The brown-haired woman was at Kaito's side before anyone could blink, crushing him in a bear hug as tears started to form in her brown eyes.

"Kaito! I can't believe it! It's really you!" the woman cried, squeezing Kaito tighter.

"Hey, Meiko, chill," the brown-haired man said, putting a hand on the woman's shoulder so she wouldn't choke Kaito to death.

Everyone else stared blankly at the two of them just as the door flew open again, revealing an elegant looking woman with long pink hair in the doorway, gasping for breath. Upon seeing Kaito sitting there on the couch, she gasped, "You—it's really you…"

She would've collapsed onto the floor if someone hadn't caught her mid-fall, the certain someone being a young man with lengthy purple hair tied back in a neat ponytail. Miku entered the room behind him as the man helped the pinkette into a seat near the door. He looked briefly around the room before his eyes fell on Kaito. IA was half expecting him to give some outburst or the like, but he simply asked, "Is that the patient over there?"

The teens just nodded, still somewhat flabbergasted at all the reactions they'd just witnessed. IA watched attentively as the man, most likely the doctor considering his white lab coat and the first aid kit he held in his gloved right hand, went over to Kaito. For a moment, the room was completely silent other than the doctor's shushed voice as he asked Kaito some questions, asking if he felt all right.

IA took the chance to study the people who'd just arrived in the room. The brunette who had just hugged Kaito sported a short bob, her brown eyes kind and almost sparkling, reminding IA of a motherly like person. She dressed casually in a plain coat and warm dress fit with stocking and snow boots. Beside her was the man she'd entered the room with, a person who had a sharper, more intelligent look to him, perhaps emphasized by his square glasses and his narrow, serious eyes. He was dressed in a suit with his hair neat and his bangs brushed away to one side, giving him a much neater look than the doctor's, who, other than his ponytail and lab coat, had a much more carefree feel to him, not just judging from his sloppy bangs and relaxed posture as he squatted there in front of Kaito, giving him water and checking his body for anything wrong. IA's attention finally fell upon the pink haired woman who looked elegant in her white blouse and long skirt. Her hair was slightly out of place from what IA supposed was her dash over to Piko's house, but otherwise she had regained her calm, sitting in her seat upright, poised and elegant.

Something was off though. IA couldn't quite pick out what, but the pink-haired woman's elegance was so much that it looked almost stiff. Not just that, the scholarly man looked uncomfortable where he was, his eyes flitting from Kaito to anywhere in the room and back, as if he couldn't get used to the fact that Kaito was there in front of him. IA might not have known just who they were, but if they weren't connected to Len's case, they were acting suspicious enough to pin them as persons to be looked into when searching for details about what'd happened to Kaito.

Finally, IA broke the silence and hesitantly asked, "You know Kaito?"

"Of course we do!" the brunette called Meiko exclaimed, snapping out of her reverie. "I mean, this was a long time ago, so you guys were too young to remember, but he was our friend before he disappeared into the woods ten years ago."

"Ten years ago?" IA asked, brows furrowing. "And is Kaito supposed to be around your age?"

When they collectively nodded, IA turned to stare at Kaito, her eyes narrowing in disbelief. If that were true, then Kaito should've been in his late twenties, but from his appearance, he was at most in his late teens. She asked, "Then how could he possibly not have grown at all these past ten years?"

The three adults both glanced over at Kaito, as if the thought had just occurred to them.

"Oh my, you're right!" the brunette exclaimed, squinting at Kaito with a concerned look. "Kaito, you look exactly the same from when you disappeared!"

Kaito just gave a start at her outburst and cast her a startled look, creating a cloud of confusion over the three adults, as if they hadn't expected Kaito to react that way to them. Remembering that she hadn't yet told them about Kaito's condition, IA hastily explained, "I'm sorry, I know you are all excited, but there's something you need to know."

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

IA glanced over at Kaito and said, "The thing is, Kaito lost all of his memories, so he probably doesn't remember anything about you either. From what he's told me, he only has a few remaining memories about Len."

The brunette's expression immediately fell solemn as she whispered, "What? How's that possible?"

"Magic probably," was the tart answer from the man in glasses, an answer that surprised IA, mostly because she'd at least imagined him to be somewhat of a scholarly person who would know better than to believe in magic.

Apparently no one else thought his answer was strange because they all went along with it. The ladylike woman with pink hair had already hastily nodded and said, "That does make sense."

"Well, if he really doesn't remember who we are, we'll just have to keep helping him," the brunette said in a positive tone. "We're his friends after all."

"But don't you think he might be happier not remembering anything?" the intelligent man said, his voice low. "We don't know what happened to him in the woods, and since he probably doesn't even remember his own family, we wouldn't need to tell him about that."

A solemn atmosphere fell over the three as IA processed the words he'd just said. Before she could ask if something had happened to Kaito's family, the adults suddenly turned to stare at IA, as if just realizing she wasn't someone from the village. "Wait, who are you?"

"IA, detective," IA replied tartly. It was the third time she'd introduced herself that day, and it was getting boring. Fast.

"Ah, the one Miku mentioned?" the man said, adjusting the glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Thank you for coming out all this way to help."

"Oh, uh, it's nothing," IA replied, not expecting such a formal greeting. "And you are?"

"Kiyoteru Hiyama, the teacher at the school here," the man said, shaking IA's hand, which was surprisingly warm despite the chill in the room. He directed IA's attention to the brunette and continued, "And that's Meiko Sakine. I apologize beforehand for her brash personality."

"Hey, Kiyo, stop creating a false picture of me," Meiko said, shooting Kiyoteru a glare before giving IA a kind smile. "Please don't take Kiyoteru too seriously. He's too much of a pessimist."

"That's true," the pink-haired woman chimed in, stepping up to give IA's hand a shake. "I'm Luka Megurine, and if you haven't figured it out already, that's Dr. Gakupo Kamui over there tending to Kaito."

"Who, might I add, seems to be perfectly fine other than his obvious frailty," the doctor said, straightening up from his position next to Kaito. "I don't know what happened to him but it doesn't seem to be anything serious."

"Is that so?" IA said, lost in her own thoughts before she suddenly realized the discrepancy in front of her. She turned to the doctor and asked, "Why don't you know what happened to him?"

"Hmm?" Dr. Kamui looked over at her with a blank look. "I mean, I'm guessing it has something to do with this forest Meiko mentioned, but other than I don't know anything."

"Dr. Kamui's not from the village," Piko quickly offered at the sight of IA's confused look. "He doesn't really know the lore and stuff that goes around the village."

"More like none of you ever bothered to tell me," the doctor muttered under his breath, letting out a tired sigh. IA had the feeling no one else heard his quiet complaint, as everyone else had started a rather loud conversation about how Kaito's condition was similar to some story.

Eventually, IA sighed and sat down next to Kaito, who had been sitting there quietly the entire time, his brows furrowed together like something was bothering him.

"What's wrong?" IA asked, turning to look at Kaito, who was staring at Meiko keenly with his deep blue eyes, as if he was thinking really hard about something.

"No, it's just I feel like I've heard Meiko's name somewhere," Kaito mumbled, massaging his forehead.

"You probably have," IA said, staring at the brunette who was smiling brightly as the teens, even quiet looking Oliver, surrounded the adults with questions. "She seems to be your childhood friend after all."

Kaito just shook his head, his frown deepening. "I understand that, but it's not that. I feel like I saw the name Meiko written somewhere, but I just don't remember where."

"Well, don't force yourself to remember," IA suggested, twirling one of her braids around her finger. "You've already clung onto the thought, so just wait patiently for the whole thing to surface. It's easier to remember things when you're not thinking of them after all."

Kaito nodded slowly, accepting her advice. Another thought seemed to strike Kaito as he suddenly spoke up and asked, "So, where's Len?"

The atmosphere immediately froze, a single thought biting at their noses like a sudden frost in the middle of spring. They'd all been so excited that Kaito had survived that they'd forgotten about the real problem: Kaito still didn't know Len was dead.

"Oh, well, you see, while you were gone, he…" Meiko trailed off, unable to find an excuse.

Kiyoteru picked up where she left off, the lie rolling off his tongue like it was second nature for him. "He started getting better at school, so he wanted to go to the city to learn more."

"Oh," was Kaito's simple answer. His brows furrowed as he asked, "So he went to the city?"

Before Kiyoteru could confirm Kaito's answer, IA suddenly cut in with a deathly serious tone, "No. Len was killed a few days ago."

Everyone was silent, staring at IA, aghast by her bluntness. IA simply ignored them, her eyes fixed on Kaito's, watching as horror slowly spilled across his face.

"L-Len was … killed?" Kaito stammered, his last word coming out as a squeak. IA nodded as the faint color in Kaito's face started to drain back out again. He started to say something but it ended up stuck in the back of his throat, a word he couldn't utter as his eyes rolled back and he fell back onto the couch, unconscious once more.

"What were you thinking?" Luka shrieked, attempting to storm over to IA before Gakupo held her back.

Expressionless, IA got up onto her feet. She faced the group and asked, "I think I should be asking you that question. What were you thinking, trying to trick Kaito into believing that Len was still alive?"

"Len was his best friend!" Meiko exclaimed in defense, an angry look running across her face. "You could have waited until he was ready to break the news to him!"

"And what use would that have?" IA calmly replied, her eyes narrowing. "There is never a good time to tell someone their good friend has died. You can't keep him in the dark forever, so it's best that he found out as soon as possible. At least now he can do something about it."

"How do you know that's better then?" Luka demanded, pushing forward to tower over IA, who didn't flinch.

"I certainly know more than you," was all IA said before abruptly turning to face Kaito, who seemed to be regaining consciousness. IA took one long breath to calm herself. There was no use getting into an argument over such a petty thing. As a detective, her job was simply to find the murderer. She didn't need to justify her actions. There was no point for a suspect to learn anything about IA and her past experiences. It would only hinder the investigation, so IA focused instead on the man in front of her.

"That doesn't justify telling him though, does it?" Piko suddenly spoke up, cocking his head to one side as he stared at IA's back. "What's the point of telling a guy who'd disappeared for ten years that Len died? You're not going to get anything out of it, so there's no reason to tell him."

"Actually, I will get more than nothing from it," IA replied, speaking to the wall in front of her, her voice echoing back to the villagers behind her. "Because he's been gone for the past ten years, he has no connection to the crime. By telling him about Len's death, I gain a partner I can actually trust."

"You don't trust us?" Gumi repeated, twirling a strand of her short green hair.

"Not in the slightest," IA bluntly replied, shifting to turn her face towards the group. "I have plenty of reasons to be suspicious of every single one of you, and that also applies to every single person in this village. With all this talk about magic and that Lost Woods story you have, I'll even suspect the toddlers of demonic possession if it comes to that. Everyone had a chance to perpetrate the crime, and unless you have an alibi or a justifiable reason as to why you couldn't have killed Len, you are all suspects. This is how I work as a detective, so get used to it."

"But you're really going to trust Kaito?" Kiyoteru pointed out. "He doesn't remember anything, and he's still weak from what happened to him. What if he isn't willing to help you?"

"That's why I'm going to ask the person in question," IA said, looking down at Kaito, who'd woken up and was sitting there on the couch with a lost look on his face. When the blue-haired man glanced up at IA to meet her icy blue eyes, she asked, "So, let me ask this first. How are you feeling?"

Kaito paused for a moment before he asked shakily, "Is Len really dead?"

When IA tartly nodded in return, Kaito gulped and stared down at his trembling pale hands. He started, "I—I don't really know what to feel. I think somewhere inside me is sad, but even then I still can't really remember who he was, much less anything at all."

"Is that it?" IA said, staring long and hard at Kaito.

Kaito shook his head. "No. I think the only reason I'm not that sad must be because I can't remember Len that well. I can't be sad over him simply because everyone says he was my friend. The only way I can know how I really feel is if I learn more about Len and who he was to me. I think if I can do that, if I can accept everything that's happened, I'll get my memories back, and I can find out just how I should feel."

"Then do you want to find Len's murderer?"

"Yes." Kaito stared straight up at IA without blinking. "If finding the murderer means learning more about Len and getting my memories back, I want to find the murderer."

IA returned Kaito's stare, studying the look in his eyes. All she found was determination, a desire to find the truth. There were no lies in Kaito's words, just an honest expression of who he was, and for IA, it was more than enough to bring a smile to her face.

"It's decided then," IA said, holding a hand out for Kaito to shake. She pulled him up onto his two feet with more strength than one might expect from a girl her size and declared, "From now on, you will be my partner. You will tell me about everything you observe no matter how stupid you think it is, and you will help me with the investigation until we get to the bottom of it. Cool?"

Kaito gave her a tart nod in return, perhaps too flabbergasted to say anything in return to IA's sudden outburst.

"Good," IA said, her grin widening. "I'll be relying on your help then, Kaito."

Kaito took a moment to return her smile, a soft twinkle in his dark blue eyes as he answered, "I guess I will be too, IA."

With that, IA turned back to the group before her, a new partner by her side, a crime waiting for her to solve. She gave the room a quick study. It was an interesting coincidence, that the group of people before her split into two groups, each with a connection to a different part of the crime. The teens along with the missing twin connected to the victim himself, the most immediate suspects. The young adults minus the doctor connected to Kaito, who brought with him another interesting question in need of an answer.

Everyone had their eyes on IA now. As far as she could tell, there was no sign of weakness, should any of the people before her be the criminal she was looking for, but the anticipation was there in all of their eyes, an anticipation that demanded, "What is she going to do? What is going to happen next?"

For that, she only had one answer.

"Well then," IA said, her voice echoing in the cold room, a faint smirk appearing on her face. "Let's begin the investigation, shall we?"

A/N: Finally! Time to move on to what I hope will be the more interesting part! XD I have some stuff planned out, so good luck in trying to figure out the mystery and culprit! I'll try my best to lay out clues and introduce more details throughout the story with what I have now.

Also, because Captionem asked, the title for this story was sorta picked on the spot, but if I had to explain it, it would be that frostbite is (obviously) caused by prolonged exposure to the cold and can result in numbness and eventual death of tissue. Similarly, if you think of the secrets as frost because Shimori is supposed to be a very wintery village, the villagers are figuratively suffering from frostbite by hiding secrets and closing themselves off from the world. Something like that. If it sounds stupid or something I apologize... XP

Thanks for reading!