A/N: Hi guys. I'm back after few years in hiatus. I was actually working on another story when my old PC finally broke down and I couldn't retrieve the file from that PC. So the story that I promised last time is temporary unavailable. Now I'm working on another story. I have been absent for few years and the are a lot of ideas running on my mind but time is limited for working life. So I am starting with a short story. It's not short actually. Every chapter is an individual sub story but they are linked together with each other to complete the whole story. I am expecting 6 or 7 chapters for this story.

Chapter 1 is finally up. Suppose to need another 2 weeks to complete this, but my car was involved in an accident. The car had been sent to workshop and I don't have car for working. So I have 4 straight days to complete this. Guess you guys are lucky. I advised the previous readers to reread it from the beginning. Sorry for the inconveniend. I have make some adjustments with the story. Only 1 chapter and it manage to rack up more than 20k words. I'm considering to separate out the chapter but the possibility is very slow. So, until then, please R&R.

Disclaimer: Of course Tenoh Haruka and Kaioh Michiru are not mine. They belong to Noako Takeuchi. Shit. I forgot her name and have to actually googled for it. The rest are my creation especially Shigeru KaE, which will feature in 1 of the future chapters.

The room went completely still. Few pairs of eyes were staring anxiously at each other. The environment looked so intense, almost everyone were breathing cautiously as they were afraid even a faint of breathing sound might break the eerie silent.

"So….." the one sitting at the end of long meeting table, chairing the table finally spoke but without raising her eyes. Teal green eyes were still scanning through the words written on the report in front of her. Her right hand lazily flipping through the pages. "…. 2 shooting cases in a span of 3 weeks. One was hit on the thigh. Minor Injury. One was at the abdomen. Still hospitalized but in stable situation. Am I right Miyaki-san?" The youngest Superintendent General in Japan history raising her sight slowly from the file in front of her and rested it on Miyaki Keiko.

Miyaki Keiko, Chief Inspector of Media and Communication for Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, nodded slightly. "The media are haven't fed with any news yet. On our last media session, I said we will have internal investigation but it was on last week. Since then, the media are publishing their own assumption and the phone in my office is ringing non stop."

The young Superintendent nodded. "Inspecor Uuchi Eito."

"Yes, Superintendent." Inspector Uuchi, from Shinjuku ward, was one of the most promising Inspector in Tokyo prefecture. Cocky, confident, depended on how people interpreted it. His confidence never wavered even when he was facing the highest ranking officer in the country. He stared evenly at Superintendent's teal eyes with straight sitting posture.

"Can you please tell me, when you decided to pull the trigger with civilians running around, how confident are you that your shot will hit the target."

"90%. Superintendent."

"90%?" The Superintendent raised a single eyebrow, clearly mocking at the answer.

"I had a clear shot until a civilian ran out of nowhere….."

"And you, Sergeant Hansuki?" The Superintendent cut off the explanation abruptly and now slowly focused on the other officer, sitting directly opposite of Inspector Uuchi. Uuchi Eito looked clearly displeased with the lack of respect shown by the Superintendent but he had no choice except to keep his mouth shut.

Sergeant Hansuki, clearly in contrast with Inspector Uuchi, cleared his throat nervously. He wiped his dry forehead with right sleeve, then attempted to loose his tight collar with his finger. Sergeant Hansuki suddenly felt the room was lacking out of oxygen and he was suffocating. He kept on staring at the table in front of him while the rest of the eyes, watching his every antics impatiently.

"Sergeant Hansuku?" The Superintendent repeated the name.

"Yes?" Sergeant Hansuki suddenly on his both feet, clumsily pushing off the plastic chair behind him. The chair landed on the floor with a soft thud. "Sorry, I am sorry." Sergeant Hansuki immediately, repositioned his chair to its original position.

A collective of low sigh echoed throughout the room, including the Superintendent. The young Superintendent purposely wore a suit but without a tie instead of her official uniform just to make the officers under investigation to feel more at ease but it seemed her good intention didn't work on certain people. Her fingers tapping on the table impatiently. "So?"

"Ermm…I think…30%?" Sergeant Hansuki replied unsurely.

Teal eyes immediately widened slightly at the answer. "30%?"

Sergeant Hansuki coughed nervously. "Errm…40% maybe?"

The lack of confidence answer triggered the young Suprintendent's short temper at once and she slapped at the table furiously. "40%! And you." Fiery teal orbs immediately locked at Inspector Uuchi. "90%!" Teals eyes darted in between the Inspector and the Sergeant. "I don't care whether it's 30%, 40%, 90% or even 100%. If the bullet hit the wrong target no matter how confidence you were, it's useless." Silence engulfed the room again.

"Kaioh-san."

Finally. Kaioh Michiru, state Assistant Attorney General, had been changing her posture impatiently for numerous times in the past half an hour. The meeting had been unnecessarily dragged far too long by the stammering nervous officer, unproductive silence moment, and some authority showing off period by a certain blondie.

"I requested for Taichi Hajime-san (state Attorney General) for this meeting. How come you are here? Where is Taichi-san?"

The lack of eye contact from the Superintendent clearly annoyed Michiru. The young Superintendent was not showing any respect at all to the state Asst Attorney General. She repeatedly flipped the report in front of her again without really putting much attention on it.

"I told you before the meeting started, Superintendent. Taichi-san is unable to attend this meeting due to…."

"If he couldn't come…." By now, the Superintendent was fully focused on Michiru. "…he should inform me directly and not using other person's mouth to relay his excuse for his unavailability and disappeared without a valid reason." Before Michiru could answer back, the Superintendent nonchalantly waved her hand as a signal to end this unpleasant discussion. "Since now you are here, maybe you can explain to us, what is the penalty for officers for shooting an unarmed civilian?"

Blue orbs clashed with teal orbs. There was momentarily silence before Michiru answered. "First of all, I would like to make it clear, I report directly to the state Attorney General and the Prime Minister himself and not you Superintendent. So if the Superintendent really wanted to know why Taichi-san is unavailable today, perhaps you should contact him yourself after this meeting?" Michiru held her gaze steadily at the young Superintendent and was expecting for a lash from the Superintendent for challenging her authority in front of the senior officers, but the Superintendent surprisingly remained unmoved with her now calm teal eyes still locked on Michiru. When Michiru's reply failed to withdraw any response from the Superintendent, Michiru simply continued. "As we all know, our country has a very strict Firearms Control Law. If a citizen was caught with a gun and bullets that matched, the civilian will be charged with aggravated possessions of firearms and will face an average seven years prison term. If an officer misused his gun, for example, to commit suicide, clearly a non-designated use, he will still be charged posthumously. Shooting a firearm? Possibly life in prison." Michiru paused and took a good look at all the attendees. "I think I don't have to elaborate more what is awaiting for both of our officers here. If the internal investigation failed to clear both of you, we definitely are looking at life imprisonment here." Michiru now diverted her attention to the two officers whom clearly drained out of all colors when they heard the word 'life imprisonment'. Besides Michiru, the remaining of the stares in the meeting room suddenly rested on the 2 officers.

"Life imprisonment. Life imprisonment?" Both of the officers repeatedly mumbling the words life imprisonment. Their eyes lost focus, mind clouded with thousand incoherent scenarios.

"I know both of you were on duty, were doing what a policeman should do. To protect our country and its people." This time the young Superintendent broke the silence with rather calm demeanor. "However, if a civilian was hurt by a criminal, public will branded this civilian as unlucky. But if a civilian was hurt by an officer, public will brand this as a gross negligence act from the officer. This may sound absurd, but the country and our bosses; the taxpayers, are under our protection. You hurt your bosses, then you pay for the consequences. These unfortunate events took the entire department down with both of you. We have to pay compensation to the victims. And the figure usually in million bracket." The Superintendent leaned back and sighed. "Miyaki-san."

"Yes Superintendent?"

"If the media ask again, tell them the case is still under ID's (Internal Department) review. Feed them with other recent solved big cases. Keep on reminding the media the criminals' involvement in the past criminal acts. Divert their attention. Clean our image. Got it?"

"Yes, Superintendent."

"I am expecting a not so positive review from the ID this time." The young Superintendent was addressing everyone in the room this time. "Whatever their report is, I want it to be kept under wrap. I don't want any news that will affect our team's morale to be leaked out. Whatever that is awaiting them, I want it to be done discreetly." The young Superintendent closed the file in front of her and stood up. "Dismiss." With that being said, the Superintendent took few long strides towards the exit and left the room without sparing another glance at the officers in the room.

A collective of low sigh echoed throughout the room once again after the young Superintendent completely out of their sight.

Deputy Superintendent General, Takumi Takahashi, let out a low chuckle and stood up. When he walked pass Inspector Uuchi Eito, he tapped at the Inspector's shoulder lightly and chuckled again. "Just accept the fate kiddo. This is what happen when we have to report to a cunt."

"Becareful with your words Takumi-san." Senior Superintendent, Aiko Sayuri warned sternly. "We have a lawyer at here. I can lodge a complaint against you for sexual harassment or gender discrimination at any time. It's too bad the sexual harassment or gender discrimination act in our country is not strict enough. You might be able to go away with light punishment, with no jail term….but you can forget about your Deputy Assistant General title and you after retirement pensions."

Takahashi faked a smile, took no offence with the harsh words from Sayuri. "Ok. Please accept my deepest apologies." Takahashi then make a mocking bow. "Can I leave now?" Takahashi grinned widely.

"As much as I hate Tenoh-san, I am actually glad that I am reporting to a superior that actually solve the problems with brain rather than some dicks." Aiko Sayuri smiled even wider when she managed to completely wiped off the stupid grin from Takahashi's face. Aiko Sayuri then left the room, followed by Kaioh Michiru with a small smile on her face too.

"Keiichi! Keiichi! Keiichi!"

The crowd were chanting and cheering for Keiichi Akina, the latest star in Japan illegal street racing. Hundreds of people are gathering at Mount Haruna, a popular hotspot in Japan for night racing, where currently Keiichi Akina was being challenged by a female rookie driver, Kazumi Kaede KK. 2 kilometers more and the winner would be revealed.

"Say Tenoh, I didn't see you much anymore since you have been promoted. I thought you got yourself a new hobby." Aki Hajime chuckled and patted on Tenoh's back lightly. "You came today but you refuse to race. Instead you choose to bet. Ok that's fine. But on the girl. Seriously?" Hajime asked again in disbelieved.

Tenoh Haruka chuckled loudly. "The last time I checked Aki, I'm still a woman and yet, I believe I'm still one of the best racers in here."

"Not one of the best Tenoh." Aki pointed a finger at Tenoh. "You are still the best racer in here."

And the crowd suddenly cheered. In the middle of the crowd was a blue color Nissan Skyline, drifting in circle, celebrating her maiden victory in illegal street racing. Soon, the car came to a halt. Amid the smoke from the screeching tyre, both Haruka and Hajime could still figure out the feminine outline from the driver climbing out from the Nissan. Hajime groaned loudly.

"Don't underestimated the power of woman, Aki." Haruka grin got wider as every second past, happy with the performance of the female driver and happy because she won a lot of money too. "But frankly, I bet on her not because I have confidence in her. It's mainly due to the betting odds. 1 for 7 for the newbie compare with of 1 for 0.75 for the latest street king. Hundred thousand yen for seven hundreds yen. Totally worth it."

Hajime groaned again and reluctantly gave 7 rolls of money to Tenoh Haruka. "Why are you so god damm lucky recently." Haruka only laughed even louder.

2 beams of light crawling up from the narrow road down the hill. Both Haruka and Hajime turned their head to check the source of the light. Just at the same time a dark Lamborghini Huracan Spyder slowly emerged from the corner of the narrow road and stopped merely few inches from Haruka and Hajime. A man climbed out from the driver's seat and he looked so familiar to Haruka. But not as familiar as the woman that was stepping out from the passenger's seat. The hair had been tied up into ponytail. Instead of wearing formally, tonight she now was wearing a simple sleeveless round neck shirt and a pair of dangerously short pants, showing off her white creamy leg that were usually half hidden under a dark color mini skirt. A pair of sea color high heel shoes completed her simple attire outfit. Haruka couldn't help but stared in surprise at the state Asst General Attorney, Kaioh Michiru.

The Lamborghini driver and Hajime were sharing a brotherly hug and laughed but Haruka only focused on the aqua hair woman. Michiru started to walk up to the amused Haruka, an expression which Haruka didn't bother to hide. Haruka's eyes were twinkled mischievously when Michiru finally stopped merely few inches in front of her.

"Two high ranking law officers. Face to face in the middle of Illegal Street. No operation is involved. No prior appointment. If it wasn't fate, then I wonder what it is." Haruka said. The smile never left her face.

Michiru was slightly taken aback when Haruka was actually flirting with her. She had met Haruka not more than 5 times on formal occasions but she never saw Haruka smile even for once. Haruka would either be frowning, angry, sometimes void of emotion and arrogant. This time, it was difference. Michiru took a thorough look at Haruka. Instead of the usual formal suit and uniform, Haruka now was wearing a polo tee, a knee length pants, and a pair of sports shoes. Casual, flirty, handsome and relax. Michiru preferred the off duty version of Haruka much more then decided to play the game along.

"Then I wonder, what took the fate so long to arrange this….. fated date.." Michiru smiled. Her blue orbs never left Haruka since she got out from the sports car.

Haruka was slightly taken aback with Michiru's flirty demeanor. She had met Michiru not more than 5 times but in every occasion, Michiru was always surrounded by men. Except for this morning meeting. Unlike Haruka, Michiru always maintained her polite, professional and elegant façade, be it in formal closed or opened events, or in a meeting or in a casual social sessions where some VIPs were involved. She would smiled at every compliments, opinions or comments though the smile never reached her eyes. What came out as a harmless teasing from Haruka, ignited another naughty side from Michiru and it intrigued Haruka very much.

The Lamborghini driver watched the whole interaction and immediately felt annoyed with the openly flirting pair. He purposely cleared his throat loudly but to no avail. Hajime was smart enough to sense the driver's discomfort and immediately dragged Haruka to his side.

"Tenoh, let me introduce to you, Nobutada Ito-san and Ito-san, this is Tenoh Haruka-san."

Haruka unwillingly tore her gaze from Michiru and rested it comfortably at Nobutada Ito. "Nobutada Ito? The chairman of Hardbank Corp that recently announce 500 million yen of investment in US?" Haruka chuckled. "No wonder you look so familiar. I see you a lot on TV recently." Haruka took a peek at Michiru then bowed at Ito, an act out of custom more than respect.

"And you are Tenoh Haruka the Superintendent? Well I am surely surprised. Where are we now? Illegal street racing event? Are we under arrest?" All four of them broke into laughter. Again, Haruka checked on Michiru again.

"You are sure full of surprise Tenoh-san." Michiru chirpped in.

Haruka did not reply, instead she smiled softly and stared intently at Michiru. By now, Ito was totally pissed off at Haruka for openly hitting at Michiru. "Are you a driver too, Tenoh-san?" Ito suddenly asked. His eyes bored into Haruka's and certainly he was not smiling.

"Just like you, Haruka is one of the best drivers at here. Thanks to her occasional needs for speed, we manage to stay out trouble most of the time under her intimate 'care'." Hajime explained on behalf of Haruka. "She was quite active for the past few years but pity, since her promotion to Superintendent, she seldom grace this place with her presence anymore. Come to think of it, it is a wonder both of you totally missed out on each other since both of you were frequent visitors last year. The best vs the best. It should be an interesting race."

"As long as no human life is involved, and you are not giving extra job to the Asst General Attorney here….." Haruka smiled at Michiru, her gaze unnecessary lingered few seconds more than intended, an action that most certainly amused Michiru but again irritated Ito even more before focusing back on both Ito and Hajime "…..it's not hard to wrap the whole things up. Otherwise, it will be totally out of my hand even if I owned the whole department."

"Since we are here, why don't a race now?"

Haruka was highly alerted by the suggestion. Ito, with all the seriousness and determination on his face, staring dagger at her. He held his chin high, slowly walked up to Haruka, clearly trying to provoke Haruka into a race. Meanwhile Haruka remained unfazed by the suggestion or intimidation posed by Ito, though she was tempted to it. She kept her smiling façade and stared evenly at Ito. Meanwhile, Hajime jumped in delight by Ito's proposition for a race and immediately agreed to the idea. Michiru merely watched both racers in silence. But secretly, she hoped Haruka would accept Ito's challenge. She saw a lot of Superintendent's nasty side on the day time, but the night time flirty illegal street racing racer? Michiru's lips curved inadvertently at the newfound side of Tokyo's current Superintendent General.

"So? Are you on Tenoh-san?" Hajime asked expectantly.

Haruke took her moment before answering. "Sure. Why not? So, what do you want to bet on Ito-san?" Eyes still fixed on Ito.

"Well, considering this is our maiden race, just take it as a friendly race. Don't take it seriously." Ito walked back to his car, took out a bottle of red wine and passed the wine to Hajime. "This is Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon 1941. Market price value at around 3 million yen."

"3 million? Wow." Haruka was clearly impressed. Haruka definitely was not a wealthy woman. At least in her own definition. She owned few houses. Some cars and bikes. But the properties by no means luxurious. The houses were not some few stories bungalows with few acres of extra land for swimming pools, car porch or etc etc. The cars and bikes were definitely not some latest range from Ferrari, or Maserati or Ducati. Her most direct incomes was from his position as Tokyo Superintendent General and some investments. Other than that, her indirect income was from occasional illegal street racing. 3 million yen for a bottle of red wine, Haruka definitely could afford it, but it also meant a big hole in her pocket. "The most expensive wine that I ever spent on was only around 100k yen. Salon Blanc De Blancs Le Mesnil-Sur-Oger. Not even sure if I got the pronunciation right." Haruka chuckled. "But Ito-san, I am just a government servant and not a businessman. I am embarrass to say I couldn't simply fork out 3 million yen out of nowhere. I only have these." Haruka offered her earlier 700k yen winning.

Ito shrugged. "My main concern is not money."

"That's great. It may not be a fair bet but compare with your 330km/h top speed Lamborghini, I am only driving BMW M3 F80 with 280km/h top speed." Haruka cocked her head to the direction of her car which was parked not far from the Lamborghini. "So, take it as we are even then, although I still feel I am at disadvantage position."

"How about if we exchange our cars? I don't want to hear any excuses later when you lose the race."

Haruka tried really hard to suppress her laughter. I will lose? "There's no such need but I think it's much fairer if Ito-san could increase your stake."

"3 million yen vs 700k yen and you still want me to increase my bet?" Ito shook his head and chuckled. "Ok. Like I said before, money is not the main issue. How much do you want?'

"I don't want money."

Questioning stares from 3 pairs of eyes.

"You see, I alone couldn't finish the whole bottle of red wine. So, if I won the race, I would like to invite Kaioh-san to enjoy the red wine with me. Tonight. After all, the red wine is for Kaioh-san right?"

Ito instantly shrouded with anger.

"Tenoh…" Hajime tried to warn Haruka.

"No worries Hajime. I think Ito-san won't mind. It's unthinkable a Lamborghini will lose to BMW, right Ito-san?" Haruka smiled at the innerly furious Ito. "So no matter how high is your stake, I think it won't makes any difference."

Ito took a calming breath before answered. "I am ok if Michiru is ok too."

Ito, Hajime and Haruka stared the petite woman, waiting for her answer.

"Well….I think should be ok." Michiru tried to sound disinterested, but actually she felt slightly excited with Haruka's proposition. If Haruka's suggestion failed to illicit a somersault in Michiru's mind, the next one sure did.

"I have another request."

"You sure have plenty of requests Tenoh-san." Ito replied icily. Ito was getting irritated with Haruka's antics as each minute passed.

"This will be the final request."

"As you like."

"Well, your car is lowered Ito-san. Hence you have the stability advantage. My car is not design for racing. I want to add a little weight on it. I want request for a passenger for this race. And I prefer Kaioh-san."

Ito instantly walked up to Haruka. Though Haruka was considered tall in woman standard, but compare with Ito, Haruka was still half a head shorter than Ito. Basically, Ito was towering over Haruka. "Don't you think you are asking too much Tenoh-san? Among all people you deliberately choose Michiru. You can take Hajime with you."

"Hajime is a muscled man, Ito-san. He is much heavier than me. It will makes the car imbalance. I won't be able to drift properly. Kaioh-san's weight on the other hand is more similar to mine though I am much taller. But we are both woman with similar fit body figure. So, I don't think it poses any problem if… Kaioh-san agrees to it." Haruka flashed a mischievous to smile Michiru. Ito immediately shot a warning glance at Michiru too.

But Michiru purposely avoid Ito's stare. Without much consideration, 'Sure' was the only reply from Michiru.

Ito gritted his teeth in anger and it amazed Haruka wondered how Ito still able to keep his temper in check. Guess, personal image came first before everything.

"Good. It's confirmed then. Hajime, can you prepare the race now?"

Both BMW and Lamborgini were lining side by side before the starting line. Crowds were flocking at both sides of the road, cheering wildly and madly but Haruka was unsure which side they were on. Haruka took a sideway glance at her partner. She couldn't help but chuckled at the sight. Michiru was staring straight ahead without blinking. She seemed oblivious with the crowd surrounding the car and her hand was on her laps but it was clenched tightly. Her breathing was long and hard. She was biting her lower lips nervously. Haruka moved her hand and put it on top of Michiru's right fist. She squeezed the fist gently and gave Michiru an assuring smile.

"If you wanted to pull out from this race, I have no problem with it." Haruka offered.

Michiru stared deeply into Haruka's eyes. She finally replied after few seconds of silence. "Can I trust you?"

Haruka chuckled. "I can guarantee you, there is no one in this place you can put your trust on except me."

"Arrogant as usual, Tenoh-san."

"Haruka. Call me Haruka. We are not in your office or mine. We are in an illegal event. I am sorry to say but we are partner in crime now."

Michiru laughed at the word partner in crime. Who would have thought, Japan Superintendent General and Asst Attorney General were few minutes away in a high speed illegal racing. Haruka did manage to calm her down though not much. Her heart was still beating faster than a running car engine. And the heart beat escalated once again when she saw a woman with heavy makeup walked to the front of 2 cars. Her right hand was clutching a piece of white cloth. The girl only have a tube covering her chest, a pair of pants not longer than Michiru's, completed with 5 inches high heel. Michiru realized except for the tube, it looked like they shared the same wardrobe. Michiru make a mental note to herself, to reconsider her choice of clothing, if she ever stepped into this place again after tonight.

"Do you think you will win this race? You are an underdog with this car." Michiru desperately searching for a distraction from the woman in front of her, whom by now had raised her right hand. Anytime now, the woman would release the handkerchief from her hand, a signal for the race to start.

"In term of speed and pickup, I am definitely at disadvantage situation. But we are not racing on a straight road. You would be surprised with how curvy this road could be. Tell me, is Ito-san an impatient person and hate losing very much?"

"Well….impatient, yes. Losing…Everyone hates losing right? What does it got to do with this race?"

"Racing on curvy road depends on skill and strategy. The last curve could be the key for winning this race. Let's hope he's really easy to get provoked."

With that being said, the car suddenly accelerated at high speed without notice. Michiru gasped and her body jerked backward at the sudden acceleration. She immediately grasped the handle above the car's window with both hands for support.

The BMW was clearly no match for the Lamborghini. It couldn't gain speed as fast as the Lamborghini and it couldn't catch up on the Lamborghini on straight lane. The only time when the BMW managed to get just behind of Lamborghini was when the Lamborghini needed to slow down for corners. Michiru managed to stifle some screams threatened to come out from her mouth whenever the BMW drifted too near to the mountain's slope on both sides of the car. Michiru wondered what was the probability of the car to either crash into the rising slope on her left or falling out from it on her right. Michiru took a sideway glance at Haruka. She had her eyes kept straight on the road ahead of her. She looked focus and determined. Her right hand was firmly on the steering wheel while her left was on the clutch and occasionally on the hand break.

"You are putting too much attention on me and it's distracting me." Haruka suddenly said. "We have a whole night ahead for us. I promise I will focus solely on you, so for now, can you please divert back your attention to the car at the front."

Michiru did as being told.

"No worries. I wouldn't want to miss our first date for the world." Haruka added on with an unusual husky voice and it caused Michiru's already fast beating heart to skip a beat.

Michiru's thought went back to her first encounter with Haruka. They were at the Commisioner's mansion, attending a party threw by the newly appointed Commisioner. When Michiru first laid her eyes on Haruka, she had difficulty to put her attention on other people else. Haruka looked so handsome, charming, and attractive in her dark grey tailored suit. Underneath the suit was navy color long sleeves shirt with the 2 top buttons left opened. She was tieless that day. In fact, the next few times when she bumped into Haruka again, if Haruka was not in her uniform, Haruka will be in her tailored suit but definitely void of tie. Guess Haruka was not a fan of tie. Being an attractive woman herself, and in a field dominated by men, Michiru would never ever experienced shortage of admirers. It's not easy to find someone more handsome, charming and attractive than Haruka but nonetheless there were few candidates in her admirers' list that fit the descriptions. However, no one able to make Michiru sucked out of her breath like Haruka did. Was it love at first sight? Not really. It's not like Michiru was head over heel over Haruka since their first meeting, but Haruka was definitely on her mind since. Michiru wondered, did Haruka share the same idea since she too was anticipating for the date so much.

"Sit tight." Haruka suddenly warned. Michiru gulped nervously.

2 racers were approaching the final 2 lanes corner. There were 2 ways to cut through this corner. The first way was to drift from inside to outer lane. But drifting would reduce speed. The second was to directly cut in from outside to inner lane without reducing speed but it required excellent skill to execute the turning perfectly. The only way for Haruka to come out top was, to hope Ito to drift while she cut in directly. That few seconds speed could be the decisive point as the road would narrow down to single lane from the left around 100 meters after the last curve to the finishing point. So, how to trick Ito to drift instead of direct cut in?

As Ito slowed down for the last corner, he found Haruka was closing behind with no sign of slowing down. How will she take the corner? Judging by the BMW's closeness, if Haruka and Ito took different ways to approach the corner, there's possibility both of them would crashed into each other. There was no time to analysis much. Ito was leading now so he planned to keep on blocking Haruka from the front, then everything should be ok. Should be, right?

Haruka swerved to right lane.

Direct?

Ito followed suit. They were at the edge of the corner. Haruka suddenly back to left lane. Ito caught by surprised and he immediately switched back to left. As he thought Haruka would drift, Haruka suddenly make a fast lane switch to the right. Ito cursed. By now it was too late for Ito to change lane so he had no choice for to drift. As for Haruka, once he steadied her car on the left, she immediately take a sharp 90 degrees left turn. Haruka's eyes locked on the Lamborghini as the front of the BMW almost make contact with the Lamborghini's rear. Haruka pressed slightly on the brake pedal. She adjusted the pressure on the brake pedal very carefully as she didn't want the car to lose speed or to swerve out of control. Once Haruka skillfully avoided the destined collision, she hit hard at the accelerator. Both BMW and Lamborghini were side by side now. The BMW slowly gained ahead of Lamborghini, thanks for the maintained speed but not for long. The Lamborghini was catching up from the right. The road would narrow down very soon. From gaining half a car lead, the Lamborghini managed to slash it back to equal. 2 seconds later, the BMW couldn't match the Lamborghini's top speed and started to fall behind again.

Haruka kept pushing. Ito prepared to cut in, to take the lead once again. Michiru grabbed even firmer on the handle. Push harder, Haruka. She was surprised herself that the fast heart beats were not caused by the fear of the fast moving car anymore. She was more concerned with the victory that was slowly out of Haruka's reach again.

And the road narrowed down. The finishing line was few hundred meters ahead but the winner had been decided. There was no room for takeover in the single lane. The Lamborghini finally managed to gain back some advantage at the last second, but the road was fast winding down. There was no enough space for the Lamborghini for an immediate cut in to regain the lead. The BMW was cruising to another famous victory.

The crowd was gathering around the BMW when the car finally came to a halt. They went crazy with the underdog's victory. Congratulations and praises started to fall in once the driver came out of the car. Hajime patted on Haruka's shoulder and handed her all the money along with the costly red wine. Haruka went to the passenger side to get Michiru out from the car. She tried very hard to suppress a laugh that threatened to burst soon when she saw Michiru was practically still glued to her seat, still trying to steady her breath to calm herself. Haruka offered her hand to Michiru. Michiru accepted the hand gratefully as she doubt she could stand properly with her trembling legs. However, she immediately sent a warning glare to Haruka when she saw the smirk on her face.

Ito came out from the Lamborgini, parked behind the BMW with scowl on his face. Ito wasn't get used to losing. And for his Lamborghini to lose to BMW, his pride was deeply wounded. He couldn't really stomached the humiliation. Especially when Michiru was on the stake. He unwillingly walked up to Haruka, mumbled his reluctant congrats and faced Michiru.

"Call me when you reach home." Ito said. Michiru simply nodded. Ito placed a chaste kiss on Michiru's lips then walked away.

"Shall we?" Haruka asked, gestured at the red wine on her hand.

"Any special place on your mind?"

Haruka chuckled. "Your house or mine?"

Aren't you blunt, Tenoh. "Mine then."

"Have a seat."

Haruka stepped into the living room and settled on the left side of the light grey color L shape couch. Michiru was rumbling through one of the custom made kitchen cabinet drawers, situated on the right side of the living room. She then moved to the living room and passed a corkscrew and 2 empty glasses to Haruka. While Haruka dutifully unscrewed the cork from the red wine, Michiru stepped out to the balcony to make a phone call. Michiru didn't bother to lower her voice and Haruka was able to hear every words spoken by Michiru. Haruka could only guessed the opposite side was Ito.

"I'm home…no…we decided to do it on another day..yes…I'm just tired…..ok…good night."

The call ended. No goodbye kiss. No declaration of love. Haruka wondered how involved was Michiru with this Ito guy. Michiru seemed didn't care for the relationship. And she's now lying to him. Michiru walked out from the balcony and occupied the other side of the couch. Haruka then passed their half full glass to Michiru and they toasted. Michiru refilled their glass afterwards.

Haruka cleared her throat. "If you don't mind me asking, if I am not mistaken Nobutada Ito is a married man. And his wife is definitely not someone with the name Kaioh Michiru."

Michiru chuckled. "I am his mistress"

Haruka looked puzzled. "I don't think Kaioh-san….."

"Michiru." Michiru quickly intercepted. "Call me Michiru. Both of us are not on duty now and this is my house, so, call me Michiru."

Haruka grinned a lop sided grin. "I wouldn't say you can pick any man that you want, but if the rumor is true, in the list of your admirers, sure it's not find a 5 star bachelor that meets your every requirements in life partner. So, Michiru, why a married man?"

This was the first time Haruka addressed Michiru by her name. Michiru had to admit, she loved every bit of it. "I don't want to force into marriage. My job consumes me most of my time. Neither do I have the privilege to get involve in a fulltime relationship nor do I want to. I just want some occasional company when I feel lonely and when I have physical needs. One night stand is not an option due to health and hygiene issue. Having a relationship with a married man is the solution for all the problems. But…." Michiru heaved a heavy sigh.

Haruka waited patiently for Michiru to continue. "…it seems like, I got the wrong perception."

"Ito-san proposed a marriage?" Haruka could only guessed.

Michiru sighed again. "I wonder why certain people just couldn't…..no….just refuse to acknowledge the real pictures that were being presented to them right in front of their eyes. If I ever wanted to have a family, a stable relationship, a single man should be a better bet than a married man. All of them just kept on breaking the rules of the game by declaring their undying love or a marriage proposal." Michiru rolled her eyes in annoyance then emptied her glass in a single gulp. Haruka refilled the wine for Michiru.

"Because, every men that you got involved with, thought, they are the chosen one for your life. But Michiru, you can't keep on like this forever. There's a time limit to a woman's beauty. Sooner or later, you will be disqualified from this game. Surely, at your age, there is someone that you would like to settle down with."

"You are right. That's why, for the time being…." Michiru studied Haruka under her lashes while she slowly sipped on the wine. "…I am open to other possibility."

"Other possibility?" Another puzzled look from Haruka.

"Enough of me. Let's talk about you, Haruka." Michiru steered their topic of discussion onto Haruka. "How do you get involved in illegal racing?"

Haruka chuckled at the question. "Well, many years ago, when I was still an Inspector, I just knocked off from my night shift and I was driving back home. Halfway through the journey, 2 sport cars overtook me in high speed. I knew at once they were racing illegally. And it happened on my jurisdiction so there's no reason for me to cut them loose. I gave chase with a scrappy Honda of mine. Pity, I acted alone on that time. So I only managed to capture 1 illegal racer. Somehow, the story of my extraordinary racing skill, a scrappy Honda outran a sports car, reached Hajime's ear."

At this point, Michiru rolled her eyes for the second time of the night at Haruka's shameless bragging. Haruka chortled at Michiru's antic and continued. "Hajime took the risk to invite me to his illegal racing party. He said he knew a driver when he saw one. He was right. I got hook with it ever since."

"No wonder you manage to climb to the top ladder of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department in shortest time in Japan history. You are really a speedy devil."

"It's not easy Michiru. You should know yourself how much effort you need to put in a field dominated by men. When my male colleague needs to solve 1 big case to earn a promotion interview, I need 2 cases. When my male colleague needs only 80 points in firearm shooting to be considered an elite shooter, I need 95 points only can be considered a sharpshooter. The hardest part was to command respect from a bunch of dicks. The effort that I put in the road to become Superintendent General is unthinkable, even by myself."

"I totally understand. And now I think I understand why you like to stamp out your authority so much. It's not showing off. It's a needs. You, as a woman, needs to keep a bunch of dickheads in control." Michiru lightly clank her glass with Haruka's, a gesture for a toast and an acknowledgement for the similar hardship that both of them had to endure in their career.

"Actually, I should apologized to you."

Michiru raised a questioning eyebrow.

"When I first saw you at the commissioner's party, I admit I was slightly entranced by your beauty. And at the same time, I thought, it was the same beauty that attracted opposite sex to follow you like lost puppies whenever you go. Almost immediately, I was under an impression, that the Asst General Attorney in front of me was some underqualified woman that managed to crawl high due to the charm or some skin exposure to some big wolves. I knew I was wrong, when I saw you entertain these people with fake tired smile and your body started to present impatient signals as night went on. You rejected every dance request from the cabinet ministers and I actually felt pity at our young prince when you dare to reject his invitation for a dance too. When the night ended, I reminded myself that I owe you an apology and respect that you certainly deserved. You actually went through the same hardship as mine and you truly deserve this title." With that being said, Haruka stood up and saluted at Michiru. "I am sorry."

Michiru simply smile. She pulled Haruka back to the couch and gestured at Haruka's wine. "Bottoms up that then you are forgiven.

Haruka shrugged and did as instructed.

Michiru waited until Haruka finished her wine the shared her own point of view. "Actually, you are not entirely wrong. I managed to be where am I now, part of it have to thanks to some 'powerful' man that I got involved it. Don't misunderstand. I never ask for it. It's that, at one point I realized that everything was so smooth in my early career that I started to smell fishy myself. I conducted my own investigation and I found that my career actually had been paved nicely without my knowledge. One year later, I would be the top partner in Japan most prominent law firm. A huge advancement from a junior partner for middle size law firm that had been practice for only 2 years." Michiru inhaled and exhaled. "This is not what I wanted. I don't want to be remembered as a woman that spread open their leg just to get what they wanted. I don't like the gossip. I quitted private law firm after that and joined DoJ. Yes, the competition is stiff at DoJ. People in DoJ are more concerned with their own future political path. And yes, the connection with those 'powerful' men still brought benefits to my career in DoJ. But the impact was not as much as private law firm. To compete with those selfish, masochist men, I have to triple up my effort. But I feel comfortable and love it. At least, I knew I reap what I sow, without the help of some chemical pesticide."

"Chemical pesticide?" Haruka snickered at the joke.

"It's a perfect description." Michiru shrugged nonchalantly. "How old are you, Haruka?" Michiru suddenly surprised Haruka with a personal question.

"I thought it's inappropriate to ask for a woman's age."

Michiru laughed. "Are you really a woman?"

Haruka moved to the middle of the couch. "Do you want to have a thorough check, Michiru?" Haruka's voice suddenly turned few flats lower.

Michiru giggled. "Haruka, as I mentioned before, one night stand is not my cup of tea."

"Then who told you it is my cup of tea?"

"Your reputation follows everywhere you go, Haruka."

Haruka was genuinely surprised. "My reputation?"

"Don't you know you have the reputation of Superintendent of Bed Hopper? It's an open secret in your department and mine."

Haruka sighed. "This is a huge misunderstanding. I admit, I have mutual good relationship with most of the ladies but I never ever get into their pants. I never went further than their house front gate. That's all. Nothing else."

Michiru blinked innocently at Haruka.

Haruka sighed again. "It's ok. I don't have to prove anything. I don't care how other people think. As long as it doesn't affect my career and my performance, let them be."

"Let's say I trust you, it's not my business anyway, with the string of ladies getting on and off from your car, no one really able to get your full attention?"

Haruka paused in deep thought for a moment. "There is one recently."

A faint of jealousy stirred inside Michiru. "And….."

"I am…exploring the possibility." Haruka reused Michiru's phrase against herself while Michiru was slightly annoyed with the answer. "Actually, have you ever thought of the real reason you refuse to settle down with a man? Maybe…I just say maybe….you fate is with a woman."

To the main point at last, Haruka. Michiru poured the remaining wine for both of them and take the empty bottle to kitchen. She took another bottle of red wine from of the kitchen cabinets and handed to Haruka. Michiru settled back on the couch but not on the far side anymore. This time she sat almost in the middle of the couch, much nearer to Haruka. To be more exact, only within an arm length from Haruka. An action, Haruka definitely took notice of. Again, Haruka dutifully removed the cork and refilled her own glass and they toasted again.

"So?" Haruka pressed on.

"I told you, I am….. exploring a new possibility."

A new possibility. New possibility seems like an answer swaying away from her usual preference of men to woman, right? Again, Haruka scooted nearer to Michiru. "Have you even been with a woman before?"

"Unfortunately no."

"Too bad then. You just missed out the fun that couldn't be provided by opposite gender."

"I insist, I'm not looking for fun, Haruka, though I'm bit curious with it. But merely curiosity doesn't enough to motivate me to swing the other way for a loose relationship."

"Oh.." Dejected answer followed in. Haruka fought hard, trying not to look disappointed. She cleared her throat awkwardly and slowly slipped on her wine, ignoring any eye contact with Michiru.

Michiru notice the sudden changes and quickly added on. "I won't look for a woman for casual relationship. I refused to be tied down mainly because of the men that I involved with were not life partner type. If I see one in a woman, I would certainly love to entertain the idea of life commitment with a woman. I can't say what material I wanted to see in my life partner, because I am clueless myself. But naively speaking, I think it's all down to feeling. Woman's intuition I perceive."

Not entirely disqualified then. "Then…..have you found one?" Haruka tried to remain calm, to hide the sudden nervousness that came out of nowhere, that unexpectedly crept into her system.

"Like I said before….I am exploring a new possibility." The same annoying answer again.

Was it because of the wine? Or was it because of Michiru's same annoying answer? Haruka suddenly felt slightly frustrated with the woman in front of her. Haruka unable to read into Michiru's mind from her hazy answers. Do we share the same interest? Haruka remembered the sudden closeness posed by Michiru earlier. Should I trust her body language? …Well, just trust my own gut. Pretending to be under influenced of alcohol, Haruka shook her head lightly and massaged her own temple. She then leaned in closer to Michiru, testing the water. "I suggest…maybe you should try once….with a woman…"

Closer.

"…..then maybe you will have a clear idea….."

Closer.

"…..of your own preference…."

Closer.

"…..on what type of person…."

Closer.

"…..you want to spend your life with…."

Lips merely inches apart. The water was tested. And it remained clam. No storm. No tsunami. No typhoon.

"Well…if you are willing to show me….." Michiru trailed off.

Haruka welcomed the invitation at once and closed the gap in between them before Michiru could finish the sentence. Michiru replied the kiss with same intensity. Creamy hands snaked around Haruka's neck and pulled in closer to deepen the kiss. Kissing a woman was a new experience for Michiru. She was surprised at how soft Haruka's lips was and she wondered, did all the woman's lips tasted as soft as the one that she was kissing right now? Haruka licked on Michiru's lips, asking for entrance permission. Michiru parted her lips willingly, happily accepting the invading tongues. Two tongues dancing around, mildly fighting for dominance, exploring every corner of each other mouth. Haruka pulled Michiru onto her lap. The kiss quickly became passionate. Haruka let her hand wandered around Michiru's back and caressed it. By now he was feasting on Michiru's creamy neck. Soft moans could be heard, escaping from Michiru's mouth. The moans aroused Haruka dramatically and it took all her might not to push Michiru onto the couch and discarded all of Michiru's clothes in Uranus speed.

Michiru however had another idea on her mind. She suddenly disengaged herself from Haruka and stood up. Haruka suddenly clouded with confusion but it didn't last long. She then pulled Haruka up by the collar, and resume their previous activity.

"Bedroom." Michiru said in between kisses and slowly led Haruka to her bedroom, never breaking the kiss even for once.

Halfway to the bedroom, Michiru suddenly pinned Haruka against the wall and pulled away. She smiled seductively at Haruka and traced her fingers around Haruka's lips, lingered at there for few seconds, then slowly slid it down to Haruka's neck, then down to her chest, down again to her stomach and belly button, continue south to the belt, to the pants zip and keep on going down near to Haruka's most sensitive part and stopped.

All these while, Haruka was watching Michiru's sensual moves with interest. When Michiru stopped moving, teal eyes stared deeply into blue orbs, anticipating for her next move. Michiru slowly leaned up to Haruka. Both hands firmly placed on the target's shoulder. Michiru stood on tiptoes and purposely pressed her chest on Haruka's. She then brushed her lips against Haruka's lips, make sure to linger on it. Haruka refused to fall into Michiru's seduction trap but Michiru noticed the teals eyes got darker as each seconds passed. One more move, Haruka, you sure succumb to me. Michiru let her right hand fall down freely, purposely brushed against Haruka's breast, making sure to add a little pressure on the young Superintendent's nipple in the process.

The final move indeed managed to spark Haruka's deepest desire. She capture the offered lips hungrily and another sweet tongue fight ensued. Michiru suddenly got busy with Haruka's belt. She positioned one of her knees in between of Haruka's legs and put pressure on Haruka's most sensitive part, moving in and out.

Haruka moaned in pleasure. Michiru used this chance to attack on Haruka's neck. She kissed, sucked, licked, and bite on the long neck. Haruka always had a thing on dominant woman. With Michiru trying to assert her dominance over Haruka, Haruka got aroused even more. Just when Michiru thought she had Haruka under her control, Haruka suddenly spun Michiru around and pinned her against the same wall. Haruka eyed her prey with lust and repeated Michiru's earlier actions. She then licked on Michiru's ear and occasionally nibbling on it. Michiru's breath became uneven and her moan got louder.

Haruka replaced her knee with her fingers. The pressure from Haruka's fingers brought another level of pleasure to Michiru. Even though Michiru was still fully clothed, but Haruka's foreplay was a new exposure that Michiru never experienced before.

"How could I be beaten by my own game, Kaioh-san." Haruka whispered on Michiru's ear and chuckled.

"Bedroom." Michiru said out her final instruction in between moans and Haruka happily obliged.

She had been staring at the blondie for some time. Her breathing has returned to normal after the final mind blowing orgasm that seemed lasted for an eternity. It felt so different to have sex with a woman. The blondie was gentle, treating her body like a fragile porcelain, though it was evident to her, the blondie was getting impatient at one point. The blondie was good at foreplay. She remembered she had to urge the blondie to hurry up, only to earn a victorious chuckle from the blondie. She forgot how many times she had been sent to heaven by a certain blondie but one thing was certain. She never ever had so many 'rounds' in a single night with a man before. It's not because of lack of stamina from her male counterpart. It was just that, she wasn't interested to keep it going. Men were more concerned with their own release rather than the process. Lack of foreplay, more to straight to the point. Not to mention sometimes they were rough too. The blondie did got rough for a short period but for her, it was more like sweet torture. She realized she was getting more and more disinterested with man. Another reason was, she had been taking oral contraceptives to avoid unnecessary pregnancy. But oral contraceptive has its side effect. The one that irked her the most was mood swings.

She was not as experienced as the blondie but she remembered her every sensitive spots when her body was devoured by the blondie. When it was her turn to pleasure the blondie, she put extra attention on the sensitive spots that had been imprinted on her mind. Judging by the throaty moans escaping from the blondie's mouth, she thought she had done a good job. She sighed. She wanted, no, she needed to feel the blondie's touch again. Would she be asking too much if she wanted another session again? What would the blondie think of her? And the blondie seemed to be asleep by her side. She sighed again.

"Are you disappointed with my performance?" A husky voice suddenly asked. Concerned was evident in the voice.

Michiru turned her head in surprise only to find a pair of teal eyes staring intently at her. The blondie that had been occupying on her mind just now was propping on her elbow. Her full attention focus solely on Michiru.

"Are you?" Haruka pressed on.

"No, Haruka…."

Haruka frowned. "You don't enjoy it." Now her pride was deeply wounded. No one ever complaint her performance on bed before.

"I mean yes Haruka. I enjoy it very much. You were good."

Haruka was not convinced.

Michiru sighed for the third time. "I truly enjoy it Haruka. You were so god damm great. I never had so many orgasm in a night before. You broke all the record."

Haruka still void of emotion, but not for long. Arrogant smirk slowly spread across her handsome and Michiru immediately regretted her words. She covered her reddened cheek with sheet. Haruka laughed at the action. But the laughter soon stopped when Haruka felt a pair of lips pressed on her own. Haruka replied the kiss but the owner of the lips pulled back.

"Aren't you naïve, Tenoh-san? Never cross in my mind you could be so easily deceived by some harmless sweet words." Michiru's eyes twinkled mischievously. "I admit, I was preoccupied by some distraction just now…" Michiru took Haruka's hand with her own and caressed it her thumb. "I couldn't pass a fair verdict."

Haruka's smirk got wider. Michiru got naughty and she loved every bit of it. "Oh, really? It's easy then. We are still at the crime scene. We just have to replay the 'crime act', with more passion this time, surely you could pass down a fairer verdict later?"

Michiru faked an innocent look.

Haruka threw her head back and laughed heartily before captured Michiru's lips with her own and moved on top of Michiru once again.

The silence of the early morning was broken by the ringing sound coming from a certain mobile phone. The ringing tone was too familiar to Haruka and she groaned. She slowly disengaged herself from the petite woman, careful not to wake the smaller woman, and sat up. She rubbed her still sleepy eyes and cursed silently. She barely had enough sleep and it's all thanks to Michiru's insatiable 'appetite.' Haruka crawled off from the bed, located her pants, and fished the mobile phone out from the pocket. The name displayed on the mobile screen escalated Haruka's annoyance immediately. 'This better be good'

"How can I be your service Takumi-san?' Haruka answered the phone without bother to hide her vexation at the Asst Superintendent General.

"We have a situation, Superintendent." Takumi sounded serious. Takumi kept on explaining. Haruka kept on listening.

"I come now." Haruka disconnected the phone and immediately got dressed. Once Haruka was properly dressed, she stopped track at the end of the bed. Haruka then turned to look at Michiru. Her aqua hair were sprawling all over the pillow she was sleeping on. Her naked body was buried under the sheet. Her face looked content and peaceful. So, where do we stand now? Both Michiru and herself make it very clear, one night stand was not their thing. Their previous conversation got interrupted on the subject of life partner, though Haruka didn't mind the interruption because she was the mastermind of it. Haruka was not attached at the moment but Michiru got her string tied to Ito. Though she did mention it was a loose knot, but somehow the loose knot and the sex last night failed to confirm anything yet. Haruka would love to explore a new possibility with Michiru but she wasn't sure whether she was part of Michiru's new possibility plan. She sighed. Haruka was slightly irritated by the uncertainty looming over her and Michiru. While Haruka was lost in her own thought, Michiru was leaning against the headboard, amused with Haruka fast paced change of expression. From frowning to hopeful, then confuse to drooling, suddenly dejection took over and lastly followed by a sigh.

Michiru giggled. Haruka looked up. Their eyes met. Michiru stop giggling. Haruka rooted on the spot, played with the hem of her own shirt. She suddenly found the floor tiles had interesting design.

"Haruka…"

Haruka looked up again. Michiru patted on the empty space on the bed next to her. Haruka sighed inwardly but obliged to Michiru's request, half dragging her feets towards Michiru and sat on the patted space.

"Duty calls?" Michiru asked.

Haruka nodded. Michiru smiled. She then stretched her hand forward, grabbed Haruka by the collar, and pulled her in for a kiss. The kiss was not passionate and lusty unlike yesterday. It was much simpler but it piled more questions than answers to Haruka. So, what are we now?

"What will you be doing later?" Haruka asked.

"I have a meeting at Criminal Affairs Bureau at 10 morning."

Haruka nodded.

"Call me after you are done?" Michiru's turn to ask when Haruka decided to play dumb.

Haruka merely nodded absentmindedly. Again. After a short moment of silence, when Haruka noticed Michiru had nothing more to say, she excused herself and went back to her own house to clean herself, change into formal suit, and rushed back to her office, breaking all the speed limit. Tokyo was in danger and Haruka cursed herself for letting herself distracted by a certain aqua hair woman.

Haruka's office was located on 18th floor of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department headquarter, the highest floor in the building. The meeting room was on 16th floor. The same meeting room that she attended yesterday morning. Haruka loved to hold her monthly meeting with the senior officers in this meeting room because the room could oversee the vast land of east, north and south side of Japan due to the full length tempered glass design. If one looked further to the east, North Pacific Ocean was clearly in sight.

The room that usually occupied by senior officials only now packed with detectives from various ranks. Few of them were running in and out from the room awaiting for instructions and passing on information. Few laptops were scattered around the table and the technicians behind the laptop were typing furiously at the keyboard. An old design mobile, wrapped inside of a plastic bag was placed in the middle of the long table. As Haruka walked into the room with big strides towards Takumi, all officers in the room stopped working and bowed at the Superintendent.

"Morning Superintendent."

"Ease." Haruka waved them off. "So, what is the situation now?" Haruka pointed the question at her Asst.

"This early morning, Haneda branch received an unmarked box with an old design mobile inside. Inside of the box was a letter with instruction to pass the old mobile phone to you. Failed to do so will lead to unwanted consequences. The front officer took it as a prank and put the box aside. Exactly one hour later the phone rang. The officer answered the phone and when the opposite side knew it wasn't you, he cut off the line."

"He? A man?"

Takumi noded. He then send a message to the phone and it was a link to youtube. We follow the link and this is what we got." Takumi signaled to the one of the technicians. The technician put a laptop in front of Haruka and played a video footage. The footage was shot at Ikebukuro Station, Tokyo busiest train station. Beginning few seconds of the footage, nothing special happened. Everyone minded their own business and headed to their own destination in zombie like style. But suddenly, one of the metal dustbin situated just next to a pillar exploded. The crowd became panicked and screams were everywhere. Not long, few pedestrians nearby dropped to ground, unconscious. The footage stopped not long after that.

"The incident happened after the call ended. When the paramedics reached the scene, those fainted civilians are already dead on the spot. The bomb had been sent to the lab and we are still waiting for the result. We had checked the IP address that posted up the video. It leads us to few more IP address and finally ended at the one from Mexico. We have processed the mobile for fingerprints. There was none."

"The IP address must be hidden through VPN. How long does it takes the paramedic to reach the crime scene?"

"15 minutes."

"Only 15 minutes and the civilians are dead." Haruka frowned.

"The lab is carrying out post mortem examination."

Haruka nodded. At this moment, the old designed mobile rang again. The room suddenly went still. Everyone focus was on the phone. Takumi again signaled to one of the detectives and the detectives get the phone from the table and gave it to the Superintendent. Her Asst passed a surgical glove to her. Haruka wore the surgical glove and extracted the phone from the plastic bag. Once the technician signaled the tracking device was ready, Haruka then answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Superintendent?"

"Speaking here."

The man laughed. "Finally. Morning Superintendent. Have you received the gift that I prepared for you?"

"What do you want?"

"Impatient as always, Superintendent. You didn't change for a bit. Well, time is precious to me too. Listen carefully Superintendent. I only said it once. The bomb that you see is not a normal explosive bomb. The bomb contained deadly virus. This virus able to disable human immune system within minutes after exhaling it and attack human respiratory system. The lungs will fail immediately, the body will run out of oxygen, and death is inevitable. There is no cure for this virus as this virus is my proud creation."

"And exactly what do you want?"

"I have planted another 5 virus bombs in 5 different places in Tokyo. 5 much larger bombs that could claim thousands of lives in a blink of eye. Now, prepare 1 billion yen in cash and separated it into 5 bags. 1 hour later I will call you again for further instructions."

The man terminated the call. Haruka sent an expectant glance at the tracking technician. The technician shook his head lightly, an indication their failure to track the call.

"How is it?" Takumi asked. Everyone else in the room were staring at Superintendent.

"The man in the phone said he has planted another 5 bombs in 5 different locations around Tokyo city. The civilians in the video died because of the deadly virus from the bomb. The 5 new bombs that this man prepared will cause more casualties. The man demanded for 1 billion yen."

Low murmured slowly echoed throughout the room. Unsure and worried glances passing among the detectives.

"Takumi-san. Please make a call to Prime Minister for his approval for this 1 billion ransom. Send him the footage if necessary. You will stay at HQ to take over the operation at here and wait for my further instruction. I will head over to Nichigin (Bank of Japan) to collect the ransom. Seiya-san, Yaten-san. Both of you will follow me."

Both Seiya and Yaten were Tokyo Chief Superintendent and Haruka's 2 out of 4 most trusted comrades. They worked together under the same jurisdiction when Haruka was still a Sergeant. They formed a great team back then, solved numerous high profile cases. Once, Seiya, Yaten and their little brother Taiki were tipped to be the one to head Tokyo forces when the time came. But when all of them got married, family became their priority. Survival became their main concern. Unlike the Kou brothers, Haruka was an orphan and with no immediate family she should be worried to be left behind, Haruka put her 100% concentration and effort on her career. Many years later, she was rewarded with the highest authority in Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. (TMPD)

Seiya and Yaten immediately followed Haruka out of the room.

"Seiya, prepare the tracking devices for the 5 ransom bags, myself and the car. Get 2 police cars and 2 unmarked cars to follow me. You will in charge of these cars and contact with Traffic Department to clear the road for me. Yaten, you will in charge of manpower relocation. Once I received the location I will send it to you, and you will allocate some plain clothes at the crime scene as back up. Prepare the paramedic in advanced too. I'm not sure the suspect will turn up or not but instruct the colleagues to keep their eyes open."

"Got it." Both of then replied in unison.

"One more thing. The suspect mentioned I was impatient as always in the phone. He might be an old acquaintance of mine. Get Taiki to check on that. And if I'm not mistaken, Taiki is still in the room with Takumi so please inform Taiki, tell him to keep his eyes close on Takumi. I don't want him to create any fuss while I'm dealing with a bomb craze."

"Don't worry. I will inform Taiki. He knows what to do. We better focus with the task on hand." Yaten replied in assurance.

Three of them nodded at each other and went their own way. Once the preparation was done, they would depart from BoJ, and started the rescue operation from there.

The money had been bagged. The bags were nicely lineup on the on the table. Tracking devices had been properly installed. Cars and forces were ready at the front of the bank. Haruka leaned her head against back of the wall, with her eyes closed, legs crossed, and sitting comfortably on the leather couch. Her mind went back to the night before, when Michiru was beneath her, reminiscing her pain expression, but the moans that escaped from her mouth suggested otherwise. And when Haruka stroked faster, Michiru's pitch got higher…Haruka shook her head violently. Damm it. It's not the time for exotic daydreaming. Damm you Michiru. Just get out of my mind. Questioning glances immediately came from the bankers, Seiya and Yaten.

A beeping sound from the old mobile spared Haruka's embarrassment. An incoming message. Haruka opened the message and read the content.

"Ueno Onshi Park." Haruka read out the location. Everyone went into action at once. Seiya went to the one of the unmarked cars. Yaten went to regroup his manpower. Some bankers helped Haruka to move the ransom bag to the designated car for Haruka. Once it's all done, Haruka sped to the pinpoint location.

Haruka parked at the front of Ueno Onshi Park entrance, right by the side of Keisei Main Line. Keisin Main Line was infamous with its bad traffic in Tokyo during rush hour. It was 9 in the morning when Haruka piled more woes to the drivers in Keisin Main Line due to her illegal parking. The incoming cars honked furiously from behind but very soon 2 traffic controllers took over the station. Haruka got off from the car but she didn't step far. Ueno Onshi Park stretched across 134 acres of land, was the home for a lake, museums, temples, shrines and 8800 tress. She watched the huge park in front of her, undecided what to do next. How could she locate the bomb from this spacious public park?

The old phone suddenly rang. Haruka immediately answered it. "What's next?"

"Superintendent. You need to learn to control your temper. Listen. Take 1 bag and head to Shinobazu Pond entrance. Next to the ticket counter, is a Japan cherry tree. Under the tree, there is a granite bench. The bomb is located under the bench. This is a timer bomb connected to another mobile phone. Once you reached there I will message a questions to you along with the clues to the answer to the attached mobile phone and the timer will be activated at the same time. Reply the message with the correct answer within 2 minutes to deactivate the bomb. Failed to do so will leads the bomb to explode. However, you can choose to surrender by sending a surrender message to me within the time limit using the phone you are holding right now. I can use remote control to deactivate the bomb. However, deactivation cost will be 200 million yen. I give you a clue. Every answer contains only 1 word."

That explains why 5 bags of ransom money.

"Good luck, Superintendent." The line went dead.

Without much choice, Haruka grabbed 1 of the ransom bags from the trunk and followed the trail that was hugging along the edge of the pond. Seiya and 2 plain offers followed not far from behind. Haruka's pace quickened when she saw the ticket booth, then the Japan cherry tree and finally the granite bench; the 3 landmarks that were precisely described by the suspect. Haruka inspected the bottom of the bench and true enough, he saw a cardbox box, around the size of 12" x 6" x 8". Haruka pulled the box out and lifted the cover. Inside was another grey color rectangular electronic device with a timer screen at top, with 2 wires connected to another old design mobile, located just next to the device. The timer shown 2 minutes.

The mobile attached to the bomb suddenly beep. At the same time the timer blink, and the 2 minutes countdown started. Haruka checked the mobile straightaway and teal eyes scanned carefully the content of the incoming message.

'You need it to face death.'

"You need it to face death?" Haruka mumbled to herself. "What the heck is this? What type of clue is this? You need it to face death? What do I need if I face my own death?" Haruka racked her brain for a possible answer but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't come out with a plausible answer. 30 seconds had gone, and Haruka was still clueless.

Support? Everyone need supports to face own death right?

Haruka keyed in the support word and send the message out. But the message came back with a capital WRONG. Another 30 seconds gone. Time soon became an enemy to Haruka. Haruka sent out another message with the answer faith but she was rewarded with another capital WRONG.

What the heck!

Haruka scanned the park and the pond for the first time. It was 9.30 in the morning but the crowd in the park was getting thicker and thicker It was spring in Japan and with the trees including Ginkyo biloba, Cinnamon camphora, Zelkova serrate, Formosan cherry, Somei-Yoshino cherry and Japanese cherry, the park can easily attract more than thousands visitors per day. If the threat was true, and the bomb exploded now, Haruka didn't dare to imagine the sight of Japan most famous park covered by uncountable number of dead bodies. It was like a massacre scene. A total chaos. The timer shown the remaining time of 30 seconds. Haruka had to decide her next course of action. Surrender? A criminal shouldn't be pampered with this privilege. Surrender would only encourage them even more. Haruka stared at the huge pond in front of her. Let's take this chance.

Haruka grabbed the ransom bag and the cardbox box and ran towards the pond. She planned to throw the bomb into the pond. At least the virus wouldn't be able to spread through the air and casualties would be minimize. Haruka took pity with the fishes, ducks, swans and whatever animals that resided at the pond but for the time being, this is the best decision that she could think of.

10 seconds left. Few more steps. Haruka raised the box above her should and prepared to hurl it as far as she could. But….the bomb suddenly exploded. Haruka thrown off balance, landed flat on her buttock and the box dropped to the ground not far away from her. The impact from the explosion was small but the bomb had broken into tiny pieces. White smoke was oozing out from the box. The crowd, surprised by the mini explosion, got panicked and started to disperse to every direction. Haruka immediately took off her blazer and covered her mouth and nose. A woman suddenly dropped unconscious. Followed by a teenager. And then a small child. Soon, one by one, the one wasn't fast enough to escape from the pond lie motionlessly on the ground. Haruka stared wide eye at the scene slowly unfold in front of her. She was stunned. It didn't take long for few paramedics with gas mask to rush to the crime scene. One of the paramedics immediately help Haruka with the gas mask. Haruka was back on her feet when the old mobile on her hand rang. Haruka ran away far from the crime scene and discarded her gas mask before answered the phone.

"What had you done?" Haruka was practically screaming at the opposite line. Her whole body was trembling, ignited by her own anger, by her own stupidity. Her breathing was hard and shallow.

"I should ask you the same question, Superintendent. You have break the rule of my game by taking shortcut but no worries. I actually anticipated that move from you. You are still the same after all these years. Similar to the one this morning, it only served as a gentle final reminder to you. You really wouldn't want to know the damage that the next 4 bombs could bring to Tokyo. Stick closely to my instructions. No more sneaky moves. Now get the money and move to Shibuya crossing. By the way, the answer is courage."

Courage?

Haruka refrained herself from screaming in the public and moved her ass.

Shibuya Crossing was famous for its scramble crossing. It is located in front of Shibuya Station Hachiko exit. The statue of Hachiko, a loyal dog, was located in between the station and the intersection. The place was a common meeting place and it's always crowded.

It took approximately 30 minutes for normal people to drive from Ueno Onshi Park to Shibuya Crossing. But Haruka was not ordinary people. She's a speed demon. She manage to reach the crossing in 20 minutes time and again disturbed the flow of traffic by simply parking her designated car somewhere by the side of the main road. Other drivers started to honk madly and curses were thrown at Haruka like heavy rain. Haruka had no time to entertain the angry mob. With the ransom bag on her right hand, her eyes scanned the populated area for a cardbox box or some grey color electrical device. Her effort proved to be futile when her vision was mostly blocked by the pedestrians. The old phone rang at the decisive moment.

"You are fast, Superintendent. I couldn't catch up with you."

"Where now?"

The other side snickered. "Hachiko statue." And the line went dead.

Haruka rushed to the famous statue and again she found the similar box, sat nicely next to the statue. It's amazing how the box managed to remained undisturbed in the middle of Tokyo busiest district. Haruka unwrapped the box and the saw same similar device staring back at her. The attached mobile beeped and the timer came to life. 2 minutes and the countdown began. Haruka checked the message.

A guardian angel

"A guardian angel? A guardian angel? What the fuck does it means now?" Haruka growled impatiently.

Haruka squatted in front of the bomb, watching helplessly at the timer, as each second was slashed from the digital number everytime it blinked. She scratched the back of her head absentmindedly, questioning her own intellectual. One and a half minute wasted and Haruka still rooting at the same spot, staring dumbly at the bomb. Some moving crowd watched at her with curiosity and gossiped behind her back. Mad man. They called her. When the timer down to last 15 seconds, Haruka took a very deep breath and stood straight. Well, some criminal just need to be pampered like a baby. Haruka sent the surrender message out and she waited. The timer was still blinking. Haruka started to get nervous when there's only 5 seconds left on the timer and the boom seemed to be still working.

Fuck. Haruka turned around to look at the busy district. The huge swarm of human. The flashing signboards. The cars that were stuck in bad traffic. An image of mass massacre flashed across her mind again. Haruka's face went out of color faster than the timer.

"Stop the damm thing, fucker." Haruka shouted out to no one. The moving crowd halted and looked at her. Then they moved again, faster this time, walking away from Haruka, walking away from their mad man. Haruka's eyes moved back to the timer. 1 second. 1 second. 1 second. The timer had stopped. The countdown stopped. Her phone rang. The first thing that Haruka heard when she answered the call was chuckles.

"I'm glad you learn your lesson, Superintendent. Good. The answer is protector, Superintendent. Now, put the money bag down and leave." The line went dead.

Haruka stared at the bomb then the ransom bag. She then placed the ransom bag next to the bomb and walked back to her car. Seiya was ready with few plain clothes. Once the man approached the ransom bag, they would pounce on him at once.

5 minutes gone. No one stood out to claim the bag. Haruka didn't receive any further instruction either. They kept on waiting. Another 5 minutes gone. The cops were becoming reckless. The bag remained unclaimed. Seiya checked his watch. Another 5 minutes gone. What's happening? It was then, amid the crowd, Seiya noticed a man, with face well hidden under a black color cap, wearing a chocolate color leather jacket, blue color jeans, white color sports shoes, glanced over his shoulder nervously while slowly approaching the ransom. Seiya waited until the man examined the ransom bag, took it with him, confirmed the target's identity then broke into a chase. Few plain clothes officer followed suit. Just when Seiya thought he could jumped onto the target, an unexpected things happened. Wad and wad of money being thrown to the sky, levitating softly like leaves before they touch the ground. The flying money thrown the crowd into chaos. When initially the target was just few feets away from Seiya, now the target lost in the crowd as more and more people rushed in to grab the fortune falling from the sky. The crowd pushed Seiya more and more behind and he failed to squeeze through the frenzy crowd. He cursed and joined by Haruka from behind.

"Where's he?" Haruka asked.

"I lost him." Seiya fished his smartphone out, unlocked it and activate the tracking apps. "We can track the bag." A single red dot was moving northeast away from their current location and both of them immediately gave chase. They didn't have to sprint far. When they finally caught up with the red spot, all they could see was a black color bag in flame, left in the middle of the road. The money inside was gone.

Haruka sighed. "He is much smarter than I thought."

"What's next?" Seiya asked.

"Not sure yet. Still waiting for his call. I am pretty sure he is an old acquaintance of mine. He seems to understand me. We actually met few years before."

"How did you know?"

"He told me I didn't change much after all these years. He can remote control the bomb but he's following me around. Relay the information to Taiki. Ask him to speed up."

'"Yes Superintendent."

The old mobile rang.

"Yes?"

"Nice job Superintendent. But I'm not stupid either. I don't mind you get few extra dogs to follow you around. It won't affect us. Now, your next location will be NPA building." Again, the line went dead after the next location have been read out.

NPA Building?

"I have a meeting at Criminal Affairs Bureau at 10 morning."

God damm it.

Criminal Affairs Bureau was one of the bureaus in NPA building. Well, normally Haruka won't care which bureau located at which building but this time, it's different. Michiru was attending a meeting at NPA building. Haruka immediately pulled her smartphone out from his blazer's hidden pocket. She unlocked the screen, fingers in quick movement, prepare to key in Michiru's contact no. Her thumb hovered at the number pad, unmoved. She stared at the number pad and the number pad was staring back at her. Her mind went blank. Harsh realization immediately struck in.

I don't have her contact number!

"Seiya."

"Yes, Superintendent?"

"Our next location is NPA building. Michiru had meeting with Criminal Affairs Bureau at 10 morning. Now is 10 minutes to 12 noon. I'm not sure the meeting has ended or not, but please call her to evacuate the building at once. And pass the message to other bureaus too."

"Michiru?" Seiya was confused. "Who's Michiru?"

"Kaioh Michiru. State Asst Attorney General. Now go. Move. Fast."Michiru was in danger but Seiya unable to catch her message. Haruka was getting impatient.

"Ok. Ok." Seiya got his ass moved, still feeling rather blurred.

Haruka drove rather slowly to NPA building. She was buying time for the Seiya to evacuate NPA building but she couldn't delay for long. NPA building was located only 6km away from Shibuya crossing. No matter how hard Haruka tried to prolong the trip, it still took her only 20 minutes from Shibuya crossing to NPA building. Haruka again stopped her car by the road side but this time she was free from verbal abuses. Kasumigaseki is a district is Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. It housed most of the Japan cabinet's ministry offices. Kasumigaseki is not a hot tourist spot nor entertainment hot spot so the traffic at Kasumigesaki was pretty smooth all the time.

By the time Haruka stepped out from her car, the old phone rang.

"What took you so long, Superintendent?"

"Toilet break. Do I have to get your permission for that?'

"No of course. But I don't like to wait. I will get irritated if I wait too long, and I may start the timer without you. Now, move fast to the building lobby. At the left side of the lobby, there's a metal dustbin. The bomb is in there." Unknown voice replace by dial tone.

As Haruka headed to NPA building lobby with 1 of the ransom bags, Seiya, along with few uniform officers are helping the people, mostly blue collar workers, to get out from the building. The assembly point was a football field located at the opposite side of the small lake in front of the NPA building. Once the workers reached the field, each of them was given a mask as precaution. Few ambulance were lining side by side next to the staircase to the building lobby. Haruka whipped her head around, trying to look for Michiru. When she failed, she walked over to Seiya to inquire for Michiru's whereabout but stopped when the old phone beeped again. A new message. Haruka opened the message and saw the word MOVE!

With her short temper, Haruka wasn't the one that got along well with the word patient. And this bomber had tested Haruka's already thin patience far too many times since this morning. Haruka turned on her heels, moved swiftly to the mentioned metal dustbin, with a huge frown on her face. She cursed heavily all the way to the hidden object, her vulgar vocabulary upgraded to another level. From the corner of her eyes, she saw more people were rushing out from the elevator.

Finally she was face to face with the chosen metal dustbin. How the bomber managed to plant the bomb without being caught was beyond Haruka's knowledge but National Public Agency should be accounted for this mess. It's not the time for blaming game. Haruka lifted the dustbin's lid and sure enough, the familiar electronic device was located beneath within the metal dustbin. When Haruka was about to retrieved the bomb, a familiar voice called out for her from behind.

"Haruka…"

Haruka turned around only to see Michiru was fast approaching her.

"What are you doing at here?" Both of them asked simultaneously.

At the same time, the attached mobile beeped and the timer was brought to life. Haruka checked the message on the phone. By now, Michiru was standing next to Haruka, craned her neck towards old mobile trying to read the message too.

First ray of sunlight

"What does it mean?" Haruka mumbled to herself.

"Is that the bomb?" Michiru softly asked. She got the idea from Seiya when she received Seiya's call 20 minutes earlier. Seiya had summarize the whole incident to Michiru, including the evacuation plan. Michiru inquired for Haruka's latest status and when Seiya failed to provide any, she decided to stay behind. She clearly understood the unthinkable damage that the bomb could bring to all of them, but she, herself, wanted to make sure Haruka was safe and sound.

Michiru's question brought Haruka out from her own reverie. "What are you still doing at here? Didn't Seiya told you to evacuate immediately. It's dangerous at here." Haruka practically raised her voice at Michiru because she was mad. Mad because Michiru was still in the building. Still within threat vicinity. But Haruka was unsure whom she was mad at. Seiya for failing to carry out her instruction properly or Michiru for being merely walking distance from the bomb.

"I want to help."

"No Michiru. Go. It's dangerous."

"Explain to me how it works. You are wasting time. You only have 90 seconds left." Michiru pointed at the time to prove her point. Michiru looked calm. But the fact was, her heart was pounding wildly. Only god knew what would happen when the bomb exploded. Michiru refused to imagine that.

"No. Leave now." Haruka's voice was low and dangerous. But still, it failed to intimidate Michiru.

"Explain to me how it works. Then I'll leave."

Fiery teal eyes locked on Michiru. Another few seconds wasted on the staring contest.

"Tell me. Don't waste any more time." It was Michiru's turn to get furious with Haruka's dilly dally. Haruka rubbed her own face harshly and growled loudly. Her patient had been tested too many time and latest was by Michiru but, she explained nonetheless. "I need to solve a puzzle for every bomb. Every puzzle comes with a clue. For this puzzle, the clue is 'first ray of sunlight.' Answer in 1 word. I need to send out the answer before the timer turns zero." When the timer was mentioned, Haruka checked on the digital timer. 45 seconds left. I failed the first 2 times Michiru, and I don't have a god damm clue for this one, so please, I beg of you, leave. Will you?" Haruka turned soft. She wanted Michiru to know that she care for her, she wanted her safe and sound and she wanted to protect her.

All Michiru did was turn deaf toward Haruka's plea. But, her eyes twinkled. She couldn't help but grinned. "The answer is beginning."

"How on earth….."

"No time for explanation, Haruka. Send the answer out."

Haruka remained motionless but…..It's better than nothing. Haruka typed the answer and sent it out. Both of them waited. Haruka focused on the digital timer. Few seconds later, the timer stopped with 23 seconds left. Both of them instantly sighed in huge relief. Haruka then laughed. It was the first she got it right and she suddenly felt much lighter. Like she could fly right now.

"I told you, I can help you."

Haruka stared at Michiru. All she wanted to do right now was to kiss Michiru like there's no tomorrow. But good times had to come to an end. The old mobile on Haruka's hand rang again.

"Congratulation, Superintendent. You finally got it. With some help from a beauty, perhaps?"

Haruka's eyes darted around the building. The lobby. The main road. The confused people. He is here. Again she discovered nothing.

"Next will be DiverCity, Tokyo Plaza. Don't forget the money." The line went dead.

"You stay at here." Haruka grabbed the ransom bag ready to depart to the next location but she was stopped by a harsh grab on her wrist.

"I'm coming with you."

"No."

"If I'm able to solve this, then I'm able to solve the next one. Bring me with you. Don't negotiate. You are just delaying our precious time, Superintendent." Michiru was firmed. Her grip was tight. Determination on her face. She won't accept a rejection as answer.

Haruka sighed. She had been doing it for the umpteenth times today. "It's dangerous."

"Don't repeat the same word again and again and don't make me do the same too."

Haruka felt her head ache. And Michiru was the cause of it. She preferred to have Michiru under her blanket and not chasing around Tokyo for a bomb craze with her. The little woman's stubbornness could match her own and it's not the time to waste time to any altercation. Haruka surrendered.

"You drive." Haruka passed Michiru the car key.

Michiru took the key and they departed.

Haruka pushed the seat further behind, stretched out her long legs, and rested her head comfortably against the headrest. The whole morning had been crazy. Finally, she was able to rest. Even for a moment. Am I getting dumber? How Michiru could solved the puzzle effortlessly and she, herself, racked thoroughly every inch of her brain but still failed to come out with and answer. She had failed twice while Michiru hit the jackpot on her first try. It was so embarrassing and she was the Superintendent General.

"How do you manage to crack the code?" Haruka asked with her eyes still closed.

"The day begins with first ray of sunlight. The year begins with first ray of sunlight. It's a beginning for all people. The answer is in 1 word so the word beginning match the description."

"The day ends at 12 midnight and started at 12.01 morning. Furthermore everyone begin their day at different time. Doctors even have to work round the clock. Why must it have to be beginning? Why not starting? Or maybe why not…"

"You tend to over deduce the whole puzzle Haruka. Who are you dealing with? Someone from Mensa? Or the great Sherlock Holmes? Or the chibi detective, Conan?" Michiru laughed at her own joke but stopped immediately when Haruka failed to see or ignoring the funny side of her statement. "The bomber is just an ordinary man. I presume of course. So let's simplify the whole thing. If the beginning is not the correct answer, then we can try begin, or starting like you say or commence or even embark or….."

"I got it Michiru. I got it." Haruka was totally pissed off. Michiru just make a fool out of her although it's not her intention. Haruka pulled her smartphone out from her blazer and got busy with it. She had an arrangement to make. When she was done, she reverted back into relax mode. But not her brain. She rewinded back the puzzles and the answers. The first one was courage. The second one was protector. The third one was beginning. The combination of these answers was awfully familiar to Haruka. Haruka searched through her memory and it went back to more than 10 years ago. Yes, there was a time where courage, protector, beginning and her make an appearance at the same courtroom. Fuse Isamu. Isamu means courage in Japanese. Chiba Mamoru. Mamoru means protector. Taichi Hajime. Hajime means beginning. Mamoru was the prosecutor. Hajime was the judge. Isamu, Haruka, along with 2 other police officers were the eyewitnesses and lead investigators. Haruka's eyes widened at the realization. She fished her smartphone out again and dialed Mamoru's mobile. The line went dead. Next she tried Hajime's mobile. Not the illegal racer Hajime but the judge. The line was also dead. She didn't has Isamu's mobile but her theory should be correct. She knew the identity of the bomber. But Haruka wanted to double confirm her theory. She sent another message out to Taiki.

"We are here." Michiru announced unexpectedly.

It was fast. Haruka checked her watch. 20 minutes. It took Michiru 20 minutes from NPA building to DiverCity, Tokyo Plaza. Ok. It wasn't fast at all. Haruka was too preoccupied with her own deduction she didn't notice the time flies.

Michiru parked the car at the open carpark facing the main entrance of DiverCity. Her jaw almost touched the ground at the sight in front of her. She scurried to the huge toy, balanced well with her at least 4 inches high heel shoes. Haruka wondered how she managed to do that. She shook lightly, retrieved another ransom bag from the trunk a followed Michiru's trail.

Michiru gaped at the 18 meters tall real size Gundam statue, standing proudly right at the main entrance of DiverCity. Michiru was not a fan of anime but the 6 storeys tall robot amazed her. The crisis, and the reason she was stuck at DiverCity totally wiped out from her mind. While Michiru was still drooling at the statue, the old phone rang again.

"The beauty sure loves the robot, isn't she? Good thing. She doesn't have to walk far. Check the vending machine on the left of the robot." The line went dead.

Haruka visually examined the area. Again she found nothing suspicious. Haruka walked to the vending machine, leaving Michiru with her new found admiration.

The similar cardbox box came into view when Haruka finally rounded up the vending machine. The box was sitting nicely at the side of the vending machine facing away from the gigantic statue. No wonder Haruka missed the box when she first rushed to the Gundam Statue. When Haruka knelt on 1 knee to open the box, Michiru had lost interest with the huge robot and was towering Haruka from behind.

Beep.

The same signal again.

Nobunaga pounds the national rice cake, Hideyoshi kneads it, and in the end LEYASU sits down and eats it

"The leyasu is in capital letter." Michiru pointed out the obvious.

"The do you know the answer this time?"

"Hhmm…According to historical facts, Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Leyasu contributed greatly in Japan unification. Nobunaga was betrayed later, not sure what happen to Hideyoshi, but only Tokugawa was granted the title shogun. So the answer must be shogun."

"Wrong."

"Wrong?" Michiru looked up at Haruka. "Are you sure?"

Haruka was sure this time but it was because of Haruka already knew the identity of the bomber and his motive. She had upper hand over Michiru here. "The bomber doesn't want to be the king. He only wants to be the victor. The only victor in this game. Like Tokugawa leyasu. So the answer is victorius. Iseki Masaru. Masaru means victorious. The third investigator.

With 42 seconds remained on the timer, Haruka send the message with the answer out. Few seconds later, the timer stopped.

"You got it right." Michiru exclaimed.

Haruka frowned. "Why do you feel so surprise? Do I look stupid to you?"

"You really dislike getting your ego bruised, don't you? Yesterday… and now…." Michiru bit the corner of her lower lip suggestively. Her blue eyes tracing Haruka from top to bottom. Haruka felt naked under Michiru's intense glare.

"Now is not the time to get distracted Michiru." Haruka shot a warning glance at Michiru. They had just disabled the fourth bomb and the fifth bomb was coming soon. It's not the time to loosen up yet. Somemore, Haruka believed, the fifth bomb would lead her to face to face with the culprit. She would catch the bomber with her own hands and sent him to jail once again.

"I am sorry." Regret immediately took over the earlier playful expression. "You are right. It's not over yet."

The old phone rang.

"JR Shinjuku Station. Don't forget the money but this time leave the money in the car."

Haruka disconnected the phone, grabbed the money bag and departed. Michiru followed from behind but suddenly she was pulled back by 2 men. Both of the men grabbed her left and right arm. She recognized one of them was Seiya. "Let go of me." Michiru struggled to get free but to no avail.

Haruka turned around and watched the struggling Michiru. Then she shifted her attention to Seiya. "Take her to somewhere safe."

Seiya nodded.

"Don't you dare Tenoh Haruka." The aqua hair woman warned. If look, could kill a person, Haruka should be dead by now.

"Take her away."

"TENOH HARUKA!" Michiru shouted angrily. She jumped, she kicked aimlessly, she used all her might to fling her hand violently, but it only motivated Seiya and another officer to tighten their grip.

Haruka sweat dropped. The wild side from fully clothed Michiru was new to her. At her wit's end, Haruka decided to use the most efficient way to silence Michiru. She took few steps forward, cupped Michiru's cheek with both hands and kissed her fully on lips. Michiru was taken by surprise and froze. Seiya's eyes widened. The other officer remained nonchalant.

Haruka pulled back and looked deeply into the ocean blue eyes. "Do you know how to cook?"

"Huh?" Haruka's intense gaze was replied by questioning look from Michiru.

"Do you know how to cook?" Haruka tried again.

"Well…." Michiru fidgeted uneasily. "….simple meal won't be a problem….."

"Good." Haruka smiled, satisfied with the answer. "I'm coming over for dinner tonight. Get ready for me ok?"

Haruka was rewarded with another 'huh' from Michiru.

"I said I will be coming over for dinner. Just get ready for me, ok?"

It took Michiru few seconds for her brain to function properly, to comprehend the meaning behind Haruka's question. "Well….ok…"

"Great. Seiya, take her away." Haruka took one last look at Michiru before jogged away.

Seiya nodded for the second time. Michiru didn't protest anymore but she called out for Haruka for the final time.

Haruka stopped and turned.

"Stay alive and come back in one piece."

Haruka smirked. "I wouldn't want to miss our dinner for the world." The same playful statement but for Michiru, it was promise from Haruka. An assurance from Haruka. She believed in Haruka because she did it once succeeded. And she would keep this one too. With that being said, Haruka then dashed to her designated car.

Shinjuku station was a major railway station in Shijuku and Shubuya wards in Tokyo. The station was used by an average 3.64 million per day, thus making it the world's busiest transport hub and the record was even registered under Guinness World of Record. If the bomber felt downhearted with figure of human lives that he was able to claim from his previous bombs, he definitely won't be disappointed with this one. Haruka was unsure how bad the disaster would be if the bomb exploded at here, but she was expecting at least few millions of lives would evaporated into thin air, should she failed to clear this bomb.

The station itself has 36 platform, well over 200 exits, another 17 platforms could be accessed through hallways to 5 directly connected station without surfacing outside. Haruka was standing at the main entrance of west exit. Thousands of commuters passed by in front of her with all kind of expressions on their faces, with all kind of emotions they brought with them. Haruka looked at each of them. She started to wonder what they would look like if she failed in her final mission, and the final bomb exploded. Shock. Pain. That was what registered on the victims' face, when Haruka acted rashly with the first bomb. It was a mistake. And Haruka determined not to repeat it again.

Beep.

It was not from the old mobile. It was message notification from Haruka's smartphone.

Souchi Tomoe. Escaped from jail 23 days ago. Current status unknown.

Souchi Tomeo, the mad scientist. Once, he was part of the Science Council of Japan. Bright scientist with IQ in between 150 – 160, put him at par with Stephen Hawking. Tomeo majored in Virology, the study of viruses. It focused on the following aspects of viruses: their structure, classification and evolution, their ways to infect and exploited host cells for reproduction, their interaction with host organism physiology and immunity, the diseases they caused, the techniques to isolate and cultured them, and their use in research and therapy. Unfortunately, Tomeo was not interested to study viruses for mankind benefits. In his days with the Council, he broke the law by conducting his own experiment in Science Council of Japan, using their resources, and refused to disclose the details of his experiment. He was expelled from the Council when not long he was discovered producing hazardous virus in mass quantity. The virus was his own creation and no one knew what he planned to do with the virus. A tip from an informant led Haruka and her teammates to Tomeo's secret lab, and abandoned factory at Tokyo's outskirt. By the time the team reached the secret lab, all the virus information, data, sample, and the virus itself had long gone. The lab had been cleaned thoroughly. They only found Tomeo, in his lab coat, sitting on a high back executive chair, in the middle of the abandoned secret lab. There was no evidence Tomoe was producing hazardous virus, so they could only charge him with whatever licenses he lacked of as a scientist and for operating a lab. Haruka had long forgotten how long his jail term was. The most important now was, he's a threat to public along with his old invention that the world won't feel proud of. There was another concern. 2 out of the 4 names in Haruka's mind were out of reach. Most probably they had been kidnapped. By none other than the mad scientist himself. Along with the fifth member.

"Tenoh-san?" A teenager, looked like in his early twenties, dressed like an everyday university student, holding a very familiar cardbox box stood in front of Haruka. "Are you Tenoh-san?" The young man asked.

"Yes."

"Someone asked me to give this to you." The young man pushed the box to Haruka.

Haruka took the box from the young man, balanced it with her left hand, and used her right hand to flip open the lid. 'The bomb'. The attached mobile beep. Haruka immediately thanked the teenager and put the box on the ground and checked the message. "He is the last. You should know why."

Of course I know.

Moto Gorou. The remaining investigator in the team. Gorou means fifth son. Tomoe had his fifth and last victim. Haruka sent out the answer fifth and sure enough, the timer stopped. At the same time, the old mobile rang.

"It's the fifth bomb. What else do you want?"

"I have prepare a surprise for you. Walk straight 200 meters to the east, I have standby motorbike for you. Yamaha R15. Similar with the one you own but this is in green color. Go get it. You know where to find me." The line went dead.

Right at the same time, a huge explosion occurred at the main road facing Shinjuku west entrance. Human screams and car honks polluted the Shinjuku area like an unsynchronized music. The crowd scattered aimlessly like an army of ants lost their tracking scent. Mostly away from the explosion scene. Paramedics rushed into action, followed by the police. Haruka fought through the crazy crowd for a way to the scene, stumbled few times due to the shoving and pushing. As she got nearer, she realized her designated car was engulfed in flame. The bomber had just exploded her car. Quite a number of people was injured due to the explosion and most of them were attended by paramedics by now. Haruka saw motionless bodies lying closed to the ablaze car. Adult wailed. Children cried. It was a wise decision to had paramedic standby in advanced at every bomb scene, but it still couldn't prevent the psycho from claiming for more trophies. She grabbed her own head in agony at the sight in front of her. She was furious. Haruka suddenly broke into sprint to the east. Once she located the mentioned motorbike, she straddled it effortlessly, brought the engine to life and revved away.

Nichitsu was a famous abandoned village, located in Saitama prefecture. It took at least 45 minutes from Tokyo to Nichitsu, travelled by car. For Haruka, with a 250cc bike, it took her only 25 minutes. Nichitsu was where Haruka captured Tomeo for the first time. It was also the location of Tomoe's secret lab.

The lab or the abandoned factory didn't change much from the last time Haruka stepped into this place. It's not the time nor it's her duty to canvass this area now. Haruka walked in through the main door and just like before, the sight that was welcoming her was the same as many years ago. Tomeo, in his white lab coat, his back facing a huge glass room, with similar sitting posture. The only difference was the glass room was not empty anymore. Sitting on swivel chairs inside of the glass room, 5 familiar faces cried for help almost simultaneously when Haruka stepped in. Their wrists were bound together behind of the chair as well as their ankle. Surprisingly, the remaining 4 bags of the ransom money, was sitting nicely on top of the table next to Tomeo. Guessed Tomeo stole the money from the cars before exploded it.

"Welcome, Superintendent." Tomoe slowly raised from his chair to greet his old nemesis.

"Release them. I'll stay." Haruka looked briefly at the 5 gentleman then switched to Tomeo.

"I'm not open for negotiation. I don't want to waste any time either and I will make it fair and square for you. Let me explain to you, you role in this finale. Do you see the exhaust fan at the ceiling of the glass room there?" Tomoe pointed at the fan and carried on with his explanation. "And did you see the flexible ducting that connected the fan to the other side of the room?" Tomoe now focused on Haruka. "Well, actually, the ducting connected to other glass room but instead of human, that glass room is filled with my virus. And the glass room actually have another set of ducting that leads to the roof of the building. Now, there is a remote control in my hand." Tomeo raised her right hand, proudly showing off the remote control. "It actually controls the exhaust fans that are installed at both ends of these ducting. These exhaust fans actually works like an auto gate. There are 2 switches in the remote control. If I press the left switch, the left exhaust fan will start working. It will actually suck the virus from the other glass room to the glass room in front of you. If I pressed the right button, the right fan will suck the virus up to the roof and release it into the air and let the wind brings them to all over Tokyo, or even whole Japan."

"What the fuck…." Haruka saw red.

"Patient, patient Superintendent. You really have to work on that. Let me finish first. I will give you 5 minutes time to consider, which button you wanted me to active. If within 5 minutes, you failed to come to a conclusion, means you choose the third alternative which means, you decided to activate both fans."

"What type of psycho are you? What is your motive actually?"

"Money is always the main motive, Superintendent. Had all of you chose not to intervene last time, there won't be any casualty. I created the virus, I spread it, then I sell the cure. That was my initial plan. No one will get hurt. I got my money, my fame and my place back with Science Council of Japan. But you guys decided to ruin it. And what's happening now is the aftermath from your last action. I got my money back but not the recognition and the seat at the Council. I wanted to be compensated." There's no remorse in Tomeo and he's definitely thought his action was justified. "Now you already knew everything that you need to know…." Tomeo pressed a button at his remote control "…the countdown begins now"

Some metal clanking sound could be heard originated from the other side of the wall, like some heavy machine just came to life.

"The machine has been activated, Superintendent. If you unable to come to a decision 5 minutes later, we'll just let all the virus out." Tomeo laughed out maniacally at the option. Genius and psycho were separated by a very thin line. Tomeo's case just cemented this absurd theory.

Haruka had to think fast. She suddenly shouted a 'NO' and looked over Tomoe's shoulder. This action prompted Tomeo to check on his back. Haruka took this advantage to run at Tomeo, punched on his right cheek, her left hand grasped Tomoe's right wrist, twisted it. A sharp pain from the wrist paralyzed Toemo's right hand and the remote slipped from his grip. Haruka quickly kicked the remote away, and with her right hand clutched on Tomeo's shirt, Haruka over thrown Tomoe to the ground. With her left hand still locked on Tomeo's right wrist, Haruka turned Tomeo's body around, face facing the ground, locked his left hand behind and kneed on Tomeo's back to disabled him.

But Tomeo's acted fast too. He grabbed a stick that happened to be within his. Using his free right hand to grab the stick, he swung it behind and hit Haruka on her forehead. Haruka fall back due to the sudden attack and Tomeo back on his both feet. Haruka's forehead was bleeding.

Tomoe now changed into fighting stance. "Do you still think I'm a weak scientist like last time? Try to get beaten everyday by different people."

Haruka attacked again. There's no time for another bullshit. Haruka kept on delivering punches, even side kick on his head, but Tomeo managed to block all. However he was kept pushing behind by Haruka's strength. Tomeo managed to learn how to defend himself in prison, but Haruka learned fighting combat in academy. He's still no matched for Haruka, but time was not on Haruka's side.

Tomeo turned away when his back touch the wall causing Haruka's punch unfortunately landed on the hanging mirror. The mirror broke into pieces. Haruka's hand was injured. Blood was oozing out from the wounds. Haruka hissed in pain. Tomeo snickered in delight.

Haruka took off her blazer and wrapped it on her injured hand." This is not good. I have to end this fast. Time is not kind to me." Haruka thought to herself. 'Ok. Back to basic.'

Haruka moved again. One punch to the right. Blocked. Another punched top the left. Blocked. Haruka didn't withdraw her hand, instead in 1 swift motion she opened her palm wide, gripped on Tomeo's right wrist again, pulled him in, took him offguard, then kicked on his abdomen once. Haruka unwrapped the blazer from her right hand, grabbed his shirt and overthrown him again. Using the same earlier locking tactic, this time Haruka firmly locked Tomeo on the ground. She wrapped her blazer around Tomeo's throat, pulled it hard with her both hands, pulled it with all his might, making sure there's no other weapon within Tomeo's reach, kept on pulling it until Tomoe was out of breath, body limped down, unconscious.

Haruka moved back and took some deep breath. Her right hand was shaking crazily in pain but it's not over yet. Haruka didn't know how much time's left. She rushed to the glass room, untied the nearest victim, Isamu.

"You untie the rest then leave this place at once." Haruka didn't wait for reply. She dashed out from the glass room, went to the other side of the building and she saw another glass room with 2 sets of ducting pipe. The glass room looked empty but Haruke knew it actually filled with viruses. The she saw the heavy duty machine on the right of the glassroom. There were few lit buttons at the front of the machine. It looked no different with a huge closed DB box. Haruka unsure with the machine's function, but this machine was not what she was looking for. She ran to behind of the building and finally face to face with a huge generator. When she was here first time for the operation, Haruka scanned the whole building and found that the electricity in this factory was generated from a huge generator. The same one in front of her face right now. So, the only thing that she needed to so right now was to switched off this generator. Haruka saw the activation handle was on the 'on' side. She needed to push the handle up to turn off the generator. Using all of her strength, Haruka tried to push the handle up. It remained unmoved. It was supposed to be an easy task. The generator had been abandoned for some time, along with the new formed rust, the interior gadget was not as smooth as before. Haruka used both of his hand and with the support of his right shoulder, she tried again. Bead of sweats dropping down from her chin like big droplet rain. She was losing more and more blood from her right hand. The handle was still unmoved. Haruka gritted her teeth, using her legs to support her whole body and pushed. Haruka knew she won't be able to last long. Even if she had all the time in the world, she had almost used up all of her strength. She almost gave up when another pairs of hand pushed on the handle. Then another. Another pairs came along. By now, total of 6 pairs of hand were on the handle. Pushing it hard. Haruka glanced at all of them. Fuse Isamu, Taichi Hajime, Chiba Mamoru, Iseki Masaru and Moto Gorou. The 5 kidnapped victims. They were at here to lend a helping to Haruka and Haruka felt grateful with them. The handle started to inch up. Bit by bit. 'Push!' All 6 of them put in their last effort and the handle finally went up. The clanking noise died down. The machine had ceased to function. Haruka dropped to the ground, totally exhausted. Siren could be hear from the afar and its getting louder and louder.

"Damm. Why does it have to be like an action movie? The reinforcement will only arrived after the mission is accomplished." Haruka wondered aloud and sighed deeply. The rest of them laughed.

"The wound at the forehead is not serious. Just avoid the contact water and it would healed in 3 to 4 days time. But your right hand, some of the wound is quite deep. You need stiches."

Haruka wounded right hand was placed on the table, covered by a piece of clean white cloth. Tomoe had been arrested, viruses remained contained, Seiya and Yaten took over the crime scene and Haruka was sent to the General Hospital by ambulance. A female doctor was checking her wound with tweezers looking for small broken glass.

"No."

"Yes, you need it.

"I said no."

"I said yes."

"I am Superintendent General. If I said no that means no."

"I don't care who you are. The Commissioner, Prime Minister or even the King himself. What I know is, you are my patient now. If I said you need stiches that means you need it."

Dominant woman. Haruka always found dominant woman attractive. She studied the doctor in front of her. Long black hair till the waist line, red eyes hidden under the long lashes. Chiseled face. High cheekbone. She had the look of a model. Tanned skin. Haruka looked at the name tag pinned at the white coat. 'Meioh Setsuna'

"Meioh-san, what time does your shift end?"

"Any reason for that question?"

"If it's too late, I can drive you home."

"With the injured hand of yours?" A single eyebrow raised skeptically.

"Though I am righty, I can assure you my left hand is as agile as my right." Setsuna managed to keep herself on check from executing some unprofessional act rolled her eyes at the double meaning statement.

"You just solved a big case, Superintendent. Aren't you will be very busy today?"

Haruka chuckled. "My schedule is flexible. I'm available at anytime."

"Seems like it was only minor injuries. Considering you are already making planning for your flexible schedule."

Haruka froze on the spot. She inadvertently lowered her head, to avoid eye contact with a certain aqua hair woman. Subconsciously lowered one head was actually a guilty reaction too. Haruka right now acted like a kid reprimanding by her own mother. The previous smooth tongue suddenly vanished into this air. Noticing the tongue tied Haruka, both woman smirked innerly.

"How is she doctor?" Michiru asked, closing in on Haruka.

"She is basically fine. The wound on her head is nothing serious. However she need stiches on her right hand."

"I said no to stiches." Haruka mumbled her protest.

"Just stich her up, doctor."

"Michiru…" Haruka finally looked up at Michiru. Disbelieved was clearly written on her face.

"Just do what you need to do, doctor." Michiru flashed her triumphant smile at the doctor and the doctor seemed very eager to follow the instruction.

Haruka's face drained out of color.

Payback is a real bitch.

Haruka was unclear what will be served for dinner but her eyes were fixed on Michiru, whom was washing some broccolis and now cutting it on the island that separated the kitchen and the living room. Haruka was sitting on a round chair at the opposite side, facing Michiru but neither of them had eye contact since the trip back home from the hospital. Haruka felt uncomfortable with the silence looming over them. She felt the same over the uncertainty in between her and Michiru. The ride back to Michiru's house was void of conversation.

"If you are angry with me, you can tell me." Haruka, finally couldn't stand the deafening silence, spoke out. "Though I think I did nothing wrong."

Michiru did not respond immediately. She opened the fridge, took another broccoli, washed it thoroughly, and put it on the chopping board. She glared at Haruka for a moment then started to cut the broccoli. "So….. you are available at any time for any people." Michiru stated out what she heard at the hospital.

Haruka inhaled deeply and slowly. "Well….this is a fact." Haruka hesitated. Nothing had been confirmed yet…so she had to stay firmed, even though she herself was not convinced with her own answer.

Michiru stopped whatever she was doing and looked at Haruka. Their eyes met for the first time since they left the hospital. There was no anger, no disappointment on Michiru's face. Just unreadable. Michiru then walked around the island, walked up to Haruka, get her uninjured hand and dragged her to the main door. She was going to kick Haruka out of her house.

But Haruka reacted faster. With one swift motion, she stood in between Michiru and the main door. Michiru remained quiet, crossed her arms over her chest and waited for Haruka to spill her mind.

Haruka stared hard at Michiru. "I don't like to share, Michiru." Her voice was low and hard.

Michiru replied the stare evenly. "While you were out there busy saving our city, I have cut off all the unnecessary loose strings." Came the reply from the emotionless Michiru.

Haruka was dumbfounded. "You didn't tell me anything."

Haruka was dumbfounded. She didn't expect this. She thought Michiru would take the initiave to discuss her what she wanted. What both of them wanted and not suddenly dropped the bombshell in front of her. Of course Haruka felt delighted with the confession, but it came so sudden, Haruka was unsure how to react. "You…..you didn't tell me anything."

Now Haruka felt genuinely guilty. Her own pride and dignity brought her unwanted trouble and now she needed to shove both of them aside. She sighed. She hated the complication. Haruka slowly walked up to Michiru, and timidly embrace her from behind. Michiru stiffened. Haruka then let her hands lingered on Michiru's arm, and slowly trace its way to Michiru's hand. Haruka took the knife from Michiru, put it aside, then brought the hands back to Michiru's waist and entwined them. "If I fixed my schedule….. to suit your schedule…. will you consider me to me to be part of your new possibility plan?"

Upon hearing the question, Michiru smiled. All the previous anger was forgotten and she relaxed into Haruka's embrace. "I don't know. You said yesterday you are exploring new possibility with certain someone. I'm not sure whether I'm part of your new possibility plan or not."

Haruka chuckled. "My new possibility plan involved someone with aqua hair, blue eyes, will struggle wildly when being hold down, forgetting all her usual elegance demeanor and actually won't hesitate to throw out a threat." Michiru laughed. "So are we sharing the same exploration? Sharing the same new possibility?"

Michiru chuckled, turned around and pulled Haruka down for a brief kiss. "My plan also involved a certain arrogant blondie, that like to flirt shamelessly, brave enough to save Tokyo from a psycho bomber, but scared to take stitches like a little boy. I think the description fits both of us, so…yes…I think we shared the plan." Michiru smiled but not for long as Haruka dove down for another kiss. It didn't take long for the kiss to turn passionate.

"I'm…hungry." Haruka said without broken the kiss.

"Let go of me and we will have dinner soon. I'm hungry too." Michiru did the same.

Haruka pushed the cutting board and the knife away with her uninjured hand. Next, she brought Michiru up to the island. "I'm hungry." Haruka started to unbutton Michiru's blouse.

The real meaning behind Haruka's words suddenly dawned on Michiru. "But Haruka, I'm hungry for edible food."

Haruka had long accomplished her unbuttoning mission and now her hand sneak to Michiru's back to unclasp the bra hook.

"It can be wait."

"But Haruka…" The protest was replaced with moans when her nipple was being teased by a tongue.

Haruka proceed to unzip Michiru's pencil skirt, which Haruka found she was quite fortunate today because the zip was located at the side of the skirt and not at the back. Michiru raised her hips slightly for Haruka to slip her skirt down along with her panties.

"You are injured, Haruka."

Haruka brought herself back to Michiru's eye level. Her lopsided grin indicating the injury won't posed any problem to her. "Trust me when I said my left hand could be as agile as my right. And….who says I need a hand?" Before Michiru could response, Haruka slid back down to face her 'dinner'.

'This dinner is much more delicious.'