𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 ⁚ 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 ❮ 𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗔 ❯

1-1

Amidst the beauty of the city and snowy weather to the hectic attempt to arrive at his destination, something was being found out that was about to wreak havoc on the lives of not only the Saishu agency but a few individuals in Tokyo as well.

「⚝」

Saihara had somehow managed to break a sweat despite the bitterly cold weather that had enveloped him outside before he arrived, the narrow two-story building faded by the absence of the sun in the sky. There was no doubt the sky would be at least somewhat clearer come tomorrow and the roads would be busy again, but for now, the entire city had become lackluster from that. But that didn't mean anything to the male, who considered this just another business day as he opened the door, fingertips pinkened even more as the cool metal pressed against his bare hands.

He was immediately met by Chen Asami, an older woman who worked the front desk. She usually oversaw things such as paperwork and phone calls from numerous individuals in the area who were hoping to file something under investigation. She was quite a nice lady as well, having made it her own idea to set out a bowl of mints and other assorted goodies. Sometimes they would have younger children come inside who had managed to get away from their parents without meaning to, so it helped calm them down while others were able to get a hold of the child's parents. Chen was quite good at calming down kids, actually, always crediting her familiarity with her own kids and grandkids. She was an angel to talk to.

Due to the shortage of time to talk to her at the moment, Saihara had to make it quick, giving her a quick "good morning" which she gleefully returned. He was reminded that the meeting was about to start any minute, nodding. The air was as tense as it had been for the past few weeks, however. The smiles were tight and there were bags under both of their eyes. It was the one-month anniversary. It had been one month since it happened, and no evidence had even turned up to help with the case. They were stumped.

Saihara quickly slipped into his private office, one of the only individuals to hold residence on the first floor. Since the size was compressed slightly by the main area, most of the others worked upstairs alongside the business rooms and meeting area. There was a corkboard on the wall beside his personal computer, which was laced with numerous pictures of his most recent case. The case he had been assigned less than one month ago after proposing he take the case. He wasn't the only one, though. They had one more individual here working on it, as well as a few individuals in Tokyo. Most people had suggested that they might never be able to solve it considering how little had emerged regarding evidence, but he couldn't lose like this. They still had some great detectives on this case, so there was no way they could lose.

He set his paperwork on the desk, plucking the few papers he needed for the meeting as well as a few he had left here overnight. He hadn't wanted to bring everything home last night, but at the same time, he really had been hoping that he could work longer on this case. The most fundamental part of a missing person's case was the first seventy-two hours, and they weren't in that regimen anymore. As far as they knew, they'd find a body any moment now, but they couldn't risk that. They couldn't risk anything happening to someone this close to them.

With all of his belongings settled, Saihara left his room, shutting off the lights as the door shut behind him. Taking a right turn to the staircase, hurrying to get up each step. He was nearly late by the time he stumbled into the meeting room, waving as he took his seat at the second chair to the end. Mostly everyone was already here, but the chair at the head of the table was empty. It had been empty for some time now, which made the confusion as to why become buried down by something else. Fear. Fear that it had been one month since they had seen their boss, Tantei Pari, and they hadn't found a single inkling that suggested she might be found, let alone alive.