Chapter Text
“So you’re telling me they are not dating?!”
Kanekuro’s voice rang through the entire household. Eki sighed exasperated while Box hid an amusing smile behind his tea.
“You don’t have to shout, idiot. Do you want me to go deaf?” the bespectacled man crossed his arm not amused. He was simply wanting to enjoy his late breakfast and short talk with his fellow housemates. Handling a loud dog was not one of them. “As far as we know, they are just close but not dating. Yet.”
The mafia just gaped. He knew he had been outside far too long to know what happened precisely between the currently missing two members, but from the glance alone he could swear there were flowers and sparkles around them as if they’re some lovey-dovey newlywed or something. But now the others were telling him that they were not even dating! “Are you shit on me right now?”
“Lying is a sinful act, dear Kanekuro,” Box piped in, offering a warm smile to the black haired man. “Although I can understand your confusion as you haven’t been around for a while now. If you want to, you can ask fellow Luxiem for further confirmation or even the person themselves.”
Kanekuro waved his hand. “Nah, too much work,” he said. “And that damn Kaneshiro will throw a hissy fit if I get too close to his bitches. Currently we are on trunce so I have to play nice.”
“Ah,” Box murmured to his tea. “There goes my fun. What a pity.”
“You say something, Box?”
“Oh, no, no, nothing important.”
Eki gave him a sideway glance in disgust but didn’t say anything. It was obvious he had heard what Box just said and didn’t want to partake with it. He chose to shove more food to his throat instead; since his morning had been ruined, better to enjoy the food while it lasted.
Kanekuro had fallen into silence and put a hand on his chin, contemplating something. It didn’t escape from Eki’s attention. “What are you thinking?”
The man didn’t answer immediately. He glanced at Eki’s direction and diverted his gaze. “Nothing.”
“I smell bullshit.”
Kanekuro pinched his nose bridge. “Look—I’m just trying to process everything,” he confessed. “How the fuck that maniac able to get close to Hikarino to that point?! It’s unfair!”
Although Kanekuro didn’t know Rias well enough to know his backstory and whatnot, they still belonged to the same shitty world and stood on the same ground; the outcast of society who held their own justice with pride. The citizens of the abyss who didn’t even deserve a lick of redemption, as there was nothing they needed to apologize for.
Yet, Rias was able to find his light, freaking Hikarino Shu no less , in this otherworldly place while Kanekuro was stuck handling annoying people and paperworks! What the hell?
Eki raised an eyebrow. Now this was interesting development. “Kanekuro, don’t tell me you’re…”
“Oh, my,” Box didn’t even hide his amused grin. “Kanekuro dear, you see, jealousy is an ugly—”
“I’m not jealous!” The black haired man cut his words with a shout. Red hue colored his cheek in anger and embarrassment. “Why should I get jealous to fucking bastard Rias?!”
Eki only tilted his head and raised his eyebrow even higher, silently judging.
“Eki, I swear to God, if you’re not the one who cooks this food I would’ve punched your face until no one can recognize you.”
“Fucking try it, mutt dog.”
“You bastard—”
Box clasped twice, cutting off their banter. He smiled brightly as before but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Now, now. You two remember that fighting is prohibited within the household, right ?”
The two men clicked their tongue hearing his words but still complied half-heartedly. It was one of several house rules they had established together, so they had to follow it whether they liked it or not.
“Talking about that bastard and Hikarino,” Kanekuro immediately changed the subject to a topic he had been itching to ask. “Where are they going? You only told me they’re going somewhere together but didn’t tell me where to.”
“Oh,” Box blinked, realizing that he had missed important information. “I forgot to ask them. Eki, do you know where to Rias and Hikarino go?”
The self-proclaimed ‘novelist’ hummed. “If I’m remembering correctly… Park, I think?”
“‘You think?’ So you also don’t know?”
Eki shrugged. “They only said they’re going to hang out together. Since it’s Hikarino, they probably went to a nearby park or shopping district.”
“Rias, I spot the subject.”
“Proceed with caution. I’m in my position.”
Hikarino hummed mindlessly as he walked through between the intoxicated people and those who were high on dopamine mingling together; like a flock to feathers. It never failed to amaze him to witness how free people in this world indulge themselves in worldly pleasure. It’s as if their life was already so fulfilled that they didn’t even fear misfortune itself.
To be honest, Hikarino didn’t think those people were a bunch of bad people. Greedy and pathetic, perhaps, but straight up bad? Not really. It was normal human behavior to indulge themselves in pleasure so they could forget the bitterness of reality. In his book, as long as no unneeded casualty happened, being greedy was a-ok.
But of course, there were always bad seeds that need to be taken care of.
“Good day, sir,” Hikarino greeted the man who was sitting alone in a lone corner of the bar. From the smell alone he could tell that he was already wasted. Adjusting his waiter uniform, he offered the glass of water from his tray. “Do you need water?”
He watched as the man stared at the glass on his hand and to his face back and forth. After a half of a minute, the man finally reached the offered water. Hikarino noted how the man grabbed his hand instead. “Thank you, darling,” he drawled out, rubbing his thumb over his backhand under the gloves he wore.
Maybe it’s a bad choice to wear low gloves, Hikarino hid his grimace with a polite smile. As much as he wanted to shake off his hand, he needed to stay polite. “Sir, your water.”
“Ah, yes, yes,” Hikarino sighed as the man let go of his hand and finally took the drink. It’s gonna be a long night keeping him busy.
As the sorcerer was busy with his own thoughts, he didn’t realize the drunk man was openly ogling at him. “You know— hic ,” Hikarino blinked and went back to focus his attention on the speaking man. “Are you selling ‘peaches’ here?”
Peach? I don’t think there is any fruit other than—oh, Hikarino schooled his expression into a professional one. He meant that ‘peach’. Prostitution.
“Sorry, Sir, I don’t think I understand your request—”
“Now don’t be like that, kitten,” Hikarino tried his best not to flinch when the man sneakily grabbed his ass and fondled it. “I know what you are playing here. You’re trying to play hard to get, right? Are you afraid I can’t pay you well?”
“Sir—nggh,” Hikarino bit his mouth to avoid letting out weird noises. Ass was one thing, but rubbing his waist was just straight up cheating. He was ticklish, dammit! “With all due respect, I’m just a waiter. Please kindly take your hand off.”
The man was laughing, ignoring his words. “You don’t have to lie, kitten, You want money, right? I have more than enough to pay you—no, even to buy this place! That way you can’t deny me—”
“ Hikarino, change of plan. Bring him to the designated place.”
Huh. Hikarino gave the sudden voice from his intercom a side glance. So fast.
Since this man mistakes me as one of the ‘peaches’ here, then I just have to play along.
The sorcerer morphed his schooled expression into a coy one. It’s amazing how a simple gesture could encite happiness to another party; humans in this world were really easy to deceive. “Good sir, um… If you insist, then, will you follow me?”
The man frantically nodded, hand still latched on Hikarino’s hip as if it was stuck there forever. “That’s right, honey, lead us to our chamber…” he mumbled, drunkenly shoved his head into Hikarino's ear and tried to lick it. “Nothing beats money indeed, hic… ”
Okay, that’s just disgusting, Hikarino hid his cringe with a soft laugh, pushing his body gently whenever the man made a sudden advance to him. Thank god the place Rias was referring to wasn’t far from his place; all he needed to do was pass several hidden paths, carved with his own magic, and they would arrive at the burner location.
“Sir, we have arrived,” Hikarino detached the man’s hand from his hip and took several steps back. “Please enjoy yourself.”
“Huh…huh?” He looked at his surroundings with confusion. “That’s weird… Isn’t this the trash place? Are you playing tricks with me, bitch?!”
“Suitable place for a bastard like you, if I may say.”
Hikarino watched disinterestedly as a gunshot rang through, piercing the man’s head killing him immediately. He turned to the shadowed part of the room where Rias slowly came into sight, gun resting comfortably on his hand.
“Good job as always, Rias.” He offered a smile to the bigger man. “Now we just need to clean this place and throw his body to the burner. Thank God my magic works perfectly with human’s blood and fingerprints!”
Rias didn’t respond. Instead, he stood in front of Hikarino and stared straight at him. He extended his hand to cupped Hikarino’s face, eyes wandered around to note any wounds or bruises.
“...I don’t like this tactic,” he finally said, tucking a strand of hair. It was a rare moment of gentleness that sometimes appeared whenever they finished a certain mission together.
“Don’t be foolish,” Hikarino chided. “It was something we agreed on. I’ve told you I would be alright, remember?”
“...” Rias couldn’t answer back. He was right, this was a plan they had agreed together. But he didn’t expect for the target subject to be bold enough to let his hand wander around; intoxicated or not, no one was allowed to touch what’s his like that.
Wait— Rias paused his own train of thought and realized his own error. Hikarino? His? He wanted to bang his head on a nearby wall. They’re not even dating! How come he thought of his own teammate slash partner like that?
“Rias, are you okay?” The detective almost flinched, finding Hikarino waving his hand in front of him, trying to get his attention. “Your expression suddenly went scary! Are you hurt?!”
“...No,” he took a step back to hold himself up. He acted nothing like himself and it’s starting to get annoying. “Nothing. Let’s dispose of this bastard and go home.”
Hikarino gave him distrustful eyes but chose not to push it. If Rias didn’t want to tell him then so be it. “Okay.”
They swiftly disposed of all the evidence and the body by putting everything inside the burner. Hikarino then did his magic into work; cleaning of all the blood messes and their tracks with various spells.
Rias watched from the sidelines as the sorcerer finally put down his last spell, head couldn’t stop thinking about the previous matter. It felt like he couldn’t leave this place until he said what bothered him to his own partner.
“Hikarino,”
“Yes?”
Never let your body be touched by anyone, was the word stuck in his throat yet he couldn’t bring himself to say it. Instead, he rubbed his head before giving the shorter man a head pat.
“Nothing. Just forget it.”
He was starting to get crazy, that was for sure.