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Entry tags:
a gift of death
Title: a gift of death
Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs Gaiden
Character(s): Tsujimura, Ayatsuji, Kyougoku
Pairing(s): Kyougoku/Ayatsuji
Genre: Dark/Fluff
Word Count: 1,000
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Offscreen minor character death
Summary: Tsujimura has a theory about why all of Ayatsuji's cases lately seem to be related to him.
Notes: For a commission! Dark fluff is a genre now.
“Do you ever think,” Tsujimura asks, “that the mastermind is calling you out, specifically?”
Ayatsuji doesn’t even look over at her, continuing to sip his coffee instead. “State your reasoning.”
“Well…” She starts to count on her fingers. “Yesterday we had that case with the doll museum curator as the culprit. A couple weeks ago there was a case in your hometown, in the same block as your old house. A month before that, someone was incited to burn down a factory of your favorite coffee brand… And before that there was the incident in the special ability department. One or two might be a coincidence, but there’s no way all of these would happen in a row without it being related to you somehow!”
“And in this theory of yours, what is the motive for trying to get my attention?” he replies. “The mastermind clearly already has it as much as any culprit can.”
That’s something most people can’t say, culprit or not, Tsujimura thinks. She almost wants to say they should consider himself lucky, except for the part where they’ll die when Ayatsuji catches them. That part isn’t so lucky.
“Aren’t they taunting you?” she asks.
Ayatsuji scoffs. “Far from it. No one puts that much effort into researching and arranging a way to taunt someone. I don’t know why you bother trying to deduce anything.”
Tsujimura bristles. Sure she’s not a super genius like Ayatsuji, but she’s a capable detective in her own right, and she’s better at plenty of things than he is, like…
“…They like you,” she says under her breath.
Now Ayatsuji turns to face her, raising an eyebrow. “Hm?”
“They like you.” She raises her voice: it’s a deduction she can put confidence behind, for once. “They’re making these cases specifically for you as gifts. You wouldn’t care if you were sent flowers or chocolate, but you like interesting cases.”
He falls silent for a minute, mulling that over while Tsujimura silently celebrates having come up with something that the great Ayatsuji didn’t think of.
“What sort of madman,” he says at last, “woos people with murders?”
She shrugs. “The sort of ‘demon’ you’ve always said they were? You’re the one who says I need to get into the heads of murderers to be better at catching them.”
“It wasn’t a denial of your theory.” He turns away again.
She’ll take that as as close to a ‘good job’ as she’ll ever get from him.
Gifts have meaning and significance. The language of flowers is well-known and respected. A man can determine the type of feelings a woman has for him by the chocolate he receives from her on Valentine’s Day.
What, then, are the meanings of murder cases presented as gifts? There is no guide in any book of etiquette that Kyogoku has read, though admittedly, he has not read all that many.
Do cases in Ayatsuji’s childhood home suggest that Kyogoku sees him as a child? Nothing could be further from the truth. No man or woman has ever earned Kyogoku’s respect and adoration as much as he. …Two such cases within a few months would be pushing it. Best to move elsewhere.
Then, something else with dolls? An excuse to admire another museum or shop would be welcome… but the last time he went that avenue, some dolls were damaged during the murder, and Ayatsuji was unhappy over that. Kyogoku’s suggestions are powerful enough to drive a man to kill, but not powerful enough to prevent any collateral damage.
Not the Special Ability Department again. Ayatsuji prefers to see his coworkers as little as possible, whether they’re alive or dead. Kyogoku, hardly a social butterfly himself, will gladly oblige him on that.
Perhaps something with chocolate or flowers would make his feelings more clear… but for Ayatsuji to enjoy them at all, the case itself would have to be especially complex. Chocolate and flowers in themselves hold little appeal.
Kyogoku strokes his chin. He does know a few troubled people working at a Dars factory…
“Are you going to eat all of those?” Tsujimura asks. “We aren’t supposed to accept gifts for solving cases, but since you took them anyway, it’d be kind of a waste…”
Scowling, Ayatsuji pushes the box of chocolate into her hands. “Help yourself.”
“Thanks.” Tsujimura immediately pops one chocolate into her mouth. After chewing, she asks, “Why did you take it if you weren’t going to eat it?”
“According to your theory of these cases being gifts for me,” Ayatsuji says, “this chocolate is also a gift from the true culprit. Maybe the civilian was well-intentioned and had no idea, but the mastermind arranged for the murder to take place here for a specific reason. I have no desire to consume anything a criminal gives me, whether they are the one to hand it to me or not.”
“…But you insisted on taking it even when I told you not to…”
“You said I wasn’t allowed to. You should know better than to tell me that.” This would be more convincing as a reason if Ayatsuji didn’t suddenly turn away before saying it.
Tsujimura isn’t sure if she should find this cute or not.
Only about two weeks later, just outside of a florist:
“…I didn’t say anything this time, and you still took the flowers.”
“I know. I much preferred it when you weren’t talking.”
The rice lilies end up in a simple vase tucked into the corner of Ayatsuji’s creepy doll basement. Tsujimura finds them days later, still showing no signs of wilting.
She doubts that the mastermind could have arranged for the specific type of flowers an uninvolved party would give Ayatsuji in gratitude - more likely they were flowers that wouldn’t sell and wouldn’t be missed at the shop - but she takes note of the flower’s meaning anyway. Rice lily, as much for love as it is for a curse.
It’s not cute, but it suits the two of them.
Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs Gaiden
Character(s): Tsujimura, Ayatsuji, Kyougoku
Pairing(s): Kyougoku/Ayatsuji
Genre: Dark/Fluff
Word Count: 1,000
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Offscreen minor character death
Summary: Tsujimura has a theory about why all of Ayatsuji's cases lately seem to be related to him.
Notes: For a commission! Dark fluff is a genre now.
“Do you ever think,” Tsujimura asks, “that the mastermind is calling you out, specifically?”
Ayatsuji doesn’t even look over at her, continuing to sip his coffee instead. “State your reasoning.”
“Well…” She starts to count on her fingers. “Yesterday we had that case with the doll museum curator as the culprit. A couple weeks ago there was a case in your hometown, in the same block as your old house. A month before that, someone was incited to burn down a factory of your favorite coffee brand… And before that there was the incident in the special ability department. One or two might be a coincidence, but there’s no way all of these would happen in a row without it being related to you somehow!”
“And in this theory of yours, what is the motive for trying to get my attention?” he replies. “The mastermind clearly already has it as much as any culprit can.”
That’s something most people can’t say, culprit or not, Tsujimura thinks. She almost wants to say they should consider himself lucky, except for the part where they’ll die when Ayatsuji catches them. That part isn’t so lucky.
“Aren’t they taunting you?” she asks.
Ayatsuji scoffs. “Far from it. No one puts that much effort into researching and arranging a way to taunt someone. I don’t know why you bother trying to deduce anything.”
Tsujimura bristles. Sure she’s not a super genius like Ayatsuji, but she’s a capable detective in her own right, and she’s better at plenty of things than he is, like…
“…They like you,” she says under her breath.
Now Ayatsuji turns to face her, raising an eyebrow. “Hm?”
“They like you.” She raises her voice: it’s a deduction she can put confidence behind, for once. “They’re making these cases specifically for you as gifts. You wouldn’t care if you were sent flowers or chocolate, but you like interesting cases.”
He falls silent for a minute, mulling that over while Tsujimura silently celebrates having come up with something that the great Ayatsuji didn’t think of.
“What sort of madman,” he says at last, “woos people with murders?”
She shrugs. “The sort of ‘demon’ you’ve always said they were? You’re the one who says I need to get into the heads of murderers to be better at catching them.”
“It wasn’t a denial of your theory.” He turns away again.
She’ll take that as as close to a ‘good job’ as she’ll ever get from him.
Gifts have meaning and significance. The language of flowers is well-known and respected. A man can determine the type of feelings a woman has for him by the chocolate he receives from her on Valentine’s Day.
What, then, are the meanings of murder cases presented as gifts? There is no guide in any book of etiquette that Kyogoku has read, though admittedly, he has not read all that many.
Do cases in Ayatsuji’s childhood home suggest that Kyogoku sees him as a child? Nothing could be further from the truth. No man or woman has ever earned Kyogoku’s respect and adoration as much as he. …Two such cases within a few months would be pushing it. Best to move elsewhere.
Then, something else with dolls? An excuse to admire another museum or shop would be welcome… but the last time he went that avenue, some dolls were damaged during the murder, and Ayatsuji was unhappy over that. Kyogoku’s suggestions are powerful enough to drive a man to kill, but not powerful enough to prevent any collateral damage.
Not the Special Ability Department again. Ayatsuji prefers to see his coworkers as little as possible, whether they’re alive or dead. Kyogoku, hardly a social butterfly himself, will gladly oblige him on that.
Perhaps something with chocolate or flowers would make his feelings more clear… but for Ayatsuji to enjoy them at all, the case itself would have to be especially complex. Chocolate and flowers in themselves hold little appeal.
Kyogoku strokes his chin. He does know a few troubled people working at a Dars factory…
“Are you going to eat all of those?” Tsujimura asks. “We aren’t supposed to accept gifts for solving cases, but since you took them anyway, it’d be kind of a waste…”
Scowling, Ayatsuji pushes the box of chocolate into her hands. “Help yourself.”
“Thanks.” Tsujimura immediately pops one chocolate into her mouth. After chewing, she asks, “Why did you take it if you weren’t going to eat it?”
“According to your theory of these cases being gifts for me,” Ayatsuji says, “this chocolate is also a gift from the true culprit. Maybe the civilian was well-intentioned and had no idea, but the mastermind arranged for the murder to take place here for a specific reason. I have no desire to consume anything a criminal gives me, whether they are the one to hand it to me or not.”
“…But you insisted on taking it even when I told you not to…”
“You said I wasn’t allowed to. You should know better than to tell me that.” This would be more convincing as a reason if Ayatsuji didn’t suddenly turn away before saying it.
Tsujimura isn’t sure if she should find this cute or not.
Only about two weeks later, just outside of a florist:
“…I didn’t say anything this time, and you still took the flowers.”
“I know. I much preferred it when you weren’t talking.”
The rice lilies end up in a simple vase tucked into the corner of Ayatsuji’s creepy doll basement. Tsujimura finds them days later, still showing no signs of wilting.
She doubts that the mastermind could have arranged for the specific type of flowers an uninvolved party would give Ayatsuji in gratitude - more likely they were flowers that wouldn’t sell and wouldn’t be missed at the shop - but she takes note of the flower’s meaning anyway. Rice lily, as much for love as it is for a curse.
It’s not cute, but it suits the two of them.