Chapter 18
[32]
Investigative reporter, Ichiko Ohya was waiting for her partner, Kayo Murakami, at a street corner in Shinjuku. Apparently she’d gotten a big tip regarding the flying man recently and wanted to meet with Ohya in private, she had sounded afraid and said it wasn’t safe to speak on an open line. Ohya had been waiting at their usual spot for 15 minutes and still no sign of Kayo.
“Ugh, I need a drink. Where the hell-.”
Before she could complete her sentence something large dropped 2 feet in front of her at high speed before hitting the ground in a wet explosion. The reporter had to wipe the wetness from her eyes before she could see again. Upon wiping her eyes she inspected her hands and saw only dark red.
Her mouth agape, she looked over her arms and chest and only saw more red. Finally raising her gaze, she spotted the object that had splattered onto the ground. Its blood and organs pooling around it with bones jutting through the skin, it was a corpse, a human one. Ohya cried out in shock, the reality of the situation hitting her all at once. The corpse in front of her, while badly mangled, was in fact familiar. It was Kayo, she recognized the face of the corpse which had a look of shock permanently etched onto it.
Naoto Shirogane was investigating the scene of the crime in Shinjuku. A reporter had fallen from an immense height and was killed on impact, much to the horror of the bystanders. In all her time as a detective, Naoto had seen her fair share of gore, but the scene before her did make her stomach turn. Apparently, the victim was a reporter for a fairly popular news station in Tokyo and was investigating the Vulture case. That alone made it clear who was responsible for this horrible act.
When Naoto was investigating the body of Kayo Murakami, she noticed something strange. The pin in her hair, it was a recording device, she had thought of buying one for herself some time ago. Removing the pin off of the body to collect as evidence, she placed it in a plastic bag for further investigation.
“I will stop this monster. He won’t endanger any more lives.”
When she got back to her office late that night, she connected the device to her computer and pulled up the audio file. When the audio started playing, a loud, staticky noise sounded through the speakers, it was obvious that the device had been activated while Kayo was in the air. Over the loud sound of the wind around them a female voice could barely be heard.
“Who do you work for?!” The voice of Kayo shouted over the wind. No response. “WHY?! Why do this?!” No response. “You’re a monster! Do you enjoy this you sick freak?!” Only the howl of the wind was heard.
“Don’t struggle. You’ll only cause more pain.” A heavily modified voice spoke in a tone that sounded almost sad.
“What difference does it make?! I’m gonna die anyway!” Through her shouts, Naoto could tell, Kayo was holding back tears, her voice cracking somewhat.
“I’m sorry. I have to. You were getting too close.”
“Well if I’m gonna die anyway, mind telling me your name?!” Kayo’s voice held desperation, she knew she death was near and she wanted to find the truth, even if it killed her.
“... I’m sorry.” A metallic noise sounded and the only other noise that could be heard was Kayo’s screams as she presumably fell to her death. Naoto didn’t have the stomach to listen to the rest, pausing the audio and exiting from the window.
“My god.” Naoto shut her laptop and rested her head on her desk. This job was too much, there were some nights like this when she didn’t know why she chose this career. No, someone had to do this, someone had to stop these villains from doing as they please, she had to do this, for Kayo, for Rise... for Yu.
She looked over at the corkboard on her wall, the various profiles of the Vulture’s targets. It was time to review the case and figure out her next move. Until recently, all of his targets had been rich business owners with influence, then he broke his pattern by robbing Rise’s apartment, no doubt he was capitalizing on Yu’s death. Then, he was caught on camera, and now the public knows he exists, his next target was a reporter, one who was “getting too close.” How did he know? He must have informants, people deep undercover who knew when someone was asking too many questions. Now his top priority is keeping his identity secret, to do that, he needs to get rid of the people closest to figuring him out and fast, which means…
Naoto’s eyes lit up and she snatched her phone off of her desk and immediately scrolled through her contacts list. Stopping on the name she was looking for, she pressed the call button. The phone rang 5 times before it was finally picked up.
“Ugh, hello?” A groggy male voice replied on the other end.
“Amamiya, it’s Detective Shirogane.”
“Naoto?” She hated that he called her by her first name. “Whudduyawant? ‘Slike 3am.” He was clearly only half awake.
“I know who the Vulture’s next target is.”
“What?” He sounded much more alert. “Who?”
“Me.”