Title: Doze
Written: April 10 2018
Characters: Renzou Shima, Yukio Okumura
Summary: Renzou attempts to find Yukio on the Dominis Liminis. Spoilers for chapter 97.
"Aw man!"
Renzou walked down the corridor, slumped over his K'rik. He groaned, his shoulders sore from "training". His lower back ached painfully, since Lund kicked him right in the freakin' kidney.
"Training" his ass. Lund and Strom just liked to beat him up, that's all. And Boss was totally okay with it! Even as he pleaded with her, with his patented Shima puppy dog eyes, she brushed him aside like dryer lint on her immaculate clothes.
"Renzou, you need to apply yourself more diligently, unless you want to die."
The memory ran through his head for the sixth time. Goddammit, really, brain? He'd become a spy to avoid getting tied down with responsibilities and family. He didn't need to think about these things. But for some reason, it kept coming back to him.
Want to die? He groaned again, leaning into his K'rik, the one possession from Myou Dha still with him. Nag, nag, nag, Juu-nii. How are you still doing that when you're hundreds of miles away, you jerk!
He stopped a moment to check over the commons area. Oh come on! Not here either?
Ever since Boss's absolutely lame idea to make him watch Teach, he'd had to track his movements to find where he was. That was easy when he was working, but every few days Teach had a habit of dozing off in the most inaccessible areas of the Dominis Lickety-split or whatever the heck it was called. Goddammit Teach, you have your own quarters on the ship, just use it already!
Aww, why'd he have to joke about Teach getting hangry on the first day? Boss had taken it as him volunteering for the job when he didn't want it at all. Honestly, he didn't want to be anywhere near Teach. The guy had always been stodgy and uptight, and had one heck of a mean streak. But on reflection, he never expected him to go that far. What he did to Rin crossed a line.
Renzou bowed his head as he passed personnel in the corridor, hiding an uncharacteristic serious expression.
Rin was okay, wasn't he? He'd fought him before and knew firsthand how outright resilient Rin could be. But Rin was clutching his chest and having pain like he'd never seen him have before, and Teach… no, Okumura Yukio had talked about them both having a one-in-a-million chance of surviving.
Renzou was no stranger to betrayal. It'd gotten to the point of a joke between him, Koneko and Bon since he'd done so frequently. But because they were so used to it, they all had a sense for when each other was lying or truthful. But between Rin and Teach, he wasn't sure really whether he'd heard a truth or a lie.
Rin's okay, he told himself. He's gotta be. Bon and Koneko were probably doing their best to help him. He smiled at that. They were good guys to the core.
His cheerful façade back in action, he made his way through the Informatics Division cubicles. The lighting was dark, almost dreary, but it didn't bother the folks working here. They stared at their LCD screens, as new information about the world came pouring in. Maybe he could ask them how Rin and the others were doing?
Before he could consider it, he bumped into an office drone that was rounding a turn with a full cup of coffee. The coffee drenched both their shirts. The tiny gaunt man glared up at him, cheeks scrunched in anger, evidently blaming him for the spill. "Sorry," Shima immediately apologized, but the man scowled and brushed by him, more interested in returning to his evidently important task.
Welp. That ruled out asking them for a favor. Talk about no sense of humor, let alone politeness.
Renzou continued his impossible search, slowly making his way back to the main hallway. The labs? He doubted it. Teach avoided the area for the entire time he was here. Commissary? That'd be a hoot, Teach actually remembering to eat.
He was just about to give up when his eye caught something at the edge of his vision. Was that-?
On his right was a small rest area, just barely out of view of the cube farm he'd passed. The lights were off, but he could've sworn he'd seen something. He started to backtrack, seeing a sofa and chair turned away from the door, presumably for privacy reasons.
As he got closer, he recognized a familiar dark-black curled tail hanging over the back of the sofa.
Rin?!
Renzou drew his K'rik in a defensive stance. How could Rin get here? He couldn't possibly have gotten onboard without being detected! Like, Bon and Koneko could do it, but Rin would've raised a ruckus by now. Unless Bon and Koneko were here too?
Renzou cautiously approached the sofa, sweat-beads on his forehead. Rin wouldn't be too mad right? Rin's a nice guy. He wasn't gonna hold a grudge like his brother, right?!
The tail suddenly twitched in front of him and Renzou seized up in terror. The pathetic begging and pleading ran through his head. He closed his eyes, smiling his "please forgive me" smile. Rin, buddy, it's not what it looks like. He crept towards the room, remarkably stealthy for someone nervewracked and ready to beg for his life. Rin, pal, I'm super sorry about last time, I swear I didn't know that'd happen. He opened his eyes, about to defend his role in everything and-
Renzou nearly dropped his K'rik.
Wait.
WHAT?!
That wasn't Rin.
That was Teach, fast asleep and looking even less human than Renzou remembered. His back was turned towards him, sleeping lengthwise on the sofa and drooling on the pillow. Even though he couldn't really see his face, Renzou could definitely see the telltale (hehe) demonic traits: pointed ears, slight fangs, and obviously that tail.
Huh. Renzou had always wondered if Teach and Rin were really twins, since they looked and acted so different. But right now, they resembled each other more than ever.
Renzou noticed the folded up glasses, neatly oriented to parallel the table's edge. Go fig. Teach's obsessive-compulsive tendencies would never change. Somewhat annoyed at the surprise, Renzou deliberately knocked the glasses slightly ajar.
Winded and left kidney aching like hell, Renzou slogged over to the chair on the other side of the table. He didn't bother to silence the jangling of the K'rik as he propped it on the wall. By his estimates, Teach hadn't slept for three days. Whenever that happened, Teach would be out like a light. That's what Teach did. Work for two or three days straight, then find a random new place to sleep. If Renzou were given to paranoia, he'd think that Teach was doing this on purpose to mess with him. At least this room had another chair. A really comfy one, actually. With the lights dimmed and fatigue taking over, he might actually doze off here too.
He'd managed to drift to sleep when he awoke to a loud dull thud. He whinged at the sound, trying to ignore it, thinking it was some plane on the landing strip above. But he heard it again, and again. He wiped the sleep from his eyes groggily to see Yukio still asleep across the room, but twitching and shaking. The tail hit the ground with surprising force, making that dull thud noise again.
Is he having a nightmare? Curious, Renzou got out of the chair to get a closer look. Yukio hadn't moved much, but was now clutching one of the sofa cushions. His jaw was also clenched. The patch over his left eye had slightly slipped down. Renzou blinked in surprise, able to see underneath. So Teach's left eye wasn't damaged at all? But…
A slight glint of bright blue made Renzou dart back to his side of the room quickly. It might've been a trick of his eye, but he was not gonna risk getting charbroiled. He was already out of the loop when it came to Teach. While Renzou was off getting used as practice target by Boss, Teach had a different program. Renzou had no intention of prying. He only knew that Toudou-san had a personal involvement in it. That was enough to skeeve him out of asking questions.
Renzou settled back into his comfy chair - seriously, was this the one comfy chair on the entire Dominis Lillillis? – and watched Yukio, ready to bolt at the first sign of blue flames. His restless ex-teacher eventually woke up with a start and immediately noticed Renzou, narrowing his uncovered eye in his direction.
Renzou said nothing, just keeping his usual cheerful expression. He and Teach had done this routine many times, so it wasn't exactly a surprise.
Teach slowly sat up on the couch, going for his glasses. He stretched further to grab them, evidently not noticing they'd been moved.
Wow. Teach must be really out of it.
"Y'know, you were having one heck of a nightmare," said Renzou.
Yukio avoided meeting his gaze, repositioning the patch back in place firmly over his left eye.
"What was it about?"
"Even if I remembered, I wouldn't tell you," said Yukio haughtily, lacking any of the politeness he had before changing sides.
"Are we starting the day with lies, Teach?"
Yukio glared at him and stood up, intent on ending the conversation. But Renzou wasn't done.
"Speaking of, nice look Teach! It's great on you. Almost made me think you were Rin!"
The glare evaporated, replaced by a look of sudden shock and confusion. "What?" Yukio ran his hand over his left ear, stopping at the edge. His face began to turn red.
"I've… looked like this the whole time?"
"Yeeep."
Yukio grimaced and covered his face with his hand. The demonic traits started to fade. In a matter of seconds, Yukio was (apparently) human again.
"Whoooa!" Renzou comically said, hands clapped together in mock-awe. "Just like Toudou-san!"
Suddenly Yukio flashed a fiercely angry look, taking Renzou aback. Granted, it was no secret how much Yukio hated Toudou-san. But this time seemed different.
"I'm going to kill that man someday," said Yukio, vitriol dripping from each word. His right hand clutched around his left arm protectively. Weird enough, he seemed way more demonic than before despite his human appearance. Jeez, what did you do to him, Toudou-san?
"Easy there," said Renzou, hands up in a display of harmlessness. "I'm not Toudou-san."
Yukio looked away, hand firmly on his left arm. Renzou looked more carefully. Only now did he see a burn mark traveling up Teach's left wrist.
"He did that?" said Renzou and pointing at Yukio's left arm, ignoring etiquette entirely. It was hard to assess an injury in the barely lit room, but he knew it had to be bad if he could see it.
Yukio didn't answer. He was quiet and unmoving, a distant expression on his face.
"You know where the infirmary is, right?" said Renzou. He didn't really want to help Yukio. But the Illuminati had assigned him to watch Yukio, and he needed to buy as much faith from the organization as possible for the future. "I'm going there anyways. Just a heads up, Lund got a killer kidney kick."
Yukio got a wry smile, and started walking away. He stopped briefly.
"I do, but I'll pass. Thanks for the offer and information," said Yukio. Before Renzou could ask, Yukio was already out the door.
Information? Thanks? Looked like Teach was back to his usual weird, passive-aggressive self. Whatever.
Renzou hoisted himself up with the K'rik, already mentally hearing the lecture from his dad on how the khakkara is not to be used as a walking stick. Thanks dad, but maybe you should've given more lectures on how to avoid kidney punches.
A/N: This is something of a follow-on to "After", which explains why Renzou is having to monitor Yukio. There might be more, because it is super fun to write these two. They really don't like each other, but they also are each other's only connection to their old life at True Cross Academy.
What happened between Yukio and Toudou? Toudou decided Yukio needed a lesson to remind him that he is not invulnerable. Although Yukio has similar abilities to Rin, he lacks regeneration and was fighting as if he didn't. So Toudou burned Yukio's left arm, saying Yukio will never be like Rin and he should accept that, and ended training early. Infuriated with himself, tired, and in pain, Yukio retreated to the Informatics Division privacy room, the one place he knew he wouldn't be bothered.
The saga of the Dominis Lickety-split, or the Illuminati-Disney partnership that never happened Little does Renzou Shima know that the Dominis Lickety-split was real. Since the Illuminati is a powerful worldwide organization, it was only natural they contacted the Disney Company for a partnership. Frans Perlmutter, a prominent chairperson in charge of toy involvements, was positively thrilled by the Illuminati's lofty ambitions. He started a toy line that included miniature versions of the Dominis Liminis, except in a candy-theme to avoid raising suspicion: the Dominis Lickety-split. Unluckily for him, Sir Faust collects such toys, and became immediately aware of the Illuminati's plan to create an enormous flying fortress. Aware of their breach of security, the toy line was ended and Frans Perlmutter was summarily "liquidated".