Episode 1: Hino Kaji
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The wind blew strong that night.

Even though there wasn't a storm (it certainly wasn't the time of the year for storms), the wind was practically howling across the city. This, however, did not stop the people from their activities. The streets were filled with people hurrying to get home to spend time with their families, vendors calling out to people passing by to look at their merchandise, and students making the most out of their holiday.

Amidst the busyness of his surroundings, though, a young man walked alone. He was neither in a hurry nor taking his time to look at the shops on the street. He was just walking, almost as if he was slowly slicing through the density of people. No one bothered him, and he bothered no one. No one noticed him, and he took notice of no one.

But if one was to look at him (not simply pass one's gaze by him, but really look at him), one would notice his eyes. His eyes — though occasionally covered by his hair being blown by the wind — were deep maroon, and held a look upon them that only a weary traveler possessed.

There was a certain degree of tiredness and regret, but the determination, strong and almost overpowering, was still there.

His lips were a straight line, neither happy nor sad. Despite the exhaustion in his eyes, his head was held high, and his shoulders squared. Slung on one shoulder was his duffel bag, to which he held on tightly. All his belongings — mundane as they were — were there. His other hand was dug deep in his pocket, where it usually was.

As the wind blew once more, he pulled on his jacket; not so much because of the cold, but so that it won't be a bother to other people passing by. Underneath that jacket, his shirt was uncharacteristically buttoned up, though he left the top one open to allow his white shirt to peek from inside.

His steps slowed down to a stop as he looked up at a rather average-looking hotel. It didn't look sleazy, nor did it look expensive.

"Yeah," he muttered to himself. "This'll do."

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She was branded by some as Shizuka the Cat. Her stealth exceeds most girls her age, and she can only attribute this to her martial arts training since she was 5. Stealth wasn't the only thing she got, of course. She also had agility, flexibility, and strength.

In the dark room, she grinned. Yes, she needed all of those abilities tonight. Taking the last yen in the safe, she quietly closed it, almost wincing when it made a clicking sound. Then, she glided across the room and out into the balcony.

Her eyes narrowed before she leapt off the balcony. Her feet touched the roof below only for a second before she leapt again, finally landing on the grass with a perfectly executed roll. She flattened herself on the wall and paused. She glanced up to check if the surveillance cameras, as she had planned, were only then turning routinely towards the balcony she had just left. Sure enough, everything went on as if nothing had happened.

Again, she grinned. If she was able to pull that off, then the rest of the way would be a piece of cake.

She was right. Within the next few minutes, she had sped across the gardens, tiptoed past highly trained guards, and crawled under almost perfectly placed cameras until she leapt over the walls with the aid of the trees.

"Safe!" she exclaimed quietly to herself as she ran towards the town. Ducking into an alley, she removed her gloves and the bonnet that hid her short brown hair. Then, she took a pair of jeans from her backpack and put them on over her skin-tight pants. She slung her backpack over her shoulder, and, now that she wasn't wearing her all-black outfit, she was set to disappear into the crowd.

One step was all she was able to take as, suddenly, a man slipped into the end of the alley she was in. Her eyes narrowed as she noiselessly stepped back into the shadows. The man was obviously hiding like her.

Therefore, the man was up to no good.

She didn't have to wait long before her theory was proven true. Her eyes widened as the man in the alley suddenly grabbed another man passing by out on the street, and slammed him to the wall.

"Not a sound," the man up to no good gruffly said as he held a knife to the other's throat. The victim, a young man of about 15 or 16, visibly shook, his eyes wide with shock and fear.

Before the man up to no good could do anything else, he was caught by surprise when a soda can hit his head, the remains of its contents spilling unto his eyes.

"What the—"

The sentence was cut short as the sole of a black shoe collided with his face forcefully, sending him flying out into the street.

The victim sat there, wide-eyed, trying to comprehend what had just happened. One second he was walking, minding his own business, in the next second, his life was threatened, and in the next, he was saved by a shadow in the alley. Despite his shaking knees, he stood up and strained his eyes to see who had kicked the thief on the face.

But there was no one in that alley besides him. He swallowed, running out of the alley before the pickpocket came to.

Meanwhile, already absorbed in the crowd was The Cat, grinning to herself.

Justice will prevail, she thought triumphantly, in the presence of Izumi Shizuka!!!

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It was a new day, and the sun shone brightly. However, it wasn't so for Shizuka. First of all, it wasn't a new day since she was awake the whole night. And she did not at all appreciate the morning sun right now. Right now, she just wanted to crawl into a comfy bed and sleep soundly.

"That's one of the sacrifices you have to make," she said to herself before she yawned widely. She stretched her arms up, catching some of the men's attention, as she walked in the street. She stopped walking, noticing a diner. She turned around to think and decide.

"I should be continuing on my way if I want to make it out of the city in good time," she said, tapping a finger on her chin. "But it's a brand new morning, whether one likes it or not, whether one is in a hurry or not. And in the morning, it's only just that one should have breakfast!"

Nodding her head in resolution, she turned around to enter the diner when—

"OW!"

— she stumbled backwards after her nose hit a solid object. She didn't fall on the pavement, though, as a hand caught her arm. Shizuka blinked at the maroon eyes that looked down at her. Maroon eyes that belonged to a boy with maroon hair. He looked the same age as she was, although he was undeniably taller.

"You arayt?" he asked.

"Y—... Yeah..." she said as she stood up straight. The boy released her arm. "I'm sorry."

"It's my fault. I shoulda moved out of the way."

"Both our fault, then!" she said, trying to smile. The boy nodded.

"Excuse me, then," he said as he brushed past her and continued on his way.

Again, Shizuka blinked.

"Where was I? Oh yes! Breakfast!"

She opened the door to the diner, but stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the TV.

"...if you see this person, please notify the police immediately," the news reporter was saying.

Shizuka spun around, and snatched the shades she had been using as a headband. She put it on properly, concealing her blue eyes, as she took quick steps away from the diner. She didn't notice in her haste that she had passed the maroon-haired boy that she had bumped into.

"Just my luck," she muttered. Everyone in that diner was watching the news, so nobody had seen her arrive or leave. So that was good. However, it also meant that everyone in that diner had seen her face on the TV screen. So that was not good.

Not good at all.

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"Just my luck," Shizuka muttered for the millionth time that day. It was already late in the afternoon, and she was sitting alone on a park bench. For a reason she already knew, her face was apparently on every TV in Japan . What she didn't understand, though, is why it had to be so ALL day. And why every diner in that town had to be watching the news. Can't they watch something else, like football, maybe?

"Stupid news channels," she sighed as her stomach rumbled. "Why did this have to happen to me? Why can't I just get a simple breakfast of bacon and eggs without worry? It's only just that I should have lunch of sushi and tempura without anyone looking at me strangely. Is it not possible for me to have even a fruit without people hounding me?! I had known that I was going to make sacrifices... But being starved was not one of them!" She sighed again, turning her eyes skyward. "Can't you provide me with at least an apple?! Can't you— OW! "

She groaned, nursing her forehead as she planned to seek vengeance on the one who foolishly decided to inflict damage to her face. She opened her eyes, picking up the apple on the ground, before angrily standing up.

"What on earth is this?!" she hollered at no one in particular, knowing that she was alone in the park.

"It's an apple."

Shizuka gave a start, whirling around to look up at the source of the sound. Sitting on a branch in the nearby tree was a boy with maroon hair. He was also eating an apple.

"I knew that, thank you very much."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "So why'd ya ask?"

"Because I— What I meant was—"

Shizuka blinked.

The man has a point.

Not that I'm going to admit that.

The boy rolled his eyes before jumping down the tree, only fuelling Shizuka's desire to seek justice.

"Why did you throw it at me?!" she demanded angrily.

"Because you asked for an apple."

"But why at my face?!"

The boy scoffed. "It was your fault for not catching it. Your eyes were open, weren't they?"

Shizuka recoiled. Dammit.

"You're welcome," he said calmly as he slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and walked off.

Shizuka tried to think of a comeback, but her mind only drew a blank. She sat back down on the bench, curiously looking at the apple in her hands.

"This can't be poisoned, can it?" she said, starting a conversation with herself . "But it does look innocent... But Snow White's apple also looked innocent, didn't it? Except for that witch disguised as an old vendor. Well, the one who gave it to me wasn't a vendor. He was..."

She suddenly stopped, her eyes widening.

"It's YOU!" she exclaimed, standing up, as she pointed at the boy.

Or rather, where the boy had previously stood.

"It's HIM!" she exclaimed, this time. "He was the one I bumped into outside the diner! Oh my goodness, is he following me? But why would he follow me? Sure, I'm beautiful and pleasant, but..." Shizuka stopped once more as realization dawned. "Maybe he knows who I really am! Maybe he injected this apple with a sleeping poison so he could surrender me to the police—"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!"

All thoughts in Shizuka's mind were erased at the sound that pierced the afternoon air. She stuffed the apple into her bag as she ran towards the source of the horrified scream. In her haste, she didn't notice that she had passed by a boy; the self-same boy who gave her the apple.

She ran, her short brown hair whipping behind her, before she leapt into the air and tackled a man to the ground. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a panic-stricken girl half-lying, half-sitting on the grass. In that one glance (which wasn't even an actual glance), she noticed that the top buttons of the girl's blouse were missing. Therefore, it had been forcefully opened. Also, on the girl's cheeks glistened a tear trail. So, obviously, the man Shizuka was currently tackling to the ground was up to no good.

With the tackle finally executed, Shizuka leapt off of him to kick the nearest standing person, Enemy#2, as well as the next nearest standing person, Enemy#3. She raised her fist to punch the person coming at her, Enemy#4, when, suddenly another hand grabbed her wrist from behind. She didn't let it stop her from her mission. She pulled her arm, successfully jabbing at Enemy#5's nose, before she finished the punch she had started. Enemy#4 yelped in pain as her fist came in contact with his jaw.

Shizuka wasn't able to turn to see if there were more Enemies, though, when a pair of strong arms locked around her, and lifted her high enough for her feet not to touch the ground. She struggled, but Enemy#6 (or was it one of the other five?) had rendered her immobile. Just as she thought of using her legs to free herself, Enemy#6 (or one of the other five) slammed her to the ground. Before her head stopped spinning, Current Enemy had his arm on the back of her neck, his leg on the back of her knees, and held both of her wrists behind her.

"Do you wanna join the fun, girlie?" Current Enemy whispered in her ear menacingly.

This was a disgrace — a disgrace! — that she was made useless by six (or five) common men-up-to-no-good! Her! Izumi Shizuka!

If only I wasn't so tired and hungry! she thought with a wince as Current Enemy painfully pulled at her arm. Maybe she should have eaten that apple at once, after all.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a loud thud to her right. And when she turned her eyes (she couldn't move her head), she saw Enemy#3 out cold on the ground.

What the...

Shizuka breathed a quick sigh of relief as the weight on her was removed, and the Enemy previously on top of her grunted in pain before hitting the ground. Taking advantage of her freedom, she scrambled towards the other girl — She should have left when she had the chance! — to defend her if one of the men-up-to-no-good decided to use her as a hostage to trap––

Wait.

Just who was fighting those men up to no good?

When Shizuka looked up to see who came to her rescue, her jaw almost hit the earth with a thud.

It was the maroon-haired boy she bumped into that morning, the boy who had given her the apple.

Shizuka could only watch as the boy executed swift kick after punch after swift kick, not giving the up-to-no-good men time to recover. To her, it was obvious that this boy has had his share of fighting. Real fighting. And not just that, but fighting with MANY opponents. That was one thing that Shizuka hadn't experienced yet. All her fights so far (if you didn't count the spars with her instructors) were one-on-one. This boy, however...

The boy finished sending the six men up to no good to a peaceful (yet painful) slumber in a matter of a minute. He huffed, brushing his bangs from his eyes with a flick of his wrist, before turning to the girls.

As Shizuka looked up at those maroon eyes, all her brain could come up was...

Wow.
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After Shizuka had recovered from the initial shock of watching him take good care of the men up to no good, Shizuka had offered to escort the girl home, only to realize that he had offered the exact same thing at the exact same time that she did. The other girl agreed, and it ended up that she was beside him as they walked to the girl's house. Once they got there, the girl, whose name Shizuka discovered to be Inoue Emi, had lavishly thanked them for saving her. The maroon-haired boy let her finish all her thanks before nonchalantly saying, "I was just passing by."

"I was just passing by."

What a weird thing to say.

Unless it was true.

Emi had then asked for the boy's name. It took him a moment before he said, "Hino. Hino Kaji."

Shizuka had hesitated when Emi asked for her name. Who knew if, at the moment she turned her back, Emi would call the police to come after her? But then, if she didn't answer, then she might appear more suspicious. Therefore, she had decided that she would, for once, not proudly declare that she was Izumi Shizuka. Instead, she answered with a simple "Shizuka." That was it. Emi didn't seem to mind that Shizuka was the only one who didn't give her full name. For that Shizuka was glad.

After a few more "thank you"s and "it's nothing"s, they finally bid Emi farewell.

And now, stars glistened in the sky above them.

"Hmmm..." Shizuka hummed as she studied the back of Kaji's maroon-haired head.

Hino. Hino Kaji.

Finally, a name to go with the face. Now, if only she knew more about this mysterious character...

They had been walking silently for a few minutes now, and Kaji either (a) didn't mind that she was following him, or (b) didn't know she following him. Well, it wasn't that she was actually following him. The case was: she was walking, and he was walking, and it just so happened that they were heading in the same direction and it also just so happened that she was behind him.

Yes. That was the case. It was purely coincidental.

"You don't have to tag along anymore, y'know," Kaji said, finally breaking the silence, without even a glance at her direction.

Shizuka flinched. "Who's tagging along?"

"You are."

"No, you are."

Kaji stopped walking, and finally turned to look at her.

"Excuse me?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"You were following me today, weren't you?" Shizuka accused him.

"Why would I be following you?"

"Because you want to surrender me to the police!"

If possible, Kaji's eyebrows furrowed even more. "And why would I wanna surrender you to the police?"

Shizuka paused. "You don't want to turn me in?"

"...Should I want to turn you in?"

She took a moment to observe the maroon-eyed boy. He seemed to be sincerely unaware of her identity, but she had seen very good actors.

Well, she thought, if he IS following me...It would be better if I kept an eye on him than if he kept an eye on me without me knowing, wouldn't it? But if he really doesn't know who I am...

Shizuka the Cat grinned.

"Look, woman," Kaji began as he started to walk again. "If I should have a reason to call the police, I don't wanna hear it. I'd rather not get involved in affairs like that."

He stopped in his tracks, though, when Shizuka blocked his way.

"Well, then, Hino Kaji, consider yourself lucky for passing the test!"

"I won't even ask what that means," Kaji muttered, stepping sideways and forward as he tried to continue on his way. But once again, The Cat blocked him.

"What that means, Hino Kaji," she started as if he had asked what she meant, "is that you are now officially and irrevocably—"

She paused as she powerfully raised her finger to point at him proudly...

"—my sidekick!"

At that, Kaji froze.

And all he could do was blink at the girl smiling triumphantly at him.

"EXCUSE ME?!"
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From the Author:

"I'll be updating in March."

A big, fat "yeah right" to me.

What had been written as a random scene became an official scene. What had started as a tentative plan became a full-blown fic. And now I'm on a roll. I've got most of the story in a detailed outline. I'll just be writing it in more detail and polish it. The updates, therefore, will regularly be on a monthly basis.

That is, IF you think that this fic is good enough to be continued.

Oh yeah. I use the Japanese order in writing names: family name first before the given name. Therefore, Hino and Izumi are the family names, and Kaji and Shizuka are the given names.

This story, by the way, will be most appreciated by people who have already read my first fic, Blue Star . You'll probably notice comparisons of this fic with that one in the following author's comments, I think. If you have not read it, though, then don't worry. Everything you need to know will be explained, anyway. It's just, and I repeat myself now, that you will appreciate some aspects of the story more if you've read the other story.

To my faithful Blue Star readers: Yes, this is Kaji's sequel.

Review topics:

- The first scene . I'm sure some of you found it to be a boring read, since it's mostly narration, and Kaji only said one line. But I found it necessary for establishing his character. Without that scene, I think his appearance in the middle of the episode will be... well... inadequate to develop him. Please tell me your thoughts.

- Kaji . His character here, if anybody noticed, is slightly different from the Hino Kaji in Blue Star. But he's the same person. Don't worry, it will be explained in later episodes. However, it has to be close to it, still. Please tell me if the change was too much.

- Shizuka . I... don't really know what to ask about her. Just tell me what you think about her. She isn't too eccentric, is she?

- Writing style . My writing style is a bit different here, I think, from my style in my previous fics. It's not too different, and I can't really put my finger on it, but there's something in the tone that made this pretty unique. I think it's because I was telling it mostly from Shizuka's point of view, and her character sort of seeped into my narration. Oh, and I was TRYING to make it humorous. I'm not sure if I got it, but, hey. I try . Watcha think? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Don't get it? Hit me.

- The fight scenes . Ahehe. I'm really always unsure about the fight scenes. Please point out possible improvements.