9 Grew backbone after seeing a guy?

Minami Sei stares at her. It's been nearly 7 years. After they finished the training at the academy, they went in different directions. He hasn't expected to see her here like this.

She doesn't look like the wimpy girl. She has her back straight. Her hair is shorter. She has grown a bit taller too. Her beautiful amber eyes can suck anyone's soul into them. One thing remains the same. She's still wearing gloves.

Once a star detective, he met his downfall. They transferred him here -- the most dead division in this city.

"You are here." Nishimura Soichiro glances at the man who is frozen at the door. "Do you need help? Nakashima, go get a wheelchair for him. It looks like he can't walk."

Nakashima Wakana turns her gaze away from him and looks at her boss. "Do we have a wheelchair here?"

"Do you see one?" Nishimura snaps at her. "Not fluent in sarcasm, are you?"

"I am plenty of fluent, Sir. But you are my boss." Nakashima Wakana replies rather calmly. In front of Minami Sei, she doesn't want to show her weak side.

"Grew backbone after seeing a guy?" Nishimura cackles. "Youngbloods!"

Seeing their exchange, Minami Sei comes to Nishimura Soichiro. "Minami Sei, reporting."

"Minami, don't be so polite. You are a guest. I can't tell how long you will stay here before you make your way up again." Nishimura tells him with an amused voice, "Pick any case from the pile and pretend to work on it until the superiors are satisfied. If you behave, they will send you to a better division soon."

Wakana gets the meaning. She shows a tight-lipped smile to Minami Sei, hiding any recognization in her eyes. She gives him a slight bow. "I am Nakashima Wakana."

She's pretending to not know him. Minami Sei furrows his brows slightly, not saying anything to her.

"This rookie will work with you." Nishimura leans back on the chair and waves his hand. "Don't come to me unless you find a new lead."

Sei picks up the first case and scans the first few pages before he walks out of the basement. Wakana hesitates. Should she follow him? This is too awkward for her.

"What are you doing?" Nishimura asks her with an irritated voice. "Go and keep an eye on him."

"Yes, I will." Wakana runs out of the basement. She finds Sei climbing the stairs. "Where are you going, Minami San?"

"You don't need to be overly polite." He stops and turns around. "We are the same age. You already know it."

She grins and scratches the back of her neck. "Ah, yes! Sorry about that, Minami Kun."

He watches her intently. "Ate lunch?"

It's not even lunchtime. She lies through her teeth. "I ate, Minami Kun. Thank you for asking."

"I haven't." He says as he climbs up the stairs, "I am going out to eat. You are welcome if you want to work on this case."

Why is he being this way? She doesn't want to be close to this guy.

Maybe that old man was lying. There's no red guest. It was just a nightmare. She became a rookie for nothing.

***

[Case: The Phantom Artist]

Wakana reread the name of the case. The phantom artist?

"You haven't heard of him?" Minami Sei unwraps the paper on the sandwich. "It was quite popular when I was 7."

That's 18 years ago. They met when they were 11.

"I didn't like listening to the news," She replies with a small voice. It's awkward talking to him normally for the first time. They have only talked twice before meeting again. "What is this about?"

"12 victims were raped at their homes and then, mutilated their clitoris." Sei notices that her face is turning white. He continues with the gory details, "Then, he used the blood to make a painting on the floor. He would lay down the victim on the painting and leave. The most interesting part is that the door and the windows are always locked from inside. They couldn't collect any DNA from the victim's body. There are no fingerprints. At first, they thought that the women were doing it to themselves. But the number of victims kept increasing within a week. There were suspects, but they had no evidence."

Mutilating clitoris? She can't imagine how painful it must have been. He takes a bite of the sandwich. Wakana blinks at him. How's he eating after...? Never mind.

"The victims... are they dead?"

He shakes his head and swallows the food inside his mouth. "They were interviewed plenty of times. They had no connection with each other. The youngest one is currently 32 and the oldest one is 68. It's hard to say why they were chosen by the culprit."

Wakana's throat is parched. She takes a sip of the juice. "You know a lot about this case."

He shrugs. He looks at her untouched sandwich. "Why aren't you eating?"

"I am on a diet." She lies again. The guy went ahead and ordered two chicken sandwiches. She can't eat it unless she wants to find out how the chicken died. "You eat it if you are hungry."

He scans her and clicks his tongue. "You are already thin. How much do you want to lose? You have to work if you are with me."

With him? He talks to her as if they are good friends.

"That's my problem, isn't?" She eyes the names and age of the victims. There are addresses of the place where it happened. Does she have to go to those places? If those places have a strong traumatic memory, she might end up seeing something again that she shouldn't see.

"It's also my problem since we are colleagues from now on." She hears him say. "We will be visiting each apartment today. So, you better fill your stomach."

Damn!