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The countless shopping streets in Shibuya always had something hidden within its bustling street life. Not every alley was vibrant, not every restaurant had friends meeting to drink and simply chat about how their lives were going.
Rui only had a problem with this area when the crowds refused to die down; it made too many hiding spots. Even if she had got spectral vision, making it easy to track down people and visitors, Rui could admit even she sometimes missed certain details. With her training, the chance was always minimal, but the chance is still there regardless. Barrier stones helped with those from the other side, but humans will always be unpredictable bastards.
The crowds weren’t a problem right now that Rui was inside. She’s pretty sure by the time she leaves the streets will be clear enough to, the location was also close enough to the route she could take a car to get Tsukasa back easily.
Underground workings weren’t always pretty. They were something to be considered malevolent, risky – almost the same words used to describe the underworld. These meetings were just some sort of attempt at having a structure. If people let their emotions run rampant, then gun violence would arise significantly.
Rui wasn’t afraid of such things. She couldn’t be, her job was to protect against any unpredictable variables, to plan and put her all into making sure the yakuza boss’s chosen daughter was kept safe no matter what she did.
And she kept Tsukasa safe, someone who she became more intertwined with than she ever expected. Not that many people knew though, they kept their relationship as lovers a secret for a reason. If Kaiko ever found out, Rui felt if she messed up even once then the entire Shion clan would come for her.
Speaking of Tsukasa, that’s who she was waiting outside the closed door of their choice of restaurant. She had been with her during a discussion with a representative of the clan that owed money. After sorting out all the details and giving quite the warning of the consequences that will come if the timeline is not followed, the representative had asked to speak to Tsukasa alone. Rui, of course, had been uneasy about it because of the look on the creep’s face, but Tsukasa had very sternly said he only had five minutes and he had to stand away from the door. Blocking his exit was a smart move and let her get access to leave quicker than he could move.
With her pistol in her back pocket, hidden by her fitted suit jacket, she’d be ready to rush in if needed.
While she waits for them to conclude their conversation, she fixes her hair by ensuring the two looped pigtails that rest low on her neck are still in place. She tosses a hand through her bangs, feeling a little weird without her usual tinted sunglasses. No point in wearing sunglasses inside after all.
She doesn’t dwell on it long because Tsukasa is now at her side, a piece of clothing folded over her bent arm “I am finally free~ You being told to step outside really wasn’t needed”.
She’d recognize the blonde and peach woman rocking the short hair anywhere.
“Because you’ll tell me anyway?” Rui asks and Tsukasa smirks “Yes! And also because it was something not worth my time! He deserved that punch!”.
Of course she punched him; Rui wasn’t surprised. He could see the look in his eyes, Tsukasa likely had not tolerated whatever disgusting thing he had said. “Tsukasa-chan can be so crass, he might be able to hear you still,” the purple-haired woman laughs “Although it’s only crass because you don’t care about that”.
“That jackass wasn’t actually worth talking to. He didn’t surprise me” Tsukasa scoffs before sliding her arms into her dark blue double-breasted coat dress “I’m sure it's already way too cold outside because of him holding us up. December is brutal”.
She fastens the button in the front before doing a little spin for Rui “How do I look?”.
“As beautiful as always” Truthfully, Rui knows people will see Tsukasa dressed like this for even a moment and judge her character.
It was weird since it's just a fashionable coat. Tsukasa is strong, she’s smart for the environment she works in day and night, but she knows that jackasses would undervalue her if she wasn’t attractive as well. In a sense, they already do, assuming she isn't strong because she takes care of her appearance.
“Rui? What’s the holdup?” she questions, motioning for Rui to start leading the way. Instead, Rui leans forward to fix the blonde’s collar “Nothing, we should get going”.
She walks ahead in order to hold the door open for her girlfriend “I wonder if it's really that cold?”.
Tsukasa turns back “You should get a coat too! Imagine getting the flu because you weren’t dressed properly?”. Her scolding only makes Rui laugh as she quickly slots herself back at Tsukasa’s side closest to the road. Rui wasn't dressed in her usual attire either but it still resembled her favourite outfit regardless.
“Kaiko is trying to improve relations with the Kamui clan since they also dabble with getting rid of the visitors" Tsukasa hums “But I think other than a few places I need to be simply for appearances, I am free”.
“I wonder what that could mean” Rui feigns ignorance which only gets her a punch in the shoulder “Don’t make me ask twice”.
“You didn’t even ask me once” Rui reminds her but Tsukasa doesn’t care “Most people would kill to get a girlfriend like me to go on dates with… or they wouldn’t dare mess with me so frequently”.
“But you wouldn’t take a second glance at a person like that, they’d be too boring for you” Rui looks on ahead, spotting the car left for them “And that person wouldn’t be me”.
“I hate how you know me well sometimes” the blonde grumbles, hands digging into her pockets.
“Fufu, I don’t hate it” Rui can’t help but feel smug.
They are nearly at the small car they were planning to leave in when Rui’s eyes catch a nearly concealed glint from the side of a building. In a split second, she knows she won’t be able to pull out anything to stop whoever was making a big mistake right now, so she yanks Tsukasa away from where she stood. She hears a sharp whip of air right next to her ear and yanks Tsukasa from where she stands yet again as she picks up on the now distinctive sound of a bang from where she thinks the preparator is. Her body becomes a barrier and something drives itself into her leg despite the fact she made sure both of them were at an angle that was hard to shoot. She curses and clenches her teeth, wondering why the game plan of this person even was. She turns only her head to try and spot where this idiot went, eyes widening when she sees they haven’t moved.
Strangely, she doesn't think it was a gun.
“I have to get Tsukasa-chan out of here. Maybe it’s overreacting, but I feel like this could escalate if I don’t act fast. I’d rather be called a coward than be regretful”.
“Rui?” Tsukasa whispers quietly, clearly confused by the sudden grab, but she can’t get anything else out as Rui reacts without hesitation. Her body is still a shield for Tsukasa as she quickly gets her in the car and tells her to stay down.
Tsukasa yelps when she hears a warning shot from a gun this time and Rui falling into the driver’s seat at the same time. The tingling hadn’t disappeared and the third shot sounding off to who knows where in 10 seconds was setting alarm bells in her brain. The time was surely past midnight and most people would have already caught the last train by now, so the lack of traffic was a miracle.
She can barely comprehend checking the mirror to see if anyone was following them. It didn’t seem so, but Rui wasn’t oblivious to the fact that something was wrong with her. It was not normal to get dizzier by the minute. She quickly pulls into an abandoned parking lot, barely hearing Tsukasa speaking as she navigates everything to park the car, fumbling to get the keys out “I don’t understand you, Tsukasa-chan. Forgive me, but you sound so muffled”.
“I’ll pay when the coast is clear” she mutters before her neck goes limp and her head drops. She barely catches the dart in the ripped end of her pants leg before everything goes dark.
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When she opens her eyes, the floor underneath her is hard concrete and everything seems darker than it should be.
Where was Rui now? She wasn’t where she thought her head hit the car door, it was eerily quiet. She supposes her first hint should be how she wasn’t in the car still but the throbbing in her head made it hard for her to think straight.
She needed to get to Tsukasa, first and foremost, then she needed to make sure she was unharmed. She pushes herself off the ground and dusts her pants, trying to see if she recognizes where she currently is. She also notes that she isn’t restrained in any way and the door to the room was wide open.
She is apprehensive about going out considering that she had no light source to go down the presented dark hallway.
“Think Rui. There is a small window you can look through to see how high you are… Maybe if I am low enough, I could try and jump out of it. Otherwise, maybe I could grab part of that pipe to go down that hallway… strangely, no one has come here or even been on guard here–” her train of thought is interrupted to instead redirect her attention to the open door.
“Rui~” a sweet voice calls for her from the shadows, but Rui can make out something almost glowing from the darkened hall.
Yet without seeing who it is, Rui knows that voice “Tsukasa-chan…?”. She feels a wave of relief go through her, she didn’t sound like she was in pain. Had Tsukasa taken down their captors? She wishes she knew any details, Kaiko would kick her ass for even getting both of them kidnapped.
She hears her smile, even though that is quite literally impossible, by the tone of her voice “Hey, Rui. How do I look?”.
This was certainly not what Rui was expecting.
She appeared so lavish and luminous, Rui’s jaw dropped open as the moonlight streamed from the window shined on her all white-kimono. Her hair was still the same from what she could see, bangs still looking as if the wind swept them across, but surprisingly her makeup gave her face a softer look than Rui was used to.
Rui doesn’t even think of moving and simply looks down when Tsukasa stands in front of her, the scent of iron slowly creeping up on her.
“I’m dressed in white and I’ve got quite the appetite” the white hooded veil doesn’t hide the bloodlust in her eyes, “Hey, hey Rui, can you satiate it even more? There are more bodies to be dealt with beyond this floor”.
“More bodies…?” Rui tries to question her further, but a bloodied finger is pressed to her lips to silence her “I don’t have a candle, but if you step through there and let your shoes walk on the floors, you’ll hear the squish-squish sound… maybe even slip”.
Marigold eyes pierce through her “Can you do it for me, please?”.
Rui gulps “Are you ordering me to?”.
“I don’t need to order you to do anything anymore, you’ll follow my words regardless,” Rui feels Tsukasa cup her cheeks, standing on her tiptoes, she feels her right cheek get a little wet and she isn’t ignorant enough to think it wasn’t blood “I’ll give my dear bodyguard a glimpse of her reward if she takes out the next floor, I’d be cruel not to”.
Her eyes snap open as she is about to kiss her bride which, amidst the drowsiness of waking up with a numb leg, makes her feel very dissatisfied. Her mouth is dry, but she still lets out a confused noise as she tries to gauge her surroundings.
When she sees Tsukasa looking over her, dressed in her usual clothing, she also feels a little guilty “Hi Tsukasa-chan”. Maybe she shouldn’t feel too guilty, after all, don’t they say that dreaming of someone in wedding attire meant a deep desire for commitment?
She can’t dwell on it for long because she is more inclined to pay attention to how Tsukasa slips her hand into hers. Rui is quick to make sure the hold is firm, rubbing her thumb on Tsukasa’s knuckles.
“That motherfucker in the mask is going to pay” Tsukasa clutches her hand tighter. Rui squeezes back “You saw them? Surely there are better things to do than plan another hit on you so soon, Tsukasa-chan”.
“Of course I saw them, you drove away before I could do something about it!” Tsukasa looks baffled the longer she speaks “And me? I don’t care about me right now. You got hit! What if it was something you hadn’t trained to have a resistance to?! You’re still weak even right now, I could have taken the hit instead”.
“It’s my job. I’ll gladly take the hits for you. Rather me than you, you hold more importance in the world” Rui reasons and Tsukasa pouts “I am strong, I can take it”.
“Then I wouldn’t have a job anymore that lets me stay close to you” Rui laughs “For there to be an insinuation it’s because you are not strong enough to hold on your own wouldn’t be true. I like protecting you”.
“You suck” Tsukasa sighs as she squeezes their linked hands again.
“I do suck” Rui agrees with her which only leaves her more frustrated and she suppresses the urge to laugh at how Tsukasa puffs out her cheeks. She’s seen this woman do three consecutive headshots and here she was being unable to handle a little teasing.
She taps her own cheek “Even if I suck, can I get a kiss for my brave efforts? I know it was simply a poison dart, but still, fufu”.
“Yes, yes, you’re very brave. But then you’re a hypocrite for denying me yesterday,” Tsukasa mockingly points out, even though her tone isn’t actually that mean, though Rui only focuses on the last word “Have I been asleep for that long?”.
“It was meant to be a lethal shot, you lucky bastard. Someone clearly thought it was more inconspicuous compared to a gunshot. Which, by the way, you could have been killed by because I know damn well you heard go off” Tsukasa leans over from where Rui is lying down “Now c’mere”.
Rui smiles as Tsukasa carefully presses their lips together, skipping her cheek and her forehead entirely. It’s soft and slow, which is immensely different from Tsukasa’s fighting style. She feels a hand a little softer than her own come to tuck a stray stand of hair behind her pierced ear before resting on her shoulder.
Rui doesn’t ever complain if Tsukasa wants to get closer, but she wishes she had a little more strength in her limbs to stand up and press Tsukasa against the wall to kiss her senseless. She wants the blonde to lose herself and clutch her suit jacket’s collar as a lifeline.
It’s too bad Rui felt too weak to stand currently, she’d have to figure out what knocked her out.
Even if Tsukasa initiates a kiss, she always ends up following Rui’s rhythm instead.
A barely disguised giggle is what makes them separate and Rui wishes that Tsukasa would be the first to kiss her more often “Mhm, but it is more fun catching her by surprise”. When Tsukasa pulls back, Rui notices how her eyes go wide at something – or rather someone – who appeared behind Rui “Kaiko?! How long have you been there?”.
“I don’t think that matters” Kaiko looks knowingly at the two “Regardless, I think Mikuo was requesting your attention. Why don’t you quickly go see what he wants?”.
Tsukasa, now with a certain flush to face, agrees. Accidentally stumbling out of her chair, she tells the two women she’ll be right back after finding the catboy hybrid. Kaiko’s eyes follow the blonde as she leaves the room before walking to Rui’s bedside “We couldn’t take you to the hospital, I am sure you understand”.
She nods, because of course she does in this situation, but she knows what is now actively on the yakuza boss’s mind.
“Shion-san, I have a feeling you’ve known for longer” Rui says as she sits up, feeling her loose hair fan against her shoulders “Are you surprised?”.
“Kamishiro,” Kaiko smiles without really smiling. “If I find out you put even the tiniest of cracks in my daughter’s heart, I won’t hesitate to have your head”.
“I would deserve such a punishment,” Rui smiles sincerely “Just give my head as a collectible for her when you finish the job. Maybe in a big glass jar with a pretty lid”.
Kaiko laughs before petting the top of her head “I know you won’t ever hurt her, but a little reassurance is not a bad thing, is it?”.
Rui would be an idiot if she did ever do anything to harm her lover so she won’t have to worry about getting Kaiko’s bad side. She’s lucky Kaiko likes her.
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The sun being nearly set was the view Nene faced as he muttered another curse. The scent of tar permeated the air but he was used to it.
His leather jacket kept slipping down his shoulders but at this point he didn’t care, fighting these visitors let him blow off enough steam. One more punch and an irritating, pained groan meant his job was done.
Thankfully, he doesn’t have to clean anything, yet the guts on the floor are still a gruesome sight, as if he was separating the aftermath from the damage he did with his knife and fists.
“I literally do not get paid enough for this shit” the sage-haired guy sighs, “What do they think they’re achieving here”. He pushes his sunglasses up and attempts to fix his bangs, tousling them like the rest of his hair “Is this the only site we have to take care of tonight?”.
He gets a chipper “Yeah!” from Emu, although he can’t see him.
In a way, it was also strange Rui wasn’t at his side either. He had received a text that she took a minor hit of poison for Tenma and fulfilled her duties as a bodyguard, so he knew logically that’s why she wasn’t here, but still it was odd.
Maybe it was just odd because he was worried about Rui. He knew she was strong and she’d be up and running in a day, but still.
Nene takes his phone out of his pocket to write an update “Shion-san is very diligent with the details, even when she is worried about Tenma-san being an active target. I can’t help but wonder if she is going to send a message to those guys that tried to do a hit”.
“Here, catch!” his pink haired companion cheerfully calls for him, now squatting on the small wall behind Nene, “It’ll help relieve the stress from everything”.
Nene turns quickly before catching the can that was tossed in the air “You brought beer to a fight?”.
“Nope, I just got it after kicking visitor butt! Where did you think I went?” Emu takes a swing of his own can, the bracelets on his wrist clinking against the metal as he does so. Although Nene notices it’s something fruitier than his own, “We have to do dealings with the Megurine clan tomorrow too! Man, if only they could make guns to channel our energy when dealing with them too”.
“Visitors don’t bleed and you left me with the last 3 to deal with by myself” Nene notes, “The members from the Megurine clan will if it’s confirmed that Megurine-san himself decided to target Tenma-san, or maybe that sleepy lunatic will punish the subordinates who went against him”.
“Hmm, I think that if Megurine-san genuinely decided that she wanted Tenma-san dead then he’d do a lot worse… but Rui-chan would eliminate her without a spare thought first!” Emu lets out a satisfied noise after downing the rest of the can, “Tenma-san would also cause the battle of the century if Rui-chan actually got shot by a bullet!”.
“Do you think we should check on Rui?” he questions outloud “She’s probably awake by now, the effects of the injection aren’t as strong on someone with good immunity”.
Emu laughs, a full on belly laugh that causes his head to tilt forward “Ha ha, you think Tenma-san is not going to be clinging to Rui-chan for the next week? She’ll be tracking everyone who is within five feet of her, like getting her feathers all ruffled”.
Nene hums in agreement “I guess you’re right. We could visit to check up on her, but Tenma-san is probably two seconds away from beaking for eternity”.
“Like when a female owl gives a little beak kiss to her partner?” Emu questions, tilting his head in confusion. He subsequently blows out a puff of air to get his bangs out of his face. Nene had been telling him to get a haircut since the ends of his hair began going past his neck, yet he didn’t listen.
“Exactly like an owl” Nene doesn’t feel the need to explain why Tenma was easy to see as an owl, so he doesn’t.