A/N: This story will make you either hate me or love me, I know. Don't cry. Oh, and by the way, I own nothing, don't worry, I'm not trying to steal Satoshi Kon's genius. I'm not like that.

But, please, enjoy. (And don't murder me with knives if you don't enjoy it.)

12:01 A.M.

Lil' Slugger

Midnight. The Witching Hour, as they say. I peered from the shadows of the alley where I had been hiding. I saw their silhouettes turn the corner. Detective Ikari that bumbling fool sidekick of his, Maniwa. Perfect. They'd never know what hit them. It would be all over the news, I could see the headlines. "Double Assault: Both Detectives On The Little Slugger Case Downed. Slugger Still At Large." Still at large. Those were sweet words to me. My dear, dear detectives. I would always be at large. At least, as long as Tsukiko Sagi keeps up the lie and the rest of society feeds me with more lies.

The pair neared me. I readied my bat and prepared to skate toward when I heard a voice coming from the shadows.

"Don't."

I nearly dropped my bat out of shock. I wanted to skate backwards so that the detectives wouldn't see me, but at the same time, I feared what could be hiding behind me. Then it spoke again.

"Drop the bat. You don't need to do that."

The voice was female. It wasn't Sagi, I would have recognized Tsukiko immediately. It was soft, and almost sweet-natured.

"W-w-who's there?" I stuttered, readying my bat again. I disguised myself in the shadows just long enough for Maniwa and Ikari to pass by without noticing me and this shadow girl.

Once they were gone, this mystery person spoke again.

"I'm not coming out until you drop that bat."

I gingerly leaned the bat against the brick wall, close enough that I could access it easily if I needed it.

She came out of the shadows then.

I almost fainted at the sight of her.

She was maybe my height, and very slender. She had long, blonde hair and icy blue eyes. She wasn't Japanese, she was clearly Caucasian.

Her apparel took me by surprise.

It was nearly identical to mine, with the only variation being in the more feminine colour scheme of pinks and purples. Her inline skates and baseball bat were silver, but the dent in her bat bore a striking, almost eerie resemblance to mine.

Who was this girl?

Why was she here?

What did she want?

I gave her a menacing scowl and prepared myself to take a swing at this girl. Get this look-alike out of my life, and out of my way.

She didn't flinch, she didn't resist. She only sighed and looked down at her skates, as if accepting the fact that in mere minutes, she would be dead.

Good, I thought. Now at least I don't have to put up with the "damsel in distress" speech.

I grinned and raised my bat over my head, prepared to strike.

"Put it down." She barely whispered, staring at the ground.

I glared at her.

"Why should I?"

"You wouldn't do it anyways. You don't have the courage."

"How do you know? You know nothing about me, about my life. Who are you anyways?"

"Drop. The. Bat."

"Why should I drop it if you claim I'm not going to do anything with it?"

"Because keeping that raised high above your head only feeds into this façade that you have become," she looked up and stared at me with those wide, blue crystals of eyes. "This isn't who you are, Slugger."

I stumbled backwards and dropped the bat. It hit the ground with a thud.

"There. Now we can have a civilized conversation," she said matter-of-factly, cocking her head curiously and slightly. She stuck out her bony right arm. "I'm Lil' Sluggerette. And it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

That's all for now dears. Let me know what you think and if it's worth continuing!