Hey everybody, surprised to see familiar faces reviewing this story after over a year of hiatus. Sorry for the wait. Finished college, started freelancing, lots of work. Aww yeah! Anyways, thanks for all the reviews and coming back after so long, and welcome all new readers!

Chapter: 11 Patience, Not a Virtue.

"I need you to stay here."

"Th'hell? I can jus' go in with you."

"You are not authorized, therefore you must stay here."

"Then why th'hell am I here?"

"It's not safe for you to be alone. Please, I won't be long." Did she forget that I had been attacked in the police station while under their custody? The hell was this asshole thinking? Before I could even question it; however, the little detective I-can't-trust-you-to-be-home-alone walked away. I gritted my teeth and plopped down in one of the chairs where I was forced to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And… what the hell was taking him so long? He said that he was going to be quick! It's been damn near an hour! What the hell could he even be doing here? We were supposed to be out looking for clues to track down that asshole. The friggin lobby didn't even have a television to watch. Just a damn bored looking receptionist that would shoot me a dirty look every time I so much as twitched. Yeah, up yours lady!

"Oh, Kanji-kun."

"What!" I turned my head and snapped at the voice, only to find out that it was someone that I actually knew. I felt myself groan and slapped myself in the forehead. Now I felt like a dick. "Sorry 'bout that." Chie Satonaka tilted her head as she regarded me; probably wondered if I was going crazy or something. As bored as I was and impatient, I probably would be crazy soon if I wasn't there already. I wasn't exactly the shining example of patience given my damn record.

"What are you doing here? Where's detective Shirogane."

"In'ere somewhere." I gave a vague wave of my hand in the general direction that Naoto had disappeared to. Chie looked in the direction I referred to but simply shrugged in response. She probably didn't think it was any of her business or sumthin'. I dunno. I don't exactly care what she thought of it. The police can all jump off a cliff. Wait, Naoto was part of the polie too, right? :In some strange twisted sense? Damn… maybe not all police. He was making an active attempt at finding the killer. I don't really see much what the police are doing except showing up at scenes.

"Oh. How long have you been waiting." I rolled my eyes leaned back in my seat. I didn't want to really be reminded how long I been sitting there. At the same time, I was appreciating the distraction. I wasn't sure how much longer I was going to be able to just sit there with nothing to do or someone to talk to/yell at. "Ha, that long eh? Probably longer still."

"Shaddup." Jesus I hoped not.

"You hungry?"

"What?"

" .Hungry." She paused with each word as though I had some sort of hearing problem.

"I heard ya the first time damnit! Why th'hell ya askin' me!?"

She rolled her eyes in response, "I'm offering lunch, duh."

I glanced back in the direction that Naoto disappeared in. He'd been taking his sweet ass time doing whatever the hell he was doing. But it had been so long that he'd probably be back any second now, right? …yeah right. Still, I probably shouldn't just up and leave the asshole behind. "Oh come on, Kanji. We'll just go get something to carry out and come right back. I bet you're bored sitting here. Detective Shirogane won't even know."

"Ain't ya s'pose to be workin'?"

"I was about to go on lunch anyway."

I gave her a skeptical look, "You jus' walked in"

"Well yeah! I was going to see if anyone wanted to join me." She said as though it was obvious. It probably should have been. While we didn't hang out much after high school, back then Chie liked company. She acted tough but she also didn't want to be alone. Losing Yukiko had hit her pretty hard.

"…fine."

"Awesome!" She grabbed my wrist and yanked me up to my feet. It's always surprising how strong she really is. Even years after highschool, training all this time, she was still kinda a shrimp compared to me. "There's this awesome steak special going on."

That I could get behind and let myself smirk at the idea. Who didn't like steak?

It was kinda awkward walking down the street with Chie again. For one thing, she was in full uniform so it kinda felt like I was being escorted and based on the few looks that shot my way, I don't think I was the only one. The most I've seen her since she graduated high school was in passing, longer visits tended to be when she was sent to check in on some complaint regarding me. Never causal visits. I sorta went back to blowing off the world once everything with that shithead Kubo blew over.

You wouldn't think we hadn't kept up with the way Chie was acting though. She could talk anyone's ear off it seemed and she was doing just that with me. I wasn't even sure what the hell she was talking about. Something to do with work but the moment she started referring to her coworkers I sorta tuned her out. It was people I don't recognize or knew. Names I wasn't familiar with. It went like that for several blocks. When we reached the place she was referring to, I hung back.

"You coming in?"

"Uh…no."

"Why not?"

"Banned."

"What did you do?"

Don't give me that condescending attitude! "Nothing! Asshole thought I was runnin' out on him. I forgot my damn wallet, I said I would go get it an' pay'm."

"Right. Want to try somewhere else then?" Didn't she want whatever steak special was going on? "Jus' get me whatever y'havin'."

"I can't just leave you out here, Kanji. If someone from the department sees you wandering around without Detective Shirogane or an escort…"

So it WAS an escort! God damnit! "I'll jus' wait in there, alright?"[/color] I pointed to the alley that ran alongside the building, "No one will see me. Jus' hurry it up. I don't wanna have that jackass lecture me about not following his orders or whatever shit he'll say if he finds out I'm not there."

"Mmm… okay. I'll meet you there. I won't be long."

Why is that everyone is promising not to take long! It was like a god damn bad omen! I grumbled a 'whatever', tucked my hands in my pockets, and moved into the alley to get out of sight from the main road. Well, there was one good thing about not having to be stuck in the damn lobby… I searched my pockets for my smokes only to come up emptyhanded, then realized I hadn't been able to buy a new pack since all this shit started. "Jus' friggin' great." I sighed and leaned my back against the wall and glanced up. In annoyance.

Only for an asshole to come falling down at me. I don't even know how I managed to spring out of the way of it, but somehow I managed to shove myself off the wall before I was completely toppled onto. Not very gracefully since I sorta tripped myself. Whatever. I was quick to get up and turn to my attacker. Of course he was completely decked out in black again. Fucking asshole.

"Well, well, well! If it ain't the asshole from before! Gettin' ballsy attackin' in daylight. Y'ain't gettin' the surprise drop on me this time." Can't help but feel smug about that analogy. Wait… or was it a pun? Shit! I can't ever remember what the hell those things are. Whatever! Just gotta keep up my stride.

"Y'so eager for a beatdown, punk?" Maybe if I stall long enough, Chie will show up. She's a cop.

Then again… she would want to arrest this asshole. He killed ma. This is my chance.

When he pulled out a knife I wasn't all that impressed. It worked out for him last time because he surprised me. Fighting someone wielding a knife ain't uncommon for me, not with what I do outside of the shop. Still. "Shit!" I said and fled down the alley. Let the asshole chase after me, get him away from where Chie expects me to be and then I'll beat the shit out of him and then kill him. Fuck the police and what they would do.

Sprinted away a good twenty seconds before I glanced over my shoulder…

…and promptly pivoted to the side to avoid being stabbed.

Damnit! The bastard was apparently fast. Then again, I never claimed to be an Olympic sprinter either. I was more of the type that lumbered about beating to death that came to me rather than chasing.

He jumped toward me, and I shot one of my large boots out at him. It would have been a nice solid hit to his chest had he not did a quick side step away from it. When he closed in on me, I backstepped to quickly get out of the way of the knife. A few more large steps and I had my back against a few garbage cans. The asshole with a knife hung back for a moment, probably wondering what the best move to make would be. I reached around me for anything I could use against him and felt my hand land on the handle of one of the trash can lids. I gripped it just as he lunged forward again. I swung it, deflected the knife away from me, and backhanded the asshole with the lid.

Caught him off guard by the looks of it. I picked up the full can behind me, hefted it up, "Catch asshole" I hurled it at his back and he crumbled to the ground while trash spilled everywhere. I grabbed the can again and picked it up as the asshole picked himself up.

"Say goodnight!" He turned around just as I stuffed the can over and around him. He moved the push it off and I slammed both hands on the bottom of the can, half hoping his head was still pressed against it. He dropped to his knees and I stomped by foot into the side of the can, denting it, and causing it to roll along the alley. I picked up the dropped knife and picked it up as I made my way toward him. He was on his feet and can lifted up. Not sure what was going through my mind, all I know was that I saw red, and the next thing I knew was that I had plunged the knife in his side. I stepped away from him as he hunched over and pulled the knife out.

"Kanji?" And then Chie decided that moment to appear. Of all the poor timed things! She looked from me and then to the asshole in black. She seemed to be able to put two and two together because she fumbled with the gun at her hip. Unfortunately she was practically right next to the asshole and he was quick. She gave a shout and I was already running toward them when she was stabbed in the side. Then the bastard ran off while she collapsed.

"Y'asshole." I shouted at him as he ran towards the streets. I knelt down at her side, unsure of what to do. "Shit, y'okay?"

"Oh man. I'm sorry, I screwed up." She clutched at her side. "Maybe you should go after him."

"Shaddup. Ain't leavin' y'here to bleed to death." I picked her up much to her disagreement. Shit, which way was the hospital? Just have to get to the main road and find someone.

"An' that's it."

"You didn't see anyone follow you?" The pipsqueak questioned. I shook my head. "Did you sense anything, feel like anything was unusual?"

"Only thing unusual was the fact y'took so god damn long!" I snapped at him with a toss of my hands.

"Sounds like he ran out just before Shirogane showed up." Dojima pointed out. "You didn't notice anything?" He questioned the detective.

The midget detective grabbed the brim of his hat and shied away from the older man, "N-no." Heh, take that asshole. Now who looks like an idiot?

"Well, he couldn't have gotten far. We'll keep an eye out for any patients that check in with an injury that matches the story. The moment he walks into one, we'll have him. In the meantime, you two head back to Tatsumi's place. We'll let you know what turns up."

Great. More god damn waiting. Man…

Shit…I didn't even get steak out of this whole damn thing either.