Chapter Text
“What’s your favorite color?”
“What?” Daisuke questioned, glancing over at Haru, who was currently sitting in the passenger seat of his car.
Haru picked at the dirt beneath his fingernails before giving Daisuke an impatient look, “Your favorite color. Can I ask what it is?”
The millionaire found himself slowing to a stop as he parked in a secluded area, near the location they were meant to inspect, “I don’t know why this is relevant to our situation, inspector.”
Haru pouted, turning away again. “Well, no, maybe not... but I still want to know.”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Because we are partners. And it’s a basic fact to know about someone.”
“So you’re asking me now?”
Haru rubbed his nose awkwardly, providing a mere shrug, “I guess.”
Daisuke furrowed his eyebrows as he watched the other man, noticing just how weary he looked. Of course he was still sick, there was no doubt about it. One could tell immediately by the way he squinted through a worsening headache. Or perhaps by the way his cheeks burned an unusual red. It was much different from his usual blush that Daisuke would catch whenever he was near Suzue. Rather, he saw it a few times when it was just the two of them, but it seemed to be more out of frustration and anger if anything.
“Yellow,” Daisuke said reluctantly, examining Haru’s face as he looked over at him again.
“Yellow?” Haru repeated in surprise, “I would have expected blue or black. Maybe uh– I don't know, maroon ?”
Daisuke couldn't help the smirk growing on his face, secretly admiring Haru’s eyes, “Golden yellow to be precise.”
Blinking a few times, Haru looked back at him puzzled before scoffing, the true intent behind Daisuke’s color choice flying over his head, “Of course it is golden yellow . Don’t know what else could ever catch your eye.”
Turning his car off, Daisuke’s grin turned into more of a teasing grin than before, “Perhaps maybe silver? Bronze?”
Haru scoffed again, but paused to speak as Daisuke was already outside of the car, “Well my favorite color is green, thanks for asking,” he spoke stubbornly, climbing out of the car. However, he stood a little too quickly, causing his head to become light and his vision to black out for a few seconds. “Ahh…”
Daisuke looked over at him, a single eyebrow raised.
Noticing this, Haru immediately cleared his throat and circled around the car. “Green like natural stuff, y’know? Trees, grass… plants,” He spoke again, averting the conversation away from any words of concern, “Not green like money or whatever– bet you’re thinking that right now, huh?”
Daisuke looked back at him, unimpressed as the other detective poked at his shoulder, “I’ll keep that in mind.”
***
Down by the river banks were just a few teenagers, all clearly playing up the whole ‘delinquent’ persona. Haru watched from where he and Diasuke were hiding, using some fancy gadget that the billionaire pulled out from who knows where to get a better visual of the group.
“They seemed to be crowded around something,” He spoke, squinting his eyes at the screen, “Does this thing have audio?”
Daisuke didn’t answer right away, eyeing the strain between Haru’s brow and the single bead of sweat rolling down his temple, “Can’t bring the drone close enough to hear.”
Haru grumbled, bringing his face closer to the device, “Never stopped you before.”
The Kambe heir exhaled through his nose, narrowing his eyes past the screen towards the teenagers, “Wait here.”
“Hah?” Haru looked over at him, bewildered, “I’ll just go with you. What’s the hold up?”
“We don’t know if they’re armed.”
“Well yeah but we should be prepared enough for something like that. Best if we are both down there if that does happen,” Haru interjected, standing up as if to join him. Daisuke didn’t miss how he wobbled upon raising to his feet, “Ah… just quit doing shit on your own like this. It’s annoying and unnecessary. Besides, I’m your senior, right? You gotta listen to me.”
Daisuke glared at him, examining his face carefully before giving a reluctant grunt of approval.
Haru watched as Daisuke scaled down the slope of the river bank, keeping his eyes on the bridge that the delinquents were huddled under. Taking that as his cue to follow, Haru quickly followed behind him.
As they neared the group of delinquents, Daisuke could feel a weight of unease bearing down upon himself. There really shouldn’t be any concern… After all, he has been in many situations worse than this. The whole situation with his family, for instance. Or the many raids he’s done with Haru and Suzue since then. But with his partner’s current ignorance to his own health, the limited gadgets in his pocket, and his own focus being on the man beside him rather than the current task at hand… the millionaire couldn’t help but feel… nervous?
Daisuke shakes his head dismissively to the absurd thought of being anywhere close to the feeling. He is never nervous. Cautious, maybe, but never anything such as that.
Noticing his distraction, Haru clears his throat, nudging Daisuke when he sees that the teenagers have seen them, suddenly staring the two of them down with an attempt to be intimidating.
Daisuke snaps out of his thoughts, watching as Haru steps forward, doing his typical procedure of showing his badge and announcing who he was.
Pushing back any unwanted feelings, Daisuke forces himself to feel a little bit of comfort in the fact that they were in broad daylight. Surely these kids were smart enough to not try anything without the mask of night time.
But surely enough, these delinquents were more-so cocky in attitude, rather than wise. One of them, who he assumed to be the leader of the small group, smirked as Haru approached them, basking in the supportive snickers of his friends as he taunted them.
Haru brushed the mockery aside, giving a humorless chuckle to their antics as he began to speak back.
“Though I can understand the disgruntlement with my profession, guys, I am just here to tell you we’ve received some complaints about your behavior in the neighborhood.” Haru says, putting his badge back into his pocket.
Daisuke joins him at his side finally, examining the boys carefully.
“We just ask that you either tone down whatever nonsense you’re making, or pack it up and move somewhere else,” Haru continued, “This pathway here is for the public. Even though you’re allowed to hangout here, we have received word that you have been blocking the path from anyone else wanting to pass by.”
Daisuke glances at Haru, letting him do most of the talking as he analyzes the surroundings.
The leader of the group scoffed, stepping closer so that he was only a few feet from the duo. As he argued with Haru, Daisuke knew he should be keeping his attention on the kids instead of his partner, but his inner unease had him fixating on the feverish red hue of Haru’s cheeks and ears, the sweat on the back of his neck, and the weary look within his golden eyes.
Suddenly, that weary look in his eyes shifted to one of shock. Confused, Daisuke turned to see what had changed, only to see the leader of the group flaunting a gun, of all things, stuffed into the waistband of his jeans.
Masking his shock, Haru tightened his jaw and furrowed his brow, making himself look a little more in charge of the situation. However, the clear fatigue from his cold was difficult to hide. “I’d advise you to put the weapon away. Don’t make the situation any worse than it is.”
“I dunno, sir. If my eyes aren’t deceiving me, you seem to be a little scared. Sweating and everything,” the delinquent chuckled, stepping closer to Haru as he pulled the gun out, waving it in front of him.
Daisuke reached for his hip for his own gun, however the sudden realization that he came unarmed hit him like a tidal wave.
“Katou…” Daisuke began, glancing towards his partner, in hopes that he had any form of protection in himself, only to see that he didn’t. In fact, instead of giving Daisuke the time to call for back-up via HEUSC, Haru was currently moving to wrestle the gun out of the boy’s hand.
Usually, Haru was one to succeed in this sort of situation due to his practice in martial arts… however, this unfortunate timing made him sluggish and weak. The delinquent held his own, keeping a firm grip on the gun while fighting back against the inspector.
Acting on pure instinct and… what was that, fear?... Daisuke quickly pressed his earring, sending out a signal for Suzue to pick up. Then quickly he rushed to Haru’s aid.
Haru grunted, black dots starting to invade his vision. From over the boy’s shoulder, he could see his fellow delinquents run off in fear. He cursed under his breath, struggling to get a better hold of the situation as he felt his body become more and more overwhelmed from the extra weight of his fever.
From the corner of his eye, he sees Daisuke beside him, shoving Haru to the side as he takes it upon himself to retake the situation himself. However, in the brief pause between the switch of opponents, the boy managed to move his gun so that it was pointed forwards.
In that instant, the gun shot. For a moment, everything was still as Daisuke stood in front of the boy who was suddenly on the ground, staring forward at them with a look of shock on his face. From that alone, Daisuke could infer that he hadn’t meant to do it.
Looking down, Daisuke expected to see some sort of wound on his own body despite not feeling any kind of pain, but there was nothing. For a second, he felt relief, which was quick to end as he turned to see Haru looking down at his side.
“ Lord Daisuke…” Suzue speaks through his earring, “ I wasn’t sure what you needed but I sent back-up to your location.”
Daisuke stayed silent, watching as Haru lifted his hand from his side, only to see blood on his hand.
“Bring an ambulance too. Now .” Daisuke speaks quickly.
With a humorless snort, Haru looked at Daisuke with an expression that was basically saying ‘ This again? ’. And before Daisuke could react, Haru fell to the ground in a heap.
***
Everything else happened in a blur as Daisuke sat in the hospital. After making sure Haru was sent to the best room in the hospital, making sure the boy was taken into the station, and informing the Chief of the current situation, Daisuke found himself at a loss.
That gunshot was partly his own fault. At that moment, he was so focused on getting Haru out of the way that he didn’t even think about the obvious solution that was focusing on the hand that held the gun.
He sighed, rubbing his face as he leaned forward in his chair.
Haru was currently in the room across from him. He wasn’t allowed inside, despite his protests. Even though the gunshot wasn’t in a fatal location, and the surgery went well, Haru was dealing with a heightened fever due to the loss of blood and stress. Which was bad enough for Daisuke to be shoved out of the room as the doctors and nurses took the space to try and get his temperature to lower.
“Lord Daisuke.”
He looked over to his side where he saw Suzue standing, looking down at him with a semi-concerned expression on her face.
“Are you alright? You look… pale.”
Daisuke inhaled deeply through his nose before sitting up straight, “Yes. I’m fine.”
Suzue, smart as ever, didn’t seem too convinced by this answer. However, she brushed it off and took a seat beside her relative, looking forward at the door Haru was currently residing in, “Although I know Mr. Katou is currently dealing with a bad temperature, I’m relieved to hear that the gunshot wound wasn’t too serious.”
Daisuke opted to stand up instead of staying in his seat beside her, “Yes, though he should’ve lowered his pride and stayed home to begin with. His fever was already bad enough as it was prior to the assignment.”
“You and I both know that he is not the type to miss out on too many days of work,” She smiled, observing him with a hint of amusement.
“Yes, he mentioned that. But still–”
Cutting him off, Suzue suddenly giggled, covering her mouth when Daisuke turned to glare at her.
“He’s sick.” Daisuke emphasized, looking back at the door, “So sick that they won’t even let me in.” Making sure his voice was loud enough for the staff to hear him, Daisuke sent another glare in the direction of a nurse who was exiting the room.
With a shake of her head, Suzue stood up, placing her hand on his shoulder. “You’re way more worried now than you were when he got shot in the leg that other time.”
Daisuke grimaced, looking away awkwardly. “That fool keeps getting himself hurt.”
She raises an eyebrow, unconvinced.
Glancing at her, Daisuke could feel an unwanted heat rise to his cheeks. He stays silent for a moment before clearing his throat and sitting back down, “Let’s just wait in silence.”
Suzue smiled proudly, sitting back down beside him, “Yes, sir.”
***
Daisuke found himself oddly comforted by the way Haru was currently glaring at him as he was finally let into the room.
Placing a new cooling patch onto Haru’s forehead, the nurse quickly sensed the tension in the room and left to give them some privacy. Daisuke nodded his head politely to her on his way out before looking back to the man in the bed.
“This room is awfully fancy and expensive , Kambe.” Haru spoke, sniffling through his cold–which was now at a more reasonable temperature–and gripping a tissue in his hand.
Daisuke hummed, moving to sit in a seat beside his bed.
“If my body wasn’t aching so much, I would be throwing stuff at you right now.”
“That would increase the hospital fees if you make any damages, Katou.” Daisuke speaks, giving that same smile that never fails to make the other man irritated.
Haru huffs leaning back into his pillow a little bit more, jutting out his jaw slightly as he grows impatient.
Daisuke examines Haru carefully, glancing down at where his waist is covered behind a blanket, knowing that there was a wound caused by himself right there.
“I apologize.” Daisuke speaks, closing his eyes and bowing his head slightly. “It was my fault this happened. I should have been more careful when I came to your aid.”
Haru watched him, somewhat confused at the apology, before scoffing, moving his hand–that wasn’t holding the tissue–to flick at the millionaire’s exposed forehead. “Although I’m shocked to see you actually apologizing for something, it wasn’t even your fault that this happened, idiot.”
Daisuke covered his forehead, opening his mouth to argue, but stopping once he saw the embarrassed look on Haru’s face.
“I… I was being dumb,” Haru nibbled on his lower lip before quickly looking out the window instead of at his partner. “I was sick. I knew I was sick, but y’know… I refused to stay home another day and went into work like nothing was wrong.”
Daisuke frowns.
“And because of that, I wasn't thinking during the whole thing with that kid and the gun and… I don’t know. I should have known better and lowered my ego.” Haru sighs, raising his tissue to his nose; more-so to hide his face rather than to blow into it.
Upon not hearing anything from his partner for a while, Haru turns to look at Daisuke, hesitating briefly when he sees the soft expression on his face, “Sorry for worrying you, okay? If you were worried, I guess. But anyway, I’m not going to get shot a third time in your presence. If I wake up in another hospital room as extravagant as this one, I’m going to ignore the pain and lunge at you.”
Daisuke couldn’t help but smile this time as Haru continued to ramble, watching the way he moved his hands around as he spoke.
“–And on the topic of mistakes, why didn’t we come prepared? I didn’t even have a phone or whatever on me to call anyone. Neither of us had a gun… which is either a good thing or a bad thing… but–”
“–I was worried.” Daisuke cut him off, finally locking his gaze with Haru, looking between his partner’s golden eyes cautiously. “The whole time. I was worried.”
Haru blinked a couple times in surprise, watching Daisuke as if waiting for him to give that same irritating smile from before. But instead, Daisuke’s gaze remained steady, causing Haru to look down at his lap, flustered and unsure.
“Before I met you, my favorite color was blue.” Daisuke found himself saying out of nowhere, not sure what direction he was even taking the conversation. “After knowing you for a while, my favorite color had become a golden yellow,” he pauses, waiting as Haru looks at him again, “your eyes… they’re… the exact shade.”
Haru’s cheeks, despite the blush that already existed from his cold, turned a few shades darker. “Kambe…”
Daisuke, suddenly feeling awkward, looked down at his own lap this time. “Apologies… I don’t know why I even thought to bring that up. I’ll leave you to rest, so–”
Before he could get up to leave, Haru suddenly reached forward to stop him, placing a shaky hand against Daisuke’s cheek as he shyly looked between his two eyes. “Blue is… my second favorite color…”
Daisuke watched him for a moment in surprise before suddenly snorting, taking Haru’s hand before he could pull it away.
“D-Don’t laugh…” Haru complains, trying to tug his hand away, “I was trying to be… romantic… or something…”
“ Romantic ,” Daisuke repeats, raising his eyebrows as he smiles at him, clasping their hands together, “my blue eyes aren’t enough to replace your ‘natural’ green at number one?”
Haru scoffed, turning his head away stubbornly, “I’m not going to change something about myself that easily.”
Daisuke hums, watching him for a moment before leaning forward and giving a soft kiss upon the corner of his lips, watching closely as Haru turns his head to look at him again.
Haru swallowed, letting his eyes wander down to Daisuke’s lips, staring at them expectantly, “What was that?”
“A kiss, inspector.”
Haru sniffled, licking his lips as he thought over his words. “I’m sick, Daisuke.”
The millionaire smiled at the sound of his first name being spoken, rubbing his thumb against Haru’s hand, “One kiss shouldn’t hurt me, Haru .”
The sick man kept his gaze locked on those lips, nodding his head slightly, “Two kisses…”
“Hm…?”
“Two kisses shouldn’t hurt you…”
Daisuke chuckles, examining his partner for a few seconds longer– for his own amusement more than anything– before leaning forward and placing a true kiss upon Haru’s lips.