Chapter Text
February 12th, 4:30pm.
The halls of the mafia's building were mostly empty, with the exceptions of a few guards standing post at doors and one boy walking past them. This boy, was Saigiku Jouno, mostly known as the 18-year-old torture specialist prodigy of the Mafia. Another thing that supported this position was that he was the trained heir to the 'throne'. He shared the name and blood of the one that currently commanded the organisation, and although he was held at such a high position- he hated it. Loathed it, even.
The Mafia he was supposedly the heir to was never as large as that of the Port's, but rather this one ruled the outskirts of Yokohama. Claiming the forests around them as theirs, and the lives of any who thought of themselves too highly to trespass for too long, claiming the title as the 'Outskirt Mafia'. They were never as popular as the Port Mafia, so many seemed to just wander into their territory without knowing it, and only few could get out. It always depended on the person who has found themselves there.
Jouno's father was the one that gave commands, while his mother was the face of the organisation. She was who everyone knew- but yet everyone knew she wasn't the one who gave the commands of such brutality. Not many knew their true identities, they kept it well hidden. This helped Jouno keep his position as their child hidden a lot more, but they still monitored him more than any other member.
Jouno was currently making his way to his father's office, being summoned there was nothing special. But at such short notice, it was. When the guards noticed him- they raised their blades at his neck. He raised his head higher and pushed the edge of the blade to his right out of the way, while a small smile painted his face. This sign was simple and said the words "I'm in command here" to the guards, and they listened. Their swords lowered and the door opened in front of him, the room inside was simple. Bookcases covered the walls and the only light was from the dome in the roof that lit up the entire room. The only other thing in the room was a small desk with papers piled on the side, behind the desk sat a white-haired man, most likely in his mid-30s, early 40s at best. Jouno never cared to remember.
"Welcome, Saigiku." His father cooed as a way to lower his son's guard. As much as the boy preferred his given name over his family's, he hated hearing it from the ones he loathed the most.
"What can I do for you, boss?" The words ran from his mouth like it were rehearsed. He never called his father any titles of familiarity such as dad, only the name that was preffered in this profession. The title made the boss frown, yet he did not let it discourage him.
"I have another prisoner for you, and yes I'm aware we've just lost one because of you recently. But this one won't talk to any of your subordinates." The request was expanded but it was simple in Jouno's mind. Torture someone and get the information they need.
"Who is it, may I ask?"
"One of Miyu Suehiro's children."
If Jouno's eyes were open, they would be wide. But he could only raise his eyebrows to show the surprise that he felt. Miyu Suehiro was a client years ago, she currently owed them hundreds- maybe thousands, of dollars. But she ran off and disappeared into the city. No one has found her since, and she's been a main target for the Mafia for years.
"Understood. Would you like me to speak to them now?" Jouno wanted anything but that if he were honest. Getting information from someone related to Miss Suehiro would promote him too much, making him closer to the position and people he did not want.
Saigiku Jouno's position as a torture specialist put him in the higher ranks, but not close enough to be in consistent contact with his parents, like an executive. As much as he hated the environment, he had gotten used to his current position, even growing to like it. This gave him some horrible tendencies, namely his sadistic ones. He liked to hear the heartbeats and stress of a person's body, he wanted to hear the cries of his victims, he wanted to break them to create a song for his ears. Tendencies such as his made it harder for him to grow relationships with the people that he worked with, but he didn't mind, he liked the solitude if it meant he could hear the cries of others. It also made it easier for him to not be connected to the place he wanted to leave so much.
"If that's possible, then yes. We're already placed him in your chamber for you to continue your work." The smile that was left on the man's face was another thing that the two close together, the sadistic side of both of them was almost like family tradition- and Jouno hated it.
Jouno sighed as he bowed and left the room, his closed eyes creasing while his brows furrowed. Having such a known target help him escape would be a risk- but it's worth it. Plus, if he returned the child to Miss Suehiro, he might be granted a pardon and could be hidden himself. That thought itself lifted the torture specialist's mood by quite a bit.
As he strided into his chamber- as he had a part of the building dedicated to himself via request- his smile widened on instinct. The feeling of potentially torturing the victim if they did not agree to the plan was like a drug to him, but the idea of them accepting the escape plan felt more like the relief after a painkiller on a migraine.
Despite his blindness, he had memorised the chamber already. It was part of the reason he requested his own location- he didn't want others messing up his set up. While entering the room he could hear the Suehiro's heartbeat. It was young- probably just older than him, while also stern. It did not waver once while the body’s eyes searched the room- a male body, to be specific. The prison like asthaetic doing nothing to stress the boy chained to the chair.
"Well then- you're the person I've heard so much about?" Jouno hummed as he opened the door and entered the small room.
"..." The boy did not respond and only stared at the other while he approached.
"What? Too scared to respond?" His smile lifted more as if he were trying to intimidate him. But he wasn't- if anything he was intimidated by the calmness of such a heartbeat. Usually anyone would be screaming with pleads to be let go at this point.
"You're going to be like the others, aren't you?" The first thing the boy said. His voice was low- a much-matured voice compared to Jouno's.
"I don't get what you mean?" Jouno lifted an eyebrow as he stopped a couple of feet in front of him. "All i know is that you're the one not responding to my subordinates."
A small scoff escaped the boy's lips, before he excused himself for a moment.
"I'm not talking? It's more of them not listening." This response with such a levelled tone caught Jouno off guard, if the Suehiro was speaking the truth, that meant that all reports of his subordinates trying to talk to this boy- were lying. "I've been asked who I am for starters. To which I replied 'Tecchou Suehiro, but I prefer to be called Tecchou.' And I responded like that to everyone. But all they want to know is where my mother is. Like- how would I know that! I'm trying to tell you that I'm literally hated by her."
The small rant in such a monotone voice caught the Mafia member off guard. The boy- Tecchou- wasn't lying at all, if anything his heartbeat displayed annoyance. Jouno furrowed his brows again and sat on the floor with his legs crossed, he leaned one elbow on his left leg and held his head up, tapping his chin while thinking for a few moments.
"Let me get this straight- in every conversation you've had, you told whoever was speaking to you that you were ‘Tecchou Suehiro’, and that you were disliked by your mother, so therefore you don’t know her current location?" Jouno repeated to Tecchou.
"Yes. And every time, they call me Suehiro against my request, and they don't listen when I say that she will not come and get me even if I were for free."
Jouno frowned, firstly for realising how stupid his subordinates are, and the second he couldn't quite put his finger on.
"So, they're idiots?" Jouno's frown shifted into an open smile, and he genuinely laughed as he spoke. It had been a while since he had done such a thing- but the pure stupidity of his subordinates amazed him at this point. "God- I might as well get them killed for that! My apologies for their stupidity, Tecchou-san."
Jouno rose from the floor and walked over to the side of the room and grabbed a clipboard and felt his finger over the raised lines- looking for the report location. He found the location labelled 'report' and started to find the pen he needed.
"You- believe me?" The question was out of pure disbelief. After dealing with non-intelligent members, he must have been relieved to hear one that was smart. "And you... called me Tecchou?"
"Yes, I believe you, why would you lie about that? Plus, I can tell. And yes, I did call you that. You said you preffered that name, I understand the feeling." He hummed as he wrote down the report to his father.
"Thank you... I guess you're going to uh- kill me, now?" Jouno's small smile faltered as he paused what he was writing, then it formed into a frown. Tecchou was dead serious. "Since I'm of no use to you now." Jouno turned to face the chained-up boy with a scrunched-up face, clearly displeased, he stood there for a moment before a small smile painted his face.
"If it were anyone else you would be dead by now. But since you were sent to me-" He gestured to himself as he approached the boy, "I may need your help with something."
Tecchou looked at the closed eyes as if they could give an answer- and when he received none, he felt himself shrink only slightly, although not really from discomfort, rather from trying to get more comfortable in his chained-up position. It did not go unnoticed by the mafioso. His smile widened only by a few millimetres as if it were muscle memory as he continued talking.
"It's nothing bad, believe me, if anything you'd be doing something good!" Jouno smiled as he listened to the body shift while the heartbeat remained the same. He heard Tecchou's lips open in the process of speaking, so he covered them with one finger while smiling. "Before you ask! I'd like for you to guess, cameras aren't on here- my request, so you can guess anything you'd like!"
The finger was lifted off of Tecchou's lips, allowing for him to speak. He stayed silent for a few moments, thinking about the possible request.
"If you're mentioning the cameras- I'm assuming it's something more... personal?"
"Describe what you mean."
"Uh- I- I don’t really know, sorry."
The heartbeat quickened for only a moment. Jouno frowned and sighed. He wasn’t expecting a proper response because he wasn’t clear about his dislike for his position, stuck inside the mafia, at all.
"That’s completely fine, and my whole idea is that I want to get out of this place." He sat back down and crossed his legs in the same way before. "I can't do that without a reason to leave the building in the first place."
It took a moment for Tecchou to understand what the mafioso meant by that.
"You haven't left this building?" He was quiet, tiptoeing on the subject.
"Nope. Born and raised here, they kept me confined inside these walls- I’ve only ever seen the trees that touch the horizon from a window at best. That's why I want out, I've heard things about the outside world- how there's not as many rules… To an extent, at least."
"I guess you're right about that... I grew up where I was hated and spent most of my time outside, leading to me running away only a few months back."
"You ran away?"
"Yeah."
He was confident in his answer, that much was obvious with the way his chest grew and he smiled softly at the mention of the act.
"Must be natural to you then, glad I ended up being the one questioning you in the end- otherwise you'd be dead by now." Jouno smiled softly and directed his head towards the other boy, hearing the small smile he had before fall back into its previous position, not showing any emotions on his face.
"How do you want to do this? Because if you haven't been outside- you'll need to know what to do once you're out." Tecchou's face was looking at Jouno with no thought of sugarcoating this whole scheme, becoming serious as fast as he could.
"I can give you my whole plan- see if you want to go forward with it." Jouno responded, the statement was simple, and he was even giving Tecchou a choice on whether he wanted to be involved or not. "I'll just warn you though- if you decline, then one of two things could happen, and one is more likely than the other."
"Might as well hear what you've got. I've got nothing to lose."