August 20 , 20**

You awoke to the sound of your phone ringing, you groaned sitting up, feeling around your bed for it, until luck finally strikes and you feel it. You see that it was an incoming call from your close friend and coworker, Shuichi Saihara.

' Hello ? '

' Y/n , you have to get down to the lab. ' He answered, and he sounded so serious.

You look over to the clock, ' Shuichi , it's really early in the morning , if you're on about the Mason case - '

' Y/n please , it's not about that , I really need you to be here . ' He desperately says, you loved him too much to say no.

' I - Okay fine . . I'll be there in about 30 minutes . ' You say as you push the blankets off of your body and as you stand up, you hang up the phone.

" I feel like sometimes I'm too dependent of . " You mutter, you grab a towel and take a quick shower. You quickly dress to come and find that it was 4:10, it had only been 15 minutes since he had called, you then proceed to grab your backpack and phone in hand, you grab a gun from your closet and begin to head out, only living a mere 10 minutes from the department where you two worked.

You hadn't realized how deep into thought you were, that soon enough you had arrived to the place, quickly rushing up the stairs, you opened the double doors and walk inside.

" Hey Haru , Shuichi is still here right ? " You ask the front desk guy, he looked up from his computer.

" Yeah , he's in the lab with Tanaka . " He says, looking down to the computer again, he seemed pretty busy to acknowledge anything of you, so passing to the back you look to his screen and see him typing down on his report, as he always did.

' Tanaka . . ? Oh right , that new doctor , forgot about her . ' You think as you come across the door to the lab, though before entering you put on your face mask, pushing the door open you see Shuichi with a couple other officers, examiners, including Tanaka, and a probable assistant.

" Shuichi ? " You call, everyone turns around.

Shuichi sighs in relief, " Y/n . . ". You go to him and he recieves you with a hug, a normal thing that would happen everytime you saw each other, however this one seemed to last longer than a normal one. Finally letting go of you, you both turn over to the autopsy table.

" Lucy's body was found dead in the alleyway by first street , heard by her screams . " Shuichi says lowly. You blink and look over the dry wounds.

" I assume and conclude that her vocal cords were damaged as well , given that there are signs of strangulation here . " You slipping on some gloves and pointing at the light fading bruising on here neck.

" Well that went unaccounted for . " One of the officers say. Everyone, excluding you and Shuichi, began talking.

You look away from the table, you look up at Shuichi.

" This is the girl who was in our course , is she not ? " You ask him. He nodded his head, looking down at your stature.

" Yeah , she is . " He answered, you nodded your head. You then proceed to pick up the report, glancing across the sheet that would point to what the cause of death was.

" These marks are clean , " You point to the slashes on her stomach, arms, and legs. The other workers look. " This indicates that whoever did this knows what they were doing , and has knowledge of anatomical skills . "

Everyone seemed astonished, as did Shuichi himself, " Oh . . You're right . " The examiner faces the table and takes a closer look.

" The cuts are clean . . " Shuichi says, you step away from the table.

" Well if she is right then why did it take long for someone to see and hear that the victim was getting killed ? " Tanaka remarks. You roll your eyes.

" Well you are here for that purpose , to figure out what killed her first , bleeding out or trauma . " You mock, she rolled her eyes and inspects the body.

" Yeah well how would you know that she could have died from trauma . " She says.

You stayed quiet, as did everyone else.

" You know some people die from pain shock . " You answered. Shuichi looked down at you.

" Adrenaline . " He says. Everyone seems convinced at that.

" Well I can say that seems more reasonable than just the bleeding out itself , there was a blow to the head as well . However it doesn't seem to have been hard enough to have killed the victim . " One of the assistants, who you now came to realize, was the coroner.

" I can say that the timing to do this is a little unclear , " The coroner says, " When she was heard screaming , a patrol officer was around the area , there is no way the killer would have had enough time to do all of this . "

" Maybe she had a point of escape , any of these wounds could have left her at the last strike of vulnerability . " Shuichi states. You nod, turning away from everyone you begin thinking.

' A strike of vulnerability , meaning she gave up when she recieved the blow to the head and let herself fall to the ground , the injuries on her legs were painful enough to have her staggering , so she gave in , knowing she couldn't outrun . '

" She knew she couldn't run away from whoever was going after her . " You add to Shuichi's earlier statement.

-

Throughout the next hour, conclusions were drawn, at the point of no success you put a hand on Shuichi's shoulder.

" Shuichi , please come with me . " You say, from the corner of your eye you could see Tanaka shooting her head up.

" H - Huh ? Where ? " He asked.

You frown, " Come with me to my house , you're overworking yourself as always . "

" Shuichi's busy with us Y/n . " Tanaka says, Shuichi stiffened.

" Busy tolerating your ass , come on Shuichi , we can work on the case at my place in the morning . " You say tugging in his sleeve. He looks at Tanaka, who for the thousandth time rolled her eyes and looked at the report.

" O - Okay . " He shakily answers. You smiled, you get the report from Tanaka.

" I'll bring this back right now . " You say and leave with Shuichi.

" Let's go get a copy of this in the copy room , and then we can head home . " You smiled as you both exit the room.

-

You open the door to your designed office in your home, one that Shuichi helped you organize.

You pin the autopsy report on your bulletin board. You then walk out, closing the door behind you. It was nearly 6 AM, so you go back into your room.

Shuichi was at the corner.

" Uhm . . Where do I sleep ? " He asked with a nervous tone. You smiled.

" Right here with me , duh ! " You say, he blushed.

" Come on , it's big . " You say sitting on your bed. He nodded shakily and sits at the other side.

Having been awakened up from your sleep, your covers were already messed up so you pulled them up.

" Go to sleep Shuichi . . " You say facing him, he lays down and nods his head. You smiled at him, one that he returned. He slowly fades into his slumber, while you remain awake.

' I hate to cause him any further trouble , but if I would have told him to go to sleep at his own home , I know he wouldn't , and he would be tied down at his office working . . ' You think, his breathing relaxes within the next few minutes.

A warm feeling in your chest rises, you bring your hand to his well kept hair, stroking through his blue locks. You pull your hand away and close your eyes, soon falling asleep.