"Did you hear about the chief's nephew?"
"No, what happened?"
"He totally went berserk and attacked some innocent civilian he thought was the culprit to a case."
The whispers in the police station might have been straight up shouts. It had been a complete frenzy honestly the last few days; especially since Souji Shimada- the police chief's nephew everyone was talking about.
Souji had been dazed as he sat in his uncle's office. The name plate with the name Hara Shimada was written proudly across the glimmery gold material and sat just as equally proudly on the chief's dark oak desk, and behind it, an older man in his late forties; he had dark hair behind his growing hairline, sharp dark eyes, and the most intimating cold expression. Chief Shimada often wore an unwelcoming face, but today was worse than usual. Especially as he stared down his nephew Souji, who sat completely still- not moving a muscle as he waited for permission to. After all, he had gotten himself in enough trouble.
"Never have I seen you act so recklessly before," Chief Shimada began, interlocking his fingers and leaning over his desk. "You had always impressed me with how level-headed you are."
Souji felt his heart sink deeper into the depths of his stomach hearing those words. He knew he was doomed but knowing how much his disappointed his uncle- whom had always been Souji's hero since childhood, it only hurt more. Ever since Souji was a kid, the man he looked up to more than anyone had been his uncle. When Souji graduated from police academy, it was his uncle who hired him, and Souji had always impressed his chief since then, solving mysteries and cases with him. Souji had always been his uncle's number one.
"Uncle, I'm so sorry-" he began but immediately cut himself off when the chief raised a hand to silence him.
"Pack up your things. You can find another station to take you in, but you're not working here anymore."
Truth is, Souji already knew no other station or agency would take him in. After the big fiasco he got himself into that made it to newspapers, and Chief's Shimada's influence, Souji wouldn't be surprised he was blacklisted from every possible job involving working as an officer in Illinois. Nobody would want him. Even if he got out any serious trouble because his uncle convinced the higher ups to let Souji get away with a warning, Souji still lost his job here and everywhere else.
Gripping his pants tightly, Souji took a deep breath. He felt so shaky, and it was like the world was running too fast for him to keep up. Finally, he unpinned his badge from his belt and set it on the Chief's desk. "I'll pack my things right away, sir." he said quietly, not having the courage to meet eye-contact before leaving the room.
Souji kept his head down the entire time he cleared his desk. He put his belongings in a suitcase the Chief had already prepared for him. Honestly, Souji didn't think he had the courage to look up at anyone right now; he knew everyone was staring at him. They were, of course. All the other officers were just in such awe and shock over this entire situation.
Souji Shimada: perfect example of what an officer should be; he was loyal, kind, observant and smart. Everyone in the station looked up at him and was sure he would've been ranked to lieutenant eventually. It was just a case had gotten too involved personally with Souji's personal life and it seemed he couldn't handle the pressure.
Honestly, just what was he thinking?
He could still feel the adrenaline rushing through his body- burning him from the inside out all the way to his fingertips; he remembered how angry he was- how bloodthirsty he felt for that one moment as he held that man in his clutches. Back then, Souji lifted his gun to that man's head, and was ready to pull the trigger.
But his uncle- the chief- stopped him before that could occur.
Now here was Souji- packing up his things and leaving his beloved job as a detective for good.
Just as he was putting a couple last items away in his suitcase, he found a beige-colored folder he didn't recognize as his. Actually, the folder was mixed in with his own, so if he didn't have such a sharp eye, Souji was sure he would've missed it. He took an even closer look and skimmed though the papers inside it. Inside the folder, the first thing that caught his attention were the words: One Night Killer.
One Night Killer
He glanced around the station. Nobody was looking, and Souji quickly threw the folder in his suitcase with his other things. It wasn't as if he took habit of taking things from the station without permission or notice, but it was what the words One Night Killer that caught his attention; that was the title the police used to describe the serial killer they were after in Souji's previous case. The same case Souji got kicked off of working on because he attacked someone he thought was the culprit only to be wrong.
"I don't think I deserve a second chance, but..."
Souji shut his case and locked it tightly. He took a deep breath to ease the pounding in his stomach; he never felt so anxious before in his life. Maybe because he knew what his uncle would say- something among the lines Souji already failed, and failures don't get second chances.
But if Souji didn't at least try to fix his mistakes, solve the crime he knew was still happening right now, he knew he would go crazy. And, honestly, this was all he knew he could do for himself.
...
For the next week and a half after that, Souji was unable to find any agency to take him in. After sending his application, he wouldn't get a call back. He wasn't surprised. Nobody wanted the officer who screwed up.
Still, without working somewhere where he would have the resources to help him solve his case, it made things harder. Especially because the case folder he found back at his uncle's station only had a couple pages of information, and most of it was stuff Souji and the cops already knew. However, there was one picture in the folder that had been Souji's main point of focus.
It was a picture taken from a high view- as if from a security camera; in the picture were two men. One of them was old. Like old as in his fifties with a growing hairline and stomach. Meanwhile the other man in the picture was young- as in his early twenties and he looked to be engaging in some cheery conversation with the older man. The picture wasn't very good, and was sort of blurry, so it made figuring out the facial details of the men a bit difficult.
"Why is this picture in the folder?" Souji wondered out loud to himself, scanning over the photo slowly for what seemed the millionth time. The picture just didn't make any sense. Was one of the men in it the killer? Where were they? There weren't any notes in the folder about the picture. Souji was starting to go insane wondering if this picture even went with the case at all.
No. Souji shook his head and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes, arranging his thoughts and what he knew. Then opened his eyes and took another look at the picture.
Pay attention. Think of every possibility. What are the details most would overlook or wouldn't notice?
Then it hit Souji. His eyes went wide, and he stood up from his dining room chair so quickly he knocked it back. Between the jeans and the waist of the younger man, Souji could make out the shape of some dollar bills. So that man could very well be a stripper and entertainer of sorts.
"The One Night Killer's victims have been male escorts and gay men. So, this picture seems more convincing it has something to do with the case." He said to nobody but himself as he cleared some space on his kitchen table and began to pull out a large magnetifying glass and go over the picture some more. Now he noticed the plant far in the background. It was hanging on the wall and had dozens of little purple flowers growing from it in a cascading form.
What type of flower was that?
Souji pulled out his laptop and immediately began to look for something. After a few minutes he came across a possible answer: Wysteria.
Now he searched up the word's 'stripper, clubs, wysteria' to see if anything came up on his browser. Something did. A strip-club called Wysteria Nights.
Just then the tv which had been playing from the living room changed to the news channel and a missing person appeared on the screen. An older man, fifties, growing hairline and overweight...
It was the same man in the picture Souji had.
He looked back down at the picture, staring at the younger man in the picture.
It seemed Souji had a suspect, and even better- he even knew where to find him.
...
Some of the most amusing people were the ones who thought themself lucky, and others even luckier to associate themselves with them. These people were often fools with nothing actually going for them, but they had big, hungry egos in need to be fed, and if starved they began to panic and become nothing but they pathetic creatures they were. This is how Eris saw many of the people who came to the bar and began to flirt or awe over him. He had a knack for telling these people out. These older, most of the time married, odd-ball men who came here thinking they were so great and would flock over to young guys like Eris like pigeons. It was terribly painful to watch. So, he had to make use of them somehow and create his own personal amusement out of them. Whether it be buying him drinks or gifts, Eris found some way to make people useful to him.
"How old am I? ~" Eris would smile innocently in reply to the question because it was almost always the first one men would ask him. Eris would lean into the palm of his hand, his colored nails shined a magenta metallic hue in the bar's overhead yellow and blue lights. "Ah, only twenty-two. But I might be lying~" that last part always got them. Eris would laugh to himself. Did these guys honestly think they were that amazing? How many card tricks, flirts, and overused one-liners did Eris have to suffer through before his head hurt? Seriously, he had standards. But there was always one idiot who thought they were all that and Eris entertained them till he got bored.
Eris: basically, the star attraction as a dancer here at Wisteria Nights - a popular gay bar and club squeezed in an alley behind a dozen tiny, freelanced shops, clubs and a million other little bars mixed in. This place was on the outskirts of the city, in a red light district, and not many people lived nearby. The area of called Liquor City for all the clubs and bars that were in this small section of town, but Wisteria Nights was definitely the most popular to go to of all- and thus, got the most customers for Kokichi to play with. But Eris wasn't just known as Liquor City's best exotic dancer, but he was known as a terrible player, playboy, you get it. Someone would catch his eye and he would easily put up any facade they he thought suited their taste. He would get to sleep with them once, maybe twice, then get bored and wouldn't bother to actually text or call back as he would promise. Some people knew that, but tried to use it as an advantage just to sleep with Eris, which didn't work if they bored him. Eris just got bored so easily. Nobody could keep him entertained enough for him to actually care. Much like this guy he was still unfortunately talking to.
"God... so boring..."
Eris was mentally groaning under his deadpanned expression as he listened to this guy go on and on about something that was probably supposed to be impressing, but Eris had the conversation blocked out. "I get I'm irresistibly cute... but they think they can just come up to me whenever they want..." It was barely 9:00 PM. Eris didn't start performing until ten. Seriously, he was only interested keeping the lousy guy's company when he was getting payed for it. Otherwise, no thanks. "I just wish there was someone new to play with for once... everyone who comes here I slept with and or they're boring as hell..." he whined to himself in his head. Eris wanted some new blood- someone different.
"Yeah. I'm gonna go get ready for later." Eris sighed as he jumped out of the bar stool he was sitting in and landed on his feet. "This conversation was totally being dragged on. Sorry not sorry, but you're definitely not my type. " He said bluntly without remorse, completely dismissing the man who froze in shock by Eris's sudden change in attitude.
"Serves him right. He can go try and impress someone else."
But as Eris was trying to make his way past, the man grabbed his arm suddenly. "H-hey! Let me go!" Eris cried out, annoyed as he was trying to get his arm free, but this was starting to seriously hurt, and he was a lot smaller than the other guy. Sure, Eris was used to crazies, but still
Eris winced in pain as his arm was gripped tighter. The customer leaned into his face. "Who do you think you are you little brat?" Eris tried to lean away, and it seemed other customers were starting to take notice of the situation. But before any of them could interfere, someone already did. "I should teach you some manners-" the customers was about to grab Eris's other arm, but someone grabbed the large, unattractive hand and held it firmly. "Excuse me, but I don't think he's interested..."
"H-huh-" the customer seemed surprised and stopped. Eris also stopped and looked up at who had gotten themselves into this situation that didn't have anything to do with them. But then Eris's eyes widened.
"Leave him alone, sir." The customer was pushed back by a young man with dark hair, soft hazel eyes that also held a glint of maturity. He was wearing a white button up and black trousers and jacket. He was very handsome, and Eris found his attention completely absorbed by him in a split second. This guy was definitely the most attractive Eris had ever seen. And was definitely not from around here.
After a few curses aimed at Eris and this new stranger, the customer left, leaving the two of them there.
"He's really hot in his own way..." Eris thought, totally fixated by the stranger who saved him.
Eris blinked out of his fantasies when his hand was taken by two hands.
"Sorry, but I couldn't help but notice you when I came in..." Souji started, smiling a charming soft smile at the other, yet it held something else. "And... I was really hoping we could get to know each other..." he said.
Souji had been watching Eris all day from another bar across the street, and went with a more polite, mild-mannered approach towards him at first. And then his tone changed, and he leaned close to Eris's ear. "Maybe... you'll be more interested in me than that other guy..."And after a moment, Eris's expression of surprise faded, and his lips grew into a wide, playful smirk.
"Sounds intriguing...~"
Finally, things were turning out to get more exciting after all.