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Mondays were just one of those things that made for a very tedious existence.
The observation was made by a young man staggering through the main entrance of the bureau and collapsing in his work space, glaring at the pile of case files in front of him that needed reviewing and debriefing. Benzai Yujiro had sworn to himself that he would never look at another piece of report for a month but then again, that’s what he swore to himself each weekend as he stuffed some paperwork in his bag to take home with him. Next to him, Kamo Ryuho was sipping coffee and was already flipping through a case, not batting an eye at the gruesome display of bodies before him.
"I can't believe it's Monday already." Both of them turned to look at their newest recruit, a young red head, drag himself into the room and throw himself into his own chair. "I can't keep doing this every week, my body can't handle the stress." Doumyoji Andy was so far the youngest person in their department and Benzai knew for a fact that Kamo had taken quite the shine to him – the only reason why he offered him a smile instead of a scathing remark with a complimentary eye roll as Benzai was about to do.
Speaking of new recruits...
"Weren't we going to get two new members transferring in today?" He mused out loud, thinking back on what the Captain had told them before the weekend. Both his colleagues were about to respond when a sharp click of heels against the marble floor of the place made them all turn around.
Awashima Seri, the young blonde woman who had replaced Gen Shiotsu as the communication liaison around a week ago, marched straight out of her office and made her way over to them.
"Gentlemen." Her tone was brusque, eyes going over their desks, disapprovingly taking in all the unfinished files and paperwork. "Has anyone seen Akiyama kun arrive since this morning?" Benzai and Andy, both who had clocked in only moments ago, turned to look at Kamo, who presumably had been there since six am, only because he didn't have any other obligations. The dark haired man shrugged.
"I haven't seen him, sorry." Awashima nodded, her blue eyes glancing at the large clock hanging on the wall before she turned to Benzai and gave him an almost pleading look.
"Could you call him and ask him where he is? He was supposed to bring the two new comers from the airport -" Andy let out a small noise and they all turned to look at him as he ducked his head low, face turning a bit pink, "- and he hasn't been picking up any of my calls." Awashima finished, still eyeing Andy suspiciously, the later having dropped a pen and having to dive under his desk to retrieve it. Benzai on his part, kept a straight face until she had left only to have Andy break out into a fit of giggles and even Kamo was trying to hide his amusement behind his hand.
"Okay you two, knock it off."
"Akiyama-san. She sent Akiyama san to get the two newbies. From the airport. She sent Akiyama-san to drive them back here from the airport." Andy couldn't even seem to breathe and Benzai almost wished he'd choke on behalf of his best friend. He was about to snap back at them when another soft laugh joined Andy's explosive ones and Benzai looked up to see Fuse approaching them with Enomoto tagging along behind, both holding steaming mugs of coffee and wearing matching grins.
"Akiyama-san's driving? Alone?" Benzai sighed.
"I'm sure it's not that bad..." He mumbled, pulling out his phone. Dialing his oldest friend's number, he waited for the line to connect as all the others listened in, showing various levels of interest and amusement.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Click.
"I'm not lost."
That's when Andy truly couldn't control himself. The red head bent over, laughing soundly as Fuse joined him and even Enomoto and Kamo let out a small chuckle. "Why are you all laughing, I said I'm not lost!" Akiyama's tone sounded too peeved for Benzai to take those words in account though. "…I just took a wrong turn."
"Enomoto kun..." The bespectacled man nodded at Benzai, and pulled out his laptop, setting to work on tracing Akiyama's cellphone coordinates. "Akiyama, take a left."
"...okay but I just want to confirm everyone knows that I'm not lost."
"Of course you're not lost. How are the two with you?" Benzai added hastily, coughing to drown out the noise of everyone snickering in the background. There was a derisive snort heard from the other end that was so unlike Akiyama that Benzai had to pause and blink for a while before confirming that yes, this was still his best friend's voice. "Akiyama?"
"One of them had the bright idea for me to let him drive."
"Alright?" Keeping an eye on the red dot on Enomoto's screen, he quickly added before Akiyama could respond, "Take a right and then just drive straight – you'll get on familiar roads soon."
"Why is the headquarters so far away?" The other man complained, "Anyways, like I was saying, the car broke down. Twice." Benzai raised his eyebrow, even though the other couldn't see it.
"Oh?"
"Yes. It was weird. It just stopped and wouldn't move forward and … it was odd."
"Okay, just be careful and make it back in one piece alright?"
"Yes but for the record-"
"Yes Akiyama, we get it - you weren't lost."
BAU, PSIA headquarters, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.
04th July, Monday.
[9:42 AM]
"Hidaka Akira and Gotou Ren." The young brunette looked up with bleary eyes as a tall man approached them, "Sorry for the inconvenience. We were unaware of the troubles that could have happened." The fact that the man did not look even the slightest bit sorry – if not anything, he looked a bit amused – made Hidaka almost snipe back. The other man had dark hair, deep violet eyes framed by the delicate frames of his glasses. He wasn't taller than Hidaka yet his presence alone made Hidaka feel smaller. "I'm the section chief and SSA, Munakata Reisi, you must be the two new recruits from Kyoto?"
Both of them nodded. Munakata san smiled, eyes twinkling behind the lenses.
"Well the, I'm glad to welcome you to the team. Rest assured, Awashima kun will show you around but for now, why don’t you two just rest. After all, I heard it was quite a taxing ride."
"It was alright – wasn't it Hidaka san." Gotou smiled at him in his usual demure manner and all the frustration and annoyance that had been building up inside him was calmed down – a bit.
Gotou was no miracle worker after all.
"Yeah." He mumbled, "We'll get over it." Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a certain green haired man walking towards the coffee pot and he almost marched straight up to him to tell him exactly why he shouldn't be allowed on roads if he couldn't even follow a GPS map on his phone.
"Excellent!" Munakata said, clapping his hands together. "Why don't you take some time to familiarize yourself with the place – we haven't had a case today so it’s a slow day."
"Alright sir." Both of them nodded and in a blink of an eye, Hidaka was in hot pursuit of the short directionally challenged man who had escorted him to the HQ - if you called it an escort.
What was his name again? Akiyama Himori right? The man had been so focused on getting them back to the bureau that introductions had gone sailing out of the window.
"Akiya-!" The rest of the words got drowned in his mouth as he saw the look of utter despair and resignation on the other man's face. There was a phone lodged between his ear and shoulder and he was talking very vehemently, the hand that was not holding the coffee mug, was making all sorts of gestures, clearly indicating the other man was highly agitated.
"-on't do something you'll regret... You know what, fine. Have it your way! We're done!" Grabbing his phone, he angrily cut the call and whirled around only to come face to face with Hidaka who had enough sense of mind to realize he might have witnessed a breakup.
A rather abrupt and depressing one.
"It's not polite to eavesdrop on someone else's conversation." Akiyama sniffled out, his hair swept across his face, covering his right eye, making him look rather...adorable for lack of other words. "I don't know where you've transferred in fro-"
"Oh no, I wasn't eavesdropping! I was here to -" Yes, telling him off about his atrocious navigation skills was really not going to help the other right now so he began searching his mind for an excuse. "-ask you where I could get some coffee!" Akiyama looked at him and then pointedly at the coffee machine that sat right next to Hidaka, innocently doing what it was meant to do – brewing coffee.
The sudden low chuckle that escaped the other's mouth made him almost cry with relief because really, what the actual fuck. Coffee? Really?
Thank you brain.
"It's alright, I wasn't exactly somewhere private or secluded enough to have this conversation." Jamming his hands in his pocket, Hidaka shot him a sympathetic look.
"Tough day?"
"You have no idea."
"Want to talk about it?" A single green eye blinked at him as if he hadn't expected this before a small smile crossed his features, turning them softer and making them look much more meek and mellower than before.
"It's alright...Hidaka san?" Hidaka grinned.
"Yup! That's me! Hidaka Akira! I suppose I'm your junior right now!" The small smile on the other's face grew wider and even thought he could still blatantly see the other's misery reflected on his face, he didn't push his luck in trying to make him laugh even more.
"Well Hidaka san, I hope we get along." Hidaka watched as the shorter of the two made his way to a work bench where he got comfortable and was immediately joined by a group of people, all who were slapping him on his back.
He also noted how there was now a smile plastered on the man's face.
BAU, PSIA headquarters, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.
11th August, Monday.
[8:45 AM]
"Right guys, since we're all here I'll get started right away." Awashima announced as soon as she waltzed into the conference room. Over the past month, Hidaka had gotten used to the fact that while the curvaceous body looked like it had been in every man's dreams at least once, the woman also possessed quite the sharp tongue that could quite possibly rip you into two if you stared at her chest for longer than absolute necessary - 0.01 seconds to be precise.
That and she had a boyfriend, who was equally just as terrifying as her.
Next to him, Gotou merely smiled into his cup of tea.
Gotou Ren had turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Hidaka. When the young man was looking for an apartment to live in after being randomly evicted from the one he was staying in on his second day because of a very bizarre reason - "You're too tall, you scare our children. We're sorry but could you please find somewhere else to go?" - Gotou had offered him to come live with him in an apartment that his family had owned in the area.
He also found out that no, Gotou did not smoke pot every morning, he was relatively this calm by nature.
A tap on his head made him turn to the right just to stare into the disapproving face of Akiyama san, who was staring at him steadily with the one eye that wasn't covered by the mess of his hair.
"Pay attention." he chided, "Hidaka san, you're going to get yourself into trouble if you keep zoning out like that."
"Sorry Akiyama san..."
"It’s alright, just don't make a habit of it. Also, you've been tapping that pen against the desk for a while now, it's getting a bit distracting - could you please stop?"
Akiyama Himori, Hidaka had discovered, liked everything to be in perfect order. He was always smiling and was the person you went to for advice.
"Alright Akiyama san, I'll stop distracting you."
"You'll need to stop existing for that to happen Hidaka san."
He was also the person who, and here's the part Hidaka didn't understand quite how it had happened, seemed to have started a sort of fake relationship with him where both of them pretended that they were dating.
As if his life wasn't odd as it was.
He supposed his constant flirting had been to blame too.
But he really hadn't expected quiet and shy Akiyama Himori to respond to his subtle remarks with even more highly inappropriate things – all in subtext of course because Akiyama san was going to be inappropriate, that would be improper - that made him think that maybe he was dreaming up the whole thing.
"Guys!" Benzai admonished them from where he sat, giving them an exasperated look. Akiyama immediately gave him a sweet smile and returned his focus back to the case.
"Right, we have a series of women abduction cases in Itabashi - so far seven women have gone missing over the past month and two of them just turned up dead - Maki Mamoru and Reiko Masashi. Both strangled, with their hands and feet showing signs of being bound to something."
"Any signs of sexual assault?" Benzai asked, looking at the file in front of him. Awashima shook her head.
"None but if you see here around their necks, you'll realize-"
"The marks come from collars."
Everyone turned to look at Akiyama, who in turn had gone very pink in the face and mumbled something along the lines of "know from a friend..." Hidaka wondered what kind of company Akiyama liked to keep.
"Are we sure it's the same guy who kidnapped all seven?" Benzai interrupted, raising his eyebrow, "I mean, it could be possible that some of them aren't related to the case."
"That's what I thought too except this guy likes to throw a calling card." The screen behind Awashima lit up, revealing an image of a playing card.
"The Ace of spades?" Hidaka asked, giving a small smile. "How..."
"Original." Benzai deadpanned from across him. "I'm guessing that's what the media has started calling him."
"You know, in legend and folklore, it is also known as the death card." Gotou added a bit dreamily. Awashima nodded and sighed.
"With the captain and half the squad away on a business trip in LA, we're kind of short staffed as well."
"Don't worry Awashima san." Akiyama said, smiling politely, "I'm sure we can handle it." The blonde woman nodded, her eyes flashing with determination.
"Indeed we have to, seeing as we don't have a choice. Alright squad let's move out!"
"Yes!"
Middle of nowhere, Tokyo, Japan.
11th August, Monday.
[ 09:18 AM]
"Akiyama san, why did you not listen to me when I asked you to let me drive?"
"I'm. Not. Lost."
"You're right. We're lost. Both of us." Hidaka couldn't believe his luck. Of all the people who could have driven on the one day he fell asleep in the van, it just had to be Akiyama. The rest had gone ahead in another vehicle and Benzai had explicitly warned him not to let Akiyama take charge.
And he'd fallen asleep.
"I didn't want to wake you up! You looked so cute just sleeping there." Flirting aside, the man did look very apologetic and remorseful, so Hidaka supposed he could overlook it.
"Okay okay, but where are we?"
"I don't know but-"
"Okay yes you're not lost I get it. We get it. The world gets it. But that's not going to help us right now." Akiyama pouted and Hidaka felt his heart skip a beat. Or several. "Oth-other than that – we're not getting any cellphone reception here either." Akiyama looked away, looking the absolute picture of misery.
"I know what you’re thinking and yes, this is why I'm not allowed to drive by myself."
"...Okay, let's just keep driving till we find some cell phone signals?"
"You think I'm incapable of driving without a guide."
"Akiyama san – we are currently in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone reception, no cars within sight – yes I think you are an extremely incapable driver." Seeing the other man opening his mouth looking affronted, he held up a hand, stopping him before he could say anything. "Still, I don't mind being stuck here with you. But we need to find a way back to the others okay?" Akiyama didn't respond or even meet his eyes, opting to tap his fingers against the steering wheel.
"What?" Hidaka was suddenly filled with realization that just maybe his words could have been taken as a tad bit offensive and he suddenly began to splutter out an explanation. "No, that's not what I meant – I think you're a great driver -"
"I don’t' mind being stuck with Hidaka san either." The words were mumbled out as if Akiyama wished Hidaka wouldn't hear them. The tall brunette started, a slow and easy grin creeping along his face. Slinging an arm around the other, he poked him in the cheek.
"Aww Akiyama san is so cute."
"Remove your arm lest I remove it off for you - permanently." But even as he said it, Hidaka noticed the small smile on the man's face. "Alright, let's start driving, you keep focused on looking for a signal okay?" Hidaka nodded and offered the man a mock salute before the car was revved up began to move down the road.
Police Department, Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan.
11th August, Monday.
[10:45 AM]
"So how does he get to the girls?" Benzai stared at the whiteboard in front of him, frowning. All of them had arrived about half an hour ago and had just received a message that Akiyama and Hidaka were on their way, after taking a small detour. By detour obviously they meant Akiyama had gotten "not lost" again. Seriously...
And he had warned the other man to not let Akiyama take charge.
Benzai loved his best friend but even with him closing his eyes to all his faults, there was just this one thing that he couldn't let go off mostly because he was sure it would end up putting Akiyama in danger one day.
"Well we figured out that all seven of them had no places they'd ever come across each other except for this one bar." The local head of the PD, Chitose Yo said, reaching out to tap the map pinned on the board. "This place is the only bar around here for miles that offers a single ladies night once a week. Now according to the locals and regulars of the bar, they had seen each of the missing ladies at least once there."
"So the unsub scopes out single women at the bar and then what?" Gotou asked, cocking his head to the side thoughtfully. "It's not like he can just grab a woman in front of everyone and drag her away."
"He?" Chitose asked, looking startled, "I assumed it would be a female seeing as the killer manages to watch his victims at a ladies' night." Awashima shook her head, her blonder hair pulled back in a bun.
"That's what we would have thought too except the woman he abducted last - Haruka Maki was an all-star athlete. It would take a very large person to subdue her."
"Unless the killer had a gun." Benzai pointed out, "Guns usually make the strongest fall and become compliant. So we’re not ruling it out entirely."
"It could also be a really tall woman." Relief flooded Benzai's system as he whirled in his seat to stare Akiyama who came striding in with Hidaka on his heels. "Haruka san is strong but what's saying it couldn't be a stronger woman?" Awashima looked thoughtful.
"Well yes, I suppose that could be it."
"So we're back to square one.”
"Let's look at the victimology." Gotou pipped up, "All young women, dark haired, around their late twenties. All of them single and just out to have a good time."
"Something happens in that party that triggers off our unsub." Awashima added, "And next thing you know, we've got ourselves a new victim." Her blue eyes darkened, forehead wrinkling with worry. "That's all fine and good but why keep them for so long and then kill them? The bodies showed no signs of torture - no defensive wounds or anything. Just the marks on their hands and feet. They were well fed and no signs of being starved or being unkempt. They even had their toenails all trimmed and proper."
"So the unsub keeps them prisoner, takes care of them and then what? He just kills them?" Hidaka asked, raising his eyebrow. Benzai drummed his fingers against the table absent mindedly.
"No, something isn't quite right here. We're missing something. We need to go talk to the families and see what they say before we make any deductions." Akiyama suggested from where he was perched on a counter, "There has got to be something that links these women more than just their build and appearances." Awashima nodded.
"Okay, everyone pick a family and go talk to them. We'll meet back here and discuss what we've found out alright?" Nodding, all of them got to their feet. Benzai made his way to Akiyama.
"So - what happened?"
"Well, I took a wrong turn or two. Not my fault, you see, the signs were all very faded and it was hard to decipher one arrow from the other."
"And Hidaka san?"
"Oh he fell asleep. But he does look cute when he's snoring so I let him stay pressed up against the window, drooling." Benzai snorted. Akiyama smiled brightly. "I even took pictures!" Benzai just shook his head and reached out to ruffle the already messy hair before him.
"Don't make me worry like that again."
"I'm a grown adult-"
"-with no sense of direction."
"Still. I can take care of myself and you know it." Benzai snorted again, remembering their training days together in the academy. Akiyama had been known as some sort of silent holy terror. 'His bite is definitely worse than his bark' - the rumor that had drawn him towards the otherwise very silent and sweet looking individual.
"Well yes, I have no doubt that you can take care of yourself."
"See? You have nothing to worry about." The smile Akiyama gave him made him not even a little less worried about him.
"I'm still going to be the one to drop you off where you want to go right now."
"That is such -"
"Hidaka san can pick you up."
"- such a nice idea." Akiyama grinned. His eyes were twinkling mischievously - or eye. The only one he could see anyways. Benzai groaned.
"You know, you could stop pretending you don't have a crush on him and outright instead."
"Now where would be the fun in that? Besides, it's not like he ever takes any of my comments seriously..."
"Well maybe you should openly tell him instead of making a game out of it."
"He started it! We're just joking around Benzai." The two of them were making their way to where one of the cars they were supposed to be using was parked and Benzai slid into the driver's seat, Akiyama climbing in next to him.
"Well actually, I think he flirted with you genuinely and now he's confused..."
"He flirts with everyone!" Akiyama did have a fair point. Hidaka did flirt with everyone - or used to. Except everyone else had just given up while Akiyama had responded and Benzai knew when his best friend had a crush from a mile away. Akiyama on the other hand, was still in denial about the whole thing. Factoring in the last relationship that he had, which had ended rather sourly, it was understandable why Akiyama wouldn’t want to get into another one – his boyfriend had just up and realized one day that he wasn’t gay, something that Benzai couldn’t understand because how on earth do you just, after being in relationship with a man for almost a year, just suddenly realize you weren’t gay? But apparently that was a thing that happened. Which made this all such a huge pointless drama that Benzai wouldn't be surprised it was written by some young college student who liked creating nonexistent complicated messes.
"Okay look, if by the end of this case you don't tell him, I'm going to do it for you. He may turn you down but then at least you'll know?" Akiyama pouted.
"Well true enough I suppose. Alright, when we're done with this case, I'll tell him." Benzai smiled as he pulled out of the driveway.
"That's the Akiyama Himori I know."
Mamoru household, Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan.
11th August, Monday.
[11:30 AM]
"Good afternoon Yuki Mamoru san, may I come in?" The short brown haired woman nodded and stepped aside to let in Awashima as she flashed her credentials. The blonde woman entered the house and looked around, seeing what you'd find in a normal everyday household. Framed pictures on the walls, a small living room with an attached kitchen and some doors which she assumed were the bedrooms.
"Ah thank you for speaking with me Yuki-san." she said, bowing her head a bit, "I wanted to ask you a few questions regarding your daughter?" The woman let out a small sniffle but apart from that managed to hold herself together and give her a tiny nod.
"Okay, did Maki have any enemies? Anyone who'd want to do this to her?" Yuki shook her head aggressively, eyes shining with unshed tears.
"No, not that I can think of. Maki was an outgoing child - a bit rambunctious but over all a nice kid. She wouldn't hurt a fly and wasn’t bad at heart. I know – I know what everyone says, that Maki – my Maki, probably did something stupid and reckless – and that she d-d-deserv-" Awashima reached out and put a gentle hand on her arm and gave a firm look.
“Yuki-san, I know this is hard but know that no one blames Maki or thinks she deserved any of this. We will find whoever did this and we will bring him to justice. But I need you to be strong and answer my questions. Can you do that for me?” Yuki nodded, wiping her eyes on her apron. Awashima gave her an encouraging nod. "Alright, you told the police that when Maki didn't return home for a day, you didn't think too much about it until it crossed was about three days later?" Yuki let out a sob and shook her head.
"You - you probably think I'm a bad mother but I didn't - she would usually spend nights at her boyfriend's house so I didn't - she never listened to me anyways." At this the woman dissolved into tears and Awashima awkwardly reached out to pat her back. The woman finally took a deep breath and managed to calm herself down.
"She recently just broke up with him too - I should have known. But I thought they made up - they always do. Always." At this she just broke down once more, not even attempting to pull herself together. Awashima, sensing that she was not going to get any more answers out of the woman, got up and bid her farewell. The woman just looked up and gave her a hard stare.
"Find this person. Find them - save those other girls." Awashima nodded and exited the house. Pulling out her cellphone, she put all of the squad on a conference call.
"All right Maki Mamoru was a bit of a rough edged girl but she didn't have any enemies. She was recently going through a breakup -"
"With an on again off again boyfriend?" Benzai interrupted. Awashima blinked.
"Yes that's exactly-"
"I think I know what this is all about." came a clipped reply. “Everyone gather at the PD's conference room." Hearing all the others agree and drop the call, the bewildered blonde woman was left wondering what on earth was going on.
Police Department, Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan.
11th August, Monday.
[01:14 PM]
"He's targeting women who're single - but not just single. Recent breakups." Benzai pointed out. "Women who are all together with some on again off again romance and by the looks of it, he's telling them that he wants to tie them down - in other words, they should settle down once and for all."
"Why the girls though?" Hidaka asked, "They aren't the ones who initiated most of these breakups." Awashima frowned.
“He’s also taking care of them.” She argued, “Doesn’t seem like something a man would do if they were just discipline his victims.”
“Unless he thinks he’s saving them from that way of life.” Akiyama supplied. “Tie them down and enforce them to not go back – stay with him who treats them so kindly?”
"Maybe something to do with his own past?" Gotou pipped up from where he was sitting, "Either way, I think I have a plan on how to catch this guy."
“I still say this is a highly bad idea.” Hidaka muttered under his breath as the two slipped into the bar, wearing tuxedos. Akiyama shrugged, looking around cautiously. Zeroing in on Dewa Masaomi from a distance, he nodded to Hidaka.
“There.” Hidaka turned to look at the quiet dark haired man, just sitting there quietly, sipping vodka and scoffed.
“You have got to be kidding me – that’s our informant?” Akiyama shrugged. It appeared he was a close friend of the local PD head so what was the point on commenting. Not that Akiyama was going to deny that the man looked way too different to be a friend of what Akiyama had established on first sight, a very flashy police officer.
“Well, he’s our best lead. He’s going to be the one who helps us identify who’s a regular here and who’s not.”
“And we’re looking for a regular?”
“Yes, because the unsub needs to visit a lot to know everything about the victims as he did.” Akiyama signaled the informant with his head and the man gave them a long hard look before very subtly pointing in the direction of the bar, where a small group of women were hanging off the arm of a dark suited man, giggling and batting their eyelashes. Next to him, Hidaka whistled softly.
“Check out that girl’s ra-oof!” a sharp elbow in his side made the rest of his words die in his throat as he found at the end of a highly disapproving glare. As the other was apologizing profusely, Akiyama began to recall the plan in his head.
Grab a drink and go make small talk.
How hard could it be? Smiling, he picked up two glasses of cheap wine off a passing waiter and handed it to Hidaka. It was going to be as simple as baking a cake.
Swank Motel, Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan.
13th August, Wednesday.
[3:55 AM]
"You have got to be kidding me." Hidaka stared at the dress in absolute horror and then at the man holding it up, smiling rather smugly.
"No Akiyama san, I can't-"
"But you promised." Hidaka swore internally - Akiyama seemed to have discovered some internal weakness of his which was basically making the worst sad puppy dog face you could manage to pull off. And he was getting too good at them. Or he was always good at them - fuck.
"I was drunk!"
"Promised." The man in front of him wasn’t giving up though. The plan, the night before, had gone horribly wrong. The two of them had been doing a stake out in a bar, like they had been originally assigned to do, all the while keeping close to one of the only suspects they had. While he had ordered more drinks with the suspect so they could all drink, Akiyama had severely overestimated Hidaka’s ability to hold liquor. Two drinks in and he was blabbering nonsense and Akiyama had to hurry him away in case he accidentally blew their cover. Amidst all that, at one point there had been a conversation that Hidaka could only vaguely recall.
"Akiyama san is really pretty."
"What?"
"Like lots an' lots of pretty. Bet you'd look even more pretty in a dress."
"Hidaka san you're starting to go incoherent and you clearly cannot think straight."
"Can't ever think straight around you."
After that was a huge gap in his memory and he remembered nothing except when he woke up, Akiyama was grinning at him and telling him he had promised to wear a dress - for him. Hidaka was willing to bet his life on the fact he hadn't promised any such thing but Akiyama was persistent and so here they were.
"Look, if I promise to wear the dress, can we just leave?"
“You already promised to wear a dress. And yes, you can leave wearing the dress."
Really, why was it always Hidaka's job to deal with this?
"Okay, but I'm not entering the hotel in those clothes - just till we reach the police station then I'm changing in the back of the van. Got it?" The green eyes in front of him blinked.
"I feel comfortable in my own clothes." Hidaka couldn't help but put in a tad bit desperately.
"Not that comfortable." Really, Akiyama Himori was a demon.
Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan.
13th August, Wednesday.
[5:30 AM]
"I see, thank you Awashima san." Disconnecting the call, Hidaka turned to look at Akiyama, who was keeping his one eye focused on the road. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Hidaka wondered if that was the reason why he was always getting lost but discarded it. Sitting there in a sparkly pink dress, with his hair done up in a clump of pony tail, he hardly was in any position to say anything.
"You make a lovely woman Hidaka san." The corner of Akiyama’s lips was twitching and Hidaka had the painful urge to punch him straight in the mouth.
“Why thank you, I really work hard on this body.”
“Lets put it up on display next time in the conference room alright?”
"Shut up, Awashima-san said we should meet her at the bar so you’re going to have to turn around. I'll go change in the back." He looked around him to see if his original clothes were there but he was unable to spot them and figured they were probably in the back.
"Isn't in convenient we took the van?"
"...I don't know how but you planned this somehow."
“I did not.”
“Where did you even find the dress?”
“I bought it while you were knocked out. Two drinks might I add – just how weak are you? Can’t keep going for more than two rounds.”
“I am not in the mood for this right now.”
"I don't know what you’re talking about.” Really, it would be so much easier to believe him if only he hadn’t been smirking when he said that. As Akiyama turned the van around, Hidaka clambered behind to the back and began to look for his clothes.
“Akiyama san, where did you keep my clothes?”
“Oh, they’re in the black bag.” The other man said, trying to keep his mind on where they were going.
“What black bag?” That got him a response. Akiyama turned to give him an incredulous look, before immediately facing the front again.
“The one I told you to pick up on from the bed!” The small note of panic in Akiyama’s voice filled Hidaka with dread. The man was serious…
They had left his fucking clothes at the fucking motel!
“Let’s not panic.” Akiyama finally managed to voice out and Hidaka wanted so badly to snap at him that no, he was going to panic because Akiyama wasn’t the one in the dress. He wasn’t the one everyone would see in the dress and the ridiculous makeup and hairdo. Akiyama san wouldn’t be the one going to get off the van looking like some trashy version of a one night stand from a nightmare in hell. Angrily, he was about to turn and tell off the man when he saw the dazed look on his face.
No. He had only taken his eyes off for 15 minutes. Surely…
“Hidaka san..." His tone was fearful.
"Yes?" So was Hidaka's if he was completely honest.
"Don't get angry - we’re not lost but-“ Hidaka just closed his eyes and moaned.
"Fucking hell Akiyama san, just keep driving, we'll find some place -"
"And we're also out of gas," The car stopped.
"Okay look, I'll go and look for help, why don't you stay in this van and I'll return with some clothes too?" His soothing tone of voice did nothing to placate Hidaka's anger but the idea was appealing so he nodded. Akiyama smiled, looking a bit relieved that Hidaka was at last talking to him now. Well, nodding at him – he still wasn't talking
"Okay, I'll just walk straight and hopefully someone will pick me up and then we can go back okay?" Hidaka nodded again, still too busy sulking to care about what was going on. Watching Akiyama's disappearing back, he was suddenly struck with a horrible thought.
"Oh fuck, did I really just send Akiyama san out alone?"
Yeah he was most definitely screwed.
An hour.
It had been an hour since Akiyama left and now Hidaka was sure he was hopelessly lost –Hidaka could just see him muttering "I'm not lost" over and over again and the thought would have been funny had the situation not been so dire. Not only was he stranded, Akiyama had taken the keys with him so he didn't have much of a choice but to stay put. Looking out of the van miserably, he was just about to fuck it all and go to sleep, when he saw a sleek black jeep pull in next to him.
A raven haired head poked out and Hidaka felt his breath get knocked out at the sight of the beautiful woman.
"Hey girl, you lost?"
Girl. She thought Hidaka was a girl. Hidaka wondered if this was a good or a bad thing – he certainly wouldn't mind anyone's help right now but-
"I'm waiting for my uuhh boyfriend to come back – he kind of went to get help."
And now I need to find a way to get us both help.
"Oh – do you need a ride?" The woman smiled gently, tilting her head. "We can leave a note here, get you somewhere safe and have your boyfriend comeback and pick you up later." That was actually a very good idea. Hidaka smiled.
"Thank you uuuh..."
"Maria. Mari Yubikiri."
Police Department, Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan.
14th August, Thursday.
[1:32 PM]
"I shouldn't have left him there."
“Akiyama san, it isn’t your fault.” Gotou said, casting a worried look towards Awashima who shook her head a bit, indicating she did not know how to calm the man down. Hidaka had been missing for well over twenty-four hours and counting. Akiyama had returned to find the van empty with just a note saying Hidaka had found a ride and was getting help and that Akiyama should stay next to the car. Except Akiyama had already found help and had returned with Benzai but Hidaka never came back.
And there, in the seat, was the card.
The Ace of spades.
“Akiyama, I know you think you didn’t see anything. But you have got to think hard. You probably do remember things but we both know how panic makes someone over look things that are usually very important.” Akiyama frowned.
“Girl.”
“What?”
“Hidaka was dressed up like a girl.” Ignoring the shocked looks of various faces, he jumped to his feet, pacing back and forth. “While me and Benzai were on our way back, I saw a black jeep drive past. I didn’t think much about it but – that road is kind of not used at all isn’t it? On top of that, Hidaka wouldn’t be so stupid that he’d just climb into the car with some random man. A woman on the other hand...” He turned to face Benzai. “It has to be woman who took him.”
“That fits our earlier profile too.” Awashima added, looking thoughtful. “And it also makes sense why she would target women who were in and out of relationships. Taking care of them until something happens to trigger her off.”
“She’s asking them to stop returning to their boyfriends.” This came from Gotou, who was frowning slightly, “That’s what the chain and binding are for – keep them from going back."
"Ace of spades." Akiyama said, his eyes getting brighter and brighter, body shaking a bit. "Not King. Not Queen. Ace. A King represents a male role that she doesn’t want to assume and the Queen is usually signified in the game as of less value than the King. She doesn’t want that title either. An Ace on the other hand – it beats them both. The Ace of spades is traditionally the highest card in the deck of playing cards.”
“That would also explain the lack of sexual assault and the way she kept them healthy and well taken care of. She probably had some bad relationship in the past and never got over it. So she’s helping women who she feels are in similar situations as her. Forces them into accepting that they don't need the men in their lives.” Benzai added softly. A sudden thought made them all freeze and Chitose was the one to voice it out.
“So what happens when she finds out Hidaka’s a guy?”
Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan.
14th August, Thursday.
[07:55 PM]
This was a bad situation.
A very very bad situation.
In retrospect, Hidaka knew he couldn’t really blame Akiyama san but it was really much easier blaming him than having to think about anything else in this situation. After he had gotten into the vehicle with Maria – if that was truly her real name – she had blitz attacked him and injected him with something that had made him unconscious till he had come round to see himself bound to a bed. Next to him was a row of beds, each containing a quiet terrified looking woman. Five to be exact.
The missing women. Something inside him swelled in relief at seeing all of them unharmed if not looking terrified and teary. But they were alright. All of them were fine.
Him on the other hand…
He looked down at his feet which were bound to the bed by a single long rope. Looking up, he could detect collars around the necks of the other prisoners, which were chained to their respective bedding.
Hence, the bad situation. Maria had come in minutes ago to tell them all it was time for all of them to get ready for bed. Hidaka didn’t know how long he had been knocked out for but it was already the whole of the next day had passed and it was night time again and he had a sinking suspicion that no one really knew what had happened to him.
Shit this was a really really bad situation.
He should really consider himself lucky that she hadn’t decided to change his clothes while he slept or else she might have murdered him in his sleep.
“You, come with me.” He looked up to see Maria smiling at him. Gulping, he got to his feet and wondered how hard it would be to overpower a woman. But then he remembered the athlete and the fact that this woman had single handedly carried him up here and groaned. Of course, the one time he got caught, it had to be some woman with near inhuman strength. Maria knelt down and undid the rope and even then Hidaka knew making a run for it would be bad. For one, he didn’t even know if she had a gun or not.
Following her out of the room, he found himself facing an empty changing room.
“Here.” Looking down, he was startled to have some clothes suddenly pushed onto him. “Wear these.” Looking at the clothes then at the smiling woman, he could feel realization dawning upon him. Slowly, bits and pieces of the story were coming together and he finally could make out the bigger picture.
So that’s what’s going on…
“Why thank you,” he managed to keep his voice high enough to pass off as a gruff woman, “I didn’t know what I’d be sleeping in.” If he could just keep her believing he was a woman till –
Till what?
It wasn’t as if anyone knew where he was.
Thus no one was coming to save him – he was on his own.
Maria must have read the depression on his face a bit differently because she rested her hand on his cheek and lowered it a bit to stare into his eyes.
“It’s alright – you don’t have to go back to him. He’s only going to hurt you. Just stay here until you know how to be your own person again.” Hidaka’s mind was whirling with a thousand questions but he chose to stay quiet. Mostly because he knew this wasn’t going to help him. The woman’s razor sharp nails cut him a bit on his cheek and he watched as she smiled at the sight.
Fucking psycho.
“Go wash your face – then I’ll take you to your bed. You’ll stay here where it’s safe.” She urged and Hidaka shook his head. Take off the hideous make up? The only thing that was keeping him from being exposed? For one thing, he couldn’t believe Maria still thought he was a woman. Mostly because no matter how you’d look at it, Hidaka wasn’t in any form or shape feminine. Now Akiyama on the other hand-
Okay that’s too much think about Akiyama and less thinking about how to get out of there. Looking around, he spotted a small window in the corner of the room. Analyzing it in his head, he mentally made a few calculations. It would be a tight squeeze but maybe he could just-
No, it wasn’t possible.
Miserably, he turned to look back at her. Maria smiles sweetly and he felt a trill of danger run through him.
“I don’t like taking my makeup off, it completes me.” He had seen some girl use this line in a TV drama once, whatever it meant. He must have said the right thing because Maria smiled at him, shaking her head softly but not exactly forcing him either. Leaving him alone, she shut the door behind her to give him – her? – privacy to change. In a flash, he was next to the window, trying to open it. If not anything he could always yell out for help.
It wasn’t like he had any other options.
“What are you doing.” It wasn’t a question. She knew exactly what he was doing. Turning around, he all but shook with fear as she stood there in the doorway, holding long rope. “This is truly disheartening – and here I thought we could have been friends… You men only lie. Lying, deceitful little creatures you are.” The blood in his veins froze. She knew. Maria let out a small laugh. "Oh what? You thought I would see past your pathetic disguise?" Hidaka shook his head. Well, if he was going to die, might as well not give her the satisfaction of knowing she frightened him – even if she did just a bit.
“We’re not friends. You’re just a psychopath who likes to abduct people and kill them under the pretense of looking out for them.” Something in him made him keep speaking even though it was very ill advised in his current situation. “You cover your own guilt by saying you’re keeping them safe but you’re not – you’re just like every other guy who kept them prisoner – no you’re worse. They just did it emotionally; you’re doing it physically. You’re nothing but hypocrite Maria Yubikiri!”
The woman let out a snarl and pounced on him. Hidaka struggled against her, but discovered soon, that her petite frame was only a misleading cover to a ferociously strong body. As she pinned him to the ground, he stared at the ceiling.
Huh. So this is how it ends then.
Really, he had so much left to do. He hadn’t even called him mum in a long while now. What had it been – a month? Two?
The hands round his neck tightened and dark spots began dancing in his field of vision. His chest heaved trying to get some oxygen in as he scratched at her hands hoping to get her to let go.
If only-
“Let go of my boyfriend, you crazy bitch!” The last thing he saw before he blacked out was tiny blur of green yank the body off of him and with a smile, Hidaka’s consciousness faded to black.
BAU, PSIA headquarters, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.
16th August, Saturday.
[8:30 PM]
“So how did you guys even find me?” Hidaka asked, rubbing his throat a bit. The marks were still there, scars where her nails had bit into his skin and made him bleed. The darkening bruise across his tanned skin would take days to heal but Hidaka knew it would disappear sooner than later and this whole business would be behind them. Benzai coughed.
“Well once we realized it was a woman with a black jeep, the rest was easy. We just looked up every woman in the area who owned one and fit the description of the victims. Maria Yubikiri lit up like a beacon. Her own relationship had gone south and she had killed her ex-boyfriend but the charges against her were dropped since the boyfriend was such a douche. She had been in and out of therapy. She was such a cluster fuck of problems that you could just tell from a mile away were trouble.” Hidaka nodded. They had all just returned to the headquarters, him being finally released from the hospital after many threats and angry outbursts.
Really, he hadn’t even been in that bad a shape.
To top it all off –
His eyes found themselves fixed on a certain figure that was discreetly trying to leave in the background. A small push made him stumble forward and he barely manage to catch himself, turning to look at Benzai, confused.
“Just go ask him out properly, you both are giving the entire team a head ache with your constant tip toeing around each other." Behind him Gotou nodded savagely while even Awashima made a shrugging motion with her shoulders. Hidaka turned to look back at the figure only to realize it was gone. He quickly bid the other goodbye before sprinting out after the other man.
Really, they were going to see each other the next day – he shouldn't really make such an effort right now. But something inside him told him it was either now or never.
Spotting his desired company walking ahead, he smirked and grabbed him by the shoulder-
And found himself lying on his back, his body screaming in agony and stars floating in front of his eyes.
"Oh my God, Hidaka san!" Akiyama's horrified voice pulled him back into the world of the coherent and Akiyama helped him sit up. "I thought someone was attacking me so I just -"
"I always knew you were the ones who could make me see stars in their eyes."
"You really do have a concussion don't you, wait, I'll go get help. I should probably call the ambulance – you need to go back to the hospital."
"NO!" Hidaka's body jerked in an upright position. Akiyama blinked.
"Alright then, I'll just leave you here to die then See if I care." He huffed, getting to his feet. Hidaka followed suit even thought he was sure he had dislocated some of his vertebrae. Groaning, he held up a hand, silently asking the other man to stop which he thankfully did. Hidaka inwardly rejoiced because he really didn't think he could run after someone right now.
Fucking hurts like bloody murder.
"Okay no, I needed to ask you something." Akiyama paused, a bit of pink dusting his cheeks. Before Hidaka could get even two words in, the man was rambling on, not paying attention to what the brunette wanted to say.
"If this is about that boyfriend comment, I acted without thinking – I was in a panic -"
"Akiyama san..."
"So you can't actually blame me -"
"Akiyama san."
"Besides, do you realize how worried you had made all of us -"
"Akiyama san."
"Always doing careless things. I mean, who just -"
Hidaka just kissed him to get him to shut up. Which did work – until he pulled away because then Akiyama was all up in his face.
"What was that?"
"Well I'm not sure what they call this in your home planet – but here it's called a kiss Akiyama san."
"Why?"
"Well you kept talking and not listening -"
"Oh so you did kiss me only to make me quiet."
"What? No, That's not -"
"I'm sorry." Hidaka blinked. His mind couldn't keep up with the conversation and he vaguely wondered if there had been a bit of a time skip here.
"Excuse you?"
"I'm sorry." Akiyama repeated, looking away. "That day – it was my fault." Hidaka's eyes widened comically and he raised his hands, waving them frantically in front of him.
"No no, it wasn't your fault. Really."
"No it's – Hidaka san made no such promise." The low mumble made Hidaka stop and stare, a bit bewildered by the small confession. Confession to what exactly, he did not know.
"What?" Again, there was probably something he skipped - he was missing something majorly important, he was sure of it -
"Hidaka san never promised to wear a dress - I made that up." Hidaka stared. And stared, He opened his mouth to say something but really, nothing came out.
"Ah."
What else could he say? Anything he wanted to say was highly wrong in the current atmosphere.
You're here to tell him you love him. You're here to tell him you love him. You're here to tell him you love him.
"Please don't be mad, I thought you'd look really cute." Hidaka stared at the other man, incredulity spreading across his face.
"Akiyama san?"
"Yes?" The words were a tiny squeak as if he expected Hidaka to yell at him. He didn't though.
"It's a good thing I love you otherwise I might have just murdered you right now." Akiyama's eyes widened only for a fraction before Hidaka found himself being on the receiving end of a very long – and possibly bone crushing – hug.
Yup definitely slipped a backbone or two. he thought wincing slightly. But it was worth it though. Akiyama pulled away and began to dig around in his bag.
"I planned on giving you this tomorrow, as an apology, but here." Hidaka stared at the wooden box in surprise and blinked, looking at Akiyama then at the box and then back again. Akiyama nudged him. "Well, don't leave me standing here like an idiot. Just take it." Hidaka nodded. Opening the box he stared at the contents in surprise.
"Ah." Once again rendered speechless, he held up the wooden pen in the light, admiring the way the light reflected off the polished surface and the intricate pattern carved in. Akiyama shrugged.
"I really didn't know what else to get, I'm not good with-"
"Thank you Akiyama san." Hidaka cut in, placing his gift back in the box, "It looks really nice." Akiyama blushed again. Hidaka came to the conclusion he liked seeing Akiyama blush.
"Yes well, you did get kidnapped and all so I suppose it's the least I could do." He ducked his head and Hidaka grinned.
"You can also go out for dinner with me." Akiyama looked at him blankly then at his wrist watch.
"Well, I guess it's not that late." He finally receded. Hidaka grinned.
"Great, I just recently found this amazing diner-"
"A diner? On our first date? I would have at least expected a gourmet meal."
"It was a very last minute thing Akiyama san, I'm sorry I couldn't arrange for the flowers."
"That's no excuse, I want my flowers."
“Well if you want those flowers so badly, maybe you should ask me out on a date.”
“Why would I do that? Then I’d have to buy you flowers.”
A health check up, the S4 squad is lined up in their underwear but the outer ends, Akiyama and Hidaka, have suspiciously matching bite and scratch marks all over their body. How will the rest of the clan react to this? And possibly the one doing the check ups?
I assume Fushimigets to skip this check up since he doesn’t have any underwear tostand around in. When Akiyama takes off his shirt and everyone seesthe bite marks he gets a little red and mumbles something about beingscratched by a cat Benzai brought in, Benzai raises an eyebrow butdoesn’t argue. Doumyouji’s like that must have been a really viciouscat Akiyama-san you’re really covered in marks and Akiyama’s allembarrassed and can’t look at anyone. The others start taking offtheir clothes and the finally they get to Hidaka at the end of theline and he just gives Akiyama this quick nervous glance beforepulling his shirt off, Fuse raises an eyebrow like oh so Hidaka gotattacked by the cat too. Hidaka would probably be more sheepish aboutit than anything, like the only thing keeping him from saying outloud who gave him all those scratches is the fact that poor Akiyamais mortified on the opposite end. Benzai continues to be a goodwingman and assures everyone that it was definitely the cat, pattingAkiyama’s shoulder soothingly. Then Hidaka’s like oh yeah that catwas rough with me and Akiyama just glares at him.
For extra fun sayMunakata’s the one doing the check ups and he does them one byone, calling the boys inside in alphabetical order and Akiyama iseven more embarrassed to be sitting there in front of the Captainhaving all his bruises and marks examined. Munakata just smilescalmly the whole time, not even phased or embarrassed even thoughAkiyama’s sitting there wanting to sink into the floor. Munakatadoesn’t say anything to him then, just keeps on going down the lineuntil he gets to Hidaka who also has some conspicuous rope burnsaround his wrists. Munakata asks Hidaka about the marks and Hidakamakes up some excuse, smiling brightly as he tells Munakata that it’snothing. All is well until Munakata goes to send the squad back towork, giving everyone a clean bill of health before adding ‘AndAkiyama-kun, please do not tie Hidaka-kun’s wrists so tightly lest hepermanently lose circulation and have difficulty handling his sword’and Akiyama just goes totally pale. Hidaka grins a little because heprobably likes that everyone knows who’s been marking him, he’s lesshappy when Munakata adds that he wants to see them both in his officeso he can properly give them the birds and the bees talk (Fushimioverhears this and probably smirks because if he had to sufferthrough the Talk everyone has to suffer through the Talk).
AliHida height swap, Akiyama is the tall giant while Hidaka is perfectly of average height. How does that affect their relationship in general? (Can also be due the effect of a strain)
I like the idea ofthis being a Strain effect because imagine Akiyama being unexpectedlypleased by his new height while Hidaka’s all ‘….so this is whatit’s like not having to duck when you walk through a door.’ When theStrain first hits them I think everyone else is suddenly surprised byhow short Hidaka is now that he’s Akiyama’s height, like normallyAkiyama’s so calm and authoritative that most of the cast has neverrealized how short he really is (until I had to look it up for an askonce I had no idea that not only is Akiyama shorter than Fushimi buthe’s actually the third shortest member of the squad, ahead of onlyEnomoto and Fuse). Now that the much less intimidating Hidaka hasAkiyama’s height he just seems really short, like are you sure youand Akiyama switched heights because I don’t think Akiyama was thatshort, Benzai probably has to verify because he knows Akiyama’s exactheight. Meanwhile Akiyama is now twice as intimidating andauthoritative as a tall giant, and is also surprisingly pleased byhow easy it is to reach the high shelves.
I can see thisbeing a bit weird for their relationship, like Hidaka’s actually alittle disappointed that he can’t rest his chin on Akiyama’s headanymore and he misses being able to just wrap himself entirely aroundAkiyama like he used to. Akiyama I could see being suddenly a lotmore awkward about his secret dom tendencies, like he’s already a biton edge about them and tends to go from 'lick my boots’ to 'oh dear Ididn’t tie the knots too tight did I let me get you some cream forthe rope burn’ but now that he’s taller he feels like it’sjust…mean to be tying Hidaka up and making him beg. Alsoimagine that usually Akiyama complains about Hidaka being taller thanhim (at least in part because since Hidaka’s so tall he’s one of thefew alphabet boys who’s noticed that Akiyama’s a little on theshor…perfectly average height end of things and so Hidaka sometimeslikes to tease Akiyama a bit about his height) but secretly he ratherlikes being held by his giant boyfriend and fitting so nicely againsthim, and now he feels all awkward and giant and clumsy.
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Akiyama having to get up on his tip toes to kiss Hidaka, and still being too short? Do you think the boys would tease him about it?(I live for Smol!Akiyama).
I kinda headcanon that poor Akiyama is vaguely embarrassed by hisheight, like he’s not viscerally defensive over it the way, say, Yatais but he also prefers to draw as little attention to it as possibleand figures if he just keeps good posture maybe no one will notice(it sort of works too, I can’t be the only one who was surprised torealize he’s the third shortest member of the squad after Enomoto andFuse). Of course then he somehow ends up falling for the tallest guyin the squad and every time the two of them are together the rest ofthe squad are like hey, doesn’t Akiyama-san look kinda…short?Akiyama sputters a little and mumbles that he’s not short, Hidaka isjust too tall. Luckily Hidaka’s a good-natured guy so he rolls withit, just replying with a sheepish ‘yup, I’m too tall.’ It’s extranoticeable sometimes though, usually when they kiss Hidaka will benddown for it but if Akiyama wants to do the spontaneous kiss thing hehas to get on his tip toes and reach. Also if we combine this withDom!Akiyama maybe it throws Akiyama off his game a little sometimes,like he’ll try to slam Hidaka into the wall and kiss him roughlyexcept okay, got the slamming into the wall part down but the kisspart becomes much less intimidating when he’s standing there on histip toes trying to reach Hidaka’s lips and not quite managing. Someof the other guys walk by as it’s happening and poor Akiyama isinconsolable with embarrassment for days, both Hidaka and Benzai haveto pat his head and reassure him that he is not at all short, really,Hidaka is far too tall. (Also imagine some time post-ROK Yata spotsthis and laughs because at least when Yata kisses Fushimi he canreach and Akiyama gives him this flat look like 'You’reshorter than I am, Yata-san. And Fushimi-san slouches.”)
Ok ok but a mermaid AkiHida AU where Siren!Aki causes Sailor!Hidaka's ship to crash into random island because of no particular reason except the ship looked like a pirate ship.
Maybe Akiyama is the oldest of the royal mermaid family – imaginethis as like a counterpoint to the Little Mershimi AU, Akiyama isFushimi’s oldest brother and after Fushimi marries Yata the wholemerfamily settles themselves near the borders of Yata’s kingdom sothey can continue to dote on the youngest grumpy child. Akiyama setsup his space in like this really dangerous rocky pass that bordersthe edges of Yata’s kingdom, it’s a common spot for pirates andinvading armies to use to try and invade the kingdom. Akiyama is ofcourse a very duty-minded merman and considers this extremelyinappropriate, he intends to watch the area very diligently to makesure there are no illegal things going on. Also while Akiyama seemsto be a very even tempered and gentle merman he was actually bornwith like a rare gene that gives him the powers of a siren, he canlure people towards him with the sound of his voice and he tends touse that to trick ships into destroying themselves against the rocks(and he also possibly has a secret habit of checking out the sunkenships afterward and collecting all the chains and shackles that areaboard intended to be used for slaves or prisoners, only his brotherBenzai knows about Akiyama’s habit).
So one day a ship comes through the pass and Akiyama decides that itlooks very suspicious and needs to be investigated. The ship anchorsjust outside of the pass and Akiyama swims closer to try and seewhat’s going on. What he spots is a drunken guy with messy hairleaning on the ship’s railing and singing lewd songs about women’sbreasts, Akiyama decides that this certainly must be a pirate and heis therefore duty bound to destroy the ship. The next day he waits ona rock and as the ship gets closer he starts to sing to try and getit to swerve off course. The ship does end up swerving but then thereseems to be some confusion on board and Akiyama almost gets squishedby the erratic movements of the ship. As he’s trying to get to safetyhe locks eyes with someone on board, the same guy he saw hangingaround the railing the night before, and then a moment later that guygoes crashing into the sea all on his own. Against his betterjudgment Akiyama finds himself swimming down to save the guy,dragging him onto the nearest island. He intends to disappear backunder water after that but maybe he got a little injured in all themess and dragging himself back to the sea is difficult. That’s whenthe guy he saved stirs and suddenly grabs him roughly by the wrist,the guy’s eyes shining as he asks if he’s been saved by a realmermaid. He is highly disappointed a second later when he realizesthat Akiyama is all male and flat chested, Akiyama is like ‘I shouldhave let you drown, shouldn’t I.’
The guy introduces himself as Hidaka and says that he’s a trader, hewas bringing pineapples to Yata’s kingdom to try and sell them.Akiyama is very suspicious because he’s never heard of these…pineapples and besides pineapple begins with a p which is like piratetherefore Hidaka is probably a pirate. Hidaka laughs and tellsAkiyama that he’s a pretty funny mermaid…er, merman. Akiyamacrosses his arms and looks stern as he says that he’s in charge ofprotecting this part of the kingdom and he won’t let any pirates comein, his little brother is one of the Kings here and Akiyama won’t lethim come to harm. Hidaka’s all impressed by Akiyama’s big brotherinstinct, Hidaka has a little brother too and he knows what it’s likehaving to take care of someone like that. They end up bonding a bitover that (imagine Akiyama lovingly talking about what a grumpyasshole his little brother is, Hidaka feels like he should thinkAkiyama’s brother sounds terrible but instead there’s this weird urgeto meet him and become friends with him because the poor kid soundslonely okay). As they’re talking Hidaka notices that Akiyama’sstarting to look a little dried out and offers to help him back tothe ocean. Akiyama’s wary but he’s also having trouble breathingbeing out of the water so long and he allows Hidaka to push him backinto the water. Before Akiyama dives underwater Hidaka asks if thatwas Akiyama’s voice he heard before he fell off the ship, and thatAkiyama’s singing voice is really pretty.
So Akiyama swims off but now he’s all torn, like maybe he’s alwaysbeen self conscious about the siren thing and Hidaka’s the firstperson (besides doting daddy Munakata) to tell him that his voice isbeautiful. He’s discussing it with Benzai when Benzai asks if Akiyamatook Hidaka back to the mainland then, Akiyama’s like 'The mainland?’and Benzai’s like well, you didn’t just leave him alone on a smalluninhabited island in the middle of the ocean without any way off,right. Akiyama’s very displeased with himself for not considering thesituation thoroughly and now he has to decide what to do with Hidaka,like he’s pretty sure Hidaka’s not a pirate but he could beand also if Hidaka goes back to the main kingdom maybe Akiyama won’tever seen him again. He swims back to the island and it turns outthat Hidaka’s still there, having caught fish for something to eatbut he’s getting dehydrated. Akiyama gets some help from his siblingsto get Hidaka some water (Kamo hangs out at an inlet near a bakery alot and they give him a nice water bottle when he asks since he’salways sharing fish recipes with them) and Hidaka ruffles his hairand tells him that he’s a pretty nice guy, isn’t he. In the endAkiyama decides he has to do the proper thing and take Hidaka to themainland, feeling maybe a little crestfallen to see him go (exceptthen the next time Akiyama goes to visit Fushimi it turns out thatHidaka is like a distant cousin of Yata’s who was going to visit theroyal family along with selling his pineapples and they end uptalking more, Hidaka walking out into the shallows of the ocean justto see Akiyama).
Summary: Akiyama might have been in Homra longer than him but even so, Hidaka couldn’t help but think that being assigned as his backup was akin to being his bodyguard. After all, that guy didn’t really give off the aura of a fighter at all.
Notes: AkiHida Homra AU for rare pair week ^^ This was inspired originally by a really neat piece of Homra!Akiyama fanart I found on Pixiv here (note: the Akiyama picture is the second one but there’s some NSFW stuff further down).
“Good afternoon, Awashima-san. You called me?”
Hidaka looked up slightly from over the rim of his drink as the bell above the door rang and a figure stepped inside the bar. Awashima was standing behind the bar counter as usual, polishing a wine glass. Her perfect posture didn't even waver as she turned to face the man who had spoken, hands still carefully cleaning the glass.
“Akiyama-kun. Thank you for responding quickly. Enomoto-kun sent us the information just a few minutes ago.” She set the glass on the counter, admiring it for a moment before removing a small folded piece of paper from her shirt pocket and sliding it towards Akiyama. “The location is here.”
“Hidaka?” Gotou leaned curiously against Hidaka's shoulder, nursing his own half-filled wine glass. They were sitting side by side in a booth in the corner of the bar, idly sharing a drink with one of Homra's other members. Mikoto was asleep on the couch opposite them, as the Red King often tended to be. “Is something wrong?”
“Hmm? Oh, no, no, I'm fine, Goty.” Hidaka waved a hand sheepishly. “I just...Awashima-san's sending Akiyama on a mission? Alone?”
“Is that weird?” Doumyouji asked. He was sitting across from them with his feet on the table, something which was probably going to get him in trouble as soon as Awashima noticed. Unlike the others he was nursing a glass of apple juice, being one of the handful of underage members of the clan. “Akiyama-san goes on missions alone all the time. Well, Benzai-san's usually there but he's fine on his own too. There's nothing to worry about.”
“Are you sure about that, Doumyouji?” Hidaka couldn't help but feel incredulous. Sure, he and Gotou hadn't been members of Homra that long – they'd only joined up about a month ago, on a whim almost more than anything – but in that time he hadn't seen Akiyama do much more than make coffee and tend the bar when Awashima was out on errands.
He's really kind of a weird guy, isn't he? Hidaka craned his neck a little to look back at where Akiyama was talking in low tones with Awashima. Homra might have been pretty clean cut as far as street gangs went, but they were still a gang and Hidaka had never seen Akiyama so much as swear. In fact Akiyama was weirdly even-tempered and polite for someone who was supposed to be one of the long-time members of the clan – his partner, Benzai, was scary as hell when you crossed him (as Hidaka could report from experience, having caught Benzai on accident at a cat cafe mid-afternoon one day and witnessed a cooing and fussing that he should not have) and Doumyouji could be pretty enthusiastic when it came to a street brawl. Even Enomoto, who was fairly shy when it came to fighting, knew how to hack a system and pull information with a skill that was second only to Fushimi. But Akiyama was an oddity, a guy who was always calm and smiling and polite, who looked like he couldn't even use the slim length of pipe he was usually carrying around as a weapon.
“Trust me. You've only seen Akiyama-san when he's being polite.” Doumyouji nodded sagely and Hidaka shook his head.
“There's no way. He's so...nice.” Too nice, Hidaka couldn't help but think. A guy like that was going to get hurt in a place like this, that was certain. It was amazing he hadn't already. Though he did make a great cup of coffee and seemed to enjoy lecturing people when Awashima was absent, maybe that was why Homra's top three seemed to rely on him so much.
“Nice?” Doumyouji snickered into his apple juice. “No way. He's like...” Doumyouji made a gesture with his hands. “Bump bump bump and then...boom! Just swish, and then sparkle, and then blam! Like that.”
“Eh...?” Hidaka stared blankly at him and Doumyoji just smiled in reply.
“Be careful. Is Benzai-kun available to accompany you?” Awashima's voice floated back over to them as Akiyama took a step back from the bar counter.
“No, I'm afraid he's visiting relatives today.” Akiyama gave a small smile. “It's his sister's birthday. His parents won't be happy to see him but they won't say no to her. I couldn't bother him today, when he's got the chance to spend time with the people he cares about.”
“I see...” Awashima looked momentarily troubled. “Enomoto-kun had some difficulty locating the center of the drug ring's activities. If we wait a day, and they've moved on...”
“I can handle it, Awashima-san.” Akiyama gave something almost like a salute, and Hidaka couldn't help but shake his head a little.
“Have him take Hidaka with 'im.” Mikoto's voice made them all start slightly, the three at the booth included. The Red King hadn't even opened his eyes, hands back behind his head and body posture as still as if he was speaking in his sleep.
“Mikoto-san..” Awashima stared at him for a moment and then smiled. “Of course. Hidaka-kun, if you could come here I'll debrief you.”
“Me?” Hidaka stumbled a little as he scrambled out of his seat, moving to stand near Akiyama. Akiyama didn't even look at him, posture soldier-perfect as he stared at Awashima. His gaze was straight and steady too, Hidaka noticed, not wavering from the bartender's eyes when even though a whole month had passed Hidaka still had trouble keeping his gaze on her face and not her chest (that was one of the first things he'd learned in Homra, the quickest way to be burnt into nothing by supernatural flames was to try and surreptitiously look down the bartender's partially unbuttoned shirt). “M-Mikoto-san, are you sure?”
Mikoto didn't answer, looking as though he'd gone back to sleep almost instantly after the pronouncement. It was a little enviable, in a way.
“I trust you can handle this mission,” Awashima said. “Act as Akiyama-kun's support and follow his orders. I don't want either of you coming back hurt.”
“R-right.” Hidaka's eyes darted towards Akiyama, who was still looking at Awashima rather than at him.
I guess it'll be my job to protect Akiyama, huh? Hidaka sighed quietly, hands in his pockets as he leaned forward to look at the paper Awashima had left open on the bar counter, with the mission parameters written on it. I'll just have to keep an eye on him, that's all. Well, how hard can that be?
–
Bar Homra sat in the middle of the city, cloaked in rumors.
They said the 'Red Monster' lived there and that he ate the souls of any trespassers foolish enough to try and sneak in. They said he was over six feet tall – to which Hidaka always liked to answer 'we can look each other in the eye, then' – and that he once set fire to the entire lower district of Shizume because a business owner kicked him out of a bar. They said he granted power to those who he considered worthy of it, and burned the unworthy into nothing, not even ashes left behind.
They also said that only fools or the foolishly brave approached the Red Monster on their own, and Hidaka was pretty sure that he and Gotou were the former.
“Is this a good idea, Goty?” Hidaka said in a furious whisper as Gotou serenely reached for Bar Homra's door handle. “We could get killed!”
“Hmm? Didn't you want to check it out, Hidaka?” Gotou seemed remarkably calm for a guy walking into the lion's den, but then he usually was. He'd been smoking something funny-smelling at the other bar they'd been in earlier and it seemed to have made him even more unflappable, if that was possible.
Gotou had learned about the Red Monster from some guy that he'd bought an ancient Sumerian mask from two weeks ago. He'd mentioned it idly to Hidaka afterward at their apartment as he looked for a place to hang the mask (the mask which was supposed to have the power to raise the dead, and Hidaka had barely slept for a week afterward thanks to the groaning and creaking sounds of the house that sounded enough like zombies to keep him awake for hours with his hand on a baseball bat) and Hidaka had laughed and said it sounded like a weird rumor. But they'd both been unable to forget it, joking about finding the bar, about taking the test.
Gotou was a NEET, living off an allowance sent by his parents and moving idly from side job to side job, each weirder than the last – he'd just gotten fired from something involving bath salts and muscle relaxants and Hidaka didn't want to know what exactly those had to do with each other – while Hidaka was still stinging from being rejected from the salaryman job he'd applied for. The world had just seemed really boring, it felt like. It was like he and Gotou were floating on their own island in the center of the world while the rest of society moved on around them, and it made Hidaka feel restless and unsatisfied.
That was why he'd been the one to say it, in the end. 'Let's go find the Red Monster for ourselves.' He was just a little bit drunk at the time – that was wearing off, the growing sense of terror warring with the alcohol and the alcohol was finally losing – and tired of doing nothing all day but going from bar to bar looking for companionship and the next cheap thrill. He wanted something...more. Gotou had been more than happy to comply and that's how they'd ended up standing before the doorway of an unfamiliar bar at 3am on a cold rainy Monday.
“Hidaka? It's open.” Gotou looked back at him from the doorway. “Are you coming?”
“I-I'm coming, I'm coming, wait up.” Hidaka shook his head and hurried up the steps to the door. Gotou only smiled calmly back at him, the bell above the doorway jingling slightly as they stepped inside.
“Hello?” Hidaka ventured. The inside of the bar was silent and dark, as if it wasn't even open. “Anyone?”
“It's empty.”Gotou crossed his arms, looking disappointed. “I wonder if it was unlocked by mistake.”
“T-then I guess we should go...” Hidaka started to turn back towards the door, relief warring with disappointment in his mind.
“Who are you?” Hidaka nearly jumped at the sharp voice, stumbling backwards at the sight of two shadowed figures standing in the doorway behind them. “State your name and business.”
“W-we are...”
“We're here to meet the Red Monster and take his test,” Gotou supplied, still sounding utterly calm even though Hidaka's heart was pounding like a drum.
“...I see. Akiyama, the lights.”
“Right, Benzai.” The shorter of the two moved towards the dark silhouette of the bar counter and flipped a switch. Immediately the shadowed bar was lit by lamps and Hidaka was able to make out the features of the two who had caught them.
They both had slim, almost refined features, not at all the sort of people Hidaka would have expected to belong in the ranks of the Red Monster. The one on the left – Benzai, the other had said – had neatly trimmed long hair that fell over either side of his face and his eyes were stern and cold. There was a length of chain wrapped around one hand that he played with idly and Hidaka couldn't help but eye it nervously. It was clear that despite appearances, this guy wasn't the sort of person someone wanted to mess with.
The man who had turned on the lights – Akiyama, then – was by contrast looking at Hidaka and Gotou with a much calmer face, almost as though he was considering his options. He was reasonably shorter than his partner and he held a length of pipe in one hand, presumably as a weapon though from the looks of him Hidaka wondered if the guy was even able to swing it. His hair was messy and his right eye was entirely hidden by his bangs.
A cool wind blew in from the open door and as Benzai turned to close it Hidaka found himself glancing back over at Akiyama, whose bangs were momentarily ruffled by the breeze. It was hard to tell, with the shadows still dancing on the walls from the artificial lighting and the distance between them, but Hidaka thought he saw something red peeking out from beneath the dark hair.
“We didn't mean to break in after the bar was closed,” Gotou added. “The door was open.”
“Doumyouji must have forgotten to lock it again,” Benzai said, sounding irritated enough that Hidaka almost felt sorry for this 'Doumyouji' guy.
“Well, as long as they're here, should we take them to see the King?” Akiyama suggested, making a calming gesture with his hands.
“I suppose...” Benzai looked thoughtful. “If you think it's best.”
“They did come all this way.” Akiyama looked back at them and even though his expression was perfectly friendly for a moment Hidaka felt a strange shake of fear run through him. “If you two are willing to risk your lives, follow us upstairs.”
“W-wait a second!” Hidaka said quickly. “Risk our lives? Do we have to fight, or--”
“Of course not,” Benzai scoffed. “You have to take our King's test if you want to join. The price for failure is high.” He smirked, looking almost amused. “If you're afraid, Akiyama will see you out.”
Hidaka exchanged a worried glance with Gotou, who only shrugged.
“We did come all the way here,” Gotou said. “We might as well try, don't you think?”
“You're way too calm about risking our lives here, Goty,” Hidaka said in low tones, and Gotou laughed.
“If you want to go, Hidaka, we can still turn back.”
“Yeah, we should probably just...” Hidaka found himself looking back up at Akiyama and Benzai. Benzai was still looking at them scornfully, as if he expected them to turn tail and run any minute. Akiyama, by contrast, still had on the same pleasant, polite smile. His one visible eye met Hidaka's and Hidaka felt a shiver run through him again, eyes quickly darting downward.
It felt heavy, Akiyama's gaze on him, as if he was being measured somehow, and Hidaka swallowed hard.
“I'll do it.” Hidaka clenched his fists. It was now or never, right? He had to at least try, or nothing would change. “I'll take the test.”
“Lead the way then.” Gotou took a step towards Akiyama and Benzai. Benzai gave a small scoff of disbelief but began to ascend the stairs anyway, dragging the chain behind him. Akiyama gave Hidaka and Gotou an apologetic nod and gestured for them to follow as he headed up the stairs after Benzai.
“It's not that bad.” Akiyama glanced back to give them an encouraging smile as the four of them climbed the stairs. “Just have confidence. Mikoto-san isn't as frightening as he looks.”
“Akiyama-kun? Benzai-kun?” There was the sound of a woman's voice as they reached the top of the steps and Hidaka stumbled backwards into Gotou for a moment, nearly sending them both falling back down. There was blonde woman with blue eyes standing there before them, clad in a robe and nightgown that on anyone else Hidaka suspected would not have been particularly sexy but on her looked like it belonged to a lingerie model. Hidaka's eyes were immediately drawn to her cleavage moments before Akiyama moved to stand neatly in front of his line of sight.
“Sorry we're late, Awashima-san, we had a little trouble with the mission.” Akiyama bowed slightly, totally unruffled. Beside him Benzai sighed, looking annoyed.
“It's fine. I'm glad you two are all right.” Awashima's gaze shifted over to Hidaka and Gotou. Her eyes were piercing and Hidaka found himself trying to stand up a little straighter. “And these two?”
“They want to take Mikoto-san's test.” Benzai''s tone was clipped and severe. Awashima's eyes widened for a moment before her expression turned grave.
“I see.” She nodded and turned around, walking back down the hall. “Please let him know, if he's still awake. I'll need a debrief of the mission in the morning.”
“Ma'am.” Both Akiyama and Benzai bowed this time, and Hidaka couldn't help but wonder what kind of weird street gang this was anyway. Benzai turned back to Hidaka and Gotou and made a sharp gesture. “Mikoto-san's room is this way.”
The room they were led to was at the end of the hall, and Hidaka could smell something like smoke and ash in the air. He found himself tensing slightly as Benzai knocked sharply on the door.
“Mikoto-san? We have visitors.”
What did we get ourselves into? Hidaka glanced at Gotou again, who still seemed to be completely oblivious of the obvious danger they'd just put themselves in.
“Bring 'em in.” The voice from the other side of the door was muffled and distinctly sleepy, and Benzai nodded as he began to push the door open and beckoned them inside. Gotou followed immediately but Hidaka found himself hesitating, suddenly aware of the stifling feel of power in the air.
“You can go, if you're frightened.” Akiyama's pleasant voice almost made him jump and Hidaka glanced at him again. Akiyama's smile was calm and pleasant, friendly, and for a moment Hidaka could see it again, that small hint of red hiding beneath his bangs. “It's all right.”
“I'm not...” Hidaka swallowed. “Is it hard? The test?”
“That depends.” Akiyama's voice grew serious, though the gentle smile remained on his face. “I suppose...it's all about whether or not you're too afraid to try.”
With that Akiyama hurried into the room after Benzai, dragging the metal pipe behind him like a child with a stuffed toy. Hidaka stared after him for a long moment before stealing himself and following.
The room was sparse and dimly lit, and it took Hidaka a moment before his eyes focused on the red-haired man sitting on the couch in the corner, idly smoking a cigarette.
“So? What d'you want?” The man took a long drag on his cigarette as Benzai bowed quickly in front of him, giving Hidaka and Gotou a look as though they had interrupted something important by making him lead them all the way here.
“They want to take the test, Mikoto-san.” Benzai's voice was clipped and professional, and 'Mikoto' didn't even bat an eyelid.
“That so.” He leaned back, putting out the cigarette with his shoe. His eyes drifted over first to Gotou, who cocked his head as if interested, before resting on Hidaka. Hidaka felt his breath catch, something about that gaze burning into him in a way that made his skin feel hot and his breath feel choked.
“We...” Hidaka tried to speak but his throat was dry and he found himself unable to meet Mikoto's gaze, eyes moving to focus on Akiyama instead. Akiyama's head was down slightly, face hidden by shadows and his hair, and Hidaka couldn't read his face.
“All right.” Mikoto held out a hand to him. “If you guys want to join us...then take my hand.”
That's it? Hidaka and Gotou exchanged glances and Hidaka relaxed slightly as he stepped forward. That's easy!
Suddenly there was a rush of heat as Mikoto's hand burst into bright red flames. Hidaka could feel the destructive power radiating off Mikoto's palm, enough that he found himself looking at his own hands as if they'd been scalded just by being so close.
“H-hey...” Hidaka took an uneasy step back. “What kind of joke is this?”
“Don't call it a joke so lightly.” Benzai crossed his arms. “If you're worthy, our King's fire won't burn you.”
“And if I'm not...?” Hidaka managed to choke out.
“You'll burn.” It was Akiyama who spoke this time, and his voice was unreadable.
“B-burn?” Hidaka repeated. Mikoto was still sitting there calmly, hand on fire, and Hidaka wondered if he would look stupid if he just walked away right now.
He could still feel Mikoto's gaze on him though, heavy – and oddly enough, Akiyama's too, intrigued, and suddenly Hidaka found himself reaching forward and grasping Mikoto's hand.
Fire.
It consumed him, covered his body, so hot that for a moment he couldn't breathe –
– And then it seemed to lessen, to sink through his skin where it should have charred it, and Hidaka could feel that power rooting itself somewhere deep inside his body, steady this time, not overwhelming.
Power. His power.
“So you didn't burn.” Benzai sounded almost disappointed but Akiyama smiled.
“Congratulations. You're one of us now.”
“I...passed?” Hidaka felt something hot on the underside of his left wrist and he found himself looking down at the skin.
There on his wrist, clear as day, was a tattoo that looked like a flame.
–
“Are you sure we shouldn't have called for more backup, Akiyama?” Hidaka idly ran his thumb over the tattoo on his wrist as he followed Akiyama through the backstreets of Shizume. Hidaka had brought his bat along and Akiyama was dragging his usual length of pipe, other hand holding the map Awashima had given him. “There's a lot of those guys, right?”
“It should be fine.” Akiyama gave Hidaka a vaguely disapproving look, as he always did when Hidaka used his name without the honorifics. Hidaka didn't get why that guy was so hung up on that sort of thing – they were a gang, right? And family, even more than that, so Hidaka had figured that honorifics weren't really important in Homra (outside of Mikoto, of course, and Awashima, and Fushimi when he was in earshot). “I can handle this on my own. You don't need to come with me, Hidaka.”
“You don't usually work alone though,” Hidaka said, unable to quite keep the note of worry out of his voice. Seeing Akiyama go on a mission without Benzai was rare – from what Hidaka had heard, the two of them had joined Homra together after being turned out of the Defense Force for something Benzai would only refer to as 'the irresponsibility incident.' Hidaka supposed that if Akiyama had been in the Defense Force that meant he knew how to handle himself in a fight but Hidaka just couldn't quite bring himself to believe it. Akiyama was so...polite, after all.
“I can adjust for the lack of Benzai's presence,” Akiyama said, sounding slightly distracted as he studied the map again and led Hidaka down an alley to their right. “I couldn't bother him today, when he's visiting home. This way.”
“Are we lost?” Hidaka asked. “I'm pretty sure we passed that garbage can already.”
“We did...?” Akiyama looked a bit bewildered as he glanced at the aforementioned trash can. “No, I think I followed the map...”
Hidaka leaned over his shoulder, trying to get a better look at the map, and he found himself shaking his head a little as he reached over and took it neatly from Akiyama's hand.
“I think you have it upside down, Akiyama...san.” Hidaka couldn't help the amused grin on his face, even as Akiyama gave him a slightly flustered look and averted his single visible eye.
“Benzai is the navigator, I'm the driver,” he admitted, slightly sheepish.
“I guess I'm the navigator today then!” Hidaka said brightly, ignoring the way Akiyama glared at him. “Come on, Akiyama-san, it's not so bad. I'm here to back you up, right?”
“I...suppose,” Akiyama conceded. “It does make sense that the leader of the mission shouldn't be the one navigating anyway, so that I can devise a strategy for our next move...”
“And I can make sure we actually make it to where we're supposed to be going!” Hidaka added. Akiyama sighed and rubbed at his forehead.
“Right. That too.”
Hidaka swallowed back a laugh as he scanned the map. They weren't too far off course if he was reading Enomoto's handwriting correctly – it looked like Akiyama had managed to make a wrong turn a few streets back but Hidaka was pretty familiar with this area (or its bars, at least) and he knew a short cut to getting back to where they needed to be.
“So these guys we're after...” Hidaka murmured as he led Akiyama through a side alley that should get them back on course. “Drug dealers?”
“The ones Awashima-san has been sending us after for a while now,” Akiyama said. He was, Hidaka noticed, having to walk a little faster to keep up with Hidaka's longer strides. “Doumyouji and Kamo flushed out one of their hideouts a few days ago. A laptop was left behind but it was encrypted, Enomoto and Fushimi-san have been working with it for the past two days trying to get the information we need out of it. If what they found is right, we should have found their central distribution hub. If we can take that place down, the rest of the drug dealers will scatter and we can pick them off as needed.”
“Right,” Hidaka nodded, unable to turn his eyes away from Akiyama's feet. I didn't really notice it before, but he's pretty short, isn't he? “W-wait, if we're going after their central hub shouldn't we bring the whole clan? Mikoto-san...”
“According to Awashima-san, there should only be ten to fifteen men currently stationed there. One person should be enough.”
“Two,” Hidaka said automatically and Akiyama sighed.
“Right. Two. Are we almost there?”
“After the next two rights. We're headed towards the shipping district, aren't we?”
“It seems like it. That would explain how they've managed such a widespread network, there are enough warehouses there to make hiding contraband easy and locating a single specific storehouse like finding a needle in a haystack.”
“We'll teach them to mess with Homra's territory though, right?” Hidaka glanced back to give Akiyama a confident smile, slowing his footsteps in order to allow Akiyama to catch up.
“What are you stopping for? Did you get us lost again?” Akiyama tried to lean over to look at the map in Hidaka's hands and Hidaka couldn't stop the small laugh.
“Akiyama-san is surprisingly short, huh?” His hand reached out almost on its own to ruffle Akiyama's hair. Akiyama made a sound like a surprised cat as he pulled away and Hidaka suddenly realized what he'd been doing. “Ah, s-sorry, sorry! I got carried away.”
“It's...fine, it's fine.” Akiyama smoothed his hair a bit nervously, looking slightly thrown off guard. Hidaka thought he caught a glimpse of something red behind Akiyama's bangs again and he suddenly wished he'd pushed those bangs out of the way entirely, finally gotten a good look at Akiyama's entire face. “Try and keep on task, Hidaka. We have a mission to carry out.”
“Right, right.” Hidaka turned his attention back to the map. “Well, Akiyama-san can count on me! That's what backup's for, right?”
Even with Hidaka's shortcut it was still about another ten minutes before they finally found themselves standing in front of a deceptively empty-looking warehouse, crouched behind some shipping containers as Akiyama surveyed the building.
“It doesn't seem like they have much in the way of surveillance,” Akiyama said. “Still, we'd best be cautious. Pay attention to your surroundings, Hidaka. We can't afford to be caught off guard.”
“Got it.” Hidaka swallowed a yawn, arms crossed behind his head and bat dangling loosely from one hand. “It doesn't look very well-guarded, Akiyama-san. Are you sure this is the right place?”
“You had the map,” Akiyama reminded him. “I'll go in first. Stay behind me.”
“W-wait a second!” Hidaka immediately protested. “That's making yourself a target, isn't it? I should--”
“I told you, I can handle myself,” Akiyama said. “Awashima-san put me in charge of this mission. I can't send a subordinate in first while I hang back.”
“Subordinate?” Hidaka repeated blankly. “Aren't we comrades, Akiyama-san?'
“Ah...” Akiyama looked a bit surprised for a moment, lowering his gaze. “Apologies, Hidaka. Of course we are. But even so. I trust you to cover my back, all right?”
“Right...” Hidaka couldn't help but feel uneasy being the one staring at Akiyama's back but it didn't seem like Akiyama was going to budge on this one. I'll just have to keep a close eye on him, I guess...
Akiyama led him around the far perimeter of the warehouse, towards the back service door. There was a broken window along the left side of the building, low enough that Akiyama could reach it on his own. He gave Hidaka a small smirk as he pulled himself up through the broken frame, hands gripping the lower edge of the window and just barely avoiding the bits of broken glass still sticking out of it.
“Akiyama-san...hey! Isn't that a bit of a tight fit?” Hidaka said in a low whisper as Akiyama carefully heaved himself inside.
“I guess it pays to be 'short,' doesn't it?” Akiyama said easily and Hidaka stared blankly at him for a moment before laughing. Maybe this guy's not as uptight as I thought.
The window was still an issue but there was no way Hidaka was leaving Akiyama to explore the inside of the warehouse alone and with a sigh Hidaka carefully folded himself as best he could in order to slide inside. He lost his grip on the windowsill halfway through and flailed about wildly for a moment before landing with a thump on the floor inside the warehouse, bat falling loosely from his fingers.
“Hidaka! Quiet.” Akiyama sighed, covering his face with one hand for a moment. “You do recall this is a stealth mission?”
“I'm fine!” Hidaka dragged himself to his feet with a wince. “I told you it was a tight fit.”
“Clearly.” Akiyama sighed again and beckoned Hidaka to follow as he stepped forward into the darkness, the pipe in his hand glowing with a soft red light as if to act as makeshift torch. The room they were in was small and relatively cramped, with empty boxes piled all along the walls. Akiyama ducked through the next open doorway, stepping out into a larger room with a conveyor belt in the center, wooden boxes stacked one on top of the other nearby. There was a service entrance large enough for a small truck to enter along one wall, locked with a rusty lock, and the air felt cold and stale.
“It feels like no one's here,” Hidaka murmured as Akiyama approached one of the crates, breaking it open carefully with his pipe. “Maybe we really are in the wrong place?”
“No.” Akiyama's low voice made him turn. Akiyama had pried open the lid of the crate and held up a bag of something powdered. “This is where they're keeping the drugs.” His one visible eye narrowed as he looked down at the crate. “I don't understand why they would leave all of this unguarded though. Perhaps something happened...”
“Maybe someone tipped them off that we were coming?” Hidaka wondered, strolling around the room to look at some of the other boxes. The light from Akiyama's powers cast a soft glow throughout the room, Hidaka's shadow looming large along the wall. “Or there was some kind of emergency? Wait, what if they heard we were coming and went after everyone in the bar? We should--”
“Don't panic, Hidaka,” Akiyama said sharply. “Mikoto-san is at the bar. They won't be foolish enough to attack Homra on our home turf, especially with our King present.”
“Then...” Hidaka trailed off, looking thoughtful as his eyes scanned the shadows on the walls, his own and Akiyama's behind him.
And something else, he realized, something shifting in the darkness, and Hidaka whirled.
“Akiyama-san!”
Hidaka ran forward without even a moment's hesitation, one hand grabbing Akiyama by the shoulder and shoving him roughly backwards as Hidaka swung his bat with the other, just managing to intercept the rusted metal pipe that had been inches away from cleaving in Akiyama's head. The man holding the pipe cried out in pain as Hidaka swung his bat again, hitting the man hard on the chin, not even pausing to look at the body as it crumpled to the ground. The seemingly empty crates were already shifting, men with weapons climbing out from inside.
Shit... Hidaka bit his lip, weapon beginning to glow red. These bastards were waiting for us all along!
“Akiyama-san, get out of here!” Hidaka didn't even turn to see what Akiyama was doing, rushing forward to meet the approaching enemies. “I'll take care of these guys, so you get somewhere safe!”
He thought he could hear Akiyama yell something in reply but it was impossible to make out the words with the blood pounding in his ears, all his concentration focused on keeping the steady flow of power into his bat as he was surrounded by armed men. Hidaka gave a wordless yell as he charged forward into the cluster of enemies, swinging wildly and hoping that his distraction would be enough to give Akiyama time to escape.
Something hard hit him in the side and Hidaka stumbled, nearly losing his grip on his weapon. The press of men surrounding him had grown smaller but he was still ringed on all sides, outnumbered. Another blow struck him in the side of the head and he fell back, reeling, trying in vain to raise his arms in defense.
Shit...Hidaka could taste the blood in his mouth and suddenly the floor seemed to be rushing up to meet him. Someone grabbed his arms roughly, forcing the bat from his grip as they pinned him to the ground. I can't believe this is how I'm gonna die...I hope at least Akiyama-san managed to...
“Let him go, please.” The polite but firm voice cut through the pounding in his head and Hidaka forced his head up. Akiyama was standing there facing Hidaka's captors, the pipe in his hands still held loose and easy, more like a toy than a weapon.
“Akiyama-san--!” Hidaka tried to yell and someone kicked him in the side. Akiyama's single visible eye narrowed as one of the men stepped forward.
“And what are you gonna do about it, punk?” The man snorted. “We've had enough of you Homra assholes acting like you run this city. You guys think you're so special, just because you got powers. We're not afraid of you.”
“Is that so?” Akiyama said, perfectly calm like the eye of a storm. “I'm still afraid I'll need to ask you to let my comrade go.”
“And what'll you do if we say no?” One of the men kicked Hidaka again. “We outnumber you, brat.”
“This is the last time I'll ask politely.” Akiyama swung his weapon over his shoulders, taking another step forward. “Please let him go now.”
“Fuck you!” laughed another one of the men, spitting in Akiyama's direction. Akiyama sighed, covering the right side of his face with one palm.
“Very well.” Akiyama raised his head, pushing aside the bangs that always covered the right side of his face.
Revealing his right eye, and the swirling flame mark of Homra that covered it.
The pipe in Akiyama's hand glowed red, and he smiled.
“The impolite way it is, then.”
–
“Akiyama-san...” Hidaka couldn't stop staring at the pile of unconscious men lying on the floor, the warehouse filled with soft groans and whimpers of pain. Akiyama was carefully brushing his hair back into place over his eye, rubbing his wrist a little where he'd been holding his pipe.
“Are you all right, Hidaka?” Akiyama nudged one of the unconscious men with a foot, looking grim. “They must have intended to ambush us from the start. We should get back to the bar and inform Mikoto-san and Awashima-san.”
“R-right...” Hidaka tried to smile and couldn't quite manage. He still couldn't believe that Akiyama of all people had taken out all the enemies almost on his own, all while Hidaka had lain there useless on the ground.
I was supposed to be his back up, wasn't I? Hidaka clenched a fist, trying to shake the worries from his mind. They had both made it out alive, that was the important part.
“Hidaka...” Akiyama coughed, causing Hidaka to turn and look at him. “Well done. If you hadn't distracted them I wouldn't have been able to defeat them so easily. Were you hurt at all?”
“Huh?” Hidaka felt off guard for a moment and then a small disbelieving laugh came out of his mouth. “I'm fine! I mean...I'm a little bruised, but I'm okay. What about you? You fought all those guys on your own, you didn't get hurt at all did you?”
“Of course not,” Akiyama said. “I told you I know how to handle myself in a fight--” He cut off with a sharp hiss of pain, metal pipe dropping to the floor as he clutched briefly at his wrist.
“Akiyama-san?” Hidaka moved without even really thinking about it, immediately reaching over to grab at Akiyama's arm. Pulling down Akiyama's sleeve Hidaka could see that Akiyama's wrist was covered with rapidly darkening bruises. “You...”
“It's probably just a sprain.” Akiyama pulled his arm away, looking a bit sheepish. “You don't need to fuss over it, Hidaka.”
“I'm not fussing, I'm just making sure you don't hurt yourself more!” Hidaka grabbed for Akiyama's wrist again, running his fingers along the skin feeling for any bumps or irregularities that might not have been immediately visible. “Just because you're strong doesn't mean you need to do it all yourself, you know? What's Benzai-san going to say when he sees I let you get hurt? And if you ignore it then it might be hard for you to keep using your weapon...”
“Hidaka. I'm fine.” Abruptly Hidaka found himself pushed roughly against a wall, Akiyama looking up at him with a firm and steady gaze that made that sudden almost familiar shiver run down Hidaka's spine. He found himself glancing at the hair covering Akiyama's other eye again, remembering that flash of red and the crooked smile that had crossed Akiyama's face and it seemed as though his heart was beating very fast all of a sudden.
“A-Akiyama-san...c-could you let me go now?” Hidaka choked out. Akiyama looked at him blankly for a moment and then seemed to suddenly realize that he'd pinned Hidaka to the wall, immediately letting go and stepping back with a nervous cough. For a moment Hidaka thought maybe Akiyama's face looked a little red but then Akiyama turned away and he couldn't tell anymore.
“Anyway...we-we should start heading back.” Akiyama reached over with his uninjured hand to pick up his fallen weapon. “Are you coming?”
“Right, I'm coming, I'm coming!” Hidaka grabbed for his own bat and then hurried after Akiyama, catching up easily with only a few long strides. Akiyama kept his back turned, leading the way without a moment's hesitation.
“Also, Hidaka...” Akiyama finally turned to glance back at him. “...Thank you. For saving me. Even if it was a reckless action that could have gotten yourself killed.”
“Well, reckless actions are my specialty!” Hidaka said with an easy laugh.
“Just try not to do it again. Awashima-san would not be happy if I got my backup killed.”
“Right, right.” Hidaka felt a lightness in his chest that he couldn't quite explain and the smile wouldn't leave his face. “I can't believe they almost caught you by surprise anyway, Akiyama-san is surprisingly slow sometimes, huh?”
“I-I was just focused on the mission,” Akiyama said, sounding a little embarrassed. “In any case, I'm glad you were being observant for once.”
“What's that supposed to mean, 'for once,' I'm always watching Akiyama-san!” Hidaka said before he could stop himself. “A-ah, I mean, I'm—I'm always watching, because you've been in Homra longer than me and—and I could learn some things from you!”
“I suppose,” Akiyama muttered quietly, looking away. “And...I've watched you sometimes too, so there's no need to feel nervous about it. We're comrades, after all.”
“Right. Comrades.” Hidaka risked clapping a hand on Akiyama's shoulder and Akiyama didn't shrug him off. Hidaka knew there was probably a stupid grin on his face but he couldn't seem to stop smiling either.
Comrades, and the word sounded even better coming from Akiyama's mouth, though Hidaka really wasn't entirely sure why.
