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A few months of them being on the run.
Looking back on their first meeting, it’s hard to believe that her and Kei would get to this point. Not just becoming partners in crime; but partners in the romantic sense too.
if Nagumo told Rion she’d wind up with the wet blanket that’s too serious for his own good, she would’ve started a fight. Then, Sakamoto would join in because his instincts equate his two buddies going at it as a sign to make it worse. Then, they’d all get into trouble.
(This is why you don’t form a friend group comprised of just meatheads.)
Not that Kei is horrible by any means, his face is actually very decent. He’s also got his own charm; behaving like a naggy wife that acts genuinely concerned for her sake. Is it a thing to have a soft spot for the people belonging to the wife spectrum?
Rion ponders on that when she can’t see her niece, Akira, who’s top-tier grade wife material. It’s too dangerous to give her a call, not without risking the JAA tracking them down because they’re all tricky bastards like that. Giving Nagumo and Sakamoto a heads up is out too.
She inhales the last cigarette in her pack as she waits in front of the store. A habit's hard to stop when its become like another layer of skin. And Rion can’t be bothered to shed it. Not when she’s an assassin that would prefer to end it her way and not chance it.
A jingle goes off followed by doors opening.
“Rion,” Kei says with a bag in hand. “Sorry. Did I keep you waiting?”
Rion secures the smoke between two fingers.
”Nah. You were pretty fast.”
……
They may be lovers but that doesn’t mean they’re at the stage where they can share the same bed. That’s why they sleep separately. Plus, a girl needs her privacy.
For only tonight, they’re sleeping in some abandoned warehouse. There are no lights or nearby buildings so natural light is all they’ve got alongside some just in case flashlights.
Rion positions her sleeping bag closest to a window. It kills two birds with one stone:
1)Keeping watch, whenever.
2)it’s easy to grab Kei and they’ll both jump out of it.
Win-win.
Kei is quiet. Even as he’s about to head off to bed, his voice gentle as a light breeze, says, “Night.”
”Night,” Rion parrots.
Kei has this practically soundless vibe to him. It might’ve been reinforced due to his cruddy older brother Asaki. Rion watches him sink into his sleeping bag, strains her ears to hear the fabric pulling down and his weight landing.
No one else but them. In this giant warehouse.
Rion lays on her side, resting her head atop of one hand as she continues looking in Kei’s direction.
Sharing a room with a guy is something Rion never really envisioned for herself.
For the rough approximation of Rion’s life, she imagined it going something like this: Akira, her darling niece, as the main priority, the pack of smokes somewhere after her and then, killing. Okay, killing can be placed higher than the smokes because how else would she get them? It also pays for the food that keeps her and Kei from starving to death.
Rion rubs at her belly thinking of that spicy tuna onigiri Kei bought from the store. It was seriously fricken delicious! Best thing she ate the entire day. She might’ve been fantasizing too hard about it because Kei is looking right at her.
“Rion?” Kei says, concerned. “Are you cold? Your stomach hurt?”
Her wife-yet-not is at it again. How sweet.
”Kei.” Rion yawns audibly before waving off his concern. “I told you this before already. The sleeping bag is enough. Also, those onigiri were on fire. Just thinking about them again makes me want another.”
And Kei, who still can’t fully understand jokes, despite it already being a good few months with her (though Rion isn’t complaining; it’s just one of his charms) says with alarm, “That’s not good. I was sure they hadn’t expired! Do you need medicine?!“
Rion barks out a laugh. Kei, sits up, thinking she’s being attacked and her stomach is hurting alright--from all the laughter.
“You’re kill—too much sometimes Kei. Ahah..” Wiping away at stray tears. She flops down on her sleeping bag, golden eyes glinting in the dark before sleep eclipses them.
She’s smiling as she sleeps.
-
Kei is worried.
What if Rion wakes up in the middle of the night puking or dying? But she said she was okay. And when Rion says she’s alright he’s learned she’s probably right.
The moonlight washes over her as she sleeps. Kei lays roughly a meter away. As the moon keeps moving throughout the night, its rays will eventually touch him too, but for now, they held only Rion.
Kei has come to learn that as Rion sleeps, she occasionally snores. Loud. So much so that if he had any sleep problems in the past, it was unfortunately thanks to her, but he’s gotten used to it. Another habit of hers is some drooling and he’s thankful he remembered to buy a box of Kleenex’s from the convenience store. It sits nearby at the ready.
Kei would admit that he’s sensitive for those he cares about—Rion isn’t an exception. If anything, she’s the clearest example of it and it keeps him awake at night from time to time.
The fact that there’s someone Asaki can’t get his hands on to threaten him with is terrifying as it is exciting. But also, highly risky. Never mind his own life, Asaki knows that Kei has little regard for it—that’s why he aims for his loved ones.
Kei hears a noise. A low groan. Rion is groaning so he shoots up. That onigiri must’ve done something after all. You really can’t trust the date of expiry sometimes, even if, made fresh.
Utilizing his natural stealth, he’s by her side in no time. He can’t see her face. Turned the opposite his direction, but she’s still groaning and that feeds into his fear. The worry that he screwed up by being naive. Gaku had stomach problems before too. That, being a result of him looking at an expired can of meat and saying, “Eh, probably still good.” Kei remembers, the weakness in Gaku’s voice. Remembers with clarity, how green his face looked and thought that only in the animes they watched together could someone look that colourful.
“Rion,” Kei gently says.
She’s still groaning. Is about to shake her when he hears. “Akira…don’t take away my cigs. I don’t want a vape. Those are only for the weaklings..”
Oh. She is okay. More than alright.
”Rion,” he lightly shakes her, and she startles awake.
“Kei..? Why..?”
“You were having a nightmare.”
”Oh. Thanks.”
She goes back to sleep. This time, lying on her back and not curled up on the side.
Moonlight gleams off her skin. There’s no sign of green, unless you count when her hair catches against the sun and it twirls the blues around into different shades that look like greens.
What a relief. He won’t have a visceral memory of someone else learning why you can’t always trust what they say about food preservation.
This close, she smells like tobacco-mint; the toothpaste did its best and Rion avoids smoking before bedtime but it stays on her. Tobacco. Stubborn and aggressive—quite like her. The only part that’s a mismatch is that it can slowly kill her from the inside. He tries to not dwell on that part.
He’s thought of convincing her to quit smoking. They’re both assassins and he can’t force his ideals on her when he has no idea how long they have left to live. He never knows with Asaki, who can and will do as he wants. Even if Kei fiercely objects.
Kei eyes Rion. In less than a year, she’d become someone he hopes, can live a long life and survive his cursed older brother with him.
He isn’t thinking much when he lowers his face to hers. He just. Got pulled. Doesn’t bother resisting it. Like how he wouldn’t resist when she’s bumping shoulders with him or holding hands.
His lips meet hers. Fleeting. Gentle.
It lasts for only a few seconds but Kei feels the hours in them; seeing her so close he could see the minute details of her lashes and waves of her exhales signalling her guard down. Rion is asleep. Rion is vulnerable. But Kei thinks, She’s still beautiful.
He inches, furtively, back to his sleeping bag.
The moon’s light shifts away from Rion, darkness coming to cloud her but some rays stay like the one near her slightly parted mouth. Her light snoring. Her just being her.
It puts Kei at ease.
The sounds of Rion Akao.
Mint with tobacco. That’s what Kei is thinking before sleep takes him. We still have plenty of toothpaste left.
-
The next morning they’re preparing to head out.
Rion is quiet. Her ‘good morning’ lacking their usual energy. Kei wonders if it’s a delayed reaction from yesterday’s dinner after all. She’s out the door before he can even ask.
He’s left to pack up their stuff. It’s not much; two sleeping bags, their flashlights and some other essentials an assassin would need. He’ll go for another grocery run when she comes back.
“Hey,” Rion calls from behind as Kei closes the back door.
Good timing.
Kei’s mouth is opening up, ready to talk things over, when she grabs him by his collar and kisses him.
This is.
Not what he expected. At all.
It’s a long moment. Just lips. Nothing extra. Kei is breathing and reminds himself to, and it’s that scent again: minty tobacco. And in the morning light, flecks of greens in her blues.
When Rion lets go, her eyes are alight, and she’s fuming.
“What kind of a jerk kisses a girl when she’s asleep?!” Rion says, quickly turning on her heels. “That’s not how you kiss someone! You do it when they’re actually wide awake!”
Kei is stunned. Can’t move an inch until his mind and body catch up. Rion’s storming off in some direction but it’s the exact opposite of where they’re going. His body snaps to action and giving her chase.
“Wait, Rion. Do that again! I wasn’t ready the first time!” Kei calls after her. “Rion! I just need one more chance!“
She refuses to face him. Not when her face is burning hot and her heart feels the rushing shots of adrenaline. Rion is regretting how much of an impulsive person she can be which is at odds with the daredevil congratulating her.
Ugh. I need a cig.
“Rion!”
“Can it Kei!”