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now
Akai Shuichi leans back against his comfortable chair in the study, and slowly takes a sip of the piping hot black tea, then places the mug back down onto the desk.
There is a silver ring on his ring finger, with the letter G engraved on it. He brings the ring to his lips, pressing an almost reverent kiss onto the engraving. There's a hint of amusement playing across his lips as he does so, mixed with fondness, and a dash of bittersweet nostalgia. As if it's not just the ring he's kissing, but a memory, a person, a past that will forever remain in the past.
Some romances aren't destined to end with a happily ever after. He, on the other hand, is one of the lucky few, he supposes. Although it also depends on how one defines "and they live happily ever after, together".
Considering the circumstances, this is probably as close to happily ever after they were ever going to get. Akai is, in general, pleased enough with the end result, all things considered. And technically, he and Gin are quite literally together, now.
Inseparable.
Well, as inseparable as one is with a ring one wears on the ring finger, anyway.
The happy ending to a fairy tale.
Not bad, he muses.
Casually, he rests his hand near the mug, the ring pressing onto the mug filled with hot black tea.
A little warmth for you, on this cold winter day, Gin, Akai thinks. My beloved.
Akai knows that he isn't always the most considerate lover - Jodie would probably echo that, Akemi might not but that was just because she was too polite to do so - but for Gin, he will admit that he's always paid particular attention to the silver-haired assassin. Long, soft, silvery hair, like a waterfall. He still remembers the way it flies, on windy days. And the way it feels as the strands of hair slip across Akai's fingers.
Oh, how he misses Gin's hair.
Hair, unlike bones, can't be made into ashes and put into an engraved ring, easily worn around the finger and carrying it everywhere.
That said, it can be made into a wig, once one carefully washes away the blood and sweat. And it can be stored away safely, or perhaps also on display in one's study, if one were bold enough.
Akai glances at the strands of silver behind one of the glass doors of the cabinets.
Ever so pretty, even after all these years.
then
It was always going to come down to this point.
It's something they've both known, for a very long time.
The efforts to destroy an organization with such an extensive reach and decades old history include contributions from various agencies, of various countries. The organization is deeply entrenched enough in various industries, with influence on politicians across the globe, that bringing it down completely is far more complicated than it looks on the surface.
There is no single, final grand showdown of operation that if successful, can lead to them declaring that the organization is finally defeated. It's not that simple.
However, just because the things between the extremely large organization and various forces trying to take it down are more complicated, that doesn't mean that there can't still be a final grand showdown, between the ruthless third-in-command, and the infamous silver bullet (well, one of them, at least).
Between them, it's always going to come down to this point.
Other attacks on the organization are still going on in the background, but with these two, when they finally meet again on the battleground, they both know that there are only three possible endings to this situation.
Either Gin dies, or Akai dies. Or both of them, which is always possible. The chess metaphor of exchanging the queen with the opponent's queen comes to mind.
It was always going to come to this point.
Two sides of the same coin.
Two people on different sides, but forever on the same wavelengths, even more so than with others they have on the same side with them.
A bone-deep understanding between two archenemies.
And also, ex-lovers.
This is always going to be their endgame.
now
Except the endgame wasn't always the end. Because life goes on, if you survive it. And one of them does.
It was always going to end that way - no, correction. It was a 50-50 chance. Perhaps not exactly, as one has to accommodate for the possibility of both of them dying. But it's close enough.
After the endgame -
Akai gets to walk away from the scene alive.
Gin, not so much.
He still remembers the final shot, the fatal wound, the bullet that sealed the fate of Gin.
The silver bullet that penetrated him, for one last time.
After the endgame comes the happily ever after. Gin alive was someone that they all wanted to capture, a source of information that could open up various hidden secrets of the organization. Gin, dead, is just another body someone they needed to take care of. Neither the Japanese nor the CIA were that interested in him, after his death.
That suited Akai.
That was how Gin's ashes ended up in a ring that Akai now wears around his ring finger.
The others thought that he just made a ring with the letter G engraved onto it, as a memento of some sort. He doesn't correct their assumptions. Vermouth might've suspected otherwise, but he isn't sure.
He brings the ring to his lips again.
Kisses it.
Slowly, but exceedingly fine.
No other enemies he's faced, down the years, could compare to Gin. Most of them are boring, smalltime villains. Gin was on a different level.
The only one who actually understood him, saw through him, saw him as clear as he saw himself. And vice versa.
It gets boring, of course, but in some way it's also good. He doesn't want someone else to come along and usurp Gin's position in his heart. He doesn't want anyone else to be able to compare to Gin.
"My beloved, beloved, archenemy," he says, to the ring.
then
They're both wounded, but not fatally. Yet. A bullet's just grazed across Akai's right arm, and another across Gin's left leg.
They meet each other's eyes.
He's as beautiful as the first day Akai met him, perhaps even more so.
Long silver hair, long black coat. Beneath the coat hides a perfect body that Akai has had the chance to see, without any additional clothing on. Lean but muscly. Strong and lithe. Extremely dangerous, and twice as elegant.
An artwork of the highest order.
His beloved enemy.
Akai is going to miss him when he's gone.
He fires another shot.
The bullet heads straight for the heart. Too fast to dodge.
He penetrates him, for the one last time.
At the last moment, Gin's mouth curves into a half-sardonic, half-thrilled smile.
way back then
"Gin?" Moroboshi Dai enquires, arching an eyebrow.
"Right," Akemi nods. "Shiho says she can introduce you to him. You might even get a codename, if he decides the organization wants your talent."
He smiles, slowly, sharply, wolfishly. "I look forward to meeting him."