Chapter Text
The world was spinning. Thankfully, there was a very good reason that the world was spinning, and it was because Dirk was spinning. The new office chair in which he currently sat had a lovely little function that allowed him to spin, which he had immediately started doing upon sitting in it. It helped him think, he had explained to Todd, who had merely sighed at this and went to check the Agency email, leaving Dirk to his own spinning devices. Of course, while spinning might have helped Dirk to think, if he were to think about something, he currently wasn’t. After all, they had no cases at the moment, so what was there to think about? Nothing. Which is exactly what Dirk was thinking about as he spun around in his new office chair.
“Hey Dirk, we got an email about a case.”
Todd’s words had Dirk bolting right out of the chair, which in hindsight was a bad move, because the vertigo of having been spinning a moment previous and then suddenly not spinning sent Dirk stumbling to the ground as soon as he stood up.
“Dirk!” Dirk’s best friend was at his side in a second, kneeling close to him as Dirk sat up on the ground, trying to become less dizzy. “Are you okay?” Todd asked with an amused chuckle. Dirk looked up at Todd with a pout and a raised eyebrow.
“Peachy,” he replied. Todd, continuing to laugh at Dirk, stood up and offered him an arm. Dirk took it and allowed Todd to help him to his feet. “Excellent assisting, Todd,” he said as he straightened himself out.
“Sure,” said Todd, rolling his eyes. “Come take a look at this email.” The two of them went back to Todd’s desk to look at his computer screen. It had an email displayed that read:
Subject: A Message From The 2038 Pokemon CEO
Hello.
I have been led to your detective agency, and I see that you specialize in “unusual” cases.
I come to you with a case of a missing clock. This clock is of vital importance, and I am hiring you, Dirk Gently, to find it. This clock has been touched by many influential people, and is a crucial part of my dream.
This clock is hidden somewhere in the middle of Tokyo, Japan. You must venture to the other side of the world, and follow a series of clues laid out in order to find this most valuable item.
I wish you luck, good detective.
Signed,
The 2038 Pokemon CEO
Todd was looking at Dirk for his reaction. After finishing reading the email, Dirk looked back at Todd with an excited grin plastered upon his face.
“A case in Japan!” Dirk exclaimed.
“Yeah, and we’re being hired by the CEO of Pokemon, too,” Todd added, with a matching grin of his own.
“And he’s from the future! See, it says he’s CEO in 2038! We might get to time travel again!”
“Gotta wonder how he found out about our detective agency, though.”
“Everything is connected, Todd. The Universe led him to us.”
“Yeah, probably.” Todd chuckled. “How are we going to fund a trip to Japan, though?” Dirk sighed at this.
“You have a point,” he said. “If only Farah were here, she’d sort out the whole money business. She’s very good at doing that.”
“Well, let’s call her and see if she can sort this out.”
“Excellent idea, Todd!” Dirk whipped his phone out of his pocket and selected Farah’s contact to call her. He frowned as the call went directly to voicemail, and Todd cursed.
“I forgot,” Todd said. “Lydia said she was going to force Farah to turn her phone off while she was on vacation. Dirk? What are you doing?” For Dirk had put his phone to his ear yet again.
Hello? said a voice on the other end.
“Hi Lydia!” Dirk said, cheerily.
Dirk! Lydia exclaimed, delighted. What’s up?
“I need to talk to Farah. We’ve got a new case!”
A new case? What is it?
“The CEO of Pokemon hired us via email to go to Japan to find a clock!”
Oh. My God. Are you serious?
“Seriously serious.”
That is so cool.
“But we don’t have the money for it, unfortunately. That’s why I wanted to talk to Farah. She manages the Agency funds.”
Oh man, Farah’s never gonna approve a trip all the way to Japan based on one email.
Dirk groaned audibly, wondering what they were going to do if Farah wouldn’t approve the funds. Maybe Todd could win the lottery again. Or maybe he could go back to palm reading and tarot cards like he did when he first got out of Blackwing.
But, said Lydia, causing Dirk to perk up and listen carefully. I think this case sounds awesome, and I also happen to be like, filthy rich. I can transfer you the money.
“Really?” Dirk’s face split into a positively euphoric grin. “You would do that?”
On one condition.
“What’s that?”
You gotta use some of the money to go buy me an outfit from Angelic Pretty. It’s a lolita fashion shop. You’ll find it in Harajuku, the fashion district.
“Sounds fantastic!” said Dirk, though unaware of what exactly ‘lolita’ fashion was. Regardless, if it would help Lydia express herself through her clothes, he was more than happy to help. He happened to be sort of an expert in that field.
I’ll transfer you the money for the flight and the outfit. You boys have fun!
“Thank you so much, Lydia,” Dirk said.
You guys saved my life, even if you did throw me off a bridge. I owe you. See ya!
And with that, she hung up, leaving Dirk to turn to Todd with a smile.
“Todd, we’re going to Japan!”
“That Thailand airport was so great--”
“Taiwan, Dirk.”
“I mean with all the Ciao Cat things everywhere--”
“Are you talking about Hello Kitty?”
“And all the shops were so fancy! I felt like a rich person walking through everything, didn’t you?”
“Sure, Dirk.”
Todd loved Dirk. He really did. He was past the point of admitting that to himself, though it had taken him many months to finally sort out his feelings for his best friend. But Todd Brotzman was irrevocably in love with Dirk Gently. That was an unmitigated fact. However, Todd had also just been next to Dirk on a plane for fifteen hours. Dirk’s excitement at the new case and the traveling made him unable to sleep, and he had adamantly refused Todd’s offer of sleeping pills (something about being forced to take them when he was younger, and Todd wasn’t going to push the topic). As a result, Todd was faced with an unending string of talking. This continued during their layover at the Taipei international airport, and was only somewhat broken during meal times (though Dirk did also have a habit of saying how delicious something was while he was eating it).
Now, they were back on the plane, finally on the way to Tokyo, with Dirk sitting by the window and Todd on the aisle. They were on the last leg of the trip, which is what Todd kept repeating to himself. It’s almost over…
“Bloody hell, would you look at all those capes? What on earth have I got jackets for? Why don’t I have capes?”
Todd had thought that Dirk might stop talking if he put on a movie, but no such luck. Dirk was watching Solo: A Star Wars Story on the little screen on the back of the chair in front of him, and he could not stop commentating on what he was seeing. Todd glanced over when Dirk started rambling about capes, and noticed that his friend was at the scene that took place in Lando Calrissian’s cape closet.
“As much as capes are, uh, cool, I guess,” Todd said, raising an eyebrow at the screen. “Maybe stick with the jackets? They look good on you.” Todd flushed slightly as he said this, and glanced over at Dirk, only to notice that Dirk hadn’t heard a word he had said. Oh God, he has earbuds in, he can’t hear me, Todd thought with an amused smile, thinking of a meme Amanda had shown him recently. He thanked God that Dirk didn’t actually buy into that capitalistic crap Apple was promoting with those damn airpods, or he might have to rethink his feelings towards the detective. Todd sighed and got his own earbuds out of his pocket and plugged them into his phone. He put them in his ears and was just about to relax and listen to some music when a flight attendant appeared next to him. He took his earbuds out and nudged Dirk, who looked around. Noticing the flight attendant, he paused his movie and took his own earbuds out as well.
“ジェントリー様？ダークジェントリー様？” said the flight attendant, which merely earned her confused blinks from Dirk and Todd.
“J-Jen…?” Todd repeated, confused. “Jen-to-ri-- Oh! Dirk, I think she’s saying ‘Gently.’” Dirk perked up at this, straightening up in his seat.
“Yes, I am Dirk Gently… desu?” he said, tilting his head sideways at the flight attendant.
“I was told to give you this,” the flight attendant said with a smile, holding out an envelope to Dirk with both hands. “お取てください。”
“Thank you,” Dirk said as he took the envelope. “I-I mean, arigatou.” Dirk examined the envelope as the flight attendant walked away.
“Well?” said Todd, raising his eyebrows. “Are you gonna open it?” Curiously, Dirk worked the envelope open and pulled out a small slip of paper from inside. He stared at it for a moment, and Todd leaned over into Dirk’s personal space to see what it said.
‘ Honoring war dead is perfectly fine, unless you’re honoring them at this shrine.’
“What does it mean?” Todd asked, bewildered.
“It’s a riddle,” Dirk said, an excited grin splitting across his face. “This is going to be so much fun.”