Chapter Forty-Nine: Hybristophilia:

March 4th, 2010.

7:00 a.m.

Tsuzuki checked him and Anna out that morning.

"Can't we stay in longer?" Anna asked. Her husband pulled her into his arms.

"I have to work," he said. His wife pouted and he patted her on the head.

"Don't worry," he said. "We'll be together this evening." Anna looked at him with big eyes.

"You mean it?" she asked.

"Yes," Tsuzuki said. His wife rested her head on his arm.

"Fine," she said. Tsuzuki kissed her atop her head. He let her sleep on the train on the way home.

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April 26th, 2010.

7:00 p.m.

Amadeus and his posse sat in waiting. The trap had been sprung and the final part of the game was unfolding. Lilith leaned her head on Amadeus. Gesshin turned to him.

"So, what next?" he asked.

"We wait," the master said. His attendant nodded.

"Gesshin-kun," the demon of lust said. "Make the next text."

"Yes, my lord," the male geisha said. He opened up his phone and started typing. They all know this scheme might fail. The results aren't the goal here. If this was successful, fine. If there was failure, they still benefited. Amadeus and his crew had bigger plans for the Mother. Hisato only served as step one. Yet, the show's not over; the curtains had only risen for the real show. All they had to do now was see this whole act through.

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Meanwhile, the shinigami had all that they needed. Tsuzuki and Hisoka went to Black Milk on the same Sunday. The older shinigami rang the bell while the receptionist was on the phone. The woman looked up.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes," Tsuzuki said. "We're investigating the Cupid Killer case. We would like to ask your manager some questions. Is he in today?"

"One moment," she said. The receptionist switched lines. "Excuse me, sir, there are two detectives here to see you. Uh-huh. Okay. Okay. I'll tell them." The receptionist hung up and turned back to the shinigami.

"He'll be down in a moment," she whispered. "Please take a seat."

"Thank you," Hisoka said. Both men took a seat in the lobby. Tsuzuki looked over at the long sign-up line.

"What's that over there?" he asked.

"They're signing up for our clinical trial," the receptionist said.

"Oh what drug?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Lovely Boy!" she bragged. "It's to improve sexual satisfaction."

"I see�" Tsuzuki said.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," a voice told them. The shinigami looked up to see a man in a nice suit and glasses approaching them. He broke into a huge smile and pushed up his glasses.

"Welcome to Black Milk," he said. "I am the manager, Ito. Anything I can help you with?" Tsuzuki stood up.

"Yes sir," he said. "We would like to ask you questions about your product, Lovely Boy." Ito raised an eyebrow.

"What about it?" he asked. Tsuzuki glanced around quickly.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" he asked in a low voice.

"Gladly!" the manager said. The three men moved into an empty office across from the lobby. The manager frowned, closing the glass door.

"I assure you that our drug is perfectly legal and safe!" he declared.

"That's not the problem," Hisoka said.

"What?" the manager asked, narrowing his eyes.

"We believe that one of your employees might have stolen the drug, tampered with it, and is now using it to kill people," the younger shinigami replied. The manager's face drained of color.

"Oh�" he murmured.

"Is there a problem?" Tsuzuki asked. The manager bit his lower lip.

"Well," he said in a low voice. "There was a break-in with our storage room last month."

"Any tubes missing?"

"Just two of Lovely Boy's prototypes."

"Who has access to the storage?" Tsuzuki asked.

"IT and our top scientists," the manager said.

"We need a list of employees with access."

"Certainly." In minutes, the manager handed the shinigami the employee list and the access log. One code log number stood out from the rest in March. The time was a dead give-away.

"Hey Hisoka," Tsuzuki said.

"Yes?" the younger shinigami asked.

"Who goes into a storage room at three in the morning?" he asked. He showed the Hisoka the time log.

"Security guard," he said.

"For a whole hour?"

"No�"

Right then, Tsuzuki's phone buzzed. "Hello?"

"Hello, shinigami-kun!" a familiar voice cooed. Tsuzuki gritted his teeth.

"You!" he hissed. Hisoka looked up.

"What?" he asked.

"Aww," Gesshin said. "What's wrong, baby? You don't sound happy to hear from me."

"What do you want now?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Just to give you another clue."

"What?"

The male geisha chuckled. "Guard to IT."

"What does that mean?" Tsuzuki asked. However, Gesshin had already hung up. Tsuzuki glare at his phone. Jerk, he thought.

"What was that all about?" Hisoka asked. Tsuzuki turned around.

"I think we just might have a break in the case," he said.

"What?" his partner asked.

"Look at the logs for the IT techs," Tsuzuki said.

"Okay�" Hisoka replied. He went over the files again and the same code log appeared as the one in March.

"Here," the younger shinigami said. Tsuzuki read the information in question.

"Gasai Hisato?" he asked. Tsuzuki reached for his phone. One quick dial got him who he needed.

"Hello?" Tatsumi asked on the other line.

"Tatsumi!" the older shinigami said. "We've got our lead!" This leads to tonight�

The chase began with another text.

Tick-tock! Tick-tock! Two more will die tonight. Hurry or the Mother will be mine! You've got two hours left.

XOXOXO

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Meanwhile, Hisato waited in his apartment for his latest victims to arrive. He already had Lovely Boy set up to go. Then, the doorbell rang.

"Hold on!" he called. Hisato rose to his feet from his couch and walked over to the door. He peeked out the peep hole.

"Yes?" he asked.

"It's us!" a guy's voice called. "We talked to you about the trial on Sunday." Hisato smirked.

"Ah yes," he said as he opened the door. The man and his girlfriend looked inside.

"This is the right place, right?" he asked.

"Right this way," he said. He led them to his death trap.

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Tsuzuki called back Tatsumi.

"Hello?" his former partner said.

"Do you have his address yet?" Tsuzuki asked.

"We about have it, but�"

"But?"

"Well?"

"There is barely anything on this guy," Tatsumi answered. "No driver's license, criminal record, school records, nothing."

"Nothing?" Tsuzuki asked.

"It's almost like this guy doesn't exist."

"I see." Something in him told him to expect as much, but he didn't know why. "Anybody close to him? Family? Friends?"

"Nope," Tatsumi said. "But he has a girlfriend."

"What's her name?"

"Sugizawa Kimiko."

"Where does she live?"

"We're on that right now."

"Give me the results ASAP!"

"I understand."

Tsuzuki's phone buzzed again. Here came another text:

Tick-tock! Tick-tock! Chop-chop! Chop-chop! Lovely Boy has gone down. Hurry or wife is mine.

XOXOXO

Tsuzuki sneered. Damn it!

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Hisato walked to his front door. Kimiko had just spent a text.

I'm lonely tonight. Come and play!

He smiled at her text. Yes ma'am! Hisato just wrapped work up early and went out the door.

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Minutes later, the phone rang.

"Hello?" Tsuzuki asked.

"We've got both," Tatsumi said. "You and Hisoka nab Hisato; Tana, Watari, and I will see if there is another couple."

"Yes!" he said. Another text put fire under Tsuzuki and Hisoka.

Tick-tock! Tick-tock! Chop-chop! Time's running out. Better hurry. Otherwise well be dead.

XOXOXO

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Tatsumi, Tana, and Watari came to Hisato's apartment. They managed to find the dying couple in his bedroom in the middle of intercourse. The girlfriend lay underneath her boyfriend out cold with pale lips. Tana tried to comfort the semi-conscious boyfriend.

�Are you still with us?� she whispered. �Talk to me.� His back felt so cold and sweaty at the touch. He drew in slow breaths as he fought stay awake.

"She's not breathing," he said in a trembling voice. "Please hurry!" Tana rubbed his back.

"Shhh," she whispered. "It's okay now. We�re going to help you." The three shinigami got the couple to the hospital before death could claim them.

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Tsuzuki and Hisoka found Kimiko's apartment. Hisato and his girlfriend were about to lose their virginities to each other before he was caught. Tsuzuki grabbed the IT guy and pulled him off of his girlfriend. Kimiko screamed in confusion.

"What's going on?! Who are these people?!" she cried.

�We�ll explain later!� Hisoka said.

"Kimiko-chan!" Hisato yelled. "I love you! I love you! I love you!" He didn't stop yelling as both were taken away.