Disclaimer: Me no own no weiss
Youji woke with a scream on his lips, jolting upright on the bed. God he hated when he had dreams of her, they always started so well and ended horribly. Him bleeding in an alley and Asuka dead. He got out of bed and padded to the bathroom, splashing some cold water on his face. Stepping up to the computer, he turned it on, knowing he wouldn’t be able to sleep after that. Youji knew that Aya Fujimya had been taken to the Magic School Bus Hospital after the accident and that the thieves had actually faked her transfer. He wouldn’t be able to trace any of that information, but he knew someone who did. They could figure this angle while he weaselled as much information from the police as he could. He grabbed his black book and picked up the phone, knowing the other would be awake despite it being 3 o’clock in the morning.
“Hello?” someone asked calmly.
“Hey Nagi, Omi there?” Youji asked, knowing that if Nagi was home, Omi would be too.“Yeah, one sec. How are-”
He was interrupted by genki, “YYYYYYYOOOOOUUUJJJIII!!!!!” the man in question heard Nagi sigh. “Sorry about that, he’s been watching too much Gravitation lately. I think he’s turning into Shuichi.”
Youji laughed at Omi’s indignant squawk. “It’s okay, though my ear drum is a little shattered. Warn a guy next time will you?”
“Like I had a chance!” Nagi complained, humour colouring his voice.
“Would you two stop making fun of me!” you could hear the pout in the young blonde’s voice. “Anyway, didn’t you call ME at three in the morning for a reason, Youji?” Omi asked.
“Yeah, bye Nagi. Omi I have a job for you, a good paying job too.”
“Oh, thank God! We were starting to worry about cash flow this month.”
“Well you won’t need to worry about it for the next few months.” Omi and Nagi were in university and used their hacking skill to help pay for their tuition as no one else ever would.
“Count me in!” Youji could just picture him jumping up and down. He felt bad for anyone who lived under Tsukiyono.
“You remember the big scandal over the Fujimiya’s?”
“Yeah, it was huge. All those tabloid conspiracies. The rumours lasted for months here. Why?”
“I need you to trace the girl’s transfer.”
“Eep! Okay, I’ll see what I can do; Nagi-kins can help for making fun of me. What was her name again?” he asked, ignoring the suffering sigh heard from the young brunette in the room. “Aya Fujimiya. Magic School Bus Hospital. That’s about all I know so far. Just got the case.”
"Now?” he asked, incredulous.
“Um…not quite.” He said, scratching his head despite the fact that Omi couldn’t see it. The student tactfully didn’t say anything.
“Okay, I’ll get right on it. One second, Nagi wants to speak to you.”
Uh-oh, he thought, what did the man want from him?
“Kudou…” he growled, “What did you get me into.”
“You can get double average pay…each.” He stated quickly, ruining the nonchalant tone.
“Oh.” Nagi said, “…Okay then”
The Private Investigator chuckled slightly. “Bye Nagi-kins” he dared to tease and hung up.
Schuldig walked into the office, Farfarello on his heels. “Hey Crawfish, where’s lover boy?”
“It’s Crawford and he’s sleeping. Not that it’s any of your concern.” He stated calmly from behind his desk.
“Awww…did you wear the poor kitten out?” he purred as Farfarello laughed.
“Schuldig…” he said in warning before continuing. Schuldig would always be Schuldig. You just needed to deal with it because, unfortunately, he and his dog were the best at what they did.
“Hiroshi still giving you problems?” he asked, turning the topic to business.
“Nah, he’s gone. The Farf had fun. But Kritiker has brought some new people to the table. A group they call Crashers. Use silly little chess pieces as codes names, not very fear inspiring.”
“Just keep them out of my business.” Crawford said, shrugging.
“Your wish is my command.” The redhead murmured, giving a mocking bow and strolling out of the room. Farafrello just grinned, “Your business is still hurting God.” He claimed.
“Yes, it is.” The brunette replied, knowing it was the best response.
“Good.” He said and he too left the office, scaring the secretary.
“Hidaka.” Youji greeted the man when the brunette moaned.
“Just a little bit of help from my favourite detective.” He responded slinging an arm over the man’s shoulder. He took a step back at the snarl he received in response.
“Bad day, Ken?”
“Hiroshi is dead.” Ken said, sitting down heavily.
“Shit, when did that happen.”? He had been a good man with a happy family, and a man that always went after the truth. He still had faith in the justice system and had been checking out some prominent missing people lately.
“We found him this morning, could hardly identify him, he was that cut up. Bled to death.” The blonde sat down, sighing. This was not good. “So,” the brunette asked, trying to get a grip on himself, “What did you stop by for, new case?”
“Yeah, finding Fujimiya Aya.”
“Who’s backing you?” he asked, a little curious and a little concerned.
“Bradley Crawford.”
Youji stared quizzically at the man when he frowned, “Just watch your back, ne?”
“Why?”
“Not all his business is strictly legit, we think. Never have been able to get anything on him, not even a parking ticket.”
“I’ll keep my eyes off the ground.”
“Cause that’s done you such good before.” The police detective muttered.
“Shut up, you.” Youji responded, snarling slightly.
“You want to see what we’ve got or not?”
“Yeah, yeah. Gimme gimme.”
Hidaka just laughed.
Ken hadn't known what there would be, having not been on the case but they soon found out, it wasn’t much. Almost all of it was hearsay and the stuff that wasn’t was things pretty much anyone could find on the Internet. A woman came in as the blonde was flipping through some of the information, her hands on her hips as she growled out a “Kudou…”
“Hey pretty lady.” He said smoothly, looking up at her from his chair, giving a long glance up and down her skirt suit. She ignored it, having got used to the P.I.’s antics, the compliment sliding right off her.
“That's the police commissioner to you.” She stated sternly, knowing it wouldn’t get anywhere. He was already back nose deep in the files.
“Okay, Birman.” It was the best she ever got out of him. She sighed and placed a hand in the center of the folder, spreading it out over the words he was reading. He glanced back up at her, not a trace of anger in his eyes, only amusement. She would never admit it, but she liked that about him. He probably knew already, as much as she got angry with him he always got the files he wanted.
“What are you doing?” she asked with false sweetness.
“Looking at the Fujimya Aya case.” He stated, surprising her, normally he teased her a bit more. She frowned at him. He looked tired and there were shadows in his eyes.
“Youji…” she questioned, not quite sure where the line was with this.
“Birman” he responded calmly, and smiled kindly at her. Concern noted and appreciated but unnecessary, he seemed to say.
“Common, there are a few hidden files in the back. With this case we were worried about thieves or spies with all that’s happening right now. It would be appreciated if you solved this case for us Youji, we could use all the help we can get.” She started to talk as they walked out of the room and into her office.
Go to Chapter 2
Or go back to the prologue
Or go back to the Fanfiction