Disclaimer: I do NOT own Darker than Black.

It has been months since the Hell's Gate incident. The city of Tokyo has done well to recuperate from such a traumatising experience. Of course the Public Security Bureau Foreign Affairs Section 4 came up with a convincing story that keeps the civilians' innocence from knowledge of contractors. As far as what the media released to them, there was a really bad oil spill and a bunch of other lies to round it up that the majority completely bought. In terms of the ongoing conflict between contractors and humans, it was still on going and there has been no progress whatsoever. If anything, contractor related crimes have increased and the infamous BK201 was no where to be found.

Does it have something to do with the disappearance of BK201? Could it be that the number one criminal on the blacklist was actually fighting of crime? If that was the case, if he really wanted to make the city of Tokyo a better place, why did he leave? Is he running? Is the syndicate still hunting him down? These were only some of the questions that occupied Misaki Kirihara's mind. In the Hell's Gate incident, it was revealed that the chief of the Public Security Bureau was a member of the syndicate and planned the genocide of of contractors with the help of Pandora. The fact that Pandora is still operating that second and escaped exposure to the public means that the syndicate is still lurking and manipulating in the dark and still substantial power to be able to control the media (media controls the people; control the media, you control the mass). After all the media controls the people. Moral of the story, there are still influential people out there who are a member of the syndicate.

Misaki tried to imagine the burden BK201 took upon himself. He was trying to bring down an organisation that powerful single handedly. There were numerous times where Misaki tried to reach out to him to offer her assistance but every time she didn't even come close to talking to him. He always slips away from her grasps. She wonder whether he thought that she would just be a burden? Or the fact that she's a cop and he sees her as an enemy? I just...want to help. Misaki continued to ponder on her personal questions regarding BK201 ass she watched his star in the night. Not the brightest but it shone sharply and truly. Much like his silent but deadly personality Misaki thought.

She was on a hillside where a lookout is. No one goes there any more because every one knows that the stars are fake. Works well for Misaki as she is not really kind of person who likes crowded places. Perhaps the reason she doesn't want to admit to herself is she doesn't want anyone to find out the way she looks at BK201's star. People can easily get the wrong impression. Also it could be harmful for her career if her boss found out that she was developing an obsession with a contractor, the most wanted of them all at that. "NO! NO! Definitely not obsessed!" Misaki corrected her spontaneous thoughts.

Her work phone rang.

"Chief!" It was Saito. "We got a scene here...You better come"

Misaki quickly packed her equipment and rushed to the crime scene. She ducked under the yellow caution tapes that surround a building and showed her ID to the two policemen standing outside telling to stand back be get on their way.

"Section-Chief of the Foreign Affairs Section 4 Kirihara"

"Section 4? That means..." One of the police men said. As far as they know Section 4 was an organisation that specialized in a certain type of crime. Specific details were classified to them.

"Yes. Take me to the crime scene."

The crime scene wasn't as 'messy' as she expected considering it was a contractor related crime scene. "You two can go now we'll take it from here" Misaki ordered the two policemen who escorted her. She moved further into the crime scene taking note of the tipped over file cabinets and a few scattered papers. The thing that caught her eye though was the Ace of Spades playing card half way through the metal casing of a file cabinet. She put on gloves and pulled out the card carefully. It was just an ordinary playing card. There was no way an ordinary playing card can pierce through metal...unless the molecular structure was altered to be stronger...Definitely a contractor's powers were involved. Looking further she found several other cases were a playing card was piercing through something that is structurally stronger. Along the walls, there were marks the seemed to be cause by knives. Different weapon? So there was a fight here. Finally there was a dead man bent over his keyboard.

"The man is Mr. Kato" said Saito who just finished with a phone call. "I just called Matsumoto-san for the ID. He's a writer. Usually writes about current events but apparently has an obsession with the mobs and syndicates running behind the scenes. There were a couple of occasions that his boss turned him down by publishing his stories but that certainly didn't stop him..."

"I'm guessing he found something that got him worked up for an overtime" Misaki noticed walking past the other rooms were fairly untouched. It was safe to assume that everyone else has gone home except from this fellow. "And also this something got himself killed...could it be the syndicate?"

"Quite possibly...I don't see otherwise why BK201 would be here..." Saito noticed that alarmed Kirihara and continued to explain. "The whole building's electrical system is fried! Unfortunately that also killed all the computers and what he was writing didn't save..."

"I to know every place this man slept in the past six months!" Misaki is worked up now that BK201 is involved in the case. "Every person he talked to, every place he went to! I want to know what he found out that got him killed! If we can find that, we'll catch BK201!"

"What about the other contractor he was fighting with?"

"Tell Otsuka to check the archive for similar abilities. Find out why this guy was involved!"

An hour earlier...

Hei was waiting for that opportunity. The newspaper company closed for the night and all workers went home, except for one man. This was a perfect scenario for him. There will be no witnesses and he doesn't have to worry about innocent people getting harmed, if it came to that. With a little tempering with the electrical system, Hei was able to get pass the security doors and bypass all cameras. The man he was looking for was in his office cursing and scrambling in the dark for a flash light. He was annoyed that the power went out before he could save his work. Hei cared none of that. Mr. Kato found a flash light, turned it on and the first thing he saw was the frightening reaper mask of BK201. The man flailed and screamed but it was no use, the building was empty.

"Are you done Mr. Kato?"

"W-Who are you? W-What do you want with me?!" The stuttering caused by his nervousness.

"I think you know what I want. Try to play games with me, trust that I will kill you... You are not the only source of information..."

"O-Okay...Okay..." Sato slowly moved around his desk then sat down in front of his computer. "W-What would you like to know"

"Everything you know about the syndicate"

"Well-!" Before Mr. Kato could speak further, a card sliced right through his face then pierced the file cabinet behind him. Hei was alerted and drew his knife. There were a couple more cards that flew by, this time it was aimed at him. Hei deflected then dodge the other. Once he caught sight of the enemy, he threw his knife towards him but his knife was deflected by a card. A card as touch as metal? Hei could only conclude that this was a contractor. His enemy obviously got hold of the same information as Hei did that this man got hold of some compromising information regarding the syndicate. Hei's conclusion was this contractor was sent by the syndicate.

"Do you work for the syndicate?"

"Why would I tell you that?...That's bad for business!"

Hei got closer for a close combat fight but the contractor was more than just a card dealer. The contractor returned each of Hei's attacks., blocking and parrying, eventually getting the one feared as the Black Reaper into a head lock. Hei was experienced enough to break out then distanced himself from the contractor. He recognised his mistake for underestimating his opponent, he's never faced anyone who rivalled his combat skills after all. A card followed straight after him though. Giving him no reaction to dodge an injury but he had enough time to shift his body and avoid a fatal blow. He felt the card pierce through his skin like a knife.

He grimaced in pain. "...Who are you...?"

"...There's no reason for me to stay. I have done what I came for..." With a flick of a card the contractor disappeared from his sight. For Hei, it was mission failure. He didn't get the information he wanted and he was beaten by an amateur...Police sirens started arriving in front of the building. Hei was confused, there was no way the police would be notified so early. He made sure Mr. Kato had no chance to call the police unless... There was a phone on the floor where the mysterious contractor disappeared from. A note was stuck on it saying 'RUN! BK201! RUN! HAHA!'...He was completely beaten by an amateur...

The police busted through the front doors downstairs and in won't be long until they reached him. Hei was in no condition to use his metal wire. The card on his shoulder had more than just enhanced molecular structure, it had a tranquillizing poison on it and he was feeling the effects. His muscles were starting to succumb to the tranquillizer and it won't be long before he was completely paralysed on the spot. It wasn't the most comfortable spots to hide especially for a man his size but the ventilation system was his best option.

It was a tight squeeze but the police below didn't notice him. He peaked through the ventilation exit to see what was going on below. The police were doing their job ('contaminating the scene') but what got Hei's attention was seeing Kirihara's subordinate. He recognised him as Saito. The one who always follows Kirihara. Shortly after, Kirihara entered the scene. She took a look a around collecting evidences then barked orders at her subordinate. Saito left the scene to fulfill her request while Kirihara stayed behind for a moment longer. She took one last look at the scene and before leaving, as if something in her felt uneasy, she looking up to the ventilation exit. She wasn't quite sure what made her look that way but she found herself staring at it longer than expected.

All of a sudden a surge of panic shock waved all through out Hei's body. Can she see?...No...She shouldn't be able to see...It's too dark... Part of him wanted to stay hidden. He wasn't sure if Kirihara can be trusted but also his other half was screaming for help. After the Hell's Gate incident, he was naive for thinking that he could run away and have a peaceful life somwhere, away from the Gates, away from the syndicate. It didn't take long before the syndicate caught up to him and Yin. The price he paid? Yin was killed. He came back to put an end to the syndicate once and for all but that proved to be more troublesome than he had imagined. There was a moment there when she was looking through the ventilation exit and looked backed at her eyes, he didn't see traces of malice...there was determination to get the job done...but also worry and a genuine look of concern.

Another argument that might convince Hei to approach her now was that she could help him tracked down the syndicate. But he discarded that away as she was also hunting him down. The decision was made for him when Kirihara left the scene before he could decide anything.

Kirihara went home that night feeling under-accomplished. It that kind of feeing 'so-close-but-so-far-away'. BK201 was in that very room in the crime scene but instead she only caught up on the aftermath. '...He got away again...' She took a quick shower and before going to bed took out the trash. It was a little past midnight so everyone so her apartment neighbours were all sleeping and the road s were free of cars. She looked up to the stars, the clear night sky and pondered. '...Why is it that the most peaceful part of the day was the darkest part of it?...'

When she turned the corner to go to the back, she saw something that alerted her. There were drops of blood on the ground. She drew her gun and looked around for clues but saw nothing. Cautiously, she followed the blood trail. It led her further down in to the side alley towards where the dumpster was. Her stroll to take out her trash just got more interesting when she found a mask along the trail...It wasn't just a mask...It was a white mask with a purple lightning bolt on it...

"...BK201...?"

In anticipation and fear, she hurried to the end of the trail and found an unconscious dark figure wearing a black trench coat and the black hair that was all too familiar to her. She hurried beside him and lifted up his chin. "...Li-Kun?!"

Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued...