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Hirotsu is holding him longer than usual. They're still in bed, too. Not that Minoura is complaining, but it's definitely odd. "Shouldn't you be at work by now?" The cop asks. He'll have to get ready shortly himself, though cuddling his boyfriend is far more comfortable right now.
"I feel like today will be a very long day," Hirotsu sighed, burying his face against Minoura's neck. "I'm getting too old for this..."
Minoura runs his calloused fingers through soft, messy grey strands. "I'm sure business will be just fine. The day will be over before you know it."
"Business, yeah..." Hirotsu mutters under his breath. His arms loosen slightly and he doesn't say anything else — he's about to fall right back to sleep.
Minoura quickly shoved him away and sat up, that way Hirotsu couldn't cling to him again. "Nuh-uh, we're getting up now."
Hirotsu makes a noise of protest, but gets up with a smile nonetheless.
That was a week ago.
Hirotsu hasn't returned home since. It's not the first time he's had to stay overnight, but he typically calls. "I'm sorry, I'll have to work throughout the night. I'll see you in the morning," he would say.
And he did call, up until two days ago; last night he received no call.
He tried to convince himself his boyfriend was just very busy, but something didn't seem right. Working a week straight was downright concerning.
"Mr. Minoura?" Annie catches his attention with a soft tone. "What's wrong?" She's noticed he's been distant since helping Ranpo escape. Not that she could blame him. The entire police force was split into thirds, barely anyone at this station looked at each other with familiar eyes.
"Stay here, do your best to keep everyone from arguing," Minoura got to his feet with a huff. "I need to check something."
He ignored Annie's concerns and questions, though he made a mental note to hurry back. Even with the station the way it is, he can't help but worry about his boyfriend and it's practically eating him alive.
The drive to Mori Corp. is anything but pleasant; people are littering the streets and barely moving. Tons of them, in tight lines. "The hell..?" Minoura thinks aloud as he honks the horn. There's no response, not even a glance from these people.
His phone rings and, with nothing slowly running out of ideas, he casts a glance to the caller ID. Uzumaki Cafe? He parks his car on the side of the road first before answering it on the last ring. He doesn't even get a word out before Ranpo is talking with a stern voice.
"I know where you're going. Don't do it."
The way he talks makes Minoura a little angry. It almost sounded like Ranpo expected Minoura to drop it right after he said that. "What? Why? Do you know what's going on?"
He'll hear him out, of course. On the way to Mori Corp.
Minoura steps out of his car and quietly makes it to an alleyway where there are no wandering people. He keeps the phone close to his ear, waiting for Ranpo to continue.
The younger man seems nervous. "You see the people wandering the streets aimlessly?” He asks. He knows Minoura sees them.
“Yeah?” What with focusing on making sure the coast was clear, Minoura was barely acknowledging what the young detective was saying.
“They’re vampires.”
Minoura freezes. He casts a glare at his phone as if Ranpo could see the gaze through the phone. Though, he doesn’t need to; Ranpo already knows how insane it sounds. Inside Anne’s room, he’s fiddling with his fingers and picking at his nails.
“That’s impossible.” Minoura scoffs, glancing out towards the street. Each “vampire” is wearing a formal suit — he recognizes the kind, they’re likely all from Mori Corp. — which is impossible. No ability can spread this fast. He’s dealt with his fair share, and heard stories from his boyfriend; if there was an ability capable of this, he would have heard about it.
“I know how it sounds, and I can’t explain it all over the phone, but you have to believe me. You won’t find anything where you’re going.”
Minoura is almost at Mori Corp., choosing to ignore what Ranpo says. He doesn’t understand what’s going on, and the way Ranpo is talking is making it even more confusing. He’s not as smart as the detective. He still prefers looking for evidence before using inference. But he knows that, regardless of how Ranpo comes off, the kid always means well. There has to be a reason he’s saying this; for even calling him. “What aren’t you saying?”
Minoura hears the way Ranpo winces. It makes him all the more confused.
The glass doors of Mori Corp. slide open, revealing even more wandering people. His previous thoughts were correct — the people on the street all belonged to this company. Looking around, Minoura quickly finds Hirotsu’s subordinate, Gin, but Tachihara is nowhere to be found … which is odd because his superior, Higuchi, is here.
Someone grabs him from behind with a bruising grip on his shoulders. Minoura yelps and has to drop his phone to whip out his gun and swing around. “Minoura!” Ranpo calls, panicked, but it falls on deaf ears.
Minoura’s eyes are wide at the sight of the man who grabbed him.
Hirotsu.
Hirotsu, who just a moment ago was growling with a wide mouth about to clamp down on Minoura’s neck, froze. The two of them were frozen, staring wide-eyed.
Minoura’s gun pressed to Hirotsu’s chest, Hirotsu’s head leaning away from Minoura.
He couldn’t believe it. Ranpo was telling the truth.
Hirotsu made a noise before shoving Minoura away, causing him to fall — luckily, next to his phone. “Minoura! Are you there?!” Ranpo hadn’t stopped screaming during the entire thing.
Minoura grabbed his phone and brought it back to his ear with his eyes to the ground. “Yeah…” He stood and looked back at the swarm which now faced him with one look on their faces: hunger.
He looks at his lover one last time, placing his hand over his pocket with a certain box inside it, and books it out of the building. Behind him, a couple of vampires move to follow, however, they’re quickly stopped. It’s as if they heard something, but nothing was said. Whatever it was, it was far more interesting than Minoura because they turned away and headed off in another direction.
“This situation may be far worse than you first thought,” Minoura pants when he’s safely back in his car. He’s driving back to the station, completely ignoring the rules of the road as he speeds. “Annie! Are you there?” He yells into the intercom. Static and then a beep is heard before a relieved voice answers.
“Mr. Minoura! Is everything okay?”
“No, look outside.”
“What..?” She does what he says; hurriedly walking towards the nearest window. “There’s just a lot of— oh my god!” Annie gasps so loud it momentarily stuns both Minoura and Ranpo. Luckily, neither man has to ask what she saw. “Someone just jumped at someone and bit them!”
Ranpo curses under his breath and Minoura subconsciously speeds up. More static followed by a beep. “Annie, stay inside the station and tell everyone else as well! I’m on the way back, I’ll elaborate on what’s going on once I’m there.”
Annie acknowledges and he places the intercom back onto its holder. “Please tell me you have a plan.” He returns his attention back to Ranpo as he parks. Ranpo takes a moment to think his answer through before responding with a nod.
“Yeah. Though I’ll need your help. You said you knew Yasui when we met, right?”
The station’s door creaks open, giving Minoura a moment to be confused by the question. “Yes..?”
“Good. Contact him for me, and tell him to meet you at the airport — but don’t go there; stay at the station.”
Minoura blinks, letting the request sink in. “What you’re asking of me is illegal, you know?” He sighs but doesn’t decline. Getting arrested is the least of his worries now.
Ever since what happened at Mori Corp., his mind has been running. Who started this; What kind of ability is this; Why are they doing this; What happened to Hirotsu? He doesn’t let himself be sad, but he feels heavy.
Hanging up on Ranpo, his fingers swipe through his contacts until they land on Yasui.