This chapter contains detailed scenes of a gruesome crime scene. It is done so for the case in mind and not just to be gory or shocking.


The taxi ride remained silent and relatively comfortable. Neither Kairi nor Sherlock really knew what to say since they couldn't speak of anything meaningful in such a short span of time. Arriving seething from a fight or disheveled from a lengthy snogging session wouldn't be greatly received by Scotland Yard, so the familiar silence of her morose detective would have to do. They'd remain slightly distant, vibrating with unmet needs and trying not to leap on each other every other minute. She smiled, just trying to feel in the moment with her precious detective. It was a very difficult thing to do when there were so many things that needed to be said, that needed to be heard.

They arrived at Brompton Park rather quickly and approached the barricaded crime scene, blocked off so the public couldn't just wander in. The area itself was a rather populated one, surrounded by businesses, residences, and even a fancy hotel. Kairi had yet to go to Brompton Park - her fascination with parks had dwindled since Moran - and it was a bit out of her usual routine. This wasn't exactly how she wanted to visit it, but it was a visit nonetheless. It was a smaller park and it backed up against a well known cemetery surrounded by residences. Bright lights were set up, illuminating the area and almost making it seem like a movie set.

Sherlock was pulling Kairi along, holding her hand in his tight grip. To the passing glares they received, it looked like he was dragging her, forcing her to keep up and come along this little sick adventure, but in reality, it was about as affectionate as he would get in public. In his little reality, taking someone along to a crime scene was probably the highest regard he could have for a person. Not many really understood that about him. Not to mention, his legs were almost twice as long as Kairi's, so dragging her was more of an accident than an effort.

They passed through the tape, lifted by a cross looking uniformed officer that Kairi didn't know and Sherlock barely cared to acknowledge. As they approached the scene, they passed by a few officers who greeted Kairi with smiles, then they navigated around high screens that were blocking the body from the public's view. They weaved around countless uniformed people and found Lestrade standing about three feet away from the corpse, one arm crossed over his midsection and the other gripping his chin, his eyes looking fierce as he took it all in.

Sherlock watched Lestrade as he acknowledged their approach. A nod to the consulting detective and a lingering sort of stare at Kairi, half nervous and half something else which made Sherlock minutely curious. As they got closer, Sherlock let go of Kairi and removed his glove to shake Lestrade's hand.

"Gene." Sherlock nodded, ignoring the pointed eye roll from the detective and focusing instead on the handshake, he couldn't help his innate investigative drives. He noticed that Kairi was watching them closely.

"Greg." Lestrade growled, letting go of the offending detective's hand and reaching towards Kairi to give her a stiff sort of hug that she returned with an equal lack of warmth.

"No, Sherlock." He smiled, pointing to himself with a wicked grin which caused Kairi to roll her eyes and chuckle and Lestrade just glared at him. He pushed his observations to the side, meant to be dealt with later. He ignored the rest of the world instantly and looked towards the body, a static sort of excitement coursing through him as he took in every bit of the scene with elation. "Identification?"

"None." Lestrade said, "But we've left her mostly alone aside from sectioning off the area. We didn't want anyone to stumble in and see this."

In the middle of the cordoned off area, a battered woman was very much on display. Sherlock walked towards her, his eyes snaking through the bloody grass and across the now pale skin. She was splayed out, arms above her head, legs spread wide beneath her, anchored in place with railroad spikes. Recognition sent a surge through his gut and he had to stifle a chuckle as he let his eyes wander over his newest case.

A familiar incision was cut into her upper torso, the letter Y in crimson red, stretching from her upper chest and all the way down to just below her belly button. The skin was not sutured, but the flaps of skin were closed, merely awaiting an anxious and brilliant hand to peel it back to expose the empty cavity. An assortment of the dead woman's organs were on display beside the body, cut out neatly, with a dextrous hand and laid out decoratively, invitingly. The liver, stomach, even coiled intestines delicately tied off, and all other slabs of meat that took up residence within the human frame, were all neatly lined up, surrounding her in some sort of macabre parade.

Sherlock smiled then, a familiar roll spreading through his frame as his mind ticked away at a scene that he had seen almost exactly before. Someone cleared their throat and he looked back to see Kairi eyeing him with an anxious look on her face. He sighed heavily and removed the smile from his lips, though he could not do much for the almost luminous excitement in his eyes. He removed his coat and handed it to her. As he went back to the corpse, she seemed to smile at him, a little unsure, but rather well composed considering the state of the body before her. She was muttering between Lestrade and Donovan, Anderson just a foot or so behind them, observing Sherlock working with a sort of bitter admiration.

"Have you called Molly?" Sherlock said over his shoulder as he pulled latex gloves from his pocket and slipped them on.

"She's with John at her family's. We can't call her." Kairi muttered distastefully.

"How inconvenient." He drawled and looked back at Kairi who was pointedly ignoring the corpse, her body turned slightly towards Lestrade who stood with her in some sort of solidarity. Sherlock frowned momentarily, but continued with the corpse, inspecting each inch as per routine, "It may be wise. I'm sure she and John would want to be informed of a serial killer returning."

"Wait, what?" Lestrade asked with his almost limitless incredulity.

Sherlock scoffed as he made a circle around the body, finding an appropriate place to begin inspecting the organs lying next to it, "Scotland Yard has such a short and insipid memory!" He muttered in frustration, fingering a kidney. "Unsolved murder where the victim was attacked, spiked down, and eviscerated? Surely you haven't forgotten…" He glanced back at the blank face of Lestrade and sighed.

"Oh my god!" Kairi said loudly and Sherlock just smiled at her, putting the blatant pieces together. "Sherlock you can't possibly mean…" She put a hand over her mouth, looking like she was about to be sick and Lestrade stepped closer to her, putting a reassuring arm around her, "God Greg! The body, the video… The goddamned bomb!"

Sherlock was gazing at the body, ignoring their interaction completely, and looking like a child on Christmas Morning, presents in the form of evidence all wrapped up and hidden beneath the artfully decorated corpse. "The Sandman." He said with a grin.

Lestrade gave an exaggerated sigh and pulled Kairi a bit closer as she regained her resolve, "Christ. Knew this didn't feel right." He shook his head and glanced at Kairi, "You okay?"

Sherlock let the conversation continue out of his scope of care as he took in the corpse more specifically as opposed to the gore. The woman was in her mid-fifties maybe, lines around her face that denoted age, but not overexposure to sun. She probably had a job inside then. Her skin was pale and had been delicately made up in a no-nonsense type of way — prior to her untimely disembowelment at least. So a professional job, but she worked with people enough to need a presentable face. Years of accumulated weight kept her body rounded but not obese. Her hands weren't calloused, but she had decent musculature despite her larger frame, denoting some sort of activity in relation to daily work — not an avid gym goer then. He had no clothes to go off of since she was naked, save a pair of common cotton underthings covering her lower half.

A pile of brightly colored material was cut up and placed beneath her head. He looked more closely at her face and mouth. Tongue removed, blood pooling in her oral cavity, probably a good amount inhaled and regurgitated during the process of her death, but not enough to make her drown in it. He would need Molly's assessment for cause of death, as it was not caused by her injuries. He would assume she expired close to four hours ago, before The Sandman had completely finished with her — some wounds appeared to be postmortem while others occurred antemortem. The antemortem wounds seemed to be close to five hours old, meaning she was abducted close to five and a half, possibly six hours prior.

Due to time of death and the amount of time required for a vivisection, wherever she was abducted from had to be near by. He glanced around and saw that this area was hidden from surrounding homes and businesses well enough. She was probably wearing her work clothes at the time of abduction, so she was either abducted from or on her way home from her job. He glanced back at the body and focused in on her hair.

"Kairi, you'll need to call Molly. Ensure she isn't highly intoxicated before requesting her presence back at the morgue." Sherlock added, glancing at the victim's hair line and noticing dark roots coming in between a sharp line of bright blonde. Her hair had been dyed and was in need of a touch up. Then, the scraps of material beneath her head caught his eye.

"Requesting?" Kairi asked cheekily.

Sherlock scoffed, "Fine, demand it."

Kairi rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone.

Sherlock's smile returned and he stood, ripping off a latex glove and pulling out his phone to flip through an internet search. He smiled wide, glancing at Lestrade who was staring at the body with sad eyes. Frowning for a moment, Sherlock cleared his throat and received the attention of the Inspector and Kairi, "You'll want to question the staff at Chelsea and Westminster."

"Why?" Lestrade looked oddly at the consulting detective.

"Chelsea and Westminster?" Kairi questioned, looking back and forth between the Inspector and the Detective. She handed him his coat and he slid it on with a flourish.

"Hospital on Fulham Road, not very far from here at all." He smiled at Kairi and then addressed Lestrade, "I believe you have a middle aged nurse, possibly the head nurse of the Triage unit going by her age. She has been a nurse for a very long time. I have no doubt that she was abducted from there no more than six hours ago. Probably had just come off of a double shift — hair and face have been unwashed for at least thirty-six hours."

"How -?" Lestrade stopped himself and just looked at Sherlock expectantly.

Sherlock graced him with a small, pedantic smile. Opening his mouth to say something cruel, he glanced at Kairi and saw her looking impatient, maybe even pleading, so he just continued with his explanation, "The material beneath her head is brightly colored and despite it being cut to bits to hide it, the material is decorated with some sort of cartoon cat." He shrugged, "Doesn't look like a popular character, and the cheap, mostly polyester, cotton blend is clearly that of medical scrubs worn by nurses. I guessed triage because of the stress lines around her face and the fact that her hair has not been kept dyed for at least two weeks — busy, busy, busy it seems — not many nights off to dye her hair and keep up appearances."

He smiled as his mind whirred with activity, "She's middle-aged, slightly overweight but not in a horribly unhealthy manner — so she is active, but not an avid exerciser. I'd say she's single, possibly divorced with elder children, judging by the stretch marks on her abdomen, children that are no longer toddling about anymore. That's an assumption based on her age and the hours she put into work."

He looked back at the body, "Surgical cuts with a very sharp instrument, removal of organs, railroad spikes… All signs point to The Sandman abducting a nurse from Chelsea and Westminster and murdering her in the wooded area of Brompton Park. Not notoriously busy this late at night, nor highly traversed being so close to a popular cemetery and all." He glanced up at Kairi and Lestrade who were gaping at him and he frowned, "It's simple if you would have just observed." He added haughtily.

"Shit." Kairi muttered and then nodded, "I'll call John and Molly and get them to meet us at Bart's."

"Yes." Sherlock nodded as she walked away and he turned slightly to address Lestrade. "Your team is up, tell them not to muck about, I do hate it when vital evidence gets ruined by inadequate collection measures." He finished and went to follow Kairi.

Lestrade shot him a glower and then ignored the jab, "Yeah, fine." He cleared his throat and reached out to Sherlock, grabbing his arm sharply. Sherlock looked a bit shocked at the physical touch but Lestrade continued, sounding a bit desperate, "Look, I know this is great and all for you, the corpse, Kairi, perfect birthday and all that, but we're taking her out tomorrow for her birthday. I'm sure she'd like you to come. Probably dinner and a drink at Northumberland, something silly like that, but she'd never ask for herself."

Sherlock shot him a glare, "I don't do social events Lestrade and I certainly don't celebrate something as trivial as one more year closer to a person's death."

Lestrade sighed, looking defeated and even disappointed, "Yeah, I figured." He regained his most professional looking stature and added, "We will get the body to Bart's soon as possible."

Sherlock nodded and shrugged off the offending hand, flapping his coat to adjust it comfortably and followed after Kairi as she phoned John.

"Hello? Kairi?" She heard John say over raucous laughter.

"Hey!" Kairi said excitedly as John answered and she heard the grating din of a large family at dinner.

"Pardon me," He said to someone else, obviously excusing himself from the conversation as he took her call, "Everything all right?" Kairi could hear him more clearly now since he moved further away from the noise of Molly's family.

"Oh well, sort of." Kairi replied sheepishly, "Look, this is a weird night already, don't make me explain too much."

John seemed to chuckle, "Right, well I shouldn't be too surprised, what's going on?"

Kairi smiled, "Well, I hope you aren't having too much fun — you and Molly are required back in London."

She could practically hear the gears turning in John's mind, "Required? Oh Christ, Sherlock's back isn't he?"

Kairi chuckled, "Yes, he came back earlier this evening. A body happened to bubble up through the cracks as well, so we are at a crime scene right now."

"Christ!" John already sounded tired, "Yeah, that sounds about as normal as it gets for you lot. How did it all go? I mean, aside from the dead body."

Kairi chuckled turning slightly to see Sherlock walking behind her, deep in thought, as she headed towards the edge of the police line, "Fine, I guess. We've got more to discuss, but… Well, it went all right until he was called on a case."

"Well, it sounds as if that's going just about right as rain for him then," John added sarcastically, "Shit, he really brought you to a crime scene?" He sounded a little angered at that and Kairi tried not to smile as she ducked under the police line and headed back to where they came from to find a cab. "I thought you wanted to take things slow." He added with a sad chuckle.

Kairi outright laughed, "First of all, his blogger was absent and he needed an assistant. Second of all, I already made that joke, thirdly, tell Molly to keep her yap shut about Sherlock and I, the little gossip. The idea of privacy this last year was alluring, though I'm sure it's all out the window now." She added light heartedly.

"Right, so you need us? I'm imagining he's vibrating with excitement, got his girl, got a corpse, doesn't need much else," he joked. "We're about an hour out of London."

Kairi chuckled, glancing at Sherlock who had caught up to her and was indeed looking far too overzealous at her side, "Yeah, an hour is fine, Scotland Yard has the scene now and they're collecting evidence and samples. You've got an excuse to leave, so hopefully Molly isn't knackered or drunk."

"No, she's been good, but her step-father is getting to the point where he's going to start spouting his misogynistic bullshit about her job not being fit for a lady and how she'll need to get all of that silly science work out of her system when there's a baby on the way." He sounded exasperated. Kairi knew all too well how Molly's step-father liked to talk down to her. The man was decent enough, but horribly old-fashioned and close-minded, especially when he had too much to drink and he let his mouth run on.

Kairi sighed, "Oh God, poor Molly. Babies already, again? You aren't even married yet!"

John chuckled, "Yeah, tell me about it. Evidently I'm supposed to start up my own practice and bring in all the dough while she stays barefoot and pregnant at home. I'll go tell her the good news. I'm sure she'll be somewhat delighted to be called into work."

"Good. We will see you at Bart's in an hour or so then." Kairi replied and John gave a grunt of assent and then hung up. She turned to Sherlock who's mind was obviously buzzing. "Now what?"

"Dinner?" He looked down at her with a grin on his lips and she desperately fought the eye-roll. If she continued with so many eye rolls in such a short amount of time, her eye balls would be sure to roll right out of the sockets and down the street in protest.

"After that, you want to get dinner?" She chuckled and then reached down to grasp his hand in hers. "Fine, but maybe something vegetarian?"

He chuckled lightly, "I was thinking sushi."

She grinned, "I think I could handle that."

They walked back out to the main street and hailed a cab. Once inside and directed towards a sushi place owned by a veritable sushi Jedi that Sherlock had done some favor for, he decided to speak again, "Do you know how you can tell if a sushi restaurant is of top quality?"

Kairi glanced up at him and scooted herself a bit closer so she could lean into him, "No idea. Smells like fish? Has an old asian woman who is mean to all the customers? Those ladies are always my favorite…"

He looked at her with severe disappointment, "Absolutely not, such a smell is a severe indication that their fish is of poor quality. A respectable sushi restaurant would never smell of fish — it should smell faintly of watermelon, cucumber, and possibly vinegar." He paused and looked at her, "Mean old-asian women? Why would you go to a restaurant where they treat you poorly?"

"Maybe I just have a type." She winked, but he still looked confused. "Okay, mean was the wrong word. I don't know, they are just old and they know their shit and they don't take kindly to people giving them attitude." Kairi laughed, looking up at him, "And a vinegar smell? How is that better than fishy smell?"

He gave her a cross look, "Quality sushi rice is always made with a hint of vinegar. Fish smelling fishy means they've been left out too long. Watermelon and cucumber denote a cleanliness and freshness of produce used for specific rolls. All in all, a fishy, ginger-smelling place should be avoided at all costs."

Kairi scrunched her nose at him, "Well hint of vinegar is different from a place reeking of vinegar. God, you sound so posh sometimes. Respectable sushi." She mocked.

He glared at her, "I am not posh."

She grinned, "Are too."

He tutted at her and looked away, "Also, most of the highest quality fish is actually not fresh, but frozen for quite some time before its utilized."

"So, we pay top dollar for frozen fish?" She chuckled.

"No, you pay top dollar for parasite-free fish. You should be thankful, I don't think you'd want to wake up in a week and see a writhing tapeworm in your most recent bowel movement." He added sharply.

"Christ!" She screeched and hit his shoulder, "You are not making me want to go to dinner with you at all!"

He rolled his eyes, "Trust me, Noboru Kato is a prodigious itame. A master of his craft. He takes his sushi making extremely seriously. As per regulations, his fish is frozen well below zero by his own hand, sometimes for years, perfectly preserving the texture and taste, but ridding it of pesky bacteria and parasites. It's a necessary and common practice. I believe tuna is one of the only fish you can serve fresh, as it is an exceptionally clean deep-sea animal."

She smiled up at him, "Look at you, a genuine encyclopedia of sushi and murder. Who would have thunk it?"

He glanced down at her, fighting a grin, and lacing his tone with sarcasm, "Yes, it's precisely what I spend my spare time doing. Studying the intricacies of sushi preparation and effective ways to dispose of a troublesome corpse."

"You could combine it, like Hannibal Lecter - make people into spicy tuna instead of foi gras." She chuckled again. There they were, conversing easily and enjoying each other's company, despite the morbid topic. She looked up at him and then just stared at him, taking him in, squeezing his arm a bit when she wrapped her own around it, just solidifying that he was, in fact, truly beside her.

"Are you still trying to validate my presence?" He searched her features for a moment.

She sighed and shrugged, "I guess so. I've lived a year without you, Sherlock. I mean, I guess in my mind, you weren't ever really that far gone, but still… For a while, I kept thinking I had made you up. That it was all some sick joke."

He chuckled and leaned down and pressed his lips against the side of her face, "At the beginning, I was under the absurd impression that I was hallucinating my attraction to you. I thought I had lost my mind, I never though I had actually desired the vacuousness of romantic entanglement until it was thrust upon me in your visage."

She turned her face, pressing her lips against his in a kiss that was supposed to be chaste, but broiled with an undercurrent of passion, "Nice vocab drop, but try to refrain from insulting the fact that I am stupid enough to love you or visa versa."

He turned his body effectively, letting his opposite hand rest on her cheek, stroking it gently as he pulled her lips to his in a rushed sort of heat, "How could you be sure it was not an impostor if I did not behave as such?" He nipped at her upper lip and Kairi shivered.

"Dick." She muttered before letting her own hands shoot up around his neck to pull him closer.

They effectively entwined as much as they could, without Kairi outright climbing up onto his lap, and engaged in a kiss that was sensuous and almost equally violent and needy. Losing themselves in the taste of one another, gloved hands grasping at body parts not ensconced in heaps of clothing, lead them to groan into one another's mouths until the taxi stopped abruptly, jarring their lips from the kiss.

"Here!" The cabby said gruffly, obviously disinterested in their heated union.

With a chuckle from Kairi and a clearing of Sherlock's throat, they adjusted themselves and went to exit the cab, shifting uncomfortably in clothing far too existent than they wanted. Once out of the taxi, Kairi faced a small sushi restaurant seated on a relatively empty street. It was not a very fancy looking place, but it looked rather busy inside. When they walked in they were greeted with a chorus of "Konbanwa" from chefs and waiters alike. Kairi smiled and bowed, returning the traditional greeting with an elegant tongue.

Sherlock smiled down at her in appreciation and she returned the smile with a blush. He then searched around a bit, spotting Kato behind the sushi bar, vigorously working as he was wont to do. Upon their entrance the elderly man looked up, his face lined and stretching out with elation upon seeing Sherlock. The man muttered to his nearby itame who took over his duties and came around the bar, greeting Sherlock with excitement and adoration.

Kairi watched as the man she guessed was Noboru Kato, greeted Sherlock with utmost respect and honor. Whatever Sherlock had done must have meant a great deal to the man, who acted indebted to her detective. A flurry of Japanese was spoken, adoration and praise to Sherlock from Kato, and she smiled as the language clicked in her brain, pulling briefly some memories from her time in Okinawa with her family.

"Kato-sama, I'm pleased to introduce Kairi…" Sherlock turned, smiling down at Kairi who grinned, "My girlfriend." Kairi's eyes went wide at that.

She jolted back to the conversation and greeted Kato with reverence, bowing gently and thanking him for the opportunity to meet him, "Ome ni kakarete kouei desu." The man obviously thought highly of Sherlock and Sherlock returned the esteem, so it was important to impart her respect in return.

The itame looked at Sherlock with absolute glee upon hearing Kairi speak in his native tongue, "Sherlock-sama! Hontou ni ureshii! Not only do you bring a beautiful woman into my restaurant, but she also speaks impeccable Japanese!" His voice was deep and joyous, he bowed to Kairi and returned her respectful greeting, not being shy about praising her speech. "Please, come to my station, I would be honored to serve you myself." He led them to the open span of the bar, pulling out their chairs and taking their jackets to hand them off to a nearby server. He was all smiles and cheer as he talked with them briefly about their lives and families. When he went back to the bar he shouted for a bottle of their finest sake to be brought out.

Kairi absolutely beamed at Sherlock, who seemed to blush slightly as he turned to face her, "Can I know what you did for this man? He treats you like a brother!"

Sherlock grinned slightly, "It was merely a case that ensured the safety of not only his business, but also his eldest son."

Kairi chuckled, placing a hand over his, "Well, good thing you did, I love sushi and I'm gonna milk this connection for all it's worth." She winked at him when a server brought out a small bottle of sake and placed it on the space between them and the chef's station.

Kairi thanked the server as Kato poured three shots of sake. He handed the cups to Sherlock and Kairi, raising his own glass to them. He praised Sherlock for his intelligence, his courage, and his generous heart. He also applauded Sherlock's great luck in meeting such a wonderful woman and wished only the greatest of lives for them. They nodded their thanks and drank their sake before Kato went about creating the greatest possible dinner he could muster.

When he seemed sufficiently busy, Kairi turned to Sherlock to speak in hushed tones, not wanting to disrupt other patrons, "So, Sherlock-kun, how are you so sure this is the Sandman?"

Sherlock looked at her curiously and she winked in response, "I was under the impression you wouldn't want to discuss murder over sushi, Kairi-chan."

A grin ticked at her lips in response to the endearment, "Well don't go into ridiculous detail or anything, I just want to be sure. I mean the guy has been MIA for a year."

He nodded as he sipped his water, "Oh, that we know of."

Kairi frowned, "What do you mean?"

He smiled as he looked down at her. He was relieved by her presence. He could talk to her at length about his cases, even dive into the aspects that made others turn pale, and she would almost always listen — unless she were being prurient. She may not always grasp his deductions or information that he divulged, but she was always interested and fascinated by learning new things. He appreciated her tenacity for understanding.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he was keeping busy the year I was away. We know he was determined for me to see his work since he sent the video to John's blog. I wouldn't be surprised if we got another one soon."

Kairi shivered slightly, "Ugh another video. You must feel so special." She glanced back at Sherlock who grinned, "So you think he's been active since that first murder — the retired officer?"

Sherlock nodded, "I would think that he may have been keeping himself entertained somehow. As you saw tonight, he is a creature of habit. This scene was relatively identical to the retired inspector. I think that exposé was important for me to see — not specifically his own elaborate drive."

Kairi frowned, "But serial killers don't exactly go around changing their M.O. all willy-nilly. They tend to be almost frustratingly consistent with their methods. So how can you be sure its him?"

Sherlock stared into his water, a gleaming excitement in his eyes, "I just know."

Kairi shrugged, "Well, perhaps he had more planned before you went away. Something must have happened to change that — it could have been you leaving, but I don't think he's killing them for you. I think he just wants to show off — something that sounds terrifyingly familiar." She shot him a dark look and he chuckled, "Serial killers don't usually wait that long between kills, it usually gets shorter, not longer. So during the time you were gone, he had no one to play with." She thought hard on that for a moment, "The spectacle wasn't needed, but the kill-drive was still there." She frowned. "Have you checked in with Lestrade about seemingly random, violent murders this last year?"

Sherlock nodded, "Too vague to really classify any. I doubt we could connect them to The Sandman in the end. However, that was a brilliant observation and application of your knowledge."

Kairi looked at him, surprised, "Are you being sarcastic?"

He finally looked back at her, perturbed, "No."

Kairi smiled, "So you really thought that was brilliant?"

Sherlock rose an eyebrow, "I would not associate myself with you if I didn't believe you to be superior to other people. I don't waste my time with mediocrity."

Kairi chuckled, "Is it weird that I'm a little turned on?"

Sherlock's features turned practically molten, "No."

Kairi scrunched her nose at him and waggled a finger, "That's the sake and empty stomach talking, not to mention the romance and excitement of a murder case." She chuckled and sipped some of her drink, "We are eating food and we are doing it now and then later we are going to a morgue where you can conduct experiments on a murder victim, make brilliant leaps of logic and insight, and catch the sick fucker who is eviscerating people and prove you're better than him."

Sherlock grinned at her, "That might be the most arousing sentence anyone has ever spoken to me."

Kairi rolled her eyes, "God, stroking your ego is like a straight-line to your penis." She shook her head and chuckled at him, "Fact is," She said with emphasis, derailing the topic from sex and body parts that she desperately wanted to touch, "if he took a break from chopping people to bits, perhaps it means a traceable event that might have occurred. Maybe jail time?"

Sherlock nodded, distancing himself from the absolutely furious torrent of desire curling in his gut, "Possible, but I'm not quite sure Sandman is part of the standard criminal class."

Kairi nodded, "Right, you think he's highly educated."

"I think he's close to a doctor with his knowledge of human anatomy." Sherlock frowned.

Kato interrupted with some plates of food which were happily and graciously accepted. Kairi and Sherlock went to work on their first hand-roll.

"Itadakimasu!" Kairi and Sherlock nodded to Kato and tucked in.

Kato seemed elated as he watched Kairi's eyes widen when she took her first bite. She made sure to be extra vocal about the roll's absolute perfection. He went about fixing their next installment while Sherlock and Kairi essentially stuffed face.

After her final swallow she turned to Sherlock who was delicately finishing off his last bite, "But you said there weren't any medical professionals that seemed like decent suspects in relation to the retired inspector."

Sherlock shook his head and swallowed and Kairi tried really hard not to be aroused by the bobbing of his Adam's apple or the tension in his throat as the muscles flexed. When his eyes met hers, he was fighting a smile and she just scowled at him. "No, possibly not a medical professional, but there are variants that could be relevant."

"What like a veterinary surgeon?" Kairi muttered a little jokingly.

Sherlock shrugged, "I'll have to do some research, but more than likely, a coroner. Not quite as busy as a surgeon, but still has adequate knowledge of surgery and human anatomy to make work of a body in such a manner."

Kairi scrunched her nose, "What about a mortician?"

Sherlock nodded, a bit impressed, "Yes, that is another line of work that would require relatively high knowledge of human anatomy."

"Ok, ok," She shook her hands a bit at him, "no more talk of cutting corpses." She shook slightly and glanced at Sherlock, "So, you want to tell me what you were doing in the past year at all?"

Sherlock looked bored, "Not exactly. It was," He paused, looking lost for a moment and then regained his mental footing, "utterly unexciting."

Kairi scowled, "Come on, something interesting had to have happened."

Sherlock glanced at her briefly, "Not precisely."

She shrugged, "Fine, I can just regale you with tales of my past year, working with Mycroft and pre-teens and raising a puppy on my own."

He grinned at her a little painfully, "That sounds less tortuous."

Kairi smiled and began telling him about the last year. She talked about getting closer with Mycroft which seemed to make Sherlock very upset. She even mentioned emailing back and forth with his mother a few times which made him positively nauseated. She eased the tension by talking about her work with children and how much happiness it brought her. She thought Sherlock might like the kids, they were all pretty smart and definitely straightforward. She was teaching them computer skills and all of them seemed pretty eager at the opportunity to learn something that was relatively cutting edge.

Their dinner continued with many pleasing entrees from Kato and Kairi was absolutely ecstatic. The food was prepared perfectly, reflecting the traditional skills that she had been blessed with experiencing in Japan. She had always wanted to learn to prepare sushi, but it was a skill she was lacking in her cooking arsenal. She never could get the rolls quite tight enough or the rice just right. It didn't mean she wouldn't exuberantly consume it every chance she got though. Sherlock seemed pleased with the whole affair, discussing minor aspects of the case and asking her more questions about her time while he was away.

It was a comfortable sort of evening, spent with laughs from Kairi and small, sort of bitter chuckles from Sherlock when she managed to make him laugh despite his nature not to. They found conversation easily enough, sort of skating more serious topics for when they had time for each other privately.

It felt nice just to speak to one another, knowing that the other person understood you on a level that was different from most. They shared an odd closeness, an ease of spirit when they were with together no matter what dark secrets lurked in the shadows. They could switch from impassioned debates, to amusing jokes, straight to a comfortable silence without much thought and it was more than enough to make their reunion feel just a bit more than right.

Shortly after sharing a mango sorbet and an azuki mochi that Sherlock wasn't quite as fond of, but Kairi happily devoured, they got a text from Lestrade that the rest of their troupe were ready at the morgue.

Thanking Kato with gusto, they promised to return soon. He responded with elation and wished them a good evening with at least one hunger completely sated. They found another taxi and made their way to the morgue, kissing a bit heatedly in the back seat with Kairi giggling occasionally at the audacity of Sherlock's wandering hands.

Once at Bart's, their giggling entrance was met with awkward and interested glances from Lestrade, John, and Molly. Kairi remained smiling, but Sherlock went dead pan and then straight to work. Kairi decided to hang back a bit, not exactly dying to observe the autopsy in the way the rest of them were. She sat at another table and let herself think back on the day. An odd mixture of excitement, sadness, delicious sushi, sexual frustration, terror, and insanely good kissing — not necessarily in that order — had her thinking it was her best birthday yet. She watched Sherlock work, a warmth spreading through her as her happiness really intensified. He was home with her now, they both wanted to be together, and so it might just work. They still had a lot to go through, but if they could get through Moran and this past year apart and not absolutely hate the each other, then maybe they could pull through it.

She didn't make herself any promises, she didn't wish for miracles, she just wanted a chance to really be with him again. She wanted to just watch him work and savor his brilliance. She wanted to see him smile and hear his rare laughs. She wanted to walk in on experiments and odd smells and see him in the kitchen cutting up a body part with rapt fascination. She wanted to hear the odd noises coming from his flat at all hours of the day. He gave a sense of life to her mundane existence, a unique sort of excitement that catered to her small but powerful adventurous side. She wanted to learn and live and she'd very much like to do it all with Sherlock Holmes.

She was getting painfully close to bliss while Sherlock was away, but the uncertainty of it all left her in knots. In the end, she just needed to know if there was anything to this love lark. She wanted to know if she was capable of a real, loving relationship. She knew she could exist happily on her own and going to therapy was helping her reach a point where she felt like she was truly living, instead of just sort of passing through each year. If it worked with Sherlock, she'd be happy. If it didn't…Well, at least she could say she tried and then retire on a beach, own a little cottage on the sand where she'd take in stray dogs, form a traveling dog circus, and die happily in the sun knowing that she gave it her absolute best shot.

"Kairi?"

Kairi hummed a response and looked up at John, Molly, Lestrade, and Sherlock who were staring at her curiously. She jolted fully upright, ignoring the willowy sensation in her limbs and wiping the dreamy expression from her face. "What?" She growled.

Molly bit her lips to keep in her laugh and Kairi scowled at her.

"Tired?" Lestrade chuckled and John joined him.

She scowled, "Yes a bit. It's been a long fucking…" She glanced back at them, all looking terribly amused, and she sighed, "Yeah…" She stood abruptly and hopped off her stool, chuckling, "I'm gonna catch a cab home. I'm beat, I need my beauty rest and I've got a dog to tend to." Sherlock frowned at her and she did her best not to laugh at the petulant and childish look on his face. "I'll see you guys soon, right?"

John cleared his throat and threw a quick glance at Sherlock, "We still on for tomorrow night?"

Kairi saw the eye movement and sighed heavily, she wasn't going to press Sherlock on coming out with them, he wasn't big on social activities that didn't involve a dead body. Bringing it up to make him feel pressured to attend — not that he ever would — would be rude, "Yeah." She nodded to them all and then focused a soft look at Sherlock, "You mind walking me out?"

He stood quickly, looking annoyed as he ripped off his gloves in haste and made his way towards her. He grabbed their coats and handed hers over before he slid on his own. They wandered out of Bart's and onto the street in silence.

"I regret that I cannot accompany you home." He grumbled a bit childishly once they were standing still.

Kairi tried not to grin, "Nah, it's better that way. If I don't lock you out, you'd end up in my bed."

He eyed her wolfishly and she gave him a coy sort of smile, "Locks wont stop me."

She rolled her eyes at him, "No, but me saying 'please' might."

He sighed heavily and stepped closer to her, not bothering to call out for a cab just yet, "Yes, it would, as much as I absolutely despise the notion of denying myself your presence, your words will halt me in an instant."

Kairi smiled up at him, "Thank you." She got up on her tip toes and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was soft and innocent and Kairi pulled back sharply, surprising Sherlock.

"Wha-?" He began until she grabbed his hand and tugged him away from the curb and around the corner of Bart's to a shoddily lit alley.

She pushed him against the wall with a chuckle and then pressed herself against him fully, her mouth covering his and consuming him. His body responded with a violent burst of lust, like ignited thermite, and he turned them with a groan, pushing her up against the frigid stone of St. Bart's. Their legs tangled together so that their hips could be flush, their hands moved in a flurry of passion, touching every available body part within reach. Her nails scraped against his back, under his coats, but outside his shirt. His finger tips pressed into her buttocks, lifting her skirt up around her waist in order to gain access to the heated flesh beneath thin leggings. They were a mash of tongues and teeth and lips all furiously battling — not for dominance or anything, simply just fighting for existence, fighting to savor the sensation as long as possible before it got torn away from them for something feeble, like the need for air.

They parted and Kairi looked at Sherlock, her eyes positively smoldering, her mouth curled up into a deep smile, just for him.

"You are frustratingly adept at that." He growled and pressed his mouth against hers again.

She chuckled between his kisses, "Sorry, I need to take what I can."

He chuckled, "You may have anything you want, everything." His lips smiled against hers and she sighed against him, her fingertips now resting on his hips, pressing gently into the fabric of his shirt and pants.

She laughed now, dropping her mouth and resting her forehead against his chest. He simply pulled her closer, holding her tenderly, "I might just need you to make a recording. Something sexy and saucy for me to listen to until I somehow figure out it's the right time for us to have sex."

He sighed, "So there isn't some arbitrary time limit?"

She smiled and looked up at him, "Sorry Sherlock, when it's right, it's right." She saw his lips quirk with a grin, "And trust me when it's time, I will do everything in my power to exhaust you completely, in every fucking way I can imagine."

His eyes sparkled this time, mischievous and fiery, "Oh, I would delight in such a challenge Ms. Aria. It can be so frightfully tedious, being superior to everyone in every way."

She scowled at him playfully and got up on her toes again to kiss him, "You're lucky I love you."

He seemed to sigh against her, "Yes, I am."

She kissed him smartly again and they sort of wrestled against the stone wall for a few more minutes until they both emerged disheveled, but content. Kairi helped Sherlock sort out his hair and he had the decency to pull her skirt back down over her leggings before they walked back to the curb to call a cab. They shared one last decent kiss before going their separate ways.

Sherlock returned to the morgue a bit fuzzy brained, opening the door on harsh whispers that silenced upon the realization that he was back with them. He gave the inspector, his blogger, and his pathologist the darkest look he could manage as he walked back over to the corpse and Molly made herself look busy, while Lestrade toyed with his phone, and John straight up stared at him with the most amused, prickish grin he could manage.

"So you manage to get it over with that quickly?" John glanced at his watch and Sherlock scoffed at him.

"Dr. Watson, have some decency." Sherlock spat as he removed his coat and pulled out another pair of latex gloves.

John was still smiling, while Molly was intently focusing on the corpse. Though Sherlock assumed she was just waiting for an opportunity to chime in. He wouldn't even bother to look at Lestrade.

"What? Couldn't be bothered to at least take her home?" John was still grinning.

"John…" Sherlock snarled as he rounded the table.

John's tongue snaked out and caught his bottom lip, biting it in the amused fashion he demonstrated when he was feeling cheeky. It made Sherlock want to punch him. "No, seriously Sherlock, I'm surprised. I was afraid you and her would disappear for a week when you got back. I'd have to administer IVs to replenish fluids. It's good. It's healthy this way."

Sherlock shot him another glare and John raised his hands in surrender and backed off.

"Erm…" Molly began, directed at Sherlock who was standing across from her.

"For god's sake!" He spat and glared at her, "What the hell is so important?"

She smiled at him, more resolved and cheeky. Sherlock felt pleased and disappointed that she didn't fear him anymore, "Well, it's just — your shirt."

Sherlock sighed, "Yes? What about it?"

Molly smiled wide, "The bottom bit is unbuttoned and your belt looks like it's coming undone."

Sherlock growled out a curse and began the process of pulling off the latex gloves so he could fix his clothing while Lestrade, John, and Molly erupted into laughter at his expense.

—-

Kairi left with a very pleased smile on her lips. Undoing his belt a bit was a nice touch that she was sure he'd notice right away, but he hadn't. Flustering him was high on her list of priorities for a good life.

Once she got home, she tended to Toby and she went straight to bed — though sleeping wasn't exactly a planned activity until much later. It wasn't until after her first round "in bed" when she was sitting on the top of her toilet tank, smoking a cigarette, that the day finally hit her. After a lengthy fantasy session, the exhaustion of the last twenty-four hours and the other 8,760 hours before that, really sunk in. Sherlock was home and that simple realization meant worlds upon worlds of new things for them.

She loved him so very much. It was different, this type of love, not an infatuation, but a downright determination to be with the other person. She would do anything for him. Not in the maddened way of movies and books and TV, it wasn't like that. No, she would do anything for him. She'd pick up his dry cleaning, help him with shopping, show him how to run his own damn laundry, she'd call him out on his bull shit, she'd tend to his wounds — physical or mental —, and she'd even help him boil eyeballs with minimal gagging… Kairi would do anything for him and she knew it.

What was surprising and horrifying at the same time, is that she knew he'd do the same. The evidence was in the details, but it was there. He had given her space when she needed it, he looked out for her, he talked with her and valued and devalued her opinions when necessary, he took her to eat sushi and talk about work and funny kids and stupid things on the telly, he bought them a puppy, and he ate her cupcakes and kissed her when she was covered in glitter and fake hair extensions… Sherlock already committed feats of undying courage everyday, but he'd do the mundane, he'd do the boring with minimal bitching, just for her.

It was enough to break her heart if she wasn't just so damn happy.


AN

Huzzaaaaah! Another chapter down, a little more fluff, and the reintroduction of our friend The Sandman! How are you all liking Kairi/Sherlock's interactions? Staying "in character"? As much as I hate the notion of that, especially when writing something purely fictional and in no way related to canon plot... However, I still would at least like believable characters...

Which may come into question in the next few chapters but I only ask that you bear with me :D My dear characters and renditions of characters have some shit to sort through...Yeeeeesh I AM keeping my promise though, this story is not about anguish and pain and finding solace in goodness of others, this story is about recovery and building... Think of it as Shakespeare's plays (I'm not comparing myself to him, only using his plot devices), the last story was a tragedy where everything started out rosy and great and then descended into misery, this one will be more of a comedy, where things start out a little awful and then continually grow to get better, until you'll all be rolling around in your comforters squeeing into glasses of wine or cartons of ice cream (not judging you, I do all of these things frequently). I promise, this is a story of healing and companionship. But shits gotta go down...

SOOOOOOOO as for the smutlock I proposed last week... I have it written. Its still in the throes of first-drafthood, but its still written and I cant wait to post it for all my fellow gutter-minded Holmies. Now, I might be just a BIT MEAN, because I am doing consistent updates, I'm hoping that maybe, juuuuuust maybe, I can be a little cruel to you because I'm not holding back chapters from actual plot. I think once I reach 100 reviews I'll post my smutlock which is an unabashed Dom!Sherlock and Sub!Kairi one shot. Its very different from what I have done so far in the form of fluffy smut (Smuffy? Flut?), but its none the less titilating and a bit raunchy...So... Help me get 100 reviews? Help my writing improve by being critical of what's happening between characters or if you find a flaw in my writing? I am taking great lengths to improve this story in its most basic form. Plot I can develop, however, I want to strengthen my use of imagery, presentation of characters, dialogue, descriptions of actions or behaviors, grammar and spelling, and the like. My husband is my beta right now and he's helping me with a lot but I also want to hear from readers as I feel you are the most important aspect of this whole ordeal.

Thanks for sticking with me and reading along. Its going to be an exciting journey! Much love my Holmies.

ps thank you flaming amber for the correction in Japanese language!