Hubris - Chapter 9/? [The Gazette - Reita/Ruki; Reita/Aoi (one-sided); to be revealed]
Title: Hubris
Author: shir0ukun
Rating: NC17
Genre: Violence | AU | Smut | Action | Romance | Slight Fluff | Angst | Slight Humour
Chapter: Chapter 9/?
Warnings: Generally Violence | Violent Reita | MxM sex | Heavy plot
Band[s]: The GazettE
Pairing[s]: Reita/Ruki | Reita/Aoi - onesided (To be revealed)
Synopsis: Reita Suzuki is the boss of Japan’s strongest Mafia organisation, the Hayato. His cruel and cold-blooded personality is challenged when he gets involved in a car accident, and ends up housing a guy who has completely lost his existing memory.
Comments: I particularly liked writing this chapter.
Previous Chapters:
[Chapter 8]
[Chapter 7]
[Chapter 6]
[Chapter 5]
[Chapter 4]
[Chapter 3]
[Chapter 2]
[Chapter 1]
[Prologue]
Ruki leaned awkwardly against the blank wall. While the corridors outside were neatly decorated, the room he found himself in was dull and almost eerie. The door to the office was made of steel, and the four walls surrounding the room were white and completely empty. Except for a small fireplace and the steel table situated in the middle of the office, there was close to no décor in the room at all.
Akira was rocking on the hind of his chair, with his legs propped on the desk, conversing with his right-hand man, Aoi. Ruki couldn’t make out much of what they were talking about, since he hadn’t the least knowledge of the underground world. Akira’s expression was almost grim, but the ever so distinct cruel grin he cracked at times made Ruki’s blood curl. The mentioned blonde flipped a glance at Ruki when he felt someone staring down his neck, and Ruki could almost feel the hair stand behind his neck.
“… the brotherhood… strike any time… chances…” As Ruki shot restless glances towards different corners of the room, he barely overheard the conversation. Of course, it didn’t make any sense to him, but he frowned and muttered the unfamiliar word to himself.
“The brotherhood…” He hadn’t heard of such a person- or an organization- but the name tasted oddly familiar on his lips. The news, he guessed. While he was trying to spend his time watching the boring news, Ruki was actually surprised to find that Japan- and Fukuoka- was bombarded with mafia cross fires or major crimes committed by the underworld. What’s wrong with the world…
Akira frowned in consideration of Aoi’s words. They made sense- they always do. But as much as he wanted to eliminate that bitch of an organization, they couldn’t afford any more mistakes like the last one. The blonde didn’t feel like touching on that subject anymore, but he knew Aoi would understand. As his expression turned serious, Akira dropped his chair back on all fours and crossed his ankle.
“What’s the probability of our success rate? Fifty? Eighty?”
“… With their trained agility and experience, the maximum I can be confident of is thirty-five.”
“Thirty fucking five percent?”
“It’s worth trying.”
Reita wanted to throw something- a rock maybe- in a random direction, just to vent off his frustration. He lifted his head in irritation and he caught the unreadable expression on Aoi’s face. Granted, Reita was the one who had initiated this mission, but by the look on Aoi’s face, the brunette wanted to kill as much as Reita wanted. Letting a member from the brotherhood slip away was enough a humiliation to a member of the Hayato, and even more so as Reita’s right hand man.
Reita gave a sigh as he cracked that impenetrable grin.
“Fine, strike when you can,” Reita’s voice boomed with confidence, “But if it’s not perfect, then go screw youself.”
Aoi shook his head and burst out in chuckles as Reita regained his posture sitting on the hind legs of his chair. If they couldn’t afford any more mistakes, then all they needed to do was to aim for perfection.
“You’re awfully silent.” Akira commented as they drove down the route back to their apartment. Wait, my apartment, he corrected himself. “Did that trip scare the shit out of you?”
Ruki knew Akira was joking, but he had to agree that, except for the friendly conversation with Aoi, he did not like a single shit from that trip. Just thinking of entering the damn building again was enough to give him the creeps, and he willed the thoughts away.
“Shut the fuck up,” Ruki snapped, “Why the hell did you bring me here anyway?”
Akira raised his eyebrows in question, realizing that he hadn’t actually told Ruki why they were making a trip down to the city before the eager little beaver flopped himself onto the car seat.
“Well… I just… I felt…” Akira struggled to find a suitable explanation without sounding too harsh or sentimental, but in the end he settled for “Well I just felt like it! You got a problem with that?”
It was really Akira’s high-and-mighty way of saying “I don’t freaking know the answer so shut the fuck up.”, and Ruki almost slapped himself when he realized he was starting to read Akira’s movements. So what, you think you’re some kind of Akira-expert now? The short blonde shivered in disgust at himself before crossing his arms before his chest- a habit he found himself picking up nowadays.
There was silence once more, and while it was comfortable to Akira, to Ruki it felt more like an annoying prickling sensation. He’d wanted to ask Akira bout Aoi earlier, but with the brunette around, he figured he’d have to do it when they were alone.
“… Say… Akira,” Ruki started unsurely, “You’ve known Aoi for pretty long, haven’t you?”
“Yup.”
“He says that he’s known you since you entered the mafia.”
“Uh-huh, and while Kai’s my childhood friend, Aoi knows me a lot better than Kai.”
Ruki frowned. He’d thought Kai had known Akira enough to be lecturing him about the kinder side of the blonde.
“What made you say that?”
“Well, granted, Kai’s known me before I entered the mafia, and I’ll betcha he’d convinced you I wasn’t that bad,” Akira continued when Ruki gave a confused nod, “But the truth is, I’ve been in the mafia for almost the entire of my life, and I still am. Aoi has been fighting by my side all these years, covering my back on missions and taking care of the injured me after crossfires.”
Akira smiled at the fond memories.
“I was reckless back in the days, and I got myself into a whole deal of trouble. But with Aoi by my side I never really had to worry about dying because of my carelessness. He’s seen through my life as a mafiaso, and while I can be confusing to comprehend at times, Aoi reads me like an open book.”
Ruki felt his brows furrow together once more, before diverting his gaze outside the window. His mind wasn’t on the trees and buildings they’d past swiftly, but they lingered on Akira’s words. Ruki had thought that Aoi was weird when he’d mentioned Akira’s bloodlust, but from the blonde’s words, it was true that while Kai had seen Akira’s better side, Aoi was the one who’d seen Akira at his worst.
“Hey.”
Akira caught Ruki’s attention, and the latter turned his head around reluctantly to face Akira. Ruki was in the middle of his thoughts, and he didn’t want to be interrupted- much less when he had on an unusual expression.
“Why are you asking so much?”
Ruki’s eyebrows raised and he got ready to defend himself, before Akira butted in all of a sudden.
“You aren’t interested in him… are you?” Akira gave a mischievous grin, “He’s straight- and he’s got a sexy as hell girlfriend.”
“W-what?!” Ruki felt his bottom jaw fall at Akira’s conclusion. He’d thought he was busted, until he remembered that Akira had a habit of misreading signs. Ruki couldn’t forget the incident back in the hospital.
“I’m tellin’ you he’s straight, so give u-“ Akira’s statement was broken off halfway when a hard shove landed on his shoulder, and he struggled to get a hold on the wheel.
“OI! The fuck were you tryin’ to do?!”
Ruki seemed taken aback when the car swerved after he’d landed a blow on Akira, and he held onto his seat belt for life when the blonde had stepped on it for revenge. Ruki decided he needed to control his temper sometimes. Pfft, yeah, after that bitch of a mafia boss shuts his trap.
“… So was I right?”
“What?” Ruki felt the scenes of this morning unfold again as he fumed in his seat.
“About you being interested in Aoi.”
“… No, you idiot.”
“Are you sure?”
“…”
“I could put in a few words for you… you know?”
“No, I am not the least interested in your right-hand man so god bless you and shut the fuck up.”
“Really?”
Ruki was tired of arguing anymore and in return he threw Akira a look that clearly said “If you don’t stop asking I’ll cut off your balls and freaking shove them in your mouth.”
Akira swallowed thickly and diverted his attention back onto the track. So much for good intentions once more. While the thought was circling his mind, he heaved a silent sigh, and he felt something being lifted off his mind. He wasn’t sure what was it in the first place, but he’d realized that he felt relaxed and down-to-earth whenever he was with Ruki.
Eww… bleah you’re disgusting, Akira.
He threaded a finger through his hair as he flopped back into the chair. Documents were strewn all over the table, articles about missing persons, and reports from the PI’s he’d sent. All results turned in negative.
Where could he be?
After that night he’d gone missing, and he’d been searching all around for him, but to no avail. Fukuoka was large, he knew that, and finding a single person in such a large population was practically impossible. Yet he couldn’t just sit here and do nothing. He’d tried to find him himself, touring the area relentlessly and asking random people on the streets. When he realized it couldn’t work out this way, he tried to deploy PI’s as well as help from Akihiko and Takahiro. It’d been close to a month since he’d gone missing, and he couldn’t stop blaming himself for it.
The more he thought about it, the more impossible it seemed to be. Could he have been picked up by someone? Why the hell did they not file a missing person report? And why didn’t he come back? Was he captured? But by who? He’d so many times tried to keep searching, and he’d so many times tried to revive his faith after every failed attempt. And he’d tried so hard to omit the last possibility, that he was dead. But with how things were going, death didn’t seem so impossible after all.
A knock on the door disrupted his grim thoughts, and he greeted the strongly built guy who entered the room.
“Akihiko.”
Akihiko shook his head silently, as he placed another report on the desk. He felt his heart fall once more, and he wondered how many more times of such rituals he had to undergo. He’d have his hopes held high whenever someone knocked, but they’ll get crushed like a minute insect in the next second as the document landed on the desk once more, negative.
“… Maybe we should stop…”
“What?”
“… I mean, we’ve been searching for nearly a month. And all we’ve been getting are negative results. What use do you think it’ll do to us if we keep holding on to non-existent hope?”
He felt the anger rise in him, even though he knew Akihiko was right. Slamming his hand onto the desk roughly, he got up on his feet, leaning over and jabbing a finger on Akihiko’s chest.
“If he doesn’t want you guys to help anymore, then fine. Fuck him. Fuck all of you guys. I’m searching for him myself.”
Upon finishing his statement, he strode across his office to the door. Akihiko winced and rubbed the bruise quickly forming on his chest, as the door slammed shut.
His footsteps were heavy and almost dead, and as the moment of rage passed, he felt distraught. He knew he wouldn’t get nowhere without the help of his friends, but the fact was he couldn’t do anything about it if they wanted to give up. I’d just search myself; it was easier said than done. Leaning weakly against the wall of the corridor, he slid down onto the floor, holding himself as he struggled to keep his tears from falling.
You promised we wouldn’t be apart… Where are you, Taka…?