the Nobleman's child

Plan

We spent a week tracking the house, only catching sight of the agent once. Takahashi kept a tight leash on him, never letting him out of his sight unless he was being punished. We saw how beat up he was when he came back from a punishment, how all the servants got the same treatment, but the agent seemed to be getting it more. 

None of us could find much sympathy for the man considering we had no idea what to make of the situation. We weren't sure if he really did rat us out, or if he was being forced. It seemed peculiar that an agent with loads of training would allow himself to be pushed around to such an extent. I suspected blackmail might also be involved. 

Once our 5th stakeout was over we all submitted our responses and plans to Kiyoko before heading back to our separate houses. 

I returned to Kotaro's room where I left him. I opened the door to see him sitting up in bed biting his lip. His eyes flashed towards me and I noticed how alert they were, unlike how he was when he was sleepwalking. 

"Kotaro, what are you doing up?" I asked. 

"I felt you get out of bed and decided to wait up for you," He confessed, worrying his lip again, "It was an agent thing, right?" He asked. I thought for a minute before deciding what to say. 

"Yes," I said calmly. 

"Are you ok? You're not hurt, are you?" He asked, scooting closer to me from his position in the bed. I walked fully into the room, shutting the door behind me. 

"I'm fine, Kotaro," I smiled, sitting down in the bed and wrapping him in a hug which he greedily accepted. 

"Please stay safe," Kotaro pleaded into my chest, clutching me tightly. I felt a pang shoot through my chest at his words, knowing I couldn't promise something like that. 

"I will do my best," I assured. 

"You mean too much to me, Keiji," He whispered before falling asleep. I didn't have a response to his words anyway. I lowered him back onto the bed and crawled in next to him. He flopped himself over in his sleep and wrapped his arms around my waist, something I normally would have had a problem with, but when it came to him it felt nice. 

The next day was the same. I helped Kotaro with his daily needs while waiting for an update on the mission from Kiyoko. I checked my phone periodically, looking for any sign of my Director giving me orders. I knew Kotaro could see my restlessness but was glad when he didn't question it. 

Kotaro's been a lot more transparent with our relationship. No longer were we hiding in the shadows of the estate to be close, but rather he would grab my hand while we walked through the halls. I figured this might lead to problems, but I enjoyed the contact too much to argue. I was glad he had enough sense to drop our hands while his father was around, for I knew that would lead to many issues for both of us. He would peck me on the cheek every time I had to leave him to complete my other servent work, whispering "I love you" in my ear before we fell asleep. 

I was well aware Tsukishima knew about my sleeping placement, and I stopped denying it after a while. While I didn't like Tsukishima, he was still an agent. He was trained at noticing things such as this. 

When my phone chimed in my pocket, I dismissed myself from the room, heading back to my own to check it. My room became the agent room considering I don't use it as a sleeping place anymore. Tsukishima and I would talk in here when we needed to get away, and I still had all my agent equipment in here when I wasn't using it. 

Kiyoko sent out a detailed plan to the 4 of us, including references to past missions. The escape portion of the plan was left for us to devise considering there were several ways this could go wrong that would change what we needed to do. This wasn't uncommon for our missions, though. I was used to not having a clear escape plan, instead, improvising when things got tough.