Mental problems, eh? Interesting.
Never thought I'd actually be enthusiastic for a wMatsui fic again lol.
Well, glad that I can steal your attention, mbak Yuk~
Thanks for the likes, Minna!! After a few months, we finally able to tryped up the first chapter. a big applause for AryaMachdi because he typed and edited the chapter till 1 am in the morning.
Sorry for the wait. Likes, comments, complain are very welcome~ enjoy!
PS: This series will have deaths so read at your own risks.
Mind Strings: Chapter 1
“I’m telling you. It’s gonorrhea.”
Jurina stopped munching on her sandwich, feeling her stomach churn weirdly as she groaned at her loss of appetite. “Out of all the time that you have, why talk now?”
Akane blinked in confusion, sipping on her orange juice. “What?”
"What do you mean, ‘what’? I was eating my favorite sandwich until you started to go skin deep into some guy’s disgusting disease,” Jurina said irritatedly, in which Akane shrugged casually.
“I was just saying. The last time I saw him was after when him and Mieko had another ‘one night stand’,” Akane said, drumming her fingers against the wooden table among dozens of other tables in the cozy restaurant they had gone into for lunch a couple of times.
Mieko widened her eyes, and slapped Akane lightly on the shoulder. “Akane!”
“Oh, right, I forgot that you’re literally right next to me,” Akane chuckled, patting Mieko’s head. “At least it isn’t something serious like AIDS or HIV.”
“Y-Yeah, but…” Mieko stuttered, trying to hide her now red cheeks. “Really, Akane? Do you really have to talk about t-that now?”
“Yes, since there’s Jurina here with us, I think it’s necessary for her to know all of this information,” Akane’s sentence caused another surprised Jurina having to stop eating her food after regaining her appetite.
“Wait, hold on, why should I be a part of this?” Jurina asked cautiously, feeling an aura of suspicion coming from Akane’s smirk.
“It’s more than just a one night stand,” Akane softly said as a family of four sat next to them in a table a few feet away. Mikeo blushed again with an opened mouth, slapping Akane in the shoulder even harder this time.
“W-we only did it a couple of times, shut up!” Mieko whispered warningly towards Akane, who still had a smirk spread across her lips.
“Bullshit, it was more than a couple. I even saw you guys going on dates before,” Akane hit another jackpot when she saw Mieko’s dumbstruck face. “I know, I’m that good at being a spy.”
“Just stop it, alright? He’s in a bad condition and you’re too busy making my stories sounds so stupid,” Mieko sighed, massaging her forehead when she saw Jurina standing up from her seat.
“Where are you going?”
“Meeting up with a client of mine. The usual perks, either depressed or mentally traumatized by past events that can trigger later fears in the present day,” Jurina said, taking her final sip of her drink before sliding her purse onto her shoulder. “See you later.”
“Wait, wait, wait! I thought you’re going to pay for lunch,” Akane shouted as she saw Jurina nearly exiting the front foor.
“Just go pay it, I’ll pay you later on in life!” Jurina shouted back before leaving the restaurant and crossing down the street. Akane sighed, and looked at Mieko for a second.
“Hey… we’re friends, right?” Mieko sighed, shaking her head.
“Fine…” she said in defeat, waving her hand at the nearest waitress. “Excuse me. The bill, please.”
----
The continuous and rhythmic sound of keyboard typing, accompanied by the low hum of the air conditioner set in cold temperature was all that Jurina needed to keep her focus intact. She arrived at her office a few moments ago after stopping by at Starbucks to get herself a hot vanilla latte. The coffee resides beside the piles of paper stacked neatly near the computer.
She looked at the time from the clock on the wall. It has been several minutes that the coffee has been left untouched, and it should be alright to drink it now due to the temperature around the room.
Taking the warm, Starbuck-labelled cup onto the grasp of her hand, she took a small sip and took a moment to savor the delicious taste before taking another sip. Setting it aside, she cleared her satisfied throat and continued typing on the two-year computer powered by an Intel Core i7 processor running in Windows 8.
She was indeed a tech freak. Anything that’s related to computers, phones, television, air conditioners, and all-things technological had a strong relationship with Jurina. Though she kind of hated this side of her, her friends told her that she was a big help whenever they wanted to ask something about the latest iPhone or Android release, and to pick either Mac or Windows to use for work.
Jurina sighed. “Sometimes, I just don’t know who or what I am anymore…”
Then, she heard a knock on the door.
She looked up from her computer screen, looking at the door for a while before checking the time once again, and hummed in amusement. The client was on time, unlike the usual late comers. “Come on in.”
The door opened slightly, letting out a small squeak. A head popped out from it, who was a girl. Jurina inspected her for a second. Her hair tied in a ponytail, her black glasses. The girl was also sweating, and seemed to be a little out of breath.
The girl smiled shyly, and took a deep breath. “Is this, uh… is this the right room?”
Jurina returned the smile. “Are you Rena-san?” The girl nodded her head. “Then, welcome to my office. Come in.”
The girl named Rena nodded her once again, and muttered a ‘thank you’ before stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. Her attention switched towards the design of the room, looking at some of the decorations and furniture. She had an immediate attraction on how minimalistic the room was. “Nice office.”
Jurina chuckled. “Well, thanks. One of my friends has a degree in interior design, and so, I asked her if she could help me with the look for my office. As a matter of fact, she’s the one who helped with the design for the new five-star hotel near Shinjuku.”
Rena nodded, forming an ‘o’ shape with her mouth. “Impressive… Um, may I?”
“Sure, go on ahead and take a seat. Sofa or chair, you’re free to choose,” Jurina allowed the girl’s permission, walking towards her desk which had a tray of two glasses of chilled water. Rena politely took a seat, her hands folded with one another and both of her arms resting on her lap. She watched as Jurina came over with the tray, setting down one of the glasses at the glass table in front of her. Rena thanked Jurina, which the latter only smiled as a form of reply.
“Must’ve been a hurry, huh?” Jurina asked, looking at Rena in question who looked back at her after drinking her water. It was nearly empty. Thirsty from exhaustion; check.
“Oh, no… It was just, uh… I was worried if I’m able to get here on time…” Rena awkwardly explained. Jurine nodded. Trying to cover up the truth so I wouldn’t pity her; check.
“So, that means you didn’t have any breakfast nor lunch before you came here?” Jurina asked again. Rena bit her lip, which Jurina took note of that and also the girl’s hands slightly rubbing against her thighs. Hesitation to tell the truth, and unsureness; a common behavior amongst most people dealing in an awkward situation.
“Y-Yes... I’ll just have a quick lunch after this, so it’ll be much easier,” Rena said assuringly, smiling shyly towards Jurina. The latter nodded, and smiled back.
“Judging by the perspiration, you didn’t just walk here, you actually ran,” Jurina spoke out loud, inspecting Rena’s appearance. “Your clothes are tattered, so you must’ve not taken any care for your clothes for the past week since it still looks awfully wrinkled and overused. There, on your right chest pocket, a bright yellow-orange stain, you must’ve had dinner last night and accidentally spilled some on your shirt. Bad choice since it’s the color of white. Tell me, did you have pasta last night?”
Rena was left awestruck at the girl’s precise predictions, because all of them were true. “Yes. I had spaghetti.”
“I thought so,” Jurina smirked. “Your shoes looked saggy and wet at the bottom but not at the top, perhaps you have stepped onto a puddle along the way though I’m not sure why. Your hair is slightly a mess and your eyes looked like you’ve just been raised back from the dead, so you must have woken up later than usual. You didn’t have any time, and so, you put perfume all over your body in order to smell good. And last but not least, your phone,” Jurina pursed lips inward. “May I see it?”
The slightly dumbstruck Rena slowly took her phone out of her pocket, and revealed it to Jurina. She nodded her head. “Turn it over.” Rena obliged, and showed off numerous of grazes on the back.
“On the way, you bumped into someone. You had your phone on your right hand, and dropped it the moment you came in body contact with a random pedestrian. Must’ve skidded a couple of feet away since it does look pretty bad,” Jurina concluded, an amused smile on her face as Rena stared at her in disbelief.
Rena looked at her phone, and back at Jurina. “How did you…”
Jurina kept her smile upon her face. “Rena-san, I believe we are going to have a very pleasant session today.”
Tokyo Police HQ – Fourth FloorAs soon as the elevator door slid open, a figure walked out of the transportation with a big cardboard box in her hand. Not only it looks heavy, it also seemed so stuffed up with stationaries, files, folders, to a bobble head. But despite all that, the figure with brown flowing hair still managed to pick it up and walked in her high heels.
“You need help?” asked a voice beside her. Sounded like a man in the mid 20’s. But she didn’t even bother to take a glance at the man, and focused on her load.
“I’m good.” She declined. She kept walking till she reached an automatic door and dropped her box on an empty table in the room. She sighed and quickly slumped on an office chair near the desk.
“Well, you seemed to be pretty Genki to be here, Ms. Iriyama.” Said a voice from the side. The woman glanced and saw a man in the early 30’s smiling at her with a folder in his hand.
The woman stood up and gave the man a salute, “Iriyama Anna, reporting Sir.”
The man laughs off, “Well you seemed to be very Genki indeed to get transferred here. My name is Kashiwagi Ryuki, the head of Investigation Division here. Short explanation, I’m your new boss.”
“Now I know you might be pretty stuffed up already with your previous boss, but I can assure you that I’m not as annoying as he is. I’m pretty flexible if you want to fly a complaint.” He winked at the girl but not in a matter of flirting Anna can tell.
Ryuki looked around till her spotted something through his steel rimmed glasses, “Ah there you are!” then he turned to Anna, “Iriyama, meet your new partner for the job.”
Anna looked at the new approaching man, a bit of a bluff but his face was quite young that Anna almost thought he must’ve been a part of baseball team of a high school if it weren’t for the police badge on his chest.
“Iriyama-san? I’m Kawaei Rin, yoroshiku.” He bowed which Anna immediately follow the same thing. “I saw you with the box before seemed to be pretty heavy.”
“Ah was it you offering for help? Gomen, I had it alright..” bowed Anna. “But thank you for the offer.” She flashed a smile at the young man.
“Well, anyway…” cuts off Ryuki a bit. “Iriyama, I’m sorry to say that you might have to delay your unpacking session of your belongings but there’s a case in the city waiting for an investigation.”
“Are the forensics there already?” asked Rin. Ryuki nodded and gave a set of key to the man.
“Don’t scratch it again kid, Miichan did the scolding at me instead of the boss since he’s away. The next scratch will be facing boss and I will make you listen to him instead of me.”
“Yes sir.” Said Rin with a red face to the older man before glancing back at Anna. “Let’s go.”
----
The two arrived at the crime scene in minutes, they climbed up to the seventh floor of the building and found the forensics lurking around with their equipments.
“Yamamoto-san.” Called Rin at the bunch of forensics and saw a woman turned around with a raised eyebrow.
“Ah, Rin-kun.” She said handing her sub-ordinates the clipboard she was holding. “Ryuki sent you? I was kinda hopin’ to see Shimada though…”
“He’s up on another case in Chiba with Oba-san.” Explained Rin. “Yamamoto-san, this is my new partner by the way.”
“Iriyama Anna, yoroshiku.” Anna introduced herself to the elder woman.
“Yamamoto Sayaka, forensic.” From the way she was saying her sentence, Anna can tell she’s from Osaka. “Well, she seems to be smart to accompany you so I’ll let that pass.
“Oi!” retorted Rin. Sayaka laughs off before motioning them to follow her to the bathroom of the apartment.
“Say hello to our victim; Akimoto Yashushi, 56 years old.” Said Sayaka showing them a body lied in the bathtub filled with coins. The whole body was buried under the coins but the head was up above as if he was taking a bath in hundred of coins. His head was beaten up badly with the red liquid still dripping from the wound on his head.
“Cliché death for a freakin rich music producer.” Said Anna remembering the name as she pulled out her notebook. “Wasn’t he the producer of the famous Idol Group?”
“Yeap.” Nodded Rin. “Who found him?”
“His spouse arrived at home at around three hours ago from a socialite gathering in Kyoto for three days. She went to the bathroom and found the body then rang up the police.” Said Sayaka reading off the clipboard from her sub-ordinate.
“His death is around 3-4am in the morning with the hemoglobin turned dark already. You are welcome to look around.”
“Well, what’s this?” pointed Anna at the bathroom mirror with an intimidating symbol painted in dark ink. Looks like a combination of two triangles with a tip from each to stick together.
“That seems to be a symbol left by the killer.” Said Sayaka. “My team taken pictures of the place already and it’ll be available by lunch hopefully.”
“Where’s the wife? We can start from her.” Said Anna.
“Taken to the HQ for questioning, but probably being calmed down first by our new ally.”
“New Ally?” asked Rin.
Yamamoto sighed, “I bet you didn’t read the notice yesterday kid. The federal police decided to tryout psychology approached in investigation. Like real psychologist involved for the interview.”
“Wow. They got the money for it?” blabbered Rin which Sayaka immediately sent a glare to the man. “My bad.”
“Go check them out anyway, see if they can give a hand on the case.” Sayaka shook the off, “and Iriyama-san.”
“Yes?”
“Take care of Rin-kun, he’s a very great guy but tends to be like a duckling lost it’s mother on the way to the lake at times.” Nodded Sayaka with a concerned look that Anna almost laughed off if it weren’t for her control.
“I’ll report further once I got something else.”
To be Continued
Topic: Mind Strings (Machdi-san x Cometerz48 Collab): Chapter 1 (Read 9592 times)