Chapter Eight

Morning After

When Sousuke woke up, he felt groggy, light headed and hot. He also realised it was light in the warehouse and that the sun was shining in. Which seemed to make the smell of stale fish even stronger than it had the night before. Shaking his head slightly to wake himself up, he pushed up on his elbows and looked around the room noticing more in the morning light. The tall boxes, the small windows, the dust...

And that Makoto wasn't there. Fuck. He'd only meant to sleep for a few hours, exhausted from... Whatever last night was. And here it was - morning and Makoto was gone. Sousuke went from groggy to alert swiftly, unzipping his sleeping bag and rolling out of it with all the skill of his years of training in only his underwear.

Sousuke got to his feet, his eyes scanning the floor for a weapon and seeing some piping, he bent down to grab it as he went in search for Makoto, his heart thudding, his mouth dry... He'd not lost a job since her - since the gorgeous swimsuit model with the stalker and it still haunted him. The sound of the gun shot, the bullet, the blood and he had made a vow never to lose another person ever. But damn, it seemed as like he had already lost Makoto. While he slept. While Sousuke slept because he'd been an idiot and unprofessional. Damn.

His eyes roved and he took in the floor, the places where dirt and dust were disturbed and he noted there was probably only their own footprints from the previous nights and Makoto's from leaving the room.

It was a small mercy. That Makoto's faith in Sousuke had been lost and he'd decided to just go it alone. He'd not been kidnapped by masked men as Sousuke slept inches away.

He followed the path, the pipe loose in his grip just in case and he walked towards the window they'd entered through, briefly looking out to see the sun streaming onto the wet sidewalk. He then turned and noted a door he'd missed in the adrenalin of last night, walking towards it, his pipe raised just in case.

For a second he decided what to do and then figured that he should check the place quickly in case Makoto was in there. So he slammed into the door, pushing through it with his shoulder and Sousuke almost fell into a bathroom, a dirty bathroom but one where water was running. He still held his weapon when Makoto turned, his hair wet and pushed back, in the process of washing his face and cleaning up from last night.

"You going to hit me?" Makoto asked, a little sharply and Sousuke didn't respond for a second, unsure what he was referring to.

Then he remembered. The pipe.

"No. I worried when you were gone."

"Part of your job, huh?"

Sousuke shrugged, the gesture making him realise quite how sharply he had banged his shoulder against the door and he reached up to soothe it, rubbing at it.

"Look," Sousuke started and he saw Makoto fold his arms across his chest in some form of self-defence, obscuring his muscled pectorals a little from where they were exposed by his open white shirt. "I have a job -"

"I get it," he replied interrupting any form of apology Sousuke was going to attempt.

Instead of getting into some ridiculous fight, Sousuke walked towards the sinks, following suit and washing his hair and face, his body, steadfastly ignoring Makoto next to him. Ignoring the dip of his muscles in the light of the bathroom, the determined and focused look in his eyes that suggested there was more to him than met the eye. But Sousuke was going to ignore all that. He was certainly going to forget last night - the way Makoto moaned and panted, the way he had tasted, their hot passionate kissing.

Instead he focused solely on looking at his own reflection, seeing the tiredness in his eyes, the way stubble was forming on his chin and he thought about how he would sleep for a month when this was over. Spend nights at clubs or drinking expensive bottles of scotch in his apartment and Makoto would just be another job and he'd be paid well and that would be it. But then Sousuke saw his reflection in the mirror and something in his stomach dropped as it wasn't just a job. Maybe not even from the first stupid ass meeting at Makoto's work

Sighing, Sousuke turned and leaned against the sinks, folded his arms over his bare chest. It hardly was the time for confessions or whatever when he was mostly naked and in the middle of a job but Sousuke wanted to regain at least some of Makoto's trust.

"My job is keeping you safe," he said, his eyes on the floor. "And in another world...when this is over we can talk but right now I need to protect you."

He finally looked up when he finished, his eyes meeting Makoto's who nodded. "I get it."

He said it before - but this time it wasn't as harsh and Sousuke guessed he wasn't forgiven but at least they were back on friendly terms. It would've been difficult protecting him if Makoto refused to follow his lead. His experience of spoilt young rich boys sneaking out to go to clubs had shown that sometimes if someone didn't want his protection, it was almost impossible to do his job.

"I promise this is over soon. My employers will be neutralising the threat while I keep you safe."

"I'm going to get dressed," Makoto said, changing the subject entirely and he walked out of the bathroom leaving Sousuke to pick up his pipe and follow, thinking through their next moves.

Another safe house, more clothes and some time to discover how much Makoto actually knew about the files.

The optimist in him hoped for a bed and sex but Sousuke figured that was unlikely. As Makoto was probably forever going to see him as an insensitive selfish jerk. And he supposed he deserved that summary as really, he had been.