Chapter Text
“Uhm..”
Higuchi didn’t know what she was expecting walking into an Executives office,needing to hand in her reports.
She certainly didn’t expect a four year old girl,with brown hair and blue eyed,laying on the ground beside Chuuya’s desk,colouring with crayons what she was sure to be an important document. Well,she froze.
”Well,Higuchi? The reports?” Chuuya asked,slightly annoyed.
”..Ah yes Chuuya-san!” Higuchi suddenly unfroze.She ran to the desk and handed the reports,still staring at the little girl.
Higuchi started running gears in her head putting two and two together ‘she has blue eyes, so she must be related to Chuuya san,so,she must be her sister!That should be it,right?’
Higuchi,with all her confidence in her wits,turned back to Chuuya while walking out and said,”Your little sister is very cute,Chuuya-san!”
”Sister? No,she’s my daughter.” Chuuya says,with indifference in his eyes,like he’s talking about what to eat for lunch!
Higuchi almost froze,for a second time,but recovered in order to not embarrass herself. ”Well u-uhm if you need me for anything else, I’ll do it! I’m completely free!” Higuchi responded.
“Ah,in that case..” Chuuya looked down at his daughter. “This is Kiyo,could you take her outside for a while and maybe for some ice cream? Here,I’ll give you the money. Her stupid daycare decided to end two hours early and shes been eating my brain for the past 45 minutes about wanting to go out”he says,as he shuffles through his pockets,bringing out a few bills,giving it to Higuchi.
Higuchi stared for a good minute. ”Don’t worry Chuuya-san! I’ll take care of her!” Higuchi walks out,holding Kiyo’s hand.
————————————————————————————————————————-
“So,you’re telling me that this kid is Chuuya-san’s daughter!?” Tachihara says,slamming his coffee on the table,nearly spilling it. “I know like twenty people who want to get with Chuuya,and he already has a daughter? That’s..something..”.
”Yep,she is.” Higuchi just sighed, accepting
Kiyo was drinking a pink lemonade, which was disgustingly sweet, but it seemed to match her taste buds just fine. She was holding the drink with both of her hands, trying not to make it fall, while staring at them with big blue eyes, Tachihara could swear she was giving the ‘I know what you are’ look.
Tachihara looked at the child, “Hey kid, who’s your mom?”
“Don’t got one” Kiyo says,only lowering the drink for only a second, before shoving it in her mouth again.
He tried again. “Do you have any memories of your mother?”
”No” Kiyo said, her fave giving that she clearly did not like the topic of this conversation. “Only papa.”
Higuchi lowered her face into her hands. “She’s four years old, that means Chuuya-san must’ve had her when he was eighteen,barely legal! But who’s the mother then? I mean, how is it possible only with a father?”
Tachihara huffed. “Well, we should leave this topic for now. If she gets bored, we’re gonna be in trouble.”
Higuchi nodded, then promptly got up, moving her hand to Kiyo, signalling her to hold it. Kiyo gets up, and starts running while laughing.
Tachihara quickly gave chase, only to find her near the dustbin, where she threw the plastic cup that once had her pink lemonade.
”That kid is-hah..fast.” He says while catching his breath. “And I’m a mafioso!”
“Well she certainly got that from Chuuya-san” ,Higuchi mumbled.
Kiyo comes back. Higuchi looks down trying to smile,”Well Kiyo, where do you want to go?”. Kiyo looks up,and points to a nearby place. “There.”
————————————————————————————————————————————————
A grocery store.
What joy does a kid have in a grocery store!?
Apparently, Kiyo has lots of fun.
Tachihara and Higuchi just watch as Kiyo runs around the store like a kid who ate 5 bags of candy, expression gleaming like this is the best thing ever known to mankind.
Fortunately, they get her to stay with them and not cause a rukus. However, they overheard a certain conversation in the next aisle.
“But Atsushiiii! You know my bandages count as grocery right?” Dazai practically cried out.
“I understand Dazai-san, but we’re here just for some food supplies..” Atsushi tried convincing Dazai.
“Now you too are betraying me Atsushi! This isn’t fairrrr!” Dazai laid dramatically on the floor
“Dazai-san! Please get up,you’re causing a scene..”Atsushi said,trying to ignore the people staring at him.They were supposed to be detectives and professionals! Not fools..
‘Shit! The detective agency is here’ Higuchi thought. Although there were in a truce,things dont turn to sunshine and rainbows overnight, especially with a traitor like Dazai, some hostility was bound to be present. She turned to Tachihara, who took Kiyo’s hand and said in his calmest voice, “We need to go out of here okay? But we’ll get you some ice cream near the park!”
Kiyo pounted for a second, but as the idea of ice cream came, she agreed.
———————————————————————————————————————————
While Tachihara was away getting ice cream, Higuchi and Kiyo were near a lake. Kiyo looked bored, which she felt wasn’t a good sign.
Kiyo looked at Higuchi with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Higuchi-san! Look over there!” She said,pointing towards the lake.
And Higuchi,poor Higuchi trusted her. She looked where Kiyo was pointing,but saw nothing. “Over where?” She said,turning to Kiyo,but Kiyo was no longer there.
Panic settled in. Kiyo was fast,and Higuchi couldn’t see her anywhere near. When Tachihara came back, she explained the situation while running to find Kiyo.
They had reached all the way to the main cross way, where they final,y saw Kiyo…talking to the members of the detective agency,more specifically the Weretiger and Dazai.
“What are you doing over here kid? It’s not safe to be here,there are cars! Where’s your mother?” Atsushi asked the kid, concerned.
However,Dazai didn’t say anything. He just stared at the kid.
Higuchi ran towards them.
“Aaahhh! Thank you guys for catching her! Chuuya-san would be so mad if we lost her again!” Higuchi practically wailed like they were gonna execute her if she lost Kiyo. Well,they might’ve.
Tachihara on the other hand,well,his brain was short circuiting. He looked at Dazai and the kid for, he lost count how many times, and noted some similarities between them,not enough to draw a conclusion, but enough for it to be noteworthy.
“W-wait! We’re not about to hand out a child to a mafioso!” Atsushi realised.
“Ah,well uhm…” Higuchi tried thinking of an excuse. “She’s a high-ranking members daughter! We’re just..babysitting her!”
“I didn’t know the mafia had babysitting services” Dazai said,finally entering the conversation.
“Thank you again,if she got lost,out heads would be chopped off,literally!” Higuchi says,while walking away with Kiyo holding her hand and Tachihara dragged,who was staring at Dazai for too long.
’Ah, he must’ve noticed’, Dazai thought.
Atsushi doesn’t know if he should be concerned.
—-
“That kid looks similar to Dazai,don’t you think?”
Higuchi stopped walking and stared at Tachihara’s claim,like it’s the most absurd thing in the world.
“What do you mean?” She asked.
“Well for one the brown hair,then her craftiness,and a dark glint in her eyes that signal she’s gonna do something she’s not supposed to..” he says.
“Well-that’s pretty low probability if you ask me” she replied, thinking about it though.
“Think Higuchi! Remember when Akutagawa said that Dazai and Chuuya used to be partners in the mafia until they were 18,when Dazai left? Kiyo is four years old,that must’ve meant that he had her when he was 18! And not to mention Akutagawa did say they were pretty close..” Tachihara trailed off.
Higuchi’s eyes widened,’it made a lot of sense’ more than she’d like to admit. “But aren’t they both guys? How would they have a baby?”, she countered.
“Well,think about it. Kiyo said she has no mother,and no memories of her mother,only of Chuuya-san,so that means..”
“Oh..”. That theory actually struck Higuchi,it covered all the holes and made sense. “Maybe we should ask Gin or Akutagawa-sama about it later..”
——————
Chuuya was just about to call Higuchi,to ask her what was taking so long,before she burst through the door with a Kiyo holding a caramel ice cream.
“Ah, thank you Higuchi and Tachihara, for keeping this menace at bay.” Chuuya says,looking over to Kiyo before sighing,”Of course you’d choose the sweetest thing on the menu.”, which Kiyo stuck her tongue out in response.‘You’re just like that idiot’ trailed in his thoughts.
“Well we did come into contact with the agency on the way..but it was nothing big! Since we’re on truce right now,they just helped up when Kiyo tried to run away..for the third time.” Higuchi quickly explained.
Chuuya raised an eyebrow, “Oh? What members of the agency did you run into?”
Higuchi waved her hands. “Ah,just the weretiger and Dazai!”
Chuuya’s expressed wavered a bit to stressed, at the mention of Dazai. Tachihara took note of it, giving Higuchi the ‘i told you so’ look. Higuchi just rolled her eyes.
“Alright,you both are dismissed.” Chuuya concluded.
‘This was gonna be one long night..’ ,he thought, while holding Kiyo’s hand and getting ready to leave.