Black Swan Wonderland

Izaya

VI: Envy

Halo Sixteen: Izaya:

Kitano got the email early this morning. The subject line read "You Have Competition for the Tadpoles". The therapist shrugged over his matcha tea. His source pulled through after all. Time to see what they found. He opened the message.

No text. Just a video. Kitano clicked on the file.

A pale and skinny woman sat on the floor. The front of her white gown was covered in something like blood. Her bright blonde hair covered her face. A man in a plague doctor suit walked up to her. He placed gloved hand down onto her head. The man spoke in Russian. There were no subtitles in the clip. He lifted the woman's head. She let off a loud hiss.

Despite the grainy image, Kitano could clearly see her fangs. He studied the video closely.

In the video, the woman lunged forward for a bite. The man pushed her back. He said something else in Russian. There came more hisses and growls. The man patted her on the head. He turned back to the camera and started talking. This time, it was in English. Japanese subtitles popped up on the screen.

"This is Valya," he said. "She is our daughter. We will have her consume the tadpoles. You forced our hand, Kitano-sensei. You bought this on you." The video clip ended. That wasn't the only video in the email. Kitano looked at the clock at the bottom right corner. Only 7:38, huh? He needed to contact his source and watch all the videos before he made his next move.

Nakamura gave Natsuko an odd look.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. The journalist grinned like a wild cat.

"Look, look!" she said. Natsuko pulled out her file and opened it up. The detective looked down as the sounds of paper fluttering out. His eyes grew wide.

"Where did you get these?" he asked. Underneath them lay the police photos of the five crime scenes on his case. Each picture was crisp in detail and taken professionally. Natsuko smiled and tapped the side of her nose.

"I have my sources," she said.

"They probably won't hold up in court, you know?" he asked. "I'm already risking my job by coming here. I might get fired for this!" The detective looked around as if he thought the other patrons could be listening. His journalist friend gave him a little smile.

"It's worth it! Just go with me this," Natsuko insisted. She arranged the five crime scene photos on the bar.

"What do you see?" she asked. Nakamura looked down at the photos.

"The bodies," he said.

"And?" Natsuko asked. The detective frowned at her. His old "friend" smiled at him. She pointed down at the pictures.

"Look, look," Natsuko said. Nakamura rolled his eyes.

"What am I looking at?" he asked. She pointed at the first picture. This was Awakusu-san. She lay on the floor, shot. The yakuza wife had been gunned down twice.

"Look at the little plates on the floor," Natsuko said.

"Okay... why?" the detective asked. The journalist pulled up the second photo. This was the soapland girl. The journalist pointed to the sheets in the picture.

"There are little rings here," she said. Natsuko slid out the third picture. This was the body positive YouTuber sitting at her kitchen table.

"The little cakes here," Natsuko said, pointing to them in the picture. She pulled out the fourth picture. This was the CEO who had melted gold poured down his throat.