The Archives

By: Apeman (zeni316@yahoo.com)

Case File#7: Hangman

“My god,”

            Toshiya looked down as I stared at her face.  It had been at least two weeks since she left her husband, and her skin was clean of the bruises of her past.  Her face was beautiful, and her eyes were captivating.  I never noticed it, but her hair is blue.

            “You look amazing,” I chuckled, and I patted her shoulder.  “Find yourself a better man, Toshiya-chan.”

            “Thanks,” she said, and she smiled.

            I walked passed her towards Kohta’s position in the corner of the precinct.  He was scribbling words on a pad of paper, beginning to look frustrated.  He shook his head constantly and rubbed his face.  He needs a cup of coffee.

            “Hmm?” I mumbled, looking through my shades at the pad of paper that had my friend extremely aggravated.

            “Just trying to find something out from these damned letters,” he said.  “I can’t find any words that can possibly be formed with these things.”

            “Don’t work too hard, Kohta,” I said.  “I’ll get you a cup of coffee.”

            He nodded his head and continued to gaze at the pad of paper.

            I walked over to the coffee machine close to the commissioner’s office, and began to fill up a small cup of coffee.

            “Ne, Takeo-san, there sure are a lot of cute guys here in the precinct,”

            “Huh?” I turned to see Toshiya, playing with a strand of her dark-blue hair, literally analyzing Lieutenant Jiro from head to toe.

            I raised an eyebrow.

            “So, looking for someone already?” I asked, taking a sip from the cup of coffee.

            “Just taking your advice,” she giggled.  She twirled her hair into small spirals.

            “What was your husband’s name?” I asked, and I wish I didn’t.

            “He…we…weren’t really married, just together,” her voice began to shake, as the guilt within me rose to a new level.  “But, um, his name is Gackt.”

            I placed my hand on her shoulder and took another sip of coffee.  I didn’t know how to apologize, but I knew I had to.

            “Listen, uh, I’m sorry if I, uh…”

            “Oh no, don’t worry about it.  You deserve to know after all you’ve done for me.” She looked up and bit her lip.  “How about you introduce me to some of these cuties?”

            I smiled.

            “Jiro’s not for you, that’s for sure,” I said, laughing.

            “Hey!”

            “What?”

            “Where’s my coffee?” Kohta cried.

            “Uh, sorry, buddy, but I drank it,” I mumbled.  “So, how’s it going?”

            “Nothing,” Kohta muttered, grumbling to himself about coffee.  He threw the pad of paper down onto a nearby desk, and I looked down at it.

            “’Tack’, ‘act’, ‘cat’, ‘tag’…”

            My god!

            “Kohta, find Toshiya and bring her here,” I said.  “By all means, keep her alive.”

            “What?” Kohta asked, looking confused.

            I pointed to one of the last words Kohta had put together.

            “Gackt,”

-Cont’d-