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The ship is slowly swaying, and Susato is swaying with it.
Her, her dad and Ryunosuke have been aboard this vessel for almost two weeks now, and one question in particular has been eating away at her.
“Father, can I ask you something?” She muses at her dad, who is sitting at the little desk in their room. He looks up at her, and smiles.
“Of course, my dear, what is it?”
Susato smiles back at him, but there is no happiness behind it. “Why are you going back to Japan with us?”
Yujin’s smile quickly disappears, and he places his pen down. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because you had to leave them, again.” Susato sighs, breaking eye contact and instead looking at her hands in her lap. She starts fidgeting with a loose thread from her sleeve.
“Oh.” She hears her father sigh, and then the noise of a chair pushing backwards, and footsteps coming towards her. Then she feels the bed dent in next to her.
She smiles, still looking down. “You could’ve stayed, you know that right? I would not have judged you for staying with them. With him. You had been gone for ten years, after all.” Next to her, Yujin lets out a deep breath. It’s not quite a sigh, but there is a lot of emotion behind it. It feels heavy. It sounds heavy.
“Father, I have never seen you smile as much as when you were with Mr. Sholmes.” she notes, looking up at him. He looks shocked, and then the shock almost melts into something softer, something shy.
“Hah… Yes, I suppose that man does have a tendency to make me happy.”
“So why not stay??”
“I just couldn’t leave you again, I suppose.”
“But it had been ten years? Who knows when you will see them again?”
Yujin shakes his head. “Yes, I know, but I won't let that happen again. Like Sholmes said, maybe he can come visit us next time. Now that the case with the Baskervilles has been solved, I think it might be a bit easier.” He lets out another sigh, once again filled with heavy emotion.
“What is it like?” Susato asks, looking up at her father.
“What?”
“Falling in love?” She clarifies, and she’s pretty sure she’s never seen her dad blush before. He seems a bit taken aback at first, but then lets out a loud laugh.
“Wa ha ha ha ha! My goodness, I must say, I did not expect you to be that straightforward. You’ve really grown since you left for England.”
Susato nods. “Yes, a lot has happened.”
“Well,” Yujin starts, “I think I’ve only fallen in love twice. Once, of course, with your mother, Ayame. With her, it happened so quickly. We met, and immediately there was a bond between us. It felt like a match made in the Heavens, as if our souls were intertwined. She was beautiful, and she always was the better half of me.”
She feels herself tearing up at the description of her mother, and quickly wipes the tears off of her face.
“I see her so much in your face. You have the same nose; did you know that?” Yujin says, smiling, taking his daughter’s hand in his own. When she looks up at him, she sees that he also has tears in his eyes.
“After we lost her, I thought that was it. I thought that was my one chance at love, and it was over forever. I was quite distraught, and I had to leave for England so soon after. I cannot tell you how many tears I have shed over her loss,” he continues, looking at his daughter and into the eyes that look so much like his wife’s. “I am still so incredibly sorry for having to leave you here. I wish I could’ve taken you with me. Maybe everything would’ve been different then.”
Susato shakes her head. “It’s okay, it really is.”
Yujin nods, and lets out another sigh. “So, we arrive in Great Britain. Me and two of my colleagues, two dear friends. I was fairly well acquainted with both of them, and they saw the trip to Britain as… kind of an excuse to broaden their horizons in a lot of ways. Meet new people, go to new places, do new things, and all the such. I, however, wasn’t as keen on those ideas, since I was still in mourning, and not quite in the right state of mind to just go around and meeting new people.”
Once again, Susato nods in silence, in understanding.
“Pretty soon after arriving, Genshin, Seishiro and I realized that the study exchange failed to properly account for one thing; lodgings. Yes, there was a hotel room for the three of us, but that’s all there was. One hotel room for the three of us. It was most definitely not a comfortable living state, which caused us to quickly flock out and search for new places to stay.”
“One day, I got called in to help with an autopsy on a certain case. I don’t remember all the details, I’m afraid, since it was over fifteen years ago. However, I do remember the ‘detective’ that was ’helping’ with the case. Or well, Gregson was the actual detective, and Genshin his assistant, but there was one more who was dancing around the crime scene.”
Susato giggles. “Literally, I presume?”
Her father also lets out a chuckle. “Of course, yes, that was the one and only Herlock Sholmes! However, he had not quite made a name for himself yet. Not publicly, at least, but as soon as he entered, Tobias let out a sigh so deep it made it sound like he was emptying his lungs entirely.
So, there he enters, this weird, mysterious man I’ve never seen before. He walks into the room, dances around for a bit, and the crime is solved. Obviously, this piqued my interest, so I went over to strike a small conversation with him. He assured me that he’d see me around more, and we introduced ourselves.”
“And, how was your first impression?” His daughter asks, excitedly.
“Honestly? Mostly confused. And also impressed. And a bit weirded out?” he smiles. “So, during that first conversation, I mentioned how hard it is to find proper lodgings in London, and he doesn’t remark on it or anything.
A week later, however, we cross paths again, at a different crime scene. Quite suddenly, he asked me if I wanted to move in with him. This man, who I had met exactly one time before, wanted me to go live with him. As you can imagine, I was a little confused at that question, and he explained that he remembered that I mentioned that finding lodgings was hard, and that he has a spare room in his attic. Besides, his rent was a bit too high to pay for, with his detective-half-job, and that a roommate to split the costs with would be ‘quite useful’.”
Susato lets out a snort. “I did not expect Mr. Sholmes to be that forward? Well, actually, I suppose that I can imagine it.”
“He acted like it was the most normal question in the world! I told him that before I could decide anything, I would have to see the space first, and he said that I could come over after the crime was solved. Now, this was quite a complicated case, and the police had been struggling with it for at least a few days. I agreed to his proposition, assuming I had at least a few more days to think it over.
Then he grabbed my hand, and proclaimed that 'the game was afoot!'. He told me to ‘deduce’ the case, and to reach a logical conclusion through his ‘logic and reasoning spectacular’. He also said that it is impossible to ‘solve cases standing still’, and so he urged me to dance with him to solve the case. Once again, I had only met this man once before, and never had I met someone as intriguing as him.
He guided me through the deduction, pointing my eyes in the right directions, giving hints when I couldn’t figure it out. I think he might have done the same with you and Naruhodo, correct?”
Susato puts her finger against her cheek, as she’s prone to do when she thinks about something. “Well… Not quite, I’m afraid. Yes, he would guide us through deductions, but it would be more of him doing it completely wrong and then us having to correct him.”
“Wa ha ha ha ha!!! Yes, that sounds like him, alright.”
“So, like I was saying, we danced the dance of deduction together, and we solved the case within half an hour. He clapped his hands delightedly, and told me we could take a carriage back to ‘our place’. I guess he had already assumed what my conclusion would be, even before I had thought of making one myself.
After a short carriage ride together, we arrived at 221b Baker Street, an address you’re quite familiar with yourself. He opened the door for me, let me in, and started showing me around. Sholmes asked if I would fancy some tea, and that he had been ‘experimenting’ with a new brew. Terrified of whatever that might mean, I politely declined and continued looking around.
The house was already a mess, and my first conclusion was that that man has his very own way of living. There was stuff from cases strewn around everywhere, and it was unlike any house I had been in. But somehow, it was charming, and it felt like a home.
Then, he showed me upstairs, where I would be living. He was right, it was a wonderful space, and I was already seriously considering accepting his offer. I told him I’d think about it for a bit, and that I would have reached a decision by the next time we’d see each other. He sighed, visibly annoyed, and continued making tea for himself. We talked about the case a bit more, until it was suddenly dark outside and I had to excuse myself so I could make my way home.”
The carriage ride back to the hotel was quiet without Sholmes around. He had been around Yujin for the bigger part of the day, and Yujin already found himself missing the man. He had never met anyone as intriguing as Herlock Sholmes, and he was already looking forward to their next encounter.
Upon arriving at the Hotel, Mikotoba already found his two roommates there, who were immediately inquiring about where he had been.
“Yujin! There you are, we were afraid you might’ve gotten lost!” Seishiro exclaims upon seeing the man. Yujin just rolls his eyes, and takes off his shoes.
“You know, I don’t think I would get lost quite that easily, but thanks for your concerns. I was simply hanging out with a friend after work, that is all.”
Seishiro and Genshin look at each other, surprised. “You made a friend? I thought you weren’t here to make friends?” Genshin asks, genuinely dazed.
“I- I mean, I suppose, yes. On related news, I might have found lodgings for myself.” Yujin continues while taking off his coat, and getting ready for the night.
“Might have?” Seishiro inquires.
“Yes, someone offered me to share lodgings with them, and I am considering the proposal. Now, can we stop gawking at the fact that I have interpersonal relationships, and go to bed?”
The other two men shrug and also start getting ready for bed.
The next few days, Yujin doesn’t hear anything from Sholmes, and he thinks over the proposal. Obviously, it’s absurd. He’s met this man twice, and barely knows anything about him. They barely know anything about each other. But yet, he was considering it. Maybe it’ll be a good thing, to put himself out there a bit more, meet more people.
And he has the feeling that this man, Herlock Sholmes, might be just the right person for that.
“So, you accepted his offer?”
“Yes, just like he expected. When I saw him again and told him I’d made up my mind, he acted like he already knew. He even cleaned out the room for me, and got things ready as far as he could. It was more thoughtful of him than I expected at a surface level.”
Susato nods. “He often seems like quite the forgetful type. Well, for some things, and absolutely not for others. It’s interesting.”
Her father laughs. “Yes, but that could be said for most things about that man.”
“And that is how I came to live with him. We’d often end up at crime scenes together, where he’d pull me into more and more dances, urging me to observe instead of just perceiving, and teaching me how to get better at it.” He sighs as he reminisces about those days, years ago.
“From then, it was just… It was all the little things compiling into an affection.”
After a few weeks of living together, Yujin realized it was nothing like he expected, and yet, everything he did expect of living with Herlock Sholmes.
Yes, it was all a mess, much like the man itself could be, but he noticed that he didn’t mind. He found that they both have their own space within the apartment, and they look after their own parts. At first, Yujin found it extremely difficult stop himself from cleaning Sholmes’ half of the house, but he found pretty quickly that it was futile to try.
He quickly grew fond of the man. He liked the quirks he had, like the amount of sugar and cream he puts in his coffee and tea. The man was so compelling, and Yujin needed to know more about him.
So, he went along with the detective. They danced and deduced, and Yujin found he had a knack for tap dancing. Yujin also found that Gregson was not the biggest fan of them dancing around crime scenes, but it got the job done, so he couldn’t complain too much.
The first few times when Sholmes stormed into his room in the middle of the night with an epiphany, Yujin grew annoyed quickly, and pleaded with him to let him go back to sleep. However, he quickly found out that this was pointless, and grew accustomed to it relatively quickly.
Something he quickly grew concerned about, however, were Sholmes’ eating habits. The man often was so engrossed in his work that he would accidentally skip meals, and when he did eat, most meals weren’t the most nutritious.
“But Mikotoba, my dear fellow, if I spend less time and money on food, I will have more time and money for interesting and useful things!” he would say. Yujin entirely disagreed with this, but he had already learned that disagreeing with Sholmes was a waste of time more often than not.
So, the first time that Yujin cooked a meal for Sholmes, he was astonished.
“Come on, try it. I used to make this at home for-” he paused, thinking about Ayame. “Well, I hope you enjoy it.”
Herlock had just quietly eaten the meal, and thanked Yujin afterward. Yujin was shocked, because it was very unfit for Sholmes to react in such a manner. He was quite impressed with himself for being able to get Sholmes to be quiet for a bit. After Mikotoba had retreated to his chambers for the night, and was working on some information about a case, there was a knocking on the door.
“Come in,” he said, waiting for Sholmes to barge into the room with his usual energy. Instead, a calm Herlock walked in, with a tray in hand.
“Hello, would you fancy some tea? It’s a green tea, I read about how to prepare it. Did you know the water shouldn’t be boiled, but instead just heated to about eighty degrees? It’s to prevent it from being too bitter,” Sholmes rambled, sitting down on a chair next to Mikotoba and putting the tray down on the desk. On the tray are two cups with steaming green tea, and some biscuits.
“Well, yes, of course. Thank you, Sholmes.”
“I wanted to do something in return for the wonderful dinner you made me, I hope this is sufficient.”
Mikotoba is taken aback by that. “Sholmes, you don’t have to repay me for anything, you know that right?”
In response, Herlock just blinks at him. “Don’t be absurd, my dear fellow, of course I do! It’s like some sort of equivalent exchange. I’d feel bad if you were to do things for me without doing anything in return!” Then his gaze flickers to the pages Yujin had been working on.
“That reminds me, I should finish some things too. I’ll leave you no-”
“You can stay if you want to. At least finish your tea. I know you love working and want to get back to it, but taking a break won’t kill you. So stay, and we can talk about some things. You know, as partners?”
“Partners? I like the sound of that.” Herlock says, and Yujin notices an uncharacteristically soft smile on his face. He smiles back.
That was a first evening of many that was filled with talk about the cases they’ve worked on, but also themselves, and their lives up to that point. Sholmes never actually liked to talk about himself, unless it’s about his accomplishments. Yujin quickly learned he has a brother and two deadbeat parents. Yujin is hesitant to talk about Ayame, but Sholmes is entirely calm and understanding about it. He does not pry, he doesn’t ask questions, and he isn’t invasive about it at all.
The more cases that they pursue together, the fonder Yujin grows of Herlock.
He knows that Herlock Sholmes is full of surprises. He has been since day one.
Yujin assumed that he’d seen the weirdest things after a few months. Of course, he was mistaken, and he realized this when one day, Sholmes called him into his bedroom.
“Mikotoba, can you help me with something?”
Mikotoba sighs, and finishes putting on his ‘disguise’ for today’s investigation. It’s not much of a disguise, it’s basically a more expensive version of the suit he usually wears. Herlock probably got it from a Pawnbroker’s, as he is one to do.
When he enters the room, he’s stunned into silence. Herlock is there, sitting at his desk, with a big skirt on, and shirtless. He’s working on his hair. Yujin quickly averts his gaze. “Ah, there you are. Can you help me get this bodice on? Corsets are always a bit tricky for me.”
“Goodness, Sholmes, what is this?”
“What? Oh, you haven’t met Irene before, right. Well, most expensive places aren’t too fond of homosexual couples, so if we were to walk into there looking like that, it would gain too much attraction. So, the obvious solution is for me to use one of my best disguises, Irene Adler.”
Yujin’s brain feels like it stops working multiple times during that explanation, but he shrugs it off. Sholmes has made his way over to Yujin, takes his hand and kisses it.
“It’s wonderful to make your acquaintance, Mr. Mikotoba,” he says, playfully, with a wink.
Yujin looks away, feeling a blush rise on his cheeks.
Herlock lets out a full body laugh. “Oh, my dear fellow, it’s just an act! For heaven’s sake, play the part!”
Mikotoba shakes his head with a smile on his face. “You are always full of surprises, you know that?”
Sholmes laughs again. “So, can you help me with this bodice, or are you going to keep me shirtless for the rest of the day?”
“Oh, yes, of course, I will help you. How does it work?”
And so, it turns out that Herlock had quite a few surprising disguises, of which an interesting amount being feminine. He insists that it’s because its easier to pass off as a heterosexual couple, but Yujin suspects it’s more than that. He’s not one to pry, though, so he won’t.
Of course, another thing about Herlock Sholmes that is extremely intriguing is his intellect. His observational and deductive skills are unmatched, and Yujin finds himself developing a certain kind of fondness for seeing Herlock at work. Seeing the cogs turning inside his brain, and the huge ‘eureka’ moment when the pieces fall together. When they’re at a crime scene with others, the revelation is usually well hidden within his own expressions, but if it happens at home, it’s usually accompanied by loud laughter and enthusiasm.
One day, Yujin returns home from working at the hospital, and as usual, he is greeted by his dear partner.
“Good afternoon, my dear Mikotoba! How was work? And where did you stop on your way home?” the detective inquires. Yujin lets out a short laugh, by now he has grown used to Herlock’s casual deductions.
He walks into the living room, shoes already off, carrying a bag and putting his hat aside on a small table.
“Well,” the doctor begins, and he walks over to the side table that houses Herlock’s gramophone player. He rifles through the vinyl records that belong to the detective, and picks one. “why don’t you try deducing it? I’m sure you can figure it out.”
Herlock lets out a long groan. “Ughh, my dear Mikotoba, you know I love deducing with you, but I can’t do this now! There’s too much going on in my brain attic!”
“Nonsense! Come on now, and join me in Sholmes and Mikotoba’s Logic and Reasoning Spectacular! Let’s make it another Dance of Deduction!” Yujin exclaims while putting his hand towards Sholmes. When there’s no reaction, he just grabs Herlock’s hand and pulls him up from the couch. With his other hand, he pushes down the needle onto the record, and Serenata per Rovene starts playing. He then places that hand on Herlock’s hip, and starts leading him through a waltz-like dance.
“Well, that’s just unfair.” Herlock sighs, and he quickly takes over the lead from Mikotoba. “First of all, and way too obvious, is the bag you took with you. It’s from a pawnbroker’s, Windibanks, if I’m not mistaken, and that alone tells me that there is at least twenty possible things you have bought.”
Yujin lets out a laugh. “See! I knew you were up for it.”
“Oh, but I’m still getting started. Because you see, last time we were there, there were a few items in particular you were eyeing. Now, most of them were outside our price range, so it would be very unlikely that it’s any of those. There were a few more items that you were pondering over getting, two in particular; an accordion and a pair of tapping shoes.”
“You noticed that?” Yujin asks, genuinely surprised. Herlock lets go of Yujin’s waist and twirls him around, which makes him burst into laughter. Herlock catches him, and Yujin is now with his back against Herlock’s chest.
“Of course I noticed, my dear fellow,” He whispers in Mikotoba’s ear, before spinning him again so they’re facing each other, and resuming the dance. “It was quite more than just furtive glances that you threw their way. Nevertheless, the contents of that bag look quite too small to be an accordion, which only leaves the tapping shoes as a possibility.”
Herlock ends the dance by dipping Yujin, and their faces are awfully close.
“Was I right?” Herlock asks, quietly, not wanting to break the moment. Yujin can feel his breath on his lips, and nods. They stay like that for seconds that feel like an eternity, and without thinking, Yujin presses his lips against Herlock’s. He quickly pulls back, face flushed red, and Herlock just looks at him with his eyes wide. Yujin feels Herlock’s grip on him almost falter, so he tries to stand upright again, which causes both of them to lose their balance and tumble to the ground.
“I am so sor-” Yujin starts to apologize, before being interrupted by Sholmes’ laughter. The younger man landed on top of him, and he has his face pressed against Yujin’s collarbone. Yujin can feel the man’s laughter against his skin.
“Whatever for, my dear fellow? For giving me the best dance of deduction of a lifetime? No, my dear Mikotoba, you have nothing to apologize for.” Herlock continues laughing, and Yujin joins him. Yujin props himself up onto his elbows, and tries to sit upright, which proves to be quite a challenge with Herlock on top of him. Once he realizes what he’s trying to do, Herlock also sits upright, which sort of lands him in Yujin’s lap, on the floor.
“My dear Sholmes, I am truly lucky to have a partner as wonderful as you.” Yujin says, still chuckling at the entire endeavor. He wraps his arms around the slender man, and he feels Herlock do the same.
“Me as well, my dear Mikotoba, me as well.” He responds, through chuckles. Then suddenly, he pulls back, and grabs Yujin by the shoulders. “But you have to show me at once! And tell me about why you did purchase such a thing as tap dancing shoes! My curiosity has been piqued!”
Yujin can’t stop laughing. “Of course, of course,” he replies, while getting up from the floor. He takes hold of Herlock’s hand, and helps him up as well. However, he doesn’t let go, and leads Herlock to the table where he put down the bag.
Out of the bag, he grabs a pair of tap-dancing shoes. “You were correct, I had been eyeing these for a while. I was thinking, perhaps they can help us in our investigations. You never seem to have any issues with being light on your feet and dancing around, but I think having some kind of rhythm to work to might help me.”
“Genius! My dear Mikotoba, that is genius! Yes, of course, why didn’t I think of this sooner! I might even know someone who could help teach you! Yes, yes, my dear, I think this will really enhance our performances!” Herlock exclaims, grabbing Yujin by the back of his neck, grinning at him. “We shall be unstoppable! There will be no mysteries able to outsmart us!”
Yujin puts the shoes down on the table again, and places his hands back on Herlock’s slim waist, a smile evident on both their lips. “Oh, were there any mysteries that could outsmart us before, then?” Yujin remarks, smiling at the taller man.
Herlock starts guiding Yujin through a slower dance through the living room. “Of course not! No, there is no way. We can solve anything! As long as the two of us are together, I am certain that there is no case that we can’t solve!” he says with a confident smile.
“Well, don’t let Gregson hear that. Or Asogi. Or van Zieks. I’m sure they’d just roll their eyes at you.” Yujin laughs, putting his head on Herlock’s shoulder.
“Let them roll their eyes however much they want! With you by my side, I am confident that we can face anything!” he shoots back, pressing a kiss against Yujin’s hair. “Don’t you agree?”
He chuckles against Herlock’s shoulder. “Of course I agree.”
“I think the biggest difference between Sholmes and Ayame is the speed at which I fell for them. For Ayame, I fell quick, sudden and hard. With Sholmes, it took time. It was slow, little things piling up, a collective coming together.” Yujin concludes with a smile on his face, looking at Susato’s hands in his own. “However, I cannot rank one above the other. I don’t even think I can compare them, considering how different they were. Both as people, but also as the circumstances.”
Susato nods, smiling with tears in her eyes. Her father had not recounted everything to her, she was certain of that, but he did not have to. She could see that he was going through a lot of memories in his head, and the smile on his face was the most genuine she had ever seen in her life.
“I hope we’ll be able to reunite with them soon.” She states after a short silence.
“Me too, my dear. Me too.”