Work Text:
I assume we all know how their story went. Katou Haru, working at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, was partnered up with Kambe Daisuke, whose intent it was to solve the case concerning the death of his mother.
Despite Haru having a slight grudge on the sudden intruder at first, the two of them bonded quickly while slowly revealing the mystery of the Kambe family.
Not only did they bond but also seemed to slowly, intensely fall in love with each other. Not at first, but as the time went by. One sleeping over at the other’s place, cooking and eating together, working together but also sharing their past trauma with each other as well as helping to fight and get over it. It sure was a turbulent ride for the two of them.
And as the time went by, they managed to solve the case around the Kambe family, followed by many more adventures to come as they proceeded to prevent the unknown and powerful substance Adollium from causing trouble all around the world. Which meant they had to travel around the whole world at least once a week, preventing sensitive information from being leaked, not even having enough time to occasionally check up on their colleagues in Tokyo. Considering the fact that they didn’t want to travel all the way from Tokyo every time there were new clues about Adollium, they decided to simply settle down in their most prevalent locations, such as New York and London.
Now that they even lived together for a while, evidently loving each other to the core and basically spending most of their time together, they decided to perhaps get married, which they apparently did only a few months after both of them accidentally proposed at the same time at one of their usual fancy dates.
Of course they invited their coworkers, as well as other friends and family. It truly felt like a surreal dream filled with rosy cherry blossoms and golden champagne. Sapphire and aureate, magenta and teal mixing up and creating a wonderful contrast.
As far as Haru remembers, the music that played back on this very significant day was mostly chosen by Daisuke himself. Lovely waltzes, soft classical and jazzy tunes you’d hear at some of those fancy lounges up in one of the skyscrapers in New York and some more rather old-fashioned song choices.
But there is one song he especially remembers, the one that played just after they had agreed on spending the rest of their lives together as they fell into a passionate kiss and lazily waltzed past their guests. It was a rather slow but tremendous waltz and the viewers were in awe at how graciously both men’s movements melted into one another.
From now on they were together and able to share every single memory until their lives at long last came to an end.
And yet their married life sure never got boring. Of course they still worked together, even solving cases all around the world and experiencing many more adventures hand in hand. But they also had their private, intimate moments. Of course they kissed and had sex, as married couples usually do, but then there were those moments when they would tell each other about their past and childhood memories, getting to know more of each other day by day. They even had intimate moments when they would not share a single word. Such as Daisuke sitting at a snow white grand piano in their spacious and quite gleamy lit salon, playing the exact same melody that played at their wedding, while Haru sat beside him and observed his elegant movements carefully. The dream they both lived in was supposed to continue until the very end, without any troubles or worries. Of course they occasionally had fights but it never seemed like their relationship would ever crumble and come to an end. Their harmony was simply too strong to ever let anything unfavorable happen.
Their days went by and Haru would still remember the soft melody his lover occasionally played and hummed every now and then. He did not actually know the name of the song, he still does not, but the melody was always there, reminding him of the love of his life and their wonderful moments together.
They slowly but steadily grew old together and everything seemed to be perfect. Still solving cases together, cooking and eating together, going on silly but fancy dates together and of course, being together and feeling comfortable around each other’s presence.
But one thing started to seem odd about Daisuke lately, Haru thought. He did not behave as he usually did. Daisuke was never the type to misplace or forget something, yet he behaved a little more clumsy or forgetful than usual. Which was nothing special considering their current age, but it made Haru feel a little nauseous.
One time they stayed in Tokyo for a while to focus on a local case, which meant they had to go to their office in the MPD. Everyone welcomed them as usual since they had spent another few months abroad. The only odd thing was that Daisuke, presumably by accident, sat down on the wrong seat.
“But Dai-chan,“ Saeki pointed at Daisuke’s usual workplace “isn’t that one your seat?“. Daisuke looked around slightly confused, then realising he was indeed sitting at the wrong table. “Ah, apologies.“
It was generally nothing special but it still seemed odd to Haru. Was he just not used to it anymore? Did he simply sit down on a different seat by accident?
Nonetheless, he shouldn’t overthink it too much because Daisuke knew very well when Haru was overthinking things again.
A few days later, back in their apartment in Manhattan. It was a usual, calm night, the gleaming city lights shone through their overly large bedroom window as they were sleeping tightly, all cuddled up in their satin bed sheets.
There was near to no sound audible except for the distant cars on the streets below them as well as their shallow breaths. Everything seemed silent and peaceful until the raven haired man’s breath slowly began to pick up it’s pace. After a moment of steadily heavier breathing, Daisuke suddenly shot up in a cold sweat, waking up his lover by accident as well.
“Daisuke…“, Haru yawned, “it’s 3am do you know that?“
Daisuke couldn’t bring himself to say a word.
“Hm? Are you okay? Is something wrong?“
Daisuke finally managed to reply, somewhat. “Ha… Haru… I“
“Hey, c’mere.“, the taupe haired man tried to comfort his partner as he embraced him and carefully stroked his dark locks. “Feel free to tell me what’s wrong if you feel like it… but of course it’s fine too if you don’t.“
A few moments of silence passed until Daisuke could finally reply in a mainly coherent sentence.
“Haru, I… there were people, unknown silhouettes… on the wall.“
“On the wall? Daisuke you must be hallucinating. Is it the lack of sleep perhaps?“
“No, Haru. They were talking to me…“
“Talking? What did they say?“, the older man started to feel a little concerned about his partner.
“I don’t know… it felt more like inaudible noises than actual words…“
“Ah, I see,“ Haru said tiredly „but I think you should go back to sleep again, the lack of sleep lately isn’t doing you well, darling.“
“Hm, I suppose so-„ the other man tried to respond, yet he suddenly fell back into his previous shiver while staring at the plain, empty wall in front of him with a slight hint of fear in his expression.
Haru grabbed him by the face delicately, once again asking him what’s wrong. Yet Daisuke suddenly became a stuttering and shivering mess.
“F-father…“
“Father? Daisuke I am seriously worried right now…“
“N-no you… you can’t take me, I-... it’s too soon!“
“Too soon? Too soon for what? Daisuke tell me!“ Haru became more and more worried and impatient as he tried to shake Daisuke out of his trance.
Silence. Daisuke’s heavy breathing was the only sound that could be heard. Haru decided to not interrupt him any further as he tried to slowly lay him down and make him sleep. Successful, at last.
The next morning. Luckily it was one of their day offs since Daisuke woke up later than usual and, to his surprise, the space next to him on the bed was empty. He figured that his lover might be in the kitchen downstairs, preparing breakfast for the two of them. He then got up, wearing nothing but an almost see through robe of white satin, and made his way to their shared kitchen.
He could already perceive a slight smell of freshly made breakfast, presumably Natto, his favorite kind, as he was about to enter the kitchen. And there he, Katou Haru, was sitting down, already serving the well made dish.
“Good morning.“, Daisuke intruded.
“Morning… are you doing well?“ said the other man sitting at the other end of the table, seemingly still concerned about last night’s incident.
“I am fine, why do you ask?“
“Why do I ask? I mean… the thing last night...“ his concern increased.
Daisuke seemed a little confused at first but slowly recalled what happened. “Oh yes, I do remember waking up at night…“
“And? That’s all?“
“That’s all.“
“Daisuke, you were shaking and staring at a blank wall for a solid 30 minutes…“
Silence. Only concerned and confused stares as Daisuke avoided to respond and finally sat down to eat.
Then, after a while of thinking, Haru began to raise the topic of their conversation again.
„Daisuke… you’ve been forgetting quite a lot of common things lately and you don’t even remember this?“
“I don’t.“
“Well, might be because we’re getting old, huh?“ Haru said, trying to make it sound jokingly enough.
“I suppose so.“
They continued eating their breakfast and decided to take a little stroll through the nearby park after they finished so that Daisuke can ‘get a little fresh air to think‘ again. There were many younger couples passing by, which made Haru remember the time when he just met Daisuke. Remembering their first odd encounter, the way they became partners and how they could’ve never imagined where their journey would lead them someday. And now they were here, a happily married couple for years, near to never leaving the other’s side and sharing as many memories with each other as possible.
They soon returned home after their little walk outside and Haru decided to pour in a relaxing bath for his lover, considering he might still be a little tired from yesterday night’s… occurrence.
Daisuke gladly accepted the offer and sunk his slender but well trained figure into the warm and comforting water, decorated with enough rose petals to cover the rather wide surface.
He remarked the glass of wine standing on the little ledge next to him with a silent “hm.“ and took a little sip. He couldn’t exactly remember the last time his husband was so solicitous to him, but he supposed there was no need to complain.
Meanwhile, Haru was sitting at the kitchen counter, looking through yet unsolved case files to distract himself from overthinking.
About an hour later, the kitchen door opened and Daisuke stepped in, looking as neat as usual, as if he didn’t look like some sort of underground demon earlier that day.
“You sure took your time...“, Haru lazily commented as a hint of rose scented air finally hit his nerves, making him unable to think for a second, or two. “… was that relaxing enough? I mean, you look better than before, at least.“
“Hm, it sure did.“ Daisuke replied with a subtle, genuine smile as he sat down next to Haru.
“Should we have dinner after this?“ Haru asked, pointing at the case files he was currently working on.
His partner, who was sitting next to him, took a quick glance at those papers but despite not seeming overly energized muttered something among the lines of wanting to help his lover out.
„Hm, sure. Then we’ll have dinner after finishing this?“ the other replied as his gaze wandered back to the files in front of him. „Let’s get to work then!“. The other nodded inconspicuously and took one of the unopened files over to his side.
Both detectives then quickly got to work and finished the staples of case files surprisingly fast. Perhaps because most of them weren’t as thrilling as their usual ones, predominantly simple cases such as theft or other insignificant crimes (which Haru seemed to care a lot about… he still had a strong sense of justice after all). Speaking of thrilling cases, their most expansive and exhilarating case concerning the mystery of the questionable substance Adollium had long been solved and all possibly following crimes prevented. It sure had been a ride for the two inspectors. With ups and downs, not to mention near death experiences. Haru still remembers that time they were chasing their usual target of Adollium dealers through the narrowest streets of the Swiss Alps, taking HEUSC and Daisuke’s powers of wealth for their advantage, of course. It all went well until, suddenly, the target decided to lead them to the slim, mountainous paths which definitely weren’t made for expensive cars to drive on. One wrong movement of the steering wheel and the car would get wiped out, the rough mountain walls demolishing their comparatively small and fragile bodies and leaving the unidentifiable car parts shattered somewhere no person would dare seek for. But thanks to Suzue‘s observation skills and instructions they made it through this hell ride save and on top of that had the chance to catch the chemical dealers afterwards.
The taupe haired man let out a sigh of relief at this very specific memory, grabbing the other’s attention. Said person gave him a puzzled gaze in response, seemingly confused at the apparent day dreaming.
“Is something wrong?“, the raven enquired.
Golden eyes snapped up from being focused on the files for quite an amount of time, meeting azure blue ones in return. “Oh, nothing specific!“, he chuckled, directing the other a somewhat genuine smile. “I suddenly remembered the days when we used to chase those Adollium dealers back then… that sure was an experience.“
The other’s eyebrows furrowed. “Adollium… have I heard that before?“
Haru gave him a slightly worried yet confused expression in return. “What do you mean…?“
Oh. Well, this might possibly just be the aftermath of Daisuke’s sudden wave of sickness… that’s what Haru thought, at least.
“What do I mean?“, the younger replied in quite the concerned tone. “It… it just seems so familiar to me yet I can’t put my head on what exactly it is…“. Seemingly empty eyes facing shiny golden ones.
“Daisuke… are you sure you’re fine?“
“Yes, Haru.“
Suddenly, the taupe haired man shot up from the table they were working at and took the other’s hand.
“Daisuke, please go to bed and take some more rest now.“
The other did as instructed and was led to bed by his lover. He fell asleep fast, giving Haru the opportunity to stand up from sitting by his side and losing the grip on his hand to sneak back into the kitchen. He didn’t necessarily want to overthink but the recent events did not support that… unfortunately. But why was Daisuke acting like that lately? Did anything happen he did not know about? And why the sudden loss of important memories? The questions in his head just kept increasing without any of them being answered at all.
After a solid while of his little overthinking time he came to the conclusion to let Daisuke see a doctor soon. He could not sleep properly knowing something is not right with his most loved one but went to accompany his lover in the oh so cozy bed nonetheless.
The night went by quickly, he only went to bed at 3am after all, but it seemed like there hadn’t been any more odd incidents last night.
Just as Haru straightened up and planned on putting on his fluffy socks he noticed the seemingly still sleeping creature in the bed next to him shooting up clinging to the next best thing he could find, which was Haru in that case.
“Daisuke, is everything okay?“
The man in question abruptly pushed him away, apparently back to his senses again.
„Ah, I’m sorry. I don’t know what just happened, must’ve been a bad dream.“ He said, rather monotonously and immediately got up to the kitchen. The other followed.
Haru found his husband near the kitchen counter, embracing him from behind to provide comfort. “Daisuke darling, this can’t go on for any longer. Haven’t you noticed how you act lately!? You’re gonna have to see a doctor you know-“
Before he could end his sentence, Daisuke already interrupted him.
“I know that. I already made an appointment a few days ago.“
“… so, does that mean you already saw a doctor?“
Silence.
“Daisuke, tell me.“ his tone getting more passive aggressive.
“Yes.”
“And? What did he say? Did he diagnose anything?“
Silence, again.
“Daisuke…?“
“Haru.“
“My love, please don’t make me worry even more and tell me.“ he said, almost demanding.
A short moment of silence fell between them until suddenly,
“Dementia, Haru. I have been diagnosed with dementia.“
Haru’s eyes turned empty. Daisuke refused to hold eye contact and they both stared into more or less blank space for a while.
It was shocking, of course, Haru could not believe it. Why him? Why his husband? The love of his life? This was bad. He knew the possible stages of dementia very well since he had family members with the same diagnosis. Thousands of thoughts crossed his mind. He prayed Daisuke would not be affected as much as others did, but looking at his symptoms it is near to impossible that it will stay this way. All the memories they shared… soon to be turned to ashes.
“Are you… are you kidding me?“, voice trembling. His eyes shot up, looking at Daisuke intensely, tears forming in his eyes.
“Why would I be kidding, Haru?“, the younger man replied with a slightly worrisome tone.
The man in question approached, grabbing the other’s collar. “Daisuke!“, almost yelling, hands shivering against the other’s neck. “I…” the tears started to blur his vision to the point where he finally realized he could not change any of the consequences this might have. Daisuke could neither.
Haru loosened his grip, golden eyes locking with deep blue ones, both watery and on the verge of breaking down. A deep sigh left the taller man’s lips as he embraced his lover, not letting him go for what felt like an eternity.
——
It has been two weeks since Daisuke told Haru about his diagnosis. They both seemed to have accepted their fate by now… a little, at least.
They knew the day would come. The day Daisuke won’t be able to recognize Haru. Not able to recognize his lover, his voice, his face. Everything. He wouldn’t be able to recall their oh so wonderful memories. Nothing. But that would only happen in a few years, right? At least that’s what Haru thought. Until…
Daisuke went for a walk, as he usually does once their work is done. But today was different. He came home much later than usual. Honestly, Haru was glad he came home at all. His dementia had already progressed to the point where he often gets lost in their familiar neighborhood after all.
“I’m home.“ he intruded.
“Welcome home. Where did you get lost this time?“, Haru said in a slightly joking manner.
“The doctor.“
“Hm?”
“I went to the doctor.“
It wasn’t that special actually. He often visits the doctor these days so Haru did not question it at all.
“Haru.“
“What is it, love?“
“Rapidly progressive… my dementia is rapidly progressive, he said.“
Haru knew exactly what that meant. His life expectancy would barely be 10 more years.
——
The next evening they were once again going through case files from years ago, including Adollium, of course. They sat in their usual spot for a few hours until Haru had an idea. He grabbed Daisuke’s arm and dragged him up into their living room, leaving him standing in the centre as he made his way over to Daisuke’s old classy gramophone which he thought was funny since he had never seen one like this before in his life. Daisuke looked a little dazzled as Haru struggled to put on the vinyl, but eventually managed to succeed.
Now that the music was playing, he approached the shorter man again, placed one hand on his lover’s waist and the other in his hand.
“Do I get your permission to dance, sir?“
Daisuke managed to nod, positioning himself in their usual waltz position.
The song Haru chose was a slow but tremendous waltz. One might think it was just one of the basic pieces of classical music. But this one especially was different, to Haru, at least. It was the exact one they played at their wedding, just as they agreed to spend the rest of their lives together. Their movements now melted into one another, as if they were about to become one.
Daisuke let out a low hum. “This sounds familiar.“ he muttered and Haru’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Daisuke.“
“Haru.“
“This is the song that played at our wedding, y’know?“, Haru said. He was pretty used to Daisuke’s behavior by now. To be fair, it made him sad, yes. But he couldn’t do anything, right?
“Is that so?“
“Yes, darling.“
“So we are married…“
It really hit Haru’s heart hearing this from his actual husband who he loved with every single bit of his. It hurt, actually. Repeating the same answers that should actually be obvious every single time.
He stopped his movements and took Daisuke’s hands, admiring them in the dim light surrounding them in their living room. The music still playing. He placed a light kiss on both of them and his eyes fixated on Daisuke’s, almost swimming in the depths of a deep blue night with glittering stars. Haru leaned in for a kiss and the other reciprocated it. It wasn’t a deep kiss of lust, nor a little peck. It was a kiss of deep understanding and love, nothing other than that. It lasted until both men had to catch their breaths. Their eyes fixated on each other again, azure melting with aureate. A beautiful sight. Just like they used to be when they were younger. Connected, merged. They were partners after all. They were husbands, lovers. Together until the day their memories vanish.
“Who are you?“, a deep, humming voice interrupted their little emotional moment. Haru knew this voice, why was it so familiar?
It was Daisuke. As his eyes were now narrowed due to apparent confusion, Haru’s widened instead. Unlike the same confusion, all Haru felt was fear… and maybe confusion as well.
“D…Daisuke…“, voice filled with fear and horror. He was simply not able to form coherent sentences anymore as his voice trembled to the point of almost breaking. His eyes were empty, not only emotionally but he had not been able to cry at least. His tears were long gone. He cried for days once he found out about his husband’s diagnosis. It was useless. What was there to cry for? Everything was gone. Not only Daisuke’s memories about adventures they shared together were gone. Everything. Gone.
This was it, Haru thought. He knew this would go one like this for a little while until Daisuke were to die from this. But to be honest, Haru would’ve preferred for him to die earlier instead of what was happening to him right now. Both would have to suffer less, both mentally and physically. Haru wouldn’t have to be reminded of the fact that Daisuke cannot remember him anymore everyday. It was painful. Seeing your lover lose interest in what he was once passionately invested in. Seeing him lose the love for his loved ones. What would happen to their work? What would Suzue say about this? Haru didn’t even know if Daisuke already told her about it, or at least tried to.
The waltz finally came to an end. How ironic, Haru thought.
He met his husband, but he never met him.