Questioning

The other members of group one followed suit of Yuki's example and swiftly broke free from the zip ties that bound their arms behind their backs.

They went on to complete the challenge that, at first, seemed somewhat easy, but after blunt realization, they came to the fact that they couldn't always rely on teammates, that in the field, if teammates weren't there, you can only depend on yourself.

Your own capabilities will get you much farther in this world than relying on the capabilities of others, that being said, there are still some agents who thrive on the assistance of the team rather than what some would call solo work.

That trial was the first of many for group one.

Other assignments were given to them throughout the next few weeks, such as traffic and even helping with active petty crimes.

They've come to realize the chemistry they had together as a group, that being said, Anastasia still remained silent almost all the time throughout this entire process.

The highlight of this two week time of assistance was actively stopping a robbery within a jewelry store, which contained a pursuit and arrest of the suspect.

These assignments became somewhat trivial after some time, that is until something much more sinister happened within Star City.

The loud sound of banging within the night awoke Yuki.

It sounded like something similar to a jump scare within horror movies, good thing Yuki doesn't dream much as of lately, there's only been so much on his mind.

"What the hell is that…" Yuki thought.

"Yuki, it's me!" someone shouted through the door, it was obvious that it was Alex on the other side.

It took quite some time for Yuki to get out of bed and answer the door, who wouldn't act grudgingly slow being awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of fireworks exploding in the walls.

Alex was dressed within his IJA jacket that was given to everyone within group one.

"What is it…"

"Martin told me to get everyone up and to the station immediately."

"Martin?"

"The proctor, that's his name."

"Mhmm…" Yuki groaned, his only desire was to lay on a soft pillow, but he knew that was impossible right now.

It didn't take long for Yuki to get dressed and head out with Alex and the others to the police station, where they met Martin outside.

They still were clearly tired, and clueless as to what was so important that they had to be woken up in the middle of the night.

"Alright, I have to take you everywhere I go and I have to go to a crime scene, so we're all going together." Martin said, this wasn't something he felt necessary, but this was part of their training, he had to keep these kids closer to him than his pistol for the month.

"Crime scene? It's 3 o'clock in the morning…" Yuki groaned, still with the harsh effects of fatigue.

"Crime doesn't stop whenever we want it to." Martin replied.

"Well, what is it exactly?" Kaso asked.

"It has to be a burglary or maybe an assault or something." Olivia said.

"No—Someone is dead." Martin replied.

The news shocks the students of group one, they didn't know how to respond.

The very thought of this, this seemed surreal to them, as if the month had suddenly taken a harsh transition.

What are they supposed to do, they're not agents, they're just youths. This seemed like something professionals should take care of, not them.

"Is the killer apprehended?" Anastasia asked, she was the only member of group one who hadn't swallowed their tongue hearing the news.

"Good question, but no, so let's all just go and see what happened."

The youths, along with Martin, headed off to the crime scene that awaited them.

Every motion that the car made turned the stomachs of the group into a spin cycle, what are they supposed to do?

All of them would rather be in bed awaiting the next traffic job for tomorrow rather than be within a car heading straight to a crime scene.

The ride felt as if it lasted hours, even though the crime scene was merely a couple of blocks from the police station.

They eventually arrived, and followed Martin to the crime scene like dogs trekking into unknown territories, staying close to their guide.

Martin approached an old cop who was beginning to light a cigarette, but was halted by Martin's words.

"What happened here?"

"Martin… you're gonna have to see for yourself." the cop looked sick, as if the cigarette in his mouth, the mere taste of tobacco, was the only thing stopping him from hurling his dinner onto the pavement.

"What the hell happened, I haven't seen him like this since I was a rookie on the job, what the hell did he see?" Martin thought, then ducked under the yellow tape into the scene, the youths stuck close to him stronger than adhesive.

A female cop approached Martin, a much younger one this time.

"Martin, who let these kids here?"

"They're with me, they're from the IJA."

"Oh, well, we got a witness over there, and the body is deeper in the alley."

"I'll question the witness—better yet—Yuki and Ana, can you question the witness—Kaso and Olivia, you two should see if there is anyone else who saw what happened here—Alex and Vivian, you two are with me." Martin said, his demeanor never changes much, as if he grew accustomed to seeing the sins of man, his eyes forever tainted with blood.

"Let's go." Anastasia said to Yuki.

Yuki is surprised that Anastasia isn't fazed at all about what they're going through.

Yuki knew this wasn't just an ordinary assignment, this was much more serious than that, but Anastasia had the same approach to it as she did with all the other assignments they went on the past few weeks.

Anastasia and Yuki head to the sole witness identified before their arrival at the crime scene.

The witness was clearly distressed from whatever he saw, he couldn't stop shaking as he leaned against the side of the building just outside the alley.

Yuki had never seen someone so broken as the man in front of him, someone who witnessed so much horror that he shattered like glass.

"Did… did you guys catch him already?..." The witness asked, his voice was pierced through with some sort of shiver, as if he was just within a blizzard.

"No, but we need to know exactly what you saw." Anastasia said, her bluntness was stronger than iron.

"I… I don't really know…"

"Sir, if you're withholding information, that is a criminal offense."

"What?!—excuse us for a moment, sir." Yuki interrupted.

Yuki grabbed Anastasia's shoulder and moved about two steps away from the witness.

Yuki's action caught Anastasia by surprise, why did he feel the need for privacy, and why did he feel it was necessary to lay his hands on her?

She couldn't understand, but was a bit irritated that his hands never left her forearm.

"You can't just antagonize him like that, clearly he saw something, but he's in shock right now." Yuki said.

Anastasia completely ignored Yuki's words, now focusing on why Yuki's hand remained on her forearm.

"Ana?" Yuki said, wondering why she seemed lost right now.

"Ok, let's try something new then." Anastasia replied.

They swiftly approached the witness for a second time, clearly both of them weren't experienced at something like this that was much more complex than it seemed.

"Um—sir, could you tell us exactly what you saw?" Yuki asked.

"Um… I was here earlier in the night… that's when I heard screaming… so…" the witness began to tear up a bit, but continued his thought "so… when I looked where it was coming from… I saw…" the witness began to tremble more, as if a tremor was happening just beneath his pores "I saw… I saw this guy... there was so much blood…"

"It's going to be ok, sir, you're safe now." Yuki replied, trying to give comfort to the witness who will never heal from this day, he can try and glue back the pieces but it will never look how it once was before tonight.

"Sir, is that all you saw, why do I get the feeling that you're not telling us everything." Anastasia said, confusing the witness in the process.

"Hey…" Yuki grabbed Anastasia as he said this, and took her to the side as he did before.

"He did it again…" Ana thought, not really sure whether Yuki is a threat or he simply doesn't know what personal space is.

"We got what we needed, we'll get more when he calms down, but for now let's report to Martin." Yuki insisted.

"Did I do something wrong?" Anastasia asked.

"Um... no, but we should have enough…" Yuki said, then thought "Wow... she's not the best with people..."