Author's Note:

Juuzou's history is haunting. I can't begin to imagine the type of torture he underwent to transition from an innocent child into the investigator we all know and love. His history is still a bit of a mystery and though chapter 122 explored the basics, I personally want to know, in detail, what happened to change him into the person he is. And so I took it upon myself to try to explain the events that acted as a catalyst for his transformation. I have no idea where this will go or if it will even succeed but I promise that I will try to provide a strong companion to what is already known about his past. Please feel free to leave feedback, for this story in particular, I have a feeling I'll need it. Thanks for reading!

"Hush Rei," whispers his mother urgently. Rei notices she's shaking but nods his head in acknowledgment. Odd noises can be heard from the other side of the closet door.

Crack. Snap. Slurp.

Rei can only wonder what they are from his hiding place. Curiosity getting the best of him, he huddles a little closer to the door to peek out one of the horizontal slots that make up the front panel of wood.

In the celestial light provided by the moon he can just make out dark shadows moving unhurriedly around a hidden figure on the ground. The glare from an oncoming car through the blinds of a window illuminates the room further, allowing Rei to see clearly.

Daddy? But no that's not right, Daddy's head would never bend that far. Daddy was strong and put together, his stuffing would never come out like slimy shoestrings. And Rei knew for a fact that he would never allow so much red paint to ruin his white shirt.

"Hey, do you smell that?" Asks one of the figures to the other, his tiger mask eyes glimmering as he looks in Rei's direction.

Rei lurches back from the slits, trying to escape as best he can into the folds of his mother's night gown. It just doesn't make sense, where is daddy? Why hasn't he stopped these guys yet?

Sniff. Sniff. Rei is reminded of a dog snuffling as he hears the sharp inhalations from the tiger guy on the other side of the door.

"I think we missed a morsel," says the man.

The other shadow sighs in exasperation and comes closer. In a bored voice he replies, "I think you're right. Smells like it might even be good enough for the Madam."

Tiger man chuckles. "Come out, come out little rabbits. Mama's gotta make some dinner and you're on the menu." He flings open the door, causing it to splinter across the room.

Rei's mother quickly stands in front of her child defensively. "Don't hurt him," she begs.

"Sorry, ma'am can't make any such promises." Tiger mask reaches inside the close confines of the closet to reach her. She swipes at him with a knife clasped tightly in her white-knuckled fist.

"Shit," yelps the man in the surprise. "You're going to pay for that you bitch."

The other figure, wearing a clown mask, grabs the other's arm, "You wouldn't want to damage the merchandise. Remember what happened to the last guy who disobeyed Madam?"

The aggressor gulps nervously. "Fine, but you deal with her and the kid. I'll finish up this guy." Tiger mask removes the duffle bag from his back. Opening the container, he begins to pack up dismembered portions of the figure laying on the floor into it. They squelch as he rearranges them to optimize the space.

Rei's mother points the knife, now missing its tip, in the clown's direction. He tilts his head slightly. "Now ma'am I'd like for you to put the knife down. I don't want no trouble."

Rei's mother trembles, the knife wavering in her grasp. Rei feels a rain drop and holds up his exposed palm to find the source. More drip steadily down, scattering into the folds of his hand. Oh, he thinks, its mama's rain.

His mother kneels down and looks at him, smoothing down his hair. "Live," she says softly before charging out and into the room. Clown mask simply shrugs and swiftly brings up a hand in a movement almost imperceptible to Rei's eyes. His mother's attacker catches her as she falls, laying her down on the crimson floor quietly.

He comes closer and Rei squirms as far away as he can. Hitting the wall he looks up into the empty eyes of the mask. "Come here kid, I ain't got all night," complains the man holding out his hand.

Rei feels his eyes widen as he looks at the hand. There was more of that red paint. Daddy wouldn't be happy to see all that paint near his white shirts. If he gets any on them mommy will have to clean them, but she can't because she's sleeping. To stop him Rei does the only thing he can to prevent the clown from getting the clothes dirty. He shuffles closer to the extremity on his hands and knees. He looks up at the masked man once more before clamping down hard on the hand with his teeth.

"Son of a bitch," growls the clown. Using his other hand he clamps down tightly on Rei's trachea, effectively cutting off the boy's air supply. Rei opens his mouth to gasp. Fruitlessly, he scrabbles at the man's hand, trying to pry his fingers off. His vision slowly grows cloudy, his struggles becoming weaker as his oxygen deprived brain finally decides to give up. But no, it couldn't be. Rei is a good boy and would never disobey his mama. With a twist of his body he kicks the man, who relaxes his grip just enough for Rei to collect on ounce of air.

The man merely laughs as Rei continues to flail in his grasp. "A tough guy eh? I think the Madam will have fun with you." Finally losing interest in the child he stuffs Rei into a bag, kicking it a few times for good measure. "Yes, I should think she'll enjoy herself thoroughly with you."

Rei punches the bag a few more times before realizing that there's nothing to connect with. He stops and listens carefully to what is happening outside the course material of the sack.

"Let's go, the Madam doesn't like to be kept waiting." Rei feels himself being lifted, his back resting against a contoured surface.

"Fine, fine." With a sickening sound like a paint roller being rolled in a tray he hears the tiger man curse under his breath. A wiping sound can be heard to the right of Rei. "Man oh man, I wish humans weren't so full of this shit."

"Can't be helped, what do you think makes them so delicious?"

"Hahaha, you got that right. Hey, did you hear about the one where the Dove walks into a bar of ghouls?"

The two continue with their conversation, eventually boring Rei to sleep. This is a new game, he thinks before succumbing to unconsciousness, I wonder how it will end. Maybe mama and daddy will want to play too.