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When Atsushi sneaks out to meet his boyfriend, he’s always very sure that he isn’t seen.
He and Akutagawa have been dating about a year now, and thankfully haven’t been found out by either side.
There’s only one problem; the security cameras caught somebody sneaking off property of the dorms late last night, and Atsushi is convinced he’s busted.
-
Dazai had been very good about keeping his relationship with Chuuya a secret. Ring on a necklace he never pulls out of his shirt, (except for Ranpo, Dazai suspects) no one is any the wiser.
That is until Kunikida calls a meeting the next morning to interrogate everyone in the dorms. Why? Well that’s because the security cameras caught somebody sneaking out, and Dazai will try his hardest to make sure he isn’t found out, not when he’s about to win the bet he and Chuuya have.
-
“Alright!” Kunikida yells upon Dazai’s fashionably late entry. “Because no one fessed up in yesterdays meeting, there will be alarms applied to every possible exit in your rooms! This restriction will apply until the perpetrator is found for this massive breach of security!”
There is an uproar from the detectives who did live in the dorms. Those that had actual apartments like Yosano-sensei, Dazai-san, and Kunikida-san to name a few (though Atsushi is 90% sure that Dazai is living in the dorms right now. The why is unknown to him), are unaffected by this change. Those like Atsushi himself, Kyoka-chan, and Ranpo-san, are now stuck with an unreasonable and restraining system.
It’s not until the president steps in that everyone quiets down. He takes a deep breath before addressing his children detectives.
“I know this seems extreme, but our agency runs on a system of trust. For one of our own to breach security after lights out, especially when you all know well that you are free to leave if you sign out, it just baffles me.”
Oh and if the disappointment in his voice wasn’t like pepper in Atsushi’s eyes, along with the vat of acid that is his guilt eating him alive.
A voice pipes up. Light, airy, and bored, with an undertone of anger.
“How do you know it’s one of us?” Ranpo asks, munching lazily on his third snack of the hour. Fukazawa closes his eyes, face neutral.
“They were wearing the pyjamas that are given to everyone in the dorms.” He states calmly. Ranpo shrugs and goes back to his chips.
Atsushi is panicking. This just got a whole lot worse.
-
Dazai would like to continue to pretend that this isn’t stressing him out; given his history, it really shouldn’t be, but here he is.
He can’t help but think of how Chuuya will react when Dazai fails to spend the night in, what is soon to be, their shared house. There is a reason he’s staying in the dorms right now after all.
Dazai makes plan after plan, but none seem to end in him getting not getting caught. That is until he has a brilliant idea. Childish? Yes. But still quite brilliant.
Before the alarms are activated, Dazai goes to the washroom, only to come out after the alarms have been activated. He opens and shuts the door, pretending to have gone back inside. Now, the smart part is that Dazai blocked the door with a small rock he found earlier, knowing the agency wouldn’t spend money on such an advanced system that the alarm reset automatically.
In other words, the alarm won’t reset until the door is closed, so when Dazai returns early the next morning, no one will be any the wiser.
-
You can imagine Atsushi’s shock when he sneaks out the front door only to find his mentor a few feet ahead of him.
“DAZAI-SAN?!” The weretiger slaps his hands over his mouth at his shout, checking for anyone who may have noticed. Dazai, to his credit, doesn’t yell back, only frantically waves poor Atsushi over to the camera’s blind spot.
“What the FUCK was that, Atsushi-kun?!” Dazai whisper shouts at the 18 year old. Atsushi winces and bows his head.
“…Sorry, Dazai-san.”
He hears Dazai sigh a very long and very tired sigh.
“It’s ok Atsushi-kun, I don’t think anyone heard.”
“Heard, what? Exactly?” Kunikida-san’s voice says behind the mentor and protégé. The pair turns around to find Kunikida, Fukazawa, and the rest of the people who live in the dorms, all of which are looking extremely grumpy for 11:30 at night.
“You know what, on second thought, I think they heard us.” Sarcasm, clear as the twinkling sky above them. Atsushi deadpans.
“Oh? Did you just realize?”
-
“Where were you two nights ago after you left the building?” Kunikida interrogates. Dazai holds a hand up to cover his eyes from the crappy desk light.
“I already told you, Kunikida-kun, I was at my new house.”
“Bullshit. You said you were still waiting to sell just last week!” There’s a slam as Kunikida stands from the table.
“Things chaaaannnggggeee~, Kunikida-kuuuuuun~.” The brunette taunts.
“Not in a week! Now tell me where you actually were two nights ago!”
Dazai sighs and rolls his eyes. This’ll take awhile.
-
“I’m SORRY!!!” Atsushi cries the moment Kyouka glares at him. The 15 year old held her glare, no current sympathy for her older brother figure.
“What were you doing out there, Atsushi? What was so important that you felt the need to sneak out, of all things?”
Atsushi broke eye contact and stared at the wall to his left. Sheepishly, he mumbled his reasons to the room. Kyouka deadpanned and he winced.
“Fine… I suck out of the dorms because—”
-
“I was stealing from the mafia.” Dazai lies in deadpan. Kunikida groans, as if in pain.
“False, but sure, spin me your yarn. What were you stealing?” The blond asks, forehead on the wall. Dazai snickers.
“Oh, y’know, just… CHUUYA’S VIRGINITY! HA!” The bandaged detective is crying from laughter, having also just fallen off his chair. Kunikida bangs his head against the wall a few times, just to make sure he doesn’t kill Dazai before he gets the truth out.
Kunikida had considered that perhaps Dazai was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and Atsushi as the only perpetrator, but he’s known Dazai for around three years now and can say with confidence that that is most definitely not the case.
He straightens his glasses and turns to face Dazai.
“Ok,” he says exasperatedly, “let’s try this again.”
-
“Because I’m dating Akutagawa!”
The room is silent, Kyouka unresponsive and Atsushi refusing to look in her direction.
A minute goes by, then two, and then Kyouka speaks, very quietly.
“You’re… you’re dating—”
The door slams open to reveal Yosano-sensei.
“YOU’RE DATING AKUTAGAWA?!?” She shouts with a semi-sadistic smile. In two steps she’s leaning over Atsushi. “Since when?”
Atsushi gulps.
“Uhhh, sometime in spring of last year. After the, uh, mist incident.” He explains, cheeks burning and Atsushi swears his whole face must resemble a ripe cherry. Yasano’s grin only widens.
“YES!!!” She exclaims, pumping her fist. “Ranpo-san owes me ¥2077!” She practically sprints from the room, door slamming shut behind her.
Atsushi catches Kyouka’s eyes. He stands and bows at a solid 90° in front of her.
“Kyouka-chan. I… understand if my choice in-” Atsushi coughs, blushing just a bit more, “romantic partner off puts you, due to your history, but—” he cuts himself off as she raises a finger for silence.
She takes a deep breath before speaking.
“Atsushi-san,” her tone is neutral and her face is unreadable, “do you… love him?”
He doesn’t hesitate.
“Yes! O-of course I do.”
Kyouka nods. “And do you trust him?”
He nods, slower to answer this time.
“I- yes. Wholeheartedly.” His voice is steady and his eyes haven’t wavered.
Kyouka smiles gently and Atsushi knows it’ll be ok.
-
“ALRIGHT. FOR THE LAST TIME, WHERE WERE YOU DOING TWO—” Kunikida is cut off from his yelling by Dazai, who was smirking like the cat that go the cream.
“Kunikida-kuuun~.” purrs Dazai with an dark glint in his eyes, “Are we done yet? I have a date I’m severely late to by this point, and I’m afraid that to curb his anger now, you’ll have to let me go~.”
Kunikida seems to short-circuit at this information.
“HUH?!?” He screams, grabbing and shaking Dazai by the shoulders.
“What do you MEAN, a DATE? WHO WOULD BE INSANE ENOUGH—” a loud slam from down the hall cuts him off this time. Dazai smiles lovingly at the door before facing Kunikida.
“Ah, my date’s here to pick me up! Finally, I thought that would take forever.” Dazai says lazily before the door is slammed open by the grasp of red energy that Kunikida would recognize anywhere at this point.
Stepping out of the shadows, a glint of insanity red in his eyes, is a very angry mafia executive by the name of—
-
“Chuuuuuya!!!” Dazai exclaims, tearing himself from Kunikida’s weak grip, throwing his hands around Chuuya, who’s threatening aura nearly dissipates upon Dazai’s touch. The mafioso kisses Dazai tenderly on the forehead and lips before pulling back to look at him… and promptly slapping Dazai across the face.
“YOU SHITTY MACKEREL FACED BASTARD!!! Ever heard of texting, perhaps, shitty Dazai?” The shorter male yelled at his bandaged spouse.
“Chuuya, listen, I was on my way—”
“Yeah, yeah, you were coming. But I was scared for you— worried, even!”
Dazai goes to speak again but Kunikida coughs for attention before the lovers quarrel continues. Chuuya fixes the Kunikida with a scathing glare as Kunikida goes to explain the going on’s of what’s happened.
-
It’s when the alarms start going off that Atsushi realizes that he’s missed the set meetup time he usually has with Akutagawa. The door is smashed open by Rashumon as Akutagawa barged in, speed walking into Atsushi’s open arms.
“Where the hell were you?” Akutagawa asks quietly. Atsushi chuckles and gently pulls the 20 year old down onto his futon, Kyouka slipping away from the room with a smile.
“I’ll tell you everything, just,” Atsushi spares a glance at the door, Akutagawa’s gaze following. He realizes what he’d done to the door in his search, flushing from embarrassment.
Atsushi catches Akutagawa’s blush and leans forward, pecking his boyfriend on the cheek, which only makes them grow more red. Akutagawa stares at Atsushi with a kind and gentle gaze, noting like the glares they traded in the year previous. He raises his hand and starts to scratch the crown of Atsushi’s head gently, the tiger in the boy letting out an audible purr as he closed his eyes, a soft smile on the white haired boy’s face.
-
Chuuya knows Akutagawa is here when the alarms go off. How? Simple. He disabled every camera and alarm he found on his way in.
It appears he’ll have to train Akutagawa in the art of stealth and subtlety.
The mafioso sighs, saluting Kunikida before grabbing Dazai by the waist and using his ability to walk them down the side of the building, not without saying good bye of course though.
“Have Dazai marked off as taking a sick day or something for tomorrow.”
“Why?” Was Kunikida’s holt reply, obviously fed up. Chuuya flashed him a charming smile.
“Why, because you’d have to be a fool to think I’m letting my husband out of our room on our anniversary.” The mafia executive states like it’s a simple rule of the universe.
Kunikida has no interest in questioning the short man, deciding that he was officially Too Tired to deal with anything for the rest of the night.
-
Ranpo smirked as he climbed into a tidy penthouse apartment, knowing he was expected at this hour.
As soon as his feet touched the floor, he hears the quiet footsteps of a janky and timid person, most likely someone above average height.
That’s why it’s no surprise when Edgar Allan Poe turns the corner to the hallway window Ranpo came through.
The poor man fusses over Ranpo, as if he hadn’t done this at least twice a week for the past year.
“You must be well aware now that you can come in the elevator like a normal person. You don’t have the key for nothing.” Poe says quietly. Ranpo smirks at him.
“Yeah, I suppose, but where’s the fun in that?” He says playfully. Poe chuckles and they walk together to the master bedroom where they spent most of their nights talking about cases or Poe’s novel ideas on their bed. This time, Ranpo has quite the story for Poe.
Poe sat on their bed and waited patiently as Ranpo changed into his “Better Pyjamas”(read: Edgar’s smallest shirt and pants that were still too big for the tiny detective).
Ranpo looked ready to burst when he closes the door to their room for the night. Poe smiles softly as the great detective jumps onto the king sized mattress, clothes so large on him that Poe is sure he could scoop up Ranpo in his arms as if he were gathering a blanket.
“So tell me,” Poe starts with a smile, “what stories of your great escapades will you share with me tonight?” His quiet voice and soft tenor making Ranpo’s energy calm down to match the energy for a 2AM talk.
Ranpo smiled simply and opened his eyes to look at his wonderful boyfriend.
“Well, it started two nights ago when I was caught by the cameras as I came out to see you. Do you remember me telling you about it?”
Poe nods and Ranpo continues.
“Well! Turns out the consequences of my actions came into play tonight! Because they couldn’t figure out who it was in the photo, everyone in the dorms was put under house arrest! I knew that Dazai’s mafia husband and Atsushi’s mafia boyfriend would not like the last minute ditching of their dates, so that created the perfect opportunity for me to sneak out and see you! All the cameras were smashed the way I went out, but I’m pretty sure that I… might’ve… tripped the alarm.” Ranpo says the last bit as convincingly as a man caught with his hand in the cookie jar, with his pants on fire.
Poe can only smile at his boyfriend’s antics and schemes to see him.
“Oh Ranpo-kun. Whatever will I do with you?” Poe asks fondly. Ranpo smiles back just as fondly, clasping their hands together and pulling Poe down to lay behind him, spooning him with Ranpo in front.
“I think you’d be hard pressed to find a rival mind as good as mine.”
Poe chuckles and presses a kiss to Ranpo’s temple.
“I think you’re quite right.”
End.