Gin's eyes were wide open focusing on the road ahead of him. Both his hands clenched tightly on the driving wheel enough to drain his knuckles from blood. Shiho knew he was angry. He scares her when he's like that so she preferred to avoid eye contact and stay silent, which seemed to work for he didn't say a word either. He just kept burning cigarettes one after the other. She had no idea why he was angry though, or why he drove her to his apartment at this time of the day?
"Yesterday in the bedroom your feelings were clear, I'm believing what I saw in there."
Remembering the words he had heard earlier, Gin tightened his grip even more. Shiho was his and only his. The thought that that filthy Morobochi had his hands on her made him want to kill him -which he certainly will do! But first, he had to deal with Sherry. Just when he'd warned her she went behind his back and fooled around with the person he warned her about. That fucker! He'll kill him with his own hands and he'll make him suffer before it. He was surprised how he managed to control himself and not kill him on the spot in the lab!
They finally reached their destination. Shiho preceded Gin to the apartment and waited for him to unlock the door. She walked inside then turned to face him in wait for him to say something.
"Gin!" She broke the silence questionably.
"Where'd you go yesterday, Sherry?" Gin asked with his threatening eyes piercing her to the core.
"Is this why you brought me here? You could've just asked me in the lab-"
"Just answer the fucking question." He suddenly yelled, slamming his fist to the wall. Shiho jumped in surprise with the look of indifference on her face turning solemn.
"It was Sunday, I went to see Akemi."
"And then?"
She struggled for a moment between telling him the truth or not, but seeing how he acted he must already know, so lying would only make matters worse.
"I went to see Dai san." She muttered.
"And why did you go to him?" His voice was dangerously low like the calm before the storm. Shiho felt her heartbeats fasten as his narrowed eyes gazed at her.
"He and my sister had a problem. I was trying to help, I…I already told you about tha-"
"You little bitch."
Shiho's lips tightened. She took a deep breath to prevent herself from saying what she might regret.
"Don't ever call me that again, Gin." She warned, putting her words in the sweetest tone she could muster.
"The one person that I warn you about and you go to him. Did you do it on purpose to make me angry?" He asked, taking slow steps towards her. Shiho found herself retreating backward obliviously with every step he took.
"Nothing happened! How many times do I have to tell you he's Akemi's boyfriend? I don't think of him that way."
"Don't bullshit me." Gin yelled.
"Even if I wanted to cheat on you, you think I'd do it with my sister's boyfriend?" She said in the hope of talking some sense into his head.
At that moment, her back hit the wall. Unable to take another step back, Gin cornered her. His fist hit the wall behind her. Sherry closed her eyes tightly feeling her body quiver. He scared her when he talked but now that he kept silent he scared her even more. She was barely able to stand and she desperately needed to escape his intense gaze but when she looked away, Gin held her chin violently and forced her to look at him.
"You go to his apartment, and go into his bedroom, and you want me to believe nothing had happened?" Gin raged with entitlement.
Shiho's eyes widened for a second. Gin heard her talking and he got it all wrong, but how could she explain it to him now?
"It's not what you think, Gin. Just let go of me, I can explain." She hid her fear and answered calmly.
Gin freed her chin which now had finger marks all over it and proceeded to hold her wrist. "You better have a good explanation." He said, hovering over her and trapping her between his tall body and the wall.
"Okay, but first, let go of my arm." She said.
Gin kept on gazing at her intensely not realizing that his grasp was crashing her wrist bones. It caused her breathing to fasten. Shiho felt so small and helpless. She struggled between his fingers with no result.
"Gin, please! You're hurting me."
Gin has never done anything like this to Shiho. But at the moment, it was as if some kind of an evil spirit took over him.
"What's your explanation, Sherry?" He asked impatiently.
"I…" She swallowed. He'll break her bones if he keeps it any longer. "I… he and my sister… I went to his apartment to talk about it but he was drunk and, then he went inside the bedroom."
"And what feelings were you talking about? You said his feelings were obvious."
"Akemi…" She closed her eyes and winced when his grip tightened. "…His feelings for Akemi."
"Bullshit!" He yelled. "You're taking me for a fool if you expect me to believe that."
"Gin, I swear! That's what happened. They're even getting back together as I told you."
"Even if he was drunk, why did you fucking follow him to his bedroom?"
Gin's eyes flashed dangerously and his grip left Shiho's wrist. He seethed and before she could know it, his open hand cracked across her face and she fell to the floor with the force of it. Shiho didn't expect him to be so strong, how could one cause such damage with a slap? But there she was, on the floor with a ringing ear and black dots covering her vision.
It was the first time he raises his hand on her. He always managed to bring new ways of turning her life into hell. But to physically abuse her, that was a new low even for Gin.
Gin stood there in shock. He doesn't even know how he did it. This was his Sherry, his love, the object of his infatuation and he never intended to harm her. But then she brought this on herself.
Shiho staggered to her feet, clutching her face, blue eyes watering. She was still in shock but had to run away to the first room that encountered her to hide her tears. He's never seen her cry before and she's not giving him the satisfaction of it now. She got inside. Her shaky hand twisted the key locking the door. She was scared he might try to come in and hurt her even more. She was trying to calm her breaths when the pounding of Gin's footsteps approached her. Seconds later, the doorknob turned, but he found it locked.
"Sherry." He called from behind the door.
She froze, covering her mouth with one hand to hide her sobs, though her tears kept flowing against her wishes.
"Sweetheart, open the door."
Her body lurched for a moment when Gin knocked again. Shiho stayed silent. She needed to leave but felt helpless. She ran away from him and into the lion's den, she's inside his bedroom. How could she escape? He'd kill her here and no one would find out.
"I didn't want to hurt you but you disobeyed me, and you know how much I hate that. I warned you about him specifically but you went to his house anyway and-"
"And nothing happened." Her shaky voice interrupted.
Gin rested his forehead on the door. "How do you expect me to believe that?"
"Because you know me, Gin, even if it's not you, I would never do that to my sister."
That kind of made sense for Gin now that his anger subsided. He knew how much Sherry loved her sister, she was her weakness and she would literally do anything for her. So there's no way she'd cheat her.
"Then what did you do in his bedroom?"
"He was drunk… Because they weren't talking anymore and went inside, he looked in pain when he talked about her saying that he loves her. I told him that she loves him too and that she's suffering after his leaving and they should get back together. Those are the feelings I talked about."
"I don't believe you."
This one statement lost her the calmness she'd gathered.
"Godammit Gin what do you want me to tell you to believe me? Do you want me to tell you that I slept with him? Is this the only thing your brain is wired to believe?"
Not only that her arguments were plausible for Sherry would never hurt her sister, but there was also anger! That voice tone! Now Gin knew she was telling the truth.
"I'll let it pass this time." He said as if doing her a favor. "But if I ever hear you went to his house again, what happens to you after that-"
"I won't." She cut him off, not wanting to hear the rest of that sentence.
"Alright, now open the door." His threatening voice suddenly softened.
"Go away, Gin."
Shiho waited patiently and attentively listened to his steps. She heard him step away from the bedroom, walk somewhere in the apartment and then he walked to the main door and left, slamming it behind. When she made sure there weren't any steps heard, she got out and left the apartment.
(~)
It was a beautiful Sunday noon. Shiho went to Akemi early. They were going to meet at dinner in a restaurant like usual but she wanted to spend time with her at home too. After that awful experience she had with Gin on Tuesday, she needed more positive energy. Well, she hasn't seen him since that day so that was positive energy in itself.
When she got there, she found Dai in there too. Everything seemed back to normal with him and Akemi.
Shiho never wanted to admit to herself that Akemi and Dai's relationship could sometimes make her jealous. You see his sharp gaze, but it's soft like butter when it lands on hers. You see her neutral stare, but it's shining with happiness when it lands on him. Comparing that to her and Gin, what was given out of love in her case was taken by dominance, trust was replaced by paranoia, cooperation was entitlement and sweet words were manipulation. It wasn't a relationship, it was closer to a cold war.
Shiho's feelings for Gin were complicated. There were interest and admiration at first, but there was never real love. That bright happiness she sees in Akemi, those tender touches Dai gives when his hand touches her sister's, and those genuine smiles when their eyes lock, that feeling of completely trusting the other, of having each other's back, of being a team, of being valued by the other… Shiho will never experience that with a partner like Gin, and if someday she decides to refuse him, he'll be after her along with a criminal organization routed in every country across the globe.
"I won't take long." Akemi said aiming for the door. She had breakfast with her friend earlier today but her friend called stating that she's in front of the building and that she forgot something in Akemi's car.
With Akemi leaving to meet her friend, Shiho and Shuichi were left alone. They were sitting across from each other in the living room. Soon as he heard the door lock, Shuichi lifted his head from his phone and looked at Shiho.
Not knowing how to start, he sighed.
"So… What's up?"
Shiho's blues lifted from the cup of tea she was enjoying to meet his greens. They've been in the same room for over an hour and now he's asking that?
"What?" She asked casually.
"How are things going?"
Her eyebrows rose for a moment and she eyed him silently.
"If you want to ask me something then stop beating around the bush." She dryly said.
"Nothing in particular." He shrugged. "Have you been in a relationship before? I mean, except with Gin."
"No. Why?"
He kept silent for a moment while examining her face. "I wanna know why you're hiding it from Akemi."
"And I'm pretty sure I told you it's none of your business."
Shuichi sighed again. God she's a tough nut! "Do you ever notice there's something unusual about your relationship with him?"
Shiho thought for a moment. The only times that Dai saw her interact with Gin were that day on the balcony, and it went fine and he didn't suspect a thing for 5 months. The second time was the other day in her office, but he left soon as Gin arrived. So there's no way he knew.
"I'm probably gonna regret this but what do you mean?" She sighed nonchalantly.
"I mean, it'd be hard for you to notice seeing that you've never been in a relationship before, but I don't think that your relationship is healthy."
Shiho just looked at him annoyed.
"Since when did you become a relationship specialist? And before you say that to me, you should review yours... I mean laser tag, really? You two are like two halves of one idiot." She teased before taking a sip from her tea. Just before she left, Akemi was talking about how she and Dai went to play laser tag. It was a silly suggestion from Akemi when she saw the sign in the city and Dai surprisingly agreed because, well because it involved shooting.
"I think I know why you don't want to tell her." Dai added.
Shiho placed her cup on the coffee table. Could it be? No way! But what if? She smiled to hide her nervousness and looked at him with her chin up.
"Let me hear it." She gestured.
Dai placed his elbows on his knees and looked at her sternly.
"I asked you this before but I'm gonna ask you again. Are you afraid of him?"
Shuichi had some concerns for Shiho the first time he met with Gin, he then discarded them. But when he heard the manner with which Gin spoke to her in her office, he knew something was wrong. That day he left his pack of cigarettes on Shiho's desk when he held the lab tube, but when he went back for it he heard them talking.
Shiho was not the kind of girl to obey when someone asks her to do something she didn't want, especially if asked authoritatively. 'It's not a suggestion', that's not a thing she'd answer to unless something was wrong. Combined with her reaction on the balcony, and the expression that took over her when she saw Gin get inside her office, that thing has got to be fear.
"That's absurd, I already told you I'm not." Shiho lied, making the most convincing expression she could muster.
"Liar!"
"Excuse me!"
"Can't you see it? You're in an abusive relationship." Dai said.
"Abusive your ass! You're speaking about the archive of five months ago and it's not even true. That time I was scared for you that he might hurt you, not from him."
"That's not what I meant, Shiho." He looked at her deadly serious. "I know what happened on Tuesday and I don't think it should continue."
The mention of Tuesday made her heartbeat instantly fasten. Her white cheeks flushed as she looked away for a moment gathering her thoughts on what to say next. Shuichi invested that time to head to the kitchen.
Does he know that Gin hurt her? But that's impossible! There's no way he could know!
"I don't recall anything happening on Tuesday." Shiho said innocently. She'll play this card for now.
Dai was walking back from the kitchen when he spoke, he was holding two glasses of water.
"Look, it might be hard for you to notice but relationships aren't supposed to be like that. You can't force your partner out when he doesn't want to, you need to respect their choice instead." His husky voice came soft and gentle like a song. Dai handed her a glass of water and sat on the couch arm next to her as he went on explaining as if she were a child. "You can't say it's not a suggestion, relationships are built on suggestions, nothing forced, just suggestions. That's why we need to find compatible partners so that there's a bigger chance that we agree to each other's suggestions."
So all he knew was that Gin forced her to leave. Shiho looked him back relieved. His soft manner was doing things to her heart, she could feel it. It was that warmth she felt back when she hugged him, a nice feeling inside that she couldn't pinpoint.
She wished if she could tell him the truth then and there, to ask him to make it stop, but she didn't want him to be in trouble. He was already on Gin's bad side and if he made any move, Gin will kill him without hesitation. She couldn't afford to have Akemi go through that loss and to be honest, she too couldn't afford to lose him.
"I appreciate your concern, Dai san, but you're wrong. I'm not in an abusive relationship. We had a mission and whenever we do Gin gets all serious… He's just serious about his work." She lied again. She's done a lot of lying this week that it started to drain her energy.
At that exact moment, the door opened and Akemi joined them. Dai stood up from his spot on the couch arm and turned to face her while gobbling the glass of water he held.
"Did you convince him to join us, Shiho?" Akemi asked while walking towards them. Shiho shook her head.
"It's sister's night." Dai said looking at Akemi who stood in front of him by that time.
"But we both don't mind you coming." She looked up with a cute, almost effective puppy face.
"Now don't make that face. We could all go out on another day, but let's leave tonight for you two." He said, bringing her head closer and kissing her forehead. Akemi wrapped her arms around his torso and kissed him before Shiho intervened.
"Get a room!"
They both smiled at each other for a moment before pulling back.
Next chapter: Shuichi suspects his cover got blown. Shiho's past repeats itself with Gin and Dai confronting each other again.
For anyone who'd left me a review I really appreciate that so thank you, it really helps me keep going! Especially you 75aichan and My Dear ShuShi
