Hello everyone. I've got two things I quickly want to say before the beginning: To the people that are squeamish about autopsies/surgeries, it isn't too graphic but there will be Natsuki performing an autopsy in the second part of this chapter. Also, in this universe, Mikoto is a Tokiha. I quite liked Mai's dream that we see in Mai Hime. Just a quick background in the AU: Mikoto lived a few houses away from the Tokiha's and was good friends with both Takumi and Mai. When her parents died in a freak accident involving a falling piano, Mai's parents didn't think twice about adopting little, 6 year old Mikoto (and Mikoto didn't think twice about studying physic in the hope that she would one day defeat gravity.)

A big thank you to all who have reviewed/followed this story and Always and Forever. Hearing my e-mail ping every now and again was a big help when I was finishing off this chapter.

I think that's about it. I hope you enjoy and keep the reviews coming! :)

GoldenSun13


The restaurant that Detective Mai Tokiha pulled up outside of was well known by all. From the skimping student who wants something fancy, but on a budget; to the CEO of a company that wants the best tasting food sent straight to their office. Mai's stomach rumbled as she walked through the front door of Ping and Po, thanking the maker that she didn't stop off at Natsuki's office first. Mikoto would certainly drop all the tests she was doing to tag along.

Inside was predictably busy, what with it being six in the evening. No table was left empty and once a table did become vacant, it was quickly snapped up by the next customer. It took about five passing waiters before Mai managed to grab someone's attention. "Hey, excuse me!"

The sixth waiter about to pass did a double take and back peddled towards Mai, "I am terribly sorry Ma'am. How many are in your party?"

"Just me," she replied, pulling out her badge, "and the rest of Tokyo PD. I was wondering if I could talk to the manager."

The waiter's eyes widened, "oh, yes certainly. I shall go back and see if Mr. Po is available," He started to quickly walk to the kitchen, when a thought hit him, making him scurry back to Mai, "If you will excuse me, Detective. Would you follow me? I do not wish for my job to be at stake simply because a couple of customers noticed a member of law enforcement and jumped to conclusions."

"Lead on." Mai requested, as the waiter quickly scurried back in the direction of the kitchen.

If she thought the front of the restaurant was busy, nothing could prepare her for the organised havoc that was the kitchen. Following the waiter as closely as possible, so as not to bump into any of the loud and angry looking chefs, she saw what must be the office. The door was wide open and the walls separating it from the rest of the kitchen were more like large windows, so it didn't much look like an office from the outside. She guessed Mr. Po must be behind the one window with its screen down, as she could not see him at all.

"Please, wait here," The waiter ordered politely, "I'll see if Mr. Po is free," and without waiting for a reply, he knocked on the door and rushed into the office.

Yep, he definitely reminds me of a mix between the cartoon rat chef and the kiss ass guy from Mulan. I have watched both those movies far too many times, thanks to Mikoto and Natsuki.

As Mr. Po stepped out of his office, it was quite clear to Mai that he was not the rotund, joyous man she had expected him to be . Yes, he seemed very happy to meet her and looked to enjoy his work very much; however, Mr. Po's build was more Army Marine than Michelin man.

"You must be the Detective," he smiled, extending a hand in greeting which Mai took, feeling a strong grip and firm shake, "pleasure to meet you."

"Detective Tokiha, Pleased to meet you too, Mr. Po." Mai replied in greeting before saying, "could I please ask you some questions about an order taken this afternoon?"

"Certainly, let me just grab the take-out folder and I'll be right with you. Please take a seat in my office in the mean time."

Mai watched Po walk towards the take-out window, and observed him talk to the women currently working in the area. Not wanting it to seem like she had rudely ignored his gesture, she turned towards his office and stepped inside. Even without closing the door, the noise difference between inside and outside the office was noticeable. Must be very thick glass. Just as she was taking a seat in front of Po's very cluttered desk, he entered the office with a binder and closed the door, stopping the racket from the kitchen completely.

"Sorry about the mess," he apologised, sitting down in his seat opposite Mai and placing the binder on a pile of papers, "I swear I am organised. So, pardon my questioning, but it seems a bit odd. What would a Detective want with an order from my Restaurant?"

"I'm here because a customer of yours was recently found dead. I would just like to prove or disprove that his allergic reaction was due to his last meal." Po nodded and flicked through the binder till he reached that afternoon's orders, "The name is Kazama and his order was a-"

"At 12pm every day, to be delivered before 12:30. It must be beef teriyaki, no sesame seeds or oil; every day until requested to change." Po finished for Mai, picking out the correct form as he spoke, "He is a regular of ours, but you can take a copy of today's order form as evidence of purchase if you wish." Unclasping the binder, he took the form, placed it into the scanner/printer on his desk and created a copy. Passing it to Mai, he continued, "We have been making special orders for him ever since we set up shop here. Our split kitchen is well known to allergy sufferers, you see."

Mai took the form, taking note of the red words next to Kazama's name, Allergy Sufferer, prepare in SK. "What do you mean by split kitchen?"

Po smiled kindly and pointed to the windows, "If you can see, some chefs have blue hats and other have red. You will notice that the red hats are on one side and the blue hats are on the other, never mixing." Mai gave a nod, "Red designates chefs who work with allergen free foods. On their side of the kitchen there are no nuts, seeds, shellfish or other allergens which our customers are known to react to. To increase the 'sterilisation' as it were, the red chefs do not move into the blue chef zone. Not unless an emergency which forces them to happens."

"I see." Mai made a note of this before asking, "Despite these measures, how can you be so sure that no sesame seeds or their oil were added to Mr. Kazama's food in the kitchen?"

"You are more than welcome to search the kitchen. I personally go around myself, checking for anything that might be wrong every morning, though, so I am positive you will find nothing." Mr. Po stood up and gestured for Mai to leave the office and check out the red area. "EVERYONE! ATTENTION!" he yelled, like an army officer. His army of chefs immediately quietened down, but did not stop what they were doing, "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Just a quick announcement: Detective Tokiha here has been given permission to inspect the red area. If you would all respect her space and work around her, I'm sure she will also respect you." The moment he stopped talking, the kitchen gave a loud "HAI!" before going back to its usual hubbub.

"Wow, your employees seem to respect you a lot." Remarked Mai as she followed Mr. Po round the various workstations and stoves.

"I see no point in hiring people if you are not going to serve them well. Kindness brings respect."

Mai tried not to allow her judgement to be clouded by Mr. Po's character, as he seemed so nice. "How did this idea for a split kitchen come about?" questioned Mai has she moved to the first work station.

"I used to serve in the US army. I was born in the USA," he supplied as Mai gave him a quizzical look, "I toured in Iraq for a bit with a close friend of mine. We survived a gunfight and an explosion, but ironically it was an allergy attack that killed my friend Michael after we had finished our tour and returned home. I vowed to make sure no others would come to harm from accidental peanut consumption and have lived here ever since."

"Why did you move back to Japan? Why not open up in the US?" Moving to the next work station, Mai gave it a once over and noticed that again, there were no signs of nuts or seeds.

"I probably shouldn't tell a member of law enforcement this, but as long as I am in Japan, they cannot make me go on tour again; especially now that I have my Japanese citizenship." He looked bashful at this, "I just had a great need to start my business up, with no distractions. So I thought why not start it in the parent's home country?"

"Don't worry, Mr. Po, that's not why I'm here," Mai moved along to one of the cupboards that held various spices and utensils, "hmmm, it seems clear." She turned to face Mr. Po, "One final thing: you and his secretary agree on the fact that the order was for beef teriyaki. My understanding is that it has sesame seeds when cooked normally. How does working in the split kitchen differ from any other restaurant kitchen?"

"Ah, well you see that kind of teriyaki, with additions of either sesame or garlic is an American recipe. I tend to stick to the traditional way of making the marinade with soy, sake and honey; broil the desired meat and finish off with ginger if desired. The dish is already quite flavourful, so there is no need to add sesame as garnish."

Satisfied for now with everything Po had informed her on, Mai thanked him for his time and left the kitchen.

I wonder how Natsuki is doing.

Xoxo

Natsuki had completed so many autopsies in her career as a Forensic Pathologist. After the preliminary outward checks, which were different for every body, the next step of Y-incision, breaking the ribcage open and measuring the different organs was automatic. For her, this could be done with eyes closed. Not to say that she would ever do that. The autopsy is an important part of the investigation, which needs complete concentration and thorough notes. However with this specific body, the signs of anaphylactic shock were quite clear.

"Skin around mouth appears inflamed," Natsuki spoke into her Dictaphone, "trachea also inflamed, consistent with anaphylactic shock due to sesame seeds or their oil. Deceased was a known allergy sufferer in relation to said seeds, as backed up by his medical records, last updated 13/05/XX. No medical bracelet or tag was on the body or in the clothes. Perhaps of no significance, but will request full report of items in office."

Natsuki clamped both the lower oesophageal sphincter, at the top of the stomach, and the pyloric sphincter, which leads to the intestines, before picking up a scalpel and cutting the stomach free. She carefully lifted it up and out of the cavity, placing it on a metal pan that was sitting on the scales. She noted the weight and then released one of the clamps to study the contents. "As expected, contents are mainly undigested. Evidence of beef and noodles... what seems to be a brown sauce. I am confused as to why a man with a sesame seed allergy would want to eat teriyaki, a dish known for its sesame flavour. However," she continued, taking a sample of the contents, placing it in a plastic tube and labelling it appropriately, "despite the word of the secretary, I will not assume the contents to be teriyaki until both the results from the stomach contents and the food box come back."

Just as she was placing the stomach back into the body and preparing it to be closed up, there was a knock on the door, followed by a mop of black hair looking into the room. "I've got the results, Natsuki!"

"I... come in, Mikoto," Natsuki looked puzzled, "What are you doing with a biological sample?"

"I have a PhD in Biochemistry too you know." Mikoto replied, placing the folder of results onto an empty slab. "I was not needed in the physics lab today and as soon as I heard Ping and Po's might be in trouble, I had to make sure the tests were done properly."

"Ah, I see." Natsuki turned back to the body and began sewing, "so what have your extensive results shown?"

"Screens came back positive for sesame seed oil," Mikoto's face fell as she continued, "in the carton, on his chopsticks and also in the bag that the carton came in. The thing is though, I have a feeling it was added after leaving the kitchen."

"Oh?" Natsuki paused to look up from the body, "What makes you say that?"

"Well, for one thing, there were trace amounts of oil around the outside of the carton, but no signs of teriyaki sauce. It's the same with the bag too; large stains of oil but no sauce mixed with the stains. Surely if it was added in the kitchen, before it was packaged, the carton and bag would be like the chopsticks and have a mixture of teriyaki sauce and sesame oil?" Mikoto's face perked up, hoping that her discovery would save her favourite restaurant.

Natsuki hummed in thought, returning to the cadaver and sewing the Y – incision closed, "that is a good observation, Dr. Tokiha. I will of course wait for further evidence, but it does seem like foul play." sewing the final knot and placing a white sheet over the bodies abdomen, Natsuki began to pack up the autopsy utensils and reports, "in which case, Mai needs to start looking into Kazama's background. Would you pass the evidence along, Mikoto?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" Mikoto replied before picking up the reports and exiting the autopsy lab, glad to be getting some fresh air. The autopsy lab was no place for a person with a weak stomach.

Xoxo

"Shizuru? I'm home!" exclaimed Natsuki as she closed the door of her apartment behind her, taking off her shoes and jacket.

"I'm in the kitchen!" a disembodied voice replied, along with the sounds of water bubbling and the smell of food.

"Oh, Shizuru! I thought I told you not to start cooking without me," Natsuki scolded as she made her way to the kitchen.

"I know," Shizuru replied, smiling warmly at her, "I also know how hungry you are after work and how cranky you get the longer it takes for the food to be made."

Seeing Shizuru wearing an apron, her hair up in a messy bun and a slight flush on her face from the heat of the stove, Natsuki could only grumble non-verbally in reply.

Shizuru had been back to living with Natsuki ever since the incident. Every few weeks, she'd mention in an off handed sort of way that she should really look into a new apartment for herself, however both she and Natsuki knew that would never happen. As a Doctor and a very successful lawyer, they didn't need to do this and in fact together they could afford a very nice house. The closeness the apartment gave them, though, felt just right. It had been months since her kidnapping and less than that since her fear of being trapped had simmered down, but there was an un-voiced agreement that they were both happier living together. Shizuru hadn't once felt pain at being so close and yet so far to the one she loved; what she had felt was a large shift in their relationship.

"How was work?" Shizuru continued, going back to the food on the stove.

"Busy. Got a new case that's just turned suspicious," Natsuki placed her hand on the counter, about to lean when she felt something under her hand. Turning it around, she found a light coat of oil on it, "could you pass a towel?"

Shizuru grabbed the towel next to her and gave it to Natsuki, "sorry about that. I accidentally got carried away with the sesame oil and it spilled. If you don't mop it up properly, even though you can't see it well, it's still there."

"Thanks," Natsuki wiped the oil from her hands and continued, "funny thing about that. The victim today had an allergic reaction to sesame seeds or their oil. Wow, that's pungent."

Shizuru hummed in agreement, "so you think he was murdered via triggering his allergy?"

"I'm not too sure yet, it all depends on what Mai and Mikoto find out."

"Ah! So you have the great Tokiha sisters working with you." Shizuru exclaimed, smiling. Being a criminal lawyer, she sometimes ended up having one of her three friends on the stand as professional witnesses. She had noted a trend that cases with two or all three went a lot smoother and quickly than with just one. "I hope I am there for when this goes to court!"

"Mikoto really seems to be into this case. I can't say why, of course, but she's really doing a good job because of it." Natuski admitted. Noticing that the food was nearly finished, she went around the kitchen collecting chopsticks, placemats and condiments to set on the table.

"Of course she's doing a good job, Natsuki. She always does," Shizuru tut-tutted, "when it comes to Mikoto, you allow your first impressions to cloud your professional opinion of her." She added the cooked noodles to the wok of sauce and gave them a stir, "You do realise that she has one more PhD than you do? So what if she may act younger than her age? When it comes to the serious stuff, she acts very mature."

Natsuki gave a non-verbal mumble of agreement and sat down at the table. It wasn't until Shizuru sat down next to her with their bowls of food that Natsuki conceded, "I guess I should forgive her for that time when she ate my supply of ramen noodles and threw out my mayo."

"Exactly, Natsuki. After all, that was back in college."

"Yes, but Shizuru, we could only afford one bottle a month back then!"