Chapter Text
It wasn't quite as easy to Soothe someone to sleep when he had to keep his hands to himself, so Sugizo was a little surprised, and more than a little worried, when San fell asleep before they were even out of the twenty-three wards. Pulling off the toll road, he made sure they were suitably out of the public eye before simply teleporting the whole car the rest of the distance. His body tingled a moment as Isshi's shields reacted to the intrusion, and then it passed. And still he stayed in the car, waiting for Isshi to come out to him.
“You're worse than a mother with new kittens, Yuune,” his mentor scolded softly. “Why isn't he with Yu-kun?”
“Explain to me how it is that Tadashi hasn't gutted that useless sack of shit yet?” Sugizo growled as he followed Isshi (and the still sleeping San) back up to the house. He was surprised to feel the grip of his sword in his hand and had to take a moment in the genkan to take a deep breath and close his eyes before he could calm himself enough to dismiss it again. And then he hurried after his mentor.
“Tell me you didn't do it yourself,” Isshi said, glancing up from where he was tucking San into his bed.
“No, of course not,” Sugizo murmured, worried at the tiredness in Isshi's tone. “Which is in itself a miracle, considering what he had the nerve to say to me.”
“I appreciate your restraint,” Isshi said, pausing to brush a sealing kiss to San's forehead before turning and herding Sugizo back downstairs. “Though I can't help wondering why you were even with my kitten in the first place.”
“You'll have to ask him to confirm, but I'm pretty sure at the parking garage with me wasn't the first time Jin had tried to ambush him, get him alone tonight. I let that one off with a warning this time, but if he tries this again... I don't care what Tadashi thinks he sees in him, I won't fail San the way he has.”
“Yuune....”
“That blowhard called San a whore to my face,” Sugizo growled.
“At ease, my son,” Isshi said, his hand closing around Sugizo's and when had he drawn his sword again? “It is easy for us to pass judgement on what's already been done, removed from the doing. You've seen the evidence of how guilty Tadashi feels about all this. Compounded by the fact that he, personally, worked to get Nega where they are, making a sudden disappearance that much more problematic.”
“I don't care how problematic –.”
“Yuune,” Isshi interrupted with that fatherly tone that said he was pushing his luck. Huffing a sigh, he shoved a hand through his hair, glancing back towards the stairs.
“Yes, Tousan, I understand,” he mumbled. Over five hundred years old and still that small smile of approval could get him to do just about anything.
“I would sooner risk a mind wipe than the bureaucratic nightmare of his death at your hands, Yuune. Either way, if he steps out of line again, Shin-kun will deal with it, do you understand?”
“Yes, Otousama,” Sugizo said, bowing his acknowledgment. He wasn't happy with this, but he would not go against Isshi's orders.