Work Text:
Somwhere in the street of Yokahoma, two detectives were wandering the street to a location an anonymous source has given. The source claimed that they had heard suspicious noises coming from said location and that they were worried something may be going on down there. So without further ado, Kunikida had dragged Dazai away from the couch and his little book to check out the location. "It may give us some answers to case 303, Dazai." Kunikida had said earlier in the morning when the e-mail had been received. Dazai groaned, but obeyed regardless.
Case 303, one which had been open for a week already regarded a missing teenage boy. He was seen entering a store, buying a worrying amount of coffee jelly, left the store, but never returned home as his older brother had claimed. Even with Ranpo's Ultra Deduction ability, no crack came into the case. It seems like the boy was playing hide and seek with the world, and he was winning. So, ever since then Kunikida had attempted to link every new case to case 303, but without any luck. Of course, the cases were solved like usual, but they weren't any step closer to 303. It drove Kunikida crazy, because he had planned on solving the case the same day as it had been assigned. Kunikida hated it when his plans were disrupted. Dazai enjoyed the madness that had settled into his partner, but even the countless mutterings were slowly driving the suicidal man a step closer to a new attempt.
So, the two of them were now slowly nearing an abandoned building where the years had been slowly eating on the bricks. The outside didn't betray anyone's presence, but that didn't manage to convince Kunikida's hope of finding a trace of the missing boy. Slowly, without sharing any spoken words, the two of them entered the building. Kunikida in front, Dazai behind to scan the surroundings once more. In front of them, no movement. Behind them, no movement. Everything was so dead silent and left behind that it was maddening. But Kunikida wouldn't give up and went deeper inside, inside the mouth of the lion.
After walking through a dusty entrance hall and Dazai trying to suppress a sneeze, the two of them were met with an option. Staying downstairs and exploring the different rooms, or going upstairs and explore the rooms there. The two of them still didn't utter a single word, Kunikida simply pointed at himself and the stairs, causing Dazai to nod. The two of them understood each other and the current situation. Both of them had a nudge that this would be the place where they'd be one step closer to a clue in case 303, and neither of them wanted to mess it up. Normally Dazai would be all about provoking Kunikida until the latter man exploded, but something told Dazai that he'd find something here. So, the bandaged man shut his mouth for once and continued to explore downstairs while Kunikida approached the creaking stairs with care.
Kunikida didn't find anything upstairs, except a hole in the floor the size of a grown man which he had nearly fallen through. Dazai let out a soft snicker as he heard the soft tumbling above his head, he continued to explore the different rooms. Kunikida soon went back downstairs to reunite with Dazai after he didn't find anything useful. The former man approached his partner as the latter was peeking his dark brown head between the door. "I think we just found something." Dazai whispered, knowing that Kunikida (who was slightly bend over Dazai's shoulder) could hear him. The two detectives approached the slaughtering of the former men in front of them. The two of them stepped over the bodies in order to inspect it, there was a thrown over chair with loose ropes laying in the middle, a little while away from the two men.
"You think he's been here?" Kunikida asked as he looked at the fatal wounds brought to those three men. "Most certainly. I also think he's gifted like us, Kunikida-kun. These wounds..." Dazai said, Kunikida nodded. He understood the note which was been silently passed. These wounds seemed too fatal, too precise, too perfect to just be a lucky shot brought by a teenager in order to escape whoever had managed to kidnap him. "He's gifted, isn't he Dazai?" Kunikida asked, but it wasn't really a question, rather it was confirmation for what he already knew. "He is." Dazai said softly as he stood up, getting tired of observing people in a state that made him jealous. Dazai put his hands in the pocket of his trench coat and watched as Kunikida took out a handkerchief, wrapped it around his finger, and gently touched the neck of one of the deceased men.
"He's still somewhat warm. The boy must be nearby." Kunikida said looking up, green grey eyes making contact with dark brown ones. Much like before, the two didn't utter another word anymore. Over the years they had grown a silent understanding of the other, their work dynamic has surpassed one that needed actual communication. Dazai simply left the room and hurried his pace, his eyes scanning every single room in the building in the hopes of finding a trace of the boy. But Dazai already knew that the boy was no longer near the building, the hole made in the wall which was the exact same size as the missing boy in question was only more confirmation. Dazai stared at it, wondering which and how much power the boy may possess to make a hole like that.
Kunikida reunited with Dazai once again, showing his partner something he had found on the floor. "What's this?" Dazai asked as he took over the little pink hairpin from Kunikida. "I found it, together with this." He said, showing Dazai a similar hairpin but in black. "Two hairpins..." Dazai muttered and rolled the black one between his fingers. "How strange..." Dazai said and poked himself with the pin, a drip of blood coming out. Kunikida eyes his partner and could nearly see the man's brain go in overdrive. Every case had come with ease towards these two detectives, but now it felt as if this one was something far complex and far more ordinary than they're used to.
"You think the Port Mafia is behind this?" Kunikida asked as they made their way back towards their car. "No, they're not the type who love abandoned buildings like these." Dazai said, out of the corner of his eye he managed to catch something moving. "Hey Kunikida-kun, that missing person we're after, he didn't have pink hair huh?" Dazai asked his partner . "Don't you ever pay attention? That was his most remarkable trait!" Kunikida exclaimed tiredly and defeated at the fact that they had found something, but nothing that would bring them closer to their goal. "Oh, then I just saw him." Dazai said casually. Kunikida's eyes widened as he stared at Dazai. "You WHAT?" He shouted, Dazai nodded and pointed at the direction where he had seen something.
Without hesitation Kunikida thrusted towards where Dazai's finger was pointing, Dazai followed lazily behind. "Saiki?" Kunikida yelled as he too saw a mob of pink hair move between the trees that surrounded the building. The boy shot one look behind him, making brief eyecontact with the detective as he fastened his pace. "Saiki wait! We're not here to hurt you!" Kunikida yelled and followed Saiki's example. The boy shot another look behind him and continued to run once again. "DAZAI WHERE ARE YOU?" Kunikida yelled, the boy turned his head once again, and at that moment a hand grabbed the boy's wrist out of nowhere. Saiki yelped, being met with a smiling man covered in bandages, he was brought to a stop and the voices in his head finally went quiet ever since he had managed to escape.
"Saiki kun, there's no need to worry." Dazai said in a soothing voice, Kunikida came to a halt right in front of Dazai. "Why was I the only one running?" Kunikida asked exhausted. "Don't complain, Kunikida-kun, its good for your health anyway." Dazai said, the boy, who was still clutched in his bandages clasp, simply stared at the two men. What do you want? Saiki asked telepathically, but neither of the two detectives answered him. Inside, Saiki was horrified as to why his telepathy didn't work, it was something which always worked, no mather what. "We should bring the boy to safety, who knows who might get to him if they find him again. We'll let Yosana-sensei take a look before we ask him any questions." Kunikida said, Dazai nodded and looked at the boy, seeing the alarmed attention in the boy's eyes.
"Wondering why you can't use whatever gift you have, aren't you? Well not to worry, it's completely normal when I'm holding you. I'm just gonna keep doing it to make sure you're not escaping, who knows who might be after you." Dazai explained. Kunikida started to make his way towards the car once again, causing Dazai to follow and giving a soft nudge to the boy in his hand. "My brother." The boy said quietly, his voice to flat, too casual to say something like that. Kunikida briefly looked back, locking eyes with the boy shortly to watch his reaction. The boy looked sincere, not even terrified at the realisation that a relative of him might do something like that.
"Your brother? Are you sure?" Dazai asked, thinking about his Mafia days where he had often recruited people like that, and for a moment a disturbing thought crossed the man's mind. But the psychic in his hand was currently unable to use any of his powers to notice the little mental slip up. "He always does things like this. Enjoys to test the limits of my powers in his little games." Saiki said casually as he got dragged towards a car. "Little games?" Kunikida asked horrified and disgusted. "Wasn't he the one who called in the case, Kunikida kun?" Dazai asked, causing the other detective to nod. "This isn't a little game, boy. This is an official detective case. You've been marked as missing for an entire week without any trace. No one in his right mind would call that a game." Kunikida exclaimed disgusted. The boy shrugged as they arrived at the car.
"But it is. We've been doing this for ages." Saiki said, Kunikida unlocked the door and motioned for Dazai to sit in the back together with the boy. There was no way in hell that Kunikida would let Dazai drive ever again. He himself took place behind the steering wheel and softly started the car. Without saying another word, the three of them made their way towards the building where the Armed Detective Agency could be found.
Kunikida may not know the fine detais about case 303, but he did notice something weird about the things the boy said and displayed. The fact that when Yosano sensei examined the boy, he turned out to be completely fine, despite the traces of blood they had found on the rope tied to the chair. The comment Ranpo san made about teaching him that trick where he talks without moving his lips was another thing that concerned Kunikida. Dazai's sheer fascination with the boy's behaviour where he subconsciously touched the side of his head, as if something had been missing. The fact that when Kunikida checked the file of case 303 it turned out to be completely empty, nearly as if it was raided. Because the man could've sworn that a week ago he had made the paperwork, the contact info of someone named Saiki Kusuku about his brother Sakiki Kusuo being gone. but when searching for either of them in the national register, nothing popped up. It's nearly as if they didn't exist at all until a week ago and were planning on departing once again. As if the game of hide and seek had been lost. Kunikida sighed and closed his eyes in frustration before opening them again and watching the boy with the pink hair and the green glasses talk with one of his coworkers. Something about the case gave Kunikida the feeling as if it didn't belong in their world at all.
But that couldn't be, right? Because he himself made the paperwork behind case 303. Dazai and him went to the abandoned building to find him after a week of no traces at all. Eventually they had found him, but why couldn't he recall the name of that boy? Kunikida blinked, and it felt as if everything was happening in slow motion. Yosana sensei was walking towards her own room. Atsushi was had just returned with Kyouka from another case. The Tanizaki siblings were all over each other as usual. Ranpo san was munching on his snacks while Kenji was attempting to steal one of them. Then it clicked. The thing that felt out of the ordinary to Kunikida. Dazai was doing actual work instead of his usual nothing. Kunikida shook his head, perhaps he was just tired. That must be it, because thinking that two mysterious people decided to pop into their world, opened up a ridiculous case and disappeared again was too much for his awake brain to make up, so he must be tired. Kunikida focused on the file in front of him. Case 303, the finding of 3 dead bodies inside an abandoned building, discouvered by a hiker.
Dazai took the two hairpins out of his pocket. A pink and a black one. His deep brown eyes observed the two of them, still, even he couldn't comprehend it's purpose. "Weird fashion statement." Dazai muttered. He looked at the case in front of him, noticing how it was the same number as the one they had just finished. Case 303, except now there was no trace of a missing boy. Dazai lifted up one of his eyebrows and smiled. The gift of a psychic, huh? Dazai thought. How interesting... pity I can't ask him what exactly it concludes since he has already departed again and whiped his traces clean. Ah, anyway. Looks like the time has also reverted back. Kunikida looks the same stuck up as last week, no trace of anxiety on his face. He's on schedule. Dazai noticed all of the little things around him. Seems like I'm the only one who remembers... Dazai thought, he let the two hairpins slide in the pocket of his jacket again, as a little reminder that he wasn't actually crazed and that psychics, in fact, do exist.