Chapter Text
Once again, Takaaki found himself in that monochrome world. He was walking along that same white path. And, in the distance, he could see that same lilac diamond figure drawing towards him.
This time, Takaaki was not afraid. He walked with his head high and steps unfaltering.
Mondo did too. He welcomed the sandstone sculpture with open arms.
As the two collided, they were met with no resistance from the other. No harsh surfaces. Just warmth and softness and a bright light engulfing their vision…
The next thing Mondo knew, he was staring up at a stone ceiling. It was purple. A nice, rich, dark purple. Already a step up from his last nightmare, if he were to be frank...
He sat up. Looking around, he discovered he was in the mouth of a cave. Beyond it was a desert landscape cast in twilight, with peachy dunes and red-violet rock formations against an ametrine sky. To the west, the sun was suspended halfway below the horizon. To the east, dozens of stars hung in the air, their light as gentle as a whisper. It was a gorgeous and deeply unreal scene.
Mondo shivered. Despite being clad in his Crazy Diamond coat once more, the chilly night air still nipped at him. He recalled Taka telling him about this aspect of deserts as a fun fact over a homework assignment once. It didn't seem as fun now…
“Kid. Over here.”
Mondo looked behind him. A few feet away, Takaaki Ishimaru sat by a modest campfire. He looked like the version of himself Mondo woke up as that morning, except with the addition of his frumpy trenchcoat.
“Old man!” He bounded over and took a seat beside him. “Oh, wait, you prolly want me to call you Mr. Ishimaru, huh?”
“I would prefer it, but I'm aware we're a bit past formality at this point…” He stoked the flames with a nearby stick, sending a billow of heat upwards and making them twirl.
“That's true,” Mondo replied absently as he warmed his hands. “Say, where the hell are we, anyway?”
“Some sort of… joint dreamscape, I assume. A crossroads on our journey back to our own lives.”
Mondo glanced over and smiled gently. “So I really got my wish, then…”
“Yes, and I thank you for it.”
“And you got yours too, huh?”
Takaaki didn't respond, instead shyly fiddling with his tie.
The teen's smile shifted into a teasing smirk. “You're such a dork, spending it on a kid you just met…”
“Well, he's a kid I've grown to care for a lot today. I'm sure you can relate in regards to a certain ‘old’ man…”
Mondo hummed and settled back into watching the flames.
“When d'ya think we'll wake up?” He asked after a while.
“That I can't answer. Could be any moment. Why?”
He shrugged. “I dunno. Guess I just like havin’ a chance to talk one-on-one, with no one else around. It's nice.”
A beat of quiet.
“Is… there anything in particular you wanted to talk about while we're here?” Takaaki implored.
“Actually, yeah. There's something I wanted to ask you…”
“What a coincidence. I had a question for you too, nibbling at the back of my mind. You go first.”
“Alright,” Mondo accepted the offer. “What's up with the goofy shirt?”
“Oh. That.” Takaaki scratched his stubble. “That was from back when I was a mole in the yakuza.”
Mondo's eyes went wide. “A what in the who-now?!” He yowled.
Takaaki chuckled at the reaction. “It was much earlier in my career. I didn't do anything terribly exciting, just gathered intel.” He reminisced fondly, “I was a natural. Very good at picking up little details and not drawing attention to myself.”
“So, what happened?”
He sighed, lifting his improvised fire poker again. “Well, my father got caught up in his scandal, and that made the public take notice of me. The son of a corrupt politician investigating criminal organizations was a bad look for the department. It seemed like collusion. So, they moved me to homicide.” He idly rolled the tip of his stick through the embers, observing them pop and crumble apart. “I was fine with that for my safety's sake, but then they demoted me, too. They still have me do detective work, of course, but now they get to pay me less and act like they fixed something.”
The air between them was quiet as Mondo digested it all. Eventually, he said, “...Holy shit, man. I'm real sorry that happened. That's fucked up.”
Takaaki let out an affirmative grumble as he watched the stick burn.
A moment or two later, Mondo realized something. “Hey, wait a minute! If ya used to pretend to be a criminal for a living, why the hell was it so hard to pretend to be me?”
“It was well over ten years ago, Mondo, I'm a bit out of practice,” he explained. “And back then it didn't carry the baggage it does now…”
“Oh yeah, right…” It seemed his assumption during breakfast about how harrowing this experience was for Takaaki was correct after all. It stirred his sense of guilt fiercely. “Damn, sorry for bringin’ the mood down like that…”
“Don't worry about it, kid. It's nothing I'm not used to,” Takaaki assured him.
“You oughta ask me what you wanted to know now. A change in topic'll do us good.”
“Really? You're not worried about the whiplash?”
“I'm a bosozoku! I've never worried about whiplash a day in my life! Hit me!”
“Alright, if you say so…” he said, a hint of laughter in his voice. He turned to face him head-on, knowing the subject required nothing less than a direct confrontation. “Owada, do you have a crush on my son?”
Immediately, his face turned as red as a tomato. “HUH?! WH-WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM?!”
“Observation and logical deduction,” he answered plainly. “I saw the way you looked at him after we left the entrance hall, when you didn't have to hide from that security guard anymore. There was an infatuation that was frankly bizarre to see on my own face, especially in that direction.”
“Y-YER CRAZY, OLD MAN!” He yelled, his nervous habit betraying how flustered the very idea made him. “WE'RE FRIENDS, THAT'S ALL! I DON'T TREAT HIM ANY DIFFERENT THAN THAT!”
“I see,” said Takaaki, unconvinced, “and I must have just missed all the little notebook doodles you've made of Leon, Chihiro, and Takemichi, right? You know, to go with all the lovingly rendered Kiyotakas? Since, of course, they're also your friends…”
“THAT'S… that's…!” His voice became weaker as he realized that he had no rebuttal. “Oh, fuck, that is a good point…” He muttered, “Do I have a crush on him…?”
As Mondo looked inwards, blush still dusting his cheeks, Takaaki continued on. “Anyway, my point in bringing it up is that no matter what your relationship is or becomes, I'll always be in your corner. And if you ever need an adult's support in your life, I'll be happy to provide it, whether as a friend's family or as... something of a father-in-law.”
“Th-thanks,” Mondo replied once the worst of his embarrassment simmered down. “An’ if you need somebody to bitch to ‘bout how much life can suck, gimme a call. I'll always be there for one of my own. And that's a man's promise.”
Whatever happened afterwards was unclear. Mondo could recall a grin pulling at the corners of Takaaki's mouth, some more words being said, and then the white light washing over them once more. Then, he opened his eyes to the real world.
He was in one of the dorm rooms. He could tell just from the ceiling… and the fact that he was in a bed. Looking to his right told him instantly which one it was.
Kiyotaka had pulled up his chair to keep vigil at his bedside. He stared daggers into a textbook cradled in his lap as he anxiously dotted a sheet of paper with his pencil. Sweat dribbled down his reddened face. Clearly, he was trying to distract himself with homework… and failing miserably.
Mondo deliberately cleared his throat. Kiyotaka's head snapped upright at the noise.
“Oh, you're awake! Thank goodness!” He swiftly set his school supplies aside and leaned in close. “How are you feeling? You're not ill, are you?” He pressed the back of his hand against Mondo's forehead and then to his cheek.
The realization Takaaki sparked still fresh in his mind, Kiyotaka doting over him left Mondo tongue-tied. “I-I-I…! I-I'm fine! I swear!”
“Nonsense, your face is burning up!”
“Uh, ignore that!” He squeaked, scrambling away into a sitting position. “Everything's good! I feel good!”
Taka retracted his hand and looked him up and down. “It's a bit hard to believe that when you both fainted in front of me…”
“Oh, yeah. That's… prolly what happened on your side, huh?” He grinned sheepishly and reached for his nape. “Sorry ‘bout that…!”
“Oh, no apologies necessary. Still, you gave me quite a scare! I was worried that my only family might—!” The other's vocabulary and characteristic gesture hit him just then. “Wait, bro, is that you?!”
He let his arm fall, appreciating how his fingers briefly laced with his mullet. “Yeah, it's… it's me. Nice to see ya again, bro.”
Taka beamed so broadly it seemed his face might split. He threw himself at Mondo and hugged him tight. He sobbed and laughed in equal measure, with “It worked!” and “You're back!” and similar sentiments peppered in-between.
They held the embrace for a long while. Mondo savored the return to his own physique, with muscles that could squeeze Kiyotaka hard enough to convey just how deep his love for him was. Taka relished it too, feeling that familiar weight and warmth around him and knowing exactly who it belonged to. At last, everything was right.
The moment only came to an end when the doorbell rang. With the door already unlocked, their visitor entered right away. It was Takaaki. With his aloha shirt rumpled and his short hair pointing every which way, he looked like he just rolled out of bed. Because, obviously, that's exactly what he did.
He got an eyeful of the two teens sitting together on the bed and was thoroughly unfazed. “Taka, can I use your razor?”