Shuichi's eyes slowly opened exposing an olive green shade. He blankly stared around without a single thought on his mind. Only after a long moment had passed that he realized he was trapped inside a small room. It was empty, poorly lit, and did not contain any windows. The concrete walls added to its gloominess with what looked like dry blood spots on them. But what grabbed his attention more was the man sitting in front of him.
He was wearing a black T-shirt that tightly traced his huge biceps, from there expanded two sleeves of tattoos covering both of his arms. He was looking away when he noticed the sudden movement from Shuichi, making him turn his head to meet the agent's eyes.
"Rise and shine, princess." The man smirked.
Shuichi closed his eyes again. He felt a throbbing pain on the back of his head. He could feel handcuffs digging into his wrists and his ankles being tightly wrapped by duct tape. The tape was wrapped all around his upper body too, keeping him fixed to the chair he was sat on. Shuichi felt lightheaded and dizzy and was barely able to keep his eyes open and focus.
"Hey, don't ignore me like that, or are you trying to play hard to get?" The man added, raising the agent's chin up with his rough fingers.
Shuichi's greens slowly opened. "What do you want?"
"Me? Nothing really." He shrugged. "Gin, however, wants lots of things. It was he who asked me to bring you here."
Shuichi stared at him in silence without responding.
"Did anyone tell you before you have pretty eyes?" The man added, gently passing his fingers on the agent's cheek. It was at that moment that Shuichi's eyes turned wide awake. He turned his head to the side escaping the man's touch when he felt it land on his bicep.
"Get your fucking hand off me." Shu ordered, piercing the man with an intense gaze.
The man smirked again, he was about to answer him when the door opened and Gin walked inside. His eyes locked on Rye, they were firing with anger and hatred, a bit reddish even.
"Get out." He ordered the man without even drifting his gaze from Shuichi's.
The man did as told, leaving the room and closing the door behind him. Gin walked to Dai and stood in front of him examining him for a second before sending a fist to his jaw.
"You bastard. One sister wasn't enough for you?"
Rye turned his head slowly to face Gin again.
"Bastard? One could say the same to you. And there's nothing between me and Shiho."
"Don't fucking lie to my face. How long has it been with you two?"
"See if you were good to her, you wouldn't be so paranoid about her cheating." Shuichi said, staring Gin back calmly.
Gin lifted his fist and punched the agent again. He proceeded to bring out a pocket knife from his pocket and placed it on Shuichi's cheek. Gin's eyes were wide and immobile as they focused intensely on Rye.
"Says the man cheating on his girlfriend with her sister. I WAS good to Sherry, and even if I wasn't that doesn't give you the right to do what you did."
The knife was pressed on Shuichi's skin so tightly that the smallest bit of pressure would suffice to cut him.
"You need to get your facts straight. I have never cheated on Akemi and you were not good to Shiho. You treated her badly and I only intervened to stop it, nothing more." He said, still keeping his composure.
"Deny it all you want, I'm gonna punish you regardless. I will until you beg me for a quick death." Gin stopped for a moment and brought his face closer. "…But I'll ensure to make it as slow as possible."
Trying to prove Gin wrong was unattainable, Gin was bound to believe what he wanted to believe. He moved the knife down from Shuichi's cheek to his shoulder and slid it down, cutting all the duct tape that pinned the agent to the chair. Gin then took him by the collar and rose him closer to his face.
"Enjoy, your slow death." He said, before throwing him across the room.
Shuichi's cheek laid firmly on the dust coated floor as he watched Gin walk towards him...
(~)
When she reached Shiho's apartment door, Akemi stopped in her tracks. She hesitated for a minute between leaving or knocking on the door. After taking a deep breath, she decided to go with the latter.
The sudden knock brought Shiho out of her thoughts. She stood up and slowly walked to the door, holding her phone tightly with Dai's name on the screen. If it's Gin behind the door, she will call Dai to come rescue her. Gin must be so angry at her and if she doesn't take good precautions to protect herself she might end up dead.
Looking through the peephole made her eyes widen. It's Akemi's! What could bring her here at such time without calling? Could what she had feared happened? Did Gin hurt Dai? Shiho placed her hand on the doorknob, but when she remembered what a mess her face looked like, she withdrew it. She doesn't want Akemi to see her like this.
On the other side of the door, Akemi was persistent with her knocks. She waited for her sister to open up patiently.
Shiho stood behind the door silently when her phone suddenly rang, making her jump. And of course, it was Akemi calling. She decided to ignore it and pretend that she's not home, but Akemi retrieved knocking.
"Open up Shiho, I know you're in there."
Shiho took in a deep breath. She quickly thought of a story to explain her bruises then opened the door.
"Oh my God!" Akemi's face twisted painfully soon as her eyes laid on her. So it is true what Gin had told her, he did beat Shiho up after he caught her cheating.
"Ah, hey Akemi. Don't freak out. I'm fine. I just fell and-"
"Don't lie to me Shiho, this is not the doing of a fall. Somebody had hit you."Shiho looked at Akemi in silence thinking of what to say next, but Akemi went on, on the verge of crying. "I know it was Gin."
The youngest stood startled not knowing how Akemi knew! Could it be Dai had told her? He did persuade her to open up to Akemi, but that doesn't mean he'd just go and tell the secret he has kept for over a year.
"Well yes, yes I just, it was nothing, I'm fine now so don't worry about me. It's not gonna happen again."
"Worry about you?" Akemi whispered.
"Did Dai Kun tell you about that?"
Akemi shook her head. "Gin told me."
"What?" Shiho frowned.
"He told me everything." Akemi sobbed. Even though Gin's tale had enough evidence to be believed, Akemi did not want to believe it and still had hope, she wanted to hold on to any little hint that proved it wrong. She took a step closer towards her sister and held her shoulders. "Shiho, please tell me it's not true."
"Akemi, calm down and tell me exactly what he told you." Shiho said with a look of concern.
"Have you and Gin been dating?" Akemi asked.
"Yes." She whispered while tilting her head down. She felt shame for keeping such an important thing from Akemi when she would tell her everything.
"How long?"
"A long time. Akemi, I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I didn't want you to worry about me."
"What about Dai?"
"What about him?"
Akemi stared at her sister for a moment, tears streaming down her cheeks against her will.
"Gin told me about you two… you two…" She trailed off.
Shiho shook her head. "No!"
"I didn't want to believe him, but everything that he said was true, even about Dai and Vermouth… And then I started making connections and, and, everything made sense about… those times we went out and you two acted strangely, I always knew something was going on in the back with you two but..."
"No, no, Akemi it's not like that-"
"Then what is it Shiho? Why did he hit you and Dai? He even showed me a picture of you two going into your apartment on that same day he told me he caught you two…" Akemi trailed off again and surrendered to her tears. She felt like she was on the verge of losing everything. A life without her only family and without the love of her life was meaningless, and she was about to lose both.
Shiho took in a deep breath. She stared into Akemi's eyes and prepared to let all of her masks crumble. The sisters sat in the living room and shared a long conversation that lasted for over an hour. Shiho informed Akemi about all of the past years, about her relationship with Gin, how he abused her and how she hid it all to not let her worry, how Dai realized it and tried to help her, how Gin hurt her and Dai on that day because of his possessive paranoia, and how he used that to manipulate her.
Akemi cried hearing all the horror her sister's been through when she was living a happy life with her boyfriend. Shiho was suffering and she was clueless all along. She kept on apologizing for Shiho because she believed Gin for a moment, which the youngest didn't seem to be angry about, yet Akemi felt shameful regardless and kept on repeating apologies.
The two sisters hugged each other for a very long time, they cried on each other's shoulders offering comfort in a world too dark for them to live in.
(~)
Akemi felt horrible for falsely accusing Dai. The first thing she did when she left Shiho was to head to his apartment to talk, but he wasn't in there. She tried calling him but it went directly to his voicemail, she left him a message telling him that she needed to speak with him. As days passed, Dai didn't turn his phone on. Akemi went to his apartment twice to check if he was there but he wasn't. Eventually, she decided to call Shiho and voice her worries.
The two sisters chatted for a while before hanging up. Shiho succeeded to reassure her sister about Dai, but what she failed to do was to reassure her own self. Before getting a call from Akemi, she tried to contact him and realized he was missing, and she was certain that Gin was the one responsible. She spent the past days worried sick, unable to eat nor sleep, yet she couldn't do anything about it.
She was scared of going to Gin. With him being angry at her and Dai being gone she had no protection. After quarreling with herself, Shiho couldn't bear it any longer. She decided to go to him, even if he ends up taking her life she wouldn't care. She was the one who got Dai involved in this and she ought to be the one to get him out even if it required sacrificing herself. Because she knew that if he somehow ends up killed by Gin, she won't bear living.
When Gin opened the door, he gave her his trademark grin.
"See Sherry! I always tell you you can't run away from me. I don't get why you even try? You're a smart woman, should know better."
Shiho looked at him with a serious expression, waiting for him to finish his sentence.
"Where is Dai san?" She asked soon as he did.
"Worried about that cheating bastard? I wonder if you would worry about me that much if I disappear."
Gin knew Dai had disappeared, so it is he who took him. Shiho felt her heart beat faster to the realization. She was scared to even find out what happened to him. Could Gin had gotten impatient and killed him? She knew he would do it in a heartbeat but still wanted not to believe it.
"Gin, I did not cheat on you with Dai. I'm looking for him because Akemi's worried about him, so stop the nonsense and tell me where he is." She said with a poker face and a harsh tone, while on the inside she was burning to ask him more. She wanted to know how Dai was and a million other things.
"Akemi? I thought she realized his true color, I'm surprised she still wants anything to do with him."
"You mean she was manipulated by you to believe it, but now she knows the truth."
"I didn't manipulate her, I told her what's there."
"Well, you were wrong. Now tell me where he is?"
"And what will you give me in return?" He approached her, pulling her inside his house and closing the door behind her.
Shiho felt sick. She doesn't even want to look Gin in the eye anymore, the mere touch of him pulling her to the inside made her feel nauseous.
"I don't have to give you anything. Dai didn't do anything so punishing him for your own delusions is wrong. Not to mention that he's the organization's best sniper, Anokata won't like it if you do anything to him."
"There's nothing to prove that my thoughts are wrong. As for Anokata, who do you think is more valuable to him? One who served him for over ten years and executed his plans perfectly, or one that's been around for less than two years?"
"Gin please!" Shiho's voice lost the dryness.
"Why do you go to such length to save him?" Gin suddenly yelled, propping himself against the door with his left hand. He was hovering over Shiho's fragile body, fueled by jealousy and anger. "For all of those years I've been good to you, I cared about you and gave you everything but then one day, that bastard comes and takes everything away. And now you only care about him and expect me to be okay with it."
"I only care about my sister. I came here because she is worried about him. Won't you get it Gin? Nothing is between me and Dai. What he did the other day is a normal reaction of any man seeing a woman getting hit by another man."
Gin looked at her while processing what she said. She didn't really convince him, but he missed her so much, and having her standing so close was an obstacle to his logical thinking. For a moment, he stopped caring about her cheating, about where Dai is and what brought her to his house in the first place. He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.
Shiho tried following his pace and kissed back, thankful that he finally believed her and hoping that he would tell her Dai's location. But she couldn't go on, she felt like she can't go on with it and she had to stop. She pulled back.
She felt him drift down to her neck, tracing kisses all over it. Shiho placed her hands on his shoulders, not daring to push him back but not letting him come any closer.
"Gin, please!" She whispered in his ear.
He suddenly lifted his head to look her in the eye. His icy green eyes stared at her for a moment before turning on his heels and heading towards the bedroom.
"Leave." He said in a low voice as he crossed his way there.
At this moment, Gin knew it was true. All of his suspicions, she must love Dai to deny him like this. He wanted to hurt her, to punish her for it, to kill her, but he still couldn't do it to his Sherry. He will when he starts loving her less, but for now, he'll punish Dai for it instead, he will make him regret taking Sherry away from him.
Gin got inside the bedroom slamming the door shut behind him. Shiho stood by the door confused. She could leave and be thankful that he spared her life, but then she'll never see Dai again. She stood there hesitant between leaving or going after Gin. If it meant a possibility for saving Dai, she will do whatever it takes. She threw her purse on the floor behind the door and walked to the bedroom after Gin.
(~)
Shuichi laid on the floor feeling exhausted. He doesn't even know for how long he's been stuck in this place. There was no window to enable him to count the days and nights that had passed, only a lamp hanging in the middle. He hasn't had anything to eat since he came here. Surrounded by four concrete walls, there was nothing else to do but stare at them, it felt like he was slowly going insane.
The agent was all tied up with steel cuffs. There was no way out of the room he was inside but the door, which was locked. Not only that but he noted the presence of guards outside, lots of them. It seemed like it was another facility of the organization with people working around it.
Shuichi invested the free time he had to reflect on his infiltration. The work of two years of his life was ruined. He lost time and lost the FBI an important mission and now he was about to lose his own life, and all of it was because he put his feelings first. It was not like him to put his feelings before the job, he was always a professional man, but this time he did, and strangely, he didn't regret it, he'd even do it again if he had to. He couldn't stand seeing Gin hurt Shiho and not do anything to stop him. That's how he knew that she gained his heart, if he went out of his way to put her before his job, then that means she's far more important to him than he admitted to himself.
The door to the cell suddenly opened distracting Shuichi from his train of thoughts.
After spending last night with Shiho, Gin promised her that he'll let Dai go back to Akemi. However, when his eyes laid on the agent, his thoughts had changed. He remembered that Shiho had feelings for him, that son of a bitch, and suddenly, the thought of killing him seemed too appealing to dismiss despite the promise he had made.
Gin walked towards the agent, grabbing him by the hair and raising his head up. He turned him to face a bucket and plunged his head in the water.
Shuichi's muscles weakened after three days of no food and pain, nevertheless, he resisted Gin. He kept on struggling under his grasp until Gin brought him back to the air. Shuichi inhaled deeply for the air, but before he could fill his lungs Gin sunk him again, this time, keeping him long enough that his lungs sagged and inhaled involuntarily for the air, but it only received water. Shuichi felt like he was going to die. Gin pulled him back again. During those few seconds he spent time coughing out the water instead of getting air, so when Gin plunged him again, he had no supply of air. Shuichi's lungs started contracting immediately as water invaded their compartments. His heart was beating too fast he could hear it and his limbs weakened as his struggles lessened with time. He felt his heart beat less and less as all of his muscles relaxed against his will.
"Enough!" A voice called from behind Gin. Gin didn't care to listen.
"I said enough!" Vermouth repeated, pushing Gin away and grabbing Shuichi by his shirt to lift him up from the water and onto the ground.
"Get out of here Vermouth. You have nothing to do in this place."
Actually, Shuichi was trapped in a highly secured area reserved for the organization's prisoners, from interrogated agents to kidnapped people. That's why he had no chance of getting out. Gin frequently works here but Vermouth had nothing to do with this work.
"I came on behalf of Boss. What were you thinking, Gin? Did you think you can get away with this easily?"
"I'm doing what needs to be done." He stood up and lit a cigarette, staring at Dai's body with satisfaction.
"What needs to be done?" Vermouth smiled with raised eyebrows. "You mean using the organization's facility to get a personal vendetta? Not only that but trying to kill one of our best-recruited members?"
"He's not the best, we got plenty of people to fill his place."
"Anyway, Anokata didn't like you going behind his back with this. He wants to talk to you."
Gin just looked at Vermouth annoyed.
"Now." She added, and he left with no protest.
The blonde turned back to look at Rye, she examined him for a while before turning to the man standing by the door. It was the man with the tattoos that brought Shuichi here three days ago. She whispered something in his ear and left.
Hello everyone! I hope you had a great week! I'm sorry for taking too long to update, the next chapter will be updated soon.
Next chapter: Shiho breaks down in front of Shuichi.
