Chapter Text
“Mama, Mama!” A young Takumi exclaimed, holding his moms hand as they walked home from the park. “I made a friend today”
“Did you?” His mom asked
“Mhm! He mostly hides under the slide- I dunno why”
“Maybe he’s shy,” His mom smiled “What’s his name?”
“Huh..” Takumi looked back towards the park, realizing he’d never asked. He looked up at his mom and shrugged.
“Okay” She laughed “Well you should ask when you see him again, it’s polite”
“Okay Mama” He nodded.
“I never got your name,” Takumi said, sitting the man down on the rim of his bathtub as he fumbled for the first aid kit under the sink.
“Yugamu” The other said
Takumi nodded
“And you?” Asked Yugamu
“Takumi”
“So Takumi, do you make a habit out of inviting injured strangers into your home, or am I special?”
“You aren’t a stranger, we met a few hours ago”
“Barely”
“Okay- where was the blood coming from?” Takumi asked.
Yugamu slid up his shirt, his stomach was wrapped in gauze, a deep red stain on his side.
“Shit.. Seriously, what the hell happened?”
“I told you, it’s nothing”
“That is not nothing!”
Yugamu unwrapped his bandages, showing a deep cut beneath.
“Do you have bandages? I can wash it out myself but I’ll need help replacing the bandage”
Takumi nodded, pulling out a roll of gauze.
“Seriously, if someone attacked you I won’t go to the police if you don’t want me to. But that looks serious.”
Yugamu seemed hesitant as he disinfected the wound before taking a deep breath.
“Someone tried to stab me”
“Oh my- why?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Okay.. did you know them?”
“Sort of”
Yugamu’s nonchalant attitude towards his own attempted murder was off putting to say the least. It hit Takumi that it probably wasn’t his smartest moment blindly trusting this man.
But Takumi felt like he could trust him, even if he knew he had no real reason to.
𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘺, Takumi assured himself, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘗𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵- 𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨
“Do you still have your phone?” Takum asked as he helped Yugamu put on new bandages “Like could you call a friend or family member to pick you up?”
“Yeah, I do. But I doubt anyone could pick me up this late”
“Yeah.. I figured” Takumi ran a hand through his hair “You can stay till the morning if you need”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I can set up my couch for you”
“You're very trusting. I could be a murderer for all you know”
“Then why haven’t you killed me yet?”
“Maybe I’m planning to kill you in your sleep”
“Well at least I won’t feel it then”
“Come on,” Takumi led Yugamu to his couch “You can sleep here for the night”
Yugamu sat down on his couch, propping a pillow up behind him
“Damn it.. I was supposed to pick up groceries and forgot. I’m gonna order food, what do you want?” Takumi asked
Yugamu shrugged “Whatever there is”
“Alright, make yourself at home. Uh- when do you need to switch your bandages out again”
“If and when I bleed through these ones”
“Alright, I’ll leave the bandages on the sink..” Takumi paused, gesturing to his phone “Are you sure you don’t want me to call the police? I mean whoever is still out there right?”
“I’m not too worried about it” Yugamu stated
Takumi furrowed his eyebrows but told himself not to look into it too much, opening a food delivery app.
“Do you have any allergies?” Takumi asked
Yugamu shook his head.
“Hey, are those yours?” Yugamu asked Takumi, nodding to a shelf of movie CD’s Takumi kept below his cheap TV.
“Uh-” Takumi looked over before nodding “Yeah”
“You have good taste in movies” Yugamu wandered to the cabinet, opening it and tracing his finger along the various cases. “What’s your favorite?”
Takumi moved behind him, pulling a case off the top shelf, handing it to Yugamu “Pulp Fiction? Never seen it”
“Well which is your favorite?” Takumi asks
“Hm.. tough choice” Yugamu pulls a few out to look at the cover before putting them back in their original spots. Though Takumi was so unorganized that he wouldn’t have noticed if Yugamu reordered them anyway.
A knock at the door interrupted them “That must be the food, I’ll go get it. You can pick out a movie to watch while we eat if you want to” Takumi walked away.
“How come I’ve never seen you at school?” Takumi asked the blue eyed boy as they sat below the slide.
“Huh?”
“Well everyone else nearby goes to my school, why don’t you?”
“I don’t go to school”
“You don’t? So can you like.. Not read?”
“I know how to read”
“How? I learned at school, but you don’t go to school”
“My mom taught me”
“Wait, so if you don’t go to school, do you just get to play video games all day?” Takumi asked “I wish I could do that! You’re so lucky!”
“What are video games?” The blue eyed boy tilted his head in confusion
“You don’t know what anything is!”
“I do!”
“You don’t know about video games or TV or movies or superheroes” Takumi shook his head “What do you know?”
“I know lots of stuff!”
Takumi remembered their conversation being cut short, a woman with black hair walking over to them.
“We need to leave now.” She looked down at the boy. Takumi assumed she was his mom, but she didn’t remind him of a mom. Her expression was cold, her voice felt bitter.
The boy didn’t protest, getting up and waving goodbye to Takumi. His mom didn’t hold his hand when they crossed the street next to the park like his mom did.
When Takumi woke up the next morning, he heard the shower running. He contemplated running to the grocery store while the other was in the shower, but he didn’t quite trust a man he’d only met the night before alone in his apartment. Luckily there were a few eggs in the fridge he cooked up for him and his guest, being extra careful not to burn them.
“What are you making?” Yugamu asked from the kitchen entryway, he wore the pair of pajama pants Takumi had lent him for the night but no shirt.
“Eggs, do you need to borrow another shirt?”
Yugamu shook his head “The one you lent me is fine, but I’m supposed to let the cut breathe, at least as much as it can under the bandages”
Takumi plated the eggs, handing the plate to Yugamu.
“I feel like we never got a proper introduction last night” Yugamu hummed before taking a bite. “I’m Yugamu, as I mentioned. I’m a med student”
“What are you studying to be?” Takumi asked
“A surgeon hopefully.”
Takumi nodded “I work at that convenience store, as you probably assumed. I’m off work today”
“Were you able to get in touch with your family?” Takumi asked
Yugamu fished his phone out of his pocket, it was an old flip phone that Takumi didn’t even know you could still buy.
“Do you mind if I call my mother?” Yugamu asked Takumi, to which he shook his head. He moved to sit on the couch as the phone ring, 𝘕𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳
Takumi looked over at the time on the oven, it was 10:34, most people would be awake by now. Yugamu dialed again, ringing for a bit until Takumi could hear the other end pick up.
“Mama?” Yugamu spoke into the phone “Mhm It’s Yugamu”
Takumi couldn’t hear his mom on the other end, but he noticed the way Yugamu’s voice changed, seeming almost sheepish.
“Yeah, it’s an apartment by that bakery, the one with the pink awning”
“I know.. I know, I’m sorry”
“Okay, thank you. Love you mama”
Takumi heard the call end as Yugamu put the phone back in his pocket.
“My brother works nearby, he’ll come get me on his lunch break”
Takumi nodded.
“Thank you for helping me” Yugamu smiled at him to which Takumi smiled back.
“If it’s not too much trouble, we could exchange phone numbers. Maybe meet up sometime under better circumstances”
“Are you asking me out?” Yugamu snickered, Takumi felt his face heat up
“What? N- No!”
Yugamu laughed before pulling out his phone for the other to put in his number “I’d like that though. Even if it’s not a date”.
Takumi leaned against his counter with a tired sigh after the other had left, running a hand through his unbrushed hair. He went into the bathroom and turned on the shower, thankfully Yugamu hadn’t used all the hot water.
When he got out of the shower he got a glimpse of himself in the mirror, dark circles under his eyes, he assumed must’ve been because of how late he stayed up. He changed back into the same clothes he’d slept in, making a mental note to do laundry at some point.
Takumi walked to a grocery store down the street from his apartment. He mostly bought himself easy microwavable meals, he lived alone and he wasn’t trying to impress anyone with his five star cooking skills or anything. In the end he left the store with two grocery bags full of frozen food and chips.
As Takumi left the store, he noticed commotion from across the street. On the other side of the road a few people and a few police officers stood in front of a small white building. He stopped for a moment and noticed bright yellow caution tape blocking off the building.
𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥 he thought 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯? 𝘐'𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.
He brushed it off and walked back to his apartment, carrying the grocery bags up the stairs and sorting it out in his kitchen. He took a bag of chips and sat down on his couch, and turned on the TV.
By default, the TV turned on to show the local news. He was about to switch channels when an image of the bakery he passed earlier flashed on the TV. His eyes flicked to the caption on the bottom of the screen; 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 ******* 𝘉𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘛𝘰𝘬𝘺𝘰.
Takumi’s eyes widened, quickly typing the bakery name into the search on his phone. Dozens of articles popped up, all following similar titles of ‘𝘉𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥’, ‘𝘕𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴’, ‘𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘴𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦’, ‘𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯’.
𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘴𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦
Takumi’s mind immediately goes to the gash on Yugamu’s torso,
‘𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣 𝘮𝘦’, Yugamu had said.
𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. Takumi pondered 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳? Isn’t really a question you ask someone over the phone.