Work Text:
Well now,
To hear about a case of homicide somewhere in the city became a completely normal daily routine for the Hunting Dogs. If it weren’t for a murder case, then, it would have been for sure another thing. A problem with certain ability users, or the arresting of the most cunning criminals all around Japan.
A completely normal routine.
Even if it’s all of the above. Tecchou would have never expected to witness this kind of behavior after a mission. Moreover coming from their commander.
—
Tachihara laid on the ground on his side, holding his hand firmly on his hip, teeth gritted in pain as blood kept on gushing from the deep wound. His eyes looked glossy while he struggled back on his feet.
The knife blow happened so fast that none of them could intercept it before the damage was done.
The ginger male reached to pull the knife out, but Jouno got a quick hold of his wrist.
“You’re going to make the bleeding worse if you pull it out. Let it sit there.” Jouno finished with a thoughtful expression.
Tachihara simply nodded, his eyes glittering with pain.
Tecchou furrowed his brows and glared sideways to where the attacker was sitting, blinking innocently like he didn’t just manage to stab one of them.
“I’m sorry for this inconvenience, my dear puppies! Hopefully, you’ll learn something from it. As to never underestimate me in the first place.” He grinned.
“‘Puppy’ yourself!” Tachihara yelled enraged, getting up and taking a fighting stance. He folded his hands into fists, preparing to spring at the attacker.
“Ah-ah.” The man raised his hand. “I don’t think you’d like to do that. It would be very stupid of you. And you’ll have no chance against me anyway.” He smiled.
“Why so sure?”
Tecchou widened his eyes. Before he could stop Tachihara, the younger male already sprang forward, reaching with his hand for the gun. The brunette quickly caught a glimpse of a wide grin on the attacker’s face. He pulled out another knife, and, jumping sideways and dodging Tachihara’s attack, he scratched his cheek with the knife.
Tachihara spun around quickly, activating his ability.
“Not so fast!”
Lifting a finger, he simply touched a drop of blood that was plastered on the knife’s tip. In a few heartbeats, Tachihara stopped and fell to the ground, holding his hand on his stomach and yelling in pain.
Tecchou widened his eyes at this kind of reaction. What just happened?
Within seconds, the brunette was in front of him, gripping his sword tightly and pointing the blade at the attacker. He strained his muscles and narrowed his eyes. Whatever the guy did, he wasn’t going to get away so easily.
“Tecchou-san! Don’t!” The brunette heard his partner yell. Tecchou glanced at Jouno, then looked over his shoulder at the ginger male.
His teeth were gritted in pain as tiny black blood vessels were visible on his cheeks, and going down his neck. Soon enough, he started to cough a weird yellowish foam. He placed his hands on the ground and started to tremble. Tecchou widened his eyes. What just happened?
“I told you not to underestimate me. You Hunting Dogs think that you can handle every single ability user, aren’t I right?” He chuckled. “Think twice please, because you’re wrong.”
In a few heartbeats, the guy sprang sideways and disappeared quickly. Tecchou took his fighting stance and closed his eyes. He had to take the attacker down somehow. Whatever he did to Tachihara, he shouldn’t fall into the same trap as well. Opening his eyes again, he dodged the knife blow and jumped backward, leaving enough space between them as not to get hit. Before Tecchou could react, the guy disappeared once again. Damn it. He furrowed his brows.
Once again, the guy appeared closer to him this time, trying to slash him once again, but Tecchou was agile as well. He dodged every time, lengthening his blade to cut the attacker, but he managed to disappear every time.
Tecchou flinched when he felt pressure on his back. He nearly turned around to attack, before he caught a glimpse of white hair at the corner of his eye. He relaxed. It was only Jouno, who stood back to back with him, gripping his own sword.
“Don’t let him get to cut you, or even draw a single drop of blood from you,” He whispered quickly. “I think I’ve figured out his ability. Once he gets into contact with someone’s blood, he can manipulate poison inside the victim’s body.”
Jouno bumped into his back, making both of them jump backward, probably to avoid another blow.
“How is that even possible?” Tecchou hissed bewildered.
The blind soldier shrugged. “He took out Tachihara-kun first because he knew that his ability could have manipulated his weapons, leaving him defenseless. It’s up to us now. And we should go fast. I don’t like how Tachihara’s blood pressure is increasing.”
Tecchou nodded, dodging once again yet another knife slash.
In a matter of seconds, Jouno turned to him and whispered quickly into his ear. “Keep on dodging as long as you can. I’ll try to get a hold of him while you distract him.”
Tecchou hummed, watching how his partner’s body disappeared into molecules, getting lost in the air.
The brunette heard the wind’s sound changing slightly. He dodged, once again. He kept on dodging and dodging. Tecchou was out of breath. Grunting, he prepared for another attack, which never landed.
Before the attacker could disappear fast once again, Jouno landed on top of him, hitting the knife out of the other’s hand with his foot. The white-haired male quickly threw the guy’s head against the ground and straddled his hips, gripping the man’s wrists firmly as he thrashed under him.
Jouno turned his blind gaze on Tachihara. “Now! Do it now!” He called.
Tachihara grunted and reached with his hand forward to activate his ability once again but jolted as another cramp hit him, making him puke the yellowish foam. His whole body trembled, and he looked like he would pass out any time now. The white of his eyes became reddish as he struggled on the ground. Tecchou wanted to go next to him but halted when he heard a yelp.
The attacker managed to wriggle himself free, tackling Jouno on the ground and smashing his head against the hard concrete. Tecchou darted after him in an attempt to catch the man, but unfortunately for them, he lost every sight of him. He was too fast. They had failed to catch him.
Turning around, he spotted Jouno approaching Tachihara and settling down next to him. With an irritated grunt, Tecchou made his way to the others.
Jouno’s white hair was matted with dust and blood, probably by the hit that he took against the hard concrete. Blood was dripping from his chin onto the ground. His closed eyelids were fixed on Tachihara, brows furrowed in concern.
The younger male was curled around himself, keeping his hands on his stomach. He lifted his gaze to meet theirs.
“I’m- so sorry that I wasn’t able to do anything.” He croaked out, while his body kept on jolting.
Tecchou felt a pang in his chest while seeing his younger co-worker struggling against the poison. That guy was going to pay hard for this. This was the first time since they started working as Hunting Dogs when they’ve failed.
Jouno placed his hand on the male’s shoulder.
“What’s done is done. It wasn’t your fault.”
Tecchou narrowed his eyes. He knew that his partner was absolutely annoyed. But that silent fury wasn’t directed at the ginger male, but at himself. And he knew that. The brunette turned his head upon hearing approaching footsteps. He relaxed. It was only their commander. He most likely arrived a few seconds ago, but he was too lost in his thoughts to notice.
Tecchou dipped his head to the commander as the older man brushed past him. His violet gaze was fixed sternly on the two. The brunette frowned. He didn’t like the energy that Fukuchi emanated. Not in the slightest bit, actually.
Their commander stopped in front of them, a few steps away.
“Well?” Despite his smile, Tecchou knew that there was definitely something wrong.
Jouno opened his mouth to say something but got cut off in an instant by Tachihara, who bowed as good as he could, teeth still gritted in pain.
“I-I’m very sorry, commander! It wasn’t Tecchou-san nor Jouno-san’s fault but mine! I wasn’t able to use my ability…and…we’ve failed. The criminal got away. Because of me.” Tachihara sputtered the sentences out, barely daring to breathe.
Tecchou couldn’t blame him. This was the first time the Hunting Dogs failed a mission.
Yet, if Fukuchi heard what Tachihara said, he definitely chose to ignore it, since his scolding gaze was on Jouno, who sat on the ground next to the ginger, his hand placed on the younger male’s shoulder in a poor attempt of comfort.
“Jouno-kun,” Tecchou flinched slightly at the cold tone. This is absolutely unsettling. “I left you in charge of this mission. What happened?”
The blind male lifted his chin and started to explain every single detail that happened. Tecchou admired how despite the commander’s malevolent presence, Jouno was able to keep himself under control, not stuttering even one time.
After finishing, Fukuchi remained silent for a moment. Then, his voice came out harsh, unlike his usual cheerful tone, the intensity clawing at the insides of the brunette’s ears.
“Tecchou-kun and Tachihara-kun are not to blame for your incompetence and inability to catch such a weak criminal,” The captain narrowed his eyes. “There will be consequences, if we can’t deal with such an easy case, then who’s gonna do it?”
Jouno opened his mouth to protest, but Fukuchi went on, not giving him the chance. “Do you know what I think, Jouno-kun? You’re a smart, young one. But your blind care about what happens around you, as well as your past still haunting you…these things hold you back. Do you think that Tachihara-kun would have died? Or do you think Tecchou-kun wouldn’t have been able to handle it?”
Tecchou couldn’t stand to hold his tongue any longer. This wasn’t fair at all!
“Commander. The attacker was very agile and malicious. We all had a hard time fighting him-”
Fukuchi turned his cold gaze on him.
“I didn’t ask for your opinion, Tecchou-kun. And Jouno, I’m very disappointed. I thought you were smarter and stronger than this. Guess I was wrong.” With that, he turned around, walking towards where the criminal last was. “I will handle this situation myself,” He went on. “When I come back, I expect to have a small talk with you, Jouno-kun.”
Tecchou raised his eyebrows. “Commander- didn’t you call any paramedics?” The brunette glanced down in concern at Tachihara’s trembling figure against Jouno.
Their commander turned around, curiosity plastered on his face. “Since I’ve thought you could handle it, I’ve seen no reason to call any.”
Jouno raised his blind gaze. “The poison is traveling fast around in his blood vessels! It’s dangerous and-”
“Well, you should have thought about that before failing. You have the car. You’ll manage to drive him back to the headquarters. In fact, it’s your fault that he’ll have to suffer until he gets back. Such a shame, Tachihara-kun really doesn’t deserve any of this now, does he?”
Then he left, without looking back.
Tecchou could barely believe what he had just witnessed. Approaching the two, he helped the ginger male up and stared at him, his amber gaze clouded with worry when Tachihara’s head fell limp, chin pressed against his own chest.
“I’m sorry.” He croaked weakly once again before closing his eyes.
The brunette glanced at Jouno. The white-haired soldier was making his way towards the car. Tecchou couldn’t catch a glimpse of his expression and didn’t try to bother him with questions as he followed the latter with a firm hold on Tachihara’s body. This was absolutely the worst day since they’ve started working here.
—
Tecchou woke up with a jolt. His eyes landed on the shelf and on the clock. It was 1:03 AM. He hardly managed to fall asleep for more than 40 minutes. After today’s incidents, impulsive thoughts kept on bickering around in his head. He was a composed person and rarely tended to overthink. But for some reason, today happened the unexpected, and unfortunately, this seemed to have a major impact upon him.
The brunette sighed, getting up from the bed and stretching, his spine making a satisfying crack. He had absolutely no idea what to do now.
He left his room, walking aimlessly around the pitch dark halls. The silence of the night made his thoughts louder than ever. He could practically hear them clearly at this point. Tecchou looked around. He didn’t even realize that he had walked downstairs. Well, everyone was asleep now anyway.
Or so he thought.
The brunette heard the slight sound of water rippling. It was almost unnoticeable if it weren’t for the fact that he was wide awake. For a moment, he hesitated. He thought it was only his imagination until he heard it again.
As silent as an owl flying through the night, his legs carried him to the bathroom door. The sound had stopped, followed by silence.
Shit.
“You’re a creep for eavesdropping water ripples at the door, you do know that, right, Tecchou-san?” Jouno’s soft voice came from behind the door. The brunette relaxed visibly. He thought someone else was in there.
Tecchou smiled to himself. “It’s 1 AM, Jouno-san. Why are you-“
“You are going to wake everyone up if you keep on talking so loud.” His partner cut him off.
Tecchou simply hummed at that. He reached with his hand for the doorknob, pressing it gently. The brunette didn’t hear Jouno protesting, so, he entered the bathroom, closing the door carefully behind him.
“I’m not going to look.” The brunette said, back turned against the opposite side of the bathroom where Jouno sat comfortably in the bathtub.
“I know, idiot.” The blind male hissed, but there was no trace of malice in his voice.
The brunette kept on approaching until he felt the back of his legs pressed against the bathtub. He sat down slowly, back still facing his partner. He could feel Jouno’s blind gaze on him. They sat there in comfortable silence.
Tecchou stared at the ceiling.
“How’s Tachihara-kun?” He asked, remembering the poor male’s condition when they got back.
“He is recovering. I visited him a few hours ago. He is currently sleeping, safe, and sound.” The white-haired male answered.
Tecchou hummed at that. He was glad Tachihara was feeling better. He scrunched up his nose. Though…
“Jouno-san. About today-“
“Spare it, Tecchou-san.” Jouno’s voice became bitter. He sounded annoyed.
Tecchou scrunched his nose and furrowed his brows. “Jouno-san,” he went on more sternly, hoping it will catch the latter’s attention. “I want to talk with our commander. I don’t think that the way-”
“Can you cut this off already?! Did you just come here so that you could ruin my free time?”
Tecchou felt frustration bubbling up in his chest. “I left my room because I couldn’t sleep anymore. Today’s incidents were absolutely wrong. Not only because we’ve lost the criminal, but the way the commander behaved towards us- mostly towards you wasn’t acceptable in the slightest bit.”
Silence followed. The brunette still gazed at the ceiling. He felt his heart thundering in his chest. Why? He couldn’t stand it.
He stiffened when he heard Jouno chuckling sarcastically.
“You’re blinder than I’ll ever be, aren’t you? Hm, Tecchou-san?”
“Excuse me?” The brunette blinked in confusion while glancing sideways.
“You don’t understand, do you? Not only we’ve managed to fail a mission for the first time since we started working here. But captain Fukuchi was right,” Tecchou narrowed his eyes at his partner’s unusual tone. “It was my fault. Entirely.”
The brunette gritted his teeth in annoyance. He absolutely couldn’t stand it anymore. He spun around and faced his partner, his amber eyes glowing with fury. The blind male yelped and hugged his knees to his chest.
“Tecchou-san!”
“CUT the bullshit, I don’t care at this point. You might have been in charge of the mission, but all three of us were a part of it! Not only you, not only me, not only Tachihara! All of us. Do you think I couldn’t have been better? Couldn’t have fought better? Do you think Tachihara-kun doesn’t feel the same? Commander only blamed you for it just because you were in charge, Jouno-san. But in reality, he wasn’t there to see everything. I respect our captain with all my might and I would do anything to save civilians. But we are humans too, Jouno.”
Tecchou watched how the blind male let his head fall back, starting to laugh mockingly.
“My dear, Tecchou-san. Do you still think we are humans?”
“What do you mean? Aren’t we?”
“You knew the price when you joined the Hunting Dogs. And so did I. The same goes for Teruko-san and Tachihara-kun.” The white-haired male tilted his head, his wet hair plastered on his cheeks and a hollow smile gracing his facial features. “We’re being put back over and over again, every time we fall apart. Just like a machine. Therefore, if we fail a mission, like today, we’re being scolded or punished. Just like dogs. Because what’s our worth if we can’t hunt down a criminal? Who would do that if it wasn’t for our stupid ‘sacrifice’? Well, Tecchou-san? Aren’t you used to that already? Oh, and I thought you were smarter than that, for just a few moments…” Jouno pressed his head back against the wall.
Tecchou stared at him in disbelief. He had no idea what to say anymore. He felt lost. Was that really what Jouno thought? The brunette’s eyes wandered on the other’s neck and suddenly stopped. How has he not noticed so far?
A long, deep gash ran from the blind male’s chin down til his collar bone. It must have been fresh because the wound had an ugly reddish hue, the skin around it tattered. Tecchou gulped the lump from his neck.
“Did the criminal manage to wound you?”
Jouno’s head moved so that his closed eyelids now faced the latter. “No. Not at all.”
Ah.
He understood now.
“Jouno-san…do you ever wish to leave?”
“What kind of question is that supposed to be?” Tecchou heard the water ripple, Jouno lowering his legs back since the latter wasn’t facing him anymore.
Now that he said it aloud…Tecchou had no idea how to go on. But he had to.
“What I mean is, do you ever think of leaving? The Hunting Dogs?”
“Well, it’s not like we had a choice. Our monthly surgeries are holding us back. This, in fact, is an act of disloyalty. We are committed to this job. It’s our duty. It’s easy. If we don’t comply we die.” He shrugged. “That’s just how it’s going to be.”
“But do you ever think of it?”
His partner was silent for a few moments. Tecchou looked at him out of the corner of his eye. His expression seemed thoughtful. Then, Jouno’s expression changed instantly to an enraged one as he spun his head sharply to face him.
“I’ve finally found something worth doing. It’s not like I would personally have any other choice. If I hadn’t accepted to join this unit, I would have rotted in the prison. Either way, it didn’t matter. I would have died anyway. I am going to die anyway at some point. Strongest Ability Users or not.”
Tecchou placed his head against his palms. The brunette heard enough. His thoughts were spinning painfully in his head. For the first time ever, he felt trapped. Trapped in this cruel reality, trapped in this world, trapped in this place. Chained to it. Forever.
When he spoke, his voice sounded just like a broken record. “Do our own lives have any value to you?” He rasped.
“Do you think it’s worth asking yourself that?” The blind soldier asked. “Anyway,” he went on. “I like having power over others. It’s a good reward. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I want to finish taking a bath, Tecchou-san.”
Shit.
Tecchou’s ears felt hot as Jouno’s hand pressed warmly against his back. This, and the thought that his partner had to remind him of privacy was absolutely awkward. Getting up quickly, he bowed awkwardly to the other before leaving the bathroom, closing the door quickly behind him.
He lowered his head and gritted his teeth painfully. Raising his amber gaze again after a few heartbeats, he released a long breath he didn’t know he was holding. Jouno’s words kept on running through his head.
Do you think it’s worth asking yourself that?
The brunette took a grip of his own hair. What if his partner was right? In the end, their only duty is to protect civilians. This is what their fate must want from them.
Tecchou slowly made his way back to his room, through the pitch dark, silent hallways.