A week had passed since the arrest of Hachi's neighbor. Masako was walking down the city sidewalk. She was dressed in a black skirt that stopped just above her knee. She had on a black v-neck tank top. She was carrying her black blazer jacket. She had on a pair of black high heels. She was on her way home, her day at work finally over. They had all the paperwork and evidence they needed for the robber. The rest of the case was up for the judge and jury to decide. She had so much on her mind, thinking of all the cases she was occupied with. She was thinking about everything when suddenly she felt herself bump into something.
She looked up. "Oh sorry, excuse me, I wasn't watching where I was going." She looked up at the man who was taller than she was. She recognized the man from last week at the apartment.
It was Yasu who too was tired after a long day at the law office. "It's alright, I was not paying attention either. You are the detective from last week right?"
"Oh yes, call me Masako." Masako reintroduced herself.
"I'm Yasu." Yasu replied.
"You work at the law office down the block don't you?" Masako thought Yasu looked familiar somehow.
"Yes I'm a paralegal there." Yasu explained, kind of surprised that she recognized him since they had no direct interaction. "Heading home?"
"Yea, just finished my shift. You?" Masako smiled softly.
"Same. Would you like to grab a drink?" Yasu asked, Masako seemed nice and was pretty cute. Yasu figured that it would be nice to get to know her.
"Oh sure. That sounds nice." Masako had not been out to drink with anyone in over a month.
Yasu nodded as he led the way across the street and into a small bar. It was a pub style with dark hardwood floors and dark blue walls. The bar extended along the back wall. It was made of dark oak with a few black metal accents. Each barstool was lined with midnight blue leather.
Yasu approached the bar and pulled out two seats, one for Masako and the other for himself.
Masako gave a nod of thanks before placing her jacket over the back of the seat. She then sat down. Yasu sat down and ordered two beers.
"So do you ever miss the fame of being a famous drummer?" Masako recognized Yasu also as the drummer of one of her favorite bands Black Stones, also known as BLAST. She remembered how fast the band rose and then fell after the lead singer disappeared.
"Sometimes but I do like my job now...being a detective must be interesting." Yasu spoke as the bartender placed two beers in front of the two.
"Every day is different, so you do not know what to expect. However most guys don't take me serious since I am a woman." Masako shrugged before taking a sip of her beer.
"You live around here?" Yasu asked.
"Yea I live in a condo down the block. I grew up in northern Japan till I entered the police Academy when I turned 18. What about you?" Masako gazed at Yasu.
"Well i grew up in an orphanage where I met Ren, part of the reason BLAST ever came to be. He was like a brother to me, even after I was adopted by the Takagi family." Yasu explained.
Masako found it saddening to hear that Yasu grew up in an orphanage. She lived with her loving family and could not imagine what life could have been like in the orphanage.
"Your work as a drummer was phenomenal, I don't mean to sound like a fan-girl but you were always my favorite in the band." Masako smiled before finishing her beer and placed the bottle down.
Yasu gave a small smile, looking over at Masako through his sunglasses.
Masako was really enjoying herself. She had not been on a date in so long. Yasu was a very relaxed and interesting guy. She looked up at the clock and saw it was getting late. "I should get home it is getting late."
"I'll walk you home." Yasu knew that it was getting pretty dark, even though Masako could handle herself, he felt it was the gentlemanly thing to do.
"Sure." Masako stood up, putting her blazer on as Yasu placed money on the bar table and walking out with Masako.
Masako led the way down the block until they heard a familiar voice.
"Hey baldy!" The voice called.
Yasu and Masako stopped, Yasu letting out a sigh before turning around, knowing exactly who it was.
The two saw Shin and Nobu walking down the sidewalk.
"Hey guys what are you up to?" Shin asked curiously, a grin on his face.
"Nothing, just walking Masako home." Yasu replied, not attempting to hide anything.
"You two have a nice night?" Nobu smiled.
"Yes, it was quite relaxing." Masako smiled.
"Well we won't keep you." Nobu nudged Shin who regretfully nodded as the two turned around and began to walk away.
"That was Shin, and Nobu, Nobu had the spiked hair." Yasu spoke as the two continued walking.
"Shin looks a little different than he did when you were band mates." Masako remembered that Shin was known for his blue hair, but now went with blonde hair.
"Yea but he is still as mature as he was then." Yasu rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses. Shin was wise for his age back in the day, but still had that teenage rebellious spirit.
The two approached a small cluster of condos. Masako stopped in front of the condo labeled 25. The condos were all brick, matching the brick buildings around the area. The windows were large with white framing. The door was a deep maroon shade.
"Thank you for the nice night Yasu. I haven't really had much time to be social lately. Crime rate has kept me quite busy lately." Masako gave a small smile.
"No problem, we may have to do it again sometime." Yasu nodded.
Masako nodded "Sometime soon." She handed Yasu a small piece of paper with her phone number on it before slipping inside her home with a smile.