(BL) Mafia Love; He who falls the hardest loses-Chapter 172: Caught?

Haruki’s heart raced at the message on his screen. He wanted to believe it was a joke but the words he exchanged with Hiroshi at Ren’s funeral flooded his mind.

He rose up and leaned on the table, trying to steady his legs. Hiroshi took his words seriously? He wished the man was before so he could scold him as much as he wanted.

He hadn’t meant to say those words. He had plans set in motion. It might take longer but he knew he was going to end Aiichiro’s life, and he could feel a shift in the air with the message on the lit screen of his phone.

Even with the memories, a part of him wanted to believe it was impossible. It wanted him to believe someone with a smile as warm and a gaze as gentle as Hiroshi would never try to take someone’s life.

He stood by these thoughts as he tapped on the screen of his phone.

-- Which of my lovers?

Hiroshi could never. He was a doctor. His job was to save lives. He hadn’t tried killing Aiichiro for vengeance after his attempted murder, so why would he do it over a few words he said?

His phone rang. He looked down at the vibrating device and felt an urge to throw it across the room. He wanted it to hit the wall hard enough to break apart.

He looked down at it his breath hitched. Aiichiro’s caller ID was displayed on the screen. Despite his hesitation as his fingers hovered over the screen, he ended up picking the call.

"Hello," Aiichiro’s voice came from the other end with a joviality that made Haruki wish he could cut out the man’s vocal cords.

"Which of my lovers tried to kill you?" Haruki asked directly without responding to the man’s perfunctory greeting. He hated that he was not called to the news that the lover had succeeded but to the news of the man’s death or an invitation to his funeral.

"Guess," the man replied after a few seconds of silence. He sounded as though he was having fun.

"This is not a game," Haruki having no patience to amuse the man replied coldly.

"How could it be a game?" The cheeriness in Aiichiro’s voice disappeared replaced by a taciturn tone. "I almost lost my life." His voice was even icier with this announcement. "I said guess."

Haruki knew the man was getting angry but there was no way for him to directly ask if it was Hiroshi. He had no time for games but he asked, "Was it Shinya?"

The other end remained silent for a while. Haruki could guess how enraged the man was as he had to bring his phone away from his ear to confirm that the call hadn’t ended as the silence continued.

"Hello?" he forced out despite the urge he felt to hang up first. That was the limit of his joke if he hung up and Hiroshi died, he might never forgive himself.

"Are you done with the joke?" Aiichiro asked menacingly. "Or should I send him to Shinya? That sounds feasible."

Haruki’s heart dropped at such a threat. "No! Wait. I will come to you. We could make a deal. We could clear up this misunderstanding peaceably."

"I was too busy investigating who was behind my attack to pay you any heed. Let’s meet next week. Take this time to think about what I want. I want a proper deal, okay?"

Haruki wanted to ask when and where they would meet next week but the call ended without the chance to. He pressed the button on his phone and looked at the dark screen.

He dropped into the chair he had just stood up from. Too many people close to him had died in less than a month and to think of someone else dying was just too much mental task to undertake.

He massaged his brow to each the pulsating headache that came overwhelmingly. Unable to ease his worries, he pressed the power button of his screen. He called Hiroshi immediately.

The call connected faster than he expected it to. He wanted to scold Hiroshi so badly. To ask him what he was thinking. To call such an act foolishness but those words remained stuck in his throat as he thought of the fact that he had ordered Hiroshi.

"Why did you try to kill Aiichiro?" Haruki asked sternly.

"You asked me to," Hiroshi replied calmly on the other end.

Haruki’s brow furrowed as he sigh left his lips. "Do you know how dangerous what you did is?"

"He didn’t die, he was taken to the hospital. He will be fine soon."

Haruki hearing the nonchalance in the man’s voice could not hold back anymore as he asked, "Have you lost your mind?"

Hiroshi didn’t respond only further enraging him.

"Do you know what he will do to you when he gets you?"

"He can’t," Hiroshi replied calmly. "I didn’t make a mistake. I . . ."

"You have truly lost your mind," Haruki said exasperated. He brushed his hair backwards and rubbed his face. "You tried to kill someone like him and got caught?"

"I didn’t get caught," Hiroshi replied firmly.

"You are even dumber than I thought," Haruki let out a tired laugh and was incapable of understanding Hiroshi’s calmness. "Why would you make such a mistake?! Why would you do such a foolish act?! Why?! Aren’t you scared for your life?"

Haruki realised he had been shouting when his throat began to hurt. He cleared his throat as thirst began to set in. Hiroshi hadn’t responded even after a few seconds. He sighed heavily and hung up.

He had a week to plan a way to appease Aiichiro or he might have to attend another funeral. He blamed himself as he rose up focused on what he had to do. He had asked Hiroshi to do it. It was his responsibility to clean up the man’s mess.

When he narrated everything to Kiyoshi, his assistant looked surprised as he remained silent staring blankly.

"Unbelievable, right?" Haruki sighed helplessly.

"Yes, I don’t believe Hiroshi would get caught if he tried to kill him. He is a genius. He is smart enough to avoid having someone’s death tied to him."

"That’s what I thought." The disappointment was evident on Haruki’s face. He had been sighing continually through their conversation. It was obvious how much it weighed on his mind. "Come up with an idea of what we could offer as a deal to dissuade him from avenging."

Kiyoshi accepted the order and left with the same sceptical look that showed he could not believe what Haruki had said.

As the door closed behind Kiyoshi, Haruki turned his chair to the window. A drop trickled down the glass followed by another. This was a perfect reminder of how close his birthday was. He had never had a year so sad, so tiring like his previous year.

Yet, ironically, it was the happiest he had been in a long time. He sighed. The happiness had lasted through the middle of the first half until the end of the second half.

He had fallen in love unconsciously. So deeply that he was making plans, dangerous plans just to save the dumb man he fell in love with.

Just like the raindrops trickling down the large window, his vision blurred and tears ran down his cheeks. He regretted every choice he made in his life. He regretted letting Kataro stab him. He regretted meeting Hiroshi.

Perhaps if they never met, he would never have had to deal with these feelings. He would never have lost his grandaunt and his aunt. He would have lived his life normally according to plan, got married, started a family of his own and never known these foreign feelings.

He wouldn’t be completely without joy. He would still find ways to have a normal dinner with his parents as though they never died.

Hiroshi came into his life and ruined it. The man’s warm brown eyes had brought warmth to his cold life. The man had made him abandon his painful past to live in the present, to enjoy the scent and embrace of his lover.

The rain got heavier just like the tears cascading down his cheeks. Even through it all, he could not blame Hiroshi. He was certain of the deep love Hiroshi had for him. Hiroshi had simply obeyed his words.

He covered his face with his palms as a painful sob escaped his lips.

He had ordered Kiyoshi to come up with an idea but he knew none of it would matter. He had made up his mind. It was a mess he started, he wanted to do the cleanup himself.

With his determination, nothing else mattered. Not his grandfather’s dreams, not Ren’s duty to protect the family, not the hundreds of men he was responsible for reintegrating into society, no one else mattered. Not even himself.

After what felt like eternity, he leaned against the backrest of the chair and mopped his face clean. He never said those words verbally to Hiroshi but it still jinxed him.

"Love," he murmured in self-mockery.