Chapter Text
“A cold?” Daisuke questioned leaning back in his chair as he peeked at Haru’s empty desk.
Shinnosuke smiled smugly, leaning back way farther in his chair so that everyone in the room feared that he might fall backwards at any second. “Yeah. Odd to see him not here though. Usually Haru just comes in to work even with a fever.”
Daisuke frowned, raising his fingers to his mouth as if he had a cigar between them.
“Maybe he slept in… his body finally told him that he’s gotta sit this one out I hope.” Shinnosuke shrugged, turning back to his computer. Daisuke could hear Mahoro sigh in relief when the blonde didn’t topple over. “After work I’m gonna go over and check up on him just in case.”
“No need,” Daisuke interrupted, standing up from his desk and gathering the papers on Haru’s desk. “I’ll head over now. Chief?”
“Go on.” Chief Yukihiro giggled to himself, seeming not to care much for Daisuke’s independence. “Bring over some medicine if you have the time to stop by a store. He never had anything useful in stock.”
Daisuke smirked, slipping on his sunglasses as he stood by the door. “Will do.”
***
Haru felt ridiculous. Rather, ridiculous with a side of self loathing.
Seeing Daisuke Kambe standing at the entrance to his apartment with bags upon bags of medicinal herbs and teas, as well as boxes of bottles of pills and cough syrup stacked along the walls of the hallway. Haru disregarded them for now in favor of giving his (unfortunate) partner an exhausted glare.
“What do you want?” Haru sniffled. He inwardly cursed himself for sounding so congested and pathetic in front of the other man.
“That’s an idiotic question.” Daisuke said, obviously amused as he glanced down at all the packages around him. “I come bearing gifts for the ill.”
Haru gritted his teeth, wrapping his blanket around himself tighter. “I didn’t ask for charity, you can leave now. Take your stuff with you.”
Daisuke sighed and stepped into the apartment, carrying in a couple boxes of medicine and placing them on the kitchen counter.
“This is breaking and entering,” Haru said hoarsely, being as loud as he could without straining his voice too much. “A crime , Kambe.”
“Do you have a high fever?” Daisuke asked, ripping open a box and digging through it.
Haru huffed, giving one last look at all the boxes in the hallways before shuffling over to the inspector. “A little. I guess I don’t have a thermo—MMF!”
Haru gave another glare at Daisuke as a brand new, seemingly expensive thermometer got shoved into his mouth.
“Kambe—” he started, but was immediately hushed.
“Don’t talk.” Daisuke grunted, pressing a button on the device.
Haru frowned, looking down cross eyed at the thermometer as he waited for the beep. His partner stood in front of him the whole time, watching the numbers flicker on the screen intently. Haru couldn’t quite understand why he was even here or why he even bothered.
Finally, the beeps snapped Haru out of the trance he didn’t even remember being in.
Moving to take the thermometer out himself, Daisuke beat him to it, reading the numbers under his breath. “38° Celsius… 101° Fahrenheit.”
“Why’d you have to say both?” Haru grumbled, bundling himself more in his blanket, almost like a turtle retreating into his shell.
“These capsules should help.” Daisuke continued, popping two gel pills into Haru’s hand. “Where do you keep your glassware?”
Haru stares at the pills dumbfoundedly before giving him an incredulous look. “Bet you think I have a fancy crystal glass collection or a cabinet full of china.” He rolled his eyes, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a plastic cup from beside the sink, filling it up.
Daisuke watched silently as Haru downed the two pills one by one, smiling slightly as a disgusted look made its way onto his face.
“Why are you even here?” Haru mumbled, placing the cup down on the counter and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Usually it’s Shinnosuke that comes here… and when it is him he arrives super late in the day. What time is it?”
Haru didn’t wait for a response before continuing.
“It’s still within your work hours right now. You should be back at the offices,” he rolled his eyes, stepping over to Daisuke with a stern stare. “Maybe be a decent human being and do my paperwork for a change.”
“Not necessary. My task was to make sure you were doing alright and to provide you with medicine.” Daisuke said dismissively. “And I already did the paperwork. It wasn’t that difficult.”
Haru narrowed his eyes even further before turning away. “Well then. You did what you needed to do. So leave.”
Daisuke hummed, a coy smile making its way into his lips. “Go to bed first. And then I’ll leave.”
Haru spun around to argue but immediately regretted the action as he was struck with a sudden wave of dizziness. “F-Fine… fine. Whatever.” He groaned, holding his head as he waddled off towards his bedroom. “See yourself out…. bastard…”
Daisuke chuckled at the lame attempt at insults and moved towards the front door. “So I shall…” he said, mostly to himself, “after I bring in all these boxes of course.”
***
“Dude you should take another day off,” Shinnosuke said, holding back a snort as Haru sat down at his desk. “You look… bad.”
“Thanks for putting it so nicely…” Haru grumbled sarcastically, “Besides, it’s not good to miss two days of work in a row. Not by my standards at least… I know you like to take whole vacations just for allergies.”
Shinnosuke grinned, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. “I’m being safe.”
Haru rolled his eyes, but gave a friendly little smile nonetheless.
“Soooo….” Shinnosuke started, “I know Kambe went over to your place yesterday. How’d that go?”
Haru, pauses in sorting his papers to look at the doorway of the office, paying attention to whether or not the man in question would saunter into the room. “Well… it was weird. But everything with Kambe is weird.” He huffed, rubbing his eye, “He just sorta arrived at my door with boxes upon boxes of medicine. And get this, he shoved a thermometer into my mouth. No consent!”
Shinnosuke chuckled, not even making an attempt to speak up.
“And not to mention he just fuckin’... walked into my home without even asking if he could come in. And—And all the boxes? When I woke up they were stacked up all over my apartment.”
“Almost like he feels at home huh?” The blonde chirped, looking way too smug for his own good.
Haru gasped, clearly offended by the assumption. “No! No way! Kambe is just—”
He froze as a hand suddenly placed itself on his forehead, attached to a smirking Daisuke that was enjoying the show. “Hello inspector Katou... you still feel warm.”
Haru blinked a couple times as he looked up at the other inspector before shrieking and jumping out of the chair. “Don’t— touch —don’t do that!”
“Why not?” The other replied, clearly enjoying whatever show Haru was putting on.
“ Severe invasion of space. What’s with you and getting up in my business?”
“Says the one who showed up at my house uninvited.”
“I didn’t know it was your—”
“—You two…” Chief Yukihiro spoke up a bit timidly, unsure how to correctly split up one of their many quarrels.
“Yes sir?” Haru snapped to attention, leaving Daisuke to continue to stare at him.
“I don’t mean to break up your conversation but Kambe is present, I need you two to head downtown. Kambe should be aware of the suspicious activity going on down by the river banks, so he can fill you in, Kato.” The chief continued, shuffling over to hand Haru a case file. “I know you just got off a sick day, I hope this isn’t too much to ask of you.”
Haru smiled down at the papers before giving an eager shake of the head. “No! No, I'm fine. Thank you for the job.”
Daisuke frowned, watching as his partner bowed in gratitude before walking out the door. Something just didn’t sit well in his stomach.
“You care for his well being.” Chief Yukihiro smiles kindly, speaking as if it were a fact. “Haru is quick to bounce back so you needn’t worry.”
“Even so,” Daisuke’s frown deepened before turning towards the door, “that doesn’t stop him from being careless.”