Chapter 43: We’re All Mad Here
His room looked like a crime scene. Adrien stood in the middle of it, chest heaving from exertion.
A shattered lamp lay overturned near the wall. Broken glass glittered across the carpet. One of the bedside tables had suspicious-looking dents in it.
A painting, probably worth more than him, hung crookedly after something had been thrown at it. Adrien couldn’t remember what.
His hands hurt. His throat hurt. Everything hurt.
’Anna is dead’, that thought refused to leave his mind. It kept returning, again and again, like a knife twisting deeper every single time.
’You’d better come in for a cut today, Frenchboy! Or I’ll hijack your balls and sell them on eBay for ten bucks.’
She’s gone.
His phone lay on the floor where he had flung it. The screen had gone dark long ago...but he could still hear her voice.
He could still feel her panic, still hear the way she had stuttered when she was afraid. He could still hear the gunshot.
The sound echoed through his skull— a constant reminder and a permanent scar. It has been added to the things that he will never forget.
Adrien squeezed his eyes shut and immediately regretted it. Because all he saw was Anna.
Mocking his slight accent. Threatening to shear him with her scissors. Telling him his new haircut brought out his eyes and made him look more alive.
Teaching him to love his face after everything.
’She was supposed to be alive,’ the realization hits him all over again. His knees nearly give out as a strangled sound escapes his throat.
He had done everything on his part to make sure Orion never felt the need to hurt his people, but he still failed, and Orion didn’t even have to do anything.
It ended up being Masamune.
The name alone sends rage flooding through him. His fingers curl into fists. As he tries to swallow down his rising rage, he spots an untouched vase out of the corner of his eyes.
The vase flies across the room and shatters against the wall.
The bedroom door opens. Adrien doesn’t even bother to look up. Only one person in this house would enter without permission.
At least that’s what he thought, until a familiar whistle drifts through the room.
"Wow..." Niko steps inside, amber eyes sweeping across the destruction.
He eyes the broken furniture, the shattered glass, and the blood on Adrien’s knuckles. His eyebrows climb steadily higher as he takes in the damage done to the room.
"You know, when Orion said you get violent when you’re upset, I never expected this."
Adrien ignores him.
Niko carefully nudges a broken lamp with his shoe. "I actually liked this one. It had personality."
He sighs dramatically. "It had personality. Well, it’s dead now."
Adrien chokes back a laugh. The sound comes out wrong, way too sharp, yet too hollow.
Niko’s expression shifts slightly. Enough to show that he noticed, that he heard something in that laugh. Something ugly that bordered on being broken.
For a moment, he simply watches, then he wanders further into the room.
"Did someone reject you?" He asks, testing the waters lightly.
Adrien stares blankly at him.
"Did Orion try flirting again?"
Adrien shoots him a glare in response.
Niko immediately points. "Ah, there it is. Your angry face."
"Get the hell out."
Niko nods to himself, lips tilted upwards in satisfaction. "See? You’re getting better already."
Adrien looks away, eyes burning. The room suddenly feels too hot. Too suffocating. He hates the feeling of being weak—of being helpless.
But more than that, he hates the pressure building behind his eyes.
Niko stays quiet for several seconds, amber gaze fixed on Adrien. Eventually, he speaks.
"You’re grieving."
Adrien freezes, jaw tightening. The words land harder than expected.
Niko notices immediately. Of course he does. The man notices everything. "Hmm."
"What do you want?" Adrien spits out with a glare.
"Nothing." He hums.
"Then leave."
Niko walks past him, picks up a book from the floor, examines the cover, then puts it back upside down. Purely to be annoying.
"You know," he says casually, "I always wondered why he never went through with it."
Adrien frowns, the abrupt change in topic catching him off guard.
"What?"
Niko blinks at him. "What?"
"What didn’t he go through with?" Adrien hisses.
Niko blinks slowly. For a second, he looks genuinely confused, as if he’d forgotten he was speaking aloud, then he shrugs.
"Oh, that."
Adrien’s jaw tightens. "That what? Finish your damn sentences, you bastard."
Niko tilts his head. "That old man, of course."
The room goes still. Adrien feels his pulse quicken. "What old man, Niko?"
"The Japanese one." Niko yawns.
Adrien’s blood runs cold. Niko doesn’t seem to notice. Or maybe he does. With him, it’s impossible to tell.
’Masamune. He’s talking about Masamune,’ Adrien tries to keep his expression neutral and fails miserably.
"What does a Japanese man have to do with me, Niko? Or is he one of your little, psychotic friends?"
"Nope." Nko answers playfully, popping the ’p’ for as long as he can.
Adrien doesn’t buy it, not even for a second. "Then, why are you talking about him?"
Niko shrugs. "People talk."
"People like who?" He tries to sound as dismissive as possible, but with the way his eyes follow Niko’s every move, it just doesn’t work.
"The sort of people I spend time with and call my friends," Niko responds with a wink.
That wasn’t even an answer, and they both know it. Niko leans against the doorframe, staring him down like a predator cornering its prey.
Adrien states right back, unwilling to back down for this man. Niko had never met Masamune as far as he knew, so where was this coming from? Why bring them up now?
His facial expression must have faltered, because Niko’s lips tilt slowly. The bastard is smiling.
"I honestly thought you’d met him before," he drawls.
For a second, Adrien’s heart stops. Just for a second. Then starts again, beating harder and faster than it ever had before.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Hm?" Niko blinks slowly at him again.
"You said you thought I’d met him. What did you mean by that, Niko?" With how loudly his heart is thumping in his chest, it’s a wonder a freak like Niko can’t hear it.
Instead of answering his question, the infuriating bastard just blinks, as slowly as possible. "Did I say that?"
"Yes, you did," Adrien responds through gritted teeth.
The room grows silent again. Adrien glares, and Niko stares back, neither of them making a move to speak first.
At least, until Niko sighs. "Oh."
"Oh?" Adrien repeats slowly, his patience already at its limit.
Niko smiles a smaller smile this time, but no less sharp and dangerous than his usual smiles.
"Do you want me to say something so you can twist my words around for your benefit?"
"Isn’t that what I should be saying to you?" Adrien sneers.
"Why don’t you ask me what you really want to know, puppy? Who knows, I might just decide to humor you?"
"What do you know about Masamune?" The question comes so quickly that it nearly makes him want to throw something.
He could just have walked around with a signboard saying ’I was involved with those fuckers and I’m losing my shit because I think you know that too’
Niko doesn’t answer immediately, instead he studies him. Really studies him. He sees the bruises beneath his eyes and the overwhelming exhaustion and grief bearing down on his shoulders.
Adrien suddenly feels exposed, like a specimen under a microscope.
Then Niko speaks. "You know what’s funny, puppy?" He pulls himself off the doorframe. "People think secrets are hidden when they usually aren’t. They sit right in front of everyone, and depend on one thing for their reveal."
"What?" Adrien asks, voice hoarse.
"On who’s looking and why they’re looking." He sounds absolutely delighted with himself. "I just simply assumed that if a certain deal had gone through, you would’ve been involved."
The room tilts.
’A deal. Masamune. Niko,’ the words slam into Adrien. All those words in the same sentence can mean nothing good for him. He feels ice crawl down his spine.
There’s always something underneath Niko’s humor. Something sharp and cruel. Everyone sees it, but no one’s ever said it out loud, because no one is ever left behind when Niko decides to move.
"What deal are you yapping about?"
"Oh?" He taps his chin playfully. "I don’t remember~"
"You bastard— "
Niko silences his tirade by holding a single finger up. "But you know what I find interesting?" His gaze drifts towards the scattered room. "Most people react to grief by crying, but you reacted by destroying things until nothing was left."
"That level of rage usually requires a target, and if that target happens to be Masamune, then what happened is probably more complex than I imagined."
"Nothing happened." Adrien bites out through gritted teeth.
"Sure, sure~" Niko waves a hand lazily at him as he turns to leave. "Just make sure to stay alive until I figure everything out..."
"And just hope that it isn’t what I think it is, puppy."
*****
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