Tezuka's hands curled deeper into the rough cotton lining of his trench coat, seeking warmth from the chilly wind. It was raining, fine droplets of water that drizzled and landed lightly against his glasses, dampening his hair and soaking into his black turtleneck.

He blinked at the scene in front of him - no one who wasn't watching carefully could have been able to tell that he was surprised by what was happening. The car in front of him had been dented by the impact of a body, or what sounded like one, before an invisible presence slid off the bumper, causing the vehicle to squeak in an undignified fashion as it adjusted to the weight. He heard a thud as whatever it was hit the ground with the sick, soft sound of body matter connecting with concrete.

"What are you doing?! Get on the case! Aren't you supposed to be the expert in these matters?"

The exasperated police sergeant shouted at him, simultaneously backing away from the car and looking warily around him. The rest of his men simply looked petrified, several of them unconsciously resting their hands resting their guns holsters in response to the invisible threat. Tezuka gritted his teeth as he steadily approached the car and felt no other presence near it. Once again, he had received no information on the case, and having arrived on the scene several moments ago, found everybody to be on the verge of blind panic as a dull force connected with a car nearby, over and over again. No one had dared to drive the vehicle away, not that it mattered, considering that the windscreen's glass had shattered, and a circular dent had already been imprinted on the roof of the old Cadillac.

"Sir! They've got Jiroh!"

The officer stared in disbelief at his men who came running out of the building for dear life. His face blanched into an ashen shade of grey as he peered at the night sky and made out the uniform of the police officer standing at the edge of the roof. From a distance, he could see him wavering and trembling, his body swaying precariously in the edge.

"Save me."

Tezuka couldn't possibly have heard what the officer had murmured as he ran inside the building and scaled the stairs two at a time. There were only 8 levels to the apartment, and he didn't think that the officer would die from the impact. Only severely injured or permanently disabled.

He ran faster.

"Save me."

He was out of breath by the time he reached the rooftop. He didn't catch the last phrase as the police officer murmured seemingly to himself, with his eyes glazed over as he stared into the distance, still swaying on his feet. The sirens sounded like they were a world away as Tezuka hoisted himself up onto the wall too and saw the lights of Tokyo ablaze even at night. The frigid night air was blowing with increasing intensity when the officer came to a perfect halt, his head turned to face Tezuka. Below, he heard the people below screaming when they caught sight of him on the parapet.

"Why are you holding him hostage?" Tezuka asked finally.

He didn't receive an answer immediately. The policeman's eyes were darkened and bloodshot, before he finally turned to face the captive audience on the ground.

"Save me."

"I will. Stay still. I am walking towards you…all I need you to do, is to stretch out your hand."

The officer threw his head back and laughed, an ugly sound ripping itself out of his throat as he bellowed in hysterical triumph. The laughter subsided into soft chuckles as he glanced at him and smiled. Tezuka thought that it had to be one of the saddest smiles he had ever seen in his life.

His hand reached out to meet the air as the officer took another step forward off the roof.

Tezuka threw himself forward instinctively, pulling his weight against the edge of the parapet as he caught hold of the man's wrist and pulled. The screaming and trashing told Tezuka that the officer's arm had probably been dislocated with the sudden pressure. There was physical contact with the man and yet no memories assailed him. The presence had probably left his body, leaving a disoriented man to awake from his stupor only to realize that he was dangling in the middle of the air. Clinging onto Tezuka for dear life, he couldn't stop screaming or sobbing until Tezuka slapped him, and made him realize that he had already pulled the officer onto the safety of the roof. And then he fainted.

Tezuka rolled his eyes, turning aside to reach for his handphone, when he came face to face with a female student. Her hair was wavy and short, its edges brushing past the shoulders of her dark blue uniform. She was rather pretty in a precocious way, almost as if she had seen too much at too young an age, and now expected nothing more from a sordid reality.

"Why?"

He paused, hearing the rest of the words in her question.

"What did he do to you?"

In response, she reached out and touched his arm.

-

"Come down. It's alright."

An outstretched hand.A push instead of a pull.

The rain went on forever.

-

His vision came back to normal. Already, he could hear the footsteps resounding on the staircase.

"Everything has its price. He will pay for what he has done, but the heavy cross of justice shouldn't be borne by you."

Tezuka bent down to meet her eyes, his hand resting on her shoulder.

"Listen to me. Go into the light. If you wait any longer, you will turn into a vengeful spirit and you will stay on earth, forever tormented by your actions in the past. Go into the afterlife and find happiness."

"Tezuka-san! What is going on? What the – "

He stood up straight, almost amused when he saw Jiroh, who was still unconscious, with his head snapping to the left and right as the ghost kicked at him viciously. She stepped on him deliberately as she walked slowly to the far end of the roof, turning back once to smile at Tezuka.

He blinked. Was that a wink?

Her fingers curled into a familiar coquettish wave as she walked off the edge of the roof again and disappeared.

Sometimes he really hated his job.

END CHAPTER

DISCLAIMER: This story is loosely based on 2002, a Hong Kong movie about ghosts and detectives. I changed some parts, but I will be shamelessly stealing quite a bit of their plot, so please give them credit! Obviously, the POT boys don't belong to me either, or they would all have been tortured/kidnapped/killed/committed suicide/suffered in varying fashions by now.

A/N: I'm really glad I managed to rush this out in time. In a little sadistic corner of my heart, I am thrilled by Fuji-torture on Valentines', and Tezuka throwing himself off a roof on White Day. I really should be working on Disappearance, but this was just too fun to resist.XD