It took quite some time for you to snap back to reality: you were going through all the five stages of grief at the same time Takemichi had occasionally been checking in on you.
Takemichi scrunched his eyebrows at the cans that lay in front of you, gagging at the smell of imported alcohol that he wasn't used to smelling. Was it Vodka or Chardonnay? He didn't know; what he knew was the fact that it was too intoxicating and you had been drinking too much.
He grabbed your hand from taking another of the alcohol, "that's enough Y/N, get hold of yourself."
"Takemichi, you know the pain of losing someone, yet you still have people that support you: you have Chifuyu, Mitsuya and all of Toman; I have no one," you said lamenting, tears filling in your eyes.
"You are wrong in that way, you have everyone, you just don't try to open your eyes," he said almost shouting at you.
" I still don't know who killed Shuji," you replied sleepily, eyes blurred just like your sense of direction and morality at this stage in life.
"Why grieve for a man who didn't even care about you?" he murmured but it was loud enough for you to hear.
A deafening slap echoed across the room, his face felt numb and his cheeks blossomed with pain.
"Don't you dare say anything about Shuji!" you shouted eyes filling with iridescent tears.
"Fine," he grit his teeth, "you know what I will introduce you to Naoto Tachibana to help you find the killer of your husband."
Your ecstasy-blown pupils now glimmered with hope, "really?"
"Under one condition that is." you clicked your tongue in annoyance, crossing your legs and commanding him to speak.
"You won't take this liquor anymore," he placed forward his condition and you had to, unfortunately, agree to it.
"Sure, take them away," you mumbled
Takemichi gathered the bottles and dug a hole in your backyard he planted them there; it was a shame that he had to ruin such perfectly good liquor, but it was for you. With each dig, his nose burned with the foul stench of rotten tomatoes, poor them.
It doesn't take long for things to become gargenuos, especially when they are not showered with the love and affection they needed during the sapling age. He was afraid it was the same case with you.
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"Tachibana Naoto," the black-haired man said extending his hand. His cerulean pupils almost made you shiver at the intensity with which he was scanning his surroundings.
"Hanma Y/N," you said, not extending your hand. Living with Hanma you realised that not shaking hands with people is better for your safety. Naoto took the hint and skillfully put his hand back in the pocket.
"I assume Takemichi has briefed everything to you," he asked taking a sip from the warm coffee you had given him as a sign of hospitality.
"He has," Naoto gripped the coffee table at your house, "but I want to hear from you, in detail, what all transpired that day and a few days before the incident."
Just as you were about to open your mouth, Naoto cut you off.
"Firstly, be honest with me, have you ever partaken in any illegal activity, be it robbery, murder, corruption, taking illegal substances or anything? If you did, solving the case would mean you getting in trouble too"
"Nope," you replied dully, feeling irked due to being cut off, "should I go ahead now?"
"Please do." Naoto raised his eyebrow at you to continue.
"The thing is, I don't remember anything between 2 days before his death and on the day of his death," you choked out.
Naoto nodded slowly, "sometimes families of victims go under stress and merge events together, it is uncommon, but I have heard of it. Although it would make things quite difficult to continue with."
You nodded in understanding.
"and before that Y/N, kindly give me Shuji Hanma's phone," He commanded and you looked at him in question and then realised that this investigation would actually require going through your late husband's stuff more than you would like.
"Just a second I will get it," you rushed to your shared room, opening his side of the drawer you took out the phone.
You walked back into the living room, Naoto looked very observant, probably a detective thing. His foot tapped on the carpet and years perked at the sound of your footsteps.
You handed the phone to him, "Shuji never told me the password."
"It can be easily hacked, that's no issue." He put the phone in his pocket and got up, udsting his pants as his stoic expression remained intact "it is important for you to not make any rash decisions during this process."
He handed you his card, "if you ever need someone to talk to, just remember, we are here for you Hanma-san*."
"Please refer to me as Y/N," you added, feeling overwhelmed by the use of your official name now.
"Ah-yes, Y/N, we are here for you," Naoto said as if savouring the way your name felt in his mouth, a little foreign, he wasn't used to his clients being almost the same age as him, yet he had agreed upon Takemitchi's requests.
Only the future would tell the fate--of the ones who are brave enough to wait.
