Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Wow," a deep, bored-sounding voice suddenly says above the noise of the rain. "What a surprise."

Takemichi feels himself get goosebumps immediately.

Anywhere and anytime, he can easily recognize that voice. After all, he lives with its owner.

Stiffly, he looks over his shoulder, and his stomach does a flip. Sure enough, the person sauntering over to Mikey is his older brother, Shuji.

A cigarette is held lazily between his fingers as usual, and one of the Moebius thugs is sheltering him from the rain with an umbrella like he's some sort of ancient ruler.

What is his brother doing here? How does he know these people? Is he the one calling the shots in Moebius now?? Seriously, why is Shuji here?!

Takemichi would love to ask all of these questions, but he remains glued in place and dumbfounded.

"Mikey isn't all brawn," the newcomer, Shuji, continues, voice piercing through Takemichi's confused and panicking thoughts, bringing them to an abrupt halt. "How dull."

"And who are you?" Mikey asks, looking at him a little warily.

Shuji slowly takes a pull of his cigarette, like he has all the time in the world, and exhales after a moment. "Doesn't matter who I am," he says, "but I'm in charge of Moebius. For the moment, at lea-"

He instantly stops his talking as he does a double-take, eyes landing on his little brother.

"...Takemichi?!"

"S-shuji-nii...?"

The older teen frowns. "What the...? Why the hell are you here?"

"Why are you here?" Takemichi returns, brows scrunched up.

"'Shuji-nii?'" Mikey repeats, looking between the two brothers in utter confusion. "What's going on, Takemitchy? How do you know this guy?"

Takemichi bites his lower lip and nervously looks at his friend. He can already tell that this is going to look really bad.

Rubbing the back of his neck and trembling slightly due to the cold, he stammers, "Uh, w-well, you see... He's, um, my o-older brother..."

There's a shocked, painfully long silence before Mitsuya interrupts it, head tilted to the side in thought. "Your older brother...is the leader...of Moebius?"

Takemichi chuckles nervously and swallows. "Uh... I didn't know anything until now?"

Mitsuya lifts a suspicious brow, and Mikey narrows his eyes.

"Takemi-"

"Takemichi," Shuji speaks up, cutting off the Toman commander. He can see where this is heading—to one big misunderstanding and probably his brother getting attacked. "You should leave. We'll talk about this later."

"No!" Mikey says, visage darkening. "He's not leaving until he explains to me what's going on here!"

"Mikey-kun, I really didn't-"

"Takemichi. Leave. Now."

Said boy hesitates, looking like he wants to protest, but instead of arguing, he utters a quick apology to Mikey and the others before obeying his brother and making a run for it.

He'll be sure to explain himself to them later once he gets a clear picture of what's going on.

As he retreats, Mikey moves to chase after him, not willing to let him escape, but Shuji quickly blocks his path.

"Not so fast, Mikey!" He looks down at the shorter teen with an unhinged grin. "You have to go through me first!"

Chapter Text

Hands under the table, Takemichi nervously drums his fingers on his knees as his brother prepares them something to eat.

Shuji had come home about an hour after him, taken a quick shower, and then invited him down to the kitchen after learning that he hadn't eaten dinner as yet.

He then proceeded to prepare katsudon without saying another word or even glancing in his direction, and Takemichi has been sitting in tense silence ever since for that to change.

But it all makes sense now—the bruises, the raw knuckles, Shuji being out at ridiculously late hours.

There was always some excuse about running into the wrong people, which Takemichi believed because Shuji has a hard time getting along with others or not knowing when to just walk away from an altercation, but he never thought it meant that his brother was actually gang affiliated.

'It has to be fairly recently, though,' he muses, 'so he couldn't have been lying the entire time, but still...'

He himself isn't in the position to judge, but this is giving him whiplash, especially since the brother he knows doesn't even know what team work is!

Takemichi sighs and turns to the lanky form that's standing in front of the stove.

"When were you going to tell me?" he asks.

There's a pregnant pause before the reply, "Never."

Shuji looks at him over his shoulder with a raised brow. "Were you gonna tell me about Toman?"

Takemichi says nothing and looks away.

His brother huffs and returns to his cooking, then turns off the stove after final taste test. He moves away to grab two bowls from a cabinet to set them on the dining table.

"You should keep your distance from them," he says. "Mikey especially. It's dangerous."

"And what about you?" Takemichi asks snappishly, snatching his bowl and making it scratch against the lacquered wood. "Your goons ambushed Toman! They're my friends, you know!"

________

Shuji makes a face at Takemichi's words and opens his mouth to retort, but closes it upon realizing that he'd just look like a hypocrite.

Besides, he doesn't have the enthusiasm for a back-and-forth right now.

"Just stay away from them," he grumbles, dumping rice into the bowls and grabbing the pan with the pork cutlets next. "How did you even get involved with them in the first place?"

Takemichi sighs and begrudgingly gives his brother a summarized account about his messy encounters with Kiyomasa.

"So that's the real reason you came home beat up that day?"

Takemichi nods his head, having the decency to look a little ashamed about lying, and Shuji huffs.

He'd scold the little gremlin for the millionth time about his recklessness and what not, but he thinks he should probably give it a rest at this point since he can't even take his own advice.

However, that doesn't mean he can't use the energy on thoughts about how he'll teach Kiyomasa a really nice, educational lesson when he next sees him ♡.

Speaking of Kiyomasa...

Shuji glances at Takemichi and moves away to grab two pairs of chopsticks. 'He doesn't know,' he thinks.

And although Toman's precious vice-captain only walked away with a cut on his arm, Takemichi at least needs to understand why he should keep his distance, so he tells him.

"Wha...?! Draken-kun got stabbed?!"

"I said almost. He just has a small cut from what I know." Shuji shrugs his shoulders like they're talking about mundane topics. "Even so, you get how that looks right?"

"But it's not my fault!" Takemichi gives his brother a very judgmental look.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. It wasn't my idea either."

Which is true. It was Kisaki's.

"I think he was trying to get back at Draken for getting him kicked out of Toman. He seems very spiteful."

Which is also true.

"...I guess you're right," Takemichi quietly says, having his own firsthand experience with that nutjob. "Sorry."

"It's fine, but I still want you to keep your distance."

Takemichi snaps his head up. "But-"

"No buts. I'm serious; it's dangerous."

And aside from obvious reasons, it really is. What, with Kisaki's depraved mind and all.

"But they're my friends!" Takemichi gives him a pleading look. "Please, nii-san? I can just explain that I really didn't know anything and-"

"And do you think they'll believe you?"

"It's worth the try!"

Shuji sighs. Gosh, he needs a smoke.

How did he even get himself into this mess, anyway?

Oh, right. Kisaki promised to quench his boredom with entertainment in exchange for his help.

But is it even worth it at this point now that his little brother is involved?

He practically raised this kid all by himself, would give his life for this kid, and would beat the crap out of anyone without a second thought for him.

But the fall out with Kisaki for quitting now could get ugly because Shuji knows he's crazy, but Kisaki is a whole other type of crazy.

Unfortunately, Takemichi is also a very stubborn person, so the only thing he can do at this point is attempt a compromise.

"At least promise me that you won't approach them for a while."

Takemichi puckers his lips with his cheeks puffed out, furrows his brows, and folds his arms. It's something he's been doing ever since he was a little kid to try to get his way.

Shuji just rolls his eyes. "That's not gonna work on me this time."

At that, Takemichi scoffs before getting up brashly, picks up his bowl and chopsticks, and stomps away.

"So the silent treatment, then? Brat!"

________

"Stupid Shuji!" Takemichi mumbles as he searches frantically for his phone. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

Why couldn't his brother have joined some other gang or found a normal hobby like a normal person, like gaming, for example?

"Where is that dumb phone?!"

Takemichi gets down on his hands and knees and looks under the bed. His nose wrinkles in disgust at the sight and smell of a two-day-old, half-eaten tuna sandwich.

'So that's where that funky smell was coming from?' He stares at it for a few more seconds. 'Ugh, I'll deal with it later.'

Right now, he really just wants to find his phone and text Mikey because there's no way he's going to leave things as they are.

He'll admit that he didn't like the other blonde much when they first met, but as he's gotten to know him and Draken better with time, Takemichi now considers them his friends.

And he won't do to his friends what his brother wants him to, especially over a misunderstanding.

After some more grumbling and searching, he finally finds the flip device and opens it to look for Mikey's number. Once it's found, Takemichi types out a short message.

'Mikey-kun. We need to talk. When are you free?'

His thumb hovers over the send button as he recalls the earlier conversation at the dining table.

What if Shuji is right? What if Mikey doesn't believe him and really thinks he was in on this?

Mikey would beat him senseless.

But...

Takemichi thinks he'll regret it more if he doesn't take the chance to explain himself.

So he presses the button to send the message and falls back on his bed tiredly, waiting patiently for a response.

Chapter Text

"So what do you think?" Mikey asks, lounging on the stairs of the Musashi Shrine as he unwraps a dorayaki.

He and Draken have been waiting on Takemichi for the past ten minutes though they arrived a bit earlier than the agreed upon time.

"I don't know..." Draken sits beside his friend and looks up at the sky. "He looked genuinely surprised to see that guy, so he could've had no part in this."

"I was thinking about that," Mikey says, "but..."

"I know. Let's just hear what he has to say, and then we'll decide on what to do."

As the two continue to converse, Takemichi arrives at three on the dot, looking quite nervous but determined.

Draken and Mikey don't bother to stand as he approaches them, but they sit more upright.

"Mikey-kun. Draken-kun. Hello..."

Mikey doesn't say anything; he just continues to eat. But Draken gives Takemichi a flat "Hey" in response to his greeting.

And it's so, so awkward, but Mikey quickly moves on.

"Well?" he asks, dark eyes boring into Takemichi's soul. "What do you have to say to me, Takemitchy?"

Takemichi looks relieved that he hasn't lost his nickname yet, and that seems to embolden him a little. "Mikey-kun, I know that this entire situation looks suspicious, but I swear I'm not working with my brother to bring Toman down."

"And why should we believe you?" Draken asks skeptically, quirking a brow.

Takemichi looks at him, and his eyes search the visible parts of his body, trying to find the injury that he was no doubt told about, but not finding anything and concluding that his wound is covered by clothing, he stops his scanning and meets Draken's eyes.

With a shrug, he says, "I can't...make you believe me, but I found out the same way you all did. Shuji... Shuji-nii normally comes home with bruises, but they're usually from street fights. He just can't stay out of trouble, and it's the main reason he got expelled from his last school."

Takemichi shifts his weight from one foot to the other. "Since Shuji-nii is always fighting, it would've been hard for me to tell what he was really up to after he joined Moebius."

He sighs and sags his shoulders a little, a weary expression marring his face. "Last night, he told me I should stay away from Toman because it's dangerous, especially you, Mikey-kun."

Mikey's brows furrow at that, and he points at himself with his treat. "Me?"

"Yes," Takemichi says, nodding. "But I didn't want to just...leave things the same because...because you're my friends!"

Both Mikey and Draken are taken aback by the outburst, and they exchange glances.

They've known Takemichi for a very short time, but his dedication toward them so far has been...astounding, to say the least.

Takemichi doesn't notice their reactions, too busy turning his speech into a very frustrated ramble, until Mikey cuts him off.

"I believe you, Takemitchy."

Takemichi stops and looks at the blonde in surprise. "R-really?" he stammers.

Mikey scrunches up his dorayaki wrapper and drops it into Draken's jacket pocket. The tall teen just looks resigned.

"Yes. You're too dumb to be a proper liar, anyway."

Takemichi makes an offended noise at that.

"And...a lot was going wrong at once that night. I had to suspect you. You get it, right?"

Takemichi nods in understanding. "Yeah, it makes sense. I know how it looked, but I would never betray my friends."

"Good," Mikey chirps, relaxing his posture, "or I'd have to kill you."

Draken rolls his eyes from beside him and turns to Takemichi. "I believe you too. But now that that's settled, what happens now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you sure you can go against your brother in the future? We're gonna see him again—he's promised that—but can you stand against him?"

That gives Takemichi pause, and he just stands there, a thoughtful look taking over his face.

Mikey and Draken watch him closely, tense, waiting for what he'll say.

________

Takemichi frowns and bites his lower lip.

Can he go against Shuji? Staying out of this mess isn't an option, but can he be on the other side of the battlefield?

He doesn't know, but...

'What if I can help him?' he ponders. 'Steer him away from Moebius?'

Because it's obvious that that gang isn't up to much good, and Takemichi would rather have his brother go back to his old life than turn down an even darker path.

He can't afford to lose him.

As he comes to a conclusion, he can feel Mikey and Draken's gazes on him, and he squares his shoulders before staring back.

"Yes, I can. I can go up against my brother."

'I'm going to save you, Shuji-nii!'