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.
Owl: Everyone got the plan?
Cat: Yeah, I hate not having an escape plan
Crow: But that's usual for us, just don't fuck up and it'll be alright
Aqua: That's not how it works, Daichi
Owl: Either way, this isn't our first time not having an escape plan, so just business like usual. When should we do it?
Crow: We have to wait until we can get the agent alone, so we might need more stakeouts before we can find a time
Aqua: We know he's alone when tending to Takahashi's room, maybe then would be a good time?
Owl: We'll check it out, but we need to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible. I think Bokuto knows something's about to happen. He was awake when I got back from our last stakeout
Crow: Well, he knows your an agent, so just make sure you don't get hurt when we talk to Takahashi and everything should be fine
Aqua: He never gets hurt though! It's always us!
Crow: No one should be getting hurt, this is an information mission
Cat: but it's a high-risk mission
Crow: We'll just have to watch each other's backs
A timid knock broke me out of my conversation. I looked to the door, opening it to see Bokuto holding his hand.
"I may have accidentally hurt my finger," He muttered, not looking me in the eye. I took his hand, seeing the green discoloration around the joint. I knew it was broken.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I slammed my finger in a door," His voice was so soft I almost didn't hear him. I smiled at his excuse, pulling on his arm for him to follow me.
We got to one of the bathrooms and I took out everything I needed, though, I still needed to set the finger first. I handed him a towel.
"Bit down on this," He did so without question. "This is going to hurt," I warned, before positioning my hands where they needed to be. In one quick jerk, I snapped the bone back into alinement, listening to Kotaro's muffled shouts in pain. I hated the sound, it made my blood freeze and my skin boil. I checked the break to make sure everything was fine before motioning that he could drop the towel.
"Are you ok?" I asked worriedly. He was breathing heavily, but that was to be expected.
"That hurt," He cringed.
"I'm sorry, it needed to be set," I wrapped up his finger, using his middle finger to hold it in place as a makeshift splint. Once I was done I let go of his hand.
"Thank you Keji!" Kotaro cried out, jumping forward and pulling me into a hug. He kissed me on the cheek, making my face go red. "I love you!" He cheered.
"And I you, Kotaro, but please be more careful in the future," I smiled.
"How did you know how to do that?" He asked, looking down at his finger.
"I was trained in medical care, anything from internal injuries to minor scratches," I explained.
"Wow! You're so cool!!" Kotaro beamed, showing off his closed-eyed smile.
"I appreciate your praise," I smiled back at him.
"You seem distracted today, is there another agent thing you need to do?" Kotaro asked, his wide eyes staring down at me. His nervousness was visible, and I hated making him feel that way.
"Yes, but nothing you need to worry about," I assured.
"Could you at least tell me when you're leaving?" He asked, his hands gripping mine. I didn't see any problems with it.
"Sure, Kotaro, but most of my missions will be at night when there's less of a need for me to protect," I explained.
"Then how will you sleep?" He asked, his face completely shocked and horrified.
"I'll get what I can and power through the day," I shrugged.
"That's unhealthy!" Kotaro cried out. I suppressed my need to call him out on how childish that sounded.
"I'll be fine, you don't need to worry," I squeezed his hands that were still gripping mine.
"That will never happen, Keji. I'll always worry," He pouted. I took a deep breath at his words.
"I'm sorry," My voice was gentle and quiet, guilt eating away at me from the inside. Kotaro pulled me into a hug, his arms wrapping protectively around me. We stayed like that for a while before continuing our day.