Chapter 1
The sound of slamming doors and a violent scuffle sounded through the quite building. Two figures could be seen struggling against the other through the window, the blinds acting as a mild deterrent to the scene.
The smaller of the two went down and the sound of a gunshot filled the silent street, accompanied by smashing glass and pounding footsteps. Then, it was as if it had never happened...
"Yo! You're up early, aren't cha?" A male voiced asked, causing the young brunette to look up from her work. Her eyes landed on a man a little older than herself, with jet black hair and emerald eyes, his warm smile causing her mouth to mimic his.
"Yeah. I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd come in and do some of the filing for the chief." She replied, her usually sweet voice holding a bitter tone at the mention of her sleep. To him it was as if she was just upset of her tireless night, but what he missed was the slight shiver that ran down her spine as the dark memory of the vivid dream ran through her head like a broken record.
"That's productive. So... You hoping we get a case?" He asked, sitting in the chair on opposite her on the other side of her mahogany desk.
"I –" She tried to answer, only to have her phone start ringing. Picking it up, she listened for a while before her eyes widened and then narrowed as she placed the phone back on the receiver. "Come on. We have a case."
She took a tentative step toward the slightly opened door, the room beyond as dark as coal and the scent of something metallic assaulted her sensitive nose as she got closer. Raising her gun, her partner moved forward, both of them taking their places on either side of the door as a small thud was heard from within. He nodded his head once to her before she took a breath and twisted to face the door. Her heeled boot clad foot quickly shotting up and slamming into the wooden object known as a door. Rushing in, guns raised, they pointed at two shadows in the back of the room where the smell seemed strongest and the female officer shouted,
"Hands where I can see em'!"
The shadows seemed to jump before their hands quickly shot into the air, fearful of the authoritative voice. The lights were suddenly turned on and it temporarily blinded the four occupants of the room. The only female of the group recovered the fastest and looked around the familiar champagne coloured room. It was vacant of all furniture except the old oak desk by the front door. On the desk was a photo frame, face down and broken glass scattered around it on the aged wood. Turning to face the two mysterious people, her arms dropped slightly in shock as she gasped.
"Na-Naru?" She asked, her eyes wide before raising the gun again.
"We said hands up!" Her partner yelled, stepping closer to the male pair, gun raised in a sure stance as he cast a weary glance at the brunette. Having shielded their eyes from the bright lights, they quickly following the repeated orders before looking up, their eyes widened as they met the familiar brown of the once very clumsy trouble magnet from years ago.
"Mai? Is that you?" The tallest of the two asked, his hands shaking slightly as he resisted the urge to go up to the girl and hug her. His wouldn't admit it aloud but he had missed the Japanese girl and other co-workers after he went back to England and to see her with a gun pointed at him was a surprise to say the least. This was definitely not the way he wanted to see her again.
The other male remained in a shocked silence as his wide blue eyes looked at her. She had matured well over the years, the black, woollen turtle neck and worn skinny jeans accentuated her curves and her heeled boots added to her height. But even with that, she was still a head shorter than him; however, her height did nothing to dampen her authoritative posture or sharp glare.
"You know these two Mai?"
Mai nodded her head once before lowering her gun slowly. She then proceeded to walked up to the two and stood in front of them, her face an emotional void as she stared; her eyes though, told a different story. They burned with countless emotions as she glanced between the two men.
"What..." She started, scowling as her voice cracked with her with held emotions. Clearing her throat, she tried again, "What are you two doing here?"
"I do own the place. Or do you have brain damage?" Naru asked, his shock quickly replaced with his usual smug attitude. The reaction he got from the comment was not what he expected. She shot him a glare before glancing at her partner who stepped forward with a pair of handcuffs in his hands.
"I have more brain cells than you think Mr Davis, and as of this moment, you and Mr Lin are under arrest." She told them, her voice cold as she watched her partner walk behind Naru and pulled the young man's arms behind his back roughly, the clicking of the cuffs signalled that they were in place before he moved to Lin.
"Is this a joke Mai?" Naru asked again, his eyes narrowing as if to say this was cheap revenge on her part. She had probably heard that he was back and just wanted to get back at him. But before she could answer, the green eyed male elbowed him roughly, causing him to take a step closer to her to keep his balance.
"Mai is lead detective in the Shibuya homicide sector in the police force. I suggest you play nice." Came a gruff voice by his ear, yet he was too focused on letting the information sink in to glare at the man behind him. Before he could say another word, he and Lin were forced from the room. Glancing over his shoulder quickly, he saw Mai lean over the bloody body, her eyes knitted together in concentration.
The stairs had been an annoying part of the walk to the lone car beside the dusty black van. The only thing signifying it as a police vehicle was the red light sitting on the dashboard behind the tinted glass. It had been on the verge of irritating when he was told to sit in the back as the door was held open. His shoulders bending un-naturally as he struggled to find a comfortable position in his seat after he was buckled in. Lin soon joined him and the detective walked around to the other side of the car and got in the front passenger seat, his door open as he placed his feet on the dash board and leaning back in his seat comfortably.
"So..." The man started, alerting the two men in the back that they were being spoken to, "You're the two Mai was always talking about..."
"What do you mean?" Surprisingly, the question had left Naru's lips, his curiosity making him temporarily forget his discomfort.
"She told me about her past... her time at high school and her work at SPR. How you just up and left. I hope you realise she hasn't spoken with the other people you all worked with since you left. She still pretty stiff lipped about most things, but she told be the basics and I pieced it together."
Lin tensed at the mention of them leaving and how blatantly he had said it. He knew Mai would have been devastated, after all she had declared her love for Naru only to have it thrown back in her face and then find out they were gone the next day. But, to have her change so much... was mind boggling.
The interview room was a bleak and barren room, the grey panelling making way for a door and a one way mirror. He was used to the plain style of his usual surrounding but the fact that this was a place Mai worked in seemed to tug at his conscious and irked him to no end. Even the clothes she had worn earlier when he had seen her seemed bleak and stiff for her small frame. But before he could ponder the thought of how Mai had changed, the door opened with a small click, and the person suffocating his thoughts walked in, a slim folder resting in her nimble fingers as she sat across from him.
"Mai." He stated in welcome, his voice lacking any emotion most would feel in his situation.
"Mr Shibuya," She replied, nodding her head before pinning him with a blank look. "What were you doing in the office this morning?"
"I was going to the building in which I work. It's not that hard to understand." He told her. Faintly, the sound of a thud came from behind the mirror and a vein appeared in Mai's partially revealed forehead. Raking a hand through her hair, she took a deep breath to stay calm before asking him again,
"I meant, Mr Davis... What were you and Mr Lin doing in the office when there was clearly a body inside and why you didn't call the police..." It was no longer a question but a demand in which he either answered properly or was thrown into a cell until he co-operated. His eyes widened slightly at the realisation that this was no longer the Mai he knew and the memories of what happened in the car ride to the precinct replayed in his mind.
Flash Back
The investigator, which they now knew was call Inspector Abari. Akito Abari, had told them about how coldly Mai had first acted when she joined the force. She had refused a partner for the first two years until she was nearly killed, at which point the Chief had forced her to team up with him.
"How did she join the force so quickly... and the Homicide Unit for that matter?" Lin asked, Naru nodded his head in agreement to the question. There was a slight hesitation before Akito answered to two men, quickly checking to see if Mai was still inside or not before sighing and turning in his seat to face them.
"Well, to understand that, you have to hear the whole story. But I think she should be the one to tell you the more important details... Anyway, Mai was a victim to a serial murderer in the Shibuya crossing five years ago. It was really late at night and she was pulled into a nearby alleyway by a small cafe..." He told them, watching as their eyes widened in realisation. The only coffee shop near Shibuya crossing was the one under the office. "The man was killed on sight by an unknown force, his insides were crushed and Mai was found huddled on the far side of the alley. I was the one that found her..."
"Five years ago... That-" Lin started, realisation shotting through him faster than a lightning and his insides felt like they were filled with lead. Wide eyed, the two males in the back seat shared a look of disbelief and regret before turning back to the police officer and silently urged him to continue. Their plea however, went unheard as the sound of heels clicking against the concrete was heard. The now older, more mature Mai walked over to the car and got in the driver seat.
"So?" Officer Abari asked her. As if understanding his silent question, she glanced in the mirror before starting the engine and pulling out onto the busy street.
"He's the third victim. That's a record..." She told him as she came to a stop at the street lights. This caught Naru's attention, prying a question from his lips before he could stop himself,
"What do you mean by third victim?" She glanced at him over her shoulder briefly before turning back to face the street as the light turned green.
"I meant, he's the third victim this week. But we haven't found any clues and my dreams haven't been helpful in the least." The fact made his blood freeze as he thought of the serial killer that was killed after attacking Mai.
"Your dreams? Mai, this morning..." Akito asked, pausing before his eyes widened and he snapped his head to the side to face her, "This morning! You knew there was another murder! That's why you were there so early! Your sleepless night was because you had another vision! It was... wasn't it Mai?"
But before he could get reply, she had pulled into a spot outside the station and gotten out of the car, walking to the Lin's side and opening it. She undid his seat belt before doing the same for Naru and up the stairs and walking inside, leaving the three men behind...
End Flash Back
"Mr Davis? Will you answer the question or not?" Mai huffed, glaring at the man who had remained quite after her demand. Her voice seemed to snap him out of his daze however and he looked up at her, sometime during his reminiscing, his head had drooped until his gaze had hit the table surface.
"Lin and I had only just gotten to the office when we saw the door was open, so we thought it would be better to determine the severity of the situation before we called the police. By the time we found the body in the back of the room, you and Officer Abari stormed in." He explained, his voice cold but his eyes holding shock at the new side of Mai. The more demanding, strong Mai.
"Can anyone verify this?" She asked again, glancing up as the door opened and Akito walked in.
"The airport. And then the taxi driver that took us to the office." He told her. She nodded before she got up, looking at her partner before walking out. Naru cast his eyes over the other male in curiosity as he didn't follow Mai out.
"Don't worry. She believes you. She's knows it wasn't a living person that killed that man this morning." He stated, causing Naru to turn in his seat to stare in disbelief. Smirking, Akito decided to take pity on the confused man and explained, "Mai is apart of a special unit in the force for people with special abilities. Most have teams of four or more, but after what happened with you old group, she worked alone. A certain incident which nearly took her life convinced the Chief that she needed at least one partner. That partner however was someone that didn't have powers, considering that she was stronger, spiritually, that any of the larger teams. So, she got me."
"How many people make up the larger teams?" Naru asked, his usual cold, void expression filled with pure child like curiosity.
"The larger teams are made up of over eight people..."
