Chapter 2: Baseball Rivalries

Natsume's POV.

The drive to Mark Baron's team training center was about an hour. Any usual day, that would be relaxing—I'd have time to myself, where nobody was observing me or gawking at me. Any normal day, I'd be slowly thinking over the case, the gears in my brain shifting as my mind glided over possible motives, suspects, etc.

Unfortunately, today wasn't normal. Besides me was a beautiful brunette. And not only was she beautiful, she was downright persistent. She asked nearly a million questions, hummed to the radio, became erratic and punched my arm when I tried to ignore her…...

So much for peace and quiet, right? It was like the complete opposite. So finally, I relented to her constant bickering and began talking.

"So what's your favorite color?" Mikan asked for the tenth time.

"Is this really necessary?" I answered gruffly, sparing her a peripheral glance.

"Yes, because I'm your partner and I should know who I'm dealing with and—" She suddenly flipped out. "Hey! Keep your eyes on the road, Hyuuga!"

I chuckled. "Red."

"Huh?"

I rolled my eyes. "My favorite color is red."

"O-oh," Mikan said. "Well, it does match your eyes, I have to say. Anyways, my favorite color is orange."

"Figures," I exclaimed. Her name meant tangerines, right? How fitting.

"Mm…family?"

"A sister and brother—Aoi and Yoichi. Parents died in a fire," I exclaimed bitterly.

"Arson?"

"Yeah."

"Did they catch the culprit?"

My eyes hooded over. "No."

Mikan tilted her head sympathetically. "And that drove you into the crime-fighting department?"

"I guess." Man, this girl was weird. Normally, people would just kiss up and be overly sympathetic.

"ABI's lucky to have you then," Mikan said softly. When I raised an eyebrow, she continued. "Narumi—the man in charge of my transferal—gave me a profile read of the whole team. Yours in particular is pretty impressive."

"Really," I said mockingly. "Well, I have to agree with you."

Mikan gave me an incredulous, pointed stare. "I compliment you genuinely, and of course, you had to blow up your ego to the size of the the universe."

I smirked. "Anyways, you?"

"I'd rather not go into it," Mikan murmured softly. She noticed my scrutinizing stare, and she read my mind. "Yes, it's worse than yours."

"I'm going to know sooner or later," I told her. "The advantages of such a high clearance job."

She shrugged. "Then you'll know later."

I rolled my eyes, exhaling a frustrated breath. "Stubborn."

Mikan laughed bitterly. "I just don't make it habit to tell people. They never look at me the same way."

"How do you know I'm not different?" I said.

"I don't," Mikan exclaimed, her face completely straight. "But I'm not taking any chances. Yet."

Silence.

"So what do you think happened with Ava Stevenson?" Mikan said.

I turned to her in surprise, and she inhaled sharply. "Hyuuga…for the last time. Eyes. On. The. Road. At. All. Times." She said each word with such menace that I actually obeyed and returned my gaze to the freeway, but of course, I was smirking.

"I think there was some kind of love triangle going on, as Koko said," Natsume shrugged. "But until we find some other leads, that's it."

Mikan leaned back in her seat. "Mm…I don't think so."

"Oh, come on. Why not? Two guys, one girl. She looks decent enough," I exclaimed. And it was true. The blonde had fair complexion, though her facial symmetry was a bit off.

"But that's just it—don't you see? In normal love triangles, wouldn't one of the guys—Justin or Mark—end up dead? I mean, two guys fighting for one girl. One gets frustrated, angry, jealous—maybe he wanted to eliminate his rival—and in the midst of everything, commits a crime of passion." Mikan ran a hand through her hair. "That's just the thing, though. We know Ava was faithful to Justin, so there wasn't any affair. So that leaves no motive for Justin."

"So…what do you think?"

Mikan shook her head, clicking away at her laptop, which was propped up on her lap. "I just went through her Facebook…she was clearly devoted to Justin (the boyfriend). Mark, however, is a different story. He was the first person who friend requested her. She accepted, but after a certain conversation with Justin, she blocked him immediately."

"What did she say in the conversation?" I asked curiously. Damn, she was meticulous. Every detail burned into her brain, and it was like she didn't miss anything. No wonder she and Imai hit it off to a great start.

"Justin told her that Mark Baron was one of his biggest baseball rivals," Mikan exclaimed. "He also mentioned that he was sketchy—you know, bad calls, always ruffing up the refs and the opposing players…basically, Justin had a grudge against him. Probably from a previous game."

"Check Baron's criminal record," I directed.

Mikan gave me a cheeky grin. "Already did. It's mostly misdemeanors…couple DUI's, that's it. No transcending murders or anything."

"It's a start," I grumbled, pulling the car into a parking lot. "All right, get out. We're here."

"Finally! I love interrogating." With unnerving enthusiasm, she slipped her things into her bag and jumped out the car. As I fell into stride with her, I couldn't help but notice how different our auras were. Hers was all sunshine and rainbows, although her sophisticated outfit gave her a touch of elegance and high-class. Mine was sophisticated, yes, but it was also sharp and cold.

"How about I do the talking?" I offered none too gently. "I am more experienced."

"Ha! But who's gotten all the dirt so far on this case?" Mikan rebutted.

I sighed. "Whatever."

She marched victoriously into the front doors of the baseball stadium. I followed promptly, shaking my head at her pigheadedness…

Who am I kidding? Like me, she was a genius.

We stepped into the main entrance of the stadium, into the field where I could hear the clanking of bats against balls, and the loud calls and yells of the players.

Upon our arrival, a couple jocks eyed Mikan appreciatively, disgusting smirks on their faces. I shot them all death glares—I didn't even know why I was being so protective—and most of the team got the message.

Except for one player who obviously didn't have enough brain cells to save his life. "Hello, beautiful. This is a private practice, but you know, just for you…I think we can let it slide…but your acquaintance is gonna have to take a hike—"

I was about to pummel him in the face, but Mikan's cool voice stopped me. I quickly assessed her profile—and wow, it was impressive—but that was beside the point. Her face was completely blank, not at all intimidated by the burly figures surrounding her. Her right eye twitched in controlled anger, and I couldn't help but smirk.

"Yeah, I don't think so," Mikan cut him off. She held out her badge for him to see. "ABI. We're here to ask a couple questions regarding the murder of Ava Stevenson."

A second of silence. Then, "Wait, what the hell?" "Isn't that Gregory's chick?" "She's dead?" "Since when? How?" "Dude, he just said murder!" "That chick's from the ABI! You think she'll sue me for sexual harassment?" (At this, Mikan snapped her head to the man and smiled devilishly. He shuddered and started staring at his glove.)

I stepped forward, and my presence drove the crowd silent. "We need to speak with Mark Baron."

Immediately, the whole crowd turned to a lanky man, in his mid-twenties, who was staring at the ground in shock.

"Mr. Baron, do you mind stepping aside for a few moments?" Mikan asked professionally. He nodded solemnly and we stepped back indoors.

"So, Mark…Ava recently blocked you on Facebook. The reason?" I asked promptly. Mikan gave me a look that said Way to get to the point. I shrugged.

"Oh…well…her boyfriend didn't want me anywhere near her…he's very overprotective like that…he thought I was like a thug of some sort. I don't have the best sportsmanship on the field, I admit."

I saw Mikan look through her phone. She waved it at me. "Nonoko and Anna figured out time of death." She turned to Mark. "Where were you between the times of 8 o'clock to 10 o'clock yesterday night?"

"I was at home."

"Can anybody prove that alibi for you?"

"No. I live alone."

"Then you can understand why you're one of our main suspects at the moment, right?" I said nonchalantly. I looked deep into his eyes. "If I were you, I would get your facts straight and come clean."

He panicked. "I didn't do it! I loved Ava…I would never…I loved her more than anything!"

"Oh, really," I exclaimed. "Well, good talking to you. Stay in town. We may need to speak with you again."

"O-of course…"

And with that, Mikan and I left to the car.

"He was genuine."

"He was definitely holding something back," Natsume disagreed.

"But he didn't kill her." I huffed.

"And you know this because...?"

I shrugged and tapped my temple. "My instinct's pretty boss."

Natsume raised an eyebrow. "His alibi was extremely sketchy."

I pursed my lips. "Whatever, Hyuuga. How about this? If it's not Baron, you owe me ten dollars."

"Don't cry when you lost ten bucks."

He smirked, and I resisted the urge to just punch his oh-so-beautiful face. As if reading my mind, he started laughing and I lost it. My arm shot out and clipped him in the shoulder, but unfortunately, he didn't budge.

"Ow! What do you have under that suit? Bulletproof armor?" I punched him again, only to have my fist collide with something firm and resistant. Natsume's smirk widened, and I raised an eyebrow curiously.

"It's called being ripped, sweetheart."

"No way—there's just no way…" I covered my face with my hands, blushing. "I…oh my God, never mind."

"You just called me ripped."

"I did not. Your words, not mine."

"You thought I was wearing bulletproof armor," Natsume exclaimed. "It's the same thing."

"Ugh, whatever! You're an ABI agent. You're supposed to be fit."

"Well, you still called me ripped."

By now, we'd pulled into the parking lot of the ABI headquarters. As soon as he stopped the car, I climbed out with a flushed face and hightailed it towards the fifth floor.

37:40 Hours Later —

The elevator burst open and I came running in. "I figured it out!"

"What? And where have you been?" Natsume demanded. "You were supposed to be here three hours ago. You're late."

I brushed him off. "The killer is Mark Baron's manager—Andre Greene."

Hotaru walked past me and sat down at the conference table. She gestured for the rest of the team to join. "Explain."

"Okay," I exhaled. "So I revisited Mark Baron's training center."

"Alone?" Natsume interjected.

"Why not?" I jutted my chin. "I can take care of myself, Mother."

"Um, because you couldn't possibly handle twenty men pummeling you?"

"I am perfectly capable!"

"You couldn't even punch my arm—and you thought I was wearing armor when it was just my muscle."

I heard Koko chuckle, and I couldn't help the slight blush that painted my cheeks. "I did not—"

"It's okay, honey, we all know Natsume's extremely strong." Tsubasa cooed.

"I held a knife to his face, remember?" I rolled my eyes. "May I continue?"

The group nodded.

"Yuu gave me a warrant. So I searched the locker rooms and guess what I found in Baron's locker?"

"A written confession?"

"No. I found steroids."

"And the team didn't jump you? Try to take it back?" Anna exclaimed in horror.

I smiled deviously. "Well, they weren't there. I picked the lock. And the security code was 1234 so that was stupid on their part. But—" I looked at Natsume sharply. "—if they were present, I would've definitely had it under control. Anyways. I used a crowbar to pry open all the lockers. All the players were on steroids."

"Okay, so what does this mean? I don't get how a team being unfair relates to Ava's murder."

"But it does," I said confidently. "Ava found out about the drugs. She knew the info could get her boyfriend's team a straight ticket to Nationals. But Andre Greene caught her taking pictures—and voila! He panicked, and killed her."

"Great story," Natsume drawled sarcastically. "Where the hell is the evidence?"

"Jesus! Someone is PMSing," I mumbled, but as I said this, my hands opened my messenger bag and splayed three bags of evidence. "Just kidding, Nattie. I know you're a guy, no matter what the people downstairs say."

"The people downstairs?" Koko guffawed. "No way, man!"

Hotaru grabbed a gun from nowhere and shot Koko in the face. I stood up in alarm, screaming, only to realize that Hotaru had not just blown off the face of an ABI agent. The thing had shot out a huge burst of air that still hurt, but at least didn't kill.

I put a hand to my heart, aware of the chuckles coming from Natsume. "Oh my God, I thought she killed him...holy crap. I need a reality check. Oh my God. And stop smirking, Natsume-"

"Everyone SHUT UP. Let's get this case done with. Mikan, stop with the cute little comebacks or else you're next in line with my Baka Gun 3200. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," I gulped. My hands quickly lifted the first evidence bag.

"First, are the pictures I found in his shredder," I began. "You see? She came during the perfect time. Here are the players injecting themselves with the stuff. And we know it's Ava taking the picture because that fingernail—the manicured design is exactly like the one on the vic's body."

"Isn't a shredder supposed to, like, actually shred the paper?" Koko asked, scratching his head again.

I laughed. "Yes. I ran the shreds of paper through the scanner on the second floor. The computer rearranged all the pieces—like a big puzzle—and sorted out all the parts."

"Second," I continued. "A bag of the steroids, just as evidence."

"Third, the murder weapon. Anna and Nonoko, could you run it through the mass spec and make sure it's a match?" I asked.

"Sure!" They said in unison, and all I saw was a flash of pink and blue as they ran to the lab with the bat.

Five minutes later, they returned, screaming "It's a match!"

I smiled, content.

"All right, bring the guy in. Tsubasa, Koko, take care of him," Natsume ordered.

They nodded and set off dutifully.

"Wow, Mikan, great job! That case was, like, all you," Ruka commented graciously.

"Haha, no way, but thanks!" I exclaimed modestly. "Anyways." I turned to Natsume. "I told you it wasn't Baron."

He groaned. "Fine. Whatever."

I held my hand out expectantly. "Uh, cough up. Ten dollars, remember?"

He grudgingly pulled a ten from his pocket and threw it at me. I smiled my thanks. "Nice doing business with you."

Ruka's POV

What the heck is going on here? I've never seen Natsume so at ease with someone other than me. Heck, he actually seems to be less uptight around the new transfer! It just didn't make sense.

Or actually, it did. And it was painfully simple: the guy was in love. Everyone could sense a change in the cold, brusque Natsume Hyuuga. He looked at Mikan in a different way, he joked along with her, and although she seemed extremely defiant, we could tell Mikan was warming up to him as well.

They were perfect, were they not?

Unfortunately, Mikan was extremely dense (everyone had noticed this by now). For instance, at work the other day, Natsume had unconsciously started staring at her. It was an easy enough feat to do, since their desks were right next to each other's. Mikan had looked behind her, at a plain white wall, and exclaimed, "Natsume? What's so interesting on the wall?"

He snapped his head to his computer screen, a faint blush on his cheeks that Mikan was oblivious to. Across the room, Koko chortled with laughter and even I couldn't help but laugh. He just looked so cute - like a child caught doing something wrong.

But seriously, the girl was so dense. How could she not know that he was staring at her?

Yesterday night, as we were leaving the building, a random agent from the third floor came up to Mikan with a rose and asked her: "Do you know heaven's number, because I think I found an angel."

She looked around the lobby, her voice nonchalant. "Where?"

He faltered, slightly taken aback by her answer.

"And I don't think angels exist, so...I don't think I can help you with that. Sorry."

I mean, what the hell?

Our whole team had just stood there - well, Natsume was glaring until she shot him down - in complete shock. Hotaru rolled her eyes. Anna and Nonoko sweat-dropped, and Koko and Tsubasa fell down with laughter.

And then when she joined us, she was scratching her head cutely, saying, "Well, I don't know where that came from...I mean, does anyone here know heaven's number? Geez."

And with that, she sent the boys into another fitful of laughter. The girl was something, I tell you. Natsume definitely had his hands full. And not to mention, Yukihara had told us earlier (just Natsume and I) that she had had a difficult past, that people could be out to get her...

Dear Readers,

So I decided that this story is going to be based off of Bones/The Mentalist. I just can't handle Criminal Minds and CSI. I'm too wimpy to handle the suspenseful, gory scenes. I'm gonna stick to the more forensic shows. Because thanks to Criminal Minds, I am now scared of my closet.

I know, pathetic, tell me about it.

Anyways, please Rate & Review. It definitely motivates me to write/update faster.

Thanks,

Miya Azlikov