Chapter Two

By the time Shiratori went back to the station, he found his girlfriend already waiting for him in front of the station, realizing he took a lot of time investigating the case and forgot to call her, he quickly apologized, even though he knew she is probably not angry at him at all.

"So, how was the case?" She asked.

He froze for a second obviously deciding what he should say to her regarding the case he just came from."Well, It was a very easy case." He said.

"Really, what was it about?" She asked expecting another tale of heroism from her boyfriend, after all police officers were heroes in her eyes and they always catch the bad guys.

Knowing how innocent his girlfriend was, he decided to change the subject and just as he was thinking about a way to do so, he was interrupted by none other than Takagi who`d just arrived to work.

"Good morning, Shiratori-san." Said Takgai.

" AH, Takagi-kun, Good morning." He said, and actually caught Takagi`s shoulder, before he entered the building. " I need to discuss something with you." He said.

Kobayashi being the polite woman she is, decided to leave the inspector to his work, and bid them farewell. Shiratori silently cursed himself. if he knew how to lie a bit better, he`d have been able to lie his way through the situation and keep her company for a little bit more.

Takagi on the other hand, looked at the disappointed face his colleague had, and seemed confused.

"Ano, Shiratori-san, what was it you want to discuss with me?"

Shiratori realizing he was still holding Takagi`s shoulder, quickly released him and went inside the station.

"We need to get inside first." He said.

Takagi followed him inside only for them to be stopped by inspector Megure.

" Takagi, head to Mouri detective agency now. "

Silently cursing his luck, Takgai saluted and went on his way. hoping and wishing it wasn`t a murder case this time.

Once inside the agency`s office, Takagi noticed a depressed Ran sitting behind the desk where Mouri usually sits, and other than her, there was no one else around.

"Ano, Ran-san." He said, earning a surprised look from the teen before she smiled and greeted him.

"Ah, Takagi-keiji, Good morning." she said.

"Good morning, Ran-san, is Mouri-san here?" The teen shook her head and asked him to have a seat.

"He is out now, but he should be on his way back." She said.

"Ah, I was asked by the inspector to come here." He said.

"Must be because of the case dad is working on." She told him.

Obviously ready to inquire more about the case, Takagi was about to ask for more details when the door opened, revealing none other than Kogoro Mouri himself.

"Ah, Mouri-san, Good morning." Greeted Takagi.

"Takagi! did the inspector send you?" Asked Mouri.

"Hai."

"Good, sit down, This will take a while." Mouri said.

As Takagi sat down, Ran came by and offered him some tea and Kogoro started explaining the case he had.

"Do you recognize this face, Takagi?" He asked.

Takagi looked at the picture Kogoro was holding, and remembered the guy inside it.

"Yeah, he is a robber I caught a while ago."Said Takgai.

"Well, That robber was poisoned in his cell."Said Mouri, earning a very surprised shout from Takagi.

"EHHHH!"

"This person is his wife" Said Kogoro, showing Takagi a picture of the woman "She asked me to investigate what happened to her husband."

Takagi cut in " But, I'm sure the police are already investigating it ..."

"I know, but the wife doesn`t trust police, she threatened she will tell the media if I don`t accept her case. "

Takagi could easily imagine what the media would say, if they got hold of something like that. God, they will have a good time grilling them all.

"Anyway I spoke to the inspector this morning, he took care of it so that I can join the investigation. We don`t need a media frenzy over this and the truth behind the incident need to be uncovered." He heard Mouri say. He knew the older detective was once in the police and he knows how hard it is to be a police officer, and how something like that can make it hundred percent harder for them to do their job.

If the people knew they let a criminal die under their surveillance, there will be no stopping the negative feedback they will get, and usually a lot of people get aggressive with them after such scandals happen.

"Anyway, We will head to the crime scene tonight. We will need you there since you are the one who caught him, I will also need a copy of the case files related to the guy."

"Ah,HAI!" Was all Takagi said before he left the agency, and went on his way back to the station.

Meanwhile, while Takagi was having this important conversation, Shiratori had finished his shift and was on his way to his house.

"I think I really need to sleep for a while. My head is killing me" He thought.

About half an hour later, just when he was about to sleep, his phone rang a very familiar tone.

"Moshi Moshi, kobayashi-sensei" He said.

"Shiratori-keibu, I am sorry did I wake you up?"

"No, I wasn`t asleep? Did something happen?" He asked since usually she wouldn`t call him in the middle of the day and not when she knows he had a night shift.

"Actually,..." She paused then continued " A student in my school seemed to have died yesterday, and the police were here just now." He forgot any sleep he had left.

"Did something happen? Are you alright?" He was panicking and she found herself quickly assuring him she was fine.

"Nothing happened, they were just here to ask about the father of that student and if any of us had noticed anything about Kaoru-kun" She stopped speaking for a while "Actually,..."He urged her to continue "They said his father killed him ... I am not sure how?" He could hear tears in her voice and the alarms were ringing in his mind.

"Was the name of the Father, Nishina Kazuya?"He asked.

She seemed surprised as she answered, "yeah, How did you know?"She asked.

He cursed himself, how could he forget to check if the little kid went to her school or not. Maybe he should have told her about the case in the morning. Then she wouldn`t have been so shocked.

"Kobayashi-sensei, are you still at school now?" he asked.

"Yeah, but the director said we should all head home after what happened, so we are all just escorting the kids out and leaving."

"Can you wait for me then?, I will be there in 30 min or less."He said.

"Eh, but aren`t you tired?, you didn`t sleep and ..."

He cut her off.

"Don`t worry about it, I have tomorrow off and there is nothing more important than you now."He said.

Shiratori quickly picked a random outfit from his clothes then changed into it before grabbing his car keys and sprinting outside.

Once in front of the school, he saw his girlfriend standing outside. She smiled when she saw him, but there was still sadness in her eyes.

She greeted him and after speaking for a bit, he smiled at her.

"We need to do something about today." Was all he said before grabbing her hand and ushering her to his car.

"So princess, where should we go?" He asked.

She smiled this time, feeling a lot better."Where do you want to go?" She asked.

"Then, do you prefer a movie or a long drive ?" He asked.

"Long drive, I guess."

"Long drive it is, then."

The ride was enjoyable and Shiratori found himself telling Kobayashi a bunch of stuff he`d never tell anyone just to make Kobayashi laugh. Like for example, how he clumsily stepped on a very important piece of evidence during his first investigation ever, and how he got scolded afterwards, or how Mouri had accused him of being the culprit behind a bombing case once, only because one of his hobbies was architecture. He even told her a couple of funny situations Takagi had to face during the last week, his younger colleague had to face an old lady with a broom during a case last week. The lady wouldn`t believe he is not a panty thief and kept insisting he is there for her granddaughter`s panties.

Kobayashi smiled and laughed a lot and that alone made the young detective feel happy. After a long drive, both of them decided it was time for lunch, and thus, he called one of his favorite restaurants to arrange for their meal.

Kobayashi knowing that Shiratori tend to overspend, started scolding him about making special preparations for her and how she wanted to eat the normal stuff he usually eats. laughing he explained that the normal stuff he eats at home are usually prepare by a chef. But if she means cup noodles and stuff he used to eat during work and still eats on stake outs, he`d never let her eat that stuff not when she is with him.

" I can`t help preparing the best for my girlfriend, Right?" Was what he said and she could only blush and nod.

After an enjoyable meal Kobayashi noticed her boyfriend had already reached his limits and so she asked him to drive her home.

"We could spend some more time, if you want." He said, but she wouldn`t Take no for an answer.

"You need to sleep." She sounded scolding and he blushed, happy she cares about him.

He couldn`t deny he was feeling so tired already, and so calling it a day, he drove her home and went to his own house to sleep.

...