Three days later the whole office turned around as they heard Kurogane's voice rising from inside of his boss's room.
"That's freaking absurd!" the man shouted, banging his fist on the table, "of course he did it! He was hiding in the fucking cellar with the victim's blood all over his damn face!"
His boss looked back calmly and perfectly confident as she blew out the smoke from her pipe (the non-smoking sign at the door didn't seem to affect her at all), and put it down at the tea tray in front of her.
"For the first, Kurogane, I'm not really sure if two drops counts as 'all over his damn face' and for the second, you know just as well as me that it still wouldn't be enough evidence even if it did. If he had killed him he would probably have blood not just over his face, right? He would have had it on his clothes, on his hands…"
"He threw the clothes away, and washed his hands…"
Yuuko sighed and leaned back in hair chair, lazily twirling a lock of her hair between her fingers.
"In the state he was in as you bought him in?"
The man had been a mess, both physically and psychically, suffering from dehydration and malnourishment and acting seriously neurotic. Before any questionings could be made he had to be taken to the hospital where at least the bodily condition could be tent to. And even after that it had been difficult to get any rational answers from him. Either he was an idiot or a genius, but he dodged each and every question with swift replies and soft smiles, driving not only Kurogane but almost all the officers crazy.
His identity had been checked and confirmed, but apart from his name and birth date, there were no personal information about him at all; he didn't have any work, or home, or family. He didn't even seem to have been attending any school, ever… It was almost as if he had disappeared straight after his birth and not been involved in the social system at all until now. Fay D. Flowright, born in northern Scandinavia by unknown parents, had by all means been living a life as mysterious as a military confidential file.
Still there were no actual evidences. Even if Kurogane had searched trough the cellars twice he could neither find the murder weapon nor the source of the faint blood smell he'd felt short before finding Fay.
"He might have been less shocked at first," Kurogane muttered, "hell, Yuuko, even you have to say that this guy's clearly suspicious!"
The raven haired woman shrugged and smiled smugly.
"Everyone is clearly suspicious, Kurogane-kun," she said, "for something…"
Kurogane clenched his teeth, this woman was even worse to talk to than that senseless suspect.
"But he is clearly suspicious for committing one of the nastiest murders I have ever seen!"
Already as he saw the smile taking form at his boss's lips, he considered turning and walking away, but since he didn't want to give her the satisfaction in seeing him flee, he didn't.
"So, Ku-ro-ga-ne-kun," she said cheerfully, "since we still have to let him go today, why don't you offer him a room? He doesn't have anywhere to stay and you have a nice, big apartment. Then you can keep him close and see though that he doesn't do anything stupid and if it's like you think and he is the murderer, you will have a much better chance to gain information from him than in a controlled interview."
Kurogane stared at her as if he had never seen her before.
"You want me to keep a psychotic killer in my apartment!?"
Yuuko leaned forward, rested her head on her hand and look up at him with laughter in her eyes.
"My, my, Kurogane are you scared of him?"
He gave her an annoyed glare.
"Of course I'm not! Besides, why should he agree with it, if he killed him, he probably wants to get away from here as quickly as possible…"
Yuuko clasped her hands together delightfully.
"Perfect theory!" she said, "then his respond will be your first hint!
"This has to be against the rules," Kurogane stated, "against every fucki'n rule about police work ever made!"
"We-ell," Yuuko smirked, "I'll look away, just this time!"
Kurogane stormed out of the room, it was really no use trying to talk with that woman when she had gotten an idea on her mind. He almost knocked down her secretary on the way out and gained a glare that almost made him explode again but the decided that the poor boy didn't deserve more when he already had to pass up on that witch.
"Tell her that I'll try," he said instead, "damn if I know why, but I'll try!"
He wasn't sure if Watanuki had heard the discussion trough the wall, which was quite thin, but he didn't ask and Kurogane really didn't want to explain either.
If anyone else had been about to ask they quickly retreated as they saw his grim expression, letting him pick up bag and jacket from his desk before heading for the foyer undisturbed.
It had already been half an hour since the suspect had been released and Kurogane partly, or even more than partly, hoped that he had already left. But as he reached the foyer the first thing he saw was the thin, blond man sitting on a bench, almost as he was waiting for someone, looking lost and pale in the too big clothes one of the younger polices had given him as his own had been pretty torn up. Apparently the man didn't have any money either.
Perfect, Kurogane thought for himself, I have just agreed on taking care of a broke, psychotic and probably dangerous stray cat.
As he approached, two sky blue eyes were turned towards him, unsure and shy, maybe even scared. Maybe he believed that Kurogane should make a last desperate try to treat, or even beat, the truth out of him?
Kurogane twitched a little, how could such a false bastard look so perfectly innocent?
"Hey, you," he began, still trying to figure out what the hell he should say; "you don't have anywhere to go now, do you?"
Fay looked taken aback as he smiled briefly at him, a well practiced smile Kurogane could tell, it made him look like a doll with a painted smile and cold glass eyes.
"I guess not," he said, "why do you ask, Kurogane-san?"
Of course he knew his name by now, Kurogane had been doing most of the questioning after all.
"Well," the black haired man frowned a little, "you can stay by me… if you want to. Until you find somewhere else to go, I mean…"
The doll mask fell of for a short second as Fay looked genuinely surprised and then the annoying smile was back again.
"I really didn't believe you to be that sort of person who lets others, especially not suspicious others, invade on your personal space, Kurogane-san."
Maybe the man wasn't an idiot then, which left genius. And which out of them he had preferred he actually didn't knew.
"Don't pretend that you know me," he said shortly, "and I just don't like the thought of having someone like you running around at the streets, that's all…"
"Of course," Fay said, with only the softest little irony, before he suddenly stood, "let's go then!"
This time it was Kurogane's turn to be taken aback.
"So you accept?"
"Well," Fay looked back at him, intrigued, "as you said yourself, I don't have anywhere to go…"
Still puzzled, Kurogane followed the other out through the door leading to the car park.
"Do you trust me?" he asked, "what if I was going to take the law in my own hands, shoot you as soon as we got out of hearing and dump you in the nearest alley?"
Fay still only smiled at him.
"It might as good as anything else… Do you trust me?"
Kurogane snorted.
"Of course not, not the slightest. I think you're the falsest damn bastard I've ever met and a bloody murderer too…"
The blond raised an eyebrow.
"And you still offer me a place to live? What if I kill you in your sleep?"
Kurogane smiled non-humorous.
"Well, it might be as good as anything else."
"I see," Fay looked himself around, "do you have a car, Kuro-chan?"
Kurogane almost stumbled at his own feet.
"My name," he snarled, "is Kurogane and yes, I do, it's the black Mercedes next to the shed."
"Nice car," Fay decided, his eyes glistering as he peeked back at the other, "I think it suits you…"
Kurogane held back a poisonous reply as he stepped into his car and opened up the door to the passenger seat. Fay looked just as lost inside the big, expensive car as he had done in the police office's lobby.
"We will have to get you some clothes," he remarked as they drove out at the street.
"Ah, Kuro-chan, you don't need to worry about such," Fay looked out at the street where a brief rain just began to fall.
"I don't 'worry'," Kurogane settled, "but you don't have any money at all, do you? And I'm pretty sure my clothes won't suit you very good... I'll have you pay back as soon as you get a job, get it?"
"If you say so," Fay sounded uncertain.
Kurogane glanced over at him.
"Hey… Can you cook?"
The slender man looked up.
"I believe so," he said, "I used to be good at it anyway…"
"Good, then you will cook as long as you stay with me; I'm tired of take outs."
He gained a bright smile in response.
"Of course, Kuro-sama, I'll cook for you as long as you let me stay…"
"Not tonight, though," Kurogane drove up in front of Chinese Take Out restaurant, "it's too late to be picky."
He opened the door and stepped out in the rain, looking back at Fay with the same grim expression as he used to silent his colleagues earlier.
"Stay where you are, I'll be right back!" He said before he shutting the door with a bang, ignoring the bad effect it would have on the car's enamel.
First then, between the car and the restaurant door, with the rain slowly falling down on him, he began to wonder if he had just done the biggest mistake of his life…