TITLE: Number XIII
CHAPTER: Five
PAIRING: Sakurai x Aiba
RATING: PG13?
SUMMARY: “I am number thirteen,” A deep, almost musical voice rumbled, “And to you, that means death,”
Sho was on edge the entire journey home. He was also angry at himself for not noticing that he was being watched.
“Sho-yan?” Aiba asked as they walked to their apartment block, “Are you okay? You’ve been distracted for a while,”
“Ah, sorry,” Sho muttered, “I’m fine. Just tired from work, that’s all,”
“Where do you work?” Aiba asked as they reached their floor, “I forgot to ask,”
“Oh you know, just..” Sho trailed off as his sharp eyes scanned the hallway. He couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but that didn’t mean that there was nothing there. His people were assassins. They were experts at remaining hidden, “Well, thanks for tonight, I had a good time,” He said with a brief smile, before pulling his keys out of his pocket and heading towards his own front door.
Aiba, however, stuck with him.
“You’re welcome! I had a good time, too! Let’s do it again, sometime!”
“Uh, yeah, sure,” Sho said. He didn’t really want to spend more time with the other man; he knew he was starting to get attached.
“Can I have your mobile number?” Aiba asked, his face flushing slightly.
“I don’t have a mobile,” Sho lied, sliding his key into the lock, “Thanks again for tonight,”
“Oh, alright,” Aiba smiled, “See you la-”
Aiba was cut off by the sound of a phone ringing in Sho’s pocket.
“Shit,” Sho muttered, sticking his hand into his jacket.
“Don’t have a phone, huh?” Aiba said, his eyes narrowing, “You know, if you didn’t want to give me your number, all you had to do was tell me,” With that, he turned and went into his own apartment, slamming the door behind him.
“Ah, Ai-” Sho sighed, “Goddamn it,”
He answered his phone viciously and held it up to his ear, “What?”
“Hurry up and come inside, Thirteen,” A slick voice said, “I have your next assignment,”
Before Sho could speak, the person hung up. He frowned and put the phone back into his pocket, a slight shiver going down his spine.
“Inside,” He muttered, “How did I not realise that someone had picked my lock?”
As he turned the key in his lock, he slid his gun from the holster on the small of his back with his right hand. He removed the key from the lock and put it into his pocket before reaching behind his back with his left hand and drawing the other gun.
Sho pushed the door open with his knee at the same time he pulled the guns out in front of him, pointing one to the left towards the living area and bedroom door, and one to the right towards the kitchen area.
“Nice of you to finally join me,” A small, wiry man sitting at the table said. He wasn’t looking at Sho; his head was down reading a magazine on the table, and his dark hair partially hid his eyes from view. He looked quite at home, shin resting on his right hand propped up by his elbow, and a steaming mug next to him. However, in his left hand, there was a black gun, pointed straight at Sho, cocked slightly to the side making it look like he was a hitman from a film. There was an air of terror hanging around him, and it was obvious he knew when he was doing with the gun.
Sho glanced towards his bedroom door.
“Are you alone, Ninomiya?”
“Of course,” The man answered simply.
Sho swung the gun in his left hand around to point at the man, “Lower your gun,”
The man looked up, a smirk on his face. He was more pretty than handsome, and under other circumstances, might have even been seen as beautiful. He had pixie like features, small and perfectly proportioned on his face. However, his eyes were completely empty and devoid of emotion, showing his madness.
“Nervous?”
“I don’t want to be shot in my own home,” Sho said, still pointing the two guns at the man seated at his table.
“I won’t shoot you,” Nino suddenly put up his gun, clicking the safety into place before putting it on the table in reach of his left hand with a gentle clunk.
“I have your assignment,”
Sho slowly lowered his guns, before putting them back in place at his back. He strode to Nino in an easy but tense stride.
“Who,”
The man smirked up at him and reached into his jacket. Sho’s gun was back in his hand, resting just under Nino’s chin faster than should have been possible, “Slowly,”
Nino grinned and before Sho could react, got to his feet while turning to his right. His left hand slammed into the gun with such force that Sho spun to the side. Nino grabbed him and tugged him up against his chest so his back was touching him. The gun in Sho’s right hand was hanging uselessly at his side, whereas the gun in Nino’s hand was gently pressing into Sho’s throat.
“We still don’t know who’s better, Sho,” The man purred into the taller man’s ear, “Is it me after all?”
Sho snorted out a short, bitter laugh and leaned back closer into Nino’s body, pressing the gun in his left hand into the man’s stomach, “I don’t think so,”
Nino froze for a moment, before grinning and slowly pulling away from Sho, “You always were a quick draw,”
“You always were fucking mental,” Sho muttered, sliding the gun in his left hand back into place and rubbing his right wrist where Nino had hit him.
Nino laughed again and put his gun back on the table. He held up his hands in surrender, “Truce until I leave. I’m here on orders to give you your assignment, and orders not to kill you. Deal?”
Sho narrowed his eyes and slowly put his gun back before mirroring Nino’s movements, “Fine. Just hurry up,”
Nino smirked and went back into his jacket.
“Here,” He said finally, tossing an envelope onto the table surface, “You have exactly three days. I think they are being quite generous with the time limit, but I don’t make the rules,”
With that, the smaller man picked up his gun and placed it into the concealed holster at his hip, before moving swiftly to the front door.
“Oh, Sho-yan“ He said, pausing at the door frame, “I wouldn’t forget who you are, if I were you,” He blew Sho a kiss and then was gone, the door softly clicking into place behind him.
Sho let out a breath of relief and flopped down onto the seat at his table. He hadn’t taken his jacket off yet, just in case he needed quick access to the weaponry inside. With Ninomiya, you could never be completely sure.
“The man is fucking mental,” Sho mumbled to himself, slowly reaching across the table for the envelope.
Sho tore the top off of the envelope and pulled the picture out from inside, knowing that it would be a difficult job, as Nino had delivered it.
“Shit,” He sighed, “..Shit,”
---
Aiba was trying to be friendly to the customers, he really was. But he was failing slightly. He was a little heartbroken and the amount of flirting couples was starting to get to him.
“Two duck ramen and a serving of chicken gyoza,” He said between clenched teeth as he slammed the order down in front of the chef.
“Are you alright, Masaki-chan?” Jun, the chef asked, “We aren’t busy, why are you stressing?”
“I’m not,” Aiba said, “I’m just a bit tired,”
“Go for a break,” Jun smiled, “Ask one of the girls to cover your table why you have a rest, okay?”
Aiba opened his mouth to argue, but was stopped by Jun’s hand on his shoulder.
“Go, okay? Just take half an hour to rest a bit. Go on, now,”
Aiba smiled weakly and nodded, “Alright. Thanks, Jun-chan,”
Jun waved him off and took the order that Aiba left.
Aiba ran his fingers through his hair as he went out back to the empty staff room. One of the waitresses had agreed to cover his table and he was actually grateful for the break. However, as soon as the door shut behind him, a shiver ran down his spine. By the time he had spun around, there was a knife pointed at his throat.
Aiba whimpered and the man holding the knife smirked, “Hello, Aiba Masaki-san,” The man said, “I’m here to give you a warning. You need to watch your back for a few days. Not that it’ll matter, because it’s going to end the same way,”
Aiba whimpered again, his eyes large as he glanced down at the knife and then back up at the man. The man grinned and pulled back, “I’ll see you in three days time, Masaki-chan,”
The man waved at him and turned on his heel, exiting the room through the door that Aiba had entered through.
Aiba was in shock, before he realised that there were tears pouring down his face. His legs gave way on him and he landed in a heap on the floor.
“How is it going to end?” He whispered to himself, remembering the mans words. For obvious reasons, he had a bad feeling about that man. But for unknown reasons, he wanted to run to Sho Thirteen.
********
TBC
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I know! I've not posted in so long! I'm sorry! m(_ _)m please forgive me!!!