Work Text:
Yoru wasn’t one to ever chase after women, his ego had been stroked for far too long by women, men, and many others alike. And if someone didn’t chase after him? That was fine, he was a big boy and would get over it.
This time, however, he couldn't let it go.
The new girl on the team. Well, technically not new anymore.
[Y/N] is the one girl seemingly well-liked by everyone in the group. Yoru couldn’t help but roll his eyes at how welcoming everyone was toward her. He could understand how she could be interesting to be around. A small anxious wreck who had a plethora of things to talk about, she could get along with just about anyone which was a good skill to have.
She seemed to be like a puppy, following others but not him. He knew the reason as to why, but others had been harsh with her before and she still showed them care and attention.
It was petty and the black and blue-haired man knew he was directly to blame but being petty never mattered when it came to Yoru. She had just been walking by herself to the dining area, staring down at her phone while she watched some 'nerd shit' and smiled to herself.
She had tried to be friendly to him on multiple occasions but he couldn’t help but immediately pick on her. It was easier to make fun of someone than to actually put any effort into being friends. Plus her reactions were just too good to pass up.
It didn’t take long for him to catch up, a shit-eating grin when he calls her a loser while looking down at her phone from behind her. Taking great joy in the way her face scrunches and her eye twitches.
“I struck a nerve did I, Haisha?”
“Shut up, what the fuck is your problem?” [Y/N] sputtered, her eyebrows raising to her hairline. He could see her fists get tighter, her knuckles getting lighter. He could almost see steam shooting from her ears.
“My problem is you, a little girl whose head is stuck in the clouds. Do us a favor and-“
“Yoru, enough.”
A glove-covered hand drops between the rift walker and the new agent, Yoru’s eyes trailing up the arm to find the Russian man who owned said limb. The two men's eyes meet and Yoru snorts as Sova looks down at him disapprovingly.
“Need Prince Charming to come to rescue you?” He can’t help it, it slips out. But the tinge of red that jumps to your face and ears is worth it.
“You fuck-“ [Y/N] moved to jump at the man but Sova quickly swoops an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to the dining hall. [Y/N] squirms in Sova's grasp but quickly realizes what she’s doing and freezes in the taller man's grip, letting him gently take her away. Not sparing a glance at him since Sova grabbed her.
Yoru rolls his eyes one last time before turning around, changing his mind about dinner, and heading back to his room.
Stupid girl.
From then on, it was well-known to keep the two agents apart.
All the agents in the protocol knew the two's distaste for one another, and while it wasn't like other agents didn't have their own issues with one another but Jesus did these two argue constantly.
Arguing would be a strong word in actuality, it was more so Yoru picking on [Y/N] until she snapped, rinse and repeat with the added factor of someone else would have to step in and pull one away and de-escalate the situation.
Yoru couldn’t help himself and honestly, he found great enjoyment in this routine they had found themselves in, not that he would ever admit it.
Enjoying her frustration, her pretty eyes looking up at him, her pretty l- pretty? When the fuck have I ever found her pretty? Yoru shook his head, running his fingers through his hair, shaking his head back and forth as he cringed.
"Gross."
He hadn't meant to listen in on the girls' talk while he walked past their locker room, he truly was just looking to do some late-night training to reduce some energy so he could get some sleep. That was until he heard his name uttered and swiftly turned on his heel and quirked an eyebrow, silently moving back to the entrance.
Laying back against the wall, he stood there straining his ears to hear the conversation. Picking up on Neon immediately talked to [Y/N], giggling as she whispered.
"C'mon, you and Yoru have got to have something going on!" The bluenette smirked, watching her friend flush at the insinuation.
"What? No! He fucking hates me." An exasperated sigh comes out of the young woman's lips, towel-drying her hair as she looks over her shoulder.
"He's your type though yeah? He matches all of those characters you simp for in your phone." Neon pointed out, and she was right. She was right on the money and [Y/N] couldn't deny it.
"Ugh, Neon, that's different. He would never be as good as any of them. He's a cocky asshole." A quick deflect.
"Well if he wasn't a dick, would you date him then?"
"No! He's Handsome, I'll give him that, but me? Falling for him? As if. Anyways I gotta go back to my room, it's late, goodnight." [Y/N] spat out, quickly dressing and making her way out of the locker room, not noticing the remnants of a rift fading away in her rush.
For a couple of weeks, Yoru tried to repress the memory of that night, feeling it spark an uncomfortable feeling in his chest. So he was her type, she has called him handsome but adamantly denied ever developing feelings for him. His ego took a hit and that would not stand.
So he did the unthinkable, he stayed a jerk don't get him wrong but sprinkled in some flirts in between. Laughing when she'd duck her head to shield her face from his view. He made it a point to fluster her at least once a day, not caring to take into account who glowered at him from the sidelines, and the eye rolls of the other agents as he spoke.
The group was currently in the training room, all practicing on weapons they were least adept at.
Yoru was watching [Y/N], who was fumbling with the bow she had chosen to practice with. Yoru couldn't shoot a bow for shit, but she didn't know that. So it was free reign to mess with her.
"Come on girl, it can't be that hard." She was trying so desperately to notch an arrow. It was kind of cute honestly, her tongue sticking out as her brows furrowed.
"Yoru shut the fuck up, don't you have your own practice to do?" [Y/N] whirled around as he laughed as the arrow immediately fell off the bow when she lifted it up to take aim.
"Already finished so…" He trailed off, smirking at her groan of annoyance as she bent down to pick it up.
A quick glance he took, just a quick one and he felt his own cheeks warm at the sliver of skin that her shirt had exposed.
He watched as she readjusted and reset her stance, now with slight aggression she notched the bow, lifted it, and managed to shoot one good shot.
He smiled and slapped the woman's shoulder as she let go of her bowstring, her arrow sticking into the training bot, getting the shot in its torso.
"Congratulations haisha, you can work with outdated technology. Impressive." He shot a smirk down at her, watching her roll her eyes while she went to retrieve the arrow to return to her quiver.
"You are so annoying."
"Come on Shōjo, I'm trying to be nice here."
"Yeah, sure you are."
It was just a reconnaissance mission, not particularly Yoru or [Y/N]'s strong suit but it would have to do. Sova had originally volunteered but he had been injured earlier that week, thus being put on bed rest the others were busy at the time themselves and off base at the moment so it left the pair to complete it.
There was an obvious apprehension in the woman's demeanor on going without Sova, trying to use any excuse but Sage shut her down quickly, sending her a stern look that [Y/N] knew to be a 'Shut up and do as you're told.' Look.
The smaller woman meekly nodded at Sage and went off to the medical wing, probably going to say goodbye to the sniper.
Sage turned to Yoru and looked at him, "Be on your best behavior, this mission may not have high risks but be cautious regardless and look after one another."
"Yes yes, I got it." He waved a hand in the air, making his way to the airship.
It had been going well until it hadn't.
"Yoru, somethings off, it's too dangerous. Come back here." She mumbled into the ear piece, readjusting her arms so that her gun felt more comfortable.
"You're imagining things, stop overthinking and let me do my job."
"Yoru. I haven't seen a guard yet, you don't think that's suspicious? Somethings not right so will you-"
Yoru felt his heart clench painfully when he heard her scream in the comms, wincing as the noise rang in his skull.
"Orion, what is it? What happened?"
No answer, fuck fuck fuck.
He knew he'd get chewed out for leaving the target by Brimstone if she turned out to be alright, but he knew that losing her would be devastating for them, for him. So without a second thought, he ripped open a rift to her location to grab her and get the fuck out of dodge.
He swore in Japanese when he saw the bullet holes along her body, frantically looking around to see if the enemy was near but quickly noticed the other body that had metal fragments sticking out of them like a pin cushion.
Good girl.
"Come on, let's get you out of here." Picking her up to the best of his ability, he made their way back to the airship, hands shaking as he communicated with Sage that [Y/N] had been wounded badly.
The time flew so agonizingly slow as they flew back to base, Yoru trying his hardest to keep [Y/N] awake couldn't help but fall back into his teasing ways.
"Stay awake, Orion. You look like shit."
All he got back was a mumble. A mumble he could work with.
When they had gotten to base, it was a mess. Neon shouted while looking down at [Y/N]'s still body, Fade holding her back from interfering while Yoru and Sage dashed to the medical bay. Phoenix shouted asking what the hell had happened and Cypher gestured and ushered at the growing group of agents to get back and to let Sage do her job.
Sage looked pained as she motioned Yoru to follow her, picking up the pace.
Gently placing [Y/N] on the table, Yoru couldn't help but cringe at the feeling of blood staining his clothing, looking down at her on the hospital bed. She looked so much smaller than she usually was, her body frail and bruised. She never came back from missions harmed, maybe with scrapes and bruises but never to this degree.
It’s your fault, Ryo.
He brushed a hand against her forehead, moving the stray hairs before he was snapped out of his trance by angry yelling. Very angry Russian yelling.
"Go outside now, I need to focus on her," Sage muttered while roaming a hand across [Y/N]'s chest, her hand glowing as she started the healing process.
The male swallowed the lump in his throat and then nodded as he backed away, turning out the door to head out. For a second there was a lack of awareness, his head overwhelmed by everything that had happened but then he quickly noticed an angry man striding his way.
"What the hell happened?" Yoru could see the man slightly shaking in his spot, staring daggers into his head. He wasn't afraid of Sova, he knew he could handle himself but for a split second, he felt anxious.
His nerves had already been shot to shit with [Y/N] bleeding in his arms the whole way back, to top it off with an angry Sova, a man known to be able to keep his cool was jarring. He knew people would be upset but, this wasn't a reaction he had anticipated especially from the archer.
"She'll be fine, Sova." Jett tried to intervene, placing a hand on the Russian man's shoulder. It was short-lived because Sova quickly shook it off, huffing as he pointed his eyes back at Yoru.
"That is not the point, it was a simple mission, why is she on the operating table? What happened Yoru?"
The rest of the agents watched as Sova went closer to Yoru, the taller man trying his best to not lose his temper even more than he already had. His biotic glinting menacingly as it seemed to get brighter and brighter as his rage increased.
"Sova I-"
"Let me guess, you rushed into things without thinking and she paid the price? Why am I not surprised?" The air was filled with tension, Sova's shoulder angrily rising with how hard the man was breathing.
"You're getting worked up for no reason, she's getting healed by Sage. Relax." Yoru gritted his teeth painfully, staring up at the taller man as he tried to keep his mouth shut for the sake of himself, Sova, [Y/N], and all other agents.
A rare occurrence but he knew better than to provoke Sova further. All he wanted to do is to hit the shower and just change and hope to god he didn't have nightmares of this night.
"Look down at your clothes kozyol, Whose blood is that? I did not hear a denial. So I'm right, your carelessness put her in harm's way." Sova spat, his face scrunched up.
Yoru knew he was right, he knew it. He should've listened sooner, he should've.
"Don't put the blame on me, maybe if she was actually worth a-"
Yoru had sharp reflexes, and thankfully that caught the fist that flew to his face. His hand gripped Sova's fist as he sent Sova a look of shock. The bastard had actually tried to hit him.
"Sledi za svoim yazykom."
"Alright! Sova, get the hell away from Yoru, Yoru gets your ass changed, now!" With a booming voice, Brimstone had finally caught wind of the fight and came to shut it down. The small group consisting of Neon, Phoenix, and Jett gets thrown a look by the leader, making them all quickly leave the vicinity.
Yoru dropped Sova's fist and quickly shoved his way through Sova, their shoulders hitting harshly as he got away, swearing under his breath at the man. To think Sova had it in him to actually throw a punch at another agent.
It had been a week after Yoru and [Y/N]'s mission had gone to shit and things had mostly gone back to normal on the base. No one particularly wanted to talk about the fiasco of the whole situation, choosing to rather ignore that it happened.
Yoru hasn't been by to see [Y/N] once she was healed up, avoiding the common areas on base, avoiding training with others, using the excuse that he was busy with something or other and if he has any knowledge of [Y/N] being around, he would quickly disappear.
It wasn't until after the mission went wrong that the Japanese man realized that his feelings for the woman had progressed much further than just finding joy in tormenting her. The genuine fear he had felt when he was holding her unconscious body was real. The dread he felt was real, the pain in his heart was too real. It confirmed everything he was denied.
He had fallen for [Y/N], the 'loser'.
What the hell was he supposed to do now with this information? The obvious answer would be to confess yes, but how would he go about it?
Hey so after you bled all over me and nearly died, I realize I'm really into you. Let's go on a date?
Absolutely not.
It wasn't like he could go to anyone with this and ask for advice, that would require him to be honest and vulnerable for once. Like hell, he would.
He was a grown man, he didn't need to be fearful of rejection, and he would take whatever answer she said in stride. It was just some girl at the end of the day.
Psyching himself up, he started making his way to her room, which was just a short walk away. Though it felt like much longer. Yoru had no fucking idea what to expect or even say, he was just gonna play it by ear and hopefully, all would go well.
Coming up upon her door, he saw that it was cracked a bit, a sliver of her bedroom being exposed to prying eyes, raising a fist to knock on her door, he stopped in his tracks when he peeked inside.
[Y/N] was on the bed, her back leaning against Sova's chest, the male's arms possessively wrapping his arms around her waist as he trailed his fingers against her bandages. [Y/N] was scrolling on her phone as she held a soft smile on her lips.
He hadn't ever seen that smile before on her, one of pure contentment and love. They looked happy like they were in their own world.
Fuck.
Yoru could hear the mumbling of Russian but couldn't make out exactly what was being said clearly, he had walked in on something private between two lovers.
Oh.
Swiftly turning on his heel, he made his way to Brimstone's office, startling the older man when he shoved his way in through the doorway, roughly shutting it as he pushed his hands into his Jean pockets.
"Yoru, what do you want? I'm busy here." Brimstone grumbled, fixing the papers on his desk that had gotten shuffled.
"Do you have any missions I could take? Sooner the better."