The Scent of Gardenias in the Early Summer Rain...

" Yes we did," she laughed. "I"ll be right back." she retrieved a bottle of wine and hung out with him, drinking eating and watching t.v. until they fell asleep.

"Ahhhh...." He awoke late in the morning with a stretch and a yawn, sitting up in bed. For a moment, he thought that he had had a long, bad nightmare. Something about talking cats, an electric Batman, and a body snatcher... When he looked down to see Bayle laying next to him, he snapped out of it.

"Ah, that was all real," he said to himself. He had been told to keep it all a secret. Of course, it's not like anyone would believe him anyway! He had lived through it all, and even he could hardly believe it. The question was, what now? Was there anything else to do but return to normal life? He had to hope that no one would be after his life now...

Bayle sat up ramrod straight and held a pistol to Guy's head, still half asleep. When her eyes focused properly she put it away. "Oh, hi...sorry." she said with a yawn.

Guy froze in fear when the pistol was put against his head, but relaxed when she pulled it away. "Do you usually do that?" He laughed nervously.

"Only when I wake up next to people, which is why I don't usually sleep with them. Also men are clingy so it's easier to kick them out before you have to deal with the next day." she said smirking. There were more reasons. She didn't feel like telling them.

"Ah, I see... I figured that was the case... So, what should we do now? I mean, as far as the 'case' goes. I suppose we solved it, didn't we?"

" We solved my end. Do you still want to do anything about the cat?"

"Hmm... You know, after that stunt she pulled about Toshiko, I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't even a cat to be found. I think she just wanted us to find Toshiko's body. What do you think?"

" Oh...come to think of it you're probably right. That detective's intuition kicking in again I suppose." she said smiling at him. "Sadly, also an excellent excuse not to pay you. What else did she owe you? I can cover it."

"Well, she still owed me 250,000, but... You really don't have to cover it if you don't want to. I consider this thrilling experience payment enough! Ah but... I'm sure Kiko would hate to hear that."

"I was just going to say that I would call Kiko if you weren't going to tell me," she teased. " You're too nice Matsu-san." she gave him a kiss on the cheek and disappeared out of the room, returning shortly with two hefty briefcases. "This is all for you. You don't have to leave right away of course, but I'll understand if you'd like to get back to your business."

"Well, I know you like to be alone, but I thought at the very least we could have lunch before I go on my way. What do you think about that?"

She smiled widely at the detective, her green eyes sparkling. "Of course I'll have lunch with you. And actually I'm an extremely social creature, I just don't like relationships. And due to my generally busy days, and the nature of my business, I simply usually end up being alone." she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the head. " You can pick where we go. I'm not picky." she left to take a shower while he thought about it.

When Bayle emerged from the shower, Guy had decided. "I thought of a nice place! Well I mean, it's probably not that expensive taste to you, but it is to me! There's a fancy Italian restaurant in downtown Tokyo, with meals that average about 30 to 40 dollars. No caviar or anything, but they've got wine that really jacks up your check!"

The woman laughed. "You know, you have to get reservations at least a day in advance at those places, right?"

"Ah man, that's right," Guy sighed. "Well in that case, I know a cheaper place that's... still got pretty good Italian food? I'm just really feeling pasta today." He laughed.

" It doesn't have to be expensive, Matsukichi." she laughed. " but let me call your first suggestion and I'll see what I can do." she spent a few minutes on the phone, pulling some strings and got them a table. After she at least had underwear on she returned, putting in some ear rings. " I managed to get us a table. Someone cancelled. Would you like me to procure you a fancy suit?"

"Ah, sure! I don't really have any fancy dress anymore. My detective's suit really won't cut it. I can't think you enough, Bayle."

" Don't even mention it! I like to share. Plus I bet you can buy your own suit after all the money you just made." She winked and left to get dressed. A few minutes later a maid came in and gave him a suit.

Guy turned out to look exceptionally good in a suit, even this early in the day. "I must say, I'm impressed. Thank you very much!"

An hour later, they had reached the restaurant and sat down. "Ah, what to order? Everything looks good!"

Bayle also looked good in long figure hugging black dress...but she looked good in pretty much everything. " Hm...I'm not sure either. Do you want wine or champagne? We should start there...or a martini? I think I'm definitely getting one of those..."

"Ah yes, a martini sounds perfect. Am I supposed to say 'garcon' or something like that?"

She could not help but laugh. "Garcon is french. And he'll be here in a minute. Ah, there we go." the waiter arrived and she ordered them both some martinis and a salad to share, still giggling. They spent awhile talking about various things before Bayle asked, "So, you should tell me about yourself. Did something specific happen that made you leave the police force?"

"Ah, well, it wasn't any one thing in particular. You ever watch those cop movies where there's always one guy who's a loose cannon? Well, I was that guy. Obviously, it's not that spectacular, I was just always getting chewed out and in trouble. Even so, I wasn't doing any better or worse than my partners, but my superiors were getting fed up with me. So, I finally had it with them and left the force to pursue my own ideals!

"Which some say is a fancy way of saying 'I quit before I was fired,'" he added with a laugh.

" Well, 'some' people are idiots. They're just jealous because you're too good for them," she said with a wink.