Tokyo Demons Book 2: Chapter 5, Part 2

“They’re ninjas?”

Daniel gripped his temples. “Dear God, I wish we were joking.”

Jo winced as Aisha pulled another stitch into his wound. Her local anesthetic wasn’t working very well.

“How could ninjas even exist in 2002? This isn’t the fucking Sengoku era. We don’t need civil war spies.”

“There are plenty of modern applications for spies, Jo-kun–even in the domestic sense.” Daniel lowered himself into a chair. “They’re mercenaries. Hired by the wealthy and powerful to track, blackmail, or even assassinate enemies. They’re basically versatile hitmen.”

Daniel frowned. “We don’t know if their techniques were passed down from shinobi of bygone eras, or if that’s just a term they use to describe their place in society. But honestly, it doesn’t matter. Suffice to say they’re not like the ninjas in your comic books–they have technology, expensive weapons, and access to modern infrastructure. And they selectively sell their dangerous services to the highest bidder.”

Zayd crossed his arms. “We did not know they could be hired for protection until now. That is…very useful information.”

Jo hissed as Aisha tugged at her thread. She flicked dark eyes up from his waist and murmured an apology.

“And your…dad hired one from Saudi Arabia?” Jo clarified. “How the hell did he manage that?”

“I do not know. And now that I know more details, I do not want to ask. I fear he is in danger if he reveals his source.” Zayd sighed. “Kiri is very, very private. We think they are willing to kill to protect their secrets.”

In the corner of the room, Kado twitched. He clutched at his still-healing arm.

Jo was starting to feel the pressure of this intel–the danger Zayd had warned him about. This sounded like bad shit. He double-checked that the door to the sick room was closed before dropping his head in his hands.

For the millionth time, he regretted…knowing things. Why was he always cursed with knowing things?

He glanced down at Aisha. “Should she be hearing all this?” he mumbled, although she didn’t look up.

“She speaks very little Japanese,” Zayd offered. “She will not understand.”

Let’s hope not.

“Where does Nakajima fit in all this? You said she’s one of those Kiri guys?” Jo shuddered at the memory of her crushing him into the floor. “How can she be a hitman when she’s a damn cop?”

“That part’s very complicated. We don’t know all the details.” Daniel leaned back in his chair with a quiet creak. “As we’ve mentioned, Kiri seem to be more versatile than we first realized. They’re not just hitmen–they’re spies and bodyguards. Quite frankly, it makes perfect sense that they would have a member with rank in the police department. Not only would that give her access to confidential records, she could, in theory, cover Kiri’s trail when they’re involved in something illegal…especially considering her partner is Ochi, whom we know is a psychic. Whatever his power is, he may use it to help her.”

Jo blinked. “That guy’s a psychic?”

“Yes. But we do not know his power, or if he’s also a member of Kiri. We cannot look into many details, since we do not want to lose their help in the war against Core.”

Daniel gripped his chin. “We first ran into Kiri three years ago, shortly after I joined forces with Nick. There was word that Core had tried to hire Kiri to assassinate him, but Kiri didn’t take the job, for some reason. When we started using the Church’s network through the shrines and temples in Japan for more information…well, it must’ve gotten back to Kiri. Because Detective Nakajima literally showed up on my doorstep and told me to stop digging.”

Jo winced as Aisha sewed. “Damn,” he murmured.

“At that point, she was already investigating Core, possibly separately from the rest of the police. To our surprise, she offered herself up as a Kiri contact. She claims she’s former Kiri, but she still has access to them in an extremely limited manner. She also advised we never, ever actually use her as a contact–that we should just join forces with her to hopefully ensure our safety from them.” Daniel sighed. “From what we understand, the members of Kiri share a code, but not much else. They don’t usually work together or keep in touch. So as much as Detective Nakajima claims that she can contact them …we’re not sure she’s even capable of that. She’s violently protective of information about them, but we’re not sure if that’s her loyalty, or…” He scratched his neck. “If she’s afraid Kiri will take her out if she leaks too much information.”

“They’d kill their own?”

“I’m not sure. It wouldn’t surprise me.” Daniel shrugged. “Kiri is a very, very old organization. The fact that they’ve existed in secrecy this long implies that they’re willing to cross a lot of lines to stay under the radar.”

Kado didn’t look up from the floor. “Detective Nakajima was surprised in the clinic,” he murmured. “She didn’t realize Zayd-san had paid Kiri to extend their protection to us.”

“But she knew Zayd was being protected by Kiri in the first place.”

“I-I think so. But she only thought it was Unit Seven. She was surprised that we’re also being protected by Unit Six.”

Jo opened his mouth, but Zayd answered the question before he could ask it. “It seems we have two bodyguards. This is new information Kadoyuki-kun gathered at the clinic.”

“But…there was only that one woman. The police officer who stopped Nakajima.”

“Yes. It seems the second bodyguard did not appear.”

Jo took a minute to organize his thoughts. The burning pricks of Aisha’s needle send jolts of pain through his brain, like zaps of electricity. It kept short-circuiting his train of thought.

A second bodyguard? Was it another cop? Jo remembered that Nakajima had walked in with a male police officer, but she’d sent him away. And he couldn’t forget the eerily quiet footsteps when Nakajima was surveying the room. There was something markedly different about the way she carried herself–something he’d never noticed because he’d only met her once or twice. Compared to the male cop by her side, they’d clearly had different combat training. And that deadly subtlety also marked the female cop who had appeared to free Jo.

No, the second bodyguard would’ve been quieter. Probably watching from the shadows unless there was reason to interfere. That clinic raid had been a borderline disaster, but except for the end, they’d gotten through okay–

Jo stopped.

“If he’s Byakko, he didn’t come with us.”

Jo flashed back to the shoot-out with Wei. How someone had appeared to tackle a gunman.

“I-I saw him,” Jo blurted.

Daniel looked up. “Excuse me?”

“The second bodyguard! I–ow!” Jo recoiled around his wounded side, where Aisha pulled a final stitch. She snipped the end of her thread.

“Are you done?” Jo snapped.

Aisha calmly taped a bandage over her work. She pulled off her gloves and flashed a thumbs-up.

Jo gingerly got to his feet. “Thank you,” he murmured, embarrassed that he’d yelled at her. He ran fingers over the thick bandage as he looked up at the room.

“Some Byakko guy helped us out with the Core ops. Wei didn’t recognize him, and he was wearing a wrist tie when we specifically planned not to wear those for the clinic raid.”

Zayd furrowed his eyebrows. “Could he have been a member of Byakko who did not follow directions? There are many of those.”

Jo thought for a minute. “If he came with us, Wei would’ve recognized his face. And the only Byakko and Riot Girls who knew about this mission were the ones who came on the mission. So the fact that this guy knew how to dress like Byakko, and knew we were going there, but hadn’t gotten his directions directly from Byakko…”

Daniel lit up. “Jo, I think you’re right!”

Jo cursed. “But I didn’t see his face. I’m pretty sure he was a guy, a little bigger than me but smaller than Kiyoshi.” He hesitated. “I guess I could ask Wei…”

“That might be too risky. We need to keep this intel private.”

Zayd let out a breath. “One woman and one man,” he tallied aloud. “Dressed as a police officer and a member of Byakko. Perhaps those were just disguises.”

“Maybe. Or they’ve already infiltrated those groups to keep tabs on us. Both the police and Byakko are large organizations–an unrecognized face might not draw attention at this point.”

The thought that a mercenary hitman had snuck his way into Byakko sent a chill down Jo’s spine. He remembered the day of the rally in Blue Light, when Zayd had specifically tried to lure his bodyguard to meet the gang. Had the hitman gone into the club that day? Had he heard Takeshi’s speech, watched the hand-off to Miki? Seen…Mitsuko? In Jo’s arms?

Jo swallowed.

“I guess,” he murmured, “those bodyguards could be anywhere. Dressed as anyone, members of anything.” He raised his eyes to Zayd. “You said at least one of them’s been trailing you for months, right? And you’ve never seen them?”

Zayd nodded. “I saw the policewoman’s face in the clinic,” he explained. “She did not look familiar. But she, at least, will not be invisible from now on.”

But Jo hadn’t seen the man’s. For all they knew, the guy had been the one trailing Zayd for months and the woman was the new addition. And just seeing her face for a minute didn’t mean she couldn’t disguise herself later, with make-up or a wig or even prosthetics…

They were mercenaries. Murderers that even Nakajima feared. Since Zayd had paid them off, the only thing keeping them on the Church’s side was money.

Jo’s eyes unconsciously snapped to the people around him, whom he’d known for less than a month. To Aisha, who calmly wiped alcohol on a gleaming scalpel. To the closet that had been left open a crack.

He shuddered.

“We have more information than ever,” Daniel offered, “thanks to Kadoyuki-kun. The more we know, the more power we have.” He brightened. “And the fact that they accepted more payment and gave us a mobile number are very good signs. The bodyguards were willing to stop Detective Nakajima to protect Jo and…what’s her name? Mikoto?”

Jo didn’t correct him.

“Can I take a shower?” Jo asked as he suddenly made a beeline for the door. He wanted out of this conversation. “I’m disgusting from last night.”

Zayd and Aisha exchanged a few words in Arabic. “No,” Zayd called. “Do not get water on the bandage.”

Great, Jo thought miserably as he grabbed the doorknob. He threw the door open.

Sachi stood in the hallway, his eyes wide.

Jo stopped. The room behind him went silent as death.

“Uh…” Sachi dropped his eyes to the floor and took a step back. “Sorry. I’m in your way…”

Jo heard the scrape of a chair. Before Jo could say anything, Kado burst from behind him. Jo sidestepped the small classmate as the boy gripped the doorway with a shaking hand.

“H-how long were you standing there?” Kado demanded.

Sachi frowned. “Oh. Uh…just a minute. I was gonna knock, but you guys sounded busy…”

“Were you listening to us?!”

Sachi threw up his hands. “I’m sorry,” he offered, frustration behind his voice. “My bandage fell apart this morning and I need a new one. I wasn’t sure if I should interrupt…”

Kado’s fingers dug into the doorway. He let out a weak cry.

Surprisingly, Sachi seemed almost angry at that. “Please don’t get upset,” he called out to the rest of the room. “I just…eavesdropping’s become a habit around here, okay? I thought we were all trying to be more honest with each other!”

Shit. Jo rubbed at the headache building behind his temples.

“Sachi-kun,” Daniel asked from the room. “What did you hear? Please come inside and close the door.”

“S-something about two bodyguards,” Sachi mumbled. “A police officer and a member of Byakko…”

“NO!” Kado yelled, his voice ringing through the room.

Zayd sighed from somewhere. “I did not think we could hide it long from the others.”

Kado hiccupped. He shook his head vehemently, his stringy hair brushing across his face.

“No,” he mumbled, unusual force behind his voice. “Not this. Not you, Sachi–please!”

What?

Considering everything else they’d been through, Jo was surprised at Kado’s reaction. This information was deadly, but…so was most of what they knew. And it wasn’t like people could keep secrets from Sachi long.

“It’s okay,” Jo offered carefully. “This affects him, too.”

“But I don’t want it to!” Tears welled up in Kado’s eyes. “It’s the one thing I thought I could…that you wouldn’t have to…” He gritted his teeth. “Please, don’t! Let him leave!”

Sachi stared down at Kado, a strange look in his eyes.

Daniel finally joined them at the door. He gently pulled Sachi into the room and closed the door behind him.

“Kadoyuki-kun,” he said. “I appreciate that you want to protect him, but–”

“I shouldn’t have said anything,” Kado wheezed as he ran an arm over his eyes. “You’re all…safer if you don’t know. I’m killing us.”

There was something about Kado’s tone that sent a chill through Jo.

Daniel furrowed his eyebrows. “Kadoyuki-kun, you’re helping us. It’s always better for us to stay informed–”

“It’s not,” Kado interrupted. “You’ve never been tortured for what you know. You’ve never been drowned in…oh, God.” He clasped his hands together and bowed his head. “Please. Please!”

Jo didn’t know if Kado was having a panic attack, but his babbling made Jo think of Miki. Beaten in the basement of Kiseki, blood dripping from his eye socket.

“They were trying to get me to talk. Not that I had anything to tell.”

Jo swallowed bile. Ignorance hadn’t actually saved Miki.

“I…get where you’re coming from,” Jo said, not sure how to phrase it. “But I think Daniel-san is right, Kado. You’re giving us ammunition more than anything.”

A fuzzy, musical ringtone jingled from Kado’s pocket. The theme to Space Lightning Rangers.

Kado froze. He stared down at the floor, eyes wide, as the music drifted through the suddenly silent room.

That was Kado’s personal mobile–the one he refused to give up. The one from his mother or something? Since that ringtone usually sent Kado running out of the room, Jo assumed it would end the conversation.

But for some reason, it didn’t. Kado hissed something through gritted teeth and dug the phone out of his pocket.

He threw it into a wall.

The phone burst against the wood, ending the upbeat music with a loud crack. The phone’s battery and some of its case clattered in pieces to the floor.

Kado panted, his eyes lingering on the broken phone. He made a desperate growl and clenched his fists.

Yikes.

Kado finally swallowed. “This is poison,” he breathed, his voice a strange rasp. “We shouldn’t spread it.”

Sachi opened his mouth, then closed it again. He chewed on his lower lip.

“Kado,” Sachi murmured at last. “Is this about…Kiri?”

Kado snapped his head up. He stared at Sachi, something hard in his eyes.

“No,” he ordered. “It’s not. Forget what you heard.”

“Kado…”

“Forget what you heard!” Kado pointed at the door. “Get out. You didn’t hear anything!”

It was a sad attempt, but Sachi seemed strangely rapt. He stared into Kado’s eyes.

Kado softened. “Please,” he begged. “Don’t ask us to tell you. Just forget you heard anything!”

Daniel sighed. “Kadoyuki-kun…”

Sachi clenched his jaw. Then he turned, opened the door, and left the room.

For a long moment, nobody said anything. Jo heard Sachi’s footsteps disappear down the hallway.

Zayd shook his head. “This is not an answer,” he said quietly.

Jo felt his stomach twist in discomfort. Before the shaking Kado could say anything, Jo mumbled a good-bye and stepped into the hallway. He closed the door behind him.

The oppressive air of the room finally lifted from Jo’s shoulders. He leaned his back against the door and rubbed his hands over his face.

Dammit.

Kado’s freak-outs had really started to unnerve Jo. Maybe he was just sympathizing with the kid more, but there was also something…ominous about them. Kado could hear everything the people around him were thinking. If something rose out of that muck and scared the shit out of him, didn’t they have reason to feel the same? Wouldn’t Kado know better than everybody what they needed to be afraid of?

The guy had lived with Touya.

“I’m killing us.”

Jo hoped, for all their sakes, that Kado was exaggerating.

Jo tried to ignore the bad taste in his mouth as he walked to the bathroom. It was occupied, but someone had left it open a crack.

“Hello?” he called tiredly. He knocked on the door.

The force of his knuckles wedged the door open further. Dark eyes flicked to him from the bathroom mirror.

“Oh.” Kiyoshi turned back to his reflection and tapped a razor on the sink. “Hey.”

Jo nudged open the door. Half of Kiyoshi’s face was layered in shaving cream; he ran a razor through it carefully, wincing as he scraped down his chin and under his jaw. He was shirtless for no clear reason. He turned on the sink to rinse the blade.

“Hey.” Jo absently glanced at the razor. “You okay there?”

Kiyoshi’s eyes rolled to him. “Huh?”

“You…asked me to show you how to shave.”

“Oh.” Kiyoshi ran the blade through another streak of cream. “I didn’t wanna wake you up this morning. You lost all that blood last night.” Tap went the razor on ceramic. “I had Daniel-san show me.”

Jo felt a little pang of something, but he didn’t know what. He watched Kiyoshi for a few seconds before fishing a cigarette out of his pocket. He slipped it between his lips.

“Mind if I smoke?”

“You know I don’t care.”

Jo lit the cigarette and took a long drag. He let the warm smoke swell in his chest, his eyelids fluttering shut for a moment’s reprieve. His body lovingly absorbed the nicotine.

“How’s, uh, your injury?” Kiyoshi asked. “Did Aisha-san take care of it?”

Jo murmured over the cigarette. “Stitched it,” he replied.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine.”

Silence again. Jo took another drag.

“Did…” Kiyoshi rested both wrists against the sink, the razor dangling from his fingers. “Did you…get cut while protecting your girlfriend or something?”

Ah, fuck.

Jo huffed out a mouthful of smoke. “No,” he answered carefully. “And Mitsuko-senpai isn’t my girlfriend.”

“You guys were kissing.”

“Kissing her doesn’t make her my girlfriend.”

Kiyoshi’s mouth twisted in his face, shifting the remaining strokes of cream. He turned on the sink.

“She’s just a hook-up?” he muttered as he rinsed his razor again. “Do you hook up with girls a lot?”

Jo rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Kiyoshi,” he said tiredly. “That’s my private life, okay?”

“You know my private life,” Kiyoshi snapped.

The shift in tone bothered Jo. He fished his portable ashtray from his pocket.

“I like to keep the gang stuff separate from here,” Jo conceded as he ground out his cigarette.

“You met her through Byakko?”

“Well, no…I met her at Fukuhashi.”

“Is she the reason you joined Byakko?”

Jo scowled. “Kiyoshi,” he warned. “I don’t wanna talk about this.”

“Why not?!” Kiyoshi scraped the razor down his cheek angrily. “This entire freaking church knows about my girl problems. I can’t believe you just…” He suddenly hissed and gripped his jaw. When he pulled back his fingers, Jo saw a streak of blood against his chin.

“Dammit!” Kiyoshi tossed the razor in the sink, letting it clatter to the bottom of the porcelain. He grabbed a towel from the rack and buried his face in it.

Jo waited a few seconds. When Kiyoshi just growled and wiped his face clean, Jo went for another cigarette.

“Kiyoshi,” he murmured as he snapped his lighter shut. “I’ve talked about Mitsuko-senpai before.”

“Just that she runs the girl gang and stuff,” Kiyoshi replied sharply as he hung up the towel. “Not that you’re screwing her.”

“I never said I was screwing her.”

Kiyoshi snapped his head to Jo. “Oh yeah?” He grabbed a box from the top of the bathroom mirror and slammed it against the sink rim. “Then what the hell are these for?!”

For a second, Jo didn’t recognize the brightly colored box beneath Kiyoshi’s hand. Then he caught the end of the word behind Kiyoshi’s thumb.

The condoms. Jo had completely forgotten about them.

Jo let out a breath; smoke whistled over his lips. “That was…Zayd and I were picking up necessities at the convenience store,” he explained. “I just grabbed anything I could think of.”

“You just pick up condoms with your toothpaste? How many girls have you slept with?!”

“Watch it, Kiyoshi.” Jo pulled the cigarette from his lips, annoyed. “That’s not your business.”

Kiyoshi stared at him for a long moment, a strange, pained darkness dancing behind his eyes. It was the looming shadow he’d had since his rescue from Core.

He finally snatched a bottle of aftershave and squirted some into his hands. He carefully patted his raw chin and winced as he touched the cuts.

“You always say crap like that,” he muttered through his teeth. “You never tell me anything.”

Jo snorted and took another drag. “I’m a private person,” he argued. “That’s my right.”

“You forced me to tell you about Mai back in the dorm.”

“Did I?”

Kiyoshi grunted and looked up into the bathroom mirror. He carefully ran his fingers over his mostly smooth jaw.

He sighed. He shook his head.

“I’m just…embarrassed, Jo.”

Jo furrowed his eyebrows. “About what?”

“You and everyone else in the place know how I feel about Mai. Between the kidnapping and the detox…dammit, I don’t even know what I said during the detox, I barely remember it. Then the antagonists made me all weird, and I talk in my sleep…” He gritted his teeth. “I couldn’t keep a secret if I wanted to.

His dark eyes swung to Jo. “And now I know that you’ve been watching me…flail around like a pathetic virgin while you’re making out with the hottest girl in school. I feel stupid, Jo.”

Jo paused. “Would telling you have made you feel better?” he asked.

“I don’t know! I just…” Kiyoshi angrily swatted at the hanging towel. “I thought we were friends! Friends talk about stuff.”

“We’re…friends, Kiyoshi.”

“Then quit hiding things from me! Whenever I wanna talk, you just…”

To Jo’s surprise, Kiyoshi pulled the cigarette from Jo’s mouth. He tossed it into the wet sink; the light went out with a soft hiss.

Surprise shifted into anger. Jo twisted his head back and glared.

“I’ve always supported you,” Jo snapped. “Even when things got really fucking bad, Kiyoshi. And maybe you can’t keep a secret, but I never repeat your embarrassing shit to anyone else. I give you the same privacy I want you to give me.”

Kiyoshi tensed his jaw. “I know. And…thank you, but–”

“But what? I’m not doing this to be mean to you. This is just who I am!”

“Well…it’s not healthy!”

“According to who? Daniel? Sachi?! Do we seriously need to talk more about feelings in this place?!” Jo threw up his hands. “I like you because you don’t push me to talk, Kiyoshi. Even Mitsuko prods me about stuff, and it makes it harder for me to be with her. But with you, I can just…” Jo trailed off. He let out an angry breath and dug out another cigarette.

Kiyoshi was silent for a long moment, his eyes lingering on the floor. Jo lit up and tried to stay calm.

Kiyoshi swallowed. “You…you know I’m here if you do wanna talk, right?”

“Yes.” Jo snapped the light away. “And that’s all I need, Kiyoshi. That’s all I want.”

Kiyoshi opened his mouth, but he didn’t say anything. He took a ragged breath.

Jo was annoyed that Kiyoshi was suddenly acting like he was worried about Jo–that clearly wasn’t why he was upset. But as usual, Jo let it slide. He always let Kiyoshi slide.

As if to justify Jo’s reasoning, Kiyoshi blinked glassy eyes. He stroked his trembling jaw.

“I…I’m sorry, Jo,” he mumbled. “I shouldn’t yell at you. You’re really…good to me.”

The anger knots in Jo’s stomach loosened. He took a long, soothing drag.

“It’s been…kinda half-assed with Mitsuko,” Jo finally offered. “If we were back at Fukuhashi, yeah, I’d probably be dating her. But it’s not like we’ve had a lot of time to be alone, and it would be weird to have ‘the relationship talk’ in between smashing Core property.” He tapped his ashes into the sink. “She seemed to recognize you at the clinic, so I’ll probably have to tell her what happened. I was using her to keep tabs on Mai, anyway–I owe her an explanation.”

Kiyoshi’s face fell. He stared down into the sink.

“She won’t have to anymore,” he murmured. “Mai left Japan yesterday.”

Jo blinked. “What?”

“Daniel-san wanted to tell you this morning, but you were sleeping off your injury.” Kiyoshi sighed. “You know how he and Detective Nakajima pulled strings to force…some weird work trip in my uncle’s company so he’d get flown to Okinawa? I guess they did something like that with Mai’s parents. The whole family had to relocate to China for a year.”

“But she’ll come back after that?”

Kiyoshi shrugged.

Jo let smoke roll over his lips. “So…that’s good news,” he tried. “If Core figures out you’re alive, there’s no one they can grab to force you to come back. Your sister’s already here.”

Kiyoshi grunted. He rubbed at his eyes.

“Kiyoshi…”

“Whatever,” Kiyoshi mumbled. “It’s not like I can ever see her again. China or Japan makes no difference.”

Jo paused. Kiyoshi said nothing. Not willing to let irony get in the way of need, Jo raised an eyebrow.

“Uh…did you wanna talk about your girl problems?”

Kiyoshi irritably shook his head. “I’ve done that enough,” he muttered. “You don’t have to talk about Mitsuko-senpai, and I won’t talk to you about…” He trailed off.

Jo scratched at his itchy hair. He shuddered at the dirt that collected under his fingernails.

“Then…can I get past you? I’m disgusting.”

Kiyoshi looked up. “You want the shower?”

“I can’t because of my bandage…but I wanna hose down a little.”

Kiyoshi obediently squished against the sink so Jo could squeeze past him. As Kiyoshi cleaned up his shaving supplies, Jo claimed a clean towel.

“Hey.” Kiyoshi absently figured the top of the condom box. “Somebody already opened these.”

Jo brushed off the comment. “It might’ve been me. I try to keep one in my wallet.”

“Yeah, but…” Kiyoshi squinted at the box. “It looks like more than one’s missing.”

Jo sighed. As Kiyoshi peered intently at the little rows of plastic, Jo pulled the box from his hand.

“Look. I bought them for everyone. It was Zayd’s money, anyway.” Jo reached up to put them back on the mirror. “Just leave ’em here.”

He was about to put the box down, but stopped when he saw the flush on Kiyoshi’s cheeks. There was a weird look in his eyes.

Jo paused. “Uh…” He slowly brought the box back down. “Did you want one, Kiyoshi?”

The hue on Kiyoshi’s face deepened. He dropped his eyes to the floor.

Jo waited.

After a long moment, Kiyoshi slipped two fingers into the box. He palmed a condom and slid it into his pocket.

The awkwardness of the moment dragged on Jo like a fog. He mumbled something non-commital and slid the box onto the mirror.

A tiny part of him regretted their entire conversation about privacy. Because now, despite himself, he really wanted to ask.

Proceed to Chapter 5, Part 2, page 3–>