"Man you're bitchy."

Everyone nearly fell. Yuko came in some gaudy leopard coat and a revealing dress. She looks kind of like a lower version of Yoko. The kind you'd find in an x rated film.

"Watch it kid, you don't know who you're dealing with." She snapped at me with a ridiculous accent.

I leaned forward off the couch A bit, staring her in the eyes. "A bitch." I repeated.

Her face started turning red and she stormed over towards me. I narrowed my eyes and stood up from the couch, not letting her think I'm afraid. Meguire and Richard quickly came between us, trying to diffuse the situation before I fight broke out.

I wasn't really paying a lot of attention, but this girl has some serious attitude problems. And that's coming from me!

She said she didn't do it, accused Yoko, then went to the bathroom like she owned the place. And when she came back she was back at it! She just keeps railing on Yoko and the girl is literally just standing there!

At least when I make snide comments they're usually in retaliation.

She huffed and sat on the couch, picking up the odd statue of liberty and did something with it, making a small flame spout from the torch.

What the? That's a flashy lighter, I thought it was for decoration.

"Man it's no wonder no one likes you. You have a real shitty personality." I told her, making a jab at her career failure. We glared at one another, one that'd rival mine and Jimmy's usual fights. Except this time it's more hostile.

Before she could argue with me some more, Jimmy came over and picked up the lighter. "Wow, that sure is a tricky lighter! How did you know how to use it so quickly if you've never even been here lady?" I blinked and Yuko lost color in her face. She also knew where the bathroom was. Bitch was lying.

His plan worked and the detectives realized what he was implying. Smooth Dweeb. I bet it's killing him he has to drop hints.

Shit hit the fan real quick. They began to put some pieces together and they began to grill her. "You wanted a scandal to ruin Yoko's career. So you killed this man inside her apartment."

Seemed plausible I guess. But I still don't get the hair compared to where he was stabbed. That's just not normal, right?

"You're wrong. I was here but I didn't kill him! That wacko man grabbed me from behind so I just fought him off. I'd come here several times in the last two days with the key I had stolen from Yoko's dressing room. I was looking for some scandal I could sell to the papers. But when I came in today I wasn't alone. That man followed me in and had a strange look on his face. He reached for me but I struggled as hard as I could. Finally I got free and I fled."

Well she certainly has an attitude of someone who'd kill. But I don't know if she actually did it.  "Likely story miss. How can you stab someone in the back in self defense?" Richard asked.

Very carefully?

She shot him a nasty look. "I told you, I didn't kill the guy." That's what they all say. Seriously though, who the hell killed him?

An officer came back with some papers. "We've determined the identity of the victim. Akiho Fuji. Twenty-two. Graduated from Canon High School. Worked at a factory." He informed Meguire.

The school he went to seemed to ring a bell to Richard he glanced over at Yoko, asking if that's where she went. She's a little shaken up. "That man, I . . . I really did know him! I knew him better than anybody. He was my high school boyfriend."

Wait . . . what? That guy? I don't know why but . . . I kinda see her in a better light. Nothing against heavier set weight boys or anything, but girls that look like Yoko date guys that are untouchable to the rest.

The new information shocked just about everyone and her manager looked at her in horror, but not of murder. Of the truth.

"I'm sorry Mr. Yamagishi, but I can't hide it anymore." Yeah, no kidding that's not something you should hide to prove you're innocence. "Stabbed in the back huh? You know there's better ways to break up with a guy."

"But not as fun." I murmured to myself. Rachel rolled her eyes, having been the only one to hear me.

What? I was joking! Dark humors all I got!

"But I didn't kill him! In fact if you wanna know the truth of it he broke up with me." Really? He broke up with her?

Is he stupid? I winced thinking of how I shouldn't think poorly of the deceased. "Okay Dweeb, this whole thing is like a really bad soap drama, who's the killer? I'm ready to go." I whispered to the shrimp.

He hummed and went back to the scene and startled upon finding something. He rushed back over to me and stared up at me with his wide blue eyes. "I got it! Stella, I need you to solve this! Be my voice!"

Okay, he's gone mad.

I sighed, rubbing the back of my head. "It's not a good idea to use me. No one will buy it. I'm not you, Dweeb. Use Richard. As useless as he is, he does have more power than me. In the detective sense. Everything else he's more of a mess than me."

"But I'll need him unconscious or he'll ruin it." My eyebrows shot up and I pointed at him. "Now that, I can help you with." I strolled over, not really making any noise or drawing any attention to myself.

No one has even noticed me.

A smirk stretched across my lips and I swung my hand down, hitting the pressure point in his neck and then ducking away as he let out a strangled noise and collapsed onto a recliner.

Easy. Come on Jimmy, I'm ready to go.

"At least that's how it looks. But it's not the truth. Mr. Yamagishi, if you had really concocted this plan for us all to discover the body, you would have first provided evidence that proved your innocence. The same for you Ms. Okino. As the obvious suspect, why would you lead us to the crime?"

Wow, he sounds just like Richard. That's an awesome bowtie. "That means the killer is Ms. Ikezawa!" Meguire concluded. She began to protest, but Jimmy interrupted.

"No, not her. If she killed in self defense or to frame Yoko, she wouldn't have admitted to meeting him."

Meguire scratched his chin, not looking amused. "Perfect, you ruled out everyone." Exactly. What are you getting at Dweeb?

"Not exactly Inspector. This case is just more complex than we've tried to make it. Mr. Yamagishi. Earlier when you fell on the body it was an act. I saw you reach over and take strands of hair from the victims hand."

Meguire grabbed the manager by his collar. "So you're the real crook!" He shouted in his face.

Man you're really itching for a suspect aren't you? Get a grip man.

"A crook, but not a murderer. Consider the hair significance. It's unlikely that a man stabbed in the back would be able to grab his killers hair. The guilty party wanted it to look like murder. A murder comitted by Ms. Okino."

Wait a minute, the way he worded that just now . . . "Look like murder? Don't tell me . . !" Meguire's face morphed into one of complete shock, and mine turned to confusion.

No freaking way.

"That's right. The real killer . . ." He trailed off, building up the suspense. My temple began to throb and I wanted to reach behind the recliner and throttle the twerps little neck. Just spit it out already you dolt!

"-Is the late Mr. Fuji himself!" What? How the hell does someone stab themselves in the back?!

Meguire voiced my question but Jimmy never faltered. "It's the answer to a classic riddle using a block of ice."

Wait a minute, I know that one. Dad told us the riddle and made us figure it out. Of course Jimmy was able to do it, but I never could. That's a really roundabout way though. Why did he do it?

"Turning the apartments heater to maximum, he stole strands of Yoko's hair from a brush on her dresser. Then, standing on a chair, he took one last breath and jumped back, onto the knife frozen into the ice. There's a dent on the floor, made by the knife's handle on impact."

Oh so that's what he saw. I didn't even notice it. "The ice shattered into pieces then melted into the heat explaining the moisture. A thorough plan, but Mr. Fuji went too far."

With the hair. I get it now, that's why it bothered me so much. It seemed pointless.

"When Mr. Yamagishi saw it, he thought Yoko had done it and took the hair to protect her."

I whistled lowly. Now that's a cool manager to have. A lot of them would throw you under the bus. "But why? Why would he kill himself like this?" Yoko turned to Richards unconscious form, still not noticing he's knocked out.

"Hard to say ma'am. But I suspect he still loved you deeply."

I frowned, shaking my head. "That's a messed up way of showing love." I spoke aloud. I know I'm talking to Richard's body, but all I saw was Jimmy.

The way he spoke, the way he let the suspenseful pauses you on, speaking of every detail. It's Jimmy through and through.

"If you haven't realized, you and your rival look virtually identical from the back." I glanced over at the two idols who actually looked at one another without worry or contempt just to see if he's right. Which he is. They kind of do.

"That's why Mr. Fuji followed her into your apartment. When this stranger reached for you Ms. Ikizawa, you thought he was attacking so you fought him off. In truth he probably just wanted to talk to his love. Rejection was the last straw for the already desperate man."

If that was the case, then that must have been really painful. I can't imagine what it'd feel like if Harley had done the same. I don't even want to think about it.

For them, it was a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding that ended tragically.

"But he broke up with me, it was his idea!" Yoko cried. She looked so confused. Confused and heartbroken.

"No Yoko, you're wrong. I, uh, I asked him to break up with you for your career." The manager shut his eyes so not to see the look of hurt that masked her face. Regret clear in his tone.

"Inspector!" An officer ran in, saluting Meguire. "We found a journal in the victims' apartment." He handed it to him and I looked over his shoulder as he read it aloud.

They were words far too personal. Full of pain and obsession. His raw emotions were poured into every last word and I had to look away, feeling I was intruding. The room grew heavy as no one could look at anyone.

Not even the Yuko.

This man killed himself because he loved her so much. It ended in a tragedy mixed with a lie, a misunderstanding, and a sick twist of fate. No one could speak after they heard the words inscribed in his journal.

I never realized how much love could hurt a person. How easily it can destroy you. It baffles me that you can love someone so much, you'd kill yourself over them.

I had watched my brother and Harley solve a lot of cases. But never one that hit a chord this hard inside of me.

~

Richard didn't remember what happened, and he was more than happy to take the credit. Yoko was able to continue her life, and is working through it.

Snow fell from the sky, painting the ground white and turning the waters to ice. I stood on a bridge, overlooking a frozen river. I didn't pay attention to the cold that nipped my nose, or even the darkening sky as the clouds came between us and the sun.

Instead I thought about the last case. With Fuji and Yoko.

What would have happened if Yuko hadn't stolen the key? If the manager hadn't asked Fuji to break up with Yoko? If Fuji had the guts to say no to it? What if he had called or met her directly at her job? What if they had followed their hearts instead of their heads?

Would they be together? Would he still be alive? Would there have been a happily ever after?

It bothers me. Even now it bothers me.

It was such a cheesy drama. I wasn't even that interested in it. It just wasn't my problem and not my job to solve. But when Jimmy revealed the truth everything just changed. The things I overlooked mocked me and the conversations I tuned out of sneered at me.

I felt terrible for not figuring it out. No that's not quite it. I felt terrible for not realizing that he was in pain.

That's ridiculous, I know, but no one should be in that much pain and have no one realize it.

It hurts enough to have your own pain. But it hurts even more when no one sees it and you can't express it. It's like having a silent scream, trapped in your throat. And not being able to vocalize it just makes you spiral.

Fuji was in a dark place. One that I'm all too familiar with. And his was because he couldn't tell the girl he loved how he truly felt about her.

My mind has been a mess, and there's another person who's stirring it. Harley.

I'm content with how things are. Yeah, I like him, no, I love him. But I treasure his friendship too much to jeopardize it by voicing it. It'd rather have him in my life then not at all. But what if my life turns out like his? Will I become as miserable as him? I'm young, I can get over this, right?

Then again, Yoko and Fuji were young too. He was only twenty-two. I'm eighteen. There isn't that much of an age difference.

At least he's still in my life. He's my best friend. Even when he inevitably starts dating Kirsten, we'll still be best friends. Right?

A sigh escaped my lips and because of the cold I could see it. I haven't been in much contact with him because of what had happened. I spend all nights searching and all day sleeping. I'm anxious. And I'm not sure if it's because of Fuji or if it's because I miss him.

At least Rachel know's. She misses Jimmy. At least she knows it's that. This whole Fuji thing has made her miss him more, but she admitted it before then. And she wants to tell him. She says she will when the time is right.

But me? I don't know. I'm not like her. And I can't just tell him. And I don't I ever will.

If not to preserve our friendship, then just because I don't like myself. I don't think I'm ready for a relationship or if I'll ever be ready. If I don't like myself, I can't expect anyone else to.

And besides, I wouldn't know what to do. I know my family loves me. But my parents were constantly out of the house with work. My only companion was Jimmy, but he started early on his passion for mystery. He spent his time honing his skills and in doing so, had dad's help.

A lot of my resentment stems from all of that.

My family isn't bad. They've always meant well. They just have a real shitty way of showing it.

My cell rang, breaking me out of my thoughts. I bought it yesterday to replace the one I lost. I fished it out of my pocket and answered. "Hey, where are you? I'm about to start dinner." Rachel's voice chimed.

I smiled lightly, still gazing at the frozen river. "I'm not that far, I'll be back soon." I could imagine her frowning at me, but Rachel never means it. "Alright. Hurry back, I'm making stew." I chuckled before saying bye and hanging up.

I stared at my new phone, not really thinking. Not even as I dialed a familiar number.

"Hartwell Residence." I closed my eyes, feeling a weight lift from my chest. I chide myself immediately after. Calm down. It's just his voice.

"Hey Hartwell. Anything interesting happening?" Laughter echoed on the other end. "Of course. Something is always happening down here. What's up? You're terrible at calling people." He teased. I chuckled lightly and leaned against the railing of the bridge. "Yeah, I am." I agreed.

"Hm? Everything okay?"

No. Not really. My brother's shrunk to the size of a kid, an organization will hunt us down if they ever figure it out, and I'm acting like a hormonal teenager in love mixed with my angst. No. Nothing's okay.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" I turned and pressed my back to it and tilted my head up. Allowing the snow to fall onto my face. "You usually make some witty comment, I return it, it's kind of a match until we end up laughing."

I shook my head, a goofy smile on my face. "Wow. Way to analyze me Har. Real classy."

I could hear the smile in his voice. "There it is!" What a loser. But he's my best friend of a loser. "You are so lame, you know that?"

He gasped, a really terrible fake one. "I have never been so offended." I raised an eyebrow even though he couldn't see it. "Even when Kirsten called you booger breath when you were talking to those cute girls?"

He fell silent. I knew he was remembering it. He wasn't hitting on them, but he was very friendly. Even I was annoyed by it. So I was glad she chased them away. Kirsten acts like a jealous wife, which is fine since she's a girl repellent.

"Okay, maybe that was worse." I couldn't help but grin at his amswer. My grin then softened and I closed my eyes, letting the cold wash over my face.

"Hey Harley?"

"Yeah?"

I imagined his face behind my eyelids. His bright smile and the way his eyes twinkle. How is dark skin glows in certain lighting. How his cheekbones accent his smile. Its an image that brings me warmth. I reopened my eyes, the smile still on my face.

"Thanks for being my best friend."