[Itto's POV]
I slowly opened my eyes and somehow felt a heavy weight on me. I bet it's Ushi again.
"Ugh.. Beefcake, could you get off please..?" I tried to push the weight off of me then heard a loud thud once I felt my body lighter.
"What the..? Beefcake, since when did you start gaining—" I slowly sat up and noticed that what had fallen off was actually a heavy leather bag filled with books.
"Gah!? Beefcake?? Who turned you into a leather bag!? NOOOOOOO!!—Wait a minute" I noticed something sticking out from the bag and picked it up. Hey, isn't this y/n's detective file thingy?
"Aw shoot, y/n! I remember now!"
I recalled that the weird-looking samurai dudes threw beans at me, then y/n fell off the waterfall. Oh no, hope she knows how to swim. Wait, speaking of which, where the heck am I?
I looked around and noticed that I'm in a dark room. Did someone lock me up? I didn't even do anything!
"Hey!! Tenryou Commission! Let me outta here! I didn't do anything wrong!!" I stood up and held onto the bars. Why is no one is responding? Also, why is the jailhouse so dark right now? Is it nighttime already? Has everyone already fallen asleep?
"Oi!! Anyone out there?? Cmon now man, I'm innocent! I didn't commit any crime! This is false imprisonment!"
My voice echoed throughout the whole area but no one seemed to hear me. Am I all alone in here? I sure do hope there aren't any ghosts...
[Heizou's POV]
"y/n!!"
I hurried off to the source of the loud blast and upon my arrival, there was a ruin cruiser, preparing to aim another blast at a green-colored orb right in front of it.
The green-colored orb seemed to be a dendro shield with a familiar h/c-haired figure lying down inside of it.
"y/n!" I called out her name, and rushed off towards the ruin cruiser. Jumped high up into the air as I had aimed an air kick that released a strong cyclone towards the machine and have it blown away from the area.
Once the threat was finally gone, I immediately went to check on y/n's state. I was relieved to see that she wasn't badly hurt and was only unconscious, but I guess it's still my fault for not keeping a close eye on her.
"You really got me worked up, y/n.."
The dendro shield had disintegrated then I picked her up and carefully carried her on my back. I need to find a safe spot for us to temporarily stay in. We can't expose ourselves out in the open, who knows how many more of those ruin sentinels are out here.
***
[y/n's POV]
You woke up, catching a whiff of a familiar scent as you could feel that someone is carrying you over their back.
As your eyes had been fully opened, you had laid your sights upon a familiar redhead and it only took you a whole minute to understand what was happening.
"Heizou...?" You muttered in a hoarse voice, yet the detective could still hear you.
"Finally awake? Sorry I wasn't able to help you sooner.." There was a slight hint of regret and worry on his tone. You held onto both of his shoulders and slightly leaned back.
"N-no... I should be the one to apologize... I got distracted and ran into trouble.."
The redhead detective responded with a light chuckle. "Man alive.. What am I ever going to do with you? You're like a magnet of trouble sometimes, y/n~" He teased and it made you slightly turn red out of embarrassment.
"I-" You couldn't think of a comeback and just pouted, which made him laugh more in amusement.
"Just teasing~ But then again, trouble sometimes makes the investigation less of a bore and your presence makes it even more interesting"
You slightly glanced away. "Quit it with the flattery already..." You mumbled.
"Why, it's the truth~" He slightly turned his head to the side and you could tell that he was giving a genuine smile.
Heizou soon stopped at a small area that seemed to be safe from any mobs then he slowly set you down on a stone to sit on before he sat down as well right beside you.
"About earlier..." He slowly trailed off as he didn't even try to look at you and just stared at the sea.
"It's fine. I understand what you were trying to say" You immediately answered before letting him finish. "As much as I hate to admit it sometimes... But more than half of my knowledge for being a detective were not even from Sango's teachings..." You fiddled your hands together while glancing downwards. "But even if Sango rarely taught me properly... There are times when her guidance is shown through an actual demonstration, perhaps she was hoping that in all those times when I was still her assistant, I could at least learn a thing or two from her methods.."
"Yet, not all of her methods are completely necessary.." He leaned back with both of his arms supporting his weight. "Sango and I used to work together, not as a detective and assistant, but both of us worked together under the same title as detectives.. Back then, I used to think that she was the only person who was on par with my intuitive talents and thought that we're both the same.. But during that fall-out we had, I realized that the both of us were actually too different.."
"If you don't mind me asking.. What happened that caused the both of you to have a fall-out?"
"Let's just say.." He turned his head to look at you. "... We both realized that our ideals upon pursuing the truth were not in parallel"
"I see.."
"But hey, I had no regrets.. I managed to find myself a good position in the Tenryou Commission and I'm completely contented with what I have"
"I've always wondered, how come a great detective like you is still under the position of a doushin? Don't you ever get offered to be promoted?" You raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Being a doushin means I can still be assigned out in the field... I often reject any offers of promotion from my superiors because if I were to climb higher from here, I won't have any tasks to explore and personally investigate in the field. I don't like sticking to the paperwork, otherwise my detective prowess will go to waste"
"I guess that makes sense.." You then slowly stood up. "Let's continue our conversation once this case is finally dealt with.. We can't have any more similar cases occurring as the culprit is still out there" You reached your hand out to him.
He gave you a soft smile and accepted your hand before standing up. "Spoken like a true detective, but you're still nowhere near my level, of course~ You still have a long way to go, so try to keep up while you can" He then ruffled your hair while giving you a close-eyed smile.
You pouted and held your now-messy hair before the both of you giggled at each other.
"Alright Detective y/n, let's continue our investigation, shall we?"