Chapter Text
“Come on, put the money in the bag - make it fast.”
The quivering man behind the counter began stuffing money into a sack, glancing at the gun levelled at his chest. The man in front of him wore a black balaclava, eyes narrowed as he watched the transference of money. The thief’s partner lingered amongst the aisles, picking up whatever they fancied and placing it into their pockets.
The cashier closed the bag, the till in front of him now empty, and held the sack out towards the robber. The masked man snatched the bag. “Let’s get out of here,” he called to his partner. He began to back away towards the door, keeping his gun trained on the store employee.
The partner opened the door and screamed as a pair of feet collided with his chest, sending him sprawling into a shelf. Phones, laptops and other gadgets fell on top of them.
The masked man turned towards the door and watched as the newcomer, clad head to toe in black, rose to their full height. Their golden choker glinted in the luminescent overhead lights. “I’ll give you one chance to leave unharmed if you drop everything you’ve taken.” They said. “Otherwise, things will have to get really ugly here.”
“Get out of my way,” the masked man growled, raising his gun. “You can’t scare me like you do everyone else. You’re just someone in a jumpsuit, Yata… whatever.”
Yatagarasu sighed. “Oh well. Not like I was going to let you go anyway.”
The masked man pulled the trigger, and Yatagarasu dropped to their knees to avoid the bullet. They kicked out their leg in a sweeping motion, knocking the thief’s legs out from under him. He collapsed to the ground, the gun clattering out of his hand. Yatagarasu knocked it away with a hand and jumped to their feet, stamping a foot down onto the thief’s back. They took a laptop charger that had fallen to the ground and tied his hands behind his back.
With the criminals secured, Yatagarasu picked up the money bag and threw it over to the cashier. “Thank you,” the employee called to them.
Yatagarasu shot him a nod over their shoulder before leaving the store. Seconds later, sirens grew louder, and cars screeched to a stop in front of the store. A white-haired woman climbed out of the car, stepped into the building, and stared at the scene through narrowed blue eyes.
Once again, a vigilante had beaten the police to a scene.
The officers picked the criminals up off the floor and placed them in the back of their vehicles. Arriving back at the Cirmire City Police Department, the white-haired woman left the uniforms to take the criminals into custody and went to the captain’s office. She knocked on the door. “Come in,” said a voice from inside.
Captain Maxine Huxley was a woman in her early forties, with dark red hair tied back into a neat bun. “Kyo,” the captain greeted. “A visit from you is a rare thing indeed. Is something the matter?”
“They appeared again,” said Kyo in response. “That vigilante - Yatagarasu. They had the thieves apprehended before we even got there. By the time we arrived… they were gone.”
Captain Huxley sighed. “Damn it,” she muttered. “I’m not upset with you, Kyo. It wasn’t your fault. Just when will we get our hands on them…?” She forced a small smile. “There’ll be other opportunities in the future, right? No bother. Go and get yourself home.”
Kyo nodded and wordlessly left the office. Maxine herself was finishing the last sheets of paperwork before going home. Nothing could have convinced her to take any home tonight.
Bidding farewell to her coworkers, Maxine left the building, climbed into her car and drove home. Her family lived in the Crane district in the northeast of the city. She passed by several affluent-looking houses before parking in her own driveway. A second, blue car was already parked there; her husband was also home.
Maxine stepped into the house, and the smell of food immediately hit her. As she placed her keys on the table beside the door, her daughter Juniper stepped out of the kitchen. Juniper more resembled her father in appearance, with her dark blonde hair and blue eyes. “Hey, Mom,” she called from her place on the couch. “How was work? You look tired.”
Maxine groaned. “We just got a robbery call before clocking off. Before my detectives could even get there, that Yatagarasu figure had already been and done our job for us. This is not good for the public's faith in us.”
“But why?” questioned her son William. Mainly called Billy amongst family and friends, he had inherited her red hair, though it appeared more ginger. “They’re so cool. And they just want to help stop all the bad guys!”
“Well… they do seem to have more technology available to them,” Juniper pointed out. “I wonder where they get it from. Like that guy who’s all about technology. Techno, I think?”
“Ah, we talked about him earlier,” said Hugh, Maxine’s husband., as he manoeuvred a spoon through the pan before him. “Didn’t we, Billy? I was saying how I wish he would allow us to study that technology he uses. Just think of what we could do with it! I considered putting out some kind of public appeal to grab his attention.”
“Maybe someone else using it is exactly what he doesn’t want,” noted Maxine with a smile.
Hugh sighed and stared forlornly into the bubbling mass of carrots in front of him. “Maybe. It’s such a terrible shame.”
Mother and daughter exchanged a glance. At least these vigilantes had two fans.
—
The sun had barely risen when Kyo stepped out of her car. The river that ran through the city was only a couple of feet away. Several white lines ran across the concrete ground - the area looked like a car park.
Kyo walked over to the cordon, seeing two detectives she recognised. Maika Iori was a relatively new addition to the homicide unit after a transfer from the organised crime unit. With her black hair tied into a neat high ponytail and a pink bandana around her neck, Maika gave off an enthusiastic, almost pure energy.
Detective Emmy Summers could be considered the exact opposite. Brown hair in a messy bun and black circles under her dulled brown eyes was more in line with what detectives in Cirmire usually presented themselves as. The woman was gripping a coffee cup from the See You Latte coffee shop as though afraid someone might take it from her.
“Hi, Kyo!” Maika greeted with a smile and a wave. Her expression dropped as quickly as it had appeared. “Oh, I guess I shouldn’t sound so happy at a murder scene….”
“It’s fine - no one cares,” Emmy shrugged. “Let’s get over there.”
Chugging the last of her coffee, Emmy threw the cup away and the three dressed in protective clothes. They ducked under the cordon and walked over to the main attraction - the body of a man. Someone dressed in similar protective clothing was kneeling next to the body, occasionally writing notes in a notepad. Hearing the detectives approach, they turned to face the three. The black square glasses frame was all the detectives needed to make an identification. “Hi, Lucas,” Maika said.
“Detectives,” Lucas greeted them. Their similar attitudes could have made Maika and Lucas twins - if Lucas was the more socially awkward twin. Even towering over a murdered man, the detectives could hear the scientist’s smile in his voice. “Allow me to introduce you to our victim.” He brandished a hand towards the body.
“Have you ID’d him?” Kyo asked.
“Unfortunately not,” Lucas replied. “What I can tell you is that he’s in his 40s, he’s a male, he’s wearing a very nice and expensive-looking suit, and he was carrying no personal items such as a wallet, a phone or a set of keys at all.”
“I think we could have figured most of that out ourselves,” Emmy remarked. “What about a possible cause of death?”
“Ah, that I can show you,” Lucas kneeled next to the body again and pointed a finger at his neck. “See these?” He was pointing at two minuscule holes on the man’s neck; they were aligned perfectly with each other with some space between them. “There’s a 5mm gap between them. Being on the neck, these are a pretty good contender for cause of death.”
Maika leaned down and squinted. “It kind of looks like a snake bite,” she observed. “Is this really a homicide? Maybe this is an animal death.”
“That’s also a possibility,” Lucas admitted. “We will, of course, have to wait until the post-mortem has been carried out. That also applies to a possible time of death, too. But I did pick some larvae from the body! That should help narrow down a time, too.”
“No, this wasn’t just some random snake bite,” Kyo interjected. “If it were, he’d have his wallet or his phone or something. If they’re missing, someone could have taken them, meaning someone else is involved.”
“I’ve never seen this MO before,” Emmy noted. “It’s nothing any of our regular offenders have done before. This could be someone new.”
“We should check in with our regulars anyway,” Kyo said. “They might have changed their styles to remain under the radar and make us think someone new is in town. Let’s get the captain’s input on this.”
—
Under Maxine’s command, Emmy and Maika arrived at the Acre district. Many high-class institutions resided in this district, with one of them being the detectives’ destination.
Wonderland was a restaurant that operated out of a boat on the pier. The front of the restaurant had the building’s name above the door in pink neon lighting. Several wealthy people came to dine here, some with shady histories. One of the CCPD’s aforementioned regulars was now based here.
Ember Bellona was a juvenile delinquent pyromaniac who developed a love of fire during a poor childhood. She would be in and out of juvenile detention on arson and property damage charges. Her parents eventually stopped picking her up after serving her sentences, leaving her to fend for herself. One day, after finishing yet another stint in juvie, a well-dressed man came to collect her. Introducing himself as Claud Janus, proprietor of Wonderland, he assured authorities that Ember would be working in his restaurant from then on, and she would never be in trouble with the law again.
That was two years ago. Ember had remained out of custody since then. That would have been a good sign, if it wasn’t for the fact that Claud Janus was a suspected gangster and firearms dealer to whom the police had trouble making charges stick.
After flashing their badges to the doorman and asking to speak with his boss, the detectives were granted entry to the restaurant. Several tables were lined up, and many people ate and laughed amongst themselves. A jazz band was playing on stage.
A man with black hair and a purple suit soon approached them. The suit had an odd motif; his suit had a symbol of what appeared to be a large grin. “Detectives,” he greeted them with a smile. “I heard you wanted to speak with me. Come, follow me upstairs. It’ll be quieter.”
The three went up the stairs to the second floor of the restaurant. A long bar stretched around the middle of the room. Several booths sat lined up against the walls. Some patrons sat here talking amongst themselves, drinking and smoking.
The man slid into a booth and called a waiter over with a wave of his hand. “Claud Janus, at your service,” he introduced. “Can I get you ladies something to drink?”
“No thanks. We’re on duty,” Emmy responded. “We want to talk to Ember. Ember Bellona.”
“I see… Not to worry. I have her working upstairs. I’ll give her a call,” Claud said. As the waiter returned with his drink, Claud pressed his phone to his ear. “Ember?” He said. “Drop downstairs for a quick couple of minutes, will you? Some detectives want to speak to you.” He ended the call and slid the phone back into his pocket.
Moments later, a young woman dressed in black - much too casually for such an expensive restaurant - descended the stairs. Her long blonde hair faded to red and fell loose around her waist. She approached the table and sat next to her boss. “What’s up?” She asked, leaning back.
“Ember, I take it?” Maika asked. “We just want to know where you were last night.”
“Here, for a little bit,” Ember responded. “Then I went out. Mister J and I went out to eat with a couple friends.”
“We went to the Empress up in the Centre,” Claud explained. “Lovely place. When I go out somewhere, I travel with some security; you can’t be too safe around these parts. You can check with them.”
At Emmy’s sceptical stare, Claud sighed and offered a smile. “If you’ve got a crime on your hands, I know it’s easy to look at the usual suspects. But that part of Ember’s life is behind her now.” He placed a hand on the young woman’s shoulder, glancing at her with a prideful expression. “She’s fully committed to making a new life for herself. Seriously, she won’t even smoke.” He chuckled. “But I know you just have to do your jobs.”
“See? Fully committed.” Ember repeated. A sliver of a smirk was beginning to emerge. “You can even check with my shrink if you want. I haven’t missed a single meeting. I even set my alarm for it.”
“We will,” Emmy promised her. “Thank you for your time.”
Emmy rose from her seat and left, Maika jogging to catch up with her. “I don’t like them,” Emmy grumbled as she walked to her car. “They give me a bad feeling.”
“We’ll check them, like we always do,” Maika said. “I’ll call the restaurant to see if we can verify if they were there and when.”
Emmy hummed in response as she started the car. Her mind was elsewhere as she pulled out of the parking lot to drive back to the precinct.
She was thinking about Ember’s malicious grin.