Archive of Our Own

As Holmes finished telling his tale, he looked up to gauge the responses of everyone around him and was almost disappointed to find them just staring at him in blank intrigue. However, he knew that now wasn’t the time to be concerned about his storytelling skills and their ability to amaze people, so he just let out a sigh as he tipped his hat down once again. “Well, there you have it then,” he said neutrally, “That’s the full story of the peppermint perils.”

“We thought for certain that Runo would’ve told all of you about it by this point. Especially since it’s been so long since that all happened,” Iris added with a sigh, “But I guess we should’ve known that he wouldn’t be out of the habit of keeping things like that to himself.”

“What must have been going through Naruhodō-sama's head in the moments leading up to everything he did tonight?” Susato pondered sadly, “Surely he must’ve understood the danger that he would be putting himself in by doing what he did.”

Yūjin set a hand on his daughter’s shoulder with a solemn frown. “Something tells me that he very much did understand that,” he told her, “But when it seemed that there were no other options and your assailant was still armed, then he likely felt that he had no other choice.”

“And as much as we may protest his actions now after-the-fact, they ultimately had the exact effect he likely wanted them to have,” Holmes concluded for his partner, “Everyone was saved from danger and the criminal was caught. If asked, I am certain that Mr. Naruhodō would say that he does not regret doing what he did.”

This made everyone nod somewhat glumly, as they couldn’t deny Holmes’s words, especially since they all knew Naruhodō and how he tended to frame the justifications for his crazier actions. Eventually though, Asōgi finally spoke up again. “I need to see him,” he said, feeling that he had been delayed from doing so for too long, “Where did they take him?”

“I would assume that they most likely took him to St. Entre-Deux,” Holmes said, though he was shaking his head, “But there is no way that they will let us in to see Mr. Naruhodō at this late hour. Especially if he is currently being treated.”

“Holmes-sama is right,” Susato agreed disappointedly, “Even during the time when I went to see Holmes-sama in the middle of the night during his stay there many years ago, I could only accomplish that by begging and pleading with the guard for several minutes to let me through. It was honestly only by sheer luck that I could make it inside.”

“But…” Asōgi tried to protest, but he was cut off by Haori putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking her head as well, which told him everything that he needed to know. It wouldn’t matter how hard he tried to fight in this scenario. He would have to wait until tomorrow morning to be able to see his husband no matter how much the thought of having to wait for so long absolutely crushed him on the inside, especially when considering all that had happened.

Seeing his response to everything, Holmes cleared his throat in order to take direction of the conversation again. “I think that we should all retire back to Baker Street for tonight. As all that we can do at this time has been accomplished,” he said calmly, “We will all be able to visit Mr. Naruhodō first thing in the morning.”

Because there was nothing else anyone could say regarding the situation, there was thus nothing else they could do aside from agree with the Great Detective and try to be at peace with the current situation. Thankfully, the carriages that they had all traveled in earlier were somehow still there on the street, likely due to the presence of the police making things uncertain for the drivers. So they would all simply need to return to Baker Street and pray that the night would pass by relatively quickly, though many were uncertain about how they would really manage to sleep that night.

It was still somewhat difficult for Asōgi to see Naruhodō laying in his hospital bed and in such a horrible state, his skin adorned with red rashes and his breathing being so quiet that he sometimes barely seemed alive. But even with that pain in his heart, Asōgi wasn’t going to let it stop him from being there for his husband, as he knew that he needed him in that moment. That was why Asōgi had gotten to the hospital as soon as he possibly could've that morning, though Susato and Haori had essentially barred him from leaving the house until he’d had some breakfast, which he was now grateful for.

The rest of the previous night had been absolutely horrendous for Asōgi, mostly because of the uncertainty of it all. He had been left tossing and turning in bed for hours, all alone and filled with concern, especially since he hadn’t seen Naruhodō ever since he and Susato had left the White Swan so long ago. He missed and worried for his lover so much, and the story that he’d heard from Holmes earlier had only made a flurry of emotions stir within his mind. He wanted to be upset that Naruhodō had never told him or anyone else aside from Holmes and Iris about his allergy, but how could Asōgi really be that mad when he knew that that still wouldn’t have stopped Naruhodō from doing what he had since he had done it to save himself and Susato from an even worse danger? It had all just been a big mess, and Asōgi ultimately wasn’t sure what to think.

Everyone else at 221B Baker Street had also come by the room over the course of the morning in order to visit and offer well-wishes to Naruhodō as he recovered, leaving cards and even food in some people's cases, with everyone saying they had made absolutely sure that there was no peppermint in anything. Iris had even brought a wine bottle that was apparently a sign of goodwill from her uncle, Barok Van Zieks. Asōgi found it to be somewhat poor of an attempt of well-wishing, but he could acknowledge that the prosecutor was trying, so there wasn’t really too much reasoning for Asōgi to say he had anything to be complaining about.

But now Asōgi was alone in the hospital ward with Naruhodō, and he had promised to be in contact with everyone else once he finally woke up. Asōgi couldn’t just sit there and watch Naruhodō the whole time just on the principle of boredom alone, so he was currently reading a book in order to pass the time. It was a book that had more magical and fantastical elements involved with the story, and this typically wouldn’t catch Asōgi’s attention. But Naruhodō loved such books so he wanted to try to understand what exactly he found so appealing about them while he had some down time. And thankfully, Asōgi could ultimately find some enjoyment from the book’s plot even if he found some of the setup to be ridiculous.

However, Asōgi’s attention was caught when he then heard soft moaning noises, and he could see Naruhodō finally stirring on the bed. His eyes were finally open just a little and he seemed to be trying to gauge his current surroundings. Seeing this, Asōgi set his book down and moved to sit down on the bed, caressing Naruhodō’s face gently. “Ryū…” he breathed out cathartically, “Are you alright? Can you breathe okay?”

Naruhodō turned his head towards Asōgi upon hearing his voice, and then he nodded slowly. “I’m okay…” he said, but his throat was clearly very dry as he spoke, “Am I in the hospital?”

“Yes, you are,” Asōgi confirmed, “Here. Let me get you some water.”

As Asōgi went over to the sink, he could see Naruhodō out of the corner of his eye slowly push himself up to a seated position. This worried him somewhat, but Naruhodō seemed to be handling himself alright, so there was no need to be alarmed too soon. Thus, all Asōgi did was fill up the glass that he’d fetched with water and the brought it back to his husband. Naruhodō seemed all too happy to gulp it down, but he then frowned when he met eyes with Asōgi. “So what happened?” he then asked, “Is Susato-san alright? Did Scotland Yard manage to catch that man who took us hostage?”

“Yes. They got him. And Susato-chan is perfectly alright,” Asōgi said with a affirming nod, “The carriage was stopped shortly after your little…incident on board it. And the man couldn’t flee due to Susato-chan having incapacitated him the moment the window to do so was open for her.”

“I had a feeling that she would probably do something like that once she was able to,” Naruhodō said in understanding, but he was still frowning, “So how long have we been here?”

Asōgi’s lips pursed together as his gaze fell. “By the time I and everyone else arrived at the scene last night, you had already been taken away in the ambulance. All we saw was Gina comforting Susato-chan,” he explained, “We couldn’t come to visit you right away because it was getting too late, but I rushed over here first thing in the morning. Everyone else has been in and out sporadically, waiting on word about your condition.”

Naruhodō nodded once again, but then his own frown turned sad. “I’m really sorry about all of this. I know that I must’ve scared all of you. Using my allergies like that…” he said ashamedly, “I just didn’t know what else to do at the time.”

“I know. We all had an inkling of an idea that that was part of why you did this,” Asōgi said, but then he picked his eyes up once more, “What I don’t understand is why you never told me or Susato-chan about these allergies of yours. Mr. Holmes and Iris-chan had to explain everything to us just so that the rest of us could realize what had happened. I’ve honestly never seen Susato-chan look so pale and frightened when she tried to recall her memory of the experience without all of the details.”

Naruhodō blinked in response at first, but then he withdrew into himself somewhat. “You’re going to think this sounds really stupid, but…I honestly just forgot about it,” he said sheepishly, “So much happened in between that first incident and now, including you coming back into my life, that fateful trial of the Reaper, and all of our work back in Japan after going home. A small detail like that just sort of left my mind and I never thought much of it later…”

“And I suppose that Japan still doesn’t exactly have a widespread availability for peppermint, so there’d be nothing around to remind you to say something,” Asōgi noted aloud, but then he sighed as he nodded his head, “I understand now. Even if I do wish you would’ve told me sooner, it was just inevitable given everything that happened."

“I really am sorry,” Naruhodō said again, “I knew the risks of my plan and that you’d all be angry with me for doing it. But I felt that I didn’t have a choice, so I..."

“Hey. Relax,” Asōgi interrupted as he set his hands on Naruhodō’s shoulders to get him to stop talking, “What happened last night was far from ideal, but we all now understand why it happened the way it did. You don’t need to beat yourself up about it anymore. You saved yourself and Susato-san as you intended to do, and we know that.”

Naruhodō was quiet for a moment but then he nodded his head in acceptance of his husband's words. Asōgi then leaned in and pulled him into an embrace as he let out a relieved exhale, leaning his head against his affectionately. Naruhodō was quick to return the gesture, and the two then just held each other tightly quietly for a few seconds. When they eventually pulled apart, Asōgi tenderly kissed Naruhodō on the cheek before he massaged his partner’s upper arms. “The doctor told me everything about what we’ll need to do in order to help treat your rashes, and he said that you should be able to be released from the hospital tomorrow,” he said in a strangely quiet voice, “You’re going to be just fine.”

“Thank you, Kazuma,” Naruhodō said, as he appreciated the reassurance after his earlier uncertainty about how his last-second plan would turn out. With that matter settled, his focus then shifted to the table beside the bed, and his eyes widened again. “What’s all of this?”

Asōgi turned to look as well, and he smiled. “Well wishes from people who wanted to leave encouragements for your recovery,” he said, and he couldn’t help but pick up one of the chocolates that Gina had brought and pop it in his mouth, “It seems that different people have different ideas about how they communicate that.”

Naruhodō raised an eyebrow as he scanned over the table again. “And the wine bottle?” he asked with a snicker.

Though Asōgi could tell that his husband already knew the answer to that question, he still gave him the confirmation that he sought. “It’s from Lord Van Zieks, of course,” he said with a roll of his eyes, “We’re not the biggest drinkers, but I’m sure we could still find something to do with that thing eventually, probably around the English New Year. And we at least know there’s no peppermint in it.”

This made Naruhodō laugh, and hearing that sound was enough to help Asōgi feel as though a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Seeing his husband smile again really helped to assure him that everything was going to be okay, and in that moment, things really did seem to be on the path to getting better.

Asōgi then reached out and cupped Naruhodō’s cheek lovingly, bringing his attention back to him. The two simply stared at each other for a moment, and then they leaned in to kiss each other. It was relatively chaste contact, but it carried enough love and warmth to tell them everything they needed to know from each other in that moment. As they continued to kiss, they both put their hands on each other in order to be just a little bit closer, which seemed to make things just the slightest bit sweeter.

“I love you,” Asōgi said when the kiss broke, his forehead still lovingly pressed against Naruhodō’s as though he couldn’t bear for them to part again.

“I love you too,” Naruhodō said, and for the first time since he had stepped into the omnibus the previous night, he truly felt that he was safe.

After that, the two young men simply sat in silence for a little while, holding hands and taking advantage of the precious time they had together. It probably wasn’t going to be too long before someone else came in to visit, and then the word of Naruhodō’s awakening would spread like wildfire and attract everyone else to come and visit too. And though it was clear that such interactions would be unquestionably joyful and positive, Naruhodō and Asōgi wanted to have some quiet time together while they could have it. As when they considered everything that they had just gone through, sometimes some peace and quiet was all that was really needed.