Chapter Text
It would have been less humiliating to ask Kyutaro for a place in the bar. He could have pulled out a sleeping bag and made himself comfy between the bags of ice and boxes of oranges. Sure, it wouldn't have been ideal, but Kazuki had suffered worse for longer.
It would have been okay.
Maybe.
But Kyutaro had already seen him cry through a whiskey sour, three shots of vodka, and a Sakura. Kazuki was close to crossing from a concern to a liability, and liabilities didn't make it far in his line of work.
Thus he was here, at Suwa Rei’s apartment.
Humiliating.
Utterly humiliating.
He rang the doorbell for a fourth time and picked at his thumb. It had already been five minutes. The old woman across the hall had waved at him while she fumbled with her keys, something between sympathy and curiosity in her eyes.
Finally, as Kazuki was about to ring a fifth time, the door creaked open and Rei’s greasy head peeked out. The stench of stale cigarette smoke and unwashed bodies poured out of the apartment.
“What do you want,” Rei mumbled, less a question than a statement.
“Have you ever opened a window?” Kazuki asked before he could stop himself.
The door slammed shut.
“Wait, no, I’m sorry,” Kazuki said, banging on the door again and ringing the doorbell. “That was uncalled for. I need to talk to you.”
Silence.
“I know you can hear me, Rei.”
Silence.
“Please?”
“What do you want,” Rei's voice said through the door.
“Can we talk inside your apartment?”
“I thought it needed to be aired out,” Rei said. Kazuki pressed his palms to his eyes and tried to stop himself from saying something he’d regret. He was here for a favor.
“I was being a dick, Rei. Can you let me in?”
“Fine.”
“And can you put the gun away?”
There was a grumble before Kazuki heard the sound of a latch, a lock, and a safety being flipped. After another moment the door opened and a hand dragged Kazuki inside. The door slammed behind him.
“Is this work?” Rei asked, his eyes dark. Kazuki had never seen him with his hair down. It made him look younger, and Kazuki couldn’t decide if he liked it or not.
“In a way.”
“Don’t be cryptic.”
“I need a place to stay,” Kazuki said.
“Don’t you have a house?”
Kazuki sighed. “Things got complicated.”
Rei nodded. “I understand. There’s a bedroom down the hall.”
“Wait, that’s it?”
“Don’t be a pain.”
“Seriously, that’s it?”
“We’re partners, aren’t we? You can’t be expected to work if you don’t have housing.” Rei shrugged. “And I don’t really care, as long as you leave me alone. Plus, it means we can prep for cases in here, without having to meet in a second location."
"What's wrong with the places we meet?"
"You keep making me go to cafes."
"I thought you liked cafes," Kazuki said.
"I don't."
With that Rei walked back to the couch. Kazuki took the opportunity to survey the apartment.
It was spare. Were it not for the ashtrays and take-out bags Kazuki would’ve assumed it was abandoned. The more he looked at it, though, the more neglect he saw. Dust sat on every counter but the couch. Half-cleaned stains left residual rings on the floorboards. Crumbs lay unswept. The blinds were drawn, shadowing the living room and kitchen in a murky darkness.
“Do you mind if I clean up around here?” Kazuki asked.
“Yes.”
“It’s filthy.”
“The bedroom is down the hall.”
“Are you gonna show me where it is?”
“Figure it out.”
Kazuki ran his finger along the kitchen counter. “Have you ever laid hands on a duster?” His finger came back coated in a fine layer of grime.
“Rent?”
“Don’t worry about the dust, I was teasing. Do you want me to make dinner?”
“Already ate.”
“Fine,” Kazuki said, trying not to grumble back. This was a favor. He had to be polite. Not match Rei’s tone. Goddamn it, he’d be the friendly one in this partnership.
Rei grunted as Kazuki slung his duffle bag over his shoulder. It was a grunt of finality - there wouldn’t be any more discussion of Rei’s lifestyle, this arrangement, or if the trash had ever been taken out.
Kazuki sighed and set out to find his room.
He could make this work.
Hopefully.
It had been a month since Kazuki moved in. One month of shared meals, of passive-aggressive notes, of making it work.
The confined space taught Kazuki a lot about his partner. Rei was tense, skittish, annoyingly good at Mario Kart.
And he never ate his vegetables.
“You like it, right?” Kazuki asked. They were at the dinner table together, a steaming bowl placed before both of them.
Instead of responding to the question, Rei pushed his food around with his chopsticks.
Kazuki took another bite. It really was good. He'd come to appreciate the quiet of the kitchen in his time with Rei. There was a simple pleasure in watching a dish come together, the melding of flavors and the hiss of a flame. Each ingredient had its place and its value, and the secret to a good meal was the reverence of each ingredient.
“I’ve been trying to work without a recipe lately," Kazuki said. "Go with the flow, right?”
Rei took a bite.
“So?”
“It’s okay,” he mumbled before taking another bite.
“I went out shopping with Yuemei today. She’s actually the one who recommended I try this technique. I never would have come up with it on my own, of course, but she can be so-”
Rei scrunched his forehead. “Yuemei?”
“Your neighbor.”
“Who?”
“Wu Yuemei. She lives across the hall."
Silence.
"She’s from Taiwan?”
“I still don’t know who that is.”
“She’s lived in the building for twenty years. I spend, like, every afternoon with her.”
Rei shrugged.
“The old woman across the hall. Wu Yuemei. Your neighbor.”
“I didn’t know anyone else lived on this floor.”
“How? There’s six separate apartment numbers.”
“I never noticed,” Rei said as he took another bite.
“I don’t, just, whatever." Kazuki shook his head. "I guess it’s a good thing I’m here. That way someone can call the morgue if you keel over.”
Rei frowned.
“What? We’re assassins, it could happen.”
“What’s in this, anyway?”
"Green peppers,” Kazuki said.
Rei scoffed and pushed the plate away.
“Come on, Rei, you already ate half the bowl.”
“I don’t like green peppers.”
“But you said it was okay.”
“I was misled.”
“You’re such a child.”
“I’ve heard that it's a good season for apartment-hunting."
“Fine, fine, I get it. You can make yourself ramen later if you get hungry.”
"I will," Rei said, slinking back to his couch.
"Goodnight, Rei."
"'Night Kazuki.
“Don't forget that we've got that father-son hit tomorrow."
"Of course.”
“Try to get some sleep tonight, okay?"
Rei mumbled something unintelligible and probably obscene, and Kazuki started on the dishes.
“I need a beer,” Rei sighed.
“You need stitches.”
“I need a beer, Kazuki.”
“Please, Rei, you’re bleeding.”
“Home. Beer. Assassins Creed,” Rei said, clutching his arm to his chest.
It was, in fact, bleeding. Profusely.
“Seriously, Rei, let me check on that arm. Okay?” Kazuki asked, running to catch up to his partner.
They’d been on a job. It was routine. Easy. In, out, stage a suicide, get paid, blow it all, crash at Rei’s for another month.
They hadn’t counted on their mark breaking a bottle and taking a wild swipe at Rei’s shooting arm. Luckily they’d been able to get the job done anyway, but Rei’s steps were uneven as they made their way through the alley to their parked van.
“I’m fine, Kazuki,” Rei said, his voice as unsteady as his steps.
“You don’t seem fine.”
“I swear to God if you don’t stop worrying and just-”
Kazuki caught him as he tipped over.
“There’s nothing weak about asking for help, Rei.”
“Fuck off,” he muttered as Kazuki half-supported, half-dragged him into the back of the van.
“Now let me take a look at that,” Kazuki said, tapping on Rei’s arm in silent permission to touch him further.
Rei hissed.
“Did you-”
“Yes.”
“And was that a stubborn hiss or a lashing-out hiss?”
Rei closed his eyes. “Stubborn.”
“Cool. I’m gonna cut off your sleeve. Is that okay?”
“Whatever.”
Kazuki pulled a pocket knife out of his breast pocket and gingerly cut the bloody sleeve off Rei’s arm. It stuck to the wound, wet and messy.
Kazuki grimaced as he inspected it. The cut was deep and raw, and he suspected there were still bits of glass embedded in the skin. Each time Rei breathed a fresh wave of blood bubbled to the surface.
“Don’t get all loopy on me, Rei. I’m gonna give you Tylenol,” Kazuki said as he handed Rei a pill and began to staunch the bleeding with gauze. "It's not much for the pain, but at least it's better than nothing." Rei took the pill and swallowed it dry.
“I prefer Ibuprofen.”
“Ibuprofen's a blood thinner, which is the last thing you need right now. I’m gonna try to stop the bleeding as much as I can in here, but I don't have many supplies. I’ll clean it better once we’re back at our apartment. I’ll probably need to do stitches.”
“Our apartment?” Rei asked, his voice too weak for Kazuki to hear.
“I know you don’t like needles, but it’s for the best. I can’t have you dying on me, can I?”
“Our apartment?” He asked again, his voice stronger.
“Yeah. Where else would we go? I’m not explaining that cut to the ER.”
“It’s my apartment. Not yours.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. I don’t mind. Now can you drive before I bleed out?”
“Yeah, sorry, right. Back to our apartment.”
“I still want a beer.”
“Of course you do,” Kazuki said, climbing into the driver’s seat.
“How are you so bad at this?” Rei asked as he sat on the couch next to Kazuki.
“Can you stop smoking? It’s distracting,” Kazuki said as he failed to shoot another zombie.
Rei took a long drag of his cigarette. “My smoking has nothing to do with your lack of hand-eye coordination.”
“I have plenty of hand-eye coordination. This is something else.”
“If you need to tell yourself that.”
Rei exhaled a cloud of smoke like he was trying to provoke Kazuki.
“I’m a fucking assassin, Rei. I shoot people for a living. With actual guns. That requires so much more work." He missed another shot. "Why can’t I shoot these goddamn Nazi zombie dogs?”
Rei shrugged. “You’re the tactician for a reason. Bad shot.”
“You want to go? You want to fucking go? Come on, bring out the guns, let's see who’s a bad shot.”
“I’m not the one who made a rule about shooting guns in the apartment.”
“Don’t twist my words.”
“I’m not. That’s what you said. No guns.”
Kazuki threw the controller at Rei. It hit him square in the chest, and he let out a disgruntled noise.
“I don’t like that game. I’m gonna take a shower,” Kazuki said, getting up and storming down the hallway.
"You could keep playing, you have another life."
"Go find a nice cold ditch to die in."
“You’re kinda cute when you’re angry,” Rei called after him.
“What?” Kazuki spun around.
“The same way one of those square-faced dogs is cute. You know, the ones with those messed-up faces?”
“You’re an asshole. Dinner’ll be ready by eight.”
“Please don’t make green peppers again.”
“You’re having nothing but peppers tonight, Rei. Nothing but peppers.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, Kazuki,” Rei shouted as he wiped cold water off his face.
“Shit, dude, I’m so sorry.”
“What was that for?”
“I forgot you slept in the bathtub.”
“Get me a towel.”
"It’s kind of your fault for sleeping there.”
Rei glared at him.
“Sorry, sorry.”
“I never asked how you ended up at my apartment.”
“I never told you,” Kazuki said, careful to keep his eyes on the road. They were driving back from a job, nothing under the stars but them and the highway. It was peaceful in that dangerous way that makes people want to have conversations they'll regret in the morning.
“You smelled like alcohol.”
“I’d had a few at Kyutaro’s.”
Kazuki looked over to see Rei with his head resting on the window, breath foggy against the glass. His hair was still up, but his undercut was starting to grow out. Kazuki’s hand itched to reach over and run his fingers through the soft new growth.
He resisted the urge.
“You feel bad about whatever it was,” Rei said, a simple statement of fact.
“Yeah, I do.”
Kazuki felt a hand rest on his thigh, reassuring and gentle. He knew both of them weren’t going to acknowledge it.
“I’m sorry about whatever it was,” Rei said.
“Don’t be. It was my fault.”
“Then I’m not sorry.” Gentle music played on the radio, an old song Kazuki didn’t recognize. “I’m gonna try to sleep. Let me know when we’re close to Tokyo.”
“We both know you’re not gonna sleep.”
Rei shrugged. “Yeah, I’m not.”
“I’ll wake you up when we’re near Tokyo.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course, Rei. Anytime.”
“I want to make sure you know that I don’t love you,” Kazuki said as he stood up, dusting off his jeans.
“Yeah, I figured.” Rei reached over to the kitchen counter for the pack of cigarettes he’d thrown down twenty minutes ago.
“Seriously? Already?”
“What? It’s just a cigarette.”
“Can you go twenty minutes without one?”
Rei didn’t reply. Instead, he fished his beat-up orange lighter out of his pocket and handed it to Kazuki. He sighed and flicked the cigarette as Rei leaned over to meet him. It felt dirtier than being on his knees. More intimate.
The end of the cigarette glowed orange. Rei took a drag, held it a moment, and exhaled. The kitchen light caught on the smoke, scattering it across the apartment.
“I just want to make sure you’re not expecting more than this,” Kazuki said, sort of awkwardly gesturing at their crotches. Usually, he’d try to be suaver, but he felt no need to impress Rei.
“A blowjob’s a blowjob.” Rei took another hit. “And sex is sex. I don’t care.”
“Good, good.”
“Are you still looking for apartments?”
“No, not really.”
“Ask Kyutaro for more jobs like today. I enjoyed all the shooting.”
“Of course you did. I’m gonna start on dinner. No peppers.”
Kazuki could have sworn he saw Rei’s lips quirk up for a moment as he walked back to the couch.