Sen stared at the blank paper in front of her. She looked up at the giraffes and sighed. The wind whipped her hair around, and it kept getting in her face. Juuzou said he would be here on the weekends. Maybe he didn't come because it looks like it's going to rain, she thought, looking up at the sky that was darkening with storm clouds.

She sighed and closed her notebook. She didn't feel like writing right now. Sen was tired from last night. Not much had been going on with Aogiri lately, and the doves had been laying low, but it was still her responsibility to supervise everything.

She leaned back on the bench and thought about her current mission. Her job was rather broad; to find out more of what the CCG knows. But how to do that, she wasn't sure. Sen had interviewed them before, but the only thing that really came of it was her meeting a cute guy. Of course, that was nice and all, but it wasn't the goal.

Maybe I could interview them again, Sen thought, twirling a stray strand of teal hair around her finger. She knew it was a long shot; she was very lucky to just get the first interview. But she knew there was a surplus of CCG employees that were fans of her books, and now she had an investigator acquaintance. Sen wasn't really sure if her and Juuzou could really be considered 'friends'.

Sen knew asking for another interview would be risky, but it was the only way she could currently think of to get the needed information. I will go tomorrow, she decided.

Juuzou stared at the bland, gray ceiling tiles of the CCG office above him. He spun round in round in his swivel chair, kicking his feet. He hated the office and all the little cubicles. As he spun, he threw pencils at the ceiling and tried to get them to stay.

"Five! Six!" he giggled as the pencils impaled themselves in the fiberglass above him.

"Would you stop acting like a child already and help out?" said a sharply dressed young man, slamming a thick stack of papers on Juuzou's desk.

"Why would I do that?" Juuzou said, giving his new partner a dumb look.

The man clenched his teeth in anger, and Juuzou tried his best to contain his laughter. He didn't like his new partner, but he was sure fun to annoy. The newbie's name was Daichi Kiniko, and he was fresh out of the academy. Juuzou knew he must be smart because he had already been assigned as a special investigator at a whopping age of 23. He wore his light brown hair in the same style as the late Takizawa had, and he always wore business attire.

How boring, Juuzou thought.

He had ice blue eyes and a nice smile, and was popular with the women in CCG. His face was usually lit up by a smile, but a mix between paperwork and dealing with Juuzou had pulled it into a frown.

"You need to do the paperwork because that's your job!" spat Kiniko, glaring at the younger man.

"But I don't want to," Juuzou said, pushing the papers away and going back to spinning in his chair.

"Now listen here you little-."

"Suzuya! Kiniko!" interrupted CCG's secretary, Asuka Tanaka, peering around the corner from a nearby cubicle.

"Yes?" Kiniko said, regaining his cool. Juuzou stood up from his chair and stretched his back.

"There's someone here to talk to you two," she said, giving the cluster of pencils bristling from the ceiling a quizzical look. "They want to ask a few questions."

"An interview?" Kiniko asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, something like that," Tanaka replied. "Suzuya, I beleive you've interviewed with her before. Do you remember Sen Takatsuki, the novelist?"

Juuzou felt his heart skip a beat. He let out a fake groan of protest and flopped back into his swivel chair, confused on why her name had provoked such a reaction from himself.

"Come on," Kiniko said, pulling on Juuzou's arm.

Suzuya got up and stretched, and the two men followed Tanaka.

Sen was relaxing on a couch in the lobby like room of the CCG's main building. She sat up straight and pulled out her notebook when she saw the two investigators.

Why did I feel like that when I heard her name, Juuzou wondered.

"That's one hot author," Kiniko whispered into Juuzou's ear. At that, the younger man's stomach twisted.

Kiniko and Juuzou sat down across from Sen, who had her pen ready.

"Hello!" she said cheerfully. "I was hoping I could ask you a few questions for my next book. My name is-."

"You're Sen Takatsuki, right?" asked Kiniko. "The famous writer?"

"Yup!"

"May I just say, you have exquisite talent and your writing style is excellent," he said, flashing her his pearly white grin that had gotten him popular with the ladies at CCG.

"Thank you," Sen blushed. Juuzou grit his teeth, and a tiny flame of anger began to burn inside of him.

"So what can I do to help out a beautiful young novelist as yourself?" Kiniko asked Sen.

Juuzou clenched his teeth even harder, and he could feel his heart beating faster. No, he told himself. Why is she making you feel like this? What do you think you're doing? Juuzou struggled to suppress the growing flame inside.

"I just have some questions about how CCG works," she smiled. Juuzou thought she had a perfect smile.

No, he told himself again.

"No problem," Kiniko said, winking at her.

Now there was nothing Juuzou could do. The flame grew bigger and bigger, and soon it became a fire raging in his stomach. His neck and face grew hot, and his palms began to sweat. He tried to drone out the noise of everything, and just focused on Sen.

Her teal hair was pulled up in a messy bun, and she was wearing a little brown dress. Her shining green eyes were wide awake, and her smile lit up the room. Juuzou didn't even listen to the questions she asked, and the answers Kiniko gave. He just stared at her.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Juuzou heard Kiniko ask.

"Oh, um, no," Sen said, her face beet red.

The fire inside Juuzou was now a roaring blaze. He wanted to scream, to give Kiniko a solid uppercut to the jaw. His head was throbbing, his teeth couldn't be clenched any tighter, his stomach was flopping around, his heart was pounding, his palms wee completely soaked with sweat, his limbs trembled, and he felt dizzy.

"Well if you ever wanted to go out to dinner, I could assist with that," Kiniko said, winking.

That was the last straw for Juuzou. He couldn't take any more.

"Would you stop flirting with her and do you're job you good for nothing player!" Juuzou barked at his partner.

Both Sen and Kiniko froze and stared at the young man who had just lost his cool.

"I think I should go," Sen said, quickly gathering up her things.

Kiniko reached out "Sen, wait-."

"I need to go!" she snapped, smacking his hand away.

She hurried out the door onto the streets, not looking back. Kiniko just sat on the couch, dumbfounded. It was silent for a minute or so, and then he turned to Juuzou.

"What the heck was that all about?" he said, raising his voice. "Why'd you go off like that?"

Juuzou stared at him for a few seconds. The truth was, he didn't know why he reacted like that.

"I don't know," he muttered, looking down at his red slippers.

"Suzuya, do you know how embarrassing that was?" Kiniko said, shoving his partner's shoulder. "I had a chance with her! Why would you do that?"

"I said I don't know," Juuzou said, wanting to shrink away.

"Did actually you think ruining my chances would give you a chance?" the older man said, getting in Juuzou's face.

Juuzou felt his stomach drop. That's not what he had been thinking… Was it? He wasn't sure.

"N-no," Juuzou stuttered. "Not at all."

"You're stuttering!" Kiniko said, jabbing his finger at his partner. "That is what you were trying to do!

"No!" Juuzou said, face turning bright red.

"You like her!" Kiniko said in a half angry, half lighthearted tone.

"I do not!" Juuzou said,biting his lip.

"Suzuya, look at you," Kiniko said. "Your face is as red as a tomato, you're sweating, and biting your lip. You so like the author chick."

Before Juuzou could retort, Amon interrupted.

"If you two are done arguing like third graders, go finish your paperwork."

"Yes sir," Kiniko said, flashing their superior a smile.

Amon just rolled his eyes and walked away.

Both men stood up.

"You're on," Kiniko smirked.

"What?"

"A hundred bucks. Whoever gets with the author chick first."

"What?" Juuzou said, horrified. "It's not a game!"

"Oh, you're defensive," said Kiniko, wiggling his eyebrows. "Come on. It'll be fun."

"I'm not playing your little game," Juuzou said, getting into the elevator to go back to the office with his partner.

"Yes you will," Kiniko said. "Do you want to know how I know you'll play?"

"How?" Juuzou snapped.

"You see Suzuya, that I can try to get with her. You like her, and don't try to deny it, I don't have the time to argue with you when we both know the facts. So if I make a move, you'll get jealous, and you'll make a move. Plain and simple."

"No," Juuzou said, gritting his teeth.

The elevator dinged, and the two men walked out. Waiting for them was Akira Mado.

"Akira," Kiniko said, giving her a flirty smile.

She just glared at him. She was one of the few women in the building that Juuzou's partner had not been able to charm.

Good for you Akira, Juuzou thought.

"Finish your paperwork, then you can go home," she said, giving them a steely look.

Juuzou walked over to his desk and sat down in his chair. He yelped in pain and jumped to his feet. One of the pencils that Juuzou had thrown had not stuck in the ceiling and had fallen onto the chair, and he had sat on it.

Kiniko laughed, and Juuzou shot him a glare.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Juuzou Suzuya, you're an weird one," he laughed.

Weird. Juuzou smiled. He liked being considered 'weird'. It was so much more fun then being normal and boring. But at the same time, what would Sen think of how he really was? Psychotic is what he had been called many times.

Why am I worrying about what the author thinks of me, Juuzou asked himself. I don't like her or anything like that, I just don't want a nice woman like her to be just another girl used by Kiniko.

Paperwork took awhile, and by the time it was completed, it was already 9:30. Juuzou gathered his belongings, adjusted his suspenders, and walked out of the office. In the hallway waiting for him was Amon.

"Juuzou," the older man addressed him

"Yes?" the white haired man answered.

"Having problems with the new partner?"

"No."

"It appears otherwise," Amon said, raising an eyebrow.

Juuzou rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips.

"I need you two to get along," Amon said. "So you two will go to a coffee shop tomorrow, have a nice cup of coffee, and talk things out. And don't even try to get out of it; I have eyes everywhere."

Juuzou groaned.

"I know you're frustrated. He's so Shinohara."

Juuzou felt a twinge in his gut at the name of his old partner.

A pitiful look crossed Amon's face. "I know it's hard. I remember how I felt when Mado died."

"You don't know hardship," Juuzou spat.

Amon's face lit up in shock, and before he could scold Juuzou, he blew past him, down the hall, and turned the corner.

Juuzou ran for the elevator, and when inside, did something that, in his opinion, he deserved to be beat for. He wept. He wept for Shinohara. That man had been like a father, and now he was gone. He had left Juuzou all alone. And it was all the one eyed owl's fault.

"I swear to god," Juuzou said through sobs "Some day I will make that owl suffer. They will suffer more then anybody else has ever suffered."

When Juuzou reached his tiny apartment, he had long stopped crying. He sat down on his bed. and stared at his feet.

Maybe I could do some stitches on my feet, Juuzou thought. But he decided against it, for he was tired, and if he messed up, it was very painful to pull the thread out.

He laid down and grabbed his phone. One new message; it was from Kiniko.

"Amon says we have to get coffee together and talk things out," it read.

Juuzou groaned, that was not how he wanted to spend his time.

"I know," he typed. He clicked send and rolled onto his stomach.

In a few seconds, his phone dinged.

"Haiko's Coffee Bistro at 11:00 tomorrow. Remember the 100 dollar bet," it read. Juuzou let out another groan of annoyance and then plugged in his phone to charge for the night.

He got some boxers from his dresser and sat down on his bed. He unhooked the left strap of his suspenders, and then the he tried to unhook the right. It was stuck.

"God dang it why is it stuck!" Juuzou muttered as he yanked at it. Frustration growing, he yanked as hard as he could. There was a snap, and the clip of the right suspender strap fell to the floor.

"Gah!" Juuzou said. "These are my only suspenders."

He sighed and examined the clip, it was broken. To tired to do anything about it, he unclipped the back and threw his broken suspenders on the back of a chair. He unbuttoned his shirt. First the orange button, second the yellow, third the green. Juuzou smiled a little. He loved his rainbow buttons.

He pulled off the shirt, and then kicked off his red slippers. He stood up and pulled off the rest of what he was wearing and then put his other boxers on. He threw his clothes on the floor and then collapsed onto his bed. He let out a sigh and pulled himself off the bed and into the bathroom.

He started to brush his teeth, and as he did, he examined his arm and chest in the mirror. He loved the red stitches that went up on his right arm and down the center of his chest.

So much better then tattoos, he thought. Much more creative.

He spat out the mint toothpaste, took a drink, and then removed the red bobby pins from his silky white hair. His bangs fell into his face, and Juuzou ran his hands through his hair. He placed the bobby pins on the counter for the next morning.

He walked back to his bed, which he jumped onto. He set his alarm early so that he would have time to shower. He rolled onto his side and closed his eyes. His mind swirled with thoughts of the beautiful, kind author.

"Please don't think poorly of me," Juuzou said out loud, as if Sen Takatsuki could hear him.

Not all that far away, a woman wrapped in bandages in a magenta dress was sitting silently with Ayato on a roof.

What am I doing, Eto asked herself.

The way Juuzou blew up today when the taller investigator had been flirting with her was something she couldn't stop thinking about. Why did he do that? She wasn't sure. But to her it was… Cute. Why do I find it cute that he yelled at someone when they were being flirty? she asked herself.

Eto was scared of the emotions this man was making her feel. You hardly know him, She thought. But there was till something about him that she couldn't get out of her head. His rainbow buttons, turquoise suspenders, and red slippers, she thought. She felt a stupid smile cross her face. His crayon drawings, cute way he would stare at things, the intriguing stitches on his body… The smile got wider.

And then she remembered the screaming man throwing knives at her. And the smile disappeared.