent had its advantages. 

"How are you going to get some answers in such a position?" Mariku sneered, whispering into the other's ear. He smirked when he noticed the visible shudder from the agent. Tsk. How sad, the officer had never experienced an intimating approach. 

He slyly cupped the agent's chin and forcibly turned the other's head to face him. 

Marik growled suddenly. He grabbed the offending hand and roughly, twisted the arm to the owner's back. Now, their position was reversed.

"Doesn't matter" Marik answered sharply.

Mariku was surprised with the creepy smile still in place, but he showed no signs of having felt the pain of his twisted arm. His other arm swiftly elbowed the agent forcibly. He kicked the agent's legs, knocking him off his feet, literally. 

Having caught off guard, Marik fell unceremoniously on the floor. Angrily, he locked his feet round the smug Mariku's ankle and swept him off his feet in turn. He automatically punched Mariku in the gut, forcing the other on the ground and cuffing both Mariku's wrists as he straddled the guy's back.

All Mariku could do was wriggle a little and grimace with his face on the floor. Damn! He didn't expect a direct attack from the officer.

"Two can play this game" Marik whispered much in the same way Mariku had done. The other tensed at the closeness. 

"Get up!" Marik ordered and pushed himself off the other's back. 

It's by then Mariku noticed how weird it felt to be straddled on the back... by another guy, by and agent no less. Weird. It probably must be the fact that he had never been caught in this position before. A moment ago the closeness and the body warmth coming from the agent, had felt strangely... comfortable. 

WHAT THE HELL?!

[3]

End chapter 15

End notes:

1] I like to admit in this part [no offense to those who are quite justified against this] that police officers are generally not always trustworthy. 
#] See chapter 2
2] I'm very sorry Otogi-fans. 
3] The side-fic "Turamali" will probably contain more of this part, more information, I mean and more attention to details too. [It's not yet up] I'll make a better scene there.

I want to thank those who'd reviewed the previous chapter: Shadowy Fluffball, Misura, Lil Nezumi, Obscured Illusions and Beysie.
I apologize for the delay. It's because of chapter 16 [I'm half done with it], it's the other stories I'm supposed to update, the long emails I have to reply, the lack of real internet at home [:cries:], no time to go to nearby internet cafes... :sighs: And of course there's school. I wouldn't be surprised when I enter college the whole writing schedule of mine will be... empty... I'll try to complete all [and I really mean ALL] my stories this school year!
Anyways, thank you for still hanging around. [I apologize for for the long notes though]

Thank you for reading!!!

:smiley face: cin