Chapter Text
7 Years Ago
"Who are you!" Chuuya yelled at the man who had just entered their hideout.
"My name is Fukuzawa Yukichi. And you must be Nakahara Chuuya, the Sheep King." The man stepped forward towards Chuuya.
"What do you want?"
"I'm here to make an offer. Nakaha--"
"Just call me Chuuya."
"Chuuya," Fukuzawa corrected himself, "you have an incredibly powerful ability, and people are going to come after you because of that. I would like to offer you my protection. I've decided to make an agency for gifted such as yourself. How would you feel about joining?"
Present Time
"Hurry up, Ranpo, we have another case." Chuuya pushed open the door to the Armed Detective Agency and glared at the older detective. "I refuse to let you make us late to meeting another client."
"But Chuuyaaaaa, I'm starvingggggg. And you promised me lunch," Ranpo pouted. Ranpo was the oldest detective in the agency, but everyone knew he was also the least mature.
"I don't care. We can eat after we meet with this client. You'll live I promise."
"Clearly your promises mean nothing." Ranpo stood up and walked towards Chuuya. "Fine. Let's go. But you still owe me lunch later."
"Deal."
They left the Agency and started walking towards the office the client had asked to meet in. While they were passing a river on the way there, Ranpo stopped suddenly and grabbed Chuuya's arm. "What do you want, idiot? We're already about to be late, don't make it worse."
Ranpo pointed at a figure on the other side of the water. "Is it just me, or do they look like they're about to collapse?"
Chuuya studied them. "They do. Do you think we should go try and help?"
"I mean, we are a detective agency. Helping people is kinda in the job description."
Chuuya watched the person for a couple more seconds before walking across a bridge to get to the person. Ranpo was right. He's going to starve if we don't do anything. "Hey, kid. What are you--" Chuuya was interrupted when the kid attacked him. Is he trying to rob me? Chuuya grabbed his arms. "Can you listen to me for a second? You look like you're starving, and we want to help. We're detectives."
Ranpo finally caught up to Chuuya and tapped his shoulder. Both Chuuya and the boy turned to him. "What do you want to eat?"
The boy stared in shock for a couple seconds before he hesitantly smiled. "Chazuke. I want chazuke."
7 Years Ago
Chuuya's stomach grumbled. Great. I really wish Yuan didn't get sick. It's supposed to be her turn to skip a meal. He watched the other Sheep eat for a couple minutes before getting up. "Where are you going?" Shirase asked.
Chuuya sighed. "Out." He lowered his voice. "I'm going to try and find more food."
Shirase grimaced. "Sorry. You really can have some of mine if you want. I know it was supposed to Yuan's turn."
"It's okay. I'll find something. It's not her fault she got sick."
Shirase nodded slowly. "Be careful."
"I always am." Chuuya left their hideout and started wandering around Suribachi City. It's not really worth it to try and find something. I'll be fine. Yuan being sick isn't good though. It doesn't seem serious, but it does mean we have to go without her help for a few days. And some of the younger kids are getting coughs too. I'm probably gonna have to find some way to get them medicine if it gets much worse. Chuuya was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he almost didn't notice the man and kid starting to follow him. Without even turning around he knew who the man was. He stopped walking. "What do you want, Fukuzawa?"
Fukuzawa studied him. "When was the last time you ate?"
Chuuya rolled his eyes as he turned around. "Why does it matter? I didn't agree to join your dumb detective agency."
"That doesn't mean I'm not concerned. You're 15 years old, living on the streets, and in charge of a group of kids all in the same situation you are, and most of which are a few years younger than you. I may not be able to force you to join the agency, but I can still try and help you. If you'll let me."
Chuuya narrowed his eyes. He's gotta be joking. "So what if I haven't eaten in a couple days. It isn't the first time and probably won't be the last. It wasn't supposed to be my turn today, but it happened anyway. It's fine."
Fukuzawa frowned. "A couple days? And what do you mean it wasn't supposed to be your turn? Did something happen?"
"Why do you care?!" Chuuya was starting to get annoyed. "So what if Yuan is sick. You have no reason to try and help us."
Fukuzawa opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the boy. "What do you want to eat?"
Chuuya turned to him and stared for a few seconds as he processed what was said. "What?!"
"My name is Ranpo. What do you want to eat?"
Present Time
How hungry is he? Chuuya watched the boy shovel food into his mouth. I think that's his 7th bowl. Chuuya and Ranpo made eye contact before looking back at the boy. Chuuya rested his head on his hand. "What's your name? And how old are you?"
The boy finally looked up from his food. "My name is Atsushi. I'm 18. You guys never told me your names either."
"Right. I'm Chuuya, and that's Ranpo. Why were you there?"
"Well, I've mostly just been wandering around after the orphange I was in kicked me out. They had some budget cuts or something."
That doesn't make sense. Even if they were losing money, kicking out one kid wouldn't help. Chuuya looked at Ranpo again who was studying Atsushi. Ranpo set his hand on the table, sending a silent message to Chuuya. He's an ability user? I guess that could make sense for why they kicked him out. If they knew about his ability... "Hey, Atsushi, I've already told you that we're detectives. How do you feel about coming back with us? I'm not asking you to join us or anything, but I want to make sure you at least have a place to stay tonight. Maybe we could help you find a job or something."
Atsushi smiled. "Really? That'd be awesome! Thank you so much!"
On the way back to the Agency, Chuuya took the opportunity to ask Ranpo for an explanation. "What do you mean he's an ability user?"
"He's an ability user. I'm not positive what his ability is, but I am sure he is one. I'm guessing it's some kind of physical ability. If I watch him a bit more I'll know exactly what."
"He doesn't know."
"No. And I'm going to let you deal with that."
"Of course. Have you told the president that we're bringing him?"
"I texted him earlier. You know, he told you that you could call him dad too a while ago."
"I know." Chuuya glanced back at Atsushi for a second. "I hope we can help him."
Ranpo smiled at Chuuya. "It'll be fine. For some reason you're really good at helping people."
"It's because I leanred from the best." Chuuya smirked. "I mean dad of course. Not you."
Ranpo laughed. "Of course you do."