Chapter Text
This is not how it was supposed to go.
It was already early winter time when they got this specific case.
A series of deaths, assumed to be cases of suicide, as all of the victims were found in the river, near the bridge.
The only reason why there was any kind of suspicion was the frequency between the deaths in the short amount of time and the insistence of some parents about their kids' mental stability. That’s why even if they turned out to be actually self-inflicted, it was wise to find a reason behind them in the first place so no more people would be pushed to do it.
Unfortunately it turned out there was much more literal pushing involved in the case, and in the end they stood in front of one man behind it all.
“And it was all done by you Shikabane Ankoku.” Toto pointed at the man amongst all the people gathered on the bridge.
“This is ridiculous!” Shikabane yelled. “Why would I even do any of this?! How do you know it was me in the first place?!”
“It’s very simple.” Continued the detective. “Other than the CCTV catching you near the scene of the crime at the time of the last death, we also found a diary in your apartment that documented your actions and feelings quite accurately…and brutally.” He explained. “Do you want me to read some of the pages to the people that you hurt? The parents of your victims?”
“Piss off!”
“That’s enough. I think we have the evidence to take it up into the station now.” Amamiya spoke up, signalling the officers to apprehend Shikabane.
Toto exhaled.
There was just one thing left…
“Jump off.”
Ron's voice commanded.
“Someone who takes innocent lives because of their pitiful predicaments has no right to live.”
The man froze, turned around all of the sudden and ran to the railing of the bridge, going over to the other side and preparing to fall into the cold depths of the river. And he almost did that if not for Toto grabbing onto him at the last second.
“No, don't do this!” His hands tightly gripping onto the man's jacket.
It thankfully worked, as he seemed to shake himself out of the trance. He looked around confused.
“What-”
“Don't worry, I got you. Just carefully now-” Toto reassured him.
The man, still clearly nervous, turned to see the other officers closing in on them.
He was found out. It was over.
All of the sudden, he turned his body, tightly grabbing onto Toto. His face contorted into a wicked grin. “My life is finished officer, I have nothing to lose-”
Toto's eyes widened as he felt himself being dragged. “You-”
“-do you?”
He finished, falling back and dragging Toto with himself off the bridge.
“ISSIKI!” Amamiya's voice sounded in his ears and with the last glance he could see Ron's head snapping up, back to his senses.
And then he fell,
crashing into the cold water with the other man.
He trashed around, trying to free himself from his grip, but the freezing temperatures were quickly and effectively slowing him down. He desperately tried to swim up to the surface, but he was weaker than the other man, who seemed to desperately want his last deed on this earth to be drowning Toto in this river.
His lungs burned from the lack of oxygen,eyes stung from the attempts to assess the situation, to somehow find a solution to whatever was happening.
He couldn’t die here.
He went through so much with Ron already, he couldn't die in a stupid river!
But at this point he wasn’t sure how much time had passed already. Both his and his attaker’s bodies seemed to be finally succumbing to the dark depths, slowly going numb from the harsh coldness of the water.
Was it really over? Just like that?
His eyesight hazed over, senses barely there as he saw some movement above him.
I’m sorry Ron.
He thought, awareness finally leaving him.
The next thing that Totomaru felt after he regained consciousness was definitely the sweet ability to breathe normally.
He still felt cold, the freezing water burning the chill deep into his bones to the point he suspected he wouldn't be able to get rid of it for a good while, but he was dry and quite cosy.
He assessed the scene, clearly noticing he was in a hospital as well as addressing the warmth he felt next to him.
Ron’s messy mop of hair was resting on the side of the bed, one of his hands holding Toto’s own in a light grip. He was sitting in a small stool and the position must have been extremely uncomfortable, but it still brought a small smile to his face.
It seemed like he was okay after all, despite everything.
The door creaked softly as someone entered, but the footsteps halted almost immediately.
“Tototo-”
The familiar nickname was a quick confirmation of who just entered.
Spitz speed walked to his side. “You're awake…thank god.” His shoulders dropped as he exhaled. “You scared the shit out of all of us.”
His tone was quiet the whole time, mindful of sleeping Ron, and Toto matched it.
He gave him a weak smile. “Sorry…”
Spitz shook his head. “It’s okay, I know it wasn’t your fault.” He brought another stool to the bed to sit down on. “What happened? You are usually able to wake people up from the trance when you get to them.”
Toto frowned. “I did.”
“What?”
“That man, Mr. Shikabane, he did come back to his senses. It’s just that…he said he had nothing to lose anymore, and wanted to do as much harm as possible…”
“...dragging you down with him.” The other finished for him.
Toto nodded.
“That fucking bastard-” Spitz hit his leg with his fist. “Taking the cowards way out and trying to take yet another life away. I’d kill him if he wasn’t dead already.”
“He’s dead?” Detective’s eyes widened.
Spitz sighed. “Yes. He was already dead when we got him out of the river. That’s why we were scared that you also-” He stopped himself, unable to finish that sentence. “But you were still breathing. Barely, but we had hope. Even if you didn’t wake up for days.”
Toto looked at Ron. “How long was I out?”
“3 days.”
He was lying there for 3 days.
It was a weird feeling, having lost time. He never really had an opportunity to think about a situation like that, since this is really the first time he ended up in the hospital for an extended period of time. It was kind of unnerving in a sense.
He must have been staring at Ron for a while, because Spitz decided to mention why exactly he was sleeping here.
“Ron didn’t want to leave your side the whole time. I’ve never seen him so… upset before… We were barely able to make him eat let alone leave this room. To the point where he was actually passing out from exhaustion. The nurses weren’t very thrilled about it, but there was nothing we could really do. You know how stubbornly unreasonable this man is at times.”
He knew.
Of course he knew, he had to deal with the younger detective for months by now.
At first it really ticked him off, but gradually he learned to adapt to it. He learned how to sway the other in a way he would actually listen to him. At some point it stopped being as difficult to do, but Toto wouldn’t be able to tell when exactly that switch happened.
All of his antics became so normal.
Spending time with Ron became a natural part of his day.
“I’ll tell the doctor you’re awake.” Spitz stood up. “They will probably want to run some tests.”
He left, as quiet as he was able to and gave Toto a small wave.
It was endearing in a way how mindful of making too loud of a sound he was, probably because the detective was aware that not many people actually treated Ron kindly.
It always annoyed Totomaru, this hatred people harboured for the younger man.
Yes, he was excentric to a fault, he had weird habits and an unhealthy obsession with brown sugar, but Ron was kind and good and he tried his best despite knowing so many people were after him.
He was glad Spitz turned out to be an ally to them.
The door opened and Toto sat up.