Work Text:
hajime’s gotten used to the scene after kanto manji gang’s gatherings, the white-clad group from the heart of shibuya dispersing and becoming individuals, all of them suddenly becoming more aware of civilians’ piercing stares of judgment and, likely, fear. they ended earlier than usual today, the beaming tokyo sun harsh against the material of their long-sleeved uniforms.
before he knew it, there were only a few of them left at the street corner where they stayed. haruchiyo, mikey, and a handful of other members. hajime glances at the giant digital clock displayed amongst the countless billboards and signs on the buildings and reads a time he’s content with.
perfect , he thinks. today hajime was meeting with one of his business partners to discuss a deal, nothing different from what he’s done dozens of times already, but he had a routine. he always arrived as early as possible, earlier than the other party. this time, however, he needs haruchiyo to go with him.
he doesn’t hate working with haruchiyo, because he admits, he does his tasks and he does them well, especially when they’re from mikey. it’s just everything in between the tasks that makes it… difficult, to put it simply. it didn’t help that their strong personalities would clash a lot and he’d often have to yield, but it’s not like hajime wasn’t used to following others.
he makes eye contact with the longer-haired boy sitting on a street curb is understood, haruchiyo standing up in response.
“inupi, let’s go.” hajime calls out without thought, beginning to walk away.
there’s a significant moment of silence until haruchiyo asks, “what?”
hajime stops walking and turns around. “i said, ’let’s go’.” he repeats.
he doesn’t understand why the other few members in the area — including mikey, were now all either blatantly staring or very obviously trying not to stare at the two of them.
haruchiyo lets out a laugh and shakes his head, “no, kokonoi, you said ‘inupi, let’s go.’ do i look like inui to you?” his lips curl into a smile as he sees hajime’s eyes widen in realization.
fuck , hajime thought. did i say that? why would i say that? i wasn’t even thinking of him right now. doesn’t matter, they won’t notice, it’s not important .
it was a natural slip of the tongue, being that seishu was always the one to accompany him all these years without fail. or maybe it was him who was accompanying seishu. either way, hajime couldn’t find himself to admit his mistake at the moment, not now when the other members were clearly judging him. it wasn’t the first time he’s slipped up like that, but usually, there were fewer people and no haruchiyo there to clown him for it.
“n-no, i said ‘sanzu, let’s go’.” of course i managed to stutter at the right moment .
the blonde tilted his head. “but you didn’t. everyone heard you. right, mikey?” haruchiyo looks at him for approval.
the leader, currently sitting cross-legged on the ground with the kanto manji uniform coat on his shoulders, thinks for a second and nods. “you did say inupi, koko.”
“i didn’t, but whatever. let’s just go. we’ll be late.” an attempt to make the situation seem more demanding than it was — but hajime knew and they knew they would definitely not be late even if they tried because he always left thirty minutes early at the least.
“are you calling mikey a liar? i’m not going anywhere with you until you admit it.” haruchiyo’s tone was now more aggressive, as it grew whenever any form of disrespect towards mikey was even implied. he took a seat in defiance next to a disinterested looking mikey and crossed his arms.
this is why hajime thinks he’s a pain to deal with, and too many times hajime opted to go solo when he wasn’t in the mood to bicker. but it was just his luck that this particular deal involved him, so he couldn’t leave without haruchiyo even if he wanted to.
swallowing his pride and trying not to think about how seishu was now probably being perceived by these people, too many people , because of him. he sighs. “jesus, okay. fine! you heard me say it. can we just leave now?”
“say what?” haruchiyo asks, not even attempting to mask his tone of mockery.
god . hajime could tell he’s enjoying this.
“seriously?”
“dead serious. say what, koko?”
he grits his teeth. “…inupi.”
if he wasn’t already red from admitting it earlier, he definitely was now, suddenly feeling the heat rush to his face.
“there you go. wasn’t too hard, was it, eh?” haruchiyo grins and stands up once again, satisfied. hajime rolls his eyes and starts walking from the scene immediately, the other trailing behind him.
since the meeting location was a nearby alleyway, the duo made their way without worry. they were still in their uniforms, so it wasn’t surprising that civilians were actively trying their best to avoid eye contact and their paths in general. afternoons in shibuya were busy, but never as busy as the colorful evenings in the city — that’s when kanto manji shines the brightest, when everyone knew there was no other gang like them.
they’re about halfway to their destination when haruchiyo speaks up.
“you must miss him a lot.” haruchiyo says in a voice much different than what he used before. it was calmer, and one could probably even mistake it as considerate. he doesn’t turn to face hajime and keeps his eyes forward.
“shut up. i don’t, it was out of habit, okay? thought you were gonna drop this topic.” hajime drops his head and kicks a stone on the ground. anyone could tell he was evidently lying through his teeth, but he'd never give in to admit that to haruchiyo, as obvious as it was.
“i am, i am.” haruchiyo stays quiet for a while and the only noise they hear comes from everyone but them. he speaks up once more when he decides not to fight the urge that’s building up inside him.
“i saw him the other day. after i checked in on brahman and the other gangs. your boy’s weird, huh? was walking alone in the rain.”
hajime stops in his tracks almost immediately upon hearing the last sentence and looks intensely at haruchiyo, eyebrows scrunched in concern. “what do you mean alone in the rain?”
hajime’s abruptness made even haruchiyo slightly jump, but was then satisfied at how the information managed to provoke such a reaction from the other, as haruchiyo expected it would. as he knew it would. he’d been meaning to tell hajime that already, but never found the right time until now.
“i thought you didn’t want to talk about him anymore?” haruchiyo points out, grinning. “anyway, he looked like an idiot. it was during traffic too.”
“don’t call him an idiot,” hajime mumbles, just now registering in his head what he did. he starts walking again and pushes both his hands into his uniform’s pockets.
“‘m just curious, that’s all. the idiot didn’t even bring an umbrella or think to call a taxi, probably thought it’d be a waste. and… he was definitely wearing heels… where the hell was draken…” hajime’s voice grew quieter as he rambled on but haruchiyo still heard all of it.
he turns to look at hajime who’s very clearly lost in his thoughts and even almost feels bad for him if he wasn’t enjoying it so much. “yeah, you definitely miss him.”
no shit, he did.
“fuck off.”
meanwhile, seishu bites his own tongue a little too hard. “ouch.” he says without emotion, sticking his tongue out instinctively.
he holds a cup of instant ramen, identical to the one ken is currently eating from as well, the other hand occupied with wooden chopsticks. it's the afternoon, but the two only started their lunch because of a sudden surge of customers. they don't mind, though, as ken told him the first time they closed late — too much business is better than too little. seishu didn't tell him how he's heard that before.
ken looks up from his own noodles and is amused by the image of seishu with his tongue out, reminding him of a puppy he once saw on the internet. “haha! what happened to you? bite your tongue?”
“yeah… huh.” the familiar metallic taste greets him when he closes his mouth again.
“someone might be talkin’ about you.”
“what? who?” seishu frowns. ken can see he’s genuinely concerned.
“you don’t know? they say when you bite your tongue, someone’s talking about you. or was it thinking about you? dunno. probably a bunch of bullshit.” ken shrugged.
seishu absorbs the information for a moment and goes back to his food as well.
thinking about me, huh.
“i hope he is,” he whispers under his breath, enough for ken to see him say something but not enough for him to hear.
“whaddya say?”
seishu looks up innocently and shakes his head. “hm? nothing.”