Yukio's POV

As soon as I got home, I flopped onto the sofa with a soft sigh, staring at the ceiling, a million thoughts racing through my head as the memories of what I had seen raced through my mind.

A young female fae with long, hair being murdered by someone, or rather, something. Something that I don't even know. And the clues are so little that the perpetrator can't be traceable, except from one clue, the small puncture mark on her neck, which matches up with the first victim, a young female human who is a brunette. Does the killer have a fetish? From the many cases that I had solved over the years, this is the most confusing case that I had ever taken and I...I don't know. I wonder how dad would have solved this....

I felt my heart ache at the thoughts of my adoptive father, the one who had raised me right after everyone that I had ever known had been taken from me, my mother, my older brother, my grandnephews and nieces and their children, memories of my time with him racing through my mind before I had the guts to stop thinking about it, to stop myself from grieving. I still remember the time when I used to stay in his private study with him when I was younger, watching him compiling every case file that he had solved and playfully putting a finger on his lips with a wink, indicating that I should keep that secret between both him and I and not everyone else. He was the reason why I was so interested into being a detective, to solve cases, to save lives, but because of me, because of one disaster ended his life and thrown my whole world upside down that had left me with nothing but memories of the times we had together and my regret, that I should have been a better son to him. Till now, I still wasn't willing to share this with my colleagues and friends in the police force, not now and not forever. I stared at one of the last remaining photos that I had of him, feeling my heart clench at the happy scene of both him and I in the photo that was taken when I was younger, when I wanted to go to a Nagoya beach with him, of his smile, of my smile that I had lost ever since I had lost him, making me clench the photo frame tightly, my mind whirling with regret at the last memory that I had of him, at the disappointment in me showing in his gaze at me at my words, words that I soon regret but can't take back because he was dead, dead because of me, of my stubbornness.

"Dad.... if only you are here...."

I whispered sadly, feeling a terrible sense of loss at the thoughts of my dad, of what could have been if I wasn't stubborn, if I didn't yell such terrible words at him that time.

Would things had changed...? Would dad still be with me, living the life we both dream of...?

I felt a something sliding down my cheeks, then another, and another, and I gently lifted my hand to wipe it off, realizing that it was tears, and before I knew it, I was crying uselessly on the floor, my body curled up in a tight ball against the wall as I slid down the wall, my head in my hands as I mourned the time of what once was, of what it would have been if everything that I regretted didn't happen, and the last thing I remember before everything went black was the thoughts in my head, that I should have died instead of him that night, that instant of the Hinamura Tragedy.

~~~~~~~~~

"...kio! Yukio!" I woke up with a start, my eyes glancing around in panic as I heard someone calling my name, seeing four blurry figures right in front of me because of my panic, and I opened my mouth in a silent scream as I felt someone's hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, it's alright. Breathe. Just breathe." I heard a soft voice whispered, grounding me into reality as I breathe in and out slowly, my eyesight slowly clearing as I did so and I could see Jensen, who was right in front of me, his hand on my shoulder, grounding me to reality, a worried frown on his face at me, Ayame Yoshimura, my current boss in the department that I am in who is much more kinder and caring towards her colleagues underneath her fiery redhead persona, who was glancing at Jensen then at me, a worried frown resting on her face, Melissa Prance, Jensen's twin sister who is younger than him, a worried look crossing her pretty face as she glanced at me, and Hishiro Onogahara, my other best friend and friendly rival, who although looked stoic on the outside, but I could tell that he was worried about me. I glanced around, noticing that I was in the meeting room and that the meeting about the case of the fae woman who had been murdered yesterday was long over and the only person in here was us five.

"Oh sorry.... Did I fall asleep in the meeting again?" I asked softly at seeing that they were worried, and Jensen nodded, representing the others who were all worried about me.

"Yukio...you should get some rest. It's not healthy to you and your mental health. You know that." I glanced down at the table at Ayame's worried tone, feeling ashamed that I had made everyone worried, knowing full well that it is true, that I needed to get some much-needed rest but despite everyone's worrying about me, I can't. I really can't. Not when the case is unsolved like this, not when many people are losing their lives.

"Yukio, ... I, no, we know that you are worried that more death will happen and that you will blame yourself, but you need rest! You can't keep on going like this!" I buried my head even deeper into the table at Jensen's worried tone and words, knowing full-well that it is true but in my slightly disoriented state, and from the pressure and feeling of everyone's stare on me, I found myself slipping back into the past, back into that dark and damp cell where everyone bore judgemental glares at me, just for something I did not do, and just for existing. I gave a soft whimper as years and years of memories of my horrid past flashed in my mind, tormenting me, mocking me, pulling me under, reminding me of who I used to be, and who I believed I still am.

A thief, a liar, a fraud. Always living the life of a royal when he is just a peasant, who takes the kindness of the prince for granted, and the most hurtful, the son of a bastard.

I inched backwards in a panic as Jensen and the others slowly approached me, trying not to spook me, whimpering softly as tears streamed down my cheeks. Every breath I took is painful and my eyesight was getting blurry and, in my haste to get away from Jensen and the others, I was not aware that the chair I was sitting on had rolled back and I ended up falling onto my butt, landing on the soft, warm carpeted floor of the meeting room. I whimpered even louder as my back had hit the glass wall, ears ringing, head hurting as if I had a split headache, and eyesight extremely blurry, I failed to realize that the corner of my sight started to get black and that my breathing was also getting faster and faster, and the last thing I heard was someone shouting in alarm and I knew no more.

Heyo! It's Sakuya here and I'm sorry it took this long for me to update this chapter! Thank goodness that I managed to update this chapter in time and well, what do you think will happen next? And seriously, if someone is having trouble breathing because of a panic attack, call 999 and no shit, I'm not kidding! Ahem Anyways, see you guys in the next chapter. Bye!

P.s. spoiler from me, the next chapter we will see someone from Yukio's past. That's all I could tell.

                                                                                                                              XDXD

                                                                                                                               Sakuya Hana