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polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup · 6 months

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this is probably off topic but like i was rereading sea glass gardens & i was just giggling at the fact that kamo (the good one ofc not the one who took back shots for the greater evil) is just…obsessed with getting this middle school delinquent approval & MEGUMI JUST NOT REMEMBERING HIS NAME???

like imagine dedicating your spare time to impress the adopted child of the strongest who is also the zenin’s heir (if gojo fucking goes crazy or kicks the bucket) who is also the ten shadows user, trying to compliment him, hyping up his skills by saying he has more potential than the current zenin head, only for him to not know your name 😭. & the fact he apologized for it? i’m cacklingggg. you truly embraced megumi’s silent menace tendencies. tbh i was so convinced that kamo had a crush on megumi & was just flirting with him for the whole exchange event 😭.

(also maki’s little story of her interaction with megumi in their childhood? i cried a little. like the fact megumi being a menace to naoya & the clan & taking mai away was like mai’s happiest memory? i really can’t wait to see mai’s appearance here)

also i can’t believe megumi is half dead & blind & he’s already known as “yuuta’s boy”. this is giving when you’re a high school senior & you just forcibly take a underclassmen under your wing & everyone just calls that underclassmen your school kid.

like imagine in a happier universe where shibuya didn’t happen & yuuta pops tf out & introduces himself to the first years. imagine the hilarity of nobara & yuuji trying to figure out how tf yuuta is able to cling onto megs, tease him, & knows little details about him without getting his head chewed off 😭.

honestly..yuuta’s unhealthy platonic feelings about megs makes me wonder gojo’s reaction bc i imagine him being so insufferable like he just assumes that “omg my distant relative have a crush on my emotional support child”

ANYWAYS I LOVE YOUR STORY !! i can’t wait for the next update, your writing is literally so beautiful that i have to re read it multiple times to take everything in (i’m kinda slow). it’s gotten to the point where i accepted your fic as canon 😭. i promise you in a few months your fic is gonna be known as THE JJK FIC. i’m manifesting it. <3

So I’m never gonna get there in the fic because sea glass gardens cuts off pre season 1, but I like to headcanon that Yuuta desperately wants yuuji to like him (he’s megumis friend and also Yuuta feels an obligation to look out for him because they were both sentenced to death) but yuuji is just NOT having it because he’s the one person in the world that yuuji feels almost seething jealousy for. He is not a jealous person. He has never been a jealous person. But Yuuta is living his perfect life, which is a fact that Yuuta would be surprised to learn, because he is not living anyone’s perfect life. From yuujis perspective, Yuuta is:

Inexplicably close to Megumi. Megumi is somehow his boy. Yuuji didn’t think Megumi would tolerate being anyone’s boy.

(He doesn’t tolerate it it’s somehow the best and worst kept secret in the school. Everyone knows Megumi is Yuuta’s boy except for Megumi himself. Megumi insists Yuuta’s like this with everyone while panda silently shakes his head where Megumi can’t see him.)

He’s got some kind of secret history with Megumi that no one will talk about (since I imagine that the second years would legitimately keep their word and not talk about what the Zenin did to him behind his back) but whatever it is it makes Megumi trust and rely on him more than anyone else??? How is the son of a bitch doing it???

He was also sentenced to death but got it suspended and like. Yeah. Yuuji would like to live that dream existence.

The fucking legally adopted child of Nanamin??? How?????

It’s a lot of

Yuuji, glaring at him angrily from across the room: he’s the perfect man

Nobara: why do you say that like you’re mad

Yuuji: why am I not him!!!

Yuuta’s just. Despondent. He wanted yuuji to like him so so bad.

Considering canon Megumi didn’t tell them he had an entire sister until they were at his old school and people were asking after her, I doubt that even waterboarding could get out of him “yeah so I met the second years when my bio family violated the no contact protocol that started because of how dangerously abusive they were and basically tortured me for a week, up to the point of my Actual Death. I was blind for a while. I guess okkotsu senpais protective of me because when we first met he Literally Had To Restart My Heart and Lungs. Also we held hands multiple times in the immediate aftermath.” So I think Yuuji and Nobara would be aware that there’s something weird about how Yuuta and Megumi met but have absolutely no idea what that weird thing is.

(Panda: look it’s really not weird how protective Yuuta is of Megumi considering all that Megumi was going through when they first met

Nobara: What was Megumi going through when they first met

Panda:

Nobara:

Panda: I’ve said too much.)

I have a serious reading of Kamo and a self indulgent reading of Kamo and a Kamo that’s somewhere in the middle.

The serious reading of Kamo is that Kamo was a kid who grew up in a bad situation with very little control over his own life and saw Megumi as the one who could possibly understand him. They both were born outside of their clans but their inherited technique had the ability to elevate them to clan heir. He persisted in trying to compliment him and form common grounds with him out of isolation and a desire for someone to understand his lot in life. Megumi, meanwhile, would see Kamo as exactly who he doesn’t want to become. Kamo has accepted his place in his clan; megumi is violently rejecting it. He doesn’t want to be the same as Kamo because he doesn’t want to be anywhere near the Zenin clan.

The thing is that out of all the characters, Kamo’s really the best one we have to kind of represent the more common views of the jujutsu world. like, he very consistently is shown to be able to make his own assessments about what judgment call the higher ups and the wider jujutsu elite are going to make or expect, and part of it is his desire to fulfill his role as kamo clan heir. And Kamo? Accepts out of hand that Megumi is going to be formally brought into the Zenin clan once he graduates.

Like, he's in the fight during the goodwill event, and he's just like "yeah so when we both graduate we'll both be working to support a major clan in the jujutsu world" and megumi's like "the hell are you talking about. i'm going to kill you with this elephant."

It is probably a common expectation that gojo keeping Megumi from the Zenin clan is not going to stretch into perpetuity. Like. Right now, megumi is a minor. Gojo very easily can control who has access to him. When he’s an adult working in the society, the same trick of preventing all contact isn’t gonna work. Those are his coworkers now. They’re going to get more and more opportunities to bring him back into the fold. The Zenin are just playing a waiting game to get Megumi back and everyone sort of has just accepted that fact.

Kamo is what the Zenin clan expect Megumi to one day be for them, and I think it puts Megumi a bit at odds with him. Megumi has no interest in living the way Kamo does, and a little internalized fear about it happening anyway. Refusing the Zenin clan is the only control he’s ever really exerted over his life and future. He never got to pick being a jujutsu sorcerer, but he chose not to go with them. All of kamos priorities and mindset remind Megumi of all the things he’s messed up about, and it sets them at odds.

The self indulgent reading is that Kamo had a huge crush on Megumi and spent the entire goodwill event trying to execute his four year long plan towards holding his hand only to be thwarted by the fact that Megumi was completely dazzled by a himbo he knew for less than two weeks three months ago.

And the reading above is just the serious reading with the added fact that Kamo also had a huge crush on Megumi.

The thing with Mai partially came from something that Gege apparently released as background lore. In the goodwill event, Mai says that she never told maki when she had her first love, and i was like "that's weirdly specific, I wonder who that is" and then I googled it, and the answer was apparently either Megumi or Maki herself, and I said, "Huh, I Don't Like That" and decided we weren't doing that.

Now, to be clear, I do get making that decision on a level as a writer. Like, the Zenin clan is enormously fucked up and explicitly practices intermarriage. That is the kind of thing where you may include it because it's so fucked up and perfectly exemplifies how fucked up it is. a clan that explicitly is practicing incest is going to heavily skew how relationships amongst family members develop and form and it's going to be a fucked up dynamic amongst closely related people.

But also I Don't Like It And We're Not Doing That.

I did like the idea of Megumi and Maki occupying a somewhat similar place in Mai's mind. Like, Maki is in a league of her own, there's too much history there for anyone to come close to her in a relationship, but Mai's fondest memories of Maki were specifically with Maki occupying a sort of companion and protector role. Maki was in the same "level" as mai. They were both vulnerable kids in a bad situation who were looked down on by their family. They were both fast tracked to be servants. But Maki was the brave one, the capable one, the one who guided her when she was afraid and promised to always be there, and that's where a lot of mai's complex emotions around maki come from: mai was afraid and maki was strong and maki was there to hold her hand, and then suddenly she wasn't anymore.

Once I put Megumi in the Zenin compound as a little kid (since it's unclear what contact Megumi had with his bio family pre-season 1 and how extensive it was), I knew that 1) the zenin would not be putting him anywhere near Mai and Maki, and 2) that I wanted them to have met anyway.

So I liked the idea of Maki and Megumi occupying similar spaces in mai's mind because they both had briefly been viewed by Mai as companions and protectors. Megumi's contact with Mai was way more limited than Maki's was, but Megumi sort of swept into her life at a time where Mai really did need it most.

Mai would have been right at the age where most kids get their technique, if they get any at all, and we can sort of assume that mai may have figured out what hers was late if Maki didn't know about it. She just failed to get the ten shadows technique, and was a freshly confirmed failure in terms of power. She was just feeling the sting of her family's rejection, and Megumi, meanwhile, was the one who was supposed to be the most special and blessed of them all.

And he was the only one who didn't reject her out of hand, other than her sister. He stuck his own neck out to protect her. They all played together. There's not a lot of good memories than any of the three of them have on the Zenin compound, but I think that all of them secretly thought of that day as one of the best they can remember from childhood.

And it sort of was a huge deal for Mai. Everyone was treating her like she was dirt under their heel, but there was Megumi, the presumptive heir to the clan, the Ten Shadows himself, and he played with her. He was her friend. I think that would have been kind of a landmark moment for little mai. not only is that the acceptance and kindness she desperately needed, but I think it was also sort of source of hope for her that she could have a place in the Zenin compound one day without it being utter garbage. Megumi was assumed to take over the entire clan one day, and he was kind to her. He was her friend. He didn't let Naoya treat her badly, when Naoya was the one who was likely going to be heir if Megumi hadn't inherited the ten shadows. Naoya was at the top of the food chain, but Megumi still stood up for her, even though her own parents wouldn't have. So maybe when he grew up and became clan head, he wouldn't let people mistreat her and maki anymore. They could all be happy together, and Mai couldn't imagine a future where she and maki got to be happy before. Even though the clan leadership cracked down pretty hard on them for that stunt, it didn't make a dent in how overwhelmingly happy it made her.

Megumi going no contact probably would have been a huge blow, especially considering her age. She lost her hope and her only friend who wasn't her sister in one fell swoop, and she really was too young to have the tools to understand just how much Megumi needed to be kept away from her family for his own safety.

Mai, back then, was living in such a warped life that she didn't really realize how bad her family was, especially to Megumi. and that's not so much a comment as to how bad it was for her there versus him, but more that she had very little context as to what his life there was like. she was never supposed to meet him. She mostly heard about him secondhand, and that's all being filtered through the zenin's unique. All she ever heard was about how the ten shadows had finally been reborn, and how the clan was blessed for it, and how upset they all were that they had to give him back to gojo. No one even wanted her. Megumi seemed like he was living a much better life than anyone at the zenin compound could expect, so what cause would gojo have to take him away?

She was just a little girl who didn't really have friends other than her sister and him. She wanted to play with him again. She didn't understand much outside of that.

Of course, she's had time to grow up and kind of put her memories of the past in a more reasoned context. Maki came to the conclusion that Megumi probably didn't have the best time there a while ago, and this incident has really put it into perspective for her that he must have cut off the zenin because they were dangerously abusive towards him. Like, she mostly never saw him, but she has a lot of memories of him 1) being hauled out of a training room unconscious 2) being on sixteen hour days at the age of six, and 3) being violently unhappy whenever he was in the compound. Mai, to a lesser extent, likely has a similar awareness that he didn't go no contact for shits and giggles, it was because her family's fucking bonkers and abused him badly enough for gojo to pull the plug. of course, how that's shaped mai's mindset towards megumi now is still yet to be seen.

I know what it is, of course. it is seen for me. you all have yet to see it.

Gojo can and will make his own existence everyone else's problem and yuuta is sooo right to not want him to know. like. he wouldn't kick yuuta's ass. but that doesn't mean he'd be good about it.

I'm so glad you like the story! thank you for your kind words!!!

#sea glass gardens #I have this entire self indulgent continuation that's just yuuta breathing into a paperbag in africa about what the fuck is going on #he keeps trying to confiscate the first years to africa with him #like mostly megumi #megumi is his boy #but he LOVES that megumi has friends like he WANTED megumi to find what he had in his class he adores nobara and yuuji #whoever the fuck they are #he doesn't want to take megumi from his friends so he will simply take all of them #look obviously the others tried their best but they failed and lost the privilege okay the first years just need to come to africa where he #can take care of them properly #yuuta was locked and fucking loaded to be the world's greatest senpai only to get kneecapped with a study abroad trip #the other second years have to play rock paper scissors to decide who has to tell yuuta that megumi fought fucking sukuna twice within two #weeks of the first day of school. /sukuna/. sukuna hasn't been a problem for a thousand years and megumi has fought him TWICE.#he was shirtless both times. literally no one wants to be the one to tell yuuta they are all so afraid.#all yuuji and nobara know about him is that everyone talks about him wistfully and he keeps trying to confiscate them to africa #Maki: look you have to understand that yuuta loves his boy #Panda: he fucking loves his boy #nobara: and we may have to... go to africa about that #maki: you very well may #yuuji tries to ask megumi why they call him yuuta's boy and inumaki jumps out a 3rd floor window to tackle him because he still doesn't kno #i have this crack au in my head where Yuuta figures out teleportation during the goodwill event bc he can't take waiting to find out #if everyone's alive. the first thing he does is save his friends the second he does is hug them the third he does is hit them very hard #yuuta: you promised me you would take care of him!#Panda: we did!#Yuuta: why are there ROOTS in him #Panda sweating: look the thing is--TODO was the one who punted him through a wall for not being an ass man #maki had to sit on inumaki to stop his homosexuality from telling yuuta about that one and she did it not out of love for todo but out of #her conviction that yuuta would murder todo and then feel guilty and then she'd have to /hear/ about it and that's too much effort #all that work gone to shit because panda needed someone to throw under the bus

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bucketsofmonsters · 2 years

Text

The Shapeshifting Detective - Part 1

cw: parental death, grief, slow burn, more tags will be added as the story continues

male shapeshifter x fem character

word count: ~4k

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 8

“I found him.”

She could barely manage the words, barely make any of this make sense, let alone answer questions.

“Yes, you said that already. I need you to describe what happened.”

“He was just…” She felt like she might pass out. Members of the police force shuffled around, investigating the room just to her left. Even the thought of it left her dizzy and disoriented. The sounds of her mother sobbing from across the room echoed in her ears. It was odd, she thought, that she wasn’t crying. Most people cried when things like this happened. Someone had said she was in shock, maybe that’s what it was.

The detective’s words pulled her out of her head and back into reality. “Katherine, I need you to tell me what happened, while the memory is fresh.”

“I don’t think I’m going to forget it anytime soon, detective, I wouldn’t worry about that,” she snapped. Grief turned to anger in an instant, the emotion eager to find something productive to do with itself.

“Katherine…” he said, more warning than sympathy in his tone this time. She knew better than to snap at him again.

“I found my father on the floor of his study, I don’t know how long he’d been there, it looked like he’d been stabbed. I screamed and now you’re here, I don’t know what more you want from me.” She kept pulling back, trying to recall it again, remembering and remembering. Surely there was something she missed, some clue. The person who did this was just wandering around right now while her father lay dead, that couldn’t be right. There must be something she could do, anything to rectify the situation.

“Do you have any idea who could have done this?” he asked, his patience clearly wearing thin, despite the faux sympathy he was attempting once more.

“If I did, I would have told you by now.” She couldn’t keep the frustration out of her tone. Why was he just sitting here, asking the same questions? Surely there were more urgent matters, things that needed to be done to find justice.

The detective just groaned, rubbing his temples as he did. “Perhaps I should come back tomorrow, when you’re less hysterical.”

The urge to slap him was overwhelming. So many emotions ran through her, begging for some outlet and this detective was making a strong case for it to be him.

She managed a strained, polite smile and even that was a miracle. “Yes, perhaps that would be best.”

He nodded and stood, eager to get out of her home

“Detective, can I have your name?”

“Detective Harvey Lewis, miss. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He was halfway out the door already when she called out to him again. “Aren’t you going to interview my mother?” She turned to see one of her maids comforting her as her body shook with sobs.

“If I couldn’t get usable information out of you, I certainly couldn’t get it out of her. Goodnight, miss.”

That felt unfair.

Before she could protest it, he was gone, eager to get out the door. Other police officers shuffled in and out but she couldn’t stand it any longer, being so near to it all, so she just left. She didn’t want to go to her room, people would look for her in her room, so she just found some forgotten closet and sat, waiting for morning.

Eventually, morning did come, despite how endless the night felt. She picked out on her dress, making sure it was a presentable black. Something plain that fit the situation. This would be her attire for the next year. A year of mourning for a dead parent, two years for a dead spouse, all written up for her, a guide for young women everywhere. She’d always thought the rules silly, surely someone could determine how long they should mourn on their own, but right now she appreciated the rules, having something set out before her. One year and then she was done. Was that how long it would take? The hollowness in her chest would be gone in a year, the flashing images gone, at least if they followed the rules of etiquette. She couldn’t imagine they did.

Her maid, Anne, helped her get dressed, uncharitaristically silent. Usually they talked and joked, they were close friends, but right now there was nothing. Katherine could feel her, searching for something to say but too unsure to try. She didn’t mind, it was better than the endless condolences she’d already begun hearing, words that she was sure would lose all meaning shortly.

When she was told the detective had returned, the numbness left and frustration took its place again. She knew she wasn’t quite being fair to him, that she was probably reading into his behavior too much, but it really felt like he didn’t care. The worst thing she could ever imagine was happening to her and he couldn’t even bring himself to care.

When she made her way down the stairs into the main hall, her anger was immediately overwritten by confusion. He didn’t seem to notice her, too caught up in either what he was doing or his own thoughts. What he was doing was holding a handful of flowers. At first she thought maybe he’d brought them for her family but she quickly noticed the vase that they’d been taken from sitting on a table in front of him.

She couldn’t remember if the flowers had been there before or if someone had already managed to drop off flowers as condolences. The water was dripping from their stems onto the floor and still this didn’t seem to ring any alarm bells in the detective's head, he just stood there looking down at the dozen or so flowers in his fist, eyebrows furrowed as they made a mess below him.

As he stood there, unaware of her presence, she got the chance to really take him in. His thick brown hair was shaggy, desperately in need of a good cut and some styling. Likewise, his face was covered in stubble, like he typically shaved but hadn't gotten around to it in a while. She didn’t recall his clothes looking this disheveled last night, his white dress shirt and long, tan coat looking like he’d wadded them up and then thrown them back on before coming over.

Somehow, this appearance did not inspire confidence in his abilities.

After trying and failing to figure out what he was doing for a few moments, Katherine cleared her throat and the detective whipped around, clearly startled. He relaxed as he saw who it was, apparently lacking the self-awareness to look embarrassed about the frankly bizarre thing she’d seen him doing.

“Can I help you?”

He dropped the wet flowers onto the table next to the vase they belonged in and gave her a smile.

“Hello, Miss Katherine. Are you feeling alright?”

Was she feeling alright? No, she felt about as far from alright as humanly possible, actually.

“As alright as I can be.” She knew her smile must look strained, a far cry from the practiced, measured fake smile that usually adorned her face but for now it would have to do.

“Have you confirmed that the flowers didn’t murder my father or do you need more time to investigate?”

For a moment he had the audacity to look at her like she was the one who was acting odd before his eye widened in recognition and flicked back to the flowers he’d set down. “No, the flowers are not high on my suspect list right now.” There was not a hint of humor in his voice and she wondered if he thought she was an idiot or if he was one himself.

“I’m Harvey, by the way.” He stuck his hand out towards her, expectantly. She took it and he gave it a quick shake before dropping it, still looking at her eagerly

She nodded, confused by what was occurring. “I know, you told me last night.”

He nodded, running his hands through his hair absentmindedly. “Yes, of course, just wanted to remind you. A lot happened last night, it would be totally understandable if you’d forgotten.”

“I’m not stupid,” she shot back, already on the offensive.

His hand flew up in a quick surrender. “I don’t think you are, don’t worry. Just here to ask you some questions about last night, is that alright?”

She nodded, leading him into the sitting room so they could talk.

He got situated, taking out a pen and notepad that she was certain he had not been holding the night before. She wondered if it was because he hadn’t been taking her seriously, hadn’t even thought to write down what she’d said.

As he sorted himself out, she took the opportunity to inspect him once more. He seemed much more pleasant than he’d been last night, had she just imagined it? Had his demeanor seemed harsher and more hostile last night, when emotions were running high? Or maybe she’d caught him at a bad time, although that didn’t seem quite fair, if anyone could use that excuse for their poor behavior last night surely it was her and not him. Either way, she was grateful that he’d been kinder today, she wasn’t sure she’d survive a repeat of last night. Or more aptly, she wasn't sure if he’d survive one.

Speaking of, he wasn’t the only one who’d been less than pleasant last night, although she was certain her snappiness was more justified. However, she needed to be on his good side, to build some sort of nonantagonistic relationship with the detective so she could obtain as much information on the case as she could.

“Before we start, I’d just like to apologize for how I behaved last night.” The second she started to speak his head snapped up, hanging onto every word. At the word apologize, his head cocked to the side, confusion written all over his face, a vacant, uncomprehending look in his eyes.

“Why would you need to apologize?”

He even made apologizing difficult. Maybe he wasn’t more pleasant than last night after all, swapping one type of irritation for another. “You were clearly frustrated and I snapped at you and that was unfair of me.”

He seemed absolutely baffled and a little upset. She hoped that wasn’t directed at her. “I was… frustrated. At the scene of your father’s murder. So you’re apologizing.” He sounded like the clarification was more for him than for her, a desperate bid at trying to unravel the meaning of her words.

She managed another polite smile, although she wasn’t sure how many more of those she had in her.

“That is what I said.”

“Right, I’ve gathered that much. Well, no frustration today so no more apologies will be necessary.”

She got the distinct sense he was attempting to humor her but couldn’t quite manage the energy to fight him on it any longer. It seemed more like a problem for him anyways, she was sure she’d been perfectly understandable.

“Can you walk me through what happened last night?”

“I have already walked you through what happened, I don’t know what more you want from me.”

For a moment he froze, looking like he was trying to read something out of his blank notebook. “Right, well, you’ve had some time to reflect and I’ve had some time to prepare…”

“Were you not prepared last night?” That was a great sign, she’d painstakingly recounted how she found her dead father and he appeared to not have even cared.

“Apparently not because I haven’t written anything down.” He was clearly frustrated but she didn’t think it was directed at her. He seemed to be getting angry at himself more than anything.

“Are you feeling alright?” She made sure to lace the words with what sounded like genuine concern, trying desperately to keep him on her good side despite her words. “Do you need anything? Some tea, maybe a breath of fresh air?”

The passive aggression seemed to go right over his head, his face softening at her words. “No, I’m fine, really. You’re too kind, after everything you’ve been through.”

If she was less upset, it might’ve been endearing, the way he seemed to be absolutely oblivious to any attempted rudeness. As it stood, she just wanted to get this over with.

“Alright, please just ask your questions then.”

He nodded, sitting up straighter in his chair, like he was trying to look more official. “Do you have any idea who could have done this?”

“As I told you last night, if I knew that don’t you think I’d have already told you? Is there perhaps another detective I could speak to? I don’t think this is getting us anywhere.”

Panic flashed across his face,

“I’m so sorry, it’s protocol and I want to make sure I have all the information and I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It’s protocol to ask the same asinine questions over and over again?”

Before he got the chance to flounder once more, Katherine heard her mother calling her name.

As soon as she entered the room, the detective stood up from his chair, back straight and chin up, as if he was standing at attention.

“Daniel’s here, he wants to see you dear,” she said, before noticing the other man already in the room. “Oh! Hello, Detective, I hope she hasn’t been giving you too much trouble.”

“Not at all, she’s been an absolute delight. I’m Harvey, by the way Harvey Law… you can just call me Harvey if you’d like. I’m terribly sorry for your loss.”

“Well, I’m glad we have such a reputable detective on the case, I’ve heard nothing but good things. I don’t think we got the chance to speak last night”

“No, we didn’t. Actually, I was wondering if we could speak but I don’t want to cut short our time, Miss Katherine.”

She shook her head, eager to be done with the detective. “No, I think we were just finishing. I’ll go see Daniel.”

She hurried out of the room, glad for the excuse to be done with the matter. The walk over was the best part, having a moment to herself where she could breathe. Who knew a murder was such a social event, she just wanted to have a minute to herself but it seemed like the whole town wanted to talk to her.

She paused outside the room Daniel was in, taking a moment to check her hair and makeup. It felt ghoulish, making sure she looked pretty enough to take condolences for her fathers death, but she needed to maintain a good presence, especially now that she was on her own.

When she stepped inside, Daniel’s eyes widened as he saw her, a smile breaking across his face. “I came as soon as I could, are you alright?”

She nodded, already sick of the question. Surely people knew she wasn’t alright, she couldn’t understand why they kept insisting upon asking.

“Good, I’m glad. I was worried about you.” His voice held more sympathy than she’d ever heard from him before, which wasn’t saying much. He wasn’t so much unemotional as he was self-obsessed, typically unconcerned with how she actually felt. So long as she could maintain a vaguely pleasant facade, he was more than happy to accept it as the truth.

He leaned in closer, still maintaining a respectful distance. The two of them weren’t alone. They couldn’t be, it would be improper. A few people lined the room, giving them some space but ensuring that nothing improper happened and, more importantly, no rumors spread that something improper had occurred.

His voice was lowered when he spoke but she was certain everyone in the room could hear him anyways. “Honestly, it was bound to happen sooner or later. I heard he’d lost most of your money anyways, put the family in debt to some shady people. The police ought to have an easy time on this one, I say it’ll be closed within the week.”

She was normally better at regulating her emotions, but she couldn’t help but start fuming at his comments. Of course that was what he was concerned with right now, gossip and money, it was silly to assume anyone would be actually concerned for her well being, let alone Daniel. That wasn’t how things worked.

He seemed to misinterpret her anger as fear, which was probably for the best.

“No, don’t worry dear, the debt won’t matter, when we marry I can take care of you, you don’t need your father’s money.”

“And my mother?”

“Don’t worry your pretty little head, I’ve got everything handled. And, silver linings, without your father in the way we can be wed. Nothing heals a damaged heart like a wedding and a steady hand, everything will be just fine.”

She was not in the mood to put up with him right now. She knew she’d have to do the rounds, see everyone who wanted to say they’d come by to check on her so they could give themselves a pat on the back, but she didn’t have the patience she normally did, especially not for this. How he could imagine she was thinking about marriage right now was beyond her.

But, at the end of the day, he was right. She didn’t really have a choice in the matter, she needed him, even more so after her father’s death. So she put on her prettiest smile and did her best to look excited.

“Yes, of course, at least we have that. I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

“Well, you don’t need to worry about that now, I’m right here.”

“Yes, you are. And I’m so lucky for that.”

“Chin up, darling. Things will get better before you know it.”

And then he was gone. More pleasantries were exchanged, of course, but she went into autopilot, smiling and nodding and doing the bare minimum. It’s not like anyone ever noticed so it didn’t matter anyways. But eventually, he brought the thankfully short visit to a close, eager to get out of her home and the gloomy, grief stricken atmosphere that hung over the house like a fog. That, she could not blame him for. If she was honest, she wanted out too. The energy was suffocating.

She should go back and talk, hash things out further with the detective or comfort her mother but instead she ducked away. She’d earned a little selfishness. Maybe, if she was lucky, she could even step outside and get a breath of fresh air without anyone stopping her.

Her escape was intercepted by running straight into the detective, who had seemingly finished his discussion with her mother.

He seemed unphased by the incident. His arm shot out to keep her steady after the collision but already he was talking about something entirely different. “So, this Daniel, your mother said you two are courting?”

She pulled away from his touch, she was perfectly capable of standing on her own. “An original question! How unexpected, Detective Lewis.”

Unfortunately, she missed her mother standing behind him in the doorway. Her handkerchief shot down from her teary eyes as she gasped at her words. “Katherine!”

She spoke through gritted teeth, knowing she’d be getting an earful about this later. “Apologies detective, I’ve lost my manners.”

He waved off her concern. “It’s perfectly alright, I think you’ve earned a little rudeness after what you’ve been through. Speaking of, I should leave you two, I think I’ve overstayed my welcome.”

Her mother had already begun reassuring him, telling him that of course he hadn’t and he was welcome to stay for dinner but by then, she was already off, taking the opportunity to escape while her mother was distracted. She could feel his eyes on her the whole time she left.

Her decision not to sleep had seemed sound the night before, she knew she wouldn’t have been able to manage it anyways, but now that was catching up to her. She needed to rest, at least that gave her a good excuse to get away from everyone and stay in her room for the rest of the day.

She let out a sigh of relief when Anne entered her room, eager to interact with someone who could behave like an actual human.

“Hey, how’s your day been?” Katherine asked with a laugh, knowing how absurd the question seemed.

“Probably better than yours.” The girl gave her a sympathetic look and this one she actually believed. “At least Daniel came to visit, that’s exciting.”

She snorted. “Since when do you like Daniel?”

“Right, I don’t. At least he came and checked on you, right?”

“He didn’t come to check on me, he came to tell me how excited he was my father was out of the way and to inform me that we will, in fact, be getting married now.”

“Are you engaged?”

“Not yet but he’s definitely ready. He’s made it very clear that he doesn’t think I could survive on my own and at this point, I think he might be right.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.” Her tone was reassuring but it did little to help.

“Sometimes I think about what you said, about running off. I know you weren’t serious but it’s nice to dream about sometimes.”

Katherine could tell she was choosing her next words very carefully. In some ways she appreciated it, that she didn’t want to give her any false hope. “If you want to run there’s nothing stopping you.”

You. Not us. Because of course she wasn’t about to leave her stable life for some pipe dream. Who would?

Even what she had said wasn’t true, there was plenty stopping her. “Can we not talk about this and let it just be a nice thought?”

“Yeah, of course.” She quickly changed the topic, clearly not wanting to dwell on the issue. “How’d things go with the detective earlier? Did you tell him everything?”

“I did my best. He was quite odd, he barely seemed able to string a proper sentence together, let alone solve a murder.”

“I’m sure he has his reasons, don’t be too hard on him.”

Katherine gave her a once over, trying to figure out why she was defending the man. Normally, she was more than happy to gossip and talk badly about the various people who entered the household.

“Don’t tell me you fancy him, I mean he’s not the worst looking man but he was an ass the first time we met and incompetent the second time. There’s better men for you to fawn over, I promise.”

Anne’s face immediately turned bright red. “No, that’s not… I mean, I don’t…” After a few failed attempts to deny these accusations she opted to instead bury her head in her hands. “I’m just saying, maybe he’ll surprise you. I don’t know.”

“You’re being so weird, what’s up with you?”

“No, not weird.” She dismissed the idea as quickly as she could. “I’m just worried about you! Do you want to talk about any of this?”

Maybe that was it. Katherine didn’t have any real idea how she’d comfort someone who’s father just died, she couldn’t imagine it was any easier to figure out when it was her that needed comforting, she couldn’t blame her for that. “Not really. Can we just be normal? I should get ready for bed anyways, can you help me with my corset? I haven’t slept and I need to be sharp tomorrow when I start poking around.”

“No!” she practically shouted, eyes wide with panic and face flushed. Katherine’s heart sank, was she going to try and tell her not to investigate? She’d assumed that at least Anne would be on her side. Insead of protesting, however, the maid began to stumble backwards. “I just remembered I need to leave.”

What was going on today? She felt like the whole town had gone mad. “You need to leave?”

She nodded, backing away towards the door, running right into it as her hand grasped blindly for the doorknob so she could exit the room. “Terribly sorry, I’m sure I’ll be back in a minute. Don’t get into too much trouble, sleep well Miss Katherine.”

Miss Katherine? Anne hadn’t called her that in years.

She watched the girl leave and did her best to reach around and undo her corset herself. So much for acting normal.

And then, a few minutes later, like she hadn’t just run off acting like she’d seen a ghost, Anne walked right back in the room to the sight of Katherine trying and failing to undo her own corset.

She snorted at the sight, walking over immediately. “Please let me help with that. I swear Kate, you’re absolutely useless.” She said it with a fond smile, her hands immediately falling on the lacing as she’d done a million times before.

“Anne?”

The girl hummed in acknowledgement, clearly barely paying attention as she loosened the undergarment.

“Were you acting weird because you don’t know how to act around someone who’s grieving or because you think I killed him?”

That got her attention.

She turned, concern written all over her face. “When was I acting weird? I was kind of quiet but I thought you might appreciate the silence, since when does that mean I think you killed someone?”

She sounded offended at the accusation, which was fair, but Kate couldn’t think of any other plausible explanations for her behavior. “No, not this morning. Just now, before you left.”

Anne’s hand drifted up to feel her forehead, her moves slow and intentional, like she was worried she might scare her off. Kate couldn’t help but lean into her touch, it was the first genuinely comforting thing anyone had done since all this had begun. “I haven’t seen you since this morning. Are you feeling alright? When was the last time you slept?”

Great, apparently she was hallucinating now. Either that or her best friend was lying to her but honestly, she’d prefer the hallucinations.

“The last time I slept was before all of this, I’m probably just tired.” She rubbed her temples, trying to understand what was going on. It almost made sense, everything in the last day had felt like a dream anyways. She’d love to be able to say that of course she knew what was real, that she wasn’t hallucinating anything, but right now that seemed as possible of an idea as anything.

Anne squeezed her arm in quiet reassurance. “Don’t worry, I think everyone’s off kilter with everything that’s happened. I mean, the detective sees stuff like this all the time and even he seemed off, although I think there’s something not quite right with that one if I’m being honest.”

At least the non hallucination version of Anne agreed with her evaluation of the detective. She had a feeling that he wouldn’t be solving much. Even if he wasn’t incompetent, she couldn’t just leave this in the hands of someone else while she sat and did nothing. If she had to sit around, stuck by herself, she was certain she’d join the growing number of people going mad, if she hadn’t already.

She might not be a practiced detective but she couldn’t be worse than the one they already had.

#terato #monster bf #monster boyfriend #monster x human #shapeshifter #the shapeshifting detective #This fic is so self-indulgent lol #For those who don’t like slow burns I will still have one shots coming out #I wanted to get more one-shots out first but I’ve got major writers block and this was the only thing I could work on for a while #this ones a bit plot heavy at the beginning but I care about these two so much #More stuff coming soon sorry for the long wait!!

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