"I only did this because I love you!"

The words echoed in her head, chasing away the little peace she had left in her mind. Her hands twitched in her lap and she grabbed hold of her cotton sweatpants tightly, trying to ease her fidgeting. Even while being in a police station, she couldn't stop herself from glancing over her shoulder instinctively. Five seconds passed and another glance. This time she kept her eyes fixed on two officers conversing. She couldn't hear anything being said because they were too far, but it looked like one of them was teasing the other. She didn't know why she found that interesting, but she wanted to cease the echo of those dreadful words.

"Ma'am?"

A startled jump.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't think you'd react like that." The investigator apologized with a relaxed smile. She shook her head softly and told him that it was fine. Her eyes trailed over his features as if they had only met. Spiky silver hair, half-lidded dark grey eyes, and a seemingly lazy expression on his face. He didn't look like much from the first glance, but from what she had heard, he is no joke. Top investigator in the city a natural prodigy in his line of work.

"During this interview I will talk to you about the incident we spoke of last time. I will also ask you about anything else which may become relevant during the interview in order to properly establish the facts and issues."

A simple nod.

"Let's start with something simple. Please provide me with your name, age, and current profession."

"Hayashi Megumi, nineteen years old. I'm currently looking for a job, haven't found one as of yet. Oh, and I'm studying engineering in university."

"Engineering, huh? Well, that must be fun."

"Of course." She couldn't hold back a laugh. Almost everyone she met had said the same thing.

"Any family or relative that is aware of what's happening?"

"None. I grew up in an orphanage."

"Any disabilities, physical or metal health issues you'd like to mention?"

"No, nothing like that. I do have asthma though, but I don't think that's worth mentioning..."

"No, that's fine." She watched him take note of everything. It even seemed like he was writing more words than ones that left her mouth. He scribbled down things as she spoke, all the while keeping focus on her.

"Now, we're going to talk more into the case. Were there any strange phone calls, messages, or visits prior to that incident?"

"No. I didn't notice anything. I'm not really quick on catching on things. But there weren't any calls or messages."

"Where and when did this confrontation happen?"

"High Grove Street. It happened around 11:40p.m. I was walking back home from a late night studying session in the university library." She said, recalling waving to her friend before they parted ways. It felt like any other day at that time. She didn't feel anyone trailing behind her at that time.

"Do you often deal with street harassment?"

"No, it doesn't happen too often."

"Could you describe him to me?"

"I didn't see anything. He had a plain white mask on. Um... he was slightly above the average height of a man, I'd say somewhere around 180 centimeters. Of course he was towering over me, and my 148 centimeters. He had midnight black hair; it was too dark to focus on its length. Everything else in his body was covered, he even had gloves on." Her heart raced when she skipped one important detail. It cannot be that important, she tried to tell herself. They could do with or without it, but she still felt like she should've mentioned it.

"Alright. I'm going to show you a picture and tell me if you recognize this person." He placed the notepad on his desk, flipping it over so nothing could show. He opens the bottom-left drawer on his desk and she hears him shuffling through some papers. When he found what he was looking for, he pushed his chair back and stood up, walking around the table to her side. He kept a close eye on her face as he slowly handed over the paper with the picture on it. Her eyes widened in recognition.

"Oh? You know this person?"

"Yes, sir! Well, I don't know him, but I've come across him."

"Explain everything you know in details. Time, place, and the people around you when you encountered this man." He said, casually crossing his arms over his chest and leaning on his desk. He posture looked relaxed, but his eyes darkened as soon as she showed signs of recognizing this man.

"Well, it happened three days ago. It was around 12:30a.m and I was out with my friend in the local bar down the street actually."

"The one down the street from here?"

"Yes. We left the place because she was getting too intoxicated for me to handle. I usually don't drink much or any at all. I convinced her to leave and planned to take her home because there was no way she could do it herself at that point. After a five-minute walk, he approached us and tried to convince us to go home with him. He kept saying stuff like, "let's have some fun," and I refused. After that he got verbally and physically aggressive. He came up to my face and shoved me to the side, but it wasn't strong enough to throw me off my feet."

"And you didn't report it?"

"I didn't see a need to at that time. He was drunk."

"I see. Three days ago, you said? And the other incident happened only yesterday, am I right?" He hummed to himself. And she wasn't sure if he was asking or stating.

"Yes. But what does that have to do with anything? I mean, if you don't mind me asking."

"The blood samples we took from your wrist matched this man."

"What? What does that mean?"

"This man was found dead this morning." Kakashi stated, looking her in the eye. He watched the genuine shock and surprised look in her face.

"What? I don't understand..." How are those two related? Her eyes widened and she locked eyes with him. "Do you mean he was killed by him?"

"That's what we're looking into. And we're also trying to find out how you fit in all this. Did he say anything important to you? Anything that could help?"

Megumi bit her lips and looked down, "He said, "I only did this because I love you,". I'm sure this line means more than I can comprehend..."

Kakashi had a distant look in his eyes, "That's interesting. Hayashi-san, are you in a relationship at the moment?"

"No, I seem to have terrible luck."

"Oh?"

"Well, it starts out well, but they eventually run off..."

"What do you mean by 'run off'?"

"...They avoid talking to me again. They run away when we come across each other, and I had one even change his contact number. It doesn't last a week, the longest had been three days, but I heard the guy moved to another state. Why are we talking about this?" She groaned.

"This is actually very important. Do you remember their names? I have a few questions for them."

She nodded and he handed her a piece of paper so she could write down their names on.

"Excuse me for asking this, any recent sexual activity?"

Her face heated up at this and she buried her face in her hands. "I don't- I still didn't do- you know... I didn't do it with... yet."

Kakashi blinked at the blushing girl in front of him. She couldn't lie or mask any emotion even if her life depended on it. All her reactions were raw and genuine. She seemed clueless to everything that's happening around her. And there was a lot from what he has come to realize. Two cases were highly related to each other and she was in the center of all this. He'll see her again, that he's sure of.

"Alright, that's all I wanted to talk to you about, Hayashi-san." He gave her a carefree smile, which she returned with a nod.

Megumi picked up her cross-body bag from the chair as she stood up and with a slight bow of her head she turned to leave.

"Take care of yourself!" She heard Kakashi call as the gap between them grew. She gave him another nod in thanks.

"Don't touch me. Who the hell are you?" She yanked her wrist away from his grasp and he let her go without a fight. She took a few steps away, but he advanced on her making feel smaller by the second.

"For now, you can call me whatever you want." He extended a hand towards her once again and she found herself pinned against a wall. Why was she not paying attention? Instead of placing both hand on each side of her head like she expected, his left hand landed on her cheek. But it was gentle, startling her.

Who is this person? Does he know her?

"I didn't want us to meet like this, but I was losing my patience." His thumb caressed her cheek as he spoke.

She looked at him like he grew another head. What is he even saying?

"I'm only going to say this once," she could hear the threatening edge in his deep voice, "do not allow anyone to touch you in any way. No one has and no one will. And if they do, I won't hesitate in taking action." He hissed, the hand leaving her face and clenching tightly on his side.

"What the hell are you saying? I don't know why you think you have any right to-" The same hand was lifted and his index finger was placed over her lips, silencing her.

"Go sleep, you need to rest." He whispered softly.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Now she was just being illogical. But she felt the need to yell at him. Was this a prank?

A small laugh escaped from him before he threw his head back laughing.

His right hand reached out for her, taking hold of her wrist and she flinched at the cold sticky substance she felt at the contact. What the hell?

"Disgusting! What is that?" She pulled her hand away from him, and once again he let her. Her eyes widened when she examined the handprint on her wrist. "It's red. Oh my... is this blood?!"

It sure smelled like it.

"Yes."

Now the question is, is it his blood? If it is his blood, then he's hurt. And if he's hurt then she has a shot at overpowering him and calling the cops. But if it wasn't his blood, then it belonged to someone else. And that seemed like a lot of blood.

Her blood ran cold. It wasn't his blood because he was walking around normally. He doesn't look hurt and he isn't stumbling.

"Why is there blood on your hand...?"

He tilts his head to the side; no words come out of his mouth. And she can't see his face from the stupid mask.

"Answer me! Is this some kind of sick joke?!"

"It's no joke." Both hands lift up to cup her face and she freezes on the spot. "That person deserved what he got." He said and she could almost feel him smile under his mask.

This man is insane. He killed someone before coming across her. There is no other explanation. Fear overtook her body and she found herself unable to move or speak.

"You're crazy. You're fucking crazy. Take your dirty hands away from me! You killed someone! You're a murderer! And you're here talking to me as if you've done nothing, you fucking piece of shit!"

Scratch that. She can still speak. But her body was still paralyzed in fear.

"You can call me crazy, but I only did this because I love you!"