My third entry for Bad Things Happen Bingo. Prompt: Blackmail. Ship: IwaMoni. The fic will have two chapters.
Warning for heavy angst.
"…I actually met a boy out here.… He's quite handsome. Very smooth. We're talking of getting hitched when the world is in a better state…."
Moniwa cracked a smile at the handwritten letter. His cousin Mai went on about the mysterious gentleman she'd met in Tokyo, although her new lover apparently had to leave the city due to work. Kaname hoped things went well for them, whatever occupation the suitor had.
When Moniwa's fellow officer Futakuchi grandstanded into the room, Kaname folded up his mail and slotted it firmly into his pocket.
Colonel Kenji Futakuchi threw himself into the vinyl loveseat in the officers' mess with a theatrical sigh. Colonel Takanobu Aone, nose in a book, didn't give the cry for attention one glance. On the far side of the room, fellow brigade commander Colonel Moniwa was comfortably out of range of Futakuchi's supplications.
Seeing that he hadn't obtained an audience yet, Futakuchi resorted to other means. "I can't wait to get transferred to Tokyo," he sighed loudly. This did earn a momentary glance from Aone.
"You just got back, didn't you?" Moniwa, the oldest of the three childhood friends, genteelly said.
"Tokyo is so nice, dudes. The officers actually get cushy treatment, unlike this forsaken joint."
As the residence of the military junta, Tokyo was loaded with military units. Futakuchi's brigade had just returned to Miyagi from Tokyo after aiding the search for rebels in the outskirts, and it earned some prestige for the "hillbilly" unit.
"Futakuchi," Moniwa teased, sensing what Kenji was really implying, "you know they won't give us guys a second thought in replacing Gen. Kuroo." Recently the commander of the Nekoma Corps in Tokyo got promoted, leaving a vacancy to be filled.
Kenji smirked. "They wouldn't, if I didn't already have a few favors saved up," he sneered so deviously it was clearly not a bluff. Likewise, it was clear Futakuchi wanted the duo to inquire what favors he was talking about, but it was also clear Futakuchi had no intention of disclosing his secrets and just wanted the opportunity to gloat more.
The phone rang. Aone tracked Moniwa across the room to the red phone on the desk, signaling a call from the higher-ups.
"Col. Moniwa," Kaname answered.
"Moniwa, come to my office," replied the gruff but stately voice of their senior officer, General Hajime Iwaizumi, commander of the Seijoh Corps.
Kaname tidied himself up, neatly folded his coat over his arm, and squarely centered his peaked cap atop his head. Futakuchi joked with Aone, who nodded politely, while Moniwa headed upstairs.
Iwaizumi's room felt like a penthouse in the monolithic block that served as corps headquarters. Moniwa gave Gen. Iwaizumi due deference and felt weird even cracking the door to someone so esteemed in the military state that had run Japan for decades.
As usual, the general was hard at work, reviewing a communique at the desk. He made sure to slot it into a drawer when Moniwa entered.
"Please close the door," Hajime commanded his obliging visitor.
"You called me?" Kaname said politely.
"Yes, Moniwa," said the commander of Moniwa's, Aone's, and Futakuchi's parent unit. "I want to ask you something. Does the name Mai Nametsu mean anything to you?"
Moniwa felt his heart sink into his stomach, but he didn't let it show on his face.
"She's my cousin," he said, keeping calm.
"Where does she live?"
Moniwa pretended these questions were as innocent as asking about the weather. "In Tokyo."
"Do you ever to talk to her?"
His heart sank deeper, and he let his nervousness slip for a millisecond. Iwaizumi didn't give away whether he noticed. "We send letters," Kaname said vaguely.
"What do you say in the letters?"
"We just talk cordially. Nothing more," he said quickly. Moniwa felt a faint reassurance that his statement was true.
"What does she do for a living?"
The anxiety returned full force. "She, uh, was a tailor," Moniwa said, hoping futilely the conversation would end here.
"And what does she do now?"
Moniwa couldn't bring himself to reply, and his silence was incriminating enough.
"So, you know the problem here," Hajime said knowingly.
They both indeed knew the problem here: Mai Nametsu was a wanted dissident.
Moniwa moved quickly to defend his name. "General, please. You must believe me. We never talk about anything. She's my cousin. We've been friends since we were kids. I don't know where she sends the mail from. I know nothing about her location. She just likes to stay in touch. No one reads the letters besides me and Aone." The sweat on his forehead glistened in the ceiling lamp over Iwaizumi's desk. Hajime's face remained perfectly stoic, betraying neither if he was persuaded by Moniwa's pleas nor if he was prejudiced against them.
Hajime signaled for Moniwa to stop, which the brigade chief uneasily did.
"No, I believe you. But that's immaterial. Carrying on communication with a subversive is illegal. You are liable to the same penalty she will face whenever she is arrested, no matter the innocence of your exchanges."
Moniwa shivered. He knew it was wrong. He should have reported the letters and stopped replying. But he didn't want to.
"—That is, if High Command already knew about this," Iwaizumi cryptically added.
Moniwa didn't know what to make of this qualification.
"This information has yet to be forwarded up the chain of command, and I intend not to do so—if you do me a favor…."
Moniwa slapped his hands on the desk. "Yes! Anything!" His spittle sprinkled Iwaizumi's face. The brigade commander backed away apologetically while Iwaizumi dabbed his cheeks and nose with a handkerchief.
"Tell me," he continued unbothered, "has Futakuchi said anything about returning to Tokyo?"
Moniwa didn't know how to process this sudden change in subject, but he chose to answer honestly.
"Um, yes, he did. He said…he's applied for Gen. Kuroo's vacancy."
"Ah," said Iwaizumi in mock surprise, putting the handkerchief away. "Do you think he'll get it?"
Even though the topic had changed, Kaname felt like a mouse suspended in the air by its tail, being batted around before being killed. "He, uh, sounds like he's confident…. He, uh, mentioned he has some connections in Tokyo…."
"I see."
Iwaizumi got up and donned his jacket. "Listen, Moniwa. It is my professional opinion that Kenji Futakuchi is not qualified to command a corps. He's an embarrassment to the officer class." Iwaizumi pulled his cap firmly onto his head by the brim. "No one will listen to me though, so you're going to help stop his transfer."
"What do you want me to do?" Moniwa asked nervously.
"Simple," said Iwaizumi. "You know Futakuchi very well. The two of you are friends, no? That means he's comfortable around you. He won't be suspicious."
"S-suspicious of what?" Moniwa quivered.
"That you would murder him."
Moniwa's heart froze.
"Obviously make it look like an accident or a suicide, of course. Do that, and I will pretend your correspondences with Mai Nametsu don't exist." Iwaizumi appended mundanely. "Anyway, I have a meeting."
"Sir! I can't do that!" Moniwa protested desperately.
"Then I'm afraid you'll be executed for treason," Hajime indicted. "If Kenji Futakuchi is not dead by tomorrow morning, I will take that as your answer, Col. Moniwa."
Iwaizumi showed Kaname out to finish getting ready. Moniwa made his way pensively to the restroom. Alone in a stall, he cried.
Chapter 2 is already written and should be up within a week.
~Breeze