When Gunji returned to the room, Akira was awake.
He turned to look at the Executioner immediately, wary.
Gunji just strided over to the side of the bed.
With the grin always present on the Executioner's face, he greeted Akira, "Late afternoon, Kitty~"
"Ya hungry?"
Akira's stomach reacted involuntarily, turning at the mention of food.
In one quick motion, Gunji had Akira in his arms and off the bed.
The faint scent of iron sent Akira into a panic.
"Oy, don't move so much." He had to fight a bit to hold onto the squirming Akira. "'The heck am I gonna get ya to the table if ya squirm so much?"
"Let go of me!" Akira almost fell out of the Executioner's grip.
"Whoa-" Gunji almost had to drop to a knee in order to keep his balance.
"I can walk on my own, so let go!"
With those words, Akira expected to be dropped onto the ground.
Instead, he found himself being lowered steadily to an upright position.
"I got it. I got it," Gunji slowly loosened his hold on Akira's torso. "So don't move around too much."
It took all of Akira's effort not to collapse immediately when Gunji released his hold completely. The Executioner's arms still hovered around Akira's shoulders.
Akira clenched his jaw in an effort to make use of the recovering limbs he had not used in two weeks.
"I can walk on my own." He asserted again, both to the blonde Executioner next to him and himself.
The grin on Gunji's face had faded, and he watched Akira for a moment before stepping back and indicating that Akira follow him out the door.
As they walked down the hall, Akira followed Gunji unsteadily, trailing one hand close to the wall, just in case. He was afraid he would not have been able to keep up with the Executioner's usually long striding pace, but Gunji had slowed down to stay just ahead of Akira.
Occasionally, Akira saw Gunji's head turn slightly to the side, over his shoulder, as if watching out for him.
Akira exhaled under his breath. What was there to watch for? There was no possible way for him to run away in this state. Besides...
Akira looked at the area around him. Each long hallway seemed to meet another, all of them filled with doors to countless rooms. What were all of them used for anyway?
Either way, the mansion was like a maze. Getting out, in his current state, would be impossible.
He would be caught by a guard easily, or even worse, by one of the Executioners, if he didn't collapse or get lost first.
So the only thing Akira could do was follow closely behind Gunji's back.
The hand he trailed along the wall tensed when it lost touch of something solid to hold onto, and he bit onto his lip involuntarily in effort and in order to keep himself standing upright.
They entered an large open room with a long, wooden table in center, surrounded by Arbitro's choice furniture.
At one end of the table, there was already a set-up of a meal.
From this distance, Akira couldn't see what it was.
"Over here, Kitty~" Gunji called out to him, patting the pulled-out chair obviously meant for Akira.
A widening smile spread onto his face as Akira took the seat.
"You're up and all, and I figured ya didn't wanna stay in the room forever, so~"
Gunji pulled out the seat beside Akira and sat down on it with a thump.
"We're eatin' here!"
Akira looked down at the plate.
Omurice. Even though from the dimming skies outside, it was likely close to evening.
"Go on. Try it~" Gunji urged him on, pushing the plate slightly closer to Akira.
Akira glanced up at the grinning Executioner before him, then back down at the meal set out for him.
"Who knows what could have been put in it?" Akira warily looked over at Gunji.
Gunji tilted his head, "Eh... But you like this, don't ya?"
He was referring to the dish. Omurice.
Akira wouldn't call it his favorite meal. However, he did prefer to eat omurice-flavored solids over others, if they were available. He had never tasted the real deal though.
Moreover, how would this guy know anything about that fact?
Gunji seemed to read Akira's thoughts through the questioning look thrown at him.
"Just somethin' I noticed~"
Noticed?
Since when?
After a brief moment of hesitation, Akira picked up the spoon set next to the dish.
He took a small bite.
Delicious.
Although Akira tried to keep his expression as plain as possible, his eyes widened a bit.
"Ha~" Gunji seemed to be thrilled. "I knew you'd like it."
"So..." Gunji leaned in, "How is it? Ya never tasted anything like it before, right~?"
Akira didn't respond. He turned his head aside and just closed his mouth over another spoonful.
"Haha~" Gunji appeared to be very satisfied with himself as he watched Akira finish the meal.
By this point, Akira had pretty much given up on his suspicions about the food. He couldn't care any less. He was just so damn hungry.
He didn't even hesitate when he noticed Gunji's eyes narrow minutely as he reached for the glass of water on the table.
He tilted his head back and gulped down the cool water.
Then, right after he set the glass back on the table, Gunji reached out and closed his hand around Akira's wrist.
"Does it hurt?"
Akira's reflexive reaction was to pull his hand away, but Gunji's expression stopped him.
Somehow, it felt as if he were asking a legitimate question.
Akira opened his mouth slowly.
"No. Not really."
"Huh."
Gunji's grin returned again. "Good then~"
He stood up abruptly, knocking his chair back, and stepped towards Akira, sweeping him up into his arms again.
"Wha-" Akira was startled by Gunji's sudden movements.
"Come on. Just let me do this~" Gunji urged Akira.
"It'll be faster this way."
Gunji took his usual loping pace as he strided out of the room and down the hall.
Back to his room.
Akira landed in soft fwump on the bed, lightly tossed by Gunji.
"I think we can take these off now~"
Gunji followed closely after Akira, and his hands slid underneath the long-sleeved shirt Akira was wearing, pushing up the fabric.
Akira immediately grabbed at Gunji's arms, but the Executioner ignored the resistance.
In one smooth movement, the shirt slipped off, over Akira's head, rustling up his hair.
Akira practically kicked himself backwards but stopped when his back hit a pile of pillows and blankets, stacked high against the backboard of the bed.
"Come on. Just relax." With an entertained smile, Gunji licked his upper lip. "I'm not gonna hurt ya~"
He was obviously getting a kick out of his reaction.
Akira glared with all the animosity he could gather behind his eyes, "Don't touch me."
"Hm..."
Gunji moved closer and caught both of Akira's forearms. Firmly. But... gently.
"I already said... I'm not gonna hurt ya."
Akira sat there, watching Gunji release one of his arms and move it to the bandages at his shoulder.
With a short tug, it began to unravel.
"There. Just... stay still for a sec..." Gunji focused on removing the bandages that covered Akira's body.
As he pulled each strip of gauze aside, White slashed marks on Akira's body were revealed. Newly healing skin.
Puzzled by the Executioner's quiet concentration, Akira didn't move, only listening to the quiet breaths that filled the air between them and watching Gunji work at unraveling the bandages from his body.
Finally. The last bandage.
Gunji reached over Akira's shoulder and felt for the strip secured to his back.
...! When Akira flinched minutely, Gunji stopped.
No. It didn't hurt.
The Executioner's eyes flicked over to Akira's, watching his reaction, as he moved to touch the bandage again.
Akira found himself assuring the Executioner, "It's fine."
And with that, Gunji peeled off the bandage.
He dropped it into the accumulated pile of white strips beside him, then bunched them all together in a ball and threw them into a bin at the opposite side of the room. It went in smoothly, accurately.
The blonde Executioner leaned back a little, having finished the task.
The strange mood brought on by the quiet, methodical way Gunji had treated his injuries faded when he finally spoke up again.
"I don't think we'll be needin' those anymore."
The smile on Gunji's face was somehow different from the delighted sadism present so often on his face. It expressed... relief?
"This is great~"
"You're up now." He traced the white scarring lines across Akira's shoulder. "And these look better, too..."
His eyes flicked over to the table beside the bed, to a large, sharp-smelling bottle of disinfectant, and he wrinkled his nose, "Don't think we'll be needin' any more of that stuff either."
"But..." Gunji looked back to Akira's body with a mischievous look, "We should still get ya cleaned up, Kitty~"
At those words, Akira felt a surge of irritation.
"Don't call me that."
He felt as if he were repeating himself.
He had already said this once to Gunji. That was two weeks ago. After he woke up to the Executioner bandaging his body.
"What was that, Kitty~" Gunji ran his tongue across his teeth, entertained.
Before Akira realized it, he spat out a response to the Executioner...
"Akira."
"Hm." Gunji tilted his head at the correction, taking it as a challenge.
He leaned forward, pulling on the pillows and blankets supporting Akira, and threw them aside, off the bed. Out of the way.
Akira landed on his back without the cushions keeping him upright.
Unsettled by this new position, he tried to sit himself back up but he moved too slowly, still vaguely pained.
Gunji pushed him back down firmly.
"Don't like being on your back?"
A smile spread across his face as he slid his hands lower, down the sides of Akira's body.
"Ya better get used to it."
Suggestively, Gunji pulled Akira's hips closer.
In desperation, Akira threw out an elbow, trying to ram it into Gunji's chest.
When Gunji dodged it easily, Akira shoved his shoulders away, pulled himself upright, and kicked himself back, until he hit the backboard of the bed.
He was out of breath now, from both the panic of resisting and the effort of his movements.
For a moment, they both sat there, watching the other.
Then Gunji spoke up.
"We gotta cleaned up, ya know..."
He also referred to himself, to the bloodstains present on his clothes from the day's patrols. That was the source of the faint smell of iron in the air.
"It'll be dinner soon... And Arbitro likes to have everyone there."
Didn't Akira eat just now, though? He had no more appetite. Why would Gunji have him eat so close to dinner?
Akira found himself pulled back to reality by Gunji's voice.
"That means Kitty's gotta be washed up~"
The steam in the large bathroom was quick to form soon after Gunji turned on the faucet to fill the tub.
Akira sat off to the side, on a stool, refusing to remove the clothes on the lower half of his body.
After Gunji removed his jacket, Akira focused his eyes on the corner of the room, determined to ignore the Executioner.
Suddenly, water fell from above, forcing a gasp of shock out of Akira.
Wha-?
In reflex, Akira looked up to see Gunji holding an upturned bucket standing above him.
"Hey there, Kitty~"
Akira shivered at the absence of warmth. It left his body as the cold water ran down his body.
Gunji kneeled down behind Akira, the tags on his belt clinking. "Now ya really have to take these off."
His hands moved to the fastening at the front of Akira's waist. Akira was quick to grab Gunji's hands.
"I can do that myself."
If he had to take off his clothes, he would rather be the one to do it.
"Hm..." Gunji's hands lingered for a moment, as if he were deciding something, then he leaned back on his heels, giving Akira enough room to take off the pants.
"Don't..."
...be so close.
His sentence remained unfinished.
Akira felt vaguely embarassed to be doing this in front of the Executioner. It seemed Gunji had gotten the gist of what he had tried to say, and once again, he lingered in place for a moment, before standing up and walking to the other side of the bathroom. He moved to put the bucket away, his back turned to Akira.
"Ya know, Kitty, you ain't got nothin' I haven't seen before."
Akira clenched his jaw when he was addressed. Gunji's voice was teasing in the uncomfortable heat of the room, irritatingly so.
He knew that fact well enough himself. His clothes and bandages had been mysteriously changed from time to time, and by now, he figured that Gunji must have been the one to do those things.
After taking off his clothes, while Gunji's back was still turned, Akira slid into the large tub now filled with hot water. He didn't want to be out in the open in the bathroom like this, with a guy like that.
The heat of the water relaxed him somewhat and let himself sink into it until only his neck and up were above the water. He closed his eyes and tried to forget about the situation he was in. He hoped the Executioner would be done with whatever he was doing and leave soon.
His eyes remained closed until he heard a vague shuffling sound. He looked up.
Gunji had reached over his back and was pulling off his own shirt.
No. Way.
Akira sank himself deeper into the water. He closed his eyes again and knitted his eyebrows. No way. He wasn't going to get in here too, was he?
Akira listened closely, hoping to hear the sound of the shower, instead. Hoping that Gunji would be doing something else other than what he was thinking he was about to do.
His shoulders tensed, and his eyes flew open when he heard the Executioner's voice right next to him.
"Hey, Kitty. Move over a bit."
Akira absolutely did not want to move. There was no way he'd be able to face the Executioner sitting in the water across from him. He cursed the fact that the tub's size was enough to hold the both of them.
He didn't want to move. But still. It felt as if he couldn't refuse.
After debating with himself for a seemingly long moment, Akira pulled in his legs, making sufficient room on the other side of the tub.
Akira was confused when the Executioner didn't make a move to get in the tub.
"Hm~" Gunji let out a subdued laugh under his breath.
His hands moved to Akira's back and firmly pushed. Akira slid forward easily in the water.
No way.
He was going in this way?
Before he knew it, Gunji was sitting behind him.
Like this, at least he wouldn't have to face the Executioner, but in most ways, this was worse.
Although the tub was large, the two of them in it left little room for movement without bumping into each other.
The Executioner, although lean, was tall and took up most of the room.
Akira's slighter frame was nested inside Gunji's embrace, arms locked around his waist. He had no choice in the matter. From the way Gunji held onto him, their bodies were in very close proximity. With the Executioner so close, Akira could hardly relax in the hot water anymore.
"So tense..." Gunji observed.
Akira didn't respond. He just wanted the bath to be over. The sooner he could move away, the better.
But Gunji had no intention of letting that happen any time soon.
"Ya know..."
He leaned in closer.
"Right now, I really wanna do ya."
His face was right next to Akira's, his nose brushing against his jaw. He pressed his cheek to Akira's, nuzzling his face.
Akira fidgeted in his arms.
"I said I wouldn't hurt ya anymore, so don't worry..."
His hands began to move down, reaching Akira's hips.
Reflexively, Akira flinched away.
"Ya know, if ya don't relax, this'll hurt."
Gunji's hands slid even lower.
This time, Akira caught his wrists, stopping Gunji's advances.
"Hm...?"
Gunji pulled Akira closer, and the short distance between them closed, Akira's back making contact with Gunji's chest. "Don't wanna?"
Obviously.
Akira pulled in a shocked intake of breath when in one quick motion, Gunji turned him around and pushed him against the edge of the tub. Water splashed out from the abruptness of the movement.
"Well, that's too bad... 'cause I do."
From this position, Akira could see Gunji's face clearly.
Any semblence of restraint was absent - not that there was any to begin with.
His eyes were locked with Akira's, sending a clear message. His mouth was parted, tilted upwards. His face was faintly flushed, probably from the unbelievable heat from the water and room and their bodies.
Akira's hips were pinned down firmly by Gunji's hands, anchored in place so that he couldn't move away.
There wasn't enough room. The tub wasn't wide enough to give Akira's legs adequate space, forcing him to bend his knees.
And Gunji was quick to move into the space between them.
"Hey, Kitty~" Gunji nipped at the tip of Akira's nose.
"It's pretty hot in here..."
Akira shut his eyes and turned his head away.
He accepted it.
He already knew what this had been leading up to.
Gunji hadn't done anything with him since that hateful encounter in the alley. And he had bought himself enough time.
There... really was no getting out of this.
His arms, which were framed against Gunji's shoulders, the only barrier keeping the distance between himself and the Executioner, relaxed.
He swallowed a frustrated sob.
It was going to be rough. And painful.
"Hey, Kitty."
Curiously, Gunji hadn't made a move yet.
Akira, wondering why, opened his eyes and glanced up at the Executioner.
Gunji's expression was unreadable, his mouth no longer tilted upwards in a grin.
"What... What's with that expression?"
Gunji's voice was unsure, very uncharacteristic of him.
A bitter feeling welled up in Akira's chest.
"Oh, I forgot."
Akira finally spoke up for the first time since they went into the bathroom.
"You like it when they scream and cry, right? Whern they try to run away."
Akira found himself recalling memories from their first encounter.
He clenched his jaw, and his voice almost broke, "Well, there's nowhere for me to run now. And you'd just do what want."
Akira stopped talking and averted his eyes.
Although Gunji was not cutting him physically, his mental state could only take so much strain.
Akira felt defeated. Vulnerable.
There was a near zero chance of escaping the mansion.
And he hated it.
But what could he do?
Nothing.
All he could do now was shut his eyes and wait for it to be over.
So he did.
For a moment. a silence stretched between them.
Then, Gunji abruptly let go.
Akira looked back at the Executioner, whose expression was still unreadable. This was unusual for him.
Gunji moved to the other end of the tub and picked up two towels off the side.
"It's about time for dinner, anyway."
From this angle, Akira couldn't see Gunji's face.
The blonde Executioner threw a towel at Akira, taking him by surprise.
It covered his head and shoulders, blocking his view. Before Akira could raise his hands to take it for himself, Gunji roughly ruffled his hair for him with the towel.
An errant thought entered Akira's head of its own accord.
This must be why Gunji's hair seemed so damaged.
Akira heard the sounds of the tub draining.
Strangely, Gunji said nothing else as he took the towel and wrapped Akira's body with it.
Hardly dry himself after throwing his own towel aside, Gunji pulled on jeans and a hooded jacket. Then, he handed a silently observing Akira a set of clean clothes. Another hoodie. And shorts.
Finally, Gunji spoke, facing away from Akira.
"Hurry up, K-"
Gunji cut himself off abruptly. Then finished his sentence.
"'Bitro won't like it if we're late."
After Akira finished pulling on the oversized hoodie, Gunji glanced back at him.
"Just... don't eat anything."
Akira looked up.
Don't eat anything?
It wasn't as if he were still hungry. Quite the opposite actually. But why not?
Suspicion crept back into Akira's head.
With those words, Gunji slid open the bathroom door.
