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Shirou likes to think that he is the least morally questionable person among the people he knows. Admittedly, that bar is extremely low, because most of his acquaintances are also Ryou-kun’s acquaintances, but it is true.
So when Ryou-kun texts him out of nowhere, Shirou is once more reminded of how low that bar really is.
>> shirou. a new project of mine is coming in, dont meddle
<< I’ve started to stop checking people’s records because you keep being mad when I do background checks.
>> glad to see you know your place
<< I just don’t like having to deal with you.
And that is that. Or at least, Shirou would like for it to be that way, but he can see the ‘Ryou-kun is typing…’ and that has never been a good thing.
—When Ryou-kun finally finishes typing, Shirou is met with a poorly-lit picture of a half-naked, sleeping boy, sprawled out in Ryou-kun’s bed…
And Shirou can feel his heart skip a beat.
He’s kinda cute , Shirou thinks, and he wants to unthink that immediately, because the people who sleep with Ryou-kun have turned out to be decidedly uncute thus far. In fact, Shirou has slept with Ryou-kun, and he doesn’t consider himself cute.
>> like what youre seeing? if so, make sure the package stays intact. i heard kujou has been up to a little vandalism before
<< Why would I want to get in trouble with Kujou-san?
Also, don’t call him that , Shirou finds himself thinking, like he’s already attached to a guy he doesn’t know. Maybe being a corporate slave does cause loneliness.
>> live a little! imagine how pissed he’d be if we made the next first class soldier lol
Shirou really hates the word ‘we’ in that sentence, but he knows better than to object, because while Ryou-kun may not have dirt on him, he absolutely can fabricate something if he needs to.
And before Shirou can reply anything, Ryou-kun follows up with the relevant data.
Isumi Haruka, 17 years old, previously rejected from SOLDIER despite having the aptitude because, in Ryou-kun’s words, ‘he didn’t resemble Kujou’s ex enough’.
<< Can you tell me anything about him as a person?
>> he’s a needy brat. in bed, too. you’ll see
That is not what Shirou asked for. And now he’s imagining it. Great .
<< Fine, if you’re unwilling to help, I’ll figure it out myself.
The day of Isumi-san’s official admittance comes faster than it should, entirely off-season, too, as if it’s not suspicious at all that someone would get accepted to soldier without any other recruits around.
Shirou supposes the guy will need all the help he can get.
Nobody is around to show Isumi-san around, either, presumably because everytime Ryou-kun gets someone enlisted, there’s very little official communication about it.
Still, when Shirou steps out of the elevator of the SOLDIER floor and watches the boy from that picture sit on a bench, visibly sulking , he can’t help thinking that he really is that cute.
Finally, Isumi-san notices him, and while Shirou didn’t have opinions about favourite eye colours until now, he now hopes to hell and back that the Mako won’t take to Isumi-san’s eyes too fast.
“I’m—”
“Isumi-san, right?” Shirou decides to take a step forward, and he watches as Isumi-san gets up… just to take a step back. Wary, huh?
“And who are you?”
“I’m Utsugi Shirou. I work here as a secretary.” Then, even though that absolutely ruins any positive first impressions, “Ryou-kun told me you would be coming.”
“He did?!” Isumi-san’s expression brightens up immediately, and Shirou can find himself being kind of happy for him. “I thought he’d pranked me and I wasn’t actually accepted…”
Oh no. That’s cute.
Apparently, it’s showing on Shirou’s face, because Isumi-san is pouting, “Hey, don’t make fun of me!”
“Welcome to SOLDIER, Isumi-san.”
“Thanks, I guess…”
Shirou makes a note to be as nice as humanly possible to him, because that blush is a sight he’d love to etch into his retinas.
Clearly, he's not overinvested at all.
Shirou learns a lot of things about Isumi-san very fast. He has a ridiculous sweet tooth, he rants about Kujou Tenn and Kujou Takamasa pretty much every possible time, he’s really, really weak to praise…
And most unfortunately, he's overambitious.
Shirou would rather not watch him push himself to the brink, but it is this attitude that got him to rise up to SOLDIER 2nd Class within barely a few weeks.
Unfortunately, Shirou knows that that is the end of the line. In fact, it has been the end of the line for so many that it is ridiculous. Being a SOLDIER 1st Class means either being that competent or having that little moral reservations.
Isumi-san, despite his objections, is too soft. Shirou thinks that's a good thing.
“Utsugi-san, why won’t they promote me?”
So Shirou averts his gaze, because he doesn’t want to lie to him. After all, he’s grown quite attached.
“Fine. I’ll train more.”
And before Shirou can say anything, Isumi-san walks off.
Two weeks into Isumi-san not showing up, Shirou does get antsy. The higher-ups haven’t been assigning Isumi-san to missions, so Shirou can’t track him down there, either.
And rumors about his absence are spreading rapidly. Some tabloid has been collecting intel on his background, and from what Shirou’s informants have said, they intend to publish an article about it.
That, Shirou decides, he cannot let stand, so he hands in his application for a day off…
…and heads down to Wall Market.
Surely, Ryou-kun can be helpful with this rather unreasonable endeavour.
When Shirou finally arrives at Ryou-kun’s ridiculously extravagant house— even for Wall Market standards, mind you— he can hear familiar voices.
“What? Did they throw you out already ? And here I thought you had it in you, Haruka.”
Somehow, Shirou feels a tinge of annoyance at hearing Ryou-kun call Isumi-san by his first name. If Shirou was any worse of a person, one might say he’s possessive. Clearly, he isn’t, though.
“No, I just—” From the sound of his voice, Isumi-san might be about to cry. “Ryou-san, you’re the worst.”
And before Shirou can react, the door opens and Isumi-san runs straight into him.
“...Utsugi-san?”
“Isumi-san.” Shirou watches the door fall shut, and he looks down into Isumi-san’s teary eyes— thinks it’s kind of pretty, really, and that it’s a shame Ryou-kun caused this for all the wrong reasons— and almost naturally, his hand finds his way to Isumi-san’s head.
And Isumi-san leans in to the touch, breathing less raggedly, until… “I know why I’m here, but why are you here?”
Uh-oh.
Shirou considers lying, but he knows that Isumi-san has been lied to enough in his life at this point.
And as if Isumi-san read his thoughts, he mutters, “Don’t you dare lie to me as well.”
Perhaps it’s fucked up that Shirou enjoys being needed in this situation, but he does, and so he says, “I came here to get someone disposed of. Not Ryou-kun though, sorry.”
“You should, though.” Isumi-san wraps his arms around Shirou, and Shirou doesn’t have the willpower to not let it happen. “Who?”
“It’s fine, I’ll just ask Ryou-kun and—”
“Utsugi-san, do you not need me, either?”
“I do, Isumi-san, but—”
“Wait, say that again.”
Shirou figures that that request is a lot easier to comply with, so he continues to pet Isumi-san head. “I need you, Isumi-san.”
“Well, if you do, then let me do it.”
“...Alright.”
Honestly, Shirou wishes they could stay like this forever, but they are in front of Ryou-kun’s house and—
“Are you done being gross and mushy?”
Too late.
“Shut up, Ryou-san.” It comes out muffled because Isumi-san said it into Shirou’s shirt.
Ryou-kun is leaning against the doorframe. “Oh, you recovered fast. And Shirou,” he raises an eyebrow. “I see you’ve picked up the package I sent.”
Isumi-san turns around, presumably to stare daggers into Ryou-kun.
Shirou’s customer service smile, however, is practiced. “I think ‘package’ is a little…”
“Would you prefer ‘dog’?”
“That’s Touma!” Shirou is not sure how to feel about Isumi-san’s interjection, because he has met Inumaru-san, and he did seem kind of doglike.
But that is clearly not what Ryou-kun means. “Did you want anything in particular, Ryou-kun?”
“I was trying to make the noise in front of my door go away.”
Annoying .
Shirou sighs. “Didn’t I get you noise-cancelling headphones for your birthday? Use them.”
A glance at Isumi-san tells Shirou that he is failing to pretend to be an upstanding citizen— actually, he mostly is an upstanding citizen!— but Ryou-kun doesn’t understand nice words. Never has.
And there it is. Ryou-kun's trademark sleazy expression. “Oh, but I used them on Haruka over there. Wouldn’t want them on me now, you see?”
Isumi-san’s expression switches from a blush to disgust to anger in the span of a mere second, and Shirou decides it’s time to go. So he grabs Isumi-san by the hand and begins to move, but—
“Haruka, come back sometime! I’ll tell you all about Shirou’s dirty secrets~”
And from Isumi-san’s clear display of interest, Shirou can tell that he needs to spill the beans himself if he wants to have an intact reputation.
“So, how do you know Ryou-san?”
“Well… I wouldn’t quite call us childhood friends, but we’ve known each other for a long time.” And then, as if that clarifies anything, “Ryou-kun didn’t make his family very happy, so they didn’t give him a position at Shinra.”
“But you got in there despite that?”
“I used to babysit him.” Shirou really wants the topic to change at this point, but from the look of pity in Isumi-san’s eyes, he suspects that Isumi-san got the wrong idea.
“You shouldn’t have to associate with Ryou-san. I can dispose of people, so just—”
“Isumi-san, you deserve better than that.”
“Deserve…?”
Shirou might die if he continues to get looked at with this much adoration.
“Then, Utsugi-san, if I dispose of that person, do I deserve a kiss?”
“Isumi-san, that’s—”
“You said I deserve better!”
“Better than me, too,” Shirou interjects, and he immediately wants to punch himself for it. Of course Isumi-san deserves better. But associating with Shirou means eventually running into Ryou-kun again, and if Shirou actually cared about Isumi-san’s well-being, he’d keep the two of them far apart, even at his own expense—
“That’s just an excuse, isn’t it?”
—But there’s tears welling up in Isumi-san’s ears, and again, that’s not a good reason for him to cry. It really isn’t.
So Shirou sighs. “Fine.”
Isumi-san’s expression immediately changes to competitive glee, and he wipes the tears from his eyes. “So, who’s the guy?”
Approximately an hour later, Isumi-san arrives back at where he left Shirou, traces of blood on his cheek and a satisfied smile to go with it.
“Utsugi-san! I did it!”
Maybe Shirou shouldn’t have underestimated the determination of someone who has been abandoned before.
“Good job, Isumi-san.”
“Before I get my reward, I have a question though.”
“...Yes?”
“Why did you wanna dispose of that guy?”
“Uhm.” Shirou can feel the heat rushing to his face. “Well, he was trying to publish private details about Isumi-san, and I—”
Shirou is interrupted by Isumi-san’s lips on his, and they’re every bit as good as he imagined them to be while watching him train.
Isumi-san clings to his shirt, and Shirou wishes he wouldn’t stop.
“Utsugi-san.”
“Yes?”
“My reward was you kissing me. I kissed you just now. So I still need my reward.”
Shirou is about to lean in, but…
“I wanna get cleaned up first. Can we book a hotel?”
That leaves no room for interpretation, does it?
Perhaps Shirou is more morally bankrupt than he initially thought, because he nods. “I know one of the owners here.”
And when Isumi-san links their pinkies, Shirou thinks that maybe, being morally bankrupt is just fine.