~Still 8 years ago at the Police Academy~
"Serial killer?!", the four men that were shocked by her words completely forgot the principle of eavesdropping.
Before they even had the time to process their mistake, Rei was already behind them, giving each of them a smack on the head.
...
"I can't believe you thought he was a serial killer, that was a good one Fujimine-san", Hagi laughed out loud while Aine shrunk out of embarrassment.
Furuya Rei who has been observing the woman beside him seemed unfazed with Hagi's teasing. Hiro who noticed Rei's behavior smiled warmly.
"But is it really okay to tell us all of that? What if one of us is a serial killer?" Matsuda said, adding more fuel to the fire.
Aine panicked when she realized that she spilled everything on them. Her eyes started to swirl as she felt dizzy with the overwhelming outcome of their situation. But before she could even faint, a warm hand touched her head, it came from beside her. Furuya Rei patted her, she smiled and gave him a grateful look.
As the two people drifted from an unknown land, the four men looked at each other. Hiro chuckled at the scene, Matsuda showed an amused face, Date laughed about Rei's move, while Hagi looked defeated.
After the mess that transpired, Fujimine Aine told them everything. The fact that she was an officer for the government tracking a serial killer on the loose and that the subject is in their academy pretending to be a student. There were three suspects, a senior Ganaki Yonei , a police woman Asahina Renmi, and lastly, Furuya Rei.
"We might as well help you with monitoring the two suspects, we have nothing to do and it sounds fun", Matsuda suggested and made a peace sign.
"But I can't--", before she could even refuse them, Furuya chuckled. "Hagi should be the one to approach Asahina Renmi, use your flirting skills to get a lead, and I think Date-san is the best choice to get close to Ganaki Yonei, since he's a senior I think he would be strict, Matsuda and me can be the back up".
Aine looked confused but the five men already agreed with silence and gazes. She could only sigh while putting her hands on her face.
The night ended with cheers and reminders about the plan, the four men went back first and Rei decided to accompany Aine to her dorm.
...
"Why was I included in the suspects anyway?" Rei asked. Aine walks casually while answering, "well, that is a mystery indeed. In one of the cases you were seen near the vicinity. But I don't know why they concluded you as a suspect. That's also the reason why I chose to investigate you first."
"Why?" Rei asked while gazing at her intently showing interest to the clumsy officer, he never would've thought that he would do this in the past.
"You're smart, as simple as that. I believe that you're clever enough to be a serial killer but that also raised suspicions. A knowledgeable person can commit a crime and think of an alibi or anything that can get them out of sight. It's just that I felt like you weren't the one I'm looking for, and I wanted to test my intuition so I tried to observe you first. How was that?" Aine answered, knowing that Rei was listening carefully to her explanation.
"Well thanks for the compliment." He said while smiling.
"That mistake...", Rei stopped and turned around to look at her. "Hmm...?", she muttered.
"You...you're undeniably clumsy, but I know for sure that you're not stupid, and more importantly I know that you're skilled. I felt like someone was observing me for the past few days because you made your presence easy to detect. You must've been testing me, all I know is that you did it on purpose." He added.
Aine smiled, it was there again, Rei felt another pain spreading across his chest. Despite it being obvious, Rei decided to turn a blind eye to it.
"Well, thank you for the compliment, I guess...", she answered as she continued walking.
...
For a few days, Hagi was flirting with the police woman while Date-san did his best to have connection with the senior.
Aine also started hanging out with the whole group. Everyone spoils her like she's their little princess.
She would hang out with Hagi and Matsuda, buy supplies with Date-san, study with Hiro, and spend time with Rei.
It became a routine for them while investigating the two suspects.
...
"Guys...I have a date!" Hagi said. Everyone stopped for a second but they continued eating after what he said.
"Seriously, no one is listening. Date with Asahina Renmi, on Saturday at XX amusement park. It might be our chance to get a lead." After what he said, everyone looked at each other.
Rei took a bite of Aine's food then started talking, "okay...go on a date with her and try to squeeze some information out of her, Date-san and Matsuda, I want the two of you to try looking onto her things but don't make a mess, ignore the things with no connection to the case, and Hiro, I want you to standby and work behind the scenes."
"Wait, what about you and Aine?" Hagi asked with Aine beside him, both of them waiting for Rei's answer.
"We're going on a date", Rei said with a straight face.
"Date?!", everyone screamed.