Chapter One

"Please."

Smoke filled her senses, burning into her nose and eyes. Her hands grasped blindly towards something, anything, to keep her from the grey haze's stinging claws. But there was nothing there for her to hold onto, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew it was a losing battle. And still she silently called out, hoping someone would hear.

"Please. Don't let me die here."

The smoke dragged her into the dark, and she began to lose consciousness. Her stinging eyes began to close, the lids becoming heavy, impossible to keep open. Her lungs strained for breath as they filled with the heavy hanging gas. Her arm shrieked in pain as the flames finally reached her, and she became aware of a new smell: burning flesh. But she couldn't scream, as the world went completely black.

Just before she closed her eyes completely, she thought she heard the faintest sound of footsteps on the stairs.

Her eyes snapped open; before squinting against harsh, blinding light. She groaned and tried to roll over, only to let out a quiet scream at a sharp pain in her left arm. Looking down, she saw that it was wrapped heavily in bandages, which were soaked through with blood. She stared at them in confusion until the events that had caused the wound flooded back to her and she pressed her lips together. How had she gotten here?

The sound of footsteps rang through her memory and she decided that whoever had come up the stairs must have brought her here and patched her up. She let out a small sigh, allowing herself a moment of euphoric relief before raising her guard back up. Just because they'd saved her didn't necessarily mean she was safe. For all she knew, they planned on trying to get information from her before killing her themselves. Who would go to the trouble of saving her from a fire and taking the time to patch her up, she wasn't sure.

Just as she was about to get up and see if there was any way to escape this room other than the door across from her, the door in question opened to reveal the last person she'd expected to see.

A woman with a blonde ponytail; thin glasses atop her nose; and a pressed, black suit stood in the doorway, staring at her with cold, burgundy eyes. The woman's mouth was pressed into a line as thin as her own. She wasn't happy about this either, it seemed.

"I didn't think you'd be awake yet." She said, her tone slightly awkward. Her eyes flickered over her stain bandages and she full out frowned. "I was just coming in to change those."

"Who are you?"

"Ah!" The woman's cheeks tinted slightly pink. "Right. I'm Ichiyou Higuchi."

She nodded back at her. "Hello Ms. Higuchi."

Higuchi waited for a moment, before it became apparent that she wasn't going to give her name. With a sigh, she walked over to her, producing a roll of clean bandages and unwrapping the old ones. She tried not to hiss in pain as they were peeled away from her arm, revealing the scarred flesh underneath. Higuchi pulled a small bottle from a drawer in the stand beside the bed and poured a murky, greenish liquid over her arm.

"It's only Aloe Vera." She said, catching her expression. "It'll help-"

"Yes, I know what it does." Her blue eyes narrowed.

Higuchi shrugged and spread it gingerly over the area of blackened skin, before wrapping a bandage around it tightly. "That should be alright. I'll send for Mori to come speak with you, now that you're awake." She paused, gauging her reaction before adding, "That was a close call you know. You've been out for four days."

Four days?

Seeing the shock on her face, Higuchi awkwardly patted her head. "Don't worry, we've taken good care of you." She stood up and walked out the door without another word, although she did glance back for a moment.

Not long after, a man in a black trench coat and red scarf over a suit with a striped tie walked in, followed by two more men. One had a similar black coat over a dress shirt, adorned with a ruffled neck scarf she found ridiculous. The other wore a vest and jacket over a white shirt and yet again a long, black coat that he wore like a cape on his shoulders. He also had a red and black hat and he seemed to be quite…short. She had to look away and hope he didn't notice how hard she was trying not to laugh. If he was a Port Mafia member than a funny fashion sense and a lack of height wouldn't change the fact that he was a potential threat. Luckily for her (or unluckily, depending on how you viewed it), the first man, whom she assumed was Mori, spoke up.

"I'm glad to see you are alive and well, Ms.…." Mori paused, expecting her to give her name.

She didn't. "Mori, is it? Thank you for helping me." She gave him a thin smile.

Mori, however, frowned at the obvious rejection. "You're welcome. It's quite something to have the Port Mafia save you." The unspoken words were clear: You owe us.

"Yes, I'm sure it would be for anyone else." Sure, she was grateful to them for saving her life. Of course she was. But she would not owe them anything. Definitely not this Mori, who probably hadn't, and wouldn't have, lifted a finger to help her. She could already tell by the wide, yet blankness of his crimson eyes and the cold smile on his face that he was obviously unhinged. She was willing to bet it would start to show more as this conversation continued.

"Anyone else? You seem to regard yourself highly." Mori laughed.

She refrained from rolling her eyes. "You misunderstand me, Mori." She returned the laughter. "I simply am not as easily fooled as most people."

The mood in the room became noticeably cooler after she finished speaking. She locked eyes with Mori, fire against water. They might have continued their silent battle of wills all day if the man with the white-tipped hair hadn't spoken up.

"Fooled? Do you believe the Port Mafia would stoop to such levels as to save someone only to use it as manipulation?" His dark eyes seemed to try and cut through her, but they met with fierce resistence.

"Yes, yes I do." She did not remove her gaze from any of the people in the room. "Now, if you'll kindly excuse me, I wish to leave."

Mori's calmness wavered slightly and she saw the tinge of madness that she'd been expecting, not behind his eyes, but on the surface at point blank range. "Very well." He replied, his tone cold yet still that of a gentleman. She smiled slightly wider to let him know that she'd caught on. He didn't react to her, and that was fine.

"Chuuya, please escort the lady to the entrance." He gestured towards the odd man with the hat. His face was emotionless as she rose and walked over to him. It seemed that they had left her in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, although the latter's sleeve had been burned away on the side with the bandages.

Stepping out of the room, she was faced with a maze of hallways. If this was trap, she was already a goner, although she certainly wasn't going to admit to that. Instead she followed 'Chuuya' down several of the passages before he broke the silence.

"You aren't going to get away with that, you know." His voice was deeper than she'd thought and she almost started laughing again.

"I think I'm fine. This isn't my first time fighting fire, and it would be my last." She kept her speech vague despite her internal laughter, knowing full well this man was the enemy.

"That so? You really do regard yourself highly."

"What, are you deaf? I said that's wrong. I simply have half a brain, unlike you it seems." She replied shortly.

"Shut up." He snapped back at her and she took pride in finally getting a rise out of one of these people, despite him being the most hot-headed person she'd ever met. She had decided to voice that last part just as Higuchi appeared around the corner.

"Nakahara." She said politely before catching sight of her behind him. "You're leaving already?" She lowered her voice thoughtfully. "I thought Mori would question you for a while."

"I'm not interested in spending my day making nice with your crazy boss, Ms. Higuchi." She sighed irritably. Why did these people expect her to just roll over for Mori?

Higuchi did not seem surprised. "I figured not. You wouldn't even tell me your name." She then turned and left down the way they'd come. Chuuya started forward again, not even waiting for her to follow. "What is your name, anyway." He asked.

She stayed silent, an obvious rejection. Anyone in their right mind would have seen that much. But Chuuya did not seem to realize she wasn't planning on telling him, or he just didn't care. "Well? I'm waiting."

She sighed. "Miaya Shinohara." She lied. No way was she giving this random stranger her real name to report back to the Steins; Gate rip-off back there.

The entrance appeared quicker than she expected, and she had to keep herself from dashing out the doors. Chuuya pushed them open instead, leading her into the street.

"Ah, Chuuya! Thanks for bringing her out for me, I was afraid I was going to have to come in for her." A familiar voice yelled. Chuuya tensed, annoyance and anger twisting his face.

"Like hell you would, Dazai! You'd just sit on your ass while someone else did the work for you!" He snapped back at the brunette man on the sidewalk. Dazai only smiled and laughed. "Why do it myself when I have an alcoholic with a stupid hat to do it for me!"

This time, she couldn't contain herself, and she went red in the face with laughter. Chuuya cursed both of them angrily at least a dozen times before she could breathe again.

"Anyway," Chuuya snapped, face red in anger although it was directed at Dazai mostly. "I did what I had to and brought Shinohara outside, now get off the property."

Dazai didn't ask who Shinohara was, just nodded. "Okay, okay." He said, looking irritated. "Jeez, your attitude is almost as bad as your fashion sense." And he turned and walked off, leaving her to follow him. She looked back at Chuuya for a second.

"Thanks, idiot." She smirked and left a very angry Chuuya in the street.

Hooray for the first chapter! To clear up confusion, the main character is a new recruit for the Armed Detective Agency, so that's why he's there to get her. Also I got to add in some Soukoku fighting, so I'm happy about that. I should have the next chapter up by next week and if I don't you can all chase me around with torches and pitchforks, okay? Well then, that's all folks!