The Crimson Garden
Summary: The reader is a rugged 18 year old prodigy who works as a private investigator, now hired to solve the Ootori Mansion murder. At a dinner, hosted by the father Ootori with family friends and business partners things go south as the only daughter, Fuyumi Ootori-Shidou is found dead. You, along with Kyoya by your side, try to solve the mystery and bring her justice.
Relationships: gender neutral reader & kyoya ootori , (other host members might be mentioned or make an appearance later on) (potential reader x ootori)
Word Count: around 2.5k
Chapter: 1/?
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
You walked in the lobby of the agency you worked for. The space wasn't that big, the agency consisted of a 2 bedroom apartment unit with a cramped living room to call a 'lobby".
As soon as you catched your breath from walking rapidly to make it in time for work, your boss stopped you.
"L/N, I have a case for you. A big one." Your boss said fernly, her eyes were sharp.
"Yes, I'm all ears." You reply, taking your coat off.
"It's a murder, from inside the Ootori family." She started to explain, but you cut her off.
"Why would the Ootori family hire lil' old us?" You furrowed your brows.
You didn't particularly like working with the upper class, for it wasn't justice they seeked, sure they might have seeked the truth, however mostly they used the truth to bury themselves in a deeper lie which made your job harder than it should've been.
Your boss dropped a heavy file on the table in front of you and walked off to her own office. She didn't reply to your initial question.
You grabbed the file and started reading through it with a deep sigh.
Fuyumi Shido, found dead at the Ootori Manor. The body was found by security on the garden, a blunt stroke to the head, no struggles of a fight. One strong blunt stroke.
You stared at the crime scene pictures, taking in the horrifying details.
"The crime scene should be intact." Your boss comments, "You should go."
"The cops aren't there?" You raise a brow, not looking up on a particular picture of the body.
"They have been shooed off for now, the Ootoris don't want them near for now." Your boss chuckled "Looks like they don't have any friends in the force anymore."
"That's unbelievable" You scoff, putting the files in your bag. "Well, I'll head off then."
"Good luck." Your boss sits back on her chair and leans back.
You drive to the estate, the bends of the road get sharper. Although, it's no surprise the Ootoris lived up on a mountain, far from the 'peasants'.
Upon your arrival, the gates immediately open as if they were watching your every move beforehand. You park and make your way to the main entrance, the horrid smell approaches your nose.
The head of the family stands in front of the door, behind stands the servants.
"Hello, Mr. Ootori." You greet him, as formally and respectfully as you can.
He nods, his face unreadable "We should get started." He swiftly turns to his back, taking slow steps as he waits for you to follow.
You make it to the back garden. There are private force members everywhere, surrounding the corners of the garden.
"I'll ask all members of the house to remain in the house." You say firmly "I need to talk to them"
The head nods, he takes a step back. Naturally, he seems to not want to face the corpse of her daughter.
You examine the body closer, it's just like the pictures. One blunt stroke and nothing else visible to the uneducated eye. You've seen a lot of bodies in your days, of course you're still not qualified to determine things like cause of death definitively.
You look around the surroundings, but nothing catches your eye. Most likely, the culprit took the weapon of death with them, you note.
Although it feels eerie, it feels like something has been moved or altered somehow as if the corpse of the only daughter of the Ootoris just fell down to the garden. It looks too perfect. You sneak a few pictures with your camera to look into the matter later.
You go back inside, to see almost every family member seated. "Will an autopsy be performed?" You ask, openly to the air, making intense eye contact with everyone present in the room.
"It will be." Mr. Ootori answers, his tone sharp.
"Very well," Your eyes catch the youngest Ootori, who seems too out of it compared to the rest of the family. You move yourself towards him "May I speak with you?"
His lowered head immediately rises, he gets up and buttons his blazer. "Of course." He recomposes himself urgently, leading you somewhere you can interrogate him in private.
It's a small study, with an equally small library. It's obvious it hasn't been visited in a long while.
You sit on the desk that stands in the middle of the room, pulling out the files you've been given. "So, you're the youngest?"
"Yes" He confirms.
"Were you close with your sister?" You raise your head from the files, making eye contact.
"I was." His voice got softer and quiet. "Before she got married."
"I see. How old was she when she got married?" You try to divert the topic from the gruesome events of the night to get a little bit to get background information.
"24, I believe. I was in my last year of middle school at the time." He replies, averting his gaze to the carpet while he speaks.
"Why did you guys fall off? Was it the marriage?" You question.
"She moved out, father would scold her when she would visit. With time, I barely spoke to her." His voice sounds broken, like the words barely leaves his lip but his body or face show no emotions, no tears. "Although, a friend was close with her. They would go on tasting commoners' foods together, apparently."
You take notes of this response. "Who is this friend?"
"Tamaki Suoh." You jot down the name as he tells you.
"When you said your father would scold her, what would he scold her for?" You circle back to his previous statement.
"Sometimes she would show up uninvited, father believed that she no longer had a place in this house and should be attending her own family." He explained.
"Was your father fond of your sister?" You ask, expecting a fake answer.
"He loves us all equally." And he lies, you can tell it's a lie with the way he tenses.
You nod, "How close was Tamaki and your sister?"
"I was made aware of their activities very late, a few years ago. I don't know, but he used to spend most of his days with me as we were classmates in high school so I'm assuming they weren't that close." He states, his body stiffens very slightly at the change of the topic.
"Does Tamaki study abroad like you?" You ask, knowing it's completely irrelevant. You want to confuse him, to catch him in a weaker, less rehearsed state.
"No, he does not." He sighs and crosses his arms.
You note that down also, Tamaki Suoh doesn't feel like a good lead but it wouldn't hurt to get more information.
"Did you ever meet your sister's husband?" You jump to another topic.
"I did, in fact he was here last night." His face is unreadable as he responds, you sense a sense of resentment.
"Is he a good man?"
"He seems to be so, I have nothing against him."
He is getting annoyed, you decide it's time to ask the actual questions.
"What were you doing at the time of the murder?"
‘’I was in the dining area, with my father and our guests.’’ He answers, his tone calculated. There is the coached answer you have been waiting for.
‘’Who were these guests?’’ You ask, your hand grips the pen you are holding stronger.
‘’Family friends, our partners. Father usually doesn’t invite them over.’’ He responds, something about his choice of words imply that you are wasting your time with these people. He appears agitated.
‘’So, there is no motive for them to do anything to your sister?’’ You try to confirm
‘’I believe so, yes’’ He curtly speaks.
‘’Who wasn’t there?’’
‘’My older brother Akito, and my sister’s husband.’’ He stiffens, it appears that he was waiting for this question. He continues after a second of silence, ‘’Akito had left earlier than my sister and her husband to go to the bathroom. Though he took a long time to come back. 45 minutes to be specific.’’
You nod ‘’Did your sister and her husband leave together?’’
‘’Yes.’’ Resentment appears on his face, it’s obvious to you that he thinks that the husband did it or he’s looking for an excuse to hate the guy. You have to look hard for that glare, his stone face never falters; neither does his body, which momentarily angers you. This family is going to be tough to work with.
After gathering more info from him, you and the youngest start walking back to the living area. The hall seems spacious –more than before– and frankly a bit too long. Your steps are slow, like his. Is he slowing you down on purpose?
‘’I have an offer.’’ he says finally, breaking the silence.
‘’Yes?’’ you raise a brow
‘’I want to investigate with you.’’ He pushes his glasses up, not making eye contact.
‘’It would be unprofessional of me to work with someone deeply involved.’’ You explain firmly
‘’This is important to me.’’ The boy stops in his tracks. ‘’I have connections that can aid this investigation.’’
You also stop walking, slightly turning yourself towards him.
‘’Besides, I do have a solid alibi which you’ll find out soon enough.’’ His eyes are almost pleading behind his icy exterior. ‘’Think about it.’’ He hands you a card with a number on it.
You take it, tempted. So, as the next course of action, you verify by investigating his father who does not supply you with any new useful info. His focus was more on the guests, the man didn’t even notice his missing daughter, so he appeared. You switch your focus to the middle son, Akito.
‘’Where were you at the time of the murder?’’
You don’t spend too much time getting to know him. He appears agitated and snappy, he is fidgeting.
‘’I went to the bathroom.’’ His answer betrays his body, there’s a smug smile on his face, like he’s expecting you to be suspicious of him with the laid back tone.
‘’For 30 minutes?’’ You decide to play into his cards, for now. ‘’Must be a painful trip.’’ You joke.
He chuckles, ‘’I don’t think that interests you. But for the record, yes it was.’’
‘’Did anyone see you come in or out?’’
‘’I ran into my sister and her husband.’’ He explains ‘’They were fighting.’’ His forced role of the jester relaxes, he seems more open.
‘’Did they say anything to you?’’
He shook his head, ‘’We just locked eyes, me and my sister. She seemed afraid’’
So the murder happened between 9.30 pm- 9.45 pm. You check your notes. You question the rest of the house but nothing of merit is said, as everyone was either at the dinner table or scattered somewhere far. You get ready to leave, to find the husband of the deceased. By the door, the youngest stops you.
‘’Let me ride with you.’’ He says, although it sounds more like a command.
‘’No can do.’’ You reply cooly.
‘’Akito lied to you.’’ He blurts out, panicked as he stands right in front of you now. He is holding a heavy handcase. ‘’I’ll explain’’
You open the car door for him, ‘’Fine get in.’’. You give in, you don’t enjoy keeping the guy close to you as you still somewhat think he is suspicious. You’ve seen a lot of fucked up things in your time, a brother killing their own sister in cold blood wouldn’t be suprising.
You drive, he sits silently. You go into the city, not sure where you’re going. You couldn’t take him to the office, that wouldn’t be a smart decision so now you had to think. Your eye hovers the time above the GPS. Afternoon, 1 PM.
‘’You hungry?’’ You ask the Ootori boy.
He calmly shakes his head ‘’Not particularly. However, I can accompany you.’’
At last you arrive at a random diner, in a desertly occupied part of the city since it’s a place where the chances of the raven haired boy being recognized are lower. You seat yourselves at a table by the window, he seems uncomfortable behind the stone cold mask of indifference. You can’t help but chuckle as quietly as you can.
After ordering, you turn to talk to him. ‘’So what did your older brother lie about?’’ You question, wasting no time. You’re irritated by the concept of the possibility that he could’ve eavesdropped at your interrogations, however it’s not the time or the place to confront himi
‘’Following the timeline of his story, he should’ve gotten up to go to the bathroom around 9, correct?’’ He opens the hand case.
You take a moment to think, you’re not very sure since you never asked for the time so you just make an assumption. ‘’Sure.’’ You decide to give into his bluff for now. He takes out a file, ‘’This is a document producing the family’s internet activity by our internet service producer. Look closely for the timestamps of the night of the murder.’’
You take a look, to the day of the murder first. Barely any activity, and around 9 PM from one singular cellular data gets frequent. The owner seemed to constantly be on an internet based messenger. You hum, not entirely convinced. ‘’He could’ve used his phone at the bathroom.’’
He smirks, ‘’He couldn’t. This is the WIFI of the second floor, we have separate routers for each floor and bedroom. There’s no bathroom on the second floor, the nearest one is in the first floor near the back garden.’’ His smug smirk now is kind of deserved but it still isn’t enough
‘’Do you have the data of the first floor’s router?’’ You ask, intrigued by the picture Kyoya Ootori paints.
‘’Last page.’’
You pull out the last paper, there’s some data but not as frequent as upstairs around 9.20 - 9.45 PM.
‘’I figured you wouldn’t be convinced solely by my words, however he got up way later than 9 PM.’’ He further explained.
‘’I see.’’ You start to ponder if you can trust the youngest Ootori and if he had a secret agenda. As if he could read your mind, he spoke ‘’I just want to aid your investigation, I have no hidden motives.’’ There’s an idleness to his tone of voice, which you would normally find suspicious if you only had heard him but his body language gave him away more conversely. He leaned in more, as if he was with someone dear to him, his gaze softened.
You nodded, ‘’Thank you for the information.’’
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
hey everyone thanks for reading!! i found this in the dumpster that is my google docs and thought ''hey this was a good one why did i abandon it'' anyways i actually planned it to be a kyoya x reader in the beggining but im not sure if its a good idea considering the plot.. but there is potential to it so if anyone wants to let me know that this could work if i add the romance into it, please do !! also will make a taglist if anyone wants to be updated :3
