Takeru Sasazuka sighed as he tapped his pen on the office desk, debating whether or not to go back home. He had found a dead end on his lead, which led to an excruciating headache. The only thing keeping him from going home was the fact that Shiraishi would more than likely make his head hurt worse just by existing in the same vicinity as him. It had already been two months, and he still wasn't used to that idiot.

Mineo Enomoto grabbed Sasazuka's pen from his hand and threw it across the room. "Go home, Seaweed," he grumbled. "If you're not going to do any work, then leave. Your tapping is getting annoying."

The mint-haired man looked away, biting the inside of his cheek in annoyance. Of course Enomoto had to show up and aggravate his mood even worse. Unfortunately, his headache was too distracting for him to think of a proper comeback.

"Hey, are you okay?" Enomoto asked, worry apparent in his gaze. "You're not insulting me. This isn't like you. Are you sick or something?" He extended a cautious finger toward Sasazuka and gently poked and prodded at him.

Sasazuka slapped the other man's hand away, fixing him with an icy glare. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he snapped. "Fuck off!" He closed his laptop and stuffed it into his bag, standing up with an irritated huff. "You're so damn annoying," Sasazuka grumbled, making his way toward the door. "Idiot."

On his way down the staircase, he ran into Hoshino, who looked as if she had many questions, but he didn't have neither the energy nor the patience to answer them. "Don't talk to me," he simply said, hurrying past her. Sensing that she was turning to retort, he picked up his pace and jumped the last few stairs to the landing before turning into the staircase in her blind spot. All he needed in that moment was a means of escape from everything.

Dreading actually going home, Sasazuka sat on a park bench, his characteristic frown on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest. While he was glad there were no squealing children playing there, he was also sad about it as well. If these stupid X-Day murders weren't going on, then children would be free to be children again and he wouldn't have this stupid headache and he wouldn't have to live with Shiraishi and he especially wouldn't have to deal with all of the stress he had been under.

Wanting to scream out his frustrations in this eerily silent park but also not wanting to make a scene, he stood up and stomped the rest of the way home. He had never been one who could hold back his bitterness, but his head hurt too much to be doing much else. All he wanted to do was crawl into his bunk and go to bed the moment he got home, which he did when he realized that Shiraishi hadn't even made it home yet.

And somehow he managed to sleep through the night without a single disturbance from his irritating roommate.

.

Sasazuka woke the next morning feeling better than he had in years. He sat up and stretched, noticing a plate of donuts beside his bed with a small note that had his name on it. Making sure Shiraishi wasn't home first, he gladly accepted the plate of donuts and even smiled as he ate them.

Waking up to peace and quiet and donuts seemed like a treat for Sasazuka. He knew that Shiraishi studied him a lot and probably left early on purpose. Just thinking about it confused him a little. Why would Shiraishi do that? What did he want in return? That man never did anything for free. Sasazuka wracked his brain for any thought of what to do for him in return.

.

Deciding to skip going to the office that day, Sasazuka wandered around Shinjuku. He wasn't in the mood for other people, or at least people who knew him. Instead, he chose to peruse some cheap shops as he thought over the facts he already knew about the case he was working on. As he thought of the motive behind killing people who played the same game online, he absently grabbed a stuffed cat off of a shelf, stroking it as he walked around the store.

Upon reaching the front, he noticed that the cat was still in his hand and felt disgusted. Of all things he could have grabbed, why did it have to be a fucking cat plush? His mind instantly went to his annoying roommate and how he'd left those donuts for him that morning. He instantly came up with a great idea to repay him and grabbed all of the stuffed cats that he could find, taking them up to the register.

.

That night, Sasazuka pretended to sleep until he heard Shiraishi softly snoring from the top bunk. He quickly got out of bed and stole away to the hall closet, the only place he knew Shiraishi wouldn't see upon coming home. Inside were three large grocery bags full of cat plushies. Being as quiet as he possibly could, Sasazuka emptied the bags and carried all of the cats to his bunk.

Careful not to wake Shiraishi, he put all of the cats into his roommate's bunk to the point that it was nearly bursting with them. Satisfied with his handiwork, he went back to bed, smiling triumphantly.

.

The next morning, Sasazuka slept through his alarm, but it wasn't as if he had anywhere to be. Something about his bed didn't feel right, though. He slowly opened his eyes to see all sorts of cords and flash drives and hard drives surrounding him. There were even a few keyboards and computer mice along with speakers.

Sitting up, he panicked for a moment before remembering the cats he had snuck into Shiraishi's bed. He smirked to himself as he took in his surroundings.

'Clever,' he thought. 'But just you wait until I'm inspired again.'