A loud, blaring tone from an alarm clock awoke a skinny young man from his slumber. Rolling out of his Western-style twin bed he clumsily stumbled towards the offending piece of machinery and with his eyes still half closed in slumber disengaged the alarm. Rubbing his eyes and mussing his short brown hair in an attempt to regain full control of his senses, he noticed the time.

"Getting up at three fifteen in the afternoon, whoever had the bright idea of starting a shift at five in the evening must have been some sort of night owl. Or maybe a drunk."

Uttering a morose sigh, Detective Shinji Ikari began his usual morning, well, afternoon, routine.

After finishing his meager breakfast/lunch, Shinji made hasty final preparations for his first day. Deciding to make a solid first impression, he forsook his typical outfit of a sloppily buttoned business-casual shirt and heavily worn slacks. Instead, he picked out his slightly worn navy blue dress suit, his "good one," along with a white shirt and red tie.

Exiting his apartment and starting his walk to the subway, Shinji remembered that he had forgotten the one piece of equipment that he had never come close to using back in Sapporo. Sighing, he headed back towards his apartment. "That would have been rather embarrassing. Of all the things for a police officer to forget." Shaking his head, he continued his localized monologue. "Then again isn't like I need a gun."

Conducing a cursory search of his bedroom he discovered his service weapon lying on the top of his dresser, still nestled in its small brown leather holster looking as though it had never left its resting place, which wasn't particularly far from the truth. As he clipped the holster to his belt and the front of the left leg of his pants, a picture of a smiling young woman seized his attention. The brunette wore a gray blazer over a black blouse with a gray skirt, an outfit that dated from the early aughts. The only indication that she was not an office lady or low-level business executive was clipped to the front of her skirt. There, nestled within a small leather holster, was the same revolver that Shinji now carried with him.

With a couple of stray tears running down his face, Shinji returned the picture to the nightstand and silently cursed himself for resurrecting his mental anguish.

"I'm sorry, Mom," he suddenly blurted out in a voice filled with regret and self-pity. Great I've finally lost it enough to the point where I'm apologizing to a photo.

Taking a moment to regain his composure, Shinji went into the bathroom and washed his face. Looking at his wristwatch, he saw that it was 3:55.

Walking by his bedroom, Shinji gazed at the picture and spoke to the picture of his mother.

"Some days I wonder just what life would be like if you were still alive now. Or for that matter if Father had died instead." Chuckling morbidly, he continued, "The really bad thing is that I wish it was him. That's despicable isn't it? To wish one's own father dead?" Now look at me, asking rhetorical questions to a picture. And why is it unnerving me so badly when I've seen this photo every day for the last twenty years? Now back in control of his emotions, Shinji voiced a simple question, more to himself than to the picture. "Why the hell did I become a police officer again?"

With a pained sigh, he left his bedroom and headed towards the elevator, while rubbing his hand against one of the few tactile mementos of his mother's life. Perhaps in some small way carrying his mother's gun as his service weapon, despite its obvious obsolesce, was an attempt to bind himself to her or at least, to carry a reminder of her life and sacrifice with him always. On the other hand, perhaps he simply was too cheap to pay out the seventy thousand yen for a newer weapon.

After an uneventful trip to Kasumigaseki, Shinji exited the subway and began his constitutional towards his new home away from home, Keishicho, headquarters of the Metropolitan Police. While squinting at its distant edifice and attempting to remember exactly where he was supposed to go, Shinji absent-mindedly began crossing a busy thoroughfare. Just as he started across, the stoplight changed, releasing a torrent of impatient drivers unconcerned with the neurosis of a plainclothesman. A blaring car horn finally jarred him from his thoughts. Startled, Shinji looked up to see a blue sports car barreling down upon him. In that split second, he realized the speeding coupe was to be the last image of his life, assuming the pavement while bleeding to death didn't count. Making a haphazard attempt at an evasive dive, a single morbid thought entered his mind. Mom, guess I'll be seeing you sooner than I thought.

Much to his surprise however the sports car expertly swerved, coming to a stop in a conveniently empty storefront parking spot.

While relieved at his newfound second chance at life, Shinji became infuriated at what he perceived as the reckless driving habits of the coupe's owner. While his first urge was to mumble an undeserved apology and avoid a confrontation, the nearness of his morality led the milquetoast detective to a more proactive course of action. Girding his proverbial loins, he briskly walked towards the Renault preparing to confront the lunatic who almost had snuffed out his spark of humanity.

With an unusual amount of vigor, he pounded on the tinted driver's side window. "Hey you! Why don't you watch where the hell you're going!?"

With a soft whir, the pane of glass slowly descended, reveling the driver to be, not a delinquent as Shinji had predisposed but a striking woman in her early thirties who appeared to have long purple hair, or at very least, black locks with a violet sheen. Enhancing her implausible appearance was her attire, which consisted of a tight, high-neck, short black dress and a red leather bomber jacket with a barely noticeable bulge on her left side. However, her blunt reply preempted any attempt on Shinji's part to gawk.

"Fuck you! I had the damn light and in case you didn't notice, I came damn near killing myself trying to avoid you. Maybe next time I ought to just run your ass over. That would teach you to look before wandering into the damn street!"

Taken aback by the brusque retort Shinji retreated to the power of his authority. Reaching into his coat pocket, he took cover behind the totemic protection of his police identification.

"Metropolitan Police." With his voice cracking with nervousness, Shinji rushed out a warning "I should run you in for threatening a police officer but, I'll let you off with a warning, assuming you apologize of course"

Instead of having the desired, if unlikely, reaction of cowering her into submission, the driver of the Renault laughed and reached into her center console.

"Guess they must be selling those trinkets in fifty yen vending machines. After all I've got my own." Grimacing, she struggled with a small wallet sized id holder that had fallen between the passenger seat and the center console. Forcefully yanking it from its sanctuary, she flipped the holder open reveling a small golden badge in the shape of a Chrysanthemum. "Inspector, which I believe trumps Detective."

Taken aback by the discovery that he and the women not only shared the same profession but that she outranked him, Shinji could only incredulously respond. "You're a police officer?"

"Well either that or it came with the car, I think it's been down there for a couple of years now." Looking at the frazzled detective the inspector took a more sympathetic tact, if only to keep open the window of opportunity for her to be on time for the first time in over a week. "This is your first day, isn't it?"

Is it really that obvious? Well I was almost run over crossing the street. And, now that I think about it, I guess the light was green. You know, she doesn't exactly look like a detective. Why is she trying to be nice to me all of a sudden anyways?

"Detective?"

"Huh. Oh, yeah. Today is my first day working in Tokyo, although I have been a police officer for around…"

Cutting Shinji off, the inspector quickly got to the matter's heart. "That's great. Say, since my car seems to be fine, do you need a ride to headquarters?"

Shinji looked at the Inspector warily. She obviously drives like a bit of a psychotic but this is the only way I might be on time for work. Ehh, its only eight blocks and she can't possibly be that bad of a driver. "Uhh…sure, thanks for the offer"

"Not a problem," the dark-haired women proceeded to lean over and open the passenger door. After Shinji sat down and began to situate himself in the Renault Alpine, the woman smiled at him in a manner that seemed genuinely friendly but with a touch of a darker emotion behind her visage. After putting her seat belt on, she proceeded to back out into the busy thoroughfare at sixty kilometers per hour, much to the horror of her new passenger whose mind started churning at about the same speed as the wheels on the French sports car.

Great, maybe I'll be heading to the netherworld after all. You know she doesn't look like a policewoman at all. Especially wearing that outfit, I can't imagine her Superintendent allowing such apparel. Not that I'm really complaining but it doesn't exactly speak well of her professionalism, or lack therefore of. Maybe she's a vice detective? Shit, I think she just realized that I'm staring at her…

Shinji's intuition was correct as the Inspector noticed that his eyes' laser beam focus had locked upon her upper torso. Deciding to make Shinji squirm before arriving at their mutual destination she leaned over, leered at him and proceeded to probe in her sultriest tone of voice "Do you see anything you like?"

Yeah, that isn't a loaded question. Nope, not at all. For that matter shouldn't her main concern be on driving? Okay, enough being sarcastic I need to think of a way out of this jam. Ahh, yeah the necklace. "Err, I was just admiring your necklace, Inspector. After all you don't see many crosses being worn in Japan."

Realizing that the "proper" action would be to return to her normal tone of voice, the Inspector answered Shinji's unspoken question. "Thanks. It was a gift from my father on the day of my confirmation. I suppose wearing it was supposed to serve as symbol of my faith or something." Instead, it's nothing more than a constant reminder of how much I've let him down. After a short pause the inspector continued. "But to be honest I just wear it because I think it goes great with most of my outfits. Looks like we're here already." The Inspector interrupted herself as the car pulled into a parking garage underneath the Keshico. After she parked the Renault, Shinji was about to exit the car when he turned back to the driver.

"Thanks for the ride. Inspector…."

With a grin she responded, "Please, call me Misato. No need to be particularly formal."

"Thanks for the ride, Misato."

"No problem. Maybe we'll run into each other again Detective…"

"Ikari, Shinji Ikari. Oh, but you can call me Shinji, if you want."

Ikari, huh? Misato waved a quick goodbye to Shinji while heading towards the garage's elevator. "Okay then. Nice to meet you Shinji."

With the farewells given Shinji and Misato went their separate ways with Shinji heading towards the reception desk. While the conversation with Misato had calmed his nerves, trepidation filled Shinji as he approached the desk sergeant. "Excuse me, Miss."

The sergeant on duty had long ago grown tired of having to deal with the public on a daily basis and it showed in her workplace manner. "Sir, you'll have to take a number and get back in line with everyone else."

"Sorry, mam'm but I was told that I was to talk to the desk sergeant on duty immediately once I arrived."

The sergeant disdainfully snorted. "Look, you need to take a number and wait in line like everyone else."

Growing angry at the attitude of the middle-aged woman in front of him, Shinji decided to invoke the name of the one person who, despite their rift, he knew would overwhelm the sergeant's defenses. "Just out of curiosity, you wouldn't happen to know who I am, now would you?"

The sergeant laughed in an irritated manner "Yeah, the pain in the ass twerp who evidently can't take no for an answer. So why don't you go…"

With a slight tinge of sadistic glee in his voice, Shinji interrupted "Perhaps I'm a pain in the ass twerp, but I'm also Detective Shinji Ikari. You may have heard of my father, Supervising Superintendent Gendo Ikari."

Upon hearing the name of the feared head of Criminal Investigations, the desk sergeant snapped to attention, although a perceptive soul could still sense contempt brimming under the surface. "What can I help you with, Detective?"

"Thank you. I recently transferred from Sapporo and was wondering if you might have a copy of my new assignment"

A very faint smile crossed the sergeant's lips as she realized that despite his powerful connections the boy in front of her was clueless to the day-to-day functions of the department. "I'm sorry, the computer network is currently down. Do you happen to know what section within Criminal Investigations?"

The computer network is down? That's convenient. "Homicide, ma'am."

"All right, head up to the fourth floor, then enter the fourth door on your left. You'll have to talk to Inspector Katsuragi to clear up any paperwork problems."

Hmm, the number four twice. Someone in the office assignment pool had a morbid sense of humor. "Thanks for your help." With a curt nod, Shinji walked towards the main elevator bank, absent-mindedly affixing his identification card upon his suit jacket during the walk. After an uneventful trip to the fourth floor, he entered the fourth office on the left. To Shinji's disappointment instead of an organized police squad room filled with professional detectives righting the wrongs of society, he encountered a scene of bedlam with every person in the room, save for one, involved in a whirlwind of manic activity.

The one exception was jarring in her abnormal appea

rance. Instead of the normal Japanese phenotype of dark hair and Asiatic skin tone, her appearance was albino in nature, with white skin and red eyes. The most unusual characteristic was her short powder blue hair, despite that shade being impossible in the human genome. Her outfit was a throwback to the fashions of the mid 1950's as she wore a plain light blue woman's business suit coupled with a white blouse that included a red ribbon tied around her neck, much as a schoolgirl would wear. As he gawked at the young woman, she realized that he was staring at her.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Detective?" she inquired with a voice that was quiet and soft but with a hidden core of steely determination sheathed deep inside.

Great, caught starting twice in one day. Smooth, Shinji, Smooth. Well let's see if I can salvage this and at least not seem like a total creep "Err…Umm." Wonderful start Shinji, just wonderful. Shinji hemmed and hawed for another fifteen seconds until he finally managed to spit out a question albeit not the one he intended. "How did you know I'm a Detective?"

With an almost robotic tenor to her downy voice, the blue-haired woman responded "You're wearing an ill-fitting suit which you thinks makes you look professional while in reality it makes you look like a child about to sit for his first formal portrait. You have a dazed expression glued onto your face, typical amongst much of the Tokyo CIB. Also, you're carrying a standard, if obsolete, police weapon on your belt. Finally, Detective Ikari, you're wearing your police identification card on the outside of your blazer."

Shinji looked at the woman agape, not certain if she was taunting him for not realizing that he was wearing his id or if she was serious. Shaking his head in mild befuddlement, he proceeded to ask his original question. "So would you happen to know where I could find Inspector Katsuragi?"

"Perhaps a good place to look would be in the office marked 'Inspector on Duty'"

Smart-ass. "Umm…thanks. I guess. By the way I don't think I managed to catch your name."

"That would be because I didn't tell you."

"Right. Thanks again." Scanning the squad room, Shinji located the shift inspector's office. With butterflies in his stomach, he opened the door and walked inside. He first noticed a large dry erase board with seven names listed across the top of the board with others underneath, some written in black ink others in red.

Well the names at the top are probably other detectives. Let's see whom we have here. Aida, Suzahara, Kirishima, Horaki, Ayanami, Hyuga, Katsuragi. I'm guessing the one blank spot is for me.

"Can I help you?"

Startled by the unexpected question, Shinji turned to see a man in his early thirties with short black hair and thick-rimmed glasses. This must be Inspector Katsuragi. Seems like a decent enough sort of guy.Suppose I should introduce myself. Shinji then formally bowed towards the inspector in a manner out of fashion since the Pacific War, "Pleased to meet you, Inspector."

The bespectacled man quizzically looked back at Shinji. "Huh?"

No wonder this place is so chaotic, this guy is off in his own little world. Maybe if I slow down and annunciate, he'll snap out of it. Holding his formal pose, Shinji reiterated his greeting "Pleased to meet you, Inspector."

Before the thoroughly confused man could respond, the door to the office slammed shut and a familiar woman began talking. "Dammit! Late again." As she walked towards the desk the woman shrugged off her leather jacket, revealing a nine-millimeter semi-automatic nestled in her shoulder holster.

Stunned, and still bowing, Shinji could only ask a simple question. "M..M..Misato, what are you doing here?"

"I kind of work here Shinji. After all I assumed that our previous conversation confirmed that I'm a police officer. And why are you bowing? You'd think the Emperor or Prime Minister just walked in. "

Regaining his normal posture, a flustered Shinji pressed on "Of course, I know you're a police officer, but I assumed Inspector Katsuragi…" at this moment Shinji pointed at the dark haired man who was attempting to melt into the floor. "…was in charge here."

More amused than anything Misato pestered the unknown detective. "Makoto, what did you tell him?"

Flushed with embarrassment, Makoto protested his innocence "Absolutely nothing, I just asked him if he needed any help and the next thing I know he's calling me Inspector Katsuragi."

"Come on Makoto, I know you've always wanted to get into my pants, I just didn't know you would stoop to usurping my identity."

"But, Misato I swear I've never wanted to…"

Laughing, Misato attempted to ease her subordinate's fears. "Geez, Makoto, you of all people should know that I'm only teasing. Although I do enjoy the various shades of red you turn in these sorts of situations…"

"Would some one please tell me what is going on?" Shinji interrupted having grown irritated at being left out of the conversation.

Taking a more serious tone, Misato responded "Fair enough. Shinji, when we talked earlier, I should have introduced myself more formally." Turning towards Shinji, Misato extended her right hand. "Detective Inspector Misato Katsuragi, at your service. And the man who's been slowly turning the shade of an over-ripe tomato for the last couple of minutes is Detective Sergeant Makoto Hyuga."

The idea that this odd, albeit attractive, woman, was going to be his supervisor for the foreseeable future was too much for Shinji's psyche. Finally giving in, he collapsed to the floor.

Reassuming a teasing tone Misato quipped "Heh, most newbies wait until they see a victim in the flesh to pass out. Guess he has a weak constitution. Anyway, Makoto, would you give us a moment."

Relieved that the new detective's fainting spell had let him off the hook, Makoto assented to his commander's request but with one caveat "Sure. But shouldn't you send him to the infirmary to make sure he's okay?"

Her sense of humor getting the better of her, Misato took the opportunity to needle her sergeant. "Nah, looks like he's fine. Plus if push comes to shove, I'm more than willing to give him mouth to mouth."

Failing to devise a counter that would not delay his escape, Makoto shook his head and returned to the squad room. By this point Shinji started stirring on the office floor.

Adopting an almost motherly tone, Misato inquired as to Shinji's wellbeing. "Shinji are you okay?" All kidding aside that looked like a nasty fall. I'm sure the last thing he needs is a concussion. Seeing him struggling to get back to his feet, Misato put her arm around Shinji's shoulder and helped him regain his footing.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Shinji then weakly joked, "Guess I need to eat a bigger breakfast"

Reassured Misato attempted to get back to business. "Anyway if you're willing to take a seat we can get through your initial briefing." Shinji silently complied "All right. As I'm sure you've deduced most work in Homicide deals with the recently deceased. With our star witness lying on a slab in the second sub basement, our caseload is the toughest of any section in Criminal Investigations. So congratulations on getting here."

Like I had any say in the matter. "Thank you, Misato"

"You're welcome. Anyways, we use the partner system with one detective as the primary in charge of the investigation and the other as the secondary assisting officer. Whenever a uniformed officer or the M.E.'s office has just cause to suspect a homicide, they call our office's general line. Whichever detective answers is automatically the primary and his or her partner is the secondary. However, if one detective slacks off or takes on an overly strenuous workload, I'll shuffle cases around. Also, if Superintendent Fuyutsuki deems a case to be of supreme importance, Violent Crimes will assign all available resources to that case. When that happens, I'll take over as primary. Well, that's a very basic overview of everything. I'm sure you'll pick things up as you go along." As Misato started to show Shinji out of her office, she quickly added."Anyways, any questions?"

"Umm, yeah. Who is going to be my partner?"

"For the time being I've decided to partner you with Detective Hiraki Horaki."

Shinji mused to himself "Hmm, wonder if she's the blue-haired woman I talked to a few minutes ago?"

Misato not realizing that his question was more rhetorical than anything replied. "No. that's Rei. Let's just say that she doesn't play well with others and leave it at that."

Shinji looked as his superior quizzically "Rei?"

"Detective Rei Anynami. She's probably the best detective in the entire section, but she has major… communication problems. That and she goes through partners like cheap curry through a..."

Cutting off Misato's rather crude simile, Shinji interjected a question "What do you mean by communication problems?"

"Well, didn't you talk to her a few minutes ago?" Shinji nodded the affirmative"And what was the result of that conversation?"

Shinji thought about that situation for a moment before realizing Misato's point "Well, she spent most of the time insinuating that I'm a moron."

"Exactly. When she even bothers to talk to the other detectives, it's to take potshots. For example with me, she alludes to my drinking habits. Hell, today I finally gave up and assigned her to work with Mana, figuring that since Kirishima never shuts up and Rei never talks, at least one of them will rub off on the other one."

Can't help but notice that she didn't exactly deny being a drunk. "Well, seems like Rei is an interesting sort of person."

"Yeah, interesting being the operative word. Anyway, I suppose she isn't really your problem. Don't get me wrong, I wish the rest of the squad had her clearance rate or her knack for deconstructing a crime scene. But it would be nice if someone could just get her to loosen up a little. Anyways…" Just then, the squad room's phone rang and much to Misato's consternation continued to ring, as none of the other detectives seemed interested in adding to their considerable workloads.

Right as she was about to berate the nearest veteran detective, Shinji absent-mindedly answered the phone "Hello. Yes, this is the Homicide Division. Shinji Ikari. Yes, it's my first day in the section. All right, I'll be there shortly. Thanks." Putting down the receiver Shinji looked at Misato "Well, looks like I've got my first case, a homicide in Musashino."

Misato tersely responded "Great. Now if only we could find that partner of yours. Hey, Touji have you seen Hikari around anywhere?"

A man of above average height wearing a tracksuit turned towards Misato. "Sorry, Misato, but you just missed her, she and Mana went to interview the family of the guy we fished out of the bay last week."

Seething at the discovery that her subordinates had either not read or simply ignored yet another of her memos, Misato restrained her anger "Thanks, Touji." As Touji turned away from the inspector and returned to the typical mountains of paperwork, the restraints snapped. "Dammit! Why the hell do I bother to do anything, if nobody ever reads the fucking memos!"

And that was a nice bit of gratuitous vulgarity. "That's okay Misato, I should be able to handle everything myself."

"No offense Shinji, but I don't think it's a good idea for you go solo on your first day." Glancing around the squad room, an idea popped into Misato's head. Guess it couldn't really hurt, after all, it would only be for one case, hell one day even, and then we'll go back to the partnerships I set up earlier. Assuming she doesn't eat the newbie alive first. Finishing her scan of the room, Misato's eyes focused upon the indigo haired detective. "Hey Rei!"

Begrudgingly looking up from her desk, Rei responded in an annoyed tone "Yes, Inspector."

"Since Hikari and Mana felt the need to wander off, I'm temporarily assigning you to assist Detective Ikari with a homicide in Musashino. Should be for just a day or so at the most."

Rei pushed her chair away from her desk and walked over to where the inspector and Shinji were standing. Emotionlessly gazing upon her superior, she made her view on the new assignment clear. "So basically you want me to keep an eye on Detective Ikari for a couple of hours, so that he doesn't make a complete disaster out of his first case before Hiraki gets back. Well, sorry to disappoint but I stopped babysitting children back in high school."

Geez, blunt and to the point. Although, I'm certain we're close to the same age.

Misato furrowed her brow. "Sorry, but I wasn't asking. Also, I'll be tagging along to observe Shinji so you won't have to change his diapers or anything."

Change my diapers?! Just out of curiosity, does either of them realize that I'm standing right here?

With a resigned look on her face, Rei assented "Fine, but I have a request to make."

"Shoot."

"I get to drive. After all I would like to live through the next twenty four hours and the three of us can't even fit in that deathtrap you call a car, not to mention that it smells like a brewery."

Gritting her teeth, Misato conceded the point "Whatever gets us out of this office sometime today" Having resolved the issue Misato turned towards Shinji with a slightly more pleasant attitude "You ready, Shinji?"

"Umm, yeah, I guess."