A/N: There will be a couple of chapters between Chie and Souji before any Case Closed `characters are involved, so anyone whose waiting for them, please just be patient.
The Reunion
By JMFearless
Chapter One: Reunion
The bright Inaba sun shone down, as it did often. The Shopping District was bustling as usual. A young woman stood out among the others, mostly because of the way she moved: Purposefully, with her eyes forward and casting about to all sides. Her short brown hair was kept barely out of her eyes. She was always glad that she didn't leave it too long. "Satonaka," a voice called from her hip, "Anything to report?" The woman detatched a walkie-talkie from her belt and spoke into it. "All clear here, Dojima-san. No sign of any suspicious individuals." Her actions probably didn't seem strange to most of the people around here though. It was a small town after all, and she had lived here for years. Most of the townspeople knew her. She had become an officer three years ago, so she still had a few to go before she could become a full fledged detective like Dojima-san. Still, he often did ask her for help on his tougher cases. She wondered how he had gotten clearance from the department to enlist the help of a simple trainee. Well, he was an experienced detective, so that probably meant he had some pull.
"I see," Dojima's voice responded back, "Nothing on my end of town either. I guess our suspect won't be making any appearances today." Chie sighed. Their current case involved a double homicide. Someone in the big city had shot two people in cold blood. Somehow, they pulled it off without leaving any evidence, and no one had heard the gunshots. Chie knew the big city was a lot busier than Inaba and people didn't see everything that happened like they did here, but how had anyone missed the sound of gunshots? It honestly boggled the mind. Anyway, the bigshot police department in the city apparently had reason to think the killer was coming to Inaba, which was how her and Dojima had ended up patrolling the streets, looking for anyone who was remotely suspicious. This was mostly a wasted effort though. There had been a depressing lack of witnesses, so they didn't even know whether the killer was male or female. Even if the killer was here, this was unlikely to yield a suspect. Chie didn't even know who the victims were. Dojima hadn't shared that information with her and she had gotten the impression that he didn't know himself. So much for inter-departmental cooperation. "What should I do now?" she asked, disheartened that they didn't even have one lead. It was starting to look like this one really was going to get away with it. She still couldn't get over that there hadn't been a single witness to someone shooting two people.
"Call it a day and go home," Dojima answered, "We can start again tomorrow." Chie was immediately unsatisfied with that answer. "But, Dojima-san," she said, "The killer is probably around here somewhere, laughing at our attempts to find them. How can we just walk away?" She couldn't wrap her head around this. Someone had committed murder and they were going to get away with it. "Go home," Dojima repeated, "It's important to balance your home life with your work. Trust me, I learned that one the hard way." Chie nodded and sighed. She knew what he was talking about of course. His job had kept him distanced from his daughter Nanako and it had nearly ended in disaster. She sighed again. He was right. "All right, Dojima-san," Chie said, "Thank you." She reattached the walkie-talkie to her belt and started to walk. But she didn't want to go home yet. She now had a place of her own, but she lived alone and sometimes it got dull. She could use it all she wanted to train, but sometimes it felt so empty.
She cast about in her head, trying to decide where she wanted to go. After a few moments, she decided to go to Junes. If nothing else, she could see Yosuke, which would brighten this day a little bit. She laughed at the thought. Back in high school, they'd fought like cats and dogs, but that was then and this was now. She smiled, her day feeling brighter already. Even the memory of them fighting made her want to laugh. They'd fought over stupid things, like the time he'd broken her DVD or the time she'd used his money to by clothes. Still though, he had actually been a pretty good friend when it had counted. Plus, he had saved her life that time…in the Midnight Channel. Well, him and Souji, but that didn't make her any less grateful. She made her way for the elevator. There was someone else standing there, apparently waiting for it as well. Chie squinted at the individual with a growing since of familiarity. The amazing shock of silver hair, unusual in these parts. The way he moved. It would have been hard to forget that. Was it really him? That would sure be something else. Well, there was only one way for her to be sure. "Souji-kun?" she asked, approaching him slowly.