Thank you, shimarin, for putting my story in your favorite list, and following it as well! It brings me immense pleasure to know as such! And thank you, too, wishica, for being my second follower!

Without further ado, let's roll! Junko, Kintarou and Kazuya are in this chapter - as well as another character that comes in at the next chapter, a certain cutie you all know and adore! We finally get to see what is going on with Kintarou and Kazuya, just what the hell actually keeps Kasamatsu awake at nights, and what Junko's occupation is. For your info, I don't exactly hate Kintarou, I just like making him look like a bitch. In fact, I enjoy his angry diva persona, it makes me laugh!

Profiles for Junko, Kintarou, and Kazuya have been officially added to my profile!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke! I know next to nothing about basketball, so I would never have made such an awesome manga and anime!

He was near. Or was it a she? The detective couldn't know for sure, and frankly, right at the moment, he couldn't care less.

A hundred feet. Maybe even less than that.

Slow, confident steps. And then a giggle slipped through the tight fingers of the dim darkness and the suffocating silence. Far too high-pitched for a male, far too low for a female.

Damn it, the bastard was playing with him! Or bitch.

Oh, this was wonderful, wasn't it? Trapped in a police station, the unknown psychotic murderer hot on his heels, and for the life of him, he couldn't even figure out the suspect's gender!

At least it would make one hell of a tombstone! The thought alone made him smirk, but even that didn't last long.

There, on the wall in front of him, was a message, written in red - and he would bet his left arm the slowly dripping liquid wasn't paint.

Exit that way, it said, with an arrow pointing to his right.

Almost too scared to do so, he turned his head to the direction given. It was the big window, overlooking the cliff's depth that stood on the side of the station. Hadn't he gazed out of it just this morning, making a comment on how ironic it would be to use this as an emergency exit to escape death, only to inevitably find it anyway?

Who had heard him? Who was it? It could be anyone working in the force!

His mind flew to Dr. Takahashi. Poor woman was waiting for him to bring the much needed evidence to officially reopen the case. Boy, would she nag at his grave if he died...

One second. That's all it took, all the time he spent spacing out, thinking about one of the few people who could put up with him.

And apparently, all the time the killer needed.

Bay leaf and Irish moss. Wait, he knew that smell! He knew the son of a bitch!

Another giggle, ominously close, and then a warm breath that sent chills down his spine caressed his ear, as his pursuer finally spoke -

"You anorgasmic whore!"

"You anorga - wait", a pair of dazed amber eyes blinked in confusion, trying to take in the reality around them, as their owner was pretty much in her own little world. She frowned thoughtfully at the words she had unconsciously written down "That isn't right, why would Lieutenant Suzuki call Aki a whore? And the man is very healthy - sexually speaking... "

"Are you even listening to me?! ", the voice that had broken through her thought bubble yelled in her ear, making her twitch in annoyance that could quickly escalate in fury.

"Look, princess", she growled, "how many times do I have to tell you to keep your trap shut when I'm working? Seeing as I always lie on my stomach to write, should I tattoo it on my ass or something, for you to get it?! "

"Tsk", the bespectacled male in front of her grimaced in disgust. "I wouldn't look at your ass if it was the last one on Earth I could look at! "

"Thank God! ", she sighed dramatically in relief, then turned back to the stack of papers in front of her. "Now beat it, you're interrupting my personal zen, making me write down stuff that shouldn't be there, and are pretty much your usual annoying self. Shoo, shoo..."

A ripping sound was heard, and seemed to echo quite loudly in the silence of her bedroom. She stared blankly, amber eyes slightly widened, brain barely registering what had just taken place. Did he just... ?

Kintarou smirked smugly at the sight in front of him. THE Hayashi Junko, Queen of Indifference, was gaping at him, a tiny speck of despair showing clearly in those annoying irises of hers. Oh, how it thrilled his sadistic heart to finally see such a reaction. It made up for all those years of poorly veiled insults and jabs.

Grinning triumphantly, he brought the two ripped pieces of paper mass together, and watched with satisfaction as a small cry escaped her lips and she moved to stop him, before he kept on ripping. The horror in her now fully widened eyes felt like a personal success as he watched them get damp, while her hands covered her mouth in mute terror.

Making a show of opening his hands as wide as they could get, he scattered the now tiny pieces all around him, and, like a diva that had just driven her point home, turned around and walked to the door, calling back to Junko "That's for taking my man and lying about it, bitch! "

She didn't move from her spot. She didn't break her gaze from the pieces of paper lying around on her bedroom's floor. She just stayed where she was, as if frozen, until she was certain the apartment's door had slammed securely behind his back.

And then she moved.

Quickly and efficiently, she stood up, and gathered all the pieces in a neat pile. Satisfied with her work, she allowed herself to finally get officially pissed off, and her eyes, twin flames on her furious face, narrowed menacingly.

Someone was going to die. And it was bound to be a slow, painful death.

No one messed with her work. No one. Not even her flatmate, no matter how kind and wonderful he was to a bitch like her. And especially not his psycho of a boyfriend!

Six books. For six damn books, Lieutenant Suzuki was a pain in the ass. Always getting in Aki's way, sabotaging his investigations, holding back crucial information, misleading him in several cases... For years the badass detective had put up with his crap, and now, now that finally the androgynous male had snapped and showed his psychotic side, the "needle-wielding maniac" had butted in and torn everything to pieces! All this careful planning Junko had gone through, how she would portray him as a son of a bitch but a necessary ally, how she would slowly, over the books, reveal more and more of his dark side, how she would then get rid of him by endangering the main character's life - it all had been for nothing!

Building suspense was thrown out of the window, the story's sequence was down to ashes that were probably stepped over by the fucker's designer's shoes, and the deaths of so many prostitutes had gone to waste! She made a feral sound that could easily be mistaken as a growl. Now their deaths would never be avenged! Hell, the world would never even know about them!

Not many understood her obsession with her characters - even the minor ones that served as victims for her serial killers. In truth, she didn't expect them to. If you're not a writer yourself, it is hard to sympathize with those imaginary people, with their own lives and burdens. How could she explain to anyone, really, that whenever the detective, Aki, got caught up in a mess that came from her own head, she could actually "feel" the story as it progressed herself?

With these thoughts in mind, she stormed out of her room, straight to the other side of the apartment. Not even bothering to knock, her intent clear in her usually apathetic eyes.

"Kazu, I demand you put a leash on your bitch! ", she screamed, her voice sounding scary as it was deeper and lower in pitch that a usual woman's. "It's bad enough he doesn't seem to keep his mouth shut even when it's stuffed with your dick, now his skinny ass had to parade in my room, and - get this! - tear my new book to pieces! Fucking. Pieces. You hear me?! "

Sea green eyes turned to look at her, and she took a deep breath, prepared to say more. But, once she took in the state her flatmate was in, she bit her tongue and stopped the onslaught of insults and demands that bubbled in her throat.

Kazuya was lying on his bed, in a spread motion, and his eyes seemed empty, red and puffy. He gave an almost inaudible sigh, before murmuring quietly "If only for today, can we please skip the whole 'homosexual' jabs and insults tribute? Just... please. "

Junko blinked. OK, something was wrong. While her flatmate was never exactly one for loud words, he was still not quite low profile, either. The only exception was when he was doing the deed with that psycho, bitchy megane, but the woman had long ago learned how to tune them out. But for him to be this down...

Her book was important, but she wouldn't have come this far without the kind and patient man who was spread in front of her. Junko was never one for emotional outbursts, however the same could not be said when it came to the few people that she cared about.

The photographer was her best friend. It was because of this that she had agreed to move in with him, despite the nasty rumors about them which always burdened whatever affair she might have had so far. It was because of this that she tried to follow his damn diet, though she still indulged herself behind his back at times. And it was because of this that she put up with that jerk, Kintarou, even if she often fantasized of wringing his neck to feel joy when she was down.

It wasn't hard to guess that the bastard had something to do with Kazuya's current state. The guy only made this kind of face when he was having "Kin-chan trouble". Honestly, what the hell did he even see in that piece of shit?!

Deciding tonight would be one of those nights with long talk, chocolate, and wine, she got out again, and returned five minutes later with a tray of chocolate brownies, two glasses, and a bottle of red wine. Nudging him to the side, she relaxed on the soft mattress, the sinful dessert and drink in the space between them, and filled the glasses, passing one to him. He accepted it gratefully, and glared at the brownies for twenty seconds before shrugging and taking a piece for himself. Junko took one as well, and for a while, they just lied there, drinking and eating in silence.

After his first piece was eaten, he swirled the contents of his glass, and downed it in one go. She refilled it, and, he announced, before bringing the second piece to his lips "We broke up. "

He didn't have to explain who broke up with him, and she didn't need to ask. The finality of the announcement, however, caught her off guard, enough for her to ask "What happened now? "

Kazuya shrugged, and explained briefly "Same old stuff. I spend too much time working, he doesn't believe I really can't find the time to get out and do something with him and he's certain I cheated on him. He pierced a guy's genitals before coming over today - thought he was my secret lover. "

"Wait", the bluenette raised her hand to stop him. "Isn't he here, like, almost every night? Hell, you two could easily be porn stars, with all this dick exchange going on. "

The glare he sent her was only half-hearted, and that spoke volumes about his emotional state. Normally, such language was food for arguments between them, and lots of scolding on his behalf. "I would thank you to tone your swearing down. I reall am in no condition to verbally spar with you right now. "

She raised her hands in mock surrender to show that she was sorry, and he sighed "Forgive me. I seem to take it out on you whenever things don't go well in my life". His gaze deepened with guilt "And you said he destroyed your book? I'm so sorry, Jun, you got mixed up in this mess". Glancing at her, he finally seemed to take in her appearance since the moment she barged in his bedroom "What... are you wearing? "

Junko blinked, and then looked down at her outfit. It was a tight, blue-grey, short leather dress that clung to her form in the most shameless of ways. Her breasts could barely stay out of sight, and the hem was inches below her nether regions. The whole thing could be brought apart by a zipper, that ran from between her breasts to the lowest part of the outfit. Taking about four seconds to remember why she was dressed like this, she answered nonchalantly "Oh, this. Don't mind me, I was a prostitute. Lieutenant Suzuki killed me, and I forgot to change. Too bad Aki will never avenge poor ol' me... "

The photographer paled, but it wasn't because of her reason behind her clothing choice. The bluenette owned many weird costumes and outfits, some of which she found with the help of her publisher's cosplayer wife, and she often paraded around in their apartment wearing them. His flatmate didn't just write books, in her mind she lived the whole story, and, by dressing like this, she would feel like the victim, or the murderer, sometimes even a key witness, and be able to fully analyze them as characters, to try and get in their heads and see things through their eyes, not hers. It was one of her quirks that he found adorable.

No, the blonde freaked out at what the whole situation meant. She had often told him that, after creating Suzuki, and dressing as him, she developed a passionate hatred for him, and wanted to off him, but couldn't just yet throw his criminal mind in the mix. But she had a plan, he knew that, and soon the object of her dislike would make the mistake of crossing the line. So she had finally made it? And his - now ex - boyfriend had torn the book apart?! This was not good, not at all! Junko hated writing via technological means, she preferred her own hand, paper and pen, and this was always how she sent her work to be edited and then published. If Kintarou had torn the thing, that meant there was no way of fixing it, and no way of her rewriting it. In other words, if you saw it through her eyes, fictional people had died, and a fictional nutcase remaind free and untouched by the law.

For the antisocial woman, who was content with living her life through her books, this was blasphemy. And he felt even worse, knowing it was because of his relationship.

With this in his mind, he attempted to at least joke a bit and lighten her burden "Well, at least he didn't kidnap you to tattoo or pierce anything weird on any awkward body part. "

He regretted it the very moment he ended his phrase. Eyes widening, he slapped a hand over his mouth, but it was already too late. The fact her amber eyes blinked, then narrowed in suspicion, was proof enough.

"What do you mean? Bitch only does that to people he thinks you've cheated on him with. Why would he believe I would sleep with you in the first place? "

Kazuya averted his gaze guiltily, but she didn't budge. Throwing a leg over his hips, she straddled him, and started pinching both of his cheeks "Ka-zu-ya, what aren't you telling me? Spill it! "

"Alright, alright, already! ", he grumbled, pushing her fingers away, and nursing his reddened cheeks. "It was Kasamatsu-san. Remember how I tend to be a little vocal about the pleasure Kin-chan gives me? "

She nodded, not the least bit embarrassed about the topic. She had watched her fair share of porn movies of any kind, and had visited brothels and strip joints for research material on some of her books - Aki's victims, witnesses, suspects or sources were often found in such places. Her flatmate - or his boyfriend, on that matter - moaning his lungs off, didn't really phase her.

But said flatmate wasn't as open at all this as she was, so he blushed as he further explained "W-Well, it looks like my bedroom shares a wall with his, and, umm... he thought it was you and me, and... told as much in front of Kin-chan... Wait, Jun, don't do anything rash! "

The bluenette in question had already stepped out of his room, and had slammed open the apartment's door. Mortified at the fact she was dressed like a prostitute, while stomping towards the neighbor's door with murder in her mind, the photographer rushed after her, hoping he could stop her.

But he was some seconds too late. The furious writer had already rang the bell, it seemed, because, just as he reached her side, the door opened, and her fist came in contact with a grinning blonde's jaw...

I guess we all know the grinning blonde who was unfortunate enough to get punched by the pissed off writer. Oh well, I personally think of him as my imaginary punch-bag, hehehe! Him and Koganei, actually, don't know why. To avoid any kind of misunderstanding: I didn't make Kin-chan such a bitchy character because of his sexuality. As a matter of fact, I think homosexual men are quite composed when it comes to people they consider a threat to their relationship. My cousin's best friend, for example, is just like Kazuya, such a well-mannered guy, even when he's pissed off. Kintarou's manners are the same manners an angry woman or jealous heterosexual boyfriend would display. And they're just for fun, to make him seem like a drama queen, and have some laugh either out of Junko's reactions to that, or the way the others tend to lead him into misunderstandings. Seriously, I love this guy! I needed a character to present as someone to be overdramatic, and Kintarou was born in my mind, way before I thought of Kazuya, in fact. For those of you who MAY have liked just a tiny bit the over-reacting tattoo artist, fear not! Something tells me Kazuya is not over him just yet...

Also, do forgive me for the way Junko's book was written. I'm not exactly an expert on detective-themed stories, and I don't really know how to narrate a similar story.