Being a gokusotsu means not knowing death. But the pain is still there. The more painful it gets, the more a person wishes for their death.
It wasn't a good thing for Tagami.
He was sure about Hirahara being his usual self this morning. He was loud and obnoxious as usual, nothing was different.
But now, he felt Hirahara's strong hands gripping his windpipe. Tagami was laying down on the ground, with Hirahara sitting atop of him. The pair of Hirahara's yellow eyes gazed intently, watching Tagami's futile struggles.
Hirahara laughed ecstatically, his body shivered in carnal bloodlust. His monstrous, sharp teeth were showing.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ISN'T IT FUN, TAGAMIIIIIIIII?"
Tagami coughed, desperately clawing Hirahara's tight grip with his nails. He thrashed, kicked, but to no avail.
"If it's over too quickly, it'll be boooooring," Hirahara cackled, his talons sunk deep into Tagami's neck. Even Tagami felt the blood leaking down from his flesh. The grip was getting stronger, he could hear his bones were cracking quite loudly.
Tagami's mouth flapped open like a fish, gasping for air. His vision was blurring, from about to lose his consciousness. He even ripped one of Hirahara's sleeves from his struggles.
Hirahara stopped laughing abruptly. He slowly reaching out to Tagami's mouth with his fingers, tracing a line on the latter's lips. His gesture was too gentle for a brash, hot-headed man like him.
In an unexpected moment, he pulled out Tagami's tongue. Fresh blood was sprayed everywhere.
Tagami let out an animalistic scream. He was nearly passed out from the overwhelming pain, but Hirahara slapped his jaw to keep him awake. The yellow-eyed man exploded in a fit of mad laughter.
"YOU CAN'T SLEEP NOW, DEAR! STAY WITH ME! THE FUN IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!"
Hirahara licked Tagami's severed tongue lustfully. He then spat the blood onto Tagami's face.
"I'M GONNA RIP YOU APART, TAGAMI! SLOOOOOOOOOWLY AND LOVINGLY!"
Their mission for the night was a difficult one. Rokkaku sent a team of four to investigate and capture a spirit haunting an abandoned building. The members of said team were Tagami, Hirahara, Saeki, and Kirishima.
The target was a sly, cunning evil spirit. Even its appearance and powers were unknown. With such miniscule information, the team's movements were limited.
"Tch, what a pain in the ass," Tagami clicked his tongue, "we didn't even know what we're facing right now! What the heck?"
"Indeed, with this incomplete information, we can't do much," Saeki bit his lip, "for now, let's do what we can. We should track down our target first."
"But how are we going to track it?" Tagami yawned. He wasn't particularly excited about the current mission. He outright hated this type of mission.
"We can feel the aura surrounding this place," Kirishima spoke, calmly walked inside the building, "if the aura changes, or the temperature drops, there must be something nearby."
"That's right. We can feel the disturbance within the range of this area," Saeki nodded in approval, "however, we need to split up. To hasten our search, you know."
"I'm going to the second floor with Saeki," Kirishima stepped on a decaying wooden stairs, "Tagami, you can search the first floor with Hirahara."
"Yaaaaay, searching together with Tagami!" the yellow-eyed man glomped into his shorter, black-haired partner in joy.
"Please, don't fall asleep in the middle of the mission again, Tagami," Saeki smiled bitterly, before ascending the stairs together with Kirishima.
Him again, Tagami grimly thought to himself. It wasn't that he hates Hirahara. Afterall, they were an item since their first time joining the gokusotsus. However, Hirahara was acting strange. Tagami wasn't a brilliant person like Saeki, but he knows when is the right time to trust his gut feelings.
"What the heck is wrong with you?" the black-haired gokusotsu asked, "you are awfully quiet today."
"Eeeeeh? Am I?" Hirahara innocently questioned back, swinging his shovel like a child, "I'm your usual Hirahara, you know? You know?"
"You're gross," Tagami turned his back, "whatever. Just focus to find the creature. I wanna go home and sleep."
"You sure do love to sleep, eh, Tagami?" Hirahara snickered, "I wonder, have you been sleeping around all the time, with somebody else..."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Tagami hissed, "I like to sleep alone─"
In a sudden, Hirahara snatched his partner's arms, pinning him on the ground. Their shovel and pickaxe were slamming down the floor.
"Wanna sleep with me?" Hirahara grinned audaciously, "we can warm our bodies together, right? Right?"
Tagami struggled himself to break free, but it was futile. Hirahara was way more stronger than him.
"Fuck you. Stop joking, you bastard─"
Tagami's amber-colored eyes widened in horror. He saw a silver, thin thread hanging from Hirahara's head. At the end of the thread, there was a mass of shadow, grinning its teeth within the darkness.
"KIRISHIMA! SAE─"
"Shuuuuuush. Not so loud."
Hirahara covered Tagami's mouth, blocking his screaming. A malicious grin painted across his face.
"Let's have fun, just the two of us. Okaaaaaaay? Taaaaa-gaaaaaa-miiiiiiiii?"
Hirahara is a fickle one.
Tagami knows it so well. Even he cannot understand his friend completely.
Hirahara can change, from a childish boy to a horrifying enforcer in a second. His unpredictability is that of a weather. He's even more random than weather, according to Tagami.
He laughs all the time, but there were some unexpected incidents. He nearly destroyed Kirishima's head for waking him up in the middle of his nap. He also snapped Saeki's arms for accidentally ticking him off during a mission. Saeki reluctantly took a break from his piano lessons afterwards.
He can change...from a friendly, boisterous ally to a cold-blooded, psychotic demon in an instant.
And this is why, no one can fully understand him.
Even so, Tagami still chooses to stay beside him.
Because Hirahara was all alone.
"Aaaaah...what a waste."
Tagami's neck was broken. It was twisted in a horrid, unnatural angle. However, he was still alive. As a gokusotsu, it is impossible for him to die.
A shrill cough came out of Tagami's bent throat. A pool of blood gurgled inside his mouth. Witnessing his reaction, Hirahara laughed harder.
"WHaaaaT's the MAtTeR? CaT gOt yOur ToNGuE?!"
Hirahara hysterically cackled, jabbing his shovel on Tagami's torso. A portion of flesh ripped out of Tagami's body, revealing his ribcages.
"AHaHahAHahaHA! LOOK! TaGaMiiii! YoUR GuTs LooKs DELicioUs!"
Tagami's helpless body was bathed entirely in blood. His entrails and inner organs were scattered on the floor.
"LeT me BoRroW yOur PicKaXE. It'LL bE FuN!" Hirahara's voice was distorted.
Without any hesitation, he jammed the tip of Tagami's pickaxe to its owner's head. Gleefully, he swung the weapon right into Tagami's face.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HOW'S THAT?! DOES IT HUUUUUUUURT?! TAAAAAAGAMIIIIIIIIII?!"
Not before long, Kirishima and Saeki arrived at the scene. Saeki was horrified, his face went pale.
"I see," Kirishima pulled out his sword, "it's our target. It's controlling Hirahara."
Saeki noticed a thread hanging from the roof, connected to Hirahara's head. He quickly drew his guns and shot multiple times. The thread snapped, and Hirahara was falling down to the floor, unconscious. The shadow came out of its hiding, now attacking Kirishima.
The enemy was no match for Kirishima's sword. It was writhing in pain after being sliced into two, but it was still alive.
"Lord Enma shall judge you for the trouble you've caused," the blue-eyed gokusotsu sheathed his sword.
Saeki rushed to Hirahara and Tagami's side, worrying over his friends' safety.
"Tagami! Oh, no. This is horrible," he stuttered, "are you okay? Can you hear me?"
A small, almost quiet voice came out of Tagami's mouth. He couldn't speak clearly, because of his tongue being ripped out.
"...it...huwwwts..."
Kirishima and Saeki sighed in relief.
Tagami was admitted to the Gokuto's hospital right after the mission ended. His injuries were too severe for his own healing abilities to cover with. He passed out from the intense pain when he was taken by Kirishima and Saeki to the hospital.
Few days later, he woke up and found that his injuries were healing slowly. His tongue was already grown.
Someone was sitting on his bedside. It was Hirahara, tearfully yelling at him when he regained consciousness.
"TAGAMIIIIIII!"
"Shut up, you're too loud," the black-haired man grumbled.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, Tagamiiiii!" Hirahara cried, "I was being controlled by our target, wasn't it?! I didn't mean to hurt you like this! Really!"
Hirahara grabbed his partner's hand. He was shaking the entire time, crying and sobbing in regret.
"Yeah, yeah. Just shut up and let me sleep in peace already."
"But, you're hurt! I...I want to ease your pain, even if it's a little! So, so...!"
"I told you to shut up."
Tagami held Hirahara's shaking hand back, smiled bitterly.
"I'm so glad to see you again. I thought...you were gone, at that moment. You were so different, unlike the usual you."
"Tagami...I'm so sorry..."
"Yeah, right."
"I'm so sor─"
Hirahara's words were cut off. It was Tagami's tongue, inside his mouth. Among the heat from Tagami's breath, he heard a sarcastic tone playing nearby his ears.
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"