Chapter Text
It was an odd instance of Tetchou running late to work. Well, not running late per se, he arrived at the base at five forty sharp, as he always does. It's just that he was asked to help with carrying new equipment and, Tetchou being Tetchou, he agreed. It took almost half an hour of his time, so he ended up being nearly ten minutes late.
But what can happen in ten minutes? Tetchou questioned. Surely, nothing much.
That was his mistake. To think that his colleagues could just exist in peace for ten whole minutes.
When he reached their meeting room, even before he opened the door, Tetchou heard Teruko's and Jouno's loud arguing. Which was relatively odd, since Jouno would usually resort to passive aggressive comments towards the vice-commander.
"Absolutely not! Non-negotiable!"
Tetchou opened the door. Neither Teruko nor Jouno paid him any mind, continuing to argue.
"You," Teruko frowned, pointing her finger in Jouno's chest. "Do not question Commander's decisions. If he decided that you are going to that mission, you are going."
"What's going on?" Tetchou asked. Both Teruko and Jouno momentarily whipped their heads in Tetchou's direction. Maybe they really didn't notice that he entered the room.
"Tetchou!" Teruko exclaimed. "Tell your wifey to stop complaining."
"I simply cannot be a part of that mission," Jouno gritted his teeth. "Do you understand that I would have to be undercover for the entire time? Pardon me, but are you suggesting that you not only want Tetchou to do all of the interrogations, but also double him as a detective?"
"And you have network there. It will be a million times more useful than two interrogators," she crossed her arms on her chest.
"It is one thing to interrogate, and completely another to solve a case start to finish. This is not in my work contract."
"Jouno, can you please stop bitching for five minutes? I have already told you!" She got up from the chair and slammed her fist on the table, making Jouno cover his ears in response to the loud noise. "The less people we send there, the more successful is the rate of the mission. Besides, you two are completely capable of doing this."
"Can you stop shouting? Both of you," Tetchou frowned. "What's happening?"
Jouno muttered a quiet "fine" and sat on the couch, crossing his legs in the process. Teruko sat back on the chair and rubbed her eyes tiredly.
"Commander today is busy today, so I am relaying what he told me prior," Teruko started. "We need to send you and Jouno on a mission, but we need to act fast. It's could possibly be related to that criminal ring we've been investigating, so we need to act fast. Here," she gestured for Tetchou to come closer and take a look at the case information.
It contained a brief autopsy and photographs of a corpse with large, inhumane-made wounds.
"So, what's the problem? That we have to be detectives?" Tetchou looked at Jouno, who was sitting silently on the couch. Frowning.
"No," he answered. "The problem is that it's my hometown. And that I can't make an appearance as a Hunting Dog, so you will have to do all the hard work on your own."
"But you - of all people! - will be able to gather information from people no questions asked," Teruko argued. "Since you'll have no trouble finding out gossip and other things that people won't tell an unfamiliar police officer."
Oh... This is going to take a while.
Tetchou looked over the photographs once again. He wounds resembled an animal attack, but he couldn't picture an existing animal who had claws quite as big.
Hm. A man. 31 years old. Working as a freelance translator. A wife. No kids. Nothing unusual. No reason to be targeted.
And yet, dead. The body was found in an abandoned hospital, four hours later after the wife filed a mission person report. Supposedly, he left for walk with their dog and the wife fell asleep before he got home. She contacted the police the next day. Reported to leave the house at 11, the estimated death window was around midnight.
She claimed that he always loved to walk the dog in late evenings, said that it helped him calm down after a day of work. And that he could let the dog run around the forest without worrying about the dog accidentally attacking anyone else nearby.
The dog was missing. The amount of blood suggested that the victim had died elsewhere and was carried to the hospital after death.
"Tetchou, are you even listening?" Jouno sighed.
"Not really," Tetchou shook his head. "But if it's commander's order, then we must do it. However, I too worry if we can catch that ability user without help from our detectives," he looked Teruko in the eyes.
"Jouno, you should really learn from Tetchou. You will do fine. The police department will be cooperating with you," she smiled.
"The police department will be cooperating with you," Jouno repeated her words in a mocking tone. "What a joke. They are utterly useless. I am betting that once Tetchou makes an official appearance, they will just delegate the entire case to him."
"Jouno, can you at least try to not be so negative all the time?" Teruko sighed. "Like it or not, you two are going on that mission. That's final."
Tetchou could see how Jouno barely restrained himself from barking something back and instead took a deep breath. "I will start working on the strategy."
And with that, he promptly stood up and stormed off. There was no reason for Tetchou to follow, as Jouno would likely come back within the next hour or so.
"Not going to run after him?" Teruko asked. She wasn't looking at him, but she extended her hand that was holding an opened envelope. "You should take this with the autopsy."
He took it. It was addressed to Jouno. Inside was a sheet of paper.
"Dear Jouno Saigiku,
We are extremely sorry to inform you that Reon has tragically passed away. We are inviting you to the funeral, that will take place on January 18th at 9 in the morning, here, in our hometown.
We hope that you will be able to make it, as we want everyone who knew him to honor his life that ended up being too short.
Kimura Reon's loved ones."
"The name. It's the victim, right?" Tetchou looked at the autopsy once again. The names clearly matched.
"Yes," she nodded.
Tetchou remained silent. Usually, at the start of the day, their Commander would give them a run-down of what they were going to do. But Tetchou was late and commander wasn't there.
So he just stood there for a while, contemplating, what he should do.
"You can go, Tetchou. Your mission has officially begun, so do as you please with your time," she waved him off. Tetchou didn't mind, there was a lot of paperwork piled on the desk that Teruko will have to deal with, and he didn't want to take up any more of her time.
However, he wasn't sure what he was to do. Go train? Maybe find Jouno? Should he research the victim alone?
He sighed. That off start of the day was already exhausting him.
* * *
Tetchou later found Jouno in one of the storage rooms. There was plenty of them in the basement, they were akin to an endless maze that laid beneath the whole building. There was also a minimal amount of people there, since they came there either to unload the new batch of stationary and other materials they used – which happened every Thursday, and it was not a Thursday – or to get supplies for work, which took them less than two minutes.
Tetchou pushed the door that connected the storage room with another, smaller one that was used to store old documentation. There was a desk there, on top of which Jouno was sitting, with his back pressed against the wall. He was on the phone with somebody, making arrangements with the sweetest voice he could muster.
"Yeah. Can't wait either. Alright, I have to go now. Bye," Jouno's smile dropped as soon as he ended the call. He frowned, and maybe considered throwing his phone against the wall. "Ugh."
"Have you calmed down?" Tetchou asked, grabbing himself a chair.
"I was calm, I am calm," Jouno said, sounding not calm at all. "And I'm busy right now. What do you want?"
"I don't know what to do. You said that you'll come up with a strategy," Tetchou shrugged. "Can I help?"
"No, you can't. All we can do now is make arrangements," he sighed loudly. "I already set you up with the local police. Made hotel reservations. And now I need to set up fucking dates with people because that’s the only way I'll be able to find out anything."
Jouno was seething with anger and resentment. Every word that left his mouth felt like it was inflicted with venom.
"Should I leave you alone then?"
"Why did you look for me in the first place?"
"Well..." Tetchou looked at the ceiling. White. The paint was chipping away slightly. "I was curious why you got so upset but I wanted to give you time to cool off. Am I too early?"
"Ugh. Fine. You can stay, if you want," Jouno shook his head. He then let out a tired sigh. "But how did you figure out I was here? Or did you search the whole building blindly like the buffoon you are?"
"It's quiet here. I figured if you wanted to be left alone, you'd hide somewhere where nothing would bother you."
Truth be told, Tetchou also looked in the library and the unused part of the gym, and only then he checked the basement. But that was still not the entire building.
"Whatever," Jouno sighed. "Come here," he patted the spot next to him, on the table. "Be useful."
Tetchou was reluctant. Wasn't that flimsy table going to break under the weight of two grown men?
But he obliged anyway. As soon as Tetchou sat down, Jouno quickly moved and used Tetchou as a layer between his back and the cold concrete wall. He slotted himself on Tetchou's lap and tilted his head back, so it was resting on Tetchou's shoulder.
The table didn't break.
Jouno looked content. "You make for a fine chair. Comfortable, even."
And after that, Jouno resumed what Tetchou had interrupted – proceeded to call his acquittances and childhood friends, Tetchou presumed. He tried not to listen, instead focusing his attention of the things around. Jouno's hair, for example, today smelled faintly of honey and was tickling the skin on Tetchou's neck. And every time Jouno moved his head even a little, the small bell on his earring jingled, somehow becoming the loudest sound imaginable for Tetchou, even if he knew that logically Jouno's voice was supposed to drown it down. The complete lack of sounds aside for Jouno's voice turned silence into something Tetchou could hear and feel especially strongly when Jouno paused. It filled his ears and brain with high pitched static.
Tetchou frowned. He disliked hearing silence that was that loud.
Tetchou put his arms around Jouno's torso and then hugged him tightly, earning himself a quiet yelp from Jouno.
"...Jouno-san, are you okay?" Tetchou heard the voice coming from the small speaker of the phone.
"Yes! It's just, uh, my cat suddenly jumped on my shoulders," Jouno apologized. Tetchou buried his nose in the crook of Jouno's neck. "Scared me a little."
The feeling of confusion wouldn't leave him. It's like his whole day has gone wrong from the start, and now he had no idea what to do. He arrived late, the Commander was absent, they were given a pass to do whatever they deemed useful for the case, and they – well, Jouno, Tetchou merely tagged along – ended up doing all of the work in a tiny godforsaken basement room.
And the worst part was that he had no idea how to bounce back. No idea what to do to help either. He wasn't even listening to what Jouno was planning, just wasted his time being lost in thought.
What thought, though. My mind is completely blank.
"I'm done," Jouno slammed the phone against the table. It shook slightly. "Finally. Let's go," he jumped off the table, and Tetchou instantly felt an unpleasant lack of warmth in the places where their bodies were pressed against each other. He wasn't particularly sensitive to weather, but at that moment he acutely felt the unforgiving coldness of the winter. Not to mention, being in the basement without an extra layer only amplified how cold it was.
Tetchou got off the table as well. Where to now? If what Jouno said is true, then they didn't have much preparing left to do. Only pack their things, maybe.
"Can we go train?" Tetchou asked, catching Jouno's hand in his own. "Please."
"Sure," Jouno shrugged.
Maybe training will help him get back to normal. Maybe it will pull the void out of his mind and fill it with pleasant thoughts. Maybe it will take the confusion away – it always helped Tetchou to lift his mood.
* * *
Tetchou was quite disappointed by their training session. It was Jouno, who got on his nerves – he managed to get injured during their swordfight.
"You weren't paying attention," Tetchou frowned, wiping the blood off Jouno's cheek. As soon as Tetchou caught that Jouno didn't use his ability to dodge the attack, he withdrew his sword. The cut on Jouno's cheek was small and shallow, but the fact that Jouno, a person who was practically invincible to most physical attacks, got injured didn't sit quite right with Tetchou.
"Is that a crime now?" Jouno quirked a brow. "I got a little distracted, that's all."
"When on the battlefield, one must pay attention only to the battle. Or else, you won't survive," Tetchou pulled out a band aid out of his pocket and carefully put it on Jouno's cheek. "If it was a real battle, you could have died."
"Yeah-yeah, whatever," Jouno sighed tiredly. "How can I act as if it's a life and death situation when I'm training with you? I got an equivalent of a paper cut and you rushed to "patch me up"."
Jouno reached for his cheek to touch the surface of the band aid. It was a different kind of material – Tetchou run out of the band aids issued to them by the workplace and asked Teruko if she had any left. The next day she turned up with a brand-new pack, specifically, with ones that had pictures of sparkly kittens on them. Specifically for Tetchou. And now, one of them adorned Jouno’s cheek, which looked quite comical as the cuteness of the pink band aid contrasted with his frustrated expression.
"I was worried that I might have injured you badly," Tetchou said. He cupped Jouno's cheek with his right hand. "I'm glad that I didn't."
Jouno muttered something along the lines of calling Tetchou a sappy idiot, before he pushed Tetchou away. "So, care for a round two?"
"No," he shook his head. "You clearly aren't taking this seriously today, so we shouldn't continue."
"Did the possibility that I might have made a legitimate mistake fly over your head?" Jouno crossed his arms.
"Either way, I don't want to risk hurting you again. Let's do something else."
"Hurting me. Tetchou, it doesn't even hurt. I've been through much worse than a tiny cut. Hell, you've stabbed me countless times without any regrets," Jouno clicked his tongue. "Are you having an off day?"
"Yes," Tetchou admitted.
This whole day didn't make sense. Everything felt like it was wrong, like it started wrong and kept getting worse. Even training, the one thing that always helped Tetchou clear out his mind, was turned against him now.
"It's fine. Just a bad day," he looked away. "Are you having a bad day too, Jouno?"
Jouno remained silent for a few seconds, but then exhaled a silent "yes".
"The worst. Absolutely, the worst day in a long time," Jouno said. He sheathed his sword too. "Maybe we should just go home and rest."
"Maybe."
* * *
Despite working and living with Jouno for a few years now, Tetchou still had troubles with understanding his partner's emotions. Mostly, because whenever Jouno felt something particularly strong, he would just...get agitated. No matter what it was – anger, fear, sadness, Jouno's behavior rarely changed.
"Hey," Tetchou started, as he looked at Jouno, sprawled on the couch. Jouno was just sitting there, in front of the turned off TV, and drumming a beat on the surface of the couch. "Are you sad because someone you knew has died?"
"What? No!" Jouno had the audacity the look offended. "Why would I be sad because a random nobody has died? People die all the time."
"Isn't that someone you knew?" Why else would you be invited to the funeral? "Is that why you're sad?"
"Tetchou, please, I'm not sad," he groaned. "And I don't care about him whatsoever. We knew each other briefly in school, not enough to care what him or his death."
"But you have this worried look on your face. And you can't sit still whole day. And you got distracted during practice..." he trailed off.
Jouno exhaled a deep sigh. He then crossed his arms and shook his head. "I'm just worried about the mission. I don't think it will go smoothly," he frowned, lips pressed into a thin line. "I can't stress enough that I really don't like that the plan is to put all the work on you."
Tetchou sat beside him. Even if there was no proof, he could tell that Jouno isn't telling him the whole reason why he is as antsy about the case as he is right now.
"I don't like it either," he nodded. He was probably more confident in himself, than Jouno was confident in him, but he didn't want to argue. Actually, the more he thought about it – the more he doubted his abilities. He understood the reasoning behind sending only two of them, but the goal seemed nigh impossible.
"And on top of everything, I’ll have to talk with everyone there like I’m their," Jouno’s lips curved in disgust. "friend. And it’s not even mentioning that if I was invited, then my family will also be there which perpetually ruin my mood. That is precisely why I didn't want to get on this case," Jouno huffed.
Indeed. Now it finally made sense why Jouno was so argumentative with Teruko in the morning, and even going as far as contacting the Commander in an attempt to convince him not to put Jouno on the case.
Did Commander not care, or did he decide that it would be funny?
Tetchou couldn't really tell. The ways in which Fukuchi work were mysterious yet almost always seemed to work. Yes, maybe putting Jouno on the case was the right thing. His ties with citizens would surely come handy in terms of gathering gossip and the word of people. He would surely get information faster than Tetchou, who would be just an officer from another town. He would be met with apprehension and caution.
Still, it didn't diminish the fact that Jouno was extremely frustrated and agitated.
"And it all will only complicate out investigation, especially if we won’t be able to communicate without raising suspicion. You can't do shit without me," Jouno crossed his arms and tapped his foot. His words were harsh, and if Tetchou hasn't been working with him for six years already, his feelings could get hurt. Probably.
"And you can't hold yourself from tormenting innocent people," Tetchou sighed. He also didn't like the idea of working separately that much - when working in pair, they could cover up each other's weaknesses and be efficient. And now they would get a brief in the morning and in the evening at most. "I am upset by this too, you know."
"Whatever," Jouno grunted. He opened his mouth to say something after that, but then clearly changed his mind. Jouno just shook his head and headed out to the balcony. "I need some time to myself, don't bother me."
"Okay. I'll be waiting for you in bed," Tetchou replied, as Jouno was closing the door to the balcony.
Truth be told, Tetchou didn't really understand why Jouno was so mad about meeting past acquittances. Looking back on it - Jouno was never secretive about his past but also wasn't really eager to talk about it either. There were a few bits he shared - but they were only tiny scattered fragments that didn't create any sort of coherent picture together.
Not that Tetchou cared about that.
When Jouno came to bed, Tetchou was already half-asleep, forcing himself to stay awake. Waiting for Jouno.
"Did you calm down?" Tetchou's voice sounded uncharacteristically tired and quiet.
"I was already calm, thank you very much," Jouno slipped under the blanket, and put his head on Tetchou's chest. The latter chuckled, and put his hand in Jouno's hair, gently stroking it.
"I am going to leave in the morning. You should get there tomorrow evening, maybe around five or six in the evening, and be weary, since there are blizzards in that region during this time of year," Tetchou wasn't sure why Jouno decided that the best time to relay the logistics of their mission was at midnight.
"Mhm."
"We are staying at the same hotel. I'll use my ability to sneak into your room. I requested the floor plans of the hotel, so we wouldn't be caught together," Jouno continued but it was hard for Tetchou to focus on his words. Not when his mind was falling asleep, and Jouno's voice was so calm and soothing.