Finally!! I would have updated this earlier (like two days ago), but the site was having processing errors with my file... Bleh. But now it works! This is one of my favourite chapters so far, so I hope you like it~

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Chapter 25

"Where the hell is he?!"

"Where is who?" Li asked, trying to handle Misaki's volatile mood.

"November! That lousy bastard! Why is it that he can find me when he wants, but I can't find him when I need to?!"

Misaki grimaced as she was pacing the length of her bedroom. She had decided to talk to November, but the problem there was that she couldn't find him! He had disappeared off the face of the planet, as far as she knew. She had thought she could track him down from the text message he had sent before, yet the number had been blocked.

There was only one other place where she knew to find him. When she actually went there for the last three nights, there had been no one. Beyond his house that she had visited on a couple of occasions, she had no clues to where he might actually be. Before this, she had avoided him at all costs and he had been the one to hunt her down.

"Why do you need to talk to him?" Li asked, surprised.

"Because the stupid ass keeps harassing Saitou! That man is entirely too trusting… He was utterly miserable when he came to me a few days ago since I warned him not to speak to anyone regarding cases… And yet, he couldn't help doing it again, especially since November knew some information that most people don't."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know yet, but I have to talk to him first," Misaki answered angrily.

"Do you want me to have Yin track him down?"

"Yin? Does she even remember how to?"

"Why would she forget something like that?" Li replied with a chuckle.

"But how would she know who to track…"

"Don't question it so much – just answer yes or no and we'll handle it."

"It won't get you or her in trouble… Will it?" she asked reluctantly.

"Of course not. I would never put her at risk if it did."

"Then yes."

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Staring at the computer screen in full concentration mode, November was startled when the buzzer phone rang. He had been in the middle of his research for Misaki's two cases that Saitou had informed him about. A quick glance at the clock told him that it was well into the evening, later than anyone should reasonably attempt to contact him; not to mention that no one even knew about this place since he never had anyone over.

Sighing softly, he quickly went to answer it since the person didn't seem intent on going away. In fact, they seemed to be more persistent as the phone continued to ring when he was slow to see who it was. He couldn't even begin to imagine who it might be. It wasn't like he was expecting anyone, especially not around ten in the evening.

"Hello?"

"Open the door."

"Misaki? What are you doing here?" he asked in surprise as he hit the buzzer to open the main door of the apartment for her.

He waited for her reply when he realized that she had disappeared. The sound of her voice had been replaced by the sound of beeping since there was no longer anyone on the other end. That was when he realized that she knew exactly where to find him and that she was coming up to find him right now.

"Shit!" he exclaimed as he glanced around the apartment.

The place wasn't exactly meant for having company as he had magazines strewn across his coffee table, clothes tossed on the back of chairs or sofas and dirty dishes from supper left on the counter. If he was trying to impress her, this was not the best way to do so… Scrambling to clean up after himself, he rushed to the kitchen to toss the dirty dishes into the sink before trying to tidy up the magazines left out.

It seemed like seconds later when the knock on his door came and he groaned as she had arrived much too quickly. He wasn't given much chance to continue his clean-up duty as she was persistently knocking on the door.

"Shit!" he exclaimed as he was about to answer the door to realize that he was not only half-dressed, but he was wearing his scruffy lounge pants.

It wasn't the best thing to receive her in, especially when she was coming over to his place. Instead of opening the door, he rushed back to his room, grabbing his clothes along the way. He quickly stripped off the pants and stepped into his usual getup of dress pants. Even so, she was still knocking on the door…

"I'm coming!" he called out as he rushed to the door while shoving his arms into a dress shirt.

Managing to make it without stumbling into anything, he quickly opened the door for her to let her in. Not only had he not been expecting anyone, but she had to be the last person he would ever expect. Based on their last conversation, it wasn't like she had seemed any friendlier towards him than she had any other meeting.

"Oh shit," he muttered again as she stared at him.

He looked down to see that he didn't have time to button up. Turning around, feeling embarrassed for some reason, he quickly did up the buttons. He wasn't usually this clumsy, but it felt like his fingers fumbled around unnecessarily with a task that should be second-nature to him by now. It took him a few minutes before he turned back around to see that she had already entered his place and closed the door behind her.

"So uh… What brings you here?" he asked.

"I needed to talk to you."

"I see… How did you find me anyways?"

"I have my ways," she answered with a smirk.

She didn't say anymore as she glanced around at his place. Her expression remained neutral so he couldn't tell what she was thinking. But the fact that she wasn't saying anything and knowing that she was judging him even more based on what she saw made his heart pound. This was the first time he had ever had any woman over at his place like this.

"Right, so what did you want to talk about?" November inquired when she still didn't say anything.

"You need to stop harassing my workers."

Usually the one on the offensive, November squirmed under her steady gaze. It was disconcerting to have her show up unannounced while he had been in the middle of something else. He didn't even think she would know where to find him. Now that she was here though, he told himself that it was best to make use of this encounter.

He turned around to walk back to his workstation, taking in a deep breath to settle his unusually finicky nerves. Closing the lid of the laptop with finality, he eventually turned back to her with the smile she had become accustomed to seeing from him. He could tell that she had instinctively realized the change in him as she took a step back away from him.

"I never expected to see you here, Misaki darling," he replied lightly.

"That's still Kirihara-san to you."

"Is that so? And what is it that has you seeking me out in the middle of the night, Misaki?" he asked, his grin broadening.

"Like I said, you need to stop harassing my workers."

"Tsk, tsk. I would never do anything of the sort! I'm wounded that you could think so poorly of me. I would never harass anyone, and definitely not anyone important to you."

"I don't believe a word you say," Misaki retorted, narrowing her eyes at him. "Give me your phone."

His only response was to approach her as she held out her hand expectantly. She was not going to put up with him causing Saitou unnecessary grief. She wouldn't be so selfless to say that it was only for his sake that she was doing this; she wanted more control in their so-called relationship and it didn't help when he used her subordinates against her. Her sense of justice was kicking in, along with her innate sense of survival.

Not only did he not give her his phone as she had demanded, he had taken hold of her hand and pulled it to his lips in one swift motion. As his lips lingered against her palm, Misaki stiffened and tried to tug free of his grasp. It didn't help as he didn't release her; in fact, it increased the contact time as his lips shifted with the movement of her hand.

Misaki felt herself blush, a traitorous response as she had never been in a situation like this. As she glanced around helplessly, his words resettled in her mind. She was the one to come in the middle of the night as she had come the moment Li had informed her of what Yin had been able to discover… Even so, she didn't know how she was supposed to get out of this as her mind and body froze from his unexpected actions.

He lifted his lips and pressed another kiss to her inner wrist before he finally loosened his grasp on her. Quickly, she snatched her hand away from him. Despite that reaction, November was pleased to see that she was blushing. Compared to the stoic ice-queen she usually was, this response of hers was so much better.

"Give me your phone," Misaki demanded again, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Now why would I do such a thing like that when you'll go dashing out of my door the moment I do? It's unexpected, but I can't say that this isn't a pleasant surprise. I can think of better things to do right now."

November took a step towards her and she instinctively took a step back. The distance between them was maintained the same as he took steps of equal proportions to hers. Any other woman would have fallen into his arms without a second thought, but not her. She didn't like to run away like a coward. How was she supposed to do her job of hunting down Contractors if she couldn't even handle a man like him?

Even so, she couldn't help it. Every fibre in her being was telling her to run before she ended up being drawn into his pace, especially since they were alone together – in his apartment, no less. She continued to back away and he continued to follow until there was nowhere else to go. Her back hit the front door and he stood in front of her, crowding the small entryway.

She stared up at him, her eyes wide, in the dimmed space as there was only a bit of light trickling towards them from the living room. Her brain kept telling her to push him away, but not a muscle moved. Feeling incredibly stupid, she did nothing but watch him. Her hands were held against the door, palms flat against the surface.

He stared back, his eyes assessing the situation. It wasn't a feeling that she liked – that he could seem to read something there. She could tell by the way he smirked just a little. He stepped just a tad closer and she still couldn't make her body move.

Do something! Get out of here, her mind screamed at her.

No response. Instead, she continued to stare at him, only blinking a couple times. Her palm and wrist were still tingling from the warmth of his lips against them. It seemed like her body had switched to auto-pilot and she had no control over what happened next. So much for the main purpose of coming here…

November continued to move closer towards her until they were barely an inch away from each other. Still she didn't move. In fact, she closed her eyes like she was anticipating something which only made him inwardly chuckle. So regardless of the stiff act she put on when they did meet, it seemed like his Misaki was thawing towards him more than she let on.

Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, Misaki was forced to listen to what happened next. It should be so simple just to lift up her hands and push him away… But for some reason, she stood there like a statue, not knowing what to do. Something about the moment told her that he was going to kiss her. Even for someone relationally challenged, she knew that much. Not much else could happen when he had her pinned against the front door…

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A/N: Now this is what I call a cliffhanger! Lolz~ But finally... We're getting somewhere... :)