Chapter Text
The sky was clouded and the downpour was rough. Usagi had never been in weather like this until around a year ago, it not usually reaching these levels in Neo-Edo. His shoes padded along the sidewalk, the Moon shined harshly, lighting his way as it reflected onto the puddles in front of him. He felt heavy; exhaustion was catching up with him as he trudged back to his shared apartment. Fridays were always the worst in his opinion. He had to work the closing shift every Friday, staying behind a couple of hours dealing with obnoxious and angry customers, not to mention the additional 30-40 minutes cleaning and wiping and sweeping, it was too much, he hated Fridays.
And as annoying as double back-to-back shifts were, despite the late hour of 12 AM, he still had to go home and do his evening workouts requested by the one and only Karasu-Tengu. He was starting to regret this whole Samurai thing, he hated Fridays.
And only when life had kicked him and shoved him and made him clean baby throw-up out of a booth seat did it decide he wasn’t done. Smashing right into a wall, person, is really what set him off. He was embarrassed and tired, so you couldn’t really blame him when he muttered obscenities as he picked himself off of the sidewalk. He could hear the faint voice of the person he accidentally bulldozed, perhaps apologizing, maybe they were yelling at him back, he really couldn’t tell.
His head pounded with every passing second, he was drenched, and he wanted to go home. So he shoved past the stranger, he felt a little bad, but what more could he do really? Dust them off and buy them an ice cream? He barely had enough money to meet his end of the rent for this month. God, he hated Fridays.
It took far too long to get back to his apartment, he hardly had the energy to climb the fire escape so he opted to chance waking up his friends in the struggle to unlock the front door. As he suspected, his friend Gen was waiting for him: Kanabō in hand.
“Holy shit you scared me Sagi”. He lowered his weapon in the realization that he wasn’t in immediate danger.
“Sorry Gen, got to get better with these damn keys”. He moved away from the door, watching Gen swoop behind him to lock the assortment of locks he had installed.
The apartment's warmth allowed his sore joints to ease as he breathed in a freshly lit candle, most likely put out via Chizu. Slipping off his wet shoes and socks, he allowed his feet to grasp at the comfort of the fuzzy living room rug as he struggled with his soaked coat. A quick glance at the space put Usagi's mind to ease, taking in the newly cleaned surfaces that were littered when he’d first left this morning.
He couldn’t help the relaxed stance he adopted as he turned his attention back to the rhino behind him.
“How was it?”. Gen walked the short distance to the kitchen, pulling out supplies to make hot chocolate, Usagis face softened as he place his keys onto their four-hanger key shelf.
“Fantastic, I always do enjoy scrubbing baby puke out of booth seats”. He plopped down onto one of their bar stools overlooking the kitchen. His eyes followed the intricate backsplash and took in the sparkling counters. He watched his rhinoceros friend make his coco, grabbing two mugs from the drying rack and retrieving milk from the fridge. He saw a wince flash across Gen's face at his sarcastic response, his arm missing the mug by a little.
“We in the customer service department thank you for your service today,” He says with amusement and fake admiration in his voice. He grabbed a rag and wiped up the dripping milk.
“This is why I do it, I live to serve”, he slapped his right hand over his heart, lifting his left into the air, palm facing forward as if he were making an oath. Gen smiled at that, sliding his mug across the kitchen island.
“Ok show off”. Usagi smiled into his mug, taking a sip. The Rhino, in turn, rolled his eyes, lifting his arm up to flex.
“Takes a lot of muscle to perfect the drink slide, that better be a remark of amazement”.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night bud”. Finishing his mug and washing it in the sink, Usagi flashed a smile to Gen, knowing he would need to do his routine before getting back to bed. Swinging his bedroom door open, he nearly tripped on his haphazardly placed clothes pile, almost collapsing onto his thin mattress before remembering the sweat and grime that was festering around in his fur. Grabbing his shower cady, he went to go take care of it.
It wasn’t until 1:46 AM that Usagi lay semi-comfortably in his tiny twin-sized bed. Opting to skip his workouts -his Sensei would never know- he was out before 1:50.
He woke up mid-afternoon, his fur frizzy from sleep. It was his day off, and he was trying to enjoy it. Although it’s extremely hard to enjoy anything when your phone is non-stop buzzing on your bedside table. Dragging his sore body out of bed, he checked his phone.
36 messages from Ugly Fox
7 missed calls from Ugly Fox
1 missed call from Cattitude
“What the hell did I miss..?”. With a little more energy this time, he picked himself up, slid into his slippers, and stepped out of his room. He looked around for a sign of life, none. Checking his messages he was annoyed to find,
“Call me” ‘s and “Dude wake up, call us” ‘s. Sighing, he called his friend, Ugly Fox back. His phone picked up almost instantly.
“Usagi, what the fuck” was the first thing he heard from the other line. He made his way back to his room, sidestepping his swords to reach his wardrobe. Looking through his dresser, he picked out some comfortable yet acceptable clothes for the public as he responded.
“I was sleeping, calm down”, placing his phone down on his bed as he put together his outfit.
“Calm down? How did you sleep through all of those messages and calls, you should’ve gotten your ass up the minute Chizu called you. She doesn’t call for anything”, he rolled his eyes in hidden annoyance.
“So whats-up? Is the world ending again or something? There’d better be a good reason for you ruining my Saturday”. He began pulling up his pants and throwing on his socks.
“Meet us at the Address I sent you, it’s important so get here fast”.
“No- just tell me-”, the line clicked.
“Asshole” he muttered, tying his garments and slipping his yo-yo onto its designated spot. Grabbing Willow Branch on his way out, he slid down the fire escape and hastily made his way toward the address he was given.
When he arrived, the first thing he noticed was the surplus of Hidden City Police and 2 body bags being rushed out of the Nexus Museum. A surge of panic entered Usagi's body and he brought his speed-walk up to a sprint, ducking and weaving between cars, barricades, and other Yokai, looking for any sign of his friends. The warn-down bricks of the museum grayed due to dirt, moss trickled down the sides. His shoe soles ached at the harsh treatment as he leaped and slithered around paramedics and officers. Hot pavement seeped into the bottom of his sneakers as he almost tripped when spotting a bright orange ponytail.
“Hey!”, his roommates turned at his voice, Kitsune’s face lighting up when she saw him.
“What the hell happened?!” Usagi struggled to catch his breath having rushed over here on foot.
“Chizu she-”, Usagi cut her off, “Is she okay?!”. Kitsune gave him a dead look, dragging it out a few seconds before beginning to speak again.
“Chizu’s fine dude, I feel like I’d be way more visibly worried if she wasn’t.” She said matter-of-factly. “Anyway- Chizu called me down here so that we could go out to lunch after she wrapped up, Gen was going the same direction so we walked down together.” She stopped to take a breath.
“We get here, things are fucking crazy right? People are rushing in and out, Chizu finally comes out for a minute and says there was not only a robbery but a Murder” she emphasizes the murder part, “And-”
Gen let out an audible sigh. “Kitsune called you down here because she wants us to investigate with Chizu, help her catch the killer or something”. Kitsune eagerly nodded in confirmation.
“I think it’s a stupid idea, the amount of danger we’d be putting ourselves in is way too high, I moved here to get away from all that dangerous shit.” Gen huffed out. The fox sent him a dirty side glance, turning her attention back to Usagi, determination in her eyes.
“Come on we’ll be fine, It’ll be super fun, just like the old days. Hunting Yokai and looking absolutely smokin’ hot while doing it”. Kitsune posed at that and Usagi imagined sunglasses appearing across her face. The rabbit was leaning more toward Gen’s stance in all solemnity.
He and his friends hadn’t just decided to pack up and move to another country. It had been a long road of recovery for all of them, some more than others. Kitsune had been the most physically affected by it all, her being rushed to surgery a few minutes after the battle had ended. The Makkine Invasion took a large toll on them, on her, sue Usagi for being worried. Plus, he knew Chizu wouldn’t let her. He didn’t want to get her hopes up, Chizu cares too much about Kitsune's safety and health. And deep down they all knew that Kitsune would be hesitant to mention if she was pushing herself too hard or if she needed a break. The Fox must’ve sensed the conflict in the rabbit's mind.
“You don’t have to worry about me Usagi, I know when to take a backseat. I’m not as nimble as I used to be but I want to do this, I need to. With all the change recently I need a sense of my old-life back”, Kitsune padded him on the shoulder.
He took this into consideration, it was true that things had changed maybe too fast for Kitsune and he could believe in her sentiment to the past. He himself sometimes wished things were different, that they still lived in Neo Edo. Everyone had their own reasons for moving and he knew the unfortunate truth that Kitsune’s was mostly about not losing her friends: He caved.
“If you can somehow convince Chizu to let you help, I’m in”, he smiled at her.
“ Please , ‘somehow’, she loves me too much to tell me no”, She leaned back placing a hand on her hip, giving one of her famous Kitsune smirks.
“No”
“Please, Please, Please”
Usagi lay comfortably on the couch, sprawled if you will, fuzzy sock-covered feet perching in Gen's lap. The rabbit was scrolling through his phone while Gen read a book. He would occasionally drag his eyes away from his screen to watch Kitsune follow Chizu around the apartment while she did chores. They would disappear into the hallway, faint pleas echoing from their indented laundry space. Then they would appear again, cut through the living room to fold at the small dining table before repeating the action again. The fox had been begging her to allow her to help since they’d been at the crime scene, it was now 6:30 PM.
Her insistence was admirable but Usagi was getting tired of the “Pleases” and the bargaining, he decided to step in.
“She isn’t going to stop until you let her”, Usagi supplied unhelpfully, not once looking away from his screen. Chizu groaned in response and whipped around to face her girlfriend.
“This is so very illegal and as the only person in this room who doesn’t have to work part-time, I would love to keep my job. If I were to let you help me you have to swear that it’s only paperwork, nothing more”.
Kitsune answered with a giant smile
“I’m serious, swear on it”, Chizu held out her hand and Kitsune grabbed it to interlock their fingers.
“I swear Zuzu”, she gave Chizu a squeeze before letting go to turn to Usagi. Meeting his eyes she gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up.
“Seriously- you too?!”, the rabbit responded by giving her a cheeky grin.
————————-
It had been around a week since the start of Kitsunes Chizus's investigation. The rabbit only had time to help in-between shifts and on days off, unable to get out of it because he’d “already agreed” and it “wouldn’t be honorable”, as said by his Sensei, if he didn’t help. He also wanted to keep an eye on Kitsune.
The both of them had been picking up a lot of extra shifts lately, which meant they - although rarely - shared some shifts together; the fox took the opportunity to talk about the case rather than actually working, she’s lucky Señor Hueso is merciful.
Usagi was beginning to get frustrated, they weren’t getting anywhere. They sifted through every document, every tape, every tiny piece of evidence and all they got was a slim, muscled body and what Chizu called “Adequate Ninjutsu Skills”. The thief was dressed entirely in black and left no sign of how they broke in and all of this frustration was making his work performance low. The rabbit was irritable and Kitsune interrupting his workflow every 5 minutes to talk about the frustration in question was making him angry and oh so very exhausted; in these moments he considered just quitting and disappearing to Antarctica.
Deep down he knew that he cared more about this case than he was letting on, he’d never admit it but he enjoyed the chase and the thrill. He’d missed the feeling of hunting and training with his friends; even if he was the one who insisted they get away from it all.
He was just finishing up a table of 2 when Kitsune practically jumped him. Entering the kitchen, the weight of his fox friend sent him on alert, almost chopping her head off with his rubber spatula. He barely got a word in before Kitsune grabbed his hand, forcing him to the small windows in the door that allowed vision of the dining area from the kitchen.
“I think I have a lead”, she said nonchalantly.
“Wait, like on the case? A lead lead?”, Forgive him for his relief and excitement.
“Yeah like on the case”, she gibed. “See that table of 4 over there?”, she grabbed his head, directing it towards the table she was referring to. Green, Yokai turtles maybe? Sat scattered around the table. He vaguely recognized them, always seeming to come in during his shift yet he’d never served them before, that wasn’t his section.
“What about them?”
“The one in the blue”, he turns his head to look. A blue mask tied around his face, cutting off his red face markings from meeting in the middle of his eyes. He had, gear(?) On and Usagi could infer that he was telling a story if his wild hand gestures told him anything.
“He’s the robber I’m pretty sure”, at this the rabbit scoffed, almost snorting. Kitsune didn’t like that response, pushing his arm in an expression of annoyance.
“What’re you laughing for?”
“They come in during my shift all the time, I’ve never served them but my co-workers talk, and trust me Kit, the blue one is not the type to be able to pull off a robbery and double homicide. You’ve got the wrong guy”, it felt silly to even imagine the obnoxious customer stealing an artifact. If anything his co-workers said is true, he’d probably drop the damn thing before he got it remotely close to the window.
“I don’t see why he couldn’t, serial killers have fake personalities all the time! They seem like the nicest person then Bam , you’re in their basement with a knife wedged between your shoulder blades”, she sounded ridiculous, so ridiculous that Usagi couldn’t help but take it into consideration.
“Well why don’t you go ask him?”, he joked, pushing her shoulder. Kitsune looked at him with an unreadable expression before exiting the kitchen.
He watched in paralyzed horror as she strutted her way up to the table, his fight or flight only kicking in a few seconds later. Dashing out of the double doors he practically tackled her in the middle of the dining room like a madman. Falling to the ground in a tussle, they flipped and twisted over each other due to impact. She groaned and mumbled something about him “forcing her back into the Emergency Room”, but he wasn’t paying attention.
Instead, he took to surveying the room, the realization that he - an employee - just tackled another employee in front of a table full of customers - the rest of the dining room was luckily hidden behind intricate walls and decor -. Red-hot shame flushed his face; Antarctica was looking pretty good right now.
And as if it couldn’t get any worse, that’s when Hueso rushed through the doors the rabbit had just run out of. Usagi quickly pulled himself off of the groaning fox.
“What the hell happened here?!” Hueso huffed. Too ashamed to muster anything, Usagi took to staring at the ground. His eyes felt scratchy and he could feel the drops lying heavily on his lids, he was going to lose his job. He’d have to find another in record time and holy shit was he embarrassed. He was not only about to get scolded by his boss but he was also on the verge of bawling his eyes out in front of the entire restaurant.
“Heyyy bone-man, no biggie”, Usagi whipped his head up to see the Blue masked turtle - as he suspected - beginning to stand up with a sort of wobble to it.
“Complete accident, I accidentally spilled some of my water on the floor”, the turtle was lying for him? “Next thing we know”, he began simulating sound effects to go along with his hand gestures as he graphically acted out Usagi slipping and falling into his co-worker. Finishing off with a big boom he bravely nudged Señor Hueso before shifting his weight to lean on him.
The rabbit watched in disbelief, tears evaporating into thin air as he tried to retain a sense of reality. His ears twitched to the sound of his friend getting off of the floor behind him - with great trouble might he add - but kept his eyes ahead of him, the silence was so loud.
“Be more careful” the skeleton warned, eyes locking with Usagis in a look of apologetic sympathy, he then turns to his right. “Stop destroying my restaurant and tripping my staff Pepino”. The turtle puts his arms up in a sort of defense and waves as Hueso retreats behind the swinging doors.
Once the skeleton's body completely disappears into the kitchen, Usagi darts his eyes to the stranger in blue.
“Uh, thanks dude”, in truth, he didn’t know what else to say; Luckily he didn’t have to.
“No probs, I’d hate to see good entertainment go to waste” he teased. He continued to stand with confident stature until the other 3 turtles decided that they’d had enough. A bigger one with a red mask grabbed the blue one by the head while another one wearing purple left a cash payment on the table. ‘Pepino’, struggled and squirmed, shouting angry remarks into the red one's giant palm.
“Sorry about him, uh- have a good night” is all the bigger one says, giving an awkward thumbs up with his other hand. The 4 of them begin making their way towards the entrance, disappearing into the rain; a faint blue shining through the flood of water.
Glimpsing to the table they’d just sat at, Usagi notices a small phone with a spider web of cracks streaming down the front. Upon grabbing it, his hand can feel the smooth back of its warn-down blue case: in a flash, he’s rushing out the doors.
“Hey you-”, he stops a few steps out of the entrance. He searched in bewilderment, the group had vanished. Not a trace of a turtle in sight as he stood in the middle of the street, deluged in water.
Usagi wrung out his clothes, watching the water pile onto the tile beneath him. Letting his ears out of his airtight bun, he gazed around the break room. He took in the Mediterranean decor and the sandy porcelain his ears were dripping onto. Watching the bubbles rise to the surface of the water dispenser kept him occupied as he untied the back of his apron; Leaving him in nothing but his black ensemble of clothing. Finally, his eyes drifted to Señor Hueso’s office door, the blinds were shut tight but the lamps slight light seeped through the bottom, reflecting off of the tile.
“Hurry up Sagi” Kitsune complained in exhaust discomfort. He bit his bottom lip before turning to shove his apron into his backpack, pulling out the abandoned phone instead.
“Just a sec Kit, I need to speak to Hueso”, he gave a rough but genuine smile. She responded with a nod before swinging her bag over her shoulder and taking a labored seat on one of the staff chairs. She swung her hand in a fake exasperated ‘go ahead’ before pulling out her phone to dial her girlfriend.
Turning back to the office door, he took timid steps up to the glass and gave a few soft knocks.
“Come in”, a voice calls from inside. The rabbit dabbles with the knob before swinging it open and stepping into the office.
Señor Hueso’s office is warmly lit. It’s quaint with photographs littered along the walls; photos of his family and framed certificates on proud display. His desk was in the center back of the room, high file cabinets towered behind him as he sat snugly in his comfortable rolling chair.
Closing the door after him, Usagi walked further into the office. He nervously gripped the lost phone, trying to gain his confidence. Hueso was working away at something on his desk before he looked up to give the rabbit his full attention.
“Yes Usagi?”, Hueso sighed. Usagi chose to look anywhere but his boss's eyes, deciding to stare at the photo of Hueso and his son that sat on his desk instead.
“The blue turtle that came in earlier”, Usagi started, fiddling with the phone in his hands. Hueso nodded, waiting for him to continue.
“It looked like you two knew each other, I-”, Hueso cut him off.
“He’s a regular customer here, his name is Leonardo if that’s what you’re asking”.
“Actually I-” Usagi started, only to be cut off once more.
“If you’re wondering how I know him, I feel that is a bit personal and inappropriate”. Hueso only turned his attention back to his papers.
Usagi wanted to press, bring up that he’d left his phone but hot embarrassment flooded his cheeks for the 2nd time that night and he sensed that the conversation was over. So he instead backed away, bidding his boss a good night before exiting the office and slipping the phone back into his backpack pocket. Catching the attention of Kitsune, they both made their way to the back employee exit and began their trek home.
Upon their arrival, they stepped into an apartment of delicious aroma. Chizu was working her magic in the kitchen as a smell of Rice and Curry wafted from the stovetop. Kitsune is barely able to shove off her shoes and hang her coat before she is running to the kitchen to squeeze her girlfriend.
Usagi fakes a gag as he hangs up his coat on the rack, sliding into one of the bar stools. Kitsune responds with the middle finger before starting her complaints.
“Remember how I told you on the phone that I thought I’d found a lead?”, Kitsune prompts, stepping away to lean on the counter next to Usagi.
“Yes, I believe I do” Chizu responded, lifting the lid of the pot to stir the soup-like consistency before replacing it again.
“My suspect”, Chizu quirks an eyebrow at that, “He’s this guy from work, a customer. He fits the physical requirements and I’m pretty positive he’s a ninja: his gear speaks volumes. So obviously this guy seems like a candidate, right?”
“Mhm,” Chizu murmurs in response, grabbing 3 bowls and a set of Tupperware from the cabinets.
“Usagi won’t let me investigate him”, she pouts. The rabbit sends an offending look. He’d never told her not to, just stopped her from severely insulting the guy by asking if he had the malice to murder 2 innocent people in a museum robbery. Although her animosity pushed him to devote himself to defending him in retaliation.
“You shouldn’t be ‘Investigating’ anyway Kitsune”, she remarks, turning her attention to Usagi.
“Why won’t you?” Chizu asks curiously, glancing up from splitting the food between the dishes.
“He just doesn't seem like the robber type, trust me”, he slightly believed that; Chizu isn’t convinced.
“Plus he knows Señor Hueso personally. I don't know about you”, directing his glance towards the fox, “but I don't want to get fired for asking a friend of Hueso's if he committed first-degree murder.”, he fully believed that one. He glares at Kitsune, politely taking the dish from Chizu’s extending hands. Kitsune only rolls her eyes as she takes her identical dish.
Chizu grabs the Tupperware, attaches a purple sticky note with the name ‘Gen’ on it to the top, and places it into the fridge. Picking up her bowl and walking around to the small table that was wedged between the kitchen and living room, she took a seat and glanced at the two of them; who were now looking in her direction, awaiting some kind of input.
“Listen, I don’t care as long as Kitsune”, she points at the fox in question, “Isn’t actively investigating as I told her not to”. She blows on her food before bringing a spoonful to her mouth. Kitsune sends him a glower before bringing her bowl to the table and sitting to eat alongside her partner.
Finishing up dinner, Kitsune volunteers to do the dishes and Usagi makes a hasty retreat to his room before she could change her mind. Kicking off his work clothes and replacing them with comfortable PJs, he collapses onto his bed, deciding he’d take a shower in the morning. He rummages through his backpack pocket and pulls out the beat-up phone from the restaurant. He dramatically flops onto his bed, his ears pressing up against the headboard, and inspected the case a little.
It's vibrant blue almost blended in with his room’s monochromatic color scheme. Fun stickers littered the back of the case and cute charms with beads - colors red, purple, orange, green, and black - hung off of the top of the case. He smiled a little at the gesture, noticing the color coordination with the other turtles he was with at the restaurant. He figured they were family, or part of the same clan if what Kitsune said about them being Ninjas were correct.
Something stirred in his gut. Looking at the obvious devotion to his family or clan made him oddly defensive of the guy, more than simple sibling rivalry did. He couldn’t imagine someone so dedicated to his family would have room in his heart for such a great evil. Yet Kitsune's words echoed in his mind. People put up acts all the time, he knew that better than anyone.
The rabbit was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a gentle tapping on his window. His heart rate skyrocketed as he jumped to the other side of his bed, slowly backing up to grab Edgewing or Willow branch, maybe even his yo-yo at this point. He throws his ears into a ponytail before swiftly grabbing one of his swords from underneath him, Edgewing, carefully making his way back toward the window that loomed over his bed.
Extending the hilt of his sword, he pulls his knees up to the mattress to get a better purchase. His heart was beating so fast he could hear it in his ears, stress filled every vein of his body and he had to resist the urge to call Karasu-Tengu like a scared five-year-old. Slowly but surely, he pushes the left side of his curtains to the side, sword readily in battle stance.
Half-Expecting some evil creep who followed him all the way from Neo Edo, and Half-Expecting to see Kitsune who thought It’d be funny to mess with him; he jolted in surprise when a bright, striped-riddled face stared at him from the other side. The familiar face waved at him as the rain continued to fall heavily onto their face.
Leonardo from the restaurant was at Usagis apartment and all he could do was stare in absolute disbelief at the turtle on the other side of the glass.