Work Text:
The Decay of Angels did a number on the Armed Detective Agency.
As things kept getting worse, Junichirou was admittedly starting to expect that they wouldn't come out of it so easily. Sure, if they got their hands on the Book, it would've fixed things but it really was starting to look like that would not happen by the time the vampire outbreak came into fruition.
And then they had to face Fukuchi at the airport and Junichirou lost nearly all hope.
Yet, here they are. Alive, that is. All of them.
No Armed Detective Agency, though. Although they aren't exactly considered terrorists anymore, they couldn't get the Book which means no magically rewriting everything which means people still don't trust them as much as they used to. And that means Junichirou is left without work now.
And no work means no money. No money means no food, no clothes, no nothing, really. It means no living.
Junichirou knew he needed work. But even with that and everything that lead up to his current situation, Junichirou still never would've expected to be where he is right now.
"So? Coffee or tea?" Tachihara asks, holding a kettle in one hand.
"Gin-kun?"
"She's still asleep," Tachihara says because he always answers when it's about Gin. He's always ready to talk about hi—wait, what?
"She?" Junichirou asks uncertainly. Tachihara pales slightly.
"Pretend you didn't hear that," he practically demands before shaking himself out of it and asking, "Coffee or tea?" again, this time a bit more aggressively.
"Tea," Junichirou decides. Tachihara nods and pours some more water into the kettle before placing it on its holder to boil. "Why are you up?"
"What do you think?" Tachihara questions, drumming with his fingers on the counter. "Probably the same reason as you, I presume," he adds. Junichirou nods because he assumes so and then he remembers Tachihara can't exactly see and instead hums, a bit more non-committal and then steps closer so he can open the cabinet for mugs. Not that he doesn't think Tachihara can't do it himself but he wants to help too and not just stand there. It's not like he's going back to sleep anytime soon.
He should probably find it harder in general to sleep in this house, with two assassins as his housemates for an indefinite amount of time but that's really not the issue here. He hasn't been sleeping well for a while now, waking up at the slightest disturbance.
Falling asleep—that he didn't have an issue with. He should've but he didn't.
He wouldn't say he trusts either Tachihara or Gin, no, not at all. But it just doesn't make sense that they'd do anything while they're here and if they wanted to, they would've already. Besides, Junichirou can protect himself.
Not that he wants to stay here. Partially, because staying here means their life is still in danger, which Junichirou is not a fan of. Also, it might be a safe house to Gin but Junichirou does not find it safe at all, not with who he is here with. After all, none of them really trusts each other.
Junichirou isn't aware of the intricacies of the situation but the tension between Gin and Tachihara is palpable. And it doesn't help that Gin keeps trying to sign things before realizing Tachihara can't see anymore. It sort of feels like he's stuck between two divorcees who still haven't decided whether they want to kill each other or not.
Well, more like Gin hasn't decided if he wants to kill Tachihara. At first, it seemed like the animosity was mutual but then Gin tried to sign something and instead held onto Tachihara's hand and tapped on his skin in a rhythm that resembled Morse code to Junichirou but he didn't understand every word. Tachihara paid rapt attention though, wonder clear in his expression.
It was intimate, in a way. Junichirou felt like he was intruding. But since then, Gin's gone back to looking like he's one second away from plunging a knife into Tachihara's neck.
"Do you hate him?" Tachihara asks. It catches Junichirou off guard, shaking him from his thoughts.
"Who?"
"Fukuchi. Do you hate him for what he's done?"
That is not at all what Junichirou's expected, if he's honest.
"Not really. He's dead, it doesn't much matter to me," Junichirou admits, watching as the kettle turns itself off while the sounds of water boiling can be heard.
Tachihara doesn't answer so Junichirou takes the opportunity to give him the mug, making sure he's holding it properly before letting go. Gin doesn't have much tea here but Junichirou found his favorite brand of white tea in the cabinet the first day of their imprisonment so he reaches for that this time too.
"Make one for me too," Tachihara asks. Junichirou stops his motion in surprise for a second. He knows Tachihara's blindness is a fairly new condition which means he's still figuring out how to do certain things that used to come automatically. However, he doesn't like asking from help, at least not from either of them and he really didn't think he'd ever trust Junichirou with something he's going to put in his body.
"Okay," he agrees anyway. Neither of them says anything while he puts the tea leaves in the cups and then pours hot water over them. Once they both have a warm mug in their hands, Tachihara speaks again.
"How are you so chill about this?"
Junichirou knows exactly what he means this time.
"There's no point in freaking out," he shrugs. "Besides, I flew you both here on a helicopter. I think we've bonded."
Tachihara snorts and shakes his head before taking a sip of his tea. Junichirou watches in interest as he frowns at the lack of sugar—it's clearly the culprit because immediately after he reaches for the container filled with sugar on the counter that Junichirou thinks Gin put there so Tachihara could easily find it.
Maybe he really doesn't want to kill Tachihara, after all.
Junichirou takes a sip of his drink to stop himself from saying any of his thoughts. The tea's hot enough still to burn his tongue.
The original mission was to make a delivery in three days. Junichirou's help came in handy because of his ability to fly a helicopter—the airport in Yokohama is still locked down, after everything. His Ability (capital A) was deemed as potentially useful as well, in case anyone would get in their way and they'd need stealth.
Which, they did in fact need. However, the amount of people who tried to get in their way far outmatched the expected. Hence why they're self-imprisoned in a safe house for who knows how long.
Junichirou takes out his burner phone from the drawer of his bedside table and types in Naomi's number. She picks up after two rings.
"Hi. How are you?" Junichirou asks. I'm alive, he means, which he knows she hears too.
"Good," she replies cheerfully. "Have you eaten yet?"
Any plan? Any new information?
"No, not yet," Junichirou sighs, rubbing a hand down his face.
"Ah, you must be hungry then. Don't forget to eat soon." No double meaning, Junichriou thinks. It'd just be weird if she didn't reply in any way.
They talk like this for a while, either just simply about nonsensical things, just to hear each other's voice or meaning something else which they're both aware of. It's a sort of language they've developed a long time ago when they didn't yet have a home or anything stable outside of each other and Junichirou's Ability was not something he's controlled well, others seeing more potential in it than he himself did. Naomi always trusted him more than anyone and he wished to return the favor, teaching her ways to hide behind words and teaching her meanings he hides behind his.
"I've got to go now," Naomi says mournfully after long minutes of them just talking about nothing with the occasional double meaning. "But it was nice to hear from you."
"Yeah. See you soon, Naomi," he says and then ends the call.
He lays back on his bed and wonders if that one was a lie, hiding behind sweet words too.
Waking at the slightest disturbance or change in the air is not entirely new to Junichirou but it hasn't been this bad in a long time. Lately, he wakes up at truly the smallest things, like the temperature dropping a degree or the wind blowing the curtains.
However, the noise that woke him now is one that has always woken him, ever since he can remember. Ever since Naomi, more accurately.
In the room next to his, he hears someone's breath hitch in fear and it's clearly a nightmare, yet he still stiffens, wary of intruders.
It's coming from Gin, he realizes soon. He gets up and presses his ear to the wall between their rooms to listen to how bad it is. From what he can hear, it sounds like Gin is trashing around under the covers—it must be a real distressing one.
They're not close, Junichirou reminds himself. They're not friends or even allies—they're nothing. He probably won't be able to go back to sleep now but he should just go to the kitchen and make himself a tea and pretend he didn't hear.
It's really what he should do.
Before he knows it, he's already on the other side of the door to Gin's room which is very much against his house rules that he set up with the help of a whiteboard on the first day of them being here but nightmares are one of those things Junichirou's never been able to ignore.
"Gin-san," he calls out, once he's close enough that he doesn't have to shout and risk alerting Tachihara too. "Wake up, please. You're having a nightmare."
He doesn't want to touch him at all, if not necessary and thankfully he ends up not having to. Gin frowns, his expression flickering as he wakes up.
In a matter of seconds, Gin goes from half to fully awake and shoots up from his bed, pulling out a knife from under his pillow and holding it to Junichirou's throat.
"You were having a nightmare," Junichirou says, hoping it's enough to lower his guards. When it doesn't seem to be, he raises his arms in the air to show that he's weaponless and intending no harm. "I'm sorry for barging in but I thought you'd prefer to be woken."
Gin tsks before putting the knife back under the pillow.
"Would you like some tea? It'll probably take me a while to go back to sleep now," Junichirou offers.
Gin looks back at him, his eyebrows furrowing in a mix between confusion and frustration, Junichirou thinks. He offers a smile, hoping it's less awkward than he feels it is and steps away from Gin's bed.
"I get them too, after everything," he says weakly, chuckling in embarrassment. "It's really not an issue, I mean—I-It's just that I couldn't listen. It's more a weakness of mine than yours."
In the end, Gin does follow him out to the kitchen. He grabs a napkin from the counter and a pen while Junichirou boils water.
When he places down the mugs, Gin pushes the napkin in front of him.
'You're too genuine. It will get you in trouble.'
Junichirou almost wants to laugh at the irony of it.
He can't remember a time he wasn't stitching together small lies to keep up a facade to hide behind. Light Snow isn't the only way he can keep himself hidden.
"Trust me," Junichirou says, smiling. "I can take care of myself. But I appreciate the concern."
Gin hums, drinking his tea in silence.
He doesn't scold him for coming into his room nor does he threaten him to never do it again. Junichirou isn't sure if that's a permission or an acknowledgement of this situation being an exception, instead of a rule. Maybe he's just too tired to, really.
Still, there is something peaceful about him now, sitting in an oversized t-shirt over shorts, drinking white tea in the quiet of the night. Junichirou's almost entranced by it.
The t-shirt really doesn't fit him, though, Junichirou thinks. Not in a bad way, it's just obviously not his.
"Wait," he says before he can stop himself. "Are you wearing Tachihara's shirt?"
Gin blushes and only after that does he send him a look that makes Junichirou question if looks can actually kill after all, checking his heartbeat.
It doesn't negate that he did in fact blush. Junichirou files away the information to the drawer in his mind about the Tachihara-Gin situation that seems to be much more complicated than he ever would have expected.
It isn't a shock—he's aware Tachihara essentially betrayed the mafia, even if he chose them in the end. He hurt Gin too, which is something Junichirou's also aware of. The information he's missing is mostly about the nature of their relationship before everything that happened with the Hunting Dogs. Because he's really starting to doubt they were merely coworkers.
"Any news?" Tachihara tilts his head back, resting his neck against the back of couch, trying to turn towards Gin as he walks out of his room. He shakes his head and then realizes Tachihara can't see but before he could come closer, Junichirou speaks up.
"He said no."
"Didn't know you knew sign language now," Tachihara snarks, turning towards him slightly.
"I can understand a shake of a head."
He snorts but doesn't otherwise react, changing the topic.
"Maybe we're stuck here forever now," Tachihara says and it's not really a joke and even if it is, it's not a good one but it's also not serious so Junichirou has to assume he's just speaking to hear his voice. "We should get to know each other more."
"I got the impression that you two knew each other quite well," Junichirou says, as innocently as he can. Tachihara quite visibly stiffens and while Gin's reaction isn't so obvious, Junichirou notices that something shifts across his face too. A frown, maybe. Or surprise.
"I guess we are old frenemies," Tachihara says and this one really sounds like it was meant to be a joke or something like that, but it falls flat and no one laughs.
"Did you know each other before you were both Black Lizard?" Junichirou asks because he doubts he's going to get a better chance.
Before Tachihara could answer, Gin steps up next to him and takes his hand, tapping with his fingers.
'Tell him it's not his business', Junichirou's pretty sure.
"My partner here doesn't want to answer." He gets a hit across the head for that one. "What? I really was hoping to get to know you better, Gin-chan. Both of you."
Gin doesn't use words for what he wants to say next. He takes one of Tachihara's fingers and pushes it back until it allows and then keeps pushing, prompting Tachihara to pull his hand away in pain.
After that, Gin leaves for the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone, sitting in armchairs opposites from each other. Tachihara sighs and massages his finger.
"Do you…" Junichirou starts and then stops, realizing he doesn't really know how to finish that sentence. Gin obviously doesn't hate Tachihara but he doesn't want to forgive and forget, either. He would need to know more to even attempt to help but,
"Curiosity killed the cat, Tanizaki-kun," Tachihara says pointedly.
"You were the one who said we should get to know each other better."
Tachihara laughs. "Does that mean you're going to tell me about yourself too? Maybe starting with your sister, if she is really your sister?"
Junichirou sets his jaw before forcing out an awkward laugh. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"See? Two can play at this game."
Junichirou doesn't answer. There's nothing to say, really. The conversation comes to an awkward but mostly natural end.
When Junichirou wakes to Gin having a nightmare again, he doesn't hesitate this time.
He still doesn't touch him when he wakes him but after Gin assesses him as not a threat and lowers his knife, he holds onto Junichirou's hand and drags him down to sit on the bed.
And then he starts tapping.
"You know Morse code too, right?"
It's much easier to decipher when Junichirou can feel the taps and not just see them from a distance. He nods quietly.
"I dream about my brother dying."
It's all Gin says but it's enough because Junichirou knows exactly what he means. Because it isn't just about the general distress of dreaming about your loved ones dying. The sentence implies that it isn't the first time and Junichirou knows why he'd dream that repeatedly. Because Akutagawa did die. And the fact that he's alive now is nothing short of a miracle.
And the grief of losing a sibling, especially when they're all you have… Junichirou never actually lost Naomi but he fears it happening so much, he doesn't think he'd survive if he ever actually lost her.
There aren't really good words to offer here. Junichirou understands what he's going through and Gin knows he does. Based on him already looking calmer, simply by having been able to share that, Gin was probably simply looking for that quiet understanding. Junichirou squeezes his hand and then they sit in companionable silence until Gin's head tips forward before he straightens up again, trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes.
"You can sleep," Junichirou tells him, trying to pull his hand out of Gin's. Gin holds on.
"Stay," he says quietly. Junichirou swallows—it's the first time he's heard his voice. He was pretty sure Gin was mute.
"Are you sure?" he asks nervously. Gin gives him a scathing look for it.
The worst thing is that he does want to stay. He doesn't know why Gin trusts him or why he trusts Gin enough that his mind feels safe turning off most function around him and it doesn't make any sense but he squeezes Gin's hand again and when Gin's head tips forward and lands on Junichirou's shoulder this time, neither of them interrupts.
Junichirou falls asleep too, within minutes.
When Tachihara hears Junichirou arise in the morning and realizes that it's Gin's room he's coming from and not his own, he scoffs and looks away.
"We were just sleeping," Junichirou defends and it feels like a lie as he says it.
"Sure," Tachihara grumbles. "They certainly have a type, at least."
"They?" Junichirou asks in confusion. Tachihara smirks like he's just won something.
"Tea or coffee?" he inquires instead of answering.
"Tea," Junichirou says, watching as Tachihara works. He's not sure if he should step up and help this time. "So you two were dating, then?"
"Didn't I tell you that this was none of your business?" Tachihara snarks.
"I take that as a yes."
"You're a cheeky little shit," Tachihara says but he sounds slightly amused. "Why'd you sleep in Gin's room?"
"He had a nightmare."
"And he went to you with it?"
"No, I just—I woke up to it and I went to wake him up, too." Tachihara's shoulders lower slightly, the tension easing from them and Junichirou should just accept that because the less tension, the better, but… "He did ask me to stay, though."
Tachihara whips his head in his direction, eyebrows furrowed. "What are you playing at?"
"It's obvious he still cares about you," Junichirou says slowly, a bit gentler. "I know you said this is none of my business but—I feel like this is the best opportunity you're going to get."
"What, being stuck here?" Tachihara asks bitterly.
"I mean, yeah," Junichirou shrugs. "Forced proximity means you have to face the tension between you, eventually."
"You really don't understand anything at all, do you?" Tachihara raises an eyebrow. Junichirou blinks in surprise. He has no idea what is that supposed to mean. Tachihara, sensing his confusion, takes a step closer right as the water in the kettle begins to boil.
For a second, it looks like Tachihara's planning to come even closer, even though they're already only a few feet apart but then he sighs and turns back around to prepare their tea.
"What are you talking about?" Junichirou asks.
"You're pretty naive, is all," Tachihara says, waving nonchalantly.
Junichirou doesn't think that's true but he doesn't really have a good rebuttal—not when he still has no idea why Tachihara's saying that. Unless all he means is that it's naive to believe that Tachihara could still fix his relationship with Gin but he's pretty sure Tachihara believes that to, or he wouldn't hang onto Gin's every move.
A minute or so later, Tachihara hands him a steaming cup of tea and when their hands meet, he lingers, going as far as to stroke one of Junichirou's fingers with his own.
He can't see the blush that rises onto Junichirou's face but he still smiles like he can before walking out of the kitchen, his own tea in his hands. Junichirou puts his mug down on the counter to process what the fuck just happened.
Okay. So Gin and Tachihara are both definitely flirting with him and as Tachihara gets less and less subtle about it, Gin starts being more outward with it, as well. They still don't talk in front of Tachihara but they do in front of him now and they also shared the whole pronouns situation after the day they shared a bed. It's far too much trust from them, Junichirou thinks.
Friends and family, she said when talking about who's allowed to use other pronouns than he/him. People I'm close to. People I trust. All that while giving Junichirou explicit permission to use them. What is he supposed to do with that?
He keeps debating how to bring that whole situation up on one of his daily phone calls with Naomi. They're talking now and the opportunity is there but he can't actually talk about neither Gin or Tachihara if he wants to make sure they're safe and they simply never figured out a way to convey 'I'm trapped in a house with two people who are clearly exes one way or another and both of them keep flirting with me' for some reason. Junichirou thinks it would've been a useful secret message to have in their arsenal.
"Everyone's fine," Naomi says. "Same as usual."
So no Armed Detective Agency, still. At least Junichirou can conclude that him doing this job wasn't for naught.
"That's good," he says somewhat absentmindedly. Naomi immediately picks up on it.
"Everything's okay?" she asks and Junichirou almost gives up all pretense but he can't risk it.
"Yeah," he says weakly.
No, but I can't talk about it, he hopes Naomi hears.
"I hope I get to see you again soon," Naomi says so mournfully that Junichirou has to assume she must have understood the hidden message. But then again, of course she did. I'm sorry I can't help, he hears.
"Yeah," Junichirou agrees, sighing. "Love you."
"I love you too."
He ends the phone call and then spends a few minutes just preparing himself for whatever's waiting for him outside.
He does need to eat, however. Unfortunate but true.
Gin's in the kitchen when he gets there and he shoves a wooden spoon in his face—almost literally but Junichirou moves out of the way just on time.
"Taste this," he says, out loud. Tachihara must be in his room, then.
Against his better judgement, Junichirou does taste the sauce on the spoon. If he's getting poisoned at this point of their imprisonment, maybe it's for the better.
He blinks in surprise when it actually tastes good. Like, really good. "Didn't know you knew how to cook," is what he says out loud.
Everyone making their own food has been one of Gin's house rules. Apparently that's broken now too.
"Tachihara's recipe," she shares, mixing the sauce one more time before taking the already cooked pasta and pouring it into the sauce.
Junichirou raises an eyebrow in surprise. What makes the matter worse is that Tachihara walks in the next second and asks, "Talking about me?"
Gin stiffens, the tension clear in their posture to such a degree that Junichirou feels tempted to put a hand on them to soothe. But then Gin turns around, narrowing their eyes and assessing Tachihara for a while. He shifts under their gaze like he can sense it. He probably can.
"I'm making your pasta," Gin admits.
"Oh," Tachihara says, looking starstruck. "I haven't been able to, since—"
"I know," Gin says. "But you'll figure it out. It'll just take some getting used to."
Tachihara nods curtly before turning away from the both of them. "I just remembered I—I'll be back," he finishes weakly before scurrying off—to his room, Junichirou presumes.
"There will be some for you too," Gin says, not raising their voice but Tachihara seems to hear anyway, tripping in nothing before nodding again. Junichirou's pretty sure his ears are red.
"I don't get it," Junichirou says then. "He's clearly not over you. Are you over him? Why are you two—"
Gin sighs, shaking her head fondly. She steps closer to him, pushing his hair behind his ear, smiling up at him.
"You think too much," she whispers. She looks like she wants to kiss him. Junichirou thinks he'd let her.
His gaze flits down to their lips and they look so soft and inviting, Junichirou feels his face go op in flames. Gin chuckles to themself at his reaction.
He doesn't know what's coming over him but here, in the kitchen over a still cooking pot of pasta, he can almost see his future. He can almost see the kiss he's imagining happening as something domestic instead the result of temporary insanity due to their essential imprisonment.
Which doesn't make any sense. He doesn't belong here, with two mafia members. He has his own family, his own people. He has Naomi and he has the Agency—well, not right now but he's sure everything will be back in its place soon enough. They're still important to each other, at least. That much he's sure about.
Maybe it's just that forced proximity. Maybe being trapped here is making him act weird, maybe he's just going stir-crazy. He swallows, following the movement of Gin's hand closely as he pulls away from him.
"I was wrong. You really aren't all that genuine, after all," he says, stirring the pasta one last time before taking it off the heat. "I thought you kind of wore your heart on your sleeve but that doesn't seem to be true. You're not faking emotions to cover your real ones either, though. I think you just feel a lot and decide what to show and what not—hiding one behind the other. It's a clever tactic but I wish you'd just stop hiding."
"What if you don't like what you find?" Junichirou asks quietly. Gin only smiles at him but Junichirou thinks it's answer enough.
When Junichirou said he gets it, regarding Gin's dreams, he really did mean it. Not just because he could imagine how bad it would be to dream about his sibling's death, reminiscent of the time they did in fact got close to it but because it's something that his own nightmares haunt him with sometimes too.
Naomi's life has been so hard before her and Junichirou found each other. And she's had a few close calls before, even when Junichirou was there. Yosano's Ability is incredible and Junichirou's grateful to her every day but unfortunately, even despite knowing that in the end, she was saved, his dreams still decide to torture him with the sight of Naomi's blood on his hands often.
Except in his dreams, there's no Yosano. No Thou Shalt Not Die and no one to help, in general. Just him hovering over a dead body, trying desperately to do something while Naomi breathes her last breath.
He wakes with a start, sitting up in his bed abruptly, pushing away a hand on his shoulder—which, what?
"Naomi?" he asks, nearly desperate to hear her voice. As he blinks the sleep out of his eyes, he only sees Gin, though and then Tachihara next to him.
"Just us," Tachihara says, hesitantly sitting down on the bed. "You okay?"
"I—" Junichirou starts, feeling his throat clog up. "Naomi—"
"I'm sure she's safe," Gin says softly. "Do you want to call her?"
Naomi's sleeping safe and sound in their apartment, he knows. If she wasn't, he would've gotten a call already. There may not be ADA officially anymore but they do still care about each other. They take care of their own.
He shakes his head, sinking back slightly into the bed. Seeing him calmer, Gin reaches out again, rubbing his shoulder.
He still feels his heart beat heavy in his chest but surprisingly, he finds that the presence of his two current housemates actually helps calm him. Naomi's safe and he's sure of this as he looks at Gin and remembers them being just as disoriented after their nightmares as Junichirou feels now. And their brother was fine every time too.
Suddenly, he completely understands why Gin never considered kicking him out after his nightmares. Making either of them leave is the last thing Junichirou wants to do right now. He feels his pulse calm the longer Gin sits by his side, stroking his arm, his back. He feels safe, much safer than he probably should.
"I'm surprised you didn't wake yourself," Tachihara says, reaching out to put his hand on Junichirou's ankle. "You wake to the smallest of sounds."
"Was I really loud?" Junichirou frowns.
"A bit," Tachihara shrugs. Gin kicks his shin for it. "What? The guy deserves the truth. Not like we really care, though."
Junichirou smiles softly to himself, leaning into Gin's touch.
"Sorry for waking you anyway," he says. Tachihara sighs before shuffling closer so he can get behind Junichirou's free shoulder.
"Don't be. Rather be here with you," he murmurs, pulling Junichirou closer to his chest. Junichirou's heart skips a beat. So much for calming heartbeat. He finds that he doesn't really mind.
And oh, he thinks, being essentially surrounded by the two of them. Because this explains a lot. And it's really nice, actually.
He's too tired to care about how they're still closer to enemies than allies and allows himself to be comforted by the presence of two assassins around him. Because it matters less that they're assassins and more that they're Gin and Tachihara.
He guesses he was right with the forced proximity helping to ease the tension between the two of them but he forgot about the simple fact that he was in fact forced into their proximity as well. Or maybe he just didn't think it mattered that he's here too. He's kind of glad he was wrong.
Being aware somewhere in the back of his mind that it's a bad idea, he asks, "Can I kiss you? Both of you, I mean."
Tachihara's chest rumbles against his back as he laughs. "Finally figured it out, huh, small fry?"
"How long have you been waiting to use that one?" Junichirou asks, turning slightly so he can see Tachihara's face. He's handsome, he thinks. He never really allowed himself to notice.
"Too long," Tachihara tells him before cradling his face, his finger holding onto Junichirou's face sternly, like he's afraid that Junichirou will slip away if he's not careful. Junichirou has no such plans.
When their lips meet, there aren't many thoughts in Junichirou's head. There are no fireworks but there is a comfort to it, a bit like there was a comfort to the teas they shared—domestic, in a way. Kind of like he imagined the kiss with Gin would go, back in the kitchen. That is until Tachihara pushes closer, and Gin loops an arm around his waist, resting their head on Junichirou's shoulder, kissing the space between Junichirou's face and neck.
A shiver runs down Junichirou's smile and he pulls away, feeling dazed suddenly. Gin's hand sneaks up his back and he tilts his head so he can meet him in a kiss next. Their lips are softer but they kiss with just as much fervor while Tachihara runs a hand through Junichirou's hair on the back of his head.
He doesn't have the words to describe what he feels. There are goosebumps on his skin and he feels like he wants more, he wants closer but it's all too much at the same time and he has to pull away to calm himself down.
Gin strokes his cheek, wordlessly asking if he's okay. Junichirou nods, still feeling dazed.
He's not sure if what happens next is worse or better than either of the kisses because, with Junichirou still between them, Tachihara and Gin lean closer to each other and share a kiss too—obviously much more used to each other than Junichirou is to either of them and seeing that makes Junichirou want so much, he doesn't know what to do with himself. His toes curl in his socks and he has to hold his breath, watching as Gin pulls Tachihara's hair and Tachihara strokes their arm and bites their lip slightly—not enough to draw blood but enough that Junichirou notices. He can't help but think that they're putting on a show.
He holds onto Gin's hand and then Tachihara's. The two of them pull away, turning to him and Junichirou knows he must be blushing because Gin smiles, amused.
"I told him, he could only kiss me again if I could kiss you first," she admits. Junichirou swallows.
They really carved a place for him in whatever this is. It's almost impossible to imagine and yet, it's undeniably true.
"Satisfied?" Junichirou asks Tachihara who grins lopsidedly.
"Very."
It's Gin who yawns then, hiding their mouth with their hand and then rubbing said hand across their face. Junichirou squeezes their hand, mostly because the motion was so cute and that's better than pinching Gin's cheek or awing loudly.
"Let's go to bed," he offers. Neither of them argues.
For the first time in over a week, Junichirou doesn't fall asleep with the thought that he hopes their spontaneous imprisonment ends the next day. Instead, he asks for just a little more time. Just enough to figure it out.
(It's almost funny, them getting the call informing them that they're finally allowed to leave the next day. Before Junichirou could mourn whatever new thing he found in this safe house, Gin and Tachihara both give him their number, the real ones and promise to take him on a date soon.
"There's no Armed Detective Agency right now," Tachihara reminds. "We're not actually enemies. We'll figure out the rest, if need be."
It's probably not that easy but Junichirou accepts anyway. When it's time to go their different ways in Yokohama, both of them demand goodbye kisses and Junichirou gives in easily.
He reminds himself to start learning sign language when Gin taps See you later on his hand as they kiss him.)