Investigation forbidden
D had anticipated the knock at the door the whole day, but when it sounded through the shop Sunday afternoon, he still startled and stared at the door for a moment before he jumped up and hurried over to open. Leon stepped inside, carrying Dana who called for her kami father quite happily.
The young kami felt the relieved smile on his face without being able to stop it. He extended his arms and felt the weight of his child in them a moment later. Affectionately he kissed her. "Hello my darling. Did you have a nice weekend with your father?" he asked softly. She started to tell him of her adventures at once and he listened, smiling every now and then, and pressing her to his chest. Leon looked at them for a moment and then walked over to the sofa, where he made himself comfortable. Pon-chan crawled into his lap.
"How did it go?" she asked curiously. Leon grinned down at her.
"Good thing she's so pretty, else my neighbours would've made me move out," he replied and the raccoon chuckled.
"Everything went well, then?"
"Yeah, we did fine. We went sight-seeing, and played a lot, and read some books." A shadow darkened Leon's face. "But she had a nightmare Friday night. Dunno why."
"It cannot have frightened her much, else she would've told me," D's soft voice cut in. The blonde looked up and smiled. He seemed relaxed and happy, still the kami felt something else about the human. He had a curious air, almost like a lion on the hunt.
D bent down and poured Leon a cup of tea with Dana sitting on his hip. Leon chuckled. "That's some sort of artistic," he said, taking the cup. "How do you manage to bow without dropping her?"
Now D chuckled. "A lot of experience, Detective," he answered and sat the girl down on his chair. "Did you have lunch before you came here?"
"Nope." The blonde leaned back and continued to scratch Pon-chan, who was liquefying on his lap at the moment, her eyes closed in pure bliss.
"I think T-chan prepared something. Would you care to join us?"
"I hoped you'd say that." Leon grinned and winked at Dana. "I'm not that good at cooking, you know."
He laughed seeing D's baffled face. "Yes, I actually can cook, D. But there's not much sense in cooking for one alone, and besides, I don't have much time. If you want to cook something good, it takes time."
"I'm only gonna believe that when I see it," Tetsu announced from the door to the kitchen and Leon turned to look at him.
"Someday, I'm gonna show you. Now what's for eats, anyway?"
The totetsu snorted, but brought the food over all the same. "Rice with vegetables and my special sauce."
Leon regarded the plates warily. "No meat?" he asked, sounding hopeful. Tetsu grinned, showing his sharp teeth.
"Not unless you want to provide us with some meat," he answered slyly.
The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Why do I have the feeling that I don't want to ask what you mean by this?" he asked and D hastily interjected.
"Now, Tetsu, please. Not in front of Dana," he said and handed the girl a spoon. "And Detective, I asked him to prepare something Dana can eat herself without having to use fork and knife. That's the only reason why there's no meat in it."
Leon took his fork and watched his daughter for a moment, already busy with a spoon, small face tight with concentration. "What about you?" he asked. D shook his head.
"I am still a vegetarian, Detective. I would raise Dana to be one, but it's just the same as with Chris. She needs meat to grow properly."
The blonde grinned, hearing D's dismay at that fact, and dug in hungrily. "Well, perhaps we're gonna convince you one day. After all, you're practically surrounded by meat-eaters now."
D caught Tetsu's glance. "You have no idea, Detective," he said dryly. "You have no idea."
Dana was done long before Leon had satisfied his hunger, but that was mostly due to the fact that he kept watching her clumsy attempts at eating instead of eating himself, occasionally helping her. So when the girl slipped down from the chair and tugged Tetsu along with her to tell Honlon about her adventures, Leon stayed in the parlour and finished eating. Then he leaned back on the sofa, one hand still caressing the raccoon.
"How was your weekend, Detective?" D asked, setting the plates on the tea cart.
"I liked it," Leon replied. "It was fun to have her. And I think she liked it, too."
D's lips curved into a smile. He watched them fascinated. Something about D's smile had changed since Tokyo, too. It was different now than before.
"Yes, she seems to have enjoyed herself."
Quickly Leon forced himself to look into the kami's eyes again. "Yeah, but there's something I wanted to ask you…" he started hesitatingly.
D sat down his indispensable teacup. "Yes, Detective, what is it?"
The blue eyes avoided his gaze. The kami stiffened unwillingly. "You know, I just – started thinking while she was asleep. I mean, it's just – why did you get her in the first place?" Leon glanced at him unsure. D sat completely still. "It's just that – you could have aborted her, couldn't you?"
Pon-chan actually bit Leon. "Ouch! What did you do that for? Now don't start like Tetsu, I'm telling you!" he scolded her.
The raccoon glared at him. "How can you ask him such a question?" she cried. "The Count would never abort his child, not even when his grandfather wanted him to!"
Leon's eyes flickered back to D. "Yeah, I thought as much," he said dryly. "And that's exactly why I'm asking, Pon-chan. Because I want to know why he didn't do it."
Luckily the kami had had time to recover, thanks to Pon-chan's distraction. "I realised only when I had been pregnant for a few months, Detective. By that time, aborting the child was out of the question," he answered calmly. Something flickered over Leon's face, so quick and strange he couldn't tell what it was.
"How come you got pregnant in the first place?" he inquired further. "I mean – you surely thought about it being possible before you – did what you did."
D blushed and gazed at his knees. "Yes, I did. It was completely impossible, for all I know. I cannot explain it at all."
Leon grew impatient. This was like walking on moor. You never knew when there would be water under your feet instead of safe ground. More or less safe ground.
"D, c'mon, don't pretend you don't know what I wanna know," he snapped. "Why could I get you pregnant? How does that work? I know you're a hermaphrodite, but please remember that I don't remember anything of that night and don't know anything about your species either. So would you please enlighten me on the subject a little more?"
The young kami pursed his lips and blushed. "I do not think that's your business, Detective," he twittered displeased, but to everyone's surprise, it was Pon-chan who argued. She propped herself up on Leon's lap and stared at her master accusingly.
"Count, stop that! He's got a right to know at least why he is a father now," she cried. Leon grinned and ruffled her fur.
"Thanks, little lady. Just what I wanted to say, too." He turned his gaze back to D, who'd blushed even more at the reprimand from his pet. "So, D, spill the beans. Why?"
Another glare, but the kami answered reluctantly. "My species, Detective, isn't that different to humans in most respects. Otherwise we would not be able to procreate with them. It still is very difficult. That was one of the reasons why I did not expect to conceive." He stopped, glanced away and actually bit his lip.
"Yeah. And?" Leon urged. D shot him another glare.
"As we are both male and female, we do have a certain rhythm in which we are able to conceive," he revealed reluctantly. Leon understood.
"Just like human women have their monthlies, right?" he asked and D nodded.
"We do not bleed, though. It's more like, we just know that we are fertile. That our body is able to take or give a new life. Or even create a new life all by itself."
"And you didn't feel like you were hot," the blonde concluded. D forgot to be embarrassed and tried to kill Leon with looks.
"No, I didn't feel it," he replied icily.
"Huh."
The detective fell silent, gazing at the shop's ceiling while scratching Pon-chan's ear. The raccoon almost melted on the spot. D sent her a bitter glare, one part jealousy and the other anger she'd forced him to reveal one of his secrets.
"But that still doesn't answer my question," Leon said into the silence. Some of the pets smirked, having anticipated he would remember that. D wrinkled his brow. He'd hoped the human would've forgotten.
"Why did you keep her? Why did you not kill her, or why did your grandfather not kill her? Why did you not leave her on my doorstep like you wanted to?"
D took a deep breath. "Detective, I made a mistake. Dana, even though she is the result of this mistake, is still my child. I am sworn to protect life, every kind of life, even life conceived by a human, as is my grandfather. As to why I didn't leave her on your doorstep, surely you can answer that yourself."
He smirked at the blonde who narrowed his eyes. "You know that's not what I'm asking you," he said, voice quiet and threatening. D played with his cup and continued to smirk. It felt good, being in the superior position again for a change.
"I am answering your questions, Detective. If you wish to have more specific information, you have to ask me straight," he teased.
For one split second, something blazed in Leon's eyes and D suddenly feared he would voice his suspicion. But then the strange light disappeared again and the human stood. "I'm off," he announced. "Can't come this evening, have to work. You're going to have to bring the little missy to bed yourself."
"I think I will be able to handle that," D replied dryly and smiled brightly at him. "Goodbye, Detective."
Most of the time, he hated the fact that Leon was not able to talk about his feelings. But today, he truly considered himself lucky. What should he have answered had Leon really asked him if Dana had been conceived in an act of love?
The park was again buzzing with humans when they made their way to D's favourite place two days later. The young kami pretended not to notice the glances he got, carrying Dana on his arms and followed by Leon with Pon-chan sitting on his shoulder. Tetsu was ahead of them, growling and making sure no one dared to come close. D was quite thankful for that.
Again Leon spent some time explaining different things to his child while D prepared blanket and food. Dana was restless, she wanted to explore further, and so she quickly took off with Pon-chan after eating. Leon leaned back on the blanket and blinked into the setting sun. The young kami busied himself with packing the picnic basket again.
"So you didn't want her, but you kept her all the same."
D sighed softly. Why had he hoped the subject was closed? He should've known Leon better.
"I was surprised, Detective. But apart from the admittedly strange situation I found myself in, there was no reason to get rid of Dana," he said and stopped putting things back into the basket to look around for the subject of their conversation, which, as it happened, was busy chasing Pon-chan around.
Leon sighed, too, and it sounded kind of exasperated. "D. If you wanted to get a kid –"
"I did not want to get a child. In fact, it was as far from my intention as anything can possibly be," the kami cut him off.
"Fine, then," the blonde snapped back. "But you can't deny that what you did was something that can result in a baby if you aren't careful. What you weren't."
"I do not intend to deny that."
The discussion was heating up. Leon had risen onto his elbows and D was leaning forward as if to jump at Leon's throat any second. Tetsu watched them worriedly. Tension between those two was not what anyone needed right now, but it had been brewing since they'd arrived in America. Not surprisingly, considering into what chaos they'd stumbled. Still… how did they suppose this to work out if they kept on having secrets?
"And I want to know why, damn it all! Why did you do it?" Leon's blue eyes were blazing, but D's mismatched ones contained just the same amount of fire.
"I already told you that I thought conceiving to be impossible!"
"That's not what I mean, and you know it! I'm sick of you evading me again! Why me?"
"What why you?"
"Why did you fuck me if you needed to? Hell, do I have to spell it for you or what?!"
"Don't you dare imply that I need sex!"
"Well if you don't need it then I gotta ask why you did it at all!"
The young kami was loosing control rapidly. His face was ghostly white and his fists trembled in rage. He looked like close to hitting the blonde, but Leon was on the edge himself. "Stop tip-toeing around and just tell me why the fuck you did it!"
"That's none of your business!"
"Well, I think it is, since I am the one who was practically raped here!"
Their voices were getting louder and louder. Dana stopped chasing Pon-chan and looked over at them confused. Tetsu thanked any god he could think of that they were in a hidden corner of the park and no one was listening to them at the moment. Had they lost their minds, yelling at each other here in the open?
He hurried over and tried to get in between. "Count, we're outside! Everyone can listen to you!" he cried, but Leon shoved him away rather uncaringly.
"Shut up, goat!" he snarled. "I've got a right to know at least why he did that!"
"You have the right to see your child, but not the right to ask me questions!" D gave back hotly. Tetsu watched Dana come over, blue eyes wide and scared.
"Not fight!" she cried in Chinese. "Daddy bàbà not fight!"
Her fathers didn't listen to her, so she crawled in between them and pushed at their chests with her small hands. "Not fight daddy!"
Perhaps she wouldn't have had any success, considering that her parents were so encased in their fury that they barely noticed her, but waving around wildly in an attempt to get their attention, the girl caught Leon's throat with one of her nails. The human yelped and jerked back.
"Dammit!" he cursed, touching his throat and glaring at the little one. She immediately started to cry.
"This is all your fault!" D hissed and tugged the child to him to embrace her protectively. "Ssh, be quiet, my darling," he soothed. "Be still, my beautiful, pretty baby. Poor dear, being treated so mean by your father."
"Not fight! Not fight bàbà daddy!" Dana sobbed. Leon extended his arms. D shook his head and pressed the girl to his chest.
"Dammit, D, she's my kid, too!"
"If you want to raise her properly, you should probably at first learn to control your temper!"
"That's the right one talking here! Who started this in the first place?"
"If you hadn't been drunk that evening, if you hadn't talked so strangely about me, nothing would ever have happened!"
"So it's my fault you raped me?!" Leon gaped at the kami, returning the look defiantly. "Well, I'd for sure like to know what I am supposed to have said that you thought you could take advantage!"
D blushed, but kept rocking his child and glaring. "You were the one who said you needed me. Not me."
"I never said that!" the blonde sputtered.
"Oh yes you did! And you said you liked me, and, and that you were angry because I had given Chris away when we three had been a family…"
Suddenly, all anger disappeared as if it had never been there. Leon stared at the young kami, who probably didn't even notice he was blinking angrily to keep the tears from falling. He looked so miserable. Poor D. Poor little D.
"Okay. You don't have to tell me," he said softly. "Gimme the kid. We'll go play, okay Dana?"
The child nodded and wriggled free from her kami father's grip to take Leon's big hand trustingly. They went away to explore. D, watching them play, bit his lip unconsciously. He knew what Leon wanted to know, and he wasn't willing to tell the detective any of it. This here was bad enough.
"D. What are you doing with my daughter?!"
Leon, just having arrived, stopped in the door and stared at the kami, who was grimly trying to hold his wriggling child still, brow drawn together threateningly.
"I am, Detective, trying to clip her nails!" he snapped, changed to Chinese and scolded Dana. The girl's face contorted and she started to wail in protest. The blonde dropped the bakery box, strode over and snatched her up, much to D's dismay.
"Detective!" he practically yelled. "Dana's nails need to be clipped!"
"Yeah, I know, I was the one she scratched yesterday," Leon gave back and rocked his daughter. "Ssh, sweetie, stop crying. Bàbà's not trying to hurt you, he's just clipping your nails. They are too long, you gave me a big scratch yesterday, remember? Cool down."
"Dana don't want scratch," the girl sniffed. Leon rocked her more.
"Yeah, I know, I'm not angry, Dana. What about you stay on my lap and D clips your nails, huh? I could read you a book."
She brightened at once. "Book! Little bear and his friends!"
Blue eyes met mismatched ones, smiling at each other weakly for a moment, then realised what they were doing and quickly wandered off. They were not aware that a lot of other eyes were watching them closely. They only noticed the sudden silence.
D blushed, Leon cleared his throat and looked around for Dana's book. "Sweetie, where is it?"
"I will fetch it," the young kami volunteered, stood and unnecessarily smoothed out his cheongsam with feeble hands before he went and brought the book from Dana's corner. Leon's eyes were riveted to his graceful form. Today's cheongsam was dark blue with beautiful white lilies printed on it. Again D had chosen to wear one of his white see-through shirts beneath, and the silk caressed his slender arms.
Hastily the blonde tore his gaze away and sat down on the sofa, letting Dana choose the most comfortable position for her. D followed a moment later, handing him the book. He was as uneasy as Leon, and the girl noticed. She stilled her movements and looked between them with great eyes, having forgotten what it was they were here for.
But her human father remembered. "Would you come closer? You're gonna twist her arm if you stay there while you clip her nails!" he said defiantly.
"I won't!" D snapped back, glad to be able to release the tension in this way. He didn't budge either. Leon grimaced and scooted closer. Suddenly their thighs were touching.
Before D could even think about taking a deep, surprised breath, the blonde had trusted the girl's hand at him. "Now start, otherwise the book's gonna be finished before you even started!" he grumbled. The kami adjusted the nail clipper.
"Well, then take more time reading. It's simple, you know. Ask her questions about what she sees," he answered and the human blushed.
"What?! No!"
"And how else is she going to learn more English if you aren't going to teach her?" the kami asked calmly. It got him a glare from Leon, but he gave in reluctantly.
"Hey, what's this on this picture there, honey? Do you know what it his?" he asked and his daughter pecked her head to the side and considered her answer.
"Xué," she answered and the blonde glared at D biting back a smile.
"Great, what am I going to say now? I don't even know if it's right!"
"She said 'cave'," Pon-chan enlightened him and crawled up on the sofa, too. Leon helped her absent-mindedly.
"Yeah, that's right, Dana, that's a – a xué," he said, feeling incredibly stupid. "But here in America, we call it cave."
"Cave," the girl replied dutifully. The blonde groaned.
"Great. I need an interpreter if I want to read a book to my child," he complained. It didn't faze D in the least. He changed to Leon's other side, working on the fingernails there now.
"So far, she seems to understand you pretty good. It's only you who doesn't understand her," he said and looked up to meet Leon's blue eyes. "Detective, so far Dana just wanted to hear your voice. Now it's up to you to teach her English so she can actually understand what you are telling her. She's a bright child. She will learn quickly."
For a moment, their eyes stayed locked. Then Dana tugged at Leon's sleeve and he returned to reading her the book while D resumed clipping her nails.
Dana would probably be far more able to adjust to the new situation than her fathers.
The whimpering sound besides his bed made D startle. He sat up in his bed and tried locate the small sound confused, still half asleep. His mind only slowly focused on the here and now, still being busy with the dream he'd had. Or better, the memory of a dream. He'd had that dream so often now, he was wondering how he could still be afraid of it. But he was, and the terror chilled his bones like every time.
So it took him a few seconds to realise the soft whimpers were coming from Dana's cradle. The young kami shot up like a lightning and bent over the cradle. The baby was still asleep, but she was crying in her sleep, and waving her arms around wildly. "Darling, what is it?" D gasped and nearly hurt her trying to get her out and into his arms as quickly as possible. "Dana, Dana, my baby, be quiet, ssh," he tried to soothe the child.
She pressed her eyes close as if in pain and clenched her fists. A high wail slowly made its way from her throat and she started to shriek. Panic rose within the young kami. He'd dealt with a lot of unexpected occurrences since Dana had been born. She'd grazed her knees, she'd fallen down, and she'd had nightmares. But never had he seen her so frightened, and it frightened him, too. The only time he'd felt panic remotely like this had been the birth, and he was pretty sure that the situation now didn't apply.
"Dana, wake up!" he urged the child and shook her gently. The door was opened and Tetsu came inside, golden eyes worried.
"What's the matter, Count?" he asked and looked at the baby. "Why is she crying?"
"I don't know," D answered and felt his heart race. "I don't know, Tetsu!"
Blue-golden eyes snapped open, wide with terror and fright. "DADDY!" she screamed. "DADDY!"
The young kami stared at the child. "Tetsu, get the phone," he said with white lips. "Call the precinct. And then give me the phone."
He pressed Dana tight against his chest and carried her around, trying to calm the child with no visible success. She wouldn't stop crying and calling for Leon.
"Here."
Tetsu handed the phone over. D's heart was beating double-time. The free line signal beeped into his ear. Then someone took up the receiver. "LAPD, Detective Freshney, what can I do for you?"
"Miss Jill!"
Jill sat up at her desk. "Count! What's the matter?"
Leon, opposite to her, looked up worriedly. The woman placed a finger over her lips. "Yes, he's here, right in front of me. No, nothing."
A short pause.
"To me he looks fine. Tired, but fine and in one piece. Yes, I'll hand you over."
Leon grabbed the phone. "D, what's the matter? Are you okay?"
He heard the child cry before D's sweet voice floated through the receiver. "What's the matter with Dana?"
"She's crying for you, Detective. I don't know what the matter is. I think she had a nightmare. Can you – can you come?"
"Crying for me?" Leon exchanged an astounded glance with Jill. He could feel that D was off-track. His voice was shaky. He could hear it. "Yeah, course I can come. No problem. Jill, I can go over, can't I?"
The woman glanced at the clock and nodded. "Go and take care of your baby," she said. Leon smiled at her.
"I'll be there in a minute, D," he said into the receiver.
"Yes," the kami answered. "Thank you."
Leon stared at the receiver for a moment before he returned it to Jill and left, hands buried deep in his pockets.
T-chan opened the door for him. "Hey, baby," Leon whispered and took the child from D's arms, pressing her close. She buried her fists in his pullover and continued sobbing. He looked at the kami. D was pale and seemed shaken. "She said anything?"
A slight shake of head. Leon sighed and rocked the girl. "C'mon, darling, it can't be that bad. It was just a nightmare. Cool down."
He started walking around in the front room. Dana's cries slowly died down. Her fists loosened. Finally her head dropped onto Leon's shoulder. He still kept walking around the parlour until he was sure the child was fast asleep again. Then he carried her back to her cradle and tucked the covers around her. D had followed him and now stood besides him, looking at the baby, too.
"I'd really like to know what she dreamt," the blonde whispered into the silence. D gave no answer. He glanced at the kami. "She cried for me, you said? Or why did you call me at the precinct?"
D sighed softly. "I wanted to make sure she'd not had a true dream," he replied quietly.
The blonde shuffled. "A true dream?"
"Yes." The kami turned and left the bedroom. Leon followed, noticing that D was only wearing a sweet, light blue pyjama. He was cute. So cute he could have taken him into his arms and…
"True dreams are what Mrs Miller had, too. A kind of foreboding."
D didn't say more about it and Leon didn't inquire further. But he wondered if D had intended to let him know he'd been worried for his well-being or if it had just slipped by accident, due to worry and fatigue.
And he also wondered what that meant for him and their relationship to each other.
A/N: Everyone's wondering that, Leon dear... (aren't we, Angie? ^^ You're absolutely right: is he or is he not, that's the question.)
Anyway, thank you all for the reviews and especially thank you, bc! And I very much doubt Leon would put up Disney posters on his walls o.O He'd probably be more scared than Dana xD