Disclaimer: In first chapter

Warnings: In first chapter

NB: I chose to use the Neko-jin term for Rei as per the common idea that male neko’s are in some ways hermaphroditic or have such internal abilities, this is for the indirect connotations made to Rei being referred to as a Hyena.

Chapter Two – Nothing Makes Sense

The air was heating up quickly despite it being early morning with fog still gathering round plants and grass, all this as the wind settled and people started into the normal daily work, school and basic daily routines, on a side road somewhere off a California highway exit the police gathered to assess an early morning body.

The cars blocked off the roads and everybody gathered at certain points, talking, deliberating and doing not much else since they had been ordered not to. There was a small bout of louder talking briefly near a car close to the side of the road but it died down when a grey Chevy pulled up and parked alongside the many other cars on the outside of the boundaries.

Getting out of his car, chewing a piece of gum non too ceremoniously, Detective Rei Kon slammed the car door and glanced around over the tops of his Ray Ban’s, adjusting his gun holster belt with one hand as he started approaching a group of recognizable police officers, Rei carried a box of donuts balanced on one hand, always faithful to the cliché of police officers.

The cops previously chatting happily quieted down and pulled in a little tighter when they saw Rei approaching,

“Here comes the hyena…” one of the shorter cops commented and Bryan, who was relatively new to the force of Los Angeles and had been roughly introduced to Rei Kon recently as his partner, frowned and looked at the lean and rather unapproachable young Chinese male.

Rei stopped in front of them and handed the box to the first person to reach out and he gave them all a once over after taking his Ray Ban’s off his face, his hazel honey eyes focusing on Bryan, who was his designated ‘partner’ for the time being. Bryan nodded his greeting even though he was a little irritated with the situation, having not been allowed to do anything until Rei arrived.

Rei nodded when they said thanks for the donuts and he turned to walk, pulling up the sleeves of his leather jacket that he wore over a tight navy shirt which revealed his toned upper body through the material, he wasn’t a big guy but he was fit.

Bryan Kuznetsov, who was taller and brawnier than Rei, stepped through his colleges now indulging in donuts to catch up to Rei who had made a bee line for the road barrier.

When he was beside Rei who stopped at the barrier Bryan gave Rei a once over that ended in a half hearted glare at the neko-jin male who was chewing the bubble gum like he wanted it to disintegrate between his teeth, eyes narrowed down at the bottom of the bank.

“Why can’t I go inside the perimeter?” Bryan asked trying to sound casual.

Rei stopped chewing and glanced at Bryan before digging into his jacket pocket, regretting wearing it because he was starting to sweat as the sun got higher and his black bangs were irritating him because the clung to the fine sweat on his face.

“I told them not to let anybody in…” he answered and pulled out a pair of plastic gloves and pulled them onto his hands, he then handed Bryan a pair and noticed the questioning expression on the other’s face making Rei sigh and take steps over the high road barrier,
“It’s your first homicide. I didn’t want you stepping on your tongue.” He told the barely younger man who had followed over and looked offended.

Rei wasn’t tactful and couldn’t really give a shit about it as he looked again down the slight slanting hill next to the off road side, there were a lot of tree’s and a small stream of water that ran just before the trees were very clustered.

“Take this.” Rei slapped something against Bryan’s chest and he glanced at Rei, who was being continually rude and then at the plastic bag with two objects inside it, he took it,

“What is it?” he asked about the bag and noticed Rei was looking more irritable by the second as a light sheen of sweat collected on his forehead.

“Important tool…” he mumbled “…hey boys!” Rei yelled at someone else in his rude tone.

Bryan looked at the people walking around at the bottom of the hill, the guys in their uniforms looking up with recognition to Rei’s authoritive voice,

“Snack time…set up a staging area!” Rei ordered them again without any manner of being polite and Bryan found himself shaking his head slightly.

Two guys started making their way up and despite Rei’s rudeness one was smiling as he reached the top,

“This place will be crawling with people…” he paused and stepped over the barrier, Rei glancing at him, “…including our chief.”

Rei made a scoffing sound and adjusted his Ray Ban’s hanging from the top pocket of his jacket,
“Steve?” Rei said the name indifferently, “…yeah, Steve is not a cop.” He dismissed the chief of the police department and started his way down the small steep hill, making Bryan follow again even though it sort of irked him.

“Hey Darnell, get out of my crime scene, come on!” Rei said exasperatedly to the only cop left moving around near the bottom of the hill,

“Sorry Rei.” The guy apologized also with a smile and started moving, leaving Bryan with the impression that they were all used to the way he spoke to them.

Rei then glanced over his shoulder as if just remembering Bryan was with him,
“There’s only one way into a crime scene…” he said loudly and looked forward again, “…put your foot where mine goes and nowhere else.” He instructed right as he started making large steps on solid jutting mounds in the dark sand and grass to steadily get down.

Bryan listened; walking in the awkward slightly smaller boot prints left by Rei and soon they reached the bottom and walked toward the body a little ways in and a few feet from the stream, which they walked over with ease since the water was very shallow. The over whelming smell of damp wood and grass was all Bryan could smell when they reached the body which looked cold where it was exposed from around the shoulder’s upward, wrapped in a white plastic and tied into it as well with a light but thick rope.

Rei crouched down near the head of the deceased and he assessed what was visible,
“Ready?” he glanced up at the Bryan who stood just behind him and nodded evenly, Rei flashed a half smile and his sharper canines made it seem mocking, “…you ever do this in vice?” he turned back to the body.

Bryan crouched down next to Rei,

“No.” he answered.

Rei’s eyes were surveying the area around them and he spotted something in the mud and he pointed to it,

“Right there.” He referred to the imprint just after the mud near the water.

Bryan stood up and shifted, moving closer to see it,

“Looks like some kind of boot.” He said honestly seeing the shape of the treads in the dark soil.

He looked back to Rei who had also moved to the other side of the body and he walked over with him and saw as Rei smelled something that he touched with his gloved finger,

“What’s this smell like to you?” he asked and pushed his finger into Bryan’s face.

Bryan sniffed the sour substance and let out a breath turning away from the yellow and brown substance,

“Smells like vomit.”

“That’s what I thought…” Rei nodded to himself and stood up not looking at Bryan, “…bag some up for the lab.” He told him and moved over to the body again.

Bryan only now realizing what Rei had given him, opened the small plastic bag and took out the plastic tube container and the plastic stick provided, he started picking up small bits of the vomit and dropping it into the small tube.

Rei was crouching as he stared at the face of the dead girl, completely naked and wrapped in the tacky plastic, her skin had turned a bluish hue from her body being left in the cold over night. She was a pretty woman; Rei estimated she was in her early thirties, she had fair natural blonde hair and despite her eyes becoming a dead light of the color they used to be, the irises were still a dull blue as they remained wide open and unseeing. He kept his anger in check as he was looking at the visible lines of strangulation on her exposed throat and the strange poking wounds on her upper arms and the front her chest.

He couldn’t help feeling angry and he brought his arm up, leaning his elbow on his knee and placing his lips against his mid forearm, somehow feeling a little too personally involved as he stared at her wide open eyes and the marks on her neck.

Bryan had stood up and taken two steps to be at Rei’s side again and he noticed how the hazel eyes stared distantly at the woman’s face,
“What’s the matter?” he asked as he crouched down again next to him.

Rei glanced at him and all at once his composure returned,
“Nothing.” Rei answered and he leaned a little forward and narrowed his eyes, “Notice the hemorrhaging…”

Bryan leaned forward too and Rei moved back when Bryan’s face got too close, but he said nothing and just looked at what Rei had pointed out,
“She was strangled.” He offered and Rei gave a subtle nod,

“Finger shaped marks around the neck.” Rei mumbled and leaned closer again seeing as Bryan had moved back.

Rei started to move the plastic open to see more of the woman’s form and look for other wounds, he managed to get it down closer to her stomach area and stranger puncture wounds were dotting her swollen cold skin. One of her arms was at an awkward position and Rei pointed to the visible hand with three blue finger tips and a thumb,
“Look at this.” He nudged Bryan who was little caught off guard by the sudden and again, rude, gesture.

He never the less looked at the hand and he noticed the severed finger which had bled out through the stub and turned a pinkish blue and yellow as it started to decay,
“Clean cut.” Rei commented and this time he looked at Bryan directly in his face as if waiting for him to say something.

Bryan glanced at the hand and made a ‘it must be’ expression before saying,
“Trophy?”

“That’d be my guess.” Rei answered still looking at Bryan, they were about a foot apart and Rei’s eyes seemed to see right into his head, Bryan wondered if Rei could see how uncomfortable he was making him and he cleared his throat.

Rei blinked and it became apparent to Bryan he had been in deep thought about something. He turned to her body again and lightly touched over three of the bruises visible against her dead skin,

“Defensive wounds.” He mumbled and he stared at her face.

Bryan glanced between the dead woman and Rei’s face, so somber as he stared at the dead woman,

“She put up a fight.” Bryan gave a small nod and watched Rei’s lips form a small bitter smile,
“Good for you.” He mumbled to the dead woman and Bryan made no judgment of it because he didn’t really know Rei much, although he decided after spending just these past few minutes that it might be interesting to get to know him…or frightening.

“This is a secondary crime scene.” Rei’s smile was gone and his eyes were sharp again as he looked over the rest of the body.

Bryan came out of his random thoughts with a frown and Rei glanced at him,
“Why…?” He asked.

Bryan looked at what Rei was looking at and he summed up the answer and said it aloud,
“This wound would produce a lot of blood…” he pointed to a larger wound on the stomach area, “…there’s very little here.” He nodded to himself making mental notes of all of it as Rei questioned and waited for him to point it out.

“What about these?” Rei questioned him again and pointed to the puncture wounds dotting her skin in a dull brown/blue color.

“Piquerism.” Bryan answered seeing the quick sharp dotting wounds and frowning at their disturbing nature.

Rei stood up,
“Pre or post mortem?” he raised an eyebrow at Bryan and pulled his one latex glove off with a snap, tucking his long black stray bangs behind his ears.

“Post…no blood.” Bryan pointed to a few of them and looked up at Rei.

Rei gave a half smile and Bryan noticed that he was still chewing gum,
“Not bad vice.” Rei nodded to him and Bryan stood up just in time to keep up as Rei turned on his heel and strode back toward the hill where more people where arriving and coming down, Bryan taking note of how tightly bound Rei’s long hair was behind his back, just short of touching the high grass.

He knew Bryan was right beside him,
“Probably aced your detective’s exam.” He commented with no particular tone of voice and Bryan just shrugged when Rei glanced at him. The questioning and interest was short lived when they reached the top of the hill, the sun much more pronounced now especially away from the damp cool air at the bottom of the hill and lots of forensics and police people were without jackets and had their sleeves rolled up.

Rei pulled the second glove off when he reached the top, stuffing it inside out into his jeans back pocket and then started pulling his jacket off while stepping over the barrier,
“The wind is picking up, we’ll lose evidence!” he randomly announced making a few people move toward the road barrier faster, “…hold onto everything we find.” He told the same people, holding his jacket loosely in his free hand his eyes glanced over at Bryan again who had noticed they were approaching a few specific people.

Rei handed him the used gloves from his pocket and Bryan took them with an annoyed frown as Rei slipped a hand into his jeans pocket, standing before one of the other officers and they nodded at each other as greeting,
“Any idea who she is?” Rei asked with no hesitation.

“No. No car and no ID.” The man answered shortly and Rei shook his head,

“Jane Doe.” He didn’t say good bye as he walked away again in fast strides and Bryan handed the gloves over to a passing police officer and caught up to Rei who had opened his car door and then stopped.

Leaning against the top of the car, the door between them Rei gave him a questioning look.

Bryan glanced around,
“You headed back to the station?”

Rei nodded and pulled his glasses out of his jacket pocket before tossing the heavy leather onto the back seat, seeing Bryan standing and fidgeting Rei slipped his Ray Ban’s on and tilted his head,
“You want something?”

Bryan thought the question sounded both naughty and nice if it made any sense and he first shook his head before nodding once,
“Well, could I get a ride?” he tapped the hood of the car idly.

Rei glanced at his car and back at Bryan,
“How’d you get here?” he asked in a monotone.

“I came here in a police car with another officer from the station.” Bryan answered and saw a small smirk tugging at Rei’s lips before it disappeared and Rei got in and shut the door.

“Yeah…come on.” He said through the open window and Bryan moved rather quickly around the car to get in.

The heat was a pain but the distraction was an even greater one as he stared at the person’s head two feet in front of him, occasionally his blue eyes slipping over to the desk where Kai sat, his head bowed and staring at the paper on the desk, the pen could be seen occasionally scraping over the paper as Kai held it.

They were in the middle of a test and Tala hadn’t even looked at his sheet, his pencil had become slippery from the perspiration in his hand and his fingers twitched over the smooth surface as he tapped it lightly against the desk, his leg moving up and down from nerves as well. His blue eyes looked relaxed and so did his shoulders, but his lips were closed a little tightly as he sat trying not to bite the inside of his cheek. Even his hair ,that the ceiling fans of the classroom would occasionally blow the wispy strands into his face irritated him and he had to brush them back several times as he stared at the teacher.

The teacher walked around the front of the class aimlessly and occasionally glancing up to see that everyone did as told and stayed quiet and focused.

“Hey, Bonaparte.”

The whisper went unacknowledged as Tala didn’t even look at the girl sitting to his right, in the desk directly behind Kai’s, he’d rather ignore anyone and everyone who he loathed, it made more sense.

“What’s the matter?” a deeper and un-hushed voice sounded in a questioning tone.

He turned his head to her slightly when he noticed her shift to see that the teacher was looking at her and she gave a half smile at the older man when he tipped his head down to see her over his glasses.

“Miss Tatibana?” he questioned again with a raised eyebrow and she again smiled apologetically and glanced at Tala before returning to her paper.

Tala blinked before looking away from her and at the back of Kai’s head, bringing the back of the pencil between his teeth he started to chew on it idly. Minutes passed and he was only aware of it when the teacher made a soft clap with his hands and stood at the front looking over them all.

“Time’s up, your pen’s down.” He instructed and with a dull murmur the sounds of small clicks moved throughout the room, Tala stopping his chewing and placed the pencil down grudgingly, he was irritated with himself for not being able to concentrate and because of that now having failed the test.

“Exchange you’re test with your neighbor.”

Tala did as the teacher said and with another dull shuffling sound throughout the class the papers were passed, Tala didn’t spare a glance at Hiwatari’s head this time as he looked at the brown haired girl holding out her paper to him, which he took and handed his in exchange.

He placed it down and anxiously touched his hair, biting his lip as the familiar burn of frustration built up in his chest while listening to the teacher call out the answers.

“Number 5 is C…’Burnt Norton’.”

This went on for about 5 minutes before the marking ended and Tala having made the necessary marks next to the answers placed the pen down and lifted the paper up, his fingers leaving small pads of light moisture on the side of the sheet.

“Please pass the tests forward.”

He handed her paper forward to the person in front so it could be sent forward and he noticed her smiling.

“I suppose you find it funny.” Tala commented as he leaned over to his bag next to his leg and she stopped smiling,
“What?” she asked just audibly over the murmur in the room now that the test had ended.

Tala let his eyes linger on her serious expression for a moment as he lifted his bag into his lap,

“Me flunking a pop quiz.” He elaborated for her and packed the few things into his bag from his desk.

“You didn’t flunk…” she handed his paper forward, “…you got 15 out of 17.” She smiled again and Tala swallowed the dryness in his mouth, hating the accelerated beating of his heart when the reality of her cheating his test for him set in.

The school bell was still ringing when Tala exited the classroom and walked quickly and steadily away from the claustrophobic atmosphere being one of the few people first out of the classroom, the school had open sections where class doors opened straight into the school grounds and closed hall classrooms and he was thankful that he’d been in one of the open ones because he managed to make it to the stairs before too many people crowded it.

He carried a bag slung over his shoulder and it was rather heavy with the books he had inside of it, it hurt the skin on his thin shoulders even through the two shirts he wore, one long sleeve black shirt and dark brown short sleeve over it with a dark grey jeans and sneakers.

In the short distance he walked a lot of people were now around, all talking and chatting about whatever business they had to keep themselves busy and making plans for the afternoon, boyfriends meeting up with their girlfriends and sharing the open displays of affection. Tala’s eyes were focused mainly on the ground directly ahead of his feet and his steps felt weighted.

His left shoulder hunched a bit more due to the weight of the bag and he could feel the sun already starting to cause slight moisture on his face, his neck felt sticky.

“Wait up…I wanna talk to you!”

Belatedly recognizing the voice calling from behind him, Tala glanced over his shoulder not really expecting it to be directed at him but when he looked again he slowed down when he saw the brown haired girl coming down the stairs hurriedly and smiling at him.

Hillary Tatibana.

This girl may have behaved unusually generous to him in a class but to be coming toward him smiling made Tala’s shoulder’s tense and he glanced around to see a few people look at them with mild disinterest. She caught up to him and he looked over her as she stood before him, he stepped back to put a bit more space between them as she’d stopped a bit too close.

She was still smiling and fiddling with the strap of her bag on her shoulder, wearing a random logo figure hugging t shirt and her denim skirt was quite short, the medium high heel boots she wore made her look a bit trashy, that and the lining of dark pencil and purplish eye shadow around her light brown eyes with the reddish lip stick on her full feminine lips.

Tala found it a bit hard to make eye contact with a girl considered ‘hot’ at this school, it felt unnatural for him, who fit in with the awkward unimportant lot at the school and even then not really. But he remained there anyway and faced her but he didn’t give her a friendly face,
“Why did you do that?” he asked her flat out referring to in the class.

She smiled again and swayed lightly but purposely as she stood, making her appear to be as air headed as she looked,
“I have my motives.” She nodded and stepped a little closer again, making him take a half a step back,
“Like what?” he started moving away and she caught his arm making Tala look rather stunned as she faced him with a more serious look,
“I need your help for my physics midterm.”

He found this odd but the fact that it wasn’t something devilish and prank like he decided to humor her, plus talking to a popular and very pretty girl in the school didn’t draw as much attention as he’d thought it might, he slipped his hand into his pocket and gripped the strap of his bag with the other hand,
“Why me?” he asked her quietly.

She looked around and made a sigh, still holding his elbow she gave a sigh and rolled her eyes, looking a bit cute,
“Because…you’re a genius, okay?” she leaned forward when she said it and her eyes looking like they emphasized ‘please’ so Tala didn’t back away this time and he nodded his answer feeling a little easier about the whole thing for some reason.

“I live at 118 Chandler…can you remember that?” she asked smiling and he nodded again now backing away from her to continue on his way home, “…around 7.” She added and he turned walking quickly with his eyes back on the ground and not looking at anyone.

Hillary lingered and smiled genuinely as she watched Tala walk away slouched and quiet. Kai who had been standing and half bent over, leaning on his leg against the fountain platform about a meter away talking to a group of kids he was familiar with, had watched and heard the entire exchange. He had a lazy smile on his face as he spoke to one of the girls and she smiled back bedazzled by his naturally gorgeous demeanor.

When Hillary waked by he turned to look after her and he stood up straight,
“Hey Hillary.” He smiled and she turned to him and a look something between irritation and indifference came over her face before she gave a lame sarcastic wave and continued walking.

Kai’s smile lingered and he ran his tongue over his top lip before he turned back to the attention of the girl flirting shamelessly with him.

Sometime between the murder scene and the paper work at the station, Rei had managed to be followed around by Bryan and had to tell him every little thing he did and it was pestering to say the least but Bryan seemed keen on Rei’s heels so he left him.

He was too distracted by other things anyway, having to deal with a new homicide and his own personal problems.

He thought back to that morning when he’d checked his post and seen exactly what he’d probably prayed not to see for a very long time if ever, it had plagued him, especially after seeing the body that morning, but having that kind of thinking distract him would not do any good anyway so he had forced it from his head, dealing with it when he was home later was his best choice, besides that, having his new ‘partner’ following him around like a pet made it risky to be caught off guard and seem like a daydreamer.

By the time it was early evening Rei was exhausted from work and keeping his mind busy, he had a box of files to take home with him to go over that he carried as he was walking through a few rows of desks, nodding as a few people said bye and he had the keys to the police car in the box and his jacket slung over the top.

He was looking at the side of his foot as he walked because he was certain that something had been stuck to his shoe when he nearly walked into the person who stepped out from one of the desks.

“Watch it man…” Rei said to Bryan not caring that he had stepped out purposely,
“You got your hands pretty full.” Bryan commented and Rei stared at him, Ray Ban’s always nearby and this time on top of his head, keeping a few pieces of hair back while other strands were obviously tickling his face.

“Can I take that?” Bryan offered and Rei made a small face of appreciation and dumped the box in Bryan’s arms, taking his jacket off the top,
“You’re driving too.” He said and walked passed Bryan who had a bit of a wide eyed expression on his face.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The drive was quiet, it was the same police car they’d arrived at the station in after being at the murder scene and Bryan assumed he’d be picking Rei up the following morning since he was the designated driver all of a sudden.

He looked over at Rei who had given him basic directions some time ago and was now going through one of the files from the box at his feet, Bryan taking the distraction as an opportunity to look at Rei properly.

The long bound hair tail currently hung over Rei’s shoulder while the front bangs where tucked haphazardly behind his ears, the Ray Ban’s still on top of his head and Rei was biting his thumb nail with the slightly sharper than usual canine teeth. Rei was probably only a year or so older and Bryan was 23.

Rei was fit, tight muscles and no bulk which was visible through the navy blue shirt, whereas Bryan was muscular and taller than Rei, he didn’t have the youthful good looks Rei had, but rather more chiseled square features, strong jaw and short hair making him a bit jock like, even though Rei was probably way more athletically fit.

He thought his occasional glances were going unnoticed as Rei was absorbed by what he was reading, but Rei had noticed and he didn’t say anything, opting to remain silent until he’d counted it enough time and looked up, suddenly breaking the silence and dropping the last few directions while packing the files back into the boxes.

“Turn right.” Rei announced.

Bryan noticed they’d driven by docks and were now coming to a long docking area with a pier lined by a few shops, a bar and some other random lodgings running along it, the dull blue/green water sloshing around as the tides came in, he leaned forward over the steering wheel to see the pier better, a few people walking around as he drove the car slowly onto the uneven gravel road, stopping when he couldn’t go any further.

“It’s right there.” Rei pointed without looking to a smallish boat at the back of the wooden docks, connected to the small pier by a large old rope.

Rei got out and grabbed the box and his jacket, Bryan got out too and they closed the doors at the same time.

“A house boat, neat.” Bryan was smiling and he walked with Rei passed the docks barrier.

Rei looked at him when he caught up to walk beside him,

“Neat indeed.” He commented dully and walked a bit faster, hearing his heavy footsteps on the wood and then more as Bryan’s heavier steps could be heard as well.

“I like it out here, not too many people.” Rei elaborated in case it was necessary and he stopped at the small rope closing off his personal piece of the pier where his boat was. He looked at Bryan who had leaned by him and moved the rope off its post so he could pass with a bit of a frown,
“Thanks…see you tomorrow.” Rei stated a little stiffly.

But Bryan had become immune to this because he smiled a little and gestured for Rei to go forward and onto the boat causing Rei to lower the box so he held it only supported by his hands, his arms straight and he tilted his head, squinting his eyes as the setting sun was behind Bryan’s head now and getting in his eyes,
“You gonna see me to the door?” he asked sounding mildly amused.

“Of course.” Was the equally amused response from the other man.

Rei wasn’t particularly enjoying this and he had noticed Bryan’s interesting looks in the car but true to his reclusive nature he was always on the offensive,
“You made detective in four years…” Rei commented since it had taken him a year and a bit longer even though it was irrelevant and he glanced at Bryan who followed him as he stepped onto the boat surface.

The boat was relatively large and the front had an open area with an over head shelter before the door through which you step down into the living area. Bryan was surprised by the sturdiness of the boat; he’d half expected it to be unstable to step onto it.

Rei was having a bit of trouble getting his house key’s out of his pocket while holding the box and Bryan took the box from him, earning him an appreciative scoff as Rei pulled the key out,
“You must be smarter than you look.” He smiled at Bryan once the door was open and he stepped inside, it being his turn to scoff,

“Thank you.” He mumbled sarcastically.

Rei gave a light chuckle and he pointed at the table near the entrance for Bryan to put the box down, the lay out entering was on your right a sitting area with two couches and a small table. A small walk space separated the left side with a desk and chair for various paper work. Further in at the boat center on the right was a small kitchen with useful things such a medium sized fridge and microwave and sink, cupboards and counter surface, on the left a small eating nook with a table and two benches either side. Beyond that Bryan assumed from what he could see through a half opened door, was a bedroom area and another small door to a bathroom.

He was still mulling over the insult Rei had dealt him as he closed the ‘front’ door when Rei opened the fridge and bent down, leaving Bryan with a very enjoyable rear end view, but it was ruined when Rei stood up,
“It’ll only get worse, I warn you.” Rei told him as he offered a bottled beer to him, leaning on the waist high fridge door.

Bryan stepped over and took the bottle from Rei just returning a look of mild indifference and Rei narrowed his eyes with a small smile,

“You been talking to the boys?” he asked referring to the other guys on the police force who saw Rei as a bit of an over worker.

“I heard a few things.” Bryan had turned the cap off the bottle and sipped its contents moving back toward the small seating area as Rei was coming that way as well.

“They tell you why I was called the Hyena?” he asked with a small laugh.

Bryan raised an eyebrow,
“Why?”

“Because Hyena’s lack sexual dimorphism…” he said as he flopped onto one of the two sofas and Bryan just stood looking at him for further explanation, “…no great difference between male and female parts…since I’m neko-jin…” Rei trailed off not feeling the need to explain himself if Bryan didn’t know anything about his race and he sipped his beer, “…and I’m gay…” he added as an afterthought and Bryan showed no understanding.

“Draw your own conclusions…” Rei mumbled and leaned back.

Bryan stared at him after that, finding the last bit of information note able,
“Does that bother you?” he asked referring to the nick name and its connotations.

“It’s not really a problem…” Rei added and he stood up when Bryan moved too close to his desk with his personal papers on it, getting up and walking over, placing his hand on Bryan’s shoulder he took the beer from him,

“Anyway…I have things to do.” He told him rudely and he walked over and opened the front door.

Bryan, being used to it after the day he’d had around Rei, just nodded and smiled in an amused way as he stepped out, Rei was leaning on the door frame and smiling at Bryan in a way that made him feel like he was being watched by a predator.

“See you later…” Bryan said as he stepped backward and Rei bobbed his eyebrows while smiling, still holding Bryan’s beer as he closed the door. Rei watched through the small windows as Bryan walked back onto the peer and out of sight and he glanced at the beer.

A good looking man comes into his life and he couldn’t deny thinking Bryan was attractive and from the way he acted and stared he was pretty sure he had an admirer, and he’d outright told Bryan he was gay too, so there was no pretense left, on his side that is.

He placed Bryan’s beer down and walked over to his desk, moving the papers and pulling out the plain envelope addressed to him, the inside holding the summons to testify. He leaned against the desk as he took out the paper inside and read the name that still sent chills along his spine even after so much time had passed.

With a bitter smile he dropped the envelope down and lifted Bryan’s beer back up and then his own, carrying it with him to the back of his boat house with intent to drink both unfinished beers.

The Following Morning –

Rei leaned back with a sigh and stretched his arms out in front of him, his fingers linked together so his knuckles cracked when he did. He then placed them behind his head and his eye’s settled on Bryan who sat with his spectacles on his face, making him look somehow more sophisticated than he had yesterday when Rei had spent the day being forced to have his company.

Bryan was seated on the edge of his desk across from Rei’s and he was looking across the room to the white board mounted on the wall, columns separated for a few different aspects of the case that had been written down in Bryan’s neat handwriting. Rei cracked a smile when he glanced at the writing, Bryan was pretty neat and proper, with his shirt perfectly tucked into his perfectly ironed pants, which sat very meticulously just below where Rei estimated his belly button to sit, held up by a new looking belt.

Lean frame never hunched over even when he sat up without back support and his hair, short as it was, combed and gelled neatly to frame his masculine jaw line. Rei brought his arms to cross over his chest and placed a hand over his mouth as he stared at Bryan, he felt like a slob next to this guy and while it was annoying it was a pleasant change to not have some cliché fat and balding guy working with him.

Rei’s own dressing wasn’t very neat, but then again he didn’t dress like a detective most of the time, a tight T shirt usually with a pair of comfortable jeans and shoes and then a jacket over it, his hair always tied back so it didn’t get in his way, also tradition and some semblance of his religious upbringing forcing him to keep the troublesome hair the length it was.

He tilted his head to one side and scratched his neck when he noticed Bryan coming out of his deep thinking processes and tapping a pen to his lips, lips which Rei found more appealing today with a light layer of clear lip ice over it, not that Bryan had chapped lips, but Rei had to hand it to him for keeping away the horrible cut- lipped syndrome. Remembering this he licked at the corner of his dry lips and felt the hardened chaps forming as his focus fell back to the papers on his desk, avoiding being caught staring.

“No prints…” Bryan repeated something Rei had heard him mention earlier, “…the killer must have worn gloves.” He finished and bit the back of the pen before his light eyes focused on Rei who appeared very deep in thought as well.

“So it’s not a husband or a boyfriend.” Rei added, mostly just humoring Bryan while he drew mental conclusions on his own.

“Why?”

Rei had seen that one coming and he leaned forward over his desk picking up a pen and absently sliding it onto his ear to sit there, like he would if he had a cigarette, if he smoked, it was a strange habit.

“You don’t use gloves to kill your wife.” He stated with small sigh as he leaned an elbow on the desk and cupped his hand under his chin to support his head, looking at Bryan who looked at him right back.

The glare of the sunlight through the opened blinds making Bryan’s eyes hard to see as it reflected off his glasses, but his dark tone made Rei almost smile when he spoke,
“Unless you’ve thought about it.”

‘Comforting thought…’ Rei mused inside his head and moved on without looking away.

“Missing ring finger…ritual? Serial Killer?” he questioned watching Bryan intently as his frown became visible around his thin mouth.

“Maybe a comment on matrimony.” Bryan responded.

“A negative one…” Rei pointed out dully.

Rei decided Bryan was a pretty level headed guy, albeit being confusing to read from a personal perspective, reminding himself that that was not what he was meant to be doing, he averted his gaze and picked up the file laid out in front of him, leaning back again in his chair.

Bryan shifted, he could hear it because the desk creaked softly from the small loss of weight and Rei looked up when Bryan leaned on his desk with that eerie half not/half smile he had had the day before when Rei had practically shoved him out of the boat.

“Maybe we should investigate every bad marriage in the country.” He said with a certain amount of sarcasm and amusement.

Rei blinked in response and looked back down at his papers while his bangs fell forward annoyingly,
“Why don’t you get on that.” He said with equal sarcasm.

“Let’s start with you.” Bryan continued, not deterred in the least and Rei smirked as he started writing his own mental notes onto an open section in the case file to show Bryan he wasn’t paying much attention, “…ever been married?”

“Nope.” Rei answered easily, “…I told you I’m gay.” He added as an afterthought, not looking up, which if he had been, he might have noticed the pale eyes scanning over the untidy desk.

“So? It’s plausible, what made you gay.” It wasn’t a question, it was a stupid statement aimed at distraction and Rei realized too late when Bryan’s hand appeared in his line of vision and lifted a white envelope from the side of his lap top bag out.

“What’s this?” Bryan had pulled out the paper inside half way and read the court summons at the top.

Not thinking of his actions, Rei suspiciously got up quickly, rolling his chair back with the suddenness of it and grabbing the envelope from Bryan’s hands,
“Its…an old murder case I was involved in.” he mentally kicked himself for both his reaction and the fact he’d brought it with him to work and so he leaned his hands on his hips casually and tried to play it off,

“The guys on parole and they want me to testify.”

Bryan’s face was stony as he stared at Rei until he let his eyebrow rise, obviously about to question Rei further when their superior, the chief, entered the room and both of them turned their attention to him. Short and weighted with what was once probably bulky muscle, was now the flab and excess weight of Steven O’Rian. Rei’s face became visibly irritated and Bryan nodded his acknowledgment at the grumpy man who walked by them.

Before he disappeared from their sight though he stopped and turned around, just as Rei had slipped the envelope into his back jeans pocket temporarily to avoid questions about it.

“What do we have on Jane Doe?” he asked as if he were any contribution to the case.

Rei didn’t answer and sat down, pulling his chair back closer to the desk, leaving it to Bryan who was new and deserved the annoyance more than Rei,

“I’m checking missing person’s worldwide.” Bryan nodded; silently hoping Steve would leave now and not notice how empty the white board was.

“Run her prints, have an artist do a sketch.” Steve commented just as uselessly.

“I got it.” Bryan said patiently and respectfully with a light nod and Rei rolled his eyes and made himself appear busy with his lap top until he was sure Steve had left the scene.

Bryan looked at him and he looked back, both shaking their heads and sharing a smile before Bryan returned to his desk, to wait for the already submitted finger print results to come back.

Thanks for reading, please Review! xP