Chapter 2 : Unfaltering Devotion

Only the sound of light breathing could be heard after this announcement. A look of shock painted on Mika's face.

A long minute passed before anyone uttered anything.

"..."

"..."

"Noa...I appreciate your passion for our agency. It's wonderful to see you reaching above once again"

Mika slowly sat down in her chair and gestured for Noa to do the same.

"I remember when we first found you outside our office, begging for a job, " Mika silently laughed. "We took you in considering at the time, we were pretty successful, with cases left and right. We could always use an extra hand in managing things.

"Can you imagine that was only a year and a half ago? And in the matter of 6 months you managed to climb your way up the ranks, becoming one of the most trusted and talented detectives, solving numerous cases that had many of us stumped.

"However, when we had our downfall, everyone was in shock and panic. But we did our best to pick up the broken pieces and tried to reform it into what it once was. I know you're a clever girl, there was no hiding you already knew this agency was destined for doom. The others might suspect the same. I mean, have you seen them? They're completely drained, " Mika sighed, her hands holding up her exhausted face.

Noa kept her silence when it was needed. This was one of those occasions.

"Noa, " Mika looked up to read Noa's face expressions.

"Do you even..." Mika's eyes diverted for a second before continuing.

"...Have any hope of this task succeeding?"

"I don't...know"

...

A city filled with decorations announcing the start of a new year. Empty bottles of alcohol, confetti, dropped jewelry and other items litter the ground which someone will have to inevitably pick up. In the populated areas, running into wasted partiers, especially men, wasn't all that surprising. However, the one thing that was, was the damage this has caused other people. Anywhere from robbery to murder. For authorities, this was a stressful time, cases piled up high and having to work overtime with no extra pay. This is the true holiday season, that the experienced dread.

It was already the crack of dawn and a ruckus has already started in the detective agency.

"Hey! What's your-" a shout was cut off by a woman's voice: "Can you both shut up?? I'm in the middle of a case involving the murder of a child!"

The office stilled all at once.

"Have some decency and do your work."

Both Vik and Zach gave each other a side look. Bad move. The moment their eyes landed on their scolded expressions, they both almost burst out laughing. Enough to forget the fight moments before.

The truth was, Vik and Zach fighting was a daily routine. But aside from that, they could be called best friends. They did everything together, gossiping, making fellow coworkers' ears bleed from their screeching and disrupting jokes. Still, no matter how annoying and disliked they may be, no one could actually hate them. Their personalities were a fresh breath of air in this field of work. Imagine having to look over different crimes that are too gruesome to name routinely? That's why being a parasite might be a good thing in this case.

However, their loud personalities only come to exist if they're in close proximity to one another.

If Vik and Zach are separated, Vik could be a considered a very stern man. Holding an expression of indifference on his features no matter the scenario. Many people have confused it before for sadness, loneliness or emptiness from this line of work or some traumatic experience. No one would be surprised if that really were the case. But the actuality is a lot more stale.

It is just his way of viewing life. There's no other reason.

That's what his co-workers would say. It's what he has been like from day one, so that's all they would know. Vik is not someone to go on and on about his past, but considering how he's this stable, there couldn't be anything more to him.

Zach doesn't stray from his Vik personality too much when alone. But of course, it still has some reservations in certain cases.

The one woman to scolded the two nut-jobs is a dedicated detective, by the name of Hernes. She's one of the founders of this agency, along with the director - Mika.

The both of them founded this detective agency for the sake of their ideals and one common goal.

Those four were the most reliable of the detectives here. There are others, however they come and go like flies, completely unable to hold up a job for longer than 3 months.

Many found themselves worn out, not expecting a detectives job to be so unlike the movies. Most commonly, these people thought they would be out looking for clues and going undercover to some secret hideouts, planning a drug-bust.

But the boring truth slapped them in the face. What really happens most of the time is a whole bunch of paperwork. How exciting.

For appearances, Vik often rocked a crazy hair-do. Bleached monthly, spiked up to form some sort of anime protagonist hairstyle. His clothes are still kept somewhat professional. There's a tie at least, but his button-up shirt is always untucked and a few of the last and upper buttons undone. A few loose belts hanging on his waist. Even though his co-workers have commented how unprofessional that is, he refuses to change it. He claims clothes don't defy his value as a worker. And his decision was supported by Hernes. So to avoid fights, it was collectively decided to be ignored.

Zach is a lot more tame. He kept his dark hair color (he wanted to dye it a more light color) solely to not damage his curly hair. He prefers wearing suits, since he believes it gives him more seniority among others and they would take him more seriously. But no matter how professional he may look with his suit, whenever he opened his mouth, that air of intimidation others perceived flies out the window.

Moving along from those two, Hernes could be seen wearing may cardigans, sweaters with dark brown hair she wears in two buns. She makes all the clothes herself, with the help of her glasses. She doesn't wear her glasses often apart from that, but during long work sessions - it's necessary. At one point, Mika tried to persuade her to wear a uniform at the start of their agency, however she used her title of founder as an excuse to make her own decisions. They argued for a very long time about it, debating the professionalism of this agency if she was seen wearing 'ugly grandma sweaters'. This small issue was almost enough to make them part ways.

And lastly, Mika. She has always preferred to look professional in the eyes of others, she has blonde hair, mid-length and wears it in a low ponytail. She thought her outer self could redeem her inside. No one who isn't in the agency could guess that she is a very introverted and shy person, despite being the director of this agency. Out of everyone, she exhausts herself the most. Vik and Zach often wonder why she tries to hard.

When everyone had simmered down and returned to their work, a banging sound made them quickly lose their concentration and Zach even blurted out a 'fuck'. All of their gazes were at the office door in an instant, a chilling feeling crawling up their spines.

After a moment the banging continued.

Hernes was the first to make a move to investigate. Slowly, she approached the now silent office's door and looked through the peep hole.

She let out a sigh of relief.

Vik and Zach gave each other a side look and right before they asked who it was, Hernes answered for them:

"It's a girl."

"Then what are you waiting for! Open it!" Zach yelled.

Hernes shushed them angerly.

"Shh! Mika is working. " after a moment she continued speaking:

"It's a little suspicious...Don't you think?"

"Are you serious...." Vik face palmed. "What could a small little girl do?"

"I don't know!"

During their debate, Mika's office door opened to reveal a very exhausted looking Mika. Everyone knew she stayed up last night from the abundance of the New Year's festival cases.

A look of failure was on everyone's faces, knowing they disturbed Mika. It was like an unspoken rule to quiet down when she pulls all-nighters.

While everyone was distracted in their minds, Mika walked past them to the door and before anyone could even realize it - the door was already open.

Mika reached out a hand out to the confused looking girl and pulled her inside.

When everyone got a clear look at her, they were speechless.

While the girl's appearance at first glance could be considered that of a young teens, after a thorough look...She was definitely a woman, not a small girl!

What had them confused was her body and clothes. The woman was very underweight, struggling to even walk. So her body proportions seemed like that of a girls. And her oversized, sheer-looking clothes weren't helping. And it was in the middle of winter!

After seeing her in barely any clothes, Vik and Zach both shot Hernes a dirty look. *How could she not open the door right away??*

The mystery woman lifted up her face and gave every single person a look.

Before swaying from side to side and passing out...Luckily Mika was still holding her hand, otherwise the woman would've cracked her head open if she managed to hit her head on the floor.

Everyone rushed to help her to lay down on one of the office sofas.

"Mika, why did you let her in.."

Mika only glanced in Hernes' direction for a second, before setting her eyes back onto the sleeping woman.

"Didn't you do the same for me?"

...