After breaking another one of Ishigaki's toys and making the man cry for the third time that week, Sasazuka went back to his urgent and immediate paperwork.

Another case involving horrible murders lay before him, and as terrible as it was, Sasazuka was almost looking forward to it. He was looking forward to it about as much as he was dreading it. Cases came and went before: he solved them or he didn't solve them. But they were merely part of his job description; he'd never had an extreme passion imbedded in bringing about justice to the victims. He of all people knew that justice didn't really exist. Revenge and grudges were for the petty.

It was ever since Katsuragi Yako had begun her part in it. When she entered the crime scene, something inside Sasazuka felt at ease. The part of Sasazuka that had very nearly died became restored, but with it came another thing he'd tried to get rid of: the need to protect. Sasazuka would never admit it, but she did really remind him of someone he'd loved. Having her in his life was a small consolation, but a consolation all the same. Of course, the second he saw her came the awful feeling of fear. Sasazuka wasn't afraid of much (he couldn't be so egotistic as to say he was afraid of nothing—spiders did kind of freak him out) but the thought of having that young girl around death and danger made him sick with it.

Which of course brought on the need to get rid of her motivation.

It was obvious her 'assistant' was behind it all. It was so blatantly obvious. He'd seen her face enough times during the recitation of her famous line "The culprit is you!' to know that every time she pointed out the victim she was just as shocked as everyone else. He knew that man was just using her for some cover up, though what he wasn't sure.

Sasazuka knew more than most, but not nearly enough to make the knowledge useful.

He wanted her out of those investigations. He wanted her gone and out of the way so bad his chest even took the liberty of tightening every time he saw her coming under the yellow tape that forbade any innocence into its ring.

But even if he had the information, what would he do with it? Would he get rid Neuro?

...He wasn't sure. Because although he knew that Neuro was the reason she was there, he was also the reason she was still alive. He couldn't put his finger on it, as was the case usually, but he knew the possibility that he was more good than bad was present.

It was Neuro that was solving all of these cases. It was the reason he let the ordinary citizen trample all over the crime scenes to have a look, because in less than a few hours Neuro would have the answer. So, should Sasazuka serve his job and keep the fellow around? Or should he get rid of him before something bad finally does happen to Yako?

Sasazuka drank the last of his coffee and sighed, then proceeded to look back to his paperwork. More deaths. The newest case was a series of murders that targeted men ages 20-40 at were all just over 5'7", always found pinned to the floor neatly arranged. Vetruvian Killer Case; that's what it was referred to after the positions that were made. The paper work was incomplete and obviously needed to be finished by having Sasazuka go down to the site to clear some things up.

He bit his tongue to prevent himself from muttering any grievances about the poor site description and grabbed his coat, motioning for Ishigaki to accompany him.

Then there was always that...he thought. If Yako stopped investigating, Sasazuka would stop seeing her. As much as he would love to say he wasn't selfish, Sasazuka had to admit that the thought of not running into her anymore made him regretful. Maybe claiming Neuro was good for both of them was just an excuse to keep her near to him. At the very least...

At the very least, he promised himself, if Neuro couldn't protect her, he would. It was quite the promise to make, but even if it meant his life, he would make sure that Katsuragi Yako outlived him.

Sasazuka shook his head of his solemn train of thought, vaguely wondering just how he had gotten so far into it in the first place. After taking a few minutes extra by making sure he obeyed all of the traffic laws, despite all of the half-insane drivers out on the road, Sasazuka arrived at the crime scene with a sullen Ishigaki, who was still mourning for his latest toy collection.

"Mr. Sasazuka!" a familiar voice came from behind. His chest made its use by reminding him again of what he most and least wanted to see as he turned around to stoically face the young investigator. She was walking toward him, smiling as usual before she was rudely cut off by her assistant.

"Teacher would like to know any more specific details on the case!" Neuro beamed happily, shoving the young girl underneath his arm and out of his way. "It's horribly rude seeing as how kind you've been! How ungrateful she must seem!" he crowed happily, as the girl now seated uncomfortably on the ground looked vaguely annoyed.

"Yeah, I'm here to find out myself. Please stay back for awhile." Something flashed in the eyes of the assistant, but instantly it was gone.

"Very well! Teacher will be eagerly awaiting! Right teacher??" he shoved his face into Yako's and for a brief moment her eyes seemed to swirl about in her head. She nodded weakly and stepped back from the scene, followed slowly by Neuro.

Sasazuka shook off his hesitancy and curiosity of yet another unexplainable action before forcing himself to focus on the matter at hand. The important matter.

He walked back and forth, talking to various forensics workers and the like, all telling him most of the same things he'd read in the report. Of course, several details were missing.

Time of death? 5 a.m.

Victim? Bearded man, 34 years, 5'7"

Cause of death? Strangulation. Multiple knife wounds cut specifically all around the body, marking all of the muscles after death.

Murderer? Vitruvian Killer; other identity unknown.

Sasazuka sighed as he looked over at the young girl and her accompanying partner. She smiled nervously as Neuro lifted her arm, waving it up and down at him. He gave a look almost resembling diffidence as he began to walk to the tree they stood under. He put his hands in his pocket and made his way closer to the object of his inner turmoil. Even with such little evidence and all the caution in the world, he knew that trouble would come around in just a short while.

Author's Note: Whoo. Three done. Okay. So next I might do Neuro, and then an epilogue thing. But who knows? I might end up doing his voice really badly and end up going into another point of view instead. I just need to get into his character more. And I just want to say that THIS IS NOT A SASAZUKA/YAKO FIC. If you want to take it that way fine, but I think of the relationship as brother/sister. He's twice her age.

And again, sorry for the title that makes no sense. T.T