─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
The Double A really did a number on you, huh?
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Aki had been at the Port Mafia for an entire week—a whole week and she was still nowhere close to assassinating Mori. She had only seen him a handful of times, and he was always with someone, or when he would call on her, he would always make sure there was someone else in the room. It was as if even though he knew she had joined the Port Mafia, he still didn't fully trust her—which was smart on his behalf. No one could ever truly trust an assassin, it would be suicide to do something so foolish and reckless. But Aki simply wished time would speed up a little, because not only had she usually completed her missions within that time, but she was getting dangerously close to the members of the Port Mafia.

She spent most of her free time with Higuchi and Gin, hanging out in each others rooms or going shopping. After getting a big-fat pay check from her mission with Chuuya, Aki had went on a spending spree, Gin and Higuchi accompanying her. They had got to know one another a little more—thanks to Aki willingly opening up to them, though, it was a clear manipulation tactic. The more transparent she was with them, the more likely they would come to trust her. And her entire plan relied on gaining the trust of Mori's followers.

But that didn't mean it was easy. Aki was beginning to grow pretty fond of the women—something she hadn't thought possible. Back at the Double A, she had switched off the part of herself that could feel anything for others and she hadn't thought she would ever get that back. But perhaps, being out of that environment was beginning to bring some life back into her tortured soul. Because, damn, she was really starting to appreciate them as friends—along with the others too. They were all kind to her, and showed her a lot of respect too, even though she was the newest member. The only one that seemed to take issue with her was Chuuya.

The arguing with the redheaded man had only gotten worse since Aki had given him the bottle of wine. It was like a switch had been turned and all they could do was insult one another and send sharp glares in the others direction. There was never a moment of silence between them, even when they were working—somehow, they always found a way to have something to say. And it was never anything nice.

"I'm so bored." Aki loudly complained, her feet kicked up on her desk—which she had recently purchased and put on the opposite side of Chuuya's office. Of course, he had thrown an absolute fit, but Aki had gone running to Mori and once his Boss intervened, Chuuya had no choice but to accept it. Though, he still wasn't happy about it. When Aki hadn't had her own desk, he could send her to the floor to do her paperwork, but now she perched by her desk all high and mighty. And she smacked like a fucking chipmunk.

Aki stuck her hands behind her head, closing her eyes, "Be my show pony, Nakahara! Entertain me!" She exclaimed, pushing herself backwards so that her chair was only on two legs. She had been filling in paperwork Hirotsu had dropped off and it was killing her slowly. She hated paperwork.

Chuuya, keeping his head down and eyes focused on his own paperwork let out a sigh of annoyance, "Just shut up and work." He grumbled, reaching up to brush his hair out of his forehead—he had taken his hat off some time ago, placing it beside the stacks of paperwork on his desk.

Aki allowed the chair to fall back onto all four legs, making a loud thumping sound, "You're so boring," She hissed through her teeth. "Is that why you don't have a girlfriend? Because you just bore every woman you come into contact with?" Aki wasn't speaking out of her ass—she was certain that the ginger didn't have a girlfriend. She had asked Higuchi and Gin about it and they were more than happy to talk about their superiors love life. They told her that Chuuya didn't waste his time with women, being too focused on his work. Though, they did add that they'd witnessed women sneaking out of his room on occasion.

Chuuya finally looked up at her, eyes narrowed, pen between his fingers, "How do you know I don't have a girlfriend?" He demanded.

Aki laughed, as if he had said a funny joke, "Because it's obvious? You're far too dedicated to your job to even consider giving a woman attention," She told him, taking her feet off of the desk to place firmly on the ground. She began folding one of the pages of paperwork into a badly crafted paper aeroplane. "And I asked Higuchi and Gin." She added with a careless shrug.

Chuuya scoffed, "A little too interested in my love life, are you?"

Aki looked up at him through her lashes before chucking the paper aeroplane at him, using her ability to shoot it forward. Chuuya's hand came up, catching it and crumpling it in one swift motion, "Didn't we just determine that your love life is nonexistent?" She rhetorically asked him, a smug smile tugging on the corner of her lips.

Chuuya tossed the paper in the bin by his desk with ease, "Don't pretend like your own love life isn't nonexistent—there's no way you could keep one, what with the dedication to being an assassin." He said, momentarily looking her up and down. He immediately regretted it. She looked pretty fucking good in her white mini-skirt, black stockings, leather boots and white blouse. Somehow, she made formal wear look drop-dead sexy.

Aki laughed, "You're right. I'm not exactly girlfriend-material," She agreed, nodding her head as she got to her feet. She walked around the other side of her desk before sitting down on top of it, slowly crossing one leg over the other as Chuuya tried his hardest not to look. "But I'm good in bed so who really cares about that, right?" She cheekily winked at him, tilting her head to the side.

Chuuya gulped against his will. He couldn't doubt her words—Aki reeked of sex appeal, even when she was at a distance. He couldn't deny it, he had thought about it—particularly the time in the gym when he had been on top of her. It made him think dirty things—all of the things he could do to her. He felt like such a perv, but he couldn't help himself, not when he was so stupidly attracted to her.

He diverted his gaze, his grip tightening around his pen, "If you're so bored, go annoy someone else. I have work to do." He dismissed, focusing on his paperwork as if his life depended on it. Anything to stop his eyes from wandering to her sexy legs, clad in stockings. He was sure she had put them on that morning to drive him insane. She knew she was attractive, and she used it to her advantage to get to him. Despite being raised as a gentleman by Kouyou, he was still a man; the dirty thoughts came easily when it came to Aki.

Aki unfolded her legs before hopping off the desk, "But it's so much more entertaining when it's you." She pouted, stepping towards him.

He looked up before holding his hand up, stopping her in his tracks, "If you plan on coming over here to distract me any further I'm going to kill you." He threatened, though he seemed slightly flustered. He could take it when she was sitting far enough away from him, but whenever she came to sit on his desk it drove him insane. Her silky legs would be right in his view and he could smell the sweet perfume from her neck. It drove him absolutely insane. Like, why couldn't she just drop off the face of the earth and give him peace?

Aki sighed heavily, turning away from him and heading towards the bookshelf instead, "You're so mean to me today," She pouted even further. She paused, thinking about it for a second. "I mean, it kind of turns me on. But still, it's not a very nice way to treat your partner." She scolded, picking one of the books from the shelf. She didn't care for the title, nor what it was about, it was simply for the sake of doing something. One thing she had realised about Chuuya, was that he found it hard to concentrate when there was a lot of movement in the room—he liked quiet, stillness. So she pretty much tried to do the total opposite.

Chuuya put his hand to his forehead, closing his eyes. Breathe in, breathe out. He opened his eyes, looking at her, "I wouldn't have to be mean to you if you weren't such a nuisance. I mean, seriously, do you know how behind on paperwork I am? And I've had to redo plenty of your paperwork because you keep drawing cats on them!" Aki grinned hugely at him. She had done that deliberately. "Actually, fuck this—fuck you. Next time you draw one of your silly little cats, you can redo your own paperwork. I'm not your servant." He was putting his foot down—he had to. Aki seemed to think the entire world would bend to her will, and maybe she was right. But Chuuya couldn't stand it.

Aki tilted her head, frowning, "What if I draw little hearts instead?" She suggested innocently, blinking at him.

Chuuya grunted, his teeth grinding together, "Seriously, Kitagawa! Go annoy someone else!" He exclaimed, finally snapping, bringing her immense satisfaction.

"Okay, okay," She waved her hand in the air, placing the book down on the edge of the bookshelf on purpose. Chuuya's eye twitched. He looked like he was close to having a stroke. "I'm gonna go and pour myself a nice glass of whiskey whilst you stay here and work yourself to death." A noise escaped Chuuya's lips. Of course. That had been her plan all along—annoy him to the point that he snapped so that she could leave her paperwork behind and slack off for the rest of the day. God, he fucking hated that woman.

He jumped out of his seat, "No, wait—"

Aki headed for the door, a big smile on her face, "Thank you, Mr Executive. I'm going to relax now," She chirped as she stopped by the door, turning to him with a sly smirk. "Enjoy your hoard of paperwork!"

"Damn you, Kitagawa!" He yelled at her, bunching his hand into a fist.

Aki blew him a kiss before slipping out of the door. She could hear him throw something, followed by the sound of him cursing out every swear word known to man. Oh, how fun it was to drive him insane.

"Wait, so are you and Akutagawa like a thing?" Aki was asking Higuchi from where she sat on the floor in her bedroom. She had her legs tucked beneath her, wearing black pyjama shorts and a white sweater. She had invited Gin and Higuchi to her room for some drinks after she left the office. The three had been sitting in the room for a couple of hours, drinking straight from the bottle of whiskey Aki had bought with her first pay check. She had actually bought multiple bottles.

Higuchi's cheeks turned a bright shade of pink as she choked on the drink, making some of the golden liquid drip down her chin, "No—I mean, I'd want to be, of course. But Mr Akutagawa, he... well, I don't think he's all that interested in me." She confessed, a frown crossing her features. The three had been talking about boys, because what else was there to talk about once the alcohol settled in their system? It felt so silly, but that was why Aki was enjoying it. She'd never had the chance to speak about those kind of things—even with Kana.

Gin put her hand on Higuchi's knee, giving it a squeeze, "It's not you. I promise," She assured her, giving a comforting smile. "My brother just spends a lot of his time thinking about work. Plus, you know, there's the whole no fraternising rule." Aki blinked at that last part. The no what rule?

"Wait, what rule?" She spoke up, a look of confusion on her features. Her cheeks were flushed a little from the alcohol in her system and her eyelids were more hooded than usual.

Higuchi sighed, "The no fraternising rule," Yup—Aki had heard correctly. At first, she had thought she must have misheard, because that kind of rule was ridiculous and not to mention seriously outdated. "It was a rule long before either of us were even with the Port Mafia. But I've heard stories. Apparently there were two members of the organisation years ago, maybe two decades before we were even born. They were two of the best members at the time and they fell in love—they then deflected from the organisation. They left it all behind and ran away together. The old Boss was so furious that he had lost two of his best subordinates to something as trivial as love, so he created the no fraternising rule." Higuchi explained, making Aki's brows crease together. What a miserable old fart he seemed to be. Of course, Aki knew all about the old Boss and the fact that he was absolutely insane, but apparently he was a total killjoy too.

"Jeez," Aki said, leaning back on the palms of her hands. "Don't get me wrong, I don't exactly believe in love—but like, it still sucks. It takes group orgies way out of the equation." Both Higuchi and Gin choked on their own spit before bursting into laughter. They couldn't help it. Aki said the most out of pocket shit all the time and it made them lose their mind. She was hilarious without even having to try.

Higuchi wiped at her eyes were some tears had formed from all her laughing, "So, you don't believe in love, Aki?" She questioned curiously.

Aki shrugged, closing her eyes. She could feel the alcohol in her stomach making her face numb, her head feeling heavy on her shoulders. With her eyes closed, the room spun, "Nope," She chirped. "I mean, I used to—when I was younger, I guess. Before I became an assassin. But now, it seems like some kind of twisted fantasy. Even if love was real, it's such a ridiculous thing, don't you think? Being in love would mean completely surrendering yourself to another person. I could never do that." She chuckled a little as she spoke with her eyes closed, her fingers picking at the rug beneath her.

"Isn't that the beautiful thing about love, though?" Gin asked softly. Aki popped one eye open to look at the woman, "Surrendering everything you have to another person sounds so beautiful." Aki scoffed, shaking her head.

"No, it sounds weak," She said, sitting up a little straighter, opening both eyes. "Love makes people do all kinds of crazy things. Why should something like that exist?" She rhetorically asked, looking between the women sitting in front of her.

Higuchi frowned, "The Double A really did a number on you, huh?" Aki diverted her gaze.

How could she admit that the Double A had noting to do with her outlook on love? In truth, Aki believed love was as real as breathing—but she refused to admit it out loud. As a child, she had thought her parents loved her. She thought they would do anything for her as their eldest daughter, but that idea shattered the moment they sold her.

Aki grew up in a small village, so off the grid that it was hard to find on a map. Her childhood home had only two bedrooms that she shared with three younger siblings. Her parents were farmers, but they struggled to make enough money to feed their family—barely getting by. After a storm hit her village, leaving devastation in its wake, the Kitagawa family sunk even further into debt. That was when the Double A showed up in the minuscule village, searching for any children for sale. Aki had overheard her mother wailing in the kitchen one night, speaking about how she 'didn't want to do it' but saying she knew it was the only way to feed the rest of the children. That following morning, Aki was sold to the Double A.

She had gone kicking and screaming, begging her parents to change their mind. She wanted to know what she had done so wrong to deserve such a fate—she wanted to know why she wasn't worthy of their love. Her father had held her mother as she sobbed, whilst her two brothers and sister watched from the living room window, too young to understand what was happening. Aki had cursed her parents, she cursed her village, she cursed the love her parents had faked for her. That day, she caused an earthquake that almost pulled the entire village underground. But she had been rendered unconscious by a Gifted with the ability to control consciousness before it could get too out of hand. When she woke, her life at the Double A began.

That's why Aki despised the idea of love. Her parents had loved her younger siblings more than her—loved them enough to sell their eldest daughter to monsters. Deep down, she understood, but it was still a hard pill to swallow. And it had changed her entire perspective of love.

"Aki, you alright?" Gin was asking in concern, edging closer to the girl.

Aki hasn't realised, but she had spaced out right in front of them. Dammit. She perked her head up, putting a smile on her lips, "All good! I was just thinking about how this is some seriously strong whiskey!" She lied, grabbing the half-empty bottle and holding it up. It was pretty song. Aki blamed her moment of weakness on the alcohol—either that, or her absence from the Double A was beginning to take its toll on her. She hadn't felt human in so long, it was a startling realisation that she could still feel human emotion. It irked her beyond belief. She was an assassin, she wasn't allowed to feel.

Higuchi laughed, "It is pretty strong," She agreed. She slapped her thighs. "But I'm up early tomorrow for a mission with Mr Akutagawa. So I should really head out." Despite what she said, she didn't seem happy to be calling it a night. She had been seriously enjoying her girl time. Being surrounded by men all of the time was such a bore.

Gin nodded, "Yeah, me too. The Lizards have a meeting bright and early tomorrow," She said, moving to stand to her feet. She looked down at Aki, who didn't seem too happy they were leaving. She wanted to drink herself into oblivion, but not by her lonesome. "We should do this again, though. I really had a lot of fun." She said with a big smile, lighting up her features. It surprised Aki how friendly both the girls were—what with them being members of the Port Mafia.

Aki gestured with the bottle, "It's a plan. That is, if I'm still alive after finishing this bottle." She said, a smirk tugging on the corner of her lips.

Higuchi laughed, giving her shoulder a pat, "Please don't give yourself alcohol poisoning."

Aki's smirk grew wider, "No promises."

Gin and Higuchi left, leaving Aki sitting alone in the centre of her room. She looked around, her fingers curled around the neck of her whiskey bottle. She wasn't enjoying the silence now that the two women were gone. She could hear her alarm clock ticking and the sound of traffic from the ground below. God, she fucking hated silence.

She perked up slightly, "I wonder what Nakahara's doing..."

AUTHORS NOTE.

aki, gin and higuchi's friendship is one of my fave things to write in this fic. i love women <3.

— taylor xx