Chapter Text
Beep! Beep!
Shuriken awoke with a tired groan and immediately shut off his alarm clock. The sun’s rays peeked in through the curtains of his window, as if his alarm clock wasn’t enough to remind him that he needed to get up already. With a sigh, he rolled out of bed and stretched, letting out a lazy yawn. He reached a hand up to scratch his horns, and froze. There was still some green paint caked on his horns. In a panic, he sprang to his feet and grabbed some makeup wipes from Vine’s nightstand, then made a beeline for the bathroom and quickly shut the door.
Damnit… can’t believe I forgot to scrub it off properly. Shuri grumbled as he furiously scrubbed the remaining lime green off his horns, until there wasn’t even a speck of green in sight. Look, he was at work the whole day, working overtime thanks to his cruel and evil brother Sling, and is currently running on two hours of sleep after stopping crime like the awesome and auraful vigilante he is. So sue him if he happens to forget to wipe off yesterday’s makeup.
“Shuri?” Vine called, knocking firmly on the door. “Come on, let’s go! Sling already left, we need to leave early as well to prepare for today!”
A tired sigh. He remembered that they needed to prepare the desserts and drinks in advance because of a collab with Flipside or something that would last for a week. Shuriken didn’t know all the details, he just knew that it was going to be extremely busy. Just his luck that he would have to deal with a constant rush hour right after a patrol night. But Shuriken, the cool and badass inphernal he was, would never complain! Okay, well, he probably would (and loudly too), but he wouldn’t complain for too long. Usually.
“Yeah I know, just give me five minutes!” Shuriken called, splashing some cold water on his face. Good enough. Hopefully he won’t pass out during work lest he get a scolding from both Sling and Vine. He shivered. The two of them were threatening enough on their own, but when together? It could almost make even someone like Shuriken scared. He definitely wasn’t terrified right now. Nope.
A moment of silence passed. Shuriken could visualize the exasperated expression on his sister’s face, with her lips pursed and her eyebrows scrunched up. But she eventually conceded.
“Okay, fine. Five minutes. Do you want me to stay? Otherwise I’ll be leaving!”
He shook his head reflexively, even though Vine couldn’t even see him. “Nah, it’s okay. You go on ahead, I’ll meet you there.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ll be fine!” Shuriken replied quickly. He hastily drew on his eyeliner, before blending some red and pink eyeshadow over his eyelids and under eye, giving him a smoky eye look. Sometimes a guy just wants to be pretty and serve cunt sometimes, and it just so happens to be through fierce red eyeshadow. It also concealed his eyebags without needing to put on extra concealer as well, so that was a plus. Satisfied, he shoved his makeup kit in the bottommost drawer.
“Okay… see you later Shuri!” He heard her call out.
“Bye sis.” Shuriken gave his horns one last scrub before he exited the bathroom. The door of their apartment opened and closed with a loud click. Shuriken exhaled in relief — he didn’t even realize he was holding his breath. Fortunately, Vine Staff didn’t catch him while he was still wearing parts of his vigilante costume.
He hastily changed into his stupid work uniform, muttering curses under his breath as he slipped on his outfit. Shuriken will never forgive Slingshot for changing the uniform — the apron was fine, but the rest was just straight up dogwater and Sling needed to be fired, even though he’s the owner. Because he just so happened to have the brilliant idea of changing their old uniform, which was just a simple apron and collar shirt, to a blue frilly dress, with ruffles and lace stockings. It was humiliating. At least Vine and Sling wore it too so he felt slightly better, but his reputation was done for. How would his beloved fans (and yes, they really did exist) react if they caught the one and only Silver Shadow in a puffy dress? He’d be cooked, boiled and deep fried beyond repair.
Once he finished changing, he poured himself a cup of coffee, grimacing at he taste even after adding five packets of sugar and a shot of milk. It was cold and tasted like asscheeks, but it should be enough for Shuriken to survive the day until he can pass out on his bed. He grabbed his keys and in less than a minute, he was out the door.
When Shuriken arrived, the door opening with a little jingle, Sling gave him a dismissive flick of his tail without looking up from what he was doing; he was busy decorating the baked desserts with yellow and purple icing, his tongue sticking out as he concentrated on meticulously drawing little hearts and stars made of icing. Vine Staff gave Shuriken a soft smile, busy mixing some kind of meringue in a bowl.
Sling put down the piping bag and crossed his arms. “About time you got here,” he huffed, tossing Shuriken an apron. “Shuri, you go clean the tables and floors. And Vine, go check the storage room and get two extra bags of flour.” After handing them a list of things they needed to get done, he returned back to his station, swearing loudly when he heard the oven go off. Shuriken covered his laugh with a fake cough, covering his mouth with his hand, earning a glare from Slingshot.
He started to hum a catchy pop song under his breath as he swept dust off the floors and mopped them with relative efficiency, scrubbing the windows until they were squeaky clean. After moving around a couple chairs and tables, he was done, tucking the cleaning supplies in the back closet. While he washed his hands, his sister pulled him aside.
“Shuri! Help me make the drinks for today’s special! We just received a fresh batch of taro from the farmer’s market so we may as well use it!” She held up a cup of purple liquid, presumably some kind of taro milk tea, with a splash of coconut and black boba pearls swirling at the bottom. “Look! Doesn’t it look exactly like Dom?”
“It looks like if Dom Flipside got shoved in a blender and was condemned to being a marketable drink.” Shuriken deadpanned.
Vine Staff giggled. “That’s exactly what I was going for!” She said ominously.
Shuriken gulped. Something about Vine Staff’s smile was quite unsettling, and he decided that the best course of action was to leave her be and help her mix the drinks.
Soon enough, an hour passed by and they opened the cafe. A horde of inphernals poured in, eager to try to new drinks and desserts added to the menu. Shuriken took all of the orders and punched numbers in the cash register with the reliable old customer service smile that didn’t reach his eyes, and twitched ever so slightly at the corners when dealing with more entitled customers. He fell into a rhythm, mixing drinks and ticking off each order until the rush ended, customers slowly dwindling until there were only a few left, quietly chatting amongst themselves with their food and drinks in hand.
Vine Staff patted Shuriken on the back with an encouraging smile. “Good work today, Shuri! You did so well, especially with that annoying customer! It must have been really tempting to deck that inphernal in the face when they yelled at you for taking too long.”
Shuriken grimaced, distinctly remembering an inphernal with piss yellow coloured horns (seriously, they couldn’t have dyed their horns a different colour? or at least a better yellow shade?), sunglasses and a permanent snarl on their face. Initially, Shuriken was a little skeptical, but he’s seen and dealt with worse, and he knew not to judge based on appearance. After all, the Silver Shadow was all about helping inphernals no matter who they were.
And oh boy, was Shuriken proven wrong almost immediately. Not only did the piss horn demon give him an extremely complicated order with ingredients that Shuriken’s never even heard of and doubted that a grassroots café like Thieves Rest would even have them, but then they also demanded to have it made immediately, even when Shuriken was busy taking orders of other impatiently waiting inphernals. And by the time Shuriken did start on their order, the piss inphernal burst into a furious rage, shouting curses and insults until they were dragged out by Vine Staff.
Vine was right. It really was difficult to not punch that Inphernal in the face. But he really didn’t want to make his brother deal with an incoming lawsuit, so with the patience of a monk — and honestly, Shuriken deserved an award for his stellar behaviour — helped Vine drag out the inphernal, chew them out, before returning back to his station.
Slingshot emerged from the kitchen, hanging up his apron and putting his hands on his hips. He eyed Shuriken before giving an approving nod. “Thanks for dealing with that annoying pest. Jeez, it’s so hard to focus on baking donuts when you can hear angry shrieking from all the way across the room.”
“They were that loud?” Vine Staff asked incredulously.
“Yeah, and it pissed me off. Took all the willpower in my body not to march over and beat them over the head with a spatula.”
“Same,” Shuriken chimed in, “but then I realized that I didn’t want you yelling at me over the possibility of getting sued and review-bombed.”
Slingshot clapped him on the back, making Shuriken nearly topple over from the impact. “Good job. Anyway, I think we’ll be closing early today, so I better not see you up at three in the morning stealing all the gummy worms—”
The chime of the door opening once more interrupted their conversation, and all three siblings turned their heads towards the noise.
Standing in the entrance of their quaint establishment were two inphernals — one was much shorter, decked in a green collar shirt and tie, with a visor and backwards cap, carrying a large boombox around. The other one was significantly taller but lankier, wearing a red helmet and hoodie, and baggy cargo pants, skateboard under their left arm. Shuriken knew the duo — it was hard not to know them when they were practically joined at the hip — but he wasn’t particularly close with either. Wait… there was supposed to be a third one. Coil, right? Orange hoodie, cocky grin — his lack of presence bothered Shuriken, even if they barely knew each other. At least it saved a significant headache for Sling, he knew how much Coil annoyed Slingshot, the former constantly ragebaiting and making fun of the latter.
Boombox waved at all of them. “Hey guys! Uh, are you still open?”
When Slingshot noticed them, his eyes lit up in recognition. “Hey Skate and Boom! We were just about to close up, but I can take your order if you wanted anything.”
Skateboard threw up a peace sign. “Sup Sling. We were just passing by, but Boom wanted to try some of the Flipside collab specials, especially the Valk Donuts.”
Said inphernal whipped his head around to stare at him, the digital eyes of his visor narrowing in response. “Hey man, don’t pin it all on me! I saw you eyeing the Dom Drink so I know for a fact it’s not just me!”
Slingshot laughed and walked over to the cash register, taking out a notepad to write down their orders. “Alright, that’ll be about eleven bux in total.”
While the two Playgrounders paid for their orders, the cat-eared Inphernal walked over to Vine Staff and Shuriken, handing both of them an envelope full of bux.
“Here’s your pay for today. Also, you two can go early. I can close up today. Besides, I need to make these idiots’ orders because they decided to come by fifteen minutes before closing.” Sling gestured animatedly to Skateboard and Boombox, who were loudly yapping about… tacos..? And burritos? Shuriken figured it was better to just not question it.
Vine Staff chewed on her lip, conflict clearly visible in her gaze. Shuriken noticed that she did that a lot, it was a bad habit of hers whenever she got worried about her little brothers, more so over Shuriken than Slingshot, because Sling was considered to be the more “responsible” of the two, despite being younger. Like okay, just because Slingshot owns a café and doesn’t get stuck on the top of the fridge more times than an inphernal even should does not suddenly make Shuriken the irresponsible one of the two. He was obviously the cooler one with the mysterious and nonchalant aura, so it’s obvious who the winner is.
“Are you sure? I’m sure Shuriken and I don’t mind staying behind to help. Right, Shuri?” She said sweetly, nudging Shuriken with an elbow. Ow. What is it with the Shuriken abuse?
Shuriken hunched over slightly, scratching the back of his neck. “Uh yeah… I don’t really mind.” Truthfully he did, and he would rather go home early and get some shut eye before patrolling again, but if Slingshot really needed help then everything else could wait.
“Nah, dealing with them is light work. You two go home and get some rest.”
“Okay then…” Vine Staff picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. “Come on Shuri! We’re gonna buy groceries. Maybe we could even buy some more sour gummies?” She teased.
Shuriken was sold. He had just run out yesterday because of a mysterious entity that broke into his cabinets and happened to eat them all. Truly a mystery on who could have done it. He sighed forlornly — Shuriken doesn’t even know what that means, but it sounds about right — and mourns the tragic loss of his gummies.
He was about to head out with Vine Staff, who was already outside and waiting for him impatiently, when Skateboard called out to him.
“Hey you. The short one. Shuriken, right?”
Shuriken was about to give Skateboard a nasty glare for that comment but then he remembered that this was Sling’s friend, so he kept his face and tone neutral.
“Uh, yeah?”
Skateboard pondered out loud for a second, which made Shuriken wonder if he even had the brain power to form a thought.
“Have I seen you around before?” He asked.
“I mean…” Shuriken’s gaze travelled around before landing on Boombox, who was grinning toothily at him. He noticed a few gaps in the musician’s teeth. Neat. “I work here and I’m Sling’s brother, so… probably..?”
The skater shook his head. “No I mean like,” he waved his hands around, signing something that Shuriken couldn’t even begin to comprehend, “I’ve seen you, dude.”
Shuriken was at a loss for words. “Uh… what?”
“Sorry, Skate’s stoned out of his mind right now. I’m surprised he’s even forming coherent sentences.” Boombox chuckled. “But what he means is that we usually go out to Crossroads at night for some fresh air, and we like see you running around in a hurry. More than one occasion.”
Shuriken froze. Did they know? No way, it couldn’t be possible. He kept his identity as the Silver Shadow a secret for so long even to his family members, so there was no way for two inphernals that he was somewhat acquainted with to somehow figure it out. He took in a deep breath and calmed down, ignoring the way his hands trembled slightly at the possibility of having his secret exposed.
“I just have difficulty sleeping sometimes, so … y’know… I like to go out for a run. Just to clear my mind.” Not entirely a lie. It was pretty difficult for Shuriken to fall asleep, he usually comes home late in the night and he finds it hard to fall asleep, so he often just wanders around Crossroads and makes a mad dash back to his apartment room before the sun rose.
Skateboard seemed to accept that answer. On the other hand, Boombox was harder to read, probably still a bit skeptical, but thankfully neither decided to push the conversation further.
That was a close call. Shuriken thought. He knew damn well that there was some lingering suspicion that he didn’t clear up, but they had no way to prove that he had any connection to the Silver Shadow. He was fine.
There’s nothing to worry about.
The apartment was quiet, eerily so. It was past midnight, all the lights were off, and both Vine Staff and Slingshot had gone to bed already. Shuriken, dressed in his Silver Shadow outfit, gently pushed his bedroom door open, wincing when he heard a loud creak. Stupid doors. They never made any noise when Vine Staff barged in his room to see if he was awake yet, but made the most obnoxious creaking noises whenever Shuriken had to be quiet and stealthy. He glared daggers at the door. Stupid door. That’s what you get.
He tip-toed across the floor, avoiding all the squeaky wooden tiles and nimbly crossing the living room like a shadow (a silver shadow if you will). Shuriken entered the bathroom and turned on the lights. He hissed as his eyes were assaulted by the sudden exposure to bright light. After waiting a minute or so for his eyes to readjust, he reached for the green horn dye hidden in the back of the cabinet and began to paint his horns. Once that was done, he started applying his makeup.
And I know you may be wondering, “Shuriken, why are you even wearing makeup? You’re wearing a mask anyway, it’s not like anyone will see it.” Which is a valid point, because his mask will be covering his face, so there would be no point. However, it makes him feel pretty. And that is good enough reasoning for Shuriken.
Once he had everything he needed in his pouch (and of course, grabbed an unopened bag of sour lemon candies) — he opened the window and jumped out, letting himself fall and feel the breeze blowing at his clothes, until he landed perfectly on a tree branch. Stuck the landing! He thought proudly.
The patrol was standard, nothing drastically different from his usual patrols. He caught a few thieves robbing a local grocery store and left them tied up for authorities to catch them, and he also helped an elderly inphernal cross the road. Other than that, there wasn’t much crime going on, to Shuriken’s surprise. Usually there were always some petty fights and mugging going on, but today was… relatively quiet. It made Shuriken unsatisfied, itching for something to do other than wandering around Crossroads for a sign of criminal activity.
As he jumped from building to building, he caught the neon billboard flicker at the corner of his eye and display a well-dressed Inphernal with a cup of coffee in hand, droning on about some recent news. None of it was particularly interesting, until at the end, right after tomorrow’s weather and temperature forecast. Out of curiosity, Shuriken paused to look at the screen.
“Now, before I sign off for the day, we still have some important news for you, so don’t turn off the television just yet! Recently, there have been sightings of robotic, artificial inphernal-like creatures known as Biografts caught attacking civilians in Crossroads.” The screen then played out a montage of low quality video clips, showing crowds of inphernals screaming as Biografts began to attack them. Once the video ended, it cut back to the news reporter, who continued on with a smile.
“So far, eight have been injured, but thankfully no one was seriously harmed or killed. Due to these attacks, there will be increased security from our local police, and the Blackrock-Crossroads border will be patrolled heavily. So for your safety, we ask that you do not attempt to go to Blackrock, unless it is for business or emergency purposes. Good night Crossroads, and peace out.”
The billboard flickered once more until it went back to displaying advertisements in obnoxiously bright and neon colours. Interesting, Shuriken thought to himself as he chewed on a lemon candy. Despite the news advising against going to Blackrock, Shuriken was more interested in the sudden appearances of the Biografts. He wanted to find out how they managed to infiltrate Crossroads and why they even decided to attack civilians in the first place. In any case, innocent inphernals were harmed, and Shuriken refused to sit idly while these events happened. With a new goal in mind, Shuriken tossed his empty bag of candies in the trash can on the ground and began his journey to Blackrock. He knew how dangerous it was, but he wouldn’t go too far into the region, just staying along the outskirts. It’s fine, he won’t get hurt. The last thing he wanted to do was make his family worry and put more stress on them.
Shuriken shivered as he walked through the snowy landscape; it was just a white blanket of snow everywhere, with tall, thin trees and snowflakes pelting his outfit. He suddenly wished that he wore more layers, or at least brought a jacket, but in his defence, he hadn’t exactly planned to make a detour to Blackrock. His teeth chattered from the cold and he internally groaned. He wouldn’t be surprised if he got sick. Now that would be a difficult conversation to have with Vine and Sling.
No use complaining. The vigilante chided himself. What kind of vigilante would he be if he just gave up now? Crossroads could potentially be at stake if he didn’t intervene and investigate what was going on, and if the guards were just going to stand around and do nothing but watch the border, then he’ll just take it upon himself to resolve the issue.
Speaking of guards, Shuriken had found it rather easy to sneak past them. All he really needed was a smoke bomb and his reliable grappling hook. While that was convenient for him, it also worried Shuriken. If he could sneak past the guards without much trouble, he didn’t have much faith in them keeping Crossroads safe. Which was exactly why his interference is needed!
While he trekked through the snow, Shuriken pauses and squinted at a blurry figure in the distance. They appeared to be… limping? And they were covered in red. Blood. Shuriken immediately recognized the smell of iron and the telltale crimson splotches.
Upon a closer look, Shuriken recognized them almost immediately. Orange hoodie, two coloured horns… Coil? What was he doing out here?
Coil let out a pained grunt before he collapsed in the snow, staining it in a deep red. Oh shit. Shuriken froze and immediately started to panic. As much as he was curious about what Coil was even doing in Blackrock, he needed assistance immediately or else he was going to bleed out. Shuriken summoned a shuriken and hastily cut off a few pieces of his scarf, then used the fabric as a crude makeshift bandage. He would definitely need to actually dress and clean the wounds later, but he didn’t have anything on him that could be of use, so that would have to do.
With a grunt, Shuriken slung Coil’s limp arm over his shoulder, supporting Coil’s body weight with his own. Wow this guy is heavy. He was a bit taller than Shuriken, but a lot heavier and more built. He smelled… kind of sweaty. And also hesmelled of motor oil, for some reason. Okay, that’s weird. Shuriken shook his head. He needed to focus on bringing Coil back to Playground… no. Playground was too far away. Crossroads was the better option… but where could Shuriken even bring Coil? The only option was to his apartment which was less than ideal, but it was his only option. He could take him to the hospital, but then Shuriken would need an excuse that didn’t involve breaking the law and he was a horrible liar. Apartment it is then.
Shuriken turned back the way he came, slugging a limp Coil towards the port, when he came across his second obstacle: Blackrock security. There were a bunch of Biografts heavily guarding the ports, interrogating sailors and surveying incoming ships. Ironic how the same machines that terrorized Crossroads were also the same machines that were responsible for keeping Blackrock safe.
The vigilante was well aware that he couldn’t be caught. Blackrock usually didn’t take well to trespassers, and if the Biografts spotted him, he would almost certainly be imprisoned or whatever happened to criminals in Blackrock. Judging by how strict and controlling the Korblox Administration was… his fate would probably be something too horrifying to think about. To distract himself from his thoughts, he looked down at Coil, who looked even worse off than before. Nevermind.
He stiffened when he heard footsteps crunching in the snow towards their direction. Shuriken whipped around, shurikens in hand. He was about to strike when a gun was pointed at Coil’s head.
“Don’t move. Or else he dies,” said a metallic, husky voice. It was Hyperlaser, the infamous mercenary of Blackrock. He was well known for his efficiency in disposing of targets, and his sniping skills. Shuriken may not know the mercenary well, but he knew that he was dangerous. And he would need a lot of luck and skill to even make it out alive.
Shuriken hissed at Hyperlaser, but he made no move to attack. “Don’t you dare,” he growled, trying to sound as threatening as possible.
Hyperlaser let out a disgruntled sigh, lowering his gear ever so slightly. “Look, kid. I’m not actually going to kill him.”
“And why should I trust you?”
“You don’t. But if you want to get out of here alive, you’ll listen to me and do what I tell you.”
That threw Shuriken for a loop. “Huh? Aren’t you supposed to be… uh. Killing us?” He said incredulously, nearly forgetting to lower his voice. They were caught trespassing by the infamous mercenary from Korblox, and he was just letting them go?
"Conflict in orders," Hyperlaser replied bluntly. "Now get in the crate." Without waiting for a response, Hyperlaser shoved both Shuriken and Coil in a crate, resulting in Shuriken being pressed on top of Coil, who was still somehow unconscious during everything that had just happened. Shuriken envied him. At least he was spared from being aware of being squished uncomfortably in a tiny metal crate.
He could feel the crate being picked up and carried by who he could only assume was Hyperlaser. Shuriken could hear the shuffle of footsteps in the snow, until they eventually stopped. After a moment silence, the robotic, monotone voice of a Biograft rang out crisply in the air.
"HYPERLASER. STATE YOUR BUSINESS."
"I am helping someone load their cargo onto the ship. They are exporting snowsteel and noxite to Crossroads, and I will be accompanying them, since the border will be heavily guarded."
Everything was silent again, with the only noise being the mechanical whirring coming from the Biografts as they processed the order.
"AFFIRMATIVE. YOU MAY GO NOW." Shuriken could hear the Biograft walk away, and he sighed quietly in relief. He moved around just a little bit, to adjust into a more comfortable position. Shuriken looked at Coil, who was being squished and his limbs bended in extremely awkward angles. Yikes. Sorry, Coil. Hopefully his injuries don't get worse because of this.
The crate was put down, and he could hear something large and metallic being shut — a door perhaps? Then the ship started to move, making a deep rumbling noise as it began to pick up speed. Shuriken could only close his eyes and hope that they didn't get caught.
After a bit of time passed, the top of the crate was lifted and light began to pour in. Shuriken blinked for a few seconds, and saw Hyperlaser who stood above him, giving them a wordless signal that they were in the clear. It was a bit of a struggle to haul himself out, but he managed to Now to deal with the elephant in the room (or crate) — Coil. Carrying him without being caught, even with Hyperlaser's assistance, was not going to be easy, but nothing the great Silver Shadow couldn't handle. He carefully maneuvered Coil out of the crate and slung his arm back over his shoulder.
"Thank you, Hyperlaser." Shuriken mumbled, before he hopped off the ship and made the arduous trek back to Crossroads.
…
Against all odds, Shuriken managed to make it back to his apartment in one piece, but he couldn't say it wasn't without a few roadblocks. He couldn't sneak past the security with just his grappling hook now that he was holding up an unconscious Coil, so he had to throw a bunch of smoke bombs down and make a mad dash past the guards while they were distracted. Definitely not his smartest plan, but it somehow worked. Again, he had no idea how. It was a miracle that their boss hadn't fired them yet.
He unlocked the door, opening it as quietly as he could. The door was thankfully cooperative, making only a quiet creak that was definitely not loud enough to wake up either Slingshot or Vine Staff. Sighing in relief, he laid Coil down on the couch and headed over to the bathroom to grab what he needed. Bandages, disinfectant, a wet rag to wipe off all the blood — that should be all for now. When he entered the living room, he was surprised to see Coil awake, sitting upright on the couch.
Coil turned his head, blinking deliriously as he regained his bearings. "Huh.. whuh… where am I? Who are you?!" He tried to stand up and attack Shuriken, but doubled over in pain.
Shuriken set down the items and rushed over. "Chill out! And don't do that, or you're gonna make your wounds worse." He took off his mask, flashing an awkward smile. "It's me. Shuriken. Um… I saw you injured and stuff, so I took you back here to help patch you up."
Coil looked him up and down, looking at his costume and the mask that was now attached to his hip. "Wait… Shuriken? So you're the Silver Shadow!"
Oh shit. Shuriken forgot to scrub off his horn paint and change out of his vigilante outfit. But it was too late, and he certainly couldn't just lie to his face. The cat was out of the bag. Shuriken could only hope that Coil could keep his mouth shut, or there was gonna be an issue.
"Yeah, that's me. Anyway, enough of that. Sit back down and hold still so I can bandage your wounds."
Coil scoffed. "I can handle myself."
Shuriken's eye twitched. The audacity of Coil to reject his help and act all nonchalant after everything. How big was this guy's ego?
"Do you know how difficult it was to not only get past security but also drag your sorry ass back to Crossroads? Very difficult, so if I were you I would shut up and be grateful." Shuriken snapped, at his wits end. He just wanted to go back to bed already.
"Damn bro. My bad." Coil raised his hands up in surrender. "I'll just let you do your thing." This time he sounded genuinely apologetic.
Shuriken's eyes softened. He felt bad getting angry at Coil, especially in his injured state. It was a miracle that he was even conscious in the first place.
"Thank you." He murmured quietly.
Shuriken quickly got to work; he began by tearing off the makeshift bandages (rest in pieces to his cool scarf), disinfecting the wounds with rubbing alcohol, and tightly wrapping them with medical gauze. To Coil's credit, he stayed quiet during the whole process, only slightly wincing when Shuriken cleaned his wounds.
Satisfied, Shuriken put the bandages and disinfectant away."There." He stepped away, giving Coil some personal space.
Meanwhile, said inphernal looked down at his torso wrapped in bandages, admiring Shuriken's handicraft. "You sure you didn't learn this from Medkit?"
"He taught me a thing or two. Told me to be more careful when I broke my grappling hook."
"Yeowch. Well anyway, thanks dude. I really appreciate your help."
Shuriken dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "It's all good. So… what now? Should I text Skateboard or Boombox or…"
"Nah. They're definitely asleep by now. I'll just get back on my own. There's probably buses to Playground at this hour —"
"You could stay the night," Shuriken hastily suggested. He noticed the way Coil stared incredulously at him and his cheeks turned pink as he fumbled to explain himself. "I-I mean.. well y'know… I really doubt there are any buses out this late, and I don't think it's a good idea to try and get home right now unless you wanna get jumped."
Shuriken wanted the floor to swallow him bone and spit out his bones like a machine gun. Now he just sounded desperate for all the wrong reasons. He really, really hoped that Coil didn't get the wrong idea.
The two stared at each other awkwardly for a moment before Coil eventually relented. "Aight. Fine by me. I'll just crash on the couch then."
"Okay. And one more thing?"
"Hm?"
"Don't mention the whole… Silver Shadow thing to anyone else. Please."
Coil shrugged. "If you wanna be weird about that, sure, whatever. I ain't telling a soul." He flopped back onto the soft leather couch and was out like a light. Geez, he's knocked out cold. Whatever happened to him must have really tired him out.
At least he would keep Shuriken's secret identity safe. Somehow, he trusted Coil. Even though he was putting so much on the line here.
Coil doesn't seem like that type of guy though. Shuriken didn't need to worry, even if he was just relying on his intuition. But it never failed him when he needed it the most, and hopefully it won't now.
He grabbed a nearby blanket and draped it over a softly snoring Coil, before turning off the lights.
"Good night, Coil." Shuriken murmured.
Shuriken then turned to head back to his room, and for a moment, he could've sworn that he heard Coil sleepily mumble a "good night" back.
The sun had just began to rise when Shuriken awoke from his slumber. He clambered out of bed and rushed over to the living room. The couch was empty, save for a note lying inconspicuously on the coffee table. Shuriken picked up the note, which was hastily scribbled in one of Shuriken's own pens. Did Coil just use his limited edition Flipside pen to write this?
Whatever. He read over the note and his eyes widened as he scanned over its contents.
Thanks for helping me dude. You really didn't have to do that but I appreciate it. I guess I owe ya one now.
Anyway, if you got time later, meet me behind Thieves Rest, once you're off work of course.
-Coil
Huh. A letter of gratitude from Coil… it was a little out of character for him, but at least he was genuinely appreciative of Shuriken's efforts to heal his wounds. Shuriken was more worried about Coil visiting Thieves Rest in his state, but then again, the inphernal was pretty tough. And Shuriken wasn't his caretaker, so it didn't really matter to him what Coil chose to do with himself.
He heard Slingshot yawn and Shuriken quickly grabbed the note and stuffed it in his pocket. Sling appeared in the living room, surprised to see Shuriken standing by the couch.
"Oh, you're up. I thought you'd want to sleep in a bit longer." Slingshot remarked.
"I, uh… was hungry." Shuriken lied. Well, it wasn't exactly a lie. His stomach could use some actual sustenance, not counting the lemon candies that he devoured yesterday. Damnit! Was that the last pack? He needed to buy more.
Slingshot seemed to believe him, and Shuriken inwardly sighed. For some reason, Sling always had an internal lie detector when it came to Shuriken specifically. He could always tell when Shuriken wasn't being truthful, even if he had no evidence to back it up. It was some kind of secret sixth sense that freaked Shuriken out.
"I'll make chocolate chip pancakes. You go wake up Vine Staff and get her to take out the trash."
"Aye aye captain!" Shuriken snickered as he received a lighthearted glare from Slingshot. He skittered over to Vine's room and knocked on the door.
"Viiiine! Wake uuup! Sling's making chocolate chip pancakes!" Shuriken yelled.
The door swung open and he was greeted by a very frazzled and disgruntled Vine Staff. She was usually like that in the mornings before she did her morning routine and had her lemon water.
"You're usually not this energetic in the mornings…" Vine grumbled as she was dragged to the kitchen.
He usually wasn't. But for some reason, he felt oddly excited. It was probably just a gut instinct.
"No. But I just have a feeling that today is gonna be a great day!"
Vine chuckled, as a plate of freshly cooked pancakes was placed in front of her. "If you say so, Shuri."
…
For once, Shuriken didn't jinx it. The day went along smoothly. Most of the customers were very polite and friendly to him, and the worst customer he had to deal with was a child who accidentally spilled their drink and burst into tears. Thankfully, Vine managed to calm the child down and even tuck a flower behind one of the newspawn's horns, all while Shuriken made them a new drink. Other than that, they were doing pretty well.
One hour before closing time, as the customers dwindled down, a familiar trio walked into the café. Skateboard and Boombox were back, but this time they also brought Coil.
Shuriken put on his customer service smile and waved at them. "Hey! How can I help you today?"
The eyes on Boombox's visor widened, almost like a newborn puppy's eyes . "Shuriken! Coil told us that you found him injured in the middle of nowhere and helped fix his wounds!"
Skateboard nodded, and he slung an arm around Coil, who seemed oddly quiet. "Yeah man. He told us everything. Y'know, you help one of us, you help all of us. We all owe ya one."
Shuriken blinked at them, unsure of how to respond. "Uh. Yeah. That's great. Now would you like to order?"
"I'll have a lemon danish!" Boombox piped up.
"Same as him." Skateboard chimed in.
Shuriken wrote down the orders, and turned to face Coil. "And what about you?"
Coil looked down at the floor, scratching at the bandages on his arms bashfully. "Uh. I'll have a…" he quickly glanced over the menu before placing his order, "a blueberry muffin."
Each of them paid for their own order and decided to sit down at a table right by the counter. Shuriken tapped against the counter nervously, feeling the weight of three inphernals staring at him. Why were they staring..? Shouldn't they be… chatting?
They eventually did stop and would chatter quietly amongst themselves, but occasionally would glance at Shuriken when they thought he wasn't looking. It was driving him crazy.
After a few minutes, he had enough. Shuriken went over to Slingshot, who busy talking with Vine Staff about something, while the two were rolling balls of dough and lathering them in egg wash to be baked. He cleared his throat, catching the attention of both Slingshot and Vine Staff.
"Hey Sling, I got an order for two lemon danishes and a blueberry muffin."
"Is that all?"
"Yes… well. I wanted to ask if I could go on break now."
Slingshot paused briefly before nodding. "You can. Well actually, you can just clock off early. Same with you, Vine. Besides, I wanna catch up with Skateboard and Boombox."
Vine Staff tilted her head. "Are you sure? I thought you needed help with making the orders…"
"Nah, I'll be fine." Slingshot dismissed her concerns and went right back to work.
"Okay then. If you're sure you can handle it… I'm going to buy more fertilizer for my isopods!! Good luck to you both!" Vine Staff cheerily hung up her apron and gave the two a quick wave before taking her leave through the employees' exit.
After saying goodbye to Vine Staff, Shuriken headed to the back and changed out of his work uniform, so now he was just wearing a graphic tee and baggy sweatpants. He also tossed his visor in the back and then headed back to where the trio was seated, waiting patiently for their order.
Shuriken had his hands in his pockets as he stared at the back of Coil's head; he seemed to be in a good mood, laughing uproariously at some joke that Skateboard made.
He fished for the note that was left crumpled in his pocket and stared at it, the words burning a hole into his brain.
Was he really going through with this?
Well, the Silver Shadow ain't no damn coward.
Shuriken sauntered up to their table, keeping his face neutral and aura as nonchalant as possible. He was cool. He was chill. And most importantly, he was not gonna stumble over his words.
"Hey." Shuriken said. Okay, that was a good start. Short and direct, straight to the point.
The three immediately turned towards him, with wide smiles. Well, mostly. Coil seemed rather indifferent, but he couldn't hide the gleam of interest in his eyes. You should be. Shuriken thought, a little annoyed. You're the one who asked for me to meet you and now you're making me do all the work.
"Hey Shuriken! What's up dude?" Boombox asked, friendly as usual.
"I was… wondering if I could borrow Coil for a second. It won't take too long." Shuriken fidgeted with the hem of his shirt as he smiled awkwardly, trying to appear more confident than he felt. It was honestly just sad.
Skateboard and Boombox share a look, before they both gave a suspiciously eager thumbs-up. They got up to push Coil out of the chair and towards Shuriken, who was burning up because of the heat. Definitely the heat.
"Okay, what are you two dumbasses doing now." Coil crossed his arms, then wincing as that action somehow aggravated his injuries.
"We're helping you out, dude." Skateboard replied with a mischievous grin.
Boombox beamed at them. "Yeah, dude! Go shoot your shot! We'll be cheering you on!"
Coil was about to bark at both of them to shut up, but ended up face-to-face with Shuriken. They looked directly into each other's eyes before hastily averting their gazes, Coil coughing into his arm, while Shuriken gripped the fabric of his shirt, on the verge of tearing off the seams.
With a fierce glare at Skateboard and Boombox (who were giggling like dorks), he turned to Shuriken and sighed."Let's just head to the back."
"Oh. Yeah. Sounds good."
They went to the back of the cafe. Shuriken waited with bated breath, wondering why Coil wanted to meet him here. If he wanted to say something, couldn't he just say it earlier? Save Shuriken all the trouble and possible humiliation from Skateboard and Boombox. He totally embarassed himself in front of them, so whatever Coil wanted, it better be worth it.
Shuriken raised an eyebrow as Coil pulled two slips of paper from his pockets — they appeared to be movie tickets? To the new slasher horror movie that had just began airing in theatres yesterday. He gulped. Even someone as amazing like the Silver Shadow had weaknesses, that being horror movies. No matter what kind of horror movie it was — psychological, slasher, thriller — it would scare the living daylights out of Shuriken. Even the cheesiest, low-effort jumpscares could send Shuriken reeling.
Coil handed him the movie ticket, his face a bit red, yet he held his head high with pride. "I accidentally bought two tickets instead of one, and both Skateboard and Boombox are gonna be busy tomorrow… so I thought I could ask you. Think of it as a treat for helping me yesterday."
"Ah, I see…" was all Shuriken could respond with. He took the movie ticket, staring at the details. It was tomorrow at around 5:00 pm. Good thing he had the whole day off, so time wasn't too much of an issue.
Coil noticed the hesitation, and his bravado started to crumble, "Well. If you want. It's fine if you don't want to go or are busy with work, I can just invite someone else anyway." he mumbled.
Although Shuriken wasn't too enthusiastic towards making a fool out of himself, it seemed fun to spend time with Coil, and he'd take the chance if it was handed to him on a silver platter.
The pink-horned inphernal nodded eagerly. "Sounds fun! I would be down to go with you. And I have tomorrow off anyway, so we can just meet at the movies right away."
Coil seemed to visibly brighten, and he grinned cockily, as if he wasn't flustered at all in the first place. "Sweet. I'll see you tomorrow then."
As Coil turned to leave, he was stopped in his tracks by Slingshot, who held up a paper bag with a disdainful look.
"I got an order for a blueberry muffin." His eyes narrowed as he spotted Coil.
"You." He growled.
"Me." Coil smirked.
"Here's your order. Now get the fuck out of here." Slingshot said through gritted teeth.
"Hey, hey, no need to be so harsh. What's got your fake tail up in a twist?"
The sassy remark, plus the comment about Sling's "fake tail" managed to successfuly rile up Slingshot, who burst into a fiery tirade.
"Okay, listen here you little shit, you come to my place and constantly bother me while I'm working, so forgive me for being so 'harsh'! And what in the damn Inpherno are you doing with my brother?"
Shuriken stepped in front of Sling, holding his hands up to try and placate him. "Calm down, Sling! He isn't gonna cause you any trouble, I promise. He was just asking me out. I mean — to go to the movie theatre together!"
Coil's head immediately turned to Shuriken, looking absolutely mortified. "Hey, we did not agree to tell him that—"
In just a few seconds, Sling's face went from pissed off to shocked and mildly concerned. "You're going on a date? With Coil?"
Shuriken immediately realized his mistake and quickly backtracked. "It's just repaying a favour. It's not like what you're thinking!" he retorted, face burning from the accusation that he was going on a date with Coil. He wasn't! It was just Coil being nice and paying him back for helping him. That's all. Or at least Shuriken hoped.
Slingshot rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I don't care who you date, even if it's a prick like Coil. But listen here," he cracked his knuckles, fixing Coil with a withering glare. "If I find out that you're just messing around again and decide to drag Shuriken into your bullshit, I'll beat you over the head with a spatula until you see stars. Are we clear? And if that doesn't scare you, I can call over Vine Staff to deal with you personally.
"Yeah yeah." Coil quickly caught the paper bag that was tossed at him. "Well. At least the muffin's still fresh."
Slingshot left the two alone after that. Shuriken scratched the back of his head, feeling a bit sheepish over Slingshot's outburst.
"Sorry about that. Sling can be rather scary to deal with at times." Shuriken apologized.
"Figured as much." Coil grinned. "Anyway, we meeting at the movie theatre tomorrow? 4:30 pm?"
"Sure."
"Alright, see ya then."
"Yeah. See you." Shuriken smiled, looking down at the ticket in one hand, and the crumpled note in the other.
Funny how that turned out.