Kiniko walked through the streets, keeping his head down. He stuffed his hands in is pockets and frowned. He should not be doing this.

He told himself not to think of it as stalking; he was investigating. He had been nervous all day, and he had considered that perhaps he had been mistaken. But when he spotted a small round bruise and his partner's neck, he knew he had to do this.

Kiniko's idea of what was going seemed far fetched: The One Eyed Owl and Suzuya were sleeping together, and they have a kid.

Kiniko shook his head. What was he doing? He had his own kid to think of. He had let Ake spend the night at his friend's house. It was a school night, so he had been surprised.

"Ake," Kiniko said, gathering his things for work. "I called Senshi's Mom. You're going home with him today and spending the night at his house."

The ten year old boy looked up from his corn flakes and stared at his father with his big, brown doe eyes. "But it's a school day."

"I know," Kiniko said, pulling his shoes on. "But I have to do something for work tonight."

Ake frowned and stirred his cereal.

"What's the matter?"

"I always get scared when you go off to work. What if you go away just like Mom did?"

Kiniko sighed and pulled out a chair at the dining room table. He sat down and took his son's hand.

"Ake," he said, looking the boy in the eye. "I'm going to be just fine. I will pick you up from school tomorrow. And we can go get ice cream or somethin' like that, okay? And go to the skate park. I'm going to be okay. I promise."

Ake wiped his teary eyes and smiled at his father. "Can I use the blue skateboard?"

"You bet," Kiniko said, standing up and patting Ake's hair.

Kiniko shook his head. He had to safe about this; he had promised his son he would be.

So far, Juuzou had done nothing interesting. Suddenly, he took a right. Kiniko scrunched his eyebrow's together; Suzuya's apartment was left.

Maybe he's getting dinner, Kiniko thought.

But Suzuya did not stop at any restaurant. Kiniko trailed him to a convenience store, and then waited outside in the shadows of the night. When Suzuya left the store, he had garbage bags and a cardboard box.

Kiniko frowned; that was odd. Then again, what about Suzuya wasn't odd? The brunette followed Suzuya into the back alleyways of town. The white haired man walked through the alleys, looking in large boxes and dumpsters. Kiniko cocked his head. What on earth was his partner doing?

Suddenly, it hit him. Suzuya still had his quinque. The garbage bags, the box.. A pit formed in his stomach and his heart twisted. He was looking for someone… To kill. And to, presumably, give to a ghoul to eat.

Kiniko swallowed hard. He had left his own quinque at the office. But the brunette knew he wasn't in any danger; Suzuya was his friend after all. But he did have to confront him.

Kiniko took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows.

"Hey, Suzuya."

The white haired man jumped. When he saw Kiniko, his body tensed and his eyes darkened. "Hello, Kiniko. Why did you follow me?"

"An even better question is what are you doing out here, with a garbage bag, box, and your quinque, at this time of night?"

Suzuya grit his teeth. "Why the hell do you think?"

"I think," Kiniko said, heart pounding a million miles per hour. "You're hunting for your girlfriend."

Suzuya's eyes narrowed. "What do you know?"

"You're still with that Takatsuki chick. You knocked her up, right?"

Juuzou did not flinch. "What about it?"

"T—that's not okay!" Kiniko shouted. "I gotta turn you in! You're helping the enemy."

"Turn me in, huh?" Juuzou said, emotionless.

Kiniko nodded.

"I see."

Suzuya dropped the garbage bags and box. He pressed the button on his quinque case, and his scythe appeared in his hands. The white haired man slowly walked toward Kiniko, who he had backed up into a dead end.

"S—Suzuya?" Kiniko said, eyes widening. "What are you doing?"

"You know far to much," the man said, twirling the purple blade.

"No," Kiniko mumbled. "No, no, no."

His heart was in his throat and his stomach was in knots. Kiniko felt his hands shaking, and he thought he was going to vomit. There was no emotion in his partner's eyes.

"I thought we were friends!" Kiniko shouted.

No response.

"Please!" he begged. "I have a family to take care of."

Suzuya stared at Kiniko, eyes stone cold. "So do I."

The white haired man swung his scythe, cleanly separating Kiniko's head from his body.

Kiniko felt a immense amount of pain, and he was confused. He saw Suzuya holding his scythe… And at his feet was his headless body. He had been decapitated.

I was gonna skate and get ice cream with Ake, Kiniko thought. I promised him.

Then everything went black.

Notes

For anyone who's confused: If the head is cut cleanly from the body and the brain is not affected, the brain will remain conscious for a period of around 5 seconds before dying of blood loss.