Weeks had passed since the Ren-faced Kyo was found collapsed in the back of the mall store.
The figure had been taken into secret custody, not to a regular police holding cell, but to a hidden underground facility used by Detective Hikaru's special task force. It was a cold, windowless room deep beneath one of the older government buildings in the city. The walls were bare concrete. The floor was polished gray tile that reflected the harsh overhead lights. A single metal chair was bolted to the floor in the center of the room. Heavy chains were attached to its arms and legs.
The Kyo wearing Ren's face had remained unconscious for weeks. Its body was limp in the restraints. The face occasionally flickered. Ren's calm features distorted into the smooth white mask and back again, but it never woke.
Until today.
The bright fluorescent lights suddenly flared to full intensity. They flooded the room with blinding white. The Kyo's eyes snapped open. It jerked against the heavy chains. Metal rattled loudly. The face stabilized into Ren's appearance, but the eyes were wrong, colder and emptier.
Hikaru stood a few meters away. His arms were crossed and he watched calmly. He had been waiting.
"Finally awake," Hikaru said. His voice was even, almost conversational. "You have been sleeping for a long time. I was starting to think you would never be useful."
The chained figure tested the restraints. The chains clinked. It looked exactly like Ren Fushiwara, same neat hair and same calm face, but the suit was stained with old blood and the movements were slightly off, too precise and too mechanical.
Hikaru stepped closer and circled the chair slowly. "I have been investigating you. The 'Ren Impersonator', 'Fake Ren', 'Ren Double', 'What Are You Even?'. Any name I could call you sits right with me. The one with the stolen face. The one who killed Tsubaki. The one who went on that fake date. The one who has been leaving bodies all over the city with throats slashed and guts spilled."
He stopped in front of the figure and leaned down slightly.
"Tell me about the others. Who are they? Where are they operating from? How many more of you are there wearing faces that do not belong to you?"
The Kyo remained silent. It stared straight ahead with Ren's face.
Hikaru's expression did not change. He straightened up and sighed.
"You are not human. Therefore, I would not hand you over to be put in jail for serial killing. That would be a waste." He paused, then added coldly, "Tell me who the others are. Now."
Still no response.
Hikaru nodded once, as if he had expected this. He turned and walked toward the door.
"Dead weight," he muttered. "You are of no use here anyway."
As he reached for the handle, the chained figure suddenly moved.
With a sharp, unnatural jerk, the Kyo activated its abilities. The chains around its wrists and ankles began to warp and dissolve. They melted away like smoke. The air in the room rippled. The concrete walls briefly distorted as if the space itself was bending. In one fluid motion, the figure stood up. Ren's face flickered violently between human and masked.
It looked at Hikaru for a split second, then vanished. It stepped sideways into a fold of space that was not there a moment before. The room returned to normal with a soft pop of air.
The Kyo was not there anymore. It had escaped.
Hikaru stood still for a moment, then turned around slowly. A small, satisfied smile crept across his face.
He spoke to the empty room. His voice was calm and almost pleased.
"Let him fish out the others for me."
He talked as if he had set a snake loose to get the rodents he really wanted rid of.
He walked back to the center of the room and looked at the empty chair and the melted remnants of the chains on the floor.
"I always knew the three are not working collaboratively," he said quietly. "But they would undoubtedly come across each other eventually."
Hikaru picked up his coat from the back of a nearby chair and headed for the door.
The hunt had seemingly just become more interesting for Detective Hikaru. At the same time more dangerous.
---Hours Later;
Hikaru sat alone in his dimly lit office at the police station. The only light came from the desk lamp and the glow of his phone screen. The rain had returned outside. It tapped steadily against the window like impatient fingers. Files on the serial killings were spread across his desk: photos of crime scenes, witness statements, and the latest report on the Ren-faced Kyo that had escaped custody.
His phone buzzed with an incoming message.
He opened it.
Hikaru: Long time.
Ren: How did you get my contact?
Hikaru stared at the screen for a long moment. A faint, complicated smile touched his lips. He typed back with steady fingers.
Hikaru: Let us meet up. I will tell you then.
The reply came almost immediately.
Ren: How about our old regular in Tokyo?
Hikaru leaned back in his chair. The old leather creaked. He typed again.
Hikaru: Fine by me. Need to escape this suffocating town!
Hikaru read the last line twice. He set the phone down on the desk and exhaled slowly. The sound was heavy in the quiet room.