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The first time Akutagawa thinks he sees his sister is at the laundromat. Oda was driving, the two returning from a court appearance necessary for a case. Akutagawa had disliked every moment; the stares, the repetitive questions, he told what happened and was forced to say it three more times in the guise of a leading question. Plus, his clothes felt too tight, Kunikida forced him to wear a proper suit to the hearing rather than his usual black shirt and striped pants with suspenders. The tie had been suffocating, the light was red as his fingers pried at the knot when he was drawn to a figure with long black hair. A gasp is drawn from his throat, surprised as his eyes meet familiar gray ones, and the light is green with Oda just pressing the gas to move forward. Yet instead of staying in the car, Akutagawa had unclipped his seatbelt, thrown the tie in the place he had been sitting as the car door is kicked open with his heels hitting the concrete hard. Oda only notices his absent passenger when the sound of car horns blare and the usual road rage shouting sounds louder than normal, no longer mitigated by the metal and reaching him directly.
“Oh…”
Akutagawa’s chases her, shouting his sister’s name as he weaves through the crowd. She looked thinner in her face than when he last saw her, her hair being down was different than the slicked right ponytail as well. A white dress with a shawl over her shoulders that was so different from the fitted black suit. It had to be her, Akutagawa reasons, as he watches the woman run through the crowd and hop up and over a semi truck waiting at the next light.
“Gin!” Akutagawa shouts, choosing to not use Rashomon in such a public setting and reliant on just his body. He needed her to know he hadn’t forgotten, that he didn’t blame her for stabbing him. That Akutagawa was still fighting to be good enough for his sister to return to him.
It had been two years, and finally, he spotted her. But Gin was gone quicker than he could catch up with her, chest heaving punctuated by ragged coughs at the crowded intersection six blocks away from where he had run out of the moving vehicle
“Akutagawa,” Oda calls his name from the car, passenger door still hanging open from where he had left it. “Are you alright?”
Akutagawa can only re-enter the vehicle in silence, head hung against his chest as the seat belt clicks back into place and the door closes. It wasn’t time yet. She still didn’t trust him. Akutagawa just had to become stronger.
The second time he sees her, Akutagawa doesn’t question himself before running after her. He had been in the cafe the Agency frequented, Uzumaki, with most of the Agency members. Only Kunikida was absent as he was meeting with the President. Akutagawa was beside Kenji, hands wrapped around a mug of sugared tea people watching.
It had been three months since he saw his sister, and part of him was starting to question if it wasn’t an illusion or a mistake. The only confirmation he had it was Gin were her eyes, but Akutagawa had started to believe he imagined them, and the way she moved with agility and speed.
Gray eyes meet his from across the street, black hair framing her pale face as she watches him through the glass. It takes Akutagawa a second to realize it’s not his reflection overlain on a random woman, but a familiar face with similar features and the same gray eyes staring at him.
“…Akutagawa…” Tanizaki questions the older detective but Akutagawa can’t hear him or the rest of the statement. His sister was watching him.
“Gin…” He whispers activating Rashomon to dig into the seat and boost himself over Kenji and the table safely, minus the damage to the seat and floor, before sprinting out of the cafe.
The bell from the door chimes on his exit, Gin’s eyes widening when she finally realizes the spot she had been staring at was now empty with her name being shouted once more by that voice prompting her to run.
Not again, Akutagawa thinks as he closes in on her. She was wearing a deep red coat for the winter months, black hair down across her back that catches in the chilling wind whipping by them as they run down the street. Gin looked healthier, not as pale and maybe not as thin though it was hard to tell from the coat and her normal thin frame.
“Wait!” Akutagawa asks, pleads, wanting to finally have a chance. Gin looks back at him, her eyes meeting his for a brief moment.
I’m sorry I abandoned you.
I’m sorry but I can’t just yet.
Akutagawa’s footsteps slow, watching Gin weave through the crowded shopping district as he lets her go. Just like she had let him go all those years ago in the slums.
“I’ll be waiting.” When she was ready.
“Waiting for what?” Kenji chirps behind Akutagawa, his sandals finally ceasing their flopping sound from the running he did to catch up. Tanizaki was panting a few feet behind as he joins the young blonde teen’s side.
“Where….are…” Tanizaki’s chest was heaving as his arms wrap around his chest and shoulders from the cold. “… you going?”
Snowflakes fall gently on Akutagawa’s long lashes dotting the jet black in frosted white.
“Back home.” Akutagawa turns fully to start the walk back to the Agency, Kenji walking beside him asking questions about snow in the city while Tanizaki watches them walk past. He saw it too, the girl with eyes that reminded him of Akutagawa. His elder always seemed to be chasing something, never comfortable or able to just sit and be patient. But watching him turn away, content and saying he would wait. Akutagawa never waited for anything, but it must be important.
Tanizaki looks up, eyes widening as he notices the eyes he saw earlier once more and a soft minuscule smile before the woman turns away to practically vanish.
A knock late at night disrupts Akutagawa’s usual reading. A single lamp illuminated the small corner of the living room filled with blankets and pillows Akutagawa had set up as his place to read when Oda had gone to bed and he refused to sleep just yet. Couldn’t
The knock comes again, light taps against the wood that have Akutagawa questioning whether to get his coat or not. He nearly does, hand hovering over the gray fabric before his attention catches the silhouette in the soft lantern outside. Long hair that accented the small curve of her thin waist. Akutagawa’s hand drops fro mother coat to reach for the door instead as the woman outside’s drops in a quick turn away with her hair flowing behind her in a dark shadow.
The door is thrown open, Akutagawa standing in the space. Gin looks over her shoulder at the sound of the click, the slide of the wood across the rug as her eyes meet his once more. This time they were soft, nervous but unafraid of the rejection she assumed was coming.
No words are spoken, only the night air whipping between them in a gentle whisper catching jet black hair across pale skin.
I’m ready, but I understand. You’re the Agency and I’m still weak.
Akutagawa steps aside, Gin’s eyes widening as her breath catches in her throat.
“Welcome home.”