fandomweekly | [#096] Limelight (Ayatsuri Sakon)

Theme Prompt: #096 – Center Of Attention

Title: Limelight

Fandom: Ayatsuri Sakon

Rating/Warnings: PG, Typical Detective Murder Stuff

Bonus: Yes

Word Count: 796

Summary: Sakon might've been for the stage, but he's never wanted the spotlight.

In Sakon's experience, most cases quiet affairs. After discovered, the vast majority of criminals confessed, their trials ended quickly, and he was left out of the limelight. Most. Granted, celebrity death didn't fall under the common category. Normal murders were unfortunate, but celebrity death attracted the worst of the worst - paparazzos looking for a quick buck, up-in-coming news reporters aching for the next scoop, and the eyes of distraught, angry millions watching for who murdered their idol. Preforming on stage was less nerve-wracking.

This was nerve-wracking. Anxiety-inducing.

Sakon looked out the window, inhaling.

"Thinking hard, Sakon?" came the voice from the driver's seat, relaxed from years of cases.

"Kaoruko-nee-san..." He trailed off, looking from the window - from the tiny little streets and the crowded shops, to the sunlit front of the car. He saw the onlookers gawking at the police car, knowing that they just knew that Inspector Detective Tachibana Kaoruko, the head of investigation, and her sometimes-assistant, happens-to-show-up-person Sakon. He fell somewhere blurry and undefined, and the police were happy to overlook certain legal niceties for his assistance.

"I can't blame you. It's not everyday we get a case like this." Kaoruko hummed.

"Don't worry. I'm okay, nee-san." Sakon reassured her, meeting her eyes in the rear view mirror.

"Are you?"

She chuckled and shook her head.

"A source from Osaka said their paper's mentioning your name," Kaoruko sighed, "Again."

"Zenkichi-san?" Sakon asked.

"I think so. He tried to keep your name out, but..." Kaoruko gestured to the people walking in one direction. Some carried candles while others carried posters and signs -- and all of them were headed to the police station. It was only a few turns and roads away.

Sakon reached for Ukon, clenching the puppet to his chest as his stomach curled.

"With this sort of publicity, they want all the details. They want your name everywhere." She said. As a woman, she made for good headlines, but Sakon, puppeteer-come-detective with a penchant for discovering murders? He was pure gold. That coupled with the puzzling investigation of a murdered idol was everything the typical frothing, hungry journalist wanted.

The teen felt his heart flop. He clenched Ukon harder, then brought the puppet to life -- and the anxiety, the tension in his chest, dulled. He breathed a sigh.

"Holy hell. No way!" The puppet exclaimed, hands pressing against the glass. "Why are there so many people?

Ukon gawked at the crowd as they went deeper and deeper into it, closer to the station. The paparazzi bustled, camera flashes snapping in all directions. Station cops waved their arms, pushing back the fascinated, rioting crowd. The girl's face was pasted for miles, from boards to glowsticks, candles lit in remembrance as people mourned, and it was a sea of her best photo's smile; apparently, the death of a pop idol had occurred... and of course, Sakon hadn't known until Ukon and Kaoruko told him.

Sakon sucked in a breathe.

Kaoruko shook her head.

"Celebrity homicide is one hell of a drug." The woman muttered.

Sakon gazed alongside his puppet, feeling eyes bore into his own, not from the reporters huddling around the black windowed SUV, but the mourners staring on. Bright lights flashed against the warm candlelight. The paparazzo against his window yowled as the crowd bustled.

"They want the scoop." Kaoruko scoffed, "Can't blame them, but would it kill them to relax? Wait an hour?"

Kaoruko rolled a hand through her hair.

"They couldn't even let the vigil happen." And the vigil was what the press wanted -- what the papers were advocating for. Homicide awareness or something.

Sakon frowned to himself. She'd been a bright-eyed young, enthusiastic up-in-coming star. Now, she was just a case.

Ukon nudged him in the side, knocking him from his saddened thoughts. Despite the pressure, Ukon always smiled.

"Hey, c'mon," Kaoruko sympathetically said, "Don't be so down."

She reached back to pat his knee as the car rumbled to a stop. The people bustled outside of the black car, loud and disruptive, but Sakon focused on Ukon's warmth and Kaoruko's kind touch. The tension melted from his forehead and eased his rigid form into something softer.

He was only a boy. Kaoruko patted his knee another time as the car beeped, doors unlocking.

"Here comes your fifteen minutes of fame?" She quirked a brow.

Sakon nodded, steeling himself in preparation for the crowd. He gripped the handle as the blinding lights flashed and flashed and flashed. Sakon might've been for the stage, but he'd never wanted the spotlight. But it was on him again, so he'd deal with it.

"As if he doesn't have that already..." Ukon muttered.

"Whatever," The puppet shook his head. Then, he pumped a fist and gave the detectives a gritty smile. "Break a leg!"