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To say Toichi had drifted too close to the sun was a gross overstatement of what happened a year ago. It was merely a minor setback in the grand scheme of things. He’d lost a good identity, but what can you really do? It was pretty telling that even a year later in private, he was still using the name Toichi. It suited him. He was a thief, and always would be a thief, so his true name should reflect that, even if it wasn’t his birth name.
His room was covered in bottles of cheap wine, and he’d stripped down to just his boxers after every spill. He’d have to abandon this place too. Soon. He’d give it a few more hours, being…
What was his current name again?
It felt so… distant. He half heartedly searched for his fake ID. Nakajima Kousuke. Just another name to scrap off the list. A shame really.
The syndicate had found out he was alive. He’d slipped up. One of the henchmen of all things had recognized him. He’d thought he’d been sneaky, not using magic. No theatrics. Just in and out in the dark, with a target that wasn’t ultimately Pandora.
He'd eventually be found in this hotel room, but he just couldn’t…
Toichi crossed the room, wondering what was even worth taking. It would be easy to just slip off, no connection, nothing holding him back. Just like he always had. When he’d been a teenager, he hadn’t expected to make it to his 30s, and with these last couple weeks of being twenty-nine, there was still a chance of that happening. But it made sense he was still running from the law and the underworld simultaneously. It was just his nature.
He’d have to put his poker face on, check out with a flourish, and get far, far away from here. Maybe another country entirely. Probably safest, yes. For him, and for…
Well, he felt should be more worried about what the syndicate would do to his wife and son now that they knew he was alive. Kidnap them; try to make Toichi reveal himself to save them, and die in a bout of heroics? Ha, no.
The syndicate’s boss knew him better than that. She knew Chikage better than that too. Unless someone went rogue, they were fine. Chikage could hold her own anyhow, and Kaito-
Kaito…Well, it would certainly be a benefit for the kid to reach adulthood at this point. No point wasting the decision to keep him. Toichi grabbed a half empty bottle and sipped from it. He should ask around, see if he could get some extra eyes on the kid. Maybe Jii could…
No, Jii knowing he was alive was too risky. It was already a risk Chikage knew he was still around.
Everything would work out, and they always would.
That was when the red and blue lights pulled up outside his window and he dropped the bottle. Had those dirty bastards…he expected another hit, not them to be petty and call the police. He had maybe a few minutes to literal seconds to get his clothes on and disappear.
His name was…
Not his own.
And never would be.