Chapter Text
Yuno was lucky he had the whole city to back him up.
That was the first thought that occurred to Yeager as he listened to his father gush on and on about the infamous hacker over the phone with god-knows-who. They'd been talking for what felt like hours, and he was starting to wonder if the discussion he was patiently waiting to have was even worth it at this point.
He tapped his foot restlessly against the wooden floor of the Emperor's study, his boredom quickly being overshadowed by the bloom of jealousy in his chest – the bubbling envy that threatened to boil over with every second he spent listening to the sappy praise, which Lang seemingly reserved solely for Yuno.
It doesn’t feel good to be replaced. And it feels exponentially worse when there’s nothing you can do to stop it.
Yeager was impulsive, sure, and he certainly wasn’t the type to shy away from a little cold-blooded violence, but even he knew Yuno Sykk was untouchable. There wasn’t a gangster in the city that could come close to his level of connections, nor a socialite that could possibly be so universally well-liked by both cops and criminals alike. He had all the credentials to be the mysterious Shadow Leader that he’d been called in the past; and yet, in reality, he was far too aloof and unbothered to be concerned with such trifles as controlling the whole city singlehandedly. No, for now the man had opted to use this immense power to do nothing other than steal Lang Buddha’s attention away from his son.
“Alright, I’ll meet you at apartments. I just gotta finish this up first.” Lang’s voice cut through Yeager’s thoughts, drawing his mind back to the present. The uncharacteristically-jovial man (finally) pocketed his cell and glanced towards the half-demon, who huffed impatiently. “What do you need, son?”
“Well, I was going to invite you to come see the arcade again, but I would hate to drag you away from your favourite people. So you should just go wherever you’re going,” Yeager bit back, his tone dripping with false sweetness to hide the genuine hurt that lurked beneath his anger.
Lang raised an eyebrow at that, unamused. “Look, Yeager, whatever you’re mad about, can it wait until after I tie up these loose ends for the winery? I really don’t need–”
“–need me around anymore? That’s fine. I’ll just go if I’m such a nuisance to you. Good luck with your stupid winery.” As he spoke, Yeager spun on his heel and made for the door, fuming.
Oh, all of a sudden he’s too busy for me? He’s never too busy for fucking Yuno. How many times now has he promised to come visit the arcade? Why can’t he ever be proud of me? When will I ever be good enough? How am I supposed to compare–
“Yeager.”
Yeager knew that tone. That tone meant ‘stop walking away from me immediately or there will be consequences.’ The Emperor only used it on him when he was pissed, and Yeager was rarely bitter enough to keep being stubborn after hearing it; knowing that his father’s anger would be a worse punishment than his attitude was usually worth.
But Yeager was really upset.
He could hear the faint call of his name, shouted through the heavy double doors as they closed behind him, and he was vaguely aware of the fact he was probably making things worse. He told himself he didn’t care. Why should he? Lang clearly didn’t care.
Yeager rushed out of the manor without a word to the handful of other people milling around, probably waiting for Lang. None of them stopped him as he hopped onto his bike and sped off down the winding streets of Vinewood Hills, making it down the mountain in record time. He fumbled with his phone for a moment, scrolling through contacts and selecting his best friend’s name using pure muscle memory.
Bjorn picked up on the second ring.
“So, remind me again why you two are freaking out?” Lando asked, tossing the fiancés both a booba milk tea from his run to UwU Café.
Yeager deflated dramatically against the counter of the Guild Hall, stabbing the straw into the cup with more aggression than what was necessary. “The Emperor has replaced me,” he muttered sullenly into his drink. Bjorn nodded soberly.
“And I haven’t seen my dad since, like, last week. All he does is race and–”
”–and hang out with Goofy! How could he be choosing one of his friends over his own son? Uncle Tony should make more time for Bjorn, and he should just visit the arcade and be proud of him like he said he would, and he should stop bragging about how cool and perfect and nice his friend is, and what’s so special about him anyway–”
”...are we still talking about Goofy?” Bjorn cut in, sounding confused.
Yeager went quiet.
Oh, Lando thought, looking over the fiery self-proclaimed gang leader carefully as he put two and two together. He’s jealous of Yuno, isn’t he?
The room was silent for a moment as Yeager squirmed and glared back under his friends’ scrutiny. ”What? Spit it out, Lando,” he hissed defensively.
“If you’re so mad that Lang is spending time with Yuno, you should tell him that. I’m sure he’d understand.”
Yeager opened his mouth to snap back at him, and probably deny his jealousy, but the words died in his throat. His friend’s words bounced around in his head as he waited for the storm of emotions in his chest to settle. When they landed heavily on his heart, all he was left with was bitterness and a rare feeling of defeat. He shook his head with a small scoff.
”No, he wouldn’t understand. That’s the problem. He’ll never get it because it doesn't make sense. All he’s doing is hanging out with his favourite son. Why would I be mad? It’s not his fault that I matter less to him.”
”That’s not true, Yeager. Of course you matter to him. He’s just busy sometimes, I’m sure he’ll come around soon.” Lando looked like he had more to say, but was interrupted when Yeager’s phone started ringing.
It had been going off non-stop since he’d met up with Bjorn a few hours prior, and the pair had gotten to a point where they hardly acknowledged it anymore. Yeager didn’t even need to check the call ID to know it was Lang; he just declined the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket. Lando’s eyes widened a bit.
”You… should probably answer that, my friend.”
Yeager made a face. Lando gave him a pointed look.
”You’ll piss him off even more if you keep ignoring him, you know.”
Yeager crossed his arms and scowled. ”I don’t care. I don’t want to talk to him.”
”Well, he wants to talk to you. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
”It doesn’t count if he’s only calling to yell at me. Also, for the record, the ‘pissing him off more’ ship has already sailed. We’re waaay beyond that now.”
”Oh god, Yeager, what did you–”
Yeager’s phone started to ring.
Silence befell the trio, save for Bjorn’s loud straw noises as he attempted to suck up the last of his drink, which he’d practically inhaled throughout their argument. Yeager pulled his phone out of his pocket and hovered his thumb over the decline button. He and Lando stared each other down, neither man making any move for a long moment as they sized each other up.
The second ring passed. Then the third.
Halfway through the fourth ring, Lando lunged for the phone, but Yeager anticipated it and twisted out of the way. Waving the device triumphantly over his head, he pressed his thumb to the screen with the confidence of someone who completely and undoubtedly knows where the decline button is.
The ringing stopped, and they were once again met with a brief silence before Lang’s voice broke through it, predictably livid.
”Where the fuck are you, Yeager?”
The half-demon’s already-pale pink skin went paper white as the panic caused him to drop his phone, whispering a startled string of curses under his breath. He dove to pick it back up and end the call, but Lando was quicker. The other man held it out of his reach and spoke to him quietly enough that the receiver wouldn’t pick it up.
”If you don’t talk to him, you know damn well he’s gonna have half the city on your ass looking for you,” Lando whisper-shouted, borderline pleading. “This is one of the first places they’re gonna look. I don’t need your dad blowing up my phone thinking I’m helping to hide you from him. Just talk to him, for God’s sake!”
If looks could kill, Lando would be buried six feet under the 9th circle of hell right now, but he stood his ground as Yeager glowered and Lang faintly shouted through the phone in the background.
”Son, you are not allowed to walk away from me when I’m talking to you–”
”I’m not talking to him. If he gets to ignore me whenever he wants, then I can do the same. We’ll see how he likes it.”
”I’m gonna tell him where you are,” Lando threatened. Yeager’s hand shot out instantly.
”Fine! I’ll talk to him. I fucking hate you.”
Satisfied, Lando handed back the phone. Yeager snatched it bitterly.
”Yeager, tell me what the hell is going on with you. You know you worry me when–”
Yeager hung up.