You Can See (Hitman AU) - Hina/Maru - Part 1/?
:D Hitman AU based on the You Can See PV. This is just the first part, I don't know how many parts it will have. XD I wrote a short drabble in this 'verse already, but it feels like it wants to be a longer story... XD
I'm going to copy parsnipchip's A Seaside Story idea (that you should be following *nudges*) to post this in parts (not necessarily chapters, just... posting as I write XD) because I think that will keep me motivated! :D
This part is rated G, sadly, but it won't be for long... XD
Maru meets Shingo for the first time in a Vegas casino. Maybe it's instinct, but, right away, he knows.
"Hello," Maru nods to everyone at the poker table before he sits down. But it's Shingo he's looking at.
After three games, neither of them have claimed a single victory. There is a man sitting at the far end of the oval table with dirty blond hair and a horrible smelling cigar. Shingo keeps looking over at him, and Maru knows that look.
When Shingo steps away from the table, it's under the pretense that he's out of luck. He slams his cards down on the table when he says his last "fold". But, coincidentally, it's right after the dirty-blond man leaves. Shingo walks the same way he does.
So, Maru does the same.
The casino is like a maze. Slot machines, roulette tables, dozens of blackjack dealers. There are lights and sounds coming from everywhere, but Maru manages to stay on the same path until he sees Shingo with the man from the poker table, talking in a bathroom hallway.
It doesn't look heated, just two men having a discussion. The dirty-blond man looks drunk, Shingo looks nervous. They leave the hallway, and Maru watches them make their way to the elevators that lead up to the suites.
He can't follow them after that, doesn't know where they're going, so he lets it go.
Two nights later, he sees Shingo at the same poker table. This time, sans the dirty-blond man.
"Hello," Maru says, just like the first time. This time, Shingo nods back, like he knows what Maru knows.
It's not like you can just ask someone So, did you kill that guy? That would be a little straight-forward. Maybe Shingo's a straightforward kind of guy, some are like that, but Maru doesn't know, so he keeps his distance. But, it's interesting how he can always spot another one. Especially interesting since this one is Japanese, all the way here in Vegas. Who does he work for? Is he a colleague that Maru doesn't know yet? Is he an enemy?
He stays at the table for most of the night, and so does Shingo even though the other players come and go so quickly that Maru can't recall any one of their faces. Maru wins a couple of hands, then Shingo. Then it's back and forth, until they may as well be the only two sitting at the table.
At the end of the last game, everyone at the table has laid their cards down.
"What's the score?" Shingo says, just before he calls.
"Three for me, three for you," Maru grins, turning his cards face down on the table. "But, I'm out."
Shingo laughs, pulls the pile of chips. "I'll buy you a drink," he says.
Maru wants to ask while they're cashing in their chips, while they're walking through the maze, when they sit down at the bar. He wants to know if this is something he should be bothering with. But, he feels like either way, this is someone he should know. Someone who should become an ally. Shingo seems outgoing, he's not hard to talk to. Many of the guys Maru has met in this profession keep everything close to the chest, reveal nothing. Shingo is so open, Maru wonders how he even stumbled into this line of work.
Then again, most people seem to think Maru isn't cut out for it either. They thought he was too soft, too gentle, and he surprised all of them when he wasn't.
He sits down in the barstool next to Shingo, then learns his name, officially. Maybe it's because they meet overseas that Shingo introduces himself that way, but Maru still calls himself "Maruyama" when he bows slightly with his head.
Shingo speaks in a thick Osaka dialect, that becomes more slurred after a couple of drinks. Maru likes him right away.
"Do you come here for the gambling?" Shingo asks.
"The women," Maru says. "And the gambling."
"In that order?" Shingo laughs. He has a deep laugh that comes straight from his belly. Maru thinks maybe he could listen to Shingo laugh for the rest of the night.
And he does, they stay at the bar until late into the night having drinks and telling each other stories that may or may not be true. It doesn't matter if they are. Not if they're entertaining enough. Casinos are built specifically so the people inside of them lose track of time. There aren't any clocks, none of the staff ever seem to have the time. It's orchestrated that way, obviously, and why Maru always wears a watch when he's inside of them. But, even he finds that he doesn't glance at it all night.
He tries to order one drink, and the bartender brings him another. His English isn't as good as he thought, but Shingo's is better. The bartender lets him keep the wrong drink, and brings him the right one. They're both too strong and Maru jokes that Shingo's trying to get him drunk. Which makes Shingo smack him on the side of the head, laughing hard. Definitely the most open guy in their line of work Maru has ever met. It makes Maru feel warm, forgetting for just a moment why he's come here and why Shingo probably has, too.
Then Maru spots him. Unike Shingo's dirty-blond guy from a couple of nights before, Maru's guy is sandy-brown. He looks nervous, like he already might know Maru is there. The man looks from side to side, taking a cursory glance down the rows of slot machines before he ventures into them. Maru keeps talking to Shingo, but watches the man at the same time. He prepares in his mind, his gun suddenly pressing hard into his thigh where he'd forgotten to feel it before.
But, he doesn't have to deal with this guy until the next night. By which time Shingo might already be gone anyway.
"Two more," Maru says to the bartender, this time holding up two fingers and gesturing to the glasses to bridge the gap in communication.
Shingo knocks back a shot while Maru watches the sandy-brown man disappear behind the quarter machines.
I'm going to copy parsnipchip's A Seaside Story idea (that you should be following *nudges*) to post this in parts (not necessarily chapters, just... posting as I write XD) because I think that will keep me motivated! :D
This part is rated G, sadly, but it won't be for long... XD
Maru meets Shingo for the first time in a Vegas casino. Maybe it's instinct, but, right away, he knows.
"Hello," Maru nods to everyone at the poker table before he sits down. But it's Shingo he's looking at.
After three games, neither of them have claimed a single victory. There is a man sitting at the far end of the oval table with dirty blond hair and a horrible smelling cigar. Shingo keeps looking over at him, and Maru knows that look.
When Shingo steps away from the table, it's under the pretense that he's out of luck. He slams his cards down on the table when he says his last "fold". But, coincidentally, it's right after the dirty-blond man leaves. Shingo walks the same way he does.
So, Maru does the same.
The casino is like a maze. Slot machines, roulette tables, dozens of blackjack dealers. There are lights and sounds coming from everywhere, but Maru manages to stay on the same path until he sees Shingo with the man from the poker table, talking in a bathroom hallway.
It doesn't look heated, just two men having a discussion. The dirty-blond man looks drunk, Shingo looks nervous. They leave the hallway, and Maru watches them make their way to the elevators that lead up to the suites.
He can't follow them after that, doesn't know where they're going, so he lets it go.
Two nights later, he sees Shingo at the same poker table. This time, sans the dirty-blond man.
"Hello," Maru says, just like the first time. This time, Shingo nods back, like he knows what Maru knows.
It's not like you can just ask someone So, did you kill that guy? That would be a little straight-forward. Maybe Shingo's a straightforward kind of guy, some are like that, but Maru doesn't know, so he keeps his distance. But, it's interesting how he can always spot another one. Especially interesting since this one is Japanese, all the way here in Vegas. Who does he work for? Is he a colleague that Maru doesn't know yet? Is he an enemy?
He stays at the table for most of the night, and so does Shingo even though the other players come and go so quickly that Maru can't recall any one of their faces. Maru wins a couple of hands, then Shingo. Then it's back and forth, until they may as well be the only two sitting at the table.
At the end of the last game, everyone at the table has laid their cards down.
"What's the score?" Shingo says, just before he calls.
"Three for me, three for you," Maru grins, turning his cards face down on the table. "But, I'm out."
Shingo laughs, pulls the pile of chips. "I'll buy you a drink," he says.
Maru wants to ask while they're cashing in their chips, while they're walking through the maze, when they sit down at the bar. He wants to know if this is something he should be bothering with. But, he feels like either way, this is someone he should know. Someone who should become an ally. Shingo seems outgoing, he's not hard to talk to. Many of the guys Maru has met in this profession keep everything close to the chest, reveal nothing. Shingo is so open, Maru wonders how he even stumbled into this line of work.
Then again, most people seem to think Maru isn't cut out for it either. They thought he was too soft, too gentle, and he surprised all of them when he wasn't.
He sits down in the barstool next to Shingo, then learns his name, officially. Maybe it's because they meet overseas that Shingo introduces himself that way, but Maru still calls himself "Maruyama" when he bows slightly with his head.
Shingo speaks in a thick Osaka dialect, that becomes more slurred after a couple of drinks. Maru likes him right away.
"Do you come here for the gambling?" Shingo asks.
"The women," Maru says. "And the gambling."
"In that order?" Shingo laughs. He has a deep laugh that comes straight from his belly. Maru thinks maybe he could listen to Shingo laugh for the rest of the night.
And he does, they stay at the bar until late into the night having drinks and telling each other stories that may or may not be true. It doesn't matter if they are. Not if they're entertaining enough. Casinos are built specifically so the people inside of them lose track of time. There aren't any clocks, none of the staff ever seem to have the time. It's orchestrated that way, obviously, and why Maru always wears a watch when he's inside of them. But, even he finds that he doesn't glance at it all night.
He tries to order one drink, and the bartender brings him another. His English isn't as good as he thought, but Shingo's is better. The bartender lets him keep the wrong drink, and brings him the right one. They're both too strong and Maru jokes that Shingo's trying to get him drunk. Which makes Shingo smack him on the side of the head, laughing hard. Definitely the most open guy in their line of work Maru has ever met. It makes Maru feel warm, forgetting for just a moment why he's come here and why Shingo probably has, too.
Then Maru spots him. Unike Shingo's dirty-blond guy from a couple of nights before, Maru's guy is sandy-brown. He looks nervous, like he already might know Maru is there. The man looks from side to side, taking a cursory glance down the rows of slot machines before he ventures into them. Maru keeps talking to Shingo, but watches the man at the same time. He prepares in his mind, his gun suddenly pressing hard into his thigh where he'd forgotten to feel it before.
But, he doesn't have to deal with this guy until the next night. By which time Shingo might already be gone anyway.
"Two more," Maru says to the bartender, this time holding up two fingers and gesturing to the glasses to bridge the gap in communication.
Shingo knocks back a shot while Maru watches the sandy-brown man disappear behind the quarter machines.