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Date rubbed his temples as he entered Hitomi’s living room. He really needed a strong cup of coffee after last night but knew his girlfriend only stocked tea. It made sense, probably didn’t like the jitters of coffee when dealing with little kids all day. Almost like an instinct he mentally called out to Aiba to only be met with deafening silence of his AI partner's absence, she’d have known what to do about Mizuki’s sudden outbursts. There weren’t even scraps to remember her by, just the hollow ache of a glass eye that refused to sit just right.
Before he could even put on the kettle Hitomi slipped into the room, “You look awful, Fal- Date.” She said softly, still getting used to his new name, “Did you sleep at all last night?”
“A little… I was worried about Mizuki.” He confessed as he put on the kettle and she got down the tea, “She’s been… lashing out lately and I don’t know why. She wouldn’t even tell me where she was last night. I think she’s somewhere safe, there was definitely someone with her.”
“How about you try calling her again this morning now that you both have clearer heads.” She suggested in that oh so gentle way of hers.
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea…” He settled awkwardly into his favorite spot and pulled out his phone.
To his surprise Mizuki actually picked up, “What do you want, old man?” He could almost imagine the exact face she was making.
“I’m checking on you.” He said, trying to keep his tone even, “What are you doing?”
“I’m making breakfast, duh!” He could hear her opening and closing cupboards, though it didn’t sound like the ones in his apartment, “Do we have anything other than bread?” Before he could answer an indistinct murmur floated through the speaker, “I guess we’re having eggs and toast then…”
“What, your ‘big sis’ can’t cook for you?” He teased her like he always did.
There was a brief pause and another of those little murmurs, “She has dwarfism and I don’t want her getting hurt trying to make us breakfast. Anyways I need to focus on cooking, bye idiot!”
Before he could get in a retort she hung up and he decided not to call back, “Yeah she’s fine and with someone.” A sigh of defeat fluttered out of him as Hitomi poured them tea.
“Do you know who she’s with?” Hitomi asked in that oh so gentle tone of hers as she settled on the couch across from him.
“Her older half sister, on Shoko’s side, apparently.” He grumbled before taking a sip of tea.
“I think I saw Shoko with someone a few times when I visited… not you… in prison.” She said, still clearly unsure how she should talk about the time where Date’s body wasn’t his own.
Another grumble fell from his lips as he flopped over, placing his head in her lap. She gently ran her fingers through his hair as he rested, trying to figure out what he’d do. Her scent soothed his troubled soul, a certain type of nostalgia to it. Before he could fully relax his phone buzzed to remind him he had work today.
~♘~
“Damn, Date, you look like shit.” Boss practically sneered as he slid into her office.
“Tch.” He scoffed before slumping in his usual spot, “What do you want?” He wasn’t exactly in the mood for their usual back and fourths since she seemed determined to bury him in paperwork to keep him out of the field.
“To know why you thought I’d approve of a request to pull Mizuki’s gps data and file her as a missing person, especially considering two of her most recent calls are with you.” She said with her usual expression of smug indifference even if it was clear she was mad at him.
“Just because I can call her doesn’t mean she isn’t missing.” He snipped at her.
“And I know she isn’t, Date!” and she snapped back, “I’m not going to let you abuse police resources to solve whatever petty squabble you and Mizuki are having, okay?”
“Fine.” He huffed, probably coming off as petulant, “Is there anything you can help with?”
“You can ask, politely, for some information and that's about it.” She shrugged non-chalantly.
“Can you please tell me if Shoko had any kids besides Mizuki?” He asked trying not to let his frustrations with the last two days show.
“Yeah, Ruby, Aiba flagged her as a possible person of interest but she never ended up being all that relevant.” She said dismissively, “Don’t know much about her though, complete recluse.”
He put his head in his hands, “Fuck.”
Boss was polite enough, or was just amused by his anguish, to just let him have his moment of contemplation and mild anguish. It’d made sense why Mizuki had been pissed when he insinuated she was lying about her stay with her older sister now. Sure she lied to Iris about not having her bag last night but that could’ve been a more productive conversation then screaming at each other down the phone. He really missed Aiba now, she always knew how to defuse situations like this and talk him down from doing stupid shit like getting in a screaming match with a sixth grader. Well, she talked him down most of the time, other times she’d let him dig his own grave.
Eventually he got to his feet and decided to use Boss’ coffee machine, she didn’t move to stop him, “Well, I should get back to work.”
She didn’t say anything and just watched him go.
~♘~
He blinked a few times when he saw Mizuki in Golden Yokocho. She was hard to miss with her electric blue hair and yellow raincoat. Flanking her were the receptionist from her dads entertainment company and a mysterious girl with cyan tipped red hair. Presumably the mystery girl was Ruby, clad in what looked like a miniaturized version of Shoko’s dress which felt decidedly creepy.
“Hey, Mizuki!” He called out to her and instantly regretted it when she whipped around with fury in her grey eyes.
“Oh, now you're a stalker on top of being a pervert.” She sneered out as the receptionist and mystery girl turned to face him, “Maybe I should file a complaint with Boss.”
“Oh my gawd, hey handsome!” The secretary, he really should’ve learned her name by now, said while waving at him, “Prez is like making me her personal assistant so she doesn’t get in trouble for being out by herself.”
“Don’t flirt with him!” Mizuki sounded exasperated already, her usual snarky bluster fading.
The mystery girl, seeing her head on reminded him of a cursed doll, seemed to examine him closely, “Rohan…? Shouldn’t you still be in jail…?” She asked in that faux innocent tone Shoko would use, though from her it sounded more genuine, and quickly stepped into Mizuki’s shadow when all eyes fell on her in confusion.
“No, that’s my roommate, Date…” Mizuki corrected, audibly confused, the doll-like girl nodded in understanding, still barely peeking out from behind Mizuki.
“Oh, so I’ve been demoted from guardian to roommate huh” He scoffed, leaning over, “And I didn’t stalk you here, I’m just here from good drinks and good times. Neither of which involve punk ass sixth graders.”
“Maybe I should demote you to ex-roommate since you're never home anyways!” She snapped back, getting in his face.
Before he could process her comment or escalate things with a retort, a melodic voice cut through the air, “Heya Mizuki, heya Miss Enshu, heya Uncle!” Iris, Hitomi’s daughter, called out to them both and he watched as Mizuki’s anger seemed to solidify into sorrow just from Iris calling him Uncle, “Me and Amame were just going to Gen’s place, do you guys want to join us?”
“Sorry, Iris, I actually have other plans already!” Mizuki said, “Come on, Ritsuko, Ruby, let's go.”
“Oh, uh, okay!” Ritsuko quickly fell in step behind Mizuki who was stomping off while Ruby brought up the rear, little purse clutched tightly in her hands.
Iris stared off after Mizuki, clearly confused as to what just happened, “Uh, do you want to join us, Uncle?”
He quickly glanced at Amame who stood just behind Iris, clearly fresh off a shift at the maid cafe, frantically shaking her head no, “I wouldn’t want to interrupt your girls night, plus I’m not really feeling Gen’s cooking tonight. Maybe some other time.” He watched as relief washed over Amame.
Iris pouted but seemed to accept his decision as she headed towards Brahman. He decided to duck into Marble for a quick drink and some worldly advice from Mama. His favorite stool was a welcome comfort as he settled in at the bar. Before he could even start up a train of thought Mame practically sauntered into her own bar.
“You wouldn’t happen to know what that ruckus outside was would you, Date?” She asked as she settled behind the bar before giving him her usual once over, “You look positively dreadful, dear!”
“So I've heard…” A weary sigh seemed to thud onto the bar top, “Pretty sure the commotion you heard was me and Mizuki having an argument.”
“Oh, is little Mizuki mad about all the attention you're giving to that bouncy bunny Iris?” She asked with her standard innuendo laden intonation.
He wanted to argue with her but realized she’d hit the nail on the head, “I guess… I’d rather you not phrase it like that though!”
“Look, what Mizuki needs is TLC and some special time with you.” She said with a flourish, “Now what can I get for you, hon?”
“Just my usual drink and whatever you recommend for dinner, Mama.” He said, trying to smile warmly but the look she gave him told him it was wavering fast.
“That simply won’t do, you need a sharp mind to think about how you’ll get back together with Mizuki.” She harumphed.
He decided not to correct her language and just let out an exasperated sigh, “Fine, a club soda for me then, surprise me on the flavor.” After a beat he looked into her eyes, “Thanks for the help, Mama.”
“Don’t thank me til you and Mizuki walk through my door again for dinner.” She said, a reassuring smile on her face.
~♘~
He was hoping Mizuki would be at the apartment when he got there but considering it seemed like he was being left on read she probably didn’t see the text. A quick glance around told him she had been here though, her clothes were missing from the rack and that Adorabbit plushy he got her was also missing. It looked like it might be awhile until he got to thank Mama properly. After fiddling with the sound system and getting a record on he stripped and flopped onto the couch, even if Mizuki wasn’t here he wasn’t going to dare touch her bed.
His mind's eye focused as he tried to back track through the information he had. Aiba would always help him with this. The furthest he could get was that Mizuki was mad at him for spending time with Iris over her and constantly pushing her back towards her parents. Hitomi had been the one to help her work through her aphonia, not him. Whenever there was a school event he’d shove that off to Mizuki’s parents, though apparently that ultimately met she ended up not going since Renju and Shoko were apparently too busy for their own kid. This is probably the part where Aiba would point out that for the last four years he was the closest thing Mizuki had to stability and he’d sacrificed both of them on an altar to his past.
And a part of him realized he’d do it again, no matter what. As much as he missed Aiba he didn’t regret having her self-destruct to protect Hitomi. His mind wandered to what he would do if Mizuki rejected his offer to adopt her, he’d probably move in with Hitomi and get rid of this apartment after letting Mizuki collect all her things. It was a distinct possibility that the last four years with her would slowly fade into that time her dad dumped her at his weird drinking buddies apartment who taught her martial arts for some reason. Mizuki had Ruby and Ritsuko and all her friends and all those big shots at Lemnsicate watching out for her, maybe she didn’t need Date anymore and that was fine.
But maybe she did still need him, so he’d leave his door open to her.