A hooded man sat on the bar stool, his leg jumping up and down from the floor. he was caved in on himself, afraid that anyone would see his face that'd become hideous. It was all his fault.
Haitani Ran.
even thinking his name made his feet cold and the hair on his neck stand. he was nothing different than death that bloody night of torture, and blood, and raging fire. but what had been the most painful and most blood-chilling was that he laughed and smiled the whole time.
"so it's you? I mean I saw your pictures but you look so much like shit," he'd said. him, who stood tall while he quivered beneath his shoe.
"why are you doing this?! I did nothing to you!" Kenji had screamed, he's not sure if he'd been weeping, all he knew back then was that Ran's million-dollar shoe was crushing his skull.
he laughed—his eerie, carefree laugh that dried all his sweat.
"do you want to live?"
"please!"
"then tell me what you did to Hikari back then. tell me what you know about her brother—about his debt. why did that asshole even have such a debt anyway? no matter how much I trace back, he's never had enough money to even pay their rent or send his sister to school trips."
"he didn't really have a debt! we sent him as a rat to Bonten, but I don't know how he died."
"I know how he died...what do you mean he doesn't have a debt?"
he was trembling and stuttering, and only then did Ran set him free from his shoe.
"he was supposed to acquire us a billion yen with the blue files from your organization, but then he backed out, he'd become friends with some of the people there!"
"and like the cowards you are, when he died, you decided to get a billion yen not from Bonten, but from his sister who had just landed a hotshot job as an accountant?"
"this is about Hikari?!" he'd asked, half in disbelief and another in anger.
instead of words, Ran had slashed across his face, Kenji's throat trembling from the loudness of his scream.
now here he sat in the club. his one eye blurry, his face split diagonally. Hikari.
Tanaka Hikari, no, Haitani Hikari.
rumors had been widespread of Ran having had a secret wife who'd become not so secret anymore. he couldn't believe it at first. how could Ran, someone who slaughtered and tortured for pleasure, marry a woman as cheap as Hikari?
she's pretty, but it was pretty much the only good thing about her. she had a nasty temper, would get into fights unlike other women, and her mouth swears and curses more skillfully than most men. he remembered fucking her while putting his hand over her mouth, and he loved to see her cry at her own helplessness.
maybe Ran loved to see that too.
but it was too bad that it had almost cost him his life. all of a sudden, like being hit by an unwarranted breeze, the scent of expensive shampoo and soap fills his nose as a girl sat beside him. he reminds himself not to turn and look at her face.
he was here as a backup to some executives who had meetings with some people, having been advised to remain invisible.
"won't you look at me, sweetie?"
he turns around to face her immediately, his eyes—at least the one Ran left okay—widened in surprise. but the girl before him smiled, leaning in to rest her chin on her palm.
"did I scare you?" she asks, her voice soft and entrancing.
Kenji backed away on instinct.
"Hikari," he breathes.
she looked different, yet not so much at all. her hair's grown long, but her face was as angelic as always, her eyes still so deep and enigmatic. with his memory refreshed of how dangerous her face actually is, now he didn't doubt so much anymore that Ran did marry her for marriage. to tie her down by his side.
with his life in peril, he didn't know how envy still managed to seep in. it's almost been a year—that long a time that Ran's had her by his side. he was always this way, he thought. cursing her when she's away and then remembering why he was so obsessed with her when she reappears.
"nice eye, by the way," she grins.
"what are you doing here?"
"I came to make a deal."
"did you come alone?" he asks nervously, looking around for purple hair belonging to a tall man.
"I did."
without wasting a second, Kenji drew out his gun and pulled her to the side. she complacently lets herself get dragged, the man almost smiling at the fact that she was too afraid to resist.
"stupid girl, why'd you come alone?"
when he'd taken her to the back of the club where some private rooms were, and also where the other Red Flower people stayed, it was finally quiet enough for him to hear her. she laughed, it was low, barely audibly, but he was sure he heard it.
his back stiffened like it did when it was Ran before him. he let go of her wrist, pointing the gun to her forehead.
"Kenji," she chuckled, "you're as fucking dumb as I remember."
this was another change. she used to quiver and submit so easily before with one little threat to her life. the woman before him looked to be reborn, or replaced by some new soul entirely as excitement danced in her eyes.
"don't act like you're not scared!"
"I've met scarier assholes than you, Kenji, trust me, you're like a cute kitten."
his face turned red in anger. he draws back his arm, about to hit her with the base of his gun but a hand stops him. it was one of the executives, Miko.
"what are you doing?" he says.
"she's a traitor."
"tsk, whatever, not here. this is neutral ground. messing up neutral ground means gaining every single crime organization as an enemy—our hands are already full enough with Bonten."
Miko pushes past Kenji as he looks at Hikari. the girl smiled politely at him.
"you look more intelligent than he is, how about you listen to what I have to say?"
"how about you run off before I blast your brains out?"
behind him, Hikari could see that a lot of his men were starting to pay attention to them. she used to be so afraid of all of them, recognizing some of their faces as the men who'd grope her or hit her as they pleased. come to think of it, even before Ran's changed enough for her, he never had it in him to hurt her.
god, she missed Ran. and she thought she might be insane to be thinking about him now.
"do you not know who I am, Miko?"
"you're Hideo's sister, and you owe us money. luckily for you, you're not our priority right now."
"I'm not here as a dead man's sister. I'm here as the wife of the man you want dead."
Miko who barely regarded her seriously looked at her in surprise, but beneath his eyes, she could make out the desperation and hope in them. Kenji's eye was the same.
"Haitani Ran? he really married you?" Kenji scoffs, "that fucking asshole who cut my face because of you!"
"ah, he did a good job, I love your new look. however, to answer your question, I am indeed his wife. while you hurt your heads trying to come up with ways to have him killed past all his security, he defenselessly sleeps beside me every night. but I understand if you're busy, I'll just leave you guys alone," Hikari says as she starts to retreat.
"wait!" at least four of them had called for her.
Miko held her wrist tightly.
"will you really let us help you?" he asks.
she almost rolled her eyes at his audacity. it was her who would be helping them, but his pride would probably never allow him to say it.
"of course."
"how can we trust you?"
"here," she says, pulling away from his grip as she opens her purse.
she gives them a few folded files, apologizing for some of them being crumpled as if she had been rushing to collect them without getting caught. Mikey had actually handed them to her earlier before they left for the bar.
"these are..."
"yup. safehouse locations, drug dens, many more. now, I could get more of these for you, but if you attack these places all at once, they'd get suspicious of me. I'll be cut off from accessing information. do you understand what I'm trying to say, Miko?"
"be subtle," he nods, "pretend like we don't know a thing."
"there's a good boy," she smiles, not missing the way he swallow and looks away.
"we'll still have to check if these are legit."
"I understand."
"and why exactly are you trying to help us, Hikari?" Kenji asks suspiciously.
"I want him dead, it's simple—we have a common goal," Hikari says effortlessly, although it had been the most difficult thing to say that night.
"word's gotten around that Ran finally has a weakness—and it's you. why would you want him dead when he's head over heels for you? you're just trying to lure us into a trap aren't you?"
he stepped closer, making Hikari step back. Kenji then pushed her harshly to the wall, his hands gripping her shoulders as he studies her face.
"are you Ran's little pet?"
"are you jealous?" she smirked.
"I'm just worried if that little shit will ever be enough for y—what the fuck!"
she spat on his face without hesitation, pushing him away.
"you bitch!"
he blindly aimed his gun at her, his finger almost pulling the trigger. Hikari grinned as she slid out the knife Mikey had given her from her sleeve, but before she could counteract, a flash of purple and black hair speeds through her vision and Kenji landed screaming on the floor.
"Rin!" she says in surprise.
Rindou had appeared out of nowhere as he kneeled on the floor, locking Kenji's arm in an awkward position.
every single man in the vicinity drew their guns, causing Hikari to step in front of Rindou protectively.
"stop!"
"you led him here!"
"it was a trap all along, huh?!"
"it's not, gosh, Rin, let him go," she fusses, pulling the younger Haitani up by his arm. he lets her pull him up, his own gun in hand.
"I can explain," she sighs.
but how the fuck do I explain this?
Rin slightly stood to hide her behind him, his face bored as he looked back all of them. neutral territory wasn't so easy to purge war on, especially for Red Flower when they'd already lost so much. he initially just followed Hikari anyway incase something like this would happen, even when he had a feeling he wrecked Mikey's plans.
"he was just worried!" Hikari explains.
"he followed you here. this was a trap," Miko says angrily, his gun pointed at Rin.
Hikari, who forgot that neither of them could possibly open fire, hugged Rindou to herself protectively, the girl intimidated with so many firearms pointed at him. Rin looks at her in surprise before he smiles, deciding not to tell her that they weren't in danger as he hugs the girl as well.
"I told you that I can help you bring down Bonten—"
"like he would allow that."
"I will," Rin says half-heartedly, just hugging Hikari to him.
"if not, then I can help you bring down my husband at least," Hikari adds.
"and why would you?"
"because Ran killed my brother," she coldly says.
Rin slightly pulls away to look at her, her eyes teary and her jaw clenched.
what?
he's all in for it if she wants Ran dead, but did his brother really kill hers?
"and with Ran out of the way, I could finally be with Rindou. he's the one I really want to be with."
again, what?