Chapter 1

To The Bank

Everyone has had their trips and reasons to going to the bank. My first reason to going to the bank was in order to get some cash out from Asami's mother, my second reason was losing a game of rock paper scissors.

I've never met Asami's mother and even though I'm currently doing an errand for her I didn't get to see her face.

It does bother me quite a bit, we always hang out in my place and she's seen my mom so how come I can't see her's?

I let that topic go as I arrived to the bank, 3 people were infront of me.

"Hey you mind if I go infront of you?"

I turned to the man who spoke to me, I looked at him up and down

"Something the matter?"

"-No sorry"

I decided to let him go infront of me, the man had buttons that are stitched horizontally.

I'm not sure why that caught my attention, but I didn't bother to think about it much.

Time passed and the man I let go infront of me was next.

"Hey, I'm telling you this for you're safety, but I heard some people talking about robbing the bank"

"And who are those people?"

I couldn't hear the rest of their conversation, but the expression the lady in the front desk showed told me that the guys story wasn't believable

The man walked passed me, he smelled like alcohol. Being drunk this early is a rather weird thing to do.

I was up next as I made my way to the front desk a sudden gun shot was heard

"Everyone get the fuck down!"

The man was the same person who i let go infront of me. Seems like he was the one who was going to rob the bank

People began screaming and they all got to the floor, as for me, I couldn't tell if one of those lady screams were me or someone else's.

All of the people followed exactly what the man said, as we all began moving to the right hand side of the building, away from all the windows.

Next we all tossed our phones towards the middle of the room to which the man got a hold of them and put them in a bucket

During that time however I decided it'd be best if I announce the fact that I work for the cops, to which the man decided to ignore whoever the hostages began having their hopes up

"You're a cop?" All the hostages began having their eyes on me

"Well... kinda"

This was probably the worst move I could've made, announcing that I'm a cop and then giving false hope towards everyone.

False hope... such a complicated and delicate thought process to handle, I understand it, but handling it isn't really my expertise.

If Asami was here she'd figure out what to do, she'd think of something from this moment, but for me...

It's only a moment till I begin to feel the pressure and the hope everyone has on me, once it all hits I'll most likely lose my composure. My best option is to make of what I can

"Sir?" I tried to stand up

"Sit the fuck down!" To which resulted in failure

Great, my plan is gone and now I'm not sure what to do. He doesn't let me stand up, I can't see his damn face due to the hat he's wearing.

It's game over me and my friends... well hostages are all going to die.

"Officer are you crying?" A man in a yellow shirt called me

Was I actually crying? The more I think the more I understand how pathetic I am, I can't even feel my own emotions due to the pressure all these people are putting me through

"Ah yes, I'm sorry I'm a... well I'm kinda of a sympathetic crier"

"But sir, nobody here is crying, sure we are scared but with you here."

Great he didn't even have to finish that sentence, I already know. They feel safe because a police is by their side.

Luckily for me it's only a matter of time before the police figure out somethings out of the ordinary with this bank, once they do maybe someone can rescue me... and the other people too

"Sir what's the plan?" Yet again it was the man in the yellow shirt

If I could just have them all back to their scared and frighten state where they all are just focusing on their family's and other stuff. I'd rather have them all at that state rather then their calm one.

"A plan? Don't worry man I-I'm thinking of one"

"We all have our lives at you're hands"

"Well... yes" if I could tell them to take their lives out of my hands and back into their chest I would.

Couple minutes went by, people began to slowly go back to their frighten state, the state I enjoyed most. It was almost like the 5 stages of grief, they made a full circle and now it's back to the start.

Sirens could be heard getting closer and closer, seemed like the police finally noticed something was off. All I need is to hope and pray for Asami to come and save me.

"You get the fuck up!" The man waved his gun at me, great I'm gonna be the leverage aren't I?

I knew announcing me as a cop would be a bad move, but I also didn't expect it to go this far

"R-right..." I put my hand to the ground and tried to lift myself up, my legs, they won't work "uhm"

"The fuck are you doing! Don't play around and stand the fuck up!"

"Y-yes sir" I didn't have to turn and look at the hostages, I could already tell what their looks would be. Looking at a cop who doesn't even have the balls to stand up for their citizens

"Stop wasting my fucking time!" The man grabbed me from the wrist, luckily for me I managed to stand on both legs

The man brought me over to the entrance, I could see everyone. In just a single scan I managed to find Asami.

"Listen up! Let go of the hostages and we won't give you a heavy sentence!" The man who was speaking was noneother than Kai himself

We rarely talk these days, it's nice to hear his voice

"Fuck off! I know all of you're moves and tricks"

It's too bad that this guy doesn't seem to be too fond of giving up his leverages

"Listen! We will hear you out! But first you need to release a hostage! Only 1!"

Seemed like a good deal to me, now it's just a matter of if he accepts this or not

"No deal!"

Huh?! Even for me, this seems like a surprise

Does he not want to escape? Is he on a suicide mission? Why won't he accept any negotiations? All of this it's making me more and more anxious

"Please can we go back" I probably shouldn't be the one to give the criminal a chance to stop the negotiations, but it's not like he'd accept anything and this feeling is getting unbearable

"Yeah let's go back" the man agreed with me and began closing and locking the doors

"What the fuck are you doing Malliyo! You dumb bitch who the fuc-" I could hear Kai screaming though that scream began to fade away

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

As we went back everyone looked at me, their eyes, it felt like they were piercing right through me.

By any chance? Have I lost their trust? Is that a good or a bad thing?

"Hey man you fucked up" if it wasn't my best friend, the man in yellow

"W-what do you mean?"

"You lost all of their trust, they think you're with them"

"Well tell them their wrong"

"Can't do that, plus talking to you would get me on their bad side" the man in yellow began sliding closer and closer to the other hostages

It felt as If I was secluded, it's junior high all over again.

Chapter 2

Secluded and Safe Heaven

The coach separated us into 2 teams. I was the last one to get picked, by their looks it was as if they'd rather play with 1 less then me.

I was known to be secluded due to my "Lame-ness" it's understandable, after all people would very much like to hang out with someone who'd do fun stuff than someone who is always extra safe.

My mother always teached me how someone can't ever be too say, seems like I took that a bit too seriously and now I'm like this.

Dodge ball isn't really my type of thing, unlike other sports dodge ball has almost no protective gear it's as if people play it for the sake of getting killed.

The game started, during the first half everyone had their eyes focused on the best player in eachothers team. I was completely ignored for this first half.

The game reached the second half and our team members began falling like flies, it wasn't too long till everyone had their eyes on me. The only person from our group.

Some would take this opportunity in order to set themselves as someone who isn't a nobody, or introverts like myself will fall under the pressure. The second option is what ended up happening.

I lost myself in the thought of everyone looking at me, their eyes didn't show hope. Their eyes were dead, almost as if they already knew their team lost.

This event will ended up in me having the worst experiences in junior high, from getting constantly bullied to sometimes getting my money stolen. Luckily nothing ever got physical.

In the end the people hated me, they didn't like me before, but the things got worse after that game.

"Hey Malliyo!" The man talking to me was George

He was a very well known student, hanging out with someone like me felt weird, it probably felt weird for other people too. Some weird kid constantly hanging out with some popular guy. This was always going to bring even more unwanted attention.

The constant eyes would get me shaken up from time to time, though thanks to having George and Lia by my side I managed to get passed my fear. In the end all I needed was someone I felt close to by my side. I wasn't sure what would happen if I somehow lost them, but at the time that was a problem for the future and not for the current.

Chapter 3

Aikawa and her reaction

A sudden call was reported earlier today, the person was having lunch on a bench near the bank. They then noticed how nobody exited the bank and then called us.

It now leaves us to our current situation, Malliyo stuck inside with other hostages.

"Kai, what can we do exactly" first I wanted to get an understanding of what regularly occurs in these situations

"Well nothing much, atleast for us"

"What do you mean?"

"We can't do anything, all we can do is rely on our negotiator"

"But-"

"No buts, I also don't like this either, but they're is nothing much we can do"

Malliyo had already made his exit with the man who held them all hostage, now it was time to see what our negotiator can do.

"So" I decided to start up a conversation with the negotiator

"So what?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering what you're doing"

"How about you mind your business lady"

"..."

The man seemed to be in his 60's I guess the older you get the more grumpy you become.

Knowing Malliyo he'd probably be freaking out, anything that puts his life on the line is something that he can't to handle

In order to save him I have to set a strategy in motion, one that would secure his safety as well as the other hostages

Causing any fear on the guy would cause problems, trying to make myself involved could lead to losing the privilege of being in this case, but in the end that's probably my best option...

"Sir what if we try to send some food?"

"I already did, we talked and he said he wanted some pizza"

"Great! How about I send them in?"

"No can do, we already have someone for that"

"And who might that be?"

"Listen lady, how about you mind you're damn business like your other cop friends"

"Just tell me their name and I'll leave you alone, I promise"

"Guy with the blue hair and vest"

Blue hair? What a weird color.

It wasn't that hard to find him, the guy stands out like a sore thumb

"Excuse me"

"What's the matter ma'am?"

"You see I was wondering if you might be down for something"

"And what might that be?"

"Well I'm hitting my 20's and a friend of mine has told me that it's weird to not find love once in you're 20 years of life"

"You've never had a boyfriend"

"Well... maybe"

"I see, by any chance can I ask for your phone number"

"Ofcourse, I actually came to talk with you for that exact reason. I thought you were cute"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I like you're blue hair. It's quite unique, never seen anything like it before"

"Ah yes, I've been told that multiple times. Not the cute part, only the unique hair" He chuckled a bit after saying that

Now I just need to hold this till the pizzas arrive

"Really? Has nobody ever told you that you were cute? How come?"

"I guess I'm the opposite of charming"

"Not true, I think you're quite the charming man"

"Well thank you, anyways can you give me you're phone number"

"Wait! I just realized that I never got you're name"

"Ah its Kenji, Kenji Hoshi"

"Hoshi?"

"Yes"

"I see"

Our chat would end up being interrupted as Hoshi would end up having to take the pizzas into the bank, he blended in well with the other citizens watching so the culprit wouldn't suspect him

The same can't be said for me, though I doubt the man could remember how each one of us looked like. When he first came out he could've seen me, but since then I've been decently blend in like Hoshi. Only person I know who can remember how everyone looks and is in a single glance is Malliyo.

So the strategy started, I stopped Hoshi just before he delivered the 5 boxed of pizza

"Hoshi wait! Look i have to get going so I was wondering if I could please get your phone number"

"Ah, I can't right now. Go to the local police center and call my name, we should be able to exchange there"

"I can't wait that long, I want to message you"

"F-fine"

He put the 5 boxes down, while I gave him my phone to put his number in. I decided to steal 1 box

"There"

"Thank you, Bye!"

Now let's see the man's reaction...

As expected when he saw only 4 he threw a tantrum, he seems to be really wanting that 5 boxes

"Sir before he gets more angry I think I should deliver it"

The man I was speaking to was the negotiator.

"It's best if we have the same man comeback"

"Too late!" No point in wasting anytime, I tried my best to get myself involved in a way that wouldn't cause such ruckus, but it seems like that wasn't possible

"Lady!" That's the last thing I heard from the man, as now I just need to find a way to let the culprit let me in.

Chapter 4

The hectic never stops

The names Malliyo, I've found a piece of paper on one of the desk. This paper will include everything I love and all my goodbyes

Goodbye mother, goodbye world. I love you all, but writing with a small pencil that doesn't fit in my hand is starting to get annoying, for my last breath I'll say that I love everyone

-Goodbye, Malliyo

"Give me the damn note!" The man read the note and looked and me "You fucking pussy" he began ripping the paper into little shreds

Everyone is against me, I might start crying again.

"Someone please make this man stop crying!"

"My lord here he goes again!"

"This man is basically crying for all of us at this point"

Everyone, every single person hates me. They all do, sometimes things just never change, everyone's hatred towards me is something that would just never change.

"Malliyo wake up!" The person rocking me side to side was Asami

"Asami!"

"I'm here!"

"How?!" Her voice, I've missed her. I needed someone that was on my side to keep me composed

"Let's just ignore that, for now we need to focus on a way to get out"

"We can't"

"What do you mean?"

"I solved it"

"You know how to leave?"

"No I know why this guy is doing what he's doing. Here's the full story, The man you see right infront of you is from a mafia, take a look at his hat its made in Russia. Next take a look at his hands he has needle injections."

"So? What does the injection tell us?"

"It's a thing you have to do in order to enter, to show that you won't just backdoor whenever something bad happens"

"So? What's he doing here?"

"He's been sent from the Russian boss"

"Malliyo?"

"Yes?"

"I think you need to rest"

"But-"

"It's fine, you can't think straight once we get you to some calm place I'm sure you'd be able to deduce somethings"

"Yeah... you're right"

Asami wrapped her arms around me, slowly I could feel myself drifting off to sleep. All this stress I guess built up on me.

My dreams are always repeating days, ever since losing Lia I haven't been able to recover much of our memories together. Due to this I'm put in a spot where I have constant repeat of my current memories, the ones I build up after Lia's death.

I have a good memory, I'm able to memorize and remember every detail from every day. I can remember the exact cars that I've seen as well as small details like a small pebble on the walkway to a dirt hole on one of the neighbors houses.

I guess that's a reason as to why I always sleep so soundly. My dreams are perfect to an extent, sure the pain of not seeing Lia is there but at times Asami takes care of that pain. Asami and my new job as consultant take care of my pain to a certain extent.

*Bang*

The gun shot woke me up, right infront of me was a dead man, a dead civilian was dead right next to me

"W-what happened!"

"He wouldn't shut up! The man kept on talking and talking" the culprit seemed to be somewhat shaken.

*Bang*

Another noise could be heard. Not a gun shot but instead the 2 doors of the bank were forced open, seemed like the police couldn't wait anymore. They've been forced to break in.

"Gun down! Put the fucking gun down!" Kai always looked so cool with his beautiful slick hair getting slightly messy as he runs to the culprit.

What am I thinking exactly?

"Sir you're under arrest"

Something feels wrong, what was the man's goal? Why did he do all of this?

"Miyu take this guy, we need to move to the next bank robbery"

"But the guy already escape"

"Doesn't matter we still need to check things out"

2 bank robberies in the same time? Is it a coincidence?

Chapter 5

The Smell Of Alcohol

Later on the day Asami invited me to join her on a dinner date. We ended up going to the same place as before, same food, same 1 fork.

This time I didn't feel as bad, still I'd much rather have my own fork

"So should we make this a celebration everytime we solve something?"

"We didn't solve anything"

"You do know that just because you weren't able to use you're amazing deductions doesn't mean it wasn't solved, the police just managed to solve it for you this time" Asami smiled, she was right. I'm glad to know that the police can have my back during desperate times.

"Can I have the first bite?"

"Nope you had it last time"

"That's not how it works"

"Rock paper scissors"

"Fine, in 3"

"1, 2, 3!"

I ended up pulling rock, Asami on the other hand came out with paper

"Best out of 3"

"Fine, 1, 2, 3!"

Same result different choices, I picked scissors Asami picked rock

"First to 3"

Asami didn't bother responding and instead noded, the fact that she hadn't refused nor thought about refusing surprised me

"1, 2 ,3!"

In the end all of my cheating would result in nothing, Asami would beat me yet again as she picked paper I ended up picking rock.

"Would you look at that"

"Tch"

Asami ended up bringing the fork closer and closer to her mouth, her tongue was about to touch the fork. The sight of it still kinda weird me out, seems like I haven't changed much

"Ugh" Asami put the fork down and turned around

"You didn't smell that?" Asami turned to me, and to tell the truth I wasn't paying much attention to what was going on. I was too focused on how I would tackle the challenge of having the fork in my mouth first, for the first time.

"Smell what?"

"The guy put a load of perfume is clogging up my nose"

"Smelled...?"

"Something wrong?"

"I think I've solved it"

"Solved what?"

"The case! If my theory is correct to which we'd have to make some stops first then I think I might have just caught who committed the second robbery"

"Well? Are you gonna tell me or what?"

"I'll tell you on our walk" I began standing up to which Asami stops me by grabbing my hand

"So, are we just gonna leave the food here?"

"Take it with you. We can eat it along the way"

We did just that as Asami began putting the food in a to-go box while I waited outside

Chapter 6

Here's the full story

Once we made a few stops we decided to go over and explain our deductions to the police. Those people were Kai, Miyu, and the chief who we haven't spoken to in a while

"So? What are we exactly doing here?" The chief was the one to speak up, usually It would be Kai, but since someone of higher standard is here he decided to keep quiet

"I know who committed the second robbery as well as their whole plan"

"Really? Please do explain"

"Here's the full story. On my way to the bank I encountered a man with a black sweater with buttons that were stitched horizontally, but the other guys buttons were stitched vertically" I pulled the footage of the 2nd bank robbery "Look at this man's buttons"

Kai stepped up and took a look at the footage

"They are stitched horizontally"

"Exactly, this guy from the 2nd robbery is the same as the person I saw on the first bank while I was waiting in line. If that isn't enough I remember smelling alcohol on guy number 2" guy number 2 is basically the guy in the 2nd robbery "guy number 1 didn't have that same smell even though both are perfectly identical the one thing to differentiate them was their smell"

"..." nobody wanted to interrupt, seemed like they wanted me to continue

"Guy number 1 had needle injection on his arm, I later checked on a hospital which confirmed that the guy was getting his blood checked since he had reason to believe he had some sort of disease" I pulled out a result I found at the hospital and then one I found on Guy number 1's house "The results from the hospital showed he was clean. no sign of any sort of disease, however the result in his house showed that he was positive"

"That means someone faked it? In order to possibly get something to put as leverage and get control over the guy"

"Exactly, the reason they wore the exact same things was because they had to mislead us into thinking they were both the same. Show the guy you have in prison these 2 different results and he's bound to throw his other partner under the bus"

"Well done Malliyo" The chief patted my back before making her way to her desk

"One more thing, guy number 1 was buying time and distracting us from the 2nd robbery not to mention the fact that he was shakened up after killing someone, he never meant to kill someone and was probably doing this because guy number 2 made him do it, as guy number 1 would receive some of the money for his 'treatment' but in the end it was all just a ruse"

"Well Malliyo, you might just be the best Detective I know" The chief chuckled

The chief is almost always serious though she doesn't shy away from giving credit where credit is deserved

Kai looked a bit upset after hearing the chief compliment me.

"I'm a consultant cheif" I thought this would make Kai less upset, but it didn't necessarily work.

The chief didn't talk and instead waved as she began to reach her desk

In the end me and Asami went back to my house where we cooked our cold food and began to eat it, it seemed like another well done job for me

Chapter 7

Inpatient

"Not every case involves the website Malliyo, I hope you understand"

"But-"

"No buts, like I've said your the best Detective I know which is why I need you for this case"

"The only reason I manage solve the previous case was because Asami mentioned something about smell"

"And that shows how active your brain is, it's always turned on and ready to receive new info"

In the end I had left and began to make my way to the crime scene

"I can't be bothered" I sighed as I thought to myself, I'll try to solve this case as quickly as possible

The faster I solve it the quicker I can get to the website cases. That was my thought process...