Tomonori was woken up early in the morning to a banging on his apartment door. He very groggily and very grumpily went to answer the door and was not happy to find his cousin Kaoruko outside standing there. "What do you want?"

"I need you to come down to the police station with me," Kaoruko breathed out, trying to control her emotions.

"Why do I get the feeling you weren't allowed on a case and aren't allowed to snoop… or is it that you're actually in trouble with your co-workers for once? You have too much gumption to not back down on the first." His face was filled with boredom.

"It's Sakon who's in trouble," Kaoruko suddenly breathed out, trying not to sob.

"Sakon? Sakon isn't the kind of kid who goes around trying to get in trouble," the man pulled her inside. "What exactly is this about?"

"Sakon's the main suspect in a homicide case," Kaoruko let out as she sat down at the kitchen table. She brushed aside the clutter. "Bachelorhood doesn't do this place any good. The problem is, my rival is assigned to the case."

"At least I keep the dishes clean," came his reply as he started up some tea. "Everyone knows Sakon can't hurt a fly Kaoruko… why would they suspect him?"

"Didn't my father tell the rest of the family?" Kaoruko asked, suddenly confused.

"Kaoruko… this is the first time that I've heard about the homicide thing," Tomonori sighed. "How could he have possibly told me about this?"

"No… I haven't told the old man about the homicide… I don't wish for him to… how to put it, have another heart attack," Kaoruko sighed.

"You mean to tell me there is more?" the man frowned, knowing he didn't want to know where this was going, but that he would need to know.

"Definitely… something that one might say isn't going to help Sakon's case any… and if it weren't for this thing, I doubt he would be in this whole mess… and this thing shouldn't have happened in the first place…" Kaoruko had a few tears drip.

"So… what happened?"

"Sakon was placed into a mental institute yesterday," Kaoruko stated with a straight face, unable to look him in the face.

"What?" Tomonori suddenly began to laugh. "No one in our family thinks Sakon is insane… crazy maybe, but not insane. He's sixteen and need an adult in his family..."

"Or a court order or police order," Kaoruko sighed.

"What!" the tea began to whistle and he moved to the stove. He poured some for his cousin, then himself. "I think you need to start at the beginning."

M

Sakon's eyes were rather glazed over as the drugs were still in his system. Because he was being kept at the mental institution, it was likely that he might remain this way. His head was on the table as he was extremely tiered on top of all of this.

"Sakon, why were you outside?" one man stated.

However, the other man shook his head. "We can't ask him questions. His aunt is Tachibana Kaoruko."

"Just because you two are rivals…"

"She'll call into question anything I do wrong," the man sighed. "The most likely suspect though is the boy."

"You know that, I know that, Kaoruko has to know that…"

"Won't stop her from fining out otherwise, or some loophole to get her dumb nephew off the hook on this," the man fumed.

"She can't participate in the case,"

"She isn't dumb… I'll give her that much. If it goes to court, she knows enough procedure to call into question… certain things. Plus… even if Sakon understands his rights… which obviously he can't as he isn't coherent… he's still a minor… I think the doc put him on the wrong drugs."

"Sheesh… even I don't think he should be there… bringing him in will be enough to make Kaoruko pissed. I wish to question him as a possible witness, not…"

"You're questioning him is only going to piss her off," the man snapped.

The door suddenly snapped open. "Kaoruko's here with one of her other relatives… clear out."

"But…"

"Now… or I'll remove you both from the case… it's a fluke you two are even on it in the first place."

Kaoruko shook her head as she looked at Sakon. Their cousin was also upset. "What the hell do they have him on… he's not here! No kid should be medicated like this!"

"I know that…" Kaoruko could only frown.