Chapter Text
“Man, that trash beast was pretty tough to defeat” Riyo said while team Akuta was walking back towards the HQ, finally returning from their mission at Hole Town.
“We were amazing though, killed in less than an hour” Enjin replied.
“We?? me and Riyo were the ones who got our asses beaten!!” Rudo yelled.
“Sure and tell me, who saved you from that side attack?”
“Not my fault I don’t have like 3 heads?!”
“If Zanka were with us everything woulda been easier” Riyo’s words completely changed the atmosphere.
“Should we check on him?” Riyo added noticing the lack of answers and the mood shift.
“I think we should go to Eishia first, so you two can get rid of those wounds”
“Oh, okay?”
Enjin obviously wasn’t planning not to visit him, he just wanted to go alone. Not that Riyo and Rudo’s presence wouldn’t be pleasant to Zanka, he just thought they might need a heart to heart moment just like old times. And Riyo probably understood that, since she didn’t push further to convince him.
Once the two kids were left with Eishia, he headed to the recovery room, hoping to find Zanka there. While walking in the hallway, he could hear August’s voice from miles away.
“Yeah!! It’s perfect, you’re the most perfect model ever! And I’m the best stylist ever!” the words echoed through the whole floor.
Hyo must still be working.
That assured Enjin that she wasn’t talking to Zanka so he could freely go.
When he turned the corner, he noticed papers filled with sketches spread all over the ground, and August contorting himself into the most bizarre positions, switching them every second, just to get pictures of his model at every angle. He was currently bent backwards.
Hyo was posing dressed in what seemed to be a new piece of his collection: a dark purple high-neck top that featured cut-outs on chest and sides with laces wrapped around the torso, made of soft and elastic fabric. As a base layer for a black low rise shorts, she wore a pair of ripped tights in a faded purple tone, the distressed holes varied in size. It was all held together by a black belt decorated with a simple buckle and some spikes on the right side. For the shoes, knee-high lace up shoes made out of black leather.
Enjin was amazed, the outfit was truly fashionable but the colour palette and the style was really different from August’s usual creations. It really suit Hyo though, so he assumed he simply got inspired by her vibe. Purple did in fact remind Enjin of that girl.
“Heyo homie! Look at how perfect my model is!! And the sunset in this exact spot makes her look even more hot!!” his ringing voice was piercing Enjin’s eardrums. He could swear they were close to bleeding.
“Hyo, have you already talked to Zanka?” he focused on the important things.
“Yes, I think he’s still up there”
She seemed calm while answering. Not that she was usually particularly expressive, but when Enjin had seen her talking about Zanka or being around him, and every single time he could sense her being uncomfortable despite her apathetic face.
Yet, that negative aura had faded and he took it as a good sign.
“Imma go then, thank you” Enjin smiled at her. Hyo nodded in response.
“Where are you going? I wanted to show you our current shooting!!”
Enjin rushed to the second floor, room forty eight. He was more tranquil after perceiving Hyo’s calmness about Zanka, but who knows how he’s actually reacting.
After Hyo had left, Zanka didn’t move, he just sat down in the corridor, his back partially leaning on the wall and his legs drawn to his chest. He was embracing them with his arms and his chin was resting on his knees. Clarifying things with her had shaken him up, probably in a good way. His heartbeat was slower, his hands were no longer icy and he was breathing more regularly.
Her words made him realise many things, one of them was how excessive his behaviour had been. Hyo didn’t see him as an opponent all along, while Zanka thought of her as an obstacle he needed to overcome to finally obtain what he was seeking.
Hyo had been the one who had unintentionally brought him down at his lowest, yet she helped him opening his eyes before he could relapse once again.
That genius had called him talented. For the first time, Zanka acknowledged that people actually had a different view of him. While he believed he was a shitty loser and a genius wannabe, Hyo thought of him as an equal, someone who could do much more if put in the right position.
He had obviously thought she could be lying, but there was no point in looking for him and purposely tell him that just to make him feel better.
…Right?
Whether she was being genuine or not, that conversation made Zanka’s heart a whole lot lighter nevertheless. It felt like he had just got rid of his worst enemy, like he had just stabbed them in the heart, making their breathing cease forever.
And maybe that worst enemy was never Hyo, but the old version of himself, the one he had just decided to permanently discard.
“Hey kid”
Enjin’s voice snapped him out his thoughts.
Zanka slightly flinched, he didn’t hear him at all.
“Can I sit?”
Zanka nodded in agreement.
Enjin slid down and sat next to him, his legs apart and holding his dear Umbreaker in his hands.
“I know what you want to talk about, I’m sorry for-“
“Are you serious?”
“What?”
“Are you seriously apologising for being unwell?”
Zanka didn’t know what to say. He concerned everyone for nothing, of course he was apologising.
“I made y’all worry for something stupid”
“Feelings are never stupid, what’s inside you is always valid no matter what”
Enjin’s words felt heavy on his shoulders.
Zanka sighed
“That day when you found me, it was a week after me and Hyo had sparred” he tightened the grip on his knees.
Enjin let out a sudden “Oh”, he had no idea, and Zanka never mentioned that for obvious reasons.
“She won, and so I lost my place as the best of the school, with all my hopes to sit on the golden throne”
“So… was this the actual reason you crawled in there?”
“Not exactly. What I told ya is true, I decided I wanted to disappear because of the weapon choice class, and the girl who chose the katana was Hyo”
The last sentence refreshed something in Enjin’s memory. Zanka had named Hyo that day, how could he forget?
“I had completely forgotten her name”
“I didn’t expect you to remember”
Suddenly Zanka’s nails started digging into the fabric of his trousers as he recalled.
“I was such a loser, everything I said was so useless, that’s what you were probably thinking too”
“Do you think I woulda brought you with me if I thought you were stupid?”
“Huh?”
Zanka raised his head.
“You’ve matured so much yet you’re still the same, huh? Quit thinking so low of yourself, this has been your problem all along”
He turned to look at Zanka.
He was truly speechless, he had received too many compliments on the same day, his head was unable to process all of that.
“I know you think you’re nothing special, an ‘average joe’, but trust me when I say I don’t just bring anyone here. I saw your potential to be a giver and you perfectly lived up to my expectations”
Zanka kept being silent.
He had never considered such things of himself before.
Her father had never praised him — he barely ever saw him to be fair — neither her sister nor her brother ever did. His biological family never cared about Zanka, only about the perfect son he was supposed to be. But he failed to live up to their expectations, and it was enough for them to disinherit him.
Enjin instead, had never let him down. He was always there for him, as well as he was the reason he was still alive, rather than being just a rotten corpse in the bottom of a stupid well. He owed him the world.
As this flow of thought ran through his head, for the first time Zanka found himself almost tearing up. His eyes were wet and he could feel his throat shaking, he knew if he dared to say a word, he’d start to sob uncontrollably. He threw his head back hoping the tears would dry before they could fall.
Enjin noticed his watery eyes and was getting emotional too, he managed to hide it well though.
“Thank you so much, Enjin, really.”
His voice was slightly shaking, but not worse than Zanka thought it would.
Enjin stood up with the help of his umbrella, Zanka’s eyes followed his movements. He stepped in front of Zanka and reached out his hand towards him.
“C’mon, the other two can’t wait to see you”
Zanka didn’t hesitate and gave him his bandaged hand, hoping Enjin would cure it just like he had healed his heart twice.
As Zanka got up and the sunlight hit his eyes, two small tears finally fell out his eyes.
“Zanka! Boyy we missed you” Riyo suddenly appeared from one side, she ran towards him before he could even realise who it was.
Riyo hugged him tight, she could smell the strong incense of Zanka’s favourite scent that was stuck on his clothes. Zanka unconsciously reciprocated, letting her bury her head on his shoulder. The tears were still on his cheeks, landing on the girl’s shoulder, but he didn’t bother to hide it no more.
From behind her another slightly taller boy appeared. It was Rudo, he looked a little embarrassed.
“Wait, how long have y’all been here?” Zanka suddenly realised they could have heard everything he said.
“Longer than you’d like to know” Riyo answered, having no intention to pull away. Rudo was still clumsily standing, he was unsure of what to say or do but genuinely desired as well to show Zanka how much he cared about him.
“You know, Rudo came to check on you every night even when you woke up” Riyo suddenly said, letting Zanka go. He rapidly wiped his tears away with his sleeve.
“Hey shut up!! And how do you even know that?! That means you were there too!” Rudo promptly reacted to what Riyo said, his face turned bright red.
“Uhm”
She didn’t even bother to grasp at straws. He caught her.
Zanka couldn’t help but smile at them after hearing the conversation. Again, why was everyone so worried about him? Did they seriously care that much about such an average joe?
They apparently did, and it somehow made Zanka feel special for a moment, for once feel like he finally deserved his place between the Cleaners.
Enjin was amused by the scene, he felt like a proud dad watching his children getting along.
“Wait, so how are things between you and…”
Riyo hesitated before pronouncing that name.
“Great. We talked and we’re on good terms”
“Yeah, I hope people will finally stop speculating they’re exes”
Enjin accidentally let something slip from his mouth that he wasn’t supposed to say.
“Wait, the fuck? Who’s doing what?!” Zanka’s face was horrified.
“How would you react if I told you everyone knows about yesterday at the cafeteria”
Riyo tried to subtly explain.
“There are rumors about us?!”
“That’s pretty much all the Cleaners have been talking about in the past twenty four hours”
“How does one even defy that?!”
Zanka was desperate for showing everyone there was nothing going on between them.
“Nah, don’t worry they’ll forget eventually”
“I hope so or Imma kill whoever spilled some shits” Zanka stared at Rudo, there definitely was an implication.
“What? Don’t look at me like that, I did nothing you bastard!”
“Can confirm he’s innocent, no one spilled anything people just love minding others’ businesses” Enjin tried to cool them down. He spared the part where August could possibly be guilty for his friend’s safety.
“No but seriously, don’t worry about that they’re gonna focus on another gossip in less than a day” Riyo knew a thing or two about nosy people — as she was one of them — and tried to reassure his friend.
“Anyway, this made me hungry, who wanna go grab dinner?” Enjin broke the atmosphere to avoid Zanka could go insane once again.
“Me!” Riyo exclaimed “You come with us?” she asked Zanka.
“Sure”
Riyo gently grabbed Zanka’s right arm, careful not to hurt his hand further more, then she put Rudo in a headlock and dragged those two to the cafeteria while Enjin followed them.
Zanka had definitely missed them, quite a lot actually. He missed Enjin’s praises and comforting words, Riyo’s warm hugs and Rudo’s pretended tough attitude. He always felt at home being around them, and now his shoulders no longer felt so heavy, as if that burden was finally starting to fade away.
He was helped for the umpteenth time, but he promised himself it would be the last. He didn’t want to feel helpless like that ever again. The old Zanka was gone and he was ready to prove it to everyone. Soon he’d bury him six feet under the dirt, leaving his past behind and starting over with a brand new mindset.
A less toxic one — he hoped.