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By the time Kiryu called Sano, the police had arrived to take the gift basket and its victim away, and after questioning everyone they took him aside for questioning, which in turn led him to walk them back to Varan's office. Kiryu was first at the door, expecting Sano but not Sgt. Detective Murata, the turtle with boar-tusks in his clean-pressed shirt looking solemn as he could.

"Tsuchimura's...dead?" gasped Sanjin.

"I'm sorry for your loss," said the officer bowing, "may I take your statements about her last known movements?"

"Of course," Kiryu blinked shaking his head, "I just...can you give us a moment?"

"Fine."

There was a moment of silence, partly to honour her passing but also partly to vent their emotions swirling inside them. Sano was still weeping, clutching his face with Obara sobbing as Varan pulled him close. Kiryu could only stare at the ground and rub his head, wanting to cry with them but the shock had paralysed his face.

"I understand Tsuchimura was employed in your company?" asked Murata.

"She was," Varan nodded pinching his snout.

"When did you last see her?"

"When she came in, about 9, 10am?"

"Alright, what about you?" the detective turned to Kiryu.

"I was in town with her," said the saurian sighing, "we went to the batting centre, we stayed there until 5pm, then came back to the office and worked until she left at 7pm."

"Can anyone confirm that?" the sergeant scribbled in his notes.

"Obara-kun was here, he saw me and her come back."

"I-i did," the junior gasped shivering, "she...sh-she was really happy because K-kiryu went all over town, looking for a Kutie Kelpie for her daughter's-"

"That'll do," Murata put up his hand, "what else?"

"She left our office around 7pm. She, she takes a taxi back, the ranks down there that's how she gets home."

"Did you see her enter the taxi?" asked the detective.

"No," Kiryu shook his head, "we just waved her goodbye out the door."

"Did she have any enemies?"

"Wha, what enemies would she have?!" Sano grabbed his spikes. "Sh-she was the sweetest lady-wh-what are you saying?!"

"I am only asking to ascertain information, sir. We found a Toho Clan badge in the basket, I need to know if anyone-"

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER, NOT EVEN HER OWN FAMILY KNEW-"

"SANO!" Kiryu stepped in front with a hand to his chest. "Cool it. Murata, did you just say you found her clan badge?"

"Yes," said the detective, "that's why we questioned your friend here, who I should warn that he control himself-"

"CONTROL MYSELF?!" Anguirou screamed. "ONE OF MY FRIENDS JUST GOT_FUCKING MURDERED!_"

"_SHUT THUH FUCK UP! _"

Varan grabbed him hard and stared into his eyes, shutting down his anger with a piercing shout and burning gaze that petrified Sano enough to take a deep breath before Obakimura turned back to the officer.

"Sorry fer that," the patriarch bowed, "I apologise for my subordinate's behaviour, we're very upset about our friend and no Tsuchimura-san had no enemies, no one even knew she worked for us, not even her family."

"What about her badge?" Murata kept writing.

"She never wore it, wuz more like a ceremonial thing."

"Was there anything unusual about her movements before her death?"

"No," Varan shook his head, "except, I didn't get any calls from her this morning, I was expectin' one but there wuz nothing, she always calls ahead to lemme know her day plans but, I assumed she wuz just busy with her daughter's birthday."

"She's really sick," whimpered Obara, "oh jeez wh-what'll happen to her now, it's just her and her dad th-this is horrible!"

"Her family's been notified as we speak," said the turtle, "again, I'm sorry for your loss."

"Th-thank you, sir."

"If you remember anything else, please let me know. Until then, good day."

He handed them his police card and walked off down the street. Stepping back into their office, the Obakimura family sat down in their seats staring towards Tsuchimura's empty desk. Sano slumped into the sofa, mentally drained as he rolled facedown into the leather and started sobbing again whilst Obara dug his fingers into his face, his large ears wilting as Sanjin and Kiryu simply closed their eyes.

"What the fuck," Sano whimpered, "wh-what the FUCK, who the f-fuck would do this to her?!"

"The police will find out," Varan slumped in his seat, "just have to let them handle it-"

"BUT WHY WAS IT HER?!" the sofa cushion ripped when Anguirou gouged his horn through. "Any of us I'd understand, me, you, Kiryu, BUT NOT TSUCHI-CHAN!"

"I don't think it was personal." Kiryu rubbed his chin. "You said you...found her in a gift basket right, at the hostess club?"

"Y-yeah...wait." He sat up facing him. "N-no, no you don't think it-"

"Who else would do something like that?"

"No, no c-come on dude that fucker disappeared!"

"Didn't find their body though did they?" Varan looked to his side. "They only disappeared, we all just hoped they were dead but, coulda just done disappeared."

"Who are you talking about?" Gonkuro looked up with reddened eyes. "Who...K-kiryu-san do you know who did this?"

"I don't," the saurian shook his head, "but there's only one kaiju in this city that does exactly what happened to Tsuchi-chan. The Host."

The elders clenched with a deep breath. Obara looked nervously around their faces as he shook his head confused.

"Who...who's the Host?"

"A serial killer," said Sanjin crossing his arms, "back about eighteen months, before you joined up, gift baskets were popping up in clubs with thuh head an' severed parts of a victim. Seventeen kaiju were killed like this, over four months before they suddenly stopped an' thuh Host just disappeared, never found."

"They were never caught?"

"Nope. Could be a copy killer but-"

"It's a lot of effort," Kiryu shook his head, "not exactly easy to tamper with gift baskets in a club-"

"What's your fucking probleml?!" Sano shot up onto his feet. "Tsuchi-chan got murdered, and now you wanna play detective?!"

"Thuh fuck else do I do?!" Varan slammed his fist. "I know you want vengeance, don't lie, I want it too, but whether it's thuh Host or sum ripoff, we can't do shit! It's the police's problem now, they'll keep us updated."

"I kept thinking he was gonna arrest us," said Obara shaking his head, "I mean we are yakuza-"

"They have rules," said Kiryu waving his hand, "even if we're Toho Clan, they can't do anything unless they have direct evidence of our actions."

"But, how?"

"We have good lawyers," said Varan waving a finger, "they learned in thuh past that if you come at thuh king, you better not miss."

"Oh."

Dead silence filled the room. Their mouths turned dry, Obara started shivering again as Sano sat down in his regular seat filled with holes staring into his computer screen.

"Anyone want a drink?" Kiryu stood up eventually. "I'll get some sake from the store to clear our heads."

"That'd be great," Anguirou nodded, "be careful, alright Kiryu?"

"I will."

He rubbed Sano's shoulder before leaving and stepped out into the evening, the sky turning a dismal grey with a sea of silver clouds blocking the sun from his view. The Poppo store near his office was like a lighthouse in the mist, guiding him to a place of safety with his heart feeling weak.

"Hello again sir!"

The clerk bowed to him with a smile that Kiryu struggled to return, the young reptile of mossy green perking his earfins as the kaiju grabbed three bottles of Black Claw Sake.

"How are you, sir?"

"Ahh...not good."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's...it's fine."

The look in Kiryu's eyes worried the clerk as he brought out a card from under the table.

"Here, for help."

"Hmm?" The card was for a mental health hotline. "Oh, no no I-"

"Good to talk," the clerk bowed, "Please, take it."

"No no, it's not that thank you," he took the card regardless, "my...a friend of mine passed away."

"Oh no!" he gasped. "I so sorry."

"It's fine, I just need...dammit."

He opened his wallet and heaved with regret.

"I don't have enough for three...normally I buy two, but my friends need it for today with...our friend being gone, I'll just take one back-"

"W-wait."

The clerk put his hand up and took money out of his own wallet.

"I pay one, you, pay me back when you come again."

"What, h-hey, no it's fine I-"

"Please." The server put his change down and tapped the desk. "I pay one, to help."

"...thank you."

With a smile of humble shame Kiryu put down his money alongside the clerk's own who then put it all in the till.

"Please, be safe sir." He bowed. "I hope see you again."

"I'll be back tomorrow to pay, what's your name?"

"Oh! Gordon, Gordon McCartin."

"Hm, Gojirama Kiryu." He shook Gordon's hand before taking the sake. "Thank you, McCartin-san."

"Okay, I hope see you again, Kiryu-san."

With a bow to each other Kiryu left, heading back to the office with a smile briefly across his lips. He shared his sake amongst his friends as they drowned their sorrows, with Varan dreading his duties that he would have over the course of next week.

Down at the Kaijuro Police Station, Sgt. Detective Gaho Murata walked through the labyrinth of desks where various officers sat typing away and writing down reports to fill the room with mechanical chatter. Two hours had passed since they brought in the victim, a report now in his hands as he knocked on the door with the name "Chief Detective Baruti Gondo" engraved upon it.

"Come in."

Stepping inside, the turtle saw his superior behind the desk, a flat-eyed reptilian scribbling down a set of papers before putting them away in his drawer. Gondo's horn sat exactly upon the edge of his snout in a rising curve, like a samurai sword pulling his mouth upwards so that it always looked slightly agape in a vapid expression.

"I have the autopsy on the hostess club murder," said Murata.

"Just give it to me straight," the chief smacked his lips, "is the Host back?"

"It seems very likely," said the turtle flicking through his report, "autopsy reveals the victim was butchered with a cleaver post-mortem, water in her throat meaning she was drowned-"

"And you're sure this isn't a copy?"

"I wish but, the calling card and teeth marks show it's very likely them."

He sat down in front of Gondo offering the report.

"The card was machine-typed in the same font, the numbers four and nine on it like the ones previous."

"Mmmm," the chief read through the paper, "think that information got leaked? It's a rare fact but it's out there."

"Not the fact it was typed," Murata shook his head, "then there's the bite mark on the cheek."

The report showed a close-up of Tsuchimura's head, faded eyes and gasping lips with a set of teeth marks puncturing her left cheek.

"A bite mark?" Gondo shook his horn. "Was the Host a cannibal?"

"We don't know," Gaho shrugged, "we never found the body, the head and their hands always end up in the basket, but the Host always bites their victims on the left cheek."

"Well there's gotta be dental records right?"

"We checked, but there's nothing. No matches on the Serizawa so we have reason to believe they might be someone undocumented."

"LIke, an illegal?"

"Possibly," the tortoise nodded, "we got a jaw model recreated from the bite marks and tried using that to compare with kaiju, but we never found a match."

"Is the one in this case the same as before?"

"Yes. Exactly the same."

"...fuck." The chief put down the report and leaned back cupping his face. "I was hoping that bastard died."

"I won't let them slip away." Murata clenched his fists. "They're going to rot in prison this year I promise you-"

"Well glad you're eager, because I was done with this fucker back a year and a half-"

"We have a lead."

The words caused the chief to bolt up with a hopeful glint.

"The victim had a badge, Toho Clan she worked with."

"Wait...what?" Gondo leaned forwards. "The Host killed a yakuza, are they insane?!"

"I think you know the answer to that, sir," Gaho bowed respectfully, "but no, it's the fact the badge was contaminated with some kind of liquid, our squints are working on it now."

"You think the Host slipped up?"

"I hope so, they're only mortal, being out of the killing game so long they must've gotten sloppy."

"What about the Toho Clan?" asked Baruti clasping his fists. "You don't think it was them?"

"No, and if it was they won't hide it from us."

"Why, they're thugs."

"But they don't kill one of their own, and if someone did, they would immediately hand them over to us, so either way we'll have our answer."

"Hmm. You seem to know them well."

"Long enough to know how they think," said the turtle rubbing his tusk, "they're punks who think they're above the law, but in their own twisted world of chaos there's things even they would not do."

"Any creature can be driven to kill, Murata," the chief glowered lowering his head, "if they're already criminals then they're even more likely to be less restrained by the laws of society."

"I'll keep that in mind, chief." He stood up and took his report. "I'll let you know what the squints find."

"Good, I'll be waiting."

Heading back to his desk, Murata slumped into his chair with a creak and pored over the report once again, his eyes deadening to the gruesome clinical shots of Tsuchimura's dismembered head.

"Awful."

He looked up to see a tall serpent with a line of spikes down his back that crested like waves.

"You'd think creatures would be more civilised elsewhere but nope, there's scum on every island."

"Wish I could disagree," Murata shook his head.

"I read up on the Host stuff while waiting," the stranger sat beside him, "I don't want to think what they do with the rest of the body."

"I was hoping it was a copy-killer, but the bite marks confirm it's the same."

"Can I look?"

Gaho handed the report over to his colleague who spoke with an American twang to his Japanese. At a full two feet taller than Murata, his partner gave almost a comical difference in size between the two with one short and stocky, and the other tall and reedy much like his name. Sgt. Detective Reed O'Sauressy was dressed in a similar blue shirt and slacks to Murata, except with a pair of suspender belts that reached up to his shoulders, his long neck of deep emerald scale and his face trapped in scowl with a pair of long bucktoothed fangs.

"Any reason why they picked four and nine?" he flicked through the report.

"The two numbers sound closest to 'death' and 'suffering'," said Murata.

"Hm. Would've thought after fifteen years I'd pick that up by now."

"Do numbers have that sort of significance in English?"

"No," said his colleague still reading, "best I can think of is the word for 'bed' is close to 'dead'."

"What do you call those words that rhyme with each other?"

"I don't know I'm not some damn college professor. Gods this poor girl."

"Don't bleed your heart too much, Sauressy," Murata shook his head, "she was working for criminals."

"Does that make her worthy of death?" he snarled his fangs at him.

"Of course not, but there's more innocent creatures out there we have to protect first."

"The world's not that black and white, Murata."

"I know, but a criminal's a criminal."

For the rest of their shift, Murata and Sauressy went through their reports and cleaned up their desks, smaller infractions piling up from the usual drunkard to a petty thief here and there with stamping and filing and corrections. The office continued to chatter with various bugs and mammals in officer uniforms from horns poking through hats, to spikes crowning epaulettes.

After finishing their work for the day, Gaho and Reed returned back to their separate homes, small apartments in the city where they whiled away the free time they had watching TV and eating microwaved dinner. The sky darkened across the cityscape, from cyan blue to a darkening orange before they would sleep early, and rise even earlier so as to return to their work before dawn had even woke.

Gaho took the bus, rumbling down the lane in the darkest hour with headlights still on and other commuters sitting beside him avoiding each other's gaze. Reed took his own car with heightened roof to compensate for his neck, an old yellow brick on wheels that had been out of style 30 years ago and looked more at home in the American suburbs than it did on Tokyo's streets. By the time the sun had fully risen they were back at the station, meeting up in the locker room amongst other police officers currently undressing.

"Morning," Murata waved.

"Morning," Reed nodded, "sleep well?"

"Mmm, the usual," he slipped off his black coat, "still wearing that?"

"Of course, it's my favourite."

Sauressy modelled off his brown bomber jacket, with patches studded in the US Flag and its 35 stars before taking it off.

"Keeps me warm out here at least."

"It can't be that much warmer in New York."

"If I lived in New York yes," Reed snorted, "but I lived in New Jersey."

"That's just across the river though isn't it?"

"Yeah about as far as Yokohama is."

Murata rolled his eyes taking off his shirt, designed like a large bib with sleeves to slide on or off without needing to wrap round his shell.

"So what are we doing today?" asked Reed taking off his pants.

"Lab results," said Gaho putting on his slacks, "see what we can make of that, then do our usual beat."

"I really hope we don't get in any fights," Sauressy groaned pulling on his shirt, "think I pulled my back when I got up."

"You need a wheelchair?"

"No."

"Then you're good, come on."

For most kaiju, clothing was a highly personalised standard. For those with spikes such as Sauressy, shirts, jackets and suits were given specified holes to match their body type, same for different tails to stretch out the back of their trousers. For those with shells such as Murata, shirts were a slip-on that wrapped only round the front. Shoes were also another issue, whereas most creatures went barefoot, wore sandals or had open-toed footwear that let their claws extend out the front, those in more prestigious positions would have their entire feet covered in the full shoe specially-designed to match their feet.

Gaho and Reed were in such a position as members of law enforcement, their large flatter feet wrapped in fine leather that was moulded to fit. Fully dressed to start their day, they headed to the lab to first obtain the results of the Toho Clan badge and its mysterious liquid, Gaho taking a picture on his phone with permission of both the badge and the report after all its sensitive information was removed. On the streets they felt a tension in the air where news of the murder spread like wildfire, giant television screens on the sides of buildings giving vague details.

"Stay alert," said Murata, "someone must have seen something."

"Yeah," said his partner nodding, "it's always seemed a tight-knit neighbourhood, even if half of it works for the Toho Clan.

"That's the thing about Kaijurocho, everybody knows each other, so it should make our job easier."

"You think the killer's one of them Toho?"

"No, any killers they have they would rat out to us like they've done before."

"Really?" the monster serpent smirked with fangs. "I thought there was honour among thieves."

"But not killers," said Murata waving a finger, "they know if they try to hide a killer their organisation gets in trouble, cut out the weed before it spoils their garden."

"I guess that's good...now I just wish they'd not be a fucking mafia."

"They'll get what's coming to them one day Sauressy-san. One of them will slip up, and that's when we'll rip them all out by their roots."

"Units near Theater Square, please respond."

Gaho put up his hand and clicked on the receiver next to his shoulder.

"This is one-eight-three-two, go ahead."

"Signal 22 F reported on Theater Alley, multiple suspects."

"Ten-four, one-nine-five-three's assisting, over and out."

Motioning Reed to follow, they hurried towards the western side of the district to where the bowling alley stood. The sounds of fighting could be heard as they turned the corner to see a wolf, a crocodile and a bear all in tracksuits trying to shove their way into the building.

"LET US THE FUCK IN!"

"N-NO!" a four-eyed elephant blocked the entrance with his body. "You're banned, I TOLD you!"

"I KNOW SHE'S IN THERE, WHERE IS THE BITCH?!"

"GET OUT OF HERE!"

"HEY!" Murata stepped forwards flashing his badge. "What's going on?!"

"Th-these thugs are harassing my staff, I told them they're not welcome here anymore!"

"FUCK THAT!" the crocodile snapped. "I'm a loyal customer, this is discrimination!"

"You threatened my employee because she broke up with you!"

"SHE FUCKING DIDN'T THAT BITCH IS LYING!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Reed stomped forwards jabbing his finger. "Do NOT use that language, now, walk away, or we take you in."

"Who the FUCK you think you are?!" the wolf shoved him back. "This is between my boy and his girl, get the fuck outta here cop!"

"Touch me again, and I'll put you in a cell." Reed stepped back up to them. "Last warning, step away now-"

"SHUT IT!"

The bear loomed over them with a terrifying bulk reaching up to Sauressy's height.

"Don't need no monster telling us what to do, yeah I hear that accent you got."

"Is that a problem?"

"If you don't put your fucking snout outta kaiju affairs yeah, we got a problem! So why dontcha get the fuck back where you came from before I beat your face into twenty states?"

"It's thirty-five states," Reed rolled his eyes, "but if you're going to take that attitude with me then I'm taking you all in."

The moment he grabbed for the croc, the wolf shoved him back which was exactly what Sauressy wanted, throwing a haymaker into the wolf and send him staggering as the bear turned on him with a hammerfist. Crunching down into Reed's face to slam him against the wall, the giant thug felt Murata grab his arm and sweep his leg to knock him hard to the floor as passersby started to gather at the end of the street with excitement.

"GAAAARGH, F-FUCKIN' COP!" The ursine pushed himself up.

"THAT BITCH IS MINE!" the gator shouted. "NOBODY'S STOPPIN' ME GETTIN' TO HER, SPECIALLY NOT TWO JACKOFFS LIKE YOU!"

"Anyone you call that is NOT yours," said Murata pulling Reed up on his feet, "now, you're all under arrest, come quietly and let's not make this worse."

"Ohoh you wannit to get WORSE, I'LL FUCKIN' SHOW YOU WORSE!"

With a sudden swing the croc went for the turtle, who palmed his snout mid-punch and startled him to delay his punch as Murata grabbed his arm and twisted it behind him, kicking the back of his leg to throw him down before the wolf shoved him off and rolled Gaho aside. Standing back up before the canine could kick his head, the tortoise bent low and drove his elbow into the wolf's stomach to knock the wind out of his sails, throwing him back with a rising uppercut to crack his jaw as he stumbled clutching his face.

The croc grabbed him from behind, trying to throw Murata into the wall with a spinning toss as the officer jumped and kicked his feet against the stone, rebounding off to head-dive into the thug and knock him flat on his back. His friend the wolf stopped him once again, grabbing a traffic cone nearby to slam on Gaho's head with a rubbery bounce and forcing Murata to take him on when he ducked under the second swing and grappled the canine's arm to slam his knee straight against it. The wolf yelped with a spasming pain as he dropped his weapon, the turtle palming his face with the force of a punch to stun him briefly before twisting the punk's arms behind his back.

"HEY, G-GEDDOFF, YOU FUCKIN' PRICK!"

"QUIET!" he pulled out a paif of cuffs to lock him down. "Now stay there until I deal with your friends."

As Gaho took on the wolf and gator, his partner faced the giant bear who swung his massive paws with devastating force, the serpent ducking under the first and second swipe to drive his fist through the bear's chin. Taking up a boxing stance, Sauressy bobbed on his feet waiting for the next attack as the bear roared with a hammerfist from above. The monster dodged left and swung a powerful haymaker into the thug's jaw, barely staggering him but surprising him enough to get a second punch into his stomach.

The giant punk swatted Reed back with a wild spin of his arms, a double lariat that the cop stepped back from in time and started shuffling his feet beside the wall to taunt him close with a little dance. The bear fell for it as he charged with a colossal rearing back of his fist, wanting to splatter Reed's head into the brick when Sauressy dodged the moment he swung, the thug crippling his knuckles with a crack that made the crowd audibly wince.

"AAAAARRGH!" He howled clutching his fist. "F-FUCKING, STAND STILL!"

"You first, knucklehead."

Reed came from the side with a leaping punch, socking the bear's eye to make him stagger before sweeping the leg hard to try and knock him down, but the thug resisted with his huge foot staying rigid as he countered with a wild kick. Sauressy managed to jump out of range, but then he saw the bear grab a bicycle from nearby and swing it over his head with a roaring slam. He countered with a turning kick, swinging his tail hard like a bludgeoning whip to crush the bike against the bear's face, throwing him back with a hard lean before Sauressy grabbed at the punk's shoulders and shoved him harder.

"LIGHTS OUT!"

Climbing onto the bear's chest, the saurian slammed his fist from above to topple the bear completely, grabbing one of his arms to turn him over and bring out his cuffs to bind him up.

"S-SIR, LOOK OUT!"

"FUCKIN' MONSTER!"

The croc tried to bullrush Reed despite the elephant's warning, but suddenly the punk was pulled back by Murata who swung him round in a circle down to the floor and twisted his arm. The gator slammed his elbow into Gaho's face mid-roll to throw himself on top, trying to choke the officer out before Murata slammed his hardened head into the crocodilian's snout.

Reeling back from the stinging dent to his face, the punk felt a hand on his throat before Gaho drove his fist harder into the croc's head to stun him. Pulling up his knees against his chest, the cop slammed his shoes into the gator's belly to throw him completely off, Murata rolling himself backwards with the curve of his shell before springing forwards to grab the croc's arms and slam his knee into the wounded chest, punching all the air out of the thug's lungs as he dry-heaved with a spasm through his legs.

"You're under arrest, for assault." Murata stepped round to cuff him proper. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say however can be used against you in court, you have the right to appoint a defence counsel, you are not required to make a statement against your will during interrogation."

"FUCK YOU!" the croc shouted looking at the bowling alley. "INA-CHAN, INA-CHAN YOU FUCKING SHIT, I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!"

"HEY, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Gaho grabbed the gator's head and pulled it back. "You're already getting done for assault, if I have to add stalking and intimidation things are going to get ugly for you. Now take my advice, and exercise your right to remain silent, it's the best option for you."

With a snarl he relented, getting down on his knees as Gaho called up a police car to soon arrive and take away the three suspects, a box black-and-white vehicle with a tall roof to accommodate them as Reed sighed waving them off.

"Th-thank you sirs," the elephant from the bowling alley bowed in a red apron, "they were harassing my Ina-chan for quite some time, I don't know the full history bu-"

"It's fine," Murata waved his hand, "will you be willing for us to take a statement from you?"

"Yes, absolutely!"

"What about this Ina-san?" Reed asked.

"Um, y-yes?"

A rabbit peeked out from the entrance with a timid twitch in a similar red apron.

"I-is he...gone?"

"He is," Gaho walked over, "I'm Sgt. Detective Murata, this is Sgt. Detective O'Sauressy, are you alright?"

"Yes," she nodded, "is he...what's going to happen to Waniyama?"

"That depends if your employer wants to prosecute."

"I do!" said the pachyderm. "That thug was coming here every week the past month to try and get to her, I want him to face consequences!"

"Do you agree?" Reed asked Ina-chan.

"I don't..." she twisted her fingers, "I don't have to see him again, do I?"

"We can just take your statement and you never have to see him."

"It will be anonymous," added Murata, "but I will ask your boss to be a witness."

"That is fine," the elephant bowed offering his business card, "My name is Girimura, please call me when you need me to testify."

"Appreciated," the turtle bowed handing his police card in return, "we'll contact you once he's been processed, until then you take care."

With a wave of goodbye they left, taking the path south to West Taihei before exiting out at the top of Tenkaiju Street. Sauressy rubbed his head with a stiff limp in his leg as he hobbled alongside his partner.

"You alright?" Murata asked.

"It's fine," Sauressy waved, "I've taken worse, just been a while."

"Don't push yourself, we just started our shift."

"If you can't give a hundred percent every day, it's not worth coming in."

"Heh...I see."

"That said...shit." The serpent grabbed a streetlamp and shook his head. "Think that bastard knocked my brain too hard."

"Should we stop?" the turtle gripped his hand.

"No, no I'm fine just...give me a moment." Reed sighed with a deep breath and straightened his neck. "At least we got the blood pumping."

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about getting exercise."

"In this city?" Sauressy pushed back on his feet. "Walking to anywhere's a damn marathon in Kaijurocho."

Heading towards Nagamichi Street, the central thoroughfare of restaurants and diners, they took a slow easy pace checking all the stores for any potential signs of trouble. At worst they found a few lost tourists, one who spoke English that Reed managed to guide, and two from Indonesia that through a struggling exchange they directed to the right place. Once they found the taxi ranks, they turned east along Showa Street, curving past the Don Quijote megastore as they found a strange-looking creature.

"G-give a hoot, clean your chute!"

"Huh?"

"Give a hoot, clean your chute s-sirs?!"

"Hahaha, what are you?" asked two foxes passing.

"I'm...i-isn't it obvious?"

"I didn't wanna say, I know they said you should dress how you feel but maybe you took that too literally."

"I-i'm not, this is my job sir, please take a pamphlet-"

"Oh sorry I'm allergic to reading, bye!"

"But-...ugh."

Standing beside the subway entrance that descended beneath Showa Street, a young moth stood with a white fluffy face, green eyes and short but illustrous wings of burning jade and fiery amber. He would have looked impressive if not for the fact he was wearing a rather shoddy-looking costume to make him resemble a squatting toilet, his head poking out the drain and the long central base hanging over his front like a waistcoat.

"Poor kid," Reed chuckled, "looks like a giant slipper."

"Is this some kind of public campaign?" Murata rubbed his tusk.

"No idea but he must be barely out of high school."

"Excuse me." Gaho walked up to the toilet-headed youth. "Can I ask what you're advertising?"

"OH, y-yeah I'm-OW!" the moth bowed before his toilet rim hit his foot. "I-i work for Kaijurocho Waste Management, we're trying to raise awareness for creatures to change their bathroom habits."

"Ahhh, I see," he nodded chuckling, "that's good to hear, may I?"

"Please!"

The boy offered a pamphlet as Murata read through it brief, seeing it was all above-board with the official management's logo and various tips on saving water or flushing biodegradable stuff.

"Didn't expect to see a teenager work in sewers," asked Reed.

"Well," the moth shrugged, "it's more of a temp job, it's not pretty but my mom always said if you chase the sun, you'll miss the path."

"Hah, wise words," Sauressy nodded, "you're not connected with Airenas Temple are you?"

"Oh, yeah, my mom's the head priestess." He offered his worker's pass with a short bow. "Leonardo Shoji."

"I'm Reed O'Sauressy," the serpent bowed in turn, "this is Gaho Murata, so your boss has you out doing grunt work?"

"Well, I'm the youngest so I drew the short straw to wear the costume he made...yeah."

Shoji spread his wings looking more ridiculous in form.

"But it's for a good cause, Royama-san said creatures are flushing away non-degradable stuff just too darn much, and it's putting a serious strain on our sewer systems!"

"Ohh, why's that?" asked Reed crossing his arms.

"It takes a lot of time to separate it all, time we don't have, and it builds up, a lot until it's just too much, you ever heard of a fatberg?"

"Ugh...no but I already hate the sound of that."

"Trust me, it's bad," Leo shook his head, "and there's one under this city the size of the baseball centre, you need like mining tools to break it apart! So my boss Royama-san's trying to put together a campaign to make our job easier, and in turn the city won't end up bursting its pipes in the next five years."

"That does sound bad," Murata sighed thumbing the pamphlet, "Shoji-san was it?"

"Yes sir."

"How much do you know about sewer water, as in the chemical composition?"

"Uhhh, not that much," the boy shook his head, "I just started a few months back after graduation."

"Ohh congratulations, you know anyone who does?"

"I mean, Royama-san would, he's the expert in gunk."

"Can you call him right now?" Murata brought out his phone. "I'm trying to settle a bet with some colleagues, we can't figure out what kind of stuff in a sewer would make the water have a pH of ten."

"Wh-wha? Ten?!" the moth stepped back. "That's...really weird, that's alkali right?"

"It is, I have a picture here on my phone if that helps."

"Sure, send it to me I'll pass it on."

Gaho sent a picture of the publicly-safe report to the young Shoji, detailing only the contents of the sewer water as having a pH of 10 as well as the viscosity, which the boy then sent on to his boss.

"He should reply soon," he said keeping phone in hand, "he's online anyways."

"So this is just a temp job yeah?" Reed asked watching the taxis go by. "That's good, someone your age should try out lots of things while you're still young."

"Heh, my mom said the same thing," Leo nodded.

"Leonardo's quite a name though, you got some Italian in your family?"

"Haha no, my dad named me that but I dunno where he came from."

"He's not around?" Gaho frowned.

"No he left pretty soon after I was born," Shoji shrugged. "I don't mind, mom raised me good even when she was training up in the temple."

"But you didn't join the temple yourself?"

"I...I-i dunno," the moth flapped his wings nervous, "I guess I just didn't wanna feel I HAD to be part of the temple, you know?"

"I understand," said O'Sauressy nodding, "like your mom said, you should try out lots of things while you're young."

"Right! OH, got a message." He brought up his phone. "Okay, Royama-san says that any sewer water with that high a pH, is definitely full of fluoride."

"Fluoride?" Reed scratched his head. "Isn't that stuff in toothpaste?"

"Yeah, but it's also a byproduct, when you decompose bastnaesite and monazite it makes that."

"Is that a product you use often in waste management?" Gaho asked.

"I don't know," Shoji shook his head, "all I know is that healthy sewage has a pH of like eight, or seven ideally, and when it's really bad it can go down to like four-oh wait no he's telling me more, hahaaa nooo you've done it now."

"Done what?"

"Once he goes off on his dark lore, he won't stop just gimme a minute."

A blushing smirk crossed the insect's mandibles as he waited for the message to finish sending, Gaho praying silently for something conclusive.

"Okay so," Shoji continued, "apparently the only place in the city that used fluoride was Section DF."

"Really?" Murata tried to hide his grin. "Where is that exactly?"

"Under Kaijuro Hills, northeast part of the city, actually I remember that from the sewer map. We don't use it now though since everything got all swapped around when they built the Hills."

"So it's...abandoned?"

"Yeah," Leo nodded, "well...s-sorta, there's a lot of um...homeless kaiju out there who use it."

"Oh?" Sauressy rubbed his chin. "Makes sense, an underground area not used by anyone would be safe for them."

"Yeah, my school used to do charity runs to get them food, and I remember they'd all talk about going underground when night would fall."

"I see," Murata bowed, "thank you very much Shoji-san, you've helped us greatly."

"No problem sir-ow." Leonardo saluted before his hand hit the toilet rim. "Glad I could help, a-and tell your friends to read that pamphlet, here take some more!"

He gave several to each of the detectives, both of them nodding as they walked off back to Nagimichi Street.

"Well, that was lucky," Reed smiled, "looks like the squints gave us both the lead."

"More like the Host did," Murata smiled, "got sloppy with that sewer water."

"I mean, it would be wouldn't it?"

"Hahah, right."

"So we going to try and talk to the homeless?" the serpent asked.

"No," Gaho shook his head, "they won't talk to the police, they never do, plus we run the risk of alerting the Host if we start asking around."

"Might even be one of them, I hope not but it can happen."

"For now I'm going to see Royama-san, he might have a blueprint of the sewers we can use, you want to come with?"

"Ehhh, no thanks," Sauressy pulled his neck in, "I don't wanna see the fatberg in action, I'm already cringing from what that kid said."

"Guess you need to learn to clean your chute."

"UGHH!" He cringed harder. "Gods they should change that phrase, it feels wrong."

"It does doesn't it," Murata flicked his tongue, "bad mouth-feel to it."

"Coming from you that means something."

"Hey, watch it!"

They chuckled heading back to the station as they planned their week ahead.

On that same day, Kiryu was at the batting centre trying to calm himself. It was a mistake, remembering how he brought Tsuchimura up to the plate and helped her with her swing as he struck many a ball, but barely managed to hit a home run. He stopped after the thirtieth swing, his batting lethargic as he took the bat to the counter and thanked them before leaving. The sky remained overcast as he took a firm drag of his nuclear cig, rumbling hot smoke in his lungs before sighing with a long rasp.

Why would anyone kill her? He thought to himself. No, don't think, serial killers don't care who they hurt, save that for the funeral.

Wandering back to the office on Tenkaiju Street, he stepped through the door to feel the misery in the air as thick as the smoke from his cigarette. Sano and Obara sat at their desks working away with barely a look up towards him.

"Hey," Sano muttered.

"Hey," Kiryu nodded, "what've we got today?"

"Some accounts from Nagamichi, take a batch and have at it."

He grabbed a bundle of papers yet to be filed and started piling through them with a deadened gaze. Other workers would file through, sometimes a kappa, sometimes an arachnid moving through the building to other offices.

"Is Varan-san here?" asked Kiryu half-an-hour later.

"Nah," Sano rubbed his neck, "he's gone up to talk with Shisa-sama about all this."

"Hmm."

"Do you think..." Obara looked up twitching his ears, "you think there's gonna be a...a hunt?"

"No," Gojirama shook his head, "Shisa-sama knows not to interfere with murder inquiries."

"But it...sh-she was our friend-"

"I know. But it's not our job to hunt serial killers."

"Don't you wanna get that bastard?!" Anguirou stomped his foot. "I got all this energy in me, it's gotta get out I-i just can't-"

"When Varan-san gets back, he'll have orders for us."

"So what if he tells us to go hunt them down?"

"He won't."

"But what IF he does?!"

"THEN WE DO IT!"

He stood up clawing the desk with his large fingers, his voice making the walls tremble slightly as Gonkuro shrunk back in his seat.

"Sorry." Kiryu sighed sitting back down. "I didn't mean to shout."

"It...it's fine," Sano slumped in his chair, "I'm sorry too."

"Whatever Varan-san has us do, we'll follow it, but we're not killing them if that's what you're asking. They'll be brought to justice by the police, either we catch the Host first or they do."

"Right. Got it."

He turned his chair towards the junior trying to hide behind his laptop.

"You better not be looking up porn."

"Wha-NO!" Obara squeaked shooting up his ears. "Wh-why would I be doing that?!"

"I'm just trying to make a joke, jeez Obara-kun, what are you doing anyways?"

"I'm fixing the site up for our companies," the youngster shrugged, "got some complaints the site was slow, something's chugging up the bandwidth."

"That's going to be a problem when you have the English version up."

"Yeah but I dunno English, I mean I know some basic stuff from like videogames and online but, not enough to translate a whole site."

"Doesn't anyone know English here?!" Anguirou snorted.

"Danzaki-san," Kiryu grinned with a nod to himself, "if he was here he'd help you out."

"Damn he would..." Sano leaned back punching his spikes through the seat. "I miss that dude, how long's he been away now?"

"Six months," Kiryu sighed wistful, "he should be back before winter."

"Is he your best friend?" Obara looked between them.

"He's my oldest friend, we grew up in the orphange together."

"Wait, really?! I-i thought Sano-san was your oldest friend."

"Nope," Anguirou shrugged, "first time Kiryu and I was fighting in the streets with my old gang, I think it was like six years back?"

"It was," Kiryu nodded, "you were causing trouble rolling around, starting fights, so I took you on in the underground parking lot."

"And he beat the absolute shit out of me, in front of my buddies."

"Wow that...that," Gonkuro rubbed his neck, "that sounds kinda, terrible actually."

"Ehh it sounds worse than it was, the gang was running outta steam so it was a good excuse for me to get out, then Kiryu took me out for a drink and signed me up to the Toho."

"Hah, that's pretty cool!" said Obara closing his laptop. "So what's Danzaki-san like?"

"Absolute playah," Sano schmoozed his hand, "he's the kinda guy who'd steal your partner after one dance, at the wedding hall."

"But he fights as good as he dances," Kiryu smiled rubbing his chin, "knew where the best clothes were, and all the best places to look good."

"Even tried to change YOUR shitty-ass look."

"What you mean?" he sat up looking down at his off-white suit. "What's wrong with this?"

"Dude, that shit went out of style when Obara-kun was born."

"I-i have to agree Kiryu-san," said Obara-kun shaking his head, "I didn't wanna say anything but, you dress like an uncle."

"So what, there's cool uncles out there," Kiryu shrugged.

"No, no there isn't, uncles are never cool."

"Hmm maybe I should call up your uncle and tell him that."

"Haha, I don't have an uncle, just my mom and she would agree!"

"Welp that's that!" said Anguirou clapping his hands. "Obara's mama says you're uncool, that's just fact Kiryu!"

"Shut up," Gojirama snorted waving his hand, "I'm not taking fashion tips from a guy who spent half his paycheck on a single shirt."

"THAT WAS A PROMOTIONAL YOU ASS!"

Sano grabbed a pencil eraser and threw it at his friend, a war between office supplies breaking out to help ease the tension and grief that still swirled around in the back of their thoughts. It was a small relief that they needed for the day when Varan would return with new orders.