Archive of Our Own

Iwaizumi Hajime is not fond of winter. The snow is nice to look at but it makes everything difficult. Thankfully they’ve only had dustings so far this year. Tonight was a little more, but it added to the atmosphere of the party inside the large clubroom. It’d been done up in mostly blues and silver, lots of fake snowflakes suspended from the high ceiling.

Properly snobby yet classy.

Like half of the guests meandering through the party.

Hajime’s used to them even though he’s really more of the wallflower type, paying both too little and too much attention to what’s going on. Tooru’s in the middle of it as always. He’s in an entirely different universe despite standing just two feet away. The politician they have on payroll is doing a pisspoor job of trying to hide his interest in the Omegan mob boss. Tooru ignores most of it, flirting just enough to keep the poor man interested and wrapped around his finger. It’s a delicate dance Hajime’s seen many times over the last decade.

The politician eventually walks away, seeming to be happy enough with how things went. Tooru makes his way to the bar for a refill, pausing here and there to chat with whoever. Hajime follows him, always the shadow. Kaneo is working the bar tonight so he doesn’t have to worry about if someone spikes Tooru’s drink.

“Iwa~chan~”

The whine is both… endearing yet annoying.

More so annoying.

But what else is new.

“What.”

There’s a smug smirk, “You should be nicer to me, Iwa-chan. Nobody sucks you like I do,” and tosses the rest of his drink back.

He steps closer, “Shut up, idiot.”

“It’s not like everybody here doesn’t know.”

“A few don’t,” he eyed the politician, “You shouldn’t be so loud about it.”

“They all do. They just think they’re better if they can just get a shot… What are they gonna do though,” Tooru smirked as he grabbed Hajime's shirt, looking just a little sloppy, “Try and take my guard dog away from me.”

“Possibly.”

Chocolate eyes blink slowly up at him, a lazy smirk appearing, “They can try all they want…” He grips Hajime’s shirt and tugs him a step closer, “I look forward to laughing at them.”

Hajime doesn’t smile… doesn’t even really smirk.

The absolute confidence Tooru has in his abilities is warranted… but stupid.

Sure Hajime’s been there for the last ten years, more than even, and Tooru’s still very much kicking.

That doesn’t mean he’s inflable though.

There’s always the possibility that he’ll fuck up, that someone will get the better of him.

He can’t ever let his guard down no matter how blindly confident Tooru is in him.

I hope all you ever do is laugh at them because the day you don’t is the day I fail.

“How much have you had to drink?” he knows the Omega’s had at least three.

“Does it matter?” Tooru grinned, tapping on Hajime’s chest, “I can still out. shoot. anybody in this room.”

“Maybe you can but I’m more concerned about if you can walk in a straight line.”

“Dance with me?” the slant of his eyes is somewhere between coy and bewitching, “See for yourself.”

“Oikawa-”

“One dance… Please?”

Fuck… He said please.

Hajime can’t deny him when he actually decides to be polite about it…

He offers his hand and Tooru takes it. He twirls the Omega out on the dance floor, the flowy shimmery aqua skirt flaring in a very dramatic Tooru-esque way. The slit up the one thigh made it almost dangerous, showing just a hint of the ink that curls up his leg and around his hip. His silly shoes make Tooru even taller than he usually is. It makes Hajime feel a little self conscious but Tooru, even flashy as he is, falls into step with him, following his lead as he’d done for years. He’s steady, the drinks not going to his head as much as the way he’d talked suggested.

He’s beautiful… undeniably gorgeous.

He shines with a light that’s so uniquely him, burning out the rest without effort.

The world revolves around him without effort.

They danced through one song then a second. Couples around them shift, a few changing partners. Tooru looks like a Cheshire cat, a pleased little smile on his face… until they take a step, Tooru ducks for a twirl- There’s the briefest pause and then he’s back dancing. The hold he has on Hajime’s shoulder is stronger, the grip on his hand almost white-knuckled until he slowly, purposefully, loosens it.

Tooru will never show the world weakness.

But Hajime can still see the tightness in his face, the way the corners of his mouth pull, how his smile’s a little more fake than usual.

How he’s suddenly in pain.

He spots Mattsun and nods. The taller Alpha jerks his chin in return and walked off to find Makki supposedly. The song ends and Tooru makes the announcement that he’s retired for the evening but for the guests to keep enjoying themselves. He walks on his own to the car and then into the building next to the gym and spa that doubles as their Headquarters. The elevator feels slow tonight as they wait for it to rise to the third floor.

Their floor.

Hajime unlocks the door to their half of the floor and lets Tooru in first. Watari nods at them and gets up to go, shutting the door behind him. As soon as the door closed, Tooru sagged against the wall, his face pinching.

Hajime locked the door, “That bad.”

“Mm,” Tooru braced himself as Hajime unzipped the back and pulled the whole thing off. It pooled on the floor and was left there as Hajime lifted Tooru and carried him into the bedroom where he slowly lowered him down. He left long enough to grab some ice and check on Takeru who was sleeping like the dead in his own room. The string of Christmas lights glowed green from where they were hung haphazardly over the top of the window.

Tooru’s silly shoes were tossed on the floor by the time he got back. The Omega sat there, easing his fingers into his slightly swollen knee. His face has tension lines, deep ones. Hajime grabbed the tube of massage gel from the drawer, ignoring the expired condoms he should really just throw away, and settled on the bed. Tooru lets go and eases back against the headboard.

Hajime squeezes gel into his hands, letting it warm first, “Ready?”

Tooru nods, looking exhausted, and Hajime starts. His face scrunched for awhile and slowly relaxed. It’s a long tedious process, one he doesn’t mind when they have time. It’s not Tooru’s fault after all… well maybe the overoing before he’d fully recovered but he had a syndicate to run. The world didn’t stop just because Takehiko was murdered. Their world didn’t allow time for grief. Tooru had to be up and going before he was ready just to keep from being eaten alive by the likes of rival syndicates. They’ve done the best they can but he knows it’s never healed properly and probably never will.

He leans over, pressing a kiss to the offending knee. It’d been the single solitary time he’d failed Tooru. The Omega had argued that wasn’t the case, that there had been no way for Hajime to protect him from a head-on collision in a car. That if Hajime hadn’t done what he had, Tooru might’ve ended up with something worse than a couple of torn ligaments.

It wasn’t good enough though.

Not for Hajime.

Hajime who’d sworn to not just Tooru’s brother, but his father before him that he’d protect the youngest Oikawa sibling.

Because of his failure, Tooru’s permanently damaged. He’ll never be whole again. His knee will forever teeter between serviceable and fucked.

And Hajime will forever blame himself for it.

He presses another kiss to the swollen bit, lips touching the scar… and then another one on the side. The leg shifts, Tooru sliding down the bed a little. Hajime kisses the offered thigh, slowly going up along the tattooed vine until he’s reached the shiny Christmas-red racy panties Tooru had hidden under his dress. There’s a little green bow on the front matching the hem and it all does very little to hide the mostly formed bulge. Hips tilt towards his face and he dips his head, kissing the tender inside of Tooru’s upper thigh and giving it a bit of a nip. The leg jolts, closing in on him a little before widening again in clear invitation. He ignores it, sliding up bit by bit, kissing and biting up a toned belly and chest, up up a pale neck to nip at Tooru’s jaw. His hands touch every little bit of the vines crawling up Tooru’s sides, the various flowers a swirl of color. Everything is Tooru. He’s not even all that sure where he stops and the Omega starts anymore.

“Fuck me.”

Hajime paused, pressing another kiss to Tooru’s jaw, “You sure?”

Tooru clawed at him, “Fuck me, Iwa.”

He doesn’t need to be told again.

Clothes disappear between things that border somewhere between kissing and biting. He’s pressed up tight against Tooru who’s wrapped himself around Hajime like an aggressive octopus. They shifted, Hajime rolling to his back and scooting over. Tooru slid on top of him, his bad knee hanging off the edge of the bed, foot on the floor. Sliding into the Omega’s heat was unreal.

Not that he’d had a ton of time to really experiment mind you. Tooru had jumped on him on the Omega’s eighteenth birthday, demanding that he’d found Tooru even half attractive that they should fuck. Newly appointed Takehiko hadn’t given a shit.

So they’d fucked.

And Hajime never looked at another Omega like that again.

Even if it’d been a one-off, Oikawa Tooru had ruined him for other Omegas.

Not that he’d tell Tooru that to his face… it’d make his head inflate and he’d be all the more impossible to deal with.

“Ha-Hajime,” Tooru looked absolutely wrecked.

He gripped the Omega’s hips, bruising them as he thrust at an angle that had Tooru yelp, “Shh… You’ll wake up Takeru.”

“Fuck,” Tooru gasped with another perfect stab, “Fuck you.”

“You are,” he smirked and then grunted when Tooru squeezed him and ground down, rotating his hips in circles. He only just held off spilling and Tooru may or may not have looked a little annoyed that he didn’t. His wrists were grabbed and pinned over his head.

“Be good,” Tooru smirked at him, “Don’t move.”

Hajime does his best to pin his own hips to the bed as Tooru slowly takes him apart. He’s not sure what’s so fulfilling about just being a body, a cock for Tooru to use as he wants. He wants to say it’d because of the guilt, that doing this for Tooru somehow makes his mistake less egregious.

But it’s always been this way.

Tooru always knows what he wants.

And he takes it from him.

And Hajime’s willing to give it to him.

Always will.

Tooru’s bouncing gets erratic and he suddenly freezes as he squeezes around him hard. It’s just short of making Hajime cum and he almost begs Tooru to keep going so he can get there. He holds off and Tooru slides off, leaving a trail of slick and semen behind him. Hajime feels his hip nudged and shifts, throwing a leg over Tooru who’s in the middle of the bed now. The warm mouth on him makes him gasp. His fingers sink into chocolate waves, groaning as Tooru swallows and the tip hits the back of his throat. It’s only a few bobs and swirls of the tongue before Hajime’s given up. Tooru swallows the first bit and then licks up the rest and his own mess on Hajime’s abs.

“Fuck,” Hajime feels the absence of his soul as it floats somewhere overhead.

Tooru looks much too proud of himself, smirking up at him with that becoming post-sex flush, “Give me a few to charge up again.”

Hajime chuckles some, “How’s the knee?”

Tooru shifts, straightening it, “Better than it was an hour ago.” He reaches for the ice and a pillow, elevating his knee and dropping the ice on it.

He nods, “Good.” Once he’s finally caught his breath and Tooru’s had a decent amount of time icing, he moves, sluggishly, to get under the covers. Tooru follows, ice dropped on a bedside table, and curls up against him. He sinks one hand into dark hair and drifts off. They migrate apart at some point, but they almost always do. Tooru likes to cuddle as much as he likes to starfish and he adores both. Hajime likes to sleep on his stomach anyway so it’s very win-win.

He was vaguely aware of the door opening some time later but the lack of scent didn’t raise his hackles at all. The weight pouncing on the end of the bed didn’t either. There was a vague warning bell going off… something about naked but it didn’t feel life threatening so he didn't care enough.

“Uncle Tooru!”

It was a little late to do anything anyway.

“Uncle Tooru!” the pup crawled his way between them, his feet digging a little into Hajime's side as he leaned over the Omega’s shoulder, “Time to wake up!”

“What did I say about coming in here, Takeru,” Tooru sighed, still sounding half asleep.

“I know but we have presents to open!”

“Fuuuck… that’s today isn’t it," Tooru shifted to his back, the blanket almost low enough to threaten a nip slip.

“Yup,” Takeru didn’t seem to notice

“Alright. Fine. I’m up. Get out.”

Takeru jumped off the bed, foot slipping between Hajime’s legs and only just missing stepping on his junk, making him freeze, very much awake now, and paused by the door, “Don’t make any weird noises either!” and then slammed the door.

Hajime sucked in a breath, mildly shaken from the near catastrophe as Tooru yelled “NO PEEKING!” after the pup.

A body drapes itself over his, skin-to-skin, "We have to remember to lock our door."

"Mm…?" he willed his dick to unshrivel.

Lips touched an inked shoulder blade, “Comeon. He’ll be banging on the door in ten minutes.”

“Mhm…?” he stayed put while Tooru flumped his way off the bed. Once his limbs let him move, he did. Years in this life and trust his luck to have possibly the most egregious thing to happen came from his priority number two. He slid out of bed and half-stumbled into the bathroom.

Tooru eyed him, “What happened to you?”

“He was almost crushed,” Hajime brushed past Tooru, “He’s recovering from a near-death experience.”

Tooru snorted and Hajime threw a death glare at him. “Fuuuck… Slept in my contacts again,” he poked his eyes as he got both of them out and in their case. Eyedrops were applied which was… an event. Hajime rolled his eyes as he turned the shower on, listening to Tooru curse until he finally got enough in both eyes. “They’re sensitive ok!”

Hajime’s thought of a quick shower went down the drain about the same time Tooru joined him. What should have taken maybe five minutes ended up being closer to thirty. He’d smacked Tooru’s wandering hands once but they’d been insistent and he eventually gave up, letting Tooru have his way with him, fucking him into the shower wall when prompted and then had to stand there waiting for his knot to go down.

“This is your fault,” he growled and turned the water to be a little bit colder in hopes of speeding this along. Tooru squawked and tried to get away… which just made them both hiss. “Stop moving, you idiot!”

“It’s cold!”

“Good! Maybe it’ll teach you to not jump me when we don’t have the time-!”

“Mean Iwa-chan!”

Hajime tested it and slowly yanked himself free. Tooru whined and Hajime just left, shutting the water off and chucking a towel at the Omega’s face. He left before Tooru had a chance to rip it off.

“Rude!”

He chuckled a bit and tugged on a pair of track pants. The one hoodie he wanted was buried somewhere and he had to go digging to find it. Tooru reappeared, looking peeved and whipped the damp towel at his face. Hajime caught it and yanked, pulling Tooru closer. The Omega resisted, the idea that he could just let go not quite making it to his brain. Hajime gripped his chin when he was close enough, "Just can't help yourself, can you, Hornykawa...?" and kissed him.

The irritation melted and Tooru ducked his head to hide the pink blush, “Stupid Iwa-chan.”

Hajime snorted and yanked his found hoodie on. Tooru throws on a huge sweater, hides his knee brace under sweats and puts his glasses on. Takeru is totally not shaking boxes when they finally show up. He’s totally not scuttling across the floor to sit nicely by the couch.

Nope.

He’s totally the well-behaved Oikawa heir.

Not touching a thing…

Tooru eyed the pup, “Punk.”

“You were taking too long,” Takeru whined.

Tooru bopped him on the head, “Sometimes life makes you wait. You need to learn how. Otherwise you’ll suck at my job when you get it.” He scoped around the tree, finding a couple of boxes and tossed them to the pup, “There. Don’t say I never gave you nothing.”

Takeru tore into them with gusto, “WHOA!”

Tooru looked reasonably smug and grabbed another one, chucking it at him, “Here.”

Hajime grabs a different box and shoves it at him, “Thank you.”

Takeru squeals at the tickets to Disney dated for over summer break.

Mattsun and Makki appear after lunch and Takeru's busy with his toys. Hajime sets to picking up all the wrapping paper before then, leaving Tooru to stare at the cover of the DVD Hajime had gifted him. The tickets to said movie were tucked into the plastic, the date on them claiming they were ten years old.

Their first official date.

It was hard to believe it’d been that long ago.

Tooru stuffs it into a gift bag when the pair show up and takes it to the bedroom to hide it before they can tease him. Makki sits on the couch, smelling strongly of cigarette smoke, and both of them of each other. Mattsun settled next to him, flopping over to lay his head on the Omega’s lap. Fingers run through messy curls which makes Mattsun’s already narrow eyes almost close.

“How’s the day been?” Makki asks.

“Been alright,” Hajime stuffed the last of it in the trash bag.

Takeru came charging in, “Hi Matskki!”

“Hey,” the pair replied in tandem and Makki nudged the huge gaudy giftbag with his foot, “That’s for you.”

“OH!” he tore into it, making more mess and yanked a large RC car and a huge box of legos out of it.

“You did not!” Tooru yelled.

Makki laughed, “We did!”

“Those are going to be everywhere! Who do you think is going to be stepping on them!”

“Not us,” Mattsun grinned.

“Nope.”

The pair high-fived.

“I hate you both.”

They just laughed at him and he flumped into the large fluffy chair, “Any particular reason for stopping by?”

“On official business?” Mattsun rolled to his stomach, Makki’s hand settled in his back. Sleeves have ridden up showing hints of the matching mandala tattoos inked into their forearms… the same ones on Hajime, “Heard something’s brewing with Inarizaki.”

Tooru’s brow cocked, “And I care why?”

“Just interesting news,” Mattsun shrugged, “I don’t know if anything will come of it, but we maybe might want to keep an eye on it… see if there’s an opportunity to get into Tokyo.”

“That’s true,” Tooru nodded, “I want to get there before Shiratorizawa. You know Ushiwaka is trying to get up in there with his grubby hands. If we can find something…”

“We’ll keep an eye out,” Mattsun sighed, going boneless as Makki rubbed on his neck and around a shoulder blade, “You’re being so nice to me.”

“You were nice to me earlier,” Makki replied.

“You both reek by the way,” Tooru commented, “Remember my rule about smoke and Takeru…?”

“He got me Treasurers,” Makki sighed, “I had to smoke a couple. They’re just,” he chef’s-kissed the air.

“Of course he got you cigarettes,” Tooru groused, “Why can’t you have some taste? Get some cubans or something.”

Makki’s nose wrinkled, “Gross.”

Tooru gave him the look.

Once business finished up for the day and the pair had left after hanging around for dinner, Tooru snuggled up on the couch with Takeru under a blanket. The movie they put on was silly, but it’s been the one Tooru and his brother had grown up watching every Christmas. Hajime didn't know if the tradition was held because of giving something of the Oikawa Alpha to his surviving pup or if it was a comfort thing for Tooru.

It was quite possibly a little of both.

Takeru was passed out across Tooru’s lap before the end and Tooru himself was curled into the couch, head resting on the back of it, his arm resting protectively on the pup's back.

It made for a cute picture, one Hajime couldn’t take in the chance somebody got his phone.

He gently picked Takeru up and placed him in his own bed, pausing to soothe him back to sleep when he stirred, “‘Night buddy.”

“Nigh…”

Tooru woke up enough to drag himself to bed though Hajime had to take his glasses off lest they get crushed.

Business goes on as usual. They fuck with some of Karasuno’s shipments so they can get their own thereabouts the same product on the market first. Tooru’s heat hits about mid January, as had been marked on the calendar, so they take the week to go to their vacation house and deal with it. It’s a glorious week as it always is. Tooru becomes one with his base instincts and lets Hajime fuck him into the bed… and most of the other surfaces in the place. It reeks of them and it makes Hajime just a little proud of it. They get back and about five weeks later, they’re picking up the slack as Makki’s heat hits him a little early. One of their guys goes missing about a week after everybody’s back and nobody knows where he went. Tooru just shrugs it off. The guy was a dumbass and not important enough to go looking for… so they don’t.

He’s not sure what day it is since they’ve all run together lately. He honestly can’t wait for that summer trip, a full week of pretending to be normal… days of just being able to be with Tooru and not worry so much about the next murder attempt. He wants to be able to take Takeru on rides and make Tooru wear those stupid mouse ear eadbands.

“Iwa…?”

“Yea.”

“Have you seen Takeru?”

Hajime blinks, “Eh. No… I just got back from the range.”

“He should’ve been home hours ago and I just found out he’s not here. Nobody can get in touch with Motomu either.”

Oh… shit…

“Have you pinged his phone?”

“It’s dead or something,” Tooru’s face was pinched, “We can’t get a signal off of it. Kindachi found the last spot it dinged off of but that was hours ago. They were still outside the gate.”

“We should still check it out,” Hajime shoved bullets into his magazine and checked to make sure the other one was loaded. Tooru nodded and led the way out. He called Makki and Mattsun, getting them onboard with figuring out where Takeru was. The cars were running by the time they got down there. Hajime followed Tooru into the second car, leaving the first one for the other pair. Makki passed his window, orange glow from his cigarette lighting up half his face. They head out and down the few streets to get to the gate that kept most of Seijo behind fancy walls. Said gate opened to let them out.

There was a shadowy thing on the left side.

“What is that?”

They drove through and Tooru pat Watari on the shoulder, "Stop the car."

The car slowed and the one in front of them pulled over. Makki and Mattsun got out and walked back towards the gate. Their phone flashlights lit up and angled up to see what it was-

He felt like ice had been dumped in his veins.

No.

There was no way...

Nonono-

“Tooru-

He glanced at the Omega right as the realization hit the mob boss.

“Takeru…? Fuck-no-” Tooru thrashes, trying to get out of the car, “Take-NO!” Hajime tries to grab but Tooru gets out before he can get a good hold on him. The Omega bolts and Makki gets in his way enough to slow him down and Hajime can catch up to grab him himself. “Takeru!”

It’s awful.

Hajime’s seen alot of shit in his life.

This… this will haunt him.

And if not the image of the little boy hung on the gate, stripped bare and slashed to ribbons, wouldn’t do it, the sounds coming from Tooru will.

They're not human…

Animalistic.

Raw.

Hajime’s never heard anything like it in his life.

Tooru screams and cries, ordering them to get Takeru down. He’s ignored as Makki takes picture after picture and Mattsun inspects it. His legs give out and Hajime follows him down to kneel on the pavement. “He’s not a science experiment! Get him down! Show some fucking respect!”

Takeru is eventually cut down. His limbs are stuck, frozen stiff as they found him which means he’s been dead for at least four hours. Tooru grabs onto him anyway, not bothered enough with the body’s chill to not touch him. He clutches the pup to him, sobbing, begging him to wake up. Hajime doesn’t want to touch him, not really. He brushes an arm by accident and the cold of it shocks him.

None of this is new.

He’s seen everything about this before.

But it’s… it’s almost like he’s seeing a body for the first time all over again.

Mattsun’s father, the family coroner, shows up to take the body. Tooru fights him, hissing and growling like an animal. Hajime has to dig deep to restrain him as Takeru is pried from his fingers so they can figure out what exactly killed him. There’s any number of ways to be honest. The fact that there’s no blood left chills him.

What’s worse is that glimpse of his still open, terrified eyes before they’re closed forever.

They managed to get Tooru back into the relative safety behind the gates to wait until the elder Matsukawa finishes. It takes awhile, but that’s probably because of the rigor mortis. Tooru seemed to have cried himself out for the moment by the time they’re alerted to a report.

It’s hard… to see him on that slab…

“So,” Tooru’s voice is almost non-existent.

“It looks to me like a Karasuno Crow,” the older Beta replied.

“No fucking shit,” Tooru hisses, “Tell me something I can’t see for myself.”

Hajime grabs him again before he can strangle the guy and hauls him outside. Matsukawa drops off a folder of pictures later along with a full medical report. Tooru goes to sit with the body for awhile over the next day or two as preparations are made. If he’s not there, he’s curled up on the pup’s bed, his face buried in any one of numerous shirts. Hajime, Makki, and Mattsun handle what they can business-wise, only bothering Tooru when strictly necessary

The funeral is very small: just family and the Exects. There’s a few nice things said and they all stay while the grave is filled. Eventually the family starts to filter out and the Exects fade to the background. Soon enough it’s just him and Tooru standing there.

“That's it, Iwa… The line is gone.”

Hajime pursed his lips, not completely willing to accept that the Oikawa line was dead.

The lack of pregnancy would say otherwise.

By all rights, they should have a veritable brood by now.

But they don’t… and there doesn’t seem to be a way of fixing that.

“I failed him.”

He hadn't actually, but he wasn't going to listen to reason at the moment.

So Hajime stood there, pretending to not see the tears, angling himself so nobody else would see them.

“Iwa,” there was a deadly calm in Tooru’s voice, the kind that spelled certain destruction.

“Mm…?”

“Go to Karasuno. I don’t care what you do. I want them dead. Take who you want, just…” he snorted, looking a little crazed, “Don’t kill Sawamura… I want him to suffer.”

“Of course.”

“That crazy bitch, Sugawara, will hurt the most.”

“Mhm.”

“And Iwa…”

“Mm?”

“If you see Kageyama… bring him to me… alive…”

Hajime bowed slightly and walked off to the cars, gesturing at Makki and Mattsun, “You two stay here. Make sure he gets back alright.” Makki half-assed saluted, cigarette in hand, while Mattsun nodded. Hajime glanced at Yahaba and Kyoutani, “You two are coming with me. Where’s Kunimi and Kindaichi?”

“Making sure everybody’s out,” Makki flicked ash and scratched his nose, “There were a couple of stragglers.”

“How? There were like ten people?”

The pair shrugged.

Watari frowned from his spot leaning against the car, “What's the plan.”

Hajime paused and glanced behind him. Tooru stood by himself at the grave. He looked strong… strong and alone… Hajime’s heart ached for him.

He looked back at the group, at their expectant faces, “We’re going after Karasuno.”

Nobody said a word but there seemed to be a sigh of relief though the relief was more bloodlust.

“Go roast their asses,” Makki finished his cigarette.

“Yea. We’ll get him home,” Mattsun added, “Don’t worry about it.” Makki nodded, dropping the butt to step on it, crushing it with a little more gusto than maybe was strictly necessary.

Yahaba grabbed a set of car keys and started said vehicle. Kyotani followed him and Watari slowly went after them. Hajime gives Tooru a final glance, aching to hold him, tell him it’s going to be ok.

But it’s not.

Won’t ever be again.

He climbs into the back of the car, pausing long enough to yell at Kunimi to get his ass in the car, and barely feels it peel out and back to the house so they can gear up. He makes a couple of calls to make sure the teams he wants are ready to go when they get there. There’s a crowd waiting for them when they get in and he’s almost feeling pleased by the level they’ve prepared. The four of them grab their shit and Hajime gives the entire group a rundown on what’s going to happen. They get all excited and pile into cars, speeding out.

The first warehouse didn't stand a chance.

They rolled up and had the place on fire within minutes.

The second one was a little more difficult, but done with little trouble.

The third was when Sawamura showed up with his team of mental patients. He’d spotted Kageyama… or at least where he’d likely be given the tight leash he had on the insane redhead. They couldn’t get to him though, not like this. Hajime wasn't even sure they could take a fully loaded Karasuno, given what ammo they had left. He called in his important people and pulled back abit, letting the replaceables take the hit in hopes of catching Karasuno off guard. It almost worked with the tiny sniper, but somebody, probably Sawamura caught on. He led a retreat, hoping to just blow the place to kingdom come. The fact that Tooru wanted Sawamura alive was less important if they could just get the entirety of Karasuno’s leadership in one fell swoop.

Well except for Sugawara…

They hadn’t seen Sugawara in months though and Hajime honestly wasn’t sure if the grey-haired bastard was even alive anymore.

They’d almost made it to the back where the offices were before somebody caught up with them. He gets a feeling just as he ducks inside and hears a gun go off. Yahaba was hit, scraped more like, and shoots back but Kyotani still gets pissed.

“Iwaizumi”

Of course it’s Sawamura.

He’s like a bad smell… not noticeable at first but once there, he sticks.

“We can end this now! Call your guys off and we can talk!”

Not so fun when it’s your own men getting killed for seemingly no reason now is it.

He waves a hand at Kunimi who crunches on his lollipop and digs into his bag. There’s footsteps and then the pulling of a pin… Kyotani drags Yahaba into the office.

A distant clang on the hard concrete floor…

Kunimi closing the door behind him.

The exposition is cathartic.

He wishes he could stay to enjoy it more but that wouldn’t have gotten most of them.

They all rush out for the cars. He spots a couple of bodies, hopes they’re important enough to sting. He doesn’t see Sawamura though so he’ll assume he got away. He’s proven right when the Alpha appears a few seconds behind them. Bullets hit the car as Watari drives off. He enjoys the frantic shooting more than he should.

Your move, bastard.

They pull in, many men fewer than when they’d left. It’ll sting for a bit until they get the old spots filled with equally disposable bodies. What they’ve done to Karasuno is worth it. Every one of them died with honor and whatever families they leave behind will know it.

He heads through the spa, empty today, and on to Tooru’s office. The Omega’s been pouring over the photos again, glass of whiskey in hand. The hint of powder under his nose...

Tooru’s using again.

Hajime can’t exactly blame him for it either.

They can’t afford a relapse though, not now. Not ever if he’s being perfectly honest but… definitely not now. There’s too much riding on this for Tooru to not have his wits about him.

“What do you want,” Tooru wiped his nose and he sniffed hard, looking a fair bit miserable.

“We ruined three of their warehouses,” he replied, “Took about quite a number of their men.”

“Kageyama.”

“Still at large. We couldn’t get to him.”

Tooru doesn’t look happy, “I see,” and tipped the rest of his drink down his throat and pours another from the half empty bottle.

“We did manage to get rid of a few important ones. I don’t have names but they were close enough to Sawamura that I think he’ll suffer for it.”

That does seem to cheer Tooru up a little bit. There’s a ghost of a sad yet sadistic smirk, “I’ll assume Sugawara wasn’t seen…?”

“No.”

“Hm,” he goes to reach for something, a pill bottle, and Hajime grabs his wrist. Tooru glares at him, “You dare-”

“That’s enough.”

“My. knee. hurts.”

“And I’m sure it’ll mix fantastically with the snow and Macallen,” Hajime replied.

Tooru’s nostrils flared as he stood to use the couple of inches he had over Hajime to stare down at him, “That’s none of your business.”

“It is actually,” Hajime bares his teeth a little, “Bodyguard and all that.”

“That’s just for-” Tooru jerked his wrist, stumbling just a little, “-outside forces, you moron!”

Hajime jerked Tooru, yanked him close, “Inside. Outside. Doesn’t matter to me,” their faces were so close, their noses almost brushed. He moved as the tumbler whizzed passed his head. His hand caught that wrist too and Tooru lost his grip on the glass. It flew into the wall and shattered. Tooru struggles but the drugs and alcohol slow him down and Hajime overpowers him a little easier than usual. “I protect you… even from yourself if I have to.”

Tooru’s face crumpled, putting up less fight than Hajime had expected, and he sniffed, “I miss him.”

Hajime softened a little, “I know.”

“It hurts, Iwa… so much,” he sags against Hajime, hands gripping his shirt.

Hajime wraps him up tight, feeling him shudder and cups the back of his head as he feels the tears slicken his neck, “I know…” feels tears in his own eyes but blinks them away as Tooru quietly sobs. When he seems to have cried himself out again, Hajime pulls away just a little. He kisses his face, red and blotchy, especially his nose.

He always was an ugly crier.

Tooru just melted, let him do as he wanted. Hajime slowly backed him against the wall and pressed him to it, hands going for both their belt buckles. When Tooru didn’t object, Hajime tugged both sets down and off before hoisting Tooru up, one hand keeping the bad knee around his waist.

Careful of the knee.

Always careful of the knee.

Tooru arched against the wall as Hajime filled him up, moaning like he was in pain. He wasn’t… at least not that kind anyway. It’s a desperate thing between them. Tooru trying to forget and Hajime trying his best to help him get there.

They don’t stop at one.

Hajime gets them home and edges him over and over while he recovers himself after the second time and then impales him again to give him a third knot… then a fourth.

The sun’s threatening to show when Hajime finally puts Tooru to bed. He’s exhausted himself, wrung dry. He has nothing left to give for awhile. Tooru sleeps, stuffing his nose into Takeru’s shirt and whines every so often. Hajime showers, ending up sitting on the floor of the stall and lets the tears finally fall. His chest hurts, the bit that Takeru had taken up feeling empty. He wants to hold him again, carry him to bed. It’d been such an everyday thing that he’d forgotten to treasure it.

Tooru was a mob boss.

Takeru wasn’t.

Tooru could be taken from him at any moment by any number of people wanting him dead.

Takeru… Takeru was a pup.

Takeru had years ahead of him…

And now he had nothing and they had to try and to pick up the pieces without him..-

“TAKE-NO!”

He bolted from the shower, dripping water everywhere and almost slipping on the tile. Tooru was screaming, fighting something he couldn’t see. Hajime jumped on the bed and wrapped him up tight. Tooru fought him but he held on, trying to ease him back down from the night terror. He had to let him ride it out even as the Omega screamed and cried. It almost broke him… having to go through this again.

Takehiko had been bad…

This… this was bad.

Tooru eventually calms down and Hajime slumps next to him, completely done. He jerks awake sometime later, ready to rip limbs off. Makki holds a hand up, dropping the blankets he’d been holding. They stare at each other for a moment.

“What…?”

“You wouldn’t answer your phone and we couldn’t find Tooru so… had to come looking for you… just in case.”

In case somebody got in and got them too.

“Sorry. We’re fine.”

Makki gives him a look but nods anyway and tosses a blanket at his crotch, “I’ll keep the fact that I got an eyeful to myself.”

Hajime rolled his eyes, “Nothing you haven’t seen before.”

“I think you forget just how long ago that was,” Makki replied with some amusement, “We haven't been to that lake in like in fifteen years,” and then he frowned again, “He’s not ok is he…?”

“No.”

Makki chewed the inside of his cheek, “Issei’s worried.”

“We all are,” he glanced at the sleeping Omega, wanting to reach out but not wanting to risk waking him.

“This fucking sucks.”

Yea… it did.

What sucks even more is that Karasuno doesn’t have the decency to reach out to them.

They’re the ones who started this shit and the ball’s in their court so what the fuck is Sawamura waiting for?

Tooru gets worse. Hajime has to fuck his brains out a couple more times after he catches him using again. He’s slowly losing it. Hajime can see the toll this whole thing’s putting on him.

“Just contact them first.”

“And let them think we’re desperate!”

“We ARE desperate!” he snarls, “They killed him for no reason we can think of and they’ve not told us why! Need me to go blow some of their shit up? Because I will. I will go blow shit up-hell I’ll go find that bastard and shoot him in broad daylight-”

“Hajime-!”

“-even if it means getting popped-”

“Don’t you dare!”

“-because I can’t keep watching you spiral for no damn reason!”

“DON’T YOU DARE FUCKING LEAVE ME!”

They stare at each other for a moment, both heaving for breath, looking furious, but not necessarily at each other, but the air was charged for violence anyway.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Tooru choked, “Don’t you dare leave me, Iwaizumi Hajime. Don’t you fucking dare. You swore your life to me and I will end you myself if you walk out that door to do something so fucking stupid.”

“I won’t leave,” Hajime replied.

Tooru’s eyes flashed, “Kneel.”

Hajime sank to the floor like his knees had forgotten how to work, landing hard on the wood.

Tooru gripped his hair, craning his head back to bare his throat. Hajime lets him. Tooru can do what he wants to him. It doesn't matter.

A hand grabs his collar and rips it open, buttons bouncing everywhere. He feels his pulse jump, swallows half a gasp. Tooru’s nose traces his throat, the side of his neck… before biting down hard where it meets his shoulder. He grunts a bit, feeling the blood well and drip a little. A hot tongue wipes it up and the hand not in his hair grabs his wrists, pulling them up and yanking the cuffs down to show the mandela tattoos inked into his forearms.

“You are mine.”

“Yours.”

“You. are not. allowed to leave me,” the hand jerks his hair, “You promised.”

“I won’t leave you.”

“You’re mine.”

“Always.”

Tooru kisses him hard. He can taste his own blood, but it doesn't matter. What does is that Tooru believes that he won’t leave him, not now.

Not ever.

He’ll die belonging to Tooru…

He’ll die either protecting him or putting a bullet in his own head for failing him.

Tooru seems placated enough and walks away to his desk. He scrawls something and stuffs it in an envelope before going for the door and leaving, “Kunimi!”

Hajime stays put for awhile. The ache in his neck is deep, throbbing. It'll be tender for days, but that's fine.

That’s fine.

The note is sent off, the request to meet with Sawamura the following afternoon made. They arrive at the bar with plenty of time. The owner seese them coming, gives Tooru a nod and vacates, leaving the keys on the bar. Tooru reaches over to grab a glass and a bottle, pouring himself a drink as the others get to work rearranging the place as he wants. Once it’s set, the rest, save Mattsun and Makki, leave to get to their posts outside. They wait in silence for fifteen, maybe twenty minutes before there’s word that Sawamura’s car is two minutes out. Mattsun and Makki leave to guard the door and Tooru puts his glass down, checks his gun, and slowly crosses to sit in the chair facing the door. Hajime takes his place behind him after making sure his is also loaded and ready to go.

There’s the slam of a car door… four of them if he heard right.

The door to the bar opens and there’s some shuffling as Makki and Mattsun pat them down and whatnot before leading them inside.

Sawamura shows first-

He feels Tooru tense, “I should shoot you where you stand.”

-followed by Sugawara…

“That’s not very sporting is it?” the Omega grinned a bit.

So he wasn’t dead after all.

Where have they been hiding him… and why…?

“If it isn’t Mr. Refreshing. Haven’t seen you in awhile,” Tooru seems to have come to the same line of questions.

“Miss me?” the Karasuno Omega didn’t seem inclined to give them answers.

“Like a cavity. Sit.”

The pair obliged, Sawamura sitting across from Tooru and Sugawara between them. Nobody spoke as Makki set glasses down and Mattsun poured drinks for everybody and set the bottle in the middle of the table, slightly closer to Tooru. They retreated to the entry to give them the illusion of privacy. Tooru knocked his drink back in one go and refilled it. Sugawara didn’t touch his but Sawamura sipped at his a little.

Tooru reached for the bottle, “Tell me why you’re here,” and refilled his glass.

“You requested a meeting,” Sawamura didn’t seem all that confident with his answer.

Tooru snorted, throwing another glass back and slammed it on the table, rightfully frustrated, “You are the one who wanted to talk to me.”

“I’m sorry?” Sawamura seems at a loss and Hajime doesn’t know if he should be enraged or not.

The Crow is Karasuno’s trademark.

Why is the Alpha pretending to not know what they’re talking about-

“Takeru… You take my nephew from me... and then have the gall to pretend not to remember?”

“HEY HEY HEY!” of course Sugawara tries to protect his Alpha, “Why don’t we calm down?”

“I am calm.”

“Tooru… what happened to Takeru?”

“He’s dead. You people killed him.”

“Put the gun down… we’ll talk. Ok?” Sugawara grabbed the bottle and poured another drink, urging Tooru to slowly lower the gun to rest it on the tabletop.

Hajime didn’t see any danger in it so let him.

Tooru tossed the drink back.

The Karasuno Omega laced his fingers and leaned over the table, tone all cajoling as he explained away why it couldn’t have been them. 

“Then why was my nephew found strung up looking like a Karasuno Crow!”

Sugawara and Sawamura look at each other and then back at Tooru.

“Oikawa… that wasn’t us. We wouldn’t touch Take-”

“Don’t. You don’t get to say his name.”

“We wouldn’t. touch him,” Sawamura spoke slower, using that Alpha-cajoling tone, “If it had been one of your men, Hanamakki or the Mad Dog, yea you could probably pin that on us. We don’t do kids like that. You know that. We would never do something like that to a kid.”

Tooru growled, “Then who, the fuck, did. Who would do such a thing to Ta-” his voice caught.

“Maybe somebody wants us at each other’s throats. Someone’s trying to get by both of us and has us distracted,” Sugawara suggested after a brief silence.

“Who the fuck would do that?”

“I don’t know…” the Karasuno Omega verbally shrugged, “Who wants in on the trade? Who wants our territories?”

“Fuckin’ Ushiwaka… He would-”

“I doubt it,” Sawamura replied.

“He’s been after me for a long time!” Tooru snipped, “So why not?”

“Because that’s the absolutely least productive way to make you see his side of things. If it was him, he would’ve had that Beta of his kidnap him, framed someone else and then returned him unharmed himself. He’d never outright kill him.”

Oikawa deflated a little, “Then who? If not you and not Ushiwaka then who would have the balls to do this?”

Who indeed.

Karasuno had the most to gain from this honestly. The honest horror on both of their faces makes Hajime wonder if maybe that’s not the case this time... Sugawara could act… Sawamura not so much. He's always been an honest man, not good necessarily, but honest. The genuine shock on both of their faces suggests that they've gotten this whole thing wrong.

“Have we looked at Dateko or Ohgiminami?” Sugawara asked.

“Johzenji’s been antsy,” Hajime added, deciding that, if nothing else, they could play along with it.

Sawamura seemed to relax minutely, “So we have a few leads. Let’s look into those… see where they go. Tooru… We didn’t kill him... but we will help you find out who did.”

Tooru slowly nodded, “We’ll take Dateko and Ohgiminami.”

“We’ll look into Johzenji,” he paused and then- “One thing…”

The tone was hesitant… off… like he knew the request might not be welcomed. Hajime readied himself something, anything. Given the rest of the conversation, he assumed it’d be about the murder anyway.

Tooru sounded very done with this whole thing… drained, “What.”

“Could we see the body...”

Oh shit-!

Of everything Hajime had thought might be said… that wasn’t it.

Tooru jumped to his feet and almost over the table, “What!. You dare-”

It made sense though.

If anybody knew about Karasuno Crows, it’d be them.

Hajime threw arms around him, struggling to keep him still, “Oikawa, listen.” Tooru just snarled, wriggling to get free and tear at Sawamura’s throat. He almost got loose and Hajime, not wanting to use a Command, did the only other thing he could think of. He pitched the back of Tooru’s neck like one would a pup. The Omega froze, slumping into him abit. Hajime hed him up and nodded at Sawamura, hoping this was what he thought it might be.

“We know how the Crow’s done. Looking at the body will tell us how they did it. That could give us a clue on who’s responsible.”

Tooru inhaled, held it, and let go before tapping his arm. Hajime slowly let go and-

He never saw the hand coming.

It cracked across his face, sending him spiraling.

It was humiliating but… he honestly deserved it.

He’d made Tooru look weak, uncontrolled in front of, if they weren’t enemies at the moment then they were very hesitant allies.

Unforgivable.

“Don’t. You. ever.”

It stung… the betrayed anger… the disappointment…

Tooru inhaled a growl, “He’s been buried… but we have pictures. You’re free to look through them if you think it’ll help… and you will report back to me. Understood.”

“Of course.”

“Good. We’re done here,” Tooru marched off, Hajime quickly going after him. Neither say a word as they pass Makki and Mattsun, other than to tell them to have the Karasuno people follow them. Watari's got the car going by the time they get there. Hajime opens the door and lets Tooru get in first before slipping in behind him. They stay quiet for half the trip back to the office.

“Iwa-chan…” Tooru’s fingers touched his face. He jerked away, the slight pressure not feeling great against the still-swelling bruise, “Iwa…” He sounded… small.

He glanced at the mob boss who was almost in tears, “It’s ok.”

“It’s not, Hajime… I’m sorry…” Tooru collapsed against him, clinging to his shirt as he cried, “I’m sorry, Iwa.”

He cupped the back of Tooru’s head, fingers tangling in soft brown hair, “It’s ok.”

He’s calmed down by the time they’ve arrived at the spa. He takes a moment to make sure his face is flawless again before getting out and heading inside. Hajime follows him, trusting Makki and Mattsun to watch their backs. Tooru opens the drawer… the one they’d stashed the photos in, and drops it on the desk.

“Here. Look at them and go,” there’s tension in his face.

They look through them for awhile, whispering to each other and pointing things out on different photos. He swears Tooru’s going to burst a blood vessel when they say ‘it’s not that bad’. The Omega refuses to look at the couple of pictures Sugawara tries to show him so Hajime does it for it. It hurts, but he tries to focus on what he’s being told.

The pair leave and Tooru goes to slowly put the photos back in their file before taking it back to where he’d stashed it. He leans on the desk once he’s done, shoulders slumped. Hajime waits, sensing that Tooru wants something, but can’t quite talk yet.

“We go for Dateko first,” he finally looked up, “of the two, they’re the most likely to have something to do with this so we need to do it quick before they realize we’re onto them. I don’t want to tangle with them all if we can avoid it.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“We need to figure out when Moniwa is at his most lonely. He doesn’t stay inside his fortress as often as some of the others. If we can figure it out, it’ll be easier to get him.”

Yahaba comes back with that info within the week.

Moniwa rarely goes anywhere without both of his Alpha companions.

He’s never seen without at least one.

Tooru takes that under advisement.

Hajime wonders how he’s going to deal with it. Ideally it’d be with just one of the Alphas. He can take one… possibly two, but he won’t commit to that if Tooru’s in the same room.

His worry only grows when he knocks on Tooru’s office door one afternoon. Makki appears, offers half an unconvincing smile while looking a little paler than usual, and walks away. Tooru’s face is frozen, somewhere between forced-happy and soul-shattered-upset. It looked like he’d been slapped across the face with news and he wasn’t sure how to process it.

“What’s up?”

Brows furrow, “Nothing important.”

Hajime doubted that but said nothing and Tooru didn’t elaborate.

They get more information, find CCTV footage that have a couple of Dateko guys around the area the night Takeru was murdered. Something had gone a little fuzzy with their own cameras that nobody had caught until they’d looked at it again. He wasn’t sure how they’d missed it the first time but that was neither here nor there now. The way it looked like it’d been done had Nametsu Mei’s fingerprints all over it anyway.

As Shido said: something something computer jargon, tricked firewall, nerd shit, fuzzed it so it looked like maybe it was raining.

Or something like that.

Either way, it was enough for them to go ahead with the plan to get to Moniwa.

It takes a couple of weeks to pin them down. When they finally do, Tooru goes for it. He leaves Makki and Mattsun behind which seems like an odd choice but Hajime doesn’t question it. As it is, Tooru decides that he and Hajime are the only ones going in initially, hoping that the lack of numbers will make Moniwa talk easier.

“Remember what I told you,” Tooru mutters as they ready to burst into the room. Hajime nods. He doesn’t like the plan… doesn’t think it’s necessary. In light of the situation though, maybe it’s the best way to go. Tooru’s always been good with plans. There’s no reason to think he’s totally off this time.

The Dateko Beta looks very confused when they walk through the door, “What’s going on?”

“I’ve got a bone to pick with you,” Tooru replied, “You’ve got some info and I want it.”

“I’m… confused.”

“Hacking into my security has you confused?” Tooru replied, tone acidic, “Murdering someone you don’t have issues with to get to me? A child at that.”

“Oikawa I really don’t-”

Tooru flicked a wrist.

Hajime pulls his gun and points it at Kamasaki.

Moniwa gasps, “No-”

He fires.

The Alpha goes down, clutching the wound. It’s not immediately fatal. He could be saved, but it needs to be done soon.

It just depends on what Moniwa has to offer them and how fast he gives it to them.

He shifts, pointing his weapon at Sasaya to keep him put.

“Ready to talk now?” Tooru asked.

“I don’t know what you want!” Moniwa’s pressing his hands to the Alpha’s wound, blood staining his fingers.

“Takeru-! You took Takeru! Strung him up in a Crow-”

“Are you nuts!” Moniwa squeaked, “Why would I try to beef with you? Like that?”

“You tell me,” Tooru replied, “There’s only so many outside of Karasuno and Shiratorizawa that would even think to try something against me and you’re one of them.”

“You’re insane,” Moniwa hissed, “Do you really think I’d just go after your nephew? Do you really think I’d kill him and let it alone for this long?” Kamasaki starts to heave, torso shuddering with pain and lack of oxygen. Moniwa glares at them and fusses over the Alpha, “Shh. It’s ok.”

It’s not ok.

The Alpha’s going to die if he doesn’t get medical attention soon.

But maybe Moniwa knows that.

“It’s ok.”

“Boss-” Sasaya starts.

“Don’t,” Moniwa glares up at them, “It doesn’t matter.”

Sasaya glances at Hajime, “We’re not… are we…?”

“Of course we’re not,” Moniwa replied, cradling Kamasaki, “They came for blood and they’ll get it. Whether it was us or not, he doesn’t care.”

“If it wasn’t you, then you know who is. I only need a name. I need-”

“You need someone to blame,” Moniwa growled, “Well guess what? I know who it is because he came to me, offering an alliance to get rid of you.”

“Then who-”

Moniwa chuckled, “Go die, Oikawa. You’ve made that information worth my life so you won’t be getting it.”

Tooru’s lip curled, “You-!”

“Keep trying. Maybe you’ll catch the bastard before the rest get fed up with you.”

Sasaya stepped forward, face stoney as he dropped next to his leader. Hajime’s not sure what’s going on but there’s a finality that’s maybe not quite sitting well with him. He points his weapon, ready to pull the trigger when Sasaya tugs his loose from his waistband. The Alpha merely rests it on his thigh as Moniwa pulls his own gun. Hajime’s not sure what he’s seeing as Sasaya kisses the Beta’s forehead and Moniwa presses one to Kamasaki’s.

The Omega looks up, face indescribably bitter yet at peace as he pins Tooru with a look, “We might go but The Wall will remain. Good luck when it comes crashing down on top of you.”

It happens so fast Hajime’s not sure what's going until it over.

Both guns are put to the Alpha’s heads.

“Wai-!”

BANG.

He pulled the trigger and Sasaya pulled his, collapsing against the Beta. Moniwa hugged them both for a brief second and turned the gun on himself. Hajime goes to grab it-

BANG.

Moniwa falls back, Sasaya with him.

Hajime stares at the scene, not sure what to think about it.

Tooru’s face is… Hajime’s not sure what that expression is.

Horrified but numb yet… resigned… or something like that anyway.

They step away from the bodies, leaving them there. Dateko will find them soon enough and they probably wouldn’t take kindly to find the bodies dumped somewhere.

Then again… maybe dumping them will give them time enough to prepare.

“What are we-”

Tooru waved a hand, cutting him off, “Yahaba!”

The Beta appeared from where they’d left him, “Yea.”

“Get Mad Dog and Kindachi. Clean this up.”

“Where do you want them?”

“Someplace Dateko can’t fucking find them. It’s not them and I don’t want to deal with them.”

Yahaba trotted off to collect the others. The bodies are cleared out in no time and Tooru’s come no closer to having a plan just in general. They’d met with Moniwa and gotten really nothing out of it… except a pile of bodies and the very real possibility of an angry Dateko Iron Wall coming for them in the future.

Hajime doesn’t like it.

He’s not sure where it’s spiraled like this, but he feels like this whole thing has gotten out of control and there doesn’t seem to be a good way to ease it back into something resembling… not this.

Tooru’s not been behaving like himself for awhile but this… this just seemed to be so not him. He thinks better than this. Hajime’s not sure what’s going on… if this is strictly just because of Takeru… or if something else is up with him.

They step outside and Tooru pauses to make sure all but their car is gone before going to the lone vehicle. Hajime keeps eyes peeled for Dateko. There were none to see though, given that this was a routine thing and they’re expected to be gone for a couple of hours.

Or so he hopes.

The information might have been good a week ago but there’s not telling if they’ve made different plans.

Tooru climbs into the driver’s seat and starts the car. Hajime gets in beside him, bracing for when Tooru gunned it out of the parking lot. The Omega drove off like a bat out of hell, going through the whole of Miyagi over the course of the next few hours. Neither said much the entire time. Tooru seemed to be thinking hard about something… or everything. Hajime wasn’t sure and didn’t want to interrupt him in case it was something important. He wished Tooru would talk to him. He’d been unusually distant since Takeru’s death but even more after that little whatever it was with Makki. Hajime couldn’t begin to figure out what that was about. Neither Makki nor Mattsun had said anything to him and he hadn’t thought that he should ask.

But… maybe he should.

He’d have to see how Tooru was in a day or two.

When they finally pulled in, Tooru looked worn out. He leaned against the steering wheel for a moment before getting out of the car. Hajime followed him out and up to their floor. Makki had just opened his door when the elevator dinged open. Tooru ignored him and Makki looked upset before just closing the door again.

Weird.

“Hey,” he closed their door, “What was tha-”

“Moniwa knew something,” Tooru cut him off, clearly not wanting to discuss it, “He knew something and that bitch offed himself to spite me.”

“What is the plan then…”

“We need to figure out who he talked to... Maybe Ohgiminami will be something… Or maybe it’s fucking them-! Maybe fucking Ohgiminami got too big for their brains and thought having a couple of them gang up on us would be a good idea.”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe,” Tooru sounded alot more pent up than he did confident, “Iwa…” the tone shifted… going a little sad, a little desperate.

It pulled at him, “Tooru…?”

“Fuck me…?” chocolate eyes looked at him.

Hajime took the few steps closer and cupped his face, “Always,” and kissed him. Tooru melted for a moment as Hajime guided him back into their room. Once there, he took to ripping Hajime’s clothes off and shoved him back on the bed. Tooru stripped and pounced. Hajime shifted as he was prodded until Tooru sank down on him and rode himself to a fast orgasm, leaving Hajime behind. Once he’d gathered his breath, Tooru rolled off and presented himself. Hajime took the hint and fucked him within an inch of his life and then pulled the blankets over them once his knot swelled. His hand curled over Tooru’s flat belly, hoping.

Hoping.

Tooru threw himself into investigating Ohgiminami over the next week. There’s a couple of nights where Hajime finds him passed out at the computer. Most of the data’s old though. Someone else took over within the last year and everything with the smaller syndicate has been switched up. Kindachi finds out who the new guy is once he’s told they’ve had the wrong info.

Yoshiki Towada is easy enough to find and intimidate into talking.

Not that he has much in the way of helpful information.

All he’s heard was rumors that ranged anywhere from a nasty joke to one of the Tokyo syndicates getting intimidated and trying to put him back in his place.

They were on their way out when they realized these punks have some of their missing weapons. Tooru’s phone goes off with a loud cawing. Tooru ignores it and gestures. Hajime nods.

No wonder he’d looked relieved when they’d mentioned the assassination…

“What’s this, Yoshiki?”

Watching him pale in real time was… satisfying.

“I-I mean…”

“This is my shit. Why do you have it?”

“I-We found it.”

“‘Found. It.’” Tooru cocked a hip before pulling his gun and shot the man. The rest of them pulled their own weapons and cleared the room before Ohgiminami had a chance to retaliate. “Grab our shit. We should’ve had that weeks ago. I need to make a call,” Tooru strode out, pulling his phone to return Sawamura’s call. Hajime followed, because he always did.

Always would.