Work Text:
The day before Enari Senichi died, nothing particularly unusual or bad had happened. It was a normal day, with patrolling, then paperwork, then home. He had one message from his mother, wondering if he was coming home for the new year (no), and one from his younger sister asking if he'd help her get to the bottom of the cockroach problem in her apartment (she should check the pipes in the kitchen, and he honestly doubted her boyfriend was cheating on her). He ate a cup noodle, and called his eldest sister, but got his brother-in-law instead and promised to call back. He set out his clothes for his date with Umeko the next day, and thought yet again on if he should propose. And then he went to sleep.
When he woke up the next morning, he got dressed, went to work, and cleaned until it was time for patrol. And then, at 10:13, he was shot.
*****
Jasmine was waiting. She had Umeko's head on her shoulder, and was trying to comfort her friend as they waited in the hard plastic chairs. Tetsu sat across from them, hunched over and head down. Hoji was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, trying to look unperturbed.
No one really knew what had happened, except Umeko. They had received a short call requesting help for Sen, and that Umeko was going after the sniper. By the time they arrived, a small crowd had gathered around Sen and a boy pressing Umeko's folded coat over the wound. Two or three minutes later, Umeko returned, giving only a nod that she had caught the shooter. She hadn't responded since.
And now, they were all silent. There didn't seem to be anything to say.
*****
Tetsu had known Sen-chan had come from a big family, but he didn't realize quite what that meant, before. Even when Kenji, Sen-chan's younger brother, had come see Boss, he didn't quite understand.
Being there, at the wake, that's when it started to sink in. There were sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews, cousins, parents, even grandparents, and Tetsu felt out of his league. They were all grieving, yet they all were able to come together and bolster each other. Kenji, it seemed, had done his homework. Gin, Hakutaku, and Flora, and so many others, all the people Sen-chan had helped, faces Tetsu had never seen before or had never expected to see again. In fact, only one person seemed to be missing.
He was between Boss and Jasmine for the ceremony, and when it was over, he saw Boss talking to Sen-chan's parents. Hoji was with Sen's two brothers, and Jasmine talking with his sisters. Umeko wasn't talking to anyone, so Tetsu went over and cleared his throat. "Such a big family, it's somehow comforting, don't you think?" Tetsu didn't know anything about Umeko's family, he realized suddenly, and he wanted to take it back.
But Umeko nodded, and said as if she wasn't even at a stranger's funeral, "I think so too. I'm glad I got to meet them."
Somehow, Tetsu had assumed she *had* met them, and was distracted from her mysteriously cheery attitude. "You hadn't--?" he began, before realizing how horrible that would be to ask.
Umeko, thankfully, pretended not to hear. She stared past him, at one of Sen's sisters, talking to her son.
Tetsu thinks Umeko likes big families too.
*****
Hoji was actually the first one to read it. The report was just sitting on Boss's desk, and he knew everyone else was off duty for the night. It read as impersonally as if Hoji himself had written it.
When he was finished, he realized, he'd missed how much Umeko had matured since joining the team. He put the report back, and his hands didn't shake.
Tetsu and Jasmine didn't need to read it, he decided. They wouldn't understand, anyway.
*****
The day before Enari Senichi died, nothing particularly unusual or bad had happened. It was a normal day, with patrolling, then paperwork, then home. She watched her favorite television show. She ate a salad and drank two glasses of barley tea. She soaked in the bath for a little while, smiling over her date the next day. And then she went to sleep.
When she woke up the next morning, she got dressed, went to work, and did paperwork until it was time for patrol. And then, at 10:13, he was shot, and she was changed.