The beginning (part 2)

"Welcome back" Imahaya Akanori said, as Yagita walked slowly into his office. "I hope you've recovered well"

She nodded, and sat on the opposite side of Imahaya's desk "I've recovered enough to be back at work"

Her hair was tied into a ponytail, so, as she sat down, Imahaya noticed a deep scar on the side of her head, near her eye socket, from the encounter with 3.

"That's a pretty nasty scar"

She laughed, "yeah, I guess so. How has the precinct been? And the search for the museum robbers?"

"we've made no progress. Although you and Fuhira both dealt significant damage to the man known as 3, it seems he managed to escape and stay hidden. We are also under the assumption that he's gotten some sort of medical help."

She shook her head and sighed after he said this.

He continued, "while you were away, there was another robbery, at an antique store"

She looked at him with a surprised expression on her face, as he continued explaining to her what happened.

"Different individuals. They even used masks this time. Witnesses said they referred to themselves as 4 and 7. Surprisingly, the one thing that was stolen, according to the owner was an object similar to the one that was taken from the museum, a broken artefact." He slid a couple of photographs of the artefact sent by the owner of the store.

"So I think it's safe to assume they're from the same group. Our job right now is to find the culprits, and the importance of these artefacts"

She nodded in agreement, "I'll see what I can find out and get back to you captain."

"I'm sorry to trouble you so soon after your return from the hospital" He replied

"No problem captain, it's part of the job"

"by the way Yagita, Kaneda said you should see him in his workshop after you're done here"

"Thank you, I'll head there now"

Kaneda Hotomo was a young man in his early twenties who had just graduated from university. During his time in education, he had helped the police department on numerous occasions with his vast knowledge of robotics and different technological advancements. He helped them build multiple state of the art bomb diffusing robots and drones.

Imahaya's unit decided to offer him a job immediately after he graduated, and even built a workshop for him at the station.

"Hey, Kaneda. You asked for me"

His face lit up with excitement as he saw Yagita walk in.

"Yagita! It's so good to see you on your feet again"

Smiling, she said, "thank you Neda. So, what's up?"

"I felt bad after I heard what happened with the museum robber so I got to work. While you were in the hospital, I made some modifications to the current version of your bracelet. Here, try this"

He tossed a black bracelet to her. She took off the one she was wearing and tried on the new one.

She pressed the activation button and she was covered from her neck down in a thick black body tight armour.

"This version offers twice the protection your last one did. Completely bullet proof as usual. This suit comes with a bonus; it stores a small amount damage you receive and allows you to deal up to triple your usual damage."

"Sweet" She said.

"There's something better, press the activation button again"

As she did so, the suit extended and covered her entire head.

"I figured I'd make something that protected your head too. The eyes are made from the same material but you can see through them and in the outside they appear white. Double tap your right temple to retract the head piece.

After a few seconds of testing the suit, she retracted the headpiece.

"Thank you so much Kaneda. I really appreciate you doing this"

"Don't mention it. If you think about any more modifications I can make, you know where I am"

She nodded and left

[is Fuhira not in today] she thought as she looked around for him. She looked down at the photographs she took from Imahaya's office. His words "Our job right now is to find the culprits, and the importance of these artefacts" echoing in her head. [How are we going to find out what these artefacts are?] as she asked herself that question, someone came to mind immediately. Aihara Utari.

She went to her car in the garage, called him and set up a meeting. They decided to meet in the public library so she could possibly get answers from him regarding the pictures.

By the time she got to the library, he was already there, in a place where they could talk without disturbing others or be overheard.

"I didn't think you'd ever go anywhere without your swords" She said, as she sat down opposite him and placed the folder she was holding on the table."

He laughed, "they're with me, just cloaked so they can't be seen by the public. I heard you were hospitalised"

"I'm on my feet again. That's all that matters really"

Aihara said nothing. After a few seconds she continued speaking.

"I'll get straight to the point. I need your help" as she said this, she removed the pictures from the folder and showed them to Aihara.

His expression confirmed her gut feeling that he would know something about the artifacts.

"Where did you find this?"

"Two different pieces have been stolen from a museum and an antique store within the past month. I was hoping you would know something about them"

His facial expression looked even more serious now. Yagita was slightly concerned.

"You guys in the police department are so incompetent. You can't let them gather all the pieces, detective Yagita."

"why not? Just tell me the significance of these relics" She said, impatiently

Aihara sighed before speaking, thinking to himself [so is this what the old man was talking about when he told me to warn Hira about dark times approaching?]

"I was told if the pieces of that staff were gathered, and put together, it would unleash an ancient and great power. I don't know exactly what that power is but it definitely cannot be good news if my old man warned me about it."

"Do you know how many pieces are left" She was very concerned at this point

"there are 5 pieces in total, you said 2 were stolen recently. So, i guess between 1 and 3 pieces. I'll look into it and confirm their locations too"

"I hate to ask this of someone who is not part of the department of justice but if this is as serious as you claim, the police might need some help on this so be on the look out for these guys" She handed copied images of 3 and 5. "They call themselves 3 and 5 but after the robbery at the antique store, we can confirm there's at least 7 of them"

He got up, gathered the pictures, folded them and put them the inner pocket of his jacket. "It was a good decision bringing this to me, Yagita. I'll do what I can to prevent them from assembling it. I'll warn you though, I do not do things the way you officers do. Inform Hira. Tell him to be prepared"

She nodded, and he promptly exited the library.

As he left he thought to himself, holding his cloaked katana [This should be an interesting couple of months]

Yagita decided to feedback all she had learnt to Imahaya. Trusting that Yagita's information was accurate, he decided to brief the entire precinct, telling them that "catching the robbers was now their number 1 priority".

After the briefing, Fuhira finally came in.

Yagita told him all that had happened with Aihara and his warning, the briefing and Kaneda's new modifications to her bracelet.

"You've had quite the day. Haven't you?" He asked, with a warm smile on his face

"I guess you could say that"

"I will also do everything within my power to make sure they don't succeed, but we might have to prepare for the worst case scenario here, Yagita"

She nodded in agreement, "I don't even want to think about that"

Fuhira laughed.

"Hey Fuhira, you know the first day I saw Aihara he told me that "dark days" were ahead. Do you think this is what he was referring to? I mean his expressions today indicated he didn't know they were gathering the pieces, but you know him better, what do you think?"

He paused for a few seconds before answering "I think those were probably my father's words. He enjoys being cryptic. He probably had a hunch that something was happening and told Aihara, and that's why he came looking for me"

She smiled, "You've never mentioned your father to me before. What was he like?"

Fuhira sighed, "That's a conversation for another day Yagita. Let's go get some food and celebrate your recovery"

She smiled and nodded. As they left the police station, Fuhira spoke again. "Before this whole ordeal with the robbers and the artifact pieces is done, we are going on every case together. You have my back, and I'll have yours"

She smiled again, because she knew Fuhira as someone who took pride in working alone. "Deal", She said.