Blood Red Tie

Adachi watched the ceiling fan at the Inaba police station spin. He picked up his pen and emulated the whirling blades, twirling the pen around his fingers. He grumbled when it slipped and picked it back up again to flip it around—his only form of entertainment on such a dull day.

Most of his colleagues would chatter about the "exciting" events that involved hunting a fugitive, but none of that excitement felt real to Adachi. Perhaps it was because he got footed with a lot of the tedious busywork, and thus, spent much of his time on the computer typing away. But the more likely reason was that Adachi knew precisely where the "fugitive" was and saw no point in finding the brat—he'd thrown the fish-eyed freak into the TV just a little over a week ago.

Adachi felt like there should have been excitement; he was causing the whole station to run around in circles and lose sleep over a wannabe killer. But, he just felt bored again. A week went by and, with its passing, had taken whatever high with it. The little ebbs and flows of exhilaration were slowly suffocating his soul.

Now, he was just stuck at a desk, pretending to fix the problem he had created. Every day he fantasized about quitting. He would have given up the job months ago if it didn't keep him out of retail, and there wasn't the satisfaction of strapping a gun to his hip every morning.

Really, working was such a bother.

Adachi caught sight of a flash of blue.

Speaking of bothers, Naoto Shirogane had a habit of waltzing into the police station whenever he felt like it. If there was an insult to every detective in the precinct, it had to be the snotty brat who paraded around as a "specialist." The kid's voice hadn't even dropped, and here he was, asking for confidential information and details on the case so that he could "solve" it. He strutted the halls like a puffy blue peacock. Whenever Adachi questioned one of his coworkers about the literal child in the precinct, they would just respond by touting his incredibly high IQ and previous cases. Just another brat. Just another waste of talent on someone who never had to struggle in their lives.

Adachi hoped to forget the toddler detective was even there but was sorely surprised when he found the blue boy standing at his desk. Maybe the kid could be useful and stave off his boredom for a moment.

"What can I do for you, Shirogane-kun!" Adachi put his pen down and whipped around with a saccharine smile.

"Shirogane is fine," the kid nodded.

Oh, because he thought they were equals? Because he'd been through years of college and the academy? Because he'd busted his butt to end up in a mind-bogglingly dreary town? Shirogane knew nothing. The kid was getting too big for his britches. "Oh! Sure, Naoto-kun! What are you here for?"

Naoto hid his defeat well and continued, "I need to know about your interrogation of Mitsuo Kubo."

"Why?" Dumb question, but he would do anything to make this interaction painful for the blue crusader.

"Well, now that Kubo is our prime suspect, I've been following up on the procedure that was taken when he initially turned himself in to the police. I'm trying to see if there was anything he said that could lead us to his current location. And this report lists you as the interrogator."

Adachi's heartbeat increased, and excitement finally sparked in his chest. Shirogane was close to the truth, wasn't he? Just an inch away from suspecting something. Adachi figured this would happen, so he made up a cover story a few days ago and filed his report in the vaguest way possible. So, he'd play this little game with Shirogane.

"I wouldn't say 'interrogated,' I really just took him in the room and then let him go after he calmed down," Adachi shrugged. "I put everything down in the report."

"Yes, the report… seemed a bit… inconclusive," Shirogane muttered. "I would like to go over it with you again if that's alright."

"Sure. There's not much else. What do you want to know?"

"Well, my biggest question: did he name any places or people?"

Adachi pondered it for a second. He could infer something about the mountains and send the police on a goose chase into the forest. However, that would just mean that the "least helpful" of the police (AKA Adachi) would be forced to muck around in the dirt while the higher-ups sipped coffee back in the comfort of their offices. It would also be strange if he "remembered" new and critical information about his talk with Kubo—his scatterbrained reputation probably wouldn't cover that level of incompetence. So, he'd have to choose the boring option.

"Not really," Adachi shrugged. "He just kept mumbling about his teacher, but no real place was mentioned. I questioned him a bit, but the kid didn't seem keen on telling me anything. I thought he was just trying to prank everyone. I don't know; I didn't take him seriously, so I let him go."

"Of course," The boy looked down, and the corner of his mouth pulled in annoyance. "Anything else?"

He screams like a girl when he's scared.

"No, nothing that I remember. We didn't talk that long. I swear, if you were there, you wouldn't have paid him any mind."

"He claimed to be the serial murderer; I assume I could have spared him some mind."

"Look," Adachi waved it off. "In cases like this, the nuts come out of the woodworks and start feeling guilty about things they never even did. Ask anyone around if they took him seriously. Just turned out this guy was a bit more truthful than the rest."

"Right," Shirogane mumbled. "Are you sure there was nothing else? Not something that stood out as strange. A word or phrase that wouldn't make sense in that situation."

"Yeah, nothing really. It was so long ago, too; I wouldn't really recall it if he did. The entire thing was standard as far as I can remember."

Shirogane looked at him with apprehension. Adachi knew that he sensed the lie. But it would be far off to think that it was more than just a grudge from other police. The look annoyed Adachi. Shirogane really thought his little mind could solve this case if he got the right information. Imagine, a kid looking down his nose at him. Adachi just wanted the conversation to be over.

"Y'know, you can trust the police to do our job."

"Of course, I trust the police. I just wish they'd trust me," the final part was cutting.

"Eh, you're getting there," Adachi offered a smile. "They're just not open to outsiders." Or brats. "They'll warm up eventually."

"Well, this has been…" Naoto sighed and started to shuffle away. "Anyway, thank you."

"See ya," Adachi turned back around in his desk.

At this point, Naoto was just an inconvenience. Since he was alone and probably not aware of the Midnight Channel, he'd never get far in the case; his questioning would lead to nowhere. That was fine with Adachi. That brat had no way to play the game properly, unlike him and his player two.

Adachi paused. Yua again?

Once more, that girl came to mind. The thought of her made him frown. The arrangement with Yua made their unpleasant encounters all the more frequent now. Every two or three days, Yua would be at Adachi's door and drop something off for him. He didn't let her in his house after the last time and would usually excuse himself to get her to leave. Even then, she seemed fine with acting as a food delivery service. When he decided he just wouldn't open the door and hid from her, she left it right outside for him, like a present. What started off as soup now turned into a smorgasbord of food. She had also made him a lunch of rice balls, a small salad, and grilled chicken. It wasn't much, but it was way more than what he had been eating before.

And all through this process, he couldn't keep from having one question nag at him: Why?

It was a question that crossed his mind often when it came to her. He doubted that she made all of the food by fishing or working with Nanako in her garden, so she had to allocate some significant funds. Then, she brought some dishes that would have taken hours to prepare; who has that kind of time? Every time his suspicions arose, he would feel that same queasy feeling as when she entered his house.

Adachi glanced at the clock. It was lunchtime, but he'd lost his appetite.

"Going for a walk," Adachi mumbled to no one as he stood and left the station.

Yua knew precisely when it happened. An offhand thought had somehow sent her spiraling like the falling winged maple seed. She never thought such feelings would arise, especially with Adachi, but it was something that just grew with time together. During her brief visits with Adachi, she got to see another side to him. She realized it must have been difficult for him to open up to her, trust her, but she was grateful and honored that he did. Above all, she wanted him to be happy, and with every interaction, she felt like she was making a difference.

However pure and subtle the crush entered her life, Yua couldn't deny that it impeded her efforts to just be friends with Adachi. She wanted to help him work through his emotions, but her feelings only seemed to get more out of hand every time they met. When she saw him, her heart felt like it was doing somersaults in her chest, and after she left his house, even if it was a brief interaction, she would think about him the rest of the day. It was distracting, to say the least.

But it was only a crush, and it would stay that way. She knew nothing would ever come of it. This was her uncle's work partner. It was wrong to think about him in such a romantic way. Still, she had never developed such strong feelings for someone before. It was new and a little bit frightening, but it felt serene at the same time. She wanted to understand it, to understand herself. Surely it couldn't hurt for her to explore this new territory even if she knew her feelings would never be returned. Just as long as she didn't allow herself to get lost in a fantasy, she would be fine. It's not against the law to daydream, after all. Once the murder case was over, there would be time to figure everything out.

"Yua."

"Huh!" Yua snapped out of her thoughts. She remembered that she was in the Junes food court. She glanced around the table at her friends, who were finishing their after-school snacks and getting ready to go on what was hopefully their final excursion into the TV.

"Are you ready to go?" Yosuke asked.

"Oh, well," Yua said as her mind snapped back from the daydream. This wasn't the time to be thinking about her feelings. They needed to stop the killer. "Maybe?" She shook her head and looked in her bag. "Um, I might need to stock up a little more before we head out."

"Alright, be quick," Yosuke nodded. "I'm ready to take Mitsuo down."

"I will go with you, Sensei Yua-brow!" Teddie suddenly appeared next to her and hooked himself around her arm. "A lady always needs her escort."

"No, Ted. You're just going to buy things we don't need."

"But they're essential!" Teddie whined. "What would I do if sensei didn't get us some Yakatori!"

"Oh, oh! Get me those essential steak croquettes!" Chie called.

"Can you pick up a new fan from Diadara-san's shop?" Yukiko muttered. "My current one is showing wear and tear. I forgot to get a new one after school."

"A couple of drinks would help get us through the dungeon, too," Kanji said.

"Hey, hey, don't overload her!" Yosuke protested. "She's not a shopping cart!"

"No, it's fine," Yua got to her feet, and as she started to leave, Yosuke grabbed Teddie's wrist to make sure he didn't sneak off with her. "Just hang out for a second; I'll be right back."

Adachi meandered down the main street of the shopping district. He ducked in and out of stores, taking advantage of the air conditioning and pretending to be interested in whatever the shop was selling. The clerks were ravenous, clearly starved for business by the local supergiant. The proprietors would follow him around and ask questions and let him know about the "big savings" he could get from only their shop. The annoyance was only compounded by the futility of their acts. They finally realized how useless they were when something bigger and better came along. Still, even his meager support couldn't stave off their poor business decisions—they should have realized it and moved onto new territory.

However, one shop caught his attention, and he stopped by the liquor store owned by Saki Konishi's parents. Despite his usual habits, he wasn't there for alcohol. The man at the front grumbled a greeting as Adachi passed into the store. It was a shitty little shack, with the only highlight being a photo of Saki sitting on the counter. He forgot how attractive she was, especially smiling in front of the beach (the generic school photos in the case file just didn't do justice). He wandered around, sneaking peeks at the picture every now and then.

The door clinked open, and a student came in.

"You're late, again, Naoki," the man behind the counter muttered.

"Sorry, I was just talking to Yua-senpai," the teen shrugged.

That girl just knew everyone, didn't she. Maybe this was one of her admirers. The kid started to sweep the floor, and the detective returned to staring at Saki's photo. He wanted to take it. He began to think about ways to steal the photo or take a picture of it with his phone, but the security camera in the corner of the room deterred him. Maybe he could concoct a reason to get his hands on it for a few days and scan it. Better yet—

"You going to buy something?"

Adachi met eyes with the store owner, who had clearly realized that Adachi was staring at the photo of his deceased daughter.

"Oh," He smiled and decided to offer a word to her parents, "I was just—We'll catch him, sir."

The miserable grumble, "Thank you, officer," just didn't cut it in Adachi's book. The kid looked equally as disinterested as he moved the product around. Adachi expected more of a reaction. Didn't he just reassure his daughter's murderer would be captured? The old man should have been more grateful! He could see where she had gotten the rotten attitude from.

Adachi left with no further comment or anything in hand; his mood was thoroughly soured. First Shirogane, now Konishi's family: he just seemed to be bumping into annoying people today. Adachi strolled around the streets for several more minutes. He really didn't want to work now, but he knew he couldn't keep slacking off like this without incurring Dojima's wrath. So, the detective decided to wander while he worked towards a solution. He stopped as he recognized a figure in the street.

Damn it! There Yua was again walking out of the general store. She had enough shopping bags in her hand to financially support the entire street. Adachi did not want to put up with her antics today. He tried to casually duck into an alley, but she saw him before he could move.

"Adachi-san!"

Adachi plastered on his biggest grin and waved. He hoped that would be the end, but, no, the goddess just had to descend from her high castle and curse him with her kindness.

Those eyes burrowed into him, "How are you today? I haven't seen you around recently."

"Well, I've been busy and all," he muttered. "Now that we're looking for that Kubo kid."

"I know the feeling—my friends and I have been busy with our project as well," Her grip tightened on her shopping bags. "Hopefully, we'll finish it today."

Was she even trying to be subtle? They were closing in on Kubo. He was hoping to spice things up—kill the wannabee killer so that the game could continue. If they caught him, the game was over or at least derailed. Then it would all be back to monotony. He foresaw many late nights at work ahead.

He had to hide a sneer and quickly dismissed himself, "Well, duty calls. I need to get going." He walked past her. He thought he had finally escaped.

"Wait," she called and put her bags down. "Your tie is messy."

He stopped, masked his anger with a confused look, and turned around. Like either of them gave a shit about his tie; it was always this way, "Oh well, y'know, it happens."

She stepped forward, "Let me fix it for you."

He stepped back, "It's fine—"

"I've done it for my uncle. It'll be quick."

Without warning, she grabbed his collar and started to work on his tie. Adachi stumbled forward and suppressed seething anger. He decided to hold it back before it evolved into another slapping incident. That proved to be near impossible as the seconds ticked by. Twenty seconds in, it became apparent that the girl had no idea what she was doing. He found that his tie was coming undone and even messier than when she had started.

He tugged back a little, "I have to go."

"Just a second. I'll get it."

He had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. The goodie-two-shoes attitude was starting to just interrupt his day now. He found his mind wandering as the girl worked diligently on his tie. So much effort, he really couldn't figure out why she was going through such lengths to do this. There was nothing to gain from just fixing his tie—poorly at that. There had to be some sort of advantage to all of this nonsense. Just… what?

Her eyes flashed up to his before bearing down on the tie yet again.

"Move closer. I can't tie it when you're leaning away from me."

He hadn't noticed he was pulling away from her but didn't comply. Move closer? What was with her?

Adachi mulled over the question as he watched her with a cautious eye. He tried to compare it against other behavior he had seen growing up. A moment flashed into his mind: a mother fixing her son's tie before a piano recital. He dismissed the idea; she was probably too young to have entered her mothering phase. So, something else? When he thought about it some more, a memory occurred. He was walking down the hallway of his high school. He heard someone call out, and a girl brushed past him. She went over to her boyfriend and delivered his tie, which she fashioned around him (with way more skill than what was going on here). That didn't make sense. He wasn't her boyfriend. She wasn't—

Adachi watched Yua's hands so tenderly lace the tie. He watched her usually stoic expression pressed into a focused pout. She tucked her hair behind her ear and continued her work, only peeking up for brief moments and then not at all. A thin smile appeared.

A shock ran through his body. He glanced at her face, then down at her hands, and then back. Her gentle touch, her deliberately averted gaze, and her tagalong attitude made sense now.

She had a crush!

Adachi strained to suppress a grin. Yua had a crush on him! At the revelation, his posture relaxed, and he found himself hovering closer to her.

"Thanks, that will help," She smiled a bit.

He found himself genuinely grinning back. Her smile was bright. His eyes traced down her face, and he noticed that even she couldn't hide the barest coloring of a blush.

Adachi blinked. A minute ago, he wanted to drop kick her, but now he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He let the thought marinate for a second before looking her up and down, searching for a reason for the switch. Before, he had noticed her height and stoic demeanor, but now, that paled in comparison to his new analysis. He looked down. The girl had curves. Her skirt was short enough to show off her toned legs; her school uniform curved around her waist to show off her hips and pulled tightly around her—

"I'm almost there," Yua huffed as she held the two separate strands completely untied.

Adachi turned his eyes upwards to avoid ogling her further. Still, he couldn't help the new excitement this revelation brought with it. So, she finally got wise and decided to chase a real man. His grin turned into a wolfish smile. She wanted him so badly. He could just take her now. He leaned down. His hand suddenly seized hers, stifling their haphazard work, and he started to pull her closer.

It all stopped in an instant. A car passed. Adachi snapped up, remembering the tens of storefronts surrounding them. She glanced at her restrained hands, then at him, and he saw those deep eyes tinted with confusion. The look made him pause, and the ambient sound of the shopping center snapped him to his senses.

What was he doing?

Adachi wrenched back suddenly and turned away from her, "Thanks, but I'll be late. Bye!" He rushed down the street.

"Bye, Adachi-san!"

Adachi jogged away for a good minute or two until he felt that he was a safe distance away from prying eyes. He slammed up against the corner of a building and caught his breath while his thoughts raced around in his mind.

Yua had a crush on him.

Now he really couldn't contain himself: he laughed bitterly. The humor of the situation was too much to handle. Of all the people in this damn town, she chose him. After all that stress and worry and thought of murder, this juvenile crush was the true meaning behind her meddling. His hand clamped over his mouth as the laughter continued. That dumb bitch!

As the chuckle died a second later due to the huffing and puffing, he started to think more sincerely about the situation. Suddenly, a new avenue had opened up to him.

Yua was attractive. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen her like that before. It seemed so obvious now. He figured that his annoyance played into it; she was an odd person and a pest. Somehow, that kept him from seeing the golden opportunity that had fallen into his lap. The girl was already coming over to his house, cooking food for him; how hard would it be to just get her in a situation where she couldn't say no.

Adachi's phone buzzed. He sighed as he ignored it but understood that it was a "get your ass back here." He'd think about it later. At least something was different; his life suddenly felt exciting again. The detective reached to straighten his—his hands searched but came up empty.

Wait. Where was his tie?

Yua stood holding the red tie in her hand. She hadn't realized that she had held onto it until it was too late. The silky fabric was wrapped around her fingers. She stared down at the tie and then back up at the empty street where Adachi had fled. He had mentioned that he had to get going, but she had never seen Adachi so eager to get back to work.

She looked down at her stolen prize, feeling embarrassment and excitement mix together as well as water and oil. Now what? She ran her fingers over the fabric. There was really only one option. She would have to return it to him. She could take it to him tomorrow.

She shook her head; that seemed a little forward. Maybe she'd wait until he noticed and came to ask her. Then again, Adachi probably would take a while to notice. She frowned. No, it wasn't forward. She was just returning a piece of clothing to a friend. Forward was for flirting. This wasn't flirting, she hadn't—the whole tie thing. She shook her head again. And how was that not flirting? She bit her lip. Maybe she indulged the feelings too much and hid her feelings under friendly gestures. She shouldn't—

Bzzzt!

Yua's phone rang and snapped her out of her thoughts. She didn't have time to ponder this. She tucked the tie into her school bag, grabbed the shopping bags, and raced down the street to Junes.