Chapter Text
People at the bar shouted loudly at the sports scene that played on the television behind the bar, the bartender scrambling to get drinks out quickly and correctly. V looked like he fit in with the rugged bar interior, a distressed red tee shirt with a leather jacket over it paired with a black pair of jeans and sneakers.
Takemura on the other hand looked horribly out of place, the collar of his jacket hiding the Arasaka logos from prying eyes that may look over towards their direction. The light above their booth flickered a few times, V reaching up to twist it tighter, noticing that it stopped. He made a face at the layer of dust that coated his fingertips, wiping them off on his pants.
“Why did we have to meet here?” Takemura asked, clearly not too pleased with V’s choice of location. He glanced back over to the bar for a moment before bringing his attention back to their table. “Could we not have eaten closer to our destination?” They were set to meet Wakako shortly, her having been busy in the early evening, telling them to swing by later.
“Because I know the owner, did a job for him a while back.”
“Thievery, I assume.”
“Nah, some guys were busting out his windows every other week, and he was spending more eddies than he was making getting them repaired and clean up the mess,” V explained, leaning back in the booth. “Caught the guys and nearly broke their arms, and they never came back.”
“I see,” Takemura nodded. Although he was hungry, he didn’t dare look at the menu. He knew there would be nothing up to his high standards that he would truly enjoy, for now, he would go without.
He would rather take his chances of being spotted at a grocery store than to eat at a place like this, the bar tucked around the corner halfway into an alley. The floors felt sticky beneath his shoes and there was shouting coming from the restrooms- no doubt a fight breaking out.
“You should eat,” V said, “it’ll start wearing down on you sooner or later.”
“I am not that desperate.”
“What? Hoping that a three course meal will fall outta the sky and into your hands?” V laughed, Johnny appearing next to him, laughing as well.
“Stuck up corpo,” Johnny rolled his eyes. “He wouldn’t know good bar food if it hit him in the face.”
“The food here’s better than what you’d find at a stall,” V said, trying to persuade him.
“I will be fine,” Takemura said, dismissing V once again.
“Suit yourself then,” V said.
“Forget him,” Johnny said, tapping on the table.
“Where you staying? Doubt you walked into a hotel and booked a room.”
“It is best I not tell you, the less information, the better,” Takemura answered, quickly sidestepping the question. V rubbed his temples, deciding it was best not to continue to ask him questions, there was no point if he was going to just deflect them so easily.
“Thanks,” V said as the waitress brought him his food, mouth practically watering at the sight of the basket of the mozzarella sticks, another basket of fries, and a burger. The paper that covered half of the burger was already saturated with grease, turning the paper dark around the middle.
“It is a miracle you have not died of food poisoning,” Takemura rolled his eyes at all the food.
“Don’t knock it till you try it,” V said, nudging the basket of fries towards Takemura, who just stared at them. V didn’t waste any time, picking up the burger and taking a bite out of it, practically moaning at the taste.
“Fuck yeah, I remember coming to places like this after shows, eating so much I’d be puking in the back alley, then I’d go back in and get some beers,” Johnny grinned, reminiscing at the memories. “Those were the good ol’ days.”
V moved to take a few sips from his soda, setting the burger down. His fingertips were slick with grease and oil, taking his napkin and wiping them off before eating some fries.
“Here, have this,” he said, putting a single mozzarella stick on Takemura’s napkin, watching him look down at it.
“I do not like that I cannot see what is inside,” Takemura said, already having a bad feeling about it.
“Oh, here,” V said, grabbing his fork and cutting it in half, revealing the nearly white synthetic cheese inside.
“Why is it so stringy?” Takemura asked, watching as grease spilled out as well, saturating the napkin below.
“If you don’t want it, I‘ll eat it,” V shrugged.
“Have you ever had real cheese? Stuff not made in a factory from synthetic materials?” Takemura asked, eyebrow raised. V looked up at him.
“A long, long time ago. Before I became a merc, actually,” he said, shoving a few fries into his mouth.
“What did you do before this? I assumed you just grew up as one.”
V pulled out his wallet, riffling around for a card as he tossed it across the counter, Takemura instantly recognizing the Arasaka logo in the top corner. Half of the card had been sliced off, Takemura figuring it was his full name, leaving only the V. “I was not aware you were with Arasaka prior,” he said, looking carefully at the ID. His black hair was quite a bit shorter in the picture, cropped and faded on the side, styled perfectly on the top. Takemura discretely snapped a photo of the ID for safekeeping for later.
“Yeah, I was counterintelligence,” he explained, taking it back and placing it back in his wallet. “I can sort of relate to where you’re at now, although you were a bit higher on the food chain than I was.”
“I am surprised they let you live.”
“They tried, but Jackie stepped in. He gave me a place to stay, fed me, picked me up off the ground, wiped the dust off my ass, and gave me a shove forward,” V explained. “I miss the food, not so much the rest of it.”
Takemura huffed, although their stories did have similarities, Takemura was still actively being hunted by Arasaka.
“I will mail you some real food when I return back to Japan,” Takemura said, V laughing.
“Or I could just come to Japan- never been.”
“I believe you would like it, there is much to do,” he said, prodding at the cheese stick in front of him, watching it roll over and pick it up, giving it a gentle squeeze. A drop of grease dripped out and onto the table, V swiping it with a napkin so he wouldn’t get it on his jacket.
V picked up his burger as Takemura ate the small half of his mozzarella stick, making a face but not spitting it out. “This is more fake than most of the people that live in this city,” Takemura muttered softly, hesitating before picking up the other half of the cheese stick and eating it too.
“Still tastes good,” V said before taking another bite of his burger, a pickle falling out of the side of it and onto the basket below.
"That is up for debate."
"You ate the pizza last night," V said, a sly smile working its way across his face.
"You have no proof," Takemura shook his head, V leaving it at that.
“And who is your friend?” Wakako asked, leaning forward, placing her elbows onto the wooden desk in front of her, looking over to Takemura. The sound of pachinko machines went off in the other room, people gambling despite the late hour.
“Hideshi Hino, comedian,” V said, trying not to chuckle.
Takemura turned to glare at him, quickly rolling his eyes. “Stop it, asshole,” he said in Japanese, V’s auto translator putting the text up for him. Takemura narrowed his eyes at V. “Ignore my boyfriend, he thinks he is funny.” Takemura said, turning his attention back to Wakako.
“Boyfriend?” She asked, looking at V, who was clearly caught off guard. “Well, V, it is about time you brought a man along with you,” she grinned, clasping her hands together. “Here I was starting to think that you were having difficulties getting out there, I thought about setting you up with some of my friends.”
Takemura struggled not to chuckle at her words, finding this amusing now; he was tired of being the butt of V’s jokes.
“We are not dating, he’s jok-“
“Do not lie, V, you know it upsets me,” Takemura interrupted him, V’s entire face turning red as Takemura flashed him a gentle smile. He didn’t think he had ever seen the man smile. For some reason, it made his cheeks flare red.
“Who knew? Corpo’s got jokes,” Johnny laughed, sitting on the edge of Wakako’s desk. "You gonna just stand there and take it dry or what?"
“Sorry babe,” V said, Takemura’s smile dropping as V stepped closer, wrapping an arm around his middle, “I’ll make it up to you tonight at my place,” he winked. Takemura mentally cursed himself, he should have known that the merc would be able to swing things back around to him. Takemura decided to one-up V and put his arm around him in return, V frowning.
“Now, now, tell me how you two met,” she said, clearly having lost all interest in the job information that they had originally come for.
“Well, you see, I pulled him out of the trash,” Takemura said, Wakako laughing at his words, V’s face turning more and more red by the second. “Quite literally, saving his life."
“Oh? V, you got yourself a man in shining armor. It is about time someone is there to keep him out of trouble.”
“It is a full time job, with overtime,” Takemura said.
“V, it would seem that we both have similar tastes in men, who knew?” She asked, Takemura squinting over at V who was clearly not having a good time.
“Can we get back to talking about the job?” V asked, stepping forward, trying desperately to change the subject.
“Do not be rude,” Takemura said, grabbing V by the waist and yanking him back, V’s back now pressed firmly against Takemura’s broad chest. “Perhaps I need to teach you some discipline and respect.”
“You are just what V needs, it is about time someone teaches him some proper manners,” Wakako beamed, V practically fuming at this point as Hanako and Takemura continued to converse.
“I believe we are even,” Takemura said, stepping out of the pachinko parlor, V crossing his arms in front of his chest. The sounds of the pachinko machines went off in the building, almost drowning out the loud noises of Jig Jig Street.
“Not funny,” V said, looking over to him, Takemura shrugging.
“You Americans, I will never understand. You will call me daddy , but boyfriend is where you draw the line?" Takemura asked, V immediately getting flustered.
"Shut up, it was a spur of the moment thing, a slip of the tongue," V groaned, growing more and more embarrassed by the second, although he was grateful Takemura didn't bring that up. "She's gonna be pissed when we 'break up'," he said, using his fingers to accentuate the air quotes.
"That is not my problem," Takemura said, as if it truly bothered him. "As much as I appreciated the place to stay last night, I believe it is time I made my way back," he said, he was fairly tired after the long day, and he wanted nothing more than to go to bed. Although his hideout was quite a ways from here, and he did not have his van.
"How about I give you a lift?" V offered. "As an apology," he added quickly, Takemura eyeing him up and down, not really keen on walking the entire way back to his hideout- especially considering that it would take him a while, and could possibly be seen. He was still trying his best to lay low, the best that he possibly could, at least.
It was starting to get late, the gentle chill of the night hours settling in; Takemura grateful that he brought a bike. The smell of cheap food from carts and food stalls filled the air, people walking up and down the street, chatting on the phones or conversing with friends as they did so.
"Fine," Takemura said, "but only because it is late."
As if he truly had another choice.
"I'll call Del," V said, tugging Takemura down the street. Takemura glanced over his shoulder, Wakako smiling as the two of them left together, the former bodyguard groaning and rolling his eyes.
"You can just drop me off," Takemura said, looking out the window, the rundown apartment building coming into view.
"Nonsense, I'll walk you in," V said, giving the building a look over. "This place safe?" He asked, turning to Takemura.
"Safe enough," he ignored the warning signs that had been posted all over the premises, V able to see the bright pink papers on the front door as the taxi automatically pulled over. It was a friday night, and he knew Del was busy.
"I'll call you, Del, I know you got work to do," V said, stepping out as Takemura did the same. The temperature was starting to drop faster now, a shiver racing down V's spine as he looked up at the large building. Delamain pulled away as V followed Takemura inside. "This place even have power?"
"Yes, I was able to activate a generator," Takemura said, V noticing how dusty it was inside, wondering how long this place had been abandoned for. It seemed to still be in fairly good condition. He had to use his optics to up the brightness of his vision so he could follow Takemura up the steps. V was positive that Takemura had done the same.
Takemura pushed open the door to his room, allowing V to slip inside, although he didn't want to.
"So this is where you've been staying?" V asked, looking around. None of the lights seemed to work, glancing up at the broken or missing light bulbs.
"Yes. It is… much different than the accommodations I am used to," Takemura said as he closed the door.
"Living in an Arasaka compound was pretty nice, huh?"
"Much nicer than anything this town could offer. My bed was custom made, imported even. Even in my most restless nights, I could never toss and turn close enough to the edge to worry about falling off," he explained. "I had a five-star chef on standby, ready to cook whatever I requested," Takemura continued, walking over and peeking out the window, looking at the empty road outside. He found himself looking over and over again, as if suddenly there would be a bunch of Arasaka guards ready to kick in his room door.
"It's not a bad place though," V said, it could certainly be better.
"Running water would be nice," Takemura shrugged, stepping into the bedroom, shrugging his jacket off and tossing it over the large bed.
"Your bed is bigger than mine," V said, leaning against the doorframe.
"I am grateful to have a roof over my head," he said, turning on the small lamp on the bedside table, illuminating part of the room. It wasn't the best, but it was better than sitting in total darkness. "Although, it is certainly a fall from grace."
"It could always be worse," V said. "When I lost my last place, when Arasaka dropped me on my ass, Jackie brought me in. Anyone else that I used to speak with stopped talking with me instantly. I remember sleeping next to Jackie, cramped on that bed with him, hearing him snore from downstairs even. I lost my cars, all my money, everything," he said, Takemura sitting on the bed, listening. "There are some people that lose even more; that lose their family, all of their friends, or even their lives. We got off lucky, the both of us beat the odds."
"I am not, as you say, 'out of the woods yet'," Takemura said, V walking over to him.
"You will be soon, even if I have to pick you up and carry you out on my shoulders," V said, Takemura letting out a deep sigh.
"You are persistent," Takemura pointed out, "you remind me of my apprentice."
"Oda? Guy was a dick," V scoffed, Takemura chuckling a bit as his words.
"He is extremely on edge, with Saburo Arasaka dead, everyone within Arasaka is likely high-strung and stressed. Oda knows that this parade could go south, and any harm that comes to Hanako-sama is on his shoulders. He is very busy, I am surprised he even agreed to meet with us."
"Yeah, and he basically told us to fuck ourselves."
"Again, he is stressed and highly concerned about what is going on. If the roles were reversed, and Hanako-sama had been killed, I would be extremely worried about the integrity of the safety of Saburo," Takemura explained, looking up at V as he spoke. "I assure you, he is not normally like this."
"Guess I'll have to take your word for it," V rolled his eyes.
"One of us will encounter him at the parade, V," Takemura muttered. "Whether it be him stopping me from getting to Hanako on the float, or him stopping you when taking out the snipers and netrunner. V, if you must fight him, you must be prepared. He said himself, he will not be so lenient in our next meeting."
"He gave us an option to leave the city at least," V crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"Oda wishes to avoid conflict where possible, he has many things on his plate right now, us leaving would alleviate quite a bit. The less he deals with, the better."
"What's he like? Combat wise?" V asked, pulling up the chair from the desk and sitting down across from Takemura.
"If I had to answer in one word? Deadly," he said, his eyes meeting V's. "We have both had options to kill one another, but we do not. His speed and agility is unmatched, I have yet to encounter anyone in the world like him. He has had most of his body redone with cyberware for combat. I trained him to excel in both ranged and close-quarter combat."
"So he may have a gun," V said, trying to learn as much as possible. Things could go either way, either of them could run into the guy on their mission.
"It is highly possible. He excels at every type of combat I have ever seen him perform But he loves getting, as you say, up close and personal, he wields mantis blades with a thermal mod."
"Thermal huh, damn."
"It could be arguably less lethal than regular blades, as the heat will cauterize any wound instantly. Meaning he could remove arms and legs, and keep his enemy alive," Takemura explained, V already having a bad feeling about this. "Without most of my cyberware, I will not be able to defeat him, V."
V looked up at him, having forgotten that Takemura had disabled pretty much everyone on him. "I can enable the smart features, but while I attempt to blend in, I cannot carry a gun on me."
"Then I'll come save your ass, you saved mine, I can return the favo-"
"No," Takemura interrupted him. "You will continue to Hanako in my place. If given a choice though, Oda will go for you. He knows I would not harm her, but you are a stranger to him," V nodded, leaning back in the chair, rubbing his face with a groan. "I apologize for the stress," Takemura whispered softly.
"It's fine," V said, shrugging it off. He was fairly used to it at this point in time.
"We should both rest," Takemura said, "we have a few days before the parade, and we need to access the float before then," he said, he definitely needed to focus on what was going on and get his head back in the game. Takemura looked far more tired than V did, although he did seem to get quite a bit of well-deserved rest last night. "You are welcome to sleep here for the night," he offered, not too worried since there was no one around as they entered the building to see.
"Oh, thanks," V smiled, Takemura nodding. He moved the jacket off of the bed, tossing it onto the floor, not too concerned with it, V watching, eyes following the fabric on the floor before he saw something else on the floor. He leaned down to pick it up, grabbing the other thing he saw.
V held up two nude magazines, eyeing the covers before looking at Takemura, whose face was slightly turning red. Takemura snatched both of them from his grasp, shoving them in the drawer in the bedside table, practically slamming the door shut, the lamp on the table shaking violently as a result.
"Do not say anything," Takemura warned, V trying to withhold a laugh.
"Oh come on," V said, opening the drawer and tearing the magazines out before Takemura could stop him, who was already standing up and trying to get them from him. "Calm down I just wanna see what you're jerking off too," he grinned, Takemura successfully pinning one arm behind V's back as V tossed the magazine onto the desk, quickly opening it with his other hand to a random page.
"I regret inviting you over," Takemura said, grabbing V's other arm to prevent him from looking through the dirty magazine.
"Thought you said you were broke, unless you're a thief just like me and you stole these," V laughed, Takemura pinning him to the desk quickly.
"Shut up, I would never succumb to your levels."
"Aren't you technically stealing this room? It doesn't belong to you," V pointed out, Takemura digging his knee into the soft skin behind V's, pulling a hiss from his teeth. "Fine fine," he groaned, Takemura finally letting go. V stood up, rolling his shoulders several times before flipping through the magazine.
"It was here when I got here," Takemura lied, V side glancing at him.
"You can admit you jerk off, you know, you had your dick in my ass last night," he snickered, Takemura rolling his eyes.
"You Americans are so vulgar," he said, V laughing at him.
"Says the one hoarding magazines like a high school kid," he said, picking up the magazine and flipping through it, not all that interested in the content. He would much rather enjoy a BD than flip through a magazine old-school.
"You mock me too often," Takemura said, narrowing his eyes, V knowing he should dial it back before Takemura actually kicks his ass.
Despite having little cyberware active, he could probably still take him down. It wouldn't surprise V if Takemura had actually trained with no cyberware from time to time, just in the off chance that it were to happen. "Tomorrow we will return to Jigjig Street and come up with a plan," Takemura said.
"You worry too much, leave that for tomorrow," V said, closing the distance between them.
"Oh for the love of god, quit fucking him, please," Johnny pretended to gag, leaning against the door frame.
"You don't have to be here you know," V remarked, Johnny rolling his eyes before vanishing in a blink of an eye.
"V… we should not," Takemura said, V's fingertips tracing across his chest across the white button down shirt he wore.
"There's a difference between shouldn't, and can't," V insisted, closing the gap between them as their lips were pressed together, Takemura's hands moving to his waist as their chests bumped together. Takemura could already feel V's hardened cock grinding against his inner thigh. "We're both wanted men, we should live like each day is our last," he whispered against his lips. "Let me take care of you tonight," V begged, pushing Takemura back until he fell back onto the bed, sitting down on the edge of it.
"Very well," Takemura agreed with a nod. looking up at him. The entire apartment complex was silent as V's knees hit the carpeted flooring below, hands running from Takemura's knees up to his thighs several times, feeling the warmth from his body seeping through the pants he wore. "You look much better down there," Takemura commented, V leaning in closer, pressing his cheekbone against the inside of Goro's knee, staring up at him.
"I'll get on my knees any day for you," V snickered, hands roaming further up his thighs, grazing across the erection that was straining against the seam of his pants.
"I will remember that promise," Takemura assured him, V making quick work of his belt, the sound of the zipper being undone filled the air as he tugged out Takemura's cock, licking his lips at the sight. Takemura watched V part his lips, tongue lolling out and lapping at the tip of his cock, eyes locked with the bodyguard's as he welcomed the head of his cock into his mouth, lips wrapping around it as he began to suck.
"Kuso," Takemura cursed, a hand quickly weaving through V's hair for somewhere to put it. He couldn't stop the soft moans that fell from his lips as V began to bob his head up and down, his own pants starting to feel tight as his own cock swelled with excitement. Despite how V said he was to be treated, he still couldn't help but push V's head down, forcing him to swallow down more of his cock.
V groped himself through his jeans, groaning around the bodyguard's cock as he swallowed around him several times, feeling the hands in his hair tighten their grasp. "I do not have lubricant, or anything that would aid us," Takemura said, V managing to pull himself off.
"That's fine, you can just slip it between my thighs," V suggested, Takemura's face a deep red.
"Vulgar, as to be expected," Takemura huffed, V rolling his eyes.
"I literally just had your cock in my mouth," V said, pushing himself up, pressing his lips to Takemura's roughly, feeling the bodyguard's tongue swiping across his lower lip. He could feel Takemura's hands graze up his waist to his sides, yanking the both of them closer together. V sighed against his lips as one of the other's hands grazed across his ass, tugging at the waistband of his jeans.
"Let's get these off of you," Takemura said, tossing V gently onto the bed next to him, hearing him hit the soft surface. V struggled with his belt for a fraction of a moment, pulling it free from his jeans before he pulled his pants off, tossing them to the floor before his boxers followed suit.
His own cock was already hard, Takemura quickly joining him on the bed, shedding his button down shirt and tossing it to the floor as well. "Come here," Takemura said, sitting down, V quickly moving to straddle him, feeling his strong thighs beneath him, feeling the body heat sweep through his slacks.
Their lips were pressed together once more, V practically rutting his hips against Takemura's with a breathy sigh. "V," Takemura moaned gently, putting a hand on V's waist, bringing the two of them together.
He felt V sink against him as Takemura grasped both of their cocks with his hand, beginning to stroke the both of them together.
"Fuck… Goro," V moaned against his lips, putting a hand up over his shoulder. "Faster, fuck," he cursed, thrusting his hips up into Takemura's hand.
"V, I will not last," Takemura warned, eyes slipping closed as he sped up his hand, precum coating his palm, allowing him to jerk them off quicker.
"That's alright, I'm not gonna either," V nodded, pressing his cheek against Takemura's shoulder, soft skin meeting the metal armor plating that coated Takemura's body there.
There was nothing more erotic to V than Takemura's soft moans and gasps of pleasure, groaning V's name deeply as he spilled into his own fist, V following suit only a moment after. Takemura's other hand slipped up his back, fingertips tracing over his spine as they both allowed their breathing to even out.
"We should rest, there is much to do before the parade," Takemura said, retrieving some tissues and cleaning his hand off.
"Yeah, we only got one chance on this," V said, picking up his pants.
"You may stay the night, if you wish. It is late," Takemura said, motioning to the space on the bed next to him, V nodding as he climbed back into the bed, Takemura turning off the small lamp next to the bed, plunging the room into darkness
"What's the plan for after the parade?" V asked.
"I have not thought that far," Takemura confessed, optics adjusting to the dark room. "If it goes well, I aim to be reinstated with Arasaka. If it fails… I will continue to hide out and lay low."
V allowed silence to stretch between the two of them.
"No matter what happens, you can always count on me. I may not be as cool as Arasaka, but… y'know, I got a bed and a shower you can use," V said before he yawned, Takemura chuckling.
"I will remember that, V," Takemura said, closing his eyes and falling asleep. V looked over him as he rested, letting out a sigh before getting comfortable.
"I hope you do, Goro," V said, reaching over to toss the blankets up over Takemura before he fell asleep as well.