"...𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙥𝙡𝙚..."
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"Remind me why we have to go into the agency on a Sunday?" Baji groaned. "Today's my rest day!"
"Because you have to explain to everyone how you magically came back from the dead," you sighed, putting on your shoes.
"Why can't Mikey make one general announcement so we can move on?" he huffed, putting his long hair in its usual ponytail. He studied himself in the mirror for a bit.
"We get it Kei, you're pretty," you said, rolling your eyes.
"Stop it," he smiled, gently grabbing your cheeks and kissing your glossy lips. "You know you're the most beautiful one here.
"Mmm. I can't argue with that," you grinned, placing your palms on his chiseled chest and gazing into his coffee-colored eyes. He kissed your lips once more before grabbing your hand and opening the door.
"Let's go on a date tonight," he said, following you out the door.
"Really?" your eagerly wondered. "Where?"
"Wherever you want," he offered.
"How about that new restaurant that opened up at the end of the street?" you offered.
"The Brazilian steakhouse?" he inquired, walking to the car.
"Mhm," you nodded, getting into the passenger seat.
"Sounds good to me. I'm not picky," he said, starting the car and driving off. He rested his right hand on your left thigh in between gear shifts.
For a while, the two of you were silent; the soft hum of the radio and the winds from outside the car being the only noise.
"You know, I'm thinking about getting a haircut," he said, tucking a stray hair behind his ear. "It's getting too long."
"How short," you asked, staring at his split ends. "I think you could trim it."
He turned the car onto the same street as the agency, looking for a parking spot.
"Ehh...I want to cut it short," he said, placing his hand on your seat to parallel park.
"Like when you were younger? When it was above your shoulders?" you asked, trying to imagine Baji with shorter hair.
"I think so. It'll be fun," he smiled, parking the car and staring at you. "What do you think?"
"I like it long, but if you want to go short then go for it," you said, taking off your seatbelt and getting out of the car.
"You don't sound like you're too fond of the idea," he sighed, getting out of the car and locking the doors.
"It's not that, I prefer your long hair," you shrugged, waiting for him to catch up with you.
"I'll mull it over," he said, placing an arm around your shoulder as you walked into the building together.
"Well if it isn't the happy couple," Chifuyu said from behind you two.
"Hi Chi," you sheepishly said. "I'm sorry for how I acted yesterday."
"No hard feelings bestie," he smiled, hugging you.
"Hello?" Baji said. "Who's your actual best friend here?"
Chifuyu looked around confused. "Y/n?"
"Wrong!" Baji frowned.
"Please," Chifuyu dismissively waved. "I don't have time for your tantrums today. We all know I love Y/n more."
"I—" Baji started, but chose to bite his tongue and pout instead.
You tried to change the topic by bringing up Baji's haircut idea.
"Good," Chifuyu nodded, pressing the elevator button. "It's starting to look mangy."
"No, it's not," Baji frowned, staring at the ends of his hair.
"Chifuyu," you whispered, lightly smacking him.
"What? It's not my fault that he's not his usual self today," he shrugged. Chifuyu walked in front of Baji and violently shook him. "Why are you so sad today? You always have something to say."
"I'm nervous," Baji whispered.
You and Chifuyu stared at each other in confusion.
"Nervous for what?" you asked. As the elevator rung, the three of you stepped on.
"What if everyone hates me for what I did? I don't know...maybe I'm just overthinking. You guys know I don't get like this," he sighed, folding his arms and leaning against the elevator.
"I think it's sweet that you feel vulnerable. It means—"
"Enough!" Chifuyu said, smacking Baji. "Snap out of it. You're the first division captain, put on that stone-cold look of yours, and man the fuck up."
You and Baji stared at each other in shock.
Chifuyu looked at you two, smiling widely.
"I've been watching this new show that—"
Baji rested his hand on Chifuyu's shoulder and smiled. "Thanks, Vice-Captain."
"Mmm," Chifuyu nodded, understanding that Baji needed a slight push to feel like himself again.
The elevator finally reached the top floor, where the meeting was set. When the three of you walked into the large meeting room, everyone went silent.
"Great, Baji is here so let's get started," Mikey said, not a hint of amusement in his voice.
You gave Baji a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting in the third row with Chifuyu. Angry, sitting in front of you, spun around, and stared at you.
"What?" you whispered.
"Want some snacks?" he asked, extending a handful of sour gummy worms.
"No thanks," you replied, wondering how long those worms have been in his sweaty palm.
The room was eerily quiet except for a few hushed whispers here and there. "Why does it feel like he and Draken are about to stand trial?" Chifuyu whispered. You looked over to see he was violently shaking his knee and his hands were slightly sweating.
"It'll all be okay," you whispered back. He only nodded and looked ahead at Mikey.
"Good morning everyone. I've gathered you all for two reasons today. The first being the return of our first division captain, Baji Keisuke. And the following reason is to allow our vice leader, Ken Ryūguji to explain why he betrayed our agency," said Mikey.
The group of men looked at each other in confusion, wondering what Mikey was talking about.
"Well," the leader said. "Let's begin. Baji, please go first."
Baji glanced at you, attempting to smile. You gave him a thumbs up and returned the smile.
"Um," he started, scratching the back of his head. "I sort of...faked my death. I mean, I was about to die but the doctors saved my life. When Hakkai and Sanzu told me that we were beaten by Moebius, I decided to take matters into my own hands and stay underground for a bit, trying to explore and learn more about Moebius on my own."
"Why did he have to drag us into it," Hakkai whispered to Sanzu, who was directly behind you and Chifuyu.
"I met with Chifuyu, the first division vice-captain, explaining my disappearance and plan for the next few weeks. He and Hanma Y/n, a member of the first division, devised a plan to assist me with my mission indirectly. I later found out that Mitsuya Takashi, second division captain, and Takemichi Hanagaki, a member of the second division, joined the mission in search of Moebius' whereabouts as well. This resulted in a stakeout on some Moebius hideouts and the discovery of a USB containing information about both gangs." Baji took a large breath from having spoken for so long.
"During my stakeout, I discovered that Kisaki's injuries are worse than we imagined and Hanma isn't doing much better. No one really knows what's going to happen to Moebius right now, but they're extremely vulnerable right now. I wasn't sure what to do next since there were no leads on Kisaki's whereabouts, so that's why I returned to the agency to inform Mikey."
Everyone stayed silent, looking around to confirm the information they heard was true. Suddenly there was a loud uproar—everyone was cheering.
"You're really that guy, Baji!"
"That guy is always putting the agency first. I wanna be just like him!"
"We got your back Baji!"
"Alright, alright," Mikey said, raising his hand to silence the crowd. "So you've heard Baji's story and have a bit of insight into our next steps against Moebius. Next, I'm asking our vice leader to speak."
After Baji sat down, Draken stood in the middle of the room.
"What did he do again?" someone asked.
"I don't remember," the person next to them responded.
"Hello everyone," Draken said, his deep voice echoing throughout the room. You looked around for Emma, but couldn't find her.
"I'm keeping my story short, as I don't want to get into personal details," he said, breathing deeply. "Essentially, Kisaki threatened someone I love very much, even going as far as to torture them. He said if I didn't cooperate with him and Moebius, he'd kill them. So I put my relationship above my loyalty to Tōman and cooperated with his demands. After I started meeting with Kisaki, the threats stopped and the person I love was no longer put in harm's way. He had requested I double-cross the agency during our raid on Moebius. He was the one who had suggested our invasion, which I spoon-fed to Mikey, secretly hoping that Tōman would come out victorious in the end, but Moebius had the upper hand the whole time."
You weren't sitting that close, but it seemed like Draken had a few tears falling down his cheeks.
"I understand what I did was wrong," he said, his voice cracking slightly. "But I couldn't let anyone close to me get tortured over some silly rivalry, so I betrayed the one place I call home and the only people I call family."
He stood still for a few seconds, wallowing in his guilt.
There were a few whispers, mostly about feeling bad for Draken's situation.
Mikey stood next to Draken, whispering something in his ear. Draken simply nodded and sat next to Baji.
"After hearing both men speak, I've decided that First Division Captain, Baji Keisuke, is on probation for the next three months and prohibited from participating in any Tōman related excursions or missions—not even to conduct research or reconnaissance. Should we need any information from your findings, I will facilitate it."
Everyone in the crowd was in an uproar.
"Three months?" Baji shouted. "Mikey that's not fair. I need to—"
"As for Vice Leader, Ken Ryūguji, you are hereby permanently banned from Tōman for conspiring with the enemy and plotting the agency's demise."
Now there was complete silence.
"Dismissed," Mikey said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking out of the room.
Not in a million years did anyone think that Mikey would banish his best friend.
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