We don't talk about Jouno

Or was he?

"You shouldn't be too mad at the kid." Fukuchi said. Tetchou was in the middle of polishing his sword, and hadn't heard his boss walk in. "A bullet wound could have been fatal for him. If I'm not angry, he could pull something like that again." Tetchou said. He'd seen enough people die in his life to always have that fear in the back of his mind. Jouno was someone Tetchou was supposed to protect. It wouldn't do to have him going and dying on Tetchou's watch. Jouno's words at the hospital came rushing back to Tetchou. And he'd jumped in front of him because he cared about him? Where did something like that even come from? Tetchou's cheeks involuntarily flushed slightly at the memory.

"I know that upset you." Fukuchi said. "But Jouno is going to be your partner long term. You have to find a way to move past this and get along with him." Tetchou stopped what he was doing, and let his sword rest on the shelf behind him. "You can assign him to someone else. I won't take someone into battle who's a danger to himself and others." Fukuchi sighed, and ran a hand through his unnaturally spiky hair. "Tetchou. He has to be your partner."

Tetchou frowned. He hadn't known Jouno for overly long, but he didn't seem like the kind of person Tetchou could work with. Jouno was only eleven months younger than Tetchou, but he seemed younger than that. His planning was all over the place, and he prioritized individual people over the main goal. That was a mistake Tetchou had made once, but wouldn't make again. "Why?"

"Do you really want to tell the vice captain she can't be partnered up with me anymore because you two can't sort out your differences?" No, Tetchou didn't. Come to think of it, he really didn't. The image of Teruko taking him out behind the shed, and stabbing him multiple times, crossed Tetchou's mind.

"Can't we hire someone else to pair Jouno with?" Tetchou asked. That got a laugh from Fukuchi. "So, we hire two more people, one for you and one for Jouno, because you can't get along with this guy." No, that probably wouldn't work either. It would take way too much time to train even one new person. Tetchou sighed. Yes, he needed a partner. But why did it have to be someone like Jouno?

"You know, I didn't think the two of you would be such a bad fit." Fukuchi said. "To be honest, you reminded me a bit of myself and Fukuzawa when we were younger." Fukuchi said with a laugh. "I think he annoyed me a bit initially as well." Tetchou shook his head. "You've got the wrong idea, boss." Tetchou said. "It's not one of those things where we'll magically end up friends by the end of this. I can't work with someone who's worldview is so fundamentally different from mine."

Fukuchi looked actually disappointed for a minute there. "Fine." He said. "I'll give you until the end of the week to make sure you really want me to try and find you another partner." Tetchou crossed his arms. He didn't need a week to decide that he didn't want to be with Jouno. Jouno, who had jumped in front of a bullet for him. Tetchou shook his head. Jouno was too unpredictable. One person couldn't come before the mission.

As Fukuchi left, a dangerous thought occurred to Tetchou. Was Tetchou Jouno's 'one person' that he'd place before the mission? Tetchou shook his head furiously. "No, that can't be right." He said aloud. There was no way Jouno could like him like that. They'd barely known each other for a month, after all. And there was no way anyone would like Tetchou in that sense. He wasn't the sort of person that people would fall for. Or was he? Tetchou was left with the sudden realization that for the first time in his life, he had absolutely no idea what he was going to do.

*

Jouno did not intend on staying in the hospital for the day. The wound had already been healed, so there was no reason for this. In Jouno's mind, it was meant as a punishment. Tetchou putting him on time out, or something like that. Jouno had some very important things to do, though. He tried to make a list of everything that he could do to prevent the coming storm.

Jouno knew Fukuchi had seen some kind of vision from his sword about an apocalyptic event. That had driven him off the deep end. If Jouno got to the sword and made it cough up the vision before it showed it to Fukuchi, they'd probably be safe. If Fukuchi didn't seek out Erzabet, the real Kamui, then she wouldn't have the powers of either him, or his daughter Alex. Then, she wouldn't have the plan for acquiring the book, and she wouldn't come after Jouno, Atsushi or Sigma.

Jouno turned that over in his mind. If the blood countess was telling the truth, Jouno had been born from the book. What did that even make him? He could hardly be called human, could he? Would Tetchou still love him if he knew? And, did that mean Jouno was related to Atsushi and Sigma? No. He shook his head. Jouno had enough problems without having brothers. And, that was counting on Erzabet Bathory telling the truth. That...wasn't something Jouno was going to count on.

"Now where do you think you're going?" A young female voice asked. Jouno had forgotten that Teruko used to do this when he was younger. Because of all her incredibly overpowered abilities, she could sneak up on even him. Because he found it so disconcerting when she did that, Teruko made a point of doing it whenever she could.

"I can't spend the day stuck in a hospital." Jouno said. "Tetchou's mad at me, and he doesn't think I'm cut out to be part of the hunting dogs. I have to prove him wrong." Jouno said, full of determination. Teruko sighed theatrically. "God. Why Fukuchi ever thought we needed teenagers was beyond me."

Jouno wasn't sure what to say to that. At the beginning, he'd had to be really careful about what he said around Teruko. Even if Fukuchi did want him to join the team, that didn't mean Teruko wouldn't murder him in his sleep if she didn't like him. The vice commander was just interesting like that.

"I'm sorry." Jouno said. Teruko didn't say anything for a few seconds, before reaching down to ruffle his hair. She must have been sitting on one of the shelves above the bed. He knew she wasn't having a piggyback ride on Tachihara's shoulder, because they hadn't recruited him yet. Oh, right, that was another thing that had to happen. Why had the book put Jouno in charge of making sure all of this happened the way it was supposed to?

"Aw, don't be sorry." Teruko relented. "It's okay. I'd be worried if Tetchou was about to get shot as well." She shrugged. "But I don't think I like him enough to jump in front of him." Classic Teruko. Teruko continued to mess with Jouno's hair. Jouno's hair was much longer when he was sixteen, and fell to just between his shoulder blades. He'd eventually cut it, because it was such a pain to brush. That, and Teruko always liked to play with it. Whenever he was the designated giver of piggyback rides, he'd come away with his hair braided, yanked, and full of very feminine accessories. Yet another reason they needed to find Tachihara.

"You're so cute, Jouno." Teruko said, talking to Jouno like he was about five. "You're like me and Fukuchi's first child." Jouno had no words for that. No words. At all. "Please no." Jouno finally said. "Also, please stop with your whole thing for Fukuchi." Jouno felt like Teruko had to be warned ahead of time. "He doesn't like you like that, nor should he, because that would be really creepy."

Teruko let out a sound of annoyance. "I'm not actually a kid, you know. I'm, like, five hundred years old." Jouno nodded. "Which means that if you ever date anyone, it'd be creepy." Teruko crossed her arms. "Aren't you just a bundle of joy this morning." Jouno frowned. "I'm just saying this as your friend, okay. Please don't have your whole thing for Fukuchi." Jouno felt the need to pull out the stops, just to prevent all that Teruko would go through in the future. "He likes guys." One guy in particular. That was another thing: Fukuzawa would still be alive now.

Teruko didn't say anything for a few seconds. "So, like every other guy I know." She finally said. "Amaterasu, it's like I live in a BL novel." Jouno suppressed a snort of laughter. "Well, thanks for the heads up." Teruko said. "If I kept having a thing for him, that probably would have been awkward." She had no idea. Well, at least Jouno had succeeded at one thing in this do-over. He'd prevented Teruko from making everyone uncomfortable.