Darker Than Love

THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY

----------FLASHBACK----------

ONE YEAR AND A MONTH AGO…

A dead body had been found that early morning of September in one of the shady streets in the Kabukicho ward in Tokyo. Right beside the frumpy-looking motel, the lifeless corpse lied cold and sunken under the gloomy light of the rainy sky.

It was a freezing Monday of the almost winter season, and Detective Hisashi hurriedly got out of his car without wasting any second as soon as he had it parked by the front of a convenience store nearby the area, its back gear still a little out of the parking spot. But he was already rushing his way to approach the crime scene with a curious mind. The yellow tapes that were surrounding the spot where the body was lying now completely soaked due to the heavy rains that had showered the night before, slowly got crumpled by several people who were also walking all over the scene.

Hisashi's nose flared. This was why he hated nosy onlookers and ignorant journalists every time he checked the scene. They always arrived at the place before any of the investigative departments could come. And without even much of a help, they also seemed to always tamper some small pieces of evidence in the scene. It always irritated him.

"Hey, hey! Move!" Hisashi shouted loudly to the people gathering around the crime scene even before he could actually enter the crowd. He immediately flailed his arms at them, motioning at the onlookers to also leave the place. "Everybody who isn't authorized to be inside this area, please just kindly step away. Don't cross the yellow tapes, if you don't want to be accused of tampering. Thank you!"

Some left, but there were still a few who just stayed and watched him. Hisashi let out an annoyed sigh, well at least he managed to lessen the disturbance. He then turned back to look at the dead body behind him and squinted his eyes as he somehow felt like he knew him. The thick fog smothering the air inside the street had also been gradually loosening out.

Hisashi walked and stepped over the yellow tapes as he slowly leaned to take a closer look at the dead body's face. And as soon as he did, all the color on his face instantly drained.

He could actually recognize him. He could recall his name right away even with just looking at that hollowed face that had already been gotten so swollen due to the long hours it had been left behind in the cold. Black short hair, pale freckled skin, black irises, round eyes, and a clean-shaven jaw. There had been no signs of any struggling, nor even traces of gunshots on his body. There was only a big gash of a blood-soaked spot right in the middle of his chest. A knife must have been stabbed deeply into it with the suspect running away with the weapon.

Kenichi Hoshinori. Hisashi was already certain that everyone else in the investigating team had also identified him quickly by just one look alone.

The victim, unfortunately, was a hundred and seventy-five centimeters in height, he was averagely built and he wore a black suit beneath a heavy gray trench coat. And upon realizing who it really was himself, Hisashi instantly felt dizzy and his stomach started squeezing in pain. He hurriedly turned around and stumbled his way out of that area, while running into a few people down his path until he finally reached the nearest corner he could spot in that narrow street to throw up the remnants of his morning breakfast he just had a while ago.

He felt instantly disgusted by this whole thing. He was too young to even die. He had known him personally, and just that thought alone made Hisashi even more terrified as soon as reality had sunk in him.

He knew the dead guy. His name was Kenichi Hoshinori. He was a former protégé of Hisashi's old friend from the police academy. The young man had been a loyal detective since his first day and Hisashi knew he was one of the good guys who would never go against the law. And now, it just seemed too bad that it had turned out this way. Hoshinori could have been one of the best if this had not happened.

Hisashi knew already how deeply curious and obsessed Kenichi had been with chasing out criminals by himself. Hisashi had even often caught the young man autonomously snooping around and investigating dirty lawyers and corrupted politicians even if it was not really part of his job. He was stubborn and very straightforward with his duties. Yet, being that heroic also does not exempt you from any danger. Like what happened now. The man was already dead. This poor young guy who had only wanted to seek justice and fight for what was right had been killed in an instant.

"Mr. Hisashi?"

The voice of his younger assistant appeared behind him as Hisashi continued to heave by the corner of the street. He turned around and immediately took notice of a small voice recorder wrapped inside a ziplock plastic bag.

"We found this in the near garbage just a few meters from the crime scene," the assistant told him. And right at that moment, Hisashi felt the sudden rise of hot gushing adrenaline in his head. It only happened when he found or discovered something crucial in his investigation.

And it seemed like something about this thing and those documents Kenichi had been recently looking for could be one of the most significant clues to find out how he had ended up this way now.

Hisashi had been a detective and a chief in the central police department for so long and for more than a decade that it was no longer a questionable crime to guess how this young guy had met his tragic end. He knew this was not just a normal screw-up with a misfortunate encounter with a serial killer.

This had been all planned from the very start. Kenichi Hoshinori had been killed for a reason.

And Hisashi had to figure this one out before someone else in the investigative team put his hand on it and steal it from him. With this small piece of odd evidence, he would definitely get to connect the missing parts together. For his oldest friend... who was also Kenichi's father.

Hisashi will make sure that he would surely get the justice his old friend's only son rightfully deserves.

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'A negotiation is on its way. Be prepared for the next instruction.'

The vague note that was promised a few weeks long since the first one had come to her has finally arrived today, buried inside Aoi Chiba's Nicoise salad.

It has been rolled and with the note written on a really small piece of paper just like how the other one had looked like. Yet Aoi Chiba almost overlooked the small thing if she has not been way too skeptical to inspect everything in her lunch during the time she was eating it. And when she sharply noticed the familiar small stick stuck beside an olive and with the other vegetables inside her plate, Aoi carefully slid it to a separated corner on her plate along with a few tomatoes she usually picks out from her food, careful as well not to show any bit of suspicious action while Jin was continuously keeping a close watch on her from where he has been sitting at the living area.

As soon as she finished her lunch, she subtly scooped the small paper using her together with a small bite of tuna and lettuce before she eventually ate it. While feeling the material inside her mouth using her tongue, she was able to hide it further beside her gums until she took one last sip of her juice over the dinner table and excused herself right away to use the bathroom.

The moment she has finally closed the door shut behind her, she immediately sighed. That somehow thrilled her. She quickly took out the paper she has kept inside her mouth and slowly opened it.

The letters have been blurred out because of being soaked through yet she still could read it as clear as day.

'A NEGOTIATION IS ON ITS WAY. BE PREPARED FOR THE NEXT INSTRUCTION.'

She frowns down and feels a little confused about the words that had been written there. Is that it?

Is she supposed to keep seducing Kenji until the next note comes to her again? But how long would she actually wait for it? How long should she keep doing it? Having s*x with that overzealous man has been really shredding apart every fiber of her emotional resistance that she keeps building inside her chest every damn night... All of his touches, his soft faint whispers, and the way he just kisses her, truly MESSES everything in her mind.

She might even lose all of her wits if it still goes on for far too long. But Aoi does not really have any other choice now.

She has to keep this all up, even if it kills her inside. That Ito Yamazaki must really have a damn good plan in mind if he is still keeping her doing all of this here. She never even thought he would still continue using her even after failing for killing Yanagi herself a couple of times now. And like some kind of a slutty chip planted inside Yanagi's territory, Aoi has been all trapped here inside to take part in this ridiculous scheme of seducing the enemy.

Well, it seems like things just have to flow naturally from here. Aoi sighs as she quickly gets rid of the note by flushing it down in the toilet. She also takes a look at herself first from the wide vanity mirror inside the bathroom before she finally exits.

'You can pull this one through,' she mentally tells herself, as if she wants to keep it as a constant reminder inside her head so she would not get confused about what she really needs to do inside this place. After finally letting out another deep sigh, she finally opens the door and immediately sees Jin's tall figure looming from the hallway across the bedroom. He automatically meets her eyes as soon as the bathroom door opens before her, but he still does not say anything to her.

In fact, he has not been really saying anything much to her lately. And the longer it goes on like that, the worse Aoi begins to feel as she slowly becomes unnerved whenever she just sees him lurking from a darker corner around the house. It has really become way too much of a burden to her in the past few days that Aoi has already developed a certain ability of just sensing his entire presence even through the dark without having to see him with her own eyes anymore. It is all totally starting to become way worse now compared to how it had been between them in the first few days she has begun living in this place.

"Can we talk, Jin?"

Without even thinking much of it, Aoi suddenly spills her inner thoughts at him. She could not really take this whole 'silent treatment' thing and the evergrowing discomfort that suddenly sprung out between them for no reason. And now, this hidden agenda as well. Aoi has finally decided to make a distraction at once. She needs to work out something so she could finally cut this tight imaginary rope coiling tightly around her neck every time she feels Jin following her behind and watching her every move.

Yet even after she spoke, Jin still does not answer right away. He was caught off guard by her sudden request and almost thought he has misheard for a second. And as he takes a short moment to gather his senses, he simply nods back at her. Not much of a response there, but Aoi gladly takes it. They eventually head back to discuss the rest in the living area.

When they finally settle on separate couches, sitting across from one another with the coffee table between them, Aoi does not waste any more seconds to speak for her own thoughts.

"I want to know more about Kenji."

Though her words have been uttered way too formally and out of the blue, Jin has been very calm to take it all in. He considers it for a second, looking down at the table before him while silently thinks and soon flits his eyes back to stare at Aoi's face. She could not even read what he is thinking but she still waits patiently, clueless of where exactly this conversation is about to head to. Yet she does not have any intention to back out from this anymore. She wants to get the cat out of the bag right at this point and she no longer cares if it will all just get ugly.

"I honestly don't see any reason for you, Miss Cherry, to ask me yourself about Boss so you could know more about him from me. Since you've pretty much clearly done it all yourself several days ago, this is quite pointless. What else would you even want to know now?"

Jin's tone heavily grows lower and deeper the more he speaks to her. And Aoi begins to feel like he is no longer just proving a point here, he is actually insinuating something else that is entirely different from what she thinks of it. But she still chooses to ignore the sharp stare he gives her when she lets him finish himself.

"But if you are really eager to know more about him, that wouldn't be the right question to ask. It's just too vague and utterly confusing. So tell me which part of him instead," Jin straightly suggests back, his eyes still glued on hers.

"Part?" Aoi subconsciously repeats the word in a huskier voice as she tries to follow his point.

"Which part of him exactly do you really want to know more about?" Jin simply elaborates in a matter-of-fact tone. It is all clear. She just needs to be specific. But what does she really want to know? What part? Which part? What truth?

"How many..."

It is all kind of a blur and Aoi could not understand anymore if it is all because of Jin's hypnotizing stare or the way he has thrown his own question at her, but something suddenly switches inside her. And before she could even stop herself, her mouth has already moved on its own and words just start to flow out of it.

"How many had he already killed?"

And there, it all came out. She really said it. The very topic that she has been trying to evade all this time. The one that might really bring her closer to finding the answer that she truly wants to get.

"Is that really the one you want to ask?" Jin still gently baits her for the last time, even though it is all very clear that she meant what she has just asked him. He could see it on her own face, the intent is too evident.

"Tell me the people he had killed and when he had killed them," she eventually demands, sounding much eager this time with her eyes turning darker as soon as she utters those words. In the gloomy brightness of the living area, the tension quickly rises up into the air between them.

Jin just deliberately keeps his silence for a few minutes more before he finally cuts off the whole tension himself when he eventually replies.

"This might take too much of your time, Miss Cherry," he warns her.

"I don't mind," Aoi just straightly refutes, her voice remains steady as soon as she addresses him back with a straight face, "I don't really have anything else to waste it for. So go and just tell me everything. I want to know all of it."

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