aromantic heart, a romantic heart (Bungo stray dogs)

2. Don't thank me

(This chapter is horrible and I hate it, but you get it anyway.)

It was two weeks ago since Atsushi started working at the ADA, and it was one week ago since they found out that he had Tourettes.

Before they found out he thought that they would judge him and think that he was a freak, but what happened was quite the opposite. When the rest found out, Ranpo also told Atsushi that he had tics. Which at first shocked them, but when he thought about all the interactions between them and Ranpo, they realized that all the small sounds and little twitches that Ranpo made, was his tics. It kind of made them feel like an idiot for a moment that he hadn't realized.

Since the little 'incident' with Atsushi's Tourette's, Ranpo and Atsushi had gotten closer. You could even call them friends.

They became friends cause of Atsushi's Tourettes and Ranpo's tics. It might seem a bit weird that they got closer cause of that, but Atsushi has felt so alone his whole life cause of his Tourettes, and meeting someone with tics made him feel less alone.
Same goes for Ranpo, though, he stopped being insecure about it after he met Fukuzawa.

——————

It's a warm, sunny day in Yokohama, there's a few white clouds in the sky, which looks like cotton candy. It's a perfect day to go outside and have a picnic, and that's what Atsushi and Ranpo are planning to do.

And right now, Atsushi and Ranpo are walking to some picnic spot they found a few days earlier. They have a bag with all the picnic stuff necessary. It's about a 10 minute walk, so it's not that far. They're talking, and occasionally laughing, all the way to the picnic spot.

They get to the picnic spot, it's under a tall, green tree. The tree has a perfect shadow under it, so they won't get too hot outside.

They set up their picnic stuff, and of course Ranpo brought a lot of snacks. But there is a good reason for that today. Cause today, both Atsushi's and Ranpo's tics have decided to act up. They're ticcing pretty frequently today, and eating or chewing on stuff helps both Ranpo's and Atsushi's tics.

They sit down and start having a nice picnic, well, as nice as it can get when they keep ticcing and having people stare when they do.

Atsushi sees 3 teenage boys staring at him, it makes him very anxious. He gets the familiar feeling in his neck, and, just like before, it feels like it's taunting him. He tries to suppress it, but of course it doesn't work, especially since Ranpo is also ticcing, which triggers Atsushi's tics. They tic, jerking their neck to the side, it hurts a bit. He can hear the 3 boys laughing.....laughing at him....

"R-Ranpo....?" They tic again, this time whistling.

"Yes?" He says, looking up from the snack he's opening. "Is something wrong? You seem very anxious."

"I-it's nothing....don't worry..."

"Atsushi, I'm a detective, not an idiot. I know it's not 'nothing'. What is it? Is it the people staring? We can go back if you want. I don't mind." Ranpo actually seems a slightly bit worried.

"...you really don't mind...?" Atsushi doesn't want to destroy this for Ranpo, since this was Ranpo's idea. They tic again, hitting themselves in the chest.

"I don't mind, let's go." He answers quickly, he wants to get back to the agency before Atsushi's tics gets any worse.

They pack their picnic stuff, and start to walk back to the agency. Instead of like it taking like 10 minutes, it took almost 20. Cause Atsushi kept ticcing worse and worse, and people kept looking at him weird. Ranpo was ticcing too, but not as much as Atsushi, cause he had learnt to ignore it when people stare.

Atsushi feels like he might cry, he feels humiliated with all the people looking at him when he tics. The tics are mostly whistling, hitting his chest, clapping his hands and tics similar to that.

Eventually they get back to the agency, but they only get inside of the building before Atsushi starts crying. Ranpo is immediately there to comfort him. He's not that good at comforting people, but he does his best.

Atsushi is clearly overwhelmed by all the stares, laughs and whispers he got. They're ticcing even more now, and his tics hits Ranpo slightly.

"I-I'm so-sorry....." They say through their tears, when they realize that they hit Ranpo.

"Don't worry about it, it's okay. Don't apologize, you can't control it. And it didn't hurt." Ranpo is hugging Atsushi now. He normally wouldn't hug anyone, but this is Atsushi.

Atsushi calms down a bit, is knowing that he didn't hurt Ranpo, but he's still upset and crying. They can feel Ranpo doing small circles on their back to soothe them.

Atsushi calms down after a while, but Ranpo is still holding him. They stay like that for a while, just hugging each other.

After a while, they realize that they have to stop hugging each other, and go back up to the office. They can barley let go of each other, it's like they're glued together, they just want to stay like that. But they can't. They let go of each other. "Are you okay, Atsushi?" Ranpo looks at them with a slightly worried expression.

"I'm fine now. Thank you..." They're a bit embarrassed about what happened, but Ranpo doesn't seem to think it's that embarrassing, and that makes them a bit less awkward.

"Don't thank me, I'm just glad you told me, or tried to tell me, that you didn't want to stay there." He smiles reassuringly at Atsushi.

——————

When they get back up to the office, they meet Fukuzawa.

"What took you so long? You said it would take like 30 minutes, not an hour." Fukuzawa says in a stern tone, he's not mad, but he's clearly a bit concerned.

'One hour?! How long was I hugging Ranpo for?!'

"It's fine, something just happened, don't worry." Ranpo tells his adoptive dad.

"If you say so, Ranpo."

Atsushi and Ranpo go back to Ranpo's desk, and starts talking again.

They just talk. About everything and nothing.