Chapter Text
This is the last thing Jyushi had expected to ever happen to him. He always expects to come into a classroom to see his desk defaced, to hear whispers and hushed giggling as he walks down the hall, to be cornered by that one group after school if he doesn't leave fast enough. Only fourteen years on this Earth, and he’s learned that life is cruel, and unkind, and unfair to anyone who’s even a little bit different, much less completely eccentric. He's so used to the darkness, that when a light shines on him for once, it's an abnormality. In fact, he can’t trust this light, for now, as it may want something in return, or to do something worse. And it doesn’t help that said light comes packaged like this.
This being pearly white fangs, unruly red hair, and piercing golden eyes that stare into your soul. A dragon in human form, and every bit as furious as his appearance lets on. Jyushi’s seen that firsthand today, as this upperclassman sent the same group that had terrorized him all throughout middle school running away in under a minute. “I don’t know how shit worked back at your middle school, and I don’t fuckin’ care,” he’d said. “This is my school, and if I catch you pullin’ this shit again, you’ll wish you’d never graduated!” And now, fifteen minutes later, he’s like a completely different person, having dragged Jyushi to the nearest bathroom to clean him up once he stopped crying. Jyushi is no stranger to his own duality, or the duality of those rich sons of businessmen who turn into beasts and bullies outside of class. But here, to have that be a positive towards him...it’s almost too good to be true. In fact, he’s almost certain it is.
“How’s the nose?” The upperclassman asks, glancing at the bathroom mirror before trimming more of Jyushi’s hair. Already the botched haircut they’d given him is looking more presentable, even kind of...pretty. Not that Jyushi could ever hope to be pretty. The kinds of things he finds beautiful others find weird, so it’s just better to stay as plain and uninteresting as possible so as not to draw any more unwanted attention.
He takes the tissue from his nose and looks at it. “I think it’s starting to bleed less…”
“Good.” There’s a pause as he snips a few more choppy ends back. “You’re not anemic or nothin’, right?”
“N-No.”
“And your head’s not too knocked around? You were talkin’ funny back there…”
Jyushi just meekly nods at that. This upperclassman doesn’t have to know about that little quirk of his right now.
“Cool.” He nods at that. “The fuck kinda beef you got with a bunch of rich kids, anyway? ...unless you don’t got beef.”
“We went to the same middle school,” Jyushi replies. “We just…never really got along.” That’s the easiest way to put things, really. He’s never been liked very much at school, and he knows it’s nobody’s fault but his own. He can’t help that he acts so differently, that he’s uninterested in things other kids his age like, that he doesn’t have control over his emotions, that he becomes a completely different person around new people. And he can go on, too. So many things about him, everything about him, all of it is just so strange and abnormal and different that he can’t help to feel as though he’s a mistake. If he could have just been born normal, or tried harder to pretend he is, then maybe he wouldn’t be here, with a bloody nose and ruined hair and torn up uniform. This is the price he pays for being Jyushi Aimono...and it’s a price he isn’t sure is all that much worth paying.
The upperclassman is quiet, and Jyushi isn’t sure what he’s thinking. In the reflection, he looks to be concentrating on his hair, but there’s something deeper, isn’t there? Or he’s just reading into the frown on his face too much...overthinking and overreacting. “Well, that shit ain’t gonna happen here,” he finally says. “I don’t care what the fuck went down at your old school, but this is my turf. You keep that shit out of my territory, you got that?”
Jyushi nods. He can’t make any real promises. He’ll just need to get that much better at pretending. Just three more years...maybe he can last for that long. Maybe he can fix himself in that time. If there’s even any hope that he can be fixed. How can you fix what was already broken to begin with?
“Okay. Looks like we’re done here.” The upperclassman smiles proudly as he looks in the mirror, one hand on Jyushi's shoulder and the other balled into a fist on his own hip. Jyushi's hair actually looks...okay. It's lost a lot of its length, and it's still messy, but in a way that actually looks stylish and purposeful rather than being the result of an attack. "Looks good, huh? I could be a stylist or some shit if I wasn't in the yakuza…"
Whatever guard Jyushi had let down immediately springs back up at that. Yakuza? Yakuza??? Oh God. Oh God. He'd been rescued by a member of the yakuza??? He's in debt to the yakuza? There's a knot in his stomach that twists and turns and gets bigger and bigger, fear washing over him and making his eyes sting in that far-too-familiar way.
"Huh? Oh come on…" The upperclassman lightly smacks Jyushi's shoulder. "You really gonna cry over a haircut? I know I'm good, but to be moved to tears is--"
"I'm so sorry!!!" Jyushi falls to the floor, bowing to the upperclassman as he sobs uncontrollably. Words fall out of his mouth the second they come to mind: apologies for bothering him with his troubles, pleas for mercy for the inconvenience, promises to pay him when he gets his allowance next week...all until he's cut off by a rough yank to his collar that pulls him back up. The upperclassman looks down at him as if he has two heads.
"The fuck was that about?! Jeez, kid, you didn't piss me off up until now, and shit like that's only gonna make it worse! Listen. Me bein' in the Harai family has nothin' to do with why I helped you out. I coulda just left you there. But high school's s'posed to be a fresh start. Those bastards draggin' old grudges onto my turf are gonna drag all sorts of sins with 'em to the next life. You gotta take the gifts you're given and say thank you, then move on, got it?"
Not really, but Jyushi nods anyway, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "Th-Thank you...um…"
"Kuko. Kuko Harai." He grins, waiting for Jyushi's eyes to widen at the realization that oh my God this is the son of the Harai family patriarch. "Though if you really DO wanna pay me back...have lunch with me tomorrow on the roof. Think you can do that?"
"Y-Yeah…"
"Cool. See you then." He starts for the door, but looks behind him. "Oh yeah, uh...what's your name, again?"
"Jyushi Aimono."
Kuko grins. "I like it. See ya tomorrow, Jyushi." He waves over his shoulder, and the Harai heir is gone. Alone, Jyushi starts collecting the bits of his hair that had been cut away, collecting his composure in the process. This entire afternoon has been nothing short of a complete whirlwind. Is it true that Kuko truly doesn't want anything out of this other than to just be kind? It's not something Jyushi is used to. He fully expects for the yakuza to use tomorrow as an opportunity to extort him, or get favors out of him, just like in those old movies where you pay for protection. People just aren't nice like that for no reason.
But even so, in spite of all of that...the thought of not eating alone tomorrow sounds really nice. Even if there's the chance things may get worse tomorrow, the thought of a temporary reprieve and a chance at being, well, normal for once puts a rare smile on Jyushi's face. He can't remember the last time he was excited to go to school the next day. And he hopes that's a feeling that he gets to experience again, too.