Disclaimer: The author does not own any of the trademarks used in this story.

Author's Notes: As mentioned in the previous chapter, I had second thoughts about continuing with this. One big reason was my own satisfaction over the way the first chapter turned out. I'd become tempted to let it stand on its own legs for a while, see how it does on its own. However, as the end of the first chapter implied, the story I wanted to tell really doesn't stop with Shiho meeting Hiro only to turn him away. And leaving it at that didn't feel right. So here it is.

As a forewarning, there may be implications of things couples do in their downtime. Remember, this takes place after "Dinner with Cassette Man" and "Purses, Promises."


Re:Encounters with a Wraith

Chapter 2: Dreams

It felt awkward, dreaming about a man and then waking up on another's bed... At least that's what Shiho thought when she woke up that odd morning, flat on her stomach and facing the emptied side of the bed. "I suppose I can chalk that one out of my bucket list," she muttered, forcing her body to turn over so she'd be lying on her back instead. She then put the back of her right hand over her eyes, rejecting the glow of life spilling over the queen-size mattress and the cloud-colored sheets that sandwiched her horizontal form. She wasn't quite ready to get off the bed just yet... Wake up into another fantasy that felt so real, she didn't mind being perpetually entrenched in it.

A quaint and humble life with a man who used to go by several aliases... Some days it felt too good for Shiho to actually be happening. It didn't help that a little over a month after they'd figured out where they wanted to stand in each other's immediate future, the FBI conveniently decided to ship Shuichi Aka out to Japan as a special liaison to the Japanese police. If he wasn't hammering foreign investigation techniques into the heads of young cadets, he busied himself with pampering her, not too different from when they were still neighbors in Beika. Certainly a downgrade from America's thrills and perils, but so far he hasn't found a reason to complain about the semblance of peace they were relishing in. Bundle that with her finally taking her first few steps into trying to become a physician, moving to a spiffy new apartment in Haido, meeting new people, and the two of them getting along nicely without having to look at their phones every other minute and see if someone wound up with the role of Dr. Black in a crazy game of real-world Cluedo... It wasn't a bad place to start at all.

Still, it was nothing more than a start. To pigeonhole it into something like a newlywed's pure bliss would be presumptuous. Emotional baggage doesn't just magically disappear the moment one shares a meal or a bed with another. Moving on takes time too, and with it, a lot of patience. In Shiho's case, she hadn't completely gotten over the guilt of indulging in this happiness yet. Happiness that was originally meant for someone else. When they agreed to this arrangement, Shuichi assured her that, more than anything, he would never make her feel like she had to live up to Akemi's memory. While he'd done more than enough to honor that promise, pesky little voices inside her head occasionally reminded her that she was nothing but an unworthy proxy. Unworthy of being in Akemi's place, let alone the compassion of a man she once blamed for all the misfortunes that befell her...

"It couldn't be helped. He's a morning person, after all," she said to herself while eyeing the space beside her. It wasn't the first time Shiho had woken up alone with no sign of her partner anywhere around the apartment. But she wasn't so pathetic that she'd let her insecurities ruin her day before it began... Well, at least she'd like to believe she'd outgrown that habit the second time around. She better have, after all the sacrifices everyone suffered through in order to pave this future for her. She owed it to at least try to forgive herself and be happy. And if her happiness involved a man she once childishly coveted behind her sister's back, her insecurities be damned. It wasn't the only reason she wanted Shuichi to remain part of her life, but she probably never would have boarded that plane to America for that fateful dinner with him without their encouragement.

A relationship is like a coin, however. Just as she allowed her demons to harrow her, Shuichi had his own share of demons that often kept him up at night. Little shards of the life they used to lead that remain scattered along the path they now tread. Sometimes he dispensed these sleepless hours looking through old case files he borrowed from the police archives while an old flick played in the background on mute. If ever he found himself still lucid come daybreak, he'd then begin making breakfast and pack some lunch for both of them—clearly a ritual he'd developed as Subaru Okiya. A lot of women would be content with not having to worry about waking up early to make food, and she probably would've been too, had she stayed completely ignorant of everything he'd been through.

She couldn't really blame him for having an even harder time moving on than she does... After all, he lost far more than a lover in this whole mess. It began with his father - a tragedy that robbed his family of joyous years they could've spent in concert. His entire family never truly got over that incident, as he, his mother and brother ultimately found themselves tangled in that web of conspiracies years thereafter. He lost friends and colleagues along the way too, both in the FBI and even in the Organization. Friends who either never came back or were never the same after the horrors they've seen...

One of them happened to be the young man called Scotch.

Shiho wondered why memories were so fickle. The more you want to hold on to it, the more it slips away from your fingertips. The more you wish to forget all the bitterness you've tasted, the harder it is to wash away the aftertaste in your mouth. Having no personal connection to the man she'd just dreamed about, she wasn't quite sure what to make of it. So many members and contractors came and went during her tenure at the facility, the majority of them passing faces that come through once and never again, that forgetting about a nameless person like him was inevitable. She didn't even know such a codename existed until after he was crossed out of the Organization's annals. She would later pick up the bits and pieces he'd left behind: his real name had been Hiromitsu Morofushi, the younger brother of Nagano police's Takaaki Morofushi. They didn't grow up together, but as fate would have it, he pursued a career in law enforcement like his brother did. He wound up in the same class that produced one Rei Furuya, the man who would later become Bourbon. Both him and Rei ultimately wound up in the Public Security Bureau, where they were eventually tasked to infiltrate the Organization and gather evidence about its existence and the people involved in it. He became part of the Organization's sniper unit where he met Dai Moroboshi whom he became close to, unaware of the fact that Dai was an undercover agent as well.

It was these ties that put Dai in the spot he was in when Scotch took his own life. Dai ended up taking credit for smoking out a traitor, but for all the merits that deed garnered, it wound up being the beginning of the end of his time with the Organization. It was also the catalyst of Bourbon's vendetta against him...

Things between Shuichi and Rei are still tense as far as she was aware of. Both of them knew the truth about what transpired that night at this point, and yet stupid hubris keeps either men from extending the other an olive branch to this day. That was theirs to resolve, however. Frankly, as long as Rei isn't coming after her to try to get in his head, she couldn't care less about their beef. With no time table as to how long Shuichi will be in Japan however, not to mention the fact that the two of them are effectively working under the same banner right now, she wondered how long the shadow of this grudge will loom over them all.

Knowing Shuichi like she does though, Shiho figured he'd be more than willing to live with the guilt of killing Scotch for the rest of his life. Exactly like how he at one point operated under the notion that she would forever despise him for his role in Akemi's death. He has always been that kind of guy. Even though he knew as well as she did that Akemi wasn't one to let her emotions get the best of her... Even though he wasn't anywhere near Touto the night Akemi was murdered, having been compromised and forced to return to the US long before, he still blamed himself for possibly planting the seeds of liberty in her head without being prepared for the consequences.

But he was there when Scotch was compromised. He was there the night he decided giving up on life was his only way out. He reached out to him just like he did with her and Akemi, and, from what little she knew of the incident and the victim, his intervention succeeded only in pushing him further into a corner. She'd seen people torment themselves about not being able to help one person, but him, he tried helping someone more than once only for it to blow up in his face...

"I still have no idea if this is really what you want for me... But you sure left behind a piece of work," Shiho asked the morning wind. Although it was unlikely that her words will waft through the afterlife and reach its true destination, she felt a sense of relief after letting that out of her system. Deciding it was enough melancholy to start her day, she willed herself to an upright position and probed the room for any sign of the man responsible for her present worries.

"Well, at least he keeps everything else in order." As immaculate as the room was, Shiho felt a little out of place being the only one disheveled. The dead air clued her in on his apparent absence, but with the the first day of Golden Week well underway she figured he'd be around the neighborhood somewhere commencing one of his many morning rituals. "I suppose I should get with the program as well," she said to herself before finally slipping out of the sheets and into the shower.


Slithering into a wine button-down blouse, a pair of plain white capris and casual slip-ons, Shiho decided against surprising Shuichi by making breakfast on her own and instead went to look for the designated chef (the kitchen was his territory, after all). It was the first day of Golden Week, so she figured he'd be around the apartment, specifically the rooftop where he often practiced his kata on weekend mornings. Apparently, Shuichi had enough belts in more than one martial art to at least hold his own in a conversation with Makoto Kyogoku, something she probably never would've found out if she hadn't unpacked one of his boxes when they moved into their new place. Shiho had since made a note to never let those two together in one room even if she and Sonoko had things to talk about, lest the headaches they'd consequently suffer through while separating them.

"He should still be in the middle of his routine right now," Shiho thought. On her way to the emergency stairs, Shiho was waylaid by a bark from an approaching Harlow, a well-groomed black and white Chin. She'd run into him a few times since moving in, and they've since gotten close enough that he'd spin for her on occasion as though inviting her to play with him. If only getting along with her neighbors was as easy, she thought. Take Harlow's owner Katsuki-san from next door, for instance, who immediately called Harlow over just as she was about to pat his hair. Katsuki-san lived only with Harlow as far as Shiho knew, and with the way she leered at her while scooping her baby up, the former chemist could tell her fifty-something neighbor wasn't keen on them being cozy with each other.

"Hello, Katsuki-san... Lovely weather for a walk, isn't it," Shiho meekly greeted, noting her rather stern-looking neighbor's moss green dress and chiffon hat.

"I-it is," Katsuki awkwardly replied. She clearly didn't expect to get caught up in an exchange with Shiho. Not wanting to lose face, however, she felt compelled to oblige her. "I saw your 'husband' at the collection site earlier. He mentioned something about going for an exercise."

"Oh, is that so... I'm about to go meet him, actually" she politely said, ignoring the way her neighbor stressed that one word.

With an excusatory bow, Shiho tried walking away slowly, hoping she didn't come across as someone who wanted nothing to do with her neighbor. But before she could successfully clear the scene...

"I understand how excited you must be, shacking up with a fine gentleman and all. But please try to be a little more... 'modest,' so to speak," Katsuki reprimanded her.

"W-will do. Thank you." Shiho affected a polite nod even though she wasn't entirely sure what Katsuki-san meant. Not out of being dense like a few friends of hers tend to be as much as her being unsure of where exactly her neighbor was coming from. It was Shuichi who dealt with their neighbors when they moved in, and as far as she recalled, she'd only ever given Katsuki-san passing nods before whenever they happened upon each other in the hall or at the elevator.

"Was it because of the way I dress?" the former chemist wondered while making her way up the flight of stairs. Assessing her present attire, she immediately ruled that conjecture out. "No, it couldn't be..." Whatever the reason was, Shiho decided it wasn't worth wasting brainpower on. All it proved was that her neighbor was being nosy, not different from her old lab aides who used to spread rumors about her seeing different men from the Organization at night. Although there was a shred of truth in those rendezvous, they'd obviously colored it with carnal hues.

Upon reaching the roof door, it occurred to Shiho that she never confronted anyone about those rumors. She used to think jealous aides were beneath her, that she had far more important things to worry about than setting the record straight and rectifying her image amongst her staff. A part of her regretted it now, but another part would just as quickly rebut by asking '"what good would that have done?" Human beings have always been inclined to believe anything that was convenient for their purposes, no matter how illogical it may be. They didn't like the way she bossed them around, and they needed an outlet to vent. That was all there was to it, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to cope with the stress that came with their work. In Katsuki-san's case, she was probably just bored and was looking for something to pour her energy in.

"Then again? Who am I to mock them? I was just as gullible as them back then...," she thought, calling to mind all those times she bought into someone's unfounded words. From the lies Gin and the Organization spoonfed her to Kudou-kun's baseless guarantees that nourished her with hope when she needed it the most... Even Akemi's encouragement whenever the stress of her old job overwhelmed her. She may have doubted every single one of them, but in the end, she still found it in her to reconcile with their promises. She needed them at different points in her life, otherwise she wouldn't even be alive right now.

Which was strange, considering how readily she shunned Scotch... Or Dai, for that matter, but in his case, his kindness stirred her in... Illogical ways, so much that she felt compelled to keep her distance. She had to, or...

"What am I doing? Overthinking things again..." Shiho rebuked herself while pushing the roof door open. No matter how many times she pondered it, nothing was ever going to change what happened then. Both she and Shuichi could only go on living now. And if either one of them have to contemplate every step of the way, at least they weren't doing it alone anymore. Shiho almost wanted to laugh at the idea... How she'd confidently ruled it out as an improbability...

But the two of them sharing a life together, it has already gone way past a probability at this point. Shuichi was really in front of her in this very moment, his toned, exposed back turned against the door as he sat with his legs crossed in a lotus position. He was tangible... Real, and well within her grasp. She didn't need to confirm it after all that's happened between them, and yet, a part of her remained unconvinced. She needed to confirm it again...

"I never thought this would be so fun," Shiho whispered into Shuichi's ear after her hands had successfully crept around the back of head and into his eyes to cover them. Fortunately, he wasn't so jumpy that he'd reflexly launch her off the balcony.

"Am I allowed to be a little crass when guessing who you might be?" he said. He didn't budge from his position, but she could tell from the slight twitch his cheek made that he was smirking.

"I think you've been crass enough the last few days. Try asking again after breakfast," she retorted.

"Sounds like the morning's treating you badly already."

"Already? Let's see..." Prying her cupped hands off Shuichi's face, Shiho then sat right behind him, the small of her back barely an inch apart from his. "So I woke up to an empty bedside and an empty dining table, and when I went to find the person responsible for my agony, our lovely next-door neighbor goes out of her way to say I lack modesty. How's that for a start?"

"Sorry about that," he soberly replied. Typical of him to feel responsible even for her morning grouchiness. "I'll be heading back down shortly. Anything you want?"

"I don't mind having something delivered today, for a change."

"I can rush over to Kamahara-san's bento store over at the next district. I like their egg fried rice." Shuichi was gathering himself up when Shiho interrupted him...

"I hate to break it to you, but they're closed until Children's Day. She mentioned she was going on a trip with her son." Shiho felt great with the small victory that was knowing something Shuichi didn't, even though she'd only chanced upon that bit of info on a rare moment where she was the one buying dinner for them.

"...I'm still getting used to holidays here again," he said in his defense.

"That, you should do." With their breakfast arrangements already set for the time being, Shiho diverted the topic. "You done with your kata?"

"About ten minutes ago," he answered.

"You should've woken me up, at least," Shiho said, her tone belying mild disappointment. "For someone so gruff, you move gracefully when you're doing it."

"I wouldn't wanna do that, 'specially when you're dreaming and making cute faces."

Shuichi's words almost had the former chemist reeling. While she doubted she made any kind of face in her sleep, she most certainly had a dream. A rather strange one at that. "Funny you say that, Mr. Federal Agent... I was in fact having a ball until reality came knocking."

"Must've been quite the scenario, huh..."

"It was... And it heavily involved another man."

"Hooo... That makes it more interesting."

The lukewarm amusement in Shuichi's response was totally par for course. Then again, Shiho always assumed he was well above petty jealousy. He may be leery, but that hinged more on his experience in the field than anything. Which was a good thing, if a tad disappointing. "Aren't you going to ask who the lucky guy is?"

"Am I allowed to pry that much?" he returned the question.

"Hm? You're really going to think twice about meddling now, 'dear?'" Shiho mouthed the last part with more mockery than actual endearment. "You and I both know it's a little too late for that. And unfortunately, I think Katsuki-san knows too..."

Shiho felt Shuichi's back shift, gathering himself from the asphalt and walking towards the balcony. "Well then, do you mind telling me who this 'lucky guy' is?" he haplessly asked, making no effort to hide how he couldn't be bothered to hide how he was being forced into it.

With a heavy sigh, Shiho resolved herself into confessing. Teasing him in such a way evidently wasn't going to be as fun as threatening to max his credit card. Besides, there was no point hiding a memory she herself had forgotten. "Hiromitsu Morofushi. I'm pretty sure that rings a bell."

Shiho didn't need to look at Shuichi's face to picture the dread that contorted it the moment she uttered the name. Her hunch was compounded by the silence that followed shortly, a void so impregnable that not even a bird or a vehicle dared to rattle it. But again, she'd anticipated such a reaction from him. He must've thought the name didn't exist in her lexicon, and he wasn't wrong. Until now she thought Scotch was just another one of those Organization members that came and went. "It seems I may have met him before...," she added, a feeble effort to try to get him engaged. And as far as feeble efforts go, it didn't accomplish anything more than provide context.

"It's that kind of dream?" he asked after dragging two full minutes out.

"I've never once dreamed about unicorns and faeries if that's what you're trying to say," she retorted. "I'm pretty sure it was a memory. I don't know how accurate it was though... Just a passing conversation in my lab, nothing more."

Shuichi fell back into a lull once he got his answer. This time, he seemed to be pondering how to approach the matter now that it has been disintered fromt he unmarked grave he'd buried it in. By the last person he expected to, no less.

To Shiho's surprise, however, she wound up only being half-right...

"That sounds about right," he finally said.

"How would you know?" she asked, quite dismissively up until she remembered she was talking to the guy who, in essence, knew the old her better than she did. "Wait.. Don't tell me you-"

"He did mention meeting you once," Shuichi clarified.

"He did?"

"He said you reminded him of his old self."

"Should I take that as a compliment or an insult?"

"Depends on what you make of being the shy type."

"So I went from being shy to lacking modesty... I guess I really am capable of changing."

Frankly, Shiho couldn't wrap her head around that revelation. If she found out about it back then, she probably would've felt embarrassed with the notion of Dai talking about her with a friend. But now, with everything that's happened between them, and with Scotch no less, she didn't know what to think. She'd heard stories about the guy, about how he had trouble opening up to people after his family's tragedy until he met Rei.

On the surface, perhaps such comparison made sense. She did have a hard time connecting with people on a whim, as evidenced by that one moment she shared with Scotch. And just like Scotch, she'd thought about taking her own life as well when things between her and the Organization went awry, to put lightly. Only that she was fortunate enough to survive and enjoy a second lease in life surrounded by people she could trust with her life. If only Scotch shared her even a shred of luck...

"...You're mulling over possibilities, I see," Shuichi noticed, just like Shiho knew he would.

"It's hard not to in his case, isn't it?" Shiho answered. "You'd know that better than anyone... Except one other guy, probably..."

Shuichi grunted in concurrence.

"I don't know..." She pulled herself up and joined Shuichi by the balcony, looking over at the view below. Just then, she spotted Katsuki-san, still dressed in the same outfit from earlier, taking Harlow westward for a walk. "I guess I just can't help but wonder what would've happened if I... Did more for him than what I did at the time."

"You mean if you reached back to him."

"Pretty much," she sighed un between, "I'm not so delusional as to wonder if he would've reconsidered everything that happened that night by having something to do with me... But I just feel like..." She took a pause until she found words that articulated her thoughts closely enough. "I just feel like maybe his life might not have been as bleak if I at least tried harder. It worked for me, after all..."

"Who knows... He was a hard nut to crack at times," Shuichi said, turning around to watch the street with her. The melancholy in his tone was palpable, but he didn't seem to mind going through with her forgotten memory with her. "He did say it would've been cool to chat with you again."

"...Except it never happened," Shiho lamented. "He never came by again, and I eventually forgot I ever met him. I never even got his name until much later..."

"Things got quite hectic for both of us shortly after," Shuichi explained. "About a month later, he..." He wound up not being able to finish the latter part, still mortified with the role he played in Scotch's demise.

"Say no more," Shiho said, looking at him and consciously reaching for his hand. She didn't know what kind of person Scotch really was, but for him to find the resolve to pull the trigger on himself, he ought to have been at the peak of intractability by then, a point where nothing made sense anymore, not even the simplest of facts. Even if Shuichi tried harder to talk him out of it... Even if Rei got there sooner... Hell, even if she'd bridged the gap between them beforehand... Nothing would've changed his ultimate fate. She was sure Shuichi understood as much, but just the same, she understood full well why he couldn't let go. It was only human to regret someone's death, especially if they were in a position to keep such tragedy from happening...

But how long will he continue his self-flagellation? While the wound left by Akemi's tragedy will never not hurt, both of them have made peace with it and are learning how to live with it. With Scotch though, Shuichi was still a long ways off from at least forgiving himself for it. There's also the strife between him and Rei, but that's even further down the road and only the two of them could navigate through it. All she can really do for him is to stay in the side and let him take all the lashes on his own...

...If only she was ever good at going along with the plan.

"Say, remember that thing you promised we'll do?" Shiho suddenly spoke, sounding rather encouraging for once.

"You'll have to be more specific. You may have talked me into making more promises," he replied.

"I have... But for your benefit, I'm talking about going somewhere together."

"Ah, that one..." Shuichi smirked, albeit not totally bereft of desolution. "You finally decided where you wanna go?"

"Sort of. I don't feel like going to the beach at this time though."

"Well then," he looked right back at her, "What do you have in mind?"

"Hmmm...," She took a moment to pretend coming up a destination. "How about we go to Nagano?"

The federal agent's eyes widened slightly at the proposition, completely privy of its implications. "What about making plans and booking a place to stay?" he quoted her from when she previously convinced him to go on a trip.

"I know a few people in the area. Making last-minute arrangements won't be too difficult." He could obviously tell what she was thinking, but without a word she let him know she wasn't about to back down from it. Indecision has brought enough regret in her life already, and the last thing she wanted was to see Shuichi shackle himself with it. "So... Should I make those arrangements now?" she asked him.

Shuichi said nothing for a while, but when he finally gave an anwer, Shiho was unfazed. She'd already anticipated what it was going to be, after all...

"High time I used my rail pass, I suppose..."


Chapter End