Work Text:
Gin checked herself one more time. A knife in the grip of her right hand? Check. Another knife tied to her left hip? Check. Two more hidden under her clothes? Dangerous, but check.
She drew in a breath. Tachihara was there. She was sure of it. After a few days of him not showing up or answering his phone, she decided to find out what happened. She didn’t want to believe he died like the other mafiosi. She had used her plainclothes as a disguise to enter government officials’ offices, slowly climbing the ranks until she was able to confirm his location. She hadn’t had to kill anyone. At least, not yet.
She climbed up the wall and crouched on top of it. Before she could completely check the scene, a blade swung in her direction. She dodged it the first time, but lost her footing on the thin ledge as it came barreling back towards her.
After crashing to the ground, someone grabbed her left arm roughly, yanking her up. Gin retaliated, swinging the knife in her right hand at the figure.
The figure dissipated as she swung her knife through it. Her eyes widened. How the fuck-
Before she could think any further, the blade that caused her fall was at her neck.
“Drop the knife,” the voice commanded, loosening the one at her hip. “And remove any hidden knives. Now.”
Fuck. She dropped the one in her right hand and slowly removed the two hiding under her clothes. “That’s all of them, I swear.”
Gin had to cooperate. Otherwise, she wouldn’t live to bring Tachihara home. If she couldn’t do that, then what was she ever doing?
“She’s telling the truth,” the white-haired man, the one whose body disintegrated earlier, said. “Call the commander.”
“No, you do it,” argued the voice behind her. “I’m the one keeping her here with my blade.”
“She’s going to cooperate, Tetchō. So just do what I sa-”
“BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYS!”
Gin moved her head and eyes as much as possible to spot a preteen girl walking towards them.
“I’ll take it from here,” the girl smiled. “I’ve done my research on her.”
Gin relaxed as the blade was drawn from her neck. Just who is this girl?
“Are you sure, commander?” the white-haired man asked.
“Go, Jōno,” the girl said, waving her hand to signal him to leave. “I don’t need help.”
As the men walked off, the girl sneered. “You can leave now. You won’t get what you want. It’s better if you leave now before I bring those men back to arrest you. You’re mafia, right? I’m sure we can quickly find your crimes and bring you to justice. So I recommend you go home. Now.”
“I’m not leaving without Tachihara,” Gin picked up two knives from the ground, readying herself for a fight. “I’m not giving up on him.”
“You think that you can beat me, Teruko Ōkura, commander of the Hunting Dogs?” The girl laughed. Like, really laughed. Clutching her sides laughed.
What the hell is this girl’s problem? Gin wondered.
Teruko straightened herself upright and stopped laughing. “You know what? I’ll entertain this. Stay right here. I’ll bring him to you.”
Teruko walked off, knowing Gin would do anything to bring him back, including cooperating right now. After all, she really had done her research. She knew they had worked together for years, and she knew that Gin was a highly trained and trusted assassin. But she also knew this was a battle Gin would lose.
“Tachihara!” Teruko sang after finding him inside. “You have a visitor!”
“Who is it?” Tachihara gave her a puzzled look. She hadn’t looked this excited since before the former commander died. And that scared him.
“You’ll see,” Teruko sang. She then gripped his shirt, pulling him down to her eye level. She hissed, “But remember the consequences.”
Tachihara had no clue what she was talking about. He was afraid to find out. If he had it his way, he wouldn’t be following Teruko out the door right now.
When the door opened, both Gin and Tachihara’s faces flashed with excitement. He ran to her, forgetting Teruko’s warning; he had never been so glad to see anyone in his whole life.
“Come home with me!” Gin smiled, reaching her arms out to him. “You know you’re cut out for the mafia. So come back.”
Tachihara slowed in his step. “I’d love to-”
“You can go home now!” Teruko cooed, waving.
Gin grabbed Tachihara, not wanting to spend another second in this hellhole. She turned and hurried herself and Tachihara to the exit. He let go at some point, but she wasn’t worried. She knew him better than anyone. He would come home. She saw it on his face.
Tachihara, meanwhile, before being cut off by Teruko, had remembered Teruko’s warning. There were consequences to going back. And now that Gin had come to get him, he never could return to his post in the Port Mafia to act as a double agent. He knew that for sure now. Once he wrestled his arm out of Gin’s grip, he stopped in his tracks.
Gin, one foot out of the Hunting Dogs headquarters, finally turned her head over her shoulder.
Why did he stop? Her mind raced. I worked so hard to get here. I know he wants to come with me, so why-
“He’s staying here,” Teruko stated, walking to stand somewhat in front of Tachihara. “I told you that you couldn’t beat me.”
Tachihara kept his face blank. If he let it show that he was upset right now, Gin would only try to come back again. He couldn’t let her. To him, it was better that she be alive without him than killed or locked up because of him.
“Now go,” Teruko said coldly. “If you take one step towards me, I’ll have him arrest you on the spot. And we both know how that would end for you.”
Gin’s eyes welled up with tears at the sight of Tachihara’s face. Does he even care?
Gin ran. She had no other choice.
Teruko smiled triumphantly and crossed her arms. “Back to work now, Tachihara! There’s lots to do!”
Teruko watched Gin’s shrinking figure as Tachihara went back inside the building. Teruko knew the outcome before Gin had ever stepped foot in her facility. Gin was usually calculating, but not when it came to the people she loved. After former Commander Fukuchi died, it was her responsibility to keep the rest of the Hunting Dogs in check. This included finding Tachihara, who only lived because he had been turned. She didn’t know that Tachihara had promised to be a double agent for the Port Mafia, but that didn’t matter. She knew he was too attached there for her to trust sending him back there, and she was too attached to him to allow him out of sight. The government would have to come up with a new double agent to keep tabs on the Port Mafia. Most importantly, though, she knew he could never desert his post. His body would self-destruct in a month without the surgeries.
And such is the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice.