009

As a new detective, I was assigned to my first homicide case. It wasn't like I had never seen a dead body before, but this time, it was different. The victim was someone I had met at just a few hours ago. We had a brief conversation, but nothing out of the ordinary. Now, she was lying in a pool of blood, lifeless.

I took a deep breath and started to examine the scene.

The body was lying in the middle of the living room with all of the furniture overturned or in disarray. There were also a few streaks of blood on the hallway in front of the entrance, indicating that she had been attacked when she opened the door.

Next was examining the body. After offering a small prayer for her soul, I crouched down in front of her pale corpse and gulped down my anxiety.

Her clothes were tattered and messy with streaks of blood covering her slender legs and her exposed cleavage. There weren't any signs of foreign substances on her skin and clothes apart from blood, and the wounds were nice and crispy, clean stab wounds all around her body.

"We'll need an expert to confirm that, but from what I'm seeing, the knife used should be new and sharp." I noted down inside my notebook and continued.

Next, I carefully observed the wounds and bruises that she had gotten from the attack.  There were several bruises that formed at her wrist and arm, probably from trying to defend herself from the murderer's advances or from hitting the furniture.

The stab wounds were erratic, but they were all focused on the chest area as well as the stomach. But one strikes me the most was the singular stab wounds at the back.

"She was probably stabbed at the back first," I then turned my attention to the hallway and inspected it closely to see if my hunch was correct and I was.

There was an inconsistency on the walls almost as if someone was hammering a nail or perhaps stabbing it with a knife.

"Hmm, something doesn't add up right if the body was discovered at 4." I whispered and grasped her body.

It was tense but wasn't fully. Only a good part of the body was fully stiff. Based on my memory, Rigor Mortis only applied on a corpse at the span of 2-6 hours.

"Hmm, I'll just note that down just in case."

I took the remaining time given to me and spent it by looking around. There wasn't anything else noteworthy inside the living room, so I turned my attention towards the kitchen.

There was a clean lack of blood on the floor and the counter, crossing it off the list of places where the attack could have happened.

The microwave and some pots were clearly moved, but on further investigation, it seemed that it was Katsuo and the victim that moved it judging from the white foreign substance on the counters alone.

"Well... It is evidence." I mumbled regretfully and scooped some of the semen to place inside a small zip tight bag before moving on.

It was past noon when I finished my solo investigation of the crime scene, and it was then that the special operatives came to retrieve the body.

"Please be careful. There might be more evidence hidden on the corpse." I gave them a friendly reminder and excused myself from the scene.

I shouldn't interfere any more than what I already had. It was also futile to do more when I already searched every nook and cranny that I could.

The only thing left was the report my findings to the next person I was gonna interrogate. Using the spare key that I was given, I unlocked the door to Akibara-san's apartment and entered after I knocked on the open door.

"Ms. Akibara, my name is Detective Najisai. I was hoping I could take up some of your time to gain some insight into the private life of Ms. Ishida Miyuki. "

"What are you doing?" Akibara-san asked with a raised eyebrow while standing in front of me, wearing nothing but some shorts and an oversized hoodie with her hair tied up in a bun with several strands falling free from it.

"Standard protocol, I'm here as a detective. Not an acquaintance"

"You can be both,"

"One must separate work from personal life, Ms. Akibara." I timidly shook my head and moved past her, sitting down on one of the chairs beside the kitchen counter and slid a photo of Ishida towards her direction.

"Please tell me your connections with the victim."

"You're so pretentious, you know that?"

"Ms. Akibara, I'd prefer if we save the banter for later when I'm off the clock." I couldn't help but sigh and impatiently tap my fingers against the marble tiles.

"Fine, let me just brew us a cup of coffee. You haven't had lunch, right?"

How could a lawyer be so easygoing? She must be a pretty damn good one if she was this calm while her friend just died.

"Thank you for your hospitality, I'd love mine to be pure black."

"Right, I didn't expect anything else."

Rude.

I deadpanned while watching her move around the kitchen. She wore a natural, pleasant smile. It was so natural that I almost began to suspect her of being the culprit if I hadn't stayed the night with her.

"Ms. Akibara, how did you come to know the victim?"

"We live in the same apartment, so we're bound to come across each other from time to time, so you can say it came from there." She shrugged and placed a steaming hot mug filled with freshly brewed coffee in front of me.

The aroma of roasted coffee beans filled my nostrils, and I couldn't help but naturally relax at the atmosphere it brought.

"Perfectly brewed, just as all coffee should be."

"So, how did Ishida-chan die?"

"She was stabbed multiple times, actually." I answered with a frown. Even though I was a detective and I should be expected to deal with multiple corpses in the future, the thought of a life being taken just like that bothered me.

Akibara-san seemed to have the same thought, judging from how hard she was gripping her own cup.

"Do you have any suspects?"

"The only suspect right now is Katsuo, but you know the man."

"Yeah, he couldn't even figure out how the sliding doors of the library work. How can he kill?"

I nodded. There was just no way that the term homicide would ever fall under something Katsuo would do. Rape, maybe but cold-blooded murder like this was out of the question.

"Do you know anything about her personal life that could help us? Maybe she had a crazy ex-boyfriend, or maybe she had fallen under debt." I snickered and continued drinking from my cup.

If only it could be easy like that.

"Well, there was that one guy that seemed very close to Ishida-chan, but as far as I know, she rejected him a long time ago."

I couldn't help but spit out my coffee from the absurdity of her words. Thankfully, I didn't spray it at Akibara-san and aimed at the floor otherwise.

"You're kidding, right?" I asked while on a coughing fit while reaching out for my handkerchief to wipe my mess with.

"How can you be so rude?" She deadpanned while looking down on me as I cleaned after myself.

"Who is the guy anyway?" I sighed, fully accepting that it might just be a cliche case of a yandere in my hand.

"Hmm, I'm not really sure, but I've heard he comes from a really rich family and is a prosecutor."

A prosecutor, eh? She must have come across him during some of her cases.

"But from what I've heard, he's already engaged. He's even hosting a party a week from now " She mumbled while rummaging through a few drawers behind the pantry and pulling out a letter.

"Ishida-chan gave me her invitation since it was a couple only event. It was the fiance's idea, not his"

"Hmm, I can't deny that he might be involved with the case. Plus, if he isn't, then he's a good source of credible information."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too, but I doubt he'll be happy if you randomly barge in just because you're part of the government Najisai-san."

She was right, I'd be less than thrilled if a detective would randomly crash my engagement party because a childhood friend died.

I fixed my sitting position and continued staring at the invitation to the party in front of me. "Couples Only," it read in elegant calligraphy. I couldn't help but feel more frustrated the longer I looked at it.

This might be a necessary breakthrough for the case, and I wanted to get my first ever case done as soon as possible to impress my superiors. But how was I supposed to infiltrate a party that only allowed couples?

A separate note was attached to the invitation, listing the list of information one would ask about the event.

I savored the bittersweet taste of my coffee before searching for any detail that might give me an advantage. The venue was a high-end hotel with a strict dress code. There would be a dance floor and an open bar.

Sweat began to trickle down the back of my neck as I impatiently shook my left leg, trying my hardest to do what I should do best.

I closed my eyes and imagined the venue. The place would surely be packed with couples dancing with each other, making it easy for me to stand out if I was alone, so sneaking in wasn't an option. Tricking the hotel staff into thinking I was one of them was also out of the window because of how naturally 'sociable' I was.

There could only be one option left, and that was to fake a relationship. But how could I find someone to go with me on such short notice? And even if I did, how could I fake a relationship convincingly enough to fool the other guests?

The sound of my heavy breathing filled my ears as I could feel the smooth yet grainy texture of Akibara-san's kitchen counter.

Then it hit me

"Akibara-san." I took a deep breath to calm myself and stared at her with resolute eyes. "Please be my girlfriend"