Chapter Text
Minegishi feels the light of the morning sun warm on their cheeks through the wide glass window of the cafe as they settle on their seat, potted ivies and weeping figs outside the window barely casting a shadow over their face. They wanted a cooler, cozier place, however it got occupied as soon as they returned from ordering. They almost think that their denim jacket might be too much for the heat, but at least not enough to remove it. They thank themself once more for getting an undercut.
The plants outside, the pot of bunny ears cacti that sit pretty on their table, and the bamboo palms across them before the next table and another one behind them, started whispering alongside Minegishi’s thoughts, with several significant things beginning to run in their mind.
A wedding installation early into February. Although their staff had grown in the years, being an assistant manager for the flower shop wasn’t any easier. They already dread the amount of arrangements, deliveries and whining voices of plants that they have to deal with, all before the wedding day.
The glare from the sun keeps being in the way of their eyes.
The following week, they’ll be moving from an apartment to a house, finally being able to afford a roof of their own over their head after having saved for years. It only took them until they’re 27, really. And despite a relatively small house It was still an excruciating ordeal, but they felt grateful enough to reach it.
The plants perk up and get to their senses. Minegishi wonders if they’re that tense, however, plants reacting sensitively to their stress really isn’t something new to them anymore.
Minegishi still has yet to meet Joseph for their annual check-in report, supposedly two months ago, on how they fare being a member of society. Though they’re still not sure why it matters at this point especially that one of their old friends is dating him to know enough already, and it’s not like they’re one to follow up with him first, anyway.
They wonder if it’s about time they meet up with their friends again. Hatori only ever announced his relationship over social media recently, and Minegishi wanted to share about finally securing a house, in the hopes of holding their next meetup in their new place. Four people shouldn’t be a lot, though it once was in their apartment.
A sudden energy outside the plants gets into their radar which makes their aura to spike up, causing their hair to stand on an end.
They flinched for once, and immediately all their thoughts were squeezed down to give space to a new concern.
A prickling energy from far away was giving away signals towards their direction. The number of plants they can feel extends outside the ones they detect within the vicinity; feeling the presence of plants that were a few, no— maybe several kilometers away, surrounding the area where the energy is coming from.
It’s normal to tell when there’s espers around. But unusual to have something asking for their attention specifically. Especially in such an obvious way; Communicating via plants up until their location— It’s clear that this energy is seeking them.
But not only is it odd for its strange approach, the energy seems to have no human connected to it for them to tell it's an esper.
What kind of energy is this? Is it a decoy? Is it possible that someone out there may still be plotting on them for their past in Claw, after all these years? Are they in trouble again for once after eight years of their domestic life?
Is the same spirit from before coming back for them once more?
The possibility made Minegishi shed a cold sweat; But with how strongly that incident was imprinted on their memory, they could tell that this energy was different.
They focused on the bunny over their table.
It glows a faint magenta.
Threatening yet somehow, the energy... Had a familiar feeling.
A feeling that reminds them of Claw.
They keep their guard up. They try to subdue their aura and keep themselves from interacting with any plant directly. What peaceful ambience the cafe has for everyone is now constricted with anxiety for Minegishi.
As they rummage their bag for their phone, someone then approaches their table.
“Hello, is this seat taken?”
They hear a polite voice as sunny as the light from the window.
Minegishi however wasn’t in the mood to entertain it, and they already felt more uncomfortable as they are right now to have some stranger joining them in.
“Yes.” They lie through their teeth as they lit up their phone, trying to seek Joseph's contact.
“Still as cold as ever, huh, Minegishi-kun.” The stranger sits across from them anyways.
Minegishi swiftly turns their head after hearing their name.
In front of them was a familiar face.
However, they appear rather feminine, with their hair in a wolf-cut, reaching just a little beyond their shoulders. Nevertheless, they still wear that same smile in their eyes, the same strands of hair falling over their face, and even with an outfit that hardly looked different since they last saw them.
“...Shimazaki?”
“Bingo!” Shimazaki exclaims.
Minegishi’s eyes turned wide. All of the sudden, they were able to make out what the energy- no- aura was made of.
“Wait, then this whole time you’ve been…!?”
“Oh, yeah. Check this out.” Shimazaki says with much interest in their voice. They snap their fingers and in an instant, the creeping aura from a few kilometers away shifts right in front of them, where Shimazaki is also seated. It feels like a self-retracting measuring tape snapping back into place. A gust of non-existent wind brushed over their hair.
“Oh my god, ” Minegishi, who seems to be freezing from being tense for a while, exhales deeply as if they’re extremely relieved.
“Cool, right?” Shimazaki says as if they had shown an awesome party trick.
“Please don’t do that again,” Minegishi complains. “You almost got me thinking someone is out there to get me.”
Shimazaki laughs airily.
“I’m sorry! I've been learning this ability to separate my aura from mine. I was trying to see if I could get anyone’s attention with this.” They explained.
“Why do you feel the need to learn that-” Minegishi asks with much complaint but then they get cut off immediately.
“It’s a secret.”
“Then nevermind that. Why me?”
“I tried locating you guys from the Ultimate Five. I tried reaching Hatori first, but his aura is only ever connected with electricity which sounded dangerous if I laced mine with it.” Shimazaki says so casually but with much justification. “I tried Serizawa next, but there was chaos and spirits when I reached him, he probably didn’t notice me. Then there’s Shibata who I just can’t locate at all.” Shimazaki pouts as they complain.
“You’re the only one that responded to me. So I thought I’d save you the anxiety and come here.”
As Minegishi was hearing Shimazaki’s narrative, the back of their mind played a faint idea on what everyone was up to as Shimazaki tells their reasons for each of them— But their eyes linger on Shimazaki’s very presence in front of them.
The last former member of Ultimate Five.
Alive.
And so much more different from the person they remember looking like. Yet they talk to them so casually, as if they had only seen each other the other day.
“You’ve… changed a lot, Shimazaki.”
“I’m glad you think so.” Shimazaki responds.
Minegishi notices the way they still use the same keigo with smug confidence in their dialect. It doesn’t make them more demure, and funnily enough, they still sound the same Shimazaki they knew before, even with the distinct difference in their voice now. “Should I- ” Minegishi paused as a server brought their order to the table, a hot, dark mocha coffee and a blueberry cheesecake, along with something they hadn’t ordered. A single iced americano was placed in front of Shimazaki.
They both gave their thanks and waited for the server to leave before speaking again. “Should I call you something different?”
“No, I’m still Ryou.” They smile. “But it's Ms. Shimazaki, if you please.” Shimazaki sips from the straw of her coffee with the same sunny smile. Minegishi almost finds it ridiculous. They had tried iced americano before, and decided they can’t live without any hint of sweetness in their coffee at all. However, Shimazaki drinks the americano without a wince.
“I see.” Minegishi responds, mostly to their own head as a mental note. As a trans person themself, it feels rather comforting to have someone around who shares the same line of identity as they do. All this time, there’s someone within us who’s just like me.
And it’s Shimazaki, of all people.
A number of curiosities arise in their head. And Shimazaki seems to know exactly what they are thinking.
Shimazaki leans her elbow on the table, cheek in hand. “Is that all you’re gonna ask?”
Minegishi was able to see more of her features better; Her long lashes, the smile lines under her eyes, the black hair clips above her left ear, and a faint scar on her right cheek.
Minegishi’s ears flush.
Everyone had always mentioned how attractive Shimazaki was. Minegishi was not the one to see it.
Though they saw it, objectively. But they never found her face back then to be worthy of high praise. Minegishi was too young to ever care for such triviality, and Shimazaki appeared conceited enough already with her power and Minegishi wasn’t going to enable that further.
Shimazaki was just another colleague they felt indifferent to.
But now the air around Shimazaki feels entirely different. They also remember Shimazaki being a lot older than they are, but somehow she managed to still look as youthful as before.
Minegishi finds themselves holding their breath with their gaze locking a bit too long on Shimazaki’s smile. They swallowed and shook their head. They felt intimidated though Shimazaki wasn’t trying to. They try to keep their composure and hope their tone remains the same.
“N-no. I do have questions.” Minegishi breathes and leans back on their chair to give themself more space between them. “Firstly, where have you been all this time?”
“Hiding.”
“For eight years?” Minegishi’s tone sounded quiet but a little delirious.
Shimazaki shakes her head, shrugging her shoulders and keeps her nonchalance as she swirls the ice in her coffee. Seems like she wasn’t going to elaborate further unless Minegishi prodded.
“...And how are you faring?”
“Terrible.”
“Is that why you’re here?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s funny.” Minegishi replies with a hint of amusement in their voice. “You know, the rest of us in Ultimate Five assumed you’re dead at this point. Not even Joseph can locate you for us.”
“Oh. Joseph knew where I was.”
“What?” Minegishi stopped midway from sipping their coffee.
“I was also under Joseph’s surveillance like the rest of you. Visiting him annually too for those check-in reports.” Shimazaki says nonchalantly. “I was just subduing my presence.”
“Joseph told us he had no idea where you were. You're saying he's been lying to us?”
There was some joking hesitance in her voice. “Uhh. Yeah...?”
Minegishi promptly places down their coffee and leans back, crossing their arms. “That kinda pisses me off.”
“I’m sorry.” Shimazaki says, which feels and sounds more like an ‘Oops’ than an actual apology.
“It’s fine.” Minegishi makes a genuine reply, albeit with a clear disappointment in their voice.
“It kinda had to happen.” Shimazaki holds up her hands momentarily, defending herself. Her voice sounded just a bit more frantic than usual, but she kept her composure as she leaned over and stirred her drink with a straw. “I think Joseph found it a good idea too. He thought I was useful. Made me work under him. And everyone saw me on national TV. Of course he wanted me hidden and made sure the masses didn't start thinking the government had started taking ex-terrorists under them.”
“I understand.” Minegishi exhales. They do understand, and it actually does sound more reasonable than sorry. But they still feel it’s a bit too extreme for Shimazaki to let herself be pronounced dead or missing.
And Minegishi catches themself thinking why it even matters. It’s not like Minegishi was ever close to her personally. Minegishi’s memories of Shimazaki during Claw only involved them rolling their eyes at every shenanigan she creates, for every time she speaks so politely yet so condescendingly, and for every time they’re unconsciously dismissed in favor of her by Suzuki; All in hopes that Minegishi’s disinterest can make Shimazaki feel insignificant, even in the slightest. Surprisingly, they slightly disliked her more than they didn't care.
They don’t even know if they’re pissed off because they were lied to, or because even until today, Shimazaki still gets some sort of special treatment, even after all these years.
They stood calm, treaded carefully and asked her once more. “Why hide from us too?”
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t really care about anyone in Claw, not even Suzuki or the Ultimate Five.” Shimazaki says with absolutely no filter. “I wanted to forget about Claw, y’know? And honestly, being under Joseph was a huge hindrance to that. His looming presence reminded me of Claw.”
That just pisses Minegishi off.
Apparently whatever disinterest they have shown doesn’t matter when Shimazaki herself didn’t even care about anyone. They should’ve seen that coming. Shimazaki has a self-centered nature and they already know this. It shouldn’t be a surprise that despite their fellow Ultimate Five members worrying for her even until today, to Shimazaki, they’re all nobodies.
Who didn’t want to forget Claw? Minegishi was just going to point out how selfish she had sounded just now, but—
Shimazaki’s remark about Joseph was too funny. Minegishi hated his ass too.
And it was funny that he inconvenienced Shimazaki that much too. Minegishi tried holding back their laughter.
“...Hey now.” Shimazaki pouts as she takes another sip from her coffee. “Anyways, it seems like whatever I was trying to do to forget didn’t work even as soon as Joseph lightened his surveillance on me.”
“Mhm.” Minegishi took a fork of their cheesecake, recovering from almost laughing. They smile to themself seeing how thrown off Shimazaki was right now. That’s something new.
“Do you still feel the same right now?” Minegishi says before they finally got a taste of their portion. “About Claw.”
Shimazaki shrugs. “I wouldn’t have shown my face if I wanted to keep looking away from the remnants of Claw so badly. ”
“If I remember correctly you’re a remnant of Claw as well.”
“It’s a good thing I don’t see myself in the mirror then.”
Minegishi groans and rolls their eyes. “So you’re surfacing now that no one recognizes you? Or?”
“I did not transition just to not be recognized.” Shimazaki says as if she needs to make herself clear “But it was conveniently a part of it, yeah.”
Shimazaki crosses her arms on the table, and now ‘looks’ out the window. “I don’t know. I‘m just done escaping.” She appeared a bit melancholic, though it’s hard to tell with her resting, smiling eyes. “I thought a good first step was seeing if you guys are faring any better than I am.”
Minegishi was going to be surprised hearing genuine, straightforward words from Shimazaki until the slightly backhanded remark at the end, it’s as if they are hearing that Shimazaki, once more. She wasn’t the most expressive nor genuine even with her ‘smile,’ which all the more only contributed to the distance she has not only with them, but perhaps with the rest of Ultimate Five, too. Nevertheless, Minegishi tried to not dismiss the sincerity she has left in her words amidst her attitude.
This is the longest conversation they have ever had since they first met eight years ago. Despite their own grievances they’ve been long intrigued with the mystery that is Shimazaki Ryo— Someone they once thought was out of their reach, now this close, in a proximity Minegishi hadn’t even imagined getting with Shimazaki before.
Minegishi takes the hot coffee in their hands, not realizing how cold their hands had been the whole time. The sensation feels nice. They kept their hand wrapped around the cup as they leaned back.
“Well…The rest of us in Ultimate Five are fine. We meet every month or so just to hang out and catch up. Claw is barely a part of our worries now. We just joke about it every now and then.”
“Hm.” Shimazaki exhales. She barely had an expression on her face, as she was listening to them.
But for once, she pulls up with the most sincere smile right after. “That’s nice. Seems that you guys are really better at this than I am.”
Minegishi answered to her immediately. “We were not any better, we just had each other. We kept our connections and it helped us cope. Tremendously.” Minegishi leans over the table, placing their mug and keeping their hands warm around it. They fidget between the nails of their thumbs. They breathe out as they continue, “Maybe that’s what you need.”
“Really…” She leans her cheek on one hand. The expression on her face doesn’t exactly write anything, nor does her voice. At most, she sounded curious.
“I guess I never really considered that.” Shimazaki mutters.
“Consider what?”
“Being around people that way.”
Minegishi takes a look at Shimazaki once more. She just revealed something really lonely about herself but the look on Shimazaki’s face seems as if she doesn’t really realize this.
“I guess that’s the problem with you.” Minegishi jests, though they wanted to say that more seriously. Shimazaki wasn’t a serious person to begin with anyway, so they might as well treat it lightly.
“What does that mean?” Shimazaki says, laughing a little in confusion.
“Seriously, you still haven’t changed,” Minegishi doesn’t elaborate. She’ll figure that out on her own. “Even wearing the same stupid outfit too.”
“Huh?” Minegishi had picked on her a couple times today, but the remark they specifically made about her outfit seemed to pull Shimazaki out of her carefree demeanor most, exclaiming as if she’s mortified. “Excuse me?“
“Is that the only outfit you’ve ever worn?” Minegishi forks on their blueberry cheesecake and points it at her. The same v-neck, the same black jacket, and—ah, at least she’s wearing ripped jeans this time.
“I have other outfits! And I’ve been called hot in this often, too!” Shimazaki slightly raises her voice as a rebuttal to Minegishi’s remarks. “I knew you wouldn’t recognize me immediately, so I thought this would help.”
“Have you had any new clothes since you transitioned?”
“Good question.”
Shimazaki went from standing upright to leaning back to their chair once more. She crosses her arms.
“I think I’ve only worn the same things. I’d like to think I’m pulling off this gender just nicely with what clothes I have. I’ve heard people eventually calling me ‘ma’am’ and ‘miss’ just fine.”
“That’s great.” Minegishi snickers dryly. “But we should definitely get you something new to wear.”
“Damn.” Shimazaki mutters. “Now I feel too old to start.”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-eight.”
Minegishi bites another from their cheesecake. “You still look younger than you might imagine.”
Shimazaki quickly shifted her head away from Minegishi.
Minegishi noticed her reaction and their cheeks felt warm as they realized what they had just said.
“Well, I know that.” Shimazaki speaks anyways, thinking hand on chin, with her pout turned into a smug little laugh albeit with a tiny, almost unnoticeable tremor in her voice.
Minegishi finds their eyes lingering on Shimazaki's exposed ear, radiating bright red, while also noticing her helix piercing alongside as well. There was a brief moment when they thought it was endearing, but they quickly dismissed it.
Minegishi shook their head. “Anyways. If… if you’re worrying about choosing clothes while blind, then I could help you.”
Shimazaki laughs this time. Minegishi felt embarrassed now, but the more they heard her laugh, the more it sounded delightful rather than a snark.
It was… pretty.
“I appreciate it, thank you.” Shimazaki leans over the table, once again spinning around the ice cubes in her cup of her near-finished coffee. “You can be quite cute, Minegishi-kun.”
“Please don’t say things like that.” Minegishi looks down, hiding their cheeks and ears red. Shimazaki sure recovers fast from being flustered. Perhaps she is used to this.
“Is this an invitation, then?” Shimazaki then inquires.
“If you want to take it that way.” Minegishi says straightforwardly. “And…I’m sure the rest of Ultimate Five would be happy to see you.”
“I hope so.” Shimazaki smiles rather brightly. “Are you happy to see me?”
Minegishi would sigh at the question, however Shimazaki’s smile gets to them— again. It's impossible to just say no .
They closed their eyes, breathing through their nose and exhaled,
Right now she feels like an old friend they haven’t met in a while, rather than someone they barely cared about. Her smile felt kinder. Her presence felt less intimidating yet with confidence unwavering.
“…Just give me your number.”