Inhale

Chapter.6

A/N There's gonna be a few changes in perspective! Also, a word of caution: this is a very long chapter!
        (Y/N) looked at Nico, not understanding what he meant. He simply scoffed at her, giving a glare as well.
        "Honestly, do you have a hearing problem?" A smirk came onto his face. "Or could it be that I beat your head a little too much?" He shoved her out of the cell, glancing at Suté before closing the door. "Walk." Nico gave the young girl another push, escorting her to the next room. He cursed under his breath as he watched (Y/N) continuously stumble with every slow step she took. He was beyond annoyed with the (H/C) haired girl, finding the fact that she existed now repulsive. Nico could not deny the enjoyment he felt while beating her, looking forward to the next time he sees her screw up. He opened the door as he led her down two more hallways. Nico felt another smile creep onto his painted lips as he opened another door.
        (Y/N) felt her breath hitch up as she saw that it led to a basement. Her stomach churned, sweat beads sliding down her bruised temples as a ghastly and distant scream reached her ears. Her legs quaked as she stared down at the steps Kiko was taken through recently. She tattered her way down, her breath shaky, her vision partially obscured. (Y/N) continued walking down the dark passage, stray tears leaving her eyes as she listened to the younger girl's cries of pain. A strong scent of iron reached her nostrils as she made it to the bottom, Nico letting out a gagging noise as he covered his mouth. "He really needs to stop being so messy." Nico opened the large metallic door, leaning on the door frame while crossing his arms. "Having fun, Jason~?"
        "Stop calling me that, Nico." (Y/N) limped over to the door, stopping immediately as she felt a squishy liquid between her toes and on the soles of her feet. She hesitantly looked down, finding a trail of blood leading further into the room. She felt the hair at the back of her neck stand as she looked up at Nico with utter distress.
        "I brought the little bitch, Yamori." Nico grabbed a hold of (Y/N)'s arm, throwing her onto the bloody floor before closing the door behind him. (Y/N) laid there, staring at her reflection in the blood, not wanting to look up. She was not able to.
        "H-help..." A brittle voice reached her ears, accompanied by a low laugh.
        "It's nice to see you again." Yamori walked closer to the young girl, a look of interest in his eyes. "I hope you've slept comfortably, seeing as I've had to wait another two days for you to wake up. But it's good to see you're up so early." There was a single light source in the dimly lit room, and a large medical table placed adjacent to the door. A smaller table was next to it, filled with various bloodied tools. "I need you to help me clean this up." (Y/N) felt her heart begin to beat rapidly, her head pulsating. Her palms were used to lift herself up as her eye landed on the horrendous sight before her. A shrill scream left her lips as she covered her face, tears streaming down her cheeks.
        Kiko laid there, naked on the table. Numerous fresh scars on every inch of her small body, her finger and toe nails had been ripped off, her Achilles heel on each of her legs were cut as she was tied to the table. There was blood dripping from the table, slowly trickling down the edges and joining the large pool on the floor. The young girl's skin was not white, but instead a more yellowish tone. Her feeble voice barely reached her ears now, it was obvious that due to her constant screaming and physical state, she had worn it out. The man walked closer to the table, taking a scalpel from the tray beside him before hovering above the younger female. A twisted grin forming on his lips as he sliced open the girl's stomach. She screamed loudly, struggling against her restraints resulting in her losing more blood.
        "Kill me... Please... Kill me!" (Y/N) satthere on the ground, sobbing as she watched Kiko's torture. Nico held her back, not allowing her to intervene. She did not. She could not. (Y/N) understood her current position in the situation, the odds were against her. She had no chance of escaping by herself, let alone with the others, and she was in no state to be able to help Kiko. No matter how much she wanted to. She could not. She was broken.
-
        "Chief Inspector Sasaki." Haise looked behind him, his eyes meeting Kuki's.
        "There's no need for formalities when we're not on the job, Kuki-Kun." Haise glanced back to the corner, waiting for a familiar face.
        "Why have you been constantly going off on your own? You've been meeting up with a student for the past few weeks, what's going on?" Kuki's eyes narrowed as he looked at his superior. Haise frowned, his tense shoulders relaxing somewhat as his eyes casted down towards the ground.
        "I've had my own suspicions on who the next victim could be." Kuki's eyes widened, his brows furrowing.
        "And you didn't tell us?" His voice was raised. "What about the higher ups? Do they know? Did you tell anybody?" Haise shook his head.
        "It was a simple hunch, but..." A bitter smile came onto his lips. "I guess I was right..." Kuki studied Haise's face for a few seconds before it dawned on him.
        "How long has it been?"
        "About two weeks..." Kuki glowered at him, clenching his fists.
        "Why did you wait so long?" He grit his teeth. He could not believe what he was hearing.
        "I didn't know for sure, I was hoping I was wrong."  Haise adjusted his cap, his breath being visible as he chortled. Urie looked away, regaining his composure.
        "What are your orders, sir?"
        "We begin the investigation now." Haise turned towards Urie, marching back to the car. "Relay the message to officers Yonebayashi, Mutsuki, Nimura, and Shirazu. Scout the surrounding areas for any leads on the whereabouts of (L/N) (Y/N)." His deep voice was stern, his eyes were hardened. "We'll check her home and question her family." Kuki nodded, following Haise into the car as he grabbed the walkie talkie from the radio. Haise started up the car, driving towards (Y/N)'s home. He knew she would be a possible target, yet he continued to deny it. He listened as Kuki contacted the others, his voice holding a bit more seriousness than usual. Kuki had been anxious since being first assigned to the investigation, he has attempted to try to gather some information on the suspect on his own. But Haise always caught him, saying that he should not go off on his own and work with the team. Kuki was outraged to see his superior not take his own advice, that he was making more progress than the entire squad by himself.The two men stepped out of the car, stalking towards the front door before knocking. Haise's eyes softened as they met those of (Y/N)'s mother.
        "Officer, Sasaki..." Her (E/C) eyes seemed tired, as if she had just finished crying. "Is there any news on my daughter? Please..." Haise shook his head.
        "We are taking over the investigation, there is a strong possibility that your daughter is a hostage taken by a criminal we are currently searching for. We need you to tell us everything you know." Ms. (L/N) looked  at him curiously.
        "What do you mean? What do you need to know?"
        "Was there anything strange going on with her? Where does she usually go? Any friends she last contacted before her disappearance?" Kuki took out a notepad, writing down the information being given by the mother. He glanced up at his superior, seeing him in action, yet he noticed that something was off. "Thank you for your time, (L/N)-San. We'll keep you updated with anything we find." Haise adjusted his cap once more before walking back to the car. Kuki watched as Haise drove onto another street, parking in front of a coffee shop.
        "What's the deal, Sasaki-San? Taking a break already?" Haise unbuckled his seat belt, the corner of his lips curling up. "Or is this where you've been meeting up?" Kuki stepped out of the car before entering the cafe. A light blue haired woman looked up from the counter, a frown on her lips as she glanced back down to the male sitting in front of her.
        "Good morning, officers..." The blue haired male, sitting in front of her, tensed up before slumping further onto the counter.
        "It's good to see you, Kirishima-San." Haise's eyes drifted to the back of the younger male in front of him. His eyes widened as he recognized who it was. "Excuse me, young man?" Touka tapped his arm, looking at him sadly before he turned around. "What's your name?"
        "Kirishima Ayato." Ayato looked at Haise with tired blue eyes. He had been like that since finding out about the girls' disappearance. "Are ya finally gonna try to help?" He shot him a glare.
        "Of course, but I'll need to ask you some questions." Haise frowned. "Where was the last place you saw (L/N) (Y/N)." Ayato groaned.
        "Here. This is where I last saw her. We were walking but I had to stay here with my sister, so I let her walk with Hina..." He looked down, clenching his fists. "If only I went with them..." He cursed under his breath as he tussled his hair. Touka looked at her younger brother, seeing him so hurt pained her.
        "Are you saying she went missing along with another person?" Haise glanced over to Kuki, seeing him continuing to write down notes.
        "Fueguchi Hinami, that's her name." Ayato scowled at him. "You've seen us that day. Just like every other day..." Ayato stood up, stomping over to the door.
        "Can you show us the way they were heading?" Kuki glared daggers into the younger male's back, not liking his attitude. Even if there was not much of an age difference between them, he found himself to have more manners."Hurry up then." Haise and Kuki followed the teen out the door, Kuki's eyes boring into his superior's back. They looked around wherever they could, examining the few alleyways they came across to find some leads. Haise walked into the next one, moving away any debris that was on the ground. He took out a small flash light, checking underneath the large dumpster.
        "Nothing." Ayato looked at the two older men, seeing them search through everything they came across. 
        "What point is there to this? It's been two fucking weeks, the I've already checked this place." Ayato scowled. Haise turned to him.
        "It doesn't hurt to double check." Kuki nodded.
        "We should check the cameras." Ayato raised an eyebrow at him.
        "What cameras?" Kuki looked down at the teen, letting out a sigh.
        "There should be cameras on every street, or at least on most." The purple haired male adjusted his coat. "We should go check the footage back at the station." Kuki began making his way back to the car parked in front of the coffee shop. Haise nodded, walking Ayato back to the shop.
        "Do you know if there's anyone who would try to take them?"
        "No." Ayato's blue eyes glared at Haise. "Why did you wait so long?" He shouted. Haise continued walking.
        "Because they weren't involved with my job." His voice remained calm and smooth, the complete opposite of the younger male's.
        "What do you mean? You're a cop aren't you?" The bluenette's voice wavered.
        "Well, yes but this wasn't what I was assigned." Ayato followed behind him. "There's been a few reported incidents of attempted rape and molestation. The culprit is still at large." Ayato's gaze slowly drifted to the pavement.
        "So that's why you've been hanging around the school." He took long strides as he walked alongside the man. "Why her though, why (Y/N)?" Haise shrugged.
        "It was a simple guess, I was worried."
        "A little too much, even for a cop..." Ayato mumbled under his breath. Haise ignored his comment, glancing back at him.
        "I'd like to bring you along for questioning." Ayato stayed silent. He pulled out his phone, pausing for a moment before speaking.
        "Hey, I'm going to the police station. I'll call you when I'm heading home." He hung up, locking eyes with Kuki as he drove up to them. Haise opened the back door for him. After the two were seated, Urie turned to Haise."Shirazu contacted us earlier, saying that there's been another kidnapping close by." Haise nodded.
        "I'll tell them to start heading back to the station." Kuki nodded. The drive took only a few minutes, the car staying silent the entire way. Haise walked swiftly, making his way towards his superior's office. "Commissioner Kishou." A white haired male looked up from his desk, his grey eyes meeting Haise's.
        "Chief Inspector Sasaki, right on time." He stood up, adjusting his glasses before opening a cabinet behind his desk. "I'm assuming you've heard of the recent kidnappings." Haise nodded, his eyes landing on the files placed in front of him. "There's no chance of it being a coincidence, so after looking bit further into it, I was planning on handing the investigation over to you." His eyes narrowed. "After all, you seem to have a better results on such cases than the other officers." Haise felt his chest tighten, yet he held his gaze. "Our technical analyst should have the recordings of the nights of the incidents. I'll leave you to it."  Haise grabbed the files, muttering a thank you before leaving. He walked back to Kuki and Ayato, seeing the younger male annoyed.
        "What did the Commissioner say?" Kuki took out his ear buds, looking at Haise before glancing down to the files he held.
        "We're officially handling the investigation now, let's look over these files before speaking with Hairu-San." The three walked over to Haise's office, shutting the door before seating themselves. They waited a few minutes before the rest of the squad entered. "It's good to see you, please take a seat everyone."  A raven haired male gave Haise a smile before taking off his cap.
        "Sasaki-San, mind explaining why this  young man is in the room?" Haise nodded at Furuta, glancing over to Ayato.
        "Kirishima Ayato was the last person to have seen two of the victims before their disappearance. I've brought him here to question him further. I'd like Yonebayashi to take him to the interrogation room and see if there's any more information he may have."
        "Got it." Saiko stood up, tugging on Ayato's sleeve, earning a glare from the young male before the two walked out. Haise looked back to the others, opening the first folder. His eyes scanned over the papers, a photograph of Fueguchi Hinami attached to the corner. Hinami's information was displayed to the entire room. He then proceeded onto opening the rest of the folders, seeing (L/N) (Y/N), and Kobayashi Suté and Kiko. His eyes remained glued to (Y/N)'s photo before passing it around to the others.
        "It's been around fourteen days since the disappearances of these four girls. While looking at the dates of the reports, there seems to have been a twelve day gap. The Kobayashi sisters disappeared around two days ago." Tooru nodded, holding the files in hand.
        "Sasaki-San, it also seems that they were taken in pairs. (L/N) and Fueguchi went missing on the same night, as were the Kobayashi sisters." Kuki turned his attention back to Haise.
        "I was looking at the reports from the previous victims of the molestations yesterday, I couldn't find anything similar between any of them. They were all assaulted at random." He leaned a bit further into his seat. "There were time gaps between them, the assaults happening every two weeks. " Ginshi looked at Haise curiously.
        "So this guy has a schedule." He held his chin for a moment. "If he's gonna be waiting every twelve days, should we wait and see if there's another kidnap?" Furuta sat up straight, shaking his head.
        "It's highly unlikely that there'd be another kidnapping. He's already got four girls." Ginshi looked at him curiously.
        "But what if he kills them all, he'll probably just go find more." Furuta shook his head once more."If that was his intent, there'd be no reason to kidnap them. He would have just killed them wherever he found them." Kuki agreed.
        "Since he's taking them, he must be using them for something." Kuki looked back to Haise. "Chief, it seems that the two cases have a similar time gap. The molestations stopped a few weeks back, and now there's been kidnappings. It's far too convenient to be a coincidence." Kuki looked at the files once more. "To take four girls... He must have gotten a few underlings, otherwise this wouldn't happen so easily." Ginshi looked over to his superior.
        "So he wasn't working alone?" He scratched his head. Haise nodded. His grey eyes landed on Furuta, seeing the corner of his lips curl up.
        "Do you find something amusing, Officer Nimura?" All eyes landed on the raven haired male. He uncrossed his legs before moving a strand of his hair back.
        "Ah, nothing really. This case just sounds a bit familiar." Haise locked his eyes on him, thinking about what he just said for a moment. "I don't believe there is much else to discuss now. We should head over to Hairu-San to look over the recordings." His eyes narrowed slightly. "The Kobayashi kidnapping is very recent, perhaps we'll find something interesting." All five of the men stood up, leaving the office and walking down the next hallway. Saiko caught up to them, speed walking to be alongside Haise.
        "So, the kid said that he didn't know the other two girls, and he didn't know where else they could have gone. He said there was only a cafe that he knew of, where they would constantly see each other." She looked up towards the salt and pepper haired man. "I find it rather quite odd that he hadn't told the police any of this. Even though his friends went missing, he didn't bother telling anyone else that he knew them." Her blue eyes stared into his for a moment. "You don't think he's working with them, right?" The corner of Haise's lips curled upwards.
        "No, I can tell he's not. He's just a young distraught man, and I think he might have been searching for them himself." Saiko let out a quiet giggle.
        "For a distraught man, he sure did enjoy kicking all your plants." Haise looked at the blue haired female.
        "My plants...?" He gave her a forced smile. "Don't worry, it's healthy for a boy his age to let out his frustrations." His demeanor changed as they made it to the office. "Hairu-San, hey." A pink haired woman looked up from her desk, a soft smile on her face as she ate some pocky.
        "Ah, Arima said you'd come by today." She handed some of her candy to Saiko. "So, we've checked over the recordings of the streets by (L/N) and Fueguchi's houses, but we haven't come across anything."
        "Check the cafe that was nearby (Y/-(L/N)'s home." Ihei looked at the male curiously before looking back at her computer.
        "There's two, do you know the name?"
        ":Re." The female looked at the screen, pulling up the recordings. Haise walked behind the desk, staring at the monitor. "Try the ones a few streets down." She nodded. The recording showed the silhouettes of two young girls walking. (Y/N) and Hinami continued walking, until (Y/N) stopped for a moment. A taller shadow was seen grabbing Hinami and pulling her into the alley before taking a dazed (Y/N) as well. After a few moments, a car was seen driving out. "Pause it." His eyes scanned over the van, checking its license plate. "Rewind it a bit, please." He kept his eyes locked on the streets, watching as a similar van was driving behind them before turning the next street. "Change the cameras to the ones on the other street." Kuki looked over to Furuta, seeing a sly smirk on his face. He shot him a glare, looking back to the screen. They all watched as the van drove up to an alley. "Switch them back." Hairu's eyes widened as she did so. The same vehicle drove off with (Y/N) and Hinami."Aren't you a sharp one, Sasaki-San." She leaned on her hand, giving Haise a smile before looking over to Tooru. "Mutsuki-San, can you bring over my laptop and look up the owner of the license plate?" Tooru nodded before walking over to another desk in her office. Urie looked over to Haise.
        "Looking at the report from the Kobayashi kidnapping, the parents said that the girls had gone out to the market, but never returned home. They told us the route they usually took." He told Ihei the address, with her immediately pulling up the recent recordings. They all continued staring at the screen, seeing Kiko and Suté walking home with bags from the store. There was a similar van following them as well, it stopped next to them before two males came out and grabbed them. Suté was seen struggling the most, fighting back for a few seconds until she was knocked to the ground and grabbed by a blonde male. It quickly made its way down the next street before making a turn and leaving. Ihei took notice of something peculiar.  
        "Interesting..." She looked over to Tooru. "Have you found anything yet?" He nodded.
        "Yes, I found the owner's phone number, should I call them?"
        "Yes, ask if they're home and I'll send you and Shirazu-San to go check it out." She looked over to Haise, they shared the same expression.
        "You noticed it too?" She nodded.
        "It's a different license plate, but there's no doubt that it's the same person." Ihei began searching up the other owner. She found the contact information before giving it to Tooru. Both visits  resulted in the same way, the owners had gotten rid of the cars and were found in the junkyard, without the plates. "Let's look up some warehouses, or abandoned buildings, or something..." Haise frowned.
        "That's going to take a while..." He felt a bit worried, seeing as how much time had already passed, Furuta had taken notice of this.
        "Since time is such a bother, I'll go ask Commissioner Kishou for a few old files." Furuta said as he sauntered out of the room. Haise did not understand what the male meant, yet he felt like he was forgetting something.
        "Sasaki-San, I've pulled up the contact information of the owners of nearby warehouses. I'll need your help with calling them and seeing what they know." Ihei looked back over to Tooru. "I've written down the addresses of the buildings, look over the recordings with me." She handed a paper filled with the addresses of the owners to Haise. He and Kuki made their way back to his office, after having Saiko order a few other officers to check out the suspects. The police questioned each owner, not coming across anything helpful.
        "Excuse me, Chief Sasaki." Furuta arrived with a few files in hand. "I believe this will make our search a tad bit easier." He placed the files on the desk, Haise giving him a questionable look before opening them, his eyes widening. "I noticed how familiar these incidents sounded, it reminded me of an older case that had a tragic result."
        "This happened earlier in the year, I knew I was forgetting something..." The report was about a recent body that was found in early May. It had belonged to a young female, and had taken a while to identify the person, due to the horrific state it was in. The woman was named Fujiwara Akane, she was known for going out consistently and not returning for a few days, as a result; her family had not filed a missing person report until much later. The autopsy had shown that she was restrained for a while, not fed for the duration she had remained captive, and had various open wounds. There were no traces of any other DNA on the body, seeing as she had been drenched in chemicals to remove any evidence. It had been discovered in a sewer, badly decomposed. Every person she had known was questioned, yet they never found any leads. One of the people she was seen having a slightly more intimate relationship was with Oomori Yakum"Aren't you a sharp one, Sasaki-San." She leaned on her hand, giving Haise a smile before looking over to Tooru. "Mutsuki-San, can you bring over my laptop and look up the owner of the license plate?" Tooru nodded before walking over to another desk in her office. Urie looked over to Haise.
        "Looking at the report from the Kobayashi kidnapping, the parents said that the girls had gone out to the market, but never returned home. They told us the route they usually took." He told Ihei the address, with her immediately pulling up the recent recordings. They all continued staring at the screen, seeing Kiko and Suté walking home with bags from the store. There was a similar van following them as well, it stopped next to them before two males came out and grabbed them. Suté was seen struggling the most, fighting back for a few seconds until she was knocked to the ground and grabbed by a blonde male. It quickly made its way down the next street before making a turn and leaving. Ihei took notice of something peculiar.  
        "Interesting..." She looked over to Tooru. "Have you found anything yet?" He nodded.
        "Yes, I found the owner's phone number, should I call them?"
        "Yes, ask if they're home and I'll send you and Shirazu-San to go check it out." She looked over to Haise, they shared the same expression.
        "You noticed it too?" She nodded.
        "It's a different license plate, but there's no doubt that it's the same person." Ihei began searching up the other owner. She found the contact information before giving it to Tooru. Both visits  resulted in the same way, the owners had gotten rid of the cars and were found in the junkyard, without the plates. "Let's look up some warehouses, or abandoned buildings, or something..." Haise frowned.
        "That's going to take a while..." He felt a bit worried, seeing as how much time had already passed, Furuta had taken notice of this.
        "Since time is such a bother, I'll go ask Commissioner Kishou for a few old files." Furuta said as he sauntered out of the room. Haise did not understand what the male meant, yet he felt like he was forgetting something.
        "Sasaki-San, I've pulled up the contact information of the owners of nearby warehouses. I'll need your help with calling them and seeing what they know." Ihei looked back over to Tooru. "I've written down the addresses of the buildings, look over the recordings with me." She handed a paper filled with the addresses of the owners to Haise. He and Kuki made their way back to his office, after having Saiko order a few other officers to check out the suspects. The police questioned each owner, not coming across anything helpful.
        "Excuse me, Chief Sasaki." Furuta arrived with a few files in hand. "I believe this will make our search a tad bit easier." He placed the files on the desk, Haise giving him a questionable look before opening them, his eyes widening. "I noticed how familiar these incidents sounded, it reminded me of an older case that had a tragic result."
        "This happened earlier in the year, I knew I was forgetting something..." The report was about a recent body that was found in early May. It had belonged to a young female, and had taken a while to identify the person, due to the horrific state it was in. The woman was named Fujiwara Akane, she was known for going out consistently and not returning for a few days, as a result; her family had not filed a missing person report until much later. The autopsy had shown that she was restrained for a while, not fed for the duration she had remained captive, and had various open wounds. There were no traces of any other DNA on the body, seeing as she had been drenched in chemicals to remove any evidence. It had been discovered in a sewer, badly decomposed. Every person she had known was questioned, yet they never found any leads. One of the people she was seen having a slightly more intimate relationship was with Oomori Yakum"Aren't you a sharp one, Sasaki-San." She leaned on her hand, giving Haise a smile before looking over to Tooru. "Mutsuki-San, can you bring over my laptop and look up the owner of the license plate?" Tooru nodded before walking over to another desk in her office. Urie looked over to Haise.
        "Looking at the report from the Kobayashi kidnapping, the parents said that the girls had gone out to the market, but never returned home. They told us the route they usually took." He told Ihei the address, with her immediately pulling up the recent recordings. They all continued staring at the screen, seeing Kiko and Suté walking home with bags from the store. There was a similar van following them as well, it stopped next to them before two males came out and grabbed them. Suté was seen struggling the most, fighting back for a few seconds until she was knocked to the ground and grabbed by a blonde male. It quickly made its way down the next street before making a turn and leaving. Ihei took notice of something peculiar.  
        "Interesting..." She looked over to Tooru. "Have you found anything yet?" He nodded.
        "Yes, I found the owner's phone number, should I call them?"
        "Yes, ask if they're home and I'll send you and Shirazu-San to go check it out." She looked over to Haise, they shared the same expression.
        "You noticed it too?" She nodded.
        "It's a different license plate, but there's no doubt that it's the same person." Ihei began searching up the other owner. She found the contact information before giving it to Tooru. Both visits  resulted in the same way, the owners had gotten rid of the cars and were found in the junkyard, without the plates. "Let's look up some warehouses, or abandoned buildings, or something..." Haise frowned.
        "That's going to take a while..." He felt a bit worried, seeing as how much time had already passed, Furuta had taken notice of this.
        "Since time is such a bother, I'll go ask Commissioner Kishou for a few old files." Furuta said as he sauntered out of the room. Haise did not understand what the male meant, yet he felt like he was forgetting something.
        "Sasaki-San, I've pulled up the contact information of the owners of nearby warehouses. I'll need your help with calling them and seeing what they know." Ihei looked back over to Tooru. "I've written down the addresses of the buildings, look over the recordings with me." She handed a paper filled with the addresses of the owners to Haise. He and Kuki made their way back to his office, after having Saiko order a few other officers to check out the suspects. The police questioned each owner, not coming across anything helpful.
        "Excuse me, Chief Sasaki." Furuta arrived with a few files in hand. "I believe this will make our search a tad bit easier." He placed the files on the desk, Haise giving him a questionable look before opening them, his eyes widening. "I noticed how familiar these incidents sounded, it reminded me of an older case that had a tragic result."
        "This happened earlier in the year, I knew I was forgetting something..." The report was about a recent body that was found in early May. It had belonged to a young female, and had taken a while to identify the person, due to the horrific state it was in. The woman was named Fujiwara Akane, she was known for going out consistently and not returning for a few days, as a result; her family had not filed a missing person report until much later. The autopsy had shown that she was restrained for a while, not fed for the duration she had remained captive, and had various open wounds. There were no traces of any other DNA on the body, seeing as she had been drenched in chemicals to remove any evidence. It had been discovered in a sewer, badly decomposed. Every person she had known was questioned, yet they never found any leads. One of the people she was seen having a slightly more intimate relationship was with Oomori Yakumo, a wealthy man known for the many buildings his family owns.
        "You know, I heard there were a few buildings he had sold to other companies that are considerably close by." Furuta said with a mischievous grin. "Why don't we look into it?" Haise's eyes narrowed.
        "What makes you so sure that he might be involved?"
        "Intuition." Haise held his chin for a moment, processing the facts. He was not that sure about choosing that route for the investigation, yet he has noticed over the short time he had been an officer, that his subordinates were quite sharp. It seemed almost idiotic to doubt them.
        "If Oomori really is a huge suspect, then that means that the molester isn't involved in this case..." Saiko frowned as she heard his words.
        "Then we gotta tell the commissioner to take us off the case." Haise shook his head.
        "No." Saiko paused, noticing a sudden sadness in her superior's eyes. She remained quiet for a moment.
        "I'll go tell Hairu-San to start looking at those buildings." She excused herself from the room, hastily walking out the door. Furuta gave Haise another sly smile.
        "Sir, why do you seem so bothered lately?" His eyes gleamed as he held his chin. "You seem awfully driven to solve this case, more than any other before, is everything alright?" He leaned slightly on the desk, his eyes narrowing and voice lowering. "You better get your emotions under control, Chief. Unless you'd prefer to be taken off the case and demoted, I'd advise you to not get so cozy with a hostage-"
        "Nimura!" Kuki raised his voice more than intended, surprising even himself. He found himself choked up on his own words for a brief moment before casting his eyes to his shoes. "Focus on the task at hand, and quit your shenanigans." Furuta frowned for a second until he gave his trademark smile.
        "Ah, you're right. Please, forgive me for that, Urie-San and Sasaki-San." He looked down at a few other files, ignoring the small smile Haise attempted to hide. After a while, Saiko ran back inside."Maman! Er- Chief Maman! Hairu-San found some recordings you'll want to see." Kuki let out an inaudible sigh, seeing that Saiko never knew when it was an inappropriate time to call their chief by the idiotic nickname she had given him. The three males followed the short woman, walking back into Ihei's office. Saiko then excused herself once more to go watch over Ayato back in the other room. The pink haired female finished eating the candy in her mouth before motioning for Haise to accompany her behind her desk.
        "I found the same van with both license plates driving past one of the buildings." She let out a sigh. "There aren't many cameras by there, seeing as it's private property." It was obvious she was frustrated, having done constant research on the disappearance of two young girls for a number of days, and to have a possible new lead at her grasp yet she could not find anything. She had spent many hours looking over various recordings, and contacting a multitude of people. A good amount of the day had been spent simply doing so, yet their hard work still bared no fruit. Haise well understood the pressure she was in, an overwhelming sadness coming over him as he stared at the screen. Yet, he felt something; a breeze going through him and giving him some form of hope he could not understand. Furuta walked over, placing a hand on the desk as he leaned a bit closer to Ihei.
        "Have you found all the buildings he's sold?"
        "Yes." Furuta sat himself on the corner of the desk.
        "Have you looked up the contact information?" She shook her head.
        "Not yet." She began typing away at her keyboard, her tired eyes scanning over each word. "There's a total of five nearby buildings he's sold, but... one of them remains unfinished."
        "Who owns it?" Furuta's lips lifted slightly as he spoke, seeing Ihei's expression go blank.
        "I've looked up the name, but nothing shows up... It just says that the construction has been delayed until the Summer." Haise stood up straight, glancing over to Furuta, giving him credit for his intelligence.
        "Where's it located?" Ihei exchanged looks with everyone.
        "It's very close by, a bit further down the street where the van was last seen." His grey eyes hardened as he walked over to the door, his back facing the others.
        "I think it's safer to check both buildings. How long do you believe it would take for preparations?" Kuki looked over to Tooru, seeing the green haired male anxious; a similar expression on the others, excluding Furuta.
        "It's late, the other's may take a while." Haise nodded before leaving the room.
        "Let's get a head start then."