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Yagami’s ringtone joined the low hum of the refrigerator in the office’s ambience. His hand landed on the coffee table, next to the sound. Dammit . He rolled over on the couch, blinking and successfully grabbing the phone this time around. He squinted at the screen.
“Huh… Mafuyu?” he said, holding his phone to his ear.
“Hello, Yagami-kun? Ah, sorry… Did I wake you up?” Mafuyu asked.
“Ah… Not technically,” he replied, sighing, pushing past thinking about all two hours of sleep he’d gotten, tossing and turning, trying to find a position that didn’t make his head hurt, willing himself not to go back to that bloodstained room in the research wing of the ADDC when he closed his eyes.
Mafuyu’s voice silenced his thoughts. “The police are opening up Kuroiwa’s apartment. Thought maybe you’d wanna come by… We don’t expect to find any real evidence but, this is kinda your case.”
Yagami sat up, head spinning. “Sure. Text me the address.”
“Okay, see you soon, Yagami-kun.”
“Bye.”
The call ended. He checked his texts, eyes flicking past Kaito’s “you sure youre ok?” from last night and Mafuyu’s text with the address to an unread text from Sugiura.
yea. i cant sleep either
this chihuahua has higashi-san’s energy
He’d attached an image of an angry-looking chihuahua with little eyebrow spots above its eyes.
lmao, he totally does
Yagami summoned all his resolve and swung his legs down, bare feet finding the floor. He stood up and stretched, feeling the weight of exhaustion in his whole body. He scooped coffee grounds into the coffee machine and set it to brew. Gonna need it. He leaned on the back of the couch, listening to the coffee drip, staring at his phone. He’d typed, deleted, and retyped the same text to Sugiura.
have you been having the dreams too?
His finger hovered over the send button. The coffee maker beeped. He exhaled and put the phone down, saved from making that decision. He grabbed the least sketchy-looking mug off the counter and set it back down, going for one of the paper cups off the stack Higashi had brought in, saying something about it being ‘good for business’ to offer clients coffee. He poured himself a cup of coffee, watching the steam rise.
He changed into fresh, albeit wrinkled clothes he’d dug out from their temporary home in the cabinet behind the shelf, since he couldn’t bring himself to keep anything in the murder closet.
He sipped his coffee and grimaced, scalded tongue between his curled lips. He dumped a couple spoons worth of sugar in and stirred, watching the vortex, willing it to drain his thoughts. He spotted his jacket, draped over the chair. He set the cup down and picked up the jacket, putting it in its familiar place over his shoulders. He clipped his wallet chain to his pants, grabbed his coffee, and locked the door on the way out. The caffeine and cold morning air worked in tandem: definitely awake, and definitely tense . Couldn’t help but come back to the same thought, again and again: he’d won, right? They’d won. So why did his own mind insist on betraying him like this every time he was alone with it for too long?
___
Kaito leaned against the wall in the hall outside Kuroiwa’s apartment, checking his phone, again. 8:15, still no sign of Tabo.
“He say he was on his way?” he asked Mafuyu, nearby.
“He should be here soon,” she replied.
Two officers emerged from the doorway.
“Honestly, it was way tamer than I expected,” said the taller one, who had a bruise on his face courtesy of Kaito and Higashi at the ADDC.
“What do you mean?” said the other.
“I dunno, I guess I was expecting a whole wall of creepy candids of Yagami-sensei, or something.”
Kaito’s whole body tensed up. “Why the hell would you say that?” he said, teetering on the edge of raising his voice.
The officer shrugged. “C’mon. It’s classic serial killer shit. Obviously the guy had a serious hard-on for Yagami-sensei and getting busted by him. Why else would he hold off on killing him this whole time?”
Kaito’s stomach turned. He drew in a deep breath and furrowed his brow. “Let’s fuckin’ see, then,” he muttered.
Mafuyu caught his gaze, eyes concerned. “Are you sure you don’t wanna wait?”
Kaito forced a smile. “I’ll go on ahead of Tabo. Do some recon. You wait outside.”
Mafuyu nodded. “All right, Kaito-san.”
Kaito made his way through the door. The place did look pretty barebones. Almost creepily devoid of signs of life. He noticed an officer handling what looked like a tanto knife with gloved hands near what appeared to be Kuroiwa’s desk.
“Potential murder weapon?” Kaito asked.
“Oh, no. This is just a letter opener. Plus, to our knowledge, knives weren’t really his preferred instrument.”
“Wait, letter opener? Can you show me?”
The officer held the letter opener out by the blade, inlaid handle gleaming as he turned it over.
Golden Matsugane Family emblem. Kaito’s head spun.
“ Shit,” he breathed.
___
The Matsugane Family Office door slammed open with significant force. Captain Hamura. Of course. He sent a chair toppling over with a frustrated kick.
“Which one of you bastards stole my letter opener?” he growled.
“T-the tanto-looking one?” stammered Higashi, eyes huge behind his glasses.
“No, the one that looks like a fucking gun,” Hamura replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Of course it’s the tanto one, dumbass. I had the handle custom inlaid with the Family emblem and everything, and one of you fuckers swiped it!”
“Oi, Captain, I’m sure it’s just underneath something,” Kaito said, attempting to divert his ire away from Higashi.
“My ass, it’s underneath something! I looked everywhere. Next one of you little bitches to mouth off gets the business end of a real tanto,” Hamura snapped.
Kaito nodded. So it was one of those days. Leave it to the Captain to drop a ton of cash on something so tacky and then immediately misplace it. He hoped for the sake of everyone the old bastard found wherever the hell he’d left the stupid thing soon so everyone could breathe easy.
___
“You, uh, okay?” asked the officer.
“I’m fine,” Kaito said, “But I might have a source on that letter opener.”
The officer put down the letter opener and picked up her clipboard. “Yeah?”
“Belongs to Kyohei Hamura. Captain of the Matsugane Family. Creepy bastard must’ve swiped it a couple years ago.”
She nodded, scribbling down notes. “Thanks.”
Kaito turned and spotted a worn-out olive green sweater hanging from a hook near the door. Not something he could ever imagine Kuroiwa wearing— Wait. That was because—
___
Ayabe took the seat next to Kaito at Tender.
“Oi, Masuda-san, get this man a drink!” Kaito called out.
“The usual, Ayabe-san?” Masuda asked.
Ayabe nodded.
“Nice duds, man. The trench coat’s a bold choice,” Kaito commented, eyeing Ayabe’s long, green coat. “Makes you look like a real TV detective. I gotta convince Tabo to try that look out.” Kaito chuckled.
Masuda returned with a highball and set it in front of Ayabe.
“Thanks, Masuda-san. Don’t flatter me, Kaito. I know I look like a bum.”
“Nah, I think you could make it work with a few tweaks.”
Ayabe grinned. “You might be right. But the only reason I’m even trying out a new look is ‘cause my old sweater went missing. Just. Gone. Haven’t been able to find it anywhere. Guess I was overdue for a fashion reset, anyway, huh?”
Kaito laughed, again. “I’ll say! It’s a helluva step up from that ratty old thing you used to wear.”
“Hey, you don’t have to be a dick.”
“What? I’m just bein’ honest!”
___
“Hey, Yagami-kun, you made it!” Mafuyu said, regarding him with concerned eyes. “Kaito-san is already inside having a look.”
“What, he couldn’t wait? I see how it is,” Yagami said, trying to affect an ounce of his normal levity. He looked for orange through the door and spotted Kaito. He nodded to Mafuyu and stepped through the door.
Kaito looked like he was having a full-on all-expenses-paid trip down memory lane staring at some old sweater and Yagami wasn’t about to interrupt that. Didn’t need someone else worrying over him just yet, even if he was the guy he trusted most to worry… the right way.
He stepped past Kaito, eyes darting around, looking for—he wasn’t even sure what he was looking for. He wasn’t sure what he had expected , either, but it certainly wasn’t this. Kuroiwa could’ve definitely afforded a bigger apartment, even on just his police salary, and it was so… blank. It almost looked like something out of the background of a video game. The kind of thing they didn’t assume anyone would have a real good look at because they’d be too busy shooting up zombies. The furniture didn’t look like it was picked out by a human, and honestly, maybe it wasn’t.
Something shiny caught Yagami’s eye on the coffee table—a lighter. Fancy metal kind, too. Yagami’s head hurt trying to imagine Kuroiwa smoking . Absolutely no way . No ashtray on the table, either. On a closer look, this lighter had an intricate engraving of a tiger on it, and an unmistakable kanji.
___
Yagami joined his senpai outside Genda Law Office for a smoke break. Yagami had to do his damnedest not to crack the hell up when he saw Shintani’s lighter . A tiger? Really, man?
“What? You got something to say?” Shintani asked, squaring his stance.
“Hah… Um, nothing. Just that, I dunno if a lighter like that suits you,” Yagami said, steeling his resolve to stay stone-faced. Maybe Kaito-san could pull that off unironically, but a lawyer with only a couple clicks more style than Genda-sensei?
“Says the guy who thinks he can rock skinny jeans, as a man, in 2014,” Shintani shot back.
“Which for the record, I absolutely do.” Yagami grinned. Poor guy made it too easy.
“I’ll have you know, this lighter was a gift, from my girlfriend. And it’s custom. Got my name, and everything.”
“Right, your girlfriend. The one from Osaka that no one has ever seen.”
“Yukako-chan is real!”
Yagami tilted his head to the side. “I thought her name was Yukiko-chan last time you told me?”
“The hell do you know?”
“I’m just messing, dude. Now, you gonna lend me the Sacred Flame of the Tiger or what?”
“Hell no! Not with that attitude.”
Later that day, Saori logged out of Shintani’s computer for him after he left and found an email with a confirmation from the custom lighter company still open in his browser.
“Tell Shintani-sensei you send… hah… Yukiko-san your regards,” Yagami said. That one got a menacing smile from Saori.
___
Kaito turned around, shaking off the unease from Hamura’s letter opener and Ayabe’s sweater upon spotting a familiar mop of hair, bent intently over the coffee table.
“Tabo! When did you come in?”
Tabo turned to face him, troubled eyes under knit-together brows and underscored by dark circles, completely silent.
“Oh… You don’t look so good, man, you okay?” Kaito asked.
Tabo's voice came out quiet and shaky. “Shintani’s lighter. That’s Shintani’s fucking lighter. Remember… How I told you, about—”
Kaito laid a hand on Tabo’s shoulder, fingers gentle against his tense muscles. "Yeah, with the stupid tiger on it. So Kuroiwa swiped it off Shintani after he—" Kaito couldn't bring himself to finish.
Tabo nodded.
Kaito rubbed his hand over Tabo’s shoulder blade. "Look, Tabo… Are you sure we should be here? This place gives me the fuckin' creeps."
“I made it this far, didn’t I?” Tabo said, taking a step towards the kitchen, leaving Kaito’s hand in the air, still reaching out for a moment, wondering if he should stop him. But when had anyone ever been able to stop Tabo?
Yagami let his feet carry him towards the kitchen, though, if he had to be honest, he could barely imagine Kuroiwa eating , much less cooking. Standard tile counter, probably came with the apartment and — what the hell was a stapler doing in the kitchen? Upon closer observation, the stapler had a sticker on the other side. Yagami’s stomach turned. The purple Koro-nyan sticker Yagami had won from Paradise VR and slapped on the office stapler on a whim one day. Yagami had shrugged off the stapler’s disappearance as a quirk of his disorganized office, or maybe even a stupid prank Ayabe had never gotten to follow through on.
But a detective is always thorough. If this was his stapler, it would have the weird dent on the bottom from when he’d thrown it at some really aggressive debt collectors with the wrong address who had busted in while he was organizing files. Yagami swallowed. Damn thing already had his prints on it, so no point in gloving up. He turned the stapler over, revealing the dent and a folded piece of paper, loosely secured with a spot of tape. Yagami unfolded it and saw his own face staring back at him, Genda and Matsugane on either side of him, beaming with pride. His grip failed and the photograph fluttered through the air to the linoleum floor.
Where the fuck would he have gotten this? Why would he have this? Yagami’s head spun, arriving at exactly one possibility. The floor came up and his vision went white.
“Tabo! ” Kaito shouted, dashing across the kitchen and managing to catch Tabo, unconscious in his arms. Cradling him, he could feel Tabo’s heartbeat thundering against him. He felt the glances of nearby officers on them. “The hell are you waiting for? Get someone in here who can make sure he’ll be okay!”
Why’d Tabo — ? Kaito spotted a creased paper on the ground. He crouched down, gently lowering Tabo to rest across his lap. He reached out with one hand, the other arm supporting Tabo’s head and shoulders. He turned it over. Oh. The photo from Matsugane-san’s wallet. He set it down and half-heartedly ruffled Tabo’s hair. “I would’ve passed out too if I were in your place, man.”
“Kaito-san! What happened to Yagami-kun?”
Kaito looked up to see Mafuyu standing in the entrance to the kitchen. Kaito held up the photo.
“He found this and collapsed. What the hell were you even thinking?” he demanded.
“I… I didn’t know it would be like this,” she said, remorseful.
“What did you expect? He was a fucking serial killer, Mafuyu-chan.”
“It seemed harmless enough,” she said, eyes not leaving Tabo’s unconscious body. “I thought he was just a hired gun for Shono and the rest, and his apartment would show he was… Just a guy, I guess.”
Kaito pocketed the photo and clutched Tabo with both arms, shaking his head. “You weren’t there at the end. The guy was a monster . Listen… When me and Higashi fought him, and he had me pinned down, wailing on my face, the last thing I heard before I blacked out was him cackling maniacally. Couldn't make this shit up if I wanted to. But, seriously. Hasn’t Tabo been through enough without having to find out that Officer Stabby Eyes swiped a cherished photo from our oyassan’s wallet after shooting him in cold blood? ”
Mafuyu looked down. “I’m sorry, Kaito-san.”
“Tell that to him, when he wakes up. In the meantime, if you’ll excuse me,” Kaito said, standing up and lifting Tabo with him.
Tabo’s eyes fluttered open. “Kaito-san…”
“Hold on, Tabo. I’m gettin’ you out of here.”
He carried a blinky and increasingly clingy Tabo out of that fucking place .
“The hell are you looking at?” he growled at the staring officers.
He sat down in the hallway, letting Tabo down gently. He slumped, head against Kaito’s chest, hands on his back, arms wrapped around him. Kaito couldn’t bring himself to let go of him, sitting there with him in silence for a few moments, Tabo’s hair soft against the exposed skin between the undone top buttons on Kaito’s shirt.
“You feel okay to stand up?” asked Kaito.
“Nnnh… Can I just stay like this, for a sec?”
“Of course.”
He felt Tabo relax in his hold. “Thanks, Kaito-san.”
“Did you wanna… Talk about anything? I, uh… Noticed Hamura’s letter opener and Ayabe’s sweater, before you got here.”
Tabo drew in a deep breath and exhaled. “He left that photo he swiped off Matsugane for me to find. Me, specifically. He wanted this to happen. He planned it. He wanted me to stop him. To end him. And if I succeeded, if I was the one who walked out of the ADDC alive, he wanted me to find this. That was his final, creepy-ass message. I dunno if you saw, but he also took our office stapler. It was taped under that.”
“What the fuck , man?”
“I know, right? But, what I keep coming back to, again, and again… Is that… I can’t let him get to me. Not now. The joke’s on him, really. He’s fucking dead. We won. Matsugane-san would be so goddamn proud of us.”
“Yeah. You’re right.”
Tabo straightened out a little, hands still on Kaito’s back, looking Kaito in the face. “And y’know? Kuroiwa took things. Mementos. But ultimately… they’re just objects.” He met Kaito’s gaze with soft, warm eyes. “What we have. Our bond. Our trust. The way you always have my back, figuratively and literally just now. And I have yours. He couldn’t ever take that.”
Kaito’s chest felt full of warm. Warm that needed Tabo against it. He pulled him close, again, grinning.
“You’re a huge fuckin’ sap, you know that?” he said, chin resting on Tabo’s shoulder.
“Yeah, but you love it.”
Mafuyu rescued Kaito from having to think about that phrasing .
“Yagami-kun, you’re okay!” she said, emerging from the doorway.
“Yeah, thanks to Kaito-san I didn’t head injure myself courtesy of Kuroiwa a second time."
"I'm so glad… Please take it easy, okay? And Kaito-san, I'm counting on you to take good care of him," Mafuyu said.
"If he'll let me," Kaito laughed.
“Kaito-san’s real adorable when he gets fussy,” Tabo said.
“I do not get fussy!” Kaito retorted.
“No way, man. Remember that time I went on a food run with no jacket and almost got hypothermia?”
“Not almost . Your lips were blue, Tabo.” Kaito had come running with Matsugane and a cup of hot tea.
Mafuyu giggled. “I’ll leave you guys to it.”
“Wait, Mafuyu,” Yagami said, “Can you do me a favor and ask the officers if I can have that lighter on the coffee table when they’re done with it? I think Genda should have it, all things considered.”
Mafuyu grimaced. “Oh, God, was it—?”
“Shintani’s? Yeah. This place sucks ,” Yagami said.
“I’ll go tell them that, right now,” she said.
Yagami watched her turn and re-enter the fray. He pushed thoughts of what else they might find and returned to resting his head on Kaito’s chest. Kaito’s hold on him tightened. Really need to try fainting around Kaito more often. Could get used to him being this cuddly . He couldn’t even bring himself to crack a joke about that, not now. Not when he was so warm, and safe, and feeling whole, for once.
“How are you feeling?” Kaito asked, voice soft.
“Honestly? Exhausted.” He was about three seconds away from dozing off on Kaito’s chest, if he had to be honest.
“Let’s get you home, then, man.”
Yagami closed his eyes and saw the office walls, closing in on him. The closet loomed large, taunting him. Who will you find in here tonight? , it seemed to say, Sugiura? Hoshino? Maybe Kaito . Yagami’s eyes snapped open.
“Man… I really don’t wanna go back there, right now,” he said, finally.
“We don’t have to! Could go to my place.”
"Sounds good to me."
Kaito let go of Yagami and stood up, offering him his hand. Yagami took it and got up. He kept his fingers closed around Kaito's hand for an extended moment.
“Thanks, Kaito-san… for everything,” Yagami said, running his thumb over Kaito’s wrist.
“Hey, no problem. Just doin’ what I always do. Let’s get the fuck outta here.”
___
Kaito unlocked the door to his apartment and Tabo went in ahead of him, stepping out of his shoes and flopping down on the couch. Kaito exhaled a sigh of relief that he’d tidied up yesterday. Not that Tabo would care, but still. He took off his own shoes and closed the door behind them.
He watched Tabo pull his knees up to his chest to sit in a way he always insisted was somehow comfortable. He grimaced and straightened out again. Oh. The jeans, huh?
“Hey, I think that box of clothes from when you moved into the office is still here, want me to go grab you something comfier?”
Tabo nodded. “Yeah, please?”
Kaito made his way to the bedroom and dug the box he’d labeled “Tabo” in messy permanent marker out of the closet. Digging through old clothes he saw flashes of some of Tabo’s wackier fashion choices. He settled on the stupid oversized shirt with the Pepsi logo that read “SEXY” instead of “PEPSI” and the bottoms from a crimson velour tracksuit that the secondhand store definitely hadn’t had the top to. Tabo had laughed and called it “divorced.”
He dropped the clothes in Tabo’s lap. “Hey, you want anything to drink?” Kaito asked, stepping toward the kitchen. What was that thing Tabo always said? Best kinds of plans get two birds stoned at once. Bird #1 was taking good care of Tabo, just like Mafuyu said. And Bird #2 was not being in the room while he was changin’ .
“Just some water.”
Kaito filled two glasses of water from the sink, standing with them in the kitchen for a moment. Sounded about done in there. He approached the couch, offering water to a visibly cozier Tabo. He accepted it.
“Thanks. God, was this where this shirt was the whole time? I thought it was gone. Like. Found in Kuroiwa’s apartment gone.”
Tabo’s troubled eyes betrayed his lighthearted tone and it made Kaito ache. He sat down on the couch next to him, setting his glass on the coffee table. “Tabo… Maybe it’s too soon to be joking about that. You’re the strongest person I know. You don’t always have to keep pushin’ yourself like this. You’re allowed to take a break, okay?”
“Mhmm,” murmured Tabo. He rested his head against Kaito’s shoulder, curling up comfortably.
“You sure you shouldn’t be getting medical attention, though? You did faint.”
“I got an appointment later today anyway for them to check up on how my head’s doing, so I’ll just tell ‘em then. I think this is fine for now.”
Kaito grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. He clicked into the first show on his “Continue Watching” section.
“Tabo, it ok if we watch this? I’m five episodes in and it’s about this lady and her husband gettin’ divorced. And, see, she has to go on this quest to get custody of her kids—”
“Is her lawyer insane or something?” Tabo interrupted.
“You didn’t let me finish! So, it turns out, the husband has to do the same quest, and it’s all set up by their spunky teenage daughter and her adorable little bro working with mom’s quirky lawyer to make their parents realize how much they still love each other.”
Tabo chuckled. “That’s not how that works, at all!”
“It’s heartwarming , Tabo!”
“Mm, sure, put it on.”
Kaito pressed play. He watched quietly, waiting for Tabo to comment on the lawyer’s wacky outfit for this episode but instead found Tabo fast asleep against his shoulder. Couldn’t blame him. He’d looked so fuckin’ exhausted, even by Tabo early morning standards, and fainting couldn’t have helped.
He couldn’t stop thinking about how Tabo had clung to him when he carried him out of that apartment, like it was his life. Even the TV couldn’t take his mind off of it. He glanced over, again, to see Tabo’s brow furrowed. Seemed irritated by a stray strand of hair in his face. Ticklish even in his sleep... Kaito pushed the strand aside with a gentle hand and watched Tabo’s face soften again.
This episode, the husband in the show finally seemed to be getting somewhere after his latest challenge and wrote out this whole letter to the wife for the lawyer to give her, about how he’s still in love with her. But then, the idiot gets cold feet and tears it up right as the ending theme plays. Go to her! Kaito wanted to yell at the TV. Go to her and tell her everything.
He found himself looking at Tabo again, so close, and he felt something he didn’t have words for wash over him. He couldn’t imagine making Tabo sleep on a couch, not right now. So it was settled. He turned off the TV and slipped his arms underneath Tabo, scooping him up, doing his best not to wake him. Tabo stirred and made a little noise, drawing Kaito’s gaze. He opened his eyes just long enough to give Kaito a sleepy but unmistakable version of that look, the one that always came with a soft smile, the one he gave Kaito when no one else was looking, the one he gave Kaito when it didn’t matter if anyone else was looking.
Kaito laid Tabo down on his unmade bed, taking extra care to gently rest his head on one of the pillows. He gathered up the sheets and blanket and moved to tuck him in, but there was just one problem.Tabo grasped Kaito’s hand in both of his, clutched close to his chest, and didn’t seem too keen on letting go. Kaito let the fluttery sensation in his chest happen for once, and the flood of thoughts that followed. How is he so fucking cute? Does he know?
He hadn’t planned on lying down with Tabo. In fact, his plan for the rest of the morning had been to let him rest and read comics on the couch. But, hell, neither of them had ever been particularly hung up on stickin' to plans. Tabo needed him. He laid down on his side, making sure not to disturb Tabo's grip on his hand. He ran a thumb over Tabo’s scabbed up knuckles. They’d survived so much shit, these past few months, he was lucky to be able to hold those hands. He brought Tabo’s hands to his face, still clasped around his hand. Kaito closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of Tabo’s hands against his cheek.
Kaito’s eyes snapped open. Tabo had released his hand. Fuck, was that too far? Kaito tensed up. Have I been taking advantage of him this whole time? Kaito's racing thoughts were silenced by Tabo's arm, draped around him, and his other hand flat against his ribs. Kaito gave in to his impulse and let himself wrap his arms around Tabo, pulling him in close. Tabo made a pleased little sound and nuzzled into Kaito's neck. Kaito smiled —Tabo’s hair was tickly — but, also… He'd imagined, countless times, how things would go, were Tabo to ever join him in this bed, and always felt wrong and dirty in the end, but here he finally was, feeling born to stick by Tabo’s side and keep him safe, always. Kaito listened to the sound of rain battering against the bedroom window. He ran his fingers through Tabo's hair. Ain't no storm we can't get through together, buddy.
___
Lightning flashed across the wrecked research wing of the ADDC, illuminating Kuroiwa's silhouette. Thunder cracked, followed by a gunshot. Kaito went down, clutching his stomach, again.
"Tabo," he gasped.
Yagami tried to lift his hand to reach out to Kaito, but he couldn't move, could only watch the puddle of blood around Kaito grow and—
A steady thumping sound filled Yagami's ears. He opened his eyes and saw bright orange, so close, and felt silk against his face. Kaito’s heartbeat. Kaito’s warm embrace. Kaito’s comforting hand playing with his hair. Yagami ran his hand over Kaito’s stomach, stopping short of the mostly-healed spot where Hamura had shot him. No blood. He was okay. It was all over. Yagami was home now.
“Kaito-san,” he said, finally.
“Tabo! You’re awake,” Kaito said, his big, sunny smile audible in his voice.
“Yeah. Glad, too. My dream sucked. But this part, I think I could get used to.”
Yagami’s stomach growled audibly.
“Hold up. When’s the last time you ate?” Kaito asked.
“Objection. Leading the witness.”
Kaito chuckled. “So, yesterday.” He rolled over and deposited Yagami on his side, letting go of him and sitting up.
Yagami made a petulant noise he didn't expect to make, his hand gripping Kaito's shirt.
"C'mon, Tabo, let me make you something to eat."
Yagami let go. "Alright, alright. Surprise me."
"Heh, okay." Kaito got up and left Yagami alone with the sound of the rain.
Yagami sat up and looked around. He hadn’t really been in this room since he’d helped Kaito move in a few years ago. It was mostly the same. A loud silk shirt hung haphazardly off the leg of a pink girly figure neon sign on the wall above Kaito’s bed. So he still had that thing.
___
Yagami heard a crunch behind him. He whirled around to see Kaito muttering, a cloud of dust and ash in the beam of Yagami's flashlight, and a charred, half-crumbled table Kaito must have bumped into. Kaito sneezed at about the decibel level of a jet fucking engine.
“Kaito-san . The entire prefecture knows we’re here now.”
“Tch. Like anyone’s even around here. No wonder the guy torched his own bar for the insurance payout.”
“Allegedly . We don’t know that yet, but we’re gonna find out.”
“C’mon, Tabo. Will ya quit it with this lawyer shit? The guy did it. Cops looked the other way ‘cause this shit clearly goes deeper than concerns us, but his old lady wants the real evidence. And… You gotta admit her theory’s pretty convincing.”
“The documents we uncovered plus this guy’s apparent record do seem pretty damning. But I’d be remiss not to have a look at the scene of the crime itself.”
“You got it, detective ,” Kaito laughed.
Yagami surveyed the area. Whoever had done this wasn’t particularly good at arson. The main bar looked to be pretty intact. Kaito picked up a sealed bottle of expensive-looking wine.
“Oi, you think this shit’s still good?”
“Never took you for a wine kind of guy.”
Kaito grinned. “Maybe I’m feelin’ fancy tonight.” He clanked down two glasses that were not technically the right type, but who was keeping score?
Normally Yagami would have protested such evidence tampering but Kaito’s energy was infectious , the way he uncorked the bottle and started pouring like some kind of movie butler . No one had to find out about this, anyway...
“And for you, sir, ” Kaito said, presenting Yagami’s glass to him, bowing dramatically.
Yagami swirled the dark liquid in his glass, affecting a French accent. “Ah, quite a fine looking merlot, indeed.”
Kaito squinted at the label. “I think it’s actually pine-nut noir.”
“Yes, yes, my bad— Wait. Kaito-san, did you just say pine-nut noir? ”
“Intricacies I wouldn’t expect someone as uncultured as you to understand, Tabo. ”
Yagami raised his glass. “To Kanehara-san, for hiring us and bringing us to this momentous occasion, ” Yagami said.
“May her divorce go smoothly and may her husband never get any better at setting things on fire.”
They clinked glasses and sipped.
Yagami knew nothing about wine, actually. “A fine flavor profile, notes of cinnamon, cherry, and... a smoky finish.”
“Yes, yes, indeed. Quite the taste you have, my good sir,” Kaito replied, wheezing.
“Not joking about the smoky finish, though. Little undertone of ash too. Maybe you should’ve cleaned those glasses beforehand, man.”
Kaito took another long draught. “But, dearest Tabo, you forgot the most important flavor.”
“Oh? And what’s that?”
“Crime . Everything tastes better when it’s just a little bit illicit.”
“Spoken like a true ex-con.”
“You know it’s true. You’re loving this. I can see it in your face.”
Yagami smiled. “Okay, okay. But we do need to keep looking.” They finished their glasses and moved along.
“Ta-bo…” Kaito’s voice was incredulous .
“Huh?” In the beam of Kaito’s flashlight stood an intact pinball machine.
They shared a look.
“Dude. This thing belongs in your office.”
“I dunno…”
“Kanehara-san said she wished the entire thing burned to the ground! This thing deserves a future besides collecting dust in some shitty cop evidence closet. C’mon, Tabo… Y’know you wanna rescue it.”
“You saw it first.”
“No way, dude. I live on the fourth floor, remember? No way we’re getting it up all those stairs.”
Yagami exhaled, resigned. “Maybe I’ll need a couple more glasses of that fuckin’ wine, first.” Sobriety level notwithstanding, he could barely pretend he wasn’t stoked about the idea of that pinball machine brightening up the back corner of his office. The place didn’t feel quite like home yet.
On his way back to the bottle, he spotted a darkened neon sign on the wall behind the bar, tubes bent into a stylized outline of a nude pinup girl.
“Leave the young lady to me,” Kaito said, grinning.
“You would take something tacky like that.”
“What can I say? I’m a man of varied tastes.”
___
Kaito’s room without him in it was cold. Yagami pulled the sheets and duvet around him. It smelled like Kaito. He sighed serenely, letting himself feel warm from the blankets, inside and out. The small outline of a ship caught his eye on Kaito’s bedside table. No way. Yagami rolled over to get a closer look. That was it, alright.
___
"You ready for that shindig Genda and Matsugane are throwing you for tomorrow?” Kaito asked, voice barely audible over the “GAME OVER” music on Time Crisis 3.
Yagami put his light gun back into the machine and tucked a strand of long hair behind his ear. “If I’m gonna be honest? Not really. Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy I passed the bar, and I’m excited to be a real lawyer, but...“
“But what , Tabo?”
“I dunno… I think I haven’t fully processed it yet. Plus, I’m gonna miss hanging out with you all the time while I was studying.”
“Tch. You think you can get rid of me that easy?” Kaito chuckled. “Nah, but really. I’ve thought about it too. Not gonna see each other as much now that Tabo-sensei is too fancy for ol’ Kaito-san. But y’know? That just means Bath House Saturdays are gonna be even more special.”
Yagami grinned. “You’re right. We’ll always have Bath House Saturdays.”
“We’re gonna get steamed as fuck! We gotta tell the ojisan there your good news. He’ll be so proud!”
“We have been going there every week for years,” Yagami said, relaxing some at the knowledge that a career step couldn’t get in the way of their tradition.
“Wanna check out the gacha?” Kaito asked.
Yagami nodded. “I heard they got a new one with One Piece keychains.”
“Oh, fuck yeah!”
Kaito and Yagami had been following One Piece since it came out. It had become their thing, rushing to the magazine section at Poppo, taking turns every week paying for the Shonen Jump issue they would share. They’d been through a lot with Luffy and the crew.
Yagami spotted the gacha in question and put a coin in, turning the knob. The promised capsule rolled out. He popped it open, revealing a keychain shaped like a tiny pirate ship.
“Lemme see!” Kaito said.
Yagami held it up.
“Oh, sweet! You got Going Merry!”
Yagami’s heart did a flip-flop. It was the gang’s first ship. The one they loved so much, she came to life. He was pretty sure they both cried when she got destroyed. Yagami took a deep breath and pressed the keychain into Kaito’s hand.
“It’s yours. But you gotta promise me neither of us will walk away, okay?”
Kaito nodded, his hand lingering against Yagami’s. “Promise. Although, I can’t guarantee I won’t debut a cool super sentai persona if you ever have to represent me in court.”
They laughed together. Kaito squeezed Yagami’s hand and their eyes met for a moment. It was times like this Yagami had to actively hold himself back, stop himself from taking that small and yet unfathomable step he’d wanted to take since he was seventeen. That was up to Kaito-san and when he was ready to accept that about himself. And Yagami wasn’t in any particular rush. He watched Kaito whip his keys out of his pocket, clipping the ship to his keyring, his inner sun beaming through his smile.
“Oi, Tabo, were you serious about having to cut your hair for this job?”
“Yeah. I got an appointment after this. Apparently they don’t want me having my hair this long. Gotta be professional upholding the law and whatnot.”
“So I might have to start taking you seriously? ”
“Like that’s ever gonna happen. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the suits either.”
“Ah, c’mon, Tabo! You look so sharp in ‘em!”
“Yakuza don’t have to wear ties every day. You don’t understand what I’m up against.”
Kaito clapped his hand across Yagami’s back. “You got this, man. You always do.” His hand rested between Yagami’s shoulder blades for an extra beat. He was right. This whole thing would be alright, tie notwithstanding.
___
Kaito’s words caught in his throat as he stopped short in the bedroom doorway. Tabo looked so cozy and relaxed, wrapped in the bedding, lost in thought staring at the Going Merry keychain on the bedside table. He couldn’t bring himself to make him get up.
“I gotta fix the strap on that keychain so I can put it back on my keyring,” he remarked.
“You still have it."
“What? Of course I still have it... Hold on a sec,” he said, turning to leave again.
He returned with two plates of omurice and trays, and Tabo’s phone since he’d heard it go off a few times from where he’d left it with his pants on the couch.
Tabo grinned. “Breakfast in bed? You’re spoiling me so bad.”
Kaito handed Tabo his food and phone. “A guy who fainted in a serial killer’s apartment deserves a little bit of spoiling.”
Tabo dug in immediately. “This is good.”
Kaito sat down next to him on the bed and started on his own plate. “Thanks.”
He finished up his food. Tabo had already set his tray and spotless plate aside on the nightstand next to Going Merry. He was staring at Kaito again with those unbearably soft eyes.
"Damn, you must've really hated my cooking," Kaito scoffed.
"Could eat it every day, no complaints."
Kaito willed himself not to think of the implications of that statement, but it was already too late. Imagining cooking for Tabo every day sat heavy in his chest, buzzing with an energy he didn’t dare to name. Had a lump in his throat, like he was gonna cry or—
Tabo grabbed Kaito's tray and set it on top of his. He leaned back into the pillow he'd propped against the headboard.
"You've got a really comfy bed, too. Really nice of you to carry me all the way here."
He wouldn’t acknowledge where the thought of waking up next to Tabo every day had come from, but it was here, and it was unbearable.
"Tabo. What are you doing?"
“What I always do, Kaito-san. Uncovering the truth,” Tabo said, moving closer and draping his legs over Kaito’s lap.
Kaito couldn’t take it anymore. His chest was overfull of tender and warm and everything came out at once.
“I love you so fuckin’ much Tabo can I kiss you?”
The storm raged on outside but the only sound was Tabo’s quiet laughter, his hands on either side of Kaito’s face, brushing at his beard.
“Please, ” he whispered against Kaito’s lips.
Tabo's lips were just as soft as Kaito had imagined so many times. The part he hadn't imagined, the part that shook him to his core, was how natural it was, with Tabo here where he was meant to be, backing him up. Every hangup he'd ever had about this, about them evaporated the moment Tabo returned his kiss, soft and inviting. Kaito returned, again and again, to Tabo's infuriatingly perfect mouth, and his tongue that always knew what to say.
Even now. Tabo broke off for a moment, eyes sparkling.
"I love you too, Kaito-san."
Kaito couldn't help himself. He pressed soft kisses to Tabo's brows, his eyelids, over those beautiful eyes that somehow managed to always see the truth, the spots where his eyelashes dusted his cheekbones.
"Looks like you changed your mind about getting cheesy," Tabo hummed.
"Not my fault you're so goddamn beautiful," Kaito said, kissing the corner of his mouth.
“My turn to get cheesy.” Tabo took Kaito’s left hand in his, pressing his lips to the underside of his wrist, flipping his hand over, making his way down the back of his hand, his knuckles, to his pinky. “Only had to wait a whole year to do that.”
Kaito remembered the way Tabo wouldn’t let go of that hand the day he got expelled. Man. Tabo had to have felt the same way he felt now, thanking the universe it had all worked out and his best friend, hell, the love of his life, got out in one piece. Overwhelmed with protectiveness.
"I never properly thanked you for that one, did I? You liked to pretend it wasn't a big deal, but I really had nowhere to go after that. But you came through," Kaito said.
"I only returned the favor. You were there for me when my whole world got yanked from under me, too. I used to think, for a while after that, I didn't truly belong anywhere. Not really a lawyer, not part of the Family, just kinda... Floating through, keeping myself busy with this detective stuff. But now, I know that's not true. I belong right here, Kaito-san."
Kaito pulled him in close and held him tight, taking in the weight of those words, his own bubbling to the surface.
“Tabo… I guess I can say this, now. When I was saying all that shit about how you should go back to bein’ a lawyer, I meant it, but… Also, now that I think about it, I didn’t actually know what I was gonna do if you did. So when you looked me in the eye and said you were stickin’ with this detective shit, I was happy. Felt like you’d just welcomed me home.”
“That’s because I did. We’re both home, now.”
Kaito still felt heavy. “But… That’s selfish of me, isn’t it?”
Tabo drew him into another kiss. “It’s okay to be a little selfish. I’m yours, after all.”
It was like that time in 2005 Kaito got bodyslammed with a motorcycle, except good. Too good. Struck down, he sank back into the pillows, taking Tabo with him. He's mine…
Kaito opened his eyes and cupped Tabo’s face.
"My Tabo ," he murmured, pushing their foreheads together. His cheeks hurt from smiling so much.
Kaito's scalp tingled pleasantly under Tabo's gentle fingers and it spread to his whole body with his voice.
"My Kaito-san ."
Kaito had never been one for stoicism and he honestly didn't know how Tabo kept such a cool head all the fuckin' time, but he'd be damned if he could think of a time when he felt more than this, right now. Holding him like this, getting to be his. There weren't even words for this kind of shit, he decided. All he got out was
"Tabo…" almost wistful in all the ways he could barely articulate this, this thing.
His best friend of 20 years had his back, as always. "I know, Kaito-san. Me too."
He squeezed him tight, feeling his heart beat just as fast as his.
Kaito swallowed. His voice came out barely audible. "Will you stay?"
"If you'll have me. I know I said I'd eat your omurice every day but I'd return the favor, too."
"No way. My Tabo? Waking up early?"
"I was thinking more like, 'clean up' and 'make dinner,' but for you? I think I could, sometimes."
Kaito envisioned a somehow even more ruffled and sleepy Tabo investigating the kitchen for ingredients like it's a crime scene, mumbling to himself as he files the expiration date on the milk away as evidence.
Tabo's phone alarm rudely cut this hypothetical scenario short.
"Oh, shit!" Tabo said, contorting himself to reach his phone while remaining in Kaito's embrace. "My appointment! I gotta go. They're gonna make sure my head is doing okay."
"Nnnh…"
"What's wrong?"
"... I don't wanna let go of you."
Tabo chuckled softly. "Kaito-san… You can come with me if you want."
Kaito let him go, satisfied with this plan. "I'll make sure you don't pass out again! Ask those doctors what to feed my partner! "
Tabo gave him that soft smile again, basking in the new context of that word.
"Afterwards, do you mind if we stop by the office and pick up some stuff? Actually, now that I'm thinking about it? Wanna call up Sugiura and help me take that cursed closet out to the mountains and burn it?" he asked.
"Sounds illegal. I'm in," Kaito replied, beaming.
