Panic! On the Ice

Lily  / Ravenclaw / Really loves cats

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To follow up, I have another gift for

@kaseytransboi-blog - basically as a little apology for being so late. Please enjoy this video! <3

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Here too, I wish to express my condolences for the passing of our Captain Andre Braugher, also known as Raymond Holt. Rest in Peace!

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The Monday Incident

A very belated Secret Santa Gift for @kaseytransboi-blog (hope this is your Tumblr!)- so belated it is from 2022. So incredibly sorry about that! 🙈 I wanted you to still receive this gift, even if it means arriving in time for Ajin Secret Santa 2023. You wanted "Generally Wholesome" so It's a little One Shot featuring the Ajin Cast in the Brooklyn 99 universe - I hope you will (still) enjoy! <3

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LINK:

The Monday Incident - epic_potato_crisp - 亜人 - 三浦追儺 & 桜井画門 | Ajin - Miura Tsuina & Sakurai Gamon (Anime & Manga) [Archive of Our Own]

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Detective Nagai had a terrible day. A day that had started with a diffuse ache in his abdomen and his heart palpitating at a mile an hour when he woke up an hour before his alarm from a nightmare he could not remember.

Seeing as it was pointless to go back to sleep, he cursed himself and the entire squad out, a plethora of creative insults he would, most likely, never voice out loud.  Then he went to brew a cup of coffee. He would have loved to say it immediately jolted him out of his stupor and into an active, motivated, pre-case solving state, but of course it didn’t. Rest assured, he was mercifully saved the one benefit of caffeine that he was betting on. The only change he experienced was a familiar burn in his throat, his reflux’s friendly way of reminding him that it was planning on becoming a permanent resident.

What a bother. Kei had always hated the concept of roommates.

He didn’t own a car, neither did he drive- not, as some might assume, because of not passing the ridiculously simple theoretical exam (He had, with a stellar score of 110% , the bonus resulting from giving himself extra credit for a formatting and spelling error he noticed). No, he simply chose not to, because frankly, the idea of riding into oncoming traffic on four shaky wheels with nothing but steel-aluminium walls that dented at the lightest scratch and a sorry excuse for an airbag keeping him from certain death, did not seem very appealing.

(And perhaps also, because the look his driving instructor had given him after his most recent attempt at the practical exam had etched himself in his soul forever. Sure, Kei might have avoided the head-on collision with the HAYAKAWA CIGARETTES truck, but the terror in the man’s eyes and the scathing indictment that followed made him wonder if actually getting mowed over by 4 tons of vehicle would have been the better alternative.) Ah well, now he would never know.

Thankfully, there were other people in his squad. Some compensated for their mediocre cognitive ability with a surprisingly solid physical skill set. One example was Nakano Kou, the overly-energetic detective who had declared himself Kei’s best friend two weeks after the latter had joined. It had been an unanimous decision Kei had interestingly never been consulted on. But he could live with that, he supposed.  Nakano could be incredibly annoying, but he did give Kei rides to work, which was appreciated.Especially , on a day as frosty as this one, where Kei would have rather stabbed himself than get up an hour earlier to spend his precious pre-work time scratching ice off car windows. Nakano, thankfully, seemed to have no such problem.

He was even punctual when he pulled up to Kei’s apartment that morning, dressed in his signature yellow parka.

“Good morning!“ he cheered loudly, turning down the Black Eyed Peas‘ “I GOT A FEELIN“ that was blaring in the background at Kei’s raised eyebrow. Orange strands as unkempt as ever, one hand on the steering wheel, he held out a cup emblazoned with yet another caffeine franchise that people with lack of a spine might pledge addiction to.

 “Kei”, the cup read.

He grinned as Kei got into the car, strapping on his seatbelt: “You gotta call shotgun, Nagai.”

“I’m not saying that every single time.” Kei sighed, “And I don’t want coffee.”

“That’s hot chocolate.”

Kei narrowed his eyes: “Without caffeine?”

“Yes, yes! Without!” Nakano said, lifting his left hand in an idiotic gesture of sincerity.

“Careful.” Kei snapped, not wanting his idiotic attempts at being genuine to endanger them in the morning traffic.

“Dude, chill, I’m still parking.” Nakano said, conveniently ignoring how Kei had told him to never call him dude  under any circumstances in their first week working together. He revved the engine to life and then, placing a hand on the back firmly of Kei’s headrest and turning to look behind himself, maneuvered them backwards and then out of their parking spot. The close proximity of his teammate’s fingers to his neck and the self-assured, almost cocky way with which his colleague steered them back into traffic did nothing for him, Kei reminded himself, gripping tightly around the cardboard wrapper. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and chased away a flicker of regret when Nakano’s hand dropped from its place on the headrest, fingers curling back around the steering wheel.

“You know, a “thank you, how was your weekend” wouldn’t kill you.” his colleague said, side-eying the stiff way he stiffly occupied the passenger seat.

“Just drive.” Kei grumbled, managing to avoid the eye-contact he was afraid would sell him out.

“Screw yourself, seriously.” Nakano said, fondness tinged with annoyance, as he shifted into third gear. Thus started their morning bickering- the only way, Kei realized, to properly wake him up.

They managed to get to work a good fifteen minutes before their morning meeting at 8 am. Which was good, because arriving any later than the designated time would be a surefire way to draw the wrath of their captain.

“Good morning, Sarge!” Nakano cheerfully greeted Sergeant Hirasawa, who was already sat at his desk, two yoghurt cups stacked in front of him.

“Good morning, detective Nakano.” Hirasawa replied. Age was not lost on the seargant, who combed back his hair in an effort to mask the balding patch, tucking his glasses behind his ears.  Calloused hands spoke of many years in the service, but in the seargeant’s case, he had followed an unconventional career path, having spent his years before training in the Academy as a bodyguard of sorts. “Well, hired gun is more like it.” the Sarge had shared during one evening during a post-working gathering a pub. Manabe, one of the four guys that had been employed about the same time as the Seargeant and who seemed to have known him for even longer, chuckled dryly at that.  Kei hadn’t bothered asking what the vague job description meant, he could put two and two together. Unlike Nakano, who had stared at Hirasawa with a quizzical look. Before the words “What’s a hired gun” could leave his mouth, Kei had grabbed him by the back of his parka and dragged him to the bar.

“The next rounds of drinks are on you.” he said sullenly, as his colleague complained loudly about the rough treatment. There must have been something in Kei’s eyes however, as Nakano dropped the topic pretty much immediately. When he came back carrying an armful of beers, their table cheered,  detective Suzumura and detective Kuroki slapping him on the back appreciatively. Nakano preened under the attention and was engrossed in a lively conversation within minutes.

Kei nipped at his rum-filled beverage, grimacing at the bitter taste and cursing out the bartender for clearly misjudging his soda to alcohol ratio preference. But just as he was about to call it an early night, Sergeant Hirasawa slid on the stool next to him. “So, I’ve heard some impressive things about you, Detective Nagai.”

“Which would be?” Kei asked, skeptically. The Sergeant laughed at his open mistrust. Well, someone tells me you are planning to become a captain of a squad yourself someday. Your stellar scores graduating from the Academy and your track record of solved cases also speak for themselves.”

Kei did his best to not feel too flattered under the praise. “That is, if I make it that far. I’ll have to pass the Sergeant’s exam first.. It would be a fool’s error to rest simply because of previous success I had.” He took a sip, and forced himself not to avoid the Sergeant’s gaze, which seemed downright friendly and empathic. Sometimes, he had to remind himself not everyone he ever worked with had ill-intent.  But then again, he had to keep an eye open for the possibility.

“I still have a long road ahead of me.” He concluded a conversation that he felt was becoming too personal for a work acquaintance.

“Spoken as a true contender for the position of Captain would.” Seargeant Hirasawa said, and Kei attempted not to startle too much when he amicably slapped his back, and in a tone, that sounded too genuine to be false said,  “I’m rooting for you, Detective Nagai.”

Well, at least, someone was rooting for him. Kei felt as though he was not having the same luck with the new Captain that had been assigned to their district.

Captain Tosaki Yuu  was not one for humor, or slacking, or any other form entertainment that would have made the arduous work days in the precinct more bearable. Kei would have been fine with that. Instead, it was Detective Nakano’s morale that took a major hit when their new commanding officer introduced himself and how he planned to run the precinct. However, it took him only a few weeks to win even the sour-faced captain over in that strangely charming way of his. This didn’t necessarily mean that Detective Nakano didn’t still make a fool of himself- he did- or that the Captain had never yelled at him for his tardiness or unserious attitude – he had – but it did meant that even tall,  pale, consistently stressed Captain Tosaki begrudgingly accepted the cheerful detective as vital member of his squad.

Which caused Kei even more of a headache because he himself wasn’t having any of that luck.

He had tried every strategy from mute respect to blank sincerity to disinterest to word-by-word conduct of corporate advancement guidelines but he kept clashing with the Captain more often than he had probably should. Conflict with superiors was not a favorable strategy, that was what he’d learned in the Academy. Sometimes, he laid awake at night, ruminating on the possibility that it could be a death sentence for his career that had not even properly begun. It was simply that he, Detective Nagai, had his own way of doing things which had served him well over years in service, and was only the slightest bit aggrieved at the fact of being presented with a new Captain that seemed to micromanage his every move.

If he was available to speak with at all.

As Nakano settled into his desk, finishing his coffee and chatting with the Seargeant, Kei flicked his eyes over to the Captain’s office. At the desk right in front sat Naomi, his personal secretary, who spent 1/3 of her time relegating calls, another third being mean and the final third playing Flappy Bird on her phone.

“Sorry, Captain’s not available right now.” she warbled into the speaker, examining her sapphire acrylics with genuine interest, just as Captain Tosaki came into view behind her.

“Who’s that?” the Captain asked sharply, flanked as usual by his right-hand Sergeant Shimomura, who stood stoically next to him.

To Naomi’s credit, she was used to his unannounced entrances and didn’t as much as startle, left alone appear guilty being caught blatantly avoiding her job.

She swiveled around in her desk chair, blowing maroon strands out of her eyes, perfectly manicured fingers held over the mouthpiece.

“Oh, just Ogura from Forensics.” she said, batting her eyelashes and dragging out the “a” with an annoyed sigh, “I told him I don’t get paid to deal with this before 9 am. Do you want him to call you back later?”

“That is exactly what you are getting paid to do.” Tosaki said monotonously, “But yes.” He grimaced, “Let him call back later.”

The fact that there was no love lost between the Captain and the leading physician of the Forensics Department, who liked hassle him at every turn, was not a secret for the crew. Naomi smirked, delighted at having her expectations met and withdrew her fingers from the mouthpiece, “He’s busy right now.” she faux-sweetly announced, “Try again during our office hours.” She slammed the phone down before Ogura’s distant voice on the other hand could as much as bring forward another jab.

Now that the matter was dealt with, Captain Tosaki moved onto the next target to air his morning frustration out on.

“Detective Nakano, Detective Nagai.” he barked.

“Sir, Yes Sir!” Nakano immediately jumped to attention, almost spilling his drink in the process.

Kei rolled his eyes.

“What is it, Captain?” he asked, feigning politeness.

“What are you standing there for?” Tosaki said, irritatedly, “Get settled in the meeting room. I’d like to start on time for once.”

Nakano cheerily shouted his affirmation, as the Captain strode off. Sergeant Shimomura remained behind, noting something on her clipboard.

“Good morning, Detective Nagai. Detective Nakano.” she greeted them properly, obsidian eyes calmly meeting their gaze.

“Good morning, Seargeant!” Nakano exclaimed, grinning back at her, not even attempting to hide his delight as having received her full attention, “How was your weekend? Did you do something fun?”

This was a one-sided love affair at best, Kei was certain, but that didn’t stop Nakano from being hopelessly infatuated with the Sergeant the moment he had stepped foot into the precinct. It’s good that he himself never had to deal with this type of ridiculous experiences, he thought, quenching the faintest annoyance that bubbled within him whenever he realized Nakano did have a habit of being very flirt-friendly with a lot of his female colleagues. Shimomura faintly returned his smile.

“It was fairly uneventful.” she said, in that reserved, cryptical way of hers, “I hope yours was enjoyable, as well.” The open-ended question was a rookie mistake.

As Nakano launched into an overly-detailed recitation of his weekend which included a paintball tournament and a barbecue (where on earth did he take the energy, Kei could not imagine), he observed the Seargeant more closely.

Fairly uneventful could mean anything when it came to Sergeant Shimomura. The last time she had used that description, she had single-handedly led a drug bust that had carried on into the early hours of Sunday morning. She was only few years older than Kei. He was also fairly certain they’d both trained at the same academy, although he had no proof of that. Upon joining their precinct, Tosaki had immediately recruited her as his second-in-command, which came to no surprise. Shimomura was not only loyal to the core, but also greatly skilled both in detective work and martial combat. She also did not seem fazed by the fact that she often got mistaken as Tosaki’s secretary. Whenever that happened, the Captain made sure to correct the mistake immediately, referring to her as his “highly talented Sergeant” and, and redirecting whoever misspoke to see Naomi if they wanted to speak with his “highly talented secretary.” (It was a blessing that he always made a show of loudly announcing these corrections, so Naomi at least had a few seconds to save her level on Wintry Workshop and pull up an Excel Table on her computer so as not to undermine his statement.)

Apart from this, he had not a single clue about the Seargeant’s backstory, interests or even exact whereabouts. Which was fairly unusual for a  department as…sociable as theirs. This was the most polite way Kei had of putting it.

“I know exactly three things about you.” Kei had pointed out one evening, as stacks of paperwork were dragging them long past the end of their shift, “And one of them is that you don’t let anyone know where you live.”

“That is already one thing more than you were supposed to know, Detective Nagai.” the Seargeant had said, the corners of her lips tilting up ever so slightly, “Not even my relatives have the information.”

He had left it at that. He had once seen her body-slam the leader of human trafficking ring that towered two heads above her after the man had attempted to pull a gun on her. It really wasn’t worth the risk.

“So in conclusion.”  Detective Nakano said, gesturing towards the projector, “I’m really certain this is the man we’re looking for. Here he is, on his way of committing crime.”

With a dramatical flourish, he moved onto the next slide of his presentation.

The grainy photo, taken from a security camera inside the Forge headquarters, showed an elderly gentleman wearing a baseball cap and a knit cardigan. His eyes were unfocused, almost closed, giving the impression of him having just woken up from a nap.

Kuroki and Manabe erupted in laughter.

“No way.” Kuroki said.

“He’s on his way alright, but to the next retirement home.” Manabe scoffed.

Kuroki cackled at that and held out his hand for a fist bump, which Manabe returned.

“Alright, let’s give Detective Nakano a chance to present his case.” Seargeant Hirasawa spoke up patiently, ever the mediator, “Detective, what proof do you have?”

“Oh, uh- proof.” Detective Nakano said, scratching his head, “Well…”

Kei looked over at the Captain, who was observing Nakano from his seat at the front of the  meeting room with a stony expression. Never a good sign.

“Well, the evidence speaks for itself, doesn’t it?” Nakano said, shrugging helplessly, “He’s in this footage, he was on the previous footage…I’m sure if I contact the Cyber Crimes division they could retrace the IT address that the perps used to hack into the Forge database, and that would probably lead back to—”

“We do not operate on the basis of probably, Detective.”  The icy tone in the Captain’s voice made even Nakano cringe.

Tosaki got to his feet. He swiftly moved towards Nakano, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Zoom in, Detective.” He ordered. And Nakano did.

Kuroki whistled at the sight. ““Man, let’s hope he meakes it to the retirement home at all.”  he said.

As much as it pained Kei to admit it, he was right. Upon closer inspection, the suspect appeared even older, properly geriatric. Fragile. If Nakano had meet him outside of work, he would have likely asked if he needed assistance crossing the streets. And then helped him cross said street. Nakano was friendly like that.

“Are you telling me.” Tosaki said, each word laced with scathing disbelief, “That this is the man you believe to be behind the string of seven flawlessly executed robberies, most recently at the Forge headquarters, a company that prides itself on their bulletproof security system?”

“I’m not sure he even knows what Windows is.” someone muttered in the background. Probably Kuroki. Kei shot an unnerved look in his direction. If someone was to harangue Nakano for his mediocre presentation abilities, it was to be him.

“He could- could have allies!” Nakano defended himself, now gesturing wildly, “Like, most of them big time dudes do.”

The big times dudes, right. Whenever Kei doubted his own capabilities as a detective – which happened more frequently than he would like to admit – it was moments as this one that reassured him that perhaps a future command wasn’t this far out of reach, if this was the competition he was to contend with.

“He has a caretaker, at most, that- “

“Enough.” the Captain snapped. He massaged his temples.

He turned towards his right-hand, the only other detective’s – except, in some instances, Hirasawa’s- opinion he regularly took into consideration. “Sergeant Shimomura, what do you think?”

The room grew quiet, as everyone’s attention focused on the Seargeant sitting in the second row. Nakano seemed to be holding his breath. Shimomura was silent for several moments. When she then spoke, there was the faintest trace of sympathy in her otherwise emotionless tone.

“As much as I appreciate your case work so far, Detective, I believe you at this point that you are lacking the necessary evidence to make an accusation, let alone an arrest.”

She concluded by clicking her pen shut. Upon this judgement, Nakano visibly deflated. Shimomura had likely been his last and most important pillar of hope.

Tosaki nodded. “I agree.”

“Listen, guys.” Nakano called out, a tinge of desperation creeping into his voice, “You know I have a really good intuition.”

That he had, Kei had to admit. Despite his own record of solved cases, Nakano wasn’t lagging too far behind. Or at all. There had been one too many times where they had made a competition, with a humiliating punishment for that month’s loser in terms of numbers. Though even those didn’t seem to faze him. He had worn the pink, glitter-adorned “Boss Babe ” shirt with pride to the precinct the day after Nagai had bested him one glorious August evening. Kei would have called sick before he sat one foot through the doors in this get-up. He imagined his little sister calling him a misogynist and scowled at the idea.

“And it is because of said intuition”- wow, what a big word for you, Detective, Kei thought drlyly, “That I am so very certain.”  Nakano continued, his voice becoming more steadfast and louder in his determination, “This is the culprit!” He pointed back towards the screen, the image woefully undermining the earthshattering point he was trying to make, “this is the guy we have been chasing for months, who has been making our lives hell since he robbed that gaming store a year ago.”

“That’s a hell of a nice deal on those retro consoles.” Ogura had whistled through his teeth when Kei had shown him the recipes of the robbery after the doctor’s persistent badgering, “Wish I had a Pacman game at home.”

“So, if you believe me, I can say that it’s him with like” Nakano frowned, running the numbers in his head: “85% certainty! That’s how certain I am!”

Kei was about to throw in his own comment on the situation when the Captain shut down the projector, much to Nakano’s gasping dismay and feeble protests.

“85% are not enough, Detective.” he said coldly and turned towards the room

, “Meeting dismissed.”

Kei tried to spend the rest of the day in a productive state, in an effort to be able to go home at the designated time that was almost never kept. Nakano, who had not quite bounced back from their morning meeting, unintentionally made every effort to thwart this plan.

“I just don’t get why my case work wasn’t enough.” he whined, for the second time that afternoon, head placed on Kei’s desk, where the later was filing, or rather, attempting to file a report.

“And I don’t get why you continue to ignore my work space, but here we are.” Kei said monotonously.

“Come on, dude, we’re basically desk mates.” Nakano argued, which was a very convenient stretching of the truth.

The fact that he had to roll past four other desks on his way to Kei’s – courtesy of Tosaki, who had placed them apart in his first week in order to improve work flow - was no deterrent for Detective Nakano. He enjoyed making the way into a race of sorts, often timing how long it took him to get from one desk to the other. His record of five seconds was still unbeaten.

“I pulled so much overtime for this, it’s like the Captain didn’t even properly read my report-“

Kei saved his document, and sighed, deciding to spare a few seconds of his valuable time for his colleague.

“I’m certain he did. It’s just not that simple.” He said, “Seargeant Shimomura has been on the same track for months. If she’s finding it to be a challenge, why did you think it would be an easy solve for you?”

This seemed to resonate with Nakano. “Well.” he said, appearing thoughtful of suddenly, “Guess you have a point. Still sucks, though.”

Kei hummed affirmatively, leaving his colleague alone with his own thoughts, which was thankfully a peaceful situation. He chanced a glance at the large office clock. If he kept working at his previous speed, and if Seargeant Hirasawa didn’t magically appear with another apartment break-in for him to process, then perhaps- today he would actually be able to leave-

“Detective Nakano, Detective Nagai.” Captain Tosaki barked from his office door, “A word. Now.”

Kei did not even attempt to suppress his groan.

“Well, suppose we should go, right?” Nakano said, squaring his shoulders and throwing him a questioning sort of look to which Kei could only respond in kind. No, he too had no idea what could possibly be going on.

“Oopsie.” Naomi said, a grimacing-type of smile clear with Schadenfreude, as they walked past her desk, “The Captain is still in kind of a bad mood. The fact that Doc Ogura just called back a few seconds ago didn’t help with that at all.”

Kei saw that she at least had the decency to pause her Candy Crush game for that short, albeit pointless conversation.

“Great.” he replied sarcastically, “Thank you for the info.”

“No worries.” Naomi chirped, “Let me know if there’s anything going on, yeah? The office has been so quiet these past few days.” She leant forward and lowered the register of her voice: “I could use some juicy info.”

“We’ll see what we can do, Miss Naomi!” Kou called out enthusiastically, as Kei, unnerved, dragged him to Captain’s office.

Captain Tosaki wasn’t alone. Sergeant Shimomura stood on his right side, giving them the hint of a smile as they entered.

“Close the door properly and pull down the blinds.” Captain Tosaki instructed promptly “I have a matter of great importance to discuss with both of you.”

Kei had not expected this turn of events. He took a moment to recollect himself, while Nakano already jumped into action with an enthusiastic “Yes, Sir!” and carried out the tasks.

“Sit down.” the Sergeant said, gesturing to the seats in front of the desk.

They both did. Anticipation had Kei sliding to the edge of his chair, toes poised on the carpeted floor. Nakano seemed equally as nervous, but in stark contrast, as far as Kei could tell, carried himself with less with dread, even with a hint of excitement.

“So.” Tosaki said, after a few beats of uncomfortable silence, “I have called you here to inform you that I – or, rather, we both-“ he glanced at the Sergeant, “Would like to revise our statement on Detective Nakano’s casework.”

Something lurched in Kei’s chest.

“Revise?” Kou said, in a puzzled tone, because of course he did.

“Retract.” Sergeant Shimomura interjected, “We have reviewed your work and believe that you are on the right path, Detective.”

“All evidence considered, we believe you have identified the correct culprit. Responsible for the burglaries of several stores, the Forge headquarters and beyond.”  Tosaki continued with a sigh, “Your intuition, unfortunately, was correct.”

Kei could see the wheels turning in Nakano’s head.

“Heck yeah!” his colleague shouted, pumping his fist in elation, which earned him an insistent Shush from his unamused superiors.

“Sorry.” Nakano .said sheepishly, scratching his head. “I’m just glad I got it right. It’s good when your work pays off.”

The Captain sighed again.

“Why unfortunately?” Kei spoke up, raising an eyebrow at the odd turn of phrasing, “How is a progress in a case not beneficial?”

The Captain and the Sergeant exchanged another one of their trademark looks.

“Well.” Sergeant Shimomura said, hesitating, “The matter appears to be larger than we originally anticipated.”

“That being a rather euphemistic understatement.” Tosaki said, producing a file from his drawers and slapping it down in front of them, “Our culprit, Samuel T. Owen, is not only responsible for the string of robberies.”  

CLASSIFIED, red letters read.

“We also believe him to be the leader of an anarchist uprising with ties to the black market, specifically organ trafficking.”

Fuck, was the first thought to enter Kei’s mind, More overtime. He was exhausted as it was. He ignored the sliver of interest he felt at the promise of a case far more thrilling than he had ever worked one, even dreamed of working when he chose his career path. Nakano, on the other hand,  made an odd, high-pitched noise next to him, which Kei correctly identified as a suppressed whimper of excitement.

“Heck yeah.” his colleague whispered in awe, fist clenched,  beaming like Christmas had come early.

“So we have asked you here to promote you to primary investigators on this case that must be carried out with utmost-“ Tosaki paused, eyeing Nakano scrutinizingly, “disrection. No- one is to be informed the nature of this investigation, or any new developments, apart from Sergeant Shimomura and myself. At least, for the foreseeable future. Understood?”

“Yes Sir!” the Detective replied, an excited almost-yell that made the Sergeant shush him again.

The Captain massaged his forehead. “You both, including you, Detective Nagai.”

“Yes, Sir.” Kei responded, dully.

“I hope you do not disappoint us with your work on the SATO case.” The Captain concluded.

“Sato?” Nakano asked, frowning.

“It’s the acronym we have chosen.” Sergeant Shimomura explained, “Samuel T. Owen is the name of our suspected culprit. Or in other words-“ she paused for effect,  “SATO.”

Even if Kei had had more time to prepare, he would not have been able to quell Nakano’s shout of excitement this time. It would have been hard too, with excitement and anticipation thrumming in his own veins.

“Heck yeah!”

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Rest in Peace Andre Braugher (01.07.1962- 11.12.2023) - your incredible portrayal of Captain Raymond Holt will be missed. You will always be the Captain of our Hearts!

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Reactivating this account !

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Streaming for the first time ever!

Join me! Uwu

ryokasmagicc - Twitch

First stream ever! Iwaoi household

https://www.twitch.tv/ryokasmagicc

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Tis the Season of Surprises (AjinSS21)

Here is my Ajin Secret Santa for @kooroka ! :D

You told me about your fave characters, so I incorporated them all into the story. I hope you'll enjoy some Christmas fluff. Happy Holidays ! 🎄❤️(✯◡✯)

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The 25th of December was a snowy winter’s day. Kou’s car wasn’t the newest or fastest even when the roads weren’t glazed like an icy harbinger of death, but for someone who had only learned to drive a few months ago and passed his first driver’s exam with flying colours, he thought he did a pretty good job. From managing to stuff a stoic Kei into the passenger’s seat, their overnight bags into the trunk and the assembly of presents onto the backseat, to navigating the slippery roads all the way to their destination and arriving on time in the afternoon right in front of the apartment complex, even securing a parking space – everything went better than he thought it would.

There was no way anyone on earth could possibly find something to complain about.

“You almost killed me there, good job.” Kei Nagai grumbled, as he clicked his seatbelt open and reached for the door handle.

Fine, perhaps with one exception.

…

They took the elevator up to the 6th floor. Izumi was waiting for them, and there was a genuine smile on her face when she greeted them and welcomed them in.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have.” she said, but accepted the presents from Kei regardless that Kou knows Mrs. Nagai hand-selected for the occasion. If there was one thing that the Nagai family excelled in, it was not tarnishing their reputation- or at least, exerting exceptional damage control.

Tosaki greeted them with a curt nod from the kitchen island. “You really shouldn’t have.” he said, and he too sounded genuine, although it seemed to be born out of moody contempt more than anything else.

“Wow!” Kou exclaimed, having skirted past the genkan and into the centre of the apartment quickly, “This place is really nice!”

That it was. The 2LDK Izumi and Tosaki had secured, in a commutable distance from the ministry, was not shabby by any means.

Of course, it was nothing compared to the hideout- but then, few things were comparable to an entire rural military complex complete with training grounds and a forest. When he voiced this, Tosaki merely scoffed in response and adjusted his glasses.

“Like we would need all that space again. And like we could, with all the rent prices here.

“And your rent to pay for.” was what went unsaid.

…

While Kei had been able to go back to live with his family, Kou’s parents were nowhere to be found.  (He honestly wished he could say that this had been a first). Which in essence meant he was right back where he had been before the entire fiasco with Sato had started.  In an attempt not to let him become homeless, and perhaps out of out of an ever-present desire to atone for his own wrongdoings involving the Ajin Research committee, Tosaki had secured him a place to live, and not only paid for the deposit, his rent and utilities, but even for a used car and his driver’s license,  as well as giving him an allowance for groceries and anything personal. It was a charitable offer his old self had never accepted, but Tosaki had phrased it as being “payment for his services” in their military operation. And because he really did have nothing else waiting for him, Kou had accepted. He had gotten a part-time job to pay Tosaki back– truth be told, he would have gotten two if the governmental worker hadn’t interfered and told him save the money and to focus on school.

School. There where times when- although he would never say it out loud- Kou even missed Sato and the adventure created by his active presence, because now that this part of his life had gone abnormally quiet, he dealt with an enemy of quite another kind- receiving his high school diploma.

They were enrolled in the same online school, but while Kei was on the fast track to graduation, only taking an additional year to perfect his scores and heighten his chances at being accepted to a prestigious medical university, which was something that blew Kou’s mind on a regular basis, he himself was struggling with barely passing his classes.

Then again, some things really did never change.

…

Kou had trouble finding the right word for a moment, but grinned when a sudden inspiration struck:  “Hideout 2.0. Right? Right?”

“Don’t ever call it that.” Tosaki grumbled.

“Why not? It has the same- like, atmosphere, doesn’t it?”

“I sure hope it doesn’t.”

“Come on, why not?”

While Tosaki went on a tangent on how the apartment really did look nothing like the hideout and how he and Izumi really only lived together as roommates, Kou took a look around at the place. They really had put effort into decorating the place. A Christmas tree stood by the corner, adorned with red and silver baubles and string lights wrapped around its core. Even a small star had been placed on top. Silver tinsel hung from the curtain rods and a parade of reindeer had taken residence on the windowsill.

“Ogura sent some of the things over.” Izumi said, having noticed his curious gaze and lowered her eyes awkwardly, “We don’t really know how to celebrate, so- “

“Ah, no way, it looks great.” Kou insisted, “You did a fantastic job. Right, Kei?”

Kei mumbled something noncommittal, burying himself into the sofa and starting to type on his laptop, because apparently, nothing quite beat the festive spirit like getting ahead on your classwork.

It really was like being back at the hideout.

“I can help you guys in the kitchen.” Kou offered.

“If you’re okay with being put on chopping duty.” Izumi said, gesturing towards a pile of vegetables.

“Nothing easier than that.” Kou announced confidently, and got right to work- after all, who was he to deny a fragile lady the help she needed? The fact that said fragile lady could body slam him and call it a regular Tuesday – yeah, he didn’t want to think too much about that.

He surveyed the stack of ingredients almost filling up the small kitchen area.

“So, you guys are expecting more company?”

…

“Merry Christmas, Four Eyes!” Ogura said, dropping an impressively large sack on the floor beside him. He stretched out his arms in anticipation of a hug and grinned at all of them: “Santa Ogura is here! Been a while, hasn’t it?”

Tosaki swivelled around to the others, while pointing an accusatory finger at the unexpected house guest: “Who invited him?”

“Come on Yuu, what’s with the hostility?” Ogura argued, having taken off his shoes and stepping foot into the apartment, “Izumi said it’s fine to come over. After all, I’m just in the country for the holidays, visiting my parents. My wife’s staying with them for now.”

Ogura has a wife? Kou mouthed in Kei’s direction, to which the other responded with a shrug and a raised eyebrow, before turning back to the screen.

“Guess I’ll make some tea.” Tosaki sighed, admitting defeat where he saw it and walking off.

“Let me just take your jacket.” Izumi offered. Ogura thanked her, and in taking it off displayed the most hideous Christmas sweater that Kou had seen in a while. Apart from that, the professor looked the most well rested Kou had ever seen him. The bags under his eyes were not as prominent, and he had grown out his hair.

“You should have brought wife with you, Ogura.” Izumi said, eyeing the horridly colourful-with-pompoms ensemble with mild intrigue, “We wouldn’t have minded.” She expertly ignored Tosaki’s snort of derision.

Ogura waved her off. “Eh, I didn’t yet get to completely tell her everything that happened, faked death, broken fingers, taking down an immortal terrorist and all.” he said, as casually as though he were talking about tomorrow’s forecast, “I want to take it one day at a time.”

Izumi nodded. “That probably is for the best.” she said solemnly.

“And besides, I don’t feel like making this a couple’s evening any more than it already is.” Ogura added, “With you guys, and her and me…Don’t want Nagai and Nakano here to feel excluded.”

“We are not a couple!” Tosaki snapped, predictably, while Kou did his best to not dwell on the tiny sting he still felt months later that his – luckily, fading- crush on Izumi really had never been anything but unrequited, “How many damn times do I have to tell you?”

“Well, for that to be believable, maybe Izumi shouldn’t be wearing a cardigan that’s at least two sizes too large, but nice try anyway.” Ogura said airily.

Izumi turned several shades of red. “I…I just like them comfortable.” she said, defensively crossing her arms in front of her chest, “They make them a little larger.” Her voice broke. "And- and fluffy.”

“I see.” Ogura said, with a smug smirk that signalled that he wasn’t buying it.

“Here’s your tea.” Tosaki cut in, placing the tray down on the table with slightly more force than would have been strictly necessary.

“Thank Yuu.” Ogura said, ignoring Tosaki’s vicious glare at the ever-present pun that seemed like it wasn’t dying out any time soon. He turned towards Kei.

“So, Nagai, any decisive thoughts about that summer internship offer I made you?”

“Depends.” Kei said, placing down his laptop for the first time that evening to fixate Ogura with a sudden renewed interest, “Just how interested are you in me and what are you willing to offer? You must know, this is not the only opportunity I’m looking at.”

Kou almost choked on his tea. Whenever he handed in a resume, he was mostly happy that it got read at all. He did know that even for Kei, receiving work experience wasn’t as easy as he made it out to be, with some company’s unspoken prejudice against Ajin remaining a deciding factor in the hiring process even in the present day.

But despite everything, Nagai Kei wasn’t so easily intimidated. It was one of the things that Kou admired about him the most, even if he would never admit to it. And well, having worked with Professor Ogura before had probably further aided his bravery.

Ogura laughed. “I like that confidence, Nagai. Let’s go over the terms, then.”

…

It was several hours later. The sky outside had already darkened, though snowflakes still fell, rendering the atmosphere incredibly cozy.

The added warmth and comfort of the kotatsu certainly helped with that part.

The food had been delicious, and with presents exchanged and celebrations slowly dwindling down, Kou was closer than ever to a food coma. It had been a great evening, catching up with everyone again. Even Kei had let a smile slip now and then, and had overall been far less moody than Kou was used to. Okay, except for that part right after the main course where Kou, drunk on sake, had placed a Christmas hat on Kei’s IBM.

“But come on, it stuck! It was hilarious and spontaneous! And your IBM didn’t even notice, at first.”

“But it did notice, Kou. And it wasn’t happy. And if I hadn’t reacted fast enough, the next hilariously spontaneous part would have been its claws in my abdomen.”

“Well, wouldn’t that just have been some early med school practice?”

“I’ll show you early med school practice-“

Izumi offered Ogura to stay for the night, so he didn’t have to drive home through the snow, and he accepted almost immediately.

“You guys probably have a futon, right?” Ogura said, as they were discussing night arrangements, “With you and Tosaki in your separate rooms, Nagai and Nakano on the couch-“

“No, actually, we’re going to sleep in Tosaki’s room, right?” Kou said thoughtlessly, and wished he’d kept his mouth shut when he noticed Tosaki’s glare. If only looks could kill…

“Is that so?” Ogura said, with a grin that implied Kou had walked right into his trap, “So, in conclusion, does that mean you will be sleeping in Izumi’s room, Yuu? Now isn’t that a surprise!”

“No comment. And for the last time, stop calling me that.” Tosaki responded through gritted teeth, while Izumi fled to the bathroom with a flimsy excuse.

“You were right, Nakano.” Kei said, stretching his limbs and sighing, “This really is like we never left the hideout.”

…

Izumi woke up in the middle of the night to insistent pings from her cellphone.

She rolled over to the side, careful not to wake Tosaki, who was a light sleeper in any case, and opened her messages, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the glaring brightness of the screen.

They were from Tanaka Kouji.

Tanaka,  the ex-terrorist, who had been put on probation after a lengthy testimony he had given after being involved with Sato’s forces, the government’s feeble attempt at both indemnification for the trauma he had gone through and a guarantee that he would keep his mouth shut and not pursue further legal action after what had been done to him at the Ajin experimental sites.

Tanaka Kouji, who she hadn’t heard from in months.

Tanaka Kouji:  Shimomura

Tanaka Kouji: Click on the link

Tanaka Kouji: ajin-revival-2.net

Shimomura Izumi: Hello, Tanaka. Merry Christmas. What’s this?

Tanaka Kouji: Merry Christmas. Just click on the link. Please.

And Izumi did.

….

Video uploaded: 25.12.21- 23: 59

The recording starts. An old man sits in a chair. There’s a Santa’s hat on his head and an AK-12 on his side. The man smiles with eerie familiarity.

“Ho Ho Ho, Motherfuckers. Did you miss the game?”

[ajin-secret-santa-2025]

About 12 hours until posting for Ajin Secret Santa begins! Unless the information you received about your giftee said otherwise, you can post any time until the end of the day on Dec. 29th your local time. Remember to tag #ajinss21 ! And if you don’t have an account on the same platform as your giftee, we can help you deliver!

Running late? Just shoot us a message!

[fishymom-art]

the Spamton Cosplayer from Comic Con Stuttgart, I know you’re somewhere here, but I can’t recognise your url, pls dm me or react to this post or smth, please, aaaahhhhhh

[wool-string]

Pspspspspsp

[epic-potato-crisp]

Kei Has A Brilliant Moment of Word Association

A *very* late contribution to Ajin Week 2021! :D

Day 6: Fav AU/ Pop Culture

Ajin x John Mulaney - it just fit so well <3 (I had this more or less finished end of August 😅)

Mild Epilepsy TW around 2.07-2.14

Also on YT: https://youtu.be/H0ttKdtHBSk

Inspired by this brilliant vid: https://youtu.be/ArYYKqv_xWQ

[starlightandtears]

THE MALARIA VACCINE GOT APPROVED BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION TODAY OH MY GOD THIS IS LITERALLY ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF RESEARCH.

*THIS* IS WHAT BEING HUMAN IS ABOUT.

[that-one-nerdy-gal]

Guys they mean today as in TODAY today!! October 7th, 2021!!

[iamgandalfandgandalfmeansme]

“The vaccine… is not just a first for malaria — it is the first developed for any parasitic disease. Parasites are much more complex than viruses or bacteria, and the quest for a malaria vaccine has been underway for 100 years.” (NYT)

[writing-prompt-s]

Halloween merch! Available until October 7, 2021!

[Tees | Hoodies | Sweatshirts| Mugs]

https://teespring.com/stores/halloween-merch

[eatingrocksforfun]

I am in love

[tinyjordan]

SPOOPY MONTH! SPOOPY MONTH! SPOOPY MONTH!

[pocketgameboy]

I could use some 💪 luck

[nabulsi]

demolishing peoples houses to make room for an amusement park is literally movie villain shit

I cannot believe the world is letting Israel get away with this garbage

[nabulsi]

This post is 2 weeks old and I just wanna say that this is still ongoing.

Palestinian families are quickly becoming homeless. Many are living on the streets or from their cars right now with what little belongings they were able to salvage from their houses as Israel continues to demolish Palestinian homes

[pfaugh]

17/07/21,

still going

[journalistpeterparker-deactivat]

Source

Second source

[nabulsi]

As of August 5th 2021 occupation forces are raiding Silwan and forcing their way into people's homes and arresting palestinians

source

[turtlefeather7]

Indigenous man needing help getting on my feet

hello i was recommended by someone to try to fundraise a vehicle through tumblr. times have been very hard. I am currently living in a tent, hauling water, walking long distances to and from to access resources such as food. Im an indigenous person (Kiowa Apache) who has recently lost 5 loved family members and im struggling with my mental health. A vehicle can help me get to and from job locations as a construction worker. I have been struggling making money due to being on my feet. My goal is 2,000. I will write in the comments where i am at donation wise. I would appreciate a vehicle i can sleep in such as a van or truck. Thank you for hearing and sharing my message. Thank you for helping me in these trying times.

p*yp*l --- [email protected]

c*sh*app --- $turtlefeather7

[epic-potato-crisp]

AjinWeek21/2

Day 2: Favorite minor character/ cigarettes / sin

Notes: A combination that just screamed Ogura, imo. More of a character study than a ship fic, but some sad-adult-trio undertones.

——-

For all intents and purposes, Ogura Ikuya was dead.

It’s not that his heart had stopped beating, or he had stopped breathing, or even his synapses had stopped firing.

Physiologically, he was in an impeccable condition. Minus a few broken bones, but hey. With all the cigarette smoke he kept inhaling, he had made peace with the fact that he was here for a good time, not necessarily a long time.

To the American government, he was dead. To the Japanese government, as good as, with a handful of exceptions that knew better and were currently keeping him kidnapped at a hideout in the countryside.

Was it even kidnapping, at this point? It better not be Stockholm Syndrom, Ogura thought with vague amusement, noticing how relaxed and carefree he felt despite his situation.

The animosity that had been there between him and the others initially, had started to dissolve into an air of ambivalence, that slowly began resembling a sort of kinship.

Hirasawa might have broken his fingers, but he was an interesting guy and Ogura enjoyed hanging out with him and his crew after work hours. Especially when Manabe brought generous amounts of booze.

And there are, well, there are others.

Shimomura Izumi is one of the smartest and one of the prettiest women he has seen throughout his entire life. One that could easily take you down, if you weren’t careful.

It’s quite obvious that Tosaki is aware of that too, as much as he tries to gloss over it with bureaucratic terminology and the constant air of being stressed.

He has a fiancé, that much Ogura knows. She’s comatose, but even with Tosaki’s character deficiencies, he’s aware that the man would rather give an arm and a leg than to be unfaithful to her.

It’s almost ludicrous how it is exactly this determination that makes him so appealing to Ogura. The waves of hatred he feels coming from the other man are just a bonus, the cherry on top of a large sundae. He itches to get under his skin, to unravel that cold exterior, to unclench that beautifully chiselled jaw. And if Izumi were to be there, in the same room with them, well- wouldn’t that be a lucky coincidence?)

(He leaves these fantasies at the door. Some nights. Others, he replays them over and over.)

Ogura is a man of many talents. He has a doctorate in the sciences, a senior position at a prestigious research facility and a fluency in three languages. But now, more than ever, he has time to kill, so out of necessity, he expands his hobbies.

He keeps himself updated on his colleague’s research by anonymously browsing the main publishing hubs, and on American politics in general. He refamiliarizes himself with Tetris. He third-wheels Tosaki and Izumi at every possible occasion, as it is both hilariously entertaining and another petty opportunity to exact revenge on the ministry worker that had ordered his fingers to be broken. These bones might heal themselves, but that would take time and copious amounts of physiotherapy he was not able to receive, let alone have his insurance cover - yet another regrettable downside of being considered deceased. This was nothing Tosaki’s laughably insincere apology could fix. And yet, he can’t bring himself to be too hard on the man.

At least, he, Ogura, is free to do as he pleases at the hideout. Aside from answering any of the group’s burning queries on IBM research and voicing his opinion when the time came for making plans, he doesn’t have much on his plate. It’s not him that spends half his day going about his governmental dayjob and the other half running an illegal resistance operation that included quasi-babysitting two immortal teenagers.

Ogura had always known he was suited far better for the role as the fun uncle that would smoke with you and talk about physics, or more recently, ghosts made out of invisible black matter. Nagai Kei takes advantage of the opportunity, often coming to him with an remarkable amount of questions at quite the impressive level that he genuinely enjoys answering. He doesn’t connect with Nakano Kou as easily – to be fair, it is hard standing out next to Nagai – but soon discovers the teenager’s need for some remedial English lessons, which he has no trouble delivering. If he happens to teach him several swear words while doing so, it is nothing but a happy coincidence.

“Can I interest you two in another evening of bad decisions?” he says, one evening, mischievously gesturing with a tequila bottle and three glasses.

He’d walked in on them sitting half-dead in their meeting room, which was becoming a regular occurrence.

Izumi gives him a tight-lipped smile: “We’re not playing “How many drinks until the IBM manifests” again. Remember what happened the last time?”

Ogura remembered, in fact, he was sure everyone did. That had been one of the most entertaining evenings of his entire summer. Izumi could certainly hold her liquor, if four drinks were anything to go by. That was usually how long it took for Kuro-chan to go wild.

“Aww, see, and here I thought I was in for a treat.” Ogura says, sighing theatrically.

“Just get out if you’re going to waste our time.” Tosaki grumbles. But then, he clicks his tongue and holds out his hand expectantly.

“You can at least make yourself useful.” he says, averting his eyes.

Ogura raises an eyebrow in surprise, but then obliges, pouring him a glass.

The man is walking enigma. One that is a but a day away from ending up as clinical burn-out patient.

“Drinks for the lady?”

Izumi graces him with a withering glare, but then she too nods in defeat.

“Hit me up.” she says, a smile tugging at her lips.

“As you like it.” Ogura says, grinning, as he settles down to join the saddest party of his entire life.

After all, it would be nearly a sin to pass up such an opportunity.

[epic-potato-crisp]

Courtship - Part 3 (AjinWeek21/1)

Notes: So I decided to continue this for Ajin Week 2021! (although I was torn between making this a Sato fic cause you know. Hat.)

Day 1: Favorite character / summer break/ hat

Favourite character: Both Kei and Kou are among my favourite characters, Kei especially is one of my favourite protagonists of all time, and summer break, because this place during the sweltering time that is training camp. (fun! :D)

————————-

“Really?” Kei asks with growing annoyance as the vampire movie plays out on the screen in front of them. “Really?!”

“I can’t believe you haven’t seen that!” Kou defends himself, depositing the bowl of chips into Kei’s lap so his hands are free to adjust the volume.

“This is not what I had in mind when I agreed to…well, dating you.” Kei says, lowering his volume at the last three words that seem a little too foreign too pronounce.

“Why not?” Kou replies, “Movie nights are a super normal thing to do, not even for a date-“ He in comparison, has zero trouble adequately naming their current situation – “or with friends!” He smirked, which could never mean anything good: “Which you’d know, if you had any-“ Kou winces as Kei’s elbow rams into his side.

“I did have friends.” Kei grumbles through his teeth, stretching out his feet over the old and battered, but still quite comfortable couch. This is, surprisingly, afar more relaxing activity than he had initially anticipated.

Even if the movie is grating on his nerves.

“Why is everyone trying to befriend her?” he asks, exasperatedly. Bella Swan had made it perfectly clear that she was not interested in socializing from the moment she had arrived in her father’s rainy suburban town. And yet, in the first half an hour, not only had her childhood best friend shown up, she’d also been introduced to numerous classmates and faculty, and on top of that, was subtly encouraged to take a glance at a family of – vampire’s, that was his most likely prediction based on what he’d heard of the plot.

“Well, she’s new and people wanna get to know her. Nothing wrong with that.” Kou said diplomatically.

“Ugh.” Kei groans, and takes a sip of his coke. Eriko had always tried to make him watch these movies, which, if he was correct, were five in number, because apparently it was no enough to have a fourth movie. No, it had two be dragged out across two volumes. So far, he had been able to avoid it. Until training camp.

“Which you’d know, if you’d had-“

“Shut the fuck up.” Kei snaps, and the mood sours for a moment.

“Right, right, I’m sorry.” Kou says, after a beat of silence, and then his hand reaches over to grasp Kei’s.

“Is that really necessary?” Kei mutters, feeling his cheeks heat up. He prays that the darkness of the room, only lit up faintly by the TV, serves as enough cover.

“Well, it’s a date, right?”

“Stop saying that all the time.”

“Date. Date. Daaate.” Kou sing-songs, grinning at Kei knowingly.

The latter glowers: “Are you in elementary school?”

Kou laughs. He still doesn’t let go of Kei’s hand.

Kei feels his heartbeat quicken, ever so slightly, nervousness manifesting in the pit of his stomach. He chalks it up to the unfamiliar situation. After all, he really doesn’t know whether the movie will provide suitable entertainment for the next one and a half hours. There is no way it has anything to do with Kou.

At least, it shouldn’t.

“If you could choose between being a vampire and an Ajin, what would you pick?” Kou asks, out of the blue.

The movie had ended just a little while ago, a pointless two hours and six minutes of a supernatural romance that Kei couldn’t care less for. It was a little past ten, and they were not finished for a long while, apparently, if the cover for the second movie, blinking traitorously in Izumi’s streaming library, was anything to go by.

“Not this again.” Kei sighs, “Do you spend all day on these unlikely scenarios?”

“It’s that not unlikely.” Kou argues, “Come on, a few years back, you didn’t even know Ajin existed! And now you’re one!”

“Of course I knew they existed. It’s part of the school curriculum.” Kei deadpans, this particular lesson still rather unsettlingly fresh in his memory.

“Which you’d know if you’d gone to school.” He adds, acidly.

“Wow, harsh.” Kou pouts, “I did go. I just…dropped out. There’s a difference. Everyone knows that.” He mumbles.

“Keep telling yourself that” is on the tip of Kei’s tongue, but he swallows it down, if only to retain the peace. And perhaps because he would feel the tiniest bit guilty further prodding at that sore spot.

But school is something he does not want to think about for a good while again. The memory brings only pain. Betrayal from his classmates, from teachers, a jealousy- one that Kou would never be able to comprehend - on missing out on education that is a given for his former classmates.. A High School degree that he will never receive, if the government has any say in it, after all the years and effort, the hours of studying and revising he has put into it. A bleak future with all paths to prestigious medical universities blocked irreversibly. His only crime had been crossing that road that day. If only I could be reborn, Kei thinks miserably, then I could get a new chance. chance. He is in dire need of a new identity. Perhaps he can later guilt Tosaki into creating one for him.

“So circling back to the topic at hand, vampires.” he says, reluctantly.

“Heck yeah.” Kou agrees, excitedly, “So?”

“There are pros and cons on both sides.” Kei shrugs, “If you were a vampire, you wouldn’t be able to age and have a career, build a reputation. You’d have to get a new identity every few years. That sounds like a hassle. And don’t get me started on the…blood lust.”

The vampires and even humans in the movie had looked hungry in a completely different way whenever that topic came up. As though sucking your body’s circulatory system dry was desirable under any circumstance. Kei shuddered at the thought.

“You mean, you wouldn’t be able to build a family, live out your life with your friends, that kinda stuff?” Kou asks.

“I was referring to the important things, but I suppose.” Kei says loftily.

“Yeah, well, you’re wrong about that. Even vampires enjoy having relationships.” Kou argued.

“Debatable.”

“Bella seems pretty happy with the Edward guy.” his teammate emphasizes, “No matter if he’s a vampire or not.”

“But it is going to be a problem in the future.” Kei argues, “Honestly, she should have just stayed with Jacob and been done with it. It’s a suitable match, why put in any extra effort? She’s just going to grow old while he stays young forever.”

“Figures you’d go with the childhood best friend.” Kou mutters, flicking crumbs of his trousers.

“What?”

But Kou – strangely, for once in his life- doesn’t seem to haven an emergent need to elaborate further on the matter.

Kei probably should have said something a long time ago.

Perhaps he should have stopped Kou from starting the blasted second movie, but “Kei, it’s not that late! And how else will you know how it ends?” (Apparently, never was not a viable option.)

So here they are, sitting through another two hours of what Kou calls an “iconic classic” and Kei under his breath refers to as trash, but not the recyclable kind.

The cinematography is stunning, he has to admit begrudgingly, and the plot, albeit ridiculous, still manages to draw him in enough for him to forego his plans of turning the movie off several times, which is quite bothersome.

Well, fine then, Kei thinks to himself, at least now if Eriko badgers him about those movies again, he can give her a detailed review of every single logical error he has discovered so far.

He is considering starting a list, just so as to have some backup proof. His little sister’s education doesn’t have to suffer any more than it already had.

“Is she really going to sit around for months and wait for him to come back?” Kei complains, grabbing a fist full of popcorn from the bowl Hirasawa had made for them, “That’s a complete waste of time.”

“I don’t know, don’t you think some people are worth waiting for?” Kou threw in, giving Kei a knowing -sort-of-look that he couldn’t place.

It was the first sentence he had spoken in a while. Apart from his rambling monologue to get Izumi to join them a while prior when she came in to check if the streaming service was working.

“Did you see these movies already, Izumi-san?” Kou had asked and Kei surely hadn’t imagined the blush pinkening her cheeks.

“Oh, those? Just…once.” she’d replied, her voice sounding a little too high-pitched for that to be true, “It all seems fine, so I should get going-“

“Ah, already? Take a seat, take a seat!” Kou says generously, gesturing to the couch, “You need a break too, right?”

And Izumi did, albeit only tentatively on the edge. “I’ll be gone in a few minutes.” she promises.

She lied. Fifteen minutes later, she is still there and Kei doesn’t have the heart to kick her out, despite this being a a date, as he not so subtly communicated to Kou via verbal cues – all of which the other successfully ignored -but then, he bitterly thought, what chance did their pseudo-trial stand against Kou’s immortal woman of his dreams?

His thoughts screech to a halt. What does he even care what Kou thinks about either of them? It was all beyond ridiculous.

“It depends on how long you’re waiting for them.” Kei says, in response to Kou’s earlier question, “What about you, Izumi-san?”

“I think some relationships are worth preserving.” Izumi replies meaningfully, but right before she can say anything else, her phone goes off, the Caller-ID flashing with a familiar name.

“It seems Tosaki-san needs my assistance.” she says, barely concealing a wistful sigh, “Have fun you two.”

“He really needs to stop working you to the bone.” Kou complains.

Kei has the decency to feel guilty about the relief that settles in him when she leaves.

The motorcycle ride looks engaging. An activity Kei himself wouldn’t mind doing, seeing as there was zero risk involved to his safety with his newfound Ajin status.

As he verbalizes all of this, Kou gives him yet another of these knowing looks.

“Well, you were always one for motorcycles, weren’t you?” he says, tone bordering on smug.

Kei frowns. “Where did you get that idea from? I’ve only ridden one so far, but that was with Kaito.”

“I know.” Kou says, and then downs the rest of his coke.

“Refill?” he asks, holding out his hand for Kei’s glass.

“Sure.” Kei says, passing it over. He eyes Nakano skeptically, for any hint as to why his demeanor kept fluctuating.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks.” Kei cautiously takes the glass from him. Their fingers brush, lingering just a second too long to be casual. Kei notices how the tips of Kou’s ears redden and uses his momentary distraction to his advantage.

“You really hate that Jacob guy, don’t you?”

Judging by the look on his teammate’s face, he hit the nail on the head.

“I, uh, well hate is a kinda strong word.” Kou hesitates, stumbling over words, “He’s just not my favourite.”

“Really?” Kei asks, raising an eyebrow. In all honesty, he isn’t very interested in either of the characters, but psychoanalyzing Kou is what gives the evening its spice.

“Why is that so surprising?” Kou pouts.

“Because he’s just the same sort of muscle-brained idiot that you are.” Kei responds, gracing Kou with an exasperated look, before turning back to the movie.

“Oh.”

His words seemed to have had a profound effect on his teammate. Whatever sort of enlightenment had reached Kou, it had visibly brightened his mood.

“He is, isn’t he.” Kou says, with a small laugh.

“I don’t know why that is so surprising.”

“Guess I never thought of it that way.”

Which was exactly why it fit so well, Kei thinks to himself. Kou looks positively thrilled with the new discovery. As much as it pains to admit him, a lot remains about his teammate that he still doesn’t understand.

“I think he might be becoming my new favourite character.” Kou says, conspiratorially, sliding closer to Kei and slinging arm around him.

As the movie goes on, Kei starts to feel more and more tired. The comfortable atmosphere and the constant stream of voices from the TV serve to lull him a sleepy state. “Wake me up when they reach Italy.” he mumbles, the exhaustion of another day spent training finally catching up with him.

Kou mumbles an affirmative, and that’s where Kei’s memory cuts off.

The next thing he knows, someone is prodding at him from the side, instructing him to wake up.

“Fine, five more minutes.” Kei says, swatting the offending hand away.

He blinks as he comes too, shielding his eyes against the sudden brightness of the room.

The movie has ended, but even if hadn’t, Kei wouldn’t have been able to see much of the screen.

Not with Tosaki blocking their view.

“It’s almost 1 am.” he informs them through clenched teeth, “Get upstairs before I sever the internet connection.”

It’s a substantial threat. Substantial enough to briefly distract Kei from the fact that he had fallen asleep right on top of Kou.

“Fuck.” Kei swears under his breath, sitting up straight.

His teammate seems less perturbed.

“You missed the ending.” is all Kou has to say for himself, with a shit-eating grin.

(“It really is pointless.” Kei whispers, later that night, as they are both lying in Kou’s bed, a hair-brained decision that Kei blames his tiredness for.

“The whole being with a vampire. She can’t be, unless someone turns her into one, but that would be the epitome of a ridiculous clishé".

“…”

“Oh God, please tell me I’m wrong.”)

[epic-potato-crisp]

Courtship - Part 2 (AjinWeek2020/7)

Notes:

Part 2 is here after...a year?

Originally, this was supposed to be posted for Ajin Week 2020 Day 7: Anything goes. The whole story was just supposed to be two chapters, however I want to expand it a little and now we're at looking at 3-4. Stay tuned for further updates! (I'm considering whether Twilight is the right choice for their movie night. It's very temping. There are five (5) movies and so very little of Kei's patience.)

———————————————-

“I’m sorry, what?” Tosaki says.

Yeah, Kei probably shouldn’t have agreed to this. On the other hand, the look of pure bewilderment on his team leader’s face replaces about a month of entertainment for him. At the very least. It’s a fair deal.

“We’re dating.” Kou explains sheepishly, for the second time, scratching at his neck.

“Since when?” Hirasawa asks, appearing just as invested as he is amused.

Izumi hasn’t said anything yet, instead observing them in silence.

“Since like right now.” Kou says, laughing awkwardly, “It was pretty spontaneous. Right, Kei?”

“Don’t drag me into this.” Kei responds briskly.

“Hey, you just said yes!” Kou argues, his brows furrowing.

“And I’m regretting it more and more.” Kei snipes back.

“Oof, boys, 20 minutes in and trouble in paradise already. It’s not looking good, huh?” Ogura comments.

“It’s just a…trial.” Kei says, anxiety still spiking up in him months later at the thought of the any kind of experiment, “For a week. More for research purposes than anything.”

“Research purposes, now we’re talking.” Ogura chimes in, “What’s your hypothesis? Are you going to need help evaluating the data?”

“Can you even evaluate a relationship that way?” Hirasawa argues, “In numbers? That sounds strange to me.”

“Well, plenty of psychological studies say yes, so.” Ogura shrugs, “So Nagai, what’s your deal?”

“The hypothesis is that seven days of close interaction will not lead to me murdering him.” Kei glares in Kou’s direction, “And that he will shut up about my dating life.”

Kou coughts out something that suspiciously sounds like “what life”, for which Kei elbows him in the ribs, hard.

“Yeah, what he said.” Kou wheezes, returning the glare in kind.

“And we’re not really going to write a report about it. We’re just letting it run simultaneously. Would that be with you?” Kei asks.

Tosaki stares at them for a full minute and then leaves the room without another word.

“I’ll just be-“ Izumi says, apologetically, hurriedly following after him.

“You boys have my blessing.” Hirasawa says, winking at them and toasting in their direction with his barley tea.

“Mine too, with a little extra sprinkle of blessing on top if you do take a few notes about it.” Ogura says, “From a sociological perspective, it’s pretty hilarious. Completely anonymous, of course.”

“Fine, I can do that.” Kei says, “I’m bored as it is.”

They take their leave.

“Well, you’re not going to be bored for long with me around.” Kou says, once they’re out of earshot, grinning at him brightly.

Kei grimaces. “Yeah, we’ll see about that.”

Kei hadn’t believed that dating Kou would be difficult- to be truthful, he hadn’t considered the situation at all, but here they were. But reality is a whole different obstacle.

First, there’s the hand-holding. It’s been a good while since Kei had held hands with anyone, frankly, when he was in elementary school and crossing the street with Eriko, and that had been more of a safety precaution than anything. It’s an unnecessary amount of touch in his opinion, the sweaty entanglement of fingers grossing him out in theory. In practice…it’s not really that bad.

Kou slips his hand into Kei’s, that evening as they’re taking a walk around the forest. It comes as a surprise to him. They had just been strolling around aimlessly for a while, trying to clear their head from a day of training and the awkward conversation earlier. Lost in his own thoughts, Kei startles a little at the sudden physical contact.

“The cicadas are really fucking loud, aren’t they?” Kou says, almost nonchalantly. Kei notices that his grip, although confident at first, loosens a little in hesitation, giving Kei the opportunity to pull away. He considers it. However, instead of sticky and oppressive, the touch is comforting somehow. Which is weird, considering there is no purpose to it. But then, there is no purpose to this entire trial run, Kei concludes, which makes up his mind. He hums noncommittally and squeezes back. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see how the other’s face lights up in surprise. “Maybe they just have a lot to talk about.” Kou stumbles to add. “Maybe they’re just as chatty as you.” Kei replies sarcastically. Kou laughs. “Yeah, probably.” he agrees, grinning. They continue walking until dusk approaches, coloring the sky in shades of purple and blue.

Izumi’s waiting for them when they get back with two glasses of chilled water. They say their thanks, Kou gulping down his water in a flash and wiping his mouth with his arm.

“Ah man, thought I was going to die of thirst.” he says, sighing blissfully as he goes in for a refill.

“Literally impossible in that short of a time span.” Kei corrects him, but he too can’t help a small sigh of relief. August brings about a heat wave that makes him even more grateful for the air conditioning at the hideout. He regrets to think that he “voluntarily” signed up for a training camp during this very time of the year when he could have instead spent his days in his room doing practice questions. Pure insanity. He’ll definitely get Sato back for this.

“By the way, Tosaki-san is okay with you… dating.” Izumi explains, “He was just a bit overwhelmed at the situation.”

Not only him, Kei thinks grimly.

“Well, it’s just for a week!” Kou interjects, with an embarrassed laugh, “We’re not sure about anything yet, you know?” Kei side-eyes him hard. His attempts at preserving his chances with Izumi-san are obvious enough that it’s almost pitiable. “Well, I am. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to spend the rest of my life dating someone like you.” he scoffs, which should serve Nakano’s agenda well, ignoring the slight constriction ins his chest. The walk must have tired out his muscle more than he realized.

“So he is okay with it?”

“Well.” Izumi bites her lip, “He said that by your mere existence, you’ve ruled out his two biggest concerns, so after that he doesn’t really care what happens. Unless it jeopardizes your training, of course.”

Yes, that does sound indeed like Tosaki.“And those concerns are?” Kei asks, genuinely curious.

“You can’t get pregnant and you can’t die.” she says, matter-of-fact. Kou chokes on his water.

“In that particular order, in case you were wondering.” she adds, rolling her eyes.

“Wow.”says Kei, any other words temporarily not coming to mind.

That’s one obstacle removed.

For some strange reason, having a boyfriend doesn’t magically remove Kei’s above average exhaustion after what the others refer to as one instance of basic interval training.

“I can carry you the rest of the way.” Kou grins, kneeling beside Kei who is currently wheezing into the ground, fingers digging into the earth. Thirty situps, followed by half an hour of jogging? Give him a break. He’s been through 15 and already wishes he were six feet under.

Permanently, that is.

“Are you dumb?” Kei coughs out, “How on earth would I benefit from that exercise?”

“Well, you could rest- you seriously sound like you’re gonna pass out any second.” Kou pointed out, “And I could get some strength training in. Win-win. I know I’m strong enough to carry you.” He has the audacity to wink at Kei.

“Hirasawa-san!” Kou yells and runs over to where the older man is standing and timing them. With Kou gesturing broadly while explaining, and Hirasawa nodding eventually, Kei knows his fate is sealed.

“Pick me up.” He says, lethargically stretching his limbs skywards once Kou comes back for him.

“Just get on my back like a normal person.” Kou laughs at his purposeful display of weakness, “Unless you really want the bridal carry?”

“Hell no.”

“Your choice, Nagai.”

Remarkably enough, riding on Kou’s shoulders is not as bad as an experience as Kei had imagined it to be. He gets a ride across their training grounds, coupled with brilliant view of the clear blue sky and puffy clouds that drift by without a care in the world, and his only physical exertion is reserved for clinging to his teammate just enough so that he doesn’t fall off.

Which is to say minimal. For all his bragging, Nakano really does have profound upper body strength.

“See? Told you I could easily carry you!” Kou teases.

Easily.

Kei doesn’t know what does it, the confidence emblazoning his tone, the mere fact that Nakano was right or the reality of the situation where he picked him up and carried him around like it was nothing.

Kei’s heart starts to beat a little faster.

“I’m not sharing a bed with you.” Kei declares, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“What’s the big deal? Couples do it all the time.” Kou says.

It’s close to midnight and he’s standing at Kei’s door, armed with his phone and a pillow.

“Yes, but we’re not a couple.

“We are for this week.” Kou points out and damn, he is right. He pouts at Kei.

“So we only have a week. Please, Nagai?”

“You know how I feel about physical contact.” Kei glances back at his bed, which looks perfectly designed to host one person, and one person only. As it should.

“Well, I mean we don’t have to cuddle. Unless that’s…something you want?” Kou throws him an inquisitive gaze, the tips of his ears reddening.

“Of course it’s not, you moron!” Kei snaps back, a blush rising to his cheeks.

“Well then what the hell is your issue?” Kou says, slightly frustrated.

“I don’t want to share a bed with you, that’s it. Good night.”

Kei slams the door close in his face.

He hears his teammate/boyfriend-for-the-week groan and the head of to God knows where.

Kei fortifies his resolve – he doesn’t even need to give a reason, and yet he gave perfectly acceptable to deny his overnight stay.

Perhaps that’s his only issue.

Perhaps he also doesn’t want Kou to be able to listen to his steadily accelerating heartbeat whether they’re in close proximity.

But that’s something Kou is better of not knowing about.

Little by little, the hand-holding is integrated in their daily routine. Not when anyone can see them. And only if there’s nothing immediate that needs to be done. A brush of fingers as they pass each other in the hallway. Kou’s hand naturally slipping into Kei’s as they’re watching a video on his phone. Kou’s fingers grasping for Kei’s in the middle of a team meeting, right under the table, and Kei holding on for just a second too long, a scene that he will replay in embarrassment in his memories later.

Sometimes Kei wishes it wouldn’t feel as comfortable as it does, because this too is something that he will have to erase once their week comes to an end.

“Oh yeah, can we use the room later?” Kou asks, three days into their trial, barely swallowing down his food in time to ask the question. Which is directed at Tosaki, an unspoken agreement that comes with trying to sort out most hideout-related issues. Because the man really is the only person that would find a problem with that, Kei thinks grimly, and isn’t disappointed.

“For what?” Tosaki asks, suspicion setting into his features. Or perhaps that’s just his default look these days.

“Like, for a movie night?” Kou says, “The screen in here is really big.”

There is dead silence. Kei picks at his soba and tries to stave off his oncoming headache.

“Why?”

“Dunno, cause we want to have one?” Kou tilts his head curiously, “If you guys aren’t gonna use it, we can have it, right?”

Ogura tries to turn his laugh into a cough, failing miserably.

“Yeah, Yuu, don’t be such a spoilsport. Let them have it.”

“What are you calling me?”

“I already said I’m cool with Ikuya, you’d just have to stop being so uptight about it.” Ogura shrugs, gesturing at him with his chopsticks.

“This room is reserved in the evenings.” Tosaki grits out between his teeth, ignoring Ogura’s third consecutive attempt that day to get under his skin, if Kei is keeping count correctly.

“Damn it. “ Kou sighs, “You can’t make an exception?”

Tosaki’s eyebrow twitches.

“Wouldn’t a couch be more comfortable than chairs?” Hirasawa interjects, right before Kou can continue in what Kei knows is a losing battle, “There’s one in the storage room. It’s a little battered, but it will do the job.”

“Yeah, I actually think there’s a projector in their too.” Manabe says, “You won’t need a screen. We’ll just get the laptop hooked up. Kind of like a home cinema.” He smiles nostalgically at the prospect: “Haven’t been to one in ages.”

Tosaki sighs.

“Hell yeah.” Nakano says, pumping his fist. He grins at Kei: “What do you say, Nagai?”

“Whatever.” Kei says, despite feeling strangely excited at the idea, taking another bite to avoid further conversation.

Izumi appears thoughtful. “I might be subscribed to a streaming service, if I remember correctly.” she says, “So make use of that if you will.”

“It will be better than risking a computer virus.” she adds, awkwardly, as Tosaki shoots a glare in her direction.

“Izumi-san, Hirasawa-san, Manabe-san, you’re the best!” Kou proclaims loudly, his body positively vibrating with excitement, “This will be the most amazing movie night ever!”

Hirasawa chuckles. “You’re welcome. We’ll help you set it up right after dinner.”

“And I’ll check the wifi and my login details.” Izumi says, pointedly avoiding eye contact with her boss.

“I’m glad everyone has their priorities for the evening sorted.” Tosaki says icily.

Kou gives Kei a winning grin, which seems to say: “I promised you a movie night, and I made it happen.”

For all intents and purposes, Kei is the slightest bit impressed. Which is yet another tidbit of information Nakano doesn’t need to possess.

“You better not make me sit through one of your dumb action movies.” he mutters, instead.

This is going to be a long night.