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Kasuka didn’t need to do this. Really, hiring a stylist or two would have done the trick well enough. It was not like he minded wearing whatever he was made to wear, even if the whatever was angel's wings or stupid vampire costume or even girl clothes. But he felt as if it was expected of him to do a little bit of his own shopping and his resulting style was universally praised. Yet another thing he was perfect at.
He put on large sunglasses, a wig and a lively expression to avoid being recognized by the random fans and paparazzi even while it was difficult not to spot his flashy red Ferrari and designer clothes when he got out of the car at the side of Omotesando Avenue. The wig was the cosplay kind, deep purple in color and quite long. It was the kind of thing one would've expected to see in Akihabara rather than in a designer boutique he headed into. The range of black credit cards in his wallet ensured the store clerks he was a star in disguise and not a lost kid though.
He shuffled through the clothes on the hangers mechanically, grabbing this and that without looking at prices. It was his rare free afternoon and he didn't mean to spend it all shopping. Ruri was away in Europe filming some scenes for her newest movie so he couldn't hope to spend time with her other than on the phone which didn't work so great with his questionable conversation skills but he wondered if maybe he could finally pay a visit to Shizuo and see how things were going for him now that he seemed to at least have a steady job.
He proceeded to try on several things, assessing his looks with cool objectivity. Even though he knew he was pretty and he was told as much on a daily basis by countless people, he wasn't moved by his appearance himself and he didn't even really like it. It was so cold, almost artificial. Actually, that had to be the doing of the wig and the purple tinted glasses. That had to be it. Maybe he should have dyed his hair blond like Shizuo to warm his appearance. But of course, he didn't have that kind of freedom being an actor who was expected to look a certain way for the role he'd been given.
He took some of the clothes over to the cashier, handed his credit card to pay and left the shop with several bags without as much as glancing at the receipt or how much he was paying.
He wasn't clearly aware how much money he had in total anymore. It was some virtually limitless amount though.
There was some man standing next to his Ferrari, caressing the hood with the tips of his fingers. Kasuka was aware at the intellectual level it was the kind of gesture for using which on one's car of this kind some man would have broken the perpetrator's arm. He decided to just ignore it though.
He opened the hood and dropped the bags inside..
"It's a Fiorano, right?"
Kasuka nodded, glancing up to take a look at the man.
He was wearing clothes that looked like designer clothes at first glance but Kasuka could tell weren't the real deal, a beige suit, a striped dress shirt and a Panama hat to top it all off for some reason. It was the kind of look that while elegant and proper to the point of excess seemed quite extravagant to Kasuka as casual wear. But what was even stranger were the bandages covering the man's face and one eye, totally ruining any sophistication his clothes might have provided.
"Sorry for touching it." The man held his hands up. When he spoke up Kasuka realized he must have been young, probably around his own age, though it was difficult to tell precisely with his face covered up like that. "I couldn't stop myself."
"No problem." Kasuka replied emotionlessly, catching sight of some suspicious men with cameras in their hands in the distance. It was about time to drive away.
"Care to give me a ride?"
Kasuka blinked, mulling over the several meanings of that question, touching his purple bangs self-consciously.
"I was just joking." The guy smiled at him, his one visible eye lighting up with mirth before walking up to the parking spot in front of Kasuka's car where a winged motorbike with a chrome exhaust pipe stretching high upwards that screamed bosozoku was standing. Now that was quite a contrast to the guy's clothes.
Also, something clicked in Kasuka's mind.
"Not much. This guy on a weird motorbike approached me. Tom-san said it was some kind of a bosozoku captain. I needed to bring him to the hospital..." He vaguely recalled Shizuo speaking to him on the phone a few days ago.
It couldn't be, right? But then again encountering Shizuo's victims was a given, considering how many there were.
Kasuka felt the beginnings of an impending headache.
"Can I ask what happened to your face?" He inquired, walking up to the driver's door of his car.
The guy looked back over his shoulder, apparently not expecting Kasuka to speak up to him again.
"Someone beat me up." He shrugged as if it was nothing.
"Was it... someone in sunglasses and a bartender suit?"
"How did you know?"
Kasuka sighed inwardly.
"He told me he beat up a man on a bosozoku bike a few days ago." Kasuka explained matter-of-factly.
"It was an acquaintance of yours? I wouldn't expect him to hang out with this kind of people." The guy looked at his car pointedly. "But a ride around Omotesando would totally make me forget all about the pain he's caused me."
Kasuka was aware how much of a weak spot of his the care for his brother was. He was also aware how he was using it as an excuse right now.
"Get in then." He said and got into the driver's seat himself.
He liked the warmth in this guy's eyes.
Chikage wouldn't have ever thought this was actually going to work but who was he to refuse a ride in a Fiorano? His excitement was stalled by the guy driving slowly within the speed limit down Omotesando Avenue, not speaking up or anything.
"Is this how you always drive?" He asked, trying to sound neutral. He didn't mean to pick a fight or anything.
"Yes." Kasuka nodded.
"How do you know Heiwajima Shizuo anyway?"
Kasuka hesitated before answering but figured out this kind of guy couldn't have possibly been an obsessive fan of Hanejima Yuuhei who would have known he was Shizuo's little brother. Otherwise he would have uncovered his identity already.
"I'm his brother."
Chikage blinked.
"I know we're not very much alike." Kasuka admitted.
"He's very tough. It was the best fight I had in years." Chikage admitted.
"I appreciate that you don't hold it against him that he injured you."
"I was the one who attacked him first actually. So, I think I'll be going." Chikage raised his hat. "If you could stop here... I'm sorry of taking advantage of this misunderstanding. But Ferraris are the one thing that's even more irresistible than girls, if you know what I mean, so I hope you don't mind."
Kasuka nodded though he didn't feel tricked like that at all. The source of certain unease that permeated his being all of a sudden was rather that it was apparently all wrong of him to have thought this guy was interested in anything but his car. Then again, he shouldn't have expected anything else. He rarely garnered interest when he was simply being himself and not acting out a role or letting people know that he was a star. At times, he was even wondering if Ruri hadn't been smitten with his stardom rather than any other qualities of his.
He could still clearly remember the time before he'd become Hanejima Yuuhei and his barely noticed existence in the deep shadow of his brother's bad fame. The contrast between then and now was so stark it was something that still puzzled him even after several years.
Kasuka stopped at a red light.
"You shouldn't attack my brother." He informed. "I'm sorry you didn't know about that."
"You're right about how you're not like him at all." Chikage sighed. "See you and your ride sometime, I guess. If you ever happen to pass by prefectural highways in Saitama, I'm usually hanging out there." He opened the door.
"I'll bring you back to your bike." Kasuka offered.
Chikage closed the door, sensing there was something the guy wanted after all. Had he heard about him somewhere? Was it a fight?
They took a U-turn that was somehow very gentle. One had to be exceedingly patient to drive a Ferrari like that. For Chikage it was absolutely unimaginable. He didn't even enjoy the ride though a chance to take a look at the interior and listen to the rumble of the V12 engine of a Fiorino was still enough to make it worthwhile.
"I don't mean to sound rude but is there something you want from me? Is it about Toramaru?"
"What's Toramaru?" Kasuka inquired blandly.
"My bosozoku gang."
"There is something I want." Kasuka admitted after a brief silence, his eyes not leaving the road. "Give me a ride on your bike in exchange." He said, stopping the car at the parking spot it had previously occupied.
"I'm afraid that's a privilege reserved for my girlfriends." Chikage pointed out with a smile peeking out from under the bandages.
"I can be one for the afternoon then." Kasuka declared matter-of-factly, running a hand through his purple hair.
He expected to be turned down and was ready to shrug it off. His attempts to flirt with people as Kasuka, the boy so lifeless even his ethereal beauty couldn't make up for that, had usually ended in indifference on the other party's side. He could have had nearly anyone if he just pretended to be more lively or disclosed his identity as Hanejima Yuuhei but that would have defeated the point he was trying to make.
About simply himself being worthy of someone's attention as well.
"Will your brother beat me up again for that?" Chikage inquired seriously, only now realizing the guy didn't mean to pick a fight at all, he had actually taken a liking to him instead. Not that Chikage was surprised, that happened to him a lot, though usually with girls. He was just cool like that, he figured.
"Not unless you tell him."
Kasuka squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the impending disaster when Chikage reached for his glasses and took them off. There was not a person in this country who wouldn't have recognized his face.
"You're this famous actor, right?" Indeed, Chikage connected the dots perfectly.
"So that's how you get a Ferrari and Hijiribe Ruri at my age." Chikage noted. "I need to think of a change of career then. Too bad your brother was kind enough to ruin my good looks. You on the other hand are really quite pretty. You should smile though."
"I rarely do." Kasuka admitted truthfully, withstanding Chikage's scrutiny of his facial features without as much as batting an eyelash.
"Why do you want to go anywhere with me?"
"Because you seem like the kind of person who could make me feel more alive." Kasuka replied in a straightforward manner.
He was aware it was not how normal people acted but he clung to his own self's idea of appropriate desperately because this guy hadn't run away yet so maybe there was actually a chance.
"Sure I can." Chikage smiled mischievously. "Though I wouldn't think the lack of excitement was a problem of celebrities. What do I know though." He sighed. "My girlfriends like gossiping about you a lot. About you and Hijiribe Ruri. Hanejima Yuuhei is your name, right? "
"Me and Ruri is more of a publicity stunt." Kasuka was quick to explain. "And I needed to help her."
"I don't care. I usually date ten girls at once myself." Chikage shrugged. "If they're aware of that I don't see a problem."
"My real name is Kasuka."
"Chikage. My girlfriends tend to call me Rocchi though. Come on. If only for the sake of this poor Ferrari, I shall show you the joys of driving with some energy."
Kasuka got out of the car hesitantly, putting his sunglasses back on. Had he actually managed to catch someone's interest on his own merit? It was a first. Even his very career he had been deemed so perfect for eventually had started with a talent scout approaching Shizuo and not him.
The realization that such a thing had essentially never happened to him before made Kasuka feel uneasy about this possibly being some kind of a trap. That was a viable possibility he should have considered. After all, as a star he'd regularly garnered interest of TV shows that tricked people into doing strange things for laughs. Flirting with a man was certainly something they might have been interested in making him do.
Kasuka hesitated, reflecting upon getting back into the car and running away before his situation was going to become any worse. Then again, this man had been beaten up by his brother. No TV station would have ever risked having anyone face Heiwajima Shizuo for the sake of making a stunt look more believable. At least he hoped so.
"Shouldn't we wear helmets?" Kasuka inquired, approaching the bike when Chikage motioned him to.
"Have you ever seen a bosozoku wear a helmet?"
"I'm not sure. Though I thought you were supposed to wear these tokko-fuku jackets?"
"At night, in groups, sure. Otherwise it's just a way to get picked on for no reason. Something I'd rather avoid while being on a date. With a celebrity, at that."
Chikage smiled when a faint blush colored Kasuka's cheeks. He didn't get it how the guy had made it in the entertainment industry with his non-existent charisma but he figured it might have been just because girls thought he was cute. Which he really was, by the way.
"Is this your true hair?" Chikage asked, catching a strand of purple hair in his fingers.
"A wig. I'd rather not stand in plain view on the street like that too. Because..."
Between the feel of his wig being forcefully pulled off his head, warm lips invading his and the sounds of the flashes going off, Kasuka felt thrown off-balance for the first time since Ruri had threatened to kill him, except worse.
"And now I'm going to be a celebrity too." Chikage pointed out gleefully before motioning for Kasuka to get on the bike and driving away before the random paparazzi could ambush them.
---
"Kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill..." A trademark mantra was escaping Shizuo's lips even as he was looking through his fourth tabloid of the day, the dark vibes surrounding him causing the Lotteria he was sitting at to get eerily quiet and mostly empty.
"Shizuo..." Tom was past trying to reason with Shizuo about Kasuka being an adult who could make his own decisions. "I think we should be going."
"Not today, Tom-san. I'm going to Saitama." Shizuo got up with murderous intent escaping him in waves. "I'll call Celty to give me a ride so he wouldn't escape on that motorbike of his."
"Have you asked Kasuka if he was unhappy about it?"
"I don't care if he's happy. My little brother won't be going out with gang leaders." Shizuo left the restaurant with that.
The stuff cowering behind the counter peeked out hesitantly and everyone released the breath they'd been holding.
Looking down at the big full color photographs in the tabloids left over by Shizuo at the table, Tom noted how the guy looked pretty nice if not for the bandages covering his face. And was that a genuine blush on Kasuka's cheeks? The fangirls around the country must have been swooning.