Chapter 3- Mysterious Occurrences
The next day before she went to work, Ami looked at Urawa-kun’s phone number in
Usagi-chan’s messy handwriting, and then she slipped it into her uniform’s breast pocket.
Ami left Sunset Apartments and climbed into her deep blue Lexus. It had taken forever for her to save the money to buy her dream car. However, it also helped that her mother was a wealthy doctor.
It took her about twenty minutes to get to the Tokyo Police Department.
“Hey, Mizuno-san!” her fellow officers called cheerfully to Ami when she entered. She smiled and waved. It seemed that it would be a very low-key day today.
“Ah, Mizuno, you’re here,” Chief Kana said, hurriedly stepping over to her, which wasn’t in his nature. “We have a problem, and we need your smarts to help.”
“Eh? What is it?”
The chief scratched his head. “It’s very strange... come with me.”
Ami followed her boss to his office. It was a splendid office- the walls were painted a pale gray with framed certificates. The office also included a large oak desk with a padded leather swivel chair and two wide windows, which let in a cool breeze.
Chief Kana opened a manila police report folder. “Can you make any sense of this?” He passed it to Ami.
The report read as follows:
--x--
Incident Report. File ID: 1212867. Officer Kin.
I left the TPD around 4:08 p.m. on Saturday, July 10th (Yesterday, Ami thought) after receiving a call.
I arrived on the scene in the Juban area at 4:18. A medium-sized crowd surrounded a teenage girl.
The girl was sprawled on the ground in the middle of a street. She looked utterly lost.
“Miss, are you all right?” I asked with concern.
The girl merely looked at me. She couldn’t speak. I assumed that she was nearly hit by a car, so I moved closer and started to call an ambulance.
She looked up at me. Her dark eyes looked oddly blank, and her long, light brown hair began to flow.
“Who... are... you?” the teen asked. She still had that odd look in her eyes.
“Miss, it’s all right, the paramedics are coming and-”
I could not finish speaking because she suddenly glared.
“You... made... me... FORGET!” she shouted. She stood with no sign of trauma and charged toward me, a crazed expression on her face.
Immediately I pulled out my gun, but she was too fast. It flew out of my hand, and the girl slammed me onto the ground with tremendous strength for someone so delicate. Furthermore, she had done it to me, an older man.
The teen was about to land a crushing punch into my chest, when the hungry expression in her eyes faded.
She collapsed.
I had the paramedics come to the scene as fast as they could. The eyewitnesses were shocked.
I have no idea what happened to this girl.
--x--
Ami’s eyes widened. “What...?” she whispered.
The Chief wore a similar expression. “So, Mizuno, what do you think?”
This is very bizarre... Wait! Ami reread the report. “Made me forget”...? Ami thought hard. Then it came to her.
A new enemy. I have to let the others know!
“Chief-san, I-”
Chief Kana’s gray phone rang.
“Kana here.”
Ami watched her boss talk, apparently with another officer. Chief Kana’s expression grew darker and darker as he conversed.
The chief turned to his officer and said, “We’ve got another one.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before he went to work in the morning, Ryo flipped though his public phonebook, found Mizuno-san’s phone number, copied it down, and put it in the breast pocket of his white short-sleeved button-down shirt.
When Ryo got to the office, it was alive with activity. Phones rung off the hook. Ryo’s fellow detectives bustled to and fro with reports, and others typed frantically on their computers.
“W-what’s going on?”
Ryo’s boss turned, halfway through hanging up a phone. “Urawa, we’ve got trouble.” For once he didn’t sound gruff; he sounded concerned. Very concerned.
Immediately, Detective Keiji put Ryo and another detective on to investigate a rather perplexing case.
From what he heard from his new partner, there were a growing number of cases in which people apparently “lost” something. After this happened, the victims grew alarmingly violent. The detectives were in a frenzy trying to discover what exactly was “lost.”
Ryo thought hard as he went to his office as his female partner and recently new detective Yumi Leiko followed him.
He adjusted his tie and sat at his desk, and Leiko-san sat next to him.
Leiko-san drummed her lavender fingernails on the desk. “What do you think, Urawa?”
Ryo sighed. “Beats me. But we’ll get to the bottom of it.”
Leiko-san nodded. Then silence reigned as Ryo looked up files and reports on his laptop PC.
He grew frustrated. Ack, nothing! I should use my powers... but not with Leiko-san here... It’ll have to wait till I get home.
Ryo sighed again. “It looks like we’re gonna need the police department to help.” Police department? Mizuno-san!
Leiko-san frowned slightly and raised a violet eyebrow. “What’re you smiling about?”
“Ah! Nothing important!” Ryo exclaimed, embarrassed.
Leiko-san still looked a little angry, and turned away. But she finally turned back to Ryo, her jet black eyes softening as she smiled. Her deep violet hair fell in waves. She was... quite pretty. Ryo blushed a little.
Leiko-san turned his attention back to the crisis by ruffling her notes and clearing her throat. However, her perfume was intoxicating, and her light lavender suit... It was a nice color on her...
“...Urawa?”
Ryo shook himself and concentrated. “So... who do you think is responsible for this?”
Leiko-san shrugged. “This case needs some serious research.”
Ryo nodded in agreement.
I wonder if Mizuno-san will be involved, when we team up with the police, Ryo thought.
“Definitely.”
Leiko-san fixed him with an odd look. “Definitely what?”
Ryo blushed and stammered, “I-I was just thinking about a f-friend of mine that I used to know, M-Mizuno-san!”
“Ah. I see.” Leiko-san still possessed that strange look, but it gradually faded away.
The hours ticked by, and they still had nothing by the end of the work day. The detectives grew frustrated, but there was always tomorrow.
Before Ryo and Leiko-san left the office at closing time, eight o’clock p.m., Leiko-san stopped him before he opened the door.
“Urawa,” she said, “I was wondering if... you could drive me home.” She suddenly looked shy.
“Oh!” Ryo replied, surprised. Then he smiled. “Sure.”
Leiko-san smiled as well.
As Ryo drove, he and Leiko-san had a friendly conversation.
“I’m a little nervous at the office, since I’m brand new,” said the female detective. “I seem to be one of the few ladies there,” she remarked.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it. The guys at the office are nice guys.”
“Like you.”
Ryo flushed a little. “Oh, my mother taught me how to always be courteous, especially toward women.”
Leiko-san giggled and then placed a hand on his arm. “I like courteous men.”
“Uh... Leiko-san?”
Pink patches stained Leiko-san’s cheeks. “My! I’m sorry! I... I just haven’t been around gentlemen in a long time.”
“Aw, it’s okay. Ah- we’re here.” Ryo pulled into Leiko-san’s three-apartment building.
“Thank you, Urawa.”
“No problem.”
Leiko-san smiled and waved after she exited the car.
Ryo watched her leave, with an odd feeling. She’s very nice, he thought. It was almost like she...
Nah.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yumi entered her second floor apartment, tired. Nothing was productive with today’s new assignment.
Of course.
She changed out of her suit and into more comfortable clothes.
Well, the clothes are brand new.
Yumi collapsed on her couch and flicked on the local news. Reports of the mysterious
phenomenon were all over the place.
Heh.
Yumi slowly opened a door that supposedly led to her bedroom.
Hundreds of elegant marble pillars stood around Yumi’s height between the stone floor and ceiling in the wide, dark room. On top of each pillar was a small round hollow. Already, there were bright orbs of light the size of marbles on a handful of pillars, which lightened the room a bit.
Yumi grinned. “At this rate, those pathetic Senshi will definitely show up.”
Galaxia picked up an orb lovingly and held it up, gazing at its light as it floated slightly above her hand.
“Starting with Ami Mizuno- Sailor Mercury.”
