We don't talk about Jouno

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Fukuchi wore a noise amplifier around his heart, but Jouno could still tell he was certainly surprised to see him alive, standing in the doorway of his prison cell. Jouno calmly walked forwards, and grabbed the opposite chair. He flipped it around and sat in it backwards, so he could rest his head on the back of the chair. Jouno was lucky it was a short chair. He knew he really shouldn't be doing this. He hadn't been cleared for any kind of missions, even basic interrogations, considering the fact that he'd been back for less than a week. Jouno twisted his new wedding ring around his finger. Jouno was certain his fiancé wouldn't approve of him going to see the man that had very nearly put him in an early grave.

"Jouno." Fukuchi said shakily, like he couldn't believe Jouno was sitting there. Jouno crossed his arms, trying to look bored. Inside, his heart was hammering though. As much as Jouno hated to admit it, he was scared. His last memories before the mostly blank times were of this man trying to kill him. That wasn't the kind of thing he could easily put out of his mind.

"Good god." Fukuchi said. It was rare Jouno heard his former boss surprised. Jouno got a bit of satisfaction out of that. He'd taken what Atsushi said to heart. The man he'd thought of like his father was dead. He'd never existed. This person was the one who had tried to kill him. Jouno could be as brutal and ruthless as he wanted here without feeling bad about it. Heck, he could kill Fukuchi, and no one would blame him. Jouno was pretty sure Fukuchi knew that, which would make his job here easier.

"I'm not here to reminisce." Jouno said coldly. He crossed his arms on the back of the chair, sort of showing them off. Jouno had been careful to choose a shirt that ended just below his elbow, baring one of his many scars. If Fukuchi felt any semblance of guilt over what he did to Jouno, he wanted to play that up for all it was worth. "I'm just here for the information."

"How are you here?" Fukuchi asked. Jouno frowned. He didn't ask how Jouno was alive. Ah. He'd been in on the whole plot to not actually kill Jouno. That made Jouno even angrier. Fukuchi knew what that would do to Tetchou. "My fiancé put your Icelandic nut job out of commission." Jouno said. Fukuchi laughed, and the suddenness and loudness of it took Jouno by surprise. "Still the same old way with words, eh, kid?" Fukuchi asked. "Glad to see some things never change."

Jouno swallowed hard. He wouldn't let Fukuchi get to him. "The only thing that's about to change is the number of eyeballs in your skull, if you don't tell me what I want to know." Jouno said, keeping his anger in check. He'd seem more dangerous if he was calm and composed.

"Very well." Fukuchi said. "You certainly know how to strike fear into the heart of your enemy. That was always something you could do, Jouno." Jouno carefully tilted his wrist up, showing Fukuchi his watch. The message was clear. The clock was ticking. In a few minutes, Fukuchi's heart might no longer be.

"What do you want to know?" Fukuchi asked. Jouno didn't like how relaxed he sounded here. Jouno was in charge here, not worm. The tables had turned, and Fukuchi was the one calling the shots. So why did Fukuchi sound so damn confident? Jouno took a moment to listen around the room for any kind of potential ambush. They might not be in an airport, but Jouno still wouldn't put it past the guy.

"I want to know about the decay of angels." Jouno said. "Decisive." Fukuchi said, infuriatingly dodging the point. "Good. I still say you'd make for a fine member of the decay of angels, Jouno." Fukuchi said. "You might try to hide it, but you're exactly what I trained you to be."

Jouno knew he shouldn't let his temper get the best of him, but he slammed his hands down against the table as he stood up. "I am nothing like you and I never will be." He said. "On the boat, before I killed the port mafia boy, I offered him a choice. He could be my apprentice, and still be returned to his team in the end. I never seriously meant that, though. My apprentice was always supposed to be you."

Jouno fought the urge to laugh. "If I didn't want to join you and be your apprentice before you tried to kill me, why do you think that'd work the second time?" Jouno asked incredulously. "Because I know the one thing you did wrong." Jouno raised an eyebrow. Fukuchi always did this when he fought someone. Curiously enough, he didn't do that when he was fighting Jouno. Jouno decided to humor him, knowing he'd be getting no answers until Fukuchi had said his peace.

"And what was that?" Jouno asked, trying to reign in his temper. "You don't trust people." Fukuchi said. Jouno didn't get why that was relevant. "You didn't follow my lead when I gave you a choice." Fukuchi continued. "Now, I can't protect you from what's to come." Ah. Fukuchi was good at giving interrogations, and it seemed he knew what to do on the other side of the table. He was trying to shake Jouno up, but it wasn't going to work. Jouno was smarter than Fukuchi. He always had been, and he always would be.

"Why do you give a damn what happens to me? You have other teammates." Fukuchi nodded. "Yes, but none of them are actually essential to the plan." Ah. Jouno knew what was going on here. Fukuchi would look good in front of his actual boss if he was the one who brought Jouno in. Because the decay of angels needed Jouno specifically for some weird reason. Enough so that they stole three months of his life. Tetchou thought he was dead. There was no forgiving that.

"Why am I so essential, then?" Jouno asked. "If you raised me for ten years for this, I feel like I'm owed an answer." Jouno didn't get one, though. All he got was more talking around the point. "I didn't know they needed you until a few years ago." Fukuchi said. "When I took you out of that prison, it was to settle an old debt." Fukuchi had been making small movements up to this point, but now, he grew deadly still. "Jouno, while I can't tell you what's going on with the decay of angels, I can give you some of the answers you seek. Fifteen years ago, I killed your parents."