◣ no ◥ :

Thin fingers rested over his mouth as his frame shook, expelling a few wheezing coughs after his mission had been accomplished. The weather was unkind, prompting him to be even unkinder to those he was assigned to eliminate. The humidity constricted his throat and lungs much like how Rashomon coiled around its prey just minutes before, and Akutagawa did not want to spend any additional time outside than was necessary. 

His throat rattled again as he traversed the streets of Yokohama, intent on reporting back before the rain grew too heavy. However, his attention was diverted by the unexpected contact and equally unexpected person who was responsible. Normally he would carry on without acknowledgement, but he paused, noticing the way she trembled at the sight of him.

Even through the rain and discomfort in his respiratory system, dark eyes narrowed at the girl before him. What an ungrateful child, to betray the one place where she was given worth. A twinge of irritation laced his thoughts and words at the memory of her defection. “I will not kill you, if that is what you are so afraid of.” Confrontations with members of the Detective Agency were prohibited for the time being, and that included clashing with traitors. 

◣ ✿ ◥ Of course, her trembling could be easily accounted for by the cold rain soaking her hair and clothes, but there he went, assuming she was afraid of him–how arrogant of him (even if he was right)! Her plan to sneak away failed either way, not that it’d been likely from the start and only managed to put in a couple feet of extra distance between them; as far as she was concerned, the farther away from Akutagawa, the better.

One assumption he did get wrong, on the other hand, was that she’d be afraid of him killing her. She wasn’t. All things considered, that was the least of her concerns. No, she was afraid of him and the thought of being dragged back to the mafia, and while she would avoid getting killed if at all possible, it didn’t fill her with dread. (Some part of her still didn’t care about her own life after taking so many others under his control. Best to continue repressing that.)

“It’s cold and wet,” she responded, offering an alternate explanation. “I just want to go home.” While he didn’t seem intent on preventing her from doing so, she couldn’t just leave with him speaking to her. Call it an old habit she hadn’t had the chance to break, but his gaze rooted her to the ground.