Mastermind | Chuuya Nakahara.

TWENTY-EIGHT.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:
You have to kill me.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

             The car was deathly silent.

            Chuuya was driving his black BMW through the streets of Yokohama, his fingers turning white beneath his gloves from how tight he was gripping the steering wheel. Aki had her face tilted towards the passenger side window, staring out, watching the city pass her by. Mori had been sure that the moment Aki left the Port Mafia Headquarters, that she would be followed. And he was right. A silver SUV had been tailing them the entire time. They had their orders. They were to drive out of the city, to a secluded location, luring the assassins in before being the ones to do the assassination.

                    Chuuya's blue gaze flickered to the rearview, looking at Aki. She was sitting so still, like some kind of gargoyle perched on the top of a cathedral. She hadn't moved an inch since she got in the car, nor had she spoke. He wished she'd say something—anything. Despite them not being on talking terms, he knew that she must have been unhappy with her predicament. She had spared Kana's life once, showing him that she had never wanted to kill her, despite the things that she had said. He wanted to know what she was thinking. He wanted to know how she was feeling—if she was feeling anything at all. Looking at her, it didn't seem like it.

                   "Can you stop staring?" Aki suddenly spoke up, snapping him from his daze, making him shift his attention back to the road. They were driving across the bridge that would lead them out of the city—closer to their mission. Closer to the moment Aki would have to kill her companion.

                     "Out with it," Aki said when Chuuya didn't say anything. He glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. She wasn't looking at him, but after a moment, she turned her body to face him, amber eyes landing on his face with a sigh. "You clearly want to say something. So spit it out already." She urged, an impatient and snappy tone to her voice.

                    "It's just... do you really want to do this? I mean, you spared her life before. Are you really alright with killing her now?" He asked her, his eyes flickering back and forth between the road and the rearview mirror.

                    Aki scoffed, "Does it look like I have a choice? It's Mori's orders."

                   "You've never cared about that before." Chuuya pointed out.

                 Aki sighed, raking a hand through her thick-dark hair, "This is different. It's a test of loyalty—of strength. I can't just not do it." She told him, as if it were obvious.

                   "But you said before that loyalty was like a coffin. You said you weren't loyal to the Double A or to the Port Mafia." Chuuya remembered. He was sure he could remember every single word she'd ever spoke.

                   "Because I wasn't," Aki said, her teeth grinding together. "But if it came down to it and I had to choose..." She trailed off, making Chuuya turn to look at her, momentarily taking his eyes off of the road.

                   "I'd choose the Port Mafia." Her words made his heart skip—and he knew she had felt it by the way she looked at him. He hadn't even realised he wanted such a thing, but she moment she'd said those words, a wave of relief crashed into him. It was something he never would have expected, not for Aki to pick a particular side—but to ever choose the Port Mafia.