Chapter Text
Arakita was relieved to finally move into an apartment he could actually call his.
He was sick of living with people. Dealing with his roommate for the first two years of college, a shithead by the name of Machimiya, had soured the whole “living with another person” thing for him, but even after he’d moved into an apartment with Fukutomi for the last two years it was still terrible.
Fukutomi was a…strange person to live with. While he mostly kept to himself, he could be such a mother hen sometimes. He was always nagging Arakita to pick up after himself, even if it was just one Bepsi bottle he’d placed on the table. Not only that, but he was so still when he was asleep that Arakita worried every night that he’d just stopped breathing; it stressed him out to the point that he barely slept at night. Not to mention that he sang in the shower. Loudly. And out of tune.
To cut a long story short, Arakita was glad to finally be living alone.
It wasn’t that big of an apartment, but that was fine. It had a balcony, a large bed, and was nestled comfortably on the second floor of the complex; that was all Arakita needed. Well, along with a fridge for his Bepsi and a TV.
After having to share everything with someone else for his entire life, Arakita could get used to small pleasures.
It was sunny the day Arakita moved in, almost like the heavens themselves were happy for the raven’s new situation. He was in such a good mood himself that he was humming a song he barely remembered as he carried his boxes into the apartment. Fukutomi, Kinjou, and Machimiya had all offered to help him move in, but Arakita had wanted to savor the feeling of being alone for the first time.
Now, however, he was starting to regret it. He had so much more stuff than he’d thought originally, and his legs, arms, and back were starting to ache from carrying boxes back and forth up and down the stairs from the moving truck.
Again, the heavens seemed to smile down on him.
“Hey, someone’s finally moving into this apartment, huh?” A voice called from the door as Arakita just about threw a box of clothes down on the stained carpet.
Arakita turned to the voice, his eyebrow arched. He didn’t know people in apartment complexes were generally this friendly. A guy who looked to be about his age leaned on the door frame, a smile on his face. He had auburn hair with faint blue highlights that shined in the sun and big, dark blue eyes. In his hand he held one of those disgusting energy bars that Arakita couldn’t stand, and he chewed on it occasionally as the raven inspected him.
Huh. He’d thought there were just old people living around him.
“Is that not what it looks like?” Arakita snapped back as he abandoned the box and joined the stranger outside.
“I was just surprised,” the stranger laughed, and Arakita had to admit it was kind of nice to listen to. “No one’s lived here since the lady who would bang on her walls and scream in the middle of the night.”
…Okay?
“Oh, I’m your new neighbor by the way,” the stranger said quickly after Arakita had just stared at him for a bit. He stuck his hand out towards the raven. “Hayato Shinkai. I live in 214.”
“Yasutomo Arakita,” the raven supplied hesitantly as he shook the redhead’s hand. He raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you always greet your new neighbors with weird-ass anecdotes about your old neighbors?”
Shinkai laughed again. He had to stop doing that, or Arakita might actually start to like him. “No, not usually. Sorry to freak you out, Yasutomo.”
“’Yasutomo’?!” Arakita repeated, quickly glaring at his new neighbor. “Don’t fucking call me by my first name!”
“It’s just a weird quirk of mine.” Shinkai smiled strangely and fucking winked at him before he changed the subject again. “Do you need help with anything?”
Arakita hesitated. He didn’t really want to talk to this weird guy more than he had to, but he was tired from carrying all of those damn boxes. An extra hand would definitely be appreciated.
“Uh, yeah actually, if you could help carry up some boxes, that’d be great.”
“Sure, Yasutomo!” Shinkai agreed easily as he followed Arakita down the stairs to the moving van.
“I told you not to call me that,” Arakita grumbled as he handed Shinkai a box, but somehow he had a feeling it would be useless to try and get him to stop. At least he could take comfort in the fact that he would only ever have to see this guy in passing.
“Are you a student?” Shinkai asked as they worked to move the remaining boxes up to Arakita’s apartment.
Arakita wrinkled his nose. Why the fuck did people always find such enjoyment in small talk? He hated it. “Trying to be. I’m just working now so I can raise money to go to graduate school.”
Shinkai hummed. “So we are the same age – I just started graduate school myself. Studying to be a vet.”
“An animal person, huh?” Arakita mumbled, thinking of his cat. He’d left him at Fukutomi’s while he was moving in, not wanting to have to worry about the furry devil getting in his way while he was trying to unpack stuff.
“I love animals. Do you want to meet my bunny?!” Shinkai suddenly demanded, his excitement overbearing. Great, the raven was living next to a fucking animal freak who didn’t understand basic Japanese formality.
“Maybe later,” Arakita grumbled, before he realized that he’d just set himself up to meet with his weird neighbor again. Shit!
However, Shinkai didn’t seem to pick up on it, and he just hummed again. “So where do you work?”
Was this borderline stalkery? Arakita was starting to wonder. “The bike shop down the street.”
“Wait, do you cycle?!” Shinkai asked zealously again. He was strangely passionate about random things.
“Yeah…?” This guy was really starting to freak Arakita out. Good thing his Bianchi was already safely stored in the cellar of the apartment complex, along with the other residents’ bikes, or Shinkai might have either attacked him or drooled over his beloved bike. Neither was appealing.
“I do too! What if we raced each other at some point? Wouldn’t that be crazy?” Shinkai laughed. “Small world!”
Arakita just shot him a sideways glance before he deemed the conversation to be over. Honestly it was starting to seem more like an interrogation, and dealing with Shinkai was quickly sapping the raven’s energy. He wasn’t good with people in general, but an overzealous person like the redhead was even worse.
He couldn’t wait to be alone in his new apartment.
After what seemed like too long, they finally finished moving Arakita in. The raven turned him down when Shinkai offered to help him unpack, so the redhead just waved and sent him a beaming smile before retreating back to his apartment.
Arakita felt himself relax as soon as Shinkai was gone. As he surveyed the apartment, and started to unpack, he couldn’t help but grin to himself.
Even if he lived next to a fucking weirdo, he thought he was going to enjoy living on his own.
--
Just as Arakita had hoped, he didn’t see Shinkai except for occasionally in passing. The redhead would always smile and wave at him, chirping out a “hey, Yasutomo!” It was unfortunate that he still insisted on calling the raven by his first name, but at least he kept to himself.
That was more than he could say about his other neighbors.
Only a week in, Arakita was starting to think he’d chosen the wrong apartment complex to live in. First of all, there was the neighbor directly above him. Who knew what the guy did with his time, but at random times of the day Arakita would just hear a “FUCK YEAH!” from above. It had really scared the raven the first time it had happened, as no one had had the decency to warn him (and it didn’t help that at the time he’d been on the toilet taking a shit), but now it was just annoying. Arakita had initially found amusement in shouting “FUCK NO!” back, but it had quickly gotten old.
And then there was the old lady, who also lived upstairs. For some reason, she liked to patrol all of the floors and stick her nose into everyone’s business. While Arakita always hated snoops, she probably wouldn’t have been so bad if she hadn’t started off their interaction by telling him he should consider plastic surgery. He spat at her that she should get a boob lift, and apparently the old lady was so offended that she now seemed to live solely to spite and insult him.
The apartment on his other side was vacant, thank god, but seriously. Shinkai seemed normal compared to all of these other bastards.
And then there was the person below…
“Are you fucking vacuuming your ceiling?!” Arakita screamed as he stomped on the floor in agitation.
He hoped the fucker below him was as annoyed as he was. It was 6 am, Arakita was unfortunately awake, and the vacuum below him was as loud as if it was right next to his ear. What made it even worse was that the damn guy insisted on doing it just about every morning; why the fuck did anyone have to vacuum that early in the morning?! And why every damn day?!
“FUCK YEAH!” Came the roar from above.
“Shut the fuck up!” Arakita roared back before he slouched in his couch and rubbed his face. How was it possible that neighbors were more annoying than roommates?
He sat on his couch for a while, trying not to scream, before his cat brushed against his leg, reminding him that he had to get moving. He had the early shift that day, and he really couldn’t afford to miss work if he wanted to start grad school next year. Leaning down to snatch the black furball from Hell, Arakita hugged his cat, burying his face in his soft fur. He hissed at him in protest, but Arakita ignored him for a moment.
He needed to calm down somehow, and cuddling with his cat was usually the best method.
Eventually the cat had had enough, and he scratched Arakita’s cheek. The raven swore as he practically threw him onto the ground but, despite the stinging cut on his cheek, the cat had helped him calm down.
They may hate each other, but Arakita loved him just the same.
Finally finding his motivation to get off the couch, the raven dragged himself through his morning routine. Eventually he found himself outside of his apartment, locking the door. Sometimes he was surprised he remembered to lock up, as living with people had rooted a bad habit in him that he should leave the door unlocked in case the other person was still in.
Arakita glared at his door. Well he’d just have to remember, because that fucking old lady would probably come in and steal his stuff if he didn’t.
Fucking neighbors.
Sighing, Arakita turned to make his way to the stairs and crashed right into Shinkai. Speaking of fucking neighbors. The redhead yelped, jumping in surprise as the raven rammed into his back. Arakita wasn’t even awake enough to feel guilty as Shinkai whirled to face him; it was the redhead’s fault for standing around in the middle of the balcony.
“Oh, good morning, Yasutomo!” Shinkai smiled brightly. “Early shift?”
“Is there a reason you’re standing in the middle of the fucking walkway?” Arakita snapped, not in the mood to deal with Shinkai’s bubbly personality. He was definitely not a morning person.
“Oh well I…” Shinkai rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly before he glanced over the side of the balcony. “To be honest, I was going to go to class but I’m hiding from Ms. Nakamura from upstairs. She’s doing her rounds again, and the last time I ran into her she promised she’d come over and teach me how to wash my face properly.”
Arakita barked out a laugh. That fucking old lady. “I swear that old hag’s out to get me. Did you know she had the fucking nerve to tell me I should get plastic surgery the first time we met?”
Shinkai laughed loudly, before seeming to remember that he was supposed to be hiding. He glanced over the railing nervously, before visibly relaxing. The old hag must not have heard him.
“Sorry I didn’t warn you about the neighbors,” Shinkai said as he turned to face Arakita again. “I was so excited to finally have a normal neighbor that I kind of forgot.”
“It’s fine; can’t blame you, with all of the fuckers around here,” Arakita snorted. He leaned on the railing, suddenly realizing that while originally wanting to leave as soon as possible he was now perfectly fine with standing and talking with his only normal neighbor. “What the hell is wrong with the guy upstairs?”
“The ‘fuck yeah’ guy?” Shinkai asked with a knowing smile. “I don’t think anyone knows, not even Ms. Nakamura. It’s damn annoying, though.”
Arakita was surprised to find relief wash through him. He’d thought he was the only one in the whole apartment complex who realized how messed up everyone else was, and it was nice to find someone who hated the neighbors as much as he did.
“It’s fucking annoying!” Arakita corrected, returning Shinkai’s smile with a grin. “And don’t even get me started on that fucker with the vacuum downstairs.”
Shinkai laughed. “I’m so glad you moved in, Yasutomo.”
Arakita ignored the strange fluttering in his chest. “How’s the guy living on your other end?”
“Oh, that’s my friend Touichirou but…well…” Shinkai stalled. “To be honest, he fits in really well with everyone else around here.”
Arakita snorted. “What, does he scream too?”
“Yes, actually. Literally at the most random moments he’ll just scream ‘ABS!’, and he even inserts the damn word into casual conversation. It’s fucking terrifying; one time I was showering and washing my chest and he just screamed that. I swear I didn’t shower for a week.”
Arakita was doubled over the railing, laughing his guts out as Shinkai told his anecdote. What the fuck was wrong with all of the people in this building?! The whole situation was annoying as hell, but somehow talking it out with Shinkai made the whole thing just seem utterly ridiculous.
“He also named his pecs and talks to them.”
“Oh my fucking god,” Arakita laughed, struggling to catch his breath. “I’m starting to regret moving here.”
“Don’t leave, Yasutomo!” Shinkai suddenly shouted desperately, startling the raven. “Don’t leave me alone with the neighbors!”
Arakita stared at him in shock for a moment before they both broke out into laughter again. As they gripped the railing like a lifeline, nearly falling over them as they struggled to breathe, a loud, shrill screech sounded from below.
“Stop breaking public property, you dirty kids!” It was the old lady.
“Shut up, you old hag!” Arakita screamed over the railing, causing Shinkai to break out into laughter again. The redhead scooted closer, nudging Arakita’s shoulder playfully as he sent him a toothy grin.
Arakita grinned back. He was starting to think he’d found the perfect partner in crime to get back at the crazy neighbors.
“Is that you, Hayato?!” The old lady suddenly screamed from below. Arakita felt the redhead flinch against him. “You still don’t know how to wash your face properly! I can see dirt from all the way down here! Wait for me; I’m on my way up now!”
“Gotta run, Yasutomo!” Shinkai said quickly, but not before he clapped a hand on Arakita’s shoulder and sent him another toothy smile. “Just so you know, you’re welcome in my apartment anytime.”
Arakita stared at him, stunned, as the redhead winked at him and ran for the opposite staircase. Soon enough, the old lady passed the raven, screeching and yelling at Shinkai to ‘come back and cleanse himself’. Snorting, the raven soon followed after his crazy neighbors to go to work.
Despite what he’d said, he didn’t think he regretted moving in at all.