Yukio's POV

Tick Tock, Tick Tock

Chimes the old clock on the wall of the police department in Tokyo as I glared at the pristine white file that is laid on the glass coffee table in my office, oak-brown eyes narrowing in thought as I read the paper that contains the profile of a murder victim, a human male that is 30 years old, died by a puncture on his neck, and from the profile, that man had messy black hair, dark-brown eyes and was wearing a coat over his formal office attire before his death, trying to figure out who or what had killed that man since no one that I had ever remembered could make a puncture hole on the neck that deep that cause a person to die of severe blood loss, since it is a really cruel way to die. I frowned, glancing at the profile again, nodding to myself as if agreeing to something.

Yeah....it's too cruel for someone to die...especially for someone so young...

Musing to myself, I gazed at the details of the case, trying hard to figure out who had killed the victim so cruelly when I was cut off by a whine from the person who came into my office through the front door.

"Yukio....! My brain is dying here...!" I sighed in annoyance, knowing full well who the person who had distracted me from my work is since I knew that annoying tone of voice from anywhere.

"Can't you just find something else to do instead of staying here with me, looking over the file for the murder case, Jensen?" I asked, seeing my best friend Jensen Prance who is from America, frown, pouting like a little kid that had lost his candy.

"Come on, Yukio, you know very well that I do have something to do, but I'm worried for you. How many days have you take a break?" Jensen asked and I frowned, thinking for a while, not knowing how many days it have been since I had taken a break.

"It doesn't matter." I dismissed Jensen's concern, looking at the ground guiltily, making Jensen turn to me, eyes narrowed in annoyance at my dismissive and guilty behaviour towards my mental health.

"You are coming with me." Jensen said with finality in his voice, dragging me out of the office by the hand, ignoring my cries of protest because he doesn't want me to berate my health any further.

As Jensen and I exited the police department and walked down the streets of Tokyo, we started talking about our childhood, laughing about how silly we were when we were kids. I laughed when Jensen told me about that one time where he had accidently stepped on the hornets' nest and have to run for his life when he was young, around 8 years old, and his shocked reaction when his powers first manifested, killing all of the hornets, and I laughed harder, tears coming out of my eyes. I sobered up when Jensen asked me about the time I had manifested my power, and I looked away from Jensen, perking up when I saw the doughnut shop just in front of me.

"Jensen! Let's go to the doughnut shop!" I yelled out childishly, pulling Jensen with me, making him stumble as we both ran to the doughnut shop despite his protest.

"Hey! Slow down!" Jensen yelped in fright as I pulled him towards the doughnut shop, both of us laughing while panting when we reached there, and I laughed at Jensen's pouting face, feeling a bit better.

"Thanks for making me a fool out of nowhere." Jensen pouted, making me laugh, glancing back at Jensen to see him smiling softly at me for whatever reason that is known to him. After a while, I laughed, grabbing Jensen's hand and pulling him upright, steadying him, and we both walking into the doughnut shop, glancing at the customers in the doughnut shop weirdly when we both saw the customers glancing at us with a knowing look in their eyes.

"Oh come on, we. are. friends!" Jensen and I shouted in embarrassment at the same time, causing everyone in the doughnut shop to laugh, some of them doubling back in laughter because they think that it is just so funny to see Jensen and my pouting faces.

"Alright, let's stop teasing both of them for a while! Seriously kiddos, what makes you come to my humble abode?" A man in his fifties asked, making me smile because I knew who it is.

"Uncle Akira!" I exclaimed with a wide smile, making the man, Akira, laugh, pulling me into a bear hug.

"Hey there kiddo. It's been so long. How have you been?" Akira asked with a smile and I grinned.

"I'm been doing great and oh, I forgot to introduce you to my best friend. This is Jensen. Jensen, this is my adoptive uncle, Akira." I said with a wide smile, introducing Jensen to Akira and vice versa, both of them nodding at each other and smile brightly.

"Thank you for taking care of my nephew. I hope he is not a handful." Akira said with a smile, making Jensen shake his head, smiling at Akira.

"Not at all. To be honest, sometimes he is a handful, especially when he never cares about his health that much, but he is my best friend in the force, so I don't mind at all." Akira laughed at Jensen's response, knowing how true it is since he knows my normal habits that I got from my adoptive dad.

"I know. After all, I'm glad to see him this happy ever since a terrible incident that had happened to him years ago." Akira said with a soft smile at me, who was looking at all the different types of doughnuts in the counter, pondering on which one I should pick, making Jensen frown, wondering what had happened to me so bad that I become this, a stoic young man who overworks.

"Jensen! I found a chocolate doughnut for you!" I shouted in glee, waving a hand in the air and Jensen and Akira nodded, making their way to my side, silently promising that they will talk later about this topic if they were free.

After buying the doughnuts from the shop, a chocolate-glazed one for Jensen and the mint-glazed one for me, we both left the doughnut shop, snacking on our doughnuts as we continued to stroll down the streets. Both of us were smiling softly at how the streets seemed to be so lively although there were news about randomized attacks, feeling glad that we did our best to protect our district, Shibuya district. As we strolled leisurely down the busy streets of the Shibuya crossing, we came across a young boy who was selling newspapers near the junction, and I felt my heart ache at seeing how similar the boy's situation look because it is like my own before my adoptive father, Sergent , adopted me, before he had died in his line of duty 12 years ago when I was in my final year of high school. Jensen became quiet upon seeing my heartbroken expression, feeling me tense when he gently placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Are you okay?" Jensen asked softly, his voice full of concern for me, and I nodded, glancing at the young boy with softness in my gaze, my eyes filled with sympathy at the situation of the young boy, knowing how it felt like, how working as a young kid feels like. I strolled towards the young boy, seeing the young boy smiling brightly at me, waving the newspaper in front of me.

"Oh sir! Only five yen for a retrospective of the Hinamura Tragedy!" The young boy greeted me, and my expression softened at the dedication of the young boy to sell the newspaper. I gave the young boy five yes, smiling softly at the young boy.

"Here you go, five yen." I said softly, seeing the light shining in the young boy's eyes at seeing the five yen, causing the young boy to smile brightly in boyish innocence and gratitude as he shakily accept the five yen.

"Thank you so much sir!" I gave a small smile at the young boy, patting the young boy's head gently, trying to show my care towards the young boy.

You're welcome. This is what people should do." I whispered softly and gave one last soft smile at the boy before I left, leaving the young boy standing there, waving goodbye to me with gratitude. I quickly wiped the tears off my eyes and glanced at the newspaper, sighing as I felt a deep sense of sadness and longing showing as I glanced at the black and white photograph of Sergent Hiro Miyamata, the obituary filling the front page of the newspaper, showing me how people still care about him. Jensen glanced worriedly at me, knowing that I was silently hurting when people talked about the tragedy although he didn't know why I felt this way.

"Yukio..." Jensen whispered softly, wishing deep in his heart that he could help me but he knew that there is nothing that he could help me with. As both Jensen and I stood there in a trance, a sudden high-pitched scream woke us from our reverie.

"Yukio!" Jensen shouted, nodding firmly at me and I nodded back, my expression determined and firm, and Jensen and I quickly checked our police IDs and our loaded handgun, and we nodded at each other determinedly, running towards the direction of the noise, determined to find the reason behind the terrified, high-pitched scream.

Heyo guys! So about the five yen part, it is actually to give tribute to the first episode of Purple Hyacinth by Ephemerys and the awesome Sophism. Go and check this webtoon and although the webtoon series is not finished, I assure you guys that it will be an emotional rollercoaster ride. Side note, dun dun dun! I wonder what will happen next. Let's find out in the next chapter shall we? See you guys at the next chapter then. Bye!

XDXD

Sakuya Hana