Chapter III: Delight at First Sight

His plans to call Ai back were brought an abrupt halt with the discovery of a second body. Called to the scene in the wee hours of the morning, Heishiro had hardly any time to change out of yesterday's clothing, which he had carelessly fallen asleep in, and give himself a much needed shower, before he was stepping out to his car. Admittedly it wasn't the most glamorous of vehicles, neither old nor new, but its presence was made infamous by the locals. Whenever the black Mercedes drove by, it was only a sign that death had made its appearance.

Slipping into the driver's seat, Heishiro took a look at his gas gauge and inwardly groaned. It was half empty and with the rate he was using this vehicle, he was bound to last only three more days. But along with that, the red arrow pointing downwards played as a reminder to the current budget cut the force was going through. With a rise in criminal activity as of late, they brought in a new crew of officers to help with minor offenses; giving the professionals time to focus on more important crimes.

With more paychecks to hand out, the smaller the shares became. Heishiro was a man of little needs and had no one but himself to look after, but he wouldn't mind having a little spending money after all the bills have been paid off.

Grumbling, he ignited the engine and shifted gears. Regardless of how little or how much he was getting paid, Heishiro didn't see himself backing out of his career choice anytime soon. Sometimes it seemed solving crimes was the only thing he was good at.

~XxxxxxxxX~

If the flashing police lights, media vehicles, and yellow tape weren't an indicator that he had arrived at the correct location, then Mitsurugi surely had a knack for stumbling upon dead bodies. After dropping his car off a few feet from the police barricade, he flashed his badge to the policeman in charge and managed only one step over the yellow line before he was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Heishiro?"

Frowning as he recognized who the owner of the voice was, he reluctantly, and regrettably, turned around. A gorgeous blonde suited in a white blouse and lavender pencil skirt stood before him, a hopeful smile planted on her peachy lips. "I should have known that you'd be involved," she whispered, shaking her head. "Do you ever get a break?"

Setsuka was the last person he had expected to come across when he was called in. And now, after so many unreturned phone calls and lame excuses preventing their meeting, Heishiro found himself with his hand midway in the cookie jar. "Uh, yeah," he began bluntly, searching his mind for the correct words. "But what are you doing here?"

Setsuka's lovely face displayed a look of shock for a brief second before fixating itself. "I take it you didn't get my message."

"Message?"

He thought back to last night when he had cleared his answering his machine and while he mainly recalled Ai's voice speaking to him, he did vaguely remember Setsuka's message she had left him. Unfortunately, the subject of said message had completely left his mind as the shuddering words of "love you" was all he associated with it. But after being a detective inspector for the past three years, Heishiro was good at deducing and even better at lying.

"Yeah," he continued gruffly, "I got it. And… good job." Hoping that this would be the end of this awkward, unexpected meeting, Heishiro got his second leg over the plastic barricade and prepared to finally head into the mighty house; his skin prickling with excitement at the thought of looking over the new-found crime scene. However, the blonde journalist wasn't ready to let him go yet as she gripped his mighty bicep, startling him, but also stopping him in his tracks.

"Perhaps we can share some dinner tonight?"

Gently freeing his arm from her grip, he whispered back, "We'll see…"

~XxxxxxxxX~

Upon entering the house, Heishiro was forced into a pair of coveralls to prevent any contamination of the crime scene. Taking his sweet time heading to the lounge where the crime occurred, Mitsurugi got caught up admiring the interior of the house. If the size of the house wasn't enough to put someone in awe and envy, then all it took was one step inside. It felt as if he were walking into a castle out of a fairytale what with the marble floors, massive chandelier, and miscellaneous items that would cost well over Heishiro's yearly income to pay off. Whoever this victim was, he was definitely doing well for himself.

Once the spiral staircase was traversed, the fairytale feeling the dwelling emitted was suddenly tainted as the detective's eye immediately caught sight of the ominous lump on the floor sitting in the tidy room. It didn't take a genius to know that underneath the forensic team's rubber sheet was the body of an unfortunate soul. However, there was no time to pity the dead as Mitsurugi was pushed headlong into working mode as Goto Fujita approached him.

"I see you made it past the cameras," the old man greeted, motioning outside the window where below them was the massive crowd that had, within the few short minutes it had taken for Mitsurugi to enter the house, grown in size. It made him wonder why one person's death had raised such publicity.

"Barely," he grumbled, recalling his little conversation with Setsuka. He walked over to the concealed body of the victim and as he hovered over it, he asked, "Anybody special under there?"

The old man shook his head. "Nope. Just an old feller by the name of Toki Matsumoto; principal of a grade school, single," he responded, flipping through his yellow notes.

Upon hearing this, Mitsurugi near snarled. What was the point of hiring a new cast of officers when they still put the responsibility of solving every murder on his shoulders? Still, with every body he stumbled upon, there came a curiosity that couldn't be piqued by any other emotion he had. To know the how and why the victim was as he is, those are the reasons why he found himself peeling away the layers hiding the body; unveiling the unfortunate man to his eyes.

The sight laid out before him wasn't near as gruesome as some of the others Heishiro had come across though it was bloody. The victim was dressed in a white button-up, now cruelly stained by his own gore, and a pair of black slacks. Though his face showed signs of an older age, his head was still just as full as Mitsurugi's; the color just as dark. Despite living in a house that was donned with unnecessary expensive items, the man wore no such thing as a watch ring or ring to display his wealth. A humble man, Mitsurugi assumed.

"Cause of death," the detective asked coolly.

"A bullet straight through the heart," Fujita responded back. "Death was instantaneous."

Lifting his eyes from the pale corpse before him, Mitsurugi took a look around the orderly room which played as the crime scene and took note of a very faint scent of…coffee. Following his nose he found, sitting untouched on a small round side table, a coffee mug, and beside that was a withered old journal. Ignoring the journal, Heishiro focused on the caffeinated drink. "What was the time of death?"

"Around one to three in the morning. We won't know for sure however until we get a closer look at the body. Though there aren't signs of it yet, we're assuming this to be the work of a well-trained thief."

Fujita watched Heishiro rise to his feet and approach the coffee mug. As he stared at the black liquid that nearly filled the cup, he shook his head. "Wrong."

"Pardon?"

"You say this man was murdered only hours after midnight by some thief. But take a good look at him." As Fujita glanced down at the cadaver, Heishiro continued with his assumption. "He's dressed for work even though it's past twelve."

Fujita shrugged. "You of all people should know about late night work."

"Do you see any work around you?" The man grunted back.

The old man gave the room a quick look over and, as the younger man stated, not a single piece of paper that indicated any signs of work was to be found. The room was spotless of any such items aside from the journal, but there wasn't even a pen for writing in sight. "So what are you saying?"

"Not much people stay up until three in the morning, dressed for a meeting, to write in a crummy journal," he replied, crossing out the only other explanation he could think of as to why the man had stayed up so late. "He was waiting for someone."

"On the dot as usual, Heishiro." A deeper voice spoke from the doorway. Turning his head, Mitsurugi was met with the face of the detective chief – his superior – Shiro Saito. Questioned on many occasions if the DI was his son due to their similar appearances, Shiro was the newly crowned chief of the Niihama Police Department. On a regular basis he had an approachable personality, though he was not one to be tempered with.

"What are you doing here," Mitsurugi asked bluntly, rising to his feet after covering the body once again. It was uncommon to see the chief himself doing field work.

"To lessen some stress from your mind," the chief responded calmly. "I'm sure you've been wondering why you were called to this case, haven't you? Let me show you." With strong, precise steps reminiscent of those in military positions, Saito strode to the end table where the coffee sat and plucked up the journal Heishiro had temporarily forgotten of and flipped through it. When the desired page was found he displayed it to his subordinate. "Look here."

Though the pencil writing was faded, the words were still legible. Mitsurugi didn't know what he should be looking for until Saito landed his index finger to a word that had been haunting him since yesterday. The name "Taki" was scrawled on the paper; the same name that had been left on the cardstock evidence.

"Fujita informed me of the evidence your team acquired from yesterday's search, so when I dug through this journal earlier, I couldn't help but notice the name. I know you don't believe in coincidence, so I did some research for you. As I'm sure Fujita has told you, Toki Matsumoto was a school principal. Taking a look at the school's staff, I found out that a 'Taki Mujakina' was employed there as a kindergarten teacher." With that said, he unveiled a photo of a young woman.

Heishiro stared at the photo offered to him with suspicion. It wasn't often that the chief was going out of his way to help in a case when he had an overflowing pile of paperwork to attend to back at headquarters. And why the sudden curiosity in his affairs? Taking a look at the chief's face, he narrowed his eyes before accepting the picture. Whatever reason he had, Mitsurugi wasn't going to refuse any valuable information.

He held the photo up to eye level and took in the woman within. The picture, he assumed, was taken by a friend, a colleague perhaps, as it showed the woman seated at her desk, littered with paperwork, and as the cameraman made his presence known, she turned her head to pass them a gentle smile. Mitsurugi raised a curious eyebrow as he wondered what role, if any, she had in this tangle of crimes.

Pocketing the photo, he gave a nod to his superior. "I'll go look into it," he affirmed before heading back downstairs. If this woman was involved with their murders, he had not a second to spare in finding her. Every second counted in the race against crime.

Walking over the well-gardened lawn, now frosted over from last night's air, Mitsurugi looked over at the black car sitting in the gravel driveway and frowned. It was a newer version of his vehicle, unmarred and, from the looks of it, freshly waxed. It was a crime to watch such a wonderful car fade and age before being used to its fullest potential. Since his "clients" don't pay him for his hard work, perhaps they should make it a new rule that once a case is closed the detective responsible lays claim to one of the victim's possessions.

As he approached the wall of journalists that blocked him from his vehicle, unintimidated, Heishiro gave them a glare that, with the combination of his gruff features, told the many onlookers that he wasn't intending to speak a word. Like a herd of sheep, the crowd parted as he made his way through, but there was one stray animal that was unlike the others.

Standing in his way was Setsuka who had no intention of stepping aside for him. At least, not until she got the answers she wanted. "Heishiro…" She began to say until she was silenced by the DI's hands placing themselves on her shoulders.

"About the dinner...we'll have to cancel," Mitsurugi said as kindly as he could muster. "Sorry." Without another word, he gently pushed past her towards his car. He had another date tonight, one with a "Miss Taki."

~XxxxxxxxX~

For what seemed to be the seventh time this day, Taki felt for her phone and stole a quick peek at it; hoping that the screen would read that she had an unanswered phone call or message. But just like all the previous times, all she spotted was her floral wallpaper. Though she told herself he was simply running late, forgetting his cellphone back at home, there was an unshakable feeling that had taken root in her heart since waking from her nightmare last night. Biting her lip, she quickly tucked her phone back in the drawer of her desk before returning her attention back to her students who were patiently sitting in wait for their story.

Hiding her concern behind a well-formed smile, she joined her students on the dog-shaped carpet. "So what are we reading today," she asked as she straightened out her sleek black pencil skirt. A chubby boy with a gap-toothed smile extended a picture book with two bears, the bigger of the two holding a lantern, on the cover. "'Can't You Sleep, Little Bear?'" Taki repeated the title, her voice faltering for only a brief second as she said so. "What a...good choice..."

Gently flipping the cover over, careful not to damage the book any more than it already was, Taki began retelling the story that, if she recalled correctly, was the story she would hear through the walls and vents of the orphanage when bedtime approached. It was never read to her directly, but she listened nonetheless as the soothing voice of her caretaker was like a mother's.

As she read aloud to the toddlers, outside, a black Mercedes made its way into the parking lot and out stepped Heishiro. He took a look at the little school and instinctively began giving himself a pat-down as he searched for his pack of cigarettes. However, he stopped himself as he noticed the playground full of children that were oblivious to his arrival. Though he himself cared little of kids, he knew his little sister would disapprove greatly if he were to smoke before under aged rascals. Grumbling, he tossed the stash of cigarettes he had found back into his car and proceeded into the building.

He entered through the front doors as any civilized person ought to and approached the office secretary who was currently on her computer. With the hallways being as silent as it was, she noticed the scruffy detective straight away and greeted him with a practiced smile. "Hi there," she greeted him overexcitedly, "How are you today?"

Judging by the unnatural ginger blonde hair, sparkly pink nails, and the amount of makeup she wore, Mitsurugi considered her to be one of those "hip" and popular teenagers probably paving her way to college with the pocket change earned by working part time. He could deal with dead bodies, gore, and murderers, but when it came to the younger generation, such as this Natsu, as he read from the name plate on the counter, he never knew how to act. Scratching the back of his head, unable to meet the younger girl's eyes, he said, "I need to speak to a Miss…" Suddenly Taki's surname escaped his mind and rather than stand there appearing like a goon in front of this girl he finished with, "Taki."

The sudden pause had made the girl raise a curious eyebrow, but her confused look was quickly replaced by a devious smirk that caught Mitsurugi off-guard. "Miss Taki, eh?" The girl confirmed. "Well of course you can go see her. Though she never did tell me she had a lover…"

Natsu's sudden accusation left him gawking as he was handed a pin that read "visitor." He could easily deny the claim had it been spoken by someone of his age, but he knew little of how adolescents would respond to his rebuttal. It could end in a puddle of tears or a sea of laughter and judging by the energetic girl in front of him, it would most likely be the latter. Snatching the pin from her hands he grumbled as he began to storm out the office. "Her room's down the hall on the left," Natsu called after him, "Fourth door down!"

With the detective out of the room, Natsu returned her attention back to her screen which displayed a paused game of some sort of RPG and chuckled to herself as she went back to "work." "Who knew she had a thing for the scruffy type?" She muttered to herself.

~XxxxxxxxX~

Following that dreadful secretary's direction, Mitsurugi found himself before a decorated door that was decorated with the word "Welcome!" He gently pulled the hefty door open and took a peek in. The classroom was just as he imagined a kindergarten room to appear. Colors of all kinds decorated the walls and there was a corkboard dedicated to crude drawings. Mitsurugi scoffed, knowing of a better place for such "art." The trash can. When his eyes finished scanning the decor, his eyes went to the group of children sitting on an oddly shaped carpet; all of them, to Heishiro's surprise, silent as they listened to the lone adult's voice.

Looking over the dozen of round heads, Mitsurugi spotted the supposed Miss Taki, the owner of said voice, and instinctively began taking in her appearance. For her clothes, she chose to dress in a short sleeved blouse with a waist-high skirt, suspenders looping themselves over her slender shoulders – classy and professional. Her hair, unlike in the picture he had stashed in his breast pocket, cascaded down her back like an inky pool. As for her face, he couldn't quite get a good look as she had her nose in a book.

She appeared focused as she read, the squeak of the door opening having gone unnoticed by her. Though one to prefer silent atmospheres, Mitsurugi had to admit that she had a pretty soothing voice; so much so that he found himself unable to interrupt the trance she had put all the children in.

~XxxxxxxxX~

Although her mouth spoke words, Taki's mind paid little attention to them as the concern she had for Toki's whereabouts were becoming overwhelming. But for her children's sake, she refused to show it, hoping that her concerns would be erased when his figure would appear at the doorway. As the thought occurred, she instinctively peeked up to look at the classroom exit and, to her shock, someone was indeed standing there.

Staring wide-eyed at the visitor, Taki felt her heart begin to beat rapidly as she took in his features. Dressed head to toe in black casual business attire, his image and timed appearance seemed so familiar. It was as if she was reliving a moment, and though her mind didn't remember from which memory the familiarity derived from, her heart did. She felt as if she were facing the grim reaper …

~XxxxxxxxX~

When she had suddenly looked up from her book, the two had made eye contact and Mitsurugi found himself unable to peel his eyes away. She was definitely the woman in the photo, but when looking at her now, he realized she had a beauty that couldn't be captured by a mere camera. She was like a doll with her perfect features from the silky hair, perfectly placed almond shaped eyes, and well-formed lips. Normally he would scold himself for finding a possible murder suspect so enchanting, but at the same time he feared what kind of man he would be if he didn't find her a little becoming. He was sure, if there were indeed angels up above, that even they would be jealous of her.

~XxxxxxxxX~

Carelessly letting the book drop from her fingers, Taki rose to her full height and whispered to her students, "Excuse me class…I…have to go talk to our guest…"

With small steps, she approached the detective, trying to keep a cool and confident demeanor about herself the entire way. However, it was hard to keep a straight face when she knew, from deep within, what this man had to say. "Can I help you," she forced out, unable to meet his gaze.

Mitsurugi looked down at the slightly shorter woman and narrowed his eyes. When watching her read to her children, he didn't want to believe that she was involved in these crimes. But now, seeing as how she was scared to meet him face-on, he naturally grew suspicious. "Can you look at me," he asked solemnly.

When she did so, he spotted the fearful look on her face and felt a twinge of guilt. Something inside of him told him not to hurt her, but the dominating detective side of him told him otherwise. Business was business, and he hadn't the time to wallow in remorse. "Yesterday, the body of a young lady was found on the outskirts of town," began slowly, "And then this morning, the head of this school, Toki Matsumoto, was found murdered." He watched her face pale before she gripped the wall to balance herself. "The connection between these two incidents is your name…"

He gave her a few seconds to let the information sink in before continuing. "You need to come with me. We have some questions to ask you down at the precinct."

Taki ears had stopped listening to him as unwelcomed, long suppressed memories came rushing back. No longer was she the twenty-something-year-old woman standing before a possible police officer, but a five-year-old girl standing against an army of men – her voice stolen from her.

~XxxxxxxxX~

"Your daddy's gone, little girl," the suited man spoke, extending his hand. "You have to come with me now. I have some questions for you…"

That man's face, once forgotten was now back… And as she gazed at Heishiro, she realized that this face was awfully similar to the one so many years ago…

A/N: Ugh. No matter how much I edit, the ending to this chapter just can't go the way I want it. So before I go changing it up again for the twentieth time, I'm just going to finish it here, so sorry if it feels chunky and so to-the-point. I'm just excited to get to the next chapter and I hope you are too!