ECHO (Original)

Chapter 6

Shuzenji Chiyo was not expecting a call this late in the afternoon. She was certainly surprised when it came from Tsukauchi Naomasa of all people. She didn't know the man very well, besides the fact that he was a detective in Musutafu and he was good friends with Toshinori of all people, but she did know very well that the only time he called her was if a criminal had gotten too injured for any questioning.

Checking the time as she picked up the phone, she saw that it was only a little after five in the evening, which was later than Tsukauchi normally worked. It made her curious as to why the man called in the first place. The only time he would work longer than he needed to was when there was a big case, and if there was, usually she would be told first because a big case usually meant a big mess that she would have to help deal with.

She answered the call just barely before it would hang up on him and started the conversation with a, "If this is about Toshinori, tell him I'm not dealing with him until tomorrow."

"No, it's not. For once," came the response from the other end. The man sounded extremely exhausted, which was not so strange for the detective, but this tiredness that came through the phones sounded more like worry than stress.

"Alright then," she replied. "What is the problem that I have to deal with today? Because if it has to do with a criminal, I should've been filled in before you call me asking for help."

"It's not that either," he said back exasperatedly. "And it was one time, Shuzenji, so please try and put that behind you."

"Humph. Fine then, speak your words, detective. I'm about to leave campus to catch the train in fifteen minutes, so you have about that long."

"I adopted a boy and he's running a fever right now and I have no clue what to do."

Well... she wasn't expecting that response.

"You're telling me..." she paused to sigh, "that you adopted a boy and didn't let me know? How do you know that he's up to date with his vaccination records? What if he needed to be checked just in case if he had any kind of physical illness that had to be dealt with?"

Tsukauchi sighed on the other end of the line. "I know, I should have. But he just got out of an extremely stressful and mentally damaging situation. I adopted him yesterday on the spot and last night he started vomiting in the sink. Please, I need your help."

Shuzenji smiled. It was rare to hear politeness from students nowadays, so it was nice to hear a "please" when it was needed.

"Of course, detective. I'll be there in a bit. Just make sure to keep him cool and to keep a trashcan nearby for vomiting. It might be about twenty minutes before I get there, but just keep in touch if anything gets worse on my way."

After hearing confirmation on the other end, she hung up the phone and turned to the man that sat on a hospital bed, clearly surprised by the conversation.

"Tsukauchi adopted a kid?" Aizawa asked her, eyes glistening in amusement. "Didn't see him as that type of man."

"Neither did I," the nurse replied with a laugh, "but here we are discussing it. Now, no time to waste. Take the gummies and your horrendous sleeping bag and get out of here. I have a kid to treat."

The teacher hummed before taking the gummies provided for him and grabbing his (quite fashionable) yellow sleeping bag that was rolled up next to him before heading for the door.

"Thank you, Recovery Girl," he said with a wave, not bothering to turn around as he exited.

She rolled her eyes. Yes, while she did appreciate the thanks, eye contact or at least him facing her would be nice. Or is it too much to ask for?