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Akutagawa curls up on his side, his eyes glassed over. He can’t even seem to lift his head at this point, mostly because of how heavy the collar around his neck is. It’s thick metal, and it’s the only thing his captors think is keeping Rashomon at bay. He can tell that he’s got an infection, but he can’t even tell which wound it’s originating from. All in all, he’s in a pretty poor state. A state that someone hasn’t gotten him into in a long time. Normally it takes a lot of skill to bring Akutagawa down, but not this time.
Mori hands Akutagawa a file. He takes his, his blank eyes scanning the first page immediately.
“You want me to let myself get captured? Why?”
“We need someone to get the information that’s specified inside that. Get it, then wait for the Black Lizard to pick you up. You’re not going to be able to get out by yourself, so your only job after getting captured is to discreetly get the information. That can be through word of mouth, or reading it. Whatever you need to do without getting caught doing it.”
“So, how do you want me to get captured?”
“Well, it needs to be realistic, so you should go into the gang’s territory. Pretend like you’re trying to capture one of their shipments of drugs, then let yourself be overwhelmed. Just make it believable.”
Akutagawa hums, flipping the file closed.
“Akutagawa, this is important. I don’t have to tell you what’s going to happen if you fail, or go off script, right?”
“No, sir. I already know. I’m going to talk to my team, and then I’ll head down there.”
Akutagawa opens his eyes, trying to reorient himself. It’s too hard though since there isn’t any light, and his internal clock got messed up after he’d been there for five days. So, he just curls tighter despite his screaming ribs, and the burning cuts all over his skin.
Maybe I should just break myself out. I don’t know what Mori meant when he said I wouldn’t be able to. There aren’t even that many people here anymore. I could definitely get out. I shouldn’t though. I can’t disobey, but why is it taking them so long to get here?
The heavy cell door swings open.
“Are you ready to talk yet?” the man standing in the doorway asks.
Akutagawa can’t tell which of his captors it is, because the fever is blurring his vision too much. So, he just closes his eyes again instead. The man walks over, and hauls Akutagawa to his feet.
“What, the Port Mafia can’t do any better than you? You ain’t put up a bit of resistance since you got here. What, you starting to like having a new master?” he asks, leaning uncomfortably close to Akutagawa’s ear. “Or is it because we took that stupid jacket of yours? Is that it? Can you not use your useless ability without it?”
Akutagawa tries to ignore him, which would be easy enough if he wasn’t so close to him. The proximity makes Akutagawa’s skin crawl. Before he can even contemplate the consequences of his actions, he uses his shirt to summon Rashomon. Then he slits the man’s throat, almost enough to decapitate him. He falls backwards, his head hitting the wall. He manages to bring his hands up enough to slightly cushion the blow, but his vision still spins.
He can hear footsteps pounding down the hallway. He pulls himself to his feet, and kills three of them before they start shooting at him. He’s able to avoid getting shot, but before he can do anything else, someone smashes something into the back of his head. He blacks out immediately. Everything sounds like it’s underwater when he wakes up. The lights are far too bright, and he squints his eyes closed. He barely even feels it when they shock him this time, but it still feels like an eternity before he’s thrown back into his cell. He’s only woken up by the sounds of gunshots.
What is that?
Gin slits the last man’s throat, and tosses him into the wall. Hirotsu surveys the room with a critical eye. Tachihara runs back in, drawing Gin’s attention.
“I found Akutagawa, but he tried to kill me as soon as I got close.”
Gin’s heart sinks.
“Well, he has been here for a long time,” Hirotsu says, making a face.
“How long has it actually been?” Tachihara asks.
“Almost two weeks. I’m surprised he’s still alive.”
“But how are we going to get him out of here? If he’s been tortured for that long, then is there any way to get through to him?” Tachihara asks.
“Stay here, and stay quiet,” Gin commands, then walks past them.
She heads the same way that Tachihara just came from. Akutagawa is curled in the corner of the cell. He has a thick metal collar around his neck, and shackles around his hands. He’s shirtless, and covered in blood. His breathing is labored, and he’s wheezing. Gin stops a few feet away.
“Ryuu, you need to wake up.”
Akutagawa’s bloodshot eyes peek open. Before his eyes can find her, he starts coughing. Blood leaks out of his mouth, but he doesn’t keep trying to cough anything up. Gin races over. She pulls Akutagawa across her lap, ignoring him flinching. Being in pain is better than not breathing. She starts pounding on his back between his shoulder blades.
He finally spits out the blood clots from his throat, and takes a raspy breath. His nails and eyelids are light blue. Gin picks the locks on the shackles, then scoops him up, hating how he doesn’t even respond. Tachihara and Hirotsu look surprised when she comes in with him, but immediately tell all the goons to get back to base.
“Tachihara, make sure everyone else gets back to base. Gin and I are going to get Akutagawa to a hospital,” Hirotsu says, waving Tachihara off.
Gin nods, and follows Hirotsu out to his car. She puts Akutagawa in the back, then climbs in beside him on the other side of the car. She turns him over onto his side, and starts working on getting the collar off. She only manages to get it off right before they reach the hospital. Once he’s been admitted, Gin turns to Hirotsu.
“I can believe this. When Mori sent us on that other mission, he said he was going to send a different team. Why would he do this?”
“I don’t know. It’s probably another one of his manipulation tactics.”
Gin frowns, folding her arms tightly across her chest. They don’t speak again, instead just waiting in silence.