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Q has been trying his best to give Kazuki room. Ever since the day he ran off from Hina Cafe with a particularly distraught look on his face, Q had a feeling that his question about the person called Ojiro had been what had set off Kazuki in the first place.
Still, that doesn't stop Q from worrying when he noticed that despite acting like how he normally would around the others, there's clearly something going on with Kazuki.
Q is well aware of the fact that Kazuki tends to struggle with sleep due to them sharing a bed more often than not, though with Kazuki's recent odd behavior on top of that weird chat that he started in NINE when Q helped Yo and Tsuki with tracking down the person who stabbed this Ojiro that Kazuki seemed to be rather fixated on, he's been even worse off than usual.
Q had even done parts of Kazuki's chore in secret because the other had been spacing out more than usual, and in doing so Q came to the worrying realization that Kazuki had been eating even less than he usually does when he found the stash of bread that Kazuki usually snacks on completely untouched.
Q had tried approaching Kazuki about his worries for quite some time now, but Kazuki had always been rather good at dodging any issues he doesn't particularly feel like addressing. It's been rather frustrating for Q, the helplessness he felt everytime Kazuki denies his offer to help.
So Q decided.
If Kazuki isn't going to listen to him, he might as well ask the rest of the Trash Tribe to help him out with this particularly stubborn issue.
When Q had approached him all of a sudden, Yo had been rather worried. Not too long ago he had caused a lot of problem for the man, going as far as forcing him to drag out his heavy past out in the open.
So it had come as a surprise when the soft spoken man had requested his help with brewing tea.
"Kazuki once said that you know a lot about tea." The man had commented. "Can you help me brew one that Kazuki might like?"
As much as Yo appreciate Q's directness, he was still thrown off by his sudden request. "Uhh, sure! I'll see what I can do, Q-san!" He managed to say before shuffling in the direction of the respite unit. Before he entered, Yo remembered to ask, "Does Kazuki-san have any particular preference for teas?"
Q shook his head. "Not really." After a few moments though he added, "It would be nice if you got the ones that can help with sleep though."
Yo, who had seen how Kazuki seems to struggle with sleeping in past NINE chats, could only nod in understanding.
When the time came for him to actually serve Kazuki the tea though, Yo was starting to regret agreeing to help Q out with this particular task.
When Yo had returned from Shinagawa Princess Hotel with a freshly brewed pot of chamomile, lavender, and peppermint tea, Q was already waiting for him at the medbay section of 24 City, a disgruntled Kazuki by his side.
While the two being together is a regular sight for every members of the Trash Tribe, it doesn't stop Yo from feeling like he's intruding on something when he approached the pair with his potful of tea.
"Q-san, I got the tea you asked for."
"Really? You dragged me all the way back here for tea?" Kazuki whined loudly from where Q is keeping him seated, his gloved fingers tapping in an irritated manner on his crossed arms. "I thought it was for something more urgent."
"This is urgent." Came Q's mild response.
"Ugh, fine." Kazuki groaned in exasperation before turning to glare at Yo. "But if I'm drinking this thing, the two of you might as well join in too. There's no way I'm finishing the whole pot by myself."
And that's how Yo somehow managed to get himself roped into the single most awkward tea party he had ever attended in recent memory.
Both Yo and Q stiffly reached out for their respective cups, staying silent the whole time. In fact, the only sound between the three of them (and the ever present Hoimi) for a while was the clinking of glass and the sipping of tea, which they were trying to suppress the best that they could.
Except for Kazuki, who started smiling spitefully at the both of them.
"My, my, Yo-kun. While this tea isn't quite as good as the ones Hinagiku-san brewed, I must say that they aren't half bad either." Although his words rang genuine, the dark amusement in Kazuki's eyes definitely dampers its effectiveness.
Yo could only offer a wobbly smile in response to his praise, trying to instead focus on the cup in his hand.
"Maybe we should drink tea together more often. You'd like that, wouldn't you, Q?" Kazuki's smile grew more smug when Q remained silent, eyes darting away as he fiddled with the teacup in his hand.
"It's a shame that we don't get to do this often." Kazuki continued, heedless of the awkward silence. "It's rather entertaining to see you two clearly regret the choices that had landed you in this situation." With a dramatic sigh, Kazuki downed his cup of tea before standing up to leave.
"As entertaining as this is though, I must get back to what I was doing." Before either Yo or Q could react, Kazuki had already left the medbay, shouting back, "Don't mind me and continue on with your little tea party!"
The last thing they heard before the respite unit door shut was Kazuki's echoing sharp laughter.
Looking at each other, Yo and Q gave a decisive nod, silently promising to never try this again without someone else to act as a buffer.
When Q had approached her, Tsuki had instantly skipped over to his side to listen to his request. After all, it must be quite serious if the usually stoic Q looks concerned.
"Ehh?! Kazuki-san hasn't been eating his brainy buns?!" Tsuki couldn't help but blurt out once Q voiced his concerns.
"Even when he skips out on meals he would usually at least try to eat one." Q mutters. "But I found a stash of them, completely untouched."
"That's really worrying!" Tsuki wrings her hands, itching to run off and find Kazuki, to ask him if he's okay, and maybe yell at him. "He never refuses to eat them before, so this is definitely concerning..."
"..." Q wilted at her response, so Tsuki quickly tries to reassure him.
"Q-san, you should go find Koishi-kun and tell him about this, ok? In the meantime, I'm gonna find Kazuki-san and get him to eat something!" Tsuki tried to put as much cheer into her voice, hoping to lessen Q's worries. After all, he was still recovering from the mess in Neo Chiyoda.
Her effort seems to have paid off as while Q's expression remains as sullen as ever, it had noticably softened and lightened up. "Very well, I will go and see Kohinata then." Giving Tsuki a small smile, Q waved at her as he left to find Koishi. "Thank you, Iroha."
"Mhm!" Tsuki gave an enthusiastic nod before making her own way to the respite unit. "Hopefully Kazuki-san isn't hiding anywhere hard to reach..."
It took her quite a while to find Kazuki and a whole lot more trekking to reach him, but honestly Tsuki appreciate the excercise despite how winded it left her. It's not easy going from the ruined mess around Minato City to the floating debris of Neo Chiyoda's Ancient Sactuary.
It was just her luck that Mita had seen Kazuki leave for the respite unit while wandering around Azabu and that Saizo had seen Kazuki heading towards the Ancient Sactuary in one of his security feeds monitoring Neo Chiyoda. What he's doing up there? Tsuki had no idea, but it definitely should be worth all the effort she went through.
And there Kazuki was, sitting dangerously near the edge of the building's roof that Tsuki is carefully approaching.
"Kazuki-san?" Tsuki hesitantly calls out.
Upon hearing her voice, Kazuki tilted his head back to face her, humming his acknowledgement. From this angle, Tsuki was able to see an empty can of pet food by his side.
"Kazuki-san, did you really went all the way out here to feed the strays?!"
"Well, who else would feed them then?" Came his nonchalant response. "They're all the way up here because they were clearly forgotten."
"Someone clearly has forgotten something as well!" Tsuki snapped back, puffing her cheeks out in frustration. Stomping over to where Kazuki is sitting, Tsuki plopped down next to him. "How come did you leave all of your brainy buns untouched?! I even gave you a pudding flavored one and now it's gone to waste!" She whined loudly.
"Ahh, sorry sorry. There's just been so much going on lately that it must've slipped my mind." Kazuki smiled unapologetically in face of her distress.
"Kazuki-san is so rude!" Tsuki huffed. "He should apologize right this instant for daring to waste good food!" Right then, Tsuki pulled out two brainy buns from inside her pocket, one pudding flavored and the other melon. "He can start by eating this brainy bun that I brought as snack!"
"Ah, but Tsuki-chan-!"
"And no buts!" Tsuki cuts Kazuki off before he could even start spouting any kind of excuses. "Just eat it, Kazuki-san!"
After forcing the melon flavored bread into Kazuki hands, Tsuki ripped out her own pudding flavored one out of its package. She kept her eyes on Kazuki until he bit into his own bread before nodding her head approvingly.
"Did you meet a lot of strays, Kazuki-san?" Tsuki asked after she thoroughly chewed and swallowed the piece she bit. "I didn't even know that they would wander around here."
"Neo Chiyoda is always so busy and noisy that I'm not that surprised that a lot of them would end up wandering the Ancient Sanctuary." Kazuki mused aloud, voice muffled due to his mouth being full. "It's quite fitting since most of them doesn't really have a place to belong in anymore, and just like the things floating up here, they're bound to be forgotten."
Tsuki quieted down at the faraway look on Kazuki's face, not quite knowing how to respond. Just as she was about to ask him if he's okay, Kazuki turned to face her with his usual smile.
"I manage to find a large group of fluffy cats though! I'm sure there'd be a cafe somewhere in Neo Chiyoda that would take them in if they ever got cleaned up and showed up down there!" With a devious smirk, he added. "And if that plans fail, I could always blackmail Mita-kun into taking them in until we find them a more permanent home."
"Ahh, we can turn Lovely Ocean into a cat cafe!" Tsuki eyes sparkled at the thought. "We can even get the cute kitties adopted by anyone interested!"
"I'm sure Nekomaru wouldn't mind having new friends around once he got used to them." Kazuki's face fell a little. "He must be really lonely with everyone from Minato Tribe leaving."
"I'm sure everyone from Minato Tribe would be really happy to see Nekomaru making new friends!" Tsuki quickly adds, not wanting to see Kazuki looking down. "And I'm sure that they'd be glad to see you again..." She quietly adds under her breath.
"Knowing them, they would be so happy they'd throw a welcome party for the cats, hahah!" Closing his eyes, Kazuki smile grew. "Arisugawa-san would end up scolding them for being overexcited, and Daimon-kun would have to save Mita-kun and Taiga-kun from being chewed out by her. Haru-kun would probably just watch everything unfold in that sheepish manner of his, and Enoki-san would somehow sneak in to grab something to eat in all the chaos..."
Tsuki smiled brightly as Kazuki continued to tell her about what his experience with the Minato Tribe is like, quietly munching on her remaining brainy bun.
Koishi nearly jumped a foot in the air when Q's lumbering figure approached him in the darkness of Minato's Rubbles Pile. It was only thanks to The Beast's calm reaction to Q's approach that Koishi managed to prevent himself from panicking.
"A-Ahh! Q-san, I though you were someone else in this darkness!" Koishi stammered out.
"Sorry, Kohinata." Q mutters. "I just wanted to tell you something. I didn't mean to startle you."
"It's fine, Q-san!" Koishi quickly reassures him. "What is it that you wanted to tell me about?"
"It's about Kazuki." Q's face fell slightly and Koishi couldn't help feeling worried. "He's not eating again. It's worrying when combined with his already bad sleeping habits getting worse..."
"Do you want me to check if he's sick, Q-san? I can do that as soon as I'm done with some of the more urgent stuff here!" The Beast meowed in agreement from where it's resting inside Koishi's bag.
Q sighed in relief before nodding his head slightly. "That would be appreciated, Kohinata." Looking around, Q gave a curious tilt of his head. "Hm, is Senba not with you?"
"Ah, Senba-san is currently at Lovely Ocean." Koishi hummed thoughtfully. "Apparently Aoyama-san told her to remain on standby there."
"I see." Q frowned. "Then I'll tell her that Kazuki might arrive late since he will be getting a check up with you."
"Thank you, Q-san! I will try to hurry and get this done as soon as possible so that Senba-san wouldn't have to wait for long!"
The newly established bar built in Minato Tower was the last place Koishi had ever thought he'd find Kazuki. While Bar Close Play was a popular hangout spot for former XB players, the Trash Tribe rarely visited the place since most of the members are always busy running errands to help with restoration efforts.
Kazuki in particular tended to skip visiting the place. For whatever reason, Kazuki prefers roping Q into a spontaneous game of catch than joining them in a proper XB match.
"Aoyama-san?" Koishi hesitantly called out. "I wasn't really expecting to see you here..."
"Oh, if it isn't Koishi-kun!" Kazuki gestured for Koishi to sit in the seat across from him. "Come, come. I just arrived here actually."
"Huh, really?"
Kazuki shrugged at him. "Tsuki-chan dragged me here, but Yo-kun apparently called for her so she had to leave early. I couldn't be bothered to leave so soon after just arriving, so I decided to do some of my work while I'm here."
Now that Koishi had taken a proper look at him, he notices that Kazuki have several digital monitors open in front of him, though thankfully he seems to be working on making a supply list instead of anything incriminating that could get them in trouble with Zero.
"Is this what you called Senba-san away for?" Koishi asked as he put his bag onto the table. He noted that Kazuki hadn't ordered anything during his stay.
"Yep." Kazuki confirms. "It's her turn to help me with our supply run."
"Aoyama-san... You didn't just bully her to get her to stop getting too invested in reading again, right?" Kazuki gave him a faux innocent smile in response. Koishi couldn't help but sigh at the older man's childish action.
"At least let me check up on you before you run off, Aoyama-san." Koishi started rummaging in his bag then, being careful not to jostle the napping The Beast.
Kazuki hummed in question as he lifted his gaze away from where he was typing down another item to add to the list. He stopped what he's doing though once he realized what Koishi is doing.
"Ah, can we postpone that to later? I promise I'll show up this time, but I really need to get this done first."
"Fine... But you must show up this time, Aoyama-san! Q-san was really worried about you..." Kazuki gave a firm nod at that.
"Yeah, I'll show up this time." Turning to Koishi's bag, Kazuki face lit up with a mischievous look. "Say, Koishi-kun... do you happens to have a pair of those portable retro handheld in there?"
Koishi's face lit up at the mention of his beloved games, causing him to miss the sharp glint in Kazuki's eyes. "Yes! I was planning on showing Senba-san some stuff she was curious about after we were done with our errands so I still have them with me!"
"Do you have anything that we could perhaps play together, Koishi-kun?" Koishi missed how oddly gleeful Kazuki sounded in his excitement to lend him the console.
He came to regret this when Kazuki had proceeded to completely obliterate his team in a turn based strategy game. Koishi could only mourn his units as Kazuki's blue units kept growing and culling down his own green units.
"This is really fun, Koishi-kun!" Kazuki laughed from across his seat, fingers still methodically tapping the worn buttons. "The way you can add and reduce the amount of units you can have in a single group really adds to the strategy. I really like how I can choose to play defensively by blocking you off from my base or offensively by spreading my units to tactically whittle down your forces."
Koishi could only sigh in a resigned manner at Kazuki's delighted laughter. In an attempt to prevent him from reaching his gloating phase, Koishi reached over to the other side of the table to offer Kazuki the glucose candy he had on hand.
Kazuki was so focused on the game that he just automatically accepted the offered candy and ripped it open before putting it in his mouth. Koishi was glad that Q had given him tips on how to help him deal with Kazuki's bad eating habits. Now, if only he would accept more healthy food instead of just brainy buns and glucose candies.
'Small victories...' Koishi thought to himself as Kazuki quieted down with the candy now in his mouth.
"Ugh! Kazuki-san is the worst!"
Tsuruko cried out in frustration at the empty Lovely Ocean, clutching her phone as she stomped her feet on the cracked tiles. She was so caught up in her anger that she nearly jumped out of her skin when Q suddenly enters the diner.
"Ehh?! Q-san, I wasn't expecting you here!" Tsuruko cried out in surprise.
"Kohinata told me that you were here." Heaving out a sigh, Q gave her an apologetic look. "I was worried about Kazuki and asked Kohinata to check up on him. I came here to inform you that he might not come on time."
"Ahh, no no! It's fine, Q-san!" Tsuruko quickly waved it off. "More importantly, what's wrong with Kazuki-san?! Was he attacked on his way here and got hurt?!"
"Oh, no. Nothing of that sort happened." Q turned sheepish. "Apologies for giving you the wrong impression, Senba. I was simply worried for his health since he hasn't been eating nor sleeping well lately."
"Hmm, somehow this fact does not surprise me... Instead, the fact that Q-san noticed it and decided to point it out this time is much more worrying..." Tsuruko let's out a defeated sigh. "I wonder if Todoroki-san is still going to pester him even after being told this."
"What does Todoroki want this time?"
"Didn't you see the recent NINE chat, Q-san?" Tsuruko showed the larger man her phone. "He wanted to complain to Kazuki-san about the increase number of supplies that we now need since Trash Tribe kept getting new members."
"I see." Q frowned thoughtfully before turning towards the exit. "I will speak to him about it then. Hopefully Kohinata is done with Kazuki so you won't have to wait any longer Senba."
"Ah, very well then! Good luck with Todoroki-san, Q-san!"
It took nearly an hour after Q had left for Kazuki to finally show up at where he had told Tsuruko to wait for him. She couldn't help but to glare at the older man when he waltzed into the diner with an uncharacteristic amount of pep in his steps.
"I'm really suspicious at what you had done this time, Kazuki-san. But I would rather not know if it's something troublesome that you would drag me into again."
"You're so paranoid, Tsuruko-san!" Kazuki laughed when her glare intensified. "Relax, Tsuruko-san. I didn't get myself involved in a hacker conspiracy this time around." With a mischievous smirk, he added. "Ah, but I think I broke Koishi-kun a bit when I asked him to play with me."
"I thought we agreed to blacklist you from ever playing a strategy game against anyone again, Kazuki-san..."
"Koishi-kun was the one to offer to play with me this time." Kazuki neatly dodged the accusation with a cheeky grin. Tsuruko could only shrug haplessly at his antics.
"Sometimes I wish you aren't this mean, Kazuki-san. I feel bad for poor Koishi-kun..."
"Shouldn't you be the one apologizing to him." Kazuki turned to face her with a far too wide smirk. "After all, you made him carry all those books you got. Now it's your turn to help me carry our supplies back to 24 City."
Tsuruko lets out a frightened squeak as Kazuki loomed over her. Before she knew it, piles upon piles of paper bags were heaped onto her arms while Kazuki continued to drag her through Azabu Central Avenue.
"Tsuruko-san, please be careful. We don't want to damage any of the groceries we just got. Jio-kun might complain about them not being good enough for Miu-san and delay his cooking again." Kazuki smiled back at her from where he's carrying a bag full of maintenance kits for their modified XB gears turned weapons.
"Somehow I doubt that you have the groceries in mind when telling me to be careful with the bags, Kazuki-san..." Tsuruko muttered from where she's dragging her feet under the heavy bags of supplies.
With a noncommittal hum, Kazuki continued to lead the way. It took a while for Tsuruko to realize that Kazuki had taken a different turn with her sulking, so it took her by surprise when they ended up in an alleyway full of stray cats instead of the Lovely Ocean diner.
"I knew you had a motive for going on a sudden supply run! So this is where you gathered all the fluffy kitties Tsuki-san mentioned!"
"Whoops, busted." Kazuki did not looked the slightest bit apologetic as he crouched away from the cats to place down the bags full of XB equipments. "Now give me that bag. I'm going to feed the cats."
Making childish grabby hands at Tsuruko, Kazuki snatched away one of the bags she had been carrying to reveal piles of premium wet cat food.
"Ah, that explains why Todoroki-san had sounded so pissed in NINE..."
Miu had been passing by Azabu after finishing business in Odaiba when she saw Tsuruko leaving an alleyway, carrying bags of supplies in her arms. Before she knew it, Miu had approached the younger girl.
"Tsuruko, what are you doing out here with all these bags?" Tsuruko jumped at Miu's sudden presence, but immediately sighs in relief when seeing it's just her.
"Ah, Miu-san! I was just helping Kazuki-san with feeding the strays that he found with Tsuki-san." With bright, sparkling eyes, Tsuruko gushed out. "Their fur are so fluffy! Kazuki-san has been doing so much to help them, so I'm giving him space with them and offered to carry the supplies we got by myself!"
Momentarily caught off guard, Miu could only blink in surprise before perking up at the mention of cats. "I see... Is it safe to assume that Kazuki is still with the cats then?"
"Yep! Currently he's buried in a pile of them." Tsuruko smiled at Miu then. "I'm sure that he won't mind if you ask for his help to pet the kitties!"
"Well, I have nothing better to do right now... I guess it won't hurt to try."
With one last bright smile, Tsuruko gave her an encouraging nod before running off to get the supplies back to 24 City Lobby.
"Kazuki..."
"Ah. Hello, Miu-san."
The scene that Miu walked into in that alleyway was a rather peculiar one. There, right in front of her, laying on the ground amongst the rubbles of the ruined buildings around them, was Trash Tribe's leader, Aoyama Kazuki, completely covered in cat hair and currently being smothered by even more piles of affectionate cats.
"I see that you have amassed quite the following, Kazuki."
"Aww, that's quite the compliment. Do you want to join in on all the attention too, Miu-san? I don't mind sharing with you." Miu rolled her eyes at the grinning Kazuki's antics.
"Well, I wouldn't mind trying if you're actually offering." Miu eventually relents at the sight of the cat piles.
"Come over then, Miu-san!" Kazuki raised his palm out in her direction. "But please do it slowly so that you wouldn't startle them. Someone once fell on top of me while I was trying to get near some cats and I got scratched pretty badly because of him..." Kazuki pouted at the memory. "I really don't want a repeat of that."
Jio almost let out a horrible screech when Tsuruko informed him that she had seen Miu and that she is currently hanging out with Kazuki. The only reason he hadn't complete run amok was the fact that Tsuruko had made sure to mention that the two were only hanging out because Miu wanted to pet the stray cats that Kazuki had somehow gathered.
That, and the fact that he'd rather not mess with the kid if he could help it. He had seen how the kid and Q looked at each other, and their devotion to one another certainly had earned some of Jio's respect.
He doesn't want to take that away from them, because he knows just how much it would hurt if it'd happened to him and Miu.
But it still doesn't stop him from wanting to scream!
"Seriously, Jio-san, calm down..." Tsuruko muttered from where she's still arranging the groceries she got back. "Kazuki-san doesn't even like Miu-san that way."
"It's the principle of it, Tsuruko-san!" Wiping his tears, Jio cried out. "I wanted to be the one helping Miu pet those cats!"
"Ugh..." Tsuruko groaned at the distressed man. "You can still go down there, you know? But help me prepare lunch first before you ran down there! I'm sure Miu-san would appreciate the meal."
"Good idea, Tsuruko-san! I'm sure Miu will be really happy if I showed up bringing her lunch! We can even have a lunch date that way!"
Somehow Jio had ended up carrying three lunch boxes down to Minato City instead of just the two that he was going to share with Miu.
For whatever reason, he was reminded of the excess amount of leftover he kept finding in the fridge of their current base despite having extra mouths to feed and got worried about Kazuki not eating well again.
It's not usual for him to worry about the kid, but knowing that he's currently trying to help Miu had gotten Jio worked up enough to want to help Kazuki back in some way. He's not getting one upped by that blue brat!
Taking another turn down the street, Jio finally spotted the alleyway Tsuruko had told him about. With a big grin, Jio burst into the alleyway with as much gusto as he could possibly put while carrying three lunch boxes.
"Miu~~~~~~! I have brought us lunch- ARGH!" Jio sang out, brandishing the lunch boxes, before immediately tripping onto something.
Or rather, someone.
"Ugh, didn't I tell you to stop with all this useless dramatics, Jio?" Miu frowned down at him from where she had safely caught all three of the lunch boxes. "You've made quite a mess this time..."
Underneath him, Kazuki groaned out in pain. "So much for not getting scratched..." The kid muttered with a pout as he lifted his right hand, the back of which is currently covered in fresh claw marks.
"Ah. Oops?"
Eiji growled as his NINE massages to Kazuki remains ignored. Leaning on the front receptionist desk by his side was Hyakuichitaro who sighed at his agitated figure.
"You should really give up on that, Todoroki. There's no way Kazuki would actually answer you if he doesn't think it's important or entertaining enough to bother with."
"But that bastard took our budget and splurged it on premium cat foods, of all things!" Eiji snarled out at the smaller boy.
"But I just saw Senba bringing a bunch of supplies back at 24 City before going back here." Hyakuichitaro shot back. "Pretty sure she had everything we asked for with her."
"The food count on the groceries list is off! We're missing a whole stock if we wanted to feed everyone who's currently a part of Trash Tribe!"
"Why am I not surprised that you'd notice that..."
Right at that moment Q appeared from the escalator, going down at his usual slower pace.
"Todoroki. Hyakuichitaro." Q nods at them both before turning to face Todoroki. "Did I interrupt something?"
"Nah, Todoroki was just throwing a hissy fit over Kazuki again."
"It's not something so childish! This is a serious matter that I'm concerned about!" Eiji shot back.
Q frowned. "What seems to be the problem?"
"That piece of work friend of yours is wasting our budget to feed those mangy, dirty, flea covered street pests that he likes to collect!"
Q's eyes widened at that, before his expression turned grave. "Kazuki is deliberately using his share to pay for cat food again?"
"Like the ungrateful brat that he is!"
"I'm going to ask Gotanda for advice." Q nods at them. "Please forgive Kazuki. He's currently going through something, and I would appreciate it if you could help him right now."
As Q swiftly left them, Eiji turned to Hyakuichitaro. "What the hell am I supposed to do with that?! It still doesn't solve our money issues!"
Throwing his hands in the air, Hyakuichitaro walked away from the receptionist desk and towards the hotel's exit. "YOUR money issues. I'm gonna go visit Neo Chiyoda instead of worrying about that. I'm sure someone is already working on it anyways." With that, he left Eiji in the middle of Shinagawa Princess Hotel to continue wallowing in his frustration by himself.
Eiji immediately barrels towards Kazuki when the man exited from the elevator, having freshly showered if the way his usually unmanageable antenna hung limply in front of his face was any indication.
"Hmm? Todoroki-kun, is there something that you needed from me?"
"You little brat! Stop spending my money on cat food!"
"Ehh... But I'm only using my part of the allowance for it."
"That's part of the problem! You can't just skip out on buying food just because you wanted to feed some stupid strays!" Kazuki brows scrunches up at the way Eiji said the word strays, but he couldn't care less about that.
"Could it be that Todoroki-kun is actually worried about me?!" Kazuki gasped dramatically, in such a way that it was clearly faked.
"If you're out of commission, it would become a problem for me too!" Eiji bit out. "You're the fastest runner in our Tribe and one of the better batter too, it would be troublesome if you suddenly collapsed in the middle of a match to abolish XG!"
"Ehh, but you shouldn't worry about that? I've played XB in worse condition before." Kazuki waved it away with a nonchalant shrug. "Besides, even with a broken arm, I could still swing even something like a beam bat with little to no problem."
"I don't want to hear anything relating to beam bats coming from you!"
Kazuki gave a thoughtful hum. "Hmm, I guess I never really used them anymore anyways, so it doesn't matter."
Eiji harrumphed at Kazuki's easy dismissal. "What was it like anyway, using a beam bat?"
"Oh, is Todoroki-kun interested?"
"Just say it if you wanted to say it!"
"Hahah, I'm just jesting." Kazuki then closed his eyes, expression turning nostalgic. "It was unwieldy at first, so I wasn't able to immediately use it at full power. But when I thought about having fun playing XB with Q, it felt like the beam bat resonated with my feelings and flared with power." Opening his eyes, Kazuki gave Eiji a cheeky grin. "But I never tried seriously batting with one, so this might not even mean anything!"
"Guh! Aoyama, I swear if you're just pulling my legs-!" Just then a thought crossed Eiji mind. "How much do I have to pay you to grab the beam bat from that Minato hideout?"
"Hadn't you heard from them the first time? That bat is not for sale-"
"How much do I have to pay to see you use it?!"
"Eh?"
Kazuki gave Eiji a long drawn out dumbfounded look at his question, before immediately bursting into uncontrollable laughter on his knees.
"Pfft, hahahah!" Wiping his eyes, Kazuki continued to giggle despite the outraged look on Eiji's face. "I didn't know that Todoroki-kun had a career change into being a comedian!"
"It's not a joke!"
"It's so hilarious that you thought I might ever use a beam bat again, especially that particular one." Still chuckling Kazuki gave Eiji a pat on his back before skipping towards the exit. "Never change, Todoroki-kun!"
"Aoyama, get back here! I'm not done with you!"
Hyakuichitaro nearly jumped a foot in the air when the respite unit he was about to use closes its door all of a sudden. Darting out of it was a breathless Kazuki who looks as if he had been chased by something.
'It was definitely Todoroki.' Hyakuichitaro thought.
"Oh? Hello there, Hyakuichitaro-kun." Kazuki greeted him with his usual annoying smile. "Are you here to see your favorite idols? What was it that Mita-kun called them again, the "Monja Burning Ladies"?"
"H-Hey! Not so loud!" Hyakuichitaro hissed as he dragged Kazuki away by his jacket. "What are you doing here anyway?!"
"No particular reason." Kazuki might have said it in his usual nonchalant manner, but Hyakuichitaro felt the way that he had tensed up at the question from where he's still holding on to Kazuki.
He couldn't help but remember Q's grave expression as well as his words. 'Q was really worried about him, but what the hell am I even supposed to do to help? He only ever embarrasses me if I try to do something involving him!'
Just as Hyakuichitaro was about to give up, the slight jerk Kazuki did caught his attention. Following his gaze, Hyakuichitaro saw a cafe famous for its particularly bitter coffee putting up an advertisement about adopting cats, which reminded him that it was a small cat cafe owned by a sweet old couple.
"Do you wanna go there?"
"Huh?" Kazuki startled at the question.
"You wanna see the cats, yeah? I don't mind going since I like the coffee that they serve there."
"Hyakuichitaro-kun, could it be that you're taking me out on a date?!" Hyakuichitaro could feel the way that his face burned at the question.
"Shut up! Let's just go already!" Kazuki laughed at how flustered he looked, and Hyakuichitaro is already regretting his choice to indulge the man.
It doesn't take long before they were seated since the cafe is doing pretty slow that day. The moment they were seated though, Kazuki had instantly pulled out the treats that the old lady gave him and before long he was swarmed by all the cats in the cafe.
"Kazuki, you're gonna get cat hair everywhere with the way you got them to crawl all over you..."
Burying his face in a particularly fat orange tabby, Kazuki replied in a muffled voice. "Does it look like I give a damn, Hyakuichitaro-kun?"
"Geez, glad that you're enjoying this, I guess?" Hyakuichitaro could only watch in resignation as Kazuki proceeded to smother himself with even more cats, calmly sipping on his manly bitter coffee.
"Gotanda, a minute with you, please?"
To say that Q's sudden appearance in his office was rather abrupt, felt like an understatement. Despite being caught off guard, Yutaka was quick to assume his business persona.
"Yes, what might I help you with, Q-san?"
"Do you have anything that can help with sleeping problems?"
Yutaka nods his head enthusiastically. "I have quite a few things to help with such cases!" Sliding one of the virtual monitor in front of him, Yutaka rang Minami. "Oi, can you please bring these things to the office?"
"Right away, sir!"
Q stood quietly for a moment before speaking out what's on his mind. "Kazuki has been having trouble sleeping lately and it had badly affected his eating habit." Q confessed. "I'm not quite sure how to help him."
"Hmm, I see..." Yutaka took his time to think it through. "Do you think we might be able to get him to rest if we perhaps do something to tire him out?"
"What do you mean?"
"Aoyama-san had asked both myself and Yukigaya-san for help with modified XB gears, so I had been meaning to ask for his help to measure out our prototypes in a controlled environment where we could get a read into Aoyama-san's capabilities to further personalize our gears in regards to him." Yutaka explained at length. "The process simulate an environment similar to that of an actual XB match, and this chance might be a good way for him to release his excess energy so that he could better rest once he got it all out!"
"I see... That might be worth a try."
"Excellent! Then we shall await further response from Aoyama-san." Right at that moment Minami entered the office with all the miscellaneous that Yutaka had asked her to bring. "Ah, perfect timing, Oi!"
Walking over to her side, Yutaka started to carefully pick out certain stuff from the pile Minami had brought. Once he had gotten them all neatly piled in his arms, Yutaka went over to Q.
"These should help improve Aoyama-san's sleep quality!" Q looked down at the items in his arms and nodded before gently taking them all from Yutaka's hands.
"How much does this all costs?"
"No need to worry about that, Q-san!" Yutaka quickly reassures him. "Just think of it as down payment for the testing that we might do in the future."
"Thank you, Gotanda."
Kazuki stumbled into their office the very next day, completely covered in cat hair. Minami nearly stumbled herself when she saw the state that he was in.
"Oh my, that is a rather large amount of cat hair stuck on you, Aoyama-san. Do you want me to fetch you a lint roller?"
"Nah, I'm good Oi-san. Thanks for the offer though." Kazuki smiled at her politely as he stayed standing. "Is Gotanda-kun around?"
"Yes, he should be arriving shortly." Right as Minami said that, Yutaka came through the door.
"Ah, Aoyama-san! You arrived earlier than expected!" Yutaka couldn't help but be delighted by this. "Do you want to begin the testing now?"
"Yes, please. The sooner I'm done here, the sooner I'll get to helping Enoki-san with her newest project."
Yutaka tilted his head in interest. "Oh? Pardon me for being curious, but what kind of project might Yukigaya-san be working on right now?"
"It's not anything big actually." Kazuki admits. "We're just going to search around Minato Rubbles Pile for materials to fix the giant projector Enoki-san found in the junkyard."
"Is it the planetarium projector that she salvaged not too long ago?" Kazuki gave him a bright grin at the question.
"Yep. She wanted to have a picnic under the stars, and Q was interested in its restoration too because he likes stargazing, so I decided to volunteer myself to help her fix it."
"Hmm, you have been doing a lot lately, haven't you, Aoyama-san? Won't you be too tired to help Yukigaya-san after the testing today?" Kazuki shrugged at Yutaka's words.
"Nah, I'll be fine."
Somehow, Kazuki managed to keep his words even when Yutaka had thrown the strongest pitch he could've done with the current XB gears he had developed. Although the way that Kazuki batted and threw his pitches are unique to himself, Yutaka couldn't help but be reminded of that first fateful match against the original members of Minato Tribe. He couldn't help but wish to see the man reunite with the rest of his former tribe members, and maybe play XB against them again in the future.
"Seeing Aoyama-san play... It really reminds me of that first match against Minato Tribe on that very first day that we became the new faces of Shinagawa Tribe." Minami smiled from her place next to the catcher drone. "It really makes me feel nostalgic, Gotanda-san."
"I agree with you on that, Oi." Yutaka smiled back at her, watching as Kazuki quickly overtook third base and ran back in their direction. "I can't wait until the day come where we can play against them again!"
"Hey, hey! What are you carrying there, Q-chan?" Enoki quickly left Roku's side to inspect the items that Q had returned with.
"Gotanda gave them to me." Q spread his arms to give Enoki a better look at the stuff that he's carrying. "He said that it helps with sleep."
"Oh! Is Kazuki not going snore again?!" Enoki gasped dramatically as she inspected a blanket like item. "Ooo, fluffy warm! Neat."
"Yeah. He hasn't been eating well either lately." Q gently pries the blanket back from Enoki, putting it back in the piles with the rest of the stuff.
"Bad Kazuki! I still can't believe that he can skip out on eating like that!" Enoki grinned wickedly then. "I'm gonna show him later! No bad Kazuki! No food wasted!"
Q could only watch as Enoki begun to scheme against Kazuki. Roku spoke up then.
"Do you want her to stop? She'll listen to you."
"Ah, no. I think it would be good for her to trouble Kazuki this time."
"Do you want me to do anything about him then? I wouldn't mind."
"Gotanda said that it might help if we can manage to tire him out."
"I see. I'll look into that then." Q gave Roku a grateful smile.
"Thank you."
"Just doing my work."
"Ahh, Gotanda-kun and Oi-san really went all out against me..." Kazuki complaints echoed in the currently empty lobby of 24 City.
Except for Roku, who perked up from his bench as the voice of their mismatched tribe's leader came closer to the medbay area. He stood up, already making his way over to where he expects Kazuki to be.
"Aoyama, you're back." Kazuki tilted his head at Roku. The motion reminds Roku of Enoki and cats.
"Saigo-kun, hello." Looking around, Kazuki gave a thoughtful hum. "Is Enoki-san not around?"
"She ran off to prepare something."
"Is that so? Hopefully she'll be at Minato when we need to meet up." Roku grabbed Kazuki's shoulder just as he was about to leave. "Hm? What is it Saigo-kun?"
"Come with me." Without giving Kazuki any chance to protest, Roku dragged him back to the respite unit and punched in the option to send them to Shinagawa Princess Hotel.
It doesn't take long before they had booked a room, and it took even less for them to arrive there.
"Now strip."
"My, you're being rather forward today, Saigo-kun..."
"Shut up. Just take off your shirt and lay down, Aoyama." Roku grumbled.
"Fine, fine." Kazuki quickly took off both his shirt and jacket before laying face down on the bed. "This would have been better if they allow cats in the hotel." He immediately groans out in relief when Roku pushed down on him though.
Roku rolled his eyes. "Cats aren't really good at massaging. At best they'll just knead their paws on you and turn you into their pin cushion."
"Ugh, I wouldn't mind turning into a pin cushion if it's for them." Kazuki almost lets out a yelp when Roku pushed down on a particularly sore spot. "Agh! So close!" Roku bumped him on the head for that.
"Stop that. Just stay quiet and close your eyes. Preferably to the point where you sleep."
"Boo, you're no fun Saigo-kun."
"Quiet."
Enoki was already waiting for him when Kazuki arrived at the Rubbles Pile. She immediately ambushes Kazuki, just like the old times when she would sneak in to the old Minato Tribe's base to get closer to Taiga and steal whatever food they got cooking for herself.
"Boom! Kazuki's it now! Hahah~!" Enoki cheered as she crushed a package of conveniece store sandwich against Kazuki's back.
"Eh, what are you doing Enoki-san?"
"Sonoda likes doing tag with sticky bombs, but I wanna try sticking something else to Kazuki instead!" Enoki cheered as her wicked grin grew. "So I will stick food on Kazuki and he needs to munch chomp them before he can go gather scraps!" Her grin grew more sinister then. "If I found out that Kazuki tried to grab scraps while food are still sticking to him, I'm gonna boom bang you and blow you away~!"
"Ehh, what a scary game..." Kazuki pouted at her. "I guess I should be glad that it isn't bombs, but it's still quite a troublesome thing."
"That's what you get for making Q-chan worried!" Enoki laughed at him, before skipping off to inspect one of the many piles gathered around them. "Now start munching and help me with finding stuff for the light cannon!"
Kazuki sighs before reaching back to peel off the sandwich stucked on his back and Enoki couldn't help her giggles when she saw the sour look on his face when he looked at the now crushed sandwich.
And that's how they spent the whole day rummaging through the junk piles in Minato Rubbles Pile, with Enoki harassing Kazuki to eat while snacking on some of the food herself.
It was amusing to see Kazuki pout at her everytime she stuck a new package of food on him, but Enoki was more delighted by the fact that he's actually playing along and eating the stuff that she stuck on him.
"Heheh~! This is actually really fun!" Enoki giggled as she brandishes another package of convenience store food. "Maybe I can even get Kazuki all soft and round like Chubby at some point!"
"Enoki-san, please stop thinking about weird stuff and help me dig this thing out instead."
"'Kay!"
"This is so frustrating, nya!"
Hinagiku screams out in frustration while Ichinosuke and Saizo both watch her pace back and forth, worried expression on their faces, though to a different dergree.
"Hinagiku, I understand your frustration very well. But, there's not much that we can do to make him change overnight." Ichinosuke sighs.
"But Q-sama is clearly worried sick about him! There's no way I could ever ignore that even when it's outside my power!" Hinagiku dropped her maid persona as she cried out in frustration. "We need to do something! For Q-sama's sake!"
"Why don't you ask that Minato Tribe geezer for help? He probably knows more about how to handle Kazuki than the rest of us do." Saizo suggested.
"You're right, Saizo! He must at least have known someone who had been able to help Kazuki-dono before he reunited with Q-sama!"
"Nyah-?! I guess I don't mind doing it for Q-sama's sake." With a determined smile, Hinagiku clenched her gigantic and moe metal gauntlets. "Hina will do her best to take care of Kazuki-kun!"
Santaro nearly choke on his morning coffee when Hinagiku suddenly burst into his hideout.
"Eh? What? Hina-chan?" Santaro blinked several times, trying to snap himself out of shock.
"Mita-kun! Hina wants to ask you for your help!" Hinagiku steps uncomfortably closer to him. "I want you to help me be a maid that is best suited to help Kazuki-kun go through whatever trial that he's currently facing!"
"Wow, slow down there!" Santaro frantically put distance between them. "What did Kazuki do this time?"
"He's been making Q-sama worry, so Hina wanted to help Kazuki-kun feel better so that Q-sama won't have to worry about him as much!"
Santaro frustratedly brushed his hair back. "Argh, is he skipping meals and not sleeping again?"
"Nya? Does this happen often in the past?" Hinagiku gave a curious tilt of her head at Santaro's words.
"Well, kinda?" Groaning, Santaro leaned back in his chair. "Kazuki tends to just disappear back when he was still with the Minato Tribe. He rarely ever touched the stuff Manami cooked for us, and pretty much none of us knew where he stays after the diner closes cuz he always showed up first and left last when we closed, so I have no idea how bad he was back then."
"Nyaoh... So how do we even start with him now?" Hinagiku twiddled with her metal gauntlets. "Hina really wants to help him, nya..."
"Well, you're probably not gonna like this, what's with your allergy and all, but Kazuki has been gathering a bunch of stray cats behind the diner. Tsuki-chan had been pestering me about reopening the diner as a cat cafe since we already have Nekomaru anyways, but instead of that, maybe we could just throw a party for Kazuki right now. He has been doing a lot for the Trash Tribe all this time, so we might as well celebrate it before things went to shit again."
"Nyah! That sounds like a great idea, Mita-kun!" Hinagiku cheered. "And you don't have to worry about my allergy! Ichinosuke-niisama can just lend me one of his better masks so that Hina can still serve everyone and not be bothered by the kitties!"
"You really are the best maid around..." Santaro muttered dreamily before snapping out of it. "Then it's settled! We're throwing Kazuki a party at Lovely Ocean! C'mon, Hina-chan! Let's get everyone else to help too!"
"Right behind you, nya!"
"Everyone looks like they're excited for the party, don't you think so, Saizo?" Ichinosuke watches Hinagiku as she darted around the other members of Trash Tribe with a proud smile. "Kazuki-dono is lucky to have them around."
"They must be quite the handful bunch." Saizo commented as Enoki tried to steal the food that Jio is currently protecting with his life. "I'm surprised that he could even stand them at times."
"I'm sure that he cares about them just as much as they cares about him." Ichinosuke watches as Q made his way through the crowd to personally thank a flushtered Hina. "I'm sure Q-sama is glad for this too!"
"Whelp, that's our cue to go grab Kazuki." Saizo straightened up as his eagle drone perched on his outstreched hand. "Let's go fetch him from wherever it is that he had decided to run off to this time."
It didn't take them long to find Kazuki as he had just been wandering around near where Minato Tribe's XB home base is located. He was sitting near where the makeshift grave was made.
"Kazuki-dono! A moment of your time, please!" Ichinosuke approached the man.
"Hmm? Ichinosuke-kun, Saizo-kun. It's rare to see you out and about. Don't you usually stalk Q around from the shadows?" Saizo snorted at that.
"Hey now, don't lump me in with my obsessed brother..."
"Anyways!" Ichinosuke cuts in. "We were hoping that you could follow us for a moment, Kazuki-dono."
"Yeah, I don't mind doing that." Kazuki pocketed his phone and walked over to where the Akiba brothers were waiting for him. "Wow, so this is what Q had experienced while he was playing prince huh."
"Please don't make fun of us, Kazuki-dono!" Ichinosuke cried out, but Kazuki just laughed at him.
"Hahah! I feel like royalty, being escorted around like this."
By the time they arrived in front of Lovely Ocean, Saizo had noticed how antsy Kazuki was getting. He must have noticed the lack of response to his NINE chat and was growing anxious of everyone's silence.
"They care, you know."
"Huh?"
"Trash Tribe." Saizo clarified. "They all care about you, so you don't have to worry about that."
"I'm not worried about anything..."
"You're worried about the fact that you haven't seen any of them today." Saizo smirked when Kazuki looked away from him. "They feel the same way, you know? All of them were worried about you in their own way."
"So what?"
"So take better care of yourself." Saizo shrugged. "You don't like being worried about them, so it's only natural that you shouldn't give them a reason to worry about you either." With a smug smile, Saizo gestured to the door in front of them. "After you."
Ichinosuke smiled as he opened the door for them, also gesturing for Kazuki to step in first. "Honored guests first, Kazuki-dono."
Kazuki gave a resigned shrug before he entered the diner. Just as he turned around the corner to the main dining area, he was showered in confetti and party streamer.
"SURPRISE!!!"
Ichinosuke continued to observe the ongoing party, delighted smile in place as he watches how all the members of Trash Tribe had came together to celebrate their leader.
'Once everything finally settles down we must throw something similar for Q-sama!' He thought to himself with a decisive nod.
"Hey, still stalking everyone from the shadows?" The now familiar voice pippes up beside Ichinosuke.
"Kazuki-dono! I hope that you're enjoying the festivities! They worked really hard to put this together!" Ichinosuke smiled at the other man.
Kazuki smiled back at him, his closed eyes softening his usually sharp features. "Yeah. I can tell that they put their all into it. Honestly, I'm still surprised that they went out of their way to do something like this for me..."
"They did it because they wanted to, Kazuki-dono." Ichinosuke grinned at the blank look Kazuki gave him. "They really care about you and wanted to show it to you in the way that they're able to!" With a much softer tone he added. "And Q-sama wanted to see you feel better, so he had been going around and asking everyone to look after you."
"Q..." Kazuki lowered his gaze.
"He's been really worried about you lately." Ichinosuke gave him a soft smile. "So he's been doing his best to try and help you."
"I see." Kazuki lets out a soft sigh. "Thank you for telling me this, Ichinosuke-kun. I didn't realized just how much I had really needed to hear that."
When Kazuki returned to the residence where he and Q are currently staying, Kazuki noticed that the door was unlocked.
'Huh, did Q left the party early? I didn't even see him leave...'
Opening the door, Kazuki's musing was cut short as he was greeted by the sight of Q standing on the front porch, clearly waiting for him the entire time.
"Q?! Did you just stood there waiting for me to come back?! What's wrong?!" Kazuki frantically approached his old friend, hapazardly taking off his shoes in the process. He immediately reached out to Q, wanting to demand an explanation for his odd behavior, but he never got the chance as he was suddenly engulved in a huge hug.
"Q...?" Kazuki voice came out muffled.
"I was really happy when everyone told me that they were going to throw a party for you." Q deepened the hug. "You were slowly getting better with each passing day. I'm glad that I asked for their help." Backing up, Q held Kazuki by his shoulder as he stared deeply into Kazuki's eyes, a soft genuine smile gracing his features. "I'm so glad for you, Kazuki."
Kazuki rapidly blinked his eyes as he felt the heat building up behind them. Looking up into Q's sincere eyes, Kazuki couldn't help the slight tremors that went through his hands as he reached out to hug Q back.
"I'm so sorry for worrying you..." He quietly sobs out. "Everything has just been so overwhelming lately that I forgot about something very important to me." Kazuki clutched into Q's shirt like his life depended on it. "Thank you for reminding me of it, Q."
"Kazuki..."
"I love you, Q." Kazuki held on tighter. "I promise that will never change, no matter what happens."
Later that night, wrapped up in the electric blanket Q had gotten him as well as Q's own body, Kazuki blinked awake at the breeze from the slightly open window.
Looking out at the dark sky with barely any visible stars on it, Kazuki lost himself in thoughts.
"Q might no longer remember that he was Ojiro, but he's still really important to me." Kazuki quietly mutters to himself. Staring at the barely visible stars, Kazuki lets out a sad sigh.
"I don't know if I'll ever be able to get you back this time, Ojiro." Clutching the arms wrapped around him, Kazuki made a vow to himself. "But I promise, that no matter what happens, I will always be on your side."
If he had shed a tear that night, nobody but Kazuki himself would know about it.
"Always."