Chapter Text
In the face of the end of the world being averted, Mori and Fukuzawa had a ‘friendly chat’ that lasted three hours and involved no less than seven items being thrown at seemingly random points during that time, and ended with Mori sitting in the break room with an ice pack on his forehead and Yosano declaring that Fukuzawa managed to give himself a concussion. No one asks for any further details.
It wasn’t all for nothing, though, because the original deal fell through and instead, at Atsushi’s suggestion when it seemed like the two of them were going to attempt to fight until one of their hips gave out, the weretiger will technically be on loan to the Port Mafia for a period of five years. Atsushi wasn’t worried. He knew that he’d mostly end up working with Akutagawa and he trusts Akutagawa with his life.
That night, Atsushi visited Akutagawa’s apartment for the first time. And then it became a common occurrence. And then he actually befriended Akutagawa, then Gin, then Tachihara. Somewhere along the line, he started calling Hirotsu in the same manner that Gin and Tachihara do. The first time he happened to mention Hirotsu at work, Tanizaki genuinely thought Atsushi had discovered his actual blood-related grandfather. He then had to explain that it was Tachihara’s fault.
Time passes and Yokohama settles. No new threats arise. No old threats rise again like Jesus. Even the Port Mafia in its entirety seems to be on its best behaviour. Not that it’s doing any good work, but at least no one from the mafia is actively terrorising the agency. (Chuuya breaking into the dorms to spook the shit out of Dazai does not count. Nothing either of them do to the other counts. They’re weird. They’re also probably dating. It’s no one’s business.) In fact, rarely but still more often than before, the mafia and the agency help each other out here and there. A bit of information shared, catching each other’s targets — just little things that make work a little easier.
Atsushi also doesn’t venture any further into mafia territory than Akutagawa’s apartment unless it’s the mafia calling in the loan. Even when Tachihara suggested they all go out for a meal someday, they did it at a restaurant closer to the edge of mafia territory than the apartment complex was. Atsushi is just friends with the three of them. He doesn’t need to poke his nose into their work or the lives of anyone else in the Port Mafia besides the three of them.
Which is why he’s incredibly surprised to find a member of the Port Mafia waiting for him outside after work.
Higuchi tried to kill him a couple times, but he figures that if he can befriend Akutagawa, he can at least hear Higuchi out. So he accepts her offer to walk him to the dorms.
“I need your help,” Higuchi says after a bit of small talk.
“Is this, like, a work thing or a personal thing? Because if it’s a work thing, then you gotta go through the agency.”
“Oh, it’s a personal thing. Very personal. Like, super personal. As in, I will gut you like a fish if you spill.”
Atsushi raises his eyebrows. “You’re not very good at persuasion, huh?”
“Please help me!” Higuchi puts her hands together in front of her and squeezes her eyes shut.
Atsushi guides her back onto the sidewalk when she veers into the street. “At least tell me what you need help with first. Also, why are you going outside the mafia? Don’t you have friends there?”
“I have friends, but I’d rather babysit Elise than tell any of them.” Higuchi takes a deep breath and then says her next sentence all in one breath, as if it’s one long word.
Atsushi tilts his head. “You want me to blip a cow over? Over what? What’s blipping a cow? Is that a mafia code?”
“I want you to help me win Akutagawa over!”
Atsushi stops walking and blinks. “Oh. Okay. That makes more sense.”
Higuchi takes two more steps so she’s standing in front of Atsushi. “You’re practically his best friend and you work with him more often than his own subordinates do. You even stay over and Gin says he actually engages in recreational activities when you’re around. You obviously know him really well. Please, please, please, please. I’ll — I’ll pay you! No, I can help you with all your cases from now on! We have people on our payroll. Like, if you need a police report, we have people in the force on our payroll and I could get them to expedite stuff for you. Oh, oh, if you need information, I could ask one of our information brokers to get it for you!”
Atsushi hesitantly pokes her shoulder. “Okay, first of all, take a breath.”
Higuchi pauses and takes a deep breath.
“Good?”
Higuchi nods.
“See, the thing is, I can’t promise that anything I tell you will work. Akutagawa’s kinda dense.”
“I know. I find him endearing because of it.”
“Okay . . . but, also, everything I know about him is because of the relationship I have with him. He plays video games with me because the alternative is I do karaoke in his house.”
Higuchi tilts her head to one side. “You do karaoke?”
“Not the point.”
“Right.”
“He’s my friend, Higuchi. I don’t know how to get him to date you short of actually saying the words.”
“I will kill you and then myself if you tell him.”
Atsushi rolls his eyes. “I’m just saying.”
“Would you be willing to at least try? Even if it doesn’t work out, I’ll still help you with all your cases!”
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s legal.”
“Oh, please. Don’t act like you guys don’t break into places without warrants to get evidence. You guys aren’t the law, I know that.”
Atsushi scratches the back of his neck. “Okay, how about I make you a deal? You help me with this case I’m currently working on, and then I’ll have more time to spend at Akutagawa’s place.”
“How does that benefit me, though?”
“I’ll have time to find out what he likes and whether he’s even familiar with the concept of flirting. Then I’ll tell you everything I learn.”
Higuchi hums. Then she sticks her hand out. “That works for me!”
Atsushi gives her a grin and shakes her hand. “So, does this make us friends or business partners?”
Higuchi shrugs. “Who says we can’t be both?”
“You’re kinda weird. I like you.”
“. . . thanks? I think.”
Atsushi gestures to the dorms. “This is me, so you get home safe, okay?”
Higuchi nods. “I will. Thank you!”
And then she’s off, weirdly fast.
“Aww, you made another mafia friend!”
Atsushi will deny that he nearly jumped out of his skin when Kyoka spoke for the rest of his life.
“Does anyone need the boardroom today?” Atsushi asks.
Some of the detectives shake their heads. The others verbally say no.
“Great. I’ll be in there today if anyone needs me.”
“Why?” Dazai asks. “I thought you liked to meet clients in the cafe downstairs.”
“Oh, I’m not meeting a client. I’m —”
A knock at the door distracts Atsushi. He gets up to open it and smiles at Higuchi. “Hey, you’re early.”
Higuchi holds up a folder. “Apparently, I’m more intimidating than I thought. I got the files faster than I anticipated.”
“Come on through. The boardroom’s this way.”
Higuchi gives everyone a half-bow and a polite wave as Atsushi all but pushes her through the office.
“The case he has isn’t that big, is it?” Dazai asks.
Kunikida looks at Dazai over the top of his glasses. “He’s allowed to ask his friends for help. You go crying to Chuuya every time we give you work, so you’re really not one to talk.”
Kyoka snickers. She looks away when Dazai shoots her a light glare. “I didn’t say anything.”
In the boardroom, Atsushi and Higuchi are mostly quiet.
“Here,” Higuchi says, passing Atsushi a sheet of paper. “These are the summarised financial statements you wanted.”
Atsushi takes the sheet of paper and frowns at it. “How’d you get this so fast? He didn’t seem to have connections to the mafia.”
“Hm?” Higuchi looks up. “Oh, I didn’t ask for them nicely.”
“Oh.” Atsushi looks at the financial statements again. “Well, I was right about him being in debt.”
“Insurance fraud?”
Atsushi shrugs. “Wouldn’t be the first time I had an arson case turn out like that. Did you manage to get security footage from the apartment complex across?”
“Yup. They emailed it to me. I left my laptop at home, but I can open my emails on your computer if you don’t mind?”
“Yeah, sure. Come on.”
Dazai leans back on his chair to look at Atsushi’s screen.
From where he stands behind Higuchi with his arms folded as he waits, Atsushi looks at Dazai. “Don’t you have work?”
“Is it really all that wise to let a mafia member sit at your desk?” Dazai asks curiously.
“Well, I’m watching her every move and unlike someone else in this office, I pack all my case files away neatly. Nothing laying about, see?”
Dazai huffs and sits up quickly, his chair snapping back with him. Kunikida snickers.
“All right,” Higuchi says. “Here’s the footage I got for you.”
She starts to move back to get out of the chair, but Atsushi leans forward, resting one of his hands on the back of the chair and all his weight on the other, at the edge of the desk. Higuchi stops trying to move back.
“Woah, how many hours of footage did you get?”
“I asked for twelve hours forward and back of the supposed time the fire began. They sent over twenty-four both ways because the last time I didn’t get what I wanted, I let Kajii at ‘em.”
“Good job,” Atsushi says absently, reaching for the mouse to skip through the footage. Eventually, he finds what he’s looking for. “Thanks for the help.”
Higuchi turns around when Atsushi stands up properly and steps back. “But nothing happened except for the fire breaking out suddenly.”
“Mhm. That means whoever started the fire was already in the house twenty-four hours before it went up.”
Higuchi tilts her head as Atsushi shrugs his coat on. “So you’re just assuming he did it based on the footage and the financial records?”
“Well, I’m going over to find out if that’s the case. Wanna tag along? You can play bad cop if we need it.”
“Oh, sure, make the mafia girl the bad cop,” Higuchi teases.
Atsushi shrugs. “You’re the one who said you were more intimidating than you thought. Plus, you did expedite everything I needed.”
Higuchi gives him a slight frown. “Are you sure? Obtaining information for you was one thing. This right here is already a whole other thing.”
Atsushi shrugs again. “Suit yourself, but if you want my help, I need to get to know you. What better way than to go make an arrest together?”
“I could think of a few ways,” Higuchi mumbles to herself. She smiles at Atsushi. “If you think I can help, sure.”
“Great! Let’s go!”
“You’re weirdly friendly,” Higuchi says as Atsushi picks up the financial records, stuffs them into his bag and drags Higuchi behind him as if she’s incapable of walking by herself.
“What’s he helping her with?” Dazai eventually asks Kyoka.
She shrugs. “Dunno.”
“Well, that was not fun,” Higuchi grumbles as they watch the police Atsushi called haul the supposed victim away.
Atsushi glances at her. “You all right?”
Higuchi rubs her jaw. “I’ve taken worse.”
“Yikes. Let me buy you an ice cream as an apology.”
Higuchi gives Atsushi a side-eye as they start walking slowly. “You’re suspiciously friendly.”
“Well, you want me to talk you up to my best friend. I gotta find out if you’re good enough for him first.”
“Ouch.”
“By the way,” Atsushi says, “why don’t you ask Gin for help? They’re siblings and closer than most. If anyone would know Akutagawa perfectly well, it’d be Gin.”
Higuchi shudders. “I am not about to ask Gun for advice on dating their brother. I would rather turn into a vampire again.”
“Aw, Gin’s protective, but not like that.”
“No, you don’t understand. I’d like to get the shovel talk after I have a real shot. Gin might come for me with an actual shovel just to drive the point home and it’d happen before I even said two words to Akutagawa!”
“Hm. I guess you’re right. So I was your next best bet?”
“You’re my only bet. If this doesn’t work out, I’ll just die, I guess.”
Atsushi laughs. “Don’t be dramatic. Even if it doesn’t work out, you’ll move on.”
“I don’t wanna move on! I wanna kiss Akutagawa!”
“Why do you even like him anyway?” Atsushi asks curiously. He stops walking when he realises Higuchi isn’t beside him anymore and turns to see her staring at her ice cream. “Not that there’s anything wrong with liking him!”
Higuchi shakes her head quickly and smiles at Atsushi. “No, no, I didn’t think that’s what you meant. It’s just . . . I don’t know how to explain it. He’s strong and brave and he never backs down. No matter who he’s up against, he always does his best to finish the job.”
Atsushi thinks back to last year, on the ship. He glances down at the sidewalk. “Even if it would get him killed.”
“Hm?”
“That’s the kind of guy he is.”
“You’re thinking about . . . that’s different. It was to make sure you survived. He only went that far because he trusted you’d make sure it was worth it.”
“Can you handle that?” Atsushi asks, looking at Higuchi. “If we had to go up against an enemy together, would you be able to focus on your own part to play knowing that he might do that again? Because that’s who he is. He goes all in for a fight and if he thinks the best shot of winning means sacrificing himself, you can be damned sure he’ll do it. Would you be able to handle knowing that?”
Higuchi matches Atsushi’s stare, refusing to back down first. “I’d be okay with it if it was for you.”
Atsushi blinks. “For me?”
“In the last year, he’s changed. Not so much that he’s become a different person, but he’s softer now. Kinder to other people he works with. He uses his words before his ability. It’s because of you. You’re not just his friend. You’re his partner. I’d be okay with it if it was for you because I know you’re one of two people on this entire planet that would try to stop him and if you failed, it wouldn’t be your fault. The other is his sister.”
Atsushi sighs. “This won’t be easy, you know. Trying to win him over.”
Higuchi throws her head back and laughs. “It’ll be worth it.”