Chapter Text
"Papa Kazuki! Papa Rei! I made a new friend!"
Tap, tap, tap, slide, flick. Rei didn't bother looking up from his phone.
"That's great, Miri." From beside him, he could feel Kazuki shift, and he caught the gesturing of his hand from his peripheral. "And what's your name…?"
Double tap, tap, double tap again, slide, flick, slide, flick. The song continued, intensity increasing.
"H-Hello."
A quiet voice, barely audible over the already-quiet music. Taptaptaptap --
"I'm Yaeka… Yaeka Sakuragi."
-- Rei's thumbs twitched. Miss. Combo broken. Fuck.
Fuck.
Sakuragi.
There was an almost imperceptible shake to his hands as he stared at the results screen on his phone.
"We don't do business with the Sakuragis."
Rei closed the game and shoved the phone and his hands inside his hoodie pocket.
"Nice to meet you, Yaeka," Kazuki greeted, oblivious. Typical.
Rei kept his eyes down, but he could hear the genuine smile in Kazuki's voice. Idiot.
"We're Miri's papas," the blond idiot continued. "I'm Kazuki, and this is --"
"Ah, Miss Yaeka."
Another voice, much deeper this time. Potential threat.
Finally, Rei looked up, just as Yaeka replied, "Kirishima! My new friend Miri was introducing me to her parents…"
Kirishima.
Their eyes met, and for a second, Rei couldn't breathe. It felt like his heart was being squeezed in his chest and he couldn't control the thoughts racing through his head.
"The 'Demon of Sakuragi'. Tо̄ru Kirishima. If you ever run into him, you kill him on sight. Understood?"
Rei's fingers twitched. The phone was a solid, comforting weight in his grip. He could throw it, catch Kirishima off-guard, then go for the knife hidden in his boot. A quick jab to the throat and --
Kirishima broke eye contact with Rei, focusing on Kazuki now.
A fire seemed to erupt inside Rei, his muscles burning as he fought between his upbringing (fight) and his instincts (flight).
"Ki-wi-shi-ma…" Miri's voice now, struggling to pronounce the name. A demon's name. It shouldn't have even been on her lips.
Demon eyes on Miri now, a predatory smile tugging at thin lips, revealing yellow-stained teeth. A smoker's mouth. Rei should know.
Rei's own gaze burned into Kirishima. Don't look at her, don't you fucking look at her, stop looking at my daughter --
Flight kicked in.
On his feet in a flash, Rei scooped Miri into his arms. She let out a noise of surprise before giggling, thinking they were playing a game.
He ignored her protests of "Papa Rei! I want to play at the park more!" when he suddenly dashed away with her.
He ignored the sounds of Kazuki's confused sputtering too, and the beginning of an apology over Rei's behavior. Later. Had to get Miri to safety first.
Had to escape before he put a knife through a man's throat right in front of his daughter.
Miri had returned to giggling in Rei's arms as they moved through back alley after back alley, taking the most confusing and roundabout way possible back to the apartment. He couldn't afford to have anyone follow them home.
When they finally arrived, Rei went straight for the bathroom. He locked the door before climbing into the tub and hunkering down, Miri still tightly in his arms.
"Papa Rei," she frowned. "I don't think I'm sleepy enough yet for nap time."
Rei kept his eyes on the door. "We're still playing," he lowly insisted. "Hide and seek."
Miri made a thoughtful noise. "I think Papa Kazuki already knows this hiding spot."
"That's okay." Rei ran a hand over Miri's hair. "He's not the one who's 'It'."
"Oooh." Miri giggled again. "Is it --"
Rei silently shushed her with a finger placed gently over her mouth. Miri got the hint and nodded sagely.
It wasn't long until the faint sound of the front door opening could be heard. Familiar footsteps approached, and then there was a knock on the bathroom door.
"Rei? Miri?" Kazuki, sounding concerned. "You in there?"
Silence.
The door handle jiggled and there was an audible sigh when it refused to budge. "Rei, it's just me. Open the door."
"Does Papa Kazuki want to hide with us too?" Miri asked, though she hadn't quite yet mastered the art of whispering.
"No," Rei quickly replied. "It might be a trap."
More insistent now, Kazuki continued, "This isn't a game, Rei! Don't make me pick the lock. It's not as easy as a screwdriver and a bobby pin, you know."
Rei focused intently on Kazuki's words and any sound he could hear on the other side of the door. Kazuki didn't seem distressed, and as far as Rei could tell, he was alone.
Miri fidgeted in Rei's arms. "Papa Rei," she started, "can we let Papa Kazuki in now? The tub is boring." Typical four-year-old attention span.
"... Yeah," Rei finally relented, releasing his hold on Miri.
She shot out of his arms and carefully crawled out of the tub. "Yay!" Running to the door, she turned the lock, just as she'd been taught. "Does this mean we won?"
"Yeah."
Except there's no winning until the "Demon of Sakuragi" is dead.
Rei rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, trying not to mull on the intrusive thoughts. It wasn't going well. He desperately needed a cigarette.
Distantly, he heard Kazuki tell Miri to go play in her room for a little while.
It wasn't long until the blond idiot was staring down at Rei in the tub, an expectant look on his face.
Rei refused to bite and just stared back at him.
Sighing lowly, Kazuki pushed away from the tub with his hands, only to sit on the edge of it instead. "Alright," he started, "what latent trauma have we uncovered today?"
"We have to find a new park for Miri to play at."
"... Okay." Kazuki frowned. "Not exactly what I was asking, but we can start there." He raised his eyebrows slightly. "What's wrong with the park all of a sudden?"
Rei glanced away. "... I don't like the crowd it attracts."
That got a laugh out of Kazuki. "What, too many gossiping soccer moms for you lately?"
Idiot. Rei clenched his jaw slightly and pressed his lips into a thin line.
Kazuki got the hint. "Okay, okay. No more jokes. Don't clam up on me now." His expression turned softer as he continued, "What 'crowd' has it attracted?"
Turning his entire head away, Rei muttered, "Demons."
"... Demons."
"Yes."
"Demons? Seriously?"
Rei crossed his arms over his chest.
"I didn't take you for the superstitious type." Kazuki put a finger to his chin in thought. "Do we need to call an exorcist?"
Fingers digging into his own sides, Rei resisted the urge to shove Kazuki off the edge of the tub. "If you don't want to find a new park for Miri," he quietly said, "then I'll handle the problem myself."
"Whoa there, Mr. Bloodthirsty." Kazuki put his hands up, as if that would somehow pacify Rei. "Let's try and resolve this without violence first. This is our kid's life we're talking about here, which, I'll remind you, is already kinda fucked up."
Rei was quiet for a long while. There wasn't any getting around this, was there? "Kirishima," he begrudged with a low grumble.
Kazuki had been idly inspecting his nails while he waited on Rei. "Right," he replied, dropping his hand back to resting on the edge of the tub. He gave Rei a look, making it clear he'd known who the problem was from the start. Asshole. "So what's your beef with this guy? He barely said two words, and neither of them were to you."
"Demon," Rei simply repeated, continuing to stare at the side of the tub.
"That's not --" Kazuki put a frustrated hand to his forehead. "What, did this guy kill your whole family or something?"
Rei shook his head. "Not mine." Not yet. Not if Rei could help it.
Now it was Kazuki's turn to stare. "Wait, seriously? That guy --" He glanced at the closed bathroom door, as if he expected Miri to burst in at any moment. He lowered his voice as he continued, "You're telling me that guy's killed an entire family? In cold blood?"
"Multiple," Rei corrected.
"Multiple!" Kazuki shook his head, almost in disbelief. "So, what, he's a serial killer?"
Rei went quiet again. "Yakuza," he muttered.
"Oh." Realization dawned on Kazuki's face. "You know him then."
"Not personally."
"Well, his reputation must be pretty serious," Kazuki said, "if just the sight of him had you running scared."
Rei whipped his head in Kazuki's direction, glaring daggers at him over the insult. "Wasn't scared," he corrected, a warning in his tone. "Didn't want to murder a man in front of Miri."
"Wow. That bad, huh?" Kazuki raised his eyebrows. "He didn't exactly seem like a threat to me, you know. You're acting like he was unhinged, but I don't think he would've hurt Miri. Or us, for that matter, unless we were threatening Yaeka." He paused. "I'm sure you can relate."
Rei closed his eyes, but all he could see was Kirishima's face, as if it had been burned into his eyelids. "They call him the 'Demon of Sakuragi'," he lowly explained. "I'm supposed to kill him."
There was the trauma that Kazuki had been looking for. Rei hoped he was happy.
"Rei," came Kazuki's voice, soft and reassuring, "you remember you're not part of that world anymore, right?"
Rei cracked his eyes open to give Kazuki a deadpan look.
"I mean, sure, you're still a contract killer," Kazuki quickly continued, "but you aren't beholden to them. You make your own choices."
Closing his eyes again, Rei's hands shook as he brought them up to press the heels roughly against his eyes. Maybe if he pressed hard enough, the image burned into them would fade.
He could really use that cigarette now.
"Miri and Yaeka seem to get along well, despite the age difference." Rei could hear the fondness in Kazuki's voice. "I know it's hard to just… unlearn things like that, but… Give Kirishima a chance."
Rei stayed quiet. How was he supposed to just ignore years of conditioning to kill that man on sight? If not for Miri, he would've done it.
"Please? For Miri's sake."
Miri…
"... Okay," Rei conceded, letting his hands drop limply beside himself. He stared up at the ceiling again, still seeing flashes of Kirishima's face every time he blinked. "I'll try."
"Great!" Kazuki grinned. "I'll set up a playdate for you."
Rei sent Kazuki crashing to the floor.