“And surrender?”
“Yes.”
“And trust?”
I already do that.
“Yes.”
“And what about me, Kaito? Will I be able to trust you?”
“Always. I promise.”
For a second, something shifts in his face—small, but there. He brushes my hair away from my eyes, thumb sliding against my cheek.
“Fine. Start by obeying me and buying your medical kit. You’re not allowed to fight until you have it. Understood?”
I huff a relieved chuckle.
“That’s it?”
“Want me to make you clean this place while we’re at it?”
I grin—probably a fucking ugly and mean grin, but it’s the only thing I can do. “No, the medical shit is fine. I’ll fucking buy it.”
“Good.”
NINETH KNOT
I check my face in the rearview mirror while I’m parked outside some weird art studio, and I’m kind of relieved that I don’t look like I crawled out of a fucking dumpster for once. The swelling from the last job is down. No bruises on my cheekbone, no split lip, nothing swollen or fucked up for once. The little scar under my eye is still there, yeah, but it gives me flavor, doesn’t it? Makes me look like the kind of guy who knows how to throw a punchandtake one.
Things in the gang aren’t working out the way they should. Last three jobs were supposed to be easy. Clean. Point A to Point B. In and out. No drama. But someone up the chain must be on shabu or some shit becausenothing’sgone as planned.
Even Ryo thought I was having weird fucking luck.
He came to me once during the bosses’ meeting, grinning like he always does when he’s about to say something that’ll piss me off. Called me “Kai-chan” in front of half the room, like he’s been doing lately. I was sitting there, fantasizing about snapping his neck, when he leaned in and said, “You didn’t notice anything weird lately?”
“No. Why the fuck?”
“You almost died three days ago, right?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“That job in Shinjuku. The casino clean-up with Tetsukaminari’s dog. You went with him, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. So?”
“You almost died because that idiot fucked up.”
“The fucking point?”
“How many times have you seen that guy fucking up during a job?” Ryo smirked. “Weird kind of luck you’ve been having, huh?”
He was right about that one, but that wasn’t the only thing that went off lately.
First job, ambushed. Second, the target had four more guys than expected, all armed with metal bats. Third one, the latest, was the worst.
I was supposed to “send a message” to some asshole poking aroundourterritory. Kobayashi-sama himself gave me the green light, and Intel said the guy would be alone. Said I could get in, cut a few things that bleed, and bounce before anyone noticed. Yeah, well. Intel can suck my dick. Because when I rolled in, I was greeted by a dozen armed rat bastards, not one lonely mark. I really thought I was going to die at that time. And that pissed me off more than scared me—because I haven’t mastered sucking Naoya-san’s cock yet.
