The R.H Case

Chapter 2

Takumi was beyond frustrated.

How could he not see through her? Did she know that he was there to guard the place? Did she purposely ask him to the dance? How did she even outrun him? And the trickiest part was none of the CCTVs caught anything. Even though his brain was raging all the possibilities he was quiet, so quiet that the sound of a pin dropping could be heard in the room.

On a brighter side, he had the basic idea how she looked. Middle length raven hair, nearly 165cm, big amber eyes. Unfortunately, he could see her face well enough to draw it because of the fancy feathered mask she wore. But he was quite sure that he will recognise her the moment he sees her because of her eyes; those eyes had a certain sparkle to them.

He let out the breath he was holding and looked at the pile of files that laid on his desk. They were all about this certain 'R.H'. He has gone through them so many times that he could probably recite those while solving a rubik cube. He must say those files were not really useful. No evidence, no footage and no fingerprints- nothing was found against her. All they could ever find was the piece of paper she always left.

He chuckled. Well, someone knew what she was doing.

Standing up, he took the note she had left. He had also looked at the note countless times. He tried looking for some hidden characters but nothing. The note was as simple as it looked. He knew how one could tell a lot about someone's personality by their handwriting but only two letters were not obviously enough for him figure out how she thinks.

For the hundredth time that day, Takumi glared at the piece of paper.

"Glaring at a piece of paper will not help you by the way."

Takumi looked at the source of the voice while his glare deepened; he hated to be disturbed.

"Get out from my office Igarashi."

The man, named Igarashi Tora, chuckled as he came inside before making himself comfortable on the couch, which the room offered, definitely ignoring the earlier malice. He took a look at his surrounds. Books, files, a chessboard and a hanging dart board- that's all he could see.

"Wow, you're still the same boring guy." Tora muttered.

Takumi sighed. He did not have the time to chit-chat. Knowing Igarashi Tora since high school Takumi knew how that guy never did anything without some hidden motive. In other words, Tora suddenly visiting his office must have some other reason as well.

So, he came to point quite fast, "What do you want?"

Tora grinned as he leaned forward a little, "Quite impatient, aren't we?"

"I'm working on a case."

"And you're failing."

Tora was clearly amused how not a single hint of rage was seen on the other guys face on his previous comment. Instead Takumi looked at him with his same bored look. Tora smirked, "I want to work on this case. Hand it over up to me."

"No."

Tora frowned, "How can you say no when you've clearly failed to guard that auction? Not only that you let the criminal go too."

Takumi nodded, "Exactly and that's why I need to solve this case. I need my revenge."

Tora snorted as he stood up, "Admit it, you do not have what it takes to catch this criminal." He shrugged, "Hand it over, I'll be waiting for it in my office."

That and Igarashi Tora left his office. Takumi sighed as he looked at the piece of paper on his hand; it was not the first time someone looked down on him. In fact, he was quite used to it and maybe that's why he could easily restrain his emotions from showing on his face- a trait he has mastered a long time ago.

But he was a petty person. He wasn't lying when he said he needs his revenge. That's why he swore that he will – absolutely – catch this girl.

Yukimura was quite surprised when suddenly Takumi asked him to join his team. After all, that man hardly ever wanted to see someone's face let alone their help. Even Yukimura himself did not understand why suddenly Takumi wanted him – who was very bad in hand to hand combat – to join his team. Clearly there were more competent officers out there than him.

"Um…" Yukimura cleared his voice to catch the attention of the other male who was being so quiet that it was beginning to scare him. "What help did you need from me?"

"I thought about what happened yesterday again and again."

"B-but I'm so bad at c-combats-"

"I don't need you to fight." Takumi spoke before Yukimura could finish, "I need someone who can keep up working with me day and night."

Yukimura looked down for a moment before looking up at the blond standing in front him. The way he stood with his back against his desk while crossing his arms on chest, the air of confidence which surrounded him- Yukimura had always looked up to him. Honestly, it was like a dream come true for him. He smiled, "I'll work with you. Tell me what to do."

As soon as those words were out from his mouth, without wasting a moment, Takumi handed him some files as if he already knew Yukimura would say yes.

"I need a list of the names of every person who donates to any NGO, orphanages or any kind of charities of Tokyo. I repeat for each and every donation done in past two years – small or big – I need the data."

Yukimura's jaw dropped as he took in what Takumi was saying. "That will be… lot of names."

Takumi smirked, "That's why I chose you- an expert gather of gathering information."

Yukimura laughed softly at the exaggeration before frowning, "But how is this linked to our case?"

Takumi shrugged as he ran his hand through his blond locks, "As I said I've been thinking about the case. I read all the files corresponding to this case. This 'R.H' appeared nearly two years ago. Now I wondered what R.H may stand for. What do you think?"

Yukimura, startled by the sudden question thrown at him, went with the safest answer, "Maybe initials of name…?"

"Maybe." Takumi nodded, "But that's too easy to read."

Yukimura frowned as confusion filled his mind, "What do you think?"

"Do you know the story of Robin hood?"

Yukimura shook his head.

Takumi took some darts that laid on his table before standing in front of the dart board. He spoke, "He is a character from English folk-tale; an outlaw who wanted justice foo everyone. As far as stories go, he robbed the rich, helped the poor."

Yukimura's frown deepened. The more he listened he more confused he got. "Why are you linking those two?"

On the other hand, to Yukimura Takumi seemed quite calm as he took the darts and threw them targeting the board. Yukimura's jaw dropped for the second time at this man's accuracy. He hit the bulls-eye every single time. Usui Takumi must be insanely good at shooting.

Yukimura was snapped back to reality at the sounds of Takumi collecting the darts from the board.

"The initials do match." The blond shrugged, "And then I looked at the handwriting on the paper. It's written in very soft strokes applying little to no pressure. So, I'm guessing this 'R.H' person is a kind and soft person. The rest are just hunches though." Takumi explained carefully not letting the detail slip that this person they were trying to catch is maybe a girl.

Takumi smirked as he saw the awestruck expression on the other guy's face. He had another hunch that Yukimura is just perfect for this job and guess what- his hunches were usually right.

Takumi was actually surprised at how capable Yukimura was.

Given the load of the work, he had expected Yukimura to take at least two or three days to actually finish collecting the data but here he was, on the very next day, holding a thick file of the content he previously asked for in this office.

Takumi smiled at the guy who looked like he hasn't gotten a single minute sleep. "Great job. You may take a rest for today."

Takumi watched as Yukimura gave a salute before wobbly walking out from his office.

Taking a deep breath, he looked at the file he was holding which was actually quite thick. Even for him it will take some hours to go through it even once. He was further surprised at how Yukimura had added the pictures of the people.

From celebrities to normal people, Takumi went through each of them carefully. As he was beginning to reach the end, he began to doubt his hunch. His eyes widened when his eyes fell on a certain picture.

Middle length black hair.

Same big amber eyes.

A smirk broke out on Takumi's face. It was, most definitely, the same lady.

Then, his eyes fell on her occupation. She owned a café.

Her name was Ayuzawa Misaki.

That much information was enough for Takumi sprint out of his office and drive to that certain place. Throughout the years of working in this field he has learnt not to waste a moment of time. Now that this time he was dealing with someone exceptionally smart- he looked forward to how it would turn out. Soon, he stood in front of a pretty decent looking café. The name was 'Black Latte.'

Without hesitating he went in. It looked simple from inside too. People chatting, working, soft music smell of coffee mixed with air- it definitely looked like any other normal cafés but Takumi knew better.

"How may I help you sir?"

A boy with bluish hair asked him. Judging from his looks, he looked a few years younger than him and judging from his attire he looked like he worked there part-time.

Clearing his throat, Takumi spoke, "Can I meet with Ayuzawa Misaki?"

The blue haired guy frowned a little, "I'm sorry but she's not here at the moment."

"Ok then." Takumi shrugged, "I will wait."

Takumi noticed how the blue haired boy judged him as he stood there waiting. Now he was not standing there by choice, the café was so packed that he had no choice but to stand. He was surprised to see how good they were doing in business. He mused why someone would steal when their business was doing this good. Somehow the whole scenario did not seem right to him.

He sighed. Maybe he had been digging the wrong hole all this time.

Suddenly the bell chimed indicating someone has come in. In an instant all his doubts vanished into thin air as he looked at those same big amber orbs.

"Ah Misaki-" The blue haired boy came forward, "Someone is looking for you."

The raven haired lady smiled and looked at her visitor. Takumi could not help but notice how no hint of shock of was seen on her face. It was as if she knew – expected – that he will come looking for her.

"How are you on your on your feet after jumping from seventh floor?"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

Takumi nearly laughed out loud at her innocent expression. Her face looked like she had no idea about what he was talking about. Also, her body language felt completely different from the other day. Now she was amusing and very smart- he admitted.

Takumi turned serious as he looked at her, "I need to ask you some questions."

She smiled innocently at him again, "Even if you are good looking, I can't answer questions for some random stranger."

"We are no strangers." He frowned and sighed. It was nothing new, but she seemed difficult to handle. She was the exact type of person whom Takumi found most annoying. But he needed to be professional here for the sake of his job. Taking a deep breath, he was about to open his mouth but she beat him to it.

"I can answer your questions only if you order something from our café." She winked.

After reading this much I'm sure you guys have an idea about how I'm trying to present our main leads- Takumi as someone who loves his work and Misaki as someone little flirty. A little role reversal wouldn't hurt right? ;)

Thank you for the great response for the previous chapter, nothing feels better to know that readers are liking what I'm writing.

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