Chapter Text
When Yuri Briar walked into work that day, he couldn’t find it in himself to fake a smile. His typical puppy-dog demeanor had been utterly, entirely trampled. Even his generally aloof coworkers had taken notice, seeming to hesitate and shy away at the deep scowl that had set on his features.
“What’s wrong with Yuri? Did something happen?”
“Just look at him… whatever it was, it must have been pretty serious…”
“Maybe we should get him a condolence card…”
Though Yuri didn’t appreciate being the subject of such gossip, he couldn’t really blame them for their speculations. Because, of course, they were right.
Something did happen.
Loid Forger had happened. It had only been one day since Yuri was forced to endure dinner with his sister’s new husband. Her new family.
Yuri tossed open the door to the interrogation room with such force that it crashed into the adjacent wall with a gunshot-loud BANG. “Oh— Y— Yuri!” His colleague said, startled.
Yuri stared down at the subject of their interrogation with ice-cold eyes, his expression more befitting of an executioner than an investigator.
His colleague, sat in the chair across from their criminal, appeared shaken to his core. ‘You’re supposed to play ‘good-cop’ this time, remember?’ he mouthed.
The criminal they were dealing with today was a special breed of scum. Not only was he suspected of political espionage, but callous, stone-cold, evil deception. He was a conman who would spin elaborate lies to his victims— all young, unmarried women— weasel his way into their lives, and then rob them of every cent, valuable, and personal document they had to their name.
Yuri wasted no words on him. Rather, he drifted to the other side of the table, grabbed the back of the scumbag’s head, and flung his face into the metal table. “OW, FUCK! YOU DIDN’T EVEN—“
“Confess,” Yuri hissed, grinding on the back of his skull with the palm of his hand. He would have liked to do worse. Rip out hair, break bones, slice skin, anything his imagination could conjure, really.
It was his colleague who put a hand out, gesturing that Yuri slow down.
His co-worker then met eyes with the soon-to-be brutalized man. “Listen… I really don’t want to have to leave you alone with this guy. The sooner we can get you out of this interrogation, the better shape you’ll be in.”
The subject seemed to consider his options.
“… Yeah, ok, I— I’ll cooperate.”
God damn it.
Just when Yuri needed some catharsis, too.
To think that this kind of man existed— the kind of man that would lie to a woman to earn her heart— to steal her heart, and then completely and utterly abuse it—
It made him wish he had crueler weapons on him.
He wanted this monster dead.
Because, at the end of the day, everything Yuri did, he did with his sister in mind. And though he loved Yor more than the sun and the stars—
She was… exactly the kind of person who would fall victim to this breed of evil.
Yor was naive. She was trusting. She was kind.
And there was nothing on earth that Yuri wanted more than to protect her sweet, gentle nature.
He would kill for it.
Which was exactly why Loid Forger had migrated to the very top of his list.
Yuri had been negligent. Unforgivably so. How, how, on God’s green earth, could he have possibly failed to realize his beloved Yor had been married for an entire year? Even if she had tried to hide it from him, he must have been so blind to not realize. For all of Yor’s talents, she was never good at keeping secrets. (Not that he ever asked her where the bloody clothes came from…)
But he never thought she would lie to him, either.
Even so, he had no choice but to look into it.
He had done a little bit of research into this Loid Forger fellow… and found that the earliest transaction he ever made with the boutique he had supposedly met Yor at had been mere weeks ago.
In fact, every single financial record local establishments held regarding Forger were made no more than a month prior.
And, when Yuri asked the owner of the boutique how long she had known Loid as a customer? She confirmed she’d met him for the first time… two weeks ago. She was just as surprised as Yuri had been to find out Loid and Yor were married.
Yor and Loid had not met there.
At least… they hadn’t met there a year ago. There was only one conclusion he could possibly draw.
Forger had only just manipulated Yor into marrying him. And he had his claws in her deep enough that he had compelled her to lie to Yuri.
Loid Forger was not the man he claimed he was.
And Yuri was going to figure out exactly what kind of monster was dwelling beneath that charming facade.
Loid’s daily routine was consistent. It was simple. He left the house, rode the tram to his job, walked the remaining ten minutes to his office, worked, ate lunch on his balcony, finished his shift, and then went home.
Today was no different.
Yuri trailed Loid from a safe distance as the psychiatrist made his way to the train station, ready to retire for the day. For a moment, Yuri thought that Loid may have noticed he was being followed, as he paused in his stride and gave the slightest glance behind his shoulder.
But, no. It couldn’t be. Only a world-class secret operative would have that kind of intuition, and for everything that Forger was, he was a world-class nothing. After the second had passed, Loid continued walking as if nothing had happened.
Of course Loid hadn’t noticed. He may have been an eloquent, successful, well-accomplished ‘doctor,’ damn it all, but at the end of the day, he was still just a man. He would never be able to outclass Yuri in terms of detection.
Yuri had to slow down to maintain his distance as Loid paused again, hunching over a street corner.
What is he doing?
Before Yuri could finish the thought, a homeless man hopped to his feet, eyes glowing like he had just laid gaze upon a prophet. “YOU’RE A SAINT, SIR! PLEASE, MAY GOD BLESS YOU, MAY GOD BLESS YOU!”
“No, please, it’s really nothing—“
As Loid said this, the homeless man held up a 100-dalc bill to the light.
“It’s the least I could do— after all, the only thing I want is for every member of this community to have a warm meal and a nice bed to sleep in,” Loid chided, just loud enough for Yuri to hear. “Have a wonderful day, sir!”
Loid walked on, and Yuri just gawked. There was no way— Was this really the true nature of his character?
He must have had some ulterior motive— he must have.
But… he would have no way of knowing that Yuri was watching, right? Right—
“Oh, thank you for your help, sir!”
“Please, it’s the least I could do—“
Yuri nearly dropped his briefcase at the sight of Loid carrying an old woman’s groceries as he helped her cross the street. You… you have got to be joking.
Fine, whatever, this didn’t mean he was a good person. Plenty of people did good deeds one day so they could sin freely the next. This— this was a fluke.
There was no way this man was this perfect.
“Oh, sir, please, you don’t have to help me change my tire, it’s quite alright!”
Loid wrenched on the stranger’s lug-nuts with the efficiency of a machine. “Nonsense! We live in such uncertain times here in Ostania, so it’s essential that we come together in our moments of need! It’s the least I could do!”
…
Yuri hung his head.
He had to remind himself that if Loid truly were this ‘ saint,’ he wouldn’t have had to lie to Yuri about the nature of his relationship with Yor.
Whatever was going on here— it was goddamn fishy.
He hadn’t dropped his gaze for more than a minute, but when he looked back up, Loid met his eye.
Shit—
“Yuri? Is that you?” Loid called from across the street.
Yuri faked a smile, patting down his hair in a gesture of false timidity. “Oh! Mr. Forger! What a coincidence, I was just on my way to catch the train back to my apartment!”
“It’s good fortune that I caught you,” Loid said, beaming. “I was meaning to invite you over for dinner again. Are you free tonight?”
Two weeks in a row, Forger? A little over-eager, don’t you think?
But of course, when Yuri remembered that dinner with Loid meant dinner with Yor, all his apprehension crumbled. “Well, yes, actually! I’ll have to find time to get a gift, though—”
“Oh, that’s hardly necessary. We’re family, after all.”
Like hell we are. Yuri’s mind was flaring with too much anger to come up with a proper response, so he just slipped out a carefree giggle.
“So, can I expect you at six?” Loid asked.
“Of course, I’ll see you then.”
Maybe if Yuri played his cards right, he would find a chance to poison the man tonight.