Chapter Text
“ Yasu…”
A whispered utterance of his name wakes him up, and Yasu looks about his room trying to find the source. The sun glints through the slats in his blinds, illuminating the space, but there is no one to be found.
Must’ve been a dream, he shrugs to himself. Suddenly, a brisk shiver passes through his body as he sits up. Odd start to the morning to say the least, but Yasu’s not one to let such things bother him. Cold, hot, whatever else – he’s got work to do. And he’s not about to let anything get in the way of that.
Of course, there have been a few stories about a cold wind making its way around MIDICITY, but they’re just that: stories. Rumors have dubbed it the “First Gale of Darkness”, but that’s about all Yasu knows (or cares). Come on. A dark gale that changes you? There’s no such thing, right? Well, no reason to worry about it now.
He’s got a bento shop to run.
Sure, most kids at DOkonjo High wouldn’t spend their weekends working, but Yasu’s long since devoted himself to taking up extra shifts to support his mom. Especially since it’s been a little lighter the past few days. Perhaps due to those weird weather rumors?
Well, whatever the reason, they’ve got rent to pay and that doesn’t ever take a break. Thankfully, they’ve no longer got real estate fucks looking to rip apart their livelihoods, but if any try to show their ugly capitalist heads, Yasu’ll gladly sock ‘em right in the face.
He slips on his pink apron and steps behind the counter to await potential customers.
“Yacchan!” Kaachan calls from the back. “You’re here?”
“Yeah.” Yasu leans back, hands in the pockets of his apron.
She pops her head out, a smile gracing her face. “On your day off? You don’t have band practice?”
“No, we’re off today.”
“So you’re not seeing your friends?”
Yasu nearly corrects her, but he’s finding it hard to correct himself. At this point, even he can admit it: they are friends.
“Nah,” he shrugs. “I’ll work today.”
Her face grows concerned. “If you’re sure.”
“I am,” he replies back easily enough. “Don’t worry about me.”
The entrance dings with the announcement of their first customer, and a blue peacock myumon walks in.
The morning as a whole is simple enough, if not slightly less busy than expected. After the early lunch rush, Yasu’s leaning his face in his hand on the counter as he ponders their next song. If it doesn't start picking up again soon, he may have to head out in front and try to do some verbal shilling to get some more people in. It’s not his favorite thing to do – the street is noisy and the people are annoying – but if it gets business to the shop, he’ll do whatever needs to be done.
He’s deep into working on some new verses for a new DOKONJOFINGER song they’ve been playing around with – seriously? Tik Tok? – when the door chimes again.
“Welc-” Yasu abruptly cuts himself off when he sees who it is.
“Faaa~”
A sigh escapes his lips.
“OI YASU!!!!!!” Hachin buzzes in with an overflowing and frankly borderline obnoxious amount of energy, as he tends to do. “Whatcha doin’?”
“Working, obviously. Are you here to order something or not?” he deadpans, taking the pen to paper and blatantly not looking at Hachin.
“Faa?” Hachin stops for a moment, blinking once. “On your day off?”
“I offered,” Yasu shrugs, finally looking up at his bandmate. “So-?”
“Well I was working on this new riff, right? And I just NAILED IT! I was like ‘Fuck, Yasu is gonna lose his shit when he hears this!’ so I immediately ran over here! It just had me buzz-buzz-BUZZing! I think it’s gonna be the BEST line for our new song! And if you think!-” Hachin sends an aggressive point Yasu’s way, getting way too close into his personal space for his comfort. “-that you’ll do it better you’re wrong! I can prove it, right here right now!!!”
Hachin starts reaching behind him, where the case of BUN BUN NEEDLE is strapped to his back.
“Did you hear me at all?” Yasu sighs as Hachin fiddles with his case. “I. Am. Working.”
“Faa?” Hachin cocks his head to the side, latches half undone.
“Noisy…” Even if he wasn’t on the clock, he probably wouldn’t indulge in pointless competitions right now. He vaults the counter in one fell swoop, landing gracefully on the other side.
“Yasu?”
He’s already out the door, ready to just stand outside the shop when-
“Yacchan?”
Yasu freezes.
“Is your friend here?”
Well, it’s not like he can ignore the bee loudly buzzing around the shop now.
Reluctantly, he gives her a reply. “Yeah…”
“Would they like something?”
Yasu, though he’s still facing the shop entrance, finally relents. He slowly turns on the heel of his boot, mustering up the best customer service but still passive aggressive smile he can muster.
“Hachin, would you like to order something?”
“Uh,” he thinks for a moment, reaching into the pockets of his purple parka. “I guess I was so excited to show you the melody I…” Hachin laughs awkwardly. “Didn’t bring any money?”
Yasu loudly sighs.
“I’m sorry!” he puts up his hands in a faux-surrender. “But in my defense, it is really awesome! Good enough to go viral on Tik Tok! Dontcha wanna hear?” His bright blue eyes are sparkling with anticipation as he whips the guitar around.
“Hachin…”
“Faa?”
“You’re lucky we’re at the shop,” Yasu tells him.
“Huh? Why?”
“Otherwise, I’d send you flying through a wall. But I don’t want to pay for the damages.”
And with that, Yasu hops back over the order counter, resuming his lyricism in his notebook.
Hachin deflates, but only slightly. “Oh, I see,” he muses, nodding to himself. “You’re just too scared that I’ll be better than you! HA! That’s it, right?”
“Sure,” Yasu throws out. Definitely doesn't have anything to do with the fact that I’m working right now and a customer could come through the door at literally any second, he adds silently.
“Well just you fuckin’ wait, Yasu! At our next practice, I’ll blow you away!” Hachin declares with confidence. “I’m buzzing just thinking about it!”
“Can’t wait,” Yasu mutters, still looking at the paper.
“I’ll see you soon! Bye Yasu! Bye Auntie!” Hachin waves as he exits.
Yasu takes a deep breath, appreciating the now silent bento shop. Hachin can be… a bit much. It’s not that Yasu doesn’t necessarily appreciate his enthusiasm (in fact, he probably enjoys it a lot more than he’d care to admit), but bringing it while he’s on the clock and focusing on bento is unwelcome at best. And noisy. But when isn’t Hachin noisy?
Despite the unfortunate timing and whirlwind of energy, Yasu isn’t not looking forward to hearing the melody. They do need something good to work with the new song, and Hachin can play pretty well, so...
Yasu looks down at his scribbled lyrics so far.
“Viral on Tik Tok, huh?” he murmurs.
“He’s sweet,” Kaachan says kindly as she pops out from the kitchen, pulling him out of his head. “Like honey, that boy.”
“Be careful,” Yasu warns. “If he hears you say that, it’ll go to his head.”
“Did he want something?”
“No, just had band stuff to talk about. It’s fine.”
“You still want to keep working? If you have band practice, it’s ok. I know it’s your day off and all, so…”
“It’s fine,” Yasu repeats. “Don’t worry, Kaachan.”
When it hits afternoon and they still haven’t sold as much bento as he’d like, Yasu decides that he needs to advertise the shop a bit more. He steps out from behind the counter, posting up outside the shop’s front door. Hopefully his presence will attract some more customers their way, since it’s been unnaturally quiet today. A few people do notice him and place some orders, but still not as many as he’d like.
“Enjoy your bento,” he tells a black cat and French lop bunny pair as they leave smiling and satisfied with their order. It’s calm and then all of a sudden, a certain unsettling feeling crawls its way up his spine.
“What is that?” he murmurs to himself, confused by the sudden shift in vibes.
“HA! Look at his apron!” a voice loudly cackles.
“OI!” another deep voice calls out. Yasu, already annoyed, turns around to see a group of delinquents that he unfortunately recognizes. They’re part of a group that’s always trying to fight him and other DOKONJOFINGER members despite them having no specific quarrel with these delinquents. Sometimes people just wanna fight for status, and DOKONJOFINGER do have quite a reputation.
“Annoying,” Yasu mutters, trying to ignore the group and moving his gaze away from them. Maybe if he ignores them for long enough, they’ll go away.
“Shinigami Yatagarasu!” the deep voice calls out again.
Okay, that’s it.
“Fuck off,” Yasu bristles, glaring at the troublemakers. “Take your shit elsewhere. And don’t call me that.”
“AHA! It is him!” the tallest one – Yasu assumes he’s the leader – says.
“Doing a good job guarding your store? In that pink apron?” another chimes in.
“I said fuck off,” he repeats with a glare. “If you’re not gonna buy something, then get out. Don’t want any dumb teenagers loitering around the store.”
“Dumb teenagers?” the leader scoffs. “That’s how you treat paying customers?”
“Shut up!” Yasu growls. He so does not want to deal with these guys today. “You gonna buy somethin’ or do you wanna know what a Death Cross Counter feels like across your face?”
“Thought you couldn't fight on the clock?” the leader snickers, pointing at his apron.
Yasu pushes his sleeves back. “It’ll only take me a second.” He stalks closer to the delinquent, giving him a patented Shinigami Yatagarasu Death Glare™. “I’ll be through with you guys with plenty ‘a’ time to spare.” He’s nearly ready to throw the first punch, his bandaged arm rearing back, when-
“Yacchan?”
“Fuck,” Yasu curses under his breath. He quickly rights himself, taking some steps back from the group and resuming a more professional stance. That was close.
“Are more of your friends here?” his mom calls from the shop.
“No!” he quickly yells back. “They’re not my friends!”
“That’s what all you teenage boys say,” she tuts. “But I know how it is.” She steps out through the door, ruffling a hand through Yasu’s hair. “Thank you for coming by! Welcome!”
He obviously can’t start fighting a whole group of people in front of his mom, on the clock or not. He’s forced to just stand there and take it. “Dammit, why won’t they just go away?” he grits out through his teeth.
“I’ll be in the back, just let me know what you’d like!” Then just as quickly as she arrived, Kaachan returns to the shop, the door closing behind her. The welcome bell twinkles once, breaking the standoff silence between the two parties.
“So,” the leader starts up again. “Yacchan, huh?”
“Don’t call me that. You’re not allowed to,” Yasu snarls. How dare they sully the name like this?
“The legendary Shinigami Yatagarasu is ‘Yacchan’!” he laughs mockingly.
“And what about it?” Yasu plants a foot firmly on the ground. “I can still kick your ass.”
“But what about our orders, Yacchan?”
“What?” Yasu’s startled back by that. “What orders?”
“We’ve heard such good things about this bento shop, and I’m starving,” he taunts.
Shit, if they have orders, he has to fulfill them, assholes or not. That’s his obligation. Well, even if they are trying to mess with him, if they pay, then it’s not all bad right? Drum up some business for the shop?
“Shut up. You’re so noisy.” He’d really wish they’d just leave him the fuck alone. What did he do to piss them off in the first place, anyway? Exist?
But he’s got a job to do, and he’ll do it. If they pay, he’ll deliver. Even if they piss him off.
Yasu takes out a notebook from his pocket.
“I’ll take your order. But after that, get outta here.” He glares at the group, hoping they understood the weight of the threat.
A cold wind blows through again, ruffling his feathers.
“Now, what’ll it be?”
“Faafaafaaa~” Hachin hums as he strolls along.
He’s still not entirely sure who asked to meet him at this park. Maybe a cute girl that wants to talk to him? Someone that enjoys his music? Could it be a Mabudachi? It’s not Yasu, right? He already saw Yasu at the shop, so it wouldn’t be him.
Yasu. How lame that he didn’t even wanna hear his new riff! And so what if he forgot his money on the way over? The awesomeness of his stinging solo should’ve been enough! He can’t exactly fault Yasu for y’know, working, but still. He could’ve at least shown some excitement!
Whatever. He’ll just have to blow him away at their next band practice! He’ll definitely win their competition!
But right now, he’s got a fan to meet. Maybe a cute one? Ohoho~
As Hachin approaches the center of the park, filled with anticipation over who could’ve requested his presence by slipping a secret note into his locker, a figure comes into view.
“I’M HERE!” Hachin loudly announces to the approaching person. “You called for the amazing Hachin~?”
“No, I didn’t.”
Wait, he knows that voice.
Shit.
“SOJUN???” Hachin screeches. “WHY DID YOU TRICK ME????”
“Shut up,” he scoffs. “I didn’t trick you. I also received an invitation.”
Hachin has been around Sojun enough to know not to trust him at his word, though. He’s been burned far too many times. “So you didn’t send me an invite to trick me? Are you suuuuuuuuure?”
The komainu gives him an exasperated look. “No, Hachiko.”
“So why did-?” he starts.
“I don’t know,” he gets abruptly cut off. “Seems suspicious, though…”
“You guys here too?” A new voice joins the fray, and sure enough, Hachin looks over to see Joe walking over. “We’re just missing Yasu, then. Interesting...” The phoenix strolls up to his two bandmates in the center of the park.
“Well, Yasu’s at work,” Hachin tells them. “I saw him there earlier. So, dunno if he’ll be here or not. But I hope he does show up! An unexpected DOKONJOFINGER meetup! Faa!” Hachin strikes a pose, hands outstretched. “It’ll be great to see the fans! Oh! Should I practice my autograph?”
“Knock it off,” Sojun tells him. “You’re so immature.”
“I don’t think it was unexpected,” Joe muses, rubbing his chin with his gloved hand. “Someone asked us to come here… Us being DOKONJOFINGER, specifically.”
“Right! Because they’re fans! Mabudachi!” Hachin reiterates.
“No, I doubt it,” Sojun says, striding towards a nearby tree line before stopping and nodding to himself. “Ah, so it’s just as I suspected. Kehehe, not a bad scheme, but their stealth needs work.”
Hachin’s real confused by that. “Huh? What’re you talking about?” He quickly runs to where Sojun is, peering in the same direction as him and not seeing anything.
“Shh, Hachiko,” Sojun shuts him up with a surprisingly forceful slap over his mouth.
“Mmph!” he squeals through it.
“Shut up.”
Hachin does, in fact, listen to the command that time. A rare occurrence.
Sojun confidently strolls past the now-quiet Hachin and back towards the center of the park. “You can come out now,” he loudly announces, his booming voice echoing over the silence surrounding them. “Your shitty hiding spots were obvious.”
Slowly but surely, a trickle of bodies emerges from the nearby brush. What the hell? Where did these guys come from? And here he was thinking he was just meeting up with a fan! He definitely didn’t see any of them coming in!
As Hachin watches as more and more and more people appear, he realizes he recognizes one.
“OI! Aren’t you the guys that keep pickin’ fights?” He slams a fist into his palm. “Guess you still haven’t learned your lesson from last time, huh?”
The leader of the delinquent troupe doesn’t seem to acknowledge his outburst. “We’re sick and tired of you DOKONJOFINGER guys! You’re annoyin’ the shit outta us with your music all over the place!”
“Ah!” Sojun lifts a hand to point at the instigator. “But you have heard our music, yes?” He turns to face his bandmates. “We’re getting noticed.”
“I mean, that’s great and all,” Hachin says. “But I wish it wasn’t just these assholes noticing us!”
“They’re giving me a headache.” Joe rubs the front of his skull, wincing at the touch. He coughs briefly, quickly righting himself to face the matter at hand. “I think we should shut ‘em up.”
“YEAH!” Hachin yells. Maybe they were tricked, maybe this is just emotions firing and he’s not exactly thinking straight, and maybe Yasu still isn’t here, but he can’t just sit around and let these guys insult the band! No, he’ll teach them all a lesson!
“I’ll sting you all! I don’t care how many of you there are! FAA!” With one last enthusiastic cry, Hachin decides that it’s time to take action instead of this odd standoff. If these guys want a fight, then on god, they’ll get a fight.
And then it’s a blur.
People being tossed left and right, fists flying everywhere, turf being flung into the sky. It reminds Hachin of that very first fight in the flowerbed at school, when all hell just broke loose and he didn’t care whose face was connecting with his fist. He punches one delinquent, backs up and stabs another, then quickly spins around and ducks an oncoming haymaker. It’s chaos, pure and simple.
Yet, Hachin is quickly finding his rhythm. Or at the very least, he hasn’t taken too terrible a hit so far. Come on! They’re DOKONJOFINGER! They can take a few wimpy ass delinquents! Hachin has been keeping track of how many guys he’s taken out so far, because he has to knock out more than Yasu and -
Wait, where the hell is Yasu? What’s the point in fighting if he can’t beat more people than Yasu? Never mind the fact that they’re defending the band’s honor and their lead singer is fucking absent!
Hachin ducks a wild swing to survey the surroundings and-
Still no sign of him.
“YASU!!!!!” he screeches amongst the kerfuffle. “WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU???”
Through the crowd he hears a loud cough followed by a, “Yeah where is he?”
In a moment where things seem to slow down, fists stop flying, and everyone seems to take a collective breath as the head honcho of delinquentdom steps forward.
“Oh don’t you worry, he’ll be here.” A sly grin spreads slowly across his face as his head turns, looking at something behind him. “And there he is now.” They glance at their watch. “Right on time.”
Not a moment to waste, Hachin whips around and starts buzzing with anticipation. Sure enough, he spots Yasu walking up.
“Yasu! You finally made it! Come on, let’s kick their asses! I bet I can beat more than you!”
But Yasu doesn’t say anything back, doesn’t even tell him he’s being too noisy.
And that’s odd.
“Yasu?” he tries again. “C’mon! I’m sure I can get more of ‘em than you!”
Ducking a flying punch coming his way, Hachin perks back up to see his closest friend has finally reached the fight. Yasu stands in his pink bento shop apron and holds a plastic bag in each hand. Maybe he brought backup items? But why isn’t he joining in the fray then?
Yasu looks like he wants to say something. He nearly does, opening in his mouth before thinking better of it and closing it, looking unsure of himself. He frowns, shuffling his feet and looking around the battlefield with apprehension.
Hachin still isn’t sure what’s going on. There’s a lull in the fighting, mainly due to Yasu’s arrival, and everyone politely(?) pauses the fight long enough to appreciate the new presence.
But something feels decidedly off.
Hachin finally shrugs off the delinquent that’s been trying (and failing) to maintain a grip on him to run over. “YASU!”
However, he must not’ve been fast enough, because just as he’s about to approach his friend, the head delinquent asshole cuts him off.
“OI!” he shouts, ready to shove the dickhead out of his way, but he’s stopped by Yasu.
“Wait.” It’s a simple word, the first he’s spoken, and it holds weight, but not anger. Which is wrong. Yasu should be at the very least pissed off. He hates getting dragged into these messes – and Hachin can’t exactly fault him for that; they can be quite a mess indeed – so reacting emotionlessly is not right. It’s just not.
“You got the large mixed bento?” the delinquent asks.
Yasu sighs, heavy. One of the heaviest Hachin’s ever heard him give (and he’s heard a lot).
“Yes,” Yasu answers, holding up the bag in his left arm.
The head delinquent laughs boastfully, almost in a Sojun-like fashion, echoing over the quiet clearing. “Fantastic! C’mon boys! Get your orders!”
“I got the nori!”
“I got soup!”
“Where’re the croquettes?”
All of a sudden, a chorus of voices pipe up behind him, and Hachin finally starts to piece together what’s going on here.
Oh no.
“Yasu! Don’t worry about them! Help us fight!”
Yasu twitches slightly. If you didn’t know him, you wouldn’t notice it, but Hachin’s known Yasu since they were kids. And a slight twitch means one thing: he’s worried.
“I can’t,” he says. “It can’t be helped. They already paid and… The shop and…”
“So you’re not here to fight?” Hachin realizes. “You’re just-“
“Delivering an order,” Yasu answers succinctly.
“No way…” Hachin breathes. “You guys ordered from the shop just so-“
“So that they could defeat him without throwing a single punch,” Joe finishes for him. “And they already paid, so he can’t take it back.” The phoenix shakes his head, placing it in his gloved hand. “Damn.”
“Yasu…” Hachin says, making eye contact with him finally. Yasu looks simply resigned to this fate.
“Such dirty tactics!” Sojun interjects. “You made him deliver the bento so he wouldn’t be able to participate. But you think this will be enough? How stupid. Imbeciles.” He slams a fist in his palm before dramatically slamming the nearest guy to him with the ol’ iron plate in the bag.
“Yeah!” Hachin agrees. “DOKONJOFINGER won’t be bested that easily! I’ll still sting every last one of ya!” He cocks his hips to the side, allowing the sun to glint of his sharpened stinger. “So who’s next?”
“Guys…” Yasu says. “But-“ He still looks conflicted as he is passing out bento box after bento box.
“Just focus on the delivery, Yasu,” Joe tells him with a small smile. “It’s your job, right? And we know how much the shop means to you.”
“So don’t worry, Yasu! I’ve got it all under control!” Hachin declares. He then gets a good right hook to the face, somewhat devaluing his words, but whatever. He’s still got this! They’re DOKONJOFINGER!
And then just as quickly as the lull occurred, it’s just fists flying again. Hachin takes the renewed spirit in stride, because well, if Yasu can’t participate, he’ll just have to make up for that by taking out twice as many guys! Yeah!
As time passes, Hachin loses sight of his bandmates, but he keeps up the fight. Sure, he might be getting a bit tired now, and he’s taken more than a few hits, but he won’t give up! And neither will his bandmates! He gets knocked once, twice, before falling down. Resolve not shaken, Hachin gets up to see Sojun backing away from the fight and heading towards the nearby street.
“Sorry,” Sojun says, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “This is not going as planned. I need to regroup.”
“WAIT! SOJUN!” Hachin calls out, but it’s too late. Before he can try to reach the komainu, he’s already on the bike and hightailing it outta there.
Okay, so maybe Sojun gave up, but that’s like, Sojun. He’s not as reliable as the others. And he always teases Hachin anyway! And at least he’s still got Joe, right?
“GOUAH!” A familiar sound rings out just then. Hachin’s heard it a lot.
“Joe? Are you okay?” Hachin swims his way through the bodies to find him. After a quick search, he finds Joe sitting on the pavement, blood staining his hand.
“I-” he answers before devolving into another coughing fit. “I’m at my limit. My meds, I need more and-“
Hachin is disappointed, but he understands that he can’t push Joe any further. He can’t be a good bassist if he’s fucking dead.
“It’s ok,” Hachin reassures with a forced smile. “I can take it from here.”
“Hachin-?”
“FAAAA! I’ll sting you all!” he declares, blocking Joe from the rest of the delinquents who just don’t seem to fucking stop. “Even if I’m alone!!!”
“Thank you,” Joe says quietly before stumbling to his feet and making his way out of the situation.
A part of him knows this is kind of a dumb idea, but another part doesn’t care. He has to defend DOKONJOFINGER’s honor, okay? And One Second Kill Hachin doesn’t give up!
He charges into the fray.
All Yasu can do is watch.
He’s nearly through with the bento delivery, and he really should get back to the shop soon, but doing so would mean abandoning his friends. Well, friend at this point. Sojun already bailed and Joe couldn’t go any further, so all that’s left is Hachin. Hachin, who like the absolute idiot he is, still charged in without any help.
“Fuck!” the word spills from his lips before he can stop it. He curses at the bag in his hand, gripping it tightly in his fist. “If it wasn’t for this damn delivery, then I’d-“
He’s cut off by a particularly loud Hachin shriek, which is probably a good thing. If he’s got enough energy to faa, then he’s got enough energy to fight. But still, leaving Hachin out here with like two dozen guys by himself feels like a betrayal.
Isn’t it? Even if this is for the shop and they said it was okay…
It sure feels pretty fucking bad.
“Yacchan~,” the leader taunts, stepping out of the fight to speak to him. “Thanks for the food!”
“Fuck. Off,” he snarls back, shoving the now empty bags into his apron pockets. “You know if I didn’t have to-“
“But you did.” He’s cut off. “Thanks for the hard work!”
Yasu grits his teeth. It would be so easy to just knock this guy’s lights out. Give him a Knuckle Duster to the face. It’s so fucking tempting. But he’s still technically on the clock. And a fight right now means more time that Kaachan has to watch the shop alone.
And that’s not fair.
Leaving Hachin here by himself is also not fair.
He’s being forced to choose and as always, he chooses the shop. He’s chosen the shop over the band before, and he’d do it again in a heartbeat. If that’s what needs to be done, he’ll do it.
Yasu takes one more look at Hachin in the midst of the mess. His parka is dirtied and he’s currently in the process of taking on three guys at once. He stings one behind him before throwing a punch at another.
Yasu sighs.
He almost takes a step back. He almost does.
But before his self-control is lost, he abruptly turns around and starts walking back to the shop.
Hachin, I’m sorry.
When he arrives home, he’s greeted by a bright smile and a big hug.
“Yacchan, I’m so glad your friends came by and were so hungry! We sold a lot today!” Kaachan tells him. “They should come more often!”
“They’re not my friends,” he grumbles back from within the hug.
“Sure, sure, whatever you say, sweetie,” she hums brightly.
Yasu just sighs in return.
“I know you don’t talk about it all that much,” she continues. “But I’m really glad you’re making friends. I worry you spend too much time at the shop!”
“I like being here,” he says in lieu of an answer. He’s about had it with this conversation and by extension, this day. But he can’t exactly blow up in front of his own mother, for fuck’s sake.
“I’m tired,” he lies. “I’m gonna go up to bed.”
“That’s fine!” she ruffles his hair. “Go get some rest, Yacchan!”
Yacchan.
It sounds so much better coming from her.
Yasu stomps up to his room and lays on his bed, staring at the ceiling. In reality, he’s not the least bit tired. No, he’s actually really fucking pissed. And part of him is very worried about Hachin, but he’d never actually admit it out loud.
In a futile attempt to distract himself, Yasu pulls out his notepad with the scribbled lyrics from earlier. You know, he never did get to hear that new riff from Hachin. And he’ll still be able to hear it, right? Hachin wouldn’t go that hard, right?
Right?
Okay, so this is not working. He’s tossing and turning and far too deep in his own damn head to actually relax. Maybe he just needs to walk? Clear his head?
Better than punching his wall, because it’s looking really fucking punchable right now.
Rather than face his mom closing up the shop, Yasu quietly slips out his fire escape, stepping down the metal stairs, hands in his jacket pockets. When he reaches street-level, Yasu just starts wandering aimlessly trying to maintain an expression that reads “don’t fuck with me, but also don’t start shit with me to see if you can beat me.” Which, apparently, to some people, is just his normal face. So what if he has a resting bitch face? It’s not his fault. So annoying.
The sun is dipping below the horizon, casting the buildings around UNZ in a hazy glow of orange and twilight. As he wanders for a bit, thankfully, he doesn’t come across any other delinquents looking to pick a fight. Good. He cannot handle that right now. Well, okay he totally could, he’d destroy them, but he’s just not in the fucking mood. At all. He’s trying to cool off.
He’s doing his best teenager loitering in an alley impression when a noise catches his attention. Up until this point, Yasu’s thoughts have been far too loud to allow him to notice things around him, but this happens to break through.
“Oi, Yasu!”
It’s a recognizable voice.
Yasu breathes out an audible sigh of relief as indeed, Hachin steps into view. It’s not like he was worried or anything. Of course not.
“Why are you here?” Yasu asks as coolly as he can, keeping his hands in his pockets and refusing to let any other emotion break through.
Hachin doesn’t look too beat up, all things considered. A few scuffs on his parka, a scratch on his cheek, and his usually very-styled hair is slightly tousled, but that’s about it.
[That’s a relief.]
“Faa?” Hachin plants his hands on his hips and gives Yasu a befuddled look. “Looking for you, obviously!”
“Why would you care?” Yasu nonchalantly shrugs, still playing it off as coolly as he can.
“Dude!” Hachin balks. “Of course I do! What? Do you think I don’t?” The words spill out as his face drops.
Yasu almost shrugs again, ready with a quick “whatever” or “noisy” behind his lips. However, seeing the earnest concern on his friend’s face stops his aloof act in his tracks. He blinks once, wide-eyed and surprised at his own reaction before simply replying,
“It’s fine.”
Hachin leans back, seeming to accept his answer. His face remains concerned, however.
“What happened to you back there, Yasu?” he asks. “It was a lotta trouble for me to take those guys on alone! I know the shop and all but-“ He huffs, crossing his arms. “C’mon!”
“Well, clearly you didn’t lose, since you’re here,” he quips back.
“Course not!” Hachin declares loudly. He turns around, flashing his stinger in the waning light. “I stung the fuck outta ‘em!”
“All of them?” he questions with a skeptical gaze.
Hachin deflates slightly. “Okay, so, maybe some got away because I uh- Had to leave. And- y’know.” He shakes his head and places it into his palms, defeated. “I had to get away, okay? Is that what you wanna hear, Yasu?”
Damn, Hachin admitting defeat? That’s usually as hard as pulling teeth.
“I’d rather not hear any of your noisy chatter,” he gripes, because listen, Hachin is loud and Yasu is not in the mood.
“Yasu!” he gapes, sharp teeth in full view. “Well anyway! It sucks! I really wanted to compete against you!”
“HA?” Now he’s getting his feathers ruffled.
“To see who could take out more of ‘em! But you couldn’t do anything and stood there and-!” Hachin seems to stop himself in his tracks, taking a heaving breath.
“Yeah. I did,” Yasu admits coldly. His gaze drifts to the cracked concrete on the ground. A brisk breeze blows through the alley, whipping up dust and rushing in Yasu’s ears, briefly drowning out all other noises, even Hachin’s faa. It almost seems to call his name, whispering Yasu as it passes by. Hachin himself seems unfazed, as if he doesn’t notice it. Or perhaps his parka just keeps him warm.
As Yasu’s gaze rises to see the torn and scuffed form of his friend – best friend – the guilt comes swimming back all at once.
“It’s my fault,” he says quietly, letting his bangs cover his face (even more than usual).
“Th-That’s not it!” Hachin stutters, taken aback by Yasu’s abrupt mood switch. “I didn’t mean it like that!”
“’Betrayal is unacceptable’,” Yasu recites with a deep breath. “Isn’t that what we agreed on?”
“You didn’t betray anything, Yasu!” Hachin starts closing the distance between the two, but Yasu takes a step back, trying to maintain it. “I’m just pissed at them being dirty cheatin’ bastards! Unfair assholes! That’s not-”
“I know!” Yasu exclaims, fingers clenching into fists and accentuating the outburst with a stomp on the ground. “Of course I know that!”
The wind blows again.
Yasu follows it.
“Oi Yasu? Yasu! Wait up!” Hachin distantly calls. “YASU!!!!”
He runs, one determined foot planted after another, until the only buzzing sounds left are the thoughts in his head.
And his guilt.
“Dammit, Yasu!” Hachin kicks at the ground as he turns a corner to find no trace of him. “I didn’t mean it like that!”
With no chance to find him in the darkness, Hachin resolves to apologize to him tomorrow.
A cold wind blows through as he returns home, and he shivers in response.
Yasu, I’m sorry.
Yasu opens the shop again the next morning hoping that working and some sense of normalcy will temper the guilt simmering in his gut. The day starts normally enough; Kaachan greets him with a lovely smile and hug like she always does.
“Do you think your friends will stop by again today and order a lot?”
They’re not my friends. I never want to see or hear them again.
“Dunno.”
“I hope so!” she grins. “We really are getting popular, Yacchan!”
“Yeah.”
In a fucked-up way, everything that happened was good. He drummed up a lot of business for the shop.
But at what cost?
Yasu sighs deeply and stands at the counter.
Of course, the peace is extremely short-lived. Despite Yasu wishing with all his might that those damn delinquents would keep their distance and not bother him again, like clockwork, there’s a knock on the glass door.
Yasu glares at them.
“Go away,” he mouths at them from his post behind the counter.
“Yacchan~” they taunt.
Despite his best efforts to keep cool, Yasu knows his best shot at chasing them off is a direct confrontation. Gathering himself, he sighs deeply, steels his nerves, and emerges from the bento shop, letting the door shut behind him.
He shoves his hands in his apron pockets and musters up the best Shinigami Yatagarasu glare he can come up with.
“What do you want? Go away. Or do you really want that Death Cross Counter?”
“Oh?” the lead asshole taunts. “Is that any way to treat your best customer?”
“I don’t give a fuck.” Yasu’s not playing around today.
“Ouch!” he winces. “Careful, you don’t wanna tank your reviews.”
Yasu grits his teeth together. How dare they threaten to lower their rating! Kaachan doesn’t deserve that, even if they are massive dicks. Part of him reaaally wants to cuss them out and tell them to fuck off, but Yasu smartly keeps his mouth shut. At least for now.
“We’ve got another big order, today~!” the leader taunts. “Too bad the rest of DOKONJOFINGER isn’t here.”
Yasu does his best to hide a reaction from that one. “Yeah,” he responds as casually as he can while maintaining his death glare. He hopes it’s intimidating enough.
“Yeah, real shame,” the leader tsks, shaking his head.
Some of the other delinquents begin snickering behind their leader.
“Cowards ran away,” he continues, smirk growing on his face. “All of them!”
“Yeah!” another chimes in. “Made that damn phoenix cough and that komainu scram!”
“Shut up.” He can’t keep his mouth shut any longer. They’re antagonizing him and he knows they’re antagonizing him but it’s too damn much. “If you wanna buy something, just do it. Otherwise, leave.”
The leader continues undeterred, approaching Yasu with a grin. “Thanks to you, we won!”
“Lotta talk for someone who didn’t even win,” he shoots back sharply. “Annoying.”
All of a sudden, the leader bursts out laughing, full-on guffaws right in his face. It’s so loud that Yasu instinctually leans back, wincing. “Hey Yacchan, I just remembered something hilarious!”
“You’re so damn noisy.”
“What is it, Boss?” another one eggs him on, happy to play along.
The delinquent leader makes a show of pretending to wipe away a tear from his eye. “The look on Hachin’s face as you walked away!”
For a brief moment, all Yasu can hear is the wind rushing in his ears and his heart beating in his chest. He clenches his fists tight, tail feathers ruffling up.
How fucking dare they.
The image of a distraught Hachin reaching for him fills his mind, and with it comes a sinking guilt in the pit of his gut. Yasu shakes his head to try and clear it, but the feeling remains.
“You left him by himself! Abandoned him!” the leader laughs mockingly at Yasu’s torment. “He called out to ya, didn’t ya hear it? ‘Yasu! Yasu!’” he mocks. “HA!”
Oh, I heard.
“Shut. Up,” Yasu growls.
“Right, Shinigami Yatagarasu?”
Yasu doesn’t dignify that with a response, just fumes.
“Or should I say Yacchan?” the leader finishes.
“SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Yasu roars, and it is as if the cold wind roars with him. It envelops him, rushing through his hair and biting at his cheeks. His heart beats loudly in his chest, an encouraging cadence that seems to be calling his name out to him.
“ Don’t you want to help Kaachan?”
“Don’t you want the shop to do well?”
“Don’t you want to protect Hachin?”
“I… do,” he admits. Maybe out loud, maybe just in his head, who cares. He whispers the confirmation into the cold, dark breeze as it swirls up his form, and it seems to like the answer.
“Then fly, wings of darkness,” it whispers back.
The wind roars louder than it’s ever been before, and Yasu closes his eyes and just lets it. It feels exhilarating, liberating, powerful. It's the culmination of the past 24 hours of pent-up rage finally being released.
“If that’s what it takes, then,” Yasu says. “I’ll do it.”
Yasu opens his eyes to a different landscape. His opponents seem further away and he feels...lighter. Perhaps that’s due to the weight lifting from his chest?
“You’re all so annoying.” Even his voice seems to carry more weight, echoing off the pavement. “So, I’ll become…”
“SHINIGAMI YATAGARASU YACCHAN!!!”
Finally, finally, the delinquents seem to waver, seem intimidated.
“Whoa whoa whoa!” the leader looks up at him, mouth agape. “What’s goin’ on?”
“You need to shut up once and for all,” Yasu declares with finality and power. “And I’ll do it.”
“Shit!” the delinquent yelps. “Hey man, chill. I mean. What happened to serving bento?”
Yasu glares down with a piercing crimson gaze. “I don’t care about that anymore. I don’t care about anything other than shutting your annoying mouths!!!” Power surges through him; Yasu lets it.
“EEP!”
“Boss, this looks bad!”
“I DIDN’T SIGN UP FOR THIS SHIT!” The others are beginning to back away, worry on their pitiful faces.
Yasu bears down on the leader, manifesting what he desires in his hand.
“Now you’ll have to be quiet! No one will hear your noisy annoying voice ever again!!”
And with a swift flick of his wrist, the delinquent is effectively silenced.
“MMF!” he struggles, unable to formulate words. Good.
Satisfied, Yasu looks out at the others scattered about.
“Now on to the rest!”
Time to get to work.
Hachin throws his head in his hands, ruffling his hair.
“Man!” he laments out loud as he walks through the Under North Zawa streets. Ever since last night, he’s felt suuuper guilty. He didn’t mean to upset Yasu! He just was upset about the whole situation and well, may have taken it out on him. But he didn’t mean it! It’s not Yasu’s fault that everything went down the way it did – it’s those damn delinquents!
And yeah, maybe he was pissed off, but after a couple unanswered texts – though that’s nothing new from Yasu – Hachin still felt guilt gnawing at his gut. After a night of their conversation replaying in his head nonstop, Hachin decided he had to do something. And that something was apologizing.
“Damn,” he sighs again. “I didn’t mean to say that...”
He’s been biding his time, wandering the streets and trying to come up with the right things to say. “Sorry for being a dick”? Too straightforward. “Hey Yasu, just wanted to say that-” No, too casual.
Frustrated, Hachin scrubs a hand down his face. At the very least, the honey bun in his jacket pocket should help any potential apology. It’s from Yasu’s favorite shop – at least, it was Yasu’s favorite when he was a kid – so hopefully that will help smooth things over.
Hands fisted in his parka pocket, Hachin feels the paper bag crinkle and takes a deep breath. He’s probably stalled enough at this point, and if he puts things off any longer, they both might be late to band practice.
“Alright Hachin!” he hypes himself up. “Time to do this!”
As he turns the corner towards the shop, though, he finds a strange sight. Scattered about the street leading up to the entrance are a bunch of people looking pretty worse for wear. Yasu thankfully isn’t among them, but that still doesn’t help explain what’s going on.
As Hachin approaches the situation, he realizes that he does actually recognize these people.
“Hey!” he calls out. “You’re the assholes that attacked us yesterday!” Now he’s pissed, ready to fight and give ‘em a piece of his mind-
“AAHH!”
“Huh?” Hachin looks around, but the delinquents around him are oddly silent. So who screamed? “What the hell was that?”
“MMPH!!!”
Without a second thought, Hachin follows the sound down the alleyway next to Yasu’s place. There he finds a delinquent on the ground, now unable to speak.
“What?” This makes no sense. “Why is there a sticker on their mouth?” Sure enough, covering the entire mouth of the delinquent is a jet-black sticker in the shape of an “X”, shutting off all communication. Sure, they were annoying, but this is certainly an interesting solution to that problem.
“Who did this?” he wonders aloud, thoroughly confused by everything.
“Me.”
Hachin whips around in a flash, because he knows that voice. Knows it almost as well as his own. Hears it in his head all the time, urging him to play better, or late at night when he’s imagining scenarios between them and-
“YASU?!”
He’s thoroughly unprepared for what he finds.
Yasu is there, yes, but it doesn’t look exactly like Yasu. Well, it does, but it also doesn’t. The first thing Hachin notices is that Yasu isn’t on the ground. He’s in the air. Hovering. Which is definitely something he’s never fucking seen before. Protruding from his back are two dark wings, a gradient of black to his signature blue and yellow feathers keeping him aloft.
But it’s not just the wings that are different. Yasu’s also got on what looks like some sort of dark cloak with the hood up adorned with ribbons that almost appear skeletal. His hair is like it usually is, pretty cool and side-swept, but instead of warm yellow, his single visible eye glares down at Hachin with a burning crimson. The look is completed by his guitar, sharpened to a point and facing towards him. Yasu looks like the Grim Reaper, a true Shinigami Yatagarasu.
Hachin’d be lying if he said he didn’t think the outfit looks very good on him. But it’s also very very unlike Yasu, which kinda worries him.
“What’s with the new look?” he manages to get out after taking all that in. “What’s going on?”
“I finally shut them up. All their annoying mouths.” He looks down at the victim lying nearby with a victorious smirk upon his lips. “Forever.”
Yasu’s always complaining about people being too noisy for his liking, but Hachin never thought it’d get this far! And he still doesn’t know what’s up with the outfit!
“No, wait, what’s with the sick outfit?” he asks again. “And y’know, you flying! You comin’ to practice like this?”
Yasu huffs a laugh to himself. “Practice? I don’t care about that.”
“FAA?” Hachin balks. “So it’s not for a new DOKONJOFINGER look?” Because a part of him was kinda into that, to be honest.
“Why would I care about that?” Yasu replies coldly. “I don’t care about the band anymore.”
That shocks Hachin to the core. “WHAT? Yasu what the fuck are you talking about?”
Yasu cocks his head, looking down at Hachin with a stern expression, red eye glinting with intent. “I don’t care about school, the shop, I’m quitting all of it!” he declares with a swipe of his guitar-scythe.
“Faa? Are you stupid?” Hachin nearly shrieks. “You can’t just-!”
“You’re stupid!” Yasu fires back petulantly. “Don’t speak to me!”
Suddenly, the magnificent wings flap, sending feathers through the air of the dusty alley.
“Yasu wait!” Hachin yelps before he dashes to where his friend is. “Don’t leave!”
He’s chasing Yasu down the alley, but unfortunately Yasu is like, really fast. And can fly. It’s hard to keep up.
Yasu lifts himself into the air, taking flight into the Under North Zawa sky. Shit! Hachin sprints to try to catch up, and in a last-ditch effort, sees one of the white ribbons Yasu had on trailing down and grabs it. He obviously can’t follow Yasu into the sky, so keeping him here is his only option. In that brief second, it seems to work; Hachin grasps the ribbon with both hands and he feels it stretch taut.
“Don’t-” Hachin doesn’t get to finish what he was about to say, because Yasu keeps moving.
And brings Hachin with him.
“Whoaaaa!” he yelps as his feet leave the safety of the ground and he’s brought up into the sky. How the hell did Yasu get this strong? He wasn’t like this before! Maybe it has to do with the whole aesthetic? Or that dark wind people were talking about at school? Hachin really doesn’t know and really doesn’t care. He can’t afford to think about it more because he is literally being lifted into the sky and is unable to do a thing about it.
Yasu is so preoccupied with getting the hell outta there that he doesn’t even begin to realize he has an extra passenger.
“YASU!!!” Hachin shrieks, holding onto the ribbon for dear life. Just don’t look down, don’t look down.
“SHIT! I LOOKED DOWN!” They’re all the way above the rooftops now, Hachin dangling helplessly above them with no way down. “FAAAAAAA!!!”
It’s at this moment that Yasu (Dark Yasu? Well, no, he’s still Yasu) finally notices something is off. He looks over his shoulder as they’re soaring through the air to see Hachin desperately holding onto the ribbon attached to his pants.
“HAA?” he balks in shock. “HACHIN??”
“YASU HELP!!!” he cries out, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes from the wind rushing past his face. This is not how he wants to die! There are so many things he hasn’t done yet! Like graduate! And getting Yasu to say “Gyafaffun”! And he hasn’t even had his first k-
“Dude let go!!” Yasu yells, shaking his leg in some attempt to get Hachin to drop his grip.
“ARE YOU CRAZY?” he shrieks back, gripping so tightly his knuckles are white. “I’LL FALL!!! DO YOU WANT ME DEAD???”
Yasu blinks once, face melting past neutrality into concern for but a moment, just enough for Hachin to notice.
“Put me down!!” he urges. “But like, safely! My hands are tired!” His fingers are straining with the effort and he’s trying not to think about how high up they are.
(It’s not really working.)
“So annoying…” Yasu huffs, then takes a dive.
“WAAAAAA SLOW DOWN!” Hachin cries out, pinching his eyes shut as they approach the streets. The wind is whooshing in his ears, drowning out all noise and sending a chill up his spine. It almost seems to call out to him in a way. Is this the Gale of Darkness? Is this what changed Yasu?
Then as quickly as it starts, the wind dies down and the ground is much closer. Thank God.
“Here,” Yasu says succinctly, not facing Hachin at all. With his back to him, Hachin can’t see his face. From this angle, all he can see are the deep black feathers hiding the yellow and blue hues from his sight. He looks almost like a shadow shrouded in ebony.
“Faa, thanks.” Hachin graciously steps onto the pavement, taking a deep, relieved breath. “Now-” he starts with an aggressive point.
But he never gets to finish, because Yasu takes off again.
“Oi Yasu? Yasu!” Hachin sprints after his friend, but Yasu doesn't look back, doesn’t even acknowledge him. Hachin follows him all the way down to the end of the alley, chasing after Yasu. It’s like he’s been doing his whole life: trying to keep up with Yasu, to reach his level of skill, to one day maybe surpass him. It’s what he’s been working towards all these years.
As Yasu lifts up and out of Hachin’s reach, Hachin outstretches his hand towards him. At this range, he’s but a dark, glittering silhouette in the azure sky. A few feathers drift down, and one lands softly in his palm.
“I've always been chasing after you, Yasu!” he shouts up as Yasu flies away, feather clutched in his hand. “Ever since I heard you that day! And I'll keep doing it until I can catch up!”
Yasu disappears into the sky.