Monday, August 7, 2006

Rangi hadn't slept a wink all night. No, not a second had passed by without him turning over and over in his bed like some shamed ancestor. Finally, he decided that he had to stop his insomnia, and to do that, he had to get rid of what was bothering him. Casting a hand around in the darkness of his personal room, his long fingers eventually found the phone set, and with a sleep-deprived hand, he started punching numbers.

There was an audible click from the other phone even from where he was, sitting up in bed using speakerphone. "Rangi, is that you?"

"Yes...."

"....Is there a problem? I wouldn't count it out considering who I left you to deal with in my absence. You know, you can get someone to help you manage the place with you, a friend or somethi-"

"No, no, onee-chan, that isn't it. You see...." Rangi paused quickly, just enough time to get a lump that had been forming in his throat down.

"Well?" The female voice on the other line, quite familiar to him even though she wasn't his real older sister sounded realistically annoyed, if just the slightest. Rangi had an age-old habit of clamming up like a poked snail when he had something to 'share'.

"You've seen the news recently, right?"

Almost half of Japan away, the woman held her wireless room phone away from her, a good two-arms' length. How in hell did the news have to do with what Rangi was rambling about? "Go on...."

"Have you been watching, like, the middle segments, you know, about strange cases?" She groaned, but voiced an affirmative, a vein in her forehead starting to twitch despite her trying to keep calm.

"Santa Maria, YES! What is it already, twinkle-toes?"

He winced visibly. "A new resident popped up yesterday, out of the blue. She paid for a full half-year, and she's still got more. And, her face is pretty familiar....you know the case recently, with the parents whose daughter disappeared with a giant-tall weapon, and they don't care? You know, the one with the father and mother who both look like they were carved out of stone instead of born?"

"She's there? Have you tried the media?" She would kill him if he did, the stupid git. When she had first seen that case on TV, her heart went out to the girl onscreen for no reason, save that her parents didn't care where she went and whether she lived. If the media knew, she'd probably run off, finding another place to stay before they blew the whistle on her for some dough.

Fortunately, Rangi had known her position on the wild subject that was spreading through the Land of the Sun, and had wisely decided that he would rather keep his fingers than make some quick yen. "Don't worry, Shizunu-onee-chan, not one word from my mouth or the tenants'. They all got a little 'motivating' memo yesterday regarding contacting the paparazzi." His lips twisted in a foxy smirk complete with sharp teeth; damn if that little note hadn't been pleasing to write. And the looks on some of the more money-desperate tenants' faces: priceless beyond words and riches! And halfway across the country, Shizunu could nearly feel his smirk through the phone, years of practice guessing his moods going to work as silence stretched on between their lines.

"Good boy, treat yourself to a beer tomorrow." She laughed at her own joke, joined by his raucous snickering moments later. When they both had quieted down, however, she knew there was something more that Rangi wanted to share. "Speak up, now. I wasn't your older-sister figure for all your life without cracking your code. There's more."

Rangi caught on right away, smirk still floating 'round his thin lips. His artist's fingers played with his blankets on his futon while he responded to the night air and the phone. "Well, I appointed dearest Kentei to be her guide-"

"Good Lord Heaven in a basket, WHAT?" Rangi's smirk turned near into a sneer as he heard her more explicit cursing breaking through his phone. She had reason to talk like a sailor, he supposed. After all, Kentei was a little weird, coming out of nowhere to request a place her as well. He had quickly run out of money, and so started helping Rangi when tenants got out of hand, which was often every day, and doing muscle work when delivery trucks came out back. He also had a notorious streak for fighting when his reputation had been besmirched, and always winning, though battered and occasionally bloody. Even more so, he was reclusive. To this day, only a handful knew his name, while Kentei had to know everyone's name to punish them. And he acted like some hermit around girls especially, claiming he wouldn't 'go there again'; Rangi thought that he had been abused up until Shizunu made it known that she'd hurt him in the other direction if he didn't shut up. Shizunu liked to take care of kids like that a li'l too much.

"Interestingly, he took a better liking to her than he usually has with females of any race and size. He led her throughout a little bit of the complex, and even watched her fight and," he paused, letting it sink in, "BEAT Sariyuki. After the battle, she had her sleeves rolled up, and he was tracing something there with his fingers. He looked totally absorbed in what he was doing, and she, Kikan, didn't stop him. Now, whaddya think of that?"

She didn't answer, trying to puzzle it out on her own. Although she didn't know the maze of Kentei's heart as well as she knew some others, Shizunu was fervently positive that no ordinary girl would make Kentei act so out of character. If only Shizunu knew what really went on that first day.

"G'night then, onee-chan."

She hurried her reply, trying to devote more of her mind to cracking the Kentei Code. "Uh-huh. G'night, ya little twit."

Laughing into the night as he pressed the 'off' button, Rangi knew she had heard him.

-SYC
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