"If I got this right, Tsujimura-san and I will both look after Ayatsuji-san, so that she teaches me some things I need to do. However, how come you get assigned to so little quests? I believed that since they've got such a smart detective, with a strong ability too, the Special Investigation Division would've kind of abused you." Higuchi asked to Ayatsuji, who smoked from his kisero, covering with smoke her face that held pure curiosity. She coughed, waving an hand to move the smoke away.
"We don't do "abuse"! Get that off your mind, Higuchi-san!" Tsujimura, a turquoise haired agent, the one that was meant to be the supervisioner of the Homicide Detective, exclaimed.
Both Higuchi and Ayatsuji were unsure if destroying her expectations or play along with her lies. Higuchi decided to do the first move.
"I wouldn't go that far as explaining how you do in many ways... but staying close to you: don't you think forcing a person to stay at home 24/7 because of his ability is quite abusive?" Higuchi raised an eyebrow.
Tsujimura's reaction was comical: from pale and confident she was a second ago, she swapped to a totally red face, her lower lip slightly trembled; her eyes spoke clear: she didn't know how to respond. Higuchi couldn't help but just shake her head.
"It's not my business wether you like your Division or not, but at least look at it objectively. You have to recognize it wholly." Higuchi said close-eyed.
"Then, what good is there in the Port Mafia, mh?!" She questioned impatiently.
"Port Mafia is the reason why Japan is such a rich country, you know." Higuchi laughed, giving away a glimpse of herself out of her business-like demeanor. Tsujimura kept quiet. "...Yet, I can agree that there is nothing "good". "We're mafia, so we all are evil", that would be what you think, right?"
"For one to kill so easily for money, I confirm you're evil." She answered confidently.
"Yes, yes." Higuchi nodded, with no intention to disagree.
"...Not to interrupt your moment, but could you slow down a little?" Ayatsuji spat his request with coldness, making Higuchi stop on her tracks.
"Ah... It's an habit, I apologize." She excused herself and matched his pace, normally walking between them.
"Higuchi-san, do you find yourself unsuitable for the Port Mafia? Yesterday, Sakaguchi-senpai told me that this was the reason why you've been choose."
"Do you actually expect me to answer that?" Higuchi asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because if you do, you're wrong."
What a mafia... Tsujimura thought. "Well, let's turn the question around: how do you know when a person is made to be with the mafia?" She asked then.
"Let's say some people are fitting, and some just aren't. A perfect mafia one could say that is impulsive, rash, arrogant and that solves matters by brute force. That is kind of the outsiders' stereotype."
"You don't really seem like that... But aren't you an high ranked mafioso? How come you don't resemble anything at all at the stereotype?"
"I'm confident Boss knows what he does. Plus, I don't think you understood correctly the word 'Stereotype'. Most of us aren't that way, only few are, actually, but in a rotten apple, the first thing you notice is the rotten part."
"But... Are you going to quit, tho? You seem to like it here." Tsujimura asked curious.
Higuchi kept her eyes on the traffic light, that from red gone to blue. "I do like it there. And no, I'm not to."
Tsujimura left out a sigh of relief. "If I were a Detective you'd be like Blofeld!"
"Aah?" Higuchi hummed confused, Ayatsuji sighed. There she was again with her nonsense. Was she meaning the nemesis of James Bond? That Blofeld? He didn't resemble her at all... And the context what was again...? He didn't find any; Higuchi too.
"You see, they say archinemesis are two face on the same medal! Blofeld had Bond, Moriarty had Holmes, and you..."
"...And I am listening to someone listing all fictional characters..."
"I have to agree with Higuchi-kun on this point." Ayatsuji finally spoke after minutes of silence.
"Sensei sure knows how to be rude, do not imitate him! Or take his parts when we fight."
"I think he is more than enough to make you quiet down..." Higuchi said, remembering the meeting of the day before. He sure is quite the thing, Hirotsu-san...
"As much as I would like to say yes, you're underrating Tsujimura-kun's ostination." Ayatsuji said. His arms were crossed, covering his stomach not to make someone hear it softly rumbling.
"Let's grab something to put underneath the teeths." Higuchi said, which made his eyes fix on her. She heard it, even though his precaution. What a sharp ear.
He thought that with the usual loud city sounds, nobody would've noticed. And yet... There Higuchi was waving his convinction goodbye.
I chose her well. Not a good mafia, but sure a person that can be called so "good". Ayatsuji thought.
"Wait, wait, wait! Higuchi-san, we can't make deviation like this!" Tsujimura exclaimed.
Slowly, Higuchi stopped her tracks, turning around to face Tsujimura. "...Why?" She asked her.
"Because we have to bring him back home!"
"Still, it isn't answering my question. There is nothing bad in going to a café and having breakfast. I see no fret in taking him back home."
Tsujimura groaned. "Yes! Because---"
"We will be there too, Tsujimura-san. It's not like he's going there alone." She retorted.
Ayatsuji watched the two argue, finding it quite entertaining. At some point, he joined the conversation, as it wasn't going anywhere.
"I agree with Higuchi-kun, there is nothing wrong."
"Of course you would agree with her!" Tsujimura spat. "Higuchi-san, you should keep him in line, not giving him so much freedom!"
"He isn't a dog, Tsujimura-san..." Higuchi sighed. "And it's not like he can use his ability on normal people, like most ability users can."
"But---!"
"If we're finished, let's head to the nearest café." He said, walking by Higuchi's side, as they were going away.
"Wait! You two!!"
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"I still don't agree with this." Tsujimura said as the waitress brought them two coffees and a latte.
"You could have left us be. I had a supervisor with me." Ayatsuji replied cuddling a cat that made itself comfy on his lap.
"Why did you choose a neko café?" She asked them, as she looked at a calico cat that slightly resembled the one Ayatsuji had.
"Strangely enough, this was the nearest by." Higuchi explained, patting a long haired, dark grey cat. So soft, it feels like touching a cloud!! She thought, wearing a sweetened gaze for a second, then she returned to her business-like demeanor. Although, the drop of her mask didn't go unnoticed, even if the time she broke from her character was brief.
"Higuchi-kun seems a cat person, totally the opposite of Tsujimura-kun." Ayatsuji muttered to himself in a little too loud way, as he took a sip of coffee.
"I like them both." Tsujimura replied, drinking her latte.
"Mh... If I have to choose, the answer would be cats, yes." Higuchi answered. Senpai hates dogs, so I can't bring myself to like them. Although, I don't really mind them.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...So---" As Tsujimura was to talk, a loud thud could be heard from another room. She stood up immediantly, while Higuchi and Ayatsuji turned their heads to the direction of the sound: the kitchen.
"Seems someone has got a crush." Ayatsuji chuckled.
"Power of love, you think?" Higuchi giggled, tagging along.
"You two! This is why I didn't want to make deviations! Somebody---!"
"Nobody died, Tsujimura-san. There is nothing to worry about." Higuchi plainly stated.
"But---" Tsujimura got cut off from Ayatsuji.
"Higuchi-kun, I see we came into an agreement."
"How do you actually know nobody died?!" Tsujimura asked impatiently.
"I know the answer, but I want to hear what makes her think there is nothing to worry about." He said. They were coming to many agreement, maybe he chose her even better than he thought. And maybe, she wasn't so simple-minded as he expected.
Higuchi felt observed, as the both of them looked her way. Composure... Keep your composure. You're working, Higuchi! Don't let yourself down! She cleared her throat as she kept caressing the cat she had on the lap. "First of all, we haven't heard any scream. Assuming that with that loud crash somebody died, in no way possible they could have died without emitting a sound. Then, the sound was to clear and steady to have fallen on someone."
"So, those are your reasons..." Ayatsuji slightly sighed. The second reason was good enough to be a prove, but the first is very... what good word could explain how it felt? Stretched? It was too assumptional to be considered well-thought, One can be taken by surprise and not even knowing before getting crushed. And if the speed of the object is fast enough, one could even not be able to emit a sound while knowing to be a breath away from death. The reasoning didn't stand up on that one.
"Sensei's ones are?"
"More or less what she said, but I'd add that it seems it is something that happens with a certain frequence, these thuds."
"And why is that so?"
"The cats did nothing but just twitch their ears."
"True, they didn't bother to move." Higuchi confirmed, as she didn't get any scraps from the cat on her lap, which she found strange, now that she noticed carefully, on a second thought.
"So?" Tsujimura asked, tilting her head to the side, emitting a huff.
Higuchi explained: "You see, Tsujimura-san, cats, and animals in general, have a better hearing than us. The fact that they didn't get scared, means that it's an habit for them to hear that."
"Ah, yes, that would make for an explaination..."
"Now, when are you planning to finish your latte, Tsujimura-kun?" Ayatsuji asked, placing his head on one hand.
"...Are we really not even to bother asking what was that?" Tsujimura insisted, not feeling sure if to let the trust she held for Ayatsuji take advatange of her, or to value more her personal values.
"Kitchen and hall are two different reparts. Clients shouldn't stick their noses in the back scenery of a café, if not under few scenarios." Ayatsuji told her, smoking from his kiseru.
"Fine..." She said quickling gulping down her throat her slightly cold latte. "Aah! I hate seeing you two have the same point of view!"
They exchanged gazes, then looked at her dumbfolded.
"I have my doubts, but keep going." Ayatsuji talked first, piquing the interest of Higuchi.
"I'd prefer her to stop right there, to be honest..." She shrugged.
"I like to prove her wrong, so let's hear it all and destroy her conclusion." He gave a half grin.
"Do you really get satysfaction by doing this?" She asked him.
"You should see when she gets angry, then it gets hilarious. Her voice gets so high piched that only dogs can hear her."
"Sensei!" Tsujimura yelled, her face as red as a rose, her voice so high that it resembled the rumbling of a mosquito. It almost made Higuchi laugh, indeed.
"Ah, is it so? It's correct to call you the dog of the Special Investigation Division, if that's the case." Higuchi mumbled, not letting Tsujimura quite catch what she said. Ayatsuji read the labbial.
"Calling people "dogs" is offensive, Higuchi-kun."
"Ah!" Higuchi flushed. "It wasn't meant to be heard... although I don't think you actually do care about that."
"He calls himself a dog from time to time." Tsujimura explained, sighed out loud. "Higuchi-san, you might be a mafia, but if I didn't know, I wouldn't have told. You seem no murderous person. You're too nice, to say it all to treat Sensei with so much retain."
...A-ah... She really lives in a lie-constructed world, doesn't she? Higuchi thought. Or maybe... she doesn't remember to count herself too, in the list of existing people?
"Don't mind her words, she's a simpleton. Not that you're not, just a little less." Ayatsuji said, smoke escaping softly from his lips.
"...Thank you?" Higuchi said, kind of confused on how to take his statement. It would've been considered a rude remark if it were to be said by others, but from Ayatsuji? It felt like a compliment. Although...
What if it came out Senpai's mouth? Higuchi was to imagine the scene, before being briskly interrupted by him.
"Don't dream of the impossible, Higuchi-kun."
"Eh---Eh??" She muttered, looking at him dumb-folded.
He gave her a mischievous gaze, as if he knew what she was thinking about.
"Eh?! Don't pry in private things!"
"Why shouldn't I? You're going to pry in my life for a month."
"There is not really something to pry on, in your life."
"What's with that assumption of yours? Is your life much more entertaining?"
"For one to sit all day behind a desk, waiting for an outing date, you sure think your life is oh-so-interesting, yeah?"
"Sorry... You lost me there. Why are you two arguing?" Asked Tsujimura, who was looking at them dumbfolded.
"He started it." Higuchi narrowed her eyes at him.
"Wow, such a grown up way to behave." Amused, he waved his hand in the air.
"The only thing that has grown in you is your ego." Ayatsuji flinched at her retort. That was one good reply on her side, even he didn't know how to kick back.
Tsujimura began to laugh behind her hand. "Woah there! You got him, Higuchi-san!"
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From the window behind his wooden desk, warm light in golden shade lit the heavy atmosphere of his office, softing the gaze of the doll he always carried around. It almost seemed to always have its eyes on her, the doll called "Misaki Mei". Tsujimura found the doll creepy, along with his whole collection. She shook her head for clarity. There was no need for her to look around in his office. Everything was still the same as always, in the same place, and the same two people that hung around in there: Ayatsuji, the one who lived there, and Tsujimura, the one who surveilled him; there was no need to feel uncomfortable, after so many time passed together.
"Ayatsuji-sensei." Tsujimura called his name, as he sleepily sat on his chair, while smoking from his kiseru as usual. He hummed in response. Patting a calico cat that was sitten on his lap, kneading his thighs peacefully, purring a lovely and joyful carillon melody.
"I was wondering about Higuchi-san, could you answer a question about her?"
"...Why not asking her tomorrow?"
"She wouldn't answer."
"Why do you feel like I would answer you, if she wouldn't?"
"I'll ask anyway!" She exclaimed. "Why has everybody a low consideration of her at the Port Mafia? I don't think that the motivation is only because she is not made to be in there, because if she really wasn't, she wouldn't be a high ranked one."
He thought for a good answer, but he kept it for his mind only. Silence ate Ayatsuji's studio, leaving the only sound to fill it be his soft sighs to relish the grey smoke from his mouth.
There is the faint touch of mystery in what the Port Mafia tell the outsiders... That is okay to be so... If they were to tell their secrets, they wouldn't be so intimidating to others, now would they? A not so shady mafia... He chuckled, startling Tsujimura. ...Does it even exist?
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Author note:
AYOOOOOOOOOOO
I got Scaramochi, I'm so happy (❁'◡'❁)
Now I can abuse those slimes with a yelling, mommy issues holder chicken who can fly and insult people to his heart's content, isn't it fantastic? My little Fandango (*/ω＼*)
Next up, my lovely Neuvilette
See you, I hope your're enjoying the story so far :D