Prolouge

She walked lazily on in the snow swinging her legs one in front of the other in an exaggerated way, her black leather boots trampling on the pavement as she went, cold blustery winds whipped her unevenly cut hair about, once the squall calmed her dirty blond locks settled, one side of the diagonal do hanging just below her jaw line the other just above her shoulder.

She was on her way to work not like she cared much though. She had been given a rule book which all investigators of CCG were expected to follow, one of those rules stated that workers shouldn't listen to music if they traveled to work by foot, this rule was stupid and the red splatter print headset that the girl adorned seemed to make that abundantly clear.

It was unbelievable that on her very first day in Tokyo she was expected to attend work! She wanted to see the sights and harass some locals for fun, but it looked like she would have to wait until later. She had been an investigator for several months then and would soon be promoted, however, she would've never guessed that to be the situation considering she had been transferred to the CCG's Tokyo branch because her co-workers at her previous branch couldn't handle her. It was all due to her being: 'unreliable', 'a poor listener', 'a bad teammate', 'vaguely maniacal', oh and lest we forget: 'causing her late partners death'. Whatever. It wasn't like she told a ghoul to sneak up on him! Then again she didn't really bother to warn her partner about the creature's approach either, she just watched as the thing crept up from behind, grabbed her partner, and took a chunk out of his neck. If her partner hadn't been scolding her at the time, then maybe she would've considered telling him to move.

Continuing her exaggerated steps as she entered the building she went to the front desk, the woman who sat behind said desk looked up to her curiously before standing.

"Hello there, are you here to see a relative? I'm afraid we don't allow visitors during work hours." She said happily, the angsty-looking teen before her merely raised an eyebrow before taking hold of the white plastic stick, which protruded from her mouth, and pulled it out making sure to have the sucker make a popping sound as it moved from between her lips. The teens grey eyes turned down, her red rimmed glasses catching the light as she did so, as she began to dig in her jacket pocket; when she removed her hand a mess of crinkled papers and change fell from inside her pocket. Without a word the teen handed the receptionist an ID card, the woman looked closely at the thing before looking back to the girl. "Raidon Namikawa." The woman read aloud and the teen nodded as she heard her name. "I-I see," she handed Raidon her ID card which the teen carelessly shoved into her pocket, feeling the plastic bend as she did so. "Forgive me it was my mistake!" The woman cried, Raidon merely twirled the stick of her sucker between her thumb and index finger.

"I was told to meet with an old guy." She said in a low tone, "Yukinori I think his name was."

"A-ah yes! I'm afraid he's out right now, but I can show you to the room where you'll be working if you like?" Her words ended with an upward inflection making her statement sound like a question, Raidon shook her head, her uneven locks swaying to and fro.

"I can find it myself if you gimme the room number." She placed the sour tasting sucker onto her tongue before holding it between her lips.

The room, the room, the room, cubicle two, cubicle two, cubicle two. She sighed as she began to dread the paperwork she was to fill out. Whatever. Opening a door into a short entrance way and then just around a corner were a small cluster of cubicles, three in a row in columns of two.

Once she came into full view she noticed two others already stationed at cubicle one and cubicle three, neither of the two appeared to be working, bickering more likely. A taller guy in a blue suit was standing with his back to her and spoke rather loudly, something about a promotion. The other worker seemed to have noticed her as soon as she came into view, he remained seated as he stared at her, Raidon responded to his staring as she always did the stares of judgmental people: she stared back. The boy was albino with beautiful red orbs which seemed to flicker with mischief as Raidon inspected him, stitches spiraled up his arm and loitered on his neck and face. The two stared each other down for a long moment, ultimately Raidon huffed as she broke the unspoken contest and approached the guy in the suit, she placed a rough tap on his shoulder to get his attention.

"You're in my way, might I suggest not blocking the pathway." She said jadedly, the guy turned to face her fully a look of curiosity expressed by way of both his eyes and tone.

"Who're you?"

"Who indeed. Move now." Raidon waved her hand horizontally and he slid out of her way, thrown off by her sudden appearance. She then took her seat between the two males whom of which had grown silent as they watched her remove her jacket revealing her white button up shirt which lacked sleeves and adorned a large red bow tie.

"Oh-ho! I like your bracelet!" The bleached haired boy exclaimed as he pointed to her wrist, which held a small chain with morbid charms dangling from it, skulls, coffins, tombstones. Raidon didn't bother to respond, compliments on material things weren't actual accolades to the person who owned them, those types of 'compliments' were actually nothing but subtle vanity reflecting as something civil. The boy giggled at her quietness as he rolled his desk chair closer to her. "I'm Juuzou Suzuya, what's your name, New-Girl-chan?"

"Raidon Namikawa." She answered quickly, then the guy in blue jumped in surprise.

"You're Raidon Namikawa?!" He cried in shock, she merely sighed as her head fell onto her desk with a rather loud thud.

"Obviously. I mean I just introduced myself after all. Why would you even ask that?" She heard the guy scoff at her rude response, she guessed that was why his tone was so vindictive when he spoke.

"Raidon's a really masculine name, so I thought you were gonna be a guy. That's why I'm surprised."

"Ehh? It's a guy's name really?" Juuzou questioned, "you sure about that Seido?"

"Of course I am!"

"Raidon means: thunder god. So yeah, it's a name meant for males." She propped her arms up on the desks surface as she once again removed the sucker from her mouth with a pop. "But it's not like it matters, I like my name so who cares if everyone who hears it expects me to be a dude. Get me?"

"Oh-ho! Where'd you get the lollipop from?!" Juuzou questioned as his crimson eyes brightened, Raidon then placed the candy back into her mouth before speaking.

"A little shop called: None of Your Business, you can find it on: Leave Me Alone Street, right next to: You're Sitting Too Close to Me Boulevard." She began to inspect the stack of papers which was sitting near the back corner of her cubicle, Juuzou giggled at her response which threw her off completely what sort of masochist laughs at such a rude reply?

"You're funny Namikawa-chan!" The albino exclaimed as he clapped his hands and moved his chair closer to her.

"Suzuya-kun! It was an insult! She was mocking you!" Seido pointed out with a stomp of his foot.

"I'd appreciate it if you called me by my first name. Also:" Raidon took hold of the corner of Juuzou's seat and gave it a push, which was just strong enough for him to roll away from her and end up at the edge of his cubicle.

"Why specifically your first name?" Seido questioned.

"Because it's like your calling me a God and I enjoy it very much. It factually states that I'm above you."

"That sure is arrogant of you~!" Juuzou exclaimed as he wheeled his way back to her side.

"Conceited, would be a better term for it." She responded quickly, "you're too close again." Juuzou only snickered as he began to spin around in his chair then a sigh came followed by an unfamiliar voice.

"Juuzou, are you giving the new girl a hard time?" As she looked from her work she saw a larger, middle aged, man standing just on the other side of Seido's cubicle.

"Ah~ Shinohara-san! Not at all! I'm just getting to know her!" The albino answered with a grin, Raidon responded by taking hold of one of the stitches on Juuzou's lip, she gave it a harsh enough tug for him to lean toward her reflexively as she kept hold of it.

"Not true, you're being annoying on purpose!" She growled lowly then she released the red twine, which she'd held between her index and thumb nails, watching as Juuzou's bottom lip sprung back to his face with a popping sound similar to the noise she made with her sucker. The boy placed his hand near the offended area all the while sneering at Raidon in an amused way.

"Now, now let's not over step our boundaries." Shinohara said as he put his hands up in an attempt to defuse the situation. "Namikawa-chan I'm Yukinori Shinohara, I'd like to speak with you for a moment if you can spare the time." Raidon simply stood from her desk, tugging her plaid skirt down, she felt her studded belt moved along with the fabric, and spoke as she approached the man.

"You can over step any boundary you want to ya know, so long as you've got the skill and strength to back it up." The man only gave her smile accompanied with a nervous laugh before leading her out.

Soon both Shinohara and Raidon sat in the refectory of CCG headquarters, both with a small plastic cup of coffee before them, Raidon only stared down at the dark liquid as she had yet to even touch the cup.

"Not thirsty?" Shinohara questioned.

"I don't like coffee." She stated, and Shinohara rubbed the back of his neck.

"If you would've told me that before I went to get it for you I would've brought back something else."

"You didn't ask me though." The man sighed as he realized that it really wouldn't be easy working with such a girl, it appeared that she would be just as much a handful as Juuzou. "Why am I supposed to meet with you anyway? I know all CCG's procedures so I don't need to go over that, is this about a partnership? I'd rather be on my own even though I know it's against company policy." Shinohara blinked a few times.

"Well, you're right about all that. But unfortunately it doesn't appear as though we've got any openings for a singular partner for you, so until there's an opening you'll be working with myself and my partner Juuzou, who you already met."

"Ugh, I'm gonna have to spend all my time with the annoying kid huh? That sucks." Her voice held absolutely no energy as she sunk down in her seat, however, Shinohara noticed her jaw tighten and then heard the crunch of the lollipop which she'd held in her mouth, signaling that she was actually quite angered by the news. "Hopefully you two are capable enough to save yourselves if you get into trouble, because I won't go out of my way to help you." She rested her index finger on the small plastic cup in front of her and began to lean the thing back and forth.

"Right, I've heard rumors about your lack of comradery. Don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll warm up to the idea of having a partner!" Shinohara's tone was reassuring as if Raidon was actually upset by her lack of team spirit, this made the girl stop completely as her dull eyes met Shinohara's, she moved her finger away from the cups rim and then swatted the beverage with her palm, causing the cup to fly off the table as coffee spilled onto the tabletops surface and began to spread. She then leaned forward never breaking eye contact with the older Investigator.

"That's what I think of your stupid partnership." Her tone was still bland as though she didn't really feel the emotion her words projected. She stood and walked away, leaving the stunned man to look from the spilled beverage to her retreating form, he really had his hands full didn't he?

"Wait up a second!" Shinohara called quickly as he hurried after his new underling, the unruly girl never changed pace as she lazily stepped onward. "It wasn't really necessary for you to make a mess like that." He stated simply, "but that's beside the point, I'm not done telling you about your new arrangements." The girl continued on.

"Clearly you can walk and talk at the same time so go ahead." She stated just as she removed the plastic stick from her mouth which then lacked the sour treat she'd been enjoying; she threw it into a nearby trashcan as they continued on.

"You really should show more respect to your superiors…" The man said with a sigh before tucking his hands in his pockets and strolling beside Raidon at the same pace. "It's about your living arrangements, I know you were told the CCG would take care of your move and we have so far, I'm sure there are movers at your new apartment right now but… Well… Here's the thing…"

"Spit it out already." She demanded cooly, he only sighed again.

"Look, I've seen your record and so I know that you're a phenomenal field investigator just by how many ghouls you've been able to defeat or capture, I also know that you've got the potential to be the best in the business… However, your record also showed your lack of teamwork and it was actually stated that you let your teammates die when you could've done something to prevent their deaths- "

"If you're not strong enough to save yourself then clearly you don't deserve to go on living." She interrupted coldly, Shinohara let out a low growl.

"We'll talk about your twisted mindset later. Anyway, the higher-ups really want you to learn how to work in a group and so, you've been assigned a roommate in the apartment complex the CCG owns." Raidon stopped, then turned to the older male.

"Don't. You dare. Tell me. That I have to live with. The annoying. Albino." She said as she put emphasis on every single word.

"… Alright then I won't, instead I'll tell you that: you have to live with Second Class Investigator Juuzou Suzuya." Shinohara gave her a nervy smile, "it's for your own good really."

"You don't even know me; so how could you possibly know what's good for me?" She questioned with a sigh.

"… Juuzou's really not a bad guy." He added, Raidon pinched the upper bridge of her nose just under her T-zone, she felt a headache coming on.

After filing report after report after report, Raidon stretched her arms over her head the idea of going in and filling out paper work was always a lot worse than actually doing it. At the end of the day she always knew that office work wasn't difficult, annoying and dull enough to make her want to blow her brains out sure! But not difficult.

"Raidon-chan~" Juuzou sang her name as she lowered her arms while turning to the male as he stood over her. "Are you done for the day?" He questioned, she nodded as she stood as well she noticed then that the boy was around her eye-level, he might've been an inch or so taller, she'd thought he would be shorter for some reason. "Then let's walk home together!" He exclaimed happily as he watched her put on her jacket.

"It's not like I really have choice right? Considering I don't know where the stupid apartment complex is and I literally have to live with you." He grinned at that as he bounced ahead of her.

"You have such a bad attitude!" He cheered, "you're such a mean girl!" He grinned sweetly, Raidon fell into step with him, each of the two investigators demonstrating their own bizarre way of walking.

"You smile too much for it to be plausible," Raidon replied, "you're a fake guy." She sighed as they exited the office and went out into the blistering cold, which made Raidon shiver. "Are you really not wearing a jacket?" She questioned as she looked on the eccentric male who beamed at her.

"Nope~ don't need one!" He exclaimed, "but look at you! Your shivering even with a jacket!"

"I shiver in seventy-degree weather, it's nothing new."

"Eh?! I don't think you're supposed to shiver when it's that warm out!"

"Tell that to my anatomy."

It seemed like a really, really, really long walk to the apartment. Raidon guessed it was because Juuzou wouldn't stop humming ridiculous tunes as they went on.

"If you don't stop with the humming I'll cut out your vocal cords." She threatened flatly, Juuzou laughed as he continued to sing. She wondered if he'd taken her threat as joke, it would be understandable considering her never changing tone, she always failed to emote what she felt inside. Oh well may as well move on.

Entering into their new apartment, the two were met with a rather large space, fully furnished thanks to CCG, which was littered with boxes of personal items belonging to the two. Raidon couldn't stand the sight, so she located her things and began to unpack immediately. There was only one bedroom in the apartment clearly the two were meant to share it. Raidon would hear nothing of it, she would sleep on the couch, after putting her clothes away in one of the two closets which were located in the singular bedroom.

"Shinohara-san said that we should share the room though." Juuzou stated with a tilt of his head.

"And we are, this closet and this dresser have my things in them while that closet and that dresser have yours. That's sharing." Juuzou giggled in such a girlie way that it made Raidon question his gender.

"That's not what he meant and you know it!" She turned to him, he was sitting on the large bed which was situated in the middle of the room. She leaned down so that her face was only inches from his.

"Are you really a boy?" She questioned causing Juuzou to blink a few times as he realized she was seriously inspecting him to try and figure it out.

"Well of course I am!" He exclaimed as small smile broke out on his face and he giggled once again. Raidon narrowed her eyes as she still doubted him, then suddenly Juuzou felt her hands push against his chest he looked down on them as they groped the area, but the shape, the form she'd expect to feel wasn't there, then she moved away from him.

"Hmm, I guess you really are a boy." She stated and Juuzou frowned at her.

"You couldn't have taken my word for it?"

"No."

"You're so rude~!" He said with a laugh.

"Well goodnight then." Raidon began to leave, Juuzou spoke as she did so causing her to pause.

"You know I'm supposed to report your cooperation to my being your roommate to Shinohara-san~" He sang as he began to roll around on the bed. "If I give you a bad report then you'll be punished~ maybe they'll transfer you again!" Man, she really didn't want to move again… Even if the place she was in then was less than desirable, she didn't want to move any farther. She turned back to him.

"What do you want from me?" She questioned as she tucked some of her uneven locks behind her ear.

"You're supposed to sleep in here, we're supposed to share the room, so that's what I want!" He answered happily.

"Why do you want that? It doesn't seem like it's just you following orders, then again that could be because of how stupidly you carry yourself." Juuzou sat up.

"Ah~ there's that attitude again! It's kinda because of the orders but mainly it's because it's fun to bother you!"

"Annoying albino." She mumbled as she approached the bed, standing before Juuzou with a frown she waved for him to move. He stayed completely still, his grin growing in width. Raidon pursed her lips in annoyance before leaning down and, once again, placing her hands on Juuzou's chest in order to push him to the other side of the bed. The boy cackled as he slid to the opposite side of the mattress then watched as Raidon laid down, pulling the covers over her head completely. How did things end up like that?