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Akira wanted Akechi to hurry up and try and kill him as soon as possible.
Their plan had been perfect; they had discussed every detail for weeks, so how had it gone so wrong? Why was Ryuji being hauled in front of him, similar scrapes and bruises on his face?
Lurching forward instinctively, he opened his mouth, but was immediately rewarded with a gut punch, the force of it knocking all the air out of his lungs. Ryuji gaze was lowered to the floor, looking very much like kicked puppy, a guard’s hand locked onto his shoulder. The guard smirked down at both of them. “We got your little friend. I’d suggest you start talking.”
“Don’t say anything-” Ryuji started to yell, stepping forward the tiniest millimetre. A different guard, one who had kicked Akira in the ribs, stepped forward and did the exact same to Ryuji, knocking him to the ground easily. Groaning in pain, he curled in on himself, and all Akira could do was watch, immobilised by the arms holding him back.
“If you don’t start talking,” the guard said, resting his foot on Ryuji’s leg. “We’ll be happy to hurt him instead.”
It was at the very moment Akira registered that the leg the guard was leaning on was Ryuji’s bad one, when the psycho decided to lean more of his weight onto it, stomping on it a few times for good measure. Ryuji let out a strangled noise. Akira felt useless-he had to wait for Sae, but if he didn’t start talking then Ryuji would end up broken into literal pieces judging by the way these guards were acting. As if to prove his point, another joined in, instead aiming for the face.
A worrying amount of blood spilled out onto already dirtied floor, bright crimson on dingy grey.
To make matters worse, Ryuji had gone completely and utterly silent, even as the guards tried their best to practically kill him. He was starting to think it had worked.
Mouth dry, he just kept watching the scene in front of him, losing more and more feeling in his body as it went on. He could feel Arsene seething behind his skin, cool fire threatening to burst out in front of everyone, but this was the real world. All he could do was watch. Bile rising in his throat, he fell to his knees, the guards letting him crash down to the ground. “So,” one of them said, daring to smile at him. “Ready to talk? You better be, or your friend here is gonna be in trouble.” And the guard finished it off with a laugh, the rest joining in.
“Don’t…do it…’kira…” Ryuji forced out from where he was lying, all limp and broken, voice strained and weak.
“Shut it!” A guard barked, stamping on Ryuji’s bad leg again. Blood finally boiling, Akira stood up slowly. “What, you gonna fight me or something?” the same guard asked, laughing.
“Yeah,” he answered quickly, stepping forward and throwing the hardest punch he could. It wasn’t the smartest move, but he couldn’t just watch. From the floor, Ryuji looked up at him, his face so bloody and bruised that the red was starting to seep into his hair, and gave him the smallest hint of a smile.
The moment was interrupted by a guard approaching him and shoving a needle into his neck with much more force than necessary, throwing him to the ground after. “We shoulda used this earlier. He’s trouble, isn’t he?”
“Well, he can’t do nothing like that. And the other one can’t move. Let’s go.”
Numbness crept up his limbs, so he quickly shuffled to face Ryuji, praying that he hadn’t become unconscious. He wouldn’t be any help if something had gone terribly wrong.
Agonisingly slowly, Ryuji also moved to face him, breathing heavily and wincing as he did so. Tears running down his face, he leant forward, pressing a soft kiss on Akira’s lips. “I was so scared,” Ryuji admitted quietly. “One of them sounded like my dad.”
Akira wanted to wipe those tears off his face so badly, but he was slowly starting to become delirious, the numbness starting to take over his brain too. “It’ll be okay. I promise. I’ll get us out of here. I promise."
“I love you,” Ryuji whispered, eyes starting to close.
“No-Ryuji-stay awake! Keep talking, please, please don’t leave me!”
When Sae walked in to collect him for interrogation, he had already been crying for ten minutes, Ryuji silent in front of him.
~~~
Opening his eyes, the first thing Ryuji did was jolt up into a sitting position, hissing in pain when his body screamed at him for doing so. He was not met with the dark, oppressive atmosphere of the interrogation room, however, but instead a clean and clinical hospital.
He was also connected to a ridiculous amount of IVs.
A soft sigh turned his attention to the end of his bed, where a mop of black fluffy hair was. Akira was sleeping, a hand outstretched, presumably, trying to hold onto his. Smiling, Ryuji happily held it, slightly disturbed by the number of bandages on his arms.
Wow, those guys really did a number on him, huh? Well, it kinda was his fault for getting caught.
But…if he hadn’t gotten caught then those guys would’ve done that to Akira, right? So maybe it was good that he got caught. He could take a few hits. Although, he had embarrassed himself a little by being reminded of his dad.
Just…one of the guards had had a similar voice that was all.
Lost in his thought, he didn’t notice when Akira had looked up blearily, still half asleep. Then, all sleepiness had been forgotten in an instant when he realised Ryuji was awake, his grip tightening on his hand. “Ryuji.”
Smiling, Ryuji ignored that his grip hurt. “Akira.”
Standing up, Akira leant over and pressed a hard kiss onto his chapped lips, not moving away when it was over and he rested his forehead against Ryuji’s. “I thought you died,” he muttered.
“Takes more than that to kill me.”
Akira’s hand twitched. “I want to hug you.”
“Then do it.”
“But I’ll hurt you.”
“Do it.”
And Akira was right, it hurt like a bitch, but as he held onto his boyfriend for dear life, hands gripping his soft jacket, Ryuji never wanted to let go. Akechi was gonna get one hell of a beating when they found him.