Archive of Our Own

Something weird was going on. Sara was sure of it.

She stared down at the floor, lost in thought as she gently tapped her foot against the carpet of the second story lobby.
… Where on earth is Keiji?

Sara looked at the clock on the wall, frowning. It was already 15 minutes past five. She huffed and crossed her arms. Finally, after almost 20 minutes, footsteps rang out behind her and she turned to face the older man.
“It’s rude to keep someone waiting, Keiji. I almost…”

Sara paused, flicking her eyes up and down as she observed Keiji. His hair was mussed worse than usual, strands pushed to the back of his head like he had been running his fingers through the blonde. His chest was moving more than usual as he breathed, like he had just recently worked out. A bruise was blooming near his collarbone. Sara gasped.

“...Hey Sara, sorry, I ended up falling aslee-” “Keiji! Oh my god, are you alright?”

Keiji swallowed and scratched at the back of his neck, a nervous tic he could normally pass off as thoughtful.
“...I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

Sara frowned, approaching him and pointing at his collarbone, not quite touching the bruise. “You have a big bruise right here. Did you fall? If it hurts, we can go see if Safalin has something for it.”

Keiji stiffened, shoulders tightening. He laughed, a nervous edge to it.
“Oh, no. I… tripped during one of the harder attractions. Doesn’t hurt at all.” He seemed to recover and set his hands on his hips, smiling in the half lidded way he always did.
“Now, why’d you call me? Mr. Policeman is here to help.”

Sara pursed her lips at the obvious dodging of the subject, but sighed and crossed her arms.

He’d tell me if it was something terrible, right?

“...Alright, if you say so. I wanted to get your help on this attraction…”

Keiji seemed to relax over time as he helped Sara, leaning down to whisper the opponent's card to her as she focused. They won with ease, and Sara handed him a clear chip, walking down the corridor alongside the other.

“Thank you so much for helping me out, Keiji. I would have done a lot worse without your detective skills." She said, smiling at him. Keiji sent back a leisurely grin of his own, going to pocket the clear chip.

“Ah, I find that hard to believe. You aren’t a bad detective yourself, Sar…” He paused, stopping in his tracks. His hand clenched in his pocket. Sara stopped as well, turning to face him, brows furrowed worryingly.

“...Keiji? Are you alright?”

Keiji blinked slowly, clearly not hearing her. Sara watched, mesmerized, as his cool exterior seemed to crack for a moment and he…
Blushed?

It sounded impossible, but there was definitely a red hue spreading over the others cheeks. He coughed roughly and started moving again, leaving a dumbfounded Sara to rush to catch up.

“Um, what was that?”
“...What was what?”

Sara narrowed her eyes. “That. I have never seen you blush before.” She huffed. “What’s going on? You’ve been so weird lately.”

Keiji blinked, and he averted his eyes from the other with a casual grin that was decidedly not casual. "That's kinda rude, Sara. I'm fine." He glanced up at the clock in the corridor.
"We should hurry. We're late for dinner."

Sara frowned as he walked away, standing her ground and pointing at the other.
"Don't think this conversation is over, Keiji!" She yelled.
Keiji's answering chuckle rang through the hall, and Sara sighed before running to catch up with him. They were actually late for dinner, after all.

They were a little more than late, ending up as the last ones walking in.

But no one even turned to greet them.

Everyone was crowded around one chair, talking. Kanna was absolutely beaming while Gin scrunched up his nose, Reko with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed, standing protectively behind an animated Nao. Q-Taro was scratching the back of his head with one hand, the other holding his hat, looking confused. Alice was squinting hard at something, observing it with a harsh eye before he spoke.

"...It really is natural. I can't see any roots at all."
Nao gasped excitedly. "Seriously? Wow! How do you keep it so bright?"

Sara frowned, tilting her head. I can see everyone else, so they must be crowded around… Sou? Seriously?
She raised her eyebrows and looked at Keiji, but he had inhaled sharply and… yeah, she wasn't sure if he had exhaled at all yet. A voice cut through the chatter, familiar, but tinged with a flustered tone that she hadn't ever heard before.
"I-I don't know, shampoo? It's just always been like this? Seriously, it's not a big deal, I just." Sou paused. "...Misplaced my beanie."

Sara's eyebrows shot up, and she spoke without thinking.
"Really? How? I thought that thing was super glued to your head."

The group turned to face her, most of them waving or calling hello. She walked closer and circled the chair with Keiji, stopping in her tracks as the man came into view. Sou looked distinctly uncomfortable with the beanie off, his hair endearingly messy. He was speaking decidedly into his scarf, his cheeks red.

Sara would absolutely never tell a soul this, but this version of Sou was kinda…

"Cute…" Keiji murmured from next to her, eyes wide. She and Sou stiffened at the same time, his face flushing a deep scarlet while Sara turned to look incredulously at the blond man. Keiji seemed to realize he had spoken out loud, and snapped his mouth closed. It seemed like only Sara and Sou had heard the comment, the others still having a conversation.

Sara stared Keiji down as the other avoided her eyes, looking to the side. She opened her mouth to speak but was abruptly cut off by him.

"Alright, this is very interesting, of course, but our food's getting cold and I don't think Ranger cares enough to heat it back up for us." Keiji raised his voice to be heard, and the others muttered and nodded to themselves, taking their seats. Sara turned to sit down as well, but glanced back just in time to see an exchange that only gave her more questions than answers.

Keiji had sent a questioning look at Sou, and the other man pulled his scarf down to smile at him. It was a smile Sara had never seen on Sou before, entirely different from the fake grins and infuriating smirks. Keiji smiled back down in response, looked around to make sure no one was watching- somehow missing Sara's eyes entirely- before bending down slightly to push a lock of Sou's hair behind his ear, lightly cupping the others cheek. Sou froze and turned bright red, before scoffing and reaching to slap at Keiji's chest.

"Go eat your dinner, Mr. Policeman." He hissed under his breath, rolling his eyes in a way that was far more fond than annoyed. Keiji chuckled, and Sara whipped her head back around and sat down at the table before he could turn to see her watching.

What the hell. What the hell. What the hell. What the hell.

She tightened her grip on her fork, staring down at her plate. Her face pinched together, she looked up to meet Keiji's eye as he sat down next to her. His easy smile turned a little strained at the clear warning in her eyes.
We are talking about this.

They didn't talk about it.
As soon as Sara had finished her dinner, Gin had bounded up to her and asked if she could play with him. Sara bit her lip. She really did need to talk to Keiji, but…

"...Of course I'll play with you, Gin. Lead the way."
"Yay! Thank you so much big sis Sara, meow! This is gonna be so much fun, woof!"

As she was led away from the table, she turned to face Keiji, trying to tell him to meet her later. But he was already gone. A frown crossed her face before she was easily distracted by her younger playmate.

Feeling tired but satisfied from her game of tag with Gin, Sara moved down the hallway towards her room. It was night time, and the lights were off in all the rooms as she walked by. Hesitant, she stopped in front of Keiji's and looked at the crack under the door. A small bit of light shone from it, but not enough to tell if he was awake or had fallen asleep with the bedside lamp on. Sara pressed her lips together, deciding to continue the conversation tomorrow. She turned on her heel to walk towards her room.

And froze.

Keiji's voice was audible through the door. She went to grab the doorknob, but faltered and held back a gasp as a different voice joined his.

...What?

"You're sure this will work?" That was definitely Keiji...
"Positive. How could it not? It was my idea, after all." …But who was that?
"That almost guarantees it won't work." …
"You're such a dick. My plans work. And this one will, too." …?

Was that Sou?

Sara covered her mouth in shock as the voice connected in her head. Why was Sou in Keiji's room at 10 pm? What plan were they talking about?
...Why hasn't Keiji told me anything about this?

There was a lull in conversation, and Sara could hear faint shuffling, muttering, and what sounded like… laughter? That can't be right, she mused.
When the conversation started again, the voices sounded slightly farther away, like they had changed positions in the room.

"...Sara is getting suspicious. I was really late to meeting her."

What?

Sou's voice tensed. "You can't tell her."
Keiji made what sounded like a soft shushing noise. Sara held her breath.

"I know. I won't."

The breath rushed out of her in one go, and she turned and ran the rest of the way to her room without even thinking about it, eyes stinging.

...He doesn't trust me. He teams up with Sou and doesn't tell me, and they have a plan that he won't tell me.

He really doesn't trust me at all.

Her door slammed behind her.

Sara couldn't sleep.
She could feel something cold crawling down her spine. Something that felt like... betrayal? She frowned. There wasn't anything to feel betrayed about. It's not like there's a "don't team up with Sou" clause on being friends with her.

...But she kinda felt like it went unsaid with Keiji. That they were a team. Sara and Keiji. Keiji and Sara. And that if he was going to plan with someone else, he should at least tell her. So why didn't he?

The thought burrowed into her brain and sent its roots through, sucking every bad thought to the surface just like-

Don't think it. Don't think it. Don't think it.

...Hallucinations stayed at 20.

She breathed out sharply, fists clenching her blanket. She needed to think logically about this. What were the facts?

Fact: Keiji has been acting weird lately. He's been late to meetings with her for the first time ever, instead of early enough to make her feel late despite getting there at the exact agreed on time.

Fact: Keiji was late to their most recent meeting because of Sou. And Sou was likely the reason for the other’s tardiness on all accounts.

Fact: Keiji and Sou were planning something. It was Sou's idea. It can be deduced that the times he was with Sou that made him late to meet her was when they hashed out this plan.

Fact: Sou didn't want her to know about the plan.

Fact: ...Keiji wasn't making any objections to that.

Sara gritted her teeth and threw an arm over her eyes.
… Fact: The plan must not involve me. That's why they don't want me to know anything. She felt a warmth behind her eyes build. Desperately, she squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself not to cry, turning over and curling up in the blankets.

Maybe it's not that bad. (it is.)
Maybe he has a reason for not telling me. (he does! he doesn't trust you, sara. who would, after you let the one person who trusted you the most die.)
...I'll talk to him tomorrow.
(i'll be waiting.)

Breakfast was quiet.
Neither Keiji or Sou had shown up yet, and those who had were sending her concerned glances. Sara supposed that was fair- she probably looked about as good as she felt. She sighed and poked at her omelette disinterestedly.

"You found it!"

Sara raised her head to the source, finding Kanna beaming up at Sou, who was once more wearing his usual beanie.

"Yeah. Just fell under my bed. Found it last night."

Her fork slipped, making a terrible screeching noise. Multiple people turned to look at her, and Sara smiled sheepishly at them, setting the utensil down. Inside, her mind was racing.

...You weren't in your room last night, Sou. Why are you lying about something like this?

She felt the bits of omelette she could stomach threaten a reappearance, and she sipped her water. She wasn't sure how long it had been before a shadow fell over her and she glanced up, freezing at the sight of Keiji standing over her. He was frowning gently, hands on his hips.
She swallowed.
Be cool. Be cool.

"...Good morning, Keiji."
"Did you sleep last night?"

She paused as the other sat down next to her, looking at her critically. Sara smiled at him, but it was definitely strained. Keiji furrowed his brow, worried.

"...You should nap today."
"Yeah, I will. I was just about to go try and sleep a little. Maybe a full stomach will make me more tired." She stood up. Now's your chance. "Oh, yeah, Sou told me to give this to you when you came out for breakfast, since he was here way earlier than you." She held out a folded piece of paper. Keiji's eyes widened almost unnoticeably, and he took the paper.

"...Oh. Thank you."
"No problem. I'll see you later."

Sara turned and started down the hallway, glancing around for prying eyes. Finding none, she kneeled in front of Sou's door and slipped a similar piece of paper under it, before standing and rushing to her room. She closed the door behind her and leaned on it. Sara rubbed her eyes.

...No way I can sleep now. I just have to wait it out.

Sara blinked slowly. She was really starting to regret trying to mastermind a meeting where the two would have to tell her the truth as she hit her 39th consecutive hour of being awake. Sighing, she spun around in the chair seated in the hidden room, glancing out at the clock in the hallway.

...You've got to be kidding me.

It was thirty minutes past the time she had written on the papers, and neither of them had so much as shown their face. She slouched down in the seat, smacked a palm against her forehead, and groaned.
"...Sara?"

Straightening her back, she spun the chair to face the opening of the room. Keiji stood there, looking concerned. Sou peeked out from behind him, and upon seeing Sara, pushed the other forward so all three were in the room. Keiji crossed his arms.

"Did you ever sleep?"
Sara blinked. Damn you and your dad instincts, Keiji. Sou snorted into his scarf, and Keiji turned a flat eyed stare to him. The shorter one threw his hands up in mock surrender.

"Sorry. Extremely tired Miss Sara is kind of hilarious."
...He's probably right. I bet I look stupid. Maybe… Maybe they think I am stupid, and that's why they won't tell me their plan… Do they think I'll mess everything up?

"...Sara?" Keiji called her name, and she looked up at him. By his tone of voice, it wasn't the first time he had said her name. She sniffed.
"Sara, what's going on? Why'd you need me and Sou here?" Keiji rubbed the back of his neck. Sara pressed her fists against her eyes, regaining some energy, before answering.

"I heard you two. Last night."

They froze. Sou turned bright red and tugged his beanie down, burrowing his face into his scarf and avoiding eye contact with the younger girl. Keiji swallowed, and shifted his legs uncomfortably.
"...What do you… mean?" He asked, and the other man made a choked off noise and glared at Keiji like he was deeply offended by the question.

"I heard you two planning. What's going on?" She crossed her arms. "I can't tolerate any more secrets. We have to work together. If you two came up with some idea, I would have really hoped at least you-" She narrowed her eyes at Keiji, hurt. "-would have come to me. So this is the time for you two to start talking. If you have some kind of plan for escape or for the main game, I want to know."

The two of them stared at her. Keiji's mouth had parted, and he covered it with his hand, looking away.
…Why is he blushing?

"Holy shit." The newly pink-faced detective muttered into his hand. Sou just blinked at her, looking like he was still processing what she had just said. Sara frowned.
I feel like I'm missing something.

Sou seemed to finally catch up and shook his head wildly, glancing to the side at Keiji. He grabbed the others sleeve and pulled him down. Sara watched, dumbfounded, as Keiji not only let himself be manhandled by the other man, but just listened and nodded as the shorter one hissed into his ear. Her brain started working again near the end of their hushed but still audible conversation, catching the very last words of it.

"So she thinks...?"
"Yeah."
"But. We weren't?"
"Nope."
"It was…"
"Mhm."
"She didn't…"
"No, don't think so."

Sou blinked. He managed to nod, before dissolving into snickers. He let go of the others sleeve to pull his scarf up, laughing into it. Sara narrowed her eyes.

"...What. What's so funny?" She demanded, feeling lost as Sou leaned on some rubble, laughing so hard he was making little snorting noises. Keiji seemed distracted, staring at the other boy as he laughed with an expression Sara couldn't recognize, before he shook his head a little and scratched the back of his neck.

"Sara. It's… really not what you think."

Sara gritted her teeth. "Then what is it?" She growled. Keiji shifted on his feet as Sou's laughter abruptly cut. They exchanged a glance, and the way they seemed to communicate without words only made Sara angrier. She threw up her hands.

"What the hell is even happening with you two? Can I get a coherent answer from someone?" Sara asked harshly, glaring Keiji down. In response, Keiji relaxed his shoulders as his eyes lidded, his normal cool nonchalance returning.

"...I'm sorry, Sara, but it's not my place to say. What I can tell you is that we aren't planning anything, much less anything related to escape. But if we were, you'd be the first to know." Keiji spoke up, looking directly at the younger girl. Sara felt her anger start to deflate as she met the others eyes, seeing the genuine emotion shining through the grey. She sighed uncomfortably.

"...No, I mean, its fine. I just felt so… stupid." Keiji opened his mouth to interject, but Sou grabbed his arm with a meaningful look. Sara glanced between the two and continued.
"I felt stupid and useless and like you didn't trust me at all. Which is barely even fair of me to be mad about, we are in a death game, so not trusting the people around you is probably the most logical thing to do, but…" She shifted her feet. "... I thought we had some kind of bond. Like we were a team. And I wanted you to trust me like that." She took a deep breath, wiped at her eyes, and stood up, looking at Keiji. Sou glanced between the two and let go of the other’s arm, and slinked back to the corner of the room to give them space.

"I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions. If you aren't ready to tell me what's going on, that's okay. I trust you. I hope that I can become someone who you can trust, too." Sara looked determinedly up at Keiji, jaw set. Keiji's mouth parted, and he watched her with wide eyes. Slowly, a smile spread across his face. He looked proud.

"...You don't need to become someone I can trust. You already are that someone."

Sara blinked and swallowed, feeling a familiar sting behind her eyes. A smile to match Keiji's appeared on her face, shaky but genuine. Keiji held open his arms in invitation, and Sara felt pure relief fill her. She rushed forward, gripping his torso. She felt the other hold her tightly, pressing a kiss against the top of her head as she cried into his vest.

After a long moment, Sara pulled away from the hug, smiling up at Keiji. He looked down at her softly, eyes warm and genuine. Suddenly, there was a groan from behind her, and she turned to face Sou, who had started to tug at his teal locks with a deep frown, though his cheeks were dusted red. Sara pursed her lips and looked over to Keiji. As much as she respected what he had said…
She still wasn't sure where Sou fit into this.

"What?" She asked, sounding accusatory without meaning to. Sou didn't even rise to the bait, though, and just fiddled with the edge of his scarf and squinted at the two, seemingly at war with himself. He looked down at the floor and then back up, meeting her eyes searchingly. Sara had no idea what he was looking for or if he found it before his eyes flicked to meet Keiji's and his movements slowed, becoming more relaxed as his face smoothed out. He sighed, before pulling down his scarf some so more of his face was visible. He met Sara's gaze. She only stared back challengingly.

What's happening here? Is he mad that Keiji told me something? Last night, he said it was his ide… Wait.
If they aren't planning anything… Why was Sou in Keiji's room?

Her eyes widened as the thought finally hit her, and she glanced between the two, confused. Last she had checked, they were entirely antagonistic- Keiji was as tired of Sou as she was. So why were they talking at all, if not for a plan?
Keiji watched her brows furrow, already able to follow her train of thought. He sighed a little, opening his mouth to speak.

"...Sara-"
"You can tell her."

Both Keiji and Sara stopped in their tracks. Sara looked back and forth between the two, watching Sou's determined expression and the spark of… something that she'd never seen before in Keiji's eyes.
"...Tell me what?"
Keiji opened and closed his mouth a few times, thinking over what he was going to say.

"Are you sure?" He finally settled on. Sara crossed her arms at the abandonment of what was, in her opinion, a very understandable question. Sou shrugged a little and averted his eyes.
"I mean, she's already suspicious. And if it…" He scratched at his cheek, face flushed red. "...Makes you happy, then I'm fine with it."

Sara blinked incredulously. What the hell is going on? Since when had Sou started caring about the happiness of other people, much less specifically Keiji's? Keiji glanced over at her before beckoning the man in question over. Sara took an impulsive step back in shock. Sou rolled his eyes and crossed the room, reintegrating into the group. Keiji stared him down, and Sou shifted his feet before grabbing a grey sleeve and tugging the other man down to mutter to him.
He spoke so quietly she almost didn't catch it.

Almost.

"...I know it would make you really happy. And I just really want to see your smile more often." Sou spoke under his breath with an embarrassed tone, before letting go of the others sleeve and pushing him away by the chest.

...Oh my god.

Everything started to click.

Sara gasped out loud and pointed at the two, mouth open with no sound coming out. Her jaw worked uselessly for a second before she managed to speak. The two exchanged a look as her brain shut down and rebooted.

"Seriously?!" She sputtered.
"Seriously." Keiji answered, a slow grin starting to spread across his face.
Sara paused, processing. "...Seriously seriously?"
"Seriously seriously." Both men answered in sync, Keiji with a fond tone as Sou rolled his eyes.

Sara let her hand drop limply, mouth open.
"...How?"

The two observed each other, and then Sara, in terrifying unison. Keiji shrugged.
"I'm irresistible."
Sou snorted before he could stop himself, tugging his scarf up to muffle it. Keiji grinned at him larger than Sara had ever seen him smile, and the two sidled up next to each other with an unexpected familiarity, Sou leaning into the taller man as Keiji wrapped an arm around his waist comfortably. Sara just blinked.

"... This is really weird." She muttered to herself, narrowing her eyes and tapping her chin with a finger in thought. As she looked over the other two, she noticed a hint of something - Anxiety? Fear? - flash through Sou's eyes, and Keiji tightened his grip protectively. Sara softened immediately.

...They were really worried to tell me, huh…

"Kind of a bad situation to fall in love in, guys." She teased, grinning a little. "...But as long as you're both happy, then… Thank you for telling me." She beamed. Sou turned his head to huff a sigh of relief into Keiji's chest, and Keiji smiled gently at Sara, eyes full of gratitude.

Sara just smiled back.
...I think I get it.

Now that she knew, it was so obvious that it was shocking no one else had figured it out. There's really only so many times that two people can disappear and reappear at the same times before people started suspecting something, she thought.

But apparently not.
Sara sipped her glass of water and looked around the dinner table. Sou and Keiji had been placed purposefully far away from each other- which Sara supported, but likely for different reasons than the rest of the group. A lot of the others were worried Sou would try and provoke the blonde boy, so they separated them in hopes of avoiding conflict during mealtimes. Sara was thankful they were separated for a different reason entirely- she knew those bastards took footsie way too seriously. Her shin still ached a little from being caught in the crossfire. But it wouldn't have mattered anyway; they were both late, almost 30 minutes late now. Reko groaned from where she sat.

"Seriously? I could've seen this coming from beanie guy, but not Keiji. Fuckin' annoying. Let's just start without them, I'm hungry." She stated, head propped up by her elbows. Gin made a noise of assent, but Kanna frowned.
"T-They aren't normally late, either of them… Do you think they got stuck in an attraction?"

Sara snorted into her cup. Yeah, they got caught in some kind of attraction, I bet. She shook her head and stood up.
"I'll go check for them. You guys can probably start without us." She said, waving a hand. Without any objections, Sara started down the hallway. She cupped her ear and pressed it against Keiji's door, hearing shuffling inside. Standing back with a smirk, she cracked her knuckles, brought a leg up and kicked the door open dramatically, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed as she observed the scene in front of her.

The two had frozen in their movements, but it was obvious what they had been doing. Keiji was sitting against the headboard of the bed with Sou straddling him, planted into his lap. The shorter man had lost his beanie and scarf- Sara saw them flung to the corner of the room- and his jacket was hung on top of the headboard, leaving him in only a long sleeved shirt and jeans, by far the most casual looking he'd been the many days they'd been here. Keiji's vest had been unbuttoned and shucked off of his shoulders, pooling around his elbows where he was gripping Sou's waist. Sou had his arms around the others shoulders, and he stared at Sara's smug grin for only a moment before groaning and hiding his head in Keiji's chest. The movement revealed spots of color darkening along the pulse of his neck. Keiji, somehow retaining composure, nodded at her.

"...What's up?"
Sara laughed a little. "You guys are gross. It's 7:30 and you're super late for dinner. I came to get you because I had the feeling that it was something like this-" she gestured at the scene "-keeping you."

Sou swore and climbed off the others lap, grabbing his jacket from the headboard.
"Dammit. I told Kanna I'd help her with an attraction after she finished eating tonight." He slipped the jacket on, looking around the room for his other accessories. Keiji stood up and stretched, before grabbing the others beanie and scarf from the chair they had landed on. He wrapped the scarf around Sou's neck and pocketed the beanie. Sou made an offended noise, and Keiji just winked in response.

"You look cute with it off." He stated matter of factly. Sou flushed bright red, rolled his eyes with a grin, and pulled the other down by his collar to kiss him once more. He dashed out of the room with a quick 'see you later, Miss Sara!'
Keiji watched fondly as the other boy left, rubbing the back of his neck. He cocked a brow at Sara as she stared at him.

"What?"
Sara shook her head, smiling. "It's nothing. You… look really happy." She stated. Keiji grinned at her in his usual half-lidded fashion, slipping his vest on.

"I am."

He ruffled her hair as he left the room, leaving Sara to squawk in offense as she attempted to fix her braids while staying in stride with the taller man. She blew out of the side of her mouth, watching how a strand of hair danced in the breath. She looked to her other side, then, and observed how Keiji's shoulders were lax, his eyes brighter, and how even the bags that seemed permanently attached to his face were fading in intensity.

Sara smiled.

Yeah. I get it.