Aiko returned to the detective office following her overly eventful weekend. It was a regular day at the office, but she just couldn’t seem to focus. Her mind kept replaying the events of the nightclub. How long had it been since I’d seen MC? What would I have done if he hadn’t been there?

“Daydreaming?” asked Emi.

Aiko rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “Something like that.”

“How was your date?”

“Terrible.”

“That bad, huh?”

“That stupid guy tried to drug me.”

“Aiko! Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. It could have gone a lot worse. Let’s just say he’s going to need an x-ray on his you know what.”

“Aiko!”

“It’s fine. It’s fine.”

“If you say so. I’m just glad you’re ok.”

“On the bright side, I ran into an old friend and can’t stop thinking about him.”

Emi shifted from concerned to interested. “Oh so it’s like that, huh?”

“No Emi! He’s just a friend. Well he was my first crush though.”

“So it really is something like that,” laughed Emi. “Seems like you’re just scared to admit it.”

“You may be right. I don’t know. I’m sorting myself out.”

“Maybe some air will do you some good. We need to go check out a fresh scene. Grab your coat.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Aiko and Emi arrived at the crime scene. It was a seedy hotel. Outdated green paint chipped off the building and the parking lot was filled with large potholes. It wasn’t the kind of place that you’d stay on a nice family vacation.

Photographers and cameras were already there reporting what had happened on the morning news. Emi let Aiko silently slipped through the small crowd, completely ignoring the reporters as they were hounded with questions. They flashed their badges and ducked under the yellow tape surrounding the building.

The ground was littered with bodies that led to an open door on the ground floor. Inside was a room coated with bullet holes. There didn't seem to be a single square foot without a bullet hole through the wall. On the bed were various drugs wrapped in bags with duct tape, some ripped open and spilling out.

“The details we have show that it was some sort of major drug deal between the Black Diamond and a supplier gone wrong,” said Emi.

“It appears so,” Aiko tied her hair up and donned a pair of surgical gloves in preparation to look around.

A pair of binoculars glinted in the fifteenth floor window of another hotel just down the street from the crime scene. The curtains were pulled back just enough to allow a peek. In that room were the three higher ups of the Black Diamond. Jin, Kuro, and Shiro.

Kuro brought the binoculars down from his face and turned around to face his twin brother and Jin. Shiro sat in a chair while Jin stood leaning against the far wall. “Do you know how much this is going to cost the Black Diamond?” Kuro asked the room.

Jin anxiously put his hands in his pockets. “I’m not sure of the exact cost, but It’s likely going to be in the hundreds of thousands.”

“You got that right,” said Kuro.

“This is not acceptable. It took almost three months to plan this deal out and it ended with a shootout. We told you to put reliable people in charge of the deal, Jin.”

“I did. There was no way I could have predicted something like this happening.”

“You’re going to take care of this mess. Bribe some of the police to get some of the product back if you have to just make sure we don’t lose any more money than we already have,” ordered Kuro. “If anyone made it out of that shootout alive I want to see their fucking heads.”

“Yes sir. I’m on it,” said Jin with a nod of his head before calmly walking out of the hotel room.

Kuro sat down on the bed and let out a long sigh. “Father never would have let something like this happen would he?”

“The Black Diamond has grown much since the times of father. The more people involved the more difficult it is to coordinate these kinds of things. Sure, in the general sense the more people we have means more income streams, but it’s harder to run a smooth operation with so many variables,” said Shiro.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Do you think Jin did this on purpose to spite us?”

“No, I really don’t think that. We have kept him under stern control for so long I doubt he even has the will to rebel. Besides, he knows what would happen if he did. We’d execute his last connection to his past.”

“That damn girl. He’s still doing what he’s told so he must still love her after all this time. What a fool,” said Kuro. “It’s amazing how long the threat of a loved one will keep a person in check.”

“Indeed. We will continue to use it to our advantage as well as keep a close eye on him as usual. Today’s events have been unfortunate, but in the long run, they do not matter. We will make the money back and we will acquire more resources. Such is the way of the city.”

Aiko paced around her living room trying to decide what to do. She wanted to meet MC again, but the uncertainties kept creeping into her head. She’d spent the last few days struggling with the idea of calling the convenience store where she’d met MC. It was only a matter of time before her emotions got the better of her. She finally picked up her phone and called the convenience store. A man with an off putting staccato voice answered. “This is Ninth Street Convenience. Manager speaking. How may I help you?”

“Hi, my name is Aiko and I’m calling with the detective unit for Strongzinburg city. I'm calling about an employee named MC. Is he available?”

“Oh that guy? What? Did he do something bad? I always knew there was something off about that guy.”

“No he hasn’t done anything bad. Quite the opposite actually.”

“Huh, I don’t know if I believe it. He’s not here though. He quit a while ago.”

“Oh ok. Do you happen to know how I might contact him? A phone number perhaps?”

“I have a number on file still. Guess I could give you that.” The man rustled through a binder stuffed with old paperwork until he found the MC’s file. The manager provided the number and Aiko jotted it down and thanked him.

Next, was the real hurdle. She prepared to call MC, calming her body with a deep breath. “Ok, Aiko, you can do this. You make tons of phone calls every day. It’s just to thank him for what he did the other day.”

She dialed the number and let it ring. There was a surprisingly quick answer.

“Yes?” answered MC. He had just laid down on his bed after finishing a large portion of dinner.

“H…hello, this is Aiko. You know, from the nightclub.”

“Oh it’s you?” he said in surprise. “How’d you get my number?”

“I uh… called the convenience store you used to work at.”

There was a brief pause. “Ahh that idiot manager still has my information. I should have known. So what’s up?”

“I just wanted to call and thank you for the other day. That was really heroic.”

MC’s felt his face turn red. “Yeah, it was no biggie,” he said, trying to sound cool. “That whole situation was really weird.”

“Really, thank you. Could I treat you to a coffee or some food sometime?”

Is she really asking me on a date? Is this some sort of dream? Ok ok gotta stay calm. Don’t sound too enthusiastic. “Sure, I could make some time to grab coffee.”

“Great, how about this Saturday morning.”

“Yeah, that works for me.”

“I’ll message you the address of the cafe. Thanks again.”

“No problem. Looking forward to it.”

Aiko hung up the phone and felt her heart beating a million miles an hour. “That was so intense. Why do I feel like this?” she asked herself out loud.

MC set his phone down on the desk in his room. Wow this is a moment I’ve dreamed of for years. Why don’t I feel more excited? I think I’m conflicted. Maybe GM would have some sort of advice. He’s always hanging around with girls in his free time.

MC went out into the living room and passed Sora snoring on the couch. GM was in the kitchen finishing the last few bites of a beef jerky stick. He looked like he was about to head out for the evening.

“Hey, GM do you have a minute?”

“What do you want? We already did your training for the day?”

“It’s not about that. I was wondering if you had some advice about a girl?”

“Oh I see. So it’s something like that.” GM put his hand on his chin. “Well, I suppose I’ll hear you out.”

“So there’s this girl that I’m going to hang out with. I used to have a crush on her. I guess you could call it my first love or something like that.”

“What’s the problem there? Sounds great to me!”

“That was my thought too. The only thing is that I don’t feel very excited to actually go see her.”

“Is that it? You’re conflicted.”

“I am?”

“Yeah. You spend so much time being serious and going on missions and hunting down information. You probably just feel guilty about taking time off. You’ve always done this guilt thing. You feel bad about what happened when you were a kid and now it’s consumed your whole life.”

MC felt like GM hit it spot on. He didn’t like the way it made his stomach feel. “So the solution was that simple all along?”

“Yep, I think you need to start drinking more. That usually solves most problems for me. Plus you’re like a workaholic or something. It’s always Jin this Jin that. Taking a day off wouldn’t hurt. Go enjoy yourself. You’re much too serious. And have a beer or two.”

“I’ll pass. Thanks,” said MC remembering the last time he drank. “I ought to give you more credit. You’re actually pretty smart about certain things.”

”What’s that supposed to mean?” said GM.

“I’ll let you figure that one out.”

“If that’s all you got, then I’m out of here,” said GM, turning for the door.

“Make sure you're back in time for my training tomorrow.”