At the boss' request, Chuuya and Y/n had begun training together. As much as it annoyed him to admit it, she was strong and, despite the fact that she was five months out of practice, he struggled to beat her without his ability.
After a particularly tough bout, they both stood to the side of the mat. Chuuya watched as Y/n took a long drink from her water bottle.
"You're always watching me." she commented, setting the bottle back down on the floor and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"You intrigue me." Chuuya shrugged.
"I don't like that answer. You're hiding something."
"Or maybe, you just want it to be more than that. You cultivate a cryptic nature so as to draw others to you."
"Or maybe I 'cultivate my cryptic nature' as you say, so that people stay away from me."
"Ah, you've been betrayed by someone who was meant to stand by you and want to stop it from happening again."
"And if thats true? Then I'm just like every other member of this organization rendering me, once again, unworthy of such intrigue."
"Who betrayed you?"
"I wouldn't be doing a very good job at being cryptic if I told you."
"True."
A knock at the door pulled their attention away from one another and they watched Akutagawa enter the room. Shutting the door behind him, he made his way across the room to where they stood.
"Y/n, I want you to try training him." Chuuya said, nodding his head towards Akutagawa as he fell into a chair.
"You sure?" she sighed.
"Yep."
"I've never trained anyone before."
There was almost a hint of doubt marring her normally even tone as she said the words.
"You're an executive. Sooner or later you'll end up with subordinates of your own and you'll need to be able to train them."
"Whatever."
Annoyance clear in her movements, Y/n stepped onto the mat. Akutagawa looked uncertainly at his superior who nodded as if to say go on. With a sigh, he took off his coat and followed suit. Standing face to face, Y/n raised her fists.
"No abilities." she said and Akutagawa nodded in response.
They both stood in silence for a moment before Y/n realized the young man was waiting for her go ahead.
"Begin."
Before any normal person would have been able to react, Akutagawa swung at her, but Y/n had been raised in this world and she deftly avoided, not a hair out of place. In one fluid motion, she had Akutagawa on the floor in front of her.
"You hesitated." she remarked, "Again."
Akutagawa rose to his feet at her words and attacked her again, this time aiming a kick at her chest. As if expecting it, caught his foot in her hand, knocking him off balance. He stumbled back as she released it.
"You always look where you're about to strike."
"How else are you supposed to do it." Akutagawa asked, shooting Chuuya a questioning glance.
His superior gave no response and Y/n simply shrugged.
"I don't know." Chuuya glared at her and she sighed before continuing, "You just kinda have to expect where the person is going to be. Here, I'll show you. You defend this time."
Readying themselves once again, Y/n had Chuuya start them off so Akutagawa wouldn't think she was cheating. In two hits, she had him on his back again.
"How did you do that?" he asked, sitting up with his hand clutched to his side where her first kick had landed.
"You're a hot knife, and the butter is the world around you. You're better at defending than you are attacking. Again."
After a couple more rounds, Akutagawa finally managed to get a hit in.
"There!" Y/n yelled, encouragingly "Thats it! Keep whatever that is going!"
It was the only hit he got in the two hours they fought together. By the time Y/n said they were done, he knew his skin would be marred with bruises the next day. He sat up from where he lay on the floor with a groan.
"Good work." he heard, and turned in mild shock to see Y/n holding out a hand.
Hesitantly, he took it and she helped him to his feet, handing him his coat once he had caught his balance.
"I hit you one time." he muttered, pulling on the coat.
"Yeah, and? Most people can't even get that many in. You did good kid."
Akutagawa met her eyes and saw they were clear of any deception he could detect.
"Thank you." he said softly, turning and exiting the room quickly before the two executives within could see his blush.
"Have you been going soft on me L/n?" Chuuya asked as Y/n took the chair beside him.
"I don't want to kill you by accident, now do I?" she teased back.
"Wow is that, emotion? You must really like me."
The sharpness returned to her eyes and Chuuya knew he had crossed some arbitrary line she had drawn for herself. He watched as she silently wiped the sweat from her brow with a towel and threw it to some unknown corner of the room.
"Let's go get some dinner?" he asked, standing from his chair.
Y/n followed suit and in silence, they exited the room.
---
Chuuya had somehow managed to convince Y/n to come back to his office for a glass of wine after their shared dinner that had mostly taken place in silence. Now she stood by his window, staring out at the city while he poured the drinks.
"Here." Chuuya walked over and handed her a glass.
There was something distrusting about the way she took the glass from his grip, and she checked it for poison before taking a sip.
"If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead." Chuuya announced, taking a seat.
Y/n remained standing until Chuuya had made it clear he wished for her to sit as well. Reluctantly, she obeyed his request.
"You want to know things about me." She said at last, breaking the silence between them.
"You know my story, how I ended up here. I just want us to be on even footing."
"Fair enough." She leaned back in her arm chair and sighed, "I withhold to the right to refuse an answer."
"This isn't a court room." Chuuya laughed, "This is just two friends having drinks. You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want."
"What is it you'd like to know?"
Chuuya thought for a second. He knew his questions had to be direct and specific, otherwise Y/n would just close herself off again. It had taken him weeks to get this far with her, he didn't want to risk it now. They were still required to be working together after all.
"The Boss said you built this place. What did he mean?"
"Mori is a cruel man, but he has some sense to him. My father never had any of that. He took me off the streets when I was young, I don't remember it but thats what he told me." she stopped talking, eyes fixed on the red of the wine in her glass.
"You don't have to continue if you don't want to."
"I know." She sighed, "I know but you're right, it's only fair. Plus... I've always wanted a friend."
Her voice was soft, almost vulnerable as she said it.
"He sharpened me like a blade." she continued after taking a deep drink from her glass, "I was his right hand, his tool. I did as I was told. There are whole organizations that were wiped from the map by my cruel hand."
"You were only a kid when the current boss took over though."
"Yep. As I said, he was a harsh man."
"It definitely explains a lot about you. What happened when he died?"
"When he was killed, you mean." her eyes darkened, she was nothing if not loyal, "Mori tried to have me killed too, you know. That was the only time I'd ever spoken to that man you hate so much before this year. I came running into his office to yell at him about it, and Dazai just happened to have already been in a meeting with him. Must've been around the time you joined. When Mori finally relented and realized sending random men after me wasn't going to work, he came after me himself. I spent a lot of time alone in locked rooms after that."
"He imprisoned you? Is that why you left?"
"I'm done answering your questions now. It's your turn to answer one of mine for me." She leaned forward, sharp eyes watching his every move, "What is it that everyone seems to want from me?"
Confusion must have flooded Chuuya's features, for she elaborated on her question.
"I mean, Mori refuses to let me disappear, your eyes follow me like I'm some science experiment you want to learn more about, Dazai won't fucking leave me alone, and now that Akutagawa kid is probably gonna follow me everywhere cause I said something true to him. What is it they all want from me?"
"Power." it was the first word that came to mind and Chuuya cleared his throat uncomfortably, "I mean, thats what Mori wants. Probably what Dazai is after too. Akutagawa just wants approval and I..."
He trailed off.
"You don't know what it is either then, huh?" she placed her now empty glass on the table, "Well, thank you for this illuminating little chat, but I am going to get some sleep."
"Every time we talk doesn't have to just be an exchange of information." Chuuya said and Y/n faltered, her coat half on.
"What else is there to talk about?" she asked, slowly removing the sleeves from her arms and taking her seat once again.
"Well, I don't know, how was your day?"
Y/n couldn't hide the shock at his question.
"My day?"
"What, has no one ever asked you that before?"
It was Chuuya's turn to be taken aback as she shook her head.
"I don't think so. Not unless you're asking for a report on everything I did which I don't think you are, seeing as how you were with me the whole time."
"You explain the way you think when you're nervous. I don't know if you know that. How was your day?"
"Good... I think."