Chapter Text
The changing colors of the trees had always greeted his arrival to Yasoinaba.
They still largely clung firmly to the branches, only a few having broken off to begin to breeze across the cracked and fractured pavement. It was the few bits of color that could be found in the otherwise lifeless town. Everywhere else he looked was grays, browns, whites, but the reds, oranges, and yellows that scattered across the lot gave him the slightest bit of life.
Inaba hadn’t always been so dreary. He still could recall the day that he had arrived in Inaba as a teenager, the sun beating down on his pale skin as the breeze blew his hair, and he caught sight of a strange girl he would never see again after that day as the cherry blossoms swirled through the air.
A picture perfect moment, now gone with all the rest.
Not that it mattered anymore, he thought to himself as he brought out a pack of cigarettes.
It wasn’t like he wished to be so pessimistic, but he couldn’t help himself from giving into those negative feelings as of late. A mass layoff at his office had left him unemployed for a while now, and despite his efforts to find another well-paying position, he had failed time and time again, always being beaten out by someone fresh out of university that could be worked to the bone for a lower paycheck and less resistance.
Not that he enjoyed the work he did, but it wasn’t like he was good at much else.
Sure, he wrote in his freetime, but nothing he had tried to pitch even got a glance over by most publishers. Those who did read what he put down found that what he wrote was beyond lacking. Time and time again, he’d get the same response—His technique and use of language was solid, but the meaning behind all of it felt hollow. There was no reason to get invested when not even the writer seemed to show any real emotion towards his work.
And now… Well, now he was twenty eight years old, returning back to live with his uncle after failing time and time again to make something meaningful of himself.
Really, it made sense—Inaba was just about as “hollow” as the publishers made his own work out to be. The town had been practically falling apart by the seams for decades now. How Dojima-san had still been living here after all that happened was beyond him.
Guess he just couldn’t make it outside of this town, just like him.
He finally took a smoke out, placing it lazily between his lips. However, as he brought out the lighter and flicked it on with a motion he was much too familiar with, his eyes caught on the flame, as if mesmerized by the way it blew wildly in the wind. It seemed as if it would blow out with enough force, but despite it all, it still burned bright, doing its best to return to how it was before, strong and vibrant from its tiny outlet.
If only he could be like that… Then maybe the publishers would actually bother to read what he wrote, instead of throwing it all out with little more than a look at him in a meeting.
After another shake of his head, he brought the lighter up to his mouth and lit the cigarette, moving his thumb off to extinguish the fire and casually slip everything back into his jacket pocket. His gaze returned back to the bleak landscape in front of him, watching as time dragged on by, minute by minute, second by second.
It seemed like Dojima-san was running unusually late… As Yu went to check his phone for an actual time, he realized his uncle hadn’t even texted to give any explanation as to why. Though he couldn’t be too demanding of the man, as he was taking Yu in out of the kindness of his heart more than anything else. Still… Yu just suspected he felt bad about the boy not having anyone else to turn to.
After all, they were all each other had.
Sure, his father had still been alive, but the man had always made it clear he wanted little to do with him, and his step-mother only made that stance even more obvious. His birth mother… That wasn’t something he liked to think about, but even if she had still been breathing, it was unlikely she would want anything to do with her failure of a son, either. And Nanako…
…
…School must have just gotten out. There were some elementary school students walking past, excitedly chattering amongst themselves as they made their way over to their houses or a hangout spot. Yu hadn’t paid too close attention to anything they were saying.
Well, he wasn’t, until he overheard a couple of kids passing by.
“Mom said I should head straight home…” The voice was of a meek boy, his messy dark brown hair covering his eyes, only being exaggerated as he looked down at his hands fiddling with the loose ends of his bookbag.
“Why’s that?” His friend at his side questioned, much more perky than his peer. It seemed that was for good reason, as the brunette paused his walking, the other having to apologize to the girls that almost ran into them from behind.
“Didn’t you hear?” After a slight pause, he finally looked up to his friend, an inquisitive look barely made out through his messy bangs. “They found a body hanging out by the beef bowl place.”
They… What!?
The cigarette had fallen out of his mouth at the drop of his jaw. Once Yu noticed, he made a sharp motion to put it out with the heel of his dress shoe and pick it up before rushing over to them.
“Do you know who it was?” The words were blurted out much louder and quicker than he meant them to be, practically tripping over themselves as much as he fumbled over towards the duo.
“W-What!?” Recognizing the fear in the child’s eyes, he took a step back and forced a deep breath. There was no need to be so forceful… But he had to know what they were talking about. Not that he really should have expected the kid to remember much… “I— U-Uh… I dunno…”
“Oh. Sorry to bother you, then.” He tried to send the boy a reassuring, polite smile, but there was only a turn away in response. It had been so long since he was around a kid, he must have lost his charm. “You should get on your way; you wouldn’t want your mom getting upset.”
“Y–Yeah,” the boy stuttered out, gripping tighter onto his book bag straps before focusing his attention towards his friend, who had been giving him a rather odd look. What did he do to earn that…? “C’mon, let’s go…”
Watching the two walk away, he could recall the times when he was younger and people had commented on how he would make such a good father when he was older. Yeah, sure. Maybe once, but now that he was actually an adult, he couldn’t even hold a job or partner, let alone raise a kid…
…It isn’t like he wouldn’t have wanted to have one. He wanted a normal life—a good career, a nice partner, a kid or two—but time and time again, he failed to grasp onto that. Even when he got something like that, he always messed up somehow. He always lost what little he had that would make him socially acceptable; what made him happy. Well, at least what he thought would.
But… That wasn’t what he should have been thinking about. There were things a lot more serious than his personal life; he had to figure out what the hell was going on with the murders.
…As he went to pull out his phone, the sound of an almost inhuman scream, car screeching against the pavement, and sharp crash had reverberated in his ears, and in the blink of an eye, he had been transported back in time—A sensation that he had become all too used to, entirely out of his control.
He could only catch a glimpse at the being behind these jumps, eyes meeting with the glow emanating through the two upper holes of its armored mask, before they disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Dammit, what was it this time!? He had been too caught up in his own thoughts to notice anything that could have been an issue…!
“Mom said I should head straight home…”
Yu’s eyes caught on the kids, working to quickly put the pieces together. There was a stop sign not far from here; someone must have not been paying attention to their surroundings, and ran into one of the kids walking—or running, more likely—past.
With a quick motion, he threw the only bag he had been carrying on his back and cigarette to the ground and put it out, not even bothering to pick the latter up as he ran to the corner.
They could have been coming from any direction—There was no way he’d actually catch sight of it, other than a few moments before it would have been too late. He could just stop the kids, but then what would that mean for the vehicle…? He couldn’t leave someone else to get hurt, either…
His eyes turned to the boys who were talking amongst themselves as he passed, pausing his stride for a moment as they looked at him with a look mixed with curiosity and confusion.
“Tell your classmates to wait right here for a moment, okay?” He said it as softly as he could, despite his heart beating into his clasping throat, accompanying his words with another light smile. “I promise it’s for your own good.”
“O-Okay, mister…” The shy brunette answered, his friend letting out another, brighter ‘okay!’ in response next to him. At least he could entrust the more outgoing one to do something about it… He nodded, quickly returning to rushing towards the street while scouring the oncoming traffic, trying to find something, anything that could stop what was going to happen, but everywhere he looked, there was nothing he could find to act as a sort of roadblock.
Shit… Guess he had to go for the last resort…
As he finally pinpointed the direction that the car was speeding towards, he ran into the middle of the road, waving wildly to get the attention of the driver behind the wheel before it was too late. All he could do was pray that the person was even paying somewhat attention to the road. Please, at least take a glance before it was too late!
…And, through sheer lady luck’s good graces, the car suddenly took a sharp turn as it came close, horn blaring as they came to a sudden stop in the middle of the lane to their right. At least it wasn’t a busy road, or that could have had its own consequences Yu would have rather not dealt with…
“What are you doing on the damn road!?” An older man’s scream came hurling through the air as the car door was thrown open and slammed shut. Right when Yu was about to start congratulating himself, too… All he could do was muster a smile—Whether it was at his success, or a slightly smug, mocking reaction to the perpetrator’s words, was rather unclear.
“You know it’s dangerous to speed, right?” The words came out rather matter of factly, no real hint of emotion anywhere except in the smile he wore. The sheer contrast seemed to take the driver aback—His almond eyes widened, and his bulky frame stiffened as if he had just witnessed a madman at play.
Well… Yu probably did seem mad. To himself, though, his actions seemed more than justified; living a life where he was constantly tasked to go back to save others could make any action seem sane.
“You have to be careful, especially when school just let out,” he continued to lecture, still keeping the same monotone voice with the indecipherable grin. “Pay attention to road signs before someone gets hurt. It’s enough of a crime to be speeding past a stop sign as it is; killing a person due to negligence would be a much more difficult pill to swallow than a small fine.”
“Urk—” The man’s fist tightened for a moment, but he soon enough took a deep breath, letting his posture loosen as he turned away, failing to make a case for himself. “Shut it, city boy. That sort of attitude ain’t gonna get you anywhere.”
“Have a safe trip, sir.” Yu didn’t receive a proper response as the man returned to the driver’s seat of his car, although he was sure he could hear some faint muttering of swears under the other’s breath. It didn’t bother him much, as long as the man took his lesson to heart; the last thing this town needed to worry about was more deaths.
A breath of relief escaped him as he made his way back towards the station, satisfied with the conclusion. Not everything had always ended so cleanly—Usually for himself more than anyone else. He was just lucky back in those incidents that his work had been rather lenient with his vacation days, but that had also been one of the reasons he was first on the chopping block. After all, those incidents, although saving lives, weren’t exactly making the company any money.
Kindness hadn’t paid. At least not in cash, and in Tokyo, that was just about the only thing that mattered. His face was forgotten by those he saved in a matter of minutes, and his deeds were boiled down to stupid missteps by himself, as no one knew the fate many of those victims would meet except for him. Sometimes, he wondered if it was even worth it…
“Thank you, sir.” The voice broke him out of his thoughts, eyes catching on the once quiet brunette, who now was looking up to him with a bright amazement. It caught him off-guard, raising his hand nervously to his neck as his face began to heat up.
“You don’t have to thank me,” he answered, now having become the meek one out of the two of them. His eyes fell back onto the road, now empty of cars once again, as the irritated man had driven off once Yu sauntered off to the walkway. If only they had the cash for a stop light, but it wasn’t like there was much traffic around here anymore. “I’m only doing what anyone else would.”
“You’re a real hero.” Yu found himself looking back at those words, mouth falling slightly agape, though nothing seemed to come out. The boy seemed to notice his unreadable response, going a little more quiet again and curling back into himself. “I need to go home now, but that was really cool of you.”
“Yeah!” The energetic boy at his side chimed in excitedly, looking back towards Yu as he walked with his friend towards the crosswalk. “See ya around, mister hero!”
“Stay safe out there,” was all that Yu could get out in response as they became to make their way across the street, making sure to watch them make it to the other side. As they stepped onto the parallel grass, he let out a breath he hadn’t even known he had been holding; one less thing to worry about, at least for now.
A “hero,” huh…?
That wasn’t right. Like he said, anyone else would do the same if they had his power. Whether it was a blessing or curse hadn’t mattered; what was important was that he used it to help others avoid their demise.
Though, after that ability had been granted to him, he was sure he seemed to only see more suffering around him than was reasonable for any person to be present for… It was almost like he was some sort of pain magnet.
Guess it was for the best that he couldn't hold a relationship for the life of him. No one else needed to put up with all the shit he got himself into because of this. No matter what it was, that power would only be a burden in any bond he attempted to form.
If only he could have been normal.
…Well, there was no use dwelling on that now. He needed to make the walk all the way to Dojima’s— …Basically all the way across town from the station.
Yeah, like hell he was going to do that.
Well, he could at least pick up his luggage and garbage while he figured out the game plan. Heading that direction, he pulled out his phone, considering his choices. Inaba probably hadn’t gotten any sort of new public transportation over the past decade, and Dojima wasn’t going to get out of work anytime soon… So, he was stuck walking miles in his stuffy business clothes or waiting there until well after sunset.
Each of them sounded like hell, but at least the former he would actually be getting somewhere…
As he got to the lot, he turned his eyes away from his phone, but where his items once laid now only had a couple stray ashes. Instead, he was greeted by the sight of two mocha boots.
The sight startled him enough that he stumbled back, almost dropping his phone as a result. While scrambling to catch it, the laugh that emanated from the wearer seemed oddly familiar… Nostalgic, even, although he couldn’t quite place it…
“Calm down, dude.” His head darted up to the source of the voice, finding a raven-haired man looking back at him. His eyes matched the color of his boots, with a shape that seemed rather foreign. The shaggy hair on his head was a complete mess, looking as if it had been blown haphazardly with a hairdryer without much styling before running out the door. His features were fair, and even though he had slight hints of aging on him, he was still an objectively pretty man.
His eyes fell down to the bag that he held out to him—His bag, to be exact. Beyond that, the man seemed to be wearing something that denoted that he had been on his off-day; a light denim jacket over a white and clementine striped v-neck, accompanied by some slightly more subdued dark jeans tucked into his boots. The bright colors of his shirt and jacket stood out amongst their gray surroundings, serving as another nice burst of color that helped to breathe life into the world around them.
However, why this guy was even here in the first place was beyond him, but he knew him from somewhere…
It was almost like the guy could read his thoughts, as he raised an eyebrow at Yu as their eyes met again, before letting out another airy laugh.
“Do you seriously not remember me?” After a pause and awkward gulp while he tried to search the recesses of his mind, he gave up on the hopeless investigation and shook his head. The stranger seemed a little disappointed, face dropping for a moment before a light smirk returned to his face. “I’m Yosuke Hanamura; your old classmate.”
“Hanamura?” They had been friends for a short time during his second year; it felt like a million years ago, but the memories were still vaguely there. Still, the memory of him didn’t quite match the person who stood in front of him. It was easier to make the comparisons—Things seemed mostly there, from the fashion style (with the constant touch of orange included) to his constant smile, but… Something still seemed rather off. “You look… Different.”
“You could be a little nicer about it…” Hanamura tried to play it off as a joke, but Yu could tell that he was slightly offended by the comment. Dammit, he really needed to learn how to watch his mouth… That was always something his co-workers would get on him about. He needed to have more tact, not be so blunt with everyone. He wouldn’t exactly call that being blunt, but… He guess he never really got social cues in the first place.
“I didn't mean it in a bad way,” he did his best to course correct, although his tone still stayed as flat as ever. It seemed that even a small comment like that had completely changed Hanamura’s expression, a slight look of… Surprise, maybe? His face even seemed to heat, if even just slightly. He thought he remembered something similar from their high school interactions, too. Odd boy… “It's nice to see you again.”
“Oh—It's, uh… It's nice to see you too.” Now Yu was the one raising an eyebrow, and all his old classmate could do was look away from him. Why was he stuttering over himself suddenly…? But it seemed only a moment later, he had collected himself, looking back at him with that same persistent smile—One so similar to that he had been told he wore so often. Something that wasn’t ever quite genuine. “Are you waiting on someone?”
“My uncle was supposed to pick me up, but I think he's a little preoccupied…” A practiced, nervous laugh came out soon after to try and ease up the tension slightly. It seemed to work well enough, as Hanamura’s face turned into a slightly less forced expression.
“Dojima-san, right?” Huh, he remembered that much…? Guess it was easy to remember names and connections around here, especially as the population dwindled. At least he didn’t have to explain the whole… Situation, whatever it was. He still barely even knew himself, beyond what those kids had said… “Man, you're gonna be waiting forever for him. I can take you to his place, if you want. Just give me directions.”
“You don't have to.” Well, it would have been nice if he could, but Yu didn’t want to take handed out favors like that. He also didn’t exactly have the cash on him to be paying for a ride, either…
“Hey, it's the least I can do for a hero, right?” Those words once again took him aback. He was using that kid’s words against him, wasn’t he…?
As embarrassed as he was at such a statement, it wasn't as if he could argue against it. This was a battle of light flattery—One that Yu was always destined to be on the losing side of. All he could do was nod his head in a reluctant forfeit, finally grabbing his bag and slipping it onto his back.
“Hell yeah!” He didn’t exactly see the point of getting so excited, especially not enough to ball his hand up into a fist and jerk it down as if it was a great victory, but he wasn’t exactly in a place to be pointing out how strange the guy was—After all, he was the one who had just run in the middle of a road, flailing around like it was the end of the world. “Come on, my bike’s just across the street.”
There wasn't too much talking for a while as he followed Hanamura, which Yu was more than grateful for. Not that he completely wanted to avoid conversation, but with how wild his mind was running at the moment, between the reacquaintance, second chance, and continued killings, he probably wouldn't have made the best person to talk to.
Second chance—That’s what he had come to think of those skips. It was a more positive way to think of it, giving him a way to save the people from a fate outside of their own control. Not that it was guaranteed, but when he could help, he would, no matter what it took.
But now, there was one topic that had now taken center stage; that of the old friend walking only a few feet ahead of him.
During his past visits, he had overheard some gossip here and there. It was difficult to verify, and probably not true, as negative as it all was. From what a few housewives had mentioned around town, he had ended up in Tokyo after graduating high school, trying to pursue some sort of music career, but ended up on the wrong side of town. He’d been in and out of rehab a couple of times, working some shady underground jobs before his dad forced him to move back to Inaba. The only job he could get was assistant manager at Junes, which, although he did decent at, people had a variety of complaints about him only getting it because of his father, saying they’d refuse to buy from a store managed by a criminal or junkie if they had a choice.
They probably didn’t seriously mean it; if they actually cared about where they bought their weekly groceries at, the shopping district would have still had more than a handful of shops operating. Whether or not Hanamura had gotten into shit wasn’t the problem; it was just them trying to save face and seem like they had “higher morals,” whatever that meant to them.
“I hope you're okay without a helmet.” Hanamura's words snapped him out of his train of thought, almost knocking into him as he made a sudden stop in front of the post office. The motorcycle (orange, as expected) hadn't been the nicest thing that Yu had ever seen, but it certainly more than got the job done. The man seemed to be keeping good care of it, too, without any noticeable dents and a clear shine of recently being polished. “I wasn't expecting a passenger.”
“Are you ever?” Dammit, that was the stuff he was supposed to keep in his head…
“Ouch…” As playful as the small interjection came out, he couldn’t hide the way that he slightly flinched in response. As soon as he had noticed, Hanamura had turned away and collected himself, putting on the mask once again. Sure, it looked nice, but the bright look that he had attempted to flash at him felt like anything but real.
There was no way he could judge. After all, authenticity was something he far from knew himself.
He slipped on the back after Hanamura had situated himself on the seat, casually resting his hands on the other’s hips while he stared the vehicle up. However, at Yu’s touch, the driver seemed to completely freeze up, hand frozen on the key before he had even started the ignition.
“Y-You don’t have to hold on like that,” Hanamura chimed in nervously. The response only served to confuse Yu, cocking an eyebrow as he looked down to where he had placed his palm.
“I don’t see any issue with it.”
“It’s—! …Nevermind.” The response only further baffled Yu, to say the least, but he supposed it hadn’t mattered much as the engine began to roar, shaking slightly beneath the two of them.
The sudden sensation had Yu dig his fingers slightly into Hanamura’s ribs at the surprise of it all. After a slight wince escaping him, the driver looked back with a light laugh and a subtle grin, though the red on his face that he was trying to distract from was still quite obvious. Despite that, he was still trying to play the cool guy. It only made him come across as cute more than anything.
“Hold on tight.”
And with that, they were out of the lot, leaving the cursed intersection and lifeless station behind.