#benimaru x

Flesh seethes and bubbles, the stench quickly filling the room together with the heat of the flames, and you know it won’t be long now. When an infernal is fully formed (their previous life reduced to charcoal and blackened bones) the hunger sets in. Already, the girl’s shape is falling into the posture of a mad and starving animal trying to smell out its prey...and you’re first in line.

“Let me go.” You hate the tremor in your voice as you try to appeal to Giovanni’s kinder side. Does he have any? “Let my hands free at least!”

Eye sockets filled with fire zero in on your struggling shape and a wicked grin splits the blackened skull. Here she comes. The infernal’s first words are barely audible above the roaring flames, but you know what they are anyways because they always are the same – infernals are hungry for souls, for craving the heat of fire while still hating the pain as the last of their consciousness roasts forever.

You know, she can’t burn you. Compared to anyone else who might have been in this situation, you’re actually kind of safe...or you would have been if the fact that the flames won’t touch you is exactly what has gotten you into this mess in the first place. That and the fact that I can’t shut up and keep my head down, you berate yourself.

A skeletal hand reaches out, and you instantly recoil. “No! Don’t touch me!” It pauses as if considering your words and the fear powers you on. “The one behind me, take him...please. Not me, take him instead.“ Tears barely make it onto your cheeks before they evaporate from the blazing heat and you can’t keep your eyes open any longer as it prickles and burns. “Don’t touch me...”

The light shifts together with the scorching air, passing beside you and leaving the front of your body suddenly shivering at the change in temperature.

“Interesting,” the mad doctor comments.

There’s a muted crunch, then the flickering light dies together with the last of an innocent girl.

...  Benimaru   ...

Dark and damp, the Nether seems to exist in a different world altogether. The sounds of rats scurrying out of the way can be heard sometimes, but mostly it’s just the footsteps of the two men making their way along tracks that haven’t seen activity for centuries, maybe.

Once, they’d gotten to an area where stairs led upwards only to be blocked by rubble. Another time, they’d to edge past an abandoned vehicle, the stretched shape askew on the rails and the seats behind the dusty windows offering room for nothing but shadows and a hint of the old world.

That was hours ago.

“You don’t know where we’re going,” Benimaru drawls, “do you?”

Joker shuffles an unlit cigarette to the other corner of the mouth. “Never said I knew exactly where she’d be.”

On and on the walk, none of them saying much except when the path diverges and they must choose a direction. The captain hates it. Sure, Konro often tries to teach him to think first and act later, but there is nothing to consider here except making sure to be able to find the way out again – a task that’s ensured by stacking rubble every 200 meter.

Maybe we should’ve taken the left back there? It’s easy to second-guess everything down here where the cold slowly tries to seep into their bones. Benimaru doesn’t care about the subterranean climate: as long as he hasn’t reached his goal, nothing else matters. It appears Joker is of the same opinion. What does he want from her?

“Wait...” the man in questions pauses, slowly picking the cigarette from between the lips, “do you feel that?”

Benimaru has already figured out that his “friend’s” senses are sharp despite the dopey mannerisms, so he stops as well and tries to sharpen his senses. The thick soles of his boots doesn’t allow him to feel if there are vibrations, but not even the lightest pebbles shift in their spots – only a cobweb waves silently from the broken sign hanging above them. It’s moved by the faintest of breezes that also caresses Benimaru’s cheeks with a hint of warmth as it blows past, carrying the scent of dust and mould.

Wait. ”Warm air,” he gasps.

Whatever is causing it, it’s worth checking out and the men continue into the darkness.

...   Reader   ...

“Please...please do-do-don’t!” Your heart is beating loudly in your ears but it’s not enough to drown out the clicking noises of the beetle. “You c-can’t...please!”

But you know Giovanni not only can but also will because he’s got the beetle gripped with a pair of elongated tweezers and is steadily coming closer. He’s drawing it out, though, revelling in the panic you can’t hold back any longer as it begins to black out everything else.

“You should be proud,” his voice comes from far away, “the scientific importance of this is unparalleled! And the honour! If this works...it means you’ve been chosen to usher in the Second Cataclysm.”

“No...I don’t want...no, please don-”

“Konrooo...” the lad tries, “maybe you could -”

“No.”

“But you don-”

“Yes, I know what you want to ask and the answer is no.” There’s no way Konro is going to be stuck as a negotiator between those two. Both are stubborn, emotional, and smitten to the point that they can’t see clearly. “But if you don’t get your ass together, then I won’t cook for you anymore.”

“You can’t do that!”

Benimaru has always viewed the other man as calm and level-headed, someone who always manages to think before acting. Where Beni can lose his temper easily, Konro never shouts or gets truly angry. But eventually, even the strongest patience can be worn down.

“Boy!” Konro whips around to face him, sharp knife clutched in his hand. “Don’t test me. Stop whining like a baby and go tell her how you feel. Now!”

Of course he feels guilty straight away, still it’s a relief to see the astounded guy stumble to his feet and hurry out the kitchen.

...  Reader   ...

The watchtower has become one of your favourite spots in in all of Asakusa. Up here, you can see the entire district sprawling beneath...and no one can get close without you noticing them beforehand as long as you pay attention. Which you don’t always. At least not right now.

Lying on your back with the legs stretched up against the supporting timber, your focus has strayed to a silly bird is trying to steal loose fibres from the bell’s rope, only to have to give up each time it’s found a string to pull at because the other end is impossibly stuck. The little animal is getting increasingly frustrated. Just give up...some things are meant to be. Yellow and grey feathers fluff with anger at yet another defeat until the bird surveys the remaining options. Don’t bother. As if hearing your thought, it flutters off with an undignified squeak and you watch it disappear between the houses below.

“So this’s where you hide.”

The deep voice causes you to squeak and you scramble to face the one person you’d been trying to avoid by climbing up here in the first place.

“Shinmon.” Why does he have to look so good when the wind tussles his hair? “What...I’m not hiding.”

On your feet, you wish you were tall enough to look down at him to feel superior. Benimaru is always acting aloof, never letting anyone see what he’s thinking...unless everything really does bore him. Or annoy him. This time you notice a faint pull of his lips.

“Hiding or not...we need to talk,” he sighs.

What’ve I done now? Something has changed the day of the raid.

You’ve been feeling it in the silences...or maybe it’s all in your mind. Maybe there really isn’t something brewing in Benimaru’s eyes when he backs off from challenges he’d have picked up on before. Or could it be that Konro’s calm finally have rubbed off on the guy? He barely talks to you, and half the time he begins a conversation it dissolves into nothing and he leaves but only after lingering at the very end before leaving the room. The whole thing has been pissing you off.

“So....talk,” you challenge. As expected, he keeps quiet preferring to lean against the railing rather than face you. “Well, if you won’t then I will!” And don’t you dare look at me while I give you a piece of my mind. “Obviously, it’s brought a lot of complications from the day I’ve stayed here. No, it wasn’t entirely voluntarily from my side to begin with...staying here, I mean,” you begin to falter as you have to search for the words but try to pull yourself together, “and you made it very clear that it wasn’t out of consideration for my needs, which I suppose is fair enough but take your petty grievances out on someone else than me when you regret that decision or have the decency t-”

“I don’t regret it, damnit!” Suddenly, he’s backed you against the beam, arms caging you in as he leans over you. “What bothers me is not you staying with us but the idea of you being gone!”

Logically, you know the life down on the streets still is bustling with all the usual noises and smells, but Benimaru and you are suddenly isolated in a little bubble up under the sky and time is standing still there.

“...gone?”

“Dunno when it started or why it took me so long but I realized that day...” He licks his lips quickly. “O-bāchan...of course she had to meddle and she can be impossible to deny. She knew what she was doing when she came to get you, trust me.”

“I thought I knew that she knew but now I think what she knew was something else than I thought...”

That sentence had made a lot more sense in your brain.

“The point is -” and you could have sworn the man was blushing now -“I want you to stay because I...I really like you.”

Then why are you being such an a-oooh! His gaze has never been so tender. His hand is warm and gentle as it cradles your cheek and you can’t help but lean into it. The two of you have touched before when sparring, but to slowly let your hands wander up his chest before snaking behind his neck – it sends goosebumps racing all the way to your toes. Your breath won’t go any deeper than the top half of your lungs, but it doesn’t matter as long as Benimaru’s lips are neari-

The thoughts flash through his head in less than a second which, co-incidentally, is just as long as [Y/N] meets his mouth and shuts up his brain. It’s a kiss. A brief one, but hard and impossible to ignore because it’s sends flames racing through Benimaru’s body, stealing his breath away and he can’t help but look to her lips the instant she pulls back.

“Go,” she says, tip of the tongue darting out as if to taste him, “and hurry home.”

The captain can’t think of anything more intelligent than nodding – not that he’d get a chance to say much as the familiar voice of Konro yells from below for him to hurry.

...  Reader   ...

Before climbing down from the watchtower, you see the two men hurry off in the direction of the smoke and flames. What just happened?

Your knees are wobbly, belly fluttering, all the way home. Did he just...?

The headquarters are silent. Not a soul left because they’ve all hurried out to do their job. Kissed...I kissed him?

“Ah, right on time,” someone says from behind.

You don’t have time to face the speaker before a sharp pain crashes through your skull and turns off the world.

...  Benimaru   ...

Looking over the rubbles of what used to be the company’s favourite teppanyaki place, Benimaru accepts his men’s decision. They and Konro are insisting on staying with the men to help with extinguishing the last flames before clearing as much of the street as possible.

“We don’t need you for this, Shinmon,” the lieutenant smiles knowingly.

It’s strange. The explosion has taken out only the restaurant, creating plenty of chaos and unfortunately injuring a dozen people. No deaths – even the cook had managed to get out before the fire spread and the place blew up. It’s all...normal. No infernals. Just an unfortunate accident in a perfect, newly renovated kitchen.

“Konro...didn’t we help -” Benimaru begins.

The cheeky grin is gone, replaced with a somberness better suited for the situation. “Yeah. Finished last month.”

Asakusa is not connected to the Haijima Power Grid like the rest of Tokyo. Mostly, it’s powered by wood and fossil fuels with the exception of a water-driven generator for the hospital.

There had been no gas line installed for the kitchen. But this is a gas explosion.

“We’ll figure it out,” Konro assures, “now go.”

That’s the second time today someone’s told me to go. At least this time he’s excited for what’s waiting for him.

...

He can sense something’s wrong even before dodging through the curtained entrance. A sweetly pungent smoke curls through the air, bringing back memories from not long enough ago. Joker.

As expected, the lanky man is waiting, leaning against the wall and his hat hanging on the coat rack as if it belongs there. No greeting, no explanation as Benimaru sits down and removes the heavy boots, noting mentally that the uninvited guest already has done the same. [Y/N] hasn’t invited him in?

The building is silent as the grave and no one comes to greet them as they walk to the kitchen where the captain fills the kettle and places it on the stove. The fire inside is almost dead, but it’s nothing a few logs and a flick of the fingers can’t fix.

Maybe she’s asleep, that’s why she hasn’t shown up, he tries to calm himself.

“I’ll be right back,” Benimaru mutters.

“She’s not here.”

What? He can feel it in his bones that it’s true. “What makes you say that?”

“I checked every room.” Joker has made himself comfortable at the end of the table where Benimaru normally sits. “She’s gone. I thought you’d protect her.”

He wants to scream, wants to punch the lights out of the guy who’s relaxing as if nothing’s wrong, wants to tear up the city if it could just bring [Y/N] back. It won’t. The captain breathes it out through his nose and unclenches his fists.

“If you cared that much, why’d you not let her stay with you?”

“Not my decision.”

“...but you care and you know where she is,” Benimaru states with a growl.

The purple, hypnotic eye reveals nothing as it stares back unflinchingly. Though different in stature, the men are evenly matched and there’s no denying the Joker has a confident swagger albeit it being a bit off-putting for people who can’t appreciate the art of taking their time to think. Konro would approve. There’s no saying what the girl in the middle of this mess would, and the uncrowned king of Asakusa doesn’t want to consider it.

A polite cough brings his attention back to Joker.

“Water’s boiling...do you want it any hotter?” the jackass grins.

Could test it by throwing it at you. Of course, Benimaru doesn’t do that but occupies himself with tea making while he waits for the other to talk. Eventually, he slams down steaming cups for both of them and sits down.