Vampire Princess Miyu Fan Fiction ❯ A Heart that is Cold ❯ Partnership ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in Vampire Princess Miyu. I am only using them for this fanfic. Please do not sue me.

Acknowledgement: This is a revise version. All of the grammatic errors and wrong wording are corrected by Rociellac. Thank you!!!!

Partnership

By the time Miyu and Larva reached the scene, the crowd was already gathering around it. The cops were busy pushing the curious crowds back away from the scene so they would not destroy any of evidence. Stopping their engines, Miyu and Larva took off their helmets and put on their badges. They pushed through the crowds and flash their badges to the cops that were guarding the scene. Miyu quickly stepped into the house with Larva following right behind her. She turned to address the cop that is standing near the entrance of the door.

"Where?"

"In the living room, detective. Ranka, Ichiro, and Aoi are already in there." Miyu nodded her head and walked into the living room. Ichiro was brushing the room with some white powder to look for any left fingerprints. Ranka was closely examining the interior of the house as she takes down any information that could serve as a clue for this case. Aoi, on the other hand, was talking to the doctor that had examined the body. They all turned to look at Miyu and Larva when they entered the room. As Miyu looked around the surrounding, Larva went to a table and pulls out two pair of latex gloves from a box placed there by the police. He handed one pair to Miyu and put on the other pair. Done with this typical procedure, they walked up to Ranka.

"What's the news," asked Miyu. Ranka stopped her note-taking and handed over some paper to Miyu.

"The name of the victim is Yuriko Kinomoto. Age: 24. The rest of the information are in those paper," Ranka replied. "This morning at 8:00 am, her boyfriend, Tsukasa Inoue, found her body in the living room. A cop, who was patrolling this area, happened to be passing by when he jammed out of the house screaming for help. She immediately called the police and well...here we are."

Miyu flipped through the papers quickly but could not find any information that was relevant to the case. The papers only contained basic information about the victim and her boyfriend. She handed the papers over Larva and he quickly scanned through them. "Is this all the information that you have," Larva asked flatly.

"The rest of the information is with the first cop. She took down the evidence from the boyfriend before we arrived. By the time we got here, the boyfriend had already left." Larva frowned at that news. He turned to look at Miyu and was not surprised to find her smiling to herself. He continued his questioning.

"Where is she?"

"Back at her office."

"What is she doing over there? Aren't she suppose to stay here so we can get the information from her?"

"Because this area is not under our supervision, my dear Larva," Miyu answered him with a smile. "Homicidal is not under our department, in case you have not noticed. Our department deals with drugs."

"Then why are we here, my little Miyu?" asked Larva.

"The answer is quite obvious. Her death must be related to drugs." Larva felt like shaking her as she started to giggle to herself. It took almost all his self-control to restrain himself from doing so. He left her with her amusement and walked up to Aoi. To his annoyance, the body had been removed from the scene and the only thing he could see was the white outline where the body had been found.

"I think I should be grateful that the doctor is still here," Larva thought to himself. Aoi smiled at him and asked the doctor to repeat himself.

"As I said before," the doctor repeated in irritation. "The victim must have been killed around 10pm-12am last night. A closer reading to the time of her death can be given after I have examined her body in my laboratory. Until then, I cannot give you any other information."

"Was she strangled to death or did she die from an overdose," asks Aoi.

"I said I don't know. I need to do an autopsy before I can give you a definite answer. Are you done with the questioning, detective?"

Aoi looked through his notes, which was not that much to say the least, and nodded. The doctor picked up his bag and left the room. Before Larva could ask any questions, Aoi started to talk.

"The victim was found lying on this floor." Aoi turned to point at the overturned coffee table that was by the sofa and pointed at the coat hanger stand that was standing near the victim's body. "This is what we deduce from the evidences left in this room. At around 10pm last night, the victim was taking her drug on the sofa." Miyu walked up to Aoi and Larva as they examined the overturned coffee table. On the floor, a jar, filled with cocaine had spilled its contents over the whole floor. The needle that issued the deadly injection was lying a foot away from it. Miyu and Larva mentally noted the date on the jar. "Either it was too dark for her or her inexperience with the drug, she mistook too much of it. As the drug started to take effect, she realized she must have taken too much of the drug. She stood up and accidentally knocked over the coffee table. As she tried to walk to the phone to call for help, she stumbled and fell down." He lead them to the coat hanger and gave them a plastic bag. Inside the plastic bag was a piece of cloth. "Her scarf must have caught the coat hanger when she fell. Choking and dying from the overdose, she never did reach the phone. She just died right over here."

"Very dramatic," Miyu claimed.

"Too dramatic if you ask me," Aoi answered. "However, we don't know if this is a natural death or a murder."

"Have you questioned the neighbours yet?" Larva asked. When Aoi shook his head, Larva mentally noted himself to do so. Miyu gave a little sigh and turned to walk away.

"I think there is nothing we can do until we talk with the cop who made the first discovery." She turned to address Ranka. "What is the name of that cop?" Ranka gave her a smile before she answered.

"Reiha." Larva noticed the slight frown on Miyu's face when she heard that name.

"I guess we will just have to talk to her," she said flatly. "Ichiro, did you find any fingerprints?" Ichiro shook his head to answer no. Miyu giggled and stretched herself. "Of course not. I'm going outside." With that said, Miyu strolled out the living room, leaving the others behind. Larva turned to leave the room when Aoi stopped him.

"How is your partnership going?" They all looked at Larva with great interest and amusement as they anticipated his answer.

"She calls me an old man," Larva coolly replied. Aoi, Ranka, and Ichiro laughed at that answer.

"Good start," said Aoi. "Wouldn't expect less from our Miyu." He walked up to Larva and put out his hand. Larva looked at it before he shook it. "Name's Aoi. That is Ranka and the one over there is call Ichiro."

"Larva."

"I know." He turned to go back to his work. But before he did so, he handed Larva a card. "You are an interesting character. If you are interested, we are meeting at my father's dojo to do some sparing tonight. I will be delighted to see you there."

Larva looked at the card and put it in his pocket. "Thank you." With that said, he left the house and headed towards the neighbour's house. He noticed that Miyu was standing outside the victim's window and looking around the place in a heedless mood. She went down on her knees and played with the flowers growing near the window. He ignored her and knocked on the neighbour's door. She greeted him with eagerness and let him into her house. When Larva had settled down on one of the chair, he started to fire his questions.

"What were you doing yesterday night," asked Larva.

"Well, you see sir," she answered in excitement. "I was out dinning with my husband yesterday night because he just got a promotion. He has been working for that company for three years and they never did pay him well. Well yesterday..." Larva inwardly groaned when she went on with her insignificant narration. He smiled politely to her and waited patiently for her to get back onto the topic. "So after we have finish our dinner, he took me out for a nice stroll in the park. It has been years since we did that." She giggled and Larva attempted to smile. "It was so romantic. We didn't reach home until it was ten o'clock at night."

"Did you notice anything that was unusual with your neighbour when you got home?"

She sat there and thought for a while before she answered. "Actually, I don't think so. Her living room light was on and the music was blaring when we got home. You see, I never did understand..."

Larva quickly cut her off with another question. "When did the music stop playing?"

She frowned at Larva's rudeness but she answered him nonetheless. "It must have stopped approximately at eleven o'clock. My husband and I went to bed at 11:30 and her house was already dark about that time." Larva nodded his head and switched gear.

"Mrs. Kazuya," Larva began. "I see that you are a smart lady." She blushed under his compliment. "I understand that you have good judgment. Now, I would like to ask you to give me your opinion about your neighbour, Miss. Kinomoto."

She hesitated before she answered him. "Well, Mr...uhmm...what's your name, Mr detective?"

"West. Larva West."

"Okay, Mr. West. You see...I don't like to talk bad things behind people's back, especially when they are dead." She shivered at the thought of it. "But, since you ask me, I guess I should tell you what I think." Her face was set firmly on a frown when she thought about the victim. "Well, first of all, she was no decent lady. Yeah, she might have a boyfriend but that didn't stop her from dressing so provocative. Young girls these days...they have no respect for modesty."

Larva nodded and disregarded some of the unnecessary opinions. "How was her character like? How was her relationship with her boyfriend?"

"Oh, lord," she gasped. Her eyes widened in excitement. "I don't like starting scandals."

"This is not a scandal if you are telling the truth."

"Well, if you insist..." Her eyes flashed with eagerness and somehow, Larva couldn't help but thinking that this had to be some sort of cruel and unusual punishment. "Well, her relationship with her boyfriend was fairly good, I think. You see...he was such a nice boy." She sighed and smiled as she thought of him. "He was very kind to her and very devoted to her. Oh like last time..."

"Oh boy," Larva thought as she rambled off to something that was irrelevant. "Here she goes again." Larva nodded his head as Mrs. Kazuya told him an intriguing story...well...in her point of view, about how Mr. Inoue helped her with her garden and how he had ever been so nice to a middle age lady. By the time she finished, Larva was ready to bang his head on the wall to escape from his misery.

"Oh but, Miss. Kinomoto, she was not a nice lady. She was constantly starting fights with him. It was only two days ago when they were having a row." Larva sat up in alarm.

"What where they arguing about?" She gave him an offended look.

"I don't eardrop on other people's conversations."

"I'm not saying that you were...but, I am just wondering did you just happen to overheard what they were talking about. You see, it can be important to the case."

"Well, to tell you the truth...I wasn't able to hear them." Larva sighed inwardly to himself. "But, Mr. Shirow came by and told me about it. You see...he is a friend of theirs and a very handsome young man. Why last time..." Larva quickly jumped in before she could say another word.

"What did he say to you?" He ignored her frown because there was no way he was going to listen to anymore of her story.

"He told me that they were having a row." She gave him a scandalous look. She instinctively lowered her voice and leaned toward him. "He said that they were arguing because she was two-timing on him."

"Did he tell you who was the other man?"

"Oh no!" She shook her head and leaned back to her chair. "Of course not. He would not tell me about it. That is, he didn't even know who it was either. He was just going over there when he overheard their conversation. Not wanting to interrupt them, he came out over here and decided to talk to me."

"I see," said Larva. He pushed his chair back and stood up. "I'm really grateful for all of your help." He stretched out his hand and formally shook hers. "Congratulations on your husband's promotion. I hope you will have a wonderful life together."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. West." She followed him to the door. "Would you be delighted to stay for lunch? I am cooking..."

"No thank you," Larva replied as he quickly jumped out from the house. "I still have a lot of things to do. See you around." Once out, Larva sighed and thought to himself. "Mental notes to myself: when encountering different witnesses, apply whatever method to get the details you need. However, when you encounter a talkative lady...be blunt!" To his dismay, Miyu was watching him and giggling softly to herself. Ranka and Ichiro were standing near the outside window and taking some pictures. "She must have noticed my hasty retreat." He turned away from her. "I'm glad she is enjoying the show," he thought sarcastically. "However, I would rather face Miyu than that lady." He made a quick phone call to the police station before he drove off to find his next clue.

******

"Boy, was that a good meal!" Cain patted his stomach in satisfaction and picked his teeth with a toothpick. He stepped out of the restaurant and decided to take a stroll around the streets. He had only taken less than ten steps when he noticed a person standing around the corner. It didn't take him long to recognize her. "AW...HELL!!!" He shouted out loud in frustration when he saw Miyu smiling at him. "Let's just get this damn thing over with!" He walked up to her and followed her into an alley.

"Am I so horrible that you detest seeing me so much?" Miyu asked with a playful pout.

"You damn right you are," he answered with a growl. They finally stopped at an isolated area. "Every time I see you, something horrible always happen. Last time I saw you, I broke up with my girlfriend because she thought I was two-timing on her!"

"I'm sorry."

"Shut up! You and I both know that you don't mean it!" Miyu giggled at his outburst. He flashed her an annoying look.

"That is why I love you, Cain." He gave her a startled look. He frowned when he saw her smiling face and leaned his back on the wall.

"You always have a way to spook me," he replied. "Now what do you want?" Miyu took out a photo from her pocket and showed it to him. To Miyu's surprise, although she didn't show it, Cain cursed out loud.

"Damn it! I just got badgered about this by another cop today." Cain stopped his rampage when he noticed the flash of surprise though Miyu's eyes. However, it disappeared as fast as it had appeared, and it left him standing there silent for a while, pondering if he had just imagined it.

"Do you know the name of the cop?"

"Heck no! Like he was going to tell me." Cain tossed Yuriko's photo back to her.

"How did he look like?"

"He was taller than me and his attitude was as bad as yours." Cain noticed the smile on Miyu's face and decided it would be wise not to insult her anymore. "His hair color was light blue and his eyes were devilish red." He reached into his pocket and showed her three pieces of paper. On each of them, a name and a phone number was written. "And here are the evidences on how handsome he was."

"When did he question you?"

"Fifteen minutes ago. I was just sitting down to enjoy my lunch when he popped out of nowhere." His eyes flashed with anger. "He almost blew my cover when he showed me his badge. I was just glad that there wasn't anyone important present at the time." To his annoyance, Miyu's eyes shone with amusement. "Man, you are so damn irritating!"

"The photo?"

"Alright! Here is the information that I gave him and this is all I have. First of all, I don't know who she is. I never saw anyone that looked like her around here. Second, there haven't been a lot of people buying cocaine around here for a while. This is all due to you." Miyu raised her eyebrow and continued to smile. "Third and final information, for this past few weeks, the only customers we had were all males and all of them were new customers. If she did get her supply from over here, she must have brought it from one of the customers. Now, does that answer your questions?"

"Almost." Miyu took out another picture and showed it to him. "Do you recognizes this person?" Cain thought for a while as he tried to recall that person's face.

"I can't say for sure but it certainly does look familiar." Miyu nodded her head and tucked the photo back into her pocket.

"Thank you," she said softly. "I really appreciate your help."

"You'd better," he muttered. He walked beside her as they went back out the street.

"I guess I will be seeing you in the future again." Miyu giggled when Cain rolled his eyes. Before he could reply, a jacket hit him squarely on his face. He turned to his left and was prepared to yell at the person who threw it, but was shocked to find his girlfriend standing there in great anger.

"Lina! Why are you here?"

"To find you!" She glared at him and Miyu. Miyu smiled at her as she got onto her motorcycle. "Are you two-timing on me, Cain?!"

"This is not what you think, Lina!"

"Then what is it, huh?"

Miyu put on her helmet and started the engine. "I'll see you around, Cain dear." Miyu sped off while Cain turned bright red.

"Damn you," he shouted right after Miyu.

"What did you say?!!!"

"I wasn't cursing you, Lina!"

******

Larva parked his motorcycle in the driveway and stepped into the building. He pushed the elevator button and took a last look at the piece of paper in his hand. A woman walked up next to him and started to look at him. Larva ignored her glances as he waited for the elevator to reach ground floor. When it finally arrived, he stepped into it with the woman following closely behind. He reached for the fifth-floor button but quickly pulled back his hand when he saw her reaching for the same button. A flash of disappointment appeared on the woman's face when Larva pulled his hand back. The rest of the ride was quite uneventful, and Larva couldn't help but feel a little bit pleased to get ride of her when he finally reached the destination.

"Do you have an appointment, sir?" the secretary asked. Larva shook his head and took out his badge. The secretary frowned when she saw it. "Mr. Inoue is currently busy with another member of your team. If you would please wait for a moment..."

"What is the name of the cop," asked Larva as he cut her off. He ignored the frown she gave him and caught his badge when she tossed it back to him.

"Her name seems to be Miyu." Larva nodded his head in amusement.

"How long has she been in there?"

"A minute before you."

"Good." Disregarding the secretary's protest, Larva opened the door to Mr. Inoue's office. Miyu was sitting in a chair and turned to look at him as he bursted into the room. Mr. Inoue stood up while the secretary was trying to apologize for this interruption. Before Mr. Inoue could asks what was going on, Larva showed him his badge and sat down next to Miyu. "Do you mind," he asked Miyu.

"We were waiting for you." Larva gave her a questioning look. She caught his glance and held it steadily for a few second. To his surprise, she did not smile at him. Mr. Inoue dismissed his secretary. She closed the door before she left the room. "You're late."

"I got lost." Miyu nodded her head and looked away from him. "She must have pay Cain a visit," he thought to himself. He turned to look at Tsukasa Inoue and mentally noted his appearance. "It must be hard on him. He looks just plain devilish." Larva was not exaggerating when that thought cross his mind. The man's hair was uncombed and his eyes were swollen from crying. His nicely ironed brown-suit was now full of wrinkles and was tossed carelessly on his chair. His tie was hanging loosely on his collar. He sighed and took Larva's offered hand in his. "I am sorry for the interruption. I am detective Larva West," said Larva.

"Oh yes, Mr. West," Tsukasa replied with a small smile. "Miss. Yamano was telling me about you." Larva was a little bit surprised but he didn't show it. Miyu reached in her pocket and pulled out some pieces of paper. Larva caught them when she tossed it towards him. He looked at them and gave Miyu a questioning look.

"They are your admirers," she simply replied. Larva nodded and tossed the paper into the nearby trashcan. "Mr. Inoue, I think we can start the questioning now that detective West is here."

"I will answer to the best of my ability."

"Mr. Inoue," Larva began. He slightly noticed the frown on Miyu's face. "Please give us, to the most accurate details, an account on your actions from yesterday night to the time you discover Miss. Kinomoto."

"Yesterday, I had a company meeting from 4:00-6:00pm. However, the meeting ran late, and I didn't get off until it was 7:00pm. Yesterday was a very busy day because one of my workers happened to have caught a cold, and I had to finish his unfinished work. I gave Yuriko a call to tell her not wait for me as I was going to be working late and I was going to hang out with Yuji afterward..."

"Who is Yuji," Miyu interrupted.

"He is a friend of Yuriko and I. His whole name is Yuji Shirow. I met him three years ago on a business trip. It was him who introduced me to Yuriko." He sighed when his mind drifted back to those happy memories.

"Please continue where you left off," said Larva.

"Yuriko told me not to work too hard and that she loved me." His face crumbled up with sorrow. "I didn't know that would be the last time I would get to hear her voice." Larva and Miyu watched him as he dissolved into tears. Neither one of them bothered to say anything. All kinds of sympathetic words were useless. Nothing could bring Yuriko back to him. Nothing. They could only offer silent comfort and that was what they were doing.

After ten minutes, Tsukasa finally had his emotions under control. He apologized to them and continued his story in a hoarse tone. "After hanging up the call to Yuriko, I asked my secretary to help me buy my dinner because I was busy with my work. She ordered delivery, and I ate my dinner at around 8 p.m. After that, I stayed in my office working on the current project. My secretary came into my office around ten to say goodnight and from then on, I stayed here for another thirty minutes. Before leaving the building, I said good-night to the security guard. That was around 10:45."

"Why are you so certain that it was 10:45?"

"Because the guard was talking to me about the soccer tournament that was playing yesterday night. He dragged me to his little TV, and I noticed the time because it was being displayed on the TV screen."

"Continue," said Miyu.

"I reached Yuji's house around 11:25." His face gave off a slight blush of embarrassment. "When I reached there, Yuji was furious with me. You see, I shut down my cell phone because I did not want it to interrupt me while I was working. It turned out that Yuji and I were supposed to meet each other at 10:30. He gave my cell phone a call, and he wasn't able to reach me. When he called Yuriko, she told him that I was working late. He tried to reach me at my office but I also pulled out the plug of my office telephone." Larva opened his mouth to ask a question but Tsukasa answered him before he could start his question. "I'd like to focus on my work. I don't like interruption when I am working. It tends to distract me."

"What made you think that you were supposed to meet Mr. Shirow at 11:30 instead of your scheduled time at 10:30?" Tsukasa gave Larva an embarrassed look as he answered Larva's question.

"To tell you the truth, I am very poor with scheduling. I tend to forget the time of my meeting if I do not write it down in this little booklet of mine." He showed them a little black booklet. In it, there were a bunch of times and meetings scribbled down. He showed them the page that contained yesterday's schedule. "I somehow messed up and wrote 11:30 instead of 10:30 down in the schedule." He closed his black booklet and put it away. "Anyway, Yuji punished me for my lateness by having me pay for all his drinks that night. We went to our usual bar and talked about our works. Yuji is a play writer and he is very good at it. Some of his plays are going to be made into movies. Why he..." He stopped his story-telling mode when he saw the frown on Larva's face. Miyu, on the other hand, wais giggling to herself. "Well, uhmm...we didn't leave the bar until it was three in the morning. I drove Yuji home because he was dead drunk and put him on his bed. I didn't leave his house until it was 4:30. At that time, I was planning to drive back home but I was getting so sleepy that my driving would be a hazard to everyone. Therefore, I took a short nap inside my car and I didn't wake up until it was 7:00. From there, I drove back home to find...to find..." His face filled with sorrow again but this time he did not cry. "I saw her lying on the floor with white foam coming out of her mouth. Her eyes stared out at me and...the next thing I knew, I went flying out of the house calling for help."

"You ran into detective Reiha and then she called the police," finished Miyu. "Did you tell her the exact details that you have told us?"

"No," he said quietly. "I think I told you guys more than I did her. I was shocked at that time. When she dismissed me, I didn't know where to go. The next thing I knew, I had driven myself back to this office and had been trying to take my mind off this case by working my head off."

With a few more questions asked, Larva and Miyu stood up to leave. Miyu accidentally dropped the pen she was playing with and went down on her knee to get it. When she got up, Larva noticed a frown on her face. They left the unfortunate man and confirmed some part of his story by taking the secretary's evidence. When Larva and Miyu got on their motorcycles, they both knew where they were heading next. Although they knew that they were heading for the same witness, neither one of them publicly acknowledged that fact.

Miyu reached Yuji Shirow's house before Larva because he was following after her. As she was introducing herself, Larva pulled up beside her. With the proper introductions done, Miyu and Larva were invited into the house. Yuji apologized to them regarding his messy living room. Books, clothing, and other appliances were lying around everywhere. Larva quickly took his shoes off and puts it near one of Yuji's muddy shoes. As Larva turned to walk into Yuji's living room, Miyu took off her shoes and put it next to Larva's. She turned around just in time to see Larva tripping over one of Yuji's shirts and went flying across the room.

"I'm sorry, detective West." Yuji quickly helped Larva up to his feet and sat him on a sofa. Larva was extremely annoyed to find Miyu smiling at him.

"What are you thinking, my dear Miyu?"

She sat down before him before she replied. "You should watch where you are going, old man. Your bones might not be able to handle anymore of your clumsiness."

"Thank you for your advice, little girl. However, you should watch where you sit before you actually sit down." Miyu stood up and looked at her seat. She couldn't find anything wrong with the seat. "Another advice. Don't believe in everything people tell you." Her eyes burned with anger but were quickly replaced by amusement. She gave him a smile before sitting back down next to him.

"I will remember your advice. However, I never did expect you to pull off such a childish prank."

"I wasn't playing around with you," he replied coolly. He gave Miyu a smile that was quite similar to hers. "I was just testing your alertness. I didn't know that you are so gullible."

Yuji cleared his throat as he watched the electricity coursing between the two. "Uhmm...what can I do for you?" From that point on, Miyu and Larva forgot about their little battle and started to fire questions at Yuji. From his words, they received the same information that Tsukasa had told them. "Yes, he is very forgetful," Yuji explained to them when they asked him about Tsukasa's characteristics. "His life is totally depended on that black booklet of his."

"Mr. Shirow," said Larva. "I heard that Mr. Inoue and Miss. Kinomoto often fought with each other. Two days ago, they were having an argument. Can you tell me what they were arguing about?"

Yuji scowled and he cursed Mrs. Kazuya for being such a big mouth. "Why do you want to know?"

"It is our duty to know everything, Mr. Shirow. Now will you answer my question?"

"I don't know what they were arguing about," he replied back firmly. "Mrs. Kazuya must be spreading rumors about them. Old ladies always like to do that. If you are thinking that Tsukasa killed Yuriko, then you guys are on the wrong track!" They weren't able to get anything else from him and were practically almost thrown out of his house.

"That was smooth," Miyu said with a smile. She took off her badge and put it in her pocket.

"Shut up." Larva pulled off his badge from his long black coat. Before, Miyu could say anything else, he drove off.

******

Clutching Aoi's card in his hand, Larva looked around his surroundings as he tried to locate Aoi's dojo. After passing through a little forest, he finally saw the ancient dojo. He parked his motorcycle next to a tree and headed straight to the entrance. Aoi happened to be standing there and he greated Larva as he approached him. Larva noticed that Aoi had changed his casual street outfit to a loose and modern samurai outfit.

"So you decided to come," Aoi said. "I am glad to see you here."

"How long have you been training as a samurai?"

"For a long time." Larva followed Aoi to a dressing room and from there, Larva changed into a karate gi. "We study many different arts in this dojo," Aoi explained. As they reached for the sparing ground, they ran into Ranka and Ichiro. Ichiro was busily throwing punches on a wooden man, and Ranka was watching him. She was dress in a Japanese kimono and greeted them when they entered the room.

"This dojo was owned by my father," Aoi said quietly. "When I was still rather small, he started to train me in martial arts. He passed away when I was six and from then on, I have been the master of this dojo." He gave Ranka a smile as she nagged Ichiro about his weak spots. "Ranka and I have played with each other since we were very small. We met Ichiro when I just became the new master."

"I see," said Larva. "Why did you become a cop?"

"Because of Ranka," Aoi simply replied. He watched as Ranka easily knocked away two wooden blocks that Ichiro had thrown towards her. "Ranka has always wanted to be a detective and because of this, she studyed really hard at school. I wanted to protect her so I studyed with her. I became a policeman just for her." Larva nodded his head and narrowed his eyes when he saw Miyu coming out to the sparing ground. She saw him and gave him a smile. Ranka joined her and they both walked toward them.

"Ranka and I met Miyu when we were in college." Larva looked at him in surprise.

"College?"

"Yes," Aoi answered in amusement. "We were sixteen years old when we got admitted as freshmen for college. Miyu was only twelve at that time." When Larva didn't say anything, Aoi continued with his story. "Miyu is a very smart girl. She attended the same classes with us, and she always got the highest score. At thirteen, she proved herself to the police department by helping them to solve one of the hardest cases at that time." He smiled to himself. "In a way, you can say that Ranka and I kind of envy her and yet, we also respect her."

"Why did she want to be a detective?"

"I don't know. She never did told us and we never asked. Even if we did, she won't tell us." He reached out and grabbed a wooden sword. He tossed it towards Larva and nodded his head in Miyu's direction. She was standing in the middle of the room with a wooden sword in her hand. Ranka had joined them and was standing next to Aoi. "I think she wants to fight you. I hope you know how to use it." Larva took some practice swings in the air, and Aoi nodded his head in approval. "Impressive. But this doesn't mean you can beat Miyu. Good luck."

Ichiro had stopped his practices and walked towards Aoi and Ranka. "This will be interesting," he said as Larva went to face his opponent. Ranka nodded her head and giggled as Miyu and Larva formally bow to each other. The next second, the sound of their swords clashing together rang out loud.

Ranka, Aoi, and Ichiro watched with great interest as Miyu blocked Larva's sword at her right. She pushed his sword away from him causing him to take a step backward. Miyu swung her sword to Larva's top right and he blocked it with his own sword. A smile flashed past Miyu's face and before Larva knew it, she kicked him right across his chest, which he had left open. He stumbled backward from the impact force and clutched his chest in pain. His eyes flashed with anger as Miyu charged straight at him. With a side step to his left, he was able to dodge her blow. He swung his sword at her as she passed him to his right.

A sting of pain flashed through Miyu as the tip of his blade sliced her right upper arm. She turned to face him and blocked his sword when he swung it down on her. She quickly countered his attack with a sweep kick. Her attack managed to knock him down on his back but it didn't help that much as Larva quickly sprang back up on his feet and hit her with a roundhouse kick. She managed to block the kick but it hit her hard enough to make her lose her balance. Larva took this opportunity to finish her off and approached her from behind. His sword came down on her but to his surprise, she stepped inside from his swing, bringing herself right in front of him. Her fist made contact with his chin as she dealt him with a hard uppercut. Larva went flying in the air for a few second and falls down on the floor from the punch. He shook his head to get rid of the dizziness. When he turned to look at Miyu, he found her heading straight towards him with her sword ready to checkmate. The tip of her blade stopped barely two inches away from his throat at the last second.

"You lost," said Miyu. To her surprise, Larva gave her a smile. "Did I?" Miyu looked downwards to find his sword pointing right at her stomach, the tip of his blade just a centimetre away from piercing through her. Realizing that he could pierce her before she could strike him, Miyu silently admitted defeat. She took her sword away and Larva did the same thing. With great formality, they exchanged a small bow and walked away from each other.

Aoi and Ranka exchanged a smile while Ichiro shook his head. "It seems like our little Miyu have finally met her match," said Ichiro. Aoi and Ranka silently agreed.

******

The next morning, Miyu parked her motorcycle in the parking lot for the coroner's office. She gave a small wince when she accidentally bumped her arm in the elevator. It is still fairly sensitive from last night's battle. When she stepped into the coroner's room, she could hardly hide her dismay seeing Larva already over there. He was examining Yuriko's body when she stepped inside.

"Good morning, Miyu," he said without looking up at her. "For two people who plan to stay out of each people's business and who hate each other, we surely do meet a lot."

"What a pity."

"Yes," he looks at her for the first time. "A pity." His face turned into a frown when he saw the irritating smile she always had on. She walked up next to him and looks at Yuriko's body. "The doctor confirmed she died from an overdose."

"I see." For the rest of the examination, neither one of them spoke. Larva eyed the bruises on Yuriko's neck while Miyu idly examined the arms. After fifteen minutes of examination, they both stepped out from the building.

"Hungry?" Larva looked at Miyu before he replied.

"Yes."

******

Larva finished ordering his breakfast and turned to look at Miyu. He knew that there must be a reason why Miyu would ask him to dine with her. They sat there in silence as they waited for their drinks to appear. This time, instead of tomato juice, Miyu ordered a glass of water.

"Speak."

Miyu smiles at Larva's command and pushes her glass of water away. "I met Reiha in college when I was just twelve years old. At that time she was sixteen. We never did get along with each other but we both stayed away from each other. That was until Amaru came along." She took a sip of her water, and Larva listened with interest. The tone that she was telling this story with was so "matter-of-fact" that Larva couldn't help but becoming interested in it. "Reiha loved him but unfortunately he liked me. I didn't care about him because I wasn't interested in starting a relationship. He drifted on and by the time I was fourteen, he was dating Reiha." Larva nodded his head and prepared for the bad part. "One Thursday, he was crossing the street when a car hit him. Reiha happened to be there and was calling for the ambulance when he uttered my name with his last dying death. From then on, it sealed her hatred for me and our relationship."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You have the right to know."

Larva pondered over this issue as the waitress set down their breakfast. Miyu was chewing on her sushi when Larva finally caught on to what she meant. "I guess this is the benefit that I get for being your partner," he said wryly.

"Yes."

"Are you going to see her?"

"Yes."

Larva took a sip on his miso soup before he tosses out his suggestion. "I think we should go and see her together." Miyu stopped eating and looked at him.

"She might not treat you as bad as you assume she will," she said calmly. "Just go see her before I do."

"What is the possibility that she haven't heard that I am your partner yet?"

"Slim."

"Exactly. I'd rather have her yelling at us both at the same time." With that said, they quickly finished their breakfast and headed towards Reiha's office. When Larva first saw her, he thought Reiha was a ghost or something. Her skin was so pale and white. However, he later on discovered that the color of her skin matched her personality perfectly: cold and hard as ice.

"Sit down," said Reiha as Larva and Miyu walked into her office. Besides her desk is a Japanese doll. Miyu sat down on a chair, and Larva followed suit. "Miyu," she said. "It has been a long time since we last saw each other." She turned to look at Larva and gave him a smile. "How do you do, Mr. West?"

"And I thought Miyu's smile was annoying," Larva thought to himself. "How do you do." he replied.

"I see that you have slacken off from your work, Miyu. Have your skills deteriorated so badly that you now need a partner." Larva frowned from the insult but Miyu simply replied back with a smile that is equal to Reiha's in coldness.

"Having Larva for my partner was not my choice. However, his abilities are far more better than you can imagine." Larva was stunned. He turned to look at Miyu and gave her a surprised look. The last thing he had expected to hear from Miyu was praise for his abilities. It took him a few more seconds to realize finally that she was protecting him because by insulting him, Reiha was also insulting her. "I think we have wasted enough time, Reiha. You know what I want."

"What make you think I will give it to you? Homicide is under our department, not yours."

"The coroner just confirmed to us that the victim died from an overdose so we have the right to know."

"You have the witnesses information, why do you need mine?"

"Because every information is important." Reiha turned to look at Larva. He gave her a questioning look. "You do know that, don't you?"

Reiha's eyes flashed with anger but she remained remarkably calm. "I can see why you like him so much."

"Liking him is not my choice. Now, stop wasting my time," Miyu simply answered.

"I have nothing to tell you."

"Everyone that was present at the scene must give their statement whether they like it or not."

"I am not a suspect so I don't need to give one."

"Refusing to give me your statement automatically makes you one."

"Are you accusing me of murder?"

"Am I?" Miyu and Reiha stared at each other coldly. Larva was watching this battle with great interest.

Reiha smiled at Miyu and turned to go back to her work. "I am busy. This is my case just as much as it is yours. However, I'd like to solve it my way and you'd like to solve it with your own method." She gave Miyu a challenging look. "Let's just see who can solve it first." With that said, she went back to work. Taking this as a dismissal, Larva and Miyu walked out of the office and out of the building.

"That was smooth," said Larva.

"Shut up." Miyu walked to her motorcycle and drove away. Larva smiled right after her and hopped onto his motorcycle.

*****

"Have you found anything yet?" Miyu turned around to find Larva standing at the door.

"Even if I have, it is none of your business," Miyu replied with a smile.

"True. It is not my business to care." Larva stepped into the room as he looked around the house for clues. After their meeting with Reiha, they had both decided to go back to the house and try to find some new clues. So far, all of the clues that they had gathered had lead them to a dead end. Larva looked at Miyu as she stood near a window. He noticed that it was the same window that she was looking at yesterday. "It is obvious that the killer did not come in from the front door," he said out loud. "He must have entered from that window."

"What makes you think that I am thinking about the window?"

"I have been watching you, my dear Miyu."

"I am glad that I am able to get your attention."

"It is hard not to because you look so cute."

"Your beautiful face can trick anyone but it cannot trick me." Miyu smiled at him as he gave her a frown. She walked towards him but on the way, her leg hit one of the trashcans in the room and knocked it over.

"And I thought I was clumsy," Larva muttered. He bent down to help her clean up the mess when something caught their eyes. They both reached for it at the same time and managed to clasp it at the same moment. Neither one of them were willing to let go so they automatically lifted it to a level where they could both see it. The thing that caught their attention was a piece of photograph."

"Here's more," said Miyu as she picked up some other pieces of the same photo. Within a few minutes, they had pieced back the whole picture.

"What kind of idiot would throw a torn-up picture of him and his girlfriend into the trashcan?"

"That's a stupid question," said Miyu. She was just as puzzled as Larva was but she didn't show it. If she would have looked up at that time, she would have seen fire dancing in Larva's eyes.

"That insult was not necessary, Miyu."

"Wasn't it?" She looked at him straight in the eye.

"What...oh." Larva stepped involuntarily backwards when he realized what Miyu meant. "That was a stupid question," he thought in amusement. "What kind of idiot would ask that kind of question? Only a stupid one would have done it." He smiled at Miyu and she returned it. "Thirsty?" he asked.

"Not really but there is something I'd like to show you."

*****

Larva sighed as he looked at the piece of brown cloth that was put carefully in a plastic bag. Miyu handed over some photos to him, and Larva scanned through them. The photos showed some shoe prints. Miyu took a drink from her tomato juice before she faced him.

"This piece of cloth was found stuck on Yuriko's windowpane. These footprints were found on that window." Larva hands over those photos to Miyu but he kept the bag that contained the cloth. One way or another, the piece of cloth looked familiar to him. His mind automatically flashed to his first suspect but from the way things appeared, the theory did not fit. Besides, he swore he had seen something similar to this piece of cloth somewhere before. Larva played with the plastic bag in his hand as he tried to recall where he saw that kind of colour and texture. Miyu, on the other hand, was flipping through those pictures. Minutes passed by and for a whole forty-five minutes they sat there deep in their thoughts.

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," Larva muttered. He looked up in surprise when Miyu answered.

"Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of Four, by Conan Doyle."

"You have read it?" Miyu frowns at his question.

"You think," she retorted. If Van was over here, he would be so happy to see Miyu finally lost her cool control. She flipped the photos in her hand with great frustration. "I know there is something that is important in these photos but why can't I see it," she thought angrily. To her, the case was turning towards a dead end and it was annoying her like crazy. It didn't help to have a guy, who had equalled you in wit and beaten you in fighting, throwing insults at you while you were trying to solve this irritating case.

When he first heard Miyu's retort, Larva instinctively became defensive. However, after having so many verbal battles with Miyu, he knew there must be a reason why she had said that. He sheepishly realized his idiotic remark. "Damn it!" he thought with frustration. "Of course she has read it. How else can she answer me so fast." He sighed. "Next time I'd better think before I speak. She is just too damn witty." With this in mind, Larva looked at the piece of cloth. Not knowing whether he was more frustrated with Miyu or the piece of cloth, he tosses it on the table in disgust. To his surprise, Miyu slammed the photos on the table sending them flying everywhere. Larva couldn't help but smile at her frustration.

"I think you'd better drink some more of your tomato juice." Miyu grabbed her drink and took a huge gulp. She sighed and started to relax. Her smile returned to her face, and she bent down to pick up some of the photos that had fallen on the floor. Larva picked up the plastic bag and was about to put it away when something suddenly crossed his mind. Something hit Miyu's mind at the same time as she stared at one of the photos in her hand.

"Larva!"

"Miyu!"

They called out each other name at the same time. Miyu stuck the photo in front of Larva's face, and he stuck the bag of cloth in front of her. Usually, they would be annoyed when someone did this to them but right now, it didn't matter.

"Check, please," yelled Larva when he finally caught onto what Miyu was indicating. Miyu gathered all the evidence and stuffed it back into a bag. "Score one for Conan Doyle."

*****

Sergeant Satou was sitting in his office when Larva bursted into his room. "What the..." He opened his mouth to yell at Larva but before he could do it, Larva plopped down a huge package of evidence.

"Now you got the evidence, catch him." With that said, Larva stalked out of the room. Sergeant Satou opened up the package, and his eyes widened from seeing the contents. After looking over it for a good fifteen minutes, he stuck his head out and yelled out to the cops in his department.

"Reiha!!! We've got work to do!"

Larva came out of the building with a smile. "The case is finally over," he thought to himself. He turned to the corner where he had parked his motorcycle. Miyu was standing next to his motorbike. She looked up when she saw him approaching her.

"Results."

"Priceless." Miyu giggled when he told her the way Reiha looked as she heard that they had solved the case. Miyu got on her motorcycle and Larva got onto his.

*****

Larva and Miyu were dinning in a restaurant when the TV flashed to the news report. They exchanged a smile when they heard that the police had arrested Yuji Shirow for the murder of Yuriko Kinomoto. Miyu put down her fork and looked at Larva. Larva met her eyes and stopped eating.

"I was watching you," he simply explained. "I saw you hanging around the window and looking at the flowers when I went to interview Mrs. Kazuya. The way you were looking around that area made me realize that the killer must have entered from there. I also noticed how you had intentionally dropped your pen to look at Tsukasa's shoes. That's how I knew that you were suspecting Tsukasa."

"And you gained your suspicion from the conversation that you had from Mrs. Kazuya." Larva nodded his head. "I thought it was Tsukasa at the beginning because Cain recognized his photo when I presented it to him. The shirt he was wearing that day was also the exact same texture as the piece of cloth that was found near the window. All the evidences pointed to him."

"However, things just didn't seem right." Miyu smiled at him, and nodded her head in agreement. "What made you disregard Tsukasa as a suspect?"

"Dramatic. It was too dramatic. The shoe print was exactly Tsukasa's size. His shirt, the torn picture, the argument that Yuji overheard, and the way she died were just too dramatic to be in real life."

"Hmm...and then you discovered the shoe print." He smiled at her. "And I discovered the connection with the piece of cloth."

"Everything was just a set-up by Yuji to frame Tsukasa. Once we found out the connections between those two evidence, everything just fell into place."

After doing some intensive investigation the whole afternoon, Larva and Miyu finally pieced together the whole story. Yuriko used to date Yuji before she met Tsukasu. At the beginning their relationship was going very well, but as time passed by, Yuriko finally broke up with him because she couldn't handle his persistent obsession with her. After they broke up, Yuji seemed to make peace with Yuriko. During that time, Yuriko met Tsukasa and fell in love with him. Yuji quickly became his friend and was constantly seeing them two. However, unknown to them, Yuji still loved Yuriko and his love quickly turned to hate. For the last three years, Yuji and Tsukasa always hang around with each other and every week, they had at least one night that they would spend the night out.

For these past few years, Yuji had planned carefully for this murder. He intentionally told Mrs. Kazuya a made-up story about Yuriko and Tsukasa's argument. He brought Tsukasa with him when he went to buy drugs (Tsukasa did not know that Yuji was buying drugs) hoping that one of the people over there would recognize him. On the day of the murder, he intentionally told Tsukasa that they were going to meet at 11:30. Knowing that Tsukasa had such a poor memory with schedule, he knew that Tsukasa would not be suspicious when Yuji told him a lie. He went to Yuriko's house around 10:00, and sneaked in from the back window. He caught Yuriko by surprise and strangled her with her scarf. As she was losing conscious, he released her and injected an overdose of cocaine into her. She quickly died from that overdose. He then placed the bottle of cocaine on the table and tipped it over. He took a picture that had Yuriko and Tsukasa in it and ripped it into pieces. He then implanted a piece of cloth, which was the exact same texture that Tsukasa was wearing on that day, and placed it on the window. He turned off Yuriko's stereo and switched off the lights. The piece of scarf that was found stuck on the coat hanger was intentionally left there to explain the buises on her neck. With all these things done, he stepped out from the window and made sure that he have leave some footprint over there. He quickly jammed back home and played his last role. His plan would have worked if Miyu hadn't noticed the muddy shoes in his apartment and that the mud on the shoes were consistent with the mud near Yuriko's house. The size of his shoe also fit the size of the footprint that was left outside the window perfectly. Adding to this, Larva noticed that the piece of cloth was similar to the shirt he had tripped over on.

"Sometimes evidence can just fall right into your lap," said Larva. He noticed that Miyu was sitting there lost in thoughts.

"Human beings is quite a weird species," she murmured. "People kill for love and believe in love. Yet all these things are just futile illusions. How long will they continue to die for this illusion? How long will it take for them to discover that love is just a futile belief?"

"Do you really believe in what you are saying?"

"Why would I say it if I don't believe it?"

"An illusion." Larva nodded his head. "A futile chase isn't it?" He took a sip from his coffee. "I guess you're right." He lifted his glass of wine into the air. "Who said that Conan Doyle was a fool? A toast, Miyu?"

She nodded and lifted her glass of tomato juice up right next to the glass he was holding. The inside of the restaurant resounded with the brisk clink of the two glasses. To some people, this might seem to be a toast to Doyle but for Miyu and Larva, this sealed their partnership and a new beginning.

Author's note: Hehehe...I hope you like this chapter. I know it is kind of boring but the next chapter is going to be exciting. However, it won't be up very soon because there is another fic that I need to work on, and I put that as first priority over this fic. Tell me what you guys think of it. Oh yeah, thank you for all of your review. I know I have some grammar problem and I am trying to correct them. I am sorry if this causes anyone any discomfort but I hope you know I am working hard on it. I hope this chapter is better than the first. Thank you once again for your reviews. I really appreciate them. Oh yeah, I will like to know should I raise the rating for this fanfic. The reason why I think I should do so because I am going to be using the word "hell" for some of the following chapters. If I should, please tell me. Thank you.