[CONTENTID1]

thirty-one: exo detective agency [/CONTENTID1][CONTENTID2]

["Give him the good cop bad cop routine?"] [/CONTENTID2][CONTENTID3]

The middle of November had officially marked the end of mild weather and the coming of what promised to be a bitter South Korean countryside cold. The trees lost all their brilliant red and orange leaves, and despite everything D.O tried, the flowers dropped their petals and withered into the hard ground. This made him quieter and more surly than usual.

"Is he like this every winter?" Juyeon asked Chanyeol, whom she had, in a surprising show of affection, volunteered to copy his notes down for. Takahashi had bandaged up both hands in gauze, making it difficult for poor Chanyeol to use eating utensils, never mind write notes. He had been ordered by the nurse to never take off the bandages and to see him every three days, in order to make sure there was no infection.

"I don't know how you managed this," Takahashi had said, shaking his head at them all when they first shoved a mud-covered Chanyeol into his office and dripped all over his clean floors. "And frankly, I'd rather not know. You may heal fast, but not even the most Problematic of Problem Children can heal naturally from this. You'll be lucky if bacterial infection doesn't start to spread through all these cuts and make your hands swell up twice their size."

Kai had sniggered at the mental imagery, and Chanyeol had looked horrified. "What about training? Can I still use my fire?"

"Not from your hands, at the very least," Takahashi said firmly. "In fact, it's probably best if you stay out of training for a week or so. And absolutely no extracurricular activities, you hear me?"

Chanyeol's shoulders had slumped. "Whatever the doctor orders."

"I'm not a doctor," Takahashi had responded lightly, and for the next few days Chanyeol had been forced to sit on the sidelines with Juyeon and watch everyone else spar.

He was sulky, but couldn't stay upset for long. He seemed to enjoy watching Juyeon copy her notes down neatly on another sheet of paper for him. As shouts and the clanging of weapons echoed throughout the area, Juyeon blocked out all disturbances by spreading books around her, papers and pens strewn along three levels of benches, to Pain's irritation.

"Yeah, D.O always gets sulky when the plants die," Chanyeol said lazily, throwing his friend a nonchalent wave when D.O glared at him from across the gymnasium. "Little harder to use his powers, too. His PC abilities work best when the ground is softer and richer. Frost is his worst enemy."

"I never thought elemental abilities would have their restrictions," Juyeon admitted. "What about Suho? Does ice mess with his water abilities?"

"A little." Chanyeol laughed. "In the winter, I'm their best friend. I can melt the snow and ice for them if need be." Then he looked back down at his wrapped hands and frowned. Even the wiry curls of his hair seemed to wilt a little in unhappiness. "Well, I used to be able to."

"Don't be so overdramatic," said Juyeon, pen scribbling line after line with the kind of single-minded determination only someone who spends way too much time on their notes could do. "It's not like you lost your abilities or anything. You just have to take it easy for maybe ten days, tops."

"It's so hard not being able to use my powers," Chanyeol complained, fidgeting in his seat and jealously watching Kai and Sehun grapple each other in a magnificent display thirteen feet above the ground. "It's like a tiny little pressure constantly building in the back of my head, and it's even harder than usual to concentrate. I feel so antsy, more than ever. It's like I'm going to explode. And the healing process makes my hands so itchy, and I can't scratch it."

Juyeon wondered how it would feel to have to be so dependent on PC abilities. It made her a little sad for him. "I'm sorry," she said. "It must having to sit here with me, huh?"

Chanyeol turned back at her, an odd look in his eyes. "Well, I mean," he said quietly, staring at her earnestly, ears turning a slight pink. "It's not all bad."

Before Juyeon could figure out what he meant, there was a sudden gust of wind that sent Juyeon's papers everywhere, then with a burst of black smoke that obscured her vision, Kai and Sehun popped in front of them, still furiously wrestling with each other.

"Guys! Seriously?" she yelled in annoyance, pushing them away and separating them from each other, as she scrambled to gather up the papers. Before she could touch one, they all flew up high into the air, forming into a swirling column with Juyeon in the middle.

"Sehun!" she wailed, trying to grab for a sheet flying past her ear and missing. "What the hell? Stop it!"

"Say please, tomato girl," Sehun said calmly, watching with barely-concealed amusement as Juyeon swung out for her papers in vain. She almost wanted to say she hated the way his eyes danced with hidden laughter, but when she thought about how coldly he used to look at her before, she took it back. She could deal with a few of his annoyances, she supposed.

"Please!"

The papers slowly descended, in a neat stack, into Juyeon's outstretched hands. She breathed a sigh of relief, checked them over, then turned to glare at the culprit.

"They're out of order."

"So picky," Sehun said with a roll of his eyes, lounging on the benches and stretching his long limbs.

"So, what do you think, sweet pea?" Kai said, fiddling with her multicoloured pens. "After therapy with the Fearmonger, shall we have another little detective session?"

Juyeon stomped over and snatched the pens away. "Maybe. Although I don't feel like doing much of anything with you right now."

Kai laughed at that, and only when Pain blew them a sharp warning whistle did he and Sehun get off the benches and join the others again.

~*~

"So, what's the plan?" Suho asked as they trooped out of therapy, Juyeon waiting outside for them. "I mean, none of us know who's button that is, right?"

"Somebody else might, though," Chanyeol said, holding the button up high with clumsy fingers so it caught the light. After cleaning off all the mud, they discovered it was painted gold, with small red specks.

"Well, we can't just go around asking everyone in the Academia," D.O said. "And I'm not chasing after the owner of a stupid button for half the semester."

"D.O's got a point," Juyeon said, tugging at one braid in thought. "Asking every PC in High Class will take a ridiculously long time. And no offense, but I don't think throwing a rock through a window is an action worth wasting all that time for."

"You guys are so bor ―" Baekhyun began to whine, but h