Work Text:
Akutagawa sets a kettle on the stove before starting dinner. His neighbors are playing their music absurdly loud, and Akutagawa has half a mind to threaten them into turning it down. However, he decides that he’s too tired, and doesn’t have the energy to threaten anyone today. So, he pours his tea, and serves himself dinner before sitting down at his dining room table.
He only gets a few bites in before his phone starts ringing. He barely looks over at the couch where he left his phone before turning back to his dinner. He continues eating even as his phone rings and rings, someone repeatedly calling him. Eventually they give up, and his phone goes silent.
Once he’s done with his dinner and cleaning up, Akutagawa takes his tea into the living room with him. He picks up his phone, which has vibrated to the edge of the couch. The number isn’t one that he has saved, but they called eight times before giving up. The number isn’t one that he recognizes either since he doesn’t save a lot of numbers unless they’re his co-workers’ numbers, but he’s pretty good about remembering people if they give him their numbers.
So, he puts his phone back down, and settles down with a book. It’s half an hour later when there’s a knock on Akutagawa’s door. He originally questions if someone is even knocking, because of how loud the neighbor’s music is, and how loud the pain pounding on his window is. He still gets up to check anyway. Atsushi is leaning against his doorway, soaking wet and shivering. Akutagawa blinks, surprised.
How did he get my address? Why is he here?
“Jinko?”
“Sorry, I didn’t think I could get anywhere else,” Atsushi whispers, his breathing labored.
Akutagawa pulls him inside, then shuts the door. Atsushi looks as though he’s trying to figure out if Akutagawa is going to stab him or not.
“I’m not supposed to have anything from work follow me to my apartment. It’s a security risk. Why are you here?”
“I was working on a case, and it went bad.”
There’s a growing puddle of water on Akutagawa’s floor, so he turns around.
“I’m going to get a few towels, then you can get to the point.”
Atsushi stays right where he is while Akutagawa grabs the towels. He tosses one on the floor, then drapes one around Atsushi’s shoulder.
“Now speak.”
Atsushi sinks to the floor, his eyes unfocused. Akutagawa frowns.
“The employer kidnapped me. He did something to my ability, and now it’s not working. I was with him for days, and he…” Atsushi shudders. “I think I got an infection, but I couldn’t get any further. It was raining, and I’m sorry that I tracked water in your apartment.”
Akutagawa hums.
“How did you get my address? It makes sense that you came here if it was the closest, but how did you know to?”
“Dazai gave me your address just in case.”
“Of course he did. Just stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Akutagawa walks to his room. He grabs some spare sleeping clothes, then grabs the first aid kit from his bathroom along with some pain meds and fever reducers. He walks back to find Atsushi still on the floor, leaning back against the wall. Akutagawa taps his shoulder as he kneels down on the floor.
“Where’s the infected injury?”
“Side.”
“Take your shirt off.”
Atsushi complies though it takes him a while to get the buttons undone. Akutagawa waits patiently until he does. Then he takes stock of the cuts and bruises all over Atsushi’s torso. He cleans each one thoroughly, then bandages them up.
Once he’s done, he says, “Ok, are there any more injuries that I should know about? Some of them do look infected, but there’s nothing more that I can do to fix that right now.”
“No, there shouldn’t be. Well, two of my fingers are broken, but I already set them, so it’s fine.”
Akutagawa nods. He pulls out the specific amount of pills he needs, then holds them out to Atsushi. Atsushi takes them, and Akutagawa stands up.
“I’m going to help you into the bathroom, and you’re going to change into these clothes. I’ll call someone to come pick you up, and then come get you.”
Atsushi nods, and Akutagawa pulls Atsushi to his feet. He has to hold most of Atsushi’s weight, and it’s oddly reminiscent of their fight on the boat. He has to force that thought out of his mind as he sets Atsushi down on the edge of the bathtub. Akutagawa puts the clothes on the top of the toilet. He walks back to the living room, and picks up his phone. He tries calling the number back that was calling him earlier since that’s a really odd coincidence. The call doesn’t go through, so he tries calling the number for the agency.
I don’t know any of their specific numbers.
The call doesn’t even connect. He walks back to the bathroom.
“Are you good?”
“Yeah, I changed.”
Akutagawa walks in, and grabs Atsushi. He takes him back to the living room, and helps him lay down on the couch.
“So, I don’t have any reception. It’s probably the-”
His neighbor’s music gets louder, and he has to stop himself from grinding his teeth together.
“It’s probably the storm. So, you’re stuck here for a while, I guess. I’m going to kill my neighbors, so I’ll be right back, and we can finish this conversation.”
Akutagawa walks next door, and bangs on the door. One of his neighbor’s opens the door.
“It is far too late in the evening to have your music playing this loud. Turn it down.”
The woman nods. She’s been terrified of Akutagawa since he almost took her fingers off when she tried to hit on him one time. He heads down the stairs, trying to see if he can get some signal from anywhere in the building. He can hear the wind and rain better once he gets away from the music. He only stays there for a few minutes before deciding that he’s not going to get any reception, and heads back up the stairs.
Atsushi is mostly asleep by then, so Akutagawa just sits down in the recliner. He curls up, tucking his feet underneath him before opening his book again. He ends up falling asleep with his face squished against the arm of his chair. He wakes up to someone wheezing, and for once, it’s not him.
Atsushi is wheezing, and his face is red. The music is off by now, so the rain is coming down really hard is the only other noise in his apartment. Akutagawa gets up, almost falling because his feet and legs are asleep. He settles himself on the floor for a minute before pulling himself back up.
“Atsushi.”
Akutagawa shakes Atsushi’s shoulder, who cracks his eyes open. He coughs, and Akutagawa flinches back.
He’s going to expose me to all kinds of germs.
“Hey,” Atsushi whispers, his voice mostly gone.
“You need to sit up. I’m going to get some pillows and blankets to prop you up with, and figure out if I have anything that’ll help you breathe better.”
Atsushi nods. Akutagawa goes back into his room to grab the stuff, and bring it back. He props Atsushi up with the blankets, who seems more awake, but still not coherent. His eyes are glazed over from the fever, and he’s shaking.
Akutagawa grabs his phone, knowing that dealing with this is way out of his league. Especially without any antibiotics, or anything other than the basic supplies in Akutagawa’s first aid kit. He sits down next to Atsushi as he opens his phone. He still has no bars, and the storm hasn’t eased up in the slightest.
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other. Dazai even said he couldn’t reach you after everything happened. I thought maybe you were avoiding me,” Atsushi says, still slumped over the blankets.
Akutagawa glances at him before turning away.
“As much as we hate each other, we had a pretty good run as partners, didn’t we? Is that over forever?”
Akutagawa bites the inside of his cheek.
“Try to get some more rest.”
Akutagawa walks to the door, slips his shoes on, and grabs his keys. If he can’t reach someone, he’s just going to have to go get someone from the agency. He doesn’t want to risk taking Atsushi out in the rain to bring him too, so he walks outside by himself. He drives to the agency building, even though he has no idea if anyone is going to be there.
Probably not. It’s two in the morning with one of the worst storms we’ve had in a really long time.
Akutagawa is the only one out driving, and he can barely see two feet in front of him. He stops in front of the agency building, and gets out. He knocks on the door for two minutes, then just picks the lock. He heads up the stairs, shivering from being out in the rain that long.
No one is in the offices, but he manages to find the address to the agency dorms on one of the computers. So, he heads there. He walks past the nameplates that he doesn’t recognize, and stops in front of one of the last ones. He knocks, and just keeps knocking until Dazai opens the door. Dazai looks half asleep, and furious. Akutagawa still feels himself shrink back a little when he sees how angry Dazai is.
“Akutagawa? What are you doing here? I was trying to call you earlier so you could help us look for Atsushi. At this point, we’re basically out of options. You didn’t want to help, or answer earlier, so why the hell are you here?”
“I was eating my dinner when you called, and I tried calling back. The storm took out my reception. Also, I’m here because Atsushi showed up at my apartment. Whoever took him did something to his ability, and he’s really sick. I tried to wait out the storm, but he was getting worse, and I couldn’t wait any longer.”
“I’m going to get Yosano. Just wait here, and we’ll follow behind you,” Dazai says before slipping past Akutagawa.
Akutagawa sighs, and waits for them to come back. It’s not long, and they follow Akutagawa home. He unlocks the door, and steps to the side.
“He’s in the living room.”
They both rush past Akutagawa, who just stays in the doorway. A few minutes later, Dazai walks back over.
“Yosano doesn’t want to do anything here, so we’re going to take him back to the dorms. Can you get him down to the car?”
Akutagawa sighs as he walks past. He uses Rashomon to gently pick Atsushi up, and he walks out to their car with Dazai. He keeps an eye on Yosano too, making sure that she’s behind them. Once he gets Atsushi settled in the backseat, he turns to Dazai.
“Is he going to be ok?”
“Yeah, he’ll be fine. Just don’t worry about it, and get back to whatever you were doing before he got here.”
Akutagawa nods, and heads back inside. He ends up getting a shower before climbing back into bed. He can’t quite get Atsushi’s words out of his head, and he ends up falling asleep thinking about them.