Chapter Text
The wind blows in this winter night of the year 1998. The dark streets of Tokyo are almost empty, only a few prostitutes are present on the side of the road waiting for their next customers. The snow falls slowly on the cars. In the middle of all this atmosphere is a child with grey blond hair carrying another with black hair on his back. It is around 2 o'clock in the morning. He walks with difficulty because of the weight on his back but does not let go. He finally arrives at his destination and rings the doorbell of a rather big establishment, it is an orphanage. A woman in her forties opens the door and her eyebrows go up at the sight of the two children.
"Izana? Who is that child on your back? And more importantly, what are you doing out this late at night?
- I'll answer your questions when you could help him, please.
- All right, I'll call an ambulance right away. Put him on the couch in the main room while you wait," she exclaims as she brings the child inside.
He then places the child on the couch. He has slight scratches on his face and a burn on his right arm. Izana wanted to run away from the orphanage to get to someone but instead he ran into a burning car and found the young boy with raven hair in the back of the car. In the front, everything was on fire and unrecoverable. The blond wasn't sure why he saved him, his body moved on its own and he planned to never see the black-haired boy again in the future.
"Mom...?
- Oh are you awake?
- Where's my mommy and daddy?" the younger boy said as he stood up abruptly.
At that moment, the woman comes back saying that the ambulance will arrive in ten minutes. She checked the boy's wounds, only the burn was serious but the rest were just scratches. Nothing serious.
"What's your name?
- Takemichi...
- I'm Mrs. Kagami, nice to meet you Takemichi" she smiled to reassure the child a little.
Takemichi looked away, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. They disappear when the hand of Izana is posed on his shoulder. He then looks at the taller one.
"Don't cry, I hate crying. Your parents won't come back by crying.
- Izana!
- I'm only telling the truth." he says, rolling his eyes.
Takemichi doesn't cry and gets up. He leaves the orphanage to go outside. He runs down the street like a madman looking for his parents. Izana's eyes widen and he follows him. The black man runs very fast in spite of his small size. Takemichi ends up stopping to collapse on the concrete of the sidewalk and cry with all his strength. Izana rushes towards him to give him a huge kick in the back of the head.
"STOP CRYING, DAMN IT! YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY PERSON WHO DOESN'T HAVE PARENTS OR SOMETHING? YOU IDIOT, I TOLD YOU YOUR TEARS WOULDN'T BRING THEM BACK!!!"
shouts the blond to the smaller one.
"Who are you to talk to me like that?! I hate you! I hate you!" shouts Takemichi in return.
Izana turns around and goes back to the orphanage leaving Takemichi alone in the street. He doesn't like this kind of people always crying for people who won't do anything for them because they are six feet under. This kid really pisses him off. When he arrives, several white and red trucks are in front of the facility. He is now angry at himself for abandoning the kid. He then hears a voice behind him that seems to be talking to him.
"I understand why you didn't come, what's going on?
- Shinichiro...? Uh, it's a little complicated..." he says with his eyes downcast.
He explains everything he knows to the taller one. And also that he left Takemichi because he made him angry. Shinichiro punches him in the stomach. Izana felt it.
"We'll go get him, dummy, I wonder what's going through your mind that you'd leave a kid alone in the street at such an hour.
- I'm sorry..." tries to say the bleached blond.
They both leave in the direction of the place that Izana indicated. They find the black-haired man sitting with his knees against his chest. Shinichiro approaches and puts himself at his level to speak to him.
"Are you alright? I'm sorry for my brother's attitude, will you come with me so the doctors can treat you? You were in a car accident, I guess your injuries must be hurting..." exclaims the taller boy as he reassures the child by stroking the top of his head.
Takemichi looks up at Shinichiro. He feels relieved that he won't be alone in this dark and terrifying street any longer. He takes Shinichiro in his arms while crying again. Izana behind rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything about it. He doesn't feel like talking this time. Especially because he doesn't want to get another punch from his older brother.
They arrive all three in front of the orphanage and the doctors take care of Takemichi and question him about the accident. Izana and Shinichiro are sitting on the sidewalk in front of the institution. The elder brother looks at the sky and sighs loudly. Izana looks at him as he hears the sigh.
"You're such an idiot but I think if it wasn't for you, he would have died with his parents. So be proud of yourself. And it's normal to cry when you lose people you love, one day you'll go through that and I don't think you'll be happy to hear someone call you a crybaby and insult your loved ones.
- It won't happen to me, I don't cry for people who aren't there anymore.
- If you say so, can I ask you something Izana?"
The younger one looks at the orphanage in front of him with an absent look and takes out a slight "hm?" from his mouth. Shinichiro then says what he wants to ask.
"Take care of Takemichi as if he were your brother. He needs a family as much as you do, so be nice to him. Protect him and scold him when he does something wrong, be a good example for him, that's all I ask.
- Okay, if you ask me, I'll do it... But I'm still dreaming about being nice to such a ball and chain. He sounds like a pain in the ass.
- Haha, okay okay. As long as you're careful with him, it's okay." Shinichiro said laughing.
Izana smiles slightly. He really likes talking with his brother. He is nice and he is a very understanding person. He is one of the few people he considers his equal. For him, the others are only garbage, even this famous Takemichi. He doesn't think he likes him, even with time. But he's not a medium so he can't imagine what the future will bring. It will be one more slave for him after all.
Takemichi comes towards the duo with a bandage on his right arm and some small bandages on his face. He smiles as he looks at the boy with the violet eyes. He thanks him for saving him by bowing. He also apologizes for the way he spoke to him earlier.
"You should apologize too.
- What?! But-...
- Hurry up."
Izana rolls her eyes for the umpteenth time. He stands up and bows in turn. Takemichi seems a bit surprised by his gesture. He thought that the blond was a bully who had no mercy towards others.
"I apologize too... But you can always run for me to like you, you idiot." "apologizes" he says.
He receives a kick from Shinichiro.
"Hey but it hurts! I did what you said besides!
- You can always run for me to like you, gngn.... Are you kidding me?!
- Pff...Hahaha!"
Izana and Shinichiro look at Takemichi laughing. He stops when he sees their eyes on him and blushes a little. He looks at the ground and scratches his cheek with his index finger.
"Sorry, I thought it was funny.
- Don't apologize! You're allowed to laugh, don't worry about it.
- Yeah you're allowed, but only if you're laughing at Shinichiro." smiled Izana mischievously.
"It's not nice to laugh without me. Oh, Takemichi! What are you doing here?"
The trio turns to the voice to see a child with a huge scar on his face.
"Kaku! What are you doing here?
- I could ask you the same question.
- Do you know this ball and chain then???" the grayish blond asks.
The boy with the scar sighs at his stupid request. He wouldn't even bother talking to him if he didn't know him. "Kaku" focuses on Takemichi's condition instead of answering the question. A simple "Ouch" comes out of his mouth when he sees his alleged friend's bandage. Takemichi shakes his hands with a goofy smile on his face.
"Don't worry Kaku, it doesn't hurt much... Ah and..."
He turns back to the blond man to talk to him.
"Kaku was in the same school as me! That's why he knows me...
- Thanks for answering me, I thought I was going to get the biggest wind of history."
Shinichiro leaves the children alone and leaves without them noticing him. Except for little Takemichi. The three boys head for the orphanage. The manager of the institution smiles when she sees the trio.
"It's beautiful the youth.
Very beautiful even..." she said with a smile drawing her lips.