Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was two weeks before Ayabe’s trial. Supposedly, Kuroiwa had been dealt with; he fought Yagami at Koi Bride and then got stopped by Morita, had his badge and gun taken away. Higashi didn’t buy that it was truly all okay, but Kamurocho seemed a little less crazy lately. Things had died down at the Matsugane office; Yagami had bested Kuroiwa in their fight and the guys were happy that their patriarch had been avenged. For Higashi, he wouldn’t be happy until he knew Kuroiwa was actually dealt with, but he’d take what he could get.

Morita had every reason to back AD-9, Higashi didn’t trust he had fully stopped Kuroiwa. But there wasn’t much he could do but wait for the trial, so he kept his mouth shut and didn’t bother Kaito or Yagami over it. They must have felt the same way, no point in bringing it up. Yagami was busy as it was going over the law and anything else that could have changed in the three years he was out of the lawyer game, Higashi felt no need to burden him with anything unnecessary even if he still wasn’t crazy about the older man.

Higashi stuck around Charles. He wasn’t quite sure where the arcade was headed; Matsugane had certain establishments and Higashi had no idea what was going to happen with them now that the Family was practically gone. He felt a sense of loyalty to the arcade, so he figured he’d run the business until either he had to shut it down or someone got ownership of it. Honestly, with all the shit that the case had dredged up, it was a nice reprieve to just be doing something normal. 

Unfortunately for Higashi, normal meant that the men he had gotten used to spending his time with were busy and he was alone once again. Yagami had his detective agency and other cases to handle alongside getting back into the lawyer game, and Kaito was helping to pick up the slack where needed. He kept in touch with Higashi, called from time to time, but he always just seemed busy. Sugiura, well, Higashi truthfully had no idea what became of the younger man. 

The last time that Higashi saw Sugiura was at Yagami’s office; the thief had asked Yagami to give Okubo a message from him, that he wanted to spend time together and make up for how he had acted in the past. After he and Yagami had gone to the Matsugane office to talk Kengo down, Higashi wasn’t sure what had actually happened to Sugiura; he hadn’t seen the younger man since. 

Higashi sighed as he looked around the arcade from behind the counter. It was morning on a weekday, so the place was pretty dead. Even though it was nice to go back to normal, unfortunately for Higashi, normal also meant boring. His life wasn’t great before the whole AD-9 situation, but at least Higashi generally had things to do; his men usually needed him to save them, or he was doing shitty jobs for Hamura. Honestly, the shitty jobs he could do without, but he missed his men. He told them to make something of themselves, get their lives together and try to go legit and find jobs. It was radio silence, Higashi hoped things were good for them. 

Higashi leaned over, rested his elbows on the counter and held his head in his hands. He knew he had to figure something out as well. He had no idea what the future held for him, and he didn’t even know what was going to happen to the arcade he’d been at for over ten years. With The Mole and all the shit from AD-9, Matsugane’s business was, unfortunately, put on hold. Higashi was okay with it because it gave him more time to relax and get back to whatever sense of normalcy he had left, but he knew that eventually, he’d need to just figure it out. In his many years of being a yakuza, he never stopped to think that one day, it would all be over in the blink of an eye.

“Is this a bad time?” Higashi shot straight up. It was Sugiura’s voice, and the man himself was by the entrance, hand on his hip. “Sorry, Higashi-san. Didn’t mean to spook you.”

“It’s all good,” Higashi muttered. He gave Sugiura a quick look up and down. He looked the same, not that Higashi expected much different. Having seen Sugiura in a bad place before, Higashi might have thought for half a minute that maybe he was laying low and barely taking care of himself, but that didn’t quite fit the picture that Higashi had of the younger man. Though Higashi also never would have thought Sugiura to have ever been a shut-in, so what did he really know? “I didn’t expect you to show up.”

“Oh,” Sugiura looked around. He turned back to Higashi. “Are you busy?”

Higashi’s lips twitched. He assumed Sugiura was just trying to be funny; he was a smart man, he could clearly see how empty the arcade was. He also might have just been trying to be polite as well; their relationship had a rocky start, but Higashi felt like they’d gotten better since. Circumstances in the case had kind of forced them together and it’s not like they were children who refused to speak to each other; they talked and slowly got to know one another.

Higashi wasn’t sure if he’d call them friends, but he could admit that after seeing Sugiura cry and admit his place in everything that had happened, the older man had gained a soft spot for the thief. Under all the smiles and cockiness, there was a hurt man that had lost the only person who he felt gave a shit about him.

Higashi felt the same way when Kaito had been kicked out of the Matsugane Family, how could he not feel for Sugiura’s situation?

“Very,” Higashi chuckled. Sugiura’s eyes widened, but he recovered and laughed. “Everything okay on your end, Sugiura?”

“Yeah,” Sugiura nodded his head. He moved closer to the counter, leaned forward on the surface, his arms crossed under him. “I hate that we have so much time left before the trial. I’d love for that bastard to get clobbered in court and never be seen again.”

“Shono or Kuroiwa?” Higashi asked. He wasn’t sure he’d ever heard Sugiura speak so candidly, not that he could blame the man. The case, in some ways, literally hit too close to home for the thief. Once everything with Kuroiwa was said and done, there would be a re-trial for Emi Terasawa’s murder case. Everything Shono had done would come to light, and Emi would get justice.

“Yes,” Sugiura said. He took a deep breath. Higashi walked over to the vending machine in the corner, got Sugiura a bottle of water. He handed it to the younger man. He seemed a bit tense. “Thanks, Higashi-san.”

Higashi walked back to the counter, leaned on it himself and looked at Sugiura. 

“It wasn’t long after Emi’s death that I started working out and trying to do what I could around the city. Got into my gang pretty quickly, became a leader since I was so good, and that took up most of my time, so I’ve had a lot of time to think lately,” Sugiura explained. “And we’ve got a couple more weeks. It’s been a long time since I’ve had so much time to myself. It’s painful.”

“Remind you of your past?” Higashi asked. 

“Yeah,” Sugiura mumbled. Even though he had said he joined in with Yagami to keep an eye on him, Higashi wondered if there was a part of Sugiura that was also motivated by his loneliness. If he’d left his gang for getting greedy, it meant it was just him again. Higashi was sure the happenstance of running into Yagami was coincidental at first, and it was lucky that Sugiura had a sour past with the man that would cause him to keep an eye out on the detective, but it also gave Sugiura a chance to be around people again. 

“I’m sorry it still hurts this many years later,” Higashi said. He didn’t know a lot about Sugiura’s time as a shut-in. He wanted to ask about it when he was put in charge of caring for the younger man, but Sugiura was in such a bad place, Higashi felt like asking questions about a time he was clearly embarrassed over would just make him feel worse. 

“I’ll get over it,” Sugiura smiled, but there seemed to be sadness behind it. Higashi was sure that he wouldn’t truly get over it fully, but he hoped that Sugiura would get to a point where it didn’t hurt as much to think about. “Anyway, I’m not here to talk about my fucked up past. I just wanted to come visit and see how you were doing.”

“Me?” Higashi questioned. 

“You,” Sugiura smiled. “Yagami-san and Kaito-san have been busy with detective work, so I figured I’d pop in and check on you. Something was happening with the Matsugane Family last we saw each other, right?”

“Yeah. Fucking Kengo getting uppity and thinking he’s hot shit, trying to rile everyone up to avenge Matsugane-san,” Higashi explained. Maybe if it hadn’t been Kengo then Higashi wouldn’t have been as upset. He was practically a little runt bowing his head to whoever kept him out of trouble, and in this case, it was Hamura. And Higashi knew Kengo meant every word and truly did want revenge for his patriarch, but in some ways, it felt like salt in the wound. 

Kengo was always around Hamura, backing him up and agreeing with everything the man did and said. And maybe if it seemed natural and like a yakuza backing up his captain it would’ve been fine, but it felt more like Kengo didn’t care what he was doing or who was affected as long as it was known that he was a good and loyal man to Hamura. 

But maybe Higashi was being too hard. He’d been on the wrong side of Hamura, was willing to say all the right things just to avoid a bullet to the brain. Maybe Kengo had some good intentions and just went about it the wrong way, let his fear get the best of him. Higashi doubted it, but he’d admit he could be wrong. 

“Figured if I got Yagami, maybe he could talk some sense into him,” Higashi didn’t want to go down a path of anger. He felt like he wasn’t that hot-headed guy that had to be on edge anymore. “We worked it out.”

“With your fists?” Sugiura grinned. He wasn’t wrong. “Hot-headed yakuza tend to get punchy. But I guess you know that.”

Higashi laughed. Unlike Hoshino, it didn’t feel like Sugiura was just trying to poke at him for no reason, it felt more like he was just trying to get along and be playful. Or maybe Higashi was just giving Sugiura the benefit of the doubt. 

“I barely feel like a yakuza anymore,” Higashi admitted. Ever since the fucking governer had enacted that 3K plan last year, it felt like the family hadn’t been the same. Or maybe the timing was just so close to Kaito’s departure and Hamura’s fight for power that it just coincided with the feeling. 

“I hear ya,” Sugiura said. He looked around again. “At least Charles is still around though. Do you need any help here or anything?”

It felt like he was trying to change the subject, not that Higashi minded. Sugiura probably just wanted to keep it lighter considering the shit they’d been through. They’d been so wrapped up in the case, it was hard not to keep going back to it or anything even vaguely associated. Higashi didn’t mind being positive. He felt like they deserved it.

“Looking for a job?” he asked. His usual clerk stuck around even when he didn’t need to. Higashi told him that he wasn’t sure how much longer they’d have their jobs, and the clerk responded that he’d stay as long as the place was around. He might’ve been horrible with kids, but Higashi couldn’t help but be happy that he held that kind of loyalty.

There were some days that Higashi really doubted there was any true honor or loyalty left among yakuza.

“I don’t exactly have a stellar resume, it’d be nice to get some experience in somewhere,” Sugiura said. Higashi laughed. Despite it all, unfortunately, Sugiura was still considered a criminal even if he meant well, and it wasn’t exactly something to put on a resume. “And I figure it’d give me something to do. Also couldn’t hurt for us to get to know each other, right?”

“I think we know enough,” Higashi stated. Sugiura looked down at the counter and sighed. Higashi slapped his hand to his face because it had come out wrong. He didn’t mind getting to know Sugiura more, but he also felt like they knew the deeper parts of each other; the case had unfortunately put them in a situation that exposed their vulnerable sides. “That’s not what I meant.”

“No, it’s okay. I know the case wasn’t exactly something you were thrilled about us bringing over to you. You wanted to be left alone,” Sugiura looked at Higashi. The younger man looked so hurt, but he was trying to act like it was fine and he was fine.

Probably something Sugiura had gotten good at conveying. 

“Sugiura,” Higashi grabbed the other man’s arm. He sighed. Sugiura was more sensitive than he let on and the last thing Higashi wanted to do was hurt his feelings. “I don’t know where Charles is headed, I can’t really take anyone else on with a good conscience. I don’t mind you at all, but I can’t hire you.”

Higashi let go of the younger man. 

“I don’t mind getting to know you more,” he added. Sugiura was quick and good in a fight, and he had a pretty good personality. He annoyed Higashi when he first came onto the scene, but working together long enough showed the older man that Sugiura was more than a pretty face with a smug personality; he was a wounded man under it all with too much anger at the world that all came from a deeper feeling of sadness and despair. Higashi could relate, and maybe it’s why he tried to be so good with the younger man. 

“I’m pretty boring,” Sugiura laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “My idea of a good time is video games and UFO Catchers.”

“Well what do you know, I run an arcade and those are two things I know a lot about,” Higashi said. Sugiura looked embarrassed. “Come on, Sugiura. You pulled yourself out of despair three years ago after a devastating experience, decided to dedicate yourself to helping others because you saw how unjust society could be. Don’t tell me how boring you are when I know better.”

Higashi could see it was a side of himself that Sugiura didn’t let anyone know about. He barely let the others know about who he was even when he joined Yagami’s cause, Sugiura didn’t seem to like opening up about himself, or maybe he just didn’t know how. 

“Let’s go out later,” Higashi grinned. Sugiura seemed nervous and Higashi supposed that maybe under all of his confidence, he was just a scared man that hadn’t truly gotten used to being with others. Sugiura looked at him, surprise on his face. “It’ll be good. Cafe Alps has some nice desserts. You like desserts, right?”

“Are you talking about a date?” Sugiura asked. Higashi chuckled. He wasn’t really thinking of a date when he suggested it, but he wasn’t opposed either. Higashi could admit he had a bit of a thing for the other man, but he wasn’t going to throw it onto him out of the blue when Sugiura was going through so much already. 

But if he was going to bring it up…

“Yeah, why not?” Higashi replied. It could be fun and it would give them both something to do. Sugiura could be out and about rather than being by himself, and Higashi would have more than just sticking around a dead arcade. 

“I’ve never been on a date, Higashi-san,” Sugiura looked down at the counter. Higashi didn’t really expect him to have much experience, and he didn’t mind it either. Higashi didn’t have a lot of experience himself; he’d gone out here or there when he was in his twenties, but the dates never went anywhere. He was barely interested and did it more out of feeling like it was expected of him. 

He was attracted to Sugiura. He was hot as hell, had a good personality, he was funny, plus he’d given Yagami some shit. Higashi was interested, but it wasn’t why he was asking Sugiura out; he mostly just thought it’d just give them both something normal to do after everything they’d been doing for the past few weeks. 

“That’s okay. I haven’t really dated too much myself, but it’s nothing you need to worry about,” Higashi replied. “Just show up and have a good time, that's all I’m really asking. You don’t even need to have a good time, but I hope you do.”

Sugiura laughed and let out a deep breath. 

“You could ask anyone else out, but you chose the guy with no experience and too much baggage,” Sugiura said. Higashi laughed. 

“Maybe because we have that in common,” he countered. Sugiura looked Higashi in the eye and smiled. It was a genuine smile and Higashi felt his face heat up. “Let’s meet up at Theatre Square around seven. I can close up a little early.”

“Guess it’s a date then,” Sugiura got up, looked at Higashi quickly. “I’ll see you then, Higashi-san!” 

Higashi watched the younger man leave. He smiled, pulled out his pack of cigarettes and lit one. He had something to look forward to and it got him out of work early. Plus he could get to know Sugiura more. All in all, a solid line of wins in Higashi’s book. It felt like it had been a long time coming.

At 7:30, Higashi checked his phone for the fifth time. Sugiura didn’t seem like the type to be late for anything. Higashi wished he’d asked the younger man for his number earlier. He planned on playing it cool and asking to exchange contact information so they could keep in touch after the date, casually mention setting up more dates. He wished he had just gotten Sugiura’s information, let that side that wanted to show off how cool he was go.

Higashi lit another cigarette and looked around, tried to keep an eye out for either Sugiura’s signature denim jacket or that stupid fucking mask he liked to wear so much. Higashi felt like that mask was like a security blanket for Sugiura; it hid him from the world and he usually wore it when he didn’t want anyone to see his face. Unfortunately for Sugiura, the mask reminded Higashi of edgy teenagers thinking they were so cool for "getting" the historical reference. At least for Sugiura, his choice in mask was fitting and symbolic for what he was doing. 

In case Sugiura suddenly showed up, Higashi didn’t really want to leave and go look for him. What if Sugiura got there while Higashi was gone and assumed he wasn’t interested anymore? Sugiura seemed so sensitive at the arcade, Higashi was sure leaving would make the younger man feel like he wasn’t worth the effort. Sugiura had said before that being by himself reminded him too much of his past, and Higashi was sure Sugiura had a lot of self-hatred he didn’t talk about. He referred to himself as a ‘fucked up shut-in’ before, he had probably harbored a lot of negative thoughts about himself. 

When Higashi finally finished his cigarette, it was nearly eight. He sighed as he snuffed the cigarette and threw it into a nearby tray. He had a feeling Sugiura wasn’t gonna show up. When he had suggested going out, Higashi wasn’t planning a date, but after Sugiura brought it up, the thought seemed so appealing. It was a date with someone that Higashi was actually interested in, and he felt like he could know more about Sugiura. He knew some of the deeper, more sensitive things about the thief, but he wanted to know the man’s hobbies and what made him tick. He wanted to finally do something normal and just talk about stupid shit that didn’t matter. He felt like Sugiura deserved it just as much as he did; they’d faced hardships and were forced to grow from them, they finally had down-time to just be people again.

“Higashi-san!” Higashi looked around, tried to find where the voice had come from. He saw Sugiura running over. The other man stopped in front of Higashi, tried to catch his breath. “You’re still here.”

“Well, we had a date that I was looking forward to,” Higashi put a hand on his hip. “Everything okay?”

“I overslept,” Sugiura said. He put his hand on his heart, took in a deep breath. He shook his head and looked at Higashi. “I started getting nervous about our date as the day went on, so I thought that if I took a nap, I would wake up refreshed and ready to go. But it turned into a three hour sleep.”

Higashi laughed. Sugiura was late because he had fallen asleep. He was so fucking cute and it was a side that Higashi was sure Sugiura didn’t really like to show others. Sugiura barely shared much about himself when he first joined the group, he seemed to like keeping a lot to himself.

“Do you feel better now?” Higashi asked. Sugiura sighed.

“No!” he exclaimed. “I’m late. For my first date. When I got up, I ran as fast as I could in the hopes that you were still here and you weren’t mad. Sorry, Higashi-san.”

“It’s fine. You’re here now and I’m not mad,” Higashi smiled. Sugiura didn’t strike him as the kind of guy to make plans and then back out of them; if he had wanted to cancel, he’d have gone over to the arcade and said something. “You wanna go to the arcade over there?”

“Really?” Sugiura asked. Higashi nodded his head. “I’d think that working at an arcade all day, you’d be sick of them by now.”

“Well I don’t exactly wanna go to my own arcade, but the Sega arcades are different. And besides, you like games, right?” Higashi explained. Sugiura’s eyes lit up. Higashi had talked about Cafe Alps, but he figured they could do other things before they visited the cafe. 

They turned and walked over to the arcade. It had people around playing various games, but it wasn’t overly crowded. Sugiura pointed to a large cabinet; Kamuro of the Dead. Higashi followed him over.

“It’s always in use whenever I’m here,” Sugiura said. “And there’s always a lot of people hanging around waiting to use it, so I’ve never really gotten to play before.”

“Really?” Higashi asked. Sometimes he’d stop in and play some games, figured it was good to show support for other similar businesses. That and sometimes it was nice to play newer games as opposed to the oldies. “Well, it’s free now.”

Higashi put some money in for them, and they each took a gun. Higashi had played before, sometimes when he just needed to relieve some stress; he could forget his troubles and life for a little bit. He started the game, explained how it worked. Sugiura wasn’t a great aim, but he did well enough. Higashi had memorized every level, and Sugiura seemed to pick up on the game through him.

They lost on the second to last level. 

“Can we try again?” Sugiura asked. “I feel like I get it this time. Reload when the enemies are in the back so that I have enough ammo when it matters, save the med kits for emergencies or before we kill the enemies and move on. I think I can do better.”

“Okay,” Higashi bent down, put more money in the machine. Sugiura seemed to be enjoying it. He cursed now and then when an enemy got a hit on him, but he had to let it out and Higashi got it. He hated every time he used to do badly at the game. 

The game started, and Sugiura was in the full swing of things. He had figured out the different enemy types, how they moved and when to hit them. They were doing better. Sugiura used to just reload when he was out of bullets, but he learned quickly to just reload during down-time so he wasn’t left exposed and leaving Higashi to handle it all and run out his own bullets. Higashi had explained the basic controls, but he felt like it would be more fun for Sugiura to learn strategies on his own.

When they finished the game, Higashi glanced at Sugiura. The screen flashed, alerted them of one more level.

“There’s a secret level!?” Sugiura asked. Higashi grinned. 

“If you play through and finish all five levels from the start, you unlock the secret last level and true final boss,” he explained. True final boss was a stretch; it was the same big, ugly zombie boss as usual, but now it was basically just an enemy rush and the big boss at the end. Still, Higashi was excited for Sugiura to find out. 

Sugiura quickly grabbed his gun; he’d put it away when the game had congratulated them on winning, but he was pumped. He was having fun and Higashi couldn’t be happier. He reloaded his gun, kept his focus on the game. 

They finished the true final level and put their initials on the high-score table. Sugiura chuckled as the cabinet flashed the single-player high score table; a lot of the initials happened to match Higashi’s. 

“You’re really good at games,” Sugiura stated. “I think I’ve seen your initials on some of the games at Charles too.”

“Yeah, well, they didn’t set me up to help run Charles because I’m so cool,” Higashi said. Truthfully, he really liked games of all kinds. He always told himself that games were stupid and he was sick of them after he started working at Charles, but once he actually got himself to a cabinet or game console, it took over and he was in the zone. 

“Well, I think you’re cool,” Sugiura murmured. “What’s the T stand for?”

“Toru,” Higashi said. He remembered that they barely had any formal introduction; Kaito brought Sugiura over and told Higashi that Sugiura was working with them now. They only knew each other by what everyone else had called them.

“Toru,” Sugiura repeated. He was quiet, looked at the ground thoughtfully. “It’s a good name. Toru. It’s calming. Fitting.”

“R-really?” Higashi asked. 

“Yeah. You’re kind of quiet, and underneath the annoyance and hotheadedness, I can tell you’re actually a level-headed person. You were really nice to me when you had to watch me that night after the lab,” Sugiura explained. “Even this morning, you were patient with me, didn’t even seem annoyed that I was around. You weren’t even mad that I was late for our date. You’re a good person, so the name fits.”

“Oh,” Higashi could feel the heat from his face; he was not used to people speaking so nicely about him. “Uh, we should probably go play something else. You know, in case anyone else wants to play Kamuro of the Dead.”

“Okay!” Sugiura chuckled. They left the cabinet. “My name is Fumiya, by the way.”

“Wisdom,” it came out before Higashi could think of it. A few months back, one of Higashi’s guys thought his girlfriend was pregnant and he asked if the others would help him figure things out. Higashi had gotten books and read up on baby names; he felt like a good, strong name would be important and he had about a week of memorizing all kinds of meanings for each name depending on how they were written.

It turned out everything was fine; the girlfriend just had a late period. His guy was a little upset that nothing panned out, but he told Higashi later how much it had meant that he went out and looked into it just to help him. And now Higashi had all this information in his head and a bunch of baby books at his apartment.

“Uh, yeah,” Sugiura laughed awkwardly. “I hate it though.”

“Really?” Higashi asked. He thought Fumiya was actually a very nice name. It could mean a number of things depending on how the kanji is written; wisdom, as Higashi had blurted out, writing, relaxation, tradition. All good things, really. It was a meaningful name; generally given to those with curiosity and those that cared for history. Higashi wasn't sure if Sugiura cared all that much about history, but he sure kept the past in mind. He, in his own way, seemed to be ensuring that the future could be better.

“It has a lot of positive meanings to it. I’ve never felt like I could live up to the name,” Sugiura explained. “My family is a proud one; they've all had good jobs and done a lot with their lives. I dropped out of school and didn't do a lot with myself, so... I just can't see myself as all that smart or helping to carry on tradition, or anything like that. I think my parents are just glad I finally left the house.”

“Ah,” Higashi felt bad that he brought it up. He felt like Sugiura was plenty smart; he would have to be to go so long without getting caught. And even if he weren't, Higashi didn't feel like Sugiura had to live up to his name. Higashi's own name meant to pierce, penetrate, and Higashi didn't feel like he was strong enough for his name after the past year he'd been through, but he tried his best regardless. Even if he didn't feel strong enough, he had to do his best for Matsugane. “Well, I think you have a nice name too. I’m sorry you don’t like it. I think you represent it just fine.”

“Thanks,” Sugiura smiled. “I know we got off on the wrong foot when we met. It actually means a lot when you say something like that.”

They walked past the UFO Catchers, and Sugiura stopped. Higashi looked over, noticed the other man wasn’t with him. He turned back, stopped next to Sugiura. The younger man was staring at the stuffed Bun-chans in one of the Catchers. He did say he liked UFO Catchers.

“Want me to get you one?” Higashi asked. It seemed perfect for a date; Higashi had seen it before in shows and movies, the guy getting the girl a stuffed animal, and they were suddenly in love. Sugiura wasn’t a girl, and Higashi wouldn’t say they were in love, but he didn’t mind playing into the cliche if Sugiura wanted something. 

He could show off a bit. 

“No, that’s okay,” Sugiura said. He didn’t sound sure. It sounded like he was just trying to be polite. The way he kept his eyes on the stuffed birds behind the glass told Higashi he wanted something in there. 

“Well I want one,” Higashi stated. He looked at the birds, decided if he was going to go all out, he was gonna get Sugiura the biggest Bun-chan. Then when he got home everyday, Sugiura could look at it and remember how Higashi valiantly won it for him.

It was kind of lame and corny, but Higashi deserved to dream big. 

He put money in the UFO Catcher, started moving the claw. The jumbo Bun-chan was a difficult prize because the claw could barely take hold of it. The workers knew what they were doing; they put the bird by itself to make it seem like it was just waiting to be grabbed, but they had angled it just right so that the claw could knock it over easily.

Jumbo Bun-chan on its side was a menace, and the crew probably knew it. Higashi knew it, and he couldn’t even really afford to get such lavish prizes for his Crane Catchers. He had to admit, Sega Arcade knew their stuff and really did a good job at finding ways to keep people spending money. 

Little did they know a fellow arcade entrepreneur was gracing the arcade and knew a few tricks. 

The claw barely got around the Bun-chan, but Higashi had at least been able to straighten the angle the bird sat at. He had to be careful of knocking it over, because that meant he’d need to spend money to get it upright again. And he didn’t mind; Sugiura was worth every yen, but Higashi was also right in front of him. He didn’t want to spend too much time on it. 

He still wanted to look cool. 

Honestly, the hat was the key. The claw could barely grip onto the soft, squishy body of Bun-chan, but it could grab the hat in such a way that it kept hold while it dragged the bird through the machine. It was a hard task since he’d have to nearly miss, angle the claw just right so one leg could grab the hat and cause the others to grab hold once it closed up. 

Higashi noticed Sugiura walk up close next to him as he worked. He didn’t say anything, just watched as Higashi set about getting his prize. He was a couple thousand yen in, but he was getting closer. 

Until he knocked the fucking thing over right near the chute. Higashi stared at it. He’d spent so long re-angling the bird, had a whole plan in his head, but of course he ruined it. He didn’t account for the jumbo Bun-chan to collide with one of the smaller birds at the last second. 

“Higashi-san,” Sugiura was looking at him. Higashi took a deep breath and assessed the situation. Maybe if he did something with the blue Bun-chan he could save it, but he wasn’t actually sure. 

“It’s all good,” Higashi mumbled. He put more money in the machine, went back to his master plan. With the jumbo Bun-chan in front of the smaller one, it made trying to grab the blue one difficult because the claw could potentially get cut off by hitting the Bun-chan and not having enough grab on the smaller bird. 

Higashi felt like he didn’t have much of a choice. He went for the blue Bun-chan, tried to get the claw as far away from the jumbo bird as he could. There wasn’t much space between the birds, Higashi had to play it just right. He pressed the button, the claw went down. It grabbed onto the smaller bird, slowly began to lift it up.

“Yes!” Higashi yelled, pumping his fist. The smaller Bun-chan pushed the larger one through the chute on the way up, and the claw dropped its prey through the chute as well. Higashi grinned as he opened the chute and grabbed the jumbo Bun-chan. He turned to Sugiura. “For you.”

“Thank you!” Sugiura smiled as he took the bird. Higashi grabbed the other Bun-chan from the prize receptacle. 

“Something for both of us,” he said. He just meant to get the jumbo Bun-chan, but he didn’t mind having a reminder of the night himself. He looked at Sugiura. “I think your expression is the real prize though.”

“Am I that obvious?” Sugiura asked. He hugged the bird close. If Higashi were just a guy right now, he’d have no idea the dark cloud that plagued Sugiura. He just seemed so happy and free right now. Higashi was proud he could give him a good night. It didn’t feel like Sugiura had a lot of them.

“Should we go over to Cafe Alps before they close?” Higashi asked. Sugiura nodded his head, and they left the arcade. Any other night, Higashi wouldn’t be caught dead with a stuffed animal, but he didn’t mind it right now. It matched Sugiura’s own prize. Sugiura was the big highlight of the night, but Higashi had to say that he was enjoying himself as well. The birds were a metaphor for them, or so he told himself. “You like Bun-chan, Sugiura?”

“Love ‘em!” Sugiura chirped. They made a turn. “The jumbo Bun-chans are really hard to get. I’ve spent too much money trying, told myself it was just a stuffed animal and I was content with what I had.”

“Is that why you didn’t want me getting it for you?” Higashi asked. Funny that the thief should be the one trying to save Higashi’s wallet. But it showed how thoughtful Sugiura was; he only became a criminal to send a message and use his gains to help others.

“Yeah,” Sugiura mumbled. “But it was amazing watching you work! You’re so smart; it’s like you knew how to work the claw in your favor. Even when the Bun-chan fell, you still figured it out anyway and got your own Bun-chan.”

“It’s mostly just angles and physics,” Higashi shrugged his shoulders. “They’re not impossible to get, but the workers put them in such a way that makes it look easier than it is. You should see how they set the catchers up in America; they put a million stuffed animals in those things and it looks like a pain in the ass to get anything.”

“You really know your stuff, Higashi-san,” Sugiura said. He smiled and let out a light laugh. “I feel so bad that I used to think you were just another yakuza that thought so highly of himself. You think about a lot and seem pretty knowledgeable about everything. You’re actually very humble.”

“It’s not like I gave off a great impression when we met. But I’m glad I could change your mind,” Higashi replied. He opened the door to the cafe, and the two men walked in. They grabbed a table off to the side. Sugiura sat on a sofa, put his Bun-chan down beside him. Higashi put his own on the side of the table.

A waiter came by, took their order. Higashi got a blended coffee and curry, Sugiura happily ordered a blended coffee and a strawberry parfait.

“I never knew Kamurocho had anywhere this nice,” Sugiura was looking around. Higashi chuckled. He supposed for someone like Sugiura, the whole district would just seem so sketchy. Kamurocho was home to a lot of little yakuza families, and fights were always breaking out. Pair that with all the clubs, parlors, and other seedy joints, it gave off the appearance that nothing good ever happened. 

“There’s a few nice little places around. You just gotta know where to look,” the older man stated. The waiter came back a few minutes later, gave Sugiura and Higashi their dishes. Higashi took a sip of his coffee. “Are you having a good time, Sugiura?”

“I’m having a great time, Higashi-san!” Sugiura smiled as he took a spoonful of his parfait. “I don’t think I even remember the last time I’ve had so much fun.”

Higashi smiled, took another sip of his coffee. It’s all he wanted; bring Sugiura out, show him a good time. Higashi had a feeling that once Ayabe’s case rolled around, things would pick up and some kind of shit would go down. Kuroiwa had been too quiet and playing a little too nicely. Higashi was not quick to forget the feeling of that fucking blackjack. 

But until then, they had time to relax. Sugiura had to come to terms with a lot, and Higashi wondered what he’d do once it was all over. It seemed like having the time alone was weighing on Sugiura, Higashi just wanted to help him lighten the load.

“We can go out on more dates if you want,” Higashi suggested. He ate some of his curry, glanced at Sugiura. The younger man looked taken aback. He looked down quickly and took a sip of his coffee. He looked back at Higashi.

“Really?” he asked. He put down his coffee, took another spoonful of his parfait. He took a deep breath, wiped at his mouth with his napkin. “Why me?”

Higashi looked at Sugiura. He never really thought about it. Maybe because he felt like he understood Sugiura in some ways. Maybe because Sugiura was someone new and he didn’t know Higashi; he couldn’t constantly remind the older man that he was different now and how much he’d changed in a year like Yagami and Kaito did. Sugiura knew what he knew, and he didn’t bring up past shit, just in case Higashi had forgotten. Higashi didn’t fucking forget, he just had to shift gears and become someone Hamura could focus on so he could lay off Matsugane a little. 

Maybe Higashi just finally found someone that he could find things in common with that he felt good talking to. He couldn’t really pin it on anything; there were a lot of reasons why Higashi chose Sugiura. He felt like if he thought about it too much, he’d fall into a rabbit hole.

“Because you’re you,” Higashi said. He wasn’t sure how to put it in words without keeping them there for too long. He liked Sugiura, thought he was fun to be around, and even really got behind why he decided to become a criminal; Higashi had been a yakuza for too long, he got how the world truly was. He didn’t know how to change it, but unlike him, Sugiura had at least tried to do something about it. He put his personal problems aside for something bigger, and it all stemmed from the fact that he felt like everyone had let his sister down and she didn’t have justice. Sugiura was a good man with a big heart even if he couldn’t see it. He called Higashi humble, but Sugiura didn’t seem to have much of an ego himself. “And I just really like you. I want to get to know more about you.”

“Oh,” Sugiura was blushing. He finished his parfait. 

“If you’re not interested, that’s okay too,” Higashi added. He actually didn’t know if Sugiura liked him back. He said he was having a good time, but that didn’t mean anything. Higashi used to have so much fun just spending his days with Kaito at the arcade, but he wasn’t interested in the older man. 

Higashi hoped Sugiura was interested though. He took Higashi’s invitation and had brought up a date first, the older man hoped it meant that he thought about it as well. 

“I am!” Sugiura exclaimed. Higashi finished his curry, and the waiter was right over to grab their dishes. They still had coffee. “I… I’m still messed up from everything. Before Emi. I’m trying to learn to think more positively about myself, and sometimes I still feel like that guy shut away in his house. So to think that you like me just… it’s shocking.”

“I understand,” Higashi said. Back when he dated for a bit a long time ago, he was glad no one was chasing him down or bugging him over why he didn’t keep contact. He had no interest in anyone, and he sure couldn’t find a lot about himself that was likable enough for anyone to be into him. He was a criminal that helped run an arcade, and when he wasn’t doing anything for Hamura or Matsugane, he liked to be at home watching old movies or playing games. It wasn’t particularly interesting, but he enjoyed his quiet little life. “I think it’s something that’ll come to you with time. Finding the good qualities about yourself. And if it helps, I used to feel the same way. Sometimes it still comes up.”

“Really?” Sugiura asked. Higashi nodded. The younger man smiled, took a sip of his coffee. “You, Yagami-san, and Kaito-san seem so grown up and put together. I felt like such a mess in comparison, but I couldn’t just fall apart with everything going on in the case. I thought that with doing everything I did with my gang, it would go away… but I think it was just me trying to push it all down.”

“You had shit you wanted to accomplish, and I think it’s mature to put your own stuff aside to make room for the things that need doing,” Higashi explained. He finished his coffee. “When the case is all over, let’s go out again. It’ll be a little treat for us after all this shit.”

Sugiura grinned, finished his own coffee. They both got up, Sugiura grabbing his prized Bun-chan. Higashi paid for their food, grabbed his own Bun-chan, and they left the cafe. 

“Can I still come over to the arcade?” Sugiura asked. Higashi looked at him. 

“Of course,” he said. He chuckled. “You can come around any time. The place isn’t exactly popular, and it’d be nice to have you around. Give us something to do while we wait.”

“Yeah,” Sugiura smiled. He was good looking no matter what, but Higashi felt lucky to see him truly smile. Sugiura nearly shined when he was in a good mood, and it felt like that feeling spread. “Do you live in the area, Higashi-san?”

“Yeah. I live in a shitty little apartment. Nothing special, but it’s good enough for what I need,” Higashi answered. He looked down at the Bun-chan he was carrying. “You?”

“I live outside of Kamurocho. I usually walk here, but if it’s late I take the train,” Sugiura explained. 

“I can walk you to the station,” Higashi offered. He’d seen Sugiura in a fight, knew that he was actually a force to be reckoned with. Sugiura wasn’t the strongest, but he moved fast and was hard to keep up with. Still, Higashi didn’t like the thought of Sugiura out too late. 

“You’re kind, but that’s okay. I might mix things up and take a taxi home. Sometimes there’s punks on the train, I’d hate to lose Bun-chan,” Sugiura laughed and squished his stuffed bird. “I can walk you home though.”

“That’d be nice,” Higashi smiled. It always felt so quiet when he went home. He didn’t mind; quiet was nice and it meant he could relax for a little bit before going back to work or doing some bullshit for Hamura. But he missed having anyone around; he and Kaito had years together at the arcade, he got really used to being with someone. And he had the clerk around, but they weren’t as close. Higashi had a lot on his plate and he didn’t feel like he could share.

The walk wasn’t far; they took some back alleys and it led to Higashi’s apartment complex. He lived on the ground floor; he told Sugiura he wasn’t fond of heights. 

“Maybe we can have a date on top of the city,” Sugiura said as they got to Higashi’s door. Higashi chuckled. “I can make us some sandwiches and buy some beers. We can have a romantic picnic on the rooftops.”

Sugiura would find the rooftops romantic. But Higashi had to admit, the thought did make him smile. Or maybe that Sugiura had thought of it. Maybe both. 

“Sounds like a plan,” Higashi said. “Let’s exchange contact information.”

“Oh, yeah!” Sugiura took out his phone, Higashi following suit. They exchanged numbers. “Oh, let’s take a picture together!” 

“Sure,” Higashi didn’t like getting his picture taken, but he’d let it go if Sugiura wanted it so bad. Sugiura took a spot next to Higashi, threw an arm around the older man. Higashi smiled, and Sugiura took the picture. 

“Yay,” Sugiura murmured. He was looking down at his phone, pressing things on the screen. Higashi felt his phone vibrate, figured it was Sugiura. “I sent you the picture too! I have your picture for your contact, so use it for mine too!”

“Okay,” Higashi tended not to bother putting a contact picture for anyone in his phone, but he’d use the image for Sugiura. If he called on a day that Higashi wasn’t feeling too sociable, he’d know who not to ignore if someone called. 

“Higashi-san, thank you for taking me out,” Sugiura said. Higashi looked at him. He looked serious. “You were patient, and you weren’t even mad that I overslept. You got me a Bun-chan even though you didn’t have to, and I think I feel better about things in my life because you talked to me about it.”

Higashi stared at the younger man. Sugiura had a lot of layers to him when he let anyone see it. 

“It’s my pleasure, Sugiura,” Higashi said. “Any time something’s bothering you, I’ll listen. I know life’s been hard on you, and you’ve had to go it alone for a long time. I’ll be there when you just need someone, okay?”

Sugiura’s breath hitched. He grabbed Higashi’s shoulder, pulled him in for a kiss. It was short and simple, but warm and tender all at the same time. When Sugiura pulled away, Higashi let out a contented sigh. 

“I’ll call you tomorrow. And if you wanna drop by the arcade, I’ll be there all day,” he said. 

“I’ll see what my schedule says,” Sugiura laughed. “I had a good time tonight, and I look forward to other plans we’ll have in store.”

“Me too,” Higashi smiled. “Have a good night, Sugiura. Get home safe.”

Sugiura smiled and winked, turned to leave. Higashi watched Sugiura until he was out of sight, and then went inside his apartment. Higashi went straight for his bedroom, laid down on the bed and held Bun-chan above him. The stupid blue bird was going to stand out against the rest of Higashi’s things, but honestly, it was fine. Bun-chan would be the star. It would be a reminder of what a good time he and Sugiura had together.

Higashi looked forward to, hopefully, many more dates with Sugiura.