Chapter Text
Two pairs of feet run, carrying two people on them. Kenji Miyazawa and Atsushi Nakajima. Atsushi held onto Kenji’s hand with a tight grip that the blonde farmer really did not mind all too much.
Atsushi squeezed his hand, in a way that meant three things at once. First, a reminder that neither of them were alone in what was going on. Second, a gentle tell that Atsushi was going to increase their running speed. And third, that things were all going to be okay; that their friends, the Agency (their family.) Everything would be okay, because Kenji’s building anxieties poured off of him in aura form.
“Don’t worry, Kenji-kun..! If anyone gets hurt… they won’t die! We have Yosano! Nobody’s going to die, okay?” Atsushi tells him, and really, it sounds like a promise. So, Kenji does what he does best, and he trusts. He trusts Atsushi, and he smiles. And then⸺
It only takes one step for it to feel like Kenji just took a step into the most haunted house in the world- the literal kind. Not the fake-scare kind. He nearly thinks it’s just him for a moment, like it’s just him that feels that. But then Atsushi screeches to a (temporary) halt, and Kenji knows he felt it too.
“What… did you…?” Atsushi trailed off in a soft, anxious voice. But that was alright. They both knew the answer. Yes. Both of them had felt it.
Still. That shouldn’t get them down. So Kenji decided to somewhat restate what Atsushi said earlier, to make him feel better right back!
“Don’t worry, Atsushi-san! Things will go right according to plan, and everyone will live, I promise!”
Kenji chirps happily, and Atsushi sighs in some sort of relieved comfort, and nods. And, honestly? It’s more so encouragement to Atsushi’s reassurement, than anything else (other than comfort, of course), and Atsushi appreciated it.
So when Kenji smiles again, Atsushi can’t help but return the favor, and they keep running.
It’s when they’ve been running for around 10 minutes that they realize they have to separate to try and find the girl and the vampire quicker. And then, when that’s done, they could make some kind of contact with each other, meet back up, and then bring them back to Ranpo! That’s what they’d decided on, so they got going, on their separate ways!
Airports were big. And Kenji had a tendency to get distracted by things almost all the time. But he tries his best not to be. But one thing makes him more and more distracted with every turn he takes.
It’s cold. It gets colder and colder with every step. Not temperature cold. Dread cold. He feels sick, and cold, and bad.
He still runs, though, because if he doesn’t, that poor girl might be hurt. And that poor vampire, too! As far as Kenji is aware, the vampire doesn’t want to be a part of this! So Kenji wants to help him, too! Who wouldn’t?
Still. It’s… so cold. So, so cold.
He’s brought out of his thoughts when he hears a little girl’s voice, and he sees a ring of vampires closing in.
“What do I do…?!” The girl gasped.
So, he came to save the day!
“This is what you do!” Kenji smiled, feeling a bit warmer now, grabbing the vampires, and chucking them in the air! “Heave-ho!” He cheered, with each group of vampires he tossed and tore through, eventually making it all the way to the girl, with a cleared wave of vampires! Oh, minus the vampire on her back of course.
“Wh-Wha..!” The girl breathed, shocked. “Uhh…” She thought for a moment, voice cracking a tad. “Are- Are y’from the Detective Agency…?” She asked, still a tad breathless. It’s not every day you see someone only four years older than you chuck at least 10 vampires across an entire airport and out windows without any struggle at all! “How- How did you find…?”
“Sure am! I found you using Ranpo-san’s Ultra Deduction! Using the information he had, like the sudden airport shutdown, the vampires that started to look for someone, and all the blade markings on the walls, it was super easy for Ranpo-san to figure out that someone was running from Fukuchi!” Kenji tells her, a smile on his face, because he really is quite happy he managed to find her before anything bad could happen to her or the vampire! Although the girl seems rather shocked, for a reason he can’t quite decipher. (Maybe she doesn’t know how cool Ranpo’s ability is?)
He decides to keep talking, so she doesn’t feel uncomfortable with the need to fill in silence! “And after he told us everything he deduced, we came to a conclusion! And so, my job is to find you, rescue you, and take you to a super safe and protected ability space! So I’ll take you there, okay? Let’s go!” Kenji smiled, but before he could turn around, the vampire spoke up.
“Wait.” The vampire sounded super serious, so Kenji couldn’t help but wait for him to finish. “You…” The vampire sniffed the air, and then continued. “Your clothes… that smell of soil-” The vampire’s eyes widened in sudden realization, and he practically screamed;
“YOU’RE A FARMER!!!” And if Kenji was being completely honest, he got scared for a moment. That could alert someone nearby, after all!
“Farmer… Might you be interested in cultivating my land post-... this situation?” The vampire asked, and in an almost offended tone, the girl exclaimed in place of Kenji;
“Now isn’t the time, Bra-chan! You probably don’t even have any land right now!” But, as to not be rude, Kenji replies to him(‘Bra-chan’), anyway.
“Oh, thank you very much, Bra-chan!” (“That’s not my..-”) “But I’m already working for the Agency as a side job right next to my farming!” The girl cocks her head to the side at that, “But maybe if I ever find the time, I will! Free of charge!”
“I see…” Bra-chan mutters, “That would be wonderful.”
“Mhm! Okay!! Let’s go now!” Kenji grinned, and turned on his heel. And, while he walked, the duo followed.
“Wait.” Bra-chan spoke suddenly. “Huh?” Kenji questioned. Aya was the first to turn around.
“You. Stop.” That was the voice of one of the Hunting Dogs. It made Kenji stop in his tracks, and he turned.
“Ah- Mister Agency Worker!”
Kenji wanted to tell her to run. To run away with Bra-chan, because he didn’t think he would be able to beat this man.
But the Hunting Dog’s sword came flinging their way first. Oh, and if only the girl had run. Instead, without thinking, she called out a “Sorry, Bra-chan..!!” And was quick to stop the blade from heading his way, after tossing Bra-chan into Kenji’s arms.
She stopped the blade with her own body.
Kenji knew she wanted him to take Bra-chan to the super secure place, but… even though Bra-chan was an adult, Kenji covered his eyes and gasped sharply. She was beheaded. Instantly.
Kenji let her get hurt.
If he had just-
No, he had to run. He could think later. He had to get Bra-chan to a safe place. So he turned around and ran. “I-I’m sorry, Bra-chan..!” He didn’t say anything, even after Kenji uncovered his eyes.
It’s funny, though. The ceiling suddenly collapsing. What were the chances?
Zero. There was a zero percent chance of that happening. So why did that happen now? Everything passes by in slow motion, almost. It’s terrifying. Bra-chan looks up at the roof about to crush the two of them too.
Kenji is scared. He is scared. He’s scared when he throws himself on the ground underneath, holding Bra-chan securely under him and bracing himself. His ability should let it hit him with a bruise as best, then he should be able to get up and keep running away with Bra-chan completely safe and unharmed.
Instead though. What ends up happening is, although the roof does only bruise his back, the long, long shard of broken glass from a light impales him deep, deep in his chest-
He only has time to choke. Because before he knows it, he feels cold. He feels dread. Terror. His clothes feel wet.
And before his brain could even process just how much he hated those feelings,
The entire world turns pitch black.