Chapter 1

Yukata Kouno and Yusuke Saito

Kouno looked at the piles of paperwork he had before him. This time it was his night. Saito was sitting just next to him looking through his shoulder. He stayed just to make fun of him, of course. For some reason when it was his turn to do paperwork he had the biggest amount of it. On top of that his headaches were getting worse. It started a few days ago and made concentrating on work even worse than normally.

'Saaaaiiito-kuuun…' he started leaning over the desk barely holding the pen in his hand. Today the headache was worse then ever. His head was pounding and concentrating even on one thing was just too difficult for him. 'Can you, please, finish this for me, today?' he asked trying to stop himself from looking around just to see his partner sitting on a comfy chair behind him and drinking coffee from a blue cup with the sign "Shigoto wo aishiteru" on it.

Saito sighed and took another sip of coffee.

'I don't really know…' he said looking on the ceiling. 'I'm a bit too tired and sleepy today for it…' he said.

Kouno smiled at what he was just about to do. He slowly pushed away from the desk making his chair hit Saito's legs, making him spill his coffee on a white shirt.

'What did you do that for?' the dark-haired man shouted, looking at his ruined clothes.

'That was for being lazy…' Kouno said with a smile and started laughing. He didn't stay optimistic for long. The laughing brought a wave of pain into his head once again. He put his hand on his head.

'Are you alright?' Saito asked putting the last incident aside and finally noticing Kono's problem

'I'm sorry… I'll have to leave everything to you…' his partner answered standing up. He went towards the exit grabbing the edges of desks to regain balance. As he left Saito took a call phone out. He dialed a number and waited a few signals for the other side to answer.

'Yes?' a sleepy, woman's voice came out of the phone.

'Chief!' Saito said quietly, making sure that nobody heard him. It wasn't hard since there was nobody in the room at this late hour, but it was also possible that Kono would be back.

'Saito!?' the man heard Misaki's surprised voice. 'It's 1 am! Why are you calling me so late?'

'It's about Kouno… He's been acting strangely lately, don't you think?'

'So you noticed it too?' Misaki's voice became more serious. 'If that's the case I'll have to talk with him tomorrow. Where is he?'

'He just left… And he left me all the paperwork…' Saito complained. 'I'll see you tomorrow then…'

'Yes…' the woman said, ending the call.

'Jeez…' Saito gave a long sigh and started finishing what Kouno started. "If that's the case...", does she really think he's that dense?

The blond-haired man looked in the mirror and saw his replica in it. There was nothing unusual in it. Just the normal him. Blond hair, dark eyes, his red jacket. Meaning nothing unusual.

'Oww…' he gave a long cry and washed his face, searching refreshment in the water.

He looked back up in the mirror. Something has changed. There was a red light in his pupils. How was that possible? It must've been just his imagination. He looked again and noticed that the light was gone. He slowly lowered his head looking at the sink.

'Wh-what…?' That was all he managed to say before his vision went dark and he collapsed.

Hei

'What's that star?' the young black-haired man asked, backing his head away from the telescope.

The doctor took his place.

'Ah! I'm surprised you managed to see it, Li-kun' the short-haired man said. He was a middle-aged man with black hair and green eyes. 'It's been like that for a couple of years now… As if it's sleeping…' he added after a short moment.

'Huh?' Li-kun looked surprised at the scientist.

'Well, that's how I feel…' the man answered quickly.

There was a short moment of silence, while the scientist was looking at other stars.

'Umm… Jikito-san?' he heard his younger friend's voice.

The man looked at Li just to see him pointing in the air. He followed his gaze and saw a star. It was shining more than any of the other stars.

'How…?' Jikito said standing up. 'I'm sorry Li-kun… Please leave by yourself, today… You know where the exit is…' he said heading towards the only door that was on the roof.

Hei stood up and his innocent looked changed into an emotionless and empty gaze.

'I'm alone…' he said to the microphone he just put in his ear, as the doors closed behind Jikito.

'Good… The empty lab's on the second floor. Room no. 201.' He heard Huang's voice.

'I'm on it…' he answered slowly heading towards the exit with a calm gaze and his hands in the pocket of his jeans. As he was walking through the corridor some scientists passed him.

'There's someone entering the room…' he heard from the microphone, and then: 'he's gone' a short moment later. He reached the door to lab 201 and made sure nobody was on the corridor. The room was at the end of it, so it was convenient. He opened the door and found himself in a room full of computers and files drawers. He turned on one of the machines and searched it for anything related to what he was looking for. He found nothing. The information was old and probably destroyed already, but this was the only lead they had. He then headed towards the drawers. He found the one entitled R-T and opened it.

'It's here' he said to the microphone. He took out a light brown file and opened it. He searched his pocket for a small camera and took a picture of the first page.

'Hurry up… someone's coming' suddenly he heard Huang's cold voice. 'She's here, Hei…'

The Black Reaper saw the handle move. He quickly closed the drawer leaving the file in it and pushed the off button on the computer. He put the camera in his pocket. In the last minute he managed to take the microphone out of his ear.

The door opened. And a young scientist appeared in it. She had long red hair and carried a black folder in her hands.

'Ah! Misoro-san' Li said looking at her with an innocent and a bit embarrassed smile.

'Li-kun?!' the woman said surprised. 'What're you doing here?' she asked.

'Ah… Well, I was looking for Jikito-san… I think I left something with him. I was just looking for him…'

Li put his hands in his pockets. His fingers felt the cold metal of the camera. He looked surprised at Misoro.

'Ah… it was in my pocket after all…' he said embarrassed.

'Absentminded as always, aren't you, Li-kun?' Misoro said with a warm smile.

'Sorry about that…' Li answered leaving the room.

'Li-kun!' the woman called after him.

'Yes?' the young man stopped looking back at her.

'What do you think of that star?' she asked quietly.

Li started at her for a moment and finally it got to him what the woman was talking about.

'I managed to see it only once… a few years ago, but I forgot about it at that time...' he answered calmly with a little bit of surprise in his voice.

'You like star gazing, don't you, Li-kun?' Misoro asked.

'Yes… it was my hobby since I was a little boy…' he looked at her. She was already preparing to ask another quiestion. He smiled shippishly. 'If you'll excuse me, please…' he said leaving the room.

He made sure he wasn't followed and put the microphone back in his ear.

'It's still in the room… The woman got it, she was asking questions about the star… I'm heading towards the exit, now…' he reported.

'Roger that' he heard Huang's voice.

A smile appreared on Hei's face.

'We finally got you…'

Kirihara Misaki

'SK609!' Misaki jumped on her bed hearing that code. 'But… the last time it was active was over five years ago!'

'I know…' she heard her friend's voice. 'We're still looking for information about it… Looks like you got yourself a new contactor to go after…' Kanami said pessimistically.

'If you get any more information, please tell me right away…' Misaki said.

'I will… and Misaki… be careful…'

Kanami hang up leaving her friend with only silence. She didn't even have time to fall asleep between the two calls she just got. She lay down and looked at the ceiling. She could see the outline of the lamp on it, but without colors. She closed her eyes. The sight of her apartment at night, full of shadows made her feel even more miserable. The situation was getting worse than ever. They had no information on the enemy and the star… SK609… It was said that it had a very dangerous power. Well… at least nobody survived after meeting him...

Yukata Kouno

The young detective woke up. It felt weird. The headache was gone. Everything was back to normal. The sink, him… No… not him. He felt different. Like something that was lost returned to him. He stood up and grabbed the edge of the sink to regain balance. He quickly left the building and headed home. As if something was hurrying him.Once he was outside he looked up and saw the dark sky above him.

It was such a beautiful night. The star seemed to shine to him more than ever… Now... why would he think something like that?...