Hello all.
I've written a couple of (very, very bad) PSOH fanfictions before, but none that have really been decent enough to show. This first chapter has been lounging around in my hard drive for god knows how long, but I think its good enough to bring out into the light of day.
Enjoy.

Chapter 1

D knew something was wrong the moment his eyes opened. He rarely woke up before dawn on the best of days of his own accord, but the shop was calling to him.

Sitting up in his bed, he listened to the sounds of his home. His pets were all asleep, and none had slipped out during the night. There was no threat that he could feel, inside or out, so what?

Finally, the answer came to him. An old contract of his fathers, possibly even his grandfather's, had ended. Normally, the shop wouldn't wake him for such a simple matter, most animals in the older contracts died of natural causes long before their owners, and the contracts become worthless scraps of paper.

But the animal of this contract was still alive, and instinct would try to lead it back to the pet shop. If it didn't return of its accord, D would have to find the contract within the massive collection, find out what pet had been sold, and where he might be able to find it.

The Kami sighed, falling back onto his bed and closing his eyes. He would worry about it tomorrow. There was little he could do tonight.

It had been a fairly typical day for Jill. The coffee was too strong, a regular flow of thugs came in from the streets, and Leon had spent hours ranting about the pet shop, driving everyone in hearing distance up the proverbial wall.

Until the phone call came.

Leon ripped the phone from its holster, snapping a reply in his usual manner. But as the voice on the other end spoke, his face lost the angry snarl, paling several shades at the news. Slowly, he moved the phone from his ear, staring at it as if he'd never seen one before, and placed it back down. He continued to stare at it for several minutes, before Jill gathered up the nerve to approach him.

"Leon..." she began. "What happened?"

His gaze reached hers, before the blonde detective got to his feet and walked past her, as if in a daze. He didn't seem to hear the voices calling after him.

Despite the distance between the precinct and China Town, Leon never went near his car, walking down the streets oblivious to everything. When he eventually reached his destination, Count D was at the bottom of the steps. Had Leon been in better shape, he might have taken pride in the fact that D seem genuinely surprised to see him, although that could have been due to the deadness in the Americans eyes.

"Detective?"

Leon just brushed past him, entering the shop and sitting down in his regular seat. As D followed, his eyes widened in suspicion. The Detective rarely took two steps into the store without getting attacked or greeted by at least one of his pets, but today, not even T-Chan seemed willing to go near him, all were keeping their distance with wariness in their eyes.

More than a little unnerved at the behaviour, D sat opposite the man, trying to catch his eyes.

"Detective? Leon?"

Leon looked up, his expression broken. Finally, he uttered the first three words since the phone call. Three words that hit Count D and his pets like a bomb.

"Chris is dead."

D had been intending on leaving the pet shop's doors open as long as he could so that the pet from the ended contract could return on its own, but as he watched his Detective retreat up the stairs, he was unsure if he could handle any other human contact.

There were few animals that grieved the loss of others, but the mood in the front store was that of mourning. T-Chan had crawled underneath one of the chairs, hidden from sight, while Pon-Chan was openly snivelling, a few of the younger pets trying, and failing to cheer her up. Q-Chan had merely perched on D's shoulder, letting the Kami know he was there if he needed comforting.

D made the decision and closed early, stroking Q-Chan as he headed for the records room, Leon's visit still repeating in his mind.

The Kami looked at Leon in horror as the man ran a hand through his messy hair.

"Happened last night. My aunt was driving him back from a friends house when another car hit them at the junction. Car went flying. My Aunts still in hospital, but Chris was gone before help arrived."

Leon's hand clenched. "The other driver was over the limit, but the bastard got out of it with only a few scrapes."

D didn't even need to fake emotions for this event. His own sadness was all too real.

"I am sorry Leon. He was a wonderful child."

However, it seemed that there could be no words that could comfort his friend.

He would have to make preparations for the funeral. Hopefully, the issue of the missing pet would be resolved by then.

He smiled as he looked around the room, contracts were gathered in piles, bursting out of desks, cabinets, shelves and anything else that had found its way into the stores record room. It was a rather unorthodox filing system, and it would take a human days to find anything in here. It was a good thing D was no such thing.

He started in his grandfather's contracts, fingers brushing against the paper searching for the power of an ended contract. It proved fruitless, meaning the pet had been one of his fathers. That was rarely a good thing; despite being a nature god, his father had rarely been kind towards his pets. He only hoped that whatever it was wouldn't begin eating the local population. He'd eluded Leon's attempts to arrest him on his contracts, and without one to hold this one down...

On the plus side, the contract had ended, which meant the owner had died of causes other than a broken contract, and if he had survived this long without fault, it was unlikely he had anything to worry about. Besides, Leon would be grieving over his lost brother for the next few days.

D paused in his search, his smile fading. He had been fond of Chris, as had the animals. The driver of that car had better never set foot in Chinatown, or D would administer his own brand of justice, provided his dear detective didn't get there first.

Finally, his nail's stopped on a piece of parchment. This was it. Lifting it from the file, D read over the terms, noting the date, less than twenty years ago. He'd inherited the pet store not long after that date. The pet had probably been one of the last his father ever sold.

His eyes widened in delight as he realised what had been sold, and what could soon be in his possession.

'A Winged Lion? I thought they had died out! Father, how were you willing to part with him?'

A look at the name on the contract however, stopped D in his tracks. He read it repeatedly, unable to believe it, before turning to Q-Chan.

"This is impossible."

Q-Chan squeaked in agreement, and the two looked back at the name, written in a child's scrawl.

'Leon Orcot.'

To be Continued . . .

R&R