"Hm, hm."
"Is the camera on?"
The cameraman gives a thumbs up.
"Aight, keep it like that."
"Action!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to our brand new documentary about yours truly, the one and only, undefeated SMFC prospect, oh yes it is, HAWKE!" Hawke says, spreading his arms wide.
He adjusts his shades slightly, smirking charmingly at the camera.
"You see my fresh suit, my shades, my clean cut. I'm looking fly as a motherfucker, ha-ha."
The cameraman rolls his eyes.
"Uh… oh yeah, right, right now we're in Roxanne, and you guessed it, I'm here to find the Roxanne Killer." Hawke continues, pacing slowly across the construction site.
He circles around Therewolf's unconscious body.
"Why you may ask? Great question. Well for starters, because I'm naturally a good dude, and I don't want my fans out here to be scared to go outside, you know? Ha-ha, shoutout to you Rebecca."
He flashes a smile straight to the camera.
"And the second reason being, actually, you know what? That's the only reason. I-I over spoke because I'm so excited, you know? Aight, cut."
The cameraman lowers the camera.
"Harv, did you get my angles right? I don't think the lightning is good in here."
Harv sucks his teeth, clearly unimpressed.
"It's fine. Why didn't you tell them the real reason you're here?"
Hawke chuckles.
"The real reason? Watch your mouth, Harv, don't forget that you're nothing without me or this job, so don't speak out of line."
"Whatever man. Just don't forget that our contract says I get 30% of the full bounty when we catch the Roxanne killer." Harv says.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, when WE catch him? Ha-ha. I'M doing the catching, you're just gonna film me doing it. And then I'll go viral, and the SMFC promoters won't have a choice but to give me a title shot."
"Yeah, yeah… what about him?" Harv points at Therewolf.
"Hm? Him? Right, ehh, shit, I don't know, get some info out of him. Do that weird memory shit you always be doing." Hawke says.
"Alright Hawke, fine! I'll just 'do the weird shit I be doing.' like always then." Harv complains.
Hawke waves him off and starts heading toward his trailer.
Harv exhales and walks over to Therewolf, crouching beside him. He closes his eyes and places his hand on his forehead.
"Here goes nothing."
Mana starts running in his veins, Harv's eyes roll back as he scans through Therewolf's memories.
He scans and learns about Therewolf's leads and learns about Ari.
…
Ari just returned back to his dorm safely, he sees Sixx getting ready in his office.
"Ari, you're back. I have news. It's urgent. We have to leave now."
Ari slows down, watching him carefully as he starts taking off his jacket.
"Oh, and what's that?" He asks suspiciously.
'I don't trust this guy one bit.'
"We have strong intel on The Roxanne Killer, we think we know his identity." Sixx says.
Ari's eyes widen.
"Strong intel? How? Who is he?" Ari asks.
"Remember that kid? Coti? Your first lead, well, you struck gold, kid." Sixx replies.
"What? What do you mean? No way he was the killer."
"He isn't. You asked me to monitor him just in case, we planted a live feed all over his house. He's gonna come home to a bad sight, I'll tell you that."
Ari frowns.
"The live feed? What? Why?"
"The killer, he, killed his mother. We need to get there before Coti gets home."
"Got it." Ari says.
'Wait a second… Sixx is getting ready, is he coming with me?'
'He told me that he wasn't going to help me… but he actually planted the cameras in his house like I asked him to.'
Ari's mind doesn't settle.
'What is going on here?'
Sixx gets ready to walk out the door, Ari blocks the door with his arm.
"Wait." Sixx stops.
"Why are you helping me? This is my solo mission."
"What?" Sixx replies confused.
"We have to arrest this prick, I'm not helping you."
Ari's eyes flash purple.
"This is my investigation, I'm not gonna take any chances of getting anything other than an ace."
Before Sixx can react,
Ari steps in and drives a sharp, powered uppercut into his abdomen.
The impact folds Sixx instantly. His body goes limp as he drops.
Ari watches him fall without emotion.
"Just watch me, Taiho."
Ari turns and heads out immediately.
…
At Coti's house, the Roxanne Killer, hooded up, is crouched in front of Coti's sister.
She's on her knees, back pressed against the wall, shaking.
"Hey, Leni, what's your favorite type of music?" He asks, in a calm tone, smiling warmly.
She stares at him, confused and terrified.
"What?"
"What kind of music do you like?" He repeats calmly.
"N-Naoki, please, s-stop, why are you doing this? T-this is not you… Is my little brother… dead too?"
Naoki slowly pulls his hood down, revealing a young man with short navy blue hair, bangs that hang on his right side, and deep brown eyes.
"What does that matter? We're talking about music now." He says, calmly.
"I-I… l-like melodic stuff." She says, sniffing her nose.
"Ahh, melodic stuff. Medtner is usually what people mean when they say that. Or Scarlatti, if they like things a bit more… fast."
"W-w-what? N-no, sorry, I don't know them…"
"Huh? Really? What about Fibich or Alkan?" Naoki continues.
"I-I meant like… Olivia Rodrigo or H-Halsey… Naoki… I-I-I don't want to-to die…" Leni cries harder.
"For real? Figures. You should listen to some Tavaner or Balakirev, well, Tavener may appeal to you more, he's not really similar to Balakirev. Do you know any classical?"
"N-no… not really… m-maybe Yiruma-"
Naoki laughs softly.
"Yiruma? That's not classical dummy."
He gently takes her hand in both of his.
"My favorite is Jean-Philippe Rameau. You see, his music is structured, organized, balanced, you always kind of know what sound is coming next."
He traces circles on Leni's palm.
"I prefer music where emotion has been properly organized into something intelligible."
Leni's hand trembles uncontrollably.
"You're following, right?"
She nods quickly, barely able to breathe.
"P-please just let me live…" She whispers.
"He's my inspiration. What's coming next is kind of like his tonal harmony theory. Far from his orignal sound."
Her heart stops as she falls forward into his arms.
Naoki closes his eyes calmly while he holds her.
"The concert is about to begin."
…