(Idk why I ship this, I just do)
Kenji's P.O.V
I walked into the big building on the corner of Hibushi avenue. As soon as I did, I got a bad feeling.
I decided to ignore it. I walked up to the main office and said good morning to everyone.
I sat down in my normal spot and drew a cow on an extra piece of paper laying around.
A few minutes later, Junichiro and Naomi wandered in.
"Good morning, everyone," Junichiro said.
He smiled like normal and sat down. What wasn't normal however is how Naomi has a scowl on her face.
"Hey Naomi, are you ok?" Atsushi asked.
She glared at him and muttered a small yes. I assumed it was her way of asking him to be quiet, and he did.
She plopped down into her normal chair and stared out the window silently. Just then, Kunikida told me and Junichiro that we had a job to do together.
We walked out onto the street after getting the details from Kunikida. On the way, Junichiro asked me a question.
"Hey Kenji? I've never thought to ask, but why don't you go to school?"
"I was never enrolled, and since neither of my parents are here, I legally can't be I guess. I'm not fully sure. I've never thought about it," I replied.
He nodded and a silence fell upon us. A few moments later, he asked me another question.
"Did you go to school when you lived with your parents?"
"No. I worked all day. We all did, actually. No one went to school. We didn't even have one."
"So what kind of work did you do?" He asked me.
"Hm... I helped garden, collect supplies, take care of the animals, build things, fix things. I did pretty much anything that needed to be done."
"I see. So I assume you were still pretty social, even if you didn't go to school?" He asked me.
I nodded and asked him why he wanted to know any of this. He looked down, clearly nervous to tell me.
I put my hand on his shoulder, saying, "Trust me. Whatever it is, I'll help you with it."
He looked at me and smiled momentarily, then proceeding to look off into the distance.
"You know how me and Naomi had..... an interesting relationship?" He started.
I nodded.
"Well, I told her that maybe we should cool it off for a bit. Take a small break. And.... I guess she took it the wrong way, and now she won't look at me or speak to me. I don't know what to do, Kenji."
"Hm... I'd say to give her some time. She just needs to really process and accept it, and it's hard to do that when the person causing these emotions is close by," I told him.
"You're really good at giving advice " he noted.
I nodded and told him that we'd arrived.
He looked up and yelped in surprise.
"W-What the?!" Junichiro exclaimed.
Upon seeing the massacre in front of us, my smile dropped. I closed my eyes and silently prayed that their souls would rest in peace.
After that, we started looking for clues. Kunikida would've sent Ranpo, but Ranpo was busy.
"Hey, Junichiro? I found something strange, and I think you might want to see it," I said.
He came over and looked at what I'd found. There was a pendant on the ground of a woman in green.
We asked around and found out where we could talk to the woman, so we went there immediately.
As soon as we told her we were detectives, she freaked out and exclaimed that she was the murderer.
"I did it! I feel so bad, but they needed to die! I was so scared, I didn't know what to do! They wouldn't stop stealing my money, and they threatened to kill me if I told anyone! So I-I killed them!"
(Y'all it's storming here rn as I'm writing this which is 11:29 on 2/21/22)
We both stood there not fully knowing what to do. After a second, we both recovered from our shock and turned her in for the murders.
When we got back, Atsushi asked why we'd gotten back so soon.
"Well, when we went to ask our first suspect a few questions, she started yelling her confession out og nowhere. So it didn't take long for us to do that job," Junichiro told him.
I nodded and sat back in my normal seat. Junichiro was about to sit in his normal seat as well, until he recieved a harsh glare from Naomi.
I assumed it was because of that, that he grabbed his chair and moved it so that he could sit by me instead.
"It's weird seeing you two not talking," I noted.
"Yeah, but I've decided to take your advice. I'm just going to give her some space for a while and hope that she comes to accept that I wanted to take a little break from being together," he said.
I smiled. "That's good."
"So how's your day, Kenji?" He asked me.
"I got a letter from my mom, so it's going good," I replied.
"Oh, really? What did it say?" He asked.
"I wanted to tell everyone that at the same time, but I don't know when Ranpo will be done with his job."
Just as I said that, in walked Ranpo. He sat down in his normal seat and opened a bag of chips laying nearby.
"Ok, now that everyone's here, I have a big announcement," I said, standing up.
Yosano elbowed Dazai and told him to pay attention to what I was saying.
"I got a letter feom my mom this morning, and she's coming to visit!" I said, a big smile on my face.
"That's great, Kenji!" Atsushi declared.
I nodded and told them the rest of it too.
"And after she visits, I'm going home," I said, a little less happy but trying not to show it.
Everyone's smiles faded.
"You're going home? But why?" Kunikida asked.
"Well, my parents are having trouble with the farm, and so they aren't making enough money for food and stuff.
"Oh, well, that's... good," Atsushi stated with a forced smile. I assumed he was trying to be happy for the others, who didn't even bother to hide their sadness. Especially Junichiro.
"So when are you leaving?" Dazai asked me.
"Six days."
By now, Atsushi's smile had fallen, and some of my coworkers were crying. I decided they needed some time and went up to the rooftop to watch the clouds.
This situation had made me slightly stressed, and whenever I was stressed I'd come to watch the birds and the clouds.
I lay with my back to the rooftop floor and watched as two birds flew through the air. They cawed and I smiled.
"I do want to go home. I miss it, and I want to see our family cow again. The only problem is, I don't want to leave the ADA, or my friends. Or Junichiro. What am I going to do?" I asked myself aloud, sighing.
I lay there for a few more minutes and then got an idea.
'What if I find an alternative to saying goodbye? I could buy one of those colorful talking boxes! Oh, wait, I forgot there's no Wiffy at home. Well, that won't work.'
(In case you're confused, the colorful box he's thinking of is a phone, and "wiffy" is actually Wi-Fi.)
I thought about it for a moment longer, but came up with nothing. I didn't know what to do.
I went back inside and found that some people had left because they needed some time to process that I was leaving.
I sat back in my normal chair and spent the rest of the day drawing fields and cows.
The next day, I was wold by Atsushi that I'd been given the day off to prepare for my mom coming to visit.
So I spent the setting up a bed for her and making sure I had plenty of groceries. Then, I went and asked the people at the local farmers market if they needed anything before I left.
I had told them the day before, because I figured their reaction would at least be similar to my friends' reactions.
Most said no, but a few of them asked me to carry things for them or to deliver stuff to customers. I did.
And then the next day, my mom came. I took the day off to spend time with her. We went and visited places, and I showed her around.
A few more days passed until it was my last day in town. I finally went back to the ADA after Atsushi telling me I shouldn't go in.
When I walked in with my mother standing behind me, a light flashed on and everyone yelled surprise.
"Woah," was all that came out.
The room was covered in decorations. There was a banner that said "Goodbye Kenji!", a table of snacks and lemonade that I assumed wouldn't last long with Ranpo around, a cow piñata, and some blue and yellow balloons.
Everyone was there, including Chuuya and Akutagawa. I figured Chuuya had dragged Akutagawa here, and I smiled.
"Guys, this is amazing!" I exclaimed happily, small tears at the corners of my eyes.
"Thanks, Junichiro planned most of it," Atsushi replied.
Dazai walked over and patted my head, and told me to enjoy it. Then, he looked at my mother, but Kunikida dragged him away before he could say anything.
My mom looked confused so I told her I'd explain later.
I spent the day enjoying the party and introducing my mom to my friends. She was happy to meet them all, and she even cracked a joke to Kunikida, which made him smile.
At the end of the day, everyone was saying goodbye. I promised to write them letters whenever I could, and they promised to write back.
Junichiro pulled me aside. "Hey, Kenji? There's something I need to tell you before you go."
"What is it?" I asked him.
"I needed to tell you that I...." He started, hesitating. "I'll miss you."
I felt a little disappointed, but I had no idea why. I told him I'd miss him too and ignored it.
Then, I left with my mom. When we made it to the train station, I heard a voice from behind me.
And then I hit the ground.
Junichiro's P.O.V
"Well, time to clean up I guess," I muttered, grabbing a nearby broom.
Everyone's smiles faded as we realized he was actually gone now.
"Hey, brother? I'm sorry about the way I've been acting lately. I should've taken it better," Naomi said to me.
I looked at her and smiled. "It's alright, I understand. But, the reason I did it, I feel like you should know that."
She made a small agreeing sound and I continued.
"I've had these.... feelings about Kenji lately, and I didn't know what they were. But... now that's he's gone, I think it might be love," I said.
She nodded and smiled. "If you love him, then don't let him go."
"What?! But, you saw how he acted when he talked about going home. He smiled every time, and I don't want to ruin that," I answered.
She put her hand on my shoulder and looked me dead in the eye. "If you don't stop him, I will. And I will tell the entire ADA what's going on," she threatened.
"O-ok, but, what if he's already gone?" I asked her.
"Oh don't worry, you'll be able to feel when he's truly gone," she replied.
"But how will I get there in time?" I asked her.
She turned away from me and cupped her hands to her mouth.
"Please don't-" I started, getting cut off by Naomi, who wasn't at all listening.
"Everyone! I have an announcement!"
The whole room turned to look at her, and Ranpo even stopped eating.
"You aren't leaving too, are you?" Dazai asked.
"No, but sometimes I wish you would," Kunikida replied, noting how Dazai wasn't helping clean at all.
"Pretty sure everyone does," Yosano added, mainly trying to end any possible conversation so Naomi could talk.
"Junichiro needs a little help getting to the train station before Kenji leaves. Any ideas?"
"Atsushi could carry him," Chuuya said.
"I wouldn't recommend it. He isn't fast, and he has low stamina," Akutagwa said.
"Well, how about shortie here take him," Dazai suggested, motioning to Chuuya.
"Excuse me, I'm not short!" Chuuya exclaimed.
"Whatever. Chuuya will do. Now go!" Naomi yelled at him, seeing him about to kick Dazai.
Me and him ran outside after she did that, because Naomi was scary when she yelled.
Chuuya hit the gas pedal and we sped to the train station. When we got there, I saw Kenji about to step on the train.
Before Chuuya had even slowed down, I got off and ran up the steps to the platform. I accidentally tripped and tackled Kenji, however.
"You idiot!" Chuuya yelled from behind me.
When I opened my eyes again, I realized that I was laying on top of him and started freaking out.
"Junichiro?" He asked me.
"S-sorry Kenji!" I exclaimed, embarrassed.
"It's fine, but what are you doing here?" He asked me.
"I needed to tell you the truth. Earlier, I wasn't going to tell you I'd miss you. I actually wanted to tell you that I'd fallen in love with you, and that I'd do anything to get you to change your mind about leaving. I didn't tell you because you were so happy to go home, and I couldn't bring myself to ruin that."
"Really?" He questioned.
I nodded and he hugged me. "I love you too, Junichiro!"
His mom made a sound to get his attention. He looked at her and waited to hear what she had to say.
"Kenji, I really wish you could stay, sweetie. But we need you back home."
I looked at Kenji's hair and got an idea.
"What if, instead of him leaving, we sent you money we made here?" I asked her.
She thought it over for a moment and then asked me where I'd get the money from.
"We could set up a lemonade stand. Lemons are really cheap around these parts, and I could advertise it at school. And we could have Naomi help."
"Can I stay, then, mom?" Kenji asked, looking at her pleadingly.
She sighed and smiled. "Alright. After all, who am I to stop you two from being together? After all, this is the same way I met your father."
Kenji was surprised. "Wait, really?" He asked.
She nodded and told him that she was originally from Tokyo, so she'd traveled through the town where we lived a lot as a kid. One day his father had been visiting the city with his father and met her. They vowed that day to find every way possible for them to be together, so she convinced her mother to move to where Kenji's father lived.
Later, I spent the night in Kenji's apartment that had been set up for him. I lay by him, playing with his hair, and asked him what he was thinking.
"I was thinking how emus' have two sets of eyelids."
"Really?" I asked, surprised.
"Kidding. I was actually thinking about how glad I am that I didn't leave you, Junichiro," he replied.
I smiled at that, and told him goodnight. He said it back, and reached over to turn off the lamp sitting by us on the floor.
Author's Note:
So heyyy people!
I finished writing this listening to The One that Got Away by Katy Perry on an Akutagawa playlist on YouTube. Specifically the one by Milkies.
This is the best Akutagawa playlist I've seen tbh.
Anyway, yesterday in art we started our paper machêt gargoyle masks. We modeled them off each other's faces, and the water stuff was so cold and stick and smelly. I couldn't breathe or talk for most of it tbh. When I got up after sitting in the exact same spot with my neck leaned back for 20 minutes, I couldn't feel half of my face and my legs were like noodles. I walked into a concrete wall and three lockers later because of it.
My friend Miles kept saying it wasn't that bad. Maybe it was because he was doing it that time around.
Anyway, my math is easy for once, so yay! My D can now go up!
My sister's applying to college.
Today, my health teacher had to fight a mouse. Then he listed it as a stressor in life (y'know, mice?).
Music notes and harmony is very confusing btw.
See if you can decipher this!
* @? "÷=/ %*=÷! .
Um.... That's it, actually.
Bye!
Word count: 2836