"Vampires again?" Kanda asked. Lavi nodded. "There's no such thing as vampires…"

"Kanda, you have to think about this another way!" Lavi snapped. "That man managed to hypnotize me without moving a muscle, and that boy's arm… Not to mention that they were feeding on the bodies in the morgue! They even killed Tomitake…" That last line was like a blow to each of them, and they flinched away from each other.

"I see your point," Kanda grumbled. "So, let's say that these people really are vampires… Why would they go out on a killing spree? Don't they normally live in castles anyway?"

"That's stereotypical."

"I read Dracula once, Lavi."

"That was based on a real man who really did dip his bread in blood."

Both men shivered.

"All jokes aside…"

"Those were jokes?"

"We have to find a way to apprehend them," Lavi said. "Obviously, they're going to be too powerful for just the two of us."

"You think?" Kanda spat. "That brat took me by surprise and tried to kill me."

Lavi's mind trialed back to the tattoo he'd seen on Kanda's shoulder just two hours ago, and the scars covering his chest. He thought about asking him to explain, but decided against it. If he did, Kanda might stop talking to him. Kanda could tell what was on the man's mind.

"I need to stop by the library," Lavi said. Kanda looked over at him.

"What?"

"I need to stop by the library," Lavi repeated. "I think I remember seeing something in the occult section about vampires and such." Lavi grinned as Kanda cocked a brow his way. "I know the librarian personally, so he'll let us stay as long as we need to."

"Hn." Kanda smirked. "I didn't think you held anything in that empty head of yours."

"Of course I do! All kinds of information are stocked up in here." Lavi grinned and looked at Kanda. "Once I read something, I never forget it!"

"No wonder the thought process is so slow…"

Lavi stuck his hands into his pockets and walked in happily with Kanda awkwardly as his heels. The young red-head seemed more at home here than he did anywhere else. Lavi stopped by the head desk where a young woman with blond hair was working. She looked up from the computer at him with a slight smirk. She stood and leaned closer to him, pressing her breasts together with her arms.

"Hello there, Lavi~ It's been such a long time since I last saw you," she purred with a wink. "Why don't you come to the library more often?" Lavi couldn't look more like a rapist if you gave him a mustache.

"I don't know why I don't," he flirted back. "Why don't you ask Krory when he sees you flirting again, Eliade?" The woman pursed her lips together and pouted.

"You're so mean, Usagi."

"So I've heard." Lavi winked at her despite his past warning, and Kanda rolled his eyes dramatically. Eliade set her sights on him. "Don't try; he's got a heart of ice."

Smack

"Let's just find this friend of yours," Kanda said. Lavi rubbed the bump forming on the back of his head. Lavi laughed and waved at Eliade, who blew him a kiss. "Do you flirt with her every time you come here?"

"Why, are you jealous?" Lavi elbowed him. Kanda growled despite the pink blush on his face. "C'mon, Yu…"

"Lavi, you are not gay, so do not get that close to another man." A strict voice made both men jump and twirl around. An old man wearing a dress was standing behind them with thick black make-up around his eyes. What was left of his gray hair was kept up in a curly ponytail on the top of his head. He eyed Lavi.

"Yeah, but he's a good friend of mine! I can get close to him, can't I, Panda?" The old man growled before pulling Lavi down to his level and slapping him over the head.

"Do not call me Panda, brat. Don't forget who raised you." The old man didn't smile a bit. Lavi just brushed it off and rubbed the bump on his head that had grown twice its size. Once his punishment was taken care of, the old man addressed Kanda politely. "It's nice to meet one of Ringo city's most revered men. I am Bookman."

"Pleasure to meet you," Kanda replied with a polite bow.

"Lavi, how did you end up with him?" Bookman asked with honest curiosity.

"I'm his partner." Bookman cocked what would have been an eyebrow had there been any hair. "We're working on the case that's been going on right now; you know the one where the men and slut have been killed?"

"Oh?" Bookman rubbed his chin.

"Yeah, Kanda and I…"

"Lavi thinks that vampires are behind this," Kanda interrupted, not wanting to have his name pulled into the fantasy. Bookman made a noise that indicated he was thinking.

"You might want to talk to Krory about this," Bookman said, and Kanda couldn't believe the old fart was taking this seriously. "He has more knowledge on anything involving the occult. He might have something for you."

"If he starts crying, I'm not coming back." Lavi turned away. When he wasn't looking, Bookman looked up and clasped his hands together in a prayer. Kanda snorted.

"Hey, Kanda," Lavi started, making both men put up a stoic face. "I'm gonna go talk with Krory first; he gets a little overwhelmed if too many people approach him." Lavi waved before running off through the library, giving quick hi's to those he recognized and knew. Kanda crossed his arms and blew a lock of hair out of his field of vision.

"He's a good kid," Bookman muttered. Kanda looked over, thinking the comment had been directed towards him. "He's a bit of a klutz, and he does things the wrong way sometimes, but his intentions are good."

"Hn." Kanda sighed heavily through his nose. Bookman turned towards him.

"Keep him out of trouble for me. God knows what that boy's capable of." Bookman chortled as he left. Kanda stood in place, a little dumbfounded, before Lavi came running back for him.

"Krory's gonna help us! Just…don't glare at him."

"I won't," Kanda said, ignoring the light joke that was hidden somewhere in Lavi's comment. "Is this guy really an occult expert, or whatever that man said?"

"Yeah!" Lavi grinned. "He loves reading through the different books in the section and pointing out which is right and which is wrong. He's really smart, but you have to be careful about how you address him. He's a bit of a downer."

Kanda could feel the depressing aura radiating from the man as soon as he saw him. He was extremely tall and wore dark clothing, save for a white dress shirt that had frills running down the front. He literally looked like a vampire that had jumped out of its 19th century fantasy novel. The pale skin, white bangs flipped over his eyes, and sharpened canines weren't much to go against. He smiled politely and introduced himself.

"I am Arystar Krory," he said. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Yu Kanda." He bowed. "We heard you're an expert in occult."

"Well, not exactly an expert…" There was a light flush to his cheeks. "But I do know plenty. Is there something you'd like to ask?"

Kanda gave Lavi the "go for it" look and he started.

"We think that there might be a vampire behind the murder strings going on in the city," Lavi started. "We were just wondering if there were any books on vampires and such."

"Any books from England, specifically," Kanda added.

Krory bit the inside of his lip in thought before looking through the books on the shelf to his left. Lavi followed him, and Kanda walked after them. With inhuman agility, Krory hopped up onto the edge of the shelf and began climbing up, searching through the books on the higher shelves. Kanda shook his head and looked again to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"Krory, did you find something?" Lavi asked. Krory cocked his head to the side before taking two more books and hopping down, landing on his feet gracefully.

"Here, these might help you a bit." He listed off the information one could gain from them as he put them in Lavi's hands. "This explains what vampires are… This tells about encounters from all over the world people had with what they thought were vampires… This one is about English history and witchcraft." He paused for a moment.

"I'm not entirely sure if the last one will be of any use to you, but there is plenty of information on any royalty or nobles that might have been involved in black magic." Kanda snatched a book from Lavi's hands and flipped through it.

"Thanks Krory!" Lavi said with a grin. "By the way, when are you gonna pop the question to…" He grinned and elbowed the tall man. Krory's face turned into a raspberry.

"D-Don't tease me about something like that, Lavi!" he exclaimed. "That isn't a subject open to conversation…"

"Come on, Krory, you can tell me. I won't tell her anything…"

"Come on, lover boy, let's go." Kanda grabbed him by his headband and began dragging him. Lavi pulled it down over his face and sped up so that Kanda wouldn't pull it off his head.

"Wait, Kanda, be careful! My eye…" He managed to free his headband. "Can we stop by some place so I can get another eye patch? I still haven't replaced the one my cat ate…"

"Why not?" Kanda demanded.

"Because I've been busy with the case and worrying about you!" Lavi turned a little red, but his frown didn't move. "And besides, don't you have to stop by a certain someone's house?" Kanda flinched and looked away.

"Yeah, I do." He turned back to Lavi and held his hand out. "Give me my keys. I'll go ahead and you go buy your little eye-piece. I'll pick you up later." Lavi opened his mouth to say something, but Kanda was already halfway to the entrance and had his back turned to him. Lavi frowned and turned to Eliade. He was still holding the books.

"Just take 'em," she said as he fished for the library card he usually kept on him. "I'll type them out into your account in a minute. I know your number by heart." She winked again.

"See ya, doll-face." Lavi would have winked at her, but to him it was simple blinking, so he smirked and grabbed the books. "Tell Krory 'thanks again' for me, will ya?"

"I will." Eliade waved him out and Lavi tucked the books under his arm.

Just a few hours before – when the moon was still high and the sun wasn't yet out – Tomitake had been murdered. Kanda mentioned going to see a woman, but he refused to tell Lavi who she was. Lavi guessed that it was yet another girlfriend Kanda was trying to keep, but that quickly diminished his already dampened mood.


Kanda shoved his hands into his pockets and tapped his foot against the steps as he heard quiet shuffling inside. He whistled until the lock inside clicked and the door swung open. A young woman with curly blonde hair looked at him for a few minutes. Kanda tried to say something, but was stopped when the woman slapped him straight across the face. He growled and rubbed his stinging cheek.

"Will you let it go, Mina?" he asked.

"Nope," the woman replied. "And that's not what the slap was for."

Kanda examined her eyes closely. They were bloodshot and puffy, and she looked like she had been crying. Her nose was red and rubbed raw. Kanda sighed.

"So you already heard?" he asked. Mina nodded and wiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry about your brother."

"Yeah." She sniffed. Kanda sighed.

"I'll see you around."

"Yeah."

Kanda turned around and walked back to the car. He sat down in the seat and bent forward to start the engine. Something grabbed his chest and pulled him back against the seat. He cried out and grabbed what was wrapping around his throat, working to get it off of him.

"I'm going to kill you this time," a voice hissed behind his ear. Kanda opened his mouth to yell out for help, but the boy's thumb covered it. Kanda panicked. He could feel the claws of the hand around him digging into his torso.

Shit shit shit!, he screamed in his head. Mugen was leaning against the passenger seat, leaving him defenseless. He could feel something poking against his leg.

"Do you have any last words?" The boy leaned close up to Kanda's face. The detective felt down at what was poking his leg. He felt relieved enough to cry. The thumb around his mouth was taken away. Kanda gripped the object and shoved it under the boy's neck.

"Go to hell!" He pulled the trigger on his gun, shooting the boy from under his jaw. The silver-haired boy cried out and gripped his head. Kanda turned around and slapped the end of the gun into the boy's face. He glared dangerously at Kanda, who was at a disadvantage from his position. He froze, however, when the gun was pushed against his temple.

"Watch what you do, stupid boy," Kanda growled. The boy smirked.

"You can't kill me with that!" he said.

"No, I can't. But it sure hurts like hell, doesn't it?" The boy flinched away from him. "You're coming with me. And no transforming that arm of yours either!" The boy looked down and back up at him. Blood ran down his neck and from the back of his head, and he still had that laceration from when Kanda slapped him with Mugen.

"You can't keep me from killing you," the boy threatened. "I'll kill you when I can." Kanda arched his brow and relaxed his aim.

"When 'you can'?" he repeated. "Why can't you go ahead and do it now?" The boy perked up.

"Master Larn said to not kill you yet."