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No one seems to notice or care that Hakuba’s gotten much shorter in the last few minutes…
Monthly Archives: October 2014
Terminal Affirmation
“Not at all. I’ve been awake for a while. How are you feeling? You sound a little stressed.” He said softly, watched him from the small cafe he was sitting at, and just how long it would take the other to hear the airports background noise echo back to him.
“A little harried, yes, but somewhat better now that I’ve got a moment to talk to you.” Hakuba didn’t want to risk sounding clingy or overly sappy, so he hoped that his mostly casual response veiled his feelings effectively enough. “I’m at the airport now… just waiting until boarding, which won’t be long now. God, I’m sorry this past weekend was such a mess.”
He took a sip of coffee, then frowned at it. Not nearly enough cream or sugar. Alas. The detective drank more, anyway; he really needed to wake up.
“I know we’re just twenty-two and a half miles apart, but it already feels like I’m 5,963 miles away…"
Terminal Affirmation
Monday morning arrived and Kaito was sitting at a cafe in the Tokyo airport. His phone lit up and started to sing out Undisclosed Desires by the Muse.
“Morning, my detective.” He answered sweetly and kept the exhaustion out of his voice.
Finally, something happened just the way he’d hoped! Heaving a sigh of relief, Hakuba smiled, head tilting, and leaned against the nearest pillar to rest his body while they spoke. He had a few minutes. Not long, but long enough to gain some reprieve from the stress.
“Good morning, Kuroba-kun…” To be greeted thus left him torn between feeling wonderfully warm and terribly lonely. His words all but dried up in his throat as he looked up to check the board for his flight departure time. No delays and all too soon. “Apologies for not calling earlier; it’s been sort of a rough morning.
"I hope I didn’t wake you."
Terminal Affirmation
(Really long reply post from smokebombsandmirrors w/ backstory put behind cut for archival purposes:)
”Hullo?”
“Hey …”
“Hey! Kuroba-kun, how are you doing? I’m so sorry I missed you this morning… I suppose I was, ah, /very/ out of it…”
Laughs. “A little would be putting it mildly. You looked like you needed it though.”
“It was nice. I haven’t slept that well in a very long time.” Hesitation. “Did you sleep all right? I heard you left very early…”
”Yeah.” Forced. Clears throat. “I’ve always been an early riser so don’t worry about it. I slept fine. I had to go into Beika for a few things and didn’t want to hit the rush. Sorry.”
“That’s fine… I know you’d intended to go home last night. Sorry that I kept you. Well, sorry, but not really sorry? I miss you already… at the risk of sounding clingy…”
Smiles and chuckles. “Don’t worry about it and at the risk of sounding even more cheesy, I do too and kept thinking how I wish I had taken you tie shopping with me.”
“You went tie shopping?!”
“I did. I needed to pick up a new one for my uniform and I found a few others that sort followed me out of the store.”
“Ahhhh! But tie shopping is my favorite! That had to be done this /morning/? Really?” POUT.Laughs. “You looked too cute sleeping I just didn’t have the heart to wake you and besides I can always go again anytime. A gentleman can’t have enough ties. “
”It’s so true…” He sighs, meaning the /ties/ not that he’s cute. “Never, ever enough ties. Well. I hope that you found some good ones. I’m still jealous, though. Did you… enjoy yourself last night?”
Stares at his phone for a moment. ‘did he really?’ “More than you could ever know. We should do it again soon. With out the yelling and the suspicion. How about my place? I could cook for you.”
”I’d like that. A lot, actually.” A pause. “I’m leaving for London next week… Monday, actually.”
“Ah …” Silence. “So soon …. I thought …” I had a little more time.
“It’s… I’ll becoming back before…” How to explain this? “I’m to take some tours… Mum wants to see me… but I’ll be back before summer’s out, at least for a little while…”
“No, that’s good. You’re following your dream right?” Be supportive. “ Word of advice for you: Don’t ever let your self hesitate. ” It was the same wasn’t it. Wether diving head first off roofs or making life changing decisions.
”…I suppose.” He sighs. “I’d love to see you again before I go, though… and, ah… I really will come back, either way… finish moving my things..”
”Its a promise then. Just call and say when you want to meet again.” a long pause. “I” don’t want you to go. “I’m going to miss you …. “
”I’m going to miss you, too…” Dammit. “Ah… hey, you could see me at the airport… I’ll email my itinerary…”
” …. Thanks.”
“Kuroba-kun…”
”I’ll be back.”
”You better. Hakuba?”
”Yes?”
”I like you.”
A pause, letting that sink in. “I like you, too.” Nuances included.
Smiles stupidly. “So~ When I cook for you what do you want?”
“What do you know how to cook~? I enjoy most foods… … … except duck.”
Duck? “just about anything save for … fish.” Shudders.
“That’s fine. Cordon bleus are my favorite…”“Then I guess I’ll have to make that~ ”“They’re a lot of work~”“Not too much and besides it’ll be worth it to see your happy face”“Oh god, you’re good to me.”Laughs“If you keep being so sweet I’ll come to expect it though, you realize…”“I do. Its my evil plan to get you so attached to me you can’t live with out me~”He laughs. “God, you’re cute. I’m sorry, I should have… realized before, you know? About the both of us.”“and what is that exactly?”
“That we both.. liked each other.”“We weren’t exactly nice to each other. The whole thing was kind of like two territorial dogs.” Laughs“And yet… and yet I couldn’t get enough of you. Somehow. I’m glad.”“Gods I am the same. Exactly the same.”“And now we’re dating.” He sounds so happy.“Not just that, Hakuba, we’re also friends.""Yes, true.” Pause. Frown. “I wish I wasn’t going…”“I … don’t want you to leave either but you have to go.
You have to give this a chance. I’m not going anywhere so I can wait for you.”"All right.” He sighs. “Thank you…”“I’ll fret about you the entire time, you know.”Laughs. “You don’t have to worry too much but thank you. I’m probably going to send shots of the heists you may miss. Gods I’m really going to miss you.”“I hope you do… send me updates, lots of them… we can talk and text, right? You won’t mind too much?”“Of course not! Send me as much as you want and I’ll do the same! I want tons of photos too! ”“I can do that, yes… ”“Great! …. You okay?”“I’m all right, Kuroba-kun, I just… god, I wish I’d come to you sooner… but perhaps some maturity was needed to be to be gained, first…""I think it was need for both of us.”“Yes, I suppose you’re right… and at least we’ve now discussed it…:”Hums in agreement.“I’m sorry that I’m leaving so soon… mum booked the flight for me since she said I was just… floundering…”“Hakuba its okay., trust me I can understand willful mothers.”“They’re a meddling bunch.”“They are and I love them for it.” Laughs.“Even though mine is making me come home so soon?”“You should go see your mother regardless of anything else going on.”“And I was planning to! But not for a couple of weeks…”“It’ll be fine.” Amused.“You sound so casual about it~ I’m your boyfriend, you know!" He’s amused, too."I know, but she’s family and take precedence over a day long boyfriends”“…it feels like it’s been so much longer.” He laughs, helplessly.“it has ….” wistful and sappy.Little laugh. “…Could it be kismet~?”“Soulmates.”He /giggles/, and tries to muffle the sound. Ahem. “Er, yes. Yes. Quite.”Chuckles at the sound. “Don’t go getting shy on me now~”“I can’t help it! You’re so good at getting me flustered.”“What can I say I’m just that good~” Laughs. “Besides you make it so easy. A blush looks really sexy on you.”“H-hey now! You’re being such a tease! Stop that… stop right now~”“Why? Are you blushing?~ ”“God of COURSE I am! And you know that I am!"Sighs. “Tis a shame that I can’t see that pretty color.”"It’s… not pretty! Here, hold on a moment.”Trying to turn on the face.. cam… thing on his phone."What are you trying to do, sweet?”“Trying to.. get this thing to work… does your phone have a face-time application?”“Or do you have a webcam on your laptop?”He shook his head and smiled. Rotating his phone he quickly turned on the cam. ” Is this what you were trying to do~”He had on a thin black tank top and was leaned against the massive mound of pillows on his bed.“…yes. Sorry, this is the new iphone… they change everything every couple of months, it seems… bloody hell…” Looking at him, smiling a little“I was right. That really is a beautiful color.” He grinned and hooked a hand behind his head.“No, it’s not. Don’t you start that, Kuroba-kun.” He sticks his tongue out. So mature. “Anyway, we’ll have to have that dinner when I get back… hopefully I won’t be there too long… it’s not as though Oxford’s terribly far from London, after all…”“You’ll get wrinkles. Hakuba, time will go by in a flash. You’ll be able to visit though. It’ll only be a few hour drive.”“You’d still date me even if I had wrinkles, right~?” He’s trying to not show how insecure he is, but he can’t help it.“Of course. I’d date you if you turned out to be fat and bald. You being insanely attractive is a special bonus~ "He thought to he own scars and squirmed.”/Insanely/ attractive? I thought that was /you/… Hmmm. How very interesting.“ Snickers.He felt his ears burn.Hakuba laughs a little more. “Well, it’s true! You’re incredibly handsome. I’ve always thought so.”"Even when I was scrawny basket case?""Scrawny basket case?” Pause, thinks. “Do you mean when I first transferred in? I never quite thought that… LOUD, yes, but…”Laughs deep. “Well that’s good to know!”“Can we do this all the time while I’m in England?”He smiled. “Of course, for as long as you like.”“Hurrah! Good.” Little, sheepish smile. “…I wish I could sneak away to see you.”“Why don’t you? Your window opens up to the ground, You can always say that your just going for a walk~ ”He looks to the window“…I could just get into my car… it’s not as though Baaya could stop me…”“Come on~ I can cook~”“… … just let me get my keys.”“I’ll get started cooking.”“I’ll see you in just a few minutes~”
Kaito considered himself lucky, extremely lucky. Yet when it came to Hakuba he always seemed a little down and out. Their impulsed dinner date was one of those times. Hakuba did make it inside and they got to share a steamy kiss that made Kaito’s toe curls and belly warm but the detective’s phone went off and he was dragged onto a case. What about, Kaito didn’t know. So he was left sending the other off like some sappy wife waving a white handkerchief hoping that the other was going to come home safely.
That was the last time he had actually spoken to the detective.The nightmares had come on fast and hard leaving him with the littlest amount of sleep over the three days. He was panicked and worried and desperately wanted to go find Hakuba himself. Sunday came as did the first texts he received from him.
[text] Kuroba:‘on foot…’[text] Kuroba: ‘culprits found bolt hole’
[text] Kuroba: ‘in pursuit’
[text] Kuroba: ‘firefight brb’
The last text came and he wanted to faint with worry. He didn’t move from his phone for hours till it finally rang and Hakuba spoke to him. He remember the apology from the detective came first then, the questions, the blind terror at him getting hurt then the relief, the sweet relief that everything was fine and Hakuba was safe and alive. The migraine had started to subside after that and he as able to let the detective go to bed so he could get a few hours of sleep before his flight.
Monday morning arrived and Kaito was sitting at a cafe in the Tokyo airport. His phone lit up and started to sing out Undisclosed Desires by the Muse.
“Morning, my detective.” He answered sweetly and kept the exhaustion out of his voice.
Bloody Moriarty
“I hope I have changed a little in my years ….. of solitude.” He had almost spoken of Conan. He swallowed and squared his shoulders. Years of self preservation kicked in and he instantly started coming up with back stories in case the detective decide to ask questions. Azuza slipped by the table and placed their orders down.
“Is there anything I can do for you guys?” She said hopefully.
Shinichi looked up to her and smiled. “Not for me, Hakuba-san?”
Perfect timing.
Hakuba looked down at the tea, first, then back at the woman with a small nod. “Nor for me, either, this is perfect. Thank you.” After putting his watch away, he picked up the little tea spoon to begin stirring, waiting for the woman to leave so that his forced, polite smile could relax. He wasn’t about to pry with Kudou, not after the earlier warning about their setting, but he was curious…
…besides that, his back hurt. Nerves and all else aside, he really couldn’t go very long at all before the ache set in, so he was very much looking forward to the tea. Tea always helped, and he had to admit that he had missed authentic Japanese matcha– he could never quite do it justice in London. Even without waiting for her to leave, he lifted the cup, hands trembling, and took a sip. Ah.
Surely, Holmes was the safest topic to discuss, particularly with the change in atmosphere. He only needed an opportunity to pick up another thread.
Terminal Affirmation
“Saguru James Hakuba! How dare you not answer your phone! This is the fifth time I’ve called you this morning!”
Hakuba stared at the blurry iphone screen from where he was on the couch, stifling a yawn in the late afternoon light. “Mum…?”
“Were you up drinking? GOD!”
“Yes… I suppose…” He glanced at the table where the bottle of wine still was, now emptied, but left along despite everything else on the table having been cleared off. Baaya had already come and gone. And, apparently, so had Kaito. “Apologies, Mum, I had a guest over.”
“I know. Baaya’s already told me. Now, I’ve forwarded your itinerary…”
“Already told you?”
“Yes, you had a going away party, it’s very charming, but listen: your flight leaves Monday morning at 10:40. Don’t forget that it’s international so you’ll want to bring your passport of course, allow for extra time to go through security, and make certain that Watson has her travel needs met…”
“Monday?” Hakuba sat up.
“Yes! You’ve been dragging your feet so I went ahead and arranged everything for you. Don’t worry, I got you first class, and you’ve your priority boarding, and Baaya will take you to the airport… Do you have your things packed yet?”
“Mum, I haven’t even decided which school I’m going to!”
Marion sighed her most patient of sighs. “You have the weekend to pack, anything left we can just hire someone to take care of. Besides, you’ll be going back to finish up and–”
“Mum!”
“Saguru, I told you to take a GAP year, but did you want to listen? Noooo. It was always ‘no, Mum, I know you’re always right and have the best ideas, but I need to rush my education so that I can begin working like an adult and completely forget to enjoy myself because I’m a workaholic who can’t take a break and I don’t want or need self-discovery because I’m happy being miserable,’ right?”
Hakuba frowned. “Mum. You know that’s not how it is.”
“It is. Now go on. Get packing. I’ll see you at the airport, my love. I can’t wait to have you home again.”
“Fine…"
He’d really hoped to have more time before he went back to London. True, he would be coming back before the start of the semester, but all the same… Touring Cambridge and Oxford was just another step leading away from Kaito.
Perhaps he should just decide on Keio and be done with it…
But then…
Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair and looked at his phone. It was two in the afternoon. He could call… no. He shouldn’t be so clingy. The hesitation snowballed as the day wore on, and by the time he called, there was really nothing that could be done.
"Is everything all right?” turned into “I miss you.” and “I want to see you,” only to be followed with the difficult truth: he was leaving in three days. Less than, even. "Fifty-six hours, thirty two minutes… well, less, given security, but surely, there’s some… some time?“
The young detective looked at the packing yet to be done, the casework piled on his desk that needed to be turned in, and finally his car keys. If he hurried, perhaps…
But between work schedules and being called to fill in as an extra for first division and all else, time simply slipped away. "I’ll be coming back before summer ends…” he said, leaving off the part where he didn’t know when, or for how long.
Before he knew it, Hakuba was stepping out of a cab onto the walk in front of Tokyo International Airport. He shouldered his carry on, grimacing at the concrete burn over the left side of his body and took a moment to gather himself before going for his suitcase and Watson’s carrier.
He’d done this flight dozens of times. It was never pleasant, but it was nothing new to him at all. Hakuba patted his suit jacket, making sure that his wallet, passport, and pack of playing cards were in place, paid the driver, and started off toward the terminal, pushing past the crowds of foot traffic.
God, he hated that airport. Hated how he stood out like one of the tourists, hated that he was often so alone, hated that he had so much to keep track of all at once and a tight schedule to keep. Especially that morning; he’d overslept after getting home so late the night before due to the case he’d assisted with, and while they caught their culprit, Hakuba was running on so very little sleep, and wasn’t even sure he’d packed everything he’d needed to. It made for anxious travel, and he still needed to get Watson through security…
…he hadn’t even gotten the chance to say goodbye to Kuroba. But, hopefully, there would be time to call him and get a cup of coffee before boarding.
After a long, brisk walk, he got in line to check his luggage, double-checking that everything was properly tagged, then sent a text to Baaya to let him know that he was on schedule – if just barely. By the time the suitcase was away, Hakuba was anxious to get in the queue for security, keeping his bag and Watson’s carrier as close to him as he possibly could.
It took longer than it should have been with the additional clearance for his companion, and getting coffee with bird in tow wasn’t as easy as he’d hoped, but finally, finally, he found himself with just a few minutes to spare and took out his phone to make that call to one Kuroba Kaito, hoping that he would answer.
||Haunted||Closed Thread||@Hakuba||
▌│█║▌║▌║ coмe on, coмe on, don’т leave мe lιĸe тнιѕ. ║▌║▌║█│▌
Hattori knew he was being a huge cheater. He and Hakuba had made a bet – on what he couldn’t remember now – and Hattori had won. The winner got to choose one thing for the other to do, and they had to do it no matter what. Hattori had a few ideas, but when he’d seen this advertised in the area, he pointed to it and grinned.
Hakuba would have to accompany him to a haunted house.
One of the locals in the area had inherited a house and done it up for Halloween. You could buy tickets at the door and groups of two would go into the house, exploring the jump scares and likes. He knew the other feared ghosts, but it wasn’t like this was a real haunted house, just one made by someone who could likely use the extra cash. There would be people in masks waiting to jump out at you, low lighting and fake spider webs.
▌│█║▌║▌║ ι тнoυgнт ι нad yoυ ғιgυred oυт ║▌║▌║█│▌
At least that had been what he’d thought. Now that he was standing in line – there was a rather large one – the house itself gave him the Hebe jebes. There was something about the large mansion like place, it’s rusted iron gates and the lights that would flicker on and off, at least from what he could see from outside. He had heard people talk about doors slamming closed, rattling and that there were no actors.
Of course that could just be people trying to hype it up.
Either way, the smoke machine he could spot in the corner, the long grass, unraked leaves and fake tombstones in the front yard definitely gave the house a haunted atmosphere. He could also see the usage of black lights from one of the boarded up windows – most of them were, if not filled with iron bars. It was the very picture of ‘enter at your own risk’ that was for sure.
▌│█║▌║▌║ can’т вreaтнe wнenever yoυ’re gone ║▌║▌║█│▌
Hattori played with the rim of his hat.
He wasn’t superstitious himself, even though Kazuha was – always making him wear that charm – and yeah, sometimes he had dreams that sometimes came true. Well, not so much come true, that only really happen ed once or twice. It was just his over active imagination mixed with his detective abilities making them seem like prophetic dreams. No one could actually see the future.
There was still something about this house that seemed off.
▌│█║▌║▌║ can’т тυrn вacĸ now, ι’м нaυnтed ║▌║▌║█│▌
He was thankful when it was their turn. He forked out the money, paying for both tickets – he was the one who dragged Hakuba into this – before the other could protest and headed towards the front door. He grinned at the blonde, hands resting behind his back innocent as he watched him. If Hakuba seemed too scared, or like he would be sick Hattori would pull out.
He wasn’t that cruel.
“Ya ready Hakuba? This is i’, las’ chance ta pull ou’.”
“I’ll be fine…” came Hakuba’s somewhat distracted reply as he looked the house over, expression carefully neutral though his legs were stiff and unwilling to move forward without a considerable amount of effort. He’d explored houses like this before. And castles. Ruins. Catacombs. It left a chill on him that he couldn’t quite shake, but he wasn’t about to back out now. Not with Hattori goading him.
With a deep breath, he forced himself forward, chin up, jaw tight. The chances of the house legitimately being haunted were slim, anyway, and he wasn’t exactly one to be frightened by jump scares (usually), so it wouldn’t be a problem. Really.
“Besides, it’s Halloween. This country doesn’t appreciate it enough as-is, so I’ve got to do something in spirit with the season…”
Catching Up With Fate
It would be a lie if Kaito said he’d expected Hakuba to shy back now. The horror on his patient’s face was more than obvious and made the therapist almost stumble with his words. But his pokerface saved him just in time and he continued to smile politely. He’d learned to deal with this at school and just because it was Hakuba, he didn’t need to fret. Even though it did irk his curiousity as to why. Just because he barely knew him privatly in the past? That was a rather weak reason for a guy like Hakuba. So something deeper must be going on there.
“The shirt’s fine and I can cover up everything I don’t need to look at for the moment. I know it can feel uncomfortable to show off scars. But it is necessary for me to see for your treatment and I need to touch it, to feel the tissue, I can’t judge from looking only, because a lot of it is going on beneath the surface. I’ll also be telling you what I’m going to do the whole time and you can tell me to stop whenever it gets too uncomfortable. How’s that sound?” Kaito still gave off an air of being relaxed, no awkwardness at all.
The worried reaction also caused him to sit back down on his chair and turning a quarter away from his patient, grabing the file once more, opening the doctor’s report to read a few things over while watching Hakuba only from the corner of his eyes and letting him go on undressing on his own.
“Yes, that’s fine.” There was a definite tone of relief in his voice at that; leaving his shirt on meant that there was less chance that his back would be shown, and though there were many medical professionals who now knew of the scars’ existence, he really didn’t want to add to the list. He went about, unbuckling his belt, undoing his trousers, and very awkwardly slipping down from the table onto his good leg to remove it all.
It was a long process, and Hakuba realized quickly that he should have gone in an entirely different order. These days when he got undressed for bed, he was usually too tired and drugged to really pay attention to how he stripped, but in the office, it was an entirely different matter.
Still, he was stubborn and determined, and far too proud to ask for help. With a few false starts and a lot of leaning against the reclining therapist chair, the detective did manage to get his socks, shoes, and trousers off, all of which ended up haphazardly strewn on the floor with little energy left to sort them out. And while it was unlike the detective to not care about wrinkling his clothing, he was so far done with the experience that he just ignored it, and scooted back onto the chair.
“All right…” he said, looking down past his boxer-briefs to the brace around his leg, and unstrapped it to reveal the very nasty-looking scarring and still-healing wounds. “Do your worst."
Lucky Thirteen
He traced his fingers along the underside of the desk, and frowned when the traction was all too slick. Pulling back revealed what he’d feared; blood smeared on the tips of his gloves.
“That makes thirteen,” Hakuba said, pulling off the pair with a sigh. “No body, no forced sign of entry, just blood in precarious places.” He turned to his companion for the case, one Kudou Shinichi, letting his shoulders sag in obvious disappointment. “Do you suppose this sample will match any of the others?”
If the blood found in the office buildings had belonged to one sample, it might be nothing more than a disgusting prank or threat, but the fact that the previous twelve had matched DNA samples of twelve independent sources – all of which happening to be missing people – spoke more of murder. Which is why the first division was called in, including the consulting half-brit, as an attempt to give Kudou someone more his ‘age’ to work with.
Unfortunately, clues had been few and far between, and they only ever knew where to look because of the mysterious notes delivered anonymously to the station in the morning. Day thirteen, another note, another drive to yet another large corporate building, and another desk with blood all along the underside of it, but no where else.
An interesting mystery to be sure, but no less frustrating.
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