Chapter Text
Toshinori was alone on the front doorstep. The air was cold and dry, making him pull his jacket tighter around his small frame. He wasn’t even sure why he was here, the place was a nightmare. He couldn’t even remember how long he had trudged through desolate and unlit side streets to get to the run-down apartment building. He also couldn’t remember how long he had been standing there. It was dark behind the pane glass entry doors, and he wasn’t confident anyone would be inside. Toshi watched as another puff of fog fell from his lips and took a step forward.
There was no one at the front desk at least. Beige walls met dark beige carpet, the place was sleepy, and untouched for at least an hour. A flimsy paper “out to lunch” sign was placed on the window for the front counter, with such thin and hurried writing he could barely make it out under the dim buzzing lights. Another, a smaller sign was placed beneath it with a clip art arrow pointing to the left. It was a wall of faded yellow buttons, each with a name written on a slip of paper below it.
Toshi moved to inspect it, looking for a familiar name. It was rather easy to find. Toshi nearly scoffed, such a perfectionist . Enji had his first name and room number etched out in his delicate script as if it were printed on the cheap slip of paper. The former pro hero hesitated. Was he really going to do this? He reached out an unsteady hand and pushed in the vinyl button, and a small red light flashed below it. It blinked as he stepped away from the wall. His nerves crept up into his throat as the silence dragged on much longer than he would have preferred.
There was an obnoxiously loud static noise, and a small round speaker crackled as a booming voice struggled to be heard.
“Hello?” The voice was exhausted.
Memories flooded back to Toshinori, and his hands became clammy as all sense of reason was washed out of his mind.
“Hello? Who’s there?” The voice was annoyed.
“It’s Toshinori.” He blurted, he didn’t want to sound as hurried as he just came across.
There was more static.
“You can come up. I’ll unlock the door.” The static cut out.
In a rush, he read over the room number again and ran down the hall. He couldn’t even pinpoint his own feelings at the moment; excitement drove his legs but an odd sense of dread clouded his mind. Thankfully the elevator wasn’t far and he wasn’t so scattered in his thoughts that he would miss it in favor of the stairs. He pressed the large round button and scurried inside before the rickety doors shut behind him.
Another wall of buttons. The labels are long-faded and the numbers were unintelligible. He pressed what he assumed to be the correct floor, and stood back as the old elevator creaked back to life.
-0-
Enji didn’t want to get out of bed, and he really didn’t want to leave the room. But Toshi would be here any moment and he’d be damned if he saw him like this. With a bit of effort, he lifted himself up off of the mattress, blankets, and pillows falling off the bed and his sides. He pulled the intercom with it and it crashed onto the floor. He only flinched at the moment, surprised at his own stupidity. Enji’s muscles still ached from yesterday’s workout and his eyes stung from lack of sleep.
He stands on unsteady feet, swaying back and forth as the looms over his dilapidated bed. He meanders through the garbage and dirty clothes on his floor to his bedroom door and entered the living room.
It was completely untouched, the expensive furniture in pristine and the carpet absent of any tracks or stains. The air was stale and cold and it made him shiver when he lumbered in. He was still tired, exhausted even, and he felt disgusting. He slapped a little at his cheeks to wake himself up. Christ his beard itched.
He assumed he should attempt to clean something. Make himself look like he was busy. But Enji was fairly sure that he hasn’t been anywhere but the microwave and his bedroom in months. Halfway through his contemplating, there was a knock on the door. Three soft tones and he couldn’t believe that even here, he was still being polite.
Enji checked his breath, cringed, and opened up the door. Toshi was towering over him on the other side, his hands nervously tangled together. His heart stopped. “Hello, Toshinori.” His voice was even as always, but his eyes lit with a fire Tohsi hadn’t seen in a long time.
“May I come in?” He smiled, and his face flushed. “It was pretty cold outside.” He wrung his hands together for a show.
“Sure.” He was gruff but gestured into the room.
Toshinori waltzed in but paused as he shouldered past the smaller man. He didn’t expect it to feel this. Empty, as if there was no one here to give it any character, any sign of life. It was sad. “How are you?” He turned back to face Enji, “I haven’t heard much about you lately.” He kept up his nervous smile, but the other man was more than unimpressed.
“That would be obvious.” He moved to plop himself down in his favorite chair. “Why are you here Yagi.” He deadpanned.
The question was not anticipated to come this early. “I-I wanted to see you, I suppose.” He looked around the room. Devoid of any personal effects, just the occasional candle holder and the ornamental bowl of rocks. “How long have you been here?”
“Four and a half months.” Enji watched as Toshinori searched the room with his eyes, wandering in small looping circles.
“It doesn’t look it. It’s very clean in here.” His eyes land back on Enji, and he sits in the chair across from him. His jacket itches on his slim shoulders and he adjusts himself in the chair several times all under Enji’s gaze.