The fluorescent lights hummed their eternal song, pressing against Hoshimi's skull, vibrating in his teeth, filling the silence with a sound that was almost, but not quite, nothing.
Hoshimi stood in the corridor outside Dominic's room, his violet eyes fixed on the chrome door with the number 311 embossed in small, sterile letters. His reflection stared back at him, pale, hollow-cheeked, the scar on his cheek a pale line against skin that hadn't seen sunlight in days.
Three minutes.
[This is a waste of time]
He knew it before he'd even knocked. He'd known it when he'd left Seraphina's room, when he'd passed Edward's door without stopping, when he'd walked the length of the corridor with his footsteps silent and his thoughts churning.
[Dominic isn't going to tell me anything. He never tells anyone anything. He always seems so carefree, but a witch has always gone through some kind of ptsd. I guess his must be really severe for him to bury it that much. The easy smile, the lazy charm, the way he could fill a room with his presence without ever letting anyone close enough to see what was underneath.]
[Something's wrong with him. The others said the same thing. Something's off. Something's wrong.]
"The reports were consistent, even if they were vague. Dominic spacing out. Dominic staring at nothing. Dominic acting weirder than usual, whatever that meant for someone like him".
Hoshimi raised his hand to knock, then stopped.
He could walk away. Go back to his room. Pretend he'd talked to Dominic, gotten nothing useful, moved on. No one would question it. Dominic was a closed book.
He knocked.
Three taps.
No response.
He knocked again, harder this time. "Dominic. I need to talk to you."
A long pause. Then, muffled through the door, a voice that might have been Dominic's or might have been someone else entirely.
"It's open."
Hoshimi's hand found the handle, cold chrome, smooth and featureless. He turned it, pushed, and stepped inside.
"I'm trying to find a killer."
"Rather ominous." Dominic stretched, his arms going over his head, his spine popping audibly. "Should I be scared? Is this the part where you shine a light in my face and ask where I was on the night of the murder?"
"Where were you?"
Dominic blinked. Then laughed, a sound that filled the room, warm and genuine. "Straight to it. I thought you'd offer me snacks or make some small talk, I guess you're the bad cop. No small talk, no building up to it. Just bam, right between the eyes."
"I don't have time for small talk."
"Clearly." Dominic leaned forward, elbows on his knees, chin in his hands. His expression was open, curious, the expression of someone who'd never had to hide anything in his life. "I was in the Zenith. Like everyone else. Woke up in my room, ran to the courtyard, got my ass kicked by a goddamn vampire. Nothing much, really."
"You woke up after Seraphina and Neila?"
"Late bloomer, I guess." Dominic shrugged. "I was tired, I mean I am kinda stupid at solving puzzles. The Zenith took a lot out of me. You know how it is."
Hoshimi studied his face. The easy smile, the relaxed posture, the way his hands rested open on his knees, palms up, offering nothing.
"You didn't answer my question."
Dominic tilted his head. "Which question? You've asked several. Very quickly. It's hard to keep track."
"Where were you when Audrey Mirlo died?"
The smile didn't waver. Didn't flicker. Didn't do anything except sit there, warm and easy and utterly unreadable.
"Man, I don't even know when she died, or where, I don't even remember what I did after we ran away from the estate, I didn't do shit."
"No one saw you."
"I'm not very noticeable." Dominic's grin widened. "Unlike some people. You, for instance. Very noticeable. Very intense. It's probably why all the girls like you."
Hoshimi sighed. "Girls? You're a womanizer, we're getting off topic, I'm here to talk about you."
"No, you're here to accuse me of murder." Dominic said it the way someone might remark on the weather. "Which is fine. Everyone needs a hobby. But you might want to work on your technique. The subtle approach isn't really your strong suit."
"Was it subtle when you threw a spear at Neila during the entrance exam?"
"That was different." Dominic waved a hand dismissively. "Neila can take a hit. And she was being annoying, which, to be fair, is her default state, it was the entrance exam anyways, we were supposed to fight each other.. But I don't have a single thing to do with Audrey?" He paused, something flickering in his expression. "In fact, I barely knew her. Why would I kill someone I barely knew?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out."
"Good luck with that." Dominic sat back, lacing his fingers behind his head. "Let me know when you do. I'm curious too."
The silence stretched between them. The fluorescent lights hummed. Somewhere in the building, a door opened and closed, footsteps fading into nothing. Hoshimi watched Dominic's face.
"You were at the Mirlo estate."
"Duh, so were you. We were asked by the Academy to go there."
"Neila said you've been different since the Mirlo estate."
"Different how?" Dominic's voice was light, curious, the voice of someone who'd never had to examine himself too closely. "I've never even looked at myself properly, was it because I changed my skincare routine?"
"Spacing out. Staring at nothing. I don't think you're quite yourself."
Dominic's laugh was warm, genuine, the laugh of someone who found the whole thing mildly amusing. "Huh? That's it? I mean, it's boring, what am I supposed to do? Are you really suspecting me because I'm blanking? I mean, I'm tired, I've been tired."
"You don't seem tired."
"I'm a good actor." Dominic's eyes met his, and for a moment, Hoshimi saw something behind them."We all are, aren't we? Actors. We're soldiers forced to hide our humanity to become weapons."
"You're not going to tell me anything, are you?"
"Tell you what?" Dominic spread his hands, palms up, empty. "I don't know anything. I'm the next head of the Walker family. The one who's apparently different now, according to Neila, who is obviously lying most of the time or very good at being wrong about things."
"You were in the bathroom at the aquarium."
Dominic's smile flickered. "Was I?"
"Seraphina said Edward went to the bathroom. She didn't mention you."
"Because I didn't go." Dominic's voice was light, but something beneath it had changed. "I was looking at fish. Rather exciting fish. Seraphina was with me the whole time. You can ask her."
"She's not talking."
"Then maybe you should've asked nicer." Dominic stood, stretching, his spine popping audibly. "Or maybe you should leave her alone. She's been through enough. We've all been through enough."
He moved toward the door, his footsteps unhurried, his posture relaxed. Hoshimi watched him go, watched that easy, unshakeable confidence that nothing could touch, nothing could crack.
"You knew her."
Dominic paused. Didn't turn.
"Audrey. You knew her before the estate. That conversation you had with Seraphina in the common room, I heard everything. There's no way she didn't mention anything about Audrey."
The silence stretched.
"You know, you're a stalker, why were you even listening in? Anyways, that was a long time ago," Dominic said. His voice was different now. Not light. Not warm. Something older, something tired. "Sera mentioned something about her here and there."
"Really?"
Another silence. Longer this time.
"Yeah."
He walked out before Hoshimi could respond. The door swung shut behind him, the sound soft, final. The fluorescent lights hummed their eternal song, and Hoshimi sat alone in the common room, staring at the empty space where Dominic had been.
[I got nothing, he didn't even have any traces of Sarah's mana latching onto him, either that or she could've used a crystal but where would someone like her have gotten the funds]
His eyes narrowed.
[The only thing that could explain it. The way he's acting. Even if he doesn't tell me anything. It's his reincarnation, it has manifested hasn't it?]
The door opened again. Kira stood in the doorway, her dirty brown hair tangled, her blue eyes wide. She'd been crying again; he could see the tracks on her cheeks, the redness around her nose.
"Hoshimi?" Her voice was small. "Did you... did you find anything?"
He looked at her. At the fear in her eyes, the hope she was trying so hard to hide.
"No," he said. "Nothing."
Kira's face crumpled. "Oh."
He patted her head, moving past her into the corridor. The fluorescent lights hummed, the doors stretched on either side, identical, closed, hiding their secrets.
Hoshimi walked toward his room. Behind him, he heard Kira's door open, close. Ahead, the corridor stretched into darkness, a maze of closed doors and hidden things.
He stopped at his door. Listened. Through the thin walls, he could hear nothing. No movement, no breathing, no sound at all.
He opened the door.
His room was dark, the curtains drawn against the dying light. His desk sat where he'd left it, papers scattered, books piled. The black box from Audrey was still in the drawer where he'd hidden it.
Hoshimi crossed to his desk. The black box was still in the drawer, hidden, waiting.
[Should I just throw it away? It's not like I'm going to listen to it again.]
"Maybe not."