It had rained last night, and by the look of the sky it wasn't over yet. The dark clouds covered the stars and blotted out the moon leaving the night to be lit only by the streetlights which dotted the roads and reflected in the large puddles of water that covered the ground. I could hear that the wind was calm though, leaving the puddles to be disturbed only by the occasional vehicle or streetwalker that splashed through them.

The sounds of the streets at night resonated through the thin walls of my office. The blaring of car horns, the cat calls of hookers on the prowl, and the roaring of the train as it pulled into the nearby railyard all added to the background noise of life in Academy City.

But even with such loud noises coming at me from all sides it still seemed oddly quiet. A strange hush had fallen over the wind despite the obviously brewing storm.

Storms were drawn to me it seemed. Even as one gathered outside, another stood in my office, staring holes in my back as I looked out the window. I could see her reflection in the glass. She was a pretty little storm in a long, tight dress, one whom I knew well.

With a last puff on my cigarette I ground the butt into the windowsill . "I'm afraid I'm closed for the night madam, or did the locked door not tip you off?"

"Come now Misaka, since when have I ever let a mere lock stand in my way?" The woman cooed.

I prefer thunderstorms. I can avoid a thunderstorm. I can bar my windows and seal my doors from the wind and rain. No window or door or lock could keep this storm of a lady out. If you put a solid wall between her and her goal she'd figure out a way to walk through it.

"Such a waste of talent when the hardest thing you need to get into is another person's pants," I looked over my shoulder at the woman.

"It's my girls that get into their pants," she corrected, "I get into their heads, their hearts, and their wallets." Her words were getting snappier, not with irritation, but impatience. I couldn't put this off forever.

I turned my collar up against the oncoming storm and turned around. "So what can I do for you Kuroko?" I asked.

This girl, Shirai Kuroko, was the madam and owner of a brothel here in town by the name of "The Love Well". She'd always had a sweet spot for me. From what I'd heard from the girls I'm the only client she sees to personally.

I'd had various connections to The Love Well over the years. I had watched it grow from a small rundown shack with a few gutter rat employees, to a few nice, rented apartments with several decent girls, to the popular bordello with dozen of ladies of the night that it was now. I had watched as her dresses and jewelry and makeup had improved with each step up the ladder, even as my own office fell into disrepair and disorder and my shoes and coat lost their sheen and collected scuff marks.

The silk dress and silver bracelet that the woman wore didn't belong in a place like this. My office was not a place of opulence and brilliance. The flickering light bulb overhead and the damp creeping up the walls showed exactly what this place was.

But Kuroko was not expecting luxury or class. No matter how many dresses of silk and lace she imported from Milan, or how many pearls weighed down her neck and wrists, it could not change the fact that she had dwelt in this world for long enough to know how little to expect of the light and how much to respect and utilise the darkness we both lived in.

"You can offer a lady a drink," she sighed, sitting down.

"I'm afraid I'm all out of champagne," I told her as I wandered over to the rack where several bottles filled with varying amounts of liquid lay side by side.

"Champagne is for happy occasions. Get me something heavy that burns on the way down," She stated solemnly.

I looked back at her and grabbed two shot glasses but left all the bottles on the shelf. I set a glass in front of each of us and took my flask from my hip. "Nothing burns more," I assured her as I poured two shots out.

She downed the drink immediately and closed her eyes as the burn quickly set in.

I refilled her glass and looked at her as I drank my own shot. Slowly her eyes opened and turned down towards the glass. She lazily circled the rim with her finger as she gradually began to speak, "you can be a bit of a bore at times but you've always known how to treat a lady. Unlike some people..."

I shook my head and sighed at Kuroko's bluntness. "If you're just here to whine about how things have been going at the brothel then we could've just met at the bar and you could've picked up the tab."

"My girls have been going missing and one of them's just turned up dead," the woman summarized, and as if on cue the shutters banged against the window as a strong gust of wind blew.

My eyes narrowed. "You know I don't do bodies anymore Kuroko. Let the police handle it."

"And you know how the police handle prostitutes. They'll throw the body and the folder in the incinerator and forget about the whole thing. If Uiharu hadn't been the one on the scene I doubt I ever would have heard about this," she countered. "Who knows how many of the other girls have wound up dead only to be tossed aside by the coroner in favor of more important people. I doubt this is the only one who has died after going missing."

"If Uiharu's already there let her investigate it."

"She's still just a beat cop, she can't do anything on her own."

I sighed again and looked down at the desk. The paperwork I had spent a good portion of the day doing stacked neatly to the side. I had never really appreciated how tiring my secretary's job had been until I couldn't afford her anymore. The thought of doing more work, especially work that I had never wanted to do again, on top of it all was very unappealing.

"Look, Kuroko," I began, drumming my fingers on the desk as I looked back up at her, "It's been a long day and I want to go home. So unless you have a really good offer for me I'm going to have to say no."

One of Kuroko's hands moved to her shoulder before sliding the strap of her dress down her arm. Then she leaned forward, an intensity burning in her eyes that I was well familiar with. She plucked my fedora from my head and plopped it upon her own long, curly locks. "You know exactly what I have to offer," she purred. A hand moved to my chest, caressing my breasts.

It was a really good offer.

I stuck the cigarette into my mouth, holding it between my lips as I fumbled inside the pockets of my pants which had been tossed over the end of the desk for my lighter. I flicked it open and struck it twice before it caught flame. I brought it to my mouth and lit my cigarette before snapping the light closed and taking a deep drag, inhaling the acrid smoke.

Dainty, feminine fingers plucked the roll of paper and tobacco from my mouth. Though my eyes were still somewhat unfocused and my mind still a little hazy, I followed the fingers with my eyes. Watched as they moved and deposited the cigarette in Kuroko's mouth. The woman was sprawled out behind me, her fancy dress and expensive jewelry discarded, leaving her in only my hat and the two leather belts high up on her thighs that held a pair of knives. The knives were the girl's preferred weapon when a weapon was necessary for self defense.

She took a long drag and a slow exhale before smirking. "Think all of those yes, yes, yesses canceled out that one little no?" she asked teasingly.

I huffed and snatched my cigarette back, taking another deep inhale before holding up two fingers. "I want double my usual rate and free drinks at The Love Well's bar until this is over." It was hard to say no to Kuroko, she always seemed to persuade me in the end. But that didn't mean I couldn't ensure it was worth the inevitable mental turmoil.

"One and a half times your usual rate, free drinks until you finish, and I'll do that thing you like next time you come around," Kuroko haggled

"One and three quarters my usual rate, and I'll do the thing you like the time after that."

"Deal," Kuroko hastily accepted. She had an even harder time saying no to me it seemed.

I ground out the cigarette and began to put my clothes back on. It seemed that my bed would have to wait. I had a dead girl to see.

Author's Note: This story was an interesting experiment into a writing style I am very new to. Before starting I don't have much experience with film noir at all, though I do know the really common tropes. It was an interesting genre to delve into, both to watch and to write. I hope I did it justice.

I find one of the best parts of an AU like this is assigning the old characters their new roles. You need to give them a role in which they fit, but also one that's appropriate to the story. But once you've assigned their roles it's so much fun to imagine them in these new roles, living these lives that's so different from the one they had in canon and yet somehow still has that core something that makes the character the same one you know and love.

I hope you like this new story, and don't worry, I'm still paying attention to my other stories as well, but when this idea came to me I couldn't leave it alone.