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He was doing some paperwork in his office when his phone rang. Sugawara picked up without even checking the ID.
“Yo, Asahi. Lemme guess,” Sugawara sipped on his coffee quite obnoxiously, trying to annoy the other as subtly as he can, “Another dead body?”
He jotted down the address and hung up before grabbing his coat that was draped on the back of his chair, patting his sides to make sure he’s got his badge and gun, and rushed to the crime scene with his dispatch of police officers.
At the age 36, Sugawara has been in the line of justice for more than ten years, was promoted to Detective Inspector six years ago. Six years ago, he was ecstatic at the prospect of deducing a la Sherlock Holmes, but within a few months of laborious case after case of homicide, suicide, sabotage, kidnapping attempts, etc., juggling with the forensics department, sometimes getting interrupted by the higher ups, and with a tight budget that is not nearly enough for sample testing; Sugawara’s basically disillusioned. Alas, it’s only ever exciting if it’s on TV.
He arrived at the crime scene and was underwhelmed by the surroundings. It was a typical modern apartment building. The victim’s house was even less impressive, everything was in order except for the man himself; sprawled out on the floor, in a pool of what seemed to be his own vomit, one hand clutching his mobile phone. The numbers 110 was punched in, but the man probably died before he could make the call.
Instructing his men to search about the apartment for anything of suspicion, Sugawara snapped on latex gloves before crouching down to the body, tugging the phone out of the stiff hand. He checked the last few phonecalls and messages and found that most of them was to and from one Maiko. He sent Maiko’s number to Asahi, to run a background check.
Well, as it turns out, Fugunaga Kenji, 47, died of asphyxiation, a.k.a he choked on his own vomit (shocker), and has been dead for 14 hours. So time of death was probably around 9-10pm the night before.
Everything was bagged and packed to be brought to the forensics department, so Sugawara thought it was time to visit the neighbours and inform them of the news.
Since it was a two unit apartment per floor, Fugunaga’s immediate neighbour was the one living next door. The sign read: Kageyama-Hinata. Probably housemates living together, he noted, and rang the doorbell. He heard clanging and someone cursing rather loudly, followed by the stomps of hurried footsteps before the door was wrenched back with too much force to reveal a tall, grumpy looking man. The man seemed to be in his twenties, etched on his face is the nastiest scowl Sugawara has ever seen, and he would have cowered if he were not a Detective Inspector investigating a possible pre-meditated murder.
“Hello, I’m Detective Inspector Sugawara Koushi from Miyagi Prefectural Police Department.”
He showed his badge, all the while giving out his signature smile to the still grumpy man in front of him. The guy’s eyes darted over the badge with an even deeper frown, and just looked at him dumbly, not quite understanding why he’s there.
“Your neighbour, Fugunaga Kenji died last night.” He said, observing how the grumpy guy’s eyes widened in obvious shock, his mouth hung open. “He choked on his own vomit,” Sugawara added helpfully, grumpy guy’s face morphed from shock to disgust in seconds and he tried to fight the smile that was threatening to creep on his face.
“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions…?”
Grumpy guy sighed and grumbled out a, “Kageyama Tobio.”
Ah, so this is Kageyama. Sugawara tried to surreptitiously peek past the door and Kageyama’s tall figure to see if a Hinata was in there too, when the other caught onto him and scowled again, pulling the door tighter to his back, effectively preventing him to see any further.
He smiled sheepishly at Kageyama, clearing his throat, “Is there a place we could talk?”
Five minutes later found him and Kageyama Tobio in a café nearby the apartment complex, sitting across from each other. Kageyama looked extremely uncomfortable, his knees jiggling as they wait for their order, Sugawara can tell because Kageyama has long legs and the guy has accidentally knocked his knees with Sugawara’s far too many times already, also, he seems to be frowning a lot.
When their orders came, Kageyama took to stirring his coffee instead of the knee thing, his spoon clinking against the ceramic mug filling the slightly awkward silence between them. Normally, Sugawara isn’t bothered by it, because these people are supposed to be suspects not friends, but something about Kageyama made him want to take the guy back to his mother and for her to cuddle him within an inch of his life.
But he has a case to solve and Kageyama was his first possible suspect, as news from Asahi on Maiko was yet to be delivered to him.
“So, Kageyama-san, what was Fugunaga-san like?”
Kageyama shrugged, his stirring stopped abruptly at being addressed. “I don’t really know Fugunaga-san, but I do know that he was a complete dick.”
Hmmm, Sugawara made a mental note, but Kageyama didn’t seem that passionate, just indifferent. He raised a brow, asking silently for him to elaborate on Fugunaga’s assholishness.
“I mean, he’s always shouting on the phone…”
Interesting.
“Anything else?” He asked.
Kageyama leaned back on the chair, arms crossed over his chest, a scowl back on his face.
“He was nice at first, when we just moved in,” and Sugawara was about to interrupt and ask who he meant by ‘we’ when Kageyama added a ‘Me and Shouyou’ hastily, whom he assumed is Hinata, before continuing. “He’d come over once in a while to give us free vouchers, saying he doesn’t need it.”
Sugawara tilted his head to the side, “So… what changed?”
Another shrug. Sugawara had a feeling that it’s not because Kageyama doesn’t know why, rather, he’s reluctant to tell. He watched silently as Kageyama chugged down his coffee, doing the same with his own but with small sips because it was still damn hot.
“Where were you between 9-10pm last night, Kageyama-san?”
Kageyama frowned at the question, looking at him warily, “Why do you wanna know?”
He wonders what is with this Kageyama guy. Always so tense, so angry, so suspicious (that was his job) and felt the urge to throw the other in a cuddle pile grow stronger. He took another sip of his coffee, which was still slightly on the hot side.
“That’s the estimated time of death.” He said, and waited for the significance of the question to dawn on Kageyama. The exact moment it did, Kageyama glared at him, and he held out his hands in a placating manner, “It’s just standard procedure, to rule you out from our list of suspects.”
“I was at home, like a normal person would be on a weekday.” He spat.
Sugawara nodded, “Anyone to confirm that?”
And it would’ve been funny, the look on Kageyama’s face, like he couldn’t believe he just asked that question, “Yes, my – ” and Kageyama seemed to struggle a bit, before settling with, “Shoyou. We both work from morning till five. Sometimes six.”
Why does Kageyama seem so uncomfortable talking about Hinata? He made another mental note. For future reference.
“Are you and Hinata-san close?”
Well, Kageyama calls him by his first name, so they probably were, but damn, did Sugawara feel like snapping a picture right then, because Kageyama was doing a really weird face where it was stuck between a frown and a scowl. And he might have been imagining it, but was that a blush? It was gone the next moment when he blinked though, so he couldn’t be sure.
“Yeah, we’re close.”
He waited for Kageyama to explain a bit more, but the guy was stubbornly tight-lipped about it, glaring him down to dare and ask him another question, which is laughable because he’s the one who’s supposed to be doing the glaring and intimidating. So, Hinata Shouyou was off-limits, it seems, and that has definitely piqued Sugawara’s interest but it’s not exactly related to the case, so he relented. “You said you work from morning till five, why aren’t you at work today?”
Kageyama exhaled heavily, like he was trying to calm himself, “Cos, I took a day off.”
And Sugawara let out his own sigh, and with as soothing a tone as he could muster without making fun of the other, he said, “Kageyama-san, I understand that this is tiring, but I need to ask you these questions to make sure you have absolutely nothing to do with Fugunaga-san’s death.” He gave Kageyama a pleading look, and Kageyama deflated into his chair.
“Today’s Shouyou’s birthday, so I took the day off because I wanted to do something nice for him.” All through the admission, Kageyama was glaring quite intently at the table, and he was slightly pouting. He looked a lot like a five year-old, Sugawara mused.
He chugged down the rest of his coffee and smiled at Kageyama, who was staring at him, waiting for another question, most probably, “Did you hear anything around that time?”
Kageyama shook his head, doing that petulant pout again, a tint of pink colouring his cheeks, “I wasn’t really paying attention to the neighbour.”
Sugawara thanked him for his time and patience, sliding his card over to Kageyama. “Please call me if there’s anything else you think is important.”
Just as he was about to step out of the café, he heard Kageyama mutter, ‘hopefully not,’ and chuckled to himself.
*
*
*
Fugunaga Maiko turns out to be Fugunaga Kenji’s wife, soon-to-be ex-wife. They separated last year, and were in the middle of filing a divorce. Fugunaga Maiko has also been prescribed with sleeping pills for the past six months prior to the death of her husband-but-not-really-husband. Forensics report indicated that there was a high level of doxepin in Fugunaga Kenji’s blood, which is a type of anti-depressant used to also treat insomnia. Sugawara called her in for questioning.
According to Fugunaga Maiko, they separated because her husband started drinking a lot, and he’d yell at her too. He never got physical though, but can you imagine watching the man you love falling apart right before you and feeling scared all the time, not sure if today’s just another ‘lucky’ day before he actually beats her to death. So she left.
“I saw the names of the new tenant next door, when I came to pick up my things,” she said when Sugawara asked her about the neighbour next door. So that means Kageyama had no idea who she is.
Sugawara slid a sheet of paper that shows the records of Fugunaga Kenji’s phonecalls and messages toward her. He then slid another paper that shows her husband’s blood test result.
“Do you understand why you’re here, Fugunaga-san?” Sugawara asked, watching carefully as she kept quiet, her hands holding the papers were trembling slightly.
He waited it out, going through the facts that the department has managed to retrieve, like how he never paid her alimony for the past year; how his insurance agency revealed that just a few months ago he withdrew her name from his life insurance; his personal lawyer confirmed that he changed his will and dropped off her name. Kageyama was right, Fugunaga Kenji was a dick.
Maiko was outright trembling by the end of his spiel, her eyes red and wet, and she was breathing in stuttered breaths.
She had come over that night to talk, but when she came, he was already pissed drunk. He told her everything Sugawara had just mentioned and she lost it. She was just so angry and it wasn’t fair, none of it was. So she pushed him to the floor easily, the man had little control over his body in that state, shoved down the entire bottle of her sleeping pills, and watched him choke himself to death.
Sugawara stood and watched on as she wrote down a written confession, her words ringing in his ears. He couldn’t say he agreed with her actions, but he understood why she did it.
*
*
*
The next day, Sugawara was in front of the Kageyama-Hinata household. Again.
He wasn’t really sure why he was there, to apologize maybe, for being a pushy dickbag, even though that was part of his job. But something about Kageyama and how he was so guarded made him come back, that urge to just smother him in teddy bears still strong.
There was also the fact that he was really curious as to how this Hinata Shouyou might be in person, which was also why he bought a present because Kageyama did mention it was Hinata’s birthday yesterday, and let’s just hope Hinata isn’t as grumpy as his fellow friend.
This time the sight that greeted him behind the door was much brighter as he was assaulted with a shock of orange hair and wide brown eyes staring up at him. Hinata Shouyou. How apt, he thought.
“Hello,” he said, at a loss for words.
The smaller, much smaller, guy grinned at him, “Hi.”
Hinata was the definite opposite of Kageyama, that’s for sure. He also didn’t seem all that worried by a stranger standing in front of his house. “I’m Sugawara Koushi – ”
Hinata exclaimed a loud, ‘UOOOOOHHH!!!’
Sugawara chuckled and scratched the back of his head, “I’m pretty sure Kageyama-san told you about me.”
“Yup!” Hinata practically yelled, but then he leaned closer, a glint of mischief in his eyes as he stage whispered, “He calls you Detective Dickbag,” and then promptly laughed heartily like that was the funniest joke he’d ever heard of.
Sugawara was slightly confused by the little guy, but he couldn’t help but laugh softly at his antiques. And then he was pulled inside by the sleeve of his jacket, Hinata exclaiming excitedly, “Come in, come in!”
Not that he had a choice then.
He was about to sit down on the sofa when Hinata screeched, making him jump with a yelp of his own.
“Y-You should sit here instead, Sugawara-san!” He waved his arms frantically at the armchair, and Sugawara decided that the best course of action was to just do whatever Hinata says. Besides, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know why the armchair was the preferred option than the sofa.
Once he’s settled in, Hinata excused himself, his face was slightly red, and hollered, “Tobio, we have a guest!”
He heard familiar grumbling, and choked back down the laughter that was bubbling in his chest. He wouldn’t want to piss Kageyama off more than he already did.
Hinata was clinging onto Kageyama’s arm and dragging him to the living room, Kageyama had that signature scowl on and he was grumbling the entire time; Hinata, on the other hand, seemed unperturbed by it. Something about the sight made his chest feel warm, and Sugawara realised that Kageyama probably already has enough cuddles for a life time.
That warm tranquillity of watching the two of them was disrupted the moment Kageyama saw him, and Sugawara sat straight, forcing a smile on his face.
“Hello again, Kageyama-san.”
Kageyama looked like he was going to say something along the line of ‘what the fuck are you doing here?’ but he didn’t. Kageyama just sighed and plopped down onto the sofa that Hinata hadn’t let him sit on, the latter sitting himself down next to him, still clinging onto his arm. Hinata was looking back and forth between himself and Kageyama and it looked a bit comical.
Facing Kageyama would be a bit hard right now, since he’s being terrifyingly quiet, so Sugawara turned to Hinata, “Hinata-san, I heard it was your birthday yesterday?”
Hinata nodded, and Sugawara smiled at him, “I brought you a present.” He placed the paper bag on the coffee table; at Hinata and Kageyama’s confused look, he smiled sheepishly, “As a peace offering.”
Hinata dove into it with a very loud, “Yaaaaaaayyyy!!!!!!!”
Hinata let a loud reverent gasp as he pulled out the gift; his eyes were wide and starry as he held it out above his head, “It’s a pair of bunny slippers!” before kicking off the plain ones he was wearing and slipping the new ones on. Hinata propped his feet on the coffee table to admire them before beaming at him, “Thanks!”
Sugawara cleared his throat and caught Kageyama’s attention, who was looking at Hinata with a soft look, before handing over another paper bag. Kageyama looked shocked, but quickly accepted the gift, awkwardly bowing his head at the same time.
When Kageyama pulled out a similar pair of slippers, he whipped his head so fast to stare at him like he had grown a second head. Sugawara didn’t really understand why, until he looked from Hinata’s white bunny slippers, to Kageyama’s black ones, and then it hit him. He was about to apologize for making things weird between the two of them, he wasn’t really thinking when he bought them last night, just that he thought they looked cute, but then Hinata cooed at Kageyama’s slippers, oblivious of what had just transpired.
“Come on, wear it, wear it!”
Kageyama tugged them on a bit too viciously, a taint of pink coloured his cheeks as he refused to look at Sugawara, while Hinata continued to gush over how cute they look wearing matching slippers and thank you so much Sugawara-san!
Sugawara watched as the colour on Kageyama’s cheeks stayed, but the guy didn’t seem too embarrassed; if anything, he looked pleased, (but with a scowl on his face of course) staring at his and Hinata’s feet a little too adoringly.
Feeling a bit like he was intruding, Sugawara looked around the apartment; an open floor plan with the living room and kitchen, and three doors leading to three different rooms. The door at the end was the toilet, he knew, because Fugunaga’s apartment was the same, the door next to it was the master bedroom. The last door was ajar and Sugawara could see a desk and a bookshelf, and he could make out wires of game consoles, so that must be the study room.
He looked back at the two of them, one was bright as the sun, and the other was dark like a looming shadow. He stared at their feet, wearing matching cute slippers, courtesy of him. He stared a bit stupidly at how Hinata and Kageyama must have forgotten he was there because they were giving these soft looks at each other.
Again, feeling like he was intruding, (he really, really was) Sugawara dropped his gaze and landed on the sofa.
“Y-You should sit here instead, Sugawara-san!”
Kageyama-Hinata household
“Yeah, we’re close.”
One bedroom.
“I wasn’t really paying attention to the neighbour.”
The slippers.
The looks.
The fucking sofa.
“Yeah, we’re close.”
He gasped as it hit him like a ton of bricks. He must have been too loud, because Hinata and Kageyama were looking at him. He stared back. He was still staring when Kageyama let out a gasp too, and Hinata was left confused, going, “What? What??”
Sugawara apologized profusely, “I am so sorry – ” at the same time Kageyama yelped, “You didn’t know??”
And it was a mess of stammering and blabbering and apologizing from both Kageyama and Sugawara. Kageyama because he thought Sugawara knew and that’s why he was being held up, out of prejudice or whatever dumb shit Kageyama had brewed in his head. Sugawara for not noticing earlier and for making Kageyama feel like he was being judged and oh god, that’s why Fugunaga started being mean to them. He felt so stupid for not noticing.
Hinata was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes, “I didn’t know detectives are as dumb as you, Tobio!”
“Shut up, you idiot!”
“You’re the idiot, Bakayama!”
“Don’t call me that, dumbass!”
“Don’t call me dumbass, dumbass!”
“You just said dumbass twice, idiot!”
“Shut up!”
“You shut up!”
Sugawara watched in daze as the two threw kindergarten-level insults at each other. He could feel a huge migraine coming and he just wants to go home and lie down forever.
It was almost sundown when he excused himself from the Kageyama-Hinata household. Kageyama sent him off with a glare and grumbled, “No offence, Sugawara-san, but I hope I don’t see you ever again.”
And Sugawara couldn’t help but agree with him.