[Fic] Perfidia (for Vacivity) - part 1 of 2
Title: Perfidia
Author: yuki_scorpio
Recipient: vacivity
Pairing/Characters: Yagyuu/Niou
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Sort-of-but-not-really non-con, very mild bondage, swearing, violence.
Disclaimer: I don't have any rights to The Prince of Tennis. Or Lust, Caution. Or Tony Leung. :(
Summary: As part of a resistance group in an occupied land, Niou is sent to get close to Yagyuu, a traitor to his own country. He knows at the end of this, only one of them may live.
Notes: The idea came from the book/film Lust, Caution, in which a spy seduces an intelligence agent in a plot to gain information and then kill the man. But this story takes a completely different direction, so no, Yagyuu isn't anything like Tony Leung. XD;;;; Many thanks to my lovely beta (and lab rat) L-chan.
To vacivity: I took the AU prompt and ran away with it! It's kind of but not really "in the face of grave defeat" or "leaving messages on the street", but I tried. :D;;;; Hope you enjoy this!
Niou was at a bar, reading the menu and sucking on an ice cube from his empty glass, when Sanada found him.
"Didn't think I'd see you again," said Niou conversationally. He wasn't the type to make small talk, but this was Sanada and what he meant was I didn't expect you to still be alive. "What're you doing these days?" he asked. Sanada did not answer. "The same old shit?"
"Aa."
Niou paused briefly mid-step before he continued to follow Sanada. They walked briskly, Niou half a step behind, their hair and clothes getting damp from the light drizzle that just started, their footsteps in sync and almost soundless on the street. No one paid attention to them; this was the peaceful part of town, where people didn't suspect one another. The fighting had mostly been limited to the very centre of the capital and the people here, naively, believed war would never be upon them. Niou was not so sure.
Sanada led Niou inside a bar half an hour away, through the kitchen - although the place didn't serve food, Niou noted - and then through two more doors, up some stairs, and finally into a flat. Niou looked around and saw three familiar faces: Jackal, Yanagi, Kirihara. There was no one else that he could recognise.
"Where's Marui?"
He knew the answer before he finished the question. Jackal got up and went inside one of the rooms. Sanada's ever-present frown became infinitesimally deeper.
"How?" Niou asked.
"We don't know. We can't find the body."
"Fuck." Niou wasn't surprised, but he swore anyway. Marui was a proud man, with good reason: he was good at everything he did. Not just good, but a genius. But once caught, it was over - nobody could save him, and he could not save himself.
At least, seeing as the rest of them were still alive, it meant Marui kept his mouth shut to the very end.
Dipping his head and rubbing his nose, Niou surveyed the flat, eyes darting left and right under a thin veil of white hair. The group was a lot larger than before. "You've been recruiting?"
Sanada shook his head. "There are several other safe houses around town. We've joined forces with Fudomine, Yamabuki and some other groups," he explained. His breathing had quickened, Niou noticed, and wondered why. "I'll introduce you to them later. There's someone you need to meet now."
Sanada took Niou to a door. "Yukimura is the one who brought everyone together. He's led a lot of the recent campaigns, including taking out the main troop transport route last weekend." His large hand was on the door knob, squeezing, as if trying to crush it. "He is an extraordinary man. That said, Niou, if you don't want-"
"What took you so long?" Niou cut Sanada off, his voice low. "I've been leaving messages for months. You knew where to find me. I thought you were dead!"
Sanada's face tightened. He bit his lips, looked away and opened the door.
Seated at a desk, Yukimura lifted his head from piles of paper, books and maps, smiling at the two men at the door. He stood when they walked in, but didn't offer his hand. "Niou, I'm Yukimura Seiichi. Welcome back." He turned to Sanada. "Thank you. You may go."
"Yukimura - "
"Please." Yukimura sighed. "We've agreed on this."
Niou kept his questions to himself. He heard the door click shut behind him.
"I hear you're in charge now."
"Yes. Scattered the way everyone was, we were nothing more than kids throwing pebbles at grown-ups. We need to be one cohesive force." Yukimura walked to the window. Niou followed him. "I don't want to go around in circles. There is something I want you to do. I'm asking you because... 'suitable' would be the wrong word, but after hearing about you from the others, I feel that you have the mental capacity to cope with it, amongst other qualities and skills that will prove beneficial. I'd go myself, but I can't. There needs to be someone to command the group. And anyway..."
Niou took a good look at the man. He could see Yukimura's other reason - Yukimura had paid his price to the cause. Under the long-sleeves shirt was a body heavily scarred on one side. Ugly, taut skin that showed just above the collar and at the cuffs told of a bad encounter with fire, or maybe acid.
"Let's hear it, then."
Son of a statesman and an owner of a tobacco company, Yagyuu Hiroshi was single, with no living family apart from a sister fifteen years his junior. At such times of unrest, he was careful like any other wealthy businessman, having extra security at work and home, and did not open his door to strangers.
In Yagyuu's study, Niou sat and sipped the red tea the maid poured for him while Yagyuu's sister, a lovely little thing called Mary, played on the piano.
"I don't think you're as good as you think you are," Niou said with a smile. "You've got a bad habit with your left little finger."
"I know! I'm working on it." Mary pouted. "But I haven't had a teacher for a long time!"
"Good thing you've found me." Niou brought his chair next to Mary's and sat down again, showing her what she did wrong with her left hand. "What happened to your last teacher?"
Niou heard the breathing behind them becoming shallower.
"I don't know. What happened to him, Brother?"
"I'm sorry," the man who had been sitting behind them, reading a book, looked up. "What was the question?"
"What happened to Marui?"
"A family emergency, last I heard."
Niou smirked at Mary. "Or an excuse to not teach you anymore without hurting your feelings. You don't sound to me like you practise very much."
Mary gasped, shocked that this teacher, on his first trial lesson, would say something like that. But before she could say anything, Yagyuu closed his book and stood. "That's enough for today. Niou-kun, you're hired."
"But Brother - "
"It's hard to find music teachers these days." Yagyuu ushered his sister to the door. "I have things to discuss with your new teacher. Leave us alone for a little."
When the door closed, Niou rose to his feet, and worked hard on not balling his hands into fists, not fidgeting, not grabbing the nearest sharp object and shoving it into the chest of the man standing before him. The man who gave Marui a death sentence. The traitor who helped other people who invaded his own country.
"I'll be frank, Niou-kun. We live in an occupied country. It isn't a problem for someone like me; I can live rather happily, just as before, as long as I pay my taxes. For a lot of other people, the times are not so good. While I know that they are struggling, I will not hesitate to defend myself and Mary from any unsavoury approaches."
"You're saying I'm unsavoury?"
"I'm not interested in Mary becoming a great pianist. All I want is for her to feel a sense of normality, especially when conflicts break out and she cannot go to school."
"A suitable distraction."
"Yes, that's what I want you to give her. Don't get other ideas, don't snoop around my home, don't do anything that makes me think my sister and I are in danger. In return, you will be paid well."
Niou shifted his weight from one leg to the other, and dropped a shoulder. "You almost sounded like a good guy just now." He shrugged when Yagyuu arched an eyebrow. "You don't look like one."
It was difficult to tell if Yagyuu was amused or angered. He wasn't an easy man to read.
"You don't look like one, either."
Two months after Niou moved into his new home, and a month after he started teaching Mary piano, he met with the group again.
"He's run a check on you. I think we've covered our tracks well enough; he's buying your background story," Jackal said. "How often are you in there now?"
"Twice a week. I'm pushing for three lessons a week now; his sister seems to like me enough," Niou said.
"That's not the point though."
Everyone looked at Yukimura.
"No, it isn't." Niou tapped the ashes off the tip of his cigarette. "But I've only seen him three times so far. And I haven't worked out his schedule yet."
"And?" Yukimura pressed. "Are you confident?"
"There is still time to change your mind," Sanada spoke up, drawing everybody's attention. "Niou, if you want to stop, now is the time."
Niou finished his cigarette and lit another one. They waited, knowing that months of planning would go to waste if Niou chose to pull out now. But Marui was already dead - an example of what would happen to Niou too, if his cover was blown.
But Marui was dead. And nobody else remotely suitable for this work could actually play music well apart from Niou. Sanada said they should not go with the music teacher cover again, but it was the best one exactly because it had already been used. The idea was just so goddamn cliché that it would work. Niou believed in hiding in broad daylight.
Marui was dead.
Niou avoided Sanada's eyes. "I'll get that son-of-a-bitch."
Yagyuu came home one day near the end of a lesson and just before dinner time, with a frown that suggested he had had a long day and did not wish to be talked to.
Niou paused in the middle of shrugging his jacket on. "Hey there, Yagyuu," he drawled, deliberately pronouncing every letter in Yagyuu's name.
Yagyuu shot him a look, but still remained polite. "Niou-kun, hello. How did the lesson go today?"
"Oh, good. Mary picks things up fast."
"That is good to hear. Now if you would excuse me..."
"I'm going to get a drink or five somewhere. Wanna come?"
It was Yagyuu's turn to pause. "I don't feel like going out again."
"Well if you've got stuff here, I'm not saying no to free booze."
Yagyuu spent long minutes considering this. Niou pulled his jacket on. "It's fine if you don't wanna. I'll see you around."
Yagyuu opened the door to the study. "I have a mini bar."
Niou grinned.
There was a lot of alcohol to choose from. Niou picked out a few bottles, got two glasses and poured for them both, before dumping himself on the same sofa Yagyuu was sitting in.
"Yanno, for one person, that's a really huge bar."
"I like having a good selection."
"I suppose that means you don't go out much."
"I prefer the peace and quiet of home."
"Fair enough." Niou swirled his glass a bit, watching the colourless liquid go round and round, before swigging from it. "Thought there'd be a long line of people queuing up to socialise with you, being rich and all that."
"There is."
"I feel honoured now."
Yagyuu eyed Niou. "Why don't you tell me about yourself?"
"What?" Niou looked from above the rim of his glass and under his white hair. "What the heck for?"
"I'm curious as to why someone would move to the capital at such unstable times."
Finishing his vodka, Niou put his glass down. No holding something in front of himself or crossing arms as a unconscious barrier; Yagyuu would easily see through that sort of body language. "There's big money to be made. You're paying me good, for one."
"You enjoy taking risks."
"Life gets boring otherwise." Niou fixed his eyes on Yagyuu's. "Wouldn't you agree?"
The corners of Yagyuu's lips turned upwards in a barely-there smile. Niou let himself lounge on the sofa a little more, bringing his legs up as well and letting them occupy the space between him and Yagyuu.
"What is it that you do again? Sell fags?"
"Tobacco. Both import and export."
"But you don't smoke."
"Not often. You?"
"I was gonna ask if you mind me lighting one."
"Feel free."
Niou half turned to get the jacket he'd abandoned, stretching himself to balance better as he got the things inside the pockets. Yagyuu watched him unabashedly. Niou made sure he took his time, eyes darting at Yagyuu once, flashing him a smirk that was gone in a blink, then lit up.
Yagyuu poured their drinks. Niou knocked his back all at once and felt it burn down his throat, the rush going up to his head and into his limbs. He needed this to help him maintain some level of cool. He was drinking with a man who had Marui captured and killed, perhaps tortured to death. If only he could just go and choke the breath out of the goddamn motherfucker right now.
Niou helped himself to a different bottle. A cream liqueur, the sort women and queers liked. He had a third of the glass, licked his lips and took a long drag from his smoke, throwing his head back to exhale.
"What?" He eyed Yagyuu, who was staring, his lips slightly parted and his cheeks pink. "Want some?" Niou moved his fingers slightly, as if to offer Yagyuu his cigarette.
But they both knew that was not what Niou meant.
In slow motion, Yagyuu moved, putting his drink down and putting a hand on the back of the sofa so that he could lean over Niou without touching him.
"This is funny," said Yagyuu, "the previous music teacher tried to seduce me as well."
Niou made himself smile. "As far as I can see, you're the one coming on to me." He gestured at their relative positions, pulled one leg back, letting his knee brush the inside of Yagyuu's thigh. "But you are hot, I'll give you that."
"I do like the look of you as well." Yagyuu chuckled. "Do you want to know what happened to the last teacher?"
He was being tested, Niou realised. But if he was the kind of man to let things slip this easily, then he would not be here doing this. "He was a gold-digger. You murdered him and dumped the body in a dark alley."
Yagyuu laughed again. "Close enough."
"Which ain't where I wanna end up," Niou murmured, snaking a hand in the small gap between them so that he could smoke. "And sorry mate, I don't do one-night-stands."
"Oh, really now?"
"Despite external appearances, I'm a commitment kinda guy." Wisps of smoke formed between them as Niou spoke. "Are you gonna sack me?"
"Possibly." Yagyuu backed away, but it did not seem like he was put off; if anything, the gleam in his eyes said he saw a challenge.
Getting to his feet, Niou stretched once more. "Better go before I piss you off further." He picked up his jacket, draping it over one shoulder, stumbling a little - Yagyuu might take the bait. Worth a try. "Thanks and see you when I see you, yeah?"
"Are you driving?"
"I drive better with blood in my alcohol system."
"I'll get someone to send you home." And Yagyuu bit. Niou held back a smirk.
"Treating me like a girl already?" Niou staggered once more for good measure. "Then again, I've always wanted to know what it's like to be chauffeured."
Yagyuu smiled briefly before leaving the room. Niou was still standing in exactly the same spot when he returned. Niou wasn't stupid enough to snoop around the first time he was left unsupervised in the house for several minutes. Yagyuu probably wasn't stupid either, and was going to check Niou's car later on. Niou wanted to tell him he wasn't stupid enough to leave anything incriminating in the car, but that would only ruin the game.
"The car will be here soon."
"You're such a gentleman." As he passed by Yagyuu at the doorway, Niou's hand stroked Yagyuu's tie, then tugged it once. "I'll come back for my car tomorrow."
Niou half fell out of the car. The driver said good night and drove off.
He left the lights off inside his house, a place Yukimura had organised for him, also the address he gave Yagyuu when he applied for the teaching job.
Yukimura was probably expecting Niou to see him soon, but Niou decided he was not going to go. Maybe he would go after tomorrow. Maybe next week. Maybe when he felt like it.
Pulling his clothes off, he went to bed wishing he had drunk more than he did. It would take much more alcohol to drown out that feeling of disgust.
Yagyuu was waiting. Instead of getting into his own car, Niou got into Yagyuu's, both of them sitting in the back. The driver was the same one from last night.
Niou was wearing what he normally wore to work at Yagyuu's - the same old suit, white shirt and braces, though he did bring a smarter coat, just in case. In contrast, Yagyuu was in a crisp white shirt and pressed trousers with creases so sharp they looked like they could kill.
They rode to the eastern part of the capital, past a checkpoint that only allowed "approved persons" through, to an area Niou had never set foot on. He never cared much about riches and finery, but looking out the window and seeing the type of shops around and how people dressed, even he had to whistle.
"I don't care much about living in absolute luxury," Yagyuu said after they got out of the car and they strolled for a while. "But I like to use what's been made available to me."
"I think I know what you mean."
"Some people see me as a traitor. In their eyes, I have betrayed my country by enjoying my current status and at times aiding the current government." Yagyuu looked at Niou. "The music teacher you replaced was a spy from a resistance group."
"Right..."
"The main flaw in their argument is that I never swore allegiance to the country. I am loyal to just myself. If our previous government had made themselves more useful to me, I wouldn't have made business deals with the other side, it is as simple as that."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you might be a spy also," Yagyuu said, his glasses catching the light. "I like to keep my enemies close."
If Niou showed any tension here, his cover would blow in an instant. But he only snorted. "You're saying you're only taking me out coz I might be wanting you dead. How sad."
"I also thought we could entertain each other."
They entered a restaurant.
"Good. I like being wined and dined."
"I wouldn't have guessed."
Niou declined the waiter's help and pulled out his own chair. "You hardly know me."
"That is true." Yagyuu smiled. Niou suppressed a shiver. "It is something I intend to change."
The group had drilled Niou enough times on this: where he came from, his education, his family, his political views, any life experiences that made Niou who he was. It wasn't difficult to just talk and make it sound like he was who he said he was. Niou was good at telling stories and remembering the lies he had told.
But when Yagyuu just listened, never once questioning what Niou was saying, Niou felt slightly unsettled. It was as if Yagyuu believed everything he heard, or knew it was all lies from the start.
Niou let the conversation drop when food was served. The sound of cutlery on plates took over, giving him a chance to gather his thoughts.
It would probably be tonight.
Yagyuu caught him staring. He smirked. Yagyuu smiled his smile that did not reach the eyes. Neither of them said anything.
At the end of the night, Niou was driven home. When they reached his house, Yagyuu stepped out of the car too.
"Well?" Niou felt his hand shake. He shoved it inside a pocket and stepped close to a corner of the walls, just beside the door, where the street lighting could not reach. The key was to not think about it. He would be able to do this as long as he didn't think. "Wanna come in for a coffee?"
The group was going to scream at him for taking things this fast without consulting them beforehand, but Niou couldn't see the point in that. Yukimura had asked him to become Yagyuu's lover. What difference did it make if he told them in advance that he might be fucked in the ass by the traitor tomorrow, or maybe next Monday, or, oh hey wait, it looked like it was going to be before dinner on Tuesday, draped over the piano? They all knew this was going to happen eventually if their plan was successful.
When Yagyuu said nothing and walked up to him, Niou took his keys out, but Yagyuu pressed him against the wall and kissed him. Niou nearly dropped his keys before clutching them tight with one hand, his other hand freezing mid-motion for a brief second before he remembered what he should do and kissed Yagyuu back, closing his eyes because in that split second just now, he saw familiar silhouettes in a car across the street.
He opened his mouth wide to gasp for air, and Yagyuu took the chance to slip his tongue in. Niou felt himself reacting to that, his heart beating faster even though the person kissing him - the person he was kissing - was a man and a man who he wished dead.
And then Yagyuu pulled back. Niou licked his lips, staying in character. "I think it's really time for that coffee." Fuck if he wasn't prepared. If this was what he had to do, then this was what he had to do. The quicker he learned the better. Get it over and done with.
Yagyuu adjusted his glasses. He had a card in his hand, which he pressed into Niou's palm. "Meet me there tomorrow at six."
Niou did not wait until Yagyuu was back inside the car before he opened his own door, leaving it unlocked, wiped his mouth with a hand and looked for something to drink. He probably had about half an hour before Sanada and Yukimura would knock on the door. This was the worst possible scenario. The moment they came in they were going to demand to see -
"Show me what that man gave you." The door flew open. Sanada entered first, followed by Yukimura, whose face said he thought this was a very bad idea. Niou wanted to laugh. To think Sanada was the one who had known him longer. The man just didn't possess enough sense to leave Niou alone for a while after Niou had some guy's tongue down his throat.
They just shouldn't have come. They had agreed with each other that they would never show up at Niou's home, in case Yagyuu distrusted him and set up surveillance. Not three months in and they already broke the rule.
"Niou, didn't you hear what I said?"
Niou half turned his head, just enough for his and Sanada's eyes to meet. "Don't glare at me like that. I'll do it when I feel like doing it."
As Sanada fumed, Niou got himself some water and drank as he wandered back out of the kitchen.
"Niou - "
Yukimura put a hand on Sanada's shoulder, frowning. But before he could say anything more, Niou took out the card from Yagyuu and dropped it on a table. It was a business card from a hotel, with a room number written in blue ink on the front. Yukimura picked it up.
"When?"
"Tomorrow. Six." Niou didn't look at his visitors. "I'm going."
"You can't. It's a trap. He's probably found out who you are and you'll be arrested on the spot," said Sanada, his hands curling into fists.
"I agree," said Yukimura, turning the card over in his hand. "If he wanted you he would've followed you in just now. There's no need to arrange a hotel room."
Niou dropped himself onto the sofa and lit a cigarette.
"What are you thinking, Niou?"
"It might be what you say." Niou exhaled heavily. He really hated having to explain. "But if I don't show, then it's basically saying 'you're right, I'm a mole, I don't really wanna fuck you'. Then all the work we've done so far goes down the drain."
It was several seconds before Sanada spoke. "We can book the room next door just in case they try to take you."
"He'll have people at the hotel. Someone told to let him know if there's a booking requesting for a room nearby. Quickest way to get everyone caught."
"How sure are you about that?"
"It's what I'd do if I were him. It's a test."
Yukimura crouched down in front of Niou. "And how sure are you about following this through?" He let the question hang in the air for a while, and added, "Sanada's said it before. No one will blame you if you choose to pull out now."
"I knew what I was in for when I signed up."
"Do you know... how to do it?"
Niou looked away again. "Not unless one of you do and offer to show me."
Yukimura shook his head. He looked up at Sanada, who just glared at Niou, the expression on his face one of more than just anger.
Niou could not think of anything to say that would not be interpreted as a complaint about his fate, so he told his visitors to leave. When the front door finally closed, he curled up on the sofa, still tasting Yagyuu on his tongue. It felt like Yagyuu had raped him raw already.
The tea in the pot on the lacquered tray was steaming hot. The room was prepared only moments before Niou's arrival, someone having straightened the sheets and puffed up the pillows, hoping the guests would have a comfortable stay. Niou helped himself to some tea. He wouldn't be enjoying the bed, but at least he could enjoy this.
He turned on the radio on top of the chest of drawers and went to the balcony, leaning against the wrought iron railing. After a while, he heard the door, and then footsteps, and then the muffled, static music from the radio disappearing from the air.
He left the teacup on the railing and went inside.
"Are you sure this isn't a one-night-stand? I have doubts on your sincerity," he told Yagyuu.
"Why do you say that?"
"What time do you call this, sweetheart?"
Yagyuu glanced at the wall clock. "Seven minutes past six. I am late."
"Exactly. You don't want me as much as you're making out. I figure we're just wasting our time."
Yagyuu hung his coat beside Niou's old jacket on the coat stand. He walked to Niou, his hair neat, his clothes crisp and fresh, his shoes perfectly polished. Niou wanted to taunt him a bit more, but he noticed the bulge under the front of Yagyuu's trousers and panic seized him. He had spent the whole day mentally preparing himself for this, yet now, seeing the tension in Yagyuu's body, Niou somehow knew this wasn't going to go the way he had imagined.
He was pushed onto the bed before he could react. Yagyuu grabbed his braces and yanked, the clips giving way easily.
"Shit!" Niou cursed when Yagyuu sat on him, twisting his arms back. He felt the braces wrapping around his wrists. "No- Not like this!"
He heard Yagyuu unzipping his trousers. Turning around, he saw the man applying what looked like petroleum jelly to himself. Niou swore again, trying to get up, but a knee on his chest pushed him back down before he got anywhere. He knew there was no point in trying anything by the time Yagyuu undid his trousers too and made him face down. He could do this. He could get through this.
He bit down on the pillow so that he would not scream.
It didn't take Yagyuu long to climax. He cleaned himself, dressed, and sat down beside Niou, who was shaking and going through all the profanities in his vocabulary.
Niou stiffened and quieted down when Yagyuu touched him, rolling Niou onto his side, running a hand through Niou's messy hair in a surprisingly gentle gesture. "Are you a spy, Niou-kun?" He waited, repeating his question when he did not get an answer, his voice a bit coarse, his breathing uneven, his words slow.
Despite everything, Niou snorted. "Jesus, you never heard of 'foreplay'?" He was not feeling coherent right now; he could not even see clearly, thanks to the water in his eyes. But he would just have to try. "I am what you think I am no matter what I say, so why are you even asking?" His back turned to Yagyuu, he couldn't tell what Yagyuu's reaction was.
"But are you?"
Yagyuu's hand was on Niou's ass. Niou shivered. "Maybe? Why don't you take a guess?"
"You could just say no."
"But what's the fun in - shit!" A finger slipped inside him. It should be painful after all this, but now he didn't know anymore. Perhaps he was just numb. "If this is your idea of torture... you're doing it wrong, you know..."
Yagyuu's finger probed and searched. Niou tried to not listen to the sounds it was making.
"A lot of people want information from me. They would also like me dead, Niou-kun. I have provided information to the current government, in effect helping them remove the old."
The finger pushed a little deeper.
"Oh yeah?"
"I find you interesting, and you seemed to have shown interest in me. I wish to find out if you knew what you were getting yourself into - if you knew too well. In which case, I have no choice but to do what I must do for the sake of my own safety."
Niou would laugh if he could, but a shudder ran through him when he felt something he was sure he was not meant to feel.
"Oh fuck you. You want me to be... fuck... a spy... it gets you off, right?" Stay in character. Never just give a straight answer no matter what the situation. "You want to have a quick fuck and then get rid of me."
"Not true."
"A-ah... do that again." Niou tensed up. "Yes... yeah..."
Yagyuu dipped his head and kissed Niou on the neck, one hand freeing Niou's tied wrists. Right away Niou adjusted his shoulders, ignoring the pain that flared up so that he could grab his cock and pump, eyes staring emptily in front of him as pain became pleasure and Yagyuu brushed his lips on Niou's ear, nibbling at the lobes, dropping kisses all over Niou's face and neck, his breath hot and damp on Niou's skin.
After he came, Niou nudged himself towards the edge of the bed, but could not sit up so soon.
"I would appreciate an honest answer. No matter how appealing you are to me, if I find out later that you have lied, I cannot guarantee what I might do."
Lying would be easy, but Niou had a feeling he would die faster that way. Same if he told the truth. Just what sort of man was Yagyuu? Did he really want to be given an answer or did he want to play the detective game?
Niou had seen the look in those eyes. He could tell what sort of man Yagyuu Hiroshi was.
"Find out for yourself."
On Monday, Niou stayed at home until he could walk almost normally, then dressed and went out.
The streets were getting busier. A year ago there were only troops, but now people went about their daily lives as if everything was normal. The trams ran. Shops were open, with plenty of things to sell to anyone, foreigner or local. But at every corner, pairs of soldiers stood, watching carefully. Those who were born here and called this place home bowed their heads, avoiding eye contact with these men who marched in one day and took everything.
Niou could see the fear in their eyes.
He, too, looked away when passing by the men in uniform. It was not easy. As Sanada always said, he was the kind to deliberately invite trouble. But now that he was part of the group again and had Yagyuu marked, even he knew he must consider the consequences.
Arriving at a corner shop, Niou paid for some cigarettes and went to look at the notice board. There were spare rooms to let, an old bicycle for sale, advertisements for window cleaning and someone looking for a house cleaner, but carelessly not leaving any contact details.
Niou took down that last card and replaced it with one of his own that said exactly the same thing, except it was his handwriting, not Sanada's. Sanada only asked for a life sign and Niou was fine with that. Right now he didn't want to see anyone from the group at all. They all knew he got fucked in the ass last night. There was nothing to talk about.
On his way out, he saw today's newspaper headline: more accusations made against the previous government, this time new claims on corruption. Another piece of propaganda by the state-controlled newspaper.
Late in the afternoon, he went to Yagyuu's for the piano lesson as normal, after deciding against calling to say he had a migraine. He got fucked, it still hurt, but he wasn't dead. He and Yagyuu had barely started and he wasn't going to start looking like he had lost the game already.
Yagyuu didn't come home before the lesson was over, but when he rang to tell Mary he was working late, Mary mentioned she was in the middle of her music lesson. Yagyuu must have asked if Niou-kun was all right, because Mary looked at Niou and asked her brother, "what do you mean? Why shouldn't he be?"
Biting back a grin, Niou felt he had scored a point.
More importantly though, the traitor seemed to be especially busy on Mondays. This fitted with what the group found after tailing him for several weeks. Yagyuu always went to a restricted zone that day of the week and would spend the whole day there.
It would be easy for Niou to stay at the house until Yagyuu came home - Mary was the sort of girl who could talk for hours on end - but there was too little to be gained for too much risk. That man would not be so careless as to let Niou coax words out of him or give Niou the chance to look at what was in his briefcase.
"I can't get this part right!"
Bringing his attention back, Niou studied the few bars Mary was stuck on. "Yeah, this part's tricky. You just gotta keep practising." He tried to show her how it was done, but only got it right on the third try. "Guess the same applies to me."
Mary laughed. "Hypocrite!"
This could be a chance! "Can't help it, don't have a piano anymore," Niou told her, sad eyes focused on her sweet face. "I had to sell it when I moved house."
"Come and use this one!"
Niou feigned surprise. "Are you sure?"
"Why not?" Mary shrugged. "I can't let my teacher get crap at what he's teaching me. And it doesn't cost me anything to let you play it."
"Um. Wow." Niou smiled. "Thanks."
Another point scored. Take this, Yagyuu.
The maid let Niou in, but no one else was at home. He was about to ask when the doorbell rang again.
"You're late for class, girl."
Mary toed her shoes off for the maid to put away. Yagyuu paused to smile at Niou when Niou brushed his hand, but didn't bother with greeting. He went straight to his room.
"We went to visit dad. I didn't think it was going to take so long." Mary lowered her voice. "I had to drag Brother home. It gets worse every time!"
Niou looked in the general direction of Yagyuu's room. "Yeah?"
"You know, right? About my dad?"
"Sure," said Niou. "You know, I never took your brother to be the sort that still grieves after a few years - what, you want me to sort him out?"
Mary nodded firmly, giving Niou a small push. "He hasn't had any friends for a long time and you're good friends with him."
Niou wondered how much Mary really knew, but decided it didn't matter. He went to Yagyuu's room and, after some hesitation, knocked first.
"Yagyuu." Niou drew the name out, pronouncing every vowel. "I'm coming in."
Yagyuu was sitting on his bed. "Niou-kun."
"Careless of you today. If I were a mole, I could've raided this place before you guys came back." Niou went to a dresser, leaning against it. "Just kidding. I only got here about five seconds before you. Kidding about the mole thing too - or maybe not."
Yagyuu chuckled. Niou tugged out a packet of cigarettes from a pocket, walked over and offered one to Yagyuu. "Fag?"
Yagyuu looked at the packet and snorted. "Stop buying this cheap shit." He took one anyway and Niou lit it for him.
Niou spoke as he lit one for himself. "'Till you give me a royal seal that gets me free fags from your brand for life, I'm sticking to these."
"I see." Yagyuu got an ashtray from a drawer.
"Why else do you think I'm sleeping with you? Apart from the fact that I'm a mole, I mean."
This time Yagyuu laughed. "Thank you, Niou-kun."
"Mary sent me. She's got a killer pinch; my arm still hurts." Niou sat down on the edge of the bed. "I told her I didn't pin you as the grieving sort."
They sat quietly, smoking their cigarettes. Niou's was almost finished when he spoke again. "Want me to leave you alone?"
He looked down at his hand when Yagyuu caught it, and said nothing more. Yagyuu smoked a lot slower. He held the cigarette in his other hand. "Do you know about my father?"
Niou recalled Sanada's rage, that the only son of the greatest statesman who ever lived turned out to be a traitor. "Honestly? My diploma exam clashed with the funeral. The road diversions nearly made me late. Then I wouldn't be able to teach and I wouldn't be here."
Shaking his head with resignation, Yagyuu smiled, as if he expected a response no less inappropriate.
"My father was murdered."
Niou drew a sharp breath.
"He tried to expose the corruption within the highest government and stop a plan to invade the neighbouring eastern nations."
"You're fucking kidding me. I mean, no disrespect meant, but."
"They tried to convince me it was a heart attack, but they wouldn't let me view the body." Yagyuu breathed deeply through his cigarette before continuing. "I paid my way to the morgue. That heart attack did very bad damage to his head."
Niou tried to digest this. He couldn't do it. That was the excuse the foreigners used to invade his country: to prevent an attack on the smaller countries. But they never found proof such a plan ever existed. Yagyuu was lying. He knew Niou's true identity and wanted to toy with his mind. Yagyuu was fucking with his head.
"Does Mary know?"
Yagyuu shook his head. "What is the point of patriotism?" He muttered.
Niou could hear what Yagyuu didn't say: they betrayed me first.
It was quite easy for Niou to see why even a man like Sanada would be willing to relinquish control and follow Yukimura. The man commanded respect in a way that made Niou feel intimidated and yet also almost in awe.
But right now, Yukimura wasn't talking, or even listening. He was sitting beside Niou, ordering another round of drinks for them both.
He was waiting for Niou to volunteer any information Niou felt safe to let him know. Niou wasn't completely sure how much he wanted to say. The fact that Sanada wasn't here made it easier, but also more difficult at the same time: Sanada was against sending Niou in in the first place, but he was also the one Niou had known for years. Yukimura, on the other hand, was still pretty much a stranger to Niou.
"He baits me," Niou mumbled. "Tells me bits and pieces. No names, no locations. Like bluffs."
Yukimura waited.
"But I know he isn't bluffing. He just wants to see me twitch. He doesn't trust me. He lets me hang around coz he's bored. And b'coz I'm a good fuck. Maybe."
Niou laughed. Yukimura reached for him slowly, making sure Niou saw him coming and had the time to brush the hand away if he wanted, and clapped him on the shoulder.
"It's kinda crap I can't be hanging off his arm like a mistress and go places with him, it'd be easier to find out who he hangs out with if I could and the whole thing'd go a whole lot faster."
"Just from the places he frequents and who we also see going in and out on the same days he does, we've made a list." Yukimura told Niou the names. Niou committed them to memory. "But we still don't know where he goes on Mondays; we haven't found a way to get past the checkpoint."
"I'll see if anything crops up in conversation or if the phone rings when I'm there or something." Niou gave Yukimura a small smile of victory. "I'm in his house four or five times a week now, but mostly just on the piano. Sometimes I stay for dinner when he comes home. We go to the hotel every now and then."
Yukimura nodded. It was obvious he wanted to ask about the hotel, but it was a detail far too personal and unrelated to the actual gathering of information for someone like him to ask.
"I think he does believe I'm gay," Niou said, and left it at that. It was enough to cover that topic - yes, he did come having sex with Yagyuu. What this said about him was something he did not want to think about. But for the purpose of what he was trying to achieve? Perfect.
They drank quietly for a while.
"So what's Sanada up to?"
"Organising an event elsewhere." Yukimura wasn't going to give any detail, so that Yagyuu wouldn't find out about it from Niou, by accident or otherwise.
"Hmm."
"What is it?"
"Nothing important," said Niou. "How are you finding it, working with him?"
Yukimura raised an eyebrow at the topic change. "He's very dependable. A very solid person, and a good guy, through and through."
"This reminds me, he used to say I'm a bit hollow." Niou knocked the side of his head with a curled finger. "Konk! Konk!"
"He did? I hope he was only joking."
"Him, joking? You're joking."
Yukimura gave Niou another manly clap on the shoulder. "He doesn't think you're stupid."
"I know he doesn't." What Sanada meant was something else. "Anyway, when did you guys meet?"
"Around two weeks after you guys got scattered. He'd rounded up most of the group by then and needed a new base."
"He didn't mention me to you, I take it."
"No." Yukimura sighed heavily. "The others did, but only he knew your contact arrangement and he wouldn't bring you back in and wouldn't explain why. He just said... you aren't the right guy."
Niou sucked on an ice-cube, not saying anything. He had a good idea why - Sanada thought he wasn't solid enough as a person, that he wasn't worth the trust. Perhaps he even thought the authorities found them because Niou tipped them off, which would be a rather sad state of affairs after putting up with each other all this time for their common cause.
"Is there anything I should know about? Has something happened between you two?"
"Nothing I can think of." Niou glanced at Yukimura. "Honest."
They left before midnight, parting ways without setting a date for the next meeting.
Niou stood for a while, watching Yukimura disappear around the corner.
Lucky, this man. Trusted by Sanada and everyone. Not needing to live a lie. What Niou would give to be him.
[On to part two...]
Author: yuki_scorpio
Recipient: vacivity
Pairing/Characters: Yagyuu/Niou
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Sort-of-but-not-really non-con, very mild bondage, swearing, violence.
Disclaimer: I don't have any rights to The Prince of Tennis. Or Lust, Caution. Or Tony Leung. :(
Summary: As part of a resistance group in an occupied land, Niou is sent to get close to Yagyuu, a traitor to his own country. He knows at the end of this, only one of them may live.
Notes: The idea came from the book/film Lust, Caution, in which a spy seduces an intelligence agent in a plot to gain information and then kill the man. But this story takes a completely different direction, so no, Yagyuu isn't anything like Tony Leung. XD;;;; Many thanks to my lovely beta (and lab rat) L-chan.
To vacivity: I took the AU prompt and ran away with it! It's kind of but not really "in the face of grave defeat" or "leaving messages on the street", but I tried. :D;;;; Hope you enjoy this!
Niou was at a bar, reading the menu and sucking on an ice cube from his empty glass, when Sanada found him.
"Didn't think I'd see you again," said Niou conversationally. He wasn't the type to make small talk, but this was Sanada and what he meant was I didn't expect you to still be alive. "What're you doing these days?" he asked. Sanada did not answer. "The same old shit?"
"Aa."
Niou paused briefly mid-step before he continued to follow Sanada. They walked briskly, Niou half a step behind, their hair and clothes getting damp from the light drizzle that just started, their footsteps in sync and almost soundless on the street. No one paid attention to them; this was the peaceful part of town, where people didn't suspect one another. The fighting had mostly been limited to the very centre of the capital and the people here, naively, believed war would never be upon them. Niou was not so sure.
Sanada led Niou inside a bar half an hour away, through the kitchen - although the place didn't serve food, Niou noted - and then through two more doors, up some stairs, and finally into a flat. Niou looked around and saw three familiar faces: Jackal, Yanagi, Kirihara. There was no one else that he could recognise.
"Where's Marui?"
He knew the answer before he finished the question. Jackal got up and went inside one of the rooms. Sanada's ever-present frown became infinitesimally deeper.
"How?" Niou asked.
"We don't know. We can't find the body."
"Fuck." Niou wasn't surprised, but he swore anyway. Marui was a proud man, with good reason: he was good at everything he did. Not just good, but a genius. But once caught, it was over - nobody could save him, and he could not save himself.
At least, seeing as the rest of them were still alive, it meant Marui kept his mouth shut to the very end.
Dipping his head and rubbing his nose, Niou surveyed the flat, eyes darting left and right under a thin veil of white hair. The group was a lot larger than before. "You've been recruiting?"
Sanada shook his head. "There are several other safe houses around town. We've joined forces with Fudomine, Yamabuki and some other groups," he explained. His breathing had quickened, Niou noticed, and wondered why. "I'll introduce you to them later. There's someone you need to meet now."
Sanada took Niou to a door. "Yukimura is the one who brought everyone together. He's led a lot of the recent campaigns, including taking out the main troop transport route last weekend." His large hand was on the door knob, squeezing, as if trying to crush it. "He is an extraordinary man. That said, Niou, if you don't want-"
"What took you so long?" Niou cut Sanada off, his voice low. "I've been leaving messages for months. You knew where to find me. I thought you were dead!"
Sanada's face tightened. He bit his lips, looked away and opened the door.
Seated at a desk, Yukimura lifted his head from piles of paper, books and maps, smiling at the two men at the door. He stood when they walked in, but didn't offer his hand. "Niou, I'm Yukimura Seiichi. Welcome back." He turned to Sanada. "Thank you. You may go."
"Yukimura - "
"Please." Yukimura sighed. "We've agreed on this."
Niou kept his questions to himself. He heard the door click shut behind him.
"I hear you're in charge now."
"Yes. Scattered the way everyone was, we were nothing more than kids throwing pebbles at grown-ups. We need to be one cohesive force." Yukimura walked to the window. Niou followed him. "I don't want to go around in circles. There is something I want you to do. I'm asking you because... 'suitable' would be the wrong word, but after hearing about you from the others, I feel that you have the mental capacity to cope with it, amongst other qualities and skills that will prove beneficial. I'd go myself, but I can't. There needs to be someone to command the group. And anyway..."
Niou took a good look at the man. He could see Yukimura's other reason - Yukimura had paid his price to the cause. Under the long-sleeves shirt was a body heavily scarred on one side. Ugly, taut skin that showed just above the collar and at the cuffs told of a bad encounter with fire, or maybe acid.
"Let's hear it, then."
Son of a statesman and an owner of a tobacco company, Yagyuu Hiroshi was single, with no living family apart from a sister fifteen years his junior. At such times of unrest, he was careful like any other wealthy businessman, having extra security at work and home, and did not open his door to strangers.
In Yagyuu's study, Niou sat and sipped the red tea the maid poured for him while Yagyuu's sister, a lovely little thing called Mary, played on the piano.
"I don't think you're as good as you think you are," Niou said with a smile. "You've got a bad habit with your left little finger."
"I know! I'm working on it." Mary pouted. "But I haven't had a teacher for a long time!"
"Good thing you've found me." Niou brought his chair next to Mary's and sat down again, showing her what she did wrong with her left hand. "What happened to your last teacher?"
Niou heard the breathing behind them becoming shallower.
"I don't know. What happened to him, Brother?"
"I'm sorry," the man who had been sitting behind them, reading a book, looked up. "What was the question?"
"What happened to Marui?"
"A family emergency, last I heard."
Niou smirked at Mary. "Or an excuse to not teach you anymore without hurting your feelings. You don't sound to me like you practise very much."
Mary gasped, shocked that this teacher, on his first trial lesson, would say something like that. But before she could say anything, Yagyuu closed his book and stood. "That's enough for today. Niou-kun, you're hired."
"But Brother - "
"It's hard to find music teachers these days." Yagyuu ushered his sister to the door. "I have things to discuss with your new teacher. Leave us alone for a little."
When the door closed, Niou rose to his feet, and worked hard on not balling his hands into fists, not fidgeting, not grabbing the nearest sharp object and shoving it into the chest of the man standing before him. The man who gave Marui a death sentence. The traitor who helped other people who invaded his own country.
"I'll be frank, Niou-kun. We live in an occupied country. It isn't a problem for someone like me; I can live rather happily, just as before, as long as I pay my taxes. For a lot of other people, the times are not so good. While I know that they are struggling, I will not hesitate to defend myself and Mary from any unsavoury approaches."
"You're saying I'm unsavoury?"
"I'm not interested in Mary becoming a great pianist. All I want is for her to feel a sense of normality, especially when conflicts break out and she cannot go to school."
"A suitable distraction."
"Yes, that's what I want you to give her. Don't get other ideas, don't snoop around my home, don't do anything that makes me think my sister and I are in danger. In return, you will be paid well."
Niou shifted his weight from one leg to the other, and dropped a shoulder. "You almost sounded like a good guy just now." He shrugged when Yagyuu arched an eyebrow. "You don't look like one."
It was difficult to tell if Yagyuu was amused or angered. He wasn't an easy man to read.
"You don't look like one, either."
Two months after Niou moved into his new home, and a month after he started teaching Mary piano, he met with the group again.
"He's run a check on you. I think we've covered our tracks well enough; he's buying your background story," Jackal said. "How often are you in there now?"
"Twice a week. I'm pushing for three lessons a week now; his sister seems to like me enough," Niou said.
"That's not the point though."
Everyone looked at Yukimura.
"No, it isn't." Niou tapped the ashes off the tip of his cigarette. "But I've only seen him three times so far. And I haven't worked out his schedule yet."
"And?" Yukimura pressed. "Are you confident?"
"There is still time to change your mind," Sanada spoke up, drawing everybody's attention. "Niou, if you want to stop, now is the time."
Niou finished his cigarette and lit another one. They waited, knowing that months of planning would go to waste if Niou chose to pull out now. But Marui was already dead - an example of what would happen to Niou too, if his cover was blown.
But Marui was dead. And nobody else remotely suitable for this work could actually play music well apart from Niou. Sanada said they should not go with the music teacher cover again, but it was the best one exactly because it had already been used. The idea was just so goddamn cliché that it would work. Niou believed in hiding in broad daylight.
Marui was dead.
Niou avoided Sanada's eyes. "I'll get that son-of-a-bitch."
Yagyuu came home one day near the end of a lesson and just before dinner time, with a frown that suggested he had had a long day and did not wish to be talked to.
Niou paused in the middle of shrugging his jacket on. "Hey there, Yagyuu," he drawled, deliberately pronouncing every letter in Yagyuu's name.
Yagyuu shot him a look, but still remained polite. "Niou-kun, hello. How did the lesson go today?"
"Oh, good. Mary picks things up fast."
"That is good to hear. Now if you would excuse me..."
"I'm going to get a drink or five somewhere. Wanna come?"
It was Yagyuu's turn to pause. "I don't feel like going out again."
"Well if you've got stuff here, I'm not saying no to free booze."
Yagyuu spent long minutes considering this. Niou pulled his jacket on. "It's fine if you don't wanna. I'll see you around."
Yagyuu opened the door to the study. "I have a mini bar."
Niou grinned.
There was a lot of alcohol to choose from. Niou picked out a few bottles, got two glasses and poured for them both, before dumping himself on the same sofa Yagyuu was sitting in.
"Yanno, for one person, that's a really huge bar."
"I like having a good selection."
"I suppose that means you don't go out much."
"I prefer the peace and quiet of home."
"Fair enough." Niou swirled his glass a bit, watching the colourless liquid go round and round, before swigging from it. "Thought there'd be a long line of people queuing up to socialise with you, being rich and all that."
"There is."
"I feel honoured now."
Yagyuu eyed Niou. "Why don't you tell me about yourself?"
"What?" Niou looked from above the rim of his glass and under his white hair. "What the heck for?"
"I'm curious as to why someone would move to the capital at such unstable times."
Finishing his vodka, Niou put his glass down. No holding something in front of himself or crossing arms as a unconscious barrier; Yagyuu would easily see through that sort of body language. "There's big money to be made. You're paying me good, for one."
"You enjoy taking risks."
"Life gets boring otherwise." Niou fixed his eyes on Yagyuu's. "Wouldn't you agree?"
The corners of Yagyuu's lips turned upwards in a barely-there smile. Niou let himself lounge on the sofa a little more, bringing his legs up as well and letting them occupy the space between him and Yagyuu.
"What is it that you do again? Sell fags?"
"Tobacco. Both import and export."
"But you don't smoke."
"Not often. You?"
"I was gonna ask if you mind me lighting one."
"Feel free."
Niou half turned to get the jacket he'd abandoned, stretching himself to balance better as he got the things inside the pockets. Yagyuu watched him unabashedly. Niou made sure he took his time, eyes darting at Yagyuu once, flashing him a smirk that was gone in a blink, then lit up.
Yagyuu poured their drinks. Niou knocked his back all at once and felt it burn down his throat, the rush going up to his head and into his limbs. He needed this to help him maintain some level of cool. He was drinking with a man who had Marui captured and killed, perhaps tortured to death. If only he could just go and choke the breath out of the goddamn motherfucker right now.
Niou helped himself to a different bottle. A cream liqueur, the sort women and queers liked. He had a third of the glass, licked his lips and took a long drag from his smoke, throwing his head back to exhale.
"What?" He eyed Yagyuu, who was staring, his lips slightly parted and his cheeks pink. "Want some?" Niou moved his fingers slightly, as if to offer Yagyuu his cigarette.
But they both knew that was not what Niou meant.
In slow motion, Yagyuu moved, putting his drink down and putting a hand on the back of the sofa so that he could lean over Niou without touching him.
"This is funny," said Yagyuu, "the previous music teacher tried to seduce me as well."
Niou made himself smile. "As far as I can see, you're the one coming on to me." He gestured at their relative positions, pulled one leg back, letting his knee brush the inside of Yagyuu's thigh. "But you are hot, I'll give you that."
"I do like the look of you as well." Yagyuu chuckled. "Do you want to know what happened to the last teacher?"
He was being tested, Niou realised. But if he was the kind of man to let things slip this easily, then he would not be here doing this. "He was a gold-digger. You murdered him and dumped the body in a dark alley."
Yagyuu laughed again. "Close enough."
"Which ain't where I wanna end up," Niou murmured, snaking a hand in the small gap between them so that he could smoke. "And sorry mate, I don't do one-night-stands."
"Oh, really now?"
"Despite external appearances, I'm a commitment kinda guy." Wisps of smoke formed between them as Niou spoke. "Are you gonna sack me?"
"Possibly." Yagyuu backed away, but it did not seem like he was put off; if anything, the gleam in his eyes said he saw a challenge.
Getting to his feet, Niou stretched once more. "Better go before I piss you off further." He picked up his jacket, draping it over one shoulder, stumbling a little - Yagyuu might take the bait. Worth a try. "Thanks and see you when I see you, yeah?"
"Are you driving?"
"I drive better with blood in my alcohol system."
"I'll get someone to send you home." And Yagyuu bit. Niou held back a smirk.
"Treating me like a girl already?" Niou staggered once more for good measure. "Then again, I've always wanted to know what it's like to be chauffeured."
Yagyuu smiled briefly before leaving the room. Niou was still standing in exactly the same spot when he returned. Niou wasn't stupid enough to snoop around the first time he was left unsupervised in the house for several minutes. Yagyuu probably wasn't stupid either, and was going to check Niou's car later on. Niou wanted to tell him he wasn't stupid enough to leave anything incriminating in the car, but that would only ruin the game.
"The car will be here soon."
"You're such a gentleman." As he passed by Yagyuu at the doorway, Niou's hand stroked Yagyuu's tie, then tugged it once. "I'll come back for my car tomorrow."
Niou half fell out of the car. The driver said good night and drove off.
He left the lights off inside his house, a place Yukimura had organised for him, also the address he gave Yagyuu when he applied for the teaching job.
Yukimura was probably expecting Niou to see him soon, but Niou decided he was not going to go. Maybe he would go after tomorrow. Maybe next week. Maybe when he felt like it.
Pulling his clothes off, he went to bed wishing he had drunk more than he did. It would take much more alcohol to drown out that feeling of disgust.
Yagyuu was waiting. Instead of getting into his own car, Niou got into Yagyuu's, both of them sitting in the back. The driver was the same one from last night.
Niou was wearing what he normally wore to work at Yagyuu's - the same old suit, white shirt and braces, though he did bring a smarter coat, just in case. In contrast, Yagyuu was in a crisp white shirt and pressed trousers with creases so sharp they looked like they could kill.
They rode to the eastern part of the capital, past a checkpoint that only allowed "approved persons" through, to an area Niou had never set foot on. He never cared much about riches and finery, but looking out the window and seeing the type of shops around and how people dressed, even he had to whistle.
"I don't care much about living in absolute luxury," Yagyuu said after they got out of the car and they strolled for a while. "But I like to use what's been made available to me."
"I think I know what you mean."
"Some people see me as a traitor. In their eyes, I have betrayed my country by enjoying my current status and at times aiding the current government." Yagyuu looked at Niou. "The music teacher you replaced was a spy from a resistance group."
"Right..."
"The main flaw in their argument is that I never swore allegiance to the country. I am loyal to just myself. If our previous government had made themselves more useful to me, I wouldn't have made business deals with the other side, it is as simple as that."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you might be a spy also," Yagyuu said, his glasses catching the light. "I like to keep my enemies close."
If Niou showed any tension here, his cover would blow in an instant. But he only snorted. "You're saying you're only taking me out coz I might be wanting you dead. How sad."
"I also thought we could entertain each other."
They entered a restaurant.
"Good. I like being wined and dined."
"I wouldn't have guessed."
Niou declined the waiter's help and pulled out his own chair. "You hardly know me."
"That is true." Yagyuu smiled. Niou suppressed a shiver. "It is something I intend to change."
The group had drilled Niou enough times on this: where he came from, his education, his family, his political views, any life experiences that made Niou who he was. It wasn't difficult to just talk and make it sound like he was who he said he was. Niou was good at telling stories and remembering the lies he had told.
But when Yagyuu just listened, never once questioning what Niou was saying, Niou felt slightly unsettled. It was as if Yagyuu believed everything he heard, or knew it was all lies from the start.
Niou let the conversation drop when food was served. The sound of cutlery on plates took over, giving him a chance to gather his thoughts.
It would probably be tonight.
Yagyuu caught him staring. He smirked. Yagyuu smiled his smile that did not reach the eyes. Neither of them said anything.
At the end of the night, Niou was driven home. When they reached his house, Yagyuu stepped out of the car too.
"Well?" Niou felt his hand shake. He shoved it inside a pocket and stepped close to a corner of the walls, just beside the door, where the street lighting could not reach. The key was to not think about it. He would be able to do this as long as he didn't think. "Wanna come in for a coffee?"
The group was going to scream at him for taking things this fast without consulting them beforehand, but Niou couldn't see the point in that. Yukimura had asked him to become Yagyuu's lover. What difference did it make if he told them in advance that he might be fucked in the ass by the traitor tomorrow, or maybe next Monday, or, oh hey wait, it looked like it was going to be before dinner on Tuesday, draped over the piano? They all knew this was going to happen eventually if their plan was successful.
When Yagyuu said nothing and walked up to him, Niou took his keys out, but Yagyuu pressed him against the wall and kissed him. Niou nearly dropped his keys before clutching them tight with one hand, his other hand freezing mid-motion for a brief second before he remembered what he should do and kissed Yagyuu back, closing his eyes because in that split second just now, he saw familiar silhouettes in a car across the street.
He opened his mouth wide to gasp for air, and Yagyuu took the chance to slip his tongue in. Niou felt himself reacting to that, his heart beating faster even though the person kissing him - the person he was kissing - was a man and a man who he wished dead.
And then Yagyuu pulled back. Niou licked his lips, staying in character. "I think it's really time for that coffee." Fuck if he wasn't prepared. If this was what he had to do, then this was what he had to do. The quicker he learned the better. Get it over and done with.
Yagyuu adjusted his glasses. He had a card in his hand, which he pressed into Niou's palm. "Meet me there tomorrow at six."
Niou did not wait until Yagyuu was back inside the car before he opened his own door, leaving it unlocked, wiped his mouth with a hand and looked for something to drink. He probably had about half an hour before Sanada and Yukimura would knock on the door. This was the worst possible scenario. The moment they came in they were going to demand to see -
"Show me what that man gave you." The door flew open. Sanada entered first, followed by Yukimura, whose face said he thought this was a very bad idea. Niou wanted to laugh. To think Sanada was the one who had known him longer. The man just didn't possess enough sense to leave Niou alone for a while after Niou had some guy's tongue down his throat.
They just shouldn't have come. They had agreed with each other that they would never show up at Niou's home, in case Yagyuu distrusted him and set up surveillance. Not three months in and they already broke the rule.
"Niou, didn't you hear what I said?"
Niou half turned his head, just enough for his and Sanada's eyes to meet. "Don't glare at me like that. I'll do it when I feel like doing it."
As Sanada fumed, Niou got himself some water and drank as he wandered back out of the kitchen.
"Niou - "
Yukimura put a hand on Sanada's shoulder, frowning. But before he could say anything more, Niou took out the card from Yagyuu and dropped it on a table. It was a business card from a hotel, with a room number written in blue ink on the front. Yukimura picked it up.
"When?"
"Tomorrow. Six." Niou didn't look at his visitors. "I'm going."
"You can't. It's a trap. He's probably found out who you are and you'll be arrested on the spot," said Sanada, his hands curling into fists.
"I agree," said Yukimura, turning the card over in his hand. "If he wanted you he would've followed you in just now. There's no need to arrange a hotel room."
Niou dropped himself onto the sofa and lit a cigarette.
"What are you thinking, Niou?"
"It might be what you say." Niou exhaled heavily. He really hated having to explain. "But if I don't show, then it's basically saying 'you're right, I'm a mole, I don't really wanna fuck you'. Then all the work we've done so far goes down the drain."
It was several seconds before Sanada spoke. "We can book the room next door just in case they try to take you."
"He'll have people at the hotel. Someone told to let him know if there's a booking requesting for a room nearby. Quickest way to get everyone caught."
"How sure are you about that?"
"It's what I'd do if I were him. It's a test."
Yukimura crouched down in front of Niou. "And how sure are you about following this through?" He let the question hang in the air for a while, and added, "Sanada's said it before. No one will blame you if you choose to pull out now."
"I knew what I was in for when I signed up."
"Do you know... how to do it?"
Niou looked away again. "Not unless one of you do and offer to show me."
Yukimura shook his head. He looked up at Sanada, who just glared at Niou, the expression on his face one of more than just anger.
Niou could not think of anything to say that would not be interpreted as a complaint about his fate, so he told his visitors to leave. When the front door finally closed, he curled up on the sofa, still tasting Yagyuu on his tongue. It felt like Yagyuu had raped him raw already.
The tea in the pot on the lacquered tray was steaming hot. The room was prepared only moments before Niou's arrival, someone having straightened the sheets and puffed up the pillows, hoping the guests would have a comfortable stay. Niou helped himself to some tea. He wouldn't be enjoying the bed, but at least he could enjoy this.
He turned on the radio on top of the chest of drawers and went to the balcony, leaning against the wrought iron railing. After a while, he heard the door, and then footsteps, and then the muffled, static music from the radio disappearing from the air.
He left the teacup on the railing and went inside.
"Are you sure this isn't a one-night-stand? I have doubts on your sincerity," he told Yagyuu.
"Why do you say that?"
"What time do you call this, sweetheart?"
Yagyuu glanced at the wall clock. "Seven minutes past six. I am late."
"Exactly. You don't want me as much as you're making out. I figure we're just wasting our time."
Yagyuu hung his coat beside Niou's old jacket on the coat stand. He walked to Niou, his hair neat, his clothes crisp and fresh, his shoes perfectly polished. Niou wanted to taunt him a bit more, but he noticed the bulge under the front of Yagyuu's trousers and panic seized him. He had spent the whole day mentally preparing himself for this, yet now, seeing the tension in Yagyuu's body, Niou somehow knew this wasn't going to go the way he had imagined.
He was pushed onto the bed before he could react. Yagyuu grabbed his braces and yanked, the clips giving way easily.
"Shit!" Niou cursed when Yagyuu sat on him, twisting his arms back. He felt the braces wrapping around his wrists. "No- Not like this!"
He heard Yagyuu unzipping his trousers. Turning around, he saw the man applying what looked like petroleum jelly to himself. Niou swore again, trying to get up, but a knee on his chest pushed him back down before he got anywhere. He knew there was no point in trying anything by the time Yagyuu undid his trousers too and made him face down. He could do this. He could get through this.
He bit down on the pillow so that he would not scream.
It didn't take Yagyuu long to climax. He cleaned himself, dressed, and sat down beside Niou, who was shaking and going through all the profanities in his vocabulary.
Niou stiffened and quieted down when Yagyuu touched him, rolling Niou onto his side, running a hand through Niou's messy hair in a surprisingly gentle gesture. "Are you a spy, Niou-kun?" He waited, repeating his question when he did not get an answer, his voice a bit coarse, his breathing uneven, his words slow.
Despite everything, Niou snorted. "Jesus, you never heard of 'foreplay'?" He was not feeling coherent right now; he could not even see clearly, thanks to the water in his eyes. But he would just have to try. "I am what you think I am no matter what I say, so why are you even asking?" His back turned to Yagyuu, he couldn't tell what Yagyuu's reaction was.
"But are you?"
Yagyuu's hand was on Niou's ass. Niou shivered. "Maybe? Why don't you take a guess?"
"You could just say no."
"But what's the fun in - shit!" A finger slipped inside him. It should be painful after all this, but now he didn't know anymore. Perhaps he was just numb. "If this is your idea of torture... you're doing it wrong, you know..."
Yagyuu's finger probed and searched. Niou tried to not listen to the sounds it was making.
"A lot of people want information from me. They would also like me dead, Niou-kun. I have provided information to the current government, in effect helping them remove the old."
The finger pushed a little deeper.
"Oh yeah?"
"I find you interesting, and you seemed to have shown interest in me. I wish to find out if you knew what you were getting yourself into - if you knew too well. In which case, I have no choice but to do what I must do for the sake of my own safety."
Niou would laugh if he could, but a shudder ran through him when he felt something he was sure he was not meant to feel.
"Oh fuck you. You want me to be... fuck... a spy... it gets you off, right?" Stay in character. Never just give a straight answer no matter what the situation. "You want to have a quick fuck and then get rid of me."
"Not true."
"A-ah... do that again." Niou tensed up. "Yes... yeah..."
Yagyuu dipped his head and kissed Niou on the neck, one hand freeing Niou's tied wrists. Right away Niou adjusted his shoulders, ignoring the pain that flared up so that he could grab his cock and pump, eyes staring emptily in front of him as pain became pleasure and Yagyuu brushed his lips on Niou's ear, nibbling at the lobes, dropping kisses all over Niou's face and neck, his breath hot and damp on Niou's skin.
After he came, Niou nudged himself towards the edge of the bed, but could not sit up so soon.
"I would appreciate an honest answer. No matter how appealing you are to me, if I find out later that you have lied, I cannot guarantee what I might do."
Lying would be easy, but Niou had a feeling he would die faster that way. Same if he told the truth. Just what sort of man was Yagyuu? Did he really want to be given an answer or did he want to play the detective game?
Niou had seen the look in those eyes. He could tell what sort of man Yagyuu Hiroshi was.
"Find out for yourself."
On Monday, Niou stayed at home until he could walk almost normally, then dressed and went out.
The streets were getting busier. A year ago there were only troops, but now people went about their daily lives as if everything was normal. The trams ran. Shops were open, with plenty of things to sell to anyone, foreigner or local. But at every corner, pairs of soldiers stood, watching carefully. Those who were born here and called this place home bowed their heads, avoiding eye contact with these men who marched in one day and took everything.
Niou could see the fear in their eyes.
He, too, looked away when passing by the men in uniform. It was not easy. As Sanada always said, he was the kind to deliberately invite trouble. But now that he was part of the group again and had Yagyuu marked, even he knew he must consider the consequences.
Arriving at a corner shop, Niou paid for some cigarettes and went to look at the notice board. There were spare rooms to let, an old bicycle for sale, advertisements for window cleaning and someone looking for a house cleaner, but carelessly not leaving any contact details.
Niou took down that last card and replaced it with one of his own that said exactly the same thing, except it was his handwriting, not Sanada's. Sanada only asked for a life sign and Niou was fine with that. Right now he didn't want to see anyone from the group at all. They all knew he got fucked in the ass last night. There was nothing to talk about.
On his way out, he saw today's newspaper headline: more accusations made against the previous government, this time new claims on corruption. Another piece of propaganda by the state-controlled newspaper.
Late in the afternoon, he went to Yagyuu's for the piano lesson as normal, after deciding against calling to say he had a migraine. He got fucked, it still hurt, but he wasn't dead. He and Yagyuu had barely started and he wasn't going to start looking like he had lost the game already.
Yagyuu didn't come home before the lesson was over, but when he rang to tell Mary he was working late, Mary mentioned she was in the middle of her music lesson. Yagyuu must have asked if Niou-kun was all right, because Mary looked at Niou and asked her brother, "what do you mean? Why shouldn't he be?"
Biting back a grin, Niou felt he had scored a point.
More importantly though, the traitor seemed to be especially busy on Mondays. This fitted with what the group found after tailing him for several weeks. Yagyuu always went to a restricted zone that day of the week and would spend the whole day there.
It would be easy for Niou to stay at the house until Yagyuu came home - Mary was the sort of girl who could talk for hours on end - but there was too little to be gained for too much risk. That man would not be so careless as to let Niou coax words out of him or give Niou the chance to look at what was in his briefcase.
"I can't get this part right!"
Bringing his attention back, Niou studied the few bars Mary was stuck on. "Yeah, this part's tricky. You just gotta keep practising." He tried to show her how it was done, but only got it right on the third try. "Guess the same applies to me."
Mary laughed. "Hypocrite!"
This could be a chance! "Can't help it, don't have a piano anymore," Niou told her, sad eyes focused on her sweet face. "I had to sell it when I moved house."
"Come and use this one!"
Niou feigned surprise. "Are you sure?"
"Why not?" Mary shrugged. "I can't let my teacher get crap at what he's teaching me. And it doesn't cost me anything to let you play it."
"Um. Wow." Niou smiled. "Thanks."
Another point scored. Take this, Yagyuu.
The maid let Niou in, but no one else was at home. He was about to ask when the doorbell rang again.
"You're late for class, girl."
Mary toed her shoes off for the maid to put away. Yagyuu paused to smile at Niou when Niou brushed his hand, but didn't bother with greeting. He went straight to his room.
"We went to visit dad. I didn't think it was going to take so long." Mary lowered her voice. "I had to drag Brother home. It gets worse every time!"
Niou looked in the general direction of Yagyuu's room. "Yeah?"
"You know, right? About my dad?"
"Sure," said Niou. "You know, I never took your brother to be the sort that still grieves after a few years - what, you want me to sort him out?"
Mary nodded firmly, giving Niou a small push. "He hasn't had any friends for a long time and you're good friends with him."
Niou wondered how much Mary really knew, but decided it didn't matter. He went to Yagyuu's room and, after some hesitation, knocked first.
"Yagyuu." Niou drew the name out, pronouncing every vowel. "I'm coming in."
Yagyuu was sitting on his bed. "Niou-kun."
"Careless of you today. If I were a mole, I could've raided this place before you guys came back." Niou went to a dresser, leaning against it. "Just kidding. I only got here about five seconds before you. Kidding about the mole thing too - or maybe not."
Yagyuu chuckled. Niou tugged out a packet of cigarettes from a pocket, walked over and offered one to Yagyuu. "Fag?"
Yagyuu looked at the packet and snorted. "Stop buying this cheap shit." He took one anyway and Niou lit it for him.
Niou spoke as he lit one for himself. "'Till you give me a royal seal that gets me free fags from your brand for life, I'm sticking to these."
"I see." Yagyuu got an ashtray from a drawer.
"Why else do you think I'm sleeping with you? Apart from the fact that I'm a mole, I mean."
This time Yagyuu laughed. "Thank you, Niou-kun."
"Mary sent me. She's got a killer pinch; my arm still hurts." Niou sat down on the edge of the bed. "I told her I didn't pin you as the grieving sort."
They sat quietly, smoking their cigarettes. Niou's was almost finished when he spoke again. "Want me to leave you alone?"
He looked down at his hand when Yagyuu caught it, and said nothing more. Yagyuu smoked a lot slower. He held the cigarette in his other hand. "Do you know about my father?"
Niou recalled Sanada's rage, that the only son of the greatest statesman who ever lived turned out to be a traitor. "Honestly? My diploma exam clashed with the funeral. The road diversions nearly made me late. Then I wouldn't be able to teach and I wouldn't be here."
Shaking his head with resignation, Yagyuu smiled, as if he expected a response no less inappropriate.
"My father was murdered."
Niou drew a sharp breath.
"He tried to expose the corruption within the highest government and stop a plan to invade the neighbouring eastern nations."
"You're fucking kidding me. I mean, no disrespect meant, but."
"They tried to convince me it was a heart attack, but they wouldn't let me view the body." Yagyuu breathed deeply through his cigarette before continuing. "I paid my way to the morgue. That heart attack did very bad damage to his head."
Niou tried to digest this. He couldn't do it. That was the excuse the foreigners used to invade his country: to prevent an attack on the smaller countries. But they never found proof such a plan ever existed. Yagyuu was lying. He knew Niou's true identity and wanted to toy with his mind. Yagyuu was fucking with his head.
"Does Mary know?"
Yagyuu shook his head. "What is the point of patriotism?" He muttered.
Niou could hear what Yagyuu didn't say: they betrayed me first.
It was quite easy for Niou to see why even a man like Sanada would be willing to relinquish control and follow Yukimura. The man commanded respect in a way that made Niou feel intimidated and yet also almost in awe.
But right now, Yukimura wasn't talking, or even listening. He was sitting beside Niou, ordering another round of drinks for them both.
He was waiting for Niou to volunteer any information Niou felt safe to let him know. Niou wasn't completely sure how much he wanted to say. The fact that Sanada wasn't here made it easier, but also more difficult at the same time: Sanada was against sending Niou in in the first place, but he was also the one Niou had known for years. Yukimura, on the other hand, was still pretty much a stranger to Niou.
"He baits me," Niou mumbled. "Tells me bits and pieces. No names, no locations. Like bluffs."
Yukimura waited.
"But I know he isn't bluffing. He just wants to see me twitch. He doesn't trust me. He lets me hang around coz he's bored. And b'coz I'm a good fuck. Maybe."
Niou laughed. Yukimura reached for him slowly, making sure Niou saw him coming and had the time to brush the hand away if he wanted, and clapped him on the shoulder.
"It's kinda crap I can't be hanging off his arm like a mistress and go places with him, it'd be easier to find out who he hangs out with if I could and the whole thing'd go a whole lot faster."
"Just from the places he frequents and who we also see going in and out on the same days he does, we've made a list." Yukimura told Niou the names. Niou committed them to memory. "But we still don't know where he goes on Mondays; we haven't found a way to get past the checkpoint."
"I'll see if anything crops up in conversation or if the phone rings when I'm there or something." Niou gave Yukimura a small smile of victory. "I'm in his house four or five times a week now, but mostly just on the piano. Sometimes I stay for dinner when he comes home. We go to the hotel every now and then."
Yukimura nodded. It was obvious he wanted to ask about the hotel, but it was a detail far too personal and unrelated to the actual gathering of information for someone like him to ask.
"I think he does believe I'm gay," Niou said, and left it at that. It was enough to cover that topic - yes, he did come having sex with Yagyuu. What this said about him was something he did not want to think about. But for the purpose of what he was trying to achieve? Perfect.
They drank quietly for a while.
"So what's Sanada up to?"
"Organising an event elsewhere." Yukimura wasn't going to give any detail, so that Yagyuu wouldn't find out about it from Niou, by accident or otherwise.
"Hmm."
"What is it?"
"Nothing important," said Niou. "How are you finding it, working with him?"
Yukimura raised an eyebrow at the topic change. "He's very dependable. A very solid person, and a good guy, through and through."
"This reminds me, he used to say I'm a bit hollow." Niou knocked the side of his head with a curled finger. "Konk! Konk!"
"He did? I hope he was only joking."
"Him, joking? You're joking."
Yukimura gave Niou another manly clap on the shoulder. "He doesn't think you're stupid."
"I know he doesn't." What Sanada meant was something else. "Anyway, when did you guys meet?"
"Around two weeks after you guys got scattered. He'd rounded up most of the group by then and needed a new base."
"He didn't mention me to you, I take it."
"No." Yukimura sighed heavily. "The others did, but only he knew your contact arrangement and he wouldn't bring you back in and wouldn't explain why. He just said... you aren't the right guy."
Niou sucked on an ice-cube, not saying anything. He had a good idea why - Sanada thought he wasn't solid enough as a person, that he wasn't worth the trust. Perhaps he even thought the authorities found them because Niou tipped them off, which would be a rather sad state of affairs after putting up with each other all this time for their common cause.
"Is there anything I should know about? Has something happened between you two?"
"Nothing I can think of." Niou glanced at Yukimura. "Honest."
They left before midnight, parting ways without setting a date for the next meeting.
Niou stood for a while, watching Yukimura disappear around the corner.
Lucky, this man. Trusted by Sanada and everyone. Not needing to live a lie. What Niou would give to be him.
[On to part two...]