Chapter Text
Inky blackness.
It was the first thing he noticed when consciousness returned to him.
The pain followed shortly afterwards. A dull throbbing sensation at the back of his head, his body aching with bruises and palms stinging with scrapes from when he’d tried to cushion his fall.
Fall…
Right, Shuichi sighed tiredly to himself as he stared up at the hole in the ceiling, the only source of light he had for the moment.
Right. Now he remembered.
He’d been tailing a suspect for his newest case when the man had suddenly ducked into this building, apparently realising he was being followed. The rest was a muddled blur of dashing through dark, cluttered rooms, banging into things he couldn’t see as he did his best to follow pounding footsteps until something had eventually caught around his leg and sent him sprawling.
Still, it was strange. He was reasonably sure that the hole in the ceiling hadn’t been there when he lost consciousness, but then that would mean someone had moved him. And, considering that the only other person who should be in the building was the suspect he’d been tailing? That was unlikely.
Shuichi sighed again, tentatively shifting his arms to push himself up. He was careful not to let his hands touch the floor for longer than necessary, this place had been abandoned for a while, letting his scrapes get dirty would be practically begging for an infection.
“Well, what do we have here?” Startled, Shuichi cried out, the arm he’d been leaning on slipping from beneath him and sending him sprawling back onto his side. He cringed when his head thumped lightly against the floor, the dull throb sharpening for a moment before easing back into a steady pulse. “Finally awake, I see.”
“Who’s there?” Shuichi called out, squinting into the darkness. The hole in the ceiling offered some light, but not enough to see the room - or whoever was speaking - in any clear detail.
“Funny.” The voice said again, and Shuichi watched as a figure stepped into the light. “I think I should be the one asking that, don’t you?”
The boy couldn’t be any older than him, the detective mused to himself, still in a state of shock but slowly beginning to calm down. Sure, he still couldn’t see his face that clearly, but of that much he was certain.
Wait, Shuichi groaned to himself, he was being an idiot. He reached into his coat pocket, doing his best to ignore the way the fabric rubbed against his scrapes as he grabbed his phone and fumbled to switch it on. He didn’t know why he hadn’t done that already, it would’ve saved him some trouble, but there was no use thinking about it now.
He cringed when the light hit his eyes, squinted against it as he set the device on the floor, watched as the room - or, part of it at least - was illuminated with artificial light. If he was being honest, it made the place look ever so slightly more eerie, but it was better than nothing.
“What’s that?” The boy frowned down at the light, deep purple eyes swimming with badly concealed caution and curiosity. Shuichi blinked at him.
“It’s…my phone…” He said slowly, watching as a pale - too pale - hand reached out towards it, stopping just before he could touch the screen. “Haven’t you seen one before?”
“Of course I have!” The boy snapped back as he rose to his full height, not that that was saying much, Shuichi had yet to successfully stand up but he was fairly sure the boy was shorter than him. “Honestly, do I look like I’ve been living under a rock?”
“I’m sorry.” The detective apologised, slowly climbing to his feet now that the shock had worn off. “I didn’t mean to offend you.” Because, as strange as this whole situation was, he didn’t want to be rude. The boy puffed out his chest, apparently trying to look intimidating but not being very successful. He heaved out an exaggerated sigh a moment later, body slumping with the effort.
“Well, I guess I can forgive you…” He trailed off, mouth stretching with a grin while his eyes sparkled with something that had the hairs on the back of Shuichi’s neck standing on end. “That is, if you do one little thing for me.” Shuichi gulped silently, clenching his hands into fists in a flimsy attempt to hide the way they shook.
“And…what would that be exactly?” The boy shrugged, crossing his arms behind his head.
“Tell me your name.” Shuichi blinked, that was it? He stared at the boy in confusion, slowly scanning his face for any signs that this was just some kind of trick. He saw nothing. If the boy was bothered by his hesitance, he didn’t say anything, merely met his gaze head on with a carefree smile.
“My name is Shuichi.” He said at last. “Shuichi Saihara.” The boy’s grin stretched impossibly wider.
“See, that wasn’t so bad was it?” He drawled, expression twisting with exaggerated innocence. “And you were standing here doubting me too.”
“Sorry.” Shuichi apologised again by reflex. The boy merely giggled, the sound light and airy.
“You say that a lot, don’t you?” He tilted his head curiously. “Relax a little, it’s not like I’m planning to kill you.” Shuichi clamped down on the ‘sorry’ attempting to wriggle its way out of his mouth.
“Right.” He said instead, heaving out another sigh. He lifted his gaze back up to that hole in the ceiling, staring up at the sky in silence. “I should probably get going.” He said eventually, the suspect he’d been chasing was no doubt long gone by now, and his phone battery wouldn’t last forever.
“Aww, leaving so soon?” The boy pouted up at him, the expression was exaggerated enough that Shuichi could tell he wasn’t being entirely genuine. “And we were having so much fun too.” Fun…right, Shuichi thought to himself as he reached down to pick his phone up, grimacing when he saw how low the percentage was.
“I don’t suppose you know where the way out is?” He asked hesitantly. Because he hadn’t been paying much attention to his surroundings when he first entered the building - not that it would’ve helped him much considering how dark it was - but he was still pretty sure that he’d been moved after he fell unconscious, so it wasn’t like that knowledge would’ve been very useful right now anyway.
“Do I look like a tour guide?” The boy shot back, quirking a brow. Still, he motioned for Shuichi to follow him despite his words, leading him out of the room and into an equally rundown hallway. Shuichi kept the light from his phone angled towards the floor as he followed him, not wanting to risk another tumble.
They walked in relative silence, one which was disturbed only by the boy’s quiet humming. It wasn’t a tune Shuichi recognised, but it sounded pleasant enough. They turned when the hallway did, once left, then once right.
He almost bumped into the boy at one point, not noticing he’d stopped until the humming had abruptly cut off and he’d been snapped out of his musings. He directed a questioning glance at the boy, turning his head when the shorter motioned in front of them.
“That way leads outside.” He said. Shuichi stared at the large double doors, the metal old and partially-rusted. “It’s not locked, don’t worry.” And with that, the boy turned on his heel to walk back the way they came.
“Wait!” Shuichi blurted before he could stop himself, waiting until the boy turned to look at him again before continuing. “Aren’t you coming?” The boy blinked at him.
“Coming?” He tilted his head. “Where?” Shuichi frowned.
“Don’t you have to get home?” He asked. “It’s kind of late.”
“What are you, my warden?” The boy laughed, shaking his head in amusement. The detective couldn’t help but notice there was something strained about it. “I’ll be fine.” He waved his hand in a shooing motion. “Go on, get out of here.”
Shuichi hesitated for only a moment before he approached the doors. When he turned back around, the boy was gone.
It wasn’t until he’d climbed into bed that night that he realised he’d never caught his name.