Chapter Text
Niragi tosses and turns in his bed, the air hot and humid, making his skin sticky with sweat.
With an annoyed hiss, he gets up, shedding his last layer of clothing, which so happens to be a pair of shorts he stole from Hatter, and kicks it to the side.
He gets under the shower spray, grateful that the water pressure isn’t so shitty tonight. It serves to cool him off a bit. What's annoying him even more isn’t the ridiculously hot temperature, but the fact that he couldn’t sleep because he can’t stop thinking about a certain someone. A certain tiny blond asshole who gets on his nerves every time Niragi so much as hears his name.
“Chishiya,” Niragi snarls, hands automatically balling into fists at his side.
He doesn’t understand why he’s so obsessed with the other male since he was never into men before the borderlands. Here he quickly figured a warm body is a warm body, but he’s never been interested in anyone, woman or man. Not at this level.
Niragi hates it.
He hates having his mind occupied with thoughts of Chishiya when he should be focusing on taking down Hatter along with Aguni so they can finally cease power.
Instead, he’s standing under the shower head, feeling the water hit his back and thinking about that stupid little bitch with his bleached blonde hair and irritating air of superiority. And those eyes, those dark, condescending eyes who look at Niragi like he’s nothing but a pawn in this game. Well, aren’t they all? Isn’t Chishiya’s life worth the same as Niragi’s here? Why should Niragi be made to feel less than by that frigid cunt then?
Fuck him.
Niragi punches the tiled wall in front of him as he wraps his other hand around his cock. He shuts his eyes tight, doesn’t need much effort to picture Chishiya, fully dressed in front of him, fucking Niragi’s mouth as if it were his own personal fuckhole, hard and fast and dirty, with no regard to Niragi’s need for air.
Niragi pumps his cock as hard and as fast as he imagines Chishiya fucking into his mouth; letting out little gasps as he nears his climax. He lets his head fall forward until his forehead is pressed against the wall as he pictures Chishiya’s face, lost in pleasure from abusing Niragi’s mouth; those pretty lips parted, and those dark eyes, made even darker with arousal.
And just like that, Niragi is coming, shooting his load into his own hand; some of it splattering on the tiled wall. He feels pathetic afterward, watching his jizz being washed down the drain. How many times is he going to jerk off to some stupid fantasy involving Chishiya? When will this stupid obsession go away?
Niragi finishes cleaning himself up, feeling tired all of a sudden, which is a good thing. Maybe now he can get some fucking sleep. He turns off the shower and goes back to the bedroom, getting into bed without bothering to put clothes on.
♦️♦️
Niragi doesn’t look back fondly at his life before the borderlands; the bullying, the beatings, the abuse at home.
But he did learn something from it, and that was to enjoy the sheer violence of it.
At first, he’d tried to disengage as the kicks and punches rained on him, detaching his mind from his body. When that didn’t work, he started to focus on them: each time a fist connected to his jaw, and a foot to his ribs; the impact, the sensation of it.
There’s something pleasurable in the pain, and Niragi found it and held onto it. He imagined that each act of violence was a little like a kiss, a tender touch from a loved one, arms wrapping around him to keep him safe. After all, that might have been the closest thing to affection he would ever experience.
In the borderlands, Niragi used violence deliberately to stay alive, but he also took pleasure in inflicting pain. He didn’t miss being the one on the receiving end of the beatings, didn’t miss that feeling of euphoria of not knowing if he’d come out with only a few bruises or a broken rib. The games took care of it for him.
But when Aguni decides to punish him for shooting some insolent bitch at the pool earlier, Niragi is transported back in time. He accepts the first punch almost like an old friend or a lover. He smiles with blood in his mouth and spits on the floor.
“You crazy bastard,” Aguni grumbles before his fist connects with Niragi’s stomach.
Niragi doubles over, unable to breathe, arms wrapping instinctively around himself. He looks up to see Aguni walk away and fetch something out of a drawer. Niragi is still gasping for air when Aguni turns, a knife in his hand. He starts for Niragi, murder in his eyes and Niragi stumbles back.
“What the fuck, Aguni?” He tries to yell but it comes out as more of a loud wheeze.
“Relax. I won’t kill you. I’m only here to teach you some discipline.” Stone-faced, Aguni continues approaching Niragi who keeps walking backward.
Niragi finally stops when his back hits the wall behind him. He closes his eyes and waits. There’s no point in fighting. A few cuts won’t kill him, and if Aguni goes as far as severing a finger or an ear, Niragi will go to Ann and demand she stitches him up as nicely as possible.
“Aguni,” a familiar voice calls from the direction of the door and Niragi opens his eyes to see Chishiya standing there, watching the scene he walked in on with disinterest.
“What?” Aguni asks without turning, eyes still on Niragi.
“Hatter wants to see you. Immediately,” Chishiya says, eyes flickering for a brief moment to the knife in Aguni’s hand.
Aguni grumbles, clearly annoyed. Niragi is still slumped against the wall, hand on his stomach which still hurts like a bitch. He stares blankly at Aguni, knowing better than to piss him off further.
“We’ll continue this later,” Aguni says before pocketing the knife and walking away and out of the room.
Niragi is left alone with Chishiya, who’s watching him. There’s a coffee table and a couch in between them, but Niragi feels Chishiya’s presence as if he were standing right in front of him.
“What you looking at?” Niragi asks, pushing himself off the wall. He feels like throwing up but decides to bear it. He doesn’t need Chishiya to see him look weak.
“You have a split lip,” Chishiya points out, eyes traveling down to Niragi’s mouth. Niragi doesn’t like the attention, but something inside him does. He refuses to acknowledge it.
“No shit?” Niragi feigns surprise, reaching for his lip and swiping his thumb across it to gather the blood oozing from the cut.
“You should clean it so it won’t get infected.”
“What are you? A doctor? And why d’ya give a shit?” Niragi tries to hide his annoyance and how affected he is by Chishiya’s apparent concern behind a smirk.
As he heads for the door, instead of walking past Chishiya, he stops, staring down at him. Chishiya doesn’t move, giving no sign of being uncomfortable with Niragi’s proximity.
So Niragi takes one step further, until they’re only short of touching. He leans in until he’s almost at eye level with Chishiya. Staring at those tar-like eyes scares and excites Niragi.
“I heard you acted out this morning,” Chishiya says nonchalantly, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his sweats.
“Yeah? Have somethin’ to say ‘bout it, do you?” Niragi taunts.
“You should be more careful. “ Chishiya holds his gaze and Niragi hates it that he can’t intimidate this little fucker. He wishes he had his gun with him, maybe that would do the trick.
“And why the fuck should I listen t’ya, huh?” Niragi spits, patience running thin.
Chishiya shrugs. “Just friendly advice. Aguni is only going to keep you around and protect you while you’re useful to him. If you keep fucking up, he might see you as a liability.”
A liability. Niragi scoffs. You’re a goddamn liability , he wants to say. But he doesn’t. He schools his expression to the best of his ability, confusion and anger making his blood boil. He doesn’t want to lose his cool and break Chishiya’s teeth. That would make Aguni, and probably Hatter furious, and Niragi is already walking on thin ice here.
“If I needed advice from you I would’ve asked, bitch.”
Niragi takes a step to the side, ready to leave, but before he does, he raises his hand, pressing his bloodied thumb to Chishiya’s cheek, smearing it red.
Chishiya slaps Niragi’s hand away, expression unchanged. But Niragi can tell that he is pissed, jaw locked and shoulders tense. Niragi chuckles, pleased that he got under the stoic bitch’s skin, then walks away before Chishiya gets any ideas.
♦️♦️
Niragi is fucking pissed.
That asshole, Aguni, broke his arm and now he can’t even shoot his rifle and he has to join a fucking game. He’s literally fuming.
When he walks out and sees the blue convertible parked in front of the hotel building and his eyes land on Chishiya and that tall, skinny chick who’s always with him, his fury grows even more.
“You gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me,” Niragi snarls, walking towards the car where the two are waiting for him.
Chishiya is standing upright on the driver’s side while the girl is sitting on top of the car hoodie, a fake cigarette dangling from her mouth. They both stare at Niragi like he’s nothing but a nuisance they have to deal with. He’d rather they looked at him with disgust or hatred. His blood boils hot in his veins, and he adjusts the rifle’s strap on his shoulder with his good arm.
“What happened there?” Chishiya can’t help but ask, chin jutting in the direction of Niragi’s arm in the makeshift sling Ann made for him. Nosy fucker.
“None of your business,” Niragi answers, then makes a show of gathering saliva in his mouth and spitting onto the floor next to Chishiya.
“Chishiya, let’s go,” the tall chick says, hopping off the car and taking the driver’s seat.
“She’s driving?” Niragi asks Chishiya as he rounds the car, reluctantly following him.
“Got a problem?” The girl asks, looking at Niragi, an eyebrow raised.
“Kuina is a better driver than me,” Chishiya replies, opening the passenger’s door and lowering the seat so Niragi can get into the backseat more easily.
Niragi sends the blond a murderous look. If he expected gratitude from him, Chishiya didn’t show it.
Once they’re all settled in the car, Kuina drives them to the game arena. It’s not a long drive, no more than fifteen minutes, but Niragi already feels bored out of his mind, which only contributes to his foul mood. He really didn’t expect he’d have to play a game with Chishiya of all people.
Just this morning he woke up from a very vivid dream where Chishiya had fucked Niragi silly in a cramped bathroom stall of some club he used to frequent before the Borderlands. It’d been quick and hot and messy. In the dream, Chishiya had dicked him down so good his legs felt wobbly when he got up from the bed to clean himself up.
Now, as he stares at the back of Chishiya’s bleached hair, Niragi can’t help but remember the dream. He knows it’s becoming too dangerous, this attraction he has towards Chishiya, knows it might lead him to do something stupid, and careless, but Niragi doesn’t know how to stop. The only solution he can think of is to kill the blond.
But does Niragi want that? He isn’t sure. Chishiya is smart, he’s collected a lot of cards since he first arrived at the Beach. Niragi keeps reasoning, telling himself that that’s the only reason he hasn’t killed Chishiya yet: he’s useful.
He’s always been good at lying to himself.
“We’re here,” Kuina announces, right before she kills the car engine.
They’re in front of what looks like a sports center with a sign that indicates there’s a game about to take place there.
The three of them file out of the car and walk towards the entrance, side by side. There are already other players waiting in the well-lit lobby; two women and a man huddled next to the reception desk. All three pairs of eyes land on them as they walk in.
Chishiya takes the lead, stopping in front of the table, and grabs one of the three phones still left. Niragi mimics him and Kuina follows. Once the facial recognition is complete, the speakers crackle to life, and a voice they’re all familiar with echoes through the large hall.
“This game is called ‘Fish Pond’. Difficulty: seven of clubs. You’ll work in teams of three, and try to save your teammate before time runs out. If you don’t succeed within the time limit, your entire team dies.”
Niragi hates how vague the rules are sometimes. He’s about to let out a curse when all the lights go off, complete darkness descending upon them. Before Niragi’s eyes can get accustomed to the darkness, a pair of strong hands grab him and someone shoves a cloth under his nose, pressing it against his face.
Fucking hell! Is he being kidnapped now ? He starts to wonder if this is part of the game, trying not to inhale whatever it is the cloth is soaked with, while he thrashes around. He can hear others struggling around him, too, and things (bodies?) being dragged away. when whoever is holding him, whispers in his ear, “Stop struggling, or you’ll be killed right here and now.”
Niragi has no choice. He takes a deep breath, airways immediately burning as they fill with the acrid smell of whatever chemical the cloth has been doused with. The only thing Niragi can do before he falls unconscious is to think of Chishiya and how badly he’d like to see his face when he realized he was being overpowered and drugged. That’d surely amuse Niragi…
Niragi isn’t sure how much time has passed when he finally comes to. He’s soaked from head to toe, still in the clothes he was wearing before he passed out. He’s lying on a flat, cold surface, and as he opens his eyes he can see a high glass ceiling above him. Then Chishiya’s face appears, looking down at him, an uncharacteristic frown twisting his otherwise serene features. As he notices Niragi waking, his face relaxes, slipping into that perpetually amused look of his.
“What the fuck happened?” Niragi asks, voice coming out breathy and raspy. He takes a lungful of air, suddenly aware of how out of breath he feels.
“We won the game,” Kuina’s voice comes from somewhere to Niragi’s right.
“What? Is it over?” Niragi sits up, making Chishiya retreat. He’s kneeling next to Niragi, but upon seeing the other man is fine, decides to stand up and walk to the bleachers Kuina is sitting at.
“Yep. All we had to do was save your ass from drowning,” Chishiya shrugs, sitting next to Kuina, still watching Niragi.
It’s something Niragi really can’t stand, the way Chishiya’s eyes seem to always be on him whenever they’re in each other’s presence. The attention gets to him in more than one way, and Niragi would rather not acknowledge any of them.
“Don’t make it sound so easy, Shiya. You were chained underwater and we had only fifteen minutes to figure out the lock’s combination before you ran out of oxygen. Luckily, we have a genius on our team.”
As his mind slowly clears, Niragi inspects his surroundings, spotting the oxygen cylinder discarded on the side of the pool, near where he’s sitting. His eyes travel to the pool next and then he sees the three bodies at the bottom of the pool, the water around them red with blood.
Niragi is indifferent to death at this point, having killed his fair share of people. Those are the rules of the Borderlands: kill or be killed. He doesn’t feel even an ounce of remorse for the poor bastards in the water. If it hadn’t been them, it’d have been him. And Chishiya. Niragi doesn’t like how the thought of Chishiya dying makes his stomach churn uncomfortably.
“Supposed I don’t gotta thank you, since your lives were on the line, too. It’s not like you had any other choice but to save me.” Niragi gets up with some difficulty, his clothes heavy on his body and clinging to his skin.
“Oh, trust me, if we’d had a choice, we would’ve let you drown,” Kuina says without hesitation, smirking.
Niragi’s eyes flit to Chishiya who’s still silently looking at him. Niragi can’t tell if he agrees with the sentiment or not, but he’s not about to ask.
“Where’s my fucking rifle?” Niragi asks, looking around the place.
“Probably back in the lobby,” Chishiya replies.
“Let’s go get it and get the fuck outta here then.” Niragi stalks toward the double doors he figures lead to the lobby without waiting for the others.
He’s still fucking pissed, but at least he has seven days on his visa, and he plans on spending every single one of them avoiding that insufferable cunt, Chishiya.
♦️♦️
Niragi has given up on trying to understand his feelings toward Chishiya. So he does his best not to think about him at all. For two days, he successfully avoids being in Chishiya’s presence and not quite as successfully does his best not to think about him. Out of sight, out of mind, my ass.
Fucking random people, shooting so-called traitors under Hatter’s orders, and making the newcomers squirm out of fear all prove to be useless tactics. Chishiya is always in the back of his mind, taunting him, daring him to go and put an end to this torment by going up to the real Chishiya and either fucking him or putting a bullet through his skull. Niragi has entertained the idea of doing both.
Maybe if his desire was finally quenched, he could stop obsessing over Chishiya. But then, he’d probably have to kill him afterward. Niragi’s cock stirs at the mere thought of having Chishiya under him, overpowered, all pliant, and panting while Niragi has his way with him.
But what really gets him going is the thought of Chishiya overpowering him. Taking Niragi by force, thinking Niragi doesn’t want it, when in fact, it’s everything he wants and has been imagining for months.
Niragi is sure neither of those scenarios would ever happen unless he had a gun pointed at Chishiya’s head, or knocked him unconscious, hence he’d have no choice but to kill Chishiya once they were done. And even if, somehow, Chishiya consented, he couldn’t risk the man running his mouth or, worse, using it to blackmail Niragi.
In the end, Niragi just feels like he’s losing his goddamn mind. Cooped up in his room, he keeps playing with the trigger on his rifle, carelessly aiming it at the empty cans on the dresser. The safety is locked, but Niragi swiftly unlocks it, pointing the gun at the door as soon as he hears a knock.
“Who the fuck is it?” He shouts.
“Hatter has called for an executives meeting. They’re expecting you.”
Niragi rolls his eyes. He doesn’t recognize the voice at the other side of the door, so it’s probably just some errand boy.
“I ain’t an executive though,” he mumbles gruffly, to himself. He doesn’t bother replying to whoever was outside the door, and figures they’ll probably take the hint and go away.
Unhurriedly, he gets dressed, takes his rifle, and walks out of the room. The reason he’s stalling has a name, but he doesn’t want to think about it too hard. An executives meeting means Chishiya will be there, but it doesn't mean they have to speak or that Niragi needs to even acknowledge the fucking guy’s presence.
So when he enters the room, he adamantly keeps his eyes from lingering on anyone, just taking stock of who’s present before he finds his place behind Aguni, leaning back against the wall. He rests his rifle on his shoulder and silently waits for the meeting to start.
Most of the stuff that’s said doesn’t interest Niragi so he barely pays any attention to it until his name is called. He looks at Hatter, the one who mentioned him, inquisitively.
“I’m sending you and Chishiya on a little hunting trip. We can’t have insurgents, that’d undermine my power and eventually pose a threat to our peace.”
Niragi can’t even pretend he heard anything Hatter said after the words ‘you and Chishiya’. He’s gotta be fucking kidding.
“Sorry, can’t do. Gotta stay here to keep the order, right Aguni?” Niragi sends Aguni a look that he hopes isn’t too pitiful. He isn’t above begging if necessary, but he’d rather do it in private for the sake of his own pride.
Aguni doesn’t even spare Niragi a look of his own, eyes on Hatter as he says, “He’ll go with Chishiya.”
“Aguni,” Niragi yells angrily, pushing himself off the wall and standing up, gripping the barrel of his rifle until his knuckles go white and start to hurt.
“You’ll do as you’re told unless you want me to break your other arm,” Aguni warns, sending Niragi a pointed look.
Niragi is so angry he can barely contain himself. He wants to shoot everyone in this room, paint the walls with their blood then stomp on their lifeless bodies. Fucking cunts, fuck them all!
Rage coursing in his veins he storms out of the room, but before he can make it out, his eyes inevitably find Chishiya, sitting at one of the chairs, wearing his grey hoodie and that fucking sneer that Niragi would give anything to wipe off his face with a punch. Or a kiss.
It takes two hours for Niragi to muster up the courage to meet Chishiya.
He’s waiting by the same blue convertible they used two days ago, but this time, alone. Niragi’s taking only his rifle, ammunition, and a change of clothes with him. He throws his backpack in the backseat without a word, then hops on the passenger’s seat.
He still can’t shoot very well with only one arm, he doesn’t even know why they sent him to run this stupid errand.
“Are we supposed to bring’em alive?” Niragi asks once Chishiya sits behind the wheel. He doesn’t look at the blond.
“However we find it most effective to deal with them, that’s what Hatter said. Weren’t you listening?” Niragi can feel Chishiya’s eyes on him, but he keeps staring forward.
“Nah. I usually don’t care what none of ya have to say.”
Chishiya scoffs, then finally starts the car. Niragi hates that he’s noticed this is the first time he’s seen the other man have such a reaction.
“I don’t get why he sent me though. I can barely shoot with this fucking broken arm,” Niragi complains.
“It was the best option since we both have five days left on our visas. And I guess Hatter trusts us, huh?” There’s a hint of amusement in Chishiya’s voice, so Niragi risks a glance at him. As usual, that smirk is there. Niragi rolls his eyes, drawing a knee up the seat while Chishiya speeds up the car.
There isn’t much to see no matter where he looks. The city is like a graveyard, overtaken by grass, trees, and all kinds of vegetation. The occasional wild animal will cross the road in front of them, but Chishiya always manages to either slow down or swerve the vehicle to avoid them. He probably lied about Kuina being the better driver.
It’s hard to have any concept of time in the Borderlands, it’s like it works differently here, so Niragi can’t really tell for how long they keep driving until he realizes he has no clue where exactly they’re going.
“Do we even know where those assholes have fucked off to?” He asks, raising his voice enough that Chishiya could hear him. They’re riding on a rare bit of open road so Chishiya has allowed himself to keep the speed above the hundreds. The wind blows their hair back, whistling past Niragi’s ear, a respite from the hot day.
“They left some kind of map behind. Very smart,” Chishiya replies mockingly.
“Where is it?”
“In my pocket.”
“I wanna see it.”
“Go ahead,” Chishiya glances at Niragi, then his eyes lower to his own lap.
Niragi’s gaze can't help but follow Chishiya’s. There’s a lump in his throat that he tries in vain to swallow. Is this bitch for real right now? Is he playing with Niragi?
“Are you scared or something?” Chishiya taunts.
“Scared my ass,” Niragi replies, then before he can’t think better of it he reaches inside Chishiya’s pocket, his fingers immediately connecting to what feels like a folded piece of paper. He quickly wraps them around it and slides his hand out, putting distance between him and the blond by plastering his side to the car door.
Chishiya snickers, but Niragi ignores it for the sake of his sanity, choosing to inspect the so-called map. He can’t understand shit. It looks like some kind of geometrical shape but he doesn’t recall ever seeing it before in school.
“This a map? Ya sure?”
“Positive.”
Niragi shrugs then stuffs the piece of paper in his own pocket. It’s whatever. He doesn’t give a fuck where they’re going. He’s stuck with Chishiya, anyway. The only thing he can hope for is that they find those fuckers quickly so he can go back to the Beach, go back to avoiding Chishiya. He should be able to survive a couple of days sharing a car with the other man. It couldn’t be that hard. Besides, if he somehow pisses Niragi off too much, he can always shoot him and make it look like an accident. No one would know.
“I hope you’re not thinking about killing me.” Chishiya’s voice pulls Niragi back to reality as if he could read his mind. Niragi pretends he isn’t fazed, smirking and clicking his tongue.
“I wouldn’t have to think about it. Got everything I need right here.” He pats the rifle resting on his lap.
“Boys and their toys,” Chishiya says with disdain.
“Who the fuck you calling a boy, bitch?” Niragi spits, his finger mechanically moving to the trigger.
“You should chill, Niragi. I’m not a threat. I actually quite like you. I think we’re a lot alike.”
The words catch Niragi off-guard, but once again, he doesn’t show. He laughs out loud, his tongue darting out of his mouth, the round metal stud of his piercing glinting under the sunlight. Chishiya looks at him at that exact moment, and there’s no mistaking where his eyes linger for a bit too long.
Heat travels through Niragi’s body to curl in his lower belly, a stab of pure, unadulterated desire that makes him dizzy for a moment. It takes him what feels like a whole minute to find his words again. In fact, he completely forgot the witty remark he had on the tip of his tongue before Chishiya completely disarmed him with that fucking look, that Niragi has no idea how he should interpret.
“You don’t agree?” Chishiya speaks before Niragi has the chance to.
“I’m not a stuck-up cunt like ya, who thinks I’m better than everyone else. You’re always looking down on others as if you’re hot shit, when in fact, you’re just as bad as the rest of us. You ended up here, too, didn’t ya?” The flood of words escapes his lips before Niragi can help it. It serves Chishiya right for pissing him off. If he didn’t want to hear the truth, he should’ve kept his mouth shut.
“Is that what you think?”
“Yeah, and I’m right, aren’t I?”
Chishiya’s smirk grows as he watches the road ahead. Suddenly, he takes a sharp turn and enters a side road that leads to what used to be a residential area. Niragi looks around at all the seemingly empty houses, the abandoned gardens with grass tall enough to cover the view of the windows and doors.
“You’re not entirely wrong. But don’t you also think you’re better than others? You kill people for looking at you the wrong way. You must think their lives aren’t worth much.”
Niragi stops to ponder what he just heard, something he usually doesn’t do. He cares very little for what people have to say and that’s even more true here in the Borderlands where words are worthless, anyway, unless they’re being used to keep you alive during games.
“You’ve killed people, too,” is all Niragi can bring himself to say. His head’s starting to hurt from this conversation and from being so close to Chishiya - the memory of that look, what it meant, is fucking with Niragi’s head.
Chishiya has been driving so carefully that Niragi is taken by surprise when he hits the brakes suddenly. His head whips forth and back with the sudden stop. Niragi lets out a curse, glaring at Chishiya, who looks perfectly composed.
“We’re going to spend the night here. It’s not safe to drive at night.”
“Fine,” Niragi replies, begrudgingly fetching his things and kicking the car door open so he can get out.
Chishiya leads them to a two-story house, walking past the garden towards the wooden door. It’s unlocked, as expected, dark inside as all the windows are shut and curtains drawn closed. They take a few minutes exploring the place to check for any squatters who might already be there. There’s no one inside, but they do find some canned food that looks safe to eat.
They don’t pick up the conversation where they left off, eating in silence at the kitchen table. Niragi keeps his rifle close to him at all times which he expects would unnerve Chishiya, but somehow, it doesn’t. The blond man doesn’t even spare the weapon a glance, almost as if he sees it as an extension of Niragi.
Before they go to bed, they drag a heavy wooden wardrobe and place it behind the front door just to be safe. Niragi intends on sleeping in the bedroom upstairs, so he walks up the stairs without a word. He only turns around when he’s already at the bedroom door and he notices Chishiya has followed him. The bastard is fucking sneaky like a cat. Niragi didn’t even hear him coming.
“What the fuck do ya want?” Niragi asks, annoyed.
“It’s safer if we sleep in the same room,” Chishiya replies nonchalantly, hands in his pockets, then walks past Niragi, entering the room.
“I’m not sharing a bed with you,” Niragi protests.
“I’m sure we can find a futon for you,” Chishiya replies, walking up to a cabinet to look inside.
“You sleep on a futon. I’m taking the goddamn bed.”
Niragi runs to the bed and throws himself on it, setting his rifle next to him.
Chishiya laughs, “So childish.”
“Don’t piss me off, Chishiya. I’ll shoot you in your sleep.”
The blond turns to look at Niragi, an indecipherable look on his face. “This is the first time you call me by name and not ‘cunt’ or ‘bitch.’
Niragi stares at Chishiya, holding the other’s gaze in defiance. Inside, he’s squirming under the weight of Chishiya’s look, the intensity of it. Why does this bastard have such power over Niragi? Why? He’s not even remotely as pretty as some of the bitches Niragi has fucked before and yet, he’s never been this attracted, this entranced by any of them as he is by Chishiya.
“Stop being weird about it. I can always go back to calling you those if you prefer,” Niragi huffs, kicking his shoes off and turning to his side, intent on getting some shut-eye before he has to spend the next day in the car with the one person who manages to throw him off-kilter.
“Can I sleep on the bed? I can’t find a futon.”
Niragi grumbles in response, blindly reaching back behind him and taking his rifle to place it on the floor by his side of the bed. Chishiya takes the gesture as it was intended, lying next to Niragi in silence.
Even though their bodies aren’t touching, Niragi can still feel the warmth emanating from Chishiya. Niragi bites his lower lip, wills himself not to think about the proximity, the fact that if he scooted to the side just a few centimeters, he’d be touching Chishiya.
He isn’t naive to think Chishiya doesn’t have a hidden weapon: a knife, a switchblade, something he could use to defend himself against Niragi if he needed to. Niragi wonders what Chishiya would do if Niragi reached between their bodies and touched him. If he’d immediately go into defense mode, draw a knife to Niragi’s throat, or analyze the level of threat it posed before making a move… Or, maybe, (and it’s a big fat maybe) if he’d accept it, reciprocate it.
It’s dumb and it makes Niragi angry. Behind him, he can hear Chishiya’s breathing evened out, indicating he’s fallen asleep. It’s easy to focus on subtle sounds in a place like this, with no one around, no car sounds, with only the crickets and cicadas outside. Niragi doesn’t realize he’s syncing his breath to Chishiya’s, but that’s how he falls asleep.
♦️♦️
Niragi was right. It took them only a couple of days to find the deserters.
He was more than happy to sneak into their camp while they slept and kill them one by one while Chishiya watched, leaning against the car. They gathered anything that they found useful, then headed back to the beach.
They parted at the lobby without saying a word to each other. Niragi went up to his room, while Chishiya probably was off to report to Hatter.
Niragi hasn’t left his room since then. It’s been a day since they’ve been back, but he doesn’t feel like getting out of bed, so he stays. He has people bring him food, then kicks them out with threats of killing them.
It’s already nighttime when he decides to get rid of the sling in his arm. It still feels tender to the touch, a nasty, purple and green bruise right on the place where Aguni had stomped on it, but otherwise, Niragi can move it just fine.
He decides to go out for a little stroll, maybe finally put both of his arms to good use, when he runs into the tall bitch who’s always with Chishiya. She stares at him like he’s a cockroach as always, and Niragi returns it in kind.
“I see your arm has healed,” she says, an eyebrow arched.
“Glad you know how to use your eyes,” Niragi mocks, sticking his tongue out lewdly and taking a step toward Kuina.
She takes a step back, disgust clear on her face.
“I really don’t get what Chishiya finds interesting about you. It’s obvious you have shit for brains. All you care about is killing and fucking.”
It’s obvious she’s trying to insult him but all Niragi can focus on is the first words out of her mouth. So Chishiya finds him interesting? That piques Niragi’s curiosity, of course, and he forgets to hide it. He can tell Kuina picks up on it by the way her look of disgust turns into amusement.
“Does knowing that pleases you?” She asks, cocking her hip to the side.
“Did he put you up to something? Are you two conniving cunts plotting? Don’t think I can’t see right through you.” Niragi hooks a thumb under the leather strap on his shoulder and pulls it off. He’s going to kill this bitch depending on what she says next. He’s used up all the patience he’d left.
“Whoa, easy. That’s not it at all. Chishiya probably would kill me himself if he knew I said anything.”
“So why did ya fucking say it?” Niragi takes his rifle in one hand but keeps it pointed at the ground.
“Kuina!” Chishiya’s voice comes from behind Niragi, interrupting them.
“Hey, there!” Kuina chirps, waving to Chishiya.
Niragi turns his head to watch Chishiya’s approaching, now convinced they’re up to no good, probably trying to fuck with him. Niragi needs to let them know he isn’t the one.
“Was about to teach your friend a lesson,” Niragi tells Chishiya.
“Yeah? What kind of lesson?” Chishiya’s dark eyes are unreadable as he looks from Kuina to Niragi.
“A very important life lesson, like not to fuck with someone fuckin’ crazy like me.” Niragi lets out a loud, manic laugh, raising his rifle above his head and shooting at the ceiling.
Kuina curls up into herself at the loud shooting sounds, but Chishiya stands there, still several centimeters shorter than Niragi, but back straight, his aura serene, as if nothing could disturb it. It makes him look taller than Niragi, or at least it makes Niragi feel smaller. The thought drives him even madder, so he grabs his rifle with both hands and swings it toward Chishiya, aiming right at his head.
“See? This is what I was talking about… You think you’re better than me, don’t ya? And yeah, you’re probably right, you fucki’ asshole. I’m just a crazy bitch with a gun, a trigger-happy fucker who maybe has too much fun in this fucked up place, ‘cus here I can finally be my true self. I don’t have to pretend for the sake of others, I don’t have to allow anyone to fucking piss on me if I don’t wanna. I don’t have to take shit from anyone!”
Niragi barely acknowledges that he’s yelling, his hands shaking as he spits out all those words, anger and frustration boiling inside of him as he stares down the barrel of his rifle, seeing Chishiya’s impassive face come in and out of focus.
“Niragi.”
No, he doesn’t get to call his name like this. Not motherfucking Chishiya, this blond cunt, this fucking bastard who keeps plaguing Niragi’s thoughts, slithering his way into Niragi’s mind, poisoning his veins like a fucking snake from hell.
“Chishiya,” Niragi says through gritted teeth.
“If you want to shoot me, shoot me,” Chishiya says calmly, unwaveringly
“Shiya, no!” Kuina whispers somewhere to Niragi’s left. He’s stopped paying attention to anything that’s not his gun and Chishiya and his own racing pulse, the ringing in his ears.
“You don’t actually want to do it, do you?” Chishiya asks, rhetorically, cocking his head slightly to the side before he continues. “Do what you want to do, then. You said so yourself, you can be yourself here, your true self. You can give in to your desires. So do it, Niragi.”
“Not here,” Niragi says. He’s breathing heavily, perspiration gathering in his hairline and nape. He’s reached his fucking limit. He can’t hold back anymore.
“Where then?” Chishiya asks as if he’s willing to follow Niragi.
“My room,” Niragi says without a second thought. He doesn’t have the brain power to think about the logistics of what he’s about to do. Or the consequences.
“Let’s go then,” Chishiya agrees. Niragi can’t tell if he really sees Chishiya’s smirk grow, something infinitesimal, or if it’s just his imagination, but it doesn’t matter, because they’re moving now.
Kuina calls out Chishiya’s name, but he ignores it. Niragi lowers his rifle, somehow convinced he won’t need it anymore. He’s walking only a few steps ahead of Chishiya, leading the blond in the direction of his room.
They don’t speak on the way there, and it’s only when the door clicks shut and they’re both alone in the room, that Chishiya looks at Niragi.
“So, are we doing this or not?” Chishiya asks and it instantly clicks for Niragi: Chishiya knows.
Somehow he’s figured out Niragi is attracted to him. Somehow he knows and has probably known for a while.
Both rage and desire burn hot in Niragi’s veins as he steps into Chishiya’s personal space. He towers over Chishiya, a good head taller than the blond, and Niragi is convinced he can easily overpower Chishiya if he wants to. He’s discarded his rifle on top of his dresser once he entered the room, so his hands are free.
He puts them on Chishiya’s hips first, not expecting Chishiya to make a move in return. Chishiya’s hands find Niragi’s shoulders, though. Niragi’s head spins. He can’t believe this is happening.
“Are we slow dancing?’ Chishiya asks, lips curving upwards as he looks up at Niragi.
“Shut the fuck up,” Niragi whispers before he crashes his lips against Chishiya’s without warning.
What Niragi feared all this time becomes reality the moment their mouths are on one another’s: this shit is addictive. They’re kissing without any tentativeness, neither of them holding back. It’s a messy affair, teeth bumping together and scraping against lips. Niragi’s breath is caught in his lungs until he gasps into Chishiya’s mouth, who in return, sucks Niragi’s tongue with a loud, lewd sound that travels all the way down to Niragi’s pants.
He barely realizes he’s moving until he has Chishiya backed up against the wall, pressing his front to Chishiya’s, sliding a thigh between his legs and pressing up until Chishiya’s body tenses under his touch, and then he goes pliant in Niragi’s arm while Niragi continues rubbing his thigh against Chishiya’s crotch.
“You like this?” Niragi asks, pulling back to look at Chishiya’s face.
“Would I be here if I didn’t?” Chishiya replies, looking up at Niragi through half-closed eyelids.
Niragi rolls his eyes, then leans in again to drag his tongue over Chishiya’s parted lips. Chishiya doesn’t make a sound, but Niragi notices he’s affected by the way his grip on Niragi’s shoulders tightens.
“How long have you known?” Niragi asks, curiosity getting the better of him despite how turned on he is.
“Known what?” It’s not like Chishiya to play dumb, so Niragi figures he’s doing it just to get under Niragi’s skin. I guess this is how it’s going to always be. Fine by him.
“That I wanted to fuck you,” Niragi answers, then slides a hand from Chishiya’s waist to between his legs. He cups Chishiya’s cock through his pants and watches with satisfaction as the blond’s breath hitches.
“Is that what you want?” Chishiya’s voice is steady. He doesn’t sound affected at all, but whenever Niragi does something he will give small tell-tale signs that he is, indeed, affected and that’s what’s driving Niragi crazy. He wants to break Chishiya.
“Yeah. Wanna make you my bitch,” Niragi whispers, leaning forward until his lips brush Chishiya’s ear, then he gives the lobe a hard bite.
“Now, that I can’t promise,” Chishiya laughs, hands sliding down to Niragi’s chest, lightly shoving him back, making Niragi look at him again.
Niragi wastes no time and gives Chishiya’s cock another squeeze. He watches Chishiya’s face, that damned smirk that won’t fucking quit, but he also notices other things; things he has paid attention to before, things that he kept in the back of his mind and conjured up whenever he got off to thoughts of the blond. Like his prominent collarbones, always visible under the tank tops he wears; his tan skin with some beauty marks here and there like stars dotting a crepuscular sky, and his eyes; usually so dark and mysterious, but now with a fiery quality to them that tells Niragi, Chishiya wants this as badly as him.
Niragi doesn’t want to hold back - can’t hold back anymore. He catches Chishiya’s lips with his again, giving his bottom lip a good hard bite just to show him who’s in charge. The metallic taste of blood invades his mouth, and he sucks on Chishiya’s lip to taste more of it.
Chishiya smiles into the kiss, a low chuckle leaving him. He licks into Niragi’s mouth in return, undoubtedly tasting his own blood on Niragi’s tongue.
Chishiya’s hands end up on Niragi’s ass, fingers digging there and pulling their crotches together. Chishiya moves his hips until they rub up against each other and Niragi feels the wetness gather in the front of his pants with a slight pang of shame.
If Chishiya notices it, he doesn’t say anything. It’d be hard anyway, with the way Niragi keeps abusing his mouth; sucking and licking and biting as if he wants to devour Chishiya. And maybe he does. At least this is an effective way to wipe that infuriating smirk off his lips.
They keep furiously making out even while Niragi pulls Chishiya’s cock out of his sweatpants; his balls catching under the elastic of his waistband. He needs to use both hands to pull the piece of clothing down Chishiya’s thighs, but he manages without breaking their kiss. Chishiya is only slightly smaller than Niragi, so it feels familiar to hold him in his hand and give it a few experimental strokes.
Chishiya grabs the back of Niragi’s neck when Niragi starts to jerk him off; sucking on Niragi’s bottom lip. His breath is labored now, unable to hold back as Niragi works on his cock, gathering the bit of precum from the slit and using it to make the slide smoother.
Niragi flicks his wrist the way he does to himself whenever he’s thinking about Chishiya on his knees for him or vice-versa and that has Chishiya visibly keening.
“Fuck,” Chishiya breathes out, pulling at Niragi’s ponytail to draw his head back. That causes them to stop kissing. Niragi’s eyes automatically land on Chishiya’s swollen lips, the bite mark Niragi left there a deep red. He looks so fucking good, Niragi doesn’t think he’ll ever let Chishiya leave this room.
Forced to drag his eyes away, Niragi looks down at Chishiya’s cock, his hand wrapped perfectly around it, only the bulbous pink head peeking out.
“I think we need to get you wetter,” Niragi says before he gathers a good amount of saliva in his mouth, then spits right onto Chishiya’s cockhead. He uses his thumb to smear the spit all over the head, then slides his palm up to get it slicker before he starts pumping Chishiya faster, squeezing his hand around the shaft as he picks up a rhythm.
Chishiya’s mouth hangs open but he doesn’t utter a sound, eyes locked on Niragi’s. His head falls back, hitting the wall behind him, then he pulls Niragi into another kiss with his fingers buried in Niragi’s hair.
It doesn’t take long for Chishiya to come, spilling into Niragi’s fist; knees buckling slightly as his orgasm hits. Niragi uses his free hand to hold Chishiya up as he watches the other unravel with newfound fascination. He’s never been interested in his partners’ pleasure but with Chishiya, he finds himself paying attention to every single reaction. It’s unsettling, but also exciting in a way. It makes Niragi want to make Chishiya experience pleasure again and again, in different ways. He wants to explore Chishiya, learn what makes him tick and what finally will break him, and get him to moan and scream Niragi’s name.
He also wants Chishiya to do the same to him.
“That was decent,” Chishiya smiles once he’s come down from his orgasm high, patting Niragi’s arm. He quickly tucks himself back into his pants while Niragi wipes the cum off his hand on the wallpaper next to Chishiya’s head. He makes a mental note to move rooms later.
“Too bad I can’t return the favor. I’m late for something.”
Chishiya is already ducking under Niragi’s arm and heading for the door before Niragi can stop him.
“Are you fucking serious?” Niragi asks, turning around to watch Chishiya walk out of the room.
“I’ll take a rain check!” He yells, disappearing into the corridor.
“Fucking bitch!” Niragi yells, adjusting his junk before he falls onto the bed. The next time he’s alone with Chishiya, he’ll get payback, will have that cunt on his knees while he fucks that pretty mouth of his.
He doesn’t know why he’s so sure there’ll be a next time. It’s not just Chishiya’s words.
Niragi feels a shift in the air, like something snapped or been broken then got rearranged. Something between the two of them.
There’s no way they can go back to the way it was before.
Niragi has no fucking clue how it’s going to be from now on, either. All he knows is now that he got a taste of Chishiya, he’ll keep wanting more and more, and more.