Josei slowly opened her crystal blue eyes. She curled her nose at the annoying beeping sound her alarm was emitting. The investigator reluctantly pulled her an arm out of the sheets and turned off the alarm. She groaned at sat up, and then proceeded to sit on the edge of her bed for five minutes.
The blond haired woman contemplating going back to sleep; but she had been missing for about a week now. She had already decided to lie and say it had been food poisoning. Lying about her health was something she had grown accustomed to.
Josei groaned as she brought herself to her feet. Her kneecaps clicked as she stumbled over to the closet. She slid the door open and pulled out a black skirt, white dress shirt, and black dress jacket. She tossed her clothes onto her messy bed, and then pulled some undergarments out from the dresser that stood next to her bed. She peeled her clothes off and threw them onto the floor. Josei pulled on her work clothes, and when she was dressed, she kicked her dirty clothes in the direction of an overfilled laundry hamper.
She walked into her small bathroom space and set to work brushing, and then putting in two french braids, her lion's mane of golden curls. Josei applied some makeup, and when she finished, examined her appearance in the mirror. Maybe, just maybe, Arima would notice her today.
Deciding she wasn't hungry, she went ahead and brushed her teeth. Josei finished her bathroom routine and shuffled into the kitchen. She swallowed some large pain medication pills and chugged a glass of water. She wiped her mouth and then dragged her feet over too the door.
She slid on her two black knee braces. She frown and thought of her misfortune. Patellofemoral syndrome, an oddity where the kneecap would slide diagonally instead of up and down, was something she struggled with on a daily basis. Normally, it would not be that much of an issue, but poor Josei was worn with extra tissue in her knees. Her kneecap would rub against said tissue, causing the short woman a lot of pain.
Josei slipped into high heels, and then locked up and left her small apartment. She caught a cab and she sadly gazed out the window at the city. It was stormy and gray, just the way she liked it. Some would say she favored those type of days due to her chronic depression; but Josei knew she had loved the gray sky since she was a little girl. Perhaps it was because her mother had as well. A small smile ghosted across Josei's face as she thought of her mother.
Her name was Anba Takai, and she had been beautiful. She had had curly, dark brown hair and warm amber eyes. The woman had loved to read in her spare time, but Josei and her little sister, Haumi, usually kept her busy. But she had never seemed to mind. Anba had been so so kind. She had loved to brush Josei's mane of curls, and twelve year old Josei would usually respond with 'Thanks, but I can do it'.
Josei sighed and tears came to her eyes. She frowned and slumped against the seat,
"All she wanted was to brush my hair," she mumbled to no one at all.
The taxi slowed to a halt in front of the CCG building and Josei handed him some money from her unorganized wallet. She sighed and trudged into the building. Coffee. The twenty four year old woman depended on coffee probably more than she depended on people. Plus, it was a valid excuse to waste time at work.
Josei scuffled down the halls of the building. She didn't like this place. Then again, she didn't like most places. But work was a place where she had to pretend to be happy. So, the woman put of a fake smile and walked briskly down the hallway.
Suddenly, a hand touched her shoulder. Josei jumped and whirled around like a cat, senses prickling. Her blue eyes were wide, and she instinctively balled up her fists.
It was Kouri Kuriimu, a twenty six year old woman working as a second class investigator. However, that is not who Josei saw. Kouri's cheery green eyes appeared as cruel ice blue ones. Her curly black hair appeared light brown and straight, and her friendly smile appeared as a cruel smirk. Josei saw not Kouri Kuriimu, but high school tormenter Kamisama Komadori.
Josei felt her breathing grow rapid and her legs go numb. Memories of Kamisama paralyzed her. Being held underwater at the gym pool, black eyes… She could see the girl, pushing her against the lockers in the changing room….
Kamisama gave Josei a hard shove, and the girl's small body slammed against the red lockers. The blond girl winced; the sharp corner of an open locker had cut her and crimson liquid now trickled down her arm. Kamisama smirked, and Josei cringed. She hated that smirk. Kamisama pulled up her shirt, exposing her chest to the smaller girl. Josei adverted her eyes and wished that she could shrink away. Kamisama, noticing that her victim was looking away, took ahold of Josei's shirt. Josei cried out in terror, but the larger girl was already pulling her shirt off. Josei flung her arm out in a desperate attempt to push the girl away, and her small hand connected with Kamisama's smug face. The brown haired girl yelped in surprise and pulled away. Josei saw this as an opportunity, and she ran. She darted through the zig zags of lockers, not sure where she was going.
But by the time she heard the footsteps behind her, it was to late. Kamisama slammed into Josei, sending the small girl crashing onto the hard locker room floor. Josei felt her kneecap pop as her knee hot the ground, and tears welled in her eyes. Her jaw was slammed down as she hit the ground, and the taste of blood filled her mouth.
"I hate you!" Kamisama cried out, and Josei winced at her voice.
Suddenly, the larger girl's foot came down on Josei's lower back. Her hip made a sickening crack, and she screamed.
"Help me!" Josei cried out. But nobody heard.
"Takai!" Kouri said loudly, shaking the special class investigator. "Takai!"
"Y—Yeah?" Josei asked, coming to her senses. She should not've come into work today.
"Are you okay?" Kouri asked, wide eyed. "You were struggling to breath and your eyes got all wide."
"Oh, sorry," Josei said, and then forced a smile. "I'm fine."
Kouri scrunched her eyebrows together. "Are you sure?"
Josei nodded and smiled again. "You just startled me."
"Okay," the black haired woman said slowly. "Where have you been?"
"Food poisoning," Josei quickly lied.
"Awww, I'm sorry," Kouri said.
"It's okay. I'm going to go get coffee in the break room, so I'll talk to you later."
The women parted ways, and Josei trudged to the break room kicking herself for freaking out. Again. Josei scowled and began to make her coffee. When the pot was filled, she picked up a cup and placed it on the counter. She began to pour the hot liquid, and she looked to her left. And her heart almost stopped.
Arima was also making coffee. He poured the dark liquid into a cup and stirred, not taking his eyes away from the beverage. He wore a black suit and tie with a dress shirt, and his white hair was nicely combed. There was a stoic expression on his face, as always. His gray eyes were dark and stormy. And Josei could not take her eyes off him.
He finished pouring his drink, and he looked at Josei. She felt her heart beat faster. A quizzical expression appeared on his face.
"Takai?" he said.
Josei's heart fluttered. His voice was so deep and masculine.
"Takai," he said again, louder this time.
Josei snapped out of her trance and panicked. While she had been staring at Arima, her coffee cup had overfilled and coffee was now all over the counters and was running down onto the floor.
"S—sorry!" Jose stuttered. "I didn't— I meant— I was—."
"It's okay," the man said, voice monotone. "I'll help you clean it up."
He grabbed a handful of napkins and handed half to Josei, who was blushing her face off.
Confidence, she thought, Juuzou's words echoing in her head. I have to be confident.
"S—so we don't talk much," Josei stuttered as she started cleaning up the spilled coffee.
"No we don't," Arima said, not looking at her. "Is there something you wish to speak to me about?"
Josei's mind went blank. What did people even talk about? God, she needed to work on her people skills.
"What's your favorite color?" Josei blurted out. She cringed as soon as the words had left her mouth.
The large man raised an eyebrow. "Favorite color?"
"Mine's blue," Josei said quickly, trying to fix the situation, and making it worse.
"Blue huh?" he said, wiping up the last of the coffee. "Interesting."
"If you'll excuse me," Josei said meekly. She tossed the soggy napkins in the trash and hurried out of the room and into the hallway.
She was screaming inside.
"Fuck," she muttered. "Fuck, fuck. Why the fucking fuck do you always do this? His favorite color? What the actual fuck is fucking wrong with you?"
"Hey Josei!" Suzuya said, skipping down the hallway to her.
"Not now," she snapped, blowing past him.
"What's her problem?" Amon asked, peering around the corner.
"Confidence," Juuzou said bluntly, and then skipped away without an explanation.