I lost count of the days that passed by. But I’ve gotten very busy lately dealing with this serial killer case. I’ve just gotten some new intel about this guy and he apparently only kills teenagers with a particular pattern of stab wounds. Right now, he only made two killings at the same place, at the same time. It’s very strange. It’s even more strange that I haven’t seen Sly in a while….damn it, I’m thinking about him even more now. Ever since that encounter, something happened to me, but I don’t know what it is. It’s something that I have never felt before in a long time. What is this?

“Hey, boss?”

I pick my head up from my desk when I heard the voice. I noticed that she was half way in the room and half way out.

“What is it?”

“I’m just letting you know that we fixed the dryer in the laundry room and cleaned up the stair case. Also, we’re thinking of fixing it so we can have more access around the building. Will that be alright?”

“Yes, that’s fine”

She nodded her head and was about to exit the office room when I interrupted her.

“Hey um…anything new on Sly Seragaki?”

“Sorry, nothing yet, boss. But we still have men posted on certain places around the South District to keep a look out for him”

“Alright…thanks”

When she closed the door,  I sighed, and rubbed the back of my neck. For some reason, I’ve been hoping  to run into Sly again. I don’t know what it is though. Is it my curiosity? An urge to beat him down before he does the same to me? No…it’s something else. Something that I can’t describe. What the heck is this? I want to know! I shake my head to try and clear it. Just stay calm, this is nothing to fuss over about. I’ll just…take a smoke. Yeah, a smoke can calm me down easily. I open my desk drawer to take out my carton of cigarettes, then I flipped open the lid, noticing that I have only one cigarette left. I’ll go buy some more later on today then, right now, I just have to relax and clear my mind. Without caring about opening my small window, I put the cigarette between my lips and lit the one end with my white lighter, a small smoke emitting from the flame. As I lightly breath in the smoke and breathing it out through the corner of my mouth, I look through the files from the serial killer case. I can already feel myself relax. If I just keep myself busy, I would soon just forget about him. I keep looking through the files, comparing the two photos of the two victims. From their style of clothing to their stab wounds, I figure something out. The killer goes only for the teenagers, but also, the way they look and possibly act. He probably plans on killing off the teenagers who act like rebels, or those who go against the rules almost 24/7. So, another way to catch him is to have someone as bait, to lure him in. But who’s going to be the bait? Almost everyone here looks too old for the job. ….Sly looked pretty young. He looked like he was around 16 or 17, but I wonder how old he really is? Wait, wait, wait, wait. I was thinking about him again. Why is it so hard to just forget about him? I’m…I’m doing everything I can to put all of my focus on this case, but my mind is somehow always wondering towards Sly. As I keep thinking about more possibilities or reasons, I noticed that my cigarette is almost done and that the room is filled with its smoke. I take my cigarette out of my mouth and put it out in the ash tray that I emptied out already last night. If I really want to focus, I have to buy more. With that thought in mind, I pull up my mask and stood up, heading towards the door. After I closed the door, I put my hands in my pockets and started to walk out of the building, heading to the local smoke shop. I look at the people, the stores, the buildings, trying to take my mind off of things. I still feel a little uncomfortable walking out here, in the open. The clothing I wear puts me at ease though. There’s a reason why I chose to wear a cloak, a mask, and an eyepatch. Ever since the Factory Incident, the cops have been looking for me. I think they only caught a glimpse of my face, but I can’t risk getting caught and put in jail for murder. Who knows how long I’ll be in there for? Deep in my thoughts, I eventually arrived at the smoke shop. I looked up at the sign, reading that it’s opened. I opened the door and walked inside. After a few minutes of just pacing around the store, looking at all the brands, I finally found the cheapest one. I waited in line to make my purchase, trying really hard to not think about him. But in the end, I started asking myself questions that involve him. Sly this and Sly that, that’s all that’s going through my head right now. It sounds a bit creepy, I know, but I can’t help it. I made my purchase and made my way out of the store. I stood in front of the store and opened the lid of the new pack, taking out a cigarette and put it in my mouth after pulling down my mask, then I lit it. Feeling my mind relax once again, I look around to see if anyone is watching me or something, then I found someone. He’s leaning against the wall of the store that I just walked out of, he’s just wearing a t-shirt with shorts, he’s hand-cuffed for some reason….he has long blue hair. What is Sly doing here? Why is he hand-cuffed?

“…What are you doing here?”

He didn’t answer me back. He just lifted his head to look up at me with an expression that says “I don’t care”. Wait…he might be close to that info broker. Maybe…yeah. I think that’ll be a good idea. If I take him with me, then it might lure that blonde right into the team building, right into a trap. I take my cigarette out of my mouth and threw it to the ground, then stepped on it to take out the flame. After that, I reached down and grabbed the chain that connects the two cuffs and started to walk towards the building, dragging him along with me. I was surprised that he didn’t struggle as much as I thought he would be. He’s just following me, like he wants to go with me. Like he wants to be used. I looked back at him from the corner of my eye, noticing that he’s not scared at all. He still has that same expression he had before I took him. Is he planning something? I don’t know what it is, but I should just keep walking. I eventually walked up to my team building and when I walked past the two guards that stand near the entrance, everyone started to look at me as I drag Sly with me. Let’s see….there, that should be a good place to keep him in hiding. I stop in front of a rusty locker and opened it, then I shoved Sly in it, closing and locking it afterwards. I didn’t even hear him kick or scream in defense before I put him in there. He might’ve given up already from the start.

“Make sure he doesn’t leave that locker”

I said to one of my team members. He nodded his head and walked to the room. I looked around and found Markus leaning against the metal pillar with his clipboard, probably doing his daily check on the building. I walked up to him, wondering if he saw what I did earlier.

“Hey”

He looked up from his clipboard, then I realized that he wasn’t doing his checklist, he was just doodling.

“Oh, hey there, Kou”

“…Sly’s here”

“Here? As in this building?”

“Yeah”

“Wow, this is great news. I didn’t know that he wanted to join us this bad”

“About that…”

“Hm?”

If I tell him, he might either be disappointed in me or mad at me. Well, it’s worth a shot.

“I kinda kidnapped him instead and locked him in a locker”

“Well, at least you didn’t lie. I know that you forced him to come here, so I’m not mad”

Once again, he knew what I did.

“Do you have any plans for him yet?”

“No, not yet. But I was thinking that it could lure the info broker to here if he ever found out that Sly is missing”

“Well, it’s a good plan. If you need any help, I’ll be in the laundry room. I have to sort out my clothes”

I nodded my head and watch him disappear in the room. Well, while I wait for this info broker to come, I’ll just be in my office to look over the files again to find out another way to capture the serial killer. I walk into my office, noticing that it had a distinct, bitter smell. It looks like that I forgot to open the window again. I walked over to my window and slid it open, the fresh air already filling the room and taking the place of the smoky smell. I sit down on my office chair and at the papers that scatter around my desk. Let’s see here…huh? What’s that sound? ….Is someone yelling? I put the papers in the folder, then I stood up from my chair and headed out of my office. I get surprised when I found out where the source of the yelling is. Well, this is a shock. I didn’t know that the blonde would care so much about Sly. As I keep watching him look around, I notice something walk past him. That person had long blue hair too. Could that be Sly’s twin or something? I don’t really care as much, all I want right now is to make this blonde right here, suffer. I walk over to him, my hands turned into fists. If I want to keep this clean, I have to stay calm.

“I’m right here…”

He looked at me when I said that. I can clearly see the anger in him, even though he doesn’t express it on his face. He quickly walks towards me.

“You’re going to die…right here”

“We’ll see about that”

After that, he ran towards me with his fist in the air. I dodged his first attack, but I wasn’t quick enough to block his other fist before it hit the side of my abdomen. I flinch from the pain, but I fought back. I threw my fist towards his face, but he countered it and quickly did an uppercut underneath my jaw. It was a powerful force, but I was glad that I didn’t happen to bite my tongue. As we keep throwing kicks and punches, something went across my mind. Why am I fighting him for revenge? Would my family even be proud of me if I killed him because he took them away from me? Why am I just wasting my life just to chase after him as a fake client? If he’s here now, fighting me with all of his strength, then he must’ve really want to kill me. ….I’ll allow it. I wanted to die anyway. I just couldn’t do it myself, so I always asked myself if someone could do it for me. Besides, what use would I be if I kept living? I’m just a monster to everyone. A danger to everyone. No one will ever love me and my insanity. No one. That’s why I want to die, right here. He wants me to die here, anyway, so it’s completely fine. I get weaker on purpose as he lifts me up with surprising strength and pushes me against the pillar that had a nail jutting out. I get pierced by it on my back, feeling the sharp end of the nail digging into me deeply. I can feel the blood leaking out of me, staining my clothes with a deep red. I look down at him, watching him get ready to attack me more as I hang here. But before he could move an inch, someone else yells.

“Stop!”

That voice…Sly said that. The way he said made me feel strange, it made my mind fog up. I can’t think clearly anymore. My body is going numb. Before I knew it, I black out.