Shattered Relations | Aru Shah AU |

IV

ARU
The antiseptic liquid stung. "Stop moving!" Mini grumbled, dabbing the scar with a wad of cotton. 

"I'm fine." Aru grumbled. 

"You were just questioned at knifepoint, Shah. That doesn't constitute as "fine"." Aiden said, twisting his fingers.

"Did you recognize whoever it was?" Rudy asked, crossing his arms. 

"Nope." 

Smells wafted out the kitchen, which Aru learned was a bad sign. Whenever Brynne got stressed, she would cook, and the more elaborate the dish, the more anxious she was. 

"What you said, before," Mini said, slowly unwrapping a Band-Aid, "who was it? Who is after us?" 

"Honestly? I have no idea. Look, my theory is that whoever was threatening Shakhuni was connected to the person who held me at knifepoint today. We saw his body, didn't we? Obviously, those people see us as a threat. So they sent a person to finish off the first person who was outside--which was me. To find them, we need to find Professor Shakhuni's killer... killers, maybe." 

"Can't we just go to the police?" Rudy asked desperately. Clearly, he didn't like the idea of playing detective.

"I doubt they would appreciate that we snitched on them to the cops. It may even speed up the process of our deaths." 

Mini exhaled, but said in a determined voice, "Where do we start?" 

Aru held up the knife. "With this." 

She balanced it in her fingers, when she felt bumps with her thumb at the bottom of the hilt. 

She turned the knife, when she saw a rather familiar shape scratched into the bottom. 

"Why does this look so.... familiar?" she asked, squinting at the symbol. It was like a hand. 

Mini stared at it, before her eyes widened. 

"Aru! Wasn't the blood splatter Aiden saw shaped like this?" 

The words felt solid, as if they were sinking into her skin. 

"Oh my God--you're right, Mini!" 

There were distinct similarities between the two.

"But why would anyone want to paint a hand in blood?" Aiden asked, looking sickened. 

"Sending a message, probably." Brynne said, walking out, trailed by the aroma of what smelled like pulao. 

"The Zodiac Killer sent newspapers letters boasting about how he committed the crimes." she continued, staring at the knife.

"I doubt we're dealing with another Zodiac Killer." Aiden said, raking a hand through his hair. 

"I hope not." Brynne muttered. 

Mini snatched a piece of paper, and a pencil, before sketching out the symbol of the hand. 

"Was this in any newspaper?" she asked, tilting paper. 

"No, not that I remember." Aiden said. 

"Does anybody know where Shakhuni lived?" Aru asked to the room at large. 

"Woodstover has a teacher's quarters, he might have lived there." Mini said, tapping the pencil against the paper. 

Aiden looked up at her. "Please don't tell me you're thinking of trespassing."

"If you can suggest a better way to have access to his records, please tell me." 

"Anyway, I doubt he lived in the teachers' quarters." Aiden said. "He usually left the place with the other students, complaining about the traffic in the bathroom, and the rising prices of gasoline."

"So then where did he live?" Aru asked, burying her face in her hands. 

"Maybe the head office knows?" Rudy said, uncertain. 

"Right, but won't it look kinda suspicious that we, the students who found the body, begin inquiring about where he lived? We'll need to sneak in." 

"Oh, joy. Committing a crime." Aiden said flatly, leaning back into the armchair. 

"The ends justify the means, you snob." Aru said, as her stomach grumbled for pulao. 

"Troll."

"How do we sneak in, though?" Brynne asked, pacing now.

"Well, all we need are a student with a free period and a person whom the teachers will believe him at any cost."

Aru, Rudy, and Brynne all turned to look at Mini and Aiden. "Oh, no." Mini groaned, burying her face in her hands. 

"I'm not gonna like this, am I?" she continued, her voice muffled.

"Look, all the teachers love Aiden. If we can cause mayhem somewhere, which makes Hanuman himself exit his office, you can sneak in. Students who are studying biochemistry are getting a free period until Shakhuni's replacement comes in." 

"Okay... but we need a solid plan. I need a pretext to get past the receptionist."

Aru clenched her fingers. "How good are you at acting?"

----

Investigating what happened to their professor gave Aru a sense of purpose. Every time she exited the apartment, though, the scar on her throat tingled slightly, and the feeling of being watched never left her. 

Classes resumed the next day, and, as expected, whispers followed her all throughout the day. 

She could only hope that Mini and Aiden succeeded in her plan. 

It was simple: first, Aiden would cause mayhem in the cafeteria, which would cause Hanuman to leave his office and investigate. 

While he was gone, Mini would go up to the receptionist, and tell her that she would need to talk to Hanuman about Shakhuni's death. 

While under the pretext of waiting in the office, she would search for the teacher's records, and look for Shakhuni's file. 

She'd then take a picture of it, and sneak out, saying that she'd go to the school counsellor. 

They were all apprehensive of this plan--including Aru, who had formed it. 

She went through the day, not really paying attention, and, at six p.m., she and Brynne waited for Mini, Aiden, and Rudy. 

"How do you think it went?" Brynne asked anxiously. 

"I don't know..." she trailed off, when she saw Aiden and Rudy. 

"How did it go?" Aru whispered. 

"Like clockwork. Of course, Monkeyman was furious, but nobody suspected me." he whispered back. 

"Where is Mini, though?" Brynne asked, craning her neck. 

Her question was answered, though, with Mini jogging up to them with a harrowed look on her face. 

"Did you get it?" Aru asked eagerly. 

Mini held up her phone triumphantly, as they all began walking to the apartment building. 

"Were there any problems?" Aiden asked, opening the door. 

"No, not really.. thankfully, there were physical copies of all the files. They were all locked in a drawer, but I picked the lock--I took pictures of the file, but just as I was about to sneak out, Hanuman came in. He spoke about Shakhuni for half an hour, that's what delayed me." 

She was unlocking her phone, and went to the Photos app. She clicked on a picture, and zoomed in. "Here," she said, showing the others. 

Aru squinted. Under "Residence", "371, Cloversnam Street." was printed. 

"Alright then." She looked determinedly at the others. "Cloversnam Street, here we come." 

----

a/n: again, cloversnam street isn't a real place in New York.