The Equation of Hearts

√𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟿ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩ

He walked in and looked around. There, at the counter, sifting through papers, Soji sat. He looked up and tilted his head, "kid? Aren't you Elena's bodyguard?" He raised a brow, his eyes were covered with a blindfold quite like Kato. It was the only reason Kato had thought of hiding his eyes with one over wearing contacts.

"Call me Kato." He replied, "I've come for the range," he lied.

"Shooting feels novice?" Soji stood up and dropped the papers. They slid over each other across the desk and lay spread for the next person to see. Though the shooting range was quiet, "was hoping to see you though." He nodded and opened the door to the actual range, "we only tested you for barehanded brawling," he worried and watched Kato crouch to go through the door.

"I can shoot." He assured, "not as good as you," he added, "but good enough." He pulled out a gun and took aim. A bullseye each time, but that was beside the point, as both men could see the blood on the gun still.

"Clearly." Soji agreed, pulling out his own gun from a holster below his blazer, "and shall I question the origins of that proof?" He entailed and Kato continued looking at the targets,

"A story of my own incompetence." He shot.

"Careful using your hand there - the gun heats," his uncle warned in return, "but we have time to learn from such." He offered.

"The contract extended to the whole family," he began,

"Right, not good for one person." Soji muttered.

"I was watching over the kids, they slept at the beach," he explained, "and left to get them clothes. Upon my return: a man there creeping on the girls."

"Heaven forbid, I suppose the blanks fill in themselves," Soji shook his head, offering a two-handed gun to Kato. They both continued in silence, only occasionally broken between them with tips that Soji would offer. Until it was just a point of applying what he knew.

They didn't need to speak, though Kato turned to face Soji, who was also shooting and reloading at effortless speeds, "eyes on the target," he ordered,

"How is Auntie Irū?" The boy replied instead. Soji froze and stopped shooting. He looked up at the black hair of the boy and then the blindfold. There was an unreadably shocked look on just the lips and eyebrows of the man.

Kato stopped shooting and repeated his question in case the gunfire made them hard of hearing. Though Soji shook his head and raised a hand to gesture he understood the simple query. But he still tilted his head, "how do you know her? How do you know that? Kid, how old are you?" He nodded suddenly.

"Kato, 17." He introduced with the reminder of his name, "a matter of why doesn't actually matter..." he shook his head, "is she okay...?" He wondered if something was wrong with her for Soji to react how he had.

"She's okay. You threw me off." He turned back to the targets, "17 and a bodyguard." He clicked his tongue. The boy joined, looking back at the targets.

"Uncle, what is auntie to you?" Kato continued the conversation for once.

"...She's my fiancée." He responded. Kato got excited and stopped shooting, he put the gun down properly, bobbing slightly like he was a kid again, "what? I thought you knew, since you know her anyway." He frowned and looked at the boy. Less of a man for a moment and more of a child.

"I'm happy," he began, though he wasn't smiling, "that you found love here as well," he explained. Soji put his gun away and crossed his arms, he leaned against the wall and sighed.

"Alright. You're acting strange. Tell me everything." He ordered the boy, nodding to the floor. Obediently, Kato sat down and looked at Soji, having to actually look up.