Breaking the line (chapter six, PG-13)
Title: Breaking the line
Rating: PG-13 for now
Pairing: Shibutani/Yasuda, (Nishikido/Ohkura)
Words count: 3,012 for this chapter
Summary: AU. How mch will it cost for the young assassin, in the underground world known as Arsenal, to retire from his profession and how many lines will he need to break in order to regain his freedom?
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ryo says, sitting heavily in a single arm-chair standing in the corner of his apartment’s room. “He saw you?”
The other man casts a quick glance in the third one’s direction before answering, exactly the same thing already for the third time, “Yes, and then he immediately ran away with his friend.”
“It’s Yasu, you could at least do that much and remember his name,” Ryo growls, his voice aggressive and annoyed.
“Hey, chill out, will you?” comes the question from the third man out of four in the room. He looks the most collected and calm, seemingly having everything under control. “It’s not Jacky’s fault, he’s doing his job just well. You knew it’s not going to work long, that hide-and-seek thing you both with Johnny decided to play with them. I told you that in the end, it’ll mess things up more instead of making them better.”
Ryo keeps silent for a long moment; he knows Mac is right in everything he says. There is no way to keep it this way any longer. But it’s more complicated than he thinks - as much as Ryo’d like to agree with Mac, he just can’t, simply because of that one promise he made with Ohkura. He promised they won’t involve Yasu (and Subaru, but that was rather Ryo’s initiative than Ohkura’s) in their plan, unless there is an absolute necessity for that. They were successful up until now, and when a problem occurred, it’s to no surprise for either Ryo, Ohkura, or the rest of their group.
Observing Ohkura with the corner of his eye, Ryo can see he’s not sure of everything anymore too, and maybe - just maybe - there’s a hope they all can convince him to change his mind at last.
“Ohkura,” Ryo says, his voice unexpectedly soft and gentle. “I think it really is the time to make things clear with them. We can’t keep it like this any longer, because it might end even worse than it already is.”
“I know,” Ohkura answers unexpectedly, “But I told you already, all of you - I don’t want Yasu to suffer anymore. His life is my responsibility, it was me in the first place, who convinced him to do something, that ended in a life-threatening situation. I can’t let him fall into that once again.”
“But you can’t decide for him,” interjects Mac, his back resting on the opposite wall. “You know him for many years, you’re his friend, and even though you want to, you can’t be his living shield, protecting him from everything that could possibly affect him in a bad way. You have to let him have choice.”
They all nod their heads in unison, agreeing on the words that’ve been lingering in their minds for a long time already.
And when Johnny-Ohkura nods his head, they feel like it’s a next step towards an achievement of their goal.
*
When Subaru wakes up, it takes him a few moments to find out where he is, what happened, and why he feels so hot and unexpectedly calm. And when he realizes, that the hotness and weight comes from the second body, lying right next to his, and from the hand, loosely entangling his waist, he falls into that kind of panic when he’s not sure if he’d like to run away or hide more.
In the end, he does nothing. It’s partially because of not knowing what to do, but for the greater part - the fault lays on the side of that warm, pleasant feeling which overwhelms him and lulls into the shallow slumber.
Waking up for the second time that morning is even stranger than the first. Even though there is no confusion anymore, he can’t help but feel weird about the hand, slowly and lazily stroking his back through the thin material of his t-shirt. He wouldn’t even say it’s uncomfortable - quite the contrary, it’s rather nice and pleasant, a thing he never experienced before - but it rests somewhere between unfamiliar and odd, and Subaru’s not sure if he likes that kind of oddness, or not.
When a few minutes pass, and obviously awake Yasu doesn’t do anything more than stroking him more, Subaru decides to make that first step and moves a little. And it’s awkward, because Subaru’s head only dips more into the crook of Yasu’s neck, and the other man’s hand freezes immediately, making it even more embarrassing for Subaru.
“You woke up,” Subaru hears somewhere above his head, voice small and raspy, probably still from the sleep. It makes Subaru back off on the bed, and the first thing he does is yawning, not being able to suppress it, which only adds more fuel to their awkwardness.
There’s a long moment of silence, neither of them knowing what to say; Yasu thinks if he should bring up the topic he knows both of them are worried about, while Subaru can’t help but wonder if Yasu wants him to do or say something, or maybe simply get up and disappear.
And then he remembers; that moment when he couldnt’t calm down, and Yasu kissed him, kissed like nobody had done in a long time. Subaru remembers every second of it, every touch, every caress of tumb on the back of his neck, every restrained breath to not break that special moment when the whole world seemed to stop existing, the universe concentrating only on them.
It’s only natural for his face to get red, eyes wandering everywhere but not in Yasu’s direction, and his body stumbling clumsily while trying to wrap out of the covers. He wants to come up with some lame excuse, but all he manages to choke out is something about making coffee, before he disappears from Yasu’s sight. And all the other man does is letting a soft smile creep on his face, when he decides to take a shower before joining Subaru in the kitchen.
*
“Subaru,” Yasu calls his name later that day when he’s crossing the room again and again, trying to collect all his things before heading out to work. But all Subaru does it standing on that small balcony of theirs, cigarette in his hand and a puff of smoke escaping his lips. Yasu observes him for a while; slim legs, lean hips, only slightly muscular arms resting on the metal rail. And he can’t help but think that he’d be awfully sad to lose that sight one day; because if what Subaru said that night was true, then there’s always such possibility - and Yasu’s afraid he can’t do much about it without knowing why exactly Subaru would think he’ll never be fine if he won’t escape this place, and this people.
It hurts. Maybe it’s irrational and completely stupid, but it hurt Yasu when Subaru said that; that it’s not good to be there. Because Yasu, for the first time in what seems like ages, feels just complete with Subaru by his side. And he’d do everything for this to be like that forever, no matter how long their forever could be.
“Shibuyan,” he tries again, approaching the other man on the balcony. It’s really small and cramped, with Yasu’s bicycle taking up most of the space; when he joins Subaru, they’re standing really close, and the way of Subaru’s possible escape is blocked.
“I’m leaving for work,” Yasu says, and he receives only a hum of acknowledge in return. “Do you need anything? I can get it for you on my way back.”
“No, I think I have everything I need,” Subaru answers, looking at Yasu for a single second before breaking the contact in the next one. He expects Yasu to just let it go and leave him, but he does the exact opposite thing, moving even closer and leaning on the rail next to him. Subaru casts him another glance, and it’s one of those breathtaking views - the way sunlight creates shades on his face, highlighting just the right elements, and making his eyes look like two marbles, the ones Subaru remembers playing with in his earlier childhood. He looks stunning, and even if he wanted to, Subaru couldn’t deny it.
“I’m sorry if I did the wrong thing,” he says suddenly, breaking Subaru’s stream of thoughts, of which each and every relates to Yasu. “But I just can’t take this anymore, you know. I have no idea what’s wrong with you, and what is it that makes you unable to sleep, and I don’t know how could I possibly help you, but there is no way for me to be restless anymore,” he pauses for a moment, in which Subaru wants to say something, but before he manages to gather enough courage to do so, Yasu’s the one to talk again. “You see, the moment you agreed on staying there, and living with me for more than a few weeks during which you need to find your own place, something in me clicked. Like a switch that can’t be pulled back up; and I feel the need to help you, to protect you, even though it’s something you didn’t agree on, something you were not aware of. But, you know, I think I don’t care. I think emotions in me don’t care, because it’s too important, and-”
Yasu wants to tell him more; wants to spill out everything that nags him like an irritating fly, buzzing around his head - but he suddenly finds out he can’t because something prevents him from doing so, and it’s probably the most delicious way of being interrupted.
Concentrating more on his senses than thinking, he realizes he can feel what seems like a millions of sensations that were foreign to him just a seconds ago. There are hands holding his face and tipping it a little bit right, and the warm feeling is spreading over his cheeks, while his lips are being sealed in a kiss, which holds as much gentleness as the night’s one, but in a different way. Yasu can feel Subaru’s uniqueness in it, the way he holds him and moves his lips along Yasu’s one, almost like it’s the first time he’s kissing someone.
And in a way, it’s true. Yasu wouldn’t know it, but it’s probably really the first time Subaru’s kissing someone out of pure affection. He never felt anything like that - the sudden urge to move, close the distance and make a contact, to do something intimate, something that can possibly tell what he feels, what he thinks, what he’d like the other person to simply know.
What Subaru wants tell Yasu through this kiss, is his thankfulness. An appreciation of everything he told him, and of everything he did - of his actions and simply of his presence, so heartwarming and important in all its dimensions.
Because Subaru’s awful with words, and even though he’s been an assassin for the half of his life, he’s still a coward when it comes to emotions and sincerity.
“You did nothing wrong,” he says when they part, only for a few millimetres, their breaths hitting each other’s faces and Subaru’s hands still cupping Yasu’s face. “You should never think anything I do is your fault. It’s me, it’s always me, because my past is completely messed up, and I don’t know how to deal with it,” he adds after a while of gathering his courage to spill out these words.
“Then let me help you,” comes the answer, quiet but holding a strength even Yasu hasn’t expected to discover in himself.
Subaru’s thumbs caress his cheeks just a second before he releases his hold, eyes darting away, “It’s not as easy as you think it is.”
“Life’s never easy, Shibuyan. But it tends to be less complicated when problems are shared between the two people.”
Subaru knows he should disagree, say something - anything - to discourage Yasu. But as soon as he opens his mouth, he finds out that he doesn’t really want to do it. He doesn’t want to be all alone again, because now, when he knows how is it like when there’s someone willing to help you, to be with you, to follow you wherever you go - he feels like it’d be a terrible mistake to deprive himself of this.
And so he lets Yasu take his hand, and he lets him steal the next kiss - which suddenly feels right and normal between them - and he doesn’t oppose to any of Yasu’s suggestions, because deep down he knows he’s right.
*
When Yasu comes back home in the late evening, Subaru really wants to talk with him. To explain a few things, to spill out everything about himself and his past, and to let the fate decide what will happen next. But seeing Yasu like that; all happy, smiling and as if excited for each and every next second spent with Subaru, he just can’t bring himself to interrupt that tranquillity and mood.
He’s a coward. He knows it perfectly by now; but the only thing he’s not aware of, is that cowardice is one of the most human features, which only makes him a normal, vulnerable, emotional being, rather than an inhuman assassin he’d been for so many years.
When he already reconciles himself with his own inability to talk about things that are not easy at all, and he also manages to convince himself to spend a nice evening with Yasu, just like he wants them to do - the doorbell rings, interrupting their discussion about movies, leaded over the pile of DVDs. They’re both surprised - it’s long after 10pm already, the time when usually you’re not expecting any guests; but Yasu gets up, telling Subaru to pick up anything he likes from his collection of movies.
“Oh,” Yasu says after opening the door, looking at all five of their unexpected, late-night guests. “It’s Ryo with Ohkura and friends!” he says loudly, enough for Subaru to hear that and come right into the second, when all five of them come inside the small, shared now apartment.
Subaru stop abruptly as soon as he spots exactly the same man because of who he was escaping the other day, “They can’t be your friends,” he says seriously in a low voice, drawing an attention of all of them. They see how Subaru reaches to his belt, the routine movement trained through the years; only that he finds nothing there, and he’s ready for a mad dash to his suitcase, where he still has his revolvers ready to be used, when Ryo’s voice stops him, “Don’t, Subaru.”
“Don’t? Do you have any idea of who that guy is?” he asks, his voice malicious and cautious, pointing his finger at Jacky, still standing in the doorway.
“I do,” Ryo answers carefully. “Calm down. I know he’s the one you’ve been escaping from the other day. I know, Subaru, because it’s me and Ohkura, who asked him to follow both of you.”
They’re stunned; both Subaru and Yasu - only that Subaru has some ideas as to why he did that, while Yasu is completely clueless.
“Let’s just sit down and talk, can we? There’s a lot important things we need to talk with you about, and it surely will take some time,” Ohkura interrupts the silence, nodding his head towards the room.
*
“We wanted to not let you get involved in this, as Ryo and Ohkura were the ones who opposed to telling you about everything form the same beginning, but it turns out it’s impossible to let it go this way anymore,” says the man who was introduced as Mac, and whom Ryo jokingly named the mastermind of their group. “And we need both of you in order to pursue our goal. Which shouldn’t be that complicated to understand, at least for you, Arsenal, considering-”
“Arsenal?” Yasu interrupts suddenly, looking between all of them, confused, searching for an answer to his doubts. The only way Subaru reacts is lowering his head, cursing his indecisiveness under his breath; could there be even worse way of telling the person who became the most important for you, that you’ve been killing people for money for the half of your life?
When he thinks everything is lost now, there comes a cough from Ohkura, out of all people, who decides to take the voice, “I’m sure Subaru will explain it to you later. For now, let’s drop it. There are more important things we need to explain.”
Mac only nods his head, not paying attention to the grateful look Subaru throws into Ohkura’s direction, or Yasu’s knitted brows, or even Ryo’s lop-sided smile appearing on his lips when he’s observing their reactions. Mac isn’t interested in building any relationships with them; at least not when there are other serious things he needs to take care of.
“The thing is rather complicated to do, but really easy to understand. All of us, sitting right there, are endangered because of our pasts that we want to break up with,” he continues, looking at all of them in turn. “And we won’t be free unless we will destroy the source of that danger.”
If somebody would care to observe them right now, it wouldn’t be hard to see that they all reacted to hearing about danger, each in their own way. Ohkura looks nervous, Ryo’s silhouette is suddenly tense and upright, Jacky and Gum throw a mysterious glance in each other’s directions, Subaru’s lips tighten visibly, and Yasu’s hands clench on his knees while he’s staring at Ohkura, as if searching for a courage in his gaze, or consolation, or maybe denial that it’s not what Yasu thinks about.
Unfortunately, reading Yasu perfectly, Ohkura only nods his head, confirming his suspicions. And with that, everything connected with a sudden appearance of Subaru, his dreams, friendship with Ryo and what he was talking about when he saw Jacky - all of this started making sense.
Rating: PG-13 for now
Pairing: Shibutani/Yasuda, (Nishikido/Ohkura)
Words count: 3,012 for this chapter
Summary: AU. How mch will it cost for the young assassin, in the underground world known as Arsenal, to retire from his profession and how many lines will he need to break in order to regain his freedom?
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ryo says, sitting heavily in a single arm-chair standing in the corner of his apartment’s room. “He saw you?”
The other man casts a quick glance in the third one’s direction before answering, exactly the same thing already for the third time, “Yes, and then he immediately ran away with his friend.”
“It’s Yasu, you could at least do that much and remember his name,” Ryo growls, his voice aggressive and annoyed.
“Hey, chill out, will you?” comes the question from the third man out of four in the room. He looks the most collected and calm, seemingly having everything under control. “It’s not Jacky’s fault, he’s doing his job just well. You knew it’s not going to work long, that hide-and-seek thing you both with Johnny decided to play with them. I told you that in the end, it’ll mess things up more instead of making them better.”
Ryo keeps silent for a long moment; he knows Mac is right in everything he says. There is no way to keep it this way any longer. But it’s more complicated than he thinks - as much as Ryo’d like to agree with Mac, he just can’t, simply because of that one promise he made with Ohkura. He promised they won’t involve Yasu (and Subaru, but that was rather Ryo’s initiative than Ohkura’s) in their plan, unless there is an absolute necessity for that. They were successful up until now, and when a problem occurred, it’s to no surprise for either Ryo, Ohkura, or the rest of their group.
Observing Ohkura with the corner of his eye, Ryo can see he’s not sure of everything anymore too, and maybe - just maybe - there’s a hope they all can convince him to change his mind at last.
“Ohkura,” Ryo says, his voice unexpectedly soft and gentle. “I think it really is the time to make things clear with them. We can’t keep it like this any longer, because it might end even worse than it already is.”
“I know,” Ohkura answers unexpectedly, “But I told you already, all of you - I don’t want Yasu to suffer anymore. His life is my responsibility, it was me in the first place, who convinced him to do something, that ended in a life-threatening situation. I can’t let him fall into that once again.”
“But you can’t decide for him,” interjects Mac, his back resting on the opposite wall. “You know him for many years, you’re his friend, and even though you want to, you can’t be his living shield, protecting him from everything that could possibly affect him in a bad way. You have to let him have choice.”
They all nod their heads in unison, agreeing on the words that’ve been lingering in their minds for a long time already.
And when Johnny-Ohkura nods his head, they feel like it’s a next step towards an achievement of their goal.
*
When Subaru wakes up, it takes him a few moments to find out where he is, what happened, and why he feels so hot and unexpectedly calm. And when he realizes, that the hotness and weight comes from the second body, lying right next to his, and from the hand, loosely entangling his waist, he falls into that kind of panic when he’s not sure if he’d like to run away or hide more.
In the end, he does nothing. It’s partially because of not knowing what to do, but for the greater part - the fault lays on the side of that warm, pleasant feeling which overwhelms him and lulls into the shallow slumber.
Waking up for the second time that morning is even stranger than the first. Even though there is no confusion anymore, he can’t help but feel weird about the hand, slowly and lazily stroking his back through the thin material of his t-shirt. He wouldn’t even say it’s uncomfortable - quite the contrary, it’s rather nice and pleasant, a thing he never experienced before - but it rests somewhere between unfamiliar and odd, and Subaru’s not sure if he likes that kind of oddness, or not.
When a few minutes pass, and obviously awake Yasu doesn’t do anything more than stroking him more, Subaru decides to make that first step and moves a little. And it’s awkward, because Subaru’s head only dips more into the crook of Yasu’s neck, and the other man’s hand freezes immediately, making it even more embarrassing for Subaru.
“You woke up,” Subaru hears somewhere above his head, voice small and raspy, probably still from the sleep. It makes Subaru back off on the bed, and the first thing he does is yawning, not being able to suppress it, which only adds more fuel to their awkwardness.
There’s a long moment of silence, neither of them knowing what to say; Yasu thinks if he should bring up the topic he knows both of them are worried about, while Subaru can’t help but wonder if Yasu wants him to do or say something, or maybe simply get up and disappear.
And then he remembers; that moment when he couldnt’t calm down, and Yasu kissed him, kissed like nobody had done in a long time. Subaru remembers every second of it, every touch, every caress of tumb on the back of his neck, every restrained breath to not break that special moment when the whole world seemed to stop existing, the universe concentrating only on them.
It’s only natural for his face to get red, eyes wandering everywhere but not in Yasu’s direction, and his body stumbling clumsily while trying to wrap out of the covers. He wants to come up with some lame excuse, but all he manages to choke out is something about making coffee, before he disappears from Yasu’s sight. And all the other man does is letting a soft smile creep on his face, when he decides to take a shower before joining Subaru in the kitchen.
*
“Subaru,” Yasu calls his name later that day when he’s crossing the room again and again, trying to collect all his things before heading out to work. But all Subaru does it standing on that small balcony of theirs, cigarette in his hand and a puff of smoke escaping his lips. Yasu observes him for a while; slim legs, lean hips, only slightly muscular arms resting on the metal rail. And he can’t help but think that he’d be awfully sad to lose that sight one day; because if what Subaru said that night was true, then there’s always such possibility - and Yasu’s afraid he can’t do much about it without knowing why exactly Subaru would think he’ll never be fine if he won’t escape this place, and this people.
It hurts. Maybe it’s irrational and completely stupid, but it hurt Yasu when Subaru said that; that it’s not good to be there. Because Yasu, for the first time in what seems like ages, feels just complete with Subaru by his side. And he’d do everything for this to be like that forever, no matter how long their forever could be.
“Shibuyan,” he tries again, approaching the other man on the balcony. It’s really small and cramped, with Yasu’s bicycle taking up most of the space; when he joins Subaru, they’re standing really close, and the way of Subaru’s possible escape is blocked.
“I’m leaving for work,” Yasu says, and he receives only a hum of acknowledge in return. “Do you need anything? I can get it for you on my way back.”
“No, I think I have everything I need,” Subaru answers, looking at Yasu for a single second before breaking the contact in the next one. He expects Yasu to just let it go and leave him, but he does the exact opposite thing, moving even closer and leaning on the rail next to him. Subaru casts him another glance, and it’s one of those breathtaking views - the way sunlight creates shades on his face, highlighting just the right elements, and making his eyes look like two marbles, the ones Subaru remembers playing with in his earlier childhood. He looks stunning, and even if he wanted to, Subaru couldn’t deny it.
“I’m sorry if I did the wrong thing,” he says suddenly, breaking Subaru’s stream of thoughts, of which each and every relates to Yasu. “But I just can’t take this anymore, you know. I have no idea what’s wrong with you, and what is it that makes you unable to sleep, and I don’t know how could I possibly help you, but there is no way for me to be restless anymore,” he pauses for a moment, in which Subaru wants to say something, but before he manages to gather enough courage to do so, Yasu’s the one to talk again. “You see, the moment you agreed on staying there, and living with me for more than a few weeks during which you need to find your own place, something in me clicked. Like a switch that can’t be pulled back up; and I feel the need to help you, to protect you, even though it’s something you didn’t agree on, something you were not aware of. But, you know, I think I don’t care. I think emotions in me don’t care, because it’s too important, and-”
Yasu wants to tell him more; wants to spill out everything that nags him like an irritating fly, buzzing around his head - but he suddenly finds out he can’t because something prevents him from doing so, and it’s probably the most delicious way of being interrupted.
Concentrating more on his senses than thinking, he realizes he can feel what seems like a millions of sensations that were foreign to him just a seconds ago. There are hands holding his face and tipping it a little bit right, and the warm feeling is spreading over his cheeks, while his lips are being sealed in a kiss, which holds as much gentleness as the night’s one, but in a different way. Yasu can feel Subaru’s uniqueness in it, the way he holds him and moves his lips along Yasu’s one, almost like it’s the first time he’s kissing someone.
And in a way, it’s true. Yasu wouldn’t know it, but it’s probably really the first time Subaru’s kissing someone out of pure affection. He never felt anything like that - the sudden urge to move, close the distance and make a contact, to do something intimate, something that can possibly tell what he feels, what he thinks, what he’d like the other person to simply know.
What Subaru wants tell Yasu through this kiss, is his thankfulness. An appreciation of everything he told him, and of everything he did - of his actions and simply of his presence, so heartwarming and important in all its dimensions.
Because Subaru’s awful with words, and even though he’s been an assassin for the half of his life, he’s still a coward when it comes to emotions and sincerity.
“You did nothing wrong,” he says when they part, only for a few millimetres, their breaths hitting each other’s faces and Subaru’s hands still cupping Yasu’s face. “You should never think anything I do is your fault. It’s me, it’s always me, because my past is completely messed up, and I don’t know how to deal with it,” he adds after a while of gathering his courage to spill out these words.
“Then let me help you,” comes the answer, quiet but holding a strength even Yasu hasn’t expected to discover in himself.
Subaru’s thumbs caress his cheeks just a second before he releases his hold, eyes darting away, “It’s not as easy as you think it is.”
“Life’s never easy, Shibuyan. But it tends to be less complicated when problems are shared between the two people.”
Subaru knows he should disagree, say something - anything - to discourage Yasu. But as soon as he opens his mouth, he finds out that he doesn’t really want to do it. He doesn’t want to be all alone again, because now, when he knows how is it like when there’s someone willing to help you, to be with you, to follow you wherever you go - he feels like it’d be a terrible mistake to deprive himself of this.
And so he lets Yasu take his hand, and he lets him steal the next kiss - which suddenly feels right and normal between them - and he doesn’t oppose to any of Yasu’s suggestions, because deep down he knows he’s right.
*
When Yasu comes back home in the late evening, Subaru really wants to talk with him. To explain a few things, to spill out everything about himself and his past, and to let the fate decide what will happen next. But seeing Yasu like that; all happy, smiling and as if excited for each and every next second spent with Subaru, he just can’t bring himself to interrupt that tranquillity and mood.
He’s a coward. He knows it perfectly by now; but the only thing he’s not aware of, is that cowardice is one of the most human features, which only makes him a normal, vulnerable, emotional being, rather than an inhuman assassin he’d been for so many years.
When he already reconciles himself with his own inability to talk about things that are not easy at all, and he also manages to convince himself to spend a nice evening with Yasu, just like he wants them to do - the doorbell rings, interrupting their discussion about movies, leaded over the pile of DVDs. They’re both surprised - it’s long after 10pm already, the time when usually you’re not expecting any guests; but Yasu gets up, telling Subaru to pick up anything he likes from his collection of movies.
“Oh,” Yasu says after opening the door, looking at all five of their unexpected, late-night guests. “It’s Ryo with Ohkura and friends!” he says loudly, enough for Subaru to hear that and come right into the second, when all five of them come inside the small, shared now apartment.
Subaru stop abruptly as soon as he spots exactly the same man because of who he was escaping the other day, “They can’t be your friends,” he says seriously in a low voice, drawing an attention of all of them. They see how Subaru reaches to his belt, the routine movement trained through the years; only that he finds nothing there, and he’s ready for a mad dash to his suitcase, where he still has his revolvers ready to be used, when Ryo’s voice stops him, “Don’t, Subaru.”
“Don’t? Do you have any idea of who that guy is?” he asks, his voice malicious and cautious, pointing his finger at Jacky, still standing in the doorway.
“I do,” Ryo answers carefully. “Calm down. I know he’s the one you’ve been escaping from the other day. I know, Subaru, because it’s me and Ohkura, who asked him to follow both of you.”
They’re stunned; both Subaru and Yasu - only that Subaru has some ideas as to why he did that, while Yasu is completely clueless.
“Let’s just sit down and talk, can we? There’s a lot important things we need to talk with you about, and it surely will take some time,” Ohkura interrupts the silence, nodding his head towards the room.
*
“We wanted to not let you get involved in this, as Ryo and Ohkura were the ones who opposed to telling you about everything form the same beginning, but it turns out it’s impossible to let it go this way anymore,” says the man who was introduced as Mac, and whom Ryo jokingly named the mastermind of their group. “And we need both of you in order to pursue our goal. Which shouldn’t be that complicated to understand, at least for you, Arsenal, considering-”
“Arsenal?” Yasu interrupts suddenly, looking between all of them, confused, searching for an answer to his doubts. The only way Subaru reacts is lowering his head, cursing his indecisiveness under his breath; could there be even worse way of telling the person who became the most important for you, that you’ve been killing people for money for the half of your life?
When he thinks everything is lost now, there comes a cough from Ohkura, out of all people, who decides to take the voice, “I’m sure Subaru will explain it to you later. For now, let’s drop it. There are more important things we need to explain.”
Mac only nods his head, not paying attention to the grateful look Subaru throws into Ohkura’s direction, or Yasu’s knitted brows, or even Ryo’s lop-sided smile appearing on his lips when he’s observing their reactions. Mac isn’t interested in building any relationships with them; at least not when there are other serious things he needs to take care of.
“The thing is rather complicated to do, but really easy to understand. All of us, sitting right there, are endangered because of our pasts that we want to break up with,” he continues, looking at all of them in turn. “And we won’t be free unless we will destroy the source of that danger.”
If somebody would care to observe them right now, it wouldn’t be hard to see that they all reacted to hearing about danger, each in their own way. Ohkura looks nervous, Ryo’s silhouette is suddenly tense and upright, Jacky and Gum throw a mysterious glance in each other’s directions, Subaru’s lips tighten visibly, and Yasu’s hands clench on his knees while he’s staring at Ohkura, as if searching for a courage in his gaze, or consolation, or maybe denial that it’s not what Yasu thinks about.
Unfortunately, reading Yasu perfectly, Ohkura only nods his head, confirming his suspicions. And with that, everything connected with a sudden appearance of Subaru, his dreams, friendship with Ryo and what he was talking about when he saw Jacky - all of this started making sense.