Work Text:
“Come on, man, you need to take a break.”
Yagami looked up at where Kaito was standing in front of him, hip leaned against the side of the desk and arms folded. There was some exasperation in the slant of his eyebrows and the way his mouth pulled slightly to one side.
It was an expression Yagami was intimately familiar with; it had been directed at him a lot in the past two weeks.
“These reports won’t write themselves,” he countered, “and we’re already behind.”
“We’re not,” Kaito said pointedly, “but if we were, why?”
Yagami paused his typing. “We had to take a week off?”
“Why?” Kaito prompted again, like a teacher trying to guide their wayward student into admitting what they’d done wrong. His foot was tapping impatiently under the desk; Yagami could faintly hear the pat pat pat of it on the wooden floor.
“To wait for the media to leave us alone?”
“No, Ta-bo, because you had a concussion.” He sighed and tilted his head back to stare listlessly at the ceiling. “You still have a concussion.”
“I’m over the two week threshold! I’m fine!”
‘Fine’ was relative.
Falling off a bridge onto a moving car - apparently that was what had happened, he didn’t remember - had left him with cracked ribs, a twisted ankle and, of course, the dreaded concussion. Now, two weeks later, most things still ached, or were yellow-green with bruising, or some combination of the two.
According to most doctors who had looked after him it was a miracle he hadn’t had more extensive injuries, but that didn’t mean the ones he did have sucked any less.
The concussion itself had cleared up some over time, but there was still the occasional bout of nausea, headaches, and a general brain fog that made thinking - the literal backbone of his job - more difficult than it was supposed to be.
Unfortunately he couldn’t stay off work forever. He ran a business; if he wasn’t earning then it wasn’t just him who would be out of pocket, but Kaito too.
Then again things hadn’t been going so well recently, as Kaito was quick to remind him.
“We lost a guy we were tailing yesterday because you pissed off some more of those Keihin idiots and if I hadn’t jumped in to help, you would’ve been right back in the hospital.” He pushed himself up to stand directly in front of Yagami and rested his palms on the desk, giving him a look. “Then where would we be?”
Yagami scowled at the cursor blinking on his screen. He didn’t have an answer to that.
“Would it kill you to take a day off?”
“We need the money.”
“I know for a fact you’ve got all your drone race savings squirrelled away somewhere, you can’t use that excuse on me.” He ducked down into Yagami’s eyeline, who hated when he did that; it was even harder to say no to him. “Come on. 24 hours. No cases, no street fights, no nothing.”
“Sounds boring,” Yagami quipped. Actually, it sounded kind of nice, and that worried him.
“So we’ll invite some people over! Sugiura, Higashi, maybe the guys over at Genda’s can make it...” Kaito was on a roll now. “It can be like a party!”
He couldn’t quite hold back a wince. “I don’t know if a party is the best idea.”
“Then a little get-together instead. Nothing fancy.” His voice dipped half an octave lower. “C’mon, Ta-bo. You look like you could use the break.”
Yagami already knew he’d lost the second he couldn’t keep holding Kaito’s warm gaze any longer.
Damn it.
“Are you saying I look like shit?”
“I’m sayin’ you’ve looked better.” Kaito grinned broadly. “That a yes?”
“24 hours. But not a minute more,” Yagami warned before he could get too excited. “Yamada-san wanted an answer about her husband before the end of the month and-”
Kaito abruptly shut him up by pressing his hand over his mouth. “No work, Ta-bo.”
Yagami licked his palm with zero hesitation and smiled smugly when he pulled it away with a blegh.
“We’re starting now?”
“No time like the present, right?” With a dramatic flourish he turned off the monitor and reached around the desk to drag Yagami out of his chair.
“Uh, Kaito-san, the computer is still on-”
“I got it, I got it!” He gave him a gentle shove that deposited him on the sofa he usually slept on. “Just sit there and get comfortable.”
Yagami watched with mild trepidation as Kaito dug his phone out of his pocket and began typing, an expression of unfettered excitement on his face.
What had he got himself into?
Kaito being Kaito, he’d soon messaged everyone they knew who had been as deep in the shit as they were over the Mole case and said as long as they brought food and/or booze, they were free to stay as long as they liked.
Yagami was initially wary of the whole idea but he never should have doubted Kaito; it ended up being a pleasantly quiet affair.
No one turned up in a large group and crowded the office, which was probably for the best. Yagami wasn’t sure his lingering concussion could handle the constant noise or tracking that many conversations at once.
Sugiura - hair vibrant and freshly dyed thanks to a helping hand from Higashi a few days before - was first to arrive, bearing a large bag of sour sweets and a six-pack of Asahi. He promptly parked himself on the chair opposite Yagami and declared he wouldn’t be moving for the rest of the night.
Though it was said as a joke, he was clearly moving stiffly; his still-healing wound must have been giving him more trouble than he was letting on.
“Okubo-san says hello,” he relayed as he popped open the bag of sweets.
Yagami appreciated the update. They were still negotiating the paperwork for his release and he felt bad that Okubo couldn’t join them all yet.
“Tell him we’ll throw him his own party when he gets out. Whatever he wants. I’ll foot the bill.”
Sugiura blinked at him. “With what money?”
“I’ve got savings,” he said defensively.
“Sure.” His doubt was clear in how he drew out the sound.
“Kaito-san, he’s bullying me.”
Kaito just openly laughed at his playful whining and the three of them fell into conversation like they’d known each other for years and not barely more than a month.
Shared near-death experiences tended to do that, Yagami supposed, and where that fell down he and Kaito’s shared history picked up the slack.
Things continued like that for a while, joking back and forth and talking about nothing, with friends coming and going at their own convenience.
Hoshino dropped by in the early afternoon - bringing still-piping hot ramen from Kyushu No. 1 Star which they all immediately started to fight over - but had to leave not long after. The firm was swamped with work and demands from the press, he explained, but the others would make an effort to drop by.
True to his word, they did.
Genda and Saori arrived together, the former with a bottle of whiskey and the latter with cake, and stayed as long as they could spare.
They must have made an agreement to not talk about work, because whenever Yagami tried to shift the conversation that way they just changed the subject and moved on to something else. Eventually he gave up asking and let them regale the group with stories of persistent paparazzi and a date Saori and Mafuyu had gone on the previous week.
Mafuyu herself turned up and dragged her girlfriend away to talk to Kaito instead before Yagami could hear how the night had ended.
“You’re going to embarrass me!” She whispered, cheeks burning a scandalised red.
“A shame,” was Saori’s flat reply, though Yagami saw the twinkle of humour in her eyes and her hand brush gently against Mafuyu’s hip in greeting before they left. “I was just getting to the good part.”
It was the first time Yagami laughed hard enough to almost spill his drink that night but it wouldn’t be the last.
Soon, because there was no such thing as a secret in Kamurocho, friends new and old were coming in and out to say hello and supply more packages of food and drink than the Detective Agency knew what to do with.
Most were at least vaguely familiar to people in the room other than Yagami, though Ryo understandably caused a bit of a stir when he walked through the door. He took it in stride and thoroughly dispelled any suspicions about his identity by challenging Kaito to a drinking competition and losing spectacularly.
Sugiura - who had been the most wary of him - laughed so hard at Ryo staggering out of the door and pledging a rematch that Yagami worried he would pop a stitch.
Sana, Tsukino, Nanami and Amane all dropped by together. After Yagami had introduced them to each other they’d apparently got along like a house on fire and went out after work regularly.
Yagami also had a sneaking suspicion that Sana and Tsukino were dating. Neither was an especially good liar and he was a detective but hadn’t been able to get confirmation out of any of the four of them no matter how he tried.
Tonight was no different; Sana and Tsukino clumsily dodged the topic every time he brought it up, while Amane made a beeline for the pinball machine to try and best her high score and Nanami got distracted talking drone parts with Kaito, leaving him with no one to pester for details.
A shame - the curiosity was killing him.
Still, it was good to catch up with them all. He hadn’t seen them since the day he’d got out of hospital, and they seemed to be doing well.
“Make sure you get some rest,” Sana ordered sternly as they were all heading out to enjoy the rest of their night. Though one hand was on her hip her other one was hidden behind her right where Tsukino was standing. Almost like they were holding hands...
Maybe he could ask Sugiura later, he would have had a better view.
“I’ll try.” He waved lazily. “Have fun, you four. Stay out of trouble!”
“We will!” They chorused and left, their chatter echoing down the stairwell until the office door swung loudly shut.
“That Amane girl’s an oddball,” Kaito said after a beat.
Yagami frowned. “She’s a good person.”
“No, I know, but, uh. How do I put this...” His eyebrows creased together as he thought. “She said ‘beware the brown calamity.’ The fuck does that mean?”
Ah. Yagami should have seen that coming.
At least she meant well.
“Her predictions can be vague,” he admitted. “Whatever it is I bet you can handle it.”
Kaito beamed. “Thanks, Ta-bo!”
“Yeah, Kaito-san.” Sugiura’s lips twitched. “Hope you’ve got enough toilet paper for your brown calamity.”
The grin vanished. “You know, kid, you’re lucky I like you.”
Laughing, he just tossed him a pack of Apollos that Nanami had brought with her. “Can you get in these? I’ve got greasy fingers.”
“If you say sorry and let me have first dibs.”
“I’m so sorry.” Sugiura fluttered his eyelashes, the very picture of innocence. “Really.”
“....sarcasm isn’t gonna make me open these any faster.”
“No, wait-”
Yagami watched them bicker and hid his smile behind his mug of coffee.
Alright, he admitted it: he’d needed this.
Even Tsukumo left his cave in Mantai for a couple of hours to deliver a frankly absurd amount of onigiri and finally be officially introduced to Sugiura. Though Yagami really hadn’t been concerned about whether or not they would get along, it was reassuring to see two of his close friends slowly get more and more comfortable with each other as the night went on.
Eventually though, he had to leave, and the other visitors trickled to a stop.
Kamurocho might never sleep but its occupants certainly had to at some point and midnight was as good a time as any to be heading home. On a weeknight anyway; most of them did have day jobs to get to after all.
But, as with any party, there’s always someone who’s fashionably late.
“Higashi!” Kaito yelled, almost falling out of the desk chair as he sat up. Though he’d won the drinking contest, as a result his sense of balance had suffered considerably in the hours since. “Thought you weren’t comin’!”
“Unlike some people, I was busy,” Higashi grumbled back. He closed the door behind him and went to put the plastic bag he was carrying on the low table only balk at the lack of space. “How much shit did you all bring?”
Tsukumo’s mound of onigiri aside, there were wrapped bowls of food courtesy of Kim and Tomioka-san, various bags of snacks - both sweet and savoury - and a several bottles of alcohol thanks to Ryo and Kaito’s competition earlier in the night. There was so much stuff Yagami couldn’t even see the tabletop underneath anymore.
“Yagami-san has a lot of friends,” Sugiura said and tossed a piece of caramel in his mouth. Over the course of the night he’d moved from sitting upright to curled up with his back against the armrest, his legs tucked up underneath him. “Unexpected, honestly.”
Yagami rolled his eyes. “Brat.” His eyelids were drooping and he didn’t have much energy for a wittier reply.
Today had been fun; the perfect break from staring at page after page of hopefully relevant notes from the cases they were working on and trying to plan their next move.
But he’d been flagging now for the better part of an hour and wasn’t sure he had much more left in him. The only thing keeping him awake was the desire to not come across as rude by falling asleep while they had guests.
Even if Kaito had been shooting him poorly concealed worried glances for a while.
As the night had worn on he’d found himself sinking lower on the sofa until he was facing the ceiling, watching the fan go around and around. It wasn’t doing his latent dizziness any favours but for some reason he couldn’t quite make himself stop.
“Yagami.” Higashi’s face filled his vision as he leaned over him, blocking his view of the ceiling fan. “Enjoying yourself?”
“You know it.” His eyelids drooped again but he blinked hard and forced them open. “Life of the party, I am.”
Sugiura snickered. “You haven’t moved from that spot all night.”
“You’re the last person I wanna hear that from!” Raising his voice, even for a joke, turned out to be a bad idea as it made his head throb and his stomach turn. He squeezed his eyes shut and relaxed back into the sofa beneath him until the sensation passed.
“Oi, Yagami, you good?”
“’M fine.”
“You look it,” he said dryly. “Aniki, I think he might’ve overdone it.”
“Probably.” Kaito sighed, low and rumbly. “Want us to clear out so you can get some sleep, Ta-bo?”
Yagami pondered the question.
Sleeping in his office had been fine before the Mole case. Sure, he’d not had much choice in the matter but he hadn’t minded.
That was before a professional killer had stuffed his former co-worker’s body in his cupboard, though.
Stubbornly avoiding looking at the currently empty cupboard still standing innocently in the corner, he shook his head.
“You don’t have to go?” It came out as more of a plea than he’d intended and he quickly rushed to compensate. “I mean, if you want. You can just talk, or whatever. Up to you.”
This concussion was really doing a number on his ability to come up with convincing arguments on the spot.
He could practically imagine the silent conversation happening between the three of them. How best to let him down easy, probably. Maybe he should have kept his big mouth shut for once and not asked for something so selfish-
“Sure.”
Yagami blinked in surprise and lifted his head just in time to see Kaito stretch his arms overhead and give him a wink.
“Fine by me,” Sugiura added. He was scrolling through his phone. “I wasn’t planning on moving anyway.”
Unexpectedly, Higashi also agreed. “Someone has to keep an eye on you idiots.”
Kaito grinned. “There you have it. You got a blanket or somethin’ around here, Ta-bo?”
It took a second for him to catch back up to the conversation. “I...don’t usually need one? It’s pretty warm in here, so...”
Wrapped in a hoodie and with his jacket draped over his knees, Sugiura paused scrolling long enough to give him a flat look.
“How do you not get sick, like, all the time?”
Yagami shrugged. “Superior constitution?”
“Alright, you two, break it up. Higashi, let’s have a look around.”
“Why do I have to help?” He complained even as he made space on the table for his bag and started searching the cabinets near the record player.
“’Cause you’re a good kid?”
“...aniki, I’m 32.”
“You’ll always be a kid to me!”
Higashi sighed and went to open the cupboard to his right.
“There’s nothing in there,” Yagami said quickly. “I didn’t put anything back after- after the police were finished with it.”
He stopped, hand hovering over the handle, and gave him an unreadable look behind his sunglasses.
One by one Yagami forced his fingers to unclench where he’d gripped the sofa.
“Okay.”
And that was that.
Kaito went digging through Yagami’s disguises and - after laughing himself into a coughing fit at the ridiculousness of it - used Bram-sama’s cape as a makeshift blanket.
“Shouldn’t you give that back?” Sugiura asked doubtfully. “It’s an official costume, isn’t it?”
“They never asked.” Yagami arranged the cape until he was comfortable. It was surprisingly well-insulated and his eyelids were already starting to drift shut.
“How do you know it’s official?” There was a hint of humour in Higashi’s voice as he walked over to where Sugiura was sitting. “You a Bram-sama fan?”
“N-no.”
“Uh-huh. So who’s that on your Chatter feed there?”
“Wha- nobody! It just- happened to be there!”
There was a soft rumble of laughter that, even though Yagami didn’t open his eyes to check, could only have been from Higashi. It was a rare sound, one that made his own lips automatically tug up in response.
“Shut up!”
“No fighting in the office,” Yagami mumbled, half-asleep.
“You heard the man.” There was a soft creak and a dull thunk, like Kaito had sat back in the desk chair and it had bumped into the desk. It always did that, no matter how careful any of them were. “What’d you bring anyway, Higashi?”
Their conversation quieted down after that as they discussed snacks and alcohol and began catching each other up on whatever they’d missed. It was all the kind of mundane stuff that friends talked about as conversation for the sake of enjoying each other’s company, and even though Yagami wasn’t really listening or taking part it relaxed him all the same.
It was the perfect background static for him to doze off, and before he’d realised it was happening, he’d fallen into a comfortable sleep.
Yagami awoke slowly. He’d never found mornings especially easy at the best of times but thanks to the concussion things had definitely been exacerbated lately; even just trying to think too early felt like swimming through molasses.
He cracked open one eyelid and squinted into the neon-tinged light filtering through from outside. Despite the fact that he was pretty sure it was still night-time, it never truly got dark in Kamurocho, and the room was only slightly dimmer than it was during the day. Usually he shut the blinds tightly to block out the worst of the blaring signs and vibrant neon but he must have forgotten this time.
Well, he said he, but - as he was quickly remembering - there were three other people in the room who probably bore equal responsibility.
Kaito was sprawled out in Yagami’s desk chair, head hanging over the side and occasionally letting out a loud snore. The image made him want to laugh but he couldn’t help but wince at just imagining the inevitable neck pain he’d be suffering once he woke up.
Sugiura was still on the chair opposite Yagami, though now curled up on his side with his hands in loose fists where they were tucked under his chin and his jacket draped over his shoulders. It was a small space but he’d somehow managed to fold himself into it in a way that looked almost comfortable.
Yagami’s eye fell on where his hoodie had ridden up over his hip in his sleep and exposed the bandages underneath and quickly looked away again.
The last of their little group was sitting on the windowsill and silently smoking as he stared out at the street below. The window was cracked open slightly to let the smoke out and through the gap Yagami could hear a group of women laughing as they made their way home.
He watched Higashi for a moment while the fog of sleep cleared.
His sunglasses were off for once, leaving his face open and bare, and his jacket was folded over in his lap. Without it - and with his sleeves rolled up to the elbow - Yagami could appreciate the way he’d grown into his broad shoulders and the new hint of muscle in his forearms.
Though he might not be as bulky as someone like Kaito there was clear strength there, one Yagami had felt first-hand during the fight at Kikunoya.
Only a year and he’s grown this much, he thought.
“Anything good out there?”
To his credit, Higashi didn’t startle at being spoken to. “Just the usual shit.”
Both of them kept their voices low.
“Heh. What time is it?”
“Almost 4.” Higashi stubbed out his cigarette and pulled the window quietly closed. “You good?”
“Yeah.” Yagami cleared his dry throat. “Why?”
“You were twitching in your sleep.” He fiddled with his portable ashtray. Without his sunglasses it was easier to see the way he frowned slightly. “Looked like you were having a dream or somethin’.”
Had he? He didn’t remember. Or maybe he did - little flashes of rain and broken glass and cobalt blue ringed in bloody red - but it was already slipping away from him.
“Sorry for waking you.”
“S’fine. Was awake anyway.”
Yagami, knowing he wouldn’t get back to sleep now even if he tried, sat up and tucked his knees in closer to make room on the other side of the sofa. When Higashi didn’t seem to get what he was going for, he gestured for him to take a seat.
He pulled a face but did it anyway.
The ceiling fan was gently whirring overhead and even though the Kamurocho night raged on outside as it always did - barkers, drunkards, a brawl or three - in here it was muffled. There was just the steadiness of sleeping breath, the habitual popping from the ancient fridge, and rumbling purrs from the cat asleep on the coffee table.
Wait, cat?
The coffee table, once piled with with food, was now bare but for a familiar tabby cat sleeping on its surface. She was one of the local strays and though she did technically belong to the cat cafe on the other end of town, it was well-known that she would sometimes sneak out and wander the streets.
“She snuck in when I opened the window,” Higashi explained, leaning closer so his voice wouldn’t carry over to Sugiura. The leather dipped under his bodyweight and his forearm almost brushed Yagami’s shin. “Aniki said she’s been doing that a lot lately so I left her be. Hope you don’t mind.”
He didn’t; as the person guilty of being the first to let her into the Agency in the first place, it would be pretty hypocritical of him.
“She looks comfortable.”
“Hmph. We had to move all your shit for her so she better be.”
“...do I even wanna know where you put it all?”
“Heh. Enjoy your treasure hunt.”
“You come into my office- ugh.”
He’d turned his head a little too suddenly to playfully glare at him and his vision briefly span. Groaning, he closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side to rest against the sofa.
He couldn’t wait for this concussion to fucking go away.
Higashi was quiet. “How’s your head?”
Yagami opened his mouth.
“If you make a sex joke I’m gonna give you another concussion.”
He closed it again. Admittedly Higashi seemed embarrassed enough just to have asked about his well-being; teasing him more than that would probably be a bit cruel.
“The same as. Uncomfortable. Annoying.”
When there was no immediate answer he opened his eyes again to find Higashi scowling at a point on the floor.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing.”
“Something is, clearly. Your resting bitch face isn’t normally that deep.”
“Fuck off,” Higashi snapped back, though with less heat than usual. “I feel bad, okay? Is that allowed?”
Yagami blinked. “Feel bad? For what, me?”
His shoulders hunched as he folded his arms. “Sugiura too, before you start thinkin’ you’re special.”
“We’re healing.”
“You shouldn’t have got that hurt in the first place,” he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Yagami to hear.
He frowned. “It all worked out, didn’t it?”
“Worked out how?” Realising his voice had gotten a little too loud he snapped his jaw shut with an audible click. Quieter, he added, “the kid’s lucky he’ll still be able to do all his parkour shit after this and you, you’re lucky not to be dead.”
“Skill, it was all skill-”
“Can you fuckin’ take somethin’ seriously for once, Yagami?”
Yagami startled at the sheer aggression in his voice. He’d yelled at him before - often, in fact - but this was the first time he’d sounded genuinely furious. Still hushed, of course, but brimming with frustration.
Taking some time, he thought back through the conversation as he looked over him again. Took in the hands fisted into the fabric of his trousers, the tight clench to his jaw, the way his shoulders were not just bunched up under his ears but curving inward.
Ah, he thought. I get it.
“Higashi,” he called softly to get his attention. When Higashi didn’t look his way, he sat up and leaned his chin on his knees to put himself in his eyeline. “This was the best outcome we could’ve had.”
Scoffing under his breath, Higashi gave him an incredulous look.
“Okay,” he relented, “maybe not the best but I’d rather be on bed rest for a month than have lost someone because there happened to be more of us on that bridge.”
Higashi’s shoulders tightened.
Bingo.
“You don’t know that’s how it would’ve gone.”
The memory of the canister whizzing past his ear and the whoomph of flames behind him soon after made him swallow.
No one would have survived that.
“I’m pretty sure.” He shook his head to clear the memory. “If you hadn’t held off the police for as long as you had then we wouldn’t have caught Kuroiwa. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”
“I’m not.”
“Dude, you are. It’s written all over your face.”
He glared at him. “Anyone ever tell you you’re a massive prick?”
“Often.” Yagami flashed a cheeky smile but quickly softened it as he reached out rest his fingertips just shy of where Higashi’s thumb was resting against the leather beneath them. “Seriously, Higashi. Thank you.”
He didn’t answer for a long few moments, just staring at the space between their hands, then sighed into a laugh and shook his head.
“Where would you be without that big brain of yours?”
“Dazzling people with my devilishly good looks?” He raised a flirtatious eyebrow.
Shaking his head, Higashi settled himself more comfortably on the couch. He swung his legs around, arranging his feet in between Yagami’s so that they interlocked like puzzle pieces, and leaned back against the armrest.
“I don’t hear you denying it.”
Higashi rolled his eyes. “You know you look good, why do you need my opinion?”
Yagami’s brain briefly stalled. He hadn’t expected him to actually agree.
Flustered, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“Maybe I want your opinion.”
There was a pregnant pause.
Unfortunately, just as Higashi was opening his mouth to reply, a rustle of fabric across the room made them both snap to attention just in time to watch Sugiura roll over onto his other side.
A beat passed.
“Think we woke him?” Yagami whispered.
“Definitely,” came Higashi’s dry reply as Sugiura raised his middle finger at them over his shoulder. “Sorry, kid.”
“You better be,” he mumbled sleepily. His voice was croakier than usual. “You guys talk too loud.”
“Our bad.” It was subtle, but Yagami was certain there was a soft smile on Higashi’s face as he spoke. “You know you shouldn’t be sleepin’ on that side anyway. Bad for your wound.”
“Yeah, yeah, onii-san.”
Yagami counted himself as lucky to be close enough to hear the wheeze Higashi made at being called that, even if he got a smack in the leg for not hiding his snickering well enough.
“It suits you.”
“Fuck off.”
For all his grumbling, Sugiura did indeed gingerly roll back onto his right and face them again, squinting tiredly.
He stretched out one arm to very lightly stroke the back of the cat’s fur and, encouraged when she purred contentedly in her sleep, he kept going.
None of them made any move to go back to sleep.
Higashi ducked out for a few minutes to go to the bathroom, but once he came back he slotted himself right back where he had been before and showed no signs of intending to move. Not that Yagami minded; on the contrary, this was an arrangement he could very much get used to.
The sky was beginning to lighten outside and the closest thing the city had to quiet had descended on the streets as they hit the sweet spot after the night workers had gone home and before the day job workers started pouring in on the first morning train.
Normally, in conditions like these, Yagami would doze until he couldn’t avoid getting up anymore, but there was one little snag in that this time - Kaito.
It needed to be said that Yagami loved him, dearly.
Without his support over the past few years - or maybe longer than that - he wasn’t sure where he would have ended up, and for that he would forever be in his debt. When Kaito had been expelled from the Matsugane Family, Yagami had tried to return the favour by offering him a job and being there for him where he could, something he knew Kaito had appreciated.
It wasn’t often put into words but they both knew where they stood with each other and that was good enough for them.
With all of that said, he snored like a fucking foghorn and it was slowly driving Yagami insane.
After one particularly impressive snerch sound Sugiura gave him a pained look. “How does he not wake himself up?”
“He did, once,” Higashi offered, “though I don’t know if he ever realised.”
Another loud snore filled the room.
Yagami stifled a laugh. “Higashi, is this why you were awake?”
There was a very slight hesitation “No.”
“It totally was!”
“In case you hadn’t noticed,” he pointed out snippily, “you left me with nowhere to sleep.”
“Ah.” It was true; all the seats were taken. “Sorry.”
“Too good for the floor?” Sugiura teased.
“One of you morons would step on me.”
Yagami nudged his knee into the side of Higashi’s to get his attention. “I would’ve made room for you up here. We could’ve shared.”
A red tinge slowly started creeping into his cheeks. “Uh-”
“If you two can stop flirting for two seconds,” Sugiura interrupted, “look.”
They followed his gaze to where Kaito was sleeping. His mouth had now dropped open, which was part of the reason his snoring was suddenly louder.
“Ten thousand yen to the first person to get a chocolate drop in Kaito-san’s mouth.”
There were several reasons why this was a Bad Idea but no matter how he tried, Yagami couldn’t resist a good challenge.
“Oh, you’re on.”
“How are you even gonna pay if you lose?” Higashi asked to no one in particular as Sugiura pulled the packet of chocolate he’d been eating hours ago out from who knows where.
“I’ve got my ways,” he said mysteriously, opening the packet. “The bigger question is how Yagami-san will.”
“I’ve got my ways,” he parroted back. “Who’s going first?”
Ignoring Higashi’s facepalm, they did a couple of rounds of rock paper scissors - Yagami won - and began their little competition.
They weren’t terrible at it, though neither quite managed to get it actually in Kaito’s mouth and the chocolate melting onto their fingers the longer it went on wasn’t helping matters.
Higashi took it upon himself to stand over by their sleeping target and pick up their failed attempts - what happens if the cat finds one and eats it, idiots - and return them to whoever had thrown it to use in their next attempt.
None of expected Kaito to wake during the commotion; when he was out, he was out.
About ten turns in, one of Sugiura’s throws landed on Kaito’s cheek. They all held their breath as it slid down to his jaw and then dropped off to land somewhere on his lap. A faint chocolate-coloured streak was left behind.
“I’m not getting that one,” Higashi declared, nose-wrinkled, and the combination of that, Kaito’s new avant-garde beard, and the early hour was enough to send both Yagami and Sugiura into fits of giggles.
“I’m gonna pop a stitch,” Sugiura managed breathlessly, clutching his stomach. “Fuck-”
The sound of Kaito smacking his lips and shifting in his chair made them frantically try to quiet down but it was too late.
He stretched his arms, yawned - almost hitting Higashi in the face who then quickly retreated to safety behind Yagami’s couch - and blinked blearily at them all.
“Mornin’.”
From this angle the streak on his cheek was even more obvious. Sugiura was pressing his fist into his mouth to try and keep himself together but the shaking in his shoulders was proof enough that it wasn’t working. Yagami on the other hand had given up on hiding and was openly smirking.
“Morning to you too, Kaito-san.”
He looked between them all - Sugiura avoiding looking at him, Yagami having the time of his life, and Higashi seemingly wanting to be anywhere but here - and frowned.
“What’s so funny?” Scratching his cheek, he rubbed across where the chocolate was and pulled his hand away again to look at his fingers. Sniffed it. “Why is there chocolate on my face?”
“No reason,” Sugiura wheezed. Apparently he’d forgotten that the bag of chocolate was still sitting in full view on his lap.
Yagami watched as Kaito very visibly went fuck it, it’s too early for this, and turned his attention to the only person in the room not openly laughing at him.
“You heading out, Higashi?”
Craning his neck to see, he saw that Higashi was indeed inching towards the door, jacket gathered in his arms.
“Yeah. Figured I’d check on Charles now that you’re all awake and don’t need a babysitter.”
“It’s not even 6 yet.” Kaito was frowning. “You sure?”
Higashi just shrugged awkwardly.
Later, Yagami would conveniently blame it on the exhaustion when he reached out for him. He wasn’t quite close enough to touch but if he stretched the very tips of his fingers could brush against the fabric of Higashi’s shirt.
Or at least they could until he took a surprised step backwards.
“Yagami-”
“Get breakfast with us.” His neck was aching from the angle so he rolled onto his stomach to better see him. “You’ve got time, right?”
Higashi shifted from one foot to the other. “I guess...”
“Great! Kaito-san, I think Cafe Mijore should be open by now-”
“You’re paying,” Sugiura chimed in as he shrugged on his jacket.
“-wanna wipe your face so we can head out?”
“And whose fault is it that I look like this?”
He spread his hands innocently. “Not me.”
“You’re a better liar than that, Ta-bo,” he said, lightly ruffling his hair as he passed by the back of the sofa.
“Hey! I’m being serious, it wasn’t me!”
Kaito ignored him, instead slinging an arm around Higashi’s waist and guiding him towards the door.
“You ever eaten there, Higashi?”
He was turning red again. “Uh, no. Don’t think so.”
“The honey toast is to die for...”
The conversation got too muffled for Yagami to follow after that as they went out into the stairwell.
“Yagami-san?” Sugiura was standing by the door, his foot propping it open. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah, hold on-”
Hastily he got up, grabbed his leather jacket, and ended up slipping his arms into the sleeves in too much of a hurry; his thumb got jammed in the fabric halfway down.
Thumb safely dislodged, followed by a quick check in the mirror to make sure his hair was artfully tousled and not a complete bird’s nest, and he was good to go.
“Thanks for waiting,” he said as he passed by Sugiura and started down the stairs.
“Don’t forget to lock the door,” he singsonged back.
Yagami swore under his breath and jogged back to double-check he had actually done it this time. No one had broken in yet but it was a bad habit to have, as Tomioka-san frequently reminded him whenever they bumped into each other on the street.
By the time he’d got back Sugiura had made it to the entranceway.
“You can go ahead if you want.” They fell into step and Yagami shivered at the temperature difference when they stepped outside; spring couldn’t come fast enough. “Those two sure didn’t wait.”
“I think they got waylaid in the bathroom,” Sugiura said, arching an eyebrow. “Or at least it sounded like they did.”
“Oh?” Yagami smirked. “Then we better save them a table.”
“Not going to go back and join in?”
“Hush, you.” He made a playful swipe for him but Sugiura easily danced out of the way. “I won’t be able to take Kaito-san seriously with that big smear on his face.”
“Hmm.” Sugiura was suppressing a smile. “So you thought about it?”
“And you weren’t?”
“No comment.”
Laughing as they turned out onto Nakamichi Street, Yagami took a half step closer to him. “Maybe another time. I wanted to hang out with you some more instead.”
Sugiura tucked his hands into his pockets. “Yeah?”
“’Course! We never proved who was better at throwing.”
He rolled his eyes. “Now the truth comes out.”
“Like you’re not itching for a rematch,” Yagami teased and was rewarded with a small smile for his efforts.
“Hope you’re ready to lose.”
“Not if I show you how it’s done first.”
They bumped elbows as they walked too close together; neither minded.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Yagami waved to Kim through the window of Beef Zone then backtracked to go next door and up to Cafe Mijore. “Wanna hit up Club Sega when it opens? Darts competition, you and me.”
Sugiura glanced over his shoulder to grin at him. “It’s a date.”
With an extra bounce in his step at the thought of their plans, Yagami followed him up the stairs.
It would probably take him over his self-imposed deadline - 24 hours and not a minute more - but he could always rope some of the others into helping him out with cases where there was tailing involved to make up for the time lost.
He didn’t have to do it alone, did he?
“Yagami-san, I’ll get us a table.”
“Sure.”
45 minutes and one cup of coffee (Yagami) and one iced lemon tea (Sugiura) later, Kaito and Higashi finally traipsed into the cafe, the former looking thoroughly pleased with himself and the latter with his shirt buttoned up a little higher than usual.
Sugiura immediately teased him for it, which made Kaito leap to his defence and Higashi slink off to the counter to order two sets of honey toast, coffee, as well as refills at Sugiura’s request.
Yagami laughed himself hoarse at their antics and thought maybe he’d been slightly too conservative in his initial 24 hour deal with Kaito. His head felt clearer than it had in weeks, and wouldn’t it be a waste to force himself back to the office earlier than he needed to just for the headache to inevitably return?
None of the cases were that urgent.
Maybe, he thought as he watched Kaito and Sugiura debate and Higashi diligently ignore them in favour of enjoying his toast, this was a good idea after all.
And maybe, just this once, he could afford to indulge a little bit.