Work Text:
Identity could be a weapon if sharpened in the right way. A dangerous tool to use against someone, or to deceive others.
It ran deeper than just someone's appearance– it was their voice, their mannerisms, their personality, fingerprints, relationships…
Everything that made that person them .
But what if you could take that all away? Or rather, what if you could replicate all of that until nothing unique remained?
What if you could turn all of that against them?
“A call from the Prime Minister's secretary!” Teruko announced suddenly, running in with her phone held to her ear. “She asks whether we’ve seen the news already.”
“I don’t believe we have– do we ever?” Tachihara scrambled to open up a news app on his phone
“Not really, but hey, let’s check now. Anything prime-minister-related there, Tachihara?”
“Uh… I don’t think there’s anything not about him.” He’d gone slightly wide-eyed, raising an eyebrow and seeming disgusted at what he found when he showed the screen of the phone to Tecchou sitting beside him, who stared at it intently for a second after being prompted.
“ Japanese Prime Minister’s speech riddled with ten minutes of self-contradictions and hateful statements. ” He reads out loud, voice even though his expression showed some judgement. “ Prime Minister appears before the people to spread dangerous messages. ”
“Oh, that… hm.” Teruko was temporarily taken aback until the voice on the other side of the phone spoke again. “No?” She covered the microphone of the device before elaborating on the information being told to her. “She says that he didn’t say anything like it and that they found him locked inside of a closet about ten minutes after the speech concluded, tied and gagged. After they found him they couldn’t find whoever did speak, though.”
“Still, this is a PR nightmare. The people won’t just believe that it wasn’t him , a few hundred people were standing in the crowd and they all saw the same thing– wasn’t there any security in place? How could this even happen?”
“That’s why she called us. We’ve got a high priority mission on our hands to find this criminal impostor and get answers out of them so the harm reduction team has a face to put blame on for the public eye.” Finally lowering the phone and hanging up, Teruko sighed. “This is important. Speaking of getting information out of them, where’s Jouno?” She turned her head to Tecchou rather obviously, expecting him to answer.
“...I don’t know where Jouno is. Are they on a mission?”
“Doubt it, nothing was scheduled for them except that place with the one old lady with dementia that always asks for them specifically because she thinks they’re her deceased son. She was having another one of her episodes with her ability running rampant, so the place called, but that was early in the morning, they should be back already.” Teruko sighed, shaking her head slightly disapprovingly at Jouno’s habit to stray from the group.
“I passed them in the hallway earlier, they’re definitely in the Headquarters somewhere.” Tachihara chimed in. “Do you want me to go find them?”
“We can just call them up, it’s fine. In the meantime we should look into the registered ability user register for anyone that might have an impersonation ability, because if it could fool everyone like that there’s no way it was just a costume.” Teruko ordered around, composure serious– while she was often childlike and somewhat immature, when a situation required serious leadership she could be counted on.
Tachihara ran off to access their information database while Tecchou remained seated, patiently waiting for further instructions.
“Hey, what are you waiting for? Call up Jouno, like I said!” An accusing finger was practically shoved into his face.
“Ah– I didn’t realise you were referring to me with that order.”
“Well, I was . It’s always you that’s being talked to when we say to go get Jouno, they’re your partner.”
“I was under the impression that was only in the case of duo assignments, I apologise.” He bowed his head and stood up from the chair to walk into the hallway.
“Where are you going? Call them, I said!”
“They have my number blocked.” He deadpanned, showing it was not too uncommon.
“What did you do this time– not relevant, you can tell me that story another time– just use your radio!”
“It is broken, remember?” Tecchou pointed out, and this was in fact something he had said earlier that day when he’d returned from a lengthy mission cut short due to more efficiency than expected. During the fight with the criminal, his radio had been crushed under falling rubble as a final stand of resistance before the rogue was handed over to authorities.
They hadn’t made a replacement for him yet.
“Use mine, here– I have to go look through files with Tachihara.” She handed over her radio, a simple thing with five buttons, one for each Hunting Dog specifically and one that opened up the general channel for every Hunting Dog to hear.
“Which one’s your Jouno button–” There were no markings or initials to distinguish the buttons aside from where they were placed.
“Bottom right. Now get to it.” She left the room as Tecchou muttered a confirmation that he’d heard her words, before trying to make contact with Jouno. Once the click of the channel connecting rang, he spoke up.
“Tecchou speaking. Your presence is asked for a mission, downstairs. High priority.” Not many words were needed– especially through a radio it was a habit to speak in key words.
“ You’re back already? Sure, I’ll be there. ” Their voice rang through the small metal box, distorted slightly by static before the click of the connection breaking up once again showed they’d hung up. Tecchou carefully put down the radio on the table for Teruko to grab the next time she walked by.
Once again, he was left standing there semi-uselessly without orders to follow, soon joined by Jouno who pushed open the door not even a minute after being called upon.
“What’s happening, exactly?” They walked in calmly, analysing the surroundings but finding nothing that betrayed the answer to their question, before Teruko barged in from the other side once again.
“We’ve found our ability user! Fuuka Yamaguchi, ability to transform her body at will into any other humanoid she’s seen, including fingerprints, voice– all of it. I think we have our criminal.” Teruko spoke with glee, both hands on her hips in a boastful way as her voice projected through the room. That was when she noticed Jouno. “Ah, Jouno, right on time. We have our target, we’ll need you to be ready to interrogate her by the time we’re back.”
“What exactly is she in for?”
“Identity theft and impersonation of the Prime Minister to spread hateful messages and stain his reputation.”
“Defamation, then.” Jouno appeared pensive for a moment, before turning their head to the side, facing Tecchou. “And how long has he been back, exactly?”
“A few hours? The criminal turned out less slippery than we thought and has been handed over to local authorities for further incarceration, or something.” Teruko glossed over the details, more preoccupied with the pressing matter at hand.
“More or less than three hours?” Tecchou could feel the scrutiny directed at him, and Jouno didn’t even have the capacity to glare– they had such a way of judging that you just knew they were picking you apart– they made no effort to hide that, either.
“About two, give or take.” Teruko had turned back to look over her shoulder to find Tachihara who walked in carrying a stack of papers with printed out information on the ability user.
“...hm.” Jouno hummed in confirmation, the feeling of being examined only growing more prominent, making him shiver. Before he could even react or speak, they’d moved faster than Tecchou’s naked eye could follow and he suddenly felt a stinging pain in his side.
..what?
A blade had met his ribs on the left side, small and concealed in their sleeve most likely before they had pulled it out to strike.
His lips parted to ask why they’d do that, but with the shock, nothing came out. Jouno’s face was stone cold as a gasp went through the room from the other two Hunting Dogs.
“Jouno?!” Teruko exclaimed first, rushing forward to pull them back, and they didn’t resist that, fingers releasing the knife and leaving it planted into his side. “Why would you do that–”
Tecchou could feel his strength fading, as well as his vision, which was starting to turn black around the edges, until…
Until he was no longer Tecchou.
Slumped against the wall, clutching her side, stood a black-haired woman with her face wringed into a grimace of pain.
“That’s why.” Jouno said, voice entirely void of remorse or regret as Teruko loosened her grip on them, still with the fabric of their sleeve between her fingers but making no effort to restrain anymore.
“That’s… That’s Fuuka.” Tachihara held up the printed out picture just to confirm the similarities, but he couldn’t deny that it was a perfect match. “How did you know, Jouno-san?”
“Unimportant. Let’s get her in cuffs before we waste time on idle chatter.” With a fluid motion they unhooked the tool from their belt, shrugging off what remained of Teruko’s grip on them as they walked forward to grab the temporarily stunned woman by the wrist. “Consider yourself under arrest. I’ll get back to you once we know what information we want.” The metal restraints clicked shut.
“...I suppose I can call the secretary back, then.” Teruko didn’t break her staring at the infiltrator, not even when she grabbed her phone and put the password in, only looking down once it was time to dial the number. She excused herself and left the room to report a job already well-done.
“Jouno-san, how did you know ?” Tachihara repeated his earlier question, now with a little less of a stunned demeanour and more curious.
“A few crucial mannerisms didn’t line up with what Tecchou-san usually acts like.” The answer was about as noncommittal as one could get while still giving a distinct reply: they simply weren’t convinced. That was all.
“Those must be details, neither me nor Teruko noticed a thing–”
“They’re not things you’d be able to perceive, I bet. Don’t worry about it, it was just her heartbeat and breathing, such things.” Jouno gestured vaguely with their left hand, a movement that didn’t resemble anything.
“Then why did you ask how long Tecchou– or well, Fuuka– had been here? If you were sure –”
“Many things can influence heartbeats or breathing, Tachihara– just trust that I know what I’m doing, okay? This is not a skill you can learn unless you’re built for it.” A slight hiss had crept into their more educational tone of voice, a sound that was a warning, displeasure waiting to strike unfortunate prey.
It indicated the end of the conversation, lest one was keen on walking on eggshells or landmines.
Tachihara was not a person that fit that description, and so he raised both hands in mock surrender, taking a step back out of their personal space.
“Just call me up once we have the list of questions and the orders. I’ll be occupying myself with showing this impostor her cell, in the meantime.” Fuuka was pulled to her feet with enough force to make her briefly lose contact with the floor, Jouno’s grip sufficiently tight to keep her upright even as she stumbled slightly in her descent.
The two of them disappeared through the doors that led to the colder corridor where the holding cells and makeshift interrogation rooms were. Once the doors locked, Jouno grabbed paper to make a sign.
‘This cell contains a shapeshifter. Do not release the prisoner, no matter who they appear to be.’
They had almost run out of space on the paper, but they didn’t care enough to grab a new sheet, so further elaboration wouldn’t be given– they liked to believe they were perfectly clear in that simple instruction, anyone that saw their neat handwriting would know what rule to obey by.
Jouno put the keys to the cell back in the vault with the rest of them– after all, they could get in and out of the cells without issue using their ability, and it’d make it harder for anyone else to interrupt what they had planned.
Further down the line, a girl’s screams could be heard from down the hallway. None of the Hunting Dogs present cared to interrupt Jouno’s… efficiency and passion for their craft .
╍┅┉━━━━━┉┅╍
Later in the evening, Jouno sat cross-legged on their bed after a job well done, fidgeting with the buttons on their phone to resolve a malfunction with their text-to-speech. It was a new device, though it had its hitches after a recent faulty update, and the military didn’t really buy any blind-person-centred phones out of their own accord. They’d have to request one, and that was more hassle than it was worth– until this one was worn to its last limbs, they’d manage.
Having found the toggle entirely out of muscle memory– after all this time it was really easy to find– it made the familiar noise of a reboot and Jouno sighed, placing it on the nightstand.
Why does the text-to-speech have to disable every time the battery runs out? It can’t be that hard to save the preferences–
It’d be very handy if they could tell the time right about now, but instead they were left estimating it was about 5PM. Dinner soon, as much was likely. They weren’t quite hungry yet.
I wonder when Tecchou-san will be back. Actually, this time. Hopefully after dinner, I wouldn’t want him to sour the little appetite I have.
They rolled over onto their stomach with a groan, checking whether their phone had restarted yet. No luck. Once it gave a sign of life, they’d be right out of the door, they just needed it in case…
In case of what? Anyone important could just reach them through the military-grade radio they were all required to carry.
Ping!
They immediately scrambled to grab their phone that had not only shown its first signs of life, but also indicated a new message.
From: Tecchou ♡
Jouno couldn’t recall putting a heart after his name, but that wasn’t relevant at this time.
I finished the job. I’ll be back in about 10 minutes.
They scoffed, typing back a response.
And you thought only I had to know that? This isn’t the group chat
I wanted you to know first.
And you have the group chat muted.
Well, Tecchou wasn’t wrong about that. Ever since Teruko and Tachihara had once decided to spam the entire thing with images they believed to be hilarious, Jouno had blocked all notifications from it out of sheer spite– they couldn’t participate, so they wouldn’t .
Sure. Keep your word, 10 minutes, I’ll be timing you.
On my way.
Jouno found themself smiling slightly at the mental image of Tecchou speeding up his steps the moment he read that message, taking the challenge much more seriously than anyone else would. They didn’t bother actually setting a timer for it– whether Tecchou succeeded or failed entirely depended on whether they felt he deserved it. Somehow, he hadn’t caught on to the way his success rate seemed to fluctuate with Jouno’s mood yet.
Either way, it seemed their approval or slight scorn was enough to keep Tecchou motivated to take on these challenges time and time again.
Ah, right, they were going to go downstairs once the technical difficulties had resolved themself. What an unfortunately timed distraction– one that had lifted their spirits ever so slightly, but that was irrelevant– they should get back on course.
They pushed open their bedroom door, locking it behind them and pausing for another moment to check whether it was properly shut– you never knew when Teruko felt like finding a victim for one of her pranks, and Jouno wouldn’t let her invade the sanctuary of their room for such a goal. It was the one place where they could feel completely at peace and any disruption would only leave them agitated from the effects in the long run.
Well, one of two places they felt safe.
The stairs creaked slightly under their weight on the way down, so Jouno made a mental note to add that to the list of concerns to bring up once the possibility arose.
So far, that list had grown quite long, and never once had they actually said a word of it aside from snide remarks or underhanded comments aimed at authority, but one could imagine.
They entered the kitchen again, going to grab a snack rather than a proper meal, some crackers and a piece of cheese– best to stock up before the unholy combination of bananas with mustard or sashimi and strawberries entered the stage and knocked the last desire to eat from their psyche.
Speaking of that concoction, it seemed the perpetrator had arrived, judging by the ruckus in the distance.
I thought I had more time–
“Tecchou-san is back.” They announced, getting both Tachihara and Teruko to turn their heads to Jouno, before immediately snapping it around to the door as it gets opened with just a little too much force.
“I’m back.” Jouno could feel those golden brown eyes drill into them specifically, expectantly.
“8:54, you made it.” They made up an arbitrary number, but it seemed Tecchou once again didn’t bother to check the realism of it, instead his heart briefly skipped in glee at a victory, his face unmoving as always.
Tecchou pulled back the empty seat that remained, next to Jouno, eyes not breaking his gaze the entire time.
“Staring problem?” They raised an eyebrow, voice level and not quite reaching over the ruckus Tachihara and Teruko were making on the other side of the table, but Tecchou could hear it regardless. He wondered whether they were upset or bothered by his presence– he was only supposed to be back later, after all.
“Not really. I was just thinking.” Finally, he turned his head away.
“Don’t strain yourself, that must be so difficult for you.” They spoke flatly, lifting a single cracker to their mouth and taking a bite.
“About the mission I was on.”
“Significant decrease in difficulty.” The rest of the cracker was discarded back onto their plate as they turned their head towards Tecchou. “So, what about it? You wanted to ask me something, clearly.”
“I was just thinking of how much easier it’d have been if you were there.” He shrugged.
“That’s usually how labour works, many hands make light work– but I was needed here, or these idiots would have fallen prey to infiltration.” The idiots in question were too busy bickering amongst themselves to be offended by Jouno’s words.
“I meant you specifically, I know there’s strength in numbers. Ants always utilise– infiltration? How did the threat even get through the security system?” It was a curious thing, how Tecchou always seemed to process compound sentences with a significant delay in the second half. It was one of his many identifying traits.
“Because the security system thought it was you.” Jouno replied, their tone of voice even as if stating a simple fact. “She copied your body. That includes your fingerprints.”
“Right, I suppose that does make sense.” Tecchou appeared pensive for a second, but Jouno doubted he actually was doing more than just processing how such events unfurled. “...is that why there’s a sign in the hallway?”
“Exactly. Don’t let her out, she’s fessed up all the information we needed from her, but the special forces will come get her at some point this evening. We can’t have her escape before then.”
“She seemed injured when I walked past her.” He frowned. “She was whimpering like a wounded animal.”
“That’s because I stabbed her while she was masking as you.” As well as some other interrogation techniques that would go unmentioned, lest Jouno be stabbed next. “Just eat, ask questions later.”
The rest of the meal passed in silence, with Tecchou’s eyes practically drilling holes in the side of Jouno’s face but they refused to acknowledge the burning curiosity that he seemed to radiate.
Once they excused themself, plate empty and hunger– or the slight gnawing feeling that wasn’t nearly prominent enough to qualify as such– satisfied, they got up to leave with Tecchou following them like a shadow. Their steps aligned almost perfectly, but with how heavy the other’s breathing was, Jouno had no trouble distinguishing the other's presence even if they were to not be aware of a heartbeat floating at arm’s length behind them.
“You’re following me.” Jouno didn’t slow down their steps, neither did they turn their head, but it was obvious who they were addressing with this acknowledgement that they noticed .
“Can we train together?” Tecchou sped up slightly to walk beside them now, the question– while phrased as a mutual effort– really was just a request for company rather than any exercising on Jouno’s part. In fact, Tecchou would likely be the only one actually being progressive with the workout.
“I suppose I have time.” They sighed, taking note of how Tecchou was leaning towards them as he walked– another habit Jouno had taken note of long ago. “How long?”
“As long as you’ll have me.”
“I guarantee nothing.”
Mere minutes later, Jouno was sitting cross-legged on top of Tecchou’s back as the man did push-ups, idly chatting.
“–and so I asked how long you– or well, Fuuka, you know what I’m talking about– how long you had been there and they said two hours ! I’d been back for three, and there was no way that you wouldn’t have come to bother me after your mission at least once .”
“Mhm.” Tecchou hummed, showing he was still listening. “So you stabbed her.”
“Well, I found the timing very suspicious, since they were just telling me about a shapeshifter– and even if that wasn’t an impostor, a light stab wouldn’t have been unwarranted.”
“Why? Are you upset with me?” Tecchou stopped his workout temporarily, arms locked in the stretched position, as he looked over his shoulder to Jouno who sat there with their own arms crossed.
“You’ve stabbed me so often, I could at least do it once. ” Such a petty explanation showed that there was no specific evil Tecchou had committed, and so he was free from scorn, at least.
“Those were reprimands.” He resumed the push-ups. “And I’m quite sure I’ve apologised for those injuries at least a few times.”
“Kissing it better doesn’t count as an apology, you had selfish motives.” They poked the back of Tecchou’s head, and he turned back to face them in response.
“I also said sorry after every kiss.”
“I didn’t hear it.” They complained, arms still crossed as they turned their head away.
“You hear everything.” Tecchou was sceptical. “Are you sure you don’t remember, Jouno?”
“Maybe I heard nothing because it didn’t happen .” Jouno insisted.
“Did happen. Do you need me to start over? Because I wouldn’t mind.”
“We’re in a public space, Tecchou-san.” They shifted their position, and Tecchou knew that was a sign they were getting ready to leave, so he’d have to choose his next words carefully but quickly .
“I know. Not right now or right here. Whenever and wherever you want.” He was perfectly aware of where Jouno stood in terms of PDA, and that was completely against it . Tecchou himself didn’t mind, within limits of reason, but he’d respect and abide by where their level of comfort was.
“...I’ll keep it in mind.” Jouno muttered, muscles relaxing again– threat neutralised, they would stay, at least for now. “You said something about your mission at the dinner table. Tell me about how that went.”
“It went fine.” Tecchou spoke in short bursts to align with his breathing as he kept doing pushups. “Although I’m sure that it would’ve gotten resolved much earlier if you’d been present.”
“Right, you did say that. How much faster?”
“At least a day. One of the witnesses apparently lied due to bribery. I couldn’t help but be reminded of how you’d have called them out instead of following the instructions to arrest an innocent civilian.” He clicked his tongue disapprovingly, disappointed at himself for being fooled. “I should have considered the possibility of corruption in the system.”
“Well, it’s lucky for you that you’re not exactly meant to fill the role of the thinker, so no one expected you to solve mysteries. You followed the orders you were given– like an idiot, but you followed them.” Jouno ruffled Tecchou’s hair, the gesture simultaneously affectionate and carrying a derogatory weight– an air of endearment one would direct at a puppy, perhaps, finding oneself above such a creature but still thinking it’s cute .
Tecchou’s shoulder muscles stiffened in response, gradually relaxing again as Jouno’s words served to pierce through the blame, framing it as unfortunate but not detrimental.
“If you say so.” Despite the flat tone of voice, Jouno could tell there was a profound appreciation beneath the words. One hand still tangled in Tecchou’s hair from the previous ruffle, they started running their fingers through the strands in a more gentle and relaxing way.
It was quite soft, and despite how it may look it was not tangled. The very few knots Jouno came across quickly came undone under the very gentle tugs of their fingers. Tecchou hummed in appreciation for the soft gesture, not stopping his workout.
Jouno didn’t like textures, usually. They rarely took off their gloves, and while of course they were part of the uniform, even in more casual or formal settings they wouldn’t remove them lest they had another pair to replace them. They were picky with fabrics and food– though the latter wasn’t exclusively a texture issue– but something about Tecchou’s hair was a pleasant feeling.
Fidgeting with things was an urge usually repressed, Jouno much preferred being taken seriously and felt that such idle movements of their hands would stand in the way of it– if the urges got the better of them, they would crack their knuckles instead, benefitting off the slight intimidation factor.
They sat in silence now, the constant up and down so repetitive and even that it grew unnoticeable, and with their hands occupied they had space to think more clearly. There were still a few cases to be resolved that had been waiting for Tecchou’s return, and they planned to get to those in the morning but for that they needed a plan.
As previously stated, Tecchou wasn’t expected to fill the role of the thinker, that was Jouno’s job. He was just there to follow their instructions, trusting that Jouno made the correct calls before striking with his sword.
Their mistake could harm both of them. That’s why they needed to plan this properly.
Tecchou was glad to just enjoy their company in silence, continuing the push-ups for as long as Jouno decided they’d take sitting on top of him, half-zoned out in deep thought. A similar situation once caused him to achieve a new personal best in holding the plank position, due to Jouno losing track of time and Tecchou being unwilling to disrupt their thought process, even if he was slightly trembling after sitting there for five hours .
It was a particularly difficult case, he’d come to realise the following day, and so he could only be glad they’d prepared so thoroughly for it. If they’d forgotten to map out an escape route, then that criminal may still have been running rampant in the present.
Minutes passed. An hour might have, too, he wasn’t completely sure of it, but around that time frame Jouno started showing further signs of life, beginning by unhanding the hair they’d been fidgeting with all along. Tecchou briefly mourned the loss, before stopping his workout and looking back at the other Hunting Dog, waiting for them to speak first.
“...are you done with your pushups?”
“That depends on whether you want to leave.” Tecchou awaited Jouno’s final judgement, the initial ‘as long as you’ll have me’ was in fact a dead serious estimate of the time he’d spend here. He’d gotten past the part of tiring out quickly, boredom had started to become a bigger threat in keeping up the workout– or sometimes the solitude.
Being alone in and of itself wasn’t bad, but Tecchou felt more comfortable when he was aware of Jouno’s whereabouts, ever since a close call had almost ripped them from him indefinitely. Sometimes he still woke up with the feeling that something was terribly wrong, that Jouno was gone, and that he had to find them, just for them to be sleeping peacefully not even an arm’s length away.
The mission from before, one that had stretched over the course of 3 days, still had him calling Jouno in the evenings and texting them throughout the day about anything and everything of mild interest, checking in on them every time his mind strayed from the objective he’d been given.
Usually he was so much better at that, concentrating on missions, but this one hadn’t quite sat with him right. Likely because his usual partner was several miles away, out of reach.
This is also how Jouno determined that the Tecchou that had initially ‘returned early’ was a fake– they knew that the moment Tecchou’s feet touched the floor of the Headquarters, he’d run straight to their room and knock on the door, to give them a hug or a kiss, to tell them he missed them.
“...I am done here. I'd just need to write some things down and wait for the special forces to come collect the criminal, after the criminal has been picked up, then I'll most likely go to bed.” Jouno responded after pondering for a moment, uncrossing their legs and jumping to their feet, swaying a little because the seated position had caused their legs to fall asleep.
“Alright.” Tecchou had also gotten up, curling one hand around Jouno’s waist to certainly keep them upright despite how they would manage on their own. “Let’s go do that.”
“ You go take a shower. You reek.” They quickly escaped the hold to put some distance between them, turning their back. “I’ll be in the custody hallway once you get out.”
He didn’t bother trying to refute the order, and so he left for the shower to clean off the sweat he’d accumulated throughout the workout. His feet were heavy thuds on the floor, one board that had always been a bit loose creaked under his sole. Not quite a safety hazard yet, but if it got worse, he’d have to report it.
The process of entering his room and stepping into the shower was a brief one, pulling off his clothing while also gathering a towel, not too keen on wasting time. After a brief but thorough rinse he stepped out and wrapped the towel around his waist, grabbing for more casual clothing as the uniform was soaked with the smell Jouno had told him to discard. Right into the laundry it went, and a shirt and sweatpants were put on.
The hallway seemed shorter on the way back– an illusion Jouno had once explained to Tecchou, it was because of the way a brain worked in the creation of memories, or something, Tecchou had been too busy staring to fully take in the explanation– and before he knew it he’d pushed past the last door.
There sat Jouno, scribbling a few things on a notepad as an arm reached through the bars of the cell towards them. Tecchou tensed, ready to rush forward, but the hand stopped right in front of them, grabbing nothing but air, clawing at it, desperately trying to reach further to no avail.
Jouno had purposefully positioned themself right out of reach of the shapeshifter in the cell. If she weren’t a criminal, perhaps Tecchou would have found it very unkind to taunt her like that. Now he simply ignored it.
“Jouno.” He greeted them, squatting down to be at roughly the same height Jouno was since there was no second chair for him to occupy in his immediate line of sight.
“Tecchou.” Jouno greeted back with the same energy, not turning their head. They’d likely heard his footsteps many rooms earlier. “I’m almost done with this, and the authorities confirmed they’re on the way.”
“Alright.” They had everything perfectly under control, as usual. Tecchou smiled just slightly, weight leaning slightly towards Jouno to be a bit nearer. He got a brief pat on the head in recognition, before that hand went back to holding the clipboard in place as they wrote.
His eyes trailed off to the piece of paper. A lot of words, a full paragraph, not even bullet points. Jouno’s handwriting was neat and consistent, but Tecchou couldn’t read all of that from where he was. The words muddled together because of the lack of spacing between them.
That wasn’t an issue Jouno experienced, however, so most of the reports and summaries they wrote ended up as a wall of text. The contents were always perfectly narrated, the legibility… was simply not quite ideal.
Tecchou’s eyes then drifted to the cell, the world briefly coming to a halt when the figure behind bars was… him. Face a scowl, showing a level of anger that Tecchou himself had never seen expressed. It was an intimidating expression, definitely, but the edge was taken off by the hand that still did not reach its target.
It was quite jarring to see an image of himself looking at Jouno with such extreme hostility. The target of that animosity didn’t even acknowledge it, but Tecchou felt uncomfortable.
“...she didn’t look like that when I first passed by.” He muttered, voice a bit low so his doppelganger wouldn’t hear.
“Like you? I think it’s just the form with the longest arms at her disposal.” Jouno lowered their pen again, finally turning their head to the threat behind a locked door. “She doesn't gain your strength, though, or else she'd have bent the bars without issue.”
“But she did get my fingerprints?”
“Of course. Those are natural. Your strength is artificial– at least partly. I won’t deny your efforts to keep it up, but a human body cannot hold up a falling building to help evacuate the way yours does. A natural human cannot bend these reinforced bars nearly enough to slip between them.” Jouno explained it very matter-of-factly, as if they knew all the details and functionalities of this ability as well as their own. Likely they’d gotten that information right from the source.
“It’s just very strange to see myself in there.” Tecchou’s eyes just kept straying to his own enraged features aimed towards someone he was certain he could never bring himself to hate so gutturally.
“She’s not a very convincing copy, if that reassures you.”
“But convincing enough to fool both Teruko and Tachihara. She looks exactly like me.” Like a mirror, but without the image being flipped as it stared back.
“If you think your appearance is all there is to you, then that’s simply pathetic.” Jouno scoffed. “By that logic, you wouldn’t even exist to me. You’re more than what you look like, or what name you answer to, or the food you eat– you’re the sum of all that, and then some.”
“That…” Tecchou was stunned. “That is very profound of you, Jouno. And… kind.”
“Don’t pretend like this was some sort of extremely shocking statement! I am very profound. You of all people don't get to be surprised by that.” They smacked Tecchou in the back of the head with their clipboard, shattering the illusion of the moment being soft, though he still felt it in the air somewhat.
“Usually not in a very nice way.” He rubbed the back of his head, though it didn’t hurt. He’d withstood so much more than a light smack– Jouno was holding back, and they both knew it. “I appreciate it.” Tecchou rested his arms on top of Jouno’s leg, placing his head on top of those. Jouno’s hand reached out to run their fingers through his hair almost on instinct. “And I love you too.”
“I never said that.” His affection was deflected as they were, unfortunately, still in public– with an audience nonetheless.
“You didn’t have to.” While once upon a time Tecchou would've been quite hurt by the casual dismissal, he'd long come to realise that there was no malice to this behaviour.
His head lay comfortably atop his arms, and so he basked in the casual affection granted while they waited for the authorities to come collect Fuuka, who was now staring at the one she copied with burning golden eyes. Tecchou did his best to ignore her, and with Jouno right there it was just a bit easier.
The pen scratched the last characters onto the sheet of paper and the utensil was put to the side, Jouno’s full attention now captured by their partner.
“You never change.” Jouno huffed, though they sounded almost amused.
“You wouldn't want me to.” Tecchou shot back immediately.
“There’s a few areas of improvement.” They chuckled. “But you’re fine, for the most part.”
“You’re also fine , then.” Tecchou mumbled, grabbing Jouno’s hand to hold it against his cheek, the cold skin soothing against the side of his face. “I love you regardless. No matter what you do. Even if your actions are worth reprimanding, sometimes.”
There was no reply to that but another semi-amused huff from Jouno, along with a flick to the forehead.
“Just keep an eye on the prisoner, alright?” Fuuka had crawled back into a corner of the cell, showing what Tecchou assumed to be her actual appearance since it was the same girl he’d passed earlier that day. Curled up and hidden in shadow, like a wounded animal.
“She doesn’t seem to be a threat at the moment.” Tecchou reported honestly. “Rather defeated, perhaps she’s realised how futile resistance is.”
“Or she’s waiting for the authorities to arrive and take her shot to escape then.” Jouno pushed Tecchou’s elbows from their lap as they stood up from the chair, stretching their arms above their head. “I’ll make her ready for transport, you go stand by the entrance and wait for them to arrive, it should be any moment now.”
“You’ll manage?” Tecchou checked, eyes once again straying to Fuuka in the cell, vividly remembering the rage she’d displayed.
Well, if she can’t mimic the enhanced strength, then Jouno’s always going to be stronger than her…
“Of course. Don’t patronise me, just do your job and don’t worry about mine. And hurry a bit, won’t you?” They shook the cell keys between their fingers, letting them clink together and drawing attention with the noise as they gestured to the door, indicating for Tecchou to get a move on.
The handing over went without a hitch for the most part. While Fuuka did very briefly attempt the gambit of impersonating Jouno as she was taken away, the deadpan comment from the genuine one that she’d better just use Priceless Tears to get out of the restraints shut her up quite fast. Past that, she did not make another peep.
Watching the car drive past the horizon– or at least, that’s what Tecchou did, Jouno was simply standing beside him waiting for any possible indication of disaster until they were gone– he could breathe a deep sigh. This entire ordeal had been quite uncomfortable, but nevertheless it all ended well, and for that he should be grateful.
“Want to go to bed?” He asked his partner, recalling how they’d previously mentioned that to be the final goal on the list. The ‘with me’ went unsaid but heavily implied, as that was what they usually did– Jouno ran rather cold and ended up hogging all the blankets, usually, but Tecchou didn’t mind that.
He was warm himself, the blankets usually were just put at the foot of the bed when Jouno wasn’t there with him. He kept them stocked specifically for his partner.
“Are you tired?” Jouno answered his question with another question.
“It’s been a long day, I could sleep.” Tired wasn’t quite right, Tecchou had enough energy to be vigilant for a while longer, something he often did even while in bed. The sounds outside the window or the faint glow of the moon, despite being repetitive and mundane, caught his interest for long enough to wind down entirely before he could properly rest. “Besides, you’re tired.”
“I’m not tired .” Jouno refuted, arms crossed and slightly defensive.
“You said so earlier.” He pointed out, growing confused at this adamant denial and what Jouno could possibly hope to gain by not admitting this.
“I didn’t say I was tired, I just said I’d be going to bed.”
“And what’s the difference, exactly?”
“Something too intricate to explain to you in a reasonable amount of time. Let’s just go.” They sighed, though it was more fond than annoyed, the phrase serving to end the conversation without having to admit a loss.
Their fingers laced with Tecchou’s, they found some comfort in the proximity, and once behind closed doors they’d find the exact environment to show their appreciation for their partner, properly. Those moments would always be Tecchou’s favourite, when it was just them.
It seemed Jouno was happy that Tecchou was back from his mission after all.