Notes: More of Terazuma's backstory! Yaay! Anywho, yadda yadda, this chapter is so pointless...I think at least, but read it nonetheless
Disclaimer: As alwyas, Hajime-chan and Kannuki-kun are the property of the loverly mangaka, I can only lay claim to Shinnosuke, Noboru, and Hajime's numerous girlfriends. (he's quite the womanizer...kinda)

*~*

Sights of Fading Eyes -- Chapter One
By TK Date

It was a normal day in Yamaguchi. Only a few white clouds were scattered across the serene blue sky and a light breeze swept through the streets every so often carrying with it the scent of seawater that was only a few miles east. It was the exactly the kind of day when no one wanted to be working and everyone wanted to be outside.

Unfortunately for the residents of Yamaguchi, it was a Monday. It seemed that the weather was not without its sense of irony and timing. So, needless to say, the sunny skies and perfect weather did nothing but make the day all the more miserable.

Of course, it didn't take the weather to start Terazuma smoking like a chimney the second he got his first break at the department. Smoking wasn't allowed inside the building, obviously, so Terazuma took his breaks outside. As usual, he stormed out the entrance of the station only moments after being relieved from menial deskwork. This, of course, was not an uncommon event, and within minutes every deputy, detective, and rookie knew exactly what had happened the night before.

Usually it was common courtesy to simply leave Terazuma alone whenever he tried to give himself lung cancer within the space of five minutes, but on this particular day nothing was happening and the weather was making everyone impatient and squirrely, especially a certain Lieutenant Itou Shinnosuke.

Shinnosuke was one of the more normal officers in the department. Sure, he'd seen his fair share of crooks and criminals, but he kept his same old joking demeanor through it all. He'd been working for the force for about four years, which gave him a year of seniority over Terazuma, and he used this to his advantage at every opportunity that presented itself. This just so happened to be one of those opportunities.

"Hey Hajime-kun," Shinnosuke greeted the sullen detective as he hopped onto the railing of the stairs leading up to the station's entrance. Terazuma responded with a noncommittal grunt that Shinnosuke wasn't exactly sure how to interpret. Thus far, only Noboru had been able to translate the system of shrugs, mutters, and grunts that was otherwise known as the language of Terazuma Hajime the day after a break up.

"So who was this girl again?" Shinnosuke continued, not really bothering to notice Terazuma's obvious aversion to any sort of pleasant conversation at the moment. "Oh, right! Her name was…Yuriko, ne? Kind of short, but with really pretty blue eyes…she must have had a gaijin for a parent, with eyes that color. But man…she was pretty."

"Shinnosuke…" Terazuma growled at the lieutenant.

"Hm?" Shinnosuke turned from where he was staring off into the sky to look back at Terazuma.

"Shut up."

"Oh come on Hajime…I'm just trying to have a little chat with one of my very good buddies, what's wrong with that?"

"I'm not your buddy," Terazuma growled.

"You only say that when you're surly," Shinnosuke responded with a grin, "Besides you didn't answer my question."

"Hmph." Flicking his cigarette butt off into the streets, Terazuma pulled another one from his pack and light up.

"Come on, you've gotta spill. Was it like that time you broke up with Mari? What was the excuse you had that time…oh yeah! She didn't like the way you never iron your shirts, was that it?"

Terazuma was far more interested in his cigarette than in Shinnosuke to answer.

"I think that's what you said. That's a pretty stupid reason to break up with a girl Hajime, I mean really. Ironing shirts can't be that hard. Though I wouldn't know…Kisari does all the laundry around the house. She says it's because she doesn't trust me to properly operate the washing machine. Says that if I were to do it we'd wind up with soap all over the house, can you imagine that?"

"Hn."

"Exactly my point, totally crazy." Shinnosuke said with a nod to emphasize his point. "But honestly Hajime…ironing? That's really pathetic."

"It's none of your business Shinnosuke," Terazuma muttered around his cigarette.

"Of course it's my business, it's everyone in the station's business. I've got 4,000 yen on you not taking her out for a third date."

"You what?!" Terazuma shouted, his cigarette falling from his mouth in shock.

"Oh, you didn't know about that? After about the fifth girl you dumped we started a pool every time you went out smoking like a chimney because you dumped another girl. Though Noboru's gotten it every time…I suspect he cheats, being your partner and all."

Terazuma blinked a few times still stunned by the idea of people actually betting on his failed attempts in dating. However, after a few moments his stunned expression turned angry.

"You lousy little scum…"

"Come on Hajime, it's just for a bit of fun, plus some extra cash if anyone can actually beat Noboru. So why not give me a little hint?"

"No," Terazuma responded curtly, lighting up another cigarette.

"Aw…why not?" Shinnosuke whined, moving from the railing and plopping himself down on the steps next to Terazuma.

"Because you're an asshole," he muttered in reply.

"Gee, thanks Hajime…" Shinnosuke said, his tone oozing with sarcasm.

"Always a pleasure."

For a couple of minutes the two of them simply sat on the station's steps. Well, Terazuma sat, Shinnosuke was busy tapping his foot, shifting his position, and all around fidgeting. He never was very good at staying still for a very long time. Eventually he just settled for staring up into the sunny sky, eyes squinted as he watched the different shapes of clouds go by. His expression slowly slipped from content to confused and eventually to pensive

"Ne…Hajime?" he started slowly after watching a strange bunny-shaped cloud drift by.

"What?" Terazuma grunted.

"Why is it you never stick around with a girl for long?" For once there wasn't any hint of taunting or any ulterior motives in Shinnosuke's voice. It almost sounded like he was genuinely concerned, almost.

Terazuma sat and contemplated the question, flicking away another cigarette butt, but this time waiting before he lit another one up. He, also, glanced up at the sky, before turning his eyes down to watch the steps before him.

"It's a stupid reason."

"Is it?" Shinnosuke asked, "I don't think any reason's really a stupid reason."

For a moment Terazuma appeared to contemplate this before he abruptly rose from the steps and turned to head back into the station.

"Hey!" Shinnosuke shouted after him, "Where're you going?"

"Break's over," Terazuma called back, "It's time to get back to work."

"Geeze," Shinnosuke muttered before leaning back on the steps and staring up at the sky, "What's wrong with that guy?"

~*~

Terazuma's return to the office was, needless to say, incredibly uneventful. With a sigh that would have been exhausted, except for the fact that Terazuma had not engaged in any sort of activity-aside form dealing with Shinnosuke-that would warrant exhaustion, he plopped down into his chair. Noboru was sitting in the desk facing his, calmly going through paper work. He glanced up from the form he was puzzling over at the current moment as Terazuma landed in the chair with a 'wufh' sound.

A moment passed before Noboru said, "Shinnosuke got to you, didn't he?"

"If he does that one more time, I swear I'm shooting him between the eyes," Terazuma grumbled, his fingers twitching with the urge to light up another cigarette even though he knew it was forbidden inside the station.

"You shouldn't let him get to you like that," Noboru pointed out, "He's just after you for kicks."

"Whatever…" Terazuma muttered, before adding as an afterthought, "Did you know there was an office pool on my breakups since I split ways with Setsua?"

A slight look of amusement passed over Noboru's face before he responded simply, "No, never heard of it."

"You lying bastard," Terazuma growled, of course, Noboru had always been a terrible liar, "Why didn't you tell me about that?"

"You never asked," Noboru said simply, "Besides, I knew you'd react like this."

"That's so fucking cheap…" Terazuma muttered.

"It actually pays quite well…I've made 24,000 yen off it so far. If you want, we can start splitting from here on out if you'll give me tips," there was a smirk in Noboru's eyes as he glanced up at Terazuma and continued, "Or would you just like to stay poor and out of it as you've always been?"

After a moment of deliberation, Terazuma replied, "Give me 60% of the cut and you've got a deal. Though I still think that you're a cheap bastard who doesn't have a sense of decency."

"Fair enough," Noboru answered with a shrug. "So what was it that Shinnosuke got you so worked up over?"

"Take a wild guess," Terazuma responded flippantly as he reached for a pencil to start his paper work.

"Yuriko," the word was more of a statement than a question, since both Terazuma and Noboru knew what had transpired outside the station, "You know, one of these days you need to give Shinnosuke a good reason to not follow you out when you're in your fouler moods."

"Are you kidding?" Terazuma spoke around the pencil eraser that he was now chewing on, "I'm not an idiot Noboru, I know that Shinnosuke's got enough muscle on him to take me out in no time. And besides, the taunting isn't bad enough to warrant me risking getting me ass kicked."

"Is it now?" Noboru asked calmly, quirking one gray eyebrow up as he glanced at Terazuma.

For a moment the two held the gaze, Noboru questioning, and Terazuma trying to put up an irritated front. In the end, it was Terazuma who folded first. With a clipped snort he turned his head down and began scribbling something onto the sheets of paper that sat before him.

As the silence stretched longer between them, Noboru slowly leaned back in his chair, listening to the almost satisfying creak that it gave off as he stretched the old back. With a small, self-satisfied smirk on his face, he muttered to himself.

"I see…"

"It's not that big of a deal," Terazuma snapped at him, still not looking up from the papers in front of him. "Who cares if I can't keep a solid girlfriend for more than a month? It's none of their business."

"Take it easy, Hajime, it's nothing person," Noboru answered him, still staring quite intently at the ceiling. "But then…" he tilted his head slightly down and glanced at Terazuma out of the corner of his eye, "Just why does it bother you so much?"

"I've already told you, Noboru…" the irritated growl once again came from around the eraser in Terazuma's mouth.

"You told me something, I don't think you told me the truth." Noboru answered him in a matter-of-fact tone of voice before adding, "You know, you're never going to get over it if you don't at least admit to yourself what's wrong with the whole thing."

"I can get over this myself," Terazuma muttered.

"And pigs can fly, Hajime," Noboru replied, "You know, sometimes you're such an idiot."

"I think the same about you."

"Well it's good to know that the feeling's mutual," a smirk crossed Noboru's face as he turned back to his work.

For the next few moments, the two looked every bit as if they were diligent detectives getting rid of some of their paper work and fighting through all distractions just to diminish the ever-growing pile. This was, of course, before Terazuma began to chew on his already mutilated pencil eraser again. However, the eraser gave was, and upon deciding that it was a sorry substitute for gum or anything even remotely tasty, he spat it out.

Next, he tried the pencil. For a few moments, it proved to be a reasonable replacement for the eraser, until somehow Terazuma managed to snap the wood in between his teeth. Grumbling to himself, he spat out the half of the pencil that had wound up in his mouth and began tapping the other end of it on his desk.

All this time, Noboru had been half watching his partner with an amused look on his face. Glancing down at the piece of paper he was currently working on, he quickly scribbled down some words in a few of the blanks and placed it atop a stack of completed work. He then put his pencil down, leaned back in his chair, which gave an obnoxious squeak at that very moment. Normally, Noboru would have been irritated by this, but in this situation it only served to catch Terazuma's attention, which was exactly what he wanted to do. Crossing his arms over his chest, he regarded his younger partner with a stern look.

"All right, talk."

"Noboru…" Terazuma began shortly, "What the hell are you-"

"Don't give me that sort of bull shit, Hajime," he quickly cut the younger detective off, "I know that something's been bothering you. You're twitching like a maniac, and despite how many times you talk over the same shit about it just being hard breaking up with a gal, you do this every time you split ways with one. There's obviously something more to this than what you say, and I'm not letting you leave this station until you give me the full scoop."

Terazuma's pencil tapping had stopped. For a moment he simply started at his partner before blinking once and smirking slightly.

"That all you got to say Noboru?"

"It is," the older detective said firmly.

"Well then…" Terazuma drawled as he leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling and contemplating the ultimatum his partner had given him. "I guess you're right…" he started after a few moments' thought. "About there being something more to it, and all. But…well…to tell you the truth I'm not really quite sure exactly what it is that bothers me…"

"That's bull, Hajime." Noboru answered flatly, seeing straight through his partner's lie.

"I can't pull that on you, can I?" Terazuma asked sarcastically.

"Not in a million years. I told you to spill it, now spill."

"Fine…" Terazuma mumbled, "Fine…" After taking a deep breath he continued. "You remember the first case that you and I had?"

"Yeah…" Noboru said slowly, "But Hajime you had better explain what that has to do with this or-oh…" he interrupted his own thoughts, "Oh…" he repeated softly, "Hajime…you're still letting that bother you?"

"Every time," Terazuma responded with a nod, his eyes closed, "It's like you always said, if you've got the power you've gotta use it to help people. Well…the way I figure, since I didn't have enough power to protect her, I don't have enough to keep any of the girls I know out of trouble."

"So you just dump them?" Noboru asked, giving Terazuma a stern look.

"Exactly." He replied, and then glared at Noboru for the snort he instantly gave, "What? What's wrong with that?"

"Hajime…if you know when you start out a relationship that you're just going to dump them and things aren't going to work out, then why do you put yourself through that torture?"

"I don't know," Terazuma responded with an irritated glare, "You expect me to understand why I do everything that I do?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Noboru said with a shrug, "Who knows you better than yourself, Hajime?"

"Probably a lot of people, considering I'm still doing things that I can't explain.""

"Oh?" Noboru inquired with a quirked eyebrow.

"Like a lot of things…I don't know, but the dating for one…"

"Well…" Noboru said slowly, "Why do you think you do it?"

"Date?" Terazuma asked, and then sighed at receiving a short nod from his partner, "I told you I don't know…" he said and then paused, "I guess…maybe. Maybe it's because I'm trying to replace her."

"The girl?"

"Her name was Wakaba Kannuki," Terazuma said shortly, "And before you can say anything, no I didn't forget it. Haven't forgotten it in a long time, and I don't even know why that's happened."

"So why are you trying to replace her?" Noboru furthered.

"Maybe so I can prove to myself that I can actually protect someone. I'm not sure…" he paused for a moment, silently wishing that Noboru hadn't brought this topic up, but thanking him for it nonetheless. "I guess it's pretty stupid, now that I say that," hr continued, "considering that half the reason I dump all the girls is because I don't' think I can protect them. But…just maybe one of these days, I'll find one of them, and I'll prove to myself that I can protect her, and it'll all be better."

"You know, Hajime, things are rarely that easy to fix," his partner pointed out.

"Yeah, I know, but that can't keep me from being hopeful." Terazuma replied with a small smirk.

After contemplating him for a moment, the older detective shook his head and returned his attention to his paperwork.

"You're an idiot Hajime," he mumbled, "I just wanna make sure you know that."

"We're all idiots, Noboru," Terazuma retorted, "And you're the biggest one of them all."

"Proud to be of service to you," the elder detective responded with a smirk and a nod.

Sighing Terazuma shook his head and began on filling out a new form. Yet for all the harsh words he gave his partner, he knew the older man cared about him. Silently, he contemplated the words they had shared. He hadn't exactly been lying to himself before that, he more or less liked to refer to it as withholding the truth. Nevertheless, what Noboru had said was right, and, just maybe, the next time he would be less harsh on himself. Then maybe he'd be able to keep a steady girlfriend for maybe even two months, and that would give Shinnosuke something to talk about.

~*~

And for the common person, here's conversions for the yen amounts mentioned in above fic:

4,000 yen = $33.61
24,000 yen = $204.36

Yay for betting on Terazuma's misfortune with women ^_^ heh