Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction ❯ Die By the Sword ❯ Chapter 1

Die By the Sword - Part 1
By: Missfortune
Disclaimer: I don't own Petshop of Horrors, unless you count my one video, but I don't think that will stand up in court....darn -_-
Warnings: Probably some OOC since this is my first fic. Oh and death O_O and some nice shonen ai/yaoi overtones ^_^ Yes and it's A/U!
Notes: Still me, still trying, still hope you enjoy though ^_^

"Detective, what a surprise." D looked up from his tea as Leon walked into the pet shop.

"Not really, there's been another pet murder. Did you sell a pet to the Borelli family?"

D blinked. "No, I have never heard of them before."

Leon studied the Count. "Really?"

"Really Detective, I assure you that I sold no animals to any Borelli family. I have no such name in my files and I remember all my customers. What kind of pet was it?"

"Well, details are sketchy. We got a strange call about a demon cat. We think it was one of the sons. The mother died a while back, followed by both of the younger brothers and a servant. We sent a squad out to the house and the scene isn't pretty. Fifteen house servants died of blood loss from severe scratches to the face and neck." Leon explained.

"Well it couldn't have been one of my pets." D said, putting down his tea.

"Can you do me a favor then?"

"What is that?" D asked wearily.

"Can you come to the scene with me and take a look around, see if you can find some clue as to what kind of animal it might have been. You're better than any animal expert we have. And if the animal is still around you can calm it."

D nodded. "Why certainly detective. I would be happy to accompany you to the scene of the crime. For I must admit that I am most curious about this animal myself." D had to hide a smile to show how pleased he was. For once Leon hadn't jumped the gun and yelled at him and insisted he come down to the station. Rather he had calmly requested his assistance. It was surely a good sign. Standing up, he smoothed an imaginary wrinkle from his crimson and gold cheongsam. "I will close the stop now and we can go."

"Great, thanks," Leon said smiling at him.

D quickly put away the tea and told Q-Chan that he would be out for a while. He locked up the shop quickly before joining Leon out in his car. As D buckled his seat belt, Leon slid a small box across the seats in D's direction. "These are for you," he explained. "I didn't want your little friend eating them all. Besides. I figure I owe you for the favor."

"Why thank you Detective!" D picked up the medium sized box. It was wrapped in a nice paper with a gold seal on it proclaiming that all the candies within were hand made from the finest ingredients. He unwrapped the paper carefully, folding it and placing it on the seat beside him. Lifting the lid of the plain white box he gasped in pleasure and surprise at the treats inside. Resting in a small pile of cocoa powder were all manner of handmade chocolates from truffles to chocolate covered strawberries. The pleasant smell filled the car and D practically drooled as he looked down at the assorted treats. D realized that this particular box of chocolates had probably set the detective back quite a bit. You didn't buy boxes of candy like this for petty change. "Oh Leon! You shouldn't have!" D murmured softly, slipping into the use of Leon's first name.

Leon looked over from the road and smiled at D. "I just wanted to do a little something special. It wasn't a problem, really, more of a pleasure actually." Leon responded brushing D's concern off with a pleasant smile.

D smiled back. Glancing at the box in his lap, he let his fingers drift over the treats before finally choosing one. He delicately picked up a chocolate covered strawberry and bit into it moaning softly at the pleasant sweet taste. He heard a chuckle from the detective but ignored him in favor of savoring the treat. The strawberry was quite fresh and at the height of flavor. The chocolate was most certainly handmade and had a pleasantly strong yet sweet and smooth texture. He rolled it across his tongue before swallowing and finishing it off in a second bite. "Oh! These are heavenly Leon!"

"I take if you approve then?"

"I more than approve Detective. I must applaud your excellent taste." D grinned as he licked his lips.

"I'll take that as a compliment Count."

"It most certainly is," D replied before popping a small molded chocolate into his mouth. He sighed as it melted quickly on his tongue, swallowing the smooth chocolate. He watched the highway go by at an almost alarming rate of speed. "So Detective, tell me about this family. These Borellis."

"The Borellis are a crime family. The mother Francesca Borelli was the matriarch of the family before she passed away in her sleep. For years though they've been running just under the radar. Lots of it was just small time crime. From what I hear it started out a shoplifting ring. With Francesca in charge they spread out a little and eventually put their fingers into money laundering, protection rings, small time assassinations and some petty drug running. The sons were supposed to take over but now there is only the one left, the oldest, Jim Borelli. We assume that he made the call, but he wasn't found at the scene. We're assuming that he's gone into hiding."

D nodded and popped another chocolate into his mouth. He watched Leon drive, eyes on the road, completely aware of everything around him. At times Leon seemed nearly incompetent with his explosive temper and quick to judge reactions. It was times like these however, that D saw the truly remarkable man that Leon was. With his almost clairvoyant intuition and his brilliant detective skills combined into a very handsome package, he could be quite a catch. D made no effort to hide a catty smile that slid across his lips as he glanced through his fringe of hair at his blonde companion.

"Look, there's the house," Leon nodded his head towards a large sprawling estate, whose gates they were just entering.

"That's not a house, that is a small town," D observed as they drove down the long driveway to pull up to the main house, which was surrounded, by police cars and a few ambulances. "There are certainly a lot of officers here."

"Well they are taking advantage of the open house, seizing records for evidence in order to possibly wipe up the rest of the organization if they can. I don't know if it's a tragedy or some strange and twisted divine justice."

A small secret smile twisted D's lips. Strange justice was a specialty of his. Was the good Detective possibly coming around? He popped one last chocolate in his mouth, savoring the bitter cocoa powder on the outside of the truffle before it gave way to the sweeter taste of the creamy sweet within. He reluctantly put the cover on the box of his chocolates and placed them under the seat, just out of reach of the warm sunlight. He turned to Leon, about to speak, but was cut short by the intense gaze of those blue eyes. D didn't move, for a brief moment he felt like a small animal in the path of an oncoming vehicle. D held his breath as Leon moved forward, studying his face intensely. D imagined that his lips were tingling from Leon's sudden scrutiny. Leon reached his hand out and gently grasped the Count's face, guiding it towards him. D's heart hammered in his chest and he leaned in towards Leon.

Leon licked his lips and swallowed. His eyes flickered up to meet D's and D felt a gentle thumb glide across the corner of his mouth. Leon brought the thumb up to his mouth and sucked at it softly. He stood, inches from D's face. D could feel Leon's breath ghosting across his cheeks. Leon's lips opened. "You-" his voice cracked. He turned and coughed, leaning back as he did so. "You had chocolate on your lips." Leon said quickly, turning to hide a blush as he fumbled for the door handle. "We should hurry inside."

D sat back in his seat and sighed. So very close. Picking an imaginary piece of lint off of his cheongsam he took a moment to compose himself before exiting the car. He silently followed Leon towards the house, watching the way his tensed muscles moved beneath the single white t-shirt he was wearing. Leon flashed his badge at the other officers, glibly explaining that D was an animal expert and would be able to help them identify the animal more properly and perhaps even apprehend the animal. Since Leon knew exactly what to say, they had no trouble getting into the house.

The first thing that hit them as they entered the house was the musky scent. It was not the scent of death or blood, rather the scent of an animal marking its territory. Leon covered his nose and made an awful face. "What the hell is that smell?"

"The animal has marked the house. He left a message of sorts." D explained.

"What does the message say? Feed me liver next time asshole?"

D's lips quirked in a half-smile. "No Detective. It is more like a danger sign. Keep away."

"The smell alone is enough to keep people away. Geeze! It's awful." Leon complained as they walked through the halls back towards the servants' quarters. It wasn't hard to find their way considering all of the police officers that crowded the overly large house. They easily found their way to the quarters, which was fairly swarming with activity. The bodies had been removed, but taped lines and splatters of red clearly marked where they had lain. Leon once again ran through his story to explain D's presence. They were given free reign to wander around the house to look for clues. Leon snagged a few of the photos of the victims and walked over to where D was studying a set of red paw prints.

"What do you think?" Leon asked, handing D the set of photographs.

"It appears to be the paw prints of a normal housecat, but as we know, looks can be deceiving." Leon nodded as D shuffled through the photos. The wounds were consistent with wounds of a normal cat, but the ferocity and strength of the attacks was surprising. "The appearance is consistent with that of a normal cat, but normal cats do not fatally wound like this, let alone slaughter. I cannot tell that anything else is at work other than I have a strange feeling about this place, it doesn't feel just right."

"What do you mean?" Leon asked. He knew that he wasn't the only one with a strong sense of intuition around here. The Count knew of many more strange things than he ever dreamed and he knew that if D mentioned something, it was always worth noting.

"I'm not sure. It's as if the house is just a bit off...I simply cannot explain it." D said, surprised and perhaps a little disturbed by the observation.

Leon nodded. He had caught the fleeting tone of the Count's voice. "Do you want to look around the house? The authorities, said that they didn't see any animals in the house and that none have left through any exit that they've been watching. There's a pretty good chance that the cat is still hiding somewhere in the house."

"Yes, I think that would be a good idea. We have no idea if this creature will decide to attack again."

Leon nodded and they both left the room, following a small trail of paw prints. The tracks stopped just outside the door where the animal had apparently stopped to groom itself. "Now, if I were a crazed killer cat, where would I go next?" Leon wondered aloud.

"It is hard to tell. I propose that we start at one end of the house and work our way through it systematically."

"So where should we start?"

"In a room with sun. Cats love to sprawl out in sunny spaces, so I think it would be best if we started in the rooms where the sun is shining in the windows and then work our way towards the back of the house."

They began their search in the front of the house where the early noon sun was still shining in the windows. The decorations in each room were in a word opulent. Much of the décor was grossly expensive and in many cases terribly gaudy, proving that money did not necessarily improve the tastes of some people. Their search of the downstairs proved fruitless. Looking under chaises that looked better suited to a French whorehouse reveled not so much as a single cat hair. Leon was getting frustrated shaking hideous curtains and tiptoeing to look on top of monstrous wooden cupboards. Annoyed, he tromped up the stairs with D following silently behind.

The search of the upstairs went much the same as the search of the downstairs. Room after room of expensive junk and crawling on hands and knees, trying to see into the small places a cat could squeeze. Once or twice Leon found himself watching the Count as the delicate man bent down to look at something or got down on all fours to peer under some large piece of furniture. Each time he'd quickly look away and silently chastise himself. After the third time of watching the Count bend over, Leon left the room to go off searching by himself.

He walked into yet another bedroom and began to look around the room. There were a few pairs of shoes under the bed, but no cat. As he walked around, he found the first traces of a cat since he began searching. On a large wooden wardrobe, long cat scratches marred the surface as though the cat had tried to scratch its way in. Leon slowly approached, looking left and right just in case the cat was standing somewhere just out of view. A loud crash made him look up in time to see a body barreling at him. A man with wild eyes leapt out of the wardrobe at Leon.

"Die demon cat!" he screamed as he crashed into Leon. Leon's eyes widened as a hypodermic needle sunk into his heart propelled by the screeching man. They landed heavily on the floor and the man removed the needle only to stab it into Leon's chest again, sending up an alarming spurt of blood. He felt dizzy as the needle bobbed obscenely out of his chest. He reached up to try and remove it, wondering why his nerves suddenly were not cooperating. A loud hiss drew his attention before a black streak flew at the man on his chest. The man screamed as the black creature began to tear into him, slicing at his face with razor sharp claws.

"Detective?" D ran into the room, staring in horror at the commotion. "Leon!"

"Stay back!" Leon yelled lifting his hand to ward off the Count.

D stood by helplessly as Leon's body began to shake violently and the screaming man wrestled with the attacking cat. The man stood and managed to stumble from the room, though the cat was still attached firmly to his chest with its claws. Trails of blood followed the pair. Ignoring the gory site, D ran to Leon's side, pulling him into his lap. "Leon, answer me. Leon."

Leon's eyes had rolled into the back of his head as the convulsions continued to wrack his body. D stared in horror as his mouth began to foam up, his jerking limbs flopping bonelessly on the floor. "Somebody help!" D yelled, knowing the house was crawling with police officers. "Somebody help us!"

D tried in vain to hold Leon's body still, but the spasms were too violent and he had to back off and watch helplessly as Leon jerked on the floor as if he were being electrocuted. D barely noticed the people that began to fill the room. Paramedics surrounded Leon. His shirt was ripped open as they injected new drugs into his system. Currents of electricity were sent through his heart with paddles as his heartbeat began to fade, but in the end, there was nothing they could do. D watched in shock as they turned off their machines and called the time of death.

"He...he can't be dead. You're wrong. He can't be dead! Leon!"

*paces back and forth chanting* Feedback! Feedback!

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