In the excitement of everything going on around her, Halle almost forgot that she was no longer Hanai's partner. And now, starting today, she was going to work with Tennoji.

...

Yuck.

Halle sat glumly at her desk as she listened to Kirisawa give them the case debrief, depressingly fiddling with her phone. It wasn't the same checking her texts for Ellie without Hanai constantly nagging her to get off of her phone.

"We've been receiving a lot of reports of a voyeur targeting couples in a certain park." Kirisawa stood by the whiteboard, firmly addressing Tennoji and Halle with this information.

Halle innocently tilted her head to the side in confusion as she blinked at Kirisawa. "A voyeur?"

Oblivious to her confusion, Kirisawa kept talking. "So, I'd like you and Tennoji to go to the park and pretend to be a couple to investigate. Got it?"

Hanai spit out his coffee at the intense look of disgust on Halle's face, watching amusedly as she grimaced in Tennoji's direction. "...fine."

"Mitchell." Tennoji turned to his new temporary partner, resting a hand on his hip.

"Yes?" Halle looked up at him instantly with interest gleaming in her eyes.

"Whatever you do," Tennoji flattened his lips into a hard line and glared at her. "...don't get in my way. Got it?"

Halle gritted her teeth together as she harshly balled her hands into fists, holding her tongue. "...got it."

Kirisawa tossed a case file onto Tennoji's desk. "Tennoji, fill Mitchell in on the details of the case."

"Okay." Tennoji nodded, picking up the file.

"Hanai, I need to talk to you for a second." Kirisawa waved him over, ushering Hanai to follow him with a grave expression on his face. "Come over here with me."

Hanai stood up from his desk obediently. "Yes, Sir."

Halle watched him get up and start to follow Kirisawa out of the office, and his eyes met her own for a moment. Hanai quickly looked down to avert her gaze as he walked out, causing Halle to frown depressingly to herself.

"Hanai..." Halle somberly whispered to herself as she watched him go.

"Mitchell!" Tennoji abruptly bonked her over the head angrily with his calloused hand, messing up her hair. "Quit daydreaming!"

"Ouch!" Halle snapped out of it, instantly clutching her head. "O-oh, I'm coming!" She quickly jogged over to Tennoji at the door to catch up.

Tennoji went back to his serious, 'let's get down to business' look as he started to walk with her out of the office. "I'll explain some more about the case."

"Go ahead." Halle eagerly nodded her head, listening carefully.

"Like Boss said," Tennoji started back up again. "There've been reports of a voyeur peeping in on couples' 'love scenes.'"

Halle stared at him oddly. "'Love scenes?'"

Tennoji just smirked at her. "You know. Making out and...stuff."

Halle's whole face flared up red in embarrassment as she slapped her cheeks. "People do that in parks!?"

Tennoji just laughed at her and shook his head. "The guy behind it seems like some kind of low-life pervert. I'm sure you agree."

"Yeah, sounds like it..." Halle mumbled quietly to herself, suddenly getting lost in her thoughts.

There was no way that all of this meant she had to hook up with Tennoji just to catch this voyeur, right...? Gross! This had to be a joke!

Tennoji scrunched up his nose in annoyance as he got close to Halle's face, looking her dead-on in the eyes. "You listenin' to me!?"

"Yes, I'm listening!" Halle angrily barked back at him, just as annoyed with his constant idiocy.

Tennoji backed up out of her face and resumed walking beside her, skeptically shooting her a glance as he kept giving her details of the case. "Apparently, he takes pictures of the couples and sells the photos."

"He sells them?" Halle drew back her head in shock, thoroughly appalled as her face scrunched up. "Gross..."

"We suspect that there's more than one person behind this, but if we catch one, we should be able to flush out the others." Tennoji smirked and cracked his knuckles horrifyingly loud, which made Halle widen her eyes in fear momentarily from both that and the scary look on his face.

"I see." Halle gulped nervously, more than just a little worried by the evil look on Tennoji's face.

"Alright then, let's roll." Tennoji snapped his fingers and pointed forwards as he walked out the MPD's front door, heading for his unmarked police car.

"Okay." Halle quickly jogged to catch up to him, but instantly slammed her face right into the glass door that Tennoji had failed to hold open for her. "Ouch! Tennoji...!"

That car ride was probably the most unbearable thing Halle had ever been forced to endure in her entire life. Honestly, she almost preferred those awful, daily singing and piano lessons her mother put her through as a child. Tennoji was an insane driver! He constantly floored it and went over the speed limit, sped around corners impossibly fast, and slammed on the brakes whenever he had to stop. Halle felt like she was going to die just sitting in the passenger seat with him. He didn't drive anything like how Hanai did...

Halle walked beside Tennoji as they entered what appeared to be an old-timey coffee shop with antique decor, and she wore a pale look on her face that suggested she had just seen a ghost. "Are we here to interview witnesses?" Slowly, the color began to return to her face as she tried to smooth out her now-sticking-up hair, trying to ignore her fast-beating heart from that car ride.

Tennoji just casually strode into the place and triggered the bell attached to the door, shaking his head no. "Nah, there should be someone waitin' for us here..." He trailed off a little as he locked eyes with someone across the coffee shop, then nodded his head decisively. "Yep, there he is."

Halle followed Tennoji's line of sight to a lone man who looked sketchy as he purposefully stuck to the shadows, trying to not attract any attention.

"Sup." The man gave Tennoji a little head nod as the two detectives approached him.

Tennoji stopped in front of him, setting his hands on his hips. "Hey. Sorry for callin' you out here like this."

"Don't worry about it." The shady guy waved it off, shrugging his shoulders. Then, he spotted Halle standing right next to Tennoji, and he warily grew suspicious. "Who's the girl?"

"Another detective."

"Oh."

Without introducing her, Tennoji pulled up a chair and sat down with a thud. Halle stood there awe-struck as the two men just suddenly started talking about something she could hardly follow, and she just awkwardly sat down in a chair next to Tennoji.

"So, what happened after that?" Tennoji inquired, resting his crossed arms on the back of the chair he was currently sitting backwards in.

"It looks like a college kid." The shady guy crossed his arms over his chest, leaning further back into the shadows as he spoke.

Tennoji appeared to be really familiar with this guy as he continued to speak with him. It seemed to Halle that this wasn't their first time meeting one another. "So he started off trying to save up some spending money, but ended up selling. And?"

The shady guy just nodded his head. "Apparently it's not working out too well for him...or at least that's what I heard."

"He's being pretty cautious?"

"Seems like it."

Based on their conversation, Halle presumed that this guy here was Tennoji's informant for some other case. She took out her notepad and began summarizing what they had been saying in her messy handwriting that she refused to realize was actually very messy, jotting down whatever seemed to be important. Well, at least she was until...

"What're you doing?"

Halle blinked owlishly as she jerked her head up from her notepad, locking eyes with Tennoji, who was staring at her quizzically. "Taking notes."

Tennoji's whole face erupted with anger as he slammed his hand down on the counter. "Stupid! Don't write this down!"

"What...why!?" Halle unconsciously leaned back away from Tennoji, a little frightened by him suddenly yelling at her. "Hanai was always telling me to take notes!"

Tennoji just scoffed and shook his head, looking even more annoyed than before. "Do I look like Hanai to you?"

Halle opened her mouth wide and gaped at Tennoji like a fish, unsure of how to even respond. "Well, no, but Hanai said..."

"Hanai, Hanai..." Tennoji interrupted her impatiently with a roll of his eyes. "What's Hanai to you?"

Halle blinked her eyes over and over again, not sure if she even heard that right. "Excuse me?"

Tennoji ignored his initial question and snatched Halle's cute blue notepad from her, stuffing it into his jacket pocket after tearing out the page she was writing on and crumpling it into a ball. "Maybe Hanai wanted you to take notes, but I don't."

"I can choose to take notes or not by myself!" Halle angrily lunged forward to try and snatch her notepad back from Tennoji, but he just simply held out a hand and caught her forehead, holding her there as she continued to struggle to get her notepad back.

"When you're with me, what I say goes! No notes!" Tennoji snapped at her again, getting sick and tired of her bullshit. He let go of her and clonked her on the forehead, earning a small "ow!" from the little brunette. "Take notes in your head!"

Halle wanted to slam her hand down on the table and leave, but all she could do was sit there and take it as Tennoji viciously berated her. What the hell did Sam even see in this guy!?

After the meeting with the informant was over, it was lunch time, and Tennoji and Halle headed over to the park where the supposed "voyeur" lurked to case out the place.

Halle stepped up into the playground and planted her feet firmly on the dirt, slowly turning in a circle and looking around the park. "I wonder where he's hiding to get pictures of these couples..."

"You can't even figure that out?" Tennoji stared at her dumbly in shock, and he reached out and thumped her forehead roughly again. "Think!"

"Ouch!" Halle cried out as she slapped her hands over her forehead, and she glared at Tennoji malevolently. "You can be a jerk to me all you want, but that won't help me figure this out any faster!"

Tennoji just rolled his eyes, resting his hands on his hips as he gave in and just impatiently told her the answer. "The perp hides behind trees or acts like he's just walking by the couples when, in actuality, he's taping them. He puts the camera in a paper bag with a hole cut out for the lens."

Halle drew her head back all little as she wore appalled expression on her face. "Gross..."

A vein bulged from Tennoji's forehead as he angrily glared at her. "Who you callin' gross!?"

"Not you, you moron!" Halle just gave him the most incredulous look ever as she threw her hands up in the air exasperatedly. "I was talking about the perp!"

Tennoji bitterly narrowed his eyes at the rookie detective, getting really fed up with her smart mouth. "You really are a pain in the ass to deal with."

Halle just scoffed and threw her head back dramatically. "I could say the same thing about you!"

"Why'd I have to get paired up with a newbie like you anyways!?" Tennoji spat at her angrily and flashed her a really harsh look before abruptly walking away.

Halle just watched him storm off, completely dumbfounded with his childish behavior. "I wonder how much longer I'll be working with this guy..."

Her days of chasing behind Hanai with her notepad suddenly seemed nostalgic. It was only yesterday that they were split up, but it felt like an eternity already, and Halle couldn't take it much longer.

...

She missed Hanai.

One night after she had been working with Tennoji for a few days, having finished with her investigatory work for the day, Halle was back at Second Unit's office putting in some overtime. Not like this was really unusual for the girl, though. If she was going to prove herself to the guys in Second Unit, she would sure as hell show them what she was capable of. And in order to do that, she would put everything she had into this job. Halle was going to earn every ounce of their respect by herself.

Halle briefly tore her eyes away from her laptop screen to glance at the clock on her desk that was piled with clutter, and she tiredly ran her fingers through her hair. "Oh god, I can't believe it's eleven o'clock already... I have to hurry up and finish this debrief."

Halle wanted to finish up and get home to Ellie, but she just couldn't seem to make herself do her work no matter how hard she tried to stay focused. She was that tired. Her thoughts wandered to how Tennoji and her just could not seem to get on the same page, no matter how many days it had been since they were partnered up. She had been partners with Hanai for three months, and partners with Tennoji for three days. Every time he yelled at her, she couldn't help but compare him to Hanai. Hanai wouldn't talk to her like that. Hanai would listen to what she had to say. Hanai would...

Halle's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by her cell phone ringing, and she quizzically stared at the Caller-ID that read, "Ellie Mitchell."

"Ellie?" Halle picked up the call immediately, confused beyond belief as to why her daughter was up this late.

"No, love, it's me." Sam's voice rang out over the phone, and her lovely accent instantly settled Halle's nerves.

"Oh, phew..." Halle sighted in relief, pressing her hand to her forehead. "I thought you were Ellie for a second there. Wait, why are you calling me on her phone?"

"Ugh!" Same grunted in frustration, and Halle could hear the sound of her exasperatedly slapping her hand onto her forehead with a loud smack. "Because my mobile phone isn't bloody working!"

Halle just sighed in response, slumping her whole posture as she covered her face with her free hand. "Okay?"

"Well don't just sit there! Fix it!" Sam whined comprehensively, stomping her foot impatiently on the other side of the line. "You're the mobile phone expert, love! I'm not a tech geek like you!"

Halle just narrowed her eyes in annoyance at nothing in particular."Sam, I'm not a tech geek. My family just owns a company that develops tablets and smart phones."

"Same thing!"

Halle just sighed sharply, resisting the urge to rub her eyes and mess up the light makeup that she was wearing. "Okay, Sam. What's wrong with your cell?"

"It's not letting me call anyone, and I can't send or receive text messages!" Sam pouted fiercely as she spoke in a dry, whiney voice. "I can't even access the Internet!"

Halle quirked an eyebrow in confusion, warily approaching her suspicion. "Sam, slide up the menu from the bottom of the screen."

"Okay...got it. Now what?"

Halle rested her head in her hand, slumping at her desk. "Is the little airplane icon lit up?"

"Yes...why?"

Halle slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Sam, your phone is on airplane mode."

"...oh. Bugger! I really thought I broke it this time! Bloody mobiles and all their fancy buttons and shit..."

Halle chuckled quietly to herself as she shook her head. "Goodnight, Sam. I'll be home within the hour."

"Goodnight, love!"

Halle hung up her phone and heard the office door suddenly click, and she turned her head and looked just in time to see it get pushed open by someone. She found herself staring at Hanai, who was just standing there and smiling quietly.

"You're here late." Hanai observed as he strode into the room and quietly shut the door behind him.

Halle awkwardly stiffened her posture and sat up straight, not sure what to say to him. "...so are you."

Hanai walked right up behind her and looked at her laptop screen, a little surprised to see what she was working on so late. "Debrief report?"

"Yeah." Halle sighed and instantly relaxed, less tense now that Hanai was around. "I just can't seem to finish it."

"Well, it looks like you're working hard." Hanai smirked wryly, looking down at her for a moment.

"Not really." Halle groaned as she covered her face with her hands, leaning back in her chair. "I just can't seem to get focused."

Hanai just chuckled, then shook his head as he glanced at her. "So how's working with Tennoji?"

Halle just stared at him as she firmly deadpanned, "it's awful."

Hanai winced in amusement, laughing a little as he did so. "Well, you're just not used to his way of doing things yet."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to his way of doing things..." Halle told him how she was really feeling about work lately, not even meaning to.

"At least he's not forcing you to take notes constantly, right?" Hanai spoke kindly to her, trying to console Halle like one would a child.

"He got mad at me for taking notes." Halle stuck out her bottom lip to pout, crossing her arms over her chest.

Hanai opened his mouth wide as this thought just occurred to him. "Oh. Yeah, our methods are probably pretty different."

"Extraordinarily different!" Halle whirled around in her chair as she wailed, pouting at Hanai. "I feel kind of lost..."

Hanai flashed Halle a little smile and placed a paper bag on her desk, and he grinned even bigger when all she did was flash him a look of confusion. "Here."

"Huh?" Halle's eyes blinked several times at the sight of the bag, unsure of what to make of this.

Hanai just simply rose an eyebrow at her quizzically as he looked at her. "You haven't eaten anything yet, right?"

Halle's eyes snapped wide open in shock. "How did you kn-" Her stomach abruptly growled, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"I just had a feeling." Hanai chuckled at the embarrassed look on her face, finding her stomach's timing rather amusing. "I guess I wasn't wrong, huh?"

"Hanai..." Halle smiled at him thankfully as she relaxed her shoulders, and she turned and opened up the bag. Inside she found some pastries, a pork-cutlet sandwich, a cream-filled doughnut, and a bottle of her favorite milk tea.

"From the bakery we always went to." Hanai added, awkwardly stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Thank you." She turned and beamed at him, eternally grateful.

Hanai looked at the ground for a moment and then rose his face slowly. "Mitchell?"

"Yes?" Halle stared at him, wondering what he was going to say to her.

A fiercely determined look crossed Hanai's face as he stared directly into her eyes. "I'll be back. Definitely."

"Huh?" Halle tilted her head to the side, a little confused by this.

"The stabbing case." Hanai explained further, practically brimming with ferocity and determination. "I'm going to get myself put back on it."

Halle stared at him for the longest time before a smile slowly crept up onto her lips. "...good. You better. I'll be waiting, so you better come back!"

Hanai smirked a little, turning his head to the side. "I hope you're ready to wait for awhile."

"What? Noooo!" Halle whined and shut her eyes comprehensively, reaching out to clutch Hanai's suit jacket sleeves. "Come back now!"

"One step at a time." Hanai laughed a little at her eagerness, which seemed to have a positive effect on him, seeing as how just seeing her silly faces immediately lifted his spirits. "I'll do what I have to do to create a chance for me to return."

"Hanai..." Halle's frown slowly turned up into a tiny grin, and she resisted the urge to reach out and hug him.

"Well, I'll see you later." Hanai turned a little and got ready to leave. "Hurry up and finish your debrief."

"Okay." Halle watched his tall figure disappear through the doorway and into the shadows, and she turned back to the paper bag on her desk. "Thank you, Hanai..." She grabbed the bag and opened it up, snatching the doughnut right out of it. When she smelled the amazing scent and took a big bite of it, despite just how great it tasted, she felt her eyes begin to sting a little. Was she going to start crying? "What's wrong with me? I..."

Halle's eyes were pricked with tears as sharp as knives, and she felt them welling up for no apparent reason suddenly. The more she tried to blink away her tears, the worse it got. And she couldn't stop the tears as they rolled down her cheeks.

Halle reached up and touched one of the tears on her cheeks, widening her eyes as the awful, crushing thought that she had been pushing from her mind for weeks now suddenly became as clear as glass.

...

She liked Hanai.

Ahh, finally... It's done. I've been procrastinating on this update for a month XD sorry guys. I have to work on like five or six books at a time so I don't get bored of one and give up on it.

So, Halle FINALLY admits to herself that she likes Hanai, but she's not too happy about it. In fact, she's kind of stubbornly trying to ignore it. Uh oh. That's not good.

And now, in our next upcoming chapter, you guys can enjoy this little preview: we will meet Halle's older brother Brad, and we're going to have yet another moment for Sam to shine. Look forward to this! I guarantee this will make you guys die laughing XD XD XD

Read, review, and enjoy!