Archive of Our Own

Eito follows Takumi out onto the stage, as is his social duty as his adjutant. If he just doesn't look at the writhing masses below, if he breathes only through his mouth, he can survive this. He would make it through. And... if he could, then this evening, he could bully Takumi into praising and thanking him for his service. It was truly the least the General could do for dragging him out in public like this, knowing how miserable it makes him.

Unfortunately, all thoughts of that thoroughly derail the moment he takes his first step into the spotlight to a horrifying, ear-splitting chorus of screams rising from the gathered audience.

"Oh god, why this..." Takumi mutters under his breath. Before Eito panics hard enough to summon his scythe, Takumi grabs him by the wrist. 

It's a dangerous gambit, forcing contact on Eito like that. If the guy is stressed out enough, it would mean his own head goes rolling first. Given the circumstances though, Takumi is willing to take the risk. In the moment, there just isn't another good way to stop him from going for the infuser on his belt and wreaking havoc and bloodshed at what is supposed to be a friendly PR stunt. 

Unfortunately the action only serves to redouble the excited shrieking from the crowd packed into the stadium's pit. Great. Fantastic. Takumi forces a brighter smile, and squeezes Eito's forearm so tight it was sure to leave bruises. He waves to everyone and drags both himself and Eito over to the microphone. 

Eito stumbles along after him, looking... well, shell-shocked is the only description for it really. Deep breath. At least it doesn't look like Eito is still about ready to snap and go slaughter mode on the crowd now. Takumi, on the other hand...? He thinks he might want to cook his own meals for the foreseeable future.

"Hello everyone. It's an honor to be here in the wake of the alliance that Kamyuhn has forged between the Rebellion and your beautiful city." It's still a herculean effort to keep the tremble out of his voice when speaking to such an enormous crowd, but the more often he does, the easier it is to blank his mind out and just say whatever will make everyone happy. "I am Takumi Sumino, the representative here from the Special Defense Unit, and... it sounds as if my adjutant needs no introduction."

Saying those words in that order was a mistake he realizes the instant the words leave his mouth. The veritable sea of young women at the foot of the stage cheer even louder still. He could feel Eito's building rage behind him, white hot and seconds from boiling over. "But that said, please.... keep the cheering to a minimum. He's actually pretty shy." 

That was also a horrible mistake. The regrets just keep stacking up. He should double check his will when he made it back to his hotel room. Make sure everything was accounted for. If he makes it back to his hotel room, anyway. The chances of that felt slimmer by the second.

A small mercy is that his words actually made for a quieter crowd. More along the lines of squeeing than screaming... but he'd take it, if it spares Eito even a little bit of noise overload.

He has to put this whole nonsense back on the rails somehow. He swallows, taking the mic in both hands, trying not to think about how today might actually be his last, and launches into his well-practiced speech. If nothing else, he is at least able to dissociate through the whole thing per usual. He could have done it in his sleep at that point, and it was thankfully all over before too long. 

When he turns to leave the stage, he is shocked to find Eito still there behind him. 

Well, still there for a given definition of the word anyway.  There is absolutely nothing going on behind those indigo eyes of his, and his smile makes him look like he'd achieved a form of divine enlightenment heretofore unknown by human or Futuran alike. 

Oh... Takumi was dead dead. Very carefully, he pinches the corner of Eito's sleeve and tugs him off stage. At least he offers no resistance...

Once he'd led Eito safely back into the green room, Takumi attempts to abscond, in the hopes Eito would prefer being left alone to... whatever it was he felt Takumi deserved after subjecting him to that. Takumi really did not want to find out. 

Unfortunately, as he cracks open the door, a shadow falls over him and the door slams shut with a dangerous finality. 

Gulp.

Takumi turns back around to find himself face to... chest with Eito, trapped on one side by his arm, and the other by a table. Takumi would be hard pressed to answer whether it was fear or something else making his heart feel like hummingbird that had lodged itself in his throat, but he really did not want to be thinking about that right now. "So, um. That went pretty well. You did good out there. Thank you for sticking arou-"

"Shut up," Eito hisses. "Shut up, you stupid, idiotic, brainless, worm."

Takumi obediently clamps his mouth shut. Eito's infuser had been drawn the second Takumi turned his back to leave, but it wasn't getting used quite yet. If he can calm Eito down enough, maybe he'd be able to at least make it to the dinner party later?

Eito's breathing gradually returned to normal, though the same could not be said for Takumi's heart rate. "What. The hell. Was that?"

Takumi glances to the sides, and then up. Was he supposed to answer, or still stay quiet?

The infuser's cool blade coming to rest on his throat answers that question for him real quick. He swallows thickly. "Fan club."

"What."

Maybe he can compromise being quiet and answering with a slow whisper? "That was... your fan club. They've been really... looking forward to a... public appearance." 

"What."

"I'm not really sure how to explain it better..."

Eito lets the blade fall from Takumi's throat and uncages him from the door, taking a step back. "What do you mean fan club?"

"Like... a bunch of people who think you're really cool. It's... good press. We need more of that so it hasn't been worth trying to put a stop to." Takumi rubs his throat. Thankfully Eito hadn't pressed too hard with the infuser and broken the skin. 

"So you knew this would happen and you didn't see fit to warn me."

"No! Well... sort of? This was the first time they've been quite so... uh. Vocal."

"Is this why you advertised my presence so thoroughly?"

"...Maybealittle, but really! I had no idea how... rabid your fangirls would be. Like I guess it makes sense in retrospect, but it's not like any of the rest of us got quite that treatment."

"What about this makes any sense at all? We're soldiers not idols. This is a war."

"Well, you're a really good looking guy. It's not exactly a surprise that you'd be popular with the ladies."

Eito very suddenly can't move. His insides twist strangely, writhing to echoes of Takumi's words in a way he really did not want to address. Not now or ever. Just as he thought he had a chance of composing himself enough to reply, Takumi just kept running his damn mouth. 

"I'd be a little jealous, but honestly... having a face as pretty as yours could cause some serious problems." He shrugs, looking a little rueful.

Eito opens his mouth and closed it like a dying fish, before he finally found the words to express his feelings. "Get out of here before I skin you alive, Takumi Sumino."

His boss let out a small squeak and vanishes out the door so fast he may as well have phased right through it.

Eito stood there feeling dizzy for several more minutes before flopping down onto the green room couch and pulling his knees up to his head. He almost relished the nausea washing over him at this point. At least that was a familiar feeling.

Hours later, when Eito had mostly recovered from the fiasco, Yugamu finds him pacing his office when he returns from making a delivery. 

"Sooo, are you wanting help hiding the body? I heard through the vents that might be on the docket tonight," Yugamu says in lieu of a proper greeting. 

Eito gives him a withering glare. "He's alive. For now."

Yugamu laughs. "Alright then, what ails you?"

Eito stops pacing but has a sort of consternated look about him. 

Yugamu lets him think, making himself comfortable in the least comfortable looking way possible in a nearby chair. 

After a long moment, Eito starts talking. "Obviously you are aware that humans and futurans alike are all disgusting, hideous beasts in my eyes. Be it glitch, or disorder, or what have you, this is how I see things."

Yugamu raises an eyebrow, looking a little more serious suddenly. "I'm not sure-" He falls silent as Eito raises a hand.

"I am not asking for assistance with that. Beyond the accommodations I have been provided, there is nothing I want."

Yugamu relaxes again, smiling, just... a little perplexed now. 

"My point is," Eito continues, "I have long considered myself to be the only... palatable human or futuran on this or any other planet. This is by default, of course, as no others can possibly be appealing to me in the slightest."

"Is this-"

"Absolutely not. If you say a word about that, I will..." Eito trails off. Neither his especially creative bodily threats nor the more direct ones would do much more than excite the doctor. He glares instead, and it seems his point had been made regardless. Even if the man was having far too much fun right now.

Eito's headache and nausea both were returning, so before he proceeds, he aggressively raids Yugamu's stash of medicine for solutions to both of those things, dry swallowing the pills without a second thought. 

Once his symptoms had lessened, he continues again. "What I want to ask you, is in your... objective opinion, is... by the standards of humans and futurans who lack... my perception, am I... what they might consider... attractive?"

A deafening silence falls and it is Eito's turn for the soul-destroying regret to settle in. Yugamu stares at him, his normally slitted cat eye blown out into a full moon, his jaw agape, (in Eito's eyes, it's disgustingly dislocated like a serpent trying to swallow something many times its size.)

Finally he speaks, voice grating but full of awe. "You didn't know? This entire time?"

Of all the reactions Eito could have possibly been expecting, this one was not on the list. Somehow it was more embarrassing than if he'd just laughed and said 'no of course not'.

He still laughs though, with whole body cackles and tears in his eyes. "Oh, Eito... So who finally let you know?"

Eito feels his face heating up. "Take a wild guess."

The anger and exasperation in Eito's voice almost does Yugamu in. "Oh no, you poor thing..." and he does actually mean it sympathetically. He knows full well how Eito feels about Takumi. "Oh no..."

"He's so stupid. I hate him. I'm going to kill him. I'll strangle him, I'll chop him into pieces. I'll set him on fire and feed him to the dogs. I hate hate hate hate hate him."

Yugamu keeps to himself that he dearly wishes someone would talk about him with such passion, but he is also quite enjoying this drama vicariously. He's winning either way. "Are you feeling better now?"

Eito lets out a long, irritated sigh. Annoyingly enough, he was. "Perhaps. I should go. I have... paperwork to do."

"Have fun with your... paperwork." Yugamu waves him out of his office with a smile.