Chapter Text
“Are you sure you don’t want to reschedule the wedding?”
Nikolai let out a sigh. “We should, huh?”
A couple of days had passed since the accident, and Fyodor had finally returned to his home. Still, he wasn’t as fit as he was before, naturally, and it would take a while for his body to heal completely. Still, Fyodor was adamant on not rescheduling.
“I know this is important to you…” Sigma set down the cups of tea. “What do you think you two are going to do?”
Nikolai shrugged as he set down his arms on the kitchen table, and buried his face in them. “Fyodor doesn’t want to push back.”
“Do you think he’ll be healthy enough?”
“I don’t know.” Nikolai sighed. “He’s insistant, and I don’t feel like arguing with him.”
Sigma nodded. “Well, either way, you two shouldn’t stop your preparations. You don’t have a suit yet, do you?”
“No,” Nikolai said. “You said you’d go with me, right?”
“Of course.” Sigma smiled. “But that should wrap up all of the major things you two have to prepare, right?”
“Pretty much.” Most of the things had been long wrapped up for them - the location, the invitations, the cake… Nikolai still had a lot to think about. He hadn’t finished his vow yet, and he still didn’t know how he wanted to look on his wedding day. He knew Fyodor would love to see both of his eyes, but Nikolai wasn’t sure he had it in him.
It was his special day too, after all.
“Let’s make an appointment soon,” Sigma said. “We should have gotten around to that much earlier.”
“I know…”
“I mean, it is kind of understandable,” Sigma sighed. “It’s a lot of money to spend for a student.”
Well, it really wasn’t that much money for Nikolai. Of course, Sigma didn’t know that. This was probably the best time to break the news. Nikolai had avoided that topic for a while - mainly because that would raise the question of why Nikolai didn’t get his own apartment. And in no way did Nikolai want to admit that he was just very, very lonely.
“About that…” Nikolai cleared his throat. “I… have a confession. I don’t want to keep dumb secrets from my best friend anymore…”
Sigma nodded. “I’m listening,” he said. “Take your time.”
“Okay, so…” Nikolai let out a sigh. “I’m not broke… Not at all… Those plays and compositions and the stage plays… They pay well. Really well, actually.”
“I… should have guessed that.” Sigma scratched his head. “Your clothes are usually really nice, and the way you and Fyodor have been buying furniture and all that…”
“I’m also not stupid…”
Sigma raised his eyebrows. “... Yeah. You study. Of course you’re not stupid.”
“Yes, yes, but… Even beyond that, I downplay myself a lot… Like, I play instruments, compose, and write entire musicals… I make it sound like I just do it on the side, because I do, but it’s a lot of work.”
“That… makes sense.” Sigma chuckled. “I think I haven’t been paying enough attention to you. Why don’t you tell me a bit about what it is that you do? What kind of instruments do you play?”
Nikolai squirmed in his seat. He didn’t expect follow-up questions… “Well, I play the piano mostly while at school, but I used to own a guitar, and a violin, and-” Nikolai was interrupted by his phone ringing. Last time his phone rang, bad things ensued, so he and Sigma just kind of stared at it.
“You should pick up.”
“No.”
“Nikolai…”
With a sigh, Nikolai accepted the call from the unknown number. “Hello?”
On the other end was a male voice introducing itself: “Good day, this is Detective Minoura. Am I speaking to Nikolai Gogol?”
“Detective..? Uh, yeah, this is me. Can I help you?”
“We are currently investigating a matter that you might have some important intel on,” Detective Minoura explained. “Would you mind paying us a visit? We have a couple of questions.”
Nikolai scratched his head. “I can do that,” he said. “I will see you around then… thanks for the call.” He hung up the call and sighed. “They’re finally pinning me for all my crimes.”
“What?” Sigma’s voice hitched. “What did you do?”
“I’m just messing around,” Nikolai chuckled. “I don’t think they’re out for me. Maybe it has something to do with the accident?”
“Could be,” Sigma said. “I’ll come with you. Just in case it is something worse.”
The two left their cups of tea on the table before heading downtown, where the police department waited for them. Nikolai had been there a couple of times before when he was younger. He had had a couple of run-ins with the law when he was a lot less mature. Or maybe he got better at not getting caught messing around.
Ever since he became friends with Sigma, he mellowed out quite a lot. While he did try to drag Sigma into his shenanigans, Sigma was a responsible young adult - a lot more mature than Nikolai was when he was Sigma’s age. That probably came with his occupation. Sigma didn’t have the freedom to mess around, he was a business owner worth quite a lot of money.
The two walked inside and were quickly separated. Nikolai was led to an office and was told to sit down. For a while, he sat there in silence before a man finally entered as well.
“Thank you for coming,” the man said. “My name is Detective Minoura. I have a couple questions regarding one of our recent investigations.” Detective Minoura sat down and opened his file. “We talked to your fiancé about a recent car accident he has been in. Say, do you know a man named Hiroto Hasegawa?”
Nikolai crossed his arms. “Yes… Why?”
“What’s your relation to Mr Hasegawa?”
“We…” Nikolai cleared his throat. “We were engaged for a couple of years.”
Minoura nodded. “Were you aware that he was also involved in that accident?”
“What?” Nikolai straightened up. “Well… why exactly is this a matter of the police?”
“Given that Mr Hasegawa crashed straight into the car of your fiancé, we just want to make sure this incident wasn’t of any sort of criminal intent.”
Nikolai wasn’t sure he heard correctly. “Criminal intent?” he asked. “As in, caused the accident on purpose?”
“That is what we’re investigating, yes.”
There was a moment of silence. Was the detective serious? Sure, Nikolai and Hiroto weren’t on good terms, but…
“I’m sorry that I have to ask you this bluntly…” Minoura sighed. “Has Mr Hasegawa ever shown violent tendencies in the past?”
“No!” Nikolai answered. “He’s a lot of things, but he’s not violent.”
Minoura nodded. “Does your fiancé know him?”
“Uhm…” Nikolai wasn’t too sure, actually. “Well, I’ve never introduced them to each other. I’m pretty sure they only know of each other from other people.”
Minoura nodded once more and wrote something down on his notepad. “When was the last time you and Mr Hasegawa spoke last?”
“Maybe a week? I happened to walk by him.”
“On what terms did you two leave that conversation?”
Bad ones. Probably as bad as things could be. “I would say it went about as well as you’d expect, considering he kicked me out of our apartment.”
“Was he possessive or jealous in the past?”
“Not really…” Nikolai shrugged. “Not more than you’d expect, I think.”
Minoura’s reactions were so clinical… He didn’t show much of anything. Nikolai never knew if his answers were correct, or if there was a correct answer, other than the truth, obviously…
“Thank you for coming to talk to me.” Minoura put his pen down. “We will continue to investigate this matter thoroughly. If we have any more questions, we will reach out.”
Nikolai nodded, before leaving the office. He quickly sought out Sigma in the hallway. “You will not believe this.”
“You say this every day,” Sigma sighed. “Hit me.”
“They think he did it on purpose.” The two of them walked out of the building. “Like, they think he wanted to hurt them.”
Sigma furrowed his brows. “Wait, who is ‘he’? Fyodor?”
“No. Hiroto,” Nikolai said. “He was the other driver in the car accident, and they think he was jealous and wanted to hurt Fyodor.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Sigma scoffed. “He’s a horrible person but that’s beyond his scope… Besides, why would he involve Dazai into this?”
The two of them had just turned the corner when someone tapped Nikolai on the shoulder. As he turned around, he laid eyes on a young man, dark brown eyes falling into his face bearing an unbelievably condescending smile. He hadn’t even opened his mouth and Nikolai already disliked him.
“Excuse me for eavesdropping, but are you talking about that accident that happened last week, involving Osamu Dazai?”
Nikolai looked at him, a little stunned at his straightforward manner. “Uh-“
“I’m an old friend of Dazai, and I also happen to be a detective working on the case. The name is Ranpo Edogawa.”
“So you also think it wasn’t an accident but a crime?” Nikolai asked.
Ranpo chuckled. “No no, I told them they’re on the wrong track, but they rarely listen to me until it’s too late to save face.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You’re the other driver’s ex-fiancé, right? You would agree that it’s oddly out of character for him.”
“I just don't think he would go that far.” Nikolai put his hands in his pockets. Was he supposed to talk about it openly on the street? “He’s mean-spirited, but he’s never been violent. If he had tried spreading rumors about Fyodor and ruining his career, I wouldn’t hesitate to believe it, but that? No, this is too much.”
“Good, good.” Ranpo nodded. “Well, I better get going before Minoura gets angry again. Here, have my card. If you find anything that could be useful, let me know. And also, tell Dazai I said hello. He doesn’t pick up the phone again.” Ranpo shoved the card into Nikolai’s hand before sprinting off.
“What an oddball,” Sigma said. “But he seems to believe you.”
“He has his own theory,” Nikolai said. “If I didn’t agree with him, he’d stick with it anyway.”
Sigma shrugged. “He seemed to agree with your assessment, then.”
Nikolai was still left a bit confused. He simply pocketed the card he had been handed before the two of them walked around the city. They spent some time window shopping, browsing the streets for a potential suit. Nikolai still hadn’t made up his mind whether or not he wanted to wear black or white. He wasn’t sure what color Fyodor wanted to wear either. They could match, or go for some contrast.
They walked for quite a while, long enough to eventually get out of the shopping district and closer to the apartments of Yokohama. Absent-mindedly, Nikolai had made his way towards Fyodor’s apartment. Perhaps it was his persistent concern for his fiancé’s wellbeing. Before he or Sigma knew it, they stood in front of the apartment complex, staring at the nameplate reading “Dostoyevsky”.
”Let’s check on him,” Sigma said. “He’s probably still getting used to all the changes in his life.”
Nikolai nodded, and pressed the doorbell. Soon enough, they stood in front of a closed apartment door. “Fyodor?” Nikolai knocked on the door. “Can we come in?”
”One moment please.” Fyodor’s voice sounded strained. He probably wasn’t as fit as Nikolai had assumed. It took another moment before the door opened a crack, and Fyodor poked his head out. “Oh. Sigma came to visit too.”
”We were out and wanted to see how you’re settling back home.” Nikolai offered a smile. “Is everything okay? You look a bit…” Nikolai didn’t have the right words. Fyodor always looked a little sickly and pale but his stay in the hospital left him quite strained.
But Fyodor knew what Nikolai wanted to say. He chuckled, although it sounded a little off. “I’m sorry. I just woke up from a nap.”
Nikolai knew Fyodor was lying. It was a little bit worrying, actually. “You can go back to sleep, I don’t want to bother you. Do you want me to stick around? We don’t have to do anything, I could just do some chores for you.”
”It’s alright,” Fyodor said. “I’ll get to it later, or tomorrow…”
”Are you very sure?” Nikolai asked. “I could put on a load of laundry, or fluff up your pillows, or…”
Fyodor glanced to Nikolai’s left, where Sigma stood awkwardly.
”Or… I could just sing you to sleep. Give you some cuddles.” Nikolai understood what Fyodor was getting at, and he hoped that Sigma picked up on it too. He glanced over, and shot Sigma a look.
Sigma shuffled on the spot. “Am I intruding in your domestic life?” he asked. “Actually, I think I have an appointment anyway. “I’ll get back to you, okay?” With a small wave, and Nikolai’s eternal gratitude, Sigma made his way back home.
The couple stood in the hallway for a moment. Finally, Nikolai broke the silence. “Something is wrong. Please, talk to me.”
Fyodor let out a deep sigh. “It’s embarrassing… but I suppose if there is one person I can be honest with, it is my future husband, isn’t it?” He stepped aside, granting Nikolai entrance to his apartment.
The view inside was shocking. Well, for the average person, it would have been maybe a little dirty but still a relatively normal sight: used clothes on the sofa, dirty dishes on the table, a slightly wilted floor plant. But for Fyodor? This was a sight Nikolai would have never expected. Fyodor was so put together, so tidy and clean, and this was so… normal… It was so normally fallible, Nikolai immediately knew something was wrong.
”It’s pretty exhausting…” Fyodor leaned against his sofa. “I spend all my energy taking care of my pets… I just can’t muster up the energy for anything else.”
Nikolai looked around. “You can only do so much. You’re doing great in my books.” He stepped closer to Fyodor, arms wrapping around him gently like Fyodor was too frail to be held any firmer. “You can rest, and I’ll make sure that when you wake up, your apartment looks just like you’re used to.”
”I…” Fyodor stopped himself. “Thank you. It means a lot to me.”
”I know. That’s why I’m doing it.” Nikolai smiled. “It'll be our little secret.” He pulled Fyodor off the sofa and brought him to the bedroom. “I’ll even tuck you in and give you a good-night-kiss.”
Fyodor chuckled as he slipped into his sheets. The bedroom looked honestly quite a bit worse than the rest of the apartment but that was a problem for future Nikolai. At this moment, all that mattered was making sure Fyodor was comfortable and falling asleep soon.
With a sleeping fiancé and a big mess at his hands, Nikolai stood in the middle assessing the situation. This was… not ideal. He didn’t even know where to begin - he wasn’t the cleanest person himself… But dishes should be a good first step. He collected all the dirty dishes he could round up and set them up to soak before he grabbed arms full of laundry and put on a load of it. Already, he felt like the workload was so much lighter. He watered the plants before turning back to the dishes.
Some people got a real dopamine hit from finishing chores. Nikolai was not one of these people. The real dopamine came from knowing he was doing something good for someone he loved. It definitely took up the rest of the day but Nikolai steadily worked through the mess in the apartment. He even sneaked around the bedroom to make sure Fyodor’s first sight was a good one.
It was just about midnight when Nikolai finally felt satisfied with his work. He topped up the rats’ water dish before collapsing on the sofa - tired but very happy with his good deed.