March 3rd
Sosuke waits outside Gabriel's office with his back pressed to the wall. The assistant's quiet footsteps fade down the hall, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He taps a knuckle against his temple and stares at the floor.
What now? Another reassignment? Maybe a trip outside the country this time.
He pushes off the wall and walks toward the door in the back. The carved wood towers over him, polished and heavy. His hand hovers above the knob for a breath. His throat tightens. He forces himself to grip it and twist.
A soft lavender scent rolls out the moment the door opens.
Inside, Gabriel stands near a tall shelf, fingers drifting across a small ornament resting at the top. He turns with a warm grin. "I trust you notice the new fragrance. A charming little item, is it not? The room finally feels alive."
Sosuke gives a stiff grin. He has no idea how to respond to that.
"What am I here for?"
"Please, sit." Gabriel eases into his chair after brushing a few invisible specks of dust from the cushion. He leans forward, hands clasped under his chin. "How many hours do you devote to work each day, Sosuke?"
Sosuke tilts his head. The question feels harmless but never is with Gabriel.
"Twelve, maybe."
"That is a dreadful number."
"I agree."
"That leaves you with four hours to yourself."
"Yeah."
Gabriel's gaze sharpens. "Are you attempting to be difficult?"
"No." Sosuke lifts his hands and folds them on the desk. "I'm answering the questions."
"Then answer another. What do you do with the little time you have left?"
"Nothing. I go home. Relax. Read sometimes."
Gabriel exhales slowly and drags a hand down his face. He reaches beneath the desk and pulls open a drawer. A file lands on the surface with a thud.
Sosuke sits straighter. "What's that?"
Gabriel slides the file toward him and flips it open. A photo of Sosuke sits clipped to the cover. "Did you believe I wouldn't discover the actions you have been pulling in the shadows?"
Another photo.
Sosuke entering Stonegate Penitentiary.
Logs of his meeting with Markus Hayes.
A final picture capturing the alley where John Hayes collapsed, Sosuke faintly visible in the background.
Heat floods Sosuke's chest. His pulse hammers. The room shrinks around him.
"W-wait."
"Why?" Gabriel's tone does not rise. It cuts in its calmness. He looks directly into Sosuke's eyes with the quiet disappointment of a man who expected better. "Simply explain why you did it."
Sosuke's breathing turns shallow. "I wanted to help people. If the clan heads fall, what's left to fuel their corruption?"
"Lies." Gabriel's voice cracks through the air. He rarely raises it, but when he does, the temperature drops. "I know when you lie to me."
Sosuke curls his fingers together and stares at the floor. "I wanted people to fear the man who killed John Hayes. A persona. Something they couldn't control."
"There are laws. Protocols. Boundaries." Gabriel leans back, expression flat. "You do not abandon them simply because the process feels slow."
"But the war won't stop. People keep dying because these families don't care who gets caught in the crossfire." Sosuke's jaw clenches as he stares at the far wall. "Fear stops actions reason never will."
"You desire power. That is the truth." Gabriel extends a finger and points toward Sosuke's core. "Without it, you feel small. And you ask yourself whether a man without strength could ever rival the Sword Saint. That question eats at you."
Sosuke freezes. He doesn't know how Gabriel reached that idea. He doesn't know why it hurts to hear it said aloud.
Gabriel shuts the file. "If you continue this path, you will bury the legacy your father left for you." He slips the file back into the drawer and slams it shut. "Do not test fate again."
"Alright." Sosuke nods, throat tight. "I won't."
"Good. Because you will not be returning to your duties." Gabriel folds his hands neatly. "You are finished here, Sosuke. I offered you a future even without your abilities, and you repaid me with recklessness."
"But I…" Sosuke's voice catches.
"You murdered someone." Gabriel exhales a slow, tired breath. "I am already granting leniency for a transgression that would end the career of any other operative in your position. My disappointment is considerable. Go now."
Sosuke's jaw loosens, then tightens. The words he tries to form collapse before they reach the air. He rises from the chair as though gravity has doubled. Nothing in the room feels real anymore. His steps toward the door grow heavier with each thought swirling through him. Returning home without work, without direction, without purpose. What is left for him now? What could he possibly be?
He grips the doorknob. It turns beneath his palm. The hallway greets him with sterile light and a cold stretch of silence. Ren waits just outside, hands buried in his pockets.
"What happened?" Ren asks.
Sosuke tries to answer, but his throat tightens until it burns.
"I heard yelling." Ren folds his arms and levels an irritated stare at him. "What did you do?"
"I… don't need this." Sosuke lifts a hand as if pushing Ren away with a gesture alone and walks past him. "I'm fired."
"What?!" Ren's voice spikes.
Sosuke winces and swings around. "Why are you yelling?"
"Did you kill innocent people?" Ren presses.
"No, but…"
Ren's expression sharpens. He storms into Gabriel's office and throws the door open. "If Sosuke is done here, then so am I."
"You fail to grasp the situation, Natsume," Gabriel replies.
"I do not care what he did. He does not deserve to lose his position."
"You have been here for only a week. You intend to abandon your post over this?"
"Yes. I respect Sosuke with every shred of spirit I have. You cannot understand what we went through together on the frontlines while you remained here. If he is undeserving of a place in this organization for whatever mistake he made, then so am I."
Gabriel studies him for a long moment. Then he nods. "Very well. If that is your conviction, I shall not dissuade you."
Sosuke stands frozen just outside the doorway. The words echo through him. He clenches his teeth and squeezes his eyes shut, unable to bear the weight of it. Then he bolts down the hall toward the exit.
⸻
Sosuke slips into his apartment later that evening. The silence inside sits like dust on every surface. He pads into his bedroom and drops his things in a loose pile. The mattress feels colder than he remembers. He lies back on it anyway and reaches a hand toward the ceiling, as if something waits just out of reach.
A cold grip clamps around his wrist.
He jerks upright with a startled yelp.
A laugh erupts from beneath the bed. "Muahaha!"
"Christ, Rin." Sosuke scrambles onto the mattress and clutches his wrist. "Will you stop?"
"Never." Rin slides out from under the bed and bats dust from her clothes. "And you need to clean under there. It's a disaster."
"How are you always here before I get home?"
"Magic." She lifts her chin with a grand flourish.
"Oh? What kind, great sorcerer?"
"A magician never reveals his secrets."
Sosuke slides down the wall and lets himself fold back onto the sheets. A tired smile creeps across his face. "Even on days like this, you're here."
Rin's posture changes at once. She crawls onto the bed beside him, brushing her hair back with both hands. "What happened? What's wrong?"
"I got fired."
Rin rests her palm on his arm while thinking through her next words. "Why would he do that? You didn't… do anything reckless, did you?"
"I…" Sosuke lowers his head into his arms with a groan. "Please don't make me say it."
"Sosuke."
"I can't handle seeing your reaction right now."
Rin softens. "Alright. Another time."
He lifts his head and meets Rin's eyes. The words leave him before he can second-guess them. "I love you."
She startles, only slightly, then melts against him and rests her head on his shoulder. "I love you too."
The warmth of her voice lingers long after the moment slips into silence.
⸻
March 5th
Sosuke wakes in a gray room. Rain streaks down the window in restless lines, each tap against the glass a reminder that morning came without asking him to rise. He lies still and watches the blur of water travel the pane. The apartment feels larger in the quiet, more hollow. He pulls the covers over his head and lets the world darken again.
March 6th
The day starts with a drill rattling the street below. A jackhammer pulses through the floorboards. Sosuke drags a pillow over his ears until his arms shake from holding it there. The sound keeps finding him. It slips through the fabric and reverberates in his teeth. He shuts his eyes and waits for the noise to finish, even though it never really does.
March 7th to March 20th
Days fold into each other like copies of a blank sheet.
Sosuke wakes, sits on the edge of the bed, and stares at the floor until he forgets how long he has been there. Sometimes he walks to the kitchen and opens every cupboard, not because he is hungry, but because he needs to move. Sometimes he stands at the window and watches people below stride with purpose he can no longer mimic.
He tries reading, but the words slip away after a few lines. He tries going for a walk, yet every street feels unfamiliar without the weight of a mission at his back. His badge lies on the counter where he left it. Dust collects along the edge even though he brushes it off every time he passes.
Rin stops by when she can, though she has begun spending more time at her studio. Her projects fill her schedule, her hands always marked with charcoal or paint. She smiles when she talks about it. Sosuke listens with a soft nod and a quiet voice that never reveals how still he feels inside.
When she leaves, the apartment returns to silence. The clock ticks. The pipes hum. Shadows drift across the walls as the sun moves.
Everyone he knows keeps advancing. The world keeps spinning.
Sosuke remains where he stands, as if gravity grips only him and refuses to let go