An airplane zoomed down the runway and right next to the window, making the ground rumble and distracting you from your phone.
It had been a week since the discovery of the newfound sum of cash Saguru had given to you. In that week, you had deposited all of the cash in separate transactions and had prepared for this trip. Kaito had given you a mini masterclass on how to imitate voices and how to forge signatures and imitate handwriting. This newly-acquired skill- which you had quickly mastered, much to your surprise- allowed you to excuse yourself from school without raising any suspicion, as you phoned in as your mom and sent a note in her handwriting.
While you were depositing all that cash over the course of the week, you had noticed something just a few days ago when you were going over your bank account history.
There had been deposits from another party that totaled 100,000 yen.
You had no idea who it was from, but you were thankful that you had some backup cash in case anything went wrong.
You went back to looking at your phone when it vibrated from an incoming call. You recognized the number instantly.
"A call from Miwako? What's this all about?" you asked yourself as you picked it up and answered it.
"Hello, (y/n) speaking."
"Hey, (y/n). I've got good news for you!"
You hesitated a bit.
Good news? Good news about what?
"Well, what is it then?"
"You've been cleared from the list of suspects!"
You froze. Your hand was halfway on its destination to scratch an itch on your neck, but it stopped in midair.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"That's right, (y/n). You've been cleared from the list of suspects. I just heard the news today from someone else. They analyzed all the evidence and cross-examined alibis and statements and found that you weren't guilty."
You were speechless. Finally, this burden that had been weighing you down ever since this started had been removed,
Letting out a deep sigh, you finally spoke.
"Wow. Just, wow. Thanks for letting me know, Miwako."
"Any time. By the way, where are you right now? Your background noise is kinda loud."
You froze. You couldn't exactly let her know you were at the airport. A bunch of follow-up questions was going to follow for sure.
"I'm at a... school assembly right now."
"Ah, I see. I better hang up now then, don't want you getting in trouble for using your phone during school, after all. See ya!"
Beeping on the other end told you she had hung up. You exhaled a breath you didn't know you had been holding in and placed your phone in your pocket.
Surely that won't be exposed, right? I mean, it was just a little white lie. Can't be that bad, can it?
You glanced down at the backpack that was your carry-on bag, then out the window at the white airplane parked outside, refueling.
This was going to take a while.
***
"Whew, I finally made it!"
You flopped onto the bed, utterly exhausted after the flight. You had just finished checking into your hotel and all you wanted to do was take a nap.
You glanced at the clock sitting on top of the nightstand next to you.
"It's 1:45 pm right now. There's an eight-hour time difference between here and Tokyo, so it's 9:45 pm back home."
You rolled over onto your side and stared at the drawn curtains covering the window for a while.
What to do now? Maybe I could take a 20-minute nap, then head out for lunch? Yeah, that sounds good.
You rolled back over onto your back, now staring at the white ceiling.
You had so much freedom right now, you were a bit overwhelmed by it. You could practically do anything you wanted to. The only limits were the law and how much money you had in your bank account.
Groaning, you buried your face underneath the pillow. You rolled over back and forth before curling up into a ball and rocking yourself.
Great.
***
The sound of keys clicking as you typed away on your laptop could be heard, along with the whir of the air conditioner.
You had just come back from dinner and a bit of sightseeing around the city. Right now, you were doing anything but relaxing. Tomorrow was a big day.
Tomorrow was the day that Spider was supposed to perform in the UK. You had already booked tickets in advance and you were researching ways to get there.
"There's an Underground station not far from here. Let's see what routes run through it."
You zoomed in on Google Maps and clicked the station. A side menu popped up with information about the station and the routes that ran through it. Scrolling up, you saw that one of the lines that ran through the station also led to the station by the theatre.
"Ooh, how convenient. I'll just take that route for tomorrow then."
You closed your laptop and got up from your chair. Your suitcase was lying nearby and you zipped it open, pulling out stuff you'd need for tomorrow.
First, there was the wig. You had gotten it around Halloween a few years ago for cosplay but truth be told, it didn't look or feel like a cosplay wig. It wasn't as shiny as one and it didn't feel like one. It looked and felt like natural hair. You quickly placed it on your head to make sure it still fit. You had bought this a few years ago, after all.
"Still fits. Good, that saves me an emergency wig trip."
Tossing it onto the vanity counter, you pulled out a glasses case and popped it open to reveal a pair of fake frames. You took them out and wiped the lenses off on your shirt, then tried them on. They still fit, so that was good. They also changed your appearance drastically, which is what you were going for.
Your final step was to pull out a bag of makeup and travel-size hair products you had brought along. You unzipped the bag and dumped the contents onto the counter with a loud clatter. A jar of foundation rolled off and almost hit the floor, but you caught it in time.
You picked it up and tossed it into the air, swiftly catching it in your hand on the way down. Makeup was a tool not to be underestimated. It had the ability to turn you into someone else with just a few strokes. A brush of illuminator along the cheekbones, some concealer under the eyes, and a swipe of lipstick to finish it off and boom, you could be an entirely different person.
So, what's up with all of this? Well, you would be face-to-face with your boyfriend's murderer tomorrow, so there was no such thing as being too cautious under those circumstances.
You set the foundation back onto the counter and looked at your reflection staring back at you from the mirror. As you did so, a question you had tried to suppress floated to the surface from the bottom of your mind.
How would you get Spider arrested? You weren't a part of law enforcement, so you didn't have the ability to.
Turning around, you took a seat on an armchair and pulled your knees up to your chest.
Let's see... how do I alert the police? Couldn't I give them an anonymous tip? Just call them or whatever and tell them I may have found Saguru's murderer? That's a reasonable choice; news of his death has spread all across the world. It won't cast me under suspicion and plus, it's anonymous so I don't have to worry about putting my life in danger as well.
You ran a few more possible options through your mind, weighing the pros and cons of each of them before deciding an anonymous tip-off to the police was the best choice.
That settles it. You'd put your plan into motion starting tomorrow.
But for now... you were pretty tired and desperately needed a nap.
Stupid jet lag.
Sorry that this was a short chapter. This is filler, but the real action starts next chapter.
Word count: 1399 words
Page count: 13 pages