Chapter Text
Mine poured a ladle of cold water down his back. He winced at the temperature, but it cooled his overheated body. His Kirin no longer twinged in pain from a wash, now just a tad itchy around the small of his back. He laid the ladle down and shivered on the wooden stool.
When the day arrived, he followed the instructions he was given and was led around back to a hidden onsen tucked between a collection of houses. The place was tiny, ornate, had no separation for genders, and katanas were displayed in the hallway to the lockers. Designed for Yakuza from the ground up, and it didn’t skimp on the novelties either. The soap smelled of flowers plucked right from a garden. The snow white towel was as soft as the ones he used at home. Tile floors were polished, showers in great condition, it was without a doubt the nicest onsen he had ever been to.
Yet, this treat would’ve sounded nicer several weeks ago.
The last five days had been a cold hell. He and Daigo only communicated through documents with signed approval and work requests carried through several layers of bureaucracy. Not a text or call asking if he was available. No invitations for lunch or drinks. Not a single indication that he wanted anything to do with him anymore. Work carried on smoothly, but it was dry and lifeless. He moved only out of muscle memory and not motivation. Many hours during the day, Mine blinked and wondered if he was sleepwalking through his life.
And no one seemed to even notice.
Katase carried out whatever tasks he put on her like a busy bee, never questioning, never daring to ask why. It was a quality he long admired in her and it had been his reason for partnering with her after the former Family she worked with dissolved in the first place. Now, it only made a stone in Mine’s gut harden with resentment.
He certainly felt on the razor’s edge, yet no one could tell. He had no one to question his emotional state, no one to care about the lost feeling in his chest. Kanda kept asking for money again, and instead of questioning it, Mine gave it away. It would set a bad precedent, he knew this, but depending on what the Chairman said to him, none of it would matter anyway. This sudden bout of isolation was a cruel one.
If he truly wanted to survive, then learning to function without Daigo was a must. He’d been down these lonely marches before.
However, he had never loved anyone as much as he loved Daigo.
Mine grabbed the bucket of water and poured it over his head, water pulling his hair down over his forehead. The shock of the cold water made him shiver again, but it kept his mind clear. Daigo would decide his fate—if this fuck up would mean the end of everything, or he would get away with another slap on the wrist.
Between the two options, he didn’t know which was worse.
Mine stood, fixed his hair, and wrapped the towel around his waist. He made his way to the curtain with a warm wave rolling under it. Bare feet padded on the tile, echoing in the small area. He stepped out and paused to squint through the haze and warm yellow lights.
The hot spring was designed to look like a natural, wide pool, but the lamps, rocks, and carefully pruned garden surrounding the pool gave away its manufactured design. A layer of fog floated on top of the clear water, clinging to patches of moss on some of the larger rocks and creating a thin haze in the air. The lamplights sweltered like dying stars in the garden, creating a veil in the atmosphere.
The effect was purely psychological, yet Mine couldn’t stop it. The mental preparations he had made to strip his mind down to the bare necessities of reactions suffocated under the warmth. Not like they would’ve survived the next sight after taking in the environment, anyway.
Dead ahead, Daigo sat in the pool. The widest edge with the most open access made a clean arc, and Daigo was in the middle, facing away towards the fencing and small water feature. His arms lounged along the stone edge, and his bare back revealed the top half of the divine king, Fudo Myō-ō. Just enough to see his sword and judging glare. Even without the finer details visible at this distance, it was striking enough to get Mine to pause at the mouth of the showers.
Tomishika truly was an incredible artist.
Daigo tilted his head to the side, but Mine couldn’t see his face, just half of his profile.
“I’m surprised you didn’t reach out before this.”
His tone stabbed through the fog and pried it open—not threatening, but utterly commanding. The sound reverberated in Mine’s head until it turned into syrup.
“You don’t usually back down this easily. Do you know what you did was wrong, or maybe—?”
Daigo hadn’t even finished his question before Mine plainly stated, “Yes.” The speed and truth in his reply stunned even himself. Sour for overstepping once again, Mine ground his teeth and resolved to keep his mouth shut. Daigo didn’t carry the conversation again, but instead he turned his face to the side.
The eye contact burned Mine, but he had no clue if that was because the absence had made his own heart grow fonder or because he couldn’t read Daigo’s intent. He wasn’t scowling, but he had no light air about him. Daigo’s hand lifted from the rim of the pool’s edge, and he gestured for him to take a seat next to him.
Mine swallowed, took a deep breath, and stepped forward. Daigo’s eyes were on him, that passive stare betraying no friendliness and no disgust, but pure distilled attention. His skin flushed before he even stepped into the water. For once in his life, he was self-conscious about disrobing at an onsen. Mine tried the mechanical approach and ignored Daigo’s burning stare as he untied his towel.
He folded it up and laid it on a nearby table where Daigo’s lay half-strewn over the metal and glass. His personal audience could see him give in to nervous fidgeting by picking up the drooping corner to tug back on the table. That, and how his cock was half hard in anticipation.
For punishment. For fuck’s sake, this was his boss. The level of disrespect on display and being aroused during the ordeal made Mine want to bite his own tongue off. He kept his focus on the water as he stepped into the hot spring, and did not check if Daigo was looking at his groin or not. He should take off his pinky for even thinking Daigo would do that in the first place. Mine was the one making this weird.
“Turn around,” Daigo commanded, voice soft and cold. “I want to see your irezumi.”
Mine hadn’t even gathered the courage to look back at him yet, or had the chance to sit down before the next command. Helpless to obey his word, he turned to display his back. The water lapped at his upper thighs, leaving him well and truly exposed. His fingers twitched, not sure what to do while Daigo examined him.
Should he explain it? Why bother? Daigo knew him well enough, apparently, that Tomishika could design him an irezumi that fit him perfectly after a single conversation. There wasn’t anything words could provide that visuals couldn’t. A rare occurrence, but a welcome one for Mine, who still hadn’t gotten his voice under control.
The water splashed—though he couldn’t see him, Mine knew that Daigo had stood up as well. He waded through the water, step by step, closer, until he was right behind him.
Mine’s brain went into overdrive with the proximity. He could hear him breathe. He could feel the warmth coming off his wet body. His authority was not only verbal, it was physical, too, and he didn’t even have to touch him to get it across. His dick hardened further and Mine closed his eyes. Control. He needed that. He needed to—
“Beautiful,” Daigo whispered, his voice catching on some haunted and dazed melancholy that Mine hadn’t heard in over a week. He sounded… genuine. How could that be? He should’ve been threatening to kick him out of the Tojo Clan, not admiring his ink.
Tugged between emotions and expectations, Mine remained silent. What he wanted to say laid under his tongue, but it was an impulse he could not give in to.
The tattoo didn’t hurt, but he flinched anyway when Daigo laid his fingers over the center of his spine. There, he traced a line of red fire down along the Kirin in flight. “It suits you very well. Kirins are said to follow powerful rulers, right? Though… our irezumi are more metaphorical ideals than hard truths. I could stand to be a stronger ruler, and you a better follower.”
There. There was the hammer coming down. Cut off from the heat lamp of arousal, Mine took a sharp, clear breath under Daigo’s discipline. He focused intently on what Daigo decided for him.
His fingers drifted away from the red down onto the thigh of the Kirin. “You’re very good at what you do, Mine. I’m proud of the work you’ve done and the effort you’ve put into the organization.” Daigo pressed his finger into the ink along his waist, not dipping down or trailing away. Instead, he pressed into the fire, and Mine inhaled sharply at the spike of pain. “But you keep pushing your limits, and you’re not clean with how you approach things. Not everything is a pure transaction. Currency can’t buy you trust.”
His hand trailed up his spine to lay his full, warm palm over the head of the Kirin. Water droplets ran rivulets down his back.
“What went down in Okinawa can’t happen again. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir.”
Daigo sighed, slow and unsatisfied. “I want… the best for you. It’s my fault that this happened,” he muttered as he thumbed the golden curls. “Ultimately, I’m responsible for what happened. The deaths, the pain, the broken trust. And you. For putting you there.”
Mine swallowed before jumping to give a curt answer. “My actions are my own, Chairman. Discipline is appropriate for not following your word.”
“For thinking you know what I need better than I do?”
He bit hard on his inner cheek.
“I’m not going to claim I know you better than you either, Mine. But—“ Daigo drew his hand along the main body of the Kirin, wiping away water along the black scales. “We share an obligation to look out for one another. I know that you want to support me in any way you can.”
“I do…” he whispered, eyes closed and absorbed by the truth Daigo was giving him. He could trust Daigo, unlike anyone else in this world. In a heartbeat, he would give him the chance to know every nook, crevice, secret, and feeling he had.
“That requires your honesty. I want to take care of you—will you let me?”
Mine’s jaw trembled.
Daigo leaned in and spoke his words into the eye of the Kirin. “I want to be with you. Will you let me?”
“Chairman,” Mine whispered, fragile voice pressurized to crack.
“I need your full trust if you want this, Mine. You need to tell me when to keep going and when to stop. Until I know you can give me that, this conversation ends. We sit back down. We enjoy the water. And I make a celebration toast as we wear yukatas,” Daigo said with a light tilt. “Moving forward, the special assignments I give you are going to be more specific and seem distant to relevant Clan topics. We both will make sure that no mistakes like Okinawa happen again. Am I clear on all of this?”
“Yes, sir,” Mine responded, itching to bow, but doing so to empty air was insulting. “I understand the changes. And about your first request…” he cleared his throat and straightened his back. Daigo’s hand was still along the flank of his Kirin. “Are you familiar with the legend of Bucephalus?”
The air stilled with Daigo’s confusion. “No, I don’t believe so.”
Mine inhaled and focused on a thin pine tree painted on the plaster wall. “He was the horse of Alexander the Great. He allowed Alexander to become the greatest conqueror in history, and the pair’s dominance was romanticized simultaneously in accounts afterward. The legend goes that Bucephalus was wild and untameable. He practically unhorsed half of Macedonia before Alexander, then a teenager, took the reins and tamed him.” Mine lowered his head. “What made Alexander different from anyone else is that he soothed the horse and understood why he wouldn’t let a soul get close to him. It was that Bucephalus was afraid of his own shadow. Alexander the Great turned his horse to the sun, and together, they forged an empire.”
Mine looked over his shoulder and was able to meet Daigo’s eyes without fear. In the inky depths of his steady brown eyes, he saw Daigo understand what he wasn’t saying.
He took a deep breath and laid his heart on the table for Daigo. “Could you punish me?”
Daigo’s eyebrows twitched up, but his expression was open. “In what way?”
“Give me what you think is best.”
Take me by the reins. Don’t let me see my shadow.
It was a gamble, but it was the only way Mine could voice what he truly wanted. Full and complete permission and the trust to retract if needed was given and Daigo accepted it with a small, but full nod.
Daigo’s hand pressed harder into Mine’s back, testing the pain tolerance and pushback, but Mine held stable and leaned into the touch. He dragged the hand down, taking full advantage of the topography of his muscles by squeezing every dip and curve on his way down to the end of the tattoo. Still making eye contact, but gazes burning with anticipation, Daigo stepped closer. His chest nearly touched Mine’s back and he yearned for Daigo to encompass him. Hold him against his back, grind against each other, feel the warmth and wetness together…
But he was not the one in control.
The hand was now on his ass, grabbing the muscular cheek and giving Mine the low sting of the tender hoof. Daigo brought his other arm up and cupped Mine’s chin, fingers along the underside of his jaw. Though the angle made his neck twinge, Daigo pressed forward and sealed the space between their lips.
The sensation was smooth and immediate. The warmth and weight shuttered Mine’s body, making him weaker in the knees, let alone the soft moan swallowed up by Daigo. Eager for more of his touch, Mine turned his body around with careful steps for Daigo’s hands to roam up and down his waist and for their kiss not to shatter.
This was the real thing. No daydreams, no false memories, no wanton thoughts. Only the scratch of Daigo’s beard along his face and months and months worth of imaginaries being rewritten live. Everything he wanted and more. Stand, be touched, be kissed. He didn’t think to step out of this rhythm. Whatever Daigo wanted of him, he had it.
Daigo cupped his face and tilted it with little effort to deepen the kiss, saliva smearing on their lips as Mine panted. Reality struggled to keep up, creating a haze around the corner of Mine’s brain. He wanted to examine the edges, define the differences between his dream and Daigo’s dirty kissing. The moment he wanted to linger, Daigo grabbed his hips and pulled them flush together.
Wet chest to wet chest. Belly to belly. Thigh to thigh. And their cocks, hard, twitching, and hot.
Mine gasped, stunned by the sensation. Daigo wrapped an arm around the small of his back, keeping them close. Mine was too shocked to move anyway, brain frying out. Daigo returned to holding him through the rough kiss, but his hand slid up along his jaw until he curled his fingers into the short strands of hair.
A full-body shiver snaked down Mine’s spine and forced him to shudder. He struggled to get a full breath in as Daigo kissed his neck. With the small grip he had, Daigo gently pulled Mine’s head back to give himself more room to scrape his teeth along the cords. Was a hickey his punishment? Mine had never received one; they always seemed bothersome, and if he had a clearer mind, he’d urge Daigo away from it. It wasn’t in the repertoire of a business professional.
His brain and body were too hung up on how fucking good it felt, however.
The heat, the weight, the sweat now replacing the water, the threat of pain, the promise of punishment, the sensation of being under Daigo’s complete care and control. There was someone he could trust in this world. Trust with his life and trust to control him and not let Mine set himself on fire. Without a firm hand to guide him, he’d go off the rails and destroy himself at this point.
Then Daigo began to grind his cock against his and their bellies.
“Please,” Mine whined, completely without wind. Daigo helped him grind back with the arm still around his waist, pushing and pulling each other. The wet slide made him whimper and twitch again, cock leaking and begging to be touched. His body followed with the desperation and Mine gave a harsh grind, attempting to fuck the soft flab that made Daigo’s belly. “Don’t stop.”
Nails dug deep into the back of his skull, and he stilled, following the warning. Daigo let up from his kissing and pulled Mine’s chin down. Face hot and eyes wide and glossy like he was staring into the sun. He blinked to clear his view and found Daigo staring at him with a cocky expression.
“That’s all it takes, huh?” Daigo forced Mine to stand still and rubbed their dicks together. It was another slow, deep grind. “Just a bit of grinding and you’re already aching to cum.” Mine swallowed and fought against the embarrassed urge to turn away. “How do you feel?” Daigo hummed.
“Good,” Mine croaked and flexed his hands. He wasn’t sure if he was allowed to touch.
“You can be a bit more specific than that.” Daigo rubbed the side of his chest, then dragged his hand around the smooth plane to palm his right pec. He thumbed the hard nipple and massaged the muscle.
Mine took a deep breath. “It’s… hot. Wet.”
Daigo huffed. “Do you want my cock?”
“Yes,” Mine answered without a shred of embarrassment.
“Have you earned it?”
The question made Mine hesitate. He was on thin ice with Daigo and knew he needed punishment, but desire wanted him to take his spoils now. He licked his lips. “No.”
A wave of shame raged through Mine at his own answer. It dragged him down and flooded him with the thought that he wasn’t good enough for any of this. His sexual experience was minimal; he didn’t deserve Daigo giving him what he wanted, and he hadn’t done anything but thrust back with uncoordinated effort. But how could he prove all that wrong? He couldn’t. He couldn’t—
Daigo kissed him again, and the runaway thoughts stopped. Against his lips he told Mine, “I’ll tell you what you can do.” Then he pulled away, hands leaving superheated skin where he left and slick, messy bellies between them. Daigo, keeping eye contact that Mine was too nervous to break from, waded back in the water until he found the curb. He laid his hands on the stone and hoisted up onto it, now sitting on it. He spread his thick, hairy thighs wide, giving Mine the clear invitation forward. Voice silky and smooth like bourbon, Daigo said, “Get on your knees and worship me.”
Mine stepped between his legs and lowered himself into the water. There was a low step he could cradle his knees on. He widened his stance, and he kept his center of gravity in his waist as he leaned forward. It gave him the perfect view of Daigo’s hard cock.
Average length he would guess, though shorter than his own, but it was thick. Mine knew where he wanted it, but wasn’t sure if it could fit. Daigo’s dick was nestled in a thick bush of pubic hair that trailed up under his hanging belly. Hair dotted the inside of his thighs and matted the top. For the sake of balance, Mine took his first indulgent touch and laid his hands over the black hair. Daigo’s strong thighs flexed and widened further. Smelling the sweat and salt under the hot spring water, Mine bent his head forward and rubbed his lips along the twitching shaft. The smell was intense, and it moved Mine back into that foggy sensation from before. He shivered and sighed, closing his eyes to feel and smell and taste. Gingerly, he licked up the shaft to the wet tip, dribbling with pre. Salty on the tongue—almost too much so, but growing completely cock drunk, he pressed on and began to suck on his tip, flicking his tongue against the slit.
Daigo tensed and moved to lay a hand on his head. He messed up the parted style and exhaled. “Good, good. Just like that.”
Mine nosed his belly at this angle, smearing around drying patches. He let more of the cockhead into his mouth, playing with the spongy tip and Daigo above him moaned. The other hand ended up on his back, fingers over his Kirin.
Chasing the taste, Mine swallowed more of his cock and moaned when it twitched against his tongue. Girthy, it was hard to hold in his mouth without drool sliding over his curled-in lips. Mine tried sucking it in and got a spurt of pre down his throat for it. It landed on the back of his tongue like ambrosia despite the taste urging him to gag. Addicted, he sank down further and the cockhead bumped the back of his throat.
Daigo trembled and gasped. His thighs kept flexing with the urge to thrust, but he held back and passed the reactions instead through tightening his grip on Mine’s hair. His belly kept twitching as well, but the reflexive inhales weren’t enough to stop Mine from sinking his face into it—smothered by his fat and muscle.
Mine hit the event horizon.
He moaned, deeply entrenched in satisfaction and riding on a floaty high. His hands left Daigo’s thighs, with one reaching up to grope his belly. It earned another moan, and it pushed Daigo into thrusting his hips. His cock filled Mine’s throat up completely and triggered his gag reflex. Choking only made Daigo whine and grip Mine’s skull hard enough to pull him back a bit. Sore and tingling with pain, Mine dived down again for a repeat performance, and the same result happened.
Daigo panted, “Fuck. You’ve been desperate for my cock for a long time, I can tell. Can I face-fuck you?”
Mouth full of a thick cock struggling to stay in his mouth, Mine moaned loud and melted into Daigo’s lap. Body loose and urging to be used. Still gripping and massaging his love handles, Mine slid his other hand under and performed similar ministrations to his hairy balls.
“Okay,” Daigo panted, talking faster. “But grip the base of my cock and get ready to shift back. I need more room.”
Mine left his balls alone and wrapped his hand low at the base. He got his hand sticky with drool as a result. Cautious and using the grip at his scalp to lead, they moved in tandem back towards the water. Daigo opened his thighs wider, and Mine walked back on his knees to the edge of the stone seat underwater. His cock never left his mouth and he never tried to stop sucking it.
Daigo rubbed the top of his Kirin, ran his hand again through Mine’s sweaty hair, then began to thrust.
Slower, deeper rolls into his mouth. The pace was completely controlled and set by Daigo, down to moving Mine’s head with the assistance of his other hand along the side of his face. He could feel his own cock in Mine’s mouth if he angled him right.
Gradually, the pace picked up. Mine struggled to suck and prevent drool from getting over his hand. He rubbed the short space he had of the base of Daigo’s dick before he was pulled down, lips to fingers, and completely filled. He moaned through his gags and just when it got uncomfortable, Daigo slid him out, dragging him to his cockhead on the tip of Mine’s tongue. It pulled him away from Daigo’s belly, exposing his drunk face to Daigo, who whined and called him beautiful.
Before long, Daigo stuttered, “O-On your face or…?”
Mine groaned and, against Daigo’s hold, slid back down, filling his mouth as much as possible. He choked and rubbed what he could, not willing to properly suck him off but vying for his reward anyway. Daigo honored the signal and kept him there, his dick twitching in the tight heat.
A heated chuckle fell out of Daigo’s mouth and rolled down Mine’s back. “You’re such a greedy whore, Mine. Would you do this for anyone or just me?” Mine whined and sucked harder. “I’m honored to have such a pretty sight below me. I’ve always wondered how many times you thought about me fucking you. Maybe I’m the dirty one for thinking about you riding me. Or maybe, you prefer to be fucked into a mattress. I could literally rein you in. You want to be dominated, don’t you?”
Another broken whine. Mine wouldn’t open his eyes as tears dotted the corners in the longer stretches where he kept him filled to the brim. Daigo thrusted faster, cramming his cock in his mouth and watching if the bliss on Mine’s face switched at any point.
“So eager to please me,” Daigo breathed, mesmerized, “I can tell by the sloppy way you’re sucking that you want to cockwarm me. I could see that happening in my office. Keep you under my desk all day. Use you when I want to get off.” Daigo pulled Mine far enough back that his cock slipped out right when Mine moaned. The sound reverberated between them, and Mine flushed harder hearing his own debauchery. Kind enough to not let him fall off his cloud too far, Daigo replaced the hand around the base of his dick and fed his cock back into Mine’s mouth. He pulled away his hand and sank Mine fully down till his nose and face were buried in his pubic hair. His throat struggled and fluttered but he whined harder and sucked when he could, between his throat spasming for choking.
Mine’s newly freed hand went back to Daigo’s balls and massaged them in the tight space there was. Daigo gasped and thrusted again.
His shorter stamina combined with Mine’s mouth and effort made Daigo reach his peak. Getting his balls played with was always his tipping point.
He groaned as he let go, filling Mine’s throat and coating his taste buds with his cum. Mine pulled back, but not out, letting it collect in his mouth before swallowing it down. The taste—again—made him want to spit it out, but Mine was eager to take every part of Daigo. He wanted him, all of him, including the feeling of having him inside of him down to the cum being all that was left. Mine blinked, dazed and sore, and lay his head against Daigo’s warm inner thigh. He had half an urge to clean his cock completely, but he didn’t feel like moving much. Full and complete sedation and satisfaction.
He closed his eyes. Just a minute.
Daigo laid his hand on his cheek and rubbed his thumb over his cheekbone. It was a strong, warm hold, pinning Mine between heaven and bliss.
Daigo’s voice was roughened from his panting and groaning, but he managed a soft speaking tone. “Did you finish? It’s okay to. The staff here has had to clean up enough blood that a bit of sperm isn’t going to matter much.”
Mine turned his face into his thigh, nosing soft, pale skin. A strong compulsion to leave a kiss overcame him, and he pressed his lips against a light brush of hair. He took a deep breath and got wet concrete and sweat. Daigo continued the light ministration over his face, and the world shrank down to touch once again.
“Mine?”
Time stretched out, pulled taut by an invisible hand, and Mine basked in the open folds. Absolute space in which he could breathe and lie without worry.
“Mine.”
He could wander in this high forever. It’d last that long.
Daigo left his face and grabbed him under his arm. He pushed him back with this hold and shuffled a bit, attempting to stand up. Mine pulled back and looked up in confusion.
“Come on,” Daigo urged. “Let’s get out of this heat.”
Daigo led him out of the hot spring water without letting go of his arm. It irked Mine that they were leaving at all. The smooth rolling pressure of pleasure was thrown off of him like a warm blanket in the winter, leaving him physically and emotionally colder. It also revealed that he hadn’t gotten off when he was distracted by the other high, but the urge faded quickly when they walked back into the showers.
A type of autopilot took over as his brain was still in a haze. Daigo let go of him so they could clean up privately each, but he didn’t stop looking at him. “You’re sure?” Daigo eventually asked as they stood under separate shower sprays, divided by a single screen. “I’d love to… help you out.”
Not feeling the compulsion, he shook his head, shut off the spray, and dismissed the ache with a sigh as he took a trip to the restroom. Once they were both cleaned up, Daigo caught him before he could re-armor in his suit. Yukatas. And a meal.
Daigo continued to stare at him with a concerned eye. Mine knew he didn’t feel like himself, too distant, every feeling and emotion on a delay just slight enough to be annoying and noticeable. Wasn’t much he could do, other than try to relax. So while appetizers for their kaiseki ryori came out, he took a spare pillow from their kotatsu and laid down.
With his head settled near his thigh, Daigo laid a hand back on his head and messed with the curling wet strands. Mine sighed at the warm touch and closed his eyes.
Forever and an instant passed. A half-lucid nap overtook him. The clink of cutlery and Daigo occasionally scratching his stubble drifted Mine off. The same sounds of life—of another person in his life, casually watching over him—brought him back.
Blearily, Mine rapidly blinked and took a deep breath. A sudden cold weight now hung around his shoulders—familiar and welcome as gravity, but after so much time untethered, it was a sobering feeling. It made him swallow down a sour stone.
He closed his eyes again and saw himself sitting in a dark room. His eyes had adjusted to the night, and over time, he familiarized himself with the shadows and shapes and cool textures. Then a light switch suddenly flicked on, and everything he knew now was something different and unfamiliar. Followed by the sour feeling, that this new state was how it was meant to be.
He sat up and groaned at the head rush, bringing his hand to hold his skull with a deep wince.
“Feeling better? If you’re up for it, you should eat.” Daigo’s voice was a balm to the ache inside him. Mine pushed through the pain to look at the table.
He sat half under a kotatsu with a meal still organized in front of him. The appetizer dishes were gone, only leaving his own untouched plate of sashimi and Daigo’s finished bowl of soup and fish set aside. Daigo sat close to the table, hunching over a stapled stack of paper with a pen in hand. Mine glanced around the covered blue expanse of his back and saw a briefcase open on the floor.
Had he seriously been asleep for that long? Mine bit the inside of his bottom lip. What a night this turned into. Here for punishment, then—
Oh, fuck.
Daigo scribbled another note on the legal pad he was using and glanced at Mine, whose face was covered by both his hands. Daigo set down his pen and straightened his back as Mine laid back on the floor with his arms thrown over himself. Daigo thinned his mouth and rubbed soft fingers together in a slow circular motion.
After a long moment, Daigo spoke, “I don’t know if you walked in here expecting what would happen. I knew you expected to get punished at the very least. And… I exploited that.” He rubbed the back of his neck. Wet curls of hair slid between his fingers. “Sometimes we need to be taken down a peg. I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to keep pushing my luck until it breaks. It hasn’t even been a year since I decided to burn my whole life down with my self-punishment. We share that aspect, and instead of watching you stab yourself repeatedly on a needle, I wanted to help you move it.”
Mine stayed silent.
“I care about you deeply. I don’t want to see you fall or be turned away from the sun ever again. Though I want to ensure that, I’m figuring things out as I go along. I’m pretty new to this,” Daigo chuckled. “Though to be clear—my word remains final on your job. Everything else that followed that conversation—the ball is in your court for what that changes moving forward. If it is never spoken of again, I will respect and honor that command. If there is something you wish to explore, then let’s talk.”
Mine’s fingers, curled over his forehead, trembled slightly. “I don’t think I can give you an answer today.”
“That’s fine,” Daigo said with a soft tone, to match Mine’s. He extended a hand, bending far along the floor to hold Mine’s elbow. “The answer can come later. For now, you should sit up and eat. It’ll restore your energy.”
Though his face flushed with embarrassment, Mine took a deep breath and let Daigo guide him to the table. He scarfed down the sashimi without complaint, and by the time he was done, he had to admit Daigo was right.
He set his chopsticks down and glanced at Daigo. He looked up from his paperwork and smiled at him.
Mine looked down at the table, and didn’t say a word.
The storms that had been plaguing Kamurocho let up for the first time in what felt like months of grey clouds. It was a beautiful, green morning. Daigo had wandered around the HQ gardens an hour prior, thankful that the humidity was mild, even with the warm weather under the shade. It made his cigarette taste better. He just needed a sharp tasting coffee, and maybe he could forget his job for five minutes.
He stared out the window of his office, out at the thick defense of broad-leafed trees. The canopies fluttered from lackadaisical gusts, flickering the tops like beckoning hands. Daigo leaned hard on his palm and thought about calling old friends.
Two heavy raps at the heavy wood door to his office broke his trance, and he inhaled sharply as he sat up. He squared up the paperwork under his elbow and frowned at the smell of ink of musty furniture. He cleared his throat, then said, “Come in.” Kashiwagi opened the door with smooth intent, closed it, and walked forward. Seeing his signature scowl made Daigo blanche and check his watch. No, no, it wasn’t even noon yet. “I thought our meeting was later?”
“It is. But I wanted to discuss something outside of that meeting.”
“And it couldn’t wait?” Daigo sighed.
Kashiwagi reached into the breast pocket of his slate blue suit and pulled out a simple envelope. “I intercepted a courier when I arrived, who had a message for you. I was told it’s an invitational from the Hakuho Clan.”
“An invitational?” Daigo took the letter and examined it. There was no address or name written on the front, but he found a gold ink seal on the back with their Clan insignia imprinted onto it. It absolutely had to have been Mine’s work. And while he was particular about the fine details, he knew efficiency and hand stamping every letter for an invitational was jarringly not him. Some chinpira would’ve done it, and that chinpira would’ve just licked the envelope closed.
Daigo looked back up at Kashiwagi, waiting for the rest of what he kept hidden to be revealed.
He, however, moved past the letter. “I think the time has come for us to talk about Chairman Mine.”
Here it was. Daigo set down the letter and folded his arms, prompting Kashiwagi to continue.
“We’ve discussed Okinawa before, and Mine’s failure there. I’m aware you’ve restricted Mine’s tasks, but I believe this has been too little, too late. He’s too oriented to a business mindset. While it has been floating us through, financial stability on one man is not stable at all, and he’s costing us other potential avenues of income because of his incompetence. Furthermore… his values just simply don’t align with the Yakuza’s.”
Kashiwagi’s words landed cutthroat and raw in the stale room. He kept his phrasing constrained, but Daigo could feel the frustration pouring through. The Clan Captain was a professional and unlike everyone other than Mine, he knew when to call Daigo out on something he thought was bullshit.
“I’m aware,” Daigo stated, pushing down his anger whenever money got brought up. “And it’s being taken care of. The Yakuza isn’t going to function if we only value the kinds of people who uphold its traditional values. We’ll die out. We have to adapt, and that means welcoming in new kinds of perspectives. I’m not going to give up and toss Mine aside for struggling. It’s clear to me he wants to put in the effort, and it’s on me to correctly guide him. I had been slacking. I won’t any longer.”
Kashiwagi’s face constricted for half a second. His jaw tightened, and his arms tensed as he folded them further behind his back. “You seem to have a lot of faith in being able to change a man’s nature. Especially someone like Mine.”
“I don’t think you understand what his nature is.”
“And you do?”
Daigo nodded once, with an air of confidence and finality. “He needs someone he can trust completely.” Companionship. Perhaps something more with Daigo, but it all came down to trust with Mine. His entire body and way of life moved with that intent. Daigo took a deep breath and made a bet. “I appreciate your concern, Kashiwagi-san, and it’s not unfounded of you. But I’ve made the decision to have him be my Junior Assistant for a reason. Give him time, and I’m sure he will demonstrate to you why I can rely on him.“
Kashiwagi immediately bowed, hiding the tension from disagreeing in the movement. Without another word, Kashiwagi took his leave, not needing to be dismissed. Once the door was closed, Daigo sighed and rubbed a hand along his face. Exhaustion still tugged on the edges of his expression.
From the first drawer of his desk, he grabbed a letter opener and sliced open the side of the envelope. He let the contents slide out, and to his surprise, two Polaroids tumbled onto his paperwork. The invitational was a single page, and he set it aside and grabbed the photos. He flipped them over.
Air rushed out of Daigo’s chest the moment he recognized what these photographs were.
The first Polaroid was of Mine’s Kirin, but only its black outlines. Mine had his back to the camera, posture straight, and emphasizing the thick muscles. He stood naked, save for a towel he held in front of him that draped on his arms, but it hid nothing of his ass or thighs, blood sliding down them. He was under a small white spotlight that washed out his tanned skin. It made stark shadows in Tomishika’s moody artist’s lounge, where that light was normally reserved for some Chinese vase along the wall.
Every curve and dip in Mine’s body was beautifully accentuated. The blood too, rivulets tracing the curves of his body, while wiped up smears colored his skin with a pink hue. Pride and pain were captured in a powerful dynamic. The other polaroid forced Daigo to readjust in his seat.
A warm lamp in the room provided the indirect capture of Mine’s Kirin once more, but it was completed. The gold fur and black scales shone beautifully under the intense bloodbath it was subjected to. The flames surrounding the Kirin matched the gore, threatening the idea of a powerful killer. All the danger was erotically undercut by the candid details surrounding the Kirin.
He was on the phone, for one. Clearly in the middle of a call—with Daigo? He reached back in the weeks it had been since that conversation, and considered if he had been there in person, instead. Sitting down on his thighs and watching blood slide down Mine’s back like beads of sweat he could lick up. Mine’s bare ass on display again, but given that he was lying down, there was little tension in his body outside of his shoulders. The performance of the staged photo of before seemed glaringly obvious now, looking at Mine’s back muscles. The beautiful curves and dips were still present, but the difference in lighting made him look more… attractive.
Pain and pride, but particularly… that he was relaxed.
Daigo cock twitched. He couldn’t, not here, not in his office. But God, the compulsion was powerful to unbuckle, unzip, and shove his hand into his briefs. Staring at a drop of blood that was threatening to slide into the cleft of Mine’s ass, Daigo groaned and pressed his hand over his thickening cock. Not here… not here…
He dropped the photos onto his desk, took a deep breath, and grabbed the letter. He readjusted in his seat and read the one page message. It was handwritten with clean, thin ink on stationery that Daigo could tell by touch alone was expensive.
Daigo,
I didn’t feel like myself after our experience at the onsen. I appreciate everything you did for me that night—I thoroughly enjoyed it—but I apologize if I didn’t seem grateful as we ate our dinner. It was a lot to process, and since then I needed the time to think over your proposal. The patience you’ve given me is invaluable, and I could spend my lifetime making up for the kindness you’ve shown me since we’ve met each other.
Shortly after that night, I fell ill. I told everyone it was the flu, but in reality, I simply needed the time off to process the emotions. Every thought made me irritable and fragile. My body was weak and though I had no fever, I was stuck with the compulsion to stay in bed. My heart and head were dizzy, like I had fallen from a great height. It was damn miserable, and one way or another, you heard about my illness. You then had a courier bring me made-to-order miso soup from a favorite restaurant of yours.
It didn’t cure me, but knowing that you were there and willing to take care of me… it healed the fragile part of myself.
I apologize for not responding properly to it all, until now. My answer is that I want a next time, and if this strange drop takes me again, I want you there to hold me through it. I know that I would bounce back quicker with you by my side. I’ll let you do whatever you wish.
Sincerely,
Yoshitaka
Daigo folded up the letter and held it carefully in his hands.
Since the onsen, Daigo was uncertain if he had fucked their relationship up completely. Mine remained in a period of silence for a while, which was fair. Daigo had done the same to him for five days. The only way they could work was if they had patience for each other, regardless of who they were as a pair, by the time the period of distance was over. Doubt crept in like it constantly did for Daigo, but in his hands and on his paperwork was proof of a mutual understanding.
It was also physical evidence of their relationship. In the wrong hands, these items could be used to undermine and blackmail either of them, and Mine was putting his trust in Daigo by giving him the loaded gun. If he wanted, Daigo could take the heart Mine gave to him and use it to destroy him, but he wouldn’t.
Gently, Daigo brought the letter to his lips and let the paper bump into chapped skin. He closed his eyes.
No. He would never harm Mine. This trust and confidence in him, Daigo could never betray.