The long hallway could barely be seen with the flickering lights in the seemingly empty floor of a rundown motel. The old floorboards creaked at random from the rainstorm buffeting the windows so hard it seemed they would give in at any moment. Inside room 1106 was complete silence. The bed was made, the desk was clean, and there wasn't any sign that anybody inhabited the place at all. Nevertheless, someone was still there. The constant stream of water lead to the bathroom, which was also clean. It was the shower that revealed the result of the events that unfolded. Behind the curtains was the body of a woman, her eyes completely devoid of life, and her mouth open as if she was still gasping for breath. An action that would have been futile because of the rope tied tightly to her small neck attached to the shower nozzle. The shower was still on full blast plastering her blood caked brown hair to her head washing all the blood away down the drain…and any evidence of her killer with it.

Sunlight filtered through the closed blinds exposing the scene before them. Behind a mahogany desk, a middle aged, brunette clasped his hands under his chin, leaning his elbows on the table.

"It's been two months you know." The words hung in the still air. An undeniable truth but an unsavory one too. "I know it's been hard, but you're going to have to find a new partner eventually." The man sitting across from him clenched his fists in his lap, his back hunched over, and his striking red hair shading his eyes. "Himuro Tatsuya was a brave man. He wouldn't have wanted to see you like–" The red haired man stood up abruptly cutting off his words.

"Don't you dare say it!" His words were fierce but his voice was trembling. He looked up revealing matching red eyes and looked the calm man in the eyes. "Don't you dare put words in his mouth when he's not here to say them!" Instead of responding, the man shuffled through the papers on his desk pulling out one.

"Name: Kagami Taiga. Rank: Detective Inspector. Been in service for four years. Rose through the ranks at an astonishing speed and assigned the partner Himuro Tatsuya. Said partner was killed in action two months ago. Detective Inspector Kagami has been assigned two months of paid leave with mandatory counseling. " He looked up from the papers. " Do you understand Kagami? Your two months are up."

"Please Captain Aida." Kagami looked at Captain Kagetora Aida with painful eyes. "He took a bullet for me. If it wasn't for my stupid temper he wouldn't of died." His voice cracked. "It's all my fault." He sat back down. "It's all my fault." Despite his tough exterior, Captain Aida really did sympathize with Kagami. Nevertheless, his hands were tied.

"I'm sorry Detective Kagami, but this is out of my hands. Your new partner will arrive at your office tomorrow." Kagami took a shuddering breath and asked,

"Who's my new partner anyways?" Captain Aida smiled.

"Kuroko Tetsuya."

All was quiet in the apartment of one Kuroko Tetsuya. Bright sunlight shone through white curtains revealing a pale man sleeping under heavy white covers. Under a mop of unruly blue hair, cerulean blue eyes opened to the world. He lay in bed for a minute then sat up and stretched, rubbing his teary eyes. While making his way out of bed, Kuroko noticed the date circled on his calendar. November 18. Today was the day he would meet his new partner Kagami Taiga.

When Kuroko was first informed of the choice, he spent the rest of the afternoon researching everything there was to know about the man. How could he not? After all, this would be the person who he would entrust his life with and vice versa. The results his research revealed more about the man than he thought it would. Starting from the age of fifteen, Kagami got involved in multiple brawls and gang fights simply because with his bright hair, he was often mistaken for a gang member. He also had a few parking tickets and one DUI charge but nothing that would have any cause for alarm. In his detective career, he'd proven to be surprisingly good at solving murder cases. So much so, that by the time he was twenty years old, he'd risen to the rank of Detective Inspector and kept that position for the past two years. The only blip in his record that would cause any alarm was his tendency to breach protocol in order to interrogate a witness or arrest a suspect. But it seems the reason he needed a new partner was the incident that happened two months ago. What seemed like a standard murder case actually turned out to be a professional hit. Kagami and his partner Himuro Tatsuya raided the base the assassin was camped at only to find the whole place rigged with explosives. They barely got out alive only for Himuro to get shot by one of the henchman while protecting Kagami. Kagami immediately downed the man who shot Himuro, but the damage was done. Kagami spend two years in therapy grieving for his friend and brother's death. Who knew how he would react to having a new partner all of a sudden?

Kuroko took a shower, brushed his teeth, and waged war on his bed head, getting ready for the day to come. He stopped at the local café to grab a sandwich and a vanilla latte on his way to work.

Standing in front his precinct, Kuroko took a deep breath and pushed open the doors. Immediately, he was greeted by the other officers and detectives.

"Morning Tet–chan!" greeted the ever cheerful Takao Kazunari. Beside him was his partner Izuki Shun. Together with their superior skills of observation, the duo was one of the best crime solving detectives in the district.

"Good Morning Kuroko-kun!" Izuki said. He then cleared his throat and got a glint in his silvery eyes. Everyone groaned in preparation. "Did you hear about yesterday? The police were called to a day care." He paused dramatically. "Where a three-year-old was resisting a rest." Everyone turned back to his or her work in disgust.

"Go die!" a random officer yelled. It was all in good nature though, everyone was used to Izuki's terrible puns. The only one who could put up with them was Takao who was now guffawing and slapping his knee. For some reason, he thought they were hilarious.

Making his way deeper into the precinct, he waved to more of his coworkers until he finally arrived at the desk of one Kagami Taiga. Kuroko sat down in the seat in beside the desk and checked his watch. 9:05, his new partner was already five minutes late. That's not an impressive first impression, he thought wryly. It took ten more minutes and a finished vanilla latte before the tall red headed detective ran full tilt into the office. He searched the office wildly before sighing in relief.

"Good he's not here yet." With that, Kagami plopped into his chair and pulled out a giant foot long sub. "Time for breakfast then." He opened his mouth and took a huge bite of the sandwich devouring a quarter of it in one go. Kuroko didn't know whether he felt impressed with his seemingly bottomless stomach or disgusted. It was at this point Kuroko felt he should announce his presence to the oblivious man.

"Excuse me…" he said. Kagami jumped about a foot in the air, bumping his knees into his desk and fell on the floor groaning. It was at this point that Kuroko realized Kagami wasn't wearing any pants…interesting.

"Gah! Who's there?" Kagami exclaimed looking for the voice that suddenly popped up.

"Right here," Kuroko replied above, looking at Kagami's sprawled form on the floor.

"GYAAAA!" Kagami shuffled back until his back hit the wall. "G-Ghost!" Kuroko felt pleased that he could still instill fear into the people he surprised for fun, but at the same time, it was mildly offensive.

"Pardon my intrusion, but my name is Kuroko Tetsuya." Kuroko offered a hand to Kagami who was still on the floor. "I'm your new partner." Kagami stared at him, finally seeing the cause of that voice. Flushing, he stood up with what little dignity he had left, ignoring Kuroko's still outstretched hand.

"Kagami Taiga," he mumbled. "It's, uh, nice to finally meet you, I guess." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Kuroko smiled imperceptively. Kagami was an amusing person, if a little rude. A beep sounded from his pocket where his phone was. Kuroko took it out and checked his message.

"Well Kagami-kun, it looks like we have our first case together."

"Alright!" Kagami exclaimed loudly forgetting his earlier awkwardness.

"But first…you might want to put on some pants." Kuroko walked out the door smiling subtly as Kagami cursed and scrambled after him.