MYSTERY II: The Jester of hearts

It has been a few weeks since the arrest of Hiroshi Kujo. Kaname Yashiro had been but a bystander in a story he had wished to write a page in- or erase one word at the very least. Hikari had been keeping up a mask of unfazed whenever they sat together in their shared elective class. It was finally exams season, such is the life of a student. You do not have time to grieve, you do not have time to weep and you definitely do not have time to skip lectures.

As if it was only yesterday in these hallways that Kaname and Hikari were walking in together; they had found the truth of Kaito and Saqib pretending to be the Kitsune. The biggest joke of that night: Yukio simply lured everyone in one place because he had aspirations to fulfill- doubts to clear, questions to be answered. He knew that the missing students were likely dead, he knew that the Kitsune was Kaito Kanzaki, he knew the Kanzaki family were hiding the truth from the media and– he also knew that the murderer was Hiroshi Kujo. The genius was able to figure everything out by simple subtle hints he had seen in the passing, perhaps it was obvious now that Kaname was thinking about it but Yukio varied his variables and set them up in a way that he could extract results.

And he did. All this effort to put all the pieces in position, to set the stage to expose Hiroshi in front of Hikari. A part of Kaname wanted to believe that what he did was cruel but necessary, it was probably the only way to help Hikari give up on Hiroshi. 

He still never revealed how he contacted Hiroshi, that sly....

However, No one in the group had expected Hikari to already be suspecting Hiroshi. Unexpected or not, whatever Yukio wished for had come true through his genius planning. The only thing he hadn't pre-planned was- the police to get involved. That night, it was Saqib who had gone to a different path instead of entering the shrine and called Kaito’s elder sibling- the heir of the Kanzaki family. It was them who had sent the policemen. That night, Kaname found out something unexpected– Yukio despised the police. He had seen the nonchalance in Yukio's eyes before but that night… it was pure repulsion, a begrudging fire that was cursing them as if they had ruined his plans.

Since then, Yukio was excluded from the investigation. From what Hikari told Kaname, Yukio had been holed up in the clubroom he uses as his personal room, grumpy and unwilling to talk. The grown man was likely sulking. The only information Yukio was able to get his hands on was the existence of this organization called the Tanuki, their goal is still uncertain to the police but from what Yukio could predict, they wish to take down the top families of the Kotsu town, Kotsu's backbone. The only thing those families have in common is that they either worshipped a deity or a high ranking yokai. That is why they were targeting the reputation of those supernatural beings. The missing students were not the first or the only case that had occurred in the past few months. Alas, Yukio couldn't get any details on them.

So many new atrocious things in life to lead a man astray, yet all it took for Hiroshi to betray his lover was his epicaricacy towards Kaito.

Even he can see the dullness under Hikari's eyes whenever they meet or hang out during the break time. And it- infuriated him. To see his friend cry her eyes out for a loser like Hiroshi.

More like Hiroshit.

Kaname could never understand the point of envy and it's impact on people's life. Even now, as he walked side by side with Hikari to their new class together, her brows scrunched together every now and then, indicating the replaying of memories in her head.

“Cheer up. It's just a guy, it's not the end of the world.” Kaname put a reassuring hand on her shoulders, knowing very well that his words were not going to help her even a silver spoon much. But it was something he would tell her consistently so she'll finally accept it. And now, all he heard was a chortle of amusement, Hikari was slowly coming back to reality and leaving her illusional love behind. “End of the world would've been easier to deal with. All I was required to do was sit and wait for the doom to consume me. I might add one last dab to the world before dying. But this? Oh lord..”

“Feels like hell?” Kaname casually added and retracted his hand, running it through his autumn hair. Hikari chew the inside of her cheeks.

“It feels like– nothing. A room full of nothing. No sound, no life and no colours. It's an never-ending nightmare yet there is no ghost chasing me in this dream. Because…” her eyes dilated, staring down at the soles of her white Snickers, her fingers tightening around the spiral book she always carried with her to the class. Her lips parted but no words came out, beads of cold sweat crowded her temple and the beating of her heart increased by a second, hot breath left her lungs in a hurry to escape. Suffocated by the reality of this living dream. “Because the ghost is you?” Once again, Kaname filled the unsaid words and Hikari couldn't help but smile in cold delight. “It's terrifying how accurate you can be sometimes, Yashiro. Are they teaching apprentices to be mind readers too?”

Kaname threw his head back laughing at the jest, finding the normalizing of his work to be pleasant. “No, i don't have the ability to read minds. However I can do a tarot reading for you, it's much easier than mind reading.”

“No way! Read mine! I want a love reading! Is there love in my life or am I doomed to be in love with a jealous loser?” Hikari tugged at Kaname's arm, excited and… maybe she was feeling much more relaxed now.

“A jealous murderous loser.” Kaname corrected and Hikari didn't mind. Instead it felt much better to be able to talk about her messed up life as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Just then, Kaname saw the two figures rushing towards the two of them. One was the obvious everyday visitor, Kaito Kanzaki. He would follow Hikari around and flaunt about how great he was, how she should find someone like him or just date him! And the second person running towards them was rather unexpected for Kaname to digest. He had started behaving like a stranger the moment they were excluded from the investigation. Jerk.

“Yukio…?” Kaname couldn't help but mumbled, audible enough for Hikari to hear. She turned towards the direction of the voice and saw Kaito and Yukio rushing towards them. Kaito stopped in front of Hikari, heaving for air. “Hikari! He-! He is dead!”

Kaito didn't even need to take his name for Kaname and Hikari to figure out who he was talking about. Yukio was heaved behind Kaito, gasping for much needed air, as if the cardio was too much for the young detective. He took out his phone and showed the screen to the both of them.

Hiroshi Kujo was found dead this morning in the cell, he was kept for there for the ongoing investigation for the murder of the 5 missing girls. Though police claims this to be a suicide, the evidence found on the scene seems to be telling a different story. The wall was covered in crimson letters, mocking the police.

“This is the tip of the iceberg. The jester will always have the last laugh. See you soon, losers.”

A small Jester of hearts card was left beside the deceased Hiroshi's body. The card resembles the one found in the closed case of Layla- The mysterious death of the late owner of the Chronicle University. To this day, it has been ruled out to be a natural death, some town's people say the mountain deity took Layla’s soul and some says it's a planned murder. Is the same killer back in Kotsu town? Stay tuned with the PumPum news channel, we'll be keeping you updated with the latest news.

It was true. Hiroshi Kujo was found dead.