Chapter Text
On this day, the beginning rang bright and true.
You wake up; you get ready for work. You check your uniform. The usual trek to your job is a recurring thing. You love to have a relaxing stroll before your shift, despite the area you live in being more on the rambunctious part of town. You decide to make the best of it. You know almost every business on this part and the people who live there. This has been your life since childhood.
It is so a part of the time in your day that you can just listen to music before entering the building. You end your day off on a good note after training a new employee who will take the night shifts. It feels good. So now you don’t have to worry about covering now and then like at this point. You don’t complain though, it’s more money in your pocket.
It’s been a great day. When you get off, the sun has already gone down. This will be the last night shift you have to do. You grip your jacket tight, hoping your badge doesn’t slip out of the loose pockets. You plug in your headphones to distract you on your tread.
People walk past you talking and laughing, you go down your usual route, not hearing ahead of time the yelling. You didn’t notice the shouts from a few men and a punch walloping them to one of them to the ground.
“Fucking bastards!”
Another round of hits coming from the taller individual stops the voice. You look up then to see it.
Two men above the few others who are downed in a matter of seconds. One of them uses his boots to kick another person's face in and you watch in sheer horror. You look around quickly for a place to be where they don’t see you. You settle behind one of the trash bins in the shadows.
You recognize the two. The Haitani brothers of Roppongi. You remember hearing about them since your school days. The two of them were high school dropouts who took to the streets.
You’ve never seen them before. Only ever heard the feared whispers circulating around. Even after you graduated, currently going to college, you still hear about fights in the area. The perpetrators are usually the brothers themselves. The formidable power of these two and just the infamy behind their name was enough to unsettle you. You had to figure out how to get out of this situation. You needed to flee.
You crouch low, but you accidentally rattle an empty can beside you. No way! Your mind screams. You stay still, scared to even look. There’s a quiet that drapes over and you pray silently hoping they didn’t notice.
“What was that?” Rindou asks, dropping the man he was punching back to the ground. He looks out into the alley, seeing nothing.
Ran shakes his head. “Probably one of those cats.”
They continue to their violent delights and you feel stuck. If they came around here and found you, what would they do?
You take the can with you, to make sure it doesn’t sneak its way by you again. You carefully shuffle out of the alley, turning the corner sharply.
Ran stops, looking at the corner of the alley in suspicion. He did see something leaving there. “Hold on.”
When he walks over to the spot you were there at he kicks over the trash can and nothing is there. Something bright and pink catches his attention, he looks down seeing the one thing you didn’t want to leave behind.
Ran raises an eyebrow. He picks it up and takes it with him. “It was more of a fox,” he murmurs to himself. His brother looks at him curiously while he’s in the alleyway. “Let’s go, Ran!”
When you get back home, you shuffle away from your mom. The sensation of your heart thundering in your chest, becoming painful. That had to be the worst encounter in your life. It could’ve been you there instead. You release a breath, folding into yourself. You were happy to be out of there.
Your mother knocks on the door, concerned for your well being. You assure her it was nothing. Just something that startled you.
You go about your nightly routine, trying not to think about what you have witnessed. Something akin to a murder, it felt like. You pace a bit in your room before finally working up to a bath and getting some rest. You ignore your untouched homework for tomorrow.
All you could see and hear was the fight you had bared witness to. You lay awake for too long, staring at your ceiling. You really hope they didn’t see you.
Ran leans against his couch, toying with the badge. It was a cutesy lanyard, one with flowers and rabbits decorating it. The photo of you with a demure smile, hair clipped out of your face. He stares at it for a long while, the area where you work not being too far away from where the fight had been.
He knows now why you had been there in the first place, probably because that skirmish had been directly on the path you take to head home.
Rindou’s footsteps come close, leaning over the cushion of the couch to see what his brother is looking at. “What is it?”
Ran pockets the photo away easily, but pulls out the strap of the badge from his pocket to show him. “Just a little thing someone left.”
Rindou raises a brow, not quite looking as interested as his brother. “From the fox?”
He walks around to get the remote from the table. Rindou sits on the other side of the sofa, turning up the volume.
“Yeah,” he says, tracing the design of the flowers on the strap. He lays his head back, shutting his eyes.
“Hey, go to your bed.” Rindou interrupts the moment. “You’ll be bitching at me in the morning.”
Ran, with his eyes closed, reaches over to the table, grabbing an empty beer bottle and flinging it at Rindou.
His brother dodges it, sneering at him. “Man, we seriously need to clean.”
“Don’t wake me up again, asshat.”
When you rise the next morning you look into the mirror seeing the worst eye bags in your life adorning your face. “Good god,” you say to yourself. You look at yourself, pulling at your skin. You brush your teeth, trying to get yourself together. Whatever is keeping you stable is working. You do your best not to remind yourself what you had witnessed that night.
You go about it all well and perfect. You pull up your dress pants, the button up shirt, and the ridiculous hat you have to wear as part of your uniform. Once you get your apron on you look in the mirror. Everything looks relatively okay.
When you pick up your jacket you check it for your badge. Nothing is there.
You feel no strap or the plastic of your ID.
The panic sets in quickly then. “No, no, no!” You look everywhere, turning over everything in your room. You retrace your steps. You ask your mom if maybe she had seen it anywhere in the entry. “I haven’t, dear. I would’ve left it on the table if I did,” she says.
“That means I left it–” your brain supplies itself with the memory of the alleyway. That was the last spot you were in. You feel the coldness wash over. “That means I left it at work, then.”
Your mom gives you an odd look. There’s a burst of energy inside you, you quickly rush out the door. You sprint out of the gate and it closes with a clang behind you. You run down the intersection not bothering to look and when you arrive at the small alley; you see a kicked over trash can and a cat sleeping there.
“This can’t be happening!” You yell to yourself, surprising the cat who peers at you. The breaths come in and out of you quickly. Your head is spinning. “Focus, focus.”
Even if you left it, maybe someone had found it. Although the moment of hope disappears when you realize either the men defeated could’ve found it, the Haitani’s, which is horrifying, or the police. Something like this could’ve been avoidable had you just gone the other direction.
You walk quickly, trying to keep yourself together, but it is futile. Your mind does little to relax itself. This is the worst possible scenario that could have possibly happened to you.
When you head into work. You’re scrambling to find your manager. You knock heavily on her door, and she opens it, returning to her seat. “What is it?”
“I’ve misplaced my ID,” you blurt out. She doesn’t look up just yet from the computer, but squints at you as if she can’t see you right. “What?”
“I misplaced my ID. I have no clue where it went. How do I get a new one? Also, I’m sorry I know I must sound insane–”
Your boss stops you from talking anymore. “Ah, it's fine, kid. Really, a new one to get it replaced is about 500 yen.”
You heave out a relieved sigh. Although your boss pauses at that response. “Let me double check that.”
She rolls over to her side of a filing cabinet, pulling out the manual. She flips through the pages, landing on one of the employee protocols pages. “Actually, it could be 1000 yen.”
You gasp. “No, what–I mean, that’s not that bad, but if I can’t find it?”
The manager looks over the set of rules. “I think it’s also a fine of 2000 yen.”
You groan. You’re trying to save up to help your mom with rent. The next semester for college is coming up as well. You had to figure out textbooks and supplies. You try to make the best of it by not having a complete meltdown. “Oh no, that’s fine. I’ll figure it out.”
“You also need that badge to clock in. Do you remember your employee ID?”
You freeze for a moment, trying to wrack your memory, but all you can think about is the police showing up at your place of work interrogating you on a crime you did not commit. They would think you’re an accomplice to it. “No,” you mumble out, deflating.
Your boss sighs, shrugging her shoulders. “Look, just go do your shift. I’ll help you if you need it.”
Your lower lip trembles a little at that, thanking her profusely while she shuts you out of the office. “Alright, alright. Enough thanking me or I’m going to take it back.”
You begin your shift despite the impending worry of detectives hounding you about what you saw in the alleyway.
What if those men had died? You didn’t do anything to stop it. All you could hear was the horrible wails of these guys getting mutilated by just two guys. They were unstoppable. You had hid well in the corner, in the darkness of the alley. You didn’t want them to think you took some sick fascination seeing them fight, but you couldn’t look away. You had been frozen to the spot. You try to hush your mind by keeping it busy.
You continue doing your work. Trying to have a decent shift by greeting customers, restocking items, and with only two hours left of your shift, you were going to be free.
Then you could go home and start on some schoolwork.
When the store had finally reached a calming point with no more customers, you ducked below the counter to look for more trash bags to have on the ready. The ding of the shop door signaling the arrival of someone.
“Hello, welcome!” You call out, peeking out, but seeing no one there. You think nothing of it, continuing to reach around the bottles of disinfectant spray.
Finally successful in grabbing them, you rise up, looking at some things already placed in front of you. A bag of chips, gum and green tea. The person there you didn’t see, but then you could see the drumming of fingers at the counter. Which meant someone was looking at the display case below.
“Ah, will this be all?” You ask the suspicious person. You direct your attention back to the register to scan the three items when something else is slid in front of you.
There’s two fingers pushing your ID badge in your line of sight and you feel your stomach plummet. “And this,” the voice says. You look up then to be in the gaze of one of the boys you saw that night.
His hands were wrapped in white bandages. This had to be him. One of the guys that was doing all the work in absolutely destroying that group of men. You swallow, uncertain of how to proceed. He looks at you with a blasé expression. You’re a little frightened to look in his eyes, so you opt to stare at the earrings he has on.
“You left this last night,” he says. You nod slowly, robotically. You’re terrified of what’s to come next. He may pull you outside to scare you or worse, to be punched into submission for watching. He may pull out your teeth with his bare hands or break your arms so you can’t finish your homework. Every scenario surfaces inside of your mind. Ran Haitani seems to watch you with a deadpan look, but his eyes tell a different story.
You’re squirming. It’s obvious. “When you have your break, meet me out back.” He grabs his snacks, taking your badge with him and walks out of the store while you stand there in utter shock.
You take a moment to process everything. He didn’t even pay for his stuff. You whine to yourself in panic, hurriedly pulling out the trash bags from the front.
You knock on your boss’ door. “I have to take out the trash. Can you watch the front, please!” You don’t wait for an answer and you rush out the back door. It clangs open, and he is there, reclining against the wall, swinging your lanyard without a care in the world. Must be nice, you grouse to yourself.
Before he even has time to speak, you fuss at him. “You didn’t pay! That’s going to come out of my paycheck, you know!”
Ran shrugs, stopping his entertainment. “A fair trade,” he replies.
Your mouth drops, suddenly acutely aware you are alone with the same guy who beat several grown men into a pulp. You backtrack quickly. “Well–I just, I thought–”
“No,” he says, interrupting you. “You didn’t think.”
You feel squeamish. “Fine, I can pay for the stuff, but can you not kick my ass? I mean–if you do, can you at least make it fast?” You're rambling. You know this, but you just can’t seem to stop. “I also have to go back in ten minutes. Maybe if you kick my ass, you could do it after all of this. I get off right at five, so we can do that then. I’ll meet you back here if you’d like.”
He has said nothing throughout the entirety of your spiel. His voice breaks through your tirade. “I wouldn’t hit a cute girl.”
You stop, brows furrowing at him. That’s entirely out of left field and not what you were expecting. “What–what if I was an ugly girl?”
Ran faces you entirely, his shoulder resting against the wall seeming to be interested now. “And what would cause that hypothetical?”
"You! You would be the cause. It’d be you rearranging my face to look like those ogres or maybe I just came out with two more eyes or an extra nose.”
Ran sighs, reaffirming his earlier statement. “Like I said, I don’t hit cute girls.”
You stare for a long time. You feel so out of place at the moment and his expression doesn’t give himself away. You have no clue why he’s here, other than that he has your ID. You need that back.
“Okay, if you’re not here to give me hell. Can I have my badge back? I need that to clock in and out.”
“Go on a date with me.”
You gape at him. You do not know how to react to that other than just be dumbfounded. “What, why?” Those were the only two words escaping your consciousness.
Ran doesn’t explain further. “Go on a date with me and I’ll give you your id after it.”
You want to shake your head no, but you’re a little worried he may actually take it the wrong way. “I have work tomorrow at the same time–”
“We can do it when you get off. I’ll be waiting for you.”
You hesitate, absolutely uncertain of what his motives are. Is he wanting to butter you up so you don’t talk to police about what you saw? Maybe it was one of those things where he convinces you to become an accomplice? Could he do that? Will the other guy with him be there too? There’s an entire scenario bouncing around your head and you’re scared.
Ran blinks, still waiting for your response. What a gentleman, your mind replies sarcastically.
“Just one date?” You ask, a little terrified of his response. Ran shrugs.
“It could be more than one.”
You shake your head. “It’s either one date or I don’t take my badge and I will charge you for theft.”
Ran stuffs his hands in his pockets, leaning towards you. “Aren’t you setting yourself up for failure?”
You kick yourself. Stop trying to act confident, you gripe. He’s smarter than that! Your imaginary self in your mind’s eye slaps you around a little bit. “Fine! Just tell me when and where.” You yield to him.
Ran stands up straighter. His aura is just dripping with arrogance. He’s got you right where he wanted you. You let him win this time, but you will get that badge back.
“Meet me at the arcade at 7:00.” He doesn’t even preface it with a question. It was a demand. You had to be there or else.
You file through your mind trying to remember where the local gaming area was. “Alright.”
“See you then,” he says. He picks up his things, finishes the rest of the green tea he did not pay for, and throws it in the dumpster.
He leaves you alone to your thoughts.
“What the hell?” You whisper. The entire moment felt surreal. You head back into work in a daze, at a complete loss at what just happened.
You have a date with one of the worst people you know.
That will take the whole night to process.