Work Text:
There’s a mystery afoot.
Akito Shinonome’s gone missing, and no one knows where he is.
His partner and teammates are frantic, but everyone else…
It’s like no one else seems to care.
So Fuyune Shimizu, investigative reporter extraordinaire, pulls out her notepad and phone and starts to do what she does best.
She makes a list of people to speak to, starting with his family.
And so she knocks on the door of the Shinonome household.
A girl with brown hair opens the door, and Fuyune sucks in a breath and looks at her.
“Shinonome-san!” Fuyune asks. “I was wondering if you knew anything about your brother.”
“Ugh, what are you bugging me for?” Ena Shinonome asks. “I don’t know anything about my stupid brother.”
“He’s gone missing. You are aware of that, yes?”
Shinonome-san shrugs.
“I don’t know, and I don’t care. Idiot’s probably somewhere with Toya.”
“Aoyagi-kun doesn’t know where he is either.”
Shinonome-san sighs.
“Stupid brother… I couldn’t give less of a fuck at this point. He wants to go run away so we’ll all care about him? It’s not going to work.”
And then she shuts the door in Fuyune’s face, and Fuyune looks at her notebook.
Ena Shinonome - No leads
~
“Sorry, dude. I’ve never spoken to Shinonome.” Kusanagi says. “I’m sorry he’s missing, but I don’t know anything about that.”
“What about Aoyagi-kun? You’ve seen them together, yes?”
“Well, yeah, but who hasn’t? Doesn’t mean I’ve talked to either of them.”
“Isn’t Tenma-kun close to Aoyagi-kun?” Fuyune asks, and Kusanagi tilts her head slightly.
“What are you talking about? They’re not close.”
Fuyune’s eyes widen.
“I thought their families were close, weren’t they? At least that’s what I found out online… Yakumo Tenma and Harumichi Aoyagi are thick as thieves. They have been since they were children.”
Kusanagi shrugs.
“Maybe ask Tsukasa about that? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Fuyune nods, and she crosses Kusanagi’s name off her list.
~
“Eh? You want to know about Aoyagi?” Tenma-kun says. “Why ask me? We barely know each other.”
“I thought your families were very close, weren’t you?” Fuyune responds, and Tenma-kun sighs.
“…That was a long time ago. I think that seeing how he treats Aoyagi is what broke something in my Mom. She couldn’t keep being friends with him. Her conscience couldn’t handle it anymore, no matter how much she cared about him.”
Fuyune sighs.
“I… didn’t know that. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright. Don’t worry about it.”
Suddenly, there’s maniacal cackling, and Fuyune jumps.
Tenma’s eyes widen, and he motions for Fuyune to run.
She doesn’t need to be told twice. She’s down the stairs before the source can approach.
And she crosses off another name on her list.
~
Oh, god. This is one she’s not looking forward to.
She softly approaches a brunet, but he turns on his heel and flashes her a smirk.
“Well, well. Who are you?” Arata Tono says.
Fuyune gulps. She’s a reporter. She can do this.
“I-I’m Fuyune Shimizu. I’m with the Miyajou newspaper. I’m conducting an investigation on the disappearance of Akito Shinonome.”
Tono’s face immediately falls, and he sighs.
“And here I thought I was going to get another article written about me~ Why do you want to know where Shinonome went anyway?”
“His partner—”
“Don’t call them that. They’re not partners.” Tono snaps, with a… crazed look in his eyes.
Fuyune gulps. This man is dangerous.
“Aoyagi-kun is losing his mind. Kohane-chan keeps randomly crying in class. I… I can’t stand seeing this.”
Tono lets out a low sigh that almost sounds like a growl, reaching out and pulling on a lock of Fuyune’s hair.
She needs to get out of here. But she needs an answer first.
“I don’t care about Shinonome.” Tono sighs. “But I guess for a cute little thing like you, I can give you something.”
He leans in to whisper into Fuyune’s ear, and Fuyune has to resist the urge to run in the other direction.
“Shinonome’s a talentless hack. He probably finally realized it and ran off.”
He finally leaves and turns to walk away, and Fuyune can’t bite her tongue any longer.
“Wasn’t Souma Miyata also a ‘talentless hack’?” She snaps.
And Tono reaches over and grabs her by the collar, throwing her against the wall of an alley.
“Never compare my Souma to that Shinonome brat again.” He hisses. “Souma was the loveliest singer I’d ever heard. I’d suggest you shut that pretty mouth of yours and leave before we have another problem.”
He drops her to the ground and stalks away, and Fuyune can finally breathe again.
She scoops up her notebook and rushes away, but she’s stopped by Shiraishi.
“I’m so sorry about that.” She says, her eyes widening. “He’s… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“What do you have to be sorry about? You didn’t do anything.” Fuyune asks, tilting her head, and Shiraishi sighs.
“I… I just want you to know that he wasn’t always like this.” She whispers. “Arata and I used to be really close, but after Souma got hurt, he… changed. He’s like a totally different person. I can barely even recognize him.”
She closes a fist and sighs.
“…Sometimes I miss the guy he used to be. But I don’t think he can ever be that guy again. Not unless his partner was here.”
Fuyune’s eyes soften and she puts a hand on Shiraishi’s shoulder.
“…How are you holding up?” She whispers.
Shiraishi shrugs.
“I’m trying to hold up. Kohane needs me. …And so does Toya, now that Akito’s not here.”
Fuyune clutches her notepad.
“…I’ll find him. I promise.” She whispers.
Shiraishi starts to tear up a little.
“I hope you’re not lying.” She whispers.
~
What’s the connection? What’s the thread?
She’s trying to research Akito Shinonome. Find what would cause him to vanish… or to be taken.
All she can find are videos.
He sings like an angel. She doesn’t know what Tono-san means about him being a talentless hack.
He’s protective, loyal, passionate… and above all, he’s driven.
It’s obvious why Aoyagi is drawn to him like a magnet.
And it’s also obvious why anyone would want him. If Fuyune were a worse woman, she might have…
No. Stop. Freeze.
God, Fuyune hates her intrusive thoughts. They never stop.
Who could it be? Tono acts like he hates Shinonome, but…
But there’s something in his partner that comes through in old videos. And the same thing comes through in Shinonome.
It’s clear he’s not mentally healthy, would he actually…?
She writes his name down in her notepad and puts the pen to her lips.
…He’s the best lead she has right now. It’s the only thing she can think of.
But then she gets a text from the newspaper group chat.
[BREAKING NEWS: Kamikou Student Toya Aoyagi’s house has burned down with him inside it]
What?!
Fuyune throws a jacket on and bolts out of the house, but by the time she gets there the fire’s already out.
The entire place is burned to the ground, and it looks like the firefighters are only halfheartedly picking around.
If the house is this charred, there probably won’t be anything but Aoyagi-kun’s ashes left behind.
“Who are you?” An older man says, his face twisting in anger.
“Fuyune Shimizu.” Fuyune whispers. “I’m… a reporter for Miyajou’s student newspaper.”
“Oh, the reporters are already sniffing around.” The man groans. “Couldn’t he have chosen a more… private way to do this?”
“To do what?” Fuyune asks.
“Don’t you know anything? Suicide. The rest of the family will get embroiled in an investigation now.” The man says. “I can’t believe I raised him like this. It’s his mother’s fault, she’s always been too soft on him.”
Fuyune flinches back.
“How could you say that? Your son just… and you’re… don’t you love him?”
The man, who seems to be Toya-kun’s father, just shrugs.
“Love him? Why would I? He was supposed to inherit my talent and legacy. He was the one who threw it all away.”
Fuyune clutches her pen.
“You bastard.” She mutters under her breath, and she stalks away before he can say anything more.
She sucks in a breath and starts going back home.
She needs to find Shinonome-kun now more than ever.
He needs to know that his partner is gone.
And she needs to confront her suspect.
~
“It has to be you.” Fuyune spits. “You took him, didn’t you? You’re the only one that it could be.”
Tono sighs, brushing his hair out of his face.
“Evidence is everything in a court of law.” He responds. “What kind of proof do you have?”
“I…” Fuyune starts. “I don’t have proof. But who else could it have been?”
“Try anyone. Shinonome had no shortage of enemies here, I’m not the only one.”
“Enemies… I’m not sure that’s accurate.” Fuyune says. “There’s a certain something about Shinonome. A certain something that’s evident in your old partner.”
Tono’s eyes gain that sharp anger again, but Fuyune keeps going.
“I propose this. You kidnapped Shinonome because you wanted to turn him into your partner. You saw things about him that reminded you of the one you love above all and wanted to do everything you could to have a partner that could stand by you.”
Tono freezes for a second.
And then he bursts out laughing.
“Nice try.” He smirks. “But there’s one thing you don’t know.”
“What?”
He blinks twice, and suddenly all the light vanishes from his eyes.
“I haven’t felt a positive emotion in three fucking years. Even in the hypothetical scenario that I did, no one can replace my partner. If you think I could possibly be crazy enough to kidnap Shinonome and turn him into Souma, it would be impossible. They’re completely different people.”
“Love is irrational!”
“If you think that, then I’m the wrong person to be asking. You want love, go talk to Aoyagi.”
“He’s dead.” Fuyune says. “He killed himself last night by burning his house down with himself inside.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? I just saw him a couple of hours ago.”
“It must have been someone else. I was there, there was nothing left.”
Tono shrugs.
“Maybe he faked his death or something. Or maybe I’m insane, I do still see my partner out of the corner of my eye sometimes.”
Fuyune freezes.
“Faked… his death? But…”
“Was there anything in the wreckage?” Arata asks, and Fuyune shakes her head.
“Just ashes.”
“Not even bone fragments? That seems kind of unlikely, doesn’t it?”
“But why would he do that?!” Fuyune yells.
And Tono just shrugs again.
“Love is irrational. Aoyagi loved Shinonome more than anything.”
“You can’t be serious…” Fuyune breathes. “You just can’t. ”
“Look, I’m just the crazy bitch on Vivid Street.” Tono sighs. “You don’t have to trust me, but what you do have to do is investigate a bit. I’m out of here, I need to get to practice.”
He stalks away, and Fuyune’s left stunned.
…There’s no way. There’s absolutely no way, but…
But it makes sense.
~
Akito wakes up in a comfortable bed with a crippling headache.
Ugh… where the hell is he?
He pulls himself out of the bed, and he hears the door open behind him.
“Ah, Akito! You’re awake!” A familiar voice starts, and then Akito sees that familiar two-toned hair.
“Toya…?” Akito asks, and Toya drifts over to the bed.
“Hey, partner. How are you feeling?”
“Like shit. Where are we?”
“Just a little apartment I’ve found~” He purrs. “I’ve decided to take your advice. To find what I want and take it.”
”What? What are you talking about.”
Toya runs a finger down Akito’s face.
“You. I want you. And I wanted to throw away everything I was.”
Akito flinches back, and Toya tilts his head.
“Akito?” He asks. “Are you alright?”
“Am I alright?!” Akito asks. “Toya, what the hell did you do?!”
“Not much. Kidnapped you, faked my own suicide because I was so upset, and…”
Akito pulls away even more.
“What…? I-I don’t even know how to react to this, what the fuck is going on?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m in love with you. I love you so much that I don’t want anyone else to even look at you. So we’ll fly away, free from the birdcage. And we’ll never be pulled apart again.”
“Toya, this is insane. I’m leaving.” Akito says, pushing him away and walking over to the door, but…
“Did you really think I wouldn’t have anticipated that?” Toya purrs. “I know you better than you know yourself, Akito.”
…The door’s locked. He can’t get out.
“Toya, this isn’t funny.” Akito says. “Let me out.”
“It’s dangerous out there!” Toya cries. “People are after both of us. They don’t want us to be together. Anything could happen. I mean, look what happened to Souma-san!”
Akito tilts his head.
“Is that what you’re worried about?” He asks. “Toya, nothing’s going to happen.”
“That’s probably what Souma-san said.” Toya replies. “And look what happened to him.”
Akito sighs.
Oh, he was hoping he wouldn’t have to do this.
He’s not blind. He knows that Toya’s in love with him.
But… there’s one problem.
“Toya, I’m sorry.” Akito whispers. “But I’m…”
“You’re…” Toya starts.
“Straight. I’m straight.” Akito sighs.
Toya blinks.
And then his eye starts to twitch.
“You’re what? ”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, so I didn’t say anything, but…”
“You didn’t want to hurt my feelings?! I faked my own fucking suicide for this, Akito! I burned down my house!”
And the door bursts open.
“Aoyagi-kun! It was you all along!” A girl yells, and Toya just… walks through the door.
“Fuck this. I have no reason to live anymore.”
The girl turns to Akito confusedly, and Akito sighs.
“I’m sorry about this. Toya, wait up! It’s okay! We can still be partners!”
“Leave me be! I can’t believe this!” Toya yells back.