Chapter Text
Deep in the heart of a midnight blue-tinged lair, Kaito grinned greedily.
“Is everything ready, Kamishiro?”
From the shadows stepped forward a man in a white shirt, rolled sleeves, and leather straps supporting several holstered weapons. He bowed low, bright purple hair reflecting in the lair light.
“Exactly as planned, sir,” Kamishiro said.
Kaito’s grin deepened. “Excellent. Your transfer will begin tomorrow. Those fools at Phoenix will be none the wiser. You’ll siphon all of their information straight to me, and they won’t even know what hit them.” Kaito stood, walked around his thick metal desk and glared down at Kamishiro. “I’m counting on you to be unendingly loyal, Kamishiro.”
Kaito’s voice was equal parts saccharine and pitying. The clear threat went unsaid, but not unheard.
Kamishiro rose, his face perfectly smoothed save for a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “My loyalties have never once wavered, sir. And I promise you, they never will.”
“Good boy,” Kaito purred, and Kamishiro stifled a flinch. “Go on, then, get some rest. I’d hate for you to fail your new assignment.”
The threat again lingered. That was always how Kaito worked: in threats he never said, but always promised. Kamishiro knew what fate awaited him if he didn’t follow Kaito’s orders—or if he changed alliances, as double-spies were infamous for doing. Brainwashing would be the least of his worries.
Kamishiro clenched his fist. “I won’t fail.”
The lead data analyst at Phoenix, Nene Kusanagi, pinched the bridge of her nose. They were getting nowhere in their fight against Capazon, the nation’s largest human trafficking organization (among other despicable practices). Phoenix and Capazon had been fighting in the secret underground world for years now, conducting infiltrations and heists to steal information first, or from each other. But after months of being toe-to-toe, they had reached a stalemate. Both organizations equally as powerful, and neither one able to gain any ground on the other.
The electric sliding door to her office binged, and in barged Emu Otori, the founder of Phoenix and Nene’s girlfriend.
“Nene, Nene, come on, you have to come meet the new agent!” Emu cried, throwing her arms around Nene’s neck.
Nene sighed, and crashed against Emu’s arms. “Emu, I don’t have time to meet every new agent. We need something that will help us against Capazon.”
“But that’s just it!” Emu told her. “He’s a gizmo whiz! He says he can find the location of their hideout!”
Nene’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Yeah, yeah! And he’s a strategist, so he says he can help us plan our counterattacks!”
Nene swiped her clipboard and an overflowing manila envelope from her desk and raced to the door. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
Emu giggled, and hurried after her. Once she’d caught up, she took Nene’s hand in hers, and they walked the rest of the way to the main office together.
Tsukasa eyed the stranger warily. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about him was familiar, in a way that set Tsukasa’s adrenaline flowing.
They were in the guest suite office of Phoenix’s HQ, a tidy and cozy room with a large round mahogany table and a plush green carpet underfoot. Framed newspaper clippings decorated the walls, of various non-important events and collapsing Capazon stock. As a secret organization, Phoenix didn’t take the stage, but rather, they helped society from behind the scenes. It was something Tsukasa had struggled with when he’d first joined three and a half years ago, but now, he reveled in being in the spotlight in secret.
This room was specifically built for receiving guests from outside of the organization. It had a secret panel in the bookshelf that Phoenix agents could use to watch those in the room, and the only way to the rest of HQ was through a series of suction tubing hidden at the far end of the hallways outside the room. Those who didn't know the secret would find a dead end, decorated endearingly with a stately portrait of Emu's grandfather. Phoenix and other organizations sometimes put out an encrypted message in the classified section of the newspaper, and anyone who solved the cypher could drop a manila envelope with their intent and resume into a particular mailbox at the corner of a particular unassuming street. Then, they could return a week later and find another envelope with a wad of cash and a pamphlet congratulating them on winning a contest.
Astute inquirers would find that message was also encrypted, and if they could decode that one, they would find the coordinates to an old abandoned theater. They would then enter the code in the padlock outside the building, and the trapped door of the stage would give way to a series of tunnels that eventually led to the guest suite. It was itself a decent litmus test for if someone had an inclination for spywork. After the interview, if the inquiring party was unfit for their organization, Phoenix gave them a dose of their memory-erasing serum and deposited them at the local police station.
The stranger before him, Rui Kamishiro according to his file, was well-dressed and polite. He had a pair of sharp wire-frame glasses that framed his face, a gray checkered shirt rolled at the sleeves, and a pair of worn leather gloves covering his hands. Rui adjusted his blue tie, and as he did, two metallic earrings glinted in the afternoon light.
“Why did you say you wanted to work here, again?” Tsukasa asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn’t like the uneasy feeling the stranger gave him, particularly not the way his eyes glowed with the pale amber of aspen leaves in the autumn.
“Phoenix has the best chance of destroying Capazon,” Rui told him. “But you’re under-utilizing your resources. I believe that with my help, we can eradicate them once and for all.”
“That sounds noble,” Tsukasa agreed begrudgingly, “But arrogant. And impersonal. You do realize spywork isn’t for everyone? You can do plenty of other jobs that will help human trafficking victims.”
Rui nodded. “I am aware. And while my claims may sound arrogant, I assure you, they’re not. It’s simply an objective assessment of the truth.”
“That’s all well and good. But if you’re going to be in spywork, you need a personal motive,” Tsukasa said. “Wanting to be an altruist isn’t enough. You think they let me into this organization because of my passion for cool stunts or action movies?”
Immediately undermining Tsukasa’s point, Emu entered the room and said, “That’s why they let me in!”
Tsukasa grumbled, but was glad that Emu and Nene had arrived. Emu’s passion for the organization was second to none, so he knew that even if her brother (their financier) hired someone, Emu had veto power. She would never allow someone she didn’t think was perfect for their organization even a chance at entering. Tsukasa credited their 8 years without any leak or betrayal entirely to Emu’s good judge of character.
And paired with Nene, who was sensible and grounded, the three of them would be able to determine if this silky-voiced stranger was a good fit for Phoenix.
“So this is him, huh?” Nene said, crossing her arms and scrutinizing Rui. He had a bemused smile, as if enjoying all of this interrogation like it was clown antics. Tsukasa didn’t like it.
“A pleasure to meet you,” Rui said.
Nene circled him a few times, inspecting him like he was an unknown array that she wanted to piece together. Finally, once she’d finished circling, she nodded, and took a few steps back.
“You couldn’t have come at a better time,” she said. “I hate to say it, but we’re desperate. We’re in a deadlock against Capazon, which means every day they’re hurting more people. I’m excited for your new ideas, and looking forward to working together.”
Rui smiled. “Likewise!”
“Wait just a darn minute,” Tsukasa said. “We can’t accept this stranger so easily!”
“We can’t afford to be too picky,” Nene reminded him. “Plus, you read his file, didn’t you? Was there anything concerning?”
Tsukasa reviewed Rui’s file in his mind. They were the same age, and Rui had an impressive background in robotics, and had won several chess tournaments. His personal statement seemed to align well with Phoenix’s goals, and he had no criminal record. (That part itself was a bit suspicious, as most spies tended to have small crimes like shoplifting or trespassing tacked onto their records as covers. But Tsukasa concluded that was just an indication of Rui’s civilian status.) His hobbies included gardening and watching musicals, which Tsukasa himself was a fan of. There was nothing to indicate that Rui wasn’t completely trustworthy.
“Well, no…” Tsukasa admitted. “But still, I…!”
He looked up, and caught Rui’s gaze. There was something about those eyes that left Tsukasa wary and defenseless. He didn’t like the honeyglaze of nostalgia that overwhelmed him from that look—didn’t like nostalgia in general.
Tsukasa sighed. He knew he was being unfair, and letting his personal judgment get in the way. And from the sounds of it, Rui would be nothing but an asset to their team. So why was he hesitating?
“What’s wrong, Tsukasa?” Emu asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Tsukasa sighed. “I just...get a bad feeling about him. I don’t mean any offense,” Tsukasa added, looking at Rui.
But Rui nodded. “I understand. It isn’t every day someone you’ve never heard of darkens your door and asks for access to your most precious resources.”
That alone did assuage some of Tsukasa’s worries, but still it wasn’t enough. “Do you trust him, Emu?” he asked.
She nodded. “I trust him.”
Tsukasa sighed. “Maybe it would help if I knew why you were here, Rui,” Tsukasa told him. “Why do you want to be a spy?”
Rui’s demeanor, which up to this point had been amiable and pleasant, shifted. A dark shadow passed over his eyes. Tsukasa held his breath.
“Capazon forced me away from my partner,” he told them, his voice tight and bitter. Tsukasa’s eyes widened. Since Rui was a civilian, then this partner must have been romantic, which gave Tsukasa a weird mixture of relief and jealousy. “And I want them stopped. No one else should have to go through what I’ve gone through.”
A memory stirred for Tsukasa: an old flame, a back pressed against his in a bullet storm, beautiful eyes brimming with regret as they sunk into an abyss.
His old partner.
This one wasn’t romantic (although, Tsukasa would admit with prodding that he’d had a massive crush), but it was still close. This was back in Tsukasa's first organization, one much smaller than Phoenix, that he'd joined fresh out of high school. Tsukasa’s partner was top-class, the sharpest shooter they’d ever seen, and insanely observant. He’d pulled back Tsukasa from certain doom several times with his quick thinking and keen intuition.
But a fight against Capazon thugs had gone horribly wrong. The old organization disbanded completely, losing everything that they'd had. Tsukasa had been lucky that Emu Otori saw his talents and recruited him a week following the downfall, otherwise he might not ever have left that dark junkyard.
Tsukasa had regretted that day deeply ever since. And now, looking at Rui, Tsukasa recognized a similar wound in him.
Tsukasa stepped forward, and held out his hand. “Let’s take them down together.”
Rui’s eyes widened, and Emu let out a sound of delight. Rui took Tsukasa’s hand and shook it, and Tsukasa tried to stifle the butterflies that rose in his stomach from Rui’s touch.
“Thank you, Tsukasa,” Rui said gently. “I hope to earn your trust through my work. I won’t disappoint you.”
Tsukasa grinned. Then they released, and he planted his hands at his hips. “I hope those gizmos of yours are as impressive as you claim.”
“Ooh, yeah, yeah!” Emu said. “You said you made a new one this morning, right?”
Rui chuckled. “I did, however, I’m afraid it’s not as robust as I’d hoped. I’d really love a test subject, if you could find someone willing.”
Nene gave Tsukasa a look that terrified him.
“We’ll get you someone, for sure!” Emu said. “Oh, hey, hey, Tsukasa, you need a partner, right? Why don’t we assign Rui to you! That way you can keep an eye on him!”
“Emu, I...you know I work alone.”
Nene rolled her eyes. “Don’t say that like you’re some dramatic lone wolf. You work alone because you’re terrible at stealth missions and no one wants to work with you.”
“Hey!” Tsukasa shouted, not avoiding her loudness allegations.
“I wouldn’t mind,” Rui said. “I think I might be able to use your naturally high volume to our advantage.”
“Really?” Tsukasa asked.
“You strike me as the type who enjoys the limelight, no?” Rui said. “That makes you an excellent decoy. Particularly since, as the top agent, many Capazon personnel will have their eyes on you already. I can make it so they won’t look away.”
Rui’s eyes gleamed with his promise, something ambitious and almost evil, and sent shivers down Tsukasa’s spine.
“That sounds really useful,” Nene said. “I’ve always thought we could be using Tsukasa more effectively.”
“Don’t talk about me like I’m some tool!” Tsukasa cried.
Emu laughed. “That’s perfect! Rui, Tsukasa, do you want to be partners?”
Tsukasa sighed, then looked at Rui, who had an indeterminable look on his face. With the memory of his past partner dying for him, Tsukasa wasn’t eager to have someone else repeating that mistake. But with the way that Rui had Tsukasa’s nerves on edge, he knew he couldn’t very well leave their new wild card to someone else.
“Fine,” Tsukasa sighed. “For now, Rui, you’re with me. Anytime one of us is sent to the field, the other follows.” Struck with a sudden surge of pride, Tsukasa pounded a fist to his chest. “I’ll teach you everything you need to know. You’re in good hands, newbie!”
Rui chuckled. “Then, I’ll be in your care.”
It was an odd feeling that flooded Tsukasa in that moment. He’d never done fieldwork with anyone since the loss of his old partner, and he still didn’t understand the feeling that overcame him when he looked at Rui. But he knew they needed something new, and he promised to be exactly what they’d been looking for, exactly when they needed him most.
“We got a bit sidetracked earlier, but,” Nene began. “Do you have any gizmos that you can show us? Maybe that’ll make Tsukasa feel more at ease. And I’d like to see an example of your work.”
“Ooh, Rui! Rui!” Emu shouted. “I wanna see one of your gizmos!”
A delighted and mischievous look entered Rui’s eyes. “Gladly.” From his leather satchel, he procured a orbish pink bird robot.
The trio stared at it in Rui’s hand, before he carefully tapped its beak. Then its eyes lit up green, and scanned the room, startling Tsukasa and Nene but delighting Emu. A grid-laced plane panned across the room, and Tsukasa felt a strange tickling sensation when it passed over his body.
“Scan complete,” said the penguin. “Emu Otori, age 23, blood type B. Founder of Phoenix. Granddaughter of Rakunosuke Otori, previous prime minister. Elevated heart rate indicates excitement, fascination, and joy.”
“Woaaaa!” Emu cried, clapping.
“Nene Kusanagi,” the robot continued. “Age 23, blood type A. Data analyst at Phoenix. Founding member since their inception 4 years ago. Elevated heart rate and inconsistent eye contact indicates wariness, caution, and optimism.”
Nene grumbled. “How can it possibly know all that?”
Tsukasa nodded. “I’ll admit that I’m impressed! That’s no small feat, to discern another’s emotions just from a scan.”
“Tsukasa Tenma,” said the robot. Tsukasa jumped at the sound of his name. “Age 24, blood type A. Organizational Head and Ace Agent at Phoenix. Previous work in S.P.A.R.K. until the organization was disbanded. Elevated heart rate, dilated pupils, increased bloodflow in the face, all indicate physical attraction.”
“Oh my,” Rui murmured.
“WHAT!?” Tsukasa cried. He covered his face with his forearm, and felt his body on fire. “It’s fake! Lying! The robot’s broken!”
Emu laughed, and poked Tsukasa’s cheek. “Rui’s pretty handsome, huh?”
“N-no!” Tsukasa shouted.
“No?” Nene said. “I’m not interested in men, but even I have to agree he’s objectively good-looking.”
“Of course I think he’s good-looking!” Tsukasa cried. “He’s got a nice voice and pretty forearms, but so what!?”
Emu gasped and giggled, and Nene slapped a palm to her forehead. Tsukasa had just dug his grave even further, and wanted to sink into the center of the earth. Before dying of embarrassment, he chanced a glance at Rui.
Who was looking right at him, shyly, a hopeful look on his face.
Tsukasa hated himself for it, but he was certain that if the robot scanned him again in that moment, it would have said that he was utterly smitten.
Notes:
Thank you for reading! Like I said I'll do my best to update weekly, but some weeks may not work out. I'll be curious to hear everyone's thoughts as the story goes on!
NEXT TIME:
“That device of yours should prove invaluable,” Tsukasa commented. “But I resent being used as a demonstration dummy.”
Irritatingly, Rui only giggled. “Would you prefer to be a testing dummy next time?”
“I’d prefer not to be any sort of dummy at all!”
(and)
“End of discussion!” Tsukasa’s words bounced off the insides of the thin walls. Tsukasa and Rui stared at each other for a while, resolves in direct competition. Tsukasa let out a frustrated sigh. “This is the exact conversation I used to have with my old partner. Why get so manic about uncovering secrets? Sometimes secrets are better left covered!”
“Are you speaking from experience?” Rui challenged, “Or fear?”
Chapter 2: The First Mission, the New Foundation
Summary:
Tsukasa's first mission with the eccentric newcomer starts out far better than he'd expected--then dives into territory he'd locked away. Rui is annoyingly good at bringing up Tsukasa's old wounds.
Notes:
When I wrote this chapter, I thought to myself, "oh no. This has to be a series, doesn't it. I have to write the rest of it or else I'll regret it huh." This is my favorite chapter I've written yet. Every time I re-read it for edits, I think "aah just kiss already!!!"
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rui went through Phoenix’s rigorous training, and passed every test with flying colors. He was a natural, almost a genius, at spy work. Stealth, disguise, coercion, redirection, communications, basic hand-to-hand combat and basic firearms, all of it Rui scored impressively well in. Despite his claims that he was somewhat of a loner, he got along well with Emu and Nene, and though he was eccentric, many members of their organization were eager to hear his input.
Tsukasa often had lunch with him, and was more than eager to answer Rui’s questions about spywork, but for the most part, Tsukasa kept his distance. He didn’t like the unnerving feeling Rui gave him, and he cared even less for his capricious manner. Did he think becoming a spy was a game? Their organization wasn’t a place for overgrown children to play pretend. They were active fighters of justice. But Rui seemed allergic to taking anything seriously, always intent on teasing Tsukasa.
Once Rui’s training was completed, and he graduated to an official agent, he and Tsukasa were assigned their first official mission together. It was a simple mission: retrieve a briefcase from one of Capazon’s outposts, and neutralize any threats along the way.
Tsukasa briefed Rui on the mission specifics in the ride over, and even then, Rui seemed to only be half-paying attention. Tsukasa was beginning to reach the end of his fuse with Rui.
They reached their destination, an old abandoned warehouse down near the docks on the outskirts of the city. The ocean waves gently lapped the wooden legs of the old pier, and the late afternoon sun filled the ocean with an orange glow.
Rui loaded a few sleeping darts into his gun while Tsukasa scouted the area from behind a wall. There were two guards posted outside, and one patrolling the perimeter, but it was difficult to say how many would be inside the four-room building.
“We’re near the docks,” Tsukasa mentioned while Rui finished loading his dart gun. “So there won’t be too many places they can run. Once we take care of the three outside, we won’t know how many guards will be inside, but they shouldn’t be on high alert.”
Rui frowned. “Tsukasa, would you take this and wait a few seconds, then press the large button at the top?”
Rui tossed him a gizmo, and Tsukasa fumbled to catch it. When Tsukasa looked up, Rui had vanished.
“Rui!” Tsukasa hissed, careful to keep his voice low so they wouldn’t attract attention. “Where are you!?”
Left with no choice, Tsukasa sighed, and pushed the button.
The gizmo whirred to life, and a small screen popped up. Suddenly it had created an entire 2 dimensional map of the surrounding area, and it picked up a small dot. When Tsukasa tapped on the dot, a silhouette of Rui appeared on the screen.
Rui’s silhouette moved, and he rounded the corner at the same time the real Rui popped back up behind Tsukasa.
“I’m back,” Rui whispered. Tsukasa jumped.
“Don’t scare me like that!” Tsukasa grumbled. Then he took another look at the device and marveled at it. “This thing can create blueprints and scans of people even through walls?”
“Precisely!” Rui chirped. “I suppose they don’t call you the star spy for nothing.”
Tsukasa preened at the praise. “Yes, these kinds of observational skills come naturally when you’re a star.”
Rui chuckled, then took the device and aimed it at the outpost. It scanned the building, and it came back with a clean floor plan and 10 heat signatures, three outside and seven inside.
Tsukasa’s eyes widened. This was far safer than barging in blind. Even if the information wasn’t perfectly accurate, just having a rough idea of what the inside looked like was invaluable. Maybe Rui was right—it wasn’t arrogance at all. His inventions were simply that good.
“That device of yours should prove invaluable,” Tsukasa commented. “But I resent being used as a demonstration dummy.”
Irritatingly, Rui only giggled. “Would you prefer to be a testing dummy next time?”
“I’d prefer not to be any sort of dummy at all!” Tsukasa insisted. “But we’re wasting time. Let’s go.”
Rui nodded, and fell into step behind Tsukasa. Together they approached stealthily, and worked the perimeter. Rui waited for just the right moment for a guard to grow distracted, then shot him with his dart gun. Just as his friend turned, Rui shot him too. Then, the moment the patrolling guard rounded the corner, Rui’s dart sank into his neck and he joined the others on the ground. Satisfied, Rui re-holstered his gun and sauntered to the bodies, Tsukasa slack-jawed behind him.
“Where did you learn to shoot like that?” Tsukasa marveled. Civilians didn’t normally get so good at using weapons. “Phoenix’s training doesn’t cover firearms that thoroughly.”
But Rui shrugged. “I told you Capazon forced me away from my partner, didn’t I? My quest for revenge started with my local shooting range.”
“Partner, huh…” Tsukasa muttered. A small but tight feeling filled his stomach.
“Don’t worry, we weren't romantically involved,” Rui said. Tsukasa jumped.
“I-I didn’t ask!” Tsukasa blurted. “Come on, let’s head inside.”
To Tsukasa’s complete shock, they complemented each other well. Rui’s suggestions and insight were spot on, and Tsukasa’s daring was supported by Rui’s clever calculations. They easily swept the entirety of the inside of the outpost, and secured the briefcase, within the hour. Had Tsukasa been alone, it would have taken him until midnight.
Tsukasa was about to praise Rui’s swift work and their chemistry as a team, when all of a sudden, Rui groaned at his gizmo.
“What is it?” Tsukasa asked. Rui didn’t answer straight away, and instead fiddled with the machine.
“Tsukasa, would you pull the fourth book from the left on the bottom shelf of this bookcase?” Rui requested.
Cautiously, Tsukasa did. When he tipped the spine, he heard a click, then a large rumbling. Tsukasa jumped back, and watched the entire back wall peel away. In its place was a large and imposing staircase into the ground.
Rui hummed, pleased with himself. “And that explains the funny extra room on the blueprint.” Rui nodded, entirely too nonchalant about a secret room opening.
“You found a secret bunker!” Tsukasa exclaimed. He rushed to Rui’s side and slapped his shoulder. “How did you know that book was the right one?”
“I didn’t.” Rui shrugged. “It could have just as likely been a trap. Like a tripwire, or an explosive!”
“What!?” Tsukasa cried. “You mean you used me as your guinea pig!?”
“Well, you are the veteran agent, aren’t you?” Rui said with a grin. “I’m certain a star spy could have handled a trap very elegantly.”
“Of course I could have!” Tsukasa declared. “But I can’t believe you tried to kill me!”
Rui giggled. “Are you always this dramatic?” Then he took a step down the stairs.
“Wait! Wait!” Tsukasa planted a hand on his shoulder. “We have to stop here.”
“Stop? There could be valuable information hidden below. Don’t you want to take down Capazon? Why would we stop here?”
“Because we don’t know what’s down there!” Tsukasa cried. “I can’t let a newbie handle something like this. We did good work today; let’s report our findings and go home.”
Rui frowned. “But if we leave now, whatever’s down there will surely be gone by the time we come back.”
“And maybe that’s a good thing!” Tsukasa insisted. “Maybe there’s a trap, or a bomb down there.”
“Or maybe there’s something that will help us take them down once and for all.”
“Or maybe there’s not!” Tsukasa yanked Rui’s bicep and pulled him out of the stairwell. “There’s just the two of us, and you’re a novice. I’m not leading you to something that could be your certain death!”
“But—!”
“End of discussion!” Tsukasa’s words bounced off the insides of the thin walls. Tsukasa and Rui stared at each other for a while, resolves in direct competition. Tsukasa let out a frustrated sigh. “This is the exact conversation I used to have with my old partner. Why get so manic about uncovering secrets? Sometimes secrets are better left covered!”
“Are you speaking from experience?” Rui challenged. “Or fear?”
Tsukasa’s temper flared. He surged forwards and seized fistfuls of Rui’s shirt, shoving him back against the wall. Rui’s back thunked against the thin metal, but his eyes didn’t leave Tsukasa’s once.
“I am not a coward.”
Rui stared down at him, expression stony. “Prove it, then.”
“By doing something stupid!?”
“By doing something smart. You know how good of a shot I am. And with my inventions, and your expertise, I don’t see any logical reason we should walk away from this. Not when we have a chance to do so much good with a little bit of bravery. Isn’t this why you became a spy in the first place?”
Tsukasa breathed heavily. Rui’s chest was broad and toned, and it gave him a flash of a memory. Another chest, smaller, less well-defined, gripped in his hands exactly like this. Back then, their stances were reversed. Tsukasa was the one desperate to show his partner that they could take on a dangerous mission, while his partner was concerned for Tsukasa’s safety. Tsukasa was the one asking his partner to trust him. And now, that’s what Rui was doing.
Tsukasa closed his eyes, and released his grip on Rui with a deep sigh. “You’re right. Fine, you’re right. But we go slow, okay? And you stay behind me.”
“Of course.”
Tsukasa then pushed past him, but when he looked back, Rui was nothing but smiles and sunshine, as if little cartoon flowers had popped up around his face. Tsukasa clenched his fist. Why was every single detail about Rui specifically designed to get under Tsukasa’s skin? Once Rui was well and truly under Tsukasa’s skin, it wouldn’t be too much further to his heart.
And that made him dangerous.
They descended the staircase and found a long hallway leading to an imposing dark gray door on the other end. A few smaller doors branched off to the sides, but their target was clear. It was locked with a passcode pad, and had an imposing red light blinking. Blocking the door was a single guard, who seemed particularly inadequate and sloppy. Tsukasa scoffed. He’d truly been worried over nothing, after all. This was going to be a piece of cake.
Still, Tsukasa knelt to one knee, and motioned for Rui to hug the wall behind him. From the nearest side door, sounds of scuffling and muffled voices could be heard. Tsukasa could make out three distinct voices, and based on a quick scan from Rui’s device, the entire bunker held only 5 people all together.
The closest side door opened and a guard stumbled out. Tsukasa swiftly roundhoused his ankles and watched him topple to the ground, hitting his head and instantly knocking himself out cold.
Rui clapped, which had Tsukasa beaming. “Pay attention, newbie, and you may pick up a few tricks from your senior!”
The single guard down the hall was alerted to Tsukasa’s booming voice and began sprinting at them. Before he could get very far, a dart sailed into his thigh and he crumpled.
“I’ll be sure to take notes,” Rui quipped with a pleasant grin.
Tsukasa gritted his teeth. It seemed more and more that Rui was not in fact someone he had to coddle, but rather, someone he could rely on. And that was dangerous. Tsukasa had thought no one would be able to properly match his energy. But here Rui was, providing perfect cover, being the exact help Tsukasa had been needing for years. Tsukasa stared at Rui, at his perfect shooting stance and lithe forearms, at his broad shoulders that tapered to a slender waist, his beautiful amber eyes tucked behind sharp glasses.
“Your attitude is more more irritating than my old partner’s ever was,” Tsukasa grumbled, feeling his heart quicken against his will.
“You keep mentioning him,” Rui noted as they crept forward down the hall. “Your old partner. Who was he?”
Tsukasa frowned. “Are you determined to dig nosily into my past like a bloodhound?”
“I’m merely curious, since we’ll be working together.” The door behind them opened, and without missing a beat, Rui swiveled around, fired the gun, then swiveled back. “Was he annoying?”
Though Rui didn’t say it, Tsukasa was certain he meant ‘Like me?’ “No. He was nothing like you.”
Rui hummed, and tapped a gloved finger to his lips. “Nothing at all, hm? Now that’s fascinating.”
A guard charged Tsukasa, and he peppered his response to Rui in between individual blows. “He was a hard worker!” Tsukasa said as his fist jabbed the guard’s nose. “Dedicated to his craft.” Another jab. “He always took everything very seriously.” A cross, with his right arm, that had the guard dizzy. “You wouldn’t know ‘serious’ if it hit you upside the head!” Tsukasa’s strong left hook landed, knocking the guard clean to the floor.
“Probably not,” Rui agreed. “I think I would simply dodge out of the way.” From behind, a guard swung a large baton at Rui, but he swiveled to the side, evading it cleanly and effortlessly. Once the guard was off balance, Rui landed a single clean blow to a pressure point in her neck, and she crumbled, all while Rui smiled like they were playing a game or strolling through the park.
“Gah. See? This is exactly what I’m talking about!” Tsukasa cried. They were actively fighting armed guards, but still, Rui was poking at Tsukasa’s life like a firestick overturning hot logs. “Why are you so easygoing and carefree about this whole situation!?”
Rui chuckled. “I wonder if you should conflate 'having fun' with 'not taking something seriously' quite so easily.”
Tsukasa was unimpressed. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Perhaps I should simply say that, working with you is far more fun than I’d expected.”
Rui then tossed him a look full of affection, and it sent Tsukasa’s heart rate into the stratosphere. He felt his skin light on fire, and he quickly turned away. He should say something in response, shouldn’t he? But what could he say? That the truth was, he’d been having more fun than he’d expected with Rui, too? That he liked having Rui around, and was grateful that Rui had pushed him to explore despite his fears? Tsukasa had no idea how he would even begin to say any of that.
When Tsukasa turned back, Rui had knelt to the padlock and hooked up one of his devices to it. He began clacking away at some keys on his device while the machine whirred.
“So what did this partner of yours look like?” Rui asked, sparing Tsukasa from having to respond. “If he was my complete opposite, I imagine he must have had a very plain appearance.”
Tsukasa shook his head. “No. Well, to some, maybe. His brown hair always looked damaged and brittle. And he always wore a mask that obscured his face. But his eyes were blue like the clear morning light reflecting off the sea. And his hands were…”
Tsukasa’s eyes caught on Rui’s hands. The soft leather gloves covered them neatly, and moved elegantly along with his fingers. While Rui worked, his hands looked like he was conducting an orchestra, each movement so precise and smooth. Tsukasa could watch him for hours without getting bored.
“His hands?” Rui asked, not looking up.
Tsukasa jumped, embarrassed at himself. Why did Rui unwittingly keep creeping closer under his skin? “Nothing. Nevermind.”
Thankfully, Rui didn’t press, and mercifully shifted the subject. “What about his voice?”
Tsukasa leaned against the wall. “I never heard his voice. He’d just gone through a major surgery when we met, so he couldn’t talk. We used sign language and written notes.”
“Did you wish you could have heard him?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“Did you?”
Tsukasa looked, but Rui’s face was completely unreadable. Particularly from the high angle with his bangs obscuring his face. For some reason, the answer really seemed to matter to Rui. Tsukasa didn’t see the harm in indulging him.
“Of course I did. I wanted to hear him talk, but more than that… I always wished I knew what he was thinking. He always got this troubled sort of look, like his mind was racing with a thousand ideas.”
The memories gripped Tsukasa’s heart tight.
“And his name?” Rui’s voice sounded distant.
“Shiro,” Tsukasa breathed, the word like shattering a perfect illusion. “Asahi Shiro.”
The hallway grew quiet while Tsukasa was seized by memories of Shiro. Their backs pressed together with enemies on all sides. That cute little head-tilt he did whenever Tsukasa celebrated a small accomplishment. His hand eclipsing Tsukasa’s shoulder. The first time they met, a chalkboard slung around his neck, beautiful handwriting scribbling out: I liked the name ‘Asahi’, so I kept it, but Shiro is an alias. I hope you’ll assist me in confusing our enemies by referring to me as Shiro. Of course, your name is even more magnificent, isn’t it? Tsukasa Tenma?
Tsukasa’s lungs constricted. He clutched a fist to his sternum. Shiro had far more talent than Tsukasa ever did, and he could admit it. Tsukasa had hoped one day he’d have even a fraction as much skill as Shiro. He’d admired him so much it ached.
A clean beeping sound, then the rush of the doors opening, drew Tsukasa back to the present. Tsukasa hated nostalgia. He tried suppressing any memories that had even a twinge of pain in them. But something about Rui made all those suppressed feelings come up to the surface. Tsukasa had been right. Rui was dangerous.
“Voila!” Rui packed up his gizmo and clapped his hands a few times to rid them of dust. “Your old partner’s name is lovely, by the way. It means ‘innocent morning’.”
Tsukasa nodded, still a bit distracted. “Yeah.”
Rui breezed past him, then over his shoulder, said: “I can see why you fell in love with him.”
Tsukasa jumped, and scrambled after Rui. “Wha—No! Y-you’ve got the wrong idea!”
Rui hummed, clearly not convinced. “So you weren’t interested in him at all?”
They came into the room, which had nothing but a large computer console in the center. Capazon had access to far fancier and higher-tech machines than just about anyone short of national governments. Rui hooked up his device once more, and had a look on his face like a child had just been let loose in a candy store.
While he pondered whether or not to answer Rui’s question, Tsukasa surveyed the rest of the room. There really wasn’t much to it at all. A hastily-assembled metal bookshelf with a few binders thrown on its shelves, a swivel chair, and a battered metal desk. Tsukasa quickly leafed through the binders, but didn’t find any new information.
He glanced behind him and saw Rui hard at work, hands once more like an orchestra conductor’s at the keyboard. Tsukasa gripped his hair in frustration. He liked working with Rui. A lot. He felt the exact same sparks of butterflies filling up his stomach when he watched Rui, and felt all sorts of sappy things like joy and excitement and fun when they were together. When the feeling first grew in Tsukasa around Shiro, he hadn’t any idea what to do with it. But now Tsukasa knew better. And if he didn’t want to get hurt in the exact same way all over again, he was going to have to be honest and shut down his feelings before they got a chance to grow.
And it wasn’t like he was ready to so easily betray Shiro’s memory by having someone new in his heart.
Tsukasa sighed, and leaned against the console where Rui was working, careful not to hit any of the buttons. “You win. A star spy like me can admit the truth.”
“Oh?”
“You were right. I was in love with Shiro. But he never looked at me the same way.”
Rui didn’t look up from his work, but his hands did stutter. Tsukasa didn’t know what to make of it.
Then, just barely above a whisper, bitter and frustrated and jealous, Rui muttered: “How can you be so sure?”
It rubbed Tsukasa the wrong way. “It doesn’t matter,” Tsukasa said with sharp indifference. “He’s dead.”
At that, Rui looked up. Their eyes met for a moment. “Oh.” Tsukasa tore his gaze away. “Oh, Tsukasa, I—“
“And I killed him,” Tsukasa spat, glaring at the hard concrete floor. “He took a bullet intended for me and fell to his death. There. Are you satisfied now? Is that what you wanted to hear?”
Other than the whirring of Rui’s machine, there was nothing but suffocating silence.
Tsukasa didn’t like it. He clenched his fingers tight into his bicep. He hadn’t meant to snap at Rui. But the memory still slashed at Tsukasa’s heart. A firm shove, a gunshot, Shiro’s wide eyes as he slipped off the rubble, his fingers just beyond Tsukasa’s grasp. This was why he’d suppressed the memory. Why he suppressed all his memories of Shiro. Because even the positive moments would always end up leading him back to their final one.
“I’m sorry,” Rui said quietly.
Tsukasa looked at him, and saw just how tight and regretful his face was. Rui looked like he had a million more things he wanted to say, words pressing against the roof of his mouth and barely contained behind his lips. But he didn’t say any of them. Just the apology, accompanied by the look of deep regret.
If Tsukasa was honest, he found that expression to be a little much. So Rui was accidentally callous, and it made Tsukasa snap. He didn’t need to look like he was regretting his life choices. Tsukasa sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck. “No, I’m sorry. You didn’t know.”
“I had no idea that you…” Rui’s voice tapered off. He chewed the inside of his cheek, caught in a rare moment of being uncertain what to say. Then, he closed his eyes and breathed slowly out through his nose. “Still, you were right. I shouldn’t have dug into your past.”
A triumphant clicking sound from Rui’s machine, which was good news. Tsukasa asked if it meant he was ‘in’, to which Rui nodded, and he inserted a large floppy disk into the computer to begin downloading files to. Rui explained that without a monitor, they wouldn’t know the value of the files they’d found until their data analyst Nene could look over them. But the sheer amount of information they’d found was promising.
Once everything was finished, Rui unplugged the drive, and they left the exact same way they came in.
They spent the trip back to Phoenix HQ in silence.
Later that evening, as Tsukasa nursed a cup of tea, there was a knock on his office door.
“Come in.”
Rui hesitantly slipped into Tsukasa’s office. “Good evening,” he greeted warily as he closed the door behind him. “I apologize for bothering you so late.”
“Did the data finish getting processed?” Tsukasa guessed. Rui shook his head.
“I thought, rather… I’ve come to offer you something. In exchange for my behavior today.”
“Huh?”
“I know you must be furious at me for dredging up old traumatic events. So I thought perhaps you would want to hear my past, in exchange.”
Tsukasa stood, and walked around his desk. “Where’s all this coming from?”
“I betrayed your trust today, and therefore I don’t have the right to work with you. I understand I’ll be re-assigned wherever you see fit. Offering information on my past was a meager attempt to re-balance the humiliation I made you suffer.”
“Re-assigned!? Why would I want you re-assigned?”
Rui’s eyes widened. “You mean to say...you still want me at your side?”
Tsukasa gripped Rui’s arms just above his elbows. “Do you want to be reassigned?”
Rui shook his head.
“Good.”
Tsukasa circled back around to the shelf behind his desk and pulled out another tea cup. “Without you, I never would have gone down those stairs. And even if I had, who knows how long it would have taken me to open the door, or download the files. And I liked having your support fire in the scuffles. Don’t you get it, Rui? I’m a better star spy when you’re around. I need you.”
Rui’s eyes were even wider as Tsukasa finished pouring him a cup of tea. Tsukasa brought the pot, and then the two cups, over to his tea table, and gestured for Rui to sit.
Once they’d both settled, Tsukasa crossed his legs and stared at Rui. “Rui, do you want to share your past?”
Rui’s face was a tight web of unease. “No.”
“Then I don’t need to hear it.”
Gingerly, Rui took his tea cup and sipped. He still looked downtrodden and defeated, and it baffled Tsukasa completely. Why would Rui assume he’d be cast aside simply because his teasing went a bit far? Who had hurt him, or left him, in the past so suddenly that he thought he would get left again so easily? Tsukasa did want to know. But he wouldn’t learn under forced pretenses. He would only learn when, and if, Rui was ready to open up.
“You’re angry with me,” Rui noted. Not afraid, but confused.
Tsukasa leaned back in his chair. “Yes, I’m angry. I’m angry, all right? But I told you about Shiro because you’re my partner now.”
Rui gasped, but honestly, Tsukasa wasn’t sure why. The fact that they were partners should have been obvious. “Rui, every other agent I’ve ever worked with has fallen short in one way or another of what I need. But not you.”
“I wouldn’t consider myself able to ‘fall short’ given our relative heights.”
“Watch it,” Tsukasa grumbled. Then he sighed. “The fact is, after I snapped at you and shared my deepest trauma, you’re still here. So I don’t mind you knowing what happened to Shiro. Do you get it? I told you because I wanted to. If you don’t want to tell me your past, you don’t need to say a word.”
Rui digested the information slowly, staring into his cup. “You’re not going to get frustrated from not knowing? What if something from my past comes up in our work?”
“Then we’ll deal with that when it comes up,” Tsukasa affirmed. “I want to know your past. But not before you’re ready to tell it. You understand? Not a moment before! I’ll wait however long you need. I am supremely patient!”
Tsukasa rose from his seat, and placed his hand on Rui’s shoulder with an easy smile. “And if the day never comes that you want to tell me, then that’s fine too.”
For a moment, Rui simply stared, in utter disbelief, as if half-convinced the entire conversation was a dream. But then he smiled, warm and touched and soft. Tsukasa stared at Rui’s lips longer than what anyone would consider proper.
“Tsukasa… You truly are amazing.”
Tsukasa preened. “Aren’t I just? You’re basking in the warm glow of the gracious and understanding star spy of Phoenix!”
Tsukasa then held out his hand in an invitation. Once they shook, they’d officially, truly be partners. No reassigning, no information offered as an apology or a placation. True partnership. A solid foundation.
“And as this star’s official partner, you should consider yourself extremely lucky!”
Rui took hold of Tsukasa’s hand.
“I do.”
Notes:
Turns out even in another universe, they complement each other perfectly. <3
Tsukasa has decided to trust Rui, but...is that really wise?NEXT TIME:
“It’s Rui,” Nene said, finding comfort in Emu’s shoulder. Emu’s arms happily wrapped around Nene’s shoulders, making her feel warm and safe. “He’s just…”
“Scary smart, right?” Emu murmured. “Too scary smart.”
“Yeah,” Nene agreed.(and)
Rui’s terrified and tight eyes flashed in Tsukasa’s mind as he stared into the mirror. He dipped his washcloth into the warm water again and scrubbed his face. No one who was truly so capricious and uncaring could look like that.
Chapter 3: The Time Playing Pretend
Summary:
Two years later, Rui and Tsukasa have settled into their new relationship as work partners. And maybe even realized some feelings for each other. But their time together is beginning to grow short as Kaito sends Rui the path towards enacting his final ambitions.
Notes:
In case you were worried after last chapter, rest assured this story is about the love between Rui and Tsukasa (and not between either of them and anyone else!).
Timeskip! It's two years later, so Emu and Nene are 25 and Tsukasa and Rui are 26. The exact numbers aren't super important; I just couldn't have them being high school students for this story. They needed to all have graduated and been out of school for a few years. So they're like, older than high school and adults, but still relatively young.
We finally get a look into Rui's backstory, and a hint at what he might be thinking. He's a tough nut to crack! It'll be a while before he's ready to open up to Tsukasa, but I thought he could open up to the reader just a little bit.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The next two years passed by in a blur. Tsukasa and Rui grew steadily closer each mission, and Rui settled perfectly into Phoenix. They learned more and more how to rely on each other during missions, and how to work out their disagreements. Rui also grew closer with Emu and Nene, becoming genuinely great friends, and even some of the others in their organization, Rui was able to have amicable and pleasant conversations with. It was as if Phoenix was always meant to be his home.
Tsukasa was constantly used as a guinea pig for Rui’s gizmos, always getting almost singed or sliced and tossed around. No one except him seemed to care very much for his safety, least of all Rui.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. There was one day, around last Halloween, where Rui’s invention went haywire and put Tsukasa in danger. The look in Rui’s eyes had haunted Tsukasa.
Rui’s terrified and tight eyes flashed in Tsukasa’s mind as he stared into the mirror. He dipped his washcloth into the warm water again and scrubbed his face. No one who was truly so capricious and uncaring could look like that.
The night was thick and heavy, and Tsukasa’s bones ached from the training mishap earlier that morning. The water from the sink was warm, enough to reflect steaming lines in the old mirror. As Tsukasa scrubbed his face, two realizations hit him.
One was that Rui had been hiding himself. Maybe that shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. Tsukasa knew Rui didn’t want to talk about his past, and that he often danced around during missions like it was some kind of game. But when Tsukasa was really in danger, Rui couldn’t hide at all.
Two was that Rui did care. A lot. About their work, about Tsukasa’s safety, about helping and protecting people. Feelings that deep and that raw could only be genuine. Rui wasn’t at all what Tsukasa had initially thought he was. And Rui would never do something if he wasn’t absolutely certain it was safe.
Those two realizations together lead to a third, even sharper realization.
Rui trusted him.
During their first mission, Rui had pushed them to explore something completely unknown, and there hadn’t been a shred of fear in his eyes. There wasn’t ever a single moment where he doubted Tsukasa’s abilities. Rui believed in and trusted Tsukasa with every fiber.
And that third realization lead to the sharpest one of all.
It wasn’t the smartest move to fall in love with someone who trusted you but always hid themselves. Maybe it was a stupid time for it, too—not during some sweeping romantic gesture, but alone in the bathroom while washing your face. Maybe falling in love with someone who was supposed to just be your work partner, especially when you already had a last work partner you fell in love with that ended poorly, was a massively terrible choice.
But that’s exactly what Tsukasa did.
The memory made Tsukasa cringe at himself. Especially because, if he ever revealed that story, he could imagine Rui’s warm laughter releasing into an affectionate smile.
Tsukasa banged his head on the table. He really was hopeless.
“Something wrong?” Rui asked.
Tsukasa and Rui were grabbing lunch at a cafe, and enjoying the early spring air. They’d just finished a mission and were both exhausted, but something about seeing Rui’s hair gently blowing in the breeze had given Tsukasa energy.
“Nothing serious,” Tsukasa replied, rising back up and leaning back in his chair.
Rui chuckled. “I’m afraid I find that very difficult to believe.”
Tsukasa glanced at Rui, and for a dangerous moment, thought of just confessing to him on the spot. They were the only two around, the weather was perfect, and they were at their favorite cafe. Tsukasa had even rehearsed multiple times exactly what he would say, and could recite his confession script in his sleep.
But then, every reason not to confess flooded his mind. Could Tsukasa abandon his old feelings for Shiro so easily? If he left behind everything he felt about Shiro, wouldn’t that be like letting him die all over again? What if Rui’s sharp eyes noticed a bullet heading for Tsukasa and pushed him out of the way? What if Tsukasa, in his determination to prevent that from happening, took the bullet instead, and left Rui in the exact same place Tsukasa was in? Leaving Rui as traumatized as Tsukasa was?
Tsukasa clenched his fists. He could never do that.
Rui’s voice was quiet as he said, “Are you thinking about Shiro again?”
Tsukasa jolted. “How did you…?”
Rui’s smile was bitter. “You make that same expression every time you’re lost in the past.”
Tsukasa hadn’t realized he’d been so obvious. Or that Rui had been watching him so closely.
“It must be difficult,” Rui said, “I imagine you have a lot of conflicting feelings to sort through. And while I’m certain Shiro would be touched that you think of him so often, and care so deeply for him, even now…”
Rui’s hand reached across the table, and covered Tsukasa’s. Tsukasa’s heart leapt to his throat.
“I think Shiro would want you to seize the opportunities in front of you.”
Tsukasa’s heart banged against his chest, filling up his throat and mouth. Rui was beautiful in the afternoon light—hell, he was always beautiful. His concern was blatant on his face, and swimming in his eyes was something tumultuous. Something like regret and pain, but also a lot like hope.
Tsukasa swallowed his heart beats. He pulled his hand back.
“You talk about Shiro as if you know him,” Tsukasa accused, face still on fire.
That got Rui flustered and nervous, and he retreated to his seat then looked away. “Ah, does it seem that way? Perhaps it’s simply because you speak of him so often.”
Tsukasa frowned. “Do I? I thought that…” I thought that I’d stopped talking about him once I realized how I felt about you. “Well, sorry about that.”
Rui looked like he wanted to say something more, but before he could, an alert buzzed on one of Rui’s gizmos, signaling that the agent they’d been tracing was on the move. They ended their lunch there, and headed out. Which was good, because Tsukasa had too many conflicting emotions that he wasn’t ready to fully recognize yet.
This was exactly why it was discouraged for spies to fall for their partners.
Later that night, Rui tinkered with a new robot in the basement floor of Phoenix HQ. They had several open-design workshops that accommodated multiple people working at once. But Rui was used to working alone.
He liked to work at night, when there were less distractions around. He could think clearer, and not worry about disturbing others as he worked. Though the lamplight on the varnish of the wooden cabinets was starting to grow familiar, he still found himself longing for the view of the starscape in his home workshop.
It had all started there, hadn’t it? A device that could protect someone. Clearing out his parents’ garage, tinkering with scraps that his father let him have, watching his classmates view him from further and further away until they turned their backs altogether. Moving through the shadows, finding comfort in them.
Then a warm smile. And a hand, offered palm up, asking Rui to take it.
A buzz interrupted Rui’s thoughts, and he flicked open his communicator.
1 new message: Kaito
Rui clicked his communicator off again.
He’d invented communicators a long time ago, small circular devices that could send messages between each other regardless of distance. The prototypes used radio waves, but those signals were always so easy to intercept that Rui had come up with a different kind of signal that was much trickier to track. He of course kept the first working prototype for himself, but after that, he gave the blueprints to Kaito so they could be mass manufactured. Now most spies on every side of the political spectrum had some version of the communicators.
But of course, that sort of technology was valuable, and kept hidden from the public. Rui had to act surprised and impressed when Nene presented him with a personal communicator after joining Phoenix. She’d actually given him one of his older models, and he had to hold himself back for a few months before he felt it wasn’t too suspicious that he’d invented upgrades. Now the communicators could send text messages as well as maintain a two-way call, and could be worn as watches, necklaces, brooches, or kept as pocket trinkets. Rui liked keeping his in his pocket on a chain that connected to the waistband of his pants, meanwhile Nene preferred to have it as a necklace, and both Emu and Tsukasa liked wearing theirs as watches. When Rui next found sound down time, he planned to make an even smaller one that could be worn as an earring.
Rui chuckled. He had come up with a way to put a communicator inside of a robot, and was maybe most proud of that creation out of all his gizmos. The communicator itself was useful, yes, and the robot he made could sing, dance, and emulate human speech. But it made Nene smile. If Rui hadn’t been born an only child, he would have loved a little sister like Nene. On late week nights, they would grab cheap tickets to the local theater and enjoy the performances together. Every so often, Emu and Tsukasa came along as well, and Nene would make embarrassing comments about it feeling like a double date. Rui would hide his own embarrassment by teasing Tsukasa, and Tsukasa would shout and deny it in a very unconvincing manner.
Then Emu would laugh. She was always laughing and smiling; to the point that at first, Rui didn’t trust it. One time after a theater visit, Nene confessed that she hadn’t trusted it at first, either. But Emu just saw the good in the world—the joy, the laughter, the kindness—and wanted down to her very core to share that with everyone. At first Rui had laughed, and couldn’t quite stifle rolling his eyes. What was it with self-proclaimed “good guys” and their obsession with being cheesy and childish? But slowly as Rui worked with Emu, he realized that Nene had been right. Emu had big dreams to help everyone, and she meant them, and it resonated with Rui in a way he hadn’t thought possible. Emu’s enthusiasm for Rui’s work and his own ideas was rivaled by none, and that gave Rui a strange buzzing warmth in his chest.
But it was completely distinct from—well, everything was distinct compared to—he was just so strange and unique, wasn’t he? In a way that made Rui’s weirdness feel normal. At home. In a way that endeared him to everyone around him…
Rui’s hands stalled. A smile warmer than the sun—along with a hand offered palm up to Rui, asking him to take it—stuck in his chest.
His communicator buzzed again, and Rui pulled the device from his pocket, clicked the side button, and watched the display.
2 new messages: Kaito
Sighing, Rui lowered his forehead to the desk. He knew he couldn’t ignore it forever. Rui’s time playing pretend with the members of Phoenix was coming to a close. Which was a shame. He liked enabling Emu’s nonsense, sharing in Nene’s observations, and toying with Tsukasa. He’d grown attached to these false friendships.
And it was going to hurt more than Emu, Nene, and Tsukasa when Rui finally drove his knife into their backs.
Taking a deep breath, Rui sat up, and grabbed his screwdriver again. He wouldn’t let himself get attached. Even if they did seem nice and fun, they would turn on him. If—maybe when—Phoenix found out Rui’s secret, they would have him executed. As they should, really, it was the logical thing to do. And merciful: Phoenix killed cleanly, rather than a fraction of the horror stories Rui had caught glimpses of at other organizations.
But still. Friends who would want you dead weren’t very good friends to have.
Rui clicked his communicator on again and read the messages from Kaito.
Ah ha, Rui thought, this is the opportunity I’ve been waiting for.
Rui set to work, and banished all thoughts of false friendships like picking splinters from his hand.
Nene sighed as she leaned back in her chair. The glow of her computer screen in the dark strained her eyes, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. Her head lolled back and she stared at the dark gray ceiling, trying to make sense of the tight knot growing in her stomach.
Rui’s latest text was innocent in itself. A simple remark, a suggestion to look into something that might have changed.
But how did Rui know? Nene was their information specialist. So where…
Nene frowned. She’d been having a nagging feeling that something was off about Rui, but she couldn’t exactly place what it was. She didn’t want to be suspicious of her teammates; she liked being able to trust them. Of course, it wasn’t exactly a bad thing to suspect fellow spies, since betrayals and double-crosses were very common. But she liked Rui’s friendship. She liked having him around. She liked watching plays and musicals together, and feeling like she had an older brother.
And her girlfriend had taught Nene to be more open with her heart.
Nene spun around in her chair, away from the light of her computer. It was easy to suspect Rui. Rui was suspicious; Tsukasa had been right. Spies had dirty pasts. But Rui’s record was squeaky clean. He officially had no experience in spy work. And that directly contradicted with his keen intuition. How did he have so much experience about how missions went, and what to do when they went wrong? How was he always so good at finding Capazon bases whenever they moved?
What was he hiding?
Nene rocked back on her swivel chair as she began to think. Rui’s little “tips” that he delivered as if they were unimportant always revealed massive insights into how Capazon worked, and where they drew their strength from. It was useful, no doubt. In fact, they kept delivering more and more little blows all around, and with this momentum, there was a lot of hope they could take them down once and for all.
But still. How did Rui seem to know the future?
Nene thought that, at this point, Rui’s cleverness could only explain so much. Even Tsukasa was starting to notice some discrepancies. Tsukasa wasn’t exactly unobservant, but rather tunnel-visioned. And paired with the rose-tint over that tunnel, it was a wonder Tsukasa saw anything at all.
They were both massively annoying. They liked each other. It was painfully, irritatingly obvious. What was taking them so long? Then again, if Rui really was a double agent…
Grah, Nene’s thoughts were all over the place. This wasn’t good.
Her door opened, interrupting Nene’s frustrations. With the bright humming and bouncy gait, Nene knew exactly who it was.
Emu hopped to Nene’s chair, and planted a kiss on her creased eyebrow. Nene’s face relaxed. She hadn’t even realized how tense she’d been.
“You’re growl worry worry grr ouchie,” Emu said, taking hold of Nene’s hand. Nene sighed, relenting. While she could only mostly parse what Emu was saying, (it was largely context clues), Emu was right. Nene could never hide anything from her girlfriend.
“It’s Rui,” Nene said, finding comfort in Emu’s shoulder. Emu’s arms happily wrapped around Nene’s shoulders, making her feel warm and safe. What would Nene do without Emu? “He’s just…”
“Scary smart, right?” Emu murmured. “Too scary smart.”
“Yeah,” Nene agreed. “But I don’t want to doubt him.”
“He’s scaring himself, too,” Emu said. “I don’t know how to help him. But he always tells us to be patient and have faith with others. So I think that’s what we should do. Then we can help him however he needs it.”
Emu was right. How many times over the past two years had Rui offered her insight or patience that eventually lead to a breakthrough? He had a weird way of seeing the world, but he was always there. He even invented a little robot that looked like Nene with a communicator inside that could be used to talk to others whenever Nene was too nervous to do it herself. Sometimes she asked Robo-Nene to play music to help her focus or relax. Such a tool would have been far more useful before she’d met Emu, but still. It was nice.
How could someone who did all that be working for their enemy?
Nene pulled back, and looked into Emu’s eyes. “You trust him?”
Emu smiled. “I do.”
Nene sighed, and closed her eyes. “Okay,” she resolved. “That’s good enough for me.”
There wasn’t exactly a good reason to trust. Nene simply wanted to.
Maybe that was reason enough.
Notes:
Bonus emunene scene because gl and bl should live together in harmony. I just finished my finals so once I've recovered from my fugue state I'll be free~! Sorry for the shorter chapter this week, and for the mystery ending. What information did Rui discover?? And could it somehow involve Tsukasa in a dress???
NEXT TIME:
Nene crossed her arms. “Can you even wear heels?”
Tsukasa puffed his chest out and pounded a fist to it. “Of course I can I wear heels! Who do you think I am?”
“An idiot.”
“Well, I’m an idiot who can wear heels! Wait—no! I’m not an idiot, and I can wear heels!”
(and)
Rui imagined Kaito drumming his fingers on the edge of his large desk. “You’re earning everyone’s trust then, I take it?”
Rui nodded. “Nearly every agent at Phoenix.”
“And Tenma?”
Though it was for a fraction of a second, Rui hesitated.
Chapter 4: The Ominous Call
Summary:
Phoenix discovers important information about the sponsor for the city's charity ball, and decide they need to send Tsukasa and Rui undercover. As they make their plans, Rui receives a call on his communicator that makes his face pale.
Notes:
School is almost over for me hurray! Thanks to everyone who's been sticking with me through this story. I know it's not all that deep and meaningful, but I hope you're at least having a little bit of fun.
We're beginning to get into the thick of it now. The characters' personalities have been a bit tricky to settle on, but I think I like where I've landed. Since they're technically older they should be more matured, but I firmly believe that being together as a group was the thing that made them all grow in canon, so since they didn't know each other until a bit later, they grew a bit differently.
I'm so excited for you all to read the scene with Rui and Kaito's call :)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Welcome welcome welcome!” Emu cried, jumping up and down. She promptly crushed Tsukasa in a hug as he came first through the door. She next tackled Rui, who seemed shocked before stiffly returning it. Two years and Rui still was so surprised every time Emu showed him her classic friendliness. Tsukasa wasn’t quite sure why, but even so, it was kind of endearing in its own way.
“Thanks for coming on short notice,” Nene said, her attention focused on typing a program in front of her. “We found something pretty big.”
“Big, huh?” Tsukasa asked. Emu jumped, then sprinted to the far end of the room and grabbed this morning’s newspaper, then spread it out flat on the main table in the center. The headline was about the annual city charity ball. The entire front page was full of photos from previous years, with extravagant costumes adorned with a myriad of accessories. Phoenix liked to keep tabs on the city’s charity ball, especially because a lot of business was done during the dinner event. Information itself was useful to have.
“I thought we determined their sponsorship wasn’t particularly relevant,” Tsukasa said, crossing his arms. “We weren’t planning on going this year, and were just going to use planted bugs to gather intel, right?”
“Right,” Nene said. “Because the sponsorship wasn’t important. At least, not until now.”
Nene flipped the newspaper to the back, where all of the sponsors were listed. Clear as day, there was the company logo in bright, friendly letters.
Tsukasa gritted his teeth. “Capazon.”
“They pulled a switcharoo!” Emu announced.
“Rui’s intuition was dead on,” Nene noted. “He mentioned they might be interested in getting new partners since we’re in a dead lock.”
Tsukasa skimmed through the article, and noticed one further detail: “They changed the location too?”
Nene nodded. “With the new sponsorship, the guest list expanded massively, so the official story is that they need a bigger venue.”
“Ah, but it’s all rather convenient, isn’t it?” Rui finished with a wry grin.
“Exactly,” Nene said.
“Lookie lookie!” Emu cried as she slapped a city map down next to the newspaper. A red circle had been drawn around one of the abandoned warehouses on the South side of town. Emu pointed to a building across the street from the edge of the circle. “This is where the party is now!”
“That’s right next to where Rui’s gizmo said a lot of their activity was coming from!” Tsukasa said.
They all turned to Rui, who had pressed a hand under his chin in thought. “Curious. Perhaps even...damning.”
Nene nodded. “So you think so too, then. There’s a strong possibility that’s one of their main bases of operation. And they might be holding important files somewhere in the venue building.”
“Which means that the gala will be the perfect opportunity to sneak in, do some digging, and look for proof of their illegal activities,” Tsukasa said.
“Which means you’re going to the gala!” Emu announced happily.
“Understood,” Tsukasa said. “That only means that we—Rui?”
Rui stared gobsmacked at his communicator, his eyes wide and his face pale. It was buzzing lightly, which meant that someone else was trying to connect with him. That itself was a bit unsettling—did anyone outside of Phoenix even know how to contact Rui’s communicator?
“Rui?” Tsukasa asked again.
Rui blinked, and returned to the present. “Ah, forgive me, I need to take this. Apologies everyone, I should only be a moment.”
As Rui left, that lingering unease settled in the air. Emu and Nene sensed something was wrong too, then. Tsukasa took a deep breath. He trusted his partner.
“All right, let’s go over some more details for the infiltration,” Tsukasa said.
Rui stepped out of the lab and pulled into a secluded alcove. Once he was certain no one was around, he answered.
“I’m busy,” Rui muttered low.
On the other end, he heard Kaito scoff.
“Are you? I haven’t had an in-depth report from you in a while, so I wasn’t certain.”
“Apologies,” Rui said smoothly. “We’d agreed a robust monthly report would suffice, did we not? The end of the month is not for another few days.”
Kaito grumbled. Rui knew he was stretching some of Kaito’s directives, and taking advantage of being his best agent. But still. He hadn’t expected to actually enjoy his time at Phoenix, nor to find himself wishing he could be friends with everyone. Emotions were risky for double agents.
But even so, Rui’s loyalties had never once wavered.
“I like hearing from you,” Kaito said. “I like knowing exactly what our pesky little birds are struggling to accomplish.”
“I understand,” Rui appeased. “But it would be far too suspicious if their new friend was looking at his communicator constantly, wouldn’t you agree?”
Rui imagined Kaito drumming his fingers on the edge of his large desk. “You’re earning everyone’s trust then, I take it?”
Rui nodded. “Nearly every agent at Phoenix.”
“And Tenma?”
Though it was for a fraction of a second, Rui hesitated. He gritted his teeth. That mistake would cost him. “He’s the most difficult, as we expected. Because of the death of his old partner, he is slow to trust.”
Kaito cackled, menacing and cruel. “He’d be even slower to trust if he knew what you did to his old partner.”
A slow inhale. Rui’s free hand clenched into a fist.
Rui had forgotten he’d told that part to Kaito. He’d forgotten that it… If Rui could help it, Tsukasa would never learn that secret. The betrayal he would feel…The knowledge that Rui had kept from him, the lies he had told him…!
No, no, why did Rui care? Tsukasa’s friendship was fake. Rui released a tight ball of energy on a bitter laugh. Again with those risky emotions coming back to bite him. Why couldn’t he go back to his cold emotionless days again? Everything was so much simpler before he met Tsukasa.
Kaito’s cackles subsided. “Well, you should have an opportunity to get closer with this next mission. I’m sending you the complete blueprints, floor plan, schedules, and any additional data you may need about who will be posted where.”
Rui released a deep breath. “Understood.”
“Of course, we can’t make things easy for you. Adrenaline should help Tenma warm up to you nicely. I hope you’ve tricked him enough that he’ll trust you in chaos.”
A bit of silence, then a large, booming voice: “Rui, when you’re done, you have to come back! I need you to explain why my secret pose is so spectacular!”
His sound carried across the hallway, and Rui felt his heart growing soft. It was then quickly replaced by something cold and mournful, and he told Kaito: “I believe I have tricked him, yes.”
“Excellent.”
Kaito hung up, then a few seconds later, an encoded message arrived from him. Rui quickly dealt with the file and looked up just in time to see Tsukasa rounding the corner to the alcove.
“There you are!” Tsukasa said. “Have you finished?”
“I have. I appreciate your patience. And allowance for my privacy.”
Tsukasa grinned wide. Why were all of his smiles so warm and bright? “Of course! It had to do with your past, right? You make the same troubled expression every time, too. I promised I would never pry, and a star spy never goes back on his word.”
Rui’s eyes widened.
Rui wanted to laugh. How was it possible for one person to be so full of surprises? It made Rui yearn to spill everything, to simply open his mouth and let all his anguish flood out like a tidal wave. Tsukasa was an excellent swimmer, after all. Maybe he even had the power to keep Rui from drowning.
“I hadn’t realized you’ve been watching me so closely,” Rui said.
For some reason, that caused Tsukasa to jump. “Ghh, that should have been my line! If you were…” Tsukasa trailed off. When Rui looked to him, Tsukasa’s face was deep crimson. He never got any less adorable, did he?
“If I were?” Rui encouraged.
“No, nevermind.”
“It’s unlike you to not simply say the thing that’s on your mind.”
“Well, I have to maintain my mystique!”
Rui chuckled. They both knew that between the two of them, if anyone had such a thing, it wasn’t Tsukasa. He was always so unbearably him that it made Rui’s heart ache.
But Rui steadied his breath. He had a mission to see through. No matter how bright and wide Tsukasa’s grins were, or how cute his blushes, Rui would not let those distract him from his ultimate ambition.
“In any case, I believe I have some good news about our upcoming mission.”
“Splendid!” Tsukasa said. “We need your thoughts on an infiltration route. You said your gizmo could get a rough sketch?”
Rui grinned. “Actually...”
Rui explained how his gizmos were able to uncover the entire floorplans for the building, and from there, once they’d re-entered the room with Emu and Nene, the four of them worked out a solid infiltration route. With their plan in place, there was only one thing left to narrow down.
“You’ll need disguises!” Emu declared. She marched over to a cabinet and flung it open, revealing hundreds of clothes. Tsukasa enjoyed this part of missions. He loved the chance to wear a costume and be something he wasn’t for a bit. Acting had always come surprisingly naturally to him.
Emu sorted through a few options, but a stunning ruby red dress caught Tsukasa’s eye. It was dripping with clear beads sewn over the surface that sparkled in the light. The thin spaghetti straps would give away Tsukasa’s square shoulders, but the plunging lines of fabric draped in front of the dress would surely distract from that.
Nene must have picked up on Tsukasa’s line of sight, and grabbed the dress and held it up to him. “It’s been a while since you’ve cross-dressed for a mission, and I think it’s smart. But do you really want to stand out so much?”
Tsukasa scoffed, and posed. “Did you forget who you were speaking with?”
Nene rolled her eyes. “I meant is it smart to stand out so much.”
Emu’s interest was caught, and she oohed. “That’s a statesman piece!”
Rui chuckled. “I believe you mean ‘statement’.”
“Yeah, that! And then you can wear it with those black heels with knifeys in the toes!”
Tsukasa grinned. “Capital idea, captain! I’ll look extremely fetching, don’t you agree Rui?”
Though Tsukasa said it, he hadn’t realized what he was asking until he saw Rui’s gaze intently on him. Tsukasa’s heart quickened, and he swallowed. He realized now—far too late—that Rui’s answer actually mattered to him.
But Rui smiled sweetly. “Very much so.” Tsukasa’s breath hitched. “You and the dress are alike, I feel. You both enjoy the spotlight, and shine inside it.”
Tsukasa’s face grew hot. It was true, he did enjoy the spotlight. But somehow, Rui’s acknowledgment felt even better. Tsukasa had to duck away from Rui’s gaze. If he’d maintained eye contact, there was no telling what would have come out of Tsukasa’s mouth.
Nene groaned loudly. “But is it smart?” she repeated. “If we’re sending in only two agents, do we really want all eyes on one of them? Wouldn’t it be better if you both could sneak in undetected?”
“Actually,” Rui began. He walked to the large CRT screen and clicked a few buttons. He pulled a gizmo from his pocket (just how did he manage to make his very pockets defy the laws of physics??) that changed the static into a clear image. The screen showed a lively and strange party, where everyone was wearing bright colors and flamboyant outfits. “It seems the dresscode for the event is quite extravagant. Making a statement will be blending in.”
Nene breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good, then. But how did you get this information, anyways?”
Before Rui could provide an explanation, he was interrupted.
“I FOUND THE KNIFE SHOES!” Emu cried, running back out of the closet brandishing the heels like a trophy.
“Marvelous!” Tsukasa said, accepting the sleek black stilettos.
Nene crossed her arms. “Can you even wear heels?”
Tsukasa puffed his chest out and pounded a fist to it. “Of course I can I wear heels! Who do you think I am?”
“An idiot.”
“Well, I’m an idiot who can wear heels! Wait—no! I’m not an idiot, and I can wear heels!”
A round of laughter from everyone in the room, and among their smiles, Tsukasa had to concede. He huffed, and smiled himself. Every day, he was more and more grateful these were the people he was working with.
“This mission should be very fun!” Rui declared, clapping his hands. “And you’ll look positively ravishing, Tsukasa.”
Tsukasa’s face got hot again, and he grumbled. Rui definitely did it on purpose that time.
“N-naturally!” Tsukasa insisted, hoping his heart rate would recover.
Rui, completely unfazed (the bastard), tacked a few more keys on the remote control for his gizmo and pulled up the floorplan on the CRT screen. They went over the details once more, just to be certain.
When they were finished, Nene nodded. “Okay. I like this plan. it gives you lots of exit routes, the ability to stay on comms, and direct access to their mainframe. Don’t do anything rash—” here she paused, and for whatever reason, glared at Tsukasa, “—then we have a good chance at dealing a severe blow.”
“And maybe taking them down for good!” Emu chirped.
Tsukasa grinned. Emu was right. They had a really good chance of taking them down. They’d been on the decline for years, but like cockroaches, somehow they always managed to elude annihilation. But now, finally, Capazon would be destroyed once and for all. Tsukasa would have his revenge for his old agency, for his old partner, for everyone they’d ever hurt. And then...then, once they were really, truly gone… Then Tsukasa could start a new life. He could release the old pain, and embrace a new love.
Tsukasa looked at Rui.
And saw pain etched deep in his face.
“Rui?” Tsukasa asked, placing his hand on Rui’s bicep to grab his attention. “What’s wrong?”
Rui startled, seeming to come back into the room from a far away trip, and shook his head. “No, it’s nothing.”
Tsukasa frowned. “It’s not nothing. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
Rui sighed, then chuckled bitterly. “My sole objective has been to take down Capazon… it has been for nearly seven years. So it feels strange. And beyond that, well… Once they’re gone, I won’t have a reason to stay with you.”
Tsukasa’s eyes widened. His hand slipped from Rui’s arm.
He wanted to leave?
“Of course you’ll have a reason to stay!” Emu insisted harshly. “Don’t you like being with us?”
Rui sucked in a breath. “I...I do. Very much.”
“Then that’s reason enough, isn’t it?” Nene said. “There will always be more bad guys to stop, right?”
“True…” said Rui.
Tsukasa was glad that both Emu and Nene shared Tsukasa’s opinion. Rui belonged with them. This was the place he was meant to be. Wherever else he’d been before, he had a home at Phoenix. They needed his crazy ideas and inventions, and his level head and critical thinking, and his playful demeanor. They needed it.
Tsukasa needed it.
Clapping a hand to Rui’s, Tsukasa glared into his new partner’s eyes. The amber hue looked like the morning sun. His hand clenched Rui’s hand tight.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Tsukasa said. “But you should know that I want you to stay. With me. Us! I mean us!”
Rui’s eyes widened, completely stunned. But then that conflicted and pained look returned to his face. Tsukasa wished he could wipe it away.
“I’ll...consider it,” Rui finally said. “Thank you all. Your words are...difficult to accept.”
Rui’s other hand covered Tsukasa’s, and Rui gave him a private, bittersweet smile.
“Especially yours,” Rui whispered.
The shock loosened Tsukasa’s grip, and Rui slipped away.
As Tsukasa watched him go, broad back and thin waist, a new kind of dread filled Tsukasa. The idea that one day would be his very last time watching Rui go.
But just as quickly as that feeling came, Tsukasa banished it with something else. Determination. Rui would stay at Phoenix after their mission. Rui’s past was likely dark and complicated, and Rui was still struggling with it. But once Capazon was destroyed, then Rui would be able to talk about his secrets, and they could start untangling his pain together.
Tsukasa hoped his certainty wasn’t just wishful thinking.
Notes:
Oh Rui. You and your past of growing up thinking you're unlovable are really starting to make you look and act silly :(
Next chapter begins the gala arc! This arc includes a trope I have always, always wanted to write in a story and it is silly and contrived and I hope you all will like it half as much as I do.NEXT TIME:
Rui’s eyes kept getting wretched to Tsukasa’s mouth and getting stuck there.
Rui swallowed. He could do this. He wouldn’t falter now.
(and)
“Care to explain what you were doing back there?” Rui asked, unamused. Tsukasa crossed his arms. The movement accentuated the dip in his neckline and revealed his sternum and part of his chest. Rui gulped and looked away.
“Well I had to do something!” Tsukasa insisted. “You were just going to sit there and let Meiko have her way!”
“Lower your voice,” Rui warned. Tsukasa took a step closer, golden eyes never once wavering. That stubbornness was so uniquely *his* it made Rui’s heart skip a beat, even now.
“We’re supposed to be fighting *against* Capazon,” Tsukasa growled, his volume much lower. “Or did you forget that somehow?”
Chapter 5: The Gala, Part I: The Short-Term Prize, the Long-Term Goal
Summary:
Gala Arc: Part 1
Rui and Tsukasa arrive at the city's annual charity gala, both under cover. They meet some new obstacles during the dinner, and Rui tries desperately to tell himself he isn't falling in love.
Notes:
ITS HERE AT LAST!! I've been so excited for this chapter and the upcoming chapters! Originally it was going to be just one chapter but as I was writing it, it slowly morphed longer and longer and got way out of hand. But now I've wrangled the darn thing into something manageable and I want to show it off. Everyone please enjoy dresskasa, the duo sort of putting on a show, dancing and singing together, and them proving they're actually a damn good pair.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rui checked one final time for the plans, then he stepped out of the limousine to the party’s entrance.
It was every bit as extravagant as the flier had suggested, with bright lights and flashy costumes adorning everyone. Many photographers with big, bulky cameras stopped people on their way in for shots, reporters in fedoras chatted with famous celebrities, and excited buzz filled the night. But they weren’t here for any of that. Tonight, Phoenix believed they were going to steal everything they needed to finally destroy their rival.
And they would, of course, that was the key factor to this entire thing. They would get every thing they needed to destroy Capazon.
Except for Rui’s loyalty.
Once Rui had stepped out, he turned around, and offered a hand to Tsukasa. Tsukasa took it, then rose, his stunning red dress shimmering in the lights. Tsukasa stood to his full height, beautiful red teardrop earrings dangling coyly next to his hair extensions, which gave him a softer but still tomboyish look. His shoulders looked both square and soft, with the dress completely exposing his upper back and collarbone. Emu had been right to pair the outfit with the black heels; they raised Tsukasa’s posture and made his toned legs look elegant and smooth. Which was made even easier to see with the slit up his left leg that exposed all the way to his mid thigh.
But the most distracting, alluring, heart-quickening part of Tsukasa’s outfit was none of that. It was his lipstick. Ruby red, like blood, like danger. A target. Rui’s eyes kept getting wretched to Tsukasa’s mouth and getting stuck there.
Rui swallowed. He could do this. He wouldn’t falter now.
Adjusting the cuff links on his suit jacket, Rui took a step forward. His blazer was quite nice, a vivid navy that paired well with Tsukasa’s dress, but it felt stuffy. He itched to take it off and roll up his sleeves to free his forearms. Despite this, Rui pressed forwards, Tsukasa at his side, and they began their infiltration.
The first part of the evening was a dinner, which would then be followed by a dance. A large jazz band was setting up in the corner while guests filtered in and took their seats. Rui and Tsukasa found their seats quite easily, as their code names had been decided and sent to the venue. They simply found their paper plaques written in fanciful script: Saki Otori for Tsukasa, and Roy Riley for Rui. A distant cousin of the Otori family, even one no one had heard of (because she didn’t exist), was still one welcome at influential events. And the reclusive son of Jean Riley, the famous cartoonist, making a rare (fake) trip into the public was someone to be on the lookout for, but not to gossip about the entire evening. Their chosen names and backstories provided the perfect amount of renown to enter the event, but also to slip away unnoticed when the time came.
At their table with them were a group of important figures. Sakurako Seiryuin, the heiress to a large fortune, whose sharp business senses and shrewd ruthlessness were known far and wide. Harumichi Aoyagi, a stern but talented classical musician who had won several awards. And Meiko Bokaroido, a famous retired lounge singer who was infamous in closed circles for having dealings with Kaito for years.
It was no coincidence that Meiko was sat next to these two. Aoyagi was known for following the latest trends, to the detriment of his family. And Sakurako had a great deal of influence with her sheer talent. Meiko was going to do everything she could to convince them to partner with Capazon. But Rui and Tsukasa weren’t seated by them on accident, either.
“Miss Seiryuin,” Aoyagi began, “It’s an honor to finally meet you. I’ve heard great things about your latest business deal.”
“You flatter me,” Sakurako responded, as she coolly sipped her champagne. “But it was not something much worth celebrating. It was simply the logical next step for our group.”
“Speaking of next steps,” Meiko interjected smoothly. Beside him, Rui saw Tsukasa clench his fists. “I’ve heard now is the best time to purchase Capazon shares.”
“Is that so?” Aoyagi said. “That’s surprising to me.”
“To me as well,” Rui added, delicately balancing the line between amiable and scathing. “There have been rumors floating in the papers about dirty business practices.”
Meiko had been prepared for that, and giggled dismissively. “Who do you believe started those rumors, Mr. Riley?” Meiko asked. “Shareholders in other companies, no doubt. Those who were jealous of the potential profit gain.”
Aoyagi’s attention was thoroughly caught, and Sakurako’s piqued. Tsukasa gripped his fork hard enough for his knuckles to turn white.
“Capazon always pushes for innovation, and the latest chance to thrive,” Meiko insisted. “They adapt. They provide Japan with the best resources in the world.”
Rui could imagine Nene saying something like, Of course they do. Because they steal them and kill the person they stole the resources from. But it was interesting to hear how Capazon marketed themselves to the world. Rui had always been in the intelligence division, so he hadn’t ever bothered to think about things like branding and image before. The thought spun around in the back of his head a bit, like silk worm strands turning into thread: not imminently useful, but good to keep working on.
Meiko continued her advance, beginning to cite enticing statistics and splendid-sounding business ventures in under-developed or war-scarred areas. She was a smart talker, and fast, and before they knew it, she had all but completely won over both Aoyagi and Sakurako.
“So you’ll be doing everyone a service by siding with Capazon,” Meiko concluded.
Rui sat back in his seat, yielding. He was a smooth talker, and probably himself a decent match for Meiko. But what would be the point? Capazon would simply make business deals with other powerful figures, just like they always did, and absorb everything in their path.
“No.”
The entire table went silent as all eyes fell on Tsukasa.
“No?” Meiko echoed.
“Capazon is cruel and corrupt!” Tsukasa spat, slamming his fists on the table. The glassware clanked together.
“Tsukasa…” Rui warned through gritted teeth.
“Mr. Aoyagi, Ms. Seiryuin, you can’t tell me you’re believing Ms. Bokaroido’s lies!”
Aoyagi glared at him, and Rui silently took a sharp inhale. “And what evidence do you have that Ms. Bokaroido is lying?” Aoyagi challenged, his eyes ice. “Or do you enjoy accusing people without evidence?”
Rui tried to cut in, placing a settling hand on top of Tsukasa’s forearm. “I believe what Ms. Otori intends is—”
“I won’t let the two of you sit here and hurt people with your callous indifference!”
“Indifference?” Sakurako said. “I assure you, Ms. Otori, I give each of my decisions the utmost care before committing to them.” She then picked up her champagne glass, and coolly stared at him over the rim. “I advise you do the same.”
Tsukasa’s jaw fell open, as if she’d just smacked him across the cheek. She may as well have. He began to bluster, searching for something else to say, some kind of clever comeback, but Rui cut in first. He grabbed hold of Tsukasa’s hand, stood, and tugged him up.
“Will you please excuse us for a moment?” Rui said, then pulled Tsukasa out of his chair, then out of the ballroom.
They found a small hallway without any onlookers, their footsteps swallowed by thick green carpet.
“Care to explain what you were doing back there?” Rui asked, unamused. Tsukasa crossed his arms. The movement accentuated the dip in his neckline and revealed his sternum and part of his chest. Rui gulped and looked away.
“Well I had to do something!” Tsukasa insisted. “You were just going to sit there and let Meiko have her way!”
“Lower your voice,” Rui warned. Tsukasa took a step closer, golden eyes never once wavering. That stubbornness was so uniquely his it made Rui’s heart skip a beat, even now.
“We’re supposed to be fighting against Capazon,” Tsukasa growled, his volume much lower. “Or did you forget that somehow?”
“Our mission is to gather intel that can dismantle them altogether,” Rui argued. “Wasting time with fruitless arguments only derails our purpose. Don’t lose sight of our ultimate goal because of a flashy short-term prize.”
For a moment, Tsukasa really took in Rui’s point. Rui knew he would. There was a point in time, long ago now, where Tsukasa had sought fame rather than justice. That was just after they’d began working together, before their first mission together.
Rui could see the memories playing in Tsukasa’s eyes. His younger sister chronically hospitalized, Tsukasa pretending to be a spy to distract her and make her smile, then pretending so much he stopped pretending. (Tsukasa had told that story to Rui one evening when he’d been quite drunk, and Rui wasn’t certain Tsukasa even remembered telling it.) But at some point, Tsukasa had forgotten his true goal and replaced it with cheap praises and adrenaline rushes. Back then, it had infuriated Rui, to the point that he’d thought of getting re-assigned, but eventually Tsukasa had remembered why he fought. Ever since that day, he’d devoted himself to being every bit as justice-driven as he claimed to be.
“This is different,” Tsukasa said, after a long moment and a bracing breath. “I promise. This isn’t vanity for me. This is justice. How are we supposed to fight for justice for the world if we can’t prevent the injustice right in front of us?”
The memory struck Rui in his chest.
“How are we supposed to save the world if we can't help the people in front of us?”
Tsukasa was seething. His resolve refused to waver.
We'll save them by saving the world.
“How long will saving the world take? Will you really sit there and watch them suffer for months, years?”
Rui understood how Tsukasa felt. He did. He hated seeing people suffer, too. But what was there to be done?
We can't do both short term and long term solutions.
Tsukasa stepped back, finally relenting, turning his back. But he looked over his shoulder to Rui and glared.
“Maybe you can settle for less. But I won't.”
Rui sighed. The person he’d been before he met Tsukasa, and the person he was now? They were completely different people. And besides that, Rui wouldn’t have to work alone.
“You’re right.”
“I know you’ll argue that the short-ter—huh?”
“You’re right,” Rui said again. He smiled bitterly and shook his head. “I don’t know if we can achieve the goal we’re looking for, but there’s no sense in not trying.”
Tsukasa stared at him, stunned and grateful. “Rui…”
Then Rui placed a hand on Tsukasa’s bare shoulder, and leaned in conspiratorially. “I have an idea, if you’ll follow my lead.”
Tsukasa grinned. “Tell me what to do, tactician.”
When they arrived once more to the ballroom, the band had begun playing a lively jazzy tune. Several people had finished their meals and were dancing together, while others had wandered from their assigned tables and chatting. Sakurako, Aoyagi, and Meiko were all still seated at their table, which was perfect. Rui and Tsukasa returned to their table, and the moment they sat down, started their show.
“Mr. Riley, thank you so much for your detailed analysis. It truly changed my mind!” Tsukasa began. He grabbed his champagne as a prop and toted it delicately.
“Not at all, Ms. Otori,” Rui replied. “I’m pleased you were amenable to hearing it. And I’m grateful that I inherited my father’s good business sense.”
“Enough with the secrecy,” Sakurako demanded. “What exactly are the two of you talking around?”
“Oh, it’s frightfully dull, truly,” Rui teased. Meiko and Aoyagi both stared at them, and all three of their dinner companions glared. Which meant they were interested.
“If you must know,” Tsukasa said, “then the Otori Group and Riley Entertainment have decided to participate in a new venture together.”
Their audiences’ eyes widened. Good.
Tsukasa continued: “Hearing all of Ms. Meiko’s insistence on Capazon’s brilliance made us wonder if she’d simply been compensating. Attempting to cover for the foul reputation the company is growing.”
Meiko frowned. “The rumors are baseless, Ms. Otori.”
“That well may be! But that doesn’t bode well for potential growth now, does it? Truth is far less important than image. Wouldn’t you agree, Mr. Riley?”
“Wholeheartedly,” Rui responded. “I had in fact myself been considering opening a deal with Capazon. But after hearing what Ms. Otori had to say about their proximity to putrescence, I was forced to reconsider. Riley Entertainment is a wholesome, family-friendly business, and any association with Capazon would taint our image.”
Aoyagi and Sakurako looked to each other, then to their own meals. They were falling for the bait already, which was good. Now all they needed was for Tsukasa to deliver the final blow.
“Ms. Seiryuin, Mr. Aoyagi, I have great respect for both of your positions,” Tsukasa said. “Which is why I’d hoped you would make decisions based on long-term sustainability. Rather than chasing flashy short-term prizes.”
Rui was shocked to hear Tsukasa use his own words. Had he really found them that persuasive? Tsukasa was staring hard at Sakurako and Aoyagi, but took just a fraction of a moment to look back at Rui, wink at him, then return to his goal.
Suddenly it was much warmer in the room.
“Ms. Seiryuin, you can’t tell me you trust Ms. Otori after her outburst earlier!” Meiko scrambled. “She’s nothing more than an immature bastard child of the Otori Group. No one’s even heard of her before tonight!”
Sakurako nodded. “True, she is unknown in this scene. So for her very first gala, showing too much conviction and not enough restraint, rather than the other way around, proves her diligence and passion.” Sakurako looked at Tsukasa and smiled. “She reminds me of myself.”
Tsukasa blinked, touched, then smiled too.
Meiko clenched her fist and huffed. “Mr. Aoyagi, surely you aren’t foolish enough to be swayed by something so frivolous as friendship.”
“Indeed I am not,” Aoyagi nodded. “But I appreciate loyalty. And detest those who give up when things are difficult. Ms. Otori’s determination to win over Mr. Riley shows she has conviction. And conviction is my family’s most valued ideal. I would be honored to partner with the Otori group over Capazon.”
“Thank you!” Tsukasa cried. The three of them basked in a bit more celebratory details, sharing tips and praises and shared values. Rui glanced at Meiko, and saw her utterly defeated. She stood, and excused herself. But on her way out, she leaned down into Rui’s ear and whispered:
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Agent Kamishiro.”
Her words echoed off the walls of his brain. His blood turned to ice. A reminder that playing pretend had a time limit.
But Rui swallowed his panic, and gave a slight nod. “Of course. Have to give a false sense of security.”
Reassured, Meiko nodded, then exited the room.
Suddenly, Rui’s wrist was grabbed, and he was yanked out of his seat by an over-excited Tsukasa. “Come on, we’re dancing!”
Rui chuckled. “Are we?”
“We can’t pass up a song this great!”
Rui laughed, and the band swelled with a lively tempo. Tsukasa dragged him to the dance floor, and together they spun and twisted to the jazzy tune. Tsukasa’s smile was so wide it hurt Rui’s cheeks to look at, and his eyes were sparkling in the light of the chandeliers. His lips, those damned bright red targets, taunted Rui. What would it be like to taste them? He could just lean forward, and say he’d gotten too into the dance, call it all an accident.
The music changed into a slow tempo, a song that Rui recognized. He thought this would be the end of their dancing, but then Tsukasa grabbed Rui’s hand and wrapped it around his waist. Rui’s palm cupped the small of Tsukasa’s back. Rui stiffened.
“A star spy like me is used to taking the lead,” Tsukasa said, under the music so no one around them could hear. “But you were beyond brilliant. I couldn’t have pulled that off without you. So you take the lead.”
Rui smirked. “Are you sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the taller partner tends to lead?”
Tsukasa frowned. “Strange, I thought you wouldn’t want me stepping on your feet. But saying things like that makes me wonder!”
Rui chuckled, and began leading them through a slow dance. “I should be the one thanking you,” he said. “I could never have done that alone, nor with anyone else. Only you.”
Out of nowhere, Tsukasa settled his head on Rui’s chest. Rui sucked in a sharp breath. He was so warm and soft, and those siren lips slid against the lapel of his jacket. Paired with the hand on Rui’s shoulder, Tsukasa was basically hugging him, and Rui could feel his heart skipping beats in dissonance with the music.
I believe I have tricked him, yes.
Rui looked up, away, around, anywhere other than Tsukasa. He started to sing along to the lyrics, to distract himself, to keep his mouth busy so it wouldn’t think of trying to do other things.
“It’s always so nice when you sing,” Tsukasa murmured. “Your voice is beautiful.”
Rui felt heat all the way to his ears. His face, throat, neck, ears, hands, all of him was a furnace. “I love to sing,” Rui said, throat thick. “I’ve… How should I put it… Every day I get to sing is a day I’m grateful for.”
“Heh, because it means you’re alive, right? Being a spy means your life is always in danger. But if you can sing, that means you haven’t died yet.”
Rui’s heart throbbed. “Indeed.”
The world grew bleary and streaked. Emotions were dangerous for double agents to have. But agents thrived in danger. They put themselves into danger over and over, and always came out the other side. Rui would get over this. He would learn to stifle these feelings, learn to throw them away properly.
Wouldn’t he?
They came to a stop, and Tsukasa looked up. “You okay? You look warm.”
Rui nodded woodenly. “I am a bit warm.”
Tsukasa’s smile was encouraging. He gently peeled Rui’s hand off his back and held it in his. “Let's head out to the gardens then. The blueprint said there was a vent entrance there anyways.”
Right, the vent. The mission. Rui wanted to smack himself. How had he allowed himself to become so distracted? Just because of some proximity and lipstick? Tsukasa was already stunning without lipstick, what difference would a little pigment make?
Rui chided himself as he got tugged along, out of the ballroom, through a few hallways, passing fancy guests in elaborate costumes and security guards and waiters. Yes, he’d been hopelessly infatuated with Tsukasa for a long time. But that did not matter, not in the face of his greatest ambition. Indulging in those feelings would only make it harder to one day drive the knife through Tsukasa’s back. (Tsukasa’s back that Rui had just cupped in the palm of his hand.) (His hand that Tsukasa was now holding in his.)
Rui needed to focus. He could do this. He could ignore his crush on Tsukasa, and keep stuffing it down, until one day it faded altogether.
Tsukasa’s firm grip on his hand would one day loosen.
Notes:
(Psst now is a good time to check out the gala spinoff if you're interested)
This fic is tricky because every time you get a chance to think, "Aw, what a cute moment!", the thought is quickly chased by "But what will happen if Tsukasa finds out Rui's secret?"
First time writing Sakurako! I actually grew to love her so much after Phoenix, so I was really glad for the chance to write her! I think she fit well here as someone who could head to the evil side for pragmatic reasons, but ultimately wants to do the right thing. Harumichi also felt like a sort of gray character who could turn evil (lmao) so he was pretty useful for me. And Meiko my queen.
The next two weeks are going to be a bit rough for me! I'll probably be able to get next week's chapter out on time, but the week after will probably have to be pushed back an extra week. I'll try and come up with something to make it up to you guys!NEXT TIME:
Was it wrong of Tsukasa to feel like this was a date?
Secretly all night, he’d been hoping for a very particular scenario. He’d hoped someone would come up to him and start flirting with him, then Rui would slide a hand across Tsukasa’s lower back, fingers tucking into the dip of his hip. Then, in a threat hidden in clear plastic wrap, Rui would dulcetly say: “I’m afraid she’s with me.” Or maybe he’d call Tsukasa “mine”; that idea sent a shiver racing down Tsukasa’s back.
(and)
“Hey Rui, um… could I ask about your old partner?"
“My old partner? You really are that curious, hm?”
“Only if you want to share. I still stand by my vow.”
Rui smiled gently. "All right."
Chapter 6: The Gala, Part II: The Interlocked Fingers
Summary:
Gala Arc: Part 2
Rui and Tsukasa find the information they've been looking for. Meanwhile, Tsukasa wishes this was a date, while Rui finally opens up about his old partner.
Notes:
Hi everyone! I'm so sorry about last week. I'm posting a tad early as an apology. Also for this chapter is a quick reminder that this story is rated teen!
As it turns out, I've actually been taking a stage combat workshop, where I've been learning how to use different kinds of weapons to make it look like a real fight during a play. Which is extremely timely for the new jp wxs event! This workshop has been instrumental in sparking my creative juices. I have already come up with so many new sorcevalier ideas, and now with the new event...gah I wish I had more time to write!!
Anywho, it's time for Tsukasa to desperately manifest the rom com of his dreams. Go get em tiger.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Tsukasa lead them to the outdoor garden area, and the cool evening breeze was a welcome change. The intensity of the gala had been great fun—the electric chandeliers, the swinging jazz, the bright costumes spinning around them—but it was comfortable out here, too.
A few benches sat while a cobblestone path wound around several sprawling trees. The garden was strung up with warm lights, like a canopy of stars overhead. Tsukasa knew their mission came first, of course, but he couldn’t help feeling hopeful of the romantic atmosphere. He’d had on some damn good lipstick, after all. Would Rui really waste that opportunity by ignoring his lips all night? He kept barely glancing at them, then looking away. Tsukasa wanted him to stare.
A sharp gust of wind blew, and Tsukasa shivered. People always assumed he was the type to be warm, but actually he got cold very easily. Or maybe it was just the fact that the dress covered nothing more than a sliver of his shoulders, and left his arms, chest, and back extremely exposed. He really should have brought a jacket.
But just as he thought this, something warm wrapped around his shoulders. Rui’s blazer.
“Rui…”
Rui loosened his tie, and popped the top two buttons. “Trust me, you are doing me an enormous favor.” Tsukasa smiled. He thought he’d caught Rui tugging at his tie a few too many times tonight. He really hated anything getting close to his throat.
Rui then undid the buttons on his cuffs, and began rolling up his sleeves. Tsukasa was once more entranced by the movement of Rui’s fingers. They were so delicate and lovely, spindly like insect legs but in a good way. If insects moved the way Rui’s fingers did, Tsukasa would like insects a whole lot more. The sleeves slowly slid up Rui’s forearms, and Tsukasa watched the beautiful place where the end of his palms met his wrists, then the column of his forearms. Who let Rui move his arms like that? So elegant and graceful, so in-control, so strong and dainty all at once.
“Looking to see if I have something hidden up my sleeves?” Rui teased.
Tsukasa jumped, feeling his face turn red. “Y-yeah! Yup! C-come on, let’s go!” Tsukasa turned around abruptly, Rui’s blazer fluttering behind him like a cape. He could hear Rui chuckle and felt a little bit like dying.
They continued their way through the garden in companionable silence. The night was really lovely, and Tsukasa tucked Rui’s jacket around his shoulders a little tighter. It was warm, and smelled like him, like sage and clean oil. They passed a few stray party guests as they meandered, mostly couples who slipped away from the buzz for some alone time.
Was it wrong of Tsukasa to feel like this was a date?
Secretly all night, he’d been hoping for a very particular scenario. He’d hoped someone would come up to him and start flirting with him, then Rui would slide a hand across Tsukasa’s lower back, fingers tucking into the dip of his hip. Then, in a threat hidden in clear plastic wrap, Rui would dulcetly say: “I’m afraid she’s with me.” Or maybe he’d call Tsukasa “mine”; that idea sent a shiver racing down Tsukasa’s back.
“You’re not still cold, are you?” Rui asked. Tsukasa jumped.
“N-no!” he barked. Then, he thought a little better of it. He swallowed his pride, stuffing his puffed chest down into his buzzing stomach. “Well, um, maybe a little bit.”
Rui chuckled. “I’m afraid I only have the one jacket. Unless you’re interested in seeing me without my shirt on?”
Tsukasa choked. Why was he always, always like this? He was doing it on purpose, baiting him, toying with him, like a cat smacking its prey. That knowledge did nothing to stay the blood from racing to Tsukasa’s face.
Rui laughed again, indicating that Tsukasa’s reaction must have been particularly amusing. How did Tsukasa always become canon fodder for Rui’s experiments, even now? It was unfair and cruel.
Tsukasa slipped his hand into the crook of Rui’s elbow. Rui’s gasp was a small, sharp thing. Tsukasa leaned their shoulders together, his fingers tugging on the folds of Rui’s sleeve.
“Like this,” Tsukasa murmured. In my hold, where I can keep track of you. Where I know you’re not going to slip away. That’s how I want you to be.
Rui said nothing, and a strange half-smile toyed at his lips. Then his hand came up to Tsukasa’s, interlacing their fingers atop his arm. The movement, subtle and warm and intimate, struck Tsukasa as genius.
Tsukasa had discovered, through having a previous partner who used his hands a lot to communicate, something interesting about lacing fingers together. When interlocking fingers, right-handed people prefer their right hand to be on top, while left-handed people preferred their left hand on top. And Shiro had been left handed. Which meant he wanted his left hand to be on top, while Tsukasa wanted his right. The other way around was just horrendously uncomfortable. Which meant that any time they walked next to each other, and Tsukasa had the urge to interlock their hands, he couldn’t. No matter how they would have held hands, one of them would have been struck by the unbearable sensation that something was wrong. As a result, they’d never held hands, not once. (Not that Tsukasa would have had the courage to hold his hand anyways).
Years later, it had occurred to Tsukasa that he could have simply held hands without interlocking their fingers. But Tsukasa had always thought that interlacing fingers was extremely romantic. And thus, what a cruel and ironic twist of fate that he’d been cursed by falling in love with a left-handed man twice.
“You’re left-handed,” Tsukasa noted as he watched Rui fiddle with a screwdriver. “Shiro was left-handed, too.”
This was not long after he and Rui had first met. Rui’s embarrassing gizmo that had rudely announced Tsukasa’s attraction to Rui was still fresh in their minds.
“Ah, I see now,” Rui said, nodding, “You have a fetish for left-handed men.”
“HUH?!?!” Tsukasa screamed. “Gwah—! NO! Eugh, no, no! No! That’s not—! You’ve got it wrong!”
“You don’t need to feel ashamed. Embrace your true feelings!”
“They’re not my—! I don’t have…! You’ve got it all wrong! I’m not—! Gah!!”
Rui laughed, as if Tsukasa was his personal jester or something. Tsukasa scowled, face hot, dignity robbed, and heart skipping beats.
Tsukasa let out a breath of frustration, but it sounded like a laugh.
“Is something amusing?” Rui asked.
There was approximately zero chance of Tsukasa telling Rui what he’d really been thinking of. Instead, he squeezed on the curve of Rui’s bicep just a little, feeling Rui’s fingers comfortably settled between his.
“I was just thinking how normally we can’t interlock our fingers. Because if it’s my right hand and your left, or your right hand and my left, it’s always uncomfortable for one of us. But like this, it’s my right hand and your right hand.”
The fingers of Rui’s right hand nestled even more comfortably between Tsukasa’s fingers.
“True, that does work out quite nicely. Is that amusing?” Rui asked.
Tsukasa’s forehead pressed into Rui’s shoulder. His heart pounded in his ears. But he regretted every moment he’d spent not telling Shiro his feelings, and he wasn’t about to make the same mistakes again. Rui was always encouraging Tsukasa to step outside his familiar world for the chance to experience something new. So Tsukasa took a deep breath.
Voice muffled by Rui’s upper arm, Tsukasa said: “It’s nice. Even though we’re different, we found a way to fit together.”
Tsukasa’s heart pounded. Rui said nothing; no gasp, no chuckle, no flustered mutterings. But he didn’t pull away either. Tsukasa’s words wrapped around them, spiraling before flying up into the lights and then to the night sky.
They walked through the gardens just like this, right hands interlocked at Rui’s bicep, Rui’s jacket shielding Tsukasa’s shoulders. They walked knowing that if it ever became too much, they could use the excuse that their hand holding was a more convincing cover story. But the excuse never passed into the air.
At last, they came to the other side of the gardens. A large door marked “Do Not Enter” interrupted a clean wall of concrete. High above it was a metal vent grate.
“That’s our way in,” Tsukasa announced, glaring up at the grate. “I’ll keep watch while your gizmo gets to work.”
“That would be very helpful, thank you.” Rui reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small purple octopus. He gently scritched the bot’s head, and then the octopus seemed to wake up. She yawned and stretched, one of her arms coming to rub at her eye. Rui then held her up to the wall, and she used suction in her arms to crawl up the wall all the way to the vent. She reached the bolts locking the cover on, and wrapped an arm around them like a wrench. Rui whispered a few encouraging words to her. The vent cover fell to the ground, and the wrench spun itself around like a spool of thread as it lowered a rope.
Things were going well, but then, a sharp voice called out.
“Hey, what are you two doing over there?”
Rui and Tsukasa jumped, and turned around to see a security guard glaring in the distance. They’d checked the routes of the security guards ahead of time through surveillance cameras and planted microphones. What was he doing out here?
Suddenly, Rui’s stance shifted. “Tsukasa,” Rui muttered, “that man’s not a regular security guard. He’s a Capazon agent.”
Tsukasa’s eyes widened. “What?”
“I can see the taser sticking out of his pocket. It’s military-grade.”
Tsukasa gritted his teeth. Had they caught onto them already? Tsukasa had thought their disguises had been impeccable. How had they found them so fast?
The guard approached, a tall and muscular man. Tsukasa could tell from his stance that he’d had martial training. “I’d say ‘come quietly’, but to be honest, It’d be more fun if you didn’t. I’ve always wanted the chance to use this puppy.” He flicked out the taser and teased the trigger. A quiet but piercing sound accompanied a flash of plasma.
Honestly, Tsukasa wasn’t all that intimidated. He was mad that this guy had interrupted his alone time with Rui.
In one smooth motion, Tsukasa removed Rui’s jacket and handed it to him to hold. Then Tsukasa pulled off his heels, and gave the guard a clean slash on his wrist. He cried out in pain, dropping the taser. Then Tsukasa slashed his leg and the guard crumbled. The cuts weren’t deep, and he’d likely heal fully from them, which was more than a Capazon agent deserved. But Tsukasa wasn’t interested in doing more damage than necessary.
“Rui,” he said, glaring at the kneeling guard, “how do you do that thing where you knock out a guy in one blow to his neck?”
“Oh, you mean this?”
Rui delivered the clean blow, then the guard fell unconscious to the ground.
“Precisely! Very well done,” Tsukasa praised. “Could you teach me to do that?”
Rui chuckled. “I’m afraid there isn’t any trick to it. All it requires is a plethora of practice. Anyways, the vent is open now!”
Tsukasa reached for the rope, but Rui placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I’ll go first.”
Tsukasa frowned. “I should go first. I’m the leader, and the senior spy!”
Rui raised a suspicious eyebrow, and then his gaze lowered. Down to Tsukasa’s hips, accentuated in the dress, and the slit up to his mid-thigh. Was that really what Rui was worried about? Tsukasa’s propriety?
“I don’t mind if you see,” Tsukasa said.
Rui choked on his breath, then exploded into a fit of coughs. Okay, well, now that Tsukasa had said it like that and heard how suggestive it sounded, he felt his own face heating.
“I-I meant that I know you wouldn’t take advantage of the situation if you happened to see anything! A-and the dress is pretty long, so…! Hey, don’t make that face! Earl-earlier, you were making jokes about being shirtless! How is this worse?”
Rui’s grip on Tsukasa’s shoulder tightened as he wearily glared at the ground.
“I’ll go first.”
Tsukasa nodded grimly.
They crawled through the vent, Tsukasa grateful once more for Rui’s foresight. They navigated the small tunnels, then at last found the room they were looking for, and hopped out.
It was a luxurious personal office, complete with a very plush chair and a sleek mahogany desk. The carpet was thick and green just like outside the main hall, absorbing the sounds of their steps. The walls were thick, likely soundproofed, which meant that it was the perfect room to hide important files in.
At the desk was a beautiful and futuristic computer, unlike one Tsukasa had ever seen. Rui set up his special hacking gizmo, and on the sleek monitor, a little progress bar popped up. Rui clicked away at the keyboard, and Tsukasa realized how similar this situation felt.
“You know, this is a lot like our very first mission together,” Tsukasa noticed, with a nostalgic smile. “I talked a lot about Shiro back then, didn’t I?”
Rui nodded, with a half smile on his face as well. That day had been pretty emotional for the both of them. “I did ask a lot of questions about Shiro as well.”
“True.” Tsukasa watched the greenish light from the screen of the computer reflect in Rui’s eyes. The room was quiet with only the clicking of the keys, and a feeling of tight anticipation tangling in Tsukasa’s mind. He took a deep breath. “Hey Rui, um… could I ask about your old partner?”
Tsukasa expected him to jump or wince, but Rui was calm. “My old partner? You really are that curious, hm?”
“Only if you want to share,” Tsukasa insisted. “I still stand by my vow.”
Rui smiled gently. “All right.”
He then took a moment for himself. A deep breath, a release of tension in his shoulders, a pause where Tsukasa felt himself on the edge of a doorway that Rui was finally unlocking. Tsukasa’s heart quickened in anticipation.
“I believe you actually already know them.”
Tsukasa’s heart stalled. “I do?”
Rui’s smile took on something more wry and bittersweet. He huffed one large sigh, as if he was angry at himself, almost a scornful, scoffing spit. Then, he inhaled once more, a serene look washing over his anger. Tsukasa held his own breath the entire time.
“Have you ever heard of Amia?”
Tsukasa’s eyes widened. “Phantom Thief Amia!?”
“Hehe, so you do know them.”
“You worked with Phantom Thief Amia? The notorious criminal!?”
“Well, I didn’t call them ‘Amia’. To me, they were ‘Mizuki’.”
A beat, and Tsukasa blinked. He wasn’t sure that he’d ever considered a phantom thief as someone who had a first name. Or friends. And if Rui was friends with a criminal, maybe that explained why he felt the need to hide it for so long. After all, there was a time not too long ago when Tsukasa would have stopped listening at this point.
But now, he waited.
“I didn’t have friends growing up,” Rui admitted, his voice tight. “My passions were somewhat alienating for my classmates. Mizuki was the first person to treat me like I was normal.”
It made sense, now that Rui said it, that he hadn’t had friends. It made sense why he was always so surprised when Emu hugged him, and he never assumed Nene actually wanted to spend time with him. Tsukasa himself had at first found Rui to be weird and off-putting. Now, of course, Tsukasa's feelings were very different.
Rui continued. “Mizuki was always reserved and aloof. Then one day, they met a girl, and suddenly they were bright and bubbly and always making jokes. At first I was confused and upset, but after a bit, I realized it was nice to see that change in them. Isn’t it strange? I’d never really believed in a thing like love before then.”
Do you believe in love now? Tsukasa wanted to ask. Could you believe in it, if it were me?
“Mizuki asked if I’d meet their new girlfriend, and of course I agreed. I was excited to meet her. I wanted to know the person who had brightened up my friend’s life so much.”
Then, Rui stood. His face darkened. He walked around the other side of the desk, nearing the wall, and gripped tight at his arms. His eyes looked far away.
“But their girlfriend’s family was in debt to Capazon. That day, they had come to collect. The family didn’t have any money, so Capazon took her as collateral. Mizuki refused to let her go, so Capazon took them too. Then Mizuki was gone. Snatched right before my eyes.”
Rui’s eyes slipped away.
“I tried to fight back, but… It all happened so fast… it was all so violent, like vultures going for throats…”
Rui’s hands clutched at his face, his neck, his shoulders, his breathing erratic.
“Rui,” Tsukasa soothed gently, reaching for him. He wanted to erase that scarred look on his face. He wanted to soothe over every wrinkle, every gash, every bad memory, and wash them away like ocean waves on rough stones.
Tsukasa took a step towards him, but then Rui held up a hand. Tsukasa held still while Rui’s breathing settled. He watched Rui, his own heart hurting. He wanted to race over and crush Rui in an enormous hug. But he waited.
Rui seemed to come back, his eyes taking on their usual color and his face growing less pale. He barked a bitter laugh. “I was miserable. And I thought I deserved it. This was just what happened to people like me.”
Tsukasa couldn’t take it anymore. Gently, slowly, carefully, he brought his palm to Rui’s shoulder. Rui didn’t move away. Tsukasa wanted to shout at him, wanted to shout that he wasn’t going anywhere, not ever, no matter what. That no one could take him away from Rui, not for any reason.
But he kept the words on his tongue, inside his mouth, and didn’t give them voice. He simply kept his hand on Rui’s shoulder, and felt their breaths moving together.
“From there,” Rui said, “I found a strange resolve in the wake of my grief. I decided I couldn’t let my only friendship end that way. So then I…”
“And that’s when we met. Right?”
Tsukasa grinned. His other hand came up towards Rui, intending to cup his cheek. But Rui caught it, and instead placed it to his heart. Tsukasa sucked in a breath.
“Yes,” Rui answered, face so soft and sweet it made heat burst on Tsukasa’s face.
Tsukasa opened his mouth. He wasn’t sure what was going to come out. Something bold. Something dangerous. Something honest.
But before he could, footsteps echoed down the hall. His blood ran cold.
Someone was heading in their direction.
Notes:
cliffhanger :(
Next week there will be no chapter (because I need to give my sore body a chance to rest), then chapters will resume on June 6th! It's crazy to think that around this time last year I fractured my foot (although I didn't know it yet at the time) and now I'm on my feet six hours a day, stronger than ever. It's funny how life works sometimes.
I'm so sorry about the gap! But I promise, Trust me, it's better to have this chapter be the week hiatus chapter than the next one. They still get to bask in the glow of innocence...NEXT TIME:
"Rui? We’ve got company."
"There is one thing we could do. However, it is...slightly odd."
"Great, let’s do it!"
"Are you certain? This might make you uncomfortable."
"Rui we don’t exactly have a lot of options. Tell me what you need me to do and I’ll do it."
"Very well. Follow my lead."
(and)
Rui buried his face in his hand. He should have known. Asking Tsukasa Tenma not to react was like asking the sun not to rise.
Even when he’d tried his best to remove all traces of Tsukasa, he still remained.
Chapter 7: The Gala, Part III: The Siren Lipstick
Summary:
Gala Arc: Part 3
After having nearly been caught trying to extract data from a Capazon computer, Rui's quick thinking saves him and Tsukasa. But his plan was risky--for their relationship. The fallout of his decision weighs heavily on Rui.
Notes:
WE'RE SO BACK BABY! LIKE A PHOENIX I RISE!!
I am so so sorry for the delay with this chapter. I had actually finished the rough draft but then my computer shut down suddenly (thanks to a Windows Update they pushed without telling me) and I lost all of it. I was heartbroken and devastated. I felt like I was letting everyone down, and like all my hard work amounted to nothing. Luckily I still had what I'd written of later chapters so I didn't lose absolutely everything, but I lost so much and it broke my heart.
After grieving my loss and taking the time I needed to process, I am coming back with guns blazing. I am rising from the ashes and flying to the distant sky. This is the best possible version of this chapter, and I am so sorry it took so long to arrive, but I am THRILLED you finally get to read it.
There will be fluff. There will be pain. There will be things not suitable for readers under 13. But you all have been waiting long enough! So without further ado, it's showtime!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Rui?” Tsukasa called. “We’ve got company.”
The footsteps from down the hall got louder, and closer, and Tsukasa dashed around the room frantically. Rui watched him from the corner of his eye, but knew Tsukasa would find nothing. This room’s furniture had been placed particularly so that there were no hiding places.
But Kaito had assured him there would be more time before the patrols. Was this what he’d meant by ‘we can’t make things easy for you’? Rui had thought that was what the guard who’d stopped them outside the vent was for.
Rui let out a tight huff and bit his lip. “Kaito, you bastard,” he muttered.
“What do we do?” Tsukasa said. “We can’t crawl back in the vents; they’re too loud. And they’ll spot us immediately under the desk.”
Rui nodded, not looking at Tsukasa, still biting his lip. His gizmo was only about halfway done. He could easily turn off the monitor’s display so they wouldn’t see the hacking, but it would still need time, which they didn’t have.
Could he buy them time? No matter what, they would be caught. But perhaps there could be some excuse he could tell the guards that they would believe. These wouldn’t be Capazon agents, they’d be people who worked for the gala, so Rui couldn’t expect them to be sympathetic to him. If Rui were alone, he would have come up with the excuse that he couldn’t help himself around a fancy computer. But with Tsukasa here…
“Rui!” Tsukasa cried, coming around the desk and staring at him. He was frowning, and, damn it all, that bright red lipstick made Rui’s brain slow down and lose precious seconds.
“I need to think,” he murmured, turning away. He took a deep breath. They didn’t have much time. The two of them weren’t supposed to be here. What plausible excuse could there be for two party guests who’d wandered into a private back room? They wouldn’t have gotten lost, not with ushers around all the proper exits from the party areas. There were easily accessible bathrooms, an open area for a smoke break or fresh air, no, no, no.
“Rui!”
Rui turned around, frustrated, and his glare deepened when he saw Tsukasa’s damned plush lips. Lipstick was dangerous; it should really be outlawed. There were guards coming right at this moment and Rui and Tsukasa were going to get caught, and Rui needed an excuse for why two people would have snuck off, but all he could think of was Tsukasa’s stupid alluring bright-red mouth.
Then it hit him.
Oh.
Rui’s gaze flicked up to Tsukasa’s eyes. This was a betrayal of some kind, in itself. Rui was working for Tsukasa’s enemy. Tsukasa was in love with Shiro, and Rui had ruined that for them permanently. But still Rui’s heart fluttered in his chest.
“You have an idea,” Tsukasa breathed. “Don’t you.”
Rui swallowed. “It is...unorthodox.”
“We’re out of options. Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”
Rui steeled himself. He wouldn’t get attached. He could do this. A betrayal—but for the mission, for his ultimate dreams.
“Very well.”
Then, Rui seized hold of Tsukasa’s arm, surged forward, and kissed him.
Tsukasa gasped into Rui’s open mouth. For a fraction of a second, Tsukasa failed to understand how this was related to their mission, and wondered what Rui meant by this gesture, and how many lines had just been crossed. He did trust Rui, though. So whatever his plan was, Tsukasa knew this must have been necessary, and he’d figure it out later.
Then, the soft pressure and warmth of Rui’s body melted those thoughts away, until Tsukasa was left with only one:
Finally.
Rui set to work choreographing and directing Tsukasa’s energy. He considered it all very objectively, as if looking in on the scene from outside his own body. His touch was deliberate and calculated. He took one hand to the small of Tsukasa’s exposed back, and stifled his own shiver while fighting against Tsukasa’s. Rui’s other hand tucked into Tsukasa’s knee, the one exposed by the slit in his dress, and pulled it up to Rui’s waist. Tsukasa’s mouth opened in shock, and Rui seized the opportunity and slipped his tongue inside.
At that moment, the doors opened. Two guards entered. Rui held his breath.
“Just some idiots making out,” said one of the guards.
“Hey!” called the other. “Go make out somewhere else.”
Rui doubled down. He slid his hand further up Tsukasa’s thigh. Tsukasa moaned around Rui’s tongue.
“Eugh,” the first guard groaned. “I don’t wanna get involved in that.”
“You’re right. Come on, they’re not hurting anything. Let’s get out of here.”
Rui then heard the door opening and closing, and listened to their footsteps down the hall. He released Tsukasa’s leg, letting it fall back down, and pulled his mouth off. For a moment, they both breathed together.
Then Tsukasa grabbed him by the back of his neck. Tsukasa’s other hand anchored on Rui’s cheek while he kissed him, eager and needy and impatient. Rui’s eyes widened.
This couldn’t be real. Perhaps it was a mistake. An accident.
Tsukasa then yanked on Rui’s lapels, causing him to stumble forwards, and they crashed against the nearest wall. “Rui…” Tsukasa murmured at Rui’s lips.
Rui couldn’t stifle this shiver. All at once his blood was lit on fire. He’d spent too long—years—pretending he wasn’t constantly craving this exact feeling. Tsukasa’s hands, his lips, his affection. A thousand hidden desires surged up in him, as if someone had ripped open the curtains and revealed the bright afternoon sun. Every time Tsukasa was too loud and got them spotted. Every time Tsukasa raced in somewhere without a thought. Every time he looked back at Rui, desperate to decipher the look in his eyes. Every wink, every smile, every touch, every word, every moment.
Rui lost the willpower to resist, and at last, gave in to his heart.
Tsukasa’s heart pressed against his rib cage as it rattled in his chest. Earlier, it had seemed like Rui was holding back, but now, it was like he’d opened a floodgate, and Tsukasa reveled in every sensation. His large, lithe hands secured themselves around the dips in Tsukasa’s waist, and butterflies sprouted from the heat of Rui’s touch.
Rui tasted like soda pop, like sweet bubbles soaring up and bursting with joy. Tsukasa could smell the cedar cologne clinging to Rui’s neck, and as he breathed he caught hints of thyme and bergamot too. Tsukasa chased the smell with the tip of his nose and lips. He traveled across Rui’s chin, down the side of his long neck, then dipped into his collarbone and started for his throat, peppering Rui with kisses as he went.
Rui made a strangled sound and yanked the back of Tsukasa’s hair just as he was getting close to his throat, which didn’t hurt nearly so much as it made Tsukasa shiver. Rui then urged him to a particular angle at the dip between his neck and shoulder. Grinning, Tsukasa applied more force, which had Rui keening as he cupped Tsukasa’s shoulder blades in his palms.
Tsukasa never wanted this feeling to end. He would spent the rest of his life with Rui.
But then, a chime came from the gizmo.
And all of a sudden, Rui was pulling away.
Dazed, dizzy, breathless, Tsukasa panted against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. His knees felt weak, and his whole body felt hot and light, like he could take on any enemy.
“You did well, little one,” Rui said, not sounding nearly as breathless as Tsukasa felt. Rui patted the gizmo like it was a dog. “I’ll have to give you a name. Perhaps even a sturdier body. Hm, I wonder what shape I should give you…”
“Um,” Tsukasa panted. His whole world had just been revolutionized, but Rui was acting like things were still normal?
“Data extraction is complete. And there shouldn’t be a single trace of tampering either. I might really have outdone myself with this one.”
“Rui, I’m uh… woah. That…”
Rui didn’t look at him. He typed a few things on the computer, the glow of it lighting up the dark room.
“They bought the ruse completely, by the way, so thank you for your cooperation,” Rui said. His voice was colder than usual. Though he hadn’t gone very far, Tsukasa suddenly felt like there was a vast distance between them. “I’m sorry to have put you in such an awkward position. It was the only thing I could think of.”
“Huh?” Suddenly things began clicking in Tsukasa’s mind: their mission, the guards that had come, the way Rui must have used the kiss as a distraction to throw off suspicion. It was a damn clever plan. “O-oh! Oh, uh, don’t um, don’t worry about it at all!”
Rui chuckled lightly. “I was worried for a moment that they wouldn’t buy it, but I think we had them completely fooled! You are an incredible actor.”
“Right…” Tsukasa echoed hollowly, “Acting.”
Tsukasa thunked his head against the wall. He could still feel Rui’s lips and hands, still struck stupid by the sensations. He was both so full, but also strangely uniquely unsatisfied. He needed more. More. How greedy was Tsukasa going to get?
“Are you ready?” Rui waved a hand in front of Tsukasa’s face and he snapped back to attention. “Tsukasa? Time to go.”
“Right! Mission! Sorry.” Tsukasa cleared his throat. “Let’s go.”
They returned back the way they came, and somehow this vent trip was even more awkward than the first time. Tsukasa wanted to talk about what had just happened between them, but his brain was still blissfully muddled. Mostly, he was struck by the aftershocks still bursting across his body, like the trails of smoke left by fireworks.
They walked back across the gardens, Rui in front of Tsukasa, and then once they reached the bright lights of the party once more, Tsukasa stopped in his tracks and sucked in a wincing breath.
“Uh, Rui?”
Rui turned back around. In the new light, it was painfully obvious.
He was covered in lipstick.
Crescent kiss marks littered his body. Chiefly his lips, but also dancing across his cheeks and cheekbones and sliding down his neck were clear bright red stamps. Traces of the pigment were smeared across the lapels and collar of his shirt. It was starkly clear that he’d just been kissed a hundred times.
By Tsukasa.
The thought raced like lightning through his veins.
“What is it?” Rui said. His gaze dipped to Tsukasa’s mouth, which made Tsukasa’s breath hitch for a moment, but then Rui frowned. “Your lipstick is a mess. It looks as though you’ve...well. It certainly leaves an impression.”
“Not as much as you,” Tsukasa said. “I mean I…” Tsukasa swallowed. “Hah, you could expect nothing less from a dazzling star like me! This is proof that I really mean it when I say I give 1200% percent.”
His heart pounded in his ears. He wanted more. More.
Rui turned away with a cough. “W-we should, ah, ahem. We should clean up. Our ride should be arriving shortly.”
“Good idea,” Tsukasa said. Then, he meaningfully caught Rui’s eye and grinned. “I love your ideas.”
Then, too cowardly to stay and hear Rui’s response, Tsukasa dashed away and into the single-person restroom. His heart pounded with every movement. He locked the door, slid against it, and brought his palm to his mouth.
He caught himself in the mirror. Rui had been right; his lipstick was smeared all over. Not to mention his hair sticking up at odd angles, the extensions slipping, his eyes dilated, his face and shoulders flushed, sweat dripping down his skin. Tsukasa was a mess. And he liked it. For a chronic neat freak, actually liking that he was messy was a complete novelty. Just what exactly had this eccentric genius done to him?
Tsukasa wanted more. More.
Rui gripped the edge of the counter in the men's bathroom and starred at himself in the mirror. His expression was star-struck, dopey and giddy. His hands burned, his lips were swollen, and every fiber of his body was screaming to get Tsukasa back in his arms.
He’d been wanting that for years now, and he’d had to hold himself back this entire time. He’d been wanting to touch Tsukasa like that since the moment he first laid eyes on him, from the very first time he saw that haughty and skeptical expression.
This lipstick had gotten entirely out of hand. Damn stuff was tormenting Rui the entire time it was on Tsukasa, and now that it was finally off of him, it was tormenting Rui even worse. Each mark was a reminder of where Tsukasa had touched him. The memories of Tsukasa’s touch ghosted across Rui’s skin. Rui’s fingers traced them, unbelieving.
Tsukasa wouldn’t have kissed him so sweetly if he’d known the truth.
Rui started scrubbing the lipstick stains away, finding the sticky residue to be surprisingly resilient. Just like its wearer. Though, Rui wondered if he could be considered a wearer now, too—he didn’t imagine how Tsukasa could have very much lipstick left on his mouth.
Rui pulled out a stick of lip balm, knowing the coconut oil inside would lift the color. He began erasing the kisses from his skin, remembering the lips that pressed into him with each mark. Some were distinct and prominent, like the one below his collarbone creeping towards his chest. And the one that had proved Tsukasa was inexperienced when he’d started reaching for Rui’s throat, but was corrected and planted instead onto a sweet spot. But others, like the ones littered beneath his left earlobe, were indistinct. A part of him wanted to leave them there. All of them. He wanted proof that Tsukasa had kissed him.
But Rui heaved a deep sigh and gripped the edges of the marble counter top. He had a mission to see through. Even though now he knew his feelings for Tsukasa were undeniable, he would still have to set them aside, and eventually—if he could—destroy them. But the stronger they got, the more difficult that was going to become.
Rui was a double agent. Betrayal was inevitable. And if Tsukasa knew who Rui was working for, he’d never have kissed him so passionately. Rui stole those kisses, each one of them. They should have belonged to someone more virtuous and honest, someone more like Tsukasa. Someone more like Shiro.
With that, Rui scrubbed away every trace of lipstick he could find.
When they met up once more, Rui didn’t say anything. Tsukasa tried several times to start conversations, all in vein. Though at least he avoided the topic of their kiss. Instead he prattled about the carpet or the guest list or the guards, then eventually even he fell silent.
Tsukasa hadn’t re-applied his lipstick, and his lips were their normal pink. If a bit—well, a lot—swollen. For some reason, that didn’t make them any easier to look away from.
Then at last, they headed out and climbed into the prepared limousine, where Emu and Nene were waiting.
When they climbed into the car, both of the girls looked concerned. Rui reminded himself again (why did he always have to keep reminding himself? Why couldn’t he just remember?) that these friends of his were temporary, and it was not his job to soothe over their furrowed brows. In fact, with the data they’d gathered tonight, they wouldn’t be his “friends” for very much longer.
Rui leaned his elbow against the window, planted his chin on his palm, and looked out at the streetlights lining the road.
“What the—is that lipstick on your neck?” Nene asked.
Rui’s heart jumped into his throat. He slapped a hand to the back of his neck, and sure enough, felt the matte under his palm. It had been impossible to see in the mirror, but with his neck turned away, the mark had been exposed. But he’d been so careful, so diligent. He’d been certain to scrub off every last bit. How had he missed a spot? Even when he’d tried his best to remove all traces of Tsukasa, he still remained.
Tsukasa laughed far too loudly, nerves evident in his cracking voice. “The guards were coming and there was no other way!”
Rui buried his face in his fingers. He should have known. Asking Tsukasa Tenma not to react was like asking the sun not to rise.
“Huh!?” Emu cried. Nene squinted her eyes. Rui wondered if she’d noticed the lack of lipstick on Tsukasa’s mouth. On top of all the emotions Rui hadn’t been expecting to feel tonight, embarrassment was the last on his list and absolutely not one he needed. It was suddenly all so much.
Tsukasa felt like someone had just lit him on fire. And not in the hot, invigorating way Rui had earlier. In the way that skeptics burned witches.
Emu and Nene stared at them, clearly desperate for more information. Tsukasa looked to Rui for guidance; he was always so much better at these kinds of things than Tsukasa was. Rui was the one who was elegant and tactful, who was careful with his words.
But when Tsukasa looked over, he saw the leftover mark where he’d kissed Rui, and he felt like he was on fire the first way, too.
“Um!” Tsukasa shouted, desperate to find something to dig himself out of this situation. “We got what we came for, don’t worry! And the explanation is, that, uh! We were halfway through getting the data when we were interrupted, and we couldn’t exactly escape—it was Rui’s idea actually, he was brilliant—!”
A sudden pressure filled Tsukasa’s hand. He looked down, and saw Rui’s hand grasping it tight. Tsukasa looked up, and saw Rui’s face looking even tighter.
Tsukasa didn’t understand, not really. But he understood.
Taking a deep, centering breath, Tsukasa began to recount the mission. He remained professional and cool as he told them about their encounter with Sakurako, Aoyagi, and Meiko, and then he told the story of the guard who’d tried to stop them in the courtyard, then he glossed over the debacle in the private office.
He didn’t mention how brilliant Rui had been at dinner, nor how nice of a dancer and singer he was, nor how his genius inventions and ideas had saved them. He didn’t mention their stroll in the gardens or how Tsukasa had figured out how to hold hands while interlacing their fingers. He stayed professional and motivated, and dedicated to his job.
Once he finished, he looked back at Rui, whose face was still hidden in his hand. Rui tried to pull his hand away, but Tsukasa gripped it tight. No, he thought. You’re not slipping away from me. I'm not losing my partner again.
Rui had reached out to him, and asked for things to be normal. For them not to change. For Tsukasa to remember that Rui was thinking of leaving Phoenix after this mission and he didn't want to feel too attached. And Tsukasa could do that, he could do whatever Rui needed.
Even if that meant pretending their kisses hadn’t mean the world to him.
Notes:
They finally kissed!!!! But at what cost...?
This concludes the gala arc! After this, we'll have a section to recover from gala, then we'll be heading into the finale. I'm not sure if chapter 8 will be ready for the 20th since I also have something planned for Rui's birthday, but if not, it should be ready by the week after. I want to try and get back on schedule as best as possible.
NEXT TIME:
Maybe Tsukasa just needed one more kiss with Rui, and then it would be out of his system. Maybe he needed to forget the whole thing ever happened, just like Rui had asked him to.
(and)
Emu used to think that falling in love only happened once. But being with Nene had taught her that you could fall in love over and over again, every time you see a new side or are reminded of an old side of someone.
Nene looked up, and caught Emu staring at her, and blushed. “Wh-what is it?”
Emu smiled. “I keep falling in love with you.”
(and)
What was Rui supposed to do? Ignore the way his kiss with Tsukasa made him feel?
*Yes,* a voice reminded him. *You’re supposed to ignore all of your feelings. Especially about Tsukasa.*
*Why?* Rui countered in his own mind, his reasoning fogged with thick red lipstick and warm hands. *Tell me why. I can’t remember.*
Chapter 8: The Sides You Show
Summary:
Now that they've obtained important data from the gala, it won't be much longer before Phoenix plans the ultimate counter-attack against their foe. Tsukasa is haunted by old memories conflicting with his new love, and Rui is similarly haunted by Tsukasa's old love. Nene and Emu do their best to support their friends. With Rui's secret about to be exposed, a new possibility begins to take shape inside of him.
Notes:
Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your patience! Hope those of you who were tiering for pandemonium are getting lots of rest. ^^
We're back to Thursday updates, and from here until the end I'm going to be posting every two weeks instead of weekly. This will give me more time to properly handle the heavier emotions as things get more complex and heated. But it has been a while, and to make up for it, this is the longest chapter yet!Strap in, and double check that your safety belt is fully secured. This is going to be a roller coaster.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Why can't you talk?” Tsukasa asked. “Wait, sorry, that was tactless.”
Shiro tilted his head to the side, and the corner of his cheek crowded his eye briefly. Was he smirking behind the mask?
Shiro pulled out his pad of paper and pen, and began writing. Thyroplasty, he wrote. One of my vocal cords was paralyzed, so I have a prosthetic one in its place. The doctors say it should take about 6 months before I can speak again at all, and a year before I can speak normally.
“That sounds painful,” Tsukasa said with a frown.
But Shiro shook his head. Not at all. It’s numb, actually.
“Really?” Tsukasa said, skeptical.
Shiro’s shoulders shook, in a gesture Tsukasa would later recognize as a breathless laugh. Then he pulled up the bottom edge of his mask, tilted his chin up, and revealed the scar across his throat. Shiro grabbed Tsukasa’s hand, and gently placed the pads of his fingers on his Adam’s apple.
Tsukasa shivered.
The skin was raised and rough, pinkish but not irritated. Gently, slowly, never breaking from Shiro’s gaze, Tsukasa’s middle finger traced the shape of the slash. Then Tsukasa felt a different-shaped scar, one clean and even, and looked down. It must have been the medical scar from the surgery. How strange that they were both on top of each other—that in order to heal, he had to be hurt even further first.
When Tsukasa looked back up, it was Rui’s eyes that met his gaze.
Tsukasa bolted upright in his bed. Beads of sweat poured down his head and back. He listened to the sounds of his own labored breaths, gripping the sides of his head, trying to get a grasp on reality. Shiro had ocean eyes, and Rui’s were the sunrise itself.
It scared him how many of Shiro’s details were merging with Rui’s. What would happen next? Would Shiro’s hands grow extra calluses, would his back get taller and broader? Where did his old love end, and his new one begin?
Tsukasa shook the memory from last night out of his head. He poured himself another cup of tea and looked at the stack of paperwork on his desk with a sigh. It was dwindling faster than he wanted. Why was it that paperwork was only easy to do when you were avoiding something else?
Tsukasa leaned back and gripped his bangs. For as much boasting he did about his bravery, he knew that deep down, he was a coward.
He knew this because he’d been avoiding Rui for the past three days.
It wasn’t good. They were partners for crying out loud; they would have to speak to each other again sooner or later. But the time needed for the computers to process the massive amounts of data they’d found was the perfect excuse to catch up on old paperwork, brush up his combat skills, practice his embroidery—anything to avoid Rui.
But as much as Tsukasa avoided Rui during the day, he couldn’t seem to escape him in his dreams. And he certainly couldn’t escape the feeling still lingering in his mouth, as if his lips were still freshly swollen, his skin still on fire, his heart still electrified. Was that how kisses always went? Tsukasa had no experience. He became a spy fresh out of high school, and hadn’t even thought about romance until Shiro, and now he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Maybe he just needed one more kiss with Rui, and then it would be out of his system. Maybe he needed to forget the whole thing ever happened, just like Rui asked him to.
Maybe Tsukasa needed to punch something. He chugged the last of his now-cold tea and headed for the training grounds.
Nene pulled her knees up to her chest in her chair. She stared at one of the monitors before her, still working towards cracking the encrypted data. Once her software had finished the de-encyrption, many of the files would likely be written in code, which wouldn’t be so painful if the file size weren’t so massive. Just from the sheer amount of data alone, they were practically guaranteed to have discovered something useful.
Which made Nene nervous. How had Rui gotten this much data from an exposed computer during a gala? This was the kind of information that was kept under careful lock and key, and only very high-level agents should have access to. Rui’s gizmos were good, and Nene’s skills were nothing to sneeze at either, but this was a completely different level.
While she waited, eager to distract from the sinking feeling in her stomach, Nene used her second computer to do a bit of research. She liked hacking into newspapers’ and libraries’ computer systems, as they usually provided a large amount of information in a short period of time. Sometimes she even found typos and couldn’t help editing them herself. Rui would be proud of her.
She sighed, and pressed onwards.
The newspaper’s old database included an article that caught her eye. An unpublished editorial about a promising film actor who had trained on the stage. The article sited an interview where the actor talked about having been inspired by a famous director who saved his life. Rui seemed to like directing a lot; sometimes she wondered if he would have been a director had he not chosen spywork. Nene started to write down the director’s name so she could show Rui later: Tom Gra—
No, no, this wasn’t good. She was trying not to think about Rui.
Nene kept reading the article. The actor’s name was familiar, but she couldn’t place where. She’d have to ask Rui about it; he’d definitely know.
No! Nene slammed her head on her desk.
Sighing, Nene shifted so that her cheek pressed into the cold polished wood. Just sitting here wasn’t getting her anywhere. She needed a proper distraction.
Nene pushed off the chair and headed down to the training grounds, which were empty this late at night (or, more technically, this early in the morning). Usually everyone liked to start their work in the mid afternoon, since a lot of spywork was best done at night. Nene would have been up all night and sleeping at this hour as well, but she could never sleep a full eight hours when she had an active project. She usually found it better to sleep in 45 minute bursts every few hours. Because of this, she thought a half hour or so of shooting practice by herself to distract her mind would be nice before heading back for another nap.
But to her surprise, she found Tsukasa, wearing a white tank top and fingerless gloves, punching away mercilessly on one of the training bags. He was normally much more focused and clean in his form, but today his punches were erratic, going wildly off center and throwing off his stance. Nene chuckled. Now here was someone who was very distracting.
“Your form’s sloppy,” she called, approaching from behind. He stopped and looked over his shoulder.
“Nene, good evening,” he greeted, wiping sweat off his brow.
“More like ‘good morning’,” she corrected, “It’s half past 3.”
“I see.” Tsukasa steadied the bag as he laughed miserably at himself. “You’re not here to practice melee brawling, are you?”
Nene shook her head. “Definitely not. My sniping serves me just fine.”
“That’s fair enough. Though, if you wanted, you could probably beat me in my condition.”
“You do seem pretty out of it. But I can beat you without fists.”
Tsukasa chuckled. “True. Your snipe shots are world class! You could shoot a moving target through the gaps in a vent.”
“I don’t know about that,” she said, smiling with a bit of a grimace.
She walked to the drinking fountain in the corner and grabbed a disposable cup and began filling it. Meanwhile, Tsukasa started up again, his energy renewed, his lack of technique replaced with tenacity.
“So, if you’re not, here for training,” Tsukasa gritted out between hits, “what, did you come for?”
She walked closer until she was next to him, and he continued punching wildly, the hanging bag swinging back far with each hit. “Just a distraction.” She crossed her arms. “I was getting frustrated thinking about Rui. Seems like you are too, huh?”
He stopped. His eyes widened as he froze, staring at her in shock. Then the hanging back swung back and smacked him in the face. He stumbled back, tripped, then fell flat on his back.
“Tsukasa!” she cried, but he held up a hand.
“I’m fine,” he reassured her. “That one only bruised my ego. And my ego is very large, so it can take many bruisings!”
Nene laughed, and came over and stood above him, staring down at their so-called ‘star’ spy. Disoriented, distracted, nervous, literally falling at the mention of his partner’s name. Rui really had done a number on him, hadn’t he?
“Hey. What happened between you guys really?”
Tsukasa dragged his palm down his face. “We...we kissed.”
“I know that,” Nene said, rolling her eyes. Did he think she was stupid? Tsukasa went into the venue with lipstick on, then came out without lipstick, and Rui had lipstick on him instead. It wasn’t rocket science.
She helped him sit up, and handed him the cup of water. “So does that mean you’re together now?”
“I...I don’t know. I don’t think so. I don’t think Rui wants to talk about it.” Tsukasa chugged the entire cup, then let out an aggravated groan as he fell back to the ground. “Gahhh how did I mess this up so badly!? And he even told me about his old partner. He trusted me with that story, Nene. And then he...well, that was my first kiss, so I don’t really know. But can you feel if someone loves you when they kiss you?”
It was a strangely intimate question. Tsukasa’s face was red, though it was impossible to tell if that was from embarrassment or his exercise. Nene and Tsukasa normally never talked about things like this. They talked about mission details, and the actors in the plays they watched, and argued over whether charging in or waiting and observing was the best strategy at a given moment. This was different, and new. But Nene didn’t hate it.
“Yes,” Nene told him. “You can always tell.”
Her words echoed in the training hall. The swinging bag slowed to a stop.
“I see…” Tsukasa stared up at the ceiling.
Privately, Nene felt bad. She’d been desperate for them to make a move on each other, but now that they finally had, it seemed it hadn’t solved anything. It was different for her and Emu; the moment Nene asked if Emu would be her girlfriend, all their awkward distance vanished. They’d had a sickeningly blissful relationship. Any problems they had at all were always resolved quickly, and they always made sure to make time for each other and talked to each other often.
She didn’t know what kind of advice to offer Tsukasa. If she were honest, it was normally the other way around: he was the one supporting her. But she’d never seen him so down before—literally, the Tsukasa she knew when they’d first met would never have been caught dead lying on the floor in his own sweat. So something in him had changed.
“Sorry to trouble you with this,” Tsukasa said suddenly. Nene’s eyes widened. “I know it’s not very fitting for a leader.”
Nene shook her head. “I wasn’t thinking that at all. And, to be honest…it’s kind of nice hearing stuff like that from you. It feels like you trust me.”
“I do trust you.”
Nene’s eyes widened. She looked at Tsukasa. He looked serious, not a shred of irony or fakeness in his face.
Nene turned away. “You make trusting sound so easy.”
Tsukasa laughed, and started to sit up. “It isn’t,” Tsukasa said, which shocked her. “It’s not easy. But I don’t give up on anything, so I know that, eventually, I’ll achieve my goal. Which means that it’s achievable. Trust works like that. You believe that one day it will happen, and then it’s true.”
“That’s the logic of an idiot,” Nene said flatly. “And it makes no sense.”
Tsukasa sputtered, as if Nene had just punched him in the gut. “Fine then! How about this! I trust you all because you always come through for me!”
Nene shook her head again. That logic wasn’t any better. “That’s because we know you’ll always come through for us.”
He preened at the compliment though, sitting up straighter, lifting his chin, grinning giddily. “Ha! Of course I will! A star spy stands by his partners no matter what.”
Nene smiled sadly. “You should tell that to Rui.”
“Ah.” Tsukasa’s eyes went wide. Then they softened. “Heh. I should, shouldn’t I.”
The hall was quiet for a while, both of them lost in their own feelings. Nene loved her friends, more than she’d ever thought possible. In a perfect world, Rui wouldn’t betray them, and the four of them could keep saving the world together.
“Hey, Tsukasa, um. When you tell him that, if you can, could you...convince him to stay with us? After this is all over. Our team is better with him in it.”
Tsukasa looked down at his hands. It was weird to see him so introspective and thoughtful. Usually he just acted on instinct. Would he be okay?
Trust. You believe it will happen, and then it’s true.
That really, really didn’t make any sense. But still, she wanted to trust that Tsukasa and Rui would be okay.
Isn’t that enough? Emu’s voice called in Nene’s head. Nene sighed with an uneasy smile.
Nene’s communicator around her neck pinged, and she lifted it to her face. “Oh! The software has finished de-encrypting the data. I have to go.” Tsukasa nodded, but still didn’t really seem like he’d heard her. Nene stopped at the threshold of the training hall, then turned over her shoulder and said: “I don’t know the answer. But I do know that if you give up now, you’ll never get through to him.”
Tsukasa’s head lifted. His eyes were still scared, but no longer lost. “You’re right. I’m not going to give up.”
“That’s more like it.”
Tsukasa and Rui ran into each other halfway between their rooms. Tsukasa started to spill into an apology right there in the hallway.
“Listen, Rui, I—this has been bothering me since the gala, and I even had a nightmare about it, and I know you’d rather not but this is too important to ignore, so, that is to say—”
But Rui placed a finger to his mouth, rendering him speechless. Rui couldn’t fully stifle his chuckle; how many times had Nene bemoaned Tsukasa’s relentless blabbermouth, and all along the trick to quieting him had been so simple?
“Not here,” Rui whispered. “Follow me.”
Rui lead Tsukasa to a hilltop on the outskirts of the city. Below them, the glistening streetlights sprinkled the landscape. The sky was still dark, but only barely. A warm breeze blew, settling Rui’s frantic heartbeat. He leaned against a wrought-iron fence and looked down at all the lights, while Tsukasa sat at the matching bench.
From here, it was easy to see it: the peace they fought to protect.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me,” Tsukasa said. “I know that you—”
“Have you ever seen the view from here at night?” Rui interrupted. He cursed himself. Rui wasn’t even sure what he was doing here. An apology? A rejection? “Though, I suppose it’s nearly daybreak now.”
“I have,” Tsukasa said. He stood, and came next to Rui. A palpable distance separated their shoulders. “It's beautiful. Stars above, and city below...even a dunderhead like me can see how romantic it is. It always made me want to bring someone special.”
Rui clenched his fists. He couldn’t be the special someone Tsukasa was dreaming of, no matter how badly he wanted to be. Rui took a deep breath.
“Tsukasa, about the kiss…”
“Hahaha! Did we kiss?” Tsukasa exclaimed loudly. Rui looked at him sadly. Rui had done that, hadn’t he? Given Tsukasa hope for something that couldn’t happen, forced him into denial and anxiety. Perhaps Rui shouldn’t have teased him with that finger to Tsukasa’s lips earlier. Rui’s bangs covered his face.
“I'm sorry,” Rui said.
Tsukasa shook his head. “No, you were just completing the mission. I'm the one who...e-escalated it.”
Rui snorted. “Well, it's not as if I stopped you.”
That was a confession, wasn’t it? As close to a confession as Rui had ever voiced. What was he even doing out here, anyways? Maybe that was exactly it: he was looking for some sort of path forward.
Tsukasa turned to Rui, and from the corner of his eye, Rui could see Tsukasa was preparing for something. His jaw was set, his eyebrows firm, his eyes gleaming, his fingers clenched into fists.
“Rui,” he said, and Rui’s heart leapt into his throat. “I’ve been meaning to tell you something for a while now, and with everything that happened at the gala, I… For you, I—”
“It wasn’t fair for me to kiss you,” Rui cut him off. “Especially considering your late partner.”
There. That would stop Tsukasa’s confession in its tracks.
Rui turned away, and went to sit on the bench. Once he’d taken his seat, he clenched his fingers together and glared at his bloodied hands. “I’m sorry about Shiro.”
Beyond Rui’s knuckles, blurry, Rui watched Tsukasa grip his bangs and let out a massive sigh.
“No, it’s okay,” Tsukasa promised, leaning his elbows and back on the fence and twisting around to face Rui. “That was a long time ago. Besides, it's not like what happened to Shiro was your fault.”
A bullet to Rui’s heart.
No—to his abdomen. That’s where the gun had hit. That fateful night when Tsukasa Tenma lost his partner, Rui watched the blood bloom from the abdomen, and even now he felt that same thick and sticky blood covering his hands.
He regretted that night. So, so badly. If he could do over any night in his past it would be that one. He would have thought a little more, come up with a better way to rebel against Kaito, anything, a small difference.
But then again, if he had, then Tsukasa would have been the one with the bullet in his flesh. And what sort of a villain did it make Rui that he was glad the bullet missed Tsukasa?
“And furthermore,” Tsukasa said, interrupting Rui’s thoughts. “It’s true that I’d been pretty hung up on Shiro, but since meeting you, I…”
Rui sucked in a breath. Tsukasa looked beautiful in the blushing light of almost-dawn. “I’ve been thinking that I’m ready to move on. Maybe I’ve been ready for a while, and that kiss was what made me realize it. You make me want to push for a better future.”
Rui felt his face tightening. Along with his heart. He didn’t know whether to be heartsick or happy.
“Tsukasa, I know that I once encouraged you to move on, but… I know he must have a large presence in your heart. I could never have predicted exactly how large.”
Tsukasa groaned, and raked a hand through his bangs. “You really don’t get it, do you?”
Tsukasa took a step forward. He would get through to Rui. He would.
“I loved Shiro, but, I only ever saw one side of him. You? I’ve gotten to see so many sides of. You’ve shown me so many.”
What was it that Emu always said? That discovering a new side of Nene was falling in love with her all over again? Tsukasa had only fallen in love with Shiro once. But he fell in love with Rui again and again and again. Rui said something strange but insightful? Tsukasa fell in love. Rui laughed warmly and pressed a hand to his heart? Tsukasa fell in love. Rui sang, or gardened, or commented on the directing choices of a musical? Tsukasa fell in love. Even the psychotic side of Rui that wanted to use Tsukasa as a specimen in his experiments—Tsukasa was disgusted at himself for it, but he was in love with that side of Rui too.
And whatever side, or sides, of himself that Rui was hiding, that he wouldn’t yet allow Tsukasa to see, Tsukasa had a feeling that he’d fall in love with those sides, too.
“So that’s it then?” Rui asked, voice tight. “You’ll move on from your love so easily? What of all his memories?”
“Who said anything about easy?” Tsukasa barked. “And I’ll still have all my memories. He kept to himself. He scribbled notes in his journals. He loved a good challenge, and he loved when people laughed.”
“So you don’t miss him?” Rui said, standing, desperately gripping Tsukasa’s collar. “You don’t hate that you’ll never see him again? It doesn’t tear you into pieces and render you impervious to restful sleep?”
“Honestly?”
Tsukasa held Rui’s hands firmly. He’d never seen Rui get so upset. But he met the anguish and panic with a steadfast will. “When I’m around you?”
Tsukasa’s gaze flicked up, and he saw Rui’s eyes, like the clear morning light.
“I don’t miss him at all.”
You make me wish I wasn't entrenched in the shadows. You make me wish I had been cleverer all those years ago so I wouldn't have had to sell them my soul. You make me wish my corruption and rot was something I could wash away.
You make me wish I could ever deserve you.
Tsukasa’s hands were warm.
A few days after Nene had cracked open the secret files, Emu bounded into Nene’s office, determined to alleviate her partner’s woes. On a beautiful late-spring day like today, Emu couldn’t possibly have let Nene do her job indoors.
Emu had set up preparations with full gusto: a large wicker basket, sandwiches and riceballs, citrus iced tea, salty baked pretzels, and a large fluffy blanket to spread out in the grass under the shade of a big oak tree. And of course the binders with the documents they’d obtained, plus large bags of highlighters and pens and rulers and index cards. Their study date was going to be sparkling like bubbles in soda pop!
“Not now, Emu,” Nene dismissed, not even hearing out Emu’s spectacular date idea. “We’re so close to working through the information. I can’t waste a single second.”
Emu frowned. Nene’s voice sounded tired, and there were bags under her eyes. And it wasn’t like they’d be wasting time! If Nene didn’t see the bright sun and feel the cool breeze, hear children laughing in the park, then how would she remember what all their spywork was for?
Reaching out for Nene’s sleeve, Emu’s fingers curled around the soft fabric.
“Please?”
Nene stopped, huffed, then whipped around like she was preparing herself to take the hurt of disappointing Emu. But then Emu looked into her eyes, and tightened the grip on Nene’s sleeve, and silently begged her with every single muscle in her body.
Nene sighed. “Alright.”
Emu filled up instantly like a balloon hooked to a helium machine, and grinned and bounced and laughed.
“Just for a few hours!” Nene added, her face red and adorable. “I forget you’re really good at stuff like this too, so maybe working together with some new scenery will help.”
Emu all but dragged Nene straight to the park after that, stopping only briefly to pick up the basket and let Nene change out of her work clothes. They found the exact spot Emu wanted, and had the blanket spread and the food shared in no time at all.
“Wow, you really went all out for this, huh,” Nene said, marveling at the spread. “And the weather is perfect; I’m already feeling a lot better. Emu, I’m...I’m sorry about how I acted earlier.”
Emu grabbed Nene’s hands. “I’m just glad we get to be here together.”
Nene smiled, a beautiful and precious thing. Nene’s smiles were one of Emu’s favorite things in the whole world.
“You planned everything. A main course, something salty, something to drink. All that’s missing is something sweet.”
Emu gasped. “No!! How did I forget dessert!? This was supposed to be perfect…”
Nene huffed a laugh, her eyebrows upturned in the center of her face. “Don’t worry. You already did all of this for me, and it’s more than enough.”
Emu nodded, but there was still a smidgen of a tight feeling left in her stomach.
Nene then set to work, a sandwich in one hand and a ballpoint pen in the other, a clipboard balanced on her knee. She was so beautiful, with gaps of sunlight through the oak leaves hitting her hair. Emu used to think that falling in love only happened once. But being with Nene had taught her that you could fall in love over and over again, every time you see a new side or are reminded of an old side of someone.
Nene looked up, and caught Emu staring at her, and blushed. “Wh-what is it?”
Emu smiled. “I keep falling in love with you.”
Nene squeaked, and Emu giggled. Nene was still as precious now as she was when they’d first met.
“Emu!” Nene cried, pouting. “You can’t just say stuff like that out of nowhere!”
“Eheh. Too cheesy?”
Nene sighed. She looked down, then murmured, “It was nice.”
Emu couldn’t take it anymore. She surged forward and caught Nene’s lips in hers, and felt her heart swell when Nene kissed her back. Emu had always known there was joy everywhere, but there was still something special about finding it in Nene’s embrace.
Nene broke the kiss with a glower. “Emu! I’m trying to work! We have to figure out if the files the boys found mean anything!”
Emu did have the decency to feel a little guilty. “Sorry,” she said. “But those strange letters in the papers don’t make any sense!”
Nene paused. “Strange letters?”
Emu shifted through the papers and found a few examples. She’d highlighted them all, the ones that started a sentence in blue and the ones that ended a sentence in yellow. Bright dots of color popped out of the white papers as she flipped through them.
“Right here,” Emu said, pointing to one. “There’s an ‘a’ and an extra ‘e’ in ‘discrepancey’. And over here, too, there’s no ‘a’ in ‘violance’. The letters are having an illegal dance party!”
Nene’s eyebrows furrowed. “I thought those were just printing errors. Or maybe the typist wasn’t a very good speller.”
“But then why is this line all lonely without any friends?” Emu pointed to a very odd single paragraph that read: Slap strap desrever deer.
“What’s a desrever deer? Could it be an endangered species? But then why would we slap it?” Nene wondered. She pushed a stray hair behind her ear. “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out. It can’t just be gibberish if you noticed it.”
Emu frowned. “It could be backwards. Maybe it is just jibber-jabber bang noise emptiness.”
Nene shook her head. “I’ve spent too long at your side to believe that nonsense doesn’t have any meaning. There has to be something here.”
As Nene began scouring the page once more, Emu fell in love with her again. With Nene’s determination, with the solid foundation of her heart that wasn’t swayed by flippant changes. But also with the way Nene knew Emu, and didn’t give up trying to understand her. The way Nene let her be herself and did her best to meet Emu where she was, every time.
Nene scribbled, and scoured, and scribbled some more. She took a sip of tea, a bite of her food, kept scouring. Then, all of a sudden, she stopped. She gasped. She wretched the papers out of the way for a scrap sheet and wrote the message down.
“Emu,” Nene said, her voice distant. “Emu, this… you were right! This was it! That was the key!”
“It was!?”
Nene showed the sentence to her again: slap strap desrever deer. “You said it yourself. Backwards. Look—”
Reed reversed parts pals.
“It’s directions for how to read the cipher!” Nene cried. “’Pals’, or in other words, Capazon’s friends, need to read the parts that are reversed! The word ‘read’ has an ‘e’ and an ‘a’ mixed up, just like the examples you were noticing! Emu, this is it! We cracked the cipher!”
Emu couldn’t contain her excitement, and jumped up in triumph. In doing so, she nearly knocked over Nene’s tea, but Nene managed to snag it in the nick of time.
“Careful,” Nene warned, a smile still on her face.
“I knew this picnic date was a good idea!” Emu cried. She sat back down on her knees and grinned wide at Nene. “We had everything we needed and solved the puzzle! The only thing I forgot was something sweet.”
“Something sweet…” Nene echoed. Her eyes widened with some sort of idea, which delighted Emu. She loved ideas.
Nene blushed and stammered, but she announced with full conviction: “I-I, I um, I know something sweet we can have!”
“Ooh, what is it?” Emu asked, brimming with excitement.
Nene’s cheeks went darker, and she took a deep breath. “C-close your eyes.”
Emu did, and waited, her heart beating like a hummingbird.
Then, she felt the pressure of Nene’s lips on her cheek.
Emu gasped with delight. A kiss from her girlfriend was sweeter than any dessert, and Emu could have a hundred million of them without getting sick.
“Thank you,” Nene whispered.
Emu’s heart burst. She was the luckiest girl in the whole world.
Since their discussion a few mornings ago, Rui and Tsukasa had returned to their regular routine. Rui was glad for it, that now the awkward thrum that had been badgering them had vanished. But there was still a pit of unease in his stomach.
The data analysis team worked tirelessly, and quickly, thanks to the cipher that Emu and Nene discovered. Rui could have helped, but since he already knew most of the answers, he didn’t want to come across as suspicious, so he stayed away. But they were working fast. It wouldn’t be much longer now.
Rui’s time playing pretend was coming to a close.
One evening, Rui sat in Phoenix’s dining hall eating dinner. He joined a few junior spies for their meal, and passed the time surprisingly well. He was even able to ignore the unease in his stomach. At the end of the meal, the juniors thanked Rui for sharing his experiences with them, which was a surreal experience in itself. Sometimes Rui wondered if Phoenix had drugged their food, and he’d been hallucinating all of the good memories he’d made here. It certainly made more sense than the memories being real.
Just as Rui set to finishing his desert, Emu waved to him, and asked if she could join him. Rui gestured to the empty chair across from him and found himself chuckling at her optimism.
“You’re in an especially good mood this evening,” Rui noted.
Emu giggled. “I had the bestest day ever!” she declared, kicking her feet in her chair. “I got to fall in love with Nene all over again!”
Rui stared wistfully into his mug. “All over again, hm?”
“Do you know that feeling, Rui?” Emu asked. She didn’t say it, but Rui heard a string of follow up questions trailing in her voice that Emu was wise enough not to say: Did something change between you and Tsukasa during your last mission? Have you managed to talk since then? Will the two of you be okay?
“Yes,” Rui answered, to all of Emu’s spoken and unspoken questions. Emu’s smile widened.
“It’s kinda scary, huh,” Emu noted, her smile taking on just a touch of shade. “Falling in love again. Choosing to trust someone.”
“Trust…” Rui echoed. The word felt foul in his mouth.
“But don’t you think falling in love again is the bestest feeling ever?”
Rui clenched his jaw. His fists followed. Tsukasa’s soft hands, his softer mouth, his laughter and smile, his dedication, his unyielding spirit, all of it swept up Rui’s beating heart in a silken cocoon.
What was Rui supposed to do? Ignore the way his kiss with Tsukasa made him feel? Ignore the near-confession Tsukasa told him this morning, the way his golden eyes made the brilliant sunlight seem dull?
Yes, a voice reminded him. You’re supposed to ignore all of your feelings. Especially about Tsukasa.
Why? Rui countered in his own mind, his reasoning fogged with thick red lipstick and warm hands. Tell me why. I can’t remember.
Because you’re a traitor.
“I don’t know if I can,” Rui told Emu, his mouth dry. “Trust, I mean. I don’t know if such a thing is possible.”
“Well,” she said, a sad smile blooming on her face. “What if you could try?”
The fading twilight bathed her words in a calming glow. It was just the two of them in the dining hall, just the founder of their organization and the newest member. The most honest among them, and the least. Someone pure and kind to her core, and someone lying and rotten and deceitful. Someone who sacrificed his own principals and ideals and turned himself into something he hated.
Try.
A simple word. A small one. Yet it held the most dangerous thing in the whole world: hope. Capazon knew how dangerous hope was, and Kaito was thorough in his conquest to eliminate it. But Emu knew how powerful it was, too.
Could Rui really try? If he gave them the chance? If he gave himself the chance?
“You don’t have to know the answer right now,” Emu said. “But promise me you’ll think about it, okay?”
What if you could try?
“Okay,” Rui promised. “I’ll consider it.”
Notes:
Me, mixing in random amounts of fluff and angst: hehe feelings soup! :D
Me, re-reading the chapter while editing: oh god what have I done.NEXT TIME:
“Is everything ready?” Kaito asked.
“Almost,” Rui promised. “Just a few more things need to fall into place.”
Kaito hummed in approval, and Rui felt a strange knot forming in his stomach. At this point, Rui had two plans forming. But he wasn’t yet sure which one he would pursue. And both of them were risky.(and)
“I’m proud of you, Nene,” Rui said, and Nene’s tears slipped past her cheeks. “Maybe in the next life, we’ll meet sooner and have the chance to grow up together.”
(and)
It was still dark, but somehow, with Tsukasa, the room felt brighter. Rui continued his work, but felt an immense pressure building in his throat. He wanted… well, he *wanted*, and that was the issue. Double agents shouldn’t want. After tomorrow, Tsukasa would never trust him again. Did it really even matter if Rui confessed or not?
Chapter 9: The Chance to Change
Summary:
Phoenix puts in place the finishing touches of their infiltration plan. Rui begins to seriously question what his path forward will look like, and if he can learn to open his heart to others. He talks with Kaito, Nene, Emu, and finally, the one who most threatens to send Rui's set course on a different path.
Notes:
CW: Gun violence, threats
All I can say for myself is that I'm really sorry.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
In the weeks leading up to the infiltration, Rui indulged himself. He spent long hours with his friends, spending every waking moment with at least one of them. And if not his three closest friends, then with the other members at Phoenix: laughing with them, discussing theories, trading stories, dazzling them with his gizmos. And they prepared of course: countless strategy meetings, weapons inventories, file overviews, contingency plans were crammed in the days. It was the most fulfilled Rui had ever felt in his life.
And that, paired with Emu’s words and Tsukasa’s confession in the sunrise, made him begin to think:
Did he have to leave?
If they really did take down Capazon, then that would prove Kaito’s way of thinking was flawed. He’d told Rui that fear was the only guarantee in life, and the only thing you could rely on. And for all of Rui’s life while he was alone working for Kaito, he found that to be true.
But here, Rui was beginning to wonder. Maybe, if he told Phoenix he was a double agent but his loyalties lied with them, the agency would be lenient and let him keep his life. Maybe even let him stay.
A few nights before the big infiltration, when Tsukasa, Emu, Nene, and Rui all went to see their final show together, as Rui felt the heat of Emu’s teasing and a playful elbow to his ribs from Nene, and that tender and hopeful smile on Tsukasa’s lips, Rui felt like this was his home. Maybe, if he asked, and explained everything to them, they’d let him stay for good.
Two nights before the major infiltration, Rui received a call from Kaito.
He’d been expecting it, but that didn’t make answering his communicator any easier.
“Good evening,” Rui greeted evenly. He was in his office at Phoenix headquarters. Normally he didn’t like to take calls from Kaito while he was at HQ, but tonight, there was little risk of being overheard. Rui’s office was in the basement not too far from the communal workshops, and he specifically requested it be fully soundproof with the convenient excuse that he’d likely be using tools in his office and didn’t want to disturb others.
Technically, he had invited Nene to his office, since she was often also awake late and might want company. But since their friendship was fake, he knew she wouldn’t be coming down to see him. Rui’s conversation would be overheard by no one.
“Is everything ready?” Kaito asked.
“Almost,” Rui promised. “Just a few more things need to fall into place.”
Kaito hummed in approval, and Rui felt a strange knot forming in his stomach. At this point, Rui had two plans forming. But he wasn’t yet sure which one he would pursue. And both of them were risky.
Rui stood up from his desk and began pacing around his office. He liked to keep the floors of his office mostly clean so he could pace. It was a contrast from the apartment he was renting in the city, which was littered with show merch and programs and past prototypes who were put to rest. Tsukasa would likely have a fit if he ever saw it.
As he paced, Rui wondered how he could go about ingratiating himself to Phoenix. Maybe his fake friendships were strong enough that, after they broke in two days, they could even be rebuilt. It was an insane thought, but Emu had encouraged him to try. Would he need to be their prisoner? Would they force him to do gruntwork? Would he need to wear a location tracker? That would be inconvenient, certainly, but it would be a small price to pay for his life. Then maybe he coul—
“I’m proud of you, Rui.”
Rui stopped in his tracks.
“Pardon?”
“I’m proud,” Kaito said again. His voice was smooth and warm, almost affectionate. “It’s difficult to be away from what you know for so long. But you’ve proven yourself, as well as your mental fortitude, ingenuity, perseverance, and foresight.”
This was odd. Rui hadn’t heard praises from Kaito in a long time. Not since he’d first joined the organization.
“You’re too kind,” Rui said, hopeful his voice sounded genuine and not suspicious.
“Nonsense,” Kaito insisted. “I’ve only just begun. I wasn’t certain sending an agent to work with Phoenix would be safe. We’d tried in the past, but every one of them were snuffed out within weeks.”
Rui gulped.
“So much for the ‘tolerant’ Phoenix,” Kaito said with a scoff. “They boast forgiveness and peace, but then kill all of our agents. Talk about hypocritical. Meanwhile, we consider the good of the entire nation, and move people to better places.”
Better for whom? Rui wisely did not say.
Why was Kaito bringing this up now? To remind Rui who held his chains? Or did he simply want to brag about himself? Perhaps both.
“Anyways,” Kaito continued, “After we eliminate those pesky little birdies, I was thinking we revisit your career.”
Rui paced a bit more, closer to his office door. “My career?”
“There’s a big future for you here, Rui. You’ll be adored thanks to your inventions. And once this is all over, you’ll be my right hand. All tactical decisions will be yours; no going through the team and waiting for their approval. You’ll be the second most powerful and revered man in the organization. Then, eventually? The whole nation.”
The power that Kaito promised did speak to Rui. It always had. Perhaps that was something that Kaito had recognized in Rui: their shared love of being in control. Shadows, strings, tugging just a bit and watching the entire stage follow your whim. It was only on your own that you could create a world entirely as you saw it.
But now, Rui had a proper challenge to that old view: if you built a world with others, you could make it beyond your own visions. Which one was stronger? If Rui placed his trust in these people he wanted to call ‘friends’, could he have a place in their new world?
A scraping sound came from the hallway.
“What was that?” Kaito demanded.
Rui’s eyes widened. “Nene?”
Rui opened the door, but there was nothing there. A quick scan from his penguin friend confirmed there were no signs of life in the hallway, nor in the ceiling above or the ground below. Rui released a breath. “No, nothing. Faulty pipe, most likely. This place does lack the funds that Capazon possesses.”
“You’re absolutely certain we weren’t overheard?”
“I’ll thank you to have more faith in my judgment,” Rui said, trying to keep the bite from slipping past his tongue. “Regardless, the only person who it could have been is Nene Kusanagi. If our friendship was real, I’m sure she would have come down to see me. But since I know it isn’t, no one could possibly have come.”
Kaito cackled. He always seemed to take a special delight whenever Rui mentioned how he didn’t have any friends. Easier to control that way, Rui supposed. Always about fear and control with him. Once, Rui had been completely consumed by this worldview.
But since joining Phoenix, Rui was beginning to wonder how strong fear really was.
They finished their call, and Rui spent the trip to his apartment lost in his own thoughts. He made himself a quick meal, prepped for bed, and willed himself to sleep, hoping that the answer would come in his dreams.
Nene took a deep, steadying breath. Then, she waited for the security system at the window to deactivate, and slipped inside.
She wore her infiltration outfit, sleek and black as the night, with a cloth that covered the bottom half of her face. She tiptoed quietly through the messy room, dodging random knickknacks scattered across the floor, until at last she arrived at her target.
He was sleeping soundly in his bed, and he looked almost innocent in the wash of pale moonlight that came into his room. Nene waited a few beats, then his security system re-engaged, and a small alarm sounded.
He bolted up in bed, eyes wide. He stepped out of bed, bare feet padding across the floorboards, and inspected the window. He turned off the alarm, and then, Nene cocked her pistol back. She aimed it at the back of his head.
“You have ten seconds to explain why Kaito knows your communicator’s number.”
Rui inhaled sharply. “Nene?” He slowly raised his hands above his head and held them there.
“Nine.”
“Easy, Nene, calm down,” Rui said. “I’m going to turn around now, all right? And then you can explain what all this is about.”
She waited for him to turn around. He looked surprisingly composed and lucid for someone who had just been ripped from a deep sleep and had a gun pointed to their forehead.
“I heard you talking to Kaito last night,” Nene explained. “Nene-Robo recorded it.”
“Kaito? Kaito who?”
Nene frowned. “Eight.”
“The leader of Capazon Kaito? Honestly, Nene, what are you talking about?”
Nene held her gun steady with one hand, and used the other to reach into her pocket and pull out the miniature robot that Rui had made for her. She clicked a button on its back, and the speaker roared to life. Kaito’s voiced filled Rui’s bedroom:
“There’s a big future for you here, Rui. You’ll be adored thanks to your inventions. And once this is all over, you’ll be my right hand. All tactical decisions will be yours; no going through the tactics team and waiting for their approval. You’ll be the second most powerful and revered man in the organization. Then, eventually? The whole nation.”
Nene-Robo clicked off, and silence settled like a thick fog. The blood drained from Rui’s face.
“Nene, you...you came to see me?” he asked, his voice wavering. He seemed genuinely shocked, but Nene would not yield.
“Seven.”
“Nene...”
“Six.”
“You truly wanted...how can that be?” Rui brought a hand to his forehead, gripping it tight, lost in his own world. “That you really thought...but even despite that, you’re still here? Like this?”
“Five!” Nene insisted. Her breathing and heartbeat grew heavy. She didn’t know what Rui was talking about. He needed to start making sense, and fast.
He looked up, and glared into her gaze. “If I was really working for Capazon, wouldn’t I have destroyed Phoenix by now?”
That made Nene stop. She lowered her gun, but kept her arms locked. “Wouldn’t you?”
“I would,” Rui affirmed. “If I wanted Phoenix gone, they would be. I promise.”
Nene raised her gun again. “What good is the promise of a double agent?”
“What good are any promises?”
“Enough games!” Nene cried. “You’re always playing games. But this is serious, Rui. If you’re loyal to our enemy, and feeding them our secrets, then I have to kill you!”
She pleaded with him in her eyes. Please tell me I can trust you, she begged. Please tell me you don’t work for them.
“And if you can’t trust me when I say I’m not?” Rui challenged.
Nene bit her lip. “Th-then…” She inhaled, and glared at him once more. “Then I have to assume that you are.”
“I see.”
Then, Rui took a very slow and deliberate step towards Nene. Then another. She held up her gun, her arms locked straight, the end of it nearly touching him. Then, he sank to his knees, and pressed his forehead into the tip of the silencer.
Nene’s eyes widened.
“Kill me quickly, please,” Rui said. “If you could.”
“Wh-what?”
“Goodbye, Nene.” Rui’s smile was bitter and raw. “I would have liked having a little sister like you.”
Nene gritted her teeth. A new kind of anger jumped through her veins, one that was not cold and tight but hot and seething. “You...you would really die? Like this? F-for what?!”
“To put your mind at ease,” Rui told her, his smile turning gentle. “So you don’t have to live with the fear of me one day betraying you.”
“You’re crazy!” Nene cried. Tears began to fill her eyes, which seemed to startle Rui. “What’s your trick this time, huh? Did you swap out my bullets when I wasn’t looking? Is there a trapped door underneath you? What is it? Tell me!”
Rui shook his head. “No trick. I’d gladly die if you’re protecting what you love.” Then, Rui slowly reached his left hand up to the gun, and placed it on top of Nene’s. She squeaked in a shocked breath. Her parents used to hold her hand like that to cross the street. Was this what his hand would have felt like, if he were there when she needed a big brother?
“I’m proud of you, Nene,” Rui said, and Nene’s tears slipped past her cheeks. “Maybe in the next life, we’ll meet sooner and have the chance to grow up together.”
Nene could see it. She wasn’t the most imaginative in their group, not by a long shot, but still she imagined it. Seeing plays together as kids. Trying to re-create them when they got home, performing for their parents. Rui coming up with wacky and strange games for them to play, always letting Nene play with him, never letting her feel alone.
Nene wanted to trust him. She wanted it so bad it stung. But he was also a Capazon agent. But even when she confronted Rui with this knowledge, he still chose to care about others. What was wrong with him? Why did he make it so easy to want to trust him, even though Nene had no reason to? She wanted to trust him.
Emu’s voice rose up in her, giving her strength and courage: Isn’t that enough?
“Nene?”
Nene took a deep breath, and stared down at Rui with renewed vigor. “I don’t trust you,” she spat. “Not after what happened last night. You’re a double agent, or at the very least, could work with Capazon in the future. Which means I can’t trust you.”
“I understand.”
“But you’re also my friend!” Nene screamed. Her grip on the gun tightened. “So why would you let me kill you? Why would you think our friendship doesn’t matter?”
“I—”
“Don’t you think I wish that I was your little sister, too!?”
Her voice echoed on the walls, and she wished it could punch him in his face.
He stared at her, eyes wider than she’d ever seen them, blown back and frozen open.
Why was he surprised that she cared? Didn’t he care, too? Didn’t he want to stay with them, and be their strategist, and come up with more ways to take down bad guys?
Or was all of that a lie? Had he been lying about everything since the moment they’d met, and truthfully he was just as power hungry and greedy as Kaito claimed, just as psychotic and villainous as he pretended to be?
And then, if that were the case, why now, why now, did he look so scared? Not when Nene had threatened his life, but instead, when she swore her friendship? He was unfazed by being ripped away from his dreams and having his life threatened, but rendered useless in front of love.
She thought of Tsukasa, lying useless on the floor of the training hall.
Then, she thought of Emu: Isn’t that enough?
“I hate you!” she screamed at Rui, sinking to her knees. She set the gun on the ground. She pressed her face into his shoulder. “I hate you.”
He froze awkwardly, hands hovering and confused. She didn’t care. “You’re an idiot,” she mumbled. “You’re a bigger idiot than Tsukasa. You’re the biggest idiot in the whole world.”
“I, I could grab the gun, right now,” Rui threatened. It was rare to catch him so off-guard, so scattered. “You’ve let your guard down. If you really think I’m a double agent, wouldn’t I kill you?”
“You’re not,” Nene said. She wasn’t sure that was true. It made no sense, and it was the logic of an idiot. But it was what she wanted to believe. She wanted to trust him.
Rui sucked in a breath. “You’re going to let me live? But I could—”
“Kill me quickly,” she spat. “If you could.”
She felt Rui swallow, then shake his head.
“No,” Rui said. “I’ve never wanted to hurt you.”
Nene’s fingers dug into his shoulders. “Is our friendship really fake to you?”
There was a horrible moment where Nene had to listen to the anxiety-inducing silence that followed her question. Then, Rui drew her back, and held her shoulder. “I think you know the answer to that better than I do.”
What the hell did he mean by that? How could Nene know what he was feeling better than he did? He was the one keeping secrets. She stared into his eyes, wide and complicated and unreadable.
He started looking past her, likely to some complex place in his mind, full of gears and cogs and screws. “Nene, you… you saw our friendship as real, and you were still going to get rid of me…”
“I’m sorry,” Nene said. Now that she’d seen Rui like that—on his knees, vulnerable, terrified, looking as if his whole world had turned upside down—she no longer knew what to think.
“No, no,” he insisted. Then, Rui shocked her by thanking her. “Now I know the extent of your conviction. I can count on it in the future. I confess, not knowing how you’d react was weighing on my mind. But now that I’m certain, it will make the infiltration even easier.”
His voice sounded cold. Distant.
“What do you mean?”
He pulled away, came to a stand. Then he offered her a hand up, and she took it, but something was wrong. He’d...hardened, like there were walls keeping the whole world out. His face was completely blank, almost serene. She felt like he was a world away.
“A question had been weighing in my mind,” Rui said. “And your response helped me solidify the answer. I no longer have any need to concern myself with trivial matters.”
Something horrid caught in Nene’s throat. But Rui handed her the gun, and asked her to leave. When she took one last look before leaving, his eyes were far away.
Nene felt like she’d lost him.
So this is the power of fear, Rui had thought while Nene cried in his arms. It forces friends to want to kill one another.
He’d managed to convince Nene of his innocence, but that merely delayed his death. Soon, she would have her gun pointed at him once more, and there would be no words he could say that would lower her weapon. She was so terrified of his betrayal that he had reduced her to that.
And if this is what fear did to Nene, what would it do to the others? To kind Emu and her supply of smiles? To the junior spies who all seemed to look up to Rui, whose names Rui had just learned?
To Tsukasa?
Now, Rui knew his answer. He’d been foolish to think that Phoenix would allow him a home. Tonight was proof. Once they knew for certain that he’d been working for Capazon, they would hate him.
After tomorrow, there would be no more pretending.
Nene went to Emu, and collapsed against her girlfriend’s strong arms. Nene cried, and Emu simply held her, not asking any questions.
In the morning, Emu made Nene breakfast, and Nene told her everything. About the conversation she’d recorded, about how Rui had pressed his forehead to her silencer, about how his eyes had hardened harshly.
At the end of it, Emu held Nene’s cheeks, but couldn’t summon a smile.
“Rui, um,” Emu began as she caught him in the hallway after lunch. “If you...if something were wrong, you would tell us, wouldn’t you?”
It was odd, her tone, her drawn-together eyebrows. Rui surmised that Nene had shared some of this morning’s events with Emu.
“Whyever would you assume otherwise?” he asked, face serene. Emu’s frown deepened. “Come now, captain, where’s your usual smile?”
Emu looked deeply troubled now, face scrunched up and flushed. So this was what it took for her to lose that permanent smile, hm? Rui wondered if he should feel a special sense of honor at being the one to take it away. Perhaps pride would ease the pain. Tsukasa certainly acted as if it did.
“Why do you keep hide hiding?”
Rui blinked. “Hiding?”
“You promised me you would try.”
Ah.
So that was it then. He had broken her promise, and now she was looking at him like that—tears filling her eyes, all traces of her smile vanished, tight eyebrows and jaw and fists. He thought of Nene’s silencer pressed to his forehead.
Rui kept his voice light and polite as he said, “I did try, of course. But that particular experiment won’t yield any further results.”
Rui had always known Emu’s kindness had to have limits. Not because she could run out of it, but rather because Rui had never been worthy of it. Once more, he was relieved to have found those limits, just like with Nene. Whatever bitterness flittered into him at her words he stamped down harshly.
“You can’t trust us?” Emu asked helplessly.
If Rui were a lesser agent. If he were more selfish, less patient, less calculated. He would have snapped. He would have asked Emu why he should trust them when no one beyond his parents and a single errant friend had ever trusted him. When Kaito offered something that didn’t need to be trusted, didn’t need to be tested, wouldn’t ever sway.
When Rui had an ultimate ambition to see realized.
But Rui was patient, and calculated. He took one single steadying breath, bundled up all the friendship he felt for Emu, then released it cleanly and efficiently on an exhale.
“I will gladly answer any questions you have after the infiltration tomorrow,” Rui promised. If, of course, we are both alive.
“Okay,” Emu said, nodding warily.
Then, Rui walked past her. He wouldn’t consider himself particularly sentimental, but there was only so much of seeing Emu without her smile that he could stomach.
The night before the big infiltration, Rui was restless. He’d known he was going to be, but he hadn’t expected it to be quite so intense or nerve-wracking. He told himself this was the natural conclusion to playing pretend at Phoenix. That he wasn’t hurt or devastated by Nene nor Emu. That he wouldn’t be sad when the fledgling camaraderie with the three junior spies—Miyake, Taniyama, and Hayashi—was snuffed out.
That he would be glad to sever the final tie keeping him to this organization.
As Rui walked down to the workshop area and pulled out his tools to keep his shaking hands steady, he tried to practice taking deep breaths. He turned on a lamp, a small thing in the ocean of darkness, and knew his time in the light was running short.
Tomorrow, he was going to betray Phoenix.
The thought physically hurt, and he recoiled as if he’d been kicked in the solar-plexus. But he reminded himself there was no place for him here. All those things he was feeling—guilt, remorse, grief, helplessness, fury—he pushed out of his heart, and then constructed an iron wall.
He took a few more breaths, and picked up his tools once more.
Rui worked for a while, finding comfort in the familiar feeling of screws and circuit boards. That iron wall was already paying off. Rather than the anger and resentment stuck to his stomach, he was beginning to feel a peaceful longing for the future he thought he could have with them. It would have been nice, wouldn’t it?
Ah well. Dreams were meant for sleeping. And soon, Rui would have to wake up.
Eventually he heard the door behind him open, and from the measure of his gait, he knew it was Tsukasa.
The final tie, Rui thought. Rui could have laughed at the cruel injustice. Should he wait to sever it until tomorrow as planned, or just sever it now and spare them both the heartache?
“I thought I’d find you here,” Tsukasa said, in lieu of a greeting. “We have a big day tomorrow.”
Rui tried his best to smile. “I won't be much longer, I promise.”
“Mind if I join you for a bit?” Tsukasa asked.
Rui did mind, in truth. It was far easier to keep doubts and regrets at bay when Tsukasa wasn’t around. His temporary partner had an annoying habit of deluding Rui into believing their fates were not already sealed. Rui should ask him to leave.
But this would be his last night spent in Tsukasa’s company.
“Make yourself comfortable,” Rui finally said.
Tsukasa hummed an acknowledgment, then leaned against the workbench. Out of Rui’s way, but close enough to feel his presence.
The room was still dark, but somehow, with Tsukasa, it felt brighter. Rui frowned as he encountered a stubborn screw, refusing to tighten properly. It was loose, and shifted more the harder he pressed.
“You know something?” Tsukasa mused aloud while Rui worked. “Sometimes I feel like I can't remember a time before I met you. We were so familiar with each other. It's like you'd been a part of me for a long time. Or maybe we knew each other in a past life.”
Rui’s smile was small. “A past life, hm?”
“Or maybe another life. Another universe? One where we watch shows together.”
“We do that already,” Rui noted.
“I suppose so…” Tsukasa drifted off, and silence once more settled into the workshop.
Rui continued his work, but that damned screw refused to fit properly. Rui sighed, and plucked it from the hole. It never was going to fit, was it? There had never been any purpose in forcing it.
This was the end.
An immense pressure began building in Rui’s throat, in his stomach. It hurt. Long ago, before meeting Tsukasa, Rui would have ignored his pain entirely. Stuffed it back down, kept it locked behind that iron wall. But now, now Rui had grown too aware of it to fully contain it. His anger at losing his chance to stay with his friends, his grief for the lost time, his frustration at himself, his fear of returning to loneliness, all of it surged in his veins.
His path forward had never been so foggy.
“Sorry, do you mind if I turn the lamp up?” Tsukasa asked. Without waiting for a response, he clicked the knob and the lamp glowed brighter, banishing more of the darkness. “I don’t know how you see with such low light. You’ll strain your eyes like that.”
“I’m no doctor, but I’ve heard that is merely a myth.”
“Myth or not, you’re sure to finish faster if you can see better, right? And then you can get the proper rest you need for tomorrow. Besides, don’t people navigate by looking at the bright stars?”
Eyes wide, Rui looked up at Tsukasa, who flashed him a grin.
Crumbling iron walls. Rui wanted… well, he wanted, and that was the issue. Double agents shouldn’t want. After tomorrow, Tsukasa would never trust him again. Did it really even matter if Rui confessed or not?
Still. After everything? To simply say nothing to him was a betrayal in itself.
“Tsukasa, I—” Rui began, but at the exact same time, Tsukasa said, “Rui, I—” and they effectively cut each other off. A moment of chuckled recognition of their blunder, then Rui set down his project.
“Please, allow me to go first.”
Tsukasa nodded. “Very well.”
Rui took a deep breath, and placed his hand over his beating heart. “I wanted to thank you.”
“Thank me?”
Rui smiled. “For giving me the chance to change.”
His words filled the empty workshop. Tsukasa’s breath hitched, his eyes went wide, and that beautiful blush bloomed bright on his cheeks. Rui was going to miss him.
“I didn't do anything special,” Tsukasa said, rubbing the back of his neck. Rui chuckled.
“A rare moment of humility from you.”
Tsukasa chuckled too. “Well, a star spy like me knows how to be humble.”
Rui laughed again, and it hurt. He couldn’t risk being any less vague, and couldn’t stand being any less honest. He hoped it was enough.
“That's all you wanted to say to me?” Tsukasa asked.
Another ache. But Rui nodded. “Yes.”
“O-oh,” Tsukasa breathed, almost choking. “Oh um. Wow.”
The urge to place his hands on both sides of Tsukasa’s bright red face was not new to Rui, but he’d never felt it so strongly before. He tore his gaze away from Tsukasa and focused on the wiring of his project.
“What was it that you wished to say?” Rui asked while he followed the wires with his eyes.
Because it was so quiet in the workshop, Rui could hear Tsukasa suck a breath in through his nose.
“Tomorrow is the big day. It's the final fight. I know it. I feel it.”
Rui nodded. His fingers curled into a fist.
“And then after that will be a new beginning.” Tsukasa pushed himself off the bench, and turned to face Rui. “And then…Rui, about you, I—”
“If this is related to how you may be feeling, I don’t—“
“No. No, it's not about that,” Tsukasa promised. “I wanted to say that, if you decide to leave, I'll be okay. You don't have to worry about me. I'm not going to fall apart like the last time my partner left me.”
Rui’s smile was bitter. “Because I'm not as important?”
“Wrong.” Tsukasa seized hold of Rui’s clenched fist. “Because you've made me stronger. You've been open and earnest with me, you've trusted me, and that trust gave me the chance to grow.”
Rui stood, and turned away. He couldn’t stand hearing all this. He wasn’t strong enough. His resolve was string thin as it was, fraying like a sawed rope.
But Tsukasa held firm. Their hands like a cord, like an invisible red string.
“I won't ever find another partner like you, but I'll be able to work with other agents again. I won't be alone anymore. You were the one who helped me discover that. Really, you were the one who gave me a chance to change.”
Rui could no longer look away.
His gaze was unwillingly wretched to Tsukasa’s, and stayed there. He had changed, hadn’t he? His hair was ever so slightly longer now, the edges of his fringe falling to his cheeks instead of just above them. Before, Tsukasa was single-minded and naive, before he was arrogant and brazen. But now he didn’t hide how thoughtful and considerate he was, now he embraced those softer sides of himself, now he lead with his heart and not with his pride.
Rui’s own heart swelled.
“Rui, if you decide leaving is what's best for you, then I want you to do that.”
Then, in one motion, Tsukasa pressed his face into Rui’s chest and wrapped his arms around Rui’s back.
“But I hope you stay,” Tsukasa’s muffled voice pressed into Rui’s heart.
Rui felt like he was on the verge of tears.
Tsukasa looked up at him, his adorable chin pressing into Rui’s sternum. “And if you do, then…” Tsukasa’s grip tightened. “Then the day after tomorrow, I'll have an important question to ask you. Is that okay?”
Rui was weak. He was human. He’d been fighting against it for so, so long, and Tsukasa was utterly and completely himself and Rui wanted him too badly to not feel a hole blasted through his stone walls.
“Oh Tsukasa, you truly are...you're nothing short of wonderful.” Rui was weak. His palm cupped Tsukasa’s soft cheek, his thumb crested the bone, his fingers rested beneath the ear. “If I...would it be too—not that I intend anything beyond...may I...?”
Tsukasa surged up, and kissed him.
Rui returned the kiss eagerly. It was stupid—but then, perhaps it wasn’t. Death row inmates were allowed one last meal, one final choice, one final sweet taste on their lips. Rui was not so different.
Rui’s fingers tightened at Tsukasa’s neck, and Tsukasa’s fingers tightened at Rui’s back. His mouth was just as soft and warm as the first time. Just as wonderful. It was strange, to kiss someone and know that the memory of his previous kiss hadn’t been glorified in his mind. But even so, this kiss was quite different. Last time it was rushed and greedy, hands and lips thrown at each other without much care or thought. This time, it was soft, like a gentle melody on a piano. Tsukasa’s kiss asked for nothing, took nothing. Instead, it gave. And if Rui only truly could, oh, how he would accept.
They bid each other good night, Tsukasa with the most beautiful smile Rui had ever seen, and Rui with the lowest feeling he had ever had. He couldn’t even hate himself properly, he simply accepted that his fate was on the outside, spinning the memory of Tsukasa’s touch over and over like the reel of an old film, until at last it would be wretched away from him.
He’d known this goodbye was going to be the hardest.
The only mercy Rui could ask for now was that he wouldn’t have to see Tsukasa’s face when he drove the knife into his back.
Notes:
To those of you who asked for them to kiss again, uh, is that what you had in mind? Haha ha.. ah ha.I'm gonna have to make some memes to cope.
The next chapter will be the beginning of the end! It is also the chapter I am the most excited for. It will have the moment we've been building up to for so long, the part that I've been planning since the very beginning. It feels bittersweet to be so close to the finale now. Thank you to everyone who's been with me on this insane ride.
NEXT TIME:
"Please, Tsukasa, I don’t know if I’m strong enough to hear it."
"You are! You’re strong, and you’re adaptable, and you’re wicked smart, and—"
Rui covered Tsukasa's mouth with his palm.
"And I’m so sorry."
Rui struck Tsukasa across the back of the neck.(and)
“Impressive performance, little alchemist,” Kaito purred. He tucked a finger under Rui’s chin.
“Don’t touch me,” Rui spat, slapping his hand away.
Kaito laughed. “So you did have feelings for the brat after all.”
Chapter 10: The Mask Revealed
Summary:
Phoenix begins their infiltration on Capazon.
Notes:
CW: Mild blood, gags, restraints
Added some fancy new things! Fixed the ages of the characters so they’re accurate to how I want them (solidifying the timeline), added chapter titles, and total number of chapters. The ending author’s notes for this chapter are going to look a little different but I do have a reason for that.
This is it. The moment we’ve been waiting for. I want to thank you now for reading and being on this journey with me, because I don’t think you’ll want my gratitude by the end of the chapter. Thank you for believing in this story, in me, and in the vision I had, even before it paid off.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The morning of the infiltration, as Tsukasa quietly went through his morning routine, he found himself uncharacteristically reflecting on his past. Seven years ago, he’d joined SPARK, a small domestic intelligence gathering agency. Back then he had been so naive. He’d waltzed up to their front office (little bigger than a broom closet) and handed the worker his resume while announcing that he was destined to be a spy.
Somehow, that had worked, and within the week Tsukasa was taken to their new members’ initiative. There, he’d met Shiro. He stood out immediately with the mask he always wore, and the fact that no matter what Tsukasa said to him, he didn’t say anything back. Later Tsukasa discovered the reason for that, but in the moment, he’d taken it as an insult, and picked a fight with him. Then his training officer had forced them to be partners.
Tsukasa laughed as he started his morning skincare routine. He’d been so furious back then, hadn’t he? His feelings towards Shiro had taken quite a drastic turn in a short amount of time, similar to his feelings for Rui.
They’d had a lot of moments, back then, that Tsukasa couldn’t recognize for what they were. His shoulder being eclipsed by Shiro’s hand, their backs pressed together, meeting his gaze and communicating without words: all accompanied by a tight and fluttering feelings. And in that moment where Shiro had slipped from his fingers into the darkness, it all had hit him so suddenly, so clearly, exactly at the moment when it mattered the least.
But today, he would get revenge. He could settle the matter once and for all.
His routine complete, Tsukasa dressed, and went to the kitchen to start making breakfast for himself. He turned on the radio to listen to the morning news while he cooked.
“We’re here with a member of the nationalist party to give her views on the coming election this winter. Mrs. Asahina, thank you for joining us today.”
“Thank you for having me,” another voice, Asahina, said. “It’s always a pleasure to have someone recognize our power.”
Tsukasa scoffed. Of course she’d say that: the one thing jerks like the nationalists hated above all was being considered a joke. The nationalists were funded by Capazon. It wasn’t even a secret or anything; they openly accepted the bloody money acquired from cruelty for their campaigns. They had been for years. In fact, it was Capazon’s funding that got a nationalist elected as prime minister 7 years ago. SPARK was one of the organizations most against the change, and they had worked tirelessly to try and undermine his corruption at every turn.
Asahina continued: “The former prime minister Rakunosuke Ootori was a soft leader. He coddled this nation, and as a result, we have become spoiled and weak.”
“That’s bullshit!” Tsukasa screamed at his radio. But of course, loud as he was, they couldn’t hear him.
“Our current prime minister is stronger than ever, at no risk of losing his seat in office, despite recent groundless rumors of our supporter’s decreasing stock prices. Capazon remains strong, just as we nationalists do.”
At that, Tsukasa’s scoff was accompanied by a grin. It was a complete lie, of course, he knew that the current prime minister’s favor was waning. Thanks to his and Rui’s work at the gala, Capazon’s stock prices had gone down a whole 10%. And after today, they would have no financial support whatsoever.
“And what do you say to the rumors that four years ago, a trusted domestic intelligence agency was destroyed at the hands of nationalists?”
Tsukasa’s ears perked up.
But Asahina laughed, cold and cruel. “Are you talking about SPARK? That pathetic gang of terrorists? They were actively trying to destroy all our most cherished values. Of course we eliminated them. We would do anything to keep this nation safe. The nationalist party and Capazon are dedicated above all else to strength and prosperity.”
Tsukasa turned off the radio.
He paced around his kitchen a few times to cool off, then suddenly remembered his breakfast, and began shoveling it all in.
That was the annoying part about being a spy—all the lies you had to suffer through. People would tell lies, and you were powerless to stop them, and just had to let them go on lying through their teeth to your face.
Well, after today, there would be no more lies.
The truth would finally be revealed.
They approached the Capazon HQ, an abandoned warehouse not too far from where Tsukasa and Rui had their first mission together. Tsukasa took deep, steadying breaths. He always got over-eager right before a mission, and in his early days, that meant he would rush in carelessly and make mistakes.
When he was in SPARK, it was Shiro’s hand that laid gently on his shoulder and helped him refocus. Now, it was Rui’s hand. The warm, calming feeling was identical.
They were in the back of a large van, along with Emu, Nene, and a few other spies. Several other vans containing the rest of the infiltration group followed behind them.
Tsukasa caught Rui’s eye, and nodded.
“Everyone,” Tsukasa said to the group in the van. “This is it. Today’s the day we end their tyranny once and for all.”
A surge of silent but resounding spirit filled the van.
They arrived at their destination, and they all filed out of the vehicle and around a large shipping container. Tsukasa gave the wordless signal for the others to go ahead. He didn’t follow right away, and instead watched Rui’s back.
This wouldn’t be the last time he saw him, right? This wouldn’t be like the last time he tried to infiltrate Capazon. He’d see Rui again, alive and well, when all of this was over.
Wouldn’t he?
“Tsukasa?” Rui asked gently, turning around and coming to check on him.
Tsukasa glared into Rui’s eyes. “You promise this won’t be the last time I ever see you?”
Rui blinked at him. “What are you talking about?”
Tsukasa seized his shoulders. “If this is the last time, then I—I have to tell you something.”
Rui pulled Tsukasa’s hands away from his body. “You can tell me afterwards, when we celebrate our victory.”
“No. No, I’m not waiting until afterwards!” What if we don’t get an afterwards? What if I lose you?
But Rui’s jaw settled into a deep frown. “Please, Tsukasa, I’m not strong enough to hear it.”
“You are!” Tsukasa insisted. He reached a hand for his chest and settled on the sleek fabric of his form-fitting suit. “You’re strong, and you’re adaptable, and you’re wicked smart, and—“
Rui covered his mouth with his palm.
“And I’m so sorry.”
Then, a clean painful strike hit the back of Tsukasa’s neck. The world instantly fell to black.
When Tsukasa awoke, he was under a harsh spotlight in a room of blue-tinged inky darkness.
He blinked a few times, squinting from the intensity of the harsh light. He tried to shield or wipe his eyes, but found that his arms were bound to a chair behind his back.
He struggled, but the rope was tight. It merely scratched against the fabric of his body suit, the rough friction and effort causing him to grunt. A headache pounded his skull.
Then, in the corner, a door slid open, flooding the room briefly with more light before shutting again. Tsukasa gritted his teeth.
“Kaito!”
There he stood, tall and menacing, collected and calm. Like a cat grinning at a caught canary.
The brief moment that the door opened helped Tsukasa’s eyes adjust a little better. He could see the outline of a desk behind Kaito, and that the rest of the room was empty. It was just the two of them: Kaito awash in darkness, and Tsukasa restrained in the light.
“Well, well, well. The star of Phoenix himself. Finally paying me a visit, after all this time of making empty promises to come see me. Welcome.”
Tsukasa clenched his fists. “Some hospitality. Is this how you treat your all your guests?”
“Oh no. Just the irritating ones.”
Tsukasa swallowed his anger and kept calm. This was their infiltration. So Kaito managed to snag one agent. The rest of Tsukasa’s team was good at what they did, and they had plenty of different back up plans.
“You think you’ve got the upper hand, but we found your weakness. The entire force of Phoenix is ready to take you down. Your selfish cruelty is coming to an end.”
Kaito smirked. “Is that so?”
The mechanical whir of the door opening came again. This time, a group entered through the threshold. A few burly guards, along with—
“Rui!”
The guards shoved Rui inside, harsh and abrasive. He stumbled a few times and caught himself on the edge of the desk. “You don’t need to be so rough,” Rui grumbled. His hands were bound tightly in front of his chest, and Kaito grabbed the restraint and forced Rui to his knees. Rui’s face remained cool, detached, and hateful. As if saying to Kaito I dare you to get any information out of me.
Kaito handed off Rui’s restraints to another guard and returned his attention to Tsukasa. “Your adorable little invasion attempt was a set up. Unfortunately, many of the pesky birds managed to slip through our claws. But not this one.”
For the first time, real fear found its way into Tsukasa’s veins. A set up? Could it be that Kaito let them find all that information at the gala? And when had things taken a turn for the worse? How long had Tsukasa been unconscious for? Where was everyone?
He did, at least, know one thing: He would not lose Rui.
“Take me, I’m the one you want.”
Kaito barked a laugh. “Are you sure? All you have is fancy little speeches and gusto. Rui is a genius inventor, and his sharp mind and quick wit would be invaluable assets.”
“If you take Rui, I will not rest until he is safe again. I will spend every moment of every day working with the entirety of Phoenix’s power to dismantle you brick by brick.” Then, Tsukasa took a deep breath. “But if you take me, the organization crumbles. You won’t need to fight against us anymore.”
“Tsukasa, no!” Rui cried. “Think of what you’re doing. This is the least reasonable choice. You can’t! Throw away the organization? All the good we do, all the people we help? For what?”
Tsukasa found his eyes.
“For you.”
Rui gasped.
For a moment, Tsukasa heard his promise in the air, and felt himself breathless in its absence. It wasn’t the confession Tsukasa wanted, nor in the way he wanted it told. He hoped Rui understood, and saw it for what it was, even here in the belly of the beast. If this was the last time he’d ever see Rui, if this was the bullet he’d have to take and the cliff he’d have to fall off of, he would do it. He was not losing him again.
Kaito hummed, and tapped a finger against his chin. “Very well, I accept your deal. Rui will go free, and you will be our prisoner.”
The guards hefted Rui to a stand and began removing his restraints, but Rui was horrified.
“Tsukasa, don’t do this! Don’t be so foolish! This is the wrong choice. Don’t give up your dreams! I’ll be fine, they won’t do anything to me, they won’t hurt me at all, not even a finger, I promise! You don’t need to—mmhph!”
Kaito snapped his fingers, and several guards slapped their hands against Rui’s mouth, smothering his words. A few moments later, a gag was tied around his head. The rag tugged tight on the sides of Rui’s cheeks, rendering his shouts incomprehensible.
“And here I thought the leader had a big mouth,” Kaito said with an admonishing huff. “Give our guest the contract.”
A guard rummaged through a file on Kaito’s desk, while another one stepped into Tsukasa’s spotlight, casting him in shadow. The guard began undoing the restraints around Tsukasa’s arms, but not the ones around his wrists or legs. The ropes compressing his chest and stomach fell. Despite taking deep heaving breaths, his chest lifting and filling completely, Tsukasa found he was having a hard time breathing. Maybe it was the pain of hearing Rui thrash against his binds.
The guard from near Kaito’s desk held a clipboard and pen to Tsukasa while the other one loosened the rope binding his wrists. He rubbed them a few times, rolled his hands, flexed his fingers, then grabbed then pen. Tsukasa took a brief moment to read through the entire thing, but it was quite simple. So long as he remained Capazon’s prisoner, they would not hurt Rui.
A sudden, three-syllable shout from Rui drew Tsukasa’s eyes to him. Somehow, it seemed like he’d just called his name.
“It’ll be okay,” Tsukasa promised. Then he signed his name.
Rui shook his head.
The moment the contract was signed, Kaito snapped his fingers. Handcuffs were slapped on Tsukasa while Rui was released, though the gag remained tight on his face. A moment passed, then, Kaito started laughing. His thick, evil guffaws filled the room.
“What’s so funny?” Tsukasa growled.
Kaito continued laughing a bit more, struggling to catch his breath, heaving sighs. He even wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. Tsukasa glanced at Rui, but Rui did not meet his gaze.
“Oh, oh this is too rich!” Kaito exclaimed. “You’re all such naive, trusting goodie-goodies.”
“What are you talking about?”
Kaito collected himself, then pinched Rui’s face in his hand, and turned it forcibly towards Tsukasa. Rui still did not meet his gaze.
With his hideous, sickening grin, Kaito announced: “Rui is working for me.”
A beat of silence.
Tsukasa stared. Blinked. Then barked out a laugh. “I didn’t know you could tell jokes, Kaito.”
Kaito released Rui from his hold and gave a half-hearted shrug. “It’s true. He’ll tell you himself.”
Tsukasa rolled his eyes. “Rui, tell this egomaniac that he’s delusional.”
Kaito nodded to two guards, and Rui’s gag was removed. But he didn’t say a word.
For the first time, a shred of genuine doubt dropped into Tsukasa. “Rui? Come on, tell me it’s not true already.”
Kaito leaned back against his desk, arms crossed. “Didn’t you think it was strange that we always knew which events Phoenix agents were going to be at? Or how about the fact that every time we made a move, Rui knew about it? And had detailed blueprints of everything?”
Tsukasa’s heart pounded in his chest. The mysterious calls and messages to Rui’s communicator that always made him go pale, the way he could always instantly spot a Capazon agent, the way he always gathered exactly the data they needed right when they needed it. Tsukasa swallowed. “His gizmos are just that good. Tell him, Rui, tell him you’re on our side.”
Rui’s hand clenched his arm. He stared at the ground.
“Rui?”
The air grew hotter. The din of distant electrical devices nearly matched the sounds of Tsukasa’s heavy breaths, and his heavier heart.
When at last he spoke, Rui’s voice was hoarse, and quiet:
“...I’m so sorry, Tsukasa…”
No. Tsukasa gritted his teeth. Tell me this is one of his lies.
“No, no—no, there has to be some mistake,” Tsukasa insisted.
Kaito grinned. “I’m afraid your precious partner is very loyal to me.”
Tsukasa looked between them. Something wasn’t right. The look of pain painted on Rui’s face, the way he flinched from Kaito’s touch. This couldn’t be the answer. “He...he’s coercing you,” Tsukasa said, forcing certainty into his voice. “He has your parents locked up somewhere, or, or Amia! And he’s forcing you to do his bidding. Right?”
Rui shook his head. “He has no such leverage over me. I chose to join Capazon of my own volition.”
“Then there’s something else you’re hiding!” Tsukasa barked, teeth clenched, nearly snarling. “I refuse to believe this!”
Rui didn’t answer him. After a moment, he glanced at Kaito from the corner of his eye, and asked, “...are you going to tell him?”
Tell me what? Tsukasa thought. He had a bad feeling about this. He didn’t like the way his heart punched against his sternum at Rui’s words, at his resigned and tight eyes.
But Kaito shrugged. “I don’t think he’d believe any words that came from my mouth.” Kaito sneered condescendingly as he added, “He rather seems to like yours.”
Inhaling, Rui finally met Tsukasa’s eyes for the first time since Tsukasa signed the contract. “Tsukasa, I’ve kept something from you. Your old partner, Shiro?…I…” Rui stopped. His mouth opened and closed, as if trying to work, like the wheel of a stuck car spinning uselessly in the air.
Then at last, he managed, voice thick and breaking: “I am the one who got rid of him.”
The world ground to a halt.
Suddenly there was a horrible ringing in Tsukasa’s ears. Static filled his mind. Hot flashes, white and red, alternated in his eyes.
He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t feel anything.
“You...no. No!” Tsukasa’s own voice was foreign dripping off his mouth. “You killed Shiro? How can that be?”
“Rui was there that night,” Kaito said. “I sent hundreds of agents, but you and your irritating silent shadow fought them all. If it hadn’t been for Rui’s clean shot, and Shiro’s interference, the silent bastard would still be alive.”
Shiro’s breathless laugh. His gentle and warm left hand on Tsukasa’s shoulder. His numb and obvious scar across his throat. His blue eyes like the clear morning light reflecting off the sea.
(The way he loved a good challenge. The way he loved making people smile. The way he made Tsukasa discover, for the first time, what all those romantic songs and poems and movies really meant.)
Gone. Because of Rui?
“I hadn’t intended that night to go the way it did,” Rui quickly added. His words were blurring together, and Tsukasa couldn’t tell if that was from the way Rui was saying them or the way he was hearing them. “Please, believe me.”
Tsukasa shook his head, hoping it would clear some of the static. It didn’t. “Rui, how could… But—but I never even got to see his face! And with his voice still healing, I never even heard him...heard him say my name!”
“If it’s any comfort, his final word was ‘Tsukasa’.”
Tears sliced down Tsukasa’s cheeks. At some point, a guard must have untied his legs, because he collapsed to the ground.
“No…” he muttered, the word useless.
Rui was thankful that at least, with his head staring at the ground, Tsukasa’s bangs covered his eyes, and Rui didn’t have to see them.
Kaito snapped his fingers. “Take him away.”
The guards complied, hefting Tsukasa to his feet. He was unsteady on them, as if his limbs were sheets of cloth, and crumpled under their own pressure. But the guards carried his weight for him.
Tsukasa Tenma, without the will to fight. Rui had taken away the one thing he’d thought Tsukasa could never lose.
More instructions were given, details about how to proceed now that they’d taken Phoenix’s crown jewel. All of it faded when Rui caught one last look at Tsukasa’s face.
His heart stopped.
Then Tsukasa’s head fell, hanging low, and he was taken away.
The rest of the guards shuffled out until it was just Rui and Kaito left in his office.
Kaito then took in a deep, satisfied breath. “Do you feel it, Rui? The breath of fresh air? With their leader out of commission, it won’t be long before the rest of the organization falls like a line of dominoes.” He flicked on the lights, harsh white fluorescent burning Rui’s eyes. He then tugged the cord on the lightbulb hanging above the lone chair in the center of the room. The air was dry and thin, and Rui didn’t think he was still breathing.
“And, of course…” An impressed smirk painted Kaito’s face as he approached Rui. He clapped slowly, deliberately, the din of each clash echoing in the room.
Rui knew, Rui knew. This was the part where he steeled his face. Where he found that familiar fake smile to wear like a mask over his real emotions, to keep Kaito from seeing any of them.
But right now, he just couldn’t.
“Impressive performance, little alchemist,” Kaito purred. He tucked a finger under Rui’s chin.
“Don’t touch me,” Rui spat, slapping his hand away.
Kaito laughed. “So you did have feelings for the brat after all.”
Rui sensed his error, and tried to regain his composure. “Forgive me, I…”
“Occupational hazard, my budding double agent. Lying must feel real in order to fool others. Rest assured your feelings will soon fade.”
Slowly, Rui closed his eyes, and breathed out a shaky breath. “You think so?”
“Don’t worry. Your first betrayal is always the hardest. Soon, you’ll live for the feeling. One day, you’ll throw a knife in someone’s back, and the shocked and horrified look on their face will bring you the greatest sense of satisfaction you’ve ever felt.”
Rui looked down at his traitorous, bloody hands. “I hope you’re right.”
Kaito gave him one final reassuring—controlling—pat to his shoulder, then left.
Rui felt his furiously beating heart, and tried to shake off the numbness in his extremities by flexing his fingers. He massaged his jaw, sore from how tightly the gag was tugged across his face, and rolled out his raw wrists. Then Rui turned off the harsh lights. He needed to think.
The look on Tsukasa’s face burned his mind...the anguish etched into his eyes, the suffering mixed with confusion and betrayal...it was the one thing he didn’t want to see. And now that he had, it was permanently etched behind Rui’s eyelids. His wavering bottom lip, his knitted brows. And his eyes—hollow and dim.
Was that how he looked when Shiro fell off that cliff? That day… down to the abyss, his scratchy throat screaming out Tsukasa’s name as loudly as he could, the searing pain in his side nothing compared to the pain in his heart…
The memory gripped Rui tightly.
Rui clutched his throbbing head. He coughed, and his entire chest hurt. Some of his ribs were definitely broken.
He looked around, and though he couldn’t quite place why, his vision seemed a bit off. Somewhere in the distance was a faint light, like a street lamp, that gave off a cold glow. He was surrounded by old junk: chunks of scrap wood, old tires, rusty metal pipes. He’d landed on an old mattress, a spring just a few inches from his head. Rui was damn lucky.
His ears were ringing as he tried to sit up, but found his legs wouldn’t budge. He must have broken them, too. Then he noticed the blood pouring out of the side of his stomach.
Ignoring the screaming pain, Rui ripped off his vest and pressed it tight into his side. The blood was hot and sticky, and as he fought the pain he felt his heart rate increase, which he knew would only hasten the speed that he bled out. This wasn’t good. He needed medical attention.
Rui looked up, trying to gauge how far he’d fallen, but it was impossible to see. If there was sky ahead, it was pitch, and he couldn’t even see the ledge he’d fallen from. He was starting to feel faint, though he wasn’t sure if that was from blood loss or fear.
The light source moved, and Rui realized it hadn’t been a far-off streetlight, but instead a flashlight. A civilian?
“Is someone there?” a voice called. “Who are you?”
Relief flooded Rui’s body. “Over here!” he called. “My name is Rui. Please help, I’m hurt badly.” His voice was sore and rough, but that was to be expected, considering the trauma his body went through.
The stranger stepped forwards, and had a very pleasant smile on his face. Rui thought he recognized him from somewhere, but he wasn’t quite sure where.
“Hello, Rui,” the stranger said. “You look terrible.” Rui’s shoulders shook in a breathless laugh.
“I feel worse,” Rui promised wryly. He’d have to start getting over the scratchy feeling in his throat eventually.
“What happened to you?” he asked. “I saw there was some kind of scuffle, but all the details were too difficult to make out.” Suddenly his eyes shifted, and Rui saw a glimmer of dark intent. “Please be as specific as you can. For the paramedics, of course.”
Rui stiffened. This man was no civilian. His being here was no accident, and his questions were no passing curiosity. This was an interrogation.
Rui had already slipped up and given his real name, rather than an alias. And he’d slipped further by revealing that he’d been gravely injured. Then again, that part may have been all too obvious anyways. He would have to tread very, very carefully.
“There was a man with a gun,” Rui settled on. “And he was about to shoot, so I shot first. I think I killed him.”
The stranger swallowed the information slowly, then nodded. “I heard there were secret agents around here. I’m a retired police detective, you see, so I can always tell when someone’s had training.”
He looked at Rui meaningfully. Rui kept his breath even.
“Secret agents?” Rui asked, hoping he wasn’t playing so dumb that it was suspicious.
“They’re a small organization called SPARK. A terrorist group, and full of cowards. They all ran away the moment the police arrived.”
So they’re gone, Rui thought hopelessly. “A terrorist group?”
The stranger sighed. “Yes. They think our strong nation should be weakened with idiotic nonsense like democracy. But fear not. After tonight, they’ll be permanently disbanded.”
Rui’s eyes went wide. “How do you know?”
The stranger grinned. His smile was twisted and dark, full of malice and greed. “Because I’m making sure of it.”
No!
Suddenly, the stranger’s identity snapped into place. This was Kaito, the head of a small but rapidly-growing business. The one that attacked him and Mizuki. Rui couldn’t hide the shock from his voice.
“You’re Kaito. You—you funded the nationalist party in the recent election.”
“I’m famous, it seems. Yes, I’m a man of my principles. You can take the officer out of the precinct, and all that. I couldn’t help investigating around here to tie up any loose ends. I value tidiness and being thorough.”
SPARK had identified him as their next target, and had hoped to take him down while he was still small.
But they’d failed. And now Rui was in no position to run anywhere, had nowhere to go, and was practically already in Kaito’s clutches. Rui gritted his teeth. This was it then, wasn’t it? Time was running short; his vest was starting to bleed through. Even though the injury was a clean in and out, that didn’t mean it was a light injury. Kaito was his only chance out of here.
Rui took a deep breath, and did his best to keep his face neutral. He wasn’t used to hiding all his expressions, but from here on out, it was going to be necessary.
“Impressive,” Rui complimented. “Good thing that I got rid of the one in the mask, then. He wouldn’t have been any use to this nation in his state.”
Kaito blinked, surprised, and turned to Rui with a pleased smile. “You killed Asahi Shiro?”
Rui’s smile darkened. There would be no going back after this.
“I was aiming for Tsukasa Tenma.”
Kaito’s eyes widened. Then he grinned. Shadows fell over his face.
He clapped his hands, and in rushed a flurry of paramedics, complete with a stretcher and a large first-aid box.
“Rui,” Kaito said, hands pleasantly clasped in front of him. “I believe the two of us are going to get along swimmingly.”
Rui swallowed a pit in his throat.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Rui took a deep breath. That memory was starkly familiar—he often returned to it in his dreams. Now, he didn’t have time for any more dreams. No more masks, no more half-truths, no more hiding.
This wasn’t at all how he’d planned it to go. Back then, in the pit of that junkyard, bleeding out, voice hoarse, Rui’s quickly-cobbled-together plan involved Tsukasa never trusting him again. And then, his revised plan upon joining Phoenix was to let them kill him along with the rest of Capazon when they razed the place to the ground.
And now...now, Rui didn’t know what was going to become of them. But there was nothing else for Rui to lose anymore. And Tsukasa deserved the truth.
It was strange—the freedom gained by having the exact thing he’d always feared come to pass. Now that there was no more avoiding it, he could move forward.
From his old room at Capazon HQ, Rui gathered a few things. His portable toolkit, and then a box of first aid supplies. That would go to Tsukasa, if he needed it, if he’d accept it.
And then.
A pair of blue colored contacts. A thick mask that covered the lower half of his face. A makeup wipe for the foundation covering the scar on his throat.
Though Rui used to dye his hair back then, he didn’t have any dye left lying around, and there certainly wasn’t any time to do it now. A hat would have to suffice for the reveal.
When Rui gave himself one final check in the mirror, his own appearance surprised him. He wouldn’t have recognized himself at all. He looked exactly like his old alias, like the person he was during his time in SPARK.
Asahi Shiro.
Rui Kamishiro took a deep breath, and stepped out of his room towards the prisoner wing. It was time to tell Tsukasa the entire truth.
Notes:
:)
Chapter 11: The Beating Hearts
Summary:
In the aftermath of the horrible news, Tsukasa reflects in his prison cell. But while there, he discovers that not everything may be as Kaito said.
Notes:
CW: Mentions of blood, sensual themes.
Welcome back everyone, thanks so much for your patience. I had to fight some eviction notice and started a new job so getting time to write has been hell. But yaoi prevails.
I was absolutely thrilled and stunned by all the comments on the last chapter. Thank you everyone so, so much! Seeing your responses was incredible. I was so happy I thought I was going to burst. You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to reveal that twist, or how much fun I had writing it and how much more fun I had seeing all of your reactions. It was by far my most anticipated chapter.
That said, this one might be my favorite. I at last introduce someone who is here to help fill in some of the gaps, though not everything will be answered juuuust yet. I hope you all have had adequate time to recover from the shock and are ready to hear what happens next!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Mizuki Akiyama was a resourceful thief. They’d heard rumors at several Capazon outposts of Phoenix agents storming the main headquarters, and that sounded like the perfect time where everyone would be so busy handling chaos that they wouldn’t notice if a little uninvited visitor slipped in. So they did.
Mizuki had heard that the headquarters was keeping some pretty valuable stuff. Weapons, rare minerals, sure, but also blueprints and data that could be sold to state militaries at hefty prices (and then later mysteriously burned before they could be used). It would be a good step up from Amia’s usual meddling.
That said, Amia’s usual meddling was still a decent thorn in the organization’s side. It was fun to invade Capazon outposts, and usually insanely simple. Distract a guard, take him out, locate the central computer, then success. Those outposts were where Capazon gathered and moved their victims, so often holding cells were stuffed to the brim with people (often children and girls, which broke Mizuki’s heart) who had been ripped from their homes. Mizuki often couldn’t do anything substantive for them, nothing like getting them proper papers or transports back to their homes. But the outposts usually had working phones, and once their chains were broken, Mizuki left with a wave and hoped for the best for them.
And lately, Mizuki had a few others who had been lending their support to Amia’s escapades as well. There was K for more backup on computers, Yuki for any first-aid assistance, and Enanan for keeping Mizuki focused and finding the next target. Rui had been right about one thing, at least, when he’d insisted that he didn’t want to be a vigilante—being in a group really was better.
It had been a while since Mizuki had seen Rui. They wondered where he was.
No sooner had Mizuki finished this thought, than Rui himself walked through the door.
Caught red-handed leafing through a Capazon filing cabinet in their computer room, Mizuki and Rui stared at each other in complete shock. Then, they both broke out into grins.
“Rui!” Mizuki said, approaching him with a bounce in their step. “Hey, long time no see!”
“It’s good to see you,” Rui said. “It’s truly been too long. How did you get in?”
Mizuki flaunted a golden keycard they’d swiped off a guard earlier. “A girl has their ways.”
Rui chuckled. “You’re a sight for sore eyes, my old friend. You’ve come at the opportune time for thieving, but I should warn you to make your escape sooner rather than later. This building will not be standing when dawn comes.”
“Woah,” Mizuki said. “That’s pretty intense. I’d heard Phoenix was making their move today, but I didn’t know they could go that far.” Mizuki cocked their head to the side, and regarded Rui. “How’d you find out about that?”
“They’ve already made their move, you see. Although, currently, most of them are locked in various warehouses around the docks. In fact, Kaito is eager to begin negotiations with the leader.” Then, Rui winced. “Once said leader awakens. Shouldn’t be long now.”
Mizuki wanted to know how Rui knew all this, but knew better than to ask questions in their line of work. They had wondered, though, in various elite security level documents that had shown up in different outposts, if the “Agent Kamishiro” was the Kamishiro that Mizuki knew. Well, even if it was, Rui hated the company’s guts more than anything, so he would definitely be working against them.
This thought triggered a memory, and Mizuki couldn’t help their gaze falling to Rui’s neck. Which was perfectly pristine.
“Hey! Your scar’s healed completely!”
Rui’s hand formed a cage beneath his chin. “No, alas, it is simply makeup.”
“Ah, that makes more sense. Boy, sometimes I still have nightmares from watching that attack. I’m glad my connections came in handy. Perks of being a high school vigilante.”
“Yes, thank you again for that,” Rui said. He’d thanked Mizuki more times than they could count, and the constant gratitude had always been nice but annoying. Mizuki hadn’t been trying to be a hero or anything, they’d just wanted to help their friend.
The slash had been nasty, his blood gushing like in those cheesy flicks where gallons of the stuff exploded all over an actor. Except it had been real. Thanks to Mizuki’s vigilante work, they’d had connections at a hospital and took Rui there immediately, which was incidentally where Mizuki had met Yuki and K. Sometimes bad things had good consequences.
“Mizuki,” Rui said, “the guard was delayed today, but you’ll be caught any moment. If you give me a bit of time, I can secure an escape route for you.”
“Thanks, but, there’s no need.” Mizuki shrugged. “Wouldn’t be my first time in jail, you know. I’ve got quite a few escape plans of my own, Mr. Genius.”
Rui nodded, then suddenly, it was like all the light left him. As if, now that his distraction was going away, he remembered something awful. He looked like someone had just run him over with a truck. Mizuki winced. Since Rui was a year older, they’d naturally grown apart when he’d graduated high school and joined his spy organization (whatever the name was. Mizuki could not for the life of them remember). But that didn’t mean they didn’t still care.
“You okay?” Mizuki asked, placing a hand on Rui’s shoulder. “You don’t look so good.”
Rui somehow managed to look even worse as he said: “I’m betraying the man I love.”
Mizuki winced. “Yikes,” they said. Then half-winced again, because maybe that wasn’t the most appropriate response.
But how were they supposed to respond to a bombshell like that? That was a pretty heavy load. Especially because Mizuki wanted to congratulate Rui on having such a person in the first place, and now really, really wished there was more time to talk.
“Hey, uh, if you’re regretting it this badly, then maybe you maybe shouldn’t do that.”
But Rui shook his head. “It’s fine, it will give him the fuel he needs to kill me. Once he hears what I’ve done, he’ll want to. I am glad I got to see you one last time, though, this was a pleasant surprise.”
“Woah, hey,” Mizuki said, feeling like they were trying to stop a train barreling at them. They didn’t want Rui to die. Especially not now that they’d run into each other again, and especially not at the hands of the man he loved. “Listen, I don’t know the details and don’t have time to learn them. But maybe you shouldn’t be so defeatist about all this. There’s always hope, you know? I mean, you really love this guy?”
Rui nodded.
“Well, then, I gotta say, I think you should at least try a different solution first. Love is a pretty powerful thing, you know?”
Rui looked as if he wasn’t sure if he knew. But time was running short, and as Rui sped away, Mizuki really did hope that wouldn’t be the last time they ever saw him.
Tsukasa Tenma sat sullen on the synthetic cot. The see-through glass sliding door closed with a click, locking him in his cell. If he’d looked up, he would have seen the guards pocketing a card key and congratulating themselves on their success—capturing the renowned Tsukasa Tenma.
But for the first time in his life, Tsukasa took no pleasure in the recognition.
He knew his body was probably still in shock. After all, just this morning, Tsukasa had been certain they were going to take down Kaito together, and then he was going to ask Rui to be his romantic partner, too, and ask him to stay. But now what would he do? What could he do? He had never in his life felt so powerless.
It was all so much to take in. And only some of it made any sense. Rui being crafty and clever and evasive enough to be a double agent, well, that made perfect sense. Rui not wanting to share his past because he’d spent it at Capazon, well, that was a pretty damn good reason.
But there were other, bigger things that didn’t add up. The certainty when Rui said he’d wanted to take down Capazon on the first day they’d met. The fact that he stole Capazon’s business partners during the dinner at the gala. The fact that he’d told their team that their words were difficult to hear, then held Tsukasa’s hand and whispered that his words were special. The way he’d kissed Tsukasa, both at the gala and in the shared workshop, where if Nene was right, Tsukasa could feel what Rui felt for him.
Was all of that a lie, too? Could Rui have really faked his hatred and his love, the parts of him closest to his heart? Had he really shown Tsukasa anything?
Tsukasa felt the tears beginning to sting his eyes, and he hugged his legs miserably. He didn’t know what he was feeling. He didn’t even know how to figure out what he was feeling. So he didn’t try. He simply held himself and cried into his knees.
After a while, Tsukasa wasn’t sure how long, a voice came from the cell next to his.
“You all right, buddy?” the fellow prisoner said. They sounded feminine, but with gruffish edges. Almost familiar, but completely unplaceable.
“No,” Tsukasa answered truthfully.
Tsukasa heard some shuffling from the other cell, and looked up to see the figure approaching the glass wall dividing their two cells. He heard a yawn, and some shuffling that might have been the other prisoner stretching, as if they’d just awoken from a nap.
“Hey, I know you!” they said, snapping their fingers and pointing at Tsukasa. He sat up, suddenly aware of being seen. “You’re the star agent at Phoenix! Tenma, right? Ha, your plights are legendary.”
“Thank you,” he sniffed, wiping his tears on the back of his shirt. The tight, synthetic fabric wasn’t very absorbent, however, and mostly it just spread his tears around. Excellent for stealth missions, but useless when it came to needing an outfit to mope in.
The figure came closer, slipping out of the shadows and into the glow of the low blue floor lights. A pale pink ponytail, a bright red ribbon, and half of a masquerade mask covering only one of their eyes. Tsukasa jumped to his feet.
“Phantom Thief Amia!?”
Amia smiled. “Oh ho, so you’ve heard of me, too!”
“Well, of course. I used to think you were a criminal, but Rui told me your intentions were good.” Although, now, considering the new facts that had come to light about Rui, maybe that wasn’t necessarily true, either. Then again, Amia was imprisoned too.
Amia shook their head with a grin. “Heh, that guy… I wouldn’t call myself ‘good’, I just hate human trafficking. I think that’s a pretty low bar to pass.”
Before becoming a spy, Tsukasa might have agreed. But in his two years at SPARK, then his 3 years at Phoenix without Rui and especially his 2 years with him, he’d gained a completely different perspective.
The tassel on the edge of Amia’s mask shifted, drawing Tsukasa’s attention to it. Was it more accurate to call it half of a mask or an eye patch? Either way, Tsukasa had always thought it had been simply a part of the phantom thief costume. But now, given the way Rui had talked about the last time he’d seen his old partner—(it was all so violent...like vultures going for throats)—Tsukasa wondered, his stomach a bit sick.
“Amia, forgive me if this is too personal, but Rui told me your girlfriend was taken after a traumatic incident. If it is not too invasive, please tell me if she’s safe.”
Amia stared at him, then smirked. “Hah, you’re quite the character. I bet you and Rui get along perfectly.” Tsukasa flinched. “She’s fine. She’s going to scold me for being late to dinner if I don’t use my escape route soon. But I had to wait for my nails to dry first.”
They displayed their nails, all painted a beautiful crimson and gold color to match their ribbon and mask. Tsukasa complimented the detail work.
“Anyways,” Amia said, “I hadn’t realized Rui talked about me at all.”
“Well, I imagine he would, seeing as you’re old partners,” said Tsukasa.
“Partners?” Amia stared at him like he was crazy. “Rui and I never worked together.”
Amia’s words echoed in Tsukasa’s head. He felt the air in his lungs go still.
“What?”
“Yeah, no, he said vigilantism wasn’t quite his style, and that he was looking for an organization to belong to.”
But that story Rui had told—the way he’d reacted when he told it. Tsukasa wasn’t sure any actor in the world was good enough to fake that. Tsukasa felt his heart thumping heavier, louder, with more life. Was this a good sign? Or a bad one?
“But...he told me you were his old partner. He said it wasn’t romantic, so I thought… He always had this nostalgic look on his face when he talked about his partner, and he mentioned his past was troubled, so…”
“I mean, we were lab partners in high school,” Amia offered. “But that was eight years ago.”
“Lab partners!?” Tsukasa cried.
“Yeah. We only knew each other in high school. After the incident, he was injured pretty badly. We went looking for groups that would pay for surgery for him and also worked against Capazon. He made a fake name, and then once we’d found an organization that fit, he joined up. When I graduated a year later, I set off on my own.”
Tsukasa couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was this real? Was Amia lying to him in some extraordinarily convoluted attempt to torture Tsukasa? If so, it would be pointless; he’d already suffered enough.
“The organization had a cool acronym, I think,” Amia continued, tilting their head from side to side in concentration. “Gosh, what was that name? I swear it came up in the news like, this morning.”
Tsukasa’s brain hurt. He’d thought Rui had lost Mizuki only two years ago, but now the timeline was muddled. When did Rui join Capazon? When had he and Tsukasa met? A fake name, an organization with a cool acronym? No organization had a cooler acronym than SPARK…
Tsukasa’s head throbbed harder.
“Anyways,” Amia continued, “I saw him earlier today and we chatted for a bit, but beyond that, we lost touch years ago. You probably know more about what he’s been doing lately than I do.”
Tsukasa sighed heavily. “I doubt that.”
He folded his arms on top of each other and squeezed tight, wishing it made sense, wishing there was just one simple thing he was missing that would make it all easier. Wishing that Rui hadn’t looked at him the way he did, like Tsukasa was ripping out his heart, like Rui would have gladly ripped it out himself to stop the pain.
Was that a lie, too?
“Lemme guess,” Amia said flatly. “Kaito duped you into making a bad bargain, and Rui helped.”
Tsukasa shook his head. “No, no, I knew what I was doing. But I didn’t expect him to be working for his own greatest enemy.”
A surge of anger flooded him, and Tsukasa slammed his fist against the wall. “And now I’ve lost my partner! Again! It wasn’t enough that Capazon had to take Shiro, no, just when I was finally healing from his loss, they had to go and take Rui!!”
Amia was quiet for a moment, looking off in the distance at something. Maybe a guard had come in, maybe they would hear Tsukasa. He didn’t care.
“You’re not mad at him?” Amia said a bit louder than was necessary, “I thought he betrayed you.”
Tsukasa released a breath of something almost identical to laughter. “This isn’t exactly the first time Rui’s ‘betrayed’ me,” he explained, looking back at Amia. “He’s always shoving me towards the front lines and using me as a guinea pig for his gizmos. I’m pretty sure he’d shoot me out of a canon given the opportunity. But he always does it because he’s doing what he thinks is best. And he trusts me.”
Did Rui trust him?
Tsukasa’s gaze, and his heart, fell. “But not this time.”
His words hurt. They hurt to say, and they hurt to hear. That faith was the one thing Tsukasa had always wanted from Rui, the one thing he’d thought Rui was always ready to give to him. It wasn’t Tsukasa’s to keep after all?
A knock on his cell door drew Tsukasa’s eye, and he glared over, but then, his heart leapt into his throat.
The figure’s face was obscured in shadows, but his hands were visible, and Tsukasa felt like he knew them, knew their shape and their movements, knew their gentleness and warmth even from afar. They signed:
I wouldn’t be so sure of that.
Then, he stepped forwards, and Tsukasa felt like he couldn’t breathe. The mask, the scar, the eyes. Every detail. His hair was completely covered by a tight hat, but Tsukasa knew it was him, without a doubt.
“Shiro?” he whispered.
Shiro nodded.
Tsukasa sprinted to the door and pressed his hands against it. “It’s really you! I can’t believe it, you’re here! You’re here! You’re really, really, really really HERE!”
A breathless laugh. By the stars, how he’d missed him.
Shiro pulled out a key card and tapped it against a panel on the door, and it slid clean open. Tsukasa wasted not a single moment crushing him in his arms. Shiro felt different than he remembered—taller, broader, more defined, more honed—in fact, he felt a lot like Rui.
“How is this possible?” Tsukasa asked, pulling back. “Rui said he killed you!”
He said he ‘got rid of me’. He also brought me back.
“What? How?”
Shiro palmed his mask, with the intent to remove it. Tsukasa sucked in a breath. He had never seen Shiro without his mask on, not even in the dining hall or on overnight missions. Then, with his other hand, Shiro pinched the fabric of his hat between his fingers.
Purple spilled from his head, and when it settled, two perfect streaks of cyan framed Rui’s face.
“Rui,” Tsukasa breathed. “Rui?”
“Yes.”
“Rui!” Tsukasa screamed, yanking him in. His arms became iron around Rui’s body, absolutely refusing to let go, even a bit, even if that meant crushing Rui in his embrace.
Rui. Rui. All along, all this time. It had been Rui.
Of course it had. The answer had been in front of Tsukasa’s nose the entire time, and he’d been too blind to see it. Tsukasa squeezed him tight.
In his heart, a part of Tsukasa had always known. Shiro and Rui had the same eyes, after all, sparkling with delight whenever they saw a challenge in front of them. They had the same movements, the same quick thinking in danger, the same hands, the same gentle touch. It had always been Rui.
“I’m so, so sorry, Tsukasa,” Rui told him, gripping tight into the back of his head. “You haven’t sustained any injuries, have you?”
“No. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, no, I’m fine. It’s like I said, they won’t hurt me. I’ve been acting loyal for years. As far as Kaito knows, I still am.”
Tsukasa pulled back with a wide smile, relief bubbling over. “I knew it. I knew it!” He brought Rui back into his arms. “I can’t believe you scared me like that.”
“I didn’t intend to. You were supposed to turn down Kaito’s deal and let him pretend to take me prisoner. But as always, you surpassed my expectations.”
Tsukasa, proud, grinned big and wide. “I knew that if you could make it back home, you’d think of some kind of rescue for me. And I had to keep you safe.”
“Tsukasa…”
This was the man who had been his partner. Back when they were young and thoughtless, and now. The man who Tsukasa now knew every side of. Had he ever looked so beautiful?
Before Tsukasa could follow that thought into a next one, Amia’s voice rang out.
“This is all very touching, but uh, I’m little bit right here?” Amia then waved to them through the glass separating their cells, and once Rui and Tsukasa had both looked over, embarrassed, Amia began clapping. “But hey, congratulations! Love really does win, huh?”
Tsukasa had never felt so mortified. Rui seemed to recover faster, as he said: “Sorry, Mizuki. Why don’t I let you out now.” He stiffly yanked himself from Tsukasa’s arms. He felt cold.
Rui pressed the same key card to a panel on Amia’s cell, and the door slid open. “Hey thanks pal! I was going to have to break the glass, but this saves a bunch of time and hassle! And my nails!” Rui then bowed, extending an arm towards the exit.
On the way out, Amia bumped a fist into Rui’s arm, and whispered something Tsukasa couldn’t hear. Then they had Rui hold out his hand, and dropped something into it.
“Thank you,” Rui said.
“Boy, you really do like thanking me, huh. Is it so weird for friends to care about each other?” Amia smiled. “Anyways, I’m outta here. Don’t die, okay? Good luck!”
With that, Amia gave a two-fingered wave, and slipped out of a hidden chute that Tsukasa hadn’t even seen.
Then, a strange air of uncertainty settled between them. Tsukasa didn’t know why. Now that Rui was back, he was beginning to feel all the emotions he had shut off earlier: anger, confusion, frustration, fear, despair. But he waited. Because of all the things he needed answers for, of all the ways his life had been upended in the past 24 hours, there was only one question he needed an answer to.
Standing outside of Mizuki’s cell, his back to Tsukasa, Rui felt afraid once more. Would Tsukasa tell him he needed more time? They didn’t have very much time. Would Tsukasa tell him that it was too much, that he couldn’t forgive him, that his trust had been forever shattered like a broken vase?
“You must have a thousand questions,” Rui said, already dreading the judgment that would fall upon him. Now that the elation was wearing away, Tsukasa would remember that Rui had been lying to him and deceiving him for years.
“Yeah.” Tsukasa crossed his arms. “First, there’s something I have to know. I’ve been trying to confess to you, but you’ve been avoiding it, so does that mean that you don’t—“
“I love you.”
Tsukasa’s breath died.
Rui continued, not hesitating a single beat: “I have been in love with you for seven years. Not a moment has passed where I have not wanted to be with you.”
Rui stepped closer, into the cell, into the light. The heavy sounds of their breaths filled their tiny cell, and Rui let Tsukasa see all of him for the very first time. It was as if he’d reached into his ribcage and ripped out his beating heart and held it to Tsukasa in his open, bloody palm.
Tsukasa’s gaze flicked slightly downward, and it caught. Though it was numb, Rui could feel the pressure of Tsukasa’s eyes on his scar.
“Your throat…” Tsukasa murmured. His fingertips reached slowly for the scar, but then stalled, hovering in the air. Rui grabbed his hand and pressed it to his throat.
“Yes,” Rui said. His voice vibrated around Tsukasa’s hand. “No lies, no tricks. This is the truth.”
Tsukasa’s breathing grew heavy. Though Rui couldn’t feel the contact, he could still feel the heat, and the five gentle circles beneath the pads of Tsukasa’s fingers. Under Tsukasa’s palm was raised and rough skin, the place that sometimes still haunted Rui’s dreams. Rui watched his injury reflected in Tsukasa’s eyes. Tsukasa’s fingertips seared the places on Rui’s neck that he’d kissed at the gala. He could choke Rui here, pinch the sides of his neck until the blood no longer flowed, and Rui would let him.
But slowly, Tsukasa’s hand fell away, and Rui felt his heavy eyes bearing down on him at every angle. Was Tsukasa replaying all their shared moments in his mind, his old memories folding over with new ones, his buried wounds resurfacing as if Rui had ripped them open once more?
None of that mattered right now. Taking a deep breath, Rui re-focused himself. He pulled out the case for his contact lenses and peeled them out of his eyes while he went through his next steps in his mind. If he could get Tsukasa’s cooperation, even temporarily, they could sneak through the building and launch a small attack against Kaito. It wasn’t ideal, really he wished he could have had at least Emu and Nene with them as well, but it would have to do.
“Tsukasa, we don’t have much time. I know you can no longer trust me, but—”
“I trust you.”
“But we need to act quickl—you—you trust me?” Rui’s eyes doubled. He stared, slack-jawed, in disbelief. “But I…”
“You’re here, aren’t you? You’re my partner.” Tsukasa grinned. “Hah, you’re my partner. And you always have been!”
Rui’s heart fluttered. “I…You trust me?”
“I trust you.”
Rui shook his head. How could this be? But when he looked into Tsukasa’s eyes, he saw it. The certainty of his conviction.
Despite it all, Tsukasa truly did, even now, without hardly any explanation at all, trust him.
The weight of such a gift, something he thought he’d stolen, was now given to him freely, without reserve, without even needing to ask for it. When had Tsukasa changed?
“You continue to surprise me,” Rui said, clenching his fists, almost angry. “I’d always thought that… Ha, if I had known you were going to react like this, I would have told you everything that night we shared tea in your office.”
Suddenly Rui’s cheek was cupped, and he felt the soft and loving pressure of Tsukasa’s hand.
“It’s you,” Tsukasa whispered, tears of relief flooding his eyes. “It’s always been you.”
Rui felt himself beginning to tear up as well.
“Don’t look at me so fondly—I am still tainted by the shadows. I am not the pure-hearted person you thought you knew.”
“Yes you are.”
“You—ah, enough, we don’t have time. Your execution is planned for tomorrow night. Kaito already sent a message to Phoenix about your imprisonment and my betrayal, so we won’t get the resources we’re used to, not to mention the—mmf!”
Tsukasa kissed him. As if saying, ‘You’re here.’ He smelled like bright citruses and warm sandalwood, like the first sun after years of darkness. His lips were soft and growing increasingly familiar, and his fingers wrapped around the leather straps on top of Rui’s suit.
But Rui pulled back, and Tsukasa did have the wherewithal to look sheepish. “Sorry,” he said, “I just couldn’t wait a second longer to do that.”
Rui shook his head. “I’m thrilled to see you too, but we have to—mmphmm—Tsukasa, please!”
This time, Tsukasa didn’t look sheepish at all. He looked determined. He looked like he did after their kiss in the workspace, except somehow more lucid. Eyes dilated but clear, a confident smirk tugging the corners of his mouth.
“You fooled Kaito for years. You came back from the dead! You’ll think of something.” Tsukasa then kissed him a third time.
Rui let out a soft moan, and his fingers snaked to the back of Tsukasa’s neck, where he spent a moment indulging in the sensation. He was fighting a losing battle. “I’m not magic,” Rui insisted, trying and failing to pull away. “Even if I do think of a plan, it will be crazy.”
“I love crazy,” Tsukasa told him. “I love you, after all, and I’ve never met anyone crazier.”
Rui barked a laugh. “But you’ll have to pull off a crazy stunt. You’re not invincible.”
“Don’t underestimate me! Not now, after everything. With you back by my side, I might as well be invincible.”
“It can’t be this easy,” Rui said, shaking his head. “You’re supposed to despise me for lying to you, for making you think I’d died, for trying to seduce you and then leaving you. Twice. For being underhanded and villainous.”
“And which part of any of those things was supposed to surprise me?” Tsukasa asked, unimpressed, eyes flat. “You’ve always been like this. And I’ve always loved you.”
Rui laughed again, bright and full, and tucked Tsukasa’s thick fringe behind his ear. Three quarters of a decade spent wanting this was beginning to burn his insides. “Can we really have this?”
“I think we deserve it, after everything. Don’t you?”
“I hope so.”
They kissed once more, longer this time, languid and meandering, while Rui steadily steered them back to the cot. It wasn’t much softer than concrete, but they collapsed on it just the same, a heap of limbs and lips. They were beginning to learn more about each other, where they liked to be held, where they needed to hold. Their bodies, exhausted and fitful from the day and the tight infiltration outfits, fit together like puzzle pieces.
Tsukasa let all of his old desires return. Ones from the early days of meeting Rui; catching lunch dates, keeping each other company on late nights, clasping hands and bumping shoulders during missions. Desires of longer contact and more honesty, less aching in his chest. But also older desires, more vague, from his days with Shiro; pressing their backs together, helping each other train for missions, trying to decipher each other’s ways of communicating. When it was just Shiro, the silent and playful mystery that Tsukasa once felt he’d been stuck with, he had only wanted to know him better. He’d wanted to know the secrets he’d kept, to hear his laugh, to see him smile. And he felt a fierce surge of pride now that he’d accomplished all those things. His old love, and his new love, they fit seamlessly into each other, as if it hadn’t been a different love at all. Tsukasa needed more. More.
As for Rui, it was all the same desire. There was never a time where he’d fallen out of love with Tsukasa, just times where he’d had to keep his feelings away, out of touch, locked somewhere that he couldn’t access. And times when he’d fallen even more in love. It was like loosening the faucet on his stream of ache. He poured it all into Tsukasa’s mouth and smeared it across Tsukasa’s skin. He held Tsukasa everywhere he could reach, everywhere Tsukasa let him, all of Rui’s wildest, most desperate dreams that had helped him close his eyes at night suddenly intimately real.
“I’ve wanted this for so long,” Tsukasa murmured. “Longer than I think I knew.”
Rui couldn’t help smiling. Tsukasa had always been silly about his own feelings like that, hadn’t he? During their time in SPARK, Rui had thought Tsukasa might have had a small crush on Shiro, but there were too many inconsistencies for Rui to tell. Not that Rui was ever an expert on feelings himself.
They kept kissing, sloppy and toothy, more with desire than with technique. Tsukasa began realizing that he wanted to bridge the gap between his old love and his new one. He had been trying so hard in his mind to keep them separate whenever they’d bumped up against each other, and now, he wanted them as one.
Tsukasa then looked at Rui, and whispered, “Can I kiss your scar?”
A shock of fear ran through Rui’s veins. But he nodded. He didn’t expect to feel it, but was once more surprised by the heat from Tsukasa’s body. He couldn’t feel the contact on the scar tissue, but he could feel soft hair grazing under his chin and Tsukasa’s chin digging into Rui’s collarbone. Tsukasa traced the edges cleanly with his lips, thinking of the poor boy who had only wanted to spend time with his friend and was punished for it, but instead chose to fight for good. Tsukasa’s lips parted further and his tongue teased the sandpaper waves in Rui’s skin, and the tidy surgical incision.
Rui seized the center of Tsukasa’s back, tugging him, and Tsukasa understood. He pulled away, then found Rui’s lips again, and connected their mouths. But this time, Rui didn’t keen or match his energy, and he severed their connection with a pained face.
“Don’t you have questions for me?” Rui said.
Tsukasa pouted. He did have a question for Rui: “Would you stop breaking off our kisses already?”
“But you must want to know,” Rui insisted. “Why did I join them? How? What happened the night we lost each other? How did I convince Kaito that I was a different person? Which parts of my stories are true?”
“Later,” Tsukasa demanded as he pressed a hand to Rui’s cheek. “Right now, I don’t need answers. I need you. Don’t you need me?”
“Yes,” Rui breathed, squeezing Tsukasa tight. “Suffocatingly. But even still, I need answers. How can you kiss me so sweetly? How can you allow these hands to cradle you? These hands are drenched in blood.”
“They’re your hands,” Tsukasa insisted. He pressed a kiss into each of Rui’s palms. “Hands I’ve watched write notes and sign a thousand words. Hands that invent and create and hold a gun steady. Hands that eclipse my shoulder and cup my back.”
“Tsukasa—“
“And don’t pretend that my hands are that much cleaner.”
“My very soul is stained,” Rui tried, his dam cracking. “You can’t kiss that, Tsukasa.”
“Nonsense,” Tsukasa said. “Every time I kiss you I’m kissing your soul. Don’t you feel it?” he said it without a joke, but with a smile. He really did feel that way. He kissed Rui again, and somewhere in Rui’s center he thought he felt the fluttering echoes of Tsukasa’s kiss. “Besides, tell me, what really is your goal? Why go through all of this?”
“To eradicate Capazon completely. To dismantle the evil system they’ve wrought for a new world of hope and peace.”
“Sounds to me like you’re not a villain at all,” Tsukasa said with a grin. He marveled at Rui’s beautiful eyes and watched them widen.
Rui’s breath hitched. Ever since falling off that cliff into that mattress in the junkyard, Rui had been completely wrong.
“You throw everything you have into what matters,” Tsukasa continued. “I know because I’m the same way. So if you’ve been doing everything with that in mind, then I trust the sacrifices you’ve made were necessary.”
Tsukasa knew, at last, he had really, truly gotten through. They’d both done things they regretted in the past, but none of that meant they couldn’t try. Rui had been wrong. But there was no way he could have known that, no way to have known how much Tsukasa would have grown. And further, no way to know that Rui’s worldview would be so drastically altered.
Rui placed his hand on Tsukasa’s beating heart. “You truly have changed.”
Tsukasa’s hand found Rui’s heart. “So have you.”
A current thrummed between them, beating heart to beating heart. Tsukasa gave him one last encouraging look, then Rui stopped holding himself back.
“Rui,” Tsukasa panted. “I need—more. More.”
“Yes. Yes.”
And for the very first time, they took and gave exactly what they needed.
Notes:
This marks the end of the angst arc. Thank you everyone for bearing with me while we suffered through it <3
NEXT TIME:
“I intended to have you accept Kaito’s deal, have him let you go, then I would release everyone in Phoenix from their cells and you would lead the counter-attack, destroying Capazon and me in the process.”
“Wait a minute,” Tsukasa stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Rui in horror. “Your original plan was to have me kill you? You were planning on dying!?”
“Yes. I was ready to sacrifice my whole world.”
“You...stop trying to die for greater things. Stop taking all of this on your own! Stop thinking you have to take bullets for me and drown yourself in blood and die for me. I don’t want that. I want you to live!”(and)
“Kaito is still fooled,” Meiko explained. “He likes you, and that has made him blind. But I saw, I saw your flinches every time Kaito touched you, I saw the way you looked at Tenma during the gala. I’d thought it was a very convincing act during the time, but I’ve thought better of it now.”
Tsukasa preened. “Of course he looked at me like that! He’s been in love with me for seven years.”
Rui blushed. “True,” he said, feeling both embarrassed and elated. Was this going to be their future now? It seemed nice.
“Disgusting,” Meiko spat. “I’m going to throw up.”
Chapter 12: The Gray
Summary:
Rui and Tsukasa make their way through Capazon's base (and somehow still find time to flirt) while Rui hopes that the final two components needed to take down Kaito will be there. Old memories resurface between the duo while they navigate new challenges, including fighting someone Rui hadn't thought he would ever have to face.
Notes:
Thank you all for waiting!! We're reaching the very end now, after an insanely long journey. This chapter is the longest yet, so I hope you're all hungry! <3
(I also realized I'd made an error in the author's notes of the last chapter, so I've since deleted it. Apologies for that.)
These past two months, thanks to family issues, I was suddenly forced to move homes, and have been drowning in tenant applications and job applications and moving boxes. The process has been hell. Still going through it, but the moment things went from "too chaotic to function" to "only extremely chaotic" I whipped out my laptop and got to work. Special thanks to everyone in Cakes and Creations' WIP Bang and to my dear friends in Sekaijinks who encouraged me and had nothing but absolute faith in me. I'm also giving a special shoutout to my irl friends who gave me a list of ways to blow up a spy base.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Shiro slumped against the cleanest of the crumbling concrete walls, one leg propped up and his head tilted back.
We may as well get comfortable, he signed to his partner, We have all night.
Tsukasa didn’t budge. He stared through the binoculars propped on a tripod, and peered into the empty office a few buildings away. Shiro had looked through there earlier, and knew the only thing likely to change for the next few hours was the angle of the moonlight across the unoccupied desks.
Tsukasa, he signed, but Tsukasa wasn’t watching. Shiro sighed, and knocked on the wall behind him a few times to draw his attention.
It worked, and Tsukasa’s rigid frame startled as he looked at Shiro. The moonlight cut across his face: eager to prove, desperate to be a star spy, impatient to eradicate evil from the world. But also tired.
Enough, Shiro said by taking the clean knife of his hand into his open palm.
Tsukasa heaved a sigh. He ran his fingers through his bangs.
Sorry, Tsukasa signed back, I just can’t stand waiting around doing nothing.
He came to Shiro’s side and slumped down next to him, their shoulders sliding together. Tsukasa had been getting a lot touchier lately, and also more receptive to Shiro’s touch. He seemed to like whenever Shiro placed his hand on his shoulder or pressed their backs together. At the feel of Tsukasa’s warmth, a small spark flitted through Shiro’s heart.
This close, it was safe for him to whisper, so Tsukasa did. “How am I supposed to sit here while there’s a bad guy on his way to commit a murder?”
Bad guys are always committing murders, Shiro reminded him. Impatience will not cause the future to arrive any faster.
“I know,” Tsukasa grumbled. “You’re right. But that doesn’t mean I’ll ever forgive anyone who takes another’s life. Or works with Capazon, even for a single moment.”
Shiro snorted. Never?
“Never,” Tsukasa assured, “Murderers can’t be forgiven. Capazon sympathizers and allies should suffer and burn.”
Shiro had always been fascinated by Tsukasa, by his obsession with the insistence of black and white, with the elimination of the gray. Especially for someone who was paid to stalk and steal and lie for a living. Shiro wanted to test the limits of that.
I’m curious, he began, eyes narrowing in on Tsukasa’s micro-expressions. What if I told you that I had killed someone?
The ridge of Tsukasa’s eyebrows pulled up. His eyelids peeled back. His pupils shrunk. Shiro then heard a sharp gasp, and saw Tsukasa’s shoulders square and rescind.
“Did you?” he whispered. Then, he shook his head. “No, you couldn’t have.”
Shiro had, in an indirect way, caused the death of someone. His attacker. He couldn’t simply stand by as the man assaulted Mizuki, so he through a chair at the back of his head, causing a horrid crunching sound and a massive, glottal roar. The man had then turned away from Mizuki and landed one last, sloppy, hateful gash across Shiro’s throat before slipping and landing in a cracked and crooked heap. Shiro didn’t consider it murder, but it was still a death as a result of his actions.
I couldn’t have? Shiro asked, smiling even though Tsukasa couldn’t see it, Why is that?
“You’re a good guy. Good guys can’t kill people.”
Even indirectly?
“Of course not,” Tsukasa said, resolute, his voice slipping out of a whisper to a low growl.
What if we were ordered to kill someone for the job? Would you let yourself become a villain for your ideals?
“Stop worrying about hypotheticals, okay?” Tsukasa hissed. “That’s never going to happen.”
What if I became one?
“Stop!” Tsukasa insisted, seizing Shiro’s wrist so it would stop signing.
Flinching, Shiro brought a finger to the front of his mask, overtop his lips, and tapped the mask a few times. A reminder that they needed to be especially quiet on this stake out. Tsukasa made a startled swallowing sound, then nodded vigorously, and Shiro huffed a breath of laughter.
Sorry, Tsukasa signed.
I apologize as well. For my strange questions.
Tsukasa nodded, and all between them was patched over, like an ignored bruise. It left a stinging, festering swamp in the pit of Shiro’s stomach. He became a spy with one unwavering intention—remove a particular source of evil from the world. His loyalty to that goal had never once wavered. And he was prepared to do anything he had to for it.
What of Tsukasa’s conviction? Was he so married to his vision of perfection that he would sooner die than dirty his hands? Would there come a time that Shiro would need to kill—with full intention this time—and Tsukasa would watch him become a villain before his eyes? Would Tsukasa refuse to fight back properly, and Shiro would have to do something drastic?
But those thoughts were settled back into the forgotten swamp when Tsukasa pressed his forehead against Shiro’s shoulder. It took a moment to realize Tsukasa was stifling his own laugh.
When Tsukasa pulled back, it was with a grin wide enough to fit Rui’s entire heart inside. I’m not good at being quiet . I was born to be the center of attention!
You’ve certainly caught mine, Shiro agreed, and took delight in the red tint on Tsukasa’s cheeks and ears.
It was moments like these that made Shiro wonder if there was something between them after all. If there was a way he could ask. But then Tsukasa stuffed his face in the claw of his hand, gripping the edges of it in his fingertips, and seemed on the verge of suffering an aneurysm.
“You always do this,” Tsukasa hissed. “Make me afraid. But I’m not afraid of you. I don’t get it. I don’t like it.”
Shiro didn’t know what to say to that, so he didn’t say anything. Tsukasa always did that, too. Every time they were about to have a moment, Tsukasa would declare that he didn’t like it. Either it meant he was uninterested, or he was in denial.
Tsukasa had clear ideas of how things were supposed to go. There were good guys and bad guys, there were good feelings and bad feelings. And fear was a bad feeling. So whatever other feelings Shiro brought up in him, that was the only one Tsukasa seemed to understand, so it was the only one he focused on.
And as long as Tsukasa saw things that way, there was always going to be a wide, cavernous distance between them.
Rui felt himself stirring from a light dream, and found Tsukasa’s head resting on his chest. He smiled softly as he pulled his fingers through Tsukasa’s fluffy blonde hair. No longer a single bit of distance between them.
Now, Rui was glad they had taken the time that they had. He probably would have been distracted by all his repressed feelings if they hadn’t. And further, now that he’d expressed everything he needed to, and heard all the things he really needed to hear, his mind was struck with cool, calm clarity.
He was readily forming two plans. This time, neither of which involved his own death. It was a bit strange, and a bit terrifying, to no longer be planning your own death. There had been something comforting in knowing there was an end, that there was nothing to lose. Now, Rui had a lot to lose. He held some of it in his arms at this moment. And the future was far more terrifying.
But now, Rui knew he wouldn’t be facing it alone.
“I have two possible plans,” Rui informed Tsukasa as they prepared to leave the cell. They made inventory of the things they had on them, straightened out their disheveled clothes, smoothed over each other’s mussed hair. “One of which is non-ideal, and the other is ideal. The ideal plan, however, has more unknowns involved and is far riskier.”
“We’re doing the ideal plan,” Tsukasa announced. Rui smiled.
“Excellent. We’ll aim for the ideal plan, then, and carry out the non-ideal plan if it falls through.”
“We’re doing the ideal plan,” Tsukasa insisted.
“I’m afraid that isn’t under your control, but I do appreciate your conviction. The non-ideal plan also involves you performing spectacularly, so regardless, I am planning on you being invincible.”
When Tsukasa stared at him with wide and sparkling eyes, Rui was suddenly struck with nervousness, and felt himself getting warm.
“...as you put it,” he added on a cough.
Tsukasa seized his forearm, gripping it tightly, with an impervious grin.
“Let’s raze this place to the ground.”
Rui opened a hidden door at the back of the prison rooms, one that lead to a long labyrinth. They could have walked through the main gate, or even the side gate that Rui had used on his way in, but he chose this for two particular reasons. One, it would be easier to avoid guards for as long as possible this way. And two, it gave them much more time to talk.
Rui told Tsukasa about what happened right after their parting, when he took that bullet and slipped into the abyss. How Kaito had found him, and the only survival tactic he could think of was earning Kaito’s favor. How he grew adept at half-truths and misleading phrasings, how he found small ways to be kind behind Kaito’s back. He answered all of Tsukasa’s questions through combinations of spoken and signed words as they stealthily stalked the halls.
They made their way towards Rui’s workshop at Capazon. It was a lonely and relatively tidy room, for a workshop of Rui’s. He hadn’t used it very much beyond sketches and prototyping—in fact, working with Phoenix had been a massive creative spark for him. But still, it contained plenty of tools they would need for either version of his plan.
Rui pulled out a comically enormous bag and a list of things to fill it with, and they set to work. As they did, they talked about more details of the plan, and then talked about stories from during their time apart. Tsukasa bragged about a very impressive takedown and it reminded Rui of a scrapped idea to create a robot that tap-danced until the target was utterly baffled and taking them down would be child’s play. Tsukasa’s mixed look of incredulity and admiration made Rui laugh.
Then, Rui grew sad.
“I don’t think I realized just how alone I’d been back then. Honestly, if not for Meiko and Kaito, and the required conversations for missions, I wouldn’t have spoken to a soul. It’s a shame that, in that regard, I have to be thankful towards them.”
Long ago, Tsukasa would have gotten angry at that. But instead, he said, “I’m sorry.”
Rui laughed. “You insist on taking responsibility for things outside of your control.”
“I wished I could have been there sooner.”
Tsukasa’s voice was always so lovely, like somber piano notes, when he was sad. Rui set down a large piece of equipment into the bag and stared at Tsukasa gently. “I do, too. In the early months after dying, I used to lie awake missing you until I was sick.”
“Me too,” Tsukasa said with a pained smile. “How did you bear it?”
“I had to turn it all off. Pack it in cleverly behind a wall and turn off a switch,” Rui said with a mournful shrug. “And you?”
Tsukasa stopped. Took a deep breath in through his nose, then let it shudder out through his mouth.
“The promise of revenge,” he said, the final word clanging on the metal walls of the workshop. “And I had it. Two years ago, I had it.”
The headlines were bold, black, permanent proof. Printed across every newspaper. Displayed across the large billboard in the central square of the capital. Shouted from every paperboy, slipping between the mouths of every gossiper, parroted inquisitively by every child, shouted over the lunchtime meals of every businessman.
Capazon CEO: Convicted Felon
Tsukasa tossed a coin to a paperboy and beamed at the poetry of the line. The photo they had captured was also quite excellent, showing Kaito’s arm draped across the shoulders of the despised tyrant of a foreign nation. The article was thorough, easy to read, documenting several of his crimes in great detail and alluding to dozens more, as well as where to find records of those so the public could see them for themselves.
The next day, more headlines. More music to Tsukasa’s ears, feasts for his eyes. He picked up a copy from every news outlet that ran any kind of article on the event, and sat at his favorite cafe with the stack piled up to his nose.
They’d won. They’d done it. They’d exposed Kaito’s bloody deals and despicable actions. Now the courts, police, and public jury would take care of the rest.
But then weeks went by. The headlines became more and more infrequent, Tsukasa’s massive stack growing smaller and smaller, until he couldn’t find a single newspaper discussing it at all.
His outrage and fury seethed in him. Everyone at Phoenix headquarters tried to wrack their brains around it. How could this have happened? Why wasn’t he in prison for the rest of his life? Why was the most dramatic thing that happened a small drop in his stock?
What was the point of it all? If exposing the truth did nothing, meant nothing? If proving that a hateful and selfish man was also a criminal did nothing to lessen his power?
Was there any justice in the world?
The blow to Phoenix’s morale was heavy. They began stagnating, falling into a depressive frozen lull. Their fierce battle came to a stalemate.
Tsukasa looked down suddenly, and felt his hands held by Rui’s. The inventor’s steady hold made Tsukasa realize his hands had been shaking.
“And now your revenge is truly in sight,” Rui said gently. “What will drive you when it’s finished?”
Tsukasa gave him a wry look. “I think the answer should be obvious.”
Then, Tsukasa sighed, and slipped out of Rui’s grasp to run his fingers through his bangs. “We had him last time, Rui. We had him. But it didn’t matter. This time has to be different.”
“I believe it will be,” Rui said, with a glimmer of a dangerous smile. “Perhaps I should tell you of my experience from that time as well.”
“Stay calm,” Meiko said into the phone as she stared at Kaito through the visiting glass at the city prison. “It’s not over yet. We can still pull through.”
“I am calm,” Kaito assured her. He sat back in his chair with a yawn, then kicked up his feet. “I’m untouchable, Meiko. They love me. I say all the things they want to hear, and they think I mean them. All I need to do is bluster and stall, then it will be business as usual.”
Standing behind Meiko, Rui stifled a laugh. That confidence of his teetered, just like the two legs of his chair, dangerously. Two small points of metal supporting the rocking Kaito, not nearly so solid as they must have felt. Was it better to call his arrogance obliviousness or ignorance?
“We should still choose our battles carefully,” Meiko advised. Rui saw her eyebrow furrow and only the corner of her mouth pull down. Annoyance, perhaps at being dismissed so easily out of hand.
Of course she was dismissed. Kaito was never going to see her as an equal. Not her nor anyone else.
“Fine, fine,” Kaito said, waving his hand. “Can I entrust all that to you? You’ve been an excellent PR manager and I rely on your skills.”
Meiko blushed. Rui glared a hole ahead of him to prevent his eyes from rolling. They both knew how Kaito worked by now. Did Meiko truly believe that she was different, that Kaito’s suggestive almost-flirting towards her was genuine, while everyone else’s was just for show? Rui had seen her shrewdness on several missions; in fact, they’d often been partnered together back when he was more of a field agent before working his way up to Kaito’s direct subordinate. But for some reason, all her intelligence and education went forgotten if Kaito was involved.
“Now, will you be careful on your way out? I need to speak with Rui for a moment,” said Kaito.
Meiko did as instructed, but glared bitterly at Rui as she passed. Rui did not react.
After he settled into the seat, Rui inclined his head slightly for Kaito to begin.
“We need a new tactic,” Kaito said, voice low and ominous. “They think they have us.”
“Who?” Rui asked.
“Phoenix. That’s the name of the group who got the information and leaked it to the press. Stupid pathetic birds.” Kaito crossed his arms, teeth snarling. “Never heard of the damn organization this entire time, then suddenly out of nowhere they find all this information? And they’re funded by the Ootori Group? What the hell is with that.”
“They sound formidable,” Rui said.
“Well, they’re not. Not more than me. Not even that irritating loudmouth brat, Tsukasa Tenma.”
Rui’s heart froze.
Kaito chuckled. “You remember him, huh?”
Closing his eyes, Rui took a masking breath. When he opened his eyes, he knew his face would not give away a single clue. “How could I forget?”
“Can’t believe the bastard’s back. Well, now that we know where he’s working, we can target him more directly. Phoenix came too damn close. Like a sniper grazing my ear. So, tactician, what do you think we should do to snuff them out?”
An opportunity. The glimmer of an ending playing out before Rui’s eyes. Hope, to Rui, had become something more like an irritating burden refusing to let him die. But for the first time in five years, hope finally felt like it had its purpose.
“We wait,” Rui said. He could see the moving parts, like gears in a machine, like actors and set pieces on a stage, and he was the director. “You’re right, this won’t be enough to stop you. Not with Meiko’s management and your fiercely loyal followers. So we lie low. Let the outrage blow over. You bribe who you need to in order to avoid incarceration.”
“Good, good,” Kaito nodded.
“Meanwhile, we send an agent on the inside. Have them gain Phoenix’s trust, distract them with meaningless missions that feel important. Then, when the time is right, we lure them in. We show our hand. We present them our Achilles heel, so to speak.”
“Why would we do that?” Kaito asked.
“Because then, they will not see that it’s all a trap.”
Kaito clapped. Like he was the audience of a show. “Brilliant.”
But Rui was not done. This plan required one more key component to it. He waited a beat, drawing in Kaito’s attention, then slowly formed himself a bitter smirk, hoping Kaito would misinterpret it.
Misinterpret he did, as Kaito then declared: “You will be the undercover agent.”
Rui feigned surprise. “Me?”
“It’s perfect. You have that mysterious grudge against Tenma. Honestly, when you first came, you talked about him like he was your ex-boyfriend. Do you remember? It was so dramatic, it even rhymed. ‘He’s so rigid and set in his ways, and entirely refuses to see the gray.’”
Kaito wanted Rui to react, wanted to unsettle him, make him slip and explain what their relationship exactly was. But Rui had told Kaito everything he needed to know: Tenma and I are diametrically opposed. So Rui raised an impatient eyebrow, presenting the image that Kaito’s comments were off-base and out-of-touch, convincing him that Rui’s detached disdain for Tsukasa was real.
After finishing his little self-amused fit, Kaito sighed. Then, he shifted. Leaned forward in his chair. Let his bangs fall in his eyes like thick curtains blocking out the sunlight. Snarled a sickly predator grin.
“Well, Agent Kamishiro? Are you ready to finish what you started?”
Kaito had no idea.
Once Rui finished telling that story, Tsukasa let out a bitter bark of a laugh. “I wish I’d known that back then,” he said mournfully. “I would have actually slept those nights.”
“Known?”
“That you were alive. And that all of this was your plan from the start. Well—wait. Wait a minute.” Tsukasa spun to him, anger squaring his jaw. “Your original plan was to have me kill you? You were planning on dying!?”
“Yes,” Rui affirmed. “I was ready to sacrifice my whole world.”
“You…” Tsukasa turned away, and began to take angry and pensive step around the room. Rui was unsure exactly if he was mad at him, or at himself. “Why…”
“Why?” Rui challenged. “You had always refused to see the gray. Of course I had to die. Or would you have preferred a heartless villain run rampant through the streets?”
“A villain?” Tsukasa barked. “Again with that!?”
“I did despicable things for my own selfish reasons. That makes me a villain.”
“You’re the one who refuses to see the gray!”
Rui’s eyes blew back. “What?” he breathed.
“Stop trying to die for greater things,” Tsukasa demanded, hands digging just at the tip of painful into Rui’s shoulders. “Stop taking all of this on your own! Stop thinking you have to take bullets for me and drown yourself in blood and die for me. I don’t want that. I want you to live!”
Rui’s jaw worked for a moment, as if stuck in tar. “I put you through years of anguish and turmoil. On purpose. What sort of a villain is glad that they did that to someone they love?”
“You really think that I’m that weak? You think I can’t handle a little turmoil? I can, and I did. You saved my life back then, and now, I’m saving yours. We’re getting out of this together.”
Rui wasn’t sure what it was. Perhaps a side effect of locking all his feelings away for years. But now their vestiges were seeping out of him, unable to be satisfied with the evidence as he saw it, needing to test it, needing to know if it would hold to scrutiny.
“I’ve killed people in Kaito’s name,” he reminded, poison in his voice. “Do not forget that. I have acted as their ally—seven years ago, you proclaimed fiercely such would never be forgiven.”
“Before I lost you!?” Tsukasa cried. Truly, cried, his eyes leaking and lip seized between his teeth. “Before losing you changed me?”
He turned away, and tilted his face to the ceiling while draping his arm across his eyes. Rui was suddenly seized by the memory of their meeting in the early morning at a park bench, and Tsukasa’s bitter bark: who said anything about easy?
He was right. Tsukasa was right. It wasn’t merely a serendipitous coincidence that Tsukasa was unique and had chosen to forgive him. No. Rui was forgivable. Rui was messy, and did things both good and bad, and that did not make him a villain. It made him strange, and contradictory, and gray. It made him human.
He had spent so long worrying over how Tsukasa would see him that he hadn’t even thought to examine how he saw himself.
Tsukasa sniffed, then sobbed, his face still hidden in his arm. Then, weakly, he bleated out: “Didn’t losing me change you too?”
It didn’t. It really, truly, didn’t. From SPARK to Capazon, Rui was the same reclusive solo artist. Losing Tsukasa hadn’t changed Rui very much at all—in fact, for many years, he’d long considered losing Tsukasa to be inevitable.
However. Rui pressed his back against Tsukasa’s as he murmured: “Finding you again changed me.”
He felt his heart beating. Through the connection across their backs, Rui thought he felt Tsukasa’s heart beating just as fast. “Me too.”
So that’s what this was. Trust. It resonated in each beat of their hearts, growing stronger, giving more light to the dingy and dank workshop. What a strange skill they had developed: turning the most hostile environments into places of connection and change.
Perhaps that was enough.
Rui took a quick inventory of all the items they’d gathered, and realized they now had everything they needed. And further, he had a grand, if delirious, strength rising in him. He had Tsukasa at his back now, and that made Rui feel that once nagging and irritating feeling as something warm supporting him. Rui wanted to laugh. He leaned his head back against Tsukasa’s shoulder, and pressed a ghostly kiss to the shell of his ear.
“Tsukasa,” he murmured. “About that question you’re going to ask me tomorrow.”
It took Tsukasa a moment before recollection dawned on his face. Rui wasn’t surprised. After all, that promise Tsukasa had declared in the shared workshop in Phoenix HQ seemed like it had happened months ago rather than last night.
“I remember,” Tsukasa said. “What about it?”
“I don’t suppose I could persuade you to ask it now?”
“Now?”
Rui pushed himself off of Tsukasa’s back and smiled. “I simply realized I want to start calling you my boyfriend immediately.”
Tsukasa blushed, or his face was still red from his tears. Either way, Rui would take selfish pride and delight for bringing out an intense emotion. “Hah,” he said with a sniff. “‘Partner’ isn’t enough for you, huh? Then, Rui, will you—”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t even finish the question!” Tsukasa shouted.
Rui giggled. “Yes.”
Sighing, Tsukasa shook his head with a grin. “Fine. Then, we’re officially dating now. Does that sound good?”
“Yes.”
Rui cupped Tsukasa’s face in both his palms and kissed him. It was not the time for this, but then, there should never be a bad time to give Tsukasa kisses. Who was he to pretend that Tsukasa’s soft lips and consistent pressure didn’t drive him crazy? And what sort of a standout duo would they be if they never did anything that stood out?
If Rui were to go back in time and tell himself that he was eagerly kissed by his boyfriend and partner Tsukasa Tenma, his younger self would have taken a deep inhale, aimed straight for Rui’s head, and shot him. Including the ‘younger self’ from this morning alone. The thought made him laugh morbidly.
“What is it?” Tsukasa asked.
Rui chuckled again. “We’re actively trying to tear down the world’s leading evil and you’re spending your time making out with your boyfriend instead.”
“You’re the one who—!” Tsukasa cried. “You’re my boyfriend!”
“Mm. It feels so nice to hear you say it.”
Blushing, grumbling, pouting, Tsukasa had no proper retort. But he looked so beautiful. Rui’s younger self would be lethally jealous indeed.
They left the workshop behind, and stepped back out into the treacherous hallways.
“Where to next?” Tsukasa whispered.
“For the ideal plan, our next destination is quite far,” Rui warned. “The weapons depot. There should be two very important things waiting in that room for us, but I don’t know if they’re there.”
“Why not?”
“Well, I don’t exactly have a good reason to trust that those things will be there. I simply want them to be. And I’m going to try believing that’s enough.”
Tsukasa grinned. “That’s enough for me!”
The key feature of both the ideal and non-ideal plan remained the same. Capazon was developing a superweapon beneath their base, and it was being charged by the same reactor core that generated power for the entire base. If they targeted the weapon, and had it deployed on itself rather than launched, the blast radius from the explosion would be large enough to engulf the entire base. So the goal was simple: blow up the reactor core.
Simply leaving it at that was the non-ideal plan. It was non-ideal because Capazon still had allies outside of its direct agents within the base—investors, business partners, political ties, civilian support. The ideal plan involved something that would combat this problem as well. Not only destroy the physical location, but the spirit of faith Capazon had stolen as well.
And that required using every tool at their disposal. Including two that may not actually be at their disposal at all.
After a long time navigating through the base, a long way from their main goal, they approached the weapons depot.
But, before they could make it, the click of a gun being cocked came from behind them.
They both froze.
“I see you’re revealing your true colors, Agent Kamishiro.”
Rui released an unsurprised sigh. “Meiko.”
They both put their hands on their heads and slowly turned around, facing her. She seemed frazzled, and exhausted, brown eyes like a tumultuous murky lake. Rui noted it as a bit odd. After all, didn’t Meiko have complete faith in Kaito? But the barrel of her gun tremored ever so slightly, and her stance was off-balance.
“I should have known,” Meiko said, both arms bracing her gun straight out, aiming directly at Rui. “I saw it, I saw your flinches every time Kaito touched you, I saw the way you looked at Tenma during the gala. I’d thought it was a very convincing act during the time, but I’ve thought better of it now.”
“Of course he looked at me like that!” Tsukasa declared, dropping his hands to satisfied positions on his hips. “He’s been in love with me for seven years.”
Rui smiled fondly at his partner, and now boyfriend. How wonderful to be both.
“Disgusting,” Meiko spat. “You sicken me. You throw away every gift that Kaito gave you. You spit ungratefully in the face of the man who shaped you!”
With a guttural yelp, Meiko surged forwards for an attack, but Rui and Tsukasa spun to the sides with ease.
Tsukasa crossed his arms. “You have a funny way of saying that Rui cares about others and works on the side of justice.”
“Justice!?” Meiko shrieked, taking an unsteady step towards them. “Kaito is just! Rui broke our enemy out of jail for personal gain. And to think, after all that work I did for two years hiding your name from Capazon reports and documents so that Phoenix wouldn’t find it, just for you to reveal yourself. You selfish traitor,” Meiko spat.
Rui didn’t know what to say in return. He felt a strange feeling rising in him, something mournful and disappointed. Not quite regret nor shame, but something similar, he thought.
“Rui’s the selfish one!?” Tsukasa cried. “When Kaito only cares about himself?”
“You shut your filthy mouth! Kaito promised a future for all his followers! If you just did as he said, you would have stability and security in your miserable life, but you refuse! For your own selfish agenda!”
It was strange, to hear thoughts so similar to some of his own shoved back at him now that they no longer resonated. He pitied her. He pitied everyone who craved the sort of power and reassurance that didn’t need to be tested. Because now he knew something far greater.
“Selfish,” Rui repeated. “Maybe so. Maybe wanting to see a world that’s better for everyone makes me selfish.”
“Everyone!?” Meiko screamed. “What about the man who took you in when you had nothing!?”
She swiveled on her heel, wound up, and released a furious roundhouse. It was a high and precise kick, aimed straight for the side of Rui’s head. But Tsukasa was more swift. He dropped to the ground and swept her leg from underneath her. Meiko cried, and collapsed to the ground with a sharp crunch.
She did not get up, her limbs tangled and her chest taking raspy, heaving breaths. But she did glare. Furious, exhausted, terrified. Rui had never held any sort of affection for her, but he couldn’t help the surge of pity. She used to vouch for him in strategy meetings, and used to slide ration bars under his door when he’d refused meals. He would have liked to have an ally like her on their side.
“Meiko,” Rui began, kneeling to the ground, “I truly am sorry that your years of work were not rewarded. But please, you must understand, Kaito is not someone redeemable. He is not complex, or potentially good, he is despicable to his core and wants to spread that hatred to others. He will not reward dedication or loyalty or hard work because he does not care about anyone but himself. He will hurt everyone. Including you.”
“Shut up! Enough!” she wretched, dragging herself to her knees. The look in her eyes was wild, and completely far gone. Perhaps she feared that Rui’s words were true, but couldn’t accept them. Perhaps she wanted what he had, the kind of love that didn’t leave him aching eternally. Or perhaps she simply was evil to her core, too. Rui would never know.
She laughed maniacally, and reached into her pocket to pull out a hand-held explosive. “Come on! Come quietly and this will all be over!”
“Oh, Meiko,” Tsukasa tutted, shaking his head. He took a very slow step towards her, and she scrambled up to her feet.
“Just come quietly!” she pleaded in agony.
“I don’t know if you know this—” Tsukasa slammed a fist into his palm, “—but I’m pretty damn bad at being quiet.”
Tsukasa reared back his fist, then slammed it across Meiko’s cheek.
The blow wretched her clean off her feet. She screamed on impact with the ground. A fleeting, feeble attempt to pick herself up, then she went still.
“There!” Tsukasa said, satisfied with his work. “Now if you’d hit her with that paralyzing ray, we can safely leave her here until the building collapses.”
Rui nodded, and pulled out the ray they’d picked up from his workshop. It was bright yellow, resembling a mouse, and pressing the mouse’s cheeks generated a tasing electric shock between its long pointy ears.
He knelt down next to her, and felt that wave of pity rise up in him once more. It was hard not to have complicated feelings for someone who had helped him when he’d rather have been actually dead. Perhaps Meiko really was a bit gray, too.
“Meiko,” Rui said in a low voice, “One last piece of advice for you. In the depths of despair, you can always search for a spark of hope.”
Then, he pressed the paralyzing ray’s cheeks, and sent Meiko into a deep sleep.
As they picked up her body and stuffed it into a nearby supply closet, Tsukasa asked, “What was that? About the spark of hope?”
Rui chuckled into a grimace. “A hope of my own, I suppose. That the intelligent woman who looked after me, in her own twisted way, come to see a path outside of Kaito’s corruption.”
At long, long last, they arrived at the weapons depot.
At first, there was nothing there. A few spare bullets and magazines, but mostly it had been picked clean.
"There's nothing here," Tsukasa said with a frown. He looked under the large metal table for traces of something usable, but all the guns and explosives had already been claimed by other Capazon agents.
Rui’s heart fell. They’d come all this way, taken a long detour and spent time facing against Meiko, just for it all to fall through? Was he wrong after all?
But then, the door on the opposite side of the room slid open.
“Took you long enough.”
Tsukasa spun around in shock, and then a massive, satisfied grin broke out across his cheeks.
“Ha ha ha! Now I see what Rui meant!”
The owner of the first voice grinned too, and stepped fully into the room to let another person enter. She raced in, wound up her arms in a big windmill, then exploded them into a great big “Wonderhoy!”
Nene and Emu. Rui breathed a sigh of relief.
There was a lot of work to be done, and they no doubt had their own questions they'd want answers to. But now they had everything they needed. With Emu and Nene, and Tsukasa, Rui couldn’t help a satisfied grin of his own. It was evil, he knew, perhaps quite dark and villainous and twisted.
Together, the four of them were going to save the world.
Notes:
(Now's the time to check out the prequel story if you're interested! Mind the tags.)
Rui's finally back to his menacing self. I missed him. And I missed Emu and Nene!! The gang's all here now.
A lot of this chapter was personally cathartic for me. It also took me a long time to finalize because I had so many ideas that I realized were better suited to spin-offs, and not included in the climax. If you'd be interested in reading some spin-off stories (which may get darker than the main story) please let me know!
NEXT TIME:
When the door opened, Tsukasa would rush through a long, bleak hallway before reaching the main entrance to the control room. The hallway had tall ceilings and harsh lights lining the floors, with bottomless pits on either side of the walkway.
“Are they really bottomless?” Tsukasa had asked.
“Oh? Are you volunteering to jump down and find out?” had been Rui’s riposte.
(and)
Rui grinned. "Let's put on a show."
Chapter 13: The Throat-Punch Kaito Game
Summary:
Reunited with Emu and Nene, Rui faces his friends with his secret exposed. Now all that's left is to form their new plan, but a call from Kaito shakes Rui's faith.
Notes:
Hello everyone!! Long time no see! Thank you for your patience. I’ve been hard at work drafting and redrafting these last scenes for months, and at last, the ending is near.
This story has been at 12/13 chapters since November. However, it is now 13/14. I’m nearly as surprised as you all. I realized that this section with Emu and Nene was more important than I’d initially planned it to be. Much how they’re much more important to Rui than he initially thought they were.
Rest assured, however, the final chapter is complete, and you all will be able to read it very soon. Can you believe it’s been nearly an entire year? It’s surreal. Thanks everyone for sticking with me for so long.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rui wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting when he reunited with Emu and Nene again. He hadn’t really been expecting to reunite with them again at all. But he absolutely was not prepared for what they did.
They hugged him.
Emu rushed forward first, tackling him like a bear, and he had no choice but to accept her fierce affection.
“You did it,” she whispered to him. “You kept your promise. You tried trusting us.”
He wrapped his arms around her, and held her tight. She was so much shorter than him that he had to curl around her like a shrimp, but he was not going to let her go.
“I did,” he whispered to her. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”
“That’s okay! I’m still really really proud of you. And you hadn’t had any chances to practice before!”
He held her head in his hand and felt her small hands refusing to let go of his back. “I’ll have lots more chances to practice in the future, won’t I?”
Her grin pressed against his heart. “Yeah. Lots and lots and lots.”
She had given him so many chances before. To express his ideas, to have a place to belong. As Rui pulled back, he didn’t know how he could tell her even a fraction of his gratitude, but he knew he had to try.
“You trusted me as well, Emu. Thank you.”
Emu gave him a massive smile. “You made it pretty easy!”
“That I cannot agree with.”
“Neither can I,” Nene said, before surging forward and slamming her face into his chest.
Before now, Rui had never given much thought to his height. But now, he liked it. He liked feeling like his friends felt safe in his arms, feeling like he was keeping them safe. Nene held him tighter than Emu did, almost constricting him, and Rui let her. He held her back as tightly as he dared, too, feeling like a part of his family had been returned to him.
“I wasn’t really going to kill you,” Nene murmured.
“Yes you were,” Rui said. “And I admired you for it.”
“No. Both those things are wrong. I know more about our friendship after all.”
She was sharper than he’d given her credit for, and braver than she thought. She held him like she was scared he was going to slip away from her again, like she was mad at him, like she had been mad at him for so long she wasn’t truly all that mad anymore but wanted him to have some of her anger anyways. And he was more than happy to take it. He held her tight.
“I want to trust you,” she said. “So I do. That’s that. I want you to trust me.”
“I do,” he assured. “I never wanted you to trust me before. But I do now.”
“Good. Because I do.” She pouted slightly.
Rui breathed out a laugh. “I know.”
She pulled back, but in the opposite reaction of Emu, she frowned. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, and stuffed it into his hand. Rui then realized he’d shed a few tears. He could hardly believe himself; not too long ago he was certain he couldn’t feel anything at all. Thanking Nene, he dabbed at his face, amazed at how lucky he was.
“I’m glad to see the both of you,” Tsukasa said, extracting Emu from his skin like a loving leech. “But how did you escape? What happened to you? Where are the others?”
“We were in a warehouse prison with a lot of other agents,” Nene explained. “They told us that someone had sold us out. Then a screen in the wall lit up and told us that Rui was Kaito’s right hand, and that Tsukasa was being taken separately in order to be executed.”
“We were really confused,” Emu added. “A lot of us didn’t think that felt right! We all really love you, Rui!”
Her words were so warm he could barely hold them.
“I was the only one not acting surprised,” Nene continued, “so I had to tell them about your conversation that I’d overheard. And about all the little suspicious details I’d noticed during our time working together.”
Tsukasa nodded. “I was completely shocked. I didn’t believe it at all! But being in the jail cell by myself made me rethink a lot of Rui’s moments and see them as suspicious.”
“Here I’d thought I was hiding myself so well,” Rui said with a conceding shrug.
“You’re very suspicious!” Emu announced happily, as if it were a compliment. Rui took it as one.
“How did you know Kaito was lying?” Tsukasa asked Nene.
Nene gave him a sideways look. “Do you believe anything Kaito says?”
Tsukasa grinned.
“We didn’t know what to think, though! We couldn’t trust Kaito, but something was strange! And there was lots of gurble and blumber!” Emu said. Rui nodded, he knew exactly what she meant. “So even though we knew we couldn’t trust Kaito, we did think it was super duper suspicious! And we were still trapped, so we couldn’t sleuth out the truth!”
“That is, until…” Nene then held up a robot, and though it took a few seconds, Tsukasa eventually recognized it as the penguin scanner that Rui had brought on the very first day he arrived at Phoenix. Tsukasa let out a yelp of recognition. Rui felt relieved; he had been really worried for his little friend.
“I did miss him,” Rui said as he gently petted the penguin’s smooth domed head.
“This little guy here was the key,” Nene said.
“I spotted him in a corner! He was sticking out of a little hidden passageway! His poor foot was stuck.” Emu said. “When I tried pulling him out, he called me Admin and said he’d share anything I wanted to know! So I waiiiiiited until everyone was busy and showed him to Nene, and asked her what she thought!”
The penguin had told them essentially the truth of it all: Rui had been injured severely at the hands of Capazon, and joined SPARK in hopes of ending the evil organization. He’d donned the alias Shiro, and became partners with Tsukasa at SPARK before the agency was dismantled at the hands of Capazon agents. That same night, Rui suffered from a fall, Kaito found him, and Rui pretended to be a concerned civilian who was interested in anti-terrorism work. Since then, Rui clawed his way up the ranks until he was granted Kaito’s right hand, all in hopes of one day dismantling the corrupt system.
“It was a lot to take in,” Nene said. “But we didn’t have anything to lose at that point. Besides…” Nene looked sheepishly at Rui, then with a grimace of a smile, said, “I wanted to trust you.”
Rui smiled back at her.
Tsukasa then patted Rui proudly on the back. “You knew it was a risk, but you still put the penguin there for them, believing they’d come to help.”
“Well, I—yes. When we first arrived in my workshop, I gave my penguin friend the orders and sent him to their warehouse. I also told him to recognize Emu and Nene as administrators, so they would have full access to the information I had gathered using him. I could only hope it was enough to convince them to join us. It was a risk, but one you encouraged me to take.”
“You were preparing hard for the ideal plan! With Emu and Nene at our sides, we have no choice but to prevail!” Tsukasa said, his face and voice suddenly more affectionate than usual. “That’s the sort of thing I expect from my partner!”
Tsukasa’s hand right fell off Rui’s back and then snuck into the crook of his elbow. Rui brought his right hand and nestled it underneath Tsukasa’s right hand, comfortably interlocking their fingers.
Once he’d dreamed of being this close to Tsukasa. Back then, all of his dreams of being close to him turned into nightmares by the end. He’d had them so often when first coming to Capazon that he didn’t sleep for months. And now Tsukasa told him he trusted him, and loved him, and now his partner was his boyfriend, and he’d been trusted with so much of Tsukasa’s mind, heart, and body that he thought he would burst with it. All those nights spent waking up on the steel floor with his heart pounding felt worth it.
Suddenly Rui felt Nene’s gaze sharpen, and then he saw Emu begin to bounce up and down with sparkling eyes.
“The two of you have grown awfully close,” Nene said, crossing her arms.
“I know! I know!” Emu exclaimed cheerily. “You’re together-together now! Right!?”
“Astute observation, Captain!” Tsukasa gave Rui’s fingers a little squeeze, and he looked up at Rui with a wide grin. “We are indeed.”
“I’m happy for you, of course,” Nene said, eyes still narrow, “But you’ve got this weird aura now. Like you’ve finished cresting a wave, a sort of...afterglow.”
Rui felt the back of his neck catch on fire.
“I do feel as though I’ve finished basking in the glow of something stupendous, yes! Don’t you agree, Rui?”
While Rui knew an afterglow was the phenomenon of a sky remaining purple and yellow after the sunset, he still felt...
Startled. Embarrassed. Delighted. Nervous. Warm. Relieved. Daunted.
So many feelings Rui was experiencing all at once. It wasn’t too long ago he couldn’t feel anything. More than that, even though he was confused and scared by all his feelings, he still felt safe. Surrounded by his friends, bolstered by their bonds, Rui could allow himself all those emotions he’d kept behind a wall of iron. He hadn’t been safe feeling so many things at once since leaving his parents’ house years ago.
Just as he was thinking this, reveling in his newfound growth and strength, his communicator beeped.
His heart sank out of his body.
“It’s Kaito.”
Nene didn’t know what he was so afraid of. “You have to answer him with a call, right? Go on. We’ll be quiet.”
Slowly, Rui nodded. “Yes, but…” He looked sick, like he was on the verge of vomiting. “I don't want you all to see me. I don't like who I am around him.”
“Could you step outside for a bit?” Emu offered.
Rui shook his head. “No, far too suspicious if I’m spotted out there.”
“This happened last time,” Tsukasa said. “Before the gala. Kaito called you then, didn’t he. And ruined a perfectly good moment between the four of us.”
Rui only nodded. He didn’t look any less nauseous than he had a second ago. Soon his communicator would probably pick up a call instead of a text message. But Nene had worked far too hard and risked far too much for Rui to throw it away on his anxieties now. And she knew her team agreed.
“We know who you really are though, and Kaito doesn't,” Nene reminded him.
That seemed to settle him, and Rui took a long and bracing breath. “It's merely that, around him, I...I need a mask on, and...I'd resolved to be more honest and open now, yet—“
Tsukasa’s hand rested on Rui’s shoulder. “If putting a mask on is the only way to protect us, then put it on. We understand. And when you're done, you'll be able to take it off again.”
Emu and Nene voiced their agreements, and Rui looked to the three of them in turn, before coming to a conclusion within himself. He no longer looked nauseous, and instead, determined.
Rui picked up the call. “Kaito.”
His entire demeanor immediately changed. He became stiffer, straighter, colder, almost still like an untouched pond. Emu seemed even more susceptible to those changes, and next to her, Nene felt Emu shiver.
“We have a change in plans,” Kaito said. His voice was tight and angry. Nene almost wanted to smile.
“Oh?” Rui responded. “Is everything all right?”
“I called Meiko's communicator, but she didn't answer.”
Rui’s eyebrows furrowed. “Could she be occupied?”
“Please. She always drops everything for me. Something is wrong. I think our special little jailbird may have escaped.”
At Kaito’s mentioning of him, Tsukasa made a very dramatic and surprised face. But luckily, he did not make a sound.
“What? How?” Rui asked. He was really good at this. It made Nene feel a bit sad.
“I don't know how he did it,” Kaito said. “But there was some strange, unidentifiable movement near the perimeter of the storage warehouses for the Phoenix agents we'd caught. Upon a scan, there were two less agents than we put inside.”
And that was Nene and Emu. They gulped. Emu took Nene’s hand, and Nene knew that meant Emu was asking for her to squeeze it, so she did.
“Could there have been a miscount?” Rui asked.
Kaito was not pleased. “Never insult me by assuming sloppiness again.”
Tsukasa winced, but Rui was unfazed, blazing forward immediately: “Two Phoenix agents escaped then. And what of Tenma? Were we able to locate him?”
“I'm sending someone now,” Kaito confirmed. “This must be upsetting news to you, tactician.”
“Yes, I had been hoping to deal with Tenma personally.”
Nene saw then, something that caused her to suck in another breath. A scar across Rui’s throat. His penguin had mentioned he’d gotten a severe injury that had left him unable to speak, but still, seeing the evidence of it was sobering. It moved with his throat as he spoke, bobbing and twisting, betraying the lies leaving his lips. Knowing that Rui was far from the only one to have a scar, or to be silenced, made her furious. She was ready for this all to be over now.
Kaito took a moment to laugh, and to Nene, it sounded genuine and heartfelt. Like he was somehow, she didn’t know, proud. “I knew you’d come around. Finally remembered where your real home is, haven’t you?”
Rui’s cold front dropped. He looked at the three of them and smiled deeply.
“I have.”
“Good, excellent,” Kaito cooed. Rui’s guards flew back up, and suddenly Nene wasn’t sure she even recognized him. The unnerving feeling crawled down her spine. Emu’s other hand wrapped around Nene’s arm. Tsukasa stared straight ahead. “If the pest did escape, he’s on his way to me. Which is why I need you track him down as soon as possible.”
Rui’s voice sounded so very, very far away as he said:
“So I can kill Tsukasa Tenma properly this time.”
Emu clung tighter to Nene’s side. Nene sucked in a breath. It was a lie, Nene knew it was, but even so, he delivered it so convincingly she had to shout it inside her head: It’s a lie! He’s your friend! You can trust him!
Tsukasa was stone-faced, equally as unreadable as Rui. But Nene doubted hearing something like that from Rui’s mouth could have felt good. Emu was always better at noticing details about others’ emotions than Nene. Maybe Emu could see something extra beyond their hardened resolve, something like anguish or fear. Nene felt Emu burrowing deeper into her side, and held her firmly. Nene could do nothing more than guess anxiously. And hope.
Kaito snickered devilishly. “It will be wonderful, won't it? When he's dead, you can finally be just beneath me, right where you've always wanted to be. No Asahi Shiros in the way this time. No chaos, no noise, nothing unpredictable.”
“A clean and quiet kill,” Rui echoed hollowly.
“Poetic, isn't it? I'll finally get to watch you shoot him!”
Rui nodded. Like this, Nene could see why it had been so hard for her to trust him. He seemed distant and unreachable. Like the Rui that she knew was locked away. Even now, feeling her girlfriend’s tight trembling grip and seeing her leader’s white-knuckled fists, she felt her trigger finger itching with adrenaline.
“I’ll be there as swiftly as I can. I won't delay. And I won't miss,” Rui promised.
“I know you won't.”
Then, with that, the call ended.
It was very rare that Emu didn’t know how to comfort someone.
The air was thick and uncertain, like the molecules were spiraling in pointless, suffocating circles. Tsukasa turned his back, but Emu knew he’d been having a hard time during the communicator call. Thankfully Nene squeezed her tight, and it helped Emu focus. How could she comfort Rui after that? She didn’t know. Not knowing scared her.
Even still, she knew she wasn’t as scared as Rui. Kaito’s voice had vanished, but it felt like he was in the room with them, listening to them, threatening them with his empire of hatred and hurt.
How long had Rui spent in these halls, right at the front of all of that, feeling like there was nothing he could to to stop it? How many horrible things had he been forced to see? To do? He looked ashamed. He looked crestfallen. How could Emu tell him that there was no need to feel that way, that he could forgive himself? That they would be his friends no matter what? It seemed like he didn’t want to listen to any kind words at all.
Rui lifted his head up, and on his mouth was a smile that was mostly pain.
“I'm sorry, everyone,” he said, in a way that felt like he was trying to comfort them instead. It hurt Emu’s heart. “I did warn you that it would be unpleasant.”
Then, Rui turned to Tsukasa. Emu sucked in a tiny breath.
“Tsukasa, I owe you a particular apolog—mmf!?”
Tsukasa spun around and silenced Rui with a kiss.
Suddenly, all of the tension vanished. Rui sank into Tsukasa’s earnest touch, and grabbed hold of one of his hands. Emu relaxed so hard her knees wobbled, and Nene laughed. It was going to be all right after all. They would be all right.
“You're very fond of those,” Rui said with a laugh as he pulled off Tsukasa’s lips.
“You were going to say something stupid,” Tsukasa announced. “You're too smart to waste what little time we have by saying stupid things.”
Astonished, Rui laughed. He held Tsukasa’s hand. He wondered if he’d get to grow old feeling this hand, feeling it get leathery and wrinkled alongside his own.
“I agree,” Nene said. “I'll be honest, listening to you talk to Kaito was creepy, and I hated it.” Nene pulled off of Emu with a reassuring pat, and then constricted her arms around Rui’s torso. “Let's kill the bastard so you never have to do that again.”
Emu reached a gentle hand to his arm. She looked sadder than Rui had ever let himself feel.
“You sounded like him,” she said, her fingers digging into the sheer fabric of his sleeve. “He taught you all of that, didn't he. You're so shaken.”
“Am I…?” He was. Heart racing, breathing shallow, hands ever-so-slightly trembling. “Oh.”
“I'm worried about you facing him again like that,” Emu told him.
“Me too,” he agreed. “I—he…He taught me some of my best manipulation techniques. I can't beat him at them.”
Then, all at once, Rui remembered. And Rui laughed. Maniacally. The solution to the question that had been haunting him for years was suddenly crystal clear to him. “I can't beat him!” he said again.
“What do you mean?” Nene asked, frowning in concern.
“Alone, the only game I can play is his, and he has rigged the rules in his favor. But I'm not alone. I don't have to play his game anymore.”
Three sparks of tiny grins. “So what you're saying is…we need to play a different kind of game?” Emu asked, hopeful.
“Our own game,” Tsukasa concluded.
“Yes.” Rui peeled off of his friends’ warm embraces and went to his bag. He reached in and pulled out several large blueprints, papers, and other various supplies. This would be much better than he ever could have imagined. “What kind of game would the three of you like to play?”
Emu was the first to take up the promise of a game, bouncing over excitedly. “I want to play Blow Up the Headquarters!”
Rui nodded happily. “Decisive, striking, an excellent game for these foes.”
“I'd like to play Steal All Their Data,” Nene said, leafing through the diagrams for a map of their data center. “I'm sure there's a lot of valuable research to be mined from here.”
“Very sensible, quite useful for the future,” Rui agreed. “And Tsukasa?”
Tsukasa was quiet, standing a bit away from the group with his arms folded in front of his chest.
“To be honest? I don't really feel like playing games,” he said. “I'm so angry I feel ready to burst at any moment. I just want to punch Kaito in the throat.”
Emu did not miss a beat: “Then you can play the Throat-Punch Kaito game!”
Tsukasa blinked, then he sighed with a laugh, and finally a determined grin remained. “Yes, you're right. I'll be the unbeatable champion at Throat-Punch Kaito!”
“It's a stupid name, but Kaito doesn't really deserve a better one anyways, so it's perfect,” said Nene.
The plan had three parts. Nene’s, Emu’s, and Tsukasa and Rui’s. Emu would run to the base’s three enormous thermals and set each of them to self-destruct. She would likely run into many agents along the way, so she would need to be speedy and use her strength to avoid as many fights as possible. Nene would head straight to the computer room behind the filing cabinet, and copy all their data. Then, she would head to the control room where she could assist Emu in opening or closing doors and locks. She would have a fairly decent vantage point to snipe at Kaito as well, since the control room was positioned above his room.
And Tsukasa and Rui would confront Kaito, together.
Tsukasa liked the plan over all, but he did have flashes of memories from the last time Phoenix tried to take down Capazon in his mind. A montage of dwindling newspapers haunted him.
“Even if we stop Kaito and destroy the building, how do we prevent others from filling the hole he left behind?”
“That’s a good point,” Nene said. “We already destroyed him last time, but his followers were so vocal and adamant that it hardly made a difference. They practically worship him; it’s creepy.”
“Ah, well, with luck...these should help.”
Rui pulled out two small black button-like things, barely bigger than medicine pills. They had three scalloped humps on top with a sharp base, resembling clubs from playing cards.
“What are those?” Nene asked.
“A Two of Clubs!” Emu announced.
“A gift from Mizuki,” Rui said. “One works as a microphone, and the other as a camera. In tandem, they can be used—”
“To give us a confession from Kaito,” Tsukasa finished. “If he admits in his own words how little he cares about others, that should deter quite a few people!”
“Precisely,” Rui said. “At least, we can hope it will deter enough of them.”
“I think it will work,” Emu reassured. “I think a lot of Capazon members want to believe that Kaito will save them. I just hope they’re not too lost without their savior.”
Emu knew that many members had done things that were not forgivable. And she didn’t expect others to forgive them, nor would she ask them to. But she also knew many were swept up in the lies, or had to obey to protect themselves or their families. She had personally comforted many victims that had offered information on Capazon in exchange for asylum over the years.
Another idea came to Rui at Emu’s concern, and he pulled up his penguin friend again, asked her to hold out her hands, and plopped him in her palms.
“Captain, would you accept a secondary mission? You may find him useful for this.”
“Secondary mission?” Emu asked, tilting her head to the side.
“Emu, please tell everyone that you find this exact phrase: In the depths of despair, you can always search for a spark of hope.”
“What’s that?” Emu asked.
Rui’s smile was wistful and pained. “A naive, selfish wish of mine.”
“You said that to Meiko, didn’t you,” Tsukasa remembered. “Just now, when we found her in the hallway.”
Rui nodded.
“But what does it mean?” Nene insisted.
“Well, the name of my first organization was SPARK. And if they find themselves sympathetic to the ideals of that organization, they can find a secret tunnel from underneath the cot in my room that will lead them to safety.”
Clutching the penguin closer to her chest, Emu understood what Rui was asking of her. The little information bank could be helpful if she needed to use evidence or logic to get through to someone. Not everyone responded well to things like that. It was something that she thought frustrated Rui more than he’d ever let on. But still, if someone she ran into while dashing around the base did like data and truth, she had the most powerful tool she could ask for.
Emu felt her eyes sparkling. “A secret message!”
Nene was less impressed. “So, what, you think that some Capazon members might not be complete irredeemable monsters?”
“Well, we do know one Capazon member who isn’t,” Tsukasa said. The look of relief that Rui gave him was delicate.
“Ah,” Nene said with a small smile. “Well, yes, but still. How do you make sure that good people actually figure out what it means, while bad people don’t figure it out and use the tunnel anyways?”
“I don’t,” Rui said with a rueful shrug. “It’s a severe risk I’m taking.”
Was it idiotic, to hope that a woman who single-handedly expanded Capazon’s tyranny could change? That there were others like her, like the young agents whose voices Rui will not forget, who were not evil but merely infected? Possibly. His methodology for finding them wasn’t rigorous either, and it didn’t have time to be. But how could he live with himself if he didn’t offer them the same chance that he’d been offered?
“It doesn’t matter, right?” Tsukasa said. “Because everyone who joined Capazon was already aware that they could risk their life. And even if bad people do escape, we’ll track them down.”
“Yeah!” Emu agreed. “You know, under your bed is a pretty sneaky place to put a secret tunnel!”
“Thank you,” Rui said, quite pleased. “Though I can’t exactly take credit. It was already there when I arrived. It was an unused maintenance tunnel, and I merely seized the opportunity that already existed.”
Nene didn’t want to imagine living at Capazon. It was all gray, sometimes white or blue, but mostly devoid of life. She liked that Phoenix had sleeping quarters, but never forced their agents to stay there. She shuddered to imagine the day-to-day life of Rui or other agents, and the constant feeling of dread that must have plagued them.
“Woah, wait, wait, Rui! I want to see your room!” Emu said.
Tsukasa didn’t say it, but he couldn’t help feeling the same.
But Rui was guarded. “It’s not worth seeing, I assure you. Rather—I’m doing remarkably well thus far, but this building did use to be my prison.”
Tsukasa’s conviction was firm: “And that’s why we’re razing it to the ground.”
They took that moment to review it all: Emu’s secondary mission, the Two of Clubs that could trump an ace, the paths they would all take, several backup meeting places in case anything went wrong. And then, at last, the plan was set. It had taken longer than Rui would have liked to sort it all out, but it was far more rewarding this way, with everyone’s input.
“It’s showtime,” Tsukasa, Emu, and Nene said.
“Indeed,” Rui agreed with a deranged and confident grin. “Showtime.”
Notes:
Heists can feel very similar to shows, don't you think?
Quite a few details here are first mentioned in the prequel story, but I did my best to keep them from feeling jarring to those that haven't read it. Feel free to mention if anything is too confusing! If you haven't read the prequel story and want to, now is a great time to do so!
It's very refreshing to see Rui actively accepting affection from Tsukasa this time, after spending pretty much the whole story being against it. Atta boy.
NEXT TIME:
“You’ll be right behind me,” Tsukasa reminded.
Caught, Rui laughed. “I'd prefer you don't get into a hand-to-hand with him. Or touch him at all. Much less allow yourself too… In fact, the more I think this plan over, the more I don’t like it.”
“What? That can’t be right,” Tsukasa said, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.
“I simply...” Rui’s fingers fell to a particular point on Tsukasa’s chest where he absently traced a shape. “Don’t want you hurt.”
“That’s rich,” Tsukasa scoffed. “You should have had that sentiment two years ago if you wanted me to believe it.”
Chapter 14: The Cracks like Wings
Summary:
The final showdown begins. Rui has doubts about the plan, fearing that one of he or Tsukasa, or both of them, may not make it out alive. Either way, they are both determined to destroy Kaito once and for all.
Notes:
And this is it!! The ending. It's so surreal to finally be here after so many months. This confrontation with Kaito took me such a long time to figure out what elements were staying and which ones were leaving. I've done a lot of teasing and toying, and now it all ends. For real this time, I'm revealing my entire hand.
Thank you everyone
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Tsukasa took a deep breath. This was it. He felt like an actor waiting in the wings before a show.
He was standing just outside the metallic sliding doors into Kaito’s room, where the leader of Capazon would be waiting for them. When the door opened, Tsukasa would rush in, and his game would begin.
The hallway leading up to Kaito’s room had tall ceilings and harsh lights lining the floors, with bottomless pits on either side of the walkway.
“Are they really bottomless?” Tsukasa had asked while they walked.
“Oh? Are you volunteering to jump down and find out?” had been Rui’s riposte.
Tsukasa went through a mental checklist of everything needed for the plan. He had the microphone that Amia had given them, as well as several speeches and back-up speeches depending on Kaito’s reactions. At this moment, Emu was racing through the halls and Nene was sneaking through the computer rooms.
It was hard, not knowing what his team was doing. It had been much easier working by himself in that aspect—anything that went wrong was his fault, and he had full control at all times. But it was also much better. Like having fellow actors on a stage, together they could make much more fantastical productions than he ever could have alone.
“Nene made it to the control room,” Rui said while fiddling with a tiny robot. It was a pinkish sphere with large ears like a bat and a tiny, silent propeller sticking out of its head. “She’ll override the shut-down protocol and then we can proceed.”
As if on cue, the bright red light next to the door flickered off, and then they heard a whirring sound like a lock clicking open. Tsukasa took one last readying breath, squared his shoulders, but then Rui asked him to wait a moment and adjusted something on Tsukasa’s collar.
It was overly sentimental, like a housewife bidding her soldier husband a tearful goodbye. Tsukasa couldn’t be mad at Rui, knowing that if their positions were reversed, he’d be one hundred times worse. But still he captured Rui’s fingers.
“You’ll be right behind me,” Tsukasa reminded.
Caught, Rui laughed. “I'd prefer you don't get into a hand-to-hand with him. Or touch him at all. Much less allow yourself to… In fact, the more I think this plan over, the more I don’t like it.”
“What? That can’t be right,” Tsukasa said, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.
“I simply...” Rui’s fingers fell to a particular point on Tsukasa’s chest where he absently traced a shape. “Don’t want you hurt.”
“That’s rich,” Tsukasa scoffed. “You should have had that sentiment two years ago if you wanted me to believe it.”
Rui’s eyes widened. He really was adjusting to all of this slowly, wasn’t he? It was strange; normally Rui was the quick one. But Tsukasa couldn’t say he minded. He was patient. And once Rui remembered that Tsukasa was invincible, Rui found his resolve.
“Yes,” he said with a smile. “We’re much better prepared this time, aren’t we? We’ll beat him at our own game.”
“Right.” Tsukasa then gave him an unamused look. “Honestly I would have thought you’d be begging me to go through with this plan. Go on, beg already! Give me that terrifying attitude of yours that makes me fear for my life.”
Rui chuckled, then did as his partner requested: “I wonder what sorts of strangled sounds my perfect guinea pig will make upon impact.”
“That’s more like it.”
With a deep breath, Tsukasa stepped in to Kaito’s room. It was as disorienting as Rui had warned it would be. It was like stepping into the lobby of a five-star hotel: inviting, but in a way that refused to let you actually feel welcomed.
Kaito’s room was dark and sleek, accented with blue everywhere. Blue furniture, blue plush carpet, blue lights darting along the walls, blue logos on the drink glasses at his minibar.
But most striking of all was the enormous water tank. It stretched the entire back wall, the vast deep color haunting. There was not a single fish inside. No rocks or kelp either, no decorations or color, no life. And no movement in the tank at all, not even quiet ripples in the water, which must have meant that it was air-tight. The stillness was eerie.
Sweeping the room quickly with his eyes, Tsukasa saw a large bookshelf which must have been the secret passage that Rui had mentioned, through which they would make their escape. There was a large polycarbonate desk in front of the empty fish tank, with a machine whirring and several papers strewn about, some even fallen on the floor. The ceiling had a very large skylight, but there was another ceiling even further above that one. If Tsukasa’s memories of the building’s layout matched, then that was the hallway to the control room.
“I thought you agreed to be my prisoner.”
Tsukasa spun around, and saw Kaito leaning against the edge of a shadowy corner. In the wake of his words, the room was deadly silent save for the ominous clicking of bullets loading into the magazine of a gun.
“You forgot to put fish in your tank.”
Kaito clicked the magazine into his gun, not amused. “I wouldn’t expect a boisterous, pestiferous little beast like you to understand my vision of the perfect world.”
“Your vision is quite boring,” Tsukasa said with a frown. “A fish tank without fish is simply wrong!”
“What would you know of right and wrong?”
The quiet, nearly imperceptible sound of the door opening and then closing. Tsukasa did not look at it, and laughed loudly to mask the sound.
“Plenty! I fight on the side of justice.”
That tripped a nerve in Kaito, and he snarled. “Spit that word out of your filthy mouth. A terrorist knows nothing of justice.”
“And I suppose a failed policeman knows more?”
“How dare you.” Kaito dropped the gun on the bar, then lunged forward. He seized two fistfuls of Tsukasa’s shirt, lifting him into the air. Fury seethed behind his eyes. Tsukasa held them in defiance. “You want to know what justice is, you aggravating worm? Do you really want to know!?”
Tsukasa kept the club-shaped microphone hidden in his palm. He was close to Kaito here, close enough to smell a drink on his breath. So much for perfect control. Tsukasa kept one hand on Kaito’s, and reached the other one for Kaito’s collar. He snapped it into place securely and felt it turn on.
“What do you think it is,” Tsukasa grunted out, breath clipped.
“Justice is whatever I say it is!”
With a gnashing roar, Kaito ripped Tsukasa off his hands and threw him across the room. Tsukasa cried out when crashed against the tank, hard, his back and breath breaking. But—no—that was the glass. Tsukasa hid his mouth behind his wrist so Kaito wouldn’t see his smile. Rui was right; that glass was under far too much pressure without any support. With enough force…
“I have control!” Kaito wailed. “I decide what is right and wrong! Justice is power, and I share absolute justice with the world!”
Tsukasa was still winded, and moving his torso caused a nearly-sharp throbbing sensation, so he stayed where he was. “If your justice is so perfect, why are innocent people being ripped away from their homes and families?”
Kaito laughed in disbelief. “Why am I protecting our country by burning away the weeds?”
Protection, or control. Terrorist, or fighter for a better world. A villain, or a visionary. Kaito and Rui were both the type to enjoy the specifics of wordplay. But Tsukasa didn’t care for that. He'd learned now that things weren't always so clear, so opposite, so one or the other. So black and white. Kaito could call it what he wanted, but that changed nothing. He had been using his power to abuse people for long enough.
“I’m not sure if you know this, Kaito,” Tsukasa began. He bit down a groan as he forced his muscles to move. Slowly, he rose to his feet. “But when you burn something to ash? That’s when a Phoenix is born.”
The cracks radiating out from Tsukasa’s back looked like wings.
Kaito grabbed a gun from off the bar and aimed it at Tsukasa, but Tsukasa scoffed.
“The last time someone tried that, I came away unscathed.”
“You don’t have anyone protecting you this time.”
Tsukasa looked behind Kaito, and caught two eyes the color of the morning light. “Guess again.”
Thus far, the plan had gone flawlessly. Tsukasa completely stole Kaito’s attention, which allowed Rui to slip in undetected and set up the camera to his flying drone. He had to program a few tweaks to it very quickly and set it up at an optimal angle to capture everything. But that was the easy part. The hardest part came next.
“Kaito.” Rui’s fury was not tempered. “I thought I’d asked you to leave him to me.”
Turning his head but not moving his arms, Kaito looked back at Rui.
“Ah,” Kaito said, seeming to recover more of himself. “You’re here. Took you long enough.”
“Meiko was, as you’d suspected, incapacitated. I had to step in and do her job for her. But I do not see how that means you have to do my job for me.”
Kaito lowered his gun, shrugging. He seemed much more controlled now than he had a second ago. Tsukasa really got under his skin, didn’t he? Rui couldn’t help relating.
“He’s yours now, finish the job already.”
Rui nodded, and stepped forward. “Yes, with pleasure.”
Now, it was him and Tsukasa, both bathed in the eerie blue glow, while Kaito watched. Rui really was regretting this part of the plan.
Tsukasa narrowed his eyes. “You.”
“Tenma,” Rui said coldly. “You’re very difficult to kill. Particularly compared to Shiro.”
“You lied to me!” Tsukasa cried. “You lied to all of us! You traitor!”
“My loyalties have never once wavered.”
“You abandoned me!” Tsukasa cried. Rui sucked in a breath.
“I did? Me? I abandoned you?” No, Rui did not like this. His voice was too close to his feelings. Tsukasa always did this to him.
“I came back for you!” Tsukasa cried. He tried to take a step forward, but Rui jolted the gun as a reminder. “But you had already made your choice. You’re just as greedy as the man who rotted your heart!”
Rui tried not to flinch. He did not like this part of the plan. “And you are as self-centered and simple-minded as ever,” Rui shot back.
“You killed the man I loved!”
“And now, I’m going to kill you.”
Rui aimed the gun at Tsukasa. Right at his heart. From this angle, there was no distance from the cold metal tip of his gun to Tsukasa’s sleek infiltration shirt. Rui had never hated one of his own plans more.
But then, something very, very small...changed. On the side away from Kaito, Tsukasa’s mouth twitched up into a smirk. That one shift radiated like ripples, like an unpredictable fish splashing around in an otherwise perfect tank.
Despite it all, now? Now Rui was having fun.
Maybe this was his best scheme after all. All thanks to the man who gave him unwavering faith.
Rui kept his aim cool, adopted the face of someone about to get revenge on their ex-boyfriend, and shot Tsukasa.
The bullet instantly dashed against Tsukasa’s chest, then ricocheted, turning a perfect forty-five degrees.
Right into Kaito’s stomach.
Kaito let out a horrified and guttural scream, clutching his bloodied abdomen. Tsukasa fell back to the carpet with a hefty grunt, sliding all the way against the cracked tank. Upon impact, the outlines of his feathers deepened, the glass shuddering.
“Rui!” Kaito screamed, “What are you doing you clumsy clod!”
Pocketing his gun, Rui ran to Kaito’s side. He placed a hand across Kaito’s shoulders and gripped Kaito’s bicep.
“He must have known,” Rui said. “I can help. Let me…”
Rui reached into his pocket, and pulled out an item that had been weighing him down for a long time. It was a beautiful and expensive knife, engraved with Kaito’s name.
Rui flicked out the blade, and then. Drove it into Kaito’s back.
Kaito screeched out, his eyes wide. Panic, pain, and confusion shrank his pupils to tiny dots of pitch. He wretched away from Rui’s touch, twisting and flailing around for purchase. Rui couldn’t help thinking he looked like a fish who had been ripped away from the water.
“You were right about one thing, Kaito,” Rui said. “This is immensely satisfying after all.”
Shock screamed from Kaito’s face. “What…!?”
“The knife, I’m not sure you can recognize it from your angle. But you gave it to me the very first time you asked me to torture someone.”
Pieces began to slowly snap together in Kaito’s mind. He drew back from Rui and Tsukasa, retreating further towards his secret exit while clutching his body tight. But he found his movements sluggish, as if wading through tar.
“What did you do to me?” he demanded, staring at his own limbs like they were the things that had betrayed him.
“I laced the knife in a serum. It is slow-acting, numbing, and paralyzing. It will cause your muscles, including your heart, to react slower and slower, until eventually they cannot move at all,” Rui explained. Kaito didn’t look at him, instead looking at his body. He would finally know what it was like to have something of his no longer be under his control.
“This can’t be…”
“It will be a slow death,” Rui assured. “But a painless one. Perhaps better than you deserve, but despite your best efforts, I refuse to become what you tried to make me into.”
At that, something finally snapped in Kaito, and he flicked his head up. “You said your loyalty never once wavered!”
“That’s right,” Rui affirmed. “It hasn’t. I’ve never been loyal to you. Always to my ideals. And now, to my friends. Meanwhile, you have only ever been loyal to yourself.”
Kaito shook his head, genuine fear and anguish etched into his face. “You broke Tenma out of jail. You attacked Meiko. It was all you. How many lies have you told? My favorite weapon...turned itself against me? You dare to bite the hand that fed you!?”
“You starved him!” Tsukasa roared. “You fed him scraps and arsenic. He deserved better. Anyone you've ever affected deserved better than what you did to them!”
“No they didn't!” Kaito cried, delirious. “Those pathetic, disgusting worms? Maggots writhing around in rotten meat!? I hate every stupid idiot who has ever worked for me!”
Tsukasa and Rui exchanged a quick glance. Yes, it’s all being recorded.
“Have you even seen them!? Vile blights! Greedy, lazy, self-obsessed, careless, brainless! All of them! Every one of my followers is a pathetic imbecile! I was the only one smart enough to make a difference. I had to reshape the world because I was the only one who could fix it!! Me!”
Kaito fired his gun wildly three times in rage. Tsukasa and Rui both ducked, dodging the ricochets. One landed in the glass of the tank, lodging itself in perfectly and causing ripples of cracks around it. Another hit the control panel in the wall and exposed the secret exit, while the final one smashed into the monitors on Kaito’s desk.
He huffed, his composure like the frayed end of a twice-sawed rope. His hair and eyes were wild, and the serum working through his veins made every movement exaggerated and labored. He looked awful, and pathetic, and small.
Rui stood to his full height and took a few small steps towards Kaito.
“You can't fix the world by yourself,” Rui told him. “No amount of control, perfection, or planning alone will fix it. You have to do it with the help of friends and loved ones.”
Kaito shook his head. He began mumbling nonsense to himself, trapped in his own incompatible egoism choking him. His hand came to his forehead and he clutched tight into his bangs. He kept shaking his head and whispering incomprehensibly.
“Now, Tsukasa!” Rui said, and together they reached for the weakest point in the glass, Tsukasa giving it a clean punch and Rui piercing it with his gun.
Together, they shattered the illusion.
“No!” Kaito cried.
Water gushed through the hole, pouring violently and straining the rest of the glass with its weight. It streamed towards Kaito, who became a rock in the current as it parted around his body. He sank to his knees in disbelief.
“No…” he said again. Tsukasa rolled out his wrist and slapped his fist into his palm, ready to finally play the game he really wanted to play.
“My world…” Kaito bleated miserably. “Everything I’ve built…”
Tsukasa took one step too close, and something seemed to snap in Kaito. He aimed his gun at the secret passage and fired almost the entire round into the door, causing more water to surge inside and causing a hideous electrical hissing.
By Rui’s count, Kaito had exactly one bullet left. He wasn’t surprised when Kaito aimed it at him.
But Tsukasa froze. “No!” he cried. “No, I’m not losing you again!”
The chaos swirled around them, water crashing into the room and licking the bottoms of their feet, the threatening press of the tank into the meager room, the final bullet, the fate Rui knew was going to catch up with him.
He found that, all of a sudden, he desperately wanted to live. He hadn’t felt that before. Why was it that only too late did people learn important things about themselves?
Rui wondered what he could have done as an agent, as a tactician, had he truly fought for his life. What he could have done with Tsukasa as his partner, with Emu and Nene as his friends, with all these new things he’d been taught really landing in him? He could have been a world-class director.
But then.
Kaito shifted. Raised his pistol to his own head. Clicked. Fired.
Deep red blood stained the perfect blue carpets.
Beneath her feet, Nene felt a sudden change in pressure. She worried if the tank was releasing too much water. The plan was only to pierce a small hole in the tank, wasn’t it? Had something gone wrong?
She tucked all the floppy discs and other data-storing devices safely away and sped out of the room. She came into a hallway with a strange window in the floor.
“Nene!”
Nene looked up and saw Emu racing towards her. She held her arms out and squeezed tight when Emu ran into them.
“Everything go okay?” Nene asked, surprising herself with how relieved she felt in Emu's arms.
“Mhm! Everything’s ready to go boom!” Emu said, holding Nene a little longer. Nene was still never sure which Emu liked more: giving hugs, or receiving them. “And I think I might have even gotten through to a couple people.”
If anyone could do it, it would be Emu Ootori. Nene laughed. “Good job.”
Emu pulled back then with concern. “Where are Tsukasa and Rui? They were supposed to use the secret tunnel to reach the control room and meet up with you!”
“I was hoping you’d seen them.”
Then, from beneath their feet, there was a faint whirring sound.
Emu and Nene both looked down, and through the strange glass panel in the floor, there was Rui’s purple large-eared drone. It floated up and down a few times.
Then a very faint cry from an unmistakable voice: “Down here!”
“I got this!” Emu declared. She then found a sliver of the metal walls that was loose and, with a loud grunt, peeled it off. Nene watched Emu’s shoulders bulge briefly. Then, Emu wound up, had Nene stand back, and smashed in the glass.
Nene knelt down and peered through the fresh hole. Below was Kaito’s room, a large glass tank shattered and flooding very quickly. “What’s going on down there!?” she shouted over the roar of rushing water.
“The passageway flooded!” Tsukasa announced. He and Rui were both standing on Kaito’s desk, the water reaching their ankles. “But now that the ceiling’s free, we can float up to the top as the water rises!”
“No good!” Emu announced. “The building’s gonna blow by then! Boom, boom!”
Rui said something that Nene couldn’t hear. “What?” she called.
He pointed, and they looked up to the ceiling above them. The fluorescent light that hung off the ceiling looked sturdy. Sturdier than the section of wall Emu ripped off, at least.
“Oh!” Emu cried. “Nene, toss them your grappling hook!”
“I’ll tie it to the drone so it goes down safely,” Nene suggested. She did so, and it flew down to meet the boys. She and Emu watched with baited breath.
Rui aimed the grappling hook carefully, and shot straight through the hole in the ceiling.
“Going up,” he announced, wrapping an arm around Tsukasa and releasing the catch on the grappling hook in one smooth motion. Tsukasa’s legs wrapped around Rui’s hips so that Rui could hold on with both arms and distribute their weights properly.
He was gone now. He was really, really gone.
“You all right?” Rui asked.
“Fine,” Tsukasa said. “You?”
“Amazing, I believe. Tough to say.”
Tsukasa knew what he meant.
“I never got to punch him in the throat,” he complained with a pout.
Rui chuckled lightly. “Next opponent, then.”
“Yeah.”
They were halfway up now, the flooding waters turbulent and unpredictable below. Kaito’s corpse floated in his once-perfect water. It was finally over. All their hard work and efforts had paid off. It was a weird feeling. Both pride and relief coursed through him, but also a strange sort of emptiness. He’d find his drive again, he knew he would. And he’d gained far more than he’d lost throughout this whole journey. His fingers dug a little harder into Rui’s back. But still, that blank valley between missions always left him listless.
“You were invincible after all,” Rui complimented, breaking Tsukasa out of his contemplation.
Tsukasa grinned. “I told you, didn’t I? Of course I’m invincible. Surely you felt it.”
Rui’s hold on the grappling hook shifted so he could feel it himself.
“Wha-hey!” Tsukasa yelped. “Watch where you’re grabbing!”
“I’m not allowed to hold you tight?” Rui said with a fake frown. “I thought you wanted me to feel it.”
Tsukasa’s eyes flattened. “You know that’s not the issue here. Hold onto the hook properly so we don’t fall!”
Reluctantly, Rui did as he was told. They had nearly reached the top now, and Tsukasa waved to Emu and Nene as they ascended. He wasn’t going to miss this place at all. But it was a shame this was the place he’d discovered that Rui and Shiro were the same person and they’d spent all that time together.
“It’s a shame we’re burning down the place where we had our first time connecting,” Rui said.
They were on the same page, then. It was nice, feeling so close to Rui. “Next time,” Tsukasa promised. “Let’s have another time like that in a place we won’t burn down.”
Rui smiled. “Yes.”
Nene and Emu helped Rui and Tsukasa climb out of the hole and onto their feet. They all steadied each other, checking in quickly and assessing for any injuries. Thankfully everyone was mostly unhurt, with only minor injuries among them.
“Did you get the footage?” Nene asked.
Tsukasa reached into his pocket, pulled out the two clubs, and tossed them lightly for good measure. “Yes!”
“Nene, can we entrust the footage to you?” Rui asked. “I think it may need to be edited a bit before releasing it to the police for sharing. I’d hate for our identities to be exposed.”
Nene held out her hand, and Tsukasa dropped them into her palm. “Leave it to me,” she affirmed.
“Hey, all this water won’t put out the fires will it?” Emu asked, looking down into the flooding room below. “The thermal friends will turn all that water right into steam?”
“Yes,” Rui affirmed. “They’ll be quite decisive.”
“Then we need to get out of here!” Tsukasa said urgently.
Nene frowned, and crossed her arms. “But we were going to use the tunnel under Kaito’s room, and the tank completely broke instead of just cracking. Our escape route is cut off. So now what?”
The three of them looked to Rui. He did have an idea.
“It seems Emu will be getting her wish after all. Everyone, come with me.”
The explosions worked their way through the labyrinthine halls of Capazon. They left nothing standing in their wake. Every chunk of concrete, every harsh fluorescent light, every inch of the squeaky clean dining hall floors, every synthetic cot, every weapon and instrument for cruelty, all of it eradicated. The shockwave wracked the whole city in a small earthquake, radiating out into the sea.
Tsukasa, Emu, Nene, and Rui sat atop a hill overlooking the flaming remains of Capazon headquarters and the rest of the city. Dawn stretched across the horizon, painting the world in blushing early morning light.
Police arrived at the scene, along with a team of paramedics and firefighters. They were containing the fire so that it couldn’t spread, but there was no hope of putting it out. It would run out of fuel first. There were several agents as well, some Phoenix, some Capazon, and Rui even recognized one of the police officers as someone he’d blackmailed in the past. He looked, but didn’t see Meiko. Which was perhaps for the best. He did see the junior agents at Phoenix he’d gotten close to. All of them bustling around in chaos.
It wasn’t an innocent morning at all. But that was what let Rui take his first deep breath of crisp air.
The four of them sat on a large tree stump to continue watching the blaze below. Now their work was finished, and it was in the hands of the state. They’d keep tabs on things of course, and there was going to be a long and messy string of court proceedings. But the terror of the night was over. The salty sea breeze toyed with Rui’s sweat-soaked hair and skin, and looking to the West, he could see the last bits of the stars winking into sleep. The fire below blazed like a phoenix leading the way to a new world of peace. Ashes fluttered like confetti, and the flames flicked up into the sky, piercing the stars.
Emu and Nene sat on either side of Rui’s shoulders, meanwhile Tsukasa sat behind him, their backs pressed together.
“Anyone hungry for a snack?” Emu asked, before proceeding to pull out a bag of marshmallows.
“How on earth did you get that,” Nene said in disbelief.
“One of the paramedics gave them to me!”
“How—nevermind. I’ll take one.”
Emu reached across Rui’s body and handed a marshmallow to Nene, then handed one to Rui. She turned slightly so she was facing closer to Tsukasa. “Hey, hey, how many can you fit into your mouth at once?”
He perked up in pride. “I can fit 15 marshmallows in my mouth at once!”
“You’re a menace to society,” Nene grumbled.
“Only 15? Not 20?” Rui goaded slyly. Nene groaned.
“I can do 20!” Tsukasa declared.
He and Emu began a contest then, splitting the rest of the bag between them. Emu slid the fifteenth marshmallow into the side of her cheek, and for just a moment, it held. Then they spewed out all at once, tumbling off the cliff to the blaze below. She giggled boisterously and laughed. But her movement distracted Tsukasa. He had finally gotten his fifteenth marshmallow in, then suddenly swallowed them.
He coughed violently, gagging to clear his throat. “Ugh. I’m going to be sick.”
They all laughed together. Rui had never let himself believe he would ever feel this warm from anything. Nene and Emu against his arms, Tsukasa supporting his back, he’d found a place he really belonged. A place where he would get to stay.
But he knew. Scars did not simply fade overnight. They took years, and years, and ghosts had a nasty habit of hiding in your shadow so they only came out in dark hours.
Perhaps Nene sensed his depressing thoughts, because suddenly, he felt her hand gently settle atop his. “Good riddance,” she said firmly. He gave her a small smile.
“Yeah!” Emu declared, resting her head on Rui's shoulder. “We're gonna take down lots more bad guys together forever and ever!”
“Indeed,” Rui agreed, letting his head rest on top of Emu's.
And at his back was Tsukasa, who watched the sparks fly up into the sky to join the morning sun.
Rui was home.
Notes:
What a journey they've been through. That *we've* been through.
I'll catch you all in the epilogue!
Chapter 15: Epilogue: The Most Magnificent Mission
Summary:
One final dire mission faces our dynamic duo
Notes:
Heh, you thought I was done with surprises huh?
I had been planning this epilogue for an extremely long time, and pretending it wasn't going to happen was quite hard. I loved writing it though, so I hope you all enjoy reading it.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rin Kagamine, a smartly-dressed young barista, stirred the ice in her drink while she sat down for her break. The piano in the corner of the cafe started up, and an easy jazz tune filled the air. She’d always liked the sound of the piano, and she was glad her manager had listened to her idea to add one for customers to play whenever they felt like it. Rin wished she could play piano, but she took her nail care very seriously. Besides, it was really nice to hear the different ways the customers played.
“Pardon me,” said a smooth and calming voice. Rin looked up and saw a handsome man with purple and blue hair. “I couldn’t help admiring your nails. May I ask where you got them done?”
“Oh!” she said cheerily. “Yes, there’s a lovely place just down the street! My brother and I go every month or so. I think he actually enjoys it more than I do.”
“Is that so?” he asked. “That’s wonderful. What started the tradition, if I may ask?”
Rin gestured to the empty chair opposite her, and he gracefully took it. “Years ago, my brother didn’t come home one night. I was terrified! After staying up all night, he finally crashed through the front door, bruised and exhausted. He didn’t say anything for a while. Then, when I asked what happened, he told me we needed to get our nails done! Isn’t that silly?”
The stranger’s smile was bittersweet. “It’s certainly memorable.”
“It’s been really nice though! Our nail tech is amazing!”
The man shifted in his seat. “Is she now? What makes her so incredible?”
“She tells these amazing stories that feel totally realistic! Her eye for pacing and detail is just the best ever! Plus, she says it’s only one of her jobs, and that she’s more of a night owl! Working two jobs at once must be really hard! It’s like living a double life!”
“Impressive; I certainly wouldn’t want to do that.”
“She usually comes here on her days off too which is awesome! She always picks up treats for her friends; coffee, tea, cheesecake. I think she has a half-day today, so she might swing by in a bit!”
“Is that so?” The man was very excited by this information. “Well, isn’t that a happy coincidence. It’s nice getting to know everyone.”
“Are you new to this section of the city?” Rin asked.
“I am beginning a new chapter of my life.”
“That’s great! I love a new beginning!”
“Me too,” he said, a hand over his heart. “I’m very glad we met.”
She liked this man; he was very friendly and agreeable. He had this aura that made her feel like he’d keep her secrets safe. And he seemed very excited with even the mundane details Rin told him about her life.
The song came to a close, and Rin along with several other patrons clapped. The pianist looked very proud of himself. He then looked directly at the man across from Rin, winked at him, and then started another song.
“Oh!” Rin said excitedly. “Looks like he’s got a little crush on you, huh?”
The man chuckled warmly. “We’re actually partners. He is nothing if not a showman.”
“Aww!” Rin pressed her fingers to her cheeks. “That’s so cute! Oh, my nail tech has a special rate for weddings if that’s something you want to do!”
H is face suddenly got very far away, lost in the music.
Rin let him listen for awhile, and quietly didn’t press when his face contorted with grief.
Rui awoke on the floor.
The carpet was comforting, and immaculately clean, and Rui felt it all along his back and gripped it in his fingers to make sure it was real.
Yes, the carpet was real. The smooth wood varnish on the nightstand was real. The hypnotic blurring of the fan blades overhead was real. The fresh sandalwood scent in the sheets above was real. His heartbeat was real. The raised scar tissue under the pad of his pointer finger was real.
Tsukasa’s snoring, that was real.
Was it?
Rui sprang up and gripped Tsukasa’s shoulders tightly. He’d taken up nearly the entire bed, splayed out like a starfish, and he’d re-buttoned his silk pajama top improperly.
But when Rui tried to speak, nothing came out.
The darkness began swallowing him whole, drowning him, sending all of his dark memories crashing into one another. Screams that he’d sworn he’d forgotten, smells of sterile walls suddenly awash with fluids, the squeaky but sticky floor of a harsh dining hall, the bitter ration bars, bile and blood choking him.
Then it began to fade, piece by piece replaced. Bile and blood turning to sandalwood, bitter rations turning to sweat, sterile walls turning into fan blades and soft sheets.
Rui leaned forward and collapsed into Tsukasa’s waiting arms.
He clung to Tsukasa so tight he feared he was suffocating him, but Rui could not let go. Tsukasa’s hands against his bare back were warm, and his honed but lean muscles were strong. Rui breathed him in, the dried sweat sticking on his skin, the fresh scent of his shampoo, the shape of his collarbone.
“Rui? Are you—“
“No!” Rui insisted sharply. “No, don’t say anything. Please. I can’t bear to hear it. Your voice, if it—it can’t. I can’t. Don’t speak. Please.”
Tsukasa’s mouth hung open, stunned, concerned. But then he closed it resolutely, and settled it into Rui’s shoulder. He nodded.
“You’re here?” Rui asked. His voice was cracking and thick. But Tsukasa nodded.
“And you won’t disappear?” Rui asked. Tsukasa shook his head.
Then, Tsukasa loosened his grip a bit, tapping on Rui’s arms so he’d pull them back. Once Tsukasa’s arms were free, he signed:
I’m here.
Rui held him until they drifted to sleep once more.
The next morning, Tsukasa found his lover at the stove in his kitchen. He looked striking in the sunlight, especially wearing Tsukasa’s old t-shirt which was too small for him and hugged his pectorals tightly. Tsukasa could complain that Rui was stretching out his clothes...but the more he looked, the less he could find something to complain about.
“Good morning, Tsukasa,” Rui said brightly. It was as if his nightmare hadn’t happened at all. Well, if Rui wasn’t ready to address it, Tsukasa wasn’t eager to force him. Rui usually did what he wanted.
“Good morning,” he greeted, lingering in the threshold and enjoying the view of Rui at his stove. “I didn't know you could cook.”
“I consider myself quite adequate, though I am something of an experimental chef.”
Tsukasa frowned. “I have perfectly good cookbooks.”
“Well, what's the fun in being perfectly good?”
“Hah.” Tsukasa approached and stood on his toes, which Rui understood perfectly and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth. “I suppose I can't help enjoying your ideas. As long as you promise not to poison me.”
“Of course not! Darling, if I wanted to poison you, I would have done so by now.”
It was the sort of promise that was equally unnerving as it was reassuring. “Okay, good to know I am not as risk of being poisoned. But you won't put anything weird and gross in the food?”
“...Why don't you have a seat?”
Tsukasa’s eyes flattened. “Rui.”
“Let's turn on the radio, shall we?” he suggested instead.
He stepped over to the radio and flicked it on, then went back to the stove again. Pleasant, brassy jazz filled Tsukasa’s kitchen, and Tsukasa had never felt so content in his life. There was the nice view and the savory smells, and of course the bolstering satisfaction from his job well done. But more than that, he felt like he was no longer missing anything. He wasn’t desperate or anxious to prove himself, his pride satisfactorily earned, and all of his friends were safe and well. He could spend the rest of his life like this.
The music came to an end, and the morning news anchor replaced it.
“Capazon CEO’s suicide shocked the world, but recently police have released to the press important footage from the scene. The recovered audio and video have completely destroyed his platform. Our reliable police force captured the renowned businessman’s true feelings that could change the very shape of our nation.”
“The police captured the footage!?” Tsukasa cried, outraged.
Rui chuckled. “You do know, loud as you are, that they cannot hear you, yes?”
Tsukasa stuffed his cheek onto his fist and grumbled. “One of these days they will.”
Flipping to another channel, Tsukasa found another jazz station and listened to that instead. He’d read more about the triumphant destruction of the dictator in the newspapers. This time, a wailing clarinet took the lead with a quick-stepping piano supporting the harmony. Tsukasa recognized the tune, and he hummed along.
Rui turned off the burner. Then he stood, tension in his forearms, and Tsukasa stopped humming. He felt his grip tighten, too.
“Tsukasa, um. About last night.”
Tsukasa waited.
“I wanted to say that it—shouldn't. Ah. It should not happen again. I apologize.”
Tsukasa didn’t like the way Rui sounded like he was trying to convince himself. And if it had no chance of happening again, then why was Rui so afraid of discussing it? No, this didn’t feel like something that would go away so easily.
“It can,” Tsukasa said.
Rui turned to face him, confused. “Hm?”
“It can happen again. Over and over. I'd do it again. I don't care.”
Tsukasa watched Rui react to that information slowly. He was the type to absorb feelings rather than emit them, so Tsukasa knew he had to watch him closely. Tsukasa would remain a source of strength for him no matter what.
“I used to have these...dreams, you see. About you.” Rui’s hands came up to his elbows and gripped them. “In the dreams, you would tell me you loved me, but then suddenly you would say vicious things instead. Things I know you would never say. But I could not summon up my wits and wherewithal following the...well. It had been years since I’d had dreams like that. I’d truly thought they had all vanished. So that’s why the thought of hearing your voice tell me those same things now was…”
He trailed off. He shook himself a bit and then grabbed two plates from the cupboard. He began plating their meals with precision while Tsukasa stared at his back again.
“I see.” It was heart-wrenching to hear. How much had Rui needlessly suffered because of Tsukasa’s naivety and simple-minded arrogance? No more. “Rui, at night, if you wake up from a nightmare, I promise I won't say a word. I'll just be there.”
Rui placed two plates on the table in front of Tsukasa. As his hand came away, Tsukasa caught it. “Do it as much as you need. And don't you dare think about holding back on me.”
Tsukasa forced Rui’s eyes on his. He had to see how much Tsukasa meant this.
“All right,” Rui finally said. “Then, I imagine it will happen again.”
“It better!” Tsukasa declared, still not letting go of Rui’s hand or gaze. “I need to keep doing it until you figure out that I'm not leaving.”
Rui’s eyes flicked down to Tsukasa’s lips. Tsukasa leaned forward, ready for a passionate kiss that would blow away Rui’s anxieties.
But instead, Rui turned around again. He went to the refrigerator, leaving Tsukasa slightly annoyed and still very much wanting that kiss. Rui reached in and pulled out a can without a label. The mystery-can was definitely something awful that Tsukasa was guaranteed to hate. Marinated green pepper juice? No, Rui wouldn’t be so diabolical, would he? He would also suffer from that.
“Even if I put something weird and gross in your meal?” He tested, holding up the can with his back still turned. It was a fantastic back, full of tight muscles that were spotlighted by Tsukasa’s shirt. But Tsukasa would not be distracted.
“Even if you ruin every meal for the rest of my life.” Tsukasa affirmed. “Now turn around, I need—“
Rui did turn around, caught him as he was standing, and used his mouth pressed against Tsukasa’s to push him back into his chair.
Tsukasa breathed in heavily, enjoying Rui's warmth. His scent, the sound of his breath, the lines in his irises, the small textured creases in his lips. Tsukasa was wiser now, and had caught that Rui was likely using this kiss as a diversion. But it didn’t matter. Rui was alive. He was here. He loved Tsukasa, and accepted Tsukasa’s love, and Tsukasa wanted this for the rest of his life.
He thought about that again, in this kiss that Rui was using both to show his gratitude and to take advantage of Tsukasa’s unwavering resolve. He wanted this for the rest of his life.
Tsukasa broke the kiss with a frustrated: “Oh no.”
Rui looked worried. “What? What is it?”
Frowning, Tsukasa crossed his arms. “If I tell you, you'll use it against me.”
Rui sat across from him warily. “Regardless of what I will or won’t use against you, you breaking off a kiss with ‘oh no’ and then insisting on silence afterwards is causing me a great deal of anxiety.”
Tsukasa growled, then sighed. “Fine! I realized that. If my meal is ruined by you, then that's proof that you're by my side.” Rui waited, and Tsukasa realized all at once what he was building up to. He wasn’t dressed. He still probably had a few cowlicks from last night. Rui had just told him that he used to have nightmares about him. He didn’t have a ring, much less a plan, and these things usually required both.
But somehow, in this moment, Tsukasa knew none of that mattered. This was right. He felt it.
Tsukasa sucked in a deep breath. “When I think of it like that, I realized I wanted every one of my meals to be ruined by you.”
Then, Tsukasa stood. “For the rest of my life.”
It was rare, and possibly a trick of the light. But Tsukasa could have sworn he saw Rui blush. “That sounds an awful lot like...”
“It is.” Tsukasa took a step around the table, and then got to one knee at Rui’s side. “Rui Kamishiro, partner with a bond stronger than death, I want you to mess up everything in my life until it's over.”
Rui gasped. “Oh.”
“What do you think?”
Rui didn’t answer, instead holding a hand to his heart and staring in shock with a pained, nearly teary expression on his face.
Tsukasa reached out his hand, and Rui held it. “Now whose silence is causing anxiety?” Tsukasa asked lightly.
“Yes.”
“Yes, you're causing me anxiety?” Tsukasa asked.
“Yes, I will mess up everything I can in your life, for the rest of your life, to have and to hold.”
The next kiss was the first one Tsukasa shared with his fiance. It was very quickly followed by the second. In hindsight, he’d felt like his behavior at the gala was incredibly tame for how intense all of his feelings were. By the time they remembered they had breakfast to eat, it had gone cold.
“Hello? Sir? Are you okay? You drifted off there for a second.”
Rui snapped back to the present, a cafe sitting across from a young woman who had given him a plethora of useful information for free. “Apologies,” he told her. “I grew lost in the music.”
“It is nice, isn’t it? He plays using his heart, I can definitely tell.”
Then, a flash of movement from someone who had entered the cafe. Rui sat up straight, and tried not to make himself obvious. From the corner of his eye, he confirmed all the details.
This was their target.
He waited until she finished her order, maintaining a bit more small talk and distracting the barista so she wouldn’t see the target. Then, the target grabbed her to-go drink and box of baked goods, and made towards the exit.
“Forgive me, but I have to run,” Rui said suddenly. “It was lovely to meet you, thank you for the company.”
She waved happily to him, and he waved back. He hadn’t realized how much he needed this.
He then went to the piano, keeping the target in the corner of his eye. He placed a hand on Tsukasa’s back and whispered, “She’s on the move.”
Tsukasa swiftly stood, and together, they exited in hot pursuit.
She moved quickly, especially for someone carrying a drink and delicate snacks. Though they trailed her at a distance, not wanting to frighten her into running, so it would take a bit of time before they caught up to her.
“All the pieces are coming together nicely,” Rui commented.
“Agreed! Say, did you like the songs I played?” Tsukasa asked. “I think they’ll be perfect for the main event, though I’m still working on my song list. It will be nice to show off my lesser-used skills for this mission.”
“They were delightful,” Rui affirmed, which made Tsukasa quite pleased. “I am hopeful this mission will turn out to be our most magnificent of all time.”
“It will be.”
Rui smiled warmly.
Suddenly, their target stopped. Looked to her left, her right. Then bolted.
“Go,” Rui instructed Tsukasa with a push to his back. “The rendezvous point near the station.”
“On it.” Tsukasa took off in pursuit, while Rui circled around to the back alleys.
Rui had never been so eager to chase down a target before. Spy work was truly so much more enjoyable when he could be himself and be at Tsukasa’s side all at once. And soon, once this was taken care of… Rui narrowed his eyes in determination. I can’t take the next step forward until this is dealt with, he thought.
At last, Rui came upon the rendezvous point. He slowed down to a casual walk, and tucked himself behind a large trash can. It was not a good hiding place. But luckily, Tsukasa was bright enough to steal the attention of anyone.
Sure enough, their target came racing down the alleyway and ran into a large fence. With her hands full, she had nowhere to go. She stopped, putting her cup and pastries in the air, and panted.
“Please don’t hurt me!” she cried.
Tsukasa panted as he took a few steps closer. “Turn around slowly.”
She gave a funny look, but did as instructed.
“Good afternoon, Amia! It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” he said brightly.
Mizuki released a massive breath.
“Tenma!? Jeez, you really had me scared for a second. I thought I was gonna die!”
“No, no,” Tsukasa assured. “You’re notoriously slippery is all! I was instructed not to let you out of my sight if I ever saw you again!”
“Well, that’s terrifying,” Mizuki mumbled. “But hey, it is good to see you again! Alive and all in one piece after everything! Does that mean it all worked out with—“
Rui emerged from his hiding place and hopped over the fence.
“Rui! Hey!” Mizuki said brightly. They waved with their drink hand. “You really love those dramatic entrances huh.”
“What can I say. With someone as bright as Tsukasa stealing the attention, even one as flamboyant as I can achieve my aspirations of stealth.”
Mizuki laughed. “I guess that’s true huh? Well, I’m glad to see you again. Why did you guys chase me into a creepy alleyway?”
“We have something very important we had to deliver to you!” Tsukasa announced.
“What? Something for me?” Mizuki asked.
“It was thanks to you that our reconnection went so smoothly! And your device that allowed us to capture Kaito’s true colors!” Tsukasa said.
“Heh, that guy was only ever one color. But I’m glad it came in handy! I figured Rui’d be able to work out how to use it, but I wasn’t sure if my parting gift was redundant.”
“It was invaluable,” Rui assured. “I was able to focus my efforts on planning instead of having to worry about making a camera and microphone myself.”
“Well, that’s great to hear,” Mizuki said. “But honestly you guys, I really don’t need anything.”
“Unacceptable!” Tsukasa insisted. “You assisted a star spy. Modesty simply will not do!”
“Please accept this,” Rui said, handing Mizuki the gold-gilded and sturdy envelope. “From the both of us.”
Mizuki handed her treats and drink to Tsukasa so she could accept the envelope with both hands. She checked, but Rui and Tsukasa both encouraged her on, so she tore open the envelope. Then she pulled out the colorful card stock, decorated in bold purples and yellows.
She read it carefully, grinned excitedly, and looked up at them with glee. Then she gave them a judgmental look and a scoff.
“All this to track me down, just to give me a wedding invitation?”
Tsukasa and Rui looked to each other, and then both broke out into laughter. Tsukasa’s confident and proud, Rui’s casual and easygoing.
“Well, you didn’t give me a way to contact you,” Rui told her.
“Jeez, fine, I get it! Take my number before you give me another heart attack.” Mizuki fished out a business card for their nail salon and handed it to Rui.
“It’s nice to see you again,” Rui said quietly. “I’ve missed you.”
“Yeah? Me too. Hey, let’s spend some time catching up before the wedding, okay?”
“I had chased you down today hoping you might suggest that,” Rui admitted.
Mizuki laughed. “You really are something else, Rui. And you found someone willing to go with you as you chased me down?”
“That is correct!” Tsukasa affirmed proudly. “I knew our wedding could not be anything short of perfect! And Rui could never possibly get married without such a precious friend at his side.”
Mizuki elbowed Tsukasa gently in his ribs. “You sure you wanna be stuck with this guy til death do you part?”
“Mizuki, please,” Rui said as he fought a grin. “Not even death can separate us.”
“That’s right. Our love never dies!” Tsukasa said.
Mizuki cringed. “Man, that’s so corny it hurts! But sometimes corny things are the best. Anyways, I’ve gotta deliver these before they melt. Catch you guys later!”
They waved goodbye to Mizuki, and a deep sense of satisfaction settled over them. Wordlessly they both reached for each other’s hand and held it.
Rui had never wanted to hope he could have a happy ending, yet one found him anyways. He thought the best he could hope for was forgetting his old wounds. But instead he had the whole world and his whole life ahead of him.
Tsukasa and Rui walked towards their next mission hand in hand.
Notes:
The very first ruikasa marriage proposal I've ever written and I'm a little obsessed with it if I'm honest. To everyone who wanted to see them get married, congratulations. This is for you. Sorry for pretending it wasn't going to happen, and thank you for indulging my aggravating nonsense.
NEXT TIME:
Bonus content! Timeline, QnA, the wonderful FANART I've received for this story, and my final author's notes to everyone. I hope you'll read them, but if this is where we part ways, thank you for everything. I was honored to be able to share this story with you all. I was absolutely enamored with the idea of a plot twist that shocked everyone, and I worked insanely hard to make that happen. I was so happy you gave me your trust, even when I purposefully toyed with it. This year writing this story has been absolutely incredible, and it will always remain a highlight of my life.
Chapter 16: Bonus Extras
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ladies, Gentlemen, and Distinguished Folk, welcome to the After-Story Specials! (Don’t make that into an acronym). This is R. Volcano ready to get the behind-the-scenes scoop on our incredible story! First up is an explanation of the timeline since it was purposefully confusing for most of the story.
- Tsukasa joined SPARK when he was 18, then joined Phoenix when he was 21. He’d spent about 2 years at SPARK and almost 3 years at Phoenix when the story begins. He starts the story at 24, then is 26 after a time skip and for the rest of the story.
- As for Rui, well...Rui joined SPARK when he was 18 as well, following the kidnapping of Mizuki’s girlfriend and his surgery. SPARK disbands when he’s 20, and he joins Capazon for four years, rapidly proving himself capable, ingratiating himself to Kaito’s good graces, and rising to a trusted position. At 24, he joins Phoenix as a double agent, and is 26 after the timeskip
Next is my absolute favorite part of the After-Story Special—fanart! Make your way to the gallery of incredibly talented and passionate artists who were generous enough to share their work! Each one is valuable beyond words. Please also note that the gallery is always accepting new works!
Featuring: Shiro, Tsukasa in a dress, a 60 panel comic during the gala arc!? and more!
Our final segment is an exclusive Q and A, featuring protagonists/deuteragonists Tsukasa Tenma and Rui Kamishiro! They’re here to give us exclusive insight into readers’ burning questions. Lots of information gets passed around and twisted in a spy story, so we’re here to set the record straight!
T: Thank you for having us!
R: Yes, thank you for having us. This should be a treat for our readers.
V: Gentlemen, please make yourselves comfortable on the couch. And now, let’s begin!
V: Starting off easy, what does SPARK stand for?
T: Special Protocols Agency for Reconnaissance and Knowledge!
R: A nice name, isn’t it? Shame they were disbanded.
T: Phoenix is an excellent name though! And isn’t it fitting that after the spark of fire, there’s a Phoenix?
R: Is that the reason you joined Phoenix? The cool name?
T (hesitating to answer): I—among other reasons! Emu and Nene sought me out in particular because they’d heard of my heroic deeds!
R: That itself is a feat considering spies are not supposed to be famous.
T: Miss V, can we go to the next question now please.
V: How did Kaito not find out that Rui was secretly Shiro? Did Rui keep his family safe?
R: The specifics of how I kept my identity safe are best detailed in the prequel story. Though it is not...a time I think on fondly. As for my parents, they are safe and well. I couldn’t risk seeing them in person, but I made a robot that can deliver them messages discreetly for me. My parents think I work at a tech company that provides room and board, which is technically true. Now that this is all over, I’m very eager to pay them a visit again.
T: I’ll come with you!
R: I’d like that. They’d love to meet you.
T: Of course they would! Everyone is eager to meet the great Tsukasa Tenma!
V: Speaking of the great Tsukasa Tenma, what is his family’s situation?
T: My sister and her band are touring around the country, and I couldn’t be more proud of her! Meanwhile, my family believes I work as a security guard for Phoenix. Also technically true. They just aren’t aware that I’m part of the intelligence division.
R: One of the most fun parts of spywork is telling fragments of the truth, or even just outright lies if the target is vile enough.
T: What.
R: For example, Kaito thinks my biological mother is dead and that my biological father is a policeman. For the record, my mother is a forensic scientist and my father a roboticist, it was them who inspired me to go into spywork. There are government records of a couple named Kamishiro but I falsified some documents so it looks like they don’t have any children.
T: Falsifying documents was the very first thing we learned, wasn’t it? It’s surprisingly easy.
R: And it only gets easier the more you do it!
T: Despite feeling like it would make me a hypocrite, I feel the urge to scold you.
V: What did Tsukasa do for the years Rui was in Capazon after SPARK disbanded?
T: I went back home and helped around the house. My parents both work a lot, so I made them and my sister hearty meals every day while keeping the house spotless! I also helped Saki and her band with loading and unloading equipment for their performances, networking at events, booking them new gigs. Spy work was surprisingly helpful to that end!
R: Your sister was your inspiration for becoming a spy, yes?
T: That’s right! She was sick often as a child, so I would pretend to be a spy to cheer her up. Her eyes lit up every time, and eventually I decided I couldn’t let that feeling ever go to waste! It’s a shame she can’t know I’m a real spy now, though. She always says things like ‘too bad you can’t really do spy work!’ and I have to laugh awkwardly.
R: I wonder if she’s really so unaware as you claim...
V: In chapter 2, we find out that while introducing himself to Tsukasa for the first time at SPARK, Rui says, “I liked the name Asahi, while Shiro is an alias.” Where did the name ‘Asahi Shiro’ come from?
T: That’s so purposefully misleading. You never even said that was your name, did you. Not once.
R: I can’t say I didn’t enjoy misleading you either.
T: Why didn’t you use your real name when we met? Uh—Rui Kamishiro is your real name, right?
R: Yes. ‘Asahi’ is just the name of an actor I liked. As for Shiro…
T: Kamishiro. (Tsukasa slaps a hand to his forehead.)
R: Clever, no?
(Tsukasa glares)
R: As for why I used an alias, the story is somewhat long. After the attack, I was rushed to a private hospital and passed out. When I awoke, there was stitches and gauze around my neck, and when I tried to speak, I couldn’t. It was terrifying. The doctors explained to me what happened, and Mizuki’s girlfriend and her dad came to visit me shortly afterwards. Her father advised me to abandon my old name and adopt a pseudonym immediately. He said that Capazon hated having loose ends, and as far as they were concerned, I was a witness.
T: You invented an alias to hide from Capazon…But they found you anyways.
R: Yes. Honestly, back in the hospital, a part of me was ready to simply die. I didn’t see the point in giving myself a new name if they were simply going to find me again. But I thought about it for a long time, watching films in an old tv box in the hospital while I healed, unable to talk at all. I read books on sign language and watched whatever came on, including films with the lead actor named Asahi Genbu.
T: Asahi. ‘Morning.’
R: The morning that the doctors told me they had a procedure I could undergo that would give me my voice back, it was a bright white sunrise. So I took the name Asahi Shiro. And I decided I was tired of letting selfish dictators have their way.
T: Wow. Rui…
R: For a long time, I didn’t feel very much beyond that rage. Or maybe it was hope. It’s oftentimes difficult for me to tell the difference.
V: So then who shot Rui?
R: Ah, this part is quite fun! The question that got the author realizing she could do a prequel story. The full story is very exciting!
T: Fun? Exciting? That's not the words you used earlier to describe the prequel story!
R: Well, this part of the story is fun.
T: Don’t mislead people! That story has disturbing content and imagery! It is especially disappointing because that story doesn’t include the star in it, so we can’t have the glorious tale of our spectacular romance!
R: True, this story has a much happier ending, doesn’t it?
T: Of course it does!!! Because I’m in your story now!
R: I’ll summarize, since the story is rather unsuitable for many audiences. A policeman had wandered into the scene the night that SPARK tried to infiltrate Capazon. The infiltration had gone wrong and we were forced back towards the SPARK safehouse, which had already been destroyed. The remaining rubble and beams cut the edge of the skyline near a cliff. Tsukasa and I were outnumbered gravely, and we didn’t know if any other agents had made it out alive or not.
T: Capazon agents knew how dangerous we were, so there was a tense moment where they simply watched us, like cats with cornered mice, while the silence of the stand-off suffocated us.
R: Then, something unexpected. Movement from far bushes, someone who wasn’t an agent. The policeman immediately stood out to me. He walked unsteadily, and he seemed scared and new. I was the only one watching him, so I saw when he aimed at us—the center of the drama—and shot. His aim was amateurish; I think he’d intended to shoot for our legs but it would have landed square in Tsukasa’s chest.
T: I never knew that…I always thought it was a Capazon agent that shot at me. I feel like a fool now that I wasn’t paying attention.
R: Don’t feel that way, please. I only noticed him because I knew you were watching all the agents. If you hadn’t been, I couldn’t have noticed the officer and wouldn’t have been able to save your life.
T: (Tsukasa’s cheeks take on a distinct red shade.) I see. (He coughs, the color vanishes). After you fell, I fought them all. Every one. I think I killed some of them, if I’m honest. I threw a lot of them into the pit where you fell. Afterwards, I was in rough shape, and I had to get out of there. I came back to find you the next morning, but it was all gone. A few police in the area told me that it was organized crime, and the evidence had all been wiped away. There were no bodies to mourn.
R: (weirdly touched) You wanted to mourn me?
T: Of course I did! Why would you be surprised about that now?
R: I did track down that policeman once I’d settled into my new life at Capazon. I knew he would be a loose end to tie up, and if Kaito ever got suspicious of me at any point, I could not have him finding out that I was not in fact the one who shot Tsukasa Tenma’s partner. Miraculously, that policeman and I happened to share similar hair colors, so I...ah, this part is a bit wicked~
T: What did you do.
R: Well, I told him that I was his bastard son that had come from his affair. It was a bit of a gamble, guessing that he had a wife and cheated on her, but he was a policeman, so the odds were in my favor. And I was right! He looked baffled and pale as a ghost, but agreed to anything I asked in exchange for my promise to never tell his wife.
T: And of course you never were going to tell her, because none of it was real.
R: Precisely!
T: You really are something else…
V: Onto our final question! In chapter 1, why did Rui's gizmo check to see if Tsukasa was physically attracted to Rui?
T: Hey, yeah, that's weird!
R: I looked a fair bit different than when you first met me, no? Forgive me if I was desperately curious.
T: Well how come I was the only one getting embarrassed? Where's the gizmo that exposes your attraction to me, huh?
R: Actually, I have something like that. Hold out your hand and I will give you the gizmo that exposes my attraction to you.
(Tsukasa holds out his hand) (Rui kisses his palm) (Tsukasa blushes explosively)
R: Hmhm! Seems you're still the one who's embarrassed!
T: How did I fall for that...
V: Oh my! We'd better wrap things up now before those gizmos get any more advanced!
Thanks folks for joining us on this special segment! I thought it would be best to end things with some levity and fun. You're all amazing, every single one of you reading this right now is amazing. Thanks for indulging me, and letting me share it all with you.
Notes:
Despite claiming to be pretty good with words, I find myself at a loss for them. I don’t think there are enough, in all the languages in the world, to express the depth of my gratitude and appreciation for all the love I’ve been given through this process.
Much of this story deals with surprises. Rui surprises Tsukasa by being a partner he can rely on, Nene surprises Rui by wanting to be his friend, Tsukasa surprises Rui by forgiving him, Rui surprises Kaito by betraying him. And I surprised all of you by having a twist so severe it changed the entire narrative.
Can you believe I once thought this would take me a month max? And then four months, at the absolute most? That part was also a surprise for me. I first had the idea for this story in JULY of *2023*. Had I known back then how long it was going to take, I’m not sure I would have been foolish enough to start. But I’m glad I was.
It began with something rather simple. I watched an indie studio put on a spy thriller musical, with a twist that the main villain was the protagonist’s old partner and one-sided lover. The hero is furious with the villain for lying to him, and kills him. It made for a very dramatic ballad, but honestly, I found myself bored. I was itching for a story where queer love was celebrated instead of demonized, and lying was not an unforgivable action. I think there are lots of reasons people lie, sometimes very compelling, earnest, and noble reasons. Perhaps that makes me sound like a villain. But in a sense, all storytellers are liars. A story is a lie that the audience wants told to them. After all, nothing that happened in these sixty thousand words was real. But the people reading it are real. Their love, and passion, their excitement and glee, their agony and fear, all of those things were real.
I wanted to write a story where the main character told a very big lie, out of necessity, and no one hated him for it. Where the character’s reasons were understood, and the other characters did not waste time hating them or pushing them away, but immediately embracing them. So yes, I had the twist planned from the very beginning. Everything in this story was done with it in mind. From its very inception, this was a story about Rui thinking he was alone, but Tsukasa proving to him that he never would be again. (In that aspect, it’s the equal opposite of Six Kisses to Stardom then, isn’t it? Like the upside down King on a face card.)
Once I started the drafting phase, there was a lot of split information between all the characters that I had to keep track of. Emu and Nene didn’t know much about Tsukasa’s past, Tsukasa thought Shiro died, Kaito thought Rui killed Shiro and was loyal to him. For a long time, it was only me and Rui who had access to the whole truth, so I felt very close to him. But once I started editing seriously, I realized a glaring issue very quickly. I had no idea why Rui would keep his secret from Tsukasa when Tsukasa was going to instantly love him. It took me a long time to think of a reason, because it was important. The entire plot hinged on it. And that was when I realized something critical—I knew something that even Rui didn’t know. I knew his future. I knew that I was not going to let him die a villain. I knew that his friends loved him.
And further, I think many of you knew something that even I didn’t—that this story would be warmly and enthusiastically received. Enjoyed again and again, agonized over, anticipated, discussed, debated, and even loved.
Really, if anyone surprised anyone here, it was you all who surprised me.
To the people who first heard me, one entire year ago, rambling about a spy au and told me they were genuinely, really interested: this is all your fault. Thank you. I wouldn’t have done it if not for those messages you sent me.
To the people who left comments every chapter, sharing your thoughts or just letting me know you were reading: you gave me strength during the longest weeks. Your words reached me every time.
To everyone who helped me with plot details, including asking me the questions I really did not know how to answer and reminding me that fanfiction was supposed to be fun and cool above all else, you are my heroes and you can ask for whatever you want from me.
To the people who left novels in the comments: I owe you my entire life. To the people who left a comment on any chapter: you gave me life. To the people who left kudos and bookmarks, or thought about my story after you stopped reading it: I’m beyond honored. To the people who told me they were interested even before the twist, even before the FAKE twist: your energy got me through the terrifying early stages.
And to everyone reading these words right now:
Thank you.
For everything you’ve done for me this year. From the bottom of my heart.
Until we meet again!
Pages Navigation
000 (Guest) on Chapter 1 Fri 12 Apr 2024 02:07AM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 1 Fri 12 Apr 2024 03:35AM UTC
Comment Actions
starryyy_flowers on Chapter 1 Fri 12 Apr 2024 03:57AM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 1 Mon 15 Apr 2024 05:37AM UTC
Comment Actions
RuikasaMyBeloved (Guest) on Chapter 1 Fri 12 Apr 2024 04:55AM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 1 Mon 15 Apr 2024 05:27AM UTC
Comment Actions
MemeCannotExist on Chapter 1 Fri 12 Apr 2024 05:54AM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 1 Fri 12 Apr 2024 04:18PM UTC
Comment Actions
MemeCannotExist on Chapter 1 Fri 12 Apr 2024 05:57AM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 1 Fri 12 Apr 2024 04:27PM UTC
Comment Actions
4R_1N on Chapter 1 Fri 12 Apr 2024 11:53AM UTC
Comment Actions
4R_1N on Chapter 1 Fri 12 Apr 2024 12:05PM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 1 Fri 12 Apr 2024 04:13PM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 1 Fri 12 Apr 2024 04:09PM UTC
Comment Actions
SleepieAsh on Chapter 1 Fri 12 Apr 2024 07:04PM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 1 Mon 15 Apr 2024 05:26AM UTC
Comment Actions
pandalana on Chapter 1 Sat 13 Apr 2024 10:50PM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 1 Mon 15 Apr 2024 05:21AM UTC
Comment Actions
kasangelic on Chapter 1 Sun 19 May 2024 04:05PM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 1 Sun 19 May 2024 04:41PM UTC
Comment Actions
R_Kei on Chapter 1 Sun 26 May 2024 08:30PM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 1 Tue 28 May 2024 12:33AM UTC
Comment Actions
c4ssian on Chapter 1 Fri 12 Jul 2024 04:51AM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 1 Sat 27 Jul 2024 02:47AM UTC
Comment Actions
uraneptunium on Chapter 1 Fri 20 Sep 2024 02:35AM UTC
Last Edited Fri 20 Sep 2024 02:36AM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 1 Fri 20 Sep 2024 03:07AM UTC
Comment Actions
Reec3Cupcak3 on Chapter 1 Mon 13 Jan 2025 08:15PM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 1 Sat 18 Jan 2025 03:38AM UTC
Comment Actions
ChewyGhost on Chapter 1 Mon 28 Apr 2025 09:52AM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 1 Tue 09 Sep 2025 10:15PM UTC
Comment Actions
Ducksiesx on Chapter 1 Tue 09 Sep 2025 04:19AM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 1 Tue 09 Sep 2025 10:16PM UTC
Comment Actions
MemeCannotExist on Chapter 2 Thu 18 Apr 2024 06:33PM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 2 Thu 18 Apr 2024 08:08PM UTC
Comment Actions
MemeCannotExist on Chapter 2 Thu 18 Apr 2024 08:23PM UTC
Comment Actions
RuikasaMyBeloved (Guest) on Chapter 2 Fri 19 Apr 2024 07:15AM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 2 Sat 20 Apr 2024 02:58AM UTC
Comment Actions
starryyy_flowers on Chapter 2 Fri 19 Apr 2024 07:46AM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 2 Sat 20 Apr 2024 03:02AM UTC
Comment Actions
4R_1N on Chapter 2 Fri 19 Apr 2024 11:57AM UTC
Last Edited Fri 19 Apr 2024 11:57AM UTC
Comment Actions
4R_1N on Chapter 2 Fri 19 Apr 2024 11:57AM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 2 Sat 20 Apr 2024 02:53AM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 2 Sat 20 Apr 2024 02:52AM UTC
Comment Actions
Law_EvadingRock on Chapter 2 Sun 21 Apr 2024 01:25AM UTC
Last Edited Sun 21 Apr 2024 01:25AM UTC
Comment Actions
Rainbow_Volcano on Chapter 2 Sun 21 Apr 2024 08:41PM UTC
Comment Actions
Pages Navigation