Heizou tries to live his life without regrets. He doesn’t always succeed. There is one thing he regrets deeply, and that is never saying ‘I love you’ to the person who means the most to him in the moment that mattered.
Kazuha and him hadn’t been dating for all that long and Heizou had thought about it but somehow it was never the right time or the courage had left him before he could get out the words.
He had hesitated until it was too late and Kazuha had clung to him at the small shrine close by the city with his friend’s empty vision in a badly burned hand trying to explain what had happened but too distraught for Heizou to grasp the details. But he caught the important part which was that Kazuha was a wanted man now and had to go on the run. Heizou had offered to go with him without thinking it through but Kazuha had refused and when Heizou had asked he hadn’t told him where he would be going.
For your safety, he had said. The less you know the better in case they question you. There had been a teary goodbye, a frantic and too hard to be enjoyable kiss. Heizou can still recall its salty taste, even though months have passed since then.
And Heizou had been left with nothing but a gust of wind as a memory of their relationship that ended before it had barely even begun. Not because either of them wanted it or was at fault but simply because they hadn’t heard of or seen each other since that day.
He should have said it back then but he hadn’t and that one regret will likely linger as long as he lives.
Kazuha had been right, they had questioned him. He remembers sitting in the interrogation room on the side of the table where he’s never sat himself, losing it and yelling at General Kujou that if he knew where his boyfriend was he would be there with him and not in that room being accused of aiding him escape.
It had convinced her that he wasn’t a traitor and she hadn’t questioned his loyalty ever since. However, he'd been forbidden to investigate in Kazuha's case and had been excluded from any information tied to it. A conflict of interest, they called it.
And he’d never given the general a reason to doubt him. Kazuha hadn't tried to reach out to him and Heizou didn’t even know where to start if he wanted to contact Kazuha somehow.
Almost no reason.
He has never agreed with the vision hunt decree. He didn’t see how stripping smart and capable people not only of their visions and taking away some of those capabilities but also their hopes and aspirations, leaving them like shadows of their former selves.
He’s confiscated visions before. It’s part of his job as a doushin. Even if he does mainly detective work it doesn’t mean that he’s free of these duties.
Watching the light leave someone’s eyes even though they're still standing in front of him perfectly healthy, is one of the most heartbreaking things he’s ever experienced.
Maybe he forgets orders sometimes and maybe he accidentally slips up in a crowded street whose visions are going to be taken next. Those are accidents. Unfortunate but accidents. Truly, they are.
Heizou knows Kujou Sara knows what he’s doing and that she’s been tolerating it so far. Because he’s useful. But he’s living on borrowed time.
Because when will being a nuisance outweigh being useful?
Heizou’s routine of evading and avoiding comes to an abrupt end when the news reaches him. His investigations had led him out of town for a few days and as soon as he’d returned he noticed the whispers.
Did you hear? They caught him. After all this time. I saw when they brought him in. So young. A shame what happened to that family. I thought the Kaedehara clan couldn’t fall any deeper. Who knew the heir would turn out a criminal.
For a moment Heizou feels like he can’t breathe. Kaedehara clan. Heir. It can’t be. Not after months of being on the run. Not with how smart Kazuha is. He wouldn’t get himself caught. Right?
He runs after hearing that. All the way up the steps from Hanamizaka to the police station. There’s a stabbing pain in his sides when he rushes through the gates. He almost collides with Uesugi who steadies him when he stumbles and nearly falls.
“Detective Shikanoin, what has you in such a hurry?”
Heizou grabs his arm.
“Is it true? Did they catch Kaedehara Kazuha?”
Uesugi’s face brightens.
“Oh, yes they did. Earlier this morning. They arrested him in the city, can you believe that? Why would he come here if he’s wanted? Uhm, Detective Shikanoin, are you alright? You’re hurting me.”
Heizou had unconsciously tightened his grip and lets go immediately.
“I apologize. Where, Uesugi? Where did they take him?”
Uesugi looks torn.
“I’m not allowed to tell you, Detective Shikanoin. You are excluded from any information regarding Kaedehara. I’m sorry” he says guiltily.
Heizou doesn’t blame him. It’s not his fault, he’s only doing his job. He pushes past Uesugi and doesn’t listen when he calls out to him.
Heizou marches into Kujou Sara’s office and doesn’t even bother with a greeting.
“Where is he?”
She looks up from the documents she’d been studying and furrows her brows at the rude interruption.
“Shikanoin. I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.”
“Kaedehara Kazuha, he was arrested wasn’t he?”
She narrows her avian amber eyes.
“You aren’t even supposed to have this information. Did Uesugi –”
“People are talking in the streets, General. Did you really think you could keep this from me?”
General Kujou sighs.
“He was arrested and that is all I will say about the matter.”
Heizou balls his fists, tries to ground himself to stay calm.
“I want to see him.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Do you trust me so little?” Heizou hasn’t meant to raise his voice but it stings. After everything he’s done for her, for the Commission.
“Your romantic involvement with the criminal in the past makes you unreliable. You are forbidden to go anywhere near the dungeons, is that understood?”
A breeze ruffles Heizou’s hair and scatters the sheets on her desk. General Kujou jumps to her feet.
“Stand down, Shikanoin!”
Heizou tries to calm himself and reigns in his powers that he had unconsciously released in his upset. The wind dies and Kujou Sara’s hand inches away from where she had already reached for her bow. She doesn’t trust him. It hurts more than he wants to admit.
“Don’t try to seek out Kaedehara in any way. This is an order.”
“What will happen to him?”
She shakes her head.
“I’m not telling you.”
Heizou leaves. He doesn’t resort to begging. He wants to. Desperately. But he will find a way somehow. He just wants to speak to Kazuha. See him. It’s been so long. And whatever they’re planning for Kazuha it can’t be good. He stole a vision. They’re going to take his, if they haven’t already.
Kazuha without his vision is a disturbing thought: Kazuha imprisoned even more. He’s a free spirit and detained in a dark cell, maybe bound even, without his hopes and dreams he will wither. Heizou needs to get to him before he loses himself. But how?
Everyone knows about their past. Everyone knows that he’s not allowed anywhere near Kazuha. And everyone seems to be wary of him. What do they even expect him to do? Break Kazuha out? Of course he wants to protect him but that … Heizou isn’t even sure if it were possible. Working at the police station he technically has access to where they’re most likely keeping Kazuha and he knows every corner of this place. But pulling off a breakout seems like a futile foolish attempt even in his eyes and he’s an expert at finding a way out of tricky situations. But there has to be something he can do to clear Kazuha’s name. Anything.
Which will be hard because he’s not allowed to look into his case or anything connected to it, including any background of his friend that died after the duel. There might be some crucial information there, something he can use.
Heizou holes up in his office. He needs to think. And plot. And find a way to save Kazuha that doesn’t put him at an even greater risk than he already is.
~
It’s the second day that Heizou hasn’t slept. He gathered some information by discreetly talking to folks that were around when Kazuha’s friend challenged Kujou Sara but no one could tell him anything of his background. No relatives, no friends. It’s as though he never existed, the only remnant the empty vision Kazuha escaped with.
He’d tried to gain access to Kazuha’s case files. He’d been sneaky about it, no one would have noticed him coming, taking a peek and going if it wasn’t for Kujou Sara’s thoroughness concerning secret information and keeping them strictly under lock and key. He didn’t try to get into the dungeons. He’s not stupid, he knows the general has ordered the other doushin to keep an eye on him. He won’t be of any use if he gets himself suspended.
Heizou is drained and bleary-eyed when two Tenryou guards come looking for him in his office. His mind is so hazy that he doesn’t initially grasp what they want from him.
“What?” he asks intelligently after they’ve stated their business and not a single thing they said sank in.
“Kujou Takayuki requests your presence at the Tenryou Commission headquarters, Detective Shikanoin.”
That is certainly odd. He usually receives orders and information on cases from Kujou Sara, never from the Commissioner himself. Heizou doesn't bother trying to figure out the reason. He frankly doesn’t have enough working brain cells left for it. And he will find out as soon as he's there.
He shuffles to his feet and smoothes out his rumpled clothes and messy hair to make himself presentable to some extent.
Heizou can't shake the feeling that something is off. The guards walk unnecessarily close to him when they make their way over the bridge toward the Tenryou Commission headquarters. They exchange weird glances too. What is he missing?
In hindsight Heizou should have known then. At least it should have clicked the moment they stepped inside Kujou Takayuki’s office and the guards still didn’t leave. He blames his overtired brain.
Heizou doesn’t often deal with the Commissioner. Something about the man has never sat right with him.
He bows slightly to uphold at least the impression of respectful behaviour. Takayuki observes him with a sneer and Heizou gets the feeling their dislike for each other is mutual.
“Detective Shikanoin,” Takayuki says to acknowledge his presence.
“Commissioner Kujou” Heizou replies dryly. “how may I offer my assistance?”
“Not today, Shikanoin. Your skills are not required for the matter at hand.”
Heizou raises his brows.
“Then what –”
“Shikanoin Heizou, under the regulations of the Vision Hunt Decree I order you to hand over your anemo vision.”
Heizou goes rigid. And then dread reaches out toward him with icy tendrils. For the first time in a long time Heizou feels something like fear. It’s not the fact that he won’t have access to his powers anymore. He doesn’t need them. He was fine before he received the vision and he will be fine if he can no longer call on the wind. No, what scares him is what the loss of a vision does to a person’s mind. His wit is his strongest weapon. If his mind starts deteriorating like he has seen it happen to others what will be left of the great detective?
The guards shift closer to him and he realizes he’s been quiet for too long.
“Are you going to resist, Shikanoin? We will use force if we have to, but I’d advise you to cooperate if you don’t want things to become ugly.” The Commissioner’s voice cuts through the tangle of Heizou’s too loud thoughts.
He swallows and reaches behind himself. He moves slowly, non threateningly and unclasps his vision from where it is attached to his haori. For a second he holds it, just looking at the faintly glowing orb. He tightens his fingers around it, closes his eyes and feels the whisper of the wind one last time, emotionally detaching himself from the little teal stone that he’s had on him constantly for years at this point.
“That won’t be necessary, I knew it would eventually come to this.”
Heizou takes a step forward and places the vision in Takayuki’s outstretched hand. His fingers linger on the soft red tassels, before it is snatched away.
And just like that the wind that has been Heizou’s constant companion for the longest of times goes quiet. He hadn’t expected to feel so hollow. It’s fine. He’ll be alright. It’s fine.
“If that is all, Commissioner Kujou, I will take my leave.” Heizou says stiffly.
“Not so fast, Shikanoin. You wouldn’t want to miss the ceremony, would you?”
Heizou freezes. Surely the Commissioner won’t be that cruel.
“As it happens there’s another vision that has yet to be inlaid upon the statue of the Omnipresent God.”
Takayuki reaches for something on his desk and holds it up for Heizou to see. When he recognizes what it is he feels the void inside him expand a little bit further and it feels like invisible bonds are ensnaring his upper body, constricting his ribcage and putting painful pressure on his chest that’s making it hard to breathe.
Two gems with the same teal shine, the same gold frame, adorned with similar red tassels.
Kazuha.
Heizou can handle the loss of his own vision and he handed it over willingly. But Kazuha’s was stolen, ripped away, taken from him by force. Heizou has rarely met someone who has embraced their powers quite like Kazuha has. It’s natural, Kazuha and the wind are one. Being stripped of that must ache like an open wound and if he feels any of that hollowness that Heizou is experiencing right now his well-being is at serious risk even if no bodily harm was done to him. Which Heizou can’t be sure of because he wasn’t allowed to see him.
If the wind were still obeying him it would have roared to life. But there’s only silence.
There’s a self-satisfied smile on the Commissioner’s face and Heizou starts wondering. If it is really a coincidence or if it is resentment of his personality. Or punishment for some trouble that he caused without realizing it. Or his past with Kazuha. None of those reasons seem to justify the action taken against him. He knows he is not well-liked but being turned on like this feels … Heizou doesn’t know how to put the emotion into words, only that it’s foreign to him.
He’s escorted by guards from the Tenryou Commission to the square in front of the gate of Tenshukakau. They’re not grabbing him, but hovering close as though they expect him to lose it any second and might have to be restrained. It’s not going to happen, Heizou doesn’t have the energy. He feels empty. Maybe that feeling will be permanent, he should try to get used to it.
They make Heizou stand on the wooden platform with the statue looming over him. A small crowd has formed and Hajime the blacksmith apprentice is already awaiting them. Heizou has always been friendly with him and when Heizou catches him staring Hajime doesn’t seem to be able to face him and quickly averts his eyes.
Takayuki hands Hajime the visions and Heizou winces when he cracks them out of their frame with one powerful blow of his hammer and then carries them over to the statue. There are two spherical indentations already carved into the stone, one on each of the statue’s wings. Heizou drops his gaze to the ground. He doesn’t want to see what happens next.
“Ah, Sara, you’re just in time for the best part!”
The cruel kind of glee in the Commissioner’s voice makes Heizou sick to his stomach. When he looks up, he sees Kujou Sara stride towards them. And Heizou allows himself to cling to a tiny sliver of hope. Maybe. Maybe she will put a stop to this.
Unlike Hajime she has enough backbone to look him in the eyes. She halts her steps close to him and places a hand on his shoulder. They rarely ever touch and the sudden familiarity feels off. Before he can speak she says:
“I’m sorry Shikanoin. I wish things were different.”
And just like that the hopeful spark dies. Just by her wording he knows she didn’t come to advocate for him. He should have known better. How naive of him to believe she would stand by his side in all this. The fact that she doesn’t … hurts. Heizou has to ask.
“Why? Why are you letting it happen?” He hates how meek his voice sounds.
“That decision was taken out of my hands. There’s nothing I can do.”
He shrugs her hand off. Her arm drops to her side and she doesn’t try to touch him again. General Kujou still doesn’t look away but he can see the guilt in her expression. Guilt and maybe regret. She knows exactly what could happen. That he might go insane or lose his memories. That he might not be able to solve cases anymore. And that’s when he realizes it’s not him that she cares about, but the tool that she’s about to lose.
Something cracks inside Heizou. The realisation that he’s been used, that he’s worked his ass off for the Tenryou Commission, that he’s been nothing but devoted in his own way, solving case after case after case only to be discarded and stripped of his skills, his potential dismissed. He has a word for it now. Betrayed. That’s what he feels like.
And suddenly it’s so clear to him. He owes them nothing. The only person that truly matters is currently incarcerated in a cell at the police station. There are so many things he hasn’t told Kazuha. So many things that they haven’t done. Their time together was cut short by cruel fate. Heizou will not accept this. He will reunite with Kazuha and make up for all the time that they’ve missed. No matter what it will take.
“Watch, Shikanoin!” The Commissioner’s sharp order snaps Heizou out of his head. “Watch how you contribute to eternity.”
And Heizou watches somewhat detached as first Kazuha’s and then his own vision are forced into their designated spots until they are encased by cold dark stone. Trapped and locked in place.
His mind is already somewhere else. One thing is certain. He can’t do this alone. No one who works for the Tenryou Commission can be trusted, not even those he would have called friends before today. Hajime’s behaviour tells him as much.
Sango and him aren’t on good enough terms to confide in her. She’s also the worst at keeping her mouth shut.
Which leaves Heizou with no one to turn to, no backup, and no influence to wave around other than his name. And how far would that get him now that all they see in him is the enemy.
Unless…
He doesn’t particularly like the option but he can’t afford to be picky. He’s desperate at this point. He needs any help he can get. Now that he thinks about it, the steps that are to be taken are shockingly obvious.
And that, Heizou thinks to himself, is how the betrayed becomes the traitor.
~
Kamisato Ayato would usually be reluctant to let in the exhausted-looking young detective. He would make any member of the other Commissions jump through as many hoops as he could put in their path so that they’d give up long before they arrived even halfway to his home or Komore Teahouse that he considers a safe space for himself and his own.
He’s heard of him. Shikanoin Heizou. The prodigy that made it into the ranks of the Tenryou Commission as the youngest and most successful detective. And Ayato has also heard of what he’d been through in the last 48 hours.
The arrest of Kaedehara Kazuha must have been unsettling enough. They’d been together before Kazuha had to go on the run. Ayato hadn’t approved of their involvement. He’s known Kazuha since he was little, had played with him and Ayaka when they had barely been old enough to take their first steps. He’s always felt somewhat protective of him.
And Shikanoin Heizou was not the person he would have liked to see by Kazuha’s side.
But what must be even worse, the Tenryou Commissioner had confiscated his vision and made him watch as it was put on the statue. It was a despicable thing to do, especially since Shikanoin was one of them. Ayato might not feel much sympathy for the man but he did not deserve to be treated in such a way.
He’s seen many vision holders after they’d lost theirs. Has seen their dull eyes and witnessed the change in them. Like they lost more than just their vision. Any drive to do something.
Shikanoin looks nothing like those soulless shadows. There's still that hollow haunted look but also an almost feverish glint in his eyes. This is not what a man looks like who isn't driven anymore. This is a man who is ready to risk it all. Ayato doesn't know if it's a good or bad thing. He has a feeling he's about to find out.
“Commissioner Kamisato, you have every reason to mistrust me if the whispers about your possible involvement with the Watatsumi rebels are true.” he says bluntly.
That damned kid.
Ayato grabs him by the arm and yanks him through the door, shutting it immediately after.
“Stop yelling these kinds of things in public, will you?” he hisses. “Keep doing it and I might not be able to do something for you at all. Since I assume you want something.”
Shikanoin doesn't apologize or look guilty and continues unperturbed by Ayato's rough handling or his words.
“I am not here on behalf of the Tenryou Commission. Just by myself. All I ask is that you hear me out.”
Ayato believes him. For someone who's as guarded and hard to read if there's truth in the talk about him, Shikanoin’s expression is readable like an open book at this moment. Ayato doubts Shikanoin realizes. A sign how distraught he is beneath the cover of the brave face that he's putting on.
Ayato realizes he's still holding on to Shikanoin and lets go of his arm.
“Wait here.”
Even if Shikanoin is not here to deceive him he doesn't want Ayaka anywhere near whatever is about to be negotiated. He leaves him standing in the hall and goes to find his sister and Thoma in one of the rooms. It takes only a few hushed words, his sister’s arms around him lingering a bit longer than necessary, a look of mutual understanding shared between Thoma and himself and a plea to be careful to send both of them on their way to the family estate through a back door.
Ayato has been risking a lot this whole time, exchanging information in secret with Sangonomiya Kokomi. Ayaka knows to some extent what he’s doing but in case he’s being found out he has excluded her from enough to keep her safe. He knows what he’s gambling with but Shikanoin has a whole different kind of trouble written all over him.
The detective hasn’t moved when Ayato goes to fetch him, patiently waiting although he’s surrounded by an air of restless energy and he stays quiet until Ayato has led him to one of the rooms and shoved a steaming cup of tea into his cold hands. Once they’re both situated at the low table he faces Shikanoin.
“Talk.”
“I need your help to break Kazuha out of prison and to disappear after.” Shikanoin states matter-of-factly as though they were talking about the weather.
That damned kid, Ayato thinks again. May the archons help him.
~
Heizou had half expected to be kicked out of the tea house by Kamisato Ayato after hitting the Yashiro Commissioner with his brazen request. He hadn’t and what was even more surprising was that he had agreed to help and come up with a plan. Heizou had been starting to believe that Ayato felt sympathetic towards him until he had looked at Heizou sternly by the end of their conversation and said:
“I’m doing this for Kazuha, not for you.”
Ah well, it didn’t matter how the Commissioner felt about Heizou, what mattered was that thanks to him he had a way to sneak into the dungeons, get Kazuha out of there and escape. This time together.
He tries not to think too much as he follows the ninja girl. He had been hesitant to put his trust in a child but again, he couldn’t afford to be picky and Ayato had assured Sayu’s reliability as a full member of the Shuumatsuban. He had also made it clear that once he was inside the prison he’d be on his own until he’d be back with Kazuha and he’d assist with smuggling them out of the city
The night sky is clouded and the lack of moonlight gives them an advantage as they sneek through the streets to approach the police station from its unguarded side. The streets of Inazuma city are never deserted and Heizou has switched his usual clothes for more subtle dark hakama pants and short-sleeved tunic, foregoing the sleeves, rope and decorative tassels to blend into the shadows and switching his geta sandals for some with softer soles. He’s also wrapped his hands. He might have to fight. It’s the worst possible outcome and he refuses to let his thoughts stray to that possibility but he’s prepared for it nonetheless. Without his vision all he has left are his fists.
Heizou has to admit Sayu is an efficient guide. They don’t encounter any problems and she seems to be an expert at evading since they don’t run into any patrols.
Heizou knows a lot of things that are supposed to be secret. Especially if they’re crimes. He is pretty sure an underground tunnel leading to the lower levels of the police station would be considered illegal. And yet he had no idea it existed. He doesn’t question it though as he follows Sayu inside, since it serves his purpose.
The little ninja leads him to the spot where the tunnel ends and a ladder leads up to a hatch in the ceiling. This is as far as Sayu will accompany him, once Heizou climbs through that door he will be on his own until he’s found Kazuha and they’ve made it back to this spot safely.
“Good luck Detective Heizou.”
Heizou only nods in thanks. A part of him knows how insane this whole mission is. The much bigger part doesn’t care. They have taken everything. There’s nothing left to lose. He swallows the lump in his throat and climbs up the ladder leading him to the dungeons and to the man he loves.
Heizou hasn’t dared to bring a light with him. He’d be too easy to spot and he doesn’t need one. He knows his way around the prison, he’s walked these floors countless of times. He creeps through the hallways, ducking his head and softening his steps whenever he passes an occupied cell and peering through the bars in search of distinct pale hair.
The longer it takes to find Kazuha the more uneasy he becomes. He’s been walking for a few minutes and is a good distance away from the tunnel by now. It will take just as long to get back to the tunnel, possibly even longer. He doesn’t know in what state he will find Kazuha. Anxiety spikes when it hits him that there’s a possibility Kazuha doesn’t even remember him. He halts and presses his knuckles to his eyes. He can’t think like this. He’s come this far. Heizou takes a moment to calm himself.
When he has pulled himself back together he continues down the hallway lined with barred doors. He almost misses it. Mostly because the silvery white is stained a murky grey with rust brown smears and half covered by a black and red shawl. And because he looks so small cowering in that cell, retreated against the most far away wall and knees pulled against his chest to form a protective ball.
“Kazuha.”
Heizou’s voice is shaky, barely more than a whisper. He doesn’t recall moving but he’s standing in front of the cell and his fingers curled around the metal bars, gripping them hard enough to feel his nails cutting into his palm. There’s no response from the figure in the cell and he tries again, louder this time.
“Kazuha!”
There’s some shuffling and the scraping sound of metal on stone as the human ball unfurls a little and red gem like eyes blink up at him. Heizou remembers them bright and vibrant, full of life and love and the knot in his throat grows bigger at the dim hollowness that he is seeing.
And then there is a spark of something. Another slow blink and a flash of recognition. Heizou’s hand goes to his mouth, too late to stifle the dry sob of relief.
“Hei–zou?”
And that voice, even though scratchy and hoarse, is so undeniably Kazuha’s voice it makes Heizou shudder. It’s been almost a year since he’s heard Kazuha say his name.
“Are you a dream? I’ve dreamed of you before.”
“What? No!”
Heizou sinks to his knees and pushes his hand through the bars.
“I’m here to get you out.”
“You can do that?” Kazuha asks almost reverently and shifts forward, reaching out to grasp Heizou’s hand. His movement halts mid-air before they can touch accompanied by a rattling sound. Heavy iron around slender wrists
They chained him. Heizou squeezes his eyes shut. They chained him. The one person who needs freedom like the air to breathe. He opens his eyes.
“Yes. I can do that.”
He withdraws his hand and stands, reaching into his pocket and gets to work picking open the lock with newfound determination. Such an inappropriate skill for an officer of the law.
The lock clicks open with a satisfying sound. The lockpick slips from his trembling fingers as soon as he doesn’t need it anymore.
Heizou hurries to push the door open and almost stumbles in his haste to get inside the cell. Kazuha reaches out to him with both hands now, both shackled to the wall, keeping him from coming any closer. Heizou falls to his knees as soon as he is near and wraps his arms around Kazuha, feeling him close, finally, after all these months. He blinks against the wetness in his eyes when Kazuha clasps his hands together behind his neck and pulls Heizou’s head down while angling his face up and crashes their mouths together.
It feels…it feels like coming home. Like the months that they’ve been separated are melting away into nothing. Like taking the first easy breath after the horrible hours he’s been through. Like love.
It’s awkward with the chains between them. Heizou doesn’t want anything bewtween them. He shuffles further forward on his knees and Kazuha spreads his legs to have him closer. Heizou grabs him by the thighs and pulls him into his lap.
A needy sound escapes Kazuha when Heizou can’t help himself and licks his mouth open and the kiss turns filthy. Kazuha buries his fingers in his hair and tugs, harder than necessary but Heizou can’t say he dislikes it. He gasps when there’s a sting of pain from nibbling teeth in his lower lip and Kazuha uses his slack jaw to shove his tongue inside his mouth in a way that makes Heizou’s stomach swoop and draws some other curious reactions out of his body. A tingle where nails scratch him slightly, the heady mix of the soft noises Kazuha makes and the rush of his own pulse in his ears and – oh fuck. Kazuha grinds down on him and the choked off moan that tumbles out of his own mouth snaps Heizou out of it. They’re getting carried away. They don’t have time for this. He pulls back, breathing heavily and it’s hard not to dive back in for another kiss when Kazuha is looking like this, all pink-cheeked and breathless.
“Stop, we can’t! I want to, I do, but we can’t right now.”
Kazuha looks a bit high while he nods slowly.
“Later.” Heizou promises and means it. There will be time for this.
A bit sobered up he grasps Kazuha’s hands to examine the iron shackles. The skin of his wrists is chafed raw underneath. Heizou will have to be careful. He’s still going to hurt Kazuha.
“Let me get these off.”
Heizou scrambles to his feet and back to the door to retrieve the lock-picking tool that he dropped. When he turns around Kazuha’s eyes are almost comically wide, he must still be dazed from the kiss they shared. Suddenly he moves, surging up only to be yanked back by his chains.
“Heizou, watch out!”
A painful blow catches him between the shoulder blades and then he falls forward into the cell right on top of Kazuha, landing them in a heap of tangled limbs. Kazuha groans when he’s crushed while cushioning Heizou’s fall, the chains preventing him from moving out of the way.
Adrenaline spikes at the realization that they’re no longer alone. That he’s just been caught trying to free a wanted criminal who has been on the run for almost a year. It’s strange how Heizou doesn’t feel anything about it. It’s that same emptiness that has been inside him since they took his vision that seems to numb emotions. For a second his thoughts catch on to the fact that that is not the case with Kazuha. Because what he feels for him, what he just felt while they shared that desperate kiss is still as strong and clear as it was before they were forced to part ways.
Right now he should be scared. Instead there’s nothing but fight, protect, defend.
Heizou pushes himself up and off Kazuha, already preparing to fight. Before he can turn around fully the next blow that Heizou hasn’t seen coming catches the side of his head. Pain explodes behind his eyes and it feels like his head is being split open. His vision swims. He might have blacked out for a second because the next thing he knows he’s back lying on top of Kazuha who’s frantically repeating his name and then he’s pulled away from the gentle touch around his face.
How could he have been so careless and distracted, not watching out for approaching steps. How did Kazuha not hear them early enough to warn him? He can’t anymore, Heizou realizes. He must have lost his extraordinary hearing along with his vision.
He’s being dragged off of Kazuha with rough hands. He’s fighting against his chains and Heizou wants to tell him to stop because he’s hurting himself but he can’t think straight enough to form words between the pain and all the voices.
“No! Don’t touch him!”
Instinct as well as muscle memory stemming from years of martial arts training kick in and he rears his head back while simultaneously jabbing his elbow out. Both moves find their aim to his satisfaction, although the impact of the back of his head with someone else’s chin worsens the crippling pain between his temples and with one eye already glued shut by sticky wetness it leaves him half blind.
Heizou admits he might not be in his best shape and at a disadvantage but he’s not helpless. He quickly wipes a hand over his face to clear his vision and it comes off wet. It’s a concerning amount of blood from a head wound but it’s not something Heizou can focus on. He falls into a fighting stance and twists around to face his attackers.
It hits him that he knows these doushin. Not that they’re friends, but colleagues with whom he exchanged friendly words in the hallways or joked with over lunch when they’d been assigned the same patrol.
The realisation makes him deflate and he lowers his fists. These are his people. He can’t just fight them. Surely they won’t fight him. There might be a way to talk himself out of this. He could–
“Heizou!” Kazuha yells from where he’s still crouched on the floor.
How wrong he was in his assumption they wouldn’t charge at him, he thinks, and the sting of betrayal is somewhat dulled this time. A vicious kick catches him in the side and when someone yanks on his hair he feels it tear at the gash left by the blow to his head.
Dark spots are dancing before his eyes and the pain makes his stomach roil with nausea. He wipes more blood out of his eye and the moment he’s distracted is enough for one of his attackers to land a punch at his face.
He feels his nose break. Heizou, someone screams. That’s his name. He’s so dizzy. Why is everyone shouting? He’s on his knees. Gentle hands. Rough hands. Someone catches him when he falls.
~
Kazuha knows fear. It’s a feeling that’s impossible to get used to no matter how often it is experienced. Fear has been his constant companion these past days. Fear of losing his memories. Fear of going insane. Fear of dying.
Nothing has come close to the fear that he’s feeling while he watches Heizou being beaten and abused, restrained and helpless. When he goes limp and crashes to the floor Kazuha catches his upper body, almost being dragged down with him under the weight. For a few agonizing seconds he can’t hear him breathe. It is the worst fear yet. That he’s losing the man he loves so fiercely just after he’s gotten him back. And then there’s the faintest flutter of a breath against the skin of his neck.
Kazuha doesn’t know how everything could go so horribly wrong. He’d thought he'd been dreaming when Heizou appeared outside of his cell. Looking tired but no less handsome than the day they had said their goodbyes at a small shrine just outside of the city. That was months ago. He doesn’t know what has happened to Heizou during this time. But he has felt a shift. Something has changed him. Kazuha is no longer attuned to the wind but he should have felt the whisper of a breeze around Heizou. The elements leave traces. But it’s too quiet. Kazuha’s heart squeezes at the realization.
His vision must be gone. The wind has left them both.
Kazuha adjusts his hold around Heizou who is still a dead weight on top of him.
“Heizou, wake up. Wake up, please.” he murmurs, repeating the plea like a prayer. He’s not sure how much damage the blunt end of the polearm did to Heizou’s head. The gash covered by his hair is still oozing an alarming amount of blood but there might be internal bleeding as well.
“Well, look at that. A criminal and a traitor.”
Kazuha’s eyes snap up to the three doushin who are sneering down at them. His arms tighten around Heizou reflexively, an attempt at protection that he can’t provide. He can do nothing when they grab Heizou’s arms and restrain them with ropes and he watches on in horror when they’re brought up, attached to hooks in the ceiling. When the ropes are pulled taut abruptly Heizou’s weight is lifted off of him and he’s now kneeling before Kazuha, held upright by his suspended arms, still limp and his head drooping, his face hidden behind a curtain of hair, the deep red even darker where it is sticky with blood.
“No one likes traitors. Do you want to know what happens to traitors, little samurai?”
The implied cruelty in the doushin’s words make Kazuha fear for Heizou once again.
“Please.” His voice cracks. “Please don’t hurt him.”
Heizou stirs, lifts his head and Kazuha watches as the confused haze in his eyes clears and he becomes aware of his position.
“Welcome back, Shikanoin. You brought this upon yourself, traitor.”
The doushin approaches until he’s looming over them. Although Kazuha can see what happens, while Heizou can’t, they both flinch when the doushin grabs the collar of Heizou’s tunic with both hands and tears it open with one quick movement. The ripped fabric slips off his shoulders and reveals half of Heizou’s back.
“The strap.”
The doushin holds out his hand to one of his companions who hands him something like a leather belt.
Kazuha almost chokes on the suffocating feeling of dread that settles inside him.
“No, no, please. Please don’t do this.” he begs them.
“Hey.”
Heizou’s smile is wobbly and weak. Entirely unconvincing. He’s trying to put on a brave face for Kazuha and it hurts. This is his fault.
“It’s okay.”
None of this is okay. Kazuha’s hands tremble when he cups Heizou’s cheeks. It’s the only part of Heizou that he can reach, the only comfort he can offer during what will inevitably happen.
The first strike forces a cry out of Heizou that pains Kazuha almost as though he were the one being whipped.
Heizou straightens and wraps his fingers around the ropes to have something to hold onto. He takes the next few strikes in silence, the only visible reaction being his knuckles turning white from how hard he’s gripping the ropes.
The hardest hit yet echoes through the cell and Heizou arches away from the pain, his lips already bitten bloody from stubbornly refusing to make any sound.
The sound of leather tearing through skin is sickening and Kazuha almost wishes his hearing was gone entirely. He feels hot shame when he realizes he is crying. He has no right to, he’s not the one in pain.
He feels wetness on Heizou’s cheeks too. He can hold back the noises but not the tears. He tenses under another strike and Kazuha hears himself sob. He rests his forehead against Heizou’s and keeps caressing his face, just to reassure Heizou that he’s there. His hands are wet with a mixture of Heizou’s blood and both their tears.
“Issokay, ‘m fine,” Heizou lies in a slurred voice.
Kazuha can’t take it anymore.
“Stop, stop it! Please, I’m begging you!”
The strikes come in quick succession now, carried out with brutal anger and Heizou’s head drops against his shoulder where he bites into the fabric of Kazuha’s haori, still trying but failing to hold in his screams.
Heizou falls quiet and his grip around the ropes loosens. His body sways in his bonds and Kazuha cradles his head with one arm and lifts the other up in defense and as a plea.
“Please stop! He isn’t even conscious anymore!” Kazuha yells.
The doushin reels back the leather strap and drops of Heizou’s blood splatter across Kazuha’s face.
And finally, finally, the torture stops.
They take down the ropes and Kazuha thrashes and fights uselessly against his chains when they pull Heizou out of his arms and bind his wrists.
“See that, Kaedehara? That’s the only right way to treat a traitor.”
Hate is a foreign feeling to Kazuha. But he can say with certainty that he hates this cruel doushin with all his heart. If the wind were still with Kazuha he would have raised hell. But as things are, he can do nothing but watch when they start retreating from the cell.
“No, stop! Where are you taking him?” he asks when one of the doushin hoists Heizou’s unconscious body up and throws him over his shoulder. Panic almost makes him choke on the words.
When the doushin carrying Heizou turns to leave the cell Kazuha catches a glimpse of Heizou’s back that is covered in bloody welts. He’s hit with a wave of nausea and he leans over, throwing up the small amount of fluids that he’d been granted. The retching doesn’t stop even when his stomach is empty and his mouth fills with the bitter taste of bile. After a while the heaving subsides and he sags against the wall, throat aching, exhausted and drained.
The onslaught of emotions hits a second later. Grief, guilt, self-loathing, worry, fear, dread. And it’s too much.
Kazuha covers his face with his hands and lets himself be overwhelmed by a flood of tears. While his body is wracked by violent sobs there’s a fleeting hazy thought at the back of his head. Something he should have told Heizou, something important and that he might have wasted his only chance to do so just now.
~
Heizou wakes up in pain. There are a few blank spots in his memory and it takes him a moment to recall the past events. He remembers sneaking inside of the prison under Sayu’s guidance. He remembers the heady feeling of having Kazuha close after all this time. How his arms felt around him. How his kiss felt on his lips.
Kazuha.
He sits up abruptly and immediately regrets it. Shifting his shoulders, turning, bending and any other movement of his upper body is accompanied both by the dull kind of ache left by forceful impacts and also the sharp sting of open wounds.
The memories come back in fractions. Kazuha frantically repeating his name, his voice thick with tears. Him begging. And pain. The bite of a leather strap on his back. He’s been whipped. Forced to his knees and restrained, being punished for a crime he doesn’t feel guilty of. That doesn’t even feel like a crime.
Reality settles in heavily. He has failed. He has failed in his attempt to save Kazuha. And has done what he had been wanting to avoid at all costs. Put Kazuha at an even greater risk than he already was. He’s a failure.
He tries to shift again, more carefully this time, checking himself over for other injuries. His first realisation doesn’t come as a surprise but the feeling is odd nonetheless. His wrists are enclosed by a pair of iron shackles that are attached to the wall with a chain. Unlike Kazuha’s both his hands are cuffed together, restricting his movements even more but there’s enough give in the chain to move around and lift his arms. He’s been beaten and chained like an actual criminal although he’d been standing on the other side of those bars not more than a few days ago.
Heizou’s vision is somehow limited, he can’t seem to open his right eye. Flakes of dried blood come off when he rubs it and after scraping off more he can blink it open. From the amount of blood on his face and the headache he guesses there must be a wound somewhere hidden under his hair that he decides not to touch.
The next matter is figuring out where he is. By the looks of it they brought him to another cell but after examining the length of the chain he doesn’t try to crawl over to the barred door and take a look into the hallway to figure out where exactly he is.
And with nothing else to do Heizou’s mind starts running a mile a minute. There has to be a way to somehow turn this situation around for the better. He can’t hope for help from outside. Kamisato Ayato was very clear. He’d help with the escape but inside the police station Heizou was on his own. If anything goes awry within that part of the plan he wouldn’t put himself or his people in danger over Heizou’s fuck up.
And Heizou himself currently has his hands tied quite literally. He’s never without an idea. But maybe for the first time in his life he’s at his wit’s end.
Admitting defeat has never been in his nature though. If only he could –
Approaching steps make him sit up a little straighter.
“You god damned fool.”
The displeasure in Kujou Sara’s voice feels so familiar, it’s almost as though she was berating him for an unapproved solo mission while investigating in a case and the irony of that normalcy makes Heizou smile.
“General Kujou. Nice of you to stop by.” Heizou waves at her with his bound hands.
She narrows her eyes.
“Is this funny to you?” She doesn’t let him speak. “Freeing Kaedehara? Have you lost your mind?”
Good question. Maybe he has. It doesn’t feel like it. His mind is still sharp as ever. That was not what made him take this step. He has no intention to make this easy for her.
“You were fully aware this might happen. You have no right to be upset now that it has” He shrugs. “You could have stopped it.”
The flash of guilt in her expression is surprisingly satisfying to witness.
“Shikanoin, listen –”
She stops and pinches the bridge of her nose. She seems to have made a decision when she resolutely unlocks the cell door and marches inside to crouch before Heizou.
“Don’t bullshit me. That whip-smart detective is still inside you somewhere. Don’t forget that I’m very familiar with your antics!”
Heizou laughs bitterly.
“Funny that you mention whips.”
She blinks in confusion.
“What are you talking about?”
Heizou shrugs his shoulders and has to bite back a sound when the tattered shirt slips open and rubs over the whip marks that are painting the skin of his back with streaks of torn skin. She stares at the evidence of the torture he’s been put through. Something that she herself claimed was not tolerated inside this prison.
“Who?” she asks in a tone that doesn’t mean anything good for the person in question.
Heizou gives her a tired smile.
“Does it matter? Someone I might have called a friend or at least a colleague a few days ago. Are you sure you’re still calling the shots around here, General, if you don’t even know what’s going on behind these walls?”
“I can assure you I will look into this.”
“Uh-huh, do that.”
Heizou’s legs are starting to go numb and he tries to shift into a more comfortable position.
“Stop doing that!” she snaps at him suddenly.
Heizou blinks.
“Do what?”
“This, this … “ she waves her hand in front of his face. “Being all passive and … defeated. Like you've given up. You’re smarter than that!”
“Smarter than what?”
She sighs in frustration.
“Throwing your life away like this!”
Heizou furrows his brows.
“What life?” he scoffs. “Everything that would make my life worth living was taken from me, general.”
She flinches.
“Shikanoin –” she breaks off and closes her eyes to collect herself and massages her temples. Heizou has always been good at causing her headaches. The thought makes him smile.
She opens her eyes and glares at him, then she jabs a finger against his chest.
“Let me be very clear, Shikanoin. The Commissioner is demanding execution. Kaedehara's and your's.” she says bluntly.
Oh. The words take longer to register in Heizou's brain than they should. Execution. That is …
Heizou has never thought about what his own death might look like. But he probably wouldn't have considered this option. He doesn’t know how to feel about it.
“Hey, listen to me!” she grabs his shoulders and shakes him. “You can get out of this! Say the loss of your vision was the cause for your actions. It would be an explanation why you acted out of line, but that you weren't yourself doing it. That you went insane. Which is a very real possibility. I know you aren't. You're far too stubborn to give up like that. Why aren’t you doing it now? Why aren't you fighting?”
Heizou thinks. He doesn't want to die. What she's saying makes sense.
“You think it'll work?” He's still hesitant.
She nods.
“Yes. I‘m glad I could talk some sense into you.”
“What about Kazuha?”
General Kujou gives him a look of sympathy.
“His sentence is non-negotiable. He was to be executed all along.”
Now that is an unacceptable outcome. And she claims she knows Heizou.
“So what you're suggesting is I feed everyone the lie that I've gone insane to save my ass and watch my boyfriend being executed?” he asks coldly.
“Kaedehara’s sentence is unfortunate and I hate to see someone so young and capable go but he signed his fate the moment he stole that vision.”
“See him go?”
Heizou can’t believe this. She’s talking about Kazuha’s death in such a casual manner it’s infuriating. He gives her a cold stare.
“I appreciate your concern about my well-being, General Kujou but I’m afraid I must decline. I’d rather die along with the man I love than live the life of a coward.”
And that’s when he realizes what he’s said out loud. The man he loves. And he still hasn’t said it to the one person who needs to hear it. He doesn’t even know if there will ever be the chance to tell Kazuha. At least he won’t have to live with that regret for long now, Heizou thinks, and feels terrible.
“Shikanoin, stop this foolishness!”
He can see she’s getting frustrated with him. Business as usual, he thinks bitterly.
He returns her stare unblinkingly.
“I’m glad we discussed this. Would you be so kind and set my nose before you go? Call me vain but I’d hate to die with it looking all crooked.”
She’s not gentle when she grabs his nose and pulls.
“Motherfu– ow!”
The sting makes his eyes water.
She stands and looks down on him with obvious irritation.
“I should have known your stubbornness would be the death of you one day.”
“Goodbye, general.” Heizou replies flatly. She says nothing in return, locks the cell door with an unreadable face and when Heizou watches her retreating back he almost feels bad. Maybe he should have tried to be less of a little shit.
Heizou pulls his knees against his chest and rests his chin on top of them. He would like to lean against the wall to sit a bit more comfortably but he doesn’t try with how much his back is hurting.
Execution. She didn’t say when. Not immediately it seems. Great. It leaves him time to emotionally prepare for his death.
~
Heizou must have fallen asleep at some point and wakes up from being kicked in the ribs. He instinctively curls in on himself which only causes more pain when the movement tears at the welts on his back.
“Up, traitor.”
Heizou blinks the sleepy haze away and recognizes the doushin as vaguely familiar. How fast the tables turn, he thinks. Two days ago he was the renowned detective Shikanoin Heizou, now he isn’t even deemed worthy of a name.
He stands slowly. First he’d been too out of it to feel anything but pain and then his mind was occupied with other things to pay attention to the needs of his body. It’s been at least a day since he last ate or drank something. He doesn’t feel like he could keep any food down but he’s dizzy and weak from dehydration.
He’s freed from the chains but his wrists stay tightly cuffed together, the skin already red and irritated from the chafing.
“Am I going to die?” Heizou inquires with mild curiosity.
To his discontent his question is being ignored but instead he’s being shoved out of the cell and dragged through the prison floor seemingly with a destination in mind. He recognizes the hallway now. They threw him into a cell quite far from Kazuha’s but for what reason he can’t determine.
Heizou can guess where they’re going and he’s proven right when he’s led up a flight of stairs and shoved in one of the interrogation rooms on that floor.
When they enter the man already occupying the room turns and Heizou scowls when he recognizes Kujou Takayuki.
“Shikanoin. I didn’t believe anything good would come of you without your unnatural skill but I did not expect you to fall so deeply.” he says arrogantly.
“I didn’t fall, Commissioner Kujou. I was pushed. If only you still had a detective at your disposal who could make these kinds of deductions for you. Too bad you–”
Takayuki slaps Heizou across the mouth and his lip splits. Man alive, the general just fixed his nose, another injury to his face is entirely unnecessary.
“Shut your mouth, traitor. You won’t speak unless you’re told to do so. Tie him down.”
Heizou is pushed onto a chair and his hands are cuffed to the back rest. With his arms twisted behind himself there’s an uncomfortable strain that pulls at the injuries left by the whipping.
It is odd to sit on this side of the table in the interrogation room and he lets his eyes wander through the sparsely furnished room. His gaze catches on a second chair next to his own but with considerable distance between them. Kujou Takayuki drums his fingers against the table and looks towards the door impatiently.
He’s waiting for something. Someone?
The question answers itself when the door opens and someone is shoved into the room, tripping and almost falling in the process.
Heizou’s heart skips a beat and he jerks in his chair but the restraints force him to stay put.
“Kazuha!”
He’s been crying. Kazuha’s eyes are red rimmed and his face is stained by a mixture of dirt, blood and likely tears. Right, he recalls Kazuha was crying when they were in his cell together. That is Heizou’s blood. Because apart from a few scabbed-over scratches and bruises that have faded into an ugly yellow shade Kazuha is miraculously uninjured.
“Heizou?” Kazuha’s eyes go wide when he notices him. “Heizou, are you o–”
His words are cut off by a pained wheeze when he's punched in the diaphragm.
Heizou yanks at his restraints.
“Don’t touch him!” he snarls.
“Quiet!” Kujou Takayuki’s sharp voice echoes through the room. “keep your mouth shut, both of you. Restrain Kaedehara and we shall begin now that everyone is here.”
Kazuha throws worried glances at Heizou while he’s shoved onto the second chair.
Are you okay, his eyes seem to say. Heizou stares back. No, are you? Kazuha’s lips quiver. Of course he isn’t. Heizou notices that they keep Kazuhua’s arms in front of him, the handcuffs attached to a ring and his hands strangely on display on the table top. He furrows his brows. Odd.
“Shikanoin, you were caught trying to free the criminal Keadehara Kazuha who was arrested for the crime of stealing a confiscated vision and an active attempt to work against the Shogun’s ideal of eternity. He’s been found guilty under the regulations of the Vision Hunt Decree and is awaiting his execution.”
Kazuha flinches at the words but not because they come as a surprise. It’s more the shock of having it spelled out so clearly.
“My adoptive daughter came to speak to me on your behalf, claiming your mind and judgment has been clouded by the loss of your vision. She asked me to reconsider the accusations against you because you weren’t yourself while doing it.” the commissioner continues and observes Heizou with a cold stare.
Fucking hell. Kujou Sara really went there. Knowing full well that it was against Heizou’s wishes. And she called him stubborn. In some twisted way she seems to care about him enough to want to keep him around.
Before Heizou can say anything Kujou Takayuki places his hands on the table and leans into Heizous’s space.
“I don’t buy it. See, the problem here is that this can’t be confirmed or denied with certainty. How do I determine the state of your mind, hm? Especially if this matter requires a swift decision and punishment. There is no time for a full psychological evaluation. Not that I am interested in one. Unfortunately the loss of a vision comes with these side effects, so it is a very real possibility that you have indeed gone insane. However, if there was proof that you were planning to help Keadehara all along or in the past the current circumstances don’t matter.”
Heizou says nothing, just listens and doesn’t really understand what Takayuki is getting at. What exactly does he want from Heizou?
“What kind of proof?” he inquires.
The commissioner scowls and then focuses his gaze on Kazuha.
“Whatever ugly injury you’re hiding underneath those bandages, let’s make sure your other hand matches.”
He gives the Tenryou guards that never left the room and are still hovering behind them a curt nod and before either Heizou ore Kazuha grasp what is about to happen, one steps forward grips Kazuha’s pinky finger and bends it in an unnatural angle until it snaps with a sickening sound.
Kazuha screams. It’s only a short cry before he bites it back and it ends in a choked off gasp. Heizou’s mouth has dropped open in disbelief and shock and he’s frozen for a moment. He snaps out of it.
“What are you doing?”
Heizou is panicking a little. Because he still doesn’t know what is expected of him and they’re hurting Kazuha because of him.
“Shikanoin, did you plan this foolish breakout the moment you heard of his arrest? Your vision wasn't taken until two days after.”
“What?”
“A bit slow are you? It seems you need a bit more motivation to talk.”
Another of Kazuha’s fingers snaps when it’s ruthlessly twisted. He’s hunched over and Heizou can’t see his face but by the whimper he lets out Heizou can tell he’s crying.
“Stop! Stop hurting him! If you have some kind of problem with me, take it out on me but leave Kazuha out of it!”
There’s a cruel smile on Takayukis lips.
“Oh but this is so much more effective. Let’s try again, shall we? Detective Shikanoin, did you help Kaedehara escape from Inazuma City after the duel with a stolen vision?”
“Don’t say anything, Heizou, they want –ahh!”
Heizou is forced to watch as Kazuha’s index finger is brutally snapped like a twig and his cry turns into a sob.
“Anything you want to tell me, Shikanoin? Or we can keep going. Your boyfriend has more fingers.”
It finally registers in Heizou’s brain that this is not about proof, about truth, at all. Takayuki wants a confession. One that makes them partners in crime and Heizou a traitor that has deceived the Shogunate for months, ever since the day Kazuha had to go on the run.
The guards move again, hold Kazuhas hand steady by the wrist and Heizou can’t take it. If it was him he’d readily endure more, just out of spite. But it isn’t him. Kazuha is suffering as long as Heizou doesn’t say what Takayuki wants to hear. And Heizou folds immediately after that registers.
“No! Stop.”
Commissioner Kujou holds up his hand and the guards take their hands off Kazuha.
“Heizou, please.”
Kazuha is fully crying now. His shoulders are shaking and the fresh tears leave silvery traces on his dirty skin.
“Don’t do this. Don’t worry about me. Please, live!”
“Shikanoin?”
Heizou closes his eyes, breathes and tries to tune out Kazuha’s sobs. He knows he’s hurting him in a whole different way, but he can’t take it anymore.He opens his eyes and meets Takayuki’s cold stare.
“Yes. I did help my boyfriend escape and I lied about it when I was questioned. And I made the plan to break Kazuha out before my vision was even taken. I am completely sane, my choices were not influenced by the loss of my vision.”
“Heizou …”
There is so much pain in Kazuha’s voice that Heizou is almost scared to look at him. But he does and his heart squeezes when their eyes meet. Even broken, grieving and in pain Kazuha still has that ethereal beauty that has left Heizou breathless since the first time they met.
“It’s okay.”
The smile tears at the cut in his lip and it tastes of blood and sadness.
“Shikanoin Heizou, you’re found guilty of treason and are hereby sentenced to death by execution.”
There’s only white noise in Heizou’s ears, his mind reeling and going quiet at the same time. It’s a sob that pulls him out of it.
“Why?”
Suddenly there’s no one else in the room with them. It’s just Heizou and Kazuha, sitting so close to each other and yet out of reach. It’s so easy then.
“Because I love you.”
~
Kazuha is so stunned he stops shaking.
“You…you love me?”
“I do! I’ve loved you this whole time. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I was a coward, I just–”
“I love you too.” Kazuha interrupts his rambling. “But that is exactly why … I don’t want this for you. Why would you…you could live!”
“I don’t want to live a life that doesn’t have you in it. I regret that I didn’t go with you when you fled. I can go with you this time. I’m not regretting this.”
Kazuha opens his mouth to say more but they are rudely pulled out of their own world by Kujou Takayuki’s impatient voice.
“That’s enough! Bring them outside. The Shogun awaits.”
A guard detaches Heizou’s handcuffs from the chair and hauls him up and toward the door. He cranes his neck to see the same happening to Kazuha. His eyes are wide with shock and Heizou’s control over his emotions slips. It’s too soon, he’d thought there would be more time.
“W-what? Right now?” Heizou stumbles over the words. He’s had the whole night to prepare for this. He thought he was. But now he realizes he isn’t ready. He hasn’t even said goodbye.
“Give us a moment.”
“No, the Shogun –”
“A fucking moment!”
“Fine. Be quick about it!.”
A shove between the shoulder blades makes Kazuha stumble towards Heizou and he catches himself with his uninjured hand on Heizou’s chest. He wants to hold Kazuha so badly. Have him in his arms one more time. But he can’t. Because his hands are still bound behind his back. He rests his forehead against Kazuha’s.
“I tried. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you... Us.”
Kazuha gently places his hand on Heizou’s cheek.
“None of this is your fault. You did all you could and more. You came back for me even after all this time.”
“I would do it again. Always,”
“I know. Thank you for that.”
Heizou doesn’t deserve thanks. He didn’t even succeed. He wants to tell Kazuha but is silenced by warm lips that are pressing a gentle kiss on his mouth. When Kazuha pulls back and looks at him his eyes are glassy again. Heizou also feels tears prick at the corners of his eyes. Damn it. He doesn’t want to cry.
“I love you Heizou. I love you so much.”
When the tears spill over, Kazuha pulls his face closer and crashes his mouth back on Heizou’s. With his arms bound all he can do to feel more connected is open his mouth and let Kazuha in. And Kazuha takes. It feels like he want’s to devour Heizou whole. Kazuha’s tongue explores his mouth as though he wants to ingrain the feel of it forever. Under normal circumstances Heizou would be uncomfortable having an audience while being kissed like that.
But these are hardly normal circumstances and Heizou doesn’t care. He doesn’t want this kiss that tastes of salty tears and desperation to end. Because it would mean returning to a reality where they are both going to die.
But the kiss ends. It ends by being brutally torn away from each other.
“That’s enough!” Commissioner Kujou snarls. “You’re stalling and we can’t keep the Shogun waiting.”
“No! Wait, Let us say goodbye!” Kazuha sounds frantic.
“You’ve had your time, Kaedehara. You could have said goodbye instead of this shameful display of affection” Takayuki says with a sneer.
Heizou wants to tell the Commissioner to fuck off. He doesn't get the chance when he’s yanked along so roughly he’s tripping over his own feet, Kazuha somewhere behind him, probably being treated the same way. Heizou can hear him plead still.
The frigid early morning air makes Heizou shiver when they are outside. He was never given other clothes and his ripped shirt is almost slipping off his shoulders, leaving half of his upper body exposed.
The streets of Inazuma City are never empty no matter what time of day it is. And the people they encounter don’t seem to want to miss the spectacle that is going to be the execution of a known criminal and the former renowned detective who has fallen from grace.
Heizou feels even more naked than he already is under the curious glances. He’d thought he would be less affected but the stares and the whispers are humiliating.
They’re pushed to their knees side by side in the middle of the square in front of the statue that has both their visions on it. There’s movement at the top of the stairs leading up to Tenshukaku and the Shogun steps through the gate. She rarely shows herself to the general public and Heizou is taken aback by how blank her face looks. Void of any emotions like she wasn’t a living breathing being at all. Her steps are unhurried as she walks toward them.
“Heizou?”
He turns his head to look at Kazuha. There are silent tears on his face.
“I’m scared.”
Heizou swallows.
“Me too.”
He wants to reach out, touch Kazuha one last time but his bound hands make it impossible.
He smiles faintly.
“I’ll be there with you.”
Purple light flickers over Kazuha’s face. Heizou doesn’t turn his head and instead watches the Shogun call upon the Musou no Hitotachi reflected in Kazuha’s eyes.
He’s just glad one strike of her sword will be powerful enough to kill them both.
“I love you, Kazu.”
Heizou doesn’t close his eyes. He wants Kazuha to be the last thing he ever sees.
Someone leaps into the middle of the square, placing themselves between them and the Shogun. Heizou has never seen them before. Their clothes look foreign and he can only see their back. They have pale golden hair, the colour of starlight and even though they are slender and almost delicate looking compared to the Shogun, they radiate a strange kind of power and the way they’re holding their sword speaks of the experience of a skilled fighter.
Guards charge at them but they twist around halfway, taking them out with the power of electro emanating from their outstretched hand.
The Shogun’s focus has shifted, now fixed on the mysterious opponent that has dared to step in her way.
Too many things happen at once to keep track of it. Lightning strikes where the newcomer is standing and when the blinding light subsides they are lying on the ground unconscious. A strange floating creature rushes over, shaking them and trying to wake them up and talking in a high-pitched voice.
The Shogun approaches them, sword in hand and when she raises it Heizou decides that no one is going to die today. No one is paying attention to them anymore and he uses the opportunity to shuffle forward and cut the restraints that bind his wrist together on the dropped polearm next to one of the unconscious guards. The ropes give and he shakes off the remains and with the same movement, taking a hold of the polearm and putting all his body’s strength in throwing it right at the Shogun. She deflects the deadly weapon with her blade but it’s enough of a distraction for Heizou to scramble to his feet and sprint over to the mysterious outlander he owes his life to.
They’re waking up and the fairy-like creature is tugging on them to get them off the ground. Heizou bends down, places their arm around his shoulders and hoists them up. They’re walking but leaning heavily on him. He can’t support another person.
“Kazuha! Get up!” he yells at him because he’s still kneeling and watching the scene unfold with shocked, wide eyes.
It spurs Kazuha into action and he struggles to his feet, his still bound hands making it hard to balance but then he’s running with them towards the edge of the square.
Heizou doesn’t allow himself to think about the fact that they could plummet to their death if they time the jump wrong. He tightens his grip around the stranger and leaps.
His stomach swoops when they are weightless for a second before the impact on the other side makes his knees buckle and he lands in a heap with the outlander. They’re fully conscious now and it’s their turn to help Heizou to his feet.
“Follow me!”
Heizou turns to look for Kazuha and finds him panting hard, crouching on the ground where the jump landed him. Heizou tugs him up and then they’re running after the stranger and their companion. Away from danger. From death.
And the most important part is that they’re doing it together.
~
Heizou hadn’t expected to end up in the teahouse again. The original plan had been to smuggle them off Narukami and join the rebels on Watatsumi Island. He also hadn’t expected to have to face Kamisato Ayato after he fucked up so badly. The Yashiro Commissioner looks like he wants to strangle him.
Now that he’s so narrowly escaped death he is quite fond of the thought of living a little longer. It’s a good thing Kazuha loves him and convinced Ayato not to murder Heizou as soon as he set foot into Komore Teahouse.
Kazuha loves him. They are safe for the moment, the teahouse a place where the other Commissions have no power. Finally after all this time they are together, have time and are not actively being tortured, threatened or killed.
A situation that Heizou had given up on happening.
He’s missed Kazuha. He’s missed him so terribly and having him back this time for good is doing things to his head. To his body.
And Kazuha doesn’t fare any better.
Their injuries had been taken care of. Kazuha’s fingers are bandaged and Heizou’s wounds cleaned and treated with ointment.
The Traveler had only briefly stayed at the teahouse and already continued their journey to meet up with the Watatsumi rebels. Ayato had gone out to deal with some business.
They’re alone and starved for each other.
Kazuha looks a little high when they move from the uncomfortable spot where Heizou had him pressed against the door and was kissing him breathless.
These little noises he makes are driving him crazy. Heizou wants to hear more of them. He slides one hand down Kazuha’s spine, pulls him closer and is rewarded with a delicious moan.
He smirks into Kazuha’s mouth, loving it that he can drag these reactions out of him.
Heizou yelps when Kazuha manages to somehow gently kick his legs out from under him and he falls on his ass on the futon and Kazuha crawls onto his lap. He’s tugging Heizou’s head back with his fingers buried tightly into his hair and starts kissing down his throat.
It’s Heizou’s turn to moan and Kazuha places a hand on his chest to push him down.
Heizou winces when the still raw welts on his back make contact with the futon and Kazuha pulls back immediately.
“I’m sorry. You’re hurt. I got carried away.”
Heizou doesn’t want an interruption.
“It’s fine, I don’t mi–”
“It’s not fine. Stop saying that. Here, let me”
Kazuha flips them until he’s lying on his back with Heizou straddling his hips.
“There, that’s better.” He says with a smile.
He’s so considerate. Heizou loves him so much. He tells Kazuha.
“Show me” Kazuha demands, “show me how much you love me.”
He rolls his hips up and Heizou gasps.
“Only if you do the same."
"Deal."