.

Chapter 12

(In which van Zieks returns to Baker Street and Kazuma takes sparring seriously.)

Readjusting to life in van Zieks's office was both easier and harder than expected. Kazuma found that he slipped back into his old place naturally, the rhythms and routines as familiar and comforting as if he'd never left. He remembered what was expected of him and found van Zieks to be a more challenging but stimulating partner for casework. Their comfortable antagonism was very different from Norrington's easy acquiescence, but it made them a formidable pair when they bounced ideas off each other and built cases jointly.

It was much more work, of course. Kazuma didn't like to think he might have grown complacent under Norrington's laxer supervision, but his first report did seem to have more corrections scrawled across it than he remembered being normal, and he did have to readjust his mindset going into their investigations to accommodate van Zieks's nitpicky perfectionism.

"I almost forgot how annoying this was," he said with a sigh when he flipped through the report.

Perhaps his memory of the annoyance and frustration provoked by such strict commentary had been softened with the distance of time and shine of nostalgia.

"I did warn you," van Zieks said briskly, unmoved.

"Well, I still prefer it to Lord Norrington's method. It's just a hundred times more aggravating."

And it was true. Kazuma knew his work would be much stronger and more incisive as he revised it in consideration of van Zieks's guidance, but he had to admit that part of him missed how much easier it was when his work was deemed good enough on the first try.

Those were things he could adjust to again, though. The harder part was settling back into his role as van Zieks's direct subordinate. He had always considered the man a mentor, even when that was no longer officially so, but they'd gained slightly more equal footing over the past months. Or at the very least, Kazuma hadn't reported back to him directly. Now they were closer again by virtue of working out of the same office and on the same cases, but there was also a new measure of distance appropriate of their altered working relationship.

Ironically, Kazuma thought the reason they had grown so close over these past months was because they had no longer been working together. Van Zieks had always gone beyond what was required of him and occasionally offered personal advice or gifted Kazuma some picture of his father, but they had largely tiptoed around each other's personal lives, avoiding diving too deep for fear of triggering some lingering resentment or resurrecting one of the ghosts they shared.

While they worked apart, however, van Zieks had been careful to avoid stepping on Norrington's toes when possible, trying to remove himself from his previous role as Kazuma's mentor, and while they no longer had a direct professional relationship, somehow they had developed a more personal one instead. Even when Kazuma had come looking for help and van Zieks had, with obvious discomfort, provided professional guidance again, it had been an informal arrangement. They had not seen nearly as much of each other in the months apart as they did once they were cooped back up in the same office, but every interaction had been that much more meaningful.

Things felt a little uncertain in the office. Van Zieks suddenly seemed much more formal again, their conversations more constrained to business, and Kazuma realized that he didn't want things to go back to the way they'd been before. And honestly, van Zieks was so hopeless that Kazuma was the one who was going to have to do something about it.

"You're required at Baker Street for dinner tonight," he announced, positioning himself squarely in front of van Zieks's desk and crossing his arms over his chest. "You can't avoid it forever."

Iris had been ecstatic when Kazuma delivered the news of his transfer, and even Sholmes had seemed genuinely pleased about it. A celebration had been proposed immediately, but it had already been nearly a week, and they hadn't managed to coax van Zieks out yet.

Van Zieks sighed. "I think–"

"None of that. Iris has been talking nonstop about throwing a party, and she wants to know why you haven't come around yet. She's liable to show up at the office again if you don't humor her."

Van Zieks passed a hand over his face. "I know."

"What's the problem?" Kazuma asked carefully. "You stopped going because you were trying to stay out of my way while I was upset about the transfer, right? But that's fixed now, so there's no reason you can't start coming with me again."

"It's not…" Van Zieks trailed off and shook his head helplessly. "I suppose it's only…like what I told you about correspondence. When–"

"When you avoid it too long, it becomes very difficult to pick it up again," Kazuma said with a glimmer of understanding. "It can be hard to rekindle relationships once you let them die away."

"…Something like that."

"But it's not as if you've stopped communicating with them entirely," Kazuma reasoned. "Iris has been coming to tea at the office every week or two, and I know Mr. Sholmes has been barging into your crime scenes before you chase him out again. He loves regaling us with stories about how annoyed you get about it."

The look of disquiet on van Zieks's face only grew more pronounced. And in truth… Kazuma almost understood. While he and van Zieks had carefully built a new kind of relationship, van Zieks's other relationships had faded. He might still see Iris and Sholmes on occasion, but it was the opposite of the trajectory his relationship had taken with Kazuma. Now he only saw Iris and Sholmes at the office or on investigations rather than in more personal settings. He had exiled himself from Baker Street, and sometimes a self-imposed exile was more difficult to overcome than any other.

"You know they'll welcome you back," Kazuma said. "Iris has been really excited to have you start coming around again. I promise it's not as hard as you think, and it will get easier."

Van Zieks looked away, mouth pressed into a tight line. "…I was the one who cut contact, or tried to. It was easy to justify it as necessary for you to adjust after the transfer, but… It's not all about you either. I had to leave Miss Iris, and…she knows that."

Kazuma sighed. Van Zieks had, after all, always been a bit of a sanctimonious martyr. It must have been difficult for him, abandoning his niece just as soon as he'd found her. For a man who had no family or friends, just barely growing used to the idea that he might find a place in the world where people actually liked him and he didn't have to live bitter and isolated and alone, it must have been hard to give that up.

"You did hurt her feelings," Kazuma said. "And you should make that up to her. But you know she isn't going to just give up and let you walk away. She wouldn't have kept bringing tea to the office if she didn't want to be around you. Maybe you shouldn't have walked away in the first place, but it's better to apologize and make things right than pass up the chance and stubbornly continue on your way.

"Anyway, look at us. If we can be friends, it surely can't be that hard to make nice with Iris. She's nicer than me, and far nicer than you."

Van Zieks frowned, his brows knitting together. "Is that what you think we are?"

"What? Friends? More or less." Perhaps friends on unequal footing since they were also mentor and protégé, but Kazuma liked to think they'd grown close enough to claim the title. At the very least, they were friendly. "Don't you think so?"

"…I think that sounds highly unprofessional."

Kazuma rolled his eyes. "Come off your stodgy British professionalism. You know about my pet mouse and I know you started drinking as an infant. I think we're beyond that point now."

Van Zieks scowled. "I regret ever telling you that."

"Look…" Kazuma softened his tone with an effort. "The point is that you're capable of forming meaningful relationships, so stop running away. You've been a really admirable mentor to me and a great source of support, and I'm sure Iris could use that too. And I think it would do you good as well. Trust me, she'll brighten your life up right away—you know that. So you botched this the first time around. She's willing to give you a second chance, and it won't do any good to sulk in the corner brooding about how you don't deserve it. You deserve to be happy too. Anyway, I'll come with you, so…"

Van Zieks laced his hands together on the tabletop and looked down at them very hard. "…Thank you," he said in a soft voice free of the stilted formality he'd picked up since Kazuma had returned to the office.

"So if you need any pointers on how to act like a proper human, give me a sign and I'll help you out."

Van Zieks huffed out a quick, surprised sound that wasn't quite laughter but close. "I'll keep that in mind."

Kazuma smiled fondly. It was always strange to see how a man so confident and quick to know exactly what to do in the courtroom or a professional setting could so easily become awkward and unsure when faced with any kind of personal interaction. Maybe Kazuma could help nudge things along. It was the least he could do.

"You'll come, then?"

"Very well. I have a meeting with the Lord Chief Justice at the end of the day, a follow-up to check in on the transfer finalization and whatnot, so you can go on ahead and I'll meet you there."

"I could wait for you."

"That won't be necessary."

Kazuma let it go. He thought it might not be a terrible idea to run ahead and give Iris and Sholmes some warning that van Zieks was coming. Iris would probably like a little extra time to prepare something celebratory.

"I'm going to tell her you're coming, so you had better show up," he warned.

"I will."

Kazuma wouldn't say van Zieks looked anxious, exactly, but at least quietly apprehensive. But some of the ice between them had thawed, and it seemed that they were still able to discuss personal matters when they needed to.

Van Zieks was very quiet the rest of the day, and Kazuma let him be. There was really not much to be done about relieving his worries. Kazuma had done what he could, and van Zieks was too stubborn a man to let himself be easily soothed.

"I'll see you at Baker Street, then," Kazuma said when van Zieks finally announced that he was leaving for his meeting. "Don't be too late. It will go great, you'll see."

Van Zieks did not look reassured but nodded once. "Yes, of course. I will come as soon as I can."

Kazuma waited about five minutes after his mentor had swept from the room before gathering his things and making a run for it. Van Zieks wasn't here to stop him from escaping an hour or so early, and he would take advantage of this opportunity.

As expected, Iris nearly burst with excitement when Kazuma showed up on her doorstep bearing the news that van Zieks was coming to dinner.

"You're the best!" she gushed, eyes shining. "I knew you could convince him! I need to get to work right away! Dinner is fine, but I should probably make a dessert too. I wonder what he likes best? Oh, and I need to decide on the perfect tea. Hurley, make sure you behave and don't chase Mr. Barry off again! Everything has to be perfect."

"Could I lend a hand?" Kazuma asked.

"Oh, you don't need to, but if you wanted to help me clean up the kitchen, I'd be ever so grateful! I'm making a lot of dishes while cooking, and I expect there will be a lot more now."

Kazuma followed her into the kitchen and got to work washing dishes. "You know," he said, rinsing out a pot and setting it aside to dry, "Lord van Zieks will appreciate the effort you put into welcoming him, but it's alright if things aren't perfect. He isn't coming for dessert. He's coming for you."

"Oh, I suppose…" Iris frowned into a pan and poked at the contents with a spoon. "But I want everything to go well so that he'll want to come back again. It's been a long time, and…"

"He never wanted to stop coming in the first place," Kazuma said matter-of-factly. "I should warn you… He's very nervous about this visit too. He feels bad about stopping his visits in the first place and is hesitant to start them again because he knows he was wrong about it and hurt you."

Iris's frown deepened. "I don't want him to feel bad. I know he was trying to do the right thing, even if… Well. I do wish he hadn't started rejecting all my invitations, but at least he let me take tea with him at the office. But I want him to start coming again, so I need this to go well."

"He needs it to go well too. Just… You know how uptight and stilted he can get when he's nervous, so don't take it personally. Trust me, he wants it as badly as you do, even if he's half convinced himself he doesn't deserve it. Seriously, Iris, the man adores you. You could burn dinner to a crisp and it wouldn't matter to him. He's only coming for you. I know everything will go well, and I'm sure he'll be eager to start coming around again once he sees how welcome he still is here."

Iris looked up at him and smiled shyly. "Do you really think so?"

Kazuma nodded emphatically. "I know so."

She perked up considerably, although she still spent the next hour and a half rushing around trying to make things as perfect as they could be. Even Sholmes had been recruited to help until he had clumsily knocked over a place setting and broken a glass, at which point he had been banished to his side of the flat where he couldn't do as much damage.

When the knock finally came at the door, Kazuma exchanged a look with Iris. Her face was a mosaic of excitement and anxiety and longing, and he wondered again if maybe she suspected more than she was supposed to know.

"I'll get it!" Sholmes announced, swanning towards the door. "Wouldn't want to keep the fellow waiting, or else he'll be cranky again."

"Oh no, you don't!" Iris cried, grabbing Sholmes's sleeve and yanking him back. "Get back here, Hurley. You're going to chase him off. I'll do it."

Sholmes sighed dramatically and grumbled about being unappreciated, with a choice word or two about how utterly cruel van Zieks had been every time they'd 'just happened' to run across each other at crime scenes these past weeks, and Kazuma had to laugh. He couldn't say he was surprised that van Zieks was getting fed up with Sholmes, especially given how rocky their relationship had been from the start.

Iris opened the door to reveal van Zieks lurking on the stoop, wrapped up in his cloak like a bat against the cold.

"Come in, Mr. Barry!" she said, beaming. "We're so glad you could make it!"

Van Zieks stepped inside, gaze flicking from Iris to Kazuma to Sholmes. "Good evening. Thank you for rescuing me from Mr. Sholmes."

Iris and Kazuma laughed while Sholmes threw up his hands.

"Why should you need rescuing?" Sholmes asked. "I, who have been a perfect angel, have done nothing to you. I don't know what kind of deduction–"

"Your voice is very loud, Mr. Sholmes. It carries through the door."

"The worst kind of deduction! Not even a deduction at all!"

"Pray forgive the discourtesy of not making up something completely unhinged and asinine. I know that's your preferred method."

Kazuma snorted while Sholmes sulked.

Iris was fighting a smile, but she braced her hands on her hips. "Be nice to each other. We're going to have a very nice dinner with no arguing."

"Quite right," van Zieks said solemnly. "My apologies. Mr. Sholmes, thank you for your hospitality in allowing me into your home this evening. Miss Iris…"

He hesitated, searching for the words, and Iris's smile gentled.

"It's alright," she said. "I'm just glad you're back. Let's have a good time, alright?"

"Yes, of course. Thank you for having me over. I have something for you as well."

Iris straightened up, eyes glowing. "Ooh, a gift?"

"It's nothing much," van Zieks said a little hastily, backpedaling. "Just something I picked up last week when I was– Well, I don't suppose it matters. I just thought you might put it to better use."

He produced a camera from beneath his cloak and passed it over, and Iris snatched it up with a squeal of delight.

"Oh, how lovely! Goodness, this must be a very new model! Much nicer than Hurley's red-handed recorders."

Van Zieks busied himself with pulling off his cloak and hanging it by the door, not quite looking at her. "It's nothing special, but certainly better than those. I thought you might find it useful. And since I assume you're still keeping up your correspondence with Mr. Naruhodo and Miss Mikotoba…"

Iris's face lit up in awe. "I can send them pictures with my letters! Oh, that's wonderful! How thoughtful of you. Thank you! I love it."

Van Zieks looked somehow even more awkward, if that was possible. "It's nothing."

It was a thoughtful gift—exactly the kind of thing Iris would find a use for, and maybe Ryunosuke and Susato would reap some benefit from it too if she forwarded on her photographs. Perhaps van Zieks wasn't entirely hopeless.

"That's actually very nice," Kazuma said. "Much better than I was expecting from you."

A more familiar scowl broke loose on van Zieks's face as he glowered at his apprentice.

"Let me have it!" Sholmes said before van Zieks could snipe back, swooping down to snatch the camera from Iris's hands. "Yes, yes… If I just make a few adjustments…"

"Don't even think about it, Hurley," Iris said severely. "You can look if you want, but don't adjust anything. It's really great, Mr. Barry. I wish I'd thought to bring you a gift too."

"That's not necessary," van Zieks said. "I'm sure you've already put time and effort enough into this gathering."

"You could give Lord van Zieks a hug to say thank you," Kazuma said slyly. "He loves hugs."

Van Zieks's head snapped up so fast that it was a miracle it didn't fly off. He scowled at Kazuma, mouth opening in some devastating rejoinder he never got the chance to voice.

"Oh!" Iris squealed. "How perfect!"

She launched herself at van Zieks like she'd just been waiting for an invitation, sending him staggering back a step as she wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed. Having been on the receiving end of Iris's hugs before, Kazuma knew exactly how tight they could be when she was excited.

Van Zieks's face was a blank mask of incomprehension, as if he hadn't quite processed what was happening yet. He'd gone stiff and unyielding again, arms held slightly away from his sides, hovering awkwardly in the air without quite touching Iris. He stared down at the top of her head as if he'd never seen her before.

This all seemed very familiar to Kazuma, besides a merciful lack of sputtering about professionalism and shrill demands to be released.

After a moment of hesitation, van Zieks reached one arm around Iris, his fingers just barely brushing against her back, and this too seemed familiar. Then he gave in and wrapped his arms around her in a proper, if somewhat awkward, hug. Kazuma smiled.

When Iris pulled back, her grin was nearly wide enough to split her face in half and her eyes shone luminous and glossy. "We need to take a photo of the whole family to commemorate the occasion! Let me just find Waggy… She needs to be included too!"

Van Zieks cleared his throat and schooled his features back to neutrality, although Kazuma thought his eyes looked a little glossy too. "Mr. Sholmes, if you'd like to hand that over, I'll take the photograph."

Iris puffed out her cheeks in a pout. "You can't take the photograph, or you won't be in the picture!"

"Yes…?"

"You have to be in the picture too!"

"I'd really rather not."

"Aha!" Sholmes crowed. "If you give me just a moment… Yes, I see it! I can insert a timer right here and set the photographs to be taken automatically. Then everyone can be in the picture! Let me just tinker with this here, and I'll have it ready before you know it!"

Iris regarded him skeptically. "Oh, alright. But don't break anything, or I'll be very angry."

"Please, Iris! This is such a simple fix, I could hardly mess it up!"

Iris looked unconvinced, but she sighed and flounced off. "I certainly hope not. I'll be right back, just as soon as I find Waggy."

With Iris off hunting for her cat and Sholmes fiddling with the camera, Kazuma stepped towards van Zieks and nudged him with his elbow. Van Zieks turned a look of indignant disbelief on him.

"See, that wasn't so bad," Kazuma said. "You did very well."

"You don't have to patronize me."

"I'm not. I'm just saying, you were worried about making a mess of things, but so far you're doing everything right." He paused, thinking of the bickering with Sholmes and initial awkwardness of the hug. "Mostly right."

"Do you think so?" van Zieks asked doubtfully. "I'm really no good at this sort of thing. It's so…"

"Unprofessional?" Kazuma suggested.

Van Zieks's lips turned up in an unexpected, rueful smile. "Yes."

Kazuma could have explained that talking to him about his father and sharing childhood stories wasn't entirely professional either, but he wasn't sure van Zieks was ready to hear that yet, and anyway, Iris was trotting back towards them with Wagahai clutched in her arms.

"Have you figured it out, Hurley?" she asked. "Waggy isn't going to stay still for long."

"If I just… Hm… Yes! That's it!" Sholmes pranced back across the room, brandishing the camera triumphantly. "That should do it. I'll just set it up here and start the timer… Is everyone ready?"

Van Zieks looked longingly at the camera perched on top of an unsteady pile of various objects Sholmes had dumped on a chair to reach the proper angle. "I really could–"

Kazuma grabbed his arm and tugged him over to where Iris was positioning herself with Wagahai. "Come participate. You're part of this too."

"I suppose I should have seen this coming," van Zieks said, resigned. "I despise photographs."

"Try smiling instead of glaring like you loathe everything, and maybe you'll like the results more."

Never one to follow sensible advice, van Zieks glared.

"Alright!" Iris said. "Everyone stand right here…"

She nudged Kazuma and van Zieks closer together to make sure they were in frame and stood in front of them, Wagahai hanging from her arms with a long-suffering air. Sholmes poked at the camera for a moment longer and then came scurrying back to join them.

"Prepare yourselves!" he said.

"Smile!" Iris added.

Kazuma smiled. The camera burst into a fit of flashing, at least half a dozen before falling still again.

"Is…? Is it supposed to do that?" he asked.

"I do not believe so," van Zieks said. "It may be taking multiple pictures."

"Hurley!" Iris cried. "I told you not to break it!"

"It's not broken!" Sholmes protested. "Just needs a little more adjustment." He paused. "Do you hear something ticking?"

Indeed, a very faint clicking seemed to be emanating from the camera.

"What's wrong with it?" Iris asked.

"Hm…"

There was nothing Kazuma could do about this particular problem. He knew nothing about the inner workings of cameras.

He glanced up at van Zieks's grim, unamused expression instead. "Perfect," he said slyly. "You're going to ruin all their film with that dour expression of yours."

Van Zieks turned said dour expression on Kazuma. "Mr. Asogi," he said gravely, "are you aware that when you are trying to smile on command for the camera, you make a face as if you have swallowed a frog?"

Kazuma's eyes widened in indignation. "I do not! What is that even supposed to mean?"

"You puff out your cheeks and screw your eyes up in a very strange way, like there is a frog trapped in your mouth, hopping about."

Kazuma spluttered ineffectually. "That's ridiculous! It doesn't even make sense! And how would you even come up with such an absurd comparison? Anyway, you look like you have a stick up your–"

"Ah!" cried Sholmes. "It's the timer!"

He lunged towards the camera. Iris giggled. Wagahai yowled impatiently, wanting to be put down. Kazuma fought back his amusement, holding on tight to his righteous indignation. Van Zieks laughed, turning his head away as if that might somehow hide it, the sound not quite lost under the racket.

The camera flashed.

Kazuma scowled as the tip of van Zieks's blade pressed against the soft, vulnerable skin of his throat.

"Fine, fine," he grumbled. "I get it. Let's go again."

The sword fell away. Van Zieks's expression was very serious. "Mr. Asogi…"

"Don't look at me like that. I'll do something scummy and underhanded. Stab you just a little. You don't have to send me back just yet."

Kazuma had been on edge from the start. He was half afraid van Zieks might send him away again if he wasn't satisfied with the way this lesson went. He hoped not, but his mentor had seemed serious when listing satisfactory sparring results as a condition of keeping the apprenticeship.

Van Zieks sighed and made no move to start another round, even when Kazuma adjusted his stance and raised his blade again. He considered his words for a long time before beginning to slowly, carefully string them together.

"I told you that your father saved my life once," he said. "Or, at least, it seemed that way at the time."

Kazuma regarded him warily. "Yes…?"

"He said something to me afterwards. Something that stuck with me. He said, 'If someone is trying to hurt you, fight back. I won't always be here, and I want to know that you can protect yourself. It's important to me that you live.' Even when I hated him, I took that to heart. And then I passed the lesson on to you."

Kazuma straightened with a jolt. "The most important lesson…"

"Yes."

"Pay attention, because this is the most important lesson I will teach you: guard your life jealously, for you have only one. If your choices are to die honorably or live through dishonorable tactics, you choose to live, Mr. Asogi. You live."

Kazuma had had no reason to link that lesson to his father before. No reason to think van Zieks might be purposely feeding his father's lessons back to him, passing on the things Genshin hadn't had the chance to teach his own son. Kazuma wasn't sure his father would have stressed the importance of dishonorable tactics quite the same way—that sounded too much like something of van Zieks's creation—but at the very least, it was his mentor's interpretation.

"Did you tell me that because my father said it to you?"

Van Zieks shrugged. "It was a formative moment for me. It's something very obvious, really, if you think about it, but I was in a dark place then, and I needed to hear it. I thought that you might too. I don't want to see you hurt or killed, so I need you to take this to heart. Maybe if you won't listen to me, you'll at least listen to him."

Kazuma swallowed down the feelings crawling up his throat. "Alright. Again."

His hand tightened around the hilt of a sword that was not Karuma but would be one day. His determination hardened. He would make his father proud—and van Zieks too. Somehow, van Zieks and his father had begun blurring together at the edges these days, the more often they appeared together in memories and photographs and stories. Van Zieks was channeling Genshin somehow, by sharing the feelings he'd had and lessons he'd imparted, picking up the end of a thread severed too early and stretching it across a decade so that some echo of a man long gone might reach the son he'd left behind.

Then again, Kazuma hadn't much liked it when he thought van Zieks was looking straight through him to see his father instead, acting out of charity or guilt on behalf of a man long dead. Kazuma looked up to van Zieks as the gatekeeper of the past and held in reverence all the pieces of Genshin he chose to share, but he was, after all, still van Zieks. And, although Kazuma might not have thought as much a year ago, it was better that way. Van Zieks could not—and showed no real desire to—replace Kazuma's father, and Kazuma didn't want him to. But still, there was something about him that filled in some of the empty spaces Genshin had left behind. Kazuma liked him just fine the way he was, difficult attitude and countless faults and all.

"Your lesson is fine on its own, though," he added.

Van Zieks's brows drew together in faint bafflement.

Kazuma took advantage of his distraction to lunge forward without waiting for van Zieks to call the start of the match. Van Zieks parried the blow, the corners of his mouth turning up in a small, sharp-edged smile.

"Good. Make your own rules when you can. Don't wait for an enemy to make the first move."

They danced across the lawn, steel flashing in the sunlight and clanging together as they thrust, jabbed, parried. They were equally matched with the sword, and a fight could go either way. To seize control and get the upper hand with certainty took being the one to make the most successful, unexpected, potentially dishonorable move. That was van Zieks's forte and why he normally came out on top. But Kazuma knew many of his underhanded strategies now. Van Zieks was still difficult to read, his movements largely unpredictable, but Kazuma had learned the patterns, and he was getting better at reading the cues and reacting. If he didn't need to—wasn't allowed to—hold back anymore, they were about to be on much more equal footing.

He feinted. When van Zieks saw through the trick and blocked the blow, Kazuma changed tack and twisted his blade around the other, wresting it from his mentor's grip. Kazuma didn't hesitate this time, but van Zieks twisted aside, the blade scoring his upper arm with a glancing cut. Van Zieks's concealed dagger appeared in his fist as if by magic, and he moved so fast that Kazuma barely had time to blink before the pommel slammed down on his fingers. Kazuma yelped in pain, his fingers loosening as the impact jarred through them, and his own sword hit the grass with a thud.

Two could play that game. When van Zieks lashed out with his dagger, Kazuma dodged and grabbed his wrist, twisting it forcefully until his mentor's fingers were forced open and the dagger slipped through. Even disarmed—assuming he truly was, and there wasn't some other secret weapon hidden on his person—van Zieks was dangerous. Kazuma didn't wait to find out what his next move would be.

He held on to van Zieks's wrist with grim determination and slammed his other fist into his mentor's jaw. Van Zieks's head snapped back, and Kazuma smiled grimly. His handful of boxing lessons with Sholmes had come in handy after all. He pressed his advantage, shoving van Zieks back and pushing him off balance, sending them stumbling a good distance across the lawn until his mentor slammed into the back of the manor.

The second van Zieks's back hit the wall, something feral and almost panicked flashed in his eyes, cutting through his carefully blank façade: the primal fear of being trapped. He twisted his caught hand so violently that sharp pain flared through Kazuma's wrist. Wrenching his hand out of his apprentice's grasp, van Zieks slammed it palm-out against Kazuma's chest with enough force to knock the wind out of him.

Kazuma reeled back a step but then pushed forward again. Van Zieks was at a disadvantage here, and if Kazuma let him get away, it might be all over. It was imperative he didn't break free. And the problem was, Kazuma might have miscalculated. With swordwork, they had the skills to match each other and stay on fairly equal footing, but in a show of brute strength, van Zieks had the advantage. He was simply a larger man to start with, taller and broader and with more muscle behind every blow. When he hit Kazuma, the impact jarred through his bones.

In desperation to keep control of the situation, Kazuma rammed his elbow into van Zieks's throat, crushing it against the wall with his forearm. Van Zieks went very still for the briefest moment and then exploded in a flurry of movement, thrashing wildly. Something connected with Kazuma's knee, knocking it out from under him, and they both went down in a tangle of limbs.

He knew, even before he hit the ground, that it was a dangerous position to be in. If van Zieks ended up on top, it was over. Just the sheer weight of him would be difficult to shift, much less if he pinned down Kazuma's limbs.

They scuffled briefly, limbs flailing, until Kazuma managed to roll van Zieks under him and ram a knee into his chest, pressing all his bodyweight down on his ribcage. This, too, was a risky position, his balance on top of a writhing body rather than planted firmly against the ground, but if he couldn't beat van Zieks on sheer strength, his only chance was to force him to tap out another way. He gripped the first fist that came at him, trying to pin down the limb with grim tenacity, but van Zieks gave a great heave and sent Kazuma sprawling.

Kazuma hurriedly rolled off his back, preparing to meet the coming attack, but van Zieks had flopped over onto his hands and knees, head hanging low, gasping for breath.

"Stop," he rasped, his voice grating painfully along his throat. "You win…this one."

A stab of worry shot through Kazuma. "Are you alright? I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

It finally occurred to him that choking the life out of his mentor was probably not a great strategy. It would have been easy to go just a little too far…and what then?

"Fine," van Zieks croaked between ragged breaths. "Can't breathe."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have…"

"It was a good strategy… If you can't win on a level playing field, exploit vulnerabilities. It just so happens…that I've had a previous, somewhat…traumatic experience with it. I dislike the feeling immensely and lost my head."

Van Zieks had suffered so many attacks that Kazuma couldn't imagine what might be terrible enough for him to consider traumatic. He chewed on his lower lip.

"What happened?"

"Nothing of import…right now."

"I won't do it again."

"Incorrect." Van Zieks sat back on his heels. His breathing was still a little uneven and his voice had a grating quality to it, but his face was returning to a more normal color, at least. "Now that you have discovered a weakness, you would do well to exploit it. And now that I know you have discovered it, I will guard it more carefully."

"But–"

"If we were merely having a gentlemanly duel, you would not resort to such a distasteful tactic. But while we are practicing to keep you alive in the streets and there are no rules, you will use every tool to your advantage."

"But I don't want to actually hurt you."

"Don't fuss. I told you: someone has already done it worse. You merely caught me by surprise. You won't find it so easy next time."

Kazuma swallowed hard. "That…doesn't actually make me feel any better about it."

Van Zieks looked up at him, eyes glittering like broken glass, and considered for a moment. "Then let's set some ground rules to make you more comfortable with it. If I give a signal to let me go, you will do so immediately. In return, I forfeit the right to retaliation, so you needn't worry that I will take advantage of your retreat to attack again. Until such point as I signal my unwillingness to continue, you may be assured that you have permission to proceed and I have the matter well in hand. This will be a hard boundary to ensure our safety and peace of mind."

Kazuma still didn't like it, but he thought it was a good step that they were discussing a point of discomfort and setting boundaries around it. He didn't think he would try this particular trick again anytime soon, but maybe if they could set more boundaries around their matches, this entire process wouldn't seem quite so off-putting.

"Alright," he said. "Should we call it for today?"

"It's fine… We can go another round if you give me a minute to catch my breath."

Van Zieks's hands were trembling. Once Kazuma noticed it, he couldn't look away.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he said. "Anyway, you pummeled me. Everything aches, and I'm going to have bruises everywhere. And we should probably take care of that cut on your arm."

He'd nearly forgotten about accidentally slicing across van Zieks's upper arm, but there was blood seeping down the sleeve, dying the fabric red. He was sure he'd just barely caught the skin, but it was still an open wound that should be treated.

"Ah," van Zieks said with a sigh. "Asphyxiation elicits a strong panic response in even the best of circumstances and clouds the judgment. My apologies if I overreacted and injured you more than necessary." He hesitated and then added, "It may be that you begin sustaining more minor damage during these bouts as well. I am familiar with both your limits and mine, and I know how to accommodate them. I'm good at judging how to win with minimal damage. But the boundaries are moving now that you are finally consenting to fight with more force and trickery, and it may be harder for me to judge that, for now, when you back me into a corner. You were predictable before, and now you are less so. We will be careful while feeling out these shifting limits, and if there is ever a time either of us goes too far, you should say so at once. In general, I think we are both very good at minimizing injury, but just be aware."

Kazuma didn't suppose he had much choice in the matter. It had been a condition of van Zieks taking control of his apprenticeship again.

"Fine," he said with a sigh, picking himself up off the ground with a wince. Everything hurt. He was going to be sporting an impressive collection of bruises, and he felt the ache down to his bones. "Let's go inside, and I can patch up your arm."

"It's shallow. Hardly–"

"It still needs to be tended. I'll feel better about it if you let me do it, since I'm the one who cut you in the first place."

Van Zieks looked up at him for a moment before sighing. "Very well. If that's what it will take to make this more bearable for you."

A fleeting smile passed over Kazuma's face and vanished again. Van Zieks was a stubborn man, but Kazuma was learning which tactics would win him over.

He held down a hand, and van Zieks hesitated only a moment before taking it and letting Kazuma pull him to his feet. They took up their coats from the sidelines and went inside. Van Zieks deigned to bring Kazuma to his rooms, fetching medical supplies and shrugging off his shirt.

The cut was indeed superficial, and Kazuma had it cleaned and bandaged in no time. He lingered over the older cut across van Zieks's shoulder. The stitches were long gone, the wound still a discolored, uneven line knitting itself back together. It didn't look too terrible, though.

Van Zieks glanced at Kazuma sidelong. "It will scar, but not badly. You did a good job. It's been healing well."

"I'm glad to hear it." Kazuma smiled faintly, but his relief evaporated when he noticed the bruises starting to surface on van Zieks's pale skin like dark storm clouds ringing his throat.

"What is it now?" van Zieks asked, sensing the shift of his attention.

"Nothing, just… I think I might have overdone it. You're bruising pretty badly."

Van Zieks shrugged, rising and turning away to fetch a fresh shirt. He did up the buttons, pulled his coat back on, and fitted his jabot around his neck. The disguise was complete, the armor back in place. Scars, bruises, and injuries were safely hidden away, all weaknesses concealed once more, and van Zieks could have walked into the courtroom with no one the wiser.

"It's of no consequence," he said. "I'm afraid I may have given you enough bruises to make up for it."

Kazuma grimaced. "To be fair, if someone was suffocating me, I'd probably try to do some damage too."

Van Zieks said nothing for a long moment, but then sighed softly. "It was many years ago. Some colleague of a man I'd prosecuted, who had escaped justice but hadn't yet been snared by the Reaper. He wanted answers first, to know… Well. He wanted to be sure that if I was dead, the Reaper really would die with me and there was no co-conspirator or such to carry on my work. I didn't tell him anything, too stubborn to even make anything up and furious at having been caught off guard to start with. He was…persuasive. As I mentioned, asphyxiation triggers primal panic responses. It's a useful tool if you want to shake someone up. A useful threat. We played the game a few times…among others. It was only a few hours before the Yard caught up to us, but it felt like longer. Not so long that he grew bored and decided to just kill me, at least."

Kazuma gaped at him. "That's…"

Van Zieks shrugged again, busying himself with adjusting his gloves. "It was a long time ago, when I was young and foolish and less careful. I didn't realize I would still react so strongly, after all this time."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. If it's a weakness I still have, I'd rather you discover it than someone else. Men like you and me often find the past very sticky—difficult to pull away from. That can be a danger of its own. It will do me no good if I face such a thing in a life-and-death situation and lose my head instead of defending myself properly. You are helping me too by keeping me sharp and challenging me. It's dangerous to become complacent and assume you will always have the upper hand. I hope that by challenging each other this way, sniffing out weaknesses and finding workarounds to overcome disadvantages, we will both become savvier—more aware of our own vulnerabilities and how to compensate for them. That is what I want you to take away from these lessons, as much as a willingness to exploit others' weaknesses to ensure your own survival."

Kazuma liked the framing of shoring up his own weak points rather than simply learning to fight dirty, and he liked the idea of being able to help van Zieks somehow, as if his mentor might also be getting something out of these lessons. Still… It didn't always feel good to push at something until it snapped, even if it was supposedly for the greater good.

"Alright," he said quietly.

Van Zieks smiled suddenly, the expression unexpected enough to make Kazuma lose his train of thought. "You did well today. I'm pleased with your progress."

Kazuma still didn't understand why van Zieks seemed to have been slowly softening over these past months, amused half-smiles and gentle words and blunt praise becoming less strange and out of the ordinary. A smile or laugh was still a strange thing, but not nearly as strange as before. Van Zieks was still hard and cold and often unyielding, but just underneath that, he seemed like someone entirely different from who he'd been even a year ago. It was a positive change, but it still sometimes caught Kazuma off guard, unsure of how to respond.

"Oh," he said.

"Come along," van Zieks said, ushering him back out of the room. "Let's take refreshments while we recover from our match, and then you can be on your way. No more lessons today."

They collapsed into opposite chairs in the sitting room as the housekeeper set out a variety of drinks and snacks. The moment Kazuma set eyes on the spread, he came to the realization that he was ravenously hungry and thirsty. They sat in relative silence while he worked his way through the offerings. Van Zieks barely touched a thing, deigning to partake in little more than a few sips of water, and Kazuma might have made a pointed comment about bad habits resurfacing if it hadn't occurred to him that a bruised throat might make it painful to swallow.

"Can I ask you something?" Kazuma asked abruptly, putting down his tea.

Van Zieks's unfocused gaze sharpened as it snapped back to his apprentice's face. "What now? Nothing good ever comes of you starting off that way."

"Why did you finally agree to take on my apprenticeship again? You were so stubborn about it all those months."

"Ah." Van Zieks folded his hands neatly in his lap and frowned down at them. "Actually, it was Lord Norrington who first broached the topic."

"Lord…Norrington?" Whatever Kazuma had been expecting van Zieks to say, it wasn't that. And he wasn't sure he liked it. He would have preferred van Zieks to say that he had wanted to take Kazuma back, not been prodded into it by someone else. "It was his idea, then?"

"I don't take orders from Lord Norrington," van Zieks said with a bit of an edge. "Still… Whatever you think of him, he's been paying attention to you. It was easier that he came to the same conclusion and approached me first, to spare me the awkwardness of raising the idea myself. But I assure you, if I was not amenable to the idea, he could not have talked me into it."

"But then… Why?"

"You were insisting on spending more and more time here, following me around and inserting yourself into my troubles. I couldn't keep you away without taking drastic measures and pushing you away for good. You wouldn't just stay in the safe haven we created for you. And if you're going to insist on throwing yourself into the path of danger, I'd rather you do it under my supervision, where I can keep an eye on you. I did what I could to keep you safe, but…maybe to the detriment of your other needs. You needed more from me than physical safety." Van Zieks hesitated and then added, somewhat grudgingly, "Anyway, I was tired of watching you gallivant around with Lord Norrington. It was frustrating watching him mentor you instead and biting my tongue every time, struggling to find a balance when you came to me anyway. If you were going to keep showing up on my doorstep asking for help, I'd rather do it myself from the start."

A grin broke across Kazuma's face. "My Lord, were you jealous? I didn't realize you were so possessive."

Van Zieks shot him a look of immense exasperation. "You were supposed to be here," he said shortly. "Goodness knows I put enough time and effort and heartache into getting us to this point, and watching it all thrown away for him to take over after all the work we already put in was frustrating. I wanted you to find a place of safety there, but that doesn't mean I liked it."

Kazuma blinked at him, taken aback by the blunt honesty and open show of emotion. "I…"

"I missed you," van Zieks muttered. "Is that what you want me to say? You said that the next time we worked together, you wanted it to be because I wanted you there, and it is."

Kazuma swallowed thickly and lowered his gaze. "I missed you too."

"I know," van Zieks said sourly. "It was hard to miss, what with how often you showed up again and tried to bully me into changing my mind. Why you bothered is an entirely different question, but I am past the point of trying to understand your eccentricities."

Kazuma coughed out a laugh. "It's because you're so fun to annoy and easy to rile up. But now you seem to be going soft and maudlin in your old age."

Van Zieks scowled. "Alright, alright. Get out of here. You've already eaten everything down to the crumbs, which is your cue to leave. But mark my words, you'll regret all your heckling when you get back the corrections on your next report."

Kazuma let himself be shooed out, but he was laughing all the way.

The next day, Kazuma stopped by Norrington's office first thing in the morning, rapping his knuckles lightly against the open door before entering. Norrington looked up from his paperwork and smiled.

"Good morning, Mr. Asogi. How have you been? Settling back in?"

"I've been well, thank you. And yes, things have been going well with Lord van Zieks."

"Very good. You do seem to be in better spirits. What can I do for you?"

Kazuma hesitated but then took the plunge. "Lord van Zieks said that you were the one who first suggested transferring my apprenticeship back."

Norrington tilted his head, eyebrows rising minutely. "Did he?"

"Yes. I just…wanted to say thank you."

"Of course… That was where you belonged. You're happier there, and I must say, I hardly understand Lord van Zieks at all, but he has a very obvious soft spot for you. I can't believe you even made him laugh. That's something I've never heard in all my years." Norrington chuckled softly to himself and added, "Anyway, I wouldn't have brought it up if he wasn't obviously considering it himself already. It could be considered offensive, or at least in poor taste, for him to broach the topic first when he's the one who originally proposed the swap. And if negotiations went poorly, it could negatively impact your working relationship with me as well, even if I retained your apprenticeship. It was easier for me to open the possibility and give him the excuse to pursue it."

Kazuma rubbed at his temples, feeling a headache coming on. "This social intrigue is the worst and most incomprehensible part of the job."

Norrington laughed. "I don't envy Lord van Zieks taking on those lessons. I fear you may be a difficult student."

"Oh, I'll be awful." Kazuma hesitated, twisting his hands together. "Well, thank you. I know I wasn't always the easiest or most considerate pupil, but I do appreciate all the guidance you gave me and how understanding you are about the situation."

"Not at all. You two make a brilliant team, you know, and you bring out the best in each other. I still think you are the strangest pair I've ever met, but it seems to work for you. Good luck, Mr. Asogi. I'm sure you will shine in Lord van Zieks's care."

Kazuma said his goodbyes and slipped away. He had not always appreciated Norrington the way he probably should have, but the man had been kind and understanding and an affable, steadying presence. Kazuma would miss him too. He was glad they were parting ways, their temporary partnership dissolved, but he was grateful for the time they'd shared, even if he hadn't always appreciated it in the moment.

When he walked back into the office, van Zieks was in a temper, pacing up and down the length of the room, footsteps echoing off the tile. He spun to face Kazuma, mouth twisted into a scowl.

"You're late."

"Only by a few minutes. I had an errand to run. What's got you all worked up?"

"We have a case. We need to visit the crime scene at once, and I've been waiting on you. Let's go."

"So impatient," Kazuma muttered as van Zieks stalked towards him.

"Oh, and once we go to trial, you can rewrite this."

Van Zieks snatched a sheaf of papers from his desk as he passed and thrust it at his apprentice. Kazuma looked down at his case report in horror. Reams of corrections in small, cramped handwriting littered every page, more than he'd seen since the very earliest days of his apprenticeship.

"What's this?" he asked in dismay. "There can't be that much wrong with it!"

For just a second, one corner of van Zieks's mouth curled upwards before flattening back out again, but his tone stayed haughty and cold. "I did warn you that you'd regret your attitude with the next report."

Kazuma half groaned, half laughed. "You're horrible."

"Come on, Mr. Asogi. We're late."

Kazuma very nearly missed the amiable complacency of Norrington's office. Of an easy partnership and easygoing work ethic. Van Zieks had the foul temper of a wet cat, the work was hard, and the expectations were exacting. And yet…

Kazuma tossed the report onto his desk and hurried out the door after van Zieks, half jogging until he caught up and fell into step beside his mentor. They slid into the same brisk rhythm, matching strides as van Zieks began firing off details of this latest murder in his matter-of-fact, staccato manner, and Kazuma smiled to himself, pleased with how well they still fit together after all these months. His heart lifted to know that van Zieks had saved a place for him here, perfect in all its imperfections.

This was still where he belonged, and he wouldn't trade its hardships and complications for an easier path. This was the path he had chosen to walk at van Zieks's side, that van Zieks had, in the end, invited him to, and wherever it led, Kazuma intended to follow it to the end.