Chapter Text
“It’s been fun, Boss.”
Free tossed his half-finished cigarette to the ground. The sound of the deer’s footsteps had disappeared, leaving the alley in a silence as deafening as a gunshot. He put his foot down and ground the cigarette into a smear of ash. Enough time had already gone to waste, and Free knew he still had a long night ahead of him. He paced around to the driver’s side of the car and swung the door open with a force that shook the frame. Drive back to the hideout, explain to the others what had happened, figure out what they were going to do without now that the boss was gone… Ibuki had left him with quite the mess to clean up. He fell into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut, his claws scoring marks into the handle. Dealing with messes always ended up being his job, it was his punishment for being so damn reliable. He stomped the accelerator and the engine roared in protest before pealing down the back street. Still, it was for the best that he had been the one Ibuki had given the job to him; if it had been anyone else, they would probably be howling in anguish and bawling their eyes out. But not Free. Nothing ever got to Free.
“You really ruined my evening, you goddamn bastard,” Free said to Ibuki’s corpse. He caught a glance Ibuki’s face in the rearview. It was hard to make out in the blurry mirror.
“I was gonna go out to celebrate. New Year’s Eve deserves liquor and females until sunrise. Instead I’m gonna be spending the whole night lugging around your stinking body. If I had a spare bullet, I’d probably s-shoot you… again…” Had his voice just hitched? What the hell?
He let the car coast to a stop along the curb. It was getting hard to see the road. He rubbed at his eyes. His fingers came away wet. Was he crying?
“F-fucking hell Ibuki, this is your fault!” He had managed to stay composed in front of the boss. That deer had somehow managed to calm his heart with his mere presence. Even as he had been walking away, Free had felt at ease watching him leave. But now the impact of his loss was catching up to him. The boss was gone, and Ibuki was gone, and there was nothing left to hold him together. He could feel the cracks spreading, threatening to split him apart.
“Pull yourself together, damnit!”
He needed something to numb the pain. He threw open the glovebox and extracted a crudely wrapped paper bundle. Ripping it open with his claws, he dug out the stash of silver vine. He dove into the dried flowers nose-first, breathing deeply, willing the scent to permeate the deepest recesses of his brain, the darkest corners of his mind. But the usual hit didn’t come. No euphoria, no mindless bliss, no relief. He took another deep breath, then another, but it was as if he was trying to strike a damp match.
“Graaah!” With a roar of frustration, he flung the bundle of silver vine over his shoulder and pounded the back of his head against the seat. The flowers arced behind him, striking Ibuki in the face before tumbling into his lap. With his eyes screwed shut and his back arched he heaved ragged breaths, forcing the air into his lungs as if he were devouring it. As he did, he could feel the energy from his outburst draining out of him, leaving behind nothing but a hollow feeling in the pit of his gut. He opened his eyes, glancing at Ibuki again in the rearview. Petals of silver vine had scattered across his face, leaving delicate white patches seeming to glow faintly in moonlight. It was poetic. It looked ridiculous. Free shuddered, and in that moment, he didn’t know whether he was going to laugh of sob.
“I guess it’s appropriate, isn’t it, Ibuki? A bouquet of silver vine for a Shishigumi lion. Testament to a life of violence and debauchery, eh? Well, at least you went out on your own terms. That’s about as good as any of us can hope for. The rest of us will probably get our turn soon enough, knowing the lives we live, so you don’t have to be on your own for too long.” Free pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. “Though you know, I might actually enjoy having you out of my mane for a while-”
ACHOO!
Free’s head swung around, launching his cigarette from his lips and vanishing into the shadows of the car. He stared at Ibuki, who had been still as a cadaver only a moment ago. Now Ibuki’s nose was twitching, his head shook, and a shaky hand rose and brushed the flower petals away. His eyes opened in a series of languid blinks, as if he had just been roused from a deep sleep.
“Free…? What… are…?” He groaned, doubling over and pressing his hands into his stomach.
A thousand thoughts raced through Free’s mind. Expressions of shock, of joy, of disbelief. But only one reached his lips.
“You’re fucking kidding me.”
“He’s stable, for now.” The badger street doctor pulled a long drag from his cigarette, exhaling the smoke in jets through his nostrils. “I’ll need to keep him here for a few days for observation, and after that he still shouldn’t move around more than necessary for at least two weeks.”
“But he’s going to recover, right?” Free leaned in expectantly. He felt lightheaded, practically giddy. Silver vine had never given him a feeling like the one he was having now. The look that the doctor returned, however, put a damper on his excitement.
“That isn’t what I’m saying. It’s too soon to tell if there will be infection or other complications. And even if he heals…” the doctor paused to take another long drag, “…there’s a good chance he never goes back to the way he once was.”
“What? Why the hell not!?”
The badger bit into the butt of his cigarette. “Don’t raise your voice at me in my clinic! I’ll explain it to you, but only if you shut your mouth and sit. Down.”
Free backed off, lowering himself into a cheap metal folding chair. He was talking to one of the best street doctors in the back alleys, and that afforded him a great deal of respect, even from gangs like the Shishigumi. Free hid his fangs and claws, then nodded for the badger to continue.
“Tch, you large-breed carnivores. As I was about to say, the bullet struck him in the liver. Somehow, it managed not to hit any vital blood vessels, but because of the location, there was no way for me to remove it. Getting that bullet out would require surgery that no one in the black market is capable of, and frankly, it’s not worth the risk. So, he’s going to be walking around with it stuck in his gut, probably for the rest of his life. And there’s no telling what problems that might cause.”
Free put his head in his hands. “You’ve gotta be fucking joking.”
“I ain’t a comedian, those are the facts. And if I were you, I would be happy with the fact he’s even breathing right now. By rights he should be dead. Hell, if what you told me is true, he technically was.”
Free raised his head and looked at the doctor, eyes wide. “What do you mean?”
“When you brought him in, you told me you had checked him for a pulse…” the badger paused to take another drag, “…and didn’t find one. So, you assumed he was dead.”
“Yeah? What about it?”
“Well, you gangsters aren’t good for much, but considering your line of work, I assume that you at least know how to tell when someone’s dead. So, I did some theorizing as to what I think happened.” He grabbed a bottle of beer from the corner of his desk, and popping the cap off with his teeth, he took a swig. “Your guy, he takes a bullet in the back, right? Traumatic injury like that can send any animal into shock. Sometimes, that shock is enough to stop a heart. And with no heartbeat, blood stops flowin’. Now normally, when you puncture a big blood sack like the liver, you bleed out real quick. But if your blood isn’t getting pumped out, well, it might start clotting instead. Might even plug up the wound enough that when your heart starts up again, the risk of bleeding out has been dealt with.”
“Hey, slow down doc.,” Free interjected, scratched at his brow. “You’re saying his heart stopping… also stopped him from dying?”
The badger puffed out a cloud of smoke. “You’re not as dumb as you look. Still, it would’ve all been for nothing if his heart hadn’t started up again. Now, that doesn’t tend to happen without help. External stimulus. Perhaps, something to wake up his brain, to send a signal to wake up his heart…”
Free gaped. “You don’t think it was… the silver vine!?”
“Quiet, lion.” The doctor’s prideful grin betrayed his commanding tone. “Look, this is all just speculation. I ain’t an expert on the effects of feline stimulants, so don’t go telling all your friends it’s some miracle cure; the last thing I need is a bunch of dumbass cats making my work harder than it already is.” He took one more drag from the cigarette, burning it all the way down to the filter, then snubbed it out in a crowded ashtray. “But it’s possible, in this one case, you may have inadvertently saved his life. Don’t let it go to your head.”
Free sat in awestruck silence for a long moment. The impact of what he had heard reverberated through his mind like a gong. Had he really managed to save Ibuki’s life? Could he have managed to do something good for once? Then again, the doctor had said Ibuki might be crippled now; had he saved his life at the cost of killing his pride? No, he was alive, that had to be better than the alternative, right? Even if Ibuki was in bad shape, well, he would take responsibility for that. He was a proud lion of the Shishigumi, damnit. And lions look out for each other.
“Can I see him?” Free rose from the chair, already beginning to walk towards the door. The badger followed him with his eyes, though he made no move to stop him.
“Sure, you can do what you want. Just promise me that if you’re gonna get even with whoever shot him, you make sure they’re properly dead, so I don’t have to deal with them.”
Free grinned at the irony. “Whatever you say, doc.”
Ibuki was lying in bed, motionless, staring up at the ceiling fan that was lazily turning. The dull yellow bulb at the center made the blades cast long shadows, radial bands of darkness that turned the blank ceiling into a pinwheel of black and gray. His shirt had been removed during his treatment, and the threadbare sheets scratched at his skin through his fur. There was an IV tube attached to his arm, just below where his tattoos began, and connected to a clear bag hanging from a repurposed coat rack. If he flexed his arm just right, he could feel the end of it embedded in his muscle. There was a tingling sensation in his back and gut, which he guessed was the pain from his injuries, passing through the filter of the painkillers in his blood. He could hear the conversation from the other room clearly enough to make out the words, though it was underscored by the buzz of the electric light and the rattle of the radiator by the window. The smell of disinfectant was everywhere.
It felt as if he were experiencing the world for the very first time.
He heard heavy footsteps approaching. He turned his head, his eyes meeting Free’s, who came to stand next to the bed. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Then Free’s rough voice broke the silence.
“Welcome back, you deadbeat. Did you enjoy your vacation?”
Ibuki let out a rumbling chuckle. “The underworld is nice this time of year.”
“Looks to me like you didn’t make it past the river Styx.”
“Couldn’t pay the fare.”
Free crouched down next to the bed, his eyes coming level with the prone Ibuki’s. “Joking aside, you won’t believe what the doc told me. He said-”
“I heard.”
“Oh. All of it?”
“Enough of it.”
“Oh.” Free fiddled awkwardly with his hands. “Well… think you might give silver vine another chance?”
Ibuki sighed. “I still hate that stuff.”
“It saved your life!”
“And I have yet to decide if I’m grateful for that.” Ibuki chuckled again, though he noticed that this time, Free wasn’t smiling.
“I’m grateful.” Free’s mouth was set in a hard line. It was an expression Ibuki rarely saw out of Free. “I’m happy you’re alive. I know this isn’t the sort of thing a hardened thug like me is supposed to say but… I would’ve really missed you, damnit.”
“Are you being emotional, Free? That’s unlike you.” Ibuki gave him a comforting smile.
“What can I say, you and that damn deer brought out the worst in me.” His usual wild grin had returned, his eyes squinted almost shut. “Speaking of which, we’ll need to reorganize the Shishigumi now that he’s gone. The guys will probably want to make you the boss now, we all know you’re the obvious choice. Once you’re up and walking around again, of course. The doc may think you’re gonna be some lame lion, but I say he doesn’t know the strength of Ibuki of the Shishigu-”
“I’m not coming back to the Shishigumi.”
Free’s eyes shot open. His jaw clenched and unclenched a few times, trying to form words through the shock of disbelief. “What do you mean, ‘not coming back?’”
Ibuki turned away from Free, staring up at the passing shadows of the fan blades. “My life as a member of the Shishigumi is over. I can’t go back.”
“Ibuki, no one is gonna care if you can’t fight. You know that we’ll support our boss no matter what-”
“This isn’t about that,” Ibuki interrupted in a firm tone. All the fight seemed to drain from Free, and he slumped forward to listen. Ibuki sighed, taking a moment to collect his thoughts.
“Ever since I was 12 years old, I’ve lived in the darkness. I never chose the life I would live, because for me the only choice was to survive, or die. And I didn’t question that existence, because I thought this world in the dark was the only thing that was real. Then Louis came into that world, and for the first time I saw light. He opened my eyes, and I could finally see beyond the violence and cruelty that had come to define me. In his presence, I could experience true happiness, something greater than the mere pride of a carnivore. Now I see that he was right to leave, because he belongs in the world of the light.”
“You’re a real poet Ibuki, but I still don’t see your point,” Free interjected.
“When I went into that dark tunnel, I thought that only one of us was going to leave it. But instead, we both reached the other side.” Ibuki turned his head to meet Free’s eyes. “Don’t you see, Free? Fate has shown me that there’s a way out of the darkness. Because of Louis, I’ve learned that there is a place in this world where a beast like me can find happiness, and it’s out there, in the light. I need to follow him into his world.”
Free let out an exasperated sigh. “So that’s what this is about? You’re gonna chase after that deer and, what, start a new life with him? You’re being childish.”
Ibuki closed his eyes. He knew it was the right thing to do, but that didn’t make it any easier to make the choice. “No, Free. If he’s going to get his life back, he can’t have the weight of his past holding him back. He has the strength to stand on his own and doesn’t need the burden of an old beast like me. If I’m going to stand in his world as an equal, I need to find my own path without relying on him. I’m going to start a new life, and you and I will be the only ones who know about it.”
“What!? You’re going to fake your death? Now you’re just insane!” Free growled in irritation. “And what exactly am I going to tell the guys, huh!?”
“You tell them the truth. That I tried to devour the boss, so you shot me. The boss left, and I died. That much we know to be fact, right?”
“Yes, but-”
“The police must have been alerted somehow, because you heard sirens approaching. You were forced to leave behind the body and the car. Afterwards, you had to lay low for a while to make sure you lost the heat, which is why you made it back to the hideout so late.”
“Hold on, what about the-”
“The car I’m taking to a chop shop and selling it for parts. The Shishigumi has more than enough cars, you won’t miss one. I use the money to have documents forged for a new identity. Between what’s left over from the car, and the money I have stashed away, that should give me enough to cover a few month’s rent in a cheap apartment in the city. From there, I’ll figure out the rest.”
“Alright, alright, I get it, you thought of everything,” Free said, throwing up his hands in resignation. “Once you have your mind set on something, there’s no point in arguing with you. Nothing left for me to do but follow your lead and hope you know what you’re getting yourself into, same as always. I’ll pass your cover story on to the gang, though I’m gonna feel damn guilty when I see their faces at the news. Willing to bet Agata will start crying. Too bad you won’t get to see that.” Free got up, stuffing his hands into his pockets before swaggering his way towards the door.
“I’m sorry, Free.” Ibuki’s voice was heavy with guilt. “I’ve asked so much of you, more than I could ever repay.”
Free stopped in the doorway, leaning with one arm on the frame. He looked over his shoulder at Ibuki. “Yeah, well, not only are you alive, but you’re also finally getting out of my mane for good. Looks like I lucked out and got everything I could have wanted tonight. But don’t you dare come crawling back to us, or I’ll make sure you die properly, got it?”
Ibuki smiled at his friend, one last time. “Thank you, Free. Happy new year.”
Free returned one of his signature bestial grins, his tongue lolling out to one side.
“Happy new life, Ibuki.”