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"Looks like you're on your own on this one."
April tilts his head upwards, finally looking up at the man that had him tied up, his body bound to the wooden chair in the middle of a room, a building out of nowhere. April only smirks before he spits on the man, obviously uncaring of the consequences it can entail on him. Not like he really thought of it anyway — he was trying to loosen the ropes behind him, and funnily enough, the rope doesn't budge as much as he wants it to. Might as well just fuck around before back-up comes in.
"If it isn't obvious enough, Captain Stupid, yes, I am alone on this one," he replies, rolling his eyes as he leans back on his chair, looking at him from head to toe. His abductor pops a vein from his backhanded comment, taking a knife from pockets behind before a door opens, distracting the both of them from the upcoming doom that the man was about to place on his body.
"My, my, Watson. I thought you'd have more composure than this."
The man enters and immediately, the guy named Watson straightens his back, bowing as the new unnamed man approaches them. "Sir!" He mumbles, looking at him with all respect.
Ah, must be the leader then.
"You did well, catching our dear Mr. Utsuki here," the man smiles, and April's eyes widen ever so slightly as he hears the alias. Shit. How much digging have they done on him? He's thrown away that alias years ago.
The man paces around the room, the sound of his shoes clacking and echoing in the empty space. It's rhythmic, slow, and it mirrors the beating of April's heart. He actually might be at risk tonight and he smiles. The thrill and the risk is what makes his job much more exciting, after all. He'll just have to make sure he doesn't die today.
"Watson, leave," the man lowly says, and Watson only gives a small nod, exiting the room as quietly as he can, leaving the two men alone and joining what must be ten men keeping watch of the room. As the door closes, the man stops walking as well, stopping right in front of April's tied body, his lips pressed into a thin smile as he puts his hands on the spy's chin, forcing him to look at the boss.
Chikage's eyes stare at the features of the man, and he faintly recalls the profile that August sent him an hour before. Gold eyes, pointed nose, thin lips, and a mustache gracing his mouth. He was told that his hair was kept in a messy bun, and often wore a suit that didn't quite match his body shape.
Yep, definitely as ugly as he imagined. More importantly, matches the profile. He's the target.
"So, Utsuki. What brings you here?" The man asks, letting go of his face before he plays around with his watch. He reeks of nonchalance, as if he knows that he's already won against April. Clearly, he's underestimating him a little too much.
April stares at him, eyebrow raised as he retains his smug smile. He wants to toy with this man as much as he can, elongate his stay in this room before she arrives. "Hm, I don't know, and you shouldn't care... I believe I haven't gotten your name," He quips. The man leans on the wall as he looks at April, smiling as innocently as he can. April wants to throw up at the sight of him — he hated goody-two-shoes facades like the way his target's looking right now.
"Can't believe you tried to infiltrate the base without knowing one of the heads, you arrogant shit. Well, since you'll die anyway might as well give you the name. It's Ogawa," Ogawa muses, and April wants to wipe off the smirk on his face. Fucking bigshots.
He smiles, his eyes challenging the man in front of him. "Well hello, Ogawa. I don't think you'll let me out of these ropes even if I asked nicely, will you?" Ogawa merely scoffs, before replying, "No, not if you don't tell me why you're here."
April continues to try loosening the ropes behind him, but to no avail, it's still as tightly knot as before, barely giving his hands any inch of movement. He has to hand it to the one of tied him up — this was one good knot, but still wasn't the type he'd like to be in. He gives up temporarily, choosing to humor Ogawa in hopes that his stalling won't have him resorting to the suicide pill he has in his pocket. April would rather die than let the Organization be exposed.
"What makes you think I'd speak?" April smirks, and Ogawa only laughs before he approaches April again, his eyes predatory. April doesn't show any sign of fear though, obviously used to life-or-death situations placed in front of him. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that April danced with death a little too often — he doesn't even get fazed with the taunting he gets from different gangs, mafias, and organizations he tries to infiltrate in. The man stops in front of him, his hand gripping his neck, effectively cutting off his air supply. April's eyes widen but he keeps himself under control, a little bit of time without air isn't much of a bother.
Ogawa seems to think the same, so he kindly takes the matter into his own hands, letting his free hand punch April's stomach. Boy, oh boy, April coughs and regrets having a sandwich before he went on with the operation.
"Speak, before I turn you into fine powder, Utsuki. You're all alone and we have all of your gear outside. You got nothing against me," Ogawa taunts, the stupid curve of his mouth turning into borderline sinister. By normal standards, his juniors would have been reaching out to the pill by now, but he was one of the seniors for a reason — this thing was child's play to him.
So April just looks at him dead in the eye, before tilts his head innocently, his mouth curves into one of his picture-perfect smile.
"No," he whispers, stomping his foot over Ogawa's. His hands may be tied up effectively, but the idiot forgot to tie his feet properly. Stupid. Ogawa lets out a noise of pain, and blows a punch on April's face. April thinks of that as a win.
April doesn't react, his face deadpanned as he gives his attention to Ogawa again. "Is that all you can do?" April asks, clearly riling up the man in front of him. It works like expected, and the next thing he tastes blood in his mouth after another blow to the stomach.
"We can keep going like this Utsuki, or you can make it easier for the both of us and you speak," Ogawa offers.
April never liked easy though. And he needed to stall a little more. Just a little more before his favorite sniper arrives at her location and timeframe.
"I like a little more force, so no. Try harder?" April replies, and he inwardly laughs when he sees Ogawa's eyebrow twitch in annoyance. "Very well then."
Ogawa walks towards the door, calling out a few men inside before locking the room. April knows what's about to happen. It's a good thing he's used to pain, huh?
"He's all yours. Beat him up until he speaks. Make sure you don't kill him, alright?"
Choruses of agreement echo in the room, and the group closes in on him. He feels one of the men grip his hair, forcing him to look towards the ceiling, and the next thing he knows is that he's bleeding, his stomach hurts, his hands are marked with tight rope bindings and someone put a slash on his arm and his precious cheek. April curses at them, specifically at the man who put a mark on his face. It stings horrendously, but he really would just like to make the man feel pain because god, of all places why would you do that to his face?
"I'll fucking kill you," he coughs, his mouth bleeding and busted, and his eyes filled with rage. Ogawa only laughs from afar, his body relaxed against the wall.
"You can't, Utsuki. Powerle—" He starts, but not before the window on their left shatters into a million pieces, and Ogawa's body falls lifeless on the floor, bullet pierced through his skull.
April's mood visibly gets better, and the men feel a shiver run down their spines. Something was definitely off and April feels bad that the last thing they would see would be his sinister smile. It seems like his favorite killer was here.
The room turns into a frenzy as the men slowly fall in numbers, bullets finding their way into either their brains or hearts. It's silent too — April makes a mental note of asking his partner what gun silencer she brought for the night. The night air is filled with the stench of blood, and about eight lifeless men scattered in the room. It's supposed to irk him, but he finds himself not caring, solely focused on trying to get rid of his binds.
"Need a little help there, sweetheart?"
April looks to the source of the sound and smirks, eyes fond. "Well, don't mind if I do, Izumi. You're fashionably late again." He teases, and Izumi jumps inside, using the window she shattered minutes ago as her door.
Izumi walks towards him, kicking away the bodies she's shot away from her path. April thinks it's fucking crazy how she's accurate every time, and not a single bullet wasted when she shoots. Perhaps he could learn quite a bit from his partner.
"Hm, but you love me even if I'm late," Izumi coos, whipping out her pocket knife from her back. She cuts the binds in one swift motion, and April finally moves from his chair, standing and stretching to get rid of the ache that he feels. Izumi puts her arms around his shoulder, inching their faces together. "Besides, I saved you today, didn't I, babe?" She teases, her lips dangerously close to his bruised ones.
April relaxes, and he figures he doesn't mind the additional pain he'd feel when Izumi kisses him. He smiles, knowing that her kisses today aren't like the usual — rough, and fast. Her kisses today are soft, gentle — as if he was fragile. Stupid how he knows what those mean.
"Can't believe Izumi's going all soft on me, huh? Do I look that bad today?" April attempts to joke, before he winces as Izumi pokes his sides, bruises and wounds be damned. "There's your answer. You could've seriously hurt yourself today, April."
Izumi lets go of his neck, allowing herself to cup April's cheek as she speaks. "I know we should do our best for the organization, but next time try not to be a punching bag, okay? I don't know what I'd do if I lose you, April."
April's eyes focus on hers, and he pulls her into his embrace when she feels her shaking. They stay still for a moment, and April brings his hand to run his hand down her hair. "Mm, alright babe. I'll do my best." Izumi calms down, and April lets himself press a chaste kiss on her forehead.
"Besides, I don't think you'll let death take me anyway," April smirks, and thank god, Izumi laughs along. "You're right, not when we still haven't eaten the best curry of our lives together," she replies, pulling away as she wipes away the dried blood beside April's lips. He grins.
"One-track mind, aren't you, Izumi?" He muses, picking up a loaded gun from one of the dead bodies on the floor. Izumi shrugs as she looks at him, fond. "Oh, hell yeah. Curry is so fucking sexy."
April scoffs as he stands up, putting the gun in his vacant holster. "Don't say that when your boyfriend is here." Izumi flashes him a smile, and Chikage is just gone — thankful that he isn't dead tonight, grateful that he gets to spend another day with his partner, and his girlfriend.
"'mkay! Now, let's get out of here! I kinda forgot I killed 'em all. Oops. Let's go get your stuff, December told me he tracked it outside!" Izumi exclaims, walking past the mountain of corpses and towards the door. April shakes his head, still completely confused on how someone like her can go from a killing machine to literal sunshine.
Izumi smiles at him before she has her handheld gun in her hands, and she opens the door, shooting the man waiting in front directly on his head — effectively killing him. Her eyes quickly shifted from feral to calm, and the duality passes faster than the blink of an eye. April can only sigh as he walks towards her, pressing a kiss on her lips once more as they finally leave the room, target taken care of.
"What was that for?" Izumi asks, finally placing her gun in her holster as soon as she's assured that no one's in the vicinity.
April's mouth curve into a knowing grin, before he replies. "Nothing. Just thinking about how fucking crazy you are." For being able to kill and put on a smile this easily. For being this talented in this job. But also for being this caring despite the nature of our work. For falling in love with a killer like me. For all the other things left unsaid. You're just so fucking crazy.
Izumi seems to get it, her eyes softening ever so slightly as she speaks. "Pft, no. Just a little. C'mon, let's get out of here," Izumi giggles, stealing back all of April's gear and stashing it into her backpack. "Hurry up, April — Chikage! Or else I'll leave you alone!"
He looks at the scene around him and shakes his head in fond annoyance. "Fuck you, I'm injured babe!" He shouts, following suit anyway, knowing full well that this whole cycle would probably happen again. That he'll be in a sticky situation again, that he'll wonder how Izumi's gonna save his ass again, and that he'll still be utterly in love with his organization's (and possibly the world's) best sniper alive.
Maybe they're both a little bit crazy.