Toji stares up at the dark hallway with a blank expression. And the silence stares back at him like the suggestion of a dirge. Beckoning and pushing and ruining-
No, he can- do that later. When he‘s hunted down whoever did this. After he made them suffer. Brutally. Horribly. Until their screams start feeling like recompense for the precious thing they took. He cannot go up there right now and see his family like this. See what those fucking lowlifes did to them-
If he can just trick himself into believing they’re sleeping peacefully upstairs for a little while longer—yes. That’s doable. The two brats are probably already snuggled up in their pillow fort, fast asleep. And Jin is still reading them a bedtime story because the sentimental oaf is sad that the two boys had decided cuddling their parents is suddenly uncool. And Toji will go upstairs to drag Jin away and tease and prod until that delightful composure cracks at the seams to reveal the fire beneath—
Yes. That’s- that’s better. They’re just busy upstairs for now. And Toji‘s going out on another hit.
Except his feet won’t move and remain stuck at the bottom of the stairs. The rush of blood in his ears reaching a crescendo.
Life means shit all. To anyone. To anything. All you have can and will be taken from you in the blink of an eye. Toji should have stuck with that mindset. Should have taken advantage of Jin‘s kindness, taken his money, and then gotten the hell out of dodge. Go back to gambling, and drinking, and killing, where loss is expected. Encouraged, even.
Instead he stayed, had a good fuckin run like he’s cut out for this domestic bullshit, and now he’s got to pay it all back tenfold all over again.
Toji has to force his feet into movement, the stairs suddenly some insurmountable obstacle. Each creak of the stairs too loud in the stillness.
He needs to see. To make sure. If at least one of them still has a heartbeat. If Megs—…
— sneak peek for the second part of Wolf House
