**December 18th, 2026 - Shinjuku, Tokyo - Crossroads**

"So, there's this chick. And-"

"You sure it's a chick and not a really convincing drag queen like last time? Hehe."

"Fuck no! Will you stop bringing that up!?"

"Woah, chill there, newbie. I just wanna make sure you got your facts straight, hehe."

While the world outside was about to experience the start of what will become one of the worst winter storms of the last century, two men are sitting at Shinjuku's well-known drinking establishment, the Crossroads bar. As far as most were concerned, the bar's name shared no connection to the legend of Robert Johnson, the man who supposedly met the devil and exchanged his soul for an unearthly ability to play guitar at a crossroads in Mississippi, USA.

The two men sitting down and talking over their second pitcher of IPA were businessmen who came down to the red-light district looking for some action. They were both average-looking, one looked like a shy pipsqueak, and the other was about as toxic as an oil slick. One looked to be in his mid-twenties while the other was older, around his early-forties. Together, the two men decided to stop inside the bar and get drunk early, recounting stories of past debaucherous exploits.

"Anyway..." The younger one began. "I-I'm sitting at this bar near Shibuya, and there's this chick at the other end. We end up trading glances at each other back and forth for a while; I-I send down a drink, and afterward, she walks over to me and asks me, straight up, 'So, your place or mine?' And... I'm like '...well, it's the lady's choice, hehe.' Next thing I know, she's on her knees, giving me a hummer in the bathroom."

"Pfft, hahaha..." The older man rolled his eyes before bursting out in laughter.

"What the fuck are you laughing about? I'm serious!"

"Hahaha! Sure, you are." The older man rolled his eyes again; it looked like they were in a pachinko machine. "You're not that smooth."

"Says who? You?" the younger one glared.

"Yeah, me. Because I know how full of shit you are. You're worse than my wife."

"I'm telling you it happened."

The senior shook his head. "Look, junior, since you're new to Okumura Foods, I'm going to give you some free advice. Fake stories like that? Us senior company men can tell which ones are real and which ones are fake just by looking at you when you tell it."

"What the fuck are you-" The senior cut off the junior.

"Shut up and let me talk. Your eyes were going wonky, but you tried to hide it, you spoke slower than you usually do, and your delivery sounded like William Shatner on quaaludes."

"What are quaaludes?" The junior raised an eyebrow. The senior sighed.

"You gotta be fucking..." The senior exhaled. "At least tell me you know who William Shatner is?"

"Yeah, yeah. Star Trek."

"Oh, good. I don't have to knock your teeth out."

"Why? Because you're older than me?" The junior smirked. The senior chuckled took another sip of alcohol.

"Keep talkin' shit, you little punk. But just so you know, I hit harder when I'm sloshed." The senior finished his beer. "Hell, if I had to guess, I bet you've never even gotten laid, let alone a 'hummer'."

"...okay, fine." The junior relented. "I'm lying; the story's fake, but I'm not a virgin."

"Paying for sex barely counts, you know?" The senior smirked.

The junior's eyes went wide. "How do you know I've paid for sex?"

"You just told me, you dumbass lush." The junior looked defeated. "How did a guy like you get a job at Okumura Foods anyway?"

"I worked hard; how else?"

"Yeah, sure." The senior smirked.

"I'm serious," The junior relented. "Although, I also went to high school with the CEO." The senior's eyes went wide.

"Really? Were you friends with her?" The senior grinned.

"Not really. More just acquaintances, but we had mutual friends. Though I did have a crush on her back then, and I'm not going to lie, I'd kinda like to ask her out." He smirked.

"Ask her out? Hehe, I'm afraid you're too late, Romeo."

"What!? She's already dating someone!?"

"No." The senior refilled his glass of beer before taking another sip. "She's married." The junior's eyes blew up.

"WHAT!? Bullshit! She didn't have a ring on her finger when I met her!"

"Going by your reaction, I take it you didn't get an invite to the wedding..." The senior took another drink. "When did you last meet with her?"

"Back in October."

"Oof, too bad for you. She got married a couple of weeks ago on her birthday. I'd say you're thirteen days too late, but the truth is, you're waaayyy later than that. She's apparently known this guy since high school, so more accurately, you're about seven years too late. She's on her honeymoon right now."

"God damn it..." The junior slumped his head down on the bar.

"Hey, you missed your shot, too bad. But then again, if you're here with me, you probably never had a shot with her, to begin with. So, why not take a shot with me instead?" The junior was clearly disappointed; the senior tried ordering shots.

"Sorry, gentlemen."The owner of the bar, Lala-Escargot, said from the other end of the bar. "There was just a warning issued that the city's going to start closing up soon because of the storm. I gotta close up myself."

"FUCK!" The junior yelled as he knocked the empty pitcher off the bar before it fell and smashed on the floor. Lala-chan sighed.

"Sorry about that." The senior began as he pulled out his wallet and paid for their drinks. "And here's for the uh..." He was about to pull more money out for the broken pitcher when Lala-chan stopped him.

"Don't bother, just get him out of my bar."

"Sure thing. Come on, newbie. You'll feel better after we get you laid."

The junior grumbled as he and the senior exited the bar. "Hmph, dipshits." The only other person in the bar said, also really drunk.

"Tell me about it." Lala-chan sighed as she grabbed a broom and began sweeping up the broken glass.

"Gotta say, don't know if it was the drink, but the younger one sounded really familiar to me... oh well." The patron pulled out their phone and began sending a text message to someone. "Can I ask you a question, Lala-chan?"

"What is it?" Lala-chan responded without looking up from her broom.

"Was there really a winter storm warning?" The patron checked their phone. "I was looking around, and I didn't get any emergency notifications."

"Nah, I made it up so they'd leave. A minute more of their drivel, and I probably would've taken the pitcher and smashed it over one of their skulls myself." Lala-chan picked up the dustpan and threw the broken glass away.

"Soooo, does that mean you're not closing?"

"Not yet," Lala-chan replied as she put the broom and dustpan away.

"Then can I get another one?" The patron asked as they waved their empty glass in the air.

Lala-chan huffed and rolled her eyes. "You've had enough, Ohya."

"Aw, come on...please?" Ohya begged; Lala-chan sighed.

"...on second thought, I am closing."

"Boo!" Ohya huffed as she got out of her seat.

Meanwhile, the two men drunkenly stumbled around Shinjuku in the heavy snowfall. They ended up heading down an alleyway.

"Hey," The junior began. "So-uh... where's the pussy palace at?"

"Pfft, 'pussy palace?' What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"You said that's what it's called!"

"Pleasure Palace, God, you're a fucking idiot..." The senior huffed. "Dammit... shoulda peed before we left..."

"Why not just piss behind those dumpsters there?"

"I'm not whipping my dick out in this shit-heap weather!" The senior yelled as they kept walking through the alleyway.

"So, is this place any good?" The junior nervously asked.

"Don't worry. It'll be worth it. The whores are good here. Not like the ones at that place I went to last week. I mean, come on... twenty-thousand yen for a five-minute covered blow job? Talk about a fucking rip-off."

As they were walking, they bumped into a man who kept on walking. "Hey! What the fuck?" The senior shouted. "Watch where you're goin,' asshole!" The stranger kept on walking. "Who the fuck does this prick-HEY!"

"Oh, will you just leave it alone?" The junior sighed.

"No! I want an apology from this fucker!" The senior began fast walking to catch up to the man. "Hey! Look at me when I'm talking to you!" He grabbed the man and turned him around to face him.

The man looked like a hobo. His clothes were dirty, ragged, and gross. All he had on were pants, a coat, and boots, all of which looked fresher than he did. His face was half dirty and half burnt. He had no shirt under his coat; his chest had burn marks and what seemed like bullet holes on it. His face was also partially burnt. The man had long dark-brown hair and a long beard that made him look like a drifter. He was rubbing his hands together while shivering, talking sounding like a crazy person.

"...Uh-uh...argh-"

"Hey, asshole!" The senior shoved him. "You bumped into me! Say you're sorry!" He then grabbed the man by the collar. "Listen, shitbird; you're gonna apologize, right the fuck now!"

"Suzuki-san! Just leave him alone!" The junior pleaded.

"Shut the fuck up, newbie!"

"I-I...I'm warning you..." The man said in a weakened voice.

"SAY YOU'RE SORRY!"

"Get... out..." The man's eyes began to glow yellow. He clenched his fists, and he looked angry.

The senior noticed the yellow glow in the man's eyes and grew concerned. "What the fuck are you-"

...OF MY FACE!"

"GAAAAHHHHHH"

The lone streetlight of the alleyway flickered as the senior found himself getting hit with some supernatural power by the drifter and propelled back to the junior, who froze in fear. He just watched as his newest colleague was fried by a man who shot what looked like red and black smoke out of his hands. Suddenly, the streetlight of the alleyway went out, plunging it into near-complete darkness. The junior tried running away, but the drifter leaped in the air and landed in front of him. He grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall.

"P-Please! D-Don't H-Hurt-" The junior begged as he looked into the man's glowing yellow eyes.

"WHERE IS ANNE!?"

"W-Who...?"

"ANNE! WHERE IS SHE!?"

"I-I don't know anyone named Anne, I swear! Please let me go!" The drifter twitched and blinked, and for a second, his eyes were normal. He couldn't tell what color they were because it was too dark, but he did see enough to get a gut feeling. "W-Wait a second..."

For whatever reason, before the junior could finish voicing his thought, the drifter let him go. He dropped him on the ground and just kept on walking. The junior stood frozen (no pun intended) for a few minutes before crawling through the snow over to his colleague. The senior's chest was covered in third-degree burns, and his face was nearly unrecognizable. He checked his pulse and got no response; the senior was dead. The junior got his phone out and called for the cops, all the while getting nauseous from the smell of burning flesh. He was about to hit dial when someone stopped him.

"Don't worry, I already called them; they're on the way..." The man pulled the junior up, who raised his eyebrows in disbelief at who had just arrived at the scene. "Hey, Mishima, it's been a while..."

"...A-Amamiya!?"

The man nodded before he casually pulled a cigarette out of his breast pocket and asked a crucial question. "You got a light?"


Meanwhile, police investigators Makoto Niijima and Kenny Okada were investigating a break-in at a clothing store also in Shinjuku. The display window was broken, but not by some random brick. There was a perfectly round shape in the glass; the rims were somehow melted, and the mannequins inside the display were partially burned.

"Niijima, do you mind telling me why we're busting our asses in the middle of a snowstorm for a missing pair of shoes?" Kenny complained as he shivered.

"A pair of boots," Makoto clarified, "As well as a pair of pants, a trench coat, and... oh right, a broken window." She sarcastically said as she looked around the crime scene.

"Whatever," Kenny rolled his eyes, shivering in the cold. He noticed Makoto was unfazed by the cold. "How are you not freezing right now!?"

"The melted glass and partially burnt mannequins are keeping me warm," She deadpanned. "Plus, I'm too focused on doing my job to be cold," Makoto said, still looking around at the broken shards of glass that were melting.

"Makoto, please. You're always cold." Kenny chuckled; Makoto sighed.

"Kenny, please," She turned her head towards him. "I'm trying to concentrate." Kenny lit up a cigarette and started smoking.

"Just can't believe it." Kenny shook his head after looking at the melted shards of glass.

"Believe what?"

"Whatever did this was hot enough to melt glass," Kenny began. "Most fires aren't hot enough to do this kind of damage. It takes at least fourteen hundred degrees Celsius to melt glass, sometimes more. Not even lava can do this."

"See? You can take this seriously." Makoto chuckled.

"Hey, you wanted me to help; I'm giving you some fuckin' help." Kenny chuckled as he took another drag.

"How do you know so much about heat anyway?" She asked.

"I had a book of facts about fire and lava and all that kinda shit. I think it was a gag gift from my parents, who knew I didn't like the cold Canadian temperatures too much." Kenny chuckled. He admired the hole in the window as he took another drag. "Looks like Darth Vader cut a hole through it with his lightsaber, hehe." He chuckled; Makoto sighed once more.

"Hey! Inspectors!" Another police officer called out as he walked over to them.

"Yes?" Makoto asked as she stood up.

"The witness is ready to talk to you guys," The officer announced; Makoto and Kenny looked at each other.

"You wanna take this one?" Kenny asked her, taking another drag.

"Since you're clearly more interested in making pop culture jokes rather than investigating the crime scene, why don't you go?" Makoto glared; Kenny huffed.

"I just lit this cigarette too..." He muttered. "Fine, at least, I won't be busting my ass in the freezing cold." He said before putting his butt in a portable ashtray and walking inside the store. "Maybe I'll pick up your Christmas gift while I'm in here, hehe." Kenny chuckled before the door closed. Makoto rolled her eyes and chuckled as well.

Despite their ribbing, Makoto and Kenny were a good team. Since the beginning, they had been working together, going as far back as their time at the academy. The two always maintained a professional relationship as Makoto was already with the love of her life, and Kenny was playing for the other team. True, there was some friction; they sometimes bickered and argued, but at the end of the day, they had each other's back. Besides, a duo that gets along too well doesn't usually work as well.

Makoto kept looking around, trying to determine what could've caused the damage. Suddenly, outside in the snow, something caught her eye. There was a jacket that she almost missed due to the snowfall covering it up. She went and picked it up; it was nearly burned to a crisp, but she recognized something on the breast.

The crest of her former high school, Shujin Academy.

Makoto looked confused. She was aware that Shujin's uniforms had switched to a new design a couple of years back when she caught a few delinquent students shoplifting while on patrol. This one looked more like the uniform when she was there, along with the Phantom Thieves. Makoto had to admit; seeing it made her nostalgic, but that feeling soon turned back into confusion.

Inside the store, Kenny was interviewing the lone witness.

"Hello, ma'am. My name is Inspector Kenny Okada. Can I have your name?" He asked as he pulled out a notepad and pen.

"Yuna. Yuna Itoh." The woman said, clearly shaken; Kenny noted her name.

"Would you mind telling me what happened, Itoh-san?"

"I-I was working in the back, getting ready to close up, when I heard a loud noise. I came running out and saw that one of the display windows looked to be on fire. I went and grabbed the fire extinguisher and began running to the window, and that's when I saw him."

"Who?"

"A-A man. H-He ripped off a jacket and stumbled into the store."

"What did he look like?"

"I'm not too sure... I hid under the counter when I saw him approaching. All I saw was that he had long dark hair... and I think he had a yellow streak in his hair as well. L-Like Seth Rollins had years ago."

"Huh?"

"He's a wrestler." Yuna pulled out her phone and pulled a picture of a guy whose hair looked like he fell asleep on a yellow park bench before the paint had dried off.

"So, we're looking for an American professional wrestler from 2013. Got it." Kenny chuckled as he pretended to take notes.

"Wh-What? N-No!"

"Hehe, sorry about that; bad joke." Kenny cleared his throat. "Please, continue; what else did he look like?"

"He also had a long beard, but I didn't get a good look at his face."

"How tall was he?"

"I want to say... 180cm (5'9)?"

"Uh-huh... and weight on average?"

"I'm not sure... but he looked very skinny."

"I see... how old did he look, approximately?"

"As I said, I couldn't see his face, so I'm not sure."

"Just going off weight and height at a glance, can you ballpark it for me?"

Yuna thought for a moment. "Like... twenty-five maybe? Though with his long hair and beard, he might've been older."

Kenny took notes. "Is that all?"

"Well..." Yuna was hesitant to say, but Kenny could tell there was more.

"Itoh-san, if there's anything you remember, please, do tell me. Any detail, even the smallest, could help."

Yuna looked down at the ground. "Y-You... you wouldn't believe me if I told you... it's too crazy."

"Try me."

Yuna took a deep breath before she answered. "W-Well... while I was hiding under the counter, I noticed the lights in the store started flickering." Her hands were shaking. "I-I peeked up from under the desk when I felt him walk past; he had taken his shirt off, and it had what looked like burn marks on his body."

"Burn marks, eh?" Kenny took notes. "That doesn't sound too crazy."

"N-No, it's not that... he was..."

Kenny looked up from his notepad."...he was what?"

"He was... glowing."

Kenny raised an eyebrow and blinked a few times. "Sorry, glowing?"

"Like...a flashlight." She said; Kenny just stared at her, confused. "A-And I'm pretty sure there was electricity coming from his body..."

"You're right; it is pretty crazy," Kenny said as he took notes, shaking his head.

Yuna scoffed. "See? I told you you wouldn't believe me."

"I didn't say I didn't believe you." Yuna looked up at him in surprise. "So, the officer said that the suspect took some clothes?"

"Y-Yes... he practically tore off the clothes he had on since they looked ruined and were smoking."

"Jeez, who is this guy, Electro?" Kenny muttered. "Do you have the clothes, by chance?" Yuna nodded.

"Y-Yes, over here." Yuna got up and led Kenny over to where she took the man's clothes. They were partially charred and indeed ruined. "This is what he had on when he stumbled into the store."

Kenny took notes; there was a pair of plaid pants with suspenders, a single white sneaker with a nearly ruined rising sun motif, and a yellow t-shirt with a comic book style star on the front with 'ZOMG' written underneath it.

"So, he took these off and took new clothes?"

"Yes."

"And nothing else?"

"No."

Kenny bit his lip and nodded. "Did you give your statement to the police officer outside?" Yuna nodded. "Alright, then you're free to go. Be safe, Itoh-san."

"Thank you." Yuna bowed before leaving to grab her coat. "Oh, one more thing." She remembered.

"Hm?" Kenny said, still looking at the clothes.

"As the man was stumbling out, he was mumbling something about an 'Ann' or 'Anne' something." Kenny took note of what she said.

"Is that all?" He asked.

"Yes, Inspector."

"Alright then, have a good night, Itoh-san." Kenny smiled at her, and she left the store. He grabbed the pants and felt around the pockets. One of them had something inside. He pulled a wallet.

"Hello there," he smirked. Kenny opened up and saw a partially burned student ID card. He was still able to make out the name, though.

"Sakamoto... Ryuji, huh? From Shujin Academy..." He looked at the picture. It was a young man with blonde hair. "Hey! Niijima!?" He called Makoto inside the store. She came in still holding the jacket she found outside. "Whatcha got there?" He asked.

"An old ruined jacket; it used to be part of the Shujin Academy school uniform."

"Used to be?" Kenny raised an eyebrow.

"They've since changed it."

"Interesting. You went there, right?"

"Yes." She nodded. "What about you? Did you find anything?"

"Well, I found the rest of the suspect's clothes." Makoto took a look at the table where the clothes were. "As you can see, plaid pants, white shoes... but from what the witness said, these look too small to fit him, yet he had them on anyway..."

"Wait... that shirt..." Makoto looked at the t-shirt and picked it up. "I've seen this shirt before."

"I mean, so have I; it's pretty popular around here. My nephew has one of those shirts," Kenny shrugged.

"N-No, you don't understand..." Makoto began to piece a puzzle together in her head. She looked at the plaid pants, also part of the former Shujin uniform, the white sneaker looked familiar, and now the shirt. She looked through the pants.

"Oh, if you're looking for a wallet or something, I already got it. Here. We've got ourselves a name." He handed her the wallet. Makoto gasped; Her eyes began to widen as she opened the wallet up and laid them on the student ID.

"No... it can't be..." She covered her mouth in shock as she stared at the ID photo.

"What are you-"

"Uh, excuse me, Inspectors?" The officer came back. "Dispatch got a call about a possible homicide; they want you guys to investigate."

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me." Kenny rubbed his hand through his hair. "Why us?"

"Well, because it happened here in Shinjuku."

"What? Where?" Kenny asked, eyes wide.

"In an alleyway, not far from the Crossroads bar."

"You're shitting me. That's practically across the street." Kenny exaggerated.

"Well, technically, it's about ten minutes South of here." The officer commented, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, I know. I was being sarcastic." Kenny sighed. "Well, come on, Niijima, let's go." He began walking towards the exit when he noticed Makoto was still by the clothes. "Makoto? You okay?"

"Huh?" She was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard her partner call out to her. "Y-Yes, I'm coming."

"Well, come on! The sooner we wrap this up, the sooner we can both go home and get warm," Kenny said as he walked out of the store. Against her better judgment, she decided to pocket the ID card and take the t-shirt with her. She let out a soft gasp as she remembered that day.

"Ryuji..."


After a ten-minute walk, Makoto and Kenny found themselves in a dark alleyway, the only lights coming from the single police car that had shown up.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me..." Kenny muttered as he recognized a familiar man standing by the car. "How the hell did the private dick beat us here?"

Still distracted by what she saw back at the clothing store, Makoto looked up and saw who Kenny was referring to. A man in a dark leather jacket with a white shirt and burgundy tie combo. It was her ex-husband. "...Ren?"

Ren turned around and took the cigarette he was dragging on out of his mouth. "Oh, hey, Makoto. Okada-san." He greeted with a head nod. "How's your night going?"

"Wh-What are you doing here?" Makoto asked.

"Well, I was here to do my job," Ren responded with a cocky grin.

"Bullshit," Kenny began in a playful tone. "You're not even a real cop, yet here you are, investigating a homicide?"

"Ha-ha... that's not what I meant, dingus," Ren said as he casually took another drag. "A spouse hired me to follow her husband whom she suspected of cheating on her... by the way, it turns out, she had waaaayyyyy more things to be concerned about when it came to this guy..."

Kenny raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"The guy's a pedophile." Ren casually admitted.

"Are you shitting me?" Kenny exclaimed.

"Nope." Ren dragged on his cigarette. "I was gonna turn him in to the police after I got proof of his debauchery for the wife, but... well, he's a kinda dead now."

"Christ..." Kenny huffed.

"D-Do you know what happened to him?" Makoto asked.

"Not really," Ren began. "I was sitting in my car parked a couple of blocks away from Crossroads. I received a message from my contact telling me the victim and the guy he was with was heading out."

"Still in bed with Ohya, huh?" Kenny asked with a smirk, crossing his arms.

"Only in a professional way, I can assure you," Ren replied as he smirked back at Kenny. "Anyway, I get out of my car and head towards Crossroads so I can start tailing them to whatever bordello they were heading to. I hang back as I see them go into the alleyway. All of a sudden, all of the lights start to flicker; the guy gets killed, and I end up losing a payday..." Ren sighed.

"Ren! A person was killed! Can you please show some respect!" Makoto angrily said.

"Mako, let me remind you... pedophile." Ren replied with a face made of stone. "I'm not happy that he's dead, but don't expect me to feel sorry for him either."

"I gotta agree with your hubby on this one, Mako." Kenny shrugged.

Makoto let out of sigh; Ren and Kenny were right. "...you have a point." She relented. "But, don't call him my hubby." She said, glaring at Kenny.

"Right, sorry... so, who's he?" Kenny asked as he pointed to the clearly shook-up witness.

"One of the victim's coworkers. Makoto and I know him."

"We do?" Makoto raised her eyebrow before looking over at the witness. "Wait, is that Mishima-kun?"

"Mm-hm," Ren nodded. "I haven't talked to him about what happened; figured I'd leave that up to you guys."

"Aw, you shouldn't have..." Kenny said sarcastically.

"Hey, you said yourself, Okada," Ren said as he took one final drag of his cigarette before stomping it in the snow. "I'm not a real cop, so why the fuck should I do your job?" Ren chuckled.

Kenny sighed. "Fair enough..." He liked Ren but had to admit; his cocky attitude could be a bit annoying to handle at times. It's a wonder how he and Makoto managed to stay married for five years and together for almost nine. "Since I got the last one, you wanna handle this witness since you know him and all?" He asked Makoto.

"Actually..." Makoto began; she wanted to tell Ren about what she found. Despite putting an end to their marriage over a year ago, they still remained good friends. She did say to him, long ago, that he was irreplaceable to her. Besides, Ren deserved to know about what she found since it concerned his best friend. "I'd like to talk with Ren for a moment. I'll come help examine the victim after I'm done."

"Suit yourself." Kenny walked away, leaving Ren and Makoto together.

"S-So..." Makoto awkwardly began. "H-How've you been?"

Ren chuckled. "Come on; it's not like we haven't seen each other in years. Hell, we saw each other not two weeks ago."

"Oh right... Haru and Yusuke's wedding..." She bit her lip and awkwardly glanced down at the ground for a brief moment. "...a-are you seeing anybody right now?"

"Makoto, I know you're not here to talk about my relationships right now..."

"Sorry... I just need a bit of small-talk..." She was trying to think of way to break the ice (again, no pun intended) about her recent discovery.

Ren sighed. "Fine... well, if you really wanna know, no; I'm not seeing anyone right now... Ohya and I have to occasional hookup just for fun, but otherwise..." Ren trailed off and shrugged.

"You said you were only in bed with her professionally." Makoto raised her eyebrow.

"I lied," Ren smirked. "I didn't want to say anything, but you asked so..."

"...and now I regret it..." She murmured before looking away briefly.

"What about you?" Ren asked. "You seeing anyone?"

"Um... no. No, I am not." Makoto didn't want to admit it, but she really missed Ren. She felt like such an idiot for the way things ended between them.

"Well, there's plenty of fish in the sea. I'm sure you'll soon get back out there and catch something." Ren smiled.

"What, do you mean a fish or a cold?" She smirked.

"Hehe, we'll probably catch a cold if we stay out here for too long." Ren looked up and around him as the snow continued to come down hard. "Jeez, it's like the heavens are about to come crashing down or something." He shivered slightly. "Anyway, I think that's enough small-talk for now, don't you?"

"R-Right... uh..." Makoto was uncertain about how to approach Ren about this. "The reason I wanted to talk to you-"

"Hey! Niijima!" Kenny called out to her. "Get over here! Witness wants to talk to you!" Makoto and Ren looked over at Kenny before Ren looked back at Makoto.

"You better go," He began. "Duty calls..." Makoto caught Ren's dejected tone of voice.

"Why don't you come with me?" Makoto suggested. "It might be easier for him to talk if we're together."

Ren didn't want to, he had plans, but he also couldn't say 'no' to Makoto. Ren sighed and nodded before he and Makoto began walking over to where Mishima and Kenny were. "Well, there go my plans for tonight..." He said as he rubbed snow out of his hair.

"Had a date planned?" Makoto cheekily asked.

Ren chuckled. "Nah, I promised Boss and 'Taba I'd swing by Leblanc and have dinner with them. If you want, you're more than welcome to tag along."

"I-I... have to work, unfortunately." She somberly admitted.

Ren huffed. "...right. Shoulda figured..." The air between them was tense as they made their way over to Mishima. Ren buried his feelings for Makoto for now and focused on his former classmate. "What's up, Mishima?"

"W-Wow, i-it really is you, Niijima-senpai!?" Mishima's eyes went wide.

"Actually, now it's Inspector Niijima, Mishima." Ren clarified as Makoto nudged him.

"R-Right, sorry..."

"It's alright," Makoto waved him off. "What do you have to tell me, Mishima-kun?"

"W-Well... t-the guy t-that killed Suzuki-san..." Mishima tried talking, but between the freezing weather and what he saw, getting the words out was a difficult task.

"Take your time, Mishima-kun..." Makoto said calmly.

"Not too long, though..." Kenny said as he rubbed his hands together. "I'm freezing my ass off..."

"Kenny..." Makoto scoffed. "Why don't you go investigate the body?"

"Fine..." Kenny huffed. "Ren, you mind if I bump a smoke? I'm all out..."

"Here," Ren pulled out another cigarette and handed it to Kenny before the inspector began heading towards the body. "Doubt that cigarette will keep you warm unless you shove it up your ass, Toronto!' Ren chuckled.

"You know I'm from Winnepeg, you jackass!" Kenny yelled back.

Ren could hear him chuckle in the distance and Makoto's glare aiming right at him. "What? We're just having fun..." Makoto said nothing as she shook her head and sighed. "Anyway," Ren turned back to Mishima. "Keep going, Yuuki..."

"W-Well... the guy who killed Suzuki-san... he shot some kind of smoke out of his hands..." Ren and Makoto looked at each other in confusion. "I-I know it sounds crazy, but I swear it's the truth."

"R-Right... how many drinks did you have tonight, Yuuki?" Ren asked.

"I'm telling you! It's the truth!" Mishima exclaimed. "Plus... he looked familiar... even though it was dark and even through his long hair and beard... I felt like I had seen him before..."

"You'll have to come down to the station first thing tomorrow in order to give an official statement, Mishima-kun. Is that alright?" Makoto asked before Mishima silently nodded. "Good, you can go now."

Mishima started walking away before turning back. "By the way, did you two know Okumura-senpai got married?"

"Bye, Mishima." Ren waved him off; Mishima bowed to the two of them before going off and walking in the other direction. "God, he still has that crush..." Ren chuckled, scratching his head before turning to Makoto. "Well, anyway, what did you want to tell me?"

"W-Well..." Makoto began fishing through her coat pocket. "I was investigating a break-in at a clothing store not far from here... and I found these..." She pulled out a t-shirt and a school ID card and showed them to Ren, who blinked a few times upon seeing them.

"..."

"...Ren?"

"...this can't be real...no." Ren shook his head in disbelief. "...I knew it... I knew he was still alive..."

"Ren..."

"Makoto..." Ren took the t-shirt and ID in his hands and examined them more closely before looking back up at Makoto. "...do you know what this means!? I was right!" Ren began breathing rapidly. "R-Ryuji's still alive!"

"Ren..." Makoto somberly began. "Ryuji's been dead for ten years..."

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT, MAKOTO!?" Ren snapped and yelled at Makoto. "HE WAS MY BEST FRIEND!" Makoto recoiled as she watched her friend's expression change from anger to sadness. "...my best friend, Makoto..." Ren's voice wavered as he let a single frozen tear drop down his face. Makoto felt horrible and decided to embrace him.

"A-Are you guys, okay?" A voice asked. Ren pulled himself away from Makoto and hid the t-shirt and ID in the clutches of his hands.

"Y-Yeah, sorry." Ren sniffed a few times. "What do you want, Mishima?"

"Y-Yeah, I just remembered who the guy that killed Suzuki-san reminded me of."

"As I said, Mishima-kun," Makoto began. "We'll take your full statement at the station, but for now, I have to-"

"Hold on, Makoto," Ren cut her off. "I want to know who he's talking about."

Makoto looked at him and whispered. "Ren, it's not going to be-"

Ren ignored her. "Mishima, tell me." He said.

"W-Well, I'm not entirely sure... as I said, it was dark and-"

"MISHIMA! Give me a name!" Ren snapped again; he expected to hear Ryuji's name, but what he got, instead, was much worse.

"...Goro Akechi."


Author's notes:

Well, hey, new story so soon after my first. didn't expect it tbh but here we are. I came up with the idea for this while editing/updating "Is Akira okay?" and been writing it over the past several days. I think I got a good start so far, we'll see where I take it from here. This one's for you, Ryuji.

That's it for notes, hope you enjoyed ;)