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As Tecchou sought the Commander for clarification on today’s assignment, his ears caught on a sentence he wasn’t supposed to hear.
“I am the mastermind.”
He froze as a frightening realization crept up behind him.
… Tachihara was silenced, Tecchou thought as he forced himself to calm down.
“You know, Jouno, I recruited you for this very purpose.” Fukuchi’s voice was low, but it was audible enough for someone with enhanced senses like Tecchou to hear clearly. “Beneath your uniform, you are the same shade of evil as me, as the Decay of Angels. You have what it takes to be one of us.”
Tecchou gritted his teeth and clenched his fist to restrain himself from impulsively barging into the room as he waited for Jouno’s reply, but Jouno remained silent. He seemed to be waiting for Fukuchi to continue.
“The plan is already under way as we speak, but we could speed things up by combining your ability with ours. Don’t you want to help me carry out my work?”
“It seems that this is neither a jest nor a test,” Jouno finally said. “What is it that you ask of me, then?”
Dread slowly enveloped Tecchou in its arms.
“The assassination of the Armed Detective Agency is all I ask. It’s a fairly simple task, considering how many gallons of blood had already stained your hands. As a former executive of a criminal organization and a military officer, you’re accustomed to murder.”
Jouno considered for a while before asking, “What’s in it for me?”
“There is no greater pleasure than hearing cries for mercy, is there? You’ll be free to torment that Detective Agency however much you want.”
Tecchou dug his nails into his palms as everything around him went still as a lake, waiting for Jouno’s answer to send ripples through it.
Rather than a ripple, however, Jouno sent a tidal wave. One that was strong enough to break the dam that was Tecchou’s trust and overturn everything he had believed in.
He could practically see the smile on Jouno’s face as he said, “Understood! I shall carry out my first assignment as a member of the Decay of Angels with relish.”
Despite the torrent of feelings swallowing him whole, Tecchou’s mind remained rational. He was able to think clearly enough to find a hiding spot before the two walked out of the room, towards the site where Jouno is supposed to execute his task.
Tecchou followed them at a distance where he could see them while they couldn’t see him.
Sneaking up behind two hunting dogs, whose bodies were surgically enhanced, was a brutal challenge, even for someone who was trained in the field of stealth. Avoiding their sight was one thing, but their instincts were also significantly sharper than the average human being’s. Luckily, since Tecchou knew his own blindspots and limitations, it was less difficult.
After making their way through a labyrinth of corridors, Jouno and Fukuchi arrived at their destination. It was an abandoned storage room, far from the prying eyes of the airport’s guards and employees, half of whom were already turned into vampires anyway. The commander went through the instructions with Jouno again, thoroughly telling him what to do, when to do it, how to do it, and what to do next. Ironically enough, he said the plan in the same manner he did when assigning tasks to the hunting dogs.
He then left to get his hands on “One Order.”
Once the coast was clear, Tecchou stood up from the shadows to make his way towards the room himself, but jumped back into place as Jouno came out of the room.
Tecchou was confused about why Jouno was leaving his post, but right now, it hardly mattered. He was a member of the Decay of Angels now.
As Jouno passed by him, he sprang to his feet. Using his advantage as the strongest hunting dog, he tackled Jouno into an empty storage room closeby and locked the door behind them.
He unsheathed his sword and swung it towards Jouno.
Tecchou rarely displayed his emotions out in the open for all to see. The expressions on his face, the tone of his voice, even his breathing and his pulse, were controlled with perfect precision, similar to the way he handled his sword.
However, today was different.
From where Jouno couldn't see, Tecchou’s habitually neutral countenance was replaced by a complicated mixture of ferocity and… grief.
The blade of Tecchou’s sword gleamed ominously against Jouno's pale neck, drawing blood as red as the tips of the latter’s hair. Jouno let him.
"Did you forget that you’re a hunting dog? That you ought to uphold justice? You pledged to protect the lives of the citizens of Yokohama. Yet, here you are," Tecchou falters for a moment. "Traitor."
Jouno remained silent, indifferent.
Tecchou's words contained daggers as sharp as the weapon he wielded, but his heart betrayed him.
Jouno’s remarkable sense of hearing enabled him to vividly hear the thinly veiled sorrow in Tecchou's voice, as well as the way his heart was threatening to burst into ruins within the confinement of his chest.
Saying those words out loud was killing him, in the same way Jouno’s betrayal was.
For the first time, Jouno found himself unable to find pleasure in hearing the sound of anguish.
They remain in a stalemate for a while. The tense quietude drew on as both of them chose to keep their raging thoughts to themselves, until Tecchou finally spoke.
“This isn’t what you want,” he attempted to say with conviction, but the words sounded much like a desperate plea when it left his lips. “I’m certain that it isn’t.”
“Then perhaps, Tecchou-san,” Jouno finally replied. He drew a breath before continuing, “You never knew me at all.”
Jouno sensed the way Tecchou stilled, as well as the slow withdrawal of the cold metal against his neck. The blade used to threaten him fell back into its sheath. The fresh wound it left stung.
"Perhaps I never did, but I want to believe that I did. The Jouno I knew may have had a sadistic way of handling things, but he did not have selfish intentions. I trust that the decision you made wasn’t driven by greed. I trust you," He paused before he lowered his voice and said, “Or, at least, I want to trust you."
He turned on his heel to leave as the logical part of his brain screamed at him, but he stopped when a reply came behind him in a barely audible whisper, “Tecchou-san, you heard the commander. I’m as rotten as they are. Are you not abandoning your duty by letting a person like me walk free?”
Hearing this, Tecchou turned back around to face Jouno before saying, “Who said I’m letting you walk free? I’m only letting you carry out whatever plan you had in mind when you left your post. If it does the world a great favor, then my unconditional trust in you would be restored. If it doesn’t, then I will kill you with my own hands.”
Jouno was about to reply when he felt Tecchou walk closer towards him.
“The longer this conversation takes, the more certain I am that it wouldn’t be the latter.” A hand brushed his bangs away from his eyes and rested on his cheek afterwards. “Why are you trying so hard to paint yourself as a bad person?”
At this, Jouno gave up. He rested his head on Tecchou’s shoulder in frustration as he mumbled, “Because I didn’t want you to get involved, idiot! It should’ve been easier to make you stay away from me by making you believe that I switched sides than explain without the commander somehow overhearing, but you make everything so difficult!”
“You’re the one making things difficult. Two is better against one. You don’t have to deal with it on your own.”
“I know that. I was just…” Jouno tried to look for words that would make the next part of his sentence sound less embarrassing, but Tecchou understood before he could finish, saving him from the misery of having to say it aloud.
Tecchou raised his face towards his and planted a kiss on his lips. When they parted, he rested his forehead against Jouno’s and said, “We won’t lose to him, and you certainly won’t lose me.”
The door flew open with a bang. Through the dust, the commander was standing right before them.
“How disappointing, Jouno,” Fukuchi said. On his face was fury masked as indifference. “You’ve grown too soft to be part of the organization. I knew it from the moment you walked away from the assassination site.”
“Commander,” Tecchou said threateningly as his hand instinctively went to the hilt of his sword.
“My business is with Jouno, Tecchou. Don’t meddle in private affairs if you wish to keep your life.”
Tecchou pulled Jouno behind him protectively. He held his hand and squeezed it reassuringly from where the commander couldn’t see.
It was a non-verbal repetition of what he said earlier.
We won’t lose to him, and you certainly won’t lose me.