I'm so sorry for the sudden disappearance! Please forgive me! My brother broke my computer and had to go out and buy me a new one. Unfortunately, all of my writing was on the other computer, and I lost it all! Thank you, Chase. Thank you.

Yu Kanda mentally cursed Komui to the deepest, darkest pits of hell as he drove up to the crime scene in the middle of the city. People had already created a crowd around the site, much to his annoyance, and he had to constantly honk his horn to get people to move. One idiot actually pulled his gun out on Kanda, and he opened the door and flashed his badge. The man went on his merry way. Kanda reentered the car and pressed hard on the gas, making a few people jump out of the way and make a path for him to drive through. Once he had parked himself with the other police vehicles, he cut the engine, shoved the keys deep into his pocket, and stepped outside. He was hit with the smell of a busy city: burning gas from cars trying to drive down the people-ridden street, cigarette smoke and cheap perfume turning into one, gut-wrenching aroma, and the smell of chow mien from the Thai restaurant about two blocks down. There was another smell that he couldn't place, but it wasn't from the usual hustle and bustle from the city.

"Detective Kanda!" Kanda rolled his eyes and turned away, placing a hand in front of his face, trying to hide himself from the Lieutenant walking over to him. But he couldn't disguise his dark, flowing navy hair from the man who walked over and slung an arm around his neck, as if the two men had known each other for years. Just because they went to the same high school and college didn't mean the two men were friends in Kanda's eyes. "Man, the chief was so glad that I could get a hold of you. He freaked when he saw the scene."

"It's murder, Tomitake," Kanda replied, turning away from the man. Acid dripped from his lips. "I'm pretty sure anyone would be rattled by death."

"But not you, 'Cold-As-Ice Kanda!'" Kanda turned to glare at him. He hated that nickname because it honestly wasn't true. He had seen his parents murdered, and every time he saw a dead body he felt a chill run up his spine, his heart choke him, and his stomach drop to his knees.

Kanda slapped the man away, surprising him. "Just show me the body, Tomitake," he said harshly. "I want to get home and take a shower."

"Oh. Did something happen today?" Tomitake began to dance through the crowd lithely, leading Kanda towards an alley not too far ahead from them. Kanda pushed through roughly to come up behind him.

"Nothing out of the ordinary happened, Tomitake. I just killed someone."

"Hey! That's fun, huh?"

"Your sarcasm gets worse and worse every time I see you."

Kanda moved past the crowd break, flashing his badge towards the men who were guarding the crime scene. One man proclaimed his ever-lasting love for the young man and asked him to entertain a marriage proposal. Kanda stuck the tip of a handgun to the man's hand and told him to get lost.

"Here we are, Detective! Ah, Reever! Lookie who I got!" Tomitake sang childishly, pointing towards Kanda. Reever looked over at him with a greenish face tint and waved. He turned away and threw up his dinner into a nearby trash can. There was another smell that was usual to the city life. "Detective Yu Kanda, a.k.a, Cold-As-Ice Kanda, and he's ready to go!"

"I'll kill you," Kanda said as he walked past the Lieutenant and looked around for the body. He turned towards Reever. "Well, where is it?" Something dropped onto his cheek. Kanda paused for a moment, feeling something wet and cold fall back onto him again. He wiped his fingers across his cheek and looked down at it. It was dark, almost purple or blue, and he smelled it. It smelled like copper. He looked up. "Wh-what the fuck is this!?"

He jumped back, avoiding another drop. The victim was hanging upside down where Kanda had just been standing, his mouth open in a frozen, silent scream, and blood had poured from the back of his throat, down over his gums and top row of teeth, skipped around the man's nostrils and between his eyes to stop just above his bald brow and drop onto the street. His clothes were torn and shredded and his entrails were hanging loose from his body that was ripped open. His left eye was missing. Kanda felt like he would be sick and swallowed the feeling.

"Hey, Cold-As-Ice—"

"If you say my name, I swear to God I'm going to take out that man's remaining eye and shove it up your ass," he snapped, turning around to glare at Tomitake. The blond man jumped back, surprised at Kanda's reaction. The young detective turned back towards the victim. "How long since he died?"

"Well, it's not entirely clear yet," Reever admitted, spraying mint spray into his mouth as if there would never be anymore in the world, "but my guess is at least two and a half hours. From up here, it's obvious there are signs of struggle. He has bruises on his wrists and there's a chunk of flesh bitten out of the back of the man's neck. You look a little woozy, Kanda."

"I just need to sit down for a few minutes," Kanda said.

"Well then, we'll get you a chair," Reever said, walking past the small flaps. Tomitake whistled.

"I've never seen you pale as bad as you have now, Kanda." He thanked God that the nickname had disappeared by now. A small fold-out chair was placed a few meters away from the body and Kanda sat down happily, letting out a heavy sigh. He massaged his temples as if he had a headache. "Are you that sickened by it? I've seen worse."

"Tomitake?"

"Yes sir?"

"Shut up."

"Yes sir!"

Kanda glared at him and closed his eyes. The image of the man's mauled form was burned forever into his eyes. Seeing that dead corpse's mouth open…he could almost hear the cut-off scream that would come out of the man's throat. It rang in his ears and echoed in his head.

"You look like you were hit by a car, man." Kanda looked up, eyes narrowed. A red-head was standing in front of him with his bittersweet hair flopped over a headband and an eye patch covering his right eye. The other was emerald green. "Are you gonna live?"

"Yes," Kanda spat. "I'm breathing, aren't I?"

"Huh, so you are." The man grinned, then looked over at the body that was now being lowered from its chain noose. "I see why you nearly swooned. That's pretty nasty."

"I didn't faint."

"Almost."

"I'll kill you."

"Please don't, Kanda," Tomitake said, coming to check up on him. "Can you stand?" He watched as Kanda got to his feet and gave him a harsh glare. "We have a few pieces of evidence that we'd like you to see."

"What?" Kanda wasn't granted an answer as Tomitake turned around and began to trek back further into the alley. A tent had been set up not too long ago as Kanda was calming down and inside was the mauled corpse and a few items that the man had been in possession of.

"There's your answer," the man who had walked up said with a grin. Kanda turned away from him to look at the table further down, and he rounded the first one.

Lying out with numbers in front of them were a few things the man might have been carrying: a cell phone, a small white bottle that was unlabeled and closed (Kanda picked this up after putting on blue latex gloves and shook it), a white plastic bag that held a Styrofoam to-go box that held half a serving of Chinese food, and a bloody wallet that would most likely have been in his back pocket. Inside the wallet was a thick pile of cash.

"What's this?" The man took it, with only his fingers entirely in the glove. He had trouble holding onto the bottle securely. "Cough medicine?"

"Not exactly." Kanda snatched the bottle out of the air as the man fumbled and dropped it. He twisted the bottle cap open and peered inside. "There are a few pills inside here. They're round."

"Pour them out." Tomitake rushed over to one of the inspectors and snatched a Petri dish from them without bothering to make his thievery unknown. He placed it onto the table and took the top cover off. Kanda poured out two pills onto the dish. The red-head picked one up without asking.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Round," Kanda spat sarcastically. The man narrowed his eyes, looking drowsy.

"No, really?"

"Break it up, you two!" Tomitake came between them, hugging them to him like they were all brothers. The red-head returned the hug, but Kanda continued to glower. "Partners don't fight!"

"Partners?" both asked in surprise. Tomitake looked between their surprised expressions.

"Oh, didn't I tell you guys?" Kanda narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Well, you've been partnered with Lavi for this case."

"Nice to meetcha!" Lavi held out his hand for Kanda to shake. Kanda looked down at it, then back up to Lavi.

"I don't shake hands with pirates."