...

...

BWAHAHSHAHADGHAHAHAHGSAHAHAHH

gosh that cheered me up a lot

Hi, Chrollo. Could you tell me everything is going to be okay? :c

this is so cute 😩

TOKYOREV BOYS WHEN YOU CONFESS INDIRECTLY

CHARACTERS: Chifuyu . Ran . Wakasa

WARNING/S: none I think

A/n: Heads up, I do received your requests sorry I haven't gone through them yet, but don't worry I'll write about it as best as I can :>

Chifuyu

"Fuyu!"

The sound of your voice had him immediately stopping from his tracks whipping his head in your direction.

"what's up?" he hummed in response, giving you that adorable smile of his as you stop in front of him.

"I have a question to ask" you innocently asked, having him nod in response immediately that he wasn't able to prepare himself for your next words.

"I have this guy I really like and I want to confess, but I want to do it somewhere quiet, do you have any ideas?"

and he wonders if you heard his heartbreak, but you didn't miss the way his smile quiver, his eyes momentarily pained, or the way his fist unconsciously clench.

He likes you, he always had, and always will but he can't bring himself to say anything, and now it seems he was too late. he takes a deep breath before answering you, a pained smile directed at you.

"Uhm…the playground near the station gets pretty isolated after school"

"Got it—so are you free after school?"

"yes?" he answered unsure while a smile lit up your face, a smile that he so loves to see even now.

"then meet me in the playground after school" you exclaimed as you turned around and leave him to process his thoughts.

"huh?!"

it took him a few seconds to realize what you meant, another second to feel slight relief wash over him. but when he look up to question you, you were already halfway down the hallway, so his only option was to call out to you.

"wait Y/n...does that mean that you—?!"

"go to the playground later and found out!"

Ran

"Hey Ran, do you have a minute?" you called him with a smile, the older Haitani already mirroring your smile as he discard whatever he was doing to focus all his attention on you.

"just a minute? I could give you the rest of my life if you want?" he tease and you swore that every word this man says is either a tease or flirt.

you shook your head, "the thing is, there's this guy I really like but I'm not sure how to tell him, any advice?"

Ran doesn't even hide the fact that he's very displeased with the question. the lazy grin he previously had turned into a frown, his eyes dangerously narrowing.

he had made sure any guy associated with you had known to keep their hands off you, and he was pretty sure he had made it a point to you that he have feelings for you, but apparently you didn't receive the message.

he scoffed, "drink and let your drunken state confess" and he did mean it, cause for all he knew it might ruin your chance, it sounds horrible but anything to keep him from watching you loving someone other than him.

and you tried muffling your giggled, "that sounds horrible"

"If he rejects you I'll just beat him up"

it tasted bitter on his mouth, even from thinking that someone else was receiving your affection, though he thinks it's would be better if the guy rejects you, he would genuinely beat the shit out of the guy who makes you cry.

with that you can't help but giggle. "from what I can see there's at least 80% chance he won't reject me" and there's goes his chance thrown out the window.

"but if he did reject me, Good luck beating yourself up" you chuckled as you walk past him to leave him in his thoughts. your words slowly sinking before a smile tug on the corner of his lips, quickly following after you.

"Y/n~"

Wakasa

"hey Waka" you casually called once you have discovered the said man was alone in Shinichiro's shop. which was a rare occurrence. he hummed in response, lifting his Lilac eyes away from what he was doing to stare at you.

"If there's someone who likes you how do you want them to confess?"

"I don't" he answered absentmindedly, thinking another one of his fangirls had asked you about him. cringing at thinking of the hundred confession letters he received.

"don't be mean, come on tell me"

his seemingly boring eyes stared at your pouted lips and there's no way he can say no to that. "I don't like extravagant things, confessing directly and keeping it simple would do"

He answered, one hand at the back of his neck, eyes looking anywhere but you. cause as he was saying those words he can't help but imagine it would be you confessing to him.

"I see, so direct and simple" you nodded, deep in thought "Thank you, I'll keep that as a reference, next time I see you"

silence followed after you left, a delightful hum along with a childish skip within your steps. Wakasa continued what he was doing before he look up in realization, his bored eyes actually full of interest as he scans your feature getting further from him

questioning whether he heard right or his mind was playing him, cause if he heard right maybe he'll surprise you and confess first.

ok wow i did not expect tha-

UGHHH THE TENSION I WANT MOOOREEE!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

LITTLE DARK AGE

haitani ran x fem!reader x haitani rindou

summary: eight years later, you finally return to tokyo and find yourself caught in the middle of a violent gang war between the two most ruthless criminal organizations of tokyo’s underworld, forced to choose between blood and love.

genre: bonten timeskip, angst, forbidden romance, childhood friends -> strangers -> lovers, 18+ MDNI

warnings: fem!reader, gang violence, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, explicit smut, polyamory, profanity, MCD, unedited, MTBA

chapter warnings: mentions of suicide

taglist closed — but if ur someone who actively reblogs n leaves feedback i might just find a spot for u

previous chapter -> masterlist -> next chapter

CHAPTER Ⅵ. KNOW THAT IF YOU HIDE, IT DOESN'T GO AWAY

FIFTEEN YEARS EARLIER.

You sat outside the shop, a pout tugging at your lips, fingers twitching in your lap as you waited for the mechanics to finish up working on Mister Ayato’s car. You shot a long look back toward the inside of the shop, where Mister Ayato was standing and talking to a young, dark-haired man smoking a cigarette as he worked beneath the car.

Ran and Rindou had stopped meeting you to walk you back to the penthouse from school. The thought laid suffocating on your chest, and you felt as if a thousand weights had been placed on your shoulders. They had been out of the detention center for nearly four months now, after having been put away for a year, and they had changed while they were gone.

And you supposed you should have expected it--they were gone for a whole year and they had only been with you for a little over eight months but…

Your chest felt tight as you shoved your hands in your pockets trying to push away the increasingly dark thoughts and failing. It wasn’t like they had left entirely--they still show up for dinner and breakfast and they still come back to the penthouse and sleep there but they never tried to hang out with you anymore. Or, you suppose, Rindou didn’t anymore. Ran never did.

And it wasn’t fair, and maybe you were being selfish because they had no obligation to hang out with you and do things with you but you had been hoping that things went back to normal when they got back from the detention center, no matter how unreasonable of a thought that might have been.

Is it really that unreasonable? you thought to yourself mournfully. You didn’t think so--all you wanted to do was go out with them and spend time with them--or even if they didn’t want to be seen with you in public, you were fine with just relaxing around the penthouse with them, really! You just didn’t want to be alone. 

You hated being alone.

“What’s your issue, kid?” an unfamiliar voice asked and you jumped, not even having heard someone approach. You turned, eyes narrowed as you examined the new arrival--a young man with tousled white hair and droopy lavender eyes, a lollipop stick dangled between his lips and you frowned, raising your chin.

“I don’t have an issue,” you said, pointedly looking away. You watched from the corner of your eye as the white-haired man raised his eyebrows before shrugging. 

“Whatever,” he said, turning to walk away and your head snapped to the side, looking after him.

“My friends don’t really talk to me anymore!” the words burst from your lips before you could stop them, your face felt hot as the white-haired man looked back at you. You stared down at the ground, refusing to look at him, “W-well I suppose that’s not entirely true! They still talk to me but they don’t hang out with me anymore, and I find that really strange, you know? Because they live in the same penthouse as me and I’m unsure as to what I did wrong. They used to hang out with me all the time but every time I ask them now, or try to corner them, they make up some dumb excuse and leave.”

“Go hang out with other friends,” the white-haired man said and you shot a weak glare in his direction.

“I don’t have any other friends,” you muttered, and it was bitter to admit out loud. You had been so lonely while they had been in the detention center, counting down the days until they were released.

The white-haired man toyed with the lollipop stick in his mouth, “Go make other friends,” he said and you scowled looking away and rising to your feet.

“You’re no help,” you said, “Tell Mister Ayato I’m walking to the nearby park, he can pick me up there whenever his car is done. It’s boring waiting here.”

You didn’t wait for a response, a frown tugging at your lips as you started down the street back in the direction of the park you had seen on the way to the shop, hands shoved deep in your pockets and eyes trained down.

You heard a group laughing from the other side of the street and your eyes darted to the side, watching as a bunch of kids your age chased each other down the street. Your lips trembled and you let out another shaky breath, kicking at a stray pebble and watching it tumble down the street.

You missed them.

Your chest felt tight and an unwelcome feeling swept over you. You didn’t even know what you had done to make them distance themselves from you as they had. It had just been… well, as soon as they had come back, really. 

Maybe you hadn’t visited them enough, you considered, fingers fiddling together. You tried your best to visit once or twice a week but you could only get to the detention center if Mister Ayato drove you there and he couldn’t make the trip all too often because he was busy. 

You supposed you could have tried to push more but-

“-ion, enough.”

You turned your head, following the voice and peering down an alley, catching sight of a boy with blonde hair and a lion tattoo on the side of his head, metal glinted on his fingers as he brought his fist down on a limp body below him. Your eyes widened as you froze midstep, eyes trained on the bleeding, unmoving boy below him. 

Your lips parted as if to say something but you weren’t even sure what you were going to say. You should leave, you knew you should be running in the other direction, Rindou and Ran had told you a billion times not to go fucking around with delinquents around the city--especially not in areas other than Roppongi but-

“Who the fuck are you?” 

Your eyes widened as the blonde boy turned toward you--dark eyes narrowed in your direction, blood staining his face that he smeared as he took a step toward you, wiping at his cheek and mouth. He was older than you, probably Ran’s age, and your fingers shook as he eyed you.

“Oi, I asked you a fuckin-”

“Y/n?” a familiar voice asked and relief swept through you like a tidal wave as your gaze drifted behind the blonde and onto the oddly dyed hair of Rindou, eyes meeting his confused lavender ones. “The hell are you doing here?” 

He sounded annoyed and the relief and excitement at seeing him gave way to embarrassment--especially as your eyes fell upon Ran standing behind Rindou, catching sight of his irritated expression.

You were bothering them? 

Your throat felt tight at the realization--it wasn’t as if you had gone looking for them you just… stumbled upon them. Ran pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning on between two larger boys you didn’t recognize, his bangs swished in his face as he walked away from the group and toward you, a cold expression decorating his face, Rindou at his heels.

“Who the fuck is she?” the blonde repeated, “Don’t tell me you guys are already buying who-”

Ran hit him so hard over the back of the head that it nearly sent him barreling toward the ground. He let out a string of curses, dark eyes meeting Ran’s furiously but he paused at the tight expression on the older Haitani’s face. 

“Watch your fucking mouth, Shion. She look like a fuckin’ whore to you?” Ran asked, voice low and the blonde, Shion, spared one more look toward you, eyeing you curiously.

“This is your girl?” a new voice asked and your gaze shot back toward where Ran had been, eyes falling on the larger of the two boys that had been standing next to Ran. Blue eyes flickered toward you but you couldn’t meet them, instead letting Ran shift to stand in front of you, eyes meeting Rindou’s as he grabbed your forearms, looking you over to make sure you weren’t hurt. 

His thumbs ran over your skin gently and you paused at the unusually serious look in his eyes as his hands dropped from your forearm after realizing that you were unharmed. 

“Yeah,” Ran said, “We’ll talk to you guys later, gonna walk her back.”

“Why don’t you let her hang?” Shion asked, still watching you from the corner of his eye, ignoring the way that Ran seemed to bristle at the comment.

“Let’s go,” Ran muttered, ignoring Shion and grabbing your arm, turning you around and dragging you away from the group of boys--as you turned, you caught sight of a platinum-haired boy with amethyst eyes trained sharply on you.

Ran was rough as he pulled you away from the group and down the road, his grip on your bicep was bruising and you winced, trying to tug away from him but his grip only tightened, tears stung at your eyes, you grit your teeth together tight.

“Ran, you’re hurting me,” you gasped as he tugged you around another corner and down an alley, letting go of your bicep and letting you stumble forward. 

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Ran demanded, voice venomous, and you flinched at the words, drawing back until your back pressed against the wall. Your throat closed up as you parted your lips as if to respond, but Ran didn’t give you the chance, “How many times have we told you not to go following us out here-”

“I wasn’t,” you tried to say but your voice faltered under Ran’s furious stare. You steeled yourself, fists tight at your side as you tried again, “I was not following the two of you. Mister Ayato was in the area getting his car worked on. I was on my way to the park to wait for him to finish because it was taking too long.”

“So what? You decided to wander around on your own?” Ran spit out, “Shibuya isn’t Roppongi, y/n. It’s fuckin’ dangerous over here. Roppongi is safe because we took it over from Max Maniacs--where do you think all of the fuckers that refused to listen to us went after we took over? Here. They came here.”

Your face felt hot as embarrassment flooded through you, Rindou wouldn’t meet your eyes, and you didn’t want to look at Ran, “Hey, look at me,” Ran snapped, noticing how you were avoiding his gaze. Reluctantly, you pulled your gaze back up from the ground to look at him. His jaw was clenched tight, he inhaled deeply as if trying to calm himself down, “Y/n, you can’t-”

“I can’t what?” you snapped--or tried to, at least, your voice cracked over your words, “You guys-” you took in a breath trying to steady yourself, “You guys don’t do anything with me anymore. And you don’t tell me anything except ‘don’t go there,’ ‘stay away from here,’ ‘we’ll see you later,’ ‘we’ll hang out another time’ except you never do! I never see you later and you never hang out with me later, and it’s not fair.”

“It’s not fair?” Ran gaped, “We’re trying to fucking protect you, y/n. You’re being immature.”

You stared at him. Your ears rung

Immature, you bit your lip hard, trying to stop it from trembling. Immature, they think you’re immature.

Were you being immature? 

You didn’t think you were--you just missed them, and wanted to know what you did for them to start distancing themselves from you so suddenly. You didn’t get it--how they were preaching about protecting you as if avoiding you protected you in any way.

“I’m being immature?” You hated how weak your voice sounded. Ran shut his mouth immediately at your words, you stepped closer to him, hands trembling, “Immature?” Ran didn’t respond and Rindou looked half ready to step between the two of you, resolve weakened at the sight of the tears building in your eyes, “You guys treat me like a pet to come home to. I don’t understand what I did wrong, why don’t you do things with me anymore?”

“We don’t want to get you involved with this, y/n,” Rindou murmured, finally speaking up, “It’s dangerous and-”

“So you think you can just keep it separate? I’ve been involved since the day I stopped on the street to help you guys,” you said, looking between them, before focusing on Rindou, “They already know who I am, Rindou. From the trial. A bunch of them were there when I lied on the stand. You can’t just hide this from me, or try to avoid me or distance yourself or whatever bright idea you have and think that everything will work out fine.”

Neither Rindou or Ran spoke, nor did they meet your eyes, and you hated it, you could feel the anxiety clawing at your chest, “I just want things to go back to normal,” you said shakily, “and maybe that is immature of me but I don’t care. I miss you guys. I don’t like this.” 

Rindou shared a look with Ran, one that you couldn’t quite decipher but in that brief moment, they seemed to have a full-on conversation with each other. “Things are getting more dangerous,” Ran finally said but all of the heat was gone, “And it’s only going to keep getting more dangerous, we-”

“That doesn’t mean you have to cut me off,” you said.

“We’re not cutting you off,” Rindou immediately protested, a hurt look spreading across his face, “We would never-”

“It feels like it,” you said and Rindou froze mid-sentence, lips parted as he stared at you, as if he hadn’t even realized how their actions were coming across, “You guys barely talk to me anymore except at like dinner--assuming you even show up. And whenever I try to hang out with you guys, you brush me off. And even when you do talk to me, it’s really dry.”

“We don’t want you to get hurt,” Ran said and you looked up, eyes meeting his, he didn’t look as confident in his words as he had looked a few moments ago and you took the opportunity to deliver another blow.

“How are you going to stop me from getting hurt if you’re never around?” 

Ran went silent, gaze drifting away from you. Rindou couldn’t look you in the eyes, instead looking down at the ground. You waited a few moments, waited for one of them to say something, but neither spoke up. You let out a breath, considering your words, “I just-’m not asking for you to bring me to all of your dumb gang hang outs. I just don’t want to be alone all the time. You guys don’t even walk with me to school and back home anymore,” your voice cracked, you swallowed and looked up at the sky, “and I get you don’t want to tell me everything but like it would help me understand better, and be less sad when you guys have to blow me off to do other things instead of just being like ‘gotta go.’”

“We don’t want to involve you more than you already are,” Ran said half-heartedly, “It’s dangerous-”

“I’m not asking you to,” you said, “I’m asking you to stop avoiding me, and lying to me, and ignoring me. I just want you to spend time with me again, and tell me what’s going on so I can understand.”

Neither of them responded, again. You grit your teeth, “Please,” you said, and they both finally looked at you, “at least promise me that you won’t try to hide this from me anymore--hiding it isn’t just going to make all of the stuff you’re worried about disappear, and if I don’t know, I won’t know what to look out for either, y’know? So promise me you’ll be more open, at least.”

Ran stared at you for a moment, once again looking at Rindou, having a silent conversation that you couldn’t quite understand before Ran turned his attention back toward you.

“Fine,” he said and you swore your heart leaped in your chest at his words, eyes brightening, the heavy weight on your shoulders disappearing momentarily, “we promise.”

PRESENT

“Man, I think the last time we talked was in Munich! Can you believe it’s really been six years?”

Your head was light and you felt dizzy, you swore your vision was spotted as you looked back over your shoulder, eyes catching the glittering dark ones of Gunter Krüger as he waved at you, a wide smile decorating his lips. It took all of your self-control trying not to let the distress become visible on your face, and you weren’t even sure if you were succeeding.

No way, you thought to yourself, tongue darting out to wet your dry lips but you were looking at him, you were looking at him, he was in front of you and-

“You good, y/n? Look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Krüger laughed easily as he approached you, mocking you. He was mocking you because he knew that you thought you were looking at a ghost--a ghost of your past that you hadn’t ever expected to encounter again because- “Didn’t expect to see you around these parts,” Krüger nodded, reaching out to squeeze your bicep just a bit too tight, the smile on his face thinned for just a second, his eyes flashed cold, “or well, maybe I did.”

The add-on was cryptic, his voice was low, your eyes met his dark ones and you caught the chilling look in his eyes. He knows, you swore you felt as if the room was caving in around you, all thoughts of Ran and Rindou and stress about Hanma and Kawaragi flushed away as you stared at the new arrival.

He knows, you wanted to throw up--how did he know? How was he even here? 

Look like you’ve seen a ghost, you thought bitterly, a ghost, a ghost, because he is one. Or should be one. He should be dead, he was supposed to be dead. 

He should be dead. His grip tightened on your bicep, it hurt. 

How was he here? Your mind was running at a million miles a second, trying to put together the pieces, trying to figure out what had happened but it was impossible to put together a puzzle that you only had half of the pieces to. He was dead--you knew he was dead, your uncle had confirmed it, Takuya had confirmed it, you had gone to his fucking funeral. 

“L/n-san, I’m sorry for your loss. I know you had been close to both of the Krüger brothers, it must be difficult having lost them both in such a short period of time.”

You couldn’t breathe, you had to relax, don’t let it show on your face. 

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. 

But you couldn’t, you couldn’t. Your heartbeat wouldn’t slow down, your breath was becoming erratic, shaky. Calm down, you thought desperately, eyes unconsciously seeking out help from the nearest source of familiarity. Your gaze met Rindou’s, and you swore the only thing that grounded you to your current reality was the bruising grip on your bicep.

-- y/n, what’s going on? you could see him begging, eyes searching yours for any sort of answer. You knew he and Ran must have a million questions for you--why were you with Hanma Shuji and Kawaragi Senju? Why were you really back in Tokyo? Why were you at the auction? Who the fuck was this guy? Where have you been the past eight years? Why didn’t you ever reach out to them? Why were you on the opposite side? Why weren’t you standing with them, where you belong? 

You couldn’t answer them, you didn’t know if you’d ever be able to answer them. You shouldn’t even be looking at him--Hanma would notice, Kawaragi would notice, they would see you looking at him and question why but his eyes were the only thing stopping you from spiraling because Gunter Krüger should be buried six feet under, you had watched them lower his casket into the ground six years ago when he killed himself after his wife and brother had been killed during the Munich incident. 

“C’mon,” Krüger complained, leaning in close—his eyes were bright, dancing with something that didn’t sit right in your stomach, something that just wasn’t quite all there compared to the friendly, calm tone of his voice, “Not even gonna say hi? Thought we were closer than that, y/n.”

All of those nights out with him and his wife and brother, laughing, drinking, playing those dumb board games that his brother carried with him wherever he went. All of those mornings where you would meet his wife and brother for coffee before long grueling, merger meetings between Izanami and Suvala. The dragging days that you only barely managed to push through because of the two of them making it less hellish. 

“I don’t know what to do, I-I-the Suvala board, they’re backing me into a corner, they’re gonna end up absorbing Izanami, I can’t figure out-”

“I’ll handle it.”

His grip on your bicep tightened even more, you parted your lips as if to say something but no words came out and even if they did come out, you weren’t even sure what you were trying to say. Rindou’s fists were tight at his side, he looked as if he were about to step forward and silently, you begged him not to. You had been so fucking careful in making sure Hanma and Kawaragi didn’t suspect any prior connections between you and Bonten. Don’t ruin it, don’t ruin it-

He didn’t have to. Just as you swore Rindou was about to step toward Krüger with a raised fist, the hand on your bicep was ripped off. Your gaze shifted to the side, eyes wide as they landed on the tattooed hand of Hanma Shuji gripping Krüger’s wrist so tight that you swore it was about to snap. 

“Watch yourself,” Kawaragi said sharply before nodding at you, lips pressed together. Hanma’s other hand reached out, pressing against your back to push you forward away from Krüger, deeper into the auction hall. You spared one last look back toward Rindou, catching the angry expression and watching as he tried to take half a step in the direction of where Hanma and Kawaragi were leading you off to but Kokonoi Hajime stepped in front of him, stopping him from following the three of you. 

“What was that all about?” Kawaragi asked, voice sharp, “who was that?”

“I need to get in contact with my uncle,” you said, grateful that your voice wasn’t as shaky as your hands, “immediately.”

“Ichirou is in a meeting until later,” Hanma said and your gaze shot toward him—you hadn’t known that. How high up is he in this organization? “Who was that?”

You stared at him, throat tight. How much did they already know about Munich? They were all clearly at least somewhat aware of it from what you could tell at the meeting the other day but you didn’t want to tell them more than necessary. You didn’t want to tell them anything but…

Your gaze drifted back to Krüger, barely catching sight of the head of blonde hair as he made friendly conversation with a dark-haired man that you didn’t recognize--you made sure to take a note of the face, eyes darting around to see if there were any cameras in the building and frowning when you couldn’t find one. You’d have to do your best to remember, or try to snap a photo--your skin crawled as the thought passed through your head. That’s not a good idea. 

“-if the tabloids get-”

“You don’t have to worry about that, that won’t happen.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I just am.”

A chill ran down your spine--you’d have to remember, burn his face into your memory and try to get a name for Takuya to look into. You had a feeling trying to record or take pictures in this place was a bad, bad idea. You needed to figure out what was going on--how Krüger was here, why he was here.

He’s here for you, you knew deep down. It’s the only reason he would be in Japan, at this event. 

‘Or well, maybe I did,’ you recalled his words anxiously--he knew you were going to be at the event, or even if he didn’t know you were going to be at that exact event, he was implying that he knew that he’d be able to find you at events like these.

And how the fuck would he know that unless he knew of your role in what happened at Munich? 

Your head hurt. You needed to calm down, settle before all of this actually started. You needed to be in control before the auction began. You had to get the weapons and you had-

Rindou and Ran. 

There were too many variables, you felt overwhelmed. Rindou, Ran, the weapons, Krüger. It was too much. Too fucking much, there was too much at stake, one slip up-

“Who was that?” Hanma repeated and you let out a long breath. You turned your head back toward him, eyes lingering on the two familiar purple heads of hair in the near distance before your eyes met his amber ones.

You could still smell the garlic-like odor, the blood, you could feel the heat on your skin, the heavy smoke and you could hear the screams of the civilians on the street around you as people rushed toward the building to try to help find survivors.

What were you supposed to do? You didn’t know. You hated not knowing--you could barely even think straight, he had thrown you off, there was too much at stake that was too important to you, Rindou and Ran, the weapons, Krüger. 

He was here for you. He wouldn’t have shown up if he didn’t have something planned.

What if you were in danger?

What if you being in danger put Rindou and Ran in danger?

You had to make a decision. 

It’s risky, you wanted to scream at yourself, too risky, you can’t-

What other choice do you have?

You swallowed thickly, eyes darting around to make sure that no one was close enough to overhear. You took in a deep breath, a heavy feeling settling over you.

Be careful what you tell them.

“What exactly do you know about what happened in Munich six years ago?” 

---

You could feel Ran’s eyes on you from the left and resentment rolled off of Rindou in suffocating waves from the right. 

They were trying to corner you.

You felt distinctly like a gazelle in tall grass, hunted by predators that you couldn’t quite see but you knew were there. Your heartbeat picked up when you caught movement from the corner of your eye--Ran stepping closer. 

You had to move, find another person to talk to before they could corner you. Your eyes fell upon a familiar face halfway across the room--a man you had met while traveling, a businessman from Switzerland, a major player in the pharmaceutical industry. You hadn’t realized he was involved in this, and by the surprised expression on his face as he caught sight of you, he hadn’t expected you to be either.

You let a wide smile split onto your face, raising your hand in a friendly wave as you started in his direction as soon as you noticed the brothers starting to close in on you. 

“You’re not gonna win,” you almost jumped at the sound of the new arrival, eyes darting to the side to fall upon Mina who approached you from behind, voice a low murmur. He followed you in the direction of Meier, distantly, you noticed the furious expression that crossed across Ran and Rindou’s faces once they realized you had managed to slip away for a third time, and then the way their expressions dipped into a more extreme rage when they recognized the man standing next to you. You knew they were well beyond frustrated, knowing that they couldn’t call out for you to stop the bullshit without giving everything away, but you couldn’t let them catch up to you and give them a chance to start questioning you. You couldn’t. “This little game of cat and mouse you’re playing with them, they’re gonna catch you eventually.”

“Shut up, where have you even been?” you muttered, shooting him a withering look, but he didn’t get a chance to respond before you rose your voice to call out to Meier, “Meier!” you greeted, “How’ve you been?” 

You slipped into another meaningless conversation, mind only barely there as you talked about the markets, and competition, and world politics, and pretty much everything except what the two of you were doing at this auction. Your lips moved on automatic and you were grateful for the years of practice that allowed you to hold simple conversation while your mind ran amok.

Service in the auction hall was terrible. Hanma was out trying to get in contact with Sugawara or your uncle--their knowledge on Munich had been minimal, which you were grateful for but you didn’t need to explain much for them to know that you might be in deep shit. 

“I can just kill him,” Hanma had said, looking back toward where Krüger was holding conversation with two other men.

“Don’t be dumb,” Kawaragi snapped, “We don’t know what insurances he’s put in place in the case of his death. For all we know he could have something set to leak if he’s killed.”

You weren’t so sure that was the case--your gaze drifted back to Krüger as you laughed at something Meier said, watching how he talked casually with a small group, forcing yourself not to stiffen when his eyes flickered up to you and his smile widened. You had a distinct feeling that if he had all of the information he needed, he’d have done something with it by now. 

He’s planning something else, you felt cold, you didn’t like it. You hated not knowing.

Kawaragi must have dipped out of sight when Mina showed up--you couldn’t spot her anymore, she had been standing nearby with a large, darker-skinned man with a platinum crew cut and a smaller man with long, striped hair. The smaller man was still lingering in the area but Kawaragi and the other man were gone. 

Something was wrong. You didn’t like it, your skin was crawling and your chest felt heavy. Meier broke off to go get another glass of wine, you glanced back at where Krüger had been standing with that small group, eyes widening when you noticed him slipping out of the auction hall.

“Follow him,” you told Mina sharply, yellow eyes narrowed on you, “Now, Mina, don’t let him leave your sight. I’ll be fine.”

Mina took in a deep breath, eyeing Rindou and Ran who were once again starting to close in on you before nodding, “Don’t leave their sight,” he muttered before making his way after Krüger. 

Wonderful, you thought to yourself, don’t leave their sight but don’t let them get close enough to corner you. 

Your gaze darted around, trying to figure out what direction to flee to next so they couldn’t catch you. Your expression dropped when you realized that the only way out was either down through a side hall or back across the vast room toward where Kokonoi Hajime was talking to the dark-haired, scarred man, where they’ve been there watching you outmaneuver Rindou and Ran for almost an hour now. As if they could smell your intent, Kokonoi and the other man looked up at you, sharing a look and then glancing at Rindou and Ran before pointedly walking in the opposite direction. 

Fuckers, you thought viciously, eyes darting back toward the nearby side hall. You could go down it but you didn’t know where it led to--it could easily be a dead end and then you’d be trapped. Did you have any other choice?

Your eyes met Ran’s.

Don’t you dare, he told you.

You glanced at Rindou, who was too close for comfort.

We’ll chase you, Rindou warned. 

You turned on your heel and walked toward the side hall, pace just a bit too fast to be considered normal and as soon as you turned the corner, out of sight from the other auction goers, you took off.

Your heels slammed against the tiles, and you could hear Rindou and Ran cursing as they chased after you. They were faster than you, they always had been--whenever you made them play tag or manhunt when you were kids, they’d never have any trouble catching you. You couldn’t count the number of times you found yourself tackled to the ground by Rindou, knees and hands cut up, leaves tangled in your hair because he had taken his job far too seriously, Ran laughing in the background as the two of you tumbled down a hill.

Your throat felt tight at the memory.

“Rindou! Get her before she runs into the forest!” 

“Rindou! Grab her before she turns down another hall!” Ran snapped and your eyes widened when you realized they were closer than you had thought, trying to push against the ground faster.

You let out a string of violent curses when you felt a hand wrap around your waist, desperately trying to break free of Rindou’s bruising grip to no avail. His other hand darted forward to grab the other side of your waist, securing you in his hold and a wave of helplessness washed over you.

“Let me go,” you spat, squirming in Rindou’s grasp, “Are you crazy? What if someone sees?”

What if someone sees? Hanma, Kawaragi, one of the two men she was with. 

“The fuck is wrong with you?” Ran demanded as Rindou’s grip tightened on your waist as you tried to squirm free, holding you close to him. Your breath was quick as panic began to take over. 

Fuck.

Your gaze shot up toward Ran, eyes meeting his hard lavender ones, his jaw was clenched tight and his throat bobbed as your gazes met. His eyes left yours to look behind you, double checking that nobody was around to spot the three of you before he stepped closer and you couldn’t breathe. They were too close--Rindou’s chest was pressed against your back and his arms were tucked tight around your waist, holding you still against him, and Ran was right in front of you, bringing his hand up to curl around your jaw to hold your head in place as you tried to look away. 

You hated the conflicted expression on his face, as if he knew that he didn’t have much time and couldn’t figure out what to say. 

“Why are you here?” his voice was low, barely over a rasp and you knew that he wasn’t asking why you were at the auction--you could see it in his eyes what he was really asking, why are you on the opposite side? Why aren’t you with them? What are you doing?

You couldn’t turn your head away but you directed your gaze toward the ground, trying to figure out what the fuck you were supposed to say to them.

“Hey, look at me,” he said sharply, squeezing your cheeks slightly to get your attention, and your eyes instinctively darted back up to meet his. “Why? Answer me.”

“Not here,” you shook your head as best as possible, “Ran, we can’t do this here, someone can walk down the hall any minute.”

“Then when?” you almost flinched at Rindou’s voice next to your ear, “When?” he asked again, voice harsher.

You didn’t know, and you could only stare ahead--you were sure Ran could read every emotion running through your head as he searched your eyes for answers. “What are you doing here?” the heat in his voice was gone, his hand dropped from your face but you didn’t use the newfound freedom to turn your head away, instead only watching him with a heavy feeling in your heart. 

“You know what I’m doing here,” your voice was little over a whisper, the words physically hurt to speak and from the way Ran’s lips tightened at them, from the way his jaw clenched, it hurt them to hear just as much as it hurt you to say. 

“Do we?” Rindou’s grip on your waist tightened where Ran had let go, “‘cause a lot of things aren’t really adding up right now, y/n. Why the fuck did you come meet us the other day if you’re…” he didn’t finish the sentence, instead you could feel him shake his head, “and why did you send that message? You warned us. And before, you pretended not to know us. What’s really going on?”

You didn’t know how to respond. You couldn’t do this here, it was too risky, what the fuck were they thinking?

“I didn’t know,” you said, giving them a half-answer, “I went to meet you guys the night I came back, I met with my uncle the morning after.”

Don’t press, you pleaded internally even though you knew the request was futile.

“The message? Before?” Rindou questioned.

Fuck.

“The message was just that, a message, it’s not on me if you took it as a warning. It’s not what it was meant to be,” you lied, “and before was for my sake. Not yours. I didn’t want Hanma and Kawaragi to know I knew any of you prior.”

“You’re lying,” Ran said and you let out an irritated breath.

Could they read you that well still or were they just throwing out hail mary guesses? You didn’t know.

Calm down, you’ve been thrown off guard all night, get in fucking control before you fuck up beyond fixing.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Control yourself.

Your hands curled around Rindou’s wrists, yanking them off of your hips. He let go of you and you dropped back to your feet, smoothing out your suit. You took a step back, steeling your face and looking at them both.

“I am not,” you said, watching as Ran’s brows furrowed as he studied you, taken aback by the sudden change in demeanor, Rindou’s lips twisted down. “Believe what you want. It’s not my job to convince you otherwise. I answered your questions, now get out of my way. I need to get back to the auction hall.”

Ran’s lips parted, an expression of disbelief masking his face, “What is your problem?” he asked, “Stop with the bullshit, tell us what’s going on, it’s just us right now, we have time. Explain, we-“

“Why are you with South?” Rindou snapped, interrupting Ran, “Why the fuck are you with him? You looked comfortable with him, like you’ve been around him for a while. How long has he been with you? You better not have been with him this whole time when you wouldn’t even answer our fucking calls.”

Your chest ached, you opened your mouth to speak but Ran was already talking again, reaching forward to grab your wrist, “The guy from before, who is he? You were scared—tell us what’s going on, we can help. Are they threatening you?”

They were tag-teaming you, barely giving you a chance to register what the other had said before they jumped on top to add on. You were getting overwhelmed. You had to put a stop to it.

“Threatening me?” you asked just as Rindou started to speak again, and you hated the way that Ran drew back at your words. Krüger, Krüger, you had almost forgotten about him in your panic. You couldn’t do this—you didn’t know what he knew, what he had planned. You couldn’t risk dragging them down with you and you didn’t want them to know about Munich. 

Push them away. If they’re close to you, they’re more at risk—from Sugawara, from Krüger, from you. You were a fucking danger to them. 

You were a danger to them.

Maybe you should tell them the truth, they’d be able to prepare better knowing the truth, but as soon as the thought crossed your mind you knew that it wasn’t an option. You worked tirelessly to make sure they didn’t get caught up in your shitshow—and maybe they had already been wrapped up in their own shitshow, yeah, but yours had just gotten exponentially worse in a very short amount of time.

Maybe if it was still just Sugawara’s group versus Bonten, you would be able to be more honest with them. But you knew, you knew, once they knew the truth they wouldn’t let you go. They’d keep pushing and pushing trying to protect you, just as they always had, except this time they’d push until they got themselves killed.

Killed.

You couldn’t risk it—not until you knew more about Krüger, who he was working with, what he wanted, what he had planned. He was an unknown variable right now, one that you couldn’t just ignore or take lightly.

You had taken everything from him and you knew he wouldn’t hesitate to do the same to you. You knew it.

You’d find them and tell them the truth once you knew more—tell them the truth and apologize and pray to god that they would forgive you even though you knew you didn’t deserve it.

“They’re not threatening me, Ran,” you said, and you hated how cold your voice was and you hated how Ran drew back, how Rindou tried to wipe away the hurt that spread across his face before you could see it. “They gave me a choice. I chose to help my uncle.”

“You chose-“ Ran couldn’t even finish the sentence, gaping at you, evidently too stunned to even be angry, “You chose to get involved with this? After you knew that we were on the oppos-“

“Yes,” you said and the look on Ran’s face, the fury in Rindou’s eyes made you sick to your stomach, “Don’t look at me like that,” please, “you asked for answers and I’m giving you them.”

“You’re fucking lying,” Rindou spit, taking a step closer to you, “you’re fuckin’ lying to us again. You’re always fucking lying.”

“Just because my answer isn’t the one you wanted to hear doesn’t mean that I’m lying.”

Ran’s expression dropped but your words only seemed to spur Rindou’s anger on even further. Rindou shook his head, taking another step closer to you, “You-“

“Ran, Rindou,” your eyes shot behind the brothers, focusing on the scarred man with dark hair who had walked down the side hall from the direction the three of you had come from, “We need to head in, the auction’s about to start.”

“Give us a minute,” Rindou said, turning his attention back onto you, “Y-”

“We need to go now,” the dark-haired man interrupted Rindou, “You know how Kokonoi and Sanzu get when they’re left alone with each other.”

“Then fucking go, Kakucho,” Rindou snapped, whipping back around, “Fuck, we’ll meet you in there, we-”

Ran grabbed Rindou’s arm, silencing him, “Let’s go,” he said and Rindou paused, looking back at him in surprise.

“Ran-“ he began but Ran didn’t give him the chance to finish what he was going to say, his lips were pulled down and his eyes were heavy, he wouldn’t look at you.

“I said, let’s go,” Ran’s voice was loud, sharp—both you and Rindou physically flinched at the tone, “We’re wasting our time.”

Wasting our time, his words rang through your head on repeat. He didn’t mean that--you knew he didn’t, you could see it in his eyes but-

You hurt him, you knew you did. Ran built high, nigh-impenetrable walls around his heart. It took a long time for him to let you in originally—he had been hesitant, untrusting, fearful because you knew now that he hated letting people in, Ran loved deeply, too deeply, and it scared him. It made him feel a loss of control and you knew that it made him anxious.

To hear you all but admit that you chose this… chose this knowing they were on the opposite side.

Breathe in, breathe out. You wanted this, didn’t you?

But it was different seeing it happen in front of you, witnessing their reactions. You had no right to be upset, you reminded yourself, this was your decision. You were doing what was best—once you knew more about Krüger…

He and Rindou shared a look--they were having a conversation without you and Kakucho, an argument. After a few moments, Rindou looked away. 

Whatever they were arguing about, Ran won. 

Ran turned and walked back the way they had come without another word, disappearing with Kakucho around the corner and Rindou lingered for a moment, eyes searching yours for any sort of sign that maybe you were being forced to say this, maybe you were still the girl they used to know all those years ago and it took all of your self-control for you to not crumble under his stare.

Finally he shook his head, looking at you one last time as he turned to follow Ran, “I know you’re lying,” he said, but you weren’t sure if he was telling you or trying to convince himself, “I know you’re fuckin’ lying, y/n. You can’t hide this shit from us. We’ll figure it out.”

And it hurt, it hurt watching them walk away even though you knew it was for the best, that you needed them to stay away from you until you understood what was going on so you could keep them safe. Getting them involved now with as little information as you had… it would be damning, you’d get them killed.

But it hurt, your chest ached as Rindou glanced back once as he turned the corner to go back to the auction hall and you wanted to call out to him--call his name, say sorry, break down and tell him that you’ve missed them, that you wished things were different but you couldn’t. And Rindou watched you, waiting for one final sign before he pressed his lips together and disappeared around the corner.

Better luck next time, you thought bitterly, hands shaking at your side, shoulders dropping now that you were finally alone, letting your guard fall and mask crumble.

And you knew they would be mad at you once you inevitably told them the truth, that they might not even forgive you because you had made them promise so many fucking times not to hide stuff from you and they held themselves to the promise and you couldn’t even give them the same courtesy back.

It’s different, you tried to convince yourself. It’s different, you made them promise that about petty delinquent stuff, this was different. Dangerous, could get you killed, them killed, your uncle killed. 

It’s different.

“There you are,” you froze, looking over your shoulder, eyes meeting Hanma Shuji’s familiar amber ones. “Been looking for you.”

You felt cold. How much had he overheard?

But Hanma made no sign of acknowledgment, instead pressing his hand to your back to get you moving forward back toward the auction hall, “C’mon, it’s about to start.”

Your heart was in your throat as he led you back into the main room, and your eyes darted around as soon as you stepped into the hall, trying and failing to catch sight of Rindou and Ran amongst the masses of people.

Hanma eyed you curiously as he led you down the aisles toward the back rows of the auction hall, his gaze was stifling and you wanted nothing more than to disappear into the floor. Had he seen? He couldn’t have, there was no way, but you knew you were only trying to convince yourself.

He motioned for you to take a seat and you frowned, glancing at him suspiciously as you moved into the row, letting him take the aisle seat.

“Where is Kawaragi?” you asked, looking pointedly at the empty seat next to you. 

“Sugawara asked her to check the storerooms,” he murmured, “She’ll probably be gone for a bit, from what I remember the storerooms are pretty deep down in the building and at the far end. I doubt she’ll be back any time soon.”

“What’s she checking those for?” a strange feeling swept over you--one that didn’t sit right.

Hanma shrugged, “Fuck if I know,” he slung an arm around your shoulder, you gave him a flat stare, he looked unperturbed. He leaned his head in close, lips brushing your ear, “So, that thing you were hiding at the meeting…” his voice was a low, mocking sing-song, dread pooled in your stomach, “the Haitanis, huh?” 

Your blood ran cold, your expression dropped, you eyed Hanma from the corner of your eye--you hated the smile that was curling at his lips. 

“Relax,” he chuckled, leaning the side of his head against the top of yours, “It’ll stay our little secret for now, yeah?”

For now, the words laid heavy on your chest and you stared forward, hyper-aware of the arm around your shoulders and the head laying on top of yours. You felt as if the weight on your shoulders tripled and the air around you became suffocating. 

Who the fuck was Hanma Shuji and what did he want?

You didn’t get the chance to say anything else as the auctioneer began speaking. You tuned it out, lost in your own thoughts. What the fuck did this mean? What did Hanma want from you?

You didn’t know, you hated not knowing. You hated it. You hated it. You hated it. 

You eyed him from the corner of your eye, he didn’t move away from you, much to your dismay, instead only staying leaned up against you as he watched the auctioneer begin the bidding for the first item.

“Can you… get off?” you muttered and he only hummed, as if he hadn’t heard you. You repeated yourself, more irritated, and he did the same thing. Your eye twitched when you realized he was being purposefully difficult.

What the fuck did he want? 

The question bounced around your head and you hated that you couldn’t answer it. Money? Power? Those were two of the most common motivations for men that you’ve come across but you had a feeling that Hanma Shuji was not like the other men you’ve encountered in the past. His eyes were too sharp, calculating, knowing; his smile was too playful. You felt as if you were playing a losing game that you didn’t know you had started playing whenever he walked in the room. His right hand rubbed circles on your arm, punishment glared back at you as you scowled down at the unwelcome touch.

You looked away, an unsettling feeling sweeping over you suddenly.

Your eyes drifted back around the auction hall, toward the opposite row of seats, looking over the heads of people, searching for Rindou and Ran again. Where are they? You couldn’t spot them or any of the other Bonten executives anywhere and it had your hair on end. 

What if-

“Three million yen,” you looked in the opposite direction, toward the left side of the auction hall and your eyes fell upon Kokonoi Hajime leaning back casually in his seat.

He was looking at you already, as if waiting to see, testing, testing to see if you would bid on anything other than the weapons and you nearly scowled, unwilling to waste your money more than necessary. You were already certain that you were going to liquidate all of your assets in the Philippines for this and maybe even in New Zealand too, you added mournfully.

You pointedly looked away from him, intent on finding Rindou or Ran instead but your eyes fell upon a different familiar face, one that made you double take once you realized who you were looking at--Krûger? What… Shouldn’t he be…

Where is Mina?

You straightened, unease rapidly shooting through you, gaze darting around as you tried to spot your friend to no avail. Hanma seemed to sense your sudden distress, frowning at you as he sat up.

“What are you-?”

In the distance, there was a sharp, loud boom--the auction hall quieted at once. You faltered, sharing a look with Hanma as you looked around briefly, trying to figure out what that had been--explosives? A grenade? 

Hanma’s brows furrowed, his lips tightened, one hand reached out to curl around your bicep as he looked around, trying to figure out what had happened. Your gaze darted around the room, catching sight of Krüger rising to his feet, a concerned look sweeping over his face. 

Your eyes didn’t linger on him for long, instead searching two familiar heads of purple hair in the crowd on the opposite side of the room. You caught sight of one--Rindou, you spotted, eyes meeting his alarmed lavender ones as his head swiveled around the room.

Where’s Ran? you wanted to ask but you knew the answer to his question from the thinly concealed panicked look in his eyes. Your throat felt swollen, you tried to stand up, go to look for him as a sick, dark feeling began to stir in your gut.

A familiar dark feeling. The same one you had felt six years ago before it all happened.

Hanma’s grip on your arm tightened, holding you in place. 

A louder explosion--much louder, shrieks sounded from around you and your blood ran cold as the entire building shook. 

Garlic, blood, smoke, no. There was no way, no-

Everything was happening too fast--too slow? It felt like everything was happening in slow motion but fast enough that you couldn’t react in time. 

Where’s Ran? you wanted to scream at Rindou, who was staring at you, lips parted in shock, eyes wide. Rindou, Rin, something bad was about to happen, you had to get to Rindou, you had to find Ran, you-

And then you were being thrown to the ground, a large body being thrown on top of yours just as the walls blew in and the floors blew upwards from behind the stage.

---

WORDCOUNT: 9.1K

REBLOGS N FEEDBACK V V V V MUCH APPRECIATED

i hope y'all know i was giggling like a fiend when i pulled the same trick that i did in happiest year LMAO it's not one of cat's long fic's if she doesn't somehow incorporate a dubious amount of explosives

BEHOLD

Finally I can post them together🥴