Work Text:
In theory, their assignment was simple: cut down the training dummy in front of them. No, like literally slice it in half. With Yusuke’s weapon form being a katana, it should have been a breeze.
However, they had been at it for almost half an hour now; beads of sweat were rolling down Ryuji’s temples, and he could tell from Yusuke’s soul wavelength that he, too, was exhausted. But they couldn’t give up now.
One more time - just one more time …
With a battle cry, Ryuji charged at the dummy again, holding the katana over his head, and swung directly at the dummy’s head as he approached.
And again, due to its incredibly dull blade, the katana bounced off the dummy.
Groaning, Ryuji fell backwards onto his butt as an annoyed Yusuke switched back to his human form.
“I don’t get it, man,” he grumbled. “You have an edge that can cut through feathers whenever you’re with Akira … why do I get a butter knife?”
Yusuke folded his arms and huffed. “Well, maybe if you would treat me like the elegant weapon I am, instead of some - some baseball bat -”
“Guys, guys, calm down,” Junpei called, waving his hands. “Er, all in all, you didn’t do that bad …”
Ryuji sighed. Junpei Iori was one of the nicer teachers at DWMA, so he had a tendency to sugarcoat things out of pity. He pointed to the dummy and asked, “Iori-sensei, did we even cut the damn thing?”
“Uh …” He marched to the dummy and made a show of inspecting it. “I think you severed a few stitches right here …”
Ryuji groaned again.
Junpei scratched the back of his head. “Don’t be so hard on yourselves. You’ve been partnered for … wait, how long have you been partnered for?”
Ryuji and Yusuke glanced at each other.
“Um … not long?” Ryuji answered.
“A few months?” Yusuke clarified. “We were paired very late last school year, and we didn’t practice much with each other over the break …”
Junpei glanced at his clipboard and nodded. “Ohh, I see. That’s why you guys are working with Kurusu - he’s helping you figure out the wavelength synchronization.” He scribbled down some notes and continued, “Well, you can stop here for the day.”
Yusuke frowned. “But … we haven’t completed the assignment …”
“And that’s fine,” Junpei reassured them. “There’s nothing wrong with your physical capabilities, right? It’s just the wavelength stuff?”
Reluctantly, they both nodded.
Junpei snapped his fingers. “That’s where you two gotta train. Get to know each other a little more this week. Sakamoto, you go somewhere Kitagawa wants to go, and vice versa. We’ll come back to the dummy next Saturday and see where you guys are, okay?”
Ryuji sighed. “Fine.”
Yusuke didn’t sound too happy, either. “If we must …”
Somehow, Ryuji should have known that this was where Yusuke wanted to go.
Here he was, waiting for his weapon partner at the Death City Art Museum, trying not to sit on any more art installations (and really, was it his fault that the sculptor’s deep commentary on his depression ended up looking like a bench?). Finally, after what felt like a small eternity, Yusuke wandered into the lobby, looking a little dazed.
Ryuji jogged to his side, complaining, “Dude, you’re the one who asked me to be here at three. You’re, like … fifteen minutes late. What gives?”
Yusuke bowed his head, his breathing still ragged. “I apologize. The geese have returned to the park near our building, and I wanted to do a few sketches.”
Ryuji nodded slowly. “R-right. You wanted to draw some birds. And that’s why you were late?”
“Well …” Yusuke’s gaze dropped to the ground. “I hadn’t noticed that the geese were nesting, and I suppose I was too close to their chicks …”
Ah, so he was late because he was being chased by angry geese. If Ryuji was being honest, this was not the weirdest thing that Yusuke had done, but it was definitely up there.
Ryuji motioned to the entrance to the exhibit. “Anyway, you wanna go? I dunno much about art stuff.”
“Oh, I know,” Yusuke replied bluntly. “I brought you here to properly educate you on aesthetics. Now, come!” He posed dramatically. “There are several pieces that I’d like to show you!”
Ryuji groaned. “More lectures? C’mon man, Kirijo-sensei’s theory class was brutal this morning …”
Thankfully, Yusuke’s “education” was less lectures and more impassioned speeches about particular art pieces. At one point, Ryuji thought he was getting a grasp on the concepts, and compared the piece that Yusuke was currently gushing about to the neighboring painting, thinking they were similar (they were both oil paintings of flowers in a vase).
Apparently, Ryuji had never been more wrong in his life.
After Yusuke thoroughly tore his words to shreds and explained, in excruciating detail and with lots of art words that Ryuji had never heard of before, how this piece was superior to that one, Ryuji decided to just keep his mouth shut for the rest of the trip.
There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the pieces that Yusuke seemed to adore: there was that specific oil painting of flowers in a vase, some abstract art that Ryuji was absolutely sure he could replicate in his sleep, an intricately detailed marble statue, and finally, the only one that made sense: a portrait of a famous swordsman, taking a moment to rest under a cherry blossom tree.
He almost expected him to point to it and say that this was what he wanted in a meister, but instead, Yusuke rambled for what seemed like hours, praising the technique and composition and the emotions that it invoked.
Ryuji stared at the portrait intently, trying to feel … whatever it was that Yusuke was describing. He supposed the man looked pretty relaxed and peaceful, but that was a little boring, wasn’t it? How could anyone enjoy life without a little fire in their soul?
He shifted his attention to Yusuke, who was infinitely more interesting than this guy taking a nap under a tree. He got excited over the weirdest stuff, and sometimes, Ryuji didn’t really understand any of it, but that fire, that passion - that was genuine.
If he was being honest, he liked seeing Yusuke like that.
After hearing Yusuke’s stomach growl so loudly that it scared off some pigeons, Ryuji insisted on stopping by a café not too far from the museum. Once they had gotten their food and found a table, he asked, “So, how’d you get so into art?”
Yusuke’s face fell, and Ryuji suddenly remembered exactly how his current weapon partner ended up at DWMA: after years of fraud, plagiarism, and abusing his art students (Yusuke included), the artist Madarame’s soul had corrupted into a kishin egg - if allowed to continue, that kishin egg would hatch, turning him into a demon god. DWMA sent Akira to subdue him, and he brought back Yusuke, explaining that he was a weapon and needed a home since his guardian was, well … recently deceased.
He waved his arms around frantically, saying, “Wait, shit, sorry - you don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to -”
“It’s alright, really …” Yusuke sighed as he played with the edge of the tablecloth. “I haven’t really talked about it since it happened …”
Ryuji scratched his head. “I only know what Akira told me, but shit like that’s gotta be complicated. He was a royal dick and literally turned into a monster, but he was still the closest thing you had to a dad …”
“I … yes.” Yusuke’s eyes darkened. “He was the one that raised me, who refined my art skills and taught me that there is a certain beauty in everything. I owe him much for taking me in. Yet, he committed so many crimes for so long, and like a fool, I turned a blind eye to all of them in the hopes that the man I once knew as my father would return to himself someday. I cannot deny that there was an overwhelming sense of relief when I finally … dealt the final blow.”
Ryuji almost choked on his muffin. “Wait - you what?”
Yusuke blinked. “Did Akira not tell you?”
He shook his head. “No, I just know he went alone to investigate, not fight - I figured he brought Morgana just in case …”
“Ah. Well, he did show up at Madarame’s residence, unannounced. I suppose he could sense that Akira was a meister, and saw that he had no weapon partner with him - perfect prey for an ambush.” Yusuke crumpled a section of the tablecloth in his hand. “It was only then that I realized that I had been living with someone … truly monstrous. Madarame partially mutated into some … demonic entity and started attacking indiscriminately. Akira tried to protect me, said that I should run - but instead, I wished to fight alongside him. It was then that I found out that I was a weapon.”
Ryuji’s jaw hung open. “So … you …”
Yusuke nodded solemnly. “... he didn’t leave us with much of a choice. Akira did try everything in his power to avoid taking his life, and when it came to it, he asked for my permission first. I will be forever grateful to him for that, but it doesn’t change the fact that …” He trailed off, burying his face in his hands.
Ryuji bit his lower lip. He supposed that Junpei had a point in assigning this unusual assignment: he had always felt some sort of discord from Yusuke’s wavelength, but he never bothered to ask about it until now. Sure, he was carrying some of his own baggage, but if it helped Yusuke feel even a little bit better, he could help him carry the load.
He moved his chair next to Yusuke’s and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Hey, man … I won’t pretend I know exactly how you feel, but I know that’s gotta suck. If you ever need to talk or do something - hell, anything - come to me, okay? I’m your meister and your friend. I’ll be here for you, no matter what.”
Yusuke lifted his head and smiled warmly. “Thank you, Ryuji. I’m afraid I’m not too used to talking about my emotions - I usually vent them through art …”
Ryuji grinned and gave him a thumbs up. “Hey, I can help with that if you want me to! Maybe the next time you wanna draw the geese, I’ll come with?” He made a show of cracking his knuckles. “I like to think that I can fight off some big birds.”
Yusuke chuckled. “Your kindness knows no bounds. I was actually going to try to go to another park - I hear they have a pair of mute swans.”
The color drained from his face. “Uh - if you don’t mind, can we stick to the geese?”
Ryuji rubbed his hands together in excitement. There was no possible way that taking Yusuke to a beef bowl shop could go wrong, right? He even checked up on him, making sure that he wasn’t stopping to sketch any rogue birds on his way. But to his surprise, Yusuke still showed up, looking absolutely exhausted.
Ryuji furrowed his brow. “Hey Yusuke, you doing okay?”
He nodded, still unsteady on his feet. “I’m fine - just - a little dizzy …”
Ryuji placed a firm hand on Yusuke’s shoulder. “Well then, c’mon in. This place makes the best beef bowls ever.”
Fortunately for Yusuke, this place was also quick to get orders out; not long after they placed their orders, two large beef bowls arrived at their table - and Yusuke started scarfing his down like he had never eaten in his life.
Ryuji’s jaw hung open as he watched his partner inhale his food; the beef was good, yes, but he doubted that Yusuke was even tasting any of the marinade or secret spices. “Uh … Yusuke?”
He paused with his cheeks full of food, looking like a chipmunk. “Hm?”
Ryuji started bouncing his knee nervously. “Uh … did you forget to eat breakfast or something?”
He shook his head as he swallowed his food. “Of course not - you reminded me, and I had a slice of toast. But then I went to train on my own, and it was … more intensive than I thought it would be. I almost collapsed one or two times on my way here.”
Ryuji sighed and finally started on his bowl. “Dude, sometimes I really worry about you. First the geese, now this?”
Yusuke shrugged. “It seems that happens a lot - Akira gave me an earful just the other day for getting too close to the swans for a photograph -”
Ryuji nearly choked on his beef. “Wait - I showed you that video of a swan breaking someone’s bones and you went anyway?!”
Yusuke nodded, unashamed. “I have never seen such beautiful forms in nature - I had to at least try to capture their beauty! If I never tried, the pain in my soul would far outweigh the pain of any broken bones!”
Ryuji’s bad knee twinged as he thought, not for the first time, that Yusuke really needed to rethink his priorities.
Yusuke took another bite and commented, “But I digress - this meal is quite excellent. How did you come across this restaurant?”
Ryuji froze, his chopsticks hovering an inch away from his mouth.
Right … it was when …
Yusuke frowned. “Is it a bad memory?”
He let his food fall back into the bowl and shrugged. “Nah. Well, kinda … I mean …”
Yusuke moved his bowl to the side and leaned forward, fixing Ryuji with an intense stare. “You listened to me, it’s only fair I listen to you.”
Ryuji chuckled nervously. “Well, you can back up - I ain’t gonna be whispering or anything.”
His partner obeyed, but the intense stare remained. Perhaps this was Yusuke’s way of showing that he was paying attention?
Well, anyway. Ryuji cleared his throat. “It was Nakaoka - my previous weapon partner - that showed me this place. We’d always come here after training, but then Kamoshida happened ...”
Yusuke tilted his head. “Kamoshida?” he repeated.
Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck. “Right, that happened before you came here … Kirijo-sensei was gonna be out of town for a while for a mission, so the school got some substitute teacher to fill in for her - Suguru Kamoshida. Guy was a nasty piece of work - tried to overwork all the students and got real touchy with the girls. Akira, Ann, Nakaoka, and I ended up doing our own investigation on the guy, and it turned out the guy's soul turned into a kishin egg -"
Yusuke rubbed his chin. "But meisters are able to see souls, correct? Did no one notice that his soul was corrupted?"
"He was working with a witch - you know how they can use that 'soul protect' spell to hide the fact that they're witches? That's how Kamoshida got in. And, well, we didn't know we were going up against someone like that - we almost didn't make it out. Nakaoka got seriously injured and had to drop out of DWMA, and that fight was where I broke my knee.” Ryuji turned in his chair and swung his leg back and forth, as if to demonstrate. “It’s better now, but I can’t do some of the stuff I could do before.”
Yusuke nodded, still rubbing his chin with his index finger. “Ah. So that’s why you didn’t have a partner when I arrived …”
Ryuji blinked. “Wait, I never told you about that?”
Yusuke shook his head. “Akira gave me a very brief description of the incident when I asked, but I had no idea that was when you lost your partner. And your knee … I wouldn’t have asked you to practice those sword stances if I’d known …”
Ryuji’s ears suddenly burned with embarrassment. “Dude, it’s fine. If it really hurt, I would’ve told you.”
He drummed his fingers on the table and pursed his lips, as if he were selecting his words very carefully. “The theory behind making weapon-meister relationships work always seemed obvious to me, but actually putting everything into practice is another beast entirely. Ryuji, I must thank you for continuing to work with me … and I must also apologize for not communicating well and being a poor partner.”
Ryuji leaned forward, frowning. “You’re a good partner, don’t say that! And that communication shit goes two ways - I’m …” He bowed his head bashfully. “I’m not too good with my words, you know. But if you’re still wanting to stay knowing that, then I say we can still make this work.”
Yusuke nodded, beaming. “Of course.”
Fox (Yusuke Kitagawa)
[3:12pm]
ugh finally done with kirijo’s essay
sorry ive been in the library all day
beef bowl shop?
[4:03pm]
yusuke?
you okay dude?
[4:47pm]
yusuke i swear to fuck if you went to see the swans again
those feathered bitches almost drowned us last time
yusuke do not do this to me
My apologies. I’ve been training with Akira.
OH THANK FUCK
I should be home soon. Please, don’t worry.
If I collapse, Akira can simply carry me inside.
… and im not supposed to worry????
Ryuji set his phone down and rubbed his temples. On one hand, he wouldn’t have to risk dying for his partner … again. But on the other hand, it sounded like he was definitely going to be starving when he got home. He went through their kitchen to double-check their inventory: several boxes of instant packet ramen, a few fruits and vegetables, half a carton of eggs, and several assorted ingredients that Yusuke had bought “for the aesthetics.” (He meant to sketch them later, but evidently, it hadn’t happened yet.)
He could just order takeout, but a part of his soul was screaming to do something for Yusuke.
Ryuji fished out one of their pots (after making sure it was mostly clean) and got to work boiling water for the instant ramen. Now, what did they have in terms of toppings …? He could hard-boil an egg, no problem, and they actually had bean sprouts lying around.
(did Yusuke even like bean sprouts?)
After a few seconds of internal debate, Ryuji decided to dismiss it; if his partner was as hungry as he thought he was, he’d probably end up devouring everything in the bowl, no questions asked. As he picked up the package of bean sprouts, he discovered a package of nori hiding right behind it.
(sweet, he could actually make something decent now)
As he ran around the kitchen, trying to prepare the ramen and the eggs, Ryuji actually felt excited. This was his first time cooking in a very long time, and even though it was something exceedingly simple, he couldn’t help but feel proud of himself.
(He was also, for some reason, really looking forward to Yusuke’s reaction.)
It was as he was dumping the noodles and toppings into a bowl that Ryuji realized that he might have a bit of a problem. He had no issues digging into this soon-to-be soggy mess, but Yusuke deserved something much better-looking.
It took him a few minutes of searching cabinets to find the fancy ramen bowl that his partner had insisted on buying, and a little longer to find the matching chopsticks. Carefully, he poured the rest of the ramen into the bowl, only splashing a little bit of soup on the counter. His eyes bounced between the toppings and the bowl, trying to think of a way to arrange it aesthetically.
Groaning, he slumped over on the counter, lamenting, “Why does this shit have to be so hard?”
Suddenly, a light bulb flashed in his head: the art museum! Of course! Yusuke specifically pointed out the pieces that he liked - he just had to … remember what they looked like.
Ryuji slammed his face into his hand.
Okay … there was that swordsman painting - maybe if he had some fish cakes that he could cut to look like cherry blossom petals, that would work, but alas - no fish cakes. What else, what else … that abstract art? He glanced towards his own bowl of ramen and shook his head - there was no way that Yusuke would find his version of abstract artistically appealing. There were some more, he just needed to think - hey, what about that “flowers in a vase” painting?
Immediately, he got to work trying to fold an origami flower with the nori sheets.
Three torn nori sheets later, he realized that this was not going to work.
The front door opened and closed. “Ryuji?”
Shit.
Ryuji slid to the side, trying to hide the undecorated bowl of ramen, and waved his hand. “Hey, Yusuke! You holding up okay?”
“Surprisingly, yes,” he said as he set his duffel bag down. “I was tempted to get some takeout on my way back, but I thought you might want to go to the beef bowl shop. Although …” He sniffed the air. “It seems like you’ve already cooked yourself some dinner.”
Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck while a blush spread across his cheeks. “Well, I cooked some for you, too …” He stepped to the side, revealing the plain ramen bowl.
Yusuke padded over to inspect the bowl and picked up some of the nori pieces. “Should I ask?”
He slumped forward. “I was trying to fold them into flowers, you know … make the bowl look all pretty and artistic and stuff. That’s why yours doesn’t have any toppings yet …”
“Hm …” As he studied the bowl, Yusuke’s entire demeanor changed: despite his exhaustion, a fire came to life in his eyes. Deftly, he started arranging the broken pieces of nori in a certain pattern on the top of the ramen, adding in bits of bean sprouts where he deemed them necessary, and finally placed the hard-boiled egg in the center.
Ryuji peered over his shoulder, admiring the perfect image of a camellia that Yusuke had just produced. “... wow, dude. You are really good at this stuff.”
A faint blush blossomed across his face. “... thank you.”
Without warning, Yusuke leaned over and planted a kiss on Ryuji’s forehead.
Ryuji swore that his brain actually short-circuited. As he tried to ignore the rising heat in his face, he stammered, “Uh … hey, uh … what was that?”
Yusuke tilted his head as he took his ramen bowl. “... it’s a sign of appreciation? Not only did you cook dinner for me, you tried arranging it in a way that I would like, even though it isn’t your forte.”
“Y-yeah, but …” He pointed at his forehead, where he was absolutely sure that Yusuke’s lips had burned an imprint into his skin. “Why?”
“Ann and Shiho do that all the time, and they’re very good friends who appreciate each other, do they not?”
What Ryuji meant to tell him was that Ann and Shiho were dating - of course they’d shower each other with kisses .
What came out instead was, “Yeah. They are. Um … you’re welcome. I’ll cook dinner for you anytime - just ask.”
On Saturday, Junpei greeted them with a smile. “Hey guys! Looking forward to seeing what you can do now!”
Ryuji nodded as he double-checked Yusuke’s wavelength - it was holding steady and thrumming with what seemed like nervousness. “It’s okay, dude,” he whispered. “We got this.”
Immediately, his wavelength strengthened, and the small distortion that had always been present now diminished.
“Thank you, Ryuji. You’re … not putting strain on your knee, are you?”
Ryuji scoffed and hopped in place. “It’s fine. I mean, if you’re that worried, I can start wearing a knee brace, but I’m fine, I promise.”
“Alright. Let’s do this.”
Instead of trying to get a running start, Ryuji calmly marched towards the training dummy, keeping his breathing steady like Akira taught him. In one fluid motion, Ryuji slashed upwards.
At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then small frost patterns appeared on the dummy, perfectly tracing Ryuji’s cut, before its top half slid off and fell to the ground.
Behind them, Junpei applauded. “Congrats, guys!” he cheered. “That was some great improvement!” He scribbled some notes on his clipboard before waving good-bye. “No more remedial stuff for you! If you wanna continue training here, be my guest!”
Ryuji pumped his fist into the air. “Yes! Yusuke, did you see that?!”
With a surprising amount of poise and grace, he switched back to his human form and brushed aside his bangs. “Excellent job, and your form was absolute perfection. I could just …” He leaned forward to kiss Ryuji’s forehead again.
And again, Ryuji blushed as he struggled to hide his goofy grin.
This couldn’t continue, and he knew that. It was only a matter of time before Yusuke did that in front of witnesses, and then someone would have to explain that friends didn’t do that to each other.
But if he could just have this little thing, for just a little while longer …
Ryuji held out his hand. “Wanna go again? I think I’m getting the hang of your ice resonance thing.”
Sporting the warmest smile he had ever seen, Yusuke took his hand and replied, “Of course.”