Hong Kong x Reader ~Snake Eyes Olivine~ 12

Chapter 12: Minimal

Leon swallowed. From what he had learned from Emil, there was more to ___________ than met the eyes. And what about the other person that was there when Emil was caught? Emil had said he was tall, loud, sadistic…

“Sadistic?” the breaker murmured to himself. “Nope. It couldn’t be anyone I know—unless I counted Ivan, but Emil would have been able to point out Ivan Braginski in a heartbeat.”

Fuck all of this. What in the world was he doing while the rest of the inner circle was working its butt off trying to save him and their own lives? It didn’t help that he was the one who apparently screwed everything up. He still hadn’t gotten over that problem. He still couldn’t see where he had gone wrong, but that didn’t matter right now. Too bad acupuncture didn’t work miracles on broken limbs. He could have used something like a scientific breakthrough at this moment.

“The western district…” he whispered and furrowed his thick eyebrows. “If the western district’s involved, it’s going to get messy. The last thing we need is for the south to come into all of this.”

With nothing else to resort to, Leon flipped open his phone and checked the batteries. It was close to being drained. He cursed. Where was the nearest outlet in this place? Even for a greenhouse, there had to be some type of electricity running through. If he didn’t find one, he would have to make the call as quick as possible saying the least amount of things.

From his deductions, Lien would still be with Bharat. Kasem, if he didn’t forget, was looking into ____________’s background. It would have been easier to talk to Kiku about all of this, but he was with Mei, wasn’t he? Emil went back to the Lycka Till. He hadn’t had a meal with Cheng recently so his fortune cookie code was used up. What a stupid way to say the verbal code.

This was no way to be living. He needed to get out of this place. There were things he needed to do. He needed to reach the western district…even if that meant having to see him.

~~~~~

“Geez, Ice! Do you know how worried sick we all were because of you?!” Mathias huffed. He didn’t look too happy for once—maybe that was because he had a series of visible bruises running down his forehead.

“I’m not a child anymore,” the youngest member of the Fimm frowned. “I can take care of myself. There’s no need to keep an eye on me every hour of the day.”

“But could you at least tell us what you were doing at the Bonne Chance?” his brother asked. Even though they were related by blood, Emil still had a hard time figuring out what Lukas was thinking past those unreadable lifeless blue eyes.

Emil rolled his eyes. “It’s nothing you needed to be worried about,” he said. “I was just bored.”

“I didn’t know you were into auctions involving die,” Lukas commented.

“Why wouldn’t I be? I’m a caster.”

“A sword’s only as good as the person who wields it,” Berwald spoke up.

Emil frowned. “Are you implying that I’m not as good as the rest of you?”

Lukas shook his head. “No, we’re just saying that you don’t have to be any better. There are five of us, Emil. Each one is older than you and has more experience than you could worry about gaining.”

“What’s the point of sheltering me?” Emil asked his voice rising in tension. “Just because of one stupid accident doesn’t mean my life is going to be like that forever. Instead of keeping me here, you should be teaching me how to protect myself.”

“That won’t be necessary,” his brother said, his expression unmoving. “You’re not just a brother to me, you’re like a brother to everyone here, and I don’t aim on losing you.”

“I don’t understand you guys!” Emil shouted and stormed off. Idiots, every one of them! He was twenty-two for goodness sake! Immediately upon reaching his room, he slammed the door shut and threw himself on his bed. He didn’t’ even bother to lock it because all of the other members of the Fimm had the key to his room.

Look at me, he thought bitterly to himself. I really am a child at heart. I can’t think for myself, and I can’t even do things without having to be worried about what others will say about me. Kaoru is so much better compared to me, and he’s not even able to move from that Glasshouse.

The Snake Eyes Olivine. It was amazing how something that was based on rumors could explode into so many different speculations built upon speculations. Just what was it? He wondered if it was even possible to see it. Would the others know about it? He thought that if anyone had some information regarding the elusive program/die/other miscellaneous object, it would have been his brother, Lukas. But he didn’t want to talk to Lukas right now. Not now, not ever. If he really wanted to prove himself useful and pay someone back, it would have to be Kaoru, but that also meant he was on his own. He was perfectly fine with that.

~~~~~

“I’m not going to tell you bastards anything!” the older of the Vargas brothers shouted. Meanwhile, his younger brother was babbling some nonsense or speaking so fast it was impossible to understand.

Cheng sighed and flipped out his fan. He had been exposed to torture methods used in the southern district, and frankly, he didn’t enjoy partaking in watching or doing them. It would get Yao’s new carpet dirty.

“It will be easier if you just come out and talk, you two,” he said in a calm voice. “I’d hate it if we had to resort to extreme measures in order to get the information we want. Either way, you’ll cough up what you know regardless.”

“Please don’t hurt us!” Feliciano cried. He wasn’t in tears, but it looked like he was on the verge of breaking out like an over-pressurized fountain. “I’ll tell you everything we need to know, but go easy on me, okay? I’m very fragile, and I can’t imagine what I would do if I had to see my own blood, please don’t kill us!”

“Feli, you damn bastard!” Lovino screeched and turned his head to face his younger brother. “Our orders we to do the job fast and keep our mouths shut about the operation! Now zip it!” Then he turned to Cheng. “And you! Aren’t you working for that tomato bastard’s casino?! What the hell are you doing with these tea-loving idiots?!”

“My, my, such a dirty mouth,” Cheng commented with complete composure. “Whether I work for Sr. Carriedo is none of your concern. You should be worried about your own well-being if you do not give us the information we want. As I said before, it will be easier for all of us if you simply tell us who sent you to go after Bharat and what was the purpose of going after him.”

“I won’t tell you eastern district filth wads anything!” Lovino shouted. His loud voice was echoing throughout the training facility’s basement.

“Aiya,” Yao groaned. “Cheng, I know you disagree with using provocative force, but we just might have to resort to such measures if we’re going to get the older one to talk. It looks like he’s the only one who’s sane enough to know anything or remember it.”

All the while, Kiku had kept silent in thought until now. “Ah, you know what might work? Feliciano’s always been something of a loose cannon so if we make him unstable enough, he’ll give us the information we need.”

“Wonderful,” Cheng smiled. “And what about Lovino?”

Yao shrugged. “Ah, we can just give him a sleeping dose,” he casually answered.

“I’d like to see you try!” Lovino barked. “It’ll take more than a little sleeping dose to put me ou—”

“Lovi!” Feliciano cried. When he saw Yao’s hand go to his brother’s neck, Lovino immediately stopped talking and hung his head limply beside his shoulder like he had his life source completely separate from the rest of his body.  

“Don’t worry,” Yao chuckled. “Your brother’s just knocked out for a while so we can focus our attention on you.”

“No! Please, I beg you, don’t hurt me!” Feliciano screeched.

Kiku turned to Cheng and looked up to whisper into his ear.

“You know, if you think about it, Feliciano makes a terrible henchman. Just look at him.”

“Oh, I couldn’t agree more,” Cheng smiled in amusement. “It’s just one of those things he was wrapped into because of the people around him.”

“I would think so,” Kiku sighed. “It doesn’t look like he wants to be here.”

“Quite so,” Cheng agreed. “Now, I hate to ask, but do you think you could do the…persuasion in my place? Seeing as how the Vargas brothers work for a different division in the same place as me, I wouldn’t want to get into any trouble with Sr. Carriedo back at the Buena Suerte.”

“It’s no problem,” Kiku said and rolled up his sleeves. Then, he looked around for the nearest knife and held it out to Feliciano’s tender throat.

“No!” the younger Vargas brother cried. “Don’t cut my throat or gut me like a pig! I’ll tell you anything you want! I swear! Just don’t kill me!”

Yao furrowed his eyebrows. “With the older brother out of stasis, this is easier to do than I imagined.”

Kiku continued to stare at Feliciano. “If you don’t want to die or end up in a worse state than your brother, you’ll be wise to tell me who sent you first of all.”

“It was Toni!” Feliciano burst out. “He told us to go look for a hacker named Bharat because he had some kind of connections with the people over at the western district!”

“By ‘Toni,’ he’s referring to Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, correct?” Kiku asked Cheng for confirmation.

“That’s right, but for respect, I just refer to him as Sr. Carriedo,” Cheng replied.

“And what sort of connections did Bharat have with the people in the western district?” Yao asked.

“He was looking for some information about the recent interactions Arthur Kirkland was managing,” Feliciano spewed out loud and clear. “We were told Bharat had some files going back to the time before the Veel Sucess was overthrown and Tim Maes disappeared.

“Huh,” Yao, thought aloud. “Weren’t you part of that little shut-down, though?”

Feliciano swallowed. “I don’t really remember what happened during that time,” he admitted. “I’m telling the truth! Look at my face! Do I look like I’m lying? I was only following orders!”

“Such is the way the underlings work,” Cheng commented. “They don’t really have any conscious as to how things go about. They function like living puppets. I’ve had my share of this type of observation.”

Yao narrowed his eyes. “There’s been too much of that sort of business going on ever since these rumors about the Snake Eyes Olivine have sprouted up,” he said. “It’s got us all under someone’s leash, and we have to figure out who’s pulling the strings before our time is up.”

“Right, so are we done, then?” Kiku asked still holding the blunt end of the knife to Feliciano’s throat.

“It’s enough for now,” Yao said. “I’ll have to prepare some medicine to knock out his memories.”

“Would you like some help, Yao?” Cheng asked.

“That would be nice, Cheng,” Yao replied. “Oh, Kiku, you don’t have to worry about Feliciano anymore. In fact, see if you can get a hold of Leon and Kasem. I want you three to go over to the western district and see if you can find any information on Arthur Kirkland. In the meantime, I’m going to tell Mei and Lien to keep an eye on Bharat.”

Kiku frowned. “You want Leon of all people to go with us? What about his experience with Arthur in the past?”

“Hmm?” Yao looked back. “Oh, yes, you’re right. I had forgotten about that. Erm, in that case, why don’t you bring Yong Soo along?”

“I’m beginning to regret asking…” Kiku groaned. No one liked working with Yong Soo because of his loud mouth. The only ones who were able to put up with him to a small extent were Leon, Kasem, and Cheng.

Nevertheless, Kiku went upstairs and began to dial the members of the inner circle one by one starting with Yong Soo. It was better to call Yong Soo first since he would retain the information longer than Kasem might.

In the mean time, Yao and Cheng left the Vargas brothers in the basement to prepare their special memory-alternating concoction.

~~~~~

“Stay out of the patient’s rooms, please,” you instructed with a stern face.

Yong Soo pouted and crossed his arms.

“But what if one of your patients happens to be a mass-murderer who knows how to use a knife or something?” he asked unconvinced you would be alright.

A slight smile tugged at the corner of your lip. Actually, there is someone like that, you thought to yourself.

“Don’t worry, Yong Soo. If there really was someone like that, you’d be able to take care of him or her for me wouldn’t you?”

“Of course!” the breaker said with an air of confidence that wafted off of his very body like his own brand of cologne.

You rolled your eyes. “Good. Then there’s nothing to worry about.”

Just as you were about to return downstairs, you heard the sound of someone’s cell phone vibrating. When you looked down, you saw that Yong Soo had taken his cell phone out of his pocket and excused himself from your clinic by holding up his finger and going downstairs.

You furrowed your eyebrows. Is it so bad that he’d really think about leaving me like this? you wondered.

Then you shook your head. Don’t be silly, ___________, you told yourself and straightened out your posture. If you get too worried about him, then it will turn into something else. Yong Soo’s the last person you’d want to worry about.

“…Really? Right now?” you heard Yong Soo say from outside. “Alright, I’ll be there. Make sure he doesn’t forget this time, okay? Got it.”

When he hung up the phone, he returned to your side and pocketed his phone.

“I have to get a new one of these,” he grumbled before facing you.

“Uh, hey, listen ___________, something important came up so I have to go now,” he said scratching his head.

You shrugged. “Go on ahead. You don’t have to tell me where you’re going. Do what you’ve got to do.”

Yong Soo’s face tensed up. “What if someone comes after you again?”

“They won’t.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I am,” you merely replied.

This got Yong Soo to chuckle. “You’re so hard to read, you know that?”

“I can say the same about you.”

“I’m nowhere near as strange as you.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Is that a compliment?”

“If you think it is.”

“If I think it is,” you mumbled. “Whatever you say, Yong Soo.”

Then, before taking off, Yong Soo walked right in front of you and gave you a soft peck on your forehead. The aching in your head didn’t hurt as much anymore, but that wasn’t something you had expected.

“Try to hang on for me until I get back, okay?” he told you in a soft voice.

You made a face. “First you kill a bunch of men to get me back, try to follow me, threaten a young man at gunpoint, and the now you just walk away just because of a call? Just how important am I to you, Yong Soo? Who are you really?”

“You’re as important to me as breathing itself,” Yong Soo answered with an unreadable grin.

“And you’re about as unreadable as one of the lost languages like Latin,” you replied.

“Huh?” Apparently Yong Soo didn’t get it.

“Never mind,” you sighed. “Just go on ahead. I don’t care if you’re with me every second of the day.”

“Hey, you said you were going to let me sleep in your bed if I went to get your errands done,” Yong Soo reminded you.

“And I haven’t forgotten,” you said. Of course, that didn’t mean you weren’t going to draw a line straight across the middle of the bed. “Yong Soo, just leave so you can get back.”

“You got it, ___________!” the breaker laughed and dashed out of your clinic.

Good, you thought. Now there can be some peace and quite around here.

That was definitely the first thing you noticed. All the patients upstairs were resting, and all the chores had been done. Without Yong Soo around, everything was so bland. On the other hand, you told yourself that you had to get used to it all. There was no point in looking forward to seeing him all of the time especially given how dangerous you realized he was.

A breaker.

This city ran on casinos. Someone who knew a way to crack the system was a dangerous threat. Hell, he’d have the whole city running after him regardless of how his philosophy worked. But despite all of this, what made you worry about him the most was that if you remained attached to him, feelings would generate.

No.

You had to make sure there was a distance away from him. Remain unreadable and cold. Eventually he would give up, and in time, he would realize that he had repaid you completely.

You could only hope it would happen sooner or later.