Work Text:
Later that night, Gentaro gets a good scolding by Ramuda while he fixes up the hidden pockets in his kimono.
It should have been an easy job, it’s repeated, both by Ramuda — Geez, Gentaro, how did you mess that up? You had him away from other people and everything — and by himself, hammering his own mind with self-deprecation because for some godforsaken reason he didn’t have it in him to kill Hifumi Izanami.
Now he stares at the knife in his hands, out of the pocket, mirroring moonlight as he sits in that same little garden space, uncomfortable ground and grass underneath him.
Nevermind that Hifumi Izanami would be his most high profile job as an assassin, nevermind that once he was done with this long term mission, he could have whatever he wanted back home. He could leave this life behind and become an actual writer, even, maybe if he had just stabbed the man like he was meant to, he would be sipping tea and watching kabuki with his higher-ups.
It would have been good to have something for a change.
He still had time to get through this, but an extension wouldn’t look pretty to the superiors, especially after all the investment put towards his and Ramuda’s infiltration, the difficulties with the daimyo preventing him from coming into contact with him. And for what? Because some starry-eyed manchild complimented him? Just because of that?
Gentaro sighs from deep within his chest, face feeling stupidly hot. By god, this was embarrassing. He needed to get back on track as quickly as possible. Ramuda already knew about him poking a hole into that foolproof plan, he needed the failure to die with them.
“Gentaro…?”
He jolts. The knife goes quickly into the pocket, the voice recognized easily. Maybe this was his chance.
“Your highness.” He greets amicably, smiling. And there was his target, hand on the sliding door and guilt painted over his face. Of course he’d come back there again. Gentaro suppresses the twist of his expression. “Good evening.”
Hifumi nods. He lets himself be treated so casually, it was one of the first things he heard from Ramuda when they were just starting out. Something about it was sort of amusing.
He stares at the man as he steps forward. Really, to walk around like that, adorned in red and gold and luxury all over, and still not expect the respect that his blood dictated he deserved. Hifumi Izanami was a strange man.
It was good, though, because none of Gentaro’s respect would be genuine, if he were to give it to him.
“Is something the matter?” He asks upon studying Hifumi’s worried expression, tone light.
Hifumi seems to think about what he should say. The door is slid closed, Gentaro’s eyes narrow. He’d get his job done tonight.
“Um, yeah, actually.” He replies with a small voice. “Can I sit next to you?”
On the grass, where the precious fabric of his clothes could be damaged? “Of course, be my guest.”
Hands uncertainly holding up some of the fabric of his robes, Hifumi sits down next to Gentaro, pensive eyes on the pond, and he sighs.
“I heard my dad say there’s a traitor in the court.” And he states, words and air leave his chest like they don’t carry the weight they actually do.
Gentaro has to kill his chuckle before it crawls up his throat.
“I didn’t hear the details, I kinda just listened to him talk from behind the door, um…” Hifumi continues, fidgeting with his hands. “I don’t know who it is, either. But somebody showed up dead. He’s not letting me see anyone now because of it… a-and, some stuff that happened before with another traitor, but, um…”
Someone showed up dead, that must have been on Ramuda. He’s only half jealous, he swears, he may be able to retire after he gets back home if it was a good enough mission, even.
“S-Sorry. This is the second time we talk and I’m running my mouth, aha.” Self-conscious, Hifumi laughs, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. “I promise I’m okay! I just get so bored locked up all the time and I’m a little worried about everything so it’s getting to me a bit…”
“There’s no need to apologize, your highness. Your feelings on the matter are justified.” He responds, they make brief eye contact. Almost there, he thinks. “Though… if I may question your decision, if the palace is dangerous you shouldn’t be wandering by yourself.”
“I know that.” He sighs. “I don’t do it a lot, okay, I had Ramuda bring me here. I just needed some time to think.”
He’s growing distracted. Gentaro grabs the knife through the fabric. Almost, he repeats in his mind. He’d get rid of Hifumi then and there. If Ramuda was just outside that’d be even better.
“Also, um, you can call me Hifumi. I don’t like etiquette and stuff. It’s stupid.” He comments. “And can I ask you a question?”
“Hifumi, then.” Gentaro speaks. He notices in the back of his mind that he’s never said his name out loud. It’s… strange. But it didn’t matter. “What is it, Hifumi?”
“Is it you?”
Just like that, every thought of his dissipates, silence falling on him with the weight of the entire sky.
“P...Pardon?”
Hifumi looks at him without hesitation. “You’re the traitor, right?”
His blood runs cold. Gentaro sucks in a breath, stabilizes himself, anything to keep him here, get this over with. “I’m sorry, Hifumi, have I done anything that made you believe I’m not loyal to the court?”
Heart pounding in his chest, Gentaro meets Hifumi’s gaze with an attempt to return the intensity. He thinks back to the last encounter and his panic and the previous kills—
“I dunno. I guess it’s intuition.” Hifumi says, and it’s almost eerily calm. Nothing about him should really be eerie, he’s just some guy born with a silver spoon in his mouth. “But if you are, I don’t care.”
Gentaro swallows. He shifts on the grass. The awareness of the weapon in his hands grows. Maybe now would be a good time, but somehow he doesn’t feel too keen on moving.
“You shouldn’t say something like that.” Is the response he settles for, scooting closer as discreetly as possible. He just shrugs. “Your life is worth so much more than anyone else here.”
With that, Hifumi laughs. “I never asked for this, though. And it’s not all great.” He mutters, words almost drowning in the wind. Glances towards Gentaro with moon-bathed golden eyes that carried emotions he didn’t know how to name, even as a writer. It lasts but a second before he smiles wide, grinning like nothing mattered. “It’s all good though, ‘cause I’ll be fine real soon.”
“Well, I do believe you can overcome whatever it is that you’re struggling with.”
Now, he’s about to pull the knife out of the pocket, and something flashes on Hifumi’s eyes.
“You should come with me.”
He falters again.
“What,” Gentaro stutters. What are you doing? Get it over with already. “Pardon me?”
Hifumi tilts his head, as if he was confused at Gentaro’s own confusion. “Y’know what I meant, right? I’m running away. So even if you’re the traitor, you don’t have to worry about me.”
He freezes. For a spare second he glances towards the door, trying to seek for Ramuda like he was still there. If he hadn’t intervened at this point, he had probably already left.
Who did this guy think he was, even? Hifumi stares at him with these big shiny eyes even when he’s talking about something like this, like he’s not throwing his entire life out of the window. He acts like someone who’s never even tried to plan ahead before. Gentaro would usually just sneer and say that’s because of how he was brought up, but this didn’t even feel like just an unawareness of consequences, it just felt like he genuinely didn’t care about what was going on.
“I caught you, huh?” Hifumi asks, grinning wide. This is your life in the line! Gentaro mentally scolds. Why do you act like it doesn’t matter? “It’s okay. If you don’t wanna come with me I don’t mind!”
“Supposing you were right, you’re aware this puts your life at risk, aren’t you?” Stumped, the question leaves Gentaro. “You should be afraid of this.”
“But you’re not scary, even if you’re, like, meant to kill me.” Hifumi shrugs with his response. “I’ve seen scarier anyway.”
Big shiny eyes staring at him again, like they’re about to tear a hole into his chest. What sort of assassin was Gentaro if he hesitated because of something like that? He was never the best, but this…
“By the way, when I said I thought you were pretty, I meant it.” Hifumi adds on, laughing quietly. Gentaro hates how quickly it flusters him, heart skipping a beat. “You’re the prettiest. Maybe if you’re actually the traitor, they’ll still forgive you because of that.”
“...are you attempting to flirt your way into safety with another man?”
“Maybe!” Hifumi chirps. He was definitely insane. “Are you gonna let me go ‘cause I’m running away, or are you gonna come with me? You don’t really wanna kill me, right?”
Gentaro finds himself unable to respond. He genuinely couldn’t tell if it was all a joke. The world keeps weighing in his mind, pressure ready to crush him. Ramuda, the higher-ups, his distant dreams.
Hifumi, moonlit gardens, a sliver of attention he’s never received, never allowed himself to receive when he threw himself into this life he never asked for. Something that might as well be a plan to backstab him, since he thought the so-called traitor was a single person — That he was that person.
He looks back into his eyes. Hifumi stares expectantly. Gentaro swallows, sucks in a deep breath.
“If you mean what you say,” He begins, slightly shaky voice finding its footing soon enough. “Despite everything I might be. And how...frankly insane this proposal is. Then I’ll come with you.”
Hifumi smiles wide. A hand reached out — And with his heartbeat in his throat, Gentaro took it.
It’s not the sort of thing that happens in real life. He might as well not wake up jailed tomorrow, ready to face execution after the nobleman who reached out to him was but a liar.
But there isn’t much more for him out there. So maybe it’s okay if the dream only lasts a couple moments. He still got to live it, if only for a while.