Rated M for the violence mentioned later. I don't think it's too graphic but I don't really know how to gauge between Teen and Mature ratings properly. Better safe than sorry.

Disclaimer: Frankly, I have no idea how court of law or police investigations are carried out in Japan, much less how they handle violent crimes and protecting their witnesses. The actions taken by police and the court in this fic are heavily influenced by the American police and judicial system. Take it with a grain of salt.

This is entirely backstory for the first part of the series, Finding Something Beautiful. You can technically read this one first but I wrote the other one first. Might be confusing in some parts if you read this first.

No beta as usual. Enjoy!

...

Suguru woke with a long yawn, stretching his arms above his head while he carefully avoided jostling the other body in his bed. The sun was rising, painting the room in gold and orange accents through the window facing the East. The sun lit up the canvas of one of his favorite photos of J-22 or "Oreo," the picture showing her playful side as she had lazily half-breached from the water during Suguru's morning outing a year and a half ago. He'd had the picture printed on canvas specifically so he could place it on the wall closest to the door of his room, preventing the sun from reflecting off of the glass and frames his other pictures were kept in. Tearing his eyes from the picture to glance at his partner, he couldn't help but smile.

Satoru's white hair was tussled, splayed out in every direction as he snored quietly. His cheek was pressed against the pillow and a small damp spot under his mouth told Suguru that he'd been drooling in his sleep. The blanket was tucked under his arms, his pale skin painted gold in the morning light.

How could he have possibly given this up? How had he missed an entire decade of mornings like this?

He remembered the events that led to the worst day of his life clearly. He regretted it every day and did his best to make up for it for Satoru. Their reunion had been unexpected but they had slipped back into their dynamic as if the past ten years hadn't happened at all. Having Satoru back in Suguru's life was like learning to breathe again.

Yet, he found himself haunted by his actions every time he looked at his boyfriend, wishing he'd done things differently.

~10 Years Prior: Tokyo, Japan~

"Suguru! Did you finish the paper for Yaga?" Satoru whined, leaning back in his chair in their shared dorm room. There were papers scattered across his desk and he was balancing a silver pen on his upper lip, his sunglasses slightly askew. Suguru sighed and closed the book he was reading, a detailed field guide for orca identification picked from his bookshelf out of sheer boredom, setting it next to him in his bed.

"Yes, Satoru, I did. I don't wait until the last second to finish my assignments like you do." Suguru knew what was coming. Satoru wanted help with the paper or he was looking for a distraction so he could say that he forgot about it. Yaga was their literature teacher for their fourth year and he was one of the few teachers that didn't allow Satoru to slack off just because of his family name. When Satoru had started playing a game of Chicken with the man by not doing assignments as part of a backwards strike against the teacher, his first report card of the semester had resulted in losing his credit card until his grade in that class drastically improved. Not used to actually completing his assignments, Satoru was floundering with actually sitting down and working for his grade. He was smart enough to do it, he just didn't want to.

"Let's go to an arcade or something! I need a break!" Satoru complained, putting his pen down and getting out of his chair. Suguru sighed and stood up to go with him. He'd long since learned not to try to put Satoru back on the right track. The paper would eventually get done if Satoru wanted his credit card back.

"Fine. I'm hungry so let's get dinner on the way." Suguru muttered as he moved towards the door of their room. Arms wrapped around his midsection and he found himself pulled back towards Satoru before he could reach the door.

"Gimme a kiss before we go! I haven't gotten one today!" Suguru smiled at the pout in Satoru's voice as he turned around to face him. Tilting his head up to press a chaste kiss against Satoru's pouting lips, he felt the arms encasing him tighten slightly. Satoru was always handsy and had no problems with a little bit of PDA, but they'd decided to be more careful after almost getting caught making out in the back of a dark laser tag arena a few months prior. Since they were both technically adults at eighteen years old, there wasn't anything wrong with it, they just didn't want to get reported and have their dorm arrangement changed before they graduated in a month.

"Love you…" Satoru whispered as he hugged Suguru tighter. Suguru chuckled and buried his face in the side of Satoru's neck.

"Love you too. If you finish that paper tonight, maybe I'll give you a reward." Suguru was not above bribing Satoru and Satoru was not above taking the bribes by the way his eyes gained a mischievous light and his soft smile morphed into a smirk.

"Oh I'll get it done. After we get back from our date. Let's get going." With that, they left their dorm and started their afternoon shenanigans.

…

Satoru was aiming for a high score in a dancing game when Suguru received a text he'd been waiting for since the previous week.

9 o'clock tonight - meeting at the warehouse in Shinjuku - if you're going to be late then don't show up

Make sure you're not followed and bring your robes

He hadn't told Satoru, but he'd started participating in a movement against corporations in the world. While most movements were loud and marched the streets, this movement actually made improvements from the shadows through bribery and sabotage. Technological warfare on major corporations' websites, mysterious fires and electrical problems at major warehouses, coming together to sabotage political votes, and ruining advertising campaigns were all standard methods used by the movement. While on the more extreme side, he was proud to say it was harmless, no one ever got physically hurt by their work. It had been stressed to him in the last few meetings that under no circumstances were people to be injured or die for their cause.

He wasn't open about it but he strongly believed in the whole "eat the rich" mentality and he wanted to see the greedy bastards lose as much money as possible. The religious undertones like the robes and candle-lit meetings were a bit much but he dealt with it to be a part of such a big change in the world.

Checking the time, he knew he only had an hour and a half to get back to the dorm to get his robes and get to the meeting. Making a split second decision, he stepped away and called Shoko.

"Hey! Where are you guys? I couldn't find you at the dorms." Shoko sounded like she was drunk, her words slurring together slightly. It wasn't unusual for her to attend a party on a weekday night so Suguru shrugged it off.

"Hey, wasn't sure if you wanted to come out. Satoru and I are at the arcade. Want to meet us up here?" He knew Shoko would say yes, she always did. She'd probably bring Utahime and Mei as well.

"Hell yeah! We'll be there in ten." She hung up quickly, likely to round up her friends and bring them along. He sent a quick text to tell her to pretend she stumbled on them while already being out and that he needed to slip away to get Satoru a surprise gift. She simply sent back a thumbs up, used to his tactics for disappearing randomly. She'd been joking more and more frequently that he needed to go ahead and make a decision on a ring for the love of his life and stop being so indecisive. She thought he was ring shopping and just couldn't decide on 'the one' so that had to be why he hadn't proposed yet after so many disappearances. The truth was far more disappointing but he played along for the sake of not having her look too far into what he was doing.

Fifteen minutes later, Satoru was occupied teasing Utahime to tears and Suguru was able to slip away, nearly running to their dorm room to get his bag with his robes in it. He would have to catch the subway to Shinjuku and pray he made it in time.

…

He put his robes on over his clothes prior to entering the warehouse through the back door. He'd been to prior meetings at this location and knew how to navigate the building as he made his way to the open manufacturing room in the center, already seeing most of the party present. He had arrived with only five minutes to spare and he wasn't wasting any more time. Standing next to another individual in similar robes near the back of the group of twenty or so people, he patiently waited in silence.

The air was disturbingly silent as their leader walked into the room, standing in front of the group in his own slightly more ornate robes. Everyone wore masks to these events as well to hide their identities, simple white masks without any facial features. It was almost creepy but Suguru put up with it just like he did with the robes.

"Good evening. This is a special meeting for new recruits that have been showing a lot of promise lately. As you know, each of you has a mentor that has been watching your progress over the time you've been with us. If you're in this room, your mentor has recommended you for an advancement in rank. However, it is not a simple process. I have questions for you that may be uncomfortable but I need your absolute honesty when you answer. If any of my questions venture into territory you aren't comfortable with, you are free to leave the room. Whether you leave or stay will be how you will answer these questions. However, you are not to attend any further meetings and you are not to speak of us if you leave tonight. If you report our movement, you are well aware of what we're capable of and we will turn our forces against you." The leader paused and took the time to look into each of the blank masks on their faces.

"My first question is regarding whether or not you are willing to bring the downfall of major corporations, regardless of what happens to them and their families. Some have children, others have spouses or parents that they support, and some live alone. Regardless, there will be innocents caught in the crossfire of our work here. Everyone from the CEOs to the laborers at the bottom of the food chain could lose their positions. Are you capable of handling the guilt that comes with our messages?" The room remained silent, the members of the group almost afraid to move. Suguru felt his tongue become dry in his mouth, not expecting such a question. It was a harsh reality of what they were doing, sure. Shouldn't it just remain unspoken, though? They all knew the consequences of their actions.

Two people turned towards the door and quietly left. Suguru could only guess that they hadn't truly thought about what they were doing when they joined. These kinds of casualties were expected with the work they did.

"Very good. Now, are those of you here capable of doing the dirty work? Each time we set fire to a warehouse or take down an electrical grid for our cause, we all have a hand in it. We're all equally guilty in the eyes of the law. So, even if you're not the one laying the gasoline or wielding the bolt cutters or creating the codes to hack their websites, are you capable of shouldering the consequences of the actions of the rest of the movement? There are no blind sides to the involvement of our members. We are transparent and we accept the results of our plans with full accountability. Can you?" This time, nine people left. Suguru knew he was sweating behind his mask, the air growing heavier. Using the same logic as the last question, wasn't this all part of the role? He knew that if the movement was caught, they'd all go down. He would be just as guilty as the rest of the group. It was worth it, though. Society couldn't continue to answer to a small minority that preyed on the average civilian.

"Ah, that question is usually hard to stomach. It's all part of being honest, though! We want our members to know what they're getting into as they advance. Now, this one is difficult and I fully expect most of you or all of you to leave tonight. We won't hold it against you, so remember to be honest." Suguru could feel his fingernails biting into his palms as he clenched his fists. Their leader was awfully chipper despite the serious line of questioning.

"Would you be willing to face the people that rule our world? Sometimes methods without casualties don't get results. We have been considering more extreme methods involving direct contact with our targets. This involves scare tactics and possible threats for the particularly stubborn targets. Could you, as a member of our movement, face our targets and get our message across? Remember, if you choose to leave at this point, that we will find you if you report our movement. All you have to do is keep quiet and you can resume your peaceful life if you back out now." A moment passed in silence before the remaining seven others left the room, leaving Suguru standing by himself. He was willing to spread this message and he was willing to look someone in the eyes to tell them what they were doing was wrong. Scare tactics and empty threats weren't a concern to him. As long as no harm came to anyone, it didn't matter. These things were still being resolved peacefully.

"You truly have quite the resolve and loyalty, my boy. That was the last of my questions. You are free to go home. Text your mentor as soon as you leave. Simply send the word "Cursed" and they will inform you of your next meeting with us. You did well." Suguru left as ordered, willing his hands not to shake and for his knees not to give out. He'd done it, he'd gained a rank in the movement. He would finally be able to make a change in the world.

…

When he arrived back at the dorm long after midnight, Satoru was face-down in his bed. He was still in his day clothes and he had his head buried in his pillow that he was hugging in his sleep, his sunglasses set on the nightstand. Suguru had never been out this late and he internally panicked at the fact he'd disappeared without an explanation to his boyfriend who'd probably waited for him to get back. Glancing at the desk on Satoru's side of the room, nothing had changed since they'd left earlier in the afternoon. Satoru's paper wasn't done.

Undressing down to his boxers, he silently slid into his own bed, trying not to wake Satoru. Depending on when he'd gone to sleep, he might be able to lie and say he'd arrived earlier but Satoru had already been asleep and he hadn't wanted to wake him. Checking his phone, that spark of hope for his half-baked lie died. Satoru had been texting him all afternoon up until fifteen minutes ago.

Suguru I dont kno where u are but this is so fucked up. Ill talk to u tmrw

Suguru turned his phone off and scrubbed at his face with his hands. How the hell was he supposed to explain this? He must have let out a sound in his quiet panic because he started hearing shuffling from Satoru's bed. He held his breath.

"Suguru?" Satoru's sleepy voice questioned from the other side of the room. Suguru sighed and turned to face his boyfriend, not at all mentally prepared for the conversation they might end up having.

"I'm here," he answered quietly. There was some more shuffling in the dark before the desk lamp was turned on, a sleep-rumpled Satoru glaring at Suguru with bloodshot eyes and crossed arms. Suguru winced, he'd never seen Satoru so upset with him before. In fact, he'd never seen Satoru this upset in general.

"Where the hell were you?" Satoru's voice cracked and Suguru took in the way Satoru's eyes looked swollen and his chest constricted. He'd made Satoru cry.

"I… I can't tell you." Suguru wanted to slap himself for the stupid response, especially with the way Satoru's eyes flashed with genuine anger.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!" His whisper was harsh in the silence of the room and Suguru couldn't look him in the eyes anymore.

"I just can't. Satoru look, I-"

"Are you cheating on me?" Suguru's eyes widened at the question that had cut off his half-baked excuse.

"No! God, no! Why would you think that?" Suguru tried to keep his voice quiet but he was panicking. He'd never cheat on Satoru! He'd sooner jump off of a nearby bridge!

"I know Shoko's been running block for you for a few months! At first, we joked that you were thinking about proposing since you usually disappeared for an hour or two and would bring me something sweet when you got back but you've been gone longer and you're obviously not getting me anything while you're out anymore. So what the hell is going on, Suguru?! This looks really fucking bad!" Satoru's eyes were dry now despite how red and irritated they were but the hurt in them cut deep. Suguru put his head in his hands as he positioned himself to sit on his bed, facing his boyfriend.

"I'm… I'm part of a movement. Have been for a few months. We've been having meetings and I was told not to tell anyone so I didn't. It's… it's a little extreme but I really believe in the message and I feel like I've found a place I belong. I'm sorry for not telling you, they just want less people to know so no one gets in trouble." Suguru couldn't help but spill what was happening. He couldn't be accused of cheating on Satoru and let the love of his life believe that when the truth was so much simpler. A harsh laugh broke his thoughts and he looked up at Satoru, confused at the slightly hysterical look on the man's face.

"So you'd rather say you're in a cult than admit to cheating?! Seriously?!" Suguru felt his eyebrow twitch and couldn't help but get defensive.

"It's not a fucking cult! It's a movement! We're making actual changes in the world! Don't you think it's a little fucked up that so much of the population answers to so few? That money can be the literal difference between life and death not only in this country but in others? We're not monkeys clapping for our bosses to toss us scraps! That's what it's about!" Suguru ranted and watched as Satoru's face fell into a confused expression. Now Suguru was the one that was angry. It sounded so insane spoken out loud, especially to Satoru who had literally grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth and no concept of the value of money.

"Oh. You're actually in a cult. Suguru, why the fuck didn't you say anything before all of this?" Satoru looked so genuinely confused and it made Suguru's face burn in mortification.

"I just said it's not a cult! It's a movement!" God, he sounded like a child. However, the distinction was important. He wasn't going to drink poisoned Kool-aid for this like that one cult in America. He would never go that far.

"Okay, fine! If you're so proud to be a part of this 'movement' then why didn't you say anything?" Why didn't Satoru understand? He couldn't! He also couldn't just tell Satoru that every member was basically threatened if they spilled the beans. Satoru was exactly the type to walk up to the leader and demand explanations without any regard for consequences.

"Satoru, I love you, but your family is literally an enemy in these people's eyes. Why would I tell you about being a part of something that actively wishes for the downfall of your family's success when you benefit from it?" Satoru wasn't stupid, Suguru knew that. He could see some of the pieces clicking together in the man's head.

"Is my family some sort of target? This 'movement' wouldn't have something to do with the recent fires that have been happening in Shibuya and the websites that have been forcibly getting shut down during peak hours for big businesses, would it?" Damn, leave it to Satoru to hit the nail right on the head. His expression must have given something away because Satoru sighed and sat back down on his bed. "Suguru… Jesus Christ. What am I supposed to say to this? You're not cheating on me but you're part of a terrorist group- I didn't say cult! And you've actively been lying to me about it for months. I would almost say this is worse than if you were just cheating! You have to stop working with those people!" Satoru still looked a little hysterical as he worked himself back up and Suguru didn't know if anything he said would make it better.

"No. I'm seeing this through. You can't stop me from being a part of this." Suguru was firm in his resolve and he didn't want to fight Satoru on it but he would if he had to.

"Suguru, this is dangerous! The cops are actively looking for that group! If you get caught, you're going to prison! We haven't even graduated high school yet! Why can't you just report the whole thing and do what everyone else does and protest in the streets?" Suguru hadn't known the cops were onto the group. No one had mentioned it but it made sense. Too many crimes committed with the same methods would get looped together as some sort of serial series of actions.

"I can't. They know who I am and if I go against them they'll go after me, go after my sisters, you, and anything else I care about. I don't want to either way. I'm doing well and I like being a part of it."

"You know what? I'm not even going to fight you on this anymore. Do whatever you want. Just don't fucking lie to me anymore."

The light was turned off and they slept in separate beds for the first time in months.

…

The next meeting was calmer, simply discussing targets and new methods. Threatening letters, some members making appointments with CEOs to politely request they change their practices, some incited riots using other activist groups, that sort of thing. They didn't want any public attention so using others with more public tactics and appearances was best.

His relationship with Satoru was rocky. Satoru pretended to not know a thing but the way he held himself told Suguru that the damage he'd done still lingered. Satoru pulled away from him at night, no longer cuddly the way he had been. If certain topics came up in conversation, Satoru actively changed the subject or just stopped contributing to the conversation. He no longer accepted gifts from Suguru and wouldn't smile as much anymore. Suguru didn't know what to do about it. Satoru wasn't happy and Suguru wasn't leaving his dreams behind to appease his boyfriend that didn't understand why this movement was so important.

The day they graduated and packed up their dorm, it hit Suguru like a train. Neither of them were happy and it was obvious they were growing apart. Their life goals were entirely different and they were about to be separated until they either decided to move in together or parted ways permanently.

He didn't see any other options.

…

Meeting Satoru a week after graduation in Kinjuku was surprisingly difficult. Satoru kept saying he was 'busy' the last two times he'd tried to set a date and he was running out of patience and resolve. He knew Satoru had to have figured it out by now and was just prolonging the inevitable.

When Satoru had finally shown up to the KFC, he wasn't smiling. He was angry.

"Shoko told me what this was so I cleared my schedule. You're really just going to leave? After everything we've been through together? It's over, just like that? You'd rather stick to a cult's ideals than quit fooling around and be with me?"

"Satoru, if you'd just been a little more accepting and helped me then it wouldn't have ended up like this. Do you really see us working out when we're walking opposing paths? You could come with me and we could still have what we had. You don't have to run Gojo Corp. We could be happy fighting under a common cause."

"No, Suguru! What you're doing is criminal! I'm not running the company either! I'm making my own life like we agreed last year! Do you even remember that?! We were going to move to America! You wanted to research ocean animals! What happened to you?!"

"I saw the unfairness in the world. It's a harsh reality. The oceans are going to be barren in only a few decades at the rate we, as a human race, are going right now and it all has to do with what I'm fighting against with the movement. I can actually make a difference as opposed to snapping pictures and whining about saving whales to people who don't care. If you're not coming, this is goodbye."

"Suguru! Wait! Just be reasonable for a minute!"

"Goodbye, Satoru."

…

His first 'mission' with the group involved talking with a CEO of a large corporation in Kyoto. He was a truly vile man, cutting every corner he could to make a profit. Suguru hadn't been nervous about anything since his breakup with Satoru. If anything, he felt empty. Threatening the CEO almost felt like child's play as he read out a list of blackmail to the man including the evidence of him cheating on his wife and the records showing that he was slowly cutting back funds to medically support his ill hospital-bound child. The man had begged that they not release the information and agreed to the terms demanding higher pay for the lower employees as well as implementing price drops on the items he was producing that had a 400% markup to profit off of.

He'd had made it about a month before the man had deliberately gone back to his previous practices and reported to the police that he'd been blackmailed.

Which was exactly how he'd ended up tied to a chair in the Shinjuku warehouse. The leader of the group had gotten violent with him and Suguru found himself mentally reeling back from the situation. They'd promised to do no physical harm as a group and yet, the leader was actively torturing this man while waiting for a ransom.

"You, I want you to kill him. Our messages aren't being taken seriously so we are obviously not enough of a threat." A pistol was pushed into Suguru's shaking hands by the leader of their group and he fought back tears behind his mask. He wanted out of committing murder but he was in too deep. He was panicking, his hand shaking horribly as he held the gun to the man's forehead. He tried not to think about how Satoru had been as he pulled the trigger, only a click answering the action. The CEO sobbed as the gun was pulled from Suguru's hands to be wiped off with a very clean towel. No prints, right. It had been psychological for their target and Suguru had done his part.

Suguru went home to his one bedroom apartment and promptly threw up into his toilet, his entire world shattered. The man had been an utter piece of shit but he'd never agreed to torture or what could have easily been murder. Satoru had been right and this was all too much, too fast. Between his guilt for not listening to Satoru and the flashbacks of holding a gun to a man's head, he could hardly stand with how badly he was breaking down.

After that, reporting what he knew was the only thing he could do. He warned his parents prior to his trip to the police station to keep their heads down and report anything suspicious without telling them what was happening. It was the best he could do for Mimiko and Nanako at the time, trusting his parents to protect them.

The police handcuffed him and interrogated him for hours after he'd demanded protection for information. He would later regret not having a lawyer with him as there were some documents that went along with getting the protection he'd been looking for and he didn't sign anything that day other than his statements. The police had never intended to protect a kid with no attorney present to tell them to do their job.

He was sitting in a holding cell a week later when the news of his parents being murdered in their home reached his ears. Everything was a mess after that. Social services got involved and he had to fight to get access to his parents' money, pulling wills that had only been half written so early in life, so he could hire a lawyer. It took months for everything to be sorted out as a separate investigation found that his parents had been killed in retaliation for his actions. No protection had been ordered for him or his family, so while he'd been squeezed for information by police and kept in a cell in the meantime, his family had been completely vulnerable despite asking for protection for them.

His lawyer fought a three-sided battle as he got Suguru out of jail and into Witness Protection, followed by the legal custody dispute to get his sisters back and also brought into Witness Protection. Apparently the police had been caught snooping early on due to careless mistakes which had resulted in the retaliation measures. The Japanese equivalent of a national security force was brought in for the final bust, capturing a total of fourty-seven individuals with varying degrees of blood on their hands.

As the case progressed, Suguru was questioned periodically to compare notes with what the police had on the case. It was during the interviews that he learned the leader's name was Kenjaku and he had already been a convicted felon prior to creating the cult.

Suguru had to acknowledge it was a cult by that point. He had been indoctrinated. His court-mandated therapist worked damn near overtime making sure he was fit to take care of his sisters and part of it was acknowledging that he was the victim of being in an actual cult that had been murdering people since long before he was ever involved. The interrogation of that CEO had been a sort of 'next step' to bring him further into the fold. There had never been 'talks of increasing pressure on the targets' since the cult had already been implementing horrible tactics behind closed doors.

The police had evidence spanning years of murders, ransom requests, blackmail, and torture from one particular person and they'd been waiting for a break. They had connected everything through a 'calling card' done to the victims that Suguru couldn't stomach to even hear anything about. All he knew was that it was gruesome and had something to do with the brains of Kenjaku's victims.

It didn't matter how many times the therapist had explained that these things could happen to anyone, he felt like a complete and utter failure as a person. He'd not only screwed up his own life, he'd ruined everything for Satoru and he'd seriously destroyed any semblance of normalcy for his sisters. He couldn't even attend his parents' funeral since he'd been in jail at the time. Kenjaku had supposedly used several social justice angles in attempts to get followers over the last few years but this had been his most successful cult startup. And it was all to assist in murders and other crimes. The man was truly psychotic.

Witness Protection wasn't easy on him or the girls. They had their own therapy to attend and they'd had to change schools. Going from living alone to suddenly taking care of two almost teenaged girls was a difficult transition for everyone involved, especially when the girls asked why their parents died. Suguru couldn't bring himself to tell the truth so he'd lied and said the murderer had been breaking in to steal their things and their parents had startled him. He could only thank God the murderer hadn't said a word the entire time to rub it in his family's faces that he'd put them in that position. The girls hadn't seen everything, only seeing the aftermath since one was hidden inside of their toybox while the other had been under a pile of dirty laundry in their messy room once they'd heard the first gunshot. The murderer hadn't even opened their door, simply walking past in the dead of night, firing two shots, and walking out the same way.

The girls had only come out after the murderer had left and had called the police as soon as they found their parents. Suguru couldn't believe how close they'd been to being taken from him too.

They now slept in a very messy room, a night light always on, and Suguru couldn't get out of his bed at all during the night or he'd find Nanako under a pile of clothes in the morning. Even the sound of footsteps at night could trigger them.

The case made national headlines and the girls were lucky enough not to be bothered at school. They went under fake names and had gotten their hair cut so it was a reach to connect them to the case. Suguru was thankful that the press was focused on the bigger picture, the cult and the charges, rather than the murder they'd committed on the side as an act of retaliation when someone came forward. However, Suguru knew the girls could tell things were tense as the trials started. Per the agreements forced by his lawyer, he didn't have to testify. All of his statements were censored of his name and he was officially off the hook for attempted murder, which he'd been investigated for since he'd been present at the interrogation of that one CEO.

His other small charges were cleared as well since he'd willingly offered the information and the only charges that could have possibly stuck just couldn't be traced back to him. Even if they interrogated other members of the group, no one knew each other's faces. The ones charged were the ones caught on-site with literal blood on their robes or matching fingerprints on various computers used for the hacking or other evidence that they were involved with the fires. Suguru had been extremely lucky to not have been involved in any of it. Yet, anyway. He would've been. He knew he would've done those things if he'd been asked prior to the attempted murder. It had been a close call.

When the case finally concluded two years later, the witness protection was lifted. Suguru found himself jumping at shadows in alleys and the girls started regressing. No longer hidden by fake names or safely guarded at night, they were all high strung. It took him only a few weeks to come to a solution.

He'd made dinner after a particularly hard day at a new job in a corporate office, sitting down with his sisters and putting his hands on the table.

"Would it help if we moved to America?"

...

It felt like so long ago, yet he could remember it all as if it had happened the previous day. The girls had readily agreed, taking to studying English fervently as he saved enough for the plane tickets, lined up a job, brushed up on his own English, and rented a house in Washington.

It was on his first trip to the San Juan islands with the girls that he remembered his stupid fascination with orcas. J-Pod had been in Puget Sound that day and they had been feeling particularly playful. He'd used all of his quarters to pay for the girls to look through the binoculars station facing the water, watching the animals breach from the water in playful little jumps.

He'd enrolled in a nearby school to get an education in the field by the next semester.

Now, he was happy. He had made so many mistakes in his life and he regretted so many things. Satoru finding him again by chance had to have been some sort of Godly intervention. His life had gotten calmer over the years but he hadn't been happy. Now?

Satoru made him happy. Satoru dragged him out to get sweets on even the dreariest of days. Satoru accompanied him on his excursions into Puget Sound, filling the silence when the pods were absent. Satoru brought him to Alaska to see the belugas on his yearly trips. Satoru encouraged him to call the girls and check on them at least once a week despite their complaints that he was getting 'clingy.' If Satoru wanted to go hiking, he would drag Suguru along and they would enjoy every second together. If Suguru was struggling to make bills, Satoru would step in and help in the smallest ways instead of taking his independence from him the second he struggled. His entire life had started to revolve around Satoru and he knew Satoru revolved around him too.

Satoru had signed away his rights as the Gojo Corp heir the day he'd left America, exactly as he'd told Suguru during their fight in Shinjuku. Those appointments that had kept him busy that week had all been legal, ensuring he would still have a steady income for the rest of his life from his parents' inheritance. He'd made smart choices within the span of a week after graduation, making sure he wouldn't blow away all of his money on stupid things so he could make a life with Suguru.

When Suguru left, he stuck to it. He'd made a life for himself, gotten a career in something he considered fun, and had moved on without actually moving on.

Now, Suguru could spend every morning watching Satoru's beautiful blue eyes flutter open because all of their sad choices had brought them together again.

"Mmm. Good morning," Satoru mumbled, turning on his side and holding his arm up so Suguru could bury his face against his chest. As he did, that arm came to rest lazily in his hip and a small kiss was pressed to his forehead.

"Good morning. Pancakes for breakfast?"

"Sounds perfect."