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Heart of Bokuto

It is a general notion that anything that is not composed of living cells is considered dead and therefore could only be influenced by more 'intelligent' life forms. A building, for instance, is just a man-made contraption made just for the convenience of common folk. So does a certain Bokuto Police Station located somewhere in Japan.

Everybody knows that.

What we don't know is that after bearing witness to everyday dramas for so long, even bricks and wood began to shape life upon themselves. This story is about the life of that particular station mentioned above. Deciding that life could always use a little bit more ups and downs, Bokuto began to pull on the strings of destiny itself.

Chapter 1: Anti-typicalism

The morning sun bathes the station in the light of glory. Passerby's would often stop and bask in a certain esthetical beauty that the station has every bright morning. Some say it's the design. Some say it's the paint. Some even said it's the angle of the windows creating a big prism.

However, peace was never lasting in that place. A certain terror beckons at a terrifying speed, causing the birds to scatter in the monster's path. Its high-pitched scream struck fear upon the hearts on innocents.

"Arrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! I 'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!…"

Tsujimoto Natsumi late for work, need I say, again? Perhaps 300 times more and it won't be such an understatement.

If buildings could sigh, it just did.

Even with the hangover making such a ding inside her head, Natsumi has the daily routine plastered on the back of her mind. With that, the time for her to rush to the changing room, slap on her uniform, and reporting for duty while chewing on toast could only be measured in milliseconds. Following soon after was a distinctive hell-pitch as a certain officer braved all odds to get to her office in time.

"Natsumi reporting for…"

"point-eight seconds…exactly point-eight seconds on the dot…sometimes I wonder if you watched too much Matrix or something. Well then, next time try not to break any sound barriers, OK?'

"Roger, Kachou!"

Giving herself a sharp pat on the chest to push down her remaining breakfast, Natsumi walked over to her desk. Ignoring the fact that most of her colleagues were still recovering from the distortion of the sound barrier a while ago, she noticed a familiar stick-them-up note with a even more familiar handwriting on it, albeit only one word was written on it: "Garage".

Once again wonder-woman was off, tearing another void in the sound barrier. Kachou felt it is about time he posted a notice for earplugs to be worn everytime Tsujimoto is not at the office by 8.00.00 am sharp.

Bokuto began to regret having such few soundproof rooms. Its walls still held intact thanks to the high-quality-anti-terrosist-anti-shock-plus-anti-Natsumi-sound-barrier-breaker-attack material it was made of. Good old US technolo… oopppss… nearly got the secret out. Grateful that at least she is going to be outdoors for another 3 hours or so, Bokuto continued its silent vigil of the lives of our endeared cops.

* A few minutes later*

Natsumi approached her destination in a relaxed manner. Miss blunder-head there had forgotten about the time and situation when the postman arrived with an object of her desire-other-than-food. A postcard from one Tokairin Shoji made her day seem a little brighter. Her hangover status effect cured by a piece of cardboard, she resumed her vibrant mode as she went on a mental, romantic vacation with "Shoji-kun".

"Oh Shoji-kun, please hold me tigtly and…"

However, she failed to see the lamppost in front of her path…

As for her waiting partner…

A woman officer in her twenties sporting a lovely long braid continued to wait patiently for her co-officer to arrive. After ten or so minutes of idle fidgeting, she decided to give her patrol vehicle some shine and polish it deserved. Of course, her heavily modified Honda, codenamed 'Today', meant the world to her. If she could, she would have brought it home, bath with it, have meals with it, sleep with it, and… well lets not go any futher as so much to pollute the minds of our dear readers.

"Kobayakawa, are you there?" A timid voice of a male officer resounded in the ears of the fore-mentioned female officer. Usual colleagues would not have warranted such a sharp response from Miss Kobayakawa there, who instantly stood straight up and turned 180 to face her visitor. A clash of heads ensured as both officers collided with each other face-first.

"Ouch, that hurts…"

"Sumimasen, I…uh…got my mind elsewhere…and…not looking…er…hahaha!!"

"Yeah, me too. He he…"

It was then that a sudden realization hit them square on the face. They were in embracing distance, like in the movies where the hero starts to kiss his beloved. In this case, both recoiled two steps away from each other. Blushing like two swollen tomatoes, they were speechless for a few heartbeat-audible-while-avoiding-the-gaze-of-each-other moments. Regaining her composure, Kobayakawa Miyuki broke the silence with a slight cough and focused her attention to Nakajima Ken, her "colleague".

"So, what did you want to ask me just now?"

"Kobayakawa, I was wondering perhaps…uh…maybe…uh…hopefully…that…you…are…freetogowithmeandwatchthelatestmoviedebutingtonight !! Whewww!!"

"Nakajima-kun, slow down. I can't make out what you're saying. I think you mentioned 'movie' in that last phrase. Are you inviting me to… accompany you?"

Nakajima Ken, the 'White Hawk of Bokuto' could only nod his head as words became impossible when facing the goddess of his life, Kobayakawa Miyuki. He wished that his courage would beat the snoot out of the shyness within him. He couldn't and felt like the biggest loser on the planet. Hell, he'll be in the Japan Book of Records for the 'biggest wimp' category if it was there in the first place. Even while pondering all those thoughts, he heard a single, beautiful word coming the goddess facing him…

"Ok !"

"YAAAAADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Ken was soon all over the station. Congratulating his colleagues who could pretty much guess where the source of his sudden joy came from, Nakajima headed to the rooftop and slumped on the tile floor. He thanked the Fates for being so generous to him.

Bokuto couldn't help but to be happy for this certain officer. After all, he finally managed to ask the woman of his dreams out on a date. Well, even it was really done badly done but still things would hopefully change for the better. Love is after all a game where it is how the game plays them rather than the other way around. Another successful love story always made another nice addition to its large database of memories.

Wait…it seemed to notice a certain policewoman sprawled out on the concrete floor. A closer look and Bokuto could see Natsumi out cold. A nearby lamppost was bent in a particular shape of someone trying to hug it a little too tightly…<sweatdrop> It can't take any direct action but nevertheless it was determined to get someone to notice her. Hmmm…

[ Traffic Control Department Office ]

Nikaido, Nikaido Yoriko. One of most well-informed officer in the station, was busy with her usual 'paperwork'. There is nothing which she had never heard about or played a part in. Be it the usual gossip to the most complicated love affair, Yoriko always manages to poke her nose into everyting. She suddenly felt that the room temperature had suddenly shot up by 10 degrees.

"What is wrong with the air-conditioning system of this hot-house?" She blurted out without much thought. Everyone gave her a funny stare but couldn't help feeling the same heat overcoming their sense of thinking as well.

"Aoi-chan, could you please open the windows near there? I'm too tired from the heat to function normally."

Hearing this, an officer with a figure-to-die-for stood up and proceeded to the windows in a seductive way. All the male officers save Kachou was suddenly mesmerized by 'her' enthralling cat-walk.

Before anyone could start to ogle, a grave realization hit them like chain-lightning. 'She' is Aoi Futaba, undercover cop extraordinaire. 'She' is also actually a 'he' from birth. Well, she does possess a certain charm going to work everyday in that sexy get-up. Kachou was not influenced because he learnt the hard way which made the whole station crazy with laughter. Fortunately that was around 3 months back. Let bygones be bygones.

Anyway, back to the alluring Aoi. Opening the window, she suddenly got the strangest foresight to look below. Lo and behold, there lays Officer Tsujimoto who is still unconscious from her previous 'encounter'.

"Everybody, Natsumi has passed out on the walkway below! Somebody get her some medical attention, now!"

And before you could say "Zapper", the office was empty. In a jiffy everybody crowded around the lifeless figure. Some even took memorial shots of the day that wonder-woman knocked herself out. Of course the funnily bent lamppost got a lot of attention as well. The important evidence was the postcard from Senior Officer Tokairin.

"Ahem, everybody give the poor lass some room! She still needs air you know! Everybody back to their desks at once or there will 'overtime' tonight!"

At the mention of the accursed word, everybody scrambled back to the their desks. No punishment was as cruel as 'overtime'. The session where Kachou would drill each and everyone of them about their personal habits, interests, hobbies, love life, etc. Even bonus cuts seem like child's play compared to this 'torture'.

"Well, well, looks my partner will have quite a lot to hear from me" Miyuki approached the scene of incident. Strangely some sort of intuition directed her to Natsumi.

"Ah, Kobayakawa. Good to see you. Let's get your sidekick out of the sideway. She does weight quite a lot more than she looks. And you over there, get someone to fix this lamppost pronto!"

[Medical Room, much much later]

Natsumi opened her eyes slowly. Wondering she was, she looked at her hand to find that the current most important object to her was missing. For a brief moment, panic surged through her mind before a numbing pain sets in. She cowers her head to lessen the effect of the pain, not noticing someone at the doorway.

"Natsumi, you shoudn't be moving around too much. I believe the doctor said you got quite a bump. Maybe this was the culprit."

Miyuki handed her the postcard from Shoji. Nastumi held onto it lovingly. Looking at her love-stricken partner, Miyuki couldn't help but sigh. But at least she is still the Natsumi she knew and had grown fond of. Her love for Tokairin is just as strong as her love for…a certain "White-hawk of Bokuto". This got her into thinking about their relationship so far. Well at least he could speak to me normally at a respectable distance and even ventures as far as to invite her to a movie.

Slapping her forehead, Miyuki had just remembered, or rather, forgotten to ask Ken what time is the movie. Her watch tells her it is now exactly 5.03 pm.

"Nee, Miyuki, I see that you have other plans later. Well, I'll be fine here. Maybe I'll ask Kachou or Yoriko to drive me back when the aching stops. Until then, maybe I'll get a little nap <Yawwwwwnnn>. See you back at the apartment."

Cowering her partner with a blanket, Miyuki sets off to find her date for tonight. Meanwhile, it is time for a little 'Bokuto Magic' as images of Tokairin entered Natsumi's dreams. A slight curve formed on Natsumi's lips. Suddenly, she sat up and… "HAHAHA heeee…" Her eyes still closed. She slumped back to bed with a contented look on her face. <sweatdrop>

[Traffic Control Department Office, meanwhile]

Miyuki scanned the room before her. No sign of the man she wanted to see. So engrossed she was in her search that she didn't notice Yoriko, with her spectacles gleaming, slowly creeping behind her.

"BOO!!"

A startled Miyuki jumped and ran forward. In the process, she banged onto Aoi. The crash got everyone's attention. Kachou cleared his throat and told Miyuki that Ken would be picking her up at seven. All the wooing that ensured was enough to make Miyuki blush a slight pink.

"You lucky girl, I think that Kenny-chan is going to propose tonight. Minna! How about a wager?" Yoriko was at her usual antics again, grinning, spectacles gleaming.

Everyone was excited and crowded around Yoriko, placing their respective bets on how far the 'couple' would go tonight. A tomato-faced Miyuki could do nothing but watch Yoriko chalked up the various 'possibilities' while Aoi was appointed Treasurer. Kachou placed one hand on Miyuki's shoulder.

"Kobayakawa, it gives me great pride to see two of my subordinates finally getting to enjoy life as a normal couple. Think of the consequences first before 'doing' anything OK? Here, perhaps you might need this."

Placing a… safety device thingy on Miyuki's hand, Kachou gave her a final pat on the back. "Ganbaru-zo!!"

A now furious Miyuki left the station in such a huff, that everyone mistook her as wonder-woman. Their eardrums told them that they could not take anymore breaks-in-the-sound-barrier and stay in one piece.

Bokuto didn't know whether to laugh or to sigh. Sighing because it has hard for anyone to get some privacy with people like Yoriko lingering around. On the other hand, the wager on the date was beginning to get more 'interesting'. Displayed on the chalkboard:

KISS : 5000 Yen
'I Love You' : 26900 Yen
'I Like You' : 31020 Yen
EMBRACE : 3700 Yen
COFFEE(^_*) : 100 Yen
HOLD HANDS : 2300 Yen

For some strange reason, she wondered who asked for the COFFEE bet .No one seemed to notice as they were all occupied with decision-making. Aoi reported that the money seemed to have flown in by itself and all she remembered was some voice asking her to place that particular bet.

Everybody suddenly felt very cold with his or her own conclusions. A common decision was to get their money back and cancel the wager thing. Maybe some spirit is hell-bent on protecting the couple or something. Nobody really knows but doesn't want to find out either.

Bokuto smiled inwardly. Now at least the two shy lovebirds can enjoy the evening all by themselves without any third party ruining the outing. It didn't know why it did all those things for them. Maybe it was getting lonely. Nah, what differences will it make between a day and a decade. It is always by itself, feeling the cogs of life pulling it along on a destiny that it can't even begin to understand. At least it is satisfied it had done some good and made two people happier. Well, that's quite enough intervention for one day. With that, it chose just to keep watch once more.

[Miyuki & Natsumi's Apartment]

Slamming the door behind her, Miyuki proceeded to the shower. The clock struck once, indicating that she has another 30 minutes to freshen up. She was determined to look her best for their first date. 'OK calm down, take deep and slow breaths' .In 7 minutes flat she had finished washing herself and got herself dry in another 3 minutes.

When looking for something suitable to wear, Miyuki had a hard choice to make. Something that was presentable, not too daring but not too dull at the same time. Finally, she chose her ancient prom dress, which was last worn many, many moons ago. Altogether it took her 18 minutes just to choose the dress and battling herself to get it on her. She was too stubborn to admit that her dress size had certainly gone up since 'those' days.

Miraculously, she got her make-up and hair done in exactly 1 minute and 45.5 seconds. Putting on the finishing touches and grabbing her handbag, Miyuki stood at the doorway, just in time to hear the ring of the doorbell. Nakajima was amazed by the speed his call was responded to. Before him, his love-interest was all dolled up and ready to go.

"Good evening. Wow, you look… stunning, Kobayakawa."

"Same to you, and we don't have to be so professional on such occasions. Right, Ken?"

"Of course, Kobaya…er… Miyuki." <blush>

"Whenever you're ready…" <blush>

"Ja, iku-ka?"

"Hai."

[To Be Continued]

A/N:

1) Well, this is a debut fic so be gentle OK?

2) "Bokuto" refers to the fictional character of the police station created by the author. It's true nature shall be revealed in time to come, matte-yo! Of course I won't claim ownership of the character so feel free to use it!

3) The author apologizes for any spelling mistakes above and certainly appreciates any form of correction. Also, since the author is from Asia, the author can't really differentiate between American and British words.

4) The author also welcomes all sorts of comments. Bad or good. But please don't bomb the server. Koko desu : xm_lee@yahoo.com

5) Finally, the author hopes that the next installment won't take that long. Well, it's about Ken and Miyuki's date as well as a certain reunion of souls. Find out who!


Chapters -

Author's email - xm_lee@yahoo.com

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