Title: Advice from Hitchcock
Author: Proverbial Pumpkin
Rating: T
Summary: Tohma had done his best to cover things up for Yuki Eiri. But years later when the police get involved, who's covering for Tohma? Post-anime, KxTohma.
Author's Note: This story assumes several things (some of which are rather stretched assumptions): K's past in the US Secret Service, his achieved relationship with Tohma which is unfortunately totally not canon, and his relative ignorance of the details of the Yuki (Kitazawa) ordeal.
Now, without further ado…
You'd think someone like Seguchi Tohma would be up to his ears in the finest food available. You'd think that he'd eat three meals a day at a long oak table with seven courses in front of him and maybe a maid standing by. Maybe that his house would just be one big cornucopia.
"You'd think," I grumbled, hoping I didn't strain anything as I reached all the way to the back of the highest counter in his kitchen. I also hoped nothing was sitting back there ready to bite, because it was too high to see all the way into and damned if I was about to go get a stool. Turned out there was nothing back there at all, or almost anywhere else. That was Tohma's kitchen for you. Stainless steel utilities, immaculate countertops… and the whole thing empty to boot. I managed to find some bread, and carried the bag around with me while I scoured for something else. Cinnamon, no; jelly, no; butter, expired. Sad, sad breakfast. I took out a few slices and shoved two of them in the toaster rack. At least we had coffee.
"Tohma?" I called, then listened. Nothing. I grinned, heisting up the waist of the same pants I'd worn the evening before and heading down the hallway. Back in my apartment early mornings had been for plodding about with no clothes on, but Tohma thought the habit "barbaric" so nudity was pretty much reserved for the bedroom, these days. I opened his door and found him on his bed facing the window, lying in the exact position I'd left him.
Sometimes, I thought my body had trained itself to wake up early just for the sake of moments like these. As if his giant mattress and comforter wouldn't look inviting enough without Tohma slipped in between, asleep. First things first- I slouched over to his table and clicked off his digital alarm. That thing was obnoxious as hell and, as I always said to myself, way less fun than a personal wake up from yours truly. I bent down at his side. The cover was settled half-way over his mouth, his hands fisted into the material against his chest. The man was almost eerily silent when he slept, but I was used to it by now. "Time to get up Tohma," I said. Well, sort of said. I made it more a ghost of a whisper, and I couldn't really even hear myself. Then slowly, I reached down and patted the cover over his shoulder once, as lightly as I possibly could. Then I stood back and waited.
Nothing? Well, that didn't work! I thought gleefully, jogging back around to my side of the bed. He'd commandeered most of the covers to himself while I was gone, and the mattress cover was cold beneath my hands as I crawled over behind him. Much warmer on his side. Propping myself on my left elbow, I leaned over him so I could see his face. He was beautiful. Say what you like about Tohma's calculating mind, and his almost unnerving ability to detach himself from the feelings of others. The man was pretty.
Giving his ear a kiss, I slid my other hand down under the cover and cupped his backside, patting the bare skin a couple times. He shifted a little beneath me, then relaxed. "Tohma," I said.
"Nnn."
"Tohma."
Making another unintelligible sound, he burrowed deeper between his pillow and cover, trying to ignore me. I smiled and bounced the mattress behind him, jostling his form. "Come on. Prepare yourself for the lamest toast you've ever had."
"What?" he mumbled, before deciding he didn't really care and pulling the cover over his head. Whatever he said next was lost in a muffle of cotton and thread.
"I can't hear you, Tohma," I said. As long as he stayed wrapped up and warm like that, he wouldn't budge, and I yanked the cover down his chest.
He gasped a little at the cold air, then turned on his back and shot me a look he couldn't quite pull off effectively at this hour. "I said, you go take a shower and I'll get up when the hot water's back." And he turned back over decidedly.
I laughed at that. In the six months I'd been around, Tohma's place hadn't once run out of hot water, even for a few minutes. "How the hell do you always make it to the office so early? Half the time I can't get you in bed, but once you're there you won't get out." I patted the fleshy part of his butt again. "Now come on."
He swatted me away, but finally sat up, still holding the blanket around him as best he could. "Could you please not grope me in the morning, K-san?" he said testily. "Your hands are cold."
"Fine, just get up. I'm sick of wandering around the house by myself, and anyway the music industry awaits." I got off him and started picking up the clothes I'd shucked off the night before- both mine and his. I was in a good mood. "A light is out in your kitchen. I was trying to make breakfast, and failed. So I figure on going by the store sometime. Also, I hope you didn't want me to drive to work today, because I spilled soda all in my car and it's not cleaned yet."
"Would you stop talking at me?" he shot, fumbling around and pulling on clothes. "Who do you think you are, coming in here and going on about lights and driving before I've even-." He stopped. "Wait, you're going to the store?" Somewhat dressed now, Tohma gestured for me to get the corner of his sheets as he made his bed back. "This is my house, K-san. I think I can do my own shopping."
"You can, but you don't," I pointed out, tucking his sheets beneath the mattress. "I don't think it's too much to ask to keep the place stocked with a little food. And don't look at me like I'm being high-maintenance, because I'm not. And anyway, you're the one who asked me to live here."
"Right, throw that in my face," Tohma grumbled, pulling out some clean clothes for work. I took a moment to admire him from behind as he headed towards the bathroom, but then he paused, slacks and undershirt in hand. "Are you burning something?"
"Oh, fuck." The last edible food in the house, and I'd probably burnt it to a crisp.
Ten minutes later, I was still scraping black crap out of the toaster oven. The thing had to have been old as hell; why didn't Tohma just buy one that turned off automatically?
"K-san, your phone is ringing," came Tohma's voice from the bathroom. Cursing again, I wiped my hands on my pants and hurried once more to the bedroom. It took a minute of searching before I found my cell in my work clothes from the day before, and of course by the time I finally shook it out from the mass of wrinkles and folds, the call had gone to my voice mail. Across the hall, the bathroom door was open and Tohma was buttoning his shirt in front of the mirror. "Who was that?" he asked, glancing at me through the doorways. "It's not even eight o'clock."
"Hold on," I said, checking my call.
It was… Ark? That's surprising, I thought, passing Tohma in the bathroom as I headed back towards the kitchen. We hadn't talked in months. I dialed him back, rummaging through the drawer for a knife, and then went back to work on the toaster I'd fried.
"K?"
"Ark, what is it? You know it's the crack of dawn over here, right?" I said, making sure the power was off before sticking the knife in between the wire slits.
His voice was rushed. "Listen, K," he said, in a voice that made me set the toaster down. "Judy got a call last night. They wanted you. She said she and you were over, and she wasn't going to deal with it, but I thought you should know…"
"Hey, calm down. Know what?"
"I think something may be about to hit the fan over here. You know your boss, the guy you used to always rag on. What is it…" He sounded like he was flipping through some papers. "Seguchi?"
I snapped to attention, pausing, and then went to the doorway to glance down the hall. Tohma was raking his fingers through his hair as he hit the bathroom light off and crossed back into his room.
"K?"
I lowered my voice. "What about him?"
"One of your old New York friends –Wilkes, from the police- called and apparently there are some queries about your boss. Something from a few years ago, don't ask me what."
"What?!"
"I hardly have any details, man," Ark said. "Anyway, I remembered you hated the guy… Satan, only with less sympathy for mortals, you used to say." His voice sounded amused, but my jaw was too unhinged to set him straight. I guess Ark and I really had lost touch in the last couple years. "It sounds like something happened six or seven years ago, and they want your help, and there's a body involved. Sounds serious, like it could go over bad for your guy Seguchi over there. So I figured I'd give you a heads up, in case you want to help the New York Service guys out. Wasn't sure if you and he were still on competitive terms, if you were hoping to swipe his job some day or not, but I thought you should know either way."
"Jesus Christ," I muttered. "Thanks, Ark. I… I'll look into it. Wilkes, you said?"
"Right."
"Alright, bye."
Perplexed, I turned my phone off and stared at it for a moment. A body. A body? I turned back around, about to yell for Tohma, when he appeared in the doorway, looking sleepy.
His hair was still wet from the shower, but he was fully dressed. "Who was that, K-san?" he asked, tucking in his dress shirt. "Why is there a knife in my toaster?" He crossed over to it, irritated, and unplugged the appliance before retrieving his silverware.
"Tohma…"
He turned around at my voice. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Tohma, what happened with you and Yuki Eiri?"
He froze, staring at me, his shirt half-tucked in and half hanging over the waist of his pants. "Excuse me?" he said, his eyes going almost icy, his voice dangerous.
I took a step towards him. "I flew Shuichi away from an apartment in New York myself. Something happened there seven years ago, didn't it? Between you and Yuki Eiri- you've got to tell me exactly what."
"What are you talking about?" he demanded, glancing to my phone still in my hand. "Who was that?"
"Tohma…"
"Why are you asking me this?"
"Because, Tohma," I said, "you're fucking under investigation."
Author's Notes:
1.) That's probably it for Ark- my apologies if he has any particular fans out there, which I don't think he does.
2.) Woohoo for me writing when school's starting! I hope I can reel this one out before the assignments start piling up.
3.) Also, Yuki Eiri fans, don't get too excited. Between Shuichi's clamoring, Tohma's mothering and the fan girls, I think he gets enough attention as is. This is about K and Tohma.
4.) And what's this… plot? Damn, and I usually try so hard to avoid things like that. I did manage to fill my thousand-word quota of irrelevant cuteness though. Sorry, guess I've just got fluff on (or in) the brain.
Eh heh. Li'l joke. Anyway. Next chapter, coming up.