It was oddly warm.
Blinking her eyes open, the blank ceiling greeted Lacie's field of vision as soon as she woke up. The warm and soft rays of the afternoon sun spilled from the window blinds and they lingered unto her skin.
"Finally awake?"
At the sound of a voice addressing her, Lacie glanced to the side, catching sight of a man with dirty-blond hair sitting on a chair next to her bed. His eyes were peeled at a notebook as he continued to read it, his fingers turning the pages calmly.
"…where…?" Lacie mumbles, still groggy with sleep and he sighs as he tears his gaze off the pages.
"You collapsed from a high fever last night." His eyes drilled into hers momentarily as he closed the notebook before he spoke. "Don't you remember?"
Lacie blinked for a moment and then sat up quickly in realization, her blond hair spilling over shoulders, as the events of the previous night flooded into her brain.
Glancing around her surroundings, Lacie realized that she seems to be in an infirmary. Her clothes were replaced by a hospital gown, the nightgown and jacket she used the other day neatly folded right next to her.
"I know that you're probably confused but—" Kunikida started to explain as she glanced about her surroundings questionably, but then suddenly she turned abruptly, her blue eyes glaring right back at his own.
Kunikida visibly flinches at the sudden change of her attitude before raising an eyebrow. "Oi, what are you—"
Lacie didn't let him finish his statement.
In a few seconds, he was under her hold on the bed. Lacie hovers over him, her right knee pressing down on his abdomen to make sure he stays in place.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Kunikida growls and she narrows her blue eyes at him before digging her knee in his abdomen harder.
"Where did you take me?" The blonde girl hissed down at him. "Are you in cahoots with them as well?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, so get off me, woman!" Kunikida growls back, and Lacie clicks her tongue in annoyance.
"Don't play dumb with me!" She growled. "Answer my question!"
"Like I told you…" He growls from underneath, and within a moment, Lacie gasps as Kunikida suddenly flips them over, his body atop of hers as his hands pinned both of her arms above the bed's headboard. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
His eyes drill into hers, gaze hardening as he stared her down. "Reversely, I think it's you who should be answering some questions."
Lacie glared at him and tried to escape from his grip, but he only tightens his hold on her arms, making her wince from the pain. "Let me go, you bastard!"
The man only draws out a card from his pocket in response and waves it in front of her face, his voice taking on a dangerous tone. "How did you know of the Armed Detective Agency's existence?"
Lacie widened her eyes at the paper he's holding and glared back at him. "Give that back!"
He presses more force into his hold, making Lacie cry out in pain. "Answer my question, woman."
Lacie only glares back at him in reply and struggles into his hold. "Fuck off."
"Kunikida-kun~ Is the beauty awake-?"
"D-dazai-sannn! I think this isn't a good idea…"
Voices echoed from the door and a man with dark-brown hair waltzes in the room, followed by a shorter silver-haired male.
"Dazai-san, I think she's still resting…" Nakajima Atsushi said to his companion but Dazai, (regrettably) ignored it. The second they stepped near the location of the infirmary bed however, made the two stop suddenly as they processed what was taking place in front of them at the moment.
Kunikida Doppo was hovering over a woman atop of the bed.
Said woman was panting hard, her blonde hair an unruly mess and the faintest peek of skin showed as her top hitched upwards all so slightly. Kunkida had pinned her arms atop the bed frame, the top buttons of his shirt undone ever so slightly.
While Atsushi's face bloomed a brilliant red with his jaw hung open like a gaping fish, Dazai only blinked rapidly a few times, as if making certain of what he's seeing. The brunet's lips curl into a grin (maliciously) at the man pinning the younger girl down.
"Kunikida-kun~" Dazai calls out to his partner, a shit-eating grin on his face as he uttered the next words. "….Getting down and dirty now, are we?"
At that remark, Lacie's face bloomed a bright red and she was about to bark an explanation when the man above her—Kunikida, she reckoned—gets off so suddenly…
"IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS, YOU BANDAGES-WASTING DEVICE!"
…and started beating up the brown-haired newcomer into a pulp.
Lacie sits up cautiously, straightening her clothes and hair as she only stared at the scene unfolding in front of her that very moment.
Honestly, who are these people?
"Uhm…"
A gentle voice addressed her suddenly, making Lacie turn to the other boy who stepped inside the room with the man called Dazai. His purple eyes shone with concern as he made his way to the chair next to her bed.
"Are you feeling alright?" He asks hesitantly, and at the sound of his sincere query, Lacie couldn't help but ease a small smile unto her face. At the sudden sight of her smile, the silver-haired male blinked in surprise.
"I'm okay." Lacie mumbles, tucking a loose strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. "Thanks for asking…"
"That's a relief then." The male replied and he held out a hand towards her. "I'm Nakajima Atsushi, by the way. You are?"
The girl reached out her right hand, her mouth opening to answer his question when a sudden slam from a door opening echoed inside the room, drawing her and the three other males' attention towards it.
"I presume she's awake?"
A deep voice echoed throughout the room, and all of a sudden, the three males became serious. Lacie peeked cautiously from behind Atsushi's body frame to gaze at the newcomer in the room.
He was a tall man with graying hair dressed in an olive green yukata with a black coat draped over his shoulders. Though he seemed to be of older age, he held a commanding presence—an entity meant to be respected.
His steel grey eyes found her and Lacie instinctively flinched, her guard up at this man's arrival. To her surprise, his look softened at her reaction.
"Miss Lacie Carroll, I presume?" At the sound of her name coming out of this man's mouth, Lacie's eyes widened in surprise.
"H-how did you know my name?" She replies back in astonishment, her hands gripping the white bed sheets tight. "Who are you people?"
The newcomer approached her in slow, sure steps—the sound of his sandals echoing inside the room. His grey eyes focused on her blue ones as he bent down to meet her eye level.
"My name is Fukuzawa Yukichi, the director of the Armed Detective Agency." He pauses for a moment as his eyes held her gaze. "We've been expecting your arrival."
The cup of green tea was warm as Lacie held it between her hands.
Currently, she was seated with the Director inside his private office. Kunikida had been requested to remain with them while the other two—Dazai and Atsushi—were made to wait outside. The blond-haired man had been observing the two, his gaze cautiously fixated on the girl.
"You've been expecting me?" Lacie finally broke the silence, releasing her hold on the cup as she folded both of her hands on her lap. "How come?"
Fukuzawa took a tentative sip from his own cup before calmly putting it down the table as soon as he was done. "Your mother asked to give you refuge."
The girl suddenly flinched in surprise. "You knew my mother?"
Fukuzawa nods solemnly in reply. "Kimura Reiko, yes. She used to work here as a clerk before she married your father and settled in England." He pauses to look at Lacie. "She phoned a few days ago, asking me to take you in."
Lacie slumps back into her seat, the sudden realizations hitting her like a truck. Her hands began to sweat and she clenched them together tightly as she gritted her teeth. "So Mother had anticipated we'll be attacked, after all."
"She asked me to protect you and that she might not make it back…" Fukuzawa murmurs comfortingly, his gaze uncharacteristically gentle as he assesses Lacie's figure. "…I'm so sorry for your loss, young lady."
Those words opened up her old scars, reminding Lacie once again of what she's lost. Without even thinking, the first batch of tears slid down her cheeks, as she bawled out like a child, curled up on the couch of the office.
Fukuzawa and Kunikida could only watch her as she broke down, keeping their gazes down.
"Kunikida."
Fukuzawa laced his hands together atop the desk of his table as he addressed the younger man inside the room.
Lacie was escorted outside by Atsushi minutes after her breakdown, leaving Kunikida alone with the Director inside the room.
"Director." Kunikida addressed his superior, his gaze stern and posture at full-attention.
"I'm leaving the girl in your care." Fukuzawa announces, making Kunikida visibly flinch for a moment at the sudden order.
"To me, sir?" Kunikida replies back, confused. Fukuzawa merely nods, standing out of his chair to stand in front of the nearest window, his grey eyes fixed on the movement of the people outside.
"Lacie Carroll is one of the gifted." Fukuzawa replies. "Kimura Reiko requested us to keep her safe."
"That girl is an ability-user as well?" Kunikida voices out, his tone suddenly serious. "She doesn't seem to be like one—she hasn't even physically manifested her abilities, I assume, Director?"
"Yes, that seems to be the case." Fukuzawa remarks. "People are after her ability, and I want you to keep them off her scent."
"With all due respect, Director." Kunikida replies, his eyes gazing back steadily at Fukuzawa's figure. "What is this girl's ability that greatly warrants our protection?"
Fukuzawa steps away from the window, his grey eyes hardening as he uttered the next words.
"Lacie Carroll can replicate other abilities."
Kunikida's eyes widened at the sudden revelation. "Seriously?"
Fukuzawa merely nodded. "One organization has targeted her specifically, but they have yet to know she's under our protection."
The director of the agency stared seriously at Kunikida. "I'm counting on you to keep her safe, Kunikida."
Realizing that the Director's word left no room for argument, Kunikida only nods, his posture at attention. "Understood, sir."
