Chapter Text
Sometimes, Uyu looks back at all the people who've passed by him in his life. Whether they were a one-time occurrence or a long-term relationship founded upon memories and sentiments. A few have ended by their own hands, some clean others tainted with invisible scars. Others have ended due to the ever passing time, and a growing distance that can’t be helped.
Uyu spent a lot of his time as a thief running, so watching the distance grow wasn’t something new to him.
Some things just needed to be left behind, in order to reach for greater treasures.
Now, if you asked him if he found any such ‘greater treasures’, he’d smile and pan his eyes away from you. A sassy remark sitting on his tongue but never fully making it past his lips, not when his eyes were focused on something else.
Perhaps the words weren’t worth saying. Not everyone would get it, of course. As a phantom thief, Uyu has learned that there are material objects so precious that you could put a value on it. Hundreds, thousands and millions in bills and coins, all for one little sparkly thing.
But as Utsugi Uyu, there are simply some things that could never have a quantifiable value put to it; People, friendships, family.
“Fuma, over there!”
“I’m coming.”
Love, mayhaps.
Not like Uyu would know from personal experience, no. But he believes it. He knows he can see it.
“There they go again…”
There was something so precious about it; The way the two of them ran off together, almost forgetting the companions left behind calling their name. It was like they were lost in a world that only they existed in, a perfect world just for the two of them. Made for the two of them. Where one goes the other would follow, hands not being able to stand more than a minute apart before intertwining again.
It’s…cheesy.
But precious.
The silent declarations of love they whisper to each other, thinking that neither Uyu or Gamma could hear. Always finding the two next to each other, repeating the same stupid jokes to each other like a broken record. It’s disgustingly cute, and maybe if it was anyone else Uyu would be mockingly vomiting in their direction.
Actually he should be, it’s Fuma and Rio after all. They’d find it funny.
He doesn’t though.
“They’re cute…” He whispers to himself, watching the two run off without him. He’s lost count at how many times he’d look up from his phone to find them running off to find a little hiding spot inside their base. “It must be nice, huh.”
Would it be even more cheesy of him to think that the sight made him a little more hopeful? It’s been a while since he’s dabbled into the possibilities of romance. But if a ghost and an old-man-in-the-shape-of-a-tanuki can find it…
Ah, he’s been reading too many of those novels again, spending too much time scrolling through his phone.
Let’s not get too inside our head, Utsugi Uyu tells himself.
Fuma and Rio having ran off has left him in the silence of their base. Normally, Uyu wouldn’t mind the silence, especially considering the other three who usually occupy this space with him. Uyu fears that he may have gotten too accustomed to his friends, because the silence feels much louder than before.
He’s not calling those two back though, not at all.
Uyu would rather stick to seeing people eat each other’s faces out through fiction. He’s not risking anything. Granted, Fuma and Rio seemed good at keeping the displays of affection private.
Mostly.
“...it’s quiet.” He murmurs to himself, not very fond of how he gets nothing in response, “Too quiet.”
His eyes scroll through the empty base, not really looking for anything in particular. There was nothing really that he could entertain himself with. When his vision focuses on the shelves, housing many of their trinkets and decor, he finds himself intently staring at a red sketchbook.
Huh.
He hasn’t heard from Gamma in a while.
“Well.”
And he’s quite bored.
“It wouldn’t hurt, right?”
!-<>-<>-<>-<>-!
“Keep tugging at your hair and eventually you’ll have none left”
“How did you get in here?”
Uyu couldn’t help but snort.
Sat on the open window, the thief shrugs and leans against its frame. Behind him, a cold breeze passes by, carrying his hair with him as it brushes against his face. Uyu crosses his arms, tilting his head and giving the other a small smirk.
“You’re asking me? Of all people?” The other makes an awkward face, eyes wide and lips stretched into a thin line. It’s adorably goofy, in Uyu’s opinion. “You…look like a mess.”
“Gee, thanks, I wouldn’t have guessed.” The other leans back into his chair, throwing his head back and letting the messy strands fall over his face. His mouth stretches into a yawn, one that he cuts off himself by slapping his own cheek. “Geez.”
Uyu can see two things right now; A room that looks like its gone through a tornado, crumpled up papers scattered across the room, pens and pencils in places that even he was surprised how they got there, clothes strewn across the floor and to-go coffee cups piled on the table, a few already having fallen off. The room was dark, the only thing illuminating the place was the light from the window and the screen of the other’s drawing tablet.
And also, Hizaki Gamma in a stained shirt, baggy-eyed and not looking very paripi , as the others would call it. It was an uncommon sight, but not a unique one. This isn’t Uyu’s first time being face-to-face with a deep-in-focus-art-blocked mangaka.
“Have you slept at all?” He hops off from where he sat, almost tripping on his feet as his heel gets caught on a discarded shirt on the floor. Shaking it off, he huffs with a frown, “Have you cleaned at all?”
Gamma blinks at him, eyes void of any thought. Slowly, a tired smile creeps onto his face, and the mangaka shrugs.
“It’s been a few days.”
Uyu’s face scrunches in a mix of disgust and concern.
“Which question was that answer for!?”
Gamma shrugs, turning back to his desk and reaching for his pen. As if someone hadn’t just broken into his room and witnessed the horrid state it was in. Uyu huffs, stomping over and snatching it away from him.
“Hey!”
“What have you possibly been making that’s been keeping you glued to your seat like this?” Uyu sighs, raising his hand as Gamma tries to reach for it like a child and a baby bottle. The other is too lazy…or…tired to actually get off from his seat, so he slumps back into his chair, defeated. “Gamma, get up.”
The red head makes a strange noise in disagreement. It was loud, and sort of sounded like a goose.
“Nooo…I don’t want to. I have to finish-”
“I’m not asking!”
Gamma yelps in surprise as he feels his chair wiggle in its place, before suddenly whipping around and being pushed towards his bed. Uyu’s hands grip onto the back of the seat, powered by sheer force and sheer annoyance. The mangaka screams as Uyu shoves hard from the back of the chair, projecting him forwards and face first onto the bed.
There was silence for a bit, before Gamma made that earlier goose sound again into the mattress.
“You’re living in your own filth.”
“Mmmf…” Gamma replies, face still in the sheets. Uyu makes a noise of confusion, and it somehow prompts Gamma to flip over. “Uhhh…”
“What is your deal?”
Uyu walks to the side of the bed, bending forwards and leaning over Gamma to stare into his face. Gamma frowns, looking at both the visible annoyance and confusion on the other’s face. The Mangaka looks around, trying to avoid the other’s gaze. Patience running thin, Uyu taps his foot on the ground, making sure it was loud enough for the other to hear.
“Gamma.”
“I’m making a new series.”
Uyu’s face morphs into surprise, a sound of understanding passing through his lips as he leans back into his usual standing posture.
“That’s good news then? Are you going through an art block phase or-”
“It’s a love story.”
And Uyu bends himself back to meet Gamma’s face, again.
Now with a confusion that was very much paired with a sort of bizarre-disbelieving shock. Uyu sputters, genuinely unable to think of anything to say to the other in response. Gamma has done a lot of things that left Uyu standing confused, sure, but this was just a bit more on the unexpected side.
Gamma’s eyes pan away from the other, a look of embarrassment visible on his face.
“Uh- okay. That’s- That’s a choice, from you, definitely a choice that I didn’t expect but-” Uyu leans back up, clearing his throat. “It’s not…It doesn’t warrant you tearing yourself apart.”
“Coming from you that’s a little-”
“As I was saying!” Uyu gives Gamma a look , making the other sweat. “I’m not sure why you decided to go for a love story but- Is it that hard? So hard that it keeps you awake and turns your room into the after-shots of a natural disaster?”
“My room isn’t that bad…”
Uyu’s eyes pan upwards.
“You have cups sitting on your ceiling fan.”
The mangaka makes a noise.
“Okay, okay, that’s one thing…”
And then he’s focused back on Gamma.
Gamma sighs, rubbing a hand down his face. Through the mess of the room, Gamma leans up and focuses his eyes on the drawing tablet sitting on his desk. He idly stares at it, as if he was either in a trance or quietly wishing death upon it. Sighing, the red-head gestures to it as he flops back down onto the bed.
Uyu turns to it, hesitating a few times out of confusion before fully giving it his attention; brow raised as he struts over. A blank canvas greets him as soon as the screen activates. Confused by what exactly he should be taking in, he scrolls through the previous pages, only to discover that there were none. Not even a single line or a hint of a previously erased work.
Nothing at all.
“As you can see,” Gamma says from the bed, still staring up at the ceiling. He’s burning holes into it with how focused he was, “It’s that hard.”
“...Oh.”
Uyu’s walls lower a little, feeling some sort of sympathy for the other. The thief can feel the frustration from the bright white canvas, empty and without a trace of the mangaka’s magic.
“It’s frustrating, man.” Gamma throws his hands into the air as he speaks, once again looking like he wanted to fight his ceiling, “I wanted so badly to get something out! I was so inspired last week, Uyu. I had a whole story out-lined, even wrote short bits of it down in a sticky note.”
Uyu’s attention turns to the corkboard on the wall.
“Not that sticky note, a digital one.”
Then back at the screen.
“And when I finally…finally! Sat down to do some work- bang! All gone! Just like that!” The red-head flops his arms back down. “And then I just…got stuck I guess? Like, the motivation is there but nothing is showing up on the canvas.”
“Tragic.”
“It is!” Gamma screams. It was loud enough to echo throughout the room, making Uyu’s eye twitch. And though Gamma couldn’t see it, somehow he must’ve known how high his volume was. “I…sorry, man.”
Uyu turns to the other, concern visible in his face seeing how defeated their usual happy, hyper, Gamma was. Sympathy managing to seep through any annoyance he may have felt, Uyu takes a gentler approach. A soft expression sits itself on his face as he takes the few steps back to meet the artist.
“Why is this bothering you so much? You’re Hizaki Gamma.” Uyu says, gesturing at him with his hands. Gamma leans up to look at him when he says it, curious to what the thief means.
“You could make anything and we’d all love it anyway. You’ve made lots of other really good stories before that weren't really about romance so…What’s up?”
“I…”
And then Gamma…goes completely silent. His eyes fall into a blank stare again, looking at anything except Uyu. He’s thinking. Thinking hard.
Before flopping back down onto the bed.
Uyu furrows his brows in confusion, slowly walking over to the other again to stare at him from above. Again, Gamma doesn’t meet his gaze, eyes panned away and not necessarily focusing on anything. The other was still lost in thought, eyebrows furrowed together as his bright blue eyes seemed to be searching endlessly.
“Gamma?”
“I just want to...”
Gamma says, nodding to himself. It’s said softly, as if unsure. But then he repeats it, finally looking straight into Uyu’s soft colored eyes. It’s louder, with more conviction and confidence.
“I just want to.”
Uyu isn’t sure why, but there was something about that change up that he isn’t…entirely sure of. He can’t say he wasn’t surprised, no, this was not how he expected this conversation to go.
But there was something so charming about the other’s response. It was not the usual cheery explosiveness that he’d get from Gamma, no. This was…
Interesting, Uyu thinks.
“...right. Okay.
And a little bit nerve-wracking.
Hizaki Gamma? Making him, Utsugi Uyu, nervous? Hizaki Gamma?
Huh.
Uyu clears his throat, feeling a little nervous at how the other seemed so focused on him suddenly. Gamma still looks like a mess, hair all over his face and bags under his eyes, but his stare was so piercing and focused that it made Uyu wonder just what was going through his mind.
He can’t help but feel like he’s missing something, some form of context that he can’t decipher just by looking at how the other was acting.
It was weird.
“Where…” He swallows nothing, throat dry, before continuing, “Did the inspiration even start from?”
“Oh!”
And somehow, the spark of their usual cheery and playful Hizaki Gamma returns. Eyes lighting up, with a grin across his face that radiated mischief.
“I saw Fuma and Rio last week”
!-<>-<>-<>-<>-!
He didn’t mean to sneak in on them. Really, he didn’t!
Genuinely, he believed that he would be the only one at their base that day. He invited everyone out together, but they all said no! So, the only rational reason that Gamma could think of is that they were all busy.
Well, it’s not entirely wrong. They were busy. Just…in a different way.
The elevator to the base only worked up to the floor below them, so Gamma had no choice but to sigh and take the stairs up the rest of the way. So much effort just to get a toy that his pet had been annoying about for the past few hours. On the bright side, he’d deal with less dissatisfied penguin noises in his ears from then on.
Thinking he’d be alone, he didn’t plan on doing one of his loud grand entrances that usually get a reaction from the others. He simply dug for the keys in his pocket and reached for the door handle.
That was already unlocked.
Okay. That’s odd.
A chill ran up Gamma’s spine, almost in fear of a potential thief in their base. Not Uyu, of course. Or maybe it was Uyu…he was the more silent of the four of them, he could simply be inside, lounging about with his heels on the coffee table.
Still, he couldn’t help but be cautious.
Slowly, he opened the door, peeking inside the minute he could fit through the gap.
To his relief, it wasn’t a thief.
To his surprise, it wasn’t Uyu.
He should have stopped there, really. Taken one look and walked away, but something about the sight really caught his attention.
The place was dark, only the light from the windows illuminating the space. It was a late afternoon, so the sky was orange and warm. It reflected throughout the lit-up part of the base, the orange light bouncing off the furniture and giving the area a homey and comforting feeling.
Laying on the couch was their leader, Fuma. From where Gamma stood, he couldn’t really see the other’s expression, but he could see the yokai’s arms moving in small gentle movements. Laying on top of the yokai was…Rio. The ghost’s face is visible for Gamma to see, staring down at Fuma with warm, loving eyes and a soft pink flush across his face.
Again, Gamma should have left.
It wasn’t like it was a secret, no! All of them knew about the two of them, even when they had speculations in the past, it quickly became public before either him or Uyu could bring it up.
They all knew they were in love it's just…
It’s just that it’s the first time Gamma has seen them…in love?
When the two of them had declared their relationship, nothing really had changed. The two of them sat a little closer, engaged in skinship a bit more, maybe even kissed each other on the cheek in front of everyone but- everything else felt the same. Rio and Fuma always were sort of glued to each other so it didn’t feel too out of the ordinary to see them playing about.
It’s just this was different.
This wasn’t the playful Fuma and Rio chasing each other across the base. The Fuma and Rio who mimicked each other’s movements and threw silly faces at each other. This isn’t the loud Fuma followed by a little-bit-less-loud Rio.
This was them…their relationship.
They really were in love with each other.
Gamma can see it , right here.
The way Rio’s laugh was a little different, softer, fonder and sweeter. The ghost looked spoiled, comfortable atop the other. Fuma’s hand slowly caresses the other’s head, fingers free of gloves and digging through the purple strands, playing with the hair wrapped around them.
He can’t hear what they were saying but they’ve never been so…quiet? All four of them were loud in every way. Yet the way Fuma and Rio were speaking in such hushed tones and soft whispers was something so intimate and special. Gamma has never seen it before.
It was…pretty. All of it was pretty.
The pure affection radiating off the two on the couch, comfortable in each other’s touch and warmth, the orange sky illuminating the scene. It was artistic, like a painting; Two lovers alone, yet finding themselves happily lost in a world that’s just for them.
Fuma reaches up, tucks a hair behind Rio’s ear. The ghost smiles bright, and bends down until Gamma can’t see the other’s expression anymore. But Fuma’s hand presses gently against Rio’s cheek, and the mangaka doesn’t need to be a genius to understand what’s happening.
He smiles at the sight, heart warm at seeing the two of them so happy.
And then he closes the door quietly, walking back down the stairs and hoping to find a table in a nearby cafe. Maybe he’d come back when they’re gone.
In the meantime, his sketchbook kept him company.
A spark lights in his mind.
!-<>-<>-<>-<>-!
Uyu shoves one of his dirty shirts in his face.
“Uyuf!?”
“You mean to tell me…”
Uyu sighs, long and loud, pinching the bridge of his nose. Gamma can feel sweat down his back as he realises that maybe, just maybe, the gossip wouldn’t be enough to get Uyu to be more positive with his situation.
“You are making…a story…based on watching your friends have a very sweet and intimate moment as a couple that’s meant to be for them alone. ”
Gamma blinks.
Now when he mentions it like that, it did sound a little weird.
“Not based on…but inspired by- Uyu no!”
Another dirty shirt to his face, and maybe a shoe…he’s not sure what exactly. All he knows is something hit him hard in the nose, and now he’s rubbing at it. The thief does not seem to show any sympathy for the mangaka whining in pain.
“Oh and people call me a pervert.”
“I wasn’t- Look I wasn’t into it okay! I’m not some kind of stalker who gets off on that.”
Gamma laughs, throwing the paraphernalia off his face. Uyu is glaring down at him, gaze piercing. It reminds him of when he was little, his mom staring down at him arms crossed, and with a fire in her eyes that made him shiver. The mangaka responds with cheeky laughter.
“Well, on the bright side…it’s good gossip?”
“That…”
Uyu thinks for a moment, his expression losing fire.
“Is true.”
Gamma could let out the world’s loudest exhale right then and there. But now that Uyu seemed less mad with him…
“And! Oh Uyu you should have seen it, they were so cute! I mean, Rio is cute and Fuma is a gremlin- but I’ve never seen the two of them be so cute- and- and Fuma! Fuma! Loud and proud, Yatogami Fuma was so gentle with how he was handling Rio-”
There’s a flick to his forehead, making him jerk back in pain.
“Spare me the details, I’m already painfully single as it is.”
Uyu sighs again, this time burying his entire face in his hand.
“You’re gonna make a story…thanks to your nosiness. Creepy. Weird. You might as well have been stalking them” The thief laughs into his palm, shaking his head slowly. “You’d be a horrible stalker, really, you could have used these past few days trying to get inspiration from them instead of moping around.”
Gamma gasps in offence.
“Hey! That’s…”
Wait a minute.
A spark lights up in Gamma’s head, and a smile stretches across his face. He starts giggling to himself softly, before laughter echoes through the room.
The thief’s hand drops from his face as he hears the tone in the other’s voice change. Uyu’s expression slowly morphs into one of dread, slapping a hand over his own mouth and gasping audibly as he realises just what he has done.
Gamma has a big grin on his face, blue eyes bright with energy. In Uyu’s eyes, he probably had a dog tail wagging excitedly.
And Uyu is his disappointed owner.
“Not a bad idea actually”
But hey, dog owners love their dogs anyway! Right?
“Please say you’re joking…” Gamma grins wider in response. Uyu shakes his head as he continues on “Oh god if something kills me one day it’s gonna be one of you three I-”
“You’re a genius!” Gamma throws his hands into the air in joy, kicking his feet on the mattress while still laying flat on it. “Oh my god that’s it! That’s…that’s- You’re helping!”
“I do not consent to any of this-”
Something grabs his arm, probably Gamma, and tugs him down onto the bed. He stutters in surprise as he falls and outright screams as he lands on top of the other, trapped in a big Hyper-Paripi-Dj-Mangaka hug that’s got him kicking at the mattress, below him. Uyu is practically fighting for his freedom like a caged beast, while Gamma, on the other hand, doesn’t care for Uyu’s personal space whatsoever, hugging him like he’s his childhood teddy bear.
!-<>-<>-<>-<>-!
“Gamma let go off me!”
In the hallway, a red coloured penguin stares judgingly at the door.
“Stop it!”
Before waddling away.
“Uyu you’re the best, I love you!”
Damn, humans.
!-<>-<>-<>-<>-!
“Lack of sleep- It sure does something to you doesn’t it!” Uyu yells in his ears, kicking at the mattress. Gamma still refuses to let him go and Uyu is considering punching him. “Let me go! You stink!”
“I don’t smell that bad!”
He did.
He really did.
Not horrible, but not good.
“Gamma!”
With enough wiggles and threats, Uyu manages to get the other’s arms off him, sitting up and staring down at him with flames in his eyes. Gamma is still laughing, obviously in a strange sort of place between exhaustion and excitement, giggly like a drunkard, eyes drooping and tired. Even more tired, it seems, having used what little of his battery left just then.
Uyu’s expression upon seeing this screams; Serves you right. And his thoughts repeat the phrase tenfold.
“Ugh, now I smell like isolation” The thief murmurs, smoothing out his clothes “Take a shower, clean up. You can stalk them for information…or I guess inspiration, when you have the energy to.”
“You’re the best, Uyu!”
All he could do was roll his eyes.
“I know, I know.”
The thief shakes his head, combing through his hair with his fingers in an effort to fix it from whatever mess it may have gotten into thanks to Gamma’s hug. Uyu runs a hand down his chest, as if to dust himself off. In his mind, he’s already planning to get off the other and the bed, the window being his target for freedom. Followed by his bed, so he can sleep away all the headaches he’s accumulated since arriving here.
And then something…touches his butt?
“What the-”
Uyu was a very observant person. It comes with being a thief.
That being said, he should have noticed it sooner.
Cause that would have made this situation a whole lot less embarrassing.
But it’s a bit too late for that, isn’t it?
Not when he promptly sat on Gamma’s lap, straddling the mangaka who looks either completely okay or completely clueless with everything that’s happening. As if he can’t see Uyu’s pale face turn as red as his spiky mess of hair, as if he doesn’t have someone literally sitting on his lap, as if his damn thighs and the top of his knees weren’t pressing against his ass.
“...You okay?” Gamma asks, fatigue-drunk. “Need some help or something?”
He reaches out, hands weakly going for Uyu’s lower half without a single thought behind it.
The minute he even felt a single bit of contact from the other, he bounced. A finger touch on one of his thighs. Uyu was gone, slapping the hands away from getting anywhere closer and jumping up and out of the situation faster than the other could even blink.
Gamma actually whines at the slap, pulling his hands to his chest. His expression is a bit more awake, a bit more able to comprehend what’s going on, as he looks at Uyu.
“Uyu?”
He can’t deal with this shit, he’s had enough internal breakdowns today.
“Take a shower!” The thief yells, rushing to the window. Not one of his most graceful moments, practically tripping over every random object or dirty clothing item that happens to be sitting on the floor. “You stink! Take a shower! Don’t talk to me until you’re clean!”
“But-”
“I’m not repeating what I said!”
He was out.
Granted, the climb down held far from the same amount of grace as the climb up did. As soon as his feet landed on solid ground, he booked it, heading for the nearest alley so he could hide his face until the redness disappeared. Luckily enough it was empty, and nearby buildings seemingly the same.
Perfect, he could scream and curse at the sky all he wanted until he felt just a little less embarrassed.
Because what in the world just happened.
And then, he tells himself, he would proceed to not think about it for the rest of the day! It was a one time mistake made by a sleep-deprived Hizaki Gamma! Nothing more! Nothing more. It was a situation where Uyu found himself in a very, very interesting position. One involving Hizaki Gamma in it too.
But! But it was all an accident, so it’s fine! It’s fine.
Until he’s laying in bed, screaming into his pillow, repeating it to himself over and over as he threatens multiple crimes to no one in particular. Jyako stared at him judgingly from the other side of the room.
When he’s done, he massages his face in stress, glaring at the wall as if it was the redhead from earlier. Maybe he talked to himself for a little bit in front of the vanity table, but it’s fine! It was just an embarrassing accident.
Just an embarrassing accident, nothing worth dwelling on, he tells himself.
“You okay?”
And yet…
“Need some help or something?”
He wonders what Gamma would have done if he realized…
“Oh my god, I need to sleep.”
Just when he thinks he’s finally gotten the other’s stupid face from his mind, his phone lights up with a notification. He glares at it like it's the scum of the earth, clawing at the screen as he sees the name of the sender appear.
Speak of the devil, and he will arrive.
[ ‘Tomorrow! Operation Spy-On-Fuma-and-Rio! Okay!? Okay!!!!!’ ]
God, he was right.
[ ‘I didn’t consent to this?’ ]
If some force of nature doesn’t kill him, it would be one of his three idiots.
[ ‘But you didn’t…not consent ;D’ ]
And maybe it will be the red one in particular.