Chapter Eight: Questions:

In two hours, Kenzou came back to see us. Blake and I looked up right away. My colleague had a calm smile on his face.

“Is she awake, Kenzou?” I asked.

“Just did,” he said. “I must warn you, she’s still a bit groggy. So be careful with her, okay?” Blake and I nodded.

“Which room is she in?” Blake asked.

“Room 214,” Kenzou answered.

“Thank you sir,” I said. All three of us bowed. Doctor Niwa departed from us. Once he left, Blake and I hurried to Cassie’s room. I slowly opened the door. My angel slowly turned her head and saw us.

“Doctor…” she murmured. I walked over to her.

“Don’t talk,” I said. “Just take it easy.” Cassie went quiet after that. Blake rushed over to her bedside. His sister looked at him tired.

“Blake…” she said groggy. Her brother grabbed her by the hand like a worried father.

“Cassie, are you okay?” he asked.

“I guess…” she mumbled.

“Tell me,” Blake said. “What happened? Who shot you?” Cassie shook her head.

“I don’t know,” she said. “The doctor just told me to run. I did so and I got shot.” I cleared my throat. The twins looked up at me. I stood in the doorway.

“Listen to me Cassie,” I said. “The police will be over here in a couple of minutes to ask questions. Just let Blake and I do the talking, okay?”

“Alright,” Cassie said, nodding.

“Good,” I said. “Now, get some sleep, okay?” Cassie nodded once. She slowly shut her eyes and went to sleep. Blake looked at me confused.

“The police are coming?” he asked. “Why?”

“Do you think eight gunshots in Tokyo will go unnoticed?” I questioned. “This is probably on the news by now!” Blake paused for a long moment.

“Good point…” he mumbled. “So what do we do?”

“Just leave it to me,” I said. “I know how to deal with the police in situations like this.”

“What do you mean by that?” he asked.

“I’ll tell you later,” I said. “Only talk when they ask the questions to you.”

“Got ya!” he said. When we made it out to the lobby, sure enough, the police were waiting for us there. I leaned into Blake’s ear.

“Brace yourself,” I whispered. “Here come the tough questions.” Blake nodded. We walked over to the police. The head captain walked over to us.

“Gentlemen,” he said. “My name is Daishi Gyo. I would like to ask you a few questions, Doctor Stonem.”

“Okay,” I said calmly. “Ask away.”

“How do you know the victim?” Daishi asked.

“I was friends with her mother,” I answered. “I had just reconnected with her and her brother here last night.”

“Explain what happened,” he said.

“Cassie and I were taking a walk around the city,” I began. “I felt something was wrong, I grabbed her and pushed her down when I heard the shots go off. One hit me in the ankle.” I showed him the bandaged wound. Daishi only seemed to investigate for a moment before moving on.

“Okay,” he said. “And then what?”

“I told Cassie to run away,” I picked up again. “She did and got shot. After that, I called for paramedics.” Daichi got all of the information down. I studied him as he did so. Good so far. No hard questions, yet. I braced myself for the worst.

“Do you have any idea would want to do this to you?” Daichi asked once he got down all of the useful information.

“No,” I lied again. The detective turned to Blake.

“You her brother?” he asked.

“Yes, that’s right,” the boy answered. “My sister and I came here from England on student visas yesterday.”

“Does your sister have any enemies that would want her dead?” Daichi asked.

“No, not that I know of,” Blake replied. (If only knew the truth…) The detective wrote down his statement as well. Even though I was nervous, I didn’t show it. I learned that looking guilty draws attention to the suspect. Just look unreadable and that stalls everything for the moment. Daichi looked up at both of us, studying us as if to see would crack first. He seemed to stay like that for a few seconds.

“Alright,” he said at last. “That will be all for now. Don’t try to leave town; we’ll still have follow-up questions for you once we get to the bottom of this.”

“Fair enough,” I told him.

“Yes sir,” Blake answered. We all bowed before Daichi departed. Blake looked at me in his own suspicions. I wasn’t surprised; I had prepared for this as well.

“Tell me the truth,” Blake said. Judging by the absence of his usual goofy manner in his tone, this called to end the game.

“What’s going on here?” the boy demanded. “Who shot my sister and why did they do it?” I held up my hand.

“I will tell you and her everything when she is well enough from her injuries, okay?” I replied. Blake didn’t say a word at first. He didn’t need to. The look in his eyes said everything I needed to grasp mentally.

“Thank you,” I said. “I’ll walk you home if you like…”

“No thank you,” Blake said harshly. Then, he walked out of the hospital. I watched him do so. He’s upset, right now. Understandable. My only concern right now is that Cassie will be safe here tonight. Those hypocrites from the council could try to kill her again if I’m not careful. With that possibility in made, I decided to stay the night with my Cassie just to be safe. I walked back to her room.