chapter word count: 862

noir heart: one hundred and twenty two

"I wanna file charges! I want that bitch arrested for assault!" The hoodie-clad, cuffed man yells as Gogo pushes him toward the sergeant's desk, where the uniformed man regards them with a raised eyebrow. "She broke my goddamn nose!"

Oh, and his nose is indeed streaming crimson. Part of Tadashi laments not having any saran wrap to protect his car seats on the way back - he's got a date with bleach and a scrubbing brush tonight.

"Yeah?" Gogo says, as she roughly pushes him against the desk, "Well maybe you ought to think twice before breaking into the home of a wushu expert, huh?"

The man utters something unintelligible and likely rude, before whining at her to uncuff him so he can clean up his face. "So who's the new arrival for whom I have to call the first aider?" the grey-haired sergeant drawls, his eyes as bored as his expression.

"Marcus Bennett." Tadashi leans against the desk, smirking at the whimpering man. "This guy's responsible for a string of burglaries all across the west side of town."

"You mean the guy the papers have been on about?" The sergeant gives the culprit a look. "On page five?"

"Yep," Tadashi says, chuckling. "Dude's been clever enough to stay ahead of us for a while - until we got a call an hour ago."

"Genius here thought it was a good idea to break into the home of the local wushu instructor," Gogo adds. "Soon as we got there, her wife - another instructor - opened the door, and what do we find? This guy, tied up on the floor, with the lady drinking tea while she was sat on top of him."

"Smart." The sergeant grunts. "Okay, let's get you seen by the doc and get you processed. Welcome to the Hotel A.P.D."

Tadashi leaves him to it, pushing himself off the desk and walking off to a corner of the reception room. Gogo follows his lead, pocketing her hands in her leather jacket whilst the same gum she popped in her mouth that morning is chewed and blown over and over.

She is perfect, in his mind. Sure, she's got a temper - but a wicked sense of humour and a sharp mind, too. An unquenchable thirst for speed, a high standard for perfection, and damn, is the sex amazing. Bonus? She's the hottest woman this side of the Sun.

Every damn time he's around her, when a case isn't forcing his brain to play ball, she turns his mind to lightheaded mush. Every damn time does she send his stomach into knots and his heart a-flutter. Every damn time does his world fall away when her eyes meet his.

"So, celebration drink?" she suggests, shrugging like it's no big thing.

"I have a better idea," Tadashi says, grinning as he pulls out a pair of tickets from the pocket of his jacket. Frowning curiously, those beautiful eyes flick down to the pieces of paper in his fingers, before they widen in satisfying shock.

"Oh my God! These are Arendelle Roller Derby tickets! How did you—I thought they were sold out!"

Tadashi's smile widens as his heart leaps into his throat. "Bought them as soon as they went on sale. Been holding onto them since. What do you say—you and me, high speed roller skating, brutal knockdowns and hot dogs?"

She practically snatches them from his fingers, beaming with delight and excitement. "Are you kidding? This is awesome! I would love…"

Maybe he can summon the courage to tell her his feelings whilst skaters get knocked on their asses. Maybe she'll reciprocate. Maybe Hiro will get off his back about getting the girl of his dreams.

But then her face falls, and her brow knits together. She looks not at the tickets, but through them… and Tadashi's heart begins to sink.

"Tadashi…" she murmurs, barely audible over the bustling noise of the busy reception, "this isn't a date, is it?"

And then his heart feels like someone's squeezing it to death on its way down. It was a hell of a gamble… but still. A woman like her was worth a try, right?

Except his detective skills, his reading of body language tells him he's already crashing and burning just after takeoff. There's no hope in her eyes, only caution. No optimism, only uncertainty.

No chance.

He masks his disappointment behind a smile, and his heartache behind a casual chuckle. "Of course not. Just two friends-with-benefits watching a celebration game."

She studies him for a few moments, as though working out whether to believe him or not. Lying to someone is bad enough, but to a fellow detective? Their professional relationship's at stake, on the other hand. Making things awkward would be a terrible thing.

There's a few more moments before she seemingly makes a decision, with a smile and a little bob of her feet - and his heart aches all the more. "Great! Pick me up at six?"

Tadashi smiles, and hurts.

"Six it is."

Poor Tadashi.

noircorda is completely on the money. Scopolamine isn't anywhere near as dangerous as TV drama makes out, at most it zombifies you and makes you open to suggestion. I just decided to exercise my creative licensing to amp up the danger.

special thanks to: snowfire12345, jpbake, oninoko, ipizzipy reads, noircorda and waguneru for the reviews!