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Chifuyu is greeted by silence as he steps outside.
The night welcomes him with a refreshingly cool gust of wind. It wafts his cheeks like a ghost, dances with his blonde hair and a faint shiver rushes down his skin.
Only a barely perceptible clicking sound can be heard as he closes the door behind him. Carefully, so he doesn’t wake up his mom. He then turns around and surveys the small area in front of the apartment with observant eyes.
Because of the nocturnal darkness, a few objects stand out only as shadowy outlines. The cold moonlight seems to suck out every inch of color. Chifuyu’s attention wanders past stacked crates, an ornamental plant and a basketball — but what he is primarily looking for is nowhere to be found.
It’s not uncommon for Peke J to roam around the city this late. There have also been a couple of nights that he spent outside and didn’t came back until the early morning hours. Chifuyu has gotten used to this behavior for a long time and doesn’t let it bother him anymore.
Well … actually.
This time, however, Peke J didn’t just stay away for a few hours. Or for one night. But for almost three days.
Chifuyu tried not to think about it too much, tried to take it as rationally as possible. After all, cats are free-spirited beings that follow their instincts and are not guided by time specifications.
Nevertheless, a soft scratching made him jump out of his bed like he was strucked by lightning. As he followed the sound with his eyes wide open, a wave of relief rolled over him when he recognized Peke J on the other side of the window.
But when he wanted to let him in, the black ball of fur ran away again – which is ultimately the reason why Chifuyu ended up outside in the middle of the night.
Suddenly the chilly breeze carries a soft meow towards him. At the same moment he catches a movement out of the corner of his eye and as he quickly turns his head, he just sees his cat scurrying down the banister, as quick as a shadow.
Accompanied by a tired sigh, Chifuyu lowers his eyelids and runs his right hand once over the back of his neck. His motivation for an unexpected cat hunt is limited. Especially at this time…
After crouching down to tie his gray Converse, he casually stows his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants and follows the stairs down. Everything around him seems to have come to a standstill. As if this hectic world would stop for a fleeting moment to take a deep breath.
In the distance, behind the roofs of the residential complexes, he can see the buzzing city lights of Tokyo. A wafer-thin veil of light smog envelops the picture of flickering dots on a twilight blue underground, as if someone had taken the stars from the sky and scattered them on earth. The calm atmosphere melts into him and has a soothing effect on his nerves, which are a little stained over concern for Peke J.
As soon as he arrives at the first half-landing, he stops and lets his gaze wander through the dark area again, examining it. The cool wind still blows through the stillness as this place brings back an almost forgotten childhood memory. Back then he was searching for Peke J too, and flew phenomenally over the railing on the second floor. It’s a miracle he survived unscathed.
Apart from that memory, however, nothing can be found. He purses his lip in disapproval and ambles around the next corner to descend the second set of stairs. But when he unexpectedly recognizes someone sitting on the second half-landing, he freezes in an instant. Every movement. Every muscle.
It’s him. Keisuke Baji.
It doesn’t seem like Baji has noticed him yet. His right leg is angled and his left is stretched out. While he is leaning backwards on the railing, a certain black ball for fur is relaxing in his arms and lets itself be petted. The hint of a faint smile appears on Chifuyu’s face. It’s extraordinary that Peke J is so trusting because he is usually shy around strangers.
“Up that late, Poindexter?”
The gleeful smirk on Chifuyu’s lips makes him sound way less mocking than he originally intended, but aside from that he feels an unwanted nervousness that is burgeoning inside of him. As a result, his face takes on a slightly confused expression. Wow. Will he ever be able to be normal in Baji’s presence instead of acting like a schoolgirl with a crush?
Parallel to his inner joy, he secretly questions the reasons why Baji is out here this late. He wears his Toman uniform – because of this, it’s easy to suspect that he was involved in something gang internal.
Chifuyu has enough decency to weigh up which matters he should and shouldn’t interfere in. This isn’t one of them. Even though his curiosity is eating him alive. Or his worry. Maybe both or something in between.
“Yo, Chifuyu. You’re the one to talk!” Baji’s face instantly lights up with a bright smile as soon as he sees him. It feels warm like sunshine and it exposes his sharper-than-average canines. Somehow, it reminds Chifuyu of the afternoon they met.
“Well, my reason has been missing for almost three days,” Chifuyu replies, relieved that his nervousness can at least be concealed behind a relaxed tone. “But luckily I just found him in your arms again.”
He pulls a hand out of his sweatpant pockets to point at Peke J. Baji’s eyes widen slightly. Due to the distance, Chifuyu almost didn’t recognize it.
“Man, sorry. If I had known, I would have tried to reach out to you…”
“It’s cool.” Chifuyu shrugs nonchalantly. He runs his hand through his blond hair to push a few strands back before giving him a crooked smile. “Peke J likes you very much. Should have checked up on you way sooner, I guess.”
He can’t remember the last time he could be so at ease when dealing with someone else. After years of carefully enclosing this part of him behind a protective wall of authority and aloofness, this openness feels a little … Unfamiliar. Unfamiliar, but not wrong. At least not in Baji’s presence.
Baji huffs a laugh. “Wait, I’ll hand him over,” he says, as he struggles to get up.
“Oh, I’m in no hurry.” Before Chifuyu is fully aware of his words they have already left his mouth.
Wait. What…?
Baji pauses.
“Uhm. I mean…” Chifuyu thinks about how to finish the sentence, but he can’t think of anything. In fact, he doesn’t even know why he opened his mouth in the first place, so he presses his lips together to discipline himself.
To his relief, however, Baji doesn’t seem to be expecting a verbal response and leans back again, his posture relaxed. Invitingly, he taps the floor next to him with his hand.
Chifuyu blinks in perplexity.
How did Baji take it?
He ponders about it for a few seconds until he just accepts that he won’t be able to read Baji’s thoughts sometimes. Accompanied by a deep breath, he closes his eyelids, mentally counts to three and begins to descend the stairs step by step at a controlled pace. His hands linger in the pockets of his sweatpants and his appearance is completely relaxed. On the outside, at least.
On his way down, he takes a closer look at Baji’s appearance. Black clothes with golden accents. His medium-length, black hair is wild and open. It still lights up a little flame of excitement in Chifuyu’s heart whenever he sees Baji in Toman’s uniform. It’s so different from his appearance when they first met, his school uniform with the fat glasses and the perfectly tied hair.
He thought that Baji’s school uniform looked utterly stupid from the very first second. On the other hand, though, it’s a testament to his dedication and ambition and his iron will to fight for his promotion this time to not disappoint his mom again. This gives his school uniform a certain charm. That’s why Chifuyu even likes it. A little bit. Maybe.
The closer he gets to Baji, the more clearly he can see him through the veil of darkness. Chifuyu narrows his eyes. Are there scratches on Baji's face?
Suddenly his eyes widen in horror when he sees rough cuts in the uniform, just like countless fine blood splatters on his face. It’s not the first time he’s seen bruises on him. Within the last few weeks has often noticed minor injuries. A small bruise on the eye or arm.
But it’s never been this bad.
Whatever he’s been involved in, it has been rough.
Chifuyu’s throat goes bone dry.
Is that why Baji is out here? Because he’s exhausted? Or seriously hurt?
The mere thought of it drives sharp claws deep into his heart.
…Would he even admit it?
Probably not.
Chifuyu keeps his circling thoughts to himself as he silently sits cross-legged next to Baji.
Accompanied by a restrained mewing, Peke J hops over to his lap, curls up and Chifuyu lets his finger lovingly slide through the soft black fur.
“It’s nothing. Just a few scratches,” Baji remarks laconically, as if he’d heard all the unspoken words, too.
Surprised, Chifuyu looks up before turning to face him, full of disbelief. He strongly doubts that it’s just a few scratches, but leaves it uncommented.
Baji had hardly changed his seating position. He still has one leg stretched out and the other one ankled, but now he has placed his left arm on his knee and looks up at the starry sky. Despite the darkness of the night, his bronze-colored irises have a peculiar glow.
“Went home from a meeting with the other captains and bumped into a pack of wannabe delinquents,” Baji continues. “They threatened us a few days earlier. Thought it was a good idea to mess with Toman.”
Suddenly his gaze swings straight to Chifuyu. A victorious grin adorns his face, and his fighting spirit flickers through his eyes like a raging inferno. He raises his right fist, showing off his scraped knuckles. “These fuckers were literally begging me to kick their asses!”
If it was for anyone else, Chifuyu might have declared them absolutely insane. No one in their right mind would even think of fighting a rival gang single-handedly at night.
But he knows firsthand that Baji should never be underestimated. And just in this moment, the memory of the day they met and how Baji fought the Mandala gang rushes through his mind. No … That wasn’t a fight. It was a one-sided carnage.
Chifuyu’s memory is crystal clear, because he never experienced anything that impressed him this much. Not even remotely. He remembers Baji’s wild grin. The fearless look in his eyes. His precise but deadly movements, as if he were hunting danger like a predator it’s prey.
Baji takes his duty as the captain of Toman’s first division seriously. So whoever fucks with the ones that he cares for must be either very dumb or suicidal.
“You risk a lot for your friends,” Chifuyu notes appreciatively. Too much, he adds mentally.
It’s not like he thinks that Baji is weak. Definitely not. His physical strength is for sure the coolest thing he’s seen in a long time. But he can’t get rid of the queasy feeling that Baji is willing to go beyond his own limits to protect the ones he loves.
To date, Chifuyu has kept almost everyone at distance. He doesn’t have close friends, not really. Therefore he cannot say whether it’s his nature or this is a special case; but he doesn’t want to leave Baji alone with this burden. He couldn’t look away, even if he wanted to, no matter how strong Baji might be.
And the injuries on his body are fueling his fire of revenge even further. Chifuyu slowly runs a hand over his neck and cracks it a bit to release some pent-up tension. Part of him just want’s to make these thugs pay for it. He wants to feel how their noses give in beneath his knuckles. To hear the characteristic snap of bones breaking away from their natural shape.
Baji kicked their ass already, but this is about principle. No one hurts the people Chifuyu cares for. No one.
“But man, beating up some rival delinquents in the middle of the night, all alone?” Chifuyu adds, covering his thoughts with a carefree tone. “Even I would think twice about it! You really aren’t scared of anything, huh?”
“If I am scared of anything?” Baji snorts in amusement. “You’re asking funny questions, Matsuno.”
There is a momentary silence as these words sink in. Only the whistling of the wind blowing through Tokyo can be heard.
“I’m not scared of a bunch of losers, at least.” A combative grin exposes Baji’s sharper-than-average canines. “But they landed some blows, gotta give’em that. That’s why I’m sitting out here until I can walk normally again. I’m freezing my ass off, but I don’t want my mom to see me like that.”
Ah. That explains a lot. Ryoko won’t be pleased if she notices that Baji was involved in a fight again…
“Put some ice on it as soon as you get the chance.” Symbolically, Chifuyu taps his knuckles with his forefinger and as he does so, Baji looks down to his own scraped ones. “If you cool it down, the bruises will disappear faster. That’s how I always hid it from my mom when I was involved in a fight.”
Finally, Chifuyu leans back against the railing, too. His hand is still caressing through the soft, black fur. Peke J purrs happily and beneath his fingertips he feels the gentle vibration of the little body.
“Do you always fight on your own?”
“Huh?”
“I mean something like tonight,” Chifuyu specifies. “Kicking some enemy’s asses single-handedly when they are looking for trouble with Toman.”
“When we are about to fight a whole gang, no,” Baji replies unperturbed. “But if it’s just a bunch of small fries, yeah, usually. I don’t need a fucking babysitter, following me around everywhere.”
“Or maybe it’s the concern that someone will get in serious danger by following you.”
With this conclusion, Chifuyu seems to have hit the bull’s eye. Baji gives him a quick sideways glance and raises his eyebrows. Apparently he’s not used to someone looking behind his facade so quickly. Or that anyone is able to do so at all. But for Chifuyu, it wasn’t even difficult to see through Baji. On the contrary; In fact, it’s obvious. It’s obvious because he and Baji are somewhat alike.
Yet, Baji is special.
Chifuyu has met countless delinquents during his life. He had to, because it’s hard to avoid them in Japan’s capital city. As well as their brutality, their ruthlessness and their aggressiveness. Over the years he has learned that those hideous traits are mostly everything these guys have to define themselves by. Basically, they are nothing more than small fries who feel more important than they are.
“I mean … I get it. I’d protect my friends at any cost, too.” A hint of a smile crosses Chifuyu’s face as he watches the blurred city lights in the distance.
The delinquents in Tokyo shouldn’t be taken lightly. However, Chifuyu was quick to make clear that he shouldn’t be taken lightly, either. He won’t take shit from anyone. Especially not from some lame ass upper graders, which he has proven many times already when they tried to mess with him. And some of his classmates gather around him, using his reputation for protection or to look intimidating.
Chifuyu tolerates it. Yet he knows that these aren’t friendships, at least not what he would define as a friendship. He says that he would protect his friends as if it was the most natural thing, though he hasn’t had anyone he would go that far for a very long time. Or someone who he would call a friend at all. Not even close. Until now.
“But keep in mind that I will always have your back, even when you won’t accept me in Toman.” Chifuyu turns to him, wearing a bright and honest smile on his face. “Partner.”
Baji doesn’t reply anything. His facial expressions are completely impassive, even bored as his gaze rests on the distant lights. It’s one of those moments when it’s hard to guess what his thoughts are.
“How far are you willing to go?” he asks and his attention immediately shifts to Chifuyu. Bronze-colored irises slide up and down as they examine him closely.
“As far as I have to go,” Chifuyu replies truthfully, shrugging his shoulders, making it seem like his words were nothing special. But they are.
Baji’s physical strength is remarkable. And yet it was never primarily what Chifuyu admired him for – but for his heart. Unlike every other delinquents he has ever met, sheer violence has never been the base of Baji’s nature. But his passion, his loyalty and bravery.
Baji gives him a sense of security. As if he could let his walls down for the first time without having to worry that he is going to regret it. That’s why Baji is the first one he ever wants to hang out with. Why he’s the first one he’s ever paid his respects to. Why he’s the first one he would follow to the depths of hell and back.
Apparently annoyed, Baji rolls his eyes and clicks his tongue. “You’re a dramatic one, huh?” Then he becomes more serious again and looks straight at him. “Ever wondered why I won’t let you join Toman?”
The smile on Chifuyu fades away slowly. Their gazes lock and Baji’s words feel as heavy as an anchor.
“I’m not scared of anything,” Baji begins, picking up the thread from before. “Even if I had to face dozens of Toman’s enemies. Or, hundreds. Fuck’em all, I’ll beat the shit out of them like it’s nothing.”
Baji looks him straight in the eye as they drift together in sudden silence. But something beneath the depths of his bronze-colored irises makes the shallow waves unsteady. Something meaningful. Something captivating. Chifuyu couldn’t look away even if he wanted to.
“But that does scare me,” Baji concludes.
Chifuyu knows that these words refer to what he said earlier.
As far as I have to go.
Two heartbeats longer than necessary, they just look at each other.
“You say something like that.” Chifuyu smirks at him mischievously and simply sweeps the tension away. “And then you call me dramatic?”
At this comment, Baji flicks up his middle finger before his features soften and he resolves the gesture with an amused laugh. Chifuyu can’t help but happily join in.
Even if he doesn’t show it; he is well aware of what these words mean. He can read every single syllable that is written between the lines and locks it in his heart.
The night goes by until the stars begin to fade behind the first rays of the rising morning sun – and somewhere in between time seems to have lost all meaning.
Chifuyu realizes it as he just blinks himself awake, blinded by unexpected daylight. As soon as he is really awake, he immediately notices several things:
First, Peke J is still there; curled up in his lap and sleeping peacefully.
Second would be the fact that he’s still where he was last night, sitting on the half-landing of the building complex he lives in.
And third, it would be the smell of an familiar aftershave. The warmth of another body. As well as a strong shoulder, on which he is leaning with his cheek and a light weight on top of his own head, exactly where Baji leaned to sleep.
Chifuyu never slept sitting up before. Let alone in such an awkward position.
Uhm. This is about to hurt like crazy…
A slight jerk signals to him that Baji has just woken up, too.
“Rise and shine, Poindexter,” Chifuyu murmurs sleepily, his head not yet moving an inch.
A second later, a sharp Fuck is hissed at him as Baji tries to move his sore limbs, but eventually gives up.
Chifuyu chuckles to himself until he gently nudges him with his elbow. “Time to get up, otherwise we’ll be late for school.”
“Tch, not without a little snack. I’m about to fucking die.”
“Hm. I think we still have Peyoung Yakisoba.” Chifuyu blinks up at him as a crooked grin creeps onto his lips. “But only one, though.”
From his position, he can see as the corners of Baji’s mouth lift into a knowing smile. “Which means?”
“Let’s split them.”