In the morning, once she was fully awake, she watched her girlfriend carefully, using her fringe and the last remains of her sleepiness as cover. Her night had not been a good one- generally speaking, having dreams was never a good thing. But she couldn't get the snatches of conversation that Chitaru'd had with Rikako Hanabusa.

Perhaps this is quid pro quo. I kept secrets for long enough, now it's her turn. That line of thinking made sense to her, more than she wanted it to. But what else made sense? If it wasn't that. Chitaru would have shared it with her. Now, they shared everything. Well, almost. For obvious reasons, Chitaru never told her anything about her clients- she had oaths to uphold- and so anything she said about work had more to do with her friends there, the weird cases they caught. This Hitsugi was fine with. But the Hanabusa thing, the fact that it had been Chitaru who'd asked for a favour and not the other way around? What sort of favour did Chitaru need that she couldn't go to her own girlfriend about it? Or at least tell her, even if she asked someone like Suzu or Azuma to do it? Naturally, she hadn't a clue. And so she said nothing, and just watched, hoping to glean answers from the way Chitaru moved.

"I thought you only needed to go in this afternoon?" Chitaru said, placing the nth mug of coffee down infront of Hitsugi, all curiosity and concern. Hitsugi rubbed her eyes blearily and picked up the mug. And as she placed it to her lips, she couldn't help but smile. Suspicions aside, she did so love this little, little moments.

"Well, I'm almost awake now." She said. "Almost. And I wanted to see you off." Which wasn't a lie. More like an incomplete truth. But it made Chitaru beam, and again, despite everything she was thinking, that made her happy. So, she finished the coffee, ate some breakfast, and chatted to Chitaru, and then waited on the stairs while Chitaru washed her mouth and grabbed her coat and bag. When she did come down again, Hitsugi met her on the stairs and gave her a good, long kiss.

"Well, that was steamy." Chitaru commented when they pulled away from each other. Hitsugi laughed.

"What better way to see you off?" she asked. Chitaru shook her head wonderingly.

"You may have a point there." She conceded. "I'll see you later. Stay safe."

"You too. Have a good day."

When she was sure Chitaru had left, she waited a few more moments, and then hightailed it upstairs and went to her study, not hesitating at the door. But the small swinging door sign that now served as a wall decoration.

Sacchan and Macchan live here! She felt a wave of sadness seeing that. Sachika and Mami didn't live here, not anymore. It had to be hard for Chitaru, even if it had been more than a year. She knew how that went.

Tamp it down, idiot! She couldn't get all soft now, not if she wanted answers. Sympathy never got people anywhere. That's what she'd been told before. But before was a time that she'd told herself she'd never listen to again. Going over to Chitaru's chair, she sat and buried her head in her hands. What, exactly, was she doing. Where would she even start? What was she looking for?

She lifted her head, and her eyes fell upon the sign hanging on the wall. That gave her an idea. She crossed over to the shelves full of files, and looked for anything relating to Chitaru's daughters. Expecting it to be filed under one of their names, it took her a while, but soon she found what she needed under 'personal'- one thick folder full to bursting with papers. There were the two birth certificates, a ton of legal things surrounding adoption procedures, various medical records- and autopsy results. That last item made Hitsugi stop for a moment, and she almost gave up. But she steeled herself, and kept looking through the papers. Various things were highlighted, but there were no annotations, so Hitsugi couldn't know what was significant about the highlighted portions.

And then she found the crime scene report that detailed the place Sachika and Mami had been found as babies. This in itself wasn't a surprise, as she knew about this. But what did surprise her was the address of the building. It was highlighted, so she couldn't miss it. Which shouldn't have been too odd- with no annotations, there could be any number of reasons Chitaru had highlighted it. But it was the same building that triggered her memories. The same one she was planning to break into.

What…what does this mean? She wondered, feeling everything go still. And, in the same beat, she thought: Chiasa.

She sat for a while, staring at her hands, and then, as if on autopilot, she got up and cleared everything away. Then, she left the room to go to and get ready for work, pushing everything she'd found to the back of her mind. Now was not the time or place.

The room she left behind looked like it had never been there.

…

"So…this is the definitive answer. Technically speaking, you didn't even need me." Kenmochi dead-panned as she looked at the results from the DNA test.

"No, that's not true. I needed to know that I had a reason for ordering the test in the first place. Your expertise helped me find that."

"Right…" Kenmochi paced, and then stopped and bug-eyed at Chitaru. "So then, when are you going to tell her?"

"Excuse me, what?" Chitaru's mind went a little bit blank. Kenmochi sighed, and pushed her glasses up her nose.

"Well, you've been doing this on the sly, right? We're the only ones who know about this or whatever? I mean, you even managed to keep this…" Kenmochi waved the sheet of paper. "How did you even hide this, anyway? Did you give the address of the station?"

"No, I had it sent care of someone I know."

"You did?"

"I didn't tell them why, just that it was important it was kept confidential. She kept saying that she owed me a favour, anyway. "

Kenmochi nodded, impressed. She sat down, and looked down at the sheet of paper again, muttering to herself for a moment. Then, she looked up at Chitaru.

"You're still avoiding my question? What now? Are you going to ask me to officially investigate the whys and the hows? "

Chitaru blinked, and felt like an idiot. She'd been so busy trying to make sure she was right while hiding it from Hitsugi that she didn't think of any wider implications. Am I blind? It was going to turn their worlds upside down, so she need to make that worse? Did she need to know any more than this, or was it enough that she'd confirmed her suspicions.

She began to inform Kenmochi that no, she didn't want an investigation reopened when all of a sudden, Inukai burst into the room.

"So there was something that was being hidden." Inukai said, looking pleased with herself. "How long have you been organising this….thing for?"

"You were eavesdropping." Chitaru stated bluntly, keeping her face as neutral as possible. Kenmochi just gaped at Inukai silently.

"Nooo, don't be silly." Inukai pouted prettily, her voice taunting both of them. "I just heard a few words here and there, that's all. But because of it, I've had my suspicions confirmed too. Well, it turned out the truth was different to what I was suspecting, but oh well. I have my answers, anyway. Just like you have yours. It's only poor, unlucky Kirigaya who doesn't have a clue."

"Inuk-" Chitaru stuttered.

"So, Namatame." Inukai continued on as if Chitaru hadn't spoken. "What are you going to do now?"

The reason for the chapter will become clear in a few chapters' time. ^^