-~*~-
"Inhumane?" Kazuto repeats the said word with confusion. Daniel then proceeds to explain it to Young Marquess Ryuichi.
"All of his organs can no longer function and his blood cell doesn't have the normal amount of hemoglobin. This means that not only do they not possess the normal red colour but the oxygen needed to power the body as a whole."
"The fact that the man is alive means that there must be a way that his body is receiving some sort of energy. Oxygen can also power the cell of the body to function. Considering that the rest of his organs are no longer usable, something must have happened for this body to rely solely on oxygen."
"With lack of hemoglobin but being able to function, the heart is beating faster than any normal human body would. Just to pump out blood that contains little oxygen to circulate the body. I figure that you would be able to tell how fast it would be."
"It is certainly out of our league." Kazuto said loud enough for Daniel to listen and nodded. What he is referring to is the extent of the case. It is no longer just a normal drug usage problem.
Daniel then proceeded to explain that he had a suspicion that he must have consumed something that could not only prevent pain but has the properties of preserving as well. And by the fact that he had been "alive" for a week, they must have relied heavily on them.
That is what Kazuto had wished Daniel had said. Now he knew what Yanyi had to find. An herb or something that has the properties of preservation.
"Put the man back to rest and keep him in the morgue until the case is over. After that he will be buried like normal." Kazuto said his command to which Daniel nodded. He then proceeded to walk out of the room.
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Before going back home, Kazuto stopped by the apartment. If Irene is there, he might have the excuse to see her and have a quick snack. If Yanyi is there, he can give the foundation to her. If neither is home, then he'll just drop by next time.
Opening the gate of the apartment he can smell a wiff of some smoke. It's not kitchen smoke because no black clouds are coming out of the living room door. "Did someone burn something?"
He walks up the stairs and walks over to where the smoke is coming from. He starts to check the surroundings, seeing if he can spot the source. That is when his nose leads to the floor.
The balcony railings.
He saw small piles of black ashes. There are some pieces that don't burn properly which prompt his curiosity. That is when the whole world turns silent.
From behind him came light footsteps. A woman. One that he had met just in the conference room hours ago. He turned his head and saw her face.
It has no emotion but her eyes spoke guilt.
Yanyi didn't comment or do anything to stop Kazuto. She had predicted that there's a probability of him coming here. "What is the meaning of this…" Voice shaken. Either out of anger or disbelief, even if he doesn't know.
Yanyi walks over to her room and motions for Kazuto to follow suit. He had come here and found her flaw disposal. What's the point in hiding anymore?
She didn't say anything but pointed to her coffee table in the center of the room. There stood a medium size box with an old journal on its cover. "Read the last few pages…"
Kazuto walks over to the coffee table. His palm hovering over the book. Hesitating.
He didn't know if he had the right to know. But if he can't, what of Yanyi? She can't just pry into someone's story without a solid reason.
If she can read them, then so can he.
He took the journal.
He flipped the pages.
He read the journal.
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30 minutes later, Kazuto is back in the living room. Both him and Yanyi are on the arm chair. Speechless. "What the fuck…?" Is all that Kazuto has been able to say for the past 5 minutes.
"Forgive me…" Yanyi said for the nth time.
Kazuto didn't know how to respond. He has no right to forgive her. It's not in her power. Heck after reading everything it's not even her fault to begin with.
Truth be told, he doesn't know who to blame. It's as if fate is playing with all of them. Him especially.
The last door creaking rings through the night. The other resident of the apartment has returned home. Irene came up to the living room to discover that both of her friends were motionless on the chair.
"Are you guys okay?" She questioned, walking over and taking a seat herself. She got none.
Continuing, she further asked. "What's wrong? Usually you guys would be talking about work." She had expected to at least receive some words coming out of anyone. But what she received is just Yanyi pointing her fingers to the coffee table.
"Wait. Is that…" Irene recognizes that very book wherever she goes. The exact same book that she saw Yanyi drag all over the academy when they were younger.
Irene — "Isn't this your old case journal, Yanyi? I thought that Dev kept them."
Yanyi — "..."
Irene — "How did you get it?"
Yanyi — "...He sent it back…"
Irene — "Send it back? But you already finished with them right? The last case you wrote is about the myth of the 6th-!"
BAM!!!
Before she could finish her sentence a loud bam reverb through the room. Kazuto had slammed his fist hard on the side table. His fingers are kneading the side of his side.
'What is wrong with him?' Irene says to herself.
"Irene." Turning her head the moment she heard her name. Yanyi, who is also in a bad condition, motioned for her to open the book. She did as shown.
"Read the myth… everything…" Is all she said before silence once again engulf them.
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BAM!!!
"What?..." Before she was confused why her friend had acted as such. Now she is also in the same boat.
Her head then turned to the original owner of the book. "Yanyi… This-This is not real, right? Dev must have given you some wrong info."
"All came from Emperor Dylan… He gave it to him…"
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"I'll return home first…" Is all Kazuto said before standing back up. Slowly makes his way to the front door.
The girls would usually escort him back but now…
Neither of them has any strength to move…
"Yanyi..."
"What?..."
"Tomorrow… Lunch… I'll come over and pick you guys… Let's have a talk with everyone."
"Are we releasing the news?"
"We'll discuss it with…with the adults…"
The door of the apartment closed for the last time that night. Yanyi was supposed to continue with her experiment. She had noticed that Kazuto had deliberately left a file on the coffee table.
That file is for her. But all she wishes to do right now is to lay on her bed and rest.
Despite only spending her days with leisure office work. With some research on the side. She felt like she accomplished nothing. She felt like…
She is a burden…
However she can't sleep here in the living room. Her bedroom is filled with many confidential and dangerous things. She had to at least sleep inside.
"Your dinner is on the table. Sorry but with the current timing, it's already turned cold. Go ahead if you want to throw it…eat whatever makes you feel better Irene… Goodnight…"
The apartment that used to be filled with four people has now begun to feel like it has shrunk down. Down into darkness. Down into nothingness.
The stillness of the night doesn't make things any better.
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The next day.
For today Irene had taken the liberty and asked for a day off. Which she got easily enough. Currently she is walking back into their living room and sees Yanyi who is sitting on the arm chair. She looks like she lacks sleep.
"Yiyi, you can rest for a moment. I'll call you when Kazuto is here to pick us up." Persuading her is the least she could do. If she were in her situation even she would lose sleep.
Yanyi shakes her head. "I won't be able to sleep if I want to…" Irene didn't know how to respond.
Honk!
She didn't have to. The sound of the car horn is already enough to bring her mind at ease a bit. She was about to close the door when Yanyi had already closed it behind her.
Before the maiden could even get her feet on the stairs, Irene takes a hold of her hands. Turning her around to at least have her body face her. Gently she creases the back of her hands, reassuring her of the situation right now.
Irene — "Yiyi… It's never your fault to begin with. Fate is cruel to everyone… You knew it more than us."
Yanyi — "..."
Irene — "You're about to see Eker right now. He wouldn't want to see his jiejie sad would he?"
Yanyi — "..."
Irene — "..."
"I shouldn't have agreed…" The tiniest voice Irene had ever heard from her friend rings through her ears. What follows next is just an incoherent sound of sniffles and tears. Yanyi is crying.
Her friend is crying…
Gently she let go of her hands and cradled her torso. Her arms wrapped around her with a soothing pat. Her hands creased her head.
For this very moment Irene didn't care how long Kazuto had to wait.
Her friend. My best friend comes first.
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After 30 minutes of driving, they finally arrived at the Ryuichi manor. Instead of going inside, Yanyi pushes her legs to where the training field is. One that she and Luyao had previously sparred at.
From the distance she could see two figures swinging their sword. One is smaller than the other. With a heavy yet yearning hug she braven her step and strode over to where the figures are.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
"Posture!" He heard the voice of his instructor coming from in front of him. Eker is currently semi sparring with Luyao. He has now earned the recognition to learn and fight with him.
He had been training for the past month with him. Every minute and every second feels like eternity. When he was training at the station his session would end with Yanyi's end of shift. But here.
Here he has to train from morning till dinner time. Sometimes he was allowed to train past dinner but on his own. Little by little he is making a huge chunk of progress.
He can't wait to show his jiejie.
"Are you training hard?" The familiar voice rings behind him. A rule in combat is that you never put your back to your enemies. Eker can't help but break that rule.
Turning around he find his jiejie smiling gently at him. Her figure underneath the resting tree. Watching over him like a mother would. "Jiejie!" He shouted and ran.
Yanyi stumbles and leans against the tree trunk the moment Eker exerted his force onto her hips. Hugging her tightly. Her smiles are poise and gentle. Slowly she patted his head.
"How have you been?" She asked. To which she received a face filled with teary eyes. Despite only separating for just three days he really does miss her.
"Eker miss jie."
"Jie misses you too."
"What are you doing here?" Eker's instructor's voice rings out in front of her. His face is filled with confusion. He had never received anything from Yanyi coming here today.
"Do you remember our little talk yesterday?" A light bulb clicked on his head. He now knew why she came here. But to him it's just a bit over exaggerated. He could've easily go to the station to escort her there.
Luyao — "I could've gone to the station to escort you there, you know."
Yanyi — "Yes but I'd say that making appointments under your name is also not allowed. So here I am to get the number so that I'll be able to handle the appointment myself."
Luyao — "Particular ones aren't you."
Yanyi — "I am. Not only that, I was thinking that it would be great to come and visit this little rascal and bring him home for one day."
Luyao — "Are your experiments finished?"
Yanyi — "Yup! Kazuto has given the forensic result and all I have to do now is just to meet with that person you mention."
"Does that mean Eker can go home!" With eagerness in his eyes, Yanyi turned to Luyao. Posing back the same question. He then gave a small chuckle before "Okay. One day only. Tomorrow I'll take you back to train here."
"Aw. But okay!" Is all Eker said. He then proceeds to place back his little sword and drag Yanyi back into the house. Somehow he had learned that if Yanyi is near Luyao, he gets more chances to be a clingy boy.
His instructor won't mind.
He is right in that department.
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Lunchtime.
During lunchtime the whole table is filled with various foods. One that has been cooked by the Marchioness herself. Vaiden had taken the liberty to cook all of their favourite food. Even Eker got some.
Speaking of which, that boy didn't stop talking about all the training that he had done from the very beginning. Sometimes complaining about the harshness of the studies. But also a lot of fun.
The rest would listen with some sprinkle of question and laughter. Yanyi however, didn't interrupt. She laughs but not much. She didn't question anything about Eker training. In fact she had been handing out food to Eker a lot tonight.
"Are you not touching your food?" The voice across from her speaks. Luyao is currently sitting across from her. His eyes had a tint of worry but didn't want to pry more if that was what she wanted.
"I'll eat my portion. It's just that he needs more. He's training after all."
"Right."
"... You should eat more too…"
"What?"
"You train him, right. Eat more. Energy is important for both teacher and student."
Luyao's lips turn into a small smile. He then proceeded to take some of the steak that Vaiden had cooked and placed it in front of her. "Eat. You also need energy for work."
Thankfully her ears are mostly covered by her hair. If it wasn't, people would see the clear red tips of her ears.
She is shy~
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After lunch, Eker went out yet again with Luyao for training. Luyao gave him the chance to return back but he still needed to finish the sets for today. While they are doing that, Irene is also in the training field giving encouragement to Eker.
It is also to wield out any suspicion. If she is involved in the conversation then Luyao would question why he is not involved.
But if only the direct Marquess lineage is involved then it would be a much more secretive agenda and he has no right to learn. He's fine with it. He's already contending with his current situation.
Yanyi looked out into the distance. They are currently having a talk in Vaiden's office. It's not big enough to feel so lost and not small enough to feel cramped. "Yanyi?" Vaiden's voice rings out.
Turning her head to where the other three are sitting, Yanyi sit back straight. It's time for the talk. She placed down the old journal in the middle of the table. "You can read the last few pages…"
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That is where it'll end for now.
The story is not a mystery.
It will be revealed.
But not now.
You'll learn soon enough.
-~*~-