Chapter Text
If Akira had felt out of place taking notes in a board meeting earlier in the week, it was nothing compared to how he felt among the glitz and glamour of Roppongi’s high end bars and clubs at night. For this place in particular, the décor alone told him he’d struggle to so much as cover the entry fee with his meagre salary.
But for whatever reason, the CEO had noticed his existence during that meeting, and had enjoyed randomly making fun of him since. Apparently he was even prepared to do it out of hours at his own expense, too.
It seemed Shido was well known enough in these parts to not have to wait for anything. As soon as the woman waiting by the entrance saw him, she immediately came over to greet them. They were quickly led to a semi-private corner with a comfortable lounge setup.
She fetched some water and glasses before flashing them a bright smile. “Please make yourselves comfortable and I’ll let the girls know where you’re seated.”
One of the other men acknowledged her words because apparently Shido was above that. Akira had been too slow to avoid having to sit next to him, which was funny in a way because it meant the others were subtly avoiding him too. Resigned to his fate, Akira leaned an elbow on the table as he sipped his water.
“I booked the top four girls in this place. Being number one is important, isn’t it Akira-kun?”
He tried not to shrink back when Shido turned his full attention on him, but it did mean the rest of the group’s was on him too. Akira knew a vague agreement wasn’t going to cut it, but he’d never been particularly good at downplaying his own opinion.
And certainly not at straight out lying.
“Not always, I don’t think.”
Shido laughed loudly, hand thumping solidly against the middle of his back. Akira barely managed to avoid sprawling forward, but he tried to push his embarrassment down.
All he had to do was survive until the girls arrived. Then Shido wold have someone more interesting to focus his unwanted attention on. And if there were only four coming to the table, then Akira probably hadn’t been paired with one. He might even be able to sneak home early…
“I knew you’d say that,” Shido mocked. His grin was concerning. “But maybe you can be convinced that I’m right. I booked the top boy for you!”
Akira needed a moment to replay that one in his head. How had Shido even found out about something so personal?
Or was this just some bizarre flex?
“Er, what? Why?”
Shido’s look of undoubtedly fake concern was only more worrying. “Don’t think I didn’t take note of your reticence, Akira-kun. Any ordinary young man would be excited by the prospect of an all-expenses-paid chance to live out his desires.”
It was a struggle not to roll his eyes. Shido could keep his lechery to himself.
“But there’s no need to worry. As long as people can do the work required, I couldn’t give a damn about their preferences.”
“I see…” Akira replied slowly. But fortunately he was saved from having to openly admit anything by the arrival of their cohort.
The ladies were dressed in flattering, elegant dresses with carefully curled hair and a smattering of shiny and probably expensive accessories. Some of them had their hair dyed lighter, and most of them seemed to be in their late twenties at least. Akira guessed it was hard to make it in a place like this if they didn’t treat the job like a career.
Once the execs had made room for them to sit among them, Akira got a clearer view of the man who’d been standing at the back of the group. Somehow the fact he wasn’t in full on host-kei made things a little less awkward.
While his hair was relatively long, it worked to soften his face, and if he was wearing any makeup it was too subtle for Akira to notice. He wasn’t wearing a suit jacket—probably to avoid looking more formal than the other men at the table—but the waistcoat stopped his rolled up sleeves from looking too casual. Akira pretended he hadn’t noticed how closely fitted his slacks were.
“So I take it you’re Akira-kun,” he commented lightly, but he didn’t sit down until Akira nodded. He remained at a respectable distance and modestly folded his hands on the table in front of him. “I’ll admit, you weren’t what I was expecting when I heard Shido Masayoshi was coming here.”
At the mention of his name, Shido looked back at them. “Am I really that infamous?” he asked, though Akira was sure he knew full well.
“It pays to pay attention to these things,” the host joked, smiling pleasantly.
A few of the girls rolled their eyes at his joke, almost as if he was an annoying little brother. Akira supposed that was an appropriate dynamic given the composition of the group.
Shido gave an amused huff before turning back to the lady who’d sat down next to him. As Akira turned around he noticed something that might have been annoyance on the host’s face, but it faded back to his innocuous smile too quickly to be sure.
“To be fair, you weren’t quite what I was expecting either,” Akira said quietly. Somehow he was almost out of water already.
“Oh dear, am I unwittingly part of some kind of prank?” he teased as he reached for the water and another glass before filling them both. “You can call me Goro, by the way.” His eyes flickered in Shido’s direction once more, but they quickly returned to Akira now that the man was ignoring them.
Akira leaned his cheek against his hand. “Something like that. I thought you were supposed to use some corny nickname.”
He smiled and this time there was a subtle edge to it. “I think I’ve outgrown introducing myself as Sherlock.”
“Now that’s just embarrassing,” Akira said dryly. “Wouldn’t Moriarty be edgier?”
His mediocre knowledge about literature seemed to be of interest, but they were interrupted by the loud discussion at the other end of the table about getting some drinks. Akira cringed internally at the thought.
Some of it must have shown on his face because Goro leaned in and quietly said, “I’ll get us mocktails charged at full price if I can have one too.”
Of course he’d want to get paid while avoiding getting drunk as much as possible. “Deal,” Akira said quietly before the focus could return to them.
“Get me a bottle of this,” Shido interrupted. Based on the way the girls went silent, Akira guessed whatever he’d pointed out on the menu was expensive. Obviously Shido was here to show off above anything else.
Goro stood up. “I’ll go organise that one. Was there anything else?”
“Is that ok?” the hostess sitting on Shido’s other side asked, resting the back of her hand against his arm. Akira admired her bravery in some weird way. If he was in her situation he’d be running in the opposite direction.
Shido waved a hand, but it was obvious he wanted to show he could indulge their seemingly expensive tastes. “And a bottle of whatever the ladies would like.”
After confirming that yes, he did want to spend more than Akira’s annual wage on a bottle of champagne, Goro disappeared into the crowd of salary men, hostesses and waiters. Maybe he intended to make their drinks himself, but Akira didn’t think it was normal for hostesses to leave their clients alone.
Akira jumped when Shido elbowed him sharply. “You’ve never been to a place like this before, have you, Akira-kun?”
“Of course not,” he replied nervously. “When would I have been able to afford it?”
Shido laughed loudly again. It was still a mystery to Akira why he found his bluntness so amusing, but he supposed it was a good thing because he really couldn’t help himself most of the time.
“Well, no need to worry. The company card will pay for any expenses you rack up tonight.” Shido raised his eyebrows and gave him a significant look.
Akira could guess what Shido’s plans for the rest of the night were going to be. He supposed the hostess would go along with it in the hope he’d request her on an ongoing basis. The idea of it all made him feel mildly ill.
“Right…” Akira replied, and that seemed to satisfy Shido enough for him to turn his attention elsewhere again.
Of course it wouldn’t occur to Shido that he might prefer all this money go into a pay rise instead.
It was almost a relief when Goro returned with a pair of waiters to put out a round of glasses and the two overly expensive bottles of piss. Akira tried not to grimace when a tumbler was put in front of him, ice clinking.
The hostesses hurried to pour out the older men’s drinks before serving themselves, and then the stupidly expensive spirit was passed onto Goro. “Sorry,” he said quietly, but thankfully he only put a standard shot in the glass. If Akira let the ice melt a bit it should water it down enough to not matter much.
“Maybe this way they won’t ask questions about the other drink,” Akira said quietly as he picked the glass up and looked at the sunset coloured liquid. It wasn’t particularly garish, but he still wasn’t sure exactly what it was.
“I didn’t poison it,” Goro teased as he held his glass of actual liquor up for the round of cheers. Akira quickly, and not exactly smoothly, swapped his over and did the same. “I mean, unless you’re allergic to citrus.”
He wasn’t, but Akira didn’t have time to communicate that. He didn’t drank habitually, so it was hard not to grimace at the taste. But fortunately Shido seemed to be losing interest in him for real this time and didn’t comment on it.
Akira noticed the way Goro strategically drank just enough of his to show he’d tried it, but not so much that someone would offer to fill it back up. He’d be sure to do the same if anyone tried to give him more, and since it looked like the others were trying to start some kind of drinking game, that seemed likely.
“So, anyway, what kind of work do you do?” Goro asked casually, seemingly content to engage in some kind of conversation to try and avoid it too.
“Well, I just graduated with an accounting degree and was expecting to live out the rest of my days quietly counting beans,” Akira replied dryly, though part of him kind of wished things really had worked out that way now. “Instead it seems my name got pulled out of a hat to be the assistant to his assistant,” he added quietly, tilting his head in Shido’s direction to avoid using his name.
He got the feeling only the male graduates’ names had been on that list, given the way Shido’s hands were already hovering.
“And then… he found out you were gay?”
Akira sighed and took a long drink of the mocktail. “Apparently you have to be if you aren’t interested in going to places like this.” But he didn’t want to keep talking about his orientation while the execs were sitting so close. “I suppose you’d rather be encouraging girls to pimp themselves out for you right about now?”
Goro put a hand over his heart as if offended. “Excuse me?”
Akira rolled his eyes. “Is there any other way to earn so much? But still, isn’t it weird for a place like this to hire both hosts and hostesses?”
Goro shrugged one shoulder. “This kind of booking is unique, so I was called to stand in for the night by a friend. I usually work in a much less prestigious place, so don’t worry, I’m probably not making nearly as much as you think despite my vaulted status,” he added with a wink that somehow didn’t look awkward.
Akira snorted into his glass before deciding to turn his attention to the spirit he was going to have to drink before he could make an excuse about leaving early. It was funny, given how much Shido had talked this guy up earlier. But he supposed no one had technically lied.
“Well, you must be doing ok for yourself.”
Goro tilted his head. “Why do you say that?”
Akira paused, not entirely sure how to answer. “Well, I mean. You’re…” he vaguely waved a hand in his direction, trailing off when he realised what he was trying to get at.
But Goro only laughed. That certainly didn’t stop Akira from feeling like an idiot.
“Well thanks, I think. I do try to encourage my clients to be responsible. Though I do also need to live…”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Akira muttered, drinking a little more. Things were starting to get rowdy behind him. Hopefully he’d be able to start making an excuse soon.
But unfortunately it seemed Shido hadn’t forgotten about him entirely. He nudged Akira in the ribs once again, and he had no choice but to turn to face everyone else properly again. The bottles were significantly emptier than they had been before, and all the men were much pinker in the face.
“I didn’t think you’d be this much of a party pooper!” Shido said a little too loudly.
Akira smiled thinly. “Actually, I kind of have a headache…”
Shido’s mouth turned downward for the first time that night. It didn’t seem Akira would be escaping as easily as he’d hoped.
“Are those other noisy tables bothering you?” Goro asked suddenly as he leaned forward, smile back in place. “We can go somewhere quieter for a little while, then come back to join the fun properly later.”
Shido leaned back slightly, expression returning to normal. Maybe Goro, his saviour, wasn’t so bad after all.
“Oh, I see. Already, huh?” Shido asked with a raised brow. “I suppose these things are simpler when there’s another man involved,” he mused.
Actually, maybe he wasn’t that great.
“Very funny,” Akira muttered, clearly uncomfortable.
Goro stood up and Akira decided it was worth taking the out and following his lead. Let them think what they wanted to think.
They both nodded in the table’s general direction before grabbing what remained of their non-alcoholic drinks and leaving. Akira followed Goro to a narrow set of stairs he hadn’t noticed before. He guessed the customers were encouraged to use the elevators because when they arrived on the next floor it certainly looked like a back of house area.
They moved into some kind of cramped storage room and settled around the small table. Akira wondered if dodgy things normally happened back here, or if it really was just a break room.
Once the door was shut firmly behind them, Goro sighed and seemed to relax for the first time. “I can charge this to his card too, if you like,” he said quietly, a slight edge to his voice.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” Akira admitted. “I expect to be getting enough shit over this as it is.”
There was something sympathetic in his look this time. “We don’t have to go back to the table. I’ll let you out the back once they’re drunk enough to not care anymore.”
“I’m surprised it’s taken this long, honestly. I’m not sure what he’s really trying to achieve. If he thinks I’m going to simper after him because he has more money than he’ll ever need, he’s going to be disappointed.”
Goro gave him a calculating look over the rim of his glass. His scrutiny was sharp, with little of what Akira now realised had likely been fake friendliness remaining.
“You work closely with Shido, don’t you? You have access to his meetings and calendar and all that?”
Akira felt his own guard go up at the strangeness of the question. “Obviously. Why?”
Goro glanced away, seemingly contemplating something, before returning his attention to him. “Listen, I’m not exactly his biggest fan. Clearly Shido doesn’t recognise me, but he really fucked me over in the past. If you can give me information on his movements sometimes, I’ll… Well, I’ll give you whatever you want.”
Akira blinked at him, startled. He guessed that’d been left open to interpretation for a reason.
“I don’t like him, obviously. But that’s kind of… I’d lose my job if I was found out. And if that happened, one of the female grads might be forced into this position. I can’t let that happen.”
Goro sat back slightly, seemingly surprised by his words. He bit the inside of his cheek for a moment before leaning his elbows on the table again.
“To someone like you, wanting revenge probably sounds silly. But the truth is, I’m the result of him fucking around like he does. And the only reason I do this work is that he never took responsibility for it.”
Akira could sympathise with that on some level. “What do you mean by revenge?”
Goro’s face twisted into something far nastier than he’d thought he was capable of. “I want to make him suffer.”
Obviously all of this was a messed up situation, but something didn’t feel right. Giving up the information seemed like it’d be a bad idea for more than just privacy reasons. “I can understand why you’d feel that way, but…”
Goro stood up and moved around the table. Akira tensed slightly and watched him carefully, but he just slid into the chair next to him.
“I mean it. I’ll give you anything you want. I know Shido has to be paying you as little as he can get away with.”
Akira shrugged. “It’s about the same as I’d get literally anywhere else at this point in my career. And I don’t really want your money, knowing what you’d do to get it.”
Goro shook his head slightly. “Where do you think that bastard gets his? I know you’re not that naïve. The economy is entirely based on people exploiting each other.”
“That’s not the point,” Akira muttered.
“There must be some kind of agreement we can come to. I know you’re not refusing out of a sense of loyalty,” Goro continued to press as he leaned forward slightly.
Akira sighed and looked away from him stubbornly. Goro deliberately rested a hand on his knee.
Akira abruptly pushed his chair back with a loud scrape and hurried to his feet. “I-I can’t give you what you want. I’m sorry,” he said quickly as he stumbled backward.
Goro seemed surprised by his reaction, but having him stand up and follow was the last thing Akira wanted. Especially when he made sure to get between Akira and the door.
“Hey, I’m sorry for misreading the situation. But if there’s really no way we can come to an agreement, then I need to make a few things clear.” As he moved closer, Akira backed into the wall even though he knew that would only make things worse for himself. “You aren’t going to tell anyone about this, are you?”
“Going to the police probably wouldn’t be the worst idea I’ve ever had,” Akira muttered, noting his sense of self-preservation was indeed still absent.
Goro’s frown grew and suddenly his breath had been knocked out of him as Goro slammed him against the wall, hands curled around his lapel. “Then you must have done some pretty fucking stupid things in the past.” One of his hands moved to get something out of his pocket, and Akira’s brow shot up when he realised that yes that was a knife blade that’d just flicked out.
“Ok, ok, I get it!” he said quickly. “If you leave me alone I’ll keep my mouth shut. And I won’t get in your way. At least, not deliberately,” he amended.
His bad feeling from before had been a sign he should’ve been running, after all. But he wasn’t going to help some guy maim or possibly even kill someone else, no matter how deplorable that someone was.
Thankfully at that the knife disappeared back into his pocket. This guy was clearly insane.
“Give me your contact details. I need to make sure of that.” Goro released him and took half a step back, so Akira reluctantly reached for his phone. “And if you decide to change your mind, I’ll want to know about that too.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Akira muttered, unable to help himself.
Thankfully Goro just looked amused this time. “We’ll see if you’re still thinking that way after you’ve had a chance to see how awful he is up close.”
Akira sighed through his nose, but decided saying nothing was the better option.
Once Goro had all his information bar his home address, he finally stepped back properly. “Well, I should probably let you out of here. But you know, if you help me, I can do a lot to help you.”
“Uh huh.”
As promised, Goro led him down a different set of stairs to what seemed to be a service entrance for deliveries. He smiled innocuously, as though nothing had happened. It was almost creepy.
“Thanks for visiting us today! Come again soon!”
Akira nodded hesitantly before turning away and walking back to the station as fast as he could. Only once he was on the train home did he realise it was entirely possible he’d soon be dragged out there again by Shido.
This Goro problem wasn’t going to go away on its own.
Chapter Text
Akira had almost convinced himself everything that’d happened last week was just a dream. Either that or a nightmare. But barely tolerating the whole experience seemed to have changed something at work, because lately he’d been given even more responsibility over organising Shido’s calendar and taking messages for him.
It made him wonder whether it had all been some kind of test. He hoped so, for the sake of his own hide.
Either way, he was looking forward to enjoying this weekend in the privacy of his own home. Maybe he could get Ryuji to come over and distract him with video games and endless banter about the people he trained at the gym. Or more likely, whichever girl he was seeing at the moment.
Akira dragged himself up the last of his building’s stairs and turned the corner into his hallway. He hesitated when he saw someone was leaning against the door to his apartment. Although he looked quite different in more casual clothes, it wasn’t hard for Akira to guess who.
When Goro looked up at him he knew it was too late to turn around and try to leave. As Akira approached he pushed away from the door and stood in the middle of the hallway with his arms folded.
“Welcome home,” Goro said dryly.
Akira sighed as he pulled his keys out and unlocked the door. “If you’re going to make stalking me a habit, can we at least make it a rule that you don’t bring your knife along?”
Goro followed him inside and closed and locked the door behind him. “I’ll consider it.”
Once his shoes were off, Akira went to his room and put his bag down. Normally he’d get changed right away, but he supposed he should take care of his unwanted houseguest first. When he returned to the living area he saw Goro was already sitting at the low table looking perfectly comfortable with being in his space. Almost like he’d been there before.
Akira narrowed his eyes. “Did you break in earlier?”
Goro gave him his host smile and didn’t answer. But really, that was more than enough of one.
“Why are you here?” Akira asked instead as he moved to make some tea. He needed something to comfort him, and even if his guest was unwanted it felt odd not to offer.
“I feel like we got off on the wrong foot. And I felt hurried into trying to convince you, so I don’t think I really took your personality into proper consideration while trying to come to an agreement. I want you to come with me and meet some other people who have had their families destroyed by Shido.”
Akira frowned as he brought the small tea set over before sitting by the opposite corner of the table, as far from Goro as he could get. “Forgive me if I don’t feel comfortable going anywhere with you.”
Goro smirked at him before pouring the tea out for both of them. “You say that like I’m giving you a choice.” He put the teapot back down and brought his cup closer. “But I still think you should be aware of just what your employer gets up to outside of his accounting business.”
“And what’s that?” Akira asked, guessing he wasn’t going to get rid of the intruder until he’d let him say his piece.
“I’ve uncovered a lot of his shadier business over the years. While the company you work at would be a profitable enough venture for most people, he’s using the money to collect allies by doing favours for people. Sometimes they involve commissioning someone’s death.”
It hadn’t taken him long to figure out Shido was a pig, but he was going to need actual evidence to believe such serious claims. “Like who?”
“A more famous example is the owner of Okumura Foods. It seems his chain stores were stepping on the toes of some bigger and more established companies. His only child has been trying to pick up the pieces for the last four years.”
“How do you know Shido was involved?” Given the personal nature of Goro’s issue with him, bias certainly wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.
“We intercepted communications between him and people who worked at the rival company. They caused the car accident by messing up the traffic signals for a short time.”
It was definitely a disquieting thought. But it was possible for things like that to happen by chance. It could be a coincidence, or even the result of someone else’s actions.
Or maybe Akira was just trying to justify his own position because he knew he’d need a few years of experience under his belt before he could successfully apply to another company.
“If that is what happened then it’s really… But still, I…”
Goro put his now empty cup down with a small sigh. “I know, it’s difficult to believe and harder to prove, but that’s just how these people operate. That’s why I was trying to get you on my side through means other than a moral appeal.”
“If I had any kind of choice, I wouldn’t be a PA, and certainly not to someone so awful. But saying he’s a murderer still seems like a stretch. Even if some of his meetings are at weird times with strange people.”
Goro shook his head slightly. “All of this would be a lot simpler if you’d just tell me about those meetings in exchange for getting your dick sucked.”
Akira flushed. “I already told you, not going to happen.”
Goro got to his feet and put his hands back in his jacket pockets. “Then I guess you don’t have a problem with me dragging you around the city tomorrow to meet people actually being affected by him.” He seemed to find Akira’s annoyed expression amusing, but didn’t give him a chance to interrupt. “Being away from the club on a weekend night is really going to cost me a lot, so don’t try to flake out.”
“I don’t see how that’s my problem.”
“Maybe I’ll respect your wishes about the knife if you stop being so rude,” he replied, adopting his friendly smile. Of course it was mostly just creepy now.
Akira hunched over. He’d rather not hang out with crazy at all, but it seemed he wasn’t being given much choice. Especially since it was entirely possible Goro would just break into his home again to drag him out if he needed to.
“Be ready by ten tomorrow, ok?” he added before making his way over to the door. He put his shoes on and then he was gone just as quickly as he’d appeared.
Akira folded his arms on the table in front of him and rested his head on them. Why couldn’t he have just been offered a normal job?
It turned out Okumura wasn’t as crazy as her partner in crime, which only added to Akira’s confusion. Part of him had been expecting them all to be tinfoil hat types, but she seemed to be about as normal as someone who’d inherited more wealth than she’d need in a hundred lifetimes could be.
“We’ve had to cut back a lot lately while we try to balance good working conditions with operational requirements, but if you ever see an opening for a junior accountant please do submit an application,” she continued. “Shido is dangerous, and you really don’t seem to know what you’re getting yourself into.”
Akira felt offended by that, though he knew he probably shouldn’t. Goro straightened in the chair next to him.
“Don’t say that, we need him to be where he is.”
Okumura shook her head. “If he’s not interested in helping us, then what does it matter if he has access to the information we need? I think we should try to get one of our own people into that position.”
“You know they’re chosen at random for a reason.”
“Hmm…”
Akira guessed they’d had this conversation before. But he still wasn’t willing to offer himself up as the solution.
Okumura sighed when her phone started ringing again. “Excuse me, I’m so sorry,” she said before picking it up. “What is it?”
The longer the person on the other end spoke, the tighter her mouth became. She inhaled deeply, and Akira jumped when her high pitched tone turned aggressive.
“I told them they must give any employees that are going to be cut off at least a month’s notice!” There was a brief pause. “I don’t care if they’re casuals! They deserve to be treated with dignity, not just at the bare legal minimum!”
Akira wondered if he should start making excuses about leaving. She was clearly busy, though he guessed that kind of spoke to how important this discussion was to her.
And obviously Goro would stop him before he could get too far.
“Then perhaps you should remind him about the axe I keep on my balcony,” she added through gritted teeth. Akira immediately felt more nervous. “Good! Don’t call me again unless it’s urgent. I have another meeting!”
She hung up with a high pitched humph before folding her hands on the table again. She took a sip of tea and seemed to visibly cool down.
Since he wasn’t going to get out of this conversation, Akira figured he may as well spur it on. “So um, you’re really convinced Shido’s the one who caused the accident your father was in?”
She nodded firmly. “It’s not hard to see that a company that considered ours a rival was the direct benefactor. And even Futaba-chan is convinced there was something fishy about the logs in the traffic control system at that time. But of course she only had a chance to look at it a few years after the incident, so some things have since been deleted.”
Akira glanced between them at the mention of a new name. “I’m taking you to meet her next,” Goro explained briefly. “Though you’ll find she has a similar story to tell.”
“You are?” Okumura asked quietly. “Maybe I should give you a chance to decompress before you head off, then. It’s quite tragic.”
Akira ran a hand through his already messy hair. “Look, the more I have to spend time around Shido, the more I hate his guts. But this still sounds like lizard people levels of ridiculous conspiracy theory. How can you be so sure he orchestrated this?”
Goro and Okumura shared a significant look. He guessed there was something else, but maybe telling him was too much of a risk when he wasn’t completely on their side.
“When you look at how money moves around, it can be quite revealing,” Okumura began cautiously. “I’m sure the information you have access to would be quite enlightening for us in that regard too.”
“Even if he is guilty of everything you think, is killing him really… appropriate?”
“Yes,” Goro said without hesitation, but Okumura didn’t look so ready to agree.
“Normally I’d say no, but if all of this went to court, he’d find a way to weasel out of the normal and expected level of punishment. He’s not going to stop what he’s doing unless someone makes him. And if making him comes down to doing something drastic, then…” She shook her head slightly. “Well, I’m willing to go that far if it means there aren’t any more victims.”
These people were terrifying, but at the same time, part of him could understand what she meant. Even he could only do damage control for so long before Shido caught on and replaced him with someone he could turn into a target.
The sombre mood was broken when Goro started slightly and pulled his phone out. “Futaba’s asking where we are. We should get going soon.”
“Oh, well, it was nice to see you. And nice to meet you, Akira-san.” He couldn’t honestly say the same, so he just nodded. “Tell Futaba-chan I said hello.”
Akira was surprised when he realised Goro was taking him to his old stomping ground. Through most of his degree he’d worked part time in a café in Yongen whenever the owner needed a day off, but he hadn’t had much reason to return after getting a full time job offer on a different train line. He wondered how Boss was doing, and whether he could sneak away from Goro to get a coffee afterward.
Though he could probably use the extra customer...
When they came to a halt, Akira frowned at the nameplate on the gate. He’d known Boss lived around here somewhere, but he’d never seen his house before.
“Are you sure this is the right place?”
Goro looked at him like he was the crazy one between them. “I think I’ve been here enough times to know.” He pushed the gate open and moved over to the front door when it opened slightly. When it opened wider Akira followed him inside, still confused.
A short woman wearing big glasses closed the door behind them. Akira guessed it was possible Boss had family he’d never told him about, but it just seemed too weird for it not to have come up at all in the three or so years they’d worked together. Was his house being used while he was out or something?
Akira looked down when he heard a familiar meow demand his attention. Morgana rubbed against his legs, weaving in between them. Akira automatically bent over to scratch his head. It wasn’t like he could touch the cat much when he was actually working. Mostly he just chased it back into the attic when people were around.
“What? You little traitor!” Futaba exclaimed as she picked Morgana up and held him in the air. “How dare you go to a complete stranger for cuddles when I’m right here!”
Akira wasn’t sure whether he should point out that he wasn’t a stranger or not. In the end he decided to keep quiet, and just let Futaba lead them up the stairs. They went into a small bedroom that only felt smaller given all the screens and devices she had stacked on her huge desk. She sat in the chair and Goro sat on her bed as she spun around.
“Sit!” she commanded as she pointed at the other end of the bed. Akira didn’t dare not. “So?” she asked as she glanced between them.
“He’s not telling us what we want to know because we don’t have ‘proof’ of Shido’s involvement,” Goro explained without any preamble.
Futaba frowned. “Well, yours is undeniable, isn’t it?”
Goro frowned at her and shook his head slightly. Futaba put a hand over her mouth like she’d said something she wasn’t supposed to.
“Oh, well… Hm.” She fidgeted as she looked down. Her bottom lip trembled. “So, Mum and I were walking home after eating out one night when this car sped down the street and slammed into her.” Futaba hunched over and picked Morgana up so she could bring her knees up. He wriggled out of her grip before jumping up on the bed and spreading his cat hair over the back of Akira’s jacket.
“You don’t have to talk about it if it’s upsetting,” Akira said quickly, already feeling uncomfortable. Goro could have given him some kind of heads up, or explained the tough parts beforehand.
“No! It’s important for you to hear,” she protested even as she hugged her knees closer. “It’s hard to be taken seriously as an eyewitness when you’re twelve, so somehow the maniac in the car got off on reckless driving charges. Meanwhile, I’ve been too afraid to go outside for the last ten years.”
Akira absently reached down to scratch Morgana’s jaw in the spot he knew he loved, and he immediately started purring loudly. “Dare I ask what Shido’s connection to all this is?”
“Well, that was the hard part to figure out. It took me a few years to get my skills up, but eventually I got good enough to go snooping without being caught. See, Mum had been about to file a patent some sleazy business guy had been trying to buy off her for months. But she wanted her work to be public domain.”
Futaba unwound from the ball she’d forced herself into and rolled her chair a little closer. Clearly this was the part she did want to talk about.
“It took years of searching through the grossest corners of the internet, but I finally found some archived posts where someone was bragging about taking care of a particular ‘target’. I think back then they still had to advertise themselves, but anyway, from there I was able to hack the account and get leads back into the real world.
“Their money laundering operation is pretty full on, but the longer I watched them, the more I could narrow things down. Shido was one of several dodgy people I was suspicious of, and what do you think I found while going through records of court cases that had been filed against him?”
Futaba gestured broadly in Goro’s direction. Clearly wary of what she was about to say, Goro took over.
“It was very fortunate that she found out about me. I’d heard about the case with Isshiki-san while doing my own research, but hadn’t made the connection yet. But if you ask the right person about the right thing, you’d be amazed by what they’ll admit to.”
“Yeah, like half his customers are hostesses themselves,” Futaba added. “With the way Shido and his cronies get around, it’s not too hard to find girls he’s said too much in front of.”
“Especially if all they want is a sympathetic someone to listen to how much of an asshole he is,” Goro added. “Though Futaba’s skills are much more reliable than hearsay.”
Futaba giggled quietly. “Well, we all have our own strengths.”
“And you want my access because that’s the most reliable information of all,” Akira muttered as he lightly ran his fingers over Morgana’s now exposed belly.
“Yeah, so if you’d just ‘accidentally’ tell me your password, we can take it from there,” Futaba said cheerfully.
“But that’s so…” He sighed and rested his elbows on his knees.
“Alternatively, I could just threaten to ruin your career by spreading embarrassing shit about you. Just think how great having your internet history sent to everyone in your company would be!”
“W-what?”
“Futaba,” Goro scolded. “There’s no need to go threatening that kind of thing yet.”
“Yet?” Akira demanded. “Then I really would have a reason to go to the police, wouldn’t I?”
Goro put his hands in his jacket pockets, but thankfully they stayed there. “We’ve already discussed why you shouldn’t do that, so stop bringing it up.”
“Just like we’ve already discussed why I can’t help you, so you should stop bringing that up?” Akira retorted.
“No, because you’re wrong and this is important.”
Akira sighed, clearly in disagreement, but it seemed there was no reasoning with these people. Though they probably felt the same way about him.
“If we’re done, I should go. There’s some work I need to finish off before Monday.”
“And that is?” Futaba asked slyly.
Akira folded his arms and kept his stony expression. She just laughed.
“Don’t forget to go get coffee from Dad on your way home,” she added, seemingly more directed at Goro than him.
Now that she’d brought it up so directly, Akira couldn’t just ignore the fact. And he was kind of curious as well. “Do you mean Sakura Sojiro’s café?”
Futaba almost fell out of her chair. “Whaaat!? He’s a double agent, Goro! Get rid of him!”
Akira rolled his eyes as he got to his feet. Morgana head-butted the back of his leg and he reached back to scratch him again. “No, I just used to work in Leblanc until recently. But he never mentioned he had a daughter, so I was confused.”
“Wait, you’re that Akira!?” She pointed an accusatory finger. “Tokyo isn’t that small, buddy.”
Akira shrugged one shoulder. “You can ask him yourself, if you want. I should go say hi before I head home.”
“All right, well, don’t say anything about this to him. Or else.” She tried to glare at him threateningly, but it wasn’t all that effective. Though her previous threat was still front of mind, so he kept his mouth shut. “Kind of explains why Mona is so friendly with you though. I keep telling Sojiro he should just open a cat café.”
“I don’t think cat hair and curry go together very well,” Akira replied as he made his way over to the door. Goro followed him closely, and Akira guessed he was going to make sure he didn’t say anything unnecessary. “See you,” Akira added awkwardly.
Goro raised a hand and Futaba waved back. Before they left the property, Goro gave him a once over with narrowed eyes. Akira knew a coincidence like this had to seem insanely suspicious.
Akira quickly walked past him, hoping he would be less likely to stab him in the back in broad daylight. And if he was actually friendly with Leblanc’s owner, hopefully he wouldn’t want to leave a mess there.
Chapter Text
When they stepped into the café, Boss seemed happy enough to see him. “Akira! Couldn’t stay away, huh?” When Goro walked past him he added, “Oh, you two know each other?”
“Unfortunately,” Akira said dryly.
He wagged a finger. “What’d I tell you about scaring customers away?”
“That you already manage to do it well enough yourself?” Akira hazarded as he glanced around the empty café.
He sighed, but Akira could tell he was amused somewhere under there. “Just tell me what you want, shit head.” He turned away, presumably to start making Goro’s regular.
Akira chose something he knew he wouldn’t be able to get easily elsewhere as he took a seat at the counter. His knife-wielding shadow sat next to him.
“Here I was thinking I could show Akira-kun this trendy little place no one knows about,” Goro joked lightly as a cup was put down in front of him. “Thanks,” he added as he handed over some cash.
“Huh, I guess it’s kind of a coincidence that you two didn’t encounter each other here before. Akira only quit a few months ago.”
“I didn’t quit, I regretfully withdrew my interest,” Akira teased as a cup was put down in front of him. He insisted on paying for it.
“I was going to bribe you to watch the place while I go have a smoke,” he admitted.
Akira shrugged. “You can if you want. I’ll keep an eye on this troublemaker.”
Sojiro chuckled. “All right, I’ll take you up on it, then.”
Once he’d taken off his apron and vanished into the street outside, Akira sighed and leaned his elbow against the bar. He really did miss working here, but a half day here and there wasn’t nearly enough to cover the cost of living on his own.
He glanced over at Goro when he noticed he hadn’t touched his coffee yet. He was frowning as he stared into the middle distance, and Akira guessed he was trying to put things together. But he really didn’t want him to come to the wrong conclusion.
“I’ve gotta say, this is the weirdest date I’ve ever been on,” Akira joked absently.
Goro blinked a couple of times before turning to look at him. “Well, I didn’t have much success with the usual route.” When Akira glanced down at his untouched drink again, he seemed to notice. “I couldn’t work last night because I had to actually be awake during the day, so I’ll need to go to sleep as soon as I get home.”
The fact he’d still bought something anyway was certainly interesting. “Oh.”
“Did you mention working here on your CV when you applied for your job?” Goro asked, suddenly much more serious.
Akira nodded slightly. “My parents wouldn’t let me work in high school, so he was my only option for a proper referee.”
Goro looked disturbed by the fact. “Great.”
“You think I was chosen deliberately?”
Goro ran a hand through his hair. He shifted in his seat as he seemed to realise something. “Actually, no, I don’t. He didn’t seem to have an issue with the fact I’d been hired for that night. Even if he is aware someone is looking into him, he can’t know our identities.”
“Wait, so he did pay you to ask all that?”
“It was a fortunate coincidence that I was asked to fill the role, but obviously I would have reported back favourably either way.” He turned in his seat to face him properly. “Why? Has it made a difference already?”
Akira nodded. “It might just be that they trust me to do the job properly now, but I’ve been seeing a lot more than I did in my first few weeks.”
Goro tapped his fingers against the counter, clearly irritated. “Not that it matters, right?”
Akira ducked his head. “I wouldn’t say that.” He wasn’t sure how to bring up the elephant in the room, but being direct had worked out so far. “Are you really intent on killing him?”
“My entire life has been a disaster thanks to him. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, for a start, it’s not something you can undo. I mean, if I saw evidence of illegal activity I wouldn’t be against collecting it for later use,” Akira began cautiously. He didn’t want to give Goro the wrong idea. “You know, anything that’d assist with prosecuting him successfully.”
Goro tilted his head. “That might be enough to satisfy Haru. But I don’t think you understand how much I want to make him suffer. He’s caused so much unbearable pain, I don’t know how anything less can be called justice.”
“There has to be another way,” Akira said quietly. His fingers closed a little tighter around the warm cup. “Doesn’t he still win if you have to lower yourself to his level?”
He wasn’t sure how to read Goro’s immediate reaction to his words, but the bell over the door rang before he could respond properly. Boss made his way back behind the counter and Goro soon got to his feet.
“I should be going,” he announced.
Sojiro nodded and gave him a small wave as he headed out. Goro glanced back at Akira briefly before letting the door swing shut behind him. Only then did Sojiro seem to notice he hadn’t touched his drink.
He sighed. “Another wasted cup.”
Akira raised an eyebrow. “Does this happen a lot?”
“Not really, but still more than I’d like. If he wants an excuse to support my business, he could at least get food he can take home with him or something.”
“I guess,” Akira agreed quietly. Maybe he just didn’t like curry.
Akira let Sojiro catch him up on what had been going on with his other regulars, since all he had to offer about his own work was general platitudes. But it was still nice to get some normalcy in his day. He got the feeling that was going to be few and far between from now on.
Akira was just about packed up and ready to go home when he saw a new appointment pop up in Shido’s calendar. Going home before the boss was usually a faux pas, but as Shido was always saying, as long as people got the work done he didn’t care what they did or when.
His immediate supervisor had already left for a medical appointment, so he was the only one in the general vicinity of Shido’s office. Something really didn’t feel right, so Akira checked the meeting attendees. He felt mildly ill when he saw it was just an appointment between Shido and one of the female new starters.
It was too suspicious to ignore, but when another email came in Akira automatically shifted half his attention to it. The message was marked as urgent, attention to Shido, so maybe he could just…
As hesitant footsteps passed his desk, Akira paused and looked up. The girl avoided looking at him, but he recognised her from the induction training they’d all been shoved in together. She looked apprehensive, like she was just as aware of what could happen next.
Akira couldn’t just ignore this.
He all but stumbled out of his seat as he hurried over to the door to Shido’s office. “Excuse me,” he said quietly as he reached past her for the door handle. He slid it open and stepped around her before she could say anything. “Shido-sama, I’m sorry to interrupt when you have another meeting, but there’s an email from Kaneshiro-san I thought should be brought to your attention right away.”
Shido looked up from his screen with a frown before looking for the message. Akira tried to relax his tense posture, but he knew if this was dismissed as unimportant, he’d have to do something more drastic to rock the boat.
Shido’s eyes slid from side to side as he read, and the further he got the deeper his frown became. “I see. I will need to take care of this now.” Akira nodded before backing out of the doorway. “Reschedule this meeting for another time,” he added absently.
“I… I’ll see what I can do,” Akira said, struggling to maintain the correct level of politeness. He’d rather encourage her to look for work elsewhere, but of course that’d be just as difficult for her at this point as it was for him.
When it seemed Shido had lost interest in them, Akira closed the door. He found he wasn’t the only one sighing in relief.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Akira nodded stiffly before moving back over to his desk. “I’ll tell him your schedule is unpredictable for the next week if he ends up asking why I haven’t booked another time.” He hoped Shido would just forget it, but he doubted it’d be that easy.
She glanced nervously back at the door before nodding quickly. “Well then, I should go,” she mumbled before doing just that.
Akira figured he should do the same. He shut down his work station and put his jacket back on before heading out. He was fine while he was hurrying through the dark streets, but the next train was at least ten minutes away. Waiting on the platform gave him way too much time to think about what had just almost happened.
He’d always known Shido was gross, but creeping on a young lady with few to no viable options for getting away from him was just too much. He could guess what would’ve happened if he had have left even five minutes earlier. Or, if that email had never come in, there wouldn’t have been a way for him to smoothly defuse the situation.
It gave him the creeps and made his innards clench uncomfortably, almost like he wanted to physically be sick too. There was no guarantee things would go smoothly next time. But there wasn’t really anything he could do about it.
At least, not on his own.
Akira got on the next train and sat down heavily. He took his phone out and opened the message Goro had sent yesterday to give him a heads up that Shido had made another end of week booking that involved him. That meant it’d inevitably involve Akira as well, he was sure.
Akira wrote his message quickly, but hesitated over sending it until he got to his changeover. But he had a responsibility to explore all the options available to him, right? He also couldn’t afford to lose his first real job so soon.
We need to talk.
He was surprised to get a reply by the time he got home, since Goro was probably either at work or getting ready to go by now.
Come with me to the club before it opens tomorrow night.
Akira huffed quietly to himself, but given the circumstances, he didn’t think he could complain about receiving messages that sounded so suspicious. He put his dinner in the microwave before responding so they could sort out the when and where.
He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to strike a compromise, but he had to try.
Chapter Text
Akira tried to keep a straight face when Goro pinned his hair back, but there was something amusing about the way it stuck out to the side. The first step of getting ready for work seemed to be preparing his face for the actual makeup, but Akira had given up trying to make sense of what he was doing by the time he pulled the third product out.
“So, now that the issue is more personal, it seems more real,” Goro summarised once he’d finished listening to Akira’s explanation of what he’d witnessed. He started applying concealer, which seemed more heavy-handed than anything Akira had seen on his face before. He wondered if it was just expected in a venue that catered to a younger crowd.
“I guess you can say that,” Akira replied. “It’s more that I realised he’s currently a threat to someone who can’t do much about it.”
“So what do you want me to do?” Goro asked as he started the next step of his routine. Akira gathered he was using different things to put colour and depth back into his face.
Akira folded his arms and looked away from Goro’s reflection. “Obviously I still think killing him is wrong. But I can gather evidence about his activities that can be used to take legal action.”
Goro frowned for a moment, but then had to relax his face so he could do something to his eyebrows.
“I know you already said that’s going to be ineffective,” Akira acknowledged. “But if he’s really as bad as you say, there has to be some way to catch him out. Some way to make him face the consequences of his actions.”
“And what if that does fail, and he just goes right back to being his usual terrible self?” Goro unpinned his hair and carefully started combing it back into place, spraying the sections he was satisfied with so they’d stay there for the night.
“Then you can do what you think is necessary,” Akira mumbled. Something like that had to be a last resort.
“Oh, well, as long as I have your permission,” Goro snarked as he turned his head side to side, meticulously checking his appearance. “Hold that up behind me,” Goro said as he pointed to the round mirror sitting further down the long vanity bench.
Akira stood up and did as asked. Goro frowned when he saw his reflection, but Akira thought he’d realised what had caught his attention. He automatically reached out to reposition the errant strands.
Goro glared at him sharply in the mirror, but didn’t comment. He simply applied a bit of hairspray to the spot. And Akira’s hand.
He tried to be subtle about wiping it clean on his pants, but Goro had already turned around in the chair. He smirked and tossed a small hand towel at him.
“Don’t tell me you prefer the natural look after all that.”
“But you pull it off so well,” Akira retorted dryly.
Goro hummed as he took the mirror and put it back on the vanity. “Well, the artificiality does reduce the chance of me being recognised on the street, so I’m not changing it now.”
Akira returned the towel, which meant he had nothing to do now but wring his hands. “Anyway, is this something you’re willing to work together on, or are you just going to pretend to agree to get what you want?”
Goro raised his hand as though he was going to lean his cheek against it, but then seemed to think better of it. “It would be easy to stab you in the back and take what I want,” he admitted slowly. “But you’d rather take that risk than let things continue as they are.”
Akira realised he wasn’t wrong. He frowned and stuck his hand out to shake. “Then at least promise me you won’t. It’s not like trying this first is going to stop you from doing what you want. If it doesn’t work out, I mean.”
Goro remained dignified as he slowly stood up. His eyes shifted between Akira’s hand and his face.
“Fine,” he eventually replied. “But if destroying him is out of the question, I’d rather we focus on using that information to tear apart everything he’s built.” When Akira nodded Goro took his hand firmly, eyes drilling into him. “But if someone else gets hurt while you’re taking your sweet time to mess around, don’t blame me.”
Akira stubbornly held his gaze. It was hard to tell whether all this was a lie too, but he somehow doubted it. In the end, he was the first to look away and retreat.
“What?” Goro demanded.
“You’re not wrong about that being a real possibility,” Akira said quietly, turning away slightly as he folded his arms loosely. “I’ll do whatever I can to prevent it, but your original revenge plan is way too extreme.”
“You’re a soft idiot,” Goro muttered.
“Probably.”
Fingertips lightly came to rest on his jaw and Akira started slightly. He looked at Goro when he took half a step closer, crowding him back against the wall of the narrow dressing room.
“Maybe it’s not the worst thing to be,” Goro commented quietly. “But that asshole doesn’t deserve your or anyone else’s mercy.”
“Why do you say that?” Akira asked, having to glance between Goro’s eyes to maintain eye contact now that he was so close.
“When my mother practically begged him for it, he denied her over and over. Until she couldn’t take it anymore, and she did the only thing she could to remove herself from those circumstances,” he explained quietly. “It isn’t like paying child support would have inhibited his lifestyle in the slightest. But he knew this ‘problem’ would resolve itself eventually. Good luck getting official channels to lay the blame on him, though.”
Akira didn’t know how to respond to something like that. He looked away, but when it felt like Goro was going to withdraw, he put a hand on his elbow. They both paused as their eyes met once again.
“I can understand why you’d want to get revenge for something like that. But you don’t have to follow his example.”
“You think I can be better than that?” Akira got the impression he’d intended to sneer at him, but Goro’s tone was far too tenuous.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Akira asked softly. “Besides, don’t you think making him live with the fact you’ve taken his money would be more satisfying?” When Goro’s eyes widened slightly he leaned forward, suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to close what remained of the slight gap between them.
But he hesitated when the pad of Goro’s thumb pressed against his lips instead. He stepped away from him and Akira let his arms fall back down by his sides. After a beat Goro gave him a fake smile and took another step back, his hand falling away as well.
“Come on now, I only just managed to get my makeup on properly.”
Akira felt something well up in his chest, but he had no clue how to put it into words. So instead he just nodded. “Sorry.”
“The others will start arriving to get ready soon,” Goro said as he glanced down at his watch. “You should get going.”
“Right,” Akira replied softly as he picked up his bag. He followed Goro as he led him through the softly lit room of lounges and booths that made up the main part of the club.
Goro opened the door that led out onto the street and stepped back to let him pass. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
Akira wanted to interpret it as a reminder that they’d get to talk more later. But while he’d quickly learnt to recognise when Goro was hiding something, what he was hiding and why wasn’t always so obvious.
“See you then.”
Akira made his way back to the station, not wanting to be seen hanging around a host club. Not that he really had to worry about his boss finding out. At least, not for the usual reasons.
He checked his phone when he got to the station to find the message he’d received was from Goro.
I don’t want you to be wrong.
About his ability to do better than his father, Akira assumed.
That’s up to you.
Akira was trying to look enthusiastic about being at the hostess club once again, but a lie that big was beyond him. For better or worse, Shido seemed to find it funny anyway.
“We’re going to make you have fun properly tonight!” he insisted as they sat around the same table as last time. Since Shido was talking to him, Akira got stuck sitting next to him once again, much to his dismay.
The same group as last time soon joined them at the table. This time they’d brought a few bottles over, probably purchased in advance with the booking. The women lightly complained about how long it’d been since they’d seen them last. Goro remained quiet at the back of the group until the others had settled in.
It seemed Goro had brought an extra bottle of water over specifically for them. Akira guessed there was going to be no way to avoid getting shit-faced this time.
“Long time no see,” Goro said quietly as he put his things down. He flicked his suit jacket back as he sat.
Akira noted he’d gone light on the hair and makeup again, and wondered whether it was because of the establishment or for his benefit. This time he had a few shirt buttons open to show the slash of red silk neatly tucked around his neck.
“Yeah,” Akira agreed, and somehow managed to avoid smiling at what felt like a joke. Of course they’d seen each other several times since then, but it’d be better if no one else was aware of that.
When he noticed Shido was pouring a drink for him, Akira straightened uncomfortably. “Thank you,” he had to force himself to say, since it was so unorthodox.
This time there seemed to be more chatter and fewer drinking games overall, to Akira’s relief. But he guessed they didn’t really need the icebreaker anymore. Akira could tell Goro was trying to keep a surface level conversation going so he could listen to what was being discussed around them, but Akira was already struggling to concentrate on that much.
“Hurry up,” Shido suddenly mocked. “You’re going to fall behind again at this rate.”
“I don’t usually drink that much, so it’s probably for the better,” Akira muttered, but he could already see Shido was having none of it this time.
“Nonsense! I have a better idea, anyway,” he said as he turned to the hostess next to him. “Let’s get some shots.”
Of course she immediately agreed. It was basically her job to sell alcohol, after all. She called over one of the waiters, and then everyone at the table suddenly had a small glass in front of them.
“Don’t worry so much, Akira-kun,” the hostess teased him. He felt kind of bad that he still had no idea what her name was. “Goro-kun will look after you if you have too much.”
“You can trust me,” he teased brightly.
They had tried to establish that yesterday, hadn’t they? Akira nodded, probably looking far too serious, before tipping the drink back along with everyone else.
It really didn’t take long for what little of a verbal filter he had to vanish entirely. He really needed to build up a tolerance to this stuff before the two of them actually got up to anything Shido might find suspicious.
Goro pushed his glass of water closer while he laughed at someone else’s joke. Akira could appreciate the subtle reminder, and focused on sipping it for a while.
At first he frowned when Goro poured another double of Shido’s liquor into his tumbler, but then he realised he’d probably taken the bottle so he could control how much he was being given. Of course he had to pour for himself too, but when Goro did this on a near daily basis, his tolerance had to be much better.
“So, how has your first month on the job been?” Shido asked suddenly. Or maybe Akira just hadn’t been paying attention.
The words left his mouth before he even had a chance to think about them. It was a little frightening, really. “Boring, but I guess that’d be the same anywhere.”
Shido laughed loudly. “I wonder how much longer you’ll be saying that for?” He took a sip of his own drink before continuing. “Aren’t you glad this is one of the perks?” he asked as he gestured at their surroundings.
“I don’t get why you spend so much here,” Akira listened to his own voice say even as he had more of the drink in front of him. “You could just pay me more if you’re trying to motivate me.”
Shido laughed again and patted his shoulder roughly. “Don’t say that, you’ll make him sad!”
Akira felt Goro stiffen next to him. Probably because Shido apparently didn’t even remember his name, he realised belatedly. “It’s not me making him sad,” Akira said before he could stop his stupid mouth.
Shido raised an amused brow. Akira felt Goro fling an arm around his shoulders, nearly making him fall sideways. “What are you even saying? Drink some more water, you lightweight!”
Akira did as suggested once again and felt Goro’s arm slide away to rest against the back of the chair instead. Akira noticed one of the other execs was frowning in their direction.
“What?” he demanded belligerently.
The man looked affronted for a moment before being distracted by one of the girls sitting next to him. Akira guessed avoiding this kind of reaction was why Goro basically held him at arm’s length in this setting. But it seemed his priority had now changed to getting him to shut up.
Which wasn’t a bad idea, really…
Thankfully it seemed Shido was done grilling him and was now involving himself in the conversation the hostess had started up. Akira drank some more water before leaning over the table and massaging his forehead.
“Do you have a headache?” Goro asked loudly. It occurred to Akira almost too late that it’d be a perfect excuse to leave. At least temporarily, if not for the night. “You’re not going to throw up already, are you?”
He honestly had no idea how much he’d drunk since his glass kept getting refilled before he could finish it. He couldn’t even remember whether the round of shots he did recall had been the only one.
“I don’t know,” he muttered.
“Well that doesn’t sound very encouraging. Come on, I’ll take you to the bathroom, just in case.”
“Standing up sounds hard,” he mumbled. But in the end he managed to get vertical.
Goro looked annoyed, but Akira couldn’t tell if it was at him or not. “Excuse us for a little while,” Goro said before taking Akira’s elbow and leading him across the floor.
The bathroom was just as fancy as everything else in this place. Goro led him past the urinals and into the stall furthest from the door. Akira gratefully sat on the toilet before resting his head in his hands.
“I feel like shit.”
Goro pushed his fringe back and examined his face. “You look like it, too.”
“Gee, thanks.” Akira sighed. “How much have I even had to drink?”
“Too much, obviously.”
Akira shook his head at the unhelpful answer. “How do you do this every day?”
“By hoping I’ll have enough money to start living like a normal person before my liver or kidneys give,” Goro replied dryly. “It’s hard to encourage other people to drink when you aren’t doing so yourself.”
“Even when you’re that pretty?” Akira teased.
Goro shook his head. “Come on, you idiot. You must be even more wasted than I thought. Go wash your face.”
They left the cubicle when they were sure no one else was around and moved over to the sinks. Akira pushed his glasses onto his head before splashing water on his face and feeling ridiculously uncoordinated. Only once he was soaked did he realise he hadn’t seen a paper towel dispenser anywhere.
Goro turned him to face him, then dabbed at his face with what he soon realised was a handkerchief. “You got it on your shirt,” he pointed out as continued to dab down his neck and dry his collar.
“Didn’t mean to.”
“Evidently.”
Akira watched Goro’s expression as he concentrated on trying to make him presentable again. He was kind of embarrassed, but mostly all this was somehow endearing.
“Hey,” he said quietly, his words arriving at his mouth without stopping by in his brain once again. “Make sure I get home all right.”
Goro finished what he was doing and shoved the damp material back into a pocket. “That’s a bit forward for a second meeting, isn’t it?”
Akira huffed. “Not what I meant. Eat all my food and use all my hot water for all I care.”
“I won’t hold back,” he warned lightly.
“I’d expect nothing less.”
Although they weren’t even touching, they both felt the need to jump apart when someone stumbled through the door. He gave them an odd look before shuffling over to one of the urinals.
“We’d better get back out there for a few more hours. Then I’ll help you try to survive the hangover.”
Akira groaned at the reminder of what he was probably going to be like for most of tomorrow. But, even though they were on their way back to the last place Akira wanted to be, he soon found himself smiling once again.
Chapter Text
Goro was no stranger to dealing with drunken octopus arms and the occasional wandering hand at this end of the night, but he had to admit that Akira being this clingy wasn’t entirely unpleasant. But then, he wasn’t exactly an ordinary client.
Thankfully they’d managed to get through the rest of the night without any more near slipups. Akira had been in a wretched state on the train back, but walking through the cool night air to his apartment building seemed to have helped sober him up a little.
At least that’s what Goro had thought, until his apartment door closed behind them. Akira plastered himself to his side, seemingly with no intention to ever separate again.
“Go have a shower,” Goro said firmly. “And eat something before you go to bed.”
“But eating too close to bedtime gives me weird dreams,” Akira complained, slurring one too many of his words.
“Given how much you’ve had to drink, I think that’s the least of your concerns.”
Akira sighed heavily, but in the end he did what Goro wanted. He listened with some level of worry to the light thuds as Akira tried to sort himself out in the bathroom. But after a few minutes the water finally started running.
Keeping an ear out to make sure he didn’t do something really ridiculous, like trip over and drown himself, Goro started searching through Akira’s fridge for something he could eat. He was surprised to see so many containers of what looked like pre-prepared homemade meals, but he had no idea how long ago any of it had been made. And something small and simple was probably all he needed right now, anyway.
Goro pulled out a few of the convenience store onigiri that still had a date on them as well as the small carton of eggs. He fried a couple up while he waited for Akira to come back, and finished them just as he emerged in a singlet and underwear, hair still dripping.
Goro put the hodgepodge of food in front of him along with a glass of cold water. “You’re not allowed to go to bed until you finish all of that.”
“It’s so much,” Akira complained, sounding slightly more normal now. “You eat some too.”
Goro acquiesced only because it’d probably help him in the morning too. But he still made Akira drink all the water.
Akira’s eyelids drooped and his chewing slowed as he worked his way through what was left on the plate. Once he’d finished the water, Goro nudged him properly awake again.
“Hey, if you’re going to fall asleep, then go to bed.”
Akira made a noise of protest. “Only if you come too.”
“Akira…”
“I don’t have a spare bed and we got the last train here, so,” he said with surprising clarity. Goro raised an eyebrow and he shrugged. Maybe he’d thought about this ahead of time.
“All right, but I need to have a shower as well.” He needed to get everything off his face and out of his hair before putting his head down anywhere.
“I’ve got spare shirts and stuff. A suit seems uncomfortable to sleep in, and then you’d have to iron it a lot,” Akira reasoned. He wasn’t wrong.
Once Goro had managed to herd Akira into his room, he took his chance to have a shower. Part of him hoped Akira would have fallen asleep by the time he was done. But he had no such luck.
“C’mon, I’ll feel bad if you sleep on the floor,” Akira mumbled from the other side of the dark room.
Goro laid his clothes over the end of the bed before getting in. He sighed when Akira almost immediately took hold of his arm and pressed his forehead against his shoulder.
“Don’t be like that,” Akira murmured before pressing forward, seemingly going for Goro’s mouth for the second time in as many days.
Goro braced a hand against his chest and pushed him back into the mattress. “Try again when you’re sober,” he muttered.
There was something silly about the fact Akira was doing all this when he’d offered it from the start. He’d thought his refusal meant he wasn’t interested, but maybe he just didn’t want to be bought and sold.
Though there was no escaping that, really. He was selling his time just as much as Goro did, albeit in a more socially acceptable manner. But at this point in his life Goro was more concerned about earning efficiently. He had debts to pay, people to bribe, and information to collect.
The only response to his rejection was Akira mumbling something that might have been an apology and curling up against his side again.
He supposed he could live with that.
Goro found it near impossible to sleep with someone in the same bed, and every little sound and movement roused him from his already light sleep. Still, even after the sun had come up again, the last thing he wanted to do was get up.
He wasn’t sure what time it was when Akira finally shifted and blinked his eyes open. The first thing he did was groan, then he squinted up at Goro. He pulled his shirt back down to cover himself up before trying to speak.
“What happened last night?” Akira asked hoarsely.
Goro guessed he was trying to account for the gap in his memory, but the fact he actually looked concerned spurred him to give a serious answer. “I made sure you got home all right. That’s all.” He sat up and reached for the bottle of water he’d known Akira would want right about now.
“Oh, thanks.” Akira got up on one elbow and drank the water like he’d recently escaped the Sahara. It wasn’t until Akira raised his brow questioningly that Goro realised he was still staring at him.
“You don’t remember what we spoke about last night, do you?”
Akira finally put the cap back on the water bottle and went to sit up a bit further. “No? Sorry if I said something awful, I really can’t control what comes out of my mouth when I’m…” He trailed off when Goro shook his head slightly.
“So I noticed.”
“Sorry,” he muttered as he tried to run a hand through his tangled hair.
Goro shrugged slightly. “Not your fault, really.”
Akira hummed, likely in disagreement, but it was hard to tell. He stared up at the ceiling, seemingly deep in thought. “So, uh, what did we talk about?”
“Well… You were trying to kiss me, so I told you to try again when you’re sober.” Goro found his hands were clenching together, but he noticed Akira had gone very still as well.
“I wasn’t too over the top was I?” Akira looked sincerely worried.
Goro rolled his eyes. “No, you could barely balance even while standing on both feet. You wouldn’t have got very far even if you were.”
“Oh, then,” he paused for a moment before looking back at Goro. “Is now a bad time to try again?”
Goro sighed. “Do you normally hit on people that threaten you with knives?”
“I mean, if you were still doing that we might have a problem.”
That still didn’t answer the question Goro was really trying to get at. But then, the why was simple enough to figure out, wasn’t it? It’d be far from the first time his looks had given him opportunities when he didn’t have anything else.
And giving Akira what he wanted would help smooth out the relationship, and hopefully prevent him from getting cold feet later. Though honestly, he seemed far more gung-ho about wrecking Shido’s assets than Goro had been expecting.
“What’s up?” Akira asked as he turned onto his side, bringing him back to the present.
Goro adopted the slight smile he’d trained his face to form at some point in his teens. “Nothing.” He shuffled closer and put a hand on Akira’s shoulder, but before he could lean in Akira laid a hand between them.
“Don’t lie about something like that,” he said quietly.
Goro sighed softly once again and pressed his head into the pillow a little more firmly. “Just tell me what you want from me. I don’t like being in this position, but you’re the only person I have access to that has what I need at his fingertips.”
Akira looked mildly alarmed by his words. “This isn’t some kind of transaction.”
Goro felt his brows draw down and closed his eyes. “It always comes down to that,” he began, but was interrupted by loud knocking at the front door.
Akira started and tried to sit up all the way, but only ended up groaning and holding his head. A muffled voice came with the next round of loud knocking.
“Akira, you in?”
“What time is it?” Akira asked, quiet but urgent.
Goro rolled over and checked his phone. “Just after two,” he said, a little surprised that it was already that late. He should head off soon if he wanted to work tonight.
“Huh? Already?” Akira demanded as he attempted to scramble out of bed, but he seemed to immediately regret trying to move so quickly.
Goro gave him a bemused look. “Do you want me to tell him to go away?”
“No! Shit, I didn’t think I’d be out of it for this long, so I invited him over.” Akira reached over Goro and grabbed his own phone when it went off.
Goro shook his head slightly as he got out of bed and adjusted his borrowed clothes. He crossed the small bedroom and living areas before pulling the front door open. Bleach blonde hair and eye wateringly bright gym clothes were not at all what he’d been expecting to see. The guy’s expression immediately turned from mild concern to aggression.
“Who the fuck are you?” he demanded, but didn’t bother to wait for an answer as he pushed past him into the apartment. “Akira? Please tell me you’re alive?”
Akira’s hoarse voice was faint from here. “I’m alive. Calm down, Ryuji.”
The guy barely paused to take his shoes off before moving over to Akira’s room. “What the hell man?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
Goro decided to close the door to avoid disturbing the neighbours even more than they had been already. He slowly wandered back toward Akira’s room, feeling some level of trepidation for some reason.
“You know what I mean! How fucking wasted did you get if you’re still hung over in bed?”
“I don’t know, stupid work event. You know how it is.”
“Tch, the last time I saw you that bad you told me an ass like mine is a waste on a guy as straight as me.”
Akira looked up at him very seriously. “It’s true, isn’t it?”
Goro awkwardly leaned against the doorframe. The blond guy was kneeling on Akira’s bed, shaking him slightly. But he quickly stopped when Akira winced.
“Oh my god, shut up before I get Makoto to throw you in horny jail.” It seemed to be a joke between them, given Akira’s snort of laughter.
But a moment later that aggressive glare had turned back on him. Goro folded his arms a little tighter.
“Anyway, who the fuck is this guy?”
“The only reason I didn’t wake up in a gutter this morning,” Akira explained flatly. “Be nice.”
But his brow only furrowed further. “Oh yeah, I’m sure he slept over at a blackout drunk guy’s house out of the goodness of his heart.”
“What are you trying to imply?” Goro snapped just as Akira opened his mouth.
He stood up and let his gym bag thud to the ground. Goro pushed away from the doorframe as he started to worry about where this was going. Encountering idiots like this was exactly why he usually carried something to protect himself with…
“Ryuji,” Akira said as he yanked on the back of his shirt, making him fall back onto the bed comically. “I asked him to help me out because I know I can trust him, ok?”
Ryuji looked at Akira searchingly for a moment before hunching over. He glanced at Goro, expression sheepish, then stood up and put his hands in his pockets. Goro put a hand on his hip, trying to project a more relaxed posture even though he was still on edge.
“All right, all right. Sorry for making assumptions. But you get why, don’t you?” Ryuji glanced back at Akira. “I mean, this guy is a moron.”
“Rude,” Akira muttered, but he didn’t look cut up about it.
“I had noticed that, yes,” Goro replied dryly. Akira’s hand went to his heart as he fell back onto his elbow.
Ryuji looked between them again, seemingly amused now that the perceived danger was out the way. “So uh, should I leave?”
“No,” Goro answered before Akira could. “I need to get going if I’m going to work tonight, anyway.” He shuffled over to pick up his clothes off the bed.
“Oh, right. I’ll leave you to get changed,” Ryuji said, disappearing into the main room and closing the door behind him before he could say anything.
Goro sighed and put the clothes back before pulling his shirt off over his head. Akira looked away politely. “Don’t worry, I can’t see much without my glasses.”
“Liar.”
Akira made a sound of amusement that also seemed to be a little nervous. Goro pulled his shirt and pants on and gathered his jacket, belt and cravat over one arm. It’d be strange to walk around while he was that dressed up at this time of day, especially given the rest of him was a mess.
Akira got to his feet unsteadily. He seemed determined to say something, but by the time Akira was standing in front of him he’d deflated again. “I, uh,” he began as he put his hands on Goro’s shoulders, then awkwardly smoothed his shirt out instead.
Goro resisted rolling his eyes again before grabbing Akira by the chin and kissing him. At first he stiffened in surprise, but then he started responding. Goro got the impression he wasn’t particularly experienced with even this level of intimacy. But when he tried to separate again, Akira just latched onto his shoulders properly.
Instead, Goro tilted his head and deepened the kiss. His thumb brushed against Akira’s cheek as his hand went to his back and pulled him closer. Akira moaned into his mouth softly, seemingly startling himself, as they parted a moment later.
“You’re really good at that,” Akira said quietly.
This time Goro couldn’t prevent the eye roll. “I wonder why that is.” Akira glanced away. “I’m not going to stop doing my job. I need the money, and the information.”
“I know. You have bigger priorities right now.” His tone was largely neutral, making it difficult to tell what he really felt about the fact. “But once we succeed, give me a chance, ok?”
Goro had meant to tell him to stop being stupid, but… “I’ll consider it.”
Akira’s pleased little smirk made something in his chest feel tight.
Notes:
While planning this I told myself it was only going to be 20k and get straight to the point, but uh... guess I should add the slow burn tag?
Chapter Text
Akira had no idea what Futaba had been excitedly babbling about yesterday, but eventually he’d gathered she’d managed to work her way into one of Shido’s main bank accounts. Goro had forbidden her from doing anything yet, since it was just a small piece of the puzzle. But it was encouraging to know they were getting somewhere.
Conducting fraud to disperse his funds and sell all his shares was one thing, but Akira still wasn’t sure whether it’d be enough to satisfy Goro. Just watching electronic numbers move around probably wouldn’t be visceral enough. And if worse came to worst, Shido would probably still be able to seek some protection from his business network.
Of course, thinking about Goro quickly derailed his thoughts. Their kiss, even as hungover as he’d been, had left quite the impression on him. He still wasn’t entirely sure what was drawing him in, given the events of their first few meetings. But it seemed all sorts could band together as long as it meant Shido’s kind of bullshit would be put to an end.
Akira started a little when Shido suddenly appeared at his desk with a coffee in hand. He really was terrible at this double agent thing. But Shido had to be used to getting that kind of reaction from people because he didn’t comment on it.
“Let’s talk,” he said bluntly as he tilted his head in the direction of his office.
“Right,” Akira agreed as he locked his computer screen and followed him inside. He stood in front of the desk as Shido walked over to the window that looked out over Shibuya.
“I’m going on a business trip at the end of this week,” Shido began abruptly. Akira took out the notepad he’d got used to carrying around to record Shido’s random and frequent demands. It was also a useful way to pass on information to his comrades without leaving a digital trace. “I need you to book me a flight for Thursday evening. The driver at both ends is already taken care of.”
“Ok,” Akira said, then listened to the time and location details.
“I expect to return around midday Monday. Satomi has already said she can’t come because she’s taking care of her grandchildren over the weekend. It’d be a pain if I had to communicate with you through email that whole time.”
Satomi was the old woman who was meant to keep Akira in line, but was mostly just pushing more onto him so she could transition to retirement. “O-oh,” Akira muttered as he tried to think of what he should say. “My family were going to come to Tokyo to visit sometime in the next few weeks. I’ll just check to make sure it definitely isn’t going to be this weekend.”
Really he hadn’t heard from them since he moved to the city to go to university, but they made a good excuse at times like these.
“I see. Confirm as soon as possible, since it’ll affect the ticket booking. We’ll be staying in my holiday home, so no need to worry about accommodation except on the Sunday night; we’ll be in the city for a meeting.” Shido turned around and watched him finish jotting his notes down. “Be sure to book a seat for Kohaku-chan. Oh, and you’d better invite that young man of yours in case he starts getting the impression you’re cheap.”
“H-huh?” Akira asked intelligently. Apparently Shido had finally noticed his lack of spending.
Shido gave him one of his humourless smiles. “Haven’t you realised why these people get into this line of work? If you can’t give him what he wants, he’ll go find someone who can.”
Akira didn’t miss the irony that he was in fact giving Goro what he actually wanted. But it still made him feel somewhat insecure. He really didn’t want to have to treat this like a transaction, but it seemed that was just part of the game.
“This is your reward for doing your job,” Shido continued. “I understand you’d prefer to be paid more directly, but we’d both lose more to taxes that way. Though you will certainly get a pay rise when Satomi formally enters semi-retirement.”
Unfortunately Shido’s money laundering or whatever this was also prevented Akira from saving and investing in his own future. “This isn’t ideal for me, but I understand.”
Akira wondered if Shido would treat this situation differently if he knew who Goro really was. A cynical part of him thought he probably wouldn’t.
“I appreciate you being straightforward about that. Don’t think your services aren’t incredibly valuable to me. Do speak up if there’s anything specific you need, or want to try.”
Akira wasn’t entirely sure what that was supposed to mean, but he got the feeling he was opening the door to illegal stuff as well. “I’ll go find out what I need to and make the bookings. I’ll let you know when everything has been confirmed.”
Shido nodded before putting his coffee down and sitting at his desk. Akira took that as a dismissal and returned to his desk to grab his phone. It was after lunch, so Goro should be awake by now.
He stepped into a small meeting room and dialled him. The call nearly rang through, but then he suddenly answered. “Akira?”
“Hey, you want to go to Sendai this weekend?”
There was a moment of silence. “What?”
“He wants me to go on a business trip with him, and said I should bring you along as well. He’s inviting that hostess he’s taken an interest in as well. If you can’t, I’ll just make an excuse about not being able to go.”
“Oh. For how many days?”
“Thursday to Monday, it sounds like.” Now that he thought about it, that was a lot of normal work for Goro to miss out on. “Might be a good chance to learn more about his assets since we’ll be staying at a place he owns for most of it.”
“Four to five nights?” Goro muttered. Akira guessed he was calculating how much it’d really cost him.
“He basically told me to spend more of his money on you, so tell me what you need.”
“At least two mil to make it worth my while,” Goro said flatly.
Akira stiffened with shock. That was nearly what he made a year, after tax. “I thought you said you weren’t making that much?”
Goro laughed humourlessly. “I’m not. Like any business, you have to reinvest a lot of the profit.” By that Akira assumed he meant buying gifts for his regular clients. “Besides, my mother made a lot of poor financial decisions out of desperation, and as her next of kin I’m responsible for paying it off. I could make a lot more if I pushed the envelope with some of my regulars.”
By that Akira knew he meant encouraging them to get into hostess or other sex work themselves so they could give him more. But Goro was more interested in people who were already in that industry because of what and who they knew, so he didn’t think he’d actually go there.
“Ok, I’ll see what I can do. I’ll let you know this evening if it’s going ahead.”
“Got it.”
Akira ended the call and returned to his desk to start making the booking. When Shido’s office door opened back up half an hour or so later, Akira knew it meant he was done with whatever meetings or focus time he’d set for himself.
Akira stood up and went over to the door. When Shido looked up he started explaining.
“I’ve booked business class for the four of us. Though, he did seem reluctant to leave work for so many days. Can I ask how much you’ll allow me to…?” He wasn’t sure how to say it, but Shido got the picture.
“I told you this would happen,” he said as he turned to open one of his desk drawers. He pulled out a small case and undid the complicated lock. He removed a five wads of cash before putting the rest back. “That should be good enough to get him interested again.”
According to the labels, each one had a million yen bound up in it. “I… how am I supposed to walk around like this?”
Shido shrugged. “Hide it in that backpack of yours and give most of it to him before you go.”
The temptation to give Goro what he’d asked for and pocket the rest was definitely there, but he couldn’t risk Shido doubting him over something like this. And he assumed Goro had only given him the minimum number he needed to survive and enact his other plans.
“O-ok, thank you…”
Shido gave him another one of his nasty smiles. “Like I said, I appreciate what you enable me to do. And I can’t afford to let you be bought by anyone else.”
Yet, he could only give him his dirty money in this amount of excess. Akira had a bad feeling about this.
He fidgeted with the money as he picked it up. “If the wrong person found out I work for you, would I be in danger?” In a way that had already happened, but there were probably worse people out there.
“Isn’t it obvious that you already are? But you’ve done a good job of keeping your head down so far. Keep it up and you’ll do just fine.”
Akira nodded, privately terrified. It hadn’t taken them much digging to figure out Kaneshiro was a gang leader. And he was sure he wasn’t the only one in Shido’s contacts. The others were probably just more subtle about it.
“I understand.”
Shido nodded. “Good.”
Akira bowed slightly before hurrying back to his desk and depositing the precious cargo before anyone else could see it. Once he was satisfied, he sent Goro a text.
Come over as soon as you can. I can’t carry this much cash around without worrying.
Akira made himself get up as soon as his alarm went off the next morning. As predicted, there was a knock at his door a short fifteen minutes later. He immediately stepped aside to let Goro in and closed the door behind him.
He was still dressed up, but he looked a little more rumpled than usual. Akira noted the stench of alcohol on him and the redness in his eyes and remembered it was about the time he normally went to bed. He should make this quick.
“Do you want something to eat?”
“Just something light,” Goro murmured as he slumped over at his table. Akira served him the rest of the egg, rice and miso soup he’d made for himself last night before going to get the money Shido had thrown at him yesterday.
He sat down by his own breakfast again as he laid out the money. “So, he gave me five. Is it ok if I keep two? It’d be nice to have a safety net to fall back on if I lose this job.”
“If we succeed, that’s a definite possibility,” Goro acknowledged. “Ok, three is more than what I asked for. I can live with that.”
Akira hadn’t expected him to agree so easily. “Oh, ok. Thanks.”
Goro looked amused. “Shouldn’t I be thanking you?” He finished off the soup then turned his attention to eating the rest of the rice. It seemed he was actually hungry.
“I have more food made up if you want it.”
“This is more than enough.” He put his empty bowl down. “Thanks,” he added before opening his jacket to put the money into his inside pockets.
“Don’t get mugged.”
Goro just shook his head slightly. “I’ll try to avoid looking as stressed out as you undoubtedly have been, carrying all this around.”
Akira huffed. “Well excuse me for having such lowly living standards.”
“You’re excused.”
Akira reached out to smack his arm, but Goro smoothly deflected it and took hold of his wrist. Akira swallowed, and that was when Goro leaned in to plant a chaste kiss on his lips. Though his hands were anything but.
One took hold of his face while the other trailed down his front. Goro’s mouth slid to his jaw, then kissed up that until he was at his neck. The small moan escaped Akira before he could control himself. At least one part of him was definitely feeling awake now.
When Goro’s hand lightly drifted over his crotch, Akira’s knee jerked into the underside of the table, making the mostly empty dishes clatter. “Hey, w-what are you doing?”
Goro tilted his head so his hair fell in his face in a particular way. “You have time now, don’t you?”
He’d woken up far earlier than usual to make this ‘meeting’. “I don’t know, like half an hour?”
Goro smirked at him before pushing him down into the tatami. “That’s long enough.”
Before Akira could ask for some kind of clarification, his mouth was back on his and the hand was back on his dick. It was probably a little pathetic how easily the friction of someone else’s hand worked him up.
Akira took hold of his lapel and pushed him away slightly. “I think… you should go home and sleep.”
“I’m getting to that,” Goro teased, but he did withdraw his hands.
“Why are you doing this now?”
Goro’s eyes drifted over to the money on the table, and that told Akira all he needed to know.
“Just go home. I’ll see you at the airport tonight.”
“What’s wrong? I know I look like shit right now, but I’m not drunk.”
Akira sighed. “Well you must be, because I’m sure we already had this conversation. I don’t want it to be like this.” He looked away as he added, “And neither do you.”
For a second Akira thought he was going to hit him, but then he just rose to his feet in one swift motion. Akira leaned back into the tatami a little more when he saw the hardness in Goro’s eyes.
“Have fun explaining that one to Shido without rousing suspicion,” he said stiffly as he turned away. By the time Akira managed to sit back up again, he was already out the door.
Akira exhaled slowly as he stood. He started gathering the dishes more for something to do than anything.
He didn’t get why this had to be so difficult. But maybe this was never going to be easy for someone like Goro. He had said he hated the lack of control he had over their situation. And it sure sounded like he wasn’t used to even having the option to depend on someone else.
Akira scrubbed a hand through his hair and turned away from the sink to finish getting ready for work. That was something he could worry about later tonight.
Chapter Text
Even though they were in fancy business class seats, Akira found it impossible to relax. He’d let Goro take the window seat, though it didn’t really matter when the flight was so short. Shido was at the window on the other side, taking full advantage of the complimentary drinks.
So far Kohaku had managed to politely decline his every offer of alcohol. She looked quite different with simpler makeup on, though much like Goro her clothes were still fashionable and suited her well. Akira wondered if she was starting to regret getting Shido’s attention, but obviously he wouldn’t get an honest answer if he asked right now.
“You look tired,” Goro commented quietly, and Akira returned his attention to him.
He’d been acting strangely normal considering the fight they’d had that morning. Akira wasn’t sure if this was his way of trying to reconcile things, or if he was just trying to avoid making Shido suspicious. Either way, he was not done with their conversation.
“I got up early this morning to make sure I’d finish my work on time.”
“So studious,” Goro said lightly as he looked out the window. Akira knew that if Shido wasn’t there he’d get to see Goro’s smirk.
“We’re going straight to dinner and then to the house, so you’ll get your rest,” Shido commented from across the aisle.
Akira nodded and the conversation trailed off. Not that it mattered when mere minutes later they were being told to prepare for landing. As they touched down, Akira absently wondered how many trees might be saved if they had have just taken the shinkansen instead.
When he was allowed to get up he retrieved his luggage from overhead, then put Goro’s down as well. Mostly he just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, but Goro looked as startled as ever that someone had actually done something nice for him.
Before either of them could comment, Akira had been roped into helping Kohaku reach her things too. By the time he turned back, Goro’s expression was neutral again.
They already had enough barriers between them without Shido’s shadow standing over them. Akira was looking forward to escaping it, even if only temporarily for now.
The guest bedroom and bathroom alone was bigger than Akira’s little apartment. He tried not to think about it too much as he put his small case against one wall. He flopped down on the bed, but soon realised he probably shouldn’t go to sleep until he was clean again.
Stinking up the bed when he had to share it with someone else would be a dick move.
“I’m having a shower,” he announced tiredly. “Want me to run a bath?”
“I’ll come with you,” Goro said casually.
Akira was a little slow to catch onto what he was implying, but he blamed that on the fatigue. “Uh, I won’t take that long.”
Goro approached him with a serious expression and Akira immediately got the urge to back away. “You still don’t get it, do you?” When Akira only looked side to side, he continued. “After giving me that much, he’ll expect me to have at least sucked you off before going home,” Goro explained flatly, like it meant nothing. Maybe to someone in his position it was meaningless, but that didn’t mean Akira had to agree. “What, you don’t want to have sex with me?”
“No,” Akira said immediately. Goro raised a brow. “Well, yes,” he admitted begrudgingly. “But I don’t want it because you’ve been paid for it. I can live with not going there if I’m not liked back.”
Of course, that was the case more often than not. Both statistics and cultural attitudes were against him, and whenever he did go to certain parts of Shinjuku with Ryuji and Yusuke they always seemed to be the ones to get noticed first.
And he’d stopped asking them to go with after that time Ryuji decked someone for touching his butt. Though apparently Ann had a grand old time laughing about karmic justice afterward.
Goro rolled his eyes. “I can tell you I love you while you’re fucking me if it’ll make you feel better about it.”
Akira felt his face heat up. He shuffled across the bed and turned away from him. “Just forget about it. I’ll make something up if he asks.”
“Like what? You’re a virgin, aren’t you?”
Akira hugged his knees into his chest. “When it comes to penetration, I guess. But I know what a dildo is.”
“That’s not the same.”
“Sure it is. I bought it and it has sex with me.” So sue him for being a little passive and mostly aggressive right now.
He heard Goro sigh heavily behind him. “You’re making this needlessly complicated.”
“What’s so complicated about wanting to have sex with someone because you like them? You’re making it complicated by obsessing over money. Don’t you know what a normal human relationship is like?”
Goro was concerningly silent in response to that. Akira glanced over his shoulder, and Goro immediately looked away when their eyes met.
“Not really. All I saw was how my mother got used by everyone around her.” He bit his lip before adding, much more quietly, “She always told me to make sure I was the user.”
Akira blinked at him slowly. “That’s fucked up.”
“It’s reality.”
“It doesn’t have to be! Shido doesn’t even know who you are. You could just remove yourself from his toxic little world.”
“For what? All I want to do with my life is make him hurt in the same way he hurt us.”
Akira frowned. “And what are you going to do after that?”
“Who cares?” Goro muttered as he shoved his hands in his pockets.
Akira counted off on his fingers. “Okumura, Futaba, Sojiro… me?” He glanced up. “And those are just the people I know of.”
Goro shook his head. “Exactly. You don’t know shit.”
“Well, you’re not making that any easier. But I assume you’ve told me more about yourself than you have most people.”
Goro exhaled loudly and sat with his back to Akira, on the other side of the bed. After a while he spoke. “Have you considered that I can’t give you what you want?”
Maybe that was true right now. But it didn’t always have to be like that, did it?
“Have you considered that it’s up to you to change, if that’s really what you want to do? Or are you too scared of losing yourself?”
“Scared?” Based on how angry he sounded, Akira guessed he was even closer to the problem than he’d thought. “At least I’m not too much of a coward to quit my job even though I know all I do all day is make someone else’s terrible actions all the more efficient. I’m not the one who’s in doubt about who I am.”
Akira gaped at him for a moment, but he supposed he shouldn’t really be shocked. He turned away again and dropped his forehead to his knees. He remained silent, not wanting to be attacked again. It was probably Goro’s way of trying to get control back over their situation, so he doubted retaliating was going to be constructive right now.
Akira jumped a little when a hand landed on his shoulder. “Just stop,” he said quietly. He felt fingertips dig in for a moment before he withdrew.
Goro stood. When he finally spoke again, it seemed he was ready to go back to pretending. “Let me know when you’ve finished sulking. He’s not going to believe we did anything if you wander around moping like that.”
He disappeared into the bathroom for a short time. Akira mindlessly started unpacking his bathroom things before deciding using any of the furniture to store his clothes would just be a hassle when it came time to pack it all back up.
The moment Goro stepped out of the bathroom Akira went in and got in the shower. Once he was clean, he pulled back the bath cover and climbed into the steaming water that it seemed Goro hadn’t taken time to touch despite being the one to run it. Maybe it was meant to be some kind of peace offering.
Akira started slightly when the door opened again a few minutes later. He hadn’t bothered locking it because he’d assumed Goro was about to go to sleep. Though, as he’d already proven at least once before, it probably wouldn’t have stopped him if he was determined, anyway.
Goro was still in the same underwear and old shirt he’d changed into post-shower. He held his toothbrush in front of him like a shield as he closed the door to prevent the steam going into the main room.
“I’ve finished sulking,” Akira said dryly. “Well, mostly.”
Goro didn’t comment, but his shoulders dropped almost imperceptibly. He went over to the sink to brush his teeth, and Akira tried to look anywhere but at his legs.
After a moment he decided leaning back and closing his eyes was probably a good idea. That was, until Goro sat on the edge of the tub next to him. Akira yanked the bath cover back up partway in some attempt to cover himself.
Goro only rolled his eyes. “This might shock you, but I have seen a penis before.”
“Here I was thinking you only had sex with women.” He sank a little further into the water anyway. This wasn’t exactly a public bathhouse environment.
“Lately, yes.” He looked away and tapped one heel against the side of the tub. “But I don’t particularly want to think about that right now.”
But Akira was still trying to get his head around the idea. “So you do all that even though you don’t like women at all?”
“I’d say it’s more that I have a very strong preference for men. But I’m not there to get sexual gratification, so it doesn’t matter.”
“So, you get why I get annoyed at you when you come onto me for that reason, right?” Akira asked cautiously. He didn’t want to light the fuse again so soon. But he’d have this conversation a hundred times if that’s what it took to get them on the same page.
Goro nodded slightly. “It’s just…” Akira waited patiently for him to think about what he wanted to say. “Getting back at that asshole is the only thing I’ve cared about for a long time. And now you’re twisting it all around to suit you.”
“Well, it wasn’t my intention to impose my will on you,” Akira murmured. “But it’d be a shame if it all backfired on you and you ended up with no life to carry on with once this is all said and done. I’m physically incapable of watching something like that happen without interfering.”
“Ok,” Goro answered quietly. Akira wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.
“I am on your side, even if you don’t always like what that really means.”
Goro looked away again, then got up and left the room. Apparently he’d decided the conversation could end there.
By the time Akira was dry and in his pyjamas, the bedroom lights had been turned off and Goro was in bed. Akira stumbled over to climb in the other side. He soon realised his glasses and phone had been put on the bedside table so he wouldn’t have to worry about finding them in the morning.
When Akira said goodnight he didn’t really get an answer. But when he woke the next morning it was to Goro curled up and pressed into his back.
He must have said something right.
Chapter 8
Notes:
I take it y’all liked the last chapter!
Reminder that this fic is rated E and the last scene of this chapter is one of the reasons why.
Chapter Text
Akira tried to scoot to the edge of the bed without waking Goro, who appeared to be sleeping peacefully for once, but of course it was impossible. Goro blinked up at him before clumsily reaching up to push his mussed hair out of his face.
“Sorry if I woke you. I need to get ready to go,” Akira explained. “I’ve got a whole day of meetings I need to follow Shido around for. But you basically have the day to yourself until dinner time.”
Goro nodded slightly and his eyes fell shut again. Akira tried to be quiet as he hurried around the room getting ready for work. His routine felt surprisingly normal considering he was further from home than he had been in years. Before leaving he picked up his laptop bag and checked his phone. It seemed he’d missed a message from Ann last night.
Want to meet for lunch on Sunday? You can bring your bf ;)
Akira sighed to himself, but of course he’d known Ryuji wouldn’t have been able to resist opening his big mouth about what he’d probably imagined he’d interrupted. He had no idea how Ann even managed to train with him properly when they were constantly either gossiping or yelling at each other. Not that Ryuji would call it that.
“What’s wrong?” Goro asked from where he was still in bed. Akira was a little jealous, especially given how cold the mornings still were this far north.
Akira handed him his phone with a vague hand wave as he remembered he hadn’t packed anything to eat for a late breakfast. He transferred some stuff from his suitcase to his backpack before coming back over.
“How did that rumour get started?” Goro asked as he returned his phone.
Akira shrugged. “Ryuji and his assumptions, probably.”
Goro was silent for a moment. “Do you want me to meet your friends?” he asked somewhat hesitantly.
“Do you want to be introduced as my boyfriend?” Akira replied nonchalantly. He was a little surprised when the no wasn’t immediately forthcoming.
“Not yet. I don’t want to ruin your reputation.” He glanced up at the ceiling.
Akira got where he was coming from, but it seemed harsh. Especially for someone to think it about themselves. Still, the ‘yet’ was interesting.
“I don’t think any of them would care what you do for a living. Just don’t mention anything illegal in front of Makoto,” he amended. “She’s obligated to report that stuff.”
“More importantly, if they knew me it could put them in danger if things go wrong,” Goro added quietly.
“I guess… Lucky you have no compunctions with putting me in danger, huh?” Akira teased.
Goro shook his head slightly. “You put yourself in danger all on your own.” It hadn’t been on purpose, but Akira supposed there was no point in arguing. “But, I suppose it doesn’t matter if we can’t make it, anyway.”
Akira shrugged. “They’ll either reschedule or throw a repeat later when I say that,” he said quietly. He could never take his friends for granted, and he knew he was important to them too. Though part of him wondered if just knowing him meant they were already screwed. “So, think about it in the meantime?”
Goro frowned deeply. “Ok.”
Akira couldn’t help but smile a little. “How about for now you just worry about catching up on your thousand hour sleep debt,” he teased as he made his way back over to the door. “I’ll message you about where to meet up when I know.”
“See you then.”
He got a slight smile in return as he closed the door. Suddenly it didn’t feel that cold.
Sometimes Akira was glad he had a knack for fading into the background. It made dealing with all the weird people Shido knew a little easier. Hopefully keeping his eyes on his laptop screen and his fringe and glasses over his face would make it difficult for the media oligarchs, company presidents, and organised crime leaders to recognise his face in a crowd later.
He was just returning to the meeting room after a toilet break when he took notice of what he could actually hear Shido and his associate were saying. Akira tried to remain casual as he leaned against the wall near the meeting room door and pulled out his notepad. Someone else might come back early too.
“We suspect there’s been some kind of information leak, lately,” Shido was saying gruffly. “One person in particular has also been asking an inordinate amount of questions about me, apparently. But don’t worry, I’m keeping an eye on him.”
Akira bit into his lip. Apparently Goro wasn’t the only one wheedling information out of hostesses. He’d have to warn him to be careful. But then, if his behaviour suddenly changed, that might throw suspicion on Akira or encourage them to act sooner.
“You know that once you have confirmation, you only need to say the word,” the woman replied. For a while Akira had doubted Shido had any female friends or associates other than his retiring PA, but apparently this woman was forthright and well established enough in her group that he couldn’t treat her like shit and get away with it. “They do say Shinjuku can be awfully dangerous in the early hours of the morning, after all.”
Akira dimly listened as the subject changed to something less serious. Eventually he swallowed and tucked his pen and pad back into his pocket. He needed to say something before they all met up for dinner in the evening.
Akira hurried back to his spot behind his computer and they continued talking like he wasn’t there, which was more than fine by him. When the meeting resumed, it was a struggle to focus enough to take useful notes. But he somehow recorded all the numbers related to their latest contract negotiation correctly, so no one said anything.
With business more or less concluded, they naturally moved onto discussing dinner. Once they’d decided where they were going, Akira was directed to contact Goro and Kohaku. Of course he immediately jumped on the chance.
Akira stepped into a smaller meeting room while the others packed up. He closed the door behind him and hoped it was actually soundproof. And wasn’t bugged.
Akira looked at his phone like it was going to betray him too. He’d been warned Futaba knowing of his existence now meant that he had zero privacy from her. But what if someone else was using the same exploits to watch them?
Akira folded his free arm around himself as he waited for Goro to pick up. Fortunately it didn’t take too long.
“You know where we’re going?” he asked without any preamble.
“Yeah, I’ll text you the address,” Akira said tightly.
“But?” Goro asked, sounding concerned now. Obviously he hadn’t called just to say that.
“Is anyone other than the usual suspect listening to this right now?”
The silence stretched a little too long. Akira hoped his intent was coming across clearly because he was feeling pretty muddled right now.
“Kohaku’s in her room getting ready,” he replied neutrally. Akira had to believe it was because he’d got the message that dropping the act might be dangerous. Or was he trying to say he suspected her involvement?
“Ok, just… Be careful on your way here.”
“See you soon.” Goro said it firmly, like he was trying to reassure him. But maybe none of this would be news to him, anyway.
Akira texted him the address as promised before returning to the meeting room. His general discomfort was probably palpable, but as he’d been told before, the best thing he could do was keep his head down.
Even if it did feel unbearable sometimes.
“Oh come on,” Shido’s associate teased Goro from across the table. “What if I pay you twice whatever that boy is?”
Akira wanted to say something snide about them obviously being around the same age, and what it said about her, but he let Goro take the lead on dealing with her. It was definitely more in his ballpark.
Perfectly disguised as ever, Goro just laughed quietly. “Why do you have to put me in this position, Mao-san?”
“Well at least pay more attention to me!” she scolded lightly.
Goro leaned his cheek against his palm, elbow resting on the table. “Now, now. I think moonlighting is very unethical.”
It was no secret Goro was making fun of him, but Akira managed to not kick him under the table. Having the fingers of Goro’s right hand twisted into his against the booth seat between them probably helped with that.
Though it was kind of impressive to see Goro ‘on’ at what seemed to be a hundred and ten percent. If he did this ten hours a day, most days, then it was no wonder he seemed so jaded and just plain tired when he wasn’t.
Mao was probably playing it up too, but Akira guessed he’d managed to charm her at least a little anyway. He wondered if that would help them later, but then the reminder that their enemies were as, or possibly more, lethally inclined as Goro made him anxious.
But even as the food disappeared and they sat on drinks, Goro continued to pull all the attention and conversation onto himself. In a strange way, it was like Akira was being protected.
It wasn’t the worst thing he’d ever felt.
Goro seemed surprised when Akira shoved him against the bedroom door the moment it was shut. His hands gripped his jacket and he moved his mouth closer to his ear so he could whisper.
“Shido knows you’re asking around about him. If you’re not careful he’ll put a hit out on you.”
Goro made a sound of what seemed to be disappointment. “That is probably the least sexy thing you could have whispered in my ear.”
Akira half-heartedly smacked a hand against Goro’s shoulder. But maybe things weren’t as bad as he thought if he was so calm about it.
“Futaba said she’s sure there’s no one else listening in on our devices, though of course that doesn’t eliminate other possibilities.” He gestured toward the bedroom at large. Akira’s grip on his jacket only tightened. “Look, if you don’t calm down, you’re the one who’s going to become the target.”
“That’s not really helping me to be calm,” Akira muttered.
“I suppose not,” Goro acknowledged before taking hold of Akira’s hands and gently prying them open. “Go sit down.”
Akira let himself be led over to the bed, then sat on the edge of it heavily. Goro sat next to him, far more poised. But he didn’t let go of his hands.
Goro’s left hand moved to the side of Akira’s face, then slid around so his fingers could bury themselves in the hair at the back of his neck. When Goro made a move to kiss him, Akira opened his mouth and tilted his head. It was softer and less heated than the last couple times, and they both soon pulled back.
“It’d always have been only be a matter of time before people started putting it together. I don’t always have time to be subtle when asking these things, and paying people off to tell you them is something anyone can do.” His hands slid to rest on Akira’s upper arms. “Someone was going to get pissed that I wouldn’t commit to them eventually, which is what I assume has happened. Still, you understand why my solution was to kill now, right?”
“Fighting fire with fire,” Akira muttered. Understandable didn’t mean acceptable, though.
“Getting cold feet? Thinking it’s too dangerous to try and do things your way now? You know, I could just go into his room and finish things right now. I’d hoped to plan things out so I wouldn’t be convicted, but there’s always the chance I will be anyway.”
Akira could see how it was less risky in the ways that mattered to Goro, but that didn’t mean he found it palatable. He let his hand thud against Goro’s chest. “I didn’t say that. Just because they see it as an option, doesn’t mean it has to be for us.”
“Then you’d better learn to play the game properly, because we’re not going to get away with just scraping a win when it comes to these people.” Though Goro’s tone was slightly mocking, it didn’t reach his eyes. Akira held his gaze.
“By the time we’re done, he’s going to be grateful he still has any kind of life to lead.” This time he didn’t feel the need to look away. Even if Goro did fight him on it again, Akira wasn’t going to back away from this no matter how frightening the reality of the consequences of his decision were.
Goro’s smile was dangerous, but Akira didn’t think he was the one who was in trouble. “There it is. I knew there was a reason I liked you.”
Akira felt his brow shoot up in surprise at the confession, but Goro was already on him again, kissing almost roughly and pushing him down into the mattress. Akira shuffled a little further back to give them more room, and Goro fervently followed. Akira groaned into his mouth when he felt Goro’s clothed hard-on against his thigh.
Goro leaned back a little and yanked Akira’s once neatly tucked in shirt upward. He fumbled with his belt for a moment, clearly frustrated by the impediment, but he moved his hands out the way when Akira reached down to help. He tried his best to lift his hips when Goro pulled his pants and underwear down to mid-thigh. Akira vaguely registered the fact Goro’s pants were undone too as he reached down to pull himself out.
Akira held his breath as Goro shifted position again, clearly with the intention to continue where they’d left off without their clothes in the way this time. But Goro paused and glanced up at him before they could get that far.
“Do you want to keep going?”
Akira would appreciate the way he waited for him to confirm later, but right now he was too impatient. “Yes! Fucking touch me before I die.”
Goro’s smile was small as he did as asked, touching their dicks together and circling his hand around them. He leaned forward to press the sides of their faces together. “I won’t be letting that happen.”
Akira whimpered. At his words or the friction from another flushed cock and skilful fingers, he didn’t know. It didn’t matter now.
He’d never experienced anything like this. The awkward fumbling and hurried encounters he’d had in the past didn’t seem like much in the wake of Goro casting aside his restraints, too impatient to do anything but grind against him.
Akira shuddered as things only grew slicker between them, both of them close already even though they’d only just started. But then, some kind of pressure or tension had been building for weeks. Having a mutually agreeable outlet for it probably wasn’t a bad thing.
“G-Goro, I’m…” Akira managed to get out.
“Show me,” Goro all but demanded, not letting up his pace in the slightest.
Akira trembled for a moment and heat flooded his body. He cried out far louder than he’d been expecting and immediately bit into his hand. Goro grunted and slowed his pace, sliding both his dick and his hand over Akira’s as he came over them and his stomach.
When he was done, Goro rose on his knees a little so he could continue jerking himself off. Akira bit his lip when he saw his come was slicking the way, and reached out to stroke his fingers over the head. Goro immediately snapped his hips forward to press into his touch. Akira flicked his thumb over his slit whenever he pressed closer.
He glanced up to see Goro’s tense expression, reddened face and dishevelled hair. Akira gave him a slight smile and he looked down, seemingly growing even pinker.
“Is there anything else you want me to do?” Akira asked. He wanted to make him feel good too.
Goro glanced up again. Akira supposed he probably wasn’t always asked that.
“Next time,” he said quietly.
A few thrusts later his face screwed up and he hunched over and stilled. He shoved his dick against one of the streaks Akira had left against himself and spilled over. He took a moment to catch his breath before shifting to sit down next to Akira.
Akira stroked his arm and Goro glanced over at him. Somehow he was the one who looked embarrassed this time.
“I usually have more tact and finesse.”
“I’m not really in any place to judge. Obviously I liked it,” Akira assured him. “Mostly because it was you, probably.”
“Only probably?” Goro asked dryly.
Akira smiled at him. “Well, it probably wasn’t because you got come all over the shirt I was going to wear on the plane home.” He should have pulled it out the way a little more, but he’d been focused on other things.
Goro rolled his eyes. “Ungrateful… I’ll wash it for you tomorrow.”
“Guess you’ll just have to try and get it right next time.”
Goro punched his arm with surprising force but Akira only laughed. He felt almost giddy.
“Next time, hm?”
Akira flung an arm around his waist and Goro obliged him by lying back down. Akira pressed his face into his chest, thinking he’d need to make sure his suit was both wrinkle free and clean tomorrow. He pulled his underwear up and kicked his pants off onto the floor.
Goro ran a hand—the clean one, hopefully—through his hair, and Akira decided that was a problem he could worry about tomorrow. What was one more?
Chapter Text
Akira had understood that they needed to get out of Shido’s house to talk freely, but he was still confused about why they were in an aquarium. Maybe between the noisy children and general darkness, Goro had been hoping they wouldn’t be seen or heard easily. It seemed to be working for now.
“So, I went through Shido’s things while you were out yesterday,” Goro began as he rested an ankle across his opposite knee and folded an arm over the back of the bench that was a little low for both of them. “Most of his luggage seems to be cash and printed documents.”
“What year is it?” Akira muttered.
Goro glanced up as a school of fish flashed by one of the windows on the other side of the corridor. “I suppose he did grow up in the seventies.”
“So he would have graduated university at the start of the bubble?” When Goro nodded Akira gave a lopsided smile. “Somehow, that explains a lot.”
“Anyway, I took photos of the more interesting things. He seems to have a few pseudonyms we’ll need to look into if we really want to disperse everything at the same time.” Goro shifted his hand against the edge of the seat. “Futaba will probably get a few things for her collection of evidence out of it too.”
Akira nodded. “Do you think he brought the money to get that Mao lady’s help?” It was possible he’d end up putting out a hit either way, and wanted to be prepared for it.
“Maybe,” Goro replied quietly. “Though Kohaku has also had two days to go shopping and three pieces of check-in luggage on our tickets that no one else is using.”
Akira made a sound of amusement. That sounded like something Ann would get excited about too. “You know her well?”
Goro tapped the back of the seat. “For a long time, maybe. I know she wants to retire sooner than later.”
“So… she’s more likely to accept being paid off?” If Goro knew her on a personal level, then she had to know a thing or two about him too.
“It’s possible.”
“So basically, we need to hurry things up.”
“You already knew that. But if we’re sticking to this plan, we can’t act too early either. I think we both want to do a lot more than inconvenience him for a few months.” Goro’s hand closed into a fist. Akira wanted to do something to smooth it out and make him relax, but touching like that in public was just asking to be noticed.
“Gotta have something to look forward to,” Akira replied lightly.
He was a little surprised when Goro just looked like he was in some kind of pain. But he didn’t seem to be upset, exactly.
“So you do.”
Overcome by the sudden urge to do something to change up the mood, Akira got to his feet and put his hands in his jeans pockets. Goro looked surprised by his sudden move, but copied him anyway.
“I suppose we should get going,” Goro said as he adjusted his jacket.
“Yeah, get going to the touch pool!” Akira teased as he continued walking through the exhibit.
Goro huffed, but only paused for a moment before realising he really was going to get left standing there alone if he didn’t move. Akira dawdled until he’d caught up.
“How old are you again?”
“Give me a break, my parents were sick of doing all this stuff by the time they had me. I’ve got to make up for lost time!” Akira joked as he knocked an elbow into Goro’s arm.
He remained quiet as they circled back to the fake beach area. Fortunately the pools had just opened for public interaction so they were able to squat at the edge of one right away. Akira scanned the pool, looking for signs of movement from something nearby.
“I never got to do this kind of thing outside the occasional school trip, either,” Goro commented quietly.
Akira wasn’t sure if he should ask or not. “No time like the present, right?” He rolled his sleeve up and reached into the water to run his finger over the back of what he assumed was a sea cucumber.
Akira glanced back at Goro when he didn’t get a response. He was watching intently, but his face was twisted in disgust.
Akira laughed out loud before he could help himself. “You’ll hurt its feelings looking at it like that!”
“Well, you don’t seem to mind,” Goro sniped. Akira withdrew his hand and laughed again.
“That’s not exactly the impression I got the night before,” he said, raising his eyebrows.
“I’ll push you in if you don’t shut up.”
“No you won’t,” Akira teased.
A moment later he pitched forward as a hand smacked the middle of his back. Akira’s jaw clenched and his arms shot out as he tried to regain his balance, but Goro took hold of his jacket and pulled him back before he could actually fall in.
“Fine, but only because we’ve stressed out the exhibit attendant enough already,” Goro said meanly.
Akira glanced over and saw the guy seemed to be in two minds about whether to come over and tell them off. He raised a hand and mouthed sorry before settling back into his squat.
“You’re so embarrassing,” Goro mocked.
Akira rolled his eyes but decided to let him have that one. By the time they left, they were both smiling.
By the time the evening meeting over dinner had wrapped up it’d been pretty late, but Akira had booked their flight for after lunch tomorrow, so he wasn’t too worried. He was just glad to be curled up in bed for now, even if Goro had the light on his side on. The hotel room was modest compared to Shido’s house, but it was nice enough.
Goro had explained he was working, seemingly setting appointments up for himself for the rest of the week. They both had a schedule to get back into tomorrow, though. Eventually they’d decided to compromise by staying up until one in the morning.
Rubbing his eyes, Akira turned over and glanced at Goro’s phone screen curiously. He didn’t seem overly bothered by his blatant nosiness.
“Sorry,” Goro said as he continued typing quickly. “I’ll try to go to sleep soon.”
“‘Can’t wait to see you tomorrow’? Why don’t you send me things like that?” Akira joked.
“Because you don’t spend a million yen at my club every month,” he deadpanned.
“I thought being financially responsible was supposed to be attractive,” Akira lamented even as he shifted closer to wrap himself around Goro’s side.
“Oh, is that what we’re calling being cheap now?” he mocked as he finished the message and put his phone aside. Akira slowly wiped away a fake tear. “Seriously though, does this really not bother you? I won’t be able to stop doing this job for a while.”
“You said that already,” Akira murmured as he lightly squeezed Goro’s arm.
“It’s not just the part at the host club,” Goro persisted.
Akira glanced away, but avoiding the conversation probably wasn’t going to help either of them. “I know, I got what you meant.” Being honest was probably best. “I don’t really know how I’ll react to it. I’ve never even thought about being in a relationship like this before.”
Goro nodded slightly. He ignored his phone when it buzzed against the covers again. “Do you want me to tell you when I see someone else? Or is it better not to mention it?”
“Well… I think I probably don’t want to know,” Akira admitted. “But don’t feel like you need to hide it or anything. Because I’m definitely going to be complaining to you about my work.”
“Ok,” Goro answered quietly. Once again Akira felt like it could mean anything. “I guess the other thing I should mention is putting on a façade while having sex is exhausting for me. I might not always feel like it…”
“Isn’t that normal?”
Goro looked away, seemingly uncomfortable.
“Ok, I think I get what you’re trying to say. Obviously I don’t expect you to be at one hundred percent all the time. And if you’re too tired to hang out at all, just let me know.” It wasn’t like he never got like that himself.
Goro nodded again. “Then, the last thing is that I need to know if you sleep with anyone else. I’m obviously careful about having protected sex, but things can go wrong, and I need to know if I’ve put anyone else at risk of getting anything.”
“I understand. But that won’t be a problem.” He had enough trouble keeping up with one person as it was.
“As long as you understand if you do change your mind.”
Akira just nodded, since protesting again probably wasn’t going to get the point across. Goro squeezed the hand that was holding his arm before picking his phone back up. He replied to the text before putting it on silent and tossing it aside. He switched the light off before settling in bed again.
“Are you really going to work tomorrow? You won’t have time to get much sleep,” Akira couldn’t help but comment.
“No,” he replied carefully. “It’ll only take a couple of hours, not all night.”
“Oh.” Actually, it did feel kind of bad. “Are you going to do something else when this is all over?”
Goro shrugged. “When I don’t owe money anymore.”
“Just who do you owe money to? If they’re connected to Shido, then…” There might be a more efficient way to deal with it.
“Getting even more ambitious, are we?” He didn’t sound particularly mad about it.
“If you’re not happy doing all that for much longer, then sure, why not?”
“You have got to learn to pick your battles,” Goro muttered. They remained silent for a few moments. “But I appreciate the sentiment.”
There was a pause in their conversation, but Akira was wide awake now. “So uh, since we’re back to reality tomorrow, do you want to do something?”
“Like what? Isn’t it past your bedtime?” Goro teased quietly.
“I can stay up for this.”
“Quite,” Goro said as his fingers wandered across Akira’s semi.
“Oh shut up,” Akira muttered even as he found himself pressing into the touch. He half rolled on top of Goro and pressed their mouths together. Though he couldn’t see the smirk, he could certainly feel it.
Akira hummed when Goro shuffled under him and spread his legs a little wider so he could lay between them. Akira lifted his t-shirt as one of his hands wandered upward. Goro was deceptively lean. Akira supposed it made sense that he did some kind of training in his limited free time.
Goro’s legs wrapped around his waist and Akira hesitated. Of course he immediately noticed and leaned back. “Something wrong?”
Akira shook his head slightly. “Is this really what you want to do?”
“Only if you go get one of the condoms out of my bag.” At his reply, Akira frowned a little. “It doesn’t feel like work this way.”
Akira guessed that made sense, given the demographic Goro pandered to. “I don’t know if I can… make it good…”
“That’s probably better than assuming you will,” Goro said flatly. “I can tell you what to do, if you want.”
“You like being bossy, huh?” Still, something about the idea appealed to him. “That’d probably help, actually.”
“Then go get my things,” he said, blunt but not unkind.
Akira got up and did so. He considered just asking which pocket it was in, but it seemed like it’d go against whatever they were trying to do right now. Once he’d brought it over, Akira simply waited.
“It should be in the pocket in the lid,” Goro explained, not bothering to move from his position propped up against the pillows.
Akira knelt down and checked the specified spot. He took out one of the condoms and the small tube of lube. He held them out in askance.
“Good,” Goro said as he held a hand out. Akira gave him the items immediately. “Are you going to get undressed for me?”
Akira nodded before pulling his pyjamas off and dumping them on the floor unceremoniously. He put his thumbs under the waistband of his underwear, but then hesitated. “Uh… Is this weird?”
“Yes,” Goro said remorselessly. “But if you like it I have no problem continuing.” When Akira didn’t answer right away he added, “Do you like it?”
“I think so.”
“If you want to stop or take a break, just tell me. We don’t have to do things this way.”
Akira nodded. “I’m ok for now.” He slid his underwear off and added them to the pile. Goro did the same and Akira could feel the anticipation build in his gut.
Goro patted the bed in front of him, between his legs. “Sit.”
Akira swallowed and did so. He had half a mind to turn the lights back on, but maybe barely being able to see each other made things a little easier. For now, at least.
Akira shifted restlessly as he heard Goro fumble around with the plastic tube. Goro reached down with one hand before looking back up. “Touch yourself.”
Akira inhaled sharply. His hands tightened against his thighs. “Can I touch you instead?”
Goro sighed softly. “I suppose.” But Akira thought he could hear some level of amusement in his tone.
Akira took hold of his face with gentle hands and kissed the side of his mouth before moving down to his jaw and then neck, pushing strands of hair out the way as needed. Goro’s next sigh was both lighter and tenser.
Akira shuffled closer and pulled the collar of Goro’s shirt down so he could access his shoulder. He jumped when a hand suddenly closed around his cock, but he was soon pushing forward, closer.
Goro turned his head slightly to mutter against Akira’s ear. “You have such a nice dick. Are you going to let me have it?”
Akira choked, on what he wasn’t sure. “O-oh, is that what I was supposed to whisper in your ear?”
Goro’s head thudded against the pillow he was sitting up against. “Don’t fucking remind me of that. Put this on,” he muttered as he pressed the condom into Akira’s hand.
“Yes boss,” he teased as he leaned back to do so. He knew it wouldn’t be long before they could press close again. He had to fumble with the packet and then the condom itself for a while, but Goro seemed to be amusing himself just fine given the way his breaths were growing more uneven. “Ok, that should be…”
Akira trailed off when Goro’s hand ran over his length once more, this time spreading lube in its wake. And probably checking to make sure he’d put it on properly. “Ready?”
“Are you?”
Goro made a sound of amusement and then suddenly Akira was the one sitting against the head of the bed. Goro settled on top of him, staring down at him while lining them up. Akira couldn’t help the sound that came out of his mouth when Goro sank down, soft and tight and slick.
He glanced over when a hand reached past him to grab onto the head of the bed. Akira let his hands rest on Goro’s thighs and couldn’t help but grip tighter when he rose up, muscle contracting under his hands before he dropped back down again.
“Fuck,” he muttered.
Goro made a sound of amusement as he leaned closer, getting into a proper rhythm. Every time he rose up he seemed to cling tighter before dropping down again. Akira let his hands slide around and cup his ass instead.
Goro pressed forward even further, leaning his head against the side of Akira’s face as he let out a sigh of pleasure. Akira reached up, tangling one hand in the back of his shirt while the other cradled the back of his head. Goro started moving faster and Akira tried to tilt his hips in time, not sure how else to move or if he should.
“Feels so good,” Akira blurted.
Goro’s free hand wandered down Akira’s torso before he grabbed hold of his own dick. Akira rubbed circles against one of his shoulders as he pushed back against him, losing his rhythm. But it didn’t seem to matter at this point.
Akira tensed as he came, one foot kicking out, head tilting back. His arms tightened around Goro’s back, who only jammed his face into his neck all the more as he tensed up as well. After a moment Goro reached back and carefully separated them while holding the condom in place. But he kept his face pressed against Akira’s shoulder, even if they couldn’t see much of each other anyway.
“I’ve got you,” Akira mumbled as he wrapped his arms around him again. Goro didn’t seem to be ready to say anything yet.
But Akira could stay like this for a while.
Chapter Text
Akira patted Ann on the back awkwardly when she flung her arms around his neck. A few of the more uptight people in the fancy buffet gave them sideways looks, but they largely seemed to get a pass because she looked foreign. She pulled back a little to give him a wide smile.
“Akira!” she said excitedly. “I told you I’d make up for missing you last time I was in Tokyo!” They separated and she flounced back to her seat. Akira glanced around the table and saw only Ryuji and Makoto were there.
“Where’s the rest of my entourage?” he jokingly demanded as he took a seat on the empty lounge.
“All busy. Shoulda been here on the weekend,” Ryuji said around the rice he’d already dug into.
Akira shrugged. “You could’ve given me a little more notice.”
“Well sorry, I didn’t know you were off on your honeymoon,” Ann teased. “Speaking of, where is he? I thought I gave you specific instructions.”
Akira rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “It isn’t that serious,” he muttered as he side-eyed Ryuji. “Besides, he works most nights. Organising dinner is hard.”
“Seemed kinda serious to me,” Ryuji said nonchalantly.
“What kind of work does he do?” Makoto asked, clearly trying to change the topic to something more neutral.
But little did she know that in itself was a landmine. Especially right after he’d just claimed they weren’t that serious.
“Um, hosting,” he muttered as he looked over at the food. “I should grab something.” Akira was surprised when he managed to get away with that, but then he remembered he was going to have to sit back down to eat sooner or later.
Unfortunately when he finally returned to the table with his food, Makoto hadn’t forgotten what they’d been talking about. “Are you going to elaborate on that?”
He knew the alternative to not doing so was being grilled with police interview methods. Not that Makoto had ever needed the training, according to Ryuji.
Akira shrugged casually. “We’re both adults.”
Makoto tilted her head slightly. “You aren’t the type to engage in casual flings,” she said neutrally. “This probably means more to you than it does to him.”
Akira sighed. Having astute friends was both a blessing and a curse. “I know that.”
Makoto shifted in her seat, but she did take the cue to back off. Akira knew it was just a temporary retreat, though.
Ryuji snorted next to him, and Akira was mildly alarmed to see nearly all of his food was gone already. “Dude, you are so going to horny jail for this one.”
“Oh? I’m surprised anyone could afford the bail to get you out,” Akira teased.
Before he could retort, the group was interrupted by the appearance of one Okumura Haru. Confused as to why she’d approach him in public, Akira tried not to frown. But it soon became clear it was Makoto she was coming over to talk to. She ignored him like the other two, and Akira assumed they were going to pretend not to know each other.
“Oh, Mako-chan! It really is you!” Haru exclaimed happily.
Makoto looked surprised, but not displeased. “Haru-chan, good evening.”
“Oh, are these your friends? Sorry if I’m interrupting, I just thought I should say hi,” Haru continued lightly. Akira had seen her sans the cutesy act, so he couldn’t help but be a little suspicious of her intentions.
“Ah, right. This is my friend from university,” Makoto explained. “I went to high school with Ann and Ryuji here, and I met Akira through Ryuji.”
“Nice to meet you all,” Haru said politely as she bowed a little. Her eyes seemed to sparkle when they finally met Akira’s. “Have you been busy lately, Mako-chan? I’ve been seeing all these reports about drug busts and money laundering rings.”
Akira shovelled some food into his mouth to avoid gaping at her. He couldn’t believe she was plying Makoto of all people, nor that it seemed like it did actually work sometimes.
“Oh, you know how it is,” she replied lightly. “Fortunately I only have to worry about it while I’m on shift. Though that small time gang in Shibuya seems to be gaining traction, unfortunately.”
“Makoto, should you really be saying stuff like that in public?” Akira interrupted.
He wouldn’t sit around and let one of his friends potentially do something that could get her in trouble later. Especially if they stuck with his plan to take Shido to court.
Makoto pushed a few strands of her hair back. “It’s public knowledge,” she quickly justified. But Akira knew hearing an officer’s spin on it could be very revealing compared to a simple media report.
“Well, I wish you and your colleagues success in dealing with it,” Haru said softly. “I’ll leave you all to your meal!”
They collectively said goodbye as Haru drifted across the room with a plate. Akira wondered if she was entertaining her business colleagues. Or was this a regular place for her?
Akira ducked his head as the others started talking about their own work-related wins and troubles. Ryuji ragged on Ann for not sticking to her diet, to which she told him to come back after he’d experienced PMS.
Akira smiled slightly and remained quiet. Fortunately, his friends let him get away with sinking into his own thoughts.
Goro pushed his hair out of his eyes, not caring if he messed it up now. All the customers had finally left, and he’d stayed back a little while to help clean the club even though he didn’t have to. Being the biggest earner in the club came with its perks, but his recent trip had acted as a reminder that he should try to keep on the good side of everyone close to him.
Besides, it wasn’t like he was going to get to sleep easily anyway. His thoughts had been full of his mother, given tomorrow…
Goro glanced up from the glass he was polishing when Mishima approached the sink next to him. He looked even tireder than Goro felt. But that was hardly a surprise when, as the newest starter and lowest earner, he got stuck doing most of the extra chores.
Goro wasn’t exactly sure how he made ends meet when he didn’t seem to know how to present himself, but Mishima had joined with the usual naïve motivation of wanting to learn how to talk to girls. At first Goro had assumed he was just going to be used by the more experienced hosts to make them look good, but Mishima had stuck around longer than Goro had thought he would.
“Sorry Sempai, looks like I missed one,” Mishima explained as he shifted to turn on the tap and wash it manually.
“Just leave it in the dishwasher for tonight,” Goro interrupted, stepping aside so Mishima could put it on the empty tray and put it back in the little unit that cleaned the glasses.
“Thanks, the others always make me clean them separately.” Mishima covered his mouth as he yawned. “Sorry…”
“Just tell them I said it’s not worth the time,” Goro muttered as he lifted the now dry and fingerprint free champagne flute to hang it on the rack over the bar. Mishima picked up a dry towel and helped him with the last few left in the tray.
“Thanks for hanging back and helping me. Normally I’d still be here for another hour yet.”
“Thanks for entertaining my customers while I was away,” Goro said neutrally.
The club worked on a system where the host a customer nominated made most of the money from everything they spent, whether they were the one entertaining them or not. The dip in Goro’s numbers hadn’t been nearly as steep as he’d been expecting. But that also meant Mishima had taken home less than a third of what he would’ve if they were his own customers.
“Well, it’s not like many of them come to see me specifically yet,” Mishima said lightly, though he looked like a kicked puppy. “It’s better for everyone if we hold onto the customers we already have, right?” Mostly it was good for Goro in this case, but wasn’t going to interrupt Mishima’s attempt to give himself a pep talk.
Goro put the last glass away before tossing his towel into the laundry bag. At least the club owner did that instead of forcing it on Mishima too.
“I know you probably want to get home and sleep, but do you have a minute to talk?” Goro asked even as he moved over to sit on one of the couches.
Mishima looked worried, but followed him anyway. “Of course. I mean, as long as you’re not going to fire me.”
Goro shook his head. He didn’t have the authority to do that, anyway.
“Quite the opposite, really. The fact is, my attendance at the club is probably going to continue being sporadic for a while,” he explained bluntly. “But it’d be troublesome for me if I lost my rank as number one. So, if you make sure my customers have a good time even when I’m not here, I’ll make up the difference so you’ll be paid as though they’re yours and I’m the one running support.”
He couldn’t afford to give Mishima one hundred percent, but this was a far better deal for him than the usual arrangement. Mishima seemed to know it too, judging from the way his face lit up.
“Are you serious? But, aren’t you worried they’ll still drop off if you miss them too many times?”
Goro nodded slightly. “I’m hoping you’ll be able to slow that process down. But if you spend the money on your appearance and take some new photos, maybe you’ll be able to pick up a few more customers of your own.”
Mishima’s face fell again as he sighed. “What does that even mean? I’ve tried wearing stuff like the rest of you guys, but I just look silly. And having long hair drives me nuts.”
Goro tapped the table between them, wondering how much he should say. Telling him to suck it up and change his image if he wanted to be successful probably wasn’t something he’d respond to all that well. And Goro knew from personal experience that it continued sucking in the long run.
“Then go find a style you do like that matches your personality, or at least the one you try to project at work. Don’t try and copy the other guys here exclusively, we all already have our own markets cornered.”
“R-right, ok…” Mishima looked away thoughtfully. That was probably enough of a push for now.
“Anyway,” Goro added in a lighter tone. “Thanks for your hard work. Let’s get out of here.”
Mishima returned the sentiment and they both locked up before leaving. Mishima left through the front to get to the nearest train station while Goro went out the back. He squinted in the early morning sunlight as he pulled his bike out into the back alley. He’d become practiced at riding at varying levels of sobriety, though he had a lot of leeway when the streets were so empty.
But if it meant having a few more minutes to sleep, he’d take the risk.
Chapter 11
Notes:
I’ve been replaying Royal and I only just noticed that when Mishima hangs out in Shinjuku he stands around in front of a host club. It was meant to be...?
Chapter Text
Akira had just managed to lay down in bed at the end of another long day of making up for not being properly in the office last week when his phone started to ring. He strongly considered just ignoring it and rolling over, but no one he knew would call him at this hour on a work night just for kicks.
Akira sighed and fumbled for his phone. When he brought it to his face and squinted he managed to identify the caller as Goro. Worry, and a little guilt at not checking in with him earlier, filled him as he stabbed the answer button.
“Hello?”
“Oh, hi. Do you know Akechi-sempai?” an unfamiliar male voice asked softly.
Akira hesitated to answer. Was that Goro’s surname? He didn’t know whether admitting he didn’t know that bit of information was a good idea, so he hedged his bets.
“Is Goro there?”
“Yes,” the man replied, sounding more relieved than hesitant now. His worries came out in a deluge. “He’s really not in a good way right now. I’m pretty sure he came to work drunk, and has been slamming it down more than usual since. I tried to get him to go home but he just said something about falling off his bike. And he won’t tell me where he lives so I can’t take him…”
“Did he, uh, ask you to call me in particular?” Akira didn’t know where he lived either, but maybe he’d have more luck getting it out of Goro if he had.
“I had to fight him to get him to unlock his phone and pick someone,” the man said miserably.
Akira checked the time. If he hurried he should make one of the last trains out to Shinjuku for the night.
“It’ll probably take me at least twenty minutes to get there,” Akira said as he climbed out of bed and flicked the light back on. He started digging around his ‘only worn once’ pile for something that was appropriate to wear outside.
The man sighed with relief. “Thanks, I’ll try to keep him out of trouble in the meantime. And maybe sober him up before he throws up.”
“Who should I ask for when I get there?” Akira added as he wobbled on one foot to pull a pair of clean socks on. He didn’t want to waste time being mistaken for a customer.
“Oh right, ask for Mishima… Or better yet, just call when you’re close and I’ll explain where the back entrance is.”
“Will do,” Akira agreed before saying goodbye and hanging up. It looked like he was either going to be very late or calling in sick tomorrow.
Akira ducked through the back door as directed and immediately encountered a worried looking guy around his age. “Mishima-san?” Akira asked even as he nodded hurriedly.
“Yeah, come on, he’s holed up in the dressing room.” Mishima led Akira to the room he’d been inside once before.
He noted Goro was sitting at the end of the long vanity space, in the same spot as they had spoken last time. His head was resting on his arms where they were folded on the table. A ruffled bunch of flowers were lying in front of him. Akira couldn’t tell if he was asleep because he was facing the back wall of the room.
“Goro?” he called as he slowly approached.
The only response was the slight tightening of Goro’s fingers against his arm. Akira continued moving closer, letting his footsteps make a little more noise than usual.
“Wouldn’t you rather sleep in your own bed? I can give you a lift,” Akira continued, guessing that focusing on the practical would be more effective than interrogating him at this point.
Though Goro’s head remained resting on his arms, he did turn it enough to glance up at Akira out the corner of his eye. “You’re here,” Akira thought he said.
“That I am,” Akira teased as he paused to stand next to Goro. “Ready to go home?”
“Can’t bike like this.”
“All you have to do is point me in the right direction,” Akira assured, though honestly, he wouldn’t be surprised if even that was beyond Goro right now.
“Not telling where I live,” Goro managed to mumble firmly.
Akira leaned down and rested a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to get around on your own when you’re this wasted? After what we heard Shido and his associates discussing?” Akira murmured quiet enough for Mishima to miss over the permeating bass.
It took a moment for Goro to put two and two together, but the fact he managed to despite the state he was in said something. “Maybe that’d simplify things.”
His statement made Akira uneasy, but in the end he did start sitting up. “Come on,” Akira encouraged as he shifted his hand to grip Goro’s arm and attempt to help him stand.
“No, no,” Goro muttered, his face turning ashen. “I feel sick.”
“That’s not really a surprise,” Mishima mumbled from the doorway. “It’d probably be better if you were sick, though. I don’t want to know how much you had to drink.”
“Shut the fuck up.” To Akira’s surprise, Mishima did so, ducking his head and stepping away slightly.
“Don’t bully your co-workers,” Akira chided as he pulled on Goro’s arm a little. They needed to get moving either way.
“You need to shut up most of all,” Goro replied spitefully even as he made a slow attempt to rise. He eventually stood, albeit leaning heavily against the table.
Akira gave him a moment to get used to his new position before looping an arm under Goro’s to support him. As they turned away from the vanity Goro dug his heels in again.
“Wait, I need…” He reached for the bouquet, managing to pick it up on the second attempt. Goro crushed it to his chest with his free arm. His eyes slid shut but he now seemed content to let Akira lead him away.
“You need to tell me where you live,” Akira prompted as they reached the doorway that led into the rest of the back of house area.
Goro frowned. “We aren’t going there,” he protested.
“The trains have stopped. It’d take us hours to get back to mine, especially with the way you’re stumbling around,” Akira reasoned.
“So call a taxi.”
Akira sighed. “If you ride your bike home from work when you’re pissed, you can’t live that far from here. And isn’t it better for you to be at home when you probably won’t be moving very far tomorrow?”
Goro glanced at Mishima before acquiescing. “Then I’ll give you directions on the way.”
Mishima glanced between them, seemingly surprised. He shifted out the way and Akira passed into the back entrance where he’d seen Goro’s bike propped up next to the doorway. It had a wire frame on the back of it to carry things, but it’d do as a seat for a little while. He was about to ask Mishima if he could move it outside when he suddenly spoke.
“Hifumi-chan, please don’t come back here…”
But it seemed she was fully prepared to ignore him as she strode past. “Are you going to be all right, Goro-kun?”
“I’ve survived worse,” he muttered as he slid out of Akira’s grip and stumbled over to the wall. He used the bike to support his weight as he pushed it outside. “I’ll have to play another time, though.”
“That’s not…” she began, but Akira was too busy rushing forward to stop Goro from trying to climb on the bike to finish listening.
“I’ll do the pedalling, you moron.”
“Then hurry up.” He turned back to the girl, his demeanour changing somewhat. Akira guessed if he was more sober that would’ve been his changeover to customer service mode. “Sorry, I’ll let you know when I’ll be in next. Good luck on Sunday.”
“T-thank you,” she replied, seemingly surprised.
Akira got on the bike and realised Goro’s legs must be longer than his. But if they weren’t going too far, it wouldn’t matter too much. Goro seemed to have an easier time climbing onto the lower frame, even if he did look slightly ridiculous with one leg bent high so his heel could rest against the frame of the bike near the back wheel.
“So, which way?” Akira asked as he waved to the other two.
“Just go straight ahead. Then right when we’re back on the main street. We’re going to a convenience store first.”
Akira rolled his eyes at the demand as they managed to push away in a coordinated manner, but he wasn’t going to begrudge Goro getting food. Fortunately the streets weren’t too crowded at this time of night, and the few strange looks they got were easy to ignore.
“The Triple 7 ok?” Akira asked when he spotted one on the corner of the road Goro had told him to turn onto.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Get me a bento.” As he elaborated on the detail of what exactly he wanted to eat, Akira was suddenly glad he’d spent a brief stint working at the chain before discovering Sojiro’s ad for a part timer.
“Ok… You are going to stay here and wait, aren’t you?” Akira had to ask, given Goro’s reluctance to accept his help so far.
Goro sighed as he leaned against the wall a little more heavily, one leg still flung over the back of the bike. “If I’m not here I’ll be chucking up in the alley we just passed,” he mumbled dryly.
Akira held his gaze for a moment before nodding. He watched Goro fumble around in his pocket for something, then raised an eyebrow when he held out a 5,000 yen note. He would have told him not to worry about it, but then realised that in his rush to leave home he’d only grabbed his train pass and keys.
“Be right back,” Akira said as he took it and went inside.
It only took him a few minutes to find what he wanted and pay the bored cashier, who was polite but seemed to have given up on trying to be peppy for the night. He hurried back outside to find Goro was still leaning against the wall, one hand massaging his forehead while the other still gripped the flowers.
“Here,” Akira said quietly as he held the bag open. Goro hesitated before putting the bouquet in the bag as well. “You should have some water,” Akira added as he fished the plastic bottle out. “You’ll be a hypocrite if you don’t.”
Goro made it clear he wasn’t amused before taking him up on the offer. Akira took the water back when he was done and put it in the bag. He hung it over one of the handles before climbing back on.
“So, which way?” Akira glanced back when he didn’t answer right away. He noticed Goro was looking at the flowers again.
“Turn left at the next corner and go as far as you can.”
Akira pushed away, deciding to take his word for it for now. When he reached the corner he saw a T-intersection in the distance.
“Right turn at the end,” Goro mumbled.
Akira continued on slowly, just in case Goro lost his balance or decided to be sick after all. The narrow street was quiet and empty, and held significantly fewer glowing signs. Akira felt he might get away with asking a few questions now.
“So… What’s with the flowers?”
For a moment he thought Goro was going to ignore him after all. “I don’t usually work on this day. But I’ve missed so many shifts lately.” Goro gave him another set of directions before adding, “But I do usually buy flowers for my mother.”
Akira couldn’t help trying to glance over his shoulder at them, but he nearly ran into the alley wall. It really had been a long time since he’d ridden anywhere. Not since he’d lived at home and had a choice between an unreliable bus service and futilely biking up steep hills.
“Oh… Are you going to your family grave tomorrow or something?”
Akira thought he heard Goro scoff from behind him. “Why the fuck would I clean the grave of the family that abandoned us?”
Akira shrugged as he paused at a crossing, then continued following Goro’s directions. They seemed to be in a residential area now. He frowned slightly as he thought about the implication of Goro’s words a little more.
His own family had always been kind of underwhelmed by his existence, but he couldn’t say there was animosity either. Still, his Tokyo friends had been everything to him over the past few years.
From what he could tell, Goro mainly had uneasy alliances, co-workers, and customers. Though he liked to think otherwise now, Akira probably still counted among those somewhere himself. But he knew he couldn’t force Goro to stop holding people, including him, at arm’s length.
“Fair enough, I guess,” Akira said quietly.
“The building is just here,” Goro said quickly and Akira immediately slowed. “Stop here.”
Akira did as asked and waited for Goro to unsteadily climb off before moving himself. He wheeled the bike over to the gate to the rundown flats while Goro somehow managed to open it up.
“Can leave the bike here,” he muttered, pointing at the low wall just inside the gate.
Akira did so and grabbed the plastic bag before following Goro’s unsteady path around the side of the building. He put a foot on the bottom stair and Akira reached out to grab his arm.
“You’re going to fall on your face.”
Goro gave him a haughty look, but he didn’t go any further either. Akira turned around.
“Come on, I’ll give you a lift. Second floor or third?”
“Second,” Goro said begrudgingly, but took hold of his shoulders and shuffled forward anyway.
Akira adjusted them both before turning to walk up the old concrete stairs. He was kind of glad they were only going up one flight. He really needed to start going to the gym with Ryuji more regularly again.
When they reached the landing, Akira bent down as far as he could so that getting down wouldn’t be too strenuous for his passenger. “Key?”
Goro slumped against the wall as he started going through his pockets again. He handed the key over with some hesitation. Or maybe he was just struggling with his hand eye coordination. Once Akira had pushed the door open he gave it back and waited for Goro to enter before releasing the door.
Goro smacked his hand against the wall until he located the light switch. The space was long but relatively narrow, though it was cleaner and more modern than the outside of the building. The tatami stopped before the basic kitchen appliances that lined one wall. In the middle of the room was a low table with a closed laptop on it. An unrolled but otherwise neat futon lay at the other end of the room. Past that was a door to a small balcony.
Goro shielded his eyes from the relatively harsh light as his sock clad feet padded over to the other door, which probably led to the bathroom. Akira took off his own shoes before putting the bag on the table, carefully removing the flowers and placing them next to it. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed the bathroom door was still wide open.
Akira approached slowly and then grimaced at the sound of retching. Maybe going unsteadily up the stairs had been the last straw. Akira went back for the water before going inside.
Goro had his elbows propped up on the toilet bowl and was supporting his head in his hands, fingers weaved through his hair in an attempt to keep it out of his face. Akira tried to ignore the smell as he came to a halt next to him.
“Better?”
“Kind of,” Goro muttered miserably without looking up.
“You haven’t had anything other than alcohol, right?” He had to be sure things wouldn’t get worse again.
Goro frowned and shook his head. His gaze was fixed on the underside of the toilet seat in front of him, but he looked haunted. It occurred to Akira that he didn’t know how exactly Goro’s mother had died.
“Then… why did you drink so much?”
Goro mulled over his answer for a few moments. “Sometimes you just want to stop feeling.”
“And what was the feeling you were trying to stop?” Grief? Or was it simple loneliness?
Goro chose to ignore his question this time. Akira decided to take it as an ‘all of the above’.
“Why did you come get me?” Goro asked as he cautiously sat back. Guessing his was done for now, Akira handed him the water bottle.
“Because you asked.” Wasn’t that obvious?
“Don’t you have work tomorrow?” Goro took a cautious sip of water.
Akira reached over to flush the toilet, attempting to get rid of some of the smell. “I’ll take a personal day,” he said with a shrug.
Goro frowned at that, but didn’t comment.
“Do you want to eat now, or shower first just in case?”
“Shower,” he replied abruptly as he cautiously stood.
Akira nodded and backed out of the bathroom to give him space and privacy. He settled down at Goro’s kitchen table to wait.
Goro was still way too drunk when he finally exited the bathroom. But at least he was now functioning well enough to successfully pretend he was far more sober than he actually was. He hadn’t bothered putting anything back on other than his underwear and undershirt. Balancing on one leg had been exciting enough the first time around.
Akira was sitting at the table with the bento and flowers out. His head was resting on his arms, and he seemed to be asleep. He’d probably been awake since the crack of dawn, so Goro was hardly surprised.
He still didn’t get why Akira was here. It was so out of his way, and Goro hadn’t exactly wanted to embarrass himself when he’d started drinking. He felt Akira had to want to get something out of this. But past experience told him it wasn’t what he usually gave out.
He was halfway through the bento when Akira suddenly started awake. He rubbed the back of his neck as he blinked up at Goro.
“Feeling better?” Akira asked yet again.
Goro nodded since it was true. Though part of him didn’t want Akira to take that as a signal to leave. He finished off the food as he watched Akira try to sit up again.
When he was done Goro pushed the empty plastic tray and disposable chopsticks away. He hesitantly picked up the flowers, grimacing slightly as a few more petals fell away. It seemed they’d been fairly mutilated by his rough treatment. But this always happened.
Akira leaned over and made some half-hearted attempts to spruce the arrangement back up. But it seemed to be beyond help now. “Maybe some water?” Akira suggested quietly.
Goro tossed them onto the table. “I don’t think that’s going to do anything now.”
“Quitter,” Akira teased.
“Sometimes you have to be able to recognise a lost cause.”
“Sometimes you have to know when to keep trying,” Akira countered.
Goro sighed and rolled his eyes. “If you’re done with your heavy-handed metaphors, you should probably get some sleep before you pass out.”
Akira just smiled at him before standing up and taking the rubbish over to the bin. Though he didn’t want to admit it, Goro felt something in him tense at the possibility he’d continue on out the front door.
Instead, Akira glanced at the futon. “Are we both going to fit on that? It’s kind of narrow.”
“You can sleep on the floor if you like,” Goro mocked.
“For someone who’s a host, you’re a bad host.”
Goro held his hand out like he was waiting to be paid. Akira laughed but put a few notes and coins in his hand anyway. Undoubtedly it was the change from the convenience store trip.
“Isn’t this my money?”
“All I’ve got other than that is my train pass and phone,” Akira admitted. “And my keys, but as already proven, you don’t need those.”
“I…” He’d never been comfortable sincerely apologising with words, but even he could admit it was warranted. Even if he’d only done it because he hadn’t known what he’d be dealing with at that point.
Not that it was that much clearer now.
“All right, come on,” Akira interrupted as he crossed the room to turn the light out.
Goro used the light from Akira’s phone to crawl over to the futon. Not having to stand up again sounded great right about now.
There was a rustling of material as Akira got undressed and joined him under the light covers. It was already warm, but not so much that another’s body heat was unbearable. It went dark as Akira put his phone aside and Goro flinched when a finger touched his face a little too close to his eye.
“Sorry,” Akira mumbled as his hand traced down to rest under his chin. Akira’s thumb touched the corner of his mouth and then he was being kissed. Akira backed away after a moment. “Make sure you brush your teeth properly in the morning, or we’ll both regret it.”
The way Akira flinched away when he stuck a finger between his ribs was satisfying.
Goro lay awake for some time, not really ready to sleep since he was used to being on form at this hour. Based on the steady breathing beside him, Akira didn’t share in that feeling.
He stared at what little he could see of the back of Akira’s head. Something in the back of his mind was telling him he’d have to work to keep him there. But he didn’t know what to do, or even if that was really a good idea.
Goro closed his eyes and tried to trust that Akira wasn’t about to disappear too.
Chapter Text
It was dark when Akira woke again. Only when Goro shifted against his back did he fully remember where he was and why. He sighed when he checked the time and saw it was already past seven in the morning. Goro’s curtains were good at blocking the early morning light out.
Akira slowly turned onto his back and Goro shuffled out the way just enough to avoid being squashed. Their eyes met, but it was hard for Akira to tell much about his constitution in this lighting.
“Morning.”
Goro exhaled and leaned into the pillow a little more. The eye Akira could still see fluttered shut.
“It’s fine if you want to go back to sleep. But I need to call work.” And then he’d probably need to go home to get his laptop since they’d undoubtedly try to bully him to do as much as possible while he was out of the office.
“Ok.”
Akira sat up and removed the covers before heading to the bathroom, feeling the slight discomfort in his legs from all of yesterday’s weird activities. When he came back he was feeling a little more awake, so he put his jeans and jacket back on. His supervisor would probably be on the train to work by now, so he picked up his phone and wandered to the other end of the short room.
“Kurusu-kun?” she answered quietly after a few short rings. It seemed he’d been lucky to catch her in an area that had signal.
“Good morning Satomi-san,” he greeted, not noticing the way he sat in seiza until he was already there. He reminded himself Shido tended to be open minded about alternative work arrangements, if nothing else. “I’m calling to let you know I won’t be able to make it into the office today. I need to take care of a sick friend who lives alone.” Not exactly a lie, but…
“I see. You’ll still be able to make the two o’clock meeting, right? It’s online.” She continued without really waiting for an answer. “I’ll deal with the urgent things as they come in throughout the day, but I’ll still need your assistance to get through the backlog before the end of the week.”
That was about what Akira had expected. “Uh, yes, I can make that time.” He’d forgotten what the meeting was about, but he guessed he’d find out when he got his hands on his laptop. “And, of course, I can deal with things that aren’t time sensitive here and there. I just need to run a few errands for my friend this morning.”
“All right, I’ll inform Shido-sama of the situation.”
“Thank you.” Akira was glad to hang up without being wheedled into doing anything else.
He got back to his feet and shoved his phone in his pocket. He glanced up and only then noticed that Goro had been watching him. He looked away as Akira stepped in his direction.
“Sounds like I’m going to need to go home and get my work stuff.” He wasn’t looking forward to braving rush hour twice in a row, but maybe he’d miss the worst of it if he left now. “I’ll get us some breakfast on the way. Maybe I should bring an overnight bag?”
“I’ll be working tonight.” Goro shuffled under the covers a little further. “You can take my bike to the station if you want.”
“After all that, do you really think you should…” Akira trailed off when Goro’s expression reflected how unimpressed he was with his opinion. Akira raised a hand. “Ok, ok. I’ll be back soon.”
Goro watched as he gathered his things back up and hurried out the door. Akira double checked the route on his phone before taking off on the bike. At this rate, maybe Goro would actually let him back in even without the bribe of food.
It wasn’t like Akira was noisy, but once the door closed behind him the silence felt oppressive. The lack of his presence only caused the feelings he’d been trying to escape to double down. Goro brought his knees up and tried to focus on the sound of his exhales.
It was pathetic, especially when he knew Akira would be back sooner than later, but even relying on him that much was stupid. Giving a shit about someone else hadn’t exactly gone well for him before. He still didn’t know why Akira was even wasting his time with him when he clearly had others to choose from, all of whom probably reciprocated in a way that made him happy.
Sooner or later he’d get sick of dealing with Goro, so they should finish dealing with Shido sooner.
Goro grimaced when something inside him protested the notion of Akira stepping back out of his life. But then, it was the time of year he craved attention in any form. And Akira was a relatively harmless option.
Sometimes he wished he was half the robot he pretended to be, but he found it easier to satisfy these whims when they arose. Ignoring it only made it worse.
When Goro realised he wasn’t going to get back to sleep any time soon, he got up and headed to the bathroom. His stellar personality wasn’t going to do anything to help him keep Akira’s attention for as long as he needed it, but by now he knew what would.
The quick shower made him feel a little more human, even if he didn’t have time to soak in the small tub. He made sure to wash and carefully dry his hair in a way that’d maximise the shine, but otherwise left it to fall naturally.
Goro examined his complexion and winced a little at how obvious it was that he hardly ever saw the sun, or got enough sleep. But there wasn’t much he could do about that when he didn’t want to bother with makeup. What he could do, though, was tend to his dental hygiene now that his hand-eye coordination was back to normal.
The knock at the front door surprised him since he hadn’t realised how long he’d been messing around for. With no time and little point in changing out of the thin bathrobe he’d put on, he moved to check the peephole. Indeed it was just Akira, laptop bag slung over one shoulder and a grocery bag in his other hand. He’d changed his shirt and retrieved his glasses as well, it seemed.
When Goro opened the door Akira seemed surprised by his appearance, but he didn’t comment. Still, the way Akira’s eyes strayed over his neck and the small part of his chest that was visible said enough.
It made him feel like he had a little control over the situation.
Goro stepped back to let him in and Akira nodded gratefully. “I wasn’t sure what you wanted, but I figured I was going to be here all day so there was no harm in getting a few different meals,” Akira explained quickly as he slid his shoes off.
Goro let Akira hurry past him and put his things down before grabbing his arm and stepping in close. “There’s only one thing I want right now.”
It was hard not to give a satisfied smirk when Akira’s eyes widened. Goro pressed his fingers against his jaw and gently turned Akira to face him enough that they could kiss. Their lips slid over one another until Akira gave a soft moan. Goro pulled back a little and pressed down against Akira’s shoulders.
“You want me to…?” Akira asked as he carefully lowered himself to his knees. He looked surprisingly eager at the prospect.
Goro shook his head slightly before joining him. “No, I want to,” he replied before shoving Akira just hard enough to tip him onto his back. He cupped Akira’s crotch before leaning down to resume the kiss.
“Oh,” Akira murmured when he had the chance, face already flushed. “Do we need, uh…?”
“If you haven’t got up to anything since last time, then no, we should be ok for now.” Akira nodded, seemingly in agreement, and Goro squeezed him.
“Uh, um, do you want me to do anything after this? ‘Cause maybe I shouldn’t get too worked up yet.”
“I didn’t think you were the type to back down from a challenge.”
Akira turned from pink to red. “Just being realistic,” he mumbled.
“That’s cute,” Goro teased as he undid Akira’s jeans. Instead of protesting this time, Akira braced himself on his hands so he could lift his hips high enough to have his pants pulled down to mid-thigh.
Akira glanced up once the obvious tent in his briefs had been revealed. Goro ran a hand over the underside of his dick, then leaned over while maintaining eye contact and ran his mouth over it too. He watched Akira bite into his lip as his gaze seemed to intensify. And that was exactly what he’d wanted.
As Goro’s lips made another pass over the warmth wrapped in soft material, Akira made a small sound of discontent. “I just changed into these,” he muttered as his eyes turned to the small wet patch that had accumulated.
“It’s not my fault you’re so excitable,” Goro teased as he pulled Akira’s underwear down just enough to free his dick. As predicted, this was more than enough to get Akira’s full attention back on him.
“I think maybe you could take a little bit of the blame,” Akira grumbled. Goro smiled coyly before wrapping his lips around the head. “Or you could just do that.”
While he was no stranger to being asked to perform oral, it had been a while since Goro last tried to get favour from a man in this way. But somehow he doubted Akira would be submitting any complaints, what with the way he’d already tensed up at just a few passes of his mouth. He pulled back and looked up at Akira properly as his hand continued to slowly stroke him.
“You’re supposed to relax,” he teased quietly as he examined Akira’s demeanour. He looked a little nervous but not completely uncomfortable.
“Uh…” Akira looked away and his knees collapsed in against Goro’s sides. Goro shifted his hand somewhere more neutral while he waited for Akira to gather his thoughts. His fingers brushed the outside of one of Akira’s thighs. “Well, for someone who says he doesn’t want this to feel like work, you sure end up doing a lot of the work. Isn’t there anything you want me to do for you?”
Goro wouldn’t say no to having his brain and feelings switched off for a few weeks, but failing that he wasn’t certain. “Obviously you know there’s something enticing about pleasing someone else. This isn’t a chore. Or are you just that bad at letting someone else do something for you?”
Akira glanced away again. “Maybe I am. But that’s not the point.”
“Then what do you want to do?”
Akira shuffled back enough to get to his feet. He grabbed the waist of his pants as though he wasn’t sure whether to pull them up or take them off. He sucked his lip back into his mouth as he did the latter.
“Let’s get on the futon.”
Goro nodded, deciding to go along with what he wanted for now. What, exactly, they did wouldn’t really bother him in the end.
He sat on the edge of the futon as he watched Akira unbutton the shirt he’d recently changed into and shrug it off, letting it fall to the floor. Akira was quick to join him, and Goro barely had time to process the fact before his hands were on his face and his mouth was back on his.
Goro let his hands rest on Akira’s chest, then moved them to his back when he continued to press forward. Goro soon found himself pressed back into the pillows, so he shifted his legs so Akira was between them more comfortably.
Akira tugged his bathrobe open as he left a trail of kisses down Goro’s neck, then another across a collarbone. Goro shifted at the sensation and Akira leaned back a little to look at him again.
“Problem?” Goro teased, only realising how short his breath had become when he spoke.
Akira shook his head slightly. His eyes wandered over Goro’s face, and then down his body. “No, just admiring the view.”
Goro rolled his eyes. “How charming.”
Akira smiled sheepishly. “Well, I don’t know if you’d take offense at being called pretty. And it’s hard to use the word ‘beautiful’ in a serious context when you’re friends with…” Akira trailed off, seeming to realise Goro would have no idea who he was talking about.
Conflicted feelings always rose at the idea of being admired. It wasn’t bad, as such, but he did think he’d appreciate it more if the admirer had something other than his looks and curated presence to hold in high regard. “Ok.”
Akira sighed through his nose, seemingly in some amalgamation of amusement and frustration. “I hate it when you do that.” Goro raising a questioning brow was enough to prompt him to continue. “When you use that tone that doesn’t mean anything. I’m not a mind reader,” he added, lighter this time.
He didn’t do it consciously, but he thought he knew what Akira meant. “It usually helps me avoid problems. And sometimes… I just can’t figure out how to reply to something,” he admitted.
Akira at least seemed to appreciate the moment of honesty. “Ok,” he replied, and for a moment Goro thought he understood where he was coming from. That didn’t stop him from smacking Akira’s shoulder.
“Let’s save that for another time,” Akira teased. He left a brief kiss on Goro’s lips before returning to where he’d been, mouthing over his chest.
Goro huffed and threaded his fingers into the hair on the back of Akira’s head. He pulled lightly in protest, but Akira’s tongue flicking over a nipple soon changed his mind. Of course he noticed this and started using his thumb in a similar way on the other.
“So, what are you going to do to me?” Goro asked breathily.
Akira lifted his head away, using the opportunity to pull open the knot at Goro’s waist. Not that it was doing much for his modesty anymore.
“I think I said this already, but I want to make you feel good too. So, you tell me.”
Goro ignored the way his dick reacted to that statement and studied Akira’s earnest expression. The hand in his hair loosened and Goro absently stroked the back of his neck. “There’s lube and condoms in the bathroom, middle drawer.”
Akira nodded and rocked back. “I take it we’re going to need them,” he teased before getting up and moving away quickly. Goro watched with some amusement as he hunched over, as if he’d only just noticed he was naked. Or remembered to be embarrassed.
While he listened to his things rattle around in the drawer, Goro extricated himself from the bathrobe and put it aside. He pulled a pillow under his head again before running a hand over himself, then down over his perineum and around his hole. Last time it’d been different to what he was used to, but still nice enough.
He glanced up at the movement that signalled Akira’s return. He gave Goro a crooked smile. “I didn’t take that long, did I?”
“Presumptuous to assume I’d wait for you.”
Akira just laughed softly as he moved to kneel between his legs again. He put the condom down next to them before flicking the lid off the lube. Goro held his hand out for it, but Akira hesitated.
“Can I…?”
Normally he’d prefer to do it himself to prevent things going badly with a customer, but he knew Akira did this to himself sometimes, so he doubted it’d be too terrible. Goro nodded. “Be careful,” he couldn’t help but add.
“Of course,” Akira said softly.
He spread the lube over his fingers and repositioned himself while he waited for it to warm up. Goro tilted his hips and spread his legs a little wider. He glanced up at Akira when his hand stilled. Akira tilted his head questioningly and Goro nodded slightly. He tried to remain relaxed as one of Akira’s fingers prodded at him, but it simply circled and massaged him for the moment.
Goro found himself smiling slightly at the look of intense concentration on Akira’s face. Once he was used to Akira’s touch, and thanks to the obvious care he was taking, Goro soon found himself relaxing again. Akira’s finger slid into him with little resistance, seemingly accidentally. Akira glanced up and flushed, perhaps at something in Goro’s expression.
The finger inside him slid back and forth a few times before Akira pressed in deeper, leaning in to kiss Goro a moment later. Goro traced a thumb over Akira’s cheek before moving back just far enough so they could part.
“Come on, second finger.”
“I don’t want to rush,” Akira murmured, but carefully slid another in anyway.
“Don’t you have work you’re supposed to be doing?”
“I’m going to put this under ‘running errands’,” Akira joked. He scissored his fingers a little as he drew them back, then pushed them back together and pressed deeper.
Goro sighed when this time he reached far enough to touch something interesting. “You do this for all your ‘friends’?” he mocked.
Akira snorted. “Oh fine, next time I’ll say I’m looking after my boyfriend who’s also our boss’ son.”
“Probably not the best idea you’ve ever had.”
“No, but this might be,” Akira said as he added a third finger, pressing in more confidently. It seemed he’d realised Goro was warmed up now.
“Stop talking,” he replied dryly, but was soon cut off by a small moan.
Akira sat back to get a better angle, and Goro tried to ignore the way he was smirking at him. Goro ran a hand over his shaft, bringing himself back to a full erection. Akira seemed to like watching that too.
“I’m ready,” Goro prompted, his voice more affected than he’d admit.
He didn’t get a smartass response this time. Akira gently withdrew his fingers and wiped them off on his thigh before grabbing the packet he’d brought out with him. He fumbled the condom on and bit his lip as he looked back up at Goro, who picked up the lube. He sat up a small way to put some on Akira’s dick, and he rubbed it over himself.
Once he was ready, Akira shuffled forward and glanced down as he lined himself up. Goro bit his lip as the heat and girth entered him. He couldn’t help the way he squeezed around Akira, but it made his partner moan quietly. Akira thrust into him, starting shallow and slowly going deeper.
He paused when he was all the way in, then leaned over to bring their faces closer again. Goro felt the desire to hide his.
“All right?”
Akira nodded. “And you?”
Goro thrusted his hips upward, noting Akira’s shocked expression with amusement. Akira moaned as he pressed back into him slightly out of time.
“W-wait…” Akira grabbed his hips and pressed them into the futon. Goro felt the heat bloom in his face. “I’ll come way too fast if we do that right away,” Akira explained in a strained tone.
“Then hurry up and move already.”
“Pfft,” Akira muttered as he repositioned himself so he could deliver a slow, measured thrust. Once he found his rhythm Goro sighed with pleasure and tilted his hips again. It was nice, but it still didn’t feel like enough.
“Faster,” he demanded, but didn’t fight against Akira’s hands too hard.
“But…” Akira’s face was flushed and his breaths were short and uneven. His stare was a little too intense, and once again Goro wanted to cover his face.
Goro took hold of Akira’s arm. “I want to change position. I’ll get on my front and lay on a pillow so my dick is being stimulated too.”
“O-ok,” Akira agreed. His hips stuttered to a halt and he withdrew a little hastily.
Goro shifted and shoved the pillow under his hips and stomach, then rested his head against his folded arms. He glanced back, amused, when Akira’s hands ran over his backside before he lined himself up again.
It seemed Akira had run out of self-restraint as this time he thrust harder and faster, though he managed to keep his rhythm going well enough. Between the thrusts against his sweet spot and the drag of his dick against the pillow, Goro had to press his face into the mattress and bite into one of his hands. His neighbours really didn’t need to hear that. He usually met clients at love hotels for a reason.
Goro felt himself shudder and tighten as he came on his pillowcase. Akira gasped quietly as he pressed into him deep.
It took a few minutes for them to catch their breath. Akira slid out of him as slow and careful as he’d been in the beginning. But instead of moving away he simply crawled over Goro a little further and pressed a kiss to his shoulder.
“We made a mess,” Akira murmured between deep breaths.
“Lucky for you it’s laundry day anyway.” He glanced back and saw Akira was holding the used condom. When he looked back up Akira was still staring at him. “Are you all right?”
Akira opened his mouth, but then closed it again before saying anything. He tried again after a moment. “That was… nice.”
Goro hummed in agreement before turning as far as he could to kiss Akira’s cheek. He thought he probably didn’t want to know what Akira had originally been going to say.
Even if it was supposedly the ideal outcome for his purposes.
Chapter Text
Akira frowned at the caller ID before picking up. Futaba immediately started talking loudly at full speed. “Are you two finally done being gross now? I’ve got something important to say!”
Akira glanced at Goro, who had only just gone back to sleep after changing the bed linen. “Is it super urgent, or can I pass it onto Goro in a few hours?” he asked quietly.
“Hmm… I guess it can wait a little. Not like we can do anything right away,” Futaba conceded before launching into what she wanted to get out. “But I just intercepted another batch of emails. A PI has been hired to investigate his family background. It won’t be hard for them to find out who his dad is. At least, it wasn’t hard for me to find the connection,” she added.
“So you’re saying we’re going to run out of time?” While he spoke Akira ran a search through the team inbox. He hadn’t seen an enquiry like that go in or out, but Shido could have sent it privately from a personal account. If he had, it probably didn’t bode well for him either.
“Right,” Futaba said, though she didn’t sound particularly happy. “If you want to try your plan out, you’re going to have to get more information fast. I’ll send you a list of my leads so you can search for things that’re related. I just wish we could get some legal expertise now without seeming suspicious.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Akira promised quietly, but he didn’t think this was the kind of thing he could casually bring up with Makoto or one of her contacts. “Maybe you can look at similar successful cases?”
“I have been, a little. But the people involved always get off so depressingly lightly.”
“They still have reputational damage though, right?”
“Hmm, in some cases. But then the media gets done for slander…” She was silent for a while. “Let me think on that one.”
“Ok, let me know if you come up with anything.”
“Of course!”
Akira hung up when the line went dead and glanced back over at Goro. He was concerned that at some point, bad news like this was going to trigger him to take more drastic action.
Either that, or Shido was eventually going to do something drastic that could have been prevented.
Akira shook his head and smashed out a few more replies to old emails before running a couple of the searches Futaba had requested. Mostly they were for names, so it wasn’t too hard to confirm or refute things.
After replying with his mixed results, Akira went to the fridge to retrieve his late lunch. He settled back down in front of his computer in time to join the online call, making sure his webcam wasn’t at risk of capturing Goro or anything specifically related to him. But given the most personal thing in the room was probably the plastic-covered rack that held his work clothes, that wasn’t too difficult.
Akira opened the template for meeting notes and adjusted his earbuds as he waited for everyone else. To his surprise it was the woman from Sendai, Mao, who joined first.
“Oh, hello there, Kurusu-kun.”
It worried him a little that she remembered his name, but then he realised she’d probably just read it off the meeting attendees list. He returned the greeting, hoping they’d sort the meeting room in the office out soon.
“I assumed this meeting was only with Kaneshiro-san and his people,” Akira said as he copied the list of attendees into the notes.
“Oh, it hasn’t been explained to you? He’s essentially one of my subsidiaries,” she replied with an unpleasant laugh. “I’m not happy with one of our projects, but I’m sure Satomi-san will be able to fill you in on the contract details if needed.”
Akira simply nodded in response since the webcam in Shido’s meeting room had now popped up to show everyone else, including the subject of their conversation. “So, Project 73,” Shido prompted abruptly.
Kaneshiro immediately leaned forward. “A heap of our repayment collectors have been charged or detained recently. It’s been a challenge to make the needed numbers.”
Akira abandoned his digital notes and scribbled on the notepad in front of him instead. He’d gathered enough by now to know Kaneshiro was the leader of a small time gang, likely the one in Shibuya Makoto had mentioned before. Okumura would probably want to know about this.
“So recruit more,” Mao said sharply. “We give out loans, not charity.”
Akira couldn’t help but wonder if Goro owed money to someone under Mao’s purview. Futaba might be able to tell him that much.
“That takes time,” Kaneshiro said calmly, though his hands were twisting on the table in front of him. “Of course we’re already looking, but we need some level of trust with the people we send out to collect. Some of our customers have very large monthly bills, after all.”
“I’ll consult with my contacts about which ones can get let off or bailed out,” Shido said decisively. “That’ll provide a quick fix, but you’ll need to take care of the rest.”
Kaneshiro nodded. “Of course. We can pressure advance payments from those we do get around to as well.”
“Akira, shuffle things around in my schedule so I’ll have half an hour to take care of that today,” Shido said suddenly.
“Will do,” Akira replied. When he opened the calendar he saw Shido’s appointments were back to back for the rest of the day. Of course. “I’ll phone around and message you to confirm what I had to change.”
“Good.”
Akira put himself back on mute as he jotted down a few more notes about the more normal parts of their discussion. Mostly it seemed to be something about doing accounting for what was probably just a front. Or maybe it was real, and the crime was relatively simple tax evasion.
He’d let Futaba make the call on that one. He had other things on his mind now.
Goro made a sound of mild confusion when he woke to see Akira was packing his things away. He glanced up at the clock on the wall and saw it was already half past four. He’d need to head off and start getting ready soon. He was supposed to be using tonight to make things up to his customers, after all.
“Hey, I was just about to wake you,” Akira said once he’d zipped up his laptop bag. “At least, I assume you normally get up at this time to go to work.”
Goro hummed in acknowledgement as he checked his phone. He’d received a deluge of replies to his apologies for his behaviour last night and over the last few weeks. Thankfully most of his customers seemed to be willing to forgive him, and several had said they’d be coming in tonight. When he skimmed the message Mishima had sent, it soon became apparent that was because his numbers for this month were terrible.
He checked the site his club used to both advertise its services and rank its hosts, and saw he was going to close third or lower if he didn’t make some big sales in the next two days. Then of course he’d need to make sure he had enough put away to make his next loan payment at the end of the month.
“You ok?” Akira asked from over by the table.
Goro saw one of his long-time regulars had suggested they should have an early birthday party for him tonight. He reflected he’d better be ready to pack it away, and to wear something he could wash the smell of champagne out of.
“I’m at risk of losing my number one position for this month,” Goro finally explained as he put his phone down. “If I don’t do something about it, Shido might go find someone else to hire.”
“Oh,” Akira replied as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t think that’s something I can help with, sorry.”
Goro frowned at him. “I wasn’t expecting you to.” He climbed out of bed, a little amused at the way Akira averted his eyes from his naked body. “Don’t you have any faith in me?” he teased lightly. He put on some clean underwear before searching through what passed for his wardrobe.
“Thought we already established that,” Akira said casually, and Goro couldn’t tell if he was being serious. “Anyway,” Akira added as Goro moved into the bathroom to wash up before getting changed. “My friend wants to catch up again before she goes overseas for work. If you’re free on Sunday afternoon you’re welcome to come. We’re meeting at Leblanc, and I feel like Futaba’s going to have something she wants to say to us by then, so…”
It was almost amusing how much it seemed Akira had thought convincing him through. “I’ll see how I’m holding up tomorrow before I commit to anything.”
Akira nodded from where he was leaning against the bathroom doorway. His eyes remained on the ground as Goro got changed into his shirt and pants. He carefully tied the charcoal tie before moving back to the main room to find his burgundy jacket and choose accessories. Most of the rest of his routine was done at the club so he could take advantage of the facilities.
“All right, I need to go now. Get out of my house,” Goro teased.
Akira gave half an amused smile, but his mind seemed to be on something else. “Are you going to use your birthday to recover your losses?”
Goro was surprised he knew that was coming up, but for all he knew Futaba had mentioned it in passing. “Essentially. It just means I’ll have to pull out all the stops for June since the other guys’ customers get quite competitive during that month.”
Akira nodded again, but this time he gathered his things and followed Goro over to the door. “Well, good luck. But if you call me at midnight again, there will be talks.”
“You’re no fun.” Goro paused when he noticed Akira was hesitating over something.
“Just… You should probably make sure you have a bit extra. I know at least one gang’s income has been cut short by a big police op, and they’re planning to put the pressure back on their debtors until they figure things out.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Goro said quietly as he unlocked his door and gave himself a pat down to make sure he’d pocketed everything he needed.
Akira followed him down to the gate and held it for him while he grabbed his bike. Goro swung his leg over it, then hesitated. He wasn’t running late, as such. So…
“I’ll drop you off at the station on my way.”
Akira opened his mouth, obviously aware that the nearest station was in the opposite direction to his club. After a moment he closed his mouth and nodded before climbing on the back. Once they’d pushed off, one of Akira’s hands came to rest on his back.
“Thanks.”
Goro kept his eyes fixed on the path ahead and resolutely ignored the odd twist somewhere in his chest.
“Goro-kun! I’ve been saving up for your birthday all year!” one of his former regulars claimed as she bumped her shoulder against his in the booth seat. “It feels good knowing I can save you,” Hanako teased.
She was a very successful hostess, but Goro hadn’t seen her around for some time. “I thought you were retiring this year,” he replied. “Lucky I was wrong.”
“I want to get a champagne tower!” Mieko giggled on the other side of the table. He suspected she was still too young to drink legally, but it wasn’t like he was encouraged to ID people. She’d risen quickly after dropping out of university to take up a hostess job further down the street, in any case.
“I was going to do that!” Rin protested as she flipped her long hair over her shoulder. Goro knew she worked at a brothel, but normally she wanted to talk about anything but work. Unless he asked her about a specific customer, of course.
“There’s no reason you can’t both do that!” Hanako teased. “But we’d better make sure he doesn’t drink too much, in case he gets sick again!”
Goro glanced away and brought his fingers up by his mouth, playing up his embarrassment. “Please don’t make fun of me, Hanako-chan.”
“Aww, don’t worry! I’ll buy you something for later,” she teased. “You have that four million yen drink in stock, right?” she added as she leaned closer. “Kohaku-chan said she’d go halvsies on it with me.”
Goro couldn’t help the way his eyebrows shot up. “Kohaku-chan?”
She’d never so much as set foot in his club before, and he doubted she’d ever want to be seen in such a seedy area of Shinjuku. But maybe she was trying to avoid arousing Shido’s suspicion too.
In which case, maybe he didn’t need to worry about her saying anything unnecessary to him.
“Anyway, happy early birthday!” Mieko interrupted and downed the drink she’d been sitting on. “It’s champagne time!”
As the night wore on, more of his regulars finished up at their own jobs and came into the club. He couldn’t serve all of them personally, but he made sure to at least greet everyone who came by. And since a lot of the junior hosts were stuck serving his customers instead of trying to win over one of the new ones, he made sure to thank them for their help.
By the end of the night the club manager seemed to be more than happy with him again. He dumped twelve one million yen stacks on the table Goro had just finished clearing. “Take the weekend off, kid,” he said gruffly before returning to back of house.
While Goro looked around for some kind of bag to put it in, Mishima approached him with wide eyes. “Damn, there’s a reason you’ve been number one for five months straight, huh?”
“I think I just called in every favour I was ever owed, and then some,” Goro replied quietly. “Speaking of which, we had an agreement.”
Mishima looked surprised. “Oh, but, you were here today?”
“Given the circumstances, I think it counts,” Goro said as he opened the club’s site. When he logged in he could get a better idea of which customers his money was coming from. Goro’s brows went up when he saw Mishima’s numbers. “You had a good night too.”
Mishima waved a hand in front of his face. “Not really. I think the girls were intent on spending on you to begin with.”
Goro knelt behind the bar area and retrieved a plastic bag before making his way back over to the table with his money on it. He handed over one of the stacks. “This should bring you close to a hundred percent.”
“Are you sure?” Mishima asked, eyes growing wide once more.
“I think we both have better things to do than count it out exactly.”
“Ok! I’m gonna use it to follow your advice,” Mishima said in a tone far firmer than usual. “And, uh, catch up on my rent.”
Goro’s mouth quirked into a half smile. “That would probably be wise.”
It was a relief when less than an hour later he was able to curl up under the covers of his futon again. He was too tired to question his urge to message Akira about his successful comeback before falling asleep.
Chapter Text
Looks like I’m safe for another month.
Akira stared at the message that’d arrived long before he’d woken up. Part of him hadn’t been expecting to receive something so… casual? They were supposed to be in some kind of relationship, but this looked like something he’d send a customer.
Though it was probably a little too honest for that.
That aside, Akira really was relieved it was likely Goro would continue being hired for the occasional booking. If Akira had to start dealing with Shido after hours alone, it could get both dangerous and uncomfortable. Not to mention, some part of him protested against the idea of being subjected to another host.
He doubted Goro was awake yet, but Akira sent his response anyway. I take it things went well, then. What are you doing tomorrow? I think the current plan at Leblanc is hot pot. If he had any allergies, it’d be good to be able to warn whoever was planning to bring ingredients.
With that out the way, Akira flicked back to browsing the florist website he’d been perusing. He doubted Goro would want him to make a big deal out of his birthday, especially given its proximity to the date of his mother’s death, but Akira didn’t want to ignore it either. He thought he had a good idea, but…
His phone vibrated in his hand and Akira flicked over to the messaging app without checking it properly. Surprisingly, Goro had replied already. He hoped he hadn’t woken him up.
What time?
Akira absently noticed the smile on his face as he replied. I promised Sojiro we wouldn’t interfere with his lunch rush, so 2pm until he decides to kick us out. It’s ok if you need to come late.
Other way around, I’ll leave in the afternoon so I can get to work.
Ok
Did you just…?
Akira frowned at the unexpected reply before laughing quietly to himself. I didn’t mean it like that, but now you mention it…
When Goro ignored him for the next few minutes, Akira supposed he couldn’t really blame him. He returned his attention to the website, but he still couldn’t make a decision. If he ordered it pickup and then got Goro to grab it on his way home, he’d at least avoid inconveniencing and embarrassing him.
And if he really wanted to refuse it, he’d be able to do that too.
A new message distracted him. omg just buy it. I’ll get haru-chan to make sure he doesn’t kill it. Futaba, of course.
Rude
how could I not snoop when I can feel you pining from here
Akira shook his head slightly, embarrassed. He’d known to expect this from her, but obvious evidence of her snooping still made him feel uneasy. Instead of replying, he simply put the order in. A moment later he got a celebratory emoji.
but more importantly… can you bring me some hot pot after?
Akira made a sound of amusement. Sure.
Akira made sure to get to the station a little early so Goro wouldn’t have to feel awkward about being in Leblanc without him. At first he didn’t spot Goro in the crowd of people getting off the train, but then he realised his uncanny lookalike in the casual outfit was in fact him. At least, the blue chequered short sleeved top and tan jeans seemed casual by big city standards.
“Hey,” Akira greeted as he adjusted his satchel bag. He’d brought along what felt like half his kitchen, given his friends’ tastes could be varied at best.
Goro nodded and shifted the plastic bag he was holding to his other hand so they could make their way to the stairs side-by-side. He checked something on his phone, then glanced up when they reached street level. “Futaba wants food.”
Akira laughed a little. “Yeah I know, I promised her I’d deliver yesterday.”
“Was that before she knew I was coming?” The idea seemed to bother him.
“Can’t remember, but Sojiro is a pretty good character reference, right?” Akira replied lightly. Goro only frowned. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. I’m just surprised because it took months for the both of us to agree to meet in person.”
“Well, I mean, you’re both… cautious people,” Akira said diplomatically. “You would’ve been the first person after Sojiro allowed in her space, right? You made it easier for me.”
Goro didn’t answer, but Akira hoped he’d addressed whatever insecurity had arisen.
They slowed to a stop when they reached Leblanc. “Please encourage your friends to keep whatever shit testing they have planned to a minimum. I have a headache.”
Akira was about to insist he could relax, but then remembered how protective all his friends could be. “I’ll tell them to chill out. Are you dehydrated or something?”
The weather was sticky today, which might explain the more casual outfit. Though Akira suspected it had more to do with making himself look something like what his friends would expect from the partner he chose.
“Probably.”
Akira moved ahead to hold the door open, and as soon as the bell rang he was greeted by Ann and Ryuji yelling over the top of Makoto and Yusuke’s heads. He raised a hand before glancing back at Goro, who looked a little stunned.
“Don’t mind the noise,” Akira joked. Goro glanced at him, but their attention soon turned to Sojiro as he came out from behind the counter.
“All right children, be good and clean up after yourselves,” he said as he dropped the café key into Akira’s hand. “Just drop that in my mailbox before you go home, Goro-kun can show you where.”
“Oh, thanks,” Akira replied, pleased to be trusted with that.
“Have a good afternoon,” Goro added as he stepped out of the doorway so Sojiro could leave. Akira let the door fall shut behind him, making the bell ring once more. The sudden silence was awkward in comparison.
Akira moved over to the table and started unpacking the things he’d brought along for their cooking experiment. “So, uh, let’s see. Introductions… Well, you already know Ryuji.” He raised a hand, but still seemed a little closed off. “Ann here is the one who’ll be ditching us to travel for work soon.”
“You’re just jealous because it’s not humid where I’m going,” Ann teased as she absently ran a hand through her hair. She looked perhaps a little too enthusiastic about all of this.
“Then we have Yusuke and Makoto, who we managed to draw away from their respective desks for this.”
Makoto made a put upon face while Yusuke brought a hand to his chin. “Perhaps I have been spending too much time cooped up in the studio lately.”
“It’s nice to meet you all,” Goro said pleasantly, then handed his grocery bag to Akira. He couldn’t help the interested noise when he saw the array of vegetables.
“Yeah, at last!” Ann teased. “Guess we should make room for you, or do you want to put the food on now, Akira?”
“I’m starving!” Ryuji complained, and that seemed to decide things.
“When are you not?” Akira mocked as he took the food over to the counter and started getting cutting boards and whatnot out of the kitchen. Goro followed him as he went to the cupboard to get the pot out, and his friends got up to start preparing the vegetables.
In hardly any time at all they had warm broth, cooked noodles, and plenty of toppings to be added as desired. Normally they’d prefer to sit around it together, but in the interest of trying to stop the air conditioning from failing, it seemed smarter to just cook it and turn the heat off.
After a bit of jostling and arguing, Ryuji got stuck in one of the booth seats closest to the wall with Ann and Yusuke jamming themselves in next to him. Makoto had a little more grace when she sat, and Akira gestured for Goro to sit down first.
“It’ll be easier if I’m on the outside,” he said lightly as he held up his chopsticks in his left hand.
“Oh, right,” Akira muttered as he sidled past him and sat next to Makoto. “Do you have enough room?”
She smiled slightly and nodded, though her eyes didn’t quite meet his. It seemed she had something else on her mind.
Goro sat next to him and they collectively decided to start eating. Ryuji ate as quickly as ever and was the first to comment. “So good! We should do this more often.”
“Well, you had your chance to make me your housewife,” Akira joked.
“Ugh, Makoto, arrest that man!” Ryuji said loudly and the others laughed.
Makoto shook her head helplessly, but her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “He didn’t even say anything yet!” Ann teased loudly, and then Yusuke joined in and the café was suddenly filled with noise again.
Akira glanced at Makoto, who was usually reserved, but wasn’t getting involved in the ribbing as much as she normally would. “You ok?”
She glanced up in surprise, but soon nodded slowly. “Yeah… Can we talk later?”
“Of course.”
She could be bothered by Goro after what Akira had said about their relationship last time. But he thought it was probably more likely that her sister was giving her a hard time, or that something was wrong at work. This wouldn’t be the first time he’d acted as her sounding board.
When Akira turned his attention back to his food, he noticed Goro was giving them a questioning look. But he soon looked away when the other three started quieting down again.
“So, Ann-san, where are you off to?” Goro asked.
Akira got the feeling he was trying to beat them to talking points to avoid talking about himself. But he knew Ann had more tenacity than that.
“Australia!” she said brightly.
“At least it’s somewhere you can speak English this time,” Ryuji commented.
“Maybe!” She laughed. “I’m more used to American accents, so it could get interesting.” She took a bite of food before asking, “So anyway, how did you two meet?”
“Uh, at work, I guess,” Akira replied as he looked at Goro. Maybe they should have agreed on an answer to questions like these in advance.
“Yours or mine?” Goro teased.
“Both when it comes to Shido, right?” Akira noted the way Goro’s mouth tightened at the use of his name. “My boss is kind of weird,” he explained for the others’ benefit.
“Uh, are you trying to say he booked hosts instead of hostesses?” Ann asked, clearly surprised. “Sounds like quite the story.”
“Not quite,” Akira said as he waved a hand in front of his face. “I think it started as a joke because I was underwhelmed by the prospect of being made to hang out at a hostess club with people I work with, but…”
“You hit it off pretty quick,” Ryuji said now that he’d finished eating.
“I suppose you could say that,” Goro replied as he reached for Akira’s free hand under the table. While he was pleased, part of him knew that’d probably been calculated too. He squeezed his hand back anyway.
Makoto seemed to be the only one who didn’t buy it. Though that was hard to tell when Yusuke seemed to be too busy drawing on a napkin to care much about what they were saying. Ryuji followed Akira’s gaze and leaned over to look at what Yusuke was doing.
“Uh oh, you’re not going to ruin this by asking someone to model nude for you again, are you?”
“No,” Yusuke protested before doing something under the table that made Ryuji wince. “It just seemed a shame to waste a bout of inspiration.”
Goro put his chopsticks down across his bowl, seemingly done even though he’d only eaten the vegetables. “I hope you don’t mean me.” He raised a brow and leaned over to take a look as well.
It seemed to be a group of sketches of a few different expressions. Whether subconsciously or otherwise, it seemed Yusuke had picked up on the variances in his demeanour.
Ann smacked a hand against her forehead. “Don’t worry, this is basically how Yusuke and I met,” she said exasperatedly.
“Oh, well,” Goro crossed his legs and adopted his host smile. “I normally charge for this sort of thing.” He even sounded more like he did at work. Akira stroked a thumb over the back of his hand.
Ann laughed loudly while Ryuji looked scandalised. Naturally Yusuke looked troubled.
“The best I can do is agree to split the profits if I manage to sell the piece,” he eventually said seriously.
Akira snorted. “I think I know where we can find a few potential buyers.” Goro let go of his hand and smacked his arm. “What? You started it.”
Akira smiled to himself as they all continued to joke around. Maybe they were slowly getting somewhere.
Chapter Text
“Dude, you barely ate,” Ryuji commented as they emptied their bowls and cleaned up.
“Well, I basically drink professionally, and alcoholic drinks can have a lot of calories,” Goro explained, mostly hiding his discomfort with the topic.
Ryuji sighed and shook his head like Akira knew he would. “There are better ways. More nutritional ways.” Akira took his bowl and put it in the sink so he could wash it. “I could give you some ideas?”
“I think I’ll be fine, thank you.” It was obvious how much of a struggle being polite had been.
As Ann nudged Ryuji and told him to stop acting like his mother, Akira was distracted by Makoto’s approach. Since the ice seemed to be sufficiently broken between the others for now, he put the tea towel down and stepped out from behind the counter.
They went upstairs into the attic full of dust and cat hair. Sojiro had once joked that he should board up here, but of course Akira had retorted that he wasn’t interested in suffocating.
They pulled up an empty crate each and Akira dared to lean back against one of the sacks of coffee beans on the shelf behind him. “So what’s up?”
Makoto pressed her hands together in her lap and gave a small sigh. “I know I don’t need to tell you, but don’t talk to anyone else about this.” Akira nodded and she continued, “I’ve noticed some strange things going on at work.”
Akira’s brow went up a little. “Like what?”
“Well… We just had a successful bust across Shibuya. A good twenty people’s involvement in a local gang was just a few steps away from being properly confirmed. But then nearly half of them were suddenly let go for no reason that I can discern.”
“Really?” Akira supplied, too worried the sinking feeling in his gut would come through in his voice if he said anything more substantial. The connection between Shido’s, and frankly his own, actions was obvious.
Makoto nodded, but she still looked gravely concerned. “Naturally I submitted a report regarding my worries about potential police corruption, but apparently it wasn’t treated as confidentially as advertised. I was essentially warned by my immediate superior that I had to either turn the other cheek or resign before things became bad for me. Not in those words, of course, but the intention was clear…”
“What are you going to do?” Akira asked quietly.
“I don’t know,” Makoto whispered as she shook her head. She folded her arms around her middle. “If I ignore this, then I’ll just be participating in the corruption I want to help put a stop to one day. But if I lose my position, then I’ll never have a chance to achieve what I set out to do!”
“That’s quite the decision,” Akira said quietly. But he wasn’t sure if he had any advice when he was in a similar situation himself. “Isn’t there someone higher up you can escalate it to directly?”
“Well, that’s the problem,” Makoto said quietly. “I don’t know how high up this goes. It must be pretty far given they got away with something so egregious. Besides, I’m already treated like I’m just there to do some community service until I find a husband,” she added bitterly.
Akira propped his ankle on his opposite knee and gave a sympathetic hum. “How would you define your goal now, exactly?”
Makoto glanced up at him before looking away, seemingly a little embarrassed. “To uncover and address injustice that gets swept under the rug. To me, that includes corruption within the police force.”
“Right,” he murmured as he tried to string his thoughts together into something coherent. “I can see how working in police boxes, and now your more investigative work, has been important experience for you. And rising through the police ranks certainly seems to be the most direct way to achieve that. But realistically, you might need to assess some other ways of doing it.”
As feared, Makoto initially looked upset and betrayed. “Are you saying I should just give up?” But before he could deny it, she shook her head and looked away. “No, I know that’s not what you meant. I… my father…”
“You probably wanted to emulate him in some way,” Akira acknowledged. “But you’re not him, and there’s only so much anyone can do from inside a broken system. It’d be a shame if you got permanently stuck somewhere you couldn’t do anything from.”
“I did consider getting into politics at one point,” Makoto admitted. “But that’s possibly even more hostile for young women.”
Akira sat up a little straighter as an idea started to form. “Have you ever considered something like investigative journalism? Your education and contacts would probably let you focus on crime and corruption pretty effectively.”
“I don’t know,” Makoto said quietly. “I think Sae might actually pull her hair out if I focused on something that had such an unreliable income. But it’s probably worth looking into as an option, at least,” she conceded.
“There’s no need to rush into things.”
Makoto sat up a little straighter and gripped the edges of the crate. “I’m not so sure about that. I am going to try and raise my concerns to higher places. If I happen to get fired because of it, then so be it. At least I’ll be able to say I tried to report my concerns when this is uncovered.”
Akira appreciated her optimistic ‘when’, but what she was suggesting could end up being very dangerous if the wrong person caught wind of her. He supposed he’d just have to give those kinds of people something more pressing to worry about.
“Please be careful.”
“Of course,” Makoto agreed as she stood up, but Akira knew their definitions didn’t necessarily line up. “Thanks for listening, as always.”
“No problem,” Akira said as he followed her back downstairs.
He was both glad and a little worried at how quickly she seemed to have bounced back. But he couldn’t dwell on it too long when Goro seemed to be ready to go see Futaba before heading off.
“Ok, I promised I’d help with a delivery to a friend,” Akira said as he poured out the coffee he’d made earlier into a few disposable cups. He picked up the bag containing the hotpot he’d packed away in a container.
“All right! We’ll go get some drinks and sweets so we can continue this party!” Ann said excitedly.
“Sweets?” Ryuji muttered. “Better go with to make sure you don’t go overboard.”
“Then I guess I’ll keep an eye on the café,” Makoto said as she sat back down opposite Yusuke, who was now sketching in an actual book and not on Sojiro’s dining wares. “And him,” she added quietly, though Yusuke seemed to be oblivious to the world around him.
“Well, it was nice to meet you all,” Goro said with a nod.
“See you next time!” Ann said enthusiastically.
“If you’re serious, that is,” Makoto added, markedly less friendly.
Akira groaned and herded Goro toward the door before he could look offended. “Mum, stop,” he teased.
Makoto’s face tinged pink, but the both of them were out the door before she had a chance to stop spluttering.
“Ooh, and coffee, too!” Futaba said approvingly before taking a slurp.
Akira hadn’t had a chance to touch his yet, since Morgana had decided to climb into his lap and was now insistently head-butting his chin. “Oh yes, yes,” Akira muttered as he stroked both hands down the cat’s back. He glanced at Goro out the corner of his eye and couldn’t help but snort at his look of utter confusion.
Morgana turned far enough to start licking one of his hands incessantly. Futaba laughed, though it sounded more mischievous than anything. “Stop it Mona, you’ll make him jealous!”
Goro rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. “Anyway, I hear we have a decision to make.”
Futaba nodded enthusiastically even as she slurped up the noodles. “Yeah, we’ve amassed quite a bit of info so far. But, we need a solid plan so we can better focus any future collection efforts. So we’ve gotta vote, legal action or grand theft everything?”
“I suppose those are the only two options now?” Goro asked as he leaned back on his hands and crossed his legs.
“If you still need stuff from me, then yes,” Akira replied as he let Morgana settle in his lap.
“Then I want the second one.”
Futaba nodded. “Me too! I wanna use my skills, not just rely on someone else.”
They both looked at Akira and he sighed softly. “This morning I would have said the first one. But I can see now that Shido has a lot more influence in the legal system than I thought. And if we don’t act quickly, a friend of mine might get in some serious trouble. So… the second one.”
“Hell yeah!” Futaba said, practically bouncing in her chair. “We already know Haru-chan agrees, but she’s busy doing CEO things right now.”
Futaba spun around and started doing something on her computer. A page of what appeared to be her notes came up on one of her many screens.
“So, Shido has two main pseudonyms, which I’ve already been digging into. His business network is also really wide,” she added as she scrolled down the page to a complicated diagram with lines and circles all over it. “But I think I’ve narrowed down who he’s likely to go to for help first. So when we knock out the stuff under his own names, we’ll be able to damage the first person who helps him too. More than likely, that’ll scare the rest off for a good while until we have enough to deliver the crippling blow.”
“You’re kind of terrifying,” Akira commented as he noted the number of links to other information and accounts she had lined up.
“Thanks!” Futaba said brightly. “But we have one more super important thing to decide.”
It seemed Goro hadn’t been expecting this. He looked concerned for a moment, but Futaba quickly cracked.
“We’ve gotta choose a pseudonym to operate under! With one central identity, our enemies will have something to fear,” she added as she tapped her fingertips together like a cartoon villain.
“I assume you already have something in mind,” Goro said flatly.
Futaba nodded vigorously. She picked up what looked like a business card off the table and dramatically tossed it in his direction. It fell a little short, but Goro leaned over to pick it up with a sigh.
He massaged his forehead. “It’s fine, you can call yourself whatever you want.” After a moment he held it up to Akira.
RobynH00d
“Kinda androgynous, kinda righteous. Seems to fit the group well enough,” Akira teased.
“And we’ll be bringing his accounts down to zero!” Futaba exclaimed, not wanting them to miss that part.
They continued to discuss the logistics of communication for a while, as well as what Akira was going to do when the company he worked for went bust. But he had something of a backup plan with the cash stored under his bed.
It wasn’t too long before they had to leave. Goro had a shift to get to, and Sojiro could return from the goose chase in Akihabara he’d been sent on at any time.
“Hey,” Akira said as they neared the station. “I know you probably don’t want me to say anything about it, but it feels wrong to ignore it completely. I’m assuming your birthday is during the week, so now seems like the best time.”
Goro frowned slightly at his chatter and seemed a little tense.
“Uh, you can just pick it up from the florist on your way home,” Akira finally said before handing over the folded piece of paper. “If you want.”
Goro opened the short note and read its contents. It was just a greeting and a short explanation of the gift, as well as the order number so he could pick it up. Goro closed it again and they both continued walking to the station.
“Thank you,” he said eventually, though Akira wasn’t quite sure how to take it. “It’d be a waste to just leave it there.”
“Guess we’ll chat later in the week,” Akira said. He glanced at the station entrance when it sounded like the next Shibuya-bound train was arriving. “See you.”
Goro waved before hurrying down the stairs. All in all, things seemed to have gone ok. Akira turned back around and headed for Leblanc, hoping he’d get to destress before things inevitably ramped up again.
Chapter Text
Goro softly closed his apartment door behind him, then leaned back against it with a small sigh. He wasn’t quite sure why he felt so exhausted, but he’d have to get over it soon so he could go to work. He brought the small potted plant closer to his face as he considered what he should do with it.
The small, white flowers were reminiscent of what he usually bought at this time of year. The note explaining he didn’t need to worry if the flowers got squashed when the bush could grow more was still in his pocket. Though, he hadn’t really needed it to understand Akira’s intentions.
It was embarrassing and cheesy, and why Akira had felt the need to do something like this at all was still a mystery. But he had to admit he appreciated the sentiment on some level.
Goro looked around his dimly lit apartment as he stepped away from the door. The plant was supposed to get sunlight for most of the day, so he wasn’t sure where to keep it. Outside on the balcony would probably be fine for this time of year, but he’d have to figure something else out in a few months.
He shifted the heavy curtain aside as he opened the door and reached over to sit it on the wooden seat that was basically the only thing that could fit out there. His gaze passed over the darkening and relatively quiet residential street below. There was no sign of the collection agent yet, but he knew there would be by the time he was ready for work.
Goro moved to the bathroom and changed out of the casual clothes into something more appropriate for his line of work. He’d bought them early on, after he’d finally become used to the concept of having some level of disposable income, but before he’d figured out how to dress himself properly. Wearing it had felt like a good way to make himself seem innocuous, but in the end none of them had seemed to care particularly. Least of all Akira.
Before he could think about that too much, Goro headed out the door with the things he’d need for another busy night. He took his bike, but simply walked it to the usual street corner since it wasn’t far.
The same muscle head as always was waiting for him. The guy was shorter than him, but much broader. Goro didn’t normally carry a knife around when he knew he was going to end up in a love hotel later in the night, but for this he’d made an exception. Especially after Akira’s warning.
But surprisingly he wasn’t heckled over whether the envelope he handed over had the right amount in it, nor was he asked for more. “Same time next month, but in spot two,” the man said hurriedly.
“Ok,” Goro replied as he made a mental note of the number. He knew by now that was the street corner near the Triple 7. “Is everything ok?”
The guy seemed surprised to be asked. So much so that he actually answered honestly.
“Things are messed up right now. But since you’re the least troublesome of the debtors I manage, I just wanna get this over with quickly.”
“Is this related to those arrests in Shibuya?” Goro asked as he put his free hand in his pocket, trying to appear only casually interested.
“You already heard about that too? Well yeah, basically there’s a shortage of people who can do pickups. I’ve still got a few more left.”
“All right then, I won’t keep you.” It was probably best to cut things off before the guy got annoyed at him for being nosy. “So, spot two, and another eighteen payments at the usual amount?” He usually got reminded of the debt he knew inside out with a bit of glaring and knuckle cracking, but it seemed this guy had had a busy day of that already.
“You got it. Just don’t go throwing your money away if you don’t recognise the guy that’s there next month.” Before Goro could remind him that any hesitance on his part normally led to aggression, he’d already walked past him, likely on his way to his next client.
When Goro arrived at work, he was surprised to see some of the posters had been updated. He soon realised it was because someone new had started, and because Mishima had cut his hair short again. The soft looking turtleneck he’d worn for it stood out among the more formal clothes, but not in a bad way.
By the time Goro had put his bike away and finished getting ready, it was definitely well into business hours. He hovered between different tables, playing a supporting role until it was late enough for some of his regulars to start arriving.
He was surprised to see Rin there so soon after his ‘birthday’, but she seemed quieter than usual. Once things had slowed for the night, he returned to her table with the drinks she’d ordered.
“Can I sit next to you?”
She pulled her long, straight hair over her shoulder before nodding and moving a little, though she was already wedged into the corner of the booth. Goro put their drinks down before sitting close enough for their knees to touch. If she was being this quiet, then something had to be up.
“Did you work today?”
Her grimace told him he’d correctly guessed the source of her bad mood. “Yes, I saw your favourite person.”
“Sounds like he’s becoming yours, too,” Goro commented lightly, gently nudging her arm with his elbow.
Rin gave him a small smile and took a sip of her drink. “Something like that.” She sighed softly. “I just hate doing those house visits. Not that working in the baths is much better, but at least I have control of the environment and have other people I know around.”
“I can imagine it makes a difference. But why did you end up at his place?”
She shrugged slightly. “I don’t know, someone he had at his house hired us to come over. Then all he did was gripe that they were lucky he has sooo much money on him all the time.” Rin rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I wonder if he has a personality outside the things he has.”
“Only bragging about where he’s put his dick, as far as I can tell.”
Rin suppressed a smirk by drinking a substantial amount of what was left in her glass. “Is that really all he talks about even when he’s with those fancy hostesses?”
Goro shrugged. He didn’t like revealing too much about what he did outside the club, but it seemed someone else had beat him to it. He put an arm over the back of the seat and Rin shuffled closer.
“Some people only think about one thing.”
“Yeah, I’m one of them,” Rin mocked in return, putting a hand far too high on his leg to be decent. He just rolled his eyes. “But I heard you have a boyfriend,” she added as she took her hand away.
Goro raised his brows, not sure how to feel about the fact that was even a rumour. “Who did you hear that from?”
“Some Roppongi girls.”
The ones Shido liked to hire alongside him, Goro supposed. “Well, I think that’s a slight exaggeration.” He needed to say that, but it didn’t feel right. “He knows what my job is.”
“Hmm, I don’t know,” she murmured as she brought a manicured nail to her chin. “If you’ve been sucking his dick all this time, do you even still know how to please me?”
Most of his customers would get upset if he called anything they did outside the club work, but Rin had always had a different attitude to these things. Likely because she had a different perspective from working in a brothel and not a club.
Things were already quiet here, though. There was no point in sticking around until closing time.
“Well, there’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?”
Akira frowned at his phone when it vibrated against what little bench space he had. He rubbed his eyes and squinted down at the message, then continued shoving the leftover onigiri in his mouth as he tried to make it out. By the time he’d figured out it said something like ‘answer the door’, he’d already heard the soft knock.
Given the early hour, he wasn’t at all surprised to find it was Goro on his doorstep. Akira was quick to let him in since he was still only half dressed.
“Morning,” Akira muttered as he closed the door behind Goro. He ran a hand over the side of his face, mostly missing the strange look that crossed Goro’s.
“I wanted to talk about this in person,” Goro said without preamble. “Texting about our plan when it isn’t necessary would just be asking for trouble.”
Akira nodded as he returned to the fridge and pulled out some more food. Goro didn’t look drunk, which probably meant he’d had a chance to sober up sometime during the night. But if he hadn’t been at the club drinking the whole time and still hadn’t arrived until now…
Goro sat at his table like he belonged there, but this time Akira didn’t find it annoying. “Makes sense, but I’m running late, so let’s make this quick.”
Surprisingly he accepted the food without complaint, but he soon started talking. “Right, so I found out Shido is still sitting on a lot of cash. It’s stored in both his office and his home. So even if we wreck everything he has stored digitally, he’ll still have a reasonable buffer to work with.”
“Oh, right. That’s where the money for that trip came from,” Akira said, automatically glancing in the direction of his bed. It was still there last time he’d checked, anyway.
“Good, that makes one part of this easier. Basically, on the day of our heist, if that’s what you want to call it, I’m going to have to physically steal from his house and workplace as well. Rin seemed to know about the first part, but if you know about the second then we can figure something out sooner.”
“Rin is… one of your customers?” Akira guessed. Suddenly the fact he didn’t seem all that intoxicated made sense. “Did you…? Actually, don’t answer that.”
“I told you—” Goro began, but Akira cut him off.
“I know.” Akira shoved the last of his food in his mouth before standing up. “We can figure out a better time to go over what I remember. I’ll see if I can find an excuse to look around more closely today, too.”
“Don’t do anything too suspicious yet,” Goro said as he got to his feet as well. He followed Akira into his room and stopped in front of him, cupping Akira’s face even as he did his shirt up. “There’s no point in putting yourself at risk until everything is ready.”
Akira nodded. “I know, I know. You’d lose your in.”
Goro glanced away before replying. “It’s not just about that. When this is over, I’ll be able to stop doing all this. I’ll give you that chance.”
Akira struggled to meet his gaze. He badly wanted that to be true. But now that misplacing his trust would have real, lifelong consequences, at least part of him wanted to slam the brakes on. Still, he could never be content staying where he was.
Akira stepped forward a little and wrapped his arms around him. Goro returned his embrace.
“You don’t have to bribe me. I already made my mind up.”
Goro spoke quietly, since his mouth was right by Akira’s ear. “Who said you’d be the only one to get anything out of it?”
It took a few moments for Akira to realise he was holding his breath. He had to break up the tension somehow. “Does this mean you liked your present?”
Goro made a soft sound of amusement. “Just don’t get mad at me if I accidentally kill it.”
Akira couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Then tell me if it starts looking sad.”
“Ok.”
Chapter Text
Akira’s nerves had been slowly building throughout the week. They’d finally decided on a day to enact their plan, and it was coming up all too soon. No matter what happened his life was going to be flipped upside-down, and of course there was always the risk they’d be discovered.
So, a concerning text from Goro on the evening before everything was supposed to go down was not calming in the slightest.
I’ve been booked out for a place in Roppongi tomorrow night.
They all knew Shido was the only person who’d been making specific bookings for him lately. Akira wasn’t sure how to reply without potentially incriminating himself later, but Futaba’s was simple.
Abort! Abort!
Given tomorrow was Thursday, it was unlikely this was a coincidence. But if it was a test or a trap, refusing to go would probably play out just as badly as avoiding it. Still, just maybe they could also turn it into an opportunity.
What if… he drinks a lot? Like, pass out drunk?
Goro replied a moment later. What if we ensure the ‘pass out’ part?
That would certainly give them more time, but it could also give Goro an opportunity to go behind their backs. While Akira liked to think they’d established some trust, he knew all of this had been both torturing and fuelling Goro for much longer than the few months Akira had been tolerating Shido.
From what he could surmise, the best chance they had would be attending the function and hoping it wasn’t a trap. And then, ideally, springing their own.
I’m still ready to go.
A few minutes later his phone rang. The sound of bass in the background indicated Goro was still at work, but probably in the back room for now. “You’re freaking out, aren’t you?”
“Maybe a little,” Akira admitted.
“I’ll finish up early tonight. Make sure you’re up early too so I can come see you.”
“Goro…” Akira murmured. “I guess we should talk about things beforehand. And the money…” He was too worried to carry a year’s wages around himself, but there was a chance he might not be able to come home after. He’d already given anything of sentimental value to Haru for safekeeping.
“That, and you sound like you could use some stress relief.” His tone made his intentions clear.
Akira flushed. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.” Goro sounded serious rather than flirty. “Anything could happen tomorrow.”
“Well… I guess it won’t matter if I get in a little late.” He wouldn’t be made to work back if he had places to be.
“Try to get some rest. We’ll need to be at our best tomorrow night.”
Akira made a sound of agreement, but that would probably be easier said than done.
When Akira woke, he was twisted up in his blanket and rock hard. He couldn’t remember what he’d been dreaming about, but he wouldn’t be surprised if it had something to do with Goro. He reached for his phone and checked the time just as his alarm blared.
Groaning, Akira stabbed at the screen until it turned off. Just as he got out of the bed and was on his way to the toilet, he heard a knock at the door. When he answered it he kept his body behind it. Goro was there with a backpack slung over one shoulder, but his confused expression quickly turned to amusement as he came inside.
“I just got up,” Akira said defensively.
“I can see that,” Goro teased as he pushed his shoes off and stepped inside properly. He kissed Akira, which he was about to protest against, but between his morning breath and Goro’s alcohol breath, it probably didn’t matter. “Do you need a moment?”
Akira nodded before pulling away and doing the hastiest version of his morning routine that he could. When he emerged from the bathroom he was still only in his underwear, but he liked to think he was more presentable now.
Given how tiny his apartment was, it didn’t take long for him to find Goro in his room, sitting on his bed. He’d already taken off his tie and jacket. Akira still felt comparatively naked in just his underwear, but he pushed the feeling aside and climbed into Goro’s lap. He wrapped his arms around his neck and pressed forward for another kiss.
Goro hummed as his hands slid around to support him, one on his upper back and the other lower down, fingers brushing the waistband of his briefs. Whatever hardness he’d lost soon came raring back to life when Goro got his tongue involved. Akira shifted his weight further onto his knees and pressed his hips forward as far as he could, feeling his hard on become flush with Goro’s middle.
“Akira,” he said softly as they took a moment to get their breaths back. “What do you want to do?”
Akira backed up, then slid his feet back to the floor so he could drop to his knees. He’d done this for other people before and knew he could probably at least make Goro feel good.
Akira rubbed a hand over Goro’s clothed semi, looking up when he shifted in place. “You’re still intent on this?”
“I want to do something for you, first.” He had little doubt Goro would return the favour satisfactorily.
After a moment Goro nodded and reached over to grab his pillow, dropping it on the ground in front of him. Akira shifted it under his knees, then reached out to undo Goro’s belt. He lifted his weight to let Akira pull his pants and underwear off. He was surprised when, as he sat up straight again, Goro’s jacket settled over his shoulders.
“We’re not that far into summer yet,” Goro reasoned awkwardly.
Akira smiled, then leaned forward to mouth over his hardening shaft. Goro’s fingers tangled in his hair, quite literally, and he didn’t seem willing to risk moving them any further.
“You can pull my hair a bit if you want.”
Goro didn’t seem to know whether he was joking or not, but neither did Akira. His hand retreated back the way it’d come. “How about we save navigating your kinks for when there’s more time?” he eventually replied dryly.
Akira pulled back a little so he could stick his bottom lip out. “Does that mean you’re not going to be on top this time either?”
Goro rolled his eyes. “You’ve sure come a long way from running away because I touched your knee.”
Akira laughed as Goro smiled wryly. “That was just because I didn’t want to be one of your customers,” Akira protested before leaning in and taking him into his mouth properly. Time was limited, after all.
Goro lightly pressed his head forward, but not too far to be uncomfortable. Akira’s eyes fell shut.
Akira stepped into the new establishment cautiously. On mentioning Shido’s name he was quickly taken to one of the izakaya’s private rooms. There were enough dinner places set around the large table for the usual crowd, but it seemed no one else had arrived yet. Akira sat on the zabuton with his back to the door, which made him nervous. But given the seniority of everyone else that was probably going to be here, it made the most sense.
He turned the glass in front of him over and poured himself some water. But before he could start nervously sipping it, the door behind him opened. The middle-aged woman stepped aside so Shido and Goro could walk past her into the room. Akira was a little surprised to see Goro was in a yukata, though somehow the flashy print in tasteful colours suited the rest of his repertoire.
“Akira-kun! Why don’t you join me on this side?” Shido said as he sat down. “This event is for you, after all.”
“Me?” Akira asked, probably sounding nervous. He glanced at Goro, but he only raised his brow curiously. Akira tried not to look reluctant as he got to his feet and moved to the other end of the table.
The waitress moved the unused glass from his new setting to the other one. Goro sat next to him when she moved away.
“As of Monday, you’ll be my new EA, after all,” Shido continued. This was news to Akira. “But I also think it’s about time the role had more impact on project decision making.”
Suddenly, Akira thought he knew what this was all about. Undoubtedly the increased responsibility would help justify a salary to match, which was what he’d said he wanted before. This had to be Shido’s last ditch effort to buy him.
“Really? I haven’t even been at the company that long,” Akira replied, not sure what else to say.
“I appreciate your no nonsense attitude. And I have to face the fact that I only have so many working years left, and no children to pass responsibility for the legitimate side of the company onto.” Shido slung an arm around his shoulders, but Akira couldn’t help the way he’d tensed up.
He knew he shouldn’t, but he looked in Goro’s direction. He wasn’t looking at them, but he was obviously livid.
Akira glanced at the waitress, who was casually putting out bottles of sake like she hadn’t heard Shido basically admit he was a criminal. Trying to recover, Akira spoke up. “You do have kids though, don’t you? It’s no secret how you indulge yourself.” Accidents evidently happened.
Shido only laughed at the accusation. “It’s true that I have offspring, but they all tend to take after their whore mothers too much to bother with.”
Akira had barely registered his words when he found himself moving. He shoved Shido away before standing up on his knees and grabbing hold of Goro’s arms. He wasn’t entirely surprised to see the knife in his hand, but suddenly this felt like some bizarre historical drama.
Unfortunately he’d never been a particularly good randori partner for Makoto.
Akira did his best to communicate with Goro with his eyes, but he was too busy looking through him and trying to push past. Akira desperately shoved him to get his attention, and Goro’s eyes snapped to him. Of course they were wild, full of both anger and suspicion.
Akira tried to look imploring. He could understand being angry and panicked, but this had clearly been calculated on Shido’s part. The bastard wasn’t worth the consequences that’d inevitably follow.
At least part of what he wanted to say seemed to get through. Goro folded the knife away and it seemingly vanished as quickly as it’d appeared. Akira let out a controlled exhale and couldn’t help but smooth out the wrinkles his grip had created in Goro’s yukata before letting him go.
Akira noticed the woman was standing closer to them than before the short scuffle with a bottle in her hand. But she simply put it down and turned away, leaving Akira to wonder what she would’ve done if he hadn’t intervened.
Goro’s fingers were twisted in the material across his thighs. He barely bothered putting on an act, and Akira couldn’t really blame him. They were busted, but it was still unclear how much Shido knew about their plans.
“If you’ll excuse me, I think I should go home. I’m not feeling too well.”
“Ok,” Akira agreed quickly, but Shido didn’t bother saying anything anyway. Goro hastily excused himself from the room.
He wondered if the others were still going to act. If so, now was probably the time. Originally Akira had been expecting to help Goro make his break-ins, but he supposed acting as a distraction was all he could do to protect them at this point.
When he finally turned back to Shido, the man was still smirking victoriously. Akira tried to hide the roil of disgust in his gut as he settled back on his seat. Shido patted him on the back.
“I’m glad my instincts weren’t wrong about you. For a while I thought you were the one wrapped around his finger, especially after seeing the location of your work computer on your recent day off.”
Shido picked up one of the bottles that had been left on the table and examined the label. Akira noticed the waitress had now also disappeared, and hoped that meant Goro wasn’t still in danger.
“But don’t worry, we’ll find someone else that’s willing to open their legs for you.”
It took a monumental effort to not snap at him. But there was no sense in ruining the cover he still apparently had. “You really shouldn’t talk about people like that.”
“There’s no need to maintain the country boy sensibilities and charm here,” Shido said lightly.
Akira bit his lip. It sounded like Goro wasn’t the only person Shido had looked into.
And if everything went to shit, threatening his family was probably going to be Shido’s backup plan.
Chapter Text
As Goro strode out of the room his clenched fists shook and his blood pounded in his ears. Anger at Shido for daring to say such a thing about the woman whose life he’d destroyed whirled around his uncertainty about Akira’s intentions. Surely he wouldn’t accept a deal like that from someone so vile, unless everything until now had been…
Goro started when his arm was suddenly grabbed from around the corner, but soon realised it was only Kohaku. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun and her makeup was only half done, but her pink yukata was done up immaculately.
“Quick,” she said urgently enough for him to follow without asking.
They walked past Hanako in the next corridor, but she soon peeled away from the wall to follow along behind him. When he tried to look back at her she impatiently pushed him forward. He didn’t know whether he was walking into a trap or not, but it seemed too late to back out now.
Goro was pulled into a small room that seemed to be in the middle of having its tatami cleaned or replaced. For now it had turned into a hostess change room. Several women were hastily finishing getting prepared for the evening. Kohaku pulled him into a back corner while Hanako paused in the doorway to look over her shoulder. After a moment she hurried over to them.
“I think she’s gone to look for you in either the main entrance or men’s bathroom. Might be best to hang around for a little before taking the side exit just down the hall here. I don’t know whether there are others waiting outside.”
“I guess… I’ll call my ride,” Goro replied, frustratingly unable to hide the tremor in his voice.
He avoided looking at them by bringing his phone to his face and opening the messaging app Futaba had assured them was encrypted end-to-end. The chat was already full of worried messages from the ladies.
what the hell just happened? are you guys ok!?
Do you need my car? And then Haru again, a few moments later. I’m on my way.
Goro was quick to respond to that. Don’t be stupid. Send a driver like planned.
But he didn’t get an answer from either of them. And it seemed Akira would be otherwise occupied for a while.
Goro could smack himself for what had just happened. But whether he felt that way because he hadn’t taken his chance, or because he’d let Shido’s idiotic words get to him, he wasn’t sure. It was kind of sad that Shido had already figured out exactly what to say to get under his skin, but he had been the one to warn Akira that they’d only get out of this if they were on top form. He should have expected this much.
“All that must have been rough,” Hanako said diplomatically. It seemed she’d been hanging around close enough to the room to have overheard something.
Goro glanced at her, then sighed and looked away again.
“We’ll get you out of here, but you’ll need to take care of the rest,” Kohaku said quietly.
Goro nodded. “Honestly, that’s more help than I was expecting. This is the second time…”
Kohaku shrugged. “You’re not the only one who’ll be moving on after tonight.” Hanako nodded along. “I can retire of my own volition, without his awful bribes.”
“Didn’t he get mad at you when you refused to tell him what he wanted?”
Kohaku pursed her lips. “It’s easy to get away with acting dumb when your target already thinks of you as such.”
“I suppose that’s better than actually being stupid.”
Hanako laughed and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, there are worse things to be,” she teased. “But there’s still time, right?”
Goro glanced down when his phone vibrated in his hand. Haru had finally decided to reply.
I’m at the other end of the street, heading your way. There’s still work to do.
“Looks like she’s here.”
The two women nodded in unison. Hanako headed back over to the door, then waved them on when the coast was clear. Goro hurried after Kohaku as she led him to the side door of interest. It exited into a dirty alleyway, but his shoes were at the other end of the establishment, so he’d have to tolerate it for now. Kohaku nodded when it seemed she hadn’t spotted anyone outside.
“Thank you,” Goro said awkwardly. But he hesitated for a moment longer. “Can you tell Akira to check his phone in a few hours?”
“Sure thing.”
He nodded again before moving outside. He paused at the alley corner, trying to get a view of the main street before moving any closer. Fortunately it was at that moment a car he hoped was Haru’s illegally pulled over by the path.
Goro tried to keep his yukata mostly in place as he ran over. The door swung open before he reached it, Haru’s fluffy hair impossible to mistake. He spent as little time under the street lights as possible, diving into the car when he reached it. The door closed and the driver took off just as fast.
Before he had a chance to get his bearings, Goro suddenly had a lapful of clothes. It seemed to be a tweed suit, something that’d probably stand out a little in a business environment.
“Since Akira’s caught up in other things, we’re going to have to improvise,” Haru said steadily. “You can play the part of the rich girl’s harried assistant, right?”
Goro raised a brow, but he guessed it wasn’t impossible. “Is that really going to get us in there?”
She smiled grimly but turned away slightly. To give him some privacy, he realised belatedly. “There’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?”
Haru strode into the building’s reception area surprisingly quickly considering the height of her heels. But it meant Goro didn’t have to pretend he was having trouble keeping up with her. He’d tried to tie his hair back to make himself less recognisable, but it was already coming loose. The fake glasses were annoying on his nose and looked like something Haru had fished out of the things Akira had given her. But apparently it seemed to be convincing enough for the security guard sitting at the reception desk.
“Can I help you, ma’am? I believe everyone has left for the day.”
“What?” Haru demanded, suddenly sounding like a different person. “Shido said he’d be available to hand over the documents at this time!”
The man sat up straighter, clearly looking worried by her name drop. “M-may I have the name?” he tried to ask as he frantically shook the computer mouse in front of him.
Haru sighed impatiently. “Okumura!”
The man sat up even straighter, if that was even possible. “O-oh! I’m sorry Okumura-sama, but there doesn’t seem to be an appointment booked in here.”
Goro knew that was his cue. “Okumura-sama has more important places to be. Can’t you just get his secretary to deliver them?”
“I believe Kurusu-san is not here either,” the man said apologetically. “Would we be able to reschedule for tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow!?” Haru all but screeched. “This contract is meant to be active from midnight tonight! How many extensions must I give this useless firm?”
“Surely his secretary would have planned something so important in advance. Perhaps the documents are at his desk for pickup?” Goro suggested smoothly.
“I… really don’t think I should let you up without permission,” the guard said weakly. “I’ll call Kurusu-san and verify,” he quickly offered when Haru looked unimpressed.
Goro nodded, trying not to be stiff. If Akira didn’t answer adequately, this could turn into a problem. He was supposed to be here with him after all, not Haru.
The phone seemed to ring for a long time, but the utter relief on the guard’s face indicated he had managed to get through. “There is an Okumura-sama here asking why no one is available to hand over some contract papers.” The ‘please help’ didn’t need to be said. “Oh? I see… Ok…”
Goro risked a glance at Haru, who was doing a good job of keeping her composure. He pushed the annoying glasses back up his nose, glad Futaba was messing with the security camera footage. No one other than the guard should know they were ever there.
“Yes, I can do that. Ok, thank you,” the guard said quickly before hanging up. “My apologies once again. Please follow me up to the office. Kurusu-san did indeed prepare the papers before they were called away to an emergency meeting.”
More an emergency drinking fest, apparently. But the guy was probably just glad to have a client-endorsed cover story.
Haru nodded impatiently and they both followed him over to the elevators. The ride up seemed to be the longest of the guard’s life, but they were soon let out onto the floor Akira worked on, and then into Shido’s office. Originally the distraction had been Akira realising he needed to photocopy the document while the guard escorted Goro to the toilets, but he thought he knew how he could change things around.
Goro picked the envelope up off Shido’s desk and flicked through the senseless spreadsheets and contract papers before looking up suddenly. “I can’t take these original documents,” he said suddenly. Haru immediately started rounding on the man. “I need to make a copy… I suppose I can just take photos on my phone for now.”
“It’ll have to do,” Haru said impatiently. Goro was sure to be slow about lining up and photographing the first few pages so Haru had more than enough time to awkwardly change the subject. “Is there a women’s bathroom nearby?”
“O-oh, yes, just back by the elevators,” the guard began to explain, but Haru was quick to interrupt.
“Can’t you just show me where while he’s occupied?” she demanded.
The guard hesitated for a moment, but Goro didn’t look up from diligently performing his task. After a moment, he caved.
“Of course, Okumura-sama. Right this way,” he said, trying and not quite succeeding in avoiding sounding reluctant.
Once they were gone, Goro flipped the stack of papers so the last page was showing. If he quickly needed to abort and pretend to be innocent, he’d be able to make it look like he’d been working the whole time. He turned his attention to the drawers in Shido’s desk, trying to recall what Akira had gone over. They could have discussed things in more detail, but they’d both assumed Akira would be the one actually doing this part.
Fortunately, opening the right drawer hadn’t been that difficult at all. Goro swapped the brief cases over as planned. They’d avoided leaving fingerprints on it by only handling it with gloves, but this time he’d just grabbed it with his sleeve pulled down. He hefted it as he tried to get used to the weight. There would be time to try and get it open later.
Goro searched the other drawers carefully, but he only found a few other wads of notes. He stuffed them into his pants pockets and buttoned the front of his jacket to help hide the fact. He pulled his phone back out just as Haru and the poor guard returned.
“Was that everything, Okumura-sama?” Goro asked even as he nodded slightly. They were done here, but they still needed to swing by Shido’s home before he returned.
“I hope so, I have another appointment to attend,” she replied sharply.
Goro didn’t miss the small smile that faded just as she turned back to the guard to demand he escort them back out. So far things had gone as smoothly as Akira had promised. Though he was hesitant after that little surprise, he didn’t have much choice but to assume he was still loyal to the group.
But he couldn’t just ignore the sting of Akira suddenly being offered everything he’d ever dared fantasise about while growing up, and then being an immediate blocker to the only thing he’d wanted since.
Chapter 19
Notes:
I haven't had time to write or read fic for weeks, so this chapter may seem a little all over the place. But I'm aiming to finish this one by the end of the year!
Chapter Text
Akira leaned over the sink and splashed more water on his face. It wasn’t really helping him to sober up, but thankfully he wasn’t that bad off to begin with. Kohaku had been swapping any clear spirits handed to him for water at every opportunity. He wondered if Goro had put her up to it, or if she had just noticed what’d happened the several times before.
Akira was in the middle of drying his face when his phone went off again. Worried, he immediately fumbled for it. The call was coming through the encrypted app this time and it looked like Futaba’s ID. Hopefully nothing had gone wrong on her end because he really didn’t think he could help with anything related to electronics or data.
“Hello?”
“You need to meet up with the other two right now,” Akira thought she said. Futaba was stumbling over her words but not bothering to correct them.
His gut clenched but he tried to stay focused. “What’s wrong?”
“The case has a tracker in it, like we thought. But the code is different now. Do you know what it was changed to? They can’t just dump it somewhere when it’s still full of money and covered in their prints.”
Akira frowned. They should have seen this coming.
“I don’t know what it could be, and honestly I don’t think I’d get away with asking.” It was something Goro might be able to finagle if it was literally anyone other than Shido, but he had no hope. “Can’t you unlock it or turn the tracker off?”
“Don’t bring it here! It’s not just me here!” she exclaimed, abject fear evident.
Akira chewed his bottom lip, but he knew what he was going to say wasn’t going to be received any better. “Then you’ll have to go to them.”
“I can’t!” Futaba protested. “You have to do something! I’m too far into the hack of his digitally held assets to back up and totally clean up my traces now.”
“Hey,” Akira said gently as he glanced around to make sure he was still alone. “I know it’s scary and seems impossible, but we can’t do this alone. If the others get discovered, then he’s going to get away with everything.”
All he could hear from the other end was shaky breathing, but he knew he didn’t need to spell things out. Not that he’d be able to, when he wasn’t exactly sure of her motivations. But clearly she wanted to do something to Shido in retaliation for the actions he’d taken against her mother.
“You… need to stay on the phone with me,” she eventually muttered almost too quietly to be heard.
“I can’t promise that I can be on the line the whole time, I’m still stuck at the event. But I’ll do my best to leave and meet up with you all as soon as possible.” He needed to think up a good excuse to go. Leaving too soon would make Shido suspicious of him again, if he wasn’t already simply trying to keep the group separated for as long as possible.
She made a sound like a whine. “Ok, ok…”
“I’ll see you soon,” Akira said, then hastily hung up when one of Shido’s lackeys entered the bathroom.
For now he’d have to try to act like everything was normal.
Akira dared to breathe a sigh of relief when he was able to close the door behind him without anyone calling him back to the table. Not wanting to test that theory, he hastily made his way through the now mostly empty restaurant. If he didn’t hurry, he was going to miss the last train back toward work.
Hand shaking, Akira managed to get the wooden key into the shoe locker after a few attempts. He dropped them on the floor before sliding them on, but only when he looked up did he notice the waitress who may or may not also be an assassin at the edge of the entryway.
“Leaving already, Kurusu-san?”
“I don’t know about the others, but I’ll be expected to show up to the office on time tomorrow,” he tried to say lightly, but his apprehension won out.
“If indeed you were planning to show up at all,” she replied as she stepped down into the entryway. Akira swallowed when he noted the way she was walking for what it was. Combat experience.
Akira chewed the inside of his cheek as he thought about how to get out of this situation. Speaking his mind would likely only provoke her into doing something he’d regret. Though it made him feel mildly ill, he had to be what Shido was expecting for a moment.
“Why wouldn’t I be? I got what I wanted.” From the way she tilted her head, he guessed he’d been at least a little convincing. “But in the meantime I can’t afford to keep getting taxis home.”
“Oh, there you are!” a familiar voice called from the hall that led into the main dining area. Kohaku soon appeared, looking harried. “I need your help finding some specific sake brands Shido-sama has ordered.”
Seemingly torn between her façade and her actual duty, the woman glanced between the two of them. “Did he mention anything about Kurusu-san?”
“Only that he hopes he has a safe trip home,” Kohaku said with a small shrug. “Please, I really don’t want to make them wait any longer.” When the woman continued to hesitate, Kohaku glanced back at Akira. “I’ll have to introduce you to one of my little sisters next time.”
“I’ll look forward to it,” Akira replied as he raised a hand. He turned away and managed to get out the door. He wanted to puke.
Akira took a few long strides along the footpath, then started running for the train station. The streets weren’t too densely crowded at this hour so he was able to move, though it wasn’t without attracting attention. Akira dialled Futaba, hoping things hadn’t collapsed on that end in the meantime.
“Where are you now?” he asked as soon as she picked up. He looked up with a frown when water sprinkled on him from above, suddenly glad he’d thought to shove his small umbrella into his bag.
“I can’t get on a train like this,” Futaba whined. “And why is it raining the first time I decide to go outside in a decade?”
“You’re still at home?” Akira demanded, though he tried to remain patient. Stressing her out more wasn’t going to help either of them.
It was hard to hear her answer over his own heavy breathing, but he managed to make it to the platform in time for the second to last train for the night. “I can’t just…!”
“We can’t leave them to get caught, either,” Akira reminded firmly. “I’d offer to meet you at your place, but there’s no time. And the trains are about to stop.” Akira lowered his voice as he stepped inside the nearest carriage. “I’m just getting on one now.”
Futaba made an odd sound of distress before Akira heard her fumble speaker on. “Sojiro! I need your help!”
“What?” Akira thought he heard him mumble faintly in the background. Given how early he had to get up every day to open the café, Akira had assumed he’d already be in bed.
“I need you to drive me to Shibuya!” she said hurriedly.
“You want to get in the car?” Sojiro asked disbelievingly, seemingly closer to the phone now. “Is everything all right? I can get Takemi-sensei to come over…”
“It’s not like that!” Futaba replied, still sounding panicked. “I need… I need to help my friends.”
Akira tried not to swear out loud as the phone signal dropped. He looked around, but there really wasn’t anything he could do about the fact it was going to take him about half an hour to reach the others. All he could do was draft up a message for the group.
Let me know if your location changes. On train.
Akira walked as fast as he could to central Shibuya with his chest tightening up from both running and stress. Next time Ryuji tried to drag him outside to go for a run he was going along, damn it. Not that running with an umbrella was doing much to help keep him dry.
It seemed the others were in an underground carpark, so once they got there they should have at least a little time to talk and reassess their plan. As Futaba had said, there was no backing out now.
When Akira arrived at the building of interest, he looked for a sign of Futaba since it seemed she hadn’t met up with the others yet. It took him a moment to realise the people on the other side of the intersection the occasional car was speeding through were who he was looking for. Futaba was clinging to Sojiro’s side as he protected her armload of equipment with an umbrella.
Futaba seemed to notice Akira at the same time, as she suddenly started forward. But she immediately backed right up when another car whooshed by. “Akira!” she called, sounding panicked.
Akira couldn’t quite hear Sojiro, but his utterly confused expression said it all. He looked up at the red crossing light, willing it to change faster.
“Are you ready to cross?” he called back.
“No!”
Of course the moment she said that the light turned green. Akira made his way over as fast as possible. “No time, you have to hurry!”
“What the hell is going on here?” Sojiro demanded as he put an arm around Futaba’s shaking shoulders.
She tried to hide behind the edge of her laptop as she replied. “I need to help my friends!” Her thin chest heaved as she looked up at Akira. “And I need to stop the man who killed mum.”
“What!?”
Akira finally made it to the other side, and soon after the traffic started back up. He sighed, finding it hard to meet his mentor’s eyes.
“If anyone asks, you haven’t seen us and you weren’t here. You went to bed early and have been at home sleeping.”
“Will one of you explain?” Sojiro glanced between them, seemingly both suspicious and worried.
Futaba folded her arms around her laptop tighter. “I need to do this! Tell them you didn’t even know you had an internet connection to the house!”
Sojiro’s concerned frown only grew, as did his grip on her shoulder. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but it sounds like we need to go home and sort this out. If you wanted to go on a midnight stroll, we could have just stayed in Yongen.”
Akira glanced up as the light turned green again. He held his hand out to Futaba. “Come on.”
But it seemed Futaba had already made her mind up. She nodded once before twisting out of Sojiro’s grip and taking hold of Akira’s wrist. She shut her eyes tight as they ran back across the road.
Once he’d gotten over the shock, Sojiro followed them. They had to keep moving, so even after they reached the other side, there was no time for Futaba to think and decompress. But that might not have been the worst thing.
They weaved between the few people who were still out this late before darting around the next corner. They were quick to turn again and shuffle past the gate to the underground carpark. All Akira could do now was hope Sojiro would give up on trying to find them before either gang members or cops came sniffing around.
When the concrete slope flattened, Akira slowed and waited for Futaba to come up alongside. The carpark was mostly empty. He turned to pat Futaba’s back and she laughed shakily.
“I did it,” she whispered.
“You did.”
When Akira glanced up again he saw Haru had poked her head out from behind a pillar to wave at them. He waved back and they slowly made their way over. He noticed the way Futaba carefully checked out every car they passed, but didn’t comment.
As they rounded the corner, Akira spotted Goro crouching over what looked like the source of their problems. The devices built into the case had wires poking out of them, like they’d already tried to destroy the tracker and lock before calling in reinforcements. Akira found his mouth twisting in amusement when he recognised the glasses Goro had perched on his head as the fashion ones he used to wear before he realised he’d developed the need for a prescription.
Goro glanced up at them, but when his eyes met Akira’s he only frowned and looked away. Reminding himself the reaction could have been much worse, Akira tried not to worry yet. They could talk when there was time.
Futaba tutted as she crouched next to Goro and pulled the case up to her eye level. “You better not have broken the lock!”
“Doesn’t matter as long as we disable the tracker,” Goro protested quietly.
Futaba laid out her tools and sighed through her nose. Akira was glad to see her looking more comfortable and in her element again. They still hadn’t thought about how they were going to get her back to somewhere she felt safe.
Akira kept his ears open for anyone else coming down here as he leaned back against the concrete pillar and settled in for what could be a long wait.
Chapter 20
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Akira glanced up when Futaba let out a sigh of relief instead of frustration. He could see there were two small circles in the palm of her hand. “All I could do was remove the power sources. Hopefully they at least won’t getting any signal from it now.”
“Thank you,” Goro said quietly as he shuffled around so he could look over her shoulder.
“It’s still locked up for now. I’ll need to see if there’s a way to get the password out of it later.”
“That’s fine, as long as he can’t use it.”
Akira glanced at Haru as she pushed away from the wall. “So, are we still going ahead with the last phase of the plan?” she asked softly.
Futaba sighed and rested her chin on her knees, fingers twining in front of her. “I don’t think we have much choice now. We already hired that person in Sendai… And I can’t go home…”
“You can hide in one of my properties. I’ll take you there now,” Haru offered. “We really don’t have to go ahead with this if it’s too dangerous,” she added as she looked at Goro. “There will be other opportunities.”
“If we back down now we’ll be in potential legal trouble for nothing,” he replied firmly. “I’ll have to go alone, though. Akira’s the only one who hasn’t had suspicion thrown on him yet.”
Akira frowned and took half a step forward. “I don’t know whether he believed my awful acting, or if he was just trying to turn us against each other. Not doing anything is a risk too.”
Goro gave him a long look before sighing softly. “I don’t hate you.”
If anything, that only emboldened him. “I want to help, and I’m worried what might happen if you got caught there alone. You can always pretend you’re forcing me to help you. We can reveal our hand if things go sour.”
“And that’ll avoid putting your family in danger. Maybe,” Goro muttered.
“I think it’s better if you don’t go alone, Goro,” Haru added. Futaba nodded in agreement.
While Goro wasn’t one to be peer pressured, Akira hoped he wasn’t about to completely ignore his allies either.
Futaba pushed her glasses up her nose and frowned up at them. “I can’t do anything to Shido’s security footage. Presumably he has cameras inside, but they aren’t online. You’ll have to start acting as soon as you get there.”
“Right,” Akira muttered as he watched Goro massage his forehead, seemingly in annoyance. Apparently they’d reached a decision. “Just make sure you stick to acting,” he tried to tease.
“Make sure you hold up your end of it,” Goro replied sharply.
Akira didn’t rebut. He had a point, after all.
Akira jumped when Goro grabbed the back of his now more practical jacket and pushed him out of the elevator and toward the pent house’s front door. When he glanced over he saw the knife in Goro’s dominant hand, though it wasn’t anywhere near him for now.
Akira tried the door, but it was locked up tight. He wasn’t concerned about leaving prints everywhere at this point.
Goro pulled out the swipe card Akira had had trouble cloning during one of Shido’s coffee breaks a few weeks ago, and the door clicked open. Futaba would be proud of him for managing to follow her instructions, though it would have been nice to be able to test it before now.
With no idea how much time they had left, they immediately started searching. Shido’s bedroom was first up.
“Hurry it up,” Goro said as he pointed at the stand on the other side of the bed with his knife. Akira grimaced and started opening drawers.
It was about what Akira had expected from a man who seemed to derive his worth from how much sex he had with women he found attractive. Thankfully it seemed Goro had had more luck. He’d taken his backpack off and was filling it with money. Akira wanted to comment, but they didn’t know how thoroughly this place was bugged and monitored.
Once they were satisfied they’d searched the bedroom thoroughly, the two of them moved into what seemed to be Shido’s office. They hurried over to the desk first, and it immediately became obvious that it was a similar situation to the desk he had at work. One of the drawers had a password-based lock.
Goro nudged him with his foot and nodded at it as he readjusted his grip on the knife.
“I don’t know what the password is,” Akira protested, but then paused. If Shido reused his passwords as much as the average Joe, maybe he hadn’t got around to changing this one yet.
Not knowing what would happen if he got it wrong, he knelt down and hesitantly punched the old one in. He jumped slightly when it clicked, but it seemed to be unlocking. Goro shoved him out the way and yanked the drawer open. Akira had been expecting to see another stash of money, but instead there was a handgun.
Goro snatched it up, looking far too comfortable as he checked it out. Akira could only assume he was checking the ammo and safety mechanism.
“Goro…” Akira began, but was interrupted by the front door slamming shut.
“Someone there?” a slurred voice asked.
Akira and Goro glanced at each other, but it seemed their attempts to silently communicate hadn’t gotten any better in the last few hours. It honestly sounded like they had just somehow surprised Shido on his way home. If they’d been caught, he would have sent in security or police, surely.
But that didn’t mean they weren’t in trouble.
Akira scrambled to try take the gun off Goro, but before he could so much as stand he found a foot planted in his chest. Akira winced as he was slammed to the ground, but he was soon distracted by Shido stumbling into the room.
“You,” he muttered venomously when he saw Goro.
Goro merely widened his stance and smoothly brought the gun up, aiming for what was likely the middle of Shido’s forehead. Goro’s mouth twitched a little and a slightly hysterical sound escaped him before he managed to press his lips together.
“To think so many things would finally line up in my favour.” He sounded like he couldn’t quite believe it himself, but the sick amusement was still clear in his tone.
Akira slowly sat up, but Goro’s eyes didn’t leave Shido. He probably had about five seconds to convince him not to pull the trigger, but what could he even say?
“Goro! Don’t shoot!” Ineloquent, but it got the point across.
“Akira, why would I not?” he mocked.
Akira bit his lip and moved into a crouching position. Obviously attacking him would be dangerous with a loaded gun in play, but it’d be easier to literally get the jump on him from this position.
“You promised!” Akira reminded, feeling a little childish even as he said it.
“You can’t believe everything everyone tells you. Most people aren’t as blunt and naïve as you.”
Akira grimaced, but then realised he had to have said something right. Goro hadn’t fired yet.
“There’s no point in shooting him. You’ll be hunted down for the rest of your life for something like that.” Seeing he was losing Goro’s interest, Akira inhaled sharply. “You just stole enough money to pay your debt. This isn’t the end.”
“For some of us, it was the end a long time ago.”
Akira assumed that was an allusion to his mother, Futaba’s, and Haru’s father. “I know… But if you kill him, his people will just come after you.”
“They’ll do that either way,” Shido spat suddenly. It seemed his inhibited brain had finally caught onto their conversation. But it hadn’t quite reached the point of self-preservation.
“Then there’s no need to hold back, is there?” Goro spat as he brought his other hand up to steady his aim.
“Goro, please. I don’t want to lose you over something as inconsequential as that stupid bastard!”
This time Goro glanced down at him, looking slightly taken aback. Of course that was when Shido chose to make his move. Akira flinched and covered his ears at the deafening bang. His eyes widened when Shido collapsed, but he soon realised it was because one of his knees had been taken out.
Goro stared down at his own hands as if they’d acted on their own. But all at once his expression hardened and he fired three more times. Once through Shido’s other shin, the others into his right shoulder and gut.
He… wouldn’t die immediately.
Akira pulled his phone out and fumbled to dial emergency services. There was already blood all over the pale carpet. Akira glanced up when Goro moved next to him. The line picked up, but he was too stunned to answer.
The barrel of the gun was in his face now.
“We’re leaving,” Goro said harshly. “Hurry up.”
Akira managed to stutter out an address and a description of Shido’s condition. He quickly stood up when Goro took another step closer and slung the bag over his shoulder.
“We need to leave before they show up,” Goro muttered.
Akira nodded stiffly. He hung up and turned his phone off all while trying to hurry to the front door. He left it propped open behind them so the paramedics could get in more easily. Goro didn’t do anything about it.
They ignored the elevator and took the emergency stairs back down. After a few flights, Akira glanced back at Goro and noticed he was stuffing the gun into his pants. He couldn’t help but raise his concerns.
“Make sure the safety is…”
Goro frowned at him. “I emptied the clip into Shido. Do you honestly think I’d point a loaded gun at you?”
Akira opened his mouth, then remembered Goro was supposed to be acting hostile and ‘kidnapping’ him so he could plead innocent later. Akira closed his mouth.
Goro sighed. “Unfortunately he’s still alive. So, don’t say I never did anything for you.”
Akira felt his mouth tremble. “That was for you, not me.”
Goro looked like he wanted to argue, until he caught sight of Akira’s expression. He simply shook his head and sped up. They did need to beat the ambulance out of here.
“Come on, we need to find somewhere to hide.”
Akira couldn’t help the tremble that passed through him. It had to be some combination of stress and upset that he didn’t have any other way to get out.
Goro took his hand, then proceeded to drag him down stairs even faster. Akira couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped him. This was way too much to process in one sitting.
But it seemed they were going to have all night.
Notes:
Sorry if this chapter feels anticlimactic, it was a struggle!
Uhh, I don’t think anyone here needs the gun safety lecture…