Eyes Full of Darkness [8/?]
Title: Eyes Full of Darkness
Pairings: Nishin (Nishii Yukito/Akutsu Shintarou), Akutsu→Jun
Genre: AU
Chapter Rating: PG.
Word Count: ~3874
Summary: Akutsu handles negotiations for Yukito's release, with somewhat surprising results.
Notes: It's too long for this story D|| Also it's been a million years since the last chapter of this so please review previous chapters as necessary and I'm very sorry >___<
←To Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7
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Chapter 8: The interplay of shadow and sun
Ikeoka traveled in a large silver SUV with a big fluffy bed on one side instead of seats. Even though he was stuck in the back in a normal seat, Akutsu was incredibly happy about this. What a good way to travel! Blankets and pillows instead of seatbelts and airbags, a comfortable place to fall asleep if you got tired of being in a car, and even enough room for a friend of the very special sort, it looked like. There was an empty seat next to Akutsu because Jun didn’t want to sit next to him for some reason, but he was already hoping he could volunteer to share with Ikeoka if there weren’t enough seats to go around when they brought Yukito back. Perhaps they would rescue another person too, or capture Mitsuya or someone. In that case, Akutsu would be the only one trustworthy enough to share, since Jun would be too busy watching the captive like a good ikemen assassin and Yukito was insane. He sighed happily and began imagining the somewhat specific circumstances under which he might manage to share it with Jun.
“The good news from Kamitsuru is that he’s had his people arrange a meeting for us with Yamaguchi,” Ikeoka said. “The bad news is that we have about an hour for negotiations before it devolves into an all-out war.”
“There’s always bad news,” Akutsu said, sighing. He was actually quite excited for war but was expecting something of a lecture if he expressed his desire to see Jun flipping around and slicing up the rank and file. Probably Ikeoka-san would force him to realize the truth of human mortality instead of letting it come up naturally in his character development, and wouldn’t even let him keep watching Jun while he did it. Akutsu glanced over at Jun, who looked ever so slightly uncomfortable in his latex. He actually happened to have some practical tips to help with that, but it was all things that he’d take the wrong way, or that would ruin the sleek lines of his body, so he decided to keep them to himself for the time being. Jun was doing his best not to make eye contact with Akutsu, so he figured that meant he could watch him pretty closely to make up for it. “So, what’s the situation? Kamitsuru-sama going to have guns to our heads as we’re trying to talk it out with Kenki-sama, or what?”
Ikeoka laughed. “No, I don’t think so. We’ll probably have negotiations in Yamaguchi’s Sanctuary - it’s a kind of safe room where we can meet. Weapons aren’t allowed, and the air is filled with this kinda… smoke that prevents you from being able to attack others.”
“Huh,” Akutsu said, so that he and Jun would know just how unimpressed he was by anti-violence drugs. “I suppose it’s only safe for an hour.”
“I don’t know that it’s really safe at all, but there doesn’t seem to be an upper limit. Kamitsuru just works on a tight schedule, I guess.” Jun seemed to think that was funny. Akutsu took this to mean that either Kamitsuru was so lax about his time that implying anything to the contrary was innately humorous, or that he just wore really tight pants a lot.
The silence stretched on as they drove, always seeming to hit green lights. Akutsu shifted in his seat, thinking furiously about how he could help persuade Yamaguchi to give them Yukito without a major fight, and yet still get the chance to see Jun battle someone. Maybe Jun and Mitsuya could have a one-on-one duel to see who would get to keep Yukito, or maybe he could speak so eloquently on the topic of plot development and their Villainous Relativity Index that they’d just give him over and Ikeoka would be so grateful he’d arrange for a Jun showcase to thank him. Yukito could go back to the Assassin Hospital or maybe the Assassin Psych Ward and he and Ikeoka could bond over enjoying Jun’s butt. He pursued that train of thought almost to its inevitable conclusion before the car stopped in some parking garage. That wasn’t really a good sign, especially since he thought he had seen that same garage in numerous tokusatsu shows and live-action adaptations of mangas where aliens invaded.
Instead of being jumped by some guy in a rubber suit (not that he would protest to being jumped by the only guy in a rubber suit present), some security guys showed them to an elevator and they descended into the earth. “So this Haven thing-”
“Sanctuary,” Jun corrected.
Akutsu waved him off. It literally could not have mattered less to him which of the two generic names it was this time. “So this place is like a bunker? Do you all go to your little Ha… Sanctuaries every time there’s a nuclear threat and play cards and swap canned food recipes with all your assassin buddies?”
“We have bunkers for that,” Ikeoka said. “It really is just a safe place to meet. You wouldn’t want to have to stay there too long unless you had to.”
“Huh…” The elevator stopped at a floor labeled “24D1,” which was by no means an acceptable name for a floor, Haven, or Sanctuary, or in fact anything other than a really moe robot maid girl programmed to fight for her master’s sake in a worldwide robot battling championship tournament. Akutsu was too busy drafting character sketches, a plot outline, and a pitch to be sent out to all the major animation studios to notice the new guy that pointed them toward the Sanctuary at first, but when he noticed, he noticed.
He was only a little taller than Akutsu, but his face was beautiful, even elegant. Despite that, there was hardness in the lines of his face, and his eyes flashed grimly as he looked Akutsu over, clearly not liking what he saw. His glossy black hair was tied back in a loose ponytail that went all the way down his back. On the moe scale, he gave him an 8 out of 10, though he didn’t think he was quite his type.
Fortunately, he thought he knew someone who could appreciate him in his stead. “Hi, nice to meet you, I’m Akutsu.” If he hadn’t been staring into the man’s beautiful dark eyes, he might have missed the way they widened ever so slightly when he said his name. Not that he had doubted this man’s significance, based solely on his looks, but it was interesting to be able to confirm his own inexplicable importance in this world.
“Yamada.” Probably a fake name, but it couldn’t be helped. Shion could have fun chipping away at his shell until he finally broke down and revealed the name he had given up the night his parents had been brutally murdered, or something.
Akutsu got out his phone and was relieved to see that it was still getting reception. He quickly texted Shion. “May have found the man of your dreams. More on this situation as it develops.” Then he looked Yamada over again. “So are you Kamitsuru-sama’s number one go-to guy, or are you someone else?” He quickly added “Sorry if I’m wrong, I don’t know anything or anybody yet at all,” when Yamada frowned at him.
“I am affiliated with Kamitsuru-sama, yes,” Yamada said, in a voice that suggested he wasn’t thrilled about that fact. Akutsu wondered if there was some sort of recruitment system, like he could run around grabbing boys for Ikeoka’s ikemen collection so he could have the ones he didn’t want to date do all the missions while he relaxed at the pool with the ones he did. If so, this would be the perfect time to get a tutorial on how to do that, but no obvious dialogue options occurred to him suddenly, so he figured he’d worry about that later on. For the time being, he checked the other two’s reactions. Ikeoka was staring at the ground and Jun was looking a little relieved that Akutsu was between Yamada and Ikeoka, but seemed to be keeping an eye on them nonetheless. He decided to keep extra careful track of how many points he had with him, lest he and an alternative love interest end up getting murdered by an oversight.
“Have you worked for him long?” Akutsu ventured next. A small crease developed in his forehead as he frowned, and Akutsu had to resist the urge to throw up because he was so completely, disgustingly perfect for Shion.
“Certainly long enough,” he said. His responses were short, but he didn’t seem to mind answering, so Akutsu chanced another.
“What kind of person is he?”
Yamada blinked rapidly and let out a breath Akutsu didn’t think he meant to be holding. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” he said eventually, sounding both mildly irritated and affectionate.
Akutsu texted Shion again. “He might already be sleeping with his boss tho. Will keep you updated.” He put his phone away. “Well, if you ever need a day away from this stuff, probably my roommates wouldn’t mind hanging out with you for a bit.”
“How would you explain me to them?” Yamada sounded genuinely curious, which he decided was a good sign.
“Eh, I’ll say I met you online and we decided to meet up. That’s where I got them from too, so they won’t think it’s weird or anything.” That wasn’t entirely accurate, but it was close enough. Yamada didn’t really need to know about the massive Comiket debacle that had ended in blood, tears, six completely ruined cosplays, and a homeless Shiramata Atsushi. Considering Shion’s role in it, it also probably wouldn’t help his chances with him, unless Yamada was into scandalous crossdressing photoshoots and accidental bludgeoning. Akutsu didn’t pretend to be an expert in the behavior of three-dimensional lifeforms, but he suspected that Yamada was the sort of fellow who preferred his bludgeons to be purposeful.
“I’ll keep it in mind,” Yamada said, which Akutsu figured was about as good as he was going to get, so he dropped the subject and went back to thinking about Device Dame Duel (tentative). He had gotten distracted by the matter of the main antagonist, who of course had to have silver hair, and almost walked into Yamada when they stopped. The Sanctuary, apparently, lay behind a thick iron door, but before that was a long and winding staircase.
After a moment Jun bent down in front of Ikeoka, who wrapped his arms around his neck, and picked him up. “You will please carry that for us,” he said to Yamada, nodding at the wheelchair, and started down the steps.
Akutsu followed them, making awkward eye contact with Ikeoka. “You’d think the guy would put in a ramp or something,” he said, with an attempt at a laugh.
“The old bastard preferred it this way,” Jun said, “and it looks like the new one hasn’t seen any reason to change.”
Ikeoka didn’t chastise him for his sharp tone or words. Looking at Akutsu, he said, “I’m far from the only person who has needed help down these stairs.”
“I’m sorry,” Akutsu said softly. He wondered how many people had been forced to crawl down them on their own, or had been dragged down there by cruel guards. “Later, will… will you tell me about what it was like back then? N-not everything, of course, but I want to understand at least a little.”
Ikeoka’s eyes softened. “You’re better off not knowing, but I will tell you a little. You’re a very kind person, Akutsu-kun.” Akutsu couldn’t meet his eyes after that.
Yamada didn’t seem to have figured out how to fold down the wheelchair, and it took him a little while to make it down the stairs. Akutsu awarded him two gap moe points out of habit and watched as Jun settled Ikeoka back in his chair, fussing with the blanket on his lap until Ikeoka touched his hand and murmured “Enough.” Jun smoothed it down one last time anyway.
There was a single upward step between them and the door, its very existence a mockery. Yamada went up it and held the door open while Jun lifted Ikeoka and his wheelchair up all at once. Akutsu was so impressed by this that he almost forgot to follow them in. Yamada let the door close behind them. “Your hour begins now. Use it wisely.”
The room was filled with a thick smoke, undoubtedly the anti-violence countermeasure they’d mentioned before. It had a bitter taste to it as he breathed it in, and he couldn’t stop himself from coughing, as pathetic and predictable as that was. He accidentally-a-little-on-purpose bumped into Jun, who maybe frowned at him or maybe smiled at him but definitely pushed him a little to the side. He reached out blindly and found what felt like the back of a chair. After a minute or so, the smoke began to clear. The chair and table in front of him slowly appeared, then shadowy figures at the other end of it.
A harsh light flashed on suddenly, temporarily blinding him, but he was used to watching bright anime in the dark even though the warning at the beginning of the show said not to, so he recovered quickly. The shadowy figures appeared to be Mitsuya and another man, clearly Kenki-sama. He did look a bit older, but not the way that type usually did. Mostly he looked like he hadn’t slept in about a decade. He was very handsome, of course. If Akutsu ended up having to go with them for whatever reason after the negotiations were done, he thought he could get used to looking to at his face, and he would certainly consider getting romance points with him, if only to spite Mitsuya, who was kind of a jerk, all things considered.
Neither side made a move or said anything, which Akutsu dealt with for a while, because maybe the smoky stuff took a while to work and if they wantonly rushed into talking about controversial topics, they’d get about a quarter of the way through an intense battle before they’d have to stop and hug it out, which would be embarrassing for everyone. Eventually he felt like it was up to him to start things, though, so he pulled out the chair and took a seat as dramatically as he could. “Nice to meet you, I’m Akutsu Shintarou. I believe you have something of mine,” he said coolly, eyes narrowing on Kenki-sama.
The man seemed to relax a bit, so Akutsu figured he’d probably messed up some kind of assassin etiquette by speaking first or sitting down and now the other side had some bizarre advantage over them, but it was better than standing around in silence. Anyway, he rationalized, it was better to get things started sooner or later before Kamitsuru came to kick them out or whatever. An hour might seem like a long time to talk, but only if you had never started a discussion about the relative merits of character songs vs. drama CDs at the stroke of midnight and not taken a break until noon. (Akutsu had.) He was confident that he could speak for easily that long on why Yukito belonged with him and definitely should not be killed ever ever ever, even with the limited amount of information he had available to him.
“I’m Yamaguchi Kenki.” His voice was… adorable. Akutsu made a distressed face. There was absolutely no reason for a man in his thirties to have a voice that squeaky and precious. “I believe Mitsuya-kun has informed you why we believe Yukito to be dangerous. Now that we have taken your reckless movements into account, we believe this to be the only way to prevent a disaster of immense proportions.” Mitsuya smiled peacefully at this. He was clearly just as charmed by his cute voice as Akutsu was.
He managed to push aside his thoughts of overwhelming gap moe and respond. “I’m not sure what you mean by reckless movements. If you’re referring to meeting up with Ikeoka-sama, I’ll admit, I was desperate, but that’s what happens when a boy you care about shows up on your doorstep with a bullet in his side and immediately gets kidnapped the next day by someone who claimed to be a friend.” He shifted his gaze to Mitsuya at the end of the statement and was satisfied to see him flush red.
Mitsuya stood up and started to say something, but Yamaguchi touched his elbow and he sat down again, clearly torn between wanting to defend himself and getting all excited because Kenki-sama touched him. Gross.
“You say you care about him, but you hardly know him. You don’t understand what makes him dangerous. You only know him in a weakened state, where he had no choice but to rely on your kindness. You don't know what he's done.”
“I imagine it's about the same thing all of you have done,” Akutsu snapped, “so I don't see why that should give you the right to condemn him.” He leaned forward. “Incidentally, have you all tried not being jerks and assassinating people left and right and making them into human weapons and what not? As far as I can tell you people have just gotten rid of the guy that was making that impossible, so why not cut your losses, let all your cute kiddo captives go, and work on figuring out how to drive down import costs on custom figurines and Korean boyband merch instead?” He nodded to Ikeoka. “Of course, the same goes for you.”
Both Ikeoka and Yamaguchi looked a little shocked by his words. Akutsu knew it wasn't exactly fair to suggest that the genre they were living in could be transformed so easily, and he didn't think they'd be able to act on his suggestion with Kamitsuru and them lurking around, but he thought it was worth pointing out that their worldview had a few issues. He shrugged expressively. “Whatever. You guys can think about that on your own time. But I want Yukito back, and either you can trade him for something or Cutest Assassin Jun will have to pay you a visit. The only thing you're going to get out of that is bodies and explosions.” He folded his arms. “Your call.”
Yamaguchi looked at Mitsuya in a panicked sort of way, and Mitsuya didn't exactly look like he had any brilliant comebacks planned either. Jun glare-smiled at Akutsu, somehow. Probably it was something they taught you in Tsunsassin School. Akutsu decided that education had gone to a worthy cause, because he felt both heartwarmed and in imminent danger of being made to disappear without a trace.
“Fine.”
Akutsu blinked. “What?”
“We will return Yukito to your custody. In exchange, I want several promises from you regarding how he is to be treated and what kinds of missions he is allowed to take. There's also the matter of the disputed Nagoya territory. I want you to give it up.”
Seeing that Akutsu no longer had any idea what was happening, Ikeoka took over. “We would be happy to discuss Yukito-kun's terms after you return him to us. Might I suggest that you do that as soon as possible? As for Nagoya...”
He started talking in terms of sectors and square kilometers and Akutsu stopped paying attention. He looked over at Jun. “Is that supposed to happen? Like, does that normally work?” he whispered.
“Not at all,” Jun said, “it's always a fight. If it's something like this, there's no way it wouldn't end up as a fight.” He paused. “And yet, I don't think he's lying.”
“That's what I thought too,” Akutsu whispered back. “Weird.”
Ikeoka and Yamaguchi argued for what seemed like a million years over some park or something, but eventually they decided to call it good. Akutsu had a really good parting line ready for when they separated on bad terms to prepare to battle each other, but since they were unexpectedly friendly he ended up mumbling “Also you should put a ramp in here because it's really inconvenient for wheelchair users,” when they were about to leave instead. Yamaguchi seemed honestly surprised and apologetic and said that he would have one installed right away. He really wasn't a very good villain, Akutsu decided.
“So we'll be getting Yukito now then,” Ikeoka said cheerfully, as Jun was carrying him up the stairs. He seemed the least shocked by how things had turned out, and Akutsu wondered why. He might secretly be the actual bad guy, manipulating things behind the scenes and whatnot. He didn't think he was ikemen voice guy, but that was a possibility as well.
“Do you think we'll have to fight them anyway?” Akutsu asked, because if he was wrong about Evil!oka and he was just a space case he wanted to try giving him a warning at least, so he might be prepared.
“It's always a possibility.” Ikeoka patted Jun's shoulder. “My beloved Junjun's always ready for trouble, though, so don't worry.” Akutsu decided that if he pretended he couldn't see the romance, it wasn't actually there. He flashed a “call-me” sign at Yamada, who looked confused. Even though he didn't actually know his number, Akutsu figured if he really wanted to hang out, he could track him down easily enough. He did slightly regret not slipping Shion's number to him, though, because he didn't really want to be the middleman if they did end up hooking up. Shion would be constantly wanting him to pass on smoopy messages and that sort of thing.
From the Sanctuary, it was only a short drive to a huge mansion hidden behind about twenty security fences. Akutsu eyed the last of the gates warily as it shut behind them with a dangerous beeping sound, like you would blow up if you touched it or something. Mitsuya opened the door to their car and walked to the entrance with them, not making eye contact with any of them but especially not with Akutsu. There were no affection points there yet, he supposed. Not that he was expecting any. Not that he wanted any.
Once inside the house they got on an elevator that took them to, like, the seventeenth basement or something, because building up was apparently not an option. The only thing inside this basement was a huge cylinder filled with a dark green liquid. Akutsu felt confident that there was either a horrible monstrosity or a very slimy Yukito inside. He also felt confident that this was the moment that Mitsuya would turn on them. He clenched his fists and prepared for the worst.
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Next chapter→
Pairings: Nishin (Nishii Yukito/Akutsu Shintarou), Akutsu→Jun
Genre: AU
Chapter Rating: PG.
Word Count: ~3874
Summary: Akutsu handles negotiations for Yukito's release, with somewhat surprising results.
Notes: It's too long for this story D|| Also it's been a million years since the last chapter of this so please review previous chapters as necessary and I'm very sorry >___<
←To Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7
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Chapter 8: The interplay of shadow and sun
Ikeoka traveled in a large silver SUV with a big fluffy bed on one side instead of seats. Even though he was stuck in the back in a normal seat, Akutsu was incredibly happy about this. What a good way to travel! Blankets and pillows instead of seatbelts and airbags, a comfortable place to fall asleep if you got tired of being in a car, and even enough room for a friend of the very special sort, it looked like. There was an empty seat next to Akutsu because Jun didn’t want to sit next to him for some reason, but he was already hoping he could volunteer to share with Ikeoka if there weren’t enough seats to go around when they brought Yukito back. Perhaps they would rescue another person too, or capture Mitsuya or someone. In that case, Akutsu would be the only one trustworthy enough to share, since Jun would be too busy watching the captive like a good ikemen assassin and Yukito was insane. He sighed happily and began imagining the somewhat specific circumstances under which he might manage to share it with Jun.
“The good news from Kamitsuru is that he’s had his people arrange a meeting for us with Yamaguchi,” Ikeoka said. “The bad news is that we have about an hour for negotiations before it devolves into an all-out war.”
“There’s always bad news,” Akutsu said, sighing. He was actually quite excited for war but was expecting something of a lecture if he expressed his desire to see Jun flipping around and slicing up the rank and file. Probably Ikeoka-san would force him to realize the truth of human mortality instead of letting it come up naturally in his character development, and wouldn’t even let him keep watching Jun while he did it. Akutsu glanced over at Jun, who looked ever so slightly uncomfortable in his latex. He actually happened to have some practical tips to help with that, but it was all things that he’d take the wrong way, or that would ruin the sleek lines of his body, so he decided to keep them to himself for the time being. Jun was doing his best not to make eye contact with Akutsu, so he figured that meant he could watch him pretty closely to make up for it. “So, what’s the situation? Kamitsuru-sama going to have guns to our heads as we’re trying to talk it out with Kenki-sama, or what?”
Ikeoka laughed. “No, I don’t think so. We’ll probably have negotiations in Yamaguchi’s Sanctuary - it’s a kind of safe room where we can meet. Weapons aren’t allowed, and the air is filled with this kinda… smoke that prevents you from being able to attack others.”
“Huh,” Akutsu said, so that he and Jun would know just how unimpressed he was by anti-violence drugs. “I suppose it’s only safe for an hour.”
“I don’t know that it’s really safe at all, but there doesn’t seem to be an upper limit. Kamitsuru just works on a tight schedule, I guess.” Jun seemed to think that was funny. Akutsu took this to mean that either Kamitsuru was so lax about his time that implying anything to the contrary was innately humorous, or that he just wore really tight pants a lot.
The silence stretched on as they drove, always seeming to hit green lights. Akutsu shifted in his seat, thinking furiously about how he could help persuade Yamaguchi to give them Yukito without a major fight, and yet still get the chance to see Jun battle someone. Maybe Jun and Mitsuya could have a one-on-one duel to see who would get to keep Yukito, or maybe he could speak so eloquently on the topic of plot development and their Villainous Relativity Index that they’d just give him over and Ikeoka would be so grateful he’d arrange for a Jun showcase to thank him. Yukito could go back to the Assassin Hospital or maybe the Assassin Psych Ward and he and Ikeoka could bond over enjoying Jun’s butt. He pursued that train of thought almost to its inevitable conclusion before the car stopped in some parking garage. That wasn’t really a good sign, especially since he thought he had seen that same garage in numerous tokusatsu shows and live-action adaptations of mangas where aliens invaded.
Instead of being jumped by some guy in a rubber suit (not that he would protest to being jumped by the only guy in a rubber suit present), some security guys showed them to an elevator and they descended into the earth. “So this Haven thing-”
“Sanctuary,” Jun corrected.
Akutsu waved him off. It literally could not have mattered less to him which of the two generic names it was this time. “So this place is like a bunker? Do you all go to your little Ha… Sanctuaries every time there’s a nuclear threat and play cards and swap canned food recipes with all your assassin buddies?”
“We have bunkers for that,” Ikeoka said. “It really is just a safe place to meet. You wouldn’t want to have to stay there too long unless you had to.”
“Huh…” The elevator stopped at a floor labeled “24D1,” which was by no means an acceptable name for a floor, Haven, or Sanctuary, or in fact anything other than a really moe robot maid girl programmed to fight for her master’s sake in a worldwide robot battling championship tournament. Akutsu was too busy drafting character sketches, a plot outline, and a pitch to be sent out to all the major animation studios to notice the new guy that pointed them toward the Sanctuary at first, but when he noticed, he noticed.
He was only a little taller than Akutsu, but his face was beautiful, even elegant. Despite that, there was hardness in the lines of his face, and his eyes flashed grimly as he looked Akutsu over, clearly not liking what he saw. His glossy black hair was tied back in a loose ponytail that went all the way down his back. On the moe scale, he gave him an 8 out of 10, though he didn’t think he was quite his type.
Fortunately, he thought he knew someone who could appreciate him in his stead. “Hi, nice to meet you, I’m Akutsu.” If he hadn’t been staring into the man’s beautiful dark eyes, he might have missed the way they widened ever so slightly when he said his name. Not that he had doubted this man’s significance, based solely on his looks, but it was interesting to be able to confirm his own inexplicable importance in this world.
“Yamada.” Probably a fake name, but it couldn’t be helped. Shion could have fun chipping away at his shell until he finally broke down and revealed the name he had given up the night his parents had been brutally murdered, or something.
Akutsu got out his phone and was relieved to see that it was still getting reception. He quickly texted Shion. “May have found the man of your dreams. More on this situation as it develops.” Then he looked Yamada over again. “So are you Kamitsuru-sama’s number one go-to guy, or are you someone else?” He quickly added “Sorry if I’m wrong, I don’t know anything or anybody yet at all,” when Yamada frowned at him.
“I am affiliated with Kamitsuru-sama, yes,” Yamada said, in a voice that suggested he wasn’t thrilled about that fact. Akutsu wondered if there was some sort of recruitment system, like he could run around grabbing boys for Ikeoka’s ikemen collection so he could have the ones he didn’t want to date do all the missions while he relaxed at the pool with the ones he did. If so, this would be the perfect time to get a tutorial on how to do that, but no obvious dialogue options occurred to him suddenly, so he figured he’d worry about that later on. For the time being, he checked the other two’s reactions. Ikeoka was staring at the ground and Jun was looking a little relieved that Akutsu was between Yamada and Ikeoka, but seemed to be keeping an eye on them nonetheless. He decided to keep extra careful track of how many points he had with him, lest he and an alternative love interest end up getting murdered by an oversight.
“Have you worked for him long?” Akutsu ventured next. A small crease developed in his forehead as he frowned, and Akutsu had to resist the urge to throw up because he was so completely, disgustingly perfect for Shion.
“Certainly long enough,” he said. His responses were short, but he didn’t seem to mind answering, so Akutsu chanced another.
“What kind of person is he?”
Yamada blinked rapidly and let out a breath Akutsu didn’t think he meant to be holding. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” he said eventually, sounding both mildly irritated and affectionate.
Akutsu texted Shion again. “He might already be sleeping with his boss tho. Will keep you updated.” He put his phone away. “Well, if you ever need a day away from this stuff, probably my roommates wouldn’t mind hanging out with you for a bit.”
“How would you explain me to them?” Yamada sounded genuinely curious, which he decided was a good sign.
“Eh, I’ll say I met you online and we decided to meet up. That’s where I got them from too, so they won’t think it’s weird or anything.” That wasn’t entirely accurate, but it was close enough. Yamada didn’t really need to know about the massive Comiket debacle that had ended in blood, tears, six completely ruined cosplays, and a homeless Shiramata Atsushi. Considering Shion’s role in it, it also probably wouldn’t help his chances with him, unless Yamada was into scandalous crossdressing photoshoots and accidental bludgeoning. Akutsu didn’t pretend to be an expert in the behavior of three-dimensional lifeforms, but he suspected that Yamada was the sort of fellow who preferred his bludgeons to be purposeful.
“I’ll keep it in mind,” Yamada said, which Akutsu figured was about as good as he was going to get, so he dropped the subject and went back to thinking about Device Dame Duel (tentative). He had gotten distracted by the matter of the main antagonist, who of course had to have silver hair, and almost walked into Yamada when they stopped. The Sanctuary, apparently, lay behind a thick iron door, but before that was a long and winding staircase.
After a moment Jun bent down in front of Ikeoka, who wrapped his arms around his neck, and picked him up. “You will please carry that for us,” he said to Yamada, nodding at the wheelchair, and started down the steps.
Akutsu followed them, making awkward eye contact with Ikeoka. “You’d think the guy would put in a ramp or something,” he said, with an attempt at a laugh.
“The old bastard preferred it this way,” Jun said, “and it looks like the new one hasn’t seen any reason to change.”
Ikeoka didn’t chastise him for his sharp tone or words. Looking at Akutsu, he said, “I’m far from the only person who has needed help down these stairs.”
“I’m sorry,” Akutsu said softly. He wondered how many people had been forced to crawl down them on their own, or had been dragged down there by cruel guards. “Later, will… will you tell me about what it was like back then? N-not everything, of course, but I want to understand at least a little.”
Ikeoka’s eyes softened. “You’re better off not knowing, but I will tell you a little. You’re a very kind person, Akutsu-kun.” Akutsu couldn’t meet his eyes after that.
Yamada didn’t seem to have figured out how to fold down the wheelchair, and it took him a little while to make it down the stairs. Akutsu awarded him two gap moe points out of habit and watched as Jun settled Ikeoka back in his chair, fussing with the blanket on his lap until Ikeoka touched his hand and murmured “Enough.” Jun smoothed it down one last time anyway.
There was a single upward step between them and the door, its very existence a mockery. Yamada went up it and held the door open while Jun lifted Ikeoka and his wheelchair up all at once. Akutsu was so impressed by this that he almost forgot to follow them in. Yamada let the door close behind them. “Your hour begins now. Use it wisely.”
The room was filled with a thick smoke, undoubtedly the anti-violence countermeasure they’d mentioned before. It had a bitter taste to it as he breathed it in, and he couldn’t stop himself from coughing, as pathetic and predictable as that was. He accidentally-a-little-on-purpose bumped into Jun, who maybe frowned at him or maybe smiled at him but definitely pushed him a little to the side. He reached out blindly and found what felt like the back of a chair. After a minute or so, the smoke began to clear. The chair and table in front of him slowly appeared, then shadowy figures at the other end of it.
A harsh light flashed on suddenly, temporarily blinding him, but he was used to watching bright anime in the dark even though the warning at the beginning of the show said not to, so he recovered quickly. The shadowy figures appeared to be Mitsuya and another man, clearly Kenki-sama. He did look a bit older, but not the way that type usually did. Mostly he looked like he hadn’t slept in about a decade. He was very handsome, of course. If Akutsu ended up having to go with them for whatever reason after the negotiations were done, he thought he could get used to looking to at his face, and he would certainly consider getting romance points with him, if only to spite Mitsuya, who was kind of a jerk, all things considered.
Neither side made a move or said anything, which Akutsu dealt with for a while, because maybe the smoky stuff took a while to work and if they wantonly rushed into talking about controversial topics, they’d get about a quarter of the way through an intense battle before they’d have to stop and hug it out, which would be embarrassing for everyone. Eventually he felt like it was up to him to start things, though, so he pulled out the chair and took a seat as dramatically as he could. “Nice to meet you, I’m Akutsu Shintarou. I believe you have something of mine,” he said coolly, eyes narrowing on Kenki-sama.
The man seemed to relax a bit, so Akutsu figured he’d probably messed up some kind of assassin etiquette by speaking first or sitting down and now the other side had some bizarre advantage over them, but it was better than standing around in silence. Anyway, he rationalized, it was better to get things started sooner or later before Kamitsuru came to kick them out or whatever. An hour might seem like a long time to talk, but only if you had never started a discussion about the relative merits of character songs vs. drama CDs at the stroke of midnight and not taken a break until noon. (Akutsu had.) He was confident that he could speak for easily that long on why Yukito belonged with him and definitely should not be killed ever ever ever, even with the limited amount of information he had available to him.
“I’m Yamaguchi Kenki.” His voice was… adorable. Akutsu made a distressed face. There was absolutely no reason for a man in his thirties to have a voice that squeaky and precious. “I believe Mitsuya-kun has informed you why we believe Yukito to be dangerous. Now that we have taken your reckless movements into account, we believe this to be the only way to prevent a disaster of immense proportions.” Mitsuya smiled peacefully at this. He was clearly just as charmed by his cute voice as Akutsu was.
He managed to push aside his thoughts of overwhelming gap moe and respond. “I’m not sure what you mean by reckless movements. If you’re referring to meeting up with Ikeoka-sama, I’ll admit, I was desperate, but that’s what happens when a boy you care about shows up on your doorstep with a bullet in his side and immediately gets kidnapped the next day by someone who claimed to be a friend.” He shifted his gaze to Mitsuya at the end of the statement and was satisfied to see him flush red.
Mitsuya stood up and started to say something, but Yamaguchi touched his elbow and he sat down again, clearly torn between wanting to defend himself and getting all excited because Kenki-sama touched him. Gross.
“You say you care about him, but you hardly know him. You don’t understand what makes him dangerous. You only know him in a weakened state, where he had no choice but to rely on your kindness. You don't know what he's done.”
“I imagine it's about the same thing all of you have done,” Akutsu snapped, “so I don't see why that should give you the right to condemn him.” He leaned forward. “Incidentally, have you all tried not being jerks and assassinating people left and right and making them into human weapons and what not? As far as I can tell you people have just gotten rid of the guy that was making that impossible, so why not cut your losses, let all your cute kiddo captives go, and work on figuring out how to drive down import costs on custom figurines and Korean boyband merch instead?” He nodded to Ikeoka. “Of course, the same goes for you.”
Both Ikeoka and Yamaguchi looked a little shocked by his words. Akutsu knew it wasn't exactly fair to suggest that the genre they were living in could be transformed so easily, and he didn't think they'd be able to act on his suggestion with Kamitsuru and them lurking around, but he thought it was worth pointing out that their worldview had a few issues. He shrugged expressively. “Whatever. You guys can think about that on your own time. But I want Yukito back, and either you can trade him for something or Cutest Assassin Jun will have to pay you a visit. The only thing you're going to get out of that is bodies and explosions.” He folded his arms. “Your call.”
Yamaguchi looked at Mitsuya in a panicked sort of way, and Mitsuya didn't exactly look like he had any brilliant comebacks planned either. Jun glare-smiled at Akutsu, somehow. Probably it was something they taught you in Tsunsassin School. Akutsu decided that education had gone to a worthy cause, because he felt both heartwarmed and in imminent danger of being made to disappear without a trace.
“Fine.”
Akutsu blinked. “What?”
“We will return Yukito to your custody. In exchange, I want several promises from you regarding how he is to be treated and what kinds of missions he is allowed to take. There's also the matter of the disputed Nagoya territory. I want you to give it up.”
Seeing that Akutsu no longer had any idea what was happening, Ikeoka took over. “We would be happy to discuss Yukito-kun's terms after you return him to us. Might I suggest that you do that as soon as possible? As for Nagoya...”
He started talking in terms of sectors and square kilometers and Akutsu stopped paying attention. He looked over at Jun. “Is that supposed to happen? Like, does that normally work?” he whispered.
“Not at all,” Jun said, “it's always a fight. If it's something like this, there's no way it wouldn't end up as a fight.” He paused. “And yet, I don't think he's lying.”
“That's what I thought too,” Akutsu whispered back. “Weird.”
Ikeoka and Yamaguchi argued for what seemed like a million years over some park or something, but eventually they decided to call it good. Akutsu had a really good parting line ready for when they separated on bad terms to prepare to battle each other, but since they were unexpectedly friendly he ended up mumbling “Also you should put a ramp in here because it's really inconvenient for wheelchair users,” when they were about to leave instead. Yamaguchi seemed honestly surprised and apologetic and said that he would have one installed right away. He really wasn't a very good villain, Akutsu decided.
“So we'll be getting Yukito now then,” Ikeoka said cheerfully, as Jun was carrying him up the stairs. He seemed the least shocked by how things had turned out, and Akutsu wondered why. He might secretly be the actual bad guy, manipulating things behind the scenes and whatnot. He didn't think he was ikemen voice guy, but that was a possibility as well.
“Do you think we'll have to fight them anyway?” Akutsu asked, because if he was wrong about Evil!oka and he was just a space case he wanted to try giving him a warning at least, so he might be prepared.
“It's always a possibility.” Ikeoka patted Jun's shoulder. “My beloved Junjun's always ready for trouble, though, so don't worry.” Akutsu decided that if he pretended he couldn't see the romance, it wasn't actually there. He flashed a “call-me” sign at Yamada, who looked confused. Even though he didn't actually know his number, Akutsu figured if he really wanted to hang out, he could track him down easily enough. He did slightly regret not slipping Shion's number to him, though, because he didn't really want to be the middleman if they did end up hooking up. Shion would be constantly wanting him to pass on smoopy messages and that sort of thing.
From the Sanctuary, it was only a short drive to a huge mansion hidden behind about twenty security fences. Akutsu eyed the last of the gates warily as it shut behind them with a dangerous beeping sound, like you would blow up if you touched it or something. Mitsuya opened the door to their car and walked to the entrance with them, not making eye contact with any of them but especially not with Akutsu. There were no affection points there yet, he supposed. Not that he was expecting any. Not that he wanted any.
Once inside the house they got on an elevator that took them to, like, the seventeenth basement or something, because building up was apparently not an option. The only thing inside this basement was a huge cylinder filled with a dark green liquid. Akutsu felt confident that there was either a horrible monstrosity or a very slimy Yukito inside. He also felt confident that this was the moment that Mitsuya would turn on them. He clenched his fists and prepared for the worst.
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