Archive of Our Own

Stepping out into the cold London air brought along with the night, Naruhodō Ryūnosuke could feel his whole body shiver as he adjusted his student cape around his body in order to try and keep himself a little bit warmer. Even though he had finished his education by that point, his ever reliable hat and cape helped to provide him with some extra warmth when it was needed, which only added onto the list of reasons why he would never get rid of them. On this particular night, he had gone for a night out with his friends and family at a fancy restaurant, though the hour had now grown quite late as the festivities were coming to a close.

While everyone else was still inside settling the bill and whatnot, Naruhodō had gone outside with his sister-in-law and judicial assistant, Mikotoba Susato, in order to try and hail an omnibus for the ride home. That was the only mode of transportation in London big enough to hold all seven people in their group, and four pence per person was a cheap rate for such a ride. Though the dinner had been wonderful and the conversation had been fun, Naruhodō could feel his social energy for the day running low, and he wanted nothing more than to settle down at home back at 221B Baker Street. A nice warm bath would definitely feel wonderful in contrast to dreary cold around them, that was for sure.

Eventually, an finally omnibus came into view, and Susato managed to wave the driver down. And thankfully, the carriage was completely empty just as they had hoped. “We’ll be having five more people coming out to join us in mere moments,” Susato told the driver as she handed over her and Naruhodō’s portions of the fee, “I do hope that it is not too much trouble for us to ask for you to wait for just a little bit.”

“No trouble at all. As long as it isn’t too much time,” the driver responded, and Naruhodō and Susato stepped into the awaiting carriage with nods of understanding. Sherlock Holmes, Iris Watson, and Susato’s father, Mikotoba Yūjin, had agreed to sit in the outside seats so that the rest of the people could ride in the warmer exterior this time around, which they were all quite grateful for.

Once they were settled inside, Susato left the door open just a little so that their friends would be able to see them once they too were outside, and then she turned her attention back to Naruhodō, whom she was sitting right next to. “I must say, this night felt like such a reprieve after all of the court cases we’ve taken recently,” she said with a bit of a sigh, “Who knew that we would be so flooded with work when we’ve only been back in London for barely over a month now?”

“I’m honestly not going be complaining all that much,” Naruhodō said with a bit of a shrug as he leaned back on the omnibus’s seat, “The long gaps we had in between cases before could become a bit boring quite fast. Though I do appreciate having the time to take a break every now and again.”

Susato nodded her head in understanding. “Yes, I can understand your reasoning there,” she said calmly, “That said though, I do hope that we can have a few days of rest before our next legal case is underway. I would honestly hate to-“

Before Susato could finish that thought though, she was interrupted by a loud banging noise that made both her and Naruhodō jump in alarm as they snapped to attention. Looking outside the omnibus, they couldn’t see anything that was going on just yet, but they were be able to hear the sound of distant shouting. Now startled, Naruhodō and Susato looked at each other in concern, unsure of what was going on or what they should possibly do about it. But before they could even say anything to each other, a somewhat gruff-looking man suddenly jumped into the omnibus with them and slammed the door as though he were in something of a hurry.

“Excuse me, Sir,” Naruhodō started to say, “Do you know what’s just hap-“

But Naruhodō found himself to be the one interrupted this when they man suddenly held up a pistol, pointing it at the two of them. Susato gasped when she saw it, and Naruhodō reflexively held out his arm to protect her, his heartbeat having rapidly escalated in less than a second. “You brats listen,” the man growled through gritted teeth, “I think we’ll all get along a lot better if we agree to not have any trouble between us. So you two just shut up and stay quiet while we make this little ride and we won’t need to worry about any unfortunate messes going down.”

As if on cue, the omnibus started to suddenly move, and neither Naruhodō nor Susato would put it past their current fellow passenger to have threatened the driver in order to make him leave. However, that now meant that the two of them were completely alone without the aid of the rest of their friends and family. So if they were going to be getting out of their current precarious predicament unscathed, then they would need to come up with some sort of plan that they could execute by themselves within a tight space. And that was going to be no easy task.

Sherlock Holmes rushed outside into the bitter London cold after finally having the chance to do so, his heart racing all the while. Of all the things that he had expected to potentially happen while out for a fancy dinner with friends and family, being held up within the restaurant because of an armed robbery was not one of them. The robber in question had even gone so far as to fire a shot in the air to show he was serious about using his weapon if need be, which had caused a great amount of panic and complications amongst some of the less levelheaded people of the establishment, not that the detective could entirely blame them though.

Now though, Holmes’s faithful partner, Mikotoba Yūjin, was arranging an official call to the police while the detective himself had rushed outside to hopefully catch onto the man’s trail before he got away completely. Unfortunately, no one suspicious was anywhere to be seen once Holmes had finally made it outside, but it quickly became obvious that that wasn’t the worst of the detective’s current problems. The street looked almost completely desolate, and Naruhodō and Susato were also nowhere in sight despite them going outside to hail an omnibus just minutes before. And them currently being unable to be seen told Holmes an incredibly dreadful story.

“Mr. Holmes!” came the sudden voice of Asōgi Kazuma as he too rushed outside to join him, “Any ideas about where the robber may have gone?”

“Not as of yet…” Holmes said, using all of his available willpower in that moment to try and stay as calm as possible, “Are the police on their way?”

“Professor Mikotoba and Iris-chan were still talking with the restaurant manager when I left, but I’m pretty sure that they are,” Asōgi responded as he glanced back for a second, but then his expression twisted somewhat, “Why? Is something wrong?”

Holmes’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Look for yourself, Mr. Asōgi,” he said, knowing that he was being a bit selfish in this moment by not just coming out and saying it, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it because it emotionally strained him, “What’s wrong with the picture of this street that you currently see before you?”

Asōgi scanned the surrounding area for a few moments to see what the detective was possibly mentioning, but then his blood ran cold when he realized it. “Ryū and Susato-chan…” he gasped out, “Where are they?!”

“If my current deduction is correct, then they are currently in grave danger,” Holmes said, his voice shaking somewhat despite his best efforts to try and hide it, “I think the robber hijacked their omnibus when making his escape, which is why we now can’t find any of them.”

Asōgi nodded in acknowledgment of the detective’s words, but he too was now on the verge of extreme anger, and it left him frozen in place. His sister and his husband were now more than likely trapped with a madman, and he himself had no idea about how to find them. The fear and anger such thoughts stirred within him was almost unbearable, and part of Asōgi just wanted to let out a raging scream because of it. But he knew that he had to try to keep himself together for the time being, or nothing would get accomplished in regards to finding his loved ones. “So what do we do?” he finally managed to ask the detective, “How do we find any potential leads?”

Holmes immediately pointed in one direction down the street. “Look for any witnesses along the road that might’ve seen an omnibus drive by, and I’ll do the same thing in the opposite direction,” he instructed in a completely serious voice, “Once the police get here, we’ll hopefully be able to have a lead and find a way to better trace the trail.”

“On it,” Asōgi said quickly, and he immediately started heading in the direction he was ordered to go. He was determined to get his husband and sister back no matter what it took, but a nagging feeling of worry continued to chew at the back of his mind even as he tried to ignore it. Even working as fast as possible, every moment they spent dawdling and unsure of where to go was another moment that Naruhodō and Susato were trapped with a potential madman, thus putting them in great danger. All Asōgi could do was play his part in finding them as quickly as possible and praying that they would be alright once he saw them again.

As Naruhodō and Susato were quick to discover, trying to come up with a mutual plan in complete silence was much more difficult than it seemed. Because the robber holding them hostage was armed with a pistol, almost every idea that they could think of was brought to a halt by the notion of quite likely getting shot before any action could be taken. They couldn’t both jump out the side door while the carriage was moving and the skylight could only be opened from the outside. So for the time being, they were stuck sitting where they were and praying that they didn’t accidentally give their captor any reason to shoot them.

However, both Naruhodō and Susato were also aware that even if they complied with the man's orders until the omnibus stopped, that still wouldn’t guarantee their safety. There was a strong chance the robber would still shoot them in order to ensure that they wouldn’t be able to identify him later. Either that, or he’d just shoot them for no reason. It wasn’t an ideal situation in any way, so both Naruhodō and Susato were desperately trying to think of another potential solution to put into actions before they ran out of time.

After a few more quiet moments though, something eventually caught Naruhodō’s eye, and it made him realize that he could potentially have a plan if what he was seeing was what he thought it was. “Ummm…S-Sir?” he asked shakily, hoping that it wouldn’t be the action that got him shot dead.

The robber looked up at him with narrowed eyes. “What?” he grumbled, and he clearly did not sound like he was in much of a mood to talk.

Knowing that he was on thin ice, Naruhodō tried to keep his voice steady as he continued talking. “In your coat pocket there,” he said, pointing ever so slightly, “Is that candy?”

The man seemed somewhat surprised that that was the question asked, but he nonetheless fished into his pocket to check. And just as Naruhodō had thought and somewhat dreaded, he was exactly right in his assumption, as what he had seen sticking out of the man’s coat pocket was indeed peppermint candies, and he had two of them in his hand now. “Oh yeah, I swiped these from the restaurant before I left. Guess I forgot,” the robber said, but then he frowned, “Why do you ask?"

“Well ummm…Do you think I could have them?” Naruhodō asked, hoping that he sounded polite and levelheaded, “Sweets help me stay calm, and that in turn helps me to stay quiet.”

Though the man still looked a bit confused about everything that seemed to be happening, he ultimately just shrugged nonchalantly and nodded. “Knock yourself out,” he finally said, and he allowed Naruhodō to hold his hand out long enough for him to accept the two candies from him.

As he unwrapped the two candies, Naruhodō had to make sure that he showed no sense of hesitation or fear regarding what he was about to do. This was the clearly not an ideal solution to any problem in general, and he knew that it was going to cause some trouble for both himself and his loved ones if he went through with it. But given the situation that he and Susato were in and how there were no other possible solutions in sight at the moment, he had no choice but to do things like this. So without another moment of hesitation, he popped the two peppermints into his mouth and let the strong icy flavor fill his airways.

Meanwhile, Susato was wholly puzzled regarding what was currently going on, but she remained still and silent in her seat. She had no idea what exactly Naruhodō was planning if anything at all, and she was also slightly upset that she wasn’t offered one of the peppermints for herself since she also loved sweets. The window of opportunity for that had passed now though, so there was nothing left for her to do except remain quiet and just let things happen. However that was going to happen.

With nothing to say and no ideas for how to escape coming to her, Susato simply stared out the window on the omnibus as it continued to travel down the street. She thankfully knew a lot more about London’s layout after spending so much time in the city, so she would likely still be able to figure out where they were even once the carriage stopped moving. How useful that information would ultimately end up being though, she didn’t know yet. But maybe it would be something worth their time to know if she and Naruhodō lived long enough to be able to do something more than ask for peppermints.

After a few minutes, Susato simply stared down at her lap, trying to contemplate escape again. But then it dawned on her that something within the omnibus suddenly felt extremely off. She wasn’t sure why she was feeling in such a way, but she knew better than to doubt her intuition at this point, so she looked at Naruhodō in an attempt to see if he was perhaps feeling the same way. However, that's when she noticed that Naruhodō’s hand seemed to hanging limply at his side, and a feeling of dread began to pool in her stomach.

Despite her fear of what their captor might do when he heard her voice, Susato couldn’t help but reach out and put her hand on Naruhodō’s shoulder. “Naruhodō-sama…” she said quietly so as to hopefully not draw too much attention, “Are you feeling alright?”

However, Naruhodō didn’t answer her and instead seemed to slump over on his opposite shoulder. But that’s when Susato realized that he seemed to be shaking somewhat as though he were cold, but that couldn’t be the case because the inside of the omnibus was actually rather warm and cozy in comparison to the outside in that moment. Now feeling worried, she reached for Naruhodō’s hat in order to tip it up, but she was not at all prepared for what she was going to see in that moment.

Naruhodō’s face was covered in many patches of red rashes, his eyes were closed as though he had fallen unconscious, and his breathing was short and hitched as he seemed to be struggling to draw breath in that moment. Unable to stop herself as her heart went into her throat in less than a second, Susato screamed in terror, and this alerted their captor. However, he also seemed to be caught off guard by the sight of Naruhodō’s current state of being once he finally got a look at him, and he didn’t say anything nor take any action in regards to Susato’s scream because of his momentary shock.

The omnibus then suddenly came to a screeching halt, and all three passengers within were thrown around because of it. Naruhodō’s limp body crumpled to the ground and continued to convulse as he slipped off of his seat, while Susato and the robber both tried to steady themselves. The robber’s gun, which had been thrown to the floor in the midst of the scuffle, then caught Susato’s attention, and her brain worked at a thousand miles a minute as she realized what she now needed to do in order to protect herself and Naruhodō. Before she even really knew what was happening, the pistol was in her hands and a shot was then fired off, leaving a bullet wound in the shoulder of their captor as he screamed in pain.

Despite feeling somewhat horrified about what she had just done, Susato kept the gun in her hands pointed at the robber as she crouched over Naruhodō to guard him to the best of her ability. The door to the omnibus was then opened by the driver, who looked absolutely bewildered about what had just happened. However, he seemed to be able to see the horror in Susato’s eyes, and he quickly stepped into the carriage and grabbed the robber by his shirt, throwing him out onto the street and making him shout in pain due to his wound from being shot.

As the driver started yelling at the robber about how the police would be coming for him soon and he was in for it now, Susato quickly set the gun aside and fully knelt down by Naruhodō, fear still surging through her body with every passing second. “Naruhodō-sama! Naruhodō-sama! Look at me, please!” she gasped out as she tried to prop him against the wall and caressed his very red face. However, when it became clear that she couldn’t elicit a response from him, she called out to the driver. “Hey! Hey! Call an ambulance! Now! Please!”

Hearing her begging tone of voice, the driver seemed to realize that something was seriously wrong in that moment, and he disappeared from sight after a moment. Meanwhile, Susato rearranged Naruhodō’s position so that his head was propped up in her lap, as she could see that he was still struggling to breathe, gasping and shaking all the while. She had no idea what had caused him to fall into such a horrendous state, and she could feel her heart aching with fear as she waited for the ambulance to hopefully come. She hated seeing her brother-in-law like this, and tears started to form in her eyes as she held him close to her. Susato hated feeling so hopeless and powerless in a moment like this, but all she could do was pray that help would come on time in order to prevent this night from becoming a real tragedy.

As he rode in the moving carriage alongside Holmes, Asōgi could feel his blood boiling more and more each passing moment. To him, every second they spent traveling the streets was another second that Naruhodō and Susato were potentially in danger, and he was struggling to keep his emotions in check all the while. After receiving a tip off from someone who had been close to the restaurant, he and Holmes had immediately been in a carriage to be in pursuit of the missing omnibus, and Yūjin, Haori, and Iris were right behind them along with the police constables that had arrived due to the call.

Everyone was worried about what they might find after taking so much time to catch up, but nothing could prepare them for what they saw once they turned onto Rosebud Street. An omnibus was stopped in the middle of the street and surrounded by constables, and they all seemed to be hard at work with an investigation. Susato was sitting on the edge of the sidewalk and staring down at her lap as though she were about to cry and Gina was sitting beside her and trying to comfort her, though it didn’t seem to be working all that much.

In an instant, Asōgi practically launched himself out of the carriage and was running towards his sister at top speed. “Susato-chan!” he shouted as he went.

Susato looked up when she heard the call, and her eyes widened for a moment before she too was on her feet and running over to him as well. “Kazuma-sama!” she exclaimed, and the two met in a tight embrace. Asōgi let out a sigh of relief as held his sister, glad beyond belief that she was safe, though he could feel her trembling in his arms.

When they separated, Susato immediately moved to hug her father, who had also stepped out of his carriage to meet up with her, and he was actually crying tears of joy to see that his daughter was okay. And then Haori was right there waiting for her moments after that. While Iris and Gina joined them in their little comfort huddle, Holmes went over to speak to some of the officers at the scene to try and gauge what had happened there. Because Susato was clearly still so shaken, everyone decided to give her a few moments to recover herself, and she leaned into Haori’s arms during that time. But the curiosity about what had happened was very prominent for them too, and there was still a general gnawing feeling of worry regarding all of it.

Eventually, Yūjin gently rubbed his daughter’s back and spoke for everyone. “My dear, are you feeling okay enough to tell us about what happened?” he asked in a voice that was much calmer than anyone else could even pretend to feel at that moment.

Susato was quiet for another moment, but then she finally nodded her head shakily. “The omnibus was hijacked just outside the restaurant,” she answered as she swallowed back a sob, “I am not really sure where that man was attempting to take us or what he wanted, but all Naruhodō-sama and I were thinking about was trying to escape. But that was difficult to try and plan because the man was armed with a pistol…”

“Oh that sounds so scary…” Haori commented with wide eyes, “Did the driver not realize that sort of man was in there with you?”

“He knew. But he had been threatened as well,” Susato confirmed with a nod, “He only came to a stop after…Well, I screamed and I…I…”

Yūjin put his arm around her in an attempt to help keep his daughter as calm as possible as she spoke. “Take it slowly, Susato-chan,” he told her softly, “You don’t have to explain it all too fast if you aren’t ready.”

Susato took a few moments to steady her breathing, but then her face looked completely serious despite the tears that were still in her eyes. “I shot that man…” she said as her lip quivered, “It was only in the shoulder but…I saw his pistol when he lost track of it for a moment, and it all happened before I could even think about what I was doing.”

“Ya helped us a lot though, Sooze,” Gina said in an attempt to help, patting her best friend’s shoulder, “Once me and the boys showed up, we were able to arrest the guy real quick without a fight. And I don’t think any lawyer is needed to know that ya only acted in order to protect yourself.”

Susato nodded her head in acknowledgement of Gina’s words, and both Yūjin and Haori pulled her in close again in an attempt to keep comforting her after such a horrible situation. Meanwhile, Asōgi started looking around the scene once again, and it clicked in his head that something else wasn’t quite right. “Susato-chan…” he said cautiously, “Where’s Ryū? I don’t see him anywhere.”

Susato’s expression fell when she heard these words, and her tears finally started to stream down her face. “He was taken away in an ambulance,” she said, her voice coming out in something of a whimper.

Asōgi’s face paled when he heard this, but he seemed too stunned to be able to speak. Because of this, Iris spoke up to respond instead, though her words came out incredibly fast due to her momentary panic. “Did Runo get hurt?!” she asked worriedly, “Why does he have to go to the hospital?! What happened?!”

“I don’t know!” Susato suddenly shouted, which made everyone jump slightly since they weren't expecting her outburst. There was an awkward pause amongst everyone for a few moments, and then Susato seemed to crumble. “I don’t know what happened…One moment Naruhodō-sama seemed perfectly fine and then the next, he was covered in rashes and was struggling to breathe…” However, she was unable to finish her sentence and just began to cry, leaving everyone unsure of what to say or do. It was rare to see Susato truly broken like this, and her lack of information about the case made it difficult for anyone to gauge the full gravity of the situation.

A few moments later though, Holmes finally came back over to the group, but no one was particularly encouraged by the rather grim look on his face. “I think I understand what transpired on board that omnibus tonight…” he said, though his voice lacked much of his typical enthusiasm and theatricality.

“Course ya do,” Gina said half-sarcastically before she could stop herself, but then she cleared her throat in an effort to be more polite, “Don’t keep us waitin’ then! Spit it out!”

“Before I say anything definitively, I need to confirm a suspicion that I have,” Holmes said, and he then held something out for Iris to take, “If you don’t mind, my dear Iris?”

It seemed that he was holding a small bunch of wrinkled plastic in his hand, which Iris stared at as she accepted it to further examine it. She then held the plastic up to her nose in order to smell it, and suddenly her eyes widened with fright. “Oh no…” she said in a small voice as she turned to Holmes, “ You don’t think he…?”

“That’s exactly what I think,” Holmes confirmed with a reluctant nod, knowing exactly what his daughter was implying, “And given what Miss Susato just said, it’s the only explanation that makes sense.”

“What are you both talking about?” Asōgi demanded, his patience really starting to run thin due to his festering worry for his husband, “What’s going on here?!”

Holmes looked up, a completely serious expression on his face. “Miss Susato. I must ask you,” he said in a firm but still gentle tone, “Did Mr. Naruhodō consume anything during your ride in the omnibus?”

“Y-Yes,” Susato said as she started to straighten herself out somewhat, “Naruhodō-sama noticed that our captor had two peppermints in his coat pocket from the White Swan and he asked if he could have them, saying that they would help calm him down. And the man agreed to it without any argument.”

Holmes and Iris looked at each other nervously when they heard this, as their suspicion has now truly been confirmed. “I knew it…” Holmes said finally as he let out a deep, exasperated sigh, “That young man…I swear. Sometimes I believe that he has a death wish based on some of the things he does.”

Seeing everyone else’s confused looks, Yūjin cleared his throat slightly. “Forgive me, Holmes. But please don’t be vague right now,” he said rather curtly, “Everyone is a bit too frazzled right now for that."

“Of course. Do forgive me,” Holmes said with an apologetic nod, “Unfortunately, the truth of this story is quite complicated. It will take me some time to explain everything.”

“That’s alright. Please, just tell us everything,” Asōgi said quickly, not wanting to waste any more time in regards to what had happened to his husband.

Holmes and Iris looked at each other one more time and shared a nod. With that, Iris was the one to speak up. “It was the peppermints that caused Runo harm,” she explained, “You see, he has an allergy to them. So eating the ones he had received earlier had a very bad effect on his body."

While Yūjin and Haori seemed to understand what this meant and their eyes widened in response to those words, Asōgi, Susato, and Gina were left completely clueless. “Sorry, but what’s an all-are-gee?” Gina eventually asked.

“An allergy is an extreme sensitivity to a foreign substance in the body,” Haori answered, “If you eat it, breathe it in, or are exposed to it, then it makes your body react badly in many possible ways. In serious situations, it may even become deadly.”

“It’s an incredibly new medical science. So there’s a lot of details that we’re still researching in order to better help people be protected from such things,” Yūjin added with something of a grim look of his own, “What we do know is that most known allergies either stem from certain components in food or natural chemicals such as pollen.”

This explanation helped to explain the basics to everyone, but there were still several questions to ask. “So did Ryū know about this allergy of his?” Asōgi asked, “If you both knew about it, then surely you told him, right?”

Holmes nodded. “Yes, of course,” he confirmed, “He was well aware of it.”

“But then why would he eat those peppermints on purpose?!” Susato demanded, looking angry and distraught at the same time, “If he knew of the consequences, then why would he do such a stupid thing?!”

“Is it not obvious, Miss Susato? He did it to save both you and himself,” Holmes said as he tipped his hat downwards, “Given that your number of potential options for escape were incredibly limited in your circumstances, he was most likely acting in the interest of what he believed was the best thing to do for the long-term, even if it hurt him in the short-term.”

“Naruhodō-sama…” Susato gasped out, barely able to grasp the gravity of what he had done for her, even at the cost it carried for himself.

While Yūjin and Haori tried to comfort the downtrodden Susato once again, Gina and Asōgi were still a bit tense about everything. “Mr. Holmes,” Asōgi then said, still trying to stay calm, “How did you and Iris-chan find out about Ryū’s allergy? And why did you never tell us about it?”

Holmes frowned. “Truthfully, I thought for the longest time that you all already knew about it,” he explained, “That fact was only proven false to me just a few minutes ago when I was listening to Miss Susato explain her recollection of events and learning that she did not actually recognize the reaction he had.”

“Ryū…” Asōgi said with a sigh, as he knew that it unfortunately wasn’t all that uncommon for his husband to keep secrets about his own pains and struggles, “So if allergies are so new in regards to their scientific study, how did you and Iris-chan find out about this? Did Ryū always know himself and tell you but not us?”

“No…” Holmes said somewhat grimly as he folded his arms, and he could see that everyone else had turned their attention towards him once again, “It’s a bit of a long story, but let me tell you about it anyway since it is rather important…”