Weisse had actually woken up much earlier in the morning, sometime around four. It was too early to do anything major, but for some reason he just couldn't get back to sleep.

Fortunately, he had just the thing for it.

As quietly as he could, he snaked a hand into his bag to rummage about for it. When he had it, he took his towel and tiptoed into the bathroom, taking great care not to wake his slumbering room-mate.

Which as much stealth as he could muster, he disrobed and put the shower on low pressure - that way, it was quiet but there was enough water to get cleaned. He didn't wait for the water to heat up, just went straight in, letting his body adapt to the cold.

Taking the pot of fluid, Weisse rubbed a small amount on his hands, then started to wash himself. He started with his hair, then moved on to his face. Despite being sixteen years old, he hadn't had even a single spot or zit. His teeth were naturally straight, too. Most people his age had or were getting braces, but he didn't need them.

It had always been like that. Out of his family, freinds, classmates, everyone he met really, he was the pretty one.

Hmph. Pretty. Not handsome, but pretty. Bella, non Bello. How pitiful

On more than one occasion he'd been mistaken for a girl. Around the town he lived in, his family was reffered to as "That European girl and her three daughters." Once, he had been walking with his two neices when they bumped into a couple of the older one's freinds. The first thing one of them said was "Woah, Leisel, I didn't know you had two sisters." Perhaps the most embarassing moment was when, just last year, a boy came up to him and started flirting, which doesn't sound to spectacular, until Weisse asked, in his big-eyed, clueless way "Are you talking to me?" and the boy returned with "D'you see any other cute girls around here?"

Weisse sighed as he thought of his sister. She dealt with him, true, but she didn't like him. At all. She was about 18 when he was born, so he didn't really know her until recently. To her, every man was the enemy and she'd passed this ideaology on to her daughters. Weisse, to them, was just another lust-filled jerk who wanted to use women to satisfy his own ego. Or rather, they used to think that, until they learned he was a submissive coward who didn't offer a second glance at women, or men.

He moved on, working on his chest and back, grimacing as his hands brushed the horizontal scars that marred them. It didn't hurt, but the fact they were there made one thing all too clear - girls could be cruel if they wanted. They were a symbol of his weakness, of his failure almost. In the words of his sister, he was a weak, pathetic dog who's only role in life was to keep his masters happy. His neices thought he might like a reminder of this lowly position.

When he was fully washed, he turned the shower off and stepped out, wrapping himself in the warm embrace of his towel. He dried himself off and hung it over the provided rail.
His stuff was already starting to take effect - he felt more tired already. Happy, he snuck back to bed, relishing the warm embrace of the covers. He fell asleep pretty quickly

((Well, here goes...Cleopatra Kiyomi Snow, I choose you!))

"Hey, do you think she's okay?"
"Huh? Who?"
"Y'know, the girl who you heard screaming last night...y'know? The one you went to go see...the one we heard screaming."
"...I dunno. A bunch of people ran by and a boy picked her up and took her to the nurse's. I just came right back, remember? I think she should be okay, though."
"I really hope so. Oh, hey, who was that guy who came by earlier? The one you lied to about finding someone else, eh? Maetaka, was it?"
"Goddamnit, Leo. Go to sleep."
"Alright, Ayane..."

---

Morning came too fast. Early nights were useless, but Leo was exhausted from the setting up at the new school. She'd had to turn in one. But it was more exhausting than a late night, she found. The morning routine was quite simple. Get up, shower, get dressed, bid roommate farewell, admire the room and convince herself she was actually there, in Japan, at that school, take a deep breath and move on.
She especially fingered her drumsticks before setting them down on the stool of the set she'd set up in her room. The only alleviation she could offer the other people in the girls' dorm from the crashing sound of her raining down hell on her drums to a rock-song would be some thickly-padded framed photos she'd put up. Soundproofing something that wasn't hers wasn't an option, but she'd decided to play only when her roommate would be out, for whatever reason.
She was a popular girl, though, Ayane, from what Leo had heard of her. She was pretty, too, but friendly. The perfect combo. She'd definitely have many suitors at her feet if she so much as batted her eyelids.
"...gonna go out, Ayane. See ya."
Her roommate was still asleep, and murmured something incomprehensible and rolled over in bed in response.
"You'll be late to your first class if you sleep in, damnit." Leo sighed, shook her head, and made her way out. Before classes started, she'd definitely check out what else the school had to offer. It was a huge affair, and she'd be wandering aimlessly about. The signs didn't make any sense to her yet. A helpful girl had explained "male and female" dorms to her though, so she wouldn't make the mistake again, which was great.

Hallways, through hallways, through hallways, through hallways. The girl pushed back a strand of her dyed hair behind an ear and fixed her glasses, noticing an open room across the hall. "Brilliant! Someone...some people should be awake!"
She jogged across, chunky bangles jittering and jumping on her wrists with each step. She came to a stop and peered through the doorway, eyebrow quirking at noticing the room was quite empty. And...and someone carrying things to said empty room from another, smaller room across the hall?
"Err...pardon me! English?"
She blinked at the young man who would come to be known to her as Clarius, and her eyes followed him doing his task to the room, which wasn't so empty after all. There was a girl there. Her name was...Diana, did he say? Oh, they must have been English after all.
"Yes! English! Pardon...but would you like some help? Those things look...err. Heavy."

"I'm guessing she was a first year, like me. She probably didn't know her way around the school and was looking for something. Maybe her dorm or a friend. Once getting into the basement her attacker stabbed her. But, her attacker had to be following her because how else would he or she know the girl was in the basement. I don't think people are just sitting around and then when they see somebody they decide to stab them." Daniel said holding his chin thinking as he and his friend walked to the nurses office. It puzzled Daniel and that was something he liked, puzzles.

Once arriving at the nurses office he poked his head in, nobody was in the room where the nurses should be. "Hmm" Daniel said making his way to one of the 3 back rooms where the girl should be. Daniel pushed a door open, he turned the knob and it squeaked. The bed was empty except for a puddle of fresh blood. The blood shined in the dim lighting of the room. The 2 windows that were in the room were open ant the breeze pushed the curtains up words. The blood led to the windows, hand prints were on the window ledge. Daniel gasped at the sight. He made sure Shakuntala stayed out of the room. "Go get help now!" Daniel said poking his head out of room looking at Shakuntala. The smile that was usually always on Daniel's face was gone. He happy face had turned into a sad morbid face. It was like he had seen a ghost. He didn't know what was going on.

Daniel went back into the room and to the windows. Expecting to see a body on the side walk below he prepared himself for the worst. But, below was nothing, no body, blood or anything. Just students walking into the school laughing and ready for their first day. The girl Daniel had saved was gone. He was shocked, he didn't know what to think.

Takeshi was a true master of keeping coffee in his mugs. There were many times in the past few minutes when it, by all means, should have splashed out and landed on something either staining or burning it. But it never happened, because the young man was just that magical.

These thoughts ran through his mind as he entered the nurse's office, following Daniel, and, upon sighting the blood, shut the door behind him and approached his junior, ready to give an interrogation.

Though, it should probably be explained how he came to be in this situation in the first place. It all began when he lacked sleep and, two mugs of coffee in hand, set off to give an interview to the man whom he was unable to send to Clarius the night before. That was Daniel. Once he reached the room in which Daniel resided, he knocked on the door. However, the instant his knuckles came into contact with said door, it was opened from the inside. This caused Takeshi to stumble backwards and go unnoticed by the person exiting the room; this was also Daniel.

When he stumbled, the coffee held within his two mugs flew up into the air and threatened to land on the hall floor. This would not have been a favorable outcome, so, in an act of godlike dexterity, Takeshi managed to catch the flying liquid in both mugs (still held in one hand) without spilling a drop. Wiping the sweat off of his brow, the young man looked in the direction in which Daniel had gone in an attempt to see where he was going and, hopefully, follow. Lucky for him, he noticed his target just before said target moved out of sight.

Needless to say, he gave chase.

Needless to say, as he gave chase, the coffee sloshed all around.

Needless to say, Takeshi always managed to catch it in either the mugs or his mouth.

Takeshi refused to let any coffee go to waste.

His pursuit of the young man led him to the nurse's office. It appeared as though Daniel had already entered, exited, told the young girl from the night before to go get help for some reason, and re-entered the office. It was at that moment that Takeshi entered the scene.

Blood.

The first thing Takeshi noticed upon following Daniel into one of the back rooms was the unmistakable scent of human blood. The slightly metallic, earthy scent was pervasive.

The next thing he noticed was the sight of blood. A pool of it on the cot and a trail leading to the window.

The third thing he noticed (and it shocked him how this was the third thing, seeing as how this was the reason he was here in the first place) was Daniel, looking out the window.

Needless to say, this was a very suspicious scene. Takeshi's normally whimsical, nonchalant mood turned serious in an instant. Something was up, and he didn't like it. He shut the door behind him, leading to the present. The tall, red-haired fourth year walked up to Daniel and set his coffee down. He spoke in a commanding tone that most who knew him would likely be somewhat surprised to hear.

"Care to explain what's going on here? You're not escaping an interview this time. I don't care if either of us are late to class, I'm student council vice president. I can come up with an excuse." Before Daniel could have a chance to speak, Takeshi spoke once more. "Anyway, I'll ask again. Care to explain?"

Shakuntala nodded, slightly uneasy about talking about the girl. "But where did the attacker go?" She asked, sighing, looking into the nurses office, seeing that no one was there. She followed Daniel in, seeing that the place was empty. shouldn't there be nurses? Shouldn't there be someone? The girl lwasn't there, she could tell that. If she was, there would be nurses.

She was following Daniel in when he said to go get help, but Shakuntala didn't want to leave him by himself, and then the guy from last night, Takeshi was there, and she definetely wasn't going to leave him wih Daniel. Shakuntala had the advantage of being small. She opened the door enough to slip through, and shut it quiety.

Shakuntala didn't know what she was going to do from here. All she knew was that Takeshi seemed to think Daniel had something to do with the girls attack and subsequent disappearance, and she wasn't about to let Daniel be attacker, verbally or otherwise, and blamed for something he didn't do, even suspected. She wouldn't let her friend be hurt and wouldn't let someone judge him for something that had happened, for being helpful and worrying about someone that had been hurt and attacked.

Takeshi seemed arrogant and jjudgemental, and use to getting his way. Shakuntala didn't like that. And the attitude! I'm student council vice president so what? "I'll explain. Daniel responded to a scream last night. He was with me, Weisse and Nikita. There was no way he could have hurt someone. Now, he, along with me, went to visit the girl and see if she was okay. We found the blood stains, the pool of blood, and that's it. There is no way, other then a helpful and concerned bystander, that Daniel is involved with this girls attack. You are stupider then you look if you think that and are wasting time interrogating him"

"You do realize," Takeshi began, turning in the direction of Shakuntala's voice but making sure he could still see Daniel. "That your testimony is not substantial evidence, right? You could easily be hiding something from me; from the sound of it, you were with him when the original crime occurred and here you are with him when the body turned up missing. It seems a bit fishy to me. And this whole 'stupider than you look' thing, do you truly believe it is stupid to question the most suspicious person? I have no information on the current situation, information to which both of you are privy. The only reason I can think of that you would deny being questioned was if you were to be covering something up. Perhaps you are correct, it may not be Daniel. In that case, maybe you were the culprit? There is absolutely no evidence supporting otherwise at the current moment beyond your claims."

"And you," he returned his gaze to Daniel. "There is a punishment in place by law for if you were to flee this interrogation. Do you recall last night when you agreed to be questioned? Well that agreement is binding. And another thing, I've let it slide until now, but I'd like to mention that the katana you carry is of far greater length than 15cm. Do you have permission from the prefectural public safety commission? Because if you do not, then I could easily turn you over to the authorities and you'd be facing two years in prison and 300,000 yen in fines. And don't tell me you do, there's no way in hell a minor could get permission."

"So!" Takeshi began addressing both of the others in the room. "I'd like to remind you both before we begin that I am the good cop in this situation. If you don't like me, you will not, I repeat, [i]not[i/] like my partner in law, Clarius. You cannot begin to imagine the kinds of things he would pull. All legal, too. And before you get any ideas, I've got him on speed dial. Number two. Now! Are we all ready to begin your questioning?"

Takeshi put his back to the door and smirked. He didn't like it when people instantly thought of him as conceited, but it was easy to use such a reaction to his benefit.

Suki narrowed her eyes, "A self appointed investigator? What are your credentials? Show me an official police badge, and maybe I'll talk to you" She said with a snort, "Weisse was with us when we heard the scream,and so was Nikita. So we have alibi's for the girls attack. The body? Its a girl, not a body yet! She was still alive, the blood here proves that. Open your eyes. If Danial wanted to throw her out the window, he'd be all bloody now. Any blood on him? No" She shook her head, "There is no evidence, besides circumstantial, that Daniel is involved in this" She shook her head, sighing.

"By your argument there's no way a minor can be an investigator. So anything you ask here means we can keep silent, unless you are older then school age, in which case, did you get held back a few years?" She said, shaking her head again. "You have fancy words and fancy ways of trying to turn everything to your advantage, and expect others to just go with what you want, but your logic is flawed. You think yourself above the rules, but you aren't. You don't have the power to be investigating this, and in fact, you will just make it harder, or effect any evidence you find because you are blundering along. Here's a theory, maybe you are the culprit and are trying to pin this on Daniel or anyone else" She said sighing.

She glanced about, "Fine. You know what? I came across Daniel, Weisse and Nikita in Daniel's room, and investigate the cheer and the mention of biscuits yesterday. We chatted for a while and then heard the girls scream. Daniel ran out, and I followed, and I believe Weisse did as well. Along the way Daniel pulled out his katana to protect himself and maybe attack the attacker-I don't know. We arrived and saw the girl. We took the girl to the nurses office. Daniel invited me to stay in his room as the attacker wasnt found, but I ended up staying in Nikita's. In the morning, I went to my dorm, showered and chagned, grabbed my gear for the day and headed back to Nikita's room, Daniel coming across me. We walked here together, and found the girl gone, found the whole place empty. The blood is already drying. We've been here, what five minutes? Not long enough for the blood to dry. We didn't do anything, nor is there any evidence to suggest that. Are you happy, or do I have to go get an adult and state that you are harassing us?" She placed her hands on her hips, and stared at Takeshi, her face impassive, as if she had all the time in the world. It was probably more funny then anything else but Shakuntala kept the pose.

Clarius had no trouble moving the boxes around, as well as setting up the room as his sister barked orders. It was the normal thing for him, and at least this way he could keep in shape. Plus, it would all be worth it if she was happy at the end during the club meeting. A happy Diana meant that Clarius was going to have a few days of relaxation. Well, relaxation by his usual standards.

So, he'll be working 23 hours a day instead of 24 for a week.

He was just about to put the final box into the Occult Club closet when a cute girl walked up to him. He didn't recognize her, and she didn't look like a first year, so she had to be a transfer student. Clarius wasn't one to forget a face when he saw it, even when he didn't have their name.

However, she was speaking English. Clarius' name might have been Western, but that didn't mean he knew advanced English. He was aware of the basics, since everyone around the world knew the basics for English. From what little he knew of English, what he managed to get out of her sentence were the words "You""Help" and "Boxes." Hopefully, she understood Japanese and she would understand what he was going to say.

" No thanks, this is my last box. I'm helping my sister set up her Occult Club. You can attend the club if you want to, everybody is welcome. It would make my sister's day, as well as my own, but for a completely different reason. "

Did he leave his motive open to interpretation? Of course.

Did he do this on purpose? Of course.

Was he trying to use everything in his power so he could get an extra hour of freedom for seven days? You bet he was.

Even slaves need breaks, especially someone who was as busy as Clarius. Good thing he had Takeshi, without him, he would never get anything accomplished. He did care for his friend, but having an errand boy running around really did make everything better for him,

"I'll address every one of your claims I have a problem with in order. Then, after Daniel answers a few questions I have for him, I'll leave. Alright?" Takeshi looked to the girl. Daniel already agreed to the interview. There was no reason for him to deny being questioned.

"First off, you appear to have an issue with me referring to the victim's body as 'the body' and you cite the fact that there is blood as evidence she is alive. If Daniel here were to decapitate me at this very moment with his weapon, would I bleed? Yes. Would I be dead? Also yes. It's not just living people who bleed.

"You claim there is no evidence that is not circumstantial which can prove Daniel is the culprit. Well, that may be so, but he carries around that sword, which is enough to get him arrested this instant. It could easily be used as a murder weapon and then wiped clean. And again, even if he is not the culprit, he is still clearly breaking the law.

"You say that, because he cannot get a permit for his sword at his age, that I clearly cannot be an investigator and that you are able to keep silent no matter what I ask you. I have two qualms with this; I am eighteen. A fourth year. I'm no minor. Secondly, he already agreed to be questioned. He didn't have to agree, but he did. Unless there's something he wants to hide from me, then he has no reason to be quiet. Furthermore, if he's hiding something, that's all the more reason for me to investigate. If he has nothing to do with the crime, there should be nothing to hide.

"You act as if I have 'fancy words' and 'fancy ways' to turn this situation to my advantage. Okay, I'll roll with that. Although, my so-called 'fancy words' aren't what's helping me turn the situation, it's that anyone with a functioning brain would be able to come to the conclusions I've come to. We have a word for that. 'Logic.'

"You say I act as if I'm above the rules. In response, I ask you a question. Why am I the only one following them?

"According to your claims, I have no authority to be investigating this. Again, two qualms. I am in the detective club, that alone gives me reason to investigate. And if that's not enough for you, due to the way our country's legal system works, I am fully allowed to investigate this. I am also fully allowed to put Daniel under citizen's arrest due to carrying his illegal weapon without a warrant, but I'm being kind by choosing not to.

"Addressing your theory, the one that I'm the culprit trying to pin this on Daniel. I, for the third time, have two issues with this. The first being that only a true idiot would try to pin the crime on the most suspicious person. I'm pinning the crime on no one, and I have no reason to. The second issue is this: why would I kill a woman? I love women.

"Lastly, and this is less of a statement of yours and more of a threat of yours directed towards me, you say you'll call in an adult and say I'm harassing you. I see no reason why the adult wouldn't side with me. After all, I'm respectfully investigating this crime to discover the truth, something any real adult would find admirable. I've done nothing wrong. Noth-ing. That, and which of us is carrying an illegal weapon and whose side is he on, hmm? I could just as easily claim you were threatening me. It would have just as much credibility as your claims only it would be much easier to believe."

Takeshi stared for a few moments before continuing on to his conclusion.

"You may not believe me after all this, but I don't like having to point out everything wrong with what someone says, especially not a cute girl like yourself. I don't like the dirty jobs, I only do them because they must be done and Clarius appoints me to be the one to do them. If I could just get my information, I'd kindly be on my way. I don't want to be late, and I'm sure neither of you do either, correct? Just please. For all of us here. Just take the interview and let us all leave. I don't want to hold you longer than I have to, I don't wanna hold myself longer than I have to. I've already kept us all here long enough. Just answer the questions so we can all be on our way."

Left. Then right.
"Anyone in here?"
Silence.

Perfect! No-one around to ruin Weisse's plan. Today was going to be the day he put everyone's fears to bed, once and for all. He was going to prove the girl who got injured was hurt by accident. And where better to start the investigation than the scene of the "crime" itself?
So, after dressing, he grabbed a torch, notepad, pencil and of course, his sword, and merrily wandered down to the basement. The fear-filled faces of his friends filled his mind as he walked through the halls of this crazy school and he couldn't help but laugh. How could they be so shaken up by such a minor incident? Yeah, ok, someone got hurt, but she'd live. It was a nasty accident, that was all. He refused to believe he could be sharing a hallway with a wannabe murderer.
The basement looked much more welcoming in the bright light of a high-power torch, but it was still a shoddy afair. Junk and bits of junk and the unmistakable smell of rot enveloped the wretched place, and its wonky structure meant no matter how high powered your lights, there was always a shadow in the room. A very creepy place indeed, but all basements were. He was yet to find an underground room that didn't terrify the hell out of him.
But he'd come this far. Getting here was the hard part - time to do some investigating.
The first thing that came to mind was the funny structure. Because of the awkward shape, it would be relatively easy to just step into the shadows and vanish from sight. An attacker could wait for the crowds and armed investigators to pass, then slip out undetected.
Or wait for more prey...
Despite his initial confidence, Weisse was sttarting to doubt his decision to come down here. It wasn't that he was scared as such, but he was... Hungry. Yeah, that was it. He hadn't had breakfast, so he needed something to eat. Maybe he could come back later with some food in his belly...
Come on! Don't chicken out!
How about the pool of blood? It would have dried up by now, but there still might be clues and hints nearby.
As he got closer, Weisse couldn't quite shake the feeling he wasn't alone. There was something in the room with him, he could feel it. Watching. Waiting. Getting ready to pounce.
Get a hold of yourself! Remember what Amy taught you
Suddenly, Weisse saw something just as terrifying as a murderer. The blood.
The blood made a Kanji symbol.
There was no denying this was a deliberate attack now. It was neatly drawn, almost perfect. A Kanji rune drawn in blood. Or at least, not a Roman letter.
Quickly sketching what he saw meant shining the light away from the dark corners of the room. That would leave him open to attack. Maybe he should just devote the symbol to memory and pray he remembered it.
No. He could do this. Draw quickly and get out. By the time he came back with friends, the attacker could have returned, or worse, struck again. He had to do this now, or not at all.
"Giggle at the ghostly, Weisse. Laugh and it'll all go away."
But he doidn't feel like laughing. He was bricking it. It took every ounce of him not to sprint out the door and leave the whole damn academy for good.
He started drawing the sign. His hand was suprisingly steady, despite the fact he was about to throw up from fear. To break the monotony of the scratching of the pencil, he began to sing.
"Nagurateku toki no na-ka de demo
Kedarusara hora guruguru mawatte"
He had no idea what the words meant, but they sounded pretty. It kept his mind of the fact there could be a heartless psychopath in the room, armed to the teeth, circling, ready to strike...

He couldn't get out the basement fast enough.

He was pretty sure he had shattered the sound barrier by the time he had got back to his dorm, creepy kanji symbol in one hand, torch in the other. He had thrown a few people aside, literally, in an attempt to escape the imaginery threat of the basement. After checking himself over for injury or lost items, he thought about his next move.
Who could he trust that could read Kanji?

It was obvious. Who had lived in Japan all her life and spoke Japanese? Shakuntala.
Where was she, though? He hadn't the slightest idea what she did, other than play guitar. Maybe she was in the music room, then?
But what if she was asleep? Or maybe she'd gone out with friends? If she wasn't in the dorm, Nikita might know where she went. It made most sense to check on his/her room first. Hell, maybe he was in luck and Nikita knew what it meant anyway.
Weisse wallked up to Nikita's door and rapped on it three times. He hoped s/he would answer quickly - this couldn't wait.

"How did I become the bad guy?" Daniel said sitting down in the chair that was in the room. "I was the one that reported the girl to the nurses office. I'm the one of saved her life yesterday evening. How did I suddenly become the one to kill he?. I'm the one that reported this." Daniel said running his hand through his hair. He didn't understand, he was being a good guy here. "I'll answer your stupid questions. While you're here harassing me and Suki the attacker and killer is still out there. You are wasting your time!" Daniel yelled standing and getting into Takeshi's face. "This is bullshit. I know I agreed to answer questions and I will. But, you are wasting your time here. Suki has told you everything there is to know." Daniel backed up and fixed his bow tie. He swallowed and then began to speak again. "Check my katana. There isn't a single drop of blood on the thing. It's as shiny as it was the day I got it 8 years ago. I've never hurt anybody with it, I've never cut anybody or anything with it." Daniel said pulling the blade from it's sheath and showing it to Takeshi. "Also, fuck you. My grandfather gave me this when I was 8 and I do have the proper paper work to be carrying this around. So, get off my back. Jumping to conclusions is a bad thing, especially in your line of work."

Daniel was pissed. There was literally no evidence leading people to believe he was the killer. Why would the killer take the girl to the nurse's office then come back and kill her. It didn't make sense to Daniel. and, just because he carried a sword around doesn't make him a criminal instantly. Takeshi was only doing his "job", and Daniel could respect that. But, Daniel didn't know why he was so pinned up on accusing him on being the killer. "Now, I'll start at the very beginning of yesterday."

Daniel took a deep breath before starting his story. "I was walking down the hall to my dorm. Once I found it I went inside, plugged in all my gaming systems and put my Katana on the shelf. Then i laid down in my bed. I fell asleep until Weisse walked in. After he woke me up we talked for a while then Nikita walked in bring cookies. She is a super nice person. And, the cookies were amazing. About 5 minutes after she came in Suki here came in because she heard us say we had cookies. Which was okay with me and Weisse. After talking for about another 20 minutes we heard the scream. I grabbed my sword and rushed to the sound with Weisse and Suki following. I found the girl knocked out on the ground in a pull of her own blood. People began to rush into the basement. I blocked everybody out as I picked the girl up and put pressure onto her wound. I then carried her to the Nurse's office where they took her. I never saw her again." Daniel paused for a second. then started again. "I went back to Suki's dorm with her to get her stuff because I offered to let her stay over. I wanted her to be safe because you haven't done your job and caught the person that has done this yet." daniel spoke raising his voice and looking at Takeshi. "But, after doing that we made our way back to my dorm where I then took a shower and started playing video games. then you showed up and Suki and Nikita left. After talking to you I went to bed. In the morning I woke up and got dressed. Then, I walked out of my dorm and saw Suki. we waited a while to see if Nikita would answer her door but she didn't. Then I decided to come her and check on the girl, see if she was okay. I worry, because I'm a good guy like that. Once arriving we saw there were no nurses in teh office. So, me and Suki made our way back here into this room. seeing the crime scene i had her send for help. Now here we are. I hope that answers all the questions you made have."

Daniel sighed and opened the door. He left not caring what Takeshi had to say. He wasn't a real detective so he couldn't hold him nor Suki there. After making part way out of the office Daniel turned and said, "Suki, come on or we'll be late for class."

Shakuntala stayed silent as they talked, mulling things over, taking it all in, and not interrupting, already formulating what she was going to say, as she listened to Daniel essentially confirm what she herself had said. She was annoyed, ticked off, and just generally off put by Takeshi. When Daniel left the room, Shakuntala went to follow, but stopped at the door and looked back.

"If Daniel decapitated you It would be a vast improvement!" Shakuntala said, making no move to lesson her glare or her body language."if it was a body, or if Daniel dragged the girl to the window, there would be smear marks. And yes, Daniel could be strong enough to carry a dead body, with te dead weight, to the window, but there would be blood on the window that isn't in the form of a hand print and Daniel would be covered with blood. You state the obvious, and don't think about the rest. You assume that Daniel is carrying the weapon around illegally, when he states he isn't. Also, if I cry harassment, a small seemingly innocent girl, and with your reputation of being a flirt and to quote you, you "love women", I could easily turn this against you. I could easily say a lot of things that could damage you, and I'm not afraid to damage my own standing. I have things I can fall back on, even if I am caught as the person who cried wolf"

She held the door open, "two things. You shouldn't be taking someone else's orders. You shouldn't be a lap dog. This Clarius seems to treat you as a slave, and if I recall, it's illegal to have a slave. You could be more, without him. Second thing, I may be a cute girl, but I could probably put you flat on your back. Six brothers, one father determined that I be able to protect myself. I enjoyed the defense and fighting lessons. Now are you happy that our stories align, or do you think we made them up?" and with that, as Daniel called to her, she left, catching up with Daniel.

"Frigging Peacock" Shakuntala said with a sigh as she matched her pace with Daniels, "what do you think happened to the girl? And who do you think would be able to do what they did to her? I hope she's okay. Where are all the nurses too?" So many questions, but very little answers. She sighed again "are you okay? Probably the first time he's had a girl backchat him instead of falling all over him" she added with a laugh, and she smiled

"Damn it Nikita, you're failing me!" Weisse growled, heart still pounding. The one time he desperately needed someone, they weren't there.
Now what? With no further leads and limited time, he had to somehow find Tala on his own. Trying to find someone you knew so little about was not an easy task in a school so big.
"Baseless stereotype it is, then." he grumbled, taking off in a brisk pace. Chances were she wasn't going to be in the music room, but it was worth a shot. And even if she wasn't, he could always look for Daniel. He would be easy to find, considering his insistance on lugging that katana around. I mean, come on, who honestly carries a deadly weapon with them everywhere they...
He decided to stop that train of thought when his hand knocked lightly into Albione's hilt.
Instead, he decided to think about how he was going to find the music rooms. He couldn't remember the last time he was up there, so it was foreign territory.
I don't know how to get there at all.

After a bit of searching, Weisse finally had a stroke of luck. Whilst looking for the music room, he had caught sight of a boy ferrying boxes back and forth between two rooms. Maybe he knew where the music room was. A long shot, maybe, but it was his only hope so far.
So, he went into the room with the boxes, where the boy went. It seemed like he was talking to someone, and he didn't want to be rude.
But soon he got impatient. He was running out of time and needed to go quickly.
"Excuse me" he began softly "Parli Inglese o Giapponese?

"Err..." the girl froze in her tracks, the gears shifting and chugging in the back of her mind before coming to an abrupt stop and clogging. She had absolutely no idea what the boy before her had just said. It was in Japanese, after all. And it went right over her head, as if it was his first language, or maybe she was just a bit of a ditz. She blinked up at him through the pale bevelled-rectangles of her glasses and opened her mouth to speak after he had said the line of mish-mash. Japanese. It couldn't have been so bad. Her mother was Japanese. That didn't change the fact that she had learnt barely any of it at home. Her mother had an accent, but their darling daughter had taken after their father's tone and way of speaking, calm and easygoing and chill.
"...little English then. But you seemed to understand what I had to say because you didn't really hesitate for too long or give me the standard "what-the-hell" look,, so, err...Watashi wa...I am, err, Leo. Desu desu." she blinked, scratching the back of her head nervously as she tried to continue with the little she had picked up in different places. "Nani nani? Desu?"
She wanted to stick her fist in her mouth for how bad she came off. Her cheeks gained a colour and she groaned with a non-physical pain, but that of mental exertion. Definitely, speaking to a Frenchman would be easier. At least she had learnt French to some degree in school. Japanese...nada.
She almost opened her mouth to speak again, jogging back and forth with the boy carrying the boxes, with the words stuck in her throat, before she spotted someone approaching. Well...spotted something approaching. Initially, all she caught was the sheen of the bright blonde hair, and it was uncommon to see many natural blondes down here in Japan. The first thing she'd assumed was that it was another transfer student. Maybe from where she was from! Brilliant!
She gave the boy with the boxes a little nod, as if that justified her attention turned away from him to the person that approached, and she almost squealed when she saw them. Saw her.
She was the most adorable thing, ever. With the blonde locks and blue eyes, it was like Leo had found a fellow countryman. She had opened her mouth to speak before the girl beat her to it, asking something in another foreign language. Though thankfully, she understood at least a little bit of this.
"English! English please! Or French! That wasn't French, right?" she paused. It sounded a little bit like it...nah.
"Anyway. Good god you're so cute, ahhh~!" she almost immediately balled her fists and brought them to her cheeks and her bangles crept further up her arm as she did. If anything, she did allow herself to be a little bit of a ditz at times. It was relieving.
"I haven't seen you around in the girls' dorm! What's your name? The name's Leo, and it's so wonderful to meet you, and- please tell me you understand what I'm talking about, oh god."

"Bye bye," Nikita called after Shakuntala. Sipping the rest of her tea, Nikita grabbed her clothes and bathroom necessities (which was already pre-packed in a bag) and went to the showers. Morning showers were a great way to clear the mind, especailly after last night's event. Standing under the water as the lavender smelling soap suds fell from her body to the drain of the small white bathroom stall, Nikita could still feel the uneasiness. How many times had this happened? A lot. She remebered hearing the rumors since her first year. She hadn't had many friends back than and it was only natural for her to hear and pick up things. She was scared, the uneasiness in her stomach a sign that it was only going to get worse, this time maybe it would be someone close to her that she would lose.

Turning off the water, steam filled the stall and left it's misty dew on her skin. Wrapping up, Nikita brushed her teeth, washed her face and brushed her hair, towel drying which caused the gentle curl of her blonde hair to scrunch up into tighter waves of curls. Heading back to her room, the blonde finished dressing. Brushing her hand against the dress, Nikita finished with her simple jewlery and hat Currently the weather was nice enough to wear short sleeves, at least to her. Spring in Russia was a bit harsher than in Japan so it was nice to see the sun, or the occasional rain shower. Grabbing her school bag, Nikita left the room, checking the time on her phone and noticing how late it was.

'I took longer shower than supposed to.' She thought. It was 6 when she left to take a shower and now it was 7, an hour had passed without her knowing. "Oh no!" She exclaimed as her steps down the stairs quickened to get outside. She had totally forgot she was supposed to meet Shakuntala for breakfast!! Hurrying into the school, Nikita had to take a moment to breath. Looking at her phone again the digital numbers said 7:05. A deep breath before she wiped her forehead and entered the school. It was a large school, winding halls and corridors, spiraling stairs and many rooms, some rooms even hidden and secret club hang outs. At least that was the rumor. She had never been in a club before though she was interested in joining one. Walking the halls toward the cafeteria, Nikita saw a familiar head of light blonde hair dash down a hall. "Weisse..." She recognized him instantly and wondered where he was going. Looking toward the cafeteria, and than back down the hall where she could see Weisse retreating to, Nikita decided to follow. Upon seeing him enter a room, his voice being the final confirmation she was following her dorm neighbor. The other female though, with lovely blue hair, went to Wiesse and squeled over him. It sure was s urprise and it made Nikita giggle softly. Wiesse did look like a girl, and Nikita knew full well what the female thought. It would be the same for her as well. Her green eyes than shifted to the other man who was carrying and moving boxes. This must have been a club room...

Sending a soft smile for a greeting, "Ohayō." the Russian-Japanese bowed respectively to the person she had recognized to be the president's...sibling...? They were always together and Nikita had just assumed. "Good Morning." She than greeted the cute ditzy female and her lovely friend Wiesse. In English the Russian accent was thick, but in Japanese it still flowed nicely because of her constant use in the language she had attributed the accent. She had to thank the traditional Japanese tea houses and her Flower Shop job.

"My English not good. But I help?" Eyes squinting and pink lips in a big smile on her soft face.

Daniel

Daniel smiled back at the cute girl in front of him. "Yeah probably." Daniel said laughing. "That was a good one." Daniel smiled and softly punched her on the shoulder. "But, I got to get to class. It's half way across the school." Daniel exclaimed making a stressed face. "I'll see you, Weisse and Nikita at lunch!" Daniel began running as fast as he could across campus. he ran as fast as he could to his Advanced English class. That's what he had first period.

He arrived in the room and sat down in the first seat he saw. Which happened to be one of the only open ones, it was in the back row in the very left corner. He had a good view of the board and he always liked sitting in the back. Daniel pulled out his pocket watch looking at the time. He had exactly 1 minute to spare before he would have been late. Smiling, Daniel looked up waiting for the teacher to come into the room. But, instead was greeted by a blue haired boy with glasses. The boy Imediantly found Daniel and smiled. Walking over to him and sitting his back pack down in the seat next to him. "I'm Ronny, nice to meet you." The boy spoke kindly and smoothly. The boy then smiled and pushed his glasses up on his face.

. . .

. . .

Well, that was some horrible Japanese. Clarius got that her name was Leo, but everything after was all downhill. That was alright with Clarius, Japanese was a fairly difficult language to understand. Why was she attending a school in Japan? Like hell he knew, maybe she was just a transfer student and would learn it here? Maybe? Either way, it appeared that his limited knowledge in English was better than her limited knowledge in Japanese.

He was just about to introduce himself to Leo when he heard another person speak up. It was in another language that sounded vaguely English, maybe it was some kind of accent he had never heard before? And then after that, another person showed up, and while they said Good Morning in Japanese, they began to speak even more English.

Oh god.

The English are coming, The English are coming!

Alright, he could handle this. The best detective's never blow their composure, even when they're being invaded by a foreign language.

After a second of regrouping himself, Clairus went to introduce himself to Cleo, and two people who appeared to be cute girls. That seemed nice, three cute girls playing around with one another. That was youth in it's purest form.

However, once Clarius looked closer at the two, he noticed that something wasn't quite right. Anyone who didn't know biology, or didn't have an untrained eye wouldn't have been able to notice it, but thankfully, Clarius had both.

What was this thing Clarius noticed? They were both male in body,

How did Clarius notice this? He saw that they both had an Adam's Apple, and only males had Adam's apples. Well, that in itself was incorrect, as both genders had them, just you can spot them on a male. You would need to feel for a female's Adam's apple.

However, they decided to look the way they wanted to. It was their decision, and Clarius couldn't have cared less. He only cared if they were murderers, or some kind of criminal. Which, they didn't seem like they were.

Probably.

It was always good to keep some level of suspicion up. Either way, Clarius was just going to keep that piece of info to himself, and if they decided to tell him one day, then he would just say he had always known.

Now it was time for more important matters, as he still needed to introduce himself and invite them all to the Occult Club.

" Nice to meet you Leo, as well as the rest of you. And for you two, I don't need any help with the boxes, but talking with others can help. Sorry for my poor English, Japanese is my only fluent language. I am Clarius Brandford, and I would like to invite you all to the. . .errr. . . ah, Occult Club! I would be very thankful if you three would attend. I'll be willing to answer any questions you have to the best of my ability. "

Clarius used simple words, as he only knew the basics. There was nothing here that a novice in English wouldn't know, so hopefully it all made sense to them. They would also have to get through his accent, but that probably wasn't too hard.

Weisse felt like crying. It happened again.
He put his hands over his face, his cheeks doing an impression of a traffic light on stop.
Deep breath, Weisse, deep breath
But, before he could correct the girl (Leo? By god, her Japanese was awful. It was like she had watched a subbed anime and tried to guess which word meant what) on her tragic mistake, he heard an unmistakable giggle.
"Nikita, if that's you, I swear I'm gonna..."
It was.
But, before he could get mad, the boy with the boxes decided to step up. He look taken aback by all the English - and Italian - that he was hearing. It was only to be expected from a native, after all, someone living in his country should know his language.
And there was something else in his looks. A cross between recognition and acceptance. Weisse didn't know what that look meant, but it was (probably) a good thing.
"I'm so sorry for the confusion, Leo! I'm actually a boy. A real boy, not transgender or... oh, what's the word? I'm not a girl, at any rate. I'm sorry if that wasn't clear, but it's not deliberate." Unlike Nikita, he added in his head And, erm... it was Italian, not French."
"And, Nikita, why didn't you answer the door? I thought you'd been attacked or something. Don't scare me like that again, please."
Turning to the native, Weisse smiled "If you'd prefer, Messer Brandford..."
"I can speak like this" he finished in Japanese. "I, personally, would prefer Doitsugo ya Itaria-go but Japanese works for me as well."
"I hate to be so blunt, but I actually came here for..."
Cogs turned in the Weisse's head. Why did he need Shakuntala when he had a native speaker right here?
"I need you to decode something for me. You see, I can speak Japanese and English well enough, but I can't read it very well. Could you tell me what this says?" Weisse handed the older boy the creepy kanji note and stood back, hoping it didn't say anything incriminating or rude.

"It's useless, it's all useless..."

Takeshi let out an irritated sigh as his hand went to the back of his head and looked up at the ceiling until the two he'd been talking to exited the room. He then shook his head before running his fingers through his hair in an exasperated manner, eyes shut tightly and voice sounding something like a growl. "This is really starting to piss me off. There's plenty of reason for that kid with the katana to be the culprit, but I was only saying that to get them to talk..."

He walked over to the bed and stared down at the shiny, crimson liquid. The room was filled with the odor of human blood. "They just told me their story and left, I never even got a chance to ask a single question I had planned. Hell, I didn't even get to press them on their story either."

He stared at the trail of blood leading to the window as well as the prints on said window. The smell wasn't as strong near the window, probably due to the outside air. "Don't they realize I'm the good guy here? If I can get as much info as possible, we can catch the culprit sooner. That way fewer people will get hurt and we won't run the risk of anyone dying."

He leaned out the window, expecting to see blood in more places. However, he did not. And this was strange. "...What's this? First of all, why would this obviously injured and profusely bleeding person flee the scene, and second, how would they do so without leaving any trail? Unless...Unless it's the culprit's blood."

Takeshi sat down in a chair beside the table where he'd set his coffee before the whole debacle. "If it's the culprit's blood, that means she could have been conscious enough to fight back, maybe stab them with something. It'd only make sense then that they'd bleed. Perhaps then they would have carried her away somehow, doesn't matter how, she wouldn't have been bleeding because the nurse's would have obviously bandaged her up. If he was the one bleeding, it'd be simple to find a way to make it such that it did not track out of the room once he left, just staunching the flow somehow and wiping off his hand would be enough. Simple. It's just a theory, but...It makes sense."

The young man stood up and started out of the nurse's office, continuing to murmur to himself. "If that's the case, then it would be impossible for Katana-Dude or...What was her name? Spatula? Anyway, if that's the case, neither of them could be the culprit. Not that they were prime suspects anyway, Katana-Dude is just asking to be arrested. I mean honestly, a katana on school premises? Even if he really does have the paperwork, which I doubt, there's no way he's allowed to bring a weapon to school."

Takeshi sighed. "Focus, Maetakeshi, the legality of that kid's trinket doesn't matter right now. What matters is finding this culprit...The teachers can deal without me for a day. This is plenty excuse for an excused absence. School-related, club-related, and related to the well-being of everyone on this campus." Instead of going to his first class of the day, Takeshi instead decided to do some investigating. Such was his resolve.

Shakuntala said good bye to Daniel, and went to make her way to her own class, but got thoroughly lost. After about ten minutes, she decided to just skip the first lesson, as she was already quite late, but that didn't help her find her way to the second lesson. She sighed, running her hand through her hair, and frowning.

"Only I could get so lost that even looking outside I have no idea where I am" She said to herself with amusement. When she heard voices, she perked up, and listened for a moment. She was more then certain that she heard Weisse's voice, and Nikita's, and she brightened. As long as she had her friends, she wasn't lost. You were lost if you were solo, but in a group it was simple an adventure. She jogged towards their voices, managing to follow the conversation as it went between English and Japanese. it was shocking the difference's in the languages and the struggle between the two. Shakutnala knew English and Japanese among other languages, so she thought she could help here. And was happy too.

As she rounded the corner, she saw that the two weren't alone, which she had picked up from the other voices. There appeared to be another girl and boy there, and Shakuntala frowned. "Nikita! Weisse!" She smiled brightly, "I got lost, and heard your voices so I thought I'd just follow them to you" She said "I left my map in your room Nikita, and couldn't remember how to get back there from where I got lost. This is a big place" As Shakuntala jogged up to them, she didn't appear to notice the blood stain on the hem of her shirt, received from the Nurse's room, but she smiled brightly.

She looked to the other two there, "Sorry. I'm Shakuntala, but I know that's a mouthful, so You can call me Suki or Tala" She repeated this both in Japanese and English, unsure what the two spoke given the conversation she had heard coming up here. She was a native Japanese speaker, and had learned English as a child, and spoke it fluently, if with slight difficulty on some of the words, but it was clear she was able to speak it well.