ODE TO THE MURDERED, bonten

18

PART EIGHTEEN !
into the lion's den.

            MORNING CAME TUMBLING SOONER than you expected. songbirds chirping an ode against the prosaic whir of the winds outside your window sill. you were standing in front of the vanity to take a last glimpse of yourself; you had already freshened up at somewhere around seven pm, unable to sleep well the night when Ran had told you of your meeting today with Sano Manjiro.

    your membrane is drowning in tasteless residue and you proceed to sit down on the mattress, bouncing a leg out of worry that gnaws at your boneless silhouette.

    a knock on your door breaks your concentration.

    your head whips to the door, eyes staying there for a full second before you were carefully approaching it. when you crack the door ajar, you are met with a familiar face. "Kakucho?"

    there was reassurance within you when Kakucho looks down at you with his familiar red-white eyes, "hey." he murmurs a morning greeting to you. then he turns around, his back facing you. "let's not waste anymore time, let's go."

    looks like Kakucho will be accompanying you today, which made your weary soul soften a touch. you followed him out of your room; he slowed down his pace and waited for you to catch up to him and into the elevator.

    the sweet minty ambrosial wafts you and the tall male clicks a few buttons to the top floor of the building. neither one of you had uttered a single word during the whole ride, but from the corner of your eye, you had observed Kakucho's rather stiff posture, his pursed lips, clenched jaw and a hand fiddling in his pant pocket. he was nervous for you.

    at this you lift your hand casually and tug the ends of his suit, breaking him from his own thoughts and peeking down at you.

    "i'll be fine."

    Kakucho's eyes widened a bit at your reassurance, then he turned away from you with a tired exhale. "you don't know that, he might change his mind during this meeting and might empty his bullets into your head for all we know—

    he felt your grip on his suit tighten, shocking him. he sees the color drain from your face as you stare back up at him. "would he? surely he won't."

    silence marinates the quiet elevator ride for a full five seconds, Kakucho is quiet as the two of you stare wide-eyed at each other. then, a laugh spills between his lips.

    "this isn't funny." you bite, when you see your tall friend choking back laughter, his laughing stature now relaxing into soft chuckles.

    "yeah—sorry i know it's not." his eyes soften significantly. his mismatched eyes of crimson red dewing into a sweet strawberry color that melts even your expression. you see him remove his hand from his pocket, ruffling the cowlicks on the crown of your head and you allow him to.

    "yeah, you'll be fine." he restates your words from a few moments ago. you bite back the smile that wants to plague your lips, crossing your arms over your chest.

    "you said i wasn't though." you retort back playfully. "what if he really changes his mind and decides to pull out a gun?"

    "i'll be with you the entire time." Kakucho says. this made you turn your gaze back to him, to fully look at him from head to toe.

    somehow you felt an underlying meaning to his statement, it almost felt like he would risk his own head to Mikey for your own safety and that churned your gut. the man was serious with his statement, of course he was. Kakucho had always been a man of his word, something that might regard him as both loyal and foolish.

    he hears a quiet sigh from you, tilting your head a little as you gazed up at him. "Kakucho, you serve your boss now, not me."

    you continued when he doesn't say anything. "i don't want you to feel conflicted with which side you have to be on. at the end of the day, Sano Manjiro is your king so if it comes down to choosing between him or me, choose him."

    the air chars with the burn of your declaration. to the aegean, your confidential utterance sounded like you were planning to do something stupidly reckless.

    he licks his lips, shaking his head, "i'll make the final judgment on that." was his only response, but you seemed unfazed with it. leaning back and balancing on your tiptoes to lessen the heavy waves within the elevator.

    a second later and you can feel the ride ending, a soft ding erupts through your ears and Kakucho is the first to step out when the doors part.

    the silent fear that's been boiling deep in your veins had finally come prickling your flesh, disregarding your reassurance that you had been drowning throughout your mind. the top floor was quieter than the other floors, less secretaries or personnel around or fleeting through corridors and hallways, as the sunlight bathed through the red carpets.

    "the entirety of the top floor personally belongs to the boss, and he usually likes spending his time alone with no noise or people. unless it's us executives or exceptions—no one else comes up here if they aren't ordered to." Kakucho answers the question lingering on your mind.

    you hum softly, carefully maneuvering around like you are stepping around a forest of fragile glass.

    "here we are." Kakucho murmurs slowly when he stops by a door—Sano Manjiro's personal office—as the golden plaque hanging on the door says. you feel yourself clenching your fist, swallowing the rising bile on your throat.

    as you enter the door, you know that you will feel like you were a mouse, and the boss of Bonten the serpent in platinum silver.

    Kakucho turns the knob open, and the softest of clicks shatter the air for you, the dragging of the door against the floor leaves the most irking creak through your head and the room beyond the intimidating door is...empty?

    confusion writes on your face as you step in. immediately the first thought that came to your mind was that the office smelled way different from the corridors or the other rooms in the headquarters; it smelled vaguely of baked coconut and licorice, something vanilla and sweet as opposed to the minty clean and washed alcohol you always smell within your lungs from when you first stepped foot within the building.

    the redolent aroma almost feels comforting and slowly tucks your mind with ease, your eyes scanning the empty office table in the middle of the room, a few succulent plants by the corner along with a plush couch by the floor-to-ceiling window and a file cabinet near the table.

    "l/n y/n."

    you stiffen when a familiar voice aches and bleeds behind you. neither you nor Kakucho move when you hear shuffling by the door at your back, it shuts with a resounding clack and figures thump their way across the room, in front of you. Mikey with his familiar black shirt, black slacks, flip-flops, and platinum cowlicks sets his figure down on his chair, Sanzu following quietly and standing beside him with his katana resting on his hip, a poker face in place.

    you press your lips together, as Mikey hums after assessing you with his cold dark pupils. "let's begin, shall we?"