He wanted to take the guy aside, to make sure that he wasn’t being threatened or anything, sure, but firstly, just to talk to him, try to find out just what the hell kind of guy had managed to wind up in a relationship with his brother.
Is he some kind of career criminal? Some poor innocent guy that Yutaka pulled into his grasp with promises of love and sweet words and that kind of bullshit?
At least they seemed happy, Yuta standing around hanging off of his boyfriend’s arm, smiling while chattering on and on about whatever-the-hell while the poor bastard stood there, the stupidest sappiest grin on his face while he looked into Yutaka’s eyes like the secrets of the universe were in there.
It was a face that Toll had seen on about ten-thousand different guys and girls before, before they wound up in some shitty situation. Maybe he scammed them out of hundreds of thousands of yen, or disappeared in the middle of the night, or got busted for fraud or shoplifting or whatever the hell Yuta decided to do whenever he got bored of his latest partner.
Shame. The guy seemed nice enough, was clearly in love with Yuta from the way he talked about him to the group, and was even somewhat attractive. He’d certainly make someone else very happy, Toll thought after the meeting, as he stood on Imai’s balcony, blowing his cigarette smoke into the cold night air.
He felt someone tap his shoulder.
Yutaka. His brother stood in front of him, a grin on his face that Toll had learned to classify as his “I’m making my Nice Smile, but with just enough slip-ups to freak you out” face. He took a step towards his brother, not breaking eye contact for even a second. It made a shiver crawl down Toll’s spine.
“What do you want?”
Yutaka sighed, draping himself over the balcony’s edge like a particularly languid cat. “Nothing much. Can’t I say hello to my beloved brother?”
Toll let a little snicker loose. “Beloved?” Cheap talk for the guy I only see once a month when we strategize about how to kill bloodsuckers.
“Yes, beloved . You’d think I’d save just anyone from getting their neck chewed open?”
“You’d save Satan himself if he promised you ten bucks and a particularly nice hooker.”
He giggled, a very un-Yutaka sound. “True, true.” Yutaka turned around, slowly, deliberately. “You know, I’ve got something important to tell you.”
Toll desperately tried to keep his heart rate normal. “And that is?”
His younger brother grabbed his arm, slowly shifting his facade. Something dangerous shone in his eyes, just for a brief second. It made something in the back of Toll’s brain, something ancient and animalistic, start desperately looking for an escape route.
Yuta’s grin stretched across his face. “I caught you looking at Hide and me together, and I know what you’re thinking. And I’m going to tell you, that if you even think about trying to ‘warn him’ about me, then I will personally make it so that-” he took another step forward, pressing Toll between Yutaka and the railing- “they’ll have to send you back to your wife in multiple little boxes. Got it?”
Toll’s heart had never beat faster than it had before, not when Yuta was pressing him against the railing with that serial killer smile on his face. Just a step forward and it doesn’t matter that he’s shorter than you, he could push you off the edge and claim it was an accident, that unhelpful little voice in the back of his head said.
He breathed in, trying to get his heart rate straight again. “Got it.”
Yutaka nodded, slow and solemn, before cracking a slight smile. “Okay.”
Someone called out from inside the apartment. “Hey! You guys done over there?!”
The younger man turned back to Toll, his face shifting back into normalcy and relaxation, so quickly that it almost put Toll back at ease.
Almost.
“Yeah, we’re done, just having a little brotherly bonding!”
An hour later, Toll was waiting at the subway station. Yutaka’s words, their conversation on the balcony, kept playing over and over again in his head.
“So-” Toll gestured towards the door- “are we finished here?” A short snicker escaped from his throat.
God, please let us be done. Please let him leave me alone. Please make him not my problem anymore.
Yutaka’s face dropped. “I’m serious.” He made his way to the door, fixing Toll in his gaze. “Hide’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I am not going to let you ruin it.”
Like you always do . It was unsaid, but the look in his brother’s eyes said it all. Like you always do, because you don’t care about silly little things like the law or morality or basic human decency.
Toll grit his teeth. He fished out his phone, an old flip phone held together mostly by prayer at this point. Fingers typed out a message to his brother, starting shaky but getting steadier as he continued.
You know I can’t do that.