Work Text:
He wasn’t sure what to expect when his brother presented the boy his own age to him.
“Hey, Mon. Mon, this is Kiyotaka Ishimaru. Kiyotaka, this is Mondo Oowada, my younger brother.”
The boy bowed politely. “It is good to meet you!”
“He’s gonna be your bodyguard from now on, like how Michi is for me. You understand?”
He did, and he didn’t like it.
“Aw, don’t gimme that look!” He ruffled his hair. “Tell ya what, you two talk ‘n get to know each other. He’s already pretty good at kendo for his age, so we can wait a couple days before he starts it all again.”
His brother leaves, and they’re alone together.
Kiyotaka fidgeted a bit before speaking up. “D-did I already do something to make you hate me, master?”
He flinched hard. “Don’t call me that!”
Kiyotaka just tilted his head to the side. “Yukimaru told me that was the proper address for you.”
“Michi…” He had known Michi for years. He was his brother’s bodyguard and a second older brother for him, but he knew that Michi didn’t really like it…that Michi secretly resented his family for robbing the possibility of a normal life from him. “Well, you don’t gotta if you don’t want to. I won’t make you.”
There’s an awkward silence.
“Er…so what happened?”
“My grandfather got into debt to your family after he used them during a campaign when he was the prime minister, and after it was exposed…my father who was leading the investigation…he…” Tears pooled in Kiyotaka’s eyes, and he quickly wiped them away. “A-after that, Grandfather raised me for a time, and when your family came to collect, he gave me to them.”
That didn’t surprise him. It wasn’t the first time something like that happened. That was how they got Takemichi, after all. “You hate him?”
Kiyotaka nodded, and another silence fell over them. It all felt too awkward. He didn’t know how to interact with Kiyotaka at all, and it annoyed him.
“Uh…you wanna get some snacks? One of the housekeepers makes real good ones.”
“Is that okay?”
“Yeah! You’re mine, right? So you can do whatever I say you can, and I say you can have snacks with me!”
“Well…alright.”
“Great!” He took his hand and ran with him to the house. If he would have to treat him like a tool later, then for now, he decided he would treat him like a friend. He just…he just didn’t want Kiyotaka to hate him like he knew Takemichi hated Daiya.
Since that day, they played together almost everyday. There weren’t many days they didn’t have even a moment for themselves. Kiyotaka was impressive at kendo. Even before he was a teenager, he was defeating high ranking opponents with ease. He envied him a bit for that strength. After all, he was Daiya’s younger brother. He didn’t have a lot of power himself. He only had the power his family gave him, and it frustrated him. He was supposed to be strong! That’s why his classmates avoided him, were scared of him, but he had nothing to himself.
Maybe that’s why he took to working out whenever Kiyotaka was training. He became quite proficient at martial arts with his brute strength giving him an edge, but when it came to formal fights, he wasn’t the best at it. It made sense. He was a yakuza. He wasn’t supposed to conform to rules and laws.
Kiyotaka was his only real companion during the time. The longer they were together, the more he liked him. Something about the young swordsman drew him in, and it made him protective over him. Even when Daiya wanted to punish him for the occasional mistake, he did everything he could to protect him from that.
Those happy days seemed to end when Takemichi finally murdered his brother.
It was unexpected. The sound of his brother’s final scream filled the air before the silence weighed heavily on him. Kiyotaka was quick to stand in front of Mondo. “Young master, please stay behind me!”
“Stand aside, Kiyotaka.” Takemichi’s sword was covered in Daiya’s blood. He…he had to move forward. He had to get something and kill him for this, but why couldn’t he fucking move?!
“I won’t. I won’t let you lay a hand on my master!”
“Fine.” The sound of steel hitting steel filled the air as the two swordsmen fought. Takemichi was taller and more experienced, but Kiyotaka was faster and more skilled. It wasn’t long before the younger swordsman found an opening and used it to disarm Takemichi who cursed as the blade fell on the ground. Kiyotaka kept his sword on him.
“Young master, do you want me to kill him?”
He didn’t answer. “No…I’ll do it myself.”
Kiyotaka frowned. “Master, please don’t forget that I am your tool. If I kill him, it would be the same as if you do.”
“I said I’ll do it myself.” He must’ve sounded real mad as Kiyotaka bowed slightly.
“I apologize.”
“S’ fine.” He picked up the sword. He hesitated a bit as he held it to Takemichi’s neck. “Why…why did you do this?”
“You know why…” He was glaring up at him. “Your family took everything from me. My parents, my home, my freedom…I was a tool for you people! It was bad enough when it was just me. I thought I would confide in you and after Daiya died, I’d be given to you and you’d let me live a normal life. That all fell through when I saw Kiyotaka.” He gave him a determined look. “Go ahead. Get it over with. It isn’t going to change the fact that your little tool over there is going to hate you, too!”
He closed his eyes and sliced him open. Blood for blood…did his family have a saying about it? At the moment, he couldn’t remember. All he knew was that Takemichi's body was on the ground and blood was pooling on the ground. Takemichi, who was like a second brother to him, was dead along with Daiya.
Kiyotaka went and called someone to clean this up like he had been taught to. “Young master, let’s go. I’ll get someone to draw you a bath and get something sweet for you.”
“Will you eat with me later?”
“Of course.” Kiyotaka smiled at him. “I’ll be here for as long as you need me.”
He wasn’t sure why, but it wasn’t the death of his brother that upset him the most about that entire encounter. The very idea that Kiyotaka could hate him…that thought hurt him more than that…in a different way. He looked over to see the swordsman nibbling on the wagashi and drinking tea. He smiled at him again when he noticed him.
“Is something wrong?”
Yeah, he was terrified of seeing Kiyotaka’s friendly eyes full of the same hatred he saw in Takemichi’s. “No…’m fine.”
Naturally, it was decided that he would be head of the family now which meant that Kiyotaka’s workload was increased. He would have to protect him more from just Daiya’s enemies. Now, he had to protect him from ambitious family members who wanted his position for himself.
“Congratulations on your new position.” It was just a formality from him. He knew how he really felt about all of this.
“Thanks…”
“Are you going to be alright?”
He wasn’t sure. On one hand, his brother was gone. On the other, he had the power of his family behind him completely now whether he wanted it or not. “I will be…There’s somethin’ I wanted to talk to you about, actually.”
“Is there something wrong, master?”
He sighed. “Don’t call me that.” He took a moment. “I wanted to ask if you wanted to leave the clan.”
“What?” He sounded completely appalled, like the idea never even came to him at all.
“Mean it. If you want, you can leave. No one would come after you. You’d be free to live your life as you see fit. Hell, I’d even give you the money to do it.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
“Huh?”
“I asked, do you want me to leave?” The look in his eyes…it was like seeing a puppy who was being pushed away.
He couldn’t understand. The rest of the people here treated him like dirt. They treated him like he was nothing, so why? Why did he want to stay here so badly?!
“Master?”
“Huh?! Oh, sorry…” He looked away. “Mean…I-I like bein’ around you. I…”
“Then I don’t want to leave.”
“Kiyotaka, even if you leave, we can still hang out ‘n stuff! We’ll just be…you won’t be seen as my…bodyguard.”
“I want to be your bodyguard.” He smiled at him like he was actually happy about this, like this was completely normal. “I trust you, so I am happy to be your weapon in order to do what you must for your family.”
He sighed in frustration. Kiyotaka was many things: loyal, a good listener, smart, strong, skilled, and above all, stubborn. There was no use arguing when he was looking at him like that. “Fine, that offer will remain on the table, though…just…tell me, alright.” It would be for the best if Kiyotaka left the clan…left him, but he wanted at the very least to say goodbye to him.
“I understand. If it one day comes to that, I will be sure to inform you, master.”
They left it at that. He couldn’t outright tell him that he wanted him gone. It was a lie that Kiyotaka would be more than capable of seeing through. After all, they grew up together, played together, ate together…Kiyotaka knew him better than even Daiya did.
He wanted Kiyotaka to be by his side forever. He wanted Kiyotaka to be seen as his equal and to cherish and protect him like he protected him. He blushed a bit as he realized what these thoughts sounded like. No, he couldn’t feel this way about Kiyotaka. Even if he felt the same, it wouldn’t be right…not with how they were now.
—--------
Kiyotaka had mixed feelings when he and Mondo were invited to go to Hope’s Peak.
On one hand, he was happy that he was able to go to school with Mondo. Mondo had insisted that he go to the private school that accepted him instead of going to the highschool that had accepted Mondo whose grades, despite his best efforts to help his young master study, were not the best.
On the other hand, he didn’t really understand why Mondo wanted him gone. He was a tool, that much was true for him, but he genuinely liked Mondo. Mondo didn’t treat him like that. Mondo was kind to him. He was nicer to him than anyone else in his life had ever been…aside from his parents who were long gone.
Because of that, he was more than happy to serve Mondo for the remainder of his life. It was the least he could do, after all. He had nothing without him, so he would give him everything he had.
The worst part of Hope’s Peak, though, had to be that Mondo ordered him to stay away from him for the most part.
“Here, we’re equals, got it?”
“Master, that-”
“Don’t call me that…especially not here.” He sighed. “If you don’t wanna look at it as a classmate thing, then fine. Think of it from a practical standpoint. It wouldn’t do either of us any good to announce that you’re my bodyguard.”
He thought about it. No…in fact, it may make their classmates suspicious of his master. He knew how lonely Mondo secretly was behind the facade he put up. The last thing he wanted to do was to make it harder for him. “I understand…can we at least spend time together? I’m not the best when it comes to talking to anyone aside from you.”
Mondo smiled a bit. “Yeah, just…do your best to talk to other people, alright? This might be the closest thing to normal we get.”
That may be true. He wouldn’t be going to college after this. He would be with Mondo working by his side. Then again, that was all he really wanted. He liked him. He had been Mondo’s best friend and confidant since they were kids. How could he not?
He wondered if this was about Yukimaru. He talked to Yukimaru a lot while he was training. It made sense…they were basically the same in every regard aside from how they thought about their masters.
“Do you honestly like living like this?” They had just finished training and the brothers were in a meeting with the heads of the families under their control. They were cleaning the dojo, and he was surprised when Yukimaru spoke.
“It is much better than where I was before.” His grandfather…wasn’t the best person in either his personal or professional life. He hated him to his core both for pushing his father to do what he did and for everything he did after. There would always be scars from the things his grandfather did. Even if the physical ones faded, the memories would always remain.
“Even if you’re going to be expected to give up your life for a criminal?”
That made him pause. Justice was something that was strange to him. While he strived for it and believed in it with all his heart, the people on the side of justice had betrayed him. Not only had they branded his father a criminal, they took away everything from him to the point that there was nothing left for the man. Even when his teachers noticed he didn’t have lunch and came to school with dirty clothes, bruises, or bloody, poorly wrapped bandages or saw other children beat him and rub sand or salt in his wounds they did nothing to help him, but if they were on the right side of justice, then what did that mean?
“Well?”
“The young master doesn’t hurt me.”
There was a look in Yukimaru’s eyes that he didn’t like. He saw it a few times before, and it utterly infuriated him. Pity…there was nothing he hated more than pity. They didn’t speak until they were done. “Look, I don’t know what you went through before you got here, but I’m telling you that you’re better off dead than living as a tool for them. When you get the chance to get out of this, you should take it.”
He hadn’t thought about Yukimaru since the incident with Daiya. What would his senior think about him turning that offer down? Still, he didn’t hate him. Yukimaru sometimes talked to him about the family he had before, about how his parents had nothing after getting into debt but doing their best to raise him…and how the Crazy Diamonds took him from that family when they couldn’t pay them back. He never told Mondo that the real reason that Yukimaru snapped and killed Daiya was to avenge the family that were killed when after all that time, they still were not able to pay them back.
Still, he was really different from him. There was nothing for him to go back to. He had nothing outside of Mondo, and while he could eke out a living for himself as a kendo instructor if he ever did leave, he wasn’t sure how he would feel leaving Mondo alone.
At least his classmates were…nice to him. At worst, they seemed weary of him due to how he was often around Mondo. Ogami and Ikusaba were the most interesting to him, but there was something about Ikusaba that was…uncomfortably familiar.
“Mind if I ask you something, Ishi?” Asahina had taken to calling him that. He, Ikusaba, and Ogami had finished training all together. With the similarities in their talents, he didn’t see a reason not to…especially since it meant he was fulfilling Mondo’s direct order for him to spend time with other classmates, too.
“Of course, what can I help you with?”
“Are you and Oowada dating?”
He felt his face heat up. What?! “Wh-where did that come from?! O-Of course not!”
“Really?!”
“It does seem strange, Ishimaru.” Ogami spoke up.
“Yeah, it’s so obvious he’s into you, and you two are almost always together.”
“Even I always thought you two were a couple.” Ikusaba, too?!
“Wh…no, no. We are not.” He had thought of it on some occasions, but his feelings were confusing. Were they only because Mondo was the person he felt he could talk to, because he belonged to Mondo, or were they genuine feelings? He definitely liked him, and he wanted to be closer to him.
While he was going through a small existential crisis, the girls were plotting. The guys had been talking to Mondo about his relationship to Kiyotaka, and they all seemed to suspect that Mondo and Kiyotaka had feelings for each other. They wanted to be good friends with the yakuza and swordsman, but they weren’t sure how. They hoped that this would at least break the ice with them.
It went on for weeks until Enoshima and Ikusaba dragged Mondo and Kiyotaka respectively to the garden underneath the trees to confess to each other.
“Young master, I-”
“Goddamn it, what did I say about callin’ me that?” He didn’t sound mad. There was annoyance, but something else, too.
“I apologize.”
Mondo sighed. “T’s fine…told me enough anyway.”
“Huh?” He was confused.
“I-I really do love ya, Kiyotaka.” He felt his face heat up. M-...no, Mondo loved him? Why? Sure, they were close. They’ve known each other for so long, and he knew Mondo liked him, but he never thought to that extent. “But I…Kiyotaka I don’t wanna influence you to do stuff…to think bout me in a way that you don’t.”
“Mondo, I-”
“Stop, I wanna wait until we’re equals both to me and my family.”
A silence fell over them. “Mondo,” he felt Mondo’s eyes on him, more alert than before. “You said we were equals here, correct?”
“...yeah, I did.”
He reached out and grabbed his hands. Mondo said so himself, this was the closest thing to normal they could have for a while. If this was all he could have, he would take it. “As long as we’re equals, let’s be together.”
“We’ll have to end it…after graduation…”
“I know, but I believe we’ll find a way to stay together.” He laced their fingers together. “I love you, Mondo.”
Mondo smiled at him. It made his heart flutter. “I love you, too, Kiyotaka.” Mondo pulled him close and wrapped his arms around him in a tight embrace.
He smiled and held him close. No matter what, he wanted to be by his side. He was happy being Mondo’s sword, but nothing could ever compare to the happiness he felt being the person that Mondo loved.