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Chapter Text

It was a cold night and the sky of Yokohama was covered with a thick layer of dark clouds as the rain fell with a wind that made every drop feel as a tiny rock hitting your skin

The three members of Mad Trigger Crew found themselves in the comfort of the leader's living room and enjoying the warmth of the coffee just made by the ex soldier.

"Good thing we had this meeting tonight..." Jyuto said, raising the mug to his lips to then take a sip. "I have to admit I would have been worried about you being in your camp in middle of this storm." He looked at the man sitting next to him.

"I have experience with this kind of weather, but yes, this is easier." Rio responded.

The brunette looked over at the albino sitting across him who had been too quiet for what he was used to. He was staring out the window, watching the rain while smoking a cigarette.

"Is there something troubling you, Samatoki?" Jytuo asked, deciding to light up a cigarette himself.

"Mind your own business, bunny cop." Samatoki responded, without even looking at him.

Jyuto just clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. "That's what I get for caring about you." He said before taking a drag and making sure to blow the smoke away from Rio.

Samatoki sighed. "I got this feeling in my gut a while ago..." He said quietly. "Don't know what it is...but I can't stop thinking about it." He narrowed his eyes.

Jyuto raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't it something you ate?" He asked.

"If you're not feeling well I can prepare a drink that will help your digestive system feel as good as new." Rio said, getting up and turning towards the kitchen.

Samatoki snapped his head back to face the other two and his cigarette fell off his mouth. "I-I'm good I'm good." He said quickly.

There was a sudden noise coming from the door that made the three men turn towards it in surprise. Strong and irregular knocks on the door, as if the person on the other side was desperate.

"Samatoki?" Jytuo looked at the albino.

Samatoki frowned. "Probably one of those idiots that works for me fucked things up and thinks I'm gonna save his ass." He spat. "He's gonna have to deal with it himself." He crossed his arms.

There was another knock, this time the sound of the fist dragging itself down against the surface could be heard.

"Maybe we should check if he needs first aids." Rio said. "That knock sounded like the one of someone at the verge of death..."

Samatoki clicked his tongue and looked away. "Ugh." He stomped towards the door and opened it. "Hey you fu-" The words died in his mouth at the sight in front of him.

A shivering form was doing its best to stand in front of him, but the posture that made the person look smaller than what he was supposed to indicated that it wouldn't last long. His whole body was drenched and his jet black locks were sticking to his face, framing his mismatched blue and green eyes wide open in horror.

Not even when they were battling he saw that expression of fear and weakness in the youngest Yamada. It was a expression he knew very well, the expression of someone who saw their worst nightmare coming true right before their eyes.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Samatoki asked, but instead of the annoyance expected, he just sounded weirded out.

The boy looked up at him, shivering as if he was having a personal earthquake in his body and opened his mouth. "D...dead..." Was what came out as a breathless whisper, before he grabbed the albino's shirt with all the strength he had left and gave him a pleading look before fainting right in front of him.

Chapter Text

"He doesn't seem to have any serious injury, so he will be good once he wakes up." Said Rio, walking out the room they had moved Saburo to.

Samatoki propped his face on his fist. "You say that because you didn't see him before he fainted." He said. "That brat needs to learn how to take care of those bedwetters..." He huffed.

Jyuto walked back into the living room, phone still in hand and an unreadable expression. He gave Samatoki one quick glance and took a moment before opening his mouth "The bodies of Ichiro and Jiro Yamada were found in the streets of Ikebukuro..." He said.

Samatoki turned his head. "...What? What are you talking about?" He asked, as if he had heard something in a foreign language.

Jyuto looked back at Samatoki. "They were killed, Samatoki." He said as directly as he knew the leader could handle. "And seems like Saburo barely escaped."

Samatoki stood up. "Ichiro can't be dead...he wouldn't get killed that easily." He ran a hand through his hair.

Jyuto sighed. "Samatoki..."

Samatoki pushed the cups of –now cold– coffee off the little table, sending them to crash on the floor. "He CAN'T be dead." He covered his face, short nails digging in the skin, as if he could undo an event out of pure will. "We still have things to settle." 

Rio and Jyuto looked at each other and then back at Samatoki. They knew the true reason behind the outburst, but their leader would have to accept that he wouldn't have a chance to do what, deep inside, had wanted to do for the past 2 years.

Rio stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Samatoki shook off the hand and slumped on the couch, defeated. "Fuck..." He whispered. "Why him too? Why now? like this?" He asked, more to himself, to try make some sense on someone like Ichiro out of all people having such a sudden end.

Jytuo could just cross his arms. "I know this must be... complicated for you, but we have a most likely traumatized teenager in that room." He nodded at the door of the guest room Saburo was in. "What are we going to do about him?" He asked

Samatoki rubbed his eyes. "And how the fuck am I supposed to know? I don't even know why or how he came here." He growled and then covered his face once again. He didn't know what kind of face he was making but he wasn't going to take the risk.

"Listen, I will try to get in the investigation team to see what happened and what's going to happen to Saburo now." Jytuo pinched the bridge of his nose. "For now maybe we should rest. Don't do anything stupid please."

Samatoki didn't respond, still covering his face.

Jyuto gave him a worried look and turned to Rio. "Do you think you can watch over them while I try to get some context?" He asked.

Rio nodded. "Please make sure to rest properly." He said.

"I will try." Jyuto sighed, taking his coat and putting it on. "And Samatoki..." He gave his leader a sad but serious look. "I'm sorry you didn't get to tell him how you feel, but now you have the chance to make it up to him somehow." He said and then turned to leave the place.

Rio looked at Samatoki, but deciding to give him some space, he got up and moved to clean the mess the albino had just made.

Samatoki let himself drown in his own thoughts. He should be used to this, to life taking what he loves away from him. He could imagine the pain Ichiro felt knowing he couldn't even protect both of his brothers. 

Life really was unfair after all...

Chapter Text

The Yakuza didn't get to sleep for a second of that night. He couldn't and didn't even try to, using that time to think and process the events of the night before.

Someone out there tried to murder the Buster Bros and almost succeeded. He can only imagine that the other two brothers gave their lives so at least one of them could make it out alive, probably thinking that a strong will would be enough to keep them standing. That was such an Ichiro thing to do.

Ichiro...

He spent enough time thinking about the things he never told him, the childish fights that would not happen anymore and the reconciliation that he thought he would have the strength to initiate after finding out it was all a misunderstanding, but his pride never let him and now it didn't matter. It was over and he couldn't even help him or be with him in his last...their...last moments.

Maybe the teen sleeping in his guest room was another way life was telling him to go fuck himself, having to deal not only with the loss of the one he...

But also having to deal with the aftermath of whatever the absolute asshole who did this did.

He felt angry. He wanted someone to pay for this, but he needed the brat to wake up and tell him what he knew. He thought that the kid must want the same, so he can only expect him to cooperate.

He saw Rio placing a plate on the coffee table in front of him. "I couldn't do much with what you had in your kitchen, but I hope it lifts your spirits." Said Rio in his low voice.

Samatoki looked down and saw a normal breakfast of sausages and eggs and he started at it to see if something in his plate moved, just to make sure. "It's fine." He said. "How's the brat?" 

Rio looked at the door. "I haven't checked today. He must be hungry, so I will take breakfast to him as well." He went to the kitchen to pick up the other plate and the headed to the guest room.

Samatoki grabbed the fork Rio put next to the plate and was about to take a bite of the sausage when a crashing noise made him drop it and run towards the guest room.

Rio was in the bathroom holding a limp but awake Saburo that had one of his hands bleeding and reaching out for shaving blade covered with his own blood that was laying on the floor.

"What the hell?" Samatoki grabbed the blade and looked at them.

"He was about about to slice his throat when I found him." Rio said and easily carried the boy to sit him on the bed.

"Let me go." Repeated the boy in a very low whisper over and over again.

"Just what were you trying to do huh?!" Samatoki gestured at the blade and then threw it out of the room. "Do you think they gave their lives just so you could kill yourself the next day?" He growled.

In that moment Saburo's eyes widened and he started to move his body violently, but he still was no match for the soldier twice his age holding him. "LET ME GO!" He screamed.

That was bad. Samatoki ran his hands through his hair, the lack of sleep and mix of emotions not helping him to handle the situation. "Shut the fuck up!" Was what came out of impulse along with a slap with the back of his hand across the face of the boy.

He saw the look of surprise in Rio's face and a hint of disapproval that made him wince inside.

Saburo froze for a few seconds and then his whole body relaxed, as if the slap had been his off switch. Rio waited for a moment and then slowly let go of him, not taking his eyes off him in case he needed to grab him once again.

Saburo lifted his knees to his chest and hugged his legs, staring directly at the floor with a emotionless face.

"Do you want some water?" Rio asked.

Saburo didn't respond and just stared at the floor.

Rio looked up at Samatoki. "Maybe you shouldn't have done that..." He said.

Samatoki gritted his teeth. "Goddammit." He walked around the room. "I can't deal with this shit right now. I'm gonna call Jakurai." He pulled out his phone. "Don't leave him alone." He added as he walked out of the room.

Just perfect.

Chapter Text

They were there, laying on two cold tables, Ichiro and Jiro Yamada, without any of the energy and brightness that always surrounded them.

The cause of death was as simple as gunshots directly to vital spots, as if the person behind this had no other intention but to kill them.The only thing Jyuto considered that wasn't as bad was the fact that both died instantly, so at least they didn't suffer a slow and painful death.

People from the zone said they heard microphones being activated and a rap battle taking place before the first set of gunshots were heard and called the attention of the curious lookers, but when they went to their windows there was nothing but the dead body of Ichiro Yamada laying on the ground.

For what he knew, he could asume that what happened was that a group decided to battle the Buster Bros, they accepted and when the other group saw they didn't stand a chance they tried another method to get rid of the opposite team, one they wouldn't see coming. The oldest Yamada, in order to protect his brothers, took the first shots that were the surprise ones and while the others two escaped they got Jiro as well, but luckily Saburo managed to escape and get as far away from Ikebukuro as his shocked state allowed him to.

'What was the point of banning guns if this kind of people could still get them to do things like this? Another example that this government is bullshit.' He thought.

He looked down at Jiro. The idea of someone as explosive as that kid being so quiet and lacking of any emotion or warmth disturbed him incredibly. He was just 17...he was supposed to be at school right now, talking with his friends about anything or whatever teens did these days.

He never had anything against them, even after the insults that came from two of them he knew they were just kids being kids. Those brothers were younger than most of the members of the other divisions and had a contagious energy that made people just want to follow and see them grow.

But now, the promising group Buster Bros was reduced to an unconscious kid in Yokohama. It was already decided that he would keep Saburo's whereabouts a secret until they could get the ones behind the attack as they probably would like to finish what they started.

It was insulting that they had such an ending...but there was nothing to be done. He saw it a lot in his field, that was just how things were sometimes.

He walked out the lab and felt the phone vibrating in his pocket so he pulled it out and saw that it was a call from Samatoki's place. It would be good if they managed to get some information from Saburo so he could tell the investigation team before driving all the way back to Yokohama. 

He answered the call. "Hello?" He said as he walked to his car.

"Jyuto." It was Rio in the other side. "How are things there?" He asked.

Jytuo opened the door of his car. "I found out some things." He sighed. "A rap battle gone very wrong basically." He slid into the vehicle. "Is the kid awake? I would like not to have to travel back and forth unnecessarily, so hearing his version now would help."

Rio hummed. "He is awake yes...but we had some problems here." He said.

Jytuo narrowed his eyes. "What happened?"

Of course

Of course Samatoki would break the kid not only once but twice in less than 5 minutes.

He drove a fast as he could back to Yokohama and to Samatoki's place where he was going to kick his ass for making his job harder.

When he arrived he saw that the doctor from Shinjuku was already there and just leaving the guest room where Saburo was. "Doctor..." He said.

Jakurai looked at him and nodded his head and then looked at the albino sitting on the couch. "I treated the cut on his hand, but couldn't do anything else for him..." He said.

"What do you mean?" Samatoki asked. "Your rap didn't work?"

The older man pursed his lips and took a seat. "He did not give me the opportunity to try..." He said. "His behavior changed drastically once the mic was in his field of view. He looked terrified and would refuse to uncover his ears, getting to the point of crying." He added.

"What's wrong with that kid?" Samatoki asked with a frown.

"It makes sense if you consider that the first brother died in middle of a rap battle." Jyuto said and sat down as well. "Maybe the sight of an hypnosis mic triggers the memory of Ichiro getting shot." He added.

"Ichiro...was shot in middle of a rap battle?" Samatoki asked slowly.

Jyuto sighed. "They were both shot and with the testimonies I heard I assume it was in middle of a rap battle." He explained.

Samatoki looked down. "So he was killed...by a fucking ass coward? Because of a fucking rap battle?" He clenched his fists.

"Samatoki." Jakurai's deep and soft voice got the other's attention. "You must believe me when I tell you that this upsets me as much as you, but we can't let our emotions lead us to make mistakes in a moment as delicate as this." He said.

"He is right Samatoki." Jyuto said. "If you feel bad about this, imagine how the kid whose life revolved around them and saw it all happening right in front of him is feeling." He pointed at the door.

"I can take him with me to Shinjuku." Jakurai said. "I don't mind taking care of him and it's the least I could do after the times Ichiro and his brothers helped me."

"Thank you, he needs to stay in Yokohama so I can watch him until we catch the ones who did this, but after that I think he would be better under your care, doctor." Jyuto said.

"Do you think they will attack again? With only one of the brothers left there is no more Buster Bros." Rio said.

"They wouldn't have killed the second brat if they only wanted to end the Buster Bros." Samatoki muttered. "With Ichiro would had been enough...these fuckers wanted to end the Yamada family entirely." He frowned with disgust.

"Probably." Jyuto leaned back on his chair. "We can only be sure after hearing Saburo's side of the story...which now I don't think that we will get any soon." He sighed.

"Leaving that aside for a moment, are we going to give the brothers a proper funeral?" Jakurai asked.

"I was told Kuko Harai stopped by and said that he would take care of it, since no one else was going to." Jytuo said.

"I'll talk to him." Samatoki said. "At least to help pay for it." He added.

"I would like to help as well if possible..." Jakurai nodded. "I think the more we help, the less Saburo will have to deal with in this moment." 

"I don't even know if it would be right to take him to the funeral in his condition." Jytuo said 

"I will come regularly and treat him without a mic, we will see if he fares well by then." Jakurai said. "For now I must take my leave, as I left patients back in Shinjuku due to the nature of this case." He added.

"Of course." Jytuo got up. "Sorry for taking your time and thank you for your help."

"It's no problem for me, in fact, thank you for calling me and filling me in with the whole situation." The doctor got up and looked at the three of them. "Without his brothers, the only ones left for Saburo are us that got to know and estimate them."

"If he came all the way here was because he trusted that he could find help here, so it's only right to do just that." Rio said.

"I agree." Jyuto said. "We will make sure nothing happens to him during this time. The rest would be left to you." He added 

Samatoki stayed quiet.

Jakurai gave him one worried look, but didn't say anything and walked with Jyuto to the door.

Things were more complicated than what he thought would be and Samatoki was not helping at all, but at least he didn't seem to be against the idea of Saburo staying at his place and they had people like Jakurai helping them with the whole sudden situation.

At that same hour the day before, it would have never crossed his mind that he would have to take care of Saburo Yamada with a PTSD while investigating the case of the murder of Ichiro and Jiro Yamada.

But that was just how things were in this kind of job, that was just how you slowly lose hope in the society you were supposed to protect as a police officer.

Chapter Text

Rio traveled all the way back to his camp to bring the best ingredients he had to prepare a meal Saburo wouldn't be able to refuse. The boy had refused to eat for 2 or 3 days now so now he was going to pull out the big guns. 

First he would try to see if he could get any information on what kind of dish was his favorite. He grabbed a cooking magazine Samatoki had laying around and he would show the dishes to Saburo in hopes one would get a reaction from the boy. 

He opened the door and walked into the room they had to check three times and take out anything he could use to attempt against his own life again. He looked at the untouched food on the plate he left last night on the table next to the bed. He wouldn't deny that this constant waste of food was a little insulting for him, but he understood the situation.

Over the bed was sitting the boy, still hugging his knees and wearing the oversized shirt and sweatpants that they had to change him into. His eyes stared at nowhere and he limited himself to just breath and blink, but he had changed the places where he sat around the room and the doctor Jinguji assured that he could listen to them and was aware of the things that happened around him, so he wouldn't be talking to a wall.

Rio sat cross-legged on the floor, right in front of him. "Good morning." He said simply and wasn't surprised when he didn't get a response. "Give me a sign if here is anything you like." He lifted the magazine and slowly turned the pages while watching Saburo intently.

Nothing

Nothing

Nothing

Lip twitch

Rio blinked and took that involuntary movement as the sign he needed, turning the magazine to look at the recipe that had gotten the reaction. "Croquettes..." He muttered. That was easy and he knew exactly what meat he would use for it. "Ok then, I will make it for you." He closed the magazine and got up. "I will make them the best you have ever eaten." He said before leaving to the kitchen.

After putting all his heart preparing the meal, he gave the dish the final touches and then took it –along with a coke he bought at the nearest store– to the bedroom. He couldn't help but feel that his pride as a cook would get wounded if it didn't work. He sat down in front of the boy that hadn't moved an inch since he left the room and put the coke on the floor. "Here are my croquettes..." He said while he took the fork and the knife and sliced one of the crispy ovals on the plate. "Try it, I think they turned out very good." He said, moving the piece close to the face of the boy.

Saburo's nose twitched, smelling the piece centimeters away from him. He slowly raised his hand and took the piece from the fork, then he turned it and studied it for a moment before taking it to his mouth. The eyes of the boy closed as he chewed, tasting food for the first time in days. "Mmm..." He opened his eyes and they moved down to glance at the redhead.

Rio took that as a cue to move the plate closer and saw the boy take the croquettes with his bare hands and eat them like a desperate animal. "Mmm!" 

He wasn't unfamiliar with that kind of reaction, since there were a few occasions where a certain friend from Shibuya would do exactly the same after having spent even more time without food. That was why he made sure to not serve his food too hot in that kind of scenarios.

"It's good to see you finally eating something." Rio smiled softly. "You were getting even thinner..."

Saburo quickly waved his hand towards the coke and Rio handed it to him. The ravenette drank so fast he ended up choking and had to give himself some pats on the chest until a burp came out.

Rio was once again amazed at the power of food. How it managed to change the atmosphere as if it was nothing.

"More?" Saburo asked quickly, putting the empty can of coke aside.

Good thing Rio had made enough for all of them. "I need to put them in the frier." He said. "Give me a moment..." He got up and grabbed the plate, but when he turned to leave the room he felt someone following him and he turned to find heterochromatic eyes peering up at him. He turned back and walked to the kitchen with the boy following him. 

He saw him looking around the house, uneasy. "You can wait in the bedroom if you want to." Rio said as he grabbed the uncooked croquettes he had set for when Samatoki and Jyuto came back. He could prepare more for them later.

Saburo just shook his head, sat on the table and waited for the new croquettes to be done, his eyes never leaving Rio.

Once they were done Rio placed the plate on the table in front of him. "These are hot, so you should use a fork." The soldier said, sitting in front of him.

Saburo looked more relaxed now, eating the croquettes with a fork and a knife at a normal pace. There was a dead silence in the room until the boy opened his mouth. "This is...what we were going to have for dinner..." He murmured. "That idiot had been asking for it for weeks because he saw it in an anime..."

This time it was Rio who didn't respond.

Saburo stared down at his food. "They really are gone...aren't they?" He asked weakly. "I'm not waking up from this nightmare, am I?"

"...yes, this is not a dream." Rio said.

"Did you...give them a funeral?" Saburo bit his lip.

"It's being held right now in Ikebukuro..." Rio answered.

Saburo looked up with a broken expression. "Take me there." He said.

Rio looked away. "You should not go to Ikebukuro for the time being..." He said.

Saburo slammed his fists on the table. "TAKE ME THERE." He repeated, now with an aggressiveness his weak voice couldn't handle.

Rio looked back at him, but didn't move.

Saburo looked back down. "Please... They are my brothers..." He pleaded with a shaky voice.

Rio thought for a moment while looking at the boy "I don't own a car. If we leave right now we will make it in time." He stood up crouched next to Saburo. "Get on my back."

Saburo blinked slowly. "..."

"If you want to see them this is your only choice." Rio said.

With that, Saburo hopped on the soldier's back and held as strongly as his body allowed him, however he knew he wouldn't fall because Rio was holding him as well.

And they left

Saburo closed his eyes. He didn't care how they were going to get there, he didn't care about anything anymore if he had to be honest. As far as he knew, he had nothing left and no reason to exist.

Chapter Text

Samatoki stood between the two coffins. He had to take the weirded out looks of every single person that came to pay their respects, he had stay quiet about it and he hated it. If they thought he was out of place then they didn't know Ichiro that well after all.

"I still can't believe this shit..." Kuko cursed under his breath. "At least Ichiro and his brother won't have to deal with this shitty world until their next life..." Added the monk standing near him. "At least you got to be with him. I didn't see him in two years for something I can't even remember." 

"We fought time after you left...we hated the shit out each other because of a misunderstanding we didn't get to clear up." Samatoki said plainly.

Kuko looked at him, one eyebrow arched. "Really? And Ichiro actually stayed mad at you for that long? Because I remember he had this huge crush on..." Kuko stopped talking when he saw the sour expression on Samatoki's face. "Never mind...that sucks man." He said.

Both stayed there in silence for a while until Jyuto arrived, pulling his jacket down. "Nothing new in the investigation." He sighed. "Seems like things won't get moving until we get to hear Saburo's side of the story to confirm theories." 

"You still don't know anything about him?" Kuko asked. "Not even if he's alive? People asked about him all day." 

"He is alive." Jyuto pushed up his glasses. "That's all we know." He lied.

"If you find him, just don't send him back to a filthy orphanage." Kuko said seriously. "We have space there in the temple and he doesn't have to get into Buddhism or anything..." He added.

"You would take the brat with you?" Samatoki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I can't let his brother rot in an orphanage if I ever considered Ichiro my best friend." Kuko scratched his head. "And if there's something he taught me is that they have really bad luck when it comes to orphanages." He added.

"Thank you for the offer, I will let Saburo know once we find him." Jyuto said.

"I will leave it to you then." He put his hands in his pocket and turned to the coffins. "Gotta pray for them before the cremation, so I'm out." He said.

"We will take it from here." Jyuto nodded and with that the monk left the place and Jyuto stood where he used to be.

Samatoki waited until Kuko was completely gone to look at Jyuto. "We have to go get the brat." He said.

Jyuto raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me? Are you insane? It's almost time for the cremation, Samatoki." He said.

"Then shut up and let's get going." Samatoki gritted his teeth.

"No Samatoki, we can't bring him in the state he is. We talked about this." Jyuto whispered.

"If something like this happened to Nemu and you didn't let me see her one last time I would murder you in your sleep." Samatoki hissed.

"It's too dangerous for Saburo to be in Ikebukuro right now Samatoki I... Rio?!" Jyuto frowned.

Samatoki turned and looked at the redhead. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

Jyuto quickly went over. "Shouldn't you be watching over–My god is that Saburo?!" He whispered, eyes widening once he realized what Rio had on his back.

"It's ok Jyuto..." Rio said. He crouched and turned his head a little. "We are here..." He murmured.

The boy let go of the man's neck and set his bare feet on the cold floor.

"God you didn't even give him shoes..." Jytuo placed his hand on his own forehead.

Saburo lifted his head and his eyes landed on the albino. No words needed to be said and he knew that there was what he was looking for. With slow and uneasy steps he stood in front of the two coffins, afraid of what he was about to see. He closed his eyes and gave the last steps, when he opened them he was hit by the image of his two older brothers, laying pacefully in each coffin adorned with flowers, no sign of pain or sorrow in their faces, as if they were having a nice dream.

A nice dream without him.

The boy felt that the strength to stay up suddenly left him and his legs gave in, however he didn't feel the hit against the floor, but two pairs of hands keeping him standing. For a moment, he imagined those hands belonged to his brothers.

"Ichi-nii...Jiro-nii..." He whispered weakly. "W-why...? Why do you look so peaceful? D-don't you see...you forgot about me?" He felt the tears rolling down his cheeks and he hated. "W-why did you leave without me? Why did you want me to stay?"  He turned his face to Ichiro. "I-I want to be happy with you too! I want peace too! I-it's not fair!" His voice broke as he felt his nails digging in his hands.

He turned around, hand reached out to the middle brother's coffin and with shaky steps he could lean over it. "Jiro-nii...you moron...w-why did you save me? W-what kind of life do you think I'm going to live now dumbass? We were supposed to stay together...always... always...a-always." He slid down to the floor and covered his face. "You are both traitors..." He sobbed. "Y-you... abandoned me just...just like everyone else."

Saburo then felt warm arms around him and a hand stroking his hair. He wanted nothing but push this person away, but he needed the physical contact, he needed to feel he wasn't alone in the world even for just a moment, so he stayed in the embrace.

Jyuto took a deep breath and looked up at the other two while still holding Saburo. Rio just lowered his head while Samatoki turned his face away from the scene. The three of them understood the feeling of abandonment the boy was experiencing and even if Jyuto hated to admit it he was glad Rio had brought him. He went through this with the death of his parents, so he knows this part is necessary.

"L-let me go with them..." Saburo whispered.

Jyuto sighed and rubbed his back gently, trying to soothe him "That's not how it works, Saburo..." He said softly. "And you know that's not what they would want for you..."

An employee form the funeral parlor cleared his throat, making the members of the Yokohama division look at him. "Excuse me but...if you are ready for the cremation..." He said.

"Does it look like we're fucking ready, asshole?" Samatoki snapped at him.

"Samatoki." Jytuo reprimanded.

"Leave me alone with them..." Saburo murmured, getting his tears and snot all over Jyuto's suit, for the officer's dismay.

Jyuto shared hesitant looks with the other two, but decided to grant the boy's wish...not before taking any sharp objects and candles with them first of course, since Saburo proved to be in a unpredictable state. They closed the doors of the hall and waited outside for a moment, giving a warning look to the worker to not interrupt the boy's moment.

"He was better and I got him to eat and talk." Rio said. "He asked me to bring him and I thought he deserved to see them..."

"You did good Rio." Jytuo nodded slowly. "To be honest, that went better than what I expected..."

"Tch, that brat doesn't even know where to aim his anger at and that'll only make him do the most stupid kind of shits in the end." Samatoki crossed his arms.

"You have a lot of experience in that field huh?" Jyuto raised an eyebrow

"Shut the fuck up." Samatoki sent him a glare.

"We need to help him accept that there is a reason why he is alive and that there is no point in being angry about it..." Rio said.

"'We?' do we look like psychologists material? You saw how that turned out last time." Samatoki scoffed. "No, we'll just keep him alive until I kill the motherfucker that did this and then that's Jakurai's or the Buddhist temple's problem." He said.

"You will just throw him to someone else after what we have seen?" Jyuto asked.

"It's not our problem." Samatoki responded, marking each word. "We're already doing enough right now. We all went through some loss and look, we got over it! so he'll be fine." He leaned against the wall. "And don't act as if you don't know that."

Jyuto just sighed.

The door opened after a few minutes and the boy stood there with a solemn expression. "You can do it now..." He murmured.

The worker gave a look to the three men and when he got a silent confirmation from Jyuto he got more workers to move the coffins away.

Samatoki gave one last look to Ichiro and felt the cold glass against his fingertips instead of the warmth he once felt when he touched the other's skin. He watched him for a moment, so he could save the details of his face for the last time, then he sighed through his nose and closed the coffin.

The four of them stood there while the coffins were pushed away to the cremation room. None of them said a word.

Jyuto and Rio went to deal with the rest of the process while Samatoki stayed with Saburo, smoking a very much needed cigarette. Jyuto's orders were for him to not open his mouth in front of Saburo at all, something he would have responded with a 'fuck off' if it wasn't for the fact that he didn't want to talk with the boy either. Saburo was back to his curled up position like the one he had back home and his eyes were lost once again, so Samatoki assumed he ran out of batteries and wouldn't talk to them again, or that's what he thought.

"Ichi-nii..." Saburo said, without looking at him. "What kind of relationship did you really have with him?" He asked.

Samatoki pulled out the cigarette and focused on the movement of the smoke he blew out floating up in the air and dispersing. "...I loved him." He admitted, no shame or doubt in his voice, after all, there was no point in hiding it anymore.

"...that much I could tell." Saburo muttered. "I saw the way you looked at him."

"Not like it really matters anymore." Samatoki laughed bitterly. "He left seeing me as a piece of shit."

"Jiro left seeing me as an annoying jerk..." Saburo mumbled. "He died for me and I couldn't even tell him that I only meant half of the things I told him..."

"He wouldn't have died for you if he cared about that." Samatoki said and then took a drag on his cigarette.

Saburo hummed. "...I don't think Ichi-nii really hated you, but it's true...it doesn't matter anymore."

Both stayed in silence for a while.

"If you loved Ichi-nii...will you kill the one who did this?" Saburo asked quietly.

Samatoki puffed a smoke. "That's the plan." He said

"... would you let me kill him?" Saburo asked.

"Not happening." Samatoki answered bluntly.

"...would you kill me then?" Saburo asked.

Samatoki sighed and dropped the cigarette. "Cut it out with that crap already." He stepped on it. "Do you think they died for you to kill yourself? Weren't you supposed to be the smart one?" 

"Yes...you told me the same the other day when you were being a brute." Saburo said and Samatoki glared at him. "But they took that decision out of instinct, it doesn't make any sense..." The boy scratched the fabric of the sweatpants. "This world was already hard enough for the three of us, what am I supposed to do all alone? It's stupid and I don't have to do it." He frowned.

"All alone? Should I kick your ass so you remember where the fuck you're staying at? Whose time and energy you're taking and whose clothes you're wearing right now? If you want me to feel sorry for you let me tell you that's not gonna happen." Samatoki huffed. "Life's hard? Hell yeah it is. Just suck it up like you've been doing until now and at least respect the last wishes of your brothers and stay alive."

Saburo frowned and pulled his knees closer. "...Asshole." 

Samatoki looked away. "Little shit."

Jyuto and Rio joined them and just a look to the faces of the albino and the ravenette made Jytuo take his hands to his temples. "Samatoki, didn't I tell you not to talk to him?" He asked as he massaged them.

"Fuck off." Samatoki said out loud this time.

Jyuto rolled his eyes "Anyway, let's head back to Yokohama." He said.

Saburo looked up at him in surprise.

Jytuo tilted his head. "What? You're coming with us obviously." He said. "You'll get to decide where you want to go later, but for now I will be watching you for your safety." 

"The three of us." Rio said and looked and Samatoki.

"...yeah whatever." The albino crossed his arms. "You're lucky you're Ichiro's brother." He said.

"Do you want us to pick up some things from your place before we leave?" Jyuto asked.

Saburo shook his head quickly.

"You don't want to see your home?" Rio asked

Saburo bit his lip and turned away, scratching his knees with an anguished look.

Despite the confusion of the other two, Jyuto seemed to know a possible reason for that, so he just nodded. "Alright then, we're going straight to Yokohama." Jyuto said 

Rio crouched next to Saburo, waiting for him to hop on.

Saburo gave a look to the redhead and then stood up without uttering a word and walked away by himself slowly with the officer easily catching up and walking next to him.

"Did you come all the way here on Rio's back?" Jyuto asked.

"We obviously took the train at some point." The boy deadpanned in a very low tone.

"This brat's gonna be a handful..." Samatoki grunted, walking next to Rio once the solider had gotten up.

"I think you just need to learn to get to him." Rio said. "I got him to talk and eat with the power of food. You will try it when we get back." He added.

"Ha? And what did you give him to make him be able to do something other than scream nonsense?" Samatoki asked.

"Croquettes with the best iguana meat I had." Rio said with a prideful shine in his eyes.

"Iguana...?" Samatoki gulped. He didn't even know what that was.

Rio nodded. "Don't worry, I brought more of my best ingredients, so tonight we will have a feast with them." He said.

"Err I don't have that much appetite Rio..." Samatoki said.

"If my cooking woke the little one's appetite up, I know it will do the same for you." Rio responded with a little smile.

Samatoki laughed nervously.

What a day...

Chapter Text

It has been a week since Saburo first came to the house and since the funeral, days were 'uneventful' if they could even use the word. Saburo would stay in the guest room, sitting over the bed all day and just get out to eat, for then go back to the room and do nothing aside from receiving Jakurai's treatment and even then he didn't change his position while he barely talked. He still reacted in horror at the sight or mention of an Hypnosis Mic, but at least it was easier to hold conversations with him, even with his bitter attitude and sometimes disturbing comments. Rio and Jakurai were the ones that could get the most information about his feelings and thoughts before he shuts down and decides to not answer to anything anymore, hugging his knees and staring at nowhere, something they refered as his "off mode". When he got in that mode there was no way of getting him out of it until the boy himself decided to come back at any random moment.

Jyuto was the one that he chose to allow to touch him, even if he didn't talk to him much. He would let the brunette help him when he got cramps for sitting in the same position for too long, cure his wounds whenever 'accidents' happened and be there while he took baths, because yes, they couldn't let him bathe alone after he tried to drown himself in his first bath or then attempted to drink an entire bottle of shampoo when they tried out showers instead. If the other two tried to touch him he would or make his discomfort very visible in Rio's case or straight out jump away and hiss like a cat in Samatoki's case.

With Samatoki the interactions always ended up with one or both of them angry, in one occasion in Saburo locking himself in the bathroom for 16 hours and other time with Samatoki flipping the kitchen table. It was a complete disaster, but they concluded he got out the Saburo that was the closest to the Saburo before the tragedy.

After a week of the murder of his brothers, Saburo agreed to tell his side of the story, staying in his room and in Jakurai's company.

"Try to remember as many details as you can ok?" Juyto said, setting the recorder on the table next to the bed. They decided to make the interrogation in the guest room to provide more comfort for the boy. 

"But you can stop if you think you can't go on." Jakurai added softly.

"...if I tell you will I get to kill them?" Saburo asked slowly.

"Saburo you can not do that." Jakurai reminded him, more like a gentle note than a reprimand.

"But will they die?" He asked.

"Depends on their sentences, but it is a possibility." Jyuto said.

Saburo nodded and looked down pressing his lips together. "This group...they had been messing with us for a while, sending threats, saying they were going to take over Ikebukuro." Saburo began. "We were used to get that kind of things, but this group in particular was very insistent... so annoying..." Saburo squinted. "What was the name...?" He put his hands on his head. "What was it?" 

"It's ok if you don't remember now Saburo." Jyuto said quickly. "Go on with the story."

Saburo nodded slowly. "Uh this group...they got in our home and messed with all our stuffs, Jiro-nii was so pissed ichi-nii and I had to stop him from going to get them himself. I think they destroyed his favorite guitar, ichi-nii's light novels and my computer maybe?" He said and bit his lip. "They wrote things all over the walls...what did they say? Something about children not being a proper representation of Ikebukuro and death threats...yes I remember death threats." He closed his eyes. "Ichi-nii...he said he was going to put an end to it, but Jiro-nii and I." His expression twisted in pain. "We insisted on going...to prove ourselves. I wanted to show them I wasn't a mere child..." He murmured and his eyes opened in shock. "God...what did we do?" He asked with a trembling voice.

Jakurai put his hands around Saburo, but the boy flinched and jumped away from the doctor. "No no, W-would ichi-nii still be alive if we hadn't gone with him? If he didn't had to think about us?!" He stood up and paced around the room, rubbing his arms.

"Saburo please stay with us, what happened after that?" Jyuto asked.

"U-uh I...we went to a place written on a note they left." Saburo closed his eyes tightly. "'After we're done with this will take you to this dinner and we will try those croquettes you saw in the anime to get rid of this bad taste in the mouth.'" Saburo murmured. "'Really Nii-chan?! I'm gonna wipe the floor with them! you'll see....'" He arched his back forwards.

Jakurai gave Jyuto a worried look. "Let's stop this here." He said sternly.

Jyuto nodded. "Saburo that's enough for now." He moved over to the boy.

Saburo raised his hand and didn't stop his story. "They came looking so full of themselves, their faces are a blur but they definitely were older and looked bigger than us in general, but in the battle there were just like the other mediocres..." He murmured bitterly. "But I don't know what they did...their...their microphones did something weird." He put his hand in the air. "Lights. Flashing lights so bright that were blinding...and we couldn't help but look at them because microphones don't do that...and then that damn noise." He closed and opened his hand as if trying to imitate the effect of the lights, but at the mention of the noise he suddenly stopped and looked up at Jyuto. "For when we realized what they were doing...Ichi-nii..." He trailed off.

"Was down." Jyuto said sadly. "Saburo you don't have to keep going..." He tried to stop him once again but the boy moved away from him.

"He was laying in front of us...I just stood there like a complete idiot and they got us, they were going to takes us somewhere, but Jiro-nii reacted quickly and fought back and somehow pulled me...I don't know where, I just thought about how much of an damned bastard he was for running away without ichi-nii and I remember yelling all kinds of insults." Saburo rubbed his eyes. "All I could hear were those microphones...those awful microphones and the sound they made over and over again..." His voice broke and his hands went to his ears. "It wasn't stopping. W-we reached this wall and Jiro-nii told me to do that thing we did once for a job where he would give me enough impulse to jump over things." He bit his lip. "B-but once I was up the wall and leaned down to try to pull him up! It was going to be quick and we would be safe but...there was that loud sound again along with...the damn sound of microphones and h-he...he..." Saburo's legs felt weak and he fell on his knees, his view blurring because of the tears that kept falling.

"T-that idiot... thinking back, the wall was too tall for me to even pull him up after." Saburo murmured. "He knew...he was going to die, he knew, didn't he?" He looked up at the two adults. A prideful prodigy begging for answers from the adults he once swore to surpass.

Jakurai and Jytuo limited to exchange a look and then turn back at him.

Saburo sighed, knowing the answer himself. "I remember falling off the wall out of shock..." He said, defeated. "I could still hear their microphones while I laid down there and I thought 'if I stay here I will be next for sure' but for some reason, even if right know I would have liked to have stayed there, I got up and ran, even though everything hurt." He added.

Saburo's eyes went dark "'Buster Bros are over...Ikebukuro is ours!'" He said and then did some high pitched sounds with his mouth. "'This is how men did shit in the old days. I'll save one just for the little guy.'" 

Jyuto turned off the recorder. "Enough." He grabbed Saburo firmly by the shoulders. "We have enough. Thank you Saburo."

Saburo blinked slowly and more tears rolled down his cheeks. "Why? Why did this happen? Maybe if we hadn't gone with Ichi-nii..." He said.

Jyuto hugged the boy. "No Saburo, don't you dare blame yourself for this." He said. 

"Some adults feel frustrated when they compare themselves to younger people and when you mix it with an unhealthy desire for power this is what happens." Jakurai explained. "Just know that neither you or your brother are the ones to blame."

"What you told us is what will help us catch the ones that deserve to pay." Jyuto said, rubbing his back.

Saburo tilted his head "Get them." He whispered in his ear. "Get them and bring them to me because I want them dead..."

Jytuo pulled back. "No Saburo." He said with serious concern.

"We already talked about those negative thoughts Saburo." Jakurai sighed. "They will not help you at all."

Saburo frowned at the doctor and got up. "Nothing can help me anyway so what's the point? Do you realize you're wasting your time here? The only things I look forward to right now are killing those bastards and then myself!" He shouted and moved closer to the bed where the doctor was. "I don't give a damn about school, I want to know nothing about those disgusting mics and I couldn't care less about what happens to this shit of a world!" He glared at the doctor.

Jakurai nodded and wrote something down on the notebook on his lap. "Are you done?" He asked. "It's good you let all of that rage come out so you can see things more clearly after." He said quietly.

"You're not listening to me!" Saburo punched the bed. "What am I going to see clearly?!" He growled.

"I can not tell you that, it is different for each person." The doctor responded calmly. "But you will realize that the logic you have right not doesn't make much sense after all."

The doctor's words made the boy go in a rampage and shout at them to leave the room while throwing everything he could. Jytuo was a little alarmed, but the doctor didn't even flinch and left the room with Jytuo.

"I'm sorry doctor, I should have stopped him when you told me." Jytuo sighed.

Jakurai shook his head "No need to apologise, this was something good." He said. "And I'm impressed at the improvement he has shown in such a short time, even if it's in this way at least now he is communicating." 

"I suppose..." Jytuo crossed his arms. "And I got his testimony, even if he skipped the most important details like their faces and the name of the group." He pushed up his glasses. "It's still very useful information and it explains his fear to the hypnosis mics."

"Seems like this was not out of impulse for the rage of losing a battle. They were planning to kill them from the beginning..." Jakurai frowned. "There is no excuse for something so low..." 

"I will show them the real meaning of no mercy..." Jytuo said in a low tone.

"Iruma." Jakurai gave him a disapproving look.

Jyuto blinked. "Oh right, sorry doctor." He waved his hand. "Not like the boy will know about that. I don't want to be a bad example, we already have Samatoki for that." He chuckled and lead the doctor to the exit

"Are they still fighting?" Jakurai asked.

"Every time they talk." Jytuo rolled his eyes. "I can't believe he raised his little sister on his own, because he's completely tactless when it comes to Saburo. If I had an extra room in my apartment I would take Saburo to my place instead."

"Samatoki must not be having a good time either, be a little patient with him too." Jakurai said. "He recently found out the whereabouts of his sister, one of the people he cared about the most died just a week ago and now he has to take care of a boy that could remind him of both the experience of having his sister home and the memory of Ichiro, so it's only natural that he is not able to think properly right now." He explained.

Jytuo hummed. "I didn't think about that, but I guess you are right." He opened the door of the house. "I will have a talk with him about it when I have the time." 

"You three are not doing bad, Iruma." Jakurai smiled softly. "Maybe you could even take care of him permanently." 

Jyuto laughed. "Please don't take you offer off the table like that." He said. "This hasn't been any easy and honestly I don't think we are made for this."

"My offer is still there, I would be glad to take Saburo with me." Jakurai said. "And I heard there was an offer from the Buddhist temple in Nagoya." He tilted his head.

"Yes, we even got a message from Shibuya that said, and I quote 'Don't send him with the old man! He will get all boring and smelly! He will be waaaay better as part of the posse~'". Jyuto said, but at the look of terror from the doctor he waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry, they're not even an option." He said 

Jakurai sighed in relief. "Thank goodness..." He smiled once again. "But is good to know that they made friends that will look after them in a moment like this." He said.

Jytuo nodded. "But in the end, it will be his choice where he wants to go after the case is closed." He sighed with some hints of sadness. 

Jakurai watched him with slight amusement. "I will see you later, Iruma." He bowed his head.

"Goodbye doctor." Jytuo said and watched him go. If it was his choice where Saburo had to go, the doctor from Shinjuku was his favorite option.

Well...the best option would be the right way to put it.

Chapter Text

Dealing with a little brother was nothing like dealing with a little sister, Samatoki quickly discovered. Specially when this little brother was a little shit by default that had PTSD to top it off.

Nemu had a time when her mind wasn't well after the death of their parents, but at least she was cute and sweet and understanding of her big brother. All Saburo did was insult him and make bitter remarks whenever he tried to tell him something useful and that was without mentioning the now fewer but still very annoying occasions when he gets on edge and starts screaming and kicking to then go to his "off mode" and ignore him no matter what he did. He was so disrespectful and uncute it made him literally scream.

That wasn't even the worst part. He could deal with shitty brats, but dealing with suicidal knows-it-all shitty brats was a whole different story. They couldn't turn their backs for a second without the kid trying a new method to take his own life and whenever they tried to talk to make him understand why he couldn't do that he responded with that cheap ass logic that 'he had nothing else to do'. Now his house looked like a damn daycare for no brain babies with everything possibly dangerous covered or behind a lock.

He spent the day working and using Jyuto's investigation so he can find where those assholes have been hiding before the police and avenge his stupid brothers the right way just to get back to his own home and find out he can't even relax there because he has to deal with the protocol to not break the kid because the little shit –as he refers him as now– seemed to have opened up a little to Jytuo and Rio but hate just the sight of him even though he was staying at HIS house.

If he wants to kill himself so badly we should just let him do it.

He had thought of that in the moments of extreme stress and he could swear he felt a hand slapping the back of his head whenever he thought those words. Maybe the lack of rest was making him go insane.

'It would be fine' he told himself. They almost had the group that attacked them that night and after that he would officially be none of his business. 

He would have to make sure to tell whoever stayed with the little shit about how he hated the shampoos with too strong aromas or how he didn't sleep well unless he had two pillows or how he got cold easily so they mustn't put the AC too low or how he didn't like when the eggs were too cooked or how the classical music helped him relax when would have a breakdown...

So they wouldn't get as annoyed as him and send him back. Obviously.

"Boss?" A young voice made him break his train of thought.

"What do you want?" Samatoki asked, lighting up a new cigarette.

The guy stood there nervously "It's about that group of Ikebukuro, the one that killed the Bus-"

"To the point." Samatoki grunted.

"E-eh yes boss! I heard they are ready to go out and take over Ikebukuro, so they will be on the streets." He said.

Samatoki smirked. "So the rats are getting out their hole huh..." He said. "Anything else?"

"I heard they are planning to destroy what's left of the business the Yamada had." He responded. "And make it their new base."

Samatoki crushed the cigarette in his hand. "Of course those assholes didn't have enough." He hissed to himself.

"Uhh boss, why does it matter?" The guy asked.

Samatoki glared at him. "Oh sorry, do I owe any explanations to you? Get out of my sight." He said.

"Yes boss!" He bowed and left the room quickly.

Samatoki clicked his tongue. They didn't even have the chance to get the little shit's belongings yet so having those fuckers ruin the only things left in that place was the last thing they needed, so it was very convenient when he got a call and saw that it was from Jyuto. "What is it?" He asked once he picked up

"Hello to you too." Jyuto answered sarcastically. "I was talking with Rio and we think it would be good to take Saburo to his camp so he can get some fresh air. The doctor agreed with us." He said.

Samatoki raised an eyebrow. "Ha? You just sounded like a mother there." He said. "Don't get too into this, remember we're almost done with our part."

"Ugh it's not like that." Jyuto said. "And not even after all this time or the fact he is Ichiro's brother you can pretend to give a damn about the kid?" He huffed.

"And why the fuck would I pretend?" Samatoki snapped. "Anyway, ok do whatever you want, take him out or whatever, I have something more important to tell you." He said and unconsciously moved his hand even though the other couldn't see him.

Jyuto cut him off "I'm at the store right now so at least go check if he drank the brand of milk I bought last time, because he says it doesn't matter but I know it does and I think I'm very close to getting the right one." He said 

Samatoki rolled his eyes 'Of course the stupid bunny got too motherly about this.' He thought. "Why didn't you ask Rio if you just talked to him?" He complained.

"What do you mean? You are the one with Saburo right now." Jytuo asked with exasperation

Samatoki frowned. "What am I taking about? What are YOU talking about? I'm at work. Today's Rio's turn." He said.

The call went silent for a moment.

"Samatoki..." He heard Jyuto sucking in air and something falling on the other side of the call. "...Today was your turn to watch him. Rio is in his camp." Jyuto said.

Samatoki's eye's slowly widened in realization. "...Shit!" He shot up from his seat and ran out his office.

"Samatoki I swear to god-" The albino cut off the call and ran to his car as fast as he could. 

There shouldn't be a problem right? That house was safe even for a baby at that point so there was nothing to worry about right? It wasn't like he was a genius kid that was way smarter than a baby and surely had ways to fool the safety measures they used right?

He drove as fast as his car allowed.

When he arrived to the house he almost felt like kicking the door open when he couldn't find the right key, but he found it in the last moment and hurried inside the home. "Hey little shit!" He called, but didn't get a response.

He went directly to the guest room and opened the door to find it empty and with a barely touched glass of milk. "Probably he hated it so much he's puking it. Good one stupid ass bunny." Samatoki said to himself, but opened the bathroom door and found it empty too.

He walked to the living room and noticed there was something laying on the floor that he didn't pay attention to when he first walked in with all the hurry. He went over and realized it was the picture of him and Nemu from when they lived together. The glass was shattered and all over the floor, but luckily the picture didn't get any damage. 

'The kid must have broken it and now is hiding huh? Well I'm not playing hide and seek with him.' Samatoki thought. He looked down and realized that a even if you put the shattered glass back together, a big piece would still be missing.

And it was then when it hit him.

The frame fell from his hands. "Brat!" He called and ran to check all the other rooms in the house and then he saw it, the room he didn't let the other two touch, the room he never dared to lock in case he wouldn't be able to open it again.

Nemu's bedroom.

And the door was half open.

He didn't want to believe the little shit could have been that... sadistic, to do what he thought he did. There was only one way to find out. He opened the door of the room and there he saw the boy, laying on the pink carpet he remembered buying with his sister and staining it with the blood coming out his wrists.

At that point of his life, very few things made his whole body shiver, but the moment he made eye contact with a pair of mismatched eyes and saw the ravenette smiling at him, he felt just that.

"I didn't finish..." Saburo said weakly. "Don't you feel like killing me now?" He pushed the piece of glass closer to him. "Suit yourself..." 

Chapter Text

The three men sat in the living room, but none of them looked at the other.

"...Is it something we are doing wrong?" Rio asked, breaking the silence. "It really looked like he was getting better." He looked down at his hands.

"We should have put the list with each turn on the fridge as I said." Jytuo said. "But yes...I also thought we were doing it right."

Samatoki just looked out the window, his face twisted in anger.

Jakurai walked out the room and closed the door behind him. "He is out of danger, I got him to sleep and then used my hypnosis mic on him." He explained.

"Thank you doctor." Jyuto and Rio stood up. "When I saw him there I really thought he had finally done it." Jytuo pulled back his hair. "It was...scary."

The doctor pursed his lips "What is more concerning is his psychological condition." He said. "I was told you found him in Samatoki's sister's room?" He asked.

Jyuto nodded hesitatingly. "Yes, I found him there with Samatoki applying pressure to the cuts." He explained.

"So it was Samatoki who found him first?" Jakurai directed a worried look to his ex teammate. "You told me each one has a day to watch him assigned? Did you happen to mention the details in front of him?" He asked.

Jyuto blinked and furrowed his brow. "Are you implying that he did this knowing Samatoki would be the one finding him? Just to mess with him?" He asked 

"I would not like to think such a young boy has that kind of thinking, but choosing that specific room leads me to believe it." Jakurai said.

Samatoki stood from the couch. "Doctor. Take the kid with you to Shinjuku." He said.

Juyto blinked and looked at Rio, then back at Samatoki. "What?" He asked.

"I want that shit out of here." Samatoki said, eyes dark and dead serious.

"Samatoki the case isn't closed yet." Jyuto tried to remind him.

"Then take him to your place or Rio can take him to the woods or you can leave him in a sewer. I don't give a fuck. I want him out of my house." Samatoki said coldly.

"Are you serious?" Jyuto asked with indignation. "You're going to throw him out just like that? Ack-"

Samatoki pulled him closer by the jacket. "That piece of shit wanted me to finish the job, don't your fucking get that?" He asked in a low and quiet tone. "That's what he has been asking me to do since day one." He shook the officer. "And today for a good second I thought about finally giving him what he wanted." He pushed him away.

Rio held Jyuto so he wouldn't lose his balance and both watched Samatoki as he turned away and buried his hands in his white locks. "I don't want him here." He repeated.

Jakurai kept his serene face. "If those are your feelings then we must respect them." He turned his face to the other two. "If Saburo already testified then he is no longer needed in Yokohama and I will make sure to give him the proper protection until the culprits get caught." He said.

Jyuto and Rio looked at each other once again. "I think it's for the best." Rio said more to Jyuto than to the doctor, sad acceptance in his voice. "We are failing this mission."

Jyuto swallowed and looked down at the floor. "Yes...we're not made for this after all." He laughed quietly covered half of his face. "At least, tell him about the other options ok? So he doesn't feel this was something imposed on him." He added in a low voice.

Jakurai nodded. "Of course, I cannot take him with me tonight, but tomorrow in the morning I will be here to explain things to him." He said.

Rio and Jyuto nodded. "Alright doctor." Jyuto said. "We also need to prepare a list of some things we have found out about him that could be useful."

"I appreciate it." Jakurai bowed his head. "Please try to calm yourselves and rest properly, see you tomorrow." He said, giving one last look to Samatoki before leaving the house.

Three men stood in the living room

None of them said a word to the other.

Jyuto was the first one to leave to his own home.

Rio slept in his sleeping bag in middle of the living room.

Samatoki found himself staring at the ceiling in middle of the night, unable to sleep.

If this was a challenge Ichiro had sent for him then he had no choice but to let him win this time. He usually never backed down, much less to Ichiro, but this time he knew he didn't stand a chance. He felt angry, disturbed but more than anything, he felt tired.

Are you serious? Nii-chan I told you this guy is a loser!

Don't underestimate him...

He sat up quickly. He definitely needed to sleep more. He could count the hours of real sleep he had in two weeks with his two hands.

He saw the half open door of his room and got up, walking out silently. He didn't know what he would get, but if it didn't come to him he could get some sleeping pills so he could least stop hearing voices. When he got to the kitchen and poured water in a glass he lifted his head and faced directly to the door of the guest room. Samatoki stared at it for a while.

He didn't know why or what he expected to find when he walked towards the door and cautiously opened it, but he only saw the boy sleeping there, the moonlight that came in from the locked up window giving enough light for him to have a good look at his unmoving face. He walked in and closed the door behind him, thinking about how awkward would be if Rio found him visiting the little shit's room in middle of the night.

Against any common sense, he stood next to the bed and stared down at him. His face didn't even start to look like the one of a man, he was still just a 14 years old after all, barely a teen that keeps going through things not even adults should, call it war, kidnapping, rap battles or murder attempts. Did that excuse what he did? In Samatoki's eyes no, it didn't, but it was only to be expected that the brat didn't get the price to the sanest boy of his class.

His body tensed up when he saw the eyes of the ravenette opening and while he expected him to scream, insult him or at least call him a creep, instead he stayed still, staring up at him. "Why didn't you do it...?" He mumbled, still half asleep but not forgetting his priority.

"Didn't feel like it." Samatoki responded bluntly.

Saburo let out a huff "I should have tried harder..."

Samatoki grit his teeth as the image of the scene in Nemu's room flashed back in his head. He sat down on the bed and pulled the ravenette by the shirt. "Listen here, do you think you can pull that shit off? you think you can manipulate me like you used to manipulate your brothers? You crossed the line, little shit." He whispered. "Do you have an idea of what the three of us have been doing for you? Rio and Jyuto really put their hopes in you and this is how you pay them." He scowled.

"Please don't act as if any of you actually care." Saburo responded in the same hushed tone, not even flinching at the contact. "You just took me in because you felt pity. You in particular only stand me because you foolishly think this is going to compensate the ton of shit you did to Ichiro, which is not going to happen by the way." He added bitterly. "Do you think I'm stupid? That I don't hear you talk? I know you three are waiting for the first chance to get rid of me like trash." 

"Be fucking grateful someone wants to take you in." Samatoki gritted.

"Grateful for what?" Saburo whispered with venom in his voice. "For having so much people wanting to take me as their charity work? Their pet maybe? None of you could care less about me as a person. I don't have a name, I'm just Ichiro's pitiful brother for all of you right? There's nothing that is mine in this life anymore." He tried to move away, but Samatoki didn't let go. 

"I told you I am not going to feel sorry for you." Samatoki said. "So save that talk for someone who cares."

Saburo shook his head in exasperation "I don't want you to asshole! How many times do I have to repeat that I only want to die too?" Saburo kept squirming to try to escape "The only ones that cared about me are gone and you just won't let me go and...I don't know why." His voice broke. "I don't want to be here! I don't want to go with any of you! I don't NEED any of you!" He spat.

Samatoki sighed through his nose and glared in silence, but then pulled him even closer. "You don't want to be here? I don't want you here either." He hissed. "You don't need anyone? Prove it, get out of here, get your own home and stop making people go out their way for you, because you don't even deserve what people are doing for you." He pushed him down and stood up. "And don't you ever mess with me or my sister again." He said before leaving the room, not even waiting for a response from the boy.

The albino passed by the kitchen counter, shoved the sleeping pills in his mouth and then headed back to his room to get a dreamless sleep. He could swear he heard someone clicking their tongue, but he was too pissed to mind the voices in his head that came with his stress.

The next morning he woke up feeling like just as trashy as when he laid down the night before, still, he had to get up and look decent for when the doctor came to take the little shit with him. 

He scratched his head and with lazy steps got to his closet, opened and reached out to grab whatever that looked acceptable combined. When he focused his eyes to make sure what he picked wouldn't make him look like a clown he caught something out of the corner of his eye. It was his old leather jacket, the one with the words 'life is not fair' written on the back. He cringed at the memory of himself thinking it was edgy and cool, but out of pure nostalgia he decided to pick it up and give it a look, remembering the good times but also the bad ones. In middle of his inner reminiscent, he saw something sticking out of one of the pockets and pulling it out with curiousity the albino found himself holding an old picture with his 3 former teammates of TDD. 

He remembered the day Ramuda forced them to get into that cheesy photo booth even though it definitely was too little for the four of them to fit in. He remembered how Jakurai, as always, was the first to give in to his insistence and how Ichiro looked unsure and tried to keep a serious stance but the shine in his mismatched eyes told him he didn't hate the idea and after that it took just a combination of Ramuda's annoying voice and a look from said mismatched eyes to get him to accept as well. It was weird and childish and he would never do something like that again, but it was one of those few time when he got to see Ichiro act his age, placing silly stickers just to mess with him and laughing when the ridiculous pictures came out.

Things changed a lot, so much that the memory felt as it had happened in another life.

He wondered if Ichiro had more chances to act his age, If he managed to see the end of that stupid series he faintly remembers that the teen followed with a unnecessary passion, If he ever got to date someone...

He would have liked to see that, but it didn't matter anymore.

He was someone else on the list of people that left his life leaving a lot of doubt in their place. His mother, Sasara, Nemu, Ichiro...and he should add the little shit to that list, since he doesn't think he will see him again after he leaves. It was quite a long list.

It was hilarious in the most bitter way how things kept happening to him and he was left with the words in his mouth and how he never did anything about it or even allowed himself to listen to the other person. He never tried to look for Sasara to try to talk things out after their fight, if he had listened more to his sister feelings and thoughts things wouldn't have turned out they way they did and if he had just shoved his damn pride up his ass and had listened to what Ichiro had to say...

He squeezed his eyes shut and threw the jacket back in the closet. He was sick of it, he was sick of thinking about his mistakes over and over again ever since they took the brat in. What did they want from him? What was he supposed to do?

He opened his eyes and looked down at the picture once again. Was he going to make the same mistakes than the guy wearing a jacket that had 'life is not fair' written on it? He didn't know what he was supposed to do, but he knew he didn't want that. Maybe the least he could do was talk to the brat and clear things out so both were on the same page before he left, since that's a privilege his brother never got. That sounded like a plan.

With a sigh and tired of thinking, he grabbed the chosen clothes and dropped them over his bed. "Too early in the morning for this shit..." He said to himself, heading to his bathroom to take a shower that with any luck would help him organize his thoughts. This why he hated thinking and he was so incredibly exhausted after only two weeks.

When he got out of the bathroom he shivered when he felt the wind against his wet shoulders, but ignored the feeling thanks to the headache that came from planning what he was going to do. So he was going to go there, talk to the boy without insults and listen to what he had to say without paying any mind to his attempts to piss him off. He didn't know why he was going that far for a stupid brat, but he didn't want any more mistakes haunting him, so he would have to try.

After getting out of his bedroom with his mind made up and ready to be "the adult" he glanced over the living and saw that Rio wasn't there, which wasn't anything new since he always woke up before anyone he knew.

The door of the house opened and the redhead walked in with a carton of a milk he had never seen before in his hand. "Good morning." Rio said with a little smile.

"Morning." Samatoki responded and directed his attention to the milk. "More milk?" He raised an eyebrow.

Rio nodded, still smiling. "Saburo told me this is the brand he drank in Ikebukuro and luckily the store nearby sold it." He placed it on the counter. "Jyuto was right after all..."

Samatoki nodded, a strange look on his face. "Yeah...and how is he?" He asked.

Rio moved over the cupboards as if he had lived in that house for years now. "Jyuto or the little Yamada?" Rio asked while he grabbed one glass and placed it on the counter next to the milk.

"Whoever." Samatoki waved his hand dismissively.

"I talked to Jyuto this morning and he sounded better, as for the boy, this morning he was very calm and came out of the room himself to apologize for the problems he gave yesterday." Rio poured the milk in the glass.

Samatoki squinted. "That little shit apologized?" He asked.

Rio nodded. "We talked for a while, I explained things to him and asked what he wanted for his last breakfast here and he mentioned the milk." He said.

"Is that so..." Samatoki pondered for a moment. "Is he in his room?" He asked.

Rio gave him a look. "The guest room?" He asked, picking up the carton and putting in the fridge.

Samatoki blinked and cringed in realization. "Yeah." He said.

Rio nodded and turned to take out the ingredients for the breakfast.

Samatoki grabbed the glass of milk and headed to the room. He felt a pair of eyes on the back of his head, so he turned and saw Rio staring with his blank face. "What? Don't worry I know what I'm gonna say this time ok?" Samatoki grumbled.

The soldier gave him a nod and turned back to the food.

The albino turned back to the door and knocked twice before opening. "Hey little shit, listen I'm gonna need you to put your part for this to..." He realized he was talking to an empty room. "What the fuck?" 

He put the glass on the table and looked around the same places he did the day before. He knew the boy couldn't pull off the same trick twice, not with two of them in the house. Bedsides, he locked Nemu's room after what happened.

He walked out the room. "Rio! The brat's not here!" He said.

Rio left the vegetables he was cutting and rounded the table, not wasting time on asking and starting to look around the house.

They both looked everywhere but without results.

"He must have left the house." Rio said.

"How?!" Samatoki looked around. "The windows of the guest room and the living room are locked, you said you locked the door when you left for the milk and he wouldn't have had the time to look in my shit to get my key!" He added, pulling his hair and trying to remember if he noticed something different in his room.

The wind against his shoulders.

Samatoki cursed and dashed to his bedroom with Rio following him. When he got to his room he saw the open window and remembered that he never opens that window, making everything very clear.

There where other ways the youngest Yamada could have done what he did, still, he chose the one that involved doing it right under his nose. It was as if when he did something, he had to show him the middle finger while doing it or it wasn't good enough for him.

Not only Ichiro, but the three Yamadas brothers had a special talent, a talent the albino just knew the three enjoyed. That was the talent to piss him off, was what he realized, when he saw the flowers –he knew Nemu would like when she ever came back– that he had planted under his window ruined by the weight of a little shit.

Even though he wanted to yell and list all the insults he had for the boy, the knot in his chest and his quickening pulse were stronger and he wanted nothing but punch himself for it.

"Jyuto is not going to be happy with this..." Rio muttered

Chapter Text

"Yes doctor, Saburo said he was tired so he went back to sleep." Jyuto said in an even tone. "I'm sorry for the trouble as you must be busy, but if you could pick him up later so we don't interrupt his rest..." He turned the wheel of his car. "Thank you for understanding, we will be seeing you later, have a nice day." He nodded and finished the call. Without having to worry to be heard on the other side of the call, he hit the wheel and cursed. "Damn you Samatoki!"

Of course.

Of course the kid would get lost under Samatoki's watch.

Of course Samatoki would think that the fact that –for some reason– they argued in middle of the night had nothing to do with it. He didn't tell them the details of what he told him, but Jyuto knew Samatoki enough to know that he told him something bad enough for Saburo to leave even though he had never tried to do something like that before.

He had to give Saburo some credit. He wasn't any better by planning his escape in such a short time, managing to fool both Rio and Samatoki and getting so far in loose clothes and barefoot. He was no innocent child and he shouldn't have forgotten that.

He thought about how when after he managed to find him he would put him next to Samatoki and smack both of them on the head at the same time.

Just how far could that kid go? He didn't even know Yokohama! He didn't have money and in his current state if someone appeared with an hypnosis mic he wouldn't be able to defend himself or even run away. He already sent his characteristics so he would get informed if any officer saw him. Luckily his heterochromatic eyes and three moles were very unlikely to be seen in someone else, that added with how he was dressed would make him stick out like sore thumb. However he didn't understand why nobody had told him anything yet.

If he found of out one of those pervert cops that he knew were around laid a finger on him he would use every contact necessary to make sure they got brooms in their asses in jail every single day.

He parked on the side of the road and put his forehead against the soft cover of the wheel. He shouldn't have let himself get too into the whole caretaker thing, not with a kid that hated them even before they became the ones forcing him to stay alive, but even if he hated to admit it, that day at the funeral when he saw him break down asking why his brothers had abandoned him he saw himself when he asked the same question when his parents died. He should have stopped himself from having inner celebrations every time he showed signs of trusting them or every time the doctor said he was doing better, but in the end he got soft and that lead him to this, to be a sad man panicking over a boy that wasn't even related to him in any way.

He wanted to find him and at least send him somewhere where he knew he would be safe, maybe then he could close this chapter and pretend this motherly side of him never existed.

His phone rang and he half-heartedly lifted it to his face and answered. "Hello?"

"Officer Iruma? I checked the feed from this morning and I saw the teen you described." The person on the phone said.

Jyuto whipped up his head. "Where?" He asked plainly, masking his despair.

"Are you going to forget you saw me doing 'that' thing?" He asked

"WHERE?" Jyuto repeated.

"He went to the station this morning and asked people for change until he got enough to pay the train to Ikebukuro." The other said quickly.

"Ikebukuro, of course." Jytuo said to himself and cut off the other person by hanging up.

He turned the wheel and drove away. The first thing he did was try to call Samatoki but the albino wouldn't pick up no matter how much he tried. "You have to be kidding me." He hissed as tapped the screen with more strength than necessary and tried to call Rio instead.

"Jyuto." The solider picked up instantly. "Nothing to report on this side, I must say his stealth skills are quite admirable." He said and Jyuto could swear he heard a smile in his voice.

"Rio, this is not time to praise him." Jytuo sighed. "He went to Ikebukuro."

"That is not good." Rio said.

"It's not and now I can't reach Samatoki." Jytuo grit his teeth and glared at the car that honked at him as he drove past it.

"I think he headed to Ikebukuro as well." Rio said.

"He what?" Jyuto took off the eyes from the road for a moment. "Does he even know where to look?" He quickly looked back when a car almost hit him. "Ugh! learn to drive."

"I wouldn't know." Rio said. "But he did mention that the group that attacked the brothers was active again before leaving."

"What?" Jyuto's eye's widened. "Why didn't he tell me that?! And he went there alone?" Jyuto growled. "Where are you? I'm picking you up and we're going there before one of them gets killed." He turned on the siren and drove as fast as he could.

The second Samatoki got off the train he ran through the streets of Ikebukuro pushing whoever got in his way. However after running for a while and feeling himself lose his breath he came to a halt.

He realized he didn't know where to go.

He didn't know which places the brothers frequented, he didn't know what the brat liked so he couldn't even begin to guess where he would go, hell, he didn't even know where their home was or if they were still living in the place he got them years ago. He refused anything that came from that family because of his rage towards Ichiro.

He turned his head and looked around. 'What am I doing? Why the fuck am I here?' He thought. 

He told the brat to find his own home so it was obvious he would look for it in the only place he knew, what was wrong with that? There was a time when he was young and had to do the same and he even had to take care of his sister while doing it. If he was oh so smart as he thought he was then he should survive by himself right? This didn't have to do with him and if he got killed then he would get what he wanted. Good for him right?!

He clicked his tongue and turned back, heading to the station. 'I had enough of this shit! I try to be good and it only comes back to bite me in the ass! I'm NOT gonna run around Ikebukuro to find a little shit that has given me nothing but problems! That brat can go and get killed if he–' He was so invested in his inner monologue that didn't notice the bus stop in front of him until his face hit the metal surface.

"Bitch!" He winced and rubbed his forehead, then he looked up and was met with a pair of heterochromatic eyes. A promotional picture of the oldest Yamada brother with his arms crossed over his chest and looking directly at the camera with a confident smile on his face. He couldn't even begin to think about how much of a bad taste was that they were still using his image because he felt the red and green eyes on him as intensely as if he was in front of the real ones. "Don't you give me that look, fucking brat." He grumbled. "I've done enough for that little shit and you know it!"

The Ichiro from the picture stood there.

"What else am I supposed to do?! And why do I have to do it?! I tried to do things right but I can't do anything if he only tries to make me go insane like him!" Samatoki clenched his fists.

Silence.

Samatoki felt his body shake in anger. "IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT THEN YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE DIED IN THE FIRST PLACE!" He roared and punched the face in the picture, shattering the glass and making it fall in small pieces. He panted and looked up, now realizing that there was a mother with a little girl watching him with fear and quickly walking away once they made eye contact.

Samatoki huffed, raised his hand and saw the red of his own blood on his knuckles. He cursed under his breath and his shoulders fell. "...I wanted it to work ok? Maybe I actually wanted the little shit to get better, but I can't...I have no idea how." He muttered and then leaning his forehead against the now unprotected poster he whispered just for the two of them.

"He needs YOU...I need..." He didn't dare to finish, as he felt he would sound as a child as lost as the one dragging around Ikebukuro.

 
He looked up and saw the orange of the sky. If he had escaped that morning, he had been wandering around Ikebukuro all day and most likely everybody knew it. People would recognize him instantly if they saw him so it wouldn't surprise him if that group found him and killed him hours ago. All the effort thinking about about the right words was for nothing...in the end he was left with the words in his mouth once again.

He felt the wind moving his hair and suddenly something sticking on his leg. He glanced down to grab the paper sheet and it was old and muddy, but you could still read what was written on it.

'Odd Jobs Yamada'

His mouth fell open as he read the pamphlet with the address of the business that also happened to be their home. Samatoki looked up at the picture again and narrowed his eyes. "...Now seriously, are you fucking haunting me?" He asked.

The brat didn't need to find his own home because he already had one. Obvious shit. He had refused to go there before but he didn't have other choice if he was as alone as he wouldn't shut up about. That place must be abandoned and probably nobody else would go there so at least he would be safe until he could get there. That's when he remembered what his underling told him the other day.

'They are planning to destroy what's left of the business the Yamada had.'

He didn't expect the feel of fear that suddenly took over him "Saburo..." He gripped the paper tightly and turned back, running as fast as he could to the address of the pamphlet.

He would think about the why of his actions later. He was sick of thinking anyway.

Chapter Text

He had been walking and staring at nowhere for...he doesn't know how many hours, but he felt his legs about to give in. Not even himself was capable of please his own wishes.

It all happened spontaneously after he was verbally kicked out of that house in Yokohama. He got up that morning and a golden opportunity presented itself to do exactly what he had decided that had to do hours before so he just took it. It was as if it was his own instincts doing everything for him and he just watched the display in first person. He rarely felt in control of anything ever since that thing happened. His body would do things for the mere reason of doing them and he didn't have the energy to think about the reason why.

Why did those three insist on keeping him alive? He didn't understand and he didn't care if he hurt their feelings by throwing his efforts to the trash. He didn't have to be grateful for something he didn't ask for. They didn't care about him and they were going to abandon him anyway so why bother? If anything, he hated that at some point of living with them he lost the capacity to go all the way on his suicide attempts and he couldn't explain why and the useless idiot Samatoki just wouldn't kill him no matter what he did.

He came back to the only place he knew and the only place where things were his, the only problem was that he didn't want to go to that specific place. That place wasn't the home he once knew, it was a place marked by the ones that ruined his life.

He saw the lights of the stores turning on and realized it was already afternoon and he still walked in circles around the zone they lived in. His body couldn't take it anymore and he felt his feet burning and stinging him as if he was walking over needles. He stopped and turned his body to face the place he had been fearing the most, the place he used to call home. If the house was going to devour him, then so shall it be. He didn't care about what happened to him if he was honest.

The door opened with a simple push. It was forced open that day and they left shortly after, so they didn't fix it, if he remembered correctly. He walked in and it all came back to him as he saw the offensive words painted all over the walls in bright red and their belongings scattered on the floor. 

He could feel it, how he was losing control of his body again, how it was shaking violently and the scream stuck in his throat, feeling like vomit about to come out. The place was dark and it looked like a scene of an horror movie, but he still used all that was left of self-control to not change into his pitiful mode and move forward, hugging himself in attempt to stop his shaking and the inexistent cold that his own mind fabricated. He went over to the couch where they would watch those animes he pretended to understand and without minding that it had been thrown around and laying on the wrong side he curled up and closed his eyes tightly. If he kept his eyes closed and only focused on the feeling of the fabric, he could pretend things were normal, that he had fallen asleep and that the loud voice of Jiro telling him that he didn't appreciate a good anime would wake him up, they would argue and Ichiro would stop them and ask what they wanted to eat and the pain and coldness in all his body would stop...he wouldn't be alone anymore.

What woke him up was the sound of the door being kicked open and instead of the voices of his brothers he heard voices that made his whole body freeze. He turned his head and felt the air leave his lungs when he saw the three men from that night, the ones from that group that took everything. He hugged his knees tighter and felt his heartbeat so strongly that each beat felt like a hit on his chest.

If they saw him they would kill him, he knew it, but wasn't that what he wanted? What he tried to do all along? Then why he felt the urgent need to not let them see him at all cost? Why he felt so grateful that in the angle he was able to see them but not be seen by them? His brain was supposed to be his strength, so why it had been so useless ever since his brothers left?

"Alright guys~ let's tear down this place and show all Ikebukuro who is the new team ruling!" The one in the front said and the other two happily obeyed, breaking the few things in they didn't destroy the first time.

Saburo felt fear, immense rage and frustration. He couldn't even protect what was left of his brothers and after they killed him they would win. How was it fair that he did nothing wrong and lost his home, his family and his mental stability and they, that were the ones that took it all from him, got to laugh and enjoy themselves? 

If he could just move his body...

"Go get the gas so we blow up this dumpster." The leader said and the others laughed and obeyed.

Saburo's eyes widened. After all he and his brothers did together to make that place theirs, all those hours of work to pay for everything in it, all his efforts to make it a real home was going to be nothing but cinders.

Unforgivable.

He stood up, grabbed the first object he found –Jiro's barely used textbook–and threw it to the man while sending a furious glare.

The man got hit in the arm and looked at him with surprise. "Oh look at that, so there you were." A wicked grin slowly took over his face. "This will be so good..." 

Saburo clenched his fists. "WHY?" Out of all the things in his head that was the only thing that came out.

The man limited himself to laugh and walk around the living room.

Saburo watched him, his chest heaving and his teeth clenched.

"Why is it that even though me and my team practiced so hard every single day in our rap and are the toughest guys in Ikebukuro the ones that kept representing us were a bunch of kids playing the happy family huh? Why even though they fucking lost in the first round people still loved them and they kept being the face of Ikebukuro?" The man asked and grabbed a picture of the three of them that was hanged on the wall. "You were so easy to kill for god's sake. The big and mighty Ichiro Yamada was no rival for an object smaller than a finger, the big heart of Jiro Yamada was what got him killed and the brain of Saburo Yamada is such a joke that it made him literally put himself on a silver plate for us to finish him." He threw the frame away.

"SHUT UP!" Saburo jumped at him out of impulse but was easily grabbed and slammed against the wall by the bigger man.

"Aww poor little thing." The man said, watching the boy squirm desperately under his grip. He pulled him closer just to slam him even harder "Poor and pathetic little thing!" He marked each word with a hit against the wall, taking in each pained sound that came out.

After the last hit against the wall Saburo's expression went blank and he stopped moving. What he feared just happened, he had lost control of his body in the worst moment possible.

The man scowled at him."Did I break you that easily? I can't believe you were considered one the best of Ikebukuro!" He threw him away as if he was a rag doll.

Saburo rolled on the floor and laid on his side, staring at nowhere.

"Just because I feel so sorry for you I'm gonna give you the same death as your brothers." He pulled out his mic from the pocket of his jacket and activated it.

Saburo couldn't move his body, but felt the tears coming out his eyes uncontrollably and his world filling itself with mist. "No no no no mics no no no..." He heard himself sob in silence, but it didn't do anything as the same flashing light from the mic that distracted them that day reappeared and the distorted sounds from the speakers filled his ears once again and and only thing he could do was scream from the top of his lungs. He couldn't take it, the changing lights burning his eyes without actually doing it, the distortion piercing it his ears but only in his mind, those were experiences that only occurred in his head, and he knew it was like that, but they affected him as much as if they were really happening.

He saw the hand moving to the other pocket and pulling out the same gun that was used that night and the barrel pointing directly at his face.

It was in that moment that he realized...

He didn't want to die after all. Not like that. Not if it meant someone like that would win. What a bad time to find out about that perspective, there was nothing he could do.

Maybe he should have thanked Rio for taking the time to find out and cook the dishes he liked and listening without judging him, maybe he should have thanked Jyuto for worrying so much about his comfort and begin so patient with him, maybe he should have listened to Samatoki when he actually said something that didn't come out his ass. Even if they didn't care about him...they played their part decently, he had to recognize that.

As the man was about to pull the trigger a punch on the face sent him right to the floor, making the mic fall from his hand.

Samatoki stepped on the wrist of man until the pain made him let go of it and allowing the albino to kick it away. He looked down him with a vicious smile on his face "I've been waiting weeks for this." He said, crackling his knuckles, but a whine from Saburo made him look away from the man to see the wounded ravenette shaking uncontrollably and crying at the mic laying too close to him.

Saburo looked up and for a second  he could see the authentic worry in those red eyes before he heard the sound of a gunshot and saw him fall. "NO!" His body finally reacted and he sat up in shock. 

He saw the albino on the floor and the images from that night flashed in his mind 'N-No...not again.' He thought and he found himself unable to listen to anything around him, overwhelmed by the chaos inside his head. He looked around for anything that could help him and the only thing he saw was the microphone laying in front of him. In that moment he couldn't feel anything but the rage that had been piling up ever since he woke up without his brothers, a rage stronger than his fear of the microphones or even the fear of getting shot.

While everything happened in slow motion for Saburo, in the outside world the moment of Saburo grabbing the mic and activating it was so fast that the man didn't have time to aim at him before the boy begun his rap.

In that rap he let it all out, all his remorse, his anger, his frustration and fears. He didn't get the words he was rapping, he just knew that they were streaming out his mouth nonstop and it felt as if he was vomiting acid. He just knew that whatever he was saying was filled with so much venom and hatred that a part of him didn't want to know what those words were. 

The man twisted in pain as the words kept coming, each one stronger than the last one, begging for mercy.

Eventually Saburo finally ran out of air in his lungs and let the microphone fall with a thud, panting and taking in what he had just felt, that was something he had never felt while rapping...and he really hated it. It cemented the idea that he didn't want to have anything to do with those cursed microphones anymore.

He glanced at the gun laying on the floor and the man holding his head and twisting in pain with blood dripping out his ears. He grabbed the gun and slowly stood up, aiming right to the head, ready to fullfil the only wish he had left, since killing himself no longer was in his short to do list.

"K...kill me..." The man on the floor rasped, directing his bloodshot eyes up to the ravenette which expression couldn't be seen in the dim light.

Saburo sighed through his nose, taking the view that he probably had been giving to everyone the last weeks. He thought it was ironic, he wanted to pull the trigger and end the story, make the bad guy pay for what he did. "But then what?" Saburo asked out loud and his eyes shifted to the floor he and the middle brother had cleaned weeks before, now covered in blood, sherds of glass and dirt. "It's all gone isn't it? Even if the bad guy dies nothing will comeback, right?" He threw the question to the air, leaving it there for anyone to answer. He saw his hands shaking while gripping the gun.

It's not worth it, don't ya know that?

"I know..." Saburo murmured, then lowered the gun and tossed it away. Even when he was in control of his body he couldn't fulfill his wishes, what a bad joke. He looked at the man, emotionless. "You're a piece of shit...you're worth nothing and I will always be better than you, better than this." He said and then turned to see that the albino had been pretty much watching everything laying down there. He gasped and knelt down next to him quickly.

Samatoki sat up and couldn't help but chuckle seeing how the boy that had done what he just did and had been cold and mean to him had turned into the agitated boy making small worried sounds and hovering his hands over the bullet hole in his arm. "Hey hey don't touch it." He grabbed his hand. "Just a scratch. I've had worse." He said smugly. Actually if that bullet had gone a little more to the left, they wouldn't be having that conversation.

Saburo looked up to meet the red orbs, trying to control the hitched breathing. He let out a loud sigh and rested his forehead on the other's shoulder. "...I'm tired." He mumbled.

Samatoki tensed up and resisted the impulse to push away the teen leaning his weight over the injured arm. "Yeah...same here." He said.

"Can we leave?" Saburo asked.

The older one raised his eyebrows. "...sure." He said.

The boy got up and dragged his feet while he left the house. Samatoki waited until he was gone and got up as well. "Did you see that?" He asked the man on the floor. "The Buster Bros were the ones that ruled Ikebukuro because you knew they were the strongest just by looking at them stand together and win without dirty tricks." He picked up the gun Saburo had tossed away. Maybe Saburo spared his life, but he had other plans.

At first, all he wanted was to destroy whoever took away his chance to ever be with Ichiro, however, after witnessing in first row the pain and struggle of the youngest brother, having to see him in his lowest and shaking with fear at the sight of an hypnosis mic, it wasn't just about destroying the man that murdered Ichiro but also about destroying the ones that ruined the life of a 14 years old that came knocking at his door and became –as much as he hated to admit– his business. "That brat that just left? If he was able to do everything at this age just think about it..." He chuckled. "He will be better than all of us in the future if he wants to." He aimed directly at the terrified face of the man. "Hell, in a way, he already showed he's better than me in this sense." He smirked and pulled the trigger.

Both the albino and the ravenette sat together on the emergency stairs on the side of the building in front of the house of the Yamadas. It was dark outside and it made them be able to watch from the shadows how the police arrived and carried two knocked out men and a dead body.

"You killed him." Saburo deadpanned.

"Told you that was the plan." Samatoki responded, puffing a smoke and applying pressure on the wound with his hand.

Saburo just hummed in response.

Samatoki looked with the corner of his eye "...What are you gonna do now? Keep that suicide bullshit?" He asked.

"Not really..." Saburo shrugged. "I realized I rather live this hell of a life than giving our enemies the victory." He said. "I guess now my reason to live will be piss people off."

"Hm you're good at that." Samatoki tapped the end of his cigarette.

They saw a familiar car parking near the house and a brunette and a redhead getting out of it. The brunette went directly to the officers to ask questions while the redhead seemed to search the area.

Samatoki laughed. "Look at those two freaking out over you." He leaned back. "Told them to not get too into it." He said and then flinched when he pressed the wound too hard. "Shit..."

Saburo turned his head towards him and then back to the scene in front of them, thinking in silence for a couple of minutes "...What is going to happen to me now?" He asked quietly.

Samatoki took a drag of the cigarette and shrugged. "You can go to an orphanage, you can go and live a quiet life in Shinjuku with Jakurai, you can live in a Buddhist temple in Nagoya and maybe keep your hair, you can go to Shibuya and ruin your life..." He listed, but then turned his face away. "...or you can come back to Yokohama or whatever." He murmured.

Saburo blinked, turned back at the albino and stared at him in silence.

Samatoki clenched his teeth. "Quit it. You're creeping me out."

Saburo looked away. "Yokohama." He said.

Samatoki dropped the cigarette and straightened his back to give him an incredulous look. He was about to say something when a melody startled him, he pulled out his phone as saw that –a for what he could see right there furious– Jyuto was calling him and he remembered that he ignored his calls all day, so he prepared himself before answering.

"Oh THANK YOU for gracing me by answering my call." Jytuo said sarcastically. "Do you think this is the time to be a complete idiot? There is a dead body in the Yama-" Samatoki cut him off.

"Jyuto I have a fucking bullet in my arm so shut the fuck up because your nagging is annoying and I'm not in the mood for your bullshit." Samatoki grumbled.

"I'm sorry A BULLET? Where are you?" Jyuto asked.

Jyuto felt a tap on his shoulder and looked up at Rio, who lead him closer to the building and pointed at the emergency stairs where the other two were sitting.

Jyuto just sagged. 

"I made an exception this time, but next time you kill someone you better see who else is going to save you from rotting in jail because I'm not a magician." Jyuto huffed, pulling the bandage too tightly around the wound. "Destroying property of the state, disrupting the peace, murdering someone and staying around the crime scene with a bullet from the murder weapon in your arm for God's sake..." He said under his breath. They were in the car, away from the old house, the officer treating the wounds of the albino sitting on the driver seat with the door open.

Samatoki winced and glared at the brunette. "I was fucking saving the brat unlike your useless ass." He spat. "And I just knocked out the other two so what's the big deal? Also you wanted me to drag him around looking like that?" He lifted his chin towards the boy sitting next to him, on the backseat with the door open for Rio to treat his wound.

"As far as what I understood from the story, Saburo was the one who saved you." Jyuto shot back. "And he got in this situation because you kicked him out."

"I wasn't in real danger dumbass." Samatoki grunted. "I moved to the floor to not turn into a strainer." He said and then leaned closer. "I was going to get up but then the brat did...I don't know what the fuck that was...but not gonna lie, it was kinda badass." He said in a low tone.

Jytuo furrowed his brow and gave a side glance to the other two next to them. A skinny and fragile looking boy with big round eyes getting his bruises and wounds treated.

Saburo closed one of his eyes, feeling the stinging discomfort of the liquid that was dabbed carefully on the wounds of his feet. Rio didn't make eye contact or talked to him ever since they reunited, still, he made sure to treat each wound carefully and make sure Saburo allowed him to touch him before doing it.

Saburo peered down at the soldier and sunk in his shoulders, pursing his lips and sliding his eyes away from him after a moment. "... I'm sorry." He mumbled.

Rio looked up and lifted his hand close his head, when Saburo didn't move away he placed it down and gave him a soft and reassuring pat. "Welcome back." Was all he said.

"Yes doctor, things were like that." Jyuto explained over the phone, then he glanced at the rearview mirror and felt his lips pulling up into a little smile. "Saburo decided to stay in Yokohama." He said while watching the teen sleeping peacefully against the door of the car. "Yes we still need to see some details about how it's going to be, but we're three so we'll figure..." His eyes went back to the road. "...just as you expected?" Jytuo frowned in confusion and turned to Rio, who just shrugged. "Alright, we will see you in the next session...good night." He ended the call and sighed.

"You seem happy..." Rio said.

"It is very weird but I am..." Jyuto said. "We will have to do our best."

"Mad Trigger Crew has overcome a lot of challenges in the past so I believe we'll be able to do this." Rio gave him a little smile. "He will be like one of us from now on."

Jyuto laughed a little. "I suppose." He said and turned his head to the side. "What do you say leader? Do we have a new member?" He asked, but when he got no response he checked the mirror and saw the albino fast asleep against the other window.

"They must be exhausted." Rio said, giving them a side glance.

"I know I am." Jyuto sighed. "But at least we're done with the hardest part." He smiled a little at the reflection on the mirror and then focused on the road back to Yokohama, their home.

Now of the four of them.

Chapter Text

The walk to Rio's camp was silent, but not in a way that made any of the two uncomfortable. In other time the ravenette would have voiced his irritation towards the long walk, but he was quiet, maybe taking something like that a thing too little to make the effort of saying it at loud. He seemed to have realized that there were things worse than a long walk or perhaps he just was that sick of the bland guest room and he didn't mind spending the day anywhere else.

Rio glanced back to make sure the other was good. He offered him to ride on his back again if he got too tired but was immediately refused. The ravenette was looking at nowhere in particular while holding the straps of the bag he carried on his back, something he offered himself to do. Nobody could know what was really going through the boy's head, but there was a very noticeable change since that night in Ikebukuro when not only he decided to stay in Yokohama permanently, but also stopped talking about ending his life and showed more interest in doing things by himself such as carrying his bag all the way to Rio's camp.

"We are here." Rio announced. "You can leave your bag in that tent over there." He pointed over the bigger tent. "Do you need to rest or can we hunt our meal now?" He asked.

Saburo hummed and looked around. "Hunt our meal..." He murmured plainly, more to himself. "...sure." He walked towards the tent and dropped the bag there.

Rio thought that the little one needed a good way to clear his head and drain any anger left in his body and what better way than going out in the nature and working in a meal made out of elements you got yourself? Rio couldn't think of something better for that.

Saburo came back and peered up at him.

"An optimal condition is necessary in order to do this, an exhausted soldier won't last long." Rio said.

"I'm fine." Saburo said simply.

Rio stared down for a moment but then nodded. "Alright then, let me get the necessary stuff." He said.

After a while, they found themselves walking around the zones where Rio left traps to see if it was even necessary to use the tranquilizer gun.

"Samatoki and Jyuto...they didn't come because they are doing something with their mics right?" Saburo asked out of nowhere.

"I cannot share that information." Answered Rio.

Saburo nodded. "So either they are doing something illegal or doing something with their mics." He said. "Maybe both." 

Rio stayed quiet.

Saburo looked away. "You can stop treating me as if I'm going to break if you say the wrong thing." He said. "Treat me like you used to, when we were rivals..."

"You have broken a good amount of times already and we are no longer rivals, but if we were, why would I give you the information you are asking for?" Rio responded honestly.

Saburo bit his lip. "The break thing...It's not going to happen anymore." He said.

"Can you be sure of that?" Rio asked.

Saburo just frowned and looked down.

"I know you can do it, but there is no need to rush." Rio looked over to one of his traps. "Healing takes time." 

Saburo sighed. "I'm telling you I'm fine now." He said and then bumped against the back of the taller man who suddenly stopped walking. Saburo was about to ask when he heard voices in the distance.

Both moved carefully towards the sound, making sure to stay hidden, just in case. When they were close enough what they saw was a pair of young men, probably not even adults yet, standing in front of each other in middle of a conversation the soldier and the boy didn't have the context or interest to understand.

"That must be why we haven't seen much animals around..." Rio commented quietly.

"What are they even doing..." Saburo huffed.

"We will have to search in the opposite direction." Rio said and just as he was about to turn away he could hear hypnosis mics activating. Unfortunately he wasn't the only one, seeing that Saburo was frozen in place with wide open terrified eyes.

Saburo's hand flew to his ears. "S-stop it..." He said with a shaking voice.

Before they could do anything, a rap battle started, getting a loud scream from the boy as a response. A scream Rio and the two random guys weren't expecting.

"What the hell?" The battle stopped so they could look towards the scream.

"Who are you asshole? Show your face at least!" The other guy exclaimed.

Rio frowned a lot. 'I suppose a silent retreat is no longer an option.' He thought 

Rio tried to come out by himself, but the boy uncovered one of his ears just to give his forearm a death grip and try to pull him closer. "Don't go." He whispered.

"I must so they can stop." Rio tried to calm him down, but Saburo didn't seem to want to let go, so he decided to walk out with him.

"What were you doing spying on us you creep?" One of the guys asked while sending him a glare.

"That's not what we were doing." Rio said. "Your encounter was disturbing the animals around, so we were just trying to see what it was about." He explained.

The other squinted at him "Wait, isn't he the guy from Mad Trigger Crew?" He tilted his head. "Yeah I think he is!"

The first one grit his teeth "I don't give a fuck about who he is! He was spying-" He was shushed by the second.

"Shhh shut up ok? I think I've seen the kid next to him somewhere..." He said, seizing Saburo.

"And just from where would you know a wimp like him? Just look at him! I bet this battle that he's the one who screamed." The first snorted. "Did you shit your pants or what?"

Saburo frowned, but couldn't say anything while the mics were still activated. Even though he didn't hear a response from the red head he felt the arm he was holding tensing up, showing that he hadn't appreciated the comment either.

"Please move your battle elsewhere. The forest is big enough for you to not disturb the zone where I hunt." Rio said with a blank face. It wasn't so much for the hunting, but he wasn't going to mention the real reason.

"Ehh? Who do you think you are? Telling us what to do?" The second asked.

"Yeah! Just because you wear your stupid uniform and won some rap battles you think we have to respect you? Who the fuck even asked you to go to war?" The first one laughed.

Rio took a deep breath. They just had to go there, didn't they?

Saburo glared at them, thinking that if the older man wasn't responding, he would. "Y-You should respect him b-because can beat your stupid ass!" Saburo squeaked, trying to sound less scared and totally failing at it. The boy felt so ashamed for his own voice he just wanted it to end already.

"You should change your diaper before looking for a fight." The other scowled.

"It's because he went to the Division Rap Battle that he now thinks is better than us." The second one prepared his mic. "We should show him and then continue with what we were doing."

Saburo closed his eyes tightly and cursed under his breath. It was going to happen again. He shouldn't have agreed to come, he thought.

Rio placed his hand on the pocket where he kept his mic, but just a quick glance to the boy told him that was the last thing he could do, so instead he directed his eyes to the pair in front of them. "I don't want to battle." He said.

"What is it? Too coward to fight by yourself?" One of them laughed.

"What a joke." The other said. "That's the army for you, they are all show but in the end they're just a bunch of pussies."

Even in middle of his inner crisis, Saburo could feel the man he was holding for dear life tensing up even more. He was scared that a rap battle would really happen there and he would have no choice but feel all of those fake sensations once again.

"I'm going to pick you up." Saburo heard Rio tell him and before he could even register it, he was being lifted by the soldier and carried away. He could hear the other two saying things, but he couldn't get what they were saying, his head was becoming a mess again and he was using all his energy to somehow keep it together.

It wasn't until they were back in the camp that Saburo calmed down and asked the soldier to put him down. He looked down with a frown. "I ruined it didn't I?" He muttered.

Rio didn't respond.

"Why am I so weak now?" Saburo clenched his fist. "Those assholes said those things and you couldn't even kick their asses like you should have." 

"It wasn't worth it if it was going to affect you." Rio said

"Exactly! It's my fault! Because I'm a wimp now! And because of those stupid mics." He kicked a rock away.

"It will get better eventually..." Rio assured it.

"Will it though?!" Saburo asked with exasperation. "What if I never stop breaking like this? Will you really carry with me?" He asked. "I just can't believe I'm this pathetic now." He looked down.

"Little one, nobody is expecting you to be completely cured now." Rio said softly. "We accepted the task to take care of you and we will do it even if you never stop breaking."

"Nothing assures me that." Saburo said and looked up at him. "Nothing ties you to me and I'm not tied to anything right now." He added.

Rio just looked down at him.

Saburo sighed. "I'm not in the mood to hunt now...where can I sleep?" He asked. Rio pointed at one of the tents and the ravenette headed towards it with his head down.

Rio let out a soft sigh. That didn't go as planned, maybe made things worse, but he wouldn't give up. Besides, after that encounter he really felt like he needed to do something to let off some steam, so he headed back to find something good and fresh to cook for Saburo to lift his spirits and maybe give two guys the fight they were asking for if he happened to see them again.

Saburo woke up hours later with the smell of the food being made outside. He slowly raised from the sleeping bag and walked out of the tent to see that the sky was already dark and the read head was mixing something in a pot over the fire.

The solider turned his head and gave him a little smile. "You're up just in time, dinner is almost ready." He said.

Saburo nodded and sat down on a log near the fire. He saw the creatures floating on the soup and the ones over the fire with a stick going through their bodies and even though it wasn't a pleasant sight, he didn't feel like he had any other choice and he was really hungry, also if they tasted like his other dishes then it wouldn't be so bad if he closed his eyes and ignored how it looked.

"You slept for a long time, I didn't see you as the kind that could be so comfortable in a sleeping bag." Rio commented.

"I have never camped before and it wasn't that comfortable, I was just exhausted I guess." Saburo answered. "I'm still...taking everything in."

"I see...If you need to talk about it this solider gives you his word he won't tell a soul about it." Rio tasted the soup and added some salt to it.

Saburo nodded slowly and lowered his head. He knew that he could tell things to the redhead that proved to be a very good listener, but he didn't feel like talking about that at the moment. 

With every breath he took he got smells he wasn't used to, being more of an indoor person and he felt the hard wood he was sitting on and made him wonder why Rio didn't have chairs and why he lived in the woods in the first place, which helped him think about something other than his own situation.

After the food was served they ate in silence, but it was a comfortable silence, a silence that didn't bother any of the two and that was even calming. However after a while, when Saburo found himself pushing away a spider leg with his spoon he looked up at the read head and asked something he had been thinking about for a while. "Why did you decide to live in this camp away from everyone?"

The soldier blinked and didn't answer immediately, looking slightly hesitant, making Saburo think that he shouldn't have asked him in the first place.

Eventually Rio looked down at his plate. "Because like you, I lost everything once." He said quietly.

Saburo's lips parted slightly as his eyes widened a little.

The soldier looked upwards. "And I can see the stars in nights like this." He said with the tiniest of smiles. "You can't see this in the city." He added.

Saburo followed his look and admitted that the stars looked way better without all the light pollution, but he knew it was more to avoid the topic, still, he ended up enjoying the nice view of the starry night, instead of a topic that had nothing to do with him.

"You seem to like them too." Rio said.

Saburo tilted his head without looking away from the sky. "I guess...I was even called a new star in the sky for a while." He said. "Teachers would praise me and call me a genius and people would be impressed that someone so young could get to battle the strongest rappers in Japan..." His face fell. "Now my head doesn't work properly and I can't even see a mic. I'm not even close to what I was."

Rio nodded slowly. "You know? You remind more of a solider now than before." He said, earning a weirded out look from the ravenette. "Most of the times a solider never fully recovers from the experience of a war, always alert and afraid of things that are no longer happening." He explained.

"And how did you recover?" Saburo asked.

"With time." Rio gave him a soft nod. "There were times when I felt afraid, just like you, and I didn't want to see a gun or have to face the fact that my comrades didn't make it. There were times when I thought I wouldn't be normal again, but trust me, it will get better eventually, not perfect, but better...just have some patience." He said softly.  "And if you ever get over your fear, would you think about going back to rap battles?" He asked.

Saburo put his empty bowl down and pursed his lips. "I don't think so..." He shook his head. "I...I rapped that night in Odd Jobs Yamada." He looked away from the sky and looked at Rio instead. "I don't know what was it, but it was horrible. It felt horrible." He said. Back there, he decided that it was the worst he had ever felt in his whole life, which definitely meant something considering all the things he had felt. It was definitive, he would never pick up an hypnosis mic ever again. "What once gave me excitement and made me feel powerful now only gives me fear and makes me feel disgusting." He added.

"Give it some time, you won't have to pick up an hypnosis mic again if you don't want to, but at least you will know you didn't let the fear make that decision for you." Rio said.

"I suppose..." Saburo sighed. "Still, if I'm honest, I'm no longer interested in them. Rap battles were more of a thing I did with my brothers...I don't think I want to rap with anyone else." He said, face turning sad at the mention of his brothers.

"It's understandable." Rio said. "You can do anything else you like..." He stood up and grabbed Saburo's bowl. "I have a telescope, we can watch the stars better if you want to." He offered.

Saburo looked up. "That sounds good." He got up and helped him clean up.

Time later, the red head and the ravenette turned off the campfire and set the telescope Rio had, telescope that Saburo could handle perfectly and quickly showed Rio the things he found with some almost unnoticeable hints of excitement.

"You do this often?" Rio asked.

Saburo turned his head away from the telescope. "Not like this." He said. "Ichi-nii gifted me a telescope like this one, but we never got to the right place to use it, so I ended up using it on the rooftop." He looked back at the telescope and let his fingers slid by the cold metallic surface. "It wasn't ideal but...it was fun because I was with them in our home..." He murmured.

There was moment of silence before the boy talked again.

"You said you lost everything once...don't you miss it?" He asked silently. "Your home...all the things that were yours..." 

Rio sat down on the grass and placed his hands on his thighs. "Little one..." He said. "I will answer you if you let go of those thoughts that are still troubling you."

The heterochromatic eyes gave him a hesitant look but ended up giving up and accepting the deal, sitting next to him on the grass. He guessed it was something he would have to say out loud eventually anyway. He sighed "I know I said I wanted to stay in Yokohama but... It has been bothering me a lot." He said.

Rio looked a little dejected. "Do you regret your decision?" He asked.

Saburo shook his head. "It's not that, but I've been thinking about it and... I don't like this feeling of not having anything mine." He looked down at his own fidgeting hands. "That before I had a house, I had stuff that were part of who I was, I had a family that would always be there for me...and all of sudden everything surrounding me depends on Mad Trigger Crew of all people." He muttered. "I mean, what if one day you realize this was a mistake? Because I only give you problems, I can't even rap anymore and on top of that you have to treat me as if I was made out of glass...won't I basically be alone and without anything once again?" 

Rio opened his mouth in understanding while nodding slowly. "So that's the reason why you have been talking so much about getting cured and have been trying to do more things by yourself..."

"It would be so easy for you to turn back now." Saburo looked down. "But if I can be like this all the time." He motioned at himself or more like the him that was having a normal conversation. "If I stop losing control of my body when I'm stressed, If I can at least be near a rap battle, If I can stop being pitiful..." He frowned and dug his nails in his other hand.

Rio grabbed his hand and moved it away. "You are wrong." He said. "We took the decision and we are not turning back. You will have to trust our word on that." He said. "Broken or not it won't change our resolve."

Saburo looked away.

"...You don't have to believe it now, I also think actions speak more than words." Rio let go of his hand.

"... it's your turn." Saburo muttered. "Answer my question."

Rio let out a hum. "If I miss what I lost...I do, sometimes." He said. "But after going to the war I learned something..." He added, getting the boy to give him a side glance.

"I learned that we don't really own anything." He looked up at the stars. "The place we call home, the people that surround us, even the material objects we have, all of those things can change in mere seconds and sometimes we can't do anything to stop it, to keep them from leaving, so are they really ours?" He looked down at Saburo, who was peering up, listening intently.

"The only things I own are myself, my honor, my goals, my will to decide who I am loyal to and what makes me happy and what I decide to do." Rio smiled kindly. "That is why I don't mind living in the wild as long as I get to be happy and feel good. That is what it takes for a place to be a home for me, even if I don't own these woods."

"I guess...home was home because Ichi-nii and Jiro-nii were there and it felt nice and warm." Saburo eyes moved down, remembering how different that house felt when he walked in after his brothers left. "I... I understand...what you're saying." He mumbled. "Maybe someday I can find something like that again..."

"You will." Rio assured.

"And then I will have something...a home." Saburo looked up. "I can find a true resolve later."

Rio patted his head. "You have always had the strength of a solider in you. You can do it."

Saburo didn't move away from the touch, finding it slightly familiar, but he stopped himself from thinking too much about it, since thinking about his brothers would dampen the better mood he had. "...Do you want to see Saturn?" He asked.

"Can you see Saturn with that telescope?" Rio blinked.

Saburo nodded. "You didn't know that?" He asked, tilting his head.

Rio shook his head. "I don't use the telescope to see the stars." He said.

Saburo didn't dare to ask more about that.

The two of them spent the night looking at the stars and having small conversations about anything but most of the time just being in silence and looking at the starry night. It was in one of those long silences that Rio didn't notice that the boy fell asleep laying on the grass at some point.

He smiled and carried him back to the tent, carefully placing him in the sleeping bag. Rio was sure the boy hadn't realized how much he had improved in such a short time, even if he insisted that had to be quicker. 2 weeks ago, the idea of spending a day with him in his camp, eating by himself, spend the night watching the stars and getting him to agree with anything would have been imposible, but he even managed to fall asleep pacefully without pills, screams or fights. Saburo claimed that there was a possibility that he would stay broken forever, but he just kept proving the opposite, which was confusing for Rio, but he knew it would be easier to let him find that out by himself than trying to do something about that stubbornness that seemed to be a common thing in the Yamada family.

It was hard not mention something when he started to talk about home and the possibility of them turning back, but part of his mission was to stay quiet about it, and he hated doing missions half-heartedly. He could only hope it would help the little one change his mind once he saw it.

The next morning in the camp was uneventful, which meant good for them, considering everything. They were on their way back to the city before lunch, the air feeling even lighter than when they got there the day before, probably because Saburo managed to say out loud his insecurities about his new caretakers.

When they got in the house Jyuto and Samatoki were waiting for them, acting natural.

"Did you have fun?" Jyuto asked with his business smile.

Saburo sniffed around, catching the constant smell of coffee and cigarettes but also a different smell that didn't belong there, paint maybe.

"The little one showed me how to find Saturn with a telescope." Rio said.

"Oh great, he showed you nerd crap." Samatoki chuckled, leaning on the table.

Saburo frowned and was about to say something when he saw that there were new bandages on the albino's body, specifically around his left hand. "What happened to your hand?" He asked.

Samatoki blinked and looked at his hand, then clicked his tongue. "A-ah...from the whole thing in Ikebukuro." He avoided the green and blue eyes.

Saburo crossed his arms. "You didn't hurt your hand there." He said.

"Yes I did." Samatoki frowned.

"You didn't." Saburo insisted.

"You sound way to confident about that, huh smartass?" Samatoki stood up.

"I was literally there." Saburo deadpanned.

"Enough." Jyuto sighed and lifted his hand. "Samatoki, you could have said the real reason and it would have been a better choice." He said.

"Shut up." Samatoki grumbled.

Saburo gave them a confused look.

Jyuto waved his hand. "It's not important. Samatoki doesn't know how to use a hammer and a nail." He said. "Leave your bag in your room and come back so we can talk about your stay." 

Saburo nodded slowly and walked to the guest room, but when he opened the door, instead of finding the dull guest room he had been staying in for the last weeks he found a bedroom decorated with new furniture and even new bright paint on the walls. He gaped and walked in, looking at everything around him, from the things that he knew that belonged to him like some of his prizes, borads games and even his –now with just one screen– computer to the things he knew that were brand new like the bed and the desk and finally to a few things he knew that belonged to his brothers like Ichiro's favorite headphones and Jiro's favorite cap.

He looked at a framed picture of the three of them along with three owl figures he remembered Ichiro being very excited about when he saw them for the first time and felt a his eyes filling with tears and his throat burn. The thing was, that for the first time since everything happened, he didn't feel pain or sadness along with his tears, he just felt the hints of warmness in his chest and even though he wasn't smiling, he knew that what he was feeling was the closest thing to happiness he had felt in what felt like ages. It made him think back about Rio's words for a moment.

'Who even takes the time to do all of this in one day?' Saburo thought humorously.

"Crap I told you using his brothers' stuffs was a bad idea!" He heard Samatoki saying in a hushed tone.

"Well you didn't let me buy the other screens he had." Jyuto responded in the same hushed tone.

"Who the fuck needs so many screens?" Samatoki asked.

"Screens are important, Samatoki." Rio joined their hushed conversation outside the room.

Saburo turned and the three men tensed when they saw the tears coming from his eyes.

"Eh umm..." Jyuto cleared his throat. "Since the investigation is over, we could finally get in the house and take your belongings, or what was left of them at least and since you will be staying we thought you would need your own room..." He explained.

"Yeah I don't even need a guest room." Samatoki shrugged. "It just came with the place."

Saburo walked until he was standing right in front of them, tears still falling.

Jyuto adjusted his glasses, a little nervous "But if you don't like it..." He was cut off by the ravenette giving a full bow to the three men, surprising them with the first authentic display of respect ever since they knew him in general.

"It's good... it's very good." Was all Saburo said.

They looked at each other and then back at the boy, not really knowing how to answer, specially because Saburo was still bowing.

"Ah yeah yeah." Samatoki said after a few more seconds of that. "But we have to set some boundaries you hear? Like you can never get in Nemu's room again." He huffed.

Saburo straightened. "Sounds fair." He shrugged. "But you have to stop calling me little shit and brat and you can't bring any of your yakuza crap here." He said, voice sounding completely plain as he wiped off the remaining of his tears.

"HA? Why are you setting rules now?" Samatoki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I second those rules." Jyuto raised his hand.

Rio didn't say anything but raised his hand as well.

"Majority wins." Jytuo said with a smug expression.

"Who said we're deciding with votes?!" Samatoki growled.

And like that, two weeks after three men from Yokohama found a boy under the rain, shaking and only thinking about death. Two weeks after they decided to find justice for the brothers that left the world too early due to the envy and cowardice of the scum. Two weeks after the three men slowly grew fond of the boy without even realizing until it was too late.

Two weeks later, the boy could finally breath and think about a little, tiny, microscopical possibility of things getting better. That maybe and just maybe, the three men from Yokohama actually cared about him.

Two weeks later, the boy decided that he could try to move on.

Chapter Text

"Dearest Ichi-nii and almost as dear Jiro..."

"It has been 4 months since you left...no, since you were unfairly taken out of this world. Since then, I've moved to Yokohama, to the house of none other than Samatoki Aohistsuji and being kind of adopted by our rival team Mad Trigger Crew, as ridiculous as it sounds. I live in Samatoki's home most of the week, every 2 weekends I spend the night in Rio's camp and sometimes I spend the night in Jyuto's place when Samatoki gets arrested. Never once in my life I thought I would end up in the situation I'm in, having them seeing me in my lowest moments in a daily basis, though I must admit it has gotten better in the last months thanks to the constant visits to the doctor Jinguji and I almost feel like I regained the control over my own body, which is more of an achievement than what I would like to admit."

"Still, even though I already came to the conclusion of living my life and try to keep moving on, even though the therapy has improved a lot of things from 4 months ago, those negative thoughts still come back sometimes, whenever I get to see that Yokohama is not Ikebukuro, that Samatoki's house is not Odd Jobs Yamada and that Mad Trigger Crew are not you..."

"I never mention this, not even to the doctor, because I don't want them to treat me like some kind of wild animal again. I refuse to let that happen."

"Don't get me wrong, they are not awful... they're not. I've definitely had worse and I still don't have idea of what they get from keeping me with them. Of course, Samatoki is as stubborn as Ichi-nii, as I hate to admit, but also as stupid as Jiro, Jyuto is surprisingly caring but a jerk and a passive aggressive freak when he wants specific things done his way and Rio keeps making me eat weird things and can be very extra when it comes to his methods to solve problems... But I guess they're ok. They are doing just ok."

"Yokohama is... different. I've got to see the market, the beach, their famous spots, the people who have lived here all their life. I can see the glow in their eyes when the refer to some things of that place, but I can't share the feeling. I miss the air in Ikebukuro, I miss the owls, I miss the park, I even miss our long trips to animate..."

"I miss you...I miss you so much. There hasn't been a day when I haven't missed...the two of you. I don't think therapy or just ok people watching over me will ever make this pain go away and I guess I will have to learn to live with it. I just wonder if it will become such a natural thing I will forget how it was before."

"But even with all I've said until now...I think things are finally turning into a routine. I say it that way because saying that things are getting back to normal is definitely incorrect. This will NEVER be normal for me, but a routine is the closest I can get to a stable life...maybe even peaceful, after the nightmare this has been."

"As for my future, I never thought of a future without you, so I have no idea of what my next step will be. I no longer feel interested towards the school, I see no purpose in hacking anymore and just do it to distract myself, Ichi-nii was the only worthy rival for board games and the idea of being near an Hypnosis Mic makes me sick. I feel like now all my energy and mind power goes just trying to be normal."

"As for the party of words... forgive me, but for all I care, they can kill us all if they want to. I no longer want to fight. I can't even do something against them if I can't touch a Mic. I wish I could have done a better job than them and destroyed every single weapon in existence, then maybe things wouldn't have happened the way they did for us."

"I'm sorry Ichi-nii, someone will make your dream come true... It just can't be me."

"I want you to know that I'm doing my best every day to make things work, even with this body that still acts on its own and can't think properly, that can't process emotions and doesn't have the energy to fake them, even with those thoughts of ending everything reappearing in the worst days and my actions contradicting the promises I make to these people that for some reason are still around me."

"I hope you take care of me, wherever you are..."

"With love...your little brother, Saburo."

Saburo stared down at the piece of paper in his hand and let out a sigh. He thanked that he was granted with a moment of solitude to do the assignment the doctor from Shinjuku gave him. Write down a letter for his brothers telling them about his experience up to that point, with the objective of making himself aware of his own progress and give him a chance to let some steam out.

Saburo guessed the whole thing kind of worked, but he didn't get the point, as he now felt more sad and empty than accomplished. To give it some credit, it was good to let out some things he didn't feel like telling the doctor or the solider, even though he had learned that they were quite good confidants...but never as good a tombstone.

He ran his fingers over the names engraved on the stone, tracing their names as if it was the closest thing he had to touch them. He pressed his lips together and moved his hand away, waiting until he could no longer remember the feeling of the edges of the engraving on his fingertips.

He looked once again at the letter and moved the corner closer to a candle he had lit up himself with his –recently acquired–lighter rights. He watched the fire darken the white of the paper and the fire consume the words he spent the night before writing. He watched the fire until he felt the heat getting to close to his fingers to then let go of the letter and see it turn into ashes.

That wasn't part of the assignment, but he didn't need anyone else knowing the contents of that letter, so he got rid of it for good.

The ravenette placed his hands on his lap and looked down in silence, feeling the wind moving not only the fire of the candle, but also the hair that he hadn't cut in all that time and was starting to get in his eyes constantly.

As he brushed his fringe away he caught something with the corner of his eye and felt his body freeze. If he wasn't mistaken, he saw something black and fluffy sliding away from his view. He would have been fine if only that didn't bring back memories of something he had been choosing to ignore all that time. Trying to make it have sense only made him panic and look around to check it what he thought he saw was true, but the place was still alone and as quiet as when he first walked in.

It must have been his mind messing with him once again...

Chapter Text

4 males are sitting on the table in Samatoki's kitchen. The albino would be lying if he said he didn't miss when his house was his and not the reunion point it became ever since the ravenette with mismatched eyes started to live there.

Jyuto picked up Rio that morning and showed up in Samatoki's home with a folder and a box of croissants and cheese –to what Samatoki made no comment about– and talking about an announcement he had to make, so they pulled a sleepy Saburo out of bed and sat him on the table, giving him a bowl of cereal and a croissant with cheese, so the boy focused his half consciousness on eating his breakfast and not on being angry for being dragged to the table.

"Well." Jyuto began, a smile on his face. "The reason why I called you here..."

"This is my house." Samatoki reminded him before taking a bite of his breakfast.

"Yes yes good for you." Jyuto waved his hand dismissively, earning a grunt from the albino.

The brunette placed a folder on the table and smiled at the other three on the table. "These lasts months have been different for all of us, but I've been talking with the doctor for the past few days and he considers that Saburo really has improved a lot and we concluded that he is ready to go back to school and socialize with others." He said 

Rio blinked, Samatoki looked bored and Saburo chewed his cereal with half closed eyes.

Jyuto stared at them "...Well?"

"Is that all? Stupid school?" Samatoki asked and drank coffee from his mug.

"I think those are good news." Rio said with a little smile. "That means that he finally left the worst part of his trauma behind."

"Thank you." Jyuto said as if those words were a gift from heaven. "I'm happy that we reached this point, to be able to send him with other kids without a problem."

"I guess that is very different than when we found him." Samatoki said, avoiding to look at Jyuto and the smug smirk he assumed that the other had at the fact that Samatoki was agreeing with him.

"Not only that, but I made some calls and Saburo can take a test to make up for the time he lost and he won't have to retake the year." Jyuto said opening the folder and placing the information about the test over the table. "And I know it will be a piece of cake for him."

Saburo gave the sheet a side glance and let out a humorless snort, then nodded and focused back on his breakfast. His way to say that it would be, indeed, a piece of cake for him.

Jyuto ran his fingers over the the other documents in the folder "The only thing is that if we want him to be in school there is a matter we need to address..." He lifted the piece of paper. "...We need to become the legal tutors." He said.

Both the soldier and the yakuza froze for a moment gave the officer all of their attention.

"Make it oficial huh?" Samatoki said.

Jyuto pushed his glasses closer "I can move some contacts to make everything easier but for what I read, there can be 2 legal guardians." He said.

"You and Rio." Samatoki said immediately.

Jyuto narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"He's already staying in my house, I don't want to have to deal with legal crap too." He leaned back on his chair. "Also even I can tell that 'My legal guardian is a yakuza' sounds like shit." He added with chuckle. "So you go ahead and marry Rio or whatever." He waved his hand just like Jyuto had done to him. 

Jyuto opened his mouth. "W-what?" He made the mistake of stutter.

"I am ok with marrying if necessary." Rio said casually.

Jyuto gave him a shocked and confused look.

Saburo looked up from his cereal with his brow furrowed and talked for the first time in the morning. "Are you two really going to marry? I don't really care about going to school..." He muttered 

"No. You're going to school." Jyuto said as firmly as he could in his situation.

"So you are marrying Rio." Saburo statated, raising his eyebrows with a bored expression.

"I know where you guys can do that." Samatoki said with a smirk at Jyuto's distressed face.

"Don't worry Jyuto." Rio put a hand over his chest. "I promise to be a good husband and always keep both the passion and commitment afloat." He said with determination.

Jyuto blinked a few times and shook his head. "Keeping wha– No Rio!" He ran a hand down his face and the sound of the doorbell gave him the best excuse to get up from that table instead of killing Samatoki, who he could see pretty much enjoying the confusion. Of course that gay disaster of a yakuza knows perfectly how gay marriage and legal guardianship worked but just wanted to piss him off.

He walked towards the door and opened it to then face the tall figure of a man wearing obnoxious jewelry, a fur coat draped over his shoulders and a fedora, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses and a smug expression on his face. Was other person looking as sketchy and he would have brushed it off as one of the many sketchy people Samatoki worked with, but he recognized the man in front of him, which only made everything more confusing than if he was a total stranger.

"Oh good morning, officer." The man tipped his hat. "I wasn't expecting you to open the door, could it be that I'm interrupting a meeting?" He asked.

Jyuto didn't have time to look confused, so he shifted to his professional mode, faking a smile. "Good morning." He fixed his glasses "Yes actually you are, but I assume it must be something important if a member form the Osaka division came all the way here."

The man snapped his fingers. "You are correct! Will you invite me in or do you need your leader's permission?" He asked, one eyebrows arched.

Jyuto made sure to stand firmly and block the way. "As I just told you, we are in the middle of a meeting." He said with a polite smile and tilt of his head. "So any business you have will have to wait until we are done." He said.

Jyuto saw something twitching in the older man's face and he wouldn't have noticed if he wasn't used to dealing with criminals.

"I see I see." He laughed. "I really want to get this done with as soon as possible, so this will be quick." He said.

Jyuto raised an eyebrow, but looked back when heard footsteps.

Samatoki walked towards the door "Jyuto what's the hell is taking so long?" He asked and frowned when he saw the man standing outside. "What the hell is the shady guy from Osaka's team doing here?" He asked.

"Yo!" The man in the fur coat raised his hand. "Oh don't mind me, I just came to pick up my son." He said casually.

Both the albino and the brunette looked at him with confusion.

"Your son?" Jyuto asked with an evident frown, no longer faking politeness.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Samatoki asked, looking irritated at the vagueness of the statement.

The man just looked over both of them to look at the curious boy who had just arrived to the scene with the soldier. His smile just grew.

"Rei Amayado..." Saburo said very awake and clearly, with no expression on his face but still managing to fill each syllable with venom. 

"Hey there kid! Did you have fun with your friends?" Rei said with such a happy and confident tone it  irritated both the albino and the brunette even more.

Son? Fun with his friends? Did this person even live in the same reality as them?

Rei opened his arms. "Papa is finally here to take you home."

Chapter Text

The air was cold and heavy in the living room but Rei Amayado looked just fine looking down to all of them as if he knew with total confidence that he had the upper hand.

Saburo was sitting on the couch between Rio and Jyuto who looked like they were ready to grab Saburo and run away if that man tried to do something. The boy's blank face gave a message but the white of his knuckles as he gripped the fabric of his sweatpants gave another.

Samatoki had his red eyes fixated on him like an animal ready to jump into a fight with its predator.

Rei tilted his head to the side "Maybe you have time for a staring contest." He chuckled. "But I'm a busy man, so if we could make this quick–"

"Shut the fuck up." Samatoki spat. "You think you can come here with that bullshit now? Father my ass." 

Rei clicked his tongue and shook his head, taking off his sunglasses. "I couldn't care less if you believe me or not." He said and pointed at Saburo. "The kid knows it's true."

Jyuto turned his head to look at the ravenette and put a hand over his. "Is he telling the truth?"

Saburo didn't take his eyes off Rei. "Yes, he is." He said flatly.

Samatoki turned with a surprised look that then filled with anger when he looked back at the man. 

In front of him was the same man that had abandoned his sons, the reason why he had to see Ichiro working his ass off to give his brothers what the asshole –wearing enough gold to pay a decent place for his three kids– should have given them. He couldn't help but get memory of a 17 years old Ichiro falling asleep on the couch of their base because he had stayed up working until who knows when. He couldn't see a trace of remorse or even sadness on his face. It pissed him off. That man pissed him off.

"How can you have that disgusting smile?" The albino pulled him by the shirt. "Do you even know that two your sons are fucking dead?" Samatoki growled.

"Samatoki." Jyuto got up to try calm the other down.

Rei didn't look intimidated in the slightest and even leaned in to glare back at him. "I recommend you to let go of me right now unless you want a scene in front of the kid... I heard he's not handling the rap battles very well." He whispered.

That made something click in Samatoki head. That asshole had just threatened him. He thought that he could come to his house, try to take Saburo away and try to intimidate HIM. 

He was about to go feral when he felt a strong hand on his shoulders and pulling him away from the man. He looked behind him and saw Rio holding him firmly and dragging him to the couch. That gave Samatoki time to cool down just enough to know that they couldn't have a battle in front of Saburo, but still keeping him angry enough to want to kick the man out of his house in that instant.

"We have been taking care of Saburo ever since the night of the murder." Jyuto said seriously. "He chose to stay here and certainly he doesn't look too glad to see you." He added.

Rei dusted off his shirt. "You think that just because you fed him he's yours? Sorry, but it's hilarious to hear that from an officer that should know the basics about law." He scoffed. "I am the biological father of that kid, so it's only right he comes with me." 

"Only right?" This time Jyuto was the one laughing. "I would like to see a court giving the custody to a conman." 

"Oh, you want to bring court to this? I have my contacts too, if that's what makes you look so smug now and even if I didn't." Rei raised his eyebrows. "Who do you think they will give the custody to? To his poor biological father who has spent the last months mourning for his other two sons or to three random dudes that are known for beating him and his brothers up? What if we add the fact that these dudes have him living with the man that wanted to fuck his older brother that very coincidentally looked a lot like him, just to spice it up a bit." He rubbed his fingers as if sprinkling salt to a dish.

"THAT'S IT!" Samatoki stood up from the couch evident chest movements from his breathing that were just another proof of the anger inside him in that moment. He didn't even care how the older man knew about his relationship with Ichiro. That part of the other three that were just as pissed at the conman made them stand there and make no movement to stop Samatoki. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" He pointed at the door. It was taking all of his energy to not jump at him again.

Rei lifted his hands. "Alright, I have other matters to attend and can't waste more time dealing with hysterical people." He said and looked at Saburo, still sitting on the the couch with a blank face. "Make sure to have your things ready next time I come for you." He put his sunglasses back on and pulled a card out his coat. "Call me and tell me if we'll do it the easy way or you'll wait for these clowns to take it to court." With a movement of his finger the card spun on air and landed on Saburo lap.

Samatoki –doing the mental exercises for the anger that Jakurai recommended him– grabbed the man from the coat and shoved him out of his house and then pulled out his hypnosis mic, activating it and getting ready to battle.

Rei rubbed his chin and contemplated it for a moment. "...Nah, I have better things to do." He put his hand in his pockets and turned away. "And don't trigger the kid because I would rather him not being broken again when I take him with me." He added as he walked.

Samatoki grit his teeth and just was about to throw a verse when he Jyuto snatched the mic from his hand and the speaker disappeared. "What the fuck?!" He growled.

"Don't you see you're giving him the reaction he wants?!" Jyuto growled back. "Do you think I didn't want to beat the shit out of him right there? But that's not what we have to do if we want to win this." He added.

Samatoki sent his fist to the wall of the entrance and made a sound that made the officer flinch. "THEN WHAT DO WE HAVE TO DO?" He asked.

Jyuto crossed his arms. "Be smarter." He said simply. "Do you think that using violence against him will make us look any better if this goes to court? If we don't think of a plan he really will take Saburo away." He added.

Samatoki, still not completely over his anger clenched his fists. "I'm not letting that happen." He let out as a breath. He wouldn't let that asshole win against him again, much less if it meant letting him take Saburo.

"Me neither, so come back inside and help us think of something instead of punching walls like a brute." Jyuto said.

Back inside were Rio and Saburo still on the couch. The first thing they noticed was the readhead treating the boy's palms that were bleeding a little due to how hard his nails digged in them.

The yakuza could tell Rio was pissed just by looking at the deep frown on his face, but he still treated Saburo hands gently, something he could respect. Thinking about Saburo himself, Samatoki realized that after hearing all the bullshit from that man he must had been just as –if not way more– angry than all of them and still managed to stay there just digging his nails in his palms.

"We found out last year." Saburo said quietly. "He told Jiro and I in an attempt to turn us against Ichi-nii... obviously it didn't work." He added.

Jyuto clicked his tongue. "Abandoning his children and then trying to turn them against each other? Why would someone do that?" He asked with concern.

"I don't know." Saburo looked down pulling his hands back when the solider finished treating them. "I don't know what he wants with me now...but he is not a good person." His look slid over the three. "...I rather disappear than be of any use for that man." He said in such a quiet but definitive way it was worrying.

"No." Jyuto said strictly. "You are not disappearing and we are not letting him take you." He moved his hand to his pocket to grab his phone. "I will have to make some calls to see what we can do, you two see if you can think of something." He tapped the screen and looked over Samatoki and Rio.

"I think Kuko's team has a lawyer that's kind of a jerk..." Samatoki said while lighting up a cigarette and offering one to Jyuto.

The brunette accepted the offer and lit it up in their usual way. "See if you can talk to him and give us his point of view as a lawyer and as a jerk." He said and watched the albino walk away with his cellphone, then looked at the soldier. "Rio...prepare the 'disappearing' option in case we need it." He said, uncertain.

Rio nodded and stood up. "I will head back to my camp." He stretched his fingers. "I feel the need to hunt down something, so leave dinner to me as well."

"And what do I do?" Saburo asked.

"You go to your room." Jyuto said.

"What?" Saburo asked, blinking slowly.

Jyuto sighed and tapped the screen of his phone. "Trust me, you haven't seen how stressing a legal battle is." He pinched the bridge of his nose and put the phone against his ear. "You really don't need to get too involved in this, so just let us handle it." He said and then walked away when the other person picked up the call.

Saburo watched with his mouth hanging slightly open.

Rio patted his head softly. "Do not worry, little one." He smiled a little. "It will be ok." He said reassuringly.

Saburo just gave him a plain look and watched him leave too.

The boy sat alone in the living room...

How was he dismissed so easily in a legal war over HIM? That was just why he hated adults. 

On the other hand, he really didn't have the energy to deal with that mess, so if they wanted to do it then he would let them. If they didn't want him to care then he would be obedient for once and... not care.

A couple of days later in a cafe at Nagoya, people walked by and the busy employees moved around the tables occupied by different people, each one with a different story. On one of the tables, two cups of coffee sat untouched and most likely cold, witness of the one sided conversation taking place. It wasn't until minutes later that one of the men lifted the cup and drank the coffee to give something to his dry throat, no matter how cold and bitter it was.

Jyuto sighed and carefully placed his cup over the plate. "And that is our current situation, Mr Amaguni." He said.

The man sitting in front of him with his arms crossed and a serious expression limited himself to shift slightly. "So that's how it is..." Was all he said.

Jyuto intertwined his fingers and lowered them to his lap. "As you may see, we really put effort in the recuperation of that kid and we are not fine with handing him to that conman." He said.

Hitoya sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I'm going to go straight to the point." He said. "I wanted to reject this meeting the moment Kuko told me what it was about."

Jyuto furrowed his brow but stayed quiet.

"But the kid happens to be one of Jakurai's patients and he and Kuko just wouldn't shut up about the stupid brat." He continued with annoyance. "There are two things I hate, first: When people make too much of a fuzz over a kid, Second: People trying to drag me into the fuzz." He lifted his finger as he said each thing. "But I had no choice to come here and tell you what I think about this."

"And what would that be?" Jyuto asked.

"For starters, I'm not taking this case." He said. "I don't take cases I can't win and this case is too troublesome for me." He knocked on the table.

Jyuto scoffed and raised an eyebrow. "One would think a lawyer with a reputation like yours wouldn't be scared of a case like this." He said.

Hitoya frowned. "You think the case itself is the problem? How naive..." He shook his head. "You can try and fool any other lawyer to take this case, but as long as you are going against that man I assure you that boy's not staying with you." 

"Rei Amayado is not that powerful." Jyuto responded.

"You don't get it, do you?" Hitoya grunted. "I've been with that man before, he is a snake and never leaves a situation empty handed." Jyuto could see the other clenching his fist. "He is a conman, fooling the system is what he does for a living and to top it all this time he doesn't need to do much because he actually is the father of that brat."

Jyuto just bit the inside of his cheek and frowned.

Hitoya leaned forward. "Stop trying to play the hero in this." He said slowly.

"I get it." Jyuto gave him an irritated look and ran a hand through his hair. The whole matter was turning way too frustrating to keep his patience. Why everything he had tried up to that point ended the same way? Why that asshole seemed to be untouchable all of the sudden?

"Sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear, but it's your real situation." He leaned on his elbows. "Have you considered just handing him the kid? What you're doing is very noble or whatever, but none of you really have nothing to do with that kid or any right over him." He said honestly with a shrug.

Jyuto put his weight on his hands over the table and glared at the lawyer. "Listen." He hissed. "You have no idea of how hard this has been for him, how this has affected him psychologically and how difficult it was to reach this point where he no longer tries to kill himself every day." He added, jabbing his finger on the table punctuating each word. "I'm not sending him back to that hell just because a fucking asshole and trash of a human being feels like remembering he has a son." He felt himself getting more agitated.

They had no place in the story? They had no rights? They had nothing to do with him? Just the thought was totally absurd and made Jyuto feel a knot in his chest. In the last few days it wasn't the first time he heard that, as everyone he talked with ended up going there and they would tell him that they really had no place in the picture. After all they have done, hearing that felt like an insult.

Jyuto swallowed and did his best to stay firm and strong even though the piled up frustration from the last days of him trying to find out a way were lashing out "We became part of this the moment Saburo showed up in front of us, the moment we decided to change all of our schedules to make sure to give him all the attention he needed, when we had to use great amounts of patience whenever he had a bad day, the moment he decided that he wanted to stay with us..." He said in a lower and weaker voice than what he expected. "So don't come here and tell me we have no right over him. Fuck you." He narrowed his eyes.

Hitoya watched him and leaned back on the chair. It wasn't the first time someone talked to him like that but in the other occasions the other person was some hysterical mother, which said a lot considering the officer in front of him had been the one doing it. He could only guess those three really were into keeping that kid for whatever emotional reason he couldn't care less about, but if he did an effort to try and be emphatic about it, he guessed he would also be pissed if he had to watch some huge jerk take his pair of annoying brats away without him being able to do something about it and dismissing all the hours, patience and mental health he had spent on them. However, he had to be realistic and the reality was that it was a fight they could not win with what they had.

The lawyer sighed. "...This would be a different story if you had adopted him." He said. "Why did you even take so long to do the paperwork or think about that if you are so eager on keeping him?" He asked seriously, almost scolding.

Jyuto blinked and that seemed to send him into a train of thought that distracted him from his previous overload of frustration. Adoption? Why didn't they do it before? It wasn't like they didn't have time to do it or that the word 'adoption' didn't cross his mind. He looked down, focusing on the dark liquid in the cup. "I...I don't know." He said honestly.

Maybe he wanted to give Saburo time to change his mind? Maybe he thought it wouldn't be necessary? Maybe he wasn't ready to become a father figure for him? Because legally he would be kind of like Saburo's father and he never thought he would be anyone's father, let alone Saburo Yamada's. Was it his fault then? He always thought Saburo was the one that needed to adjust to the situation, but it was just in that moment, in that cafe, when he realized that he was the one that hadn't adjusted in all those months and kept ignoring the need to finally make it official. If he had acted sooner then everything would be different and there wouldn't be risk of losing Saburo.

Hitoya cleared his throat and pulled him out of his thoughts. "You look like you need to calm down and think about your stuff." He stood from the chair. "I already told you what I came here to tell you and I don't like to waste time." He added while extending his hand. "So I'll be leaving, good luck with whatever you're gonna do."

Jyuto did his best to regain his composure and get up as well shaking his hand. "Thank you for your time, Mr Amaguni." He said, sounding totally distant.

Hitoya pulled his hand back. "It doesn't look like it, but I don't wish the worst for that kid." He said. "But don't do anything stupid if things end up happening the way I told you, in almost all scenarios you will have to let go of him." He added, knowing for experience how people could get when court system fucked them over.

"Have a nice day." Was all Jyuto said. He had enough of the conversation and the meeting and people portraying Rei Amayado as if he was some kind of indestructible demon. He was sick of it.

Kuko and Samatoki sat next to each other in front of the cafe, asked by the other two to wait outside so they could have a decent meeting. They were sent outside like troublesome kids that would only bother the adults and they weren't too happy about it.

Kuko's loud chewing sounds on his bubblegum were starting to end with Samatoki's patience to the point not even the nicotine of his cigarette was helping. The albino grit his teeth and rubbed the fingertips of his free hand together. "Could you eat that shit like a fucking normal person?" He snapped.

"Ugh what the fuck is taking them so long?!" Kuko groaned while throwing his head back, totally ignoring Samatoki's question.

Samatoki huffed in response and took a drag of the cigarette. "Shouldn't be so hard to stop a piece of shit from practically kidnapping a minor." Samatoki grumbled.

"I still can't believe that piece of shit was Ichiro's dad all this time." Kuko frowned and propped his chin on the palm of his hand. "Now I get why he never cared that he didn't have parents." He scoffed. 

"Saburo told us the three of them knew since like more than a year ago, maybe Ichiro knew for even longer." Samatoki looked at nowhere in particular. "If I had had to see my old man dicking around like that I would have killed him myself on the spot..." He narrowed his eyes and put the cigarette back between his lips.

Kuko grunted and looked down, his mouth opened but then closed, wrinkling his nose and looking uncertain but finally deciding to ask the question. "How is he?"

Samatoki blinked and turned his head. "How is who?" He asked.

Kuko scowled. "Your old man." He said sarcastically. "Of course I fucking mean Saburo." He grumbled.

Samatoki just turned his head away again. "He's fine." He answered vaguely, but he felt a pair of sharp eyes on him so he elaborated. "Has been staying in his room most of the time ever since all of this shit started." He gestured towards the cafe.

He could hear Kuko make a little hum and there was exactly a minute of silence before the monk talked again. "Bring him with you next time you come to Nagoya." He said carelessly and out of nowhere.

Samatoki frowned a little and then looked at him again, one eyebrow raised. "Why the fuck would I do that?" He asked.

Kuko's eyes wandered for a second, but then clicked his tongue and shrugged. "No real reason." He said sounding a little annoyed but then quickly changed to a mocking tone. "I figure he must be sick of only seeing your old asses all day." He smirked.

"Doesn't sound like has shit to do with you." Samatoki responded. "Not like you were his best friend or something."

Kuko laughed. "Oh because you totally were, fucker." He said sarcastically while shaking his head.

Samatoki was about to throw a comeback, but the sound of Kuko's phone made the two of them look over to the pocket of the monk's jacket.

Kuko pulled out his phone and narrowed his eyes at the ID showing on screen. "The fuck?" He muttered and didn't bother to move away to answer. "Ya?"

Samatoki huffed and turned his attention back to the cafe and his cigarette. He wondered if Jyuto was at least doing something useful in there. The officer had been very snappy all day, probably due to the fact that he realized that he's not in control of the situation despite of how much dirty tricks he usually has under his sleeve. Was it any other occasions and he would find it hilarious, but he was getting the same frustration just because he really wants to beat the stupid conman and people kept telling them the same shit over and over again.

"Samatoki?" His attention went back to Kuko when he heard his name being mentioned. Who was Kuko talking to and how did his name come up? He squinted with a confusion that matched Kuko's.

"He's actually next to me right now." Kuko said and his bright yellow eyes landed on him. "So ask him for his damn number yourself." He said and then handed the phone to Samatoki.

Samatoki took the cigarette out his mouth and put the phone next to his ear. "Name yourself and what the fuck you want with me." He said directly. He had no time or the mood to deal with games.

When he heard the hesitant voice on the other side of the phone the cigarette almost fell from his fingers. Just what did that person want from him?

"Sasara?" He asked. 

Things were not ideal. Very far from it.

Things were shit, if Samatoki cared to describe it. As unbelievable as it might seem, he still had pent up anger even though it had been around a week the conman visited and he had really tried to do things about it, but after filling a 3L jar with orange juice squeezed by himself and kicking at least half a dozen of thugs and still feeling angry and irritated he discovered that the only thing that would satisfy his need was beating an specific fedora wearing guy up. It didn't even have to be a full beating, a single punch across the face would do.

Of course having Jyuto visibly having an inner crisis didn't help at all. He didn't know what was going on with the cop but he was either spacing out or spitting stressed rambles about what they could do and it was driving him insane. Rio was in charge of handling him most of the time, giving him teas and was oh so patient that it could only be expected from the guy that was ok with marrying the stupid ass bunny if necessary.

As for the reason of all the mess, Saburo, he hadn't heard the teen talk in several days and could count the times he had seen him with one hand. There was a chaotic pace around the house and the brat just wasn't about to pick it up so he would spend most of the day in his room doing whatever he did there and Rio was the one in charge to check if he was still home. He had no clue of what Rio had planned for their plan B, but the soldier just stated that it was 'effective' so he didn't care about the rest.

When Samatoki heard Sasara's voice– no, when he heard that Sasara actually wanted to meet him and talk he was ready to decline because obviously their relationship was still pretty awkward by itself after the end of Mad Comic Dialogue, even after their reunion years later. To that he added the fact that seeing the comedian reminded him of the big asshole he had in his team and that didn't help either. It definitely was NOT the time to talk with Sasara.

But then it came to him, that little voice that would stick to him constantly reminding him that Ichiro died without them fixing their relationship, so he shouldn't waste chances to talk things out with others. He hadn't been having good hours of sleep either which didn't help the reminder be quieter. He swore that if he started seeing Ichiro's ghost again because of sleep deprivation he would bash his head against the wall until he fainted and was forced to sleep.

Still, despite all of that, he would be good, he would be a better person and he would try to solve things with people that once mattered to him. He repeated that in his head like a mantra while he went all the –goddamn– way to Osaka to meet his former partner at a dinner.

He saw that he was already waiting for him and he slowly approached him. "Hey..." He said.

He could see Sasara's body tensing up immediately. "Heyo Samatoki!" He lifted his hand and showed him a smile, not his stage one or the one he would show him before but the smile of someone who knew perfectly that they had fucked up. "Can't believe you actually came." He said and motioned towards the seat across his.

"I said I would." Samatoki responded and sat down. "A man gotta keep his word you know?" He added in a tone that he unconsciously had caught up from Saburo, a tone that managed to sound neutral and devoid of emotion but somehow still letting you know that he was being bitter.

Sasara just laughed nervously in response and wiping off a drop of swear from his forehead.

At first it was as awkward as one would expect, both of them being very wary of each other and Sasara looking kind of sick for some reason, but Samatoki assumed he probably looked sick himself so he paid no mind to it. 

Samatoki would admit to himself after a while that maybe meeting wasn't that bad of an idea since after the awkwardness faded just slightly, after their food arrived and they teased each other over the food choices, they actually managed to have a decent conversation and it actually helped the albino think about something other than his problems, even though he was holding himself back to bring up Sasara's troublesome teammate. 

Everything seemed as normal as it could until Sasara started to look worse than when he arrived, looking paler and sweating and rubbing his temple in circle motion.

Samatoki stared at him and took out his wallet to pay his half of the bill. "You look like shit, Sasara." He said bluntly. "Go home and take something, I'm leaving." He added.

Sasara actually opened his eyes and looked more nervous than before. "Wait a second! There's something I need to tell you first!" He said but got distracted when someone else stood beside their table.

"Goddammit Sasara." The purple haired man grumbled and fixed his glasses. "You can't do anything... and just look at you." He sighed.

Samatoki frowned. "Aren't you the other guy from his team?" He asked and looked at Sasara. "What the fuck is this?" He scowled. Was it all a trap or something?

"N-No it's not what you think Samatoki! W-well not entirely! Like I do want to fix thi-goddammit." Sasara winced and put his hands on his head.

The other man bit his lip and just smacked him on the head hard enough for the sound to resonate in the whole room. "Keep it together, Sasara!" He growled.

Samatoki clicked his tongue. That's what he got for trying to be the better person. He had no more time for whatever clown show was happening in front of him so he left the money on the table and stood up to walk away.

He felt a strong grip on his wrist and turned around to see the purple haired man looking at him with sharp eyes –that kinda reminded him of his own– and showing no fear even though Samatoki could use him as punching bag right there. "Get you fuck ass hand off me." Samatoki warned.

"Don't go, I'll do the talking now." The other said.

"What makes you think I give half a shit about what you have to say?" Samatoki narrowed his eyes.

The amber eyes didn't waver "This is about Rei's son and you do give half a shit about that right?" He asked.

Samatoki glared at him and pulled his arm away, then huffed. "If you waste my time I'll fucking kill the two of you."

Back on the table, with Sasara miraculously looking better now that the teacher was next to him –Samatoki didn't give a fuck at that point and Sasara could go die in a fire for setting him up–, the albino waited for them to talk with his arms crossed and feeling the piled up anger creeping up once again.

"First of all I want to say that I actually want to fix things between us." Sasara began. "That's why I didn't tell you right away and tried to at least–" He was cut off by the albino.

"Shut the fuck up Sasara." Samatoki grumbled and looked at the teacher. "You. Talk." He ordered.

"Let me do the talking now ok?" The other murmured to Sasara and then looked back at Samatoki. "We heard about what happened with Rei and about him having 3 sons and honestly when I heard that he abandoned them I wanted to kill him, because sometimes you think you know someone's limit and turns out they surpass it and–" He rambled and the yakuza rolled his eyes.

"Go to the part I'm supposed to care about before I shove Sasara up your ass." Samatoki growled.

"Ouch..." Sasara winced at the thought.

"No need to be so impatient." He heard the other grunt before continuing. "For what he told us himself, he's really serious about what he wants and that's actually weird coming from him." Rosho said. "And as a teacher that is usually among teens I can't help but feel worried about this son of his."

Sasara poked out his head. "We tried to talk him out of it for real! But that old man is so stubborn that is like was actually born at stub." He said and there was a dead silence.

"Didn't I tell you I would do the talking, idiot?" The one next to him smacked the back of his head. "This is serious."

Samatoki tapped his arm in annoyance. "You're still not giving me a reason to not kill you." He said

The teacher rolled his eyes and fixed his glasses. "As Sasara said, we tried to talk to him about forgetting about it, but it was useless." He explained. "He really is going to go on with this, but we know he's not in much of a good position as he probably made you think he is." He tapped the table with his finger.

Samatoki raised and eyebrow and straightened his back. Now he was finally getting something. "What do you mean?" He asked. "And why would you help us?"

Rosho sighed. "Because I can't let Amayado do things like this..." He furrowed his brow. "Not now that's I know." He added. 

"He probably made you think taking it to court would be better for him, but it actually isn't, because that would mean actually coming out publicly as his father and if he hasn't done it up to this point there must be a reason why." The teacher explained with the ease of someone used to make dumb people understand things. "Sasara and I don't know the details, but we know enough to theorize that he's deal is bigger than simple scams and it's probably not in his best interest to expose his identity in court, specially if the son himself talks about why he refuses to go with him." The one with glasses added in the same even and clear tone "He might use tricks, but if we were to tell you what kind of tricks he uses normally you could have a chance."

Samatoki blinked and his frown loosened. "But we were told that he could invalid Saburo's testimony because of his condition." He said.

"Rei told us that they were the ones that didn't want to come to him." He responded. "Even before the events that caused Saburo's condition."

Samatoki stared, not getting the point.

The teacher sighed. "He can't invalid the fact that the son didn't want to go with him even when he was healthy." He said, annoyed.

Samatoki's eyes widened a little. Truth was that they were trying to keep Saburo out of the whole deal as much as possible, so they didn't go too deep into strategies that involved him in situations of pressure, but obviously, using Saburo as much as they could was their only choice.

However the purple haired looked down. "That being said..." He started. "...The best is if you let him have his kid and avoid the court entirely." He muttered.

Samatoki gaped. Then what was that load of crap he talked about for? Were all of the Osaka division either assholes or complete idiots?

"You have to be fucking kidding me..." Samatoki grit his teeth.

Sasara waved his hand. "No no Samatoki! Listen to him! Rosho's a teacher so he's pretty smart and all of that!" He exclaimed.

Samatoki clenched his fist. "Why the hell are you telling me how to win just tell me that bullshit after?"

Rosho tried to stay calm. "I'm just telling you how to probably avoid him taking the teen with him, but honestly, he wouldn't go with you either." He said. "He would make sure both of you were denied of the custody and he would be put in an orphanage." He intertwined his fingers. 

"And you think giving him to him is any better?!" Samatoki stood up and slammed the table. The other two flinched.

Rosho glared at him and pushed himself up "Wait until I'm done talking shithead!" He slammed the table as well.

Sasara took out his hand fan and fanned at his flustered face with an o shaped mouth. He was witnessing his thing.

"HA?" Samatoki wondered if beating the shit out of other members of the old man's team would have a better effect on his piled up anger. He would find out.

Rosho narrowed his eyes. "Do know that if you use the plan I just said you could risk him tarnishing Ichiro Yamada's reputation?" He leaned closer, as a challenge. "And I'm sure the boy wouldn't want that, so use your brain for a second!"

Samatoki didn't even care if what he was saying had sense or not, he just got challenged and he was about to take it and by taking it he meant literally taking the four eyes' face and slamming it against the table, but just as he was about to reach out...

"Excuse me misters." A girl wearing an apron around her waist and an unhappy face cleared her throat. "There are currently children in this dinner so if you keep this up I will have to ask you to leave." She said.

The teacher clicked his tongue. "I apologise, it won't happen again." He said and then sat down, pulling his hair back to fix strands of hair that had came out. Samatoki had to recognize that for being a teacher wearing grandma glasses he looked ready to throw fists with him if the waitress hadn't interrupted. That was just confirmed by the glance he got form said teacher.

Samatoki looked at the waitress as he slowly sat back down.

"I will have another cream soda!" Sasara said, trying to break the tension. "Oh and a pudding for my pudding." He added, patting Rosho's arm, but Rosho had his attention focused solely on the albino in front of him. "Eh, would like you like something Samatoki?" He asked, but got no response.

The waitress nodded and gave the three a suspicious look before walking away.

"Listen." Rosho said, the word sounding more like a very heavy sigh. "I'm not going to come and say I know Rei, because I think nobody really knows that guy." He began. "But we've spent enough time with him for me to tell you that maybe he won't do anything bad to that boy, that maybe there is a sincere intention in his actions."

"He already abandoned him once." Samatoki said.

"Then why would he want him back so insistently? Maybe he just really wants his son back." Rosho said quietly. "He..." He hesitated for a moment. "He is a human after all."

"Bullshit." Samatoki responded.

"This whole fight won't do him any good." Rosho said.

"No it won't." Sasara said, sounding serious all of sudden. "Not when things turn more into a contest of who ruins the other the most instead of doing what's best for the kid." He added, sounding like he had his fair share of experience.

One of Rosho's hands slid under the table, but Samatoki didn't think much of it. "I heard what you and your team have done and I respect it but...just don't make this harder, Aohistsuji." He said, his face softening. "Just let him have his son and end with this whole issue." He added.

Samatoki scoffed. "So he can use him for who knows what and then throw him away again?"

"We will be watching to make sure he is ok at all times." Rosho said.

"Will we?" Sasara asked, wrinkling his nose.

"We will." Rosho grumbled to his partner and looked back to Samatoki. "You still will be able to see him if that's what worries you and even if he abandons him again in the future wouldn't that mean that he would leave you alone? In the end you would get what you want but you will need to be patient."

Samatoki takes out his box of cigarettes and taps it against the table, craving to put one between his lips but knowing that he had to give his final statement first. "Listen..." He said. "Patience can go suck a line of ass." He smiled. "I don't fucking trust you, I don't trust fucking Sasara, I only want to beat the shit out of that old man and I'm not about to let Saburo spend not even a minute with that piece of shit." He used his thumb to push up a cigarette. "None of you can possibly know what's really going on here, you weren't there, you didn't see and you just don't know why I would gladly kill that bitch before letting him take that brat, got it?" He put the cigarette in his mouth and then stood up putting his hands in his pockets. "We're done talking." He turned away and got out of there before he actually killed someone.

It was pretty easy talking about being patient when you talked for someone else. Were they supposed to give him to the conman until he got tired of him and only then they would pick him up again? As if Saburo was an used toy? That wasn't happening. He took out his lighter and lit up his cigarette once he was outside the dinner and was about to walk back to the station when he heard someone calling out for him.

"What do you want Sasara?" Samatoki asked without even turning to look at him.

Sasara started to sound sick again, like when it was just the two of them. "I swear he means good." Sasara said, but Samatoki just took a drag of the cigarette and started walking so he followed "Rosho has a soft spot for youngsters and has kind of a traditional mindset, that's why he insisted on doing this, but I'm still happy we got to talk a little before." He continued.

"You looked like you were about to faint." Samatoki said, not even in the mood to laugh at him.

"There's a reason for that and I would love to talk about it some other time but..." The green haired waved his hands. "But if you're mad at me for the set up don't let it cloud your vision about this issue, like yeah, Amayado is weird, sketchy and all but you're all taking this way out of proportion, do you really care about that kid that much?" He asked.

Samatoki stopped walking and gave him a piercing look that made the comedian open his eyes in surprise. None of them said anything for a cold moment and the albino just turned his head and just walked away.

The voice that would remind him to be a better person was quiet and for its own good. He just needed to think.

Things somehow got worse.

Rio was sitting on the couch of Samatoki's home as he and Jyuto waited for their leader to come back. 

Saburo was in his room and Rio felt like he was the only one checking on him lately and he couldn't be around all the time, luckily he had been behaving properly, hadn't even asked about the topic and would only stare at the card his father left. Rio would be lying if he said he wasn't worried that the negligence of the other two would lead the younger to change his mind about staying, but of course he wouldn't reproach them, much less when they obviously looked like were having problems on their own. He admited that not even he was in the best mood, but he trief to stay firm for the other two and remember the little person they are doing all of that for.

"Would you like me to prepare more tea for you?" Rio asked softly. Jyuto looked absent once again and it had been like that since the day before and he still didn't know the reason. He didn't think the answer of the lawyer affected him that much, not the Jyuto Iruma he knew.

"No thanks..." The officer answered and Rio saw him rubbing his gloved hands together and pressing his lips together.

Rio didn't like to see him that troubled, not someone that would always try to show confidence and had something to say and a plan for everything. Why did he look so uncertain out of nowhere? "Jyuto, you know that if something is troubling you you can tell me." He said.

Jyuto looked at him and Rio could see the officer slowly lowering his guard as he opened his mouth, just to be interrupted by a sudden entrance.

The door opened and the soldier saw the leader of their team walking into the living room and tossing his jacket on the nearest chair maybe more aggressively than what he was used to see whenever the albino had a bad day.

"Well shit, for now we only know how to avoid that piece of shit to win but even then we still lose." Samatoki said and slumped on a chair, propping his heels over the coffee table and sighing loudly.

There was silence in the room for a moment and the read head looked at the two, waiting for one of them to say something else.

"Maybe you two should re–" He started but was interrupted by Jyuto's firm statement.

"We should give up." The one with glasses said. 

Samatoki seemed to need a few seconds to process what he just heard. Rio saw the way his expression changed to surprise, confusion and then anger in just a moment. "...What did you say?" He asked.

"Samatoki let's face it ok? Even if he can't get the custody neither will we." Jyuto sighed. "And I've been thinking about it and it's my fault for not realizing I'm not ready for this." He muttered.

Now it was Rio's turn to give him a confused look. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean that we went ahead of ourselves in the heat of the moment and didn't think this through." Jyuto frowned at no one in particular. "Maybe this is for the best, maybe none of us are up to this and we should just let the system find someone that actually–" He was cut off by the force of an angry yakuza pulling him from his seat by the shirt.

"Don't fuck with me." Rio heard Samatoki say in such a low tone that sounded like a threatening whisper. "You think you can make us waste 4 months of our lives and then decide to chicken out of it?" He pulled him closer with a white knuckled grip. "Too late for that, bunny bitch."

Jyuto put his hands over Samatoki's and returned the glare directed at him. "Too late for what? To do what YOU wanted to do in the first place?" He spat. "Of course it's so easy to acuse me from chickening out when you haven't had to deal with the real responsibilities of dealing with a sick person! Tell me how far would you have gotten if I wasn't hear to clean up for you every time you fucked up just like in EVERYTHING." Jyuto raised his voice.

Samatoki grit his teeth. "Don't mix things." He growled.

Jyuto snorted bitterly "Alright, I'll stay in topic." With a rash push he shoved the yakuza away from him. "Tell me, leader, what's your plan? What are we going to do to solve this? Because I have nothing!" He opened his arms. "And for that matter, will you be the legal guardian after that?! Because–" He gestured towards Saburo's door and then at Rio. "I CANNOT."

Rio had refrained from doing something because they looked like they needed to let all of that out, but he was starting to worry about the path the argument was taking.

Samatoki laughed "Of course you have nothing now right?! After you spent all this time talking like you were some big shit!" He shook his head and half-heartedly pointed at him. "You think I don't know that this wouldn't have happened if you had considered adoption before? Were you waiting for a chance like this so you could wash you hands? I knew you could be a fucking bastard, but this is some new level, Mr filthy cop."

Jyuto opened his mouth and looked to the sides, letting huffs of air as if processing the offensive accusation towards him, but then just closed it and pushed his glasses up. "You know what...?" He said slowly while a sarcastic smile appeared on his face. "Yes! That's exactly what I did! I planned all of this! All of it! I've been days without proper sleep and talking to people I really hate because things are going just the way I planned!" He exclaimed and extended his arms towards the albino.

Of course Samatoki didn't take the response humorously, but Rio's attention left the argument when he saw the door of Saburo's room opening and the boy walking out with a little backpack hanging on his back.

Jyuto and Samatoki were way too into their argument, yelling things the other could have done to help the case to notice the boy walking past them in the living room, but the redhead definitely noticed and the two of them locked eyes for a moment, making the ravenette stop on his tracks.

The yelling was a background noise as the two of them stared at each other, as if Saburo was waiting to see what he would do, but Rio did nothing but give him a single nod. He trusted Saburo, so if he wanted to go, he would respect his decision.

The boy did no movement or made an expression in response and limited himself to head towards the door and leave the house.

Rio inhaled deeply after the door closed. He wished he could at least be alert in case he got lost or something happened to him. Maybe he could...

"You know what you are?! A fucking hypocrite!" Samatoki yelled, his usually pale skin getting a reddish tone.

Jyuto, sounding just as infuriated, found the way to let out a ill intentioned laugh. "Oh are we using that word now?" He tilted his head.

Rio turned his head towards Jyuto. He should stop there.

Jyuto clicked his tongue. "Do I have to die for you to take that back? Will I be your new Ichi–" The brunette didn't get to finish that sentence or avoid the younger man tacking him down to the floor and sending his glasses away to the side with a punch to the face.

Jyuto, being anything but a weakling, returned the punch and just officially started the first real fist fight Rio had to witness between them.

Rio had seen them bantering, threatening and even pushing each other, but it never got as far as they actually trying to harm each other seriously. The idea that, had not Saburo left minutes before, he would have had to see the ones that were supposed to take care of him fighting, bringing up his dead brother and not caring that they were less than a wall away from him made him feel something that he would have rather not.

He was not going to take it.

"ENOUGH."

Saburo rested his head on the window of the train.

He looked over at a couple of schoolgirls sitting in front of him with a box of donuts. He wondered if Jyuto could get him some if he asked for them...of course, he wouldn't actually ask him, but he just wondered if he would.

It was his first time getting out of Yokohama ever since the night he accepted to go with them and his first time riding that kind of train since he escaped to Ikebukuro that day and he could already tell it felt different than back then, now he felt like he had a tighter grip on his mind, if that made any sense.

He still felt his unconscious scratching on his right thigh and the nibbling on his lower lip, as well as the invasive thoughts that crossed his mind whenever his eyes landed on sharp or piercings objects. He still could say it was way better than before but he hoped nobody tried to interact with him in any way.

He had stayed in his room as asked but still got to see how the representatives of the Yokohama division sank deeper into the frustration. He would admit that he found it slightly entertaining at first, because in the end that's what nosy people get when they push themselves in things that have nothing to do with them, but then out of nowhere it began to fill him with pity and something else.

They were doing all of that for him, it was his fault, they wouldn't have to go through that if he wasn't there, they already looked tired of him and his problems so they should just throw him away already. They are a bunch of idiots. Those were the kind of thoughts that filled his mind and didn't stop.

Since they proved themselves to be useless adults, he would have to do the only logical thing...

When he reached his destination he walked past the giggling schoolgirls off the train and adjusted the backpack on his back. Truth was that he didn't trust himself to wander alone just yet and much less for what he was going to do –not like he needed anyone to know that– so he didn't go out without getting things that would come in handy in case of an emergency. He briefly remembered when he would have a backpack filled with books and gadgets like a normal student instead of things in case he went insane, but there was no point in that.

The orange glow of the afternoon and the sun peeking through the tallest buildings hit him as he walked out of the station. He opened his backpack and took out a piece of paper and a flat cap –far from the style he would have used when he still cared about that but– that was very necessary. He placed the cap on his head as he checked the hand drawn map and resumed his walk through the streets of Osaka.

He headed to the restaurant he was supposed to, without distraction or looking to the sides. He wanted to get over it as soon as possible.

He recognized the man among all the comensales. It was hard for him not to and not only because of the particular style the man seemed to insist on. He did feel something twisting inside him, but it definitely wasn't the anger and hatred he used to feel, he was too tired for that. If anything, he just felt disgust.

He sat down in front of the older man, right next to the window where the golden light of the Osaka afternoon could give a clear view of both of their faces...still, it didn't matter how much light shone on them if they were only masks.

"So you finally came to me..." Rei was the first one to talk. "For a moment I thought you would really let the Yokohama idiots ridicule themselves until the end." He chuckled.

Saburo didn't answer and just stared at him, the cap still on his head.

Rei propped his cheek on his fist. "Don't tell me you actually thought they would solve it? Don't lie to me son." He smiled. "I know you, Saburo...out of the three you are the one that resembles me the most."

"I would have never abandoned my family." Saburo responded coldly.

Rei raised his eyebrows. "But isn't because you did that you're here today?" He asked.

Saburo's blank face turned into a frown and he felt his hands shake. How dared he? "T-that's not what happened..." He said. "If it had been my choice I would have died by their side...but what would you know about that if you just appeared now?" He glared at him. "You didn't even go to their funeral..."

Rei tilted his head to the other side. "Oh I'm sorry, would you have liked to see me there?" He asked.

Saburo bit his lip. Of course he would have not, in fact, he didn't even want to think what the Saburo from 4 months ago would had done had he dared show his face there.

Rei hummed. "That's what I thought." He said slowly. "And if you need to know, I did pay my respects properly afterwards."

Saburo narrowed his eyes. "But why appear now? What do you want with me?" He asked.

"Would you believe me if I tell you that I just want to be a father for you?" Rei asked.

"No." Saburo replied quickly.

"Well then I don't know what to tell you because that's all there is." Rei shrugged. "Anyway, I took my time because I don't think I would have been of much help in the state you were, but now that you're much better you will be just fine with me."

"I'm not going with you." Saburo said.

Rei's expression lost all humor. "What do you mean?" He asked in a low tone.

Saburo, in a more business like manner, rummaged through his backpack and placed a piece of paper and pen over the table. "If you are really planning to use me for something just tell me what it is and I will do it...just let me stay with them." He said.

Rei peered at the piece of paper and then laughed. "You're kidding right? You're not staying with those guys." He said.

Saburo felt the annoyance filling him up, but then touched the rim of his cap and took a deep breath "Let's be real Amayado." He said seriously. "You never cared about me or my brothers, maybe not even on being a father at all, so I'm just giving you a way to get whatever you want to get from me while still letting me stay with the people that make me feel the closest thing to happiness ever since my life became a nightmare." By the end his words came out breathless and weak. He looked down and panted a little. He hadn't talked that much in a while.

There was a cold silence for a moment.

"...No." Rei said.

Saburo closed his eyes tightly and clenched his fists under the table. "If you want to take me by force nobody can stop you." He muttered. "But you will have to chain me up because I swear I will escape from you the second I'm not."

He could not see the face of the man in front of him so he could not guess what kind of expression he was making, but he was more focused on not losing control in front of him.

"You will get tired of trying to escape eventually..." Rei said.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Saburo asked, hating how his voice was starting to shake. 'Breathe Saburo. Not in front of that man'. He tried to remind himself. "You were doing so well just staying the fuck out of my life."

"I have my reasons, but know that you and your brothers always saw just what I wanted you to see." Rei's voice sounded low and calm. "But that wasn't necessarily the reality or even the whole picture." 

Saburo wanted him to shut up. He wanted to leave but he had to finish it once and for all. "Are you trying to say that you actually cared about us all along?" He asked.

"Take it as you want, it won't change the fact that I'm taking you with me." Rei responded.

Saburo winced "Can't you get that you disgust me?" He hissed. "Why do you insist?" He threw his head up and opened his eyes, but his shaking stopped abruptly when he saw that Rei Amayado had removed both his glasses and hat and was giving him the looks of a disarmed man, probably a crack on his mask that showed the hints of possible regret.

"I didn't want this to happen." He said. "But two of my sons are gone and you are the only one left...what else am I supposed to do?" He asked.

Saburo could just stare in awe for a moment. He didn't know if he was pretending or what he should make of it but he was starting to get overwhelmed by all the thoughts.

Calm down Saburo. Keep it together. You're better than him.

Saburo took off the cap and held it over his lap, running his thumb over the fabric and focusing on the stitches. He took a deep breath. "If it's true what you're saying..." He began in a low and cautious tone. "If you really don't want to use me, if you ever felt anything good towards me or my brothers...then let me stay with them." He pushed the cap against his lap. "Please..."

Another moment of uncomfortable silence. Saburo didn't know what else he could do if that didn't work.

Finally Rei sighed loudly and rested his back on the chair. "Alright alright..." He said and crossed his arms. "Don't give me that look and don't have a breakdown here because I don't handle that kind of stuff." He waved his hand. "Fine, I'll step out of the way." He said.

Saburo blinked. Did he win?

"BUT." Rei pulled the piece of paper and the pen Saburo left on the table and after scribbling something he slid it back to Saburo. "This is my condition." He smiled again.

Saburo read what was on the paper and it hit him like a bucket of cold water. "...Are you serious?" He asked, back to his flat tone.

"Yeah I am." He nodded and put his sunglasses back on, a big grin taking over his face. "And the moment you break the deal even by accident, I'll take you with me even if I have to pull you by a leash." He added with a cheerfulness that didn't match what he was saying.

Saburo blinked slowly. He didn't win after all. "What a weird old man." He muttered.

"Yeah? Well you're an even weirder kid." He chuckled and then moved his hand dismissively. "Now go back to Yokohama with your circus, I have to meet a client here in 10 minutes."

Saburo huffed, not even bothering to give a proper answer to that before putting the cap back on and getting up.

Saburo gave one last look to the man. "See you in two weeks, my son." He heard him say as he waved his hand.

Saburo just turned away and left the place by himself. He didn't need help anyway, he just solved the whole problem by himself after all...kinda. 

He was thankful that the most tense part of the conversation didn't push him too near his limit, but then the conman was as adamant of not wanting things to things blow up as he was and cooperated with him to avoid it.  

He would still have to deal with that man in the future but maybe and just maybe if Mad Trigger Crew had turned out to be not as awful as he thought, that man could also be tolerable.

At the moment, he would head back to Yokohama before those three useless adults had another useless argument about something already useless...

They should all rest already.

Rio and Jyuto were back to being just the two of them in the living room.

After Rio's intervention, the fight ended immediately. Rio visualized his training days and –verbally– reprimanded them as his superior would have back in the day. He didn't like it but it was effective.

Samatoki was currently in his bedroom taking a shower to cool down while Jyuto just sat down in silence. Luckily they didn't get to seriously injury the other and it didn't went further than a few bruises.

Rio watched Jyuto intently with his fingers intertwined and leaning forward on the couch. He could tell the officer was thinking about all the things he said. He wished he had known that Jyuto was feeling like that from the beginning.

"Why were you ok with marrying me that quickly?" Jyuto asked, out of nowhere, without looking at him.

Rio tilted his head. He though it was a strange question. "So we can become the legal guardians." He answered simply. He thought that was obvious.

Jyuto pulled back his hair. "Do you even know what that entails? Getting married to a teammate and basically adopting a teenager?" He asked. "Becoming both a husband and a father figure." He looked at him.

Rio looked up for 5 seconds at most and then looked back at Jyuto. "I am still good with it." He said.

"H-how?!" Jyuto asked with distress.

Rio smiled a little "Because it's you and it's Saburo." He answered as if it was the easiest question ever.

"What do you mean?" Jyuto asked.

"Maybe if it was another situation I would have second thoughts and I wouldn't see myself as a good husband or father material." Rio looked at Saburo's door. "But our situation is not like most and we would always work things out as a team...the 4 of us." He looked back at Jyuto. "It is not like I would get a husband and a son, we would be a team doing things that we would do anyway but with paperwork to back it up." He offered him his hand. "Bedsides, you have been doing a very good job."

Jyuto looked at the big hand being offered to him and laughed softly while taking the soilder's hand and covering his face with the other. "So it was that simple..." He said and then looked up. "I think I was overthinking and ruined everything..." He admitted.

Rio squeezed his hand reassuringly. "If something bad happens to Mad Trigger Crew it is on all of us, so don't carry the mistakes on your own." He said.

Samatoki walked out of his bedroom wearing more comfortable clothes, his hair wet and a towel around his shoulders. "So you're still here..." He said, referring more to the officer.

Jyuto let go of Rio's hand turned his head to the leader. "Yes..." He said and pressed his lips together before sighing. "I'm sorry...for what I said." He said.

"Yeah you better be!" Samatoki responded and walked to the kitchen to get himself a can of beer.

Jyuto's eyes followed him, unamused but not wanting to make a comment. When Samatoki came back with two unopened cans aside from his and then offered one to him he didn't know what to answer.

"I guess...I really would have lost the brat in day 1 if it wasn't for you two." Samatoki muttered. "And you might have done most of the annoying part..." He added.

Jyuto chuckled and grabbed the can. "A simple I'm sorry would have worked too." He said and accepted the can from Samatoki.

"Shut up, bitch." Samatoki huffed and slumped on the free chair after setting the other can on the coffee table in front of Rio.

Things sounded as if they had been fixed, but it didn't feel like that or at least it wouldn't until the had that talk.

"So...you really don't want to do this?" Samatoki asked and took a sip of his beer.

Jyuto pressed the cold can against his swollen cheek. "About that..." He looked over at Rio. "I think I will be fine as long as we all do our part." He gave the soldier a little smile.

Samatoki raised an eyebrow. "Ha..." He drank some more beer. "Just don't bring up Ichiro for petty shit again or I'm gonna kill you." He pointed at him. "What if the brat had heard you hah?"

"Oh thank god he didn't." Jyuto sighed and shook his head. "Though I should go check if he hasn't been using his headphones that high for so long." He looked at Saburo's door.

Rio opened his own can and took a sip. "Oh no Jyuto don't worry, he had already left when you said that." He said.

You could almost hear the snapping sound when Jyuto turned his head to look at Rio. "Left where?" He asked.

In that moment the door of the house opened and the ravenette walked in as if nothing happened.

Jyuto got up and carefully placed his hands on his shoulders, giving a quick check before sighing. "My god Saburo, where were you?" He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I had to do something..." Saburo answered quietly.

"Don't go out by yourself like that ok? Much less without telling us." Jyuto said.

"Rio knew." Saburo blinked and then pointed at the bruise on his cheek. "And you were busy." He raised his eyebrows slightly.

Jyuto sighed again. "This whole problem with Amayado made us get a little irritated and has taken a lot of our time but it's going to be ok alright?" He said softly.

Saburo stared at him for a moment, then lifted his hand and patted Jyuto's head briefly. "Ah. I solved it already." He said simply.

Three pairs of eyes went wide.

Samatoki got up and went over there. "What the fuck do you mean you solved it?" He asked.

"Amayado will let me stay with you." Saburo shrugged. "As long and I don't break this condition though." He handed Jyuto the piece of paper.

Jyuto adjusted his glasses and read what was written on it. "You have to meet him once every third weekend and he is allowed to take part in important events or festivities?" He murmured with disbelief.

"I am very proud of you little one." Rio –who got there as well– gently ruffled the ravenette's hair with a soft smile on his face.

"How did you do it huh?" Samatoki asked.

Saburo, still expressionless, lifted his hands. "Sometimes you can do things by just talking you know? Like just talking without yelling or threatening, you know? like decent people, Samatoki." Saburo said slowly, as if talking to a little kid.

Samatoki frowned "HA? What do you mean by that–eh?! Saburo!" He followed the teen as he walked back to his room.

Rio stood next to Jyuto and put a hand on his shoulder. "Seems like we don't have to worry about that anymore..." He said.

Jyuto nodded slowly and looked up from the paper. "Saburo solved this by himself, he really did." He said and turned to face Rio. "You are right... If it's Saburo...I can do this." He gave the soldier and confident smile.

Walking down the stairs of the courthouse the 4 men had their heads down to reread the document with their signatures.

"Gentlemen... now it's oficial." Jyuto smiled. "We are the legal guardians." He turned his head to face the other three.

"I'm glad things turned out well in the end." Rio said happily.

"So are we not going to need this?" Saburo lifted a pair of rings and a veil.

"W-where did you even get that?" Jyuto grumbled and grabbed the rings and veil from him. "Marriage was never part of the plan!"

"Nah." Samatoki smirked. "Married or not, legally you and Rio still have a child together, so make sure to mention that to your next blind date." He chuckled and walked ahead of them.

"Let me remind you that you are a guardian as well, asshole." Jyuto went after Samatoki.

Rio and Saburo walked at their own calm pace. "Are you disappointed that you didn't get married?" Saburo asked, looking up at the older man.

"It makes no difference to me." Rio responded. "We can take care of you properly and that's what matters..."

Saburo hummed. "You adopting me would have been very awkward anyway, so I'm glad you didn't do that." He confessed. 

"Are you sure you are ok with us being your guardians? It's not adoption, but we still are linked together now." Rio looked down to the ravenette.

Saburo glanced towards the other two waiting by the car and huffed through his nose. "It is official..." He said. "I'm not mad at all...it could be worse." He looked back at Rio and stretched his lips into a thin line. "You were not a bad choice." And he looked away again.

Rio just smiled and walked with the boy to the car.

"What are we going to do first as a not-family?" Jyuto asked.

Samatoki knocked the roof of the car with a malicious smile. "I'll tell you what we're gonna do." He said.

Amayado Rei walked out the convenience store wearing a golden tracksuit, holding a slushie he just had bought. Not his style of drink, but he was starting to try new things and the day was very hot.

Suddenly someone ran across him and slapped the cup from underneath, sending it upwards and dumping the contents all over him. The person kept running and didn't even let him get a look of his face.

"Aw dammit." Rei clicked his tongue while looking at the mess on his clothes. "This youth is worthless... oh well." He shrugged and took off the jacket –he had a golden shirt underneath– and walked into the laundry that was next the convenience store.

Meanwhile, a white haired got back with his group and headed over to the soldier holding the phone. "Did you get it?" He asked to Rio.

Both Rio and Saburo gave him thumbs up while Jyuto just shook his head from the wall he was leaning on.

Samatoki watched the replay on the phone and smiled. "Look at the old shit's face! Fuck I needed that so much." He lifted his fist.

"I seriously can't believe you sometimes, Samatoki." Jyuto sighed and the pushed himself off the wall. "Can we go back now?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah yeah, don't act as if you didn't like it." Samatoki opened the copilot door and got in the car with Rio and Saburo going to the passenger seats.

"Never said I didn't." Jyuto corrected and got in the car. "Shall we go eat something now?" He asked before starting the engine.

Saburo leaned forward a little . "...could we get donuts?" He asked in a low tone.

Jyuto looked him through the mirror. "You want donuts? Let's get some on the way back then." He said and couldn't help but smile when the boy looked like he hadn't expected that answer and pulled out the parking spot to drive away.

"When we get back I could make a special meal to celebrate the beginning of our new society." Rio said with that glow in his blue eyes.

Samatoki and Jyuto exchanged a fearful look. Jyuto cleared his throat "How about we eat outside? We worked so hard all of us could use some rest, even you Rio." He said.

"It's ok, cooking for you is truly relaxing for me." Rio clapped his hands together.

There was no escape at that point, so they would have save their donuts for later in order to be hungry enough to eat Rio's dish. The only hope was if Saburo said something.

"Will you use the bugs you caught last time?" Saburo asked normally.

"Oh how did you know?" Rio asked, somehow sounding more enthusiastic.

Of course Saburo wouldn't say anything and they couldn't even tell if he was doing it on purpose or if he truthfully didn't longer care about the food because he had lost interest in most things anyway...they thought it was most likely a combination of both.

Saburo was going to fit in with them just well and that was good, because there was no turning back.

Chapter Text

The ravenette boy used his thumb to push the last button of his gakuran through the hole and raised his head to look at what he assumed was his own face.

Assumed, because when he compared the image he was getting with the last time he saw himself wearing that uniform, he could not recognize the guy in front of him, looking at him with those defeated, tired and empty eyes. His hand moved to his hair and his fingers combed through black locks that touched his shoulders, then tucked the bothersome bangs behind his ear.

He hated whoever this person was...

There was no smell of his oldest brother's breakfast in the air or the sound of a hurried idiot running around gathering his stuffs.

No...it was just this person.

"Hey, you actually look like a normal kid like that." Saburo turned his head and offered no response to the brunette officer leaning on the frame of the door and instead went back to look at his own reflection.

Jyuto leaned off the frame and stood behind him so Saburo could still see him through the mirror as well. He carefully reached out and touched the longer strands of hair on the back of his head. "Are you sure you're not going to cut it? I can't assure you you won't get teased by it." He muttered.

Saburo put his hand over Jyuto's and slowly moved it away. "It's fine..." He said without any particular bitterness towards the comment.

Jyuto stood there, knowing that he wouldn't get more of an explanation about the topic or progress on the day in general if he let it up to the ravenette, so he moved on with the conversation.

"I know you don't like this, but this is necessary for you and us." Jyuto said.

Saburo's mismatched irises moved to the side ever so slightly. "Already tired of me taking your time, dad?" He asked.

Jyuto cringed at the last word. "Could you please not use that word?"

"It was a gross joke...can't you tell?" Saburo asked with a monotonous and unblinking face.

"...My god, please don't get in trouble." Jyuto sighed and facepalmed.

"Hey." Samatoki grumbled from the hallway. "I gotta go to my office so if you could get the fuck out of here already it would be great." He pointed backwards with his thumb.

Jyuto closed his eyes "What an asshole-like way to say we shouldn't get late." Jyuto gave him a teasing smile. "So proper of you, Samatoki."

"Fuck off." Samatoki responded.

Saburo removed himself from the that interaction and focused on the fact that the figure in the mirror was no longer the only one there and he still needed to figure out whether he thought that was good or not.

"You did very well on the test so you already are in a good light, try to keep it that way to avoid problems." Jyuto explained while he looking to the road. "The school is informed of your condition so if you get too overwhelmed what are you going to do?" He looked with the corner of his eye.

"Go to the counselor office and wait for you so I don't ruin our oh so precious progress..." Saburo answered almost as if reading it of a paper while staring out the window.

"You will have to go back home by yourself, so you got the way back memorized right?" Jyuto asked.

"I do." Saburo answered.

"And if you don't?"

"I will use the phone you gave me." He pulled out the basic cellphone.

The car stopped in front of the building and Jyuto turned his body to face him better. "We're here." He said and took a breath. "I don't care what kind of people you like to hang out with and what you do with your time here is up to you...but just do your best to at least make it work ok?" The brunette said and then lifted a single finger "And remember, you can do boys, you can do girls..." He started.

"But never drugs." Saburo completed the phrase.

Jyuto chuckled. "You are a smart boy." He unlocked the door. "You'll be fine." 

Saburo just hummed and got off the car with his bag on his shoulder. Jyuto watched him walking to the entrance and he thought that he took off his glasses and erased the last months from his memory, he could say he was just another middle schooler.

Saburo proved that he was capable enough to solve problems by himself, so Jyuto would let him do just that and wouldn't get too involved unless his mental health was threatened. He had his own life and goals to deal with after all.

He really would be fine...as long as he didn't stand out of course.

Saburo thought about how life really was a joke.

It was naive of him to think that nobody would recognize him, after all, it wasn't like he didn't have very specific and uncommon features on his face that were shown on the media nationwide multiple times. He knew most of his new classmates were looking at him and he knew they were trying to remember where they had seen his mismatched eyes and moles before.

He sat next to the window but –despite the cliche– not at the back but right at the middle where he would easily mix with the rest.

He was about to make use of the reason why he sat down next to the window when he felt an unsolicited presence near his space, but he knew that if he ignored it it would leave eventually. Unluckily enough, it didn't leave and the female voice was like a buzzing sound in his ears that was shaking everything inside his head in such an irritating way that he felt the need to dig his nails in the desk.

The girl stood there with a little nervous smile. "Anyway Yamada, if you need anything feel free to ask me to show you around." She said.

Saburo moved his head and didn't take the time to even register her face before asking. "Could you stop talking to me?" And then turning his head away.

If the dead silence in the room was real or his own mind disconnecting from reality, he didn't care.

The day until lunch time was uneventful. He already knew whatever the lesson was about and after what happened earlier that day any other classmates bothered him, as they already knew about him but chose to ignore him anyway, but then it was when he was walking down the hallway that an older man stopped him. "Saburo Yamada, right?" He asked, carelessly pointing at him.

Saburo looked up and saw that the man probably was around Rio and Jyuto's age, had a gentle but bright smile that made his little eyes narrow and his hair was wavy, loose and reaching his chin, which along with the casual way he wore the pastel shirt and the dress pants made him think that he was one of those men that went for the 'Approachable Teacher' look. Saburo didn't like him or his strong cologne.

The lack of response made the man cover his mouth with one hand and place the other on his shoulder. "So there is that killing charisma I was warned about." He joked "I am your counselor." He pointed at himself with a bigger smile. "Your lifesaver if things go south here." He gave a gentle touch to Saburo's head.

Saburo swatted the hand away but it still didn't remove the gentle smile from the man's face.

"My office is down the hallway." He pointed backwards with his thumb while the hand over his shoulder gave him a soft squeeze. "If you ever feel like something is bothering you, know that you can come to me and I will help you..." He tilted his head and stretched the corners of his lips just a little more.

It was then when Saburo reached to the conclusion that he didn't like that guy, didn't trust him and would rather tell his problems to a rock before letting him know anything else about him. There was just something about him that creeped him out, but still, he nodded just so the man could let go of his shoulder and leave.

He looked for the rooftop to eat the lunch Rio had left for him the night before and ended up doing the same he used to do back in Ikebukuro, sitting down against the fence, legs crossed and lunchbox on his bended legs. The clouds in the sky being his company and the mixed voices of the people he tried to avoid downstairs his background noise.

He would often do it to escape from the classmates that, quite honestly, never did nothing but try to be nice to him, after all, he was the younger brother of Ichiro Yamada, the guy that everyone in Ikebukuro knew. He was MC Little Bro from the best team in Ikebukuro... But in Yokohama he was a nobody, a charity work at most.

He took off the lid of his lunchbox and saw a lunch that looked normal but that he knew that must have beetles or some other kind of creature somewhere, something that he would have cared about months prior, but that currently meant nothing to him. He then looked up at the sky and remembered how his loneliness never mattered to him as long as he got to see his brothers after school, as long as he got to eat Ichi-nii's bento and as long as he knew that the reason why he was alone was because none of them could understand him or be on his level.

He looked back at Rio's lunchbox and remembered that he really had nothing of that anymore, not even the sunny sky as the gray clouds were taking over. It was about time he got used to his new status as a pile of nothing.

The door leading to the rooftop opened and a group of boys walk out casually but at the sight of someone already there walked towards Saburo, casting a shadow over him.

"See? I told you it was him." The first one said while holding his phone next to him. "He is from the Buster Bros." 

"Didn't they all get killed?" Other one asked and Saburo felt a knot forming in his throat.

"Are you an idiot? He's right there." A third voice pushed the second one.

"It's ok." The first one said. "I have a cousin that works at a store he went to with Mad Trigger Crew and she told me that he doesn't really listen to what you say." He said.

"You mean he's like deaf or something?" The boy rubbed his chin.

"No, like I heard that he fell off a high place and hit his head so hard he had forgotten how to speak." The third one commented.

"No way, I heard from the friend of a friend that knows someone in a ice cream shop near the train station that he asked the janitor to put chlorine in his cone while nobody was looking, so of course he knows how to speak." The first one said.

Saburo tried to disconnect himself from reality and the load of crap hurting his ears, closing his eyes and focusing in the strange texture of the rice ball he was eating and It wasn't until he felt something sharp against his scalp that he was forced to open his eyes and look up to the trio of silhouettes. "What do you want?" He finally asked with a raspy voice.

"Woah he talked!" The second one exclaimed and Saburo would have rolled his eyes had he cared enough.

The first one cleared his throat. "We're a rap team and since you were among the best we want to have a battle with you." He said.

Saburo unblinking eyes stayed on them.

"Yamada?" One of them asked.

"No." Saburo said and closed his lunch box, having lost the appetite.

"Aw come on man! A friendly match!" He clicked his tongue.

"No." Saburo repeated.

"Oh what are we not worth your time?" The second one asked.

Saburo stood up. "You're not." He answered honestly. "You are no more than rookies that will get themselves killed in a real battlefield." He added monotonously and walked towards the door that lead back into the building.

"Well you're not that powerful without your brothers anyway you know?!"

Saburo kept walking.

"We will prove to you that we are more than that!" Saburo heard one of them yell, but he didn't care, he really didn't.

The only thing he got from that interaction was being informed of the fact that he did have a reputation and that the plan of not standing out wouldn't be as easy as he would have liked. He would have to work harder to keep people away from him

The rest of the day transcurred normally and Saburo managed to get back to Samatoki's place by himself successfully. The owner of the place seemed to still be out doing jobs of dubious morality, so Saburo went straight to his bedroom to change his clothes and take a shower. Once changed into fresh clothes he laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. The coldness of an empty house being his welcoming.

"Welcome home Saburo! How was school today?"

"Same as always."

"Did you make any friends?"

"Yeah right! As if he could make any friends with that nasty attitude!"

"Ugh shut up! At least I do what I'm intended to do in school instead of failing at everything like you! Idiots like you have no use."

"Hah? That's exactly why you don't have any friends!"

"Hey enough you two!"

Saburo closed his eyes and felt his whole body sink as he revived those memories. He shouldn't be thinking about that. There was no point in thinking about it because that was no longer his life. He had to stop and suck it up.

He didn't get a 'welcome home'. So what? The people he wanted to hear it from were dead anyway.

There was a ringing sound coming from the backpack on the bed and he glanced over it. He thought about ignoring it and just going to sleep but it wouldn't be worth his guardians freaking out over his whereabouts, so he would at least answer one of them to let him know that he was still alive and in Samatoki's home, so with that decision he rummaged through the backpack, took the basic cellphone from it and answered without bothering to look at the ID, since there wasn't a wide range of people that knew that phone number anyway.

"Hello? Little one?" Rio's deep voice was heard on the other side of the line and Saburo was glad that out of the three it was the soldier that called. He hummed in response and laid back down.

"Did you have problems going back home?" Rio asked.

"No, I already know the way." Saburo murmured.

"That is very good to hear." He could hear the smile in Rio's voice. "I was waiting for you to come back to call and hear about how things went."

Saburo blinked. "Didn't you have other things to do?" He asked.

"I did, but that does not mean I wasn't thinking about your day." Saburo could hear the sounds of the forest and the wood crackling in the background, so he guessed the soldier was about to have dinner. "Did you enjoy your lunch? Have you eaten dinner yet?"

Saburo peered at the barely touched lunchbox, remembering the flavor of the single rice ball he got to eat and then looked back to the ceiling. "It was good..." He left it at that. He also ignored the other question because it wasn't in his plans to eat.

"I won't be available for the rest of the week, but I will try to make more for you whenever I can." Rio assured. "Food is a good way to bond with others so you could even share it with friends."

Saburo nibbled on his lower lip. "It's not necessary." He didn't specify what he was referring to.

There was a silence in the line but it wasn't that comfortable silence that occurred between them normally.

"Did you have a good day?" Rio inquired.

Saburo pondered over the idea of telling him what happened. If he was going to tell someone, that would be Rio and that could be his only chance in a whole week to mention it... but he really was tired of them having to take part in the most simple things in his life when they obviously wanted to get back to their own matters. If it was something he could solve by himself then they didn't need to know.

"It wasn't a bad day... It was boring." He said, which wasn't a lie.

"I see..." More silence. "Didn't you miss your old school?"

Saburo felt himself gulp and scratched the base of his nail, pulling at the cuticle. "Public School is the same in all the divisions and I didn't have friends back there, so I didn't see the difference."

"I suppose..." Rio agreed, but didn't sound too convinced

Saburo yawned and rolled to the side. "I'm going to sleep." He murmured. "...good luck with what you're going to do." 

"Thank you." Rio answered in a happier tone. "I will get in touch with you as soon as I can, have a good night."

Saburo just hummed, then ended the call and tossed the cellphone away. He wasn't even that tired, but he guessed that sleeping would save him from having to answer more questions for the rest of the day. He curled up and closed his eyes, eager to put an end to the day.

The next days didn't turn out better.

Sadly, the first three students weren't the only rappers that approached him during the week for the same kind of reason and even though they weren't being exactly mean to him just the topic of rap battles irritated him enough to throw snappier answers each time. He might be earning himself some enemies, but then what could they do to him exactly? Nothing that he would care about...or at least that's what he thought.

It was in the half of that first week that he saw an Hypnosis Mic being taken out at the end of school and he realized that he had gotten himself in a delicate position. That position made him hide whenever he had the chance, which meant no time to buy lunch or eat properly. However, everything reached its peak after a student was about to activate a mic out of frustration, which triggered something in Saburo, so he lashed at them and out of instinct might or might not have threw an essay tube at them that crashed in a overly dramatic way and pictured him as the kind of crazy person the stupid misinformed rumors said he was.

He could have avoided that in lots of ways, he knew. He could have told his classmates that he was afraid of Hypnosis Mics, he could have told Rio that first night, he could have told Samatoki or Jyuto instead of going to sleep before any of them had the chance to talk to him, he could even have told the creepy counselor, but all of those choices requiered him doing the one thing he didn't want to do so, in a way, he deserved to be sitting in the counselor's office just for being so stupid and volatile.

The man played with his pen while studying him and making him want to run out of there "Well Sabu...Can I call you Sabu?" He asked.

"No." Saburo snarled. He was hugging his knees on the chair and could still feel his hands shaking slightly from all the commotion and the mic almost being activated.

"Alright alright easy there." The man lifted his hands. "Why don't we calm down and you tell me what happened back there?" He asked.

Saburo could remember his sessions with Jakurai and how the doctor would treat him when he was upset and putting the two together only made him dislike the man in front of him even more. He reminded him too much of the disgusting man from the orphanage, trying to make it look like he saw him as more than trash.

Why was he even asking him what happened if he already knew of his problem with the mics? Adults like him made him sick.

"You don't want to talk about it?" He questioned and turned towards the phone on the shelves behind the desk. "Maybe you will be more comfortable with your guardian..." He lifted the phone and Saburo snapped his head up.

"Don't." He hissed. The last thing he needed was those three losing the trust in him and monitoring him again. "It was the Mic, one of them had a Mic and I stopped thinking." He grunted reluctantly.

The man stared with his mouth slightly open and nodding. "See? You should talk more, Saburo." He spun the chair back and propped his elbows on the table. "So you don't want your guardians to know about the incident? You don't want to get in trouble I assume?"

Saburo didn't answer and just looked away.

"Well they don't have to know." The counselor gave him a reassuring smile. "The other kid was in the wrong for pulling out an Hypnosis Mic in middle of a classroom and is getting reprimanded for it, you just acted in self defense...I don't see a reason to call your guardians." He explained.

Saburo eyes flickered but didn't stay on him.

"I want to be a guide and a friend, Saburo." The man reached out to a bowl of candy and took one to then offer it to Saburo. "If you can trust someone in this school I am your best choice, specially now that things might get a little harder for you."

Saburo narrowed his eyes and grabbed the candy, then he stood up and without a word left the office, once outside he threw the candy in the nearest trash can. Not even the lack of food in his body could make him want to eat anything from someone after that kind of statement.

If only things had ended there...but they didn't.

When the sky was filled with the mixed tones of orange, the familiar feeling of getting slammed against a wall almost made Saburo feel nostalgic "How come he got suspended but you're still here if it was all your fault?!" He older student asked while twisting more of the fabric of his uniform in his fists. Classes were over and there were other students seeing, but they either agreed with him or were indifferent about it. He didn't make any effort to make people sympathize with him, so he understood perfectly.

"What the fuck is wrong with you huh?! Say something!" The student shook him.

Saburo wasn't in the best of moods after having to rely on someone he disliked earlier, so if they wanted him to talk, he would "What kind of irremediable idiot tries to activate an Hypnosis Mic in a chemistry lab?" He asked plainly.

"The guys have been asking you nicely and all you do is be pretentious jerk! Do you really think you're some big shit because you've won some battles!? You're not! " The guy shook him.

Saburo huffed. "It's not my problem that you don't know what NO means."

The boy grit his teeth and spat to the side "Whatever! Everybody knows that the younger brothers were worth nothing without Ichiro Yamada." He fumed.

Saburo tightened the grip on the handle of his bag and swung it towards the older student, hitting him across the face and finally freeing himself. The other students watched in awe to a reaction they weren't expecting from the youngest while the attacked one fell backwards and looked up at the ravenette.

Saburo took a deep breath but kept his face blank. "Who gave you permission to talk about my brothers?" He asked with cold venom pouring from his voice. "It's true that I am nothing without them...but I'm still above you, so think about what it is like to be less than nothing and leave me the fuck alone." He walked away as quickly as he could without looking like he was running.

"Don't you fucking mess with him alright?!"

"He's the one that insulted us first,Yamada!"

"I don't care! He's my brother so if you want to punch him you'll have to get past me first!"

"Jiro..."

"Shut up Saburo, I'll take care of this."

He rubbed his eyes, felt his heart going fast and the air not being enough as he made his way back to the house. He was angry, he was scared, he was pained, he hated that place and he knew he only kept making it worse. Once in the train he buried his face in his hands and practiced the techniques the doctor taught him. From what he had learned, luckily enough he wasn't having a panic attack but he was having an anxiety attack which wasn't ideal either but it was way better. He tried to use the 333 method, but looking up and seeing all the people and having the noise of the world didn't let him concentrate enough to count the three things, so he was stuck with just trying to breath until he reached a less packed place. 'Why? Why is this happening? Why?' He thought over and over.

He could do it...or more like he had to because he couldn't go into his 'off mode' in a train. 

Samatoki had made an effort to get back home early that day because he knew that something was going on with the little shit and he would be damned if he let a 14 years old try to fool him in his own home. He could understand the first night when he arrived and found him already asleep but it kept happening the following days and he didn't even have the chance to ask him if he had eaten dinner, because he hadn't eaten in his kitchen and he wasn't going to open his bag and check if he was using the cash they gave him. 

Even in the morning Saburo would be too busy to talk to him about anything –not like he asked much– and Jyuto told him that he only gave him the same vague answers whenever he asked something when he drove him to school, but then Jyuto was calm because Rio told them about the conversation they had the first day and the officer trusted his words enough to not worry. Still, Samatoki told Jyuto to come so he could see with his own eyes how he was doing a better job than him.

The door opened and Samatoki turned over and saw the ravenette stomping into the house and almost throwing the shoes away in the entrance.

Samatoki frowned with confusion. "Well welcome home you too." He said sarcastically. It was weird those days to see the boy showing any emotions so definitely something important must had happened and since Saburo didn't stop and was making his way to the room so Samatoki had to block the way. "Hey, we need to talk." He said, but Saburo literally shoved him out of the way in a desperate manner. Of course he didn't have the strength to actually move his guardian, but it was more the sudden action that made Samatoki move aside.

The cigarette fell from Samatoki's hand and he clenched his fist. "What the fuck is wrong with you now?!" He hollered, but Saburo was already slamming the door of his bedroom shut.

Samatoki felt the anger filling him but still gloated at the door. "Jokes on you smartass! I have the key for that door!" 

He wasn't expecting the screech that came from the other side of the room. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The albino blinked and the first thing he did was take out his phone and dial Jyuto's number so he could tell him to not come and see how he was NOT doing a better job.

Jyuto answered sounding like he was about to fall asleep. "I'm on my way Samatoki." He sighed.

"Turn around. Don't come." Samatoki commanded.

"What?" Jyuto asked, without a trace of humor in his voice.

"Don't come." Samatoki repeated. "Saburo's not in a good mood."

"What do you mean he is not in a good mood?" Jyuto sounded annoyed. "What did you do Samatoki?"

"I did nothing, asshole." Samatoki grumbled. "He came back from school like that and he made very fucking clear that he wants to be left alone."

"My god...I really don't need this right now." Jyuto sighed. "Do you think you can put him on the phone?"

"The fuck did I just say?" Samatoki crossed his arms and glared down at the floor.

"Samatoki I'm dealing with an important drug case right now, if you don't put that kid in the phone and make me go all the way there you're gonna have to find someone else to get your ass out of jail next time." Jyuto said in one breath.

Samatoki clicked his tongue. "Fucking bunny jerk..." He grunted and went to Saburo's door. "Hey." He knocked 

No response.

"Hey I'll leave you alone or whatever but at least give a life sign to Jyuto." Samatoki knocked again, but once again there was no response, so Samatoki cursed and went to get the key for the door. "Last chance brat, I'm opening this door if you don't." Samatoki warned and after the third silence from Saburo he unlocked the door and opened it.

"Seriously what the fu-" Samatoki stopped mid-sentence when he saw the ravenette laying unconscious on the floor. "Shit." He kneeled next to him and quickly put the phone away as he scanned him for cuts or pills or anything that could tell what happened to him. "Come on brat not this again..." He said with pure concern while lifting his upper body.

"What? Samatoki what happened?" Jyuto asked with exasperation.

Samatoki put the phone back against his ear  "He's out."

The next morning was awkward to say the least.

Saburo's stress had made his blood pressure to drop and right after his scream, when he reached his peak his –not properly fed– body gave up. It wasn't anything too serious –in Saburo's context– but it confirmed the fact that something was definitely happening.

"Nothing is happening." Is what Saburo told them that morning. "I have been skipping meals because I come back wanting to sleep."

Bullshit. Both Jyuto and Samatoki knew that was bullshit. When they told the doctor he recommended to not pressure him to avoid stressing him out and focus on the alimentary problem, so that day Samatoki actually took the time to make a lunchbox for Saburo just like the ones he would make for Nemu back in the day and shoved it in the bag. Not only that but also went with them to see Saburo get in school.

"Saburo, you can rest today if you need to." Jyuto assured him once they stopped at the entrance. "You can skip school."

"I'm fine, yesterday was just a bad day." Saburo murmured, opening the door of the car, but then Samatoki grabbed his wrist.

"Make sure to eat your lunch, idiot." He said seriously but nowhere angry or annoyed. "I don't know what the fuck is going on or if you're lying because you're very stupid, but just use you damn phone if things get rough. Save us some trouble." 

Saburo sighed through his nose and looked away. "I'm sorry...about yesterday." He whispered. "I will eat the whole lunchbox...and end..." He mumbled the last part to an incomprehensible point.

"What was that last part?" Samatoki raised an eyebrow but Saburo just pulled his arm out of the grip, closed the door and then walked away.

The officer and the yakuza watched him go and studied the faces of the other students to see if there were any malicious looks towards the ravenette, but everyone seemed invested in their own world.

"I'm gonna find out what's going on." Samatoki declared.

Jyuto sighed. "Rio would had found out by now..." He commented. "I will call the school when I get to work to see what they know."

"You do that and I'll do something that actually works." Samatoki chuckled. "Now drive me to my office." He ordered with a hand gesture.

"Excuse me?" Jyuto looked at him with indignation.

Something was happening, they didn't know exactly what it was and Jyuto's call to the school that led to the counselor came out empty handed, which meant that whatever problem Saburo had was on him and in a normal time Samatoki wouldn't have cared, but if whatever was happening was affecting Saburo enough to mess with his head to the point of passing out, and if there was something that scared him was the idea of going back to square one. He hated square one.

Why did Saburo make everything so difficult? Hadn't they done enough to earn his trust? Jakurai did tell them that he would eventually try to get his independence and that interfering with that would make everything worse and he was just fine with having a break from babysitting a jerk, at least until he found out he wasn't eating.

What happened the night before was what changed his view of what was happening. He needed a way to assure he wouldn't go back to do rounds to a kid in fetal position all day.

The man guarding his door opened it and informed him that someone had come to see him. However, before Samatoki could answer a red haired monk bursted into the office and slumped on the couch.

Samatoki looked up and glared at him "What the fuck are you doing here?" He asked, but still motioned at his men to not kick him out immediately.

"I need you to do something, Samatoki." Kuko said seriously.

"Mr. Samatoki for you." Samatoki clarified. "And I'm not in the mood today so fuck off." He motioned at his guard to leave the office. 

Kuko held onto the couch and looked pointedly at Samatoki. "Don't be a bitch!" He whined. "This is a mission from buddha." 

"That's Buddha's goddamn problem." Samatoki responded. "I already have to deal with the handful that is Saburo, so take your shit elsewhere."

In that moment Kuko's demeanor changed to a more calm one and moved his eyes to the side almost too casually "Did something happen with Saburo?" He asked.

"None of your business." Was all Samatoki said. 

Kuko didn't seem to like the answer, but he covered it with a smirk "Three guardians and all suck ass..." He snorted.

Samatoki grit his teeth. "You think this is easy?" He put his hands on the desk and leaned forward with a smug smile. "Since you're so obsessed with the brat, why don't you go and find out what's going on with him at school?" He asked sarcastically.

"Sure." Kuko responded.

The smile disappeared from Samatoki's face. "What?"

"School crap? You really can't deal with that?" Kuko arched an eyebrow. "Lame as fuck."

Samatoki walked around his desk. "You say you can make it stop?" He asked cautiously.

Kuko smirked. "Maybe." He crossed his arms. "If you do me the favor I came here to ask for I'll see what I can do."

Samatoki narrowed his eyes and lit up a cigarette. An idea just had come to his mind that involved him not having to worry about Saburo covering things up anymore "...I hear you."

The clases were over once again and Saburo was walking out the school territory. It was a very peaceful day for him and not what he was expecting, but at least he got the chance to eat the whole lunchbox and he wouldn't complain for the solitude he had desired so much ever since day one.

But then it happened.

He didn't know how he ended up in a lonely street near the school, he just saw that at the exit were the first three students that asked for a rap battle among more people that didn't give him more of a choice but to follow. Once there he just waited to see what had been the price for a peaceful day at school.

"We finally got what you were trying to say!" The first one said. "And we came here to prove you that we are worthy!"

Saburo didn't think they understood what he had been trying to say at all.

"We figured the only way to fire you up is to show you our skills first." The second one said with a smile. "That way you will want to fight right?"

Saburo blinked slowly. They weren't bad people, he could tell, but they were very dumb so probably it was time to confess. However before he could say anything, the third one cheered. "Just check this out!"

Despite the noises of excitement of the other people around them, Saburo could only hear the terrifying sound of a mic activating and quickly lowered his head to not see the speakers that probably materialized there.

He felt himself shiver by the cold sweat escaping from his pores, deafening static filled his head and made his mind disconnect from his common sense, words wouldn't form or come out of his mouth and the only order his body was listening to was to keep his eyes shut as if his life depended on it, not only to save him from having to see the speakers but also to seal the tears that wanted to come out. He could only beg for it to be over but to no avail, because it wasn't the fault of others but his own broken mind that kept torturing him with the same things over and over again. He felt like calling for help but knew that nobody would help him because he wanted it that way, because he complained about being left alone by his brothers but at the same time went out of his way to make sure people hated him and left him alone. He wanted it to end, it didn't matter if it was the rap or his life but he wanted something to end.

He was brought back to reality by a sharp pain on the back of the head. He lifted his head and slowly opened his eyes, having problems focusing the shape in front of him depriving him from the only light source that was the sun, but once he came back to his sense and saw the person standing there his face twisted with confusion. "Why you...?" He asked in a whisper.

"About fucking time." Kuko groaned and made an upward movement with his chin. "Get up, you're sitting on trash."

Saburo looked around him and realized that not only everyone else was gone but also that he was indeed sitting in an alley between a bunch of trashcans and he didn't remember how he got there. He stood up and used the wall as a support when a brief dizziness got him.

"The fuck happened to you?" Kuko asked. 

"The Mics...they activated the mics."  Saburo rasped and furrowed his brow. "They saw..." He had let them see the one weakness that they could use to torture him every single day if they wanted to. Just great.

"Saw what?" Kuko furrowed his brow as well. "You sitting on the trash looking like a stoner? Cus that's all I saw you doing."

Saburo breathed out and walked past the monk to leave the alley and it was then when he realized that he wasn't that far from the place where he last remembered being. "...What happened?"

Kuko eyed him as he stood next to him "shit...you really were that gone huh?" He put his hands in his pockets. "So there was this lame ass battle going on and you looked liked total crap and just peaced out when things got interesting." 

"The battle just stopped?" Saburo peered at the exact spot where he was surrounded by people.

"Does it fucking matter?" Kuko rolled his eyes. "It's over and nobody saw you shit yourself so it's all good right?" He mocked.

Saburo just stared forward and fixed his bag on his shoulder before turning to walk away. He wanted to take a shower and go to sleep.

Kuko, being faster than him, blocked his way. "How about a thank you for saving your ass?" He grumbled, but when Saburo didn't respond he clicked his tongue and extended his hand. "Gimme your phone."

Saburo blinked slowly, staring down at the shorter one.

Kuko then huffed and snatched the phone from Saburo's bag himself. "You have to be fucking kidding me with this goddamn shit..." He cursed under his breath while saving his number in the device.

The monk then took a deep breath and looked at the ravenette. "Listen, if there's something weird with MTShit or with your scummy dad you can call me alright?" He said while handing him the phone back.

Saburo stayed quiet for a moment and then sighed. "Let me guess..." He started. "You had a crush on Ichi-nii and now that he's gone you want to use me to compensate something." He put the phone back in its pocket. "People need to stop that already... just help me keep the graves clean and take them flowers sometimes. Seriously. That's all."

Kuko's eyes actually widened at that. "What? What the fuck?! It's not that you fucking moron!" He blabbered. "But you can't trust Samatoki okay?"

Saburo raised his eyebrows. "Bold of you to ask me to trust you instead, considering we barely know each other..." He muttered. "To me you are both the same, that is, people that betrayed Ichi-nii...but at least he has given me reasons to trust him, so I'll pass on your offer." He stepped aside and walked past him once again. He thought it would be a peaceful day but he ended up admitting out loud that he trusted Samatoki Aohistsuji. That was just lovely.

"Well fuck off." Kuko flipped the bird and he heard him stomp ln the opposite direction.

Saburo thought about how even that random person had seen him in that state he had come to hate so much...he was done. There was only one thing left to do for him in order to save the rest of his school years.

"Rap battles? He was being challenged to rap battles?" Jyuto asked before drinking coffee from his cup.

"That's what I found out." Samatoki leaned back on the chair in his livig room. He didn't reveal any details about be got the information but that wasn't important anyway.

Jyuto shook his head slowly. "No wonder why he was stressed...he must have been on edge all week." He muttered. "But why not just tell us?"

Samatoki shrugged. "What were we going to do anyway?" He looked up. "Take him out of school? The mics are everywhere so unless he stays locked up he'll have to deal with that crap."

"Yeah..." Jyuto crossed his arms. "Being that afraid of rap battles these days that they are everywhere must be difficult." He commented.

"We don't have to worry about it happening at school anymore though." Samatoki stretched his arms.

Jyuto gave him a side glance and lifted an eyebrow. "...Why? What did you do?" He asked suspiciously.

Samatoki frowned and looked away "I didn't do shit..."

Jyuto observed him but just as he thought about getting more information the front door opened and both of them turned their attention to the younger one.

Saburo, calm and quiet as –the new– usual stood there and stared down. "Do you think... I should be nice to my classmates?" He asked, out of nowhere.

The officer and the yakuza looked at each other with surprise and then back at the teen. "Well, It will be less troublesome if they don't hate you." Jyuto said. "You don't have to be their friend, just nice enough."

Saburo hummed and considered the answer.

"You ate all your lunch right?" Samatoki narrowed his eyes.

Saburo limited himself to show him the empty lunchbox and say. "Decent."

While Samatoki didn't seem amused, Jyuto did chuckle. "Alright, how about you get ready and we eat dinner outside tonight? Someone here has to make up for all of those skipped meals..."

It was at the last day of his tiring week that Saburo decided to change his strategy, to remind himself that in the end nothing mattered and stop giving importance to an image of strength he didn't longer have. 

He went to the rooftop at lunch break and luckily enough found the three guys from the day before and from the looks on their faces he could tell something had happened in that battle that he didn't know about, but that wasn't the reason why he was there.

"Oh... Yamada." One of them said, giving uneasy looks to the others.

"I'm retired from rap battles." Saburo said quietly. "I should have said it from the beginning, but I no longer want to be part of them and I find the sole presence of microphones really upsetting, so if you and everyone could stop bringing them up it would save you from my impulse reactions." He explained with rehearsed accuracy.

The other three gaped and gave each other looks before looking back at Saburo's unmoving expression. "Oh crap you're serious." One said.

"We didn't know that but it kinda makes sense if you think about it." Another said. "Sorry man."

"You really should have said it from the beginning though...now this is pretty awkward." The third one scratched his head. "It would have saved us all the trouble, but it's ok, we'll drop that." He assured.

As Saburo expected, they were nice guys in the end. He didn't know if things were supposed to be that easy but then he had never tried the honesty method before.

"And I wouldn't worry about the others." The first one said with a huff. "What happened yesterday left pretty clear that messing with you is a bad idea."

Saburo blinked. He would have to find out eventually what happened that afternoon but at the moment it was good that whatever happened scared other groups away.

He went back to the classroom feeling good that the 'honest and nice enough' method had worked and that he wouldn't have to worry about more rap battles for the time being.

That they were assigned randomly to work together in an English assignment and the girl that reluctantly sat in front of him looked like she would rather be anywhere but there with her desk facing his. He remembered her as the one that talked to him the first day so he thought that her attitude was just natural.

"Hello umm Yamada." She murmured while skimming through her book. "I promise to not talk or bother you but...let's do our best together."

Saburo's eyes fixated on her, devoid of emotion. "It is a speech practice...we have to talk." Saburo pointed out and saw the girl yelp. 

Saburo had a hard time not rolling his eyes at the fact that she seemed to be afraid of him for no reason. He sighed and opened his book. "You can talk to me...just read the mood when it looks like I need silence for a moment." He instructed.

The girl blinked. "O-oh...okay, I can do that." She gave him a shy smile.

Saburo looked back to his book and surprisingly enough his companion understood the simple instructions, which made their time working together a lot easier and he kept thinking about the words 'Nice enough'. Luckily that was the only direct interaction he had to deal with for the rest of the day. The moment they were done with the assignment the girl went back with her group of friends and he was left alone once again.

Once the moment to leave arrived he realized it was the first day he could breath and watch the sunset sky. He gave side glances to the groups that left the school together and even the trio he talked to at lunch seemed to be teasing each other as they walked.

He was by himself that that was ok...that was all he wanted, wasn't it?

"Hey Saburo wait up! Let's walk home together!"

"Why should I? How embarrassing would it be to be seen walking next to you."

"We're brothers! What's embarrassing about going back home together?"

"YOU are the embarrassing one." 

"HA? Who are you calling–hey Saburo!"

Saburo sighed and closed his eyes feeling his shoulders slump and his chest hurt. "Jiro...I should have walked home with you more." He whispered to himself.

When he opened his eyes again and noticed that a tall figure was nearby and after a squint he recognized the light copper locks that belonged to a wall-like soldier he knew.

"Little one." Rio greeted him with a soft smile.

Saburo looked up and blinked. "Did you...come pick me up?" He asked.

Rio shook his head. "I finished my mission earlier than expected and was heading to a meeting with Jyuto and Samatoki." He explained. "I saw the students walking out and thought I could wait for you, since we are going to the same place." 

"Oh..." Saburo looked down for a moment and thought about it. "...Alright." 

"Shall we go then?" Rio asked, tilting his head, to which Saburo nodded to and then both began walking next to each other. "Did anything interesting happen in your first week?" He asked.

Saburo let out a huff. "...Kinda."