Kind of a late update, had to find time to proofread it. Is anyone even still reading this? lol.
Chapter 13
Yuu shows up to his house happy and carefree, as if he didn't force Mika into bringing him along and to make matters worse, he has a teddy bear with him. Black with green eyes and similar in style to the ones in his room, Mika loves it immediately.
"Giving me a bear won't make me forgive you."
"But does it help?"
Mika stroked one of the bear's ears, "…Yeah I guess."
"Then we're all good!"
"No, but we're better than Lacus and Rene will be when they see you."
"Have you told them?"
"No, it'll be a surprise."
When he shows up for the next assignment with Yuu in tow, they are understandably pissed. Even Rene's usual blank expression has been replaced with one of annoyance.
"What the fuck is this, Mika?"
"Yuu-chan wanted to join us."
"Join us? Mika, this isn't a club where you can just join. Our lives are on the line!"
"Believe me Lacus, I know."
"Really? Cause sometimes I don't think you have a single fucking clue."
"Isn't it better this way? Yuu-chan already knows, so if he's with us, there's less chance he'll turn on us," Mika reasons.
They stare at him for a second before Rene turns to Yuuichirou, "What did you do?"
"Me? What do you mean?"
"Mika would never let you participate if something that could get you hurt...unless he had no choice. So, I'll ask again, what did you do?"
Yuu sighs, but it doesn't look like Rene is backing down. "I said I'd break up with him if he didn't let me," he finally mutters out.
"That's seriously the reason you brought him along?!" Lacus exclaims. "How selfish can you be? You should've let him break up with you!"
"I know," Mika responds quietly. It's something he's been struggling with since he began actively talking with Yuu, knowing it was a bad idea. He deserves every bit of Lacus' berating for letting it get this far, but after finally getting to be with Yuu, the thought of losing him so soon was more than he could bear.
"Lacus," Rene places a hand on his shoulder, "We don't have time for this right now. Let him come and we'll deal with it later."
"Thanks guys!" Lacus gives Yuu a dirty look, but doesn't respond and Yuu squeezes Mika's hand with a reassuring smile. They follow Lacus' stalking figure to his SUV where he gives Yuu a vague breakdown of the assignment.
A loose end has been arrested and he hasn't divulged information yet, but an inside source said that he's going to take the plea bargain and reveal what he knows for a fine and no time in jail. Their job is to make sure that doesn't happen and to convince him the plea bargain is not in his best interest, so they're going to make a visit to his daughter first.
"You're not going to kill her, right?" Yuu asks nervously.
"Of course not, Yuu-chan! We're just letting him know that confessing could endanger his daughter."
"And how will you do that?"
"A few quick pictures of her, that's all."
"Which you will be in," Lacus interjects.
"Huh?"
"What good does it do to take pictures from afar? We're letting him know we already have access to her, not that we could. You wanted to come with us, you can make yourself useful and maybe we won't dump your dead body on the way."
"What if he tells someone?"
"We're showing him pictures, not giving them to him, that would leave evidence. Think about it, jeez."
"Lacus is really saying he'll also have evidence against you if you betray us later."
"Exactly."
"I already said that I'm not going to tell anyone!"
"Insurance."
Yuu makes a noise of frustration and falls back in his seat. He can't really blame them for not trusting him, they barely know him and that's only because Mika brings him around. To them, he's just a wild card with too much influence on their teammate and sometimes Yuu's not entirely sure if Lacus is joking when he talks about his death. He can't say he's positive Lacus wouldn't have shot him when he first saw them had Mika not intervened. Mika may trust them, but he trusts them the same amount they trust him.
"Yuu!" Lacus yells, stopping the car beside a park. "You see that red head girl in the blue? Go make nice."
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"Don't know, don't care. I would've brought candy, but that's a fast way to get the cops called. If you mess up, we're ditching you."
"What?! That's not fair, I'm not a professional child abductor like you!"
"Get ready to learn."
"Yuu-chan, it's okay. It's not that big a deal. Give her a sucker and tell her you're supposed to watch her while her nanny goes to the bathroom. Talk to her, push her on the swings and you're done."
"Oh yeah? And where's the nanny going to be."
"She'll be fine, me and Rene will be talking to her. I'll see you in a few minutes."
Yuu watches Mika follow after Rene and avoids Lacus intense staring for him to get out. His palms are sweating the whole walk into the park and he's terrified at any minute a parent will call him out for being suspicious. He glances back at Lacus who waves his camera and gives him the finger, no encouragement from there.
He's pretty sure his voice cracks several times with nerves and the girl is suspicious of him, but somehow they've gotten the nanny to indicate it's okay and she's actually walking away, he can only wonder what they told her.
After that, it's pretty simple, she takes the sucker and takes him to the sandbox to help her build. About ten minutes later, he looks up wondering if it's been long enough and internally panics when there's no sign of Lacus or his SUV. Mika wouldn't let them leave him, would he? He takes a deep breath and thinks, he can call Guren, but that would mean he'd have to lie or he could call Shinoa for help, since she already has a clue. Of course, she'd never let him live it down, but it's a small price to pay to avoid Guren's wrath.
He nearly jumps a foot when someone grabs his shoulder and he looks up to see Mika smiling down at him, gesturing for him to leave and he feels all the tension leave his body, Mika would never leave him. They're back in the car, on the way to the prison before Mika apologizes, telling him it was Lacus' idea and reassuring him that he would never really leave him that. He had an inkling that's what happened, but it was good to have the confirmation, all the more reason to be wary of those two.
Apparently taking the pictures was the only difficult part because getting into the prison is a cakewalk for all four of them, their passage likely involved cash, but nobody stopped all four of them from meeting with the prisoner, just a limit of ten minutes.
"We hear you've decided to take the plea bargain."
The prisoner scoffs at them, "They sent a bunch of kids to threaten me? You must be joking. They're not taking me seriously."
"Unfortunately for you, they are." Lacus slides over his phone and watches the man's face change from smug to horrified. He gestures behind him to Yuu, making sure the prisoner sees him, "He's very persuasive."
"And how does this convince me not to take the plea bargain?"
"Besides not killing your daughter?"
"Yes, the bargain would get me out of here within a month, I could go home."
"Oh, how your tune has changed. Don't take the bargain, your kid stays alive and we can have you out in a year. Take it and you'll likely both die. It's really a life or death choice. I don't care what you pick, but make it fast."
"A year is a long time…"
"And death is forever."
"I...won't take it."
"Great! That's all we wanted to hear. Keep your word and we'll have you out in a year." L acus grabs his phone and waves the security guard over to let them out and Yuu can't help but feel bad for the prisoner. He's sure whatever he did was bad, but being forced to stay in prison for a year to keep your child alive sucks.
The man may deserve it, but the girl doesn't deserve to have her life on the line too and the fact that he helped turns his stomach in an unpleasant way. He's not cut out for this and he's pretty sure this was tame for them. Krul's warning makes all too much sense now.
Yuu''s wondering how bad of a situation he's gotten himself into when he feels Mika take his hand, "See, there's nothing to worry about! I'm fine and you don't have to come anymore."
"Mika, I know this doesn't compare to everything else you guys usually do. I'm not that stupid."
His smile falters for a minute, but he quickly regains it, "Well, either way, let's celebrate your first assignment with us!"
"Celebrate? I don't feel very accomplished, we just used that guy's daughter against him. I feel worse if anything."
"Shut up," Rene cuts in harshly. "A conscience isn't something we need here. You joined, you do your job and don't complain about it."
Mika clears his throat which does a poor job of dispelling the tension, "Anyway, it's a surprise, Yuu-chan, let me put the blindfold on you."
"Why do you have a blindfold?"
"Lacus keeps them just in case. Now turn around." He turns to let Mika tie it over his eyes, then guide him into the car. "It's somewhere you've been wanting to go."
~~~~~
Mika removes the blindfold and spins him around, "Surprise!"
Yuu blinks quickly, eyes adjusting to the bright neon lights to make the out the words 'Dark Fantasy,' then in smaller letters 'Adult Store.' "Mika, what the hell?!"
"It's your reward to celebrate your first job with us!"
"This is not what I thought you had planned."
"I said we could go together and it'd be fun!"
"And I said no!"
"Since we were already going to be nearby," Mika continues, ignoring him, "I thought it would be perfect. This is one of the largest around."
"I could be wrong, but couldn't you have just gone to a regular store?"
Mika pouts, "Where's the fun in that?" Mika reaches for his hand, but he darts just out of reach.
"I'll wait in the car."
"Yuu-chan!"
"I'm not going in there! They probably won't even allow us in."
"Like they'll say no to these faces and...we have fake ids if we need them. Plus they even agreed you deserved a reward, probably for scaring you at the park, but still."
"Still not going." Yuu holds out his hand for Lacus' keys and gets a laugh in response. Lacus and Rene each grab an arm and haul him to the front door. "Mika!"
"I don't think he's going to give you his keys, you can come in with us or stand around in front of the store hoping no one tries to pick you up."
"Pick me up?"
"Like a prostitute on a corner," Lacus answers helpfully.
"What the fuck?!"
"I mean, what would someone think if you're hanging around in front of a sex shop by yourself at night, Yuu-chan?"
Yuu glares at him, "I'm going to remember this."
"Good! I will too!" They release him to Mika who grabs his hand and drags him into the store, "It'll be fun!" He watches Mika grab a basket from the stack inside the door,looking around excitedly and he's mortified, it looks like Mika actually intends to do shopping in here. He drags Yuu over to a shelf with small bottles and he catches the cashier eyeing them, but unfortunately he doesn't call them out.
He watches Mika waver between two small clear bottles before dropping both in his basket. "We're done now, right?"
Mika smiles over at him and Yuu barely has time to think he doesn't like that smile one bit, then he's being pulled him farther down the aisle. "Ooo, look Yuu-chan, this lube is warming and this one's apple flavored! How about strawberry flavored? Let's get a bunch!"
"No Mika," Yuu hisses. "I don't want to buy a bunch of flavored lube. What's the point of them?"
Mika smirks, "I'm sure you'll find out one day."
"Let's just go."
"In a second, we're already here, let's look at the other stuff they have."
"Nooo." Mika drops a variety of lubes in the basket before forcing it onto Yuu's free arm and heading farther into the back of the store. Yuu glances around at all the erotica, then shuts his eyes, desperately trying to erase all the images he just saw namely the book covers and pictures.
Yuu comes to stand next to Mika who's observing some furry handcuffs. "What's your favorite color, Yuu-chan?"
"No."
"That's not a color."
"No, I don't want fur handcuffs."
Mika glances over Yuu's shoulder before cradling his face, "What would you like to buy, Yuu-chan?"
"Nothing here," Yuu replies, glancing over when his wrist his suddenly jerked and he hears a click. Mika lets go, attempting to fight down a smile and Yuu is horrified to find his wrist has been handcuffed to a display penis on the wall. He's going to strangle Lacus, if only his attempts to reach him weren't restrained by the handcuffs. "Give me the damn key!"
"No can do, but you better do something before someone comes over and sees you."
Yuu's eyes widen in alarm as his face turns red and Mika can't stop laughing as he struggles to get the handcuffs over the base, rattling the whole display. "Yuu-chan, stop," Mika commands, grabbing his hand to keep him still. "You'll break the display and make a scene."
"You don't get to tell me to stop! You distracted me, so he could do this! I don't wanna be handcuffed to a fake penis!"
"So…a real one?" Yuu glares. "All right, all right. Hand me the key." Mika quickly unlocks him, places the handcuffs back, and moves farther down the aisle before Yuu can take his ire out on him.
Yuu stalks after him, smacking his hovering hand away from a shelf of vibrators. "I'm drawing the line here! We have more than enough, let's go!"
"Fine then, ruin your reward."
"I'd rather have ice cream."
"We can do that too." Mika glances over to where Lacus and Rene are snickering at a light up vibrator, "Come on guys, we're gonna get ice cream for Yuu-chan."
"Yum. Hey Mika," Lacus calls, pointing at a bucket, "Don't forget condoms."
"Yeah...Yuu-chan, do you want condoms?"
"What?! No!"
"Cool, I don't either!"
Lacus rolls his eyes and tosses one in the basket, "Take one just in case."
They approach the counter and Yuu sighs in relief that they're finally about to leave. Mika dumps his basket, pulling out his card to pay. "Won't you be embarrassed when Krul sees this charge?"
"Nah, she doesn't care and probably won't even notice."
"Oh." Yuu picks up a small silver rounded item with a jewel on one side, "Hey, what are these light up things?"
"You put them in your drink at raves," Rene answers and Lacus chokes.
"Ohhh, that makes sense. Can we get some?"
Mika winces and says softly, "Those are butt plugs, Yuu-chan." Yuu freezes and swallows tightly at Lacus' chortling, he places it slowly back on the shelf. "We can still get some if you what," Mika adds.
"No, Mika. I'm done, I'll wait outside"
Mika watches Yuu exit the store before glaring at Rene.
"You told him not me."
~~~~~
They end up at a large ice cream shop that's on the way home and Yuu is much more comfortable there than at the sex shop. "Hey Yuu-chan, let's get the giant sundae and split it." Yuu shrugs, he doesn't care as long as he gets ice cream. "Be right back."
"Get ours too," Lacus calls.
"Yuuchirou, he's just going to get worse if you don't discourage him now," Rene comments.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Stop letting him do whatever he wants and set some boundaries," Lacus clarifies.
"There's nothing wrong with sharing a sundae."
"No, but he's getting really attached to you and wants to do all those couple-y things. We told you he's been holding in a lot of feelings for you, now you're basically giving him permission to let it all out. Draw a line so he'll have something left of himself when you dump him."
"I promised Mika I wouldn't leave him."
"And if you really wanted to leave, he would never hold you to that promise. I'm just saying do us all a favor and make him give you space."
"No way, things are always worse when we do that."
"God dammit Yuuichirou, you're just as selfish as he is. You two deserve each other."
He's saved from responding when Mika arrives back at the table carrying a tray with all their ice cream, placing it on the table and taking a seat next to him in the booth. Yuu's more than content to sit there with Mika sharing a sundae, pushing their concerns from his head. And when Mika leans over to embrace him followed by a cold kiss to the cheek, whispering that he loves him, Yuu knows he's exactly where he wants to be.