Author's Notes:  Sorry it's been awhile, but it's been rather busy and suddenly got this bout of depression with harsh criticisms and probably failing my chemistry prelim.  Grr…  Anyway, sorry if this chapter doesn't really do anything for you; it's late, I'm forcing myself to write despite the urge to crawl up into a ball and sleep, and well, I'm just strained for ideas. 

Thanks to kY (that's too much praise for little old me), Carla, CreatiStar (that's um…not it), Diane, Wing of Fire, jen z, Silex (I have no idea how long this fic is going to be…), Gihyou, Caoilfhionn (have you updated 'into the gray?'), Final Fantasy Princess, pokey, mya (sorry about putting you in a twist).

The Hunt For A Cherry Blossom

Chapter 8:  The Witness

I look over my shoulder, satisfied I'm far enough from the café to begin my work.  It's silent for the most part, a few pedestrians walking quickly past me, taking an extra step farther away from my form.  The random sounds of voices and cars echo down the street as I slump along, carefully measuring my gait, stumbling every other step, leaning against a building every now and then.  Some guy at the outer rim of a streetlight's illumination watches me keenly, like a predator looking for prey.  I force myself to walk with leaden feet, bringing me closer to the man.  A quick looks tells me he's probably the right person.  "N-nice night huh?"  I strain my voice to sound harsh and cracked.

The man smiles crooked, nodding absently, careful eyes noting the emptiness of the street, only the steady yellow street lamp keeping the complete darkness form invading.  "Yeah.  You look like you need help."

"Uh-huh; just a little pick me up, I guess."

Reaching into his jacket the man pulls a few small bags out, white powder, variously coloured pills.  "What're you looking for?"

"Thought I'd try something new today…maybe a little up-scale?  What'd that millionaire's kid like?"

"Him?"  The dealer randomly lifts a bag of three yellow-red pills.  "This is the best, if you're willing to pay that is…"

I fumble stupidly in my pockets taking out a mess of prepared crumpled bills, counting erratically out loud, inwardly already knowing exactly the amount.  "They that good?  I heard the kid ODed and died on them…."

"Nah; the kid was stupid and messed with the wrong gang.  All that money his pop had couldn't help him when he got too deep in debt."

"Oh, yeah.  I'll take them."  I hand over a wad of bills, getting some kick out of spending huge amounts of the department's money.  I stiffen as a person walks by us, his footsteps a little faster as he sees me stuff the bag of pills into my pocket.  I slur a little.  "Guy thinks I'd hurt him or somethin'; no one's really dangerous around here anyway…you never hear of shootings or kidnapping or crap on this street…" 

"I guess; it's safe here, all the better for me."  The dealer elbows me with a knowing inference.  "Just some random stuff like purse snatchings or whatever.  Some girl got herself kidnapped a few days ago, but who cares?  No danger to me."

My head shoots up quickly.  "Girl?  Some junkie?"

"Nah, a waitress from the café, see her every night going to the bus stop."  The man hooks a thumb towards Tsukimine Café.  "Drugged and dragged off, right off into an alley.  Guy probably got a good fuck out of her."

A wave of nausea sweeps me.  "Y-Yeah probably, she nice to look at?"

"Good enough for what the guy wanted anyway…"

"The guy?  What's he look like?"  I curse myself at getting too forward in my excitement.

The dealer eyes me warily for a second.  "Why?  What's it to you?"

"Nothing I guess, just interested."  If I can keep this conversation going a little longer…

"You're don't know the guy do you?  Or fucking the girl are ya?"  His smile gets wider as he jabs me with an accusing finger.

"N-no."  I fumble through the words, sudden heat coming to my face.  Shit; this is not the time to be blushing like some schoolboy.  Hopefully, he'll think I'm just drunk.  "Don't know either of them, who gives a shit who they are, right?  Probably some big tall, dark guy drunk off his ass or something…" 

"Yeah, something like that."  Seeing the man's attitude toward me ice over, I take my advantage and leave before arousing suspicion.

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As I'm at the door to my apartment complex, I give my head a good bang against the wall, the pain that shoots through me from the impact clearing away the extra baggage.  I grimace both in soreness and in annoyance at neither completing either of my objectives.  I forgot to get more information from the dealer as I promised Yamakazi I would, and then when I find an actual witness to my case, what do I do?  Ruin it completely by being too interested.  This is just fucking great.

The glaring light overhead jabs at my eyes as I stumble blindly across my living room, bag and wallet and keys thrown somewhere; I'll worry about them tomorrow.  The only solace I seek is my bed, falling forward into the mess of blankets and rumpled sheets.  I close my eyes and sleep dreamlessly, trying desperately to melt into the bed.

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The precinct is strangely animated with cheerful faces and congratulatory smiles; maybe we finally got paid vacations…  I look around trying to find Yamakazi but for once he seems to be out of view.  I settle grudgingly to ask Hwang what the celebration's for.  "What's going on?"

Hwang's bird-like face lifts up, a ridiculous cross somewhere between a half moon and a crescent roll.  "Ah, you haven't heard?"

"No."

"Then perhaps I should let you find out for yourself; it's not a surprise if I tell you."

I sigh deeply; perhaps if I actually had my morning coffee I might've had more common sense than to try and talk to Hwang.  But no, stupid coffee maker decided to short circuit.   "Just tell me; I'm not in a fucking mood to be toyed with."

He looks with gleeful mock offense.  "By all means, your majesty.  It appears our beloved chief has been transferred; look how we grieve."

I raise my eyes to see a crowd of smiles, my own included.  God I hated the chief; he was quite possibly the biggest asshole I'd ever met.  Though after these couple of days, I'm beginning to reconsider that thought.  "I see; no wonder.  Who's the replacement?"  Trust me; I wouldn't be continuing this conversation except that I'm extremely curious and Hwang's the only one around to talk to without meeting some wordless stupid grin.

"Don't know, some woman they say."  Hwang gets on his feet, an act which seems to recall some odd nature special I saw on flamingos.  Shaking the thought out of my head, I look towards the chief's door, his large shadow darkening.  With a slam of the door, he faces us, face twisted into something of a self-satisfied smirk. 

"Well, well, well; it seems I'm being transferred to another precinct."  Several officers hide behind their hands, careful not to let their smiles show.  The chief pauses for a while, then adding in his usual sarcasm.  "I'm going to miss everyone here."  Without even attempting to look regretful, he picks up a large box at his feet and walks out of the building. 

I stand puzzled for a moment, the air silent before a ripple of laughter interrupts my thoughts.  Amidst the talk and chatter, a brisk rap against a desk resounds forcefully; a woman stands upright hand fisted and banging against the wood.  "May I have your attention?"  Her voice is menacingly cold, no nonsense.  "I'm the new chief; I hope to not have to pull seniority on anyone here."  She softens slightly, barely perceptible if you weren't trained to detect it.  "If you do your jobs well, I'll have no problem with you.  We'll get along well.  But if you aren't working up to your abilities, you'll find that I'm not one to be patient."  She turns swiftly around, entering her new office.  Just before the door closes, she leans outside to face the stunned audience.  "By the way, call me Kaho."

"Wow, how'd they find her?"  I nearly jump into the feet, Yamakazi appearing right behind me. 

I growl.  "Can't you give some warning before you pop up?"

He shakes his head emphatically.  "So how'd the little undercover work go?  Can we consider it a shut case?" 

I refuse to meet his eye, uncomfortable to the extreme.  "Not quite."

He grin falters, choosing his words carefully.  "What do you mean 'not quite'?" 

"Well…"  I tell him everything in a breath.  I finally look up to his face, a shade of red staining his features.  This can't be good.

"What?!"  Yamakazi looks around at the people staring quizzically at him.  He lowers his voice accordingly.  "How could you?  We've been getting all these stupid ultimatums from the commissioner and all these politicians.  It's an election year you know.  And we promised them a warrant really soon.  This is not like you; I trusted you'd have everything done perfectly."  He sighs like a disappointed parent.  "Things just got a lot harder; I assumed you got the info so we started rounding up dealers to find the one you talk to, but now…" He throws his hands up in confused frustration.  "Damn it; you didn't get anything out of him?"  I move to speak but he intercepts me, the damn psychic.  "Anything related to my case?" 

"No…he mentioned a gang but no names." 

"I see…I'll find a way to get this; maybe I can deal with Kaho."  He mumbled something very nasty under his breath, something that I'd rather not relate.  With a last look around, akin to a man heading down death row, he twists open the new chief's door and enters.  The click is loud.

"Shit!"  I kick the nearest object, toppling a trashcan, crumpled papers and food wrappers strew about.  "Shit!"  I'm not used to failure; I have made mistakes before, I'm human, I'm allowed to.  But I've never let someone down before; I guess I always believed that I couldn't, stupid arrogance.  And now Yamakazi's going to get hell over this.  "Shit!"  I turn to aim another kick to the injured trashcan but find a person in its place.  "Where's the fucking can?"

Naoko folds her hands over her chest, her semi-smile disappearing under a veil of anger.  "Excuse me?"

"Nothing; sorry.  Just having an off day."

She glances me over, nodding sympathetically, or as sympathetic as she can get.  "I see; the case going bad?"

"Yeah, but there's other stuff…"   I'd rather not tell her but she gives me a prying look, one of stubbornness telling me I'd never be able to hold out against her.  I open my mouth to tell her but get interrupted as the Chief's voice booms out 'Syaoran Li'.  Great, this is just pop-a-rabbit-out-of-a-hat magnificent.  "Coming."  I sigh heavily, catching Naoko's upturned eyebrow and replying with a dismissive shake of the head.  "Don't ask."

Yamakazi's fidgeting with some object on Kaho's desk, his fingers tracing the imprint of her name plate, going over each letter one a time, 'Kaho Mizuki.'  "Syaoran?"

I lift my head to face the Chief, her blank stare betraying nothing.  "Yes, Chief Mizuki?"

She gives a pointed look to Yamakazi; he takes the hint and leaves me alone to face punishment.  Kaho sits down quickly, pulling her chair close to the desk, her elbows resting against the blotter.  "Please sit down."

I sit tensely waiting for her sentence.

"I've heard a lot about you Syaoran.  You have a reputation for being one of the best; you have countless performance evaluations that attest to your skills and success rate."  For a second, she smiles disarmingly, suddenly fading back into emotionlessness.  "You were entrusted with an undercover assignment last night.  Though I don't sanction the passing of responsibility off to other officers on which I have properly remanded Officer Yamakazi of, I still do expect a job completed."

I take the reprimand, trying to tell her that it wasn't Yamakazi's fault.  "With all due respect…"

She cuts me off, business-like but human, losing that roboticness she had been using.  "I know you want to defend your friend, but he was at fault too.  I don't like to focus on fault; we're all human, we make mistakes.  It's okay.  I won't say I'm not disappointed; I am.  This has set us back at least a week in our investigation which I assure you will not please the mayor and his political agenda.  However, this is something that is now my responsibility.  I will handle the commands that come from city hall, but I want you to know that I expect you to be at the best of your abilities because this case is prominent.  As much as I hate the politics of it all, this case is more than a simple murder, the kid's father holds a lot of power, especially in police funding.  Because of this, I want you to help Yamakazi and Yanagisawa to wrap this case up."

I blink, stunned.  But that would mean passing off my case…  "I already have a case, a kidnapping…"

"I know; I've seen the report.  I'd like you to continue that too, but I'm afraid this is one of those rare times where I'm forced to order you put that case on hold.  I don't want you to forget about it, but I do want you to put your energies to this millionaire's kid's case.  Do you understand?" 

I nod slowly, a little relieved I'm still in charge of the case, but dreadful that this is going to put me off at least a week.  "I-I understand.  But if I get any leads on the kidnapping case…"

She smiles, a real one.  "Follow them; you seem very attached to the case."  If she noticed my uncomfortable fidgeting, she doesn't say anything, fixing me with her eyes.  "You're a good cop Syaoran; I have trust that you'll find the kidnapper." 

I take her compliment at face value; she seems sincere enough, no political agendas that I can see.  I look up to the ceiling in relief, whispering some half prayer, half hope.  "I hope you're right…"

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Author's Notes:  I don't even know where the plot's going anymore, but I hope to keep continuing this.  Review please?  They'd make me feel like I wasn't a failure at this chapter…