Enjoy the chapter peeps.

"what's that?"

Three droplets on the ground gleamed in the moonlight, catching Sora's eye. He kneeled, bringing a finger to the substance; rolling it between his thumb and finger.

"Oil..."

"It's still fresh"

Someone has been here not long ago.

Perhaps still here.

He had a bad feeling about this...very bad feeling.

What was most suspicious was that the noises had stopped. At that exact moment.

Upon hearing footsteps on gravel, Axel broke apart from her. She gasped for much needed air as a result from near suffocation. His left hand moved from the back wall, grabbing her wrist causing her to wince in pain from his tight grip.

"Stay quite...if you want to live...", he whispered menacingly into her ear.

Somebody else was in that car park besides him and Kairi.

He wasn't going to risk being found out. Not tonight.

Placing his right hand over her lips firmly, he scanned the car park for any movement.

Sora was still fixated at the spot where he found the oil droplets. Something told him whoever was out there didn't want to be found. From now on every movement he made was crucial to whether he would find them or not.

The car park was still quite packed at nearly four in the morning. Most of the cars belonged to workers at the 24/7 supermarket and gas station. Some police officers from the station a street away also parked here. There was usually no one here until six in the morning when all the workers and officers finish their late night to early morning shifts.

Until then, it was a great place to hide.

Sora stood up and cautiously took a few steps, advancing towards the direction where the noises were coming from before, occasionally stopping to observe for any movement.

Axel Panicked. The footsteps were drawing closer and closer. He would have to act fast.

He released his hand that was firmly clamped to her lips giving her an; If-you-dare-to-scream-you're-dead kind of look. With his free hand he picked up a nearby pebble and threw it to the other side of the car park, hoping it would serve as a distraction.

Sora turned abruptly towards the sudden noise.

He smirked to himself.

"I've got you now..."

Hearing the footsteps grown faint, Axel was relieved. He heaved a silent sigh of relief, brushing the perspiration off his forehead with his right hand.

She wanted to scream, to scream for whomever it was to come back but she didn't dare knowing what would become of her if she did. All her hopes of being saved drained away slowly with the disappearing footsteps.

He waited until the night was silent once more. No more footsteps, movement...

No one...

He decided to make his escape while he still could, before they returned again. His right arm wrapped firmly around the petite girl once again as he was about to make run to his Honda Civic.

"That old pebble trick doesn't work for me..."

Axel froze. Whoever was behind him wasn't just anyone at all...

"How...how the fuck did he..."

He was scared...just a little scared. But she could feel it. Secretly smiling to herself she took his fear into her advantage turning around slowly to gaze upon the face of her hero.

Crystal blue met Sky blue as their eyes locked for a brief moment. She noticed he had unruly chestnut coloured hair sticking out in spikes of all directions. He was handsome… there was no question about. "Hot" however wasn't exactly rhe right word to describe it, he was more "cute".

She snapped herself out of her daydream back to the situation at hand. Axel, still with a firm grip on her waist turned around slowly.

"Hey...woah...chill out man we were just talking...weren't we KAIRI?"

She picked up on the slight emphasis on her name which told her if she didn't play along she was sure to face the consequences.

"That's not what it looks like to me?", Sora cut in.

Axel's expression darkened.

"And I don't see how it's any of your business"

"Let her go..."

"What if I don't want to?" Axel sneered.

Sora pulled out a 6-inch all black revolver from inside his jacket and aimed it at Axel, Hoping the man in front of him would not provoke him to shoot. He preferred not to use it as a weapon but as a threat, relying on combat if anything else if he resulted to violence. Usually it wasn't loaded unless he was in the middle of a seriously dangerous case. Today it wasn't loaded. He was plain buffing, hoping the man would fall for it.

Axel panicked. His mind jumped from left to right, from back to fourth in search of his next move. He wasn't even armed properly and this man in front of him who just happened to be sticking his nose into something that wasn't his business pulls a gun on him?

Then he remembered...

"Let her go" Sora stated again, this time in a more serious tone than before.

Axel didn't want to do this but he felt trapped and resulting to this was the only way he saw out.

He swiftly reached into the pocket of his black coat, pulled out a pocket knife. Flipping it open he held it against Kairi's neck causing her to whimper in fright.

"d...drop the gun or I-I'll..."

Sora sensed the uncertainty in his voice.

"Ok...ok calm down buddy, you don't have to do this...It doesn't have to be like this...let her go and we'll talk this through", Sora replied cautiously.

"I'm not your FUCKING buddy!"

"Drop the gun..."

"DROP THE GUN DAMMIT!"

Not wanting to anger the red head which might lead him to do something unreasonable, he slowly kneeled down and placed his gun on the ground and just as slowly rose to his feet again.

"Alright...I dropped the gun now let the girl go unharmed...no one has to get hurt"

"The only talking you'll be doing is in HELL!" and with that leaned forward grabbing the revolver. Kairi watched in shock as she came to the realisation of what Axel was about to do.

She couldn't just watch...

Time seemed to slow for her...

"Axel!! NOOOOO!!!!!"

She grasped onto the arm that still held the blade to her neck, pushing the arm away with all her strength she created enough space for her to escape from his wrath. Turning attention to the revolver that was now aimed at Sora, she lunged for it.

Click.

But she knew...

Knew she was too late as she heard the release of the trigger. She clamped her eyes shut and clasped both ears with her hands, not wanting to hear or see any of the bloody site that was sure to befall in front of her.

Axel grinned wickedly as he pulled the trigger.

"He's going to the dogs..."

A satisfied smirk still plastered on his face as he waited for Sora to meet his death.

1…2…3…

The smirk disappeared from his face as he realised something was wrong.

Sora was still standing infront of him.

Alive.

And this time he was the one to grin.

Taking advantage of Axel's confusion, he rushed forward grabbing Axel's wrist with his hand, a sharp twist of his arm caused Axel to hiss in pain and release his hold on the pocket knife. Kneeing him in the stomach sent the spiky read head to stumble back and hit his head on a nearby lamp post.

Knocking him out cold.

Walking over he picked up his 6-inch revolver and stuffed it back into his jacket.

He approached the petite girl. Her eyes still shut and hands clamped over her ears. He kneeled down besides her and lightly tapped her on the shoulder. Slowly she opened one eye, seeing Sora right in front of him, his face just a few inches away. If any closer she would be able to feel his warm breath on her cheek. She opened her other eye and let her hands fall from her ears.

"w...wh...where's Axel?" she asked, still shaken up from the events of earlier on.

Sora pointed towards the lamp post where Axel lay, out cold.

Feeling a huge weight lifted from her, Kairi slowly rose to her feet, her trembling legs caused her to fall halfway up only to land in Sora's arms.

It was then she realised.

She forgot to thank him. The man she owed her life to..

"T-Thankyou...thankyou...thankyou I...I don't know what could have happened...if you hadn't turned up...I

Tho...thought I would surely be...I...thankyou...Thankyou...Thankyou so much!!!!"

Tears now brimmed her eyes. It seemed now all her bottled emotions were set free.

And before he knew it, she had wrapped her arms tightly around his neck in a deep embraced. Burying her head into his chest, taking in the scent of his cologne.

Sora was taken back.

A girl he had just met less than an hour ago... A girl he didn't even know the name of was locked in a lover's embrace. With him!

He was even more taken back as his arms seemed to have a mind of their own. Wrapping around her tightly and securely. He closed his eyes, taking in her scent.

Just for a brief second.

To him...

It seemed as if they were the only two in the world.

He was bought back to reality as she released herself from his embrace.

A long and awkward silence took place as both parties realised their actions beforehand.

"I...I'm sorry...I can be abit impulsive at times" she said, breaking the silence.

"It's alright...I'm used to it"

As soon as those words came out of his mouth he mentally cursed himself for sounding stupid. She however didn't seem to notice.

"Are you ok?"

"y...yeah just fine...I should be...it's over now"

The tremble in her voice told him other wise.

"Thankyou for everything...I...I better go home"

She turned around and began walking away. Her steps quickened as she got farther and farther away.

"Hey! Wait up!!!"

He ran after her. No way was he letting her walk home by herself especially after what had happened.

He placed a hand on her shoulder as he caught up to her.

"I'll give you a lift... I can't let a girl like you walk home at a time like this"

"n...no it's alright I don't want to be more trouble than I already was before..."

"I mean...I nearly got you killed...why would you want to take me home after that.."

She turned away unable to make eye contact with her saviour.

"Hey! Don't go blaming yourself for that... the gun wasn't even loaded it couldn't have killed ghost"

"Come on...my car's just over there"

"...alright..."

A small smile crept onto her face causing him to smile back.

She followed him to his Mazda RX-8.

Just as they were about to go in the sound of an engine starting caught Sora's attention just in time as it sped out of the car park. He immediately realised who it was. He was so wrapped up in helping the girl that he had forgotten about the red headed man.

The colour on her cheeks disappeared as she realised who it was.

"Don't worry, I got his licence plate number..." Sora said reassuringly.

However the look of concern on her face ceased to disappear.

The drive to her house was filled mostly with silence with and an occasional question or two. Sora didn't want to pester her about the details of the incident seeing as she was still coming to terms with the events herself.

"So...what's your name?"

"It's Kairi..."

"I'm Sora by the way..."

Another silence filled the air.

"So...you live with your parents?"

"No...it's just me..."

"Alone...? Would she be alright by herself for the night?"

Sora stepped on the brakes. What he was about to ask might bring across the wrong idea and he may even get himself a well rounded slap but it was worth a try anyways.

"Hey…Kairi don't take this the wrong way…but seeing as how things turned out tonight...d..do you want to spend the night? Just that...I mean you'd be home alone and everything..."

The next thing he knew, they were speeding down the main road.

In the opposite direction.

Sora was surprised. Not one slap, not one scream of "YOU PERVERT!" in fact she had agreed.

Unknown to Sora, Kairi was equally as surprised. Here she was in the car of a complete stranger and she had just been convinced into spending the night at his house?

"Why do I even care so much"

Having worked with the law for quite some time Sora did become quite sympathetic, not the he was originally cold hearted. Still, he was surprised at how much he actually worried about her safety.

Parking his car in the residential area, they both got out and made their way towards his apartment on the second floor.

"well we're here"

He unlocked the door, holding it open for her.

Now, the apartment had a nice interior, spacious living room and balcony and custom designed kitchen and peach coloured walls. It was a great apartment...besides the fact that old newspapers, empty pizza boxes and ice cream wrappers along with a whole lot of other junk almost covered its every inch.

He mentally cursed himself. If he knew of the events that were to befall tonight he would have spent a good day at home. Cleaning.

He never had many guests over except for his best friend Riku and occasionally Tidus and Wakka but he sure wasn't used to a girl being in his apartment except Yuffie of course but that was different.

"Sorry about the mess... I get carried away with work and it leaves little time for cleaning..." he stated, embarrassed by his apartment's messy state.

"It's alright, I understand...your job must take a lot out of you"

She picked up a few junk food wrappers and placed them in the bin under the kitchen sink

He disappeared into his bedroom, closing the door behind him. Sounds of drawers being opened and paper being scrunched could be heard coming from behind the doors. The door re-opened again, Sora appeared with a single white towel, a singlet and a pair of boxers. He handed them to Kairi and directed her to the bathroom where she could shower and change into fresh clothes for the night.

Sora flopped down onto the leather sofa.

Completely exhausted, .he closed his eyes wearily taking a moment to comprehend the events of tonight.

The sound of running water could be heard throughout the apartment.

The ringing of his phone rudely disturbed Sora from his moment of peace, He put the phone on loud speaker not bothering to pick up the hand set. Big mistake.

"Detective Sora Harada...DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?!!!" Yuffie's loud voiced boomed from the other end of the line...

Sora Jolted. He had completely forgotten...

"YOU SAID YOU WOULD BE HOME IN 20 MINUTES! DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS NOW?! IT'S FREAKING 4:30 A.M!!!"

He was sure she just busted an ear drum...

"DON'T TELL ME YOU WERE STILL AT THE OFFICE ALL THAT TIME!!! YOU'RE NOT GOD YOU KNOW!!!!AND EVEN GOD NEEDS TO NAP ONCE IN A WHILE!"

"Yuff...There's a good explanation for this I swear...I'll tell you about it tomorrow"

"OH THERE BETTER BE! OR I'LL..."

"I promise ok? I'll explain everything tomorrow"

Suddenly he caught a glimpse of Kairi standing in the doorway, she had finished showering, already changed into the singlet and boxers Sora gave her.

He found himself admiring at her figure but quickly turned away, not wanting to be noticed for staring.

"Look...Yuff...I got to go now...I'll talk to you tomorrow ok?"

"Bye"

"So you're a detective?"

"...yeah..."

"Yuffie was that loud huh?"

"I guess I don't really like to brag about it"

Kairi smiled

A detective ...

"I supposed everything kind of makes more sense now..."

A small part of Kairi wondered whether he saved her because he felt obligated. She brushed off the thought. She should be greatful that she was saved at all.

"You should get some rest, it's pretty late already ...or early you could say"

"I already laid out a blanket for you and there's extra's in the wardrobe if you get cold"

"But where are you going to sleep?" Kairi enquired.

"Right here", he said while patting his leather sofa

"Don't worry about me, this wouldn't be the first night I've spent on here"

Kairi stifled a giggle as she turned to enter the room.

Then she stopped.

"Hey...Sora?" She said turning around to face him.

"Thanks...for everything ..for tonight...I really appreciate it"

"It's nothing really...I...I don't mind...I mean...you're welcome"

"Why am I stuttering so much?"

"Well. Goodnight..."

"Night."

Kairi closed the door behind her, got into the king sized bed and snuggled in the blanket. His scent was strong in here and somehow it made her feel warm and dizzy inside.

Sora took out the revolver from his Jacket pocket. He stuck a hand under the sofa, feeling around for a certain object.

Finally he pulled out a small box.

He opened the lid revealing 9 shiny bullets.

After loading his gun he placed it back into the inside of his Jacket and placed the box back under the Sofa.

Something was telling him he was going to need it.

Yeah I up loaded this chapter again..fixing small errors that I easily missed the first time around.

Well..wasn't as bad as the first chapter that I uploaded again and again countless times