Spain Without The S!

Chapter 14: Rising Worry

  "It's always amazing how quickly you recover..." Mori said in fascination.
  Kouyo squeezed Chuuya's hand. After only two days without being hooked up to monitors, Chuuya could walk pretty well on his own. Though, he would get frustrated with himself if he couldn't remember where something was.
  Chuuya sighed, "it's not fast enough."
  Mori chuckled, "be happy. Most people wouldn't even be able to get up for a few weeks."
  Chuuya shook his head, "I can't be on leave for that long..."
  Mori laughed, "come on, you're men aren't going to fall over and die because they don't have you. Higuchi and one of my favorite advisors are helping out for the time being."
  Chuuya paused, "has anything happened?"
  "Like we've already said, nothing you need to be concerned about right now," Kouyo said as she patted his arm.
  Chuuya looked frustrated for a second, "I can't do anything...?"
  Mori sighed, shaking his head, "take a break for once, Chuuya. If not for you, do it for your coworkers. They always worry about how you never take time for yourself."
  Chuuya sighed heavily, "fine..."
  "Kouyo, would you mind accompanying me?" Mori asked as he headed to the door, "I may require your assistance."
  "Of course," Kouyo gave Chuuya a brief hug before following Mori out.
  Chuuya go the feeling that Mori absolutely did not need her help...
  "What is it?" Kouyo asked quietly.
  "Have you told him what he's done?" Mori asked as he strolled down the hall.
  Kouyo shook her head, "I don't... want that on his conscience..."
  "He'll find out that you lied." Mori said. "He deserves the truth."
  "But you know how he gets..." Kouyo said quietly.
  "Just becuase he killed a handful of people doesn't mean he's going to stop functioning. He's killed a lot of people before, you know."
  Kouyo stopped walking for a minute. Then continued, "but these were innocents..."
  Mori smirked, "no one is innocent, Kouyo. You of all people should understand that the most."
  Kouyo pursed her lips, not wanting to accept this. She really didn't like entertaining the idea of telling Chuuya that he'd massacred people he might have actually known.

——

  Dazai, while avoiding work as per usual, had the strange itching feeling that something was wrong.
  His pensive eyes scanned the office. It was pretty empty today and only he, Ranpo, and Yosano were in. Everyone else was off filling requests.
  Dazai sighed from boredom as he leaned back in his chair.
  Yosano and Ranpo, instead of doing anything productive we're chatting while giving Karl a little too much attention.
  "He still hasn't done it?" Yosano asked.
  "Nope." Ranpo bit into a pocky, "he said that you can't rush writing or something."
  Yosano shook her head, "shouldn't you be a little more kind to him? It is his raccoon..."
  Ranpo shook his head, "no way. It's joint custody."
  "Wha..." Yosano laughed, "so you're a divorced couple now?!"
  Ranpo flashed a smile, "I would say we're more like engaged people who can't decide what to do next."
  Yosano giggled as she stroked Karl, "poor Poe... he's so nervous all the time... he can barely ever get a word out when he's here. No wonder he hasn't met your demands for Karl."
  Ranpo sighed, dipping his head back, "he better do it quick. I'm starting to get awfully bored with this."
  Dazai stood and draped his coat over his shoulder. "Well, you guys have fun picking on Poe, I'm heading out."
  "Wait." Ranpo sat foreword.
  "Hm?" Dazai turned around.
  "Isn't it about time you told me what happened?" Ranpo asked.
  Yosano nervously met Ranpo's eyes, "shouldn't you already know?"
  "I'd rather not use my skill when I don't need to," he put his feet up on the table.
  Dazai sighed as he walked over and took a seat.
  Yosano stared down at her clasped hands, "Ranpo-San..." she wanted to ask him not to tell anyone but knew he probably didn't care enough.
  "It was about Mafia Executive Nakahara." Dazai said, sounding bored. "He used corruption again so I had to go stop him. I had Yosano come becuase he was pretty badly hurt." Dazai shrugged, "that's all."
  Ranpo stared at Dazai for a while, his eyes slightly open, "'kay. Don't see a reason why you kept it to yourselves." He ate another pocky.
  Yosano remained silent, letting Dazai take the conversation where he would.
  "For their integrity, I would prefer if this incident wasn't spoken of." Dazai said plainly.
  "Hm..." Ranpo opened one of his eyes slightly, peering at Dazai with an indifferent gaze. "Their integrity... or yours...?"
  The room was tense and still. Even Karl was unmoving, but that was mostly because he was asleep.
  Yosano let out a long sigh, "does it even matter? As friends, we should be able to trust each other."
  They both looked at her blankly.
  She shook her head, "I mean... let's just keep it to ourselves. It isn't like we're going to go attack the mafia becuase one of their executives are out of commission."
  Ranpo tossed the empty pocky box into the trash, "yeah. I guess."

——

  Chuuya breathed in deeply. He was supposed to be asleep but his mind was still very awake. He was glad that Kouyo had decided to stay the night again.
  He squeezed her hand gently, "Ane-San?"
  She didn't respond.
  He smiled, "did you fall asleep before me?..."
  He held her hand a little looser, "well... goodnight, then..."

  Chuuya awoke to a strange smell in the room. It was like citrus. Oranges, maybe.
  Chuuya rolled onto his side and squeezed Kouyo's hand, "you awake?"
  No response.
  Chuuya was surprised. Kouyo had always been an early riser. Maybe she was just exhausted from watching him. He stared to feel bad.
  He pulled himself up and yawned. He no longer felt Kouyo's slender fingers in his hand, "Ane-San?..."
  Again, nothing.
  He reached his hand out towards where he was sure she was sitting on the chair. His hand went through where she should have been and touched the back of the chair.
  Chuuya recoiled his hand quickly, "Kouyo?..." He turned his head, wishing he could see. He didn't know why but he felt like panicking. He pushed down the feeling and swung his legs over the side of the bed.
  Then, the door opened.
  "Is something wrong?" Kouyo's voice asked.
  "What..." Chuuya whispered in disbelief, "where did you go?..."
  "What do you mean?" Kouyo asked, sounding worried. She approached Chuuya, "what happened?"
  Chuuya held his jaw closed. He was sure Kouyo was with him only a moment ago. "N-nevermind... it's nothing..."
  Kouyo put her hand on his shoulder, "are you sure?"
  He nodded, "yeah. I'm sure."
  She paused momentarily, "alright... Come on, Elise wanted us to come have breakfast with her. Plus, it'll be good practice walking."

——

  Holding onto Chuuya, Kouyo led him down the hallway towards the elevator. Chuuya was holding onto her tightly, nervously walking with her.
  Kouyo patted his arm, "not much farther, now."
  He nodded a little absently, "uh-huh..."
  Kouyo laughed under her breath, "I'm sure Elise will be excited to see you out and about."
  Chuuya stopped.
  "What is it?" She asked.
  Chuuya paused, then looked up at her, his eyes unable to lock onto anything, "I don't think I can keep living like this..."
  Kouyo placed her hand on his shoulder, "I... there's nothing I can do... but I'll keep looking..." Over the course of the past few days, Kouyo had been searching through all their information on skill users to find anything that might help Chuuya in any way. So far, she had found nothing.
  Chuuya started walking again, saying nothing.
  Kouyo continued with him but felt terribly helpless.

  Elise opened the door excitedly, "you made it!"
  "And I'm proud to say he only almost fell once," Kouyo added.
  "Ane-San..." Chuuya pled as he pulled on her arm, embarrassed.
  Kouyo chuckled, "oh, come on, I'm allowed to be happy about the little things."
  Chuuya sighed defeatedly.
  "Come on, come on!" Elise pulled them both inside, "I heard that Chuuya can eat on his own now?!"
  Kouyo nodded, "pretty decently."
  Chuuya felt like he would never be spared from this embarrassment.