Chapter Text
"Alright, there's your card. Thanks, the doctor will see you in a short while. Please, take a seat in the waiting room."
A small nod, and Kazushi Yamagishi shoved his insurance card back into his wallet. And indeed, he didn't have to wait long - after a mere ten minutes, the assistant called his name and showed him the room where the doctor would see him. With a huff and a grateful nod - well, at least he tried to look grateful - Kazushi moved towards the room. The door closed behind him, and his face froze in a mix of confusion and shock.
This couldn't be. This wasn't real. He wasn't here. He wasn't real. He couldn't be. However, the blonde hair and golden eyes told him that the doctor was, in fact, Takuya Yamamoto. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck! He wasn't supposed to be here. Not in the tiny village Kazushi had decided to use as a hideout. Not in the place where Yamagishi had decided to submerge and become an invisible man.
Whatever. There wasn't anything he could do at the moment, and his head was killing him still - there was only one clinic in the village, and Kazushi wouldn't let this appointment go to waste. With a frown, he shook the doctor's hand. To his fortune - or dismay, he wasn't sure yet - the doctor hadn't looked at him yet, only gesturing vaguely for Kazushi to take a seat on a medical rest. Silently, the man followed the instructions, and allowed the doctor to ask the usual questions.
"Age?"
"Thirty-five."
"What brings you here?"
"A headache. Hasn't left for two weeks."
"Any family history with migraine or anything similar?"
"No."
Kazushi kept his voice calm, level-headed. That was until, the doctor looked up, stethoscope raised, with his eyes suddenly widening in understanding. Yamagishi saw him exhale, frozen in place, with a hint of panic written all over his features. Quietly, he raised both his hands. Takuya seemed to catch himself rather quickly. Within a heartbeat, every hint of surprise was wiped off his face, and he began to slowly move the stethoscope across Kazushi's collar and chest, listening to his heartbeat. As if nothing had ever happened. Creepy, Yamagishi thought to himself, and yet, he decided to play along. The general checkup didn't last too long, and he didn't waste time before hiding the tattoos on his pectorals beneath the shirt again. The doctor stood still for a moment, the pen scribbling down notes the only sound in the tiny room. A short while later, the ugly, squeaky sounds of leather being scrunched up mixed in, when Kazushi grabbed onto the edge of the rest he was seated on.
"Could you not do that? It harms the fabric, in the long run."
He flinched at the doctor's icy voice, and removed his hands, instead folding them in his lap. More scribbling, and Kazushi had half a mind to back away and leave when Takuya set the notepad down.
"You seem to have a mild viral infection. Maybe influenza, possibly just a common cold. A bit of rest should do."
Kazushi nodded, having understood, and glanced down at the notepad and the way Takuya tapped down on the wooden surface with his index. It was unmistakably the same person he'd once known, his childhood friend. Who'd dropped out of Toman more than seven years ago and had vanished ever since. Kazushi noticed, anyway, because of the golden eyes, now behind a pair of golden-rimmed glasses, and the blond hair, cut short now, the same way he'd worn it in high-school.
"If the symptoms worsen or stay for more than a week, return here. Understood?"
Takuya ordered, turning around already to type something into his computer. The doctor sounded cold, almost annoyed, and Kazushi sighed. With a thud, he stood up from the rest, inwardly cursing his short height that had caused his feet to dangle due to the height. Nodding, he fixed the red glasses on his nose.
"Fine. Can I leave, now?"
"Yes. You're not the only patient here."
Takuya responded bleakly. Kazushi furrowed his brows and tsk-ed, the sound causing the doctor to look up and raise a brow.
"I left Tokyo, too. Just so you know. I'm not a threat, and I didn't get that it was you, there wasn't a picture on your website."
Additionally, there was no other doctor in the village where they apparently both lived now. And Yamamoto really wasn't an uncommon last name, so Kazushi couldn't have known. Though, he figured how it would look like that he'd turned up in his office all of a sudden, and understood why Takuya was cautious. Kazushi faced the same anxiety of being hunted down by Toman. Takuya sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed for a second.
"Whatever. You better not rat me out anywhere, I know how to defend myself. Did I make myself clear?"
The doctor spoke almost silently, not keen on anyone else listening on their conversation. It hardly was a conversation, anyway. Kazushi nodded, which was obsolete with the doctor's eyes closed, and thus, he cleared his throat.
"Yeah. I get it. I won't tell anyone."
He mumbled, his voice raw, and Takuya waved his hand, dismissively. Not that Kazushi had anyone he could tell - well, anything, but a promise never hurt.
"Good. Anything else? If not, get out. And stop with whatever shit you're doing, you look like a damn corpse."
The doctor instructed, then waved him out of the office again. Kazushi followed the hint and stepped outside into the hallway, closing the door behind himself. At the reception desk, he nodded and left, short chestnut hair tousled in the autumn winds when he stepped outside. Another exhale later, he turned around. Kazushi didn't want to leave. Thus, he waited on the opposite side of the street, glancing at the building where Takuya's office was located. Closing time drew near, and Kazushi wondered what the hell he was trying to achieve. Although, he didn't have much to do per se. Ever since he'd fled the capital two and a half years ago, he hadn't done much more than work at a tiny supermarket and stay home. The village was small, he was a stranger, and he did his best to stay hidden, invisible, away from anyone and anything that could give away his location to Toman. What would happen if he was found, Kazushi didn't want to imagine, though his nightmares tended to remind him of the torture varieties every night. There weren't any friends in this village and aside from work, he didn't talk to the people around here. Maybe two years of loneliness were what made him stay in place, staring at the door.
When eventually, the doctor stepped out, Kazushi was still frozen in place. It wasn't necessary for him to move, anyway. Takuya had already noticed him, and crossed the street, an unreadable expression on his face. Even when Takuya stopped in front of Kazushi, the shorter man couldn't find any words still. The blond crossed his arms and sighed, eventually letting his hands fall down at his sides again.
"Didn't I tell you to rest, Yamagishi?"
There was a bit of an accusation in his tone, though he seemed to have thawed, compared to before. Kazushi grimaced and nodded.
"Yeah... you sort of did. Sorry." Yamagishi fixed his hair, unsure what to do with his hands. "I don't even know why I'm still here, honestly."
"So it seems." The doctor sighed, chuckling quietly. "I didn't think I'd ever see you - or anyone like you - ever again."
"Well. Here I am? I'm not here to find you, again. I didn't even know you lived here, too. I swear on my life."
"Hm. Okay." Takuya narrowed his eyes, still suspicious. "How long have you been living here already?"
"About two years. I work at the shop. The tiny one."
"Ah. I've rarely been there. I also haven't seen you around anywhere yet." The golden eyes narrowed further, and Kazushi inspected his shoes.
"Yeah. I usually stay at home apart from work."
"I see. Where do you live?"
"A few blocks away. Near the gas station. What about you?"
"I don't live in the village. Got a house, a few miles south, in the countryside."
"Sounds cool."
"It's a good life." Takuya seemed to relax somewhat. "I enjoy my work."
A moment of silence ensued, until Takuya cleared his throat.
"So... apart from working, you just stay at home?"
"Yeah. I read and play video games, that stuff."
"Alright. Sounds good, I guess. You didn't make any friends?"
Kazushi grimaced. He didn't want to talk about that - he enjoyed staying by himself, anyway, so he simply shrugged. Takuya understood.
"Okay. Listen, I seriously gotta go, my friends are waiting for me. Quiz night." Takuya held out his palm, displaying his phone. "Give me your current number, alright? We can stay in contact."
He didn't have to wait long until Kazushi had typed his number in, together with his last name. Awkwardly, the younger man had his hands in his pockets, unsure what to do. Takuya nodded.
"Thanks. I'll text you later. Take care and rest, doctor's orders."
The blond reminded and, once he'd turned to leave, glanced back strictly.
"And no weed or other shit for the time being, you hear me?"
Takuya hissed under his breath, and eventually left down the street, his short blonde hair moving in the breeze.