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Bofurin: the name of the leading group in the underworld. They were a ruthless, cut-throat “criminal” organization. Not exactly a gang, but not a legal company either.
They provided services for anything the mafia or business elite would need.
Need a bodyguard? Tsugeura Taiga’s at your service!
Need a distraction? Mistuki Kiryu would be delighted!
Need a spy? Suo Hayato’s the best in the business!
Need an investigator? Nirei Akihiko is your man!
And those part-timers weren’t even among the higher ranking in the group…
Today was a special day though. There would be a heist and investigation on a group that had recently plagued the streets of Makochi. Umemiya had specially assigned Suo and Nirei to this mission.
“You will infiltrate their base,” Umemiya had instructed them both, Hiragi by his side. “The goal isn’t really to gather information. We’ll destroy them later. But first, we need to get something valuable out of their control.”
Suo stood a few feet away from Nirei. They had never met before, but he trusted Umemiya’s judgement if he believed they would work well together.
The other boy looked at Suo in awe when he first walked in, but then quickly started jotting notes as soon as Umemiya began speaking.
“I can’t say much about what you’ll need to steal because I don’t have much intel, but I’m sure you’ll be able to find it.” Umemiya said. “Based on what Tsubaki has gathered, whatever is in Room 201 is what we need to get out. After that, we can explode the building and pretend it never existed.”
He smiled, warm and bright. It was as if he were talking about the ripe tomatoes in his garden instead of blowing people up.
“We won’t let you down, sir!” Nirei promised. “Right… Suo?” he added, a little more hesitant now.
“Of course,” Suo merely smirked, right eye closed to exemplify his grin.
—---------------------------
Suo and Nirei had gotten rather close as they prepared for their mission.
Nirei had known an uncanny amount about Suo already, much to Suo’s surprise.
However, Suo did have to admit that it was nice getting to know Nirei as well.
He had found out that Nirei hadn’t been trained in physical combat or missions yet. He secretly wondered why Umemiya would assign him to such a critical mission, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
“I can train you if we succeed,” Suo offered to Nirei as they got into gear.
“Really?!” Nirei looked as if Suo hung the entire universe up in the sky for him and him alone.
“Of course. I keep my promises.” Suo merely smiled, replacing his signature black eye patch with a bandage as he turned away from Nirei.
Nirei didn’t pry about his eye. He was never one to pry into someone’s personal details, even if he wanted to find out everything about someone.
—---------------------------
The target base wasn’t far from Makochi, just on the outskirts.
You would think that a secret mission like this would call for some midnight sneaking around. But nah.
They actually went really early in the morning.
According to Nirei, statistically speaking, at night is an easy time to expect suspicious activity, so guards will be posted. However, in broad daylight is less usual and dealing with underhanded criminal groups like this one would mean more than just the superiors would probably be knocked out drunk from expensive liquor and illegal drugs.
Suo admired his thought process, agreeing.
And so, that was why they were in front of the dreary old building at 6 in the morning.
There were no guards around. It was almost comical how unsecured the whole place was, honestly.
“Right so… vents?” Nirei whispered to Suo.
“Professionally, I would agree. But it seems like they left the front door wide open for us.” Suo said, a teasing lilt to his tone. He always took on that demeaning yet playful voice when dealing with a stupid opponent.
They waltzed in rather casually. The place was empty, actually.
It was so empty that they both began to question themselves.
“Do you think this is a trap?” Nirei asked quietly, peaking around the corner.
“Unlikely,” Suo responded. “I haven’t sensed anything suspicious. Though it is rather dark in here. It’s almost as if I’m wearing an eyepatch on both my eyes,”
Nirei let out a stifled giggle, “I guess I know how you feel now.”
Turning on a flashlight, Nirei leads the way, having been the one to study the map for hours the night before.
It takes a few long winded hallways and abrupt turns, but they finally make it.
Room 201.
It looked like any of the other doors, to be honest.
Nothing special. No extra locks on the outside.
Just a plain old gray door with “201” messily carved into the metal.
Suo got to work, pulling the hairpin out of his hair. It was a secret lockpick. He was experienced with this sort of stuff.
“We’ll have to be careful,” he warned Nirei, hearing the satisfying click of a lock unwinding. “We don’t know what traps they’ve laced inside the room.”
Nirei nodded, “Of course. We’ll assess the situation.”
Suo had expected an expensive jewel or an illegal weapon or something valuable when he opened the door.
Nirei had expected a secret plan or an heirloom or something illegal when he peered inside.
They both didn’t find what they were looking for.
Instead, a boy with black and white hair slept on the floor, curled up against the wall.
His soft snores were shaky as he shivered. He didn’t even have a blanket.
Nirei and Suo’s hearts broke instantly.
He couldn’t have been much older or younger than them.
“He must be stressed,” Nirei frowned sympathetically, referring to his white hair.
“It could be natural,” Suo added on, more of a suggestion than a confirmation.
There were scars all over the boy’s body. Some old, some new. Though, thankfully, none fresh and bleeding. A muzzle was strapped along his face, looking far too tight to be comfortable.
There was no doubt in their minds now. They couldn’t leave here without him.
Nirei and Suo locked eyes, communicating their plans.
Then…
“Who are you people?” the boy suddenly awoke, breaking their eye contact.
He looked upset, glaring suspiciously at the two.
“We’re from Bofurin,” Nirei started nervously. “We won’t hurt you. We’re here to save you.”
The boy scoffed. “Save me? From what?”
Nirei felt horrible. Could he not see the conditions he was living in?
Suo stepped in, reframing the conversation.
“What’s your name?” he asked instead of confronting him. “I’m Suo, and this is Nirei.”
“...Sakura,” the boy muttered. “Haruka.”
“That’s a lovely name, Sakura,” Suo offered. “You have very pretty eyes.”
Sakura turned pink at that, “What are you talkin’ about, weirdo.”
“Suo’s right! Your eyes are wonderful, like the sun and the night sky!” Nirei added.
Sakura proceeded to turn red. “So, what are you guys here for?” he mumbled, embarrassed.
“We’re here to take you away,” Suo explained.
“It doesn’t look very comfortable here,” Nirei continued.
Sakura shut down at that, looking away from them.
“I can’t go with you. I’m not allowed.” he only muttered.
“Why not?” Nirei asked, eyes saddening.
Sakura looked ashamed. “I’ll hurt you. I always hurt people.”
Suo reached for his muzzle, a gentle hand resting on his cheek first.
“Will you hurt us or will they hurt you?” he asked softly, fingers making quick work at the lock behind Sakura’s head.
“I’ll bite.” Sakura only said in response, sharp teeth showing as he spoke.
“You won’t.” Nirei assured him, fully confident – as if he hadn’t just met the boy 10 minutes ago.
When the muzzle came off and Sakura didn't bite, he seemed to surprise even himself with his docileness. It was as if he were trained to be dangerous, a living weapon instead of a human.
They wanted to talk more to him but…
The lights suddenly flickered on, fluorescent and bright as voices echoed down the hall.
“We have to go now,” Suo said.
“Come with us,” Nirei offered.
“What if I hurt you?” Sakura asked one more time.
“Then we’d never hurt you back,” Nirei answered.
Just a single nod is all Suo needs to pull Sakura to his feet.
Whether or not this boy was the treasure Umemiya needed them to recover… it didn’t matter anymore.
This boy was now their treasure to protect.