Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shinra swallows hard, trying to figure out how he’s found himself between this particular rock and a hard place.

From the front, he’s boxed in by his superior, Captain Obi— a solid wall of muscle with a determined scowl on his face, in contrast to his usual pleasant smile.

From behind, another solid wall of muscle keeps him pinned against Obi, and even though he can’t see the other man’s face from this angle, he knows if he were to look up at him right now he would see a grin plastered on his face, Charon feeling far too pleased with himself over how this situation has turned out.

It’s one thing for someone like him to find himself caught between two men, both of them gorgeous works of muscle that look like they were sculpted from clay.

It’s another thing for those two men to be looking at each other instead of him, even though he can feel the heat of Obi’s hands on his waist and Charon’s hand finding its way around his throat, not squeezing or choking him but simply staying there as a reminder.

Shinra swallows hard again. He’s sure Charon can feel it, and that’s why he chuckles and leans in to get his mouth close to his ear— or as close as it can get without Charon having to bend over.

“You think you’re ready for both of us, Shinra?” His voice is a deep rumble. Shinra can feel it coming from in his chest as it's pressed against his back, even more than he can hear it. He can’t stop himself from whimpering a little at the sensation— something that makes Obi’s grip on him tighten.

“I’ve got you, Shinra,” Obi says, with the kind of determination that makes Shinra feel like he can’t be lying, even if he doesn’t know what he’s promising. “We’ll take it nice and slow.”

Maybe that’s true, maybe it’s not. Obi is glaring at Charon as he says it, as though he can intimidate the other man into following what he says.

Even if it is true, though, Shinra knows he’s going to be completely and utterly wrecked by whatever the two of them do to him.

It’s not every day that you find yourself pinned between your captain and a member of the organized crime ring that the two of you have been chasing down, after all.

But Shinra’s life is just special like that.

Shinra never intended to end up in a position where he would be getting manhandled and played with by two of the strongest, sexiest men he had ever seen. It just sort of… Happened.

He’s not sure that he knows how it happened, because he doesn’t really know what was going through the minds of the two men who managed to corner him (willingly, because where else would he ever want to be more than between the two of them), but he does know how the story unfolded from his point of view.

There’s nothing Shinra has wanted to do more with his life than help people. As a child, he had always proclaimed to his mother and baby brother that he was going to be a hero— that he was going to protect people, especially the two of them. It had always been his life’s dream.

Even after he had lost the two of them to what the police had called a tragic accident, leaving him alone in the world since no one on his mother’s side of the family wanted anything to do with him and she had never talked at all about his father, that hadn’t changed. The only thing that had changed was the root of his desire.

Now it wasn’t about protecting his mother and his brother— that had passed.

Now it was about making sure that no one else ever had to go through what he had gone through.

Because Shinra knew full well that the house fire that had claimed their lives while he had been the sole survivor was far from an accident. Someone had done that on purpose.

Who and why, he had no idea. The police had told him it had been caused by faulty wiring and it had been no one’s fault, no matter how many times he told them otherwise— he had just been a little kid at the time, so they all just dismissed everything he had told them as nothing more than a child’s overactive imagination and an unwillingness to let go. Maybe even an inability to understand that his family was dead, even though the man with the eye patch had told him quite blankly and to his face that they were gone, not pulling any punches in spite of his age.

Everything he’s done since that day has been building off of that— off of a desire to figure out what really happened to his family that night, why anyone would have seen fit to set fire to a house with a single mother and her two young boys inside and then speed off into the night long before emergency services could get there.

That’s how he found himself in the police academy. After all, if you wanted to be able to stop crime— there was no better place to start than with the people who were tasked with doing so.

Shinra knew before he even went into the academy that the police were a corrupt bunch, and he wasn’t likely to find himself too many friends in his crusade. A lot of his fellow recruits were bright-eyed and bushy tailed, eager to get to the task of laying down the law. A few of them were just as aware as he was that there were plenty of problems in the system, and wanted to be able to change them from the inside, instead of just leaving them to fester and rot and ignoring them completely.

Shinra found himself in a unique position, though. He had first-hand experience with the corruption of the police, the depths to which they were willing to go to cover something up. He was sure there were others like him, but for him, he could walk that line— the line between genuinely wanting to do something good, and wanting to uncover the truth.

And that’s what led him to Captain Akitaru Obi.

Though the Organized Crime division was a small task force, Obi still took pride in them. Every member of the task force was hand-picked by him to ensure there was no way the very people they were trying to investigate could infiltrate their ranks, and he had seen promise in Shinra from the academy, keeping an eye on him all throughout his training before inviting him to join the force.

For someone so young, so inexperienced, it had been surprising to be approached to join something like that. But Shinra remembered the night his house had gone up in flames, and had readily accepted the offer, because either the task force would help him get further in finding the truth, or he would uncover the very kind of corruption he was hoping to fight back against.

“Nervous, Shinra?”

“N-no, sir! Not at all!”

The way his voice breaks and his nervous, devilish grin works its way onto his face in spite of his best efforts betrays the lie, and he wants to curse himself for it.

Obi laughs and gives him a firm pat on the back.

“It’s okay if you are. I don’t expect every new recruit to be ready to charge right into the fray without being at least a little worried. But you need to get your feet wet sooner or later.”

Shinra nods, and tries to not break out into a cold sweat.

Since joining the Organized Crime division, Shinra has been launched into a world he’s never even been able to imagine before. He’s discovered that all of the things he thought he knew about the police, about the city he lived in, were lies— that the corruption runs even deeper, and in even more complicated ways, than he ever could have imagined.

And at the centre of them all— the White-Clad mafia.

“No one knows where they came from. It’s almost like they just appeared out of thin air one day. All of the old, established crime families in the city tried to kick them out, tried to hold their own against them… But even though they were the new kids on the block, nothing worked. Pretty soon, they controlled half the city. Chances are, any drugs or illegal weapons you find on the street these days will trace back to them sooner or later— and if they don’t, they’ll either snuff out the competition or absorb them. There’s no telling how many unsolved cases have them at the core of them, either. Murder, home invasion, arson…”

Shinra’s ears start to burn.

He’s heard all of this before. Sitting in the front seat of Obi’s discrete car, a beat up old four door with rust spots at the wheel hubs, he knows that Obi is only saying it to pass the time— and to keep their brains occupied as they sit and watch the building in front of them, waiting for any sign of movement.

It’s not a true stakeout. It’s the middle of the day, and the dingy looking bar at the corner of a street where someone’s busted out the street light and there are shoes hanging from the telephone wires overhead shouldn’t be open yet. This is just a reconnaissance mission— looking to see if there’s anyone on Obi’s watch list that makes their way into the building as they try to determine if this is a front for White-Clad activity, or if it really is just a dingy old bar.

But as the two of them sit there, Obi sipping at his coffee to seem less suspicious as the two have been parked just a half a block down from the bar all afternoon, Shinra has a feeling in his gut that this will turn out to be a lot more than just a simple observation run.

His leg jiggles as he sits there. Since Obi has already called him out for being nervous (albeit encouragingly), there’s no need for him to try and hide all of that pent-up energy anymore.

He is nervous, but that’s not the only thing he feels right now. If he were to tell Obi that the grin on his face was only partly because he felt uneasy and was also partly because there’s a part of him that knows that soon he’s going to have real answers about what happened to his family that day, and who he can blame for it, he knows he would never be allowed to go with him to this kind of job again— maybe would even be kicked off the task force.

“You know, Shinra… Hinawa was asking me why I wanted to recruit someone like you to the task force.”

“Really, sir?”

Shinra’s been wondering the same thing himself, actually. After all, his grades in the academy were good, but nothing standout or extraordinary. There are plenty of other recruits with just as much drive as him— and for someone his age to already be recruited to such an important position without having to work his way up from the very bottom rung of the force is something that no doubt is turning a lot of heads, although he tries hard to ignore any and all gossip.

It’s followed him ever since he was a little kid, after all. Rumours that he was the one who started the house fire that killed his family, for starts. Rumours that he was sick in the head because of what had happened.

The latter might actually not be that far from the truth, although Shinra refuses to think about it too much. He’s going to be a hero who protects people. The fact that there’s a part of him that wants to bring evildoers to justice not just to protect the innocent but because he wants to see the guilty suffer…

Well, if he’s protecting people, then does it really matter why he’s doing it?

That’s a question for him to worry about once he’s actually managed to figure out the truth, he supposes.

“I don’t suppose you remember meeting me before, do you?”

“Before…?”

“Before I invited you to join the force.”

“N-no, sir. Why, did you and I meet?”

“Not formally, no. But there was this one time while you were still in the Academy…”

Akitaru Obi is a man who’s worked hard for everything he’s ever gotten. He’s the sort of person who truly believes that someone who is determined to get to the heart of the truth, someone who is willing to put in the work and dedication and sweat and never give up, is someone who will ultimately come out on top— even if it takes him a long time to do it.

Which is surprising, considering how hard working as a police officer has tried to beat that out of him.

After all, there’s only so much one man can do about rampant corruption, especially when it goes all the way to the top— when there are people levels above him that he’s never even been able to consider who are in the pocket of the very people they’re working to stop, or who are interested in using the police as their own personal army of bully boys, rather than using them to protect the people the way they’re meant to.

But that’s never stopped him. No, even when it probably should have.

Which is how he finds himself looking to start up an entirely new branch of his district’s police force— a special task force designated, tentatively to dealing with organized crime on the whole, but really more interested in dealing with one particular group who has made themselves known in the past few years and who show every sign of having their fingers in all of the pies of corruption and turmoil throughout the city.

“I’m not sure you can really call three officers a task force, sir.”

Obi winces at Hinawa’s remark. It’s delivered no more cuttingly than anything else he says— but that’s not saying much, considering every other word out of the guy sounds like he’s trying to insult you and doing a damn fine job of it.

“W-well, that’s why we’re here, isn’t it? We’re trying to find people who might be a good fit. It’s not like I can recruit just anyone based on their scores, we need to actually see what they’re like as people.”

Even if it sounds like an excuse— and a poor one at that— Obi means every word of it.

The Organized Crime task force has to be a group of people he knows he can trust— people who won’t be bought, and who won’t be intimidated. People who actually have a chance of getting things done, no matter how much the world might try to get in their way.

The only reason he, Hinawa, and Maki are the only ones in the task force so far is because there’s no one else who has come across his radar who he knows he can trust. Which is why he and Hinawa find themselves at the graduation ceremony for the most recent class of police academy students.

There are a lot of bright young faces in the crowd, a few people closer to their age looking to make a career change or at least step sideways from some other kind of law enforcement. As the two of them, dressed up in nice suits to suit the occasion (Obi laughs a little at the pun he makes in his own head, clearing his throat when Hinawa gives him a strange sidelong look for it, realizing he doesn’t have the context and feeling pretty awkward about it), with Obi trying his damnedest not to tug at his tie as they circulate.

It’s not like he thinks they’re going to find their perfect miracle recruit just by wandering around and talking to a bunch of rookies who most likely don’t know their heads from their asses, all high on the adrenaline of having made it through the rigorous academy training without having any idea of what the real job has in store for them. Whether it’s the added danger of actually facing down real life criminals or the boredom of having to deal with mountains of paperwork, no one ever seems fully prepared for the realities of the job when they first sign on, and often the first few months will really make or break a new recruit— someone who was looking for non-stop action will often be disappointed with the amount of desk work and routine call-outs they end up doing, and someone looking to actually help people and make a difference will often find that the realities of the job leave a bad taste in their mouth.

But every so often there’s someone who actually makes it through the training, someone who sees the reality of the job and doesn’t shy away from the danger or the boredom or the fact that they’re working for an organization that is far from perfect.

Sometimes there’s someone Obi thinks actually might be able to make a difference, if given a chance.

And he wants to give someone that chance.

The ceremony takes place outside, and after everything is concluded and people are wandering around and mingling, Obi finds himself holding a cup of coffee and walking alongside Hinawa as the two of them look out across the recruits. Most of them are talking to their families or each other, but there are a few who have people from higher up in the city’s brass talking to them, clearly already having taken an interest in them— just like Obi is hoping to.

He recognizes a few faces, but no one he feels like going out of his way to say hello to. It’s not like he’s made a lot of friends during his time with the force. Too much interest in actually helping people and doing what’s right, instead of upholding stupid, outdated laws and policies— the kinds of things that he’s surprised he hasn’t gotten fired for, but he supposes he’s also done just enough to attract the attentions of the right kind of people and make them want him on their side.

“So? Seen anyone so far that you want me to look into a little more?” Hinawa asks, his own talented eyes scanning the crowd in search of anyone that might draw his attention.

He’s not always the biggest people person, but Obi trusts his judgment. He’s the one who brought Maki into the fold, after all, knowing that she was far too kind to be any sort of regular beat cop— knowing that even if her father is someone with a lot of pull with city hall, sooner or later the job would break her down. Now, at least, she can know she’s doing something good, even if that something good is a pretty constant uphill battle.

“I think I need a little more time to actually talk to some of them,” Obi says. “But considering our present company… Might be for the best if we try to do that some other time.”

After all, a lot of those familiar faces he mentioned are paying a lot of attention to the two of them— and he’s sure they’re no doubt reporting back to the people above them that the two of them are trying to recruit.

Whether the people above them are their superior officers or whether they’re something more sinister, Obi has no idea. But he also has no desire to find out.

Somewhere off in the distance, still close enough for people to hear, Obi hears a couple getting into a loud screaming match. There’s always something, even on special days like this… He lets out a big, weary sigh, letting his shoulders slump a little even though he’s supposed to look happy and professional, because he highly doubts anyone looking in his direction can think any worse of him than they already do— if they even care at all.

Obi isn’t the sort of person to let himself be weighed down by anxiety or doubts, not when he knows there’s a job to be doing. But there are times when he just feels so reminded of how bad things really are— times when he’s looking out over at the hopeful faces of new recruits and remembering how they’re all going to get a very harsh reminder of what the real world is actually like very soon, when he’s reminder that even the happiest of occasions for some people are still reasons to pick a fight with your girlfriend for others— that he has to exhale and let himself remember that there are always going to be bad times, no matter how good your outlook is.

Times when—

“Captain, look out!”

Obi is so caught up in hat dark cloud of his thoughts that he doesn’t hear the argument culminate in one of the participants getting into their car, slamming the door, and suddenly peeling out of their parking space. He doesn’t realize that he’s stepped off the curb on his way back to his and Hinawa’s car.

And he definitely doesn’t realize that he’s stepped right into the path of the speeding car.

Obi has a lot of training teaching him not to panic in the face of a sudden dangerous situation, but the human brain and body are only capable of so much. There’s always going to be a moment where instincts take over before training kicks in, and even though that instant usually isn’t enough to mark the difference between death and life, sometimes it is.

Obi freezes up in the face of the car, like a deer in the headlights. And he’s about to get run over like one, the woman brushing fat tears out of her eyes as she drives off furiously after the fight with her boyfriend not even realizing there’s someone between her and the desperately sought out exit.

A pair of arms wrap about his midsection, and he feels someone’s full body weight plow into him, tackling him around the middle— and even though he’s a big guy, the force is enough to lift him off his feet and send both him and the person tackling him sailing to the side for a hard collision with the asphalt.

Just far enough to be out of the path of the speeding car.

There are people yelling as others seem to realize what just happened— or what just almost happened, Obi realizes.

He’s lying on the ground with the side of his face all scraped up from where he skidded against the pavement, but it’s a small price to pay for not being crumpled up on the road after a head-on collision with a speeding car. And on top of him, there’s… Someone.

At first, he thought it had to be Hinawa. No one else had been close enough to him, and no one else would have instinctively thrown themselves at him to knock him out of the way of a speeding car possibly at the expense of their own life.

But the person lying on his chest right now is most definitely not Hinawa.

“A-are you okay?”

The person who tackled him is young, and dressed in formal dress uniform, which tells him that he’s one of the graduates of the academy. Obi blinks a few times before he registers that the young man is asking him a question, and he opens his mouth to say something, but finds his jaw hanging open uselessly. What are you even supposed to say to the person who had just saved your life?

Especially when the person looking up at him is…

Cute.

That’s the only thing Obi can think. Cute. He has big red eyes and a mess of black hair that he’s tried hard to tame for the sake of looking nice and formal for his ceremony.

“Uh… Sir?”

There’s a commotion going on in the background. Of course speeding and nearly hitting someone with your car isn’t something that’s going to go over well in front of a gathering of police officers, and everyone seems to be far more interested in the woman who just nearly ran him over than him.

“Did you… Hit your head? Do you want me to call someone?”

“Captain, are you alright?”

The only thing that manages to snap Obi out of just staring at the kid who saved him is Hinawa’s voice cutting through the commotion, his trusted lieutenant running up just to him to offer him his hand to help him up.

The man who saved him in the first place climbs off of him to let him up, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. It’s only then that the guy seems to realize that he isn’t some random relative or other bystander, because he goes from looking at him with concern to having wide eyes and a facial expression like Obi just suddenly grew an extra head.

“I-I’m sorry, sir! I had no idea—”

“Sorry? Sorry for what?” Even though Obi is still having trouble doing anything but staring at those red eyes and that face of his, he manages to get himself together enough to be able to actually speak. “For saving my life? You shouldn’t be apologizing, I should be thanking you. That was an incredibly brave thing you just did for me, Cadet.”

“Shinra! What the fuck!”

His saviour’s head whips around in the direction of the crowd assembled at the curb, to two of his fellow cadets staring at him with wide eyes and dropped jaws.

Well, Obi can’t blame them. Even though he’s pretty damn grateful for what this Shinra guy just did for him, it was one of those heroic acts that could have just as easily ended with both of them smeared across the pavement.

He would love to thank Shinra more for literally saving his life, or at the very least sparing him some seriously horrific pain— not to mention get to know more about the young man who he finds himself unable to stop staring at— but whether it’s just because he’s embarrassed about taking a superior or whether the reality of the situation is setting in, Shinra just babbles more apologies and takes off running in the direction of his friends, leaving Obi standing there while Hinawa pulls a tissue out of his pocket to clean up his face a little bit.

“Shinra…” he murmurs, watching as the young recruit goes back to his friends— and before he can think about following him, he gets called over by someone to give a statement on what happened.

The next few hours slip by, and by the time he and Hinawa are ready to head out like they had originally been planning, Shinra has already left, leaving Obi unable to seek him out and thank him— although his name still stays heavy on his mind.

“Hey, Hinawa?”

“Yes, Captain?”

“Take a look at that Shinra kid who saved me today. I have a good feeling about him. I want to see if he might be a good fit for the task force.”

“Of course, Captain.”

“...Wait. That was you?”

Obi laughs.

“What, did you seriously not remember? I thought you were just messing with me when you started acting like we had never met before.”

Shinra feels his face heating up, finds himself turning a bright shade of red.

Honestly, he had blocked most of that day from his memory. The embarrassment of tackling a task force captain to the ground unexpectedly, even if it was for the best of reasons, combined with the worn off adrenaline after having just nearly gotten himself killed in the process of saving someone, had been enough to make him forget.

Now he finds himself burying his face in his hands, groaning into them as Obi just laughs at him more from the driver’s seat of the car.

“I’m sorry, captain…”

“Shinra, you really need to stop apologizing for things,” he says, taking another sip of his coffee. “Anyway, that was the day I knew I had to recruit you. If you were willing to do something that brave to save someone without even a second thought, then I knew you were the kind of person I needed to have on my team. Even when the Lieutenant wanted to take more time and see how you worked out in the field before we recruited you, I knew it was a good idea to bring you on board. And I was right.”

“...Thank you for saying so, Captain Obi.”

Shinra doesn’t think it’s appropriate for him to start tearing up while he’s sitting in the car about to do an investigation on a potential mafia hideout, so he does his best to hold back the tears threatening to prick at the corners of his eyes.

It’s just… A lot to hear from someone after he’s spent so much time being told that his dream was stupid, or that he should just give up, or being judged for things that had nothing to do with him.

He’s so caught up in those thoughts that it takes him a few seconds to realize something else Obi said, and he blinks a few times before turning to his captain.

“...Did you say you thought I was cute, sir?”

“O-oh, hey, look at that! Someone’s going in!”

Shinra’s head snaps in the direction of the bar, figuring this discussion can wait until later— and sure enough, he sees a man walking into the bar.

It’s not like that’s a crime or anything. Going into a bar at 11am might be a sign of a bigger problem, but it’s far from criminal.

Still, it’s suspicious… And Obi narrows his eyes.

“I think I recognize that guy…” he murmurs, putting his coffee down in the cupholder and making to get out of the car. “Shinra, you stay here. I don’t want them thinking we’re preparing a full scale assault or something like that.”

“What if you run into trouble, sir?”

“Keep your phone on you. I’ll let you know if I need you to step in, okay?”

Shinra doesn’t really know if this is a good idea, considering the kind of people he knows they’re bound to be dealing with, but he also trusts Obi to know what he’s doing, so even though he feels uneasy he doesn’t try to stop him— just nods and sits back in his seat as Obi climbs out of his, crossing the street and heading for the door of the bar.

Shinra watches him eagle eyed as he makes his way there, and stares at the entrance for any sign of trouble as soon as Obi makes his way inside, feeling a buzzing under his skin— an urge to jump into the fray needing to be suppressed because in spite of his instincts, there’s no sign of danger yet, and the last thing he wants is to mess up an important operation because he got too antsy and acted before he was supposed to.

That’s the number one thing the lieutenant has had to drill into him since the day he was invited to join the task force— sometimes the more heroic thing is to sit back and wait until you know for sure that you’re needed, instead of just trying to jump in to solve every single problem. After all, it takes more than just one person to bring an end to all of the injustice in the world…

Still, he doesn’t have to like it. Especially when Obi is walking into somewhere that might potentially be really dangerous, and he’s just sitting there waiting to see if he’s going to walk back out without knowing for sure what’s going on.

Shinra must only be sitting there for a few minutes, although his anxious energy makes it feel like close to an hour, staring at a dark building and a door that doesn’t move once the entire time he’s looking at it— when the sound of shattering glass draws his attention.

Shinra perks up at the sound. It’s followed almost immediately by shouting, the clear sounds of a fight— the clattering of a trash can that rolls out of an alley just ahead of him, maybe halfway between where the car is parked and the bar where Obi went in to investigate, makes his head snap in that direction.

He knows that he should stay put. Obi is relying on him to keep an eye out for trouble, and to be ready to back him up if he needs it. He should just stay sitting in the car.

There's another crash. Someone cries out.

Shinra is out of the car and crossing the street before he even realizes what he's doing.

It should be fine, right? He can just take a look, and he still has his phone on him if Obi needs him to back him up. He's not going far. He's just going to see what's going on, see if there's anything he can do to help.

He's supposed to be a hero, after all. He can't just ignore what might be a person in danger.

Shinra is in plain clothes right now— the same reason that he and Obi came here in Obi’s personal car, not a squad car, they wanted to not immediately broadcast the fact that they're police to everyone in the area— so he doesn't really have the gravitas or authority he might have if he was in uniform, but he still doesn't want to just do nothing. It doesn't seem right, somehow.

As he gets close to the alley, the sounds of a scrap increase. Shinra feels his tension ramp up, his instincts kicking into overdrive and only being pushed down by his training.

“Look, fellas, I already told you— I'm not looking for any trouble. Why don't you just get out of here and we can all forget this ever happened?”

“Listen, asshole—”

Shinra pokes his head into the alley just in time to see a man kick over another trash can.

There are three men in rough, ratty clothes, one of them with a bandana around his head and another holding a tire iron— Shinra couldn't imagine a trio of more stereotypical looking hang members if he tried. And standing with his back against the wall of one of the buildings is a fourth man, taller than the rest and very muscular, with his hands up in front of him like he's trying to defuse the situation.

He doesn't look very concerned. He looks downright calm, in fact. The three men who have circled him? They don't look calm at all. In fact, they look like they could snap at any moment.

There’s something about the guy they have backed against the wall that makes Shinra uncertain whether he should intervene. Maybe it’s the fact that he doesn’t seem to be at all bothered by the fact that three men in an alley have him backed against a wall with clearly violent intentions. Maybe it’s just how big he is, and the fact that he can obviously handle himself, even if one of the men is armed.

Or maybe it’s just how relaxed he is, in everything from his tone of voice to his body language. It does not give the image of someone who actually needs help.

But Shinra has always wanted to be a hero. And a hero doesn’t just stand by and let an unarmed person be menaced by three people in an alley, one of which has a weapon at the ready, no matter how in control of the situation they might seem to be.

One of the men reaches forward and grabs the man by the front of his shirt, pulling him forward. His sunglasses are jostled on his face. That’s the moment Shinra decides he can’t just stand off to the side and watch any longer.

“Hey!” He steps into the mouth of the alley and loudly announces himself.

Most people, when they’re up to no good, will immediately back down if they know someone is watching them aside from their intended victim. They rely on people not stepping in to say or do anything even if they might be close enough. Shinra knows that just having an increased police presence can deter criminal acts, and that most criminal acts happen in places where either no one is around to see or where there are so many people around nothing will be noticed. Just having someone paying close attention can make people behave better.

Of course, that isn’t always true. And when the three men turn their attention towards him as soon as he calls out to them, it doesn’t look like any of them are interested in backing down— or at the very least they haven’t processed what’s going on.

Shinra doesn’t want this to turn violent. He’s not in uniform, but he is a police officer, which means he still has some leeway— and as he takes a few steps into the alley, he reaches for his badge, pulling it out to flash it at the men.

“What are the three of you doing?” he asks, and as soon as they realize that he’s a police officer, the one holding the tire iron drops it and the one not wearing a bandana curses.

“Fuck it, let’s get out of here,” the leader of the three murmurs to his friends, and they all keep their eyes on him to see if he’s going to do anything to stop them as they back down the alley, heading for the other end of it— Shinra doesn’t intend to do anything to stop them when he has other important things to, even if it leaves a bad taste in his mouth to let people get away who clearly had some kind of violent intentions.

As soon as they’re out of sight, Shinra turns his attention to the man who they had backed against the wall— only to find the man already looking at him with a grin on his face and his arms crossed.

It’s hard to tell since he’s wearing dark sunglasses that hide his eyes, but Shinra gets a shiver up his spine that tells him that they way he’s looking at him right now must be… Intense.

“Are you alright?” Even if he’s a little unsettled by the guy, he’s not going to let that stop him from doing what he should be doing— namely checking to make sure that that person who was just being accosted by some thugs is okay.

The man just grins wider.

“Perfectly fine,” he says. “But thanks for the help, officer. Don’t see too many of your kind around here.”

“I… Was just passing through. Off duty.” Shinra tucks his badge away.

He just helped this guy out, but he has a funny feeling that he shouldn’t talk too much about what he’s doing here and why… After all, you never know who might be listening in, and this is supposed to be a secret operation, after all.

“Well, thanks for the help again.” The man raises a hand. Shinra nods as he pushes away from the wall and goes to walk out of the alley past him. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you… Officer Kusakabe.”

“I’m sure—” Shinra startles and immediately turns around on his heel. “Hey, wait, I never told you my—”

The man is already gone.

Shinra darts out of the alley. The guy was well over 6 feet tall, probably close to 7, so it’s not like he could have just disappeared into thin air— but looking both ways down the street, Shinra can’t see him anywhere.

That strange feeling in the pit of his stomach turns into an almost sick feeling as he makes his way back to the car, climbing into the passenger side and waiting for Obi.

He’s not left waiting for long. His mind is so preoccupied with what just happened that he almost misses when Obi comes out of the bar, looking no worse for wear but certainly looking frustrated, an almost dark look on his face that seems pretty foreign considering how much of a nice guy he usually is.

“Well, that was a waste of time,” Obi mutters as he climbs into the driver’s side, immediately turning on the ignition and pulling away from the curb.

“Did you learn anything, sir?”

“Nothing that gets us any closer to figuring out where we can strike these bastards to really make it hurt,” Obi replies, clenching his fists on the steering wheel until his knuckles start to turn white. His foot is a little leaden on the pedal, but Shinra doesn’t say anything— partly because he’s not worried about Obi getting them into an accident, and partly because he’s still too busy thinking about what just happened to him in that alley. Who was that mystery man who knew his name, and what was he doing in that alley? Who were those guys who were menacing him, and what did all of it mean?

Shinra wishes he had any answers. He turns to Obi, thinking that maybe he could ask him, see if he had anything that might shed some light on the subject— but seeing the frustration and anger in his face over a conversation in the bar that he must have had, even if Shinra has no idea who could have gotten him so worked up to have such a dark expression on his face, he decides that it might be a subject best saved for another time.

Chapter Text

The White-Clad mafia is a big group. No one really knows how big it is, just that it spans way more than just the small chapter that initially came into the city to pave the way for further development. Since taking over all of the established territories and spreading ever further outwards, there are rumours that there are more White-Clad within the city’s borders than there are honest citizens.

Shinra doesn’t buy that, but he does believe that there are a lot more of them out there than most people know about— or will ever know about.

“They refer to their high-ranking members as Pillars,” Hinawa explains as the entire task force sits in a conference room, with a PowerPoint presentation about the current state of the case being projected on a whiteboard so Hinawa can use the dry-erase marker in his hand to draw on it when he needs to. “They form the cornerstone of their operations— and if we manage to hit them, then we’ll be able to take out the entire core of their command structure in one go, which should cripple most of their operations.”

“Well, if we know who these people are, then why aren’t we doing it?”

“If it were that easy, idiot, we would have just done it already!” Shinra immediately and instinctively snaps at Arthur, who glares back at him.

Then he turns his attention back to the screen, where Hinawa has pictures of the known Pillars up on the board, along with a few empty pictures with question marks for faces to represent the ones they don’t know anything about.

“We know a few of the Pillars,” Hinawa explains. “But some of their identities remain shrouded in mystery, and we have no idea what some of them do. One of their most pivotal members is a 17-year-old girl, as far as we can tell— and we have no idea why that is.”

“Could it be some kind of red herring? Something to have people like us chasing our tails and not really getting anywhere?” Maki suggests, taking a sip of her coffee as soon as Iris sets it down in front of her.

“It’s a possibility. But the White-Clad don’t seem interested in deterring the police from finding out about their activities.”

“In some ways, it almost seems like they’re flaunting them,” Obi says, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. “Almost like they’re taunting us.”

Shinra considers the whiteboard, and the people on it. Although he’s sure it’s taken Hinawa and Obi a long time and a lot of work to be able to put together this information, none of it really means anything to him.

At least now, though, he knows the faces of some of the people who were responsible for ruining his life— he’s sure of it.

“There’s one more problem when it comes to taking down the Pillars, aside from the fact that we only know who a few of them are.”

Hinawa reaches forward to hit something on his laptop, and the slide advances to the next one— one that leaves the pillars and the information that he’s already shown up on the screen but also reveals a row just beneath them.

Just like the row above, most of the faces are missing. There are a lot of names, and the one just below the 17-year-old Hinawa was mentioning before draws his attention.

Charon.

It sounds weirdly familiar, makes him think of Greek mythology or maybe physics, but he has a hard time placing it beyond that. He’s not sure why it grabs his attention so thoroughly, either— there are plenty of strange names on the board.

“The Pillars each have what’s known as a Guardian,” Hinawa explains. “A highly skilled individual who is wholly responsible for their safety and wellbeing. Part bodyguard, part assassin— all dangerous, and known for making sure anyone who gets too close to their respective charge disappears.”

They all know what that means. Shinra feels a shudder run down his spine at the thought.

It’s not as though death is a foreign concept to him, far from it. It’s just always something that puts him a little on edge, thinking about how there are people out there who consider killing a skill, something that they can be proud of.

“If we are planning on hitting the White-Clad where it hurts, we need to be prepared for the potential repercussions. These Guardians are known for doing anything and everything in the name of protecting the person they’re assigned to, and they won’t just lie down and let us take them in without a fight. They won’t be above threatening civilians, especially those we’re attached to, in order to get their way. We have to be very careful about how we handle this, or we could end up causing more bloodshed than we’re solving.”

Everyone in the room falls silent. Even Arthur’s idiocy isn’t so deep that he can’t appreciate the gravity of the moment— and the importance of what Obi is saying.

“We’re not just telling you this to get you up to speed. We’re also telling you this to tell you that it’s perfectly understandable if any of you want to request a reassignment. This is a very dangerous job to begin with, and this task force is only going to be more dangerous. I’m sure none of you planned on putting yourself on a mafia hit list when you signed up for the police academy, and we won’t blame you if you decide that you need to put the lives of your loved ones— or even your own life— ahead of this mission. I only ask that you make up your mind before we go charging in to the danger, because once we’re in the thick of this, we’re only going to have each other to rely on.”

Everyone around the table exchanges looks. Of course, this is a very big and important decision for them to be making, and none of them want to take what Obi is saying lightly.

Shinra is the first one to stand up.

“With all due respect, Captain Obi… I knew when you asked me to join this team that it was going to be more than just your average assignment. I think we all knew the risks in coming here. You and Lieutenant Hinawa didn’t pull any punches when telling us what we should expect.”

“He’s right, sir.” Maki stands up next. “None of us are here because we were worried about our own safety or were looking for the sort of position where we wouldn’t have to put our lives on the line. I think we’re all prepared to join you in this.”

“What kind of a knight would I be if I laid down my arms just as the danger was approaching?”

Although they all ignore Arthur’s delusions, the sentiment comes through just as clearly from him as it does from him and Maki.

No one is planning on leaving. They’re all going to stick by Obi’s side until they can solve this problem… Until they can bring the White-Clad mafia down once and for all.

Obi looks surprised to hear the three of them declare something like that with such self-assurance, without a hint of doubt, but when his captain looks over at him, Shinra smiles— not one of his nervous grins, but an actual, genuine smile, trying to tell him that he shouldn’t worry so much without actually using his words because he doesn’t want to ruin the moment.

Obi smiles back. There’s relief in the way his shoulders sag, as though he were genuinely worried that they would all decide that this was suddenly too dangerous for them and walk out, and now that he knows he’s not suddenly alone it’s back to business as Hinawa clears his throat and tells them to all take their seats if they’re done with that bit of showmanship.

Shinra is trying to listen to what Hinawa is saying, but he finds his attention drifting constantly back to Obi, and as his eyes wander over in his direction Obi must be able to feel it because he looks over at him— and the smile he gives him this time is different, more personal.

Shinra immediately snaps his attention back in Hinawa’s direction, and ignores how hard and fast his heart is beating in his chest.

“So it’s true, then? They’ve put together a task force specifically to stop us.”

“Now where did you hear that, huh, Arrow?”

If it were anyone else asking it, that might have come across as facetious.

Since it’s Charon asking it, Arrow knows full well that it’s a question born of genuine curiosity.

“Captain Akitaru Obi visited a bar in the east end the other day,” Arrow replies. “One of our front businesses. Apparently he had a rather nasty conversation with Captain Giovanni while he was there.”

“Does that mean that Giovanni is compromised now?”

“It’s worth keeping him where he is for the moment, if only to get more information on what Obi and his task force are doing— that’s what the Commander thinks, at the very least.” Arrow keeps her eyes straight ahead as she walks, ignoring the fact that Charon is looking at her instead of watching where he’s going.

She’s not sure how he can even manage to see at all while he’s wearing those dark sunglasses indoors in an already poorly lit space. She’s sure he must manage it, because she’s never seen him walk into anything— but maybe that’s partly because he’s been here for so long that he just knows his way around without the benefit of sight.

“Huh… I guess this means our intel was right, then.” Charon laughs. “I ran into an officer around there the other day, actually. Do you think he was one of Obi’s men?”

“You did?” Arrow’s attention snaps in his direction, regardless of the dangers of not looking where she’s walking— which is immediately brought to her attention by the way Charon’s hand jumps out to stop her from walking directly into the corner of a table, which would probably hurt and would send the vase of flowers sitting on top of it crashing to the floor.

“He was in plainclothes,” Charon says. “A scrappy little punk who stepped in to break up a fight— a couple of thugs who thought it would be a good idea to try and threaten me.”

Arrow can’t imagine anyone being stupid to take a look at Charon, a veritable mountain of muscle and confidence who only ever seems to be thrown off by having to carry out complicated orders or deal with one of Haumea’s outbursts, and think it would be a good idea to menace him. Even without knowing who he is and who he works for, it just sounds ridiculous to her.

Then again, she’s not in the business of questioning how stupid people can be. It’s proven itself time and time again, after all.

“What was his name?”

“Shinra Kusakabe.”

“...The Commander’s brother. I had heard he had joined the police academy. How funny that he would end up running up against us like this.”

“It’s a small world,” Charon agrees, then he shrugs. “I could tell who he was just by looking at him… He really does look just like the commander, only bigger.”

“No matter who he is or who he’s related to, if he tries to get in our way, we’re going to have to eliminate him.”

It sits ill with Arrow to say that considering she’s dedicated so much of her life so far to Commander Sho, but she also knows full well that he would tell her the exact same thing— that their goals are far more important than the sentimentality of him sharing blood with a man he’s never even met.

Looking at Charon out of the corner of her eye… She has to wonder if he agrees.

“You’re making a weird face, Charon.”

“Am I?” He’s smiling, which isn’t unusual for Charon. He’s actually a pretty content guy, a strange thing considering the usual mess he has to deal with when it comes to his Pillar, not to mention all of the dangerous situations he finds himself in as a result. “I guess I was just thinking about how fun it’s going to be to mess with Obi and his people.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been able to understand you, Charon.”

“I could say the same about you, Arrow.”

She can’t help but wonder, though…

Exactly what kind of fun is Charon talking about?

There’s an old adage that says— keep your friends close, and keep your enemies closer.

Charon never really understood it. He’s always wanted to keep his enemies at arm’s length, but maybe that’s because they’ve always been Haumea’s enemies more than his own, and all he’s ever wanted to do is keep her safe.

Now, though… Now he gets it.

The news about Obi and his squad isn’t new to him. He feels a little bad for Arrow, that she doesn’t get the same direct feed to new information that he does… But if anyone else in the structure knew how much closer Haumea was to the powers that be, the real ruler of the White-Clad mafia, it would just breed jealousy and contempt.

They don’t need to be fighting amongst themselves when there are so many enemies out there for them to be fighting against instead.

Starting with Akitaru Obi and his special organized crime task force.

When he went to that bar, Charon had known full well Captain Obi would be there. He hadn’t expected him to bring along a friend— a cute, young friend at that, and not just his usual lieutenant.

Obi has been acting on his own for so long that they’ve mostly been content to ignore him, figuring that he wouldn’t be able to do much without help. Now, though… Now it looks like he has help, which makes him much more of a potential threat.

A threat they need to know more about. Something they can’t accomplish using their normal methods, because Obi is a smart enough guy to keep his plans close to his chest, and to keep his circle tight.

The White-Clad have had no trouble infiltrating nearly every inch of the city— the police force, the hospitals, city hall, all of them have people on the inside who serve the interests of their group rather than the interests they’re supposed to serve.

But Obi’s little task force? As puny as it might seem, he’s kept it small for a reason— to make it all the more difficult for their people to get in, made up of only the people he trusts and has vetted and decided they’re a good fit for the operation. What makes them seem like a laughably easy threat to crush also makes them almost impossible to control the way they do large swaths of the rest of the police force.

Which means that the only option, then, is to try and find a way in from someone who is already on the inside.

Normally, something like that wouldn’t be in Charon’s wheelhouse. As Haumea loves to remind him, he’s not some genius strategist. His skills lie in the fact that he has no moral qualms about doing what needs to be done, he never gives up on something once he’s started, and he would readily give his life to protect the person he's been charged with taking care of.

But he had been the person who was ready and available when Obi had been on the scene at the bar, and so he had stepped up, because Charon is willing to do anything for the White-Clad. And now…

This bar isn't a White-Clad operation, but Charon likes it anyway. It's loud and smoky and filled with the sort of people who won't look twice at someone like him, which is hard to come by in a city like this. He sits with a beer in his hand, keeping an eye on the entrance of the bar— a clattering staircase that makes it hard for anyone to make it in or out without being noticed— and waits.

Not only does he like this bar because it's the kind of place even a guy like him can go to get lost in, but because this is the kind of place where all sorts of people end up gathering— people from all walks of life, from the stodgiest businessman to the lowliest thug.

Just about everyone passes through a place like this at some point, if they’re not scared to.

And Charon’s men have been watching this bar for long enough to know that a certain someone likes to come here after a long day of work— which should give him the perfect chance to see him out in the wild.

Having a routine is a dangerous thing that can make it easy for people to find you, but of course someone like Shinra Kusakabe probably wouldn’t realize he has to worry about something like that, not yet. He’s only just started getting into their world, after all… Even if his history and what Charon knows about his family courtesy of Arrow would suggest otherwise.

Shinra usually likes to come to this bar with two of his friends— one of them also a member of Obi’s organized crime task force, who he’s sure someone else has also started looking into in hopes of finding a weak link in the chain of his command, and one of them also a police officer but not one the White-Clad have any interest in unless he decides to make a nuisance of himself like his little friends. Charon can’t even remember his name.

Tonight, though, as he walks down the clattering staircase, he’s by himself.

Dressed in his own clothes just like before (he’s off duty by now, Charon is sure), Shinra looks his age. He’s young, young enough that he shouldn’t even be allowed to join a special task force because there’s no way he’s been on the job more than a few months out of the academy. In fact, Charon knows how young he is, because the White-Clad knows everything about him— everything they need to know about him, at least.

He looks… Unsettled. Not quite nervous, but there’s an energy to him that doesn’t seem like it’s totally at ease, either.

Charon watches him from across the bar. Maybe it’s just the fact that he’s walking in alone, but he seems small, almost vulnerable.

It almost makes Charon forget that this kid is part of a task force designed to bring down their whole operation, and talented enough that he graduated top of his class and caught the eye of a seasoned cop like Akitaru Obi.

Almost.

Shinra eventually makes his way over to the bar, and it takes him a moment long than Charon would have expected to see him sitting there. He raises his bottle of beer to him, almost in a toast, and Shinra beelines over to him.

“You’re the guy from the alley.”

“Sure am,” he says. “Fancy meeting you here, Officer.”

“You knew my name before. Back in that alley. Even though I never told you what it was.”

Ah, damn. He’d said that to be cool and mysterious, but hadn’t figured that he would be the one coming back to keep an eye— up close and personal style— on Shinra after that.

Oh well.

“Hm? I guess we must have met before, then.”

“Pretty sure I would remember meeting a guy like you.”

Charon can’t help but grin at that, as Shinra slides into the seat next to him at the bar.

Not only because he thinks it’s pretty cute, the way Shinra is looking at him suspiciously—

But because he doesn’t miss the way that Shinra’s eyes rake over him from top to bottom— not just trying to figure out if maybe he’s wrong and they really have met before, but clearly checking him out.

Charon is guessing there’s a good reason Shinra would remember meeting ‘someone like him’, if the way his gaze lingers in certain places for just a touch too long means what he thinks it means.

Interesting. Very interesting. He had been just looking to see if he could find anything out about him that might make it easier for them to find some way to compromise him, but seeing that…

It definitely gives him ideas.

Charon orders himself another beer. Shinra orders himself one too, and Charon tells the bartender to put it on his tab, an action that makes Shinra blush.

“So… Why were those guys giving you a hard time?”

“You’re a cop, you tell me.”

“You didn’t seem like you were too scared of them.”

“I’ve lived in this city my whole life. If I didn’t know how to deal with guys like that, I wouldn’t take shortcuts down sketchy alleys.”

Drinks flow, the two of them chat. At first, it’s nothing important, nothing that might be able to compromise either of them— one step up from small talk, honestly.

If Charon weren’t the kind of person he is, living the kind of life that he lives, it would probably be a nice normal night.

Drinks keep coming. Beer turns into harder stuff. Shinra is conservative with his drinking, but when Charon offers him a glass, he doesn’t say no.

And soon, the conversation starts to drift— and Shinra doesn’t even seem to realize how much ammunition he’s giving him, either because of the alcohol or because he doesn’t seem to realize how bad of an idea it is.

Charon starts to wonder if maybe they really can get him over to their side. After all, they have an advantage with him that they don’t have with the rest— they have a member of his family as one of their own.

“—but it’s not so bad, really. At least everyone else seems to realize what an idiot he is. Watching everybody act like he was so cool while we were in school together was always frustrating.”

“Sounds like it.”

“Man… I’ve just been talking about myself all night, haven’t I?” Shinra is starting to slur his words just slightly, and Charon smirks.

You sure have, he thinks. And you have no idea who I even am… Or what I’m going to do with all of that juicy info you’ve given me.

Not that he really knows entirely yet. He’s sure they can figure out something, though.

Someone who’s better at this sort of thing than he is will be able to figure it out. All he needs to do is take advantage of this opportunity while he has it.

After all, he was the one who volunteered for this… And this time, it wasn’t just because Haumea was being bratty and wanting him out of her face.

This time, it was because he had taken one look at the kid who had jumped in to help him out of a tough situation he had known nothing about when he didn’t even need any help and had realized that there was definitely something different about Shinra Kusakabe… Something he wanted to find out more about for himself.

“What about you? I don’t think you even told me your name…”

“Charon.”

“Charon…?”

Shinra’s face screws up as he thinks hard about that answer. Charon wonders if maybe he’s said something that he shouldn’t have— and also wonders if Shinra has maybe had a little too much to drink.

He definitely thinks the latter is true. The former, he’s not sure— because Shinra just shakes his head and says,

“Like the ferryman… Or like the moon?”

“Both.”

Shinra snorts a laugh.

Charon thankfully doesn’t have to answer too many questions. He’s not exactly known for thinking on his feet, so the less he has to make up on the spot the better, considering he can’t exactly just come out and tell the truth in this situation.

Shinra is already flagging— or maybe already isn’t the right word, because when Charon consults his watch he realizes the two of them have already sat there for a few hours.

The surrounding bar is still busy, but not nearly as lively as it was before. The bartender gives Shinra a look— a look that says he’s about to cut him off, and Charon gives him a nod.

“Let’s settle up, huh?”

“Bwuh…?”

“I think you’ve had enough for one night, kid. You’d better get home.”

“But I—”

“Nope, no buts.”

There’s a moment where Charon considers the possibility in front of him, as he pays the bill and helps Shinra out of his seat, letting him lean on him as he walks him up and out of the bar and makes sure that he doesn’t trip and crack his head open on the stairs.

He could just grab him now, stuff him into the back of the car, take him back to one of their hideouts. He could probably give them some juicy information on what Obi is up to, and with a little help from Giovanni he’s sure they could really expedite the process of getting him on their side, so to speak.

But he hails a cab, loads Shinra into the back of it, makes sure that he tells the driver where he’s going and waves as they drive off.

Not without grabbing Shinra’s phone number from his phone while he’s not paying attention, though… Really, for someone who’s working in such a top secret task force (supposedly), he really doesn’t know how to handle his own security. It’s kind of funny.

Or at least it would be, if it weren’t so sad.

Shinra wakes up the next morning with a pounding headache, and a fuzzy recollection of the night before.

He didn’t drink enough to actually black out, so it’s not like there are big holes where his memory should be. He remembers slumping his way to the bar, discouraged after a long day of desk work had turned up absolutely no leads and even fewer ideas for how the task force is even going to begin taking on a group as large and powerful as the White-Clad. He’d invited Arthur to come with him, but Arthur had been acting strangely and had turned him down— no skin off his back, he had just offered to be polite and not because he really wanted to be around his crazy teammate that he had only ever really hung out with because they had a mutual friend.

Ogun was too busy nowadays with his new position on the force, and so Shinra had decided to go by himself, even if it was kind of sad to go to a bar by yourself after a long day— it kind of suggested something about him he wasn’t fond of, but at the same time, he deserved to relax and try and think about anything aside from how difficult their task seemed to be.

He had known when he had accepted Obi's invitation that it wouldn't be easy, but being reminded of just how difficult it's likely to be is another thing entirely.entirely.

No, it’s not the big memories of the night that have been blurred by the booze, but rather the fine details disappearing into a fog, like trying to remember a dream you had the night before.

He remembers spending most of the night talking to the guy who he had helped get out of that tough situation in the alley, but he doesn’t remember much of what they talked about, aside from the fact that he started to feel better just from getting a chance to talk to someone who wasn’t a part of the whole thing, even if that also meant he couldn’t talk much about the specifics of it.

Shinra has never been the kind of person who has a lot of friends. Partly it’s because he’s always been kind of socially awkward. Partly it’s because he’s always been so focused on his goal of finding out what happened to his family that he hasn’t had much of a chance to really figure out how a person goes about making friends. And partly it’s just been the fact that there have always been so many weird and crazy rumours about him that most people just want to keep their distance anyway.

He had forgotten how nice it could be to just go to a place and meet a person and all of a sudden the two of you are talking like you’ve known each other forever…

Even if you can’t remember the person’s name the next day.

As he forces himself to sit up on his couch (he hadn’t had the energy or the coordination to get himself properly to bed the night before, when he had more or less just stumbled into his apartment after climbing out of the taxi his new friend had loaded him into), Shinra reaches for his phone, which had obviously fallen out of his hand when he had fallen face first onto his couch the night before.

After swiping away all the notifications he doesn’t care about, he finds himself with a handful of text messages to look through— including one from a number he doesn’t recognize that just says, did you make it home safe?

It must be from the guy he met the night before, and Shinra texts him back to let him know that he did and that he just woke up— and almost as soon as he finishes sending the message, a phone call comes through, startling him enough that he nearly drops his phone.

“H-hello?” He answers without even bothering to look at the caller ID.

“Hey, Shinra— Sorry, did I call at a bad time?”

“N-no sir!” Hearing Captain Obi’s voice on the other end of the line makes him startle. “Sorry, I just— I just woke up.”

“Rough night?”

“Something like that.” Of course he doesn’t want to admit to his boss— a man he admires a lot— that he went out to a bar and got terribly drunk because he was frustrated by their lack of progress. After all, Obi has probably experienced all that frustration and more, so it’s not exactly fair of him to be the one complaining about it.

“Look, Shinra— I don’t wanna bother you too much on your day off. I just wanted to call to see how you were holding up. When you left yesterday you seemed like you were pretty down in the dumps.”

It seems like even though he’s trying not to show it, Obi can still read it anyway— even if he’s only talking to him over the phone.

“It’s alright, sir. I’m fine. I just went out and enjoyed myself a little too much, that’s all. …But thanks for checking in on me.”

“...Any time, Shinra. I want to make sure that my people are always in their best shape.”

“Of course, Captain. And we all appreciate it.”

Shinra means it, too. He’s barely been a member of the special task force, and yet he can’t imagine what his career would be like without them. Not only because they’re the people that can get him closest to solving his dilemma, to figuring out what he’s needed to figure out for his entire life… But because they’re good people who actually care about him.

And the Captain is what holds all of it together. Even though he’s probably just as frustrated as Shinra is, he’s still taking the time to call him and check up on him.

He couldn’t ask for a better superior officer.

“I won’t keep you held up for long. I just wanted to let you know that if you have anything you want to talk about, I’m right here.”

Surprisingly? Shinra doesn’t doubt that for a moment.

He does have things to do on his day off, though, and it’s far from Obi’s fault that he’s slept in so late (he has no one to blame but himself, even if the guy he met the night before was the one who kept buying him more and more of them and Shinra was just too polite and too distracted by their conversation to say no)...

“Thanks, Captain. I’ll keep that in mind. And I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Alright, Shinra. …Just take care of yourself, okay?”

“Of course, sir.”

Shinra gets the feeling that there’s more that Captain Obi wants to say to him, but the two of them say their goodbyes, and Shinra forces himself to get up off the couch and start getting ready for the day before the tiredness in his aching bones and the pounding in his aching head make him decide it would be a much better idea to just head straight for his bedroom, throw himself into bed, and sleep the rest of the day away.

Obi sighs as he stares at his phone screen, the Call Ended screen lingering like a reminder of just how painfully awkward he can be.

He’s glad Shinra took the phone call well. He’s sure a lot of people would see a call from their boss on their day off and just ignore it completely, especially since it sounds like Shinra had just woken up when he called him.

Even more of them would probably be put off by said boss acting so concerned about them. The concern on Obi’s part is genuine, of course. He always wants to make sure that the people working for and around him are okay, because he cares.

But that’s not the real reason he called Shinra, and even though he didn’t say anything he thinks would have shown that, it still makes a sick, rolling feeling of guilt sit in the bottom of his stomach.

With another sigh, this time less of relief and more of exasperation (with himself, more than anything), he opens his texts to find the one Hinawa sent him the night before. He had asked his best friend and colleague to keep an eye on Shinra after seeing how frustrated he had gotten over hearing about how their investigation into the White-Clad was being stonewalled, knowing that for someone as driven to help people as Shinra is, something like that would probably be pretty hard to stomach— especially because he wasn’t used to it the way Obi was after having to deal with that reality for years, learning that every small victory was something to be celebrated and getting frustrated by the difficulties was only a waste of time and energy.

He hadn’t expected Hinawa to literally tail Shinra, but he probably should have. It’s not like Hinawa has a lot of the boundaries a person probably should have. It’s one of the reasons he’s so good at his job, even if it’s… Concerning at times, and more than a little scary, something a superior officer probably shouldn’t think about one of their subordinates.

Shinra going to the bar hadn’t been a problem, of course. Obi doesn’t care what his subordinates do in their off time as long as they’re not doing anything illegal, and he’s spent more than a few nights drinking his sorrows away himself. He had been worried, but nothing had seemed out of the ordinary when Hinawa had first started texting him…

Until he had sent him a picture of Shinra sitting next to a mysterious man at the bar.

Hinawa had stayed and watched them for a while, sending Obi regular updates. He should have told him to not worry about it and just let Shinra live his life, to go home. It’s not Hinawa’s job to watch their rookies every hour of every day, and Obi had already asked too much of him.

But as Hinawa told him how many drinks the large, muscular man with the dark sunglasses was buying for Shinra, as he sent him picture after picture of the two of them sitting there talking, he couldn’t help himself.

He told himself it was just concern. That he was worried about his rookie, that Shinra was the kind of person who would be easy to take advantage of, considering how badly he always wanted to help people.

He even told himself that Shinra might be in danger. So he had left Hinawa just keep an eye on him the whole night, until finally Shinra had been loaded into a cab by the mystery stranger.

Now the guilt sits heavy on his shoulders.

Hinawa isn’t going to give him grief for it, because it’s not like he was the one who told him to literally follow him in the first place. Shinra won’t, because he has no idea it was even happening in the first place.

But Obi knows full well that the reason he had Hinawa keep an eye on the young officer had nothing to do with his safety, and everything to do with a creeping, burning jealousy somewhere deep in his chest at seeing him acting so friendly with this other man.

Obi hates himself for it. He’s told himself a thousand times why he shouldn’t think this way, shouldn’t feel this way. Shinra is a lot younger than him, for starters. For another thing, Obi is his superior officer— it would be a gross abuse of his power to even let on that he’s attracted to him, never mind encouraging his second in command to stalk him so he can keep an eye on him while he flirts with other men in bars.

And yet… He can’t help but feel relieved at knowing that Shinra went home alone and passed out on his couch, instead of going home with the mystery stranger who made sure his glass was never empty the whole night.

Obi closes his text messages, opens them again. He debates texting Shinra, then decides it’s better if he doesn’t. He doesn’t want to sound weird or come across as being stalkerish—

(Even though he’s definitely being stalkerish, but that’s beside the point.)

He lets his head fall back against the window behind him, the back of his skull against the glass making a dissatisfying THUNK.

From the first moment he had seen Shinra after the younger man had saved him, from the moment he thought about how cute he looked right after he had nearly been hit by a car, Obi knew he was in deep— it’s not like it’s the first time he’s been attracted to someone, but he felt a connection, and that was the real reason he had wanted to reach out to Shinra to invite him to join the force. It’s just been a real bonus that on top of that, he’s been such an ideal candidate for their ream.

It’s probably for the best that Shinra doesn’t seem to realize any of this. After all, he doesn’t want him to think he’s anything less than a completely valued member of their team— and on top of that, he doesn’t want to chance that he might get the task force into some kind of hot water because of his inability to control himself.

There’s just something about Shinra— something that, apparently, other people have taken notice of as well.

Obi opens up that picture of Shinra and the mysterious man again. Appearance wise, he stands out— the size of him, for one, even taller than Obi himself and just as muscular if not more so.

He narrows his eyes at him. Even though he knows it’s all in his head, he still can’t help but see him as a rival.

He knows that it would be petty of him to try and do anything about the guy. That’s exactly what a corrupt cop would do— exactly what the kind of people he made this task force to try and stop would do.

But at the very least…

If Shinra is going to flirt with random men at bars, then he should be able to make sure his subordinate is safe, right?

Obi pulls up the conversation with Hinawa.

Do u think u can find anything out about this guy

Hinawa doesn’t answer right away, but if Obi knows his subordinate half as well as he thinks he does, it won’t be long before he gets as much information about the man as he can manage to find.

Maybe that will make the little voice in the back of his head shut up, at least for a little while.

Chapter Text

Life as part of the Organized Crime Task Force is daunting, but Shinra likes the challenge of it. The mountain of paperwork it comes with he likes a little less, but that’s police work for you.

Still, as the weeks go on, Shinra finds himself feeling a lot less hopeless than he did before. Even if their progress is slow, they seem to actually be moving forward pretty consistently— they find more information, end up finding themselves allies in the police force and the community where they previously had no idea they would, and in general everything seems to be going well. Is it still frustrating that they keep getting stopped by red tape? Sure, but since it’s impossible to untangle what’s stopping them because of corruption and what’s stopping them because of what’s been put in place with the legitimate interest of stopping corruption, Shinra grits his teeth and bears it.

And during it all, there are a few things that serve to make his life easier.

One is Captain Obi, of course. Shinra appreciates all of his comrades in the 8th, but there’s something about the Captain that just makes him feel more reassured, more at ease. It’s like… Even if there’s no real evidence that they’re going to come out on top of this, just Obi’s sheer determination is enough to make him fully believe it.

Shinra has never had a boss or even just a person in his life who makes him feel quite as confident and reassured as Obi does… And that’s even taking into consideration the fact that he can be a pretty goofy guy sometimes. Honestly, that just makes it even more endearing; it lends him a certain air of being very human in a way that Shinra can appreciate, because it means that he doesn’t have to strive to be perfect, just do his best.

The other is the fact that he’s made a new friend.

Charon is the name of the man from the bar. He swears it’s a name that he’s heard before, but his brain is so scrambled by all of the work and everything else going on that he can’t place it— or maybe Charon is right and the two of them really did meet before and Shinra has no memory of it, oddly enough.

Shinra goes to the bar a few nights a week. Sometimes he drinks, sometimes he sticks to one beer, but in both cases he and Charon can stay talking for hours— even if it seems like they have absolutely nothing to talk about.

It’s nice, having a life for the first time in as long as he can remember, and it’s funny how it only happens once his life has ramped up into something seriously busy. It makes it hard for him to make time for Charon sometimes, but he always seems to understand, even if he sometimes makes jokes about it.

Shinra finishes up a massive stack of paperwork, the kind of paperwork that they always have to fill out every time they’re putting in a request for making a certain move or requesting a certain piece of information they think might be helpful. He pushes himself away from his desk and turns to look at the clock.

It’s almost time for the end of his shift— and as he reaches for his phone, it lights up and buzzes to let him know he’s gotten a new message.

It’s Charon, asking him if he’s free tonight— and Shinra finds his face heating up as he replies, letting him know that he’s going to be off work soon and asking if he wants to meet up at the usual place.

I’ve got somewhere else in mind, is the reply that he gets, and Shinra’s face turns an even deeper shade of red.

It’s embarrassing for him to admit that he has a serious crush on Charon, on this new friend of his who has been one of the few things really helping to balance out the weight of his work. But Charon is super handsome, and built exactly the way Shinra has always liked— big and broad and muscular. He can be kind of an airhead at times, but at other times there’s something really charming about him, like when he had asked him what he did for a living and Charon had talked about how he had been in charge of taking care of this one kid ever since she was a little girl and how she was like family to him.

And he always makes sure to keep him safe and take care of him. Even when Shinra isn’t worrying about that kind of stuff for himself. If he drinks too much trying to keep up with Charon, he always makes sure he gets home safely. If he has trouble walking a straight line, he makes sure he doesn’t trip over his own feet on his way to the bathroom or up the stairs.

It almost feels like Charon is made for the job of protecting people and keeping them safe— but in a much more personal way than being a police officer. Shinra finds it pretty admirable, and combining that with how good he thinks he looks, maybe it’s inevitable that he would have a bit of a crush on him.

Not that he’s going to do anything about it! He doesn’t want to take a chance that this new friendship of his will end up getting messed up just because of a silly little crush. But he can’t stop the way he blushes at the thought of meeting up with Charon after work, and the way he makes it sound like they are going on a date, even if that’s not the case.

“Hey, what’s up, Shinra? You’re looking a little red in the face there.”

Shinra nearly jumps out of his chair at the sound of Obi’s voice, as he feels his captain’s hand land on the back of his chair. Obi isn’t leaning forward to look at his phone, just standing there, but Shinra still feels compelled to immediately put his phone to sleep and all but slam it face down on the desk in front of him.

“N-nothing, sir!” His voice is a totally unconvincing squeak. “Just, uh… Just making some plans for after work. No big deal.”

Shinra can’t stop himself from grinning. He hates how hard it is for him to keep his heart off his sleeve when it comes to feeling uncomfortable or nervous.

It’s not like he should even care if his captain knows that he’s making plans with someone after work, but for some reason, admitting it feels… Wrong.

Makes him feel like he’s admitting to something he shouldn’t be doing.

Obi just looks at him for a few moments. Shinra swears his captain can see right through him, like he’s looking directly into his soul— but after a beat has passed, Obi smiles and reaches up to ruffle his hair.

Even though Shinra isn’t a kid anymore, he has to admit… There’s something about him doing that, that he likes the feeling of.

“Well, you enjoy yourself,” he says. “Better take the chance now while you’ve still got it. We’re gonna get pretty busy soon.”

“R-right, sir.”

There’s a weird feeling in the pit of Shinra’s stomach. It feels almost like guilt, although he can’t figure out why he would have any reason to feel guilty— he’s not lying, and it’s not like what he does outside of work hours is anyone’s business, even if Obi is a good boss.

Obi wanders off, and Shinra tries not to stare at the clock, finishing up the last of his work for the day— and when it’s time for him to leave, he lingers a few minutes longer, trying to look like he’s not too eager to get out of there.

It’s not like this is a date or anything.

Right?

Obi tries to make it not too obvious that he’s watching Shinra as he leaves. Thankfully, Shinra seems too absorbed in racing off to really notice much of anything— and that just makes Obi worry even more.

“Captain Obi?”

Obi jumps at the sound of Hinawa’s voice as his lieutenant suddenly appears behind him. Although Hinawa seems unfazed by the sudden noise of surprise he lets out, Obi realizes that he can’t really judge Shinra for not being aware of his surroundings if he’s going to end up doing the exact same thing— all because he’s love struck.

It’s embarrassing to admit, even to himself, but Obi doesn’t know what else to call it. Maybe it’s just simple infatuation, but even if it is, that doesn’t exactly make the situation better.

“Sorry, Hinawa… Guess I’m a little on edge tonight.” He sighs, tries to banish the thought of where Shinra is going from his mind.

He has no reason to stick his nose into Shinra’s business. Even if he is going on a date tonight, it’s nothing for Obi to concern himself with.

It’s one thing to develop feelings for a subordinate, it’s another thing to not have enough self-control to be able to deal with them privately and without acting on them. One of those things you can’t control, but the other you sure as hell can, and Obi trains every single day to be able to have the kind of will of iron that has kept him from succumbing to the kind of corruption that a lot of his compatriots have.

Surely he can resist the allure of one rookie.

“What’s up?”

“I did some research into that guy you saw Shinra talking to at the bar.”

Instantly, all of that building up gets thrown right out the window.

“...Let’s talk in my office.”

Maki and Arthur have already gone home for the day, but Obi still feels a lot safer ushering Hinawa inside of his very thoroughly swept office. Hinawa doesn’t ask questions, just nods and follows him in as though this is a totally normal thing for either of them to be doing.

For two police officers to be discussing the matter of a personal encounter one of their subordinates had outside of work hours as though it’s something actually relevant to their work… Obi is seriously regretting dragging Hinawa into the drama he seems to have found himself in.

He doesn’t regret it enough to turn down the information, though.

“Well? What did you find out?”

“I think your suspicions might have been right, sir.”

“What suspicions?” Obi has had a few, and not many of them he’s felt secure enough to share with the lieutenant. The two of them might be close friends and not just work colleagues, but that just makes Obi want to admit the kind of trouble he’s gotten himself into with his feelings even less.

Hinawa doesn't deserve to be dragged into his mess, after all.

“Take a look at this.”

Hinawa passes him a folder that he's had tucked under his arm. Obi takes it, opening it—

And immediately feels the pit of his stomach turn to ice.

There are some documents in the folder, but far more interesting is the full-sized glossy photo sitting on top— not a particularly high-res photo because it's clearly been taken from far away with an intense zoom, but it's easy enough to make out what's going on.

There's a woman climbing out of a car who Obi recognizes as one of the Pillars of the White-Clad, the woman they call Haumea—

And holding the door for her is the man who Hinawa saw with Shinra at the bar.

There are a few more photos, all of them different shots of the same instance. The man helping her out of the car, then following her into the building that the car is parked in front of— and the man having to stop and do what looks like a hop in place after the girl has kicked him in the shin.

As funny as that would be normally, Obi can't find anything to be amused about.

Not when he knows that this guy is a member of the White-Clad… And that he had clearly taken an interest in Shinra that night.

“I have good reason to believe the person Shinra encountered that night is the one they call ‘Charon’,” Hinawa explains, either not noticing the fear in Obi’s face or forging on in spite of it. “It’s entirely possible that the White-Clad are aware of our investigations and are keeping as close an eye on us as we are on them.”

“But sending someone like that to keep an eye on Shinra…?”

It’s overkill, and it makes Obi even more worried, not just because he knows the guy is dangerous but because he has no idea why something who is known for being willing and able to do anything for the sake of the White-Clad and the person he’s dedicated to protecting would be sitting and drinking with Shinra in a bar…

Or why he would just pack him into the back of a cab and send him home without a fuss.

It makes Obi think that there must be something else going on. Something more sinister. And it gives him a bad feeling, amplifying the cold feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Obi reaches for his phone and dials Shinra’s number without a second thought. The phone rings for a few times before it goes to Shinra’s voicemail.

He just left, so it’s not like he could have gone far— it’s entirely possible he’s just driving and that’s why he didn’t pick up, but Obi can’t stop the paranoia from seeping in through every pore. He quickly fires off a text message telling Shinra to call or text him back as soon as he can, then shoves his phone into his pocket as he jumps up out of his chair.

“Hinawa, I’m going to go catch up to Shinra,” he says, grabbing his coat and pulling it on.

“Do you want me to come with you, Captain? It could be dangerous.”

“No, I want you to…” It takes Obi a second to think of a reason he wouldn’t want Hinawa to come with him, instead of just telling him that it’s only his own paranoia and he doesn’t want to drag him into his mess because of something like that— dragging Hinawa into messes is something he does enough without adding his inappropriate feelings and instincts into the matter. “Make sure Maki and Arthur are okay. I doubt Shinra would be the only one they were following. Hell, they could be keeping an eye on us, too… But the two of them, especially Arthur, are a lot easier to get to than the two of us.”

It’s not an implausible excuse, and he could make up complete bullshit and Hinawa would still do as he asks, even though he’s quick to call out that same bullshit from anyone else.

It’s a level of trust that Obi almost feels bad for taking advantage of… But in this case, it’s not hurting anyone. Besides, it’s still a good idea to make sure that the rest of their team is okay and up to date on what’s happening.

He just feels like he has to be the one to make sure Shinra is okay— and he tries not to think too hard about why that is.

He pulls his coat on and heads for the door at the same time as he hears Hinawa calling someone on his own cell behind him, probably Maki to see if she’s still nearby after the end of her shift. Obi doesn’t pay much attention to it though, trusting his lieutenant with the matter of their two other younger members.

The matter of Shinra is just very personal to him.

When all of this started, Charon had been… Intrigued by Shinra. There aren’t many people who would walk into the middle of an unbalanced fight in an alley to try and stick their nose where it didn’t belong in the interest of helping someone. It’s a rare thing nowadays, and Charon— whose entire life revolves around protecting people, albeit in a much different way than Shinra— can really respect it.

But now, after a few weeks of seeing him regularly?

He can safely say that it’s something more than intrigue.

People in the White-Clad had been wondering where he’s been going off to. Even Haumea seems to be getting curious, which is funny because she can’t stop yelling at him to leave her alone otherwise. Charon always just tells them that he’s working on the task force problem and not to worry about it, though he’s not sure how long that excuse will keep working for.

The excuse definitely stopped working on himself a while ago. Some time around the time he found himself texting Shinra to ask him to meet up again, not because he thought he would be able to figure out anything from him, but because he wanted to spend some more time with him.

The more he’s gotten to know him, the less he’s started to believe there’s any chance of getting him over to their side. Shinra is just too… Good. There’s no way he would ever be able to put aside his morals and come to understand why they’re doing what they’re doing, why it matters more than just worrying about how they’re hurting individual people, even if they do have their brother as a point of leverage.

But that isn’t stopping him from spending time with him. Even though it should.

The place they find themselves tonight, because Charon has suggested it, is different from their usual bar. It’s… Quieter. More intimate. It’s one of those bar slash restaurant dealies, and even though Charon prefers to spend his time in places that are run by the White-Clad just for the sake of safety, he spent a lot of time scoping this place out before inviting Shinra to it.

“Are you really sure it’s okay for me to order something this expensive…?” Shinra stares down at the menu with wide eyes.

“My boss gave me a nice bonus today,” Charon lies, because when it comes to money, he’s never had to worry about having enough of it— the White-Clad have always provided for its members well, and as the guardian of someone as important as Haumea, Charon has never had to worry about feeling unappreciated by anyone except the girl he’s more or less raised. “So don’t worry about the cost.”

“If you’re sure…”

Charon is definitely sure based on how Shinra is drooling over the menu. This place is too classy to have pictures on the menu, but just the descriptions— even with all of the fancy words— on top of the smell drifting from the kitchen is more than enough to make one’s mouth water if they’re not used to it.

It’s been a while since Charon has felt like treating himself, so he’s looking forward to it, too. Although Shinra’s company is definitely much more interesting to him than the food they’re about to order.

“So… How has work been?”

Even if he knows better now than to think that Shinra is going to come over to their side, and even if he’s only still doing this because he wants to spend more time with Shinra, that doesn’t mean there isn’t information that can be gathered in the meantime. Shinra has no idea how many little things he’s let slip have been things Charon has been able to pass on to the kinds of people who can use them to keep the task force off their trail— although he’s careful not to let anything slip that might bring any additional harm to Shinra or his comrades, beyond what they’re already inviting themselves.

Charon can only do so much, because anyone that tries to take on the White-Clad is basically dooming themselves anyway. It’s not his job to protect people who clearly have no desire to protect themselves, when they could do just about anything else in their careers— choose any other hill to die on— and come out the other end a lot less charred for it.

But he doesn’t need to put Shinra in any more danger than he’s already in. There’s even a part of him that wonders if he could get the word out telling everyone else in the organization not to mess with Shinra too much, not to kill him or do any lasting harm… He’s heard whispers that one of their other enforcers is becoming a little attached to one of the members of Obi’s task force and it would be a bad idea to get on his bad side, so it’s not like there’s no precedent for it.

He doesn’t look forward to the kind of lecture he would get for doing something like that, though, so he holds on to that thought, decides he’s just going to use it if he absolutely needs to. Shinra isn’t in too much danger now— not any more danger than the rest of his squad is, at least, and the White-Clad haven’t decided they’re enough of a threat to act overtly against them, still just keeping their eyes on them to make sure they’re not going to mess with any of their carefully laid plans.

That would definitely be dangerous to anyone’s health.

Shinra is saved from having to answer the question by the waiter coming by— they order their food and Charon orders a bottle of wine for the two of them to share. He’s hoping to look cool and sophisticated for it, even though he’s never really had a head for all of that fancy stuff— he can appreciate the finer things but doesn’t know how to wrap his head around any of it in a way he always gets scolded for by people like Yona and Haumea. Thankfully the water is happy to make a suggestion.

Once the waiter wanders off again, though, Shinra sighs as he sits back in his chair.

“Work has been… Good,” he says, with a tone that suggests otherwise. “It’s picked up lately. We’re making progress on what we’re doing, but I still feel like there’s way more I could be doing, y’know?”

“Must be pretty frustrating for a guy like you. But hey, if you give 100% all of the time, you’re just gonna end up burning out, right?”

“Yeah, but the stuff that we’re doing is really important and could help a lot of people. I don’t want to be the one saying that I can’t do enough to help.”

Really, it’s cute the way Shinra seems to worry so much about everyone but himself.

He doesn’t even realize that he’s sitting across the table from someone who he should rightly consider one of his biggest enemies.

The rest of the night goes easily. Charon gives half-truths and believable lies about his own life, although it’s surprising how little he really has to hide. Any mention of violence or dropping of Haumea’s name has to be carefully disguised, but other than that— for someone who lives a life as a mob enforcer, he lives a pretty normal and boring life!

Wine is passed around between them. They eat some good food— Shinra enjoys a steak that costs more than a full day of work for a lot of people, and Charon has some lobster, always having been partial to seafood. The atmosphere is dark and pleasant and their conversation is just as pleasant.

“Hey, Charon, I don’t think I’ve ever asked you… Why do you always wear those sunglasses? I only ever see you after dark, but you’re always wearing them.”

“I have an eye condition,” Charon says, which is the only full lie he’s had to tell that night.

Truth be told, it makes him less recognizable— and when Haumea had been a little girl she had told him that he looked less punchable with them on, which was about as close to complimenting him as she ever came, which meant that of course he was going to keep them on basically forever.

“Really? Huh… Don’t you have trouble seeing with those on?”

“Not really. I’ve worn them for a long time, so I’m pretty used to them.”

Charon grins, and wonders if Shinra’s opinion of him would change if he saw his eyes under the sunglasses.

He knows the look of him is a little… Intense. Haumea once grabbed him by the face, took his sunglasses off, and stared at him for a solid couple of minutes before telling him with a big grin on her face that he had the eyes of a killer— and he was never going to be able to hide that.

“Well, that’s what the sunglasses are for,” he had told her, and she had laughed, that being one of the moments when she had felt more friendly towards him.

Those moments have been few and far between over the years. He’s learned to appreciate them when they happen.

Now he has someone else to spend his time with who actually appreciates him and wants to spend time with him. Not that Shinra could ever replace Haumea, not in his heart and not in terms of what she can do for the White-Clad, but… At the very least, it makes him feel a little better.

Charon has taken things slow, both because he fully understands the complicated circumstances surrounding the two of them and because he’s been wanting to gauge Shinra a little more before he makes any moves— but he has a feeling that tonight might be the night.

At the very least, if nothing else, he’ll know whether it’s worth it to keep trying for something, or if he’s just been wasting his time chasing after a kid who isn’t going to end up on their side and isn’t going to reveal any information that’s worth this much time and effort from someone in such an important position in the organization— even if Haumea tells him how much she likes not having him hanging around nearly as much.

Charon decides to start slowly, so as to not just scare Shinra off. As the two of them are talking, he sticks his leg out and brushes it across Shinra’s. Shinra startles and pulls back his leg, like he’s worried that he’s taking up too much space and Charon needs more of it.

Charon waits for Shinra to settle back down before he tries it again— and this time, although Shinra freezes up, he doesn’t immediately pull back.

Instead, he looks at him curiously, as if he’s trying to determine whether Charon is doing it on purpose— and when Charon tilts his head and smiles and brushes his foot against the inside of Shinra’s shin with a bit more intent, he watches as his face turns a brilliant shade of red and he fights with the urge to smile that big nervous grin of his.

He still doesn’t know where this is going exactly, but…

At the very least, he can tell by the way Shinra is blushing and not pulling away, that it’s going somewhere.

Even though Charon was willing to pay for such a luxurious meal, something Shinra would never be able to buy for himself, Shinra is a little embarrassed to admit that he probably won’t remember much of it afterwards.

Not when he’s far more focused on the fact that Charon is flirting with him.

If he’s being honest with himself, he probably should have figured it out sooner. Sure, it’s totally normal for two platonic guy friends to meet up at the bar after work and share a few drinks, but Charon has always been the one buying his drinks for him, always asking him questions about himself that sound a lot more like the kinds of things you would be asking someone you’re interested in so you can learn more about them, and stuff like that.

Shinra is embarrassed to admit that he’s kind of love blind. No one, as far as he’s known, has ever taken an interest in him before. He’s been too off-putting, too focused on everything he’s doing to try and achieve his goals to have time for dating, and that cluelessness has probably worked against him too. So it’s not like he has any experience in what to look for— all he knows is how he feels about someone and how that expresses himself, and considering his lack of experience, he’s probably his own worse example.

By the time the two of them leave the restaurant, Shinra is so nervous that he can hardly say anything out loud. Charon keeps asking him things, and he can hardly even hear what’s being said, his heart is beating so loud in his ears; all he can do is nod or shake his head as he feels his face burn a brilliant shade of red.

He doesn’t know what to do as the two of them turn down an alley on the way to Charon’s car, or at least that’s where he thinks they’re going— he hasn’t bothered to ask and hasn’t paid attention to what Charon is saying because he’s far too focused on the hand on his shoulder guiding him down the alley.

Is this what he’s been wanting this entire time? It’s selfish of him to say that considering he’s enjoyed just being friends with Charon, but he’d be kidding himself if he said that he hasn’t thought about going home with him every night since that first night, ever since he saw him from across the bar.

Charon has this habit of wearing low-cut shirts that show off a lot of his chest, and tonight is no exception, although the shirt looks fancier than what he usually wears— maybe it’s made of silk? Shinra has no idea and has to fight back the urge to reach out and touch it to see if it feels as soft as it looks, because even though the two of them are on their way somewhere right now that he has a feeling is going to lead exactly where he thinks it’s going to lead, it still feels strange to be so bold.

Mostly it means that he can’t keep his eyes off his plentiful chest muscles. Or the muscles in his arm that he has resting on his shoulder. Or just… All of his muscles, really.

Shinra isn’t exactly scrawny, can’t be if he had hoped to pass all of his physical exams (which he had, with flying colours, just like he had passed all of his exams), but people like Charon or Captain Obi… They’re just on an entirely different level. Food, genetics, a more rigorous workout routine… Whatever it is, something has blessed them but good.

His instincts end up winning out over his hesitation, though— and he reaches up to squeeze Charon’s muscles.

Immediately, he finds himself thrown back against the brick wall of the alley next to him.

At first he thinks it might be a reflex of some sort, like Charon doesn’t like to be unexpectedly touched like that— but then Charon is crowding him back against the wall and leaning down so their faces are so close together he can feel his breath on him.

“I’ve been trying to be a real gentleman about this, Shinra.” Charon’s voice is a rumble, an intimidating sound that makes a chill run down Shinra’s spine— in the best way possible. “But I’m gonna have a real hard time doing that if you keep doing things like that.”

“S-sorry.”

Shinra is not sorry at all. He’s actually a little surprised by how not sorry he is. After all, he didn’t expect something like this to happen, and yet when he hears Charon say something like that it makes a heat spread all through his body that practically has him squirming.

On top of never being interested in romance, Shinra has never been a casual sex sort of guy. Again— just not enough time or enough interest from other people. He’s not sure it would count as casual now, not after what the two of them have been doing, especially if Charon thinks of all of them as dates— but considering this is definitely not how he expected his night to go when it started out, and considering he’s definitely not been thinking of these outings as dates until just now, he’s also not going to call it anything else.

Not until he’s had a chance to ask Charon what he expects from all of this, and until he has time to think about it for himself… But for right now, he can’t deny what he wants from this and he can’t ignore the fact that it’s clearly the same thing Charon wants, which means that he shouldn’t have any problem with it. And he most definitely doesn’t— his biggest problem right now is not embarrassing himself as Charon slips a leg between his thighs.

It’s not exactly the most romantic location, an alley behind the restaurant, no matter how nice the restaurant was— but this is just the pre-amble, and they’re going to be taking it somewhere else as soon as the two of them can stop getting distracted by each other.

Something made that much harder by the way Charon leans in and sinks his teeth into his throat.

There’s a primal part of the human brain, left over from the days where the thing sinking its teeth into your throat was much more likely to be foe than friend, that has Shinra tensing up under the bite. But as soon as he pushes himself past that, he lets out a moan that has more whine in it than he’s proud to admit.

Maybe the wine is getting to him more than he thought it would. Shinra is having trouble thinking straight beyond just how flustered he is. Charon’s body feels so hot pressed up against his own that it’s almost making him dizzy, or at least that’s what he’s hoping the feeling is— he doesn’t want the night to be clouded by him being just on the wrong side of tipsy, unable to full remember this tip over from friends into something else in full and complete detail. But he can’t deny that there’s a fog there, almost hanging over everything.

Maybe that’s why he hears the distinct click of a gun being cocked, but it still takes him a second to realize what it is— a second too long, because then he hears,

“Freeze.”

Shinra does exactly that. He feels Charon’s body crowd even tighter against him, almost like he’s shielding him.

Panic almost sets in a moment before his training does— and then the panic is quickly replaced with confusion, because Shinra recognizes that voice.

And when he looks down the alley, from the direction they had just come, Captain Obi is the one standing there— pointing a gun at the two of them.

Or, to be more precise— pointing a gun at Charon.

When he had started to get to know Charon a little better, Shinra had assumed that the incident with the guys in the alley had been a one-off. Charon had only been so calm and collected because the guys were clearly idiots who had no idea what they were doing, and even if they outnumbered him, he had them beaten in terms of strength. They didn’t stand a chance.

Now that he sees how Charon reacts to having someone pointing a gun at him, someone who clearly means business from the serious look on their face and the way they’re holding the gun like a consummate professional, Shinra is starting to wonder if there’s anything that fazes him. If there is, he hasn’t found it yet.

Right now he has more important things to be worrying about.

“C-Captain?”

“Don’t move, Shinra.”

“Captain Obi, there must be some kind of mistake—”

Shinra is present in the situation enough to feel a little awkward about the fact that he’s still pushed up against the brick wall, still has Charon’s knee between his legs, still has the flush on his face that is definitely not from embarrassment.

Even though it is embarrassing for your boss to catch you making out with someone in an alley— even if technically the two of them haven’t done anything yet.

(Just looking at the two of them, it’s impossible not to know what they were about to do, even if you were the most clueless person alive.)

Seeing Obi makes Shinra’s stomach do a small flip, and makes him feel guilty in a way he can’t quite understand. It’s not like this has anything to do with his ability to do his job. He’s definitely been thinking about Charon a lot, but he doesn’t think he’s been slipping at work, so there’s no reason for him to feel guilty.

And that definitely has nothing to do with the fact that Obi is pointing a gun at them right now.

For a moment, Shinra wonders if maybe Obi has been gotten to by the White-Clad, but he quickly dismisses that idea. After all, Obi is the most righteous person that he knows, the person with the strongest backbone— he would never—

“There’s no mistake, Shinra. That man is very dangerous. And if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll step away from you right now.”

Shinra blinks in confusion. He opens his mouth to say something, but quickly closes it—

When he looks up and sees the look on Charon’s face.

Nothing about the way he looks right now suggests that he’s uncomfortable with having a gun pointed at him, but it’s not just the look of someone who is calm because he has a calm personality. No, the look on him is the look of someone who is used to having a loaded gun pointed at him, and is just unfazed by it because it’s something he’s had to face so often.

Shinra feels something cold in the pit of his stomach.

Charon grins.

“So. You’re Captain Obi himself,” he says, ignoring the weapon in Obi’s hand. Shinra can’t see behind his dark sunglasses but he can tell that Obi is laser locked in his sight, despite the fact that Charon still has an iron grip on him— and even raises his leg so that his knee is pressing even more insistently against Shinra’s crotch.

Shinra has to dig his sharp teeth into his lower lip to keep from making a high-pitched noise that he would be embarrassed to make at any time, but would be especially embarrassed to make while his boss is standing right there (with a gun pointed at the man who he was just on a date with, is still on a date with, he has to keep reminding himself— even though that cold feeling in the pit of his stomach is getting even more prominent, the dread starting to really sink in as he and his brain struggle against each other in the name of figuring out what the Hell is going on).

“And you're Charon.”

“My reputation precedes me.”

Suddenly, Shinra is hit by a realization— one he knows he should have had a long time ago and quite frankly feels stupid for not having figured out sooner.

Charon. He knew he had heard that name before when the man in the bar had introduced himself, but he had been so caught up in his own thoughts and eventually had gotten so involved in their conversation that it had slipped his mind. Terrible police work on his behalf— and then somehow (or more likely, because of how attracted to him he was and how badly he needed the companionship), he had never even given it a second thought.

He remembers now where he had heard that name.

It’s the name of one of the White-Clad’s top enforcers— one of the Guardians, the special and highly skilled bodyguards who protect the Pillars, the leaders of the group.

Shinra freezes up. It goes against all of his training, but no amount of training can shut down his instincts in a moment like this. His heart is pounding so hard that all of the world around him sounds like it’s underwater.

“I told you once already— step away from my rookie.”

“Your rookie?” Charon whistles. “Someone’s feeling possessive, huh?”

“I’m not going to warn you again.”

“Yeah you will. Have you ever actually killed someone, Akitaru Obi? Everything we’ve ever heard about you says otherwise.”

Shinra knows that he should do something. That he should say something, that he should try to struggle away from Charon. He’s in danger right now— or at least Obi seems to think that he’s in danger.

In truth, Shinra is… Uncertain.

Not because he doesn’t think Charon is dangerous, at least if all of the things that were written in the reports about him are true. No, he definitely thinks that he can do great harm— one look at how muscular and strong he is, combined with how at ease he is in dangerous situations, is enough to prove that.

It’s just that, if Charon wanted to hurt him, there were plenty of chances for him to do it before now. He’s had him pretty much at his mercy a few times, including that first night when they ‘met’. Since Charon recognizes him, he can pretty easily guess that he’s known who he was long before he started telling him things about his job— yet again, he had completely forgotten about the fact that Charon had known him even though Shinra had no idea who he was, and had just bought whatever dumb excuse he had given him for knowing his name.

Of course, he could have other plans for him beyond just hurting him. Who knows with people like the White-Clad, who don’t act like any other organized crime group he’s ever heard of, who seem to have people so baffled by the way they do things that it’s keeping their team completely tied up just trying to figure out what their ultimate goal might be, since it’s clearly more than just pure greed or random chaos.

All of those feelings and thoughts jumble themselves up inside Shinra’s head, leaving him almost paralyzed, unable to say or do anything even when he knows he should—

“Besides, if you shoot at me from that distance— I don’t care how good a bead you have on me, Shinra is way too close. You’re too good an officer to take a risk like that, aren’t you?”

Shinra watches as Obi’s eyebrow twitches, and then he starts to lower his weapon— keeping it fully at the ready, but no longer pointed at the two of them.

That’s the motivation Shinra needs to finally find his voice— although he still can’t bring himself to shove Charon away.

“Charon—” He practically chokes on his name now that he knows what it represents. Seriously, how could he have been so stupid. “So you really are…?”

“Yep.”

“You’re not even going to try to deny it?”

“Why bother? I’ve never really lied to you before now— oh, well, except for when I told you I had an eye condition. Just couldn’t think of a good enough explanation.” Charon reaches up to take off his sunglasses— the first time Shinra has ever seen him do that, and he has to hold back a gasp when he puts them on top of his head and looks down at him, completely ignoring Obi as though he hasn’t just threatened to shoot him. “I might not have told you everything, but I never really lied. I figured you’d figure it out sooner or later— and in the meantime, I’d just enjoy getting to know you.”

Shinra knows that he shouldn’t believe him. After all, if he really is a member of that terrible organization— the one that Shinra is still convinced is to blame for his mother and brother’s deaths and his entire life being absolutely destroyed— then he would have every reason to lie to him.

Except… Shinra likes to think that he’s a pretty good judge of character. Looking at Charon’s face, he doesn’t see any signs of deception. And the more he thinks about it, the more sense it makes.

All of the answers Charon has given to the questions he’s asked him… He didn’t think about them at the time, but looking back at them now, they could have all easily been Dodging the Subject. Dancing around the idea that he’s a member of the mafia by giving him vague responses. Never telling him a lie, but not really telling him the whole truth, either— just enough of it to qualify as a real answer.

And he wants to believe that Charon is telling the truth about enjoying his company, that he wanted to just spend more time with him. Even though he knows that he shouldn’t care, he still finds himself, infuriatingly, caring.

“It might be hard for guys like you two to understand— especially you, Captain,” Charon says, and Shinra can hear the mockery in his voice, but he also hears something else.

Charon’s hand goes to his waist. Considering what he knows about him now, he should be disgusted by it.

What does it say about him that he isn’t?

Maybe he’s just having a hard time accepting that the guy he’s become such good friends with is a notorious criminal with a laundry list of terrible things that he’s (allegedly) done, but all Shinra feels is his face get hotter at the very possessive way Charon touches him, keeping him close to his body, and he doesn’t think it’s because he’s using him as a human shield.

He has a feeling that Charon doesn’t need that kind of help from anyone.

“But guys like me? We have reasons for the things that we do. And the White-Clad are a lot more than your task force thinks that you’re dealing with. Trying to treat me like some common criminal or thinking that I’m planning on hurting anyone is exactly why it’s been so hard for you to keep up with what we’re doing.”

Shinra feels almost sick to his stomach. He looks over at Obi— well and truly looks over at him, not just because of the way he’s ready to shoot his friend and maybe something more but because he wants to actually meet his eyes, even though there’s a big part of him that wants exactly the opposite of that.

I didn’t tell him anything, he wants to tell him, even though he has no idea if he did or not. Please, it’s not my fault.

He doesn’t think that he’s said anything to Charon that could be used against the task force. It’s all been generic stuff, stuff like how everyone has been stressed out and the hours have been long, how annoying some of his coworkers are, stuff that anyone would complain about regardless of whether they were working for a top secret police organization.

But he doesn’t know for sure, and that’s what makes his stomach flip around— because the most horrible thing he can imagine is Obi thinking that he’s somehow a traitor, even indirectly. That he’s somehow been feeding information to the enemy.

That he’s going to be disappointed in him.

The only reason Shinra has gotten the incredible opportunities that he’s had, the only reason he’s been able to get over his fear that he’s never going to find out what happened to his family and he’s just going to get caught in the same cycle of corruption that the rest of the police officers in this city seem to be in, is because of Captain Obi. He’s believed in him even when he has no reason to because he’s done nothing to prove himself worthy of these opportunities, and he cares about him in a way that— if Shinra is being honest— very few people seem to.

Whenever Captain Obi tells him he’s done a good job and pats him on the back for it, whenever he ruffles his hair and Lieutenant Hinawa has to remind him that he’s dealing with an adult who is his subordinate and not a kid he’s coaching in baseball (and Shinra low-key resents him a little bit for making Obi feel awkward about it when he never wants it to stop), Shinra feels his stomach do all kinds of little jumps and flutters. He’s always dismissed it as just never having had a father figure who would do that sort of stuff, even before he lost his family; it had always just been his mother and his brother and him, no dad for either of them in the picture.

Of course, Shinra has been doing a lot of justifying things and ignoring his own feelings lately, focused on his work and not wanting to get distracted. Even if he’s obviously been so distracted that he hasn’t realized that his work has come to him in a very real way, if the man in front of him is anything to go by.

He’s not delusional enough to say he hasn’t noticed that Obi is an attractive man. He’s not so unaware of his own feelings to think that he hasn’t had a little bit of a crush on his superior officer, one he’s never planned on doing anything about because… Well, all of the obvious reasons.

He knows it’s silly for him to think about these things right now. There are more important things to be worried about in this situation— like the fact that it’s a very real possibility that one of these two men who he cares a lot about are going to get shot.

But as Shinra swallows, even though he knows it’s a little delusional of him, he can’t help but feel like…

The way Obi and Charon are staring each other down right now has nothing to do with being on opposite sides of a conflict about law and order.

It’s a fight over him.

Maybe he’s just overstepping his boundaries. Maybe it’s stupid of him to think about. Maybe he should just shove Charon away right now, go over to Obi, and apologize his brains out for getting them into this mess in the first place without realizing it.

Shinra doesn’t do any of those things. Instead, he runs his tongue over his lips, looking between the two of them with darting, nervous eyes before he says,

“...Maybe we should go somewhere and talk about this.”

Chapter Text

When Shinra suggested they go somewhere and talk, Obi didn’t think there was much to talk about… But he hadn’t exactly been in a position to refuse.

Charon was right. In his long career as a police officer, he’s only ever had to discharge his service pistol once, and non-fatally. He’s never killed anyone before… And seeing what the White-Clad are capable of, he knows full well that face to face with one in an alley, even if they’re not armed and not threatening him, the only way to solve things is either to shoot to kill or to back down.

Akitaru Obi is not a man who likes to back down. But he’s also not a man who likes to take life. Life is precious, and that’s a big part of why he’s always opposed the corruption within the police force— too many lives taken, too much focus on “solving problems” instead of actually helping people.

At the very least, he has no intentions of walking away now that he knows who this mystery friend that Shinra has been going to meet is.

Of course it crosses his mind for a moment that Shinra could be a spy, that he could be feeding information to the White-Clad intentionally. That thought quickly disappears, though, because Obi trusts his men, and even if Shinra has accidentally let a few things slip he’s sure that he’s been careful enough that he doesn’t need to worry.

The only thing he needs to worry about is this Charon guy.

It’s perfectly reasonable for him to want to get Charon away from Shinra, he thinks, because this is a very dangerous man with unknown motives. It’s not the least bit out of jealousy. It’s purely out of concern for Shinra’s safety, whether he does or does not feel jealous when he walks into the alley and sees them like that— and quickly realizes that it’s not an assault of some kind, that Shinra is into it.

Of course, he’s sure that there’s been some sort of dishonesty, because there’s no reason Shinra would ever be interested in a guy that works for the same organization that’s caused him so much pain in the past— something he’s entrusted Obi with the knowledge of, even telling him that there’s very few people he’s ever told about what happened to his family and what he thinks actually happened to his family.

Shinra would never betray the memory of his mother and his brother like that.

And yet, the sight of him in Charon’s arms… And the way he looks at Obi pleadingly to try and gt them to actually talk instead of settling matters just by a shootout in an alley…

It leaves Obi feeling tense as he sits across from Charon, with Shinra sitting between the two of them.

Charon doesn’t look the least bit bothered by having the leader of the organized crime task force sitting across from him. It doesn’t even seem to bother him that there’s an officer in a White-Clad safe house, although the place doesn’t look too impressive and Obi is guessing that by the time he leaves and comes back, the whole place will be dismantled leaving no evidence behind— maybe even torched to the ground.

“So, Akitaru Obi… Now we can have a real talk, man to man.”

“I don’t have anything to say to someone who works for an organization that profits off the misery of others.”

“I guess you don’t have much to say to most of your coworkers, then. Or most people in the world today.”

Obi narrows his eyes at him and says nothing. Not because he thinks he’s right… But because he doesn’t even know how to begin telling him just how wrong he is.

There’s a cup of coffee sitting in front of him that he hasn’t touched. Charon has one of his own that he picks up to take a sip of it. Shinra is staring into his and occasionally glancing back and forth between the two of them. He lifts his own to take a drink just a moment after Charon does— and Obi barely resists the urge to smack it out of his hands because he has no idea if the bastard has put anything into it.

“We’re not just any old bunch of criminals, you know. Haven’t you noticed how much crime has decreased since we took over?”

“You’re calling what you do something other than crime?”

“We don’t sell drugs to kids, just to adults who are old enough to make their own choices. People don’t have to worry about getting shot up by drive by shootings anymore. We do everything nice and clean— and we’ve cleaned up this city better than the police department ever could.”

“You say all of that like it’s going to make me accept you.”

“I just think you’re directing your anger at all the wrong places.”

“Let’s just cut the crap. Since all three of us are here right now… What is it that you want with Shinra?”

Obi sees Shinra perk up for a second out of the corner of his eye— before deflating again, looking almost ashamed of himself.

There’s a hot feeling in his chest, that jealousy rising up again even though he has no reason to be jealous. Protective, sure. This is a hardened criminal making overtures towards one of his men. Being protective is only natural.

He has no claim over Shinra, though— hasn’t even told him that he’s attracted to him because it’s wrong for him to say something like that. He can tell his logical brain that, though, but that doesn’t mean his heart and his instincts will get the same message.

“What do I want with him?” Charon seems amused by his question. There’s a glimmer in his eyes— he hasn’t put his sunglasses back on ever since taking them off to show Shinra— that says that he must have made an educated guess as to why Obi is so uniquely agitated with him.

He doesn’t want to think he’s being that obvious, but he also doesn’t want to assume he doesn’t know.

“I want to get to know him better, that’s all.” The way Charon says it sounds so sincere that Obi almost believes him for a second. “I scoped him out when you guys first started poking around our territory, and I got curious about what kind of person he was. When I found out he was a really interesting sort of person, I got curious. And now, I’d say we get along pretty well. Wouldn’t you say, Shinra?”

Obi has always had a bit of a temper on him, but he’s prided himself on being a reasonable man. He gets angry, of course he does! But he doesn’t lash out or get violent; he’s not afraid to throw a punch when he’s needed, but he doesn’t let it be motivated by unjust anger, only by a drive to do right by someone. The worst he might do is raise his voice.

But he really has to resist the urge to jump across the table, wrestle Charon to the ground, and punch him in the face just because of the way he looks at Shinra— and the only reason it has anything to do with his affiliation with the White-Clad is because of his fear that he’s trying to steal Shinra away.

Not only does he hold himself back because of his desire to not lash out like that against someone and lose his cool, but it’s also because— well, if he’s being honest with himself, he’s not entirely sure that he would beat Charon in a straight-up fight.

Obi trains every single day, and he prides himself in his strength and his toned body. But Charon clearly trains too, just based on how muscular he is.

Obi isn’t the kind of person to feel self-conscious about something like that, doesn’t like to compare himself to others, but he still has to take it into consideration in a situation like this.

(And he’d be lying if he said he didn’t think to himself, Is that why Shinra likes this guy so much?)

“Charon— be serious about this,” is all Shinra says, turning to stare him down, but Charon doesn’t seem the least bit bothered— and Obi doesn’t think that has anything to do with the fact that, in spite of how intimidating those extra sharp teeth can seem before you get used to them, it’s almost impossible to be intimidated by Shinra.

He’s just too damn cute.

“I am being serious,” Charon replies immediately. “You should know me well enough by now to know that, right, Shinra?”

“I thought I knew you pretty well,” Shinra replies, and there’s a bitterness in his voice that makes Obi feel triumphant. “Even though we’ve only known each other for a few weeks, I thought… I thought that we were getting really close. I really liked you.”

“Oh? Past tense?”

“Well, considering I didn’t even know who you really were, it’s impossible for me to say that now.”

“Ah, fair enough. I guess that means we have to start from scratch, then.”

“The only way that’s happening is if you turn yourself in,” Obi replies before Shinra has a chance to say anything, mostly because he would like to remind Charon that he’s here and he’s not going away any time soon. “And if you give us some serious information about your organization.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Then I guess we’re at a stalemate.”

“I don’t think you’re the one who gets to decide that.”

Obi feels his eye twitch as Charon goes back to ignoring him completely, but he turns to Shinra expecting to see Shinra about to mirror exactly what he just said—

Only to see uncertainty on Shinra’s face.

“Charon… There’s a long list of things people have claimed you’ve done. Our file on you is long. How much of that is true?”

“How am I supposed to answer that question without seeing the list?” Charon chuckles. “But I’d say it’s probably not far off. You people always seem to think that I’m some kind of assassin, though. I’m just a bodyguard— one who would do anything to protect the person I’ve been put in charge of.”

“That would be Haumea. One of the Pillars of the White-Clad.”

“I’ve practically raised her. I’d never let anything happen to her, White-Clad or not. So if you’re asking me to choose between her and making nice, then I’m afraid you’re barking up completely the wrong tree.”

Shinra just looks even more uncertain.

Obi wishes he could pull Shinra aside without looking suspicious— and without likely alerting Charon to something being wrong. This is a White-Clad safe house, so he’s sure that they’ve god the place wired or bugged or something, and nothing he says would remain a secret for very long anyway.

He just wants to know what’s going through his mind— why he would even be entertaining thoughts about this guy being anything other than complete scum of the earth.

Why he would be looking at him like he’s not sure if he’s going to cut ties with him after this or not.

Shinra wishes he could say that he’s only entertaining all of this because he sees the potential for getting information. After all, that’s probably what led Charon to make friends with him in the first place— he weirdly enough believes him when he says that he wanted to get to know him because he finds him interesting, because Charon is the kind of guy who doesn’t lie when he doesn’t need to as far as he can tell, but that doesn’t mean he can’t multitask. He’s sure that little things he’s let slip have made it back to the rest of the White-Clad and that’s why they’ve been having so much trouble— something he still feels the incredible weight of guilt for.

He can flip that on Charon. Now that he knows that he’s a member of the White-Clad, he can try and get as much information from him as he can. He’s sure he’ll be on the lookout for it, but even if he can just get stuff from context clues, it would be one more avenue for them to get information— and Charon doesn’t always seem like the most careful guy, so he’s sure he would eventually slip up and tell him something that they could use.

But if Shinra is being honest— even just with himself— he knows that’s not really the reason.

The truth is, in spite of the fact that Charon works for an organization as terrible as the White-Clad and in spite of the fact that he’s basically confessed to doing all of the terrible things he’s been accused of… Shinra can’t bring himself to think of him as a bad person.

Not after all the time they’ve spent together and after all the nice things Charon has done for him. It would be admitting that everything had been a lie all along— and Shinra has a hard time thinking that way about someone he’s gotten so close to.

Even Obi doesn’t seem to think that he’s lying, even though he clearly doesn’t trust Charon or think that he’s a good person. So why would Shinra be the one to think that he is, when he’s the one who knows him better?

“...I think we can all agree that we’re not going to come to any kind of a clear answer any time soon,” Shinra says. “But I think this doesn’t have to end in violence.”

“Shinra… I admire the sentiment, but do you really think someone from the White-Clad is just going to roll over like that? He’s made it pretty clear he’s not going to change.”

“I have no reason to. You guys are the ones who don’t know what’s really going on.”

“All I need to know is that you’ve broken the law. Nothing else matters.”

“Heh. Typical.” Charon turns to Shinra again, and even though this is supposed to be a totally serious conversation between people who are on opposite sides of the law, he can’t help but feel his face grow a little bit hotter at the way he’s looking at him. “You know better than that, right, Shinra? I mean, you said it yourself— you joined the police because you wanted to be able to make things better. But most police officers only care about the bottom line or the power that they have. Doesn’t that mean that a lot of the people they make enemies out of are probably just honest people trying to get by in a dishonest world?”

It’s not like Shinra can really argue with that, either.

There were definitely moments when he thought about giving up on his dream of trying to turn the police around from the inside, especially considering he wanted to be a genuine hero. Even more important to him than that is figuring out what happened to his family, and if he had to choose between one or the other…

He really doesn’t know which one he would choose. In fact, if he didn’t have Captain Obi to believe in, he’s pretty sure it would be a much easier choice. After all, he’s the only thing he’s seen so far that has really convinced him they can make a difference.

“You really wanna say something like that about the people you work for?”

“And you really wanna assume you know what we’re doing when you have absolutely no idea what’s going on? There’s a reason you guys are always five steps behind us.”

The tension is ramping up in the room and Shinra almost feels like it’s difficult for him to breathe because of it.

He knows he has to do something about this, sooner rather than later. If he just sits back and waits for something to happen with or without him, Obi and Charon are going to end up coming to a head— and he has a feeling that’s going to end very violently.

Even though Charon is a criminal, he doesn’t want something bad to happen to him. And he definitely doesn’t want anything to happen to his captain.

Even if he has to—

“Of course, that’s assuming that you’re not just doing this because you’re jealous.”

Shinra’s brain stutters.

“What the Hell are you talking about?”

“Come on, do you think you’re being subtle? If you hated me because I was a criminal, it wouldn’t be so personal for you. The real reason you hate me is because Shinra likes me so much, right?”

“Cut the crap, we’re here to talk about—”

“If it wasn’t something like that, there would be no reason for us to be here in the first place. You would have just shot me in that alley and called it a day. Or you would have brought backup in the first place. Don’t try and tell me otherwise, I can see right through you.”

Shinra hasn’t really ever seen Captain Obi angry. He’s seen the first hints of it, in his frustration over not being able to do more, in his indignation over the state of the police force. But Obi has always done a good job of keeping his spirits up in front of all of them so they don’t feel like they’re doing all of this for nothing, and that includes not getting angry.

He’s seen him angry now— he’s seen it on his face since he walked into the alley. But it just keeps ramping up. He swears he can see the vein in Obi’s forehead starting to pop out, and he’s sure a lesser man would flip the table or throw a punch or something.

Obi has really good self-control, though, and he can tell that from the way his hand is resting on the table clenched and shaking from how badly he wants to do something like that but refuses to stoop to that level.

Shinra should be putting an end to this and getting things back on track, but…

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious. And he doesn’t think he’s going to have another chance to figure this out or even ask about it outside of now— this is going to be one of those things he and Captain Obi both agree to forget about everything that happened, and maybe he’ll figure it out later and maybe he won’t, but either way…

He doesn’t know if it’s just the fact that he’s still running on adrenaline from that encounter in the alley, or if he’s really lost his mind entirely, but…

“...Is that true, Captain Obi?”

Obi looks over at him like he’s suddenly grown an extra head.

“Oh, it’s true, alright.” Charon is grinning ear to ear, like he’s having the best time of his life. “It’s not about who I’m working for or what I’ve done, it’s that he thinks he’s lost. Are you a sore loser, Akitaru Obi?”

“Shinra, it’s not like that—”

“Oh? Then you won’t mind if I do this.”

Shinra feels Charon’s big, warm hand land on the back of his neck.

It probably says a lot that in spite of the fact that he knows these hands have killed people, he doesn’t flinch away or even feel afraid as his first reaction— he leans into it.

Maybe he should have tried to have a few more romantic encounters in his life before now, because he’s clearly starved for touch.

Charon doesn’t try to wring or snap his neck, even though he definitely could. No, he uses the hand on his neck to turn him towards him— and then he leans in and kisses him.

It’s not exactly the way Shinra pictured his first kiss, even when Charon had him pushed up against a brick wall in a back alley. It’s passionate, but rough… Then again, what would he expect from someone like Charon, who is big and brash and strong and earnest and—

The kiss is almost brought to an abrupt halt by a fist connecting with Charon’s face. Luckily, Charon is quick enough to catch it.

Obi’s entire arm is shaking as Charon grips his fist, their strength seemingly evenly matched— and it’s Shinra that pulls away first, suddenly wrenching his head to the side to look at Obi in shock as Charon is left there still leaning into his space before turning to Obi with a grin.

“See? Look at how jealous he is. You really think that’s the look of a guy who is just doing this for professional reasons?”

No… No he doesn’t.

Shinra feels his face growing hot, and he swallows hard. He has a big decision to make right now— and a lot of information to process that he really has no time to deal with.

If he were smarter than he is, he would put an end to this right now so he at least had time to think about his own feelings in regards to everything going on around him.

Shinra isn’t exactly dumb, but he is bad at thinking too far ahead. And right now, it’s not his brain that’s doing the thinking… It’s his heart.

(And, if he’s being honest, another part of his body too.)

“W-well… I guess…” Shinra swallows hard, hardly believing the words that are coming out of his own mouth or the thoughts going through his mind right now— it feels like he’s stuck in the middle of a dream because why would any of this happen in real life? “There’s only one way to solve this…”

And that’s how Shinra finds himself sandwiched between the two of them.

He knows that it’s wrong of him to do this, that he’s taking advantage of Captain Obi’s obvious anger over the situation. Why else would he agree to do something like this?

But considering Obi is glaring daggers at Charon while Charon grins back at him, instead of either of them paying attention to him, Shinra thinks that maybe he has less control over this situation than he would like.

Not that he thinks he has much control to begin with. His brain has completely left him, and he doesn’t even fully remember how the three of them went from sitting around a table to ending up in the safe house’s bedroom— but not even able to make it all the way over to the bed before the two muscular men decided to start fighting over him like this.

“So, Shinra? Think you can handle both of us?”

“Don’t worry, Shinra; I’ll make sure we take things slow.”

The tension in the air is so thick you could cut it with a knife, and Charon’s hand around Shinra’s throat has nothing to do with why he feels like he’s having a hard time breathing.

Charon’s grip on him tightens just a little bit, but still not with the intention of strangling him; instead, Charon uses it to tilt his head back so he can lean over him like he’s going in for the kiss.

Shinra parts his lips instinctively, eyes sliding shut— now that he’s already kissed him once, it shouldn’t be that big a deal, right?

He hears a slap of skin on skip and Charon makes a strange muffled noise, and Shinra blinks his eyes open to see Captain Obi’s hand on Charon’s face, shoving him back.

“This is supposed to be fair, right?” The tone of his voice suggests that he doesn’t believe that at all, yet he still seems to be willing to take advantage of that for his own gain. “You’ve already had your turn.”

Shinra would be lying if he said that he didn’t find the way Captain Obi suddenly yanks him forward by his hands on his hips hot; there’s something in the protective growl in his voice that makes his heart race, something in the way his grip is not quite gentle in spite of what he said before that makes his face turn red— not that his face hasn’t been a bright shade of red this entire time, uncontrollably so.

Charon doesn’t try to fight it as Obi pulls Shinra against him and away from him. Shinra hears him chuckle, but doesn’t look back at him because he’s too focused on the man in front of him.

Obi looks intense— it’s a strange look on his face because normally he’s not so serious when he’s looking at him, when he’s talking to his own people, and when he does have to look grim he normally drops it as soon as he can.

But Shinra also sees the way his throat bobs as he swallows. As he looks more closely at him, he can see that he’s sweating— and there’s the tiniest tremor to his bottom lip that tells him that he’s…

Nervous.

Shinra swallows hard, too. He opens his mouth to say something, but finds the words dying in his throat.

Being kissed by Charon was an intense experience, and Charon seemed to know what he was doing, or at least what he wanted to do. He had taken charge, and Shinra had been pulled along for the ride.

But Obi seems more hesitant. His hands on Shinra’s hips squeeze like he’s trying to be reassuring— whether to himself or to Shinra, he has no idea.

Shinra realizes in that moment that if Obi hesitates for too long, he might find a reason to talk himself out of this.

And he doesn’t want him to do that.

Which is why he reaches up and puts his hands on Obi’s face to pull him down into a kiss.

This is something the two of them absolutely should not be doing— they’re superior and subordinate, and the rest of the police force aside from the police commissioner who initially supported Obi would love to have any reason to get him kicked off the force. Fucking one of the officers working under him on the task force would be a perfect reason for that.

But they also shouldn’t be here with a wanted criminal, so is there really any point in holding back if they’re already going to get in trouble anyway?

The way Obi kisses him is so much more hesitant, but not in the way that makes Shinra think that he’s done something wrong; it just makes him feel like he’s taken him by surprise, and after a moment Obi relaxes into the kiss.

It’s sweeter than the one he shared with Charon as well, although the passion ramps up as Obi rubs his thumbs along the grooves of his hips. When Obi bites his lower lip and drags his teeth across it, Shinra can’t stop himself from moaning.

“Now who’s the one hogging him?”

Charon grabs him and pulls him back towards him; Obi holds on tight to his hips, not wanting to let go of him. In a way, it feels like Shinra’s going to be split in half.

(He’s sure that’s not going to be entirely inaccurate, since he has a pretty good feeling about what the two of them have planned for him.)

“As nice as you look tonight, Shinra, I think you’re a little overdressed for the occasion,” Charon says, and laughs at his own joke— which only serves to distract Shinra from the way he grabs his shirt from behind with both hands and rips.

It tears as easily as tissue paper with Charon’s immense strength, and where Shinra might otherwise be put out at his clothing being destroyed, it’s all he can do to hold back a moan at the effortless show of strength.

“Hey!” Obi frowns hard at him as the tattered remains of Shinra’s shirt fall to the ground, but Charon doesn’t pay attention to him; he does gently push Shinra in his direction, allowing Obi to pull him in as he stops to pull his own shirt off over his head and throw it off into the nebulous space of the room somewhere.

Obi glares at him some more, but this time, he doesn’t let himself get overly distracted by his focus on Charon; instead he drops to his knees in front of Shinra.

The sight has Shinra’s cock twitching against the inside of his pants, and he chews nervously on his lower lip, probably absolutely shredding it. He doesn’t care, though. All he wants is to commit the sight of Obi on his knees in front of him to memory, because even if this is the only thing anything is going to happen between the two of them, he wants to be able to jerk off to this memory for a long time to come.

“You sure you’re okay with this, Shinra?” Obi looks deadly serious as he looks up at him. Not the frustrated serious from a few moments ago— he looks like he’s very determined to get a straight answer out of him, to make sure that he’s not being pressured into this.

Shinra doesn’t know how to say that he’s completely the opposite of pressured— that he’s never wanted anything more in his entire life— without something completely pathetic, so he just nods frantically and hopes that gets the point across.

It seems to be enough for Obi at any rate, because he starts to undo his belt and pull down the zipper of his pants, and that sight is almost too much for Shinra to bear— he tries to squeeze his eyes shut or look away, but Charon grabs his chin.

“He’s doing this for you, Shinra.” Charon’s voice is a low rumble. Again, Shinra can feel it through where his chest is pressed against him more than he can hear it, even though he’s leaning down to speak it as close to his ear as he can considering the differences in their heights. “You should at least watch him do it.”

Shinra swallows hard and looks down at Obi, and he has to take a deep breath and try to calm himself to avoid making a mess in his underwear before they’ve even done anything.

Obi doesn’t look him in the eye, though; he focuses entirely on what he’s doing, and as he takes hold of the waistband of Shinra’s underwear and pulls that down off his hips as well, Shinra’s cock springs free of its confines and very nearly hits him in the face.

The comedy of the situation aside, Shinra can’t help but be terribly embarrassed; but Obi makes a guttural noise in the back of his throat, and when he forces himself to keep looking at him instead of looking away like he still desperately wants to, he can see the way his pupils suddenly grow until his normally warm brown eyes are practically black.

It hits him, maybe a second later than it should, that he looks like that because of him. That he’s turned on not just at the sight of a hard cock in his face, but his hard cock in his face.

A guy like Captain Obi… A man who is strong and attractive and probably could have just about anyone he wants, someone as good and honest and handsome as he is, and yet here he is— almost literally drooling over the sight of someone like him, who is absolutely nothing compared to him and has dragged him into this insane situation with a member of their most hated criminal organization to begin with and—

None of Shinra’s disorganized personal thoughts do anything to stop Captain Obi from leaning in and licking a stripe up his cock from base to tip.

“Heh. Who’s hogging him now?” Charon asks, reaching around Shinra’s body to tangle his hand in Obi’s hair.

Obi briefly glares up at him, but he doesn’t stop. He doesn’t try to smack Charon away, instead focusing all of his attention on Shinra, like he’s trying to ignore the fact that Charon is even there in the first place.

Shinra doesn’t know how it would even be possible to ignore a man like Charon, but when Obi takes the head of his cock between his lips, he starts to think that he might be able to show him.

“Heh, I guess he’s done listening to what I have to say now that he’s getting what he wants,” Charon laughs, releasing his hand from Obi’s hair— which gives Shinra the chance to bury his own in there, and as soon as Charon’s hand is replaced with both of his own, Obi seems to instantly relax as he takes more of Shinra into his mouth.

As much as Shinra is embarrassed to admit it, he’s definitely thought about this before— but he had never considered that Captain Obi would be so obviously experienced with this sort of thing. It makes sense, of course, it just hadn’t crossed his mind… And now he finds himself wondering just how experienced he is, caught between jealousy and even more arousal at the thought of how many people his captain has taken to bed before him.

Is he allowed to be jealous, though? After all, there’s another man with them right now, one who’s big hands go to take the spot Obi has vacated holding on to Shinra’s hips. Shinra whines at both the feeling of Obi’s mouth on him and the way Charon’s fingers dig into him— more insistently than Obi’s did before, like he’s trying to leave bruises on him.

The way Charon presses up against him from behind and he can feel his hard cock, not rutting against him or being insistent but just reminding him that it’s there, that Charon is there, also contributes to the way he whines.

Then Charon pulls away, and Shinra can’t resist the urge to look back over his shoulder. Charon keeps one hand on his hip, though, which is good because he’s not sure he would be able to keep himself fully upright if he wasn’t being helped with it. He feels dizzy like he has a fever, although he knows it’s just from the overwhelm of having both of them paying so much attention to him when he’s never done this sort of thing with anyone before… Never mind two people, both of whom are so unfairly attractive his brain can’t even comprehend why they would both be so interested in him.

As if trying to pull his attention back, Obi suddenly takes him even deeper— until he hits some resistance at the back of his throat, and then he takes him even deeper, swallowing him down.

“Ahh!” Shinra’s head suddenly snaps back to Obi, his fingers tangling in his hair so hard he knows it must be painful, but the action is the only thing that keeps him from instantly cumming down his throat.

Obi doesn’t seem to mind, though. In fact, whether it’s because of his reaction or because of the painful grip he has on his hair, Obi moans around the cock in his throat, and Shinra whimpers pathetically like a sad puppy.

It’s almost enough to distract him from the plastic snap of a cap behind him and the slick sound of someone rubbing something between their fingers.

Charon returns to his back, but instead of his hand going back to his hip, instead he feels it brush against somewhere else— click and big and hot, he feels it rub against the furl of his asshole, and he nearly jumps at the feeling although he stops himself from doing more the stiffening up.

“If I don’t get you ready, we really are gonna break you,” Charon says right into his ear, and there’s a chuckle in his voice, like he’s amused by how on edge Shinra is. It makes Shinra’s face burn, turning a deeper shade of red starting from the tips of his ears and working its way down. “So just try to relax, okay? Focus on your captain.”

How am I supposed to do that? Shinra thinks, but doesn’t say that out loud because that would be unfair to Obi. It’s not that he doesn’t want to be looking at him because he cannot keep his eyes off him, seeing the way he hollows his cheeks as he sucks his cock, the way he bobs his head in perfect rhythm— it’s just that even as he can’t drag his eyes away, there’s a part of him that can’t help but focus on the feeling of that massive finger just rubbing, not even pressing inside of him yet, his imagination doing all of the hard work for him in that regard.

But as his legs start to shake and he leans forward, practically folding himself over Obi as he keeps sucking him off, Charon takes the opportunity to press his finger into him— and Shinra feels all of the air rush out of him all at once.

He wants to be able to warn Captain Obi that he’s going to cum, but he can’t even manage to breathe properly, never mind form words; as Charon crooks his finger just right, Shinra feels all of that hard-won control let go all at once, and he’s cumming down Obi’s throat.

Obi gags slightly, his eyes widening, but even though he pulls Shinra’s cock out of his throat he keeps sucking him off through his orgasm, bobbing his head on the first few inches of his cock as Shinra fills his mouth with spurt after spurt of his cum.

Obi swallows them all down like it’s his job, and Charon hums as he works him open with his massive finger, and Shinra feels like the last little bit of his mind has drifted away completely into a haze of pleasure.

Pleasure that borders on pain as Obi keeps sucking him off and Charon keeps fingering him open even as his orgasm starts to die down, but as Shinra whines high in the back of his throat, Obi pulls off with a lick of the lips— and Charon doesn’t relent for a moment.

Shinra hasn’t really had a chance to stop and think about what he’s getting himself into, what he’s signing up for with the two of them at once.

But as he feels a second finger press against his hole while the sight of Obi gazing up at him with hazy lust and a notable bulge in his pants just from blowing him without being touched at all, Shinra starts to understand— at least a little bit— that by the end of the night, the two of them are going to completely wreck him.

“Just try to relax, Shinra. If you don’t, this is going to end up hurting.”

Shinra wishes he could answer Obi, tell him that he’s trying his best, but it’s hard when all he can think about is the fact that this is his first time getting fucked and both of them are massive— but aside from the fact that he’s panting so hard he can’t speak, his brain is far too jumbled for him to be able to get out a coherent thought like that.

The only thing he can think about is the fact that there’s the head of a cock— Obi’s cock— pressing against his hole right now, and in a moment the whole of it is going to be inside of him.

He does try his best to relax his body. His breathing is coming hard and fast, from anticipation rather than nerves— he’s past the point of nerves, although he has a hard time believing that he’s going to be able to fit either of them, even with how much Charon worked him open.

Charon’s hand on his head, smoothing his sweaty hair back out of his face, does help him to relax a bit… Especially when he looks up at him from under his eyelids, not even able to lift his head, and sees that Charon is smiling down at him.

Not grinning. Smiling. He’s seen the look on his face before, of course— the two of them have been friends for a few weeks now— but to see it in this context feels different.

“Obi.”

“What?”

“Flip him over. On his back.”

“Am I taking orders from you now?”

“Just do it, okay?”

Shinra doesn’t fully know what’s going on, although he feels the instinct to tell the two of them not to fight— not that he thinks it’s going to do much good considering the circumstances.

He even opens his mouth to say something and gets cut off when Obi, hands around his waist, promptly flips him just like Charon told him to.

With the three of them crammed into the one tiny bed in the safe house, there’s nowhere for Shinra to really go, though he lands with an oof on his back. He finds himself looking up at the two of them now— the lamp in the room giving him just enough light to see both of them by.

He feels his cheeks getting hot at the sight of both of them looking down at him. Both sets of eyes are filled with lust, and even though Shinra still can’t understand why the two of them are looking at him like that, he’s accepted it now— and he swallows at the thought that the two of them are about to let loose on him everything they want to do to him.

Obi takes both of his legs in hand. His hands seem to dwarf every part of his body, and Shinra’s cock— red and hard and resting against his stomach even though the two of them have already made him cum multiple times just getting him to this point— twitches as he spurts pre-cum across his own stomach.

As Obi spreads his legs and settles himself between them, he reaches down to press his cock against him again, and Shinra forces himself to keep his body relaxed— but can’t help but hold his breath.

Obi starts to sink into him. He takes things slow, just like he had promised before. It’s a good thing he does, because even though Charon worked him open, Shinra can still feel the stretch as the head of his massive cock starts to enter him.

“Relax,” Charon says, that massive hand of his landing on Shinra’s throat yet again, but this time there isn’t even a suggestion of holding on or choking him— he rubs along his throat, his fingers brushing against his Adam’s apple and making Shinra swallow involuntarily.

His mouth is so dry that swallowing almost hurts, but he licks his lips as Charon moves forward, hand on his cock and slowly stroking himself.

Charon lets his cock fall across Shinra’s face. Shinra feels his cheeks start to heat until he feels like his brain is going to start boiling in his skull, as if it isn’t already completely overtaken by the fog of pleasure. Instinctively, he opens his mouth, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

“Obi might get to fuck you first,” he says. “But I think you and I are going to have plenty of fun in other ways. Don’t you?”

Shinra doesn’t have to have a lot of experience to know exactly what Charon is doing. And he doesn’t need a lot of experience to know how badly he wants it.

Obi’s hands on his hips turn into a vice grip as he sinks deeper into him, and Shinra doesn’t know where his attention should be focused; on the several inches of Obi’s cock that are now inside of him, touching places his fingers have never reached, or on the cock resting against his face that Charon is now pulling back so he can get in a better position to actually use it properly.

Shinra tilts his head back and opens his mouth. He knows that his teeth aren’t the most inviting sight for someone to want to stick their cock in, but he hopes that isn’t going to completely dissuade Charon from doing what he wants him to do, but Charon would know as much as anyone exactly what’s going on with his teeth and still seemed keen on getting him into bed in the first place.

“Make sure you cover those things,” Charon mutters, and Shinra feels a real shiver run down his spine as he makes sure to do just that.

The head of Charon’s cock is so big he’s not even sure it’s going to fit in his mouth, but as his eyes roll into the back of his head at the thought of being so filled from both ends, Shinra feels his body start to relax thoroughly enough to be able to take him in without pain.

The same is true of Captain Obi; as he finally starts moving again, having paused to give him a chance to adjust to the feeling of having him inside of him, Shinra feels more full than he ever has. He wants to tell Obi that he doesn’t have to treat him like glass, that he can actually fuck him for real, but not only does he know better than to try and rush this— he also can’t speak because of the thick cock that’s now sliding into his mouth and pressing against the entrance to his throat.

Charon, too, gives him a moment to adjust— but Shinra thinks that has less to do with his comfort and more to do with making sure he doesn’t literally choke, and it’s hard because for a moment he really can’t breathe, until he starts to calm down a little and breathe through his nose— difficult but not impossible with the angle he has his head at.

“Fuck, Shinra—” Obi’s voice is strained, and even through the pounding of his own heart in his ears, it cuts through so Shinra can hear him clearly. “You’re so tight.”

Shinra’s cock twitches and makes an even bigger mess of his stomach. Charon laughs, and starts to pull out, only so he can thrust back into his mouth.

Shinra’s can’t move. Shinra can’t even think straight. He’s sure that it’s for the best if the two of them have control, because he doesn’t at all know what he’s doing where the two of them seem to have plenty of experience (again, something almost like jealousy bubbles up from the bottom of his stomach, blending in with the haze of arousal), but at the same time it almost feels like the two of them are just using him for their own pleasure.

Just that thought alone makes him tighten up around Obi as a flash of arousal goes through him, and Obi hisses through his teeth, his fingers digging into the sensitive skin around the curve of his hips.

He stops again as soon as he’s fully inside of him. Shinra wishes he could look down the length of his body to see it— he can feel it filling him up, so full that it feels like it must be pressing against the bottom of his lungs and making it hard for him to breathe. But with his head tilted back so Charon can fuck his mouth, he’s deprived of the sight, wanting to see if there’s a visible bulge where Obi’s cock is inside of him.

I’ll just have to save that for next time, Shinra thinks, and startles himself with his own certainty that there’s going to be a next time.

He can’t even imagine this being the one and only time he’s going to fuck them, though. Maybe not together like this, but as Charon pushes back into his mouth and this time starts to slowly feed his cock into his throat, pausing to let Shinra remember to breathe through his nose and make sure he’s not going to gag, Shinra knows that he’s going to be chasing the high of this for the rest of his life.

When Charon manages to feed the entirety of his massive cock down Shinra’s throat, Shinra feels so thoroughly filled from both ends that he doesn’t even know where he ends and the two of them begins— and for the first time in a long time, he finds his mind completely turned off, not a single anxiety or concern able to take root.

“Ah, fuck… Your throat is insane, Shinra,” Charon grits out through his teeth, and again the praise goes straight to Shinra’s cock. If the two of them keep talking like this, never mind leaking all over his stomach— he’s going to end up cumming without either of them even touching him, just from the effect the two of them are having on him. “You sure this is your first time doing this?”

“Is that supposed to sound like some kind of compliment?” Obi grits out, and it’s impossible to tell just from the tone of his voice whether it’s annoyance or pleasure that’s making it hard for him to speak, since Shinra can’t see his face— but even if it feels a little self-aggrandizing, the very small part of his brain that’s still working enough to be able to form a thought like this thinks that it might be both.

Then, a pause. Obi is in the middle of pulling out to fuck back into him, and then stops— which makes Shinra whine around the cock in his throat because he wants nothing more than for Obi to use him as a toy for his personal pleasure and not keep slowing down and taking it easy on him, even if he knows it’s a smart idea.

“Wait— Shinra, are you— were you— a virgin?”

If Shinra were able to think clearly, he might be embarrassed by a question like that. Of course Obi wouldn’t know— in fact, he’s sure that if he did know, he never would have agreed to this in the first place, no matter how much Charon was goading him on and trying to take advantage of his jealousy.

Charon knows, because Shinra had a little too much to drink another night that the two of them were hanging out together— funny how that kept happening, when Charon was the one who was buying all of his drinks and Shinra was too polite to ever say no to any of them— and had told him as much, along with a few other things he would be embarrassed to repeat if he could even try.

It’s not like Shinra can answer Obi with a cock down his throat. He doesn’t need to, though. He’s sure the question is rhetorical, that Obi just wants to know if Charon is messing with him, and all Shinra can do in response is clench around him to encourage him to start moving again— because Charon certainly isn’t intent on taking a break just because Obi is too flabbergasted to keep up his end of things, and Shinra wants that sensation of being completely filled from both ends back.

“Fuck,” Obi curses again. “Shoulda told me…”

“What difference does it make? He sure isn’t one now. You should just be glad that I was in the mood to share.”

Maybe it’s Charon egging him on that makes Obi snap, or maybe his own pleasure is winning out over his reluctance. Shinra doesn’t know and doesn’t care. All he cares about is the fact that Obi’s hands digging into his hips suddenly start to hurt in the best way possible, and he SLAMS his cock inside of him like he’s using it as a battering ram.

Obi doesn’t let up the pace for even a moment; if it were anyone else, Shinra might be scared, but even through the haze of not being able to put together coherent thoughts because he’s getting closer and closer to just becoming a fuck doll, he knows that Captain Obi is the last person who would ever do something to hurt him.

Charon… As Charon thrusts into his throat, Shinra starting to see spots in the edges of his vision because even though he’s breathing through his nose it’s not quite enough, he gets a very different feeling from Charon.

Sure, he hasn’t done anything to hurt him. Sure, he trusts him. But there’s a sense that he’s lucky that Charon likes him so much, that hurting him is something he would do without hesitation if he didn’t like him as much as he does… And while the feeling of safety he gets from Obi fills him with a warmth all through his body that makes his heart flutter and fills his stomach with butterflies, the knowledge that the only reason he’s safe with Charon is because Charon has decided that he should be gives him many of the same feelings, but rather than being warm he feels hot. The heat of fear turned arousal, rather than the warmth of admiration turned arousal.

He doesn’t know how much longer he’s going to be able to last between the two of them like this. Not just because he can feel those two heats warring with a third inside of him, the heat of an impending orgasm that’s building at the base of his spine and working his way up his body as his untouched cock twitches on his stomach and turns a violent shade of red in its being ignored, but because he thinks between how hot he feels all over and how hard it is for him to breathe around the cock in his throat he’s going to pass out before long.

“Ah— Fuck—” Charon’s voice is strained over him, and his hand comes to rest on Shinra’s throat again— this time almost like he’s trying to feel himself through the thin skin there, and Shinra moans around him, which he’s sure he feels more than hears. “Damn, thought I could hold out longer than this… You ready to take this, Shinra?”

Shinra doesn’t think he has much of a choice— it’s not like he can tell Charon otherwise even if he wanted to. But he doesn’t want to, and maybe the fact that he has no choice in the matter makes his own orgasm creep even closer.

Even if he could answer him, Charon doesn’t wait for one. He thrusts all the way in, shoving his cock as deep into Shinra’s throat as he can. For the first time, the hand on his throat grips, making Shinra think for a moment that Charon really is going to choke him— but as Charon pants and groans through gritted teeth, Shinra feels something hot flooding into his throat.

He doesn’t get to taste it, not really, with the way Charon cums directly down his throat; he feels vaguely disappointed by that, but the warmth in his belly makes up for it, at least a little bit.

Shinra gasps, taking in a deep breath as Charon pulls out of his throat and his mouth with a wet POP, falling back on the bed and making it shake under his weight. As soon as his lungs are filled with air, though, they seem to realize how long they’ve been lacking, and along with the feeling of his throat being raw from being fucked, Shinra starts coughing.

There’s a hand on his chest, rubbing and helping him clear his airways. As the coughing dies down, Shinra realizes that Obi’s almost violent pace has slowed to nothing, and though he instinctively opens his mouth to complain and tell him— beg him— to move faster, he realizes a moment later that the reason he’s stopped in the first place is so he can rub his chest.

“You okay, Shinra?” All of that frustration has melted from Obi’s face to be replaced with concern. Shinra gives one last pathetic cough and sputter, clearing his throat and blinking away the tears that have built up in the corners of his eyes— not ones of emotion but just from the physical sensations, from the breathlessness and the overwhelm.

Still, Obi reaches up to wipe them away with his thumb, and even though Shinra is looking up at him with blurry vision because of the tears and the fog in his brain, he still suddenly feels so much more… Safe, more secure, and that warm feeling and fluttering becomes more intense, not even related to the new heat in the pit of his stomach from Charon’s cum.

“How sweet,” Charon says, his voice practically a coo, and Shinra is in too deep to even be able to process whether he’s being sincere or not— he seems to say it just to remind the two of them that he’s there. “But I think you’d do a better job of taking care of him if you would just fuck him already.”

Obi glares at Charon again, still not seeming to realize— or at least not seeming to care— that it doesn’t really have an effect.

As much as Shinra is starting to crave more of Obi being so soft with him— he can’t exactly disagree with Charon. He does want Obi to fuck him. His neglected cock is staring to ache fiercely, and the fact that he hasn’t cum yet is almost painful. He whines in the back of his throat, no longer caring whether he comes across as needy or pathetic, because he does kind of feel needy and pathetic at the moment.

Thankfully Obi doesn’t seem to want to string him along or leave him wanting or waiting. As soon as he finishes wiping his tears away, allowing him to see him more clearly, his hand goes back to his hips— and now that Shinra doesn’t have his head tilted back so Charon can fuck his throat like a toy, he can actually see what Obi is doing.

Namely, he can see and not just feel how big Obi’s hands are on his hips, and as he pulls out, Shinra watches carefully— though his watching is interrupted by the intense spark of pleasure he feels when Obi thrusts back in hard.

He was right, though; when Obi fucks him, his stomach literally bulges from the size of his cock, and seeing it makes Shinra moan raggedly. With a shaky hand he reaches down to press on the bulge in his stomach, licking his lips and wondering if Obi is going to cum enough to leave him with a bump there, too.

He knows it’s not very realistic, but fuck does he want it.

“Fucking hell, Shinra— if you’ve never done this before, how the fuck do you look so sexy?”

“Must just be natural talent,” Charon answers for him since Shinra still can’t figure out how words work, his mouth hanging open as he pants while Obi fucks him, hard and fast with the slap of skin on skin echoing through the room.

Shinra knows he isn’t going to last much longer. With drool dripping from the corner of his mouth, Shinra looks down at his own cock resting on his stomach— and even though he knows it’s selfish of him, wanting to cum before Obi has, he reaches down to take his cock in hand and jerk himself off, unable to wait a single second longer without being touched.

Charon captures his wrists in a vice grip, stopping him before he manages to reach his intended destination. Shinra whines and squirms, but it doesn’t seem to do anything to convince Charon to let him go— if anything, it just makes him hold on tighter.

“You don’t need to do that,” Charon says, and Shinra feels like he’s being scolded, somehow— how is he supposed to cum if he doesn’t touch himself?

He doesn’t have to wait long for an answer.

Obi doesn’t seem like he’s going to last much longer either, if the way his hips are starting to fall out of rhythm as he fucks him is anything to go by— Shinra sees the sweat rolling down his forehead and feels the strong urge to lick it off, but spread out on the bed with Obi over him and Charon behind him, the only thing he can do is be pushed along for the ride like he has been this entire time so far.

Then, Obi changes his angle just slightly— shifts his leg so he can get better leverage, maybe, or just otherwise moves ever so slightly differently…

And as he thrusts back in, his cock drags across something inside of Shinra that makes his entire world go white.

Shinra is still catching his breath, but in that moment, all of it rushes out of him and he’s left choking on nothing as a pleasure washes over him that’s totally unlike anything he’s ever felt before. It’s like every nerve ending in his body catching on fire all at once, in the best way possible.

He thinks that maybe he blacks out for a second, because the next thing he knows his vision is swimming with the image of Obi with his mouth hanging open and eyes fluttering with his own pleasure above him, and something hot once again fills him— this time from the other end.

There’s also cum all over his stomach— he’s even managed to spurt far enough for a stripe of his own cum to land across his chin. He didn’t even know he was capable of doing that.

He’s learned a lot of things about himself today, it seems.

But he can’t really process most of those things right now, because his brain feels like mush inside of his skull. He’s covered in sweat and cum and spit, and his limbs all feel like they’re made purely out of noodles. He lays there with his head resting on Charon’s thigh, trying to catch his shaky breath.

Charon’s muscular thigh under his head as he brushes his hair back out of his face, Obi’s wide hands massaging his legs as he pulls out of him leaving Shinra to leak cum all over the bed…

Considering the circumstances, he very much doubts this is anything like heaven, but this is about as close as he expects he’s going to get while still alive.

Chapter Text

Obi is completely silent as he drives.

It’s not that he’s angry— although the idea of walking away from a White-Clad safe house without arresting one of their key members sits poorly with him.

No, even though he’s scowling at the midnight streets in front of him, the reason Obi is so quiet is because he’s far too absorbed in his own thoughts.

Since Shinra is fast asleep in the passenger seat, it’s not like it really matters all that much. There’s no one to enjoy a lively round of conversation with except himself, and as crazy as he thinks he must be for ever letting this night happen in the first place, he doesn’t think he’s quite that far gone yet.

Even though he knows it’s not the safest thing for him to be doing, he can’t stop looking at Shinra out of the corner of his eye. He’s obviously exhausted, his head pressed against the cool glass of the passenger side window, but you’d never know just from looking at him what he had just done.

Just thinking about it makes heat rise into Obi’s cheeks, so he focuses on the road in front of him before he ends up getting so distracted by flashes of those memories that he crashes. Sure, it only happened less than an hour ago— but he knows for a fact he’s not going to be able to stop thinking about it for a long, long time, and those memories are going to ring clearly for just as long. In fact, he’s pretty sure he’s going to be jerking off to the thought of Shinra spread out under him and covered in his own cum until he can’t get hard anymore, and then he’s going to keep trying anyway.

Of course, that’s assuming that he’s only ever going to see it the one time. But that’s not something Obi wants to make assumptions about right now either way, not when he’s still unsure how he feels about the entire thing.

He enjoyed himself immensely, of course… But he never intended to do anything about his attraction to or his feelings for Shinra, at least not as long as he’s working under him.

That White-Clad thug tipped his hand… There was no way he was going to just stand by and let him be the only one to touch Shinra. He had been so jealous at the thought that a guy like that would be able to do something like that with Shinra and he wouldn’t… Then things had just gotten out of hand, and soon enough he had found himself breaking all of the rules he had set for himself.

It never should have happened in the first place… But now that it has, Obi isn’t sure that he’s the kind of man who has enough self-control to be able to deny himself the kind of pleasure. Not for long, anyway. And he knows he’ll fold in a second if Shinra is the one to approach him first.

He pulls up in front of Shinra’s apartment building. The squeak his brakes make that he’s been meaning to have looked at for a while but hasn’t gotten around to it rouses Shinra from his slumber as they roll to a stop and Obi shuts off the car.

Shinra blinks away sleep, seeming a little disoriented, but considering the abuse— pleasurable or no— that they just put his body through? A little disorientation is totally understandable.

“You’re home,” Obi says, his voice soft in the car, trying to keep himself staring right out the front window and not over at Shinra— but he can’t stop himself from looking over at him as he yawns so wide it almost looks like he’s going to dislocate his jaw.

After seeing him swallow that monster cock, I think he could fit just about anything in there, his brain helpfully provides, and Obi shuts that line of thought down immediately before he ends up popping another boner right in his car.

“Are you gonna be able to make it up to your apartment on your own? Do you need help?” Obi tries not to think about why Shinra might have trouble walking on his own, not only because he’s afraid thinking about it will arouse him again but also because he feels a little guilty.

Sure, it wasn’t just him. But he’s the one who should have known better, who shouldn’t have let a guy like Charon goad him into doing something like that, especially not knowing how much experience Shinra had beforehand— which is apparently none, something else that both his guilt and his arousal are fighting over in his brain, and which he’s trying to vehemently ignore.

“I… I think I can manage.” Now that Shinra is awake— and starting to actually wake up a little more— it seems like the reality of the situation is sinking in for him, too. There’s still a lingering flush to him from what they did not so long ago, but the red rising into his cheeks is definitely more than that.

He won’t make eye contact with him as he climbs out of the car, and the way he winces as he gets up makes that guilt bubble up from the pit of Obi’s stomach. But just as he thinks Shinra is going to head straight for his door and the two of them are going to completely ignore everything that just happened between them, Shinra stops on the sidewalk and turns back around.

Obi rolls down the car window so he can lean in and talk to him. The way Shinra bows his head and looks up at him through his eyelashes makes his cock throb in his pants in a way he’s definitely not proud of, and he hopes he can make it all the way home before the urge to deal with that becomes too great.

“Um… Captain?”

“Yeah, Shinra? What’s up?”

“I just, uh… I just wanted to say thank you,” Shinra says, and clears his throat. “For… For coming after me because you were worried about me, and for sticking up for me. And… You know. For everything else.”

Obi doesn’t know what ‘everything else’ means. Shinra could be talking about the fact that he chose to hire him in the first place and all of the encouragement he’s given him since they started working together, or…

Or he could be thanking him for fucking him.

Obi knows that he’s turning red, too, but he tries to ignore that fact and clears his own throat.

“No problem, Shinra,” he says, because no matter what he’s actually thanking him for, it’s still true. “Just… Make sure to get some rest, okay?”

“Y-yes sir.”

Hearing Shinra call him sir after all of that is just one more thing to add to the things he’s going to be thinking way too much about lying in bed soon enough, but Obi does his best to just squeeze the steering wheel and try to act totally natural.

He has no idea how he’s going to go into work tomorrow and look at Shinra all day and be able to think about anything besides the way he looks while he’s fucking him. But that’s a problem for tomorrow’s Obi, he supposes.

“Well… Goodnight, then—”

Shinra suddenly opens the passenger door and crawls back in to the car, just so he can grab Obi by the front of his shirt and pull him in for a kiss.

Obi is left so stunned by his actions that he can’t even think of anything to say— just stares, open-mouthed, as Shinra slips back out of the car and slams the door shut behind him, calling out to him to have a good night and he’ll see him tomorrow.

He must be nervous, maybe even embarrassed that he did something like that, because his words all run into each other. The thought doesn’t really cross his mind until Shinra has already fled inside his apartment building, though, and then Obi is just left sitting there with his car parked by the side of the road.

He lets himself process for a few more moments— and then remembers that he has something important to be dealing with, something that’s making itself even more known after the kiss, and Obi takes off for home while he can still focus on something other than his predicament.

Everything else, just like he said before, will be a problem for tomorrow Obi.

Shinra’s heart is beating so hard and fast as he slips into his apartment and slams the door behind him that it feels like he’s run a marathon.

He leans back against the door, allowing himself to catch his breath and wait for his heart rate to slow down a little bit. His legs are shaking, and he has no idea if that’s because of how tired and worn out he is after being fucked from both ends by two of the biggest men— both in terms of bodies and cocks— that he’s ever seen, or if it’s from anxiety over what he just did, spur of the moment, without a second thought.

Kissing his captain… Somehow, it almost feels dirtier than the fact that they just had a threesome with a wanted criminal.

As if able to read his mind and not wanting to be left out, his phone goes off at that moment— startling him as he jumps away from the door and pats himself down until he finds it in one of his pockets— and a text from Charon appears, asking him if he got home okay. Shinra fires off a quick reply without thinking too much about it— like maybe about the fact that he should think twice before openly associating with someone who he just learned has been a member of the White-Clad mafia as long as he’s known him.

Considering he can still taste him in his mouth, though, maybe ‘associating’ with him is really the least of his worries.

Shinra sighs and slouches his way towards bed. He knows he should clean himself up, that he’s going to regret it in the morning if he doesn’t when he wakes up a sticky mess.

But he’s so exhausted, he can’t imagine dragging himself all the way to the shower…

And there’s a part of him that hates the idea of cleaning Captain Obi’s cum out of him, even if he’s too embarrassed to admit something like that, even to himself.

With his face a bright red, Shinra barely manages to pull himself together enough to lock his front door and drag himself to bed, figuring morning Shinra can be made to deal with all of the problems he’s just blatantly ignoring— and as soon as he collapses to his mattress and finds himself staring up at his darkened ceiling, everything that happened the entire night starts flooding into his mind, replaying like a video.

Like the secret porno made especially for him and no one else.

Even though he’s so sore he can barely move (he doesn’t know how he’s going to make it to work tomorrow, never mind how he’s going to sit there all day with the way his lower half feels right now), his cock still twitches at the memory… And in spite of his best judgment, as he squirms out of his pants (he shouldn’t sleep in his day clothes, they’ll get ratty), he finds his hand migrating downwards, his cock twitching inside of his underwear.

Shinra has no idea what’s going to happen going forward. He doesn’t know if Obi is going to take him aside and tell him to forget anything ever happened. He doesn’t know if Charon is going to end up doing something he can’t forgive, or just sell him out to the White-Clad once and for all.

All he knows is that tonight was the most thrilling experience of his life, and as he squirms in his bed and gets his hand around his cock as it quickly fills out, there’s a part of him that can’t wait until the next time he can arrange something like this. He doesn’t know how he’s going to accomplish it logistically, but…

His life as a member of the organized crime task force is just beginning, and he doesn’t intend to let anything stop him.