Work Text:
“Lord van Zieks, what is the difference between ‘inhuman’ and ‘inhumane’?”
Barok lifted his head from his work and glared across the room. Asogi’s grasp on English was impeccable, and his pride was far too strong to ask for help unless he direly needed it, so any question about a seemingly trivial matter was likely intended as a segue into an insult rather than a genuine request. “And why, pray, do you need to know the difference?”
Asogi turned around with a smirk. “I’m writing a letter to Ryunosuke, and I want to make sure I describe you accurately.”
Not a day passed that his apprentice didn’t take jabs at his humanity or lack of compassion, and he had largely gotten used to it, resigned to the fact that he would never redeem himself in Asogi’s eyes. Nevertheless, he had hoped such sentiments wouldn’t be conveyed to Naruhodo.
He lifted a hand to his face. “Pray tell me you are not using this time to write personal letters.”
“Just because you don’t feel normal human emotions doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t care to stay in touch with our friends.”
“Writing to Mr. Naruhodo is not the issue here, it is that you’re using work time to do it.”
“You spent a whole hour of work time talking to your brother’s portrait before you moved it out of here.”
Heat rushed to Barok’s face. He had intentionally sent his apprentice out on business that day and assumed his actions had gone unseen.
“Hey, your face is turning red! If blood can flow, there must be a human heart in there somewhere after all.”
Barok slammed his fist down on the desk. “Enough! Asogi, put that letter aside and review the case details before we’re due in court!”
“Yes, sir,” Asogi said, in a tone that was not remotely subdued, only amused. He turned back to his desk and added in a quieter tone, but still loud enough to carry across the office, “‘Inhuman’ it is, then.”
Barok cast a withering stare at him, but with his apprentice’s back to him, it had no effect.
#
The trial was a particularly tiresome one, with uncooperative witnesses that required both the prosecution and the defense to browbeat them into telling the truth. The opposing attorney was one of the more promising ones London had seen lately, as it seemed Naruhodo had inspired some new lawyers willing to approach arguments like he did, and Barok needed to bring all his skills to bear to make his case with Asogi’s assistance.
Here in the courtroom, none of their tension from the office was present. They were brisk and efficient in their dealings, and Asogi helped him as effectively as when he had been a man with no name—more so, now that they understood each other.
The defendant turned out to truly be innocent, for the first time since Naruhodo’s departure, and Barok accepted the loss with a graceful bow.
He and Asogi left the courtroom in silence after the verdict, but whispers followed them through the Old Bailey.
“What’s going to happen to the defendant now?”
“They say Lord van Zieks isn’t the Reaper, but…”
“Look at those eyes, it’s like he’s not even human.”
“Everyone knows a heartless monster like him wouldn’t care if the defendant was truly guilty or not.”
Even with the shadow of the Reaper lifted, it was to be expected the fear would linger for a while. After so many years, such comments whenever he lost a trial had become commonplace. He barely even heard them.
But he keenly heard the sound of a sword being drawn.
He stopped and snapped his gaze in the direction of the sound.
Asogi had his sword half out of its sheath, hand wrapped around the hilt in a grip so tight his knuckles turned white, eyes blazing. He took a step toward the nobleman and noblewoman who had been whispering about the trial’s outcome. “You take that back.” His voice was low and angry, more so than Barok had heard it since his own trial.
The gossipers froze and stared at Asogi with wide eyes.
“You have no idea what Lord van Zieks has gone through. He’s been called a murderer, a Reaper, a demigod with black magic… but he never strayed from the path of justice. He never bloodied his own hands, even when everyone assumed he had. And you have the nerve to call him a monster?”
Barok suspected his own eyes were as wide as theirs. Never had he imagined Asogi would rise to his defense like this.
“You’re gossiping about an innocent man’s death,” Asogi snarled, “while the man you’re maligning to do so hated when even the guilty died under his shadow. Lord van Zieks is more compassionate than half of London, so how dare you claim he’s heartless?!”
“Mr. Asogi, please.” Barok stepped forward, but Asogi ignored him.
“You will never say something like that again.” His partly drawn sword emphasized the implied threat. “I expect you to apologize to Lord van Zieks. Now.”
The noblewoman turned her frightened gaze to Barok. “W-We’re very sorry!”
“Yes, very sorry!”
They both fled with just enough speed to avoid losing all dignity in the process.
Asogi sheathed his sword and put his hand on Barok’s shoulder. “Let’s go, sir.”
People were still staring at them. Hushed murmurs filled the hall. This wasn’t the place to confront Asogi about what had just happened, so instead he simply nodded. They left the Old Bailey in silence, side by side.
Once they were back in their office, Barok rounded on his apprentice. “Asogi, what in the world was that all about?”
“I apologize, sir.” Despite his apology, Asogi kept his head held high. “Perhaps you can just let it go, but I can’t. I can’t bear to hear them say such things about you.”
“But why?”
“Don’t tell me you believe those things they were saying!” Asogi shook his head. “Ignore them if that’s how you prefer to handle it, sir, but don’t take their words to heart.”
Barok stared at him. “Less than two hours ago you were calling me heartless and inhuman.”
Asogi’s eyes widened, and he flinched back. “Wait, you don’t… you don’t take it seriously when I say things like that, do you?”
What?
“Do you?” Distress filled his voice, like he desperately wanted Barok to deny it.
Barok could only stare.
#
The next morning, Barok hoped they’d be able to move on as though nothing had happened, but the memory of that strange conversation lingered in the back of his mind. Nevertheless, he kept his tone businesslike. “Asogi, begin writing the summary of yesterday’s case. I would like it finished before the day is out.”
Asogi glanced at him, eyebrows raised, mouth opened… but then he looked down. “Yes, sir.”
Such a response was so unlike him that Barok frowned at him in concern. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll begin the case report.”
Perhaps it was nothing after all.
Yet it persisted throughout the morning. No matter what Barok said, Asogi responded in a subdued, professional manner that once would have been gratifying but now only made him worry. Could Asogi have fallen ill? Had someone said something to him about his behavior? It wasn’t natural for him to be so compliant, and the fact that he seemed to be biting back comments he would otherwise say made it even more concerning.
Once they suffered through an awkward lunch together and went back to work, Barok realized what he was doing.
Yesterday, Asogi had been so horrified at the realization that Barok took his frequent jabs seriously. Today he was preventing himself from making them.
Barok looked across the office at the man kneeling silently at his desk. All this time, he had assumed Asogi either liked hurting him as a measure of revenge or believed so strongly that Barok was heartless and cruel that he couldn’t resist commenting on it. He never would have dreamed he’d shut down like this to avoid hurting him.
There was something unsettling about the silence. He hadn’t realized how lively Asogi’s attitude made the office, nor how much he had gotten used to it. He set down his pen and rubbed his head.
Asogi had been joking with all those comments about Barok’s lack of humanity or emotion, to the point where he became furious to hear similar judgements made in earnest. Moreover, it was now apparent he had thought it was a private joke between the two of them. He had assumed Barok was in on it, or at the very least knew it was meant in good fun. And when he learned that was not the case, he chose to silence himself rather than keep it up.
A confusing mix of emotions rose in Barok’s chest, and he stared helplessly at the man who would do so much for his sake. This couldn’t go on. He took a deep breath. “Mr. Asogi, please lend me a moment of your time. There is something we need to discuss.”
Asogi rose. Where he once would have made a sarcastic comment about his merciless taskmaster or the like, he now walked silently to stand in front of his desk. “Sir?”
It was respectful, professional, and polite, exactly what Barok had been asking for from him all this time.
And he hated it.
For a long moment, he studied Asogi, unsure where to begin. At last, he found the right words. “When you first regained your memories and prosecuted me in that trial, I admired your skill as a prosecutor.”
Asogi blinked. Apparently he hadn’t expected the conversation to start there.
“Granted, you were blinded by anger, but your skill was apparent nevertheless. It is why I agreed to continue mentoring you. I already respected what you were capable of and wished to help you come into your own. Yet for a long time, I admit I found myself puzzled as to what exactly Mr. Naruhodo saw in you. You did not seem the sort of man he would maintain such a strong friendship with.”
Asogi winced. “I probably didn’t deserve—”
“No, you did.”
His eyes widened.
“Your actions these past two days have shown me my mistake. I see now that while you might be abrasive and aggressive, you are a true friend. Perhaps I am the one who needs to change—to accept that not every statement made against me is an attack, at least when I am in the company of someone I trust.” He shook his head and stood up to look directly into Asogi’s eyes. “Pray, go back to acting as you always do. I promise I will not take your jokes to heart.”
Asogi turned away, spots of color visible in his cheeks. “Y-You finally regained the ability to feel human emotion only to make an embarrassing speech like that?!”
Barok placed his hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze he hoped conveyed his appreciation for what he’d tried to do. “That is all I wanted to say. Return to your work now.”
“And now you want to go right back to working?! I take back what I said yesterday; there isn’t a heart in there!”
The edges of an unfamiliar smile tugged at Barok’s lips. Those harsh words had once hurt, but now there was something strangely endearing about them.
Asogi turned toward his own desk, but then paused and looked back. “Lord van Zieks?”
“Yes?”
“I’m honored you consider me a friend. And… if I ever say something that goes too far, something that actually hurts you, I hope you’ll tell me.”
This time he really did smile. “Thank you, Asogi. I will.”