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Chuuya is being nudged awake. He frowns and opens his eyes, meeting green.
“Touji?”
“Chuuya-nii,” Touji quietly weeps, careful not to disturb the sleeping others. His rare green eyes are filled with tears and for a moment, he thinks something must have gone wrong but there was no commotion, nor was there any of the shrieks and screams he fears to hear. Silently, he realizes on his own. “I…”
Immediately, he sits up and moves over. He tries to create space on the bunk bed that can barely fit him as he says, voice tied with sleep, “Bad dream?”
Looking over, Touji looks like he might cry in relief. The eight-year-old shakes his head, his brown hair scattering in different directions. Chuuya can’t help but smile at the sight of it. The Sheep always tease him for it, including Chuuya, ruffling his curly hair even further at every chance.
“A nightmare, then?” He asks while Touji climbs the bed with a bit of a struggle. He doesn’t offer help, the kid is in a phase where he bites off the hand that dares to offer it. Lately, all the Sheep children his age seemed to be on it as if it was a new unspoken rule.
Touji frowns but nods all the same.
His smile drops, “Do you want to talk about it?”
“I…I can’t remember it all, but I remember being lost in, I don’t know, somewhere in Tokyo? I saw you, holding something, but then things got blurry a little bit and the next thing I know I was being chased down and shot,” In one swift motion Chuuya doesn’t see coming, Touji bursts into tears and digs himself into him.
Chuuya wastes no time. His arms surround the young boy who’s realized what he has done and tries to muffle his cries.
If he’s honest, Chuuya wasn’t all too knowledgeable about dreams nor did he have a single clue on how they should be. Him, having none of all, for whatever reason he can’t figure out. For him, sleep is sleep. No dreams and therefore, no nightmares. It’s a different case for anyone else though. He’s seen how much it impacted and haunted the other members, how they all smile in their sleep, only to cry when they see their reality, or how they all wake up from the one thing from their past that still chases them to this day.
He may have no dreams or nightmares, but he tries to be there for the Sheep in the aftermath.
It’s the closest thing to experience another world where he can’t enter.
“Touji,” Chuuya whispers, “You know me. You know I won’t let that happen to you, right? I’ll protect you if that ever happens—scratch that, whatever happens to you and the Sheep.”
Touji’s eyes are so big and green that Chuuya’s heart larges at the sight of hope in it.
“But who’ll protect you, Chuuya-nii?”
Chuuya stops.
That’s the question, isn’t it?
Who will exactly protect Chuuya? Who will shield him from danger? Who will stop him from making the dumbest decisions ever known to man? Who, who, who?
He tries to think back on all the times he spent alone before the Sheep. Where every person he came across treated him with scorn, where he was constantly pushed back against the wall, where he had to pick himself back up every time he was on the ground—
Chuuya had no one, but himself.
Yes, that was true for a while. But then he met Yuan, and then Shirase, and soon the Sheep, and suddenly, he wasn’t that alone anymore.
Smiling, but failing to hide it, he purses his lips into a hum, “I don’t know…”
…Touji’s smile reeks of sadness, and he’s saying something he can’t hear at all
-
“I’m sorry, Chuuya-nii.”
-
Chuuya gasps awake.
He faces an eerie silence and creeping darkness, among them, his chest rises and lowers, trying to find a rhythm to calm his beating heart.
“Fuck.”
What was that about?
-
It’s been two days since Chuuya dreamed of Touji, it’s the exact number of days that he snaps.
Groaning, he punches on the intercom and calls out, “Bring in Adrienne for me.”
It doesn’t take long. Soon enough, there is a knock on his door, he’s announcing his permission for them to enter, and Adrienne comes strolling in. She may be slightly composed, but by the looks of her dyed ruffled hair, she was hasty to get to his office, as she was trained to do. “You called for me, sir?”
“Yes, thank you for coming,” Chuuya may be a murderer, but he wasn’t too far gone to not remember his manners. God knows how much Kouyou drilled it into him, she would’ve killed him if he had shown the slightest disrespect to the members of the Port Mafia, never mind if they were on a higher or a lower rank (except for Ace, that guy’s an asshole). “I called you here to do something for me.”
It isn’t in his imagination or a fickle thing in his mind that Adrienne shifts to stand a little straighter than before, “Anything, sir.”
“As you know, before the mafia, I was part of a junior organization called the Sheep,” At this, Adrienne nods, but he isn’t done. “The members are mostly scattered right now, having been disbanded—” here, he tries hard not to wince, “but I’d like you to find one of them, Touji Myoga. Dark hair and green eyes. He should be fifteen right now, I think.” The same age as him when everything went to shit.
Adrienne bows her head, “Of course, sir. Right away.”
Chuuya casts her a meaningful look, “Get me everything, alright? Don’t leave anything out.”
His secretary nods, and with a wave of dismissal from him, she leaves.
Now, what he can only do is wait.
-
Several hours later, there is a knock on his door.
“Come in,” Chuuya calls out from behind the paperwork on his desk. Expecting Adrienne, he doesn’t lift his head when the door opens and footsteps enter his office. “Is everything done, Adrienne? You can leave it on my desk, thank you.”
But it wasn’t Adrienne. No, far from it. “Chuuya.”
Chuuya’s head snaps up and sucks in a breath.
Dazai’s face is grave and somber. He hasn’t seen anything like it since they were eighteen when Oda…
“Sir!” Adrienne comes bustling in covered in sweat. Heaving, she sends an apologetic look to Chuuya, “I’m sorry, sir. I tried to stop him from entering.”
Ignoring her, Dazai continues, “I need you to come with me.” Chuuya doesn’t miss it when he shifts, his beige coat a stark contrast to the dark velvet of his office. Against his will, a bitter feeling rises.
“Why should I?” Adrienne is still guarded, ready to pounce when Chuuya permits her to. Sighing, he waves her to stand down. She reluctantly does. “I have no reason to, and I have work to do, bastard. Get out while you still can. You’re disturbing me.”
Any other time, Chuuya would’ve been screaming bloody murder by now. But he was too shaken up by the Dream to care too much.
He isn’t surprised that Dazai doesn’t stand down. Nor when he urges on, “Chuuya, you have to come with me. I need to show you something.”
He groans, “Can’t it wait until later?” Adrienne is still here, she must’ve found something by now. Chuuya needs to know how Touji is.
“Touji Myoga.”
Chuuya doesn’t think. He springs up, reaching across the table to grab the front of Dazai’s clothes. He seethes, eyes ablaze, “What the fuck do you know, bastard?!”
From the corner of his eye, Adrienne had brought out her katana, a stone-cold look on her face.
Predictably, Dazai doesn’t back down. On the contrary, he leans a little into Chuuya’s hold. A smirk slowly finds its way into his face as he says, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“You—!” Gritting his teeth, he blares, “Tell me everything you know or I’ll give you the most painful death in your life .”
To his extreme annoyance, Dazai shrugs, “Well, if Chuuya says so…” He sends Chuuya a meaningful look, as if to say, You know what you have to do, don’t you?
And he does. He annoyingly does. With a huff, he releases his hold on Dazai. But he steadies his eyes, making sure that Dazai can see him wiping his gloved hands on his trousers, wiping off the dirt. Call him petty, if you wish.
Dazai only smiles.
“Lead the way, fucker.”
-
On his way out, Dazai trailing behind him despite his earlier order, he met eyes with Adrienne who looked about to follow them. He shook his head, and his secretary hesitated but obeyed. Instead, he silently asked her the question brewed in his mind before.
The disappointment had taken root in his heart when she shook her head. Nothing, then.
Huffing, he now leads Dazai through the Port Mafa, ignoring the incredulous looks the older members who still remember the Demon Prodigy give him. A little beside him, Dazai shamelessly strolls, uncaring that this used to be the previous organization that he left and the constant enemy of his current one.
It irritates the hell out of him.
Once they are out of the building, Chuuya grabs him by the collar and drags him to the nearest car.
“Ow, ow, ow!” Dazai hisses when his head bumps into the car that Chuuya roughly shoves him into. He is not sorry. “That hurts!”
Chuuya doesn’t listen to his whines as he rounds the car to the driver’s seat. He knocks on the glass before opening it with force. The grunt inside squeaks and scrambles to get out while Chuuya holds the door out. Once he’s out, Chuuya lets himself inside. He closes the car door with a bang! And drives off, leaving the grunt to stare after them in the aftermath.
“God, you’re such a brute, Chibi!” Beside him, sitting on the passenger seat, Dazai massages the large bump on his head.
“Shut the fuck up, asshole! Don’t call me that.” It’s been some time since Chuuya had to drive a car, but the lessons come flooding back in and he just narrowly misses a mailbox when he makes a turn. “Now, where are going?” When Dazai doesn’t immediately answer, “ Dazai.”
Dazai gives him the address with the attitude of a spoiled brat, Chuuya doesn’t miss the chance to tell him as such, “God, you’re such a spoiled brat.”
He steps on the paddle and the car accelerates at a speed that’s way passed the law, because really, who cares about driving rules when you’re about to find out what happened to the ex-member of the organization you were a part of?
“Like you’re much better— Woah, woah! What are you doing?! Slow down!”
Chuuya ignores him, speedily driving through the streets.
As Dazai continues to grumble beside him, he keeps a lookout for the apartment building Dazai told him about. Sure enough, as they turn another corner, a building that matches Dazai’s description appears. Smacking Dazai on the arm that attempted to fiddle with the radio station, he nudges his chin to the building, “Hey, is that it?”
Pouting, Dazai leans over the car console before nodding, “Yeah, that’s it.”
When they start to near the building, Chuuya sees something. The flash of red and blue.
Fuck, cops.
Chuuya straightens in alarm before looking over to Dazai who’s wearing a pensive look on his face, “What the hell is this?” He looks back to the three cop cars stationed in front of the building and the ten or so police officers. “What the fuck are you trying to pull here? Was this some scheme to get me arrested?!”
Not that he’ll let them. He can overpower them and escape away if need be, but to think Dazai resorted to this…
Dazai visibly startles, which is…startling, to say the least, “What? No! I’m not trying to arrest you, Chuuya!”
Glaring, he points to the scene in front of them, “Then, what the fuck is this?!” Even from the inside, he can feel the restless and nervous energy of the crowd outside. It’s as if they were waiting for something…
In an entire move he doesn’t see coming, Dazai leans into his side. Chuuya can’t help but flinch at the sudden proximity. Dazai starts to whisper, his eyes so brown, “You told me you wanted to know everything I know about Touji Myoga.” He gestures to the apartment building, “Here is everything I know.”
And with that, Dazai moves away, “Let’s go inside. Don’t worry about the cops, they don’t know that you’re one of the top wanted criminals, they don’t know what you look like. Your boss made sure of that.”
Chuuya can only nod in his shock before navigating the car to park. Once he pulls the handbrake, Dazai immediately opens the car door and climbs out. Chuuya doesn’t instantly follow, needing a minute to breathe inside the car. Because honestly, what the fuck was that?
He closes his eyes and tries to forget someone’s eyes so brown it’s unfair.
-
Foregoing the coat on his shoulders, but keeping the hat and his gloves on, Chuuya feels naked when he steps out of the car. But he doesn’t show it, stiffly walking over to Dazai’s tall form talking with one of the officers.
“Ah, there you are!” Dazai exclaims when Chuuya joins his right side, before returning his gaze to who Chuuya realizes is an inspector. “Officer Minoura, this is the specialist that I’ve told you about, Kashimura-san.”
Officer Minoura stiffly nods, “Yes, it’s a pleasure meeting you, Kashimura-san. Thank you for your help today.”
Curse you, Dazai . “Er, yes, it’s no problem” Chuuya bobs his head, feeling extremely awkward. He can only blame Dazai for this current predicament, “Nice meeting you as well.”
Being the true scumbag that he is, Dazai waits a moment before clapping his hands to break the awkward silence, “Say, Officer Minoura, where are my co-workers?”
That gets Chuuya out of his daydream of choking Dazai to death, Co-workers? Don’t tell me…
“They’re already in the apartment, examining the scene.”
Wait—
“Thank you, Officer! We’ll be on our way now!” And with that, he drags Chuuya to the building and in two long strides, pushes him into the elevator. In one swift motion, Dazai pushes the button for the 8th floor.
In the privacy of the lift, Chuuya yells, “Your co-workers are here?! What the fuck!”
Dazai blinks, “Yes? Is there something wrong?”
“Something wrong? You didn’t tell me they were going to be here, asshole!”
Said asshole had the nerve to smile, “Whoops? It crossed my mind!”
Before Chuuya can say anything else, there is the sound of a ding! Before the doors to the lift open. Still smiling, Dazai is the first to get off, followed by him, still seething in his anger. They walk down the hall until Dazai stops at the end of it, right in front of a door with the number 810 glaring down at them.
“This is it,” Dazai supplies, looking at him with an off expression.
Chuuya huffs, “I still don’t get how this is related to Touji.”
Dazai only continues to look at him.
He resists the urge to shift under his gaze. He snaps, “What?”
“Chuuya,” Dazai says his name as if he’s pained to say it. His hands move before pointing to the door in front of them, Apartment 810.
“This is Touji’s apartment.”
What?
“Yesterday, one of the tenants of the apartment called the landlord about a bad smell in the apartment next to her. Upon receiving the complaint, the landlord tried to call the occupant about it, but he wasn’t answering. Earlier today, at about seven am, the landlord decided to tell the tenant about the complaint himself, face to face. He tried to knock but there was no answer,” Somewhere along those lines, Chuuya’s heart stops. But Dazai doesn’t stop. “Sensing something was wrong, he tried again and again until he decided to try and break in. There he found something.”
Here, Dazai looks unusually apologetic, something deep and somber in his brown eyes as he says to him, “Chuuya, I’m sorry.”
“As of February 23rd, today, Touji Myoga was found dead at his apartment.”
Brrr. Brrr, brrr…
Dazai’s lips move but he can’t hear anything that’s coming out of it. He stays still, trying to— trying to…what was he trying to do? His eyes are open, he’s breathing, he’s…alive. But Touji isn’t. Just fifteen years old, and already gone from the world. With so much to live for, to try for, all of it is wasted away.
Chuuya is twenty-two and alive.
Touji was fifteen and dead.
Chuuya is a murderer.
Touji…was a child.
How is that fair?
Inside him, Arahabaki roars in eagerness.
‘Destruction, destruction. Destroy everything .’
Arahabaki continues to chant, a senile sneer on its face. It feeds off the anger that simmers inside of him. Chuuya willingly gives it what it wants, ‘ destroy, destroy, destroy, destroy—”
“—ya, Chuuya!”
He blinks and meets the glowing blue of Dazai’s ability.
Arahabaki subdues in response and eventually quiets, not before cursing the ability that tries to hinder its plans.
He blinks again and Dazai’s arms are on either side of him, his face near his as he tries to shake Chuuya out of his stupor, “Chuuya? Are you alright? Was that—”
Unceremoniously, he rips himself off of Dazai’s hold. Dazai’s face drops at the action. The hands that linger in the air soon follow. Not taking his eyes off the ground, Chuuya nods, “Yeah, thanks.”
“It’s— never mind. Are you sure you’re alright?”
His head snaps up faster than lightning. With eyes so close to the familiar burn of tears, Chuuya can’t help but bitterly think: Was he alright? How could he be alright when one of the people he cared for, no matter how long they weren’t in contact, died just before he met him again? How could he be alright when that person, who Chuuya knew as a child who used to adore him before the fallout, is no longer in this world? How? How? How?
Chuuya doesn’t answer.
Dazai seems to understand either way, “Would you like to go inside?”
He nods, not trusting himself to speak.
They’re both quiet as Dazai opens the door and leads them inside the apartment. From the door, there is a narrow hallway, decorated with little picture frames and plenty of paintings. One of the picture frames held three people, two ladies, each one had their arms looped around Touji’s, no bigger than ten, as they all smiled at the camera. A scene of happiness and content. As Chuuya looks further into the pictures, they all mirror that kind of atmosphere. Each picture of Touji’s smiling face and bright emerald eyes breaks something inside of him. Furthermore, he looks at the painting, and there at the bottom right of each painting is the boy’s name, colored in gold.
“He was a painter,” Chuuya mutters, looking at an uncanny replica of Suribachi city. It might be the flicker of light, but he sees a lone shadow at the edge of the city. “He’s good.”
“He made a living out of it,” Dazai supplies to him. “It’s how he paid the rent.”
Chuuya looks at him, “Any idea who the ladies are?” They might need to know that Touji is dead.
“They are a couple that adopted Touji when he was nine. They raised him until last year when they died because of infighting between gangs.”
“Oh,” Chuuya gulps, “They were..?”
Dazai shakes his head, to Chuuya’s relief, “No. They were just at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
He can only nod his head to that because what else can he say?
“Let’s get going,” Dazai continues to lead them further in until they are standing in the living room, watching two people talk in hushed voices.
It only comes to him that these are the detectives from Dazai’s agency when he calls out, “Oh! Atsushi-kun and Kunikida-kun!”
The weretiger, or Atsushi, from what Chuuya gathered, looks over at them and lights up, “Dazai-san, you’re here!”
The blonde, Kunikida, turns around and raises an unimpressive look on his face, “Took you long enough. We’ve just finished investigating the scene and—” Chuuya sees the exact moment when Kunikida notices him. “...Dazai, who is that?”
Sighing, he turns to Dazai who’s looking at him with a small sheepish smile, “You’ll make the introductions. I’ll go on ahead.”
“Will you be alright, though?”
Still? He grits out a yes.
“...” Dazai assesses him for a moment before concluding and waving him off, “Fine, I’ll be joining you in a moment.”
Chuuya rolls his eyes, ugh. “Whatever. Do what you want. See if I care.”
With that, Chuuya stomps off, not responding when Dazai helpfully (as much as he’d like to admit) shouts after him, “Second door to the left!” or when Kunikida shrieks at him to stop, don’t enter the crime scene! Dazai will handle that anyway.
After a minute and fifteen steps, he’s standing in front of the door where behind it, is the place Touji spent his last day in the world of the living.
Chuuya sucks in a breath as he can’t help but wonder: Did Touji suffer? Was it brutal? Was it painless? Was that the way he wanted to go? Was he happy? Or was he scared, spending his last moments alone?
In the corridor, no one answers him.
Before he can change his mind, Chuuya grabs ahold of the knob and wretches the door open.
The first thing that he notices is that the room is painted green. A green that’s so close to emerald. Just like his eyes, Chuuya’s mind supplies.
The second thing that he notices is that the bed, star-littered, is neat and made. No body to be found at all.
They must’ve moved it before we came here, Chuuya thinks with a sinking heart. He didn’t even get to say goodbye personally.
Shaking his head, he notices the third thing in the room. At the foot of the twin bed, sits a tuft of fur. Chuuya frowns at it before stilling when it moves, slightly rising up and down. Like breathing. The movement is small, something people would have normally missed.
Against his better judgment, Chuuya wills himself to move and his legs obey after a moment.
He nears the golden patch of fur-covered being when it shifts and suddenly, he’s face to face with black eyes.
Oh, a dog.
He loves dogs, doesn’t he?
Is it a boy or a girl? He can’t tell, so instead of a hey boy or a hey girl, he says, “Hey,” as he takes another step forward.
The dog, a golden labrador retriever, from the looks of it (Chuuya’s done his research, thank you very much), narrows his eyes on his feet before returning to him, as if to say, what are you doing?
“I’m not going to hurt you, relax.” Chuuya makes a sad smile, “Are you Touji’s dog? You must be, hm? You’re in his room, after all. I’m sorry, bud. Touji was a good kid.” Even though I haven’t talked to him in seven years.
The dog perks up, tilting its head. It looks like it agrees. Yes, he was a good kid.
Chuuya’s near enough now to bend down and offer his hand. The dog observes it for a bit before sniffing it and nudging it with his head.
He feels the smile bloom on his face, “My name is Chuuya. What’s yours?” Of course, it can’t answer so he nudges the dog’s head just to get a glimpse of the white collar around its neck.
The dog barks just as he lifts the silver circle with a name etched into it.
“Kira, huh?” The dog— Kira, barks again with glee. In the corner of his eye, he sees its tail wagging softly. “Nice to meet you.”
-
When Chuuya comes out, he hears raised voices.
“—was Nakahara Chuuya?! Have you lost your mind?!” Kunikida shrieks, “That’s a Port Mafia Executive, you idiot! What are you doing bringing him to a case like this?!”
“An executive?” The weretiger’s meek voice asks.
“It’s a high position, Atsushi. They’re second only to the boss,” Dazai says with hidden fondness Chuuya can somehow hear. “And I brought him here because he knows the deceased, Touji.”
Having enough of listening in, Chuuya slams the door hard enough that the sound resounds throughout the apartment. The detectives all go quiet at the bang as Chuuya goes back to the living room, only to see them in the same positions right as he left them.
He looks over at them before turning his gaze on Dazai, “I’m done.”
“Great,” Dazai says, “Do you want to leave—”
Chuuya doesn’t let him finish. He cuts in, “Actually, I want to ask you questions myself.”
The two detectives freeze in place, eyes zeroed in on Chuuya who rolls his eyes in response. They look like I’m about to murder them or something. Not Dazai though, who smiles as he claps his hands together like a little child, “Sure! Go ahead, Chibi.”
“Dazai—!”
“It’s case related, stop freaking out,” Chuuya says to Kunikida before glaring at Dazai, “Call me that one more time, I dare you. ”
Dazai grins, waving away his demand, “Hush, hush. You were saying?”
Chuuya rolls his eyes before asking, “Cause of death?”
“Disease, we’ve found some prescriptions from his doctors.”
“What was it?”
“Heart disease.”
“They couldn’t treat it?”
Dazai shakes his head, “They didn’t have the money to.”
Chuuya breathes. Okay, he can work with that. “When?”
“Two days ago.”
“Fuck.”
The same day he had a dream about Touji.
What were the chances?
Chuuya nods, trying hard not to spiral. “Any other living relatives?”
“None, from what we’ve seen so far.”
“When’s the funeral?”
Dazai shares a look with his co-workers before replying, “Next week.”
He doesn’t hesitate, “I’ll be paying for everything.”
Dazai follows through, effortlessly matching with his pace as he had always done, “Of course.”
“One last thing,” Chuuya narrows his eyes, “What’s the Armed Detective Agency doing solving a case not up to their usual style? I mean, c’mon, heart disease?”
Nobody answers him, but the looks that the weretiger and the stuck-up send Dazai’s way are more than enough to answer for him.
Of course, Dazai had something to do with it. The motherfucker.
“I see. Well, that’s that, then. See you all never again,” he says before looking behind him, “Right, I’m taking Kira with me. Come on, Kira. Let’s go home.”
Kira, the good girl that she is (Chuuya had awkwardly found out), barks at Dazai who shrieks and jumps to the nearest tall furniture.
“GAH! What is a beast doing here?!”
“Dazai-san, get down from there!”
Chuuya doesn’t laugh. He doesn’t.
But he was well damn near to.
-
Upon further investigation, he learns that Touji ran away from the Sheep just a month after they kicked Chuuya out for betrayal.
Seeing as the Sheep partnered with GSS for protection, running away from both organizations was no easy feat, yet Touji did it with only a small amount of wounds left on him. It was luck, the report said, that two women came across him when he passed out of exhaustion near the bridge where the couple always frequent.
It is said that the couple took a liking to him right at the start. Immediately, they took him under his wing, invited him to their home, and adopted him in two weeks. Soon enough, Touji Myoga was reborn as Touji Myoga-Nakamura, or Touji Nakamura, for short. It’s why Adrienne hadn’t found any information about him as Touji Myoga because he had taken one of his mother’s last names.
Under his new family’s care, Touji Nakamura grew up healthy and loved in a happy household—a far cry from the stressful and fearful atmosphere back in the Sheep. Soon enough, when Touji turned the age of ten, their family expanded to make room for one more member: Kira.
Touji adored Kira. The people around them always had the same thing to say when it came to those two: they were like siblings, if one sibling could be a man and the other be a dog. And they were right. The two of them stuck like glue to each other the moment they first met.
But at the age of thirteen, things started going downhill.
After an incident at school, Touji was taken to the hospital to be treated. There, he found out together with his family that he had a heart disease. One that can only be treated by time.
His mothers tried everything they could to heal their child—working until midnight, seeking donors in case of emergency, trying out various treatments that could help him, and so much more. They would’ve continued if not for the crossfire the two ladies had stumbled across and died because of it.
During his last years, Touji only had Kira to accompany him in his family’s apartment while he continued to paint artwork that would help them pay their rent.
The rest was history.
Touji’s heart soon gave out, and eventually, he died on February 23rd at the young age of fifteen. Kira had stayed with his body for two days until the police arrived on the scene…
“...And you adopted her, sir,” Adrienne says, staring blankly at the dog beside Chuuya’s table.
Kira doesn’t pay her any mind, instead, she focuses on the mackerel toy he bought for her. Every so often, the toy makes squeaking noises when she bites it. She loves it.
Chuuya sighs, reaching out to pet her golden fur with carefulness before addressing his secretary, “Yes, thank you, Adrienne. That will be all.”
Adrienne nods, heading for the door.
He hears the door opening, but it doesn’t shut. Curiously, he looks up.
His secretary stands there, looking hesitant. Eventually, “My condolences, sir.”
Oh.
Well.
“Thank you,” He smiles.
-
Later that night, Chuuya is being nudged awake. He frowns and opens his eyes meeting brown.
Kira stands there as she barks softly, continuing to prod his head. Learning her intentions, he groans and rolls over. It takes a while, but eventually, Kira ends up under the covers with Chuuya’s arm around her.
They both slept peacefully.