Blood of the Guilty

Memory 12: Deserved Death

"And I~~~~~~~~~~~~~ will always love you~~~~~~~~" sang Exodus as she sat on the couch.

The waiter was in between Minny and Exodus within the room, staring timidly into space as he felt the pain in his wound, wrapped in a bandage. The room had two couches, a table with some drinks, and a TV as well as a microphone set. This was a karaoke club, where customers could try out their singing capabilities.

As Exodus placed her microphone back on the set, she turned to Minny and asked, "Why'd you bring us here?"

"Oh, I just feel like we should be doing something to help ease his tensions," said Minny, "And what better way than to do karaoke with him?"

Exodus looked at the waiter.

He looked like he wanted to die on the spot.

"What's your name actually?" asked Exodus, realizing that they haven't really asked for a name.

"Uh.. Michael Tsui," the waiter responded.

"And your Magia..?"

"Liquid manipulation and solidification.."

"I guess that makes some sense!" chuckled Minny in an effort to relieve tension, "What songs do you like to sing with your friends, Michael?"

"...I don't have any."

Exodus and Minny stared at Michael before looking at each other, "I... I kinda feel bad now."

"You're the one who shot him.." whispered Minny.

"I didn't know the guy was anti-social!" replied Exodus.

Michael was hearing all of this because he was in between the both of them.

Finally, Exodus turned to Michael, "Let's get this over with and find out what you know. What do you know about Yosuke?"

"Well," muttered Michael, "He, Izaru, and I used to be friends.. somewhat.. They went over to my mansion some days to investigate something."

"Izaru and Yosuke were friends?" asked Minny in curiosity.

"What the fuck? This guy has a mansion?" exclaimed Exodus in envy, "Tell us more bucko."

"Well, we encountered a supernatural being of sorts.. one who was being hunted because of their ability to create Ma—"

"Wait!" exclaimed Minny, "I think we're delving in too deep. This is too much. We're just exploiting the guy."

"You just interrupted our exposition!" complained Exodus, "Either way, you're right. This isn't really getting us anywhere with our mission, and I doubt that Yosuke has that much of an important secret that we wouldn't know about it. We're just gonna have to ask him sometime if it comes up."

"Can I go now?" asked Michael, nervously and trying to go to a hospital to get rid of the pain from his wound.

"Hold it," questioned Exodus, "What do you know about the murders of Akihabara? The countless disappearances that have been happening recently?"

"Murders of Akihabara...?" asked Michael as if that was his first time hearing it, "I knew about the disappearances, but I didn't actually think that they had all died. Those poor women and children.."

"We don't have much leads on it right now," said Minny, "So we're asking for a little help on spotting them. We want this to be a joint effort so that we all could hopefully take this guy down."

Suddenly, a man fell through the door of the karaoke room. He looked scraggy and old, groaning as he got up slowly as his dog licked his hands. That's when Minny realized that this was Samuel and Lassie, the beggars that Yosuke had treated from back then.

"Forgive me for listening in... but I did want to give my input on the matter.. if it's to help this kind town," spoke Samuel.

"Uh, sure thing," replied Exodus, "Go ahead and tell us."

"A few days ago, about late at night, around the day I met you all, I was rummaging through behind a market when I saw a man in a suit get off from a bus stop. Normally, I'd mind my own business, but it seemed that the lady was bothered by the man following her. It came to my surprise that that very same lady had gone missing.

I'd tell the cops but they'd write me off as a loon like always. I just figured that I needed to find somebody to help me with this."

"Well you came to the right place," smiled Exodus, "Now what did this guy look like?"

Minny pulled out a notebook to take note of the description.

"Please forgive me," mumbled Samuel sorrowfully, "I only vaguely remember the details. However, I know that he had brownish hair, and he wore a very nice wristwatch. It gleamed when I saw it, possibly from the streetlights."

"Any information is appreciated," smiled Minny, "We at least know that our murderer could quite possibly be a man, an employee, with a wristwatch. Very helpful! Thank you Samuel!"

Samuel bowed his head and left, happy that someone had believed in him.

"We'd have to tell Yosuke about this to narrow down our suspects," suggested Exodus.

"Can I go now...?" asked Michael in pain.