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Late night calls weren’t unexpected in a business like this, but Tanizaki hated them anyway. And he especially hated this one. He ground his teeth as he leaned against the bus stop sign, feeling flowers sprout on the back of his neck, in his hair, on his hands. He tore them off, flinching at every single one. Blood painted his hands, getting under his nails, and he just wanted to bite them off.
Damn that stupid ability user, who even sneezes on someone to use their ability?? He knew he should stop gritting his teeth, he knew it wasn’t good for him, but dammit , it was this or he punched something. More flowers sprouted up, and he just stomped on the lobelia he’d already thrown to the ground. He stared at them for a moment, the pinprick of roots irritating his skin, and then he just sighed.
Deep breaths. Right. He should be taking those. Inhale for four seconds, hold for-
“Hey- you’re Junichiro, right?” A familiar, feminine voice interrupted. He looked over, exhaling early. Shit. It was Lucy, formerly of the Guild, and now of Cafe Uzumaki. He held his hand up, trying to redo the breathing exercise to clear his head. He knew he should be polite, and he meant to be, but flowers grew in his throat and suddenly he was suffocating and all he managed to say was–
“Don’t you dare do this to me- not right now.”
Lucy looked offended for the half second it took for her to process the scene, which then morphed into a much worse one as Tanizaki doubled over, vomiting up rue flowers. Her eyes widened and she wasted no time in going and acting as support for when it stopped, pulling her phone out with her free hand as the redhead slumped against her.
“Okayy, uh- I am calling tigerkitty-” She glanced at the bus stop, noting the location as the sound of her phone rang out. She wasn't going to wait for a bus because she didn't know how long until the next one arrived, and she thought Atsushi was more reliable anyway, even if it was like ten pm. Speaking of Atsushi, he picked up after not even two rings, to which she was very relieved.
“Lucy?” The tone of exhausted confusion was practically palpable, and it quickly rose into worry as Lucy talked.
“I found Junichiro at a bus stop super injured and he’s- bleeding out, I think? He’s coughing up flowers and blood, at least.” She explained quickly, then added, “He’s leaning on me right now- come quick.” She glanced back at the bus stop, adding the location.
“I’ll be right there- Yosano-!” And then Atsushi hung up, and Lucy took a moment to look over at Tanizaki. He’d gotten worse, marigolds and blood falling out of his mouth like a waterfall, and she winched. She wanted to say something to reassure him, but had no idea what she even could. Sorry there’s flowers growing out of you? Sorry about your blood loss??
She didn’t want to interrogate him about the ability user, not wanting to strain him. So that was another conversation topic lost. He leaned on her more, making a choked sound as blood splattered out of his mouth via a cough. She couldn't care less right now about how her dress would get stained, it’s not like she didn’t know how to get blood out of things anyway.
Lucy shifted how she was holding onto him so it’d hopefully be more comfortable for both of them, then looked back to the road, praying the agency members would arrive soon. Whatever this ability was, whatever it had done to Tanizaki, it seemed terrifyingly lethal.
Okay, Lucy didn't even want to know how many traffic violations had been committed because who drives halfway across Yokohama in fifteen minutes, what the fuck tigerkitty . She was relieved nonetheless as the car sputtered and screeched to a halt, though she felt Tanizaki flinch from the loud sound.
Yosano got out unbothered from the car, which had managed to swerve so the driver's seat was right next to the street, and got out. Atsushi, in shotgun, scurried over both seats to rush over to Tanizaki, cupping his face in concern with wide eyes.
Oh, alright. So the doctor had done the driving. That was worse, maybe. Atsushi looked over to Lucy, smiling faintly.
“Thank you for calling us,” he said with that stupidly genuine tone as Yosano followed after him, picking up Tanizaki and grimacing. Tanizaki looked relieved to see them though, gasping out something unintelligible as pink hyssops sprouted from his hands and arms.
“Don’t strain yourself,” Yosano said sternly, then headed back to the car, “I can better treat him in the medical area at the agency, but I can try to stabilize him in the backseat. Lucy, can you drive?”
Lucy couldn’t drive well, but in a situation like this, fuck it, she’d ball. She nodded, already getting in the car..
And the wheel was on the right side. Shit. Well, she’d try her damned best for Tanizaki. She unsteadily put her hands on it. She had to, judging by the coughing and sound of liquid practically pouring like vomit onto the fabric of the car. Lucy looked over as Atsushi looked from the open front door to the open backdoor, not sure where to sit.
Yosano sighed and spoke up.
“Atsushi, take shotgun seat.” She grabbed a medkit.
“There’s a shotgun?” Atsushi looked around, confused, then back at the car.
“...Sit next to Lucy.” Yosano shook her head a little, exchanging a glance with Lucy, who was resisting the urge to either snicker or smack her head against the car horn.
“She has a gun?” Atsushi stared right at Lucy, who had covered her mouth with her arm to muffle her giggling despite the awful situation.
“Just get in the front seat.” Yosano deadpanned tiredly. Atsushi nodded, huffing a little when Lucy moved her arm away to start the car and he heard her laughing.
“Hold on tight.” Lucy ordered, taking a breath.
“Wait, wh- LUUUUUCY -”
The car swerved harshly into the road, so much so that Lucy could practically hear the tires burn, and then she stepped on the gas as if she were in one of those shitty action movies. Tanizaki shrieked from the backseat; or maybe that was Atsushi. Regardless. Everyone was pushed back against the car, and she heard a muttered, “ Shit- ” from Yosano.
It was ten thirty and Lucy prayed the roads weren’t busy, because Tanizaki didn’t have any extra time to spare on traffic. She slammed her foot down on the brake pedal just in time to make a turn, winching as she heard Atsushi smack into the side of the car.
“Sorry, tigerkitty- and Junichiro, you okay?” She looked over at him, noticing Atsushi also peeking into the back from the corner of her eye.
“J-just- drive-” He ground out through a wheeze, more rue and marigold scattering the backseat. Yosano’s face had only gotten grimmer, and Lucy could see why. Blood was all over on the seats, the windows were half painted with it like a horror movie set and almost framed in the middle of it was Tanizaki, looking like a strange, pale statue as flowers grew from him in bouquets. Yosano looked up, eyes widening.
“Keep an eye on the road!!” She pulled Tanizaki close as Lucy immediately looked back.
“FUCK-”
There was a deer standing in the middle of the road, facing down the headlights, and Lucy might’ve seen her life flash before her eyes briefly. It wasn’t so close they’d immediately crash, but she couldn’t slow down and–
“I got it!!” Atsushi smashed the window–at least this wasn’t her car–and roared at it, just narrowly getting it to run out of the way. Okay. Cool. The fresh air now whipping around and inside the car made Lucy keenly aware of how much the scent of pollen had muffled any other smells, such as the metallic one of blood. She was too damn used to that particular smell, and it only got worse when she took a deep breath, causing the blood and overly sweet pollen to mix, nearly making her gag, especially when paired with the sounds of Tanizaki fighting to breathe from behind her.
“Atsushi, would you turn on the AC?” She wasn’t gonna take her eyes off the road this time, even if the speed with which everything was approaching and disappearing felt like it made everything blur together. They needed to get to the Armed Detective Agency, no matter how many traffic la–
“LUCY, THERE’S A STOP SIG-”
“NOT ANYMORE!”
Lucy nearly drove a hole into Uzumaki, but thank god for Atsushi’s tiger strength being able to stop the car. She didn’t have the faintest clue as to how she would even start explaining that to her boss...
“Jeez, Lucy, you drive like Dazai..” Atsushi laughed nervously, then went to help Tanizaki get out of the car, his tiger ears folding down when he saw the state he was in. His outfit was ruined, mulberry flowers had joined the other blossoms while in the car and started to tear the fabric, blood made the white shirt a dirty scarlet, and his jacket and pants were no better.
“Lucy, Atsushi, help Tanizaki up the stairs.” Yosano said as she got out of the car, shutting her door as she stepped into the cafe after the three. It’d shut down hours ago, so all that greeted them was the little chime of the bell and one faulty light flickering on and off.
Tanizaki felt like a ragdoll in their arms, the sickly-sweet pollen once again hiding the scent of blood as roots hid it from view, using Tanizaki’s lifeblood as their own. It made something in Lucy’s stomach boil with anger, though her thoughts were quickly diverted when she was scooped up by Atsushi too.
“Wh- tigerkitty??” She didn’t mind being picked up, but she wished he’d warned her first.
“This is faster!!” He sprinted up the stairs, holding them both close to his chest. She could hear his quick heartbeat, feel the fur on his arms, and of course, the pollen covered over any other smell. He threw the agency door open.
“Hey Ran- RANPO?” Atsushi stopped halfway to the medical area, staring as Ranpo yawned, opening another bag of chips.
“Hii. I was waitin’ up for Tanizaki,'' Ranpo rubbed his eyes–which, Lucy noted, were open–and leaned back, currently sat on his desk instead of his chair, “And then Yosano messaged me and asked for this fiiilee..” He yawned again. Lucy squinted her eyes, trying to see it in the moonlight that was streaming in. All she could make out was scribbles and a blurry photo, but before she could ask, Yosano came in too, gesturing for the three to go into the medbay.
“Go and lay him down already, your arms aren’t a good enough substitute for a bed.” Yosano scoffed, Atsushi quickly nodding.
“Sor-”
“Just go.” She sighed as Atsushi stepped inside, setting Tanizaki down on the nearest bed, and Lucy next to him.
“You’re gonna be okay,” Atsushi mumbled, setting his head on Tanizaki’s chest, listening to his labored breathing and slow heartbeat. Tanizaki weakly wrapped an arm around him, blue daisies sprouting on his arm. Lucy looked around, then grabbed a pillow from another bed, carefully setting it behind Tanizaki before backing away slightly to listen to what the other two agency members were discussing in the other room.
“Would Dazai-” Yosano’s voice was ripe with concern.
“Noope, I already used Ultra Deduction, the ability won’t work like that.” Ranpo replied, voice a little more serious; probably as serious as he would get, in fact.
“Well, I can’t just cut the flowers out, he’s already lost enough blood as is.” Lucy could hear her cross her arms by the sound of fabric rubbing against itself.
“So don’t. It’ll wear out in less then twenty four hours, so you should just focus on keeping him calm and making blood transfers, otherwise you’ll lose him.” Lucy heard him lean back via the sound of papers sliding off the desk, and then he continued, “I checked, and this ability…”
“Yeah, I saw.” Yosano groaned, “That was not what the report said.”
“I thiink this was an attempt to damage the agency.” Ranpo–Lucy assumed–tapped the desk. “But I was out when Kunikida was looking over the reportt.. Sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. I’ll...” Yosano’s boots clicked on the smooth tile as she went over to the medbay. “I’m going to stay with him for the night. I know you two are worried, but-”
“We’re not leaving him!” Lucy interrupted, stomping on the ground. Atsushi nodded, chiming in too.
“I wanna stay with him- please?” Atsushi stood up a little, though kept hugging Tanizaki as best he could, trying not to jostle him; though Lucy could see Tanizaki flinch anyway, some more marigolds sprouting amongst the daisies. Yosano noticed too and opened her mouth, but Ranpo beat her to it, peeking in as he licked a lollipop.
“You should let em stay, Akiko.” He interjected, flashing the two a grin. The doctor blinked, glancing down at him, then sighing.
“...Alright. But-” She narrowed her eyes, “Don't-"
"I know, I know!!" Atsushi leaned back down, sidling onto the bed with Tanizaki so he wasn't stuck standing, resting his head on Tanizaki's shoulder. After a hesitant glance at Yosano as she rushed off to a sideroom, Lucy sat next to them, yawning, finally letting herself actually process what had just happened.
She’d found an agency member bleeding out. She had called tigerkitty. He and Doctor Yosano had arrived way faster than should be legally possible. They’d piled into the car and she drove like hell. This ability was so dangerous they could wake up and Tanizaki could be gone.
“Is every day at the agency like this?” Lucy stared down at the two, keeping her voice low.
"Well- near death experiences are common, yeah, but...” Atsushi frowned, “Not like this. The last time we had something even come close was the, uh... Cannibalism thing.”
She remembered that all too well, nodding as she yawned.
Atsushi eyed her, then suggested softly, yawning too, “You should lay down too.”
“Is there even space to- tigerkitty!!” She jumped as Atsushi’s stupidly endearing, fuzzy tail wrapped around her and gently pulled her down into a laying position.
“Rest.” He stuck his tongue out for a moment, and she rolled her eyes, but now that she’d set her head on the pillow, tiredness was crawling into her bones, willing her to sleep. She rubbed her eyes, gently wrapping an arm around Tanizaki. He was scarily cold, but she could hear his heartbeat, even if it was faint. That was enough to lull her eyes into closing as she felt one of Atsushi’s hands rest over her own, gently holding it.
...It was nice, despite the circumstances, and as she fell asleep, she could have sworn she heard Tanizaki’s breathing steady, followed by a soft, relieved sigh from Yosano.