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From as early as Inochi could remember, there was always a name written on his wrist. It wasn’t even written, it was more like a tattoo. It never came off, and he never knew what it meant. He never cared to know what it meant, either. For him, it was just there.
Its presence was annoying. He never cared enough to show it, and so he didn’t. Maybe he subconsciously wanted to hide it. Either way, he always had it covered, whether it be with long sleeves or a bracelet that was thick enough to cover it, he just wanted to hide it. If he was ever asked what name was on his wrist, he’d simply say he didn’t have one. He knew it was a lie, and others probably did too.
It wasn’t anything that wasn’t normal, either. Everyone seemed to have one, or more than one. Though, Inochi wanted nothing to do with it. He thought, even if he came across the person who owned the name that was on his wrist… Would he even know? Sure, he had looked at the name a few times, but it’s not like he had memorized it.
That’s what he thought at least.
While wandering around Tokyo, exterminating shadows, doing his usual daily routine, he noticed someone in trouble as he was overlooking the city streets. As he expected, it was a shadow causing all of this trouble, and the victim was just a high school boy with his Zingai. The boy’s Zingai had gotten hurt, or dazed. There was a moment of peace…
Not for long, however, as the shadow took a grip of the boy’s neck and started to choke him. That’s when he came down to save the boy and his Zingai.
Crushing the Shadow’s grip on the boy, and then letting his bag-shaped Zingai do the rest in taking a bite out of the Shadow, killing it.
He looks back to the boy, getting ready to question him. The boy had a face full of fear, and confusion. It’s clear he doesn’t know what Shadows are… How much DOES he know? Only one way to find out.
Inochi approached him, “Who the hell are you?” He asked. His tone came out more aggressively than he intended, as he only seemed to make the boy more nervous. Not only was the boy nervous, but his Zingai seemed to be terrified as well. “...Hey,” he started, pointing at the puppy-like Zingai, “Why is this thin--”
“GYUU!!” The Zingai yelped, terrified, this made the highschool boy jump as well. Inochi sighed at this.
“Hey!! You startled me! Don’t yell so suddenly when you’re on my head!” The boy exclaimed. The little Zingai scuttled around on his head, “OW OW OW! Don’t be so violent!!”
Inochi was slightly amused at the two’s shenanigans, but he had to question this kid. He hadn’t seen him around before now… Which is strange, since Inochi is usually out and about most of the time to exterminate Shadows. “...Well, whatever.” He answered himself out loud before turning around and heading off, “Hey! Let’s go for now.”
“H-Huh?” The other boy exclaimed, confused by Inochi’s sudden behavior.
“We’re changing locations. It looks like both you and I…” He pauses for a moment, looking back to the boy, “...Have a lot of things we want to ask each other.” And with that, he started walking again.
The boy behind him hesitated, but soon stood up to follow Inochi.
Inochi chose a park to talk at, he had nowhere else to take him to anyway. He let the frightened boy rest wherever he wanted to while Inochi went to get him a drink.
“He must be...tired, or stressed… Maybe water will help… I hear those help.” Inochi mumbles to himself as he walks up to a vending machine… He kicks the vending machine a few times to get the drinks. It’s not like he had money, and really? He didn’t need it either.
The vending machine had dropped two drinks, a water and a soda. Inochi sighed and picked both of them up and headed back to the boy.
“Here.” Inochi hands him the water, and opens the soda can for himself… He can’t drink that well, but it’s not like he can come back with two drinks and not drink his. He reluctantly takes a drink of it, his face immediately scrunching up.
“Eh...Ah, thank you…?” The boy responds, looking at him with slight fear and confusion. Inochi takes a few more drinks of the soda before glancing at him.
“I don’t know what you’re being so careful about, but I have no intention of attacking you.” Inochi began to wonder why he looked so fearful about him… Though, that’s when he realized he did just watch him kill a Shadow.
How much does this kid even know about Zingai if he doesn’t even know about Shadows…?
“Ah! No! It’s not like I thought -” The boy kept going on, it sounded nearly like an apology.
He’s so easy to read…
“It’s clear just by looking at you that you don’t know anything.” Inochi interrupted, “Don’t you have more you want to ask than I do?”
The boy hesitated, looking down to his Zingai. He picks the little guy up and looks back to Inochi. “...Do you know what this guy is? If you do, I want you to tell me.”
Inochi had the most dumbfounded look on his face in that moment. “What? You don’t even know that?"
How dumb IS this kid?
Inochi sighs. “Simply put, that guy is you. Your heart’s other form.” Inochi stated, it was a quick explanation, surely he’d get it.
“...huh?” The boys eyes widened. Inochi over estimated him.
“Well, it’s reasonable to be surprised…” Inochi started, trying to figure out the right words in his mind. “Was there anyone else other than you who was actually able to see that creature?” The look on the other boy’s face softened, Inochi took this as an answer enough, “There wasn’t, right? That’s enough proof.”
“I… Guess…” The boy mumbled, looking down at the creature. Inochi walked over and pinched the little guy’s snout. Maybe he was trying to cheer the boy up a bit, maybe he just wanted to mess with the Zingai a bit… Not even Inochi was too sure why he did that.
“It might be hard to accept it right away… At any rate, this doesn’t happen to everyone.” Inochi said, pulling his hand away. “Something must have happened to trigger it… Does anything come to your mind?”
“Something to trigger it…” The boy paused, thinking long and hard. “If it was something recent, enrolling into high school…” He paused once more, “That’s all I can think of…”
“I see…”
“Well… Come to think of it, I’ve been attacked by a thing that resembled a person with one eye…” The boy started again. Inochi’s eyes widened.
“Only… one eye…?”
“But that was after I already started seeing those things, so I don’t think that’s the trigger--!” Inochi grabbed Rei by his shoulder, interrupting him.
“Was that person with one eye tall and wore black?” Inochi asked the boy, who was shaking. Inochi realizes he must’ve had a scary look on his face.
“Y-Yeah… He was tall, wore black, and had a hat.” The boy expanded, Inochi let go of him, realizing who he was talking about…
“I see.” He turned around quickly, a bit pissed off.
“Um… Could he be an acquaintance of yours...or something?” The boy reluctantly asked, sounding nervous once again.
“Nah…” Inochi responded calmly.
Inside, he wasn’t calm though.
Why haven’t I even encountered him and THIS GUY did…?!
“...Wait, maybe if I’m around this guy...It’s more likely I’ll encounter him? hm...If that’s the case…” Inochi grumbled to himself.
“Um, is everything alright?” The boy pressed. Inochi quickly gathered himself and his thoughts.
“Yeah. I’m alright. Moreover, I have a proposal.” He started. Might as well get more explanations out of the way since this kid really seems to know nothing…
“The black thing that attacked you is also an embodiment of a heart. Unlike yours, it attacked you because it’s a Shadow.” Inochi paused to let the boy take that in, “When people harbour intense hatred or malice, it forms a Shadow, and the Shadow that’s born eats into it’s host’s mind and body, killing the host in the process.”
“Even so, what does that have to do with me being attacked?” The boy reacted, a look of fear growing on his face again.
“I can’t say for sure, but there is probably a reason somewhere within you.” Inochi told him, “Perhaps you’ve drawn the Shadows to yourself because you started being able to see that thing.” The boy tilted his head, a bit confused, “The one over there.” Inochi clarified.
Taking a deep breath, finally having explained everything he needed to. He reached out his hand towards the highschooler. “I propose we form a co-operative relationship.”
“Wha..?” The boy’s face was nervous and confused. Inochi felt he was going to get very used to that look from him. “Why are you proposing that so suddenly?”
“It’s probably still hard for you to trust me, but I go around and exterminate shadows.” Inochi states, “In case you’re drawing the Shadows towards yourself, co-operating is beneficial for both of us.”
“So… You’re telling me to become your decoy? ‘Decoy’ gets a different meaning then, doesn’t it?! Shouldn’t there be a way to return me to how I was before anyway?!” The boy erupted, Inochi simply shook his head.
“Well, yes. However, even if we don’t form an alliance, you will ultimately get attacked, right?” Inochi answered his first question, before quickly moving on, “and unfortunately, I don’t know the means to return you back.” The boy stared at Inochi, losing hope in his eyes. Inochi sighed lightly, not wanting him to get like that, and so he continued, “You suddenly started seeing the inhuman, that’s not normal. So firstly we need to find the reason behind that,” He started by stating the obvious, then went on for a suggestion, “If you form an alliance with me, we might find some leads.”
This luckily brought the boy to think once again, instead of immediately denying. “Leads to solving this abnormality…” He mumbled to himself.
Inochi finished drinking the soda, despite how awful it tasted, and he tossed it into a trashcan. “Well, have you made the decision?” He pressed, it’s not like he had all day.
“...I understand.” The boy finally replied after what felt like ages, “I’ll listen to you… I’ll co-operate.”
“Alright. What’s your name?” He once again extended his hand out, despite it not working the first time.
“Tsukumo Rei.”
Inochi froze.
That name is familiar… Where has he heard it before? Or...seen it?
Next thing he knew, Rei had reciprocated the handshake…
That’s right… His hand…
That’s where he knew it from…
That’s the name written on his wrist.
After a long pause on Inochi’s side, Rei was starting to look concerned. “Rei… I look forward to working with you.” He finally says, he pulls his hand away.
“Me too…” Rei responded, unsure, “Ah, what’s your name?”
Inochi was taken off-guard with that question. He usually doesn’t tell others his name… But, for this relationship it’s necessary. “Inochi.” He simply states. “Just Inochi.”
Rei tilted his head, though seeming to not mind not knowing his family name, “Alright then!”
“Now, I have to go do other things.” he quickly says, “Ah, here’s my number. If you ever feel like you’re in danger, let me know immediately.”
“Oh! Thanks. Will do.” Rei responds, inserting the number into his phone.
“However,” Inochi starts, putting on a glare, “Don’t call me for anything other than that. It’s not like I have spare time.”
“Even if you weren’t worried, I have no intention to contact you over irrelevant things anyway!” Rei snaps back.
Inochi frowns and glares harder, “Why don’t you stop misunderstanding and jumping to conclusions?” He pokes his head, menacingly.
“I-I get it!! It’s fine!!” Rei smacked his hand away.
“Good. Now, I’ll be off.” He huffs, leaving before Rei can reply.
Inochi now had multiple things to think about… This kid who knew nothing about Zingai had encountered the Mad Hatter, and he also had the same name that was on his wrist…
What the hell did the name on his wrist mean? Throughout his entire life he couldn’t care less, but now he wants to know. What is his relation to this boy?
That’s when a thought hit him. Maybe Rei knew what the names mean… Maybe Rei has a name on his wrist, too…
...Is the name on Rei’s wrist ‘Inochi’?
Couldn’t be.
Inochi decided that he was going to ask Rei about the names on people’s wrists… Even if he didn’t know about Zingai, surely he’d know about something like that. It’s a thing nearly everyone has, so surely he’d know…
Despite making this decision, Inochi hadn’t asked even a week after meeting Rei. Maybe he was nervous about what the truth behind these names would be… Maybe he was nervous about finding out what name was on Rei’s wrist… If Rei’s name is on Inochi’s, then surely Inochi’s name would be on Rei’s… But that brings the question of will ‘Inochi’ be on his wrist, or…?
It doesn’t matter.
Inochi, after a while of procrastination, decided to wait until he and Rei met again to ask about it.
However… Rei hadn’t contacted him ever since the two first met… And here Inochi thought Rei was going to be getting into trouble everyday. It was starting to get irritating having to wait for Rei to get into danger just to ask… Though, he was the one who told him not to call him over irrelevant things… Yet this is exactly what Inochi was going to do.
Inochi finally contacted Rei, and he answered almost immediately.
“Oh, you seem to be doing better than I expected.” Inochi uttered without thinking.
“Ah, it’s been a while since we last talked.”
“Yeah, it has been…” This conversation was going nowhere, and there was an awkward pause between the two of them… Inochi finally spoke up. “Don’t hesitate to check in every once in a while, even if it’s just to tell me you’re alive. Has anything strange happened recently?”
“Uhh… no, not in particular.” Rei responded, some rustling coming from his side of the phone. Inochi could only assume that it was that Zingai of his.
“Is that so? Good to hear.” Once again, they fell into an awkward pause. Inochi decided that now is the time to ask Rei about the name… He opens his mouth to speak, but is interrupted by an outburst on Rei’s side.
“Oh! Right!” He exclaimed, “Uhm - Do these creatures eat anything? Your black bag was eating Shadows, so…”
“Ah - No, this guy’s a little different from yours.” Inochi said, taken off-guard, “Well, if you’re curious… Try giving it food.”
“I guess so… Well, then, I’ll try that!” Rei says with a smile. “Well… That’s all I wanted, I should get going -”
“Wait,” Inochi interrupted without thinking, once again… He curses himself inwardly. “One more thing.”
“Ah..? What is it?”
“...You know about the names on people’s wrists?” Inochi starts off with that simple question.
“Oh! Yeah, I do! It’s supposed to be your soulmate's name, isn’t it?” Rei asks.
“S-Soulmate?!” Inochi exclaimed. Out of all the things for that name to mean, it means your soulmate?! “It… Alright. It means that… The name on your wrist is the name of your...Future...lover?” Inochi tried his best to keep his voice as steady and calm as possible, even though he felt like he was going to collapse.
“Mhm! That’s what it means.” Rei pauses, Inochi can hear the rustling of his uniform from his side, “Hm… I still haven’t met anyone by the name on my wrist…” He mumbled to himself. Inochi’s eyes widened, he was surprised… Surely since his name was on Inochi’s wrist, that Inochi’s name would be on Rei’s…
“Hah? You haven’t?” Inochi pressed, “What’s the name on your wrist?” The moment those words left his mouth, he regretted it a bit.
“Oh, It’s Otogiri Tobi…”
“O-Otogiri...I. I see.” Inochi’s heart sank… He hadn’t told anyone that name before. He’s always told people that his name was Inochi if asked, so how the hell -
Well. It doesn’t matter. No one wrote these names on our wrists… We were just born with them.
STILL, though. Why is THAT name on his wrist, why couldn’t ‘Inochi’ be on his wrist instead? I can’t just tell him that Otogiri Tobi is my real name, damnit!
Rei had noticed the long pause that Inochi had, “Um, Inochi? Everything alright?”
“...Yeah, everything’s fine.” he paused, debating on telling him… This isn’t even the right time to get into a relationship, anyway. Telling him would just cause problems…
“Hm.. Alright…” Rei paused, “What’s the name on your wrist?” Surely he had been just trying to make conversation with Inochi…
There was no way Inochi could answer… Once again, there’s too much going on to get into a relationship… Surely it’d just cause problems to tell Rei, he has enough to stress out over anyway. Besides, the two had just met as well…
But, even so… Inochi couldn’t bring himself to lie about it. He’s been thinking about it ever since he met Rei, and now he finally knows what they mean, and now that he knows that it’s his name written on Rei’s wrist as well… How could he just blatantly lie about it when it’s been corroding his brain for the past week?
“...The name on my wrist is… Tsukumo Rei.” He finally said after a long pause.
Silence. Both ends didn’t know what to say.
Though, Rei finally spoke up.
“If… If my name is on your wrist, then...why isn’t... Why isn’t your name on my wrist?” He asked, his voice filled with confusion and flusteredness.
“Well… That is my name. My real name.” Inochi stated, a bit quietly, “Sorry for not telling you before. I’ve never really.. Told anyone my real name before. Only a select few people know…” Inochi hoped this explanation was enough for Rei… Though, it wasn’t.
“But… why?” Rei asked, “Not saying that you shouldn’t hide your name… And, well, if you don’t want me to call you by that name, then I won’t, but...Why?”
Inochi sighed. “I don’t want it to cause issues. You see, I know...Nothing about my family.” He admits, “For all I know, they could be awful people. And well… If they are, we have the same family name… And if my name got around, then they’d associate me with my parents, and…” He paused, taking a moment to try to gather his thoughts, but it didn't work out. His thoughts were too scrambled, “Aahh, it’d just cause issues since I’m here trying to keep Tokyo’s Shadow situation under control... The last thing I need is people getting suspicious of me, or some shit.”
Rei was speechless. Though, he soon found the right words, “Well...How would you know if they are bad if you don’t know them?"
“That’s the thing, I don’t. But… It’s a bit too risky. I’d rather not risk it, and so I don’t tell people my real name… If I have to tell someone, I just say that my name is Inochi.”
“Just like you did with me…” Rei mumbled.
“Mmh.” Inochi nodded, even though Rei couldn’t see it. “Anyway… Yeah, I’d prefer if you just kept calling me Inochi.”
Rei must’ve not expected the conversation to turn around that quickly, as he took a moment to respond, “Ah, alright. I’ll do that, then.” Rei smiles, “Don’t worry, heh.”
“I’m not worrying…” Inochi frowned and glared and nothing.
“Pfft, fine.” Rei chuckled, before hesitating… “Since we’re… Soulmates… then…?”
“A-Ah… Right.” Inochi didn’t know how to respond… “...Well, there’s a lot going on at the moment. I don’t feel a… Relationship would be appropriate at a time like this…” He states, “Besides, we just met each other… We should probably, well… Wait before we know each other better anyway… Even if we are fated to be together…” Inochi’s face heated up at the last sentence.
“Ah - You’re right… There is a lot going on right now… Shadows, Zingai...It’s all still very new to me, and I doubt a relationship like that would help any with that, eh heh..” Rei laughed a bit nervously. At least he understood, though.
“Mhm…” Inochi hesitated for a moment. “Maybe… One day. Just, not yet.”
“Yeah… One day.”
The two then shared a moment of comfortable silence, both of them waiting for the other to say something.
Finally, Rei breaks the silence.
“Until later, then?”
“Mmh. See ya.”
“Bye.”
The call ends.