The stone floor is cold and hard. Shiu Kong always picks the worst f*cking spots to spy on Toji. Well, he’s got to pick the farthest spot that will still allow his (extremely expensive) cursed glasses to see Toji. And sometimes that’s just a very uncomfortable abandoned brutalist cement building, complete with moss, mold and broken glass under his ass. How fun.
He could just let this bad habit go. Sure. He’s thought about it many a time. It’s just that sometimes, maybe once every few months, Toji’s missions coincide with, let’s say, an off day. And Shiu, no matter how much he tries to stay home and do whatever, gets this weird tingle in his feet that nudges him more and more with each passing second, until he’s sitting in a dirty abandoned building. Just to keep watch on Toji. Not like he’ll ever actually get the chance to swoop in and help him, right? Because Toji is a killing machine that will never stumble, right?! Yeah, yes. Of course! Because there he is. He just threw out his sword to block a cursed attack from the side and lunged forward to punch the target, a tall male sorcerer dressed like he didn’t know the difference between a sorcerer and a wizard and just bought the first cheap costume he could find, in the gut. Wow. Look at that. Shiu pats his trusted rifle and whispers: “Ya won’t get any action today, sorry.”
He rests his head on the railing, feeling very much like a princess in a fairy tale. Maybe the wizard guy who shoots out colorful bursts of cursed energy affected his vibe. Although, curiously, a strange box seems to go unnoticed by Toji. The burly man hits his target over and over, and out of the box slowly come pouring out small, flying, mosquito-like curses. They’re laughable, really. Toji takes care of them with one punch.
“How the f*ck are they even all blowing up with one punch?” Shiu doesn’t know. Also doesn’t care. He’s just doing his best to watch, half of his brain alert, delusionally thinking about the possibility of needing to help Toji. He’s landing blow after blow to the slippery sorcerer. And ignoring the box. Why’s he ignoring the box? Sure, it’s only spewing out small curses, but it’s a steady flow. Eh, Toji’s the professional, after all.
With a ripple of his muscles, he takes some nunchucks out of Wormie (Shiu has always thought the little guy needed a name) and pulverises all of them. Fair enough. He’s keeping his focus on the sorcerer, not letting the small curses distract him.
Smart. Yeah. Yeaaah. Shiu grips the handle of his rifle. Just in case. His movements are getting sloppy.
How? Toji. Faltering. How’s that possible? He missed a step. He just missed a f*cking step and stumbled for a moment. If I’m noticing it now, it means he’s been slowly making imperceptible mistakes for a few minutes now. Shiu’s heart sinks as the sorcerer lands a blow, sparks flying off and shattering on Toji’s shoulder. Toji immediately grabs a sword out of Wormie and cuts the sorcerer’s leg, making him retreat. But the f*cker’s leg immediately reattaches. f*ck. And the pathetic little curses are still going at Toji. Why’s he not taking out the box? It’s right there, spewing them out! Shiu’s breath catches in his throat when Toji takes another hit imbued with cursed energy. And then another. Toji stumbles, grabbing a new sword and letting go of Wormie. No! Wormie! He let go of Wormie!!! Shiu screams in his mind. This doesn’t feel like Toji wanting more room to move to go all out. This looks like a final resort to get some weight off his shoulders. And to distract some of the weird curses, that inevitably swarm the poor little guy.
Do I go in? Lord, I wasn’t actually expecting to ever do this. What if he hears the gunshot and thinks there’s another opponent aiming at him and I make the situation worse? How long has it been since I was on the field? What if my bullet strays and I hit him instead? Toji’s pained grunt reaches Shiu’s ears, knocking some sense into him and terrifying him at the same time. No, Shiu Kong. Your aim was the best in the army. Don’t you get insecure now when he needs you. Move. Move!
Shiu steels his nerves. No. He steels his trembling fingers. He can’t focus on both at the same time. His fingers are more important now. He hurls the sniper rifle on his shoulder, looking into the lens. The sorcerer is moving too fast. And Toji is lagging behind, having to deal with the mosquitos at once. No way can Shiu hit the guy. But the box, on the other hand, stays in place. In the fraction of a second that Shiu focuses his rifle on the cursed box, a flurry of thoughts invade his mind. Toji’s grunts haunt him. He’s hurt. Huh. He… he’s one who should always survive. One way or another. He’s too strong not to, right?!
Shiu Kong presses his finger on the trigger. Toji screams.
“No!”
Shiu can only see the small box through the little lens of the rifle. He can only hope that whatever injury is making the other man scream is not too serious. The box blows apart with one shot, thanks to the cursed energy imbued bullets that Shiu paid a fortune for (for the explicit purpose of bringing them on his Toji-mission-voyeurism). Phew. Heh. Looks like I haven’t lost my charm yet.
He takes his sweet time to bask in the glory of the broken pieces that can no longer spawn hellish creatures to swarm Toji. By now, he’ll have obliterated the sorcerer, right?
Huh.
Why the f*ck is the sorcerer getting closer. And looking at me. Oh.
Oh. sh*t.
Shiu scrambles backwards, grabbing his rifle to use it as some sort of melee weapon. The sorcerer is on him in a second, his cape flowing around him, blocking the view behind him. Shiu has no clue if Toji is also following, leaping towards the building. He must have spotted Shiu by now. If Shiu had time to, he’d sigh at the prospect of explaining himself to the other man. But time is something that he doesn’t have.
The sorcerer lands on the rubble. His deep, red eyes are trained entirely on Shiu. It’s been years since his military service, and he hasn’t kept up with basic training exercises nearly as much as he should have. But he’s not the handler of the Sorcerer Killer, in the best damn agency in Japan, for nothing. He’s always got “basic” protection on him. He grabs the little hilt sticking out of his jacket’s inner pocket. A whole knife sticks out, much bigger than the pocket itself. One swing, and the knife reeks of death and cursed energy enough to make the sorcerer stumble back even at Shiu’s shabby technique. That’s enough for an ugly, jagged blade to protrude from the target’s chest.
“Taking your eyes off me… f*cking dumbass.” Toji’s voice rings strained and cruel. Shiu’s never heard a sweeter sound. As he scrambles back, ass shifting on the ground, as the jagged blade cuts the sorcerer in half. The bastard doesn’t even have a second to react and activate his reverse curse technique. Blood splatters all over Shiu while the sorcerer lets out one last gurgle, his body falling, cut in two at the torso. Only Toji and Shiu are left in the rubble.
Now. Now’s when the trouble starts. Casual. Yeah. Just act casual, like everything’s okay. Like it’s totally normal that you were here stalking his mission, Shiu Kong. Shiu stares at the sorcerer’s corpse, avoiding Toji’s gaze at all costs.
“Great job. I’ll call the client and let them know the job’s done.”
What the f*ck are you saying. What the f*ck, “great job”? When have those words ever left your mouth, you f*cking dumbass? He sighs. His body is still, like a prey, just waiting and praying for the predator to catch some other scent. Seeing Wormie back on Toji’s shoulder is his only consolation.
“You’re not calling.” Toji states.
sh*t. Didn’t even f*cking grab my phone to make it believable. Shiu scrambles to get his phone out of his back pocket. The screen cracked when he scooted away from the sorcerer. His finger glides over the broken glass, fragments sticking to this finger. His hand is trembling. When has his hand ever trembled?
“Are you… did he get to you?” Toji asks, as if his previous statement on calling the client was simply a pointless observation. Shiu’s legs would give out, and he knows he would fall over, if he wasn’t already sitting. He looks up at Toji, his figure imposing, blocking out the sun and casting a gentle shadow on Shiu.
“Wh- what… I…”
“Did he get to you.” Toji asks again, relentless. There’s small, almost imperceptible pauses in between words. His fist clenches on the hilt of the jagged sword.
“No. No, no! No, he didn’t get me. I’m fine.” Shiu’s head is finally f*cking clear. He stammers as he springs up. One hand is on Toji’s arm before he even realises it. “I’m fine. You, you. What went on over there?” Shiu’s breathless. His eyes scan over every inch of Toji, and it’s not looking good. Cuts and scrapes. His left shoulder looks crushed. “The box. Probably covered with some sort of material to conceal it from people with no cursed energy. Even his attacks… maybe. Yes, it’s like he knew you specifically would come after him. What a headache. I’ve got to clear everyone in the agency again and check our phones for wiretaps. Ugh.”
“Mh.” Toji’s shoulders relax when he finishes his own inspection of Shiu, the one he was doing while not paying a single inch of attention to Shiu’s words. “I’m fine.”
“You’re f*cking not.” Shiu, apparently, also forgets what he was talking about. “I heard that scream when I took my shot. Did he hit your shoulder again?”
Toji’s eyes flare up. His mouth twitches in a sneer. Shiu can only roll his eyes.
“Fine. Don’t speak. There’s an old agency safe house that we never use closeby. C’mon.”
“I’ve done my job. I don’t need—”
“Shut. It.” Shiu starts walking towards the stairs of the abandoned building, not looking behind him to see whether Toji is following. But he hears the reluctant footsteps. And a squelch. And another.
The safehouse is intact, albeit dusty. A few rooms in the back of an unassuming building. Secret compartments for ammo and supplies, and a decent med room. Wormie immediately curls up in a little corner and closes his little goopy eyes.
“Sit. On that stretcher. I won’t have my biggest moneymaker waste away from neglect.” Yeah, sure, Shiu. Use the ‘I only care ‘cause you’re my highest earner’ line. That’ll surely cover your ass.
“Shiu Kong.”
“I don’t wanna f*cking hear it.” Shiu knows he’s treading on a thin line here. For some reason, Toji has not confronted him about stalking him yet. And Shiu’s riding on that high. “Stretcher.”
Toji complies, albeit grumbling like a kid. Or like a grown man that just lost his latest mission’s pay on a horse race. Shiu opens up the unfamiliar cabinets to look for some supplies… and immediately comes back to his senses. Because who’s he f*cking kidding. Toji’s got a crushed shoulder. And Shiu almost failed his basic training first aid course.
“I’ll call one of my med guys. They’ll be here in a bit, ‘n patch you up.” He mutters absentmindedly, while fishing some basic equipment and placing it next to Toji on the stretcher. A bandage, some rubbing alcohol, a few band-aids…
Toji’s hand is on Shiu’s wrist before he can even realize that the taller man has gotten up from the stretcher and moved two steps closer. It knocks the wind out of Shiu’s lungs, as he feels a reckoning approaching with murderous intent oozing out of Toji. Shiu stays completely silent, their panting the only sound in the room, as he waits for the questions. The accusations. He can already hear them. Like the many times he’s imagined Toji catching him and knocking him into a coma. As chaos unfolds in Shiu’s mind, the room stays silent, a peaceful cave in which their breathing intertwines and echoes. Toji, he’s… he’s just staring at the floor. No, not at the floor. Shiu follows his gaze. It lands on his own palm. Scraped and bloody, some dust and gravel from the abandoned building stuck in there. All things considered, nothing much. After all, there’s a sorcerer cut in half with brains splattered like jello all over that same building, and Toji’s shoulder is half crushed. And yet, Toji’s chest heaves, his eyes bloodshot and crazed, looking at the smallest injury in the world.
“This…”
“What?”
“You said that he didn’t get you. That you were fine.”
“He didn’t. And I am.”
“Look at this.” Toji raises up Shiu’s hand, as if he couldn’t see it before. He enunciates every word, his voice rising, still filled with that murderous intent from earlier.
“It’s a f*cking scrape. I got it from shuffling on my ass. What’s gotten into you?”
“What’s f*cking gotten into me? You’re hurt. Shiu Kong. You’re f*cking hurt.” Toji doesn’t yell. But his voice is strong, tone seething. Shiu knows he’ll have bruises tomorrow in the spot where Toji is desperately holding onto his wrist. Shiu takes a step back. He doesn’t recognize this man who doesn’t wear a co*cky smile. This man whose eyes look… invested. Worried. No. Guilty.
“Why have you not asked what I was doing in that abandoned building?”
“Why have I not asked?” Toji’s eyes bulge. Something stirs in Shiu’s chest at how wrong this whole thing is. He tries to take a step back, but Toji’s grip does not budge. “Because I’ve always known. How could I not? Huh? Did any part of your brain actually believe that I wouldn’t notice you, of all people, hiding in buildings almost out of sight with those ugly f*cking glasses?”
Shiu looks up. A myriad of words are stuck behind his teeth, unwilling to come out. He almost says that those glasses could be useful for Toji too. But he holds it back.
“I’ve always known.” Toji’s eyes grow softer. Rather, less crazed. “I’ve always known. And I never thought you’d ever have to step in. I don’t— I—”
Oh no. Toji is… he’s malfunctioning. He doesn’t know how to continue the sentence. His eyes grow shinier by the moment. He looks anywhere but at Shiu. And yet, that grip is the only thing unwavering.
“You knew.”
“I knew.” Toji almost sighs in relief at the chance to know what to say. A lightbulb finally turns on in Shiu’s mind.
“Is… is that why you screamed when I took the shot?”
“It’s embarrassing how long it took you to figure that out.”
Shiu decides, in all his graciousness, to ignore the little jab. Plus, he does feel a little dumb. “For what it’s worth, I didn’t think I’d ever step in either.” Shiu. Stop. What the f*ck are you saying. What the f*ck are you about to confess. Are Toji’s teary eyes that irresistible to you, you little freak? “The rifle was there for show, more than anything.”
Clearly, and obviously, it’s not any f*cking consolation. Quite the opposite, it confirms Toji’s bone-deep shame. Shiu only realises when the first tear actually drops.
“Oh, no…”
“How was I so f*cking useless that you had to step in? That I couldn’t stop that ant from getting close to you?”
“He was a higher up in the sorcerer world. It wasn’t just a nobody. Or else I wouldn’t have called you. My elite assassin for elite pay.” How is it that I know I’m not making this any better, yet I can’t stop running my f*cking mouth?
Toji’s eyes wander about the room, anywhere but at Shiu. Likewise, his ears seem to be selectively not picking up any of Shiu’s words.
“Those were the lowest level curses I’ve ever seen. So, how could I even let this happen?”
“Let this happen? How… what are you even talking about?” Tears fall on the tiled floor. Shiu feels like he’s going insane. Toji’s crying. The Toji that only cares about money, about living how he pleases, the Toji that barely even remembers his son’s name, is crying in front of Shiu. Shiu, his handler. Just a step up from a coworker.
“Toji, stop. What are you doing?” Shiu can’t help but let out a little chuckle, desperately going back to their usual lighthearted banter. He feels this as a moment of no return. A moment that you can’t just go back from. Back to when Shiu tried to convince himself he didn’t care so f*cking much about this man. Back to when he thought the feeling definitely was not reciprocated.
“You had to step in. You got hurt.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“That motherf*cker—” Toji just keeps pinballing between blaming himself and wishing he could kill that sorcerer twice. Shiu’s mind is no better.
“I’ll cut your pay in half if you don’t let go of me this instant.”
“That’s what you should be doing either way, given how f*cking useless I was.” Toji’s eyes finally meet Shiu’s at the mention of money. That’s when Shiu leans up. Their foreheads knock together. Their noses get squished against each other, even their teeth clack. Nothing goes smoothly, but their lips meet for the first time anyways. Neither is breathing.
“If I had known earlier that you were such an insecure little girl, I would have thought twice about hiring you.” Shiu whispers with a little grin, pulling away from the clashing of lips that can hardly be called a kiss. Toji’s tears worry him, but this teasing normality is the only thing he can turn to. Toji, still keeping one hand firmly on his wrist, snakes a hand up his neck and into his hair, before pulling Shiu back. Now, this one is a kiss. Soft, gentle, and quick. Just long enough for Shiu to feel the warmth and softness of Toji’s cheeks on his, as the man leans on the side, to nuzzle him. Toji’s a f*cking nuzzler. Who would have thought, eh?
“If I had known earlier that you were still such a sharpshooter, I would have switched our jobs and sent you on missions so I could reap the rewards of your hard labor and take clients out to dinner.”
“Oh, you couldn’t stand a client dinner.”
“With enough of the alcohol from your fancy little places, I could.”
“Liar.”
“Hmph. You’re right. I can hardly stand you.”
Shiu can’t take it anymore. Now that the other man is not in a weird shame-induced stupor, there’s a fire in him. Instead of shying away from what happened, he feels the burning need to face Toji with his own display of emotions and make him… do something. To hear a confession from his lips. He leans up and kisses the little tears still on his cheeks.
“‘That why you never confronted me about coming on your missions, huh? ‘Cause you can hardly stand me?”
“It’s simply not my place to scold you for how you choose to waste your time.” Despite his bravado, his voice falters at Shiu’s lips on his cheeks. Their words hardly make sense anymore, as they dance around what this is becoming. The hand behind Shiu’s head grips tighter, forcibly tilting his head. Any other person would remember that this man could easily decapitate him. Shiu, on the other hand, gladly lets this happen, with a groan bubbling up from his chest. Toji pounces, eyes laser focused on the little spot underneath his ear where Shiu sprays cologne every day. His nose is on it in a second, as he inhales loudly. Something pokes at Shiu’s stomach at the same time.
“Freak.” Shiu snickers.
“f*cking voyeur.” As Toji speaks, his lips move and graze Shiu’s neck. Now they’re poking each other on their stomachs.
“That’s a big word for you.”
“Shiu.”
“Yes?”
“...” Toji doesn’t speak, but his grip loosens. His thumb grazes inside of Shiu’s wrist, pressing slightly, moving up and down ever so excruciatingly slowly. Shiu takes the pause to ask that same question once more.
“Why did you never confront me about following you on missions?”
“Why did you start following me around like a lost dog?”
Shiu can’t help but chuckle. They both want the other to say it first. As if their actions haven’t spoken for themselves already. As if saying it will be the true act of vulnerability that might make the other run away or hate them. They’re truly ridiculous, the both of them.
“Because you’re mesmerizing when you fight.” Shiu confesses the first of a myriad of truths.
Toji, clearly inspired by such bravery, responds, pressing his lips harder on Shiu’s neck, making his words almost unintelligible.
“Because I need your eyes on me.”
The rest will have to wait until the fire in their bodies has subsided. Until they recharge their ability to speak on the ineffable thing between them. Shiu’s hands move at the speed of lighting, down Toji’s chest, and curl into his little and delicious happy trail, lingering there, not quite ready to sneak into his pants.
“You’re a devil for making me do this when I should be calling the med team.”
“Oh, I’m the devil now? Look at you, little vixen, can’t even get enough of my f*cking co*ck hairs.”
“It’s a happy trail. Not co*ck hairs. And it’s been teasing me and peeking out of your shirt every single day, begging me to run my fingers through it.”
“You’ve got a wild imagination.”
“You stretch every time I’m in your line of sight.”
Toji chuckles. His teeth peek out of his mouth and gently bite down on Shiu’s neck. Not even hard enough to leave a mark. Shiu would have never expected it of him. He wonders just how many surprises this side of Toji has in store for him.
“I stretch because you look every time. If you had gotten a hold of yourself even a single time, I would have stopped.”
“You enjoyed torturing me, eh, you f*cker?” Shiu presses a finger in Toji’s happy trail, running it up and down, making it sway around and tease the surprisingly soft hairs. Don’t tell me he grooms this out of all places.
“And you enjoy torturing me now. Get that hand off my f*cking co*ck hairs and onto my actual co*ck,” Toji’s lips are suddenly on Shiu’s sensitive ear, trailing the shell, whispering in it, “before I go insane.”
“Needy bitch. I thought you were the type to take what you wanted.” Shiu has no f*cking clue how he manages to get the words out through the hardest erection he’s ever had in his life and his whole spine tingling from Toji’s whispering. He’s discovering something new as well, it seems.
“Please.”
Shiu’s hand stops dead in its tracks, inadvertently pulling away and earning a delicious whimper from Toji. He said please. He actually just said “please”. I want to hear it again. God. God, I need to hear it again. In the end, he’s not strong enough to goad Toji into begging more. And Toji knows. The brat’s got a little smile on his lips as Shiu finally undoes his belt buckle and lets his needy co*ck out of his underwear. It jumps out, ready, already leaking all over. Shiu feels like he could pass out right then and there. Maybe pass away as well. There’s no topping this. He cups those full balls, his thumb trailing up and down the lower part of the shaft. Toji groans as he keeps worshipping Shiu’s ear and neck, smothering him with his slobber.
“See? I still know how to take what I want.” Toji keeps up the whispering, and Shiu’s body reacts eagerly, shivering and shuddering under him. He even switches ears, suckling on the other lobe, intent on stimulating every single inch of Shiu’s most sensitive spots. Shiu’s in heaven, totally and utterly gone. His drenched hand stops moving around Toji’s co*ck, too focused on his own experience. This earns two tongue clicks from Toji, but they still can’t hide that little lovestruck smile behind them. Not that Shiu is even noticing it. He’s in a world of his own, as every nerve ending on his ears and neck is ready to jump at the smallest stimulation from Toji’s breath and tongue.
“Offloading the hard work to me even now, huh?”
“If you stopped whispering in my ears, maybe I’d be able to concentrate on this.” Shiu wants to squeeze Toji’s co*ck to drive his point home, but he didn’t even realize just how much his hand had strayed, and instead squeezes his hip awkwardly.
“Absolutely not.” Toji teases with a chuckle, his breath and tongue teasing the inside of Shiu’s ear. Toji’s hand yanks down at the smaller man’s pants and underwear, unfazed by the tight belt. It snaps in two, and his co*ck springs out. It’s smaller than Toji’s, but just as thick, and more veiny. There’s even a little piercing right where his balls end and his shaft begins. Toji licks his lips and can only imagine what that monster would feel like, that piercing teasing his bottom lip as he takes it all in. But now’s not the time. They’re both hard and ready to burst and Toji needs to feel that co*ck against his. He grips both of them in his broad palm.
Shiu gasps loudly at the contact, no shame whatsoever. “Warm…” He mutters. Toji’s excessive precum coating both of them, and the strong hand squeezing them is driving him insane. Meanwhile, Toji is barely handling Shiu’s piercing rubbing against his shaft. A few strokes from Toji, and the friction of rubbing against each other, is all it takes for both of them to be close.
The problem is, both of them believe the other to be holding on much better than them. And neither want to lose. Thanks to the clearly unfair advantage given to him by his piercing, Shiu manages to catch Toji off guard. He shoots a hand down, rubs his co*ck up so the piercing travels the whole length of Toji’s, and teases Toji’s slit with a finger.
“You—!”
Toji c*ms before he can finish whatever insult he was going for. He grunts, and presses himself against Shiu’s co*ck, holding them both firmly in his hand, increasing the friction as he rides out his org*sm. He looks so gorgeous in Shiu’s eyes, unravelled and panting, tears still streaking his cheeks. His grunts slowly become whines with each thrust, and he leans down to place an anticlimactic and disgustingly sweet chaste kiss on Shiu’s lips.
Shiu c*ms immediately.
