Chapter Text
The collar was cold and heavy around Takemichi’s neck, its weight serving as a constant reminder of where he was and who he belonged to.
Sano Manjiro
A man whose very name made people tremble in fear. With a slight wave of his hand, he could start wars between the most powerful nations, and with a single word, he could end them. Safe to say, he was a man that possessed more power than even god himself. But if there really was a god above, he too would kneel at Sano Manjirou’s feet all the same.
Yet to Takemichi, he was just Mikey. His friend, his lover, and his captor.
And as if the name engraved onto his collar wasn’t explanation enough, Takemichi belonged to Mikey whether he liked it or not. Not that he had much of a choice to begin with.
But, things didn’t always start out this way. Atleast, Takemichi liked to think so.
————
It was supposed to be like every other day.
The droning hum of the ac only seemed to further numb Takemichi’s thoughts. Lazily resting his elbow on the cashier counter, Takemichi’s eyes remained glued to the door of the 7-eleven where he worked, patiently waiting for a new customer to walk in so he could at least have something to do with his hands.
As far as one could tell, Hanagaki Takemichi’s life was all but exciting. Already in his 20s, working a minimum-wage job, and with a number of friends he could probably count on one hand, his life was, well, boring. Mind-numbingly so.
But it wasn’t always that way. Sometimes, Takemichi liked to look back at his life and laugh at the boy he used to be. Bold, bright and eyes brimming with ambition, it’s hard to tell where that old part of himself had gone, if it even still exists at all.
Sighing heavily, Takemichi walked from his spot at the counter and resorted to mindlessly organizing the shelf of potato chips that looked well past their expiration date, anything to keep his mind busy for the last few minutes of his shift. Looking out the glass windows of the shop, Takemichi saw storm clouds beginning to form in the sky. Ah, looks like it’s gonna pour again tonight.
His thoughts were abruptly cut short by the telltale ringing of his phone alarm marking the end of his shift. The sound was like music to his ears, though the piercing noise could be described as anything but.
Finally calling it a day, Takemichi stepped outside of the shop to lock up, shivering slightly as the cold air harshly bit into his skin. It seemed like the storm was approaching sooner than he anticipated and Takemitchi didn’t want to be there when the rain decided to fall.
After grabbing an umbrella, Takemichi gave the store one last glance before promptly heading to the streets, joining the bustling crowds of people on their similar journey home.
—————
He was too slow.
Takemichi was only a few more blocks away from his apartment complex before the harsh rainfall decided to make an appearance. Icy cold raindrops slid down from the umbrella and onto his skin, rendering his umbrella completely useless in the midst of the storm.
Cursing his luck, Takemichi rubbed hopelessly at his forearms in an attempt to create any semblance of warmth that he could muster, his smaller frame probably not doing him any favors. Strangely enough, Takemichi got the feeling that the rain wasn’t the only reason behind the cold chills running down his spine.
Hurriedly, Takemichi approached the dark alleyway leading to his apartment building. Just a few more steps and he would be home at last, safe from the cold weather that plagued him outside. And yet, Takemitchi couldn’t shake that ever-present anxiety gnawing at his insides.
Something wasn’t right, he just didn’t know what.
Picking up the pace, Takemichi glanced warily around him. His footsteps created small splashes on the ground below, the drops of water soaking through the cuffs of his jeans.
Was the alleyway always this dark? He couldn’t remember the last time he felt dangerously on edge walking alone at night.
Then suddenly, footsteps. Coming from right behind him.
Takemichi felt his blood run cold. Relax Takemichi, he scolded himself, it’s probably just some innocent bystander walking home like you are.
Another step, a splash of water.
Takemichi’s stomach twisted painfully in his gut, feeling like he was robbed off of air.
The footsteps were now right behind him. Only a few seconds away.
Fuck fuck fuck, he couldn’t take it anymore.
“LEAVE ME ALONE!” Takemichi spun his body around wildly, his arms stretched out in a defensive stance. Breathing heavily, Takemichi’s eyes frantically took in his surroundings, the sound of his heartbeat thundered loudly in his ears.
Nothing. No one was there.
It was as if the world went completely still. And although Takemichi could see raindrops falling onto the pavement, he couldn’t hear a thing. Nothing moved, nothing even made a sound. A ghostly calm descended upon the lonely alleyway where Takemichi stood.
Alone, he was completely alone.
Takemichi didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry, maybe a little bit of both.
Letting out a huge breath of air, Takemichi bent down to retrieve the discarded umbrella that he dropped in his panicked state. See, you were just being paranoid, he chided himself, why would anyone be following yo-
And then a sight that made him stop dead in his tracks.
Standing before Takemichi, a dark figure loomed over his position on the ground. Fear prickled the back of his neck like a million tiny needles puncturing his skin all at once. He wouldn’t breathe, couldn’t. His throat constricted painfully like a heavy weight settled in his chest.
How? How? HOW? He was so sure nobody was there a minute ago.
Takemichi was on eye-level with the stranger’s knees, his knuckles painted a ghostly white as he gripped the handle of his umbrella in his trembling hand. He couldn’t find the strength in himself to meet the stranger’s eyes. Instead, his head remained downcast to the figure’s pitch-black slippers, their appearance sparking a strange familiarity in Takemichi’s memories.
Hot tears pricked at the corner of his eyes, his heart beating erratically at the confines of his ribcage. This was it, this was how he was going to die. Beaten and bruised at the back of some sketchy alleyway where nobody would come looking for him. Alone. So painfully alone.
And yet, he’d be damned if he went down without a fight.
Takemichi swallowed thickly, the dryness of his throat screaming in protest. On the count of three. Just swing the umbrella at his attacker and then make a run for it. Simple as that.
Takemichi felt dizzy, but he knew it in himself to try.
One
The pain spread to his chest. He was on the verge of a fucking panic attack.
Two
Hot tears stung his eyelids. He was always such a crybaby.
Three
“GRAHHHHHH!,” he screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking as he swung the umbrella with all his might. The umbrella made contact with the stranger's head, momentarily pushing them to the side, and they stumbled from the force of the impact. A flash of light reflected onto Takemichi’s face. There it was. The light at the end of the alley. The hope at the end of the tunnel.
Takemichi made a break for it, his feet carrying him faster than he ever thought possible. The wind was howling in his ears as icy cold raindrops landed on his face, their bitter cold mixing with the hotness of his tears. Almost there, just a little bit more.
Takemichi showed no signs of slowing down. The light was closer than ever before. He could make it, he really could. Tears trickled down his cheeks but he was smiling. Safety was right there, right at the tips of his fingers—
And then just like that, it was gone.
Calloused hands grabbed Takemichi’s body tightly in their hold, their harsh grip like pure steel around his neck and torso. His back was pressed against his attacker’s chest, close enough that he could feel the warmth radiating through their shirt.
Takemichi opened his mouth to scream for help. Instead, a heartbreaking sob tore from the back of his throat. He was terrified. The fear literally oozing into his very bones.
“P-please, let me go,” Takemichi slurred through distressed hiccups, his saliva weirdly thick in his mouth. “Anything. I’ll do anything. Just pleas- Ugh!”
The stranger’s hand moved to his lips, plunging their fingers deep into the crevices of his mouth. As they held his jaws open, Takemichi couldn’t stop the drool from leaking out the corners of his mouth and onto the stranger’s rough hand. Their fingers moved languidly past his lips, caressing the warm walls of his mouth and taking his tongue between its fingertips. Takemichi coughed lightly as he choked on the hot saliva sliding down his throat in large amounts.
“Nnggg…” Takemichi protested against the stranger’s fingers. Tears, snot, and drool mixed with the rain falling onto his face. His hands desperately grasped at the stranger’s forearm, trying and failing to pry their hand away from his mouth.
He couldn’t breathe, his vision was only getting blurrier by the minute.
“Hnngg!” Takemichi hammered desperately onto the stranger’s arm to no avail, their hold on him only tightening further. He could feel his attacker’s breath fanning the tip of his ear. Steady. Their breathing was so steady, as if completely unbothered with the way Takemichi was fighting for his life.
That was when Takemichi realized that he never stood a fighting chance, not even the smallest possibility of making it out alive. He was dead the moment he stepped into the alley. And like a lamb to the slaughter, he walked right into his grave.
The world was starting to spin. Black spots clouded Takemichi’s vision, and no amount of blinking seemed to will them away. His last remaining energy seeped out of his pores as his arms fell limply to his sides.
This was it. The end of the boring life of Hanagaki Takemichi. Who knew the finale would be such a fucking joke?
Resignedly, Takemichi closed his eyes, his body relaxing and consciousness slowly fading.
A distant voice echoed past his ears.
Somehow, the voice was sad. Why was it sad?
Before he could have time to think, the world faded into black.
—————
Warm. The bed was so unbelievably warm, it was almost heavenly.
Takemichi sighed contentedly, his body further sinking into the silken sheets that enveloped him. He didn’t remember his bed being so comfortable before. Usually, he’d wake up from the sheer scratchiness of his worn out blanket alone. But this? This was bliss. Pure unadulterated bliss in the form of soft silk sheets and marshmallow pillows. Takemichi wished he could stay like that forever.
But he couldn’t, could he. Because this was Hanagaki Takemichi we were talking about. And nothing ever went right in the poor boy's life.
In fact, he was supposed to be dead. Six feet underground levels of dead for that matter.
And yet, there he was, basking in the comfort of a bed that was a million times too comfortable to be his own, a realization that got Takemichi almost shooting up from the mattress in a panic.
What the fuck was going on? He was supposed to be dead. That stranger choked him to death, it was impossible. Impossible. A million thoughts raced through Takemichi’s mind faster than he could process, making his headache all the more excruciating.
Tentatively, Takemichi brought a hand to his cheek and pinched. It stung. Yup, still there. This is definitely real.
Blinking slowly, Takemichi timidly surveyed the area around him. He found himself in a room, there were no windows, only four walls painted a muted cream color. The room was small, around the same size as his dingy old apartment, only a lot cleaner and more minimally furnished in comparison. The bed was queen-sized, taking up at least a quarter of the room’s expanse, and a small wooden table sat at its bedside. Besides that, the room was pretty much barren for the most part, a single white light sufficiently illuminating the small space around him.
Turning to his right, Takemichi curiously reached out to inspect the drawers of the wooden table beside him. And that was when he felt it, the sensation of cold hard metal around his thin pale neck.
A collar.
He had a fucking collar around his neck, and attached at its front was a long metal chain leading across the bedpost beside him.
Panic quickly seized Takemichi’s chest. He tried to breathe, his shoulders rising and falling with strained effort, but the action only seemed to cause the steel chain to clink loudly against the metal bedpost.
This had to be some kind of sick fucked up joke. It had to be.
Takemichi’s eyes darted wildly across the room when he spotted a steel metal door. Two doors! One to his left and the other further down the front.
Kicking himself off the mattress, Takemichi bounded across the room to get to the door furthest from him. Only a few more paces away, Takemichi desperately stretched out his hands for the door handle, only to be violently yanked back by the neck. His body hit the floor with a loud thud, pain searing through his side.
Takemichi cried out in pain. His hand moved to clutch his throbbing shoulder to somehow ease the ache.
The collar. How could he have forgotten about the fucking collar.
Though still a little light-headed, Takemichi scrambled to his feet and rushed towards the bedpost to which the metal chain was attached. After close inspection, Takemichi could see that the chain was wrapped multiple times around the bedpost before cutting off and pooling in ringlets at his feet. He had to figure out a way to break the chain somehow.
Planting his feet at either side of the post, Takemichi gripped the chain tightly and pulled— pulled with every last ounce of strength that he could muster, pulled like he would tear the skin from his palms.
All to no avail.
Takemichi’s hands shook with desperation. No, he couldn’t give up just yet. He had to keep trying. And so he did, pulling and pulling and pulling and pulling. And if he made any progress, Takemichi didn’t notice. The unbreakable metal chain slowly whittled away at his dwindling willpower.
Violent sobs echoed against the confines of the room before Takemichi realized that the sounds were coming from his own mouth. He sunk into himself, curling his body into a fetal position as agonizing cries wracked his body and bounced against the spotless walls. Takemichi tucked his head into his knees, muscles clenching and body convulsing, as he rocked himself side to side.
There on the floor, Takemichi weeped. Weeped for his countless failures, weeped for his bitter misfortune. But most of all, Takemichi weeped for his short life wasted by his own undoing.
Takemichi didn't know how long he lay there, minutes-- maybe even hours could've passed by, and it would've been all the same to him. Eventually, screaming sobs descended into soft whimpers which descended into silent tears. And soon, Takemichi felt his eyes grow heavy with exhaustion, his labored breathing mercifully lulling him into a dreamless sleep.
—————
Takemichi awoke to the feeling of gentle fingers carding through his jet black hair. The hand was comforting, and a distant memory of his deceased mother flitted past his thoughts.
Still half asleep, Takemichi nuzzled his head further into the hand, trying to chase the comfort that it so generously provided.
A light huff of laughter blew across his face and tickled the tips of his ears. Through the palms of his hands, Takemichi could feel a deep rumble of someone's chest as mellow humming filled the silence of the room.
Slowly, Takemichi opened his eyes. His vision was immediately greeted with the sight of pale blonde hair cascading in soft waves onto the pristine sheets below him.
Lifting his gaze, Takemichi felt the air knock out of his lungs as piercing black eyes met his light blue ones.
Takemichi couldn’t believe it. He would’ve recognized those eyes even from a mile away.
"Mikey?"
A gentle smile stretched past the man's lips.
"Good Morning, Takemitchy. I'm home~"