Remembered This Excerpt From A Fic I've Been Trying To Write For The Past (checks Notes) 3 Years

quiet night in

my first i didnt know where else to go fic

Isuka was enjoying a quiet night in, with no roommates, no fuss and no noise. She was all alone, and she could not be happier as she turned on the TV. She could finally watch what she wanted, with no judgement and no interruptions. Or at least that's what she thought. As she took a spoon of her ice cream, someone knocked on the door. She prayed internally it was a delivery of some sort and not one of her roommates back way too early and most likely crying.

She placed the ice cream on the coffee table and padded towards the door, 'I'm coming!'

She, however, did not expect to throw open the door and find one Portgas D. Ace leaning against the wall, injured. It was a well-known fact that the both of them did not get along in school, with Isuka being a stickler for the rules and her trust in authority meant she wasn't too fond of Ace's carefree nature. They'd argued about plenty of things in school, like Ace's uniform not being up to standard, about his poor attendance and his tendency to get into fights. She barely saw him now that they no longer went to school or lived anywhere near each other.

'Oh, thank goodness you're home. I didn't know where else to go,' Isuka gasped as she took in his appearance. He had bruises and cuts on his face, fresh ones as if he'd been in a fight. Scrapes on his arms and legs, almost like he'd fallen out of a tree and some bigger ones which definitely needed to be dressed. There were bruises on his stomach, like he'd been kicked, visible because, as usual, his shirt was open.

'What on earth happened to you?' She draped his arm around her shoulder to drag him in. She sat him down on the sofa before frantically trying to search for the first aid kit; no, maybe he needed to be taken to the hospital.

'If you're worried about me, you should see the other guys,' he smirked at her despite the fact he was clearly in pain, wincing when he tried to move. He kicked off his shoes and placed them to a side, his bag was on the floor, and he emptied his pockets onto the table. He also took off his shirt to make it easier for her to access all the cuts and grazes.

Isuka had managed to find the first aid kit fully stocked because of a certain someone's clumsiness. 'Why are you here?' She waited for him to sit up before opening the kit and pulling out what she needed; most of his injuries were minor cuts and grazes, but the bruises made it seem a lot worse. 'Are your brothers terrible at treating wounds? That would be horrible considering the fights I've seen the younger one get into.'

'That would be Luffy,' he laughed, coughing as pain shot up his side, 'and yes he's a terrible doctor, you're better off not going to him for this sort of stuff. He's also with his friends so I can't really bother him.'

'Noted,' she smiled at him before opening a packet of sterile wipes to clean the wounds, starting with his legs. She could feel him tense as she held his ankle to tug his leg onto her lap.

'Sabo, you can trust, he's pretty good at this stuff,' he caught her eyes again as she focused on his other leg, 'but he's out with his girlfriend right now, he might murder me for ruining his date and then murder me again for getting into a fight and getting injured.'

Isuka chuckled, 'he sounds like a reasonable person,' before adding, 'well anyone would seem more reasonable compared to the both of you.'

Ace held out her arms for her to clean next, 'yeah he's always been the smart one. I figured they would murder me if I didn't do anything at all about these wounds and I don't know anyone else around here.'

Isuka continued to clean his wounds. After getting through about five wipes, she made sure everything was good enough to move to the next step, cleaning the skin around the bigger wounds. She dabbed the cotton ball with antiseptic before signalling for him to come closer.

She heard him suck in, 'sorry I'm trying to be gentle. What are you doing here? You're pretty far away from home.'

'This is home,' he had an indecipherable look on his face, 'I had some time off so I came back to visit. It's been a while since I've seen everyone.'

'Yeah, it has,' she thought about the last time she'd seen him, younger and more carefree, as school ended. Then he moved away, and in all this time, Isuka's career hadn't gotten any further; she heard about his achievements, and some part of her was happy for him even if they had their differences.

'It's been even longer since I've seen you, I see my brothers way too often,' he looked up at her, but she didn't address the statement.

'Sorry I couldn't help more. This is all we have,' she apologised as she tugged his arm closer.

'Oh don't worry about it, you've already done more than I expected,' he smiled gratefully.

'What did you think I was going to do?' She continued her work, focusing on the cuts on his lip and nose.

'Honestly? Wrap me in bandages and send me home.'

'We may not like each other Ace, but I'm no heathen.'

'We don't?'

'Huh?'

'No, nevermind,' he waved it away. He watched her work, her concentration as she tried to only dab the skin around the wounds. Whenever he winced, she apologised before carefully going back to what she was doing.

For a while, Ace sat there watching her work. Isuka had always been kind, almost too kind for her own good. He knew she didn't like him that much, but she had been nice enough not to say it to his face, so hearing those words from her mouth was somehow different. 

She pulled out small plasters for his nose and lip and pieces of gauze for the bigger cuts on his arms and legs. She placed the plasters on, 'so why did you fight them?'

'Huh?'

She began placing the gauze on the wound on his arm and took out something to wrap it with, 'I mean you didn't just fight them for no reason right?'

'Oh that, of course not what do you take me for?'

'Didn't you get into fights a lot for no reason when we were back in school?'

'What?' he chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head after Isuka was done wrapping his arm. 'It's been a while, I was young and stupid, I've changed since then.'

'Oh so you admit you were stupid?' she teased as she focused on a cut on his leg.

'Hey, I have changed, give me some credit,' Isuka knew that to be true, but his flustered expression was way too funny to ignore, 'I really did have a reason.'

She shook her head affectionately as she finished up the last bandage, 'let me put this away, then I'll get you some ice for those bruises,' she gestured to his stomach. She packed everything back into the first aid kit and got up. When she got back, she walked over to the kitchen. 

'You don't have to worry about an ice pack, I'm pretty sure these will just fade,' he called out to her.

'No, that's really not how it works, in my opinion you should get checked in case of internal bleeding but since you insist things will be okay the least you could do is ice it,' she replied as she bent down to open the freezer. She pulled out the first ice pack she saw, wrapped it in a towel and made her way back to the sofa Ace was now lying on. 

He let her place it on his wounds before sitting down on the floor next to him, 'why do you even have an ice pack?'

'Sports injuries are very common in this household, you've got to be prepared,' she shrugged as she gently iced his injury.

'I can do this at the very least,' he placed a hand on hers to get her to stop.

'If you'd like,' she sighed and got up, settling herself on the armchair next to the sofa.

Ace continued icing the area before speaking, 'they were trying to attack this girl.'

'Who?'

'The guys I attacked.'

'Oh right.'

'After I went to Sabo's and he gave me the leave and if you accept any offer to third wheel our date I'll murder you look,' Isuka chuckled, picturing Ace's teasing look and Sabo's murderous one. 'I took that as a signal to leave the lovebirds alone and was making my way to Makino's bar,' Isuka was familiar with Makino, the kind woman who ran the only bar she enjoyed going to, 'I was cutting through this alley when I heard a voice shouting for help. So I went over to where I heard the voice and I saw four guys cornering this girl. She looked terrified so I stepped in, she ran away as soon as she had the opportunity and I fought them to make sure they didn't try to chase after her.'

'You got beat up pretty badly, you sure there were only four of them?'

'They had weapons, this bruise is probably from the bat they hit me with,' he pointed at the bruise he was currently icing.

'A bat? You sure you didn't break a rib or something,' it didn't feel broken when she touched it, but there was no harm in double-checking.

He ignored her concern at first, 'I couldn't bother Makino with my injuries. She's busy,' but he quickly added, 'stop worrying so much. I've broken ribs before; this is nothing compared to that.'

'None of that statement makes me any less worried,' she shook her head disappointedly. 

'You worry too much. You should know by now nothing hurts me that much,' he glanced over at where she was, but she didn't look convinced; like usual, she thought too much. 'Have I ever told you you think too much?'

'Yes,' she sighed, multiple memories coming to the front of her thoughts, 'multiple times.'

'Oh, well you do, maybe you should think less Isuka, you look stressed.'

'I'm stressed because of you! You can't come to my home, for the first time, injured and expect me not to worry.'

Ace was quiet before he spoke again, 'I tried visiting you before, but you were never home, always holed up at work,' Isuka opened her mouth to try and deny the statement, but he continued, 'your roommates told me.'

'Well, I can't say they were wrong but I do take breaks; matter of fact, I was taking one before you came,' she leaned over to grab the half-melted ice cream; she might as well put it back in the freezer.

'Oh that's right, it's quiet, where are your friends?'

Isuka grabbed two cups of water before making her way back, 'Tash is on a date,' she placed one in front of him and sank back into her seat, 'Koby and Helmeppo are doing something or the other. I didn't question it.'

'Oh so you're home alone? Must be fun,' when he was younger, being home alone was a luxury he rarely had, but when he did, the peace and quiet was something he appreciated.

'Well I planned on bingeing some show until I passed out on the sofa and was woken up by my roommates,' she signalled to the stack of blankets and pillows she'd moved to make space for Ace, 'but as usual I can never catch a break.'

At first, Ace didn't quite clock what she was talking about before realising he was very much the problem, 'ah, sorry about that.'

'Nothing you can do about it now,' she waved off his apology, 'have you eaten? You mentioned being on the way to Makino's.'

'Now that you mention it,' he hadn't eaten; he was planning on clearing Makino's stock, lovingly as her sort of younger brother.

'Let me see what we have,' Isuka got up yet again, she had eaten a big lunch and decided eating a whole tub of ice cream was good enough, so she hadn't had dinner yet. She opened the fridge, which was startlingly empty; not even the basic things like eggs or milk were present; she really needed to go grocery shopping. She and her roommates were always busy, meaning lots of takeout and tons of leftovers in the fridge, but apparently not today.

'It doesn't have to be fancy!' He shouted, supposedly helpful, but not when the fridge had a single energy drink and a strawberry, the one Koby picked from their strawberry plant the other day.

She returned to Ace, 'yeah turns out we have absolutely nothing,' she pulled out her phone to see what places would deliver.

'What were you planning to eat?'

'Ice cream.'

'For dinner? And you say I make terrible decisions,' he teased.

'I don't make them on a daily basis, just sometimes, plus I'm not on the clock. Let me relax,' his annoying, bother Isuka voice was making a comeback, 'do you want pizza?'

'Yeah sure.'

She placed her usual order and let him pick what he wanted before paying, not without a small argument about who should pay. Isuka won, her main reason being he was in pain to simply fish his card out of his bag. With food on the way, they sat in silence.

Ace broke the silence first, 'so what have you been up to,' he hadn't heard much about her in the past 3 years. He got updates about basically everyone else through his brothers, but Isuka wasn't friends with them, so he didn't have a real reason to ask them about her. He was not about to call his grandfather to try and get information about his subordinate. Skull was able to get snippets of information about her from time to time, but it was not much.

Isuka thought for a moment before replying, 'well work I guess, there hasn't been much time for anything else.'

'Is that why you're home alone on a nice night like this.'

'Like you're any better, you ended up at my place, injured on a nice night.'

'Like I said I would've bothered someone else, but unlike you they are with other people.'

'There's nothing wrong with enjoying some alone time.'

'Sure,' he really had a way of making her annoyed. Damn his stupid face and addictive smile. 'Are you still fencing?'

'Huh? Oh yeah, but it's just for fun, I help out with a kids class too,' she smiled, remembering the little kids who watched in awe as she demonstrated different moves.

'I see, that must be a lot of work,' Isuka had almost become a professional, representing nationally and even had an offer to take part in an international competition. That was until she gave it up because of personal circumstances.

'Yeah but it's a lot of fun seeing the younger generation interested in it.'

She smiled sadly, he hadn't known her for long, having transferred into her school a little late, but her friends had told him enough. She was once one of those kids eagerly attending every session. Even in the time he knew her, her passion for the sport was astounding.

He wanted to say something of comfort, but she broke the silence first, 'so what about you? What's it like living away from your family?'

'Of course I miss my brothers and home, but I've found a family there too. They're good people.'

'That's good,' she'd been worried about his reckless nature, but he'd found people who'd helped him settle down.

Silence took over again. Ace fiddled with one of his bracelets, 'so, um, what show were you gonna watch?'

Isuka looked puzzled, 'oh, my show. It's nothing really, a friend recommended it to me. It's one of those murder mystery shows.'

'I see,' Ace wasn't someone who spent a lot of time keeping us with tv shows. If it was on, he'd watch it, but he spent most of his time outside with others. Deuce would always be rambling on about some show or book; in all honesty, he'd learned to tune him out.

'Do you want to watch something? While we wait?'

'Oh sure, we can watch your show if you want,' he felt bad that she was missing out on her form of relaxation.

'You sure? I don't mind watching something else if you'd prefer,' she offered.

'Nah, murder is interesting enough.'

'Okay then, murder it is,' she turned on the TV and pulled up the show. She hadn't started watching it and planned on not sleeping (or trying not to) until she finished it.

~ ♡ ~

The both of them watched quietly as the show began, setting up the murder, introducing the victim and then the main character. Ace winced as the murderer stabbed the victim, and Isuka laughed, which then prompted him to call her psycho for enjoying this sort of stuff. They watched as the murderer hunted for the main character, and the doorbell rang, causing the both of them to jump, before Isuka realised it was the pizza, paused the show, and went to collect it. 

'There you go,' she placed the boxes on the coffee table.

'Almost thought we were going to be murdered.'

Isuka laughed and said, 'don't worry there are enough weapons in this house to protect ourselves with.'

'Oh right, you guys have a bunch of swords and stuff,' Ace sat up slowly and opened up the boxes as Isuka went to grab some glasses for the drinks.

'That would be all of us but Koby, he's more of a martial arts type person,' they each had their own interest, with made for an odd assortment of weapons in the house.

'Right, remind me never to try to surprise you. I might end up riddled with holes,' he watched as she sank back into her seat, 'can you even see the TV from there?' Isuka nodded, and Ace added to the question, 'I mean properly? Isn't the angle kinda weird?'

'It's not too bad, I'm used to it, all four of us can't fit on one sofa,' the four of them tried to eat dinner together as often as they could, which was very rare and always caused arguments about what to watch.

'Join me,' he smiled, patting the seat next to him. The sofa was quite spacious, and at first, Isuka denied the offer, stating she was quite comfortable where she was. Ace, however, was insistent, and she caved, getting up to join him.

He clicked play when she picked up a slice of pizza and leaned back into the seat. They were mostly quiet, their attention focused on eating and the show.

'Who do you think did it?' Ace asked when they paused to clear up the mess.

Isuka pondered the question before answering, 'I think it's too early to know, but the uncle is suspicious.'

'Right? He gives me the creeps.'

They sat back down on the sofa, Isuka grabbing the blankets and pillows so they could get more comfortable. Isuka wrapped herself in the blanket and sat with her legs up on the seat. Ace accepted a pillow and placed it behind his head.   When the show started again, the both of them talked a bit more, Ace making a comment about the dumb ideas the police had and Isuka complaining about how reckless the main character was.

At some point, Ace made a noise of discomfort, and Isuka made him lie down on the sofa, putting the pillow below his head and draping a blanket over him.

'You don't have to baby me, you know.'

'My house, my rules, you are injured, you don't get a say.'

'Yes ma'am,' he saluted as she sat back down, lifting his legs to sit down before placing them on her lap.

~ ♡ ~

It wasn't very long until Ace fell asleep, he tried to fight it, but the nice hot meal and being tucked in made it really difficult. He woke up, the room was dark, and the only light was the TV; Isuka was still awake. 

He watched her as her expression changed, her hair tucked behind her ear, making it all the more easy. Her eyes seemed tired, but she stared intently, barely moving.

'What's happening?' She seemed a little startled as she turned to face him.

'Oh, how was the nap? If you want you can take my bed.'

'Nah, I'm good,' he wasn't going to admit that he likes being on the sofa with her, 'did they find out who did it?'

'Yeah, it was the uncle, but they haven't caught him yet.'

'So we were right? Wow I'd make a great detective, maybe I should join you Birdie.'

'I don't think you should quit your day job too soon, Fire Fist,' he smiled at the use of nicknames, well more like Birdie was what he called her to annoy her, and Fire Fist was what most people knew him as, but it was still cute she remembered.

He smiled to himself before turning his attention back to the TV, the show was clearly coming to an end, and he wondered what time it was. Isuka grabbed them the ice cream she planned on eating later, and they finished the whole thing, laughing at each other when they got a brain freeze. 

When the show ended, Isuka got up, stretching her limbs. He wanted to do the same, but the pain made him stop.

'That was a good show.'

'Yeah, Deuce was right,' Isuka chuckled, and Ace did too until he clocked her words.

'Deuce?!'

'Yeah, he watched it a while back and told me it was good and I should check it out.'

Ace hadn't wrapped his head around the fact she'd just said Deuce. Deuce, who was absolutely terrified of her and used every excuse to avoid being in her path, that Deuce was now exchanging TV show recommendations with her? He vaguely remembered Deuce mentioning a murder mystery show, but then again, he hadn't been paying attention, so he wouldn't know.

'You talk to Deuce?'

'Occasionally, he usually texts me. Skull too, he tells the funniest stories.'

'They have your number, but I don't?' He was even more shocked that Skull had also kept in contact; he always mentioned admiring her from afar, not exchanging stories weekly.

'Well you never asked, Deuce asked before we finished school. Skull asked a little later.'

He muttered under his breath, 'those traitors,' he'd mentioned Isuka multiple times in the past couple of years, and apparently, they never thought to mention that they were in contact.

'You can have it now, if you'd like,' she held out her hand, and he scrambled to find his phone for her to enter her number.

'So it's just me you don't like?'

'Huh?'

'Earlier, you mentioned not liking each other, you really don't like me?'

Isuka stared blankly at him before bursting out laughing, 'Ace you really crack me up, sure I didn't like you when we first met. I thought you were annoying as hell.'

'And?'

'I still think that,' Ace's hopeful look immediately fell, and Isuka started laughing again. 'However, I never really hated you. I mean, we were just similar people with different views; we could have been good friends.'

'Could have? Can't we? Like now, we can be friends right?'

Isuka saw the look in his eyes and realised he was being serious about getting closer, 'sure.' His face immediately lit up; Isuka always thought he looked adorable when he smiled. 'I do think, however, since it is four in the morning, we should get some proper sleep.'

'Yeah that's a good idea Birdie.'

'You're not letting that nickname go are you?'

'Oh, absolutely not,' he smirked, and Isuka questioned what she was getting herself into.

~ ♡ ~

Come morning, Isuka woke up with a crick in her neck and her arm numb. She'd fallen asleep on the armchair, Ace sprawled out on the sofa. She got up and stretched, making her way to her bedroom to freshen up. When she got to the kitchen, she was met with a slightly bemused Tashigi.

'Looks like you had a fun night,' referring to the sleeping figure of Ace on their sofa.

'I could say the same about you, when did you get home?'

'About 10 minutes ago,' she took a sip from her cup, 'should I be happy or worried for you?'

'Happy, I think,' she opened their cabinets to make herself a coffee.

'Well, I guess our guest is staying for breakfast.'

'Let me check,' she abandoned her quest to make coffee and instead turned her attention to waking up Ace.

He woke up, a lost expression on his face, 'where? Who? Birdie?'

'Yeah, it's me. I was wondering whether you were going to stay for breakfast.'

He sat up, Isuka helping him. He rubbed at his face before looking back up. Tashigi had made her way to the living area, so he waved at her, and she nodded back. 

'Well, considering I told Makino I was going to see her yesterday then disappeared, it would be a good idea to drop by and let her know I'm not dead. Plus I have invaded your space enough for one visit.'

'Okay, if you want you can use the bathroom over there and I'll pack your stuff,' he nodded, getting up.

When he came back, he looked a lot more awake, and Isuka handed his bag over, 'thanks, Birdie.'

'No problem, Fire Fist. Make sure to take care of those injuries.'

She opened the door to let him out, 'I look forward to seeing you again, now that I have you I'm never letting you go Isuka.'

She could feel her cheeks burn as he turned around, waving as he disappeared down the stairs, 'I look forward to it.'

~ ♡ ~

Quick Tsujimura doodle

Yeah… been real busy lately. Work, trying to finish a commission… I’ll get into a grind (I say probably lying)

Have a messy doodle of my mom 🩵

yes, detective conan is my favorite anime, how could you tell?

no because i seriously will never get over tsujimura’s mother. ordering her ability not to protect tsujimura, as would be the logical command, but to prevent tsujimura from ever being able to commit murder, and as a result making her immune to ayatsuji’s ability and therefore kyougoku’s plan. kyougoku was too busy playing psychological chess with his pissy blond student while this woman was running laps around the entire cast

some tsujimuras in my style!!

how about ranpo and gin for the ask game?

i’ve already done gin but here’s ranpo!!

ranpo edogawa - bsd

favorite thing about them: i think his story and outlook on the world are so interesting. the insane intelligence combined with his childlike immaturity and complete lack of street smarts makes for a really fun character. but also asagiri doesn’t compromise on giving him his serious and tragic moments. he’s very fun to rotate

least favorite thing about them: where is he rn 😞

favorite line: “A regular person can’t beat a special ability. Even so, I will defeat you. Because… my friends think I’m invincible.”

brOTP: ranposano! and souheki

OTP: i’m still on that chuuran grindset i fear. also ranpoe ofc

nOTP: him and fukuzawa 😔 that’s his papa

random headcanon: he really hates car rides because of what happened to his parents. this is why he always chooses to take the train over calling a cab despite not understanding public transportation

unpopular opinion: i don’t think i have one? i rarely see bad ranpo takes his fans are so chill

song i associate with them: the majority of marina and the diamonds songs tbh. she gets him

favorite picture of them: i love this gif 😭😭😭

character ask game

under your shadows

another tsujitsuji fic <3

also i didnt tag graphic depictions of violence because personally (as someone who does not do well with gore) it wasn't too bad. but if there's ever anything wrong with my tags please do let me know! i always complain about people who don't tag correctly but lowkey I'm bad at tagging so let me know :)

as usual fic under the cut as well <3

~ ♡ ~

Each breath was becoming more and more of a struggle to take. Her lungs felt like they were burning. Gripping her gun weakly, she tried to take a step forward, attempting to aim at the man attacking her.

‘You’re going to shoot me?’ He scoffed, ‘You can barely stand.’

He was right; she’d sustained too many injuries in the fight. Her vision was blurring, there was a pounding in her head, and she felt like she had been shot at some point.

She glanced back; there was a figure slumped over by the shutters. The pale blond hair, stained with blood, revealed his identity to her. Ayatsuji-sensei. Unconscious. Hurt. Dying.

The man was stepping closer to her now, pulling out a knife. She tried to steady her hand, reinforcing her threat of shooting him even if it was a weak one.

‘Now, now,’ he was being condescending, talking to her as if she were a child throwing a tantrum. ‘We don’t have to do this the hard way. I’m sure those drugs are doing a number on you.’ Drugs? She couldn’t remember how he’d gotten them in her. ‘I don’t want to cause you any more pain than I have to.’

‘Step back,’ trying her hardest not to sound scared. He continued to move closer, so confident that she wasn’t capable enough.

‘Still protecting him? You government agents are truly foolish people.’ The muzzle of her gun was against his chest now. ‘Well, are you going to shoot me?’ He cocked an eyebrow at her. 

She pulled the trigger, but nothing happened; the telltale click of an empty magazine echoed in her ears.

He chuckled as the panic filled her features. How could she have run out of bullets? 

She made a move to grab his knife, but the drugs in her system were slowing her down. He dodged easily. It was pathetic really, for a trained agent like her to be knocked to the floor so effortlessly.

Lying at his feet, she felt an overwhelming sense of defeat. She was going to die here. She was failing the division. She was failing Ayatsuji-sensei. She was failing herself.

Looking at his shadow, cast on the floor next to her. Maybe she was nothing without her mother’s ability.

‘Mother,’ it came out more like a cry, ‘I’m sorry.’

~ ♡ ~

Tsujimura jogged to catch up with Ayatsuji as they entered the building. ‘Sensei! Wait up! I don’t have a good feeling about this building.’

‘Why should you? It’s most definitely a trap,' his flippancy shocked her.

‘A trap?’ She fumbled for her phone. ‘Should I call for backup?’

‘Do whatever you wish,’ continuing to walk into the warehouse. He began to take in the room. There were modern additions to the older structure. There were large frames with items still on them blocking the entire room from view.

‘That's strange. I can’t get any signal in here,’ she lifted it, shaking her head in confusion. ‘We’re within city limits here.’

‘Signal jammer,’ he continued to smoke, seemingly unbothered by the situation. ‘Whoever’s doing this seems quite determined to get us alone.’

‘Maybe we should come back later with backup,’ she turned around, ready to get out of the creepy place, but there was a loud mechanical groaning. Tsujimura to stop the door from shutting. What followed was her exasperated shout and a loud clanging sound.

‘It would seem they have gotten us alone.’

‘This is bad, Sensei. The division doesn't know our location, and we cannot contact them.’ She pulled out her gun from its holster and joined him. There were no signs that there was anyone else with them, but she couldn’t shake off this awful feeling pooling in her stomach. 

They were considering their next move when smoke started to fill the room. 

‘We need to get out of here!’ Tsujimura started to move, but Ayatsuji grabbed her hand. 

‘Don't move,’ he was looking around, trying to figure out what their next move should be whilst they still had some visibility. That’s when he noticed something strange with the smoke: ‘Tsujimura, don’t breathe. Don’t talk. We need to move now.’

He dragged her along, heading out of the storage area. The smoke was virtually nonexistent in the corridor area they were in now.

‘Sensei? What’s going on?’

‘A trap,’ he was looking around for a way out, but all the shutters were closed.

‘You’ve already said that?’

‘The smoke was to lead us here and to split us up, probably.’

‘But the smoke was drugged?’

‘So you noticed it too? Not bad, special agent.’ Despite their precarious situation, she felt a little proud of herself. ‘Yeah, a low dose of an anaesthetic. If we’d attempted to stay, we’d slowly lose consciousness.’

‘Giving us no other choice but to come here,’ Tsujimura spoke as a figure emerged around the corner, ‘and to fall into this trap.’

Clapping, loud clapping, ‘Bravo! You truly are as good as they say you are, Ayatsuji Yukito.’

He remained emotionless, regarding him as if he were a pedestrian on the street; he tipped down his sunglasses to glance him up and down. ‘Do I know you?’ 

The man stopped 10 meters away from them. ‘I don’t think we’ve ever met.’

Ayatsuji took a long drag of his kiseru before he spoke again, ‘You went through a lot of trouble for someone who doesn’t know your name.’

‘Oh,’ he winked before he carried on. ‘That’s the beautiful part. You do.’

Tsujimura remained glued to the spot, unable to do anything. Her instincts were telling her they needed to get out now, but she couldn’t move, no matter how hard she willed her legs to.

‘The string of murders recently across the globe,’ the man nodded in delight as Ayatsuji spoke. ‘One man, high-profile targets, a very impressive killer. They call you Vipère?’ 

Tsujimura interrupted, ‘French?’

‘Correct!’

‘Just like his shoes,’ the criminal laughed, but Ayatsuji continued. ‘Named for his use of viper poison to kill his targets. The first of which was a French bureaucrat.’

‘You’ve done your research, detective,’ he took off his hat and took a bow, ‘how flattering that is to hear.’

‘You still haven’t told us what business you have with us.’

‘Us?’ He chuckled as if he’d just told a particularly funny joke, only he was the only one in on it. ‘No detective, my business is only with you. Sadly, your babysitter will not be joining us today.’

It happened before she could even react. He snapped his finger, and she felt something wrap around her—scaly, cold, squeezing her—a snake winding around her, binding her legs and arms. 

Ayatsuji tried to step closer. ‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you,’ he motioned to the snake as it wrapped around her neck before stopping. ‘As you probably know, this particular species of snake isn’t venomous; however, I’m sure this wouldn’t go in her favour here.’

He stayed still, his face twisting into an expression of disgust. An ability user, he’d overlooked that.

‘Perfect, now,’ he stepped closer to them, ‘to deal with you.’ 

Tsujimura tried to scream out, to tell him to get out of the building, to leave her, but the snake was slowly constricting. At this rate, she was going to run out of oxygen before it crushed her bones. All she could do was watch.

Ayatsuji put out his kiseru, tucking it into a pocket before taking off his coat and hat. ‘Usually, I would’ve asked Tsujimura-kun to hold my stuff; I’d hate to put it on this filthy floor.’

‘Sorry,’ he shrugged noncommittally, ‘I can’t have her interfering.’

He sighed before abandoning his stuff on the floor. ‘Well, whatever this is, maybe we should get it over with.’

‘There’s nothing I’d like more.’

She wasn’t sure what happened in the following moments, the lack of oxygen keeping her out of focus. It wasn’t until she felt the snake writhe and let her go that she had some semblance of what was going on. As soon as her vision returned, she grabbed her gun and scrambled away from the body of the snake. She could only guess how Ayatsuji-sensei had managed to kill it.

‘Tsujimura! Get up!’ It was Ayatsuji shouting; he was being pinned to the floor.

‘You just couldn't die, could you?’

She didn’t waste any time, aiming for the man attacking them. She shot at him twice, the latter grazing his shoulder. 

‘That bitch,’ he snarled, releasing his hold on Ayatsuji, allowing him to escape.

She kept her gun trained on him; he didn't try to move. Instead, he began laughing again. It was starting to seriously piss her off; nothing about this was remotely funny.

‘I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this, but I guess this was never going to happen the easy way.’ 

That’s when the corridor began to fill with smoke, much quicker than the storage area.

‘Ayatsuji-sensei!’ Tsujimura had lost sight of him immediately. ‘Where are you?’ She heard movement all around her, struggling to place the other two people in the room. Why isn't he responding to her? 

She tried to breathe normally; the last time this happened, they had been able to retreat, regroup, and plan. 

‘Sensei!’

‘Idiot! Stop speaking; you are alerting him to your whereabouts.’ He sounded in pain, but the voice was close by. She spun around trying to pin down his location when she felt an arm on her shoulder. She nearly shot him but recognised the gloves.

‘Sensei,’ she whispered, ‘you're hurt.’

‘The bastard got a couple of hits in,’ he wiped the corner of his mouth. ‘Listen, we have to get out of her-’

She blinked, and he was gone; there was a loud crashing noise as something collided with shutters. ‘Sensei!’ She swore she saw something huge attack him.

She felt breath on her neck, ‘Now to deal with you.’ Before she could react, she felt something pierce her skin.

Turning around, she fired her gun. Three shots. She could tell none of them had landed. She needed to deal with the criminal, needed to check on Ayatsuji-sensei, and needed to get out of there. But with every noise, she was flitting around like a butterfly. She had fired twice more, feeling something near her; she was sure at least one had hit him again. But now she only had one bullet left; she couldn't use it until she was completely sure. 

Just as the smoke began to subside and she felt a flicker of hope, she was knocked down. Something had hit her knee, hard. ‘You really are just a stupid bitch, aren’t you?’ 

He was swinging a metal pipe at her, a crazed look in his eyes. Almost serpentine in its appearance. 

She dodged, trying to grab her gun from the floor near her. Watching her struggle, he took a step back. Taking pleasure at how lethargic her body was, her weak grip on the gun, and her difficulty in standing up.

‘You're going to shoot me?’

~ ♡ ~

The man had turned around, loading his own gun, preparing to kill them both. He was muttering to himself, Ayatsuji first, then that stupid agent. She breathed shallowly as the shadows at his feet seemed to expand. She blinked, wondering if the drugs were messing with her brain. When she saw the shadows lift off the ground, she was sure she was seeing things in her last moments.

However, when she felt the shadows surround her, she was sure it was real. She had not felt this presence since Ayatsuji-sensei’s ability had killed it. Yesterday’s Shadow Tag. 

It was weaker, unable to hold its own form. But it was strong enough to use her, lifting her to her feet and cloaking her body, giving her a renewed sense of strength. There was a time in her life when she would have hesitated to use this ability, but this was not that. 

She waited for him to turn around, watching his expression distort into one of fear. 

‘What the fu-’

She didn't want to kill the man before he could serve his sentence for all his crimes, so she knocked him out. Wrapping him in shadows so he couldn't try to escape and dragging him out with her. 

Walking over to Ayatsuji-sensei, Shadowling had slashed through the shutters next to his body. This allowed her to pick him up and exit the building. The ability stayed until she managed to get back to her car, carefully placing Ayatsuji in the back seat and handcuffing the other man.

When the shadows disappeared, she used the last of her strength to call for help. Holding out until she heard the sirens approaching them. She let herself rest when she knew her job was done.

~ ♡ ~

Rescue from danger 🚨

Unfortunately, the tent sank and collapsed, and we are now without shelter.

For several days we have been asking for warm clothes for the children for fear of the winter cold and to buy nylon to secure our tent, but unfortunately we were unable to buy it due to the weakness of donations.

Now all the adult members of the family are sick, old and young with colds and flu. What we are asking for now is simply shelter. We are now temporarily hosted by another family in their tent on the street, and their space is very small.

Help save these lives from death.💔

gofundme.com

Donate to Help me and my family escape the war in Gaza, organized by Asma Ayyad

I am Asmaa, 25 years old, the daughter of this beautiful family of 8 members. … Asma Ayyad needs your support for Help me and my family esca

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Verified campaign. Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is (#43)

She's so beautiful it's not even funny anymore

Kaito Aoko sketch