Chapter Text
"Tsujita-saaaan!"
Kantarou feels his lips quirk up and his mood lighten at the sight of the familiar brown cape. He breaks into a run, his legs feeling like lead, but gets to Tsujita-san's side quickly, like he always belonged there. Tsujita-san looks at him, expression unreadably underneath that hood.
"Kantarou."
Kantarou shivers at the sound, at how his name sounds in Tsujita-san's mouth. He can see a hint of a fang in the corner of Tsujita's mouth, the clearest sign of a faint smile.
"Tsujita-san, come with me! We'll find Tsujigiri today for sure!"
He grabs for Tsujita's wrist, but the man slips past his fingers like a shadow.
"Why bother?"
"Tsujita-san?"
"Haven't you noticed?"
Tsujita smiles, reaching out for Kantarou's face, stroking his cheek. Kantarou can't take his eyes off Tsujita's face, but why can't he see his face?
"What you've been looking for was here all along."
"What...?"
Tsujita smiles. The grin breaks his face, cracks his skin. Something wet and sticky drips down Kantarou's cheek, and he reaches up to touch it.
His hand comes away coated in red.
Tsujita's hand is red, too. His coat is soaked in red. His smile is sharp.
"You had no idea, little officer. Your precious Tsujita-san..."
"Stop," Kantarou gasps.
Tsujita draws his hand back, something sharp and red sticking out of it, overflowing and dripping down.
"Never existed in the first place."
"No... Don't say it!" Kantarou begs. He covers his ears, but Tsujita's voice is as clear as before.
"I'm Tsujigiri Nagiri! The immortal vampire!" that voice proudly exclaims the words Kantarou once heard over his pistol desperately clicking. "The one you've been looking for all this time! Aren't you happy? You found me, little officer!"
He laughs, and Kantarou wants the voice to be terrible and unrecognizable. But no matter how he tries, it's still Tsujita's voice.
----
Kantarou snaps awake, sitting up, sweating and breathing heavily.
A dream... Just a dream.
Just that dream.
Kantarou drags himself out of his bed and grabs his dream journal. He hesitates for a long time, pen in his hand, and swallows painfully. The sound of Tsujita's - no, Tsujigiri Nagiri's - laughter keeps echoing in his mind.
"That dream again." That's all he ends up writing.
He can't get any more sleep that night.
----
His legs still feel like lead the next day. Kantarou has to slap his cheeks a few times to make sure he's actually awake.
Damn, just a few nights of nightmares and he's in a state like this? He has to strenghten his resolve. He has to be prepared to face Tsujigiri Nagiri at any moment.
He feels eyes on him and snaps to attention instantly. That feeling... Tsujigiri Nagiri?
But when he sees Tsujita's familiar cloak in the shadows, he relaxes and lets himself smile.
Tsujita-san. His partner, his important eye witness and collaborator and his precious... friend? (Kantarou has a hard time putting words to what their relationship actually is.) If Kantarou isn't at full steam at the moment, Tsujita-san will surely watch his back and make up for his failings.
"Tsujita-saaan!" Kantarou shouts as he jogs towards Tsujita. Tsujita makes no move, just stares at him wordlessly. "Tsujita-san, are you up to search for Tsujigiri Nagiri with me today? ...Hm? Tsujita-san, is something wrong?"
"...I..." Tsujita's voice is faint. He's shaking.
"Tsujita-san! Are you falling ill? You should rest! Here, let me check your temperature!"
But Tsujita steps back, avoiding Kantarou's attempt. Slipping past his fingers like a shadow.
"Shut up, idiot... Gh." Tsujita grits his teeth. "Look, just... I-I need to say this. You can do whatever you want afterwards, but I have to say this..."
"Tsujita-san..." Kantarou feels some kind of a dread building in his stomach. "Y-you don't have to-"
"I'm Tsujigiri Nagiri."
Kantarou freezes.
The words sputtered out like the first snowball of an avalanche, and now everything is silent.
Something starts to break apart inside of Kantarou.
"Tsu... Tsujita-san. Don't say that..."
Tsujita remains silent, eyes covered by his hood.
It shatters.
Kantarou grabs Tsujita by the wrists and pushes him, pinning him into the wall. Tsujita doesn't resist, doesn't make a noise at the rough tile wall colliding with his back. He looks at Kantarou, shock and fear in his eyes, but doesn't fight him.
He's not Tsujigiri Nagiri. Tsujigiri Nagiri would never let this happen to him.
"You can't say that," Kantarou growls. "How dare you say that, Tsujita-san!"
"I'm not Tsujita-san!" Tsujita says shakily. "It was all a lie! I'm Tsu-"
Kantarou covers his mouth with his hand, blocking the words, shaking his head.
"You're not! How could you say that?! Do you know how many times I've had this nightmare?! It's not real! It isn't real! Tsujita-san, you're not him!!"
Tsujita protests, tries to shake Kantarou's hand off, and Kantarou presses harder against his mouth. Something sharp pierces his finger.
"It's a nightmare, it's just a nightmare. It's not real, I won't let it be real. Tsujita-san is Tsujita-san, nobody else," Kantarou keeps saying, until-
Tsujita pushes him off of him. Kantarou keeps his hold on Tsujita's wrist, but falters when Tsujita doubles over. To his shock, Kantarou sees a thin red line between Tsujita's lips and Tsujita's jaw before the man's free hand covers it. He looks like he's about to vomit.
"Tsu-Tsujita-san!" Kantarou steps back, his hold on Tsujita's wrist easing. "Are you okay?! Did I hurt you?!"
"You..." Tsujita's voice is shaky and strained, muffled by his hand, and he looks at Kantarou, face contorting in a mixture of anger, fear and deep sadness. And something hungry. "You... you idiot...!"
He yanks his wrist away, and Kantarou can only shout after him when Tsujita turns and starts running away.
"Tsujita-san! Tsujita-san..." Kantarou wilts as Tsujita disappears into the dark back streets. What has he done...? Why didn't he realize it sooner? Tsujita must've been hypnotized. That's right, there's no way he would've said that otherwise. Kantarou should've helped him instead of fighting him on his delusions. Then Tsujita-san wouldn't have gotten hurt...
A sting of pain on his finger has Kantarou pulling it up to look at it, and he blinks at the blood dripping from it. Huh. When did he prick his finger? He should wrap that up... But not now! Tsujita-san needs his help!
"Tsujita-saaaan!" Kantarou shouts, running down the alleyway. How could he have done that? It wasn't Tsujita-san's fault! He didn't know about Kantarou's nightmares! Now he's alone and hurt somewhere and it's all Kantarou's fault!! What if Tsujigiri Nagiri is lured by the blood Tsujita-san is vomiting?! And if Tsujita-san is hypnotized and thinks he's Tsujigiri, then Tsujigiri will... Wait, why would anyone hypnotize Tsujita-san like that? Tsujigiri... Right, it has to be Tsujigiri, forcing Tsujita-san to take blame for him... Tsujita-san would never say that otherwise...
Something cracks inside Kantarou's head.
Huh? Why is he lying down on the pavement...? Tsujita-san needs his help. He has to move. Move, legs, move!
But they won't obey Kantarou's orders. His hand, flat on the ground in front of his eyes, barely even twitches when he tries to move it. His head is pounding. Something thick and wet is dripping down by his ear.
He has to... go to Tsujita-san... and save him from... Tsujigiri Nagiri...
"Kantarou!"
That voice, Tsujigiri's, no, Tsujita's voice, is the last thing he hears before everything goes dark.