#detetctive

It must have been a couple of hours later when I woke up. I had no idea where I was and my surroundings struck a panic in me. I seemed to be in something like a giant bird cage. On a stage. In front of an audience, all wearing masks.

“#5 for $2 million! Going once…”

It suddenly dawned on me what this was: A black market auction. Someone actually kidnapped me and put me up for auction on the black market. I started pulling and kicking at the bars of the cage in a desperate attempt to escape. Seat number five was right in front of the stage. He looked like a sleazebag. Like hell was I going anywhere near that freak. The man leered at me.

“$2 million, going twice!” the auctioneer’s voice boomed. “If there are no other bids, it will be sold to the man in seat number five.”

It? I kicked the bars until my feet hurt. All of a sudden there was a huge commotion in the auction hall.

“Seat number hundred with a bid of $20 million! Are there any more bids?!” $20 million? Either someone really wanted to buy me or my ass was being saved. Either way, I’m not sticking around to find out. “Sold to the man in seat number hundred for $20 million!” The cage was carried over to the edge of the stage. Two masked men approached me.

“This way…” one of them said. He held his hand out to me. I looked at it for a slit second before I made a break for it. I was almost to the exit, but I guess I just wasn’t that lucky. They caught me.

“Let go of me!” I yelled at them. They dragged me kicking and screaming into a nearby elevator. 

“Calm down. I promise we won’t hurt you.” The one in the flashy suit and a hat attempted to soothe me.

“And I’m supposed to take your word for that?” I retorted. They ignored me.

“We brought her.”

The men had taken me to what looked like a penthouse. Two men sat on the sofa, their legs crossed. I opened my mouth, but was cut off.

“We bought you,” a man brimming with arrogance told me. Now it made perfect sense. The black market auction was the Mad Hatter’s tea party, inside the Tres Spades hotel. And this arrogant guy who I immediately took a disliking to, was Eisuke Ichinomiya.  

“Thanks for the info, captain obvious. Why?” 

Without answering me, the two men who brought me here took off their masks, revealing themselves.

“Careful, boss. She’s a wild one,” the flashy guy laughed.

“You must’ve done something pretty bad, huh?” the blonde asked. I recognised him. He was Ota Kisaki, a rather famous artist known as the Angelic Artist. 

“What are you talking about? Remind me again why I, a person, was sold?”

“Anything’s for sale at that auction. If it’s worth anything, it’s here,” Mr. Arrogant said.

“You’re reckless as always. This woman isn’t worth anything,” a man with black, slicked back hair said. I knew him, too. He was a mobster whose mafia syndicate was affiliated with mine. 

“And you’re basing your opinion of me on what exactly?” I looked coldly at him.

“…Who gave you permission to speak?” Eisuke asked. “Don’t open your mouth unless I say so.”

“And what are you, the queen of England?” I retorted.

“If you gotta problem with it, would you rather go back to number five?” the mobster, Soryu, asked sarcastically. 

So I replied just as sarcastically, “‘Gotta problem’? Ever think to open up a grammar book, Soryu Oh of the Ice Dragons.”

“How do you know my name?” He eyed me up and down suspiciously.

“I have my sources.” 

“C’mon now, Boss… Soryu… You should be nice to girls. Plus, we need to figure out who gets to keep her,” Flashy said.

“Yeah. I’m pretty fond of her already…” Ota added. 

I rolled my eyes. “Aren’t you worried the police will get wind of this?” I asked exasperatedly.

“Soryu, you see a cop anywhere?” Arrogance asked.

“Yeah, right over there,” Soryu replied. 

He turned his gaze to a worn-out looking man standing by the window, smoking a cigarette. My eyes widened when I saw him. It can’t be... right?

“Damn it, don’t just blow my cover like that!” the detective said, apparently annoyed.

“Better now than later. Right, Mr. Detective?” Blondie said.

“Grow up, Kisaki,” the detective said.

“There you go again, always acting like you’re the only adult here.”

“You seem to have a pretty low mentality from where I’m standing,” I muttered under my breath. 

I kept looking at the supposed detective. The more I looked at him, the more uneasy I felt. I wasn’t even listening to the other guys’ conversation anymore. The detective just kept on smoking, not bothering to look my way.

“Make a decision.” Eisuke’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

“What?” I looked up to see the four men had sauntered over to me. Eisuke was standing in the middle, looking down coldly at me.

“I’ll let you choose who buys you,” he said.

“I’m sorry, but do I fucking look like an object to you?” I asked sarcastically.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion. You’re not going anywhere. Choose.”

“…Fine. The detective… Um… What was his name again?”

“Oh, that’s Kishi,” Kisaki enlightened me.

Kishi… My heart sank. I closed my eyes and took a breath, taking care not to let my emotions show on my face. Kishi had been casually smoking by the window, but as soon as Ota said his name his eyes grew wide.

“Hang on here, I don’t need her,” Kishi retorted.

“Oh well,” Eisuke said.

“Might be for the best, considering the situation,” Soryu added.

“I don’t wanna be stuck taking care of some kid.” Kishi stubbed out his cigarette, making an extremely unpleasant face.

“I don’t exactly want to be here either, you know,” I countered.

“A man should never turn down a woman’s invitation,” Flashy said.

“Better take her to your room, Kishi,” Ota added.

“Hey, you guys…” Kishi protested, but no avail.

“All right, all aboard to Kishi’s room!” Ota and Flashy pushed my back and practically forced me into Kishi’s room. Once we were inside, he heaved a sigh.

“I really don’t wanna babysit some kid.” He lit up a cigarette.

“You said that already.” 

Now that I get a good look at him, it makes sense. He really is that Kishi. I’ve known him since I was little, though we haven’t spoken or seen each other in four years. I vaguely remember having a crush on him when I was like ten or something. He didn’t seem to recognise me.  

It was after my brother’s unseemly death. I saw him at the funeral, but we didn’t really talk. I didn’t talk to anyone. I just sat away from everyone and stared into space the whole time. 

Kishi sat down in a chair in the corner of the room. 

“Hey.” I sat down across from him. “What’s with these auctions? You’re ignoring basic human rights, here.”

“Eh, take it up with them. I just work here.” He waved his hand about, not even looking at me. 

I don’t remember him caring so little. He used to be so passionate about protecting people. I sat in awkward silence for a while before he suddenly got up and walked over to me, his eyes serious. I watched curiously as he passed me and opened the door.

“Gotcha.” Blondie was at the door. Flashy was right beside him.

“I knew it, Mamo,” Flashy said.

“I’ll arrest you for peeping,” Kishi said, annoyed.

“Yeah, yeah,” Blondie laughed.

“OOoooOhh! I’m scaaaaared!” Flashy added sarcastically. 

How old were these people? Twelve? Kishi closed the door and sighed.

“Just so you know, it’s best not to piss ‘em off. You don’t wanna go to hell, right?” he asked, turning towards me.

“If that’s a reference to whether or not I want to die, then no,” I retorted like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

I didn’t want to die. I remember that I used to want to die, right after my brother died. I wanted to go to sleep and never wake up again. But that’s changed now…

“I’m going to sleep. Do whatever you want.” He turned around and went into another room. I just kept sitting where I was, not moving an inch.

  To be continued…