I'm begging for any content with Kenji or Tachihara from BSD 💔 I would take ANYTHING
—🍂🐸
My pleasure! Here's for you, hope you enjoy ✩
Interrogate a criminal, Kenji style!
Fandom: Bungô Stray Dogs
Word count: 2 508 words
Mostly centered around the character Kenji Miyazawa
“So those are the lil’ sheeps ya hoardin’ today?” the man designated Atsushi and Kyōko with a mouvement if his chin.
“They’re my colleges and friends,” replied Kenji with his usual smile.
“That’s what I thought…”
The man’s eyes were glowing of a menacing light over Atsushi and Kyōko’s faces. His grim expression showed a hint of careful, considerate reflexion - Atsushi could only imagine his interlocutor was thinking of ways to torture them.
“Listen!” Matsumoto voice echoes through the brick walls, and each of his subordinates jumped. “If any of you nutheads tries to touch just a hair of those kids, I’ll personally drown ya in ya own blood!”
Confused and disappointed grows rose from the crowd surrounding them. Atsushi could only stare in disbelief at the sudden protection the chief promised, but said man was quick to give an explanation to his men.
“Trust, it’s better than any punch Smiley Face will throw at ya.”
“Glad to see we’re in the same page!” replied said Smiley Face.
Kyōko arched her brow. “Matsumoto’s scared of Kenji?” she whispered. But the weretiger would only nod along, a faint smile on his face. Despite the several armed criminals surrounding them, a feeling of safety, even confort washed over Atsushi. “Is this how it feels to be a sheep?” he asked himself, imagining a field of luxurious grass to eat endlessly.
It’s only in a now way more relaxed situation that we can allow to go back in a time a little bit, and understand how this trio managed to found themselves in this situation.
Matsumoto was the leader of the Black Mold, a criminal group specialized in alcohol contraband. The name was given by the authorities, but got so popular it even stuck to the members themselves; just like black mold, the group was dangerous, toxic and, once it deemed a place confortable enough fo its needs, it was hard to get rid of. That already seemed like a good enough reason for the ADA to raise an eyebrow - but when rumours of a more serious crime rose, where Matsumoto was the only witness, the agency quickly sent a detective along.
To find the leader wasn’t so hard, as most of the underground bars and taverns of the city were under the influence of the Black Mold. And, to help gather informations, the judicious choice of sending Kenji was made almost immediately. The innocent-looking sunshine of the agency versus a merciless criminal - yeah, sounded like a fair deal. As a way to ease his mind, and to Dazai’s recommendation, Atsushi decided to follow; Kyōko, curious, did the same.
They were quick to be cornered by Matsumoto’s men, and Kenji only had to politely ask to be brought to the leader. Things were going oddly smoothly, as if the blond’s smile touched the brigands to their heart - but, truth be told, they were mostly curious to see how their chief would put such an imbecile back in his place.
Matsumoto sighed, sitting back on a wooden chair like there were dozen in a bar. A smell of alcohol lingered, and Atsushi was quick to notice gallons hidden behind a simple cloth.
“So,” the man uttered. “Whaddya want?” “We’re looking for informations about a particular case that happened a few days ago,” Kenji explained. “We were hoping you could help us, Mr Matsumoto, but um… Could this discussion be a little more… private, please?”
Matsumoto was indeed accompanied by a dozen men, who all were studying with a hard gaze the three detectives. Atsushi would discreetly hide behind Kenji to avoid their mean look, while Kyōko was following the discussion with great curiosity. Each men had at least a gun to his belt, and a few also had pocket knifes they’d use as toys and objects of bet.
After a brief thought, the leader nodded. “Ya heard what he said. Scam off.” More disappointed grows rose, and Matsumoto’s reaction of yelling even harder only created a mass frenzy of big, buff men begging to stay and listen for a bit longer. But against their chief, they could do so much as walk away. Those criminals were obeying to the brutal jungle law, survival of the fittest, might makes right - call it whatever. The weakest obeys to the strongest; the goons were obeying to Matsumoto, and Matsumoto was obeying to… Kenji.
Innocent looking, sunshine of the agency Kenji.
“This can’t be right,” muttered Kyōko, hiding her disappointment as the men went away. Maybe she was hitching for a fight. “
Mind if I keep my guy Gabi along?” Beside Matsumoto was a slimmer figure, though everyone looked more slim in comparison to him. With as gaze as sharp as angry blades, the figure stared down the detectives. “He’s my lil buddy, my associate… I hope you can… understand.” His tone was more of an order than a question, yet Kenji looked at his two colleges behind him.
“Well, uh…” uttered Atsushi, hardly hiding his suprise.
“I’ll keep an eye on him,” replied Kyōko, her hand tight around the handle of a weapon.
“I think it’s fine, as long as we have our informations. We’re only here to politely ask what we need and go back to the agency, remember?” Kenji’s smile was the brightest light of this smelly room.
“Yes.” Somehow, his optimism made both Atsushi and Kyōko’s faces soften.
“It’s okay with us, Mr Matsumoto!” Kenji’s bright expression faced back his interlocutor, causing him to burst out laughing. At his sides, this Gabi guy was pouring a red liquid into five glass cups. As his chief talked, he designated to the detectives places to sit. Before any could object, Kenji sat down with a grin, causing Kyōko and Atsushi to follow quietly. Glass cups were placed before them, filled with an odorant liquid shimmering under the light.
“Lemme guess. It’s about this murder everyone talks about, right? The big event?”
“Yes! We’d like if you could talk about what you saw that day, please.”
Kenji asked. Kyōko pulled out of the folds of her robe photos of said event. Between two buildings, a man was seen being dragged into the dark alley. Sadly, the image was too blurry to discern the identity of the wrongdoer. Matsumoto threw a look at the photos, crossing his arms.
“Dunno what ya talking about.”
The young woman pulled more photos, taken in the same timeframe. This time, a figure similar to Matsumoto was obviously seen.
“Could you please tell us what you saw?”
“No can’t do. This could’ve been anyone. What ya heard was prolly rumours made to bother me. I have a lot of enemies, ya know.”
Atsushi threw a look at Kyōko. They both were sharing the same hint of doubt in the man’s words, but we’re waiting for Kenji’s instructions. The blond stayed quiet, thinking. But it didn’t take more than a minute before he nodded along.
“Very well, then! Thank you for having us. Let’s go, now.”
“What-?!” the two others exclaimed in a voice.
“Already?” Matsumoto asked, feigning nonchalance. “Wait. Smiley Face. Ya asked something outta me, so I gotta ask something outta ya, y’know?”
Intrigued, Kenji tilted his head. “Yes?” Deep down, Atsushi was already pulling out his hair is great desperation - but he only sighed quietly.
Matsumoto grabbed his glass, swirled it around the rims. “Try a sip. It’s my private collection. Good stuff.”
Atsushi could feel the trap coming from a mile away. In a situation where one were facing a foe, safety meant caution, doubt over everything, and, well, it was so obviously cliché to think maybe a drug has been mixed to someone’s cup. Plus this criminal was at the head of a group specialized in alcohol trafficking. Maybe Kenji knew all of this already, but he opted for an innocent reply. “Sorry, I don’t drink alcohol.”
“C’mon.” The man’s insistance was getting suspicious. “Ya won’t get drunk over a sip. Just taste it. You tell me what ya think.”
“Kenji won’t accept so easily, but how will he get out of this situation..?” Atsushi asked himself. He couldn’t even think of a single strategy that he got his answer right if front of his eyes.
“Hmm. Not bad.”
In a loud smack, Kenji put his glass down.
His now empty glass.
Pulling his hair out wasn’t a strong enough way to demonstrate Atsushi’s desperation. Kyōko too seemed shocked, her eyes wide before this demonstration of… strength? Or naivety? Hard to tell. And Matsumoto laughed even more, surprised too.
“So, how is it?” he asked. “Maybe ya lil sheeps could try a sip too, no?” Kenji managing to drink the whole thing of this beverage - what was it anyways? - left some sense of ease with the two other detectives. Atsushi reached for his glass, but Kenji grabbed his hand before.
“It’s pretty sour, I don’t think you’ll like it, Atsushi.” Kyōko flinched, staring down at her own glass. “Sour?” A sour taste usually meant a meal going bad, or a poison mixed to the beverage. Atsushi understood, and felt his blood freeze as he threw a worried look over Kenji. “We should leave,” she added.
“Are you okay, Kenji?” whispered Atsushi. The blond didn’t reply, nodding faintly as he was examining the contents of a front pocket on his overalls. To add to Atsushi’s growing frustration, Matsumoto, arms crossed and smug look, was cackling to himself.
“Don’t tell me ya don’t like my special drink…“
“You poisoned Kenji?!” Atsushi screamed. He was ready to pounce at the man, fangs and claws already shining under the dim light.
“Wait.” Matsumoto’s face softened in an expression of pure confusion. “Whaddya mean, poison?”
Atsushi took a step closer to the criminal, ready to puch the lights out of him, when his noticed what seemed like genuine perplexity in Matsumoto's face. Kyōko sighed and demonstrated. She pushed the glass, spilling its content on the wooden table. After a few seconds, foams formed where the liquid and the wood met. “It’s poisoned.”
“Guh? How? It was fine this mornin’! I drank from it-!”
And a faint click echoed in the room.
Atsushi felt a bullet brush just past the side of his forehead. Smoke from a gun disappeared quickly. A silencer muffled the sound of an explosion, but a firm grip was almost bending the weapon. Kenji, his hand closed on the gun, was pulling it towards himself - no, rather, he was pulling it away from Atsushi and Kyōko.
“Hey… Let’s be careful manipulating guns, Mr Gabi…” the blond man had a hard gaze locked on him, whose fingers were still in the trigger. The sunshine now showed no signs of any innocence, no signs of mercy. By only twisting his grip on the gun, Kenji managed to force Gabi’s arm in a motion beyond physical capabilities. A loud snap of bones quickly followed, and the man’s reaction was, very understandably, to let go of the gun and scream as loud as the pain went.
“Careful with it, Mr Matsumoto.” Kenji gave back the gun with a smile - not that it could be used again, with the fresh mark of his fingers distorting the metal. Yet Matsumoto grabbed the remaining scrap before he started to yell cusses over Gabi.
“Kenji, are you okay?” asked Kyōko. But the blond looked fine. “What about the poison?” continued Atsushi in a worried tone. Kenji frowned, perplexed. “What poison?” He had small, pale crumbs by the corner of his lips, and was sometime chewing on something.
“Ya dingus! Ya poisoned the alcohol? Ya shot the kid?”
“But..!”
“No buts! Ya stupid!”
“Matsumoto, do you know just how much their head worth? I know at least seven dudes who’d pay a solid amount of any of those stupid detectives!”
“Was I not clear enough when I said no touchin the kids?”
Noticing the detectives were staying quiet, Matsumoto looked at Kenji. A tense smile was painted on his face. “Gimme just a moment to punch some reason into him.” Kenji nodded, leaving the two others baffled. “So Matsumoto is scared of Kenji,” discreetly commented Kyōko. After all, with this demonstration of pure strength, who wouldn’t be scared?
It was only when this Gabi guy was reduced to a carpet of whimpering pain and regrets that Matsumoto sat back down to his place, facing the agency with a grin.
“Sorry ‘bout that, Smiley Fa- Whaddya doin now?”
“I’m eating cheese.”
“Cheese?”
Kenji produced out of his pocket a piece of waxed paper folded on itself. A small block of it was protected inside, and the blond quickly tore a sample to give to the criminal. “Try it! Its softness pairs well with the sourness of the alcohol.” Was anyone going to tell him the drink was not supposed to be sour?
As Matsumoto grabbed the piece of cheese to try, Kenji added with a smirk. “This comes from my family’s farm, in the countryside. It’s a unique produce.”
The criminal tried paring the drink and the cheese, and was left pleasantly surprised. He nodded along Kenji’s words as he explained how to properly coordinate alcohol profiles and cheese flavours, and the importance of locally sourcing his products - and legally, he dared to add, but no one was really sure Matsumoto payed attention to this part. Kyōko was hungrily staring at the snack.
“I like it!” the man smiled. “Ya right, it’s pretty good together!”
“Right?”
“Ya not bad at this! Maybe I should hire ya.”
“Thank you, Mr Matsumoto, but I already have a job.”
“You’re an honest fella! I like that. Imma be honest too. First of all, it wasn't a murder - it was an elimination.”
Matsumoto lowered his eyes to the photos, still on the table. He nodded softly; this cue, Atsushi pulled out a small noting pad and a pen. Kenji listened, a soft smile never leaving his face. A pure matter of luck made the criminal open up, it seemed. If Matsumoto never shared a drink, if Gabi never poisoned it, if Kenji didn’t share advice and snacks - it was luck, right? Or maybe, just maybe it was something else that moved Matsumoto to honesty.
“No matter your interlocutor, there’s always a way to get what we need through kindness of heart.”
They were now outside, Atsushi’s notes full of precious informations and key elements. In the sun of a warm afternoon, the trio of detective was enjoying an air free of that strong alcohol sent.
“Um, hey… Thank you for saving me earlier, Kenji,” muttered Atsushi. “You have really impressive reflexes.”
“It’s the least I can do. My duty is to protect you guys,” replied Kenji in a friendly nod.
“That cheese…” Kyoko swallowed. “Do you have more I could try?”
“I have plenty back at the agency! Let’s try some while we work, friends!”
What a beautiful way to spend the rest of the afternoon. Atsushi smiled too, feeling safe, and confortable. Peacefully indulging in a simplistic innocence.
Feel free to share any idea, prompt, genre or topic you want! As for fandoms, you can always ask, but know that the ones I know more about are mostly Pokémon, Undertale/Deltarune, The Apothecary Diaries and Bungô Stray Dogs.
► ! No NSFW content pretty please.
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I am so normal about the livestream, right guys? ...guys?
Also (allow me to yap for a moment, right under the show more,)
I was drawing Sans when my grandma peeked, asked what I was drawing and I replied, "a skeleton using a hairbrush" and she laughed so much her stomach hurt and and yeah hehe.
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