Chapter Text
Nagisa relished in the recoil of the sniper rifle. He had always disliked performance evaluations, but it was nice to be able to fire a gun without harming people. He looked through the scope at the near-bullseye and smiled— he could never decide if he liked using guns or if he hated it. Nagisa took a second to breathe deeply, the overwhelming scent of gunpowder, sweat, and dust filling his nose, the familiar aroma easing some tension from his body and mind.
He only had five more minutes before the executives stopped by. No one knew what was going on, not even Takaoka could explain why the executives were taking a sudden interest in the lower ranks, but Nagisa just wanted to blend into the crowd and the higher ups’ attention made his skin crawl. Nagisa glanced below at his coworkers. Everyone was scrambling to prepare after Takaoka’s warning. No one wanted to be the person to make Takaoka look bad in front of the execs.
Sighing heavily, Nagisa began to pack up his rifle. He tried not to think about letting himself fall from the practice spot, though the idea felt very appealing. He felt a familiar panic claw its way up his throat when Takaoka called everyone to line up. Nagisa messily dropped the last few feet off the ladder and winced when his ankle gave out. He stumbled before righting himself and hurrying into line. He stood at attention as Takaoka had always demanded, his shoulders protesting with a dull ache from training that pushed him too hard.
The gray floors reflected the bright fluorescent lights of the training room, blue mats sporadically covered the floor, and various weapons lay along the walls. The gun range, where Nagisa had just come from, lay closed off behind a clear door. Nagisa tensed when the other door in the room opened.
The man who walked in loomed over Nagisa, clad in a white tank top and camo cargo shorts. His tan hands were tucked into his pockets and his combat boots echoed against the linoleum floor as he strolled through the room. Nagisa couldn’t decide if he thought the man's dye job was good or not.
He stopped in front of Takaoka, who was grinning proudly, and cast a dismissive glance over the line of assembled people. Nagisa felt his heartbeat slow as he took in the man’s appearance. Based on his size and hair Nagisa gathered that the man was Terasaka, an executive known for his short temper and heavy fists.
Takaoka threw a hand out as he exclaimed, “These are my finest men and women! The pride of the people I oversee, I—”
Nagisa blinked in surprise when Terasaka interrupted him.
“Yeah, words are nice an’ all, but I prefer results. Get 'em started with hand to hand. Then move to close combat weapons, guns go last.” His voice was low and full of poorly-concealed boredom. Takaoka cleared his throat before turning to the waiting grunts, his smile strained and his eyes holding a promise of violence.
“Of course, sir,” he spat the word out with contempt. “You all heard the man, close combat, let's go!” he bellowed.
Nagisa ghosted around the edge of the clamor and waited patiently on one of the mats.
His opponent was a tall girl with a leaner build. Nagisa watches her cautiously, keeping his own stance open and non-threatening. When the bell rang to start the spar she lunged forward. Nagisa dipped to the side out of her reach and darted back, she whirled to look at him. She ran forward again, and Nagisa didn’t run this time. She threw a punch at his face Nagisa deflected it before punching at her stomach. She caught his wrist in a tight grip, using it to trip Nagisa to the ground. He let himself fall with her on top of him, and as she tried to get him in a chokehold Nagisa snaked his legs around her throat. Pressing up until she was trapped between his legs and her own arm. She tried to rip herself out of the hold but there was nowhere for her to go. Nagisa pushed up and rolled at the same time so she was on her back, pinned. Nagisa suddenly snapped out of his daze, feeling eyes on the back of his neck. Nagisa let her go and she surged up, pinning Nagisa.
Nagisa tapped out quickly, and she glared at him. Standing up and walking to her edge of the mat, Nagisa gave himself a precious second to breathe, the fluorescent lights burning his eyes. The concrete walls reflected a yellowish-gray light, showing the dust that floated around the room. Nagisa hauled himself up and walked towards his side of the mat, waiting until everyone's matches were done. The eyes were still following him, and Nagisa felt more on edge as the seconds passed. The weapons-spar was uneventful; Nagisa strung the fight out for a reasonable time and then let his partner win. She was a good opponent but Nagisa needed the eyes off of him. The final task was the shooting range, where Nagisa grabbed a pistol and a rifle and made his way to a stall in the range. The standard gun test was pretty easy, but Nagisa made sure that it looked as if he was naturally a bad shot.
Karma stared out the window, watching as people walked past on the streets. He tuned out the other executives as they blabbered on about who to choose. Karma sighed as Terasaka barreled into the room, the door slamming against the wall with a bang. Karma heard Fuwa yell something at him about the wall, the exact words not really processing in his mind.
Terasaka rolled his eyes in turn. “Shuddup, I’ve got the perfect candidate for this.”
Takebayashi grunted, “Statistically it’s highly improbable that you-”
Terasaka interrupted harshly, “What did I just say? Now, look, all of you,” he said pointedly, passing out files.
Karma sighed dramatically and flipped the file open. The world seemed to freeze as he saw the headshot. He felt a smile tug at his lips— this was perfect.
“I wouldn’t have to do this if you would just do as I say, Nagisa,” Takaoka loomed over Nagisa’s crumpled form. Nagisa watched as the tiles lit up around him for a second, accompanied by an automated camera shutter sound.
“I know, sir,” he muttered into the ground. Nagisa’s hair obstructed his view of the room, every nerve in his body on high alert, his muscles tensed.
“I don’t believe you do, Nagisa,” Takaoka scolded, like a father lecturing a disobedient child. “Perhaps you need another lesson…”
Nagisa forced his voice to be steady. “I will do better, sir, I swear,” he took a deep breath that seemed to rattle around in his lungs, fearful at the thought of facing further violence at his boss’s hands.
“Very well, I suppose,” Takaoka seemed to acquiesce.
Nagisa closed his eyes, swallowing heavily, and in that moment, quick as a viper striking his prey, Takaoka struck out once more. The hit left Nagisa’s eyes watering, face burning and numb all at once from the impact. Nagisa clenched his shaking fingers, breathing slowly through his nose through the sharp pain on his already aching body.
Takaoka nodded, “I do hope you won’t need another lesson soon, you’ll follow my orders, yes?”
The door swung open and a kid hurried in towards Takaoka.
“Excuse me, did I not say that I was not to be disturbed?” he snarled and the kid flinched back before bowing.
“My apologies, sir, but I have an urgent message,” the kid squeaked.
Takaoka rolled his eyes but gestured for the kid to continue.
“The executives have requested that you and Nagisa Shiota meet them in the Wolf's office at two.” Takaokas eyes snapped towards Nagisa.
“Dismissed,” he said, voice suddenly tense.
He marched over and grabbed Nagisa by the arm as the boy left. Nagisa flinched at the contact before letting himself go limp as Takaoka dragged Nagisa to the closet and pulled out a change of clothes.
“We need you to look presentable. If I find out that you said anything to the executives, not even the boss can spare you from my wrath.”
Nagisa shuddered before nodding and scurrying to the bathroom to change.
Pulling on the black button up made him curse in pain. He rushed to put his hair in a ponytail again, gritting his teeth as it pulled at his still-aching scalp, checking to make sure no bruises were showing on his skin before steeling himself to face Takaoka again.
Nagisa was careful to keep pace behind Takaoka as they walked through the halls towards the Wolf’s office. Wolf's office was a code the lower ranked members used, it was the only office that could fit every executive member. The closer they came to the room, the more dread Nagisa felt stirring in his gut.
Takaoka stopped him outside of the door, looking him in the eyes and placing a heavy hand on his shoulder.
“Remember, Nagisa, you need to behave; I don’t want you to force my hand again,” he said, keeping his voice low.
Nagisa nodded shakily. “I know, I promise I won’t put one foot out of line.”
Takaoka nodded absently and then knocked on the door.
“Come on in,” a familiar voice called.