Disclaimer: Don't own Mai HIME or characters.
A/N - Happy Birthday to the fictional Character of Shizuru! And, her present from me is... this badass Natsuki.
1: Dark Acquisition
A dark female figure waited in the Yuzaki Empire building behind the shadow of a vending machine.
It was three in the morning and the President Shou Yuzaki was finishing fucking his secretary.
She rolled her eyes and checked her wristwatch.
Eventually the moans from the office stopped and she watched silently from her spot as his office door opened and he walked out with his shirt undone – the female secretary blushing and giggling.
They kissed for a while at the door and then she turned around coyly saying, "See you tomorrow Shou-kun."
He chuckled and started tucking his shirt into his trousers, walking back in the office for a moment to grab his jacket and briefcase before coming back out.
He took no notice of the silent figure following his every move expertly through the hallways.
When he made it to the elevators, she took the stairs and put on a pair of gloves after tying her hair back.
She pressed her ear to the door when she made it to the first level and heard the ding of the quietly followed him down a few more hallways and then she flicked out a pocket knife from her pocket in one hand and clicked the safety off her gun in another hand.
"Yuzaki," she said passively to get his attention.
He turned in shock and surprise at another's presence, only registering dark hair before a knife glided across his throat.
He gargled and put his hands to his throat, staring at her in fright.
She shot his leg and he fell awkwardly clutching his leg in pain.
"Who are y... you," he croaked out.
OOO
"Ouch. Not a pretty sight..."
Officer Juliet Nao Zhang winced at the sight of a bloody, decapitated body. Her eyes took in the gruesome picture before her and she brought a handkerchief from her pocket to cover her mouth, bravely stepping closer.
She took in all the details: the neck was slit open and the man's eyes were wide in shock – a permanent and horrifying fear from his murder that made her feel a rare sense of sympathy. There was also a bullet hole in his temple, making her eyes draw in confusion as further inspection proved another hole in his left leg which angled awkwardly to the side.
She let out a miserable sigh and stood up; turning away from the scene before she took too much she could handle and stepped out of the caution-tape perimeter to scan the area for her direct comrades.
She saw Mai, Masashi, and Yuuichi talking near a squad car and walked over to them. Yuuichi was their chief and they were the three top Crime Scene Investigators under his jurisdiction.
"Chief... guys." She gave a curt nod and they all nodded back.
"Alright," Yuuichi cleared his throat and rubbed his forehead in frustrated exhaustion, clearly upset that another murderous psycho was out performing tragic acts. "We've sent out warrants for immediate suspects, Mai and I will do the questions and Masashi and Nao will continue further investigation. The coroners are almost done with collecting evidence and cleanup before you can evaluate the crime scene."
"Got it," Masashi shrugged on his coat and Nao gave Mai a wink before marching back to the decapitated body, keeping her eyes focused on the coroners who were currently placing the body very carefully in a body bag for an autopsy.
"Be careful," Masashi said to the coroner bending in front of them.
A head was turned to acknowledge them, and both Masashi and Nao felt their mouths go dry at the alarming beauty of the woman. She had her dark hair tied in a ponytail underneath her cap and startling green eyes like jade that made them falter in their confident strides.
She turned her face back to the bag and finished zipping it up, not at all phased by the sight of the man's eyes and stood up while expertly removing her latex gloves and disposing of them in a nearby hazard box.
"Scene's all yours," she muttered from lush lips and stalked off.
Both investigator's jaws almost hit the floor before they turned to each other and flushed brightly as they realised they were acting like perverted lechers.
"Holy shit," Nao muttered, "that's the second girl in my life I've ever wanted to grab a hold of."
Masashi chuckled with a flush, "That's probably the most I've ever wanted to 'grab a hold of' a girl."
Nao landed a punch to his arm and they let out a few more laughs before starting to evaluate the scene and get down to business.
OOO
"Mrs. Yuzaki," Yuuichi gently started in between a yawn as Mai flipped through a file, "We understand that this is a difficult time for you however we need to ask you a few questions regarding details of your husband's murder."
"I... I understand..." She said quietly, her blue eyes seemed strange yet beautiful like the rest of her face. She looked like a model, with bleach blonde hair and perfect white teeth in a row.
"Your husband was murdered last night at approximately nine twenty-two p.m. We want to know if he was having any troubles or threats because of his success that you may know of."
"Shou-kun and I rarely spoke about his business... I'm afraid I wouldn't know. Rather, since our marriage was arranged we barely talked at all."
"I see..." Yuuichi made a quick scratch to his chin. "So no one was trying to conflict with him?"
There was a small hesitation in her eyes before she frowned softly, her eyes watering as she trembled out, "There was... you see..." A tear fell from her left eye and she made no move to wipe it, fingers closing tightly around her thighs as she continued, "I know there was unfaithfulness in our marriage..."
"You mean cheating?" Yuuichi prompted softly.
She nodded, lips forming a thin line before she elaborated, "I... I n-never got the chance to confront him but I just know – I knew it!"
She sobbed then, hanging her head down as the lawyer to her right placed a comforting hand upon her shoulder.
She controlled her sob after a while and hiccupped a bit before saying "We had only been married a year and he was always so busy with... trips... I wonder if someone got... jealous."
OOO
"So what's the name? I've never seen you around here before. You new?"
The answer to Masashi's attempt at socializing and hitting on the nameless gorgeous coroner was ignorance.
She happened to be at the bar most officers of their district frequented, nursing a beer by herself when he entered for a drink before he decided to use his charm on her.
Now he felt slightly awkward yet also insulted that she would not even acknowledge him.
He frowned, waiting a few more silent seconds as the bartender handed him his own beer.
"You know," he said with a playful scoff, "you definitely have your dream job."
Finally, finally, finally, he got some acknowledgment.
She smirked.
And soon his breath was taken away as her dazzling green eyes turned to greet him with those lips maintaining their mocking smirk.
Her hair was down now, and even more beautiful than before. A white v-neck shirt that showed off her slim arms and neck taunted him but not nearly as much as the silver pendent perched against her collar and daring his eyes to imagine her perfect breasts.
An elegant 'S' hinted that perhaps her name started with the English letter 'S.'
He thought she might say something, but she simply placed a now empty mug down and stood up from her seat, walking off without a word and outside the doors of the bar into the nice summer air.
He was enchanted by the way her dark hair swayed and the tight fit of her jeans that seemed like a second skin to her legs.
And yes, he was watching that perfect ass go bye-bye as she grabbed a leather jacket on her way out.
Masashi took a swig of his beer as his eyes watched her even beyond the window where she mounted an intimidating and sexy sports Ducati motorcycle and rode off with the wind.
She was amazing... simply amazing and yet so complex. He let out a sigh.
Had he ever felt this way for a woman before?
OOO
"We've gone through all the suspects and have no leads."
"Personally I still think it's one of the suspects but... I just can't place a finger on which... it's definitely someone we know."
"I agree with Masashi," Nao commented dryly, a nail file perfecting the curve of her nails.
"It's not the parents because they were viably out of the country and have no motives or connection to the evidence." Mai took a sip of her coffee and put it back down before continuing.
"His brother is a possibility, because he was next in line to inherit the fortune, but his brother was also out of the country yet we have records of phone calls made to unknown numbers in Tokyo from abroad, possibly discussions with the real murderer leaving him a suspect."
"Who's the third?" Nao questioned, starting to get a little more interested in the suspects.
"The third and final suspect so far is his wife, she claims he was unfaithful and her only explanation would be that another female was jealous of their relationship... and she inherits two thirds of his fortune, the other third going to his parents..."
The four sat and reviewed the footage of each suspect, and though they had lingering doubts about the wife, when they watched her being questioned they could feel something...
"You think he was seeing someone else?"
Something seemed out of their grasp. What was it?
OOO
"How many miles can you hit on this thing?" Masashi attempted to talk to his angel again, but she clearly was not like other girls when it came to chatting, considering she didn't chat.
She put on her helmet and revved the engine, giving him an emotionless glance before shutting her visor and speeding off in the most attractive way.
He wished she even showed signs of disliking him, anything but the emotionless feeling she gave him proving she just didn't give a flying fuck about his persistence.
Damn it.
And he liked her more every time.
"The wife couldn't have done it..." Yuuichi drummed his fingers, "it's a third party entirely because as soon as the wife inherited her money it was stolen."
"How?" Masashi tore his mind away from the dark beauty and snapped his eyes in surprise.
"Someone hacked into her account online, knowing the exact timing of the money transfer and wired it to an unknown account in America before it was withdrawn anonymously and could now be anywhere... either this is our murderer or a really smart hacker."
"Whew," they all registered this new action.
"If it's a hacker, they are one talented person and well-informed of the deceased's circumstances to have known this... but if it's the murderer, now it's close to impossible to trace them, no hard evidence was found at the scene and all motives from the suspected can be denied in court... so the higher-ups told me we should drop the case."
OOO
"Fuck."
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to find some shit out about that hot coroner. I'm so fucking into her." Masashi had opened her file in desperation to know more about her.
"Let's see... her name is Saeko Hazu, born in December... wow, she's only twenty-four.... started work here three months ago... wait, WHAT!"
"What? What is it?"
"It says she no longer works here due to... a family problem... maybe that's why she was never happy..."
Yeah, that's why she ignored him. It had to be.
OOO
"It took me seven months, but I found it!" Masashi smirked and proudly lifted his chest.
"Found what?" Nao raised an eyebrow at Masashi.
"I found a lead on our hacker!"
"No way!" Yuuichi's eyes widened, "I lost in my bet to you?" He was sore about losing money, but very excited to appeal the case to hi superiors.
"Tell us! Tell us!" Mai encouraged him, and they all nodded eagerly.
"You're not going to believe this, but you know how the wife made an overseas trip to Paris and never returned?"
They nodded again.
"She disappears off the face of the earth and a communication wire from Paris to Los Angeles is set for twenty minutes. I found the exact sattelite used and everything, it was done at Cafe del Munierya at two in the afternoon."
"So you're saying this hacker – possibly the wife – is stationed in Los Angeles?"
"Yes. And further investigation will have to take place there because I have a pinpoint on the bank the entire wealth was withdrawn from. This hacker is good... but they are so going down."
Yuuichi grinned, "to Los Angeles."
OOO
They had just finished discussing their case with LA officers and were given permission to inquire at the bank; the one worker who had been stationed to attend the day the money was withdrawn for large cash advances had kept a record.
"Let's see," Mai was the best at reading English out of them and carefully scanned the information.
"Money withdrawn by a... Shizuru Viola?"
"Shi-zu-ru Vio-la?" Nao pronounced with confusion, "not the wife?"
"Where does this Viola live?" Yuuichi frowned, also shocked that their assumption was wrong.
OOO
Ding-dong.
She frowned, unpleased with the disruption from her tea.
"Ara ara, they came later then I expected."
She stood up, giving a sigh at her cup of tea before walking from her happy spot on her apartment's balcony and making it to the front door.
"Good evening Miss Viola," four officers whose names and faces she already knew greeted her and she gave them a bow, talking back in Japanese since they obviously didn't realise she could speak it.
"Good evening. I was informed you would be stopping by, please come inside."
They nodded and entered the apartment, awed by all the expensive architecture and furniture that decorated what they could only ever dream of living in.
"I was having some tea, would you like to join me on my balcony where we can start to discuss the circumstance?"
They accepted her kind invitation, trying to stop themselves from being disarmed by the beautiful, beautiful woman's grace and etiquette. They never thought they would see a woman who embodies all the qualities of a perfect Japanese woman outside of Japan.
They sat down on the fine balcony chairs, impressed that even a pool was able to fit out there and surprised to hear the splashing sound of someone using it.
"Ara," Shizuru said as she poured them tea with the proper traditional methods, "please do not mind my Natsuki, she always swims this time of the day."
They flushed slightly and nodded in embarrassment, for Natsuki was a girl's name and it was either Viola's daughter or lover to be referred to as 'mine.'
How could this woman be a suspect to steal so much money, or even murder someone?
"You have been informed the nature of the case?" Yuuichi asked her politely.
"Yes," she answered, "and apparently I am a suspect?"
Her eyes twinkled in amusement and they all lost their train of thought for a second. She would be the first person ever questioned by their own authorities for such a serious case who found it amusing.
"Well, er, not exactly Viola-san," Mai said slowly, "it's is more like all of our investigations lead to your withdrawal of approximately two hundred seventy million U.S. dollars three weeks ago."
"Ara, I see. Well I needed twenty million in cash and the other two hundred million or so was transferred to my new account."
"N-new account?" Masashi frowned, "we weren't told anything about this..."
They knew her bank statement reported she needed twenty million in cash for a private jet.
"That is because it is a confidential motive of mine; I simply withdrew my money without explaining myself to the Royal bank because I am among their biggest clients. They loose money when they loose me, you see."
"So to avoid problems you just withdrew all your money at once?"
"Yes."
"They didn't find that suspicious?"
"Ara, I paid the kind young man who aided me off of course."
"Oh..."
There was something off, but they couldn't place their finger on what...
"Excuse me Viola-san, but what are your reasons for changing banks?"
"Ara? Well isn't that simple. You see, I desire to travel starting this summer – after all I am getting married soon and am planning on retiring– and the Royal bank are, excuse my language, bastards who intended on cheating me of my money while I was abroad."
"Viola-san, you are only twenty-seven, and you already plan on retiring?"
"I have more than enough money, and my fiancée does as well. And the stress from my job is finally starting to get the better of me."
They couldn't really blame her, if they had that much money they would also love to retire.
The swimming stopped, and before another question was uttered all four investigators stared in shock at the lean and gorgeous body that pushed itself from the pool.
A black bikini was soaked from the chlorine-clean pool like the hand that roamed through wet black hair. An arm had a tattoo, and when she bent to pick up a towel and pat her face dry, another tattoo on her back was visible along with a scar.
Those green eyes shone brightly from the sun's reflection and she ignored the four officers as she took a seat in the reclining chair next to Viola and continued patting herself dry of water, not at all shy of her body.
Holy fucking hot shit. Masashi could not believe his eyes. It was his angel who left: Saeko Hazu.
Finally, she looked up to see all the officers, completely unfazed by their presence as Shizuru handed her a cup of tea.
"Natsuki, these are the officers from Japan."
"Saeko... Hazu," Masashi said, "isn't that your name?"
"My mother's name," Natsuki talked in a sexy passive voice, even further shocking Masashi and the others. "This is about the case of Shou Yuzaki, right?"
"R-right," Masashi felt heat creep up his cheeks, "How did-"
"I was the coroner on scene," she deadpanned as if it was obvious, putting down a suddenly empty cup of tea and grabbing a hooded see-through sweater off to the side which she slid over her head. "Not a pretty sight, whoever did that was one sick bastard."
The tattoo on her arm now clearly read 'Saeko' in kanji before it was covered by the light fabric.
"This is a strange coincidence," Nao said, eyes unable to stop from trailing to the beauty's lips before she got back to business, "care to explain how you ended up here?"
"What's there to explain to you?" Natsuki said, eyes challenging them all before she smirked, "you people really do suspect just anyone, don't you? But if you would excuse us, we have reservations."
OOO
"Sh-she's gay! They're both gay! Why are the hottest girls always gay?"
Masashi's whining was cut short as Nao smacked his head, "shut up."
"Yeah, well, you have a better chance than me so you shut up!"
"There is something fishy about those two, I just don't know what..." Mai muttered as they ordered lunch.
"Wait!" Yuuichi slammed his fist down on the table of the restaurant they were eating at, "Natsuki Kruger was just a coroner, and if she is Shizuru Viola's fiancée, Shizuru Viola mentioned that her fiancée has a lot of money: where did Kruger get all of her money? If she's from Japan, knew about the case, and happens to currently live in the city where the money was last traced-"
OOO
"How did you do it?" Masashi asked the beauty who calmly sat down on a terrace with a glass of wine in her hand, wearing tight jeans and a white and gold bikini top.
"Do what?" she took a sip from her glass and smirked at him, those eyelashes fluttering for a brief moment before her green eyes finally turned to look at the four officers and their four guns pointed in her face with a pathetic effort to make her fear them and confess.
"Ara ara," the door to the terrace was slid open by Kruger's beautiful fiancée who wore a white sundress and also held a glass of wine, "to what do we owe the disruption of our private evening?"
"Viola-san, you're engaged to a criminal and possible murderer."
"Natsuki? My Natsuki?" Shizuru Viola let out a giggle before she took a calm seat next to her lover and gave the girl a kiss to her cheek.
"Officers, please leave us alone for the evening before you get arrested for intrusion on my property without a warrant."
"We have the right to warn you that you are not allowed to leave, and tomorrow when we come back with a warrant you both are going to regret it."
The guns were lowered and they stiffly turned and walked away, but Natsuki's voice caught them at the last second.
They were not even technically allowed to fully operate in this country either, so they had no choice but to give in.
"You'll find out eventually, so don't be too sad."
Yuuichi growled and stomped out, not wanting to lose his job but fuming about his lost dignity. They would be able to get a warrant for tomorrow, so they would just have to wait.
As Natsuki took another sip and watched them leave her smirk turned to a frown until Shizuru started to nip on her ear and kiss her neck.
"Mmmm," Natsuki let out a smooth moan and put both of their wine glasses on the glass table beside them just as Shizuru started combing her fingers through Natsuki's hair and brought her in for a soft, teasing kiss.
"I don't like it when people accuse my Natsuki of such things," Shizuru giggled very softly and let out a sigh as Natsuki leaned over and around her to trail kisses down her neck.
"Me?" Natsuki said innocently, "do such a thing? Never."
Her words caused Shizuru to laugh and hug her closer, shutting her eyes in pleasure as the ministrations got more intimate and her sundress zipper was opened.
A hand slid down her back.
To them, being like this was worth everything.
OOO
"Be careful with that," Shizuru told one of the large males moving their stuff onto a truck that would be going to their private jet at the airstrip.
"With this?" Natsuki asked with a mug of tea in one hand which she had offered to get for her fiancée.
Shizuru rolled her eyes with a small smile and snatched the mug, eyes tracking all of the suitcases that were being taken from her luxurious apartment.
"You pack too much."
"You pack too little," was Shizuru's reply.
"The officers haven't come by yet," Natsuki changed the subject while leaning back against the wall with her hands in her pockets.
Shizuru giggled, "Mah Natsuki, I'm sure they'll come by for your amusement soon enough."
"They better," Natsuki pouted and leaned her head back as well, closing her eyes.
She smiled when she felt two arms sneak between her own and around her waist, a head resting on her shoulder.
"What do you want to do when we get to our beach house?" Natsuki asked before placing a kiss to Shizuru's hair and sighing, "I can't wait to get on that yacht."
"I want to christen the yacht with Natsuki first," Shizuru lifted her head and gave a coy grin to her companion who flushed a bright red.
"Shi-Shizuru! Don't be so silly."
"Ara, I'm not being silly. I truly look forward to it."
Natsuki flushed more and tried to hide her red face in Shizuru's hair.
A cough got their attention, Shizuru still grinning while she tightened her arms and Natsuki lifting her head up with the adorable flush remaining on her cheeks.
It was the four officers, guns at the ready and a warrant in their hands.
"About time you showed up," Natsuki coughed her blush away and retained her icy nature as Shizuru took to playing with her 'S' necklace.
"You are under arrest," Yuuichi started but was cut off by a scoff from Natsuki.
"Oh please," she smirked, turning to look at Shizuru who smiled softly, "I know you only have a search warrant and can't even touch me."
"Please come inside," Shizuru led the way, "I have some tea."
This was absurd.
They were accepting tea from a beautiful woman and her guilty counterpart who most likely stole the missing fortune of Shou Yuzaki and possibly murdered him as well.
"So, ask away, you got some time." Natsuki Kruger accepted a cup of tea from her fiancée and then moved back in her chair and waited for Shizuru to take a seat on her lap.
Despite the nature of the get-together, the four officers all blushed at this action. More so when Viola shifted sideways and crossed her legs gracefully, still managing to look elegant when sipping tea, though on someone's lap.
"How did you get the money? We know you took it from Yuzaki." This was Yuuichi's question.
Kruger laughed.
"Yuzaki's money? I'm sure you already know."
There was silence.
"The wire transfer?" Nao asked tersely. Kruger just put her teacup down.
"Did you murder Yuzaki?" Masashi could not believe his angel turned out to be... so devious and ruthless.
At this question, Kruger's eyes darkened.
"You really want to know?" She asked, her right hand placing the teacup down and joining with her fiancée's who played with her fingers.
The officers said nothing and Natsuki sighed.
They could not believe how casually Kruger said this or how casually Viola ignored it.
"I've done many things in my life," she said, "and you know, since I can't get in trouble for any of it I'll confess this one time – just for you guys. I like you guys."
Her eyes were darker, her face serious even when her lips crooked to that smirk.
"I killed him."
They had her confession which they were secretly recording with microphones taped inside of them.
"Why?" Masashi barely managed to croak out at his angel.
Kruger's eyes went to Shizuru briefly and then she simply shrugged, Shizuru's eyes twinkling in amusement.
"You do realise you just confessed first degree murder. You'll go to jail for life."
"Ha," Kruger sniffed and then stood up with Viola, cracking her neck and smirking, again, darkly, "no I won't."
She paused and then chuckled dryly at their astonished faces.
"I like you guys, really."
What the hell was she talking about? She just confessed to murder! She was fucked!
Surely, when they revealed what they found about Kruger she would be arrested! That lady was insane!
Viola would go down as well, for knowing about the murder and not doing anything... possibly being involved as well!
Kruger walked forward to a large brown wooden cabinet to the side and opened it, four small identical silver suitcases stood upright beside each other.
"Here's the deal," she said turning around again. She picked up two suitcases and put them in front of Mai and Yuuichi before turning around and putting the other two in front of Nao and Masashi.
"Deal? Are you trying to bribe us?" Yuuichi hissed in disgust.
Natsuki let out a snort.
"If you think it's bribing than that's fine," she turned her eyes to the suitcases and gestured, "I like to think of it as a challenge."
OOO
"Officer Tate," A man with grey hair nodded, "at ease."
Yuuichi nodded, dropping his salute but retaining his stance.
"So the lead in Los Angeles was a fake?"
"Yes sir," Yuuichi said, "the woman's bank accounts proved to be coincidental and the wife was found. She committed suicide in Paris."
"I see," the senior nodded, "well, good work to you and your team, like always. Take the week off - all of you."
"Thank you, Sir."
He saluted and turned around, a small sweat starting to break out on his brow. He started walking faster down a few hallways and made it to his office, finding Mai sitting on his desk.
"So?" She asked, worry creeping into her voice.
Yuuichi smiled shakily, "he gave us all the week off."
OOO
A black limousine pulled up to Mai, Yuuichi, Masashi and Nao as they exited a restaurant. The driver got out and walked in front of them, bowing quickly and opening the door.
Tentatively, Nao went inside first, the other following her lead.
They found Natsuki and Shizuru inside, the former wearing jeans and a tank top, the latter in a simple but beautiful flowery lilac kimono.
"I have your first job," Natsuki pressed a button and a tray of glasses and a wine bottle ejected from the side. She picked up the bottel and uncorked it with her hands, pouring it into the glasses.