Drip.

In an empty men's room, a discarded black suitcase sat alone against the sink. The florescent lights above dimmed and fizzled, creating the illusion that the surface of the wall mirror rippled, as if something had just penetrated the reflective membrane.

Drip.

A week after the new year, snow dusted the relatively quiet Inaba streets, slowing the foot traffic around Junes to a lethargic trickle. This suited Yu just fine; with less people about, Nanako was happy to dance along the sidewalk next to him, trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue. "Big Bro! I got one!" Her laugh was warm, muffled slightly by the thick woolen scarf Kanji had taught her how to make, and the blanket of snow that settled around them.

"Nanako, do you know why it's so hard to catch snowflakes on your tongue?" Naoto walked up from behind them, smiling at the shake of younger girl's head. "Your tongue is much warmer than the air around it, and it makes the air around it move faster. So the flakes ride that warm current away from your tongue, making it harder to catch them."

Nanako's eyes went wide with awe. "That's why the snow never lands on Daddy, then! Even when we built snow-teddies in front of house, Daddy didn't get any snow on him. He's always so warm, the snow just avoids him." She giggled at the idea.

Naoto raised her eyebrows as she looked to her sempai. "That's… very possible, Nanako-chan…."

Yu nodded at Naoto's unspoken question. "We rarely need to turn on the kotatsu when he's home these days. Thankfully, he still keeps the heat on in the house."

"Hm, he must be feeling better, then. I did note he was back to keeping his jacket off at the station again. Pity, the junior detectives were starting to pick up his better attire habits."

Nanako had circled around back behind them, chatting away with Kanji, who'd finally caught up from behind. The young detective took the opportunity to speak more candidly. "I thought that you and and your uncle should know…. Someone from the Metropolitan Police HQ came by my apartment this morning to ask about Dojima-san. Wanted to know if I'd noticed anything odd about him lately, or if I'd noticed any different in his habits."

The look of alarm on her sempai's face mirrored how she'd felt when the officer had started rattling off the questions. "I brushed him off, of course, and asked if there was an inquiry going on. The man said it was merely a formality for Dojima's candidacy for promotion."

"Uncle has never even tried to take the exam…He's always said he'd never want to be chained to a desk."

The blue cap bobbed in agreement. "I can only assume either they were unaware of how well I know Dojima-san, or more worryingly, they wanted to raise my suspicions about their questioning. It was...disconcerting, to say the least. Particularly with many of the questions focused on Dojima-san's health. I told them he'd been slightly under the weather for a while, but after last week, he seemed quite fit for duty." Blue gloves tapped her chin as she sighed. "Sadly, I don't think I was the only one they've questioned."

Made sense; if they were going to be looking for information on his uncle, they wouldn't just stop with an underaged consulting detective. "But… why? Is this because of the prison incident?"

A hand fidgeted with the brim of cap. "I thought that myself, so I made some inquiries. The officer who came to me had offered a pseudonym, but I managed to track down his actual name through some… less than official routes. I was alarmed that it turned out to be a false name to begin with, but even worse that he's been on assignment from the Metropolitan Police Central HQ for the last three months. He's apparently been keeping an eye on Inaba, and Dojima-san, for this entire time. Naturally, given what's happened recently, I had concerns on what the man could be trying to find out."

"I'm still waiting to hear back from some more secure sources, but...as best I can tell, the officer reports directly to a section of internal affairs that officially doesn't exist, but is known as a 'career killer' among Metropolitan Police. It seems Dojima-san's concerns about them planning on forcing him into deskwork was not all that far off." A sigh hissed through Naoto's teeth, the warm air looking like the smoke from a cigarette.

"But...he passed the physical… Why are they still asking about his health?" Yu watched as Nanako, giggling, pretended to be a monster crushing the tiny snowmen Kanji had made.

"Again, I don't know yet. I'll keep looking into it." Naoto offered him a small smile. "Your uncle has more respect than I suspect he realizes. Anyone wishing to dig up secrets will have a hard time finding anyone willing to aid in such an endeavor."

The rest of the conversation was lost as Nanako lobbed a snowball past her 'big brother's' head. Kanji's aim, however, was a bit more on the mark, and his snowball sailed in a wide arc before it splattered across the dark blue jacket of the young detective. A low rumble shook them all briefly as they scrambled for ammo; probably a snow plow making its way through the Junes car park. A few more snowballs passed between them, as Nanako switched teams to help her big bro pelt the two younger teens. Finally they laughed at their soggy mess and made their way into the warmth of the store.

"Anything to report?"

"I spoke with Detective Shirogane this morning, sir, and as suspected, she saw through the questioning. She met with the subject's nephew shortly afterward."

"As expected. Any activity from the subject since last week's incident?"

"Nothing as flashy as the car destruction. There's been small incidents, but nothing that could conclusively linked to interference on the subject's part. He's keeping his head low. Should we pull back and simply keep up surveillance?"

"No, no need for that. It's better to keep the subject on his toes, and he'll be less likely to draw outside interest this way. The last thing we need to do is have the Kirijo group poking their noses in our case. I must say that this has become frighteningly interesting, and it'd be a shame to lose it to a group of outsiders."

"Understood, sir."

The afternoon was wonderfully slow inside the department store, with the girls trying to suggest ideas for Nanako to cook, and the boys desperately trying to keep her from actually trying them. Yosuke, despite being on the clock, was happy to show Junes' number one fan some of the 'secret' back areas around the store, while promising to send Teddie over later to say hi to her. Sometimes, Yu wasn't sure if Nanako preferred the store, or the people inside it that went out of their way to dote on the small girl.

"Big Bro, is there something wrong with Daddy?"

The question caught Yu off guard. "What?"

Blue snow boots kicked the empty air under her seat at the Junes Food Court. "You and all your friends keep talking about him being different, and you look worried when you were discussing him earlier. I know that you get a fever when you get sick….Is Daddy sick? Does he not want to tell me?"

Yu's brain scrambled for what to say from the various options that presented themselves. Should he tell her the truth? Does he explain her dad isn't sick, but brush off her concern? Or does he lie? "Nanako, does your dad act like he's sick to you?"

Her tiny mouth frowned. "No… he's like, the opposite of sick. He plays with me more often when he comes home, and he doesn't fall asleep in front of the tv as much anymore." She nibbled her lower lip. "But I know he doesn't tell me stuff 'cause he thinks I'm too little. I'm not little anymore! I'm big girl!"

Yu smiled at that. "Well, you are definitely a big girl, but your dad wants to keep you safe. You're very, very important to him."

A shy nod bobbed the not-quite-little girl's head. "But you'd tell me if something was wrong with Daddy, right?"

Oh, how he wish he didn't have to lie to her...even if in the technical sense, there wasn't anything 'wrong' with her father. "Of course I would. Anyways, I don't think your dad is sick. He doesn't sound sick to me."

"Don't worry, Nana-chan! Pops is suuuuper healthy! In fact, I'm downright bear-lous of him! Not only does he get the bear-y great honor of living with both Sensei AND Nana-chan, he's immune to the cold!" The blonde boy collapsed onto the food court bench next to her, a playful pout on his face.

Nanako, her fears momentarily forgotten, giggled at her friend's mock jealousy. "Teddie!"

"Oh, Sensei," Teddie looked up to the older boy, who had stood up, "before I forget, Yosuke said to stop by the electronics section right away."

He was barely two steps inside when the brunette was waving him over frantically. "Hey!"

A ball of worry sank into his stomach at the nervous look on his friend's face. Yosuke only looked like that when something was really wrong… he followed Yosuke's finger to the large displays that had been their entrance to the realm of Shadows for so long. Had something happened in the TV World? Slowly, it dawned on him that the TVs themselves weren't the issue, but what was on their screens: every TV in the department was playing a variation of the same newscast, breaking news blinking angrily from each. Behind the reporters was a vaguely familiar office building, engulfed in flames. Every few seconds, the footage looped back to the building, whole, only to become a fireball in one terrifying blast.

"Sorry, I would have run and gotten you as soon as it came on, but I knew Nanako was with you and Naoto said she'd make some calls to be sure, but…" Yosuke's voice drifted off.

Grey eyes widened in fear as he realized where he'd seen the building before, just before the newscaster confirmed his terror.

The Inaba Police Precinct.

"While we're still waiting for an official response, shortly after the upper floors of the Inaba Police Station were engulfed in an explosion, video surfaced online taking credit for the destruction. The man in the video matches the mugshots of Seitou Noburo, the escaped convict from the prison breakout in late November of last year. At the time we cannot confirm or deny that…"

"When did it happen?" The tremor in his voice betrayed how close he was to breaking apart.

"About 20 minutes ago, I think. One of the girls on their break saw it and turned on the tv out here….I'm...I'm sorry, partner. Naoto's said she'd call as soon as she had any news on her end… she and Kanji split to get to the scene as soon as they saw." Yosuke tried to think of what else to say. "Look, if anyone was going to come out of this alive, you know it's Dojima-san, right? Even before all the weird stuff that happened in the TV world, he didn't let anything stop him…"

Whatever Yu might have said was cut short by the angry buzzing of cell phone in his jacket pocket. The caller ID flashed: Restricted phone number. Trying desperately to keep his voice steady, he flipped it open. "H-hello?"

"Yu, I don't know if you've seen the news-"

His shoulders collapsed inward with relief at the gruff voice on the other end. "Uncle, thank goodness, we just saw the news broadcast here at Junes-"

His uncle muttered something unintelligible to someone in the background. It sounded a bit like a string of curses. "Damn. Did Nanako see anything?"

"No… she's in the food court with Teddie right now."

"Good. If you can, keep her from seeing it. I want you to get home as quickly as possible, lock all the doors and stay away from the windows. I don't want either of you taking unnecessary risks. Don't talk to any reporters; unfortunately, one of the idiots from the case last year recognized me and tried to rope me into making a statement, and there are enough slimeballs out that have no issue plastering innocent kids on the news. I'll be home as soon as I can."

Bile rose up the back of his throat. "Was...how bad is it?"

The sigh from the other end of the line told that it wasn't good. "It's…. Well, I'll tell you later. They collected everyone's phones at the moment. I call you when I can."

"Alright. Please, Uncle, take care of yourself. Uh… Naoto said someone from the city police questioned her this morning about you. I thought I should tell you, just in case."

"What? Goddamn, they aren't letting this drop, are they." There was sickening crunch on the other end, and Yu hoped that whatever his uncle was taking his anger out on, it wasn't too important. Or noticeable. "Maybe if they spent more time investigating the actual criminals instead of their own force they'd… nevermind. Thanks for telling me. I'll talk to you later, ok?"

The cell beeped in Yu's ear; his uncle had hung up. His questions about what was going on would have to wait.

The small kitchen was quiet save for the sound of boiling liquids and the occasional hiss of hot oil. "Do you think he'll be home soon, Big Bro?"

The spoon paused from its circular pattern. "I'm not sure, Nanako... I hope it's soon, but-"

His words paused at the sound of an engine and the garage gate closing.

Pork cutlets were abandoned as Nanako shot off her stool. She practically lunged at her father while he was still halfway in the doorway. "DADDY! I was so worried!" Small tears threatened to spill as she looked up into tired but familiar eyes. "Big Bro kept trying to not let me watch the news, but I knew something bad had happened so he had to tell me about the fire! It looked so scary, but I knew you were safe so I could handle it!" The stream of babble coming out of the girl paused to hug her father's waist. "Aaah, Daddy! Your pants are all torn up!"

Indeed, Dojima looked like he'd quite literally been through hell. Soot and ash dotted his face and arms like camouflage, and his hair looked half plastered with sweat. As Nanako had observed, half of his right pant leg was torn off, and his left had several tears, burnt edges and holes. The only thing that seemed intact was his shirt, but that was probably due to the fact that it definitely wasn't his to start off with. The crisp white shirt was at least two sizes too big, and probably had been lent to him by a colleague. Catching his uncle's tired eyes, Yu mouthed an apology.

"Nanako…" Dojima sank to one knee to better gather his little girl in his grasp. She grasped him tight, letting her father sweep her up with one arm. "Don't be mad at your cousin. I asked him not to show you, because I didn't want you to worry. I just wanted to keep you safe."

"Daddy, I'm a big girl, though! Stop treating me like a little kid!"

Dojima raised an eyebrow at his daughter's declaration. "Ah, so I should put you down, then?"

Nanako's ears turned pink as she buried her face in the collar of the borrowed shirt. "Ummm… no, that's ok. I don't have to be a big girl all the time, just yet…" Her father smiled at the admission, keeping her close as he pulled out the drinks for dinner, trying to wash the day from his mind.

Even the biggest of girls tire out from so much worry and excitement; shortly after dinner, Nanako was tucked into her futon, fast asleep for the night. Yu waited patiently, both eager and hesitant to know what had happened at the police station. He suspected the version of events coaxed out at dinner was highly edited for Nanako's sake.

Heavy footfalls on the stairs announced his uncle's return. The man looked more tired than he had in months. Wordlessly, the detective flipped the TV on.

"-The big story tonight is the apparent bombing of a the Yasoinaba Police Precinct earlier today. We know that currently there are two confirmed dead, and at least a dozen critically injured. The number would have been much higher, though, if not for the brave actions of a few courageous police officers who rushed back up the collapsing building to rescue survivors…"

Yu suspected who had led that charge back into the dangerous inferno. "Is that how you lost your shirt?"

The older man looked away from his nephew, his ears pink with embarrassment. "Ah, it was already a mess by that point. Part of the ceiling tried to flatten me into a pancake. Thankfully, my skull's a bit too thick to have that happen." He paused, trying to sort through the pieces of memory and emotion. "Did you ever get used it?"

Confusion must have been evident on his face, because his uncle sighed, before clarifying. "Being a hero, I mean. Knowing you were the only ones who could save all those people who were being targeted. Even when there were people like me, breathing down your neck…."

A soft smile creeped on Yu's face, even as he knew his uncle must be wracked with guilt, still, over his ignorance and suspicion last year. "I wasn't alone, really. I had friends I knew I could count on, and talk to when things got rough."

Dojima snorted at that, the worst of the self loathing forgotten at how cheesy his nephew occasionally sounded. "Sometimes I suspect of the two of us, you're the adult in this situation. What am going to do when you leave for college?"

Unlike his younger cousin, Yu was not so easily distracted from the topic at hand. If he let his uncle get off topic, he might never find out what happened. "Are you worried that someone saw you do something...extraordinary during the aftermath? Or did something else happen?"

The older man didn't answer at first, instead staring at his hands and the spot of soot he'd missed when washing up. Only when he realized that his nephew wouldn't let the matter drop did he relent. "I don't...I don't think anyone did. Guess I'll know soon enough. One of the junior detectives, Watanabe, the kid with the glasses at Adachi's old desk? I was discussing the updates on the latest canvas for Seitou with him, when...everything fell apart. Kid's probably going walk with a limp for the rest of his life. I took the brunt of it, but then the ceiling gave in…." His eyes squeezed shut against the memory of the man's leg pulped into a bloody mess.

"So you weren't kidding about almost becoming a pancake…."

"Yeah, the kid was out cold from the blast at that point, otherwise I might be worried about being caught taking the brunt of a steel girder. The rest I think I can blame on adrenaline. I mostly just dug people out of the wreckage." He paused again, wincing. "I only really remember bits and pieces, really. Maybe I got a few screws knocked loose."

The TV kept droning on. "While the police have yet to officially name what was responsible for the explosion, several sources have suggested that the probable point of origin was a bathroom on the fourth floor.a video taking responsibility for the attacks was posted to the popular anonymous chat site 2chan shortly before the incident. The video features a man who identify himself as Seitou Noburo, the convict who remains still at large after his daring escape during a prison riot…"

The snarl that answered that bit of news sent shivers up Yu's spine. "Goddamned son of a bitch needs to rot in hell…" The coffee began to bubble and hiss in the grip of Dojima's hand. Heat poured off his uncle, and despite the snow outside, the room was starting to feel like the middle of summer.

Yu cleared his throat, trying to break the detective's attention away from the newscast. "Uncle…."

The older man stood up from the couch, his gaze still locked on the mugshot on the news.

"I don't think now is a good time to replace the television…."

The absurdity of the statement snapped the murderous fog blanketing Dojima's mind. He stared in disbelief at his nephew. "What?"

The silver haired boy winced at how... animalistic the man sounded in that moment. "I said we don't need to replace the TV just yet, so maybe you shouldn't destroy it…?"

"Ah...ha. Oh jeez." In an instant, the temperature of the room dropped, and the coffee stopped its roiling boil. Dojima sank back on the couch, the exhaustive events quickly catching up to him, pinning him with the weight of their toll. "I'm a mess, aren't I."

"No, you're just tired and angry, and anyone would be after a day like today."

"Still… I could end up killing somebody, if I'm not careful. I'm sorry, you don't need to deal with this."

"But you haven't."

Looking up at his nephew, the detective scowled in confusion. "What?"

"You keep talking about how you could hurt someone, or kill someone, with this...ability of yours. But you haven't. No matter how justified you'd be, with that criminal that tried to run you over, or facing Adachi after trying to shoot us, you didn't kill them. Adachi used his ability to kill two people when he could, for the hell of it. You're not Adachi, Uncle."

Dojima sighed, the exhaustion sapping his energy to argue. "Thanks, though I'm not as good as keeping myself in check as you may think-"

"If you're talking about what you did to that car at the station, I already know about that. If Naoto was correct on how awful that guy was, the fact that you only punched a hole through the engine block is still impressive."

It was hard to take the glare Dojima shot at him seriously when the older man couldn't be bothered to keep the smirk off his face. "I swear, you kids are going to be the end of me."

Notes:

I'm so mean to the poor detective. Seitou's stepping up his game against the one force he sees as opposing him. Too bad for him that Dojima's martyr complex keeps the victim count to a minimum, but there are limits on what you can do with nigh invulnerability and enhanced strength. The Kirijo group would probably love to get their hands on a specimen so altered by their time in a Shadow world. And although their actions would be with noble intentions, neither Yu nor Dojima himself would like seeing them using him like a lab rat. Nevermind Yu having to explain to Dojima why he has the secret police on speed dial.