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Daisuke’s hand reached up to his ear to tap his earring as rain pelted him. The storm had blown into the city yesterday night, coming to a head early this morning. It was now nine in the morning, and Daisuke had left his badge on Chief Kiyomizu’s desk, passing through the door like a ghost would, and the look on Katou Haru’s face as he did certainly made him feel like one.
His shades lit up with information of countless flights back to England, and he stopped beside the iron-link fence of a construction site to weigh his options. The rain and wind trashed the tarp covering the cinder blocks and made it rattle beside the swaying metal frame of the incomplete building. Just as Daisuke input his desired flight with a wave of his hand and a signature on an electronic check, he heard the sound of shoes slamming through puddles, getting louder as they got closer and closer to him.
“Katou-san,” Daisuke said dryly, “I thought I told you I was done.”
“Damn it, Kambe!” He shouted, “You’re being an asshole about this whole thing!”
Kambe didn’t need to turn around to know Haru was soaked from running through the rain, but he did so anyway. He took some small satisfaction in seeing his mentor’s clothing drenched, hair completely smudged and mussed that it stuck to his face and clung to his eyelashes. Haru kept blinking to get it out of the way, even as he tried to maintain his scowl. It was somewhat endearing. However…
“You should be thankful. You don’t have to be a mentor to me any longer.”
Haru flinched at his tone, but with a grimace tried to bite back even stronger, “Why the hell would I be thankful about that? You may be a pain in the ass, but what am I supposed to do without you in the Third Division? You’re the only one competent enough to take on cases-”
“You’ll find someone else. Especially when you return to First Division with Hoshino and-”
“First Division? Since when was I going back there?”
Daisuke sighed and removed his shades, tucking them into the inside pocket of his jacket’s breast, “Really Katou-san, how ignorant do you think I am? I heard your conversation with Takei-san. You’ve finally recovered from the misfiring, you’ve proved it in the field. I was there. Nothing is holding you back.”
Haru was speechless as he stared at the other. Daisuke’s eyes no longer hidden, Haru could see the shadowy rings beneath them. Daisuke was schooling himself to keep his cold and unrattled expression, but Haru knew him well enough to see the faint twitches of annoyance and pain rippling across his face whenever Haru spoke.
Good, he thought, I’m being a pain. That means at least he still feels something. I’m not sure what I would do if he completely closed me out like he does with everyone else.
“Likewise,” Daisuke said, tucking his hands into his pockets, “There’s nothing left for me here. I will return to England. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a flight to make.”
And as he turned away, Haru saw his eyes cloud over, and panic settled into his chest. No, he’s closing me out. He’s trapped himself in his own world and he’s refusing to see any other way. That idiot! I have to-
That’s just how bad I hurt him, Haru thought as he charged forward after the man, following him down the block until he turned onto the crosswalk. It’s just a misunderstanding, but I still hurt him. I need to-
“Kambe Daisuke!” Haru belted out as he dashed off the sidewalk into the middle of the street, “You get back here and-”
Daisuke paused on the street corner and sighed again, turning around with the quip ready on his lips.
“Katou-san, leave me be. I must-”
In the midst of the storm, everything went white, and the world around faded out as Daisuke watched a car hydroplane and skid, slamming straight into Haru. Time stopped as Dasiuke’s blue eyes widened and met Haru’s as the impact hit, and as the blood drained from Daisuke’s face, Haru’s eyes lost all of their warmth, going cold with realization before time surged forward again.
“Katou-san!”
So that’s how he looks when he’s frazzled. Glad I finally got to see it, Haru smiled, just as pain blossomed into his side, and his soul was knocked loose, and everything went dark. Daisuke watched with horror and an arm extended as the body danced through the air, eventually crashing down against the concrete with a sickening crack.
Daisuke didn’t realize he had been screaming until sound came back to his ringing ears and his voice was rasping. His fingers shook and banged into his ear several times until he managed to press down on HUESC enough to trigger the record button, but he had lost his voice. He couldn’t command an ambulance, the police, or have the road closed. He didn’t even have his badge on him anymore to get people to clear the crime scene, and the previously empty streets fogged up with mist suddenly seemed very, very crowded. Yet, not a single person was doing anything. Haru lay limp and still in the middle of a construction site he had crashed into and no one was moving.
Daisuke fished for his phone, and frantically tried to type out a message as he ran across the intersection. He cursed his gloves and brought his hand to his mouth, biting one off before letting it fall to the wind to catch. It wasn’t important. He got close to Haru just as he finished one-handedly firing off a series of messages to Suzue.
Call for emergency medical transport. Clear the roads at my location. Haru is hurt.
He didn’t check to see if she responded, he dropped his phone to the ground as he fell to his knees at Haru’s side. Blood was leaking out his mouth, his eyes were closed and his neck was a broken doll joint, lolling to the side as he lay like a dropped marionette against the caved in tarp and bricks. Daisuke’s hands came up to check the pulse on the neck, and although there still was one beating, Daisuke’s vision clouded with black as he wrenched his hand back. Blood dripped down Haru’s chin and landed on his hand, the rivulets sliding down like bindings that encircled his wrist. The red bloomed like a spider lily on his white cuff, and then it continued sliding further and further down his sleeve, the red string trying to snake its way through to his heart and up to his throat where it would strangle him too.
His air came back to him when he was tugged away by Suzue. She heaved her brother back and pulled him up to his feet, dragging him away to the car that was waiting. Daisuke was shaking as he vision tunneled and blurred, Haru getting smaller and smaller as he was pulled back, but still the only thing in focus. Daisuke’s voice came out in gasps and yelps as he tried to pull away, reaching towards his sleeping partner that was now blocked from view as medical professionals stepped in. But Suzue shoved him into the arms of several bodyguards, who- like monsters from under a child’s bed- their hands crawled up from the darkness behind Daisuke and folded over his form, pulling him back and down into the car that soon trapped him inside.
He pounded at the window, but was restrained and forced into a seat. Suzue circled around the front of the car and sat down in the passenger seat, directing the chauffeur to follow the ambulance that would be going to the airlift point. As much as she had tried to order the helicopter to land in the middle of the intersection, she wasn’t as good as her brother at speed and couldn’t get people to remove the stoplights fast enough to completely clear the area. They would drive down to the bridge and have Haru lifted there. As much as Suzue wanted to keep Daisuke back, she knew when her brother finally snapped out of his daze, he would want to be near Haru as soon as possible.
“He has a concussion. Multiple broken bones, his head cracked open, his lung got punctured-”
Daisuke ran his hands through his hair as he sat hunched over in a cold plastic chair down the hall from Haru’s operating room. He was rattling off the list of injuries to Kikuko, who had somehow appeared the moment Haru disappeared for emergency surgery. Suzue must have contacted her when Daisuke was panicking in the car. Now, his mind was completely blank, and he felt empty.
“Daisuke,” Kikuko said calmly, “Why are you not sitting with Suzue on the couch? Surely it must be more comfortable than that chair.”
It was true. The chair Daisuke was in was worse than the cheap chairs at the Modern Crimes office. While he had learned to forgo some of the comforts his rich, sheltered upbringing made him think were the norm, they were currently in the Kambe family’s private hospital. It was hard to find furniture for patients and visitors to relax on that wasn’t designed with luxury comfort in mind, so the fact that Daisuke had chosen the probably single only plastic chair in the entire hospital meant that he had gone out of his way to find the chair and seat it here. It was a break in the couches that lined the wall of the hallway in a pattern of couch, magazine table, potted plant, couch, and conveniently far enough away from the couch Suzue was seated on, right in front of the doors to the operating room.
“Daisuke,” Kikuko bent down and reached out to coax his hands away from pulling on his scalp, “Surely you are not punishing yourself for what has happened?”
Daisuke sucked in a shaky breath as his hands were lowered. It was a stupid, pathetic attempt at punishment and he knew it, “He hit his head after being thrown into the air. He fell unconscious. Anyone knows that with a concussion from that trauma, it’s unlikely that the victim will-”
“Daisuke-sama,” there was the tell-tale click of heels and Daisuke lifted his head enough to see Suzue’s legs beside the chair. When had she gotten up? She had seemed so focused on the doors… “You need to have faith in Katou-san. He will wake up.”
Daisuke’s face twisted into an ugly scowl and he rubbed his temples, “You don’t know that. There’s no way we can guarantee that.”
“Even if it takes time for him to wake, we will cover all the costs,” Kikuko said, placatingly, “We will spare no expense to make sure Katou-san recovers.”
“Right,” Suzue nodded at the elder before giving a determined smile to Daisuke, “You know firsthand what good care Katou-san is in now. He will be perfectly fine-”
Daisuke surged to his feet, his voice biting with rage despite only barely rising to a shout, “We all should know what a lie that is!”
Suzue went quiet. Kikuko’s face remained stone. Daisuke glared down Suzue and clenched his hands into fists. She looked terribly sorry for what she said, her hand coming up to cover her lips as an apology struggled to come out.
“Daisuke-sama, I’m so sorry! I-”
“Don’t talk about how good the care is here. Nothing here, not even with the help of money, can guarantee whether someone makes it or not.”
He adjusted the lapels of his suit, and then pushed past her with his hand. It was a gentle push, but with enough suddenness that it was almost a shove, although she stepped out of the way anyway. Her head bowed, she knew she had crossed a line and dug up unwanted memories. She folded her hands and trembled. Kikuko’s eyes followed him wordlessly.
Daisuke sighed and turned away. He moved past the operating room door without a glance, disappearing down the hall and around the corner.
Once he was out of sight and alone, he ran.
Daisuke found himself on the roof of the hospital, near the helipad they had come down on earlier. It was vacant now, and so Daisuke found himself walking along the white stripes of the “H” aimlessly. Hands shoved in his pants’ pockets, it was still pouring rain outside. Daisuke’s clothes remained dry.
His clothes were designed with advanced technology, meant to simulate conventional fabrics like silk or wool, but completely waterproof. His hair did not lose its styling with the expensive wax even when he had faced Haru before, but now with the torrential downpour worsening, he was beginning to feel the oily substance drip down his face at the sides. He paused in his pacing and reached a hand up and out, letting the rain hit his palm. It danced atop, and then pooled into a small pond in the center of it. He pulled back his cuff and sleeve, and in doing so, let his arm drop slightly. The pond spilled out between his fingers in streamlets, dancing down to each nail before they dripped off like blood from a wound.
Daisuke reached both hands up further, letting the water pool and then run down his wrists to the inside of his suit. It slid down his arms and pooled at his elbow, and suddenly the technology was at a loss for what to do. Unsure of how to repel and unable to soak it up, the water began to fill the bunches of his sleeve, and Daisuke was swimming suddenly. He reached his arms further up to the sky, and let it run towards his shoulders, shivering when the cold hit his sides and then dripped down his back. He felt clean.
He dropped his arms, and sighed. It was so strange. His head was empty, his calculating, analytical mind at a loss for thought or comment. He could picture nothing, think of nothing about the sky before him, or how the city below looked. Even HUESC was silent. Yet, even though he could not picture it, Daisuke somehow felt a part of his mind going back to Haru nonstop.
It didn’t make sense. He wasn’t seeing vivid visions of the accident, of Haru’s body flying through the air. He was just standing there, stuck with the pressing memory and knowledge that Haru had been hit by a car. Haru had been hit by a car and then flew through the air. He hit the ground. The doctor said he has a concussion, multiple broken bones, and his ribs broke and he punctured a lung. All of these thoughts were just concepts though, facts floating in his mind without anything to ground them.
Perhaps, it was better that way. If he was getting vivid flashbacks, like in movies or television, Daisuke likely would have thrown himself off the hospital roof by now. It was his fault Haru had come running out in the middle of the road, after all.
As the water dripped out from under his suit, and Daisuke’s hair began to lose it’s style and parted with the rain, he suddenly wished he had clothes like Haru. They were obviously cheaper, had no temperature control like Daisuke’s, and wore out faster, but they had gotten soaked so quickly. It had been years since Daisuke had felt the rain fall so heavily on him, had felt weighed down by clothes that were waterlogged and stained with mud. The last time he had felt that sensation-
“Mother!” A young Daisuke had suddenly rushed out from beneath the umbrella, collapsing at the top of a burial hole. His knees were brushed with the wet clumps of dirt that soared through the air, and the grave diggers immediately froze in their motions, realizing they had just gotten the scion of the Kambe Group dirty.
There had been gasps from the crowd, and Hattori stepped forward to drag Daisuke back, away from the hole. Kikuko had been the one to tell him later when he was sitting on the bed of his parents’ bedroom (it was so big but only now feeling so empty), as she removed his shoes and cleaned him up-
“We’ll get you new clothes made. The kind you can get dirty in without any dirt. Then, you can pray at the grave all you want without people or cameras making a big deal about you being dirty.”
Daisuke didn’t like it. His clothes were too light. He wanted to feel heavy. He wanted his limbs to match that aching feeling in his chest. He wanted gravity to pull him down, to keep him grounded to the earth.
Right now, with how fleeting the thoughts through his mind were, he felt like the wind was going to pick him up and away.
Contrary to what Daisuke had said, Haru did wake up. It took three days to do so, and Daisuke was not there when it happened. It was Suzue who informed him, his phone lighting up with a text which he promptly ignored and threw to the other side of his darkened room. Then, HUESC had the audacity to chirp in his ear-
“Sir, Katou Haru’s condition has been updated. He has woken up and-”
Daisuke ripped the earring out and tossed it towards the trash can, but he missed and it fell to the carpet beside it. He left it there. A maid picked it up and gave it to Hattori for safe keeping. Everyone knew not to bother the young master lately.
It wasn’t that Daisuke was unhappy to hear Haru had woken up. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he knew Suzue and his grandmother were right. Haru was too stubborn to die, but something in Daisuke’s head kept whispering to him that the probability was still there. There was a large chance of him never waking up, of amnesia, of- the list went on.
It wasn’t that Daisuke wanted Haru to die, it was that deep down, he felt like that should have happened. It was Daisuke’s fault after all. He had caused a ruckus, he had caused a problem at the workplace by storming out and resigning. Haru had run after him, and that was why he had gotten hit. Because of Daisuke. Because Daisuke was too sensitive and stubborn and took Haru’s joke about him being a nuisance with his wealth to heart when he should’ve just brushed it off like he did every other time and-
And now Haru was hurt. The driver who had hit him was drunk and in police custody. Kamei and the rest of Modern Crimes had stopped by the hospital the moment they heard Haru woke up. He heard from Suzue discuss it outside his door (but to no response from Daisuke), Haru was asking for him. Everyday. He wanted to see him.
“His memory was a little fuzzy, but he thought you had left the country somehow,” Suzue had laughed weakly at that, the first day after he woke, “Before I could even tell him, he corrected himself. He said he knew you were too good of a guy to abandon him if he got hurt. He didn’t even realize he was in our hospital. He was shocked when I told him, but then he said it made sense. He joked about you trying to get him indebted to you, and tried to leave the bed. He nearly fell on his face though. His leg is broken.”
“That coworker of yours? Saeki-san? She brought some sweets for Katou-san to snack on today. She said she was working on making a thousand paper cranes for him, but was having trouble working with the paper. When the doctors came in to run tests, I showed her in the hallway how to make a few. She’s very superstitious, but good hearted. She bought a lot of cute paper for the cranes. I’ll slip some under your door if you wish to make a few.”
“That older gentleman came by on his lunch break. Nakamoto-san. He reminds me of Hattori. I tried not to intrude when he was with Katou-san, but from the doorway, I could see they get along very well. Kiyomizu-san came by in the evening. He was very polite, but he still chewed Katou-san out for trying to go back to work so soon. It’s only been two weeks! The doctors say even with all their medicine and technology, it will take two months. Katou-san will need some physical therapy after too. The number of bones broken was less than they thought. Katou-san is tough like you said. It’s either a miracle or he’s willing his body to heal quicker than normal.”
One morning, Suzue came back to the manor after only an hour of being at the hospital. Daisuke heard her stop in front of his door like always, but she didn’t launch into conversation like normal. He thought it was odd, and for a moment, was worried today might be the day she would decide to break down the door. (With those inventions of hers, it was feasible) But instead, she only stood a few minutes in silence, and then took a breath before speaking with a hesitant voice.
“Daisuke-sama? Are you there? I went to the hospital today, but came home early because I saw Haru already had a visitor. I didn’t want to disturb them, because I had not met him before. I saw his name on the visitor chart. Hoshino… Ryo?”
Daisuke stiffened from where he sat on the side of his bed.
“A-anyway, they seemed to be having a serious conversation, but I’ll visit him tomorrow. Yesterday he was still asking where you were. I’m sure he would really appreciate it if you visited him.”
“No,” Daisuke said, and he heard Suzue gasp before her hands slammed against the door.
“Why not? Why are you avoiding him? Aren’t you happy he woke up?”
“I am,” Daisuke said, standing up and walking to his window. He folded his hands behind his back.
“Is it because I’m going everyday? Are you mad at me? I can stay home tomorrow! That way you can talk to Katou-san by yourself! I’ll stay in my room if you want! I promise! I’m sorry for upsetting you before. I didn’t realize I was keeping you from visiting Katou-san. I deeply apologize.”
Before Daisuke could tell Suzue that was not true, her footsteps hurried away. He moved to the door and let his hand hover above the doorknob, but knew there was no point in opening it. She was already gone.
It was another week that passed before Kikuko came banging on his door. He opened for her, only because he knew better than to ignore her. She was healthy, but she was much older than the rest of them. Daisuke had already learned the hard way many years ago to treasure the moments with those he cared about, even if those moments were full of lectures and reprimands.
He didn’t know why he couldn’t reason the same thing about going to see Haru. He had complained about his body being too light, and now it was too heavy. Getting out of bed was painful on most days.
He opened the door to his grandmother smiling up at him. She gave no time for protests, only told him, “Come join me in the tea room. Hattori has done something wonderful with the flowers just outside in the garden, and it would be remiss of you to lock yourself away without seeing it once.”
And then she walked away. Daisuke, knowing better than to disappoint her, slunk back into his room to change into something more suitable for being seen by the servants- his signature vest and tie- and made his way down the familiar walk to the tea room to the back of the manor. The house faded from the western style of opulence and luxury to a more traditional style as he approached the back garden. Suzue was nowhere in sight. It seems she did make herself scarce after coming to such a conclusion that it was her Daisuke had been avoiding.
Much to his relief, when he pulled back the sliding door and was welcomed into the room, it was only Kikuko, as promised. She was grinding up the tea leaves as Daisuke sat down, and she shut her eyes as she talked about the changes in the garden. Daisuke had to wonder how long ago Hattori had planted the new flowers, for her to have them memorized already.
“...And so, next to the purple liriope he’s added some more irises. We thought about removing the hydrangeas because they didn’t seem to be blooming this year, but right as we thought about digging them up, Hattori noticed the buds underneath the leaves! The blue ones look beautiful next to the balloon flowers, especially when it rains. The other day, you should have seen it, the way the leftover droplets made the plants sparkle. It was a wonderful sight…”
Daisuke was silent as he watched her pour the tea. He had watched the rain from his window, but unfortunately being on the upper floors meant that he was never graced with opening his windows to flowers outside. He knew some people who installed flower boxes right outside, or kept small plants inside on their sill, but either one would diminish the decorating of the manor and increase the chance of bugs finding their way into his room. Besides, his room, and by extension, the manor, were places of responsibility, work. There was no time to care for a small plant on his own when he had the pressure of being the heir to the Kambe Group weighing him down at every waking moment.
“Here, Daisuke,” Kikuko passed the small cup to her grandson, and watched him drink it. She knew he was lost in his thoughts. She had seen it at the hospital, and it had gotten worse when they found him on the rooftop in the rain, unmoving. They had to drag him home, and after that, he had disappeared into his room. She had seen it in her parents, herself, her child, and now saw it erupting inside Daisuke. His stoic expression was a plastic mask that was ready to melt off or crack in two. His hands shook as he set the cup down with a rattled clink, belying his feelings that he was pressing down. He seemed to be aware of this too, as he brought one hand up to clutch his wrist steady, his brow furrowing as he struggled to understand why he was having such a hard time being himself.
But the truth was, Kikuko mused, Daisuke had never been himself. Not since that day, many years ago, when his childhood was suddenly altered, and he’d been stuffed into suits designed for grown-ups, given a silver spoon, and shipped off to England when he was barely an adult. A child’s smile disappeared, and in their place, Daisuke sprouted. But he never quite bloomed. That was part of why Kikuko always insisted he join her here for tea, even though they were perfectly capable of having it in any number of the tea rooms with the velvet couches and golden trims. Near the garden was where she got to see glimpses of Daisuke’s true self- when he got slightly miffed by a scolding she gave, but continued to show respect. Or when he stormed off away from Suzue and her, he walked out the front door, but passed by the bushes and shrubs that lined the outside walls, and walked almost all the way down the dirt path to the gates.
Yes, the times where Daisuke was most himself was when he was outside, not surrounded or stuffed inside the mold of the Kambe Group. He may be a bit airheaded without HUESC or without his money, but in times when he didn’t need it, when he was simply in the fresh air and company of those with springful life to them instead of the stuffy business folk that always weighed him down, Daisuke flourished.
Going into the Modern Crimes Division may have been the best decision Daisuke had ever made for himself, and ever since Daisuke had introduced her to an individual who rippled an effect of vibrancy and life into Daisuke’s empty being, she had only seen her grandson grow closer and closer to blooming with each day.
But right now he was wilting.
“Why don’t you have a walk through the garden? I’ve made sure no servants are out here now, so you won’t be disturbed. Before you return to your room, why not stretch your legs a little?”
She knew Daisuke would never tell her no, and thus, she merely smiled as he stood and gathered his shoes, stepping down onto the grass before walking down the path. He grew smaller and smaller until he passed through an arch and under a canopy of woven leaves from intertwined trees, and eventually turned the corner and disappeared.
Kikuko glanced up at the sky, noticing the swirling, light gray clouds overhead, “Oh, maybe he should have grabbed an umbrella…”
The garden seemed stagnant to Daisuke. Of course with every season, Hattori changed the flowers to match and as trends changed, he and the other gardeners slowly introduced new plants until one year you couldn’t even realize the azaleas were gone. However, based on how Kikuko had spoken of it, Daisuke had anticipated a more dramatic change. The deeper he went in, weaving in and out of the maze of shrubs and around fountains and sculpture, he saw the same summer blooms that had cycled in and out since childhood. Even if they weren’t here last year, he certainly had seen them once before.
He turned a corner, and saw a figure darting away. He stopped, and squinted over the rose bush, spotting black hair.
Suzue.
Daisuke sighed and started to walk back towards the house. So this was all just a ploy to get him and Suzue to reconcile. Well, he had seen enough. He would be returning to his room for the foreseeable future.
“Wait! D-Daisuke-sama!”
From behind, he heard rustling and a pained yelp as Suzue rushed past the roses. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he faced her with a blank expression. She was wincing as she leaned over to hold one hand against her calf, a thorn having scratched it and making it bleed.
“You need to keep going into the garden! You can’t turn back just yet!”
Daisuke raised one eyebrow, eyes still staring at the wound that dripped blood between her fingers, “And why is that? I’ve seen nothing new thus far.”
“There’s something further in! A new flower!” Her lip wobbled as she put another hand over the wound, “Trust me, you need to keep going.”
“You should go back to the manor and get that injury taken care of.”
“I’ll be fine! It’s just a scratch.”
“A scratch that is bleeding quite heavily. Is there a thorn in there?”
“It doesn’t matter!” She said, and raised one hand to point to the path behind her, “You just need to go beyond there to see the new flowers! Then, you can go back!”
Her hand was covered in an orange smear, the thin layer of blood staining her skin. Daisuke sighed and walked forward, kneeling down beside her leg and peeled her other hand away so he could see the injury. It looked like dirt already was in it. She must have had some on her hands from when she ducked closer to the ground to hide from him. He sighed and pulled his handkerchief out, handing it to her before he pushed off the ground and straightened up.
“Apparently all the servants have left the garden, so if you’re going to get that taken care of, you’ll have to go back to the house. Take this to stop the bleeding as you walk.”
“But, you have to-”
He held up a hand, “I will go look at the new flowers you’re so insistent about after I know you are going back to receive care. Do be careful not to stumble into any more thorns on your way.”
Suzue clutched the handkerchief with a teary glint to her eyes as she stared up at Daisuke. She must have realized she was holding him up though, and quickly sidestepped out of the way. She stopped to press the cloth into the cut, staying the bleeding, and Daisuke watched her until the blood had stopped, and then she hurried along the path back home. Walking backwards, she waved and called out to him-
“Take all the time you need, Daisuke-sama!”
He sighed and began to walk deeper into the garden. He raised one hand to wave back, “Please turn around and walk properly before you hurt yourself.”
His voice was picked up on the wind, and carried throughout the garden. Somewhere amongst the leaves, someone else flinched at the familiar voice.
Daisuke had entered into the section of the grounds that one of the old gardener’s had toiled over for years. It was surely his finest work, starting with an almost completely enclosed walkway made through years of just letting the flowering vines overgrow and wind themselves up the trellis arches naturally. The sunlight that passed through the leaves decorated the walkway with stained glass made of green and yellow, and it stretched on for a good twenty feet without letting any strong ray in. Yet, everytime Daisuke had come through here as a child, the sunlight that did come through the leaves was enough to make him feel warm.
Today, however, it was growing cloudy, and so the walkway was steeped in a bluish, gray color, the ivy looked dark and oppressive. Daisuke had yet to notice any new flowers still, but this part of the garden was hardly ever touched by Hattori or any of the other gardeners, respected and only upkept minimally by them since the old man who had slaved over it fell ill. But, just beyond it, and likely where Suzue wanted him to go, was the gardener’s magnum opus.
Daisuke stepped into a small, enclosed patio. It had been constructed out of dilapidated stone walls near the edge of the property that had been transformed into this shelter covered in ivy and moss. There was one step needed to get inside the patio, and the ceiling of stone was mostly intact, give or take a few cracks that let rain drip down and puddle on the floor. There were white benches scattered around the edges of the room, and each bench was framed by two pots on stands. In the summer months, small hydrangea plants were placed in the pots, only allowed to grow enough to overflow a little bit. This year, they appeared to be blue and peach colored varieties, but still, that was nothing new.
Daisuke was growing frustrated. Where were these “new flowers” everyone kept bugging him about? He stepped further inside the shelter. Where they all just playing an elaborate joke on him to-
Oh.
His eyes widened as they landed on the “flower” he had been told so much about. At first, he gawked at it, but then he slowly began to smile. He walked over to it, careful to not make too much noise as he crossed the stone.
Everyone had been wrong about this flower though. It was not a new flower, but an old one. They were in early summer, and this one was undoubtedly from the spring. A hanging potted plant of peach hydrangeas dangled overhead near their head, but two blue hydrangeas sat on either side of the bench this flower rested on, compared to the other benches which alternated the two colors. Daisuke smiled as he stood in front of the flower, seeing it asleep.
His eyes did not miss the crutches leaning against the wall, or the cast on their leg. They were still heavily bandaged and injured, but something about seeing his partner so peaceful asleep, even as they drooled with their head resting against the wall behind them, made Daisuke smile more.
He gently pushed against their shoulder, and the spell was broken. Haru’s eyes began to flutter open.
“So, you’re the flower I was told to visit? How disappointing. I thought it would be something better.”
Haru sat up and wiped the drool off his face with a grimace, “Ugh, I should have known you would say something like that. Sorry, but it’s just me. I didn’t expect them needing to use such an elaborate lie to lure you out here. Although,” he leaned forward on the bench slightly, careful not to press down on his bad leg, “I guess they had to. You’ve been avoiding me after all.”
Daisuke sighed, “I have not been avoiding you.”
It earned him a finger shoved in his face, “You have been. You literally didn’t visit me in the hospital once.”
“Judging by the number of bandages on you, shouldn’t you still be there?”
“I was, but Suzue and Hattori helped me sneak out. They brought me here because everyone’s been worried about you.”
“I’ve done nothing to elicit such concern.”
“How long are you going to keep lying to yourself, Kambe-san?”
Daisuke glared at Haru, who matched his glare with even more ferocity. Locked in a stalemate, Daisuke found his eyes struggling not to drift towards the bandages covering up bruises, scratches, and breaks. His chest swelled with the emotion that had been strangling him since the moment Haru had been struck by that car. He quickly looked away before it could escape his throat in any sort of sob. He clicked his tongue.
“Hey! Don’t you ‘tsk’ at me! I came all the way out here because I was worried about you?”
“You should worry about yourself, Katou-san. Did Suzue and Hattori make you use crutches to get all the way back here? I thought they would be smarter than that.”
“No, they transported me in a wheelchair. But, we couldn’t fit it in through the doorway, so I switched to my crutches. I think they hid it somewhere around here so you wouldn’t realize it was me.”
So they were trying to trick me, Daisuke thought, “Well, Katou-san, it is good to see you are recovering well. If you excuse me though, I will be heading back to my room.”
“Wait.”
Daisuke watched as Haru fumbled with something in his pocket. He was still wearing the hospital robe, but had his brown coat draped over his shoulders. Whatever he had crammed inside the pocket seemed difficult to get out, and so Daisuke just watched with amusement as Haru mumbled and cursed until he pulled out a small, flat, black box. Daisuke recognized it immediately.
“Katou-san-”
“No, listen to me Kambe-san,” Haru said, shoving the box towards Daisuke’s face, “You can’t keep running away. Besides, you completely misunderstood what happened that day. I’m not going back to First Division, ever again. Sure, I’ll always miss parts of it, and they’re constantly on my case about going back now that I’m not some dead weight they shipped off to Modern Crimes, but I like Modern Crimes. At first it was a pain not being able to do the more serious cases, but I’ve been able to butt into countless of them without the suit or First Division badge. And part of the reason I’ve been able to do that, is because of you.”
“So you’re just using me?” Daisuke said incredulously.
“No! Listen,” Haru sputtered, pulling the box back, “I may like Modern Crimes, but it was never fun until you joined. And it’s not just because I have a partner who’s competent again, it’s because of your wit, your rich-boy attitude. Hoshino and I were close, but the time I spent working with him and the First Division is over. I’m tired of having to take their strict orders, their ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ mentality of solving things. You’re so much more creative and actually listen to what I have to say.”
Haru turned the box back towards him and started to open it, pulling out the golden badge that had been stored inside it since Daisuke abandoned it on the Chief’s desk weeks ago.
“Besides, you can’t keep running away. I’m sorry if I hurt you by making those jokes about your wealth. You know you can get on my nerves but…. No, sorry, I shouldn’t make excuses. I promise I’ll stop making those comments if you come back, I just-”
Haru lifted his head and immediately stopped talking, his eyes widening when they landed on Daisuke’s face. Moving in slow motion, and careful not to scratch the badge as he pushed off the stone bench, Haru got up, reaching on hand out to the other man’s shoulder to help him balance on his one good leg, and he pressed the badge against the other’s chest, staring him down with a strong look.
“Kambe-san,” he pressed the badge into his suit harder, “Come back to Modern Crimes. I want you there. You belong there.”
Daisuke’s hands twitched before he slowly brought them up to his face, and he looked down as tears slipped off his chin and landed in the lines of his palms. In the blur behind his fingers, he could see Haru’s arm and the glimmer of the badge between his skin and the dark fabric. His shaking hands slowly fell away, but one found its way wrapped around Haru’s wrist. Haru felt the trembling, but just continued to stare down his friend, expression unwavering. Suddenly, Daisuke felt Haru’s other hand overlapping both of them, and his fingers moved from Haru’s wrist to dance over the edge of the badge, taking it from the space it had been pressed into and then pulling away with Haru’s hand still holding onto his wrist, his palm curving around his knuckles as he cast him a smile.
“Good to see you’re coming back. Now, can you help me sit back down? I’m standing on one foot here, and if I move even the slightest I’m going to topple.”
Daisuke’s arms instantly moved to flutter around Haru, unsure of where to grab him but Haru guided him so they were near his sides so he could hold onto both of them as he lowered back down onto the bench with a sigh.
“Geez, you really cause me all kinds of problems,” Haru said, resting one arm on his leg as he glanced away for a moment, “But, my life would be boring without those problems, so, I’ll see you at work on Monday, right?”
Daisuke dabbed at the tears underneath his eyes with his fingertips before his signature smirk was back on his face, and he moved to sit down beside Haru, “I don’t believe with your injuries you’ll be back to work for at least another month. And if you even try to, I will personally escort you out.”
“Ugh, jerk. I can at least do paperwork.”
“I know you won’t be content with just that, Katou-san.”
Daisuke leaned back against the stone wall, his hair getting slightly mussed by the ivy growing in the cracks, and Haru watched him for a moment before leaning back too. A hand came up to block him before he could rest his head against the stone, and he turned to glare at the other man.
“What?”
“You had a concussion. You need to be careful about how fast you move your head, especially if you’re about to slam it into some stones again,” Daisuke’s hand slipped away and Haru sat up before slowly lowering back again.
“You’re right, thanks for reminding me.”
The two men just stared up at the ceiling of the enclosed space, silence stretching between them as the light outside turned darker and the sound of rain pelting the ceiling dripped down until it found its way through a crack and dripped its way onto their heads. Daisuke’s face scrunched up as the water ran down his forehead and onto his nose. Haru laughed.
“And here I was thinking this place was perfect. We better get my wheelchair from wherever Suzue stashed it before it gets wet.”
Haru started to reach for his crutches, but Daisuke grabbed his arm and pulled him to sit back down.
“What is it?” Haru started to say, but Daisuke just shot him a glare before shutting his eyes again.
“I’m sure Suzue or Hattori will get it before it gets ruined. If it does, I’ll buy you a new one, a better one. Let’s just stay here for a while. I haven’t seen you since you disappeared into the hospital. We need to make up for lost time.”
Haru scoffed, but his smile didn’t falter. He leaned back again, and ignored the small streams of rain that were running down the veins of ivy and onto his neck, settling back into the quiet atmosphere of the space they shared.
“And who’s fault is that?”