Sebastian was surprised that this late in December it was still raining. Undoubtedly soon it would start to snow in the coming days. What bothered him the most now was that it was raining harder than it was when he had picked up Naoto earlier. It was a cold rain. Terribly cold. A frozen rain cold.

He tilted the umbrella further back as he looked up at the face of the man hanging from the street light. The blood was beginning to slow as the rain lapped against his open wounds and his clothing. Naoto closed her cellphone with a sigh and walked back beside him, observing with him.

"Who is he?"

"Tohru Adachi. The one who was responsible for the deaths of two in our case two years ago"

"So he's your boy. What happened to him after the case was over?"

"After the events of the case he was tried for murder. There wasn't enough evidence to convict him as we would have liked, but we were able to gather enough evidence to find him guilty on both accounts. He confessed to both the murders before a trial even took place. He surprised us all."

"And then?"

"He was sent to prison"

Sebastian sighed and looked down, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger of his free hand. After several good nights of sleep with Naoto being near him to keep Volf quiet he had grown slightly more accustom to sleep. The lack thereof was bothering his head and eyes. Naoto yawned. Sebastian blinked a few times before looking back up to the body.

"I don't get it…"

"Sebastian?"

Sebastian looked down from the body and stared off into space as he tried to piece together the information.

"Every victim so far has been successful in their endeavors in life. They were successful people. Good jobs, great income, reputable. So…why kill six people of which all match the same profile…and of which we can connect toward each other in possible motive…and then kill a prisoner? What's to get out of it?"

"Perhaps someone paid them the fifty thousand dollars to kill him"

"But to what end? At least in the other six cases there was something to be gained. Higher status and authority. A brighter future. Company car, corner office with a pretty view, a raise…even a secretary. Why kill a prisoner?"

Sebastian looked back up to the body.

"No one pays fifty grand to kill a nobody hurting no one anymore. It doesn't add up. Was he rich?"

"Not to my knowledge he wasn't"

"Did…he have a job waiting for him when he got out of prison? I…I don't…"

Sebastian began to have a hard time talking as his jaw clenched up tightly and his lips pulled back with a growl. He ran his hand through his hair several times before grabbing a handful of it and pulling hard. Naoto looked to the other police officer with them.

"Would you please give us a moment?"

The officer nodded after a moment and walked from them heading back around the corner towards the other officers leaving the two of them alone. Naoto leaned down and set her umbrella on the ground, taking her place under Sebastian's.

Her hands reached up and cupped his cheeks, turning his head to look at her.

"Volf…calm yourself. The both of you need to calm yourselves. We will work this out…"

Sebastian's lips relaxed and he closed his eyes taking slow breaths as he tried to smother the fire inside him. Naoto was hesitant, but she ran her thumb along his cheek as she looked up to him and ran her hand through the side of his hair, fixing what he had messed up.

Sebastian opened his eyes finally and straightened himself. Noticing the rain on her shoulders, he moved his umbrella a little closer to her to cover her up. Naoto smiled a little.

"Better?"

Sebastian nodded and sighed. What a fucking day. Naoto picked up her umbrella again and turned to look at the body. What was keeping him up there?

Sebastian turned from her to look down the alley way.

"Alright. Get him down from there!"

As if on command, the line that was wrapped around Adachi's ankle snapped and the body fell to the ground. It landed on the back of its neck with a sickening thud of the breaking of bones. Sebastian snarled and spat on the ground. Naoto jumped back a bit at the sudden movement of the body falling. Sebastian sighed and walked up to the body.

"Never mind…"

He handed Naoto his umbrella and she took it from him, watching him and covering him with his umbrella as he leaned down and rolled the body over onto its back. He leaned over the body, both his hands coming to rest along Adachi's shoulders as Sebastian pulled himself over the body. Naoto finally got to see him in action in the field.

Sebastian leaned his head down to Adachi's and sniffed along his neck and shoulders. He reached back to Naoto who pressed her umbrella between her shoulder and neck as she reached into her belt pocket for a pair of gloves and handed them to Sebastian. After he put them on, he place his fingertips on Adachi's lower jaw and opened his mouth, sniffing inside.

He pulled back with a snarl and spat again. The smell reeked of shadows. He felt a growl from Volf escape his lips.

"It's our boy…"

Naoto felt her shoulders slump with a sigh.

"Why were these actions necessary to damage his body?"

Sebastian sniffed along his shoulders and opened the first few buttons of his shirt, sniffing at the upper section of his chest. It was sour. Just like the other victim. He died the same way. Sebastian opened his shirt a little more to one of the thin cuts that encircled his body. It was as though piano wire had been dragged across his skin and cut him open. This wasn't the cut of a blade. Whatever cut him was sharp and stayed that way.

Sebastian put his hands on Adachi's face to feel his muscles. They were relaxed. Unlike the rest of the victims whose muscles were tight from fear and panic, Adachi was calm. He had accepted death. Sebastian opened his mouth a little wider to look inside his mouth. Blood. Sebastian looked along Adachi's cheeks. All the blood on them had come from the rain. The blood in his mouth was dark and dry. It had come from inside him. Internal hemorrhaging? But…there was something else…

"Something is wrong with this picture…"

Naoto leaned down over the body close to Sebastian. He was right. Something was wrong. It wasn't something to see, but her Persona gave her the feeling that something was missing. She hadn't felt it before with the other bodies. Maybe because she didn't have a connection to her persona before. She could just…feel….it. Or rather the lack of it. The lack…

"He's empty inside?"

Sebastian saw Naoto struggling and took the umbrellas from her as she leaned down to the body, leaning her head near Adachi's chest. It was void inside. She could feel her Persona swimming around inside her head. It was a strange feeling. Is this what Sebastian felt when on a case? Naoto leaned up to look at him.

"His persona is gone…"

Sebastian nodded his head slowly. What a strange feeling. He could smell that there was something that used to be inside of Adachi. Something strong and wicked. Sebastian felt sorry for the man. Not because he was dead, but because he would never get the chance to fight again. Sebastian was surprised he was sour over this man's death. He would have wanted to fight something like whatever taint remained inside of Adachi. The remnants gave off a smell Volf and he rarely came across.

Sebastian let Naoto work, making notes as she did. Fingernails were clean, no bruising around the neck and wrists, no signs of struggle. Whatever had happened to this man, it had happened when he was in a state too weak or disoriented to do anything about it. The cuts along his skin though were the most intriguing thing. Perfect circles around his body. something had indeed bound him. Something thin and sharp. The cuts were perfect as though they were carved by scalpels.

Sebastian's attention was finally drawn to whatever it was that had kept the body up on the lamp post. According to Naoto and the unofficial report compiled by her and the investigation team two years ago, bodies were always strung up about electrical equipment when they were found. The wires would be tangled around someone or the body draped over it. How a person came to be like that wasn't worth going into or trying to understand. Sebastian knew that no matter how much time he spent trying to dissect the intricacies of the shadow world, at the end of the day, week, or year, he would have acquired nothing. But what had kept him up there?

Sebastian raised the former detective's leg up to examine the thin piece of silver thread that had been wrapped around his leg. It wasn't wire. It would have been a different color. Instead it was thin and silver like the threading of steel wool. He pressed it between his thumb and forefinger, running his digits across them. He pulled back sharply, dropping the threading.

Upon examination, he noticed that both his fingers had been cut by the material, whatever it was. He pulled the rubber glove on his hand off and put his fingers in his mouth, sucking in the taste of iron. Naoto noticed.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. Thread I think. But whatever it is it is incredibly sharp. He spat out the blood he drew from his fingers. He should have known better than to put it into his mouth but it was too late now. They would need to get it examined.

In conclusion: sharp threading around ankle, deduction leaning towards body being wrapped in threading causing lacerations which would put the body into a state of shock and paralyzation for fear of continued damage. Internal hemorrhaging of an unknown nature, acceptance of death, and…

"How did he get out?"

Naoto was surprised she hadn't said it first. What was Adachi doing out of prison? Why was he in his old cloths? Had no one bothered to check his cell? Attendance? He wasn't let out early as far as she was aware. He still had years of time left to serve.

"Sebastian, something is wrong with this. No one has reported an escaped convict. So that would mean that either no one knows he's gone, or-"

"-or someone knows and it keeping it quiet…"

"Which in turn means that regardless of the answer to the question, we will need to investigate the prison staff."

"Agreed. Would you mind making that arrangement with your chief? In the meantime, I think it's best if we take a step back and try to link our victims. If our boy isn't doing this for money, then I fear there is a vastly more dangerous game being played here…"

Naoto put on a small smile as she closed her eyes and ran the back of her gloved hand against her head, rubbing her temple.

"It would seem we are back to square one, doesn't it?"

Sebastian nodded as he looked down at the body.

"Poor bastard…"

Sebastian looked from the body at the sound of a car pulling up, a man and a woman climbing out of the vehicle. Naoto waved to them.

"It would seem that CSI is here to take over for us. We can get the autopsy report from them later. Is it to be assumed that you will ask for coroner to open up his skin again for the puncture marks?"

"It is. It's good when they leave a trademark. Everyone does it in these events. It's like a stamp of approval. In either case, I'm tired of being in the rain. Want to get breakfast? Pancakes always clear away a headache from being hung over."

Naoto hadn't realized her head hurt until now. She pulled her gloves off tossed them into one of the trash cans in the alley way as did Sebastian. It was freezing out and she kept her arms tightly to her body, her teeth chattering as they walked their way past the police officers and civilians. Winter was here and it was only going to get colder.

Thinking back on it, Naoto smiled as her mind drifted to what Inaba looked like under a blanket of snow. It was beautiful. Winter for her was a more pretty and enjoyable time of the year because of the cold. Souji and she often kept the closest to one another in the winter when they slept together. She used the excuse very rarely, but winter was the time for snuggling close to the one you loved. And as much as she would never admit it, the cold was a wonderful excuse to get close to one another. She wondered if Sebastian was a good snuggler.

"Naoto?"

Naoto looked up from the car seat, having zoned out in her own head. Sebastian turned on the heat.

"Excuse me?"

"Christmas is approaching as you know. Do you have any plans? I know that the people here in the east don't make as big a deal as we in the west do and I can't expect to put up a bunch of decorations in a strangers house, but I still consider it a time to spend time with those you…"

He paused trying to get the right word even though Naoto knew the words he was trying to avoid

"…take interest in. or rather…you have interest in…I'm bad at this"

Naoto smiled as she looked out the window.

"And?"

"Well, I hate spending Christmas alone with just Volf and myself. Would you and Yamato care to spend Christmas with a stranger? Or are you busy?"

She was a little surprised he had asked her so calmly as though he was asking for a glass of water. It seemed that there was very little he was ashamed of. Or was made embarrassed by. She on the other hand was embarrassed in her response.

"Under normal circumstances I would just be at home by myself or invite a few friends over who weren't busy. Chie and Yukiko usually are together for Christmas, Teddie and Yosuke, Kanji is always too embarrassed to ask me to do anything, and Rise is never in town anymore. So I usually spend Christmas alone…"

Sebastian nodded his head as he drove.

"If that is what you wish, Naoto."

"I-….I didn't say no…"

Sebastian smiled his little smile.

"I would like you to spend Christmas with me, Detective Shirogane."

"I…I would like that"

Sebastian smiled a little brighter. Volf whispered quietly.

"One step at a time, Sebastian…"

He had to tread carefully on this uneven ground. If he was to become involved with this woman, he would need to climb a mountain she had built for the man she loved to sit atop of.

After a quick stop at Junes for Sebastian to pick up some groceries, they eventually ended up back at his place. If anything, she considered this the new hang out spot for the investigation. Whatever information she needed on the case she was bound to find at his place of residence. The strings that were scattered along the walls connecting photo to photo and leading up the stairs into the center of his web were always changing colors as facts became theories and the other way around. He was very specific in his work and took it seriously. Even with his rather playful demeanor around her and her friends. When the chips were down, he was all business.

Naoto took her boots off and removed her jacket, slipping it overtop one of the chairs in the kitchen. She noticed the small shards of green on the floor. Glass?

"Sebastian? Why is there glass on your kitchen floor?"

Sebastian moved past her into the kitchen and placed his groceries on the counter.

"This morning I had a bit of a break down and felt like taking it out on an inanimate object with the result being the most damage I could possibly cause. Would you mind bringing the garbage can over here?"

Sebastian swept the glass up from the floor and counters and pulled the large pieces from the sink carefully not to cut himself to clear it out. In hindsight it had been a bad idea. But it had felt so good to break something without consequence.

"Would you mind doing me a favor, Shirogane?"

"Of course, Sebastian"

"Would you mind disassembling my web for me?"

Naoto walked slowly into the living room to look over his work, standing in the middle of the web and opening her arms like before, hooking her fingers around the threads within her reach. Why dismantle it? She could feel the answers come to her as she glanced about the pictures and work records of the victims he had pinned to the wall. She could feel Yamato whispering to her what she wanted to know as her eyes went one place and Yamato's went another. The experience was almost exhilarating as she gorged on the information that she was absorbing. It was incredible.

Her fingers left certain strings and hooked around others as she glanced from page to page. She would take several steps forward to skim over a document while she could feel Yamato inside her, leaning in the other direction to read another; two minds working together inside one head, processing much more information. How was it that this method was so effective? Her arms seemed to pull her in another direction as she leaned away from one document to another, feeding on the information like…like a wolf…

The notion caused her concentration to break for a moment and she shook her head and unhooked her fingers from the threads. She turned to look back at Sebastian who was leaning over the island that separated the kitchen from the living room, smiling at her.

"You've been at that for fifteen minutes now, Shirogane"

Naoto looked down at her watch. She had been. Only a few seconds ago she had looked at the case from his perspective. Had it really been fifteen minutes? She looked back to the wall at the document she was looking at on the woman from Brazil.

"Do you really think it is necessary to dismantle this, Sebastian?"

"None of the working records mean anything anymore. Twenty thousand dollars well wasted. There is something else that connects these people. I don't know what it is yet, but I'm sure I will….we…will figure it out"

"It does seem like an awful waste…"

Naoto began to unravel his web, stacking the documents on the coffee table in front of the couch. She put pictures on one side and documents on the other to help him when he would reorganize his web. She would need to get him a picture of Adachi for the new web he would be creating.

"What do you want me to do with the thread?

"Throw it away. I have lots more to work with. If not, Junes sells thread right?"

"I would assume as much"

Naoto made her way up the stairs, raveling the thread around her arm as she walked into his original web room and dismantled it. If she knew she would have been wondering freely through this house back when she first broke in, she wondered how silly she would have felt needing to break in.

She took one of the files off the wall with a picture of the first two victims' above it.

"I suppose every spider is capable of remaking its web…"

It took her fifteen minutes to gather up the threads of his web and the files he had pinned to the wall. She brought them downstairs and set the files onto the coffee table and threw the threads away while he finished making breakfast. When he called her name, she sat down at the table to her plate of pancakes. Mickey Mouse pancakes.

She smiled a little to him with his attempt at being cute. He set his own plate down with the syrup but did not join her while she ate. Instead he moved into the living room and began to reconstruct. Only this time instead of making another web, be pinned the pictures onto the wall in a circle. She was a little disappointed. She liked eating with him.

If he wasn't going to eat with her, she was going to eat with him. She picked up her plate and went into the living room, eating on the couch and coffee table. Sebastian paid her no mind as he looked over the photos.

"So…something is shared between all these people. These seven victims have something in common and I don't know what it is. But whatever it is, our boy is very interested in these people."

He took a step back from the web pointing to the pictures.

"Lawyer, doctor, surgeon, lawyer, business owner, son of a business owner… prisoner…"

Sebastian leaned closer to the piece of paper he had labeled 'Adachi'.

"Why are you so important to someone to break you out of prison, take you to the shadow world, then torture and murder you? Why would anyone take interest in you? You aren't worth anyone's time…"

Naoto leaned back against the couch.

"Perhaps it's not about money or position. With a break this drastic in his patterns, it's something we're not seeing."

"And it's right here staring me in the face…"

Sebastian leaned back from the images.

"What kind of man was Adachi?"

"Teddy best described him as a 'goofball.' He gave the impression he was lazy and always messed up at work. But that is not who he really was. He was cunning and sly. He was capable of telling you something to lead you in the wrong direction away from him as your culprit. He was dangerous and vicious even if his methods were clean. He had no remorse for his actions."

Sebastian reached into his pocket and punched in a few numbers.

"It looks like I will need to go to the source of information then…"

Sebastian brought his phone to his ear.

"Hello, Detective Dojima? It's Detective Chastity."

"…"

"I know, I apologize. I came into some information and I had to cancel on you and your daughter. You know how busy these investigations can be. I'm calling to ask if you and your daughter would like to come to dinner tonight. Detective Shirogane will be here as well."

Naoto looked up from her meal. It wasn't as though she had not planned to be here for dinner. She was enjoying more and more the time they spent together. When she thought of it, the thought of enjoying their time bothered her a little. Stung inside of her chest.

"Yes. We have been working constantly on it. He has been quite helpful….yes….yes…I know its short notice but I would like to assume that you didn't have any plans anyway."

"…"

"I understand. I was hoping that with the events of today that you would like to discuss your former partner…"

"…!"

"I know it seems like I'm using him as an excuse. Truth be told, I am. But I would like your insight to help with my investigation."

"…"

"Ok. I will keep you up to speed with the investigation then if you and your daughter come to dinner."

"…"

"Wonderful. Six it is. Bring wine"

Sebastian hung up the phone and slid it into his breast pocket.

"Is he always like that?"

"He is."

Sebastian turned back to the wall for a moment.

"So Dojima is coming to dinner tonight with his daughter to discuss Adachi with me. Would you like to come to dinner, Mr. Shirogane?"

Naoto looked down at her plate with a small smile.

"I would love to"

Sebastian felt his phone vibrate and pulled it from his breast pocket.

Phone number: Blocked

-Tomorrow afternoon, shadow world. Come alone. Bring violin.

Sebastian stared at the message for a moment longer than he should have and Naoto picked up on it with the help of Yamato.

"Is something wrong, Sebastian?"

Sebastian didn't respond for a moment as he stared at the message. It really was show time.

"Do you ever get those messages that offer Viagra? I really need to change my number…"

As Sebastian put his phone back into his breast pocket, he walked into the kitchen to eat his breakfast. Naoto watched him move, listening to the whispers of Yamato in her head.

He was lying.