The two detectives didn't even let me shower or put proper clothes on. They dragged me out of my house, handcuffed my hands together and pulled me into a car.

They refused to answer my questions the entire car journey and once at the station, they dragged me into an interview room and left me there.

My stomach rumbled as I tried to think what on earth I had done to deserve being put through this. It had to be something to do with Naru, surely?

"Shibuya Kazuya speaking." Naru said as he answered the phone.

"It's me. Is this line secure?" A familiar voice replied.

"Echigoya? And if you're quick."

"Good." The voice replied. "Your little friend has gotten herself into some trouble."

"What little friend?"

"Taniyama Mai."

"What?" Naru sat up straight in his chair. "Explain."

"They've dragged her in under tax evasion, but I think they want to question her about you."

Naru swore loudly.

"My thoughts exactly; but I reckon I can fix the circumstances for you, in return for a favour."

"Anything." Naru agreed. "Get her out of there."

It was common knowledge in Japan that if the police arrested you, they were certain they could convict you or force you to confess. This meant they either had something on me or they thought they could pin a crime on me. Where they going to try and get me to take the fall for something Naru had done? Had he set me up? How often had he been in my apartment? He could easily have taken some DNA and planted it somewhere…

But for what crime?

The body found in the old school building? The man in that car? The gang mass murder? Or some other assassination that I knew nothing of?

My thoughts were interrupted when the two detectives that had arrested me walked into the room.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Taniyama-san." The woman said. "I am Matsuzuki Ayako and this is my partner, Takigawa Houshou."

"I expect you know why you are here." Takigawa-san said as he took a seat opposite me.

"No, I don't." I whimpered. I couldn't help but feel very vulnerable in my pyjamas, especially without a bra on.

"Don't play games with us, Taniyama." The woman hissed. I noted the loss of the honorific. "We know you've been evading tax."

"What?" I exclaimed. This was honestly the last thing I had expected to hear.

"You've had your job several weeks and yet you've made no attempt to pay your tax."

"But I thought employers did that? That they took it off before I was paid?" At least, this was what I'd been told at school.

"Well we've received nothing from him. Perhaps we should get him in here." Takigawa-san said to his partner. So that's what it was… They were using me to get to him. But he'd sacked me; did I still have to protect him? Hadn't he told me to answer any questions asked about him truthfully, for my own sake?

"Could you tell us a little about your boss?" Matsuzuki-san asked.

"Um…" I hesitated. "He likes tea…"

But before I could say anything else, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Takigawa-san called and a young man with black hair and glasses came in.

"It's a mistake." He said. "Her boss filed her in the wrong tax bracket; she's been playing a hell of a lot more than she should have done. That's why she didn't appear on the right list."

"What? How did that happen?"

"He filled all of the people working in that office under the same tax bracket, despite the fact she isn't earning as much as the others. I've rectified the mistake and she will get the rebate with her next pay cheque." The young man said and Matsuzuki-san sighed.

"Thank you Yasuhara-san. Perhaps you could escort Taniyama-san out of the building."

I watched the interaction completely shocked.

"Perhaps I should take her home? She's wearing pyjamas…" Yasuhara-san suggested awkwardly.

"Whatever you like." Takigawa-san and Matsuzuki-san were already leaving.

"Come Taniyama-san." Yasuhara-san grinned at me. Still slightly stunned, I got up from my chair and followed the young man out of the interview room. Yasuhara-san led me to an office where he retrieved his keys and a coat, which he wrapped around my shoulders, and then led me out of the building to what was presumably his car.

"Jump in." He said cheerfully.

"Thank you." I said.

"It's alright." He said as he started the engine. "Your boss just owes me one now."

"What?" I asked, genuinely confused now.

"I fiddled the system to get you out of there."

"Hang on, what? You're in on this?" I asked incredulously.

"I'm in with a bit of fit. But I hope you realise what they are really after."

"Naru." I replied. "Why don't they just drag him in?"

"They have nothing on him. Their boss won't let them pull any strings without some concrete evidence and at the moment, they have nothing but ghosts." Yasuhara-san replied. "You were the only link they had."

"But he's sacked me now." I admitted.

"That won't last, not after this." Yasuhara-san laughed.

"You know where I live, don't you?"

"Of course."

"Have you been through my apartment too?" I asked resignedly.

"Of course not! What do you take me for? Some sort of pervert?"

For the first time in what felt like a very long time, I laughed, but it did not last.

"Do you kill people too?" I asked.

"No." He replied. "It bothers you that he does though, doesn't it?"

"Does it not bother you?"

"I know who he kills, so not really." He said.

"What do you mean?"

"Some would argue that no one deserves to die, but others would say that it's better to take one life than for a lot of people to be hurt." Yasuhara-san replied. "This is your block right?"

"Yes." I said, taking a look out the window. "But I don't have my key… Those detectives didn't let me get anything before they dragged me out."

"Yes, they were a bit eager." Yasuhara-san muttered. "Do you not have a spare key? Could the landlord not let you in?"

"No and he would for a fee." I scowled. "I don't suppose you know how Naru gets in do you?"

"I can work it out just by the architecture."

"How?" I asked quickly.

"Now that would be telling and I'd rather he still owed me that favour."

I scowled again.

"Landlord it is then." I grumbled darkly.

"Don't give up so easily!" Yasuhara-san was grinning again. "I can pick locks."

And he did exactly that. I could not thank him enough. Not only would my landlord have made an almighty fuss about letting me back in, he would have questioned me on why I had been out in my pyjamas anyway and then would have charged me and complained bitterly about the fact that it was a Sunday. Because apparently no one should work on a Sunday!

Yet the police and my old boss worked on a Sunday.

Once Yasuhara-san had left, I went for a shower. I felt disgusting and tired.

The hot water helped a lot. Afterwards, I dressed and cooked breakfast while trying to piece together everything that had happened. Yasuhara-san said he could work out how Naru could get into my apartment from the architecture of the building, but that didn't seem a very helpful clue to me. Though I doubt he would have wanted to give too much away…

But I almost felt relief at the fact that I was no longer under that man's employment. If he was going to kill me, I doubt he'd make a fuss about it. Which meant I probably wouldn't realise it'd happened until it was too late.

I could just be a normal girl again now.

I was free.

"Mai." A low voice said.

I spun around on my chair to see him standing in the corridor pointing a gun at me.

"What did you tell them?"

"Killing me won't make them forget what I told them." I retorted and turned back to my food.

"Mai." He said in a warning tone.

"What? Going to torture it out of me?"

"If I have to." He replied forcefully.

"I told them you like tea."

"What?" He sounded shocked.

"They asked me to tell them a bit about you, I told them you liked tea as it was the first thing I thought of and then Yasuhara-san came in."

"That's all?"

"Well why don't you go and ask them?" I replied flippantly.

"I need you to come back to work." He said after a moment's silence. I looked around, he had lowered the gun.

"Is that you telling me to come back to work for you or else you'll kill my friends?" I asked tiredly.

"It will look suspicious if you leave the business after being called in by the police. But I won't force you." He said quietly.

"You realise I was arrested? That will go on my record! I might never be able to get a job when I'm older because of that!" I hissed at him. "I might not be able to work with children or anything."

"I will have your record wiped." He replied calmly.

"How?" I asked.

"I have contacts."

I rolled my eyes. Of course he did.

"My working for you was just a cover, wasn't it?"

"Primarily. By hiring me you could kill two birds with one stone."

"It wasn't because you cared for me specifically was it?" I asked, looking up at him. His face was characteristically blank and for once, I could not read the emotion in his eyes.

"I can't afford to care for anyone." He replied. "Will you work for me or not?"

Five minutes ago, I had felt relief at the idea that I would never have to see this man again and now… Now I was thinking about the possibility of going back. I wasn't sure what it was that I was drawn to, but a tiny part of me wanted to continue down this dangerous path entwined with that mysterious man.

"Can I think about it?" I asked, looking down at my food and pushing it around my plate with my chopsticks.

"You have until tomorrow, if you are not there at 9am, I will presume you do not want to continue your employment with me."

When I looked up, he was gone.

Sighing, I glanced out the window; I could see clouds rolling in. It was going to storm.

Author's note: So I live in Manchester in the UK, and we have just experienced probably the few days of what the rest of the world would call 'summer'. As a result, I was wearing shorts! Now for those of you that don't know, I have very long hair. Long enough that even in a plait, the ends of my hair was tickling the back of my legs that weren't covered by my shorts. Every time this happened I freaked out a little because I thought something was touching me. So yeah.

Can I ask you all a favour? I am well aware that this story raises a lot of questions as to what the hell is going on. So when you all review, could you tell me what question about this story you most want to know the answer to?

This is partially because I'm curious, and partially because I don't want to leave anything unanswered by the end! So it would be really great!

Please review and tell me all your thoughts!