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The decision to go home was getting harder and harder for Rei to make. Just like the idea that this place was, or ever had been what he called an actual home. Once, he hadn't known the difference, but now, the whole thing felt like a farce. And he was well aware now that was all it was.
A pit formed in his stomach as he walked through the doors that day. He wished he could tell his father what he really wanted to say. That he could just leave and forget this life, become an actual human being. But it was too dangerous. Kyutaro had been good enough to warn them that the organization was looking into them. Any defiance on Rei's part would put Miri in danger and he couldn't… he just couldn't.
The best thing Rei could do right now was take whatever job his boss instructed him to and get it done swiftly and efficiently. Show he wasn't slipping.
He clenched his fists at his sides as he walked past the guards, down the hall to his father's office.
The interior was dim and the boss sat in the place he always sat behind his desk.
"Rei. I must admit I'm actually a bit surprised you bothered to show up."
Rei gave a swift bow. "What did you call me here for, Boss?"
His father gave him a look. "Your attitude will grant you no favors. Have you thought about our talk last time?"
Rei pressed his lips into a thin line. He had been dreading this conversation. Wished this had just been about another job, another hit on a traitor. He didn't want to talk about this right now.
"I have," he lied. He had, in fact, tried his best to think about anything but that line of conversation.
His father folded his hands in front of him. "Then I see no reason for us to delay with your childish nonsense any longer. I'll give you two days to tie up your affairs and then we will start your training in earnest—"
"I'm not interested in taking over the family."
The boss stopped speaking at the same time Rei froze. Had he actually said that out loud? He'd been wanting to say that for so long it had just come out.
"I'll be gracious and give you one chance to change your mind," the boss said in a dark voice.
Rei swallowed hard. "I'm not taking over the organization from you," he said, more firmly, sudden courage burning through him.
His father let out a deep sigh and finally stood from the desk. There was danger flashing in his eyes and for a moment Rei was sure he meant to kill him right there, but he simply walked around the desk until he was facing Rei directly. "After all this time, you still think you have a choice in the matter. Where did I go wrong?"
Rei was silent. He didn't know what he could say. He had to be careful now, try and convince his father that this was the best decision for all of them.
The man curled his lip. "I thought indulging you in your little holiday would make you realize you didn't fit in with the normal people. And yet you instead decide to take up ridiculous childish pastimes and play happy families."
"It did make me realize I didn't fit in," Rei said quietly. "But it also made me realize that I wanted to try." He straightened his shoulders. "Father, I—"
The man's hand swung and Rei felt the impact on his cheek, a familiar sting.
"Do not address me like that," Rei's father growled. "It appears I need to teach you a lesson in respect after your time away. But that will come later. First, I can see I will get nowhere with you without tying up some loose ends first—or rather, amputating the limb that's gone septic."
Rei's heart was in his throat as his father turned around toward the desk and picked up a folder. He placed it in Rei's hands.
"This is your next job. Finish it before the end of the day and I'll give you a second chance to prove that you are worthy of being the Suwa heir."
Rei didn't want to open the file but he knew he had to. His hands shook as he turned the cover back and when he saw what was inside, he thought he might vomit.
Pictures. Dozens of pictures taken of him and Kazuki and Miri. In town, at the daycare, in the store. Even some of Miri and her classmates while no one else was around. And not once had either Rei or Kazuki noticed someone following them, taking pictures. Maybe his father had a point about him getting too comfortable. He had gotten sloppy and it had put Miri in danger.
He realized he hadn't said anything for a long minute. His father reached for something on his desk and presented Rei with a box, opening it to reveal a handgun inside.
"I want you to use this, Rei," he said firmly. "This will be a personal killing for you. I want you to see the light go out in their eyes."
Nausea welled up in Rei's throat and he snapped the file closed, shaking his head. "No, boss."
"Excuse me?"
"Let me stay here. I never have to see them again, even, but I will not kill them."
His father sighed tiredly. "You truly are a disappointment to me. But I can see you've made your choice, and thus you have forced my hand as well."
The door to the office opened and Rei glanced over his shoulder to see several of his father's men enter the room. Trailing behind them was Ogino Ryo, the man's cold eyes boring directly into Rei.
"Send a detachment to find Kurusu and the child," Rei's father commanded.
"No!" Rei shouted and reached for his gun, ready to fight the entire house full of hitmen right there.
Before he could pull his weapon, his wrist was caught in the boss's iron grip. Rei tried to free himself, but by then the other men had surrounded him, relieving him of his weapons and wrenching his arms behind his back.
Ogino stepped forward. "I can go retrieve the targets, Boss."
But Rei's father shook his head, turning to Rei with a disdainful look. "No. I'm tasking you with the job of reeducating the Suwa heir. You'll start now—there's no reason to delay."
Ogino bowed, a glint of light finally showing in his eyes in a way that turned Rei's stomach.
"I will gladly aid you in his reeducation, Boss."
"Just don't do any extensive damage to his hands or legs. I want him to still be useful when you're finished."
"Of course."
Rei's father turned to him and grabbed his chin, staring him in the eye. "I'm aware that this was my failing. I will not make the same mistake by giving you too much leash again."
He released Rei and nodded to the men, allowing them to haul him off.
Rei struggled, fought, but these men were strong and had been trained just as well as he had.
Still, once they had taken him down to the basement they led him into a room Rei knew all too much about, recalling the sounds of screams coming from beyond the steel door. He put in one last burst of effort, fighting with a renewed burst of energy as they yanked his coat from his shoulders while searching him for weapons.
Rei kicked one of the men, freeing his arm, then jammed his fingers into the other's windpipe, before making a quick dash for the door.
A large, meaty hand snagged him around the throat and slammed him back against the wall before he could reach it.
Rei blacked out briefly, choking, and then Ogino was in his line of vision, dead eyes staring at him.
"Do you know how long I've been wanting to beat some respect into you?"
His knee came up to slam into Rei's stomach, forcing the rest of the air from his lungs. Ogino threw him to the ground and shoved a foot against his chest to keep him down.
Rei could only watch as the other men closed the door with a shriek of rusty metal, standing guard on either side of it. He was now trapped and there was no way he could get to Kazuki and Miri before the others now. No way to even warn them. Desperation fought with despair inside of him. Rei had never truly understood the meaning of loss before. He'd seen what it had done to Kazuki, but could never fathom feeling that way himself.
But that was before he had understood what having a real family was like. What it was like to have anything more than one's own pointless life to lose.
Manacles were locked around his wrists and Ogino hauled him to his feet, arms suspended above his head, pulled tight so that his feet barely scraped the floor. Ogino reached out to slowly undo his tie, folding it neatly on top of his discarded coat before he systematically unbuttoned Rei's vest and shirt.
"If you think this will actually change anything…" Rei said.
"Pain can be very manipulative," Ogino told him as he finally reached the last button. His eyes wandering over all the scars on Rei's torso. "You must first be weakened, brought to the limit of the human endurance. Only then can we start to build you from the ground up into the man the boss wants you to be." His hand clamped onto Rei's shoulder as he leaned in close. "But I'm going to enjoy every wince, every scream, every plea, that comes out of your mouth. I will watch as the defiance bleeds from your eyes and when the time comes, I will take the last words you speak as the man you are now. The last words you speak before I finally break you and put you back together stronger than you were before, a good solider, mindless and obedient to your boss."
"You won't break me," Rei hissed.
"You're nothing but a foolish boy if you think that," Ogino said and buried his fist in Rei's stomach, a grunt bursting from his throat. "You don't even know what it's like to feel loss. You've never had anything to lose, so how can you know what it will do to you to lose the one thing you've ever cared about."
"I'll never let you hurt Miri!" Rei snarled, before Ogino's fist slammed into his face and his head snapped back painfully, blood dripping from his nose.
"What do you think you can do about it now?" Ogino taunted, the grip on Rei's shoulder tightening painfully. "The boss's orders will be carried out, and you'll have nothing left to fight for. At that point I predict that you'll give up and comply with your father's wishes."
"You're wrong," Rei gritted out before agony tore through his shoulder. He couldn't help the scream of pain as he felt the joint pop out of its socket. He scrambled to balance on his toes to relieve some of the pressure but the pain was enough that he saw blackness lingering at the corners of his vision. Not so much that he couldn't see the light in Ogino's eyes, though.
"You are nothing but a foolish boy and this proves it," he said, sounding disappointed. He stepped back and turned toward the table that sat against one wall of the room. The pain in his shoulder kept Rei from being able to turn and look, but he could hear the metallic clink of the 'tools' he knew were kept over there.
"Sometimes, when things are too damaged, they have to be stripped to their bare parts before they can be rebuilt into something better, stronger," Ogino said as he returned, a curved blade in hand. "Do you agree?"
Rei clenched his jaw and prepared for the torment to come. He hoped against hope that Kazuki might catch on that something was wrong and just take Miri and run. Kyu might already know about the hit, but Rei wasn't sure the informant would take the risk by warning Kazuki. They might have always considered Kyu a friend, but they didn't really know anything about him. They couldn't trust him when it came to this.
Still, he had to hold onto some sort of hope that he hadn't just killed his family. Hope was all he had.
~~~~~~~
A cold bucket of water was thrown over Rei, startling him back into full consciousness.
"Back with us?" one of the men asked.
Rei wrenched his head upright with a barely bitten back groan. Everything hurt and there was red-tinted water dripping off of him, pooling on the ground at his feet.
He glanced over as the door to the small room was opened and a man went to whisper something to Ogino who was cleaning his knife over at the table.
When the man left, Ogino stopped and came back over to Rei. He gripped his chin and raised his head.
"Where are Kurusu and the girl?"
Rei blinked, taking a moment to put two and two together before he remembered. Kazuki had taken Miri on a day trip to the aquarium. Miri had begged Rei to come with them but he'd already gotten the call from his father and had to leave. Relief briefly flooded him as he realized it might not be too late. If Kazuki caught wind that someone was looking for them, he might be able to take Miri and get away.
Rei couldn't help the small smile that turned his lips upwards.
Ogino jammed his thumb into a wound he'd made in Rei's side earlier and Rei choked out a sound of pain, making an attempt to squirm away in his chains.
"Where are they, Rei?"
"Eat shit," he whispered.
A fist slammed into already cracked ribs and Rei gasped, his dislocated shoulder burning in agony as his body was shifted.
"Prolonging this will do no one any favors. If you tell me where Kurusu and the girl are now I'll promise to give them a quick death when the time comes."
Rei forced his head up to look Ogino in the eye. "I said eat shit," he managed louder this time.
The hitman didn't say anything, simply returned to the table and grabbed a box with wires sticking out of it. It took Rei a moment to realize what it was and when he did his heartbeat picked up, stomach churning. Ogino set the car battery down at Rei's feet and started attaching cables. He straightened and stared Rei in the eye for a long moment, obviously awaiting some sort of answer Rei wouldn't be giving, before he shoved the cables against Rei's damp skin.
Numbing agony shot through Rei, his whole body going rigid until the current was disconnected, leaving him twitching in the restraints.
Ogino only gave him a second to breathe before he returned the cables to Rei's skin and he couldn't even scream, body locked in an agonized arc.
He collapsed limply in the manacles, feet dragging on the floor as a pitiful whimper escaped his throat before he could stop it. He could taste blood and figured he must have bitten himself.
Ogino gripped his chin and pulled his head up. "Where are they?"
Rei mustered the energy to spit a gob of blood and was satisfied when it hit the front of Ogino's coat. The hitman stared down at it for a moment, then reached for the cables again, leaving them pressed against Rei's flesh until they left burn marks and he was screaming through clenched teeth.
Blackness encroached on his vision and he let it come. If he passed out they'd have to wait for him to wake up again. It could only buy Kazuki time…
A sound kept filtering through the darkness and Rei only realized what it was when Ogino pulled the cables away and he could focus slightly again.
Another muffled alert sounded out and Rei and Ogino both glanced over to where his discarded jacket was lying on the table.
Dread filled Rei as he suddenly registered what the sound was but there was no way to stop it now. Ogino slowly walked over to dig through the pockets until he produced Rei's phone, showing the alerts on the screen. He tapped one that indicated a missed call and it opened a voice message.
"Did you put your phone on silent again?" Kazuki's voice came through the speaker, sounding slightly annoyed. "I just wanted to ask if you'd eaten yet—probably not, I'd imagine. We're on our way back, and I was going to pick up dinner. Call me if you want anything specific."
The message ended and Ogino nodded to the other men lurking in the room. "They'll be heading back to the apartment. Tell the boss."
"No!" Rei croaked, trying to struggle against the manacles, but he didn't have a lot of strength left.
Ogino looked at him as the men left. He didn't smile, but there was an undeniable look of satisfaction in his eyes. Eagerness even. "It will be intriguing to me to see you break, Suwa Rei. Death is my trade, but there are different kinds of death. Death of the body, and death of the soul. In the end, your partner and the brat will be getting the easier end of the deal, don't you think?"
Rei bared his teeth. "I will kill whoever hurts them! Miri's just a child, at least—"
"At least what? Spare her?" Ogino walked forward and wrapped his huge hand around Rei's throat, squeezing uncomfortably. "If you had just come back when your father asked, shown that you hadn't been corrupted by the outside world, we wouldn't be here right now. You should know better than anyone that the men in this organization don't have the luxury of a normal life. But is it so much of a luxury when all is said and done? Is it not all sickening mediocrity?"
Rei glowered. "I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand," he croaked. "That there is something to be had in mediocrity. In someone making you food, in a child trusting you enough to sleep next to you—to call for you when she's scared." Rei felt a lump form in his throat, tighter than Ogino's hand, a well of emotions he'd never experienced before threatening to bubble up. "You're a monster. I'd put my own gun to my head before I became like you."
Ogino looked both disappointed and disgusted. His hand tightened around Rei's throat, cutting off his breath entirely. Rei struggled, choking. But Ogino didn't let up, only squeezed harder until Rei's eyes fluttered and he felt himself slipping off into the darkness again, helpless to save himself or his family.
~~~~~~~
Rei was brought back around to a stinging blow to his face.
"Rise and shine, there's some guests the boss wants you to greet."
Rei groaned, barely registering everything at the moment, before the manacles around his wrists loosened and he was unable to do anything other than collapse on the floor, body singing with pain. His left arm was numb, the shoulder joint still dislocated.
"Let me fix that for you first." One of the men said and before Rei knew what was happening, he grabbed the arm and wrenched it back into place.
Rei gave a hoarse scream, crumbling back onto the floor as he fought to get his breath back.
He was hauled to his feet and dragged between two men. They took him to his father's office and that was when Rei caught sight of Kazuki, sitting tied to a chair with Ogino looming behind him.
"Rei!" the blond exclaimed, eyes widening as Rei was brought in and dropped onto the floor a few feet in front of him. "What did you bastards do to him? Agh!"
Ogino gripped Kazuki's shoulder where Rei could see the dark stain of blood. Kazuki's face went white and sweat broke out across his brow.
"The Suwa heir is undergoing his reeducation at the moment," Rei's father spoke up as he stood and came around the desk. "Of which you are a part of."
Kazuki met Rei's eyes, his terror obvious. Rei looked around briefly, and felt some relief when he didn't see Miri. He might be able to get them out of this, if he could get a hold of a gun…
His eyes traveled briefly to the box on the table his father had tried to present him with earlier.
He moved, slightly clumsy from his injuries, but the men holding him hadn't been expecting him to do anything. He kicked the legs out from under one of them and slammed his head back into the other's nose before he made a dive for the box, retrieving the gun and rolling over the desk, leveling it at Ogino.
His finger automatically went to squeeze the trigger before he heard Kazuki scream his name.
"Rei, don't!" The man's eyes were wide with terror, literally pleading with Rei. "They have Miri! If we do anything, they'll kill her!"
Rei's finger slid off the trigger and he slumped against the desk as Ogino stepped forward and wrenched the weapon away from him. He grabbed Rei's injured shoulder and dragged him back around the desk, throwing him to his knees in front of Kazuki again. His hand moved to grab a chunk of Rei's hair, wrenching his head back.
"I'm sorry," Kazuki said quietly, eyes welling. "I'm sorry."
Rei didn't know why he was apologizing. After all, this was all because of him.
"You truly disgust me."
Rei looked over to see his father standing beside him brow furrowed in disapproval. "Did I truly train you so badly that you'll lower your weapon at the threat of a single human life?"
"How would I expect you to know what it's like to be a father?" Rei gasped out. "You never treated me as anything other than a soldier. A means to an end."
"I did it as a kindness," his father growled. "You just never understood."
"How could I?" Rei demanded, long overdue fury boiling up with his growing desperation. "I was a child! Children are supposed to know they have someone who they can turn to for help."
His father simply shook his head and nodded to one of his men. "Bring the girl."
"No!" Kazuki screamed, wrenching against the ropes that bound him until his shoulder started bleeding again. "Don't you dare touch her! I'll kill all of you!"
"A bold claim," Ogino said blandly as he moved over to Kazuki and grabbed a fistful of his hair, wrenching his head back and pressing the muzzle of the gun against his temple. "Start thinking of your last words, Kurusu Kazuki. I will be happy to record them."
The door opened and both Rei and Kazuki looked up to see the man hauling a struggling Miri into the room.
"Papa!" she screamed, kicking at the man as he tried to keep a hold on her.
"Shut up, brat."
The man's hand struck Miri's face and Rei saw red, pushing to his feet before he was firmly shoved back to his knees.
"Kazu-Papa, Rei-Papa!" Miri sobbed and reached for them, the pure terror on her face tearing Rei up inside.
"Take care of the girl first," Rei's father instructed. "I want them both to witness her death."
"No!" Kazuki screamed, before Ogino shoved the barrel of the gun into his mouth to shut him up.
Rei couldn't take it another second. He wrenched out of the grip the men had on him and threw himself at his father's feet, forehead on the floor in full submission.
"Boss," he gasped. "Boss, please, allow me to swear my full loyalty to you right now. I will allow you to do whatever you want with me without protest, if only you'll let them go. Send them out of the city—the country. I'll serve you and the organization until my dying day, but only if you let them go."
There was silence in the room aside from Miri's whimpering and for a moment Rei almost thought his pleas had not fallen onto deaf ears, but then his father made a sound of disgust in the back of his throat.
"Get up," he snarled. "You embarrass me and yourself. Pleading for the lives of two peasants like this. You disgust me."
Rei rose slowly, looking up at his father who wasn't even looking at him anymore. He stared over Rei's head and nodded to the man who had Miri. "Do it."
"No!"
Rei surged to his feet, barreling through the men who went to restrain him and ran directly at Miri.
"Miri!" he screamed as the man who held her pulled out his gun. "Jump!"
Miri kicked out, landing a blow directly to the man's groin and as he folded, Rei surged forward to catch her, landing hard before he rolled into a corner, shielding her completely with his body.
"Rei-Papa," Miri sobbed, clutching his torn shirt and pressing herself close to his chest as he held her tightly.
The man who'd had her recovered and leveled his gun at Rei.
"Release the girl."
"You'll have to go through me." Rei told him firmly, holding Miri tighter.
The man stepped closer but glanced over his shoulder at the boss.
"Boss?" he asked.
"I'm still the heir to the Suwa family," Rei said. "Do you really want my blood on your hands?"
The man hesitated, but the boss met Rei's eyes for a long moment before he said, "Do it."
"Miri," Rei whispered to the girl trembling against him. "Close your eyes and promise me you won't open them until I tell you."
"Papa?"
"Promise!"
Miri nodded and squeezed her eyes shut.
The man stepped forward, gun trained on Rei.
"Stay down," Rei whispered to Miri.
That was when Kazuki managed to cut through the ropes binding him and reached up to grab Ogino's gun hand, standing and slamming a foot into one of his knees.
"Rei!" he screamed.
Rei didn't need a second urging. He used Kazuki's brief distraction to surge toward the man holding the gun on him, grabbing the weapon and turning it on the man.
One shot and he went down. Rei spun and took out the second man that raised a weapon toward him.
Ogino got the upper hand with Kazuki and threw him into the wall, leaving the blond in a crumpled heap, swearing breathlessly.
Rei shot, hitting the huge man in the shoulder, but it didn't seem to faze Ogino as he kicked Kazuki in the stomach to keep him down and leveled his gun at him.
"Ogino!"
Rei leapt toward the man, tackling him to the ground. Both of their guns went flying and Ogino slammed a huge fist into Rei's jaw, then brought his knee up into his abused midsection.
Rei huffed out a breath as he tumbled to the side, leaving Kazuki to grab his dropped gun and get off a couple shots at Ogino before the man could retrieve his own weapon.
They hit the man square in the chest and Rei didn't have time to check for life, simply grabbed the man's dropped gun and staggered to his feet.
It was just him and Kazuki leveling their guns at Rei's father now.
The man did nothing but stand there.
Rei was breathing heavily, using everything in his power to simply stay upright at this point. "I'm leaving the organization," he managed.
"You really think I'll let you go just like that?"
"I'll take everyone here with me if you try to stop me now. So if you don't want to see your precious organization in ruins, you'd best let me walk out of here."
His father still didn't say anything, but he made no move either.
Rei turned to Kazuki and nodded. "Kazuki."
The blond kept his gun raised as he moved toward Miri, reaching down and picking her up with a wince. She let out a small sound of fear.
"Shh, it's just me," Kazuki murmured.
"Can I open my eyes now?" she sniffled.
"Not yet," Rei told her, eyes still trained on his father.
"This isn't over, Rei. You should know that you can't escape the organization so easily."
"Then prepare to lose your men. You send them after me, I'll kill them," Rei told him in no uncertain terms. "Goodbye, Boss."
He turned and followed Kazuki out as they hurried from the mansion, making it to the gates without trouble.
"I left the car over here but we may have to—" Rei started before a vehicle drove over and pulled up in front of them.
Rei and Kazuki both leveled their weapons, ready for anything when the window rolled down and revealed Kyu's face.
"Get in," he said.
"Kyu-chan," Kazuki breathed.
"Now!"
They glanced at each other but wasted no time climbing into the car, Rei in the front and Kazuki in the back with Miri.
"You can open your eyes now," Rei murmured.
Miri blinked, eyes welling. "Rei-papa!"
"It's alright. It's over now," Rei told her.
Kazuki held her close as she buried her face in his sweatshirt.
"You're both in bad shape," Kyu tsked as he gunned it out of the Suwa family grounds and onto the highway.
"Where are you taking us?" Rei asked tiredly.
"There's a safehouse that the organization doesn't know about," Kyu said. "I'll take you there for now."
"Thank you, Kyu-chan," Kazuki said.
Kyu gripped the steering wheel tightly between his hands. "I'm sorry I didn't find out about the hit until you'd already been taken in. You know I would have warned you if I'd known."
"It's not your fault," Kazuki assured him. "You're helping us out now."
"It's my fault," Rei whispered, staring at the road ahead. "I should have known this is how it would have gone. I should have gone back when my father told me to—"
"Shut up," Kazuki snapped and Rei glanced back toward him, seeing the fury in his eyes as he held Miri against his chest, the little girl was already fast asleep.
For a second, Rei thought Kazuki was mad at him and rightly so, but then he continued, "You don't think you deserve happiness too, Rei? A family? What would Miri think if you never came home? How would that make you any better than him? And you're my friend, you're like a brother to me—you know that, you idiot?! You want me to do all this, raise our kid, by myself?"
Rei stared at him, speechless for a long second before he managed, "If it would keep Miri safe—"
"We've already lost too much," Kazuki cut in. "The only way we're going to stay safe is if we stick together and look after each other. Okay?"
Rei was exhausted, his body quickly on the verge of giving out entirely. He didn't have the energy to argue with Kazuki and frankly didn't want to. He was right. And it gave Rei a certain strength to hear him say those things.
He leaned back in the seat and allowed his eyes to slide closed briefly before he forced them open again, glancing back at Miri.
"Is she hurt?"
Kazuki briefly checked the girl over before settling her more comfortably against him. "A couple bruises. Which is still too many, but…"
"Do you…think she'll be okay?"
Kazuki's face fell, staring down at Miri's sleeping face. "I don't know. She saw a lot today that I hoped she'd never have to witness."
Kyu glanced into the rearview mirror. "Children have a way of bouncing back from traumatic events—far easier than we do. The important part is to just be there for her and I'm sure she'll be all right."
Rei met Kazuki's eyes in the mirror and they silently vowed to do just that.
By the time they got to Kyu's safehouse, tucked away in the mountains, Rei could barely get out of the car. Kyu carried Miri's sleeping figure into the house as Kazuki did what he could to get Rei out of the car.
"They really messed you up, man," Kazuki grunted as he gave Rei his good shoulder to lean on, both of them limping toward the house.
Rei grunted. "I suppose Ogino had been wanting a go at me for a while." He found he was shaking now and didn't know whether that was from any specific injury or just the shock in general now that the burst of adrenaline from earlier was wearing off.
"He's a piece of work," Kazuki muttered as they made it inside.
Kyu met them at the door and directed them into the kitchen. "Go sit. I'll get the medical kit."
A quick glance at Miri sleeping on the couch and the two complied, sinking heavily into the chairs at the kitchen table.
Kyu set down a heavy bag and rummaged around in it, pulling out various items before he snapped on some gloves.
"I can take care of it," Rei muttered as he eyed Kyu warily, but the man gave him a firm look.
"You're shaking from shock, there's no way you're going to be cleaning or stitching anything properly right now."
Rei was too tired to argue and tugged his ruined shirt off with difficulty.
Kazuki's eyes widened as the full extent of Rei's injuries were revealed.
"Rei, holy shit!" he gasped.
"It's fine," Rei mumbled, even though he definitely wasn't fine, and was, in fact, about ready to pass out any moment.
Kyu seemed to recognize this thankfully and made swift work of patching him up, disinfecting, sewing sutures where they were needed, applying creams to the burned patches of skin, and finally helping him into clean clothes and putting his injured arm into a sling.
Once he had finished treating Kazuki, he made them both cups of sweet milk tea and handed out pain pills.
"I'm going to go get a few things…food and other supplies. Don't leave this house."
Rei and Kazuki nodded in acquiescence.
Once Kyu left, they moved into the living room to check on Miri. Kazuki sank down onto the couch with a wince, pulling the girl in her bundle of blankets into his lap.
"I can't believe she can sleep after that," he said with a wry amusement. "I guess Kyu's right."
"Kazuki," Rei said suddenly as the other man looked up at him, eyebrows raised. "Do you…do you think we managed to change?"
Kazuki looked down at Miri. "I think we have a long way to go," he admitted before looking up at Rei again. "But…I think we're off to a good start."
The exhaustion finally won out and Rei sank down onto the sofa, staring at Miri's sleeping face. He reached out to gently soothe his fingers over the bruised cheek. "I never thought I'd care enough to be afraid of losing someone."
Kazuki stared at him sadly. "I wouldn't wish it on anyone," he said quietly.
"No," Rei said. "But in a way…it feels good to…to feel something. Like, the feeling you get caring for others is worth the risk of possible loss. Don't you think?"
Kazuki looked down at Miri softly. "Maybe you've changed more than I thought, Rei."
Rei slumped to the side, his body too tired to hold itself up anymore. His head found Kazuki's shoulder and he couldn't even be bothered to move. Miri shifted and reached out in her sleep. Rei offered his hand and felt warmth flow through him as her fingers closed around his.
"I want to be a real family," Rei admitted.
"We already are," Kazuki told him, reaching his arm around Rei's shoulders and pulling the three of them closer together. "Now please try to rest before you pass out, man."
Rei didn't need a second invitation. He allowed his eyes to slide shut, feeling safe and secure for perhaps the first time in his life. He had no idea what the future held for them, but he was sure that they would be okay as long as they stuck together.
~~~~~~~
When Kyu returned with the groceries, he found all three of them passed out on the couch together, completely oblivious to the world for the time being.
He couldn't help the small smile that caught on his lips and set the bags down so he could grab a blanket and pull it over top of them.
Leaving them to their rest, he went to cook something for the trio when they awoke and consider ideas for their future.