Chapter Text
Daisuke walked down the stairs to the guest room on the first floor. He took a steadying breath before knocking lightly and opening it. While he didn’t know what he expected to feel looking in at the sight—maybe jealousy or annoyance—he certainly wasn’t expecting fondness. But what he saw was far different from the way he’d slept pressed up against Haru.
No, it was Haru lying on his less-injured side with his head resting on Hoshino’s shoulder, and Mahoro on the other side of him with her hand resting steadily on his back. Both of Haru’s seconds were curled in towards him just slightly, clearly done in a subconscious desire to protect him. And Daisuke felt fond.
Of course, jealousy wasn’t far behind when he saw the others providing the comfort Haru needed that Daisuke couldn’t give him. Daisuke sighed, shaking off that thought, and stared at the bed’s occupants.
He didn’t think reaching over either of the seconds to wake Haru would work in his favor, so unless he wanted to wake the man by jostling his foot, he had to choose one of the others. Of the information he’d gathered on both of them, he knew Mahoro had a much higher kill count, and he wouldn’t put sleeping with a gun past her—so he settled on the detective. “Detective,” he said, setting a hand on the sleeping man’s shoulder.
Hoshino opened his eye and startled at seeing Daisuke so close. Daisuke stepped back as Hoshino sat up.
“Suzue has the information prepared to distribute. And dinner is ready,” Daisuke said. “Would you wake the others?”
Hoshino let out a tired sigh but nodded. Daisuke took that as his cue and began back towards the door. However, he hesitated with his hand on the doorknob to watch how gently Hoshino woke his sleeping ex-partner before helping him sit upright. Haru looked past Hoshino to see Daisuke loitering in the doorway and they held each other’s gaze before Daisuke left, shutting the door behind himself.
He waited in the hallway for a moment, wondering if he should wait and walk them to the dining room once they were ready, but didn’t want to be the only Kambe with three members of Katou’s syndicate.
(He would say he felt outnumbered without Suzue, but he was really just too awkward to interject himself into their conversations)
Instead, he headed back up the stairs and immediately sent a butler in his stead to navigate them to the dining room. When they arrived, Haru had his hand against his ribs, but he wasn’t being supported by anyone else. Daisuke wasn’t sure if that was because he didn’t need to be supported by anyone else or if he was just trying to convince everyone that he was alright.
“Please, sit anywhere,” Suzue instructed and the three made their way to the table. Mahoro and Hoshino lingered a few steps behind Haru to let him choose his seat first, and Daisuke looked at him intently as Haru chose the seat just across from his. Daisuke barely noticed the places that the others chose—too focused on the way Haru had his face trained into a neutral mask to hide his grimace as he sat down.
“I suppose we should give some backstory first,” Suzue said once everyone had settled down but no one had begun to eat, not wanting to be the first to break the strange stalemate. “Hattori Jiro was our grandmother, Kikuko Kambe’s butler. Kikuko was the head of the Family for nearly a decade after Daisuke’s parents passed, but the stress of the position was too hard on her. She had a fatal stroke, and Daisuke took over running the family when he was eighteen. Hattori retired as soon as Daisuke settled into the role. We’ve been sending his pension payments to Hiroshima ever since. But there’s no denying he’s back. Hoshino was right, he’s responsible for a lot of the drug pedaling that’s been going on in Tokyo, as well as supplying weapons to gangs and civilians. I managed to track his location down to a cluster of warehouses that have been redacted from any government record.”
“Where?” Haru asked urgently, leaning forward and biting back a groan from the pain caused by the sudden movement.
Suzue glanced to Daisuke, silently passing the baton, and Daisuke sighed. “I’m afraid I can’t have you involved in this,” he said, voice stern. “Incapable of shooting a gun and incapacitated by your fight, you’ll only be in the way.”
Before Haru could object, Hoshino had stood up. “What about us?” he asked, gesturing to himself and Mahoro. “We’re the ones who discovered him in the first place, and more than capable of helping.”
“I could see the benefit in bringing Saeki along, but you’re still an officer of the law, Hoshino. Regardless of how you feel now, I can’t guarantee that your morality won’t kick back on when I’m about to put a bullet in his brain.”
Hoshino swallowed and faltered, but Haru implored, “Please. If I can’t be there, I need both of them there. You and Suzue have each other’s backs, I need them to have each other’s.”
And if Daisuke hadn’t been completely certain that Haru Katou was his weakness, then that solidified it. A simple plea from the man, and now two B-tier operatives were trailing behind him and Suzue, each of their footsteps louder and breathing heavier than the Kambe’s combined. But regardless of the size of the infiltration party, they were slowly but surely making their way through the warehouses.
It was a maze of shipping containers stacked floor to ceiling, and the place was crawling with guards. They’d already stunned and restrained a dozen patrol parties. But as the security growing thicker only meant they were getting closer, until finally they reached the end and stepped foot into the head of whatever this operation was. There were more screens here than in Suzue’s lab, and after they’d dispatched the men at the center console, he stopped to take it in.
Each plasma television showed live footage from a different camera. Most of them were from security cameras all over the city, but as he looked closer at each different screen, he realized an entire wall of screens was dedicated to… dedicated to the Kambe mansion.
Daisuke swallowed heavily. “Suzue…?”
“What the f—”
“Kambe!” Hoshino shouted from behind them and when they whipped around, they saw that they’d been surrounded. A dozen guards were in the room now, and while Suzue and Daisuke could easily have handled three or four themselves, Mahoro and Hoshino were overwhelmed in seconds.
Daisuke pulled out his gun, but it was quickly knocked from his hand, and one of the guards had brought a knee into his gut before he could recover. He was somewhat stunned by the attack, and caught another punch to the face.
He caught a glimpse of Suzue from the corner of his eye, and she didn’t seem to be faring much better, and he thought, for the first time in years, that they might just lose this fight. Until—
“Don’t hurt them!” an older woman ordered, and the barrage against Daisuke and Suzue stopped. However, they were both quickly apprehended and shoved onto their knees, hands held tightly behind their backs.
“Grandmother?” Suzue asked. Daisuke looked up immediately, to see a woman he’d believed to have died a decade ago. She was ten years older than the last time he’d seen her, but her elegance hadn’t faded in the slightest.
His blood had been pumping furiously from the exertion of the fight, but now it roared in his ears. “You’re alive?” he asked in disbelief. “Did you have Hattori fake your death?” Her silence answered his question and he shook his head. “Why? Why would you leave us?”
Kikuko sighed. “My darling children, you know I never wanted to leave you. But Daisuke, you needed a reason to take the mantle as head of the Kambe Family. It was clear you didn’t agree with what the Family did, and that the longer I led it, the more disillusioned with it you became. But if you knew you could use the Family’s influence to solve your parents’ death, you would take the position. You just needed me out of the way before you could give up on the Family entirely.”
“Why even have me take over if you were just going to keep running things behind the scenes? What are you even doing with all of this? Explosives, weapons, drugs—that stuff stays between crime syndicates. Why are you pushing them onto civilians?”
“It’s all for the sake of the Kambe Family. You’re a strong leader but you’re still learning to overcome your mercy. Smaller gangs, civilians—even Kamura and Weinski: they’re all just pawns. Some things need to be sacrificed to gain the notoriety to become a truly strong Family.”
“You mean you were going to pin the death and destruction you’re responsible for on me? For my sake? Wait,” Daisuke blinked and shook his head. “You hired Weinski? You tried to have Katou killed? Why?”
Daisuke blinked and shook his head. He didn’t think he could process the bombshells currently being
“An inspector’s values don’t belong in the underworld,” she answered as though it was the most black-and-white thing in the world.
“He isn’t a detective anymore,” Daisuke seethed.
Then Hattori stepped into the room, and Hoshino, pinned to the ground by one of the guards began to struggle: “You son of a bit—” he was interrupted as the guard’s knee dug deeper into his shoulder.
Hattori approached Kikuko slowly and casually, as if the life the Kambe heirs had been living up until this point wasn’t shattering in front of them; and he leaned down and spoke quietly in Kikuko’s ear
She nodded. “You’re right, he’s not. In fact, I’m afraid he won’t be much of anything anymore.”
The certainty in her voice sent a chill through him, and he knew Haru was in danger. “Where is he?” Daisuke demanded.
Kikuko just sighed. “Unfortunately, right here. Even small syndicates should know that trying to infiltrate a Family’s base is enough to warrant an execution.”
The door behind Kikuko and Hattori slammed open, and flanked on either side by security officers was Haru, barely able to keep up as he was dragged along.
Haru was shoved down on his knees, gun at the back of his head. Daisuke’s vision clouded with anger at the sight.
“Haru!” Mahoro shouted, her voice cracking, struggling where she too was pinned. Hoshino could do nothing but wheeze as he tried to claw his way free.
“Let him go, he has nothing to do with this.” Daisuke demanded.
“He has everything to do with this. The ruthless image I’ve been working so hard to create for you—that’ll all be shattered,” Kikuko explained as though this was all very calm and rational. “You’re letting yourself become soft for this man, and I can’t have that.”
Haru looked up at Daisuke, his face bloody and beaten. ‘I’m sorry,’ he mouthed, as Kikuko held out her hand and accepted a pistol from Hattori, and Daisuke’s heart pounded impossibly faster.
“One day you’ll understand,” she said and stepped towards Haru. However, everyone startled when the first bullet fired came from behind them rather than from Kikuko’s gun.
“Drop that gun you fucked up old bitch,” Mahoro said breathlessly, and when Daisuke twisted around, he saw her pink hair soaked in the blood of the guard who’d been pinning her down. She’d somehow managed to wrestle her gun free and was now on her feet, her hands shaking as she aimed at Daisuke’s grandmother.
Daisuke opened his mouth to demand that Mahoro lower her weapon. Regardless of the things she’d just admitted to, regardless of her holding Haru at gunpoint, she was his grandmother.
“Mahoro,” Haru rasped before Daisuke could say a word. “Put your gun down,” he instructed. Then he addressed Kikuko, still standing behind him. “She’s just,” he paused for a breath, “protective. She won’t—cause any—trouble. Please. Let them go.” His words sounded shallow and choked, and Daisuke realized he was swaying on his knees.
“Shut the fuck up, Haru. Everyone drop their weapons now or I’ll shoot her,” Mahoro continued. And when no one obeyed, she fired another shot, and the guard restraining Daisuke fell. His gun was now within arm’s reach, and Daisuke wanted to reach for it, but didn’t know who to aim it at if he did.
“Kambe-san,” Mahoro said, her voice shaking with fear. When he looked her way, he saw her eyes begging ‘Back me up. Help me help him’
Daisuke’s eyes shot back to his grandmother who, in all her sophistication, stood tall over Haru. His breathing was audible now, rapid and shallow, and he was only remaining upright because of the guard’s hand gripping the collar of his shirt.
And Daisuke grabbed his gun aiming it at Kikuko as well. “Let him go and you can walk away from this. Take the Family name back, I don’t care. Just leave him out of this.”
Kikuko sighed. “How disappointing.” She cocked the gun and her finger went to the trigger, and Mahoro and Daisuke fired at the same time. Mahoro’s bullet went clean through Kikuko’s wrist, and the gun fell from her hand. Daisuke’s bullet lodged between Kikuko’s eyes, and Hattori caught her body as she fell, but Mahoro had kept firing, downing the guards holding Haru, Hoshino, and Suzue.
Suzue and Hoshino picked up their own weapons, both aiming at Hattori. However, Suzue saw the malice in Hoshino’s eyes, and stood back to let him finish what they’d come here to do. The final gunshot was fired, and Hattori’s body hit the floor.
Haru, with no one supporting him, had collapsed onto the concrete floor, and Daisuke sprinted across the room, dropping to his knees at Haru’s side, followed closely by the others.
Daisuke carefully rolled Haru over and nearly choked on fear when he saw blood dripping from his lips.
“What, what’s wrong with him? He wasn’t shot was he?” Mahoro asked, wringing her hands.
Suzue carefully trailed her hands along Haru’s ribcage, and grimaced. “The fracture in his rib—it’s a complete break now. It’s punctured his lung.”
“I’m calling an ambulance,” Hoshino said pulling his phone from his pocket.
“They won’t get here fast enough. Help me get him to the helicopter.”
“Daisuke,” Suzue’s voice trembled and he looked back to where her fingers were pressed against Haru’s neck. “He doesn’t have a pulse.”
The ambulance rolled up to the congregation of warehouses and the paramedics climbed out, but they were stopped from entering by a tall woman with black hair. “You are going to ignore everything you see in there besides the man you’re tending to. If you do, I’ll wire one hundred million yen into each of your bank accounts. If you tell anyone about what you saw, I will personally see to it that you never utter another word. Understood?”
The paramedics looked between each other, and nodded slowly. Despite the warning, they weren’t expecting to see a dozen unmoving bodies scattered around the room. “Over here,” a brown haired man called, unnecessarily, and they both ran towards the small group of people who still seemed to be alive.
Except for one, who’s shirt had been ripped open showing the swelling and bruising under his skin, who the remining two people were leaned over, a man giving chest compressions while a woman tilted back his head to breathe air into his lungs.
“What happened?” the paramedics asked while one knelt beside the body and opened up the AED.
“We believe a broken rib punctured his lung. He was coughing blood, and he haven’t found a pulse in nearly ten minutes. Please, hurry.” The brown haired man responded.
“What’s his name?”
“Haru,” the man performing CPR grunted out as the paramedic placed the AED pads around his hands.
“Alright, clear!”
And Daisuke ripped his hands back as the AED activated.
When Haru opened his eyes to an unfamiliar room, he tried to jerk upright in bed, only for a pair of hands on his shoulders to keep him down, keeping him from tweaking his ribcage. One hand left his shoulder to his cheek and tilted his head slightly. When his pain subsided enough that he could focus, he saw Suzue looking at him with concern. “There you are,” she said softly when he relaxed upon seeing her.
Though he immediately tensed again when he remembered their predicament. “Is everyone okay, was anyone hurt?” His voice came out raspy, but she didn’t comment on it.
“Everyone is fine,” she promised him, then moved to the side so he could see Mahoro and Hoshino sleeping in chairs against the wall, Mahoro curled up with her head resting on Hoshino’s shoulder. Then, in a chair quite separate from Haru’s gang, Daisuke dozing as well. The sight of everyone unharmed had relief coursing through him and he felt a knot forming in his throat, but he knew crying would just hurt his chest so he choked it down.
Suzue then pressed a glass into his hand to let him take a sip of water. “Do cold hands run in the family?” he asked as she smoothed his hair away from his forehead.
She pulled her hand back and he wanted to tell her he was just joking, but she was smiling. “I guess so. Should I wake Saeki-san?” she asked. When Haru nodded, she crossed the room and gently touched Mahoro’s shoulder.
Mahoro startled awake, but before she could even see who had woken her, she saw Haru awake and she jumped out of her chair, rushing up to him. She clearly wanted to fling her arms around him in a hug, but didn’t want to hurt him more, so she just dropped to her knees beside the bed, gripping his hand as her head fell to the mattress. “Thank god,” she said, voice shaking slightly.
“Are you alright?” he asked and she shook her head. He didn’t think he could successfully move his other arm, so he pulled his hand from her grip and began to gently comb through her hair with his fingers. Her shoulders shook slightly, and Haru looked up to Suzue, unsure of whether she was uncomfortable with the sight. But he saw that Hoshino had been woken by Mahoro’s running across the room, and that Suzue had moved to wake Daisuke up.
And though he was thankful beyond everything for everyone for staying with him, the room suddenly felt too crowded, especially with Daisuke’s sharp gaze on him. Suzue noticed and when Daisuke stood up, she grabbed his arm. “Let’s give Katou-san a moment with his group,” she said and began to pull.
“But—” he tried to object, but she just pulled him harder and he stumbled slightly before casting another glance towards Haru and letting himself be manhandled out of the room.
It took nearly an hour of seeing him conscious and alert for Hoshino and Mahoro to believe he was really alive, but eventually they bid him goodnight, and stepped out of the clinic room. Of course then Haru only had a moment to catch his breath before there was another presence in the room, the door shutting behind him as he entered. Haru was quiet as Daisuke approached him and as he sat down on the edge of the mattress.
“I’m sorry,” Haru said quietly. “You didn’t want me to come, and I shouldn’t have. I just… wanted to see this through.”
“How did you even find us?”
Haru forced a sheepish smile. “Hoshino doesn’t have a burner for missions. And he never turned off tracking on his smartphone.”
Daisuke turned to meet Haru’s gaze and shook his head. “You can’t underestimate how cruel Families can be.”
“I know,” Haru said. “But you never have been.”
“Have been what?”
“Cruel. I guess I stopped expecting it at some point.” Haru was quiet for a moment before he said, “I’m sorry about your grandmother.”
Daisuke smiled sadly. “Thank you. But the woman I knew has been dead for a decade.” Daisuke looked him over closely. “How do you feel?” he asked eventually.
“Like I got kicked in the ribs a dozen times.”
Daisuke didn’t laugh, he only shook his head. “Your heart stopped, Haru,” he said somberly.
Haru cringed. “See? I nearly get myself killed too.”
Daisuke leaned backwards slightly, setting his arm on the other side of Haru’s legs so he could lean in a little closer. “I’m not a fan of it.”
“I can tell. But I’d like to know why,” he said, then slightly quieter, he continued. “Why do you care so much?”
Daisuke frowned at him. “You know why.”
“Tell me anyways.”
Instead, Daisuke leaned forward, and pressed a kiss to Haru’s jaw. He began to pull back when Haru caught his tie and tugged him close again—not back into a kiss, but so their foreheads rested together, and he could feel Daisuke’s breath tickle his cheek.
“Tell me. Please.”
Daisuke furrowed his brow. “I don’t know how to say it any better than I already have. I care for you.”
Haru let go of his tie and leaned his head back. “I’ll go first, then,” he said. “I was terrified of you at first. And with good reason. I’ve seen how good you are with a weapon—I know your track record. But you’re gentle with Suzue, you’ve been gentle with me. What happened in the car—I wanted that, but I wanted more than that. I know you’re on a different level and I’m just a complication if I force myself into Family business. So I’ll back off if that’s what you want. But if I mean more to you than a quick fling in the passenger seat—”
He was interrupted by Daisuke’s hand on his jaw, and Daisuke’s lips on his. “You do. You know you do,” he said when he finally pulled back.
It took 6 weeks for Haru’s ribs to heal, but as soon as he was cleared for it, he made it to the syndicate’s HQ for the christening of their newest member where they took turns tossing lit matches onto Hoshino’s old police uniform out back.
“I’m glad we’re back on the same team,” he told Hoshino with a smile, bumping his shoulder hard enough to make him spill a bit of his drink.
“Me too,” Hoshino said. “Just sorry you almost had to die to make it happen.”
“Hey, that’s always a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”
“I still don’t like that joke,” came a voice through Haru’s earring. “Out front. Whenever you’re ready.”
But Haru knew there wasn’t a rush. So he enjoyed the moment with his team as long as it lasted before they were off onto their own tasks, and Hoshino helped him out front before taking off for a bar with Kamei.
Haru made it the rest of the way to the street and opened the door to the black sports car waiting just out front. He hadn’t even buckled his seatbelt before the driver had hit the gas and peeled away down the street. “Where are we headed?”
“My place,” Daisuke replied, shifting the car into fifth gear.
The city sped away behind them until they’d made it to Daisuke’s manor. They pulled into the expansive garage full of his ridiculous cars, but when Haru unbuckled Daisuke’s hand was on his chest to keep him from opening the door. And Haru grinned.
He leaned back in his seat as Daisuke knelt down between Haru’s legs, looking up at him with his sharp blue eyes. Haru ran his hands through Daisuke’s gelled hair before he tangled his fingers in his hair and Daisuke finished what he’d started.