Chapter 21
Investigating (Part 1)
Aphmau

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"Breakfast is ready!"

I hear Kawaii~chan call for us, but Aaron doesn't move a muscle.

"Come on Aaron, let's go eat breakfast." I say, trying to ignore how good him petting me feels.

"Nah. I'm not hungry." He replies.

"Well I am." I retort playfully.

"Well, you can eat later. I wanna cuddle." He says, scratching my ear.

"Mmm~" I bite my tongue, "Aaaaarrrooon," I whine, "Come on, let me go eat..."

"But I like it here, and..." his lips brush down to my ear, "I know you do too..."

Goddammit, why is his voice so smooth?
Just listening to him makes me shiver.

He scratches me just behind my ears, and it feels so good. I just sigh, and stop protesting.

"Puppy..." I mumble.

"Excuse me?" He asks.

"Your just a big puppy." I say, "Doesn't matter how tough you act, your actually just a softie."

"I am not!" He exclaims, staring down at me.

"Yes you are." I cross my arms, "Just because you look rough and tough, doesn't mean you are."

"I can be rough!" He argues.

"Sure you can." I roll my eyes, and turn away from him. His grip around me tightens.

"Can a softie do this?" He whispers, lowering his head to my neck.

I feel his fangs sliding out, and he bites my collarbone. It doesn't hurt, but my breath hitches.

"H-hey, you don't have t-to... mmm~... p-prove anything..." I stutter, mentally cursing myself for being so weak when it comes to him.

"What if I want to?" He asks, biting again in another place.

This is going too far again...

"A-Aaron, stop." I say shakily, but firmly. He pulls away.

"Sorry, are you okay?" He asks, sitting up and pulling me with him.

"Yeah... just... a little shaken." I say, turning to face him.

"Alright, let's get dressed and head down." He says, sliding off the bed and helping me off. I grab my clothes and go to the bathroom to change.

When I come back out, he's changed too. He smirks at me, and picks me up.

"Eek! Aaron!" I exclaim, as he puts me on his back. "Put me down!"

"Heh, not a chance Baby. Let's go get breakfast." He replies, carrying me down the stairs. Despite myself, I start giggling uncontrollably as we enter the kitchen.

The others stare at us, as we sit down.

"What?" I ask, barely holding in my giggles.

"What's so funny?" Garroth asks.

"Sorry, I blame Aaron." I say, poking him.

"I just carried you downstairs, how does that make you giggle?" Aaron asks.

"You did it suddenly and surprised me, my instinctual choices were laugh or scream." I reply, barely giggling but still smiling.

"Here you go Aphmau~senpai and Aaron~kun!" Kawaii~chan chirps, putting food in front of us.

"Thanks Kawaii~chan!" I reply, "Sorry we came down late."

"Don't worry about it! Kawaii~chan understands!" She replies, smiling and sitting down.

I smile, and start eating.

Is it weird that I have a really bad feeling?

I can't tell why... but I think something bad is going to happen soon. It might just be me overthinking it though...

"So, today we're going to put our plan into action. Aaron, Laurence, Garroth, and Aphmau-"

"Wait, since when was I coming?" I ask, interrupting Lucinda.

"Hyria and I talked about it, to work out little details in the plan, and decided you should stick close to Aaron." She explains, "So, while you four look around for anything to prove it wasn't Aphmau, Kim, we need you to keep the others distracted. Make sure Cathy, or any of them, go anywhere near the crime scene. Kawaii~chan can go visit Zane, like she planned, and the rest of us will work out a way to deal with the Guardian Forces. Kaiya and Taiya, your both in charge of Ameri and Arnoux."

"Ugh... I'm horrible with babies..." Taiya groans.

"Don't worry Taiya, I'm helping." Kaiya assures her.

"Alright, when do we leave?" Laurence asks.

"After breakfast." Lucinda replies.

"Well, then now." I say, pushing my empty plate forward. Aaron nods and does the same.

So, we all say goodbye and go our separate ways.

◇•◇•◇

"I'm scared..." I mumble to Aaron, gripping his hand tightly. My purple hood is up, and I'm wearing a dark violet mask over my mouth. All to conceal my face. Garroth was dressed the same, but without the mask and a blue hoodie. His hood was pulled down far enough to conceal the top of his face. 

I feel like people are staring at me, just like they did then.

While I redressed myself quickly, everyone stared at us. It made me uncomfortable.

"Hey, don't worry Aph-" I covered Aaron's mouth.

"I'm not Aphmau, remember? I'm Jess." I hiss quietly. He nods quickly, embarrassed.

Yeah, Laurence is making us use fake names. I'm Jess, and Garroth is Andy.

Not sure where he came up with these names, but oh well.

"Where are we going?" Garroth asks quietly, "We just walked past the alleyway twice."

He's right, Laurence is leading us in circles.

"Fine..." Laurence grumbles, going into the alleyway. We all follow him in.

That's when I hear the worst. Sound. Ever.

"AARON!"

It's her.

Cathy.

Wasn't Kim supposed to keep her away from us?

We all tense noticeably, and Aaron starts sweating. I let go of his hand, and step closer to Garroth and Laurence. He shoots me a glare.

Sorry, your on your own for this. I mouth at him, pulling my mask down so he can see.

"Aaron! Oh my Irene, where have you been?! We've all been so worried about you!" Cathy exclaims, practically jumping on him. I push my mask back up.

"Ah! Get off!" He exclaims, pushing her away.

"Oh! Sorry..." she laughs nervously. "Hey Laurence, and uh... who are these people?" She asks, staring at me and Garroth.

"Uh... I'm Andy." Garroth says, masking his voice.

He sounds ridiculous, it's all I can do to not laugh.

(Pretend it's Andy voicing Jet in the corgi cam vids.)

"My name is Jess." I say, making my voice extremely high pitched. Garroth glances at me weirdly.

(If you guessed Woof, your right. That's Aphmau's voice.)

"How do you know Aaron and Laurence?" She asks.

"Uh... we're old friends. Just reconnected with them recently." Garroth lies. I nod in agreement.

"Oh, well what are you doing here? This is the crime scene for Aphmau, that damn criminal..." she growls at the end.

"Hey!" I exclaim in my normal voice, before I can stop myself. Laurence covers my mouth. Cathy gives me a weird look.

"What do you mean, hey?" She asks.

"I mean... uh... hey, as in hey, don't you have places to be?" I ask, raising my voice again while pushing away Laurence's hand.

"No." She replied.

"Cathy! Geez, don't run off like that!" Kim runs into the alleyway, and stops dead when she sees us.

"Eh? Oh, sorry Kim. I just saw Aaron, and had to make sure it was him!" Cathy smiles, Kim glances at us. I pull my mask down.

Get her out of here. I mouth, nodding at Cathy. She nods quickly, and grabs Cathy's arm.

"Hey, let's go get some ice cream!" Kim says, tugging her arm.

"Sure, come on Aaron! You can bring your friends too!" Cathy grabs his hand, but he slaps it away and growls.

"No." He says firmly.

"I'm sure Aaron, Laurence, uh..." Kim glances at us.

"Andy." 'Andy' says.

"I'm Jess." I say.

"...Andy, and Jess, are busy!" She says.

"Ugh! Fine, but you better start answering my texts." Cathy says to Aaron.

"In case you haven't noticed, I blocked your number." Aaron growls.

Cathy sighs, but follows Kim out of the alleyway.

"That... was close." I sigh, bringing my voice back to it's normal state. Garroth sighs in relief and nods.

"Let's get to searching." Laurence says, "G- sorry, Andy, and I will search this half, Jess and Aaron search the other."

We all nod, and split up to search.