Chapter Text
The night was dark, dreary and cold. It was the early hours of a Sunday morning and parts of the city were still bustling about. The sound of a motorbike roared as it barrelled past a glowing red light was echoed by an impatient sounding car hooter and its driver. There was a bleak orange glow from the fluorescent street lights as glared down at the street corner. A group of people were gathered in front of a restaurant, crackling with a type of energy that only seemed to be around those who were basking in intoxication.
But that was only the ambience on the open city streets.
In the dark little nook between two buildings, the air was colder and bitter.
The sounds of the still bustling city sounded distant in the darkened alley and it did nothing to conceal the panicked sounds of a man choking on restricted air. it was his body’s natural instinct to fight back and the way he was clawing at his throat in desperation and kicking his feet out wildly showed it.
Aizawa grunted as he tightened the cord around his hands and pulled them further apart from each other, tightening the cord around the man’s neck.
It took a few more seconds before the man finally went limp against his legs. “Tch,” he grunted in disdain as he pushed his knee into the man’s back after unwinding the garrotte making the body slump forwards lifelessly.
Glancing towards the street, he saw a car as it slowed to a stop in front of the entrance. A black coloured 2016 Honda Civic Sedan purred quietly as the driver kept the engine running.
Reaching into his pocket, he took out a handkerchief, still freshly pressed and wiped the blood from slim chain before securing it around his wrist. He replaced the handkerchief for his phone as he stepped over the body to make his way towards his awaiting ride.
His phone vibrated just as he grasped the handle of the door. He ignored it until he slid into the backseat, the soft click of the door following afterwards. In the quiet space of the car, he sunk into the seat and exhaled a tired sigh. The ache in his head that he’s been trying to ignore finally came barrelling to the front of his head. It made his eyes sting. He dragged a heavy hand over his face, pressing his forefinger and thumb against his eyes in an attempt to try and soothe the dull ache forming behind them.
“Where to Mr Aizawa?” The driver spoke after a while, glancing at the tired man slumped in the backseat. “Huh?” Aizawa muttered, surprised to hear his usually quiet man speak. “Ah,” he exhaled, shifting around to sit up straighter. “To the closest market or something, Georgio.” He replied, keeping his eyes closed.
He cursed himself when he realised that he didn’t have eye drops like he normally did. Dry eyes were something he’d been struggling with since a young age. There was no response and he didn’t need one as the car started moving shortly after.
Aizawa opened his eyes as the car jerked to a slow stop. “Want a coffee?” he asked, leaning forward to get closer to the man sitting in the driver seat. “Sure.” Was the simple reply. “But just bring lots of sugar,” Georgio added as Aizawa was halfway out of the car. He couldn’t help but snort at the words.
The man had a serious sweet tooth.
He loosened his tie as he approached the little convenient store. It was attached to a gas station. Before opening the door, he saw Gorgio’s reflection as the beefy man climbed out of the car. He felt the cold air from an ac unit as it breathed down the back of his neck. He ran a hand through the hair at the nape of his neck to cover his exposed skin.
Out of reflex, he did quick surveillance of the layout.
There was a total of five security cameras, three of which were concentrated on the cash register. The installation was poor so there were blind spots. Something he would exploit if he needed to.
A man he had to guess what in his late twenties looked up from reading something that looked like a popular magazine to look in his direction. Their eyes met briefly as Aizawa turned towards the back to get to the medicine rack. He picked up new eyedrops and a box of strong painkillers for his killer headache.
As he passed by the fridge, the saw the milk and stopped. Seeing it in front of him made him realise that he ran out two days ago. He stockpiled everything on the counter, ignoring the subtle glances from the cashier.
“The coffee machine, does it work?” he asked tiredly, pointing towards a bulky machine that was at the back. “Uh, yes?” The slightly surprised looking blond male asked. The way he phrased his answer made Aizawa look up. He saw the cashier avert his eyes, gaze drifting over his shoulder towards the back corner. Wordlessly, he turned and made his way towards the machine where he began fiddling around with the settings and the Styrofoam cups stacked next to it.
The machine started whirring as it warmed up before spluttering and hissing. Aizawa pulled a face at the sudden sounds.
“I forgot to mention-” a tired voice reached his ears making him tense. Before he realised, his hand was firmly wrapped around the butt of his S&W SD9VE 9mm pistol. His movements were subtle but when he glanced over his shoulder, he saw the curious eyes of the cashier staring down at him. Literally. The man was a whole head taller than him. “-Sometimes it acts up,” he finished with a sheepish grin.
Aizawa pulled his hand out of his suit jacket, grabbing his phone as if to brush off any suspicion. By the change in the cashier’s expression, it seemed to have worked. “May I?” The tall male asked, tilting his head towards the machine.
BeforeAizawa could give him a reply, the shrill ringing of his phone cut him off. He pursed his lips and nodded instead, stepping to the side. He caught the name of the blond on a tag pinned to his shirt. Yagi was written on it in sharpie.
“What do you want?” he asked, suddenly feeling irritated as he accepted the call. “That’s no way to talk to your senior!” came an offended sounding female voice. He scoffed. “I’ll talk to you like my senior when you actually act like one,” he stated bluntly, pinching the bridge of his nose.
The last person he wanted to deal with right now was her.
“You haven’t responded to my messages, so I thought you were avoiding me,” he could almost hear her pouting through the speaker. He moved out of the aisle as the cashier made his way back to the register. Neither made eye contact as they shuffled past each other.
“I was. And I’m not buying you booze.” Aizawa grunted in disdain. He knew that if he did, she would drag him into yet another drinking party. And the only thing he wanted to do right now was sleep.
He ended the call before she could make another attempt to drag him into another mess.
He grabbed the coffees and made his way towards the awaiting cashier who had started ringing up his items. While he was at the counter, he grabbed a cup of ramen which was on the shelf behind him.
“Thank you for stopping by!” the tired looking male said cheerily, smiling broadly as Aizawa made his way towards the door. He offered a tilt of his head in his direction before striding towards the car.
He knocked on the driver’s window, handed Gorgio his coffee with extra sugar packets before making his way around the car. He got into the passenger side this time and threw a glance at the man sitting next to him.
He was watching him with a bemused expression on his face.
“My answer is still no,” he stated before scaling down his slightly burning coffee. Gorgio chuckled as he shook his head. “One of these days she’s going to succeed in getting you to give in,” the man said confidently as he started the car. “Tch,” was Aizawa’s only response.