A/N: Wow... it took a while to get this one out. Sorry about that, haha... My brain went blank near the end and I'm just now coming back to this. Working on the third chapter now. Hopefully it won't take near as long. No guarantees though, gonna have some busy weeks ahead of me with family plans. I'll try to write when I can. Happy reading!

Chapter 2

First Day On the Job

Three hours and thirty-five minutes of sleep.

Whoopee… a new record.

You rubbed the sleep from your tired eyes as you forced yourself off the couch. Several times during the night you had startled awake from your vivid dreams and slipped back into a troublesome slumber.

"Why can't I just sleep like a normal human being?" you grumbled, grimacing at the sound of your bones popping while you stretched. Your body ached from the unsupportive couch and the endless walking last night.

Seeing as you hadn't set up your alarm clock yet and your cellphone was dead in your purse, you were almost thankful you didn't go back to sleep.

Almost.

You gathered up the gumption to prepare yourself for work.

The smell of coffee freshly brewed coffee greeted you when you stepped out of the bathroom fully showered and made up to conceal your exhausted visage underneath. It had taken a good few minutes to locate the coffee maker in the mess of boxes, but it was time well spent. Lord knows you needed the caffeine.

"I wonder if sake will doctor this up," you idly mused, eyeing the fridge while taking a sip of the cheap off-brand brew. No amount of cream or sugar could cover up the muddy bitterness assaulting your taste buds.

A knock sounded at your door while you toyed with the idea of putting just a 'drop' of booze into your mug. You looked to the clock and were surprised to see it was nearly six. You spent more time standing in the shower spacing out than you thought. But who could blame you? The mental image of the yellow-eyed blobs from your nightmares tearing you apart had dominated a good part of your thoughts during your shower.

Maybe you should call up the doc again and request a refill for your medication. Though, you hated the weird mental haze it created to ease your anxiety. Was hard chasing down miscreants when the world around you was spinning.

"Well, no drunk coffee for me today," you lamented and went to answer the door with mug still in hand.

"Good morning, rookie!" Adachi chimed as you opened the door.

"Mornin' Adachi-san. Don't know if this is exactly a 'good' one for me at least," you shrugged and let him inside. You thought you were far from 'rookie' status having been in the force for a good few years, but perhaps it was just because you were new and he was in a higher position.

However, you decided to not let it bother you too much. He was the only decent person you had met so far.

"Oh? What's up, you homesick already?" The detective asked, choosing to relax on your bland couch without being invited to. You shook your head and took another reluctant swig of your poor excuse for a morning pick-me-up.

"No way. You couldn't pay me enough to go back to that- uh, ahem. It's not that," You corrected swiftly. There wasn't any way to explain the reason without making you look like a raving lunatic.

You swallowed a lump when you saw his questioning gaze and laughed it off. "Nope, just had a terrible sleep. Maybe it's the new bed, ahaha…" You spun around and went to the coffee pot, occupying yourself with refilling your mug even if it was two thirds full.

"Hm… funny, the bed doesn't even look like you slept in it," Adachi pointed out nonchalantly and you winced slightly.

Thanks for the observation, Mr. Detective.

"You want some coffee? There's still a lot left," you offered, hoping to steer away from the topic of your sleeping habits.

"Sure, sounds good," he replied and you felt a small wave of relief go through you.

You dug out another mug from one of the boxes, rinsed it out and poured a portion of coffee into it.

One of these days, you would find the motivation to actually unpack and clear the disasteriffic mess in your apartment.

"Do you want anything in it? This stuff kinda sucks, so I usually load mine up with cream and sugar." You snuck another spoonful of sugar into your own cup and took a sip.

"Nah, that's okay. Black's fine."

"Okaaay. Your funeral~," you said in a sing-song voice and went to hand the steaming mug to him. Hopefully he wouldn't mind getting the 'I need coffee right meow!' design complete with a grouchy cat graphic. It was either that, or the Totoro mug you've had since you were seven…

You really needed to get dishes more suited for your age.

You sat at the opposite end of the couch, watching with interest as Adachi took an experimental taste and looked ready to spit it out again. His face twisted in disgust and he politely placed the cup on the coffee table in silence. You shuddered with him as he swallowed the offending liquid.

"Ugh, you weren't kidding. How can you drink that stuff?" Adachi wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and you laughed.

"It's an acquired taste; a taste you pick up when you have a bank account like mine," you smiled wryly.

"Well, how about this," Adachi said as he took your cup and placed it on the table as well, "Next time, we'll do coffee at my place. My bank account isn't anything to sniff at either, but I can still afford the good stuff." He smiled playfully at you and stood up. "But in the meantime, if you're ready to go, we can pick up something to eat and a better cup of coffee at the gas station on the way to the station. My treat."

Adachi held out his hand to you to help you up and you took it.

"Wow, thanks Adachi-san. I promise that I'll pay you back somehow… You've been so nice to me even if we've just met." Honestly, you couldn't remember a time when a guy was this generous to you.

Then again, you couldn't remember the last time you were around a guy.

Between work and dealing with your fear of midnight monsters, there just wasn't any time for romance. Awkward high school boyfriends and college flings were the only thing you had experience with.

Wait a minute. I don't even know this guy very well AND he's a co-worker. Why am I thinking like this?

You shoved away those thoughts, feeling your face flood with warmth.

"No problem at all," Adachi said, bringing you back to reality, "I have no qualms about helping out a pretty lady." He gave your hand an additional squeeze as he pulled you up then released his grasp, fingertips ghosting your palm before slipping into his pocket. "But of course… it would be nice if you paid back the favor one day," he added with a wink.

His comments swept your brain back to lala land. Your eyes followed him as he stood by the door, your feet rooted to the floor. You were stunned.

He thinks I'm pretty?

Your mind reeled slightly and you stared at him a moment more. Your hand still tingled where he touched.

Adachi simply smiled and waited for you.

...

Are you a man… or a woman?

The question was burning a hole in your mind as you stared at the attendant working at the Moel gas station. The thought was kind of a nice retreat from thinking about Adachi's words from earlier.

You took a large bite of your breakfast onigiri in an attempt to silence the offensive query on the tip of your tongue as you leaned against Adachi's car.

The androgynous attendant was willowy. There was no other way to describe his/her figure. His/her… its curling hair was of a medium length, the color reminding you of the gray clouds hanging overhead and seemed to make the owner's skin even more pale than it really was. The face was quite hard to place in a gender slot. If it was male, then it would have been a pretty man. If it was female, then it would have been a rather… handsome woman.

Either way, you were kind of jealous of its clean, graceful hands. Not a drop of grease on them despite working at a gas station. Fingers were long and slender, more suited to elegant things like playing the piano or arranging flowers. And oh, how you wished you had the same luster in your nails that this person did.

To your horror, the being caught your stare, a smile forming on its lips.

"Well hello there. Don't believe I've seen you around. Are you the detective's girlfriend?" The attendant nodded in the general direction of Adachi who was inside the conbini browsing. The voice was challenging to determine too, the sound akin to a woman masquerading as a man or a prepubescent male teen.

Your eyes widened and you shook your head furiously, face red.

"Oh no, no, no… nothing relatively like that!" you sputtered. "I work for the Inaba police too. Just arrived last night!"

The thing laughs at you and sets the gas pump back in its spot.

"Ah, I see. Another new resident. Well, welcome to Inaba! I'm sure that you'll be kept busy with work. The police department's been swamped ever since the murders happened. This quiet little town has turned into something of a circus with all the hoopla going on," it grins and rubs its hands on its spotless pant legs as if they were full of grime.

"If you ever need a break, you could always come down here to hang out and take a breather. Mr. Detective over there likes to quite often." It extended its hand to you in a friendly gesture.

You stared at it for a moment, unsure of what to do.

The attendant smirked and instead clapped the hand on your shoulder.

"See you around then, _(Name)_."

It walked back toward the store and you shivered slightly, a strange queasiness turning your stomach.

You didn't remember giving your name.

…

You had definitely picked the wrong time to transfer to Inaba.

"HEY! C'mon guys, it ain't that hard to form a damn line!" you shouted at the masses pushing against you in front of the Marukyu tofu shop. You held up your arms and flailed about but your voice was lost in the excited chatter of the crowd.

You had been here for a solid seven hours since 9am with maybe one short break before the crowd began to grow as schools let out in the afternoon. Before this, since you had arrived at the station with Adachi, your morning had been filled with introductions, discussion on protocol and patrolling Inaba with an older officer to get the layout.

Needless to say, you were beyond exhausted.

You had half a mind to pull out your gun and fire a shot to make the gawkers all scatter, but you would rather not be written up on your first day for endangering the lives of innocent civilians.

Though, with the way you were being jostled, you didn't know how much more you could take before socking someone in the throat.

"All right, I'm gonna ask you all one more time to- GAH!"

The arm of an overzealous fan whipped up to hold his camera phone over the crowd and effectively punched you in the nose with a surprising amount of force.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Fuck.

You glared daggers at the offender, but you found that he was too preoccupied with snapping blurry pictures of the storefront in an attempt to capture a glimpse of Rise instead of apologizing profusely to you.

"This is NOT worth it!" you hissed and fought your way to the sidelines to recover, holding your bleeding nose.

You leaned against the weathered wooden wall of the Shiroku Store, tilting your head downwards, thumb and index finger pinching your aching nose as you waited for the blood flow to stop.

You shut your eyes and sighed heavily, fighting the dizziness threatening to make you drop right there on the sidewalk. The jacket was killing you despite it being cloudy. Not even the skirt could save you from the horrid humidity and the collective body heat in front of Marukyu. And to top it all off, the sickness after leaving the gas station came back in full force, churning your stomach and making your head pound.

Was it the onigiri this morning? Was the milk or cream in the coffee spoiled? Either way, you didn't think you would be consuming anything from the gas station for a while.

Thankfully, your nose stopped bleeding when you checked a minute later.

Not so thankfully, your hand and face were stained with crimson.

You took one last look at the crowd and saw another officer had taken your place in crowd control. Sending a silent prayer of gratitude to whatever deity caring to listen, you entered Shiroku to purchase some wipes to clean you up and maybe some medicine too.

"Whoa, what happened to you!?"

Surprisingly, Adachi was inside with his arms full of snacks to buy.

"...Got conked in the nose by a crazy Risette fanboy," you answered flatly and looked around for wipes. You found them on a shelf full of trial-size health items and decided to grab a container of medicine for your ailments.

"Damn, that kinda sucks… and on your first day too," the detective sympathized as he stood behind you while you paid for your things, "It's okay. It happens to the best of us. My very first day, I got pretty banged up chasing this kid down for purse snatching. Tripped over every single rock that came my way. Bad stuff."

You heard him let out an embarrassed laugh and you mustered a tiny smile.

"So… what are you doing here, Adachi-san? I thought you were directing traffic?" you asked as you used the anti-theft mirror to see where to clean your face. You looked at his reflection and saw him giving you his trademark smile.

"Uh… well, I needed a break. Standing there in the heat, getting honked and yelled at by angry drivers because of the insanity out there… a hard-working guy like me needs to take a breather from that kind of stuff from time to time."

You highly doubted he had worked all that hard. The last you saw of him, he had been talking to some teenagers, barely paying attention to what he was doing. You didn't even see him show up until about an hour or two after you had arrived on the scene. Detective Dojima had been quite peeved. If he would've seen Adachi now… the man would've been livid.

"I'd take directing irate drivers any day over this crowd control. That shit's bonkers. I can't believe all these people came out just to see some preppy little high school idol dish out tofu. Bunch of creepers," you snorted and poked at your nose with a frown. It was sore and flared an angry red, but showed no signs of being broken. You hoped that karma would come back and kick that fanboy in the balls. Hard.

"Here, take this. I think you deserve a break too!"

Adachi held a sweating can of milk coffee in front of your face, his arm easily reaching over your head from behind.

"Huh? Um, thanks Adachi-san." You accepted the beverage, relishing the coldness. You pressed it to your hot cheek and nearly moaned in ecstasy. Maybe you did deserve a break.

You added his good deed to the list of things you owed him for. You would need to figure out a way to repay him for his kindness.

The two of you took refuge in the shade between Shiroku and an abandoned store, sitting behind the bushes hidden from sight. If either of you got caught slacking off, you'd no doubt get into big trouble.

"Y'know, you look good in that uniform," Adachi noted, watching as you slipped out of your uniform jacket to lounge in your white collared button-up. You laid it beside you, relieved to have the air hit your sweaty skin.

"You think so?" you smiled sheepishly and tucked a stray piece of hair behind your ear. "Honestly, it feels a little weird wearing a new uniform. It's like I'm starting my career all over again. I just hope it turns out better than before." Your voice grew soft at the end as you stared at the coffee can in your hands.

"Well, I don't know if it'll be any better here. At least in the city, there's more excitement. More opportunity to move up in the ranks, be recognized for heroic deeds, all the things you would think goes on in a police officer's life. But here… it's just a dead end. Out here in the boonies is where careers come to die. It's really boring out here…," Adachi's brows knit together, and you saw something on his face that wasn't something you expected you would see.

He was unhappy.

"That's… kind of a depressing way of looking at it." The corners of your mouth dipped downward as you looked to him. "The whole reason I came out here was to get away from all that 'excitement'. Iwatodai had a little too much for my liking. I didn't have a very good time there," (boy, was that the understatement of the year), "It drove me nuts fearing for my life every day. It got so bad that some days I just couldn't bring myself to go to work. I couldn't take it anymore. I chose to come here of my own volition. It… it sounds like you didn't have that chance, did you?"

Adachi was silent for a moment, his eyes darkening as he stared at the ground.

"Yeah pretty much." He didn't elaborate and instead brought the subject back to you much to your dismay. "Why did you become a police officer in the first place? You should know that it's not for the faint of heart. You would have probably been better off going into something safe like teaching or some kind of desk job if being a cop was so frightening. If you wanted to 'make a difference' like most people want to do these days you could have tried being a doctor or a lawyer. Those jobs pay better anyway." Adachi's smile was something closer to a sneer as the words left his lips.

The sudden change in mood was almost frightening. How could the conversation fall so fast?

But what he said made you pause in thought. You felt… kind of irked at his suggestions of you being more suited for 'safe' work. As if you weren't capable, or strong enough to hold your own being a police officer. The thought was nearly infuriating.

It was the Academy all over again, being teased and made to feel you weren't good enough to pass. It was living with your good for nothing father after your mother had passed from illness as he tried to crush your dreams and tormented you every day of your adolescenthood.

'Whadda ya want to be a cop for? You think you can protect anything with those scrawny arms of yours? You'd just be stuck doing traffic work anyway. A dead-end job. You'd make better money pouring booze for a middle-aged business man at a hostess club than you would blowing a whistle at cars.'

Your father's words still haunted you 'til this day, even after you left him to rot in his life of drinking and revisiting his gangster ways on the side to feed his disgusting habits. Even after the Universe paid him back for his wrongdoings and struck him down with the very bottle he drank from. You shed no tears for him when the news had finally reached your ears. You celebrated your victory with graduating from the Academy.

He was the reason you had wanted to join the police.

To put away scum like him, to protect those who would be hurt by his or any other criminal deeds, to prove him wrong.

Your hands shook as you took a sip of your drink to wet your lips and calm yourself. You hadn't thought of your dad in a long time. Thinking of him was somehow worse than your memories of the creatures you encountered in Port Island. He was the real monster in your eyes.

"You sound like everyone I've ever shared my ambitions with, Adachi-san," you laughed, your voice hollow to your ears. "Let's just say I have my reasons. Very personal reasons I'd rather not share just yet. But I will say that I became an officer to prove all those naysayers wrong, that I really did have it in me to protect and serve. It had always been a dream of mine since I was a child. I wanted to be some kind of hero, someone who could save people from all the evil in the world. When you grow up with evil, you get sick of it real quick."

A warm drop of water fell onto your hand and it took you a moment before you realized it came from you. A steady stream of hot tears were flowing from your eyes and down your cheeks. You swiped at them furiously, trying to swallow the thick ball of emotion lodged in your throat. Luckily, this time you had went for the waterproof makeup after last night.

"Oh geeze… I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm sorry!" Adachi seemed genuinely alarmed seeing your tears. He rubbed at the back of his head and shifted uncomfortably, looking ashamed for what he had said.

Any irritation you had felt toward him dissolved and you placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine, Adachi-san. I'm alright. I just wasn't expecting the sudden flood of memories about the subject, that's all."

Really the situation should have been the other way around with him reassuring you but you didn't mind. The look in his eyes was clue enough that he wasn't sure how to handle these things.

"You sure? Man, look at me...making a cute girl cry so easily. I'm horrible, haha…" Adachi avoided your gaze, his face a billboard for the internal battle within his mind.

You sniffled and wiped away the remaining tears, gathering up the courage to ask what was on the tip of your tongue.

"Hey Adachi-san," you began, catching his attention, "You wanna help me with that bottle of sake in my fridge tonight? I could use a drink when I get off of work."

Your offer put the smile back on his face.

"That sounds gre-"

"ADACHI! THERE YOU ARE, YOU SLIPPERY BASTARD!"

The smile was gone just as soon as it had come and the both of you jumped at the deafening roar of a purple-faced Dojima.

He was royally pissed.

"What the HELL do you think you're doing slacking off at a time like this? Didn't I tell you not to leave your post!? Get the fuck off your lazy ass right now; we've got a job to do!"

Adachi leaped to his feet in an instant with a "Yes, Sir!"

The elder detective then turned his glare onto you and you flinched.

"And you! I know you're new here, but I think you're experienced enough to know that when you're assigned a task, you're not to abandon it without notice. I'll let it slide for now, but if I catch you shirking your responsibilities again, I'm writing you up. Don't let this slacker rub off on you." Dojima stabbed a finger in Adachi's direction and you saw the younger man shrink. "Now get back to work."

Detective Dojima gave you another hard look before turning on his heels and walking back to Marukyu. It was only until he disappeared from sight that you released the breath you didn't even realize you were holding.

You really did not want to get on Dojima's bad side.

"Sorry for getting you in trouble. I have a feeling Dojima-san's gonna work me to the bone tonight so… raincheck on that drink?" Adachi asked, hope flashing in his eyes.

"Y-yeah, that'd be fine. I'll just have a glass in your honor then. The rest of the bottle I'll save for when you're free," you promised and the man broke out into a grin. You then gathered your jacket and pushed yourself to your feet, swaying instantaneously.

Fortunately, Adachi caught you before you could fall, and you suddenly found yourself very close to the detective's body.

"Whoa there! Are you all right? Maybe you should take off early, you don't look so good," he observed with a frown. His cool wrist was at your forehead, and you flushed from the sudden contact.

"I-I'm okay, Adachi-san. Probably just a little cold. New atmosphere after all," you answered weakly, your head spinning as you caught the scent of coffee and musk off his clothing.

"You sure? I could fry an egg on your head; you're feeling pretty hot. Maybe I should take you home."

You're not making it any better… Please stop touching me...

At that exact moment, the two of you easily heard the gruff shout of Adachi's name from Dojima's mouth.

"Damn it…" Adachi looked torn as he looked toward the street then back at you. Seeing that look helped you reach a decision. You straightened up and stepped out of his hold, leaning against the wall of the store to keep upright.

"Don't worry about me, Adachi-san. I'll be fine once I take the medicine I bought. It'll be enough to keep me afloat until I clock off. I don't want to get you into more trouble than you already are." You smiled softly at his concerned face, trying with all your strength to appear the picture of good health despite your boiling insides.

Adachi responded unexpectedly, closing the distance between you again and holding your gaze with his dark smokey eyes. The color was almost obsidian in the shadows.

"You're such a good girl. Trying to be selfless even when you're obviously ill… it's cute. Just take care of yourself, all right? Can't share that drink with you if you end up in the hospital from overworking your system," he whispered, breath fanning over your face in the close proximity.

His stare was smoldering.

You shifted from foot to foot in discomfort. Once again, it was as if he were a completely different person. However, even your nervousness couldn't douse the spark of interest inside of you. You wanted to know more about him and it was quite obvious that he was interested in you as well.

"Okay. Uh… I'll t-try not to push myself too much," you stammered, averting your eyes.

Adachi chuckled and grazed your heated cheek with his fingers before patting it gently.

"Good to hear. If you don't mind… could I have your cell phone number? I'd like to be able to check up on you and make sure your condition doesn't get worse later on. If not, I could always just knock on your door. After all, what are neighbors for?" He took out his own phone gazed at you with an expectant look in his eyes.

You wondered if there was another reason he wanted your number. With the way he was staring at you, it wouldn't be farfetched to guess that his intentions weren't restricted to just being a good neighbor.

"S-sure?" You recited your number for him and he typed it in with a small smile. "My phone's dead right now, but I'll make sure to charge it when I get home. Uh… g-guess I'll talk to you later?" Slowly, you met his gaze again, shyly biting your lower lip.

"Definitely. Hope you feel better soon," Adachi smiled, affectionately squeezing your shoulder before stepping back.

When he was finally out of your sight and personal bubble, you sighed and leaned your head back against the wall.

"Jesus, that was intense… what's his deal?" you breathed, feeling your heart thumping a mile a minute as well as a weird tingling between your legs. You hadn't been looked upon like that in a very long time.

You wiped the sweat from your brow and opened the bottle of medicine, downing the contents and chasing the bitterness with the rest of your coffee.

"C'mon, get it together, girl!" You smacked your cheeks and shrugged your jacket back on, straightening yourself.

As you attempted to get back to your duties, you couldn't help but feel incredibly dirty and nervous after the exchange with Adachi. Those damn eyes were seared into your mind and you couldn't get rid of the image if you tried.

End A/N: Thanks for the read! Please leave a review if you loved it... or hated it, hehe. I want to hear your thoughts, suggestions, and critique! Kind of making this relationship a slow burn. Well, as slow as Adachi can bear at least, LOL. I promise things will pick up, but I do enjoy writing it this way...