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Full summary: Mikan Sakura is the new transfer detective at ABI, a.k.a. "The Alice Bureau of Investigation." She's beautiful and kind, but her past remains heavily guarded and completely confidential. Nobody besides the higher-ups know that she was trained during her teenage years to become an assassin - then escaped to the authorities, and became a top crime-fighting figure. The only thing her new teammates know is that she grew up under harsh circumstances. They soon learn that her skill is beyond immeasurable.

Upon arrival, she's promoted to the top sector of the entire division. There, she meets Natsume Hyuuga - the handsome, cold, and awfully skilled and respected agent. She's his shining ray of hope in this world of cruelty, and he's her knight in shining armor.

Chapter 1: Debut

I stood in front of the ABI headquarters, warm coffee in one hand, and an office messenger bag slung across my opposite shoulder. I was dressed in black skinny jeans, black heels, and a sophisticated dark-blue blouse. My waist-length hair was naturally wavy, and left down. I only had mild makeup on—a little mascara, and an innocent shade of pink lip-gloss. I was attracting a lot of unwanted attention - especially from some of the male passerby's - but I completely ignored them. No surprise there. I mean, I was scouted to be a model for a reason.

My outfit emphasized my slim physique, making me look extremely feminine, especially with my soft facial features and big amber eyes. However, nobody knew that in a second, I could easily kill the closest person to me in a myriad of different ways. Heck, I could even kill the man by the tree with just my high heels.

I was, after all, supposed to be an assassin.

Keyword: supposed.

Luckily, I had a conscience and I knew killing was wrong. Somewhere in my heart, I knew that the people who'd brought me up weren't in their right minds. There was a torture session almost every night in an attempt to brainwash me, but somehow, it didn't work. Of course, I pretended to be brainwashed. So on my first mission, which was to assassinate a powerful businessman, I hightailed it out of there. I escaped, ran to the officials, spilled all the information that I knew. Now, I was a crime-fighting agent.

Who'd just gotten transferred to ABI's main headquarter. It was a huge step up from where I'd previously worked.

I took one more swig of coffee, and then walked through security. My bag was efficiently checked for any unregistered guns or bombs, but of course, I was clean. Since I'd been previously given a clearance badge, my security check was minimal. So nobody noticed the knife hidden in my heels. I entered the elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor.

I entered the flat with a completely composed expression, even though I was slightly nervous about meeting my new co-workers. This top team owned the entire floor, and being such an asset to the government, they received the most unimaginable luxuries. I mean, there were two couches, a fireplace, a bathroom, an oblong desk along with a whiteboard (probably for discussing cases), a kitchen, and then rows of desks where the sector worked.

However, nobody (except one) was working at the moment. The whole team was situated at the oblong table, giving me different vibes. I noticed that one agent - he had ebony-black hair and crimson eyes - wasn't even paying attention and was instead going through a case file. Two of the female agents - one with pink hair, the other with blue - were waving animatedly.

"Hi, I'm Mikan Sakura. The transfer agent?" I introduced with a smile. "Nice to meet you."

A chorus of "Hello's" and "Welcome's" pursued.

"Here, sit down. We already got your nameplate on it. I'm Koko, by the way."

I gracefully slid into the chair, which was sandwiched in between the man engrossed in case files, and Koko. "Thanks."

In order, the team introduced themselves. I quickly memorized their names and faces: Koko, Tsubasa, Nonoko, Anna, Hotaru, Ruka, Yuu, and…

"Uh, Natsume?" Anna asked tentatively.

"Hn." He didn't even look up from his case files.

"Do you want to introduce yourself to Mikan?"

He looked up at me briefly. His eyes scanned me meticulously, and I raised an eyebrow in response. He was extremely handsome—with those deep crimson eyes, defined jaw, flawless skin, sexily messed up hair…"No need, as you already mentioned my name, and I don't think she's stupid enough to not have caught that."

I glanced at him incredulously. Anna bit her lip. "Sorry, he's like that sometimes."

"No, I get it. You know, I did hear that guys are going into mid-life crisis a lot sooner. Guess he just proved that research a hundred percent correct," I shrugged. Across the table, Koko guffawed with laughter and the whole group joined in. Well, besides Natsume.

"I'm already liking you, newbie," Tsubasa exclaimed. "I don't think I've ever heard a woman go against Natsume yet. Except Hotaru, but what the heck? She doesn't really count."

Hotaru smirked at that, but otherwise, she was stoic.

"Anyways, here's your new laptop and phone," Nonoko exclaimed. She handed the set to me, and man, it was shiny and new and expensive-looking. I booted the laptop and turned on the phone quickly. "We've already installed the necessary soft wares that you'll need here at ABI. I also inputted all of our numbers, just in case."

"Great, thanks," I said. "Um...so is there a case going on or something?" I gestured to the files that Natsume had.

"Yeah, we just got it this morning," Tsubasa said. "If you look at your phone, there's an app that lets you see any cases that we have. Anytime the higher-ups assign us one, it'll come directly through that system."

I nodded, pressing the app on the screen. "All right. So what's the procedure here? Who's doing what?"

Nonoko grinned. "Anna and I are the lab rats. We do the forensics, the autopsies, and all the scientific parts. Koko's the psychologist on the case. He's really good at interviewing suspects. And he's a boss at reading minds. Anyways, Tsubasa, Ruka, and Natsume are the head field agents. Hotaru's the data analyzer. Yuu is like our coordinator. Whenever we go out on missions, he has us on earpiece and is tracking us and our targets down."

"Okay, so what's my role then?"

At that exact moment, a blonde man strolled in. He wore a crisp suit and he oozed sophistication. Within a second of his arrival, the whole team stood up and bowed - except for Natsume, who just raised his head to acknowledge him.

"Ms. Sakura, you're going to be Natsume's partner from here on out. In the office, and in the field. Good luck!" And with that, he disappeared back into the elevator.

At first, there was silence.

Then, a deep growl. "What the hell?!"

"Was he eavesdropping on our conversation the whole time?" I asked, dumbfounded. "I mean, he just came in at that exact moment...?"

"Yukihara's like that. Extremely clever, very careful, very sneaky, and very annoying sometimes. He's the only person who's managed to sidestep my blackmail—and that in itself is almost impossible! Anyways," Hotaru huffed in frustration. "You get used to it."

From inside the elevator (?), Yukihara called out: "Heard that, Hotaru! I'll remember this moment - you talking badly behind my back - when Christmas bonus comes around!"

Hotaru scowled, and said half to herself, "You need me. No money, no me."

I raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged, and I pursed my lips. What a weird group...

"Um…So can I, like, exchange partners or something?" I asked mildly.

"Sorry, no can do. Yukihara's word is our command," Tsubasa explained sympathetically.

"Don't slow me down," Natsume said sharply. "Especially when we're out in the field. I don't want any desertion, you hear me?"

"Excuse me? I would not desert! And I'm sure that if we didn't have guns, I could totally take you down single-handedly. I don't know if your boss told you or anything, but I'm trained."

"Everyone here is trained, and do you even know who I am? Natsume Hyuuga. I've been on so many top missions that you probably couldn't count them all with your little brain. So as I said earlier, don't bother me when we're working."

"Trained enough to do this?" I asked dangerously. Within a flash, I'd grabbed the hidden knife from my shoe and held it up towards his face. I smirked triumphantly when I saw his eyes widen a fraction. "That's what you get for underestimating a woman, Hyuuga."

Tsubasa stared at me. "Whoa, you can keep a knife in your heels?"

"Been doing that ever since I almost got raped a couple years ago," I laughed.

"Oh please, don't flatter yourself. Even lowlifes have some self-respect," Natsume muttered.

"Excuse me?! I heard that, you insensitive jerk! Do you want me to hold you in deadlock again?" I said, fuming.

"I'm the insensitive one? You're the one who freaking pointed a knife at me."

"You started it, you jerk. What, couldn't handle a little threat?"

"Whatever, Polka."

"Polka?" It took me a second to process what he'd said. Then I realized that was the print of my bra. "You freaking pervert!"

"Well, at least I'm not an airhead."

"I have an IQ of 182, above Einstein's, thank you very much."

"Oh, join the club. I have an IQ of 197."

"No way."

"Yes way."

I turned to Anna, but she just shook her head. "It's true - Natsume's a genius."

I turned back to him, annoyed by his irritating smug grin. "Poo face."

Natsume smirked. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, I was taught to be civilized, so I don't swear. Got a problem?"

"So you can point knives up to your superior's face, but you can't swear?"

"You are not my superior - "

"All right, can you two stop flirting?!" A new voice entered the room. I turned around to face a green-haired woman. What was up with hair-dye in this place?

"We weren't flirting," I stated, almost in a deadpan.

"That's Sumire Shouda," Anna whispered. "Watch out."

"Did you drug him or something?" Sumire asked me accusingly.

"Wait, what? Why would you say that?"

"Because Natsume never talks to random strangers. And he never talks that much. And if he ever does talk, it's only about the case."

"Sumire, that's our new transfer agent," Koko exclaimed softly. His eyes were swimming in amusement.

Her ears turned pink. "S-so? Doesn't mean that she can just steal his attention away from me!"

"Wow, Permy. I think you need a reality check. First, I was not flirting. I almost killed him, actually. Second, I wasn't stealing his attention. Third, you can have him. Fourth, I think it's a little one-sided but that's okay. Life sucks sometimes."

Everyone laughed, and Sumire blushed beet red. "Whatever. I just came to drop off the last piece of evidence." And with that, she stormed away.

Hotaru sent me a small grin. "You know your way with words, huh?"

I blew my freshly-manicured fingertips. "I try."

"Five o'clock pm tonight. I'll teach you how to blackmail."

"Ooh. Sounds cool. I'll be there."

"Then we can team up. Sixty forty on profits?"

"Sounds good to me!"

"Um...why are you guys discussing this right now?" Anna asked slowly. "Anyways...this is what the case looks so far. Nonoko, can you?"

"Sure!" Nonoko smiled, jumping up and heading to the whiteboard, where she'd clipped a young woman's profile, and a picture of a crime scene (after removal of the actual body, to spare from gory images). "So. We already got an ID on the vic - Ava Stevenson. 25 years old. Found dead this morning in a small alleyway between Harrison and 2nd Street."

"The method of her murder?" I asked.

"Head trauma. Whoever killed her did so pretty quickly; we haven't found the exact murder weapon yet, but we know it's a bat. From the trajectory of the blow and everything." Nonoko exclaimed.

I nodded, absorbing the information. "Were there any splinters on the vic's head?"

"Yep. Anna ran it through the mass spec and it says the splinters are made of wood."

"What kind of wood?" I asked, my fingers drumming my leg in thought.

"Northern white ash - a rare tree. Expensive."

"Hmm…Does our vic have any connection to baseball? Any baseball players?" I asked further.

Out of nowhere, Permy returned and snorted. "Just because she was hit with a bat doesn't mean she was killed by a baseball player. I mean, everyone knows that! I could get a baseball bat from anywhere. Do I play baseball? No."

I turned to her seriously. "Northern white ash is an extremely expensive type of wood. Most pros nowadays use Northern white ash, and since its an endangered tree now, it's only available to baseball players in the big league." (A/N: Totally made that up for the sake of the story.)

Hotaru nodded. "So the person who struck her had to be a baseball player, or had to be in connection with one in order to get that bat."

"Unless it was stolen by a thug or something," Tsubasa added.

"Probably not," I said firmly. "Baseball players keep their bats at hand all the time. Especially if it's made of white ash…a theft like that would've been reported. And if I remember correctly, there haven't been any theft reports concerning any bats, right?"

Anna typed something into her laptop and after a brief second, nodded. "Right."

Koko's head lifted from his own laptop. "Just ran a background check. Our vic was friends on Facebook with Justin Gregory and had recently blocked a user that goes by the name of Mark Baron."

"They both play baseball?" Hotaru asked pointedly.

Koko grinned. "Yep. Mikan was right on. And guess what? Justin and Mark are on rival teams—they're both kind of local, and the two teams were going to play in two weeks. Whoever won that game was going to proceed to the national championships."

"Check further. I'm guessing that Justin is her boyfriend?"

"What are you, psychic? That's my job. To be physic and everything."

I laughed. "All right, why don't you do the prediction then?"

Koko grumbled something inaudibly, but then exclaimed: "Maybe the girl was in a love triangle and one guy got mad and killed her? Crime of passion?"

I shrugged. "That's what we have to find out, I guess."

Sumire butted in again. "So…if Natsume's the head agent and everything, why the hell is Miss Wannabe conducting the investigation?"

"Chill, Permy. I'm just trying to solve a case," I exclaimed, putting my hands up in defense.

Natsume put down the case files. Since he was right beside me, he'd been in my blind spot, so I hadn't really noticed what he was doing. I'm guessing he'd been looking at the papers the whole time? Talk about antisocial.

"Agent Shouda, please take your leave. You're hindering our investigation," Natsume said crisply.

Oh snap.

"O-oh…all right, see you later, Nattie! Call me." She called, and then scurried out the floor.

I couldn't help but giggle. "Nattie? You've got to be kidding me."

"Shut up, Polka."

"What—seriously? That's sexual harassment! I'm so reporting you."

Natsume smirked that trademark smirk of his. Why was he so dang handsome? Wait…I so did not just say that. "Try me." He turned to the team. "Anyways, this is how it goes. Tsubasa and Koko—interview the vic's boyfriend. Nonoko and Anna—finish the autopsy. Yuu and Hotaru—try and zero in on the murder weapon. I'm going to interrogate Mark. Meeting dismissed."

Everyone started to get up. "Wait, what am I doing?"

Natsume rolled his eyes. "You're with me. Hurry up. Bring your bag. I'll meet you in the parking lot."

With that, Natsume strode out of the floor and down the first elevator. I groaned and stomped my feet.

"He. Is. So. Dang. Annoying!" I accented, while putting my new laptop and phone into my messenger bag.

"I think he likes you," Koko exclaimed with a straight face.

"Nice one," I returned with sarcasm.

"No, I agree with Koko," Nonoko said softly. "He's never talked that much with anyone else. And you know guys. They like to tease the ones they like."

"Yeah. When they're teenagers." I scoffed.

"Believe what you want, but I seriously think that you two would be perfect for each other," Anna chirped. "Seriously."

I waved my hand off dismissively. "All right, I'm off to see Mr. Baron. In the meantime, I highly recommend that you guys get your heads straight."

As I strolled into the elevator, I heard my team's light laughter from behind me, and I smiled. I could really get used to working here.

"He totally likes her," Anna smiled.

"Yeah. No wonder Sumire flew off the handle. I'm pretty sure she noticed, too," Tsubasa exclaimed. "Man…I've never seen Natsume so interested in a girl. Did you see him during the conference?" (A/N: Whenever the team discusses a case at the table, it's going to be considered a conference.)

"He didn't say a word during the whole thing because he was just staring at her," Koko admitted. "The girl didn't even notice."

"It's a first—someone who doesn't drool at him," Ruka said amiably. He leaned back against his chair and looked out the window. He saw Mikan and Natsume walking out to Natsume's sports car—both of them obviously arguing. But then he saw Natsume's lips curved upward—and he was laughing. His jaw dropped. "Hey guys—he just laughed."

Tsubasa almost dropped his phone. "What?"

"He…he just laughed. I saw it. I mean, now he's in the car with Mikan. But…dude, he was laughing. With her. Or probably at her, but still!"

"Oh god. He totally likes her," Koko exclaimed. "I'm going to give him a hard time."

"I'm glad she was transferred here," Anna exclaimed. Nonoko nodded beside her.

"Yeah, me too. I like her. She's feisty, but she's innocent. And she's nice. Very intelligent, too." Hotaru seemed like she was going down a mental checklist or something. Then, "I approve of her."

The group sweat-dropped. It was so Hotaru to say that.

"Get to work, guys! You don't want Natsume getting on your case," Anna sang out. Then, she and Nonoko hurried into the adjoined lab next doors to finish that autopsy.

Again, please review! If you have any ideas for future cases, don't hesitate to tell me! Actually, please tell me. We're still on the first case right now, but I'll wrap it up in the second chapter. I might have to watch some more CSI or something to get some inspiration.

This is officially the longest chapter that I've ever written.

Until then,

Miya Azlikov