Down Into Your Heart Chapter One
I republish this story chapter. Thanks and credits to Lita the dancing flames for editing this story (^_^)
Another court day
The detective shifted in her seat. The case they were working with was the murder of a ten year old child, the worst type of case for her to handle. Somehow, her homicide team had successfully caught the perp after a week's investigation.
"Detective Tenoh," a voice called from the gallery. The blonde woman turned around and saw her partner move down the aisle to the prosecution table. The black haired man was assigned as her partner as of 2 months ago. Mamoru Chiba.
"How many times must I ask you to call me Haruka?" Frustrated, she grabbed the case file from Mamoru. Both of them sat down as court started.
"Took me long enough to drop the honorific," Mamoru replied; but the blonde knew that her partner was just teasing in order to see her frustrated face.
"I love this court," Mamoru suddenly blurted out. Haruka watched as the defendant's team entered one by one.
"Why? I hate this case."
"I hate the case too." Mamoru admitted. "Just wait, you will see my reason for loving this court." Mamoru smiled and his eyes signaled the front door.
"That's the reason..."
Haruka followed Mamoru's stare and was captivated by the scene. A woman with aqua-colored hair was elegantly cruising through the aisle from the gallery.
"Crap." Haruka said softly. She now knew that this would be a tough case. In addition to the court's queen, the best lawyer in this country just stepped forward for the worst perp in this horrible case.
"I know, crap," Mamoru's stare still lingered on the aquanette lawyer.
"Behave, dude." Haruka didn't like the way her partner stared at the woman.
"Michiru Kaioh, the best defense attorney in the country... What do you think? Will we win even though we have strong evidence...?" Mamoru sighed, realizing what they would face from here on.
"We will win this," Haruka answered with full determination. Hers eyes, too, were unable to leave the breathtaking figure nearby. Michiru Kaioh sure was one amazing woman.
"Here she goes..." Mamoru elbowed Haruka rather hard when Michiru approached the prosecution's table, again with elegant movements.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen," Michiru greeted both Mamoru and Haruka with an easy smile. Haruka thought that she must have practiced those smiles for the court session.
"Let's play a fair game here," she continued. Michiru turned to Haruka, seeming to expect some sort of reply from the blonde detective.
"I hope the same. As you know, we eagerly caught the defendant and plan on a life sentence for him," Haruka started. She refused to lose this case.
"I heard that you only needed a week to catch my client. Let's see if your evidence holds up." Michiru flashed that same smile again.
Still coldly composed, Haruka replied, "We won't let you free this beast. Not now."
"I understand. Like I said, let's have a fair game." With that, Michiru retreated and went back to her seat at the defendant's table.
Mamoru shifted uncomfortably in his seat. From Michiru's expression, he was certain that the aquanette had prepared something to weaken their evidence.
"What do you think?" Haruka asked, jaw clenched.
"I don't think this will be a fair game," Mamoru concluded.
Haruka shut her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath as the judge walked in. The record of this beautiful lawyer was nearly perfect. Almost all her clients had passed with flying colors. Yet, deep in her heart, Haruka wanted their earlier conversation to last a little longer.
Haruka threw herself into her car, furious. Court had ended badly. Not very bad yet, but already worse than she'd wanted. The judge wanted to reconsider some evidence and delayed another day. Haruka cursed repeatedly as she turned the ignition in her car.
"Damn that woman!" Haruka stepped on the gas hard and hit downtown with full speed. The best perk about being a cop is that you could drive fast and no one would question you.
"I know, but can you please slow down?" Mamoru shouted from the phone. He tried to calm Haruka as he knew the blonde would be frustrated and raging. He knew his partner's habit was to drive at high speeds when angry.
"I can't," Haruka ignored her partner.
"Then please take the highway before you injure someone!"
"I already did."
"Good. You know, you need to get back to the precinct. We need to come up with some strategies to bring down the defendant," Mamoru reminded her.
"I know, Mamoru...! Just leave me alone for a second, would you?!" Haruka hung up angrily. Her mind wandered to the court events earlier and she regretted that she had met Michiru as enemies. No one wanted the aquanette as an enemy.
Haruka turned off from the highway and drove around the coast area, slowing her speed. Her dream had been to be a racer, but for a couple reasons, she decided to attend the police academy. She never regretted her decision.
A few yards away, her eyes caught a familiar figure on the street. It was Michiru, the admirable lawyer Haruka was currently annoyed with.
"What she is doing there?" Haruka parked her car and strode toward her.
Michiru was busy with her cell phone, dialing numbers that she didn't seem to reach. To the woman's right was her car with some smoke drifting from the hood.
"Miss Kaioh?" Haruka greeted her suddenly. The aquanette started, taken by surprise, and almost dropped her cell phone. She turned around and encountered the detective she had just met at court.
Great, another enemy to ruin my day, Michiru thought. But unfortunately she couldn't go anywhere with a broken-down car and a now-dead phone battery.
"Ah, detective," Michiru returned the cold greeting. "Nice to meet you again... this is rather perfect timing, though." Michiru's eyes travelled to the blonde's. She was surprised to be captivated by the depth of the detective's blue eyes. She couldn't help but stare at them.
"Ah…May... May I borrow your phone?"
Haruka didn't notice Michiru's eyes on her as she dug around her pocket to find her phone.
"You having trouble with that?" Haruka pointed to the car that now looked ready to explode at any second. The thick smoke sluggishly curled upward, and the sight was rather scary.
"Yes, as you see. I need the phone to call for help." Michiru went to another side to make a call. Haruka stood there for a moment, then approached the car. She analyzed the car, and realized that the problem could be anywhere, so she started by opening the cap.
Michiru sighed in relief. The detective was not bad and cruel like she'd first thought. Surprisingly, the blonde was very nice and not mocking her about the situation. The next time they met at court, Michiru wanted to meet her as an acquaintance rather than an enemy.
Michiru went back to her car and noticed Haruka working with it. She had some tools out and was opening parts of her car.
"Detective, what are you doing?"
"How long did you fail to get this poor thing serviced?" Haruka asked. Michiru couldn't see the blonde's face clearly as it was hidden by the car.
"I don't know. This is not my car. I borrowed it from my friend. You can fix it?" Michiru didn't know that a detective could repair a car.
"I could have fixed this a week ago, but now... this is hopeless." The blonde gave up and gathered her tools into their box.
Michiru just looked at the blonde detective.
"What?" Haruka lifted a brow, realizing Michiru was staring at her with a strange expression.
"Your face is dirty... I think because the smoke." Michiru directed Haruka's attention to the blonde's face that covered in some black stain and smelled of oil.
"Oh, I'll get it." Haruka intended to clean the stain with her hand, but only managed to put more on her face.
Michiru giggled.
"That did not work, detective. Your hand is also dirty. Here, use this." Michiru gave her handkerchief to Haruka.
Haruka was reluctant to accept it. The pretty handkerchief would get dirty in order to clean her face.
"I'll just clean down on the way home..." Haruka said.
"It will be hard getting all of it off if you ignore it now." Michiru put the handkerchief in Haruka's hand, forcing her to accept it.
"... Thanks."
They stood there awkwardly, feeling the pressure of silence.
"Where did you want to go?" Haruka asked to break it.
"Umm... a friend's place near this side of town."
"Great, I'll take you there. Leave this thing here... It's okay." Haruka opened the door to her car.
"Are you sure?" Michiru followed Haruka.
"Yeah, what's the address?"