Fallen Angel 9

Two days had passed since the bombing, but the reconstruction of the building was put on hold because of some bureaucratic problems. There were some eyebrows raised when they discovered bits and pieces of unknown electronic devices. For security reasons, the MPD banned people from entering the whole building. Although their workplace on the second and third floors were largely untouched, Kogoro and Yuko were forced to do their weekly streams in makeshift boots inside his detective agency.

Right now, they were sitting side by side in front of two cameras. The long table before them was filled with two stacks of boxes. One of them was yet to be opened, while the other was bereft of any content. Their fans from across the world had sent them gifts, so they decided to do a live-unboxing together. This way, when one of them had their attention taken by the box they were opening, the other could cover them and speak to the chat.

When they let people know the P.O. Box of the company, Yuko had put under the description box of her stream that she would only accept gifts under twenty thousand yen. Furthermore, they had to be small enough that the delivery cost was not more than the price of the gift. When Kogoro learned about this, he copied her by setting the same rules to his fans.

"…Thank you so much, yudetamago pero-pero-san, for the Mikujaga figurine! I really like it. Now, let's open this green box next." Yuko reached out for the box wrapped in a cucumber-motive paper. When she tried to pick it up, the singer noticed how it was heavier than it looked. She spun it around to look for the label, and found it underneath.

"This one is also for me, and it was from… rorikon ronrinessu-san." Yuko's brows were scrunched when she read the username.

Kogoro coughed, and said to the buzzing live-chat. "Guys, I know that you are just trying to be funny, but please stop using weird usernames like that! While I personally don't mind it, our bosses might say something about dirty jokes like that."

The bullets flying across the screen were all 'wwwwwwwwww'. Kogoro could only smile wryly at that.

This is the difference between the attitude fans showed compared to if they were to do meet and greet. In person, they would not crack dirty jokes as comfortably as when they were online. Of course, being a person of culture, Kogoro was more than willing to go along with the jokes. But not only was he representing a brand now, he was also doing the streams frequently with one of his lovers. Although he had many women in his life, he was not willing to part ways with any of them.

'I'm sorry, comrade Zhang! If not for the poontang, I would gladly stand alongside you, across the people who reject the three vulgarities. Alas, I know my weakness, and I can't afford to go one day without some lovey-dovey action. But don't worry, if in the next life we meet, I'll be a mudafekin' penguin called Gunther, and I'll spout all the lame dirty words you want me to!' Kogoro swore in his heart.

His decisive action slightly alleviated Yuko's frown, and she forced a smile to her face. Not willing to spend an unnecessary amount of time arguing about it, she proceeded with cutting open the green wrapping. Her technique was getting better the more practice she had, and the gift inside the box was revealed to the audience just a few seconds later.

"What is this? Anyone in the chat know?" Yuko asked the chat, while her hand spun the unknown gift on the table so the people watching could see it from all angles. It was a plastic cube, coated with a metallic silver paint. With his enchanted eyes, he could see faint lines running through the surface of the cube.

The screen of their stream was unusually clear, with only a few comments slipped past their faces. Kogoro noticed that none of them was answering Yuko's question. He then gestured to his partner, and she handed the item over to him.

Putting it closer to his eyes did nothing, so Kogoro tried a different approach. He gently tapped the surface of the cube, before shaking it to see whether there were any moving parts inside. Finding nothing, he rubbed the surface of the sides, and was surprised when the cube changed shape.

Kogoro muttered, "So it is like a Rubik's cube?"

But then he noticed huge differences. While the usual Rubik could be rotated three hundred and sixty degrees, this one stopped at two hundred and seventy degrees. They were also slanted instead of the usual horizontal plus vertical. Normal cube had one core, while this one had two. Because the core of the rotations was split into two opposing corners and the limited angles it could turn, Kogoro deduced that it might be a storage puzzle instead of a regular one!

Intrigued, he let Yuko open the next box while he tried to solve the cube and rambled to their audience.

"I know you guys can't see them, but there's some lines on the cube!" He showed them to the camera, and the screen was filled with question marks now.

Kogoro then explained his reasoning to the masses as he worked on the puzzle. Some of his fans were familiar with his day-job as a detective, and excitedly shared their opinions on what's hidden inside; but most of them did not have an interest in mystery and problem solving, so they just expressed their support and watched while they did other things.

Some said that they were eating instant ramen; some said that they were drinking a can of beer; heck, someone even said that they were watching while taking a dump. The one who said that went under the username bielzuki. If people remembered, Kogoro's fans were largely middle-aged aunties. Truly, degenerates existed in many shapes and forms!

"...and if I just do this-" Kogoro's words were interrupted by a click coming from the cube. His theory was proven correct. There was a small storage inside the cube. Kogoro looked inside, and sure enough, there was something stuck in the hole. Carefully pulling it out, his face was frowning as he recognized the thing in his palm.

Just as he was wondering about why someone sent something like this to their office, Kogoro gathered himself and addressed the chat.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but it was just a piece of plastic. See?" Once again, he held it in front of the camera, so everyone could see it. Of course, what he showed them was just the packaging of the real thing, which was hidden in his other hand.

Kogoro discreetly placed it outside of the camera's scope, and turned to Yuko who had opened another box. He took the label from her and read the name.

"This one is from… shogun?. Oh, I see." Kogoro looked at the screen, and wiggled his fingers. Yuko, who felt confused by his reaction, asked the obvious.

"What does that mean?"

Kogoro chuckled, "They wanted me to do this!"

He abruptly pulled a serious face, and looked back down to the torn label. Then, he read the name again. This time, though, he did it with a sense of disbelief.

"It's from… shogun?" Then he looked back to the camera, his shocked face was amusingly exaggerated, and then he shouted.

"Shoooogun ka yoooo!?"

After he was done, his expression went back to normal, and bitterly scolded the people bombarding the chat.

"You guys just love seeing me doing stupid stuff in front of Yuko. Now you have your fill, so shut it!"

The screen was once again filled with the letter 'w'. Yuko, still not getting the joke, awkwardly tried to cheer him up.

However, Kogoro was not really paying attention to her or to the chat. Inside his mind was only one thing, and that was the USB stick he got from the cube, and the small scribbles on the side. It was only two letters, but it chilled him to the core.

The letters were a B, and an O; and there was only one B.O. he knew.

~To Be Continued~

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A/N: Shout out to my patrons, Dragon_knight240, phil, XOL, anime addict, and all the loyal readers of KMPE.

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segalengko69