Kanzaki Miki/Tachibana Aya with background Imaizumi/Shinkai, Yowamushi Pedal Tags: Violence, attempted murder Word count: 1000 Remix of princesssid's fill here, with references to another here.
Kanzaki is still staring at the note when Imaizumi comes through the front.
Before he can leave, she says, "How did your date go?"
Scarlet blossoms across the terse glare on his face. He looks away. "It was not a date. I've told you that enough, Kanzaki."
She laughs. "Really?"
"Really," he answers, withering repetition.
"That's good!" Kanzaki slaps the paper on her desk - the smiling rabbit, the short message - and carelessly spins her gun on top. "I was worried I'd be killing your boyfriend, or something."
---
When it all comes down to it, Kanzaki considers herself a rather patient person. She runs the Chiba branch without much complaint. She deals with the fact that Imaizumi is incapable of completing particular missions. She keeps close track of the timelines. And she normally managed to keep competitors' noses out of their business. By any right, she deserved a bit of a personal break from time to time.
Tachibana wasn't gang material, no matter how tough she may have been in the face of blood and bullet. But that was something Kanzaki enjoyed. Imaizumi wasn't either, and he stuck around, for lack of any place more welcoming.
Better yet, she didn't ask questions.
Sometimes Kanzaki could read them on her face. Where the burns had come from. If she remembered their last date, if they'd even had a previous date, or final date, at that point in time. The terrible dye job Naruko had pushed the three into. Whether it was blood or bike oil staining her skin. Why she buried her face against her sometimes without a word. Inexplicable glances at her hands that left her wondering if anything would happen there, either. But she didn't like hints, and wouldn't let Tachibana throw any around.
They had a contract.
"And it's sealed with a kiss!" Kanzaki had lied, through piles of paperwork and signatures built up over a dozen meetings.
"Haven't I given you enough already," Tachibana had grumbled.
She hadn't. A rule was already broken, but Kanzaki let it slip. Just once. Grinning over what was to come, she had only said, "Sorry Aya, the interest is where it really catches you."
Tachibana was all teeth and hair and awkwardness that never got much better. In a kiss, she could never tell when the two of them were. Only that it was - together.
Kanzaki liked that.
---
"What did he do this time," Imaizumi says.
"You know," Kanzaki drawls. "He broke the rules!"
Deadpan shifting into nervous energy, he repeats the question.
She smiles. "Imaizumi. You're smart, aren't you? Haven't we known each other long enough?"
Fingers splayed along the desk, twitching at her gun - not too close, for how she stares. He knows what she's capable of doing. Teeth grit louder in his mouth, almost as loud as his labored breathing.
"It's a joke," he says.
She hums. "It's not a very funny one then, is it?"
"He just. He always!" Imaizumi throws himself back, hand shoved over his mouth. Dozens of clocks run over themselves in his silence. It was already decided. "No. It's fine. It's none of my business." He talks as though he could have ever changed her mind. "Do what you want."
"Mhm!"
---
There are rules to this business.
Other organizations do their best to match it. Undue conflict never helped anyone. The time streams were difficult enough to catalogue as it was.
Don't interact too much with yourself.
Don't spread around information.
Let things fall where they will.
But really, all that Kanzaki had to worry about was -
Don't get outsiders involved.
The worst part was that it wasn't Shinkai's fault. The worst part was that it was her crime, to begin with.
---
"Kanzaki," he says. "Pleasure to see you."
Shikai is all red and blue, heat and chill, sweat and ease. It isn't a wonder that he can handle Imaizumi. It isn't a wonder, either, that he manages to get along with Tachibana. She was too trusting, despite a harsh mouth. Most people had learned not to approach her. Only people more dangerous would know what a facade it was.
"Of course," she says. "It's been a while. I got your note!"
He doesn't stop smiling. Neither does she.
"Good," he says.
"Where is she? I hope you haven't been boring her. Aya's never satisfied with sitting around with paperwork, you know?"
"You got here at just the right time." Of course she had. She wasn't one to waste it. Eyes on his hands, holster, shoulder, it was coming. "Sorry to call you out like this. It isn't often that I get the chance to see Souhoku's backbone."
Kanzaki's smile thins. A backbone with such a weakness as this.
"You know how it is. If I wasn't always on watch, Imaizumi wouldn't have a clue what to do with himself!"
He chuckles. "I'm glad he has you."
Imaizumi never let much out of his mouth. But it all showed in his nervous gait. Coming in late, or too early, frowning far more than usual. The days he'd come in wearing t-shirts instead of easily crumpled dress shirts. And every moment he was a little better than the day before - when it wasn't about revenge, but quiet irritation and fondness, making him go outside.
"Yeah," she said. "Both of us."
She doesn't give it much pause. He blinks, despite all that ease and calm, tiredly staring at the gun in her hand.
"Couldn't pull it over," he says. "Just like I'd have thought."
She figures Imaizumi could get another boyfriend.
"Sorry!"
Kanzaki daintily steps past him, as he stumbles to almost sitting. As it turns out, Tachibana is fine. Tachibana isn't there. Tachibana is at home, burning noodles despite perfectly seared vegetables.
Standing in the office, Kanzaki thinks about the fact that she didn't make sure he was dead.
By the time she gets back outside, he's gone.
---
People tried to teach lessons sometimes. In a business like this, it was more fool-hardy than not. In a business like this, it meant someone dying - usually.
The next time she sees Shinkai, she gives a thin smile, and a warning shot. He's polite, as ever, and gets out of the way.
Imaizumi doesn't ask questions. The best she sees out of him is a scoff over his phone, and an uncontrollable curve to his lips.
For the moment, it's worth the annoyance.
For respective weakness, she'd trade the difference and let Shinkai live.
Fill: Team Grandstand, T
Tags: Violence, attempted murder
Word count: 1000
Remix of
Kanzaki is still staring at the note when Imaizumi comes through the front.
Before he can leave, she says, "How did your date go?"
Scarlet blossoms across the terse glare on his face. He looks away. "It was not a date. I've told you that enough, Kanzaki."
She laughs. "Really?"
"Really," he answers, withering repetition.
"That's good!" Kanzaki slaps the paper on her desk - the smiling rabbit, the short message - and carelessly spins her gun on top. "I was worried I'd be killing your boyfriend, or something."
---
When it all comes down to it, Kanzaki considers herself a rather patient person. She runs the Chiba branch without much complaint. She deals with the fact that Imaizumi is incapable of completing particular missions. She keeps close track of the timelines. And she normally managed to keep competitors' noses out of their business. By any right, she deserved a bit of a personal break from time to time.
Tachibana wasn't gang material, no matter how tough she may have been in the face of blood and bullet. But that was something Kanzaki enjoyed. Imaizumi wasn't either, and he stuck around, for lack of any place more welcoming.
Better yet, she didn't ask questions.
Sometimes Kanzaki could read them on her face. Where the burns had come from. If she remembered their last date, if they'd even had a previous date, or final date, at that point in time. The terrible dye job Naruko had pushed the three into. Whether it was blood or bike oil staining her skin. Why she buried her face against her sometimes without a word. Inexplicable glances at her hands that left her wondering if anything would happen there, either. But she didn't like hints, and wouldn't let Tachibana throw any around.
They had a contract.
"And it's sealed with a kiss!" Kanzaki had lied, through piles of paperwork and signatures built up over a dozen meetings.
"Haven't I given you enough already," Tachibana had grumbled.
She hadn't. A rule was already broken, but Kanzaki let it slip. Just once. Grinning over what was to come, she had only said, "Sorry Aya, the interest is where it really catches you."
Tachibana was all teeth and hair and awkwardness that never got much better. In a kiss, she could never tell when the two of them were. Only that it was - together.
Kanzaki liked that.
---
"What did he do this time," Imaizumi says.
"You know," Kanzaki drawls. "He broke the rules!"
Deadpan shifting into nervous energy, he repeats the question.
She smiles. "Imaizumi. You're smart, aren't you? Haven't we known each other long enough?"
Fingers splayed along the desk, twitching at her gun - not too close, for how she stares. He knows what she's capable of doing. Teeth grit louder in his mouth, almost as loud as his labored breathing.
"It's a joke," he says.
She hums. "It's not a very funny one then, is it?"
"He just. He always!" Imaizumi throws himself back, hand shoved over his mouth. Dozens of clocks run over themselves in his silence. It was already decided. "No. It's fine. It's none of my business." He talks as though he could have ever changed her mind. "Do what you want."
"Mhm!"
---
There are rules to this business.
Other organizations do their best to match it. Undue conflict never helped anyone. The time streams were difficult enough to catalogue as it was.
Don't interact too much with yourself.
Don't spread around information.
Let things fall where they will.
But really, all that Kanzaki had to worry about was -
Don't get outsiders involved.
The worst part was that it wasn't Shinkai's fault. The worst part was that it was her crime, to begin with.
---
"Kanzaki," he says. "Pleasure to see you."
Shikai is all red and blue, heat and chill, sweat and ease. It isn't a wonder that he can handle Imaizumi. It isn't a wonder, either, that he manages to get along with Tachibana. She was too trusting, despite a harsh mouth. Most people had learned not to approach her. Only people more dangerous would know what a facade it was.
"Of course," she says. "It's been a while. I got your note!"
He doesn't stop smiling. Neither does she.
"Good," he says.
"Where is she? I hope you haven't been boring her. Aya's never satisfied with sitting around with paperwork, you know?"
"You got here at just the right time." Of course she had. She wasn't one to waste it. Eyes on his hands, holster, shoulder, it was coming. "Sorry to call you out like this. It isn't often that I get the chance to see Souhoku's backbone."
Kanzaki's smile thins. A backbone with such a weakness as this.
"You know how it is. If I wasn't always on watch, Imaizumi wouldn't have a clue what to do with himself!"
He chuckles. "I'm glad he has you."
Imaizumi never let much out of his mouth. But it all showed in his nervous gait. Coming in late, or too early, frowning far more than usual. The days he'd come in wearing t-shirts instead of easily crumpled dress shirts. And every moment he was a little better than the day before - when it wasn't about revenge, but quiet irritation and fondness, making him go outside.
"Yeah," she said. "Both of us."
She doesn't give it much pause. He blinks, despite all that ease and calm, tiredly staring at the gun in her hand.
"Couldn't pull it over," he says. "Just like I'd have thought."
She figures Imaizumi could get another boyfriend.
"Sorry!"
Kanzaki daintily steps past him, as he stumbles to almost sitting. As it turns out, Tachibana is fine. Tachibana isn't there. Tachibana is at home, burning noodles despite perfectly seared vegetables.
Standing in the office, Kanzaki thinks about the fact that she didn't make sure he was dead.
By the time she gets back outside, he's gone.
---
People tried to teach lessons sometimes. In a business like this, it was more fool-hardy than not. In a business like this, it meant someone dying - usually.
The next time she sees Shinkai, she gives a thin smile, and a warning shot. He's polite, as ever, and gets out of the way.
Imaizumi doesn't ask questions. The best she sees out of him is a scoff over his phone, and an uncontrollable curve to his lips.
For the moment, it's worth the annoyance.
For respective weakness, she'd trade the difference and let Shinkai live.