Hey, guys! Happy New Year! I don't really know why, but I feel really enthusiastic with this trial fic. I already have 2 advance chapters saved, and I'm itching to post them as well. It's really, really difficult to stock up some chapters... I really like to show it to you.

I am really, very pleased that so many of you followed and favorite-d this fic! So happy~! And I'm most thankful who took the effort to make a review! I pm-ed some of you guys for it coz I'm so happppppppeeeeeeyyyyy!

So, that said, I'm going to post an earlier chapter to see how will you like the progression of this fic!

Warning: Grammar errors, punctuation errors, misspellings... are almost common occurrences in this fic. I'm really sorry for my poor English.

Disclaimer: Meh...

Chapter 3

August 03, 10:01, District Mall

The shopping mall usually opened at ten o'clock in the morning. Early shoppers tended to wait in the front entrance and their fair number had begun to amass in long lines as they waited for the doors to open. Perhaps in those lines, those who were time-strict noticed how the mall executives were already a minute late in making the huge structure operational, a complaint which maybe was more or less made fun at by some others who waited with them. Seriously, as long as it would not take much longer, a minute or two would not hurt.

Some seconds after, a jet-black Cadillac sedan pulled over near the mall entrance, attracting some attention from the line of people. The car was impressive, sure enough, but the people in lines were already made aware that some important people would be coming in the mall for some convention, so as stated by huge banners that hung by the walls of the shopping center. Most of the people ignored the car's arrival, since a lot more cars soon followed its arrival. Even some taxis began to bring in some shoppers to the wide mall patio. To some who still had their eyes at the sedan, they soon noticed a man who took off from the back seat.

A man wearing a lightly-made, black-colored trench coat stood at his full height, looking at the people who stood by the mall entrance. Before he made his step, he looked back at the sedan and then closed the car's door behind him. Then, as if choreographed, a large number of people – a big portion of them also boarded off from cars or cabs – marched over the mall's piazza at the announcement over the PA system that the mall was finally opened for the day.

The same man, sporting his long, black hair that already reached his chin, had moved in together with wave of people towards the mall. But then, just after he started to walk down the same path, his body suddenly convulsed and then fell down the ground. It only took a minute before the people around him ran in frenzied terror. Those who were in the lines also broke off, scuttling over the stampede of individuals that started in a flicker. Nobody dared to approach the body that collapsed, all except the driver of the sedan.

The driver, in a semi-formal garb topped with a newsy cap, flailed opened the car's door and hurried towards the other one's location. He quickly placed his hand over the man's wrist and nervously appeared to take his pulse. It took him at least ten seconds to identify the vital sign. He quickly pulled out his phone and immediately keyed in some numbers. The conversation over the line was short. The call was ended with the driver still staring at his wristwatch. It was 10:02 in the morning that time. He dropped his attention back to his previous passenger, carefully placing him in an uncomfortable but less taxing supine position.

Five minutes passed. An ambulance stopped short by the sedan, a small troop of paramedics blasting off as soon as the rear doors opened hastily. A single paramedic approached the driver, while the others took over the downed man's care. There appeared to be an exchange of words between the driver and the paramedic. As soon as the man was loaded into the ambulance, the paramedic bowed at the driver and entered the vehicle as well. The driver also took the opportunity to return to the sedan. As if a prompt, the sedan began to follow the ambulance as soon as it took off.

Kagami yelled an ear-popping cry when he was sent into the world of pain in that instant. He felt that the back of his head stung as if bitten by a trio of bees, as he looked at the source of the agony. Massaging his head, he found out that it was because of a neatly folded stack of paper held by no other than Seirin Detective Agency's General Manager, Riko Aida. He only flinched in fear when Kagami saw her bore eyes against his body. Dubbed 'monster' or not, Kagami cringed at the sight of his own body being drilled by that freaky gaze.

"You are sleeping, Bakagami!" She shouted at him, although she prevented herself from hitting the red-haired detective once again. She was furious, Kagami well understood that, but it wasn't supposed to be the rightful reason why she needed to hit him that hard. "Are you not taking this seriously?!"

"Coach, I was just dozing off, that's all," Kagami defended himself.

"What are you, a kid?" Hyūga quickly interjected. "You're too old for afternoon naps, Kagami." The man added, giving him a derisive smile.

Kagami was silent about being teased again, but he couldn't send a retort without probably receiving a quick counter hit from the still-fuming Riko beside him. He just looked at his Hyūga-senpai with grumpy frown, before turning his attention at the projected movie file over the white wall of the office. The screen had long turned into the blue background, signifying the end of the video clip the coach had put up earlier.

"Plus," Kagami continued, "I've seen the video a lot of times." He made a garbled comment as additional protest against the poor treatment towards him.

"That's not a reason for you to sleep here!" The coach yelled out on him again. "We are doing this kind of review so that we'll have the chance to talk among ourselves the case we are trying to solve." She said, successful in modulating her voice. She'd had enough of yelling for the day.

"I agree with Kagami, coach." Koganei spoke after he raised his hand. "I've seen this video many times as well. Seeing it again, I can't piece in Itsuki's theory on how that hitman was able to hit Reo Mibuchi in front of him." He shot a gaze towards his friend. "No offense, Itsuki."

"None taken," Izuki responded. After seeing the footage again as well, even Izuki felt a doubt immediately clouding his own idea. What was more confusing was that he got that 'being-shot-at-point-black' correct. Apparently, the two pieces of evidences were contradicting each other, something that made the whole crime-solving more difficult.

"The ballistic exam clearly shows that he was shot in very short distance." Riko Aida placed her hand under her chin. "But the footage tells us that not even one person approached him directly." She sent a confused gaze at the projector, thinking hard of the impracticality between the two evidences.

"Why not try the name phantom hitman?" Kagami blurted out, attracting the attention of everyone inside the room. Their eyes only conveyed a disbelieving stare against the red-haired detective, something that did not even faze Kagami. He gave them the impression that he was dead-serious in presenting the idea of the said hitman in their conference. For Kagami, it was time to draw out the options from something inexplicable.

"We all know you are intrigued with the phantom hitman, Kagami," Hyūga spoke to him. "But now is not the time to assume that kind of idea." He told him, indirectly rebuking him.

"But, Captain, I'm not an idiot to ignore that the evidences tell us different things," Kagami rose. "The phantom hitman is the only link that can complete the circle of questions." He induced to them. "Someone unseen yet able to gun a man down,"

There was silence after that. Koganei, Izuki and Mitobe, with the last one ever so silent, kept their words to themselves, as they pushed their gazes towards Hyūga. They were not going to speak of it themselves, for fear of spilling something unnecessary, which could prompt Kagami to even get a wilder thought about it. Hyūga quickly identified that he was being used as a scapegoat again – he was not going to let them go away with it – but the pressing issue was Kagami's insistence and near-obsession to his own theory.

Just as he took a stride forward as further appeal to his own supposition, Kagami felt that he had bumped at something in front of him. He brought his head down to look and was very surprised that he gave an indignant yelp in response. Everyone else in the detective agency looked startlingly at the appearance of Seirin's guest in their very office. After he recuperated from that sudden surprise, Kagami quickly placed his large hands atop the man who caused him to be terrified and pressed on hard. "Kuroko, you teme!"

"D-Domo," Kuroko greeted, clearly discomforted with Kagami's hand trying to crush his skull. He tried to remove the extremity from his head by literally shaking it off, but Kagami's annoyance became glue that stuck his hand there.

"Since when you are here, Kuroko-kun?" The coach asked him.

"I am here since ten minutes ago, coach." Kuroko answered. "I was in my room and I noticed that everyone is very silent. So I went out to see what is happening." He explained. "I apologize for my unnecessary intrusion in your working times." He politely said his sorry to the senpais in the main office.

"T-That's fine, Kuroko," Hyūga said, silently thankful that Kuroko had mediated in on another possible heated argument with Kagami. "No harm done." He added, as he placed a thoughtful back at Kuroko. Riko Aida did say Kuroko Tetsuya was once part of the famed Generation of Mercenaries, making him, by association, a really competent detective. However, he hadn't had the chance to see him to some investigations of his own, since Kuroko's current status complicated almost everything.

Kuroko seemed to have noticed Hyūga's stare and settled his orbs to the older one. Hyūga was not surprised with the eye contact. He had a lingering curiosity inside him. It told him to do something unorthodox, not just for his own satisfaction but for something more remarkable. Kuroko was left to their care, sure, but that didn't mean they'd left him on his own. Hyūga Junpei just exactly knew what should be done next.

"Kuroko," Hyūga called him out, still noticing Kagami's hand preventing the shorter one's movement. "You've seen the footage, right?" He received a nod. "Well, as a fellow detective, I want to hear out your insights."

Everyone was startled to hear the agency's chief detective turn his attention to the man with the almost unnoticeable presence, especially Kagami. They'd let Kuroko stay with them for weeks already and, as like Hyūga's earlier thought, everyone was also enticed with the idea on how Kuroko actually did his works, on how he processed things. Kagami finally removed his hand from the teal-haired Kuroko and focused his attention on him.

"I am not part of the investigation," Kuroko quickly voiced out his thoughts, quite unsure about the invitation. "I do not think it's courteous for me to share my notions of the case."

"Just think of it as detective asking an advice from his fellow," Hyūga soothed down his concerns, partly amazed and partly annoyed that Kuroko was being too well-mannered towards them. They weren't that old to be treated like that! "This is the first time you've seen the footage, right?"

"Hai," Kuroko responded. "I also heard the unease from Coach Riko, about the conflicting evidences." He told them. He looked down at the floor for a moment, before he fixed his stare at Hyūga. "The only conclusion I can give about this is that those two events happened at different but consecutive times." He shared. "It doesn't have to occur at the same instance."

"W-What?!" Kagami blurted out, apparently because of uncertainty. "That's even more impossible!" He yelled out. "It's obvious that he was shot at that time!"

"The disadvantages of using a CCTV recording are that it's only a visual copy of what happened, besides from the quality being reduced to save some memory space." Kuroko reasoned. "If I'm correct, that is given to us by Kaijō Police Department." He asked, both Riko and Hyūga nodding at him. "The police department has enhanced the clarity of the video. The pixelated segments are cleaned out in this copy. But, even so, the video remains without an audio because the video camera lacks any microphone."

"Even if manufacturers put some," Izuki spoke at that one, "it will be pointless, since CCTV cameras are placed faraway to be noticed easily. There is no simple microphone that can pick up audio meters away." He explained.

"Hai, senpai." Kuroko agreed. "The only thing we can assume is that a possible gunshot was actually heard in the scene." He pointed out.

"I see," Izuki quickly remarked. "So that proves that Reo Mibuchi was indeed shot face-to-face."

"Why is that?" Kagami asked.

"The attacker has no need to create a noise if he is snipes a target from a long distance." It was Hyūga who answered behind Kagami. "You should understand that a snipe hit is a sure-kill." He just added. "This makes the whole stampede a little more logical, since gunfire in the middle of the crowd sure sets off a feeling of panic, rather than a sound made from afar." He returned his gaze back at Kuroko. "But you haven't explained yet why you say that the two evidences were created in two different times."

Kuroko was silent at first. He shot off that impassive gaze towards Hyūga, in an almost fixated degree. "Captain, I don't want to impose, but do you have any blood exam as to the type of neurotoxin that was used against the victim?" He fired his concern. Hyūga was visibly caught off guard with the question, since the only response he created was when he made a furrowed look. "Let us ask the police to make a blood exam for the traces of the paralysis dart that has been used against the victims," Kuroko suggested, quickly understanding Hyūga's lack of verbal response.

At the same instant, something clicked inside the head of Hyūga Junpei. "I understand," from the stunned expression he had, Hyūga's countenance turned into a delighted one, showing much eagerness at the hint he just received from Kuroko. He paced towards the nearest desk, ripped off a clean sheet of paper and jutted down some notes in it.

"Koganei-kun," Coach Riko called out the detective's attention. "Do what Kuroko-kun said," she ordered him, which Koganei quickly followed. She approached Kuroko, a smile plastered in her face. "I totally knew you do hide something under that pokerfaced look of yours, Kuroko-kun." She winked at him.

"But Kuroko hasn't told us his theory yet," it was Kagami who butted in.

"There is no need for that, not this time." Coach Riko responded, pulling Hyūga to her woktable. "I'm assembling emergency teams to work on something." She flicked Hyūga on his forehead when the chief detective directed his attention on something else. Clearly, even the senpai had ideas that sparked inside his head upon hearing Kuroko's inputs.

"Hyūga-kun and Izuki-kun will pair up again." Riko loudly announced, drowning Hyūga's comment of being coupled again with the lame comedian. "Koganei-kun, Mitobe-kun and I will wait here for the results of the test we are going to request." She craned her neck over the two. "However, I don't know if I can easily pull off with the other pair," she hummed.

"If that is what I'm thinking right now, I think we can easily explain the situation to Chief Kasamatsu," Hyūga commented.

"All right then," she said with a smirk. "Kagami-kun, you are going to partner Kuroko-kun for some tasks." She finally announced. The red-haired detective almost tumbled from his spot upon hearing the words.

"Coach Riko seems to understand what is going on with my head," Kuroko remarked, sounding oddly pleased with the development. "However, I don't think I am allowed to do work right now." He added.

"Koganei-kun has a lot of ways to find loopholes," Coach Riko just assured Kuroko.

Kagami was only wide-eyed with the current situation. Even though he wanted to complain, the sudden shift of events had left him speechless. He only gave Kuroko a crushed look, to which the other one replied with his trademark deadpan expression.

Kagami swore under his breath as he walked down the road with Kuroko. With a defeated glare, he brought his wristwatch at chest-level, gazing at it as if he wanted to melt it alone with his stare. It registered 17:55 in his little time-telling device – a quarter before six. He lazily dropped his hands after he was satisfied knowing what time it was, seething an inaudible whimper that he wished the shorter man did not notice. Using only his pupils, he scanned at the light-blue haired man, noticing how every bit annoying Kuroko was.

And what the hell was that? He complained mentally. With Kuroko's eccentric input for the case, he was able to coax both the captain and the coach to pair up with him for work. They understood how worked up Kagami was with Kuroko, right? They knew that, right? After all, ever since he arrived at Seirin, Kagami had said nothing else but on how he felt eerie just being with Kuroko. For heaven's sakes, he constantly branded Kuroko outright with great disapproval! Didn't they recognize how strongly he opposed with the idea just giving free reigns towards Kuroko?

He inhaled a large volume of air as if he just gave a long speech. Sure, he only ranted on his head, but that didn't mean it was effortless. Unconsciously, he fisted his right hand and, coupled with his already frightening countenance, Kagami was a sure-set individual ready to take on the warpath. In that way, he made himself a people repellant, since everyone who walked alongside their route quickly stepped back and gave him way. The red-haired detective did not notice this, however, because he was busy simmering some foul words under his closed lips.

And then all his senses turned towards a particular part of his body. The only realization that something had hit him was when a focused jab tore through him, sending ripples of shock throughout his body. He placed his hands over his sides automatically; a defensive mechanism ingrained as human instinct, and sent a murderous glare at the person who did this to him. "Kuroko, you b-bastard," he hissed, wincing in pain.

Kuroko only gave a regarding look, as he pulled down his hand from the mini-attack he did. He himself thought that it wasn't so painful, so he did not mind if he did it to someone else. Plus, Kagami was practically glaring at everything, from the pedestrians down to the innocent ornamental flower that adorned the sidewalk. Seriously, he could have been considered a 'rabid-dog-in-the-loose' if he kept on glowering at the environment. Appearing as if nothing happened, Kuroko continued to walk on forward.

"Where did that come from?!" Kagami added, as he followed Kuroko, still in pain.

"Kagami-kun, you look scary." Kuroko only answered, not even bothering to look at his companion.

"I do not look scary!" Kagami yelled in reply.

"I know that a detective work is a serious job, but you should not let it mush on your face too much." Kuroko defended himself. "Please do not take everything seriously, Kagami-kun."

Kagami looked incredulously at the shorter one. And you're a hypocrite, he commented in his head. 'Do not take things seriously', says the man who does not even change his expression! My ass, Kagami retored, but he did so in his mind again. It was already apparent that mental responses would not even convey his annoyance towards Kuroko. He placed his palms all over his face. Something is really wrong with me, I just know it.

"Kagami-kun, do you understand why are we going to that place?" Kuroko suddenly asked, surprising Kagami again.

"What now? Do you take me as an idiot?" He asked angrily.

"You do make the impression," Kuroko said, in the bluntest way possible. He was also able to sidestep a futile and laughable attempt to kick him in his shin.

Kagami really felt annoyed. Well, not really because he tried to attack Kuroko in a hilarious manner and missed, but the other one was just so good at getting on his nerves. He was not sure if it was entirely because of his suspicion against Kuroko, but then again the ever-stoic, teal-haired, definitely shorter individual had some talents in infuriating people to their limits. Setting that aside, however, Kagami could not miss out the chance to taunt Kuroko with the ploy he brought out.

"So what?" Kagami blurted out. "I'm not falling into your schemes, Kuroko." He sent a menacing glare against the other, although Kuroko did not even see it, since he paced on several steps ahead from Kagami. "Call me what you want, but I'm seeing this through."

"What is, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked, not looking back. He trod on. "Please, do not become so vague." He added.

"Did you really think you can fool everyone else by offering them the explanation of how the crime was committed?" Kagami aggressively remarked, finally halting in his steps. Determined now to face Kuroko, the red-haired detective finally decided to indirectly challenge the other one. "Do you think you can feign your innocence by trying to uncover the mystery you are supposed to hide?" He gave a hostile snicker. "But of course knowing that, you can easily clear out your connection with it by offering to us your blameless suppositions."

Kuroko had stopped walking as well. As he turned to face Kagami, Kuroko sent an ominous scowl against the detective. Although calm as he looked like, Kuroko had a fair share of his own aggravations and, that time, it was almost enough to make him alter his flawless straight expression. "Kagami-kun, you have seen and got acquainted with me months ago. Until now, you still believe that I am a criminal on the loose." Kuroko stated his sentiments, although his sour look remained flaunted.

"I'm a detective, you bastard." Kagami responded, not attracted with Kuroko's justification. "I don't like the idea, but this job needs me to think like a criminal." He said to him. "I don't need your shitty excuses to see what you want to happen." He raised an accusing finger to Kuroko. "You're selling out your knowledge of the crime. People can easily be tricked into believing that the person who exposed the crime is the least predisposed to have done it!"

"What makes a person a criminal, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko sent an unexpected question, quieting Kagami down immediately.

"Heh, I don't need to answer that,"

"You are a detective, Kagami-kun. Do not prove me otherwise."

Kagami stared at him harder. "They do bad stuff." He answered. "They pester the life of other people."

"Then why are you different from criminals, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko posed.

"I am never like those c––"

"You told me you need to think like a criminal, Kagami-kun." The teal-hair strongly reminded. "If both think alike, then what separates a detective from a criminal?" He added, instantly crushing Kagami into silence. "Criminals do wicked things. Criminals do hamper the life of other individuals, but how can you say that a person is a criminal? Kagami-kun, please do tell that I am wrong when I say that a criminal is only a criminal when he is caught in a crime." Kuroko challenged, seemingly stunning Kagami. "As long as your assumptions are baseless, you cannot simply accuse someone, Kagami-kun. Anyone is innocent until proven guilty."

Surprisingly, Kuroko began to approach Kagami, stopping only when he was a step away from him. "However, I think what separates a criminal from a detective is decisiveness." Kuroko raised both of his hands in front of Kagami. "If you think I am a criminal, then cuff my hands like a criminal. If you have a strong belief that I have part in any of this, then bring me to detention." Even though his orbs were almost lifeless when he spoke in such a straight face, Kuroko's straightforwardness only made his eyes appear a blanket of darkness ready to swallow in everything. His eyes' depth was more than amazing as they were unreadable. Kagami cringed, not entirely what caught him up.

"I only warn you, Kagami-kun. Even you are a detective, any unlawful things you do brand you a criminal. If you turn me in, but your accusations are baseless…" Kuroko droned in silence for some seconds, which made Kagami gulped. "…then shame on you."

That was the final string. Just as soon as Kagami gripped his right hand tighter into a fist, to the point that his skin almost made a crunching sound at the hard clutch, he sent it flying towards Kuroko's face. Kagami's fist and Kuroko's left cheek connected, resulting into a pounding sound that reverberated in such intensity. The teal-haired man was sent into a wobbly gait, stepping back as he felt his balance faltered from the force of the hit. Even before he felt he'd soon fall on his back, a pair of hands held him by his shoulders, steadying him up.

Kuroko ignored the pain that pulsed through his face, as he glanced to his side to see the person who helped him. Barely seeing the face of the man since he could only turn his head so much, Kuroko still felt a wave of comfort washed over him since he saw a flash of green.

"It was made clear to me that Kuroko was placed under protected custody." A voice, both deep and resolute-sounding, spoke out. "Has its meaning changed ever since I became an investigator?"

"No, Midorima-kun," Kuroko waned again, and he reluctantly leaned against the taller male, although he was silently thankful that the other one shifted to support his weight. Kuroko made an effort to stand by himself and was thankfully successful. "It's just a misunderstanding."

"It didn't appear to me that way." Midorima adjusted his glasses with his carefully bandaged left fingers as he sent a glare against Kagami. "One wrong step, I could have charged him of assault." In his right hand was a green fabric sewn wallet, designed to appear like a frog. "Oha-asa said this morning that this day is a good day for Cancers and I'm going to catch a criminal – a possible criminal, I can add." His sharp stare did not leave Kagami.

"Let us expect on that one, Midorima-kun." Kuroko sounded amused, even though his cheek seared out in pain.

Kuso! [angry growl] Damn that bastard! He's obviously messing around my head! [sighs]

[button clicks]

- End of Chapter -

I'm so sorry for Kuroko, being punched by Kagami like that (and I feel guilty for writing it T-T). I apologize, Kuroko.

What do you guys think? The team's found a trail to solve this crime!

Thank you so much for reading! I accept reviews! Haha! :P