Chapter Text
Chuuya blew up half the harbor.
He raved for the better part of an hour, demolishing crates here and barreling into cranes there, but surprisingly, none of his anger was aimed at you. Of course, he still wondered how much of what you’d said was true, how much of your relationship was real, how well he really knew you, but he made the conscious decision to pin the blame solely on Mori. And maybe he was just in denial, or maybe he simply loved you too much to ever blame you, but either way, he took that anger and barged right into Mori’s office with it.
“Mori- you rotten, lying, scheming, piece of shit!”
Mori sits back in his chair, amused. “And to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
“You know exactly what you did- you paid her to lie to me, you sick bastard!”
Mori smirks. “Feeling a little insecure today, are we, Chuuya?”
If hellfire could be condensed into one’s eyes, then it was burning violently in Chuuya’s eyes at this very moment. His fists shake at his sides, threatening to bring the entire building crumbling down.
Mori’s sinister grin is still blatant on his face- he had just finished his dinner and now you’d brought him a show. His night couldn’t get any better. And it wasn’t done yet. “Don’t forget, Chuuya- I paid you too.”
Your heart clenches. What’s he saying? “Chuuya… what does he mean? What’s he talking about?”
You look over to see that Chuuya, who’d previously been fuming and ready to blow, is now frozen still. Your heart drops, sinks, and buries itself at the bottom of the ocean. “No….”
Mori straightens in his seat. “Yes. You didn’t think I’d let someone as dangerous as you just waltz right into the mafia without a plan, did you? Chuuya’s my insurance. You were hired to keep him at bay and he was hired to keep you at bay. Quite the combo, wouldn’t you say?”
You immediately sink into the seat behind you to process it all.
Chuuya is still frozen, his teeth clenched, his eyes looking anywhere but at you.
It all makes sense now. Why he wasn’t mad at you. Maybe he was only mad at himself. Mad that he’d done the same, damn thing.
If you could move, maybe you’d kill Mori where he stands. Maybe Chuuya would too. But no, Mori makes it all the way to the door before finally turning to say, “Don’t look so sad. If anything, you should be thanking me for seeking out the perfect match for you both and bringing you together. Sure, I paid you, but the two of you did the falling in love all on your own. Think about that for a moment,” and then he disappears down the hall, whistling to himself as he goes.
You feel like you’ve just swallowed your own lungs.
What now? What do you say, what do you do? Do you try to fix things? Do you have anything left to fix? Did you ever really love each other or did you only fall in love with the fake versions that you’d fed each other? Do you really know him? Does he really know you? Would you still love him? Would he still love you? Should you still love him, after everything you’d both done to each other, and should he still love you?
You know Chuuya has to be thinking the same thing, because now he’s dropped into the chair beside you.
“I… I’m sorry.” He grits his teeth as he forces the words out.
You shake your head, feeling equally to blame, but he doesn’t let you apologize.
“I should’ve told you. Back at the harbor. But I couldn’t bring myself to say it. You were brave when you told me. I wasn’t. I was a coward. Maybe I only came here to have Mori say it for me.” He says, defeated.
“I… I get why you wouldn’t tell me. Hell, I almost didn’t tell you. But I…” You pause for a moment. Then you think about Chuuya. You think about the Chuuya that always shows up to back you up, even if he knows you don’t need it. The Chuuya that drops anything and everything to come see you on a second’s notice. The Chuuya that’s always competing with you over kills, over who can eat the fastest, over who can make it back to base first. The Chuuya that’s always competing with himself, trying to make you laugh or smile more than the day he did before or the day before that. The Chuuya that snuggles into you like he’s always belonged there. The Chuuya that’s always been yours. And you finally say to him, “I love you. At least, I think I do. And I don’t want to keep anything from you anymore.”
He finally meets your gaze. “Still? After all this, you still…?”
You tap your chin in thought. “Well, tell me something.”
He sits up straighter. “Anything.”
“Beignets- are they really your favorite?”
He snorts slightly. “That’s your first question? Yeah, I love em. You know that.”
“And you really do hate the mornings?”
“Hate 'em with a burning passion.”
“And you like your coffee with five sugars and two cream, but you drink it black around the Mafia execs. That right too?”
He rolls his eyes, but they hold a glimmer of hope in them. “Don’t go spilling all my secrets, we don’t know who could be listening. But… yeah.”
“So, I know you then.”
“...yeah.”
“So, I love you then.”
“...yeah?”
“Yeah.”
He breaks into a grin. “Well, I love you too, idiot. Do I have to tell you that I know your favorite color and your favorite food for you to believe me?”
“No. But it would help,” You tease, nudging his arm.
He rests his head on your shoulder. “Red. Sushi. There.”
You run your hand through his hair and he relaxes into your touch. “So we’re good then.”
He happily sighs his agreement.
“Now that we have that established… what are we gonna do about Mori?”
He shoots back up in his chair, clenching his fists. “Beat the shit out of him. Torture the shit out of him. Murder the shit out of him.”
“Hear me out…”
He raises an eyebrow. “No. NO. No, I know that look. Baby, he manipulated us. He made fools out of us. He messed with our heads, with our hearts. That’s the worst possible thing you can do to someone. We may be criminals, but he’s the devil.”
You shrug. “But now, we’ve got the devil right where we want him. I say we ask for anything we want.”
You spend hours with Chuuya, creating a list of demands. Ironically, you have to convince him to be greedier than he is. At first, he just wants a new bike, a new house, maybe a raise. But you- you’re thinking bigger.
“I want the Mafia. Or at least, half of it.”
Mori laughs and then just keeps laughing.
You can tell Chuuya’s still ready to go with plan one, beat the shit out of him, but you put a hand on his arm to stop him.
“Oh, sweetie, I love how you think I’m kidding. I’m not. You’re going to make me your right hand and you’re going to do it now.”
Mori stops laughing, raising an eyebrow at you like you’re insane.
“By tonight, I’m going to have control over half the Mafia. Refuse, and I’ll simply take all of it.” You lean across his desk, shooting him a venomous smile.
He looks you over thoroughly, trying to discern if you’re bluffing.
You’re not.
You know Mori is well respected in the Mafia, and if you’re honest with yourself, he probably knows how to run it better than you do, so he’s useful, if nothing else. If he’s sent to his demise, then there’s the hassle of dealing with anarchy in the organization, and you’re not interested in creating more work for yourself. But it’s clear to you now that he’s too powerful to leave unchecked. You refuse to work another day under him, not after what he’s done to both you and Chuuya, so you’re not leaving this room without getting what you want; that, or one of you isn’t leaving this room alive.
“What do you say Mori? Gonna spend all night dueling it out, two on one? Or are you gonna give me what I want? After all, it’s only fair. Call it reparations for psychological damage.”
His eyes look like storms brewing. “I’ll think on it.” He says coldly.
“I’ll give you sixty seconds. If it’s not announced to the Mafia by then, well, I hope you got a full eight hours last night, because you won’t be resting anytime soon. I won’t go down without a fight, you should know by now.”
He curses you under his breath.
“Tick tock, tick tock, Mori. Time’s running out. Thirty seconds to go, what’ll it be?”
“A third. What about a third of the Mafia?”
“She said half, asshole. What, are you bad at math?” Chuuya crosses his arms, glaring daggers at him.
God, you love when he’s like this, all fired up for you. You’ll have to buy him some more dessert later. If you make it out alive.
“Half or I’m taking it all.” You repeat your earlier demands. Then you check your watch. “Tsk, tsk, ten seconds to go. So- tell me, Mori, dearest, are we partners or not?”
He sighs, exasperated. “Alright, alright! Half it is.” He holds his hands up in surrender.
“Good boy.”
After he shakes the organization to its core, announcing this news, you loop your arm around Chuuya’s, satisfied. The organization will recover, but Mori never will. You hope he remembers this feeling forever. And if you ever decide to get greedy, if you ever decide you want more, if you ever decide he is no longer of any use to you, then you hope he takes this feeling with him to the grave.
When the two of you make it to the door, you turn around once more.
“You asked for thanks earlier, and I do like to give credit where credit is due. So, thank you, Mori. Thank you for being stupid enough to bring us together. Thank you for being stupid enough to tell us about it. Thank you for being stupid enough to sell your soul to me. And thank you for the nicest night of sleep that I’m about to have.”