The two exchanged a look of confusion as if to ask, 'Who could that be?' Ayato walked to the door casually, although scowling. He opened it widely, standing front of it so that if whoever it was wanted to come inside, they would have to go through him.
"Huh?" Ayato grunted as the familiar white-haired man stood significantly taller than him. "Why're you here?"
Tatara's narrow red irises flicked towards Anri before focusing on Ayato once again. "Come out here. We need to speak privately." He stated demandingly.
"Why can't Anri hear? She's in Aogiri now."
"She's not an executive like you. Besides, you two seem to be getting too close."
The bluenette clicked his tongue. "That's something coming from the one who organized us living together. And I'm positive she's trustworthy, so it shouldn't matter that she's here."
"Do as you're told." Tatara ordered.
The younger boy sighed deeply and turned back to the girl, almost as though he was seeking her approval.
So, she just smiled forcefully and lied, "I don't really care. Go ahead."
Ayato followed the superior out of the door, closing it behind him. However, Anri was left with an unsettling feeling. Despite her encouragement, she quietly waited at the door, pressing her ear to the white wood to listen.
"You two have gotten close." Tatara observed again in a more hushed voice.
"We live together, what would you expect?" Ayato sneered bitterly.
"She's made you soft."
"Not really." He defended, although he knew it to be true.
"I've never heard you seek approval from anyone." The white-haired man glanced towards the door again. "You just asked for hers."
"No. I was just concerned for how she would take us talking privately." Ayato huffed.
"That was seeking her approval."
"Whatever." He scoffed. "Why did you need to talk to me?"
Tatara pulled a voice recorder from one of the inside pockets of his coat. Without a word, he played it.
The device emitted a fuzzy noise as if it was muffled as it recorded. A wet cough was heard as a closer voice grunted, "Say it."
Ayato's eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the voice as belonging to the scum that terrorized Anri.
A few almost silent moments passed as the boy listened to the recording with a rapidly pounding heart.
Anri's voice then said, through a muddled throat and surely tears, "I-I'll... join."
The recording ended there. Ayato swallowed deeply as he frantically tried to come up with a way to get her out of the mess she was in. He replayed the previous night when she repeatedly told him that whatever she said or did, she was forced. But he knew it would take a lot to get the superiors to believe them.
"Were you aware of this?" Tatara asked threateningly.
"Sort of." Ayato sighed.
"That's not an appropriate answer."
"I know bits of what happened. I'm the one who saved her from that situation, and you can clearly hear that she was in pain in the recording, so you can assume she had been forced." The boy explained.
"How are you so sure?" The older man narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Ayato sighed and folded his arms over his chest. "Of everyone in Aogiri, I'm the one who knows her best. We have no freaking reason to not trust her. She was attacked last night, and that's it. She has no intent to betray us." He then returned the glare and scowled. "Where the hell did you get that recording anyway? I killed that guy myself."
"Don't change the subject. I have my sources." He stated sternly. "Why should I believe you? This is solid proof."
"Because I trust her." The bluenette didn't hesitate to answer confidently. "I know how traumatized she was anyway."
"You're too gentle with her. What if she truly had betrayed us?"
"She would never do that purposefully or willingly."
"She's only been around for a few weeks. We don't know that."
"I know that. I'm not telling you to trust her; I'm telling you to trust me."
Tatara's red orbs glared into Ayato's stern blue eyes. Finally, he sighed. "Fine. I can't say that I do not trust you."
A wave of relief flooded over the boy.
"But," Tatara began again and Ayato tensed. "She needs to be with someone who will not be too soft to her. She needs to be with someone who won't treat her as an equal."
"What are you saying?" The bluenette grunted.
"She will be put under Eto's supervision."
Ayato glared at him.
"Eto will be here to retrieve her tonight."
"I'm the one who was forced to be with her in the beginning. This is not the best idea of how to deal with the situation, which, clearly she was forced and not saying this through free will."
Tatara sighed irritably. "I don't see why you're so adamant about keeping her around. You said that she would be an 'inconvenience' and through a childish fit when we told you that you had to look after her. Now, your attitude has completely changed."
"Well, the circumstances have changed." The boy huffed. "And I'm the only one who trusts her right now."
"Whatever." Tatara brushed off Ayato's persistence. "Prepare her to leave for Eto's place."
The boy opened his mouth to say something -- anything -- to keep Aogiri from taking Anri away from him, but he was at a loss for words. He clicked his tongue and tried to wipe the conflicted expression from his face.
He sighed as Tatara left him to return to the girl and explain what was going on. He pushed the door open, causing the girl to release a yelp as she fell backwards.
Ayato blinked, realizing that she had been at the door throughout the entire conversation, listening to every word.
So, he sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "You heard everything, right?"
She nodded slowly, looking at the ground instead of him as she stood.
"So, you know that you're leaving tonight?" He hummed in a low voice.
She nodded again, trying desperately to avoid his eyes so she would not be vulnerable.
"Are you okay with that?"
"Yeah. It'll be fine. Besides, Eto's a girl, too." She forced herself to smile, facing him with a painfully fake expression.
"Then why are you crying?"
Anri blinked rapidly, not noticing that the salty droplets were falling from her eyes. "I'm not crying."
He placed his index finger under her eyelid, wiping away the water. "You are."
"O-oh..." She muttered and looked at the floor, realizing the small ellipses that bubbled over the wood.
He lifted her chin with his finger, forcing her to meet his gentle blue gaze. "Considering the circumstances, this is a weird reaction. But I don't want you to leave either."
"This did turn out pretty strangely." She laughed, and then took a step back. "But it's not changing, so I should start packing."
"Right." He agreed with a sad tone in his voice.
The girl couldn't help but feel her heart flutter when she heard that he was actually upset with her leaving. Perhaps, he had gotten just as close to her as she had to him. To her, they had become partners, but were now being forced apart. Her new "supervisor" surely wouldn't care about her as much as he did, although he hesitated to show it openly.
Hours later, a light knock echoed through the otherwise silent apartment. Ayato peered through the peep-hole and sighed deeply. "It's her." He muttered. "Are you ready?"
"Almost." She stated before approaching him confidently and wrapping her arms around his torso.
He tensed at the sudden contact, blinking rapidly as he calmed his surprise. But, he soon relaxed and hugged her shoulders. It wasn't spoken out loud, but the embrace clearly meant "I will miss you."
Without a further word, Ayato released her and went to the bedroom to retrieve her single box of belongings as she opened the door for Eto.
As he closed the door, Anri made sure to smile, assuring him that she was 'okay,' even though they both knew that neither one of them was 'okay.'
Eto sighed, wrapped entirely in bandages and draped in a purple coat. "You must be something special if you managed to break through to that brat."
The younger girl giggled lightly. "I guess so."
++++++++
Eto's own apartment-like home was also within the Aogiri headquarters. As soon as they entered, she pulled off her coat and unwrapped the bandages on her body, revealing that she really was a pretty woman with her layered green locks, green eyes, and smooth skin.
She dismissed Anri to the couch, where she would sleep, and left her to unpack.
She unfolded the box, and laying on top of her own belongings was a neatly folded sweatshirt. It clearly was much too large for her own body, but it was one she liked to wear, and one she wore often. It was Ayato's, but something he had secretly sent with her.
She pulled it close to herchest, clutching it so that it wouldn't disappear before her as she murmured."You stupid, selfless, kind, short brat."