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~.~
Sukuna should have known better.
Not so much because his little boyfriend didn’t have a single romantic bone in his body, but because there was no way Megumi would have thought to make a reservation at a Michelin-starred French restaurant like this one of his own accord.
Megumi had many talents and was endlessly delightful to be with, but his idea of a good meal didn’t go much further than the family restaurant across the road from his apartment. Sukuna didn’t mind, since he found the frugality and simplicity of Megumi’s lifestyle quite charming, but occasionally he’d also prefer to take them somewhere nicer.
So when Megumi surprised him with a reservation at Les Papilles in Ginza, he’d been somewhat too pleasantly overwhelmed with anticipation to think more deeply as to why .
That was a mistake because now his little boyfriend was spending more time trying to spy on the table diagonally across the room instead of paying due attention to him.
“Can’t you just leave work at the office for once?” Sukuna sighed as he swilled the red wine around his glass in annoyance.
“What?” Megumi asked distractedly, “I’m a field agent. I don’t work in an office.”
Sukuna resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “How would you like it if I pulled a job while we’re spending time together?”
“I’d have to arrest you,” Megumi said seriously, finally turning to face him.
“The point is-- you shouldn’t be working while we’re on a date,” Sukuna growled, letting a slight hint of threat enter his voice.
Megumi immediately clammed up, looking crestfallen. He picked up his utensils and started eating in despondent silence.
For a guy who’d happily eat an egg sandwich from Seven-Eleven for dinner, his table manners were elegant and impeccable.
It was a pleasing sight, but made Sukuna’s teeth involuntarily clench at the thought that Megumi had probably picked up such skills from previous fine dining experiences. Probably with his lout of a mentor.
Five minutes of glum silence later, Sukuna relented.
“Will you just relax and enjoy the meal?” He hissed across the table, “I promise you they’re not going to just disappear over boeuf bourguignon. I’ll let you know once they make a move and we can follow them if that’s what you want to do.”
Megumi’s eyes lit up at the promise.
“I wasn’t expecting much from this at first,” he admitted, “It was just a random entry I picked up from the victim’s calendar we had in evidence. But seeing the two of them here establishes a vital connection between the third suspect and victim’s family. We might have just been going down the wrong trail the whole time.”
“Why am I not surprised,” Sukuna commented dryly, wholly uninterested in his crime-solving processes. “The level of competence at your police department never ceases to impress.”
“We’re doing our best,” Megumi said defensively.
“If your useless colleagues pulled their weight, we would be having a nice dinner instead of doing impromptu recce.”
“...We can still have a nice dinner,” Megumi said apologetically, reaching out to entwine their fingers together.
Sukuna’s thought processes grinded to a halt as all the blood in his head seemed to rush southwards within a split second.
“Just help me keep an eye on them. I want to know where they go after this,” Megumi added.
“Hmph,” Sukuna made a disgruntled noise, draining his entire wine glass in one swift gulp.
~.~
Since he’d obtained Sukuna’s reluctant approval to do as he liked, Megumi didn’t even feel bad about making them skip dessert in order to follow the victim’s niece and third suspect out of the restaurant. Neither of them were big fans of sweet treats anyway.
Sukuna’s car chasing skills were top-class, as were the rest of his skill set for his specific profession. He kept up with the suspicious couple’s cab with ease despite the heavy weekend traffic, keeping a remarkably masterful distance -- not so near as to be noticed, but not so far as to lose the car.
However, the trip ended up bringing them to an unexpected destination.
Megumi subconsciously gulped as he took in the almost garishly resplendent building ahead.
“QUEENS’ HIVE HOTEL” a glaringly neon sign board stood over the entrance. “25 exquisitely themed rooms” -- a scrolling sign declared across the bottom.
This was clearly a love hotel, and a thematic one at that.
“Shall we keep going?” Sukuna asked smoothly next to him, clearly amused by the turn of events.
“No, I think this is sufficient,” Megumi immediately replied. “I’ll report this first, then come by with Itadori to interview the staff and get hotel records tomorrow. This should be enough evidence to change the direction of investigations and get the higher-ups to give us more time.”
Sukuna fell silent for a moment, expression indecipherable, then he flashed Megumi a razor sharp grin.
“You’re planning to come here with Itadori?” His tone was even, but there was a clear note of suppressed fury underlying his words.
“No! I’ll come with Kugisaki!” Megumi immediately corrected himself.
“Huh,” Sukuna noted softly. Then he stepped on the accelerator and swerved skillfully into the hotel’s car park.
~.~
“Are those handcuff marks around your wrist?” Kugisaki asked bluntly when Megumi limped past her in the station the next day.
Wordlessly, Megumi pulled his jacket sleeves down to his palms.
“Not that I care about your love life, but just let us know if any ass-kicking needs to be done okay?” she said with a slightly concerned frown, “Your boyfriend seems to be kind of a freak.”
Before Megumi could reply, Itadori barged in between the two of them. “Hey Kugisaki, let’s go. We’ve been assigned to check out a hotel downtown. Fushiguro, you wanna come with?”
“...I’m kind of tired today,” Megumi said with a perfectly straight face. “So I’ll sit this one out.”
~.~