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"Hold still, your scarf is crooked."
Crooked, and - even worse - not actually covering Shuuichi's neck, more draped onto his shoulders like a haphazard fashion statement. Sure, the navy turtleneck beneath wraps around Shuuichi's throat, but the fabric, while soft, will be too thin to protect him from the freezing weather.
Shuuichi stills, key in the door, and obediently turns back to Rei, letting him fuss with his clothes as he pleases.
"If it gets too cold, remember to pull the scarf up. You don't want to impress your date with a runny nose." Rei scoffs, looping the scarf closely around Shuuichi's neck twice. As he smoothes out the scarf's fabric to tuck it into the front of Shuuichi's beige coat, Rei nimbly affixes a small listening device to the inside of the scarf.
There. That's much better. Shuuichi actually looks pretty presentable, for once. His natural good looks, highlighted by fine clothing.
Pride burns in Rei's heart; he has chosen a suitably flattering outfit. If Shuuichi's date doesn't want to kiss him in this getup, she'll be very stupid indeed.
"You just don't want to have to take days off to take care of me if I get sick," Akai accuses with a smile. "Workaholic." His eyes are still a little clouded; less sharp than before, unwilling to see some of the things he used to. If he's noticed Rei bugged him, he doesn't comment on it.
"If you know that, you should take better care of yourself." Rei takes a step back, out of Akai's orbit, and gives him a critical once-over.
"A few days off would do you good, Rei." For a moment, Akai is back; green eyes piercing into Rei's soul. Unwanted, searching, knowing, too much. Freezing Rei on the spot.
But just as quickly, he acquiesces back into Shuuichi, warm and smiling. "Besides, you still owe me for that time you collapsed in our kitchen-"
"You were a terrible nurse!" Irritation melts away Rei's rigor. "I'm pretty sure I would have recovered faster if you just left me to my fever. And then I had to take care of you anyways because you caught my cold!"
Shuuichi blinks at him innocently. "I don't remember that."
"Because your fever was so bad." 'It was so bad I thought I would lose you', Rei doesn't say, can't. He's not supposed to bring up the topic around Akai. Instead, he flicks at Shuuichi's forehead.
Even after five and half years of cohabitation, Shuuichi is just as insufferable as ever.
"Now, shoo. You're going to be late if you don't leave soon. Inoue-san doesn't deserve that."
"Ah," Shuuichi merely says, glancing at Rei's watch. "I'll be off, then." He smiles, probably already thinking of his date, and the question he plans to ask her today.
"Good luck," Rei says.
And means it, too.
.
He can't tell how the date is going, because Shuuichi leaves the scarf at the restaurant's coat check. Still, Rei muses as he sips at his Christmas chai - the least terrible of the holiday options in the café across the street - it can't be going too horribly. They weren't thrown out yet, after all, unlike with that last woman.
And it's already been an hour and a half.
The muted chatter slithering through the bug only partially blocks out the overly cheery Christmas music of the café.
The chai is cloyingly sweet and sticks to Rei's throat.
.
Another half an hour later, the pair emerges from the restaurant, arm in arm and smiling.
Through the bug, Rei can listen to their chatter; well, rather, Inoue-san is telling some sort of story about a kid getting stuck in the bathroom, with only short, amused replies by Shuuichi. But since his body language is relaxed, he seems to be enjoying himself. He happily leads Inoue-san down the street.
Good.
They're heading towards Inoue-san's address; Rei did a background check on Inoue Fumiko when the elementary school teacher first approached Shuuichi in the gym he's frequented recently. Rei knows everything there is to know about her - not that there is much. She has no criminal record, no reckless hobbies, no jealous exes.
Last week, she joined them for dinner; and Amuro personally made sure to interrogate her under the guise of wanting to get to know her.
A woman of average looks, but without any drawbacks, would still be a catch these days; he had wondered why she had not been married for years, already. She had simply smiled at him kindly and said she hadn't found 'the one'.
A romantic, just like Shuuichi.
Patient, good with kids. Shuuichi has never talked about it, but Rei has seen it in Okiya's interactions with the detective boys; he wants a family. Needs the comfort and stability of a trusted partner.
Inoue-san could be just that. Plus, she likes gardening and cooking, so she and Shuuichi have plenty to talk about.
All in all: she is perfect.
She'll be good for Shuuichi.
.
Rei follows a good distance behind them, careful not to tip Akai off to the fact he's being followed.
Shuuichi is playing the perfect gentleman. He looks lovely, windswept and yet cozy, buried in his scarf, as he walks through the light snow with his date. She, too, clearly put some effort into her appearance for today.
Or perhaps it is the smile that's mirrored on Shuuichi that makes her pretty.
Either way, after a few minutes, the two of them have arrived at her flat. It's time. They've planned and practiced for this.
Sure, Akai Shuuichi used to be a honeypot, but those days are long behind him. Not that he can't be smooth - and he is, as he gallantly holds open the door to the outer stairwell for Inoue-san, casually brushing her hand as she walks past him - but he has been out of practice for a while now.
Still, his charms and good looks should get Shuuichi where he wants to be. And that is-
"Inoue-san," Rei hears through the speaker, slightly muffled, as the pair stands in front of her door. "I really enjoyed our time today."
From the opposing rooftop, he can't see Shuuichi's face, but Rei can easily imagine the soft smile on his face, the spark in his eyes.
"So did I, Akai-san." She laughs, simple and sweet. Genuine. "Thank you for the invitation. The food was delicious."
Shuuichi takes a step closer, takes a hold of her gloved hands. He lowers his voice, to the sonorous depths years of smoking have given him. Perfectly engineered to make anyone swoon.
So far, so good.
But Rei really has spent too much time with him; the anxiety Shuuichi is sure to feel turns Rei’s stomach too. He swallows thickly. The next moments will make or break the relationship.
"I like you." Shuuichi's simple admission vibrates in the air. "Would you consider going out with me, long-term?"
It's short, and simplistic. But between Shuuichi's other worries, they decided he should be as up-front as possible.
"I like you too, Akai-san." Something in her voice is off - she should be happy, if her crush was mutual, and yet she speaks very quietly, subdued. He's sure Shuuichi must sense it too, can spot the other man tense up through the binoculars.
Inoue-san leans closer, though at the wrong angle. She kisses Shuuichi - on the cheek.
"But I'm afraid we can't."
Shuuichi stands before her, frozen. Carefully controlled. Fight, or more likely, flight, will kick in soon for him, Rei knows; but for now, she holds him leashed, still.
"Don't get me wrong," she says, still quietly. "I'd love to. But your heart is tied to someone else. And I can neither stand to be the side piece, nor steal you away."
She looks at Shuuichi; her genuine sadness makes the whole thing worse.
"I'm sorry."
Still rigid, Shuuichi takes a step back from her.
She lets him.
"...I see."
Rei can just about imagine the way Shuuichi closes his eyes in resignation, face too empty.
"I understand if you need some distance. But if you need something, give me a call. I really did enjoy our time together, and I'd love to be friends."
No matter if she means well, this is just about the worst thing she could say. Rei can see Shuuichi flinch through his binoculars. He turns, abruptly, and hurries down the stairs, as if he could outrun the rejection if he just goes fast enough.
Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, Shuuichi leaves the gate behind and turns towards a side alley. Only there does he rest against the wall, and bury himself in the scarf.
"Rei-" Shuuichi says, painfully neutral but clear as day, into the little microphone that should have been hidden.
Ah. So, he knew all along.
Of course he knew.
How silly of Rei to think he could get anything past him, even nowadays.
He finds Shuuichi's gaze trained on him.
"I'll be right there," Rei says, even though the bug doesn't have a speaker.
He hopes Shuuichi hears it anyways, and dashes down the stairs.
.
It's early enough in the evening that Arsène is basically empty; they get to pick their favourite table at the back of the bar, somewhat secluded from the main room, yet close to the emergency exit.
Some instincts are hard to shake off.
The lone barkeeper looks at Rei.
"Four roses, on the rocks, and a soda." He then focuses his attention back to the man sitting next to him.
Shuuichi hasn't said a single word since Rei appeared – way too quickly, but Shuuichi hadn't been surprised - and dragged him by the scarf to their favourite local bar.
Sure, Akai isn't supposed to drink; but dragging someone to a bar is the sort of thing one is supposed to do with friends at times of heartbreak, right?
Rei wouldn't know about either of those things. But he tries anyways.
The barkeeper brings them their drinks.
Shuuichi stares deep into his soda, unseeing. When he gets like this, he can't be prodded; the only thing Rei can do is wait.
He tentatively puts a hand around Shuuichi's shoulder.
"Six years," is the first thing Shuuichi says after a few minutes of watching the moisture condense on his cold glass. A tremor runs through him, and Rei hates how pained he sounds.
Gutted.
His heart torn out and torn to shreds.
Rei squeezes his shoulder.
"How could she... it's been six years." He repeats, but doesn't elaborate.
Not that Rei needs him to; he knows very well that six years ago, Jodie Starling died.
"I haven't forgotten her-"
"Of course not." Rei reassures him, because he knows the festering roots of guilt and grief strangling Shuuichi very well.
Similar vines grow around his own heart.
"Neither of them. But I really thought... I've been trying to... they wouldn't want me to mourn forever, Rei."
It's nice to hear the words he gave Shuuichi reflected back.
If only they didn't ring hollow.
"I thought I was ready to move on, to try something new. I thought Inoue-san could be-" Shuuichi cuts himself off, staring into the middle distance instead.
Rei doesn't know what to say, how to comfort him. Because he, too, had thought Shuuichi was ready. It was only for that reason that he had supported the other in his quest to find a new partner in life.
He had gotten better every day, and now that blank look Bourbon has always hated is back on Rye's face.
Rei hates it. But it was never supposed to be this way around; Shuuichi is the one that knows how to rile Rei up to get him out of a bad day. All Rei can offer in return, is to take on Shuuichi's infuriating stillness and fill it with life.
The soft jazz of the bar. The scent of the whiskey. The warmth of an arm around his shoulder.
Sensations, to keep Shuuichi locked in the present. To stop him from collapsing inward, into the past.
Rei won't let him.
"How did she see through what I couldn't see myself?"
Perhaps it is time to interrupt his monologue. If Shuuichi can hear him where he is, right now.
"If you ask me," Rei says, and is glad to see Shuuichi's eyes flicker to him, "that woman has no idea what she is talking about."
She didn't even have to ask Shuuichi, if she was this concerned. Rei knows Shuuichi, perhaps better than himself; if Shuuichi truly loved someone, not just held them in quiet remembrance, Rei would know. She should have just asked him.
Idiot.
"Would you like me to destroy her?" Just because there is no dirt on her yet, doesn't mean Rei can't make it happen. It wouldn't even be hard. He's done it to the last few women who rejected Shuuichi crudely, too.
Shuuichi sighs, slumping back against the headrest. "No. She believed what she told me."
"Women," Rei says derisively, "think they know everything. They trust their gut, and not their head. If she had bothered to ask, you could have explained. There's no competing with the dead." He shakes his head, bitterness clear in his voice. "The fact that she didn't - didn't ask, didn't want to understand - means she wasn't right for you."
It's a failure on Rei's part, too. He thought he had screened her properly, but he must have missed something. Perhaps that woman had deep-rooted self-esteem issues that she had now taken out on Shuuichi.
He won't make this mistake again; Shuuichi's partner must be perfect. Nothing less will do.
Rei promised to support him, and he will see this mission through; with his usual excellence.
Beside him, Shuuichi steals a sip from Rei's Bourbon. A spark of light returns to his eyes.
"Perhaps you're right.” He pauses, then: “Maybe I should try dating men."
Rei, in the process of disposing of the whiskey before Shuuichi can steal much more, chokes on his drink.
"Excuse me?"
Of course, Rei is in no position to judge, given his own tastes. He is merely surprised; that was not what he was trying to say, and Shuuichi has not once mentioned any sort of interest, that way.
"You're making a good point." Shuuichi's smile is brittle, careful, but a smile nonetheless.
Rei still isn't sure whether he's joking, but it's better than the hopeless loop of self-pity he expected, so he'll take it.
"You used to want me dead, but then you used your head. Now we understand each other. Perhaps that really is the answer."
Rei would like to say that it's not that easy, that it took years for them to reach this point. But that would be quenching Shuuichi's slowly simmering enthusiasm, and he can't quite muster the will to shut him down.
He hasn't been able to find a partner for himself in years, but perhaps it will be easier to find one for Shuuichi, given his looks and charm.
"Alright. Let's try that."
Rei promised himself, after all, to support Akai Shuuichi to the end.
.
(That night, the earlier confidence has left Shuuichi, and he lays curled up in their shared bed. Too still, too quiet. Caught up in remembrance of things he was trying to lay to rest.
Still, he eases into Rei's embrace in the dark, as always.
Rei hopes that some day soon, Shuuichi can be held by someone he loves.
His mind is a-whir with plans to make that happen, keeping him from sleep.)