Work Text:
Katsuya wakes up in the morning as usual, no need for an alarm as he’s quite used to his usual time already. Waking up early was built into him, and he wastes no time getting out of bed, tidying it as was his habit, straightening the covers, puffing up the pillow and making sure it looked good before he puts on his clothes and his glasses, continuing on to the kitchen.
He cracks an egg open like it was second nature, putting the contents in a bowl to make some scrambled eggs, adding spices as needed, humming absentmindedly, cooking it just as well as he always did. It didn’t take long at all before he finished and prepared two plates, one of which he takes his time eating, turning on the news as he did so.
After all the mess they fixed, the everyday news nowadays seemed so much simpler, but even then he still couldn’t help but find himself occasionally shaking his head at some of the segments. All he could think in his mind is how Saga would tell him that most of the news was strategically organized to scare or manipulate, and as much as he wished he could say it was all innocent, he could see the signs of that, of how some facts here and there are exaggerated or twisted, for the sake of entertainment or fear, and it just makes him turn off the television with a sigh.
He finished eating his meal, but he still had some time before heading to work, so he takes a quick moment to go to the balcony, grabs a cigarette and lights it. Yes, it was a bad habit to start indulging in again, but he would quit soon enough. He was just needing this right now. Life seems a lot more serious lately. It was as if he had his eyes shut to so much injustice and unfairness in the world, and the journey he went through only served to force him to look at all that he had avoided looking at before. Nowhere was that clearer than Saga’s story and the injustice he faced. How terrible was it for someone to do the right thing and be rewarded with a mob hit, and nearly dying himself if it wasn’t for his Persona? If it weren’t for that, he never would have met him, and he knew his life would’ve been much emptier without the connection he had with that mess of a man.
He takes a long drag from his cigarette until he hears some noise behind him and turns around only to see Tatsuya putting his motorcycle jacket on, clearly readying himself to leave, and trying to do so without his brother noticing.
“Good morning, Tatsuya.” Katsuya said, giving him a nod.
“Still smoking?” Tatsuya said, standing a bit awkwardly next to the door now that he was noticed. “Thought you’d quit that in a week tops.”
Katsuya gives a weak smile. Maybe he should have quit right away, but he didn't. He will. He knows he has to, but… he’d indulge a little, even if he felt guilty about it.
Habits were hard to break, so he had to be careful to not let it become one.
“It’s alright, I’m just finishing that pack I bought, and when it’s over I’ll stop.” He said, truly hoping he would follow his own word.
Tatsuya shook his head and reached to grab his shoes.
“No, please, Tatsuya.” His voice broke for just a small moment, which he tried to pretend was from smoking, which he forced out a cough. “I made scrambled eggs for you. It’s on a plate there on the table.”
His younger brother stopped, and snorted. “You’re really insistent. You’re a pain.” He said, but he let go of his shoes and sat himself on the table a bit roughly. Even when he’s back to his usual self, it seems he’s still pretty distant and rough. That’s okay, he’s learned to love his brother as he is.
Spending time with the other Tatsuya helped him see once again all the reasons he cared for his brother to begin with. He was family, and he was family that he loved with all his heart, and family which he would fight for and defend in every waking moment of his life, from now to forever. Him, and all those friends he made during this whole debacle. Maya, Ulala, Kaoru, and even Kei and Eriko. They were all part of a family to him, and he knew his life was much happier with them all in it. All of them.
Now, Tatsuya was back to his usual self, but somehow, he seemed closer than ever before. Maybe some of the Tatsuya from the other side rubbed off on him, because for once, he actually indulged him and stayed over for a night in his apartment. They didn’t talk much at all, but just having him there was a huge step that they hadn’t crossed in a long, long time.
And Baofu was right, Tatsuya really was turning into a real man. He seemed so independent now that he paid attention to it, when he saw him less as his younger brother and more as his own person. Yes, he will never stop seeing him as the younger brother, but he sees beyond it too, and he sees what he does, what he needs to do and what life he wants to lead, and he’s proud. He’s prouder than ever, knowing he’s the brother to Tatsuya Suou, who will achieve anything he might want.
…And he’s happy to see he got invited to some new band, and that Tatsuya actually took the offer. Hopefully he’d see him with new friends soon. Wouldn’t that be great?
They talked a little longer, though not many words came out of Tatsuya, not that that was a surprise, and Katsuya didn’t mind it. After their breakfast was done, Tatsuya left and Katsuya went to brush his teeth before leaving to head to work as well.
The alarm on Baofu’s bedside table blares and he groans as he’s woken up. He lifts his head, trying to locate the clock with his hand and his half-closed eyes that tried their best to look through his long-flowing hair that was obscuring his vision at the moment. It took some trying, but he thankfully turned it off before plopping himself right back down on his bed with a grunt. “Ugh…”
He laid there for about a minute or two, just gathering the strength to actually get out of bed until he finally musters enough to practically drag himself right out from the mattress, leaving behind a mess of bundled up covers, stumbling his way towards the closest thing to a kitchen that he had and making his way to the fridge, opening it to see what he could enjoy.
He squints at the contents in his fridge, scratching at his head as he bears witness to his own doing, the lack of actual food in it. There was just a bottle of juice, and a few leftovers that weren’t smelling too good, and some beer. Damn it, he needed to clear this out, and soon… Maybe some habits were difficult to break.
But not all habits.
Instead of the beer, Baofu grabs the juice, drinking it straight from the bottle.
“Kaoru not opening a bottle for breakfast? That’s rare.” Ulala spoke from the hallway with a hint of a proud smile. She almost seemed proud, but he wasn’t going to have any of that. Sure, she was right, but she wouldn’t let her brag about it to his face, especially since it wasn’t her that was motivating him to take it easy.
Saga still struggled a little with his name every now and then. Yes, it was the name he was born with, and the name he had for his whole life, but since the mob took Miki away, he became Baofu, and since then, that’s all he had been. He hadn’t ever forgotten who he was, but he pretended he had, and when you pretend for long enough, a certain disconnect is created. Ever since that day when that nosy detective got Nanjo to look into his past, that disconnect was slowly being bridged again. A part of him wants to play it coy, to act cocky and say he could do it himself and that he isn’t appreciative, but that wasn’t the truth. Truth was, it was the nosiness of that detective that got him to open back up to the man he was.
He wouldn’t ever go back to being the same man, of course, but he would bridge the gap. He wouldn’t be Kaoru Saga, but he wouldn’t be just Baofu either. Now, he was Kaoru Saga, who also happened to be Baofu… And he’d be lying if he didn’t consider somehow officially adding that name to his identity, but the hassle of actually doing so was too much. He’d just keep it as a social name of sorts, something his friends could call him… Or if he ever needed to bring the website back. He hoped he wouldn’t, though.
He focuses on the conversation again, giving a smug grin to her. “What, finding an excuse to drink in the morning? You can open one yourself if you want to.”
“And let you be superior on that front? No way I’d let you hold that over my head.”
Baofu lets out a short chuckle.
Ulala wasn’t a roommate or anything, but every now and then she’d crash in his hideout, for some reason or another. Sometimes it was because she argued with Maya, sometimes it was just because whatever bar she went to was closest to him and she was too wasted to go back to hers, and sometimes it was just because the two of them got too caught up in their search efforts and she figured she might as well pull an all-nighter working things out between the two of them than go back home at night with a case unsolved.
Today, it was that latter. They got a very good lead on where their missing person was, and they didn’t stop until they tracked it down, and they did. Now, all they needed to do was actually go find the guy themselves, which they would. He knew they would.
What could he say? He was good at his job.
Once he is done with his rather unfulfilling breakfast, he changes into some decent clothes, puts on his glasses and heads out with Ulala in his car.
The drive took a little longer than expected, but Katsuta arrived and would go about his work for the day.
Things were much simpler than when that chaos washed over the streets and they were forced to deal with the Jokers and the horrible entity that was Nyarlathotep. If anything, your everyday police work seemed so much simpler in comparison. That is, if he hadn’t changed his view of things. If things were like before, maybe he’d take some vacation days, and then come back like normal, and keep working just the same as always, all for the sake of doing the good work.
But now, for better or for worse, he knew things were much more complicated than that. He would take no rest, he would take no break, because he had to make a change.
He knew that there were people in the system he helped to uphold that didn’t do it for the good of the people, but for their own benefit, be it power, money or influence. No matter, because whatever reason they had, it would never be good enough to excuse bending the rules the way they were. Plenty of those who were in the New World Order were people of high standing, not only politicians and entertainers, but even those in the armed forces, and in the police, like the chief and captain that he had spent time with, and even worked closely with on some occasions. It was the most eye-opening moment he could have ever asked for, to know that someone whom he shared a workspace with, someone he may have once looked up to, was corrupt.
Chief Togashi may have repented in the end by telling them about the New World Order to begin with and helping them find out all they needed to, and Katsuya was grateful for that, but he still was corrupted, and for ten whole years, if not for longer. And Captain Shimazu was even worse, as a man who died happily defending the corruption he indulged in, all for the sake of the New World Order’s horrible views.
Katsuya had to keep working despite everything that happened, and work even harder than before, because of this. He wouldn’t allow such an environment to take place again. An environment that allowed corruption like that to go unnoticed, and even encouraged at some point. Public servants should be honest, should be genuine and helpful. The main trait should be wanting to do good, and that good should be for all, not just the fortunate few.
…Perhaps he should thank Kaoru Saga for helping him see beyond the blind faith he had in the law. Yes, maybe he used to mean his insults in an attempt to dissuade Katsuya from following such a job, but instead it only served to make him even more determined to continue his job, only changing the approach, not turning away his gaze from the bad, but instead focusing on it, and trying his damned best to solve it.
And talking about him, as Katsuya went about his day, he wondered how things were going on his end of things.
cSometimes Kaoru wondered if he should move out of that crummy hideout. Yes, he had all his most needed utilities there, his equipment that he was now using for better, but it was a little cramped, and the lack of windows was getting a bit overkill now that he was considering actually opening up to the world a bit more. Oh well, he’d worry about that later, when he actually had the time to do that. He had better things to do.
They drove off to that wretched construction site for the subway lines and snuck right in. Why? Because every single one of this guy’s tracks was around this area. Credit card purchases that his wife could check, stays at restaurants that could swear they saw the guy that fit the descriptions we fed them, and that was just about the only real place someone could hide in… Plus one of the fences looked recently cut through, that also helped.
But it sucked having to go into these cramped dark tunnels again. They trudged through it with a flashlight, and some ropes just in case.
“Let’s hope this one doesn’t last long, eh, Kaoru?” Ulala spoke carelessly as ever.
“Are you kidding? If someone is hiding here, it’s clear he was running away with his tail between his legs. No sane man would come hide here .”
“Oh, so just like no sane man would live in a windowless basement?”
“Very funny, Lala.” Kaoru groaned out.
Serizawa just laughed, clearly finding this the funniest joke ever, though Baofu wasn’t too thrilled, even if he was just thinking earlier about how he wanted to move out. Hmph, if he were more petty, he’d consider staying in that hideout for the rest of his life just to spite her, but if he did, she’d find some other way to make fun of him, saying that he really is some ‘insane man’ or something along those lines. She was a damn pain sometimes.
“By the way, Bao?” She broke the silence as they kept their pace. “Your breath stinks.”
“What?!” He exclaimed, stopping on his tracks, breathing out against his hand, and… well, damn it, he really did forget to brush his teeth after he woke up. Damn it.
There was no way to fix that right now, so he pulled a stick of gum from his pocket and chewed it as they kept up their walk.
Finally, they heard some shuffling further down the dark tunnel and they both stopped, Ulala raising her fists in preparation, meanwhile Baofu called out. “Hey! Come out! Your family is looking for you, Ishizuka!”
A yelp is heard from the figure in the dark, and that was pretty much the confirmation that this was the guy they were looking for, but he wasn’t coming out.
“We’re coming in, so you better be ready.”
“D-Don’t!” The missing person finally spoke up. “I have a gun! Don’t come any closer!”
Ulala focused her flashlight on where she heard the voice, and they saw the faint outline of a man, and a bit of a shine on his hand. He did indeed seem to have a gun.
“Shit…” Ulala vocalized, less worried and more tired than anything else as she gave out a deep sigh, turning to look at Baofu. “So?”
Baofu was similarly tired. He spat out his bubblegum, put his own flashlight away and grabbed a coin from his pocket, which he positioned perfectly on his finger.
“W-What’s going on?! Why are you two just standing there?!” The man spoke out desperately. “Just leave already!”
He wouldn’t be complaining for long, because all of a sudden a coin would find itself traveling at incredible speeds, hitting right on his gun, sending it flying off his hand and onto the ground. “WHA–?!”
Ulala quickly rushed in to pin the man’s hands on the floor. She was the real muscle between the two of them, so Saga was more than happy to let her do her job and be a bit rougher. “Alright, can you stop?! We got you now, and we’re just trying to help! What are you even trying to run from?!”
The man kept fighting against her, and while he did that, Saga walked over to the gun, checking the magazine.
Empty. Figures.
He crouches over next to him, giving him a flick on his ear, which makes him yelp again.
“Spill it. What trouble are you in, Ishizuka? It’s not every schmuck who can get a gun, even if it's got no ammo.” Baofu speaks low and demanding, but still calm, for now. “What did you get yourself into?”
The man seemed to finally give up fighting against Ulala’s hold and calmed down, but his face turned into one of desperation. “You don’t get it. If I’m found out by them, my family is gone…”
That makes Ulala loosen her grip on him for a moment, and Baofu leans closer. They’re both perplexed by the answer he gave, although skeptical all the same.
“Alright, spill it already, what the hell do you mean, Ishizuka?” Baofu huffed.
“The mafia. They’ll kill them.”
That was enough to make Baofu freeze for a moment. He still hadn’t completely gotten over the things that happened in his own past, which made him somewhat sympathetic to stories like this.
However, just as he said earlier, no normal civilian had a gun lying around. There was more to this story.
“Why?” Is all he asked to the formerly missing man.
He gulped, and looked away, hiding his face in the shadows instead of in the light of Ulala’s flashlight. “...Cause I was their hitman.” He admitted. “B-But I wanted to quit! Tried my best, but… I can’t get out! They won’t let me! So I… ran.”
Baofu’s fist found itself striking against Ishizuka’s face. It was a certain blindness that took over. His hand balled up harder, the glove being the only thing that held him back from digging his nails hard into his own skin. He looked over to Ulala, and she looked at him with a momentary shock, but soon after, she just looked downcast, because she knew what he must’ve been thinking and what drove him to do that. She couldn’t fully blame him for doing what he did, truth be told.
The man had screamed in pain and squirmed under Ulala’s hold, but she wasn’t letting him go, putting their rope to good use as it served to help keep him on the floor for the time being while she kept him in his place. He took some moments to recover before speaking again. “Please…”
If he were like before, he wouldn’t have much, if any, remorse for this man, and would keep hurting him until he knew just a little of the pain he caused to others, and that’s if he didn’t snuff his life right then and there. That’s how Baofu would’ve done.
But for good or for worse, he wasn’t just Baofu anymore. He was Kaoru Saga, a former public prosecutor, and fuckin’ hell if that wasn’t showing through now. If only Katsuya hadn’t gone up and dug up his goddamn past, maybe things would’ve gone a lot smoother… But now, despite some of the anger he felt over this man, he wanted to do things right. Do things by the books.
“Alright, listen here.” Kaoru spoke with a low, threatening tone as he held onto the man’s collar. “You are going to go to the police department, you’re going to ask for a Detective Suou and you tell him every damn thing you know. You’ll rat like your life depends on it, because right now it does. Got it?”
The man wordlessly nodded desperately.
Serizawa finally let go of him and as he started to get up, she could see the worry in his eyes and she decided to speak up too. “Don’t you worry, we’ll make sure your family is safe too. We’ll drive right to them, but you have to do what he says. Otherwise we’ll find out.” She tried to make it sound comforting, but also just a tiny bit intimidating.
“Us, and your mafia too.” Kaoru on the other hand, didn’t mind being very intimidating.
Ishizuka started to run away, leaving the tunnel and disappearing from their view.
“You were pretty rough with him.” Serizawa snorted.
“Me? You’re the one who was wrangling him against the floor.”
“Yeah, and you punched the man!”
“He was asking for it, telling me that.”
“Pfft, maybe.”
They started to walk towards the exit together, before both their bellies growled almost at the same time.
“...We’re stopping at Peace Diner before we go find his family and give them the update, right?” Ulala asked.
“Like that was ever in question. There’s some rest for the wicked, sometimes.”
And so with that, they continued their work up until the end of the afternoon, when they finally would get a chance to rest, where they would finally part ways and Baofu would get ready for the night that awaited him… Starting with brushing his teeth.
Katsuya finds himself at Clair de Lune late at night after quite a full day, waiting patiently for his company to arrive as he looks at his watch again. He fixes his glasses on his face as he tries to distract himself, letting the time pass.
Finally, Baofu walks in, and Katsuya moves in his seat, instinctively starting to get up, only to realize they were there to eat together and he awkwardly sits back down, looking away in embarrassment.
“...What the hell was that?” Baofu asks, sitting on the seat opposite to the detective.
“Nothing, I was just… getting comfortable in my seat. I was waiting for some time.” Katsuya says, still clearly embarrassed.
Kaoru gets a smug, cat-like grin on his face. “Of course you were, detective. I could see that.” He tries to hold himself back from laughing. “Anyway, I’m not that late, don’t act like you waited long.”
Katsuya looks at his watch. Baofu was only six minutes late, but…. “Yes, but I was already waiting for you before then. I arrived fifteen minutes before, so I wouldn’t risk not being able to get a table for us, and so I could be here early and not arrive late.”
“You’ve been waiting for twenty goddamn minutes?!” Baofu was shocked, but… well, that sounded like something Katsuya would do. “No wonder you look like you were so eager to see me.”
“Exactly.” Katsuya answers, though he can’t help but feel like that wasn’t the only reason. After all, Kaoru had been on his mind since this morning. “We should order something.” He said, calling Garçon Soejima as they ordered some food and drinks, with the both of them already enjoying their drinks, which weren’t anything special, just a wine for Katsuya and some whiskey for Kaoru.
They wait for their food to arrive, and chat.
“How was your work today, Saga?” Katsuya asked.
“Really?” Kaoru scoffed. “We’re doing small talk?”
“It’s not small talk, I genuinely want to know how it went for you.” Katsuya replied, leaning just a little closer. “We’re here to catch up, aren’t we? Then let's ask everything.”
Kaoru shows a very faint smile on his face, and he seems to give in. “Fine, but you’re telling me how yours went too.”
“That was the plan already, Saga.” He says, matching Kaoru’s smile, but his was more pronounced, of course. “Mine went alright. I met up with my brother again, and he stayed the night. It was nice, having his company again.”
“And that feral cat actually stayed the whole night?”
“I was surprised too.” Katsuya can’t help but give a slight chuckle, as bittersweet as it was. “He still wanted to leave first thing in the morning, but we got to talk a bit. It was nice, being able to finally start bridging the gap with my brother, after so long…” He said, giving a drawn out sigh. “I hope we keep up that pace.”
“I’m sure you will. Just keep giving him space, but still hold out a hand. A man like him will reach out again, in his own time.”
“So, like when you try to socialize a cat?”
“...I guess.” Kaoru raised an eyebrow at that comparison.
Katsuya couldn’t help but smile, which he looked away with a faintly blushed face. He fixes the glasses on his face to try and focus on something else. “Anyway… After that I went to work, which feels weird after the entire case with the New World Order, but I’m getting used to it.”
“You can say that again. Never thought I’d be working in something more public, but here I am.” Kaoru shook his head. “This whole thing changed us a lot, huh?”
“It did, for the better.” Kaysuya nods. ”If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be feeling as determined in my wishes for a better world as I do now. I can focus on the things that are really getting in the way of justice, like corruption in the system, and take a hard stance against it, but also take action against it for once.”
“Took you long enough.”
“It’s all thanks to you.”
“Guh–?!” He almost choked. He wasn’t expecting him to talk in such a fond manner out of nowhere. The hell does this guy think he’s doing?! “Like hell it is…!”
Katsuya gives a soft smile again, as if he knew exactly the conflict that was going on in Kaoru’s mind. “I mean it. I was thinking earlier today about how if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have had my eyes opened the way they are now.” He leans against the table, coming a bit closer to his partner on the other end of it. “Thank you, Saga, truly.”
“...Don’t mention it. All I did was poke around, you did the rest, buddy.” He tries his best to brush it off, though it was hard to. To know this damn guy was thinking about him earlier too? How the hell was he supposed to respond to that?
He smiles, giving a nod, before speaking again. “After that, I had to deal with some problems about a missing person who turned themselves in. They turned out to be an ex-hitman for the mafia.” Suou brings up another topic in an attempt to get Baofu out of his own mind.
“Sounds like a shitty guy.”
Katsuya laughed quietly. “Maybe, but I’m glad he was brought to justice. That way we can bring him for what he did, as well as anyone else he was involved with, as well as protecting any innocent people.”
“And this justice better damn well work.”
“It will.” He nodded. “And I was just thinking. We went to find his family but they weren’t around. Heard anything about that?”
“Maybe a thing or two.” His smug cat-like grin shows once again. “I’ll send you their address later. They’re in a hideout of ours, we made sure they left without it looking like it was in a hurry so no one would be tipped off by it, in case they were watching his family.”
“Smart.”
“I’m not an amateur. I’ve been doing this for a while, all I’m doing now is using the knowledge I used to help someone else now.”
“I’m glad you are. I’m truly proud of the growth you’ve had.”
“...” Speechless again, of course. How the hell does this damn detective manage to find the stupidest ways to leave him wordless? Kaoru takes a few moments to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, thanks. Just trying something different. Someone’s foolish idealism might’ve rubbed off on me.”
Katsuya laughs again. It was a soft, friendly smile, and it was a bit contagious. Baofu laughed as well, though his’ was gruff, rougher. He wasn’t even sure why he was laughing along with Suou, but he just did. Not too loud, of course, he didn’t want to look like a fool in a public place like a restaurant.
“So you were reminded of me too during your day?”
“Don’t let it get to your head, Suou.”
“It’s just an innocent question, Saga.”
Baofu groans, taking a drink from his whiskey glass. “When I’m forced to choose between letting my instincts take over, or bring someone to justice, it’s kind of hard not to.” He grumbled into his glass. “So of course I thought of you too.”
“It was great to hear that you did the right thing.”
“It was easy enough. Like I’d actually struggle with that choice.” Kaoru scoffed, trying to convince Katsuya;
“I would never assume, but it’s okay if you struggle still. I know I struggle on my side of things too.” Katsuya, of course, only found a way to make it soothing and reassuring, like the ass that he is. “But you still haven’t told me how your day went.”
“Clingy guy…” He accidentally spoke out loud, not even noticing it. “Ulala crashed at my place last night because we were tracking a missing person, found him today, turns out he was in trouble, but we nudged him the right way and are keeping his family safe now. That’s about all the important shit that happened, aside from that it was just paperwork.”
Katsuya shook his head, but still had that smile as always. “Paperwork is always the toughest part, isn’t it?”
“The most unbearable part, yeah.”
Suou suddenly raised his glass of wine. “Let’s have a toast.”
“...For what?” Saga furrowed his brow in confusion. “What are we toasting?”
“Anything.” Suou answered. “Paperwork, a successful day at work,” He listed some options, taking just a tiny moment of silence before listing the last one. “Us.”
“Ah…” Kaoru was speechless, taking a moment to consider, before begrudgingly answering. “To us.” He raised his glass.
The two drank a bit from their respective glasses, and the food finally arrived for them to enjoy, though Kaoru spoke up before they started eating. “Hey, Suou.”
“Yes, Saga?”
“Got any plans for tonight?”
“None at all, Saga.”
“Alright, I can show you their hideout tonight, and then we can cruise for a bit.”
“I think I’d really like that.” A broad smile found itself upon Katsuya’s face.
It seems the night still had much in store ahead of them…