Introduction.
Ryusuke Kobayashi was a foreign detective for the Metropolitan Police. He had arrived in England two years before, on an assignment from his department in the Tokyo Police. In truth, he had been sent to get out of the way.
After finishing his school education, Ryusuke had entered the police department on a recommendation from the commissioner on his excellent abilities. He was charismatic; he could dominate any group with just one word. His spirits were an example to every other officer and he had a way to carry himself that allowed him to take control of the situation, no matter how desperate it seemed. He was hard working and diligent; he carried anything he set to do to the very end even if nobody else followed him. Everyone believed that he solved cases by his sheer willpower but he always claimed that it was sound, hard police work that caught the criminal in the end. He never gave up on a case, regardless of how impossible it seemed to be, and his colleagues were sure he would manage to catch even the ghost that haunted London Tower if he set up to do it.
It was also his extraordinary abilities that had landed him there. After the fiasco on the capture of the Thief of Many Faces for many years, his chief of department had decided to remove him from the case and try a different approach through other means and with another person perhaps. This was something Ryusuke couldn't accept, he had become obsessed with capturing the slippery thief, to the point where he would scream his name at odd times, just to show his intention of capturing him. It was perhaps this fact which caused his final break down. His obsession took a turn to the worse. He had stopped eating or sleeping, he just kept working tirelessly on the case, reviewing every little fact, trying to guess the next move of the slippery thief with every possible means. Against the orders from his superiors, he worked on the case on his own, alone and on his own free time. Finally, he had dropped almost dead with exhaustion from lack of sleep and food at which time his superior put his foot down and decided that the best course of action would be to get him away from the place, give him an assignment that was as far from the object of his obsession as possible. And thus, he had ended up in London as a liaison for the Tokyo Police Department on the case of a very notorious international white glove thief.
Everyone thought that case would have him busy for years. Nobody had ever been able to get close enough to have some evidence to identify the famed robber. Still, taking the advice of his family and friends, he began working on the impossible case in his usual manner and in little time he was making outstanding progress. In two months, he had acquired more information and insight on the burglar than years of police vigilance had ever done. By the time five months had gone by, he had actually managed to capture the thief, gaining the respect of all the department and an invitation to become a permanent member of the forces. It seemed that the course of action of his boss had been the correct one and Ryusuke's obsession seemed to have become something of the past. Even Ryusuke himself had began what he called a new life there.
When he had been living almost a year in England, a strange case presented itself to him where nobody could have committed the crime, it was physically impossible. That's when he had met quite casually Eriol Hiragizawa, a young man who happened to be always near the scene of the crime and who had grown fond of the detective, helping him with some strange advice that seemed to strangely fit in some weird way into the actions. Following Hiragizawa's instructions suspiciously, he encountered that the solution to the case was something quite unexpected and unbelievable. Eriol insisted that magic was something not as uncommon or farfetched as he wanted to believe and guided him through the steps to help him catch his prey. And catch it he did, which earned the young sleuth a new promotion. At the same time, the friendship between Ryusuke and Eriol also grew and he was often invited to the Hiragizawa residence, where Mrs. Hiragizawa always treated him to the best oriental dishes he had tasted ever since he had been transferred to that country. What he missed the most about his transfer was the food. English cuisine was substantial enough but it didn't resemble the wholesome and tasty Japanese dishes he was so used to as a child in his father's sushi restaurant. So with the appeal of tasty food and pleasant company, detective Kobayashi became a regular visitor to the Hiragizawa household and everyone there always greeted him as a member of the family every time he walked up the doorsteps.
In that house was where he met her. When she arrived, she looked very sad and miserable, unable to get her bearings like a lost child, and yet she couldn't have been more than a few years younger than him. Tomoyo Hiragizawa had taken her straight into her room when they arrived and Eriol had explained to him, who had come like almost every day to depart of the delicious food of the house, that she was a very dear friend of his wife who was going through a very hard time at her home now so she would be staying at the house, and could he help make her feel at home and help her recover her spirits. The moment Ryusuke had set eyes on her sad face, his chivalrous nature had come out and he bowed to Eriol to help her in anything he was fit for. That reassurance eased some of Eriol's anxiety, for anxious he was, given the current situation of the girl.
Meilin was resentful and bitter. How could her mother do something like that to her? She had arrived at her house to receive the order to prepare herself for her engagement ceremony. Meilin was dumbfounded and didn't understand what her mother was talking about. Apparently, following the Li tradition, her worthy parent had arranged for her a marriage of convenience with a wealthy tycoon who she had perhaps, if she could be prevailed to remember, seen once at an exclusive party her mother had taken her the previous month and she had, so her mother told her, chatted with him pleasantly. After this set up party, the tycoon had gone to the parents of the prospective bride and asked for her hand, giving quite a handsome dowry as payment. When all this was explained to Meilin, she was so shocked she couldn't even reply at first and the entreaties to go and get dressed to see her future husband didn't reach her ears either. When she recovered enough, she walked into her room and locked the door behind. The maid began knocking insistently on her door some while after, telling her she'd be late but she wouldn't even answer. Her mother came afterwards herself and banging on her door, ordered her to come out. This time, she was so irated by everything she opened her door merely to shout at her mother to her face. Then came a very heated discussion about free will, parental rights and old traditions in which none of the women gave in and so the engagement was suspended until the girl could be made to understand her place and accept what was best for her. This really enraged Meilin and she threatened to run away if her mother didn't stop this hideous plan. The mother merely warned her that if she didn't obey her, the consequences would be dire for her.
After this discussion, Meilin could only think of calling Tomoyo to pour her full story in the other woman's understanding ears. Tomoyo listened to her carefully and silently until she finished her tale and offered hers and Eriol's help for whatever she needed and immediately offered their house for her to stay for as long as she wished to if bad came to worse. Meilin agreed to that idea immediately for she wouldn't stay if her mother didn't change her mind and repent. Tomoyo also told her she should call Syaoran and get his help since he's head of the family but Meilin didn't want to bother him now that his first child was on its way. Tomoyo managed to convince her to do it in the end, so Meilin called him and he went to her aid immediately.
No matter what was said to her or who said it, Meilin's mother wouldn't budge from her plans, she was adamant to get her daughter married to the best available prospect. Syaoran's mother had also talked to her but to no avail. It seemed her mind was made up and nothing would change her. When Syaoran arrived, he tried by every mean to make her change her mind but every attempt was completely useless and only enraged the woman, until his own mother ordered him to stop trying and return to his home with his wife. Syaoran had then a discussion with his mother but she merely told him to let things go their way until their ultimate end and then ordered him back to his house. Even Sakura came after Syaoran against his wishes given her advanced state; she only said she needed to confirm something. Sakura had an interview with her mother-in-law from which she came out no less worried than before. All of Syaoran's sisters were on Meilin's side and supported her in everything. Yelan had already banned that old marrying tradition from her own household a long time ago and the girls were convinced that the biggest reason for that had been Syaoran, for otherwise he would've had to take his place as the head of the Li house and bring his wife into the house, something he did everything in his power to prevent.
After every attempt had been made and failed to change her mother's ideas, Meilin took up on Tomoyo's invitation and after packing everything she deemed necessary, she went into the morning room and announced to her mother she was leaving the house. At this juncture, instead of trying to argue with her stubborn daughter, her mother only stated that if she left the house, she would then be disowned and be no longer considered a daughter of that house. This last insult was all Meilin needed to leave vowing never to return, so with the help of Syaoran's sisters, she immediately left the place and took the plane to London already prepared by Tomoyo through her company. When she arrived at the airport, the first thing she did was run to where Tomoyo and Eriol were waiting for her and hug Tomoyo and cry all the tears that the tension had kept back until then.
That's how she had arrived at the Hiragizawa residence, miserable and depressed and unforgiving against her unfeeling mother. When dinner was served, she came down to it in silence. She only gave a perfunctory nod of the head when she was introduced to the tall man, who was also a guest that night, and then listened nor talked to anybody until she finished and left for her room again.
By next day, after she had rested well, she felt better and came down to breakfast in a better mood. Eriol had already left for his work and Tomoyo received her cheerfully and did everything to make her stay there enjoyable. The first thing she did was to propose going shopping right away to take her mind off of things. To this Meilin agreed promptly. They took the car and, after parking it at Tottenham Court, went along walking to the different places. They both enjoyed greatly their stroll over Oxford Street, window viewing at Bond Street, walking through Regent Street with its bargains, watching the different trends in Convent Garden and finishing by eating in one of Soho's most prestigious restaurants with their arms full of their shopping and sipping contentedly into their cups of tea. They bought the best quality clothes all thanks to Tomoyo's unmistakable taste and knowledge of the fashion industry. She led her friend with sure step through all the best stores and only purchased from those which quality she deemed was stainless instead of going to the fashionable shops like any tourist. If you knew where to go, you could get anything your heart desired in one of the world's first shopping districts.
They arrived at the house almost at dinner time, tired but in good spirits. Today also the man from the day before was there, and this time she greeted him more cheerfully and finally learned that his name was Ryusuke Kobayashi and that he was a detective for the Metropolitan Police and they chatted away at dinner. In truth, she wasn't as cheerful as she was acting but she had decided that day she'd soon be, she'd forget everything about her mother and just enjoy the time she was there with her friends, so when Eriol proposed that Kobayashi showed her around the place that weekend, she agreed readily to the plan in an attempt to be as gay as she could. She was determined to enjoy herself to the utmost, which showed her usual spirits were coming back to her.
Ryusuke found the girl more interesting now that she was talking than when she was silent and broody. Now he wanted to help her for her own sake, not out of compassion for someone in trouble. He liked her best like this and was glad to be having some company on a solitary Sunday. Despite his popularity, he had very few friends, probably due to his obsessive habits, and either they were married or had their own couples to attend to in their free time, which meant he had his free time mostly to himself. That was the main reason why he was in the Hiragizawa house practically every day. That and the excellent food.
Since you can't go shopping every day to keep your sprits high, Tomoyo devised a new plan to keep Meilin's mind occupied. The second day she was there, Tomoyo began teaching Meilin different kinds of cooking. It had been mainly Eriol's suggestion on French cuisine and how much he wanted to have it now that gave her the cue to start cooking the delicate dishes and at the same time took Meilin in to teach her how to cook them. Since Ryusuke was there to eat every day, the girls targeted him as the official taster for every attempt (Eriol had apologised himself and declined the honour arguing he had much work to do at that time), and being a good natured man and keen on helping the foreign girl, he ate everything up stoically. Some things were edible, whereas some others were not for consuming purposes, yet he ate it all and retained his good humour. This constant interaction also helped build up a fast friendship between the two young people while congratulating on the successes and laughing at the failures.
Given the fact that Meilin only knew Tomoyo and Eriol in that country and the fact that Ryusuke's few other friends were always busy with their own lives, they were pretty much thrown out together. So when Tomoyo went back to her work after a week (for she had taken a leave to help making her friend feel at home in her new environment), it was little surprise that they spent most days in each other's company and the meaningful glances the husband and wife made to each other across the table passed unnoticed by the new couple who were too busy talking to each other.
Roughly two months after Meilin's arrival, the couple announced their engagement to the utter amazement of Ryusuke's friends and surprise on the side of the Hiragizawa household. As expected, only Tomoyo was privy to the couple's feelings and she had hinted as much to her husband. But to Nakuru and Spinel it was shocking news to find them engaged so soon. Meilin had informed Ryusuke fully of the reason why she was in England and how things stood with her family, but she had only done it because of his insistence to meet her family and get their approval. He had been raised to respect tradition and he intended to do so. Except that this was a delicate situation and could not be taken lightly; Meilin was decided not to see or speak to her mother ever again.
It took the combined effort of all three of them to convince her to at least write a letter informing her mother of her impending marriage. She finally accepted grudgingly and sent a short note to let her know of her decision and how she wouldn't change her mind. When the answer came it was in the form of a telephone call in which her mother prevailed her to abandon the foolish scheme which, according to her own full understanding of her daughter, was only made as a means to spite her mother and no real feelings were attached to it. From then on, the conversation turned into a fight which ended with the mother maintaining her position and her daughter hanging up on her. After this last fight, Meilin went to her room to cry in rage at her mother's rotten heart.
A few days after the call, the Hiragizawas and Meilin were invited to Japan to visit Sakura and Syaoran's newly born son and so there they went. Meilin wanted to introduce Ryusuke to her cousin's family but unfortunately a very serious murder had been committed and he had to remain on duty until it was solved, so they parted at the airport before he was called back to work.
The trip was enjoyable and the baby was adorable. Everyone complimented the mother on how beautiful he was. The only thing Meilin missed was being with Ryusuke. They had been together practically every day since they met and this was the longest they'd been apart. Some days later, the Hiragizawas excused themselves saying they had to return to their obligations and left for England again. However, Sakura, with the help of Syaoran, managed to convince Meilin to stay a little longer in their house. Meilin was eager to see Ryusuke again, but she couldn't resist Sakura's wistful eyes and her entreaties to remain just a little longer. She used every means to make her remain, even putting forward her baby whom the girl couldn't resist. And so Meilin remained there for two weeks, by which time she missed Ryusuke so much there was no keeping her any longer. The day she left for England, Sakura hugged her so tenderly and with such caring eyes it seemed as if she wouldn't be seeing her in many years. Even Syaoran left her to board the plane also with a hug, something she would never have expected of him.
Now that she was back in England, she had much to prepare for the wedding, which would take place during the next month. Meilin became then busy with all the preparations and could see little of Ryusuke now, for the murder case that had occupied him when she had left had turned into a series of murders with no tangible perpetrator.
Ever since Eriol had come back, Ryusuke had gone to see him many times to get his advice with this strange case that couldn't have been committed by a human or any known animal. It turned out that Eriol could not help him this time because he stated that this had nothing to do with magic but that he'd continue to investigate this matter for him. Now it was over half a month since Meilin went to visit Sakura and Syaoran and the police were no closer to identifying the murderer than they were when it all started.