Chapter Text
He often had a dream.
When the house smells like alcohol more than usual. When the arguments are longer and louder than usual. When he's more tired than usual.
There was a dream that appeared, the same dream he had since he was but a child.
A woman with the same face as him, leaving him in a basket, in front of an orphanage. The view of her long, purple hair as he faces her back before she disappeared onto obscurity.
And even now, the same dream appears in his sleep.
Kunikuzushi woke up from that same despicable dream. He groaned at the memory. He got up to wash his face, and as he was wiping it, he saw his own reflection in the mirror.
A man whose height was stunted because of the lack of nutrition he had while growing up. His body is decorated with light scars from growing up. He laughed mockingly.
"You're already a grown man, Kunikuzushi, when will you move on?"
—
Kunikuzushi yawned as he walked towards his university's gate. Unfortunately for him, there were a lot of students flocking in front of the gate. Though he expected this as it was the first day of another academic year, they are all in the way and they are annoying.
"Archons, just drop dead if you're gonna be in the way. People can't pass through." He mumbled as he attempted to make his way through the crowd and get inside the campus.
“W-woah! It really is the daughter of Raiden Ei!”
“She looks so much like her! She’s so majestic!”
“Eek! I want to see her closer!”
As much as he tried to ignore them, the gods were not on his side that day and he felt his hat almost slip out of his head because of the crowd. At this point he was already at his limit.
“Move out of the way!” Kunikuzushi yelled at the student in front of him.
“Hey! What’s the big deal!” The student yelled back at him angrily.
“You are all so annoying!” He spat as he fixed his hat back into place. “Go meet that freshman when she’s not at the front gate you bastards, you’re in the way!”
“Why you–” The student was about to hit him when he glared. The student froze and his eyes widened as he stared at Kunikuzushi’s eyes. When the student didn’t speak, Kunikuzushi rolled his eyes and continued his way inside the campus.
Archons. He’s no longer in the mood to attend classes.
SLAM
Everyone inside the club room starred at the doorway as another presence entered the room, albeit, rather angrily.
Kunikuzushi threw his bag on his locker and made his way to the refrigerator and got himself a whole small cake. He sat beside Ajax and started munching on the cake, with the ginger beside him rather bewildered by his actions.
“Geez, at least say ‘Good morning’, you seem pissed off today, Balladeer.”
“Shut the fuck up Childe.”
“I’ll take that as a greeting then.” Ajax laughed.
Zandik chuckled as he observed the two.
“I take it that something happened this morning?” He asked as he continued typing on his laptop.
Kunikuzushi wiped off the leftover cream on his face with a napkin.
“Annoying bastards at the gate kept ogling at the new student.”
“The crowd still hasn’t let up?” Arlecchino asked, “It was like that when I arrived on campus as well.”
“According to the chatters in the hallway, the new student just arrived just now.” Sandrone replied while scrolling at her phone. “Scaramouche just had a terrible timing.”
Kunikuzushi clicked his tongue. “More like those bastards can’t even think for themselves that they are being a hindrance. What’s the big deal with the new student anyway?”
“Haven’t you heard?” Pantalone said, “The heiress of the Tri Commissions started attending this university.”
“None of us had heard of her nor the Tri Commissions.” Columbina lazily commented.
“Well, just a brief introduction, The Tri Commissions used to be a highly influential company until around 22 years ago, there was a rumor around the CEO which was covered up then the company plunged. Although around four years ago the company slowly rose back into the stock market and they are pretty much doing well for themselves. The CEO had drastically changed of course. Also, it was her beauty that captured the attention of the younger audience which is why a lot of our generation is interested in them.”
“......................”
“What?”
Everyone looked at each other before looking again at Pantalone.
“I have a lot of questions but for our sanity, I’ll just ignore it.” Arlecchino. “Well, then doesn’t that mean you know what the CEO looks like?”
Pantalone shook his head. “To be honest, I was focused on the article that I didn’t glimpse at her face so–”
“I’ll look.” Sandrone said. “You have me invested in this story now, I’ll be bothered if I don’t know her face. What’s her name again?”
Kunikuzushi looked at them all with disbelief. Though he had expected it, his clubmates were more of a gossiper than he thought. He already lost interest in the story anyway, he stood up and went to wash his plate.
“You all enjoy your gossip there, I’m going to class.”
“Don’t forget, we have a meeting later, don’t ditch us this time you little bitch.” Arlecchino replied without looking at him, as she was staring at Sandrone’s phone as they researched the face of the CEO.
“Yeah, yeah.”
Silence followed the room as everyone went back to their work. Suddenly, Sandrone and Arlecchino jumped from their seats.
“Holy crap!”
–
Kunikuzushi’s phone kept ringing all day which annoyed him. However, his clubmates knew that he doesn’t respond to calls and messages during classes so he just ignored it. Whatever they have to say can be mentioned inside the clubroom.
Although, he couldn’t help but notice that people have been staring at him today more than he liked.
–
Classes ended quickly today and he made his way to the clubroom. As much as he’d like to go straight to his part-time job today, they might end up going to his work to hold the meeting (they have done that in the past and it was an unpleasant experience) so to avoid that, he now attends meetings properly.
Moreover, he wants to wrap up the meeting quickly. He opened the door and everyone was already in the room.
“Everyone’s here already? That makes wrapping up this meeting faster then.” He said and sat down.
However, he noticed that no one was speaking and was staring at him intensely.
“The hell is your problem?”
“You didn’t even look at the groupchat even once.” Ajax replied with disappointment in his voice.
“Some of us need to pay attention to class.” Kunikuzushi retorted. “Besides, we can discuss it here.”
“And I went out of my way to send that.” Sandrone mumbled.
“Whatever.” He said. “Let’s start the meeting.”
“Hoo boy.” Zandik snickered at him as Rosalyne started the meeting.
–
“--And Capitano, make sure to submit these files to Professor Pierro, you don’t want to get reprimanded by him again.” Rosalyne reminded Capitano.
“Eugh…”
“Don’t ‘eugh’ me.” Rosalyne warned him.
“Now that none of you have any complaints, this meeting is adjourned.”
Kunikuzushi stretched his back as everyone else began packing their bags. He could feel their side glances at him but he was too tired to mind them. He picked up his bag and made his way out of the room, while his clubmates remained fixated on his figure that disappeared from the door.
“Amazing…” Zandik said. “He didn’t even check his phone once.”
–
No one else in the campus knows except his clubmates, however, Kunikuzushi is very fond of sweets. He doesn’t understand it himself, but the smell of sugar calms him down. His sweet tooth in fact reached the point that Zandik was concerned for his health. Luckily for him he never had any problems with his sweets consumption. And that same fondness is the reason why he looked for a job at a sweets cafe.
He had arrived early, but luckily, there weren’t a lot of customers today so his shift should go smoothly.
As soon as he started working, a sweet scent covered the air of the cafe, he sighed fondly. He felt like crap all morning but sugar has never failed him. This cafe has always been his favorite routine of the day ever since he left home.
While carrying a box of tarts inside the storage room, he saw a dark purple car park in front of the cafe. The customers might wait a bit as he has to place these tarts inside quickly.
As he arranged the food, he could hear gasps throughout the cafe which is an unusual reaction unless someone popular went inside. Which is strange because this cafe is not as well-known compared to others around the campus. Well, that only means it’s either a normal customer or an annoying one. He can deal with both.
He finished arranging the food when he heard the bell ringing to ask for a cashier.
“Coming!” He signaled and opened the door from the storage room.
Usually, he greets a customer and fakes a smile as part of customer service. He takes their order and makes it then receives the payment. The face of the customer is irrelevant.
Not today.
As he opened the door, he found himself staring at indigo eyes, the same indigo eyes he possessed. Her hair– had the same indigo hair he had… and the same light blue streaks that he was born with. Her long hair fell below her shoulders, the length was the same as hers.
Like the woman in his dreams.
The aroma of sweets had entered his nose and he was brought back to reality, albeit, very stunned at what he saw. And by the woman’s expression, she was startled as well.
He immediately put in his facade, though he couldn’t bring himself to put on his signature smile.
“Welcome! May I take your order?”
The woman flinched slightly, seemingly snapped out of her daze as well. She tapped awkwardly on the menu, her eyes not leaving his face as she spoke.
“I would like 2 sets of dango as well as 2 large-sized dango milk.”
Kunikuzushi doesn’t know why, but he felt his stomach sink at the mention of two.
“Are you eating it here or would you like to have it packed?”
“... I’ll have it packed.”
“I see, please take a seat first, I’ll bring your order soon.”
He turned his back on her quickly, he couldn’t handle looking at her face any longer. A quick glance at her clothes and he could see her wearing the same lanyard as the one in his university. As if he wasn’t suffering enough for gods sake, she even goes to the same fucking school as him.
Kunikuzushi placed her order on the table she was seated at. He could finally give his smile at her,
“Here’s your order, enjoy it with your company. ”
She looked like she wanted to say something, but he couldn’t stand a meter within her radius anymore and went back to the kitchen.
The rest of his shift felt like a blur, he couldn’t remember everything else and couldn’t hear everything else. As if he was a puppet working behind a cafe counter.
All he wanted to do was go back to his apartment immediately.
–
Ring ring
“Hello? Mother? I am going back home.”
“..............”
“Today was normal…”
“..............”
“I bought food from a cafe that someone recommended to me, I thought you would like it since you’re fond of sweets.”
“..............”
“I see, then I’ll see you at dinner.
……
Mother?”
“......”
“Nevermind…”
—
As soon as he stepped inside his apartment, Kunikuzushi’s knees gave out on him as he fell down. His stomach had felt so acidic and–
BLAAGGGGH
“Huff… huff..” He inhaled heavily as he tried to catch his breath. He felt like a sword had pierced through his head and body as his limbs wobbled.
He hated this.
He hated feeling like crap like this.
Kunikuzushi rushed to the bathroom and took off his clothes immediately, cleaning his body in an attempt to relax. As he soaked himself in the bath, he couldn’t stop thinking about the student he met at work. There were too many similarities to make it just a coincidence. He felt sick.
He cleaned his mess and went to make himself some hot chocolate.
That’s right. In times like this, sweets would calm his nerves.
He sat down at the dining table and finally opened his phone that everyone was nagging him to do. Immediately he was bombarded with a fuck ton of messages from their group chat. He opened his phone and Sandrone chatted.
[Machine geek: look who finally opened the chat]
[Ginger brat: Took you long enough!]
He typed in a few words.
[Fandango: what the hell were you all bothering me about]
[Mad Doctor: back read you bitch]
[Fandango: you are all too fucking noisy to scroll back]
[Hatoful GF: read back here (link)]
He read their messages. His face turned into a frown into what he saw.
[Machine geek: what the fuck the new student looks like this?!]
[Heartthrob GF: that similarity to balladeer… what the hell]
[Sports Geek: is that kuni’s sis?]
Of all things that waited for him, it just had to be this. Good thing the shock had subsided now and he’s just irritated now.
[Money Hoarder: the ceo’s name is Raiden Ei and her daughter is Raiden Shogun… the similarity is so similar the could be clones what the heck]
[Machine geek: @Fandango hey look at this]
At that point, Sandrone had collected articles about Raiden Ei that contained her photos. He read every single one of them. He observed her photos in every one of them. There was no way. There was no news of her pregnancies. She had no news about her ever since the Tri Commissions fell which was around a decade and a half.
Yet he felt like there was a missing connection.
Hastily, he immediately went to his laptop and researched every piece of media he could find about her. There has to be something, there has to be something–
Ting
Kunikuzushi’s thoughts were disrupted by the message.
[Papanella: Kunikuzushi, don’t push yourself on this.]
Right. He closed his laptop and inhaled. Exhaled.
He should calm down. Even if he discovers something, what will he get from it? Bitterness. Bitterness on the fact that he was abandoned like trash. He recalled Shogun’s face from earlier. He laughed bitterly. She really does look so much like her. Perhaps, that’s the reason why he was abandoned. Erased from existence because from birth, he couldn’t even live up to the face that his birth mother had hoped.
“Ha… I’m ridiculous, what would I gain from this desperation.”
The realization had hit and he could do nothing but wallow in self-pity.
Perhaps, that dream has always been a premonition all along.
To show him how unworthy he is to the person he could’ve called “Mother.”
—
“Welcome home, Shogun.” A tall figure sits by the living room as she reads the newspaper. Shogun bows and walks towards her, carrying the food she bought from the cafe earlier.
“I’m home, Mother. I brought the food.” She replied as she placed her mother’s share of dango and dango milk. Her mother’s expression lightened up as soon as she saw the snacks.
As they ate in silence, her mother spoke,
“Did anything of note happen today?”
“Hmm?” Shogun questioned back.
“You seem perplexed today, I assume you saw something? You can talk to me about it.”
Shogun looked down awkwardly. Indeed, her mother was right on the mark. However, the topic is rather… she looked at her mother, who looked back at her with a puzzled expression. She decided earlier to keep it a secret, but it has been bothering her ever since.
The face of the employee she saw at the cafe.
She gripped her dango milk tight.
“Mother, I want to ask you something.”