The silence in the underground parking lot of the local Prosecutor's Office was shattered as a gaudy purple motorcycle sped through the narrow driveways before smoothly gliding into its reserved spot next to the elevators.

After removing the key in the ignition, a young man slipped the heart shaped ring into his pocket before gracefully disembarking the vehicle. The rider's helmet was then removed to reveal perfectly styled blonde hair framing a conventionally handsome face. As he strutted towards the elevator doors, the large "G" shaped ornament around his neck flashed in the dim lighting, almost as if announcing his presence.

Not that it was necessary – a lone woman stood by the door, silently awaiting his arrival. Upon his approach, she gave him a greeting worthy of his revered title.

"Took you long enough, fop!"

Rock star-prosecutor, Klavier Gavin graciously accepted her acknowledgement, "My, my, it is certainly a pleasant surprise to see my lovely Fraulein Detective so early in the morning."

Not appearing the least bit pleased nor surprised to see him, Detective Ema Skye's response was as sharp as the look she gave him, "It's already past 9am. If you'd arrived any later, you'll be walking into the trial after verdict's been declared."

"I see your gusto is in full throttle again this morning."

"And I see yours has yet to start."

The odd pair synchronously stepped into the elevator all the while maintaining their usual banter.

"Ah, how I very much enjoy starting my day with you, Fraulein Detective."

"Good morning to you too, Prosecutor Gavin."

The two exchanged polite smiles as the doors slid shut. This was a typical start for the prosecutor-detective team, albeit on days where they had trials, the two of them usually met at the courthouse, rather than in his office. More out of boredom than curiosity, Klavier casually pointed out the unforeseen change in plans. He became somewhat concerned when Ema remained silent in response to his observation. Not one to overlook anything unexpected, Klavier pursued the matter.

"Is there a reason you are so eager to see me that you came greet me the moment I arrived in the building?" He tried to mask his unease with his playful demeanour.

"I am not eager to see you," was her resolute answer.

Though it was a typical response from the grumpy detective, Klavier didn't miss the fact that she had completely evaded his question.

His tone was serious as he asked her again, "Fraulein Detective, there is a reason you came all this way to meet me this morning, ja?"

Klavier watched as Ema fidgeted under his unfaltering stare. After a few nervous glances at her oversized purse, she finally muttered, "I have something important to tell you."

"And what would that be?"

A moment of silence passed.

"Well-?"

"I'm trying to remember!" She snapped.

Klavier quietly sighed, as he was now used to being reprimanded for no particular reason. He had quickly learned that the best way to avoid Ema's overactive temper was to stay silent, as most things that came out of his mouth had a tendency to anger her.

By the time they reached the eleventh floor, Ema still had not yet given him an answer and Klavier had simply given up trying to figure out what was going through her unpredictable mind. Leading the two of them towards the large receptionist desk, the prosecutor was greeted with the rich aroma of his favourite blend of coffee and the beautiful smile of his beautiful secretary.

"Ahhh~! Smells divine! It's very thoughtful of you to have brought me breakfast, Fraulein."

His secretray handed the coffee to him with a sheepish grin, "Actually, sir, it was Miss Skye who brought this in earlier this morning."

"Fraulein Detective?!" He turned around to find Ema glaring down the honest woman. "What have I done to earn your kindness?"

His sceptical expression was rewarded with another sharp retort, "That's rude of you. Is it so hard to imagine me doing something nice?"

The honest answer would have been, "Yes", but Klavier wisely kept that to himself. Instead, he chose to politely thank her and proceeded to move into his office.

Though he couldn't quite put his finger on it, he was now absolutely sure something was out of place. The first piece of evidence was the unexplained change in their usual routine: why hadn't the detective simply met up with him at the courthouse, as per always? The second piece of evidence was the coffee he was currently holding in his hand: in all the year and half they had been working together, she had never bought anything for him; even during their numerous long all-nighters, the stingy detective had refused to buy an extra coffee for him, forcing Klavier to find his own sources of caffeine. And now, all he needed was one more key piece…

"Why don't you wait outside, Fraulein Detective; I'll just be one minute." Klavier made sure his tone was casual as he tested his hypothesis.

As he had predicted, Ema mumbled some incomprehensible excuse about needing to check something before she pushed past him into his office.

All his previous suspicions had been confirmed; Ema Skye was now entering what she called his "twilight zone of an office" of her own accord; there must be something seriously wrong.

"You know, you're acting a little strange today. Is something the matter, Ema?" He purposely addressed the detective by her first name, hoping it would encourage more open communication between them. After working with her for over a year, Klavier had grown trust and depend on the young woman before him and he'd naturally assumed the feeling was mutual.

Klavier patiently watched from his door as Ema stood next to his large cluttered desk, her gaze nervously darted around the room. After grabbing a few thick manila folders off his desk, she strode towards him with a strained smile on her face.

"It's nothing. I've got the case files. Let's go."

Disappointed, the young prosecutor frowned – it appeared he had assumed wrongly.

Reaching an arm out, Klavier blocked his colleague from exiting his office. "I may not be as skilled as Herr Forehead when it comes to detecting false statements, but even I can tell when one blatantly lies to my face." He spoke in a deep, even voice.

Anxiety was clear in her eyes with as Ema stuttered, "Y-you're imagining things. We're going to be late, Prosecutor Gavin."

Then quickly ducking under his arm, she darted down the hall. Releasing a defeated sigh, Klavier could only follow.

What could have happened to force his Fraulein Detective to lie to him? He tried to formulate some possible explanations: she had probably made a mistake and was trying to make it up to him; or perhaps she had been conspiring with their opposition again; or maybe, just maybe, she had discovered another irrational reason to hate him and was simply choosing to act on it at the most inopportune time. Regardless, Klavier dropped the matter entirely and they descended the elevator in silence.

When they finally approached the ground floor, the doors slid open, but Ema made no move to exit. Instead, she clenched the folders until her knuckles were white while staring at the floor. When Klavier stepped forward to hold the doors open for her, she abruptly blurted out, "Can I hitch a ride with you?"

Klavier's first instinct was to laugh, "I think I must've misheard you, Fraulein Detective, because I believe you just asked for a ride on my hog."

But the solemn look on Ema's face grounded his chuckles to a halt.

"Is that really what you said?"

The detective nodded.

"I don't understand," Klavier said in confusion, "You have stated many times that you hate my hog, ja?"

The detective nodded again.

"Then… why?"

It sounded as if Ema was gritting her teeth when she replied, "I'd like to try it out."

Partially to satisfy his sadistic sense of curiosity and partially to avoid another pointless argument, Klavier graciously allowed her to ride with him without further questioning. Twenty minutes later, parked behind the courthouse, Klavier was somewhat regretting his decision while he attempted to pry himself out of the vice-grip of a terrified Ema Skye.

"I assure you, Fraulein Detective, we have stopped moving for a while now."

"Then why can I still feel an intense G-force."

Awkwardly piggybacking Ema off his bike, Klavier resisted the urge to drop his dead weight onto the asphalt pavement to show her some real G-force. Instead, he chose to lower her down onto the nearby lawn, allowing the young woman to reacquaint herself with solid ground.

"Did you enjoy the ride?"

"No." It was a blunt automatic response. Once Ema was standing on wobby legs, she immediately pushed him towards the building entrance, "Hurry up. I think I need to sit down."

Much to his relief, once she had settled herself in the prosecutor's lobby, Ema's crazy antics had finally died down and she simply sat in silence, reviewing her testimony.

Finally, after pacing had lost its appeal, Klavier decided he needed a change of scenery.

Ema's voice drifted towards him, "Where are you going?"

"To the toilet," he answered honestly.

There was the sound of shuffling papers behind him, before Ema appeared by his side. "I'll go with you."

On any other day, it would've been a perfect opening for one of Klavier's bolder flirtatious remarks, but after all the prior bizarre events, he could only stare at her bewilderment.

"I meant, I'll also go to the washroom – the female washroom," she clarified, as she hurriedly followed him out the door.

They had only taken two steps before Klavier said, "Fraulein Detective, I believe the women's toilets are in the opposite direction."

"Are you sure? I always remember them to be this way."

The indifferent prosecutor had already long since stopped trying to correct Ema's illogical comments. With less than fifteen minutes until the start of his trial, he simply hoped that whatever had caused her loss of sanity wasn't contagious.

Arriving at the men's washroom, Klavier gave the peculiar woman a quick glance before entering. When he stepped back into the hallway a few minutes later, he found Ema examining the men's washroom sign next to the door with a magnifying glass.

"Were you waiting here for me?"

"N-no," she stammered as the comically large object disappeared back into her purse, "I've just never noticed how inaccurate the proportions of this male figure is."

"Fraulein Detective, I believe that is what we call a "stick person" diagram." With a weary look, the young prosecutor tried to discreetly keep his distance and he stepped around the odd detective.

Just he started to walk back towards the prosecutor's lobby, he felt Ema grab his arm as she roughly threw him to the ground. Simultaneously, there was a loud bang and something whizzed by above him. Before he even had time to react, Klavier found himself sprawled out on floor with his face planted on the cold laminate flooring. When he tried to lift his head up, it was unceremoniously shoved back down so that his forehead maintained constant contact with the ground. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a dog barking, then two more loud bangs followed by an earth-shattering shriek. Within a moment, the pressure on the back of his head was lifted and he could faintly hear Ema yelling over the painful screams that continued.

Ignoring the throbbing pain where his forehead had hit the ground, Klavier Gavin lifted his head to find the most perplexing scene he had ever witnessed. The source of the screaming was a young man, probably only a few years older than Klavier himself, who was writhing on the floor holding onto his knee. His hands were covered in red. Next to the man stood a full grown Shiba Inu, loudly growling and barking. Just when the dog looked ready to bite, Klavier heard a firm command originate from above him.

"Down, Missile, down!"

Slowly turning his head, Klavier found himself staring up at an armed and alert Ema Skye. The usually clumsy and somewhat scatter-minded young woman had a fierce look in her eyes as she steadily aimed the small black pistol in her hand straight at the man on the floor. There was no fear in her voice when she ordered him to remain on the ground. When she cautiously started to move towards him, there was an authoritative air about her.

Klavier watched as Ema calmly kicked away the discarded handgun on the floor without so much as flinching at the malicious words the man directed at her. After confirming that the injured individual on the floor had no additional weapons, she swiftly returned to Klavier's side.

"Prosecutor Gavin, are you alright?"

Ema's stiff tone sounded foreign to the confused prosecutor. The professionally trained officer now helping him off the floor was the same individual who would, on a regular basis, carelessly skim through her reports, misuse and abuse police issued equipment and inappropriately examine evidence using unapproved methods. He could only stare at her in stunned silence. As hard as he tried to answer, his mind was still incapable of forming a coherent answer, though he had a vague feeling that his mouth was hanging open.

"Klavier! Klavier, don't worry, okay?! The rest of the squad is coming. They're going to take care of you, okay? So, don't worry, Klavier, you'll be fine…"

Just as Ema promised, a large number of uniform men came rushing towards them within seconds. He watched in awe as she gave clear and concise instructions to each of the officers that arrived on scene. There was no hesitation; each order was given with a confidence he wasn't aware she possessed. The earlier panic in her voice had all but disappeared, leaving her with a crisp, commanding tone of voice. The transformation from the jittery detective earlier that morning to the self-assured professional standing above him was alarming – frightful even.

Despite all the chaos surrounding him, Klavier Gavin found himself completely and utterly turned on.


Author's Notes:
[2009.07.30]
Part II coming soon. Just waiting for Court-Records to start working for me again so I can confirm a few details. This piece is actually my first attempt at writing something more plot oriented than character oriented. I purposely tried to write in such a way that Klavier and Ema's reactions would seem kind of over the top - kind of more like their reactions in the video game, rather than something more normal, like in real life. But, my attempts to write concisely makes this story feel kind of bare and lacking... so I'm kind of unsure how to fix this. Hmmmm... any advice/comments/opinions would be greatly appreciated.