Can't do without 'em

True to his word, nine o'clock the next morning found Leon in front of the pet shop, knocking on the door. The guy from the antiques store next door stepped outside and regarded him with a strange glance.

"The Count has not yet opened the shop," he tittered, sounding as displeased as politeness allowed. "And, if I may voice my humble opinion, you should not impose yourself on him a mere day after he arrived back."

Leon glared at him and tried to decide whether to tell him off or not when the door opened and the kami appeared in the crack. "Good morning, Detective," he said and gave him a tiny smile before looking at his neighbour with some confusion, though of course he was smiling politely. Leon was pretty sure the owner of the antiques store didn't notice D was wondering. "Mr Cheng, is anything the matter?"

He opened the door wider and stepped out. The Chinese bowed deeply to him. "No, of course not, Count D. I was merely telling the detective that you have not yet opened the shop and that he might want to stop by later."

"Oh," D said and smiled an even brighter polite fake smile. "Why thank you, Mr Cheng, how nice of you. But I actually invited the detective over for breakfast. I am rather surprised he showed up on time, though, I have to admit that."

Leon opened his mouth to protest, but D firmly stepped onto his foot and he closed it again, seeing that the little sideswipe had soothed Mr Cheng. He bowed again and retreated. "How very kind of you, Count," he praised the kami, who bowed in reply. Leon was getting fed up with being the only one standing tall. "I do hope he appreciates the honour. Goodbye, Count D. Mr Detective."

He vanished into his shop with a last nasty glare at the blonde, who huffed indignantly and followed D inside, slamming down a bakery box with some force. "Who the fuck does he think he is?" he fumed.

Now that they were safe out of hearing distance, the polite smile dropped off D's face and he wrinkled his brow. "Language, Detective!"

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Still, who does he think he is?! I can visit you whenever I want!"

D sighed half to himself as he hurried back into his bedroom. "Of course you can, Detective. But between 'being able to' and 'welcome to' is a great difference."

"You told me to come around," the blonde pointed out and followed close. D sighed again.

"Of course I did. But he could not know that. I do not tend to let my neighbours know when I expect visitors. Not that you have ever cared if you're invited or not," he added dryly and opened the door to the still half dark bedroom.

Leon, for a moment distracted, sent a questioning glance around. "What's the matter? Why's it still dark in here?"

D put a finger to his lips and carefully walked over to the cradle, bending over it and looking at the sleeping child with worry. "Is she still sick?" the blonde whispered, and D heard worry in his voice, too.

"Not really sick, but also not really well," he answered as quietly and straightened again. "When I got up, she still had temperature, and she didn't wake at half past six as usual. I think we should let her rest while we have breakfast."

Leon nodded and they returned to the front room. Now he seemed to remember what D had also said. "What do you mean, I don't care if I'm invited or not? You never said I should leave!" he protested. D raised an eyebrow and the blonde snorted. "You cannot tell me you minded me hanging around. If you'd really minded, you'd've made me leave for real instead of inviting me to tea. That's not something one does with someone he wants to get rid off."

The crease between D's elegant brows was now nearly as deep as a canyon. "I was being polite, Detective!" he snapped. "You were supposed to thank me and go your way. It's called good behaviour, but as I had to learn, you are incapable of employing it."

Leon's temper flared, not surprisingly. "Well, excuse me! I'm just a dumb human, American to top it, and I'm afraid I didn't learn that shit in school!" he gave back hotly.

D glared. "I do really not know why I moved back again. Dana should not be subjected to such manners."

It was interesting, how much fire could be in ocean-blue eyes. "Well, perhaps 'cause I'm her friggin' father? You can't have minded me so much if you made me her dad."

This was dangerous territory. D didn't want to go there, not yet, not now, when he had to worry about a thousand other things. Like his sick child, for example, or about how to introduce Dana to the people. It was not going to be easy. He had disappeared almost three years ago, and while most people in Chinatown knew or at least guessed what he was, there was no good explanation of how and why he had come back. With a child. A child that looked suspiciously like the detective he'd always been fighting with back then. He couldn't keep Dana a secret like she'd been in Japan. Not with Leon around. He would want to show his daughter to his friends, at least to Jill, and surely to Chris, and treat her like a normal child. Which was fine with D. Only that Dana was no normal child.

When the expected repartee didn't come, Leon looked at the kami and saw him biting his lip in worry. Oh shit. He didn't want to start a discussion about Dana's education right away. He wanted them to get settled down before they discussed those matters. Perhaps if they'd been getting along for some time, D wouldn't think of leaving at once when they had different opinions about how Dana should be raised. And they certainly would have different opinions about that. Very different. Chris had been a good clue in that aspect. Really, thinking about that, Leon wondered why D had even conceded to coming back and letting him see his child every day. It would've been much more like the kami to permit only occasional visits, with sincere promises about his behaviour, if even that.

Looking around for a clue what to do now, he caught sight of the bakery box he'd picked up this morning before coming here. The woman had been surprised to see him again after such a long time, but she remembered Leon. No big surprise there. He'd been to that bakery almost every day in two years. Well, she certainly knew the Count was back by now, too. Wonder how quickly news will spread.

"Wanna get breakfast now or what? I don't have all day to get to work, you know," he said gruffly and placed the box on the small wooden table. Pon-chan uncurled on the sofa and hopped onto the table to sniff it.

"Doughnuts!" she cried in delight. D's angry face dissolved, but the worry stayed.

"If you manage to behave yourself, we might get breakfast," he sniffed, but the sharp edge was gone. Leon smiled and sat down on his usual spot. It felt good. Even better than it had in Japan. D was home again. They could work on the details later.

"Go on, get your tea," he said. T-chan appeared in the door and decided to sit down next to the blonde, eyeing the box with blatant greed. D muttered, but went into the kitchen and clattered with dishes there. The totetsu yawned widely.

"So, Leon, have you told Chris already?" he asked casually, edging closer to the bakery box.

Leon shook his head. "Not yet. Wanted to wait until D's back again, so he can at least see his niece," he said and tried to suppress the sudden uneven rhythm his heart was beating. Truth was, he hadn't yet summed up enough courage to tell his brother what had happened. He didn't know how to explain, and one thing was for sure, his aunt and uncle were guaranteed to freak out when they heard about Dana. And he would have to tell them. It just wouldn't do if Chris came for a visit and returned home, telling them happily about Dana, when they didn't even have a clue Leon had a child on his own.

Of course the fact that they were kinda suspicious towards D wouldn't make this any easier. For a split second the blonde wondered if D would have kept Dana if he had known how many problems would arise with her birth.

D returned and Leon, feeling that if this was going to be a permanent arrangement, he should perhaps actually do something, opened the bakery box, thus snatching it out of reach of T-chan, who looked disappointed. Both his master and the blonde had been distracted enough that he could have succeeded in robbing the box. But now Leon sat the doughnuts on a plate and placed them on the table. The sheep-tiger sidled away and sulked.

Uncomfortable silence stretched while D poured the tea and they started to eat. The animals lost their interest in the food and stared between them, waiting for one to start talking. It was, not surprisingly, Leon who spoke first.

"So, uh, I guess that Cheng guy doesn't know about Dana yet, does he? I mean, he kinda would've reacted different if he knew, wouldn't he?"

D shook his head. "I have not yet told anyone about my child," he said stiffly.

Leon played with his cup. "Yeah, guess it's kinda hard to explain," he murmured, not daring to look at D. The kami was glad for that, for otherwise Leon would've seen the blush that crept up his cheeks.

"It will certainly be difficult to explain if anyone asks," he conceded.

"If?"

D sipped his tea. "Chinese people know how to behave, Detective. If I do not tell them whose child Dana is, other than mine, they will not ask. Of course I will have to tell them she is my daughter," he added, sounding as if he'd rather prefer not telling them anything at all.

"It'll be kinda hard to disguise she's mine as well," the blonde pointed out. "Not that I can't understand you don't want to tell them you – uh, you got my child, but I mean, one look at her eyes and everybody knows what's up."

He risked a glance at D, sitting stiffly in his chair, hands clasped in his lap. "I still would prefer you not walking around and telling anybody she is your child," he said, voice holding a warning. Leon sighed.

"God, D, you think I wanna attract any attention? I mean, it's been three years since you left, but still, someone might think about questioning you about that incident with your father."

D's face got alarmed and he hastened to calm him. "No reason to panic, though. FBI wasn't too unhappy to loose that Howell guy, it turned out. He was kind of a maniac. And everybody in the precinct's pretty crazy about you anyway. Jill wanted to drop by yesterday once I said you're back, but I told her she should show up someday else when you've settled in again. And it's not like you're mentioned in the records anyway."

He blushed. "I – kind of skipped that you were there at all. You wouldn't believe how easy that was. The only one who knows you were there is Jill. I told her you had nothing to do with what your father did, that you tried to stop him, and she said it was okay if I left you out."

The kami bowed his head. "Very considerate of you, Detective."

Leon tried, but couldn't discern any mockery in his voice. So instead he blushed more and muttered, "Yeah, welcome."

He sent a glance at D. "Doesn't happen to have anything to do with your magical thingy, I guess," he said dryly and coaxed a smile out of D.

"I do believe it has not, Detective," he answered softly. "Perhaps it simply is the fact she never was as suspicious of me as you were."

Another talk Leon didn't want to have right now. Alright, so he got that it was kind of D's raison d'être to avenge extinct creatures on humanity. But did he really have to kill them? And what about Dana? Killing and hating humans didn't really go hand-in-hand with getting pregnant by a human.

But that discussion would have to wait, like a lot of other things. For now he just wanted to wait and see. And hope that D didn't decide to leave again in a week, this time without providing Honlon with an opportunity to sneak their hiding place to Leon.

So he got up and stretched, glancing at the clock. "It's ten minutes behind, Detective," D said without even looking there. Leon rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I got you're special, you don't have to rub it in my face," he brawled, simply to ease the sudden tension, the weight of all the things unsaid between them. "And Jill's not gonna be any happier if I turn up even ten minutes later than usual. Look after Dana, will ya?"

D glared. "Of course I will!" he snapped.

"Okay. I'll drop by this afternoon if I can manage." Leon didn't let himself be impressed by D. Not anymore. He patted Pon-chan's head and strode out. "See ya later, D," he called back. The kami pressed his lips together in dismay and cleared away the breakfast table, turning his thoughts forcefully from Leon to the day ahead of him.

Now what would be the best way to let the population of Chinatown know he now had a child?

"You've got visitors," Jill said once he stepped inside their cubicle and pointed to the room in which they could talk to strangers, suspects and everybody else they didn't want to have at their working place. "And I wish you much luck with them," she added, grimacing.

"Why? Who's it?" Leon asked and hung up his jacket. His colleague chuckled a little.

"Laura Miller's parents and Gavin McGallen. And it seems her father is quite able to forget 'love your neighbour' if it comes to Gavin. Not that I couldn't understand him fully well."

The blonde tweaked one eye and looked at her face. "Do I want to ask why you're saying that?" he asked.

Jill shook her head. "No, you don't. Just go and see for yourself. And I'd advise you to talk to her parents first, because after you talked to Gavin, you'll feel like killing someone."

"Great," Leon mumbled and strode to the room. "Morning," he said to the three people sitting in there, quickly sizing them up. He already knew Laura's parents, he'd had to tell them about their daughter's death. But his attention was drawn by the young man slumping in one of the chairs. Not only that he was smoking right under a sign that said 'Please do not smoke in here', he was dressed as if he'd spent the night on a park bench. Only that his clothes had been carefully prepared to look like that.

Leon didn't like people like that. If one wanted ripped jeans, they should wear them until they were well and truly ripped. Where was the point in buying artificially ripped clothes?

"Man, first you tell me to turn up at half past eight and then you arrive at ten to ten? Do you have any idea how early I had to get up because of you?!"

Leon's brow wrinkled. He took a quick step and snatched the cigarette from Gavin's hand. Okay, so what if he smoked himself? He didn't do it where it was forbidden.

Well, okay, thinking about it, D had never liked him smoking in the shop, either, but that was something different. And Leon had stopped smoking in the shop. He never smoked around Dana.

"First of all, I didn't tell you to turn up at half past eight, that was one of my colleagues and it's none of your business if I am late because of work. You're in police headquarters, and if you have to wait for the officer you have to talk to, you just do it," he scowled at the young man who wanted to protest, but Leon had already turned his back to him and was walking over to Laura's parents.

"Mrs Miller, Mr Miller, please follow me," he said quietly. They nodded and stood, the father sending a last fiendish glance at Gavin, who slumped back and pouted like a small child. Leon rolled his eyes and decided to make sure Gavin would have to be here until at least midday.

"I am very sorry for your loss," he said to the couple and motioned for them to sit in two chairs in front of his desk. They nodded and Laura's father cleared his throat.

"Thank you, Detective Orcot. She was – not close to us anymore, but she still was our child," he said quietly.

"I understand. Could you tell me please anything you know about the life of your daughter?" Leon took paper and pencil and started to write down what they told him. It was nothing out of the ordinary, and they didn't seem to know much more about Laura's life. One thing was pretty clear, though, and that was that neither had approved of Laura dating Gavin. Leon almost felt sorry for the guy. It wasn't easy if the parents of your lover didn't accept you.

Like Q-chan.

The blonde shook his head and shushed that thought away. D and he were not lovers. They just had a kid together. One night didn't make you lovers. Only – sexual partners during a one-night-stand?

Now that sounded really weird. Leon stopped thinking about that, walked Laura's parents out and fetched Gavin from the room. The guy shuffled after him, not even caring to raise his feet high enough to walk. The blonde moaned inwardly.

"Okay, have a seat. I'm sorry for your loss," he told him, remembering he had to say it (order of the chief, who had gotten complaints, though not only because of Leon).

Gavin yawned widely and pried his eyes open wide enough to take in the room. "Man, this is so boring," he commented. "The guys in CSI have much better stuff."

"When did you see Laura last?" the blonde gritted through his teeth, trying not to comment that if people like Gavin, who got a lot of money pushed up their asses by their parents, would get only half of it and give the rest to the city, their offices would be better equipped, too.

Now the guy scratched his head, having some difficulties because of the felted hair growing there. Leon didn't like that kind of music, but he had a certain respect for people with dreadlocks. Though this officially were the worst-kept dreadlocks he'd ever seen and thus not able to enhance respect. "Dunno. Guess it was three or four days ago. We had a little disagreement." He grinned. "Seems I couldn't do her often enough for her taste, but hey, what am I, a sex machine?"

Leon, knowing that Jill was probably right outside the cubicle listening and waiting until she could come back, took a deep breath and firmly talked himself out off simply killing Gavin. "So you quarrelled with Laura when you saw her last?" he asked.

Gavin shrugged. "Man, I can't really remember if that was the last time I saw her! Perhaps I met her in some club the day after, in Arcades or Vamps or one of them." He grinned again, proudly this time. "Haven't been sober for a few days, think I've lost quite some time."

The blonde detective glared coolly. "So perhaps you went to Laura's apartment that evening, hid in her closet and shot her when she came home? Because she had annoyed you?"

Gavin wrinkled his nose. "No, dude, course not. I can remember that evening. I think I was in that casino on the Boulevard. Man, that's fun! You should try it some time, would help you relax. Dude, are you all so stiff? Your girlfriend, man, the one who told me to come and wait in that room, she was all like that, too. You should fuck her more often, will help keep her hormones in check."

"Detective Freshney is not my girlfriend," Leon gritted through his teeth and wished for once to have T-chan here. Perhaps the totetsu could be a help in teaching that boy some lesson. And Leon would bet anything he'd be delighted to get a good bite out of this one.

Leon slammed the door shut behind himself and hit his desk. "Why are we not allowed to shoot idiots?" he fumed angrily.

His colleague looked up from her report and started to laugh. "Told you you'd want to kill someone after talking to Gavin. He really is a little sweetheart, ain't he?"

Leon glared at her. "Didn't think I'd ever say it, but even D can't hold a candle to him where superior assholeness is concerned."

Jill laughed even louder. "You should tell him one day, bet he'll be happy to hear that," she teased and swivelled her chair around to face him. "Anyway, anything new?"

The blonde sighed and shook his head. "Nope, not really. Laura went to a lot of clubs, did some high-society-drugs and spent a lot of money on looking good for Gavin. Not that he appreciated it. However silly the girl might have been, no woman in her right mind should hook up with such a guy. I can't decide if he just acts dumb or if he's naturally an idiot and the drugs he's taking are actually enhancing his intelligence. Really, no one can be such a fucking dumbass without trying!"

"Hear, hear," the woman sang. "Anyway, it's nearly midday. Whaddya think, let's go grab a bite to eat and stop by the pet shop? I haven't forgotten about that."

Leon suddenly looked guilty. "Uh, Jill, don't kill me, please, but I don't think that's a good idea," he said carefully. "You see, Dana's ill at the moment. Dunno if she'll even be up for visitors today."

Jill's grey eyes went wide and worried. "She's ill? Seriously?"

Leon hurried to soothe her, though he felt a pang. "D says she'll be fine. Just a little overstrained, a little temperature, you know. Small children get sick pretty quickly. He says she'll be fine in no time again."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good!" Then a thought occurred to her and she swivelled around in her chair to face him completely. "Say, Leon, have you already talked to Chris?" she asked and he flinched. Seemed as if everybody was intent on reminding him of his kid brother today.

"Nope. Not yet." Seeing her glare, he held up his hands defensively. "Hey, hello! Think for once, Jill! I told him I found D, and that was that. He doesn't know anything else. He doesn't know he's back in America, he doesn't know that D's got a kid. And he for sure doesn't know that kid's his niece. How am I supposed to tell that to a nine-year-old?"

"You didn't tell him the Count's back in America?" Jill asked surprised and Leon shrugged.

"I called him when I came back from Japan. That was before I was sure D would stick to his promise and come back for real. I didn't want to get his hopes up."

And probably didn't want to be disappointed yourself.

The blonde woman looked at her colleague pityingly. "Well, but you can just call him and tell him that, can't you? I'm sure he'll understand. Say you wanted it to be a surprise. Doesn't he have holidays soon? You could tell him you wanted to wait until the Count has settled in again so he could come visit and meet Dana."

Leon snorted. "It's not Chris I'm really worried about. I mean, he takes everything quite cool, no matter what. He'll probably only be happy that D and I stopped fighting. It's my aunt and uncle I'm worried about. They didn't like D at all, and hell knows what they're gonna say about my having a kid with the guy."

He leaned back in his chair and stared into the air pensively. "I don't know how to tell them that. 'Hey Aunt Mary, listen, can Chris come visit in his holidays? Because it turns out I got D pregnant before he left and now I want Chris to meet my daughter. Yeah, D's the one Chris stayed with in that pet shop, and yeah, he's a guy. At least, he's partly a guy.' I'm sure she'll love hearing that. Not to mention what Uncle Arthur will say."

Jill giggled. "Your uncle's name is Arthur?" she asked and grinned broadly.

Leon grinned, too. "Yeah, but problem is, he's every bit as stiff as the name suggests. He doesn't like D at all. He doesn't even really like me. If it was for him, I'd have become some stockbroker or something like that."

"Can't really picture you doing that stuff," Jill remarked dryly and returned to her computer screen. "So you still want to wait until you call them?"

The blonde nodded and glanced at the clock. "At least until I know D's gonna stay for sure," he murmured. "Until we've sorted out this whole mess a little. And then we'll see. I'll just make something up. Perhaps I'm going to tell them D's a cross-dresser. Or he was raped and doesn't want to be a woman anymore. Just some story."

His colleague looked suspicious, but decided not to comment anymore. "If you feel like you need help making one up, gimme a call," she said and looked at the clock, too. "Where're you going? Pet Shop? Why am I even asking?"

Leon shrugged and grinned. "Dunno, you tell me. Just wanna make sure Dana's okay. I'll be back after lunch break. If something happens, call me on my cell."

"Sure. Say hi from me," Jill called after him when he left the room and strode out of the precinct, waving to some other colleagues in passing. They watched him stride out and exchanged curious glances. That special expression on Leon's face usually meant he was leaving for a certain pet shop in Chinatown. But they hadn't seen it in two years. What was he up to now…?

Leon was unaware of the suspicions his colleagues had. He stopped in front of a bakery and considered bringing another treat for the Count, but thought better of it. He'd already brought the doughnuts this morning. No need to spoil D. He'd rather spoil Dana anyway, but he knew what D would have to say about him bringing her chocolate. No need to upset him either.

So he just made his way into Chinatown, nodding occasionally when familiar faces turned to look at him. He did know a lot of the guys by now, and he registered with some unease that they were regarding him in turn with strange looks, though of course he got the usual polite smiles and bows. Leon wrinkled his brow and tried to discern if the news had already spread so much. But then surely someone would have talked to him about Dana, would they not?

When he arrived at the pet shop and jumped down the stairs, he got aware that a lot of voices were floating outside. And they weren't the voices of the pets. He knew how they sounded. Those were the voices of humans. Was D throwing a party in there?!

He opened the door and was immediately greeted by Pon-chan flinging herself at his legs, as well as four heads turning around on the sofa and chairs. Leon stopped, confused.

"The whole neighbourhood has come by to say hello!" Pon-chan cried at his leg with dismay in her voice.

"Oh," the blonde said intelligently, "Hi. Hope I'm not interrupting."

"Why, never, Mister Detective!" a woman twittered and smiled at him, glaring daggers at the same time. "How nice of you to pay a welcome-back-visit to the dear Count as well!"

"Yeah," Leon said and scooped up the raccoon, on whose face was written what she thought about the niceties.

"They keep coming and going since hours! We haven't had any break since half past eleven!"

To Leon's relief, the curtain to the kitchen was drawn back that moment and D appeared, a polite smile on his face and Dana on his arm. Leon noticed at once how uncomfortable his daughter felt. She had buried her head in her father's shoulder and was glancing at the visitors with frightened blue eyes. The blonde felt a surge of anger both at the people and D. How could he let them gawk at their daughter when she was ill?!

"Hi D," he said shortly and considered going over, but then remembered what the kami had asked of him. Well. So no hugging his kid while those guys were hanging around. Damn them.

The smile on D's face wavered a little, but then got brighter at his sight. "Welcome, Detective. Have a seat, please. We were just about to have some tea. Would you like some, too?"

"Yeah, thanks," Leon answered and sat down on a chair left to the sofa because his usual seat was taken up by a young Chinese woman with huge dark intimidated eyes and a hot body and an elderly woman, assumedly her mother, who shared her great eyes, but not her slender figure. Two other chairs were taken up by a shrivelled old man who looked like a librarian and another man in his early thirties with sharp piercing eyes.

"Mrs Shao and her daughter Lin, Mr Fa, Chinatown's expert concerning Chinese antiques and this here to my right is Mr Chen, one of Chinatown's businessmen," D introduced them politely. Leon silently translated 'businessman' to 'member of the triad'. "I believe you all know Detective Orcot."

They nodded and smiled at Leon. "Oh yes, we all know the detective is kind enough to pay you visits, Count," Mrs Shao said and even Leon noticed the disapproval in her voice. Was hard not to notice it, considering her voice was dripping with it.

D only smiled softly and sat down on his chair, in which none of the visitors had dared to sit as Leon noticed. Dana stayed perched in his lap, but perked up at Leon's sight. She smiled shyly at him and Leon winked at her. "Hello Dana," he said and looked at D's face to see if that had been okay. The kami smiled and bowed his head.

"Oh, Count, your daughter really is a little beauty, isn't she?" Mrs Shao said and questioningly looked at the girl over the rim of her teacup. Leon felt clumsy beside all these people who seemed to know exactly what to say and how to behave. He desperately wished he could take Dana and vanish into the back of the shop with her. Perhaps they could visit Honlon. He hadn't seen his elder daughter since Tokyo.

D bowed his head again, fake smile firmly in place. "Thank you, Mrs Shao. I rather enjoy her looks, too."

"Such beautiful eyes she has, doesn't she, Lin?" the woman continued and sent a sharp glance at Leon. The blonde quickly looked down, not wanting her to get a good look at his own eyes for comparison. "But otherwise she resembles you greatly."

"Yes, she really is a lucky girl to have inherited your looks, Count. Such beauty isn't often found," the 'businessman' cut in and sent a false smile in D's direction. Leon saw hunger in his eyes and shifted uncomfortably. He didn't like it at all. But D could protect himself, that much was sure. Only Dana…

As if on clue, the girl tugged the sleeve of D's cheongsam. Leon noticed that he had changed his attire again and was now wearing a green cheongsam with white roses printed on it. The sleeves were thin white silk, so thin Leon could almost see D's slender white arms through it. His heart suddenly leapt.

D bent down to listen to what Dana was saying, and his face grew solemn. "I do not know if the detective would want that, Dana," he said and sent him a warning glance. Leon wavered between pretending to be horrified and using his chance to get at least some time with his kid. He quickly decided on the latter, visitors or not.

"What does she want?" he asked gruffly. D's mismatched eyes blazed with warning for a second, but then he plastered an apologetic expression on his face.

"I am afraid she is quite fascinated by your hair, Mr Detective," he said formally. "She has not yet seen blonde Caucasians."

"Was your stay in China pleasant, Count?" Mrs Shao cut in, obviously irked that the blonde got so much attention from both the Count and his daughter.

D turned his head to her, still smiling pleasantly. "Yes, it was quite pleasant. The land has changed, of course, but it is still beautiful."

"Wouldn't you rather raise your child in China?" Mr Fa said with a thin voice. "It is, after all, her native land and not as polluted as America."

Leon glared and was about to say something, but again Dana captured everyone's attention. She tugged at one of the cords securing D's collar and nearly choked her father. She was pouting.

"Leon!" she claimed loudly. D's cheeks flushed and he sent an apologetic glance at the blonde.

"Mr Detective, I am sorry. You should not have told her to call you by your first name…"

Said snorted. "Yeah, but 'Mr Detective' is kinda hard to pronounce for a kid this small. I don't mind her using my first name," he said stiffly. D smiled at him. As far as Leon could tell, they were playing their roles quite well. The other visitors were anyway intent on drawing the Count's attention away from Leon.

Dana, in contrast, was very intent on letting exactly that not happen. Again she tugged at the cord, but this time, D was quick enough to avoid being strangled by his child. "Dana, stop that!" he scolded her.

Her chin set stubbornly. "Leon!"

D gave a theatrical sigh. "Mr Detective, would you mind taking Dana for a moment? It seems she wants to take a closer look at you," he said warily.

Leon hesitated long enough for the others to notice, though he triumphed inside. "We-ell, I could perhaps…" he stretched. D stood, glided over and sat the girl down on his knees. Leon placed his hands awkwardly around her as if he not knowing what to do with a child this small. Tetsu, hidden under the sofa, snorted with laughter, as did Pon-chan, who was sitting on the back of Leon's chair. The Chinese people regarded him sourly.

D returned to his chair and poured everyone a second cup of tea. "China may be her native land, but she will have to deal with people from various countries in her life. America offers much more difference in population," he answered Mr Fa as if there'd been no interruption, but kept an eye on Leon. "I will take her there when she is older."

"I do hope the education of your daughter doesn't take up too much time. It would be a shame if you would have to give up your business for her favour," Mr Chen said and looked around appreciatively.

That was Mrs Shao's cue. "Lin would be more than happy to watch her if you have got no time, Count," she chirped and nudged her daughter. "Wouldn't you, Lin?"

The girl bowed her head and shyly smiled at her knees. "I would like to help," she whispered at them and blushed. D smiled politely while Leon tried not to look horrified at the thought of his daughter anywhere near Mrs Shao.

"So not gonna happen!" Pon-chan announced from behind Leon's head. Dana yawned and he tightened his grip on her, not wanting her to fall down. Then he remembered he was supposed not to know much about small children.

"If I need help, I will remember your gracious offer," D assured the women and caught Leon's eyes. "I think Dana is tired. I should lay her to rest," he said, dismissal in his voice. Everyone heard it, and the following wave of disappointment was tangible. It was clear they had hoped to coax more out of the kami. Leon could barely suppress a smile, though he was bursting with fury. He already had so few time. Now he hadn't even been able to spend it with his daughter, due to social niceties. He sure hoped D would find some way to make them regret intruding on family time. Though he had to admit they didn't even know that they'd been intruding on family time.

"Well, we shall of course leave you to your chores then, Count," Mr Fa said with his thin voice while D floated over and scooped Dana up. "We do hope you will stay in Chinatown longer than last time."

The others chimed in with good wishes, offers of help and support and repeated expressions of gratitude that D had come back. He took it all smiling politely with Dana on his arm. Leon was the last to leave the shop, but he chose his words carefully, aware that they still were on the steps and probably listening intently to what he was saying. Polite they might be, but curious they were also.

"So, you're done settling in again?" he asked. D smiled brightly at him and moved so he was standing in the shadow of the door. Hidden from sight, he stepped closer to Leon and Dana wrapped her arms around his neck. The anger ebbed. Leon kissed her on the forehead while D spoke.

"Why, yes, I am almost done, Detective. If you do have time this evening, I might need some help with one of the cupboards. It is terribly heavy and almost seems to have a will on its own. I won't succeed in placing it in the right place without help."

Leon raised his eyebrow at the comparison of their daughter with a heavy cupboard and D blushed a bit. "You want someone to do the heavy lifting, ask one of your friends, not me. I'm not your slave," he replied curtly.

"Of course not, Mr Detective," D murmured politely, eyes sparkling mischievously. They emerged from the shadows into view again. Leon turned, placing the suspicious expression that usually went with one of his encounters with the kami on his face.

"Don't try to talk me into helping you. It's no use."

He mounted the stairs, all-too-conscious that D was watching his back and the four visitors were standing at the top of the stairs, pretending to chat and watching him as well. He felt like some kind of target, and it made his shoulders hunch a little. But well, if he looked uncomfortable, it would at least raise no suspicion. Uncomfortable was a feeling that went quite well with D, too.

Dana, down at the bottom of the stairs on D's hip, started to cry once he reached the top. Leon's shoulders hunched even more. He turned and waved at her, plastering a grin on his face that felt wrong. But he couldn't go down and soothe her, what D was desperately trying to do right now. His lunch break was over, and what would people think if he jumped down and took the girl from D? He was aware that their gazes were burning on him. He probably should walk away calmly, not showing he was affected by the child's cries, to stop suspicions.

Still, he hurried to leave Chinatown behind, sensing the glances and stares he was earning, and wondering how long D would want to hold up the masquerade. It seemed unnecessary to him, and besides, not really practicable. The blonde would bet anything that at least one of the four people in there had gotten the right idea about Dana anyway.

A/N: Please, can anybody tell me why you are so sure Leon and D will get together? 'Cause I never said that's gonna happen... You may hope for it, but don't count on it. After all, they've got some severe issues to discuss if that relationship is supposed to work...
Unfortunately for them, it depends on my writing skills if they are going to make it or not. You should really pity those poor bastards. ;-P

Okay, I'll stop trying to create more suspense. Hope you liked the second chapter, too ;-) And again, for more information about my stories and myself, please have a look at my profile. If I should not make regular updates, you'll find the explanation there. And also some comments on my work, for anyone who might be interested in that.

Last but not least, thank you for the reviews! :-)

So long, Enaty