CHAPTER IV
Morning came a notification that instantly woke the part-time detective from his sleep. He received an update from Hyousuke Kanki, of the samples he gave him (or snatched from him), telling him to come in the afternoon. Fuck, why'd he have to wait that long? A new message popped into his screen, reading an address he identifies to be the botanical café he went to, to get Kanki's details. He replies with optimism, like he will in starting the day.
His optimism breaks like he did, when he pushed a student away to save them from getting hit by a ball in the face, and falling into the benches during their outdoor class. Deo winces in pain, the right side of his body unresponsive from the impact, and was helped to the nurse's office to get inspected on.
His vision blurs on the way, with brief scenes of the sky becoming ceiling and changing textures, and the whiff of outdoors heading indoors, and the stinging scent of medicine. Clear voices grow fuzzy and dull, finally mute though he feel its vibrations.
He feels a rumble that reaches deep in his chest, and how uneasy that made him feel. It's like...
His lids slowly open, blinking for his dry eyes to water and come face to face with the ceiling. By his peripherals, he is surrounded by pastel curtains to hide away from sunlight. Is it still daytime? He tries to move and check, but he flinched from the throb he felt on the side of his head. His eyes shut, a hand cupping the pain as if to ease it.
"Ow." He expressed through his lethargy.
"Good afternoon."
The greeting was low and firm, yet it strongly vibrates in his ears. The hand on his head switches to hands on his ears, even if one of his arms feels numb and heavy, and resisting against his movement. He groans, face scrunching in mild annoyance as he close his eyes. "You're so loud, keep it down."
The disembodied voice chuckles, only separating them and Deo by the curtains surrounding the teen's bed, with the man's figure forming a silhouette. "I wasn't being loud. Your hearing is just adjusting after being unconscious for a while."
Deo sighs, questioning. "How long?"
"You're checked in around eleven, so—four hours."
"Hah?!" Shit, Kanki's message! His eyes shot open when he digs his elbows into the mattress to sit up. He failed, and falls back to the bed. Worse, he feels the throbbing pain more now than prior. "Ugh..."
"Rest. I'll get a remedy for that." The silhouette begins to stand from his seat, creating a large shadow in front of Deo. It's intimidating almost.
"But I have to go..."
"It'll be quick."
The shadow moves to the side, the sound of something wooden being open with items being moved around. Deo would protest some more, but the pain does hinder him from moving around much, making him conform for the moment. He's also now caught on to how he's not heard this person in the office before, but is vocally familiar.
"Where's the head nurse?"
"I am the head nurse."
"You don't sound like an old lady."
"No, not at all." The voice laughed. "But haven't you heard? She quit." Today's full of surprises, innit?
"Since when?"
"Just this week actually. And like you said, she's old. Maybe that got her into considering retirement."
"Okay... Well, who are you then?"
"You know who I am."
No, he doesn't.
The curtain pulls, giving the silhouette and the disembodied voice a proper visual vessel in the form of... Mr. Tomlinson, eyeing him down with a drink in his hand. Okay, maybe he does know who he is.
"Oh."
"Coffee, Mr. Abdul?" The white haired raised the drink as he pulls his office chair across the bed.
"That's the remedy?"
Despite the man offering him the drink, Mr. Tomlinson took the drink for himself and sipped. Rude. "I mean, oddly, nothing else is wrong with you despite how harsh you fell. You're just gonna have to deal with limping on your way home."
The idea puts a wrong image in Deo's head, with a rise of heat and colouration in his cheeks.
The man continues, as if he didn't see his reaction, even when he's really looking at the young man's face. "The bruises you have has been tended to as well, but be sure they're only chilled every ten minutes." That explains the cold wrapping around his right limbs. "That one's fresh," the man points to it, like he knew what he was just about to ask.
"Okay..." Deo glance to the side, avoiding his eye. The concept of time begins to plant in the young man's mind. And with it, concern, of what he might miss the longer he stays in this location rather than heading over to that café in Harajuku.
"Last one, don't directly put ice on your bruises. Make sure they're wrapped in clothing or whatever. It's a horrid practice incompetent people do."
"Okay, okay! May I please go now, sir?" The reddish orbs lifts from his avoidance, finally tackling the blue stare out of annoyance. His impatience has bested him, one he instantly regret and apologise for, but right now, he really has somewhere else to be.
"If you can, then safe trip."
Safe trip. Right. Yet he pedalled as aggressively as he can, the muscles on his right side throbbing despite the head nurse's orders. He arrives in the specific Shibuya district as quick as he can, getting off his bike and fast-walking towards the café.
The bell to the Belladonna Café rings, its staff greeting their customer as he makes his way inside. The Hound finds a seat by the register's, whom he wave to with a friendly smile when he found the same staff member he talked to for Kanki's address, manning the cashier. They smiled and wave back.
"Good afternoon, okyakusan. May I take your order?" The teen's shoulders tense to the scathing tone this particular staff member greeted him with when they approached his table. How they sounded seemed completely different from the way they look all chipper and friendly. Their lengthy chestnut hair tied into a low ponytail, clearing the face that is missing the dark bags underneath their eyes.
Hyousuke Kanki. From a grumpy analyst to a charming waiter—so you're living a double life as well, I see.
There's a pause in his response that he recovers. He recalls how he established a fake friendship with this man he just met two nights ago, in front of the staff member eyeing them out of curiosity.
"Heya, Hyou-chan!" The Hound beams, faking extreme familiarity with this man. He noticed a twitch under one of Kanki's eyes, internally dreading ever addressing the forensics analyst that. "Surprised you when I visited you, huh? Your colleague's a cool chick for helping me surprise my best friend!"
With the man getting the gist of why he's overly friendly with him through his statement, the Hound proceeds to taking an order. Kanki leaves him after, to the kitchen for his ordered menu. Though just as quick, Kanki returns, the iced tea the Hound ordered on his tray. He placed it down the Hound's table before placing napkins. Between the napkins, there's an envelope, and a whisper as Kanki leaves.
"That better be all."
"I'm grateful." The Hound stretches a smile, feigning appreciation for the drink as he takes the envelope in his hand. He examines it for a while, then carefully placing it somewhere in his bag.
The bell rings at the entrance, and the Hound takes a quick glimpse at the door. He spots two young girls with distinct features—one is a redhead with green eyes, her stature taller than her pale-skinned friend with a purple bobcut. Both wear strange attires. Though, in Harajuku, which youth doesn't? They sit parallel to his table, facing the entrance.
He veers his attention back to his table. He sighs satisfyingly after gulping down half of his iced tea, leaning in his seat as he wait for his meal. Now that he's settled himself, he begins to appreciate the decor and the slow jazz playing in the background. The mild scent of jasmine calms him, and the sight of droves outside reminds him of looking out in the rain through his dorm room's window.
That ache of comfort is soon to be undermined by his tension as the bell rings, and a certain white-haired professor enters the vicinity. The Hound must look like a fool with how he was about to drink the remainder of his iced tea, only for him to choke and cough. His eyes and mouth slowly widen after, as the man looked for any available seats.
He doesn't—instead spotting where the teen boy is, then smiling wryly as he approach. Oh fuck.
"Is this seat taken?" The tall man's mute footsteps stop by his table. The teen doesn't think he'll ever get used to craning his neck that much and feeling intimidated by the man, even if they mean well.
"Ah. Go ahead." He nods down once, looking away from the man's amused look. The man thanks him, sliding his legs under the table to take a seat.
Together, their table thrives in silence. Even worse, there are eyes shifting in their direction. Specifically, at the man joining him at the table. He barely hears the… mature compliments they give the man, and cringing, he shakes his head. The Hound's shoulder tenses from unwanted attention, let alone from feeling awkward and encountering a school faculty outside of the campus. What the hell! Everything was all fine and dandy until he came in.
"D-Didn't—" Fuck. Why'd I stutter? "Didn't think this district would suit to your tastes."
"And how would you know what suit my tastes?" Mr. Tomlinson leans on his arm on the table, unbothered by some more vocal compliments from the people in the café checking him out, and unbothered by being the last person the teen talked to in school, only to meet up again like this.
"No, I was just—! Nevermind…"
If silence could kill, this is the moment. But he won't die that easily. He's yet to properly apologise for snapping at the older man before he left. Now would also be a good moment to do that. "Mr. Tomlinson."
"Mr. Abdul." The man acknowledges, his previous amusement at the redhead and the goth girl enjoying their drinks across at the opposite end of their table, shifts to the student struggling to find his words.
"Ah, n-no. Deo is fine…" Though he's kind of on the job, he quickly wanted to address that bit after glancing sideways to make sure no one's eavesdropping. "That's too formal for my tastes."
Mr. Tomlinson snorts, though accepting his preferences on how to address him. "Fine. Deo."
The teen eases, but looking a bit remorseful. "How I acted previously, in the clinic, was rude of me. It's just—I was meaning to meet up with someone here, only for them to leave early. So—I'm sorry."
This time, the man scoffs. "Wait, you mean to say that the reason you're this fidgety is because you're sorry?" He trails with a chuckle. "You're funny."
He didn't expect this reaction from a sincere apology, and feeling like he was ridiculed for it, his remorse burns to passive aggression to avoid looking even more of a fool in front of the others in the café.
He folds his arms, looking anywhere but the man's features. "Well, I'm fucking sorry I felt guilty for possibly hurting your fragile ego. But I guess I was too nice when you rather be insulted."
"It's okay. Apology accepted."
The plan backfires, making the Hound glare at him, teeth gnashing. It didn't do much but made the man look smug. They retain their expression all the way, even as Kanki was back to their—his. His table.—bringing the meal the Hound ordered.
"Oh?" Kanki looked back and forth him and Mr. Tomlinson. "Didn't think you'd be bringing a date."
Even though the brunet commented with a chipper tone in his voice, the Hound couldn't help but cringe in disgust. "Mister," Deo dramatically turns his head to Kanki. A scary look masks his face. "I would feel sorry for whoever would want date this old man."
"I don't fuck kids."
"I am a teenager, you blind bat!"
"Bats aren't blind. Just near-sighted."
"Whatever!"
The Hound's composure grits out of his control the more he interacts with this new teacher. What is it about this older man that irritates him so much? It didn't come to his attention that he's made a mild ruckus at their table for people to see quizzically.
"Dear customers," Kanki's voice darkens despite his smile, catching the Hound's attention from his vexation with the teacher. "You'd like your meal to-go, yes?" This message made his brows gather in the center, and tilt his head in confusion. "To-go then. I shall excuse myself with the preparations."
Kanki bows out, leaving the Hound in a state of confusion. His shoulder slumps, unsure what to do with how he seems to have taken his meal to-go?
"Wow. I've been places, but even this is a first for me." The dark-haired turns to the grinning old man.
Is he really the only one who didn't get what just happened? And is Mr. Tomlinson a mind reader? Because he seems to answer his mental question.
"We got kicked out."
So here they are, sharing a similar bored expression whilst they stand outside of the Belladonna Café. There's a plastic bag in one of the Hound's grip, containing the meal he ordered. Beside him, the tall professor takes out a pack of cigarettes, putting a stick between his lips. The Hound glances away from the man's form. "You can't smoke here."
The man's eye drops to his shorter frame. "No?"
Deo flicks his sights up again before cocking his head to the direction where the sign forbids smoking. The man grunts, putting the stick away with a frown. Deo takes a step, starting to move.
"C'mon."
"What?" Tomlinson looks at Deo's back.
"There's an area where you can smoke all you want, if you really want to that badly." The dark haired doesn't bother to look back. He hides his hands in his pockets as he begins to walk beside his bike. The man didn't say anything, but Deo was sure that the man was following out of wonder.
The sea of people is unending no matter where they go, but after leaving the district, the locals' noise dies down slightly. Enough for them to hear each other when Tomlinson speaks up. "You know, I don't really feel like smoking anymore."
Deo freezes in his next step, favouring turning around. "Huh?! You should have said that earlier, old man! Here I was, all focused on trying to remember which alley it was, are you fucking—"
He cuts his rant as he hears the man tailing him laugh. "You're one serious kid, huh?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" He glares at him. "You're the one who wanted to smoke—"
"I didn't say yes or no. You just assumed I did."
…yeah, fuck. He got him there. To a point where he sinks, literally, to the ground. He's hunched over his knees out of a tinge of embarrassment. "Ugh… Whatever." The teen keeps his head in his folded arms, not wanting to admit his mistake.
Maybe it was out of respect, but the man leaned himself back to the wall, as if he were waiting for Deo's embarrassment to ease. "Kinda bummed though. I didn't get to eat lunch."
"You didn't eat…?" The boy cranes his neck up from his crouched form to eye Tomlinson.
"Not really? I was about to, but we got kicked out." Tomlinson chuckled as he puts a hand around the back of his neck. "That was fun though."
There's a soft, strangled noise that came from Deo's throat. That was his fault, getting kicked out. His face scrunched, the gaze dropping to the ground. For a few seconds, he is still. Then he climbs to his feet. Tomlinson's eyes are on him with a puzzled look.
"Hm."
"What?"
"Hm. Hm!"
"Use your words…"
"Hm!"
The man snorts, one of the corner of his lips tempted to lift into that amused smirk Deo's gonna match with a bigger frown, like it would help.
"Okay, okay. Now what?"
"Whatever!"
"What…? Hey!"
Tomlinson's brow pinches to the center after he calls out to the boy who began to sprint away, then ride on his bicycle, and out of his vision. He doesn't know what to do with the plastic bag the boy left him until it clicked when he thought about his question.
He laughed again, though to himself.