••●••

'Crime, like death,
is not confined to the old and withered alone.
The youngest and fairest are too often its chosen victims'
— Charles Dickens

••●••

"Let's establish the target of this week's games. The theme is kidnapping. Once we decide on the victim, we'll segue into research. That being said, it's time to begin."

"We're doing research again, Ayame? Can't we do murder or something? Why a kidnapping?"

"Because we decided on this last week, Sasahara. And you agreed."

"I may have," Ryuu Sasahara said, meekly scratching his cheek. "But..."

"I agree. We always resort to kidnapping," complained Izumi Shinzo, propping her chin on her palm. "It's, like, totally getting lame. Besides, why do we need to research our victims? It's like, so much trouble."

"It's to make this make-believe game more thrilling, right?" Tadashi Matsumoto replied.

"Exactly!" Akira Minamoto sprung from her chair with extended fists. "How are we supposed to create a crime scenario if we don't have sufficient information? To make our cases realistic and effectively solve them, we need research! It's the primary factor—"

"We can invent something on the spot, can't we?" Yasuo Ishikawa argued, eyelids fixed in a hostile glare. He sat with his legs crossed on the table in front of him, hands jammed in his pockets. "Why do we have to waste our time doing shit that doesn't benefit us?"

"To put it in the words of Sophocles: 'Success is dependent on effort.'" Katsura Inohara sipped her tea.

"I thinks so too! Lady Katsura is right! And this Sofa person too!" Iori Yutaka cheered, his broken Japanese interspersed with English, his mother tongue.

Mayumi Hiruko fiddled restlessly with her braids. "W-wait... so we're not doing a k-kidnapping?"

"We are!" Saya Asahina puffed her cheeks with air. "We have to!"

"C-c-can I go home?" Kiyoshi Ogawa pleaded, gaze flickering to and fro the ground.

"How absurd! If clubs are in session, we must remain in this room! Leaving early is out of the question!" proclaimed Atsushi Yamada, Student Council Vice President.

"So long as eating's possible, I'm happy anywhere," laughed Haru Tomachi, inhaling a handful of salted original chips for emphasis.

"Doesn't persistently stuffing your face tire you out?" Juzo Fatora's murmur originated from the furthest corner of the room. His head remained buried in his arms—a common occurrence whenever they gathered for club activities.

Tadashi expelled a heavy breath, long aware of the outcome of this unremitting argument. With how often they all clashed, it was a mystery how they managed to stand being in the same room every Tuesday.

Those constituting the Crime Research Facility (CRF) were of different personalities, groups, hobbies, yet the sole thread connecting all fourteen members was their love for crime stories. It was outrageous. Something as foul and horrendous as crime was able to unite individuals who'd otherwise never acknowledge each others' presence. Of course, few exceptions partook in the irrationality solely to be relieved of trouble, expulsion, or to keep their fame on a low standing.

At Kaisei Private Academy, a school notable for its extraordinary amount of clubs and celebrities, the CRF was the single place these fourteen could cut ties with the outside world and exist in the fictional world of crimes—the Crime Games.

"We should start!"

All conversation instantaneously hushed.

"Complaining won't do us any good," Tadashi continued. "Changing up the crime we execute next week is always an option. So, for now, let's stick with kidnapping."

"Matsumoto's right. Surprisingly."

"Surprisingly?"

Ayame Kobayashi hardly acknowledged his remark. "Whining is futile. At the end of the day, we're here to perpetrate a crime. Let's commence what we assembled for then, shall we?"

With a simultaneous sigh, the remaining twelve members swallowed their displeasure. Poker-faced, Ayame seated herself at the forefront of the room. Finally, order was back in place.

"Well! Like I said when I came in, I have an idea for this week's target!" Akira declared, bolting from her chair.

"And who might that be?" Izumi raised an eyebrow.

"She's not well-known or anything, but she interests me. I talked with her today and learned just how smart, friendly, and nice she is—"

"The fuck does that matter? Sounds like any other bitch to me," Yasuo commented.

"She's not a— Geez, Yasuo!" She shot a scowl his way. "I brought her up because while I was getting to know her, I landed on a huge secret!"

"S-secret?" Mayumi said.

"Yeah, what is it?" Ryuu inquired.

Akira slammed her hands on the table, smirking at her clubmates' curiosity. "W-e-l-l..." Her shoulders sagged. "I'm not too sure, actually. But she is hiding something. She froze up whenever I mentioned the word 'family.'"

"Hold up, you don't know?" Izumi snapped. "How can we use that then?"

"I'm telling you she's got potential as a victim."

Saya tilted her head. "And her name?"

"Moriko Kitoshi. Know her? I think she's in your class."

"Moriko? As in, the Moriko Kitoshi? Let alone know her—she's our class's star! Class representative. Highest grades. Looks that can kill!"

"I'm familiar with the name as well. It's consistently under mine on the exam lists." Atsushi crossed his arms. "She must take meticulous care of her studies. Good! Students like that should join the Student Council!"

"Only you would join that stifling committee," Izumi muttered.

"See." Akira smiled. "I told you she had potential!"

"What can we possibly gain from manipulating Miss Moriko, however?" Katsura interjected. "To me, she sounds ordinary. And using the innocent—"

"There's no need to be so uptight, Katsura. It's pretend, remember? It doesn't matter."

She flattened her lips, proof of her reluctance.

"Since Moriko comes from a high-class family, maybe money can be our motive?" Saya suggested.

"High-class? As in, she gets to eat top-quality food daily?" Haru's grin sparkled. "Introduce me! Maybe she'll let me gobble—"

"I don't think she would, Haru," Tadashi remarked.

"Aww!"

"I has caught a glimpse of her before! What a beautiful lady," Iori cooed. "Girls like her are AMAZING! Oh, but other girls are excellent as well. Especially—"

"So we have a motive?" Yasuo scoffed, tuning Iori out alongside everyone else. "It ain't even a good one."

"I think it is," Tadashi said. "Moriko being rich wouldn't be a spectacular motive. It's cliché if anything. But if we add her personality and her secret, we'll be able to deduce a better rationale."

"Like what?"

He positioned an index finger beneath his chin. "Moriko Kitoshi is renowned for her wealth. In fact, it's safe to say everyone at Kaisei is familiar with who she, and her family, is. Think of it this way, then: how about if this secret of hers is so important that the only way for her to keep it hidden is to be recognized for something else?"

"Ooh!" Akira cried. "Rich people tend to have dirt that could destroy their whole reputation in an instant if the public were to discover them. Therefore, if we can figure out Moriko's secret, there's a high chance we can use it to our advantage. Force her to do whatever we want, plus get the money. That it?"

The theory was a unanimous hit.

She folded her arms in thought. "How are we supposed to figure out her secret though? If it's as big as we assume, she won't outright tell us."

"Easy," Ryuu answered with a grin. "We have to gather some information."

"Says the individual who was against it from the beginning," Ayame retorted.

Kiyoshi toppled in front of the computer in the room, already on it. He typed at the keyboard— ignoring his peers' stares as he brought up the file for Moriko Kitoshi.

"It's good that Kiyoshin can hack the school's system for us!" Haru said.

"It's not so much hacking," Saya replied. "This computer gives us instant access to school files so long as they're from previous years."

"We got it from Mr. Nobuo, didn't we?" Yasuo said. "It's that idiot teacher's fault for not going through them before he passed it onto us."

After several years, the school and staff were finally granted hordes of new equipment. And instead of disposing of all the ancient computers, the CRF's supervisor, Mr. Nobuo, managed to score them a computer, TV, and filing cabinet to store their crime plans in. However, due to his lazy nature, he didn't bother examining the computer's files before handing it off. Illegal as it was, it enabled them to have access to records and personal information of students who enrolled into the school up until last year.

Considering she was currently in her second year of high school, this included Moriko Kitoshi.

Upon surfacing Moriko's document, Kiyoshi swerved to allow the others to perceive the screen. Akira and Saya stood at the vanguard, scouring for information that could be used in the latter half of the games.

"It doesn't list much that could hint at her secret. She's relatively normal," Saya murmured. "Except, she did miss the first week of school in America."

"She overworks herself, too. Is a part of, like, twenty clubs. Prep courses twice a week." Akira's jaw fell. "Oh my! It also says she's adopted!"

"What?" Ryuu demanded.

Saya hummed, reading more of the file. A shrug. "Family issues or something."

"Let's forget this secret already!" Izumi snarled. "We're using money as the motive and getting this over with!"

"For once, I agree," Ayame said. "We've wasted plentiful time."

Akira jerked her head. "But—"

"Unlike you, I'm busy," Izumi scoffed. "If you adore mysteries so badly, accompany your dad on his rounds. He's the town's sheriff, right?"

"This and that are two different issues... You're such a killjoy, Izumi."

Izumi tossed her a scathing look. Akira plunged into her seat.

"Since that Moriko bitch attends clubs, we could kidnap her then," Yasuo offered, commencing the concluding debate.

Haru extended his lollipop. "But if we did that, everyone would notice she's gone."

Ryuu bobbed his head. "We have to kidnap her before or after school. During school isn't an option."

"She's rich, though. I've spotted her taking a limo to and fro so we won't get the chance. It has to be inside the school building," Saya pointed out.

"In other words, before school ends and right after clubs." Akira frowned. "Isn't that basically... impossible?"

"What of this school's surveillance cameras?" Yasuo barked. "Time is irrelevant when those remain a dominant obstacle. You can't sneak past them; trust me, I've tried."

"Like that stops you from ditching class anyway," Saya whispered.

Tadashi's eyebrows lifted. "That's it!"

All discussion paused.

"If we use a drug as a way to pass her out, then it could work during school."

"What are you implying, Matsumoto?" Ayame demanded.

Albeit stunned by her attentiveness, Tadashi answered, "We've all been thinking about when we could kidnap her but haven't thought of how. If we figure out the weapon, it'll simplify the execution."

"Y-you said s-something about a... drug, didn't you? L-let's use th-that," stuttered Mayumi.

"If we utilize drugs, do our opportunities expand?" Katsura tentatively asked.

Tadashi nodded.

"Didn't we agree that there's no way we can kidnap Moriko before or after school?" Izumi growled. "You're not making any sense, loser."

"If we can uncover a location in the building where there are no surveillance cameras... we could ask her to meet there then present the drug." Juzo spoke sotto voce. It was a miracle in and of itself he was paying attention; let alone contributing.

Iori cocked his chin to the side. "So us are supposed to ask Lady Moriko to meet in the non-surveillance area. Then hand her a drug. Would... that work? I wouldn't stupidly receive what a stranger offered!"

"If we p-put it in a d-drink, it could work," Kiyoshi recommended.

"But there's a chance she won't take it like that," Ryuu said.

"About that," Saya interposed. "On the first day of school, I saw her staring at a drink in the vending machine. I purchased it for her and she drank it despite not knowing who I was. I bet if we put it in that exact drink, she'll gulp it down."

"If somebody bought me my favourite snack, I'd eat it without question too," Haru laughed.

Ryuu shrugged. "If our biggest glutton says it, guess it's settled. So? What's the drink, Saya?"

"Berry Fizz."

"It's coming together!" Akira squealed.

"You forgot the most important part didn't you?" Izumi grumbled to terminate her squeaking. "Where's the place we're meeting her at?"

Akira gasped, "I forgot about that! Where could that be? I don't remember there being an area without surveillance cameras at this school. Besides maybe the washrooms—"

"Washrooms are out of the question," Katsura interrupted.

"We'd be seen going in and out, anyway," Akira chuckled. "Plus there's no deterring other students from passing by or overhearing. It's too risky."

"I bet Atsushin knows!" Haru commented. "He knows every inch of this school!"

Atsushi recoiled. "As the Vice President of the Student Council, I cannot possibly reveal such critical information!"

"It doesn't, like, matter, doofus. It's only for the story," Izumi snapped.

He pursed his lips. "Then... the room at the furthest end of the gymnasium. Since the cameras there only focus by the front doors, you can enter and exit with ease."

"He revealed it so easily," Ryuu snorted.

"So much for being Vice President," Haru tittered.

Akira whooped. "After we drug her, we could bag her and sneak her out the back, right? Where would we take her next?"

"I found this place while walking home yesterday," Tadashi proposed. "An abandoned warehouse. It's old and near a shrine that hasn't been used in ages. I doubt anybody visits it either." He deliberated it before securing the notion. "After we lock her down there, we can threaten her to supply the money."

Ryuu expelled a bark of laughter. Swinging his arm around Tadashi's neck, he ruffled his hair. "Dude, you're full of great ideas today!"

Hilarity bubbled at the pit of his stomach. "It's a coincidence."

"Albeit sloppy, it will have to do for today. Let's go over our ideas," Ayame declared.

A deathly silence ensued. The clock in the distance ticked louder and louder.

Saya commenced the explanation: "First we'll urge Moriko Kitoshi to meet us after the final bell with a love letter she'll discover in her locker. It has to be right after school since she attends her club activities and rides a limo to and from school."

"She'll accept the note, being the kind-hearted honour student she is, and will convene at the promised place to break our poor, lovesick heart." Ryuu smiled.

"'Promised place,' my ass. Just say the small room at the back of the gym, right in the security cameras' blindspot," Yasuo scoffed.

Katsura sighed. "Within the room, we, the kidnappers, will place a sleeping drug into a drink she won't be able to resist from."

"Berry Fizz!" Haru cheered.

"She'll enter the room," Atsushi said.

Izumi finished, "And as she's bewildered about where her 'admirer' is..."

"W-we'll catch her attention and hand her the bottle. Sh-she'll drink it and immediately pass out," Mayumi said.

"Then, we'll bag her," Juzo added.

"A-and s-sneak her out the back door," Kiyoshi said.

"Taking her to the old warehouse behind the shrine I found," Tadashi said. "We'll carry her inside and tie her up so she won't be able to escape."

"And when the lady does wake up, us will coerce her to fork over the money," Iori stated.

Akira grinned, raising her fingers in a mock gun. "And if she doesn't, it's..."

Ayame concluded, "Game over."

She slammed a gavel against its podium—a sound as shrilling as the recoil of a bullet. Having recorded everything they'd discussed on a piece of paper, Izumi tucked it inside a folder within the filing cabinet where their previous Crime Game plans were kept. She locked it with a key then handed it off to Ayame.

"That's it for today's games. Though, I suppose we've yet to dub the kidnapper for this case." Ayame smiled slyly. "Matsumoto."

"Huh? Me?" Tadashi demanded.

"I agree!" Ryuu beamed. "You did bring everything together."

"It's settled, then. Tadashi Matsumoto is the culprit in this case. Be that as it may, this Crime Games comes to a close." Ayame discarded the smile adorning her face and replaced it with her classic frown. "Everyone may leave."

Tadashi digested her declaration with a sigh.

Oh, whatever. It was only a game.

→☻☺☻ CRIME GAMES ☻☺☻←

On Thursday morning, Tadashi awoke with a pit in his gut. The nausea was brutal, leaving him to lay incapacitated within his bedsheets. After weighing the pros and cons of skipping school entirely or having to rewrite the math exam he'd spent all week studying for, the latter won, and he tumbled off of his bed and onto the cold, vinyl floor. He ventured into the kitchen and downed a glass of water in hopes of allaying the overwhelming queasiness.

"Tadashi! Up early?" his mother called from the living room.

"Yep. Got an exam first period," he replied. "If I'm not there before the bell, Mr. Goya will fail me automatically."

He crossed into the room, weaving his fingers through his mocha brown hair, toppling dishevelled strands over his forehead.

His father occupied the seat adjacent to his mother, taking leisure sips of his morning coffee. "I better see an improvement in marks. Your last report card was horrendous."

"If only I could wash my eyeballs and forget the whole thing," his mother concurred.

He pulled a face. What supportive parents he had.

His focus drifted onto the television their attention was pinned to.

"In other news, Moriko Kitoshi from the Kitoshi Financial Group failed to return home last night. Her parents claim the cause is a kidnapping." The lady behind the broadcast desk delivered today's top headline flatly and solemnly. "If you are aware of any information regarding this situation or spot anyone with these descriptors, please do call it in. Thank you, and stay tuned for updates regarding this missing persons case."

Glass shattered.

Extremities trembling, lungs malfunctioning—Tadashi hardly processed it was him who'd accidentally released his cup.

It can't be, his quivering heart begged.

Yet, her face and name remained—etching into his mind; grounding him to the sickly, cruel reality before him; of the dubious future ahead.

His stomach wrenched with nausea all over again.

"What do you mean kidnapped?"

_________________

If you enjoyed the chapter, do remember to hit that star button to vote and to comment your overall thoughts! I'd appreciate any and all input ^^

Going forward, the mysteries and twists will begin unfolding in startling ways. Play the role of detectives. Pick up clues. Try to solve the mysteries alongside the characters.

Happy reading!

—Misty