It wasn’t supposed to be anything serious.

That’s what you told yourself, and what you told him. A connection born from chaos, fleeting moments shared between missions, assassinations, and blood-soaked silence. Nagumo didn’t push. He flirted, joked, and teased—but never asked for more than you were willing to give. You liked that about him.

Or maybe you liked pretending it meant less than it did.

But Nagumo?

He felt it.

For someone who killed without hesitation, Nagumo Yoichi carried soft spots where no one could see—and you were one of them. He started showing up more often. Protecting you when he didn’t have to. Choosing your missions, watching your back, and spending nights that blurred the line between temporary and permanent.

Then one day, he said it.

“I’ve been thinking… Maybe it’s time I retired.”

You laughed. He didn’t.

He meant it—for you. And that’s when you realized, this thing you called “nothing” he saw it as everything.

But you weren’t ready to give up your world. The danger, the freedom, the blood on your hands. You didn’t ask him to stay. You didn’t say you’d leave either.

So he stopped smiling. Just for a second. The ever-joking Nagumo fell quiet.

“You’d keep running into the fire, even if I wasn’t there to pull you out, huh?”

And now? Every time you cross paths on a mission—when his blade meets yours, when your eyes lock across blood-soaked rooftops—it hurts more.

Because it wasn’t a relationship.

But it could’ve been.

And maybe, for Nagumo, it still is.