Work Text:
The brassy ringing of the tattoo shop door cut cheerfully through the air as it swung open. For all that Kaoru was feeling, it might as well have been a funeral bell.
He could feel Kojiro’s shit-eating grin behind him. “So, this is the place,” Kojiro said, leaning over Kaoru’s shoulder. “Is it up to snuff, princess?”
Kaoru rolled his eyes so hard he thought he might give himself a headache. “It looks like a dump,” he spat. Truthfully, the shop appeared quite orderly and clean, which allayed some of Kaoru’s anxieties, but only by a very small degree. “I’d like to keep what’s left of my dignity intact,” he whispered harshly, “so if you tell them about the beef, I swear to God, Kojiro, I will—”
“Good afternoon! Are you two here for an appointment?” came a bright voice, cutting him off.
A woman had appeared at the register. Her skin was covered in patterns of black ink, great swirls and crashing waves, a tiger mid-roar, carnations in full bloom, and her body glittered with golden piercings: ear, brow, collarbone, bridge, lip, helix. She held herself with a clear, steady confidence that Kaoru appreciated. The clothes she wore reminded him of his high school self.
Kojiro approached the register with a smile. “Yeah, he’s got a three o’clock,” he said to her, jerking a thumb back to indicate Kaoru. “I made the appointment. We talked on the phone?”
“Oh!” The woman grinned and looked at Kaoru. “So you’re the one who lost the bet!”
Kaoru wanted to die on the spot.
“He’s still a little touchy about it,” Kojiro stage-whispered.
The woman at the register laughed good-naturedly and tapped at the keys of her computer for a moment. Then, she looked up. “My name is Rei. Sakurayashiki-san, will you follow me?”
Do I have a choice? Kaoru wanted to spit. He settled for throwing a withering glare back at Kojiro before following Rei further into the shop.
“So, I understand that you haven’t seen the design for your tattoo?”
“No, I haven’t,” Kaoru said in a tight voice.
“Alright.” Rei gestured for him to sit. “Usually, I would complete the stencil and then you would let me know if there are any changes you want before I start working in ink. Does that sound good, or would you prefer not to see the design until the tattoo is finished?”
Kaoru gritted his teeth, trying to swallow his pride. “The terms of my agreement with Nanjo-san are that I won’t see the design until it’s done.”
“No backing out, huh?” Rei joked, and Kaoru forced a smile that felt more like a grimace. “I can work with that. I’ll have Nanjo-san take a look at the stencil instead to make sure he’s happy with it before I start. For now, I’m going to prep your skin. Did he discuss the placement with you?”
Kaoru realized that Kojiro hadn’t mentioned its placement. A sharp stab of anxiety pierced his chest, and all of the possible worst-case scenarios flashed through his head in a split-second of horror. What if Kojiro made him get it somewhere he couldn’t cover up? His hands? His neck or face? Oh God, what if—
“No, he didn’t,” Kaoru spoke aloud before his train of thought could continue. “But it wasn’t mentioned in our agreement, so I’d like to request my upper left arm. Of course my preference would depend on the design, but I’m unable to take that into account.” Having mentally organized all of his concerns, he found that this was the optimal solution. Here, it would be easily covered by his usual kimono, and there would be little risk of accidentally displaying it. He could cover it at S with his usual armband, or acquire a wider band if necessary.
“Well, that’s perfect,” Rei said with a laugh, “because Nanjo-san told me he wanted that placement as well.”
Kaoru blinked. “Oh. Okay,” he replied, and slipped out of his jacket, unsure of what else to say.
“And—I’m not sure if I’m supposed to tell you this, but—” she leaned in conspiratorially, “I wouldn’t be nervous about the design if I were you. I find it very beautiful and classy.” And with that, she began to clean his upper arm, the sharp smell of rubbing alcohol stinging the air as Kaoru processed what she had said.
Classy?
The tangle of anxiety in his gut loosened for a moment as he considered her words with confusion. Kojiro could put whatever he wanted on Kaoru’s skin—a triumphant opportunity, considering his lifelong mission to annoy and embarrass Kaoru as much as possible—and he picked something classy?
Granted, the terms were not quite so lax. The bet itself had arisen from a particularly stressful week in which Kaoru had been channeling his pent-up anxious energy into a vicious fight with Kojiro at S, when suddenly the gorilla proposed a beef to settle the whole thing. Kaoru could barely remember what they’d been fighting about in the first place, but at some point he’d made a comment about Kojiro’s tattoo being obnoxiously large and showy, to which Kojiro spat back that it had been Kaoru’s design in the first place, and maybe Kaoru should ink something of Kojiro’s just so they were even. Kaoru scoffed at the idea. Then Kojiro was pulling him forward by the collar. “Beef with me,” he said, breathing hard. “Loser has to get whatever tattoo the winner chooses. And you can’t see it ‘til it’s done.”
“Bold of you to assume I’d be the one losing.”
“Guess there’s only one way to find out.”
Kaoru was so caught up in the adrenaline of the fight that he barely spared a thought to the consequences. “Fine,” he spat back. “But nothing bigger than your stupid sun. And nothing lewd.”
“You’re on.”
Then they were flying down the track, the crowd shouting and whistling behind them, and that was that.
Suffice it to say that Kaoru was expecting the worst when Kojiro announced that he had the perfect idea for what Kaoru’s tattoo would be—beautiful and classy was not what he would have guessed. Unless Rei-san was being sarcastic—? Kaoru felt his heartbeat pick up again, and he replayed her words in his head, analyzing the tone. She had sounded sincere to him. But maybe he was misinterpreting it. After all, he could only read Kojiro’s sarcasm so easily because they’d known each other for so long. What if he was dooming himself to the gaudiest, ugliest tattoo known to man without even realizing it? What if Kojiro really was trying to humiliate him through this beef? What if—
This time, his spiral was cut off by Rei. “Sakurayashiki-san,” she said conversationally, “your friend tells me that you’re a professional calligrapher.”
Kaoru swallowed, willing himself to calm down. “Yes, I run a studio in Okinawa,” he replied.
“How wonderful,” Rei said, seeming genuinely delighted. “I studied traditional calligraphy for a while before becoming a tattoo artist. Nanjo-san contacted me about this design because my work is heavily inspired by calligraphy.”
This sparked Kaoru’s interest. “What style do you work in?”
Rei was intently focused on the stencil, but her voice was animated and excited as she spoke. “I always preferred gyōsho. I like the fluidity and slight abstraction of it, which is what inspires a lot of my tattoo designs.”
“I agree,” said Kaoru. “I work by commission, so my style is flexible, but I enjoy the quiet liveliness of cursive pieces.”
“You have a way with words.”
“My clients seem to think so,” he replied dryly.
Rei laughed. “I’ll have to look you up sometime. I’ll admit, I’m not very knowledgeable about the current calligraphy world.”
“I do public demonstrations in Okinawa sometimes. The media has taken a liking to calling me ‘the AI Calligrapher’ on account of how I incorporate technology into my work.”
She gasped with delight. “That sounds so interesting! I’d love to hear more about it.”
Kaoru’s mouth twitched into a small smile. “The AI that I use is actually my own creation,” he explained. “She’s able to instantly digitize and enlarge my works, but her most impressive feature is her ability to create animated pieces by monitoring brush movement and technique through the bracelet on my wrist…”
Rei worked on the tattoo stencil as Kaoru continued to gush about Carla, occasionally interjecting with a question or comment. His nerves were still on edge, but eventually he found himself relaxing somewhat. It wasn’t often that he got the chance to tell people about his work in a casual setting. Those who were interested in hearing about the intersection between calligraphy and AI technology were typically either clients or investors, and he suspected that neither would appreciate the kind of rambling that he tended to get lost in.
Before he knew it, Rei was leaning back to look at the finished stencil. “All done,” she said with a smile. “I’ll go grab your friend.”
Kojiro took one glance at Kaoru and scrunched up his face in annoyance. “You’re not supposed to see it,” he said.
“I’m looking at you, idiot. I haven’t looked at the stencil.”
“I thought she was going to blindfold you or something.”
“As if I would let that happen.”
“Then how do you know you won’t accidentally look?”
“I wouldn’t expect a gorilla like you to understand, but I actually have control over my own eyes.”
Rei watched the exchange with amusement as Kojiro stepped closer to admire the stencil.
After a long moment of quiet, he said, “It looks perfect.” His voice was soft with awe. “It’s perfect.”
Rei smiled. “Amazing. I’ll be back in a moment to start the tattoo.” She disappeared into the back, leaving Kaoru and Kojiro alone.
“So, what’s going on in that head of yours?” Kojiro said.
“Nothing,” Kaoru snapped.
“And here I thought ‘nothing’ was my department.”
“It is. You’re a brainless ape.”
“As much as I’d love to fight with you right now, you’re not fooling me. Your leg is bouncing like crazy. Talk to me.”
Kaoru folded his arms and looked away. “I’m about to get a design inked into my skin, and I have no idea what it looks like. What could I possibly have to be worried about?” he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Kojiro frowned. “Kaoru. Look at me.” He brought one hand to Kaoru’s jaw, gently turning his face to meet his gaze. “You trust me, right?”
Kaoru’s face heated. The moment seemed to drag on, suspended in air, charged with something alive and inexplicable. Not wanting to think about the way it made him feel, Kaoru flicked Kojiro between the brows and turned away.
“Idiot,” he said. “What kind of a question is that?”
He braced himself to be flicked or shoved in return, but instead, Kojiro took his hand. “Hey,” he said softly. “If you really don’t wanna—”
“Shut up.”
Kojiro blinked.
“I’m not chickening out. A beef is a beef. If I backed out now you’d never let me live it down.”
“You’re right, I wouldn’t.” Kojiro laughed. “Want me to stay?”
“No. Go away.”
“Too bad. I’m gonna watch.”
Kaoru stuck out his tongue in response. Kojiro just grinned and squeezed his hand, and Kaoru tried not to feel everything it made him feel.
When Rei returned, she got straight to work on the tattoo. She struck up a conversation with Kojiro as she worked, and Kaoru was happy to simply sit and listen, occasionally interjecting with a snide comment to piss Kojiro off, much to Rei’s amusement. “You two remind me of my sisters,” she said with a snort. “Bickering with each other is their love language.”
As Kaoru sat in stillness, his mind drifted to the many teenage afternoons he’d spent in places like this one, shops crowded with teenagers and twenty-somethings waiting for their walk-ins, gritting his teeth as the piercing gun punched another slender piece of white gold through his ear while Kojiro grinned at him from across the shop with a dorky thumbs-up. Before meeting Adam, it had been a sort of ritual between them. Kaoru always dragged Kojiro along whenever he decided on a whim to get another piercing, and Kojiro had Kaoru by his side when he got his own first tattoo, the sprawling sun on his shoulder—a design that had evolved from a doodle Kaoru made while testing out a new set of calligraphy inks. Kaoru had teased him relentlessly for getting it inked on his skin, but he was quietly pleased by the choice, if also embarrassed beyond belief. It was wholly Kojiro’s—a symbol of his blazing ambition, his warmth, his joy and optimism that burned constant like a star—but it was also a silent tribute to their friendship, which had been a pillar in both of their lives for so long that neither could remember a time before the other, and neither could imagine a time after them either.
Kaoru’s anxiety quieted somewhat as the minutes ticked by, if only because Rei-san seemed so unbothered, and because his intermittent bickering with Kojiro was a familiar object to anchor himself to. Soon, Rei was explaining tattoo care to Kaoru as she finished up. Kaoru took notes on his phone with his free hand as his nerves swelled once more. This was it.
“Alright, you’re all finished. Ready to have a look?”
Kaoru nodded.
Rei held up the mirror.
“Do you like it?” Kojiro asked. He almost sounded nervous. Kaoru simply stared at his reflection in stunned silence, heart flinging itself against his chest like a wild bird.
The design on his arm was a simple moon, a circular outline with a crescent-shaped segment shaded in black. Eight wavy rays of light emanated from it in alternating sizes. At its widest point, the tattoo seemed to be a little less than half the diameter of Kojiro’s sun.
Kojiro’s sun.
It was obvious from just a glance that Kaoru’s tattoo had been designed to match Kojiro’s perfectly. The brushstrokes, geometry, and style were the same; they were a matched pair.
Sun and moon. Yang and yin. Kojiro and Kaoru.
“Oh,” he said, unable to tear his gaze away.
Kojiro laughed, but it was breathy and nervous. “So… verdict?”
Kaoru finally looked up at him, but couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact. “I don’t know what to say,” he said, because it was the truth. After a pause, he added, “It’s beautiful.”
Kojiro’s face flooded with relief, and he beamed. “Thank God, you had me worried for a second,” he said. “Thanks for everything, Rei-san. I’ll take care of the payment now.”
Kaoru watched as Kojiro followed Rei to the register. Something twisted around inside of him, a feeling he couldn’t place, though he wasn’t sure he wanted to. As if naming it would give it the permission to swell up out of his control, to come to life and demand things of him, things he couldn’t give. Things he was terrified to give. Kaoru pushed it down. Back into the static. Back to his usual code.
They left the tattoo shop in silence. Kojiro kept glancing at him, then away. Finally, he said, “Are you ever gonna tell me what you think?”
Kaoru crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you ever going to explain yourself?”
“What is that supposed to mean?” he replied with a laugh.
“Kojiro, seriously.” Kaoru narrowed his eyes at him. “I feel like you’re trying to tell me something. Just say it.”
An unreadable emotion passed over Kojiro’s face, and he sighed, his eyes soft. “You’ll figure it out eventually, four-eyes.”