The First Day

For the second time in his life, Nice had no idea what the hell to do. After all this time, Cap had finally contacted him, but now there were other forces at work:

For one thing, there was the dog—Rei, if he remembered correctly—and those other Minimum Holders he failed to mention. That sardonic son-of-a-bitch was little to no help. Even though he clearly stated he had no intention of helping, the mutt could've at least given him more satiable answers. Instead, he had to go and do something else…

=V=

The bleak darkness that corrupted his vision shortly dissipated. Looking around, Nice didn't see any changes. He was still in the alley where he hid with the mutt.

The only thing that seemed missing from this scene was the mutt himself. "Hey, what the—"

Nice, are you there?

The voice was hollow, like an echo in a dark hallway, but he knew it belonged to the mutt, even if he couldn't see him. "Of course I'm here. Why? Was I supposed to be somewhere else?"

No. Just… try moving your arms.

"My arms?" He looked down to see the missing mutt in his arms. "When did I pick you up?"

Never mind that now. Just do as I told you.

Huffing indignantly, the young man tried doing as he was told, but his arms remained securely around the dog. "I can't. I can't move at all! What the hell did you do to me?!"

Calm down. I didn't do anything to you. At least not physically.

"What do you mean? What the hell's going on?!"

I merely took over your body, but I allowed your consciousness to stay so you can observe what I can do.

"But… how is that possible?"

I'll explain later. Now just keep still. Thanks to you, someone's tailing.

Before Nice could ask another question, three guys in suits stopped in front of the alley. They looked around for quite a bit before moving on, and Nice could practically hear the heavy sigh of relief from Rei. "Who were those guys?"

They're from the Minimum Agency. They've been looking for us for the past two years.

"Two years?" That was around the time he had left Facultas. Which meant Cap had been here, in Yokohama, wandering aimlessly with a bunch of kids who were special enough to be locked up somewhere in that facility, and he was none the wiser. He'd never felt so angry with himself in his life. "Why are they after you?" he asked, his voice taut. "What makes you guys so special compared to the rest of us?"

He could picture the dog closing his eyes, silently loathing him for being so straightforward but also completely exasperated from this entire endeavor.

I can't really speak for the others, but the Minimum Agency has been the bane of my existence since I was young. I was taken from my home and experimented on for my "gift". Nice nearly cringed at the acrid tone of Rei's voice when he mentioned his Minimum. When I met Cap, he wasn't like anyone I met before. He took everything with a grain of salt, even when he was…

Nice did not like that pause. "What? When he was what?"

The point is Cap is much more important to us than you think. If it wasn't for him we would've never made it out of that lab. I'm not doing all of this just for us. I'm doing it for the boy who saved my life, and I will not hesitate to eliminate anyone who dares to jeopardize his safety.

=V=

And the rest was history.

The next day, Nice wandered the streets on his own, completely clueless as to how to help his friend, and wondering why the Minimum Agency was involved at all.

When Nice had left Facultas Academy, they had sent the second highest ranking student to come after him and bring him back. Now that student was his partner, Murasaki. Other than a few scraps, the Minimum Holder PI duo had been getting along quite fine without any interference from the Academy or the Minimum Agency. Nice had thought his involvement with some of the police cases had a little something to do with it, but he had never really concerned himself with it until now. Cap and his friends must've had some nifty Minimums if the Minimum Agency was still hunting them down. The only question now was how was he going to find Cap without further attracting attention their way?

Since the dog wouldn't help and he had no idea where to start on his own, the brunette decided to just go back to Café Nowhere. Maybe once he had something in his stomach he could think of a proper plan.

As soon as he was inside, he went straight to the bar, his head hanging low in exhaustion and dejection. "I know I still owe you from last time, Master, but can I just get a burger this one time? I promise I'll pay you back someday."

"I don't know who this 'Master' is, kid, but if you don't have any money, I suggest you get out of my bar."

The very crass voice made Nice look up and realize he had indeed walked into the wrong establishment. The man behind the bar, the owner, had salt-and-pepper hair and a five o'clock shadow, his scruffy mouth downturned in a very annoyed grimace. Looking around, the young man saw that there were only three other people in the bar. Even though they were all sitting at three separate tables, they must've been regulars because they were all giving him weird looks. He must've been really out of it to not notice he walked into the wrong bar.

"Sorry. I thought you were someone else." All of sudden, a sharp gurgle erupted from his stomach. Turning back to the barkeep, Nice gave a cheeky smile and rubbed the back of his head impishly. "Uh… I know I said I was short on cash, but do you think you could just start up a tab—"

"Fat chance, buddy."

His head fell back down sullenly. "I thought not."

"Give the kid a break, Kenta." The owner of the smooth voice seemed to have come out of nowhere. She was a lot younger than her boss but old enough to work in a bar, apparently. Her short blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail with the exception of her bangs, the inky-black strands hanging in front of her fiery eyes breezily. "Just put it on my tab, okay?" The older man grunted in reply. He shot Nice an irate glare before going into the back to make (and most likely spit on) his burger.

"Thanks a lot," Nice said.

She gave him a blasé smile. "Don't mention it. You've obviously been in this situation before, and seeing as you look like you'll pass out any second, it'd be kind of cruel to chase you out, even if you are just a kid."

"Yeah." He nodded absentmindedly, resting his chin on the bar tiredly.

"I've never seen anyone look so sad after receiving a free meal. What's on your mind, kid?"

"Would you stop calling me that? I'm not a kid, old lady!"

Her nose flared up. "And I'm not an old lady, kid!"

The two were suddenly nose to nose, and Nice could practically feel the caustic static between them. As he glared into her amber eyes, he began to feel something wrench in his gut, and it wasn't just from hunger.

After a tense second, the bartender drew back, halting their staring contest. She grabbed one of the wet glasses and began to dry it off roughly. "Don't push your luck with me, kid. I might've saved your ass, but it's coming out of my pay so I better not get any more lip from you."

He drew back hesitantly, resting his chin on his palm childishly. "Whatever."

The atmosphere was once again tense, this time with silence. Nice glanced at the barkeep every now and then and the silence that followed their spout left him feeling even lousier than before. Nice wasn't usually one to feel remorse about something as petty as an argument even if he was in the wrong, but all of a sudden he wanted to apologize to this girl he'd just met. Then again, this would probably be his last meal until he could scrounge enough money from another PI job, and who knew how long that'd be?

"Sorry. I didn't mean it."

She shrugged indifferently. "Forget about it. I've dealt with bigger bastards. But no more of this old lady crap. I'm 19. Call me Ruby."

Nice looked back up at her—really looked at her, as if he were seeing her for the first time. He didn't recognize that name, but there was something about her that was peculiar…

And then it hit him.

Her eyes! They were so vibrant, so full of fire, so… weird. He knew he felt something off about her during their little stare down. Granted, he'd seen his fair share of weird considering he was a private investigative Minimum Holder, but Ruby's eyes weren't anything like he'd ever seen before, except he had seen them, only… he couldn't remember where he'd seen them or on whom. All he knew was that he'd seen a set of peepers just like Ruby's, and he was sure that person was a Minimum Holder.

And if that's true, then that must mean…

"Here you go. One hamburger." His train of thought quickly flew off track as the delectable, greasy smell of hamburger entered his nostrils and he couldn't help salivating as his poor stomach gurgled once more. Nice watched as Kenta went back into the kitchen, but he quickly forgot about him when Ruby set down a plate of fries. "I also gave you a small side, just to be nice. I know the only reason you're in such a grumpy mood is because you're hungry, so eat up."

"Thanks a lot." He immediately dug into the burger, etiquette and decorum be damned—he was starving!

"Your appetite is as colossal as ever, Nice."

Nice put the half-eaten burger down. "How do you know who I am?" he asked evenly.

"Who hasn't heard of you? You're from that private investigation group, right?"

"That's not what I asked…" Looking up, he saw that she was suddenly replaced with a brunette. This was obviously not the same girl, but Ruby's sudden disappearance was really suspicious. "Oi, where'd that other girl go?"

"You mean Ruby?" the new barkeep clarified. "She just ended her shift. But she did leave this for you." She gave him a note. For some reason it was written in English.

Sorry to leave you like that, but knowing you, you'll come back for some answers real soon. In the meantime, enjoy your burger.

- Ruby

"Thanks for the meal," Nice quickly said before running out of the bar. He needed to find that girl before she was gone. However, as soon as he was outside, he was didn't see too many people out on the streets. And from the way the sky was reddening, it seemed he had spent several hours wandering and brooding and eating, making no progress on finding any clues as to Cap's whereabouts.

With a heavy sigh, Nice went on his way, deciding to come back to the bar on another day.

As the day began to end, Art found himself growing weary looking over reports and his vision turning blurry. Looking over at the shrinking pile of paperwork, his eyes lit up; he was almost done, but he still had a long way to go. Scribbling down a few notes, he kept his hazy heliotropes on the page, not even looking up when the locked door of his office clicked open.

A can of coffee was placed unceremoniously on top of his paperwork, condensation dripping onto the dry ink. Art glared up at the intruder. "Scarlet." Instead of scolding her, he simply removed the can and continued working, much to her chagrin. "How did you get in here?"

"Gasquet let me in before he went home. He told me to make sure you didn't overdo it like you did last night."

"How was your first day at work?" He changed the subject.

"Great!" She took a seat in front of his desk, patiently crossing her legs. "My boss is nice and the other employees keep to themselves so they're not too concerned about my personal life or anything." She stopped when she saw that Art hadn't been listening to anything she'd said. She pouted irately. She and Gasquet knew Art needed someone to drag him away from his desk and get a decent night's sleep, and she was just the person to do it. Lack of sleep tended to make the superintendent rather manic, restless, and, more often than not, oblivious. But still, if he was going to ask about her day, the least he could do was pay attention!

She tried a different tactic. "But one of the bar patrons touched my butt." He was still scribbling. "And I stole some money from the cash register." Not even a twitch. It was time for some drastic measures. "Oh, and I had a run-in with Nice."

That'd done it. "What were you doing with Nice?"

Scarlet swiveled her chair away from him knowing it would further frustrate him. "Relax. It's not like I went looking for him. He stumbled into the bar by accident."

"I've known Nice long enough to know he doesn't just stumble into strange bars without a reason. He must've known you were there somehow."

"I doubt it. He was so out of it I don't think he knew where he was."

"That is strange…" When Scarlet turned her chair back around she saw his hands folded in front of his mouth as he contemplated.

"What is it?"

"He was acting pretty unusual when I saw him yesterday. And the others haven't seen him all day. They said he had been out looking for a long lost friend. Cap, I think…"

"C-Cap?" Scarlet bit her lip nervously.

Art, despite his fatigue, caught this, and narrowed his gaze at her. "Do you know something about this?"

She turned her chair around again. "I have nothing to say on the matter."

Suddenly regretting egging him on, Scarlet shrank into her chair as she heard him approach and cringed when he turned her around. He placed his hands on both arms of the chair so she couldn't escape. "I won't ask again, Scarlet."

She didn't dare look at him. She was no good at lying to him and she was afraid if she looked him in the eye she'd spill everything. "Even if I did know something," she said quietly, "it's not like I could tell you. You know that."

With a heavy sigh, Art detached himself from the chair and crossed his arm. "Yes, I know. I'm sorry. I just want you to be safe."

Scarlet also sighed, relieved and slightly guilty for omitting information, even if it wasn't any of his business. He didn't remember Cap, but he did know there was a group of wayward Minimum Holders with a leader and she was part of it. He was so close to connecting the dots, but she still couldn't have him getting involved yet. She had promised she wouldn't. But not knowing only made Art worry more, and she knew she'd feel the same if he was hiding anything from her.

"I'm safe where I am," she reassured him. "But I'm more worried about you at the moment. You look like you haven't slept in days."

"I'm almost done." Going back to his paperwork, he looked at the last file and groaned.

"What is it?"

"It's a theft case—Minimum Holder theft. And Three and Honey aren't available to help," he mumbled to himself. "I can't have Nice involved. But it won't be long before the victims go to Hamatora, and then the Minimum Agency will know…"

"What do they have to do with this?" A petty theft didn't seem like something that even the Minimum Agency should've concerned themselves with, but since the robber happened to be a Minimum Holder, it didn't leave much room for surprise. But Scarlet still thought it was rather smothering of them to be involved in all things Minimum-wise, even something as insignificant as a misdemeanor.

"We're still looking for those missing kids," Art murmured once more, running his fingers through his hair lethargically. "And because their parents are government officials—"

"They are of higher priority." Normally this wouldn't bother her because she was aware those kids were much more important than some serial thief, but she used to be one of those kids. She knew what it was like to have important parents who put their reputation over their own child's wellbeing. The Minimum Agency didn't have any intention to return those kids to their parents immediately, but it wasn't like those parents cared. Once they found out what their children were capable of, they wouldn't hesitate to ship them off to Facultas Academy, where they'd be raised to sustain their powers for politic gain and other advantageous things that normal people didn't have access to.

It was a vicious cycle, one she did not want to be a part of again. But despite their loathsome bloodllines, those kids needed to be saved as soon as possible. And God forbid Art needed another reason to become an insomniac. So, going against her better judgement, Scarlet took the file away from the superintendent.

"What are you—?"

"Shut up and rest your eyes for a moment," she ordered as she skimmed through the theft's file. For once, Art did as he was told and rested his head on his desk. He didn't have the energy to fight back.

The thief had no picture. The police didn't know if he really had any abilities, but according to many witnesses, his methods were very otherworldly. No one seemed to remember how he did it. The fascinating thing was he left no trace behind. It was like this larcenist was a ghost. He wasn't cutting the police any slack. No wonder Art was exhausted.

"I'm in."

"I thought you didn't want to be involved in any more cases," Art yawned out.

"I will if it gets you some sleep."

"I can't ask you to do this, Scarlet."

"You don't have to." Setting the folder back on the desk, Scarlet stood to leave. "Let's go."

"But I'm not—"

"We can discuss details tomorrow during my lunchbreak, but as far as I'm concerned, the Minimum Agency can kiss my ass. You're finished for tonight and that's that."

Internally grateful for her interference, Art put away his work and grabbed his coat, allowing Scarlet to shuffle him out of the office before locking the door.

"You don't have to come home with me."

Scarlet bumped his shoulder. "Who else is going to drive your home?"

Art smiled. She was relentless. But he supposed he couldn't complain. Where would I be without you, Scarlet?

R&R!