Chapter Text
It wasn’t like he hadn’t heard of them, or this kind of thing happened before.
Sometimes, the Crazy Diamonds would all stumble into the convenience store where Kiyotaka Ishimaru worked. Sometimes, they stole some stuff and more than once Kiyotaka almost got beat up. If it weren’t for his coworker, Souda, Kiyotaka would probably be a bloody smear in some alley.
Souda looks at him now pointedly.
Kiyotaka knows what he means: Put in your earbuds, don’t make any trouble.
Last time, Kiyotaka didn’t listen and he noticed a gang member simply taking something. (He would’ve almost gotten dragged out of the store, if it weren’t for Souda’s fast talking.) Kiyotaka is obedient this time around. As much as it pains him, he can turn a blind eye.
He pulls on a beanie and sits down behind the cash register, pulling out a magazine. He has to deal with injustices like this if he doesn’t want to end up on the back of a milk carton. The members of the gang seem no different from usual, if a bit more rowdy. The leader isn’t there today, and in his place is another boy who looks quite like him.
Kiyotaka doesn’t quite realize he’s staring until the boy looks at him.
“What’re you looking at, huh?”
Souda realizes, too late. “Kiyotaka—“
“Your hair,” Kiyotaka answers, dumbfounded. He honestly can’t fathom why someone would choose to put their hair in such a style: gelled straight out. The back of the boy’s hair actually looks quite nice, and Kiyotaka is sure he’d look even better with maybe a trim but- The pompadour.
“Nice, hm?” The boy runs a finger delicately over the gelled-up mess. “Takes me quite a while, but no beauty comes without a price, right?”
Kiyotaka nods halfway, somewhat dazed. His face is full of confusion. The boy strides over to the counter, plops a bottle of cheap wine on it. “How much?”
Souda answers before Kiyotaka can. He rings it up, bags it, smiles with his unsettling teeth. “H-have a nice day. Come again..!”
The boy smiles. Then he leaves. The rest of the gang follow soon after, clutching snack foods and liquor. Kiyotaka watches them go, wincing.
The boy is the only one who pays.