(AN: Wow... this is late. But thank you guys so much for 30k reads! I wasn't really expecting this book to blow up so fast but hey, here we are now. Anyway, I'm using the aot lost girls OVA for this one, this was originally supposed to be chapter three and broken up into a bit more chapters but I wanted to get into the action so like... tell me if this should be chapter three instead? Also! The first chapter for my founder book is being made as well! This one's long, just for y'all)
The sound of splashing water was heard through out the small bathroom before it stopped. You retched out and grabbed a facecloth that hanged loosely on the side of sink before drying your face clean, after you lowered it until it reached just under your nose.
You looked at reflection in the mirror. Your hair was down and a bit messy, indicating you had just woken up. You looked more awake now thanks to the cold water.
'I can't help but wonder...' You started, lowering the towel to clean the little drops of water that fell onto the sink.
'What if I never asked for my father's help? Would he still be alive? Would I be in the brothel right now?' You thought, opening your eyes realising you were a bit deep in thought in the dream.. or memory, you had last night.
'There's no point in asking that now. What must be done, must be done.'
You retched up, taking the back of your hair and begging to put up into your usual bun. After you look at your reflection one more time before looking down and sighing tiredly.
• • •
You closed the door to your wardrobe, adjusting the hem of your white jumper before something court your eye. You sat down in the wooden chair before picking up the envelope and reading the contents inside.
You were focused on the words on the letter, or document that you didn't hear you're door open.
"Whatcha reading? Mind if I take a peek?" The voice of a woman around your age asks, her hand reaching out and snatching the document from your hands.
"Hmm... since when were you the type to peek into other people's private? Hah Annie?" Hitch, your roommate asked. She was drying her shoulder lengthen wavy hair with a towel, telling you she had gotten out of the shower a couple of minutes ago seeing how it looked fairly dry.
She had taken you in after finding you at a bar, she said that you looked sad and lonely, and after that you somehow became her roommate. To show you were grateful you helped around the house even when she was at work down at the police station.
She's also the only person you told your secret to about being a titan, she didn't seem to believe it though.
"On a related note."
You look up at her as she threw the towel, it landing on the ladder of yours bunk bed.
"Why are you still wearing that tacky jumper? It's a thursday. If you wanna be popular you have to put in an effort somewhere..." She said, lifting her t-shirt over and off her head. You look away, giving her privacy.
"And you're as about as chatty as a brick, so you might wanna find some cute clothes. I can help you if you want?"
You looked out the window, watching as people crowded the street or stopped for the tram to go by.
"... Fashion isn't really my thing... Do you have work today?" You asked, look back as you heard her sit down at her vanity.
"Yeah.. unfortunately. I just got work hoisted onto me five days ago by one of the older detective, I don't want to do it either though it sounded boring." Hitch complaint, places down her hair brushed before waving around the document you once had.
You took it and opened it up once more. Scanning the contents again before looking at the black and white photo.
In the photo the girl had on a plane or bored face. Nicely dressed tell you she was from a wealthy family. She had wavy hair that retched down her shoulders, and bangs.
"She's missing. Probably just ran away from home." Hitch says, spraying lightly perfume.
"What else?"
Hitch sighs.
"Before this conversation go on are you going to reply to everything I say with 'what else' because it kind of feels like I'm being interrogated."
"Sorry, but it's the only frays that comes to mind right now. What else?"
"Hmm. Ugh fine." Hitch twirled around on her stool to face you, a smile on her face tell you she was going to request something stupid or smart.
"Look Annie. Contrary to appearance it that I can be a real air-head sometimes. And sadly since it's your last day of being my roommate do you think you could repay me. You know, like switch our lives? You'll be me for a day and I'll be you for a day, but more exciting." Hitch explained, the smile still on her face.
"... And you think I'll say yes to this?"
Hitch looked around for a bit, hesitate of her choice of words.. or... word she picked out.
"Yyyeeeesss...?" She dragged out, unsure of your answer.
"No."
"Ahh! Come on Annie! I basically let you live rent free!? Wanna repay the favour, help me out." Hitch stretched out her hand for you to shake.
You looked at it plainly for a few seconds before lightly shaking her hand.
"Glad we could do business."
You grunted in reply, you knew she was up to something.
Hitch then turned back to her vanity, picking up lipstick before popping off the lid.
"I'll inform my boss and we'll see if we're lucky enough to do this. If we are you better start looking throw my wardrobe." Hitch said, now applying the pinkish purple lipstick.
• • •
You sat at a random table as chatter of other police officers and detectives filled the room. You continued to look down at the paper as you sipped on some tea, dressed in Hitches uniform that consisted of a light brown short jacket, with the logo of a green unicorn on it.
You still didn't know how Hitch managed to get her boss to let you do this. Maybe a couple drinks at the bar she said she pay for?
'Carly Stratmann. 20 years old, born in 1892. The only daughter of Elliot G Stratmann. President of the Asakusa company.' You thought, looking at the photo of Carly.
"Well this is a surprise."
You looked up hearing the voice of a familiar male. Boris Feulner, one of Hitch's friends. He had whiteish grey hair that was short and covered his forehead, brown eyes, and a bored yet interested look on his face.
He wear the police uniform as well, just had a white button up and black pants.
"I didn't take you as the type to do detective work. By the way, where's Hitch?" Boris asked, looking around a bit. He held papers of other crimes in his hands.
"... She won't be in today. I guess you can say she and I have switched lives somehow? On top of that, it's mostly me repaying her of letting me stay with her. Don't like owing dats." You said, going back to what you were doing.
"You're as odd as ever aren't-cha. Okay, hope the job goes well." Boris said before walking off.
'If I don't keep myself busy then I'll start thinking of my father again, and get depressed.' You lifted your cup of tea and took a sip before placing it back down on the little plate.
You then folded the paper and placed in your uniform pocket, then got up.
'So for the time being I'll have to entertain myself by playing police officer.' You thought as you walked off.
• • •
You waited for the tram to pass as many others did, you were heading to Mr. Stratmann home to get any answers or clues on where his daughter disappeared off too.
"Oh Annie!" You look up when hearing Hitch's voice.
You looked around a bit before looking at the tram. Hitch had her head sticking out a window as she waved to you. She wear a pink dress, a golden necklace around her neck.
She smiled when seeing you looking at her, she then placed her hand close to her mouth.
"Best of luck dealing with you know what!" She yelled, then placed two fingers on her lips before moving them forward in your direction as she winked, blowing you a kiss.
You honestly didn't get her child's personality sometimes as you just steered at her before crossing the street.
• • •
"Visiter sir. Mrs Annie Leonhart of the Asakusa Tokyo Police Department." A butler said as you stood behind him, him knocking on a door.
"Show her in." You heard on the other side of the door.
The butler then opened the door and stood in front of it, holding it open for you. You walked in after nodding at the butler as thank.
Looking around the large room you take note of the large wooden rectangular table in the middle of the room, four expensive red velvet chairs on each side of the table, one at the front which was where Mr. Stratmann sat. A big red rug was placed under the table with a beautiful design.
"Care to sit?" Mr. Stratmann asked, placing down a glass of alcohol before gesturing to the row of chairs.
"Yes sir, thank you." You thanked, walking over and sitting in the second to last chair from him.
As you did you took in Mr. Stratmann's appearance. He was somewhere in between his forties or fifties seeing the obvious wrinkles.
He had four golden rings, two on his left hand that sat on his pinky and ring finger, and two on the other on his pointer finger and middle finger.
He wear a cream coloured suit with matching pants, a white button up shirt and red sweater to go with it. He had dirty blonde hair that was slick back, a dark must-ash's and bushy eyebrows as well.
"I need to know more about the circumstances surrounding your daughter's disappearance. I have questions." You said calmly. Mr. Stratmann placed a cigarette in his mouth before lighting it with a match.
He then waved the match around until the little flame was gone.
"Suppose I can take that as youse haven't found her just yet?" Mr. Stratmann asked, placing the burnt match in the ashtray. He then held the cigarette between two fingers and taking a puff from it, opening his mouth after to blow the smoke out.
"But you must of turned up a lead or two? Right?"
"No sir, my apologies."
"... That's puzzling. Think I must be over working myself, try and help me tap my frazzled mind around this." Mr. Stratmann asked in a plan voice.
"It's be ten days since I reported my daughter missing. What's more, every time I requested an update I was assured youse were doing all you could to find her. How could you detectives come up with nothing? Are you incompetent?" Mr. Stratmann said, holding his cigarette as he looked at you.
"You have every right to think that of me, sir." You said calmly.
"... Yeah, well I don't. Seems to me you're just a seek full. All of you are. I doubt the search for my daughter has even begun, the job just keeps getting pasted around right?" You stayed quiet for a few seconds before speaking.
"It's as you said sir. The case just came to me dis-morning. After passing hands twice." You said.
Mr. Stratmann took another puff from his cigarette before blowing it out.
"Sounds about right, so what does this mean? Your the only detective willing to search for my daughter?"
"That's correct." You conformed, nodding slightly.
"How many years have you been doing this?" Mr. Stratmann asked, looking at his cigarette.
You looked at the fireplace at the other end of the room before replying.
"One month..." You lied.
Mr. Stratmann look at you with wide eyes before closing them and smiling slightly as he breathed in through his nose, then chuckling to himself.
"So this is what I get for all the taxes I pay over the years. Ten days of neglect, and then when the search finally starts it's managed by a kid fresh out of training." Mr. Stratmann complained.
"You don't appear to be short on financial influence. Why don't you just shoo me out of your parlour and hire some free lance fixers?"
"That's certainly a tempting thought..." Mr. Stratmann said, closing his eyes as he took another puff from his cigarette.
"Alright.." You calmly said, getting up.
"But that's not a real option."
You looked at Mr. Stratmann. As he spoke smoke came out his mouth.
"Free lancers only use there heads for one thing, coming up with way to divest me of my money." Mr. Stratmann said, rubbing his now worn out cigarette into the ashtray.
"I'd like to believe I've always had a good eye for people. You may be a rookie, but my eyes tell me that you're capable and that you're someone I can trust to follow through once you've given your word. So. Will you look for my daughter?" Mr. Stratmann calmly asked, looking up at you.
You looked at him from were you stood, thinking over his words.
"Of course I will, it my job." You said, sitting back down and taking a little notepad and pencil out.
Mr. Stratmann stood taking his empty glass with him and walked over to the cabinet where he pulled out some alcohol. He opened it with a pop before pouring it into the glass.
"Right then. The circumstance of her disappearance you said?"
"Yes."
Mr. Stratmann sat down, he hummed as he brought the glass to his lips and took a small sip before placing it down and looking at you.
"She had been gone for two days before I decided to report her missing. You see, all I knew for a fact then was that she hadn't turned up for dinner, regardless I should've known to make more of that fact."
He turned his attention to the meany painting on the left side of the room.
The one that stood out to you the most was the one painted that looked like Carly on the document. But the painting was coloured as she ware a red dress and had ginger hair.
"She never missed dinner. Neither of us did. No matter how busy we were we mad time to eat together. So long as we each kept to that, we stayed out of one another's affairs. That was the rule between us."
"... So when was the last time you saw her?" You asked, getting ready to write whatever he says down.
"Thirteen days ago, over the last dinner we have." Stratmann said, placing a new cigarette in his mouth and lighting it.
"Did you notice anything unusual that day? Any change in her demeanour?"
"Nothing I can recall now. No." Stratmann said after taking a puff from the new cigarette.
"What about her social life? Can you name any acquaintances or places she frequents?"
"... I can't."
"Then do you have any idea how she typically spends her time?" You said, your pencil hovering over an empty page in the little book.
"... I don't."
"So you're telling me you see your daughter every day but have no idea what kind of life she leads?"
"That's right."
You look at Mr. Stratmann with a bored face but a bit annoyed see how you weren't able to get anything out of him so far.
"She got her degree form Eindich Collegeand hasn't done a thing in the three years since from what I can tell."
"What was her major?"
"Chemistry."
You wrote that down as Mr. Stratmann continued speaking.
"As I said before, she and I don't interfere in one another's affairs. Once we've had our dinner she free to gallivant about town all night." He said, holding his cigarette between two fingers.
"Do you bring that up because it's something she does often?" You asked.
"No, it's just an example. I truly don't know what she does." Mr. Stratmann said, closing his eyes.
To you he seem sad. You looked down at your notes.
"... Do you think she could of been abducted?"
"Seems unlikely. I would of surely received demands by now."
"How is your relationship with her? Is it strained?" You looked at him.
Stratmann slightly picked up the now empty glass and examined it for a second before placing it back down.
"If Carly left to get away from me I wouldn't know. My daughter's mind. It's a mystery to me." Stratmann said sadly. Continuing to look down at the glass.
You looked down, your eyes showing sadness as you thought of your father.
"I don't think there's a father out there that knows what their daughter is thinking. Not really." You said, Mr. Stratmann looking at you.
Both your attention was soon drawn to the sound of knocking coming from the front door of house. There was speaking but it was muffled, you could only tell it was a guy though by how deep the voice sounded.
It soon went quiet after that.
"Not used to all these visitors. At least, not anymore." Stratmann said, getting up and taking the empty glass with him.
You watched him for a bit before looking out the window, seeing movement.
It was a man, dressed in normal looking clothes, he had brownish hair that retched his shoulder.
"By the way, why did you become a detective?" Mr. Stratmann asked, sitting back down.
"Why you ask?" You questioned, your attention still on the unknown man outside.
"Because you strike me as an unusual person."
You looked back at Mr. Stratmann when you heard the door behind you close, the butler from before walked past you and towards Stratmann.
"I became a detective because I wonted to live a safe, quiet life. I don't think there's much in seeking more then that." You lied, Stratmann continued to look at you as his butler lowered down slightly and whispered in his ear quietly so you couldn't hear.
He then handed Stratmann a small folded piece of paper.
"Fair enough." Mr. Stratmann said, unfolding the paper and reading it in his head as you watched with suspicion.
He then crumpled the paper up before placing it in his suit.
"We're done for now, yes? Or do you have further questions?"
"No. I've asked enough for the time being. If I discover anything useful I'll came back." You then got up.
"I wish you luck then." Stratmann said, also getting up.
'You saw through that lie about why I became a 'detective' didn't you. Well, I see through you to, Stratmann.' You thought, walking out of the room.
Once you left Mr. Stratmann place the crumpled paper in the ashtray, then lit a match and set it on fire.
"I'm going out. Prepare a carriage."
"As you with sir."
• • •
"Basically. The Stratmann company would buy bolt goods from other wealthy companies, get it transported over to here, then sell them, making a large profit off of the differences and regional prices." Marlo said, one of Hitches other guy friends.
He had black hair that was styled in a bowl cut, tanned skin and dark brown eyes. He and you stood in the library looking through a book of the Mr. Stratmanns company.
"Sounds like a pretty standard business model for a merchant company." You said.
"Yeah. It was. But that model was shattered because of the strange disappearances of there workers. They were forced to down size. These days there just a horse drawn coach business." Marlo said as you held your pointer finger and thumb on your chin.
"Interesting. Thanks for the intel. Did you get work foisted onto you today too?" You asked, looking up at Marlo.
"Unlike the rest of youse I don't mind work. I'm putting a catalogue of all the books here." Marlo plainly said, closing the book he had before turning to the bookshelf behind him.
"It's absurd that we don't already have one." He continued.
You turn and walk away, pulling out the small notebook as you lean near a window.
'The Stratmann company is in bad shape, yet Stratmann still manages to live in luxury?' You flip to the next page.
'The there's Carly Stratmann. She could find work easily with that chemistry degree, why hasn't she? And her father's business is in decline, why doesn't he care that she hasn't? What a strange family...' You thought to yourself.
You think for a couple of minutes before taking note of something.
'Wait. I assume that Carly was living off her father's money, but he talked like he had no desire or ability to change the way she was living.'
• • •
'She and I don't inter fear with one another affairs. Once we've had our dinner she's free to gallivant about town all night.'
• • •
"Gallivant, all night." You muttered to yourself before realisation hit you after recalling what Stratmann had said.
You close the small notebook quietly as the pages slapped together.
You walked over to Marlo as he looked at a book, his pointer and middle fingers on top of the spine of the book he was currently looking at.
"Marlo."
"Hmm?" He turned to you, his hand falling slightly before stopping haft way staying in mid air.
"We log all questions, right?" You asked.
• • •
You soon found yourself walking through dirty streets of... I guess you could say slightly poorer side of Asakusa. The building were made out of stone and wood.
You walked past a man slumped next to a crate as he lead the right side of his body against it, he seemed to be asleep of some sorts. You just continued walking, not paying any mind of the people that pasted you.
'Jack pot. Carly was picking up around here for questioning two years ago. A police officer found her passed out drunk in front of a bar' You thought, look up at the small sign that hanged above the door to the bar.
A man sat with his elbows resting on his knees as he leaned against the wall of the entrance.
'A bar that went by the name of, pitly doors.'
As you got closer to the wooden doors you could hear laughter of men ring out. Upon opening the doors though, it went silent as soon as three men that sat at one round wooden table took one look at you.
One of the men that faced away from you had dirty brownies blonde hair as his bangs covered his eyes. He wore a blue yukata with the sleeves ripped off around the shoulders.
The guy in the middle of the other two looked a little bit more older seeing how he had white hair and bolding on the top of his head. He wore a black yukata.
The tallest of the two seemed to quickly put something in the back of his obi that was somewhat lossless tied around his waist, he also wore a dark dirty green yukata with the sleeve just being cut past his elbows.
On the table they sat at had three drinks for them and two empty plates. No one else was in the place besides them and the waiter who was reading a small book.
You walked over to the waiter as you pulled out Carly's picture.
"I'm with the Asakusa Tokyo police Department, do you know this girl?" You asked, placing the paper down on the be counter where the bartender stands behind.
"Eh. Can't say that I do..." He said, flipping to the next page in his book.
He had dirty brown hair that looked neat. He wore a white button up shirt with a green vest over it, a black bow tie was situated around his neck. You then pulled out a bronze coin from your pocket and placed it on the counter, the bartender looked down at it then back up at you.
"What are you trying to do with that? Isn't about to change what I know." He said plainly.
"I'm just thirsty. One limeade please."
The bartender walked off to the right to go grab your drink as you looked over your shoulder to look at the three men again.
You then looked back as the bartender placed your drink down, you picked it up and took a sip.
Turning you walked over to the table the three men sat at and placed the picture of Carly down for them. They look at it before looking at each other.
"You know her, right?" You asked, remembering them from Carly's questioning logs.
"The hell we do." The tallest of the three said.
"Now why do you run home and cry to your daddy before I get any funny idea-" He grunted as you tightly grabbed his waist.
You then lifted his arm up and away from your butt. His elbow was facing the ground as his face contorted into pain, he gritted his teeth, showing off the bottom tooth he was missing.
You then move his arm back out and rested it on your stomach as you continued to hold his wrist, with your right hand. Your left arm went over his shoulder and under his armpit, you then brought his arm back so his elbow was facing the ceiling this time.
His arm was completely trapped in your hold. The man's chin hit the wooden table before he yelled as you popped his shoulder out of its socket, you retched into his obi and grab a small purple pouch out.
You open it and dumped what ever was still inside is out onto the table, five little tablets fell out.
"That looks like coderoin. Possession illegal drugs can get you five year in prison. However-"
"Screw you! Get out'a here!"
The two other men got up from their sitting and ran at you.
You presumed fighting stance as you lifted your left ready to punch arm up so your elbow was facing the ceiling, you then balanced your weight onto your left leg as you tilted your body to the side a bit, then kicked the guy in the blue yukata in the shoulder.
He twisted around as he fell and leaned on the wooden floor. The older male popped up behind you ready to punch you.
You twisted around quickly and held onto his neck with your left hand as your right hand stopped him from punching you, you then kneed him in his shoulder, him groaning as he slowly fell to his knees then hit the floor.
You stood straight looking at the three.
"I was saying. That if you tell me whatever you know about the girl in the picture, I'll forget everything I saw here. Sound good?" You asked, looking at the tallest of the group as the two other continued to groan in pain.
• • •
"That's Carly, she was a regular here." The oldest of the three said in a gruff and somewhat dry throat, looking down at the table like the other two.
You sat in front of him at the circular wooden table as the other two stayed quiet.
"That girls one of the most generous people I've ever met, she was kind to all of use, always buying use drinks." He continued.
"That's right. She had a way of getting use all to dance. Everyone here liked Carly an awful lot." The guy in the blue yukata said in a slight deep voice.
"Yeah, but then about ten days ago she flew into this terrible rage out of nowhere. We were all totally shocked."
"Mhm. She chewed use all out then got real quiet. Eventually, she upped then left."
You wrote everything the two were saying down, listening for anything that might sound the lest bit suspicious from them.
"Any idea what set her off?" You asked, looking up at them.
"It was this idea's fault. He downed some coderoin right in front of her, made her flip her lid." The older male said, looking at the tallest as he popped two little pills of coderoin in his mouth, chowing on it as it made a crack sound before taking a sip from his drink with his good arm.
"It's kinda weird though... I mean, she's seen use do drugs? But this was the first she ever made a thing of it." The older male said, looking back at you.
"So she was angered by coderoin pacifically. But why?" You asked.
"We've been asking ourselves that ever since..." the male in the blue yukata answered, his arms crossed over his chest.
"By the way, why did youse pretend you know her at first?" You asked, looking at the three.
The older and guy in the blue yukata looked away slightly, staying quiet.
"Guess you didn't want to go home tonight." You said, hoping that'll get them to talk.
"Whoa?! Wait a minute-" The oldest said, only to be cut off when the tallest of them groaned.
"Look, it's because we thought she might of gotten mixed up on something bad. Her dads business is in shambles. Yet, Carly was loaded, always had been. We figured it was dirty cash, you know?" He said, looking at you.
"So when you turned up asking about her we thought you had come to arrest her." The older male said on top of that.
"On top of that. There was a guy who come looking for her before you, and he was a crooked as they come." The tallest male said, looking down at the table as bead's of sweat ran down the side of his face.
"Describe him." You plainly said, preparing to write down whatever he said.
"He wore a real fancy suit. And it looked like one of his eyes were fake, it was red, probably glass. You'll know him when you see him." He said, pointing at his right eye.
You wrote everything he said down, by the information he gave you about the guy you could somewhat picture what he looked like in your head.
"When did he come by here?" You asked, looking down at your notes.
"Around five days ago." He answered.
"Do you have any idea how Carly makes her dirty money?" You questioned, looking at him from the corner of your eye.
"Nope. Not a clue." He answered, his voice horsed.
You closed your eyes, placing down your arms slightly.
"So you know. My report can say that I found you three selling coderoin, to a child. Your stint in prison will be a lot longer that way."
"Ehh?!" The older male yelped, looking at you in surprise and fear as his mouth hung open.
"Hey! Stop screwing with us already! We really don't know anything!" The taller male yelled, sitting up in his seat slightly as he looked at you annoyed.
"You sure you're not just having another lapse in your memory? After all you forget who Carly was at first, right?" You got up from your chair.
"We really don't know though. I swear." The taller male defended, holding his popped out arm.
"Maybe it'll come to you later when you're on your way to jail." You blankly said.
"I'm pretty sure there being honest right now."
You turned your head to the bartender who looked at you blankly.
"So, I'd like you to stop tormenting them." He continued.
"Has your amnesia been cured too?" You asked.
"Amnesia was never the problem. Honestly, I just didn't feel like putting my book down yet." He said.
"You should talk to Carly's boyfriend. I bet he would know what she was up to. He'd at least know more than us." He explained.
"Give me his name and address." You asked.
"His name's Kemper Boltz. Couldn't tell you his exact address. But it's on South Aachen Street."
You looked at the taller male.
"What?! I don't know him! Never heard of the guy! Honest!" He stated as you walked up to him and grabbed his dislocated arm.
"Hey? What are you-"
You popped his arm back into place before he could finish his sentence, a disgusting sound followed when you did.
"Sorry for the trouble..."
"Uh? Thank you?" He looked at his arm as you walked to the door.
"How is it. When you knew when they didn't?" You asked as you turned to look at the bartender.
"About what?" He asked like a little kid.
"About Carly and Kemper."
He stayed quiet for a few minutes before speaking.
"When you do this job for long enough, you end up learning all sorts of things. Even things you'd rather not know."
• • •
You sat on a bench eating a sandwich, you decided to take a small break before proceeding with the investigation.
"Came on dad!" You heard a little girl say to her father as she ran off, giggling as she did.
You watched as some people throw coins into the fountain. A meow sounds soon caught your attention as you looked behind you.
There was a calico cat looked up at you as it sat in a bush in the shade. You turned around on the beach as you ripped a small piece of bread off your sandwich and held it out for the cat to take.
It hissed at you before disappearing into the bush. You watched as it left with slightly wide eyes.
You sighed before placing the haft eaten sandwich into the paper bag that was placed next to you.
'I'll go to her boyfriends place, and if there aren't any clues there then I'll call it quits. At this point, I'd pay'd Hitch back and then some. She'd just need to finish the rest.' You thought.
• • •
"Miss, we've arrived."
You opened the door of the black carriage as the rolled down the window.
"Could you wait until I get back?" You asked as the man gave you a look.
"Guess you must be new at your job. Do you not know what kind of place this is?" He asked as you looked around at the dirty brick buildings.
"It's Asakusa's trash heap. A place so shady that us police officers gave up on patrolling, right?" You turned back to the driver.
"Well if you know that much you probably know my answer."
You walked over to him as he stuck his arm out the window. You pulled out a couple of dollar notes, you gabbed a couple extra as a tip and placed it in his hand, he looked at the money for a moment before pocketing it and turning off the engine to the carriage. You turned and walked away.
You stopped when you came across four men, they seemed to be cooking sausages on a home made grill.
Two sat down as the other two stood next to them. The one flipping the sausage with a knife wore a blue yukata with his chest slightly showing, he had very short brown hair and a slight beard.
The guy next to him wore a green yukata and also had brown hair that was short.
One of the guys that stood next to them had his hands stuffed into the pockets of his brown yukata, the hole upper part of his body was shown off, he was also bold.
And the guy that stood next to his wore a dark green yukata with the sleeves ripped off, he two also had brown hair but it was spiky.
"What do you want?" The guy in the blue yukata asked.
"I'm looking for a man named Kemper Boltz, do you know him?" You asked the four.
All four looked at each other before laughing.
"It's against the law to light an outdoor fire without permission. But I'm willing to overlook that, if you answer my questions" You said, looking down at the home made grill.
The guy in the blue yukata got up and made his way over to you.
"Your a real comedian girly. Has the heat gone to your head or what?" He smugly said, poking the knife at your white jumper, but not enough to where the fabric can tare open.
"Seems to me because you're over dressed." He smugly smirked down at you.
Before he and his friends could do anything though, you gabbed his wrist and kicked your knee up, sending the knife he had flying into the air before letting go of his wrist.
He tried to move back but you grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him down, kneeing him in the gut harshly.
He grunted as he fell to his knees then face planted on the stone ground.
You looked at his friends before lifting you left arm up and cached the knife in your hand, they all to a step back.
"Just give me an address and I'll be on my way." You blankly said.
"Eaah, number two twenty five. H- he's on the third floor." One of the guys answered.
You dropped the knife before walking away from them.
• • •
"Mr. Boltz? I'm with the Asakusa police department." You knocked on the door again.
After getting no reply, you just opted to try and open the door. To your surprise it was unlocked. You looked around before opening the door fully and walking inside.
Behind a corner though, a shadowed figure walked off.
"Are you home, sir? I have questions for you." You asked, sanding at the front door as you looked down the hall.
Still. No reply.
You walked down the hall to a small room, there was a small square wooden table in the middle of the room with two wooden chairs, there was one alcohol bottle on the table along with two filled glass.
Three cigarettes sat in the ashtray on the table as well. You continued to look around, there was a small kitchen area on the left side of the room. A book shelf filled with random things on the other side, along with a bed and wardrobe.
To be honest, the place looked like a mess.
You opened the wardrobe and pushed the clothes apart, on the floor was three wooden boxes.
You squinted your eyes at them before taking them out. You placed two on the bed as you opened one on the table. Small white pouches sat neatly inside.
Pulling one out you opened it then dumped the contents inside it into your hand.
Three white pills fell into your palm.
"Coderoin? Huh?" You said to yourself.
You then turned to the bed, the only place you didn't check for some reason.
You crouched down and lifted the blanket, a pail face that looked terrified steered back at you.
You gasped as you moved backwards, bumping into the table, the force made one of the glass fall off the table and brake as alcohol spilt onto the floor.
You panted as you continued to look down at the body that was hidden under the bed.
"Hey! What the hell you doing in there?!" A voice shouted from next door as the person banged on the wall.
"How many times do I have to tell you keep it down?! Huh?!" They shouted again.
You placed your hand under Kemper's nose, no air flowed out, telling you he was dead.
"Shit." You said, you turned your head to the wall when hearing banging again.
"Come on! Say something! Tell me your sorry, blubbering and apologies like you always do!" The voice shouted again.
"Hurry it up! You getting proud you dumb bastard! Stay right there!" You then heard heavy footsteps on the other side of the wall.
Taking note of what he said, you quickly got up and ran to the front door.
You made it just in time to as the door was being opened, you yanked it and held it closed as the person on the other side tried opening it, to no avail.
You relaxed after a while when the person left with a threat.
You walked back to where the body was and pulled it out from under the bed.
'Body's still warm. He must've died fairly recently...' You thought after checking his pulse.
You examined his body to see if there were any wounds and such that had killed him, but found nothing. You took out the man's wallet that was in his back pocket, you looked through it see if you could identify who this man was.
'Kemper Boltz...' You thought, seeing his name on one of the cards.
Coughing could be heard from the other side of the wall.
'Hot as it is, this corps will start to smell pretty quickly. The men at that bar know me, once the body's found I'll be questioned, even if I report it myself.' You say down on the edge of the bed, closing your eyes as you sighed.
'Leaving tomorrow won't be an option if that happens, damn it. Should I just put the body back and forget about all this? No. Ignoring a dead body wouldn't just get me into trouble, but also Hitch. It would draw suspicious not just on her but also on me, so what then.'
You kept your eyes closed for a moment longer before opening them again.
'I'll track down Carly, say I found her without even needing to come here. If Kemper isn't found by tomorrow, I can report his death anonymously.'
• • •
Loud snoring came from next door. You had decided to wait until Kemper's neighbour went out or fell asleep, which is what had happened.
'Think they've finally fallen asleep...' You thought, the orange glow of the afternoon shining through the window as you got up. You calmly made your way to the front door, opening it and looking left and right to make sure no one saw you.
'Could someone have killed Kemper and then abducted Carly from his apartment?' You asked yourself as you locked Kemper's door.
'It's possible. But you would've thought they'd lock the door as they left to keep that neighbour out. Maybe the killer just wanted Kemper's coderoin stash?' You thought, make your way down the wooden stairs and down the alleyways to the carriage.
'No way. Those boxes were about as poorly hidden as they could've bin. Even Hitch could've found them.'
• • •
"It's called coderoin. Apparently it's highly expensive, potent and addictive. It's been a problem in a couple of small villages before it sneaked its way here somehow?" Hitch explained, telling you what happened at work as she got ready to go out with Marlo and Boris to some bar.
"I'm surprised you remember that much..." You plainly responded, making yourself some miso ramen with chashu pork for dinner.
"Rude. Anyways, I'll be back soon." She said, slamming the front door shut.
You only sighed before plating your food.
• • •
'Kemper had three boxes packed to the brim, he was clearly dealing. Maybe with Carly's help? But how did they get so much of the stuff? Regardless, I need to grill Stratmann again. I'll make him fess up about whatever he was hiding before. And I'll tug that thread until it leads me to his daughter.'
You soon snapped out of your thoughts when noticing you reached the carriage.
"Thanks for waiting." You thanked the carriage driver as you handed him a bit more money.
"Yeaah..." He muttered.
You soon took notice of the slender man behind him, he had blackish blue suit on with a grey button up shirt. His hair was black and parted on the side.
He steered at the intersection with a small smile and piercing black eyes.
"The Stratmann estate please." You said to the carriage driver before gasping as the door to the carriage was flung open, the tip of a knife a couple of inches away from your face along with the click of a gun behind you.
"No sudden moves. Come along quietly and we won't have to kill you here. We'd much prefer to avoid making a seen." The man in the carriage said, lifting his hat to show one blue eye and one red eye.
Your eyes widened, quickly remembering what the tall man at the bar said.
• • •
'He wore a real fancy suit... and it looked like one of his eyes were fake. It was red, probably glass, you'll know him when you see him.'
• • •
You only grunted, furrowing your eyebrows as you looked at the man in the carriage with a glare.
"Hands up." The guy behind you said, you listened and put your arms up as he walked closer to you.
He opened the pocket on your uniform jacket when seeing the obvious signs of something being in there, which was your small notebook.
"Huh? What's this." He smugly said, waving the book around in his hand as he got close to your face, you grimaced at him.
"Here bro." He said, chucking the book to the man in the carriage, which he caught.
The guy with the gun then tied your wrists together and pushed you to go into the carriage.
Now that you were seated next to him with his partner in front of you who was skimming through your notes on Carly's disappearance, you could now finally get a good look of them.
The guy with the who sat next to you had tended skin with short spiky brown hair and a small beard that was starting to grow on his chin, he also wore a red button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows along with little brown pants. You looked at his partner, he looked older then the guy next to you seeing how he had obvious wrinkles, nonetheless he wore all cream coloured clothes minus his tie which was red.
"You have very detailed notes, I see that you care about your work." The older guy in the cream coloured suit said.
"May I ask where your planing to take me?" You asked, ignoring what he said.
"The industrial ward. It's home to several open liquid repositories that are good for making things, disappear." He answered.
"One dip into that sludge and it'll melt yea into nothing, haha." His partner said after him, laughing at the end.
"So did you inhale to many fumes from it or were you always this stupid?" You asked the brown haired male, him looking at you annoyed after.
"Huh? Ha." He suddenly grabbed you by the back of your hair and put you closer to him, your shoulder hitting his as he pointed a knife at you.
"You need to learn your place here real fast, bitch."
"Calm down. Let's not be savage's, Lou." The older man in the cream coloured suit addressed who you now know as Lou.
The said male only scoffed and shoved you away. Muttering how he wasn't actually going to do anything and muttering the name Wald.
So, the guy in front of you must be named Wald?
"I take it I must of upset you, yet I'm not sure how?"
"It's not that we're upset." Wald said, taking out a cigarette.
"We're simply aware that the work your doing can interfere with the work we're doing." He finished.
"So this is about Carly Stratmann. Do you know where she is? You have to, right?" You asked, looking him in the eye.
"You'll never learn what we know." He replied plainly, lighting a match and holding it up to his cigarette as he took a puff from it.
"You do realise that my comrades will be hot on my heels, don't you?" You lied.
"Actually, I think that's a lie. We spoke to Stratmann earlier, he informed us you were acting on your own." Wald replied smugly.
"Yes, I'm alone. But I've also been checking in with my superiors. When I go missing they'll look and know where to start-"
"You discovered Kemper's corps in that apartment, didn't you. Considering how long you were in there."
You paused, staying silent.
"You must of. But, you didn't tell the coach to take you back to the police station, you asked to go to Stratmann's. And that means, for some reason you can't check in with your superiors. At least not about this case, am I right?"
Shit. You had to think of something fast. You glanced around the carriage for something to help you out of this situation.
Lou looked at you questioning seeing how you were acting, soon smirking smugly when he saw you glance down at his knife.
"You really think we're dumb enough to fall for your stupid tricks?" He chuckled, lifting the hand that held his knife as if trying to mock you.
"Yeah..." you replied, suddenly raising your tied arms and forcefully hitting your elbow into his hand which managed to make his hand twist towards his face.
Lou squeezed his eyes shut as the tip of his knife scratched his cheek, just missing his eye by a couple of inches.
"You cocky little!-" He cut himself off as he twisted his hand the right way and held his knife correctly as he swung the knife in your direction.
You lifted your tied hands in front of your face, your eyebrow twitching at the small stink on one of your hands.
"You're that stupid..." You finished, as yellow lightning surrounded your figure from inside the small carriage.
Both Wald's and Lou's eyes grew wide at the sight. A loud bang went off as the carriage blow up, bits of metal and broken glass flying everywhere as a giant arm made of exposed muscle and flesh grew. Wald grunted as his body hit a brick building and fell to the ground, Lou was also sent flying off... somewhere?
The ravin haired male that was driving the carriage was also sent flying off somewhere.
Everything calmed down after a couple of seconds as layers of thick dust stayed in the air, the only sound being present was the steam that rose from it as you were crouched at the end of it.
You stood up as you ripped your left arm out from the muscle that was still attached to your arm, it making a weird sound as you did.
You looked around the dust covered area, trying to see if Wald or Lou were still here through the thick dust. You just hoped know one else had see the explosion.
It took you a couple of seconds but you managed to find Wald's hunched over form as he rested his back against a brick wall. Wald's eyes widened slightly seeing your shadowed figure emerge from the dust, but soon went back to normal as he coughed and placed his left hand behind his back.
Your eyes widened as Wald got up and brought out a knife, flinging his arm with the knife in his hand at your face. You moved your head to the side and pushed his arm away slightly with your left hand that blocked the side of your face.
You grabbed his wrist with your free hand and pulled him forward, his back now facing you. You then reached over with your left hand and grabbed his chin as you kicked your left leg into his, sweeping him off his feet.
Wald landed on the ground with a loud thud, his eyes widened as you hovered his knife above his neck as you pressed your leg on his stomach, preventing him from getting up.
"Now tell me where to find Carly Stratmann." You demanded, your eyes glaring down at him.
"You appeared out of know where, and ruined everything." Wald said.
You closed your eyes before getting up, holding the knife close to you.
"Carly is at-"
'BANG'
Your eyes widened as you dropped the knife, your body jolting as blood splattered onto the ground. Red liquid seeped onto your white jumper as you fell to your knees, soon collapsing onto the ground.
"Guess she set off a bomb or something?" Lou, the one who shot you, breathed heavily as he lowered his arm that had the gun his his hand.
Lou looked at the blood that started to seep onto the concrete ground under you, even though he missed your heart you would even die of blood loss.
"Hey, can you stand?" He asked Wald, who had moved to rest against the brick wall again.
"I think I can manage..." he assured, pulling out a cigarette.
"Not for long you can."
"Huh?"
Lou lifted his gun again, a wicked grin on his face as he looked down at Wald who looked up at him in confusion.
"Take a nice civilised rest." He said.
Wald only looked at him before sighing and looking down.
"So, you were the one who killed Kemper after all." He said.
"Like it matters." Lou answered, soon pulling the trigger on the gun as a bang went off.
He snickered to himself as he turned and walked toward his black haired partner, him screaming as Lou pointed the gun at him and shot him too before making his escape.
You shifted a bit before lifting your right arm and placed your palm on the ground, soon lifting your upper body up as you supported your weight with your left arm.
You sighed, steam coming out from the small hole from where you were shot as the wound healed. You got up quite and looked at Wald, blood was seeping onto his suit as he held his hand on the wound.
"Your still alive." You said, after a couple of seconds Wald opened his eyes and looked up at you with surprise.
"Tell me where to find Carly." You said sternly, looking at him with a frown.
Wald only continued to look at you with shock and astonishment at how you were still alive, before closing his eyes and looking down again.
"197 Vangelder... it's the second floor apartment..." He answered, keeping his eyes closed.
"Who exactly are you guys?" You asked, you needed all the information you could get out of him before anything else happened.
"Just a group of fre- e lancer's.. a few days back, Mr. Stratmann hired us to find and recover his daughter... when the trail lead us to Kemper we tied him up and questioned him, then he said.. he would tell us were to find Carly... and give us a secret.. as long as we incentivised him, I helped him with the job..." Wald explained, taking deep breaths as sweat ran down his forehead.
"What kind of job?" You asked, blinking.
"The dirty kind... not did he plan to ransom Carly back to Stratmann.. he wanted to use a secret to blackmail the man. We took the job."
The hand Wald was using to hold his wound started to loosen as he steered down at the ground.
"We made arrangements to meet Stratmann and exchange the girl for the money two days from now... if it had worked, I could've put this life behind me." He said, son looking up at you.
"It was so close to being in my grasp, all I needed was a little more time." With his real eye he blinked at you as he reached into his pocket.
"If.. that thing... had just come to attack one day later... my son and I would have been here in Asakusa..." Wald coughed a bit as he lifted a cigarette to his lip.
By the way he was acting, you could tell he didn't have much longer.
"Every damn.. time. Right when you're ready to take that final step... something.. gets in your way. For me... that j- just how... life has.. always gone..." The hand that was holding the cigarette up soon fell.
You walked up to Wald's body and crouched down, picking up the cigarette and lighting it with a match from his cigarette box and placing it in his mouth before stepping away.
Wald weakly raised his hand as to a puff from the cigarette, letting out a shaky breath after.
It was quite between the two of you as the sun soon set before the horizon.
"F- finally... some.. piece and quite.... It's- s time.. Peter... dad's com'n home..." Wald managed to get out before taking his final breath, his head resting against the brick wall.
You crouched down onto your knees, taking the cigarette and smudging it into the ground before clasping your hands together and closing your eyes, praying that Wald has a better life together with his son.
• • •
"Ah, miss? Are you alright?"
You turned your head to the unfamiliar voice of a woman. It had been a couple of minutes since you left Wald's body, and now you were about to leave to go find Carly.
The woman in front of you sweat dropped as she didn't get a reply from you, her lavender eyes inspected the wound just under your chest, it seemed resent.
When seeing where she was looking you finally gave her an answer.
"Oh, I'm fine. Don't worry, just got scratched." You assured, trying to cover the wound with the brown police jacket.
The woman blinked, her grip on the medical bag tightening slightly.
She was confused. There was blood on your jumper but when she squinted her eyes slightly she couldn't see any wound from the small hole. Not just that, but the scent of steam seemed to follow you to?
"If you say so then, miss." The woman said, bowing a bit in apology for wasting your time, her purple kimono that had floral designs on it wrinkling slightly at her movements.
"It's fine." You said, waving her apology off, she only nodded, watching as you walked off.
Her assistant soon appeared next to her, looking between your retreating form and her as he folded a medical apron.
"Lady-"
"I know, Yuahiro."
The women said calmly, still looking at where you once were. Something told her that you weren't entirely... human.
• • •
"Ugh!"
The man that was apart of Lou's group grunted as you hit his face into the wooden pillar as you reached the top of the stairs.
You had managed and succeeded to find the apartment Carly was being held hostage at.
"H- how?" Lou questioned, taking a step back as he looked at you in astonishment of how you were still alive.
But, his experience soon changed to anger as he ordered his other members of his group.
"Bitch! Kill her!" He shouted an insult at you before looking at the other three guy that were with him.
"Fine! Leave it to me!" One of the men yelled, he wore at dark blue kimono and had dark brown hair. With his empty bottle of alcohol he flipped it upside down so he was holding the neck of it while he walked over to you.
You took a couple steps back, occasionally jerking your head back as the man swigged his empty bottle at your face, but with a swift and harsh kick to his gut, the guy was immediately on the floor.
You leaped forward, hitting the second guy with your elbow into his face harshly, knocking him out as his head hit the ground.
For the third guy, you simply raised your right leg and kicked it into his neck, prompting him to lay on the ground too.
Lou sweat dropped at how his men had managed to be defeated by a teenager.
"Shit, damn you!" He swore, reaching behind him and grabbed out his gun from his belt and pointing it at you.
You quickly grabbed an empty bottle from the wooden table that was situated in the corner of the room and throwing it at him, making Lou close his eyes.
Lou held his head once the bottle smashed against his forehead and broke into tiny pieces.
Lou opened his eyes back up and pointed his gun at you again, finally shooting.
But this time, he missed. You had stepped to the side, the bullet passing by your head by a couple of inches as it tore a piece of your hoodie that covered your head.
"A- ahh!" Lou shouted as he looked at you with terrified eyes, his hand shaking to hold the gun properly.
You moved quickly, grabbing his hand with a slap and yanking him forward, making him land on the ground with a grunt. Without giving him time you harshly shoved his gun in his mouth.
Lou looked up at you with fear and horror in his shaking eyes as tears ran down his cheeks.
"Is Carly inside this building?" You plainly asked, steering down at him blankly.
Lou nodded frantically, his pulse shrinking.
"I never fought your gang. I never meet you or Wald, and I here. Got it?" You asked, your frown deepening.
Again, Lou nodded.
"If you so as squeal to so much as one person, then the second word gets back to me, your through." You said darkly, Lou continued to nod at every word you said as more tears ran down his face.
"Bang..."
Lou yelped as he moved around terrified, not long after his body fell limp as he past out from shock.
You threw the gun somewhere else in the room as you got up.
"Are you done?"
You gasped quietly, turning around to find a woman leaning against one of the door frames, a cigarette in between two of her fingers.
She had ginger coloured hair that reached her shoulders, her outfit consisted of a white t-shirt that showed her chest a bit and a black fabric corset over the t-shirt, along with a pinkish wine colour dress with a purple belt around her waist tied in a bow.
The woman also had two golden bracelets on each wrist, plus a necklace that had a green gem.
"You must be Carly Stratmann. Your father's been worried, I'll be escort you home." You said calmly after recognising the woman as Carly.
Carly merely lifted the cigarette to her red tinted lips as to a puff from it before blowing the smoke out.
"What's the hurry? Why don't we have a drink first?"
• • •
You were now sat in another room with Carly, she took another puff from her cigarette as she looked out the window that was slightly above the table.
The light on the ceiling along with a candle on the windowsill lit the room.
"So, Kemper's dead. Huh. That's a real shame." She responded after you told her about Kemper, see how they were dating.
Honestly, you were expecting a more serious reaction to his death, but ignored it anyways.
"I hear you've got a really big secret, care to share?" You questioned, Carly immediately looking at you with a smile on her face.
"I've been creating coderoin." She said, a twinkle of mischief in her golden eyes. You looked at her slightly surprised.
"You mean you actually manufacture it?"
"It's not as hard as it sounds, as long as my father keeps getting me morphine. Kemper was just one dealer, daddy runs things." Carly explained.
"Stratmann distributes it? I heard it was popular in small villages because it ever made its way here." I asked, confused.
"So it was. When we first launched this little inner prize, I had him promise not to sell coderoin."
"And the you came across proof that he had broken his promise. That explains why you got angry when you saw coderoin at the bar." You say, putting together the pieces of the puzzle without Carly even needing to finish.
Carly simply looked to the side, a betrayed and hurt look in her eyes.
"I was hoping to leave Asakusa with Kemper. But... he wasn't interested in living in poverty with me in some unknown village. Then he made a deal with those mercenary guys. And, based on what you said, Lou must've betrayed him. Silly Kemper."
You listened to her carefully.
"Say, would you be willing to pretend you never found me?" Carly asked, holding her cigarette between her fingers as she smiled at you, one eye closed.
You looked at her blankly before frowning.
"Why'd you decide to start making coderoin?" You questioned.
"Five years ago daddy lost everything he had." Carly explained, looking down but still smiling.
"I wanted to help him get it all back."
• • •
You quietly walked down the street to pitly doors, a brown bag in your hand containing your white jumper that had blood on it as you had changed into a new one. Carly and you had separate ways after the talk but arranged to meet up at pitly doors.
You pushed open the doors, your ears immediately hearing the loud laughter and happy chattering between people.
"Come on, Carly. Dance with us." The older guy from dis-morning asked Carly as she stood happily in the middle of a group of guys she seemed to know.
"I'm tempted, but I don't know if I should?" Carly said, smiling as she put her hand over her mouth and giggled.
She soon turned her attention to the front once seeing you, the bartender from dis-morning also looked at you as he cleaned a glass.
"Sorry fellas, I've got to run." Carly said, the guys immediately whining and asking her not to leave.
• • •
You watched as the water fell from the fountain that you were at dis-afternoon.
"Thanks for waiting, there was a commotion going on in the middle of town."
You turned when heard Carly's voice, she had a smile on her face as she held a brown paper bag in her right hand.
"You hungry? This is for you." She said, lifting the bag up as you reached out to take it.
"What is it?" You questioned.
"A bag of donuts."
Opening the bag you found four light brown circles with brown, pink and yellow chocolate on them. You took one out and took a bite out of it, your eyes widening as you took more bite.
"Gotcha this too." You looked at Carly as she lifted a bottle of limeade.
You put the donut back in the bag and took the bottle from her hand.
"Thank you."
"It's no problem." Carly waved your thanks off as she pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
".. Think I'm going to miss this town." Carly said, sitting down on the edge of the fountain as she crossed one leg over the other and propped her hand behind her to support her weight.
"You don't have to leave, do you? Just tell your father you're done making coderoin."
"I'm the only person who knows how. If I stick around here, I'll feel pressured to help him."
You nodded, understanding how she felt.
Carly then dipped her half smoked cigarette into the fountain, the small bits of orange light fading as she took it out the water and got up.
"Get some rest, you've earned it." She said, extending her hand out to you which you shook.
"I really wish I could, but I still have one last thing to do."
• • •
"What a nice smell, is that some sort of rare cigarette?" You asked as you were now at Stratmann's estate.
If your assumptions were correct, then he did have something to do with the investigation then just selling coderoin.
"You've got a good nose. Yes, they used to make these cigarettes when I was around your age back in the day. All good things are dying off it seems, I may have the words only stash." Mr. Stratmann said calmly, yet a bit tired seeing how late it was.
"I have more or less to confirm that you killed Kemper Boltz."
Mr. Stratmann looked up at you in surprise.
"That's completely ridiculous, why would you say that?" Stratmann says, his tone slightly loud.
"This morning, while you and I were talking here in this room, your butler came in and handed you a note. It contained a message from Kemper, did it not?"
Stratmann only looked at you with a straight face, not saying anything, so you continued.
"He'd been surreptitiously watching your estate, so when I entered your residence I'm sure he noticed, realising detectives were on the case made him panic. In a result he decided the ransom money early, 'just bring the money to my house, and I'll give your daughter back.' I bet that's what the note must've said? So you went to Kemper's place as he suggested, the two of you drank, and you spoke." You paused for a moment before continuing.
"I don't know what words were said, but in the end you killed him."
"Hmm. That's an interesting fiction you've created." Stratmann said, his face returning back to normal as he opened a case and pulled out a new cigarette.
"I found a few of these in Kemper's ashes tray." You said, taking out a folded piece of paper and placing it down on the table, the top part of the paper opening to reveal a crumpled cigarette that you had gone back to get.
"You have the world's only stash, right? Do you really think your excuses will hold up to a full investigation? Or can you understand that you've been caught?"
Stratmann still continued to say nothing as he lit his cigarette and took a puff from it, blowing smoke out after.
"... It was an accident, but he deserved it. Kemper had no intention of freeing my daughter, he was trash, he only wanted to get me drunk so he could steal my-"
"Save your breath, Stratmann."
"Huh?"
"And while you're at it can you stop smoking those cigarettes." You said annoyed.
"You have no authority to tell me what I can and can't do in my own home, I'll smoke as I please thank you."
"I've had to soak in the stench of booze and cigarettes all day now. I'm done putting up with his shit." You say darkly, taking Stratmann's cigarette and dropping it into his glass of alcohol.
"What has you agitated all of a sudden?"
"Don't misunderstand this. I'm not acting out of anger, I'm tired and I want this to end. That's all it is."
"I see. You will let me smoke in my cell, right?" Stratmann questioned, getting up.
"You won't be go to a cell."
• • •
You watched as Mr. Stratmann threw Kemper's body into the green water in the industrial ward, followed by you as you chucked the brown bag into the water, a splash being heard after a while.
"What made you decide to help me?" Stratmann asked, looking down at you.
"Helping you wasn't my objective. But, Carly still needs a father." You said, remembering your father.
• • •
"If you would like, you can visit me in my estate anytime. I see that you eat lie a queen." Stratmann requested as he drove a carriage, you sat in the back seat.
"I appreciate that, but well... I'll probably be leaving this place soon." You say, smiling slightly as you watch him drive.
"Are you getting transferred?" Stratmann asked, keeping his focus on the road.
"... hopefully."
• • •
'Investigation report. The missing person, Carly Stratmann headed to a village three days ago with her lover, Kemper Boltz. Further investigation is likely impossible due to this fact, and not knowing what what village they left to.'
• • •
You walked into the bedroom you and Hitch shared. It was five in the morning by now as the little light from the sun rising shined through the window.
You picked up a piece of paper that neat handwriting on it from the desk in the corner of the room.
'You seriously aren't out and looking for that run away girl right now are you?
Whatever, not my problem. Anyways, I found this at a shop and thought it would look good on you, you're as sexy as a brick right now so it can only help.
Hitch Dreyse~'
You looked at the desk once more to see a rose pin with two green ribbons as the leaves on either side of it, you looked behind you to look at Hitch who was asleep on the top bunk, internally thanking her.
• • •
You had just finished taking a shower and finished strapping on your odm gear, you were now in the kitchen using a knife to remove the unicorn badges off the short brown jacket you had been wearing.
After that was done you wrote Hitch a goodbye letter, thanking her for housing you and hoping to meet again in the near future before leaving it on the kitchen counter, and leaving with some food and money in your pockets.
• • •
"Ahhh! Tanjiro! Help!"
"Ahhhhh!"
"Inosuke! Stop chasing us!"
You stood in the corner with Nezuko who was humming happily as she held your hand, looking up at you with closed eyes.
You just watched as three boys ran around in a circle in the middle of the room.
'Yeah... I should have just continued my journey to the next village.' You thought, blinking.
(Yay! It's finally finished, I started back in August then abandoned for a while due to no motivation and school. Anyways, my updating will be slowly due to exams this week but I will post, also, I have TikTok now so if you want to check it out here's my user @britt7.an)