fallen-lucifiel: 9 x – 7 i > 3 ( 3 x – 7 u )9 x – 7 i > 9 x – 21 u – 7 i > -21 u 7 i < 21 u i < 3 uAll’s well that ends well.Happy Valentine’s Day!(/〃｀∀´)/♥(・´ ▽ `〃) […]
“There, now,” Hakuba said, hands trembling despite how calm his voice sounded as he finished adjusting the Osakan’s collar and tie. He stood behind the curtain with Hattori, both in suits and ties, waiting anxiously for their turn to address the press. The case had received quite a bit of attention, and their fathers (along with Jones) had turned it into a publicity opportunity.
After all, who wouldn’t be interested in the sons of the Superintendent General and Superintendent Supervisor, working together, bringing in to justice half a dozen dangerous criminals who had dared threaten to blackmail and murder members of the Japanese police force?
All the same, there were so many things about the case that neither of the teenagers felt up to sharing, and there were sure to be awkward questions. But, they’d have to weather through it; there was no avoiding the inevitable.
Leaning closer to his colleague, Hakuba forced a small smirk. “Do I look all right?”
♞: Caring for each other while ill (specify which party is which)
They hadn’t always gotten along, but that was no reason for Hakuba to turn his back when the thief actually needed help – whether he wanted it or not.
With the rapidly changing weather, a nasty bug had made its way around the school, forcing many students to stay home, and many more miserably wearing masks. This meant that there were far less classmates to deliver notes to the invalid, and with Aoko also out sick, it was up to Hakuba to care for Kuroba.
Bringing homework and carefully detailed notes to his ailing peer was one thing, but once Hakuba saw that Kaito was home alone – again – he knew that there was so much more that he needed to do. All in the name of humanitarianism, of course.
“Now, now, Kuroba-kun…” the detective chided gently, adding yet another pillow behind his back. “Don’t try to speak with your throat so irritated: post-nasal drip is wretched business, just lean back and drink this tea… It has pure, local high-grade honey in it, which should help. Just where is your mum, anyway? How’re you to get better if you’ve no one to take care of you?”
Hakuba frowned at him, sitting at his bedside, ignoring the pained and exasperated expression of the other.
“I may just have to stay at this rate. I can’t have you dying on me… not before I’ve gotten you to admit that you’re Kaitou KID.” A pause. “That was a little joke, there… it’s all right, you’re not laughing because of your throat, yes? So, yes, drink that tea…”
Hakuba considered it kismet. As soon as Rei had introduced him to the wonder that was Tachibana Makoto, things had clicked into place without any sort of resistance at all. True, he was only in town for a couple of weeks to investigate the recent shenanigans at Iwatobi high school by his friend’s personal request, but he had been very well-received by the swim team and associates, which made for a very enjoyable business trip.
Makoto was of particular interest. Sweet, unassuming, charming… it seemed only natural to look to him for delegation of what needed to be done to carry out the investigation. Honestly, Hakuba could hardly ask for better working conditions on such a case.
They sat on the steps leading up toward the swimmer’s house, basking in the filtered light of the hedges next to the steps in the afternoon sun. “Right,” Hakuba said, turning the page of the textbook on his lap, and pointed to another section. “And that is specifically why this algorithm works for this instance, but not for the other one…”
Physics. The interdependent marriage of science and math. Not a light subject, but one that Hakuba understood well. Which was likely the reason why helping Makoto with his homework before they got started on the detective business was now part of his to-do list.
The detective reached over to scratch the head of the cat in Makoto’s lap, who purred and lazily stretched to drape over his leg, drooping toward the stair.
“So you see, it’s all a matter of looking at the problem and choosing the correct formula to use for any given situation. That is to say, assessing the problem at hand, determining which variables need to be involved, and finding the formula that will get you that answer… consequently, here, it’s Newton’s 2nd Law that we’ll be using…”
“‘M kidding, Hakuba.” He chuckled quietly and proceeded to, quite happily, snuggle into the detective’s shoulder, eyes closing with a content sigh. “Not gonna die that easily, y’know. Have a lil’ faith in me, will ya?”
“Yes, yes… now let’s get you to bed and I’ll take your vitals. You musn’t forget that I’m a detective and, as a detective, I see death all the time, so it’s not entirely irrational for me to be concerned…” He sighed, carrying the other boy up the stairs. “Though I admit that, yes, you’re generally quite the sturdy individual…"
“This is what happens when you don’t take care of yourself…” Hakuba mumbled,
bringing a blanket to the thief’s shoulders. “Not that I should talk, I
realize, but let’s get you to bed, shall we?” (( KAITO NO DON’T DIE ))
“I do so take care of m’self,” was Kaito’s muffled response into the counter, head turning to give the blond a tired grin. “But if it makes you pamper me even more, maybe I should do it a lil’ less.”
“That is entirely unhealthy and unproductive.” Hakuba sighed, and reached down to scoop the thief up into his arms, blanket and all. “You know I’m more than willing to pamper you as much as you like, but you’ve got to stay alive for me to do so, hm?”
“Please, Hattori-kun…” Hakuba muttered into the pillow, refusing to open his eyes. “Just deal with it and get some sleep.” The argument had been going on for the better part of an hour, but the detectives had both been so exhausted from the case that it was mostly in the form of mumbles, grunts, and rolling around on the bed to try to get as far away from each other as possible.
“It’s not as if it’s really either of our fault… the hotel made a mistake, it was booked solid, and that is rather unfortunate, but at least we have a bed to sleep in instead of my car… or, heaven forbid, your motorbike, which would mean that we would be sleeping on the ground…”
He sighed, shifting on the single, queen-sized bed again, trying in vain to get comfortable. But how could he with Heiji constantly complaining? “It’s just been a long day… a very, very long day… but we should be able to find better accommodations tomorrow, so long as we both act like mature, responsible young adults and get some rest… then a nice breakfast in the morning… shower… and then we’ll be on our way. I think we can probably handle this, don’t you think?”
…
“Hattori-kun?"
…
Hakuba pushed up onto his elbows to peek at the Osakan, who… was snoring quietly in the same position that he’d been in for the past long, long while.
"Hattori-kun! Have you been asleep this entire time?!”
…
“Hey… we were having such a good conversation…"
…
"Hmf. Fine, then. I didn’t want to speak with you, anyway.”
He hadn’t done this particular activity in quite some time, years even, and although he wore a stoic sort of smile (if there was such a thing), even he recognized that he was amused and perhaps a little bit excited about it. Chairs turned and strategically placed to provide structure; every pillow and blanket that could be found and used without having Baaya yelling at them; and ample use of bag clips and zipties had created the ultimate in blanket forts.
It was awkward to army crawl into the thing despite the spacious entrance, both because Hakuba was still wearing a suit, and because he wasn’t used to getting low on the ground except in situations of dire peril, but he managed somehow. And, once inside, flopped onto his back in the mountain of pillows and looked up at the ceiling of patchwork quilt, each square filtering in a different amount of natural light from the window. Beautiful. Comforting. It reminded him of home.
Hakuba rolled onto his side and reached over to ruffle his companion’s hair, smirking. “All right, fine… this was a good idea, you win.”
