Chapter 1

"...You're joking, right?" could be heard throughout the shop, the words falling from the lips of our golden-haired detective Leon, who was currently freaking out.

"My dear Detective, I would never joke about this. I want you to have a pet," came the blunt reply from the owner of the shop, the 3rd generation of the Count D. All the pets around were either gasping for breath from thinking the comment was a funny joke from the Count, or were very excited to be given to the detective who had bought numerous gifts for their beloved Count- they could use this as an opportunity to repay the detective...even if he usually acted like a dunce.

"D, that's all nice and shit, but haven't you noticed I can hardly take care of myself? It will only add to the load I already have to take care of and the last thing I need is one of your creepy pets trying to kill me in my sleep," Leon said as he gave D a stare that said 'are-you-fucking-stupid?'.

D just sighed loudly, the detective was right. One of his pets could get sick if not taken care of right, and he knew Leon been quite lonely since Chris went back to his aunt and uncle's home, but he had been able to take care of Chris because the Count usually had him when Leon was busy with work and they could at least enjoy themselves when Leon was able to take him home...

'But now is not the time for thinking such things, our detective needs a pet! He seems to be more tired lately and looks like he lost some weight...' D thought as he saw Leon talking about how having a pet would only be more trouble. But beyond the loud noise that came from the detective, D could see his clothes slightly sagging a bit as if they were getting too big for him despite having seen Leon wear those clothes more than once adequately. Suddenly an idea struck the Count. D let a smirk befall his features; Leon stopped talking to take notice of the smirk that basically said 'I-always-have-my-way'. He could feel a chill run down his spine; he had a bad feeling about this.

"Detective, I have just the right pet for you... Please come back tomorrow to retrieve him," D said as the smirk he held widened, making Leon wonder if the Count was going to sell him something illegal...

'Hey, if he does, I can finally put him in his place!' Leon thought, trying to think positive; if he decided the pet was good enough for him, he hoped it wouldn't kill him. Seeing too many people die from the pets purchased by D made him nervous, but they were on better terms than before when they first met. Hopefully, if he did die, he could try not to die a very bloody death.

"Uh...sure, D, I'll see you tomorrow. If I don't like the pet, I'm not taking it. Got it?"

And with that, Count answered by shoving Leon out the door before turning to his pets.

"So what do you have in mind, Count?" asked Ten-chan. He sat on the couch, watching D walk over and sit in his usual seat. The Count gave a sweet smile, making some of his own pets nervous about what he was planning.

"Ahh, about that, Pon-chan, can you please tell T-chan to join us? He might want to know what's going on before we get started."

The pets looked to each other, confused why the totetsu was needed. Surely the Count wasn't planning to feed the detective to T-chan?! Shortly after, while of half the pets were freaking out, T-chan appeared, looking as if he had just woken up.

"Hey, Count, what's going on?" Came the sleepy reply from the neon-red haired man, wearing his usual baggy white pants , an opened dark red vest – letting his chest show – and a velvet red colored sash. D smiled at him, freaking T-chan out as well; the smile seemed overly sugar coated, the one that was usually used on the customers.

"Oh, T-chan, it saddens me that of every customer I've had since you've got here, none were of suitable taste to you. Well, I think I might have found one..." Count said, his eyes twinkling with amusement, making the pets gulp.

"O-oh D, that's ok, I wasn't very interested in being bought anyway..." It was the truth. When he came here, he thought he was only going to protect the Count and do nothing more besides cook for D, himself, the other pets, and the rude detective. He knew he shouldn't be sold to someone who had no problems that he can help with. D only smiled at the answer, he was expecting to be told that.

"Oh, but T-chan, this is not like the usual case of the customers that come to our shop," D said, still creeping out the pets with his smile, "It's our detective..."

T-chan's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly.

"B-but why him? I'll just eat him; what problems can that moron have?" Pets around them peered in, it was true, what use could the man-eating creature be for the brash detective?

"Ah, but T-chan, that's it," D said with an upcoming smirk controlling his features once again, "as you know, there are 3 rules that must be agreed on in order to keep the shop safe. You may eat him if he breaks these rules," D was sure the detective would follow the rules since he had seen so many people who had broken the simple rules die gruesomely, but he had no real worry for him even though he did care for the crude detective.

"Of course I know the rules, Count, but why does he need me? Why not some of the- I don't know... not man-eating pets?!" If T-chan was allowed to eat the detective, it was all fine, but to do it as a job, with rules, it couldn't be done. His main diet was human flesh; he might eat him before the job even starts... But Leon could protect himself against the totetsu, he might shoot him. 'He would do it too... He's done it before, what would be different with this form? He can just claim I went insane like all the pets he's seen involved with D...' T-chan shuddered at the thought of being shot once again, this time aiming for death. He wanted to live for a few more centuries, thank you.

"All in good time, T-chan. Everything will be revealed soon," D said, walking into the maze-like realm that stood beyond the doors.

T-chan shook his head. That meant the conversation was over and would not be discussed again. He must be looking for the right set of rules...

'Why me? I HATE that man. I'll show D there is nothing wrong with him and he can just return me!' T-chan thought as he walked back to his room slowly while other pets passed him. Then he came to his door that looked like stone and was engraved with numerous symbols; what made it obvious that the room was his was the Tai Tie mask, looking just like it did in the Shang dynasty.

As he walked in, he was welcomed with a cold breeze. He might as well get a few things just in case he was there longer than expected. He was thinking it may be around 1-2 weeks? Eh, shouldn't be more than that. He mused with thoughts of living with the Detective; he could take a bite out of him anytime now... that was a plus. T-chan gave a chuckle at the thought of biting Leon's ass. 'Might as well call him Leon, he can't hear me anyway. And now I have to live with him, gotta make the best of things...' T-chan thought as he looked at the various things that were held in his room. It was an illusion of the genuine thing, but everything felt amazingly real, even though it was actually fake. No one would ever find these places unless you were a pet in the shop of the Counts...

He took in his surroundings. It was as if he was standing on the mountains of China- the forest before him was wild, but nothing resided within besides him. The sky was the color that he chose it to be; now it was a dark navy color with silver colored sparks invading the sky. He would've loved to believe it was real, but that's the thing. When you're a pet, there is no freedom... It's how things are, for everything besides the gods, the humans, and all the other beings on earth.

"What should I take with me?" He said out loud to himself. Hearing no reply, as he expected, he looked for the things he couldn't leave behind. Of course it couldn't be something huge; it had to be small enough for only him to notice and few others to really take notice while in his animal form. He picked up a thin, tin colored chain. It had no real value to the world, but it held value for him. It held a crescent shaped moon that was a crimson color, making it easy to blend in with his hair color. It was just to remind himself that he was not a pet- he was a protector of the Count. He would prove it to him as well.

"Prepare yourself, Leon," he gave a smirk, "when the time comes, you'll be sorry for ever entering this shop..." And then all he can do was wait for morning when his new master would bust down the doors to enter a hell on earth...

End of Chapter 1

Rei- Well I have to say, I am more confident in this Chap then I may ever be in my other stories, sorry if it was to short heheh well just trying to get more fans on other pairings. Well hope who ever read this enjoyed it and may want to review, please no flames, sorry if T-chan seems out of place a bit heheh it will become more understanding in later chapters ok. Again please review! Ja ne! lol