Kasamari called. He’d not yet gotten the chance to see her or his father since getting home from Kochi, being run around the agency for debriefing and post-mission tasks, then called in for the ridiculous new mission he received the day previous. He felt guilty for putting it off, especially when the last time he’d seen them had been before he left. At the time, he’d been a shattered mess from the disastrous end of a relationship that he’d stayed in way too long.

Ash turned his face up to let the summer sun warm his skin, keeping his steps brisk. Only stopping to grab three meals from his father’s favorite restaurant, he rushed to catch the soonest train toward two of his most cherished people, the bustle of the train car not bothering him.

“I’m he-” As he slipped his shoes off, a loud grunt from his father and his mother’s scolding voice met him. It wasn’t a good sound to hear when first walking in the door. Ash’s mouth gaped open.

“You’re getting too old for this! I can’t keep bandaging you back together,” his mother’s voice said. He crossed through the empty living room to throw their lunch onto the dining table. His curiosity piqued, he poked his head around the corner, spotting the open door to his parent’s bedroom and the source of their voices. Renier sat on the bottom of their made up bed, wincing. Kasamari calmly tightened the bandages wrapping around his shoulder and upper arm, her face scrunched into an unhappy frown. “Eventually, I’ll make you do this yourself.”

“No, you wouldn’t.” Ash leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms. Renier gave him a somewhat lopsided grin as Kasamari looked over, disapproval clear on her face. Ash shrugged. “I’m not wrong.”

She “tsked,” giving the bandages a final, hard tug. Renier groaned. Only looking away to shoot Ash a wink, he frowned at Kasamari. “Mari, I thought you loved me.”

Kasamari rolled her eyes, deftly putting the first aid kit back together and walking out. Snickering, Ash regretted it when her elbow jutted out to hit him on the side. He could only catch her gazing at him out of the corner of her eye as she passed by. “Maybe I will once you come to your senses,” she retorted. 

Ash’s eyebrows rose as he watched her walk around the corner. “So… um… what’s going on?” he asked, stepping in and putting a hand out when he heard the other man move. Renier waved it away, struggling to his feet with a grimace. Once standing, Ash could see more of the injuries his father, likely intentionally, ignored. Bruises dotted his battered arm, a large, purple one standing out at the side of his rib cage.

“A suspect stabbed me last week. Mari won’t let me live it down.” Renier’s nonchalance about it didn’t change as Ash gave him an inquisitive, then alarmed, look. It didn’t surprise him that Renier could be so casual about it, but an echo of his earlier discomfort came back all the same. Grabbing his wrists behind his back to keep his hands from trembling, he followed close behind his father as he limped his way to the dining table.

“Oh… is that all? Did you also stop for groceries on the way home from the hospital?” Ash tended to brush off his own injuries, but his father took it to a whole new level. He’d lost count of the times he’d came home from school as a child to a stack of bloody towels and Renier’s pleased grin as he cleaned yet another healing wound; at one point, Ash had asked if he should pick up a new set of bandages on the way home, a fact that led to a long talk between the three of them.

Renier gave a one-shouldered shrug, settling at the table to watch Kasamari plate the food. “I thought about it, but your mom wouldn’t let me.” As she set the meal in front of him, Renier gave Kasamari a loving smile. “Thank you, dear.”

“Are you both on leave, then?” Ash asked.

“Not entirely. Isao’s forcing me to go, but your mom isn’t.” Renier turned his face down toward his plate, taking several slow bites before answering. Frustration lowered his voice. “She’s on the old case again.”

Kasamari made a frustrated sound. “We’ve spent more of our career chasing that man and his crew than we haven’t…”

“What’s he going by now?” Ash asked. He’d lost count of the number of times they’d discussed their biggest headache; a man that seemingly always escaped capture, reappearing every few years with a new identity, yet with a power base that made it hard to really nail him down. He’d spent more of his childhood overhearing conversations about him than just about any other mission that he could remember.

“Yoshino Nobutaka.” Taking a sip of water, Renier made a thoughtful noise. “I’m a bit surprised he’d go with a repeat family name. That’s not like him.”

Staring at the wall behind his father, Ash went still. His parents’ quiet chatter almost became background noise. His nightmare came back with crystal clarity. Remembering the sharp smell of gunpowder and the terrifying amount of blood that pooled around his father’s still body, Ash shook his head to clear it. It was just a nightmare, he reminded himself, He’s right here. Seeing the worried faces they gave him, he put on a fake smile. “I was just thinking… didn’t Aunt Moira feed me candy for a week straight during one of your missions to catch him?”

 His parents rolled their eyes.

“That was your uncle’s doing. Thanks to him, it was impossible getting you to sleep.” Kasamari prompted him to eat as Ash ignored the food in front of him, instead watching them closely. Seeing the tension in their faces, Ash couldn’t help worrying. “Don’t let it get cold.”

“Enough about us.” Renier shifted, the wooden chair he sat in squeaking in protest. “What’s the news? We heard Isao called you in.”

Ash snorted. Renier and Kasamari glanced at each other before settling their gazes on him. “What’s that about?” she asked.

“It’s complete bullshit.” Ash poked at his food, shaking his head. Ignoring Kasamari’s disapproving stare, he put his chopsticks down and leaned back in his chair, sighing. The smallest bit of guilt creeping up, he gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Mama, I’m just… ugh. They’ve given me some rich kid to babysit.”

“What do you mean?” Kasamari pushed his plate closer to him. He ignored it, combing his fingers through his dark hair as he stared up at the ceiling. He huffed.

“Her father is some big shot shipping executive. He’s worried one of the bigger trafficking rings is coming after his daughter.” The idea seeming almost laughable, Ash rolled his eyes. The file mentioned a threat being made, but it didn’t go into what was involved. “So they’ve hired on a bunch of security and asked us for help.” 

Renier paused mid-bite, a confused look crossing his face. “That doesn’t make sense. Trainees get those kinds of gigs.” 

“That’s what I said! Isao couldn’t tell me why I’m getting it, just that he had no choice. Something about it being above him.” 

“I wonder if we could find out…” Kasamari said. With how much pull their family had in the organization, it wouldn’t surprise Ash if she could convince one of the higher commanders to give her an actual explanation. “Have you met them?”

“Yeah. They came into the office today for a meet and greet. She’s terrible.” Picking his chopsticks back up, he startes eating to stop her from impatiently moving his plate around. Tamping down the annoyance that threatened to bubble up, Ash shrugged. “It’ll be fine, I guess. I just have to deal with her for a few weeks. You know they’re cutting my leave short for this?”

“At least it’ll be easy.” Placing a hand on his arm, Kasamari gave him a sympathetic look. Side eyeing her, Ash huffed out an unhappy sigh. He hated when she was right. “It’s a short assignment, Ashu. Take it as a blessing that it’ll likely end up being painless. Unlike someone else’s…”

Cramming food in his mouth, Ash stifled his abrupt laugh. He ducked his head, unable to look at either of them without giggling. The click of utensils and the soft sounds of chewing filled the air, a comfortable silence falling over them. Once she stood, gathering up their empty plates, Renier turned away from her to ask, “Can you-”

A knock at the door interrupted him. Three heads swiveled toward the sound, Kasamari making a disconcerted noise as she hustled to answer. Cacophony filled the apartment after the door opened, the stampede of footfalls deafening. “Good afternoon, Agent Sabre!”

“What the fuck?” Ash froze. He couldn’t see who spoke since his back faced the entrance, but he recognized a few of the voices. Renier’s face contorted, his brow wrinkling as he looked past Ash’s head at the commotion behind him. He stood, pushing past Kasamari’s empty chair to stand next to him. Ash pushed away from the table, stopping when a hand on his shoulder pushed him back into the chair.

“Stay here.” Renier lifted his grip.

Ash twisted in his seat to watch him cross to Kasamari and the handful of agents fidgeting in the entryway. His parents’ home, on a normal day, was fairly peaceful, yet the hair on the back of his neck stood up with the building tension. Their voices remained low, heads ducked as they spoke to his family in hushed voices. There was only one reason he could think of for a horde of agents to storm into their home.

Ash didn’t like that reason.

“Protection?! Why?” Renier demanded, “Who ordered it?!”

And of course, it was that exact reason.

While rarely utilized, Protections was one of the more prestigious programs to work in. It took any agent that was considered to be in extreme danger out of commission and put under the watch of specialized agents in a secured location. They’d remain there until the agency dealt with the danger, in whatever fashion it deemed necessary. If Isao, or anyone for that matter, was calling for its use, the situation had to be dire.

His parents stood with their backs to him. Where Renier’s shoulders held anger, Kasamari’s stance remained calm. She put a hand on Renier’s arm. “Was it Cipher?” she asked, adding before they could respond, “I knew it.”

She nodded them toward the living room couch. The group huddled into the living room, some of them taking seats on the floor and others on the couch. Renier remained standing, his hands curling atop the back of the couch. He looked at Ash, annoyance flashing across his face. Ash stood, only having time to push his chair in, when Kasamari charged toward him.

“Ma-” Ash tripped out of the way of the rushing woman. She snapped her phone off the table, turning on her heel to march back toward the entryway. He followed her, getting waved away when she realized he was there.

“Help your dad, please.” The front door clicked closed.